1 Born to the world or the void

"Please, please open your eyes, my boy," a woman pleaded, clutching her hands together. "Save my child," prayed the bedridden woman, who was now a mother. A man in shabby clothes spoke up in a low tired voice, "Yurei, I'm sorry, but he's no longer-" Just as the doctor was about to finish what he was saying, a cry filled the room.

Everyone in the room gasped in shock. The mother of this newborn child began to quietly sob, "Thank you, doctor." The woman continued to sob quietly as the doctor examined the baby, "It's a miracle he's alive. Furthermore, he's healthy. Yurei, this is important to hear; your baby has no magic." The few friends Yurei had in the room looked shocked but weren't important.

Yurei simply extended her arms towards the doctor, who was currently in possession of the baby, knowing what she wanted. The doctor gently gave Yurei her baby. "I'm so glad you're here, my sweet baby boy. You had me scared, but you fought through. I'm so grateful. I don't care that you don't have magic; so grow big and strong for mommy, okay?" Yurei gently brushed her nose against the baby's small open hands and began to speak, "I'll name you… Koku. Koku Kurayami."

From that day forth, Koku Kurayami would live, but the moment he was born, elsewhere in a dark place, devoid of anything and everything, had started to act up for some unexplained reasons, maybe an interest? But how could something devoid of life and consciousness be interested in something? The dark space that had once caused a great war, the war known for millions of deaths, the war that took place in the era of the gods was known for its cruelty and inability to create the 'perfect…'. Heaven, hell, and earth were nearly made into desolate places.

After recovering for thousands of years, the world was once again full of life of all kinds and blooming with magic and other forces, yet thousands of years later, the world still had scars of this great war. This great war was called "Voidfall." It's rumored to have left many artifacts lost and undiscovered; those who might find them may perhaps become the strongest of warriors or the richest of men… Some say this force, the void, is still lurking among the corners of the outer world, waiting to come back.

Some years later, after Koku was born, he found himself running away from a few grown-ups. "CATCH HIM!" a man yelled as another grown-up was about to catch the young boy's shirt. He took a sharp turn, "Not today, Mom has to eat-" telling himself, the young boy was hit by a man in his mid-forties. The man hit Koku in the stomach from the front with a wood plank. Then… "Tch, brat's lucky we ain't kill him." "Yeah, things like these are better off suffering than dying," the men laughed as they walked off after feeling refreshed after the 30-minute beating they had given Koku.

Laying in the midst of an alleyway, bloodied and bruised, Koku just laid there in defeat. "Mom's not going to eat at this rate," Koku told himself, struggling to get up. "Where should I go?" the kid wondered as he walked out of the alleyway and wandered aimlessly. After an hour, Koku eventually reached the outskirts of the slums in town where he lived, wondering this far, his eyes' attention was caught by something very important. "A rabbit," Koku gulped, knowing he and his mother were going to be full if he caught that. "Come here!" Koku yelled as he chased the rabbit, which was much superior in speed and movements.

After chasing this single rabbit for a few hours, night finally befell upon the sky. "It's dark out, but food." Koku had gotten used to some of the rabbit's moves and learned that rushing and screaming wasn't going to do anything good for him, especially at nighttime. So in a final attempt, Koku crept up behind the rabbit and dashed the moment the rabbit was within reach. After many hours of work, Koku finally caught the rabbit. "I'm not done yet; sorry, little guy, but I'm hungry, so is my mother. Rest well and let your soul be guided elsewhere." Upon saying this, Koku snapped the rabbit's neck.

After a moment of silence, Koku smiled to himself and cheered out in a cheerful spirit. After running back home, he found himself back at home, in front of his door. "Mother, I'm home," Koku said, entering through the half-run-down door. "Welcome home, cough cough, where have you been?" "Mother, look what I brought back, Mom," seeing what he had in his hands, Yurei was surprised, but more important than that, she was worried. After seeing all that blood on his clothing, "What happened?" she asked Koku. "Mom, we should eat while it's fresh, can you cook it?" Koku asked all cheerful.

It was obvious; he was trying to avoid her question, so Yurei sighed and gave in, "Come here, let me teach you how to skin it first." Yurei skinned the rabbit and cooked it after cleaning it. Koku was very good at remembering things and could often remember something with a glance, so it was safe to say this was a good and valuable experience for him to learn. After that day, Yurei had told Koku to go sell the skin since it wasn't of much use to them as it was. Koku did just that, and soon after leaving through the door, he ran towards the marketplace with the hide tightly hugged against his chest.

After making it halfway to the market, the middle-aged men who had beaten him up the day before were right in front of him. "Oh? Look who we have here. Come here, kid," the man took a step forward and cracked his knuckles. After doing this, however, he took another step and then another one. Koku, seeing this, began running away. He rushed forward and then began taking a right turn, and just as the man lunged at him, he switched the direction he was headed. So he took a left and rushed past him.

Koku ran like crazy, and finally after 10 minutes of running full speed without stopping, he finally reached the place he needed to be at. Looking at his surroundings, he didn't see the man who was chasing him. Feeling safe, he entered the old-looking shop, "Hello there," greeted a young teenager. "Hi," Koku said nervously while holding the hide; the teenager looked at what he held tightly and knew what he was here for.

"Come to sell that, have ya? Alright, please meet me over there, and I'll take care of you." Koku went to the front counter as told to and waited for a minute, "Alright, may I see the hide?" Koku was hesitant but gave the guy the hide. "Hmmmm, it's been cleaned to an ok state. It'll still need to be cleaned, so how about I give you 30 Verdigris, does that seem like a good deal to you?" the teenager asked, awaiting the kid's response.

"Mr. I don't know what that is; I'm 5 years old, so I still haven't learned about that stuff yet." Hearing him say that, the teenager smiled and explained to him how currency works worldwide. "Alright, little guy, so Verdigris is the lowest currency; it's made of copper and is the most commonly found currency in today's era. Then comes Argentum coins; these are made from silver and are worth 100 Verdigris for a single coin.

Then there's Suncrests; these are any poor man's dream to obtain. These are made from gold and are the most valuable ones. To get one of these, you'd need the equivalent of 100 Argentums. Did that help?" the teenager asked Koku.

"Yes, I think so," Koku responded quickly. "Alright, tell me then, what's 12 Argentums in Verdigris?" he asked Koku. "It's 1,200 Verdigris," Koku replied back almost instantly. "Well, well, look at you, I'll add another 5 Verdigris for passing this little quiz." The teen smiled and gave Koku 35 Verdigris and sent him on his way, "Please come back soon," the unnamed teenager said as Koku walked out.

On his way back home, Koku didn't run into the man, so he went to go hunt for a rabbit to surprise his mom again. This time, however, he wanted to skin it himself and help cook it. So going back to the forest which was on the outskirts, he found another rabbit, and instead of taking him a few hours to catch it, it took him 40 minutes to do so this time, but it did take him a while to find the rabbit.

"I'm getting lots better. Mom, I think the days of being hungry are over for good," he giggled after he killed the rabbit, and after giving it a moment of silence, he got going.

On his way home, the sun had started to set, and seeing his home come into view, he'd seen the door to his home open, and not just open, but wide open. Feeling that something was wrong, Koku rushed towards the door and then found the inside of his home a wreck. Turning his attention, he'd see a dark figure standing in the corner of the room, over a pool of blood, as Koku took a step forward, his facial expression grew from confused to that of sheer terror. What he had seen was...