Chapter 2: Chapter One : Chains and Chaos

Chapter One: Chains and Chaos

“The body was broken. But the mind? Still dangerous.”

Temple of Echoing Stars

Between Realms – Moments after Death

A warm wind kissed her face, fragrant with lavender and snow.

Ruki Yusato blinked slowly, her body unhooked from the choking weight of tubes, machines, and grief. No beeping monitors. No dim hospital fluorescents. Just starlight—billions of them—spilling from a galaxy of constellations above a temple carved into white marble.

A woman stood barefoot at the altar. Cloaked in living starlight, she watched Ruki with eyes older than time.

“Welcome, Ruki Yusato,” the woman said. Her voice echoed as if sung through galaxies. “You are not dead, not yet. Not fully.”

“Am I dreaming?” Ruki whispered.

“No. You are crossing.”

The woman descended the stairs. “I am Liia. Goddess of Recreation. Keeper of forgotten games, fractured spirits… and the wanderers between worlds.”

Ruki tried to sit upright. Her arms obeyed. Her lungs breathed freely for the first time in years.

“I watched you fight,” Liia said gently. “In a world of pain, you found purpose. Tactics. Strategy. Victory.”

“You watched me… play?”

“I watched you live.”

Liia waved a hand, and the constellations above shifted. Scenes flickered in the stars—her 2v7 arena match, her founding of the Seguri Alliance, her lonely nights logged into Untold Eternity. Her last breath.

“I am offering you a second chance.”

“But why?”

“Because the world I guard… needs a mind like yours.”

Vel’Dranis – The World Below

Liia spoke of a world called Vel’Dranis, shaped like a game but real as steel. A continent devoured by conquest. A world where factions battled for supremacy over divine relics and ancient power.

And beneath it all, myths stirred. Beasts of legend. Five of them.

Colorbreak Companions, they were called.

Creatures whose strength once kept the world in balance. But now… one by one, they were being hunted.

“There are five mythic beasts remaining,” Liia said. “Each linked to a lost legacy. Factions are clawing for them—either to dominate or destroy. The Holy Empire, the Syndicate, the broken tribes… all seek control.”

She raised her hand, and shadows of kings and tyrants flickered in the stars.

“The Holy Empire of Seravell, ruled by a corrupt Pope and Monarch, seeks divine conquest under the guise of faith.

The Vel Caedryn Syndicate, a trade empire masked as neutrality, exploits relics and enslaves races for coin.

The Swamplands, fractured and tribal, once held harmony with beastkind but now barter survival for power.”

Then, she paused.

“One beast remains unclaimed. Caged… wounded… dying.”

Ruki’s heart stilled.

“I will not say his name. But I will send you where he is. Whether you save him… is up to you.”

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Beastkin and Bloodlines

Liia grew solemn.

“Ruki… your new body is not random. It is a vessel tied to a fallen royal line. A Beastkin girl, long discarded and enslaved. Her mind has faded. Her heart broken. But her lineage is sacred.”

“Beastkin?” Ruki echoed.

“They are hunted. Enslaved. Nearly extinct. But they alone can bond with mythic beasts. Not through chains. Through resonance.”

Liia’s voice turned sharp.

“Others have tried to tame the Colorbreak beasts—using relics, brainwashing, corrupted magic. One method causes Frenzy, turning beasts feral. Another uses forbidden rites lost to the Elders. But only Beastkin royalty… can awaken their true forms.”

Ruki’s pulse quickened.

“So… you want me to become a savior?”

“I ask for nothing,” Liia replied. “But if you choose… you may lead them to freedom.”

Return of the Skills

Liia raised her hand, conjuring a single beam of starlight.

From it fell:

• A shimmering pair of earrings: Durecast Earrings

• A glimmering sigil etched in arcane gold: Copy: Magic Mastery

• A divine glyph of protection: Aegis Code

“These are your gifts,” Liia said. “What you earned in your past life. But this world is not a game.”

Ruki reached out, and the items fused into her soul.

“Your stats, skills, and tactics… return. But your body is weak. You are Level 1. Your mana is low. Your strength barely enough to run.”

“And the debuffs?” Ruki asked.

“A price for rebirth,” Liia said. “Your relics are sealed temporarily. Copy: Magic Mastery remains active—but casting is halved until you train your mana core. And your physical form must adapt before using Physical Arts.”

