I am Kael Ardent, nineteen years old. Just another college student trying to survive lectures, exams, and the dull routine of everyday life.
Classes, work, sleep.
That's how life repeated itself.
I wasn't the top of my class or some athletic prodigy. Just a guy trying to make it through life one step at a time.
No family. No special talents. Just an orphan with a quiet existence.
One night, after finishing a late shift, I waited at the bus stop like always. Scrolling through my phone, feeling bored and exhausted. That was when everything changed.
I heard the roar of a truck engine tearing down the street. Then I saw him—a little kid frozen in the middle of the road, eyes wide with terror.
I didn't think.
My body moved on its own.The world blurred. A blaring horn. Flashing headlights. Screeching tires.
I pushed the kid out of harm's way in time… but I wasn't fast enough to save myself.And then—impact.
A numb, confused stillness washed over me. Thoughts felt distant, muffled, like they weren't even mine. Time slowed as my eyelids fluttered.
I felt warmth leaving my body.
'Ah… so this is how it ends.'
With the last sliver of strength, I forced my eyes open. Through blurred vision, I saw the kid—safe, wrapped in his mother's arms.
I smiled. At least the kid was safe. That had to count for… something, right?
As the end neared, I felt no fear, no panic, Just peace.
Or so I thought.
But peace didn't last.
A strange weightless feeling washed over me, like I was floating in warm water, except there was no warmth, no water… just emptiness.
I tried to open my eyes, but I didn't have eyes anymore. No heartbeat. No breath. Just a drifting awareness.
'Am I… dead?'
The thought echoed into nothingness.
Then it struck—
A blinding, pure light tore through me, scorching everything it touched. I felt myself burning, unraveling—purified. Before I could comprehend it, another presence surged from below: a cold, endless shadow dragging me downward.
Two forces clashed—light and darkness ripping at the edges of my soul.
I tried to scream, but I had no voice.
No body.
Only pain.
My very essence was pulled apart… shredded… and then—
remade.
# # #
After what felt like an eternity.
Kael opened his eyes.
A dim green glow filled his vision—the inside of a large military-style tent. The air trembled with noise: newborns crying, hurried footsteps, the rustle of gowns and gloves. Nurses and doctors moved like exhausted machines.
A nurse lifted him gently, frowning.
"Hey, Doc… is this baby okay? He hasn't cried once. Just keeps staring at me. Doesn't even blink."
A weary doctor turned from his table.
"It's unfortunate we couldn't save the mother… but the boy is fine. Healthy, even."
Harsh light revealed the deep shadows under his eyes—evidence of countless sleepless nights.
The nurse sighed, pity in her gaze.
"Another orphan."
"I heard the father died protecting her," someone murmured. "An evolved monster hit the outskirts again. No transcendents there in time to save this poor family."
Silence fell.
Even the crying seemed to quiet.
The doctor scribbled the birth report—recording the arrival of a boy who had already lost everything.
"What about this kid?" the nurse asked softly. "Should we hand him to the military, the special agents… or send him to an orphanage?"
The doctor's voice dropped to a firm whisper.
"Before she passed, the mother made one request. Send him to a remote orphanage—keep him far from the transcendents."
He wasn't in a position to give this newborn the life he needed. All he could do was hope the boy found a future with less pain.
Everyone around the tent fell silent—some sighing, some shaking their heads. No one knew what kind of future awaited them… or the child.
Kael's POV
Warmth. That was the first thing I felt—a heavy, suffocating warmth wrapping around my tiny body.
Then, noise.Crying. Footsteps. Voices overlapping, sharp and hurried. I tried to move, but my limbs felt… wrong. Weak. Small.
The world above me blurred in greenish light, the canvas ceiling swaying slightly as if I were under some kind of tent.
'Where… am I?'
A shadow loomed—a woman's face, framed by a white cap. Her eyes widened."Hey, Doc… is this baby okay? He hasn't cried once. Just keeps staring at me. Doesn't even blink."
'Baby?'
I tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak puff of air. My throat felt nonexistent. My voice—gone.
"It's unfortunate we couldn't save the mother… but the boy is fine. Healthy, even."
I froze.'Mother?''Boy?'
It took me a moment to realize the impossible truth—the world looked enormous not because I wasn't standing, but because I was a newborn.
No way…
My thoughts spun as I processed the doctor's next words. His face leaned closer, shadows carved deep beneath his eyes."Another orphan," someone sighed. "The father died saving her. An evolved monster hit the outskirts again. No transcendents were there in time to save this poor family."
The words transcendents and evolved monster echoed in my mind. Clear. Disturbing.
'So my father passed away saving my mother.'
Yet something felt wrong. I understood every word. That shouldn't have been possible—the language they were speaking wasn't even English.
Another voice came."What about this kid? Should we hand him to the military, the special agents… or send him to an orphanage?"
Special agents… military…
I couldn't move my body, but my mind raced. This was the world I had been reborn into—a whole new, unknown world. And just like before, I was alone. An orphan again.
A hollow ache stirred in my tiny chest. In my previous life, I'd lost everything before I could truly grasp what family meant. All I'd ever wanted was to feel the warmth of being part of one, even just once.
"Before she passed, the mother made one request. Send him to a remote orphanage—keep him far from the transcendents."
I blinked slowly, the words echoing in my mind. Remote orphanage… transcendents…
I tried to extract more meaning from their voices, but the world was too big, too bright, too loud. My tiny body trembled under the unfamiliar sensations. My eyes fluttered, heavy and unsteady. The voices around me blurred into distant murmurs.
Before I could process more, sleep claimed me—warm, heavy, dragging me into oblivion. A fragile peace in a world that had already taken so much.