Alex lay in the narrow dormitory bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft scratch of Gareth's pen against parchment. His roommate was a steady presence at the desk, focused entirely on his studies with the kind of single-minded dedication that Alex found oddly comforting. No probing questions, no attempts at friendship, just quiet coexistence.
The system's interface flickered insistently in his peripheral vision, as it had for days now since the ceremony. The notification hung there like a persistent whisper, demanding his attention:
[Level Up Available]
[Current Level: 2]
[Manual Activation Now Available]
[Warning: This action cannot be undone]
[Activate abilities? Y/N]
Alex turned onto his side, facing the wall. One day until the reclassification ceremony. Tomorrow he'd have to stand before another Classification Stone and reveal... what? His unclassified status? Some manufactured weakness that would make him appear harmless?
Or he could activate whatever the system was offering now, in the privacy of his dormitory room, and understand what he was truly capable of before facing the academy's scrutiny tomorrow.
The memory of his death flickered through his mind—the betrayal, the pain, the helplessness. He'd died weak and unprepared, trusting in people who saw him as nothing more than a stepping stone. In this life, he needed every advantage he could get.
'Knowledge is power. And power is survival.'
With a mental push, Alex focused on the notification and selected 'Y'.
The world exploded into agony.
It felt like liquid fire had been injected directly into his veins, racing through his circulatory system and burning away everything in its path. His muscles seized, his back arching involuntarily as wave after wave of transformation tore through his body. He bit down on his pillow to muffle the scream that threatened to escape, his vision going white with pain.
'What have I done? What have I done?'
The agony was beyond anything he'd experienced—worse than the blade that had ended his previous life, worse than the betrayal that had shattered his heart. His bones felt like they were being dissolved and reformed, his organs shifting and realigning themselves according to some cosmic blueprint. The white hair that had appeared after the ceremony began to gleam with an inner light, and for a terrifying moment, Alex was convinced he was dying all over again.
'So this is how I die. Again. Alone in a dormitory room, trusting something I shouldn't have trusted.'
Regret flooded through him alongside the physical torment. He should have waited. Should have been more careful. Should have learned from his first death that rushing into unknown situations led to disaster. The system could have been lying, could have been a trap, could have been—
Through the haze of agony, he was dimly aware of Gareth's chair scraping against the floor, his roommate's voice calling his name with growing urgency. But Alex couldn't respond, couldn't even move as the system rewrote his very essence.
The pain reached a crescendo that made his previous death seem like a gentle caress by comparison. Every nerve ending screamed in protest, every cell in his body burning as it was enhanced and transformed. His consciousness began to fragment, reality blurring at the edges as his mind struggled to process the fundamental changes taking place.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the agony stopped.
Alex's body went limp against the mattress, his breathing shallow and ragged. The pillow beneath his head was soaked with sweat, and he could taste blood where he'd bitten his tongue to keep from screaming.
Through the fading haze of pain, text began to appear in his vision:
[System Reboot Complete]
[Welcome back, Host]
[Integration Status: 100% Successful]
The words seemed to pulse with their own inner light, and Alex felt something deep within his chest responding to them—a wellspring of power that hadn't been there before. But before he could explore this new sensation, before he could understand what had been awakened within him, darkness claimed his consciousness entirely.
The last thing he heard was Gareth's voice, sharp with concern: "Kael? Kael, what's happening to you?"
Then everything went black.********
******
Miles away from the dormitory where Alex writhed in agony, the rift pulsed one final time before reality tore apart like wet fabric.
A figure stepped through—not the monstrous creature they'd been expecting, but a man. Tall, broad-shouldered, with jet black hair and eyes like burning coals. His clothes were travel-worn but well-made, the kind of gear meant for long expeditions into hostile territory.
"Defensive positions!" Marwen roared, his sword materializing in a blaze of light. "Unknown entity, identify yourself!"
The man paused, brushing dust from his sleeve with casual indifference. His gaze swept across their formation with the practiced eye of a veteran assessing raw recruits.
"Unknown entity?" His voice carried across the distance with dark amusement. "Has the military truly grown so weak that they can't recognize their own legends?"
Edmund's fire abilities flared to life instinctively. "I don't care who you claim to be—you came through a rift, which makes you a threat!"
Flames erupted from Edmund's hands, a concentrated blast of fire that could melt steel. The black-haired man watched the attack approach with professional interest, then raised his left hand. Fire met fire—but where Edmund's flames were orange and crude, the stranger's were deep crimson and precisely controlled.
Edmund's attack didn't just stop—it was absorbed, refined, and redirected back at him in a perfect spiral of superheated air that passed inches from his face.
"B-rank thermal manipulation," the man observed, lowering his hand. "Decent raw power, but your control is sloppy. You're wasting at least thirty percent of your energy output through inefficient channeling."
