Inside the grand palace, the royal family gathered around a long obsidian table. King Caelum, Queen Lyssandra, Aster, Shia, Draven, seven-year-old Ash, and six-year-old Nia all sat eating in heavy silence. The table was overflowing with luxury only royalty could demand whale steak dripping with starfruit glaze, egg soufflé that shimmered with mana, wine that glowed faintly in crystal chalices.
To any outsider it was perfection.
Current Ash observed everything as a ghost tethered to Nia's tiny body. He could feel the silk of her dress against her skin, the rapid beat of her heart every time her eyes flicked toward him. He could do nothing but watch, powerless, exactly the way she had watched him all those years.
He already knew what was coming.
'This was the first night they truly began to change…'
King Caelum sipped from his chalice, set it down with deliberate slowness, and finally spoke.
"Aster, Shia, Draven. You three must prepare well. Your awakening ceremonies are next week."
The three nodded.
Aster's face stayed blank, yet a million schemes spun behind violet eyes.
Shia failed to hide her radiant smile; she had dreamed of this moment more than anyone. 'To be known… I will be the catalyst for this kingdom's rise!' she thought fiercely.
Draven, the battle maniac, flashed a goofy, eager grin. "Father, don't worry, we won't disappoint!"
"Right. I'm expecting big things," Caelum replied, then shifted his gaze to his two youngest children.
His eyes landed on seven-year-old Ash and immediately narrowed in disgust. The boy had been training for two full years—body-weight exercises, basic sword forms—yet he still looked frail enough to snap in a stiff breeze.
'Why is he so weak? Even little Nia is stronger than him,' Caelum thought, irritation flaring, before turning fully to the six-year-old girl whose attention had never left little Ash.
"Little Nia," he said, voice warm for once, "your growth is perhaps the finest this kingdom has ever seen."
Her rose-gold eyes flicked to him, surprised.
"However," he continued, "you must learn that not everyone is worthy to stand at your side. Great people are destined for greater heights. Do not let dust cover your diamonds."
Six-year-old Nia didn't fully understand the insult, but she nodded obediently anyway, then instantly looked back at Ash.
Throughout the entire exchange Queen Lyssandra remained silent, her beautiful face an unreadable mask. Only when Caelum's last words landed did her eyes falter for a fraction of a second, pain, regret, sorrow, before the ice slammed back into place. Current Ash caught it this time. He hadn't before.
Then the moment arrived.
"What about me, Father?" little Ash asked, voice small but determined. "I've been training hard as well. I'm sure I'll awaken a strong talent!"
The air turned to glass.
Caelum's gaze locked onto the boy, eyes flashing with open contempt. "Ash… you're not wor—"
"Little Ash," Queen Lyssandra interrupted softly, "it's not enough. Work a bit harder."
That was all. A Few words.
Yet they struck deeper than any blade. Little Ash's heart cracked audibly in current Ash's ears. The boy lowered his head, nodded once, and stood.
"I will work harder, Mother. I don't have an appetite anymore. I'll return to my room."
He bowed with perfect princely grace and walked out.
Current Ash knew exactly where those tiny, shaking legs were really going.
Back at the table, tiny Nia's lip trembled.
"H-how can we eat without Ashy?"
"The boy will be fine," Caelum said dismissively. "Now eat. You need nutrients for tomorrow's training." When she still didn't move, he sighed.
"I'll have a maid take food to his room."
Nia waited three heartbeats, then began picking at her plate.
––––
Later that night the memory shifted again.
Ash floated behind Nia as she padded through moonlit corridors, clutching her stuffed phoenix, searching every shadow. When she passed the open training grounds she froze. There he was, seven years old, soaked in sweat, wooden sword trembling in a perfect stance even as his body swayed on the verge of collapse.
"Ashy?" she whispered. Then she remembered his proud little declaration at dinner.
'Hehe… Ashy will be the strongest!'
She sat on the cold stone steps and watched him run laps until he vomited, do squats until his legs buckled, hold stances until he fell. Hours bled away. After some time she realized no one ever came to bring food for him. During dinner no maid ever came to get a plate nor had one showed up since she had been here.
"Liar," she hissed, and for the first time ever, she began to doubt her father. She vanished into the palace, gathered everything herself—leftover pheasant, warm blankets, a waterskin, honey cakes—and hurried back. By then Ash lay unconscious on the frost-kissed ground, fingers still curled around the sword hilt.
"Ashy! I got you food and blankets!" she cried, voice cracking.
She draped the blanket over his shivering body, set the basket beside him, and curled up against his side; small arms wrapped around him like she could shield him from the entire world.
Current Ash felt tears he couldn't shed burning behind ghostly eyes.
He had known she cared.
But...He had not known it ran this deep.
––––
The memories cascaded without mercy: every secret night she watched him train alone, every time the palace praised her while they were trampling on him, every tear she hid so no one would see the perfect princess cry for the discarded prince. And always, always, she stood in his shadow when he needed it most.
The final memory was the royal meeting he had never attended—the one where they calmly scheduled Kale's arrival in six months and discussed how to secure the kingdom's future by any means necessary.
Then, darkness.
Ash snapped back into his own body, sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor. An entire day had vanished while he drowned in her life.
"Nia…" The name left his lips like a vow. A slow, possessive smile spread across his face.
"I can't believe she trained that hard… just to protect someone the world threw away."
Now it was his turn.
He called up the waiting panels.
[Talents Acquired – Sol Invictus Dominion (S), Fire Manipulation (S), Crowning Flare (S), Solar Corona (A)]
[Bloodline Acquired – Celestial Emberlight (S)]
[Affinities Acquired – Cinderlight (S)]
[MP Acquired – 25,000]
[Choose three to be enhanced 100-fold]
"This bloodline is truly nuts," he murmured. "I wonder how the first owner died…"
No hesitation.
"Enhance MP, Sol Invictus Dominion, and Fire Manipulation."
Golden letters seared themselves into reality.
[A/N: I will show the description of the other gained aspects as he uses them and during training. I didn't want to info dump too much.]
[Absolute Sol Invictus Sovereign (SSS) | Passive Effects – Every source of light or fire (natural or artificial) instinctively bows to the user. The user can seize control of any flame or photon within mana sense range (250,000 metres). The longer any battle lasts, the stronger he becomes and the weaker existence itself becomes around him. After 60 seconds of combat, enemy ranks are forcibly suppressed by one full major realm/rank.
Once per month the user can manifest a true, continent-sized sun above the battlefield that burns for exactly nine minutes. Anything beneath it that harbors even a trace of hostility is erased from causality (no corpse, no soul, no record they ever existed).]
[Inferno Dominion (SSS) – Fire no longer needs fuel, mana, or heat. The user wills it, and fire simply exists (black, white, gold, paradox-colored, whatever he desires). Temperature range: absolute zero to the heat at the core of a star. He can freeze a kingdom with "cold flames" or ignite concepts themselves (burn someone's courage, their future, their name). Only works up to one major rank above the user.]
[+2,500,000 MP (permanent) – At the user's current D-rank core he can only safely channel ~10 % at once, but the reserve is there. Every time the user breaks into a new major rank the safe usage ceiling rises exponentially. By the time the user hits A-rank he'll be able to empty the entire 2.5 million in a single attack.]
Ash threw his head back and laughed, the sound wild and free and a little bit insane.
"Haha! This is just broken!"
He stood, rolled his shoulders, and reactivated the disguise that had slipped while he was lost in her memories. Soon, very soon, he would burn the mask away forever.
He pulled the cloak tight, flipped the hood up, and stepped into the corridor.
Six months was enough time....
...And
Seraphiel's Proving Grounds was waiting.