The Abyssal mountains exist in the land dubbed as “The Rage Continent.” Within the mountains lies a cave, where a boy at the age of 13 mirrors a skeleton in front of him, both of them sitting with their legs crossed facing each other.

The skeletons bones are in pristine condition, not a single one missing and all of them glowing with a smooth white light.

The boy stares at the two black holes that are the skeletons eyes and strains his own as he doesn’t dare to blink. Eventually the boy fails and his eyes close against his will. He laughs and then begins to talk joyfully at the Skeleton.

“Wow, I don’t think I could ever beat you Mr.Skeleton! You’re pretty good at this.”

The boy sitting in front of the skeleton does not know his past, he only remembers two things. The first is his name, “Solus”.

The second is a phrase. “The soulflame is the lifeblood of calamity.”

He had only awoken an hour ago, and had tried to converse with the skeleton putting off the white glow immediately after he saw it. Seeing that the skeleton wouldn’t respond to anything he was saying, Solus challenged it to a staring contest and said that if he won the skeleton would have to respond. Currently the skeleton in front of him has won a staggering 20 times and had lost not a single time.

Solus, realizing that he would probably never beat the master of staring contests in front of him, thought he should probably explore the cave that he was in.

He stands up, and begins to walk away from the skeleton, but quickly realizes that the only source of light in the cave is the skeleton that he was just challenging. Solus ponders for a moment, and rubs the back of his head.

“Uh oh. I really need a light. I could ask Mr.Skeleton to borrow one one of his bones… But he probably wouldn’t appreciate that. But if I don’t have something to light the way then how I am gonna see? Uh... “

Solus’s problem is suddenly answered, a small green flame forms in front of him. Solus jumps back in fright as the flame forms. It puts off a small green glow that lights up the cave around him. Hesitantly he puts his hand out towards the flame, and the flame responds by moving over his palm.

“Wow! Now I can see without Mr.Skeletons help. But, where’d this thing come from? It’s green and looks like fire. Maybe… Maybe it’s the soul flame! Normal fire doesn’t float around, and it definitely doesn’t just form out of thin air! I think? Well whatever it is, I’m glad to have it!”

Solus begins to trek through the cave, the small flame above his palm lighting the path in front of him.  Eventually he hears a crunch beneath his feet, and he looks down to see what it was.

Underneath his feet lies a countless amount of bones from varying creatures. Solus’s face fills with shock and he begins to look around more carefully. He realizes the bones are not only beneath him, but also on the walls and even the ceiling of the cave.

“These things aren’t like Mr.Skeleton. His bones were a lot different than these ones. I should be careful around here, lots of bones in one place can’t be a good sign.”

Solus carefully navigates around the bones, making sure not to step on any of them. He gets away from them, and continues his journey through the cave.

Soon after he gets away from the bone pile, he spots a light in the distance. He runs towards it in excitement, and when he does get to the source of the light, he begins to fall.

The source of the light was an opening on the side of the mountain the cave was in, one that did not offer any footing for Solus.

“NO NO NO!”

Solus yells out as he falls to his impending doom, but luck would have it that below the opening was a valley with a lush canopy that slightly breaks his fall. He braced his body as he fell and broke through several branches and one particularly unlucky birds nest.

The flame that was formerly above his palm also silently floated down, following him down through the hole in the canopy his body made.

“Ow…”

Solus lays down on the ground covered by lush greenery. He looks up at the sky and notices the little flame float down and arrive next to him.

Small beams of light break through the canopy above him, and light the area around him. Solus finally gets up, though his entire body slightly aches. He looks at the tree’s and the greenery around him, and then he looks at the flame and worry fills his face.

“Um. Mr.SoulFlame, you’re not gonna set this place on fire are you? It looks very flammable.”

The flame doesn’t move for a moment after Solus’s words, and then quickly slams itself into Solus’s chest. His heart then begins to glow a green glow that can be seen through his chest. He looks down and notices the glow. His jaw drops and he immediately pats his own chest as if to make sure nothing is wrong.

