THE LESSER VOW

Aister Fondal was never meant to be a hero.

He was the third son of a minor baron, too poor to return home and too ordinary to find work. When he stumbled into a vow with an ancient entity called Yardorh, he thought it was a lifeline. Instead, it became a leash.

The mark on his soul lets him see what others cannot: the invisible threads that bind slaves to their masters, traitors to their lies, and the broken to their past. He uses it to free the enslaved. He tells himself that's enough.

But two thousand years ago, others made vows too. They broke them. What they became is still out there.

And the ones who made Aister into a "Lesser Vow Knight" are watching. Waiting. They didn't free him—they made him a tool. A weapon. A pawn in a war that will reshape the continent.

In a world of slave contracts, broken loyalties, and debts that never die, Aister must decide: is he saving others, or is he just running from the monster he's becoming?

"A war leaves no clean hands. Neither does a vow."