RHAZMIR
What does it mean to be a king?
What does it mean to be a ruler?
I never truly understood it until I met King Rhett Ashrend—the only mortal to ascend into a superior being. He brought the feared Dragon King to his knees and earned his acknowledgment. He married his daughter and took his throne, ruling over all the races. Not even we dragons, not even the Basilisks or the Vylorians, could stand against him. I first encountered him on the battlefield, where I witnessed his power. At that time, he had not yet ascended to Transcendence, but the sheer amount of Aether he wielded and the way he bent it to his will was beyond anything I had seen, even from Transcendents.
And within just a month, he became one. To call it talent would be an insult—it was something far more. He wasn't just a genius; he was a force beyond anything I could comprehend. Now, kneeling before him, I look up at this being, this force of nature. He sits casually on his throne, his glowing brown eyes fixed on us as if we are little more than an excuse to open them. His hand rests effortlessly on his right wrist, his posture relaxed. A long, dark robe drapes over his form, exposing his shirtless chest, where a star-shaped mark glows in crystalline blue. Black, tight-fitted pants complete.
He exhales softly before descending from the throne with an elegance that is both delicate and overpowering. Every motion is refined, yet the air around him vibrates with overwhelming power. He halts beside Raizer, his hand dropping to rest upon his shoulder.
"I know you want to fight me, but wait another thousand years to reach my level," he says, his voice calm but firm, leaving no room for doubt. He speaks the truth, not arrogance.
"Rhazmir!" he calls my name, and in an instant, I am transported to another chamber. It is dark, with only two chairs and a round table at its center. The room is filled with the scent of thorned, black flowers blooming in the shadows. Behind him, a delicate fountain trickles softly, while two statues—silent guardians—stand watch.
"What is your take?" he asks, his dark aura swirling delicately as it pours a softly scented liquor into my cup.
"What do you mean?" I respond, accepting the gesture with a steady hand.
"I know the dragons, the Baskilis, the Vylorians, and the Druids—none of them can fully accept me as their king. After all, I'm a mere mortal, tainted with the darker side of Aether. You have all labeled me as the destroyer."
"It doesn't matter what we want," I say, my gaze locking with his, unwavering. "In the end, the Dragon King chose you as his successor. Now that you've married his daughter, you are our king, whether we like it or not."
He lets out a deep, rumbling laugh, amusement dancing in his eyes as he taps his index finger lightly on the table. In an instant, the space around us warps, expanding into a vast, pristine plain. No senses, no taste, no scent—just the overwhelming flood of existence itself. Every sensation, every piece of information crushed down on me all at once, a suffocating deluge of knowledge. My breath catches as I meet his gaze again, and in that moment, I see it—the essence of the Dragon Lord, alive within him.
"This," he says, his voice cutting through the chaos, "is what we call the Bridge of Reincarnation. The endless stream of knowledge you feel now—it's the pulse of every living thing tied to Aether. Aether is the very essence of existence, even for those who can't manipulate it. I first discovered this place when I ascended to the realm of a perfect being, around the same time the Dragon King was preparing for his fifth reincarnation."
A knowing smile curves his lips. "I'm sure you've already realized," he continues. He steps aside, revealing a large, black, pulsating pearl, its glow dark and ominous. "I interfered with his reincarnation. I absorbed the entirety of his power. And in my next life," he turns to me, eyes gleaming, "I will be reborn as a superior being."
I swallow hard, my chest tight with the weight of his revelation. "Why are you telling me this?" I ask, my voice barely more than a strained whisper.
"Because I need you to make a choice," he says calmly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his robes. "Raizer knows what I've done, and when the time comes, he will try to do the same to me. He will attempt to influence my reincarnation and seize my power."
He steps closer, his presence looming over me, his figure both immense and intimidating. A smirk plays at the corner of his mouth as he stares down at me. "When I am most vulnerable, who will you choose? Your brother, Raizer? Or the new king to whom you've sworn your utmost loyalty?"
In the end, I wonder… staring at the boy, who has been asleep for three days. The power had drained him. I'm glad I reached him before it was too late. I did try to prevent the reincarnation, but there was a slight interference. Raizer was smarter, but none of us could have predicted this. The eruption of that force... I guess, in the end, Rhett outsmarted us all. Still, even he could not have foreseen this—a mere mortal. A small, fragile boy becoming his vessel. But there was something else, something I could feel coming from him.