After a few moments he calms down and convinces himself that the soulflame probably wouldn’t hurt him. Unbeknownst to him, the green glow slowly begins to spread out from his heart.

Solus takes a deep breath and tries to climb one of the tree’s around him to get a better look at the area he’s in. He struggles for a while and the green glow begins to spread throughout his chest. Eventually his chest looks as if there are green lines covering it, all converging on the heart in his chest.

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Solus does not notice the new development though, as his mind was completely devoted to figuring out how to beat the challenge of the tree in front of him. Hours pass and eventually he does manage to get to the top, above the canopy.

He discovers that the area he’s in is a valley surrounded by two giant mountains. He looks up, scanning for the cave entrance he fell out of. He barely manages to make it out, and it surprised at how high up the mountain it is.

“Woah, I survived a fall that long!? That doesn’t seem possible... I must be really lucky.”

He continues to examine the valley he’s in, seeing that the mountains and the valley continue for miles and miles. He spots an opening in the canopy in the extreme distance, and decides that his next destination should be it. The plan in his mind immediately loses any importance it had to him as he notices a small ruby bird flying in the sky. His face fills with amazement, and the bird turns towards his direction.

“That’s so cool! Huh? Hey, hey!”

In an act of disgruntled rage the ruby bird whose nest was previously destroyed by Solus’s fall dives into his body and knocks him off the tree. The birds body is extremely heavy and hard, and it lets out a small “Chirp!” and immediately flies away after hitting Solus.

“Not again!”

Solus hits the ground with a loud thud and once again his body begins to ache all over in pain. He doesn’t get up right away and instead closes his eyes, waiting for the pain to go away. While waiting, his mind slips away and his body lies silently on the ground.. As he lies on the tough ground, the green lines that once only covered his chest spreads to the rest of his body.  

The green lines on his body begin to pulsate with time, and then a green flame covers his entire body. Pain explodes throughout his body covered by the flame. He jolts awake, but he’s unable to move and the only sight in his eyes is the flame burning him from the inside out.

Words begin to recite themselves in his mind, and he tries his best to focus only on them to alleviate the pain from the flames.

“Burn away the impurities with the flames of the soul. Before the mind gives away, carve away the heart and form a calamity core!”

The words begin to fade away and the flames explode into a frenzy, beginning to devour Solus. The flames leave nothing untouched, and they all begin to move up his body towards his heart, burning everything in their way. His body, feeling, everything he was burned away leaving only his heart, his mind was but a simple shadow of someone who once existed, and yet in that shadow one thought still remained.  

“Form the calamity core!”

The flames writhe like snakes and begin to wrap around the heart of Solus, but it doesn’t burn.

The flames all begin to condense over and over again over the heart, forming a small round core that pulsates a green glow.

Muscle, bone, flesh, and sinew all begin to spread out from the core, reconstructing Solus’s body. Quickly the body reconstructs, and it looks just the same as it did before. The only difference was that instead of a heart in his chest, Solus now had a mysterious core.

The moment his body fully reconstructs, Solus regains his ability to move and think. He immediately takes a deep breath, and lets out a deep sigh. He moves every part of his body, making sure that none of it was any different from before and actually finds out that it feels a bit lighter than it did before. He smiles a bit, somehow already recovering from the experience from just before.

“Good things happen after bad things! Hopefully a lot of good things…”

Far away from the rage continent Solus is currently on, a man stands in the air looking down at a small token in his hand On the token is a flame decorated in green thread..

“One of the seeds on that cursed place already formed a calamity core? Incredible. I wonder which one it was... “

The man ponders for a moment and then shrugs. He begins to walk through the air, acting as if it was solid ground.

To the east of the Abyssal Mountains lies a prosperous chain of islands known as the Arcana chain. The island closest to the Rage Continent bears the name Emperor. On the island, in a small house lies a boy the same age as Solus. He sits at a table and looks at an old man with lifeless eyes. The old man sits opposite of him, and looks at him with a forced smile and begins to talk in a smooth voice tinged with anger.

