The rain fell in sheets, a relentless downpour that blurred the city's lights into a messy haze. The streets, normally buzzing with life, were oddly quiet. But that didn't matter to him. In the grand, chaotic world that continued its frantic pace, he had always been invisible.
Zod stood there, alone in the cold, damp alleyway, clutching his chest. His breaths came shallow and sharp, each one feeling like a dagger digging deeper into his ribs. His eyes, half-closed, took in the sight of pedestrians rushing by, umbrellas up, heads down, indifferent to the man struggling to stand.
No one noticed. No one ever had.
In his twenty-eight years of life, Zod had been a nobody—a nameless figure lost in the crowd. He had no family, no friends, no remarkable achievements. Life had always passed him by, leaving him in the shadows. The regret weighed heavier than the rain, more suffocating than the chill biting through his clothes.
"This can't be it," he thought. "I've barely lived."
The world dimmed around him, the noise of the city fading into a dull hum as the cold seeped deeper into his bones. His heart, which had always been ignored by others, was now betraying him too. As his legs gave out beneath him, his body crumpling to the ground, a dark, bitter thought crossed his mind.
I wonder if anyone will even notice I'm gone.
His vision tunneled, the light slowly leaving the world, and for a fleeting second, he wished for something different. A chance to matter. A chance to do something that couldn't be forgotten.
And then, the world went black.
---
Darkness.
For a long while, there was nothing. No sound, no light, no sensation. Just an endless void, like floating in an ocean of nothingness. Time had no meaning here. It could've been seconds or centuries, and Zod wouldn't have known.
But suddenly, from that void, something stirred.
A faint glow, distant at first, but it grew brighter, closer, until it became overwhelming. Then, a voice, calm yet commanding, spoke.
"Welcome, Zod. Your life begins now."
---
Zod gasped for air, the sensation of breathing rushing back to him as if his lungs had been deprived of it for an eternity. He blinked, disoriented, and his eyes darted around wildly. But this wasn't the rain-soaked alley he remembered.
He was lying in a warm, dimly lit room, the walls lined with dark wood and soft candlelight. His body felt... different. Small. Weak. He tried to sit up, but his arms wouldn't cooperate. Panic surged through him for a moment, but as his vision cleared, so did the realization.
He wasn't in his own body.
His arms were small, soft, like a child's. And when he tried to speak, what came out was an infant's soft cry. He wasn't the man he used to be. He wasn't anywhere near the world he once knew.
Before he could spiral into panic, the door to the room opened, and two figures stepped in. A tall man, his presence commanding and regal, and a woman with gentle eyes and a soft smile. They looked down at him, and the woman's voice, soothing and kind, whispered, "Our son."
Son? Zod thought, confusion flooding him. What the hell is happening?
The man stepped closer, looking down with a mixture of pride and expectation. "He will grow strong. Just like his brothers."
The woman gently touched Zod's forehead, her voice filled with warmth. "Zod, our precious youngest son."
Zod. They had called him by the same name. His name. But he was no longer the forgotten man from before. He was now... something else.
---
As the days passed and Zod adjusted to his new body, the truth became clear: he had been reincarnated into a world of magic, into a powerful noble family. His mind remained sharp, and though he was only a child, he understood the conversations around him.
He was no longer the nameless nobody. He was the youngest son of a Duke, destined for greatness in this world. But there was something more, something no one else could sense.
---
One quiet night, as Zod sat alone in his chambers, he heard it again—the voice from the void.
---
"Arcanum System activated."
---
A sudden rush of energy flooded him. It wasn't like anything he had ever felt before, not even in this world of magic. His mind was filled with knowledge, as if doors to countless worlds had been opened all at once.
System Notification: Basic spells unlocked.
Zod felt the power coursing through him—fire, lightning, shadows—all at his command. He stretched out his hand instinctively, and with a single thought, a small flame flickered to life on his palm.
For a moment, he simply stared at it in awe. The magic was his, and it came effortlessly.
The voice in his mind spoke again.
"Welcome, Zod, to the Arcanum System. You are the Sovereign of Infinite Magic."