He opened his eyes.
He found himself as a baby, cradled in the arms of a woman who was looking down at him with tired, half-lidded eyes that overflowed with a love so deep and unconditional it was almost overwhelming to witness.
She had horns protruding from her forehead, curved and elegant, and appeared to have given birth to him entirely alone in the depths of a forest. Long white hair cascaded down her shoulders in tangled, sweat-dampened strands, and her beautiful golden eyes shimmered with an exhausted warmth as she held him close.
"...Please don't cry," she said weakly, her voice barely above a whisper, unease flickering across her expression at the thought that he might wail. A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw that he remained silent, his wide eyes simply staring up at her. After a moment, she cast a spell on herself, and the horns receded as her features shifted, transforming her appearance into that of a human.
"Well, let me take you to your father," she said softly, her golden eyes lifting to gaze ahead toward the city in the distance — a city surrounded by massive walls that towered against the horizon like the bones of some ancient giant.
An uneasy expression settled across her face, and for good reason. After all, she was a demon. But she pushed the thought aside and broke into a run, her pace quickening as she sensed the beings searching for her drawing steadily closer.
He experienced all of this in pure amazement, his infant mind struggling to comprehend what his senses were telling him. She was running at incredible speed, yet the wind that brushed against them felt impossibly soft, as though she were shielding him with some unseen force.
She was easily moving at the speed of sound — perhaps even faster — but he couldn't tell for certain, as to him, the world outside her arms was nothing more than a formless blur of color and motion.
"This is all my fault. How stupid I was to fall in love with a human and bring their seed into this world without having the strength to protect you..." she said with a heavy sigh, glancing down at him with a look weighed down by guilt. But she didn't dwell on it for long.
She exhaled sharply and leaped, her body soaring effortlessly over the towering walls, clearing the fortifications and passing through the barrier of warriors stationed along the top.
The sudden intrusion alarmed the guards immediately, causing them to arm their weapons and aim toward her descending form. But the moment her feet touched the edge of the wall, she moved again — far too quickly for any of them to track, let alone keep up with.
They screamed to raise the alarm, their voices echoing across the ramparts, but she didn't care. She didn't even slow down, simply weaving through the rooftops as she headed straight toward the lord of the city.
She reached his chambers swiftly, landing silently on the ledge outside and pushing the window open with ease. She ignored every security measure she encountered along the way, deliberately triggering only the wards designed to alert the owner of the room and no one else.
As expected, within moments, a middle-aged man burst through the door in a panic, his expression tight with alarm — only to freeze completely at the sight of her standing there, battered and breathless, with a newborn cradled gently in her arms.
"This is your child," she said softly, and the words left the middle-aged man utterly stunned, his body going rigid as she carefully placed the baby into his arms.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice low and strained as he took in her weakened condition, noticing the injuries she was trying so hard to conceal beneath her composure.
"It's nothing. Raise him with love for me. In a few years, I will return, and I promise I will tell you everything," she said with a gentle smile that only confused him further, offering warmth without any of the answers he desperately needed. But she didn't explain. Instead, she reached up and unclasped the necklace from around her throat, leaning forward to drape it carefully around her baby's tiny neck.
"I can help you. I'm the head of the Dragoon clan — even if it's the royal family, they can't touch you if I say they can't," he said seriously, his hand shooting out to grab hers before she could slip away through the window.
"I'm sorry, Ryu... this is a family matter I have to deal with. Just promise me, he would never remove that necklace, and you would love him with all of your heart," she said, her voice quiet but unyielding.
The man gritted his teeth, every instinct in him screaming to refuse, to hold on tighter — but seeing the look in her eyes, resolute and unbreakable, he nodded. Seeing that, she smiled — a small, tired, grateful smile — and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her baby's forehead, before rising to place another, lighter kiss on his cheek.
"You promised." With those final words, she disappeared into the night. Instantly, he placed the baby down on the bed and tried to follow — like hell he would let the woman he loved handle whatever she was dealing with alone.
But he was left speechless to find that even in her weakened state, battered and barely standing, she was still able to move at speeds beyond that of light. She moved so fast that he lost her trail almost immediately, her presence vanishing from his senses entirely.
He was forced to return home after losing all trace of her, and took his child back into his arms with trembling hands.
"You look a lot like her... I made a promise," he said with a gentle smile, his voice thick with emotion as he gazed down at the infant's quiet face. True to his words, he spoiled the hell out of his son, whom he named Vector Dragoon — pouring every ounce of love and devotion he had into raising the boy.
Ryu Dragoon had other wives, and naturally, they grew jealous of the blatant favoritism Vector was receiving. Luckily for Vector, his personal maid was a powerhouse in her own right, more than capable of protecting him from any attempts on his life, no matter how subtle or bold they might be.
As Vector grew up, he began showing the world that he was nothing short of a genius. He was crawling at two months old, walking steadily at three months, and speaking in perfectly formed sentences by four months.
He also took to reading with a natural ease that bordered on unnatural, drawing the attention of many within the noble circles as word spread that the Dragoon heir was something truly extraordinary.
Instantly, his father seized the opportunity and moved to arrange a marriage with the Princess of the Zenith Empire. The announcement was enormous — a union of that caliber sent ripples through every noble house in the land.
