Rise of the Hollow

Kael woke up on the warehouse floor with his fingers clenched into fists and his jaw sore from grinding his teeth.

No light came through the broken windows.

No one was coming for him.

The Gate behind him was gone, collapsed into nothing — like the bodies it devoured had never existed in the first place. A full dungeon sweep, erased from the map, and all he got was a shiver crawling up his spine and some vague… presence whispering in the back of his skull.

They're gone. I'm not. Why?

The System hadn't said a word since the trial. No alert. No cheerful reward chime. Just cold silence, like it was thinking.

Or waiting.

Kael stood, brushing dust from his jacket. The back of his neck still felt warm — right where that strange hollow-shaped mark had branded itself into his skin. It didn't hurt. Not anymore.

But it felt like something was staring through it.

Outside, Keldra was still alive.

Cars rolled by. Guild trainees walked down the street in uniform. A kid ran past, holding a bubble-blowing wand like it was a holy sword.

Nobody noticed him.

He could've screamed in the middle of the road and the city would've just stepped around him.

Typical.

Kael shoved his hands into his pockets and walked.

It took almost an hour to get back to the slums where he slept. His so-called apartment was a top-floor room in a condemned building that leaned like it wanted to fall over but didn't want to make the effort.

Inside, nothing had changed.

Peeling wallpaper. One rusted sink. Bedroll on the floor. Cracked window with a view of the same gray wall it had always faced.

No note from the Guild. No system alert from their networks.

As far as the world was concerned, Kael Veyne had never entered a Gate.

He sat on the floor, back to the wall, staring at the System screen as it flickered into view at his thought.

Dark. Clean. Blue-black like something ancient and digital.

Hollow System: v0.1 (Prototype)

User: Kael Veyne

Level: 1

Core: Absent

Corruption: 5% (Stable)

Status: Incomplete

Active Traits:

Veil Perception (Passive)

Residual Will (Passive)

Echo of the Lost (Awakening…)

Skills:

None

Still no weapons. No classes. No flashy stats.

Kael closed the window with a thought.

What the hell are you even for?

No answer.

But then… a flicker.

Words blinked into existence — just two:

You survived.

Kael blinked.

"…You."

The System didn't answer again. But that was enough. It wasn't just code. It wasn't like the Guild-run Veil interfaces or the Mana-Net. This thing watched. It chose. It spoke when it wanted, not when he asked.

So what are you then? A parasite? A curse?

Another flicker.

A beginning.

Kael leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "That's vague as hell."

No reply. Of course not.

Still, his heart beat faster. Something in him liked the way those words sat in his chest — heavy and strange, like a secret he hadn't earned yet.

Later that night, Kael stood at the window and stared down at the street three floors below.

Life went on.

A couple was arguing by a streetlight. A Wielder recruit on break leaned against a bike, flipping through his Guild tablet. Everything looked normal.

But Kael knew better.

He could see the subtle traces now — the mana threads drifting between people. Weak Gates flickering behind alleys. The shimmer of broken zones where reality wore thin.

The world's been cracked for a long time.

And now, he was cracked with it.

[System Alert: Observation Field Active]

Multiple Guild-type eyes have scanned your trace.

Current risk of detection: Low. Continue behaving normally.

Your strength grows best in silence.

Kael closed the curtain and stepped back.

So. The Guild had noticed something — maybe mana signatures left behind. Maybe a report glitch. But they hadn't come knocking.

Because I don't fit in their system. Because I'm not a Wielder.

The next morning, Kael visited the Guild registry just to test a theory.

The place was as clinical as ever. Marble floors, mana-screens everywhere, and a dozen Wielders-in-training laughing by the quest boards.

Kael stepped up to a terminal.

"Kael Veyne," he told the clerk.

She typed. Waited.

Tilted her head.

"I'm sorry… there's no record of you having been assigned to any dungeon activity this month. Are you sure you didn't miss your ID slot?"

He smiled.

"Must've been someone else, then."

And walked out.

[System Notice: Observation Level — Passive Cloak Stable]

No traces found. You are a ghost.

This is good. Ghosts grow quietly.

Kael wandered the city for a while after that, drifting between weak Veil zones. He didn't go near open Gates. Not yet. But he was learning.

Watching.

The Hollow was silent.

But it was listening.

And slowly, it was showing him how to listen back.

To Be Continued...