TEN YEARS BEFORE NOW
The sky was grey.
Clouds blanketed the sun as the boy sat alone on the cold earth, his back pressed against a large tree. His clothes were torn. His lips were dry. His eyes, once full of life, were now hollow.
He had been just a child when they left him. A child with nothing.
No name.
No family.
No reason.
They called him cursed. Strange. Dangerous. A mistake.
So they threw him away.
He stayed in the wild for days, then weeks. At first, he cried. He screamed at the sky, punched the ground until his hands bled.
"Why?!" he shouted over and over.
"Why did they leave me?!"
But the sky never answered.
His rage faded with time. It didn't change anything. The animals still avoided him. The rain still poured. Hunger stayed with him like a shadow.
His anger gave way to silence.
And silence turned into numbness.
The boy who once felt so deeply… became something else.
One evening, while searching for food, he saw a strange light glowing faintly between the rocks.
He followed it.
It led him to the mouth of a dark cave. The light pulsed, gentle and steady, as if calling to him.
Curious, and too numb to fear, he stepped inside.
The Cave
It was cold and damp. The deeper he walked, the brighter the glow became.
Then the ground cracked beneath his feet.
Crack.
He had no time to react. The floor gave way.
Thud.
Pain shot through his side as he hit the bottom. Dust filled the air, but the glow remained—brighter now, just ahead.
It was a black gem.
An obsidian jewel, buried in stone, shining like it was alive.
He reached out.
The moment his fingers touched it, the entire cave trembled. The air grew heavy. The light flared.
A figure appeared—shadow and flame, flickering in the darkness.
Its voice echoed through the cave.
"So… you brave boy, you've come to challenge the Celestial."
The boy blinked, confused. "What? Challenge? What do you mean 'challenge'?"
The figure tilted its head. "Entering this place means you're ready to face me. Win, and the Celestial Accord is yours."
"No," the boy said quickly. "I just fell down here. I didn't come to fight."
The figure paused.
"Oh… that's awkward." It shrugged. "But I can't undo it now. The system's already started. You can't leave without a fight."
The cave rumbled again. Symbols lit the walls. Time itself seemed to freeze.
The Trial Begins
He had never fought before. Not really.
But something inside him stirred. Something ancient. Something fierce.
Power surged through him. He didn't know how—but he fought. He dodged. He struck. He endured.
The projection grew more powerful with every second, pushing him harder. But the boy adapted. He had no fear left. No emotion. Only will.
And his will could not be broken.
At last, the projection staggered, laughing.
"You weren't meant to fight me… and yet you won."
It smiled.
"You've earned the Obsidian Jewel. The power of the Celestial now flows through you."
The jewel floated into his chest. Darkness wrapped around him—but it didn't feel cold.
It felt right.
From that day on, he was no longer just a boy.
He became something else.
He became Phantom.