Threads of Fate

Shin Miyuki: Year 1403

The Redarian Kingdom was vast, its rolling hills and dense forests hiding many secrets, but none more mysterious than the people who lived in the shadows of its splendor. In the bustling city of Kaeshiro, where the noble houses thrived and merchants filled the streets with their wares, there was another side—one much less glamorous. It was in the narrow, winding alleys on the outskirts of the city that Shin Miyuki was born.

Shin's early years were marked by hunger and hardship. His family, barely scraping by, lived in a crumbling stone house at the edge of the Redarian capital. The clatter of wagons on cobbled streets and the murmur of distant voices filled the air, but inside, there was only silence. His father, once a promising adventurer, had lost his arm in a failed quest. The accident had shattered not only his body but also his spirit. His mother worked tirelessly, stitching clothes for the wealthy merchants, her hands worn and raw from years of thankless labor. They earned just enough to survive—barely.

From a young age, Shin knew the sting of weakness. His small frame and frail body were often the target of other children, who bullied and mocked him for his meager strength. He would come home bruised and bleeding, his pride shattered, and would silently curl up in the corner of the small room he shared with his family, trying to hide his tears. His father, though broken, always looked at him with disapproval—disappointed that his only son had inherited none of the strength that had once defined their family name.

"Strength is everything in this world, Shin," his father would mutter bitterly. "Without it, you're nothing."

These words burned in Shin's mind, haunting him as he grew older. But what could he do? His body was weak, and magic—a power so revered in the kingdom—seemed beyond his reach. Though mana flowed through everyone in some form, Shin could barely spark a flame in the palm of his hand. He would watch other children, children from better homes, manipulate magic with ease, calling forth bursts of energy and wielding it with natural grace.

But Shin refused to be nothing. Every night, while his parents slept, he would sneak out to the small yard behind their house. There, beneath the faint glow of the moon and stars, he practiced. He practiced until his hands ached, until his mana ran dry and his head swam with exhaustion. He tried to summon fire, to move the earth beneath his feet, but time and again he failed. Days turned into months, and months into years, but the magic did not come easily to him. It trickled out in pitiful bursts, barely enough to light a candle.

And yet, Shin did not stop. There was something inside him—an ember that refused to die. He studied, he trained, and slowly, painfully, he began to improve. The fire he could barely summon now flickered in his hands, and the earth trembled ever so slightly when he willed it to move. It wasn't much, but it was progress. And that was enough to fuel his determination.

As Shin reached his teenage years, the struggles of his family grew worse. His father had fallen ill, his body deteriorating from the old wound that never healed properly. His mother, working herself to the bone, collapsed one day and could no longer provide for them. Shin took on small jobs around the city, doing whatever he could to keep them afloat, but it was never enough.

It was then that he made his decision: he would become an adventurer. Not out of choice, but out of necessity. He had no wealth, no family legacy, and no powerful mana reserves to lean on—but he had willpower, and he had a goal. If he could just grow stronger, if he could push himself further than anyone else, he could make a life for himself. And maybe, just maybe, he could drag his family out of the pit of poverty that had trapped them for so long.

The decision to become an adventurer was not one Shin made lightly, nor was it one that came easily. The world of adventurers was ruthless, filled with those born into power, wealth, and privilege. Shin, with neither mana gifts nor the blessings of noble birth, was at the bottom of the ladder from the start. But where others fell, he stood firm, unwilling to let the weight of his beginnings crush him.