The clock on the white wall ticked with a lazy, dismissive rhythm. Each tick was a grain of sand falling in the hourglass of Kaelen's life, and he was painfully aware that the bottom bulb was nearly full.
"Six months, Kaelen," Dr. Aris said, her voice soft but devoid of the sugar-coating he appreciated. She tapped the light-tablet displaying his mana-spectrograph. The lines that should have been vibrant and cohesive were frayed, dissolving at the edges like ash in the wind. "The Mana Atrophy is accelerating. The treatments... they're just not keeping up."
Kaelen stared at his own hands, resting on his knees. They were pale, the veins a faint blue map against the skin. He could feel the constant, dull thrum of the world's mana like a low-grade toothache in every one of his bones. For most, it was a background energy. For him, it was a poison.
"I understand," he said, his own voice a quiet rasp. There was nothing else to say. No brave declarations, no desperate pleas. He had exhausted those phases two years ago.
The walk home was a blur of noise and light that grated on his senses. The city hummed with activity, with life he couldn't fully partake in. A massive holographic billboard displayed the "Hunter's Ranking," showcasing the smiling, powerful faces of S-Ranks like modern-day celebrities. Kaelen's lip curled. They lived in a different world, one of strength and certainty, battling in dungeons—Eclipses—that bled into reality. He was just battling his own body.
He reached his small, sparse apartment as the sky began to bruise with the colors of dusk. It was a sanctuary of silence. No blaring ads, no roaring sky-cars. Just the ever-present, internal static of his dying cells.
He sank into his worn chair, a book on pre-Veil history open on his datapad. This was his escape. A world before monsters, before Hunters, before a universe that decided to slowly, painfully erase him.
His musings were shattered by a deafening siren that wailed through the city. Red light flashed against his window.
[DUNGEON BREACH DETECTED]
[LOCATION: DISTRICT 7, COMMERCIAL SECTOR]
[RANK: C]
[ALL CIVILIANS SEEK SHELTER]
Kaelen's heart hammered against his ribs, a painful, frantic rhythm. He forced himself to the window. In the distance, near the commercial sector, a shimmering, jagged tear hung in the air—an unstable Eclipse gate. From it poured creatures of shadow and malice—Phantoms. They looked like walking distortions, all claws and gnashing teeth.
Then came the Hunters. A guild team, their armor gleaming under the emergency lights. A woman wreathed in fire launched a volley of fireballs. A man with a shield the size of a door stood firm against a charging behemoth. They moved with a grace and power that was alien to Kaelen. They were saving people, fighting back the darkness.
And all Kaelen could feel, amidst the fear, was a bitter, all-consuming envy. They had the strength to fight. He didn't even have the strength to run.