The Rebirth

I woke up.

The first thing I noticed was the air—fresher, cooler than what I was used to. The smell of blood and sweat was gone, replaced by a scent that was almost… peaceful. My body felt strange. Lighter. Smaller. My hair brushed against my face, but it was longer than I remembered. I reached up to touch it and found it black as night, completely different from the bleached white it had once been.

I wasn't the same person anymore.

The realization hit me like a tidal wave. I had gone back.

It wasn't just a dream. It wasn't some cruel joke. I had been sent back in time.

As I sat up and looked around, confusion clouded my mind. I wasn't in the colosseum anymore. I wasn't in that suffocating prison of sand and blood. I was in a room—bright, clean, and... familiar?

The walls were decorated with tapestries, the furniture was neatly arranged, and the window let in a soft light from the outside world. It all felt so… normal. But the strangest part? The soft, rhythmic sound of breathing beside me.

I turned to my left, and my heart stopped.

There she was.

The woman I had fought for. The reason I had clung to life all these years.

"Mother..." I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Her presence brought a flood of emotions rushing back. My chest tightened, and my throat went dry. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I fought them back. I couldn't lose control—not now, not when I had a second chance.

She stirred slightly, her eyes fluttering open. For a moment, she looked confused, disoriented, but when she saw me, her face softened.

"Did you have a nightmare?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

I shook my head, feeling the weight of the years I had lost pressing down on me. No... this wasn't a nightmare. This was my chance.

"Yeah," I whispered, my voice shaky. "A nightmare."

I pulled myself closer, wrapping my arms around her tightly. She stiffened for a moment but then relaxed, gently placing a hand on my back.

It felt so real. So warm.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn't fighting for survival. I was fighting for something real—for her, for my future.

But I couldn't afford to forget why I was here. I had to move quickly. I had to be careful. The past had been rewritten, but I couldn't let myself slip into old habits.

As I pulled away, I wiped my eyes, quickly composing myself. I couldn't afford to be distracted. Not when so much was at stake.

I glanced around the room, still taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. It wasn't my room from before. The furniture, the decor—it was all different. A different life. A different me.

I looked down at my hands. Sixteen. My hands were smaller, softer. I wasn't the battle-hardened man I once was. I was just a kid again, but with all the memories of my past life intact.

I had been sent back in time. Just enough to rewrite the future.

And I wasn't going to waste this chance.

I stood up, my legs slightly unsteady as I made my way to the window. The sun was still rising, casting a warm golden hue over the city outside. It was a city I recognized, though it felt distant, like a memory just out of reach.

A new beginning.

But there was no time to waste. I had a plan to make, a future to carve out for myself. And there was someone I needed to find.

Orien.

He was the one who had given me this second chance. He had reached into the depths of time itself and pulled me back to life. But why? What was his true purpose? What did he want from me?

I needed answers.

But before anything, I had to figure out what to do next. I couldn't let myself get too distracted by my emotions. Not when there was so much on the line.

I turned toward the door and saw something that made my heart skip a beat.

A book.

It was lying on the desk, its cover worn but still intact. The title was etched in gold, faint but still readable: The Book of the Future.

I moved toward it, my curiosity piqued. I opened it, and glowing words appeared across the first page. The handwriting was messy but oddly familiar.

"Hey there! It's me, Orien—along with a few other magic users—coming at you with an important message: Congrats! You're officially back in the past. Don't screw it up."

I blinked. The book… it was from Orien?

"Anyway, listen up. Whatever you do from this point on will change the future—because of the butterfly effect, duh. After a week, this book will update and show you what kind of future you've created based on your choices. Pretty neat, right?"

I turned the page, the glowing letters continuing.

"Now, onto the real reason for this book. If you want to get stronger, I highly recommend enrolling in the Academy of Aetherion. It'll sharpen your sword skills, and with your experience from the colosseum, you'll probably dominate the rankings in no time. But…"

The handwriting became sharper, more intense.

"There are certain people you should never cross paths with. Especially if you're trying to keep a low profile."

A name appeared in bold letters:

Kaelis Umbra – The Black Star of the Sword

I froze. I had heard of him. Kaelis Umbra, the most skilled swordsman of the generation.

The book went on to describe him in even greater detail, and I couldn't help but feel a knot tighten in my stomach. Kaelis was a force of nature, a warrior who could make anyone drop to their knees with a single swipe of his blade.

