I dreamed of fire.
Not the village—I'd lived that nightmare enough times. This was different. This was the World Spire, the day we reached the hundredth floor and challenged the First God.
Rylen stood at the front, his holy sword blazing with divine light. Marcus held the line against an army of celestial guardians. Sera's healing magic kept us standing through wounds that should have been fatal.
And me?
I was the one who cut through the final barrier. The one who shattered the God's physical form. The one who held its thrashing divinity in place while Rylen struck the killing blow.
"You were always the strongest."
The words echoed through the dream, twisting into something mocking.
"That's exactly why you had to die."
I woke up.
Cold air hit my face, and I blinked at an unfamiliar ceiling made of rough canvas. A military tent. My back throbbed with bandaged wounds, and my body felt like it had been trampled by a stampede of iron horses.
Right. Regression. Village. Elena.
I sat up too fast and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through my spine, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out.
[STATUS]
[NAME: KAEL VORN]
[AGE: 17]
[CLASS: NONE]
[LEVEL: 1]
[STATS]
[STRENGTH: 8 (F-RANK)]
[AGILITY: 7 (F-RANK)]
[ENDURANCE: 6 (F-RANK)]
[MAGIC: 12 (E-RANK)]
[PERCEPTION: 9 (F-RANK)]
[WILL: ??? (UNMEASURABLE)]
[SKILLS]
[ECHO OF THE FALLEN (UNIQUE — PASSIVE)]
- Combat memory from previous timeline fully retained
- Physical muscle memory slowly integrating
- Current synchronization: 3%
[SYSTEM NOTE: You possess the knowledge of a god-slayer in the body of a child. The path ahead will be painful.]
Gee, thanks for the encouragement.
But the system wasn't wrong. My stats were abysmal—even for a beginner. In my first life, I'd awakened with at least 15 in Strength and Endurance, which put me in the low E-rank. These numbers were worse than the village baker.
Except for that Magic stat.
I hadn't been a mage in my first life. I'd been a pure physical fighter—a swordsman who relied on speed, power, and instinct. My magic had always been my weakest attribute, barely enough to reinforce my weapon during combat.
Now it was my highest stat.
What changed?
[ANALYSIS: REGRESSION TRAUMA HAS ALTERED YOUR SOUL'S FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE]
[DEATH BY BETRAYAL + EXTREME HATRED = MAGICAL CORE REFORMATION]
[AFFINITY SHIFT DETECTED: PREVIOUS AFFINITY (NONE) → CURRENT AFFINITY (UNKNOWN)]
Unknown affinity?
That wasn't good. Magical affinities determined what kind of spells a person could learn. Fire mages had fire affinity. Water mages had water affinity. Even rare affinities like Lightning or Shadow were well-documented.
"Unknown" meant either my power was so new that the system couldn't categorize it, or it was something that shouldn't exist.
Given my circumstances, both options seemed equally likely.
"Oh. You're awake."
I looked up. A girl stood at the tent's entrance, silhouetted against the gray morning light. She was around Elena's age, with messy black hair and bandages covering half her face.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"Camp Three. The place where they put people who can't be soldiers yet." She stepped inside, and I noticed the slight limp in her walk. Old injury, improperly healed. "Your sister's been asking about you. She's in the women's section."
Relief flooded through me. "She's okay?"
"Physically." The girl sat on a crate near my bed, watching me with tired eyes. "Mentally? She keeps saying you threw yourself at a demon to save her. Says you fought like you knew exactly what you were doing."
Dangerous.
This girl was fishing for information. She might be a spy—the camps were full of them—or she might just be curious. Either way, I needed to be careful.
"Survival instinct," I said. "When someone you love is about to die, you don't think. You just act."
"Hmm." She didn't look convinced. "My name's Vera. I've been in this camp for three months. Figured you'd want someone to show you the ropes before the vultures descend."
"Vultures?"
"Military recruiters, camp officials, criminal organizations." She ticked them off on her fingers. "Everyone wants fresh meat, and you're about as fresh as it gets. That sword saint who brought you in? She's already put in a request to have you transferred to the capital's training program."
Lyra.
Of course she had. She'd seen something in me—some hint that I wasn't an ordinary village boy—and now she was going to keep digging until she found answers.
In my first life, Rylen had been recruited through the same program. He'd risen through the ranks, catching the attention of nobles and generals, building the reputation that would eventually let him form our party.
I could use that. But I'd have to be careful about how much of myself I revealed.
"What happens if I refuse?"
Vera laughed—a harsh, cynical sound. "Then you stay here. Work in the mines, clean latrines, scavenge for food. Eventually, you get sick or hurt, and they dump you outside the walls. The camps don't keep useless mouths."
"And my sister?"
"Same. Girls her age usually get sold to merchants or minor nobles." Vera's expression hardened. "Unless they have a protector strong enough to make everyone else back off."
The game hasn't changed.
In every era, in every world, power was the only currency that mattered. I'd learned that lesson the hard way once. I wouldn't forget it again.
"How do I get strong enough?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"The military's the fastest path. Three years of training, then they assign you to a unit. If you're good enough, you might even get to join a guild or a noble's retinue." Vera shrugged. "Most people die in their first year. Demon attacks, monster raids, training 'accidents.' But if you survive..."
"You become useful."
"You become valuable." Her eyes met mine, and I saw something familiar in them. The look of someone who had lost everything and built themselves back up from nothing. "That's the only thing that matters in this world. Being valuable to the right people."
