Reclaiming a Kingdom

Riven exhaled slowly, his mind racing as he processed Nyx's words.

Velmorian. The Abyss. The dragons.

And now, him.

He had always wondered about the history of this world and his place in it, but this—this was beyond anything he had imagined. The weight of it pressed against his chest, heavy and inescapable.

He was the successor of a fallen king.

The heir to a power that had once shaken the balance of the three realms.

And now, that power was his.

Riven flexed his fingers, watching as shadows curled instinctively around them, responding to his will like an extension of his own body. The violet runes on his arms pulsed faintly, matching the rhythm of his mana heart.

It felt natural. As if this was how his body had always meant to be - even in his past life.

He lifted his gaze back to Nyx, who was still watching him with a mixture of amusement and reverence.

"So," he said at last, his voice calm despite the storm raging in his mind, "What does this actually mean for me?"

Nyx's lips curled into a sly smile.

"It means you have a kingdom to reclaim."

Riven huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. "You really think I care about some ancient throne?"

Nyx tilted her head. "Do you think Velmorian did, at first?"

He paused at that, frowning.

"He was cast down, betrayed by both humans and dragons alike," she continued. "At first, he had no intention of ruling, no desire to do anything except wallow in his own dread and suffering. But the need for power… it never stops calling."

Riven's fingers twitched. He was no stranger to the hunger for power. He understood, better than most, that in this world - and in every world - strength was the only currency that mattered. Weakness had no place anywhere.

"And how will claiming this throne benefit me? Why should I go to all the bother of rebuilding a kingdom when I can just use the power of the system to grow in strength on my own?" Riven asked and Nyx rolled her eyes.

"Did you not just hear a word I said?" She crossed her arms. "Let's say you reach the pinnacle of power that a mage can reach here in the mortal realm and you ascend to Varethun just like Velmorian did. What do you think is going to happen?" She pointed a slender finger towards him and then pointed downwards. "You will cast back down to the mortal realm with your mana heart ripped from your chest - history will repeat itself."

Riven's smirk faltered slightly, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.

He hated to admit it, but Nyx had a point. If the dragons had once torn Velmorian down at the height of his power, what was stopping them from doing the same to him? No matter how much he grew, how much he mastered the system, there would always be forces stronger than him waiting to put him back in his place.

And Riven had sworn that he would never let anyone push him around anymore.

"So what?" he challenged, crossing his arms. "You expect me to wage war against an entire realm of dragons and humans? Rebuild a kingdom that doesn't even exist anymore? You're asking a lot."

Nyx sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're thinking too small. This isn't about revenge or about mindlessly reclaiming some forgotten kingdom." She stepped closer, her voice lowering as shadows curled around her like wisps of smoke. "This is about breaking the cycle."

Riven frowned, but he listened.

"Velmorian's mistake was trying to rise alone," Nyx continued. "He challenged the natural order, ascended beyond what was allowed, and when they cast him down, he had no foundation to stand on. No one to catch him. That's why he lost."

She took another step forward, her dark eyes gleaming. "But you? You don't have to make the same mistake. The Abyss is already yours to command. The power you've unlocked isn't just a tool—it's a legacy. One that was meant to be wielded properly. Not just for personal gain, but to create something greater. You can reshape the natural order of this world - pave the way to new heights of power."

Riven inhaled slowly, feeling the weight of her words settle in his chest.

A kingdom of his own. A powerbase that couldn't be stripped from him. If he built something permanent, if he surrounded himself with forces strong enough to rival those that sought to control this world, then there would be no one who could take it away.

There was no doubt in his mind—he would surpass his mortal limits. He would ascend to Varethun.

But now, he wouldn't be going alone.

He would bring an army.

"Alright," Riven murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I see your point. If I rebuild the kingdom, I won't just be gathering power for myself—I'll be forging allies, creating a force strong enough to ascend alongside me."

