The world was silent.
No wind.
No sky.
No ground that truly felt real.
Only white.
Endless white stretching in every direction like an unfinished canvas waiting for a painter who had forgotten it existed.
Reider stood alone in the middle of it.
His breathing was calm, slow, controlled. The air here had no weight, no temperature, yet he could still feel the faint rhythm of his chest rising and falling.
He looked around the void with quiet familiarity.
It had happened again.
This place.
This strange, silent world that appeared whenever his sleep grew deep enough to drag his consciousness somewhere beyond dreams.
Reider frowned slightly.
"I keep ending up here," he murmured quietly to himself.
His voice echoed softly across the emptiness.
Every time he closed his eyes and fell into the deepest layers of sleep, the same thing happened.
He came here.
At first he had thought it was simply a dream.
But dreams didn't feel like this.
Dreams blurred. Dreams shifted. Dreams made little sense.
This place never changed.
It was always the same endless white.
And every time he came here, one thing always followed.
Reider exhaled slowly.
Right on cue, the empty space ahead of him began to ripple.
The white void twisted like water disturbed by a dropped stone.
Then a shape began to form.
At first it was only a shadow.
Then a silhouette.
Then finally a person.
The figure stood tall and composed, wrapped in robes that seemed woven from shadow and faint threads of glowing light. His posture was relaxed, confident, as if the infinite void around him belonged to him.
Reider already knew who it was.
Or rather… what it was.
The figure opened his eyes.
Eyes identical to Reider's own.
"You're beginning to understand," the man said calmly.
His voice carried a quiet depth, as if each word carried years of experience behind it.
"How to hear your soul."
Reider stared at him.
At the man who looked exactly like him.
Only older.
Stronger.
Sharper.
His future self.
Reider shook his head slowly.
"No," he replied.
"If anything, I have more questions now than I did before."
He took a few steps forward, tension settling in his shoulders.
The distance between them closed slowly.
"About me," Reider continued.
"About you."
His gaze hardened slightly.
"About what the hell is actually going on."
The older version of himself remained calm.
Unbothered.
Patient.
Reider stopped just a few steps away from him.
Then he asked the question that had been burning in his mind for days.
"Who am I really?"
The void fell silent.
The future version of Reider didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he simply looked at him.
Studied him.
As if weighing the question carefully.
Finally, he spoke.
"You are Reider."
He paused slightly.
"But that name…"
"That body…"
"They're only a shell."
Reider's brow furrowed.
"A shell?"
His voice tightened slightly.
"Then what am I underneath?"
The older Reider didn't hesitate this time.
"Not human."
His tone was calm.
"Not fully."
"Not ever."
The words struck like a hammer.
Reider's eyes widened.
"What?"
He took a step back instinctively.
"That doesn't make sense."
His voice rose slightly.
"I was raised as a child."
"I had a family."
"I bled."
"I grew."
His hand clenched into a fist.
"I lived like any other person."
The older Reider's expression softened slightly.
"And yet," he said quietly, "you never cried as a baby."
Reider froze.
"You never fell sick."
"You never developed a core."
Reider's chest tightened.
"But not because something was wrong with you."
The future Reider's gaze sharpened slightly.
"It's because you were never meant to have one."
Reider's hand slowly moved to his chest.
His heart was beating faster now.
"Then what was I supposed to be?"
The question escaped him quietly.
Almost fearfully.
The future Reider looked up slightly toward the endless white above them.
His expression turned distant.
"Something else."
"Something older."
"Something that frightened even the Creator."
Silence followed.
Reider's mind struggled to process the words.
Finally he asked the only thing that made sense in his head.
"So… I'm a monster?"
The answer came instantly.
"No."
The future Reider's voice was firm.
"You're a choice."
Reider blinked.
"A choice?"
"A mistake," the older Reider continued calmly.
"But a mistake that became something meaningful."
"Something new."
Reider stared at him.
His mind spun with confusion.
"Then why don't I remember any of this?"
"Why did I start as a child if I wasn't meant to be human?"
The future Reider smiled faintly.
"Because someone changed your fate."
He took a slow step closer.
"They gave you this life."
"They planted you in the middle of love."
"Of pain."
"Of mortality."
His voice softened.
"They hoped you would grow differently."
Reider's fists clenched.
"Who?"
His voice echoed loudly in the void.
"Who would do that to me?"
The future Reider met his gaze directly.
"Someone you'll meet one day."
He paused briefly.
"She called herself the Creator."
Reider froze.
"But to you…"
The older Reider smiled faintly.
"She might feel like a mother."
The word hit harder than anything else.
Mother.
Reider's thoughts fell silent.
His entire life suddenly felt… strange.
Uncertain.
Like pieces of a puzzle that had been placed there by someone else.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he asked quietly.
The future Reider's answer was simple.
"Wait."
"Learn."
"And remember something important."
He looked directly into Reider's eyes.
"Your past doesn't define your future."
"It only informs it."
Reider swallowed slowly.
"You choose the shape it takes."
Reider looked down at his hands.
Then he asked one final question.
"Even if I wasn't meant to be human…"
He looked back up.
"Can I still protect the people I care about?"
The future Reider smiled.
A genuine one this time.
"You already are."
He stepped back.
"And one day…"
"You'll protect much more."
Suddenly—
CRACK.
