Chapter 1: Strongest Reincarnation
During the golden age of magicians, the masters of Aragath were at the peak of their power—reaching heights that had never been attained before. And for the first time in centuries, they pushed the land of Ryukon on the brink of collapse.
The warriors of Ryukon yielded land by land, slowly losing the seat of power. But amidst all these struggles, there were 10 Emperors, who achieved the highest peak of mastery over their techniques.
These 10 Emperors were known as the Divine Emperors, and it is said that they were the ones who halted the war and brought peace to the land of Ryukon and Aragath.
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In the middle of a forest, a young boy could be seen sleeping like a baby, stranded alone in the woods. Then he woke up
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AETHER'S POV:
"Hmhhm…where am I?" I hauled myself up
I looked up to the sky above, and it was perfectly clear and blue—not a single cloud in sight. The refreshing breeze drifted through my skin, it was both calm and chilly. I looked around, and all I could see was grass and trees
"What am I doing here, am I lost? What happene—" I froze before I could finish my sentence, because in that moment I remembered.
My past memories flashed before my eyes, and I started recalling everything that had happened to me
My name was Aether, and I was the leader of a group called the Osiron Corps. We were the strongest corps that moved in the shadows of the Empire, and we carried out every mission handed to us with no questions asked.
"This body… It's small and young. It seems I have been reincarnated into a new body"
During the great war of Azagor—a mission came for our corps, informing us the details of where the enemies would show up. We followed the order, waited where we were told.
But… it was not the enemies that came, but our own allies. They backstabbed us, wiped out our corps because they feared us, and that was how we died
"Kaeron Espada! You piece of scum, we dedicated our whole life following your orders, then you threw us aside like we never mattered. Just you wait, I am going to shred you into pieces—I'll make you crawl and beg for your life as I tear your flesh apart…" Is what any normal human being would say, right? But you see, I am tired, tired of this endless cycle of hatred that no one seemed to be able to escape.
Butchering, slaughtering, innocent children killed because of the greed of those who sit above… I am done with such unjustified cause.
Maybe I was given this second chance to exert revenge on the patriarch, but forgive me brothers, I don't think I can continue on that path. This life… I want this life to be different
***
A few minutes passed, and I knew just sitting still wouldn't be a good idea— so I stood up and picked a direction, and began exploring the thick forest before me.
Hours later I was now deep into the forest, "I've walked a couple hours now, and it looks like the forest is not as dangerous as I thought it was"
There were no bears, tigers or any sort of violent beasts. And before I knew it, the evening sun had bathed the forest in its golden glow. The sight was beautiful, I had never seen a more beautiful scenery my whole life.
I kept walking straight, and along the way I even found fruits that I could eat—so I started munching away my hunger. Maybe it was because I was now in a child's body, but I could feel the freedom and happiness I had lost slowly returning back to me.
Finally, instead of the same grass and trees that I kept passing by, I saw something different at a distance
"Is that pool, glowing?" A pool was gleaming in a beautiful shade of emerald green. I was curious, so my choice was obviously checking it out.
I brushed away the vines and leaves blocking my way, and gradually made my way to it. The pool was placed in a shallow basin below its surroundings, so the sloping path led me deeper than the surrounding land.
"It's beautiful, I have never seen a pool this enticing" I placed my hand in the water, and the warmth immediately convinced me to hop in, "It doesn't seem dangerous or toxic, this is a good chance to clean myself"
I removed my ragged clothes, and entered the pool in excitement.
"Aaaaaaaaa" I released a sigh of relief, "This feels great. It's warm and clean, and it even feels like my body is healing faster. I wonder, if my brothers would also like—"
"Hey! Little boy! Get out of the pool right now! That is the pool of Makdoral!" A man shouted from a distance
He was far away from me, and I stared at him in confusion, "The pool of what? What is he talking about?" While I was busy trying to figure out what the man was saying, the water suddenly started moving, "What! Don't tell me the pool is—Humphhh!" I sank below in an instant, as if I was being pulled by a force.
My body started heating up, and my insides were boiling as if I was being cooked alive.
I struggled, swinging and waving both my hands and legs attempting to drag myself up to the surface
"Can you hear me? Hey!" The man shouted, but there was no way I could answer him
I felt weaker and weaker, losing my strength by each passing second—And I even began hearing my heartbeat drumming in my ears.
…
Amidst my struggle inside the water, a mysterious soothing voice of a man emerged inside my head
"So you're the last Paragon" He said
The sudden appearance of the voice shocked me, "Grghhghssasjsg!" I attempted to speak out while I was inside the water, and almost drowned myself.
"I know you cannot answer me boy, and I don't need you to.
My name is Void Arthagas, I am the First Divine Emperor of the Land of Ryukon and the Lord of Erebus Sanctum.
Unlike the others, I decided to choose a human vessel for myself—and that vessel is you, Aether. Don't disappoint me"
The moment the voice stopped talking inside my head, the pain vanished in an instant, as though it had never existed. And instead I felt energised and stronger than I ever did before.