It even forced Ryu's jealous wives to watch their steps, shifting their strategies entirely as they began trying to win Vector's favor while he was still young and impressionable. This, in turn, meant that Vector's half-siblings suddenly started trying to become his friends, appearing at his side with warm smiles and eager eyes — though most of them were seething with jealousy beneath the surface. But they hid such things well, burying their resentment behind carefully practiced kindness.
Regardless, Vector began training at the age of one year old. Thanks to the existence of magic, he could push his body through grueling routines without having to worry about any negative side effects on his still-developing frame.
Vector showed exceptional skill from the very start, mastering the moves they taught him in record time, pushing his body well beyond its limits with a willpower that left even seasoned warriors watching in quiet disbelief.
He was titled the most talented person of his generation at the age of two. By that point, he had already mastered the sword, the spear, the bow, and virtually all forms of combat — feats that most adults struggled to achieve in an entire lifetime, accomplished by a toddler.
It reached a point where Vector was no longer just learning — he was creating techniques of his own and refining them, improving upon what he was taught. Although these were normal techniques rather than martial arts or spells, the fact that a child his age was innovating at all was staggering.
By the age of four, he was sparring with fully grown men and holding his own. Such a feat was completely unheard of in the history of the empire, leaving the world at large amazed by his capability.
But at the age of five, Vector noticed that his father began acting strangely. People started showing up at the mansion more frequently than before — unfamiliar faces with cold, measuring eyes that swept over his half-siblings and him alike.
His father was clearly shaken by these visitors, rattled in a way that Vector had never seen before, and it left him deeply confused. His father was one of the most powerful men in the world — what could possibly scare someone like him?
By this time, Vector had gathered many friends around him. There was the princess, one of the candidates for the Holy Daughter from the Church of Light, the Holy Daughter's twin brother, and lastly Blaze — a young man Vector had personally saved off the streets and taken under his wing.
But for reasons Vector couldn't understand, the princess and the Holy Daughter, along with her twin brother, all stopped hanging out with him. One by one, they pulled away without explanation.
Vector wondered if it had something to do with the fact that he had demon blood flowing through his veins, but that didn't make sense — if that were the issue, he would have been killed long ago, not simply avoided.
His father grew distant from him as well, and the rest of the family followed suit. It was as though Vector had become some kind of poison that no one wanted to get too close to, a presence to be quietly avoided rather than embraced.
The sudden isolation confused and frightened him, and in the quieter moments, he found himself recalling those protagonists in the novels he'd read — the ones who laid low and stayed under the radar. Maybe there had been a reason they chose to live that way. Maybe they had understood something he was only now beginning to grasp.
For the next two years, Vector lived in a constant, gnawing state of fear for his life, never fully understanding the danger but feeling its shadow over him every single day. But the time finally came when he turned seven years old, and he, along with everyone else of age, gathered for the awakening ceremony.
Vector stood amongst the crowd, his eyes fixed on the group of people wearing black suits positioned near the back. These were the same individuals who had been coming to speak with his father over the past two years, and now, they had gathered once more in full force.
Even the king himself seemed respectful — almost deferential — toward these beings, though he tried to project an outward image to the world that he was the one in control.
'...Even the king is scared of them. No wonder he pulled his daughter away from me. Who are they?' Vector thought, his gaze drifting toward one of the black-suited figures who was smiling directly at him — a smile that sent a sharp, icy chill racing down his spine.
Vector watched as children went up to the crystal one by one, all of them seemingly making a conscious effort to keep a safe distance from where he stood. He noticed Leo, the twin brother of the Holy Daughter, glancing over at him with a confused expression — clearly not understanding why he had been told to stay away either.
But Leo's turn came, and he stepped up to the crystal without hesitation. The moment he placed his palm against its surface, the crystal exploded with brilliant golden light that shot upward into the sky, condensing and transforming into the shape of a massive golden lion that roared with a thunderous voice that echoed across the entire ceremony grounds.
"Congratulations — you've awakened your clan's famous ability. The Golden Lion," the man overseeing the awakening said with an approving smile. Leo smiled happily at the result, and went to his father, who, although despite his joy, was clearly too nervous to fully celebrate. He threw anxious glances toward the men in black suits, and to his visible relief, they showed no interest in him whatsoever. His father, seeing this, thanked the gods quietly exhaled.
The princess went next. She threw Vector an uneasy, worried look before turning away and placing her palm on the crystal. She clearly knew why everyone was keeping their distance from him, and the depth of worry swimming in her eyes told him everything he needed to know, making Vector swallow hard, his throat suddenly dry.
The crystal began to glow with a rainbow-colored light — something that instantly horrified the emperor, the color draining from his face as though he'd seen a death sentence written in the air.
At the same time, the eyes of the men in black suits locked onto the princess with a sharp, predatory focus, and her body instantly shook with raw, unfiltered fear.
They watched with an intensity that could pin a person in place — but then, above the crystal, only a small rainbow-colored flame flickered into existence, fragile and unimpressive, and just like that, the men in black suits lost interest, their gazes sliding away from her as though she were beneath their notice.
At this, the king sank back into his chair, releasing a long, shuddering sigh of relief while simultaneously seeming to age an entire year in that single, harrowing second. The princess couldn't move — her legs had frozen completely beneath her the moment those cold eyes had locked onto her, and even now that they had looked away, the terror hadn't released its grip.
She had to be carried away from the crystal, and those in the crowd who didn't know the truth simply assumed she was devastated because she had awakened a trash ability — Rainbow Fire.