[Yue's POV]
"... Young lady! Young lady! Are you okay?"
"... Erywna? Is that you?"
"Huh? Of course, it's me! Have you hurt your head?"
"No… I just had a terrible dream."
"Is that so? It's rare for you to oversleep till this hour. It's already lunchtime! Please get up so I can dress you for the dining table."
"No, it's fine… I think I will have my lunch a little later. Please leave me alone for now, Erywna."
"Understood…"
I watched Erywna frown while shooting me a confused look. She was likely thinking that I fell in my sleep and hurt my head, but as her maid, she had no authority to check my body. Instead, she simply followed my orders and retreated from my room. And well, in a certain sense, Erywna was right.
I did hit my head, for I have woken up from a terrible, terrible slumber.
The first thing I did was pinch myself to prove that I was indeed alive. My young flesh instantly turned red after I pinched my arm too hard as a significant amount of pain electrocuted my brain. I took a few deep breaths in, attempting to really take in all of the sensations of the world. The warm afternoon Sun, the cool wintry air, and the familiar scents of incense… They were all permeating my senses.
Immediately, I ran towards the mirror on my desk, slamming my little palms down. I observed the young girl in the reflection, carefully examining every nook and cranny of her petite face. My eyes were crystal clear, free of demonic contamination. My skin was supple and tender, void of any scars or burns. And most importantly… My body wasn't in its twenties anymore.
No matter how hard I looked, this was my body when I was eight years old.
Only after a few good minutes did I finally believe my current situation.
It really happened.
I turned back time.
"The grimoire wasn't lying to me!!!"
I burst out in joy and laughter, jumping up and down in the middle of my room. However, joy wasn't the only emotion I'd felt. Tears streamed down my cheeks as the vast emptiness inside of my heart was being filled with hope again. My throat was turning sore while mucus flung out from my nose. I had a bodily reaction. My body was unwilling to control itself as I fell onto the ground, grasping the middle of my chest.
If Erywna or any of the maids saw this scene, they would unquestionably have brought me to my mother to check for any injuries.
"I've really… turned back time!!! I can stop the calamities from ever happening!!!"
In the future… in my future—humanity as a species would be destroyed. Many would be massacred, while the rest would be enslaved. It was a bleak and hopeless future where no human would live happily. But, with my regression, I can change that. I can train humanity and the heroes of tomorrow to be prepared for the oncoming threat. I can increase my strength to an unprecedented height and save as many elites as possible for the war to come. And most importantly…
I can meet him again.
He came from a different world, but even so, he did his best to save ours. He was the reason why I lived in the future and the reason why humanity survived. He became the undisputed strongest human in the world and carried that burden like the lonesome hero he was.
However, no matter how powerful the hero was, he couldn't shoulder the weight of the world alone.
He will require help, help he wasn't able to get due to his reclusive nature. His strength alone was able to carry us through the four calamities. If he had been given help, there would have been no question in my mind that he could have defeated the fifth and sixth calamities, too.
Now that I have returned to the past, I can give him the help he sorely needs.
I can build an organisation around him. I could support him from behind with magic. And most importantly, I could train talents to share the burden with him.
However, before I can do anything to help him… I must first regain my former strength.
I raised my left arm and channelled my mana with expertise beyond an eight-year-old's. Heck, not even Grand Mages could move mana as I could fluidly. It was a skill honed through years of blood, sweat and tears while fighting on the frontline against impossible odds.
With each revolution, my mana reserves started to become purer, and the veins that carried my mana flow became thicker and stronger. Blood trickled down my nose while the fogginess in my mind cleared up. The meridians that were clogged up were instantly unblocked, sending a torrential deluge breaking out from my inner core.
Since I was eight years old, there weren't that many impurities within my body, but the little bits that existed were now being purged at an astonishing rate. Black grime escaped my pores as sweat, dirtying my silky nightgowns while a pungent odour stunk up the room. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone to witness this phenomenon, which gave me the freedom to keep going.
