Chapter 1: A New Beginning
"I was the leader of a group called the Osiron Corps, and there were 7 of us. We were the strongest corps that moved in the shadows of the Empire carrying out every mission handed to us.
Our corps was a special group that directly serves the patriarch, each of us undergo ruthless training from our birth, and though we're not related by blood, we trust each other even more than our own blood family.
The family I was born in is known as Crown Espada, but as I am not from a royal bloodline, I never had any privilege to do what I wanted, we got our orders and we followed them, that was the whole purpose of our lives.
When the Great War Of Azagor broke out, we were only 20 years old. The war was started by a group of people called Tenebris, they were strong, so strong that all the families of the Empire had to join forces, the war kept on going with no end in sight, endless fighting, endless bloodshed.
And during the war, our corps was doing excellent. One day, a mission came, informing us the details of where the enemies will show up, we followed them, waited where we were told, but a moment later, it was not the enemies that came, but our allies, they backstabbed us, wipe out our corps because they feared us. But after everything we went through, death felt more like a relief than pain.
Now I am here floating, no pain, no mission. I feel free here, in this darkness...the afterlife doesn't feel so bad."
The darkness slowly lightens up
Gasped—"W-Where am I?"
A man's voice calls out, "Congratulations on your fifth son my lord, may he become a great patriarch like you."
The baby looks around in confusion, "Fifth son? what are they talking about... why is my body so small...so, heavy"
"Send him directly to the 1st island" the patriarch orders
The baby looks at the man on his left, "Wait a minute, is that the... patriarch? I didn't recognise him earlier because of his young face, wait am I—"
"But my lord, sending him to the first island, he won't survive."
"If he dies, that would mean he is too weak and does not deserve to carry the Espada family name, and besides, I already have 2 sons and 2 daughters, one more dying means nothing to me."
"It seems like my guess was correct, I am reborn as a baby, and whats more, I am reborn as the fifth son of the patriarch."
"Then my lord, we'll proceed as you wish," the man carries out the order immediately
They put the baby in a box and ship him to the 1st island.
Inside the box the baby thinks to himself, "So I am currently heading towards the first island. In my previous life, it is said that no one survives the First island so they eventually shut it down. But make no mistake, I don't plan on going down without a fight"
***
Almost 6 years later...
A child is sitting on the floor—concentrating. He has dark black hair, and his eyes are as dark.
"I have spent every day absorbing mana and refining my mana heart. Approaching my sixth birthday, I am ahead of everyone—even myself at this age in my previous life."
The maid calls out, "Kairon, where are you, it's time for your breakfast."
"Apparently my name is Kairon Espada, and I am the fifth son of the patriarch Naeron Espada. I calculated that today will be my awakening day. Normally, a child wouldn't awaken their mana heart until much later, but thanks to my relentless refining, mine will awaken far earlier."
The building where Kairon resides in is made of stones and painted white, it is as big as a mansion
Kairon walks towards the dining room for his breakfast, then suddenly, his chest starts heating up, "M-My chest, I am awakening right here?"
A bright light shines from Kairon's body, lighting up the whole room
The maids rush to Kairon,
"Young master Kairon is awakening, call Sir Edward immediately"
A few moments later, Edward arrives at the scene
"So you have finally awakened, can you stand up?"
"Y-Yes," Kairon replies in exhaustion
"You have awakened earlier than expected, but as per the law, you'll enter the battle island of the 1st island immediately. We'll give you tools and weapons for your journey on the island, you have 15 minutes to eat and take what you want."
Kairon is shocked by the order, thinking to himself, "They changed the law? A child is only supposed to enter the battle island after they turn 12"
He quickly calms himself down, "Then if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my room and prepare myself ( I need to face this trial with full preparation if I want to complete it, i refuse to crawl through life like a dog again).
Kairon finished preparing his gear. The maids started calling for him, to come and enter the battle island
Kairon takes a deep breath, "I suppose it's time"
***
11 months later
"When I was leaving for the island, Sir Edward warned me, 'Unlike the other nine islands, the First Island has never been fully explored—not even by us. I don't know why the patriarch would send his own son here, but I'll say this again, survive for four years, and wait for us.' That's what he told me.
But I can't just wait 4 years waiting for someone else to save me.
During the past 11 months, I have killed several 2-tier mana beasts and even more 1-tier mana beasts, and I think I am getting closer to the island base. I even saw a 3-tier mana beast but I am not strong enough yet, so i avoided it."
Kairon climbs a giant tree, surrounded by a thick forest that shows no end
"Thanks to my previous life experience, I quickly built a tent high up on a tree when I arrived, I have explored more areas in the same timeframe than my previous life on island 3, now I just have to find my way back to the base.
A loud thunderclap is heard, signaling that a raging storm is coming, the horizon is filled with thick dark clouds.
Then Night arrived, Kairon sits inside the tent, concentrating under the heavy rain.
"Let's keep refining my mana heart, and I'll master all my previous abilities and..." While Kairon is talking to himself, Below the tent, from the bushes of the dark forest, the sinister glare of glowing red eyes appears—Kairon's tent suddenly shudders
"THUD!"
Kairon falls abruptly
"Uh— what is happening," he looks down below, where he sees a beast charging up a large ball of fire in his direction
"Don't tell me, is that—
BOOM!!!
...Kairon jumps out from the flames, barely escaping alive, "Damn it, my arms are badly burned...I can't fight in this state, I have to run."
Kairon sprints away, leaping from tree to tree.
As he is running, a crackling sound emerges behind him, as he glances back, from the dark thick forest, it was not the beast, but a figure of darkness that appears, then a second later it fades away back into the darkness
"What was that, it was not the beast, is there something else here—"
The steps of the Mana beast suddenly thudded behind him
"Sh*t, did it already caught u— BOOM!!
The blast explodes, creating a field of smoke
"{Mana Sword: Blue Gash}!!" Kairon suddenly jumps out of the smoke, unsheathing his sword and thrusting Multiple slash of magic at the Mana beast... It did absolutely, no damage
"Damn it, how strong is this damn beast, it's stronger than any beast I have ever encountered, is it a 4, no, a 5th tier beast?"
Kairon falls on his right knee, panting. His exhaustion caught up, his grip to the sword slowly loosening
With no options left, Kairon just smirks, "Let's at least go out with a blast then"
He musters up his remaining strength, "here's my strongest offensive skill you giant crap, {Point Scale: Mana Burs—"
Ba-dump! His heart suddenly beats strongly
"Wha–"
Ba-dump!!
The whole area is suddenly covered in a dark atmosphere, then a voice whispers, "You'll die"
"W-What was that, who's there!"
"With your current strength you should know that winning is impossible"
"I said who are you? How are you speaking to me?"
"Time is slowed down right now, but you'll die shortly after its effect is over"
"You still haven't answered my question (he can slow down time? I have never heard of such ability)"
"If you're wondering, this is a skill of mine that i obtained back when I was a player in a certain world. Anyway I think you're pretty interesting, so I am here to make you a deal"
"You can slow down time and even talk to me telepathically, I don't have much choice do I? What do you want? (He must be the one behind my reincarnation as well)"
"I like your cool headed trait, so here's my deal, I'll save your life from this inevitable death, but as a price, you'll have to—"
End of Chapter 1.