Within the world of Centuury there are thousands of stories yet to be discovered, tales yet to be told by bards and normal people who speak of their names. They come from the lowest parts of society all the way up to the most powerful beings in this universe. But one story must stand out from the others, and it has to be based on the lives of those who lived it. These are the heroes and heroines who have to face the extraordinaries of this world, whether they're just normal people or very powerful wizards.
Now for this story, an adventure that will take us to many parts of this world that is yet to be seen and given life. We'll start with this person here, a woman who is full of hopes and dreams for her future. But unfortunately for her, she wasn't born with the powers that now rule these ancient lands of Arkanus. She was born as an ancient human being called a Centuurian, not an Arkanian. While the Arkanians are people who can wield magic because of a natural biological evolution that gave them a second heart called a "mana heart", and they're now more connected with the broader world where magic rules. Where beasts can cast spells with unimaginable consequences.
Yes, Brina Feldwyn was just an ordinary person. In fact, Centuurians are the original human race in this world. Some of them still control parts of the broader world of Centuury, but here in the three super subcontinents of Arkanus they're being replaced more and more with each generation by these super humans called Arkanians.
Now, Brina Feldwyn is currently twenty years old, born on the eighteenth day of the third month in the thirteen-month cycle of this world. She's already an adult by all standards since thirteen is the age when most are considered adults. Although the Arkanians live long lives, normal Centuurians don't. Most people, if they survive long enough and are lucky, might reach around a hundred years old.
Brina is still currently unmarried, which is quite unusual actually. She's more manly than her peers in the way she lives her life. Unusual but not uncommon, as many women in their village have these tendencies. Despite this, their faces are fair—no, they're quite beautiful actually, beautiful enough that most men would swoon as soon as they see them.
But Brina is headstrong and doesn't take any crap from other people. She has set her own standards for who she could marry, and so far none of the brutish, unintelligent men of their hamlet have made any lasting impression on her.
She currently lives with her parents and with her unmarried brother Ren Feldwyn, who's twenty-five. They're both unmarried though she doesn't understand why her older brother hasn't married yet. He has many more excuses than she does.
Most people in this settlement are pure-blooded Centuurians. They live in a district at the southern tip of the central subcontinent of Arkanus, a separated island of fifty thousand square kilometers. Their ancestors moved here long ago to escape the harsher mainland continents. They're about a thousand kilometers away from the mainland, separated by an ocean. The kingdom here is named after the first king of their ancestors—Mindrifth. It has a moderately sized city of the same name.
There are many other settlements besides theirs in this hamlet called Wynstead where Brina lives. Her parents are Bronson Feldwyn, who's fifty, and her mother Emira Feldwyn, who's forty-seven. They had their children quite late in their twenties.
Now although Brina lives in somewhat more comfort compared to most settlements that constantly get raided by bandits and beasts, by all means they aren't rich. They live in a quaint thatched-roof wooden-walled house. It has quite the appeal as most of them live in a fairly safe countryside neighborhood. Their hamlet is within the boundaries of the larger town called Helwind Valley and regular patrols of soldiers sometimes pass by.
Her parents work in the fields and sometimes her father and brother hunt in the nearby forest. Both she and her brother would help them in the field work.
But Brina has a dream to one day go out into the broader world and explore and see what it has to offer. But she doesn't know where to start or what her journey should look like. It's just a dream, and dreams when thought of for too long and are never achieved tend to vanish—unless some external force comes to make them real.
Brina's dreams will soon become reality, as her current life would come crashing down fast on her.
Because the dangers of this world always loom in the darkening shadows, keeping everyone on their toes. And far in the distance beyond the sight of the village, through the massive canopies of the ancient trees that stood for millennia, a battle has started. Between a patrol group of soldiers and an unimaginably powerful beast that should have been asleep but is awake instead.
The afternoon sun hangs over Wynstead, casting long shadows across the dirt paths between houses. Brina stands in the doorway of her family's home, wiping her hands on her apron after helping her mother prepare the evening meal. The air feels strange somehow, heavy with something she can't quite name.
"Brina!" her mother calls from inside. "Stop your daydreaming and bring in the washing before the dew falls."
She turns with a slight roll of her eyes, though there's affection in the gesture. Her mother means well, even if her concerns rarely go beyond the immediate needs of home and family. Brina walks to where the clothes hang on lines stretched between the makeshift posts, starting to gather them into her woven basket.
Her brother Ren comes out from the woodshed with an axe balanced on his shoulder. He's a tall man, broad in the shoulders like their father, with the same dark hair that Brina has. Unlike her though, he seems content with their simple life.
"You've got that look again," he says, setting down the axe and leaning against the fence. "The one that says you're anywhere but here."
"And what if I am?" Brina replied smugly, not looking at him as she pulled down another shirt. "Don't you ever wonder what's beyond Wynstead? Beyond even Mindrifth?"
Ren shrugs. "Wonder, maybe. But wondering and wandering are different things, sister. One keeps you warm at night. The other gets you killed."
Before Brina can respond, a distant sound reaches their ears. Something between a roar and a shriek, unnatural and terrible. Both siblings freezed on their tracks, their eyes meeting with sudden understanding. That's no ordinary beast.
The danger that has been brewing beyond their sight is about to arrive at their doorstep, and with it, everything Brina has known is about to change.