The streets of Death Stock were as crowded as ever.
Merchants shouted prices, carts rolled over the muddy stone roads, and the smell of cooked meat mixed with the sharp scent of iron from the nearby smiths.
Dravon walked calmly through the crowd.
The jacket he had just bought rested loosely on his shoulders, his hat casting a shadow over his face. Anyone who looked at him would see nothing more than another tired young man returning home from work.
But inside his pocket, the black gem pulsed faintly.
He could feel it.
A cold, strange sensation that crawled through his fingers every time he touched it.
He turned down a narrow street and walked toward the poorer part of the village.
Death Stock was technically a village, but it was so large that outsiders often mistook it for a small city. Wooden houses leaned against each other like old men, their roofs patched together with whatever materials people could afford.
At the far end of the street stood a worn three–story building.
Dravon walked inside.
The wooden stairs creaked loudly as he climbed to the second floor.
Room 12.
He unlocked the door and slipped inside before closing it quietly behind him.
The apartment was small. It had one bed. One table. And a single window overlooking the street, nothing else.
Dravon locked the door and finally exhaled.
"Finally…"
He removed his hat and sat down at the table.
Then he pulled the gem from his pocket.
The stone was no larger than a coin, yet the darkness inside it looked deeper than night itself. A thin black mist curled slowly around its surface.
"A Boost Gem…" he muttered.
His fingers tightened slightly.
Most people awakened their magic sometime before the age of twenty.
Some awakened at ten.
Some at fifteen.
The talented ones even earlier. And Dravon was nineteen And still havent even trancended to the first core.
He had nothing but the body he was born with. In a world ruled by sects and magic, that made him nearly worthless.
His eyes hardened.
"I'm not dying or living as a nobody."
The Boost Gem could force an awakening.
It was rare and cost more than 3 life times of his wage. It's the type of treasure that people like him valued more than their lives.
Which was exactly why stealing it had been so dangerous.
Dravon leaned back in his chair.
"That neko… she must be from the ruling family of this village"
He remembered the white ears on her head.
The rulers of Death Stock.
A powerful clan known for their connection to death magic.
Which meant one thing.
"They'll send investigators."
His eyes moved toward the window.
Outside, people were still walking through the streets like nothing had happened.
But that wouldn't last long.
Once the girl reported what happened, the entire village would start looking for the thief.
Dravon stood up.
From under the bed, he pulled out a small wooden box.
Inside were several items like throwing knives
two small smoke bombs, a map of Death Stock, and several fake identity papers.
He placed the gem in the center of the table as His gaze lingered on it.
"If I use it now…"
The awakening process could be violent. If investigators arrived while he was in the middle of it, he would be helpless.
But if he waited…
They might find him before he ever had the chance. Dravon stared at the gem for a long moment.Then he smiled slightly. "Guess I'm gambling."
He picked up the stone.
The moment his fingers closed around it, the cold energy surged stronger than before.
The air in the room seemed to grow heavier.
A dark ripple spread across the surface of the gem.
Dravon took a slow breath.
"Let's see what kind of powers I was meant to have." And then he crushed the gem in his hand
But as soon as he did that.
His viens started growing from his fingers all the to his neck turning almost black and thick as it extended all the way across his body and then his hole body was in maddening pain.
But he Held himself from screaming only letting out groaning sounds as he has trained for this moment but relising the pain truly made it unbearable.
Meanwhile away from his tiny house to the middle of the big village across many stalls and buildings and people, lays a huge house almost as big as a castle with towering Gates and a huge garden around it. With many guards partoling every inch.
And around it for 50 meters where nothing only after 50 meters would you find roads around and the stalls buildings and people.
The Ruler's Mansion
A girl slammed the doors open.
Servants immediately stepped aside, lowering their heads as she passed.
Her white ears twitched sharply, betraying the anger she tried to contain.
"Father!"
At the far end of the chamber stood a tall figure.
A man dressed in long black robes, embroidered with faint silver patterns that seemed to shift like shadows.
Behind him, a pair of white ears, identical to hers, stood upright and still.
Unlike his daughter, his expression was calm, cold and Controlled.
This was no ordinary man.
This was one of the ruling Nekos of Death Stock.
"What happened?" he asked with a plain expresion.
His voice was quiet but it carried weight.
The girl clenched her fists.
"The Boost Gem.. Father someone stole it from me when i was heading back home" she said this as she started sobbing.
And For the first time, his eyes sharpened.
Silence filled the room.
Even the servants seemed to stop breathing.
"By who?" he asked.
She hesitated, with a saddend look in her eyes while her ears lowered slightly. "…I don't know."
And flicker of irritation crossed her face.
"He wore a mask."
The man said nothing for a moment.
Then—
A faint, suffocating pressure spread through the room.
The air itself felt heavier and the servants bowed even deeper.
"Seal the village."
His voice remained calm.
But now, it carried something darker.
"Send the investigators."
His gaze turned toward the window.
"Find him."
A pause.
"And bring me the one foolish enough… to steal from a Neko."