RETROGRADECOMiCS31
Long ago, the Azhiro descended from the Sixth Heaven to save mankind, sacrificing their consciousness to grant mortals the gift of magic. From their divine act emerged the greatest mage the world had ever known, and from her legacy came Malgun and Gothic-two students whose love and betrayal would shape the fate of nations.
Centuries later, in a small village plagued by corruption and cruelty, a weak boy named Kai struggles to survive. Born with animal magic-a rare variant ability that lets him speak to beasts-Kai has no friends except the creatures of the forest and no wealth except his love for family.
When his father is killed on the corrupt chief's orders, Kai's mother is forced into desperate measures to feed her six children. As Kai grows, he falls in love with Shiodo, the chief's daughter-but when he dares to ask for her hand, he's brutally beaten, humiliated before the entire village, and banished with a death threat hanging over his family.
Broken, powerless, and consumed by a burning ambition, Kai walks into the Dark Forest-the same place that killed his father. He carries nothing but two promises: he will never die weak, and he will return stronger than the man who destroyed him.