Chapter 2: First Breath as a Glayder
The first time I opened my eyes, the world was small, soft, and warm.
A cradle. A room. Servants bustling about, speaking in gentle tones that felt alien to my ears, yet familiar in their rhythm. I was not yet a child—I was a consciousness in an infant's body, but the mind of someone who had lived and died twice already.
I felt the mana first. It was like a whisper brushing against my soul. Pure, untamed, alive. Beneath it, I sensed the flow of qi, the subtle hum of aether, and a faint vibration of nature energy that resonated with the blood of the Glayder family.
Curious. Analytical. I studied every detail of this world: the scent of polished wood, the sunlight slanting through the window, the movements of the servants. Even at this age, my mind cataloged everything. Memories of my past lives hovered in the back of my mind, guiding me.
I did not cry. I did not scream. Unlike other infants, I observed.
"Such a quiet child," a servant whispered. "The firstborn of the Glayder family… so calm."
Calm, yes. But my mind was a storm of calculation and planning. This world would be mine to shape—but it would not happen by waiting. Patience had its place, but preparation was everything.
Even in this fragile body, I felt the potential coursing through my veins. Magic, martial energy, and runes—if I trained carefully, I could harmonize them all. A system unique to me. A system that would make the Heavenly Monarch of Murim pale in comparison.
And then I noticed the first shadow outside the window. A child, barely older than I was, scavenging scraps near the Glayder estate. Hunger clung to him like a second skin. My gaze lingered longer than curiosity demanded. A future subordinate—or perhaps the first spark of a plan that would span years.
Even as an infant, I understood the unspoken truth: those who survive in this world are those who act before the world dictates their fate.
I would act.
And though I did not yet walk, I already began to move, silently, toward the path that would make me the Heavenly Monarch—a name that would one day echo across Dicathen, the Murim world, and beyond.
The world had begun, but I was already steps ahead.