I understood. I'd played that game for six years. I'd been the most valuable tool in Rylen's arsenal—so valuable that he couldn't afford to let me reach the top beside him.
This time, I wouldn't be anyone's tool.
This time, I'd be the one holding the strings.
"Thank you, Vera." I forced myself to stand, ignoring the pain in my back. "I think I understand now."
She nodded, seeming satisfied. "Good. Now come on. Your sister's worried sick, and the morning ration line is going to close soon. We can talk more after you've eaten."
I followed her out of the tent, stepping into the cold light of a world I'd left behind.
The refugee camp stretched before me—rows of ragged tents, cooking fires belching smoke, and hundreds of broken people shuffling through their broken lives. In the distance, I could see the wooden walls that separated the camp from the wilderness beyond.
This is where it begins, I thought. The starting line for my revenge.
Rylen wouldn't even be recruited for another two months. He was still out there somewhere, probably still a decent person who genuinely wanted to help others. It would take years for his ambition to curdle into betrayal, years for him to decide that reaching the top alone was worth sacrificing everyone who trusted him.
I had time. Time to grow stronger. Time to understand this new power inside me. Time to build connections and gather allies.
And time to plan exactly how I was going to destroy him.
[QUEST UPDATED]
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE AND GROW STRONGER]
[SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: PROTECT ELENA VORN]
[HIDDEN OBJECTIVE: ???]
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[THE WHEEL OF FATE HAS BEEN DISTURBED]
[THOSE WHO WATCH HAVE TAKEN NOTICE]
[YOUR ACTIONS WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF THIS WORLD]
Let them watch, I thought. Let them all watch.
By the time they understand what I'm doing, it'll be too late to stop me.
The women's section of the camp was separated from the main area by a low wooden fence—more symbolic than practical. Guards patrolled the perimeter, but Vera assured me they were more interested in keeping troublemakers out than keeping the women in.
Elena was sitting outside her tent, arms wrapped around her knees, staring at nothing. When she saw me, her face crumpled, and she ran into my arms.
"I thought you were dead," she sobbed. "They told me you might not wake up, and I thought—"
"I'm here." I held her tightly, feeling her thin frame shake with each breath. "I told you I'd protect you. Did you think I was lying?"
She laughed through her tears. "You've never protected anyone in your life, Kael. You're the one who always needs saving."
Not anymore.
But I didn't say that. Instead, I just held my sister and let her cry, absorbing the simple reality that she was alive because I had changed something.
I changed the past.
The weight of that realization settled over me like a heavy cloak. In my first life, Elena had died in that cellar. I'd spent years mourning her, years wondering if I could have done something differently. Now I had my answer.
I could change things.
I would change things.
Everything.
"We need to talk," I said finally, gently pulling back to look at her face. "Things are going to be different from now on. I need you to trust me, even if I do things that don't make sense."
Elena wiped her eyes, studying me with an expression I couldn't read. "You seem... different, Kael. Older, somehow. Like you've been through something terrible."
I died. I came back. I'm going to kill everyone who betrayed me.
"The attack changed me," I said instead. "I saw Mom and Dad die. I saw you almost die. Something inside me... woke up." I squeezed her hands. "I'm not the same scared boy who used to hide behind everyone else. I don't know how to explain it, but I know things now. Things about how the world works. Things about how to survive."
"Kael..."
"Please, Elena. Just... give me a chance. Watch me. If I start doing things that seem crazy, I'll explain. But for now, you have to believe that everything I do is to keep us safe."
She was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"Okay. I trust you." Her grey eyes—so like mine—held a maturity I'd never noticed before. "You saved my life. Whatever changed you, I believe it's real."
Thank you, I thought. Thank you for being the one person I can count on.
We spent the rest of the morning together, eating watered-down soup and stale bread, talking about nothing important. I learned the layout of the camp, the schedules of the guards, the patterns of daily life. Vera proved to be a valuable source of information—she'd been here long enough to know where all the bodies were buried, both figuratively and literally.
By noon, I had a rough plan forming in my mind.
Step one: Accept Lyra's recruitment offer. The capital training program would give me access to resources, training, and connections I couldn't get anywhere else. More importantly, it would let me observe the political landscape before Rylen entered the picture.
Step two: Protect Elena. She couldn't come to the capital—civilians weren't allowed in the military districts—but I could use my position to ensure she was safe. There were convents and academies that took in orphaned girls, and some of them were actually legitimate.
Step three: Discover the nature of my new power. "Unknown affinity" was a wild card. It could be something useless, or it could be the key to everything.
Step four: Build a network. Not followers, but allies. People who owed me, who believed in me, who would stand beside me when the time came. In my first life, I'd trusted the wrong people and paid for it with my life. This time, I would choose more carefully.
Step five: Wait. Watch. Plan. Rylen would come eventually. Our paths would cross again. And when they did, I would know every weakness, every vulnerability, every pressure point that would bring him to his knees.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW PASSIVE SKILL AWAKENING]
[SKILL: ECHO OF THE FALLEN — SECONDARY EFFECT UNLOCKING...]
Pain shot through my temples, and I had to close my eyes as something shifted inside my mind. It felt like doors opening—doors to rooms I'd forgotten existed.
What is this?
[SECONDARY EFFECT: FUTURE ECHO]
[DESCRIPTION: At random intervals, you will receive fragmented visions of the original timeline. These visions may reveal crucial information, but they are not always accurate. The future is no longer fixed.]
I opened my eyes.
And the world was different.