The Soul Reaper

The eastern coast of the Valoran Continent is fertile and rich in resources, making it a highly contested region, plagued by constant warfare even before the founding of Noxus. ¤ (¯´☆✭.¸_)¤ ¤(_¸.✭☆´¯) ¤

In an inconspicuous slum, the Karthus family of five struggled to survive. He didn't understand why his parents, who couldn't even afford to eat, would have so many children. Of course, he loved his parents, as well as his sister and brother.

In this slum, death is the most common occurrence, especially when war breaks out, and scenes of people killing each other can be seen everywhere.

One day, Karthus's father went out to forage for food and never returned. His mother went to look for him and also disappeared into the stinking streets.

Looking at the people coming and going, Karthus felt that their eyes were full of greed, like hungry beasts seeing food. He even felt that his parents had been eaten by this group of people.

In such a place, losing the protection of their parents is tantamount to a death sentence, and the Karthus siblings were no exception. Being frail, they couldn't even escape, let alone fight back.

As death approached, Karthus smashed a man's head open with a sharp stone, blood dripping onto his face. He licked it and swallowed it.

He had licked his own blood before, and felt nothing but a fishy smell. But this man's blood made him feel nauseous, vomit, and dizzy...

Karthus had no idea what happened next. When he slowly woke up, he felt himself being carried by someone by the lower back, being swayed back and forth as they traveled.

Because he was not fully conscious, Karthus instinctively thought that his father had saved him. Back when his father's right leg was still intact, he often carried Karthus and his brother like this, while his sister received special treatment, riding on his father's shoulders.

After a while, he finally woke up and found that the ground was very clean, unlike a slum. He also realized that it was not his father who had saved him, because the man's legs were perfectly fine.

Karthus struggled to his feet, swaying a few times and nearly falling. After finally regaining his balance, he saw a strangely dressed person:

He wore a large wizard's hat, held a wooden cane, and had an owl perched on his shoulder, seemingly half-asleep.

This was Karthus's first time seeing a mage, and his curiosity temporarily made him forget his pain.

Did you save me? Who are you?

"I am a magician, and I will take you to a beautiful place."

How are my sister and brother?

"They were adopted by a nobleman and will live a wonderful life."

Hearing this, Karthus felt relieved and quietly followed the mage away.

They traveled a long way and then sailed for many days before finally arriving at a beautiful island— Fuguang Island.

During their time together, the mage taught Karthus a great deal of magical knowledge, all of which possessed immense destructive power, and some of the necromancy even filled him with terror.

However, he quickly got used to it, because the scenes in the slums were far more terrifying and real than any magic.

Upon arriving at Fuguang Island, the mage revealed his purpose in teaching Karthus: to become the Soul Reaper here.

This is a remote, isolated island where people lack a deep understanding of death and have no reverence for it, causing many spirits to be unable to rest in peace. Therefore, someone is needed to guide these spirits.

Karthus had no choice. He knew the consequences of disobeying the mages, and at the same time, he enjoyed the job, though his past experiences had made him dislike dealing with living people.

The mage had taught him a lot of necromancy, including how to communicate with the undead, control and destroy them, etc. Although he encountered many problems at first, Karthus quickly adapted to the job.

The mage left shortly afterward, giving Karthus a magic book as a parting gift.

Karthus was illiterate, but that didn't matter, because the grimoire could automatically chant its contents in the form of a song; Karthus had to do was control it with magic.

The magician said that no matter how powerful the undead are, the power of the magic book can be used to defeat them, but one thing must be noted: the magic recorded in the magic book must not be used against the living, otherwise it will bring destruction.

From then on, Karthus lived peacefully on Fuguang Island. He wandered around, using songs to guide the dead while studying the grimoire, and unknowingly became a powerful mage.

This went on for many years until a Shurima named Thresh arrived.

Thresh used his magic and wisdom to bring about innovation in all aspects of Fuguang Island, and people gained a complete understanding of death. This made Karthus much more at ease, so he settled down in a place called Ironhold, ending his life of wandering.

Because Karthus had a rather gloomy personality, he rarely interacted with people. However, he still caught the attention of a young girl, and through frequent contact, they gradually developed feelings for each other and fell in love.

Karthus was initially worried that his identity Soul Reaper would scare the girl away, but to his surprise, she didn't care and was instead very interested in his magic.

They came together from the beginning because of their shared interests, and being honest with each other is the best way to express their love.

Later, the girl defied her family's objections and married Karthus. A year later, they had their first child—a beautiful daughter.

From a child in the slums to starting his own family, Karthus was most grateful to the mage who saved him, but sadly he never saw him again after they parted ways, and didn't even know his name.

Nineteen years of blissful life followed when Karthus encountered his first trouble since arriving on Fuguang Island: his daughter had secretly eloped with a soldier from Ironhold.

When he found his daughter, she was pregnant and had been abandoned by a soldier who was just playing around and hadn't taken it seriously.

Karthus went to great lengths to find the soldier, and driven by rage, he used magic against the living for the first time— Requiem from the grimoire.

The sorcerer had strictly forbidden him from using the grimoire against the living before he left, threatening destruction if he did so. Yet Karthus did it anyway, his childhood experiences making him unable to bear the thought of his own children being harmed.

Sadly, his daughter died after giving birth to a baby boy. Karthus was heartbroken for a long time and eventually buried her himself.

Karthus remained indifferent to his grandson; he loved him, he hated him, and eventually simply let him grow up on his own.

Of course, he wouldn't let his grandson die, because he wanted this child to inherit his identity Soul Reaper in the future.

"The Soul Reaper should have a name, so let's call Yorick."