The nursery walls closed in around Kael as Mira, his assigned chambermaid, slumped into the wooden chair beside Kael's crib.
She looked toward the door once more, the muffled sounds of celebration a cruel reminder of what lay beyond her reach.
"You're a stubborn little devil, aren't you?" she said, eyes staring at the golden-eyed infant who stared back with unnerving alertness. "Fine. You want company? Then I'll give you a story. Not some fairy tale about witches and moonlight, but the truth about this world you've been born into."
Kael remained silent—not that he had much choice—and his gaze never wavered. In his previous life, he'd spent countless nights memorizing heart diagrams and disease pathologies. Now, he hungered for different knowledge: understanding this world that had claimed his second life.
Mira's voice dropped lower, as if the walls themselves might report her words to his noble parents. "I shouldn't tell you these things. Lady Elyra would have my head. But there's something about you, little lord... something that demands truth."
Kael felt a surge of satisfaction. *Finally, something worth listening to.*
"Eighty years ago, this world was peaceful," Her fingers absently tracing patterns on the wooden arm of the chair.
"Not perfect, mind you—no world ever is—but stable. Countries had borders. People had ordinary lives. They worried about crops and taxes and whom their children might marry."
"Then they came. Not with a warning. Not with demands. Just... death."
"First, it was just strange beasts—monsters crawling from the deepest forests. Giant spiders with venom that could melt flesh, centipedes longer than ten men that breathed acid. Things from nightmares."
A chill ran through Kael's infant body. In his previous life, the most frightening creature he'd encountered was a professor who had delighted in failing students.
"Humanity fought back, of course. We had technology then—weapons that could rain fire from the skies. For a while, we thought we had the upper hand." A bitter smile twisted her lips. "The creatures died easily enough, and inside each one, we found something precious—beast essence stones. Beautiful, powerful crystals that could be forged into weapons stronger than steel. Everyone wanted them. Everyone thought we'd found a blessing."
She laughed, a bitter sound like cracking ice. "We thought ourselves victorious. Masters of our world once more."
The rocking chair creaked rhythmically as she continued. "We were fools. The true nightmare had only just begun."
Outside, the rays of moonlight vanished, plunging the room into shadow. Mira lit a single candle, its flame casting horror shapes across the walls.
"The second wave wasn't mindless beasts. These were armies—organized, intelligent, purposeful. Dark elves with skin like midnight and heart just as black. Frost elves who could freeze a man's blood in his veins with a gesture. Red orcs twice the size of the strongest human warrior, wielding axes that could cleave through stone and other unknown powerful monsters."
Kael's golden eyes widened. *Elves? Orcs? Was this some fantasy novel come to life?*
"They had something we didn't understand then—magic. Not tricks or illusions, but real power. They could call lightning from clear skies. They could make the earth swallow entire villages. And they came not by dozens or hundreds, but by thousands."
Her voice cracked. "They swept across the lands like a plague. Entire cities burned. Countries fell in days. The screams... sometimes I still hear them in my dreams."
A single tear traced down her weathered cheek. "I was just a girl then. I watched my parents die defending our farm from a band of goblins no taller than your cradle. Small creatures, but their eyes..." She shivered. "There was something old in them. Something hungry."
Kael wanted desperately to reach out, to offer comfort as he might have done to a patient in his past life. But his infant arms merely twitched uselessly at his sides.
"Humanity stood on the precipice of extinction," Mira continued, wiping away her tear with quick efficiency. "Until the Awakening."
Her voice gained strength, a reverence creeping into her tone. "But desperation breeds discovery."
"When human blood had soaked enough soil, something... awakened in us. No one knows how or why. Some say it was the gods taking pity. Others say it was the beast essence stones we'd been harvesting, changing us from within. But suddenly, some humans could wield magic too."
*Magic*, Kael thought. *Real, actual magic. Not rabbit tricks or illusions, but power that defies the laws of physics I once studied.*
"The Awakening only comes at sixteen," Mira explained. "When childhood ends and true strength must be found. That's when we discovered which of us could stand against the darkness."