Mmmmh!!!
He shifts to his side, the star mark has left a mark. It's different from the normal pattern it had before. It had a lost rune embedded around it.
And so the end has arrived.
The language of Almaric was used by the previous generation. The era of chaos and the divine maiden. The history was lost in time and the dragon king after losing a lot of his kin during chaos had erased it for the new beginning only a few people know of it.
Materializing my Aether to a cloud, I inject in his almost forming lunaris as it covers the marking. I tried my best to repair his damaged vessels after he forcefully awakened. This body was still in development to handle his power but am still amazed how he had done that. Using Nether to age like that is something that is not easy to achieve, not impossible but if anything goes wrong the body might collapse, but he only had some vessels damaged but his constitution was rigid.
"I wonder, Rhett, just how strong you'll become in this reincarnated form." I brush back the locks of his grown hair, revealing what I had feared. The mark of Hathra. Though the Dragon King had long erased their clan, the mark persists. "Two reincarnations in one body… destroyer and doom." I exhale a weary sigh, my gaze shifting to the horizon, the island looming ever closer. "It seems you were right, old man. The age of chaos has returned.,"
TRISTIAN
I could feel it—my body, no longer under my control, was driven by a ferocious power that surged through me. The urge to kill and destroy was overwhelming, turning every approaching figure into an enemy. My limbs moved on their own, casting unfamiliar spells with an ease that defied my understanding.
Despite my desperate efforts to regain control, it was futile until that man appeared. From my heightened vantage point, he was an absolute void, devoid of life essence. Unlike everyone else, who exuded a vibrant green energy, he had none. He was neither friend nor foe—simply an absence of presence. This baffling perception made me freeze in place.
When he touched his finger to my forehead, a strange force swept through me, erasing my surroundings and plunging me into a pitch-black void. A faint, eerie blue glow illuminated the emptiness. I could feel a chilling breeze, but all I saw was the distant blue light, pulling me towards it. Each step I took grew heavier, as if the darkness itself was resisting my progress.
As I approached, two orbs became visible: one was a bright blue, while the other was clear, empty, like a void. An instinct deep within me told me I needed to fill the clear orb with the blue one's essence. The same overwhelming force that had previously consumed me now loomed ominously, threatening to engulf me.
Despite my attempts to resist, an invisible, spectral thread wrapped around me, drawing me closer to the blue orb. Messages began flooding my mind, offering to fulfill all my desires if I accepted its power. The promises were dark and enticing, each one whispering of forbidden desires and tempting offers, pulling me closer to surrender.
Accept me!!
Accept me!
Accept me!!!
Accept me!!!
I struggled against the tightening grip, but it only tightened further, constricting my movements. In the midst of my desperate fight, a vision emerged—of a figure who could scarcely be called a man. No, he was more akin to a monstrous apparition. The stench of blood clung to him, a miasma of death that seemed to pervade the very air around him. Ghostly apparitions of the dead flickered around him, haunting his presence.
Yet, he smiled. His brown eyes, glowing with an unnatural light, held a malevolent brilliance. A star-shaped mark adorned his chest, similar to the one I bore, though twisted in a way that made it clear he was not me. He exuded an aura of dread and dark charisma, an eerie resemblance that unsettled me deeply.
He called to me, his voice a dark echo that resonated with my very core. The command was compelling, almost irresistible, as if he knew the exact strings to pull in my soul. Despite the horrifying sight, there was something unsettlingly familiar about him, a twisted reflection of myself that beckoned with a sinister allure.
Bbbbbhhhh!!!
A child ambled into view, her baby dress fluttering with each unsteady step. She stared at me with a vacant, drooling expression, a smile of unsettling innocence stretched across her face.
Jolt!!
The sudden shock jolted me, breaking the eerie grip of the binding threads. I felt them loosen as I regained control. The child, her gaze still fixed on me, sank to her knees, spreading her tiny hands. Slowly, she began to crawl away, retreating from the menacing orb.
Jolt!!