I took a deep breath. It looked like my path was already being laid out for me.

The Academy of Aetherion.

It was my first step toward shaping my future. But the first rule was clear: stay out of Kaelis's way.

I closed the book, my mind racing. I had a lot to figure out. And the clock was ticking.

But there was one thing I knew for certain.

This time, I wouldn't waste my second chance.

Leonidas Ferron – The JuggernautNext up was Leonidas Ferron. The Juggernaut.

"His title says it all. He's an unmovable wall," I read aloud. "No matter how hard you fight, no matter what you try, he'll crush you beneath his massive strength."

I closed the book with a heavy sigh, the words swirling in my mind.

Leonidas was a force. Towering, intimidating, with a body blessed to withstand blows that would kill any normal person. His weapon of choice was a great sword or a massive mace, but honestly, it didn't matter what he wielded. He could've fought with his bare hands, and it would have been just as dangerous.

But there was something about Leonidas that most didn't know. Beneath the exterior of the relentless juggernaut was a man who knew pain, who understood suffering. Before his blessing, Leonidas had been just an ordinary boy—no different from anyone else.

He had a heart, and that was something I could respect. But his power, his presence—yeah, that was a whole other thing to deal with.

Seraphina Lioris – The Cold-Hearted MageTurning the page, I came to Seraphina Lioris, a mage whose reputation was enough to send shivers down your spine.

"Seraphina Lioris," the book began. "Cold, calculating, and absurdly powerful."

She was one of the greatest mages of our time, known for her overwhelming magic—fast, precise, and devastating. But what really made her stand out was her personality. Seraphina was untouchable. She had a reputation for being icy, detached, and completely uninterested in anything but power.

I could never get her on my side. She rejected my ideas outright, seeing them as naïve, and never hesitated to make her disdain known. Worse, my 'no-kill' rule had no place in her worldview. Her magic was deadly. No room for mercy, no hesitation. She was as cold as her magic, and that made her dangerous.

Still, there was something about her that reminded me of Kaelis. They both carried that same aura of untouchability. It was almost as if they were cut from the same cloth. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think they were siblings. Cold-hearted, but powerful beyond measure.

Regalora Veindred – The Untouchable

Regalora's power was like nothing anyone had ever seen. It wasn't just about freezing time in the conventional sense. No, Regalora had a far more terrifying ability—anything she touched had its time halted, not just frozen in place but distorted and rewound. It wasn't just about stillness. It was a complete reversal, an inversion of time itself within the boundaries of what she could touch.

The air around her would slow, and the world would blur, a distortion of reality where nothing could advance—no sound, no light, not even a single breath of air. But what truly set her apart was the fact that time didn't just stop. It unmade.

Objects she touched wouldn't just freeze. They would undo any damage, any state of being, reverting to their previous condition before time was altered. That sword that had once been poised to strike? It would go back to its resting position, as if it had never moved. The bruise on her skin that came from a fight? Gone. And if someone tried to attack her while she wielded this curse, their attack would be reverted, undone, or simply erased from existence—before it even had the chance to land.

It wasn't just a simple freeze. It was a complete alteration of the flow of time, turning every motion, every interaction, every consequence into an empty loop, never reaching its end. A person couldn't even perceive her movements in a conventional way, because even if they tried, their brains couldn't process what was happening fast enough—one second, she was there; the next, she was somewhere else entirely, the past already rewritten.

No one had ever managed to touch her in a fight, and for good reason—every attempt was not only futile, it was as if it had never existed in the first place.

I had heard her name in my past life. She was infamous, a name whispered in fear, her very presence enough to make the strongest warriors hesitate. And yet, there was a sliver of hope—she wasn't a mage, nor did she wield any traditional magical power. No spells, no incantations. This—her curse, her ability to control time—was all she had. But don't be fooled. Even without magic, she was a force unlike any other, a deadly enigma who could erase reality itself in the blink of an eye. She wasn't someone to be trifled with.

Thank the lord she didn't have magic. If she had magic, no one would stand a chance. Still, her family had the favor of the king, and in this world, that made her untouchable in every sense.

I couldn't afford to ignore the warning. If I valued my second chance, if I wanted to survive—Do. Not. Talk. To. Her.