Lior Croft: The Storm They Never Saw Coming!

The night the clan cast him out, the sky refused to shine.

Cold rain hammered against the stone steps as Lior stood before the sealed gates of the Azurefang Clan, his clothes soaked, his breath trembling in the wind.

Behind those gates were the people who had raised him, trained him, and without hesitation, discarded him like a broken tool.

“By decree of the Elders,” the guard had said, voice flat, “you are stripped of your title and expelled. Leave before dawn.”

No explanation. No trial. No chance to defend himself.

Just exile.

Lior tightened his grip on the only thing he had left: a smooth jade pendant, warm against his skin despite the freezing rain.

His mother’s final gift before she passed away from the shadow disease, which was slowly taking over the world. The last piece of her he still carried.

"Take this Lior, and never lose it. It will help you write your destiny." Lior could still hear his mother's weak voice on her dying bed.

"Don't speak like that, mother, you will be fine." Lior had said that with tears in his eyes, his hand held his mother's, tightly.

"No, My time is up, Lior. But remember, you will become the greatest amongst men and gods, don't ever lose the Jade pendant." She said before taking her last breath.

Lior's tears streamed down from his eyes as he stood Infront of the city gates under the rain.

As far as he could remember, his mother was strong and healthy, then she mysteriously caught the shadow disease.

How did it get into the palace, he couldn't put his finger on it.

The forest swallowed him as he walked, each step heavier than the last. His bulging veins throbbed painfully as he tried to contain his rage.

His father didn't blink before expelling him. All because he didn't develop an A tier talent unlike his stepbrother who was strong from the very moment he was born.

His father, lord of the city, felt ashamed of such a son, but his mother was the only one who stood by him all those years of despair.

However, when she passed away, influenced by his stepmother, his father didn't even wait for Lior to bury his mother, not even a final goodbye before he was exiled.

The world was dimming. Literally.

A creeping darkness had been spreading across the land for years, swallowing villages, devouring light, and leaving only silence behind. Even the bravest warriors feared it.

Lior barely noticed the shadows shifting at the edge of the trees.

He barely noticed the pendant pulsing faintly.

He barely noticed the ancient presence stirring inside it.

He had sought refuge in the outskirts of the city in a small village called Ravenshire.

Luckily he met a previous servant of his mother who had also been banished unjustly.

The main source of living of the residents of Ravenshire was recycling scraps found from the mines, and selling them.

And that is where Lior had been working for the last five years.

Unfortunately, he got sick, and because he didn't want to be a burden on Seraph, he kept his illness a secret. He kept working hard, determined to take seraph out of Ravenshire to a better place.

However, this night was not an ordinary night. The pain in Lior’s chest grew, the more he moved.

He still struggled to move. “ I need Just one more valuable item which I can sell,” he said to himself.

But his muscles gave up and he collapsed to the ground, coughing out blood.

“Is this how it ends?” He asked himself.

“And the novels say the good guys always win? What a shame ! So much for believing in happily ever after.”

“I am sorry, Saraph, I have disappointed you like I did to everyone. I am sorry mother, I didn't get to give you a proper good bye, but I am coming to meet you anyways.”

Lior closed his eyes and coughed out blood one last time. It splattered everywhere, and some accidentally fell on the jade pendant around his neck, bright red against pale jade.

The moment the blood touched it, the world stopped.

The pendant glowed soft at first, then blinding. The air trembled. The sanctuary walls groaned as if awakening from centuries of sleep.

A voice echoed inside Lior’s mind.

“At last… a worthy vessel.”

Lior’s eyes widened. His breath froze.

The voice was ancient. Vast. Heavy with power.

“Who are you?” Lior mustered a whisper, shivering as he scanned the area.

“I am Arkanos,” it said, “the God who conquered all realms… and grew weary of victory.”

Images flashed through Lior’s mind, worlds burning, armies kneeling, stars shattering under a single hand.

“No opponent remained. No challenge endured. So I sealed myself into this jade, to begin again as mortal.”

The pendant pulsed like a heartbeat.

“And you… child of despair… have awakened me.”

Lior tried to speak, but the voice continued, calm and absolute.

“Do not fear. I will not take your life. I will share it.”

A surge of warmth flooded his body, knitting torn veins, filling him with strength he had never known.

“Rise, Lior Croft. Your destiny has been rewritten.”

The darkness outside the sanctuary recoiled.

And for the first time since his exile, Lior felt something spark inside him.

Hope.