“And the fallen girl?” Ruki asked softly. “The one whose body I’m taking?”

Liia’s light dimmed.

“Some of your memories… are traded to preserve hers. You are one. But not whole. The name ‘Ruki’ will remain, but pieces… will fade.”

Ruki closed her eyes.

“Okay.”

Descent Into the Flesh

Liia stepped forward and gently touched Ruki’s forehead.

“Then go.”

“Wait—what about the beast you spoke of?”

Liia smiled. “Another gift. One you must earn.”

With a flash of white—

Ruki fell.

Kareth Slave Camp – Day 1

Outskirts of Vel’Dranis

The pain hit first. Her body—thin, sore, trembling—clung to cold mud. Shackles dug into her wrists and ankles, etched with magical bindings that stung with every breath.

Ruki groaned, blinking through strands of silver-white hair now tangled with dirt. Beastkin ears twitched against her will. Her tail—foreign and faintly bruised—hung limp.

A guttural voice barked from behind.

“She’s awake. The runt survived.”

Steel slammed across her back. Her vision flared white, but she didn’t scream. Strategy required silence. Observation.

Five guards. Ten captives. One rusted wagon, iron-fenced. Her body was weak—Liia hadn’t lied. But her mind?

Still sharp.

She activated her UI.

STATUS: Ruki Yusato

Level: 1

Class: Beast Lord (Suppressed)

Mana Pool: [ 47 / 180 ] – In Recovery

Known Skills: Copy: Magic Mastery (Halved Casting) | Aegis Code (Sealed)

Passive: Beastkin Royal Resonance (Unawakened)

Relic: Durecast Earrings [Locked]

Her lip twitched. “So… I really did die.”

Day 2 – Hidden in Plain Sight

Ruki moved carefully—pretending to obey, conserving strength. A single misstep would end her. Her first copied spell was a Tier 1 illusion used by one of the guards: Hollow Step. It cloaked footsteps for three seconds.

She used it once to steal a dagger.

Then returned it. Intact.

Guards never suspected.

She found one other: an elf woman chained near the wagons. Her name was Kaelira, a former protector of the Elthaleen Glade, captured while defending Beastkin children during a raid.

“I could escape,” Kaelira whispered one night. “But I won’t leave them.”

“You want to save them?” Ruki asked.

“I want someone who can.”

Ruki gave her a name.

“Call me Ruki.”

Kaelira’s eyes widened. “Then you’re…”

But the elf never finished. She only smiled.

Day 3 – The Spark

That night, a caravan arrived.

Inside a reinforced cage lay a bloodied beast—white fur streaked crimson, breath shallow. Shackles bound its limbs, a glowing collar on its neck. The guards called it a “mutant pup.”

But Ruki’s soul recognized him.

Mar-Mar.

The final gift.

A storm brewed above. Ruki coughed blood into her sleeve but didn’t stop working. She had drawn the escape plan from memory—routes, patrols, shifts. Kaelira handled the guards.

Ruki created a ruse.

A “training demonstration” gone wrong. She manipulated two guards into sparring too close to the cages using copied commands.

Then she triggered her one-use spell Flicker Shock

A Tier 2 paralyzing burst copied from a Syndicate mage two nights prior. Her mana dropped to 9%. Her legs gave out.

But the gate blew open.

Beastkin children screamed. Kaelira unleashed a volley of light arrows using her sealed Elven Art.

The camp descended into chaos.

Ruki crawled toward Mar-Mar’s cage.

He looked near death.

“Hey,” she whispered. “You want to survive with me?”

His eyes—those piercing, knowing eyes—opened.

She slashed the cage collar.

The Bond Awakens

The explosion of light wasn’t magic. It was resonance.

Ruki collapsed, but a howl thundered across the sky. Mar-Mar—still battered—stood guard. He didn’t transform fully. But he roared with enough divine pressure that the remaining guards staggered, dropping their weapons in panic.

Kaelira pulled Ruki back.

“She’s out cold!” someone yelled.

But before blacking out, Ruki heard one of the fleeing Beastkin whisper:

“The Queen has risen.”

And a single surviving guard, half-conscious and bleeding, st

ared at her with horror.

“That… that mark. She’s royal…”

End of Chapter One

Chapter Two: The Beast That Spoke Back – coming next.