Nyx's smile widened, satisfaction gleaming in her obsidian eyes. "Now that is the kind of thinking I wanted to hear."

She lifted her hand, and the shadows coiled around her fingers, forming a shifting mass that pulsed like a living thing. "But building a kingdom isn't as simple as gathering soldiers and marching forward. You need more than just brute strength. You need loyalty, strategy, and most importantly…" She let the shadows spiral outward, shaping into towering silhouettes of armored figures, kneeling in fealty.

"…people who will follow you - not just because they fear you, but because they believe in you."

Riven eyed the shifting shadows, considering her words. He wasn't naïve. Fear alone wasn't enough to keep people bound together. It was unstable, brittle - easy to break apart when faced with something greater. But belief? That was different.

Riven exhaled through his nose, tilting his head slightly. "Fine. Then where do we start?"

Nyx's eyes gleamed. "With the remnants."

"The remnants?"

She waved a hand, and the shadowy figures melted away, replaced by a new vision—a ruined stronghold, half-buried beneath jagged cliffs, wreathed in swirling mist. Crumbling towers stretched toward the sky like skeletal remains, yet beneath the ruin, something pulsed. Something alive.

"There are those who still carry traces of Velmorian's legacy," Nyx explained, her tone shifting into something quieter, more reverent. "Exiled warriors. Lost clans. Beasts of the Abyss that have waited in the dark, bound by forgotten oaths. Some have scattered, hiding in the mortal realm, while others still slumber in the ruins of their fallen kingdom."

She turned to face Riven fully. "Your first step is to find them."

Riven studied the image for a long moment. The ruins looked ancient, long abandoned, yet the air around them hummed with something powerful - something dormant. He could feel it, even from here.

And it was calling to him.

He looked back at Nyx, a slow smirk forming. "A kingdom buried beneath the earth, waiting for its king to return? How poetic."

Nyx chuckled. "Fitting, isn't it?"

"Well for now I'll need to build my power here in the academy." Riven sighed. "They're going to be suspicious of me for the foreseeable future so I need to keep low until I'm powerful enough to be free from them."

"I'll be with you too from now on," Nyx said. "When you re-linked the system, I became stronger. My physical form is almost complete - I just need to collect more mana."

"So you… you're like a human?" Riven asked, eyeing her shadowy form. 

"I'm born from the Abyss." Nyx said, brushing her dark hair back over her shoulder. "We absorb the mana in the Abyss and once we're strong enough, we ascend to the mortal realm. We're able to use mana to gain a human appearance - it's like a glamour skill that all Abyss born know."

Riven leaned back slightly, watching Nyx with newfound curiosity. "So you'll be able to walk around like any other student once you absorb enough mana?"

Nyx smirked. "That's the idea. Though, I imagine I'll be a bit more impressive than your average mortal." She flicked a wrist, and the shadows around her shifted, condensing into a more solid form for a brief moment before dispersing again. "Once I stabilize, I'll be able to walk beside you without anyone noticing anything strange."

Riven tapped his fingers against his knee. Having Nyx physically present could be a major advantage. She was knowledgeable and if her form truly stabilized, she could act as a second pair of eyes in a place where deception was as dangerous as magic itself.

Still, there was one thing that bothered him. "How long will that take?"

Nyx shrugged. "That depends. If I'm able to absorb mana in a place that's dense with dark mana it could take a few days."

Her words made him remember the staff of Ignis he owned and its need for a place with dense fire mana.

"I'll check around tomorrow after orientation." Riven said as he got up and unlocked the door of the training room. "For now just absorb some mana in here and try not to be too annoying."

"What - where are you going?" Nyx asked with a pout.

"I'm going to sleep." Riven said as he walked into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

After the week he had just suffered through and the overload of information Nyx had just given him… he was exhausted.

He slumped on his bed and sighed. Tomorrow he would make a plan on how to go about starting to reclaim his kingdom.

But for now, he would sleep.