It was another summer afternoon until it wasn't.While peasants toiled under the sun and merchants squabbled over meager profits, the rich and noble wrestled with a different kind of suffering: the relentless burden of maintaining dignity.Oh, how exhausting it was to smile at tedious banquets, to nod along to mind-numbing small talk, to uphold the fragile illusion of grace and refinement.That was my suffering. The ninth son of the king's fourth wife.Each day bled into the next, identical and uneventful. I woke when I pleased, did as I wished, and lived a mundane life. I was too far from the throne to be a threat, too insignificant to be a pawn. As long as I remained quiet, I could enjoy the wealth left to me after my mother's death two years ago."Sarah, fetch my clothes and prepare a bath," I ordered, my voice cutting through the stillness of my chamber.The maid, a woman barely a decade older than me, dipped her head in acknowledgment. Age had earned her no particular respect in this palace. "Yes, sir," she murmured before slipping away.Left alone, I considered going back to bed and enjoying another lazy morning. But if that were the case, I wouldn't be remembering this day so vividly.Because that was the moment everything changed.A deafening explosion shattered the air. The walls trembled. My once-comforting bed jerked violently beneath me, its silken sheets now a sea of chaos.I lunged upright, my breath shallow, my heart hammering against my ribs.The door. I needed to get to the door.I staggered forward and tore it open only to be greeted by hell itself.Flames roared down the corridor, swallowing everything in sight. Thick, suffocating smoke curled toward me, clogging my lungs."Anyone there?! Sarah?!" I bellowed, my voice hoarse, desperate. But silence was my only answer.I ran. And for the first time in my seventeen years of idle luxury, I understood true desperation. My limbs were weak, untrained, betraying me at every step. I had never needed strength. Never needed endurance. Never needed to flee for my life."Fuck it!""Fleeting Stream!" I screamed, calling forth a weak surge of water.Pathetic. It barely sizzled against the inferno.The palace the grand, extravagant estate I had called home was now an unrecognizable ruin. Priceless tapestries turned to ash, marble halls blackened, my once-fine clothes reduced to smoldering rags. And still, I ran.I should have lived in a hut; I could have escaped quicker.Then just as I glimpsed hope, the exit within reach I bolted forward.But I wasn't the only one there.A figure stood there, blocking my escape."You've come this far?" he mused, his voice light, amused. "Quite impressive."He was young. My age, maybe. There was nothing friendly in his stance."Who are you?! Why are you doing this?!""You don't need to know."And then, with an indifferent flick of his hand, he whispered, "Eternal Inferno."Pain.Fire erupted across my body, searing, devouring. I had never seen an authority like that before.And I had never known agony like this.My vision darkened, the world slipping away. My limbs went numb, my breath faltered, and the last thing I felt was the unbearable heat consuming me.And then, nothing.I died.That should have been the end. But instead of oblivion, I awoke in an endless void, swallowed by darkness so deep it felt alive. There was no floor beneath me, no sky above just nothingness stretching infinitely in every direction.Yet, I was not alone.A tall figure stood before me, his back turned, radiating an undeniable presence. Though I couldn't see his face, the air around him pulsed with an authority I had never encountered before.I opened my mouth to speak, to demand answers why was I here? Who was he?But he spoke first."Aaron," his voice resonated through the void, neither warm nor cold, carrying the weight of something absolute. "I will keep this brief."His words sent a chill through me."I will give you a second chance."A second chance?"Defeat him."The very mention of my killer made my body tense. The flames, the searing pain I could almost feel it all over again."He wields an authority called 'Eternal Inferno.' Anything he marks with his blood will burn, and once those flames erupt, nothing can stop them… except one thing."I swallowed hard, dread curling in my gut."Your authority, once awakened, has the potential to counter his. But you must prove yourself worthy of it."Before I could question him, before I could even process what had happened, he was gone.And then, everything faded to black.The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sound of someone calling my name."Sir, wake up. You'll be late."My eyes fluttered open, my body still heavy with exhaustion. A familiar face hovered over me Sarah.I bolted upright, my breath catching in my throat. She was standing beside my bed, adjusting the curtains to let the morning light spill into the room.She was alive.My mind reeled, struggling to make sense of what I was seeing. But it wasn't just that she was here it was how she looked.Younger.There were no signs of the weariness that had crept into her features over the years, no lines of exhaustion under her eyes. She looked as she had in a time long past.I stared at her, unable to speak."Is something wrong, sir?" she asked, tilting her head.I swallowed, shaking my head quickly. "No… It's nothing."Ignoring the tightness in my chest, I pushed off the bed and moved toward the door, needing air, needing to think.But as I reached for the handle, my gaze caught something in the corner of the room.A mirror.I turned to face it, my breath hitching the moment I saw my reflection.The face staring back at me wasn't mine at least, not the one I had come to know.Smaller features. Softer skin.A child.I staggered back, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. My hands trembled as I reached up to touch my face, as if the mirror might be lying.No. This wasn't a dream.I had gone back.