Chapter 3
Kael Ardyn – Present Timeline (POV)
The first thing you learn when you reincarnate into a magical academy?
People are stupider the second time around.
I stood in the middle of the Arcane Academy of Lurenth, watching as a twelve-year-old noble brat conjured a flaming butterfly to impress his instructor. The crowd of sycophants around him clapped like he'd discovered a new element.
"Behold, the Ember Dance of the Vireon line," the boy said dramatically."My father taught it to me personally—during a banquet."
I blinked.
Congratulations, kid. You just spent seven hundred mana to make a flying fire toy. Want a cookie?
Of course, I didn't say that out loud.
Because in this life—I'm the joke.
Kael Vireon. Lowborn. Magicless. Social reject.Known for accidentally enchanting his own underwear once during a rune test.(Okay, that might've actually happened. Long story.)
What they didn't know?
I'm not this Kael.
I'm Kael Ardyn.
Moon-Forged Archmage.Chrono-Soul Reborn.Your local magical nightmare, now wearing a cheap academy uniform.
I yawned loudly as the instructor, a man who once failed to recognize a cursed relic as anything more than a "decorative spoon," walked past me with narrowed eyes.
"Vireon," he sneered. "Try not to trip over your own failure today."
"I'll do my best, sir," I replied politely. "No promises."
He moved on. Probably to worship the kid with flaming butterflies.
I rolled my eyes and glanced around the training field.
The academy looked fancy—tall marble towers, floating platforms, animated chalkboards. But the deeper truth? It was built on the ashes of the old world.
Where I once stood as a commander, I now stood as a clown.
How poetic.
"Hey!"
A voice snapped me from my thoughts. A girl, maybe fifteen, wearing the bright red sash of a combat division student, was glaring at me from across the courtyard.
"This field is for active spell training. Not… nap time!"
I gave her a lazy salute.
"Training my patience counts, doesn't it?"
She blinked, caught off guard, then narrowed her eyes. "You're that Vireon boy. The one who exploded a library trying to boil tea?"
"Boiled it perfectly. Just forgot the tea leaves."
A few students nearby giggled.
Her face turned pink with frustration. "You're a disgrace to the arcane. If I were you, I'd leave before your next mistake sets the dorms on fire."
"If you were me," I said, "you'd be smarter."
She stormed off.
I smiled to myself.
Playing weak is easier than I thought.
Nobody pays attention to the fool. Nobody watches the one who's already dismissed.
It's the perfect mask.
But the truth?
This world is on the brink again. I can feel it in the ley lines—tension humming beneath the surface like a spell about to break.
Something's coming.
"Vireon!"
I turned.
A scrawny boy with oversized robes stumbled toward me, dropping books as he ran. Tommell, my only semi-friend here. A nervous alchemy student who always smelled like lavender explosions.
"The instructor just posted the exam schedule. You're… on the list for the elite mock duel next week!"
I blinked. "That can't be right."
"I know! I thought it was a joke too! But it's real. You're matched against... Lera Veyne."
My smile faded.
Veyne.
The name hit harder than it should've.
A noble house. A combat line. And—
"Elaria Veyne…" I whispered. The name of the woman I once loved.Could it be…?
"You okay?" Tommell asked.
"Peachy," I lied. "Just... thinking about strategy."
He grinned. "Maybe pretend to trip. Go down fast. Save face."
"Or," I said softly, "I could show them what real magic looks like."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Nothing."
As the academy bells rang, I looked toward the moonlit sky.
Seven faint moons stared back at me.
They had forgotten me.
But I would remind them.
Soon.
❖ END OF CHAPTER 3 ❖