The Beginning

This is a novel.

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. I wasn't just in another world I was in the world of Lord of Emptiness. This was Kai Night's body. And that book...

The memories surged back with vivid clarity: the mural, the coffin, the overwhelming flood of visions that felt like they would tear my mind apart.

Groaning, I forced myself upright, my limbs trembling under the weight of exhaustion. My body felt alien stronger, sharper, but not entirely my own. Across the room, a shard of tarnished metal reflected the faint blue torchlight. Crawling toward it hesitantly, I leaned over, staring into the jagged surface.

My face stared back but not quite.

Kai Night's features were sharper, younger. His dark hair remained neat, his jawline defined, his expression unmarred by the years of strain I had known. But the eyes…

They weren't just blue anymore. They were deeper, brighter, faintly glowing. The light within them danced like distant stars, unnatural and hypnotic.

I touched my face, my fingers trembling as they brushed over my cheek. "This… this can't be Magnus' legacy."

My gaze dropped to the book I now clutched tightly. Its surface, once chaotic and pulsing with energy, was now cool and smooth. Yet even in its inert state, it felt wrong.

Divine artifacts.

The term alone sent a chill through me.

In Lord of Emptiness, artifacts were tied to mana cores, categorized by their power: Dead artifacts, made with artificial mana cores that degraded over time, and Living artifacts, capable of growing and adapting alongside their wielders.

But Divine artifacts… They were something else entirely. Beyond mortal comprehension, they operated on principles that defied known magic. They didn't even require mana cores to function.

The one of Divine artifacts in the novel had been Mortis' weapon the blade that nearly shattered reality in the final battle. There was no way Magnus Arcanis, as brilliant as he had been, could have created something like this.

The fact that I could analyze all this so calmly unnerved me.

I should have been panicking. I should have been overwhelmed by the absurdity of being thrown into a fictional world, into the body of a extra. Yet my thoughts were sharp, methodical almost cold.

"Is it the book?" I muttered aloud, glancing down at the tome. "Or is it because I know this world isn't real not completely at least ?"

I couldn't decide which answer I liked less.

The book had done something to me. I could still feel its presence, a quiet hum at the back of my mind, like it was there, just out of reach.

Curious, I focused on the sensation, and the book answered.

A faint ripple of energy coursed through me, and then it appeared a spectral image of the book, hovering in the air before me. Its pages fluttered open, blank at first, before glowing text began to form.

[Status Screen Activated]

Name: Kai Night

Age: 16

Element: Space-Time

Mana Core Rank: Novice (18% Progress)

The screen faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me stunned.

The book had merged with me.

Not just physically I could summon it at will, its power woven into my very being. The status screen it granted wasn't just limited to me; I realized with a jolt that I could extend it to others as well. It would require mana, but I could use it to glean information about them their ranks, their affinities, their potential.

This changes everything.

Shaking off the lingering unease, I pushed myself to my feet. "First things first get out of here before anything else happens."

The cathedral doors groaned as I shoved them open, the sound reverberating through the oppressive silence of the chamber. Cool forest air rushed to greet me, and I inhaled deeply, savoring the reprieve from the suffocating atmosphere inside.

I stepped past the shimmering barrier. Its faint hum dissipated as I moved further away, leaving nothing behind but quiet. No traps, no sudden attacks, no mysterious forces pulling me back.

It was… peaceful.

As I retraced my path through the forest, something felt off.

The animals the birds, the fish in the stream, even the insects they all scattered the moment they noticed me.

I paused by the same stream I had crossed earlier, crouching to drink. The water was cold and clear, but as I leaned closer, the mana-infused fish darted away, vanishing into the deeper currents.

"What's wrong with you guys?" I muttered, frowning.

Then, I caught my reflection again.

My glowing eyes stared back, casting faint highlights on the rippling surface.

"They're afraid of me," I murmured, leaning back with a sigh.

So I can't even enjoy nature now? I thought bitterly. Am I here just to suffer?

Elsewhere in the Forest

Deep beneath the forest, the Red Wyrm stirred.

Its massive body, a mountain of molten rock and blazing magma, shifted as ancient instincts roused it from its slumber. The air around it shimmered with heat, distorting the cavernous space.

Its glowing amber eyes opened, each one larger than a human, and its gaze turned toward the cathedral.

For centuries, the wyrm had guarded the forest, ensuring that none disturbed the ancient secrets hidden within. None had ever entered the cathedral's domain let alone survived its mysteries.

Until now.

The wyrm's molten maw twisted into a grin.

"To think," it rumbled, its voice like a landslide, "a mere novice could breach a barrier I could not scratch."

It lowered its colossal head, the ground trembling as molten cracks spread across its scales. Faint traces of mana lingered in the air ancient, powerful, and entirely unfamiliar.

"But that presence…" The wyrm's eyes narrowed, its grin widening. "It does not belong to a novice."

The creature paused, considering this new development.

"Perhaps," it said, "fate has finally created another monster… like that one."

With a low, resonant growl, the wyrm began to sink into the molten earth. Its massive form disappeared, leaving faint veins of glowing magma in the soil as its presence faded.