The stench of sweat, blood, and unwashed metal hit Aiden's nostrils before he even saw them.
Blackfang Raiders.
Their leather armor creaked as they trudged along the forest trail below his vantage point. Six of them—three on foot, two hauling a captured beast in chains, and the last riding a thick-set mare, likely their leader.
Aiden crouched on the ridge above, his eleven-year-old body trembling from adrenaline, not fear.
In his first life, he'd been too weak to escape. Sold off within days.
This time, he was ready.
> [New Target Detected: Slaver Patrol - Rank F Threat]
[Optional Objective: Eliminate All Raiders]
Reward: 200 XP, +1 Attribute Point
[Warning: You possess no weapons, armor, or combat skills.]
Aiden smirked.
"I've got something better," he whispered. "I've got you."
The System's interface flickered in his vision like a translucent overlay. Minimal. Clean. Efficient.
His fingers trembled—not from fear, but from fury. These men had once branded his back, sold his name. He remembered the cold iron collar. The stink of chains. The empty, echoing sound of slave markets.
Never again.
He had no spells left from his former life, but the memory of magic—its structure, its soul—burned in his mind like an unquenched flame.
He reached inward, grasping at the faint thread of mana within his core.
> [Skill Creation Unlocked: Mage of a Forgotten Future]
> Mana Detected: 14/100
Skill Template: Flashburn Spark
Type: Fire | Tier 0
Effect: Ignites a minor flame at target location (Range: 5 meters)
The strain almost split his skull.
But it worked.
He wove the incantation silently, lips barely parting, fingers twitching through remembered sigils. Each gesture flowed like instinct—but it wasn't. It was memory honed by two decades of mastery forced into a child's clumsy body.
A flicker. Then flame.
The lead rider's saddle ignited in a sudden burst of fire. The mare screamed and bucked. Chaos exploded below.
Aiden didn't wait.
He ran.
The forest was alive around him—pine needles whispering underfoot, the tang of sap sharp in his nostrils, air cool with the promise of snow. Even the birds had fallen silent. The forest held its breath, like it too remembered what these men brought.
The System dinged.
> [1 Raider Incapacitated. +30 XP]
[Flashburn Spark – Cooldown: 8 Seconds]
He skidded down the slope, heart hammering, adrenaline masking the pain as pine needles and branches slashed his skin. A fallen branch broke beneath his foot, but momentum carried him through.
He lunged into the underbrush just as a crossbow bolt whistled past his ear.
"Find the brat!" a raider bellowed.
"Which way'd he go?!"
Aiden grinned through the leaves.
They thought he was prey.
That was their mistake.
---
He circled back as they scattered. He'd mapped this forest when he was older—he knew the cliff, the drop, the loose rock beneath the ridge.
He set another spark, this one under the roots of a tree just ahead of two of the searching raiders.
He angled the flame near dry moss, not the tree directly. A delayed ignition—more effective than a direct strike. He couldn't waste mana on showmanship.
They didn't see it until it was too late.
The roots ignited. Smoke billowed. The hillside gave way—and the earth swallowed them whole in a roaring collapse of dirt and rock.
> [2 Raiders Eliminated. +60 XP]
[Level Up! You are now Level 2.]
> Stat Point Gained: +3
New System Function Unlocked: Attribute Allocation
Panting, Aiden ducked behind a stone outcrop. His head throbbed, but his grin widened.
> Current Stats
STR: 4
DEX: 6
INT: 10 (+2)
WIS: 7 (+1)
VIT: 5
Each spell cost him nearly a fifth of his total mana. Two more sparks, and he'd collapse. Precision wasn't optional. It was survival.
He dumped the new points into INT and WIS. He needed mana. Control. Clarity.
The last three raiders regrouped near their fallen leader. One was bandaging a burn. Another was swearing into the wind. The third—tall, bald, scarred—raised a warhorn.
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
"Not today."
He summoned Flashburn Spark again—but aimed higher. Not at them.
At the horn.
It exploded in the man's hand.
> [Critical Hit. Raider Fatally Wounded. +40 XP]
The other two panicked. One ran. The other stayed too long—and met a falling branch dislodged by the last collapse.
> [6 Raiders Eliminated. Objective Complete.]
[Quest Reward: 200 XP | +1 Attribute Point]
[Bonus: First Blood Feat – Hidden Talent Discovered]
> You are now Level 3.
---
Aiden stood in the smoking silence, barefoot, bloodied, chest heaving.
He was eleven. Again. Small. Underequipped. Alone.
But this forest, this world—it would never own him again.
> [New Passive Skill Unlocked: Battle Instinct (Rank F)]
[Your name has been marked by the Weave of Time.]
And somewhere, far beyond the forest—deep in the Imperial capital—a flicker of old magic stirred.
A woman stood in a high tower, dark hair braided with gold. A chill passed over her skin. She turned from her mirror, frowning.
The Empress felt it.
Time had shifted.