Two years passed.
Two years of bruises, silence, and quiet suffering.
Kairos watched it all his father's limp growing worse, his mother's smile fading thinner, his sister's laughter turning brittle. The world didn't change. The nobles didn't stop. The weak still bowed. And Kairos, trapped in a toddler's body, could do nothing but clench his tiny fists and wait.
But waiting wasn't the same as wasting.
He listened. He learned. He observed.
And then, one morning, he decided: Enough.
He stood.
Wobbly, uncertain, but determined.
Elira gasped. Darin dropped his tools. Lyra screamed with joy.
"Kairos! He's walking!"
The neighbors came. Whispers spread. A three-year-old walking and speaking in full sentences? Unheard of. Miraculous. Strange.
Kairos played the part—stumbling, mispronouncing words, pretending to struggle. But inside, his mind was sharp. Focused. Calculating.
He could already read. Already write. Already understand the basics of this world's language and logic. But he kept that hidden. No need to draw more attention than necessary.
Instead, he asked for books.
Old ones. Dusty ones. Forgotten ones.
And his parents, proud and unsuspecting, gave them freely.
The world he'd been reborn into was unlike anything he'd known.
A fusion of magic and machinery. Of ancient bloodlines and futuristic tech. A place where swords clashed with laser beams, and spells were cast from gauntlets powered by crystal cores.
He devoured the history.
The rise of the Bree Family—a dynasty of ancient creatures: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and shapeshifters. Once scattered, now united under a single banner. Their bloodlines granted them terrifying power, and their influence stretched across continents.
Then came the Military Ascendancy—a faction that broke free from noble control and built its own empire. Soldiers enhanced with cybernetic implants, trained in both combat and elemental manipulation. Ruthless. Efficient. Independent.
And the Grey Corp—a tech conglomerate that revolutionized the world with its innovations. From floating cities to neural-linked weapons, their creations reshaped civilization. Their rise was meteoric, their reach nearly absolute.
Finally, the Mages—beings who could manipulate elemental energy. Fire fused with laser beams. Water twisted into ice storms. Earth hardened into metal armor. Air surged with lightning. They were rare, revered, and feared.
Kairos read it all.
And then—something happened.
As he turned the final page of an ancient tome, a pulse of light surged through his vision. His body froze. His breath caught.
A voice echoed in his mind.
[System Activation: World History Information Acquired]
His eyes widened.
The words weren't spoken aloud. They were etched into his consciousness—clear, mechanical, undeniable.
A system.
His system.
Not the one that governed the world. Not the one nobles used to suppress the weak.
This was something else.
Something personal.
Something powerful.
Kairos sat in silence, heart pounding. The room around him faded. The bruises, the pain, the injustice they all blurred into the background.
Because now, he had a spark.
A beginning.
A tool.
And he would use it.
Not for revenge.
Not for glory.
But for protection.
For change.
For his family.