Agony.
Pure, raw agony.
It felt as if molten steel had been poured into his skull and left to simmer. Every pulse of his heartbeat sent another wave of fire lancing through his mind. The world spun — soundless, weightless — until even breathing felt like defiance.
He tried to move. Tried to lift an arm, a leg, to roll, to even cry out. His body betrayed him. Limbs felt alien, heavy, unresponsive. He looked down at his hands. Smooth. Unscarred. Young. Not the hardened body that had once commanded legions of beasts and carved an empire with his bare hands.
What… is this?
His mind flickered — images flashing in chaotic bursts. A silver blade gleaming under moonlight. His own blood splattering against white marble. Faces — friends, disciples, and the woman who swore eternal loyalty — all turning away as his crown fell from his grasp.
And then the voice. Cold. Mechanical.
[Host vital signs stabilizing... regression sequence—complete.]
Abraham froze. His thoughts jolted like lightning through a storm.
Regression?
He remembered dying. The betrayal. The final battle where even the heavens seemed to weep. The darkness that came after. Yet now… the world around him was too real, too vivid. The pulse in his chest — too strong.
He forced himself upright, the world spinning as his senses adjusted. The courtyard stretched before him, cracked and forgotten, its stones glowing faintly under the twin moons above. This place — this wasn't the battlefield where he died.
It was older. Familiar.
His breath caught. The Academy of Dawn.
He had not stood here in two decades. The place where it all began — his first summoning, his first beast, his first love… and his first betrayal.
He staggered toward a pool of rainwater gathered between cracked tiles. A reflection stared back — a young man, perhaps seventeen, with sharp golden eyes and black hair that shimmered with an almost metallic sheen. No scars, no blood, no weight of age.
Seventeen... my first awakening ceremony. But that was twenty years ago.
His chest tightened.Did I… return to the past?
Then it came again — the voice. Louder, clearer.
[System initializing...][Synchronization complete.][Welcome, Abraham Benjin — regression successful.]
The tone was sterile, but the words sent a tremor down his spine.It wasn't just me. The System… came back too.
He laughed — softly at first, then deeper, darker. "So even death couldn't delete you, huh?"
[New quest available.][Objective: Survive the first awakening ceremony.][Reward: System reboot access — partial power restoration.]
Abraham's eyes narrowed. He remembered that day well. The ceremony that determined one's path — a beast tamer, a mage, or a cultivator. He had awakened as a mere "Fledgling Beast Tamer," mocked for his weak affinity. No noble family had wanted him. Not until he clawed his way to the top by breaking every limit written in their sacred texts.
But now, he had a chance to change it all.
His gaze drifted toward the broken spire of the academy tower. Lightning danced faintly above it, where the summoning circle had once been. He remembered the headmaster's words echoing through time:
"In this world, only strength grants you breath. The weak are prey — the strong, gods."
He smirked. "Then let's see how the gods handle a man who's already killed them once."
He took his first step toward the spire. The air shimmered with raw energy — the faint hum of ancient magic. He could feel the heartbeat of the world again, faint and sluggish, yet alive.
[Warning: System reboot incomplete. Some functions unavailable.][Detected anomaly: Host's soul fragment corrupted by external interference.]
Abraham stopped mid-step.Corrupted?
"Explain."
[Error. Explanation unavailable until full synchronization.]
A flicker of unease tightened his chest. If his soul was damaged, then someone — or something — had interfered with his regression. But who could tamper with the System itself?
He clenched his fists. "Fine. Then I'll rebuild it my way."
A faint shimmer formed before his eyes — a translucent blue interface, ancient runes flowing like liquid across its surface.
[Name: Abraham Benjin][Race: Human — Variant][Age: 17][Affinities: ???][Beast Contract: None][Status: Regression Initiate — Tier 0]
"Variant?" he muttered. "That wasn't there before."
[Variant detected: Host's soul has evolved beyond standard parameters.]
Evolved? That word thrummed through him like thunder. He felt it then — deep beneath the pain, beneath the confusion — a spark, ancient and wild, pulsing in the depths of his soul.
Something roared faintly within him. Not human. Not beast. Something older.
The ground trembled.
Abraham's eyes widened as the pool of rainwater rippled violently, and a distorted reflection of his face warped into the image of a horned shadow — a creature with burning crimson eyes.
The voice returned, deeper this time. Not mechanical. Not human.
"We meet again, master."
Abraham's pulse spiked. His breath turned cold. He knew that voice. He couldn't have forgotten it.
It belonged to the first beast he'd ever tamed — the one that died defending him.
The shadow smiled from within the reflection.
"Do you remember the pact?"
A shiver crawled down his spine. He opened his mouth — but before he could answer, the sky itself split open. Lightning rained down upon the courtyard, swallowing everything in blinding white.
[Quest Updated: The First Awakening Has Begun.]