I proceeded to the next step after I confirmed that my body had been thoroughly purified of the gunk that plagued my inner system.
Rotating my mana like an endless whirlpool that sucked all life deep into the ocean, I continued to absorb mana from the surroundings with elevated ease. Fortunately, I was in the heart of the Elune House, a land blessed with mana. Even if I sucked up all the mana in my chamber, no one would notice since it was being replenished at a faster rate than I could absorb.
The mana that entered my system was being purified in the same manner as before, making my inner core far purer than it ever was. And only when my body was filled like a water bottle did I unleash the cap.
Mana broke through the bottleneck of my prefrontal cortex and rushed straight into my brain.
The sudden rush of mana caused my consciousness to wane, and I started to see double. Blood continued to flow down my nose, as this body was too young to experience a magical shock of this magnitude. However, I persisted.
The mana within my brain was being resisted, and for good measure. The most important organ of the human body is our brain, and anything that may pose a threat to it would be purged instantly. Most modern magicians didn't dare to use this method to hone their abilities due to the enormous risk it posed. One minor mistake could cause the mana to overflow inside the brain, overloading it and causing eternal damage that could not be fixed. In the worst case, the magician might be considered brain dead and would cease to live a functional life any longer.
However, I was fully confident in my mana control.
Like how it flowed through my veins like water, the mana within my brain flowed effortlessly. It connected the nerves within my brain, unclogging any unnecessary blocks it came across. And finally, with all the preparation I'd made, the mana limited to my body was absorbed into my soul.
Soon, the pressure I'd felt within my head disappeared, and my mana could finally complete a full revolution around every corner of my body.
And with that…
"I formed my first circle…"
Exhaling to calm myself, I looked down at my prepubescent body to observe my changes. Covered in blood and grime, my body appeared broken from the outside. However, ignoring the impurities I'd just purged, I could tell. My body had been reborn.
My skin was healthier than before, with no blemish in sight. My bones and muscles were stronger than before as they were infused with mana with every breath I took. And my soul… was now on a different plane of existence.
Most magicians would throw a three-day celebration after reaching their first circle, but I had no such joy. All that mattered to me now was the purity of my magical body and how I could improve on it in the future.
This was just the beginning.
The enemies I would face in the future were a hundred, nay, a million times more dangerous than a regular magician. They were capable of cleaving mountains and splitting oceans. A mere first-circle magician wouldn't do anything to them.
However, now that I have completed my first circle, I could reach the starting point of my redemption journey.
"Come forth… the chain that binds my soul."
My soul resonated with my enchantment, forcing 'something' sleeping within to awaken. Like a beast angered from being awakened, my soul rumbled like a volcano, and within an instant, a bright light burst from my chest and coagulated onto my outreached hand.
Multiple black chains emerged from my heart as a brown grimoire rested comfortably on my palm. It was chained heavily as if to seal the book for eternity, barring anyone from viewing it. There wasn't any key or lock in sight. It was a heavily chained grimoire that no one, including myself, could read. However, even though the book was sealed, seeing it appear in my hand made me smile.
"The Mysterious Grimoire… It's still bound to my soul!"
This artefact gave me the ability to turn back time. It was my connection to the life I'd lead, proof that my timeline truly existed, and the only physical connection I had to him.
Currently, he and I are both eight years old. The man… no, the boy will join the Knight's Academy in two years. While his experience at the Knight's Academy would be a significant turning point for him, it would make him inaccessible for three to six years.
While I could meet him when he graduated from the Knight's Academy, there was no telling how my regression would affect the timeline from here on out. Therefore, it would be best to meet as soon as possible.
But under what pretext should we meet?
Even though I had just formed my first circle and was the favourite child of the Elune Lord, there was no reason for me to visit the Solaris House. Also, how do I convince him to join me even if we meet?
And then it hit me…
My lifelong dream… The dream that was so viciously ripped away from me when he passed away…
Wouldn't it be good if I could make it happen in this timeline?