“Now now, Arc. We have high hopes for you. Your mothers compatibility with the Arcana was insanely high. It must be the same for you! So then why would someone with as much talent as you choose to focus on the Fool?”

Arc doesn’t respond immediately, he seems to mull over something in his mind and he speaks with a monotone voice.

“It’s my choice to make. I don’t need to explain it.”

The mans face twists with anger, and raises his hand to slap the boy but feels a terrifying pressure encompass his body. He lowers his hand and sighs.

“Fine, boy. I will report that you refuse to change your mind to the higher ups. You were supposed to be a shining star but… following the Fool you’ll be nothing.”

The man gets up from the table and leaves the house. Arc closes his eyes and listens to the footsteps fade away. He gets up and begins to tidy up his house silently. His eyes showing zero care for anything he’s doing.

A knock at the door interrupts his mindless chores and he walks over to it. He opens the door and his body seemingly fills with life. The previous lifeless eyes were now filled with an emotion, albeit a negative one. He furrows his brow and a frown covers his face.

“Oh. It’s you, Alexander.”

On the other end of the door is a lanky man wearing garish clothes. His name is Alexander and he has dedicated his life to the Emperor Arcana. Alexander smiles laxly and walks in to the house. He looks down at Arc and tries to ruffle his hair, but Arc quickly dodges out of the way.

“What are you here for? You’re not gonna ask me to change my mind now too, are you? Because if you are, I’ll tell you my answer now. No”

Alexander laughs and walks through the house as if he owns the place. He takes a seat at the table Arc and the old man were previously at, and Arc takes a seat opposite of him. The man rubs his chin and ponders for a moment and begins to talk.

“Your mother has been gone for about 2 years now, correct?”

Arc nods slightly, not sure where this conversation would lead to.

“Bacchus was going to strike you, luckily I noticed and stopped him. The fact that he was going to though is a problem. It surely means that the influence your mother had is all but gone. I have no objection to you going to study the Fool, but if you do, I fear that people will try to make things hard for you. They expect a lot of you, and in their eyes you choosing to study the Fool is no better than spitting in their face. If you came with me to study the Emperor, I could ensure your safety.”

Alexander looks at Arc with  a curious smile, not knowing what his answer would be.

“...My mother's influence.”

Arc mutters for a moment, bits of doubt appearing in his mind.

“If the influence my mother had is really gone, that’s good!”

The doubt invading him was quickly dispelled, being replaced by a fervent dream.

“Instead of being someone who succeeds because of a lack of adversity, I will succeed despite it! My path is one that leads me to the very peak, I will not allow it to end prematurely just because it does not conform to men who have grown old in complacency.”

Alexander looks at him seriously for a moment, and then his mouth quivers and a laugh bellows out from him. He claps his hands in applause and the table shakes below him.

“Good! Well spoken. Live by those words and you’ll become someone who’ll rock the world over!”

Alexander rummages in his baggy clothes, and fishes out a small token and tosses it over to Arc. Arc catches it and looks at it, examining the design with a puzzled face. On its surface lies a design that depicts a crown with a sword piercing it.

“But just in case, if anyone above your level tries to give you a hard time, I’ve prepared this little token for you..”

Arc nods with a serious look, and Alexander gets up from the table and his smile is replaced by a somber look. He studies Arc’s face intensely, and gives him some parting words.

“For your mother's sake, please stay safe.”

Alexander leaves the small house and Arc sits at the table alone. He stares at the token in his hand and places it onto the table. The light in his eyes carry a hint of fanaticism. On this day he makes a vow in his heart, one that he would not forget until he died.  

“I will train until my body breaks, I will not allow myself to fall until I save my mother. She may have disappeared, but that does not mean she is dead. I am certain that she is alive!”

On this day, Solus and Arc both begin to claim their destiny. Solus through reforming his body, and Arc through forming his iron resolve.