Darkness.
For a long time, that was all there was.
No sound. No movement. No pain.
Just endless silence.
Kiyan was certain he had died.
The collapsing skyscraper, the explosions, the crushing weight of concrete and steel, there was no survival from that.
He remembered it clearly.
The rain.
The betrayal on the rooftop.
Then nothing.
Yet something felt… wrong.
His thoughts still existed.
He could think and he could feel.
But he couldn't move.
His body felt small.
Unbelievably small.
A strange pressure surrounded him, warm and tight.
Then suddenly,
Light.
Blinding white light burst through the darkness.
And Kiyan screamed.
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"Push! One more push!"
A woman cried out in pain.
Sweat clung to her forehead as she gripped the bedsheets tightly.
Around her, several attendants rushed about the room.
Candles flickered along the walls.
Outside the tall windows, a pale morning sky stretched over rolling green hills.
"This is the last one, Lady Elira!" the midwife encouraged.
"Just a little more!"
The woman gasped, gathering the last of her strength.
Then,
A baby's cry echoed through the chamber.
The midwife lifted the newborn carefully.
"A healthy boy!"
Relief washed over the room.
Lady Elira collapsed back against the bed, exhausted but smiling weakly.
"Let me see him…"
The midwife gently wrapped the infant in cloth and placed him in her arms.
The baby's eyes opened.
Dark and sharp.
Far too aware.
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What…?
Kiyan couldn't breathe properly.
His lungs burned as air rushed into them for the first time.
His limbs flailed helplessly.
He tried to move his arms with intention.
But they barely responded.
His vision was blurry.
Seeing only shapes and colors.
Hearing strange unfamiliar voices.
Then a woman's face leaned over him.
Her expression was soft, filled with warmth.
"Kael, my son…"
Kael froze.
Son? Did she called me Kael?
His mind raced.
This wasn't possible.
He was an adult. A trained assassin. A man who had lived decades.
Yet his body—
His body was that of a newborn.
A horrifying realization crept into his mind.
Reincarnation.
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The door opened with a loud creak.
Heavy footsteps entered the chamber.
A tall man wearing noble attire stepped inside.
His silver-trimmed cloak dragged slightly behind him as he approached the bed.
"Is it done?"
The midwife bowed.
"Yes, Lord Alaric."
"A son has been born."
The man looked down at the infant in Lady Elira's arms.
For a moment, his normally stern face softened.
"A son…"
He reached out carefully, touching the baby's tiny hand.
Kael instinctively grabbed his finger.
The man chuckled quietly.
"He's strong."
Lady Elira smiled faintly.
"What shall we name him?"
Lord Alaric thought for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"Kael."
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Hours passed.
The room quieted.
Kael lay in a small wooden cradle beside the bed.
He couldn't speak.
Couldn't move properly.
But his mind was completely awake.
He analyzed everything around him.
The architecture.
The clothing.
The language.
None of it matched the world he knew.
This wasn't Earth.
Then he felt it.
Something strange.
A faint energy drifting through the air.
It flowed through the walls.
Through the people.
Through him.
Kael's assassin instincts sharpened immediately.
His senses focused inward.
The energy was everywhere.
Inside his chest.
Inside his blood.
Inside every breath.
"What… is this…?"
Even without words, he understood something important.
This world was different.
Very different.
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Three days later.
Servants whispered in the hallway.
"That baby is strange."
"What do you mean?"
"He barely cries."
Another servant nodded.
"And his eyes…"
"What about them?"
"They watch everything."
Inside the nursery, Kael lay silently in his cradle.
His gaze followed every movement in the room.
Every sound.
Every shadow.
He studied the world like a predator learning new territory.
His mind remained calm.
Focused.
Calculating.
He had died once already.
This second life would not be wasted.
If this world had rules…
He would master them.
Just like the last one.
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That night, moonlight spilled through the nursery window.
Kael stared at the ceiling.
The strange energy drifted through the air again.
He focused on it.
Tried to feel it.
Control it.
For a brief moment,
The energy responded.
A faint pulse rippled through his tiny body.
Then it vanished.
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
So it could be controlled.
A small smile formed on the face of the newborn.
In his previous life, he had mastered death.
In this one,
He would master power.