The pain he felt was almost unbearable when he opened his eyes, but he noticed something…
Red liquid dripping from a person slumped on him.
Frustrated by this, he conjured magic to shove away the body, but there was no response, instead, a sharp pain throbbed in his head.
"Ahhh!" He groaned.
His vision was blurred by the liquid dripping from the slumped body.
The pain in his head subsided, and he managed to push his body away weakly, then he staggered upright sluggishly, using the wall as support.
'What's happening to me? Why do I feel so weak and exhausted?' He thought as he balanced himself.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted movements from a man in black clothing that covered his body, leaving only his eyes.
'Who's that guy?'
Blood dripped from the man's side, but he pressed it and staggered towards Siyash with a dagger in his hand.
"Ohh really, is that what you want? Well, I'm not letting that happen." Siyash muttered.
He raised his hand casting a spell, but nothing happened except the same pain from earlier that pierced through his head.
"Ahhhh!" He groaned, clutching his head.
The man was now in front of him, and he struck the dagger wobbily, aiming for his chest, but Siyash saw his movements in time and was able to dodge.
'This isn't good for me! I have to do something.'
Adrenaline numbed the pain throbbing in his head and he grabbed the man's throat, strangling him from behind till they both fell to the floor.
The dagger slipped away from the man's hand on impact and Siyash planned to take advantage.
Struggling back and forth with the man, they both tried to grab the dagger. But none of them had the upper hand one would pull the other back before they got to it.
Siyash decided to hit the only part of the man he could see, his eyes. In no time, the man was bleeding from both eyes and Siyash hurriedly let the man go, reaching for the dagger.
As soon as he grabbed it, he felt a grip on his leg pull him backwards.
He knew what it was, he turned and stabbed the man multiple times in the chest, till he stopped moving.
Siyash sighed and then lay backwards. The threat was gone.
'Haaa, that was exhausting.'
A sharp pain struck his head again and more strange memories flashed in his mind.
He sat up inspecting his body. His hands were youthfully smooth and he bore no deep wounds.
'This… this isn't my body. This means I've been reborn.'
Judging by appearances, he seemed to inhabit a young body.
That of a teenager or a young man at least. It was hard for him to tell without looking at himself in a mirror.
'At least I didn't end up as a blind man, what if I'm still me but younger? Like I travelled in time.' He smiled.
But his joy was cut short by the scene laid out before him.
Lifeless bodies lay around in a room with a large wooden table in the middle.
The room had wooden utensils arranged on racks and a well furnished wooden cupboard and cabinet.
'They were having a meal.'
By they, he meant the three lifeless bodies, an adult male, a female, and a teenage boy, each bleeding from fatal wounds.
The memories from earlier showed they were his new body's family.
He felt sorrowful looking at them, but he suppressed the emotions because he barely knew these people.
'They were killed by the man who attacked me. But why?"
He went through his new memories to find answers, but there were none. Some parts were incomplete and didn't make sense.
'That's not my problem anyway, why isn't my magic working? If I've been reborn then their poison shouldn't have any effects on this body.'
He took a deep breath, relaxed his muscles then slowly clasped his hands together and focused on channeling magic through his body.
Then his eyes shot open immediately.
"Now that explains why my spells weren't working." Siyash smiled.
"It's because this kid doesn't possess a mana core and that means he has no attributes." He muttered disappointed at the discovery.
"Ahhh, the painful journey of climbing to the top again, but that's an advantage anyway, my path would be smoother and faster now since I'm wiser." Siyash sighed, a little relieved.
His gaze landed on the lifeless body of the masked man and he grinned mischievously as he approached him.
Siyash sat in a meditating posture on the ground beside the body.
He used the blood dripping from the man's side to draw a magical circle around him.
The ritual he was about to start would define his attributes and give him a mana core.
Attributes in the magical world were designed by fate, assigning mages their magic affinity when their cores, the bedrock of magic, are crafted.
But studies later revealed that certain acts could control an attribute designation as long as the mana core hadn't been crafted.
Like falling from great heights could grant wind attributes, but the path to the dark mana core was a sinister act, murder.
In his previous life, Siyash had an affinity with wind magic, but was turned towards the dark path.
Since his core had been created, he couldn't steer off completely but he practiced secretly.
'With my knowledge, I'll be back at the top in no time, then I'll show them the power of true dark magic.'
"Hahahaha!" Siyash's laughter echoed through the room.
'It's like the universe is in my favor.' he smiled.
With the final touch of the circle, Siyash sat in the middle, concentrating on crafting his mana core. Dark energy rose from the circle around him and flowed into his body.
The energy circled around the middle of his chest, the creation point of a mage's mana core.
And after minutes of absorbing the energy from the circle, it disappeared, and the process came to an end.
Within him was a jet black mana core swirling with dark energy in his chest.
His eyes snapped open with a faint red glow.
"I have returned. And I will have my revenge." He said, with an evil grin spread across his face.