Prologue: August Vin Gardner

It was a previously dry field, now packed with the shiny silver and black of the armour on one side, a deep purple of the monsters on the other. In the middle is a mix of the two, with an addition of the red from the blood of the two species.

August Vin Gardner was in that middle, leading the group of silver to defend against the creatures opposite to them.

“You guys keep defending here, I’m going to charge ahead,” he yelled.

His blade swiftly sliced through multiple of the purple furred monsters, paving the way through the pack. Further up ahead, there was a mysterious glint that August wanted to investigate.

In no time, August reached the source of the glimmer. It was what seemed like a simple purple crystal, although marginally larger than August himself. He reached for the crystal. The moment he touched it, glowing violet text in the shape of a circle with geometric shapes in the middle flashed into the crystal.

A magic circle. Reading the text, it was a summoner ring—the origin of the monsters.

‘Who would do such a thing…?’ August thought. The wizards in the kingdom that were powerful enough to do this were scarce. The few that existed were reserved for the most royal of royals that even August, the son of a duke, could not contact them. The people he knew that had contracts were his father, the emperor and the crown prince. But what would they gain by risking the safety of the kingdom? There must be a few more contracts he did not know about, right?

Before August could think more, an indigo claw reached from the crystal. A muzzle followed, then limbs, a body and a tail. Looking at August, it growled deeply. Not for long, as August decapitated the creature for his own safety. Though, the moment the head hit the floor, more growls could be heard through the crystal.

Suddenly a barrage of purple monsters emerged from the crystals, pouncing onto August. He fell to the floor but used his sword to leverage against the claws of one, while a few more started to surround him. He was already fatigued from making his way to the crystal, yet there seemed to be no end to this new wave. As he was struggling against one, he had the chance to stare into its eyes. A black hole, lifeless. However, deep into the pupils were the reflection of the aura belonging to the caster. Smokey, sparkly, a deep violet with a hint of magenta. It seemed familiar.

While August was distracted by the majestic aura, a much larger monster in the shape of a wolf charged at him, leaving a large, gaping wound. August winced in pain, no longer holding onto his sword.

Is this how I die…?

As is blood gushed out, August thought to himself.

“But I didn’t even get to love anyone…”