I swam my way back up, and gasped for air as I reached the surface. There, I found an old man staring at me
"How… How did you survive?!" He exclaimed.
"Only one in a hundred thousand are chosen by the lake of Makdoral, if you survive, that would mean…"
"Sorry, but who are you?" I asked him
"Oh, hello there little boy, my name is Oloris, Oloris Hollowolf" His demeanor changed in an instant, the panic in his eyes disappeared, "Sorry for suddenly shouting like that, I want you to know I had my reasons for panicking"
"It's fine, don't worry about it. But for an old man like you to panic, could you tell me why?" I stepped out of the pool, and quickly dressed myself up
"Hmmmm" Oloris rubbed his chin, "First of all, just know that you're special. The only reason you survived was because you were chosen.
Like I mentioned before, the success rate of the lake of Makdoral is 1 in 100,000. This is because those who survived the pool gain extraordinary improvement in their body.
Your bones and skin are enhanced, even punching a tree with full force won't give you a scratch. Only a chosen genius can survive the pool, so in other words, you're a genius"
Hearing his words, I did not know what to think—Because throughout my previous life, I was just a talentless hunting dog for the patriarch, neither a genius nor a prodigy. My hard work was what had allowed me to climb the mountain, not talent. So when he told me that I was a genius, it felt… fake.
"The red sun is warning us, the beasts will wake soon, it's best if we start moving. Well then, I hope we meet again little boy" He must've thought I was with a group—but I wasn't, I was all alone.
"Wait!" I stopped him,"I am actually lost in this forest. Do you think I could come with you? I have no idea where I am" Oloris did not seem like a bad person, and it was the best choice for me to follow a more experienced person in such a huge forest
He stared at me for a moment, "I suppose you could. I won't ask you questions on why you're here alone, but you'll have to do exactly what I tell you to do, no matter what, got it?" I nodded yes, and we began walking
Oloris turned out to be a werewolf. He had big cat-like ears but other than that, he looked exactly like me, like a human. He told me that he lived in a village called Wolfvillage. And
According to him, Wolfvillage was within Redwood, an area of the forest where many creatures resided in
Mr Divine Emperor wasn't answering my calls no matter how hard I tried communicating with him. I even asked old man Oloris if he knew about the Divine Emperor, but he told me he had no idea, so it remains a mystery as to who he was
After a few more minutes of walking , we could finally see the torches burning in Wolfvillage
"With the help of the shortcuts I created a long time ago, we managed to reach the village within a few minutes, I am quite creative haha. So Aether, are you nervous?"
I was not particularly nervous, rather it was excitement that filled my body, "Not really" I answered
"Good, because there will be those that won't accept you right away. Werewolfs and humans have never been on good terms, so you'll have to prove yourself trustworthy"
We continued walking, and then stood before a stone gate that was singly standing. "The village, it's not what I expected"
"And what were you expecting?" He asked me
"I thought there would be walls, or towers that guard the village. Instead you guys just build houses in the middle of a forest and put torches to light it up" I questioned their safety, as all the places I had ever been to were always protected by walls
"Well, it might not look safe at first, but I can assure you that it's safe. Not a single beast will be able to enter the village without us knowing"
"And why is that?"
"You see that huge bone fire in the middle of the village? He pointed his finger towards the middle of the village where a bright yellow light shone out, "That is what keeps the beasts away and warn us if they did enter"
"How exactly does it—"
"Lord Oloris!!" A man rushed towards us, he came from within the village
"Where were you Lord Oloris, everyone is worried because of you, you shouldn't—" He noticed me standing in the back
"Who's that, Lord Oloris" His eyes narrowed, I could tell he was cautious and alert
"Oh him? His name is Aether. He got lost and I found him in the middle of the forest. He'll be staying here for a while"
"But Lord—"
"We'll be going ahead Kentaki, I need to talk with Fenris about something important"
"Y-Yes Lord Oloris"
After verifying ourselves, we walked inside Wolfvillage
"He called you Lord didn't he? Are you a king or some kind of royalty?"
"Whether I am a royalty or a peasant is not important. What's important right now is you meeting Fenris, the Chief of Wolfvillage"
We arrived at the central part of the Village, and before me was a circular wooden house that was both the main house and the largest house in the village.
"This is the Main house, where meetings and important topics are held and discussed. It is also the home of the Village Chief, go inside and tell the Chief I sent you."
"So you're not coming with me?"
"I have some work to finish so I'll leave the rest to you, you'll do great Aether, you're a good kid" He left quietly
I relaxed my tensed muscles, exhaled a deep breath and knocked on the door, "Knock Knock Knock"
…there was no one answering the door, so I decided to open it myself anyway.
I pushed the door slowly, "Creeeeeekk!"
Inside, the yellow shine of the torch lighten up the room, and there was a big table in the middle, with 4 doors in the back that seemed to lead to a separate room.
I took the next step, placing my right foot inside… then—
"Crack!"
I quickly turned around to the sound of the crack coming from behind, but a knife was already at my throat
The man stood behind me, and he talked in an intimidating tone, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
End of Chapter 1.