"What the hell—" Thane began, but his words were cut off as the figure gestured with his right hand.
Space folded. Not the crude portal-making that Thane struggled with, but elegant manipulation of dimensional fabric. The man stepped through a tear in reality and emerged directly beside the spatial manipulator.
"And you," he continued, studying Thane's partially formed portal, "are creating unstable tears without proper anchoring. One miscalculation and you'll collapse the dimensional matrix around yourself."
He touched the edge of Thane's portal, and it stabilized instantly—the chaotic energy smoothing into perfect geometric patterns before dissolving harmlessly.
Thane staggered backward, his face pale. "That's... impossible. No one can just stabilize someone else's spatial work like that."
The words hit the team like a physical blow. Vera's earth barriers crumbled as her concentration shattered. Reese's enhanced vision flickered as she stared in disbelief.
Captain Marwen's face went pale as recognition dawned. "Fire and spatial manipulation... dual abilities..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "You're him. But that's impossible - there haven't been any news from you in over fifteen years."
"Fifteen years, three months, and twelve days," the man corrected. "Since the last SS-rank departed on the Northern Expedition." He straightened, his presence suddenly commanding. "I am Lucian Valorian, First Blade of the Northern Expedition, SS-rank awakened specializing in fire and spatial manipulation."
Edmund felt his heart stop. "Valorian... the Valorian from the legends? But the entire Northern Expedition was declared lost."
"Lost?" Lucian's expression darkened. "No, young man—and yes, I can see the Ashford bloodline in your features—we weren't lost. We were delayed. Do you have any idea what lies beyond the northern rifts? What waits in the spaces between mapped territories?"
"Monsters," Thane said automatically. "Hostile creatures that emerge from rifts."
"Creatures," Lucian repeated, his tone carrying disappointment. "After all these years, you still think in such limited terms."
Vera found her voice, though it shook. "The legends say dual abilities are incredibly rare. Most awakened only manifest one primary ability."
"True," Lucian acknowledged. "Most awakened are limited to single-ability manifestation. The rarity of dual abilities is what makes them so valuable in combat scenarios."
"You mentioned the Northern Expedition," Marwen said, forcing himself back into commander mode. "What did you find out there?"
Lucian's expression grew grim. "What's coming through the rifts. Why they're becoming more frequent, more organized." He paused, his gaze distant. "The Northern Expedition wasn't just an exploration mission, Captain. It was a reconnaissance operation. And what we found beyond the mapped territories..."
He looked directly at their formation. "Let me ask you something. In your experience, do rift creatures learn? Do they adapt their tactics based on your responses?"
"They're just beasts," Thane said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"Just beasts?" Lucian's laugh was bitter. "Captain, have you noticed an increase in coordinated attacks? Creatures that seem to know your standard response protocols? Beasts that adapt to your awakened abilities faster than they should?"
Marwen's face went pale. "How could you know about that? Those reports are classified."
"Because I've been fighting the intelligence that's directing them." Kieran's voice carried the weight of years spent in hostile territory. "The entity that's been studying your kingdom, learning your weaknesses, preparing for something far worse than random creature incursions."
The communication crystal at Marwen's belt suddenly crackled to life. Colonel Hestian's voice came through, tight with urgency.
"Perimeter Team Alpha, report your status immediately. We're detecting massive energy fluctuations from your position."
Lucian glanced at the crystal, then at the captain. "Perhaps it's time I spoke with your commanding officer. It seems there's much your military leadership needs to understand about the true nature of this conflict."
He reached for the communication crystal, and his voice carried through the connection with the practiced authority of someone accustomed to command.
"Colonel Hestian, this is Lucian Valorian, reporting my return from the Northern Expedition. I have critical intelligence regarding the rift manifestations and their true purpose. Request immediate strategic consultation."
The silence that followed was so complete that Edmund could hear his own heartbeat. Then, faintly, came Hestian's voice—shaken, disbelieving, but undeniably awed.
"Lucian? SS-rank Valorian? But... but you've been missing for years. The entire expedition was presumed lost."
"Not lost, Colonel. Delayed by circumstances beyond our initial projections." Kieran's expression grew serious. "I bring intelligence that will require significant revision of your current defensive strategies. The rifts are not random phenomena, and the creatures emerging from them are not mindless beasts."
"What... what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that your kingdom is under systematic observation by an intelligence that has been studying your capabilities, your weaknesses, and your response patterns. The random attacks, the increasing coordination, the adaptation of creatures to your tactics—it's all part of a larger strategy."
Edmund looked around at his shell-shocked teammates, at the legendary SS-rank awakened who had just redefined everything they thought they knew about the conflict, and at the stable rift that had brought him back to their world.
The legendary dual-ability user had returned, and with him, the terrible knowledge that their war was just beginning.