A COURIER IN MOTION
Isaac moved through the dense woods of Alderwood Forest. His footsteps silent against the leaf-covered ground.
Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow. The world was calm. Quiet. Peaceful.
But Isaac’s mind?
It was anything but.
His fingers idly rolled a parchment between them, the very same one handed to him by the thin, sharp-eyed man.
And for the first time in a long while...
Isaac was intrigued.
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THE NAME ON THE PARCHMENT
He flicked the parchment open, his masked face tilting slightly as he read.
A single name.
Veyra the Hollow.
Isaac tapped a gloved finger against the name, thoughts drifting.
He had heard the name before.
Once.
A long time ago.
Back when Epoch Eternal was still a game.
Veyra the Hollow was not a player.
Not a guild leader. Not a warlord.
She was something else entirely.
A legend whispered among the most obsessive lore-hunters of the game.
A figure that had never been seen, only referenced in fragments of forgotten texts.
Some believed she was an event character that never got released.
Others thought she was a hidden boss, one that no player had ever triggered.
And a few? A few swore she was something more.
A shadow in the world’s history. A ghost hidden between the lines of the game’s forgotten code.
And now?
Now she was real.
Or at least, someone thought she was.
Isaac sighed.
“This is either going to be very interesting…”
He rolled the parchment, tucking it away into his satchel.
“…or a massive waste of time.”
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THE FIRST LEAD
Isaac adjusted his hood, picking up speed.
If Veyra the Hollow was real, there was only one place to start looking.
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The Ruins of Blackveil.
A place deep within the northern reaches of the continent.
A place where no NPCs existed, no players had settled, and no guilds had claimed.
A place that was, according to old forum theories,
The last known location of Veyra.
Isaac’s pace quickened.
Gold was waiting.
And more importantly?
So were answers.
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ARRIVAL AT BLACKVEIL
The Ruins of Blackveil stretched across the landscape like the bones of a dead civilization.
Jagged stone towers leaned at odd angles, cracked bridges hung half-collapsed, and faded carvings of unknown symbols were etched into what little remained of the walls.
A thick mist clung to the ground, curling around Isaac’s boots as he moved through the ancient, broken pathways.
The air was heavy. Wrong.
There were no birds. No wind. No distant sounds of wildlife.
Only silence.
Isaac slowed, his masked face tilting slightly.
He had been to many ruins before.
But Blackveil?
Blackveil felt different.
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PREPARING FOR THE UNKNOWN
Isaac moved to the shadows of a fallen archway, crouching low as he began sorting through his inventory.
If the legends about this place were even half true, he needed to be ready.
From his satchel, he pulled...
A potion of shadowblend. Perfect for avoiding unwanted attention.
An aether lantern. A magical light that functioned even in cursed environments.
A vial of binding salts. A rare item used to disrupt phantoms, wraiths and even magic.
His fingers hovered over a fourth item.
A small, silver dagger.
Isaac never carried weapons. He didn’t need them.
But this? This wasn’t for fighting.
This was for cutting through specific magic if things went wrong.
And if the rumors about Veyra the Hollow were even partially accurate…
Things could go very, very wrong.
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SEARCHING FOR THE HOLLOW
Isaac moved through the ruins, his footsteps utterly silent.
He wasn’t looking for loot.
He wasn’t looking for fights.
He was looking for signs.
Something. Anything that proved Veyra the Hollow had ever been here.
The first few minutes were uneventful.
Then...
He noticed something.
A series of markings on a collapsed wall, half-covered in ivy.
Isaac stepped closer, brushing the vines aside.
What he saw made him pause.
It wasn’t a language he recognized.
Not Elvish. Not Ancient Imperial. Not even the arcane scripts used in high-tier magic tomes.
It was something else.
Something older.
Something forbidden.
Isaac ran his fingers over the carvings, exhaling softly.
“…Well, that’s not ominous at all.”
Then..
The ruins shifted.
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THE FIRST ENCOUNTER
A sound echoed through the ruins.
Not a growl.
Not a snarl.
Something worse.
A whisper.
Isaac turned sharply just in time.
A shadowy figure lunged from the mist, its body flickering like a half-forgotten nightmare.
Isaac moved instantly. His body twisting as the entity’s clawed hand sliced through the space he had been standing in.
A curse-born wraith.
Of course.
Because nothing could ever be easy.
The wraith’s body shifted unnaturally, its face featureless, its movements stuttering like a broken animation.
Isaac didn’t fight.
He didn’t even think about fighting.
He ran.
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THE DANCE OF THE UNSEEN
Isaac weaved between fallen pillars and shattered archways, moving faster than the wraiths could react.
More whispers filled the air, growing in volume.
And then, they came.
More wraiths.
Crawling from the mist. Emerging from broken doorways and cracks in the walls.
Isaac exhaled, dodging effortlessly, his speed making him a ghost among ghosts.
He wasn’t here to fight.
He wasn’t here to die.
He was here to find the Hollow.
And if these creatures were here.
That meant he was getting close.