The void shattered.
Light split the empty space like lightning tearing through glass.
The world around them began breaking apart.
Fragments of white dissolved into glowing particles.
Reider felt his body becoming lighter.
Fading.
"You're waking up," the future Reider said calmly.
His voice was already becoming distant.
Reider reached forward instinctively.
"Wait—"
But it was too late.
The world exploded into light.
FWOOOM.
Everything vanished.
The last words of the future Reider echoed faintly in his mind.
"You are not less because you are different."
"You are more."
"Just don't forget to be kind."
Then—
Reider opened his eyes.
Dark ceiling.
Dim room.
The faint creaking of wood.
The familiar smell of the inn.
He was back.
Reider lay still on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
His mind replayed the conversation again and again.
Not human.
Not meant to be.
A shell.
He slowly exhaled.
"But I'm still here," he whispered.
"And I still choose."
Morning arrived slowly.
Golden sunlight slipped through the window and spread across the wooden floor of the rented room.
Vael stretched lazily.
Her hair was a complete mess, and one eye remained half closed as she yawned.
"Mmm…"
She rubbed the back of her neck.
"Morning already?"
Eryndra sat nearby, running her fingers through her dark hair as she tried to untangle the knots from sleep.
"Reider's not in bed again."
She glanced toward the empty side of the room.
"He really has a habit."
Mei remained wrapped in blankets like a cocoon.
She blinked groggily.
"Maybe he's making breakfast?"
Her lips curved into a sleepy smile.
"That would be cute."
Vael rolled her eyes.
"Don't get your hopes up."
But then Eryndra tilted her head slightly.
"…Actually."
She pointed toward the balcony.
"There he is."
Vael and Mei turned.
Reider stood outside.
Arms folded.
Looking out over the city.
He hadn't noticed them yet.
His expression was distant.
Vael frowned slightly.
"He looks… off."
The three women stepped onto the balcony.
Reider didn't react at first.
Mei gently touched his arm.
"Reider?"
Her voice was soft.
"Are you okay?"
Reider blinked.
Slowly, he turned toward them.
"…I've been seeing someone in my dreams."
The three exchanged confused glances.
Vael raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"A ghost stalker?"
"A vision?"
She smirked slightly.
"A crush?"
Eryndra ignored the joke.
"Is it a threat?"
Reider shook his head.
"No."
He looked at them carefully.
"It's me."
Silence.
"I keep meeting myself."
"But older."
"Stronger."
"Wiser."
Mei's expression tightened slightly.
"Reider…"
"Are you sure it's really you?"
Reider nodded slowly.
"He knows things no one else could."
He paused.
"And last night… he told me something."
His voice lowered slightly.
"That's shaken me."
Vael crossed her arms.
"Spit it out already."
"You're scaring me."
Reider looked at the city below.
Then quietly said:
"I'm not supposed to be human."
The reaction was immediate.
"…What?!"
Vael's jaw tightened.
Mei covered her mouth.
Eryndra's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?" Eryndra asked.
Reider looked down at his hands.
"He said I was never meant to have a human form."
"No core."
"No sickness."
"No crying as a baby."
His voice was calm but heavy.
"Because I was never designed for any of it."
Mei whispered softly:
"But you were a child…"
"You were Dain's child…"
Reider shook his head gently.
"Only in name."
"My body… my mana… even my soul…"
"They don't follow the rules of this world."
He looked back at them.
"Someone changed my fate."
"Someone placed me in that forest and let me grow as a human."
Vael's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
"Who has power like that?"
Reider answered quietly.
"He called her the Creator."
"He didn't tell me her name."
"But he said… when I meet her…"
He paused.
"She might feel like a mother."
Mei looked away suddenly.
Conflicted.
Eryndra spoke again.
"So what does that make you?"
"A weapon?"
"A vessel?"
"A reincarnation?"
Reider shook his head.
"I don't know."
"But he said something important."
"I'm not a mistake."
"I'm a choice."
"Something new."
Vael exhaled slowly.
"That's… heavy."
She looked directly at him.
"So what now?"
Reider's answer was simple.
"I keep learning."
"And I decide who I become."
Mei stepped closer.
"You're still you."
"No matter what."
Eryndra nodded.
"I don't care if you're a demon or a god."
"You're still the only person I'd follow into battle."
Vael smirked slightly.
"And if anyone says otherwise…"
Her eyes flashed.
"I'll burn them to ash."
Reider finally smiled.
"Thanks."
"I needed that."
Mei shook her head softly.
"You're three months old."
"And somehow carrying the weight of gods."
Vael smirked again.
"Still can't do dishes though."
Reider raised an eyebrow.
"I could wash them at the molecular level."
Eryndra laughed.
"He would say that."
For a moment…
Everything felt normal.
Then Reider's expression became serious again.
"We still have a mission."
"We finish it."
"But I thought you should know."
"In case something goes wrong."
Mei shook her head firmly.
"It won't."
"Not with us."
Eryndra smirked.
"Besides."
"You're not dying until you explain how you move so fast."
Vael added instantly:
"And why you keep choosing Eryndra over us."
Reider looked at them with a deadpan expression.
"Because I enjoy having my life threatened every ten minutes."
They all burst out laughing.
The tension lifted.
The sun rose higher over the city.
And the day finally began.