The bodies were already cold.
Aiden stood over them, smoke curling from the singed earth and scorched leather. He hadn't killed in this life before—not yet—but his soul remembered far worse.
He knelt beside the leader's corpse and pulled the satchel from the saddlebag, fingers quick and practiced.
> [Inventory Unlocked]
> Item Acquired: Raider's Satchel (Uncommon)
Contains: 7 Silver Crowns, Cracked Binding Collar, Iron Dagger (Worn), Dried Rations x2, Empty Flask
The collar stopped him.
A simple ring of black iron. No engravings. No arcane seals. Just a lock—and a memory.
He held it up to the light filtering through the pine canopy.
This exact model had once sealed his magic for five years.
Aiden clenched his jaw, then dropped it into the satchel.
"Keep it," he muttered. "As a reminder."
He slung the pack over his shoulder and stepped back into the woods. The sun was still climbing, filtering cold light across the snow-dusted ground. He had a few hours before nightfall.
He needed shelter. And more than that, he needed direction.
---
> [System Alert: Main Quest – Rewrite the Timeline]
Status: In Progress
> Secondary Objective Chain Available
Initiate?: "Path of Power: The First Flame"
Aiden stopped walking.
"First Flame?" he echoed aloud.
> [Affirmative. Hidden Legacy Detected.]
> Location: 1.4 km northeast
Difficulty: Tier D (Recommended Level: 5+)
Warning: Mana Depletion will occur before full completion. Proceed anyway?
He exhaled slowly.
"I'll manage."
He would not grow strong by avoiding danger. He would grow strong by surviving it.
---
Northeast Ridge – 30 Minutes Later
The path narrowed, hemmed in by blackened rocks and gnarled roots. Snow clung to the edges, untouched by wildlife. Even the birds had abandoned this place.
Aiden's breath misted before him as he climbed the slope.
At the ridge's peak, he found a stone ruin.
Half-buried beneath frost and soil, it looked like nothing more than a cracked altar, overgrown with moss and broken time.
But his heart beat faster.
He remembered this place.
This was where he'd first discovered his flame affinity… in his old life, when he was fifteen.
> [Hidden Legacy Site Discovered: Emberheart Ruins]
> Initiate Trial of the Flame?
Yes / No
He didn't hesitate.
> Yes.
The altar flared with red light. A pulse of heat rolled out, and the forest beyond the ridge seemed to hold its breath.
---
Suddenly, he was no longer alone.
A spectral figure rose from the altar—head wreathed in flame, body translucent and tall, like a man built of burning glass.
Its voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
> "Who dares claim the Emberheart?"
"I do," Aiden said calmly. "Aiden Varos."
The flame-being stepped forward, heat warping the air around it.
> "You carry the scent of futures undone. You've walked the spiral once already."
Aiden's brow twitched. "You can sense that?"
> "The Weave leaves marks on those who defy it. You've burned time. And now… it burns back."
The altar trembled beneath his feet. Fire surged outward, surrounding the ridge in a ring of blazing light.
> [Trial Initiated: Flamebound Legacy]
Objective: Survive for 3 minutes within the Ember Ring
Bonus: Do not use Flashburn Spark
Penalty for Failure: Mana Core Fracture
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
This was no tutorial.
---
Flames erupted.
The spectral figure attacked, sending a wave of blistering heat toward him. Aiden dove behind a jagged rock, the stone already hot to the touch.
His mana was low—barely enough for two spells. But the bonus condition was clear: Don't use Spark.
So he didn't.
Instead, he reached deeper.
Into the void beneath his core. Into the spiral.
Time flickered.
He moved right before the fire landed, shifting a second ahead of his own heartbeat. It wasn't teleportation. It wasn't even magic in the traditional sense.
It was instinctual manipulation.
> [Skill Learned: Temporal Slip (Tier 1)]
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Effect: Shift position 1 meter instantly. Costs 8 Mana.
He grinned. "Now we're talking."
He weaved, dodged, ducked—each movement refined by the memory of a master trapped in a child's body. The flames chased him like hunting wolves, but they never caught him.
But something was wrong.
Each time he used Temporal Slip, he saw flickers—brief ghost images of himself, a heartbeat before or after he moved.
"Like the world hasn't decided which version of me to keep..."
Seconds passed like centuries.
Then—finally—
> [Trial Complete.]
The flames winked out.
The spirit looked at him, and for the first time, bowed its head.
> "You have inherited the flame. And something far older."
"Take this gift, Aiden Varos. And be wary. You are not the only one who remembers."
The altar split open.
> [Legacy Acquired: Emberheart Core (Bound)]
Effect: +15 Max Mana, +2 Fire Affinity, Unlocks Ember Skills
[New Skill: Flame Pulse (Tier 1)]
A burst of fire from your palm. Cone range. Cooldown: 6 seconds.
[Notice: Legacy Synchronization 12%]
[Next Threshold: 25% – Unique Class Path Unlocked]
Aiden stood, body steaming from heat and sweat. He could barely keep upright. But he smiled.
This was power.
This was the beginning.
And somewhere deep within him, a sliver of dread stirred.
Because if this place still existed...
So did they.
---
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Spire
High above the shining capital, in a tower of mirrored obsidian, Empress Caelia stood before a silver scrying basin. Her fingers traced its rim, the water inside still and black.
Suddenly, it rippled.
A tremor in the Weave.
A breach.
The wineglass beside her shattered. She did not flinch.
"He's awakened," she whispered. "Timeline fracture confirmed."
She turned, and in her reflection, for the briefest moment, her eyes glowed gold.