Her eyes fixed on Kael with sudden intensity. "Your family, House Ardent, were among the first and strongest to Awaken. Your ancestors also led the charge in what became known as the Red Eclipse War. Thirty years of blood and fire and magic that scorched the very sky."
Mira's hand trembled slightly as she reached out to stroke Kael's cheek. "Blood painted the sky at dawn and dusk. But slowly, painfully, humanity pushed back. We drove the monsters into the forests. Built great walls around our remaining cities—not just stone walls reinforced with mana shields drawn from pure-grade stones, barriers of pure mana that no beast could breach."
She paused, her smile was thin, without warmth.
"That's when the real monsters showed themselves—the ones that had been among us all along. When safety returned, so did greed. The Awakened, only about ten percent of what remained of humanity, realized they held power beyond just magic. They could rule."
The candle flickered, nearly going out before steadying once more.
She gestured around the opulent nursery. "Your ancestors among them. The blood that flows through your veins, young lord, is the blood of conquerors. Of those who seized power when others were still counting their dead."
A bitter laugh escaped her. "And the rest of us? The ones who couldn't Awaken? We became the peasants. The servants. The Tools."
Kael felt a churning in his gut that had nothing to do with his infant digestive system. In his past life, he'd seen how power corrupted, how wealth divided. Some things, it seemed, can't be changed even in parallel universal.
"A few peasants Awaken—perhaps two in a thousand. Just enough to keep hope alive in the rest of us." Mira's fingers unconsciously touched a small scar at her throat. "Most became warriors of the houses. The lucky ones become breeding stock for minor noble houses looking to strengthen their bloodlines."
She shook her head. "For fifty years, this was our world. A peaceful time, if you were behind the right walls, born to the right family. For the rest of us... well, peace is a nightmare."
Mira's voice dropped to a whisper again. "Then the portals appeared."
The single candle seemed to dim, as if the very word had stolen light from the room.
"Tears in reality. Doorways to... somewhere else. They appeared in fields, in town squares, even inside homes. At first, they were curiosities. Then nightmares. After a portal would open, it would remain dormant for days or weeks. Then, without warning, it would activate, and beasts would pour through"
She leaned forward, her eyes wide. "The Dungeon Wars began. Still rage to this day. The nobles, ever opportunistic, formed Guilds to control access to the dungeons. The Deep Sect Association and the Church Order oversee them all. They send teams in to harvest beast essence stones and other treasures before the dungeons 'break'—before the monsters pour out into our world uncontrolled."
Kael felt his mind racing, processing this flood of information. A world of magic, monsters, and rigid hierarchy. A world where power determined everything.
Her fingers gently brushed Kael's golden eyes. "But you, young lord... you're different. Your eyes mark you. In all the Ardent line, none have had eyes like yours. Some whisper it's a blessing, others a curse. The priests call it the 'Eye of the Awakened God.' Whatever it means, your path will not be easy."
She stood suddenly, smoothing her apron with practiced movements. "Grow strong, Lord Kael. Grow strong and protect those who cannot protect themselves. That is the only nobility worth having."
As she turned to leave, Kael felt something stir within him—not just anger or frustration, but resolve. In his previous life, he'd wanted to heal, to save lives. He'd failed, cut down before he could even begin.
This world was cruel, crueler perhaps than the one he'd left. But he was here now, born into power and privilege he hadn't earned but could wield. A second chance.
*I will grow strong*, he promised silently as Mira's footsteps faded down the hallway. *Stronger than anyone who has ever walked this blood-soaked earth. I will master this magic, this power. I will slay these beasts, not for glory, not for essence stones, but to end this cycle of suffering.*
A cold smile formed on his infant lips, an expression no baby should be capable of making. *I am the main character of this story now. This is my world to reshape. Not even the gods themselves will stand in my way.*
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky, though no clouds had been visible at night. In the nursery, the candle Mira had left burning suddenly flared, its flame turning gold for a single heartbeat before extinguishing completely, leaving Kael alone in the darkness with his thoughts and his destiny.
Golden eyes gleamed in the blackness, patient and calculating. The beast within him had awakened, and this world would never be the same.