A desperate scream escaped my lips as I struggled against the threads, stumbling as I lunged after her.
Jolt!!!
I sprang upright, abruptly transported from the nightmarish void. I found myself in a palm hut, greeted by the pungent aroma of grilled duck. The man who had been a looming presence was now before me, tending to a charcoal jiko as he turned the duck pieces with practiced ease. The smell was overwhelming, causing my empty stomach to churn in hunger.
"It's good you have a light," he said without even glancing at me.
"A light?" I rasp, glancing around. A hay bed, a pair of worn sandals, and the soft sound of waves hitting the shore. We were in a palm hut, the breeze from the sea cool against my skin.
"You were close to being consumed by the darkness, but you broke free," his voice is unnervingly calm, so composed it sends chills through me. Nothing about him makes sense. The charcoal jiko is a lie—there's no heat, no sign of burning charcoal, yet the duck is getting perfectly cooked.
"Who the hell are you? Are you human?" I ask, my voice rough, my throat dry. How long was I out? My stomach aches so badly, it feels like it's going to collapse in on itself from hunger. He doesn't answer, just drops a roasted piece of duck in front of me.
"Eat while it's still hot." He removes the brown apron and sets it aside. He's dressed in a simple, light long-sleeve shirt, and his faded blue pants are held up by a worn leather belt. My gaze drifts to his eyes—blue, but when I focus on them, they seem almost animalistic, exuding a raw, untamed energy.
**Wait.**
How am I seeing this? I can make out the faint, radiant green substance evaporating from every plant, and I can see the intricate flow of energy coursing through my own body, as if a mirror had been placed inside my eyes, reflecting everything.
"You've awakened," he says, noticing my confusion. "If you're curious about the changes, that's the first sign."
He rolls up his sleeves more, while I grab the piece of meat, my hunger too overwhelming to ignore. Not that I trust him—I'm just so damn hungry.
"Listen, kid, I'm going to get straight to the point." He leans forward, resting both hands on the shaky wooden table between us. "You were conscious when that force took hold of you, so you already know what that means."
I nod, biting into the meat, savoring its warmth.
"You've got two options now, kid. Think carefully." He pulls out two empty jars and sets them down with a soft clink. "Think of these jars as the two forces inside you, both battling for dominance. But you have the power to choose which one wins. One is of pure nature, the other... darker. The choice is yours."
He steps back, his eyes unwavering. "I won't tell you which is better or which is safer. Both have their price—there's always a cost in this world."
He walks toward the door. "There's a ship down at the docks. I've already paid the captain. They'll wait for an hour, and there's a guardian there who'll take you home. But if you want to face what's ahead... I'll be waiting on the mountain behind this house. Your choice."
He vanishes and I drop the meat. Way to make one lose their appetite. But he was right. I had to make a choice, go home and risk in getting swallowed by the darkness or going up and letting him show me the safer way.
However, there was no safer way.
I rub my thumb across my lips.
"Am sorry Jolt but wait for me a bit longer,"
** ** ** **
hhHhhhhhh!!!
I pant heavily, hands resting on my knees as I try to catch my breath. He doesn't even spare me a glance, focused entirely on chopping through the thick tree trunks with precise, fluid swings.
"It's almost dusk," he says, his voice calm, as he drops a bundle of firewood at my feet. "Find somewhere safe to camp."
"Camp?" I echo, blinking in surprise.
"Yes." He straightens up, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "There are a lot of beasts around here at night. It's best to find a safe spot before night falls."
He says it so casually like it's not even worth explaining further. His attention shifts back to his work as if the dangers lurking in the darkness are no more than an afterthought.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll meet you at the base of the mountain," he continues, voice steady as he chops through another log. "Then, I'll begin training you on the fundamentals and structure of Aether manipulation."
"Wait, what does that even—" I start to ask, but before I can finish, he vanishes into thin air, leaving me standing there, speechless.
I look down at the firewood and realize there's a box of matches in my hand. I have no idea when he gave it to me. The sun is already dipping lower in the sky, and a cold breeze sweeps through the clearing. My skin prickles as I glance around. There's a sudden heaviness in the air, a creeping feeling that I'm being watched.
The forest seems to be holding its breath, waiting.
Oooh Fucking hell!!