The Burden of Legacy

Caelum sat motionless, eyes closed, his breath even. The training hall was silent except for the occasional flicker of the torches lining the walls.

Aetherflow.

It was there, hidden beneath the surface of reality, a current moving unseen through the world. He could feel it now—not grasp it, not control it—but he knew it was there. Like the air before a storm, heavy and charged.

"You feel it now, don't you?" Varian's voice cut through the quiet.

Caelum opened his eyes. He wasn't sure how to put it into words. "It's… different from what I expected."

His mentor smirked. "Because you thought it would be power—raw, overwhelming, something you could seize and use."

Caelum nodded.

Varian folded his arms. "That's where most people go wrong. Power isn't something you take. It's something you align yourself with. The greatest warriors in history didn't just wield Aetherflow—they became a part of it."

Caelum frowned. "Then why do some people seem born with it while others struggle just to sense it?"

Varian sighed, shaking his head. "Because the world isn't fair. And because of the Families."

That word alone carried weight.

"The Legendary Families," Caelum murmured.

"Exactly." Varian walked over, standing just a few paces from him. "You already know of them—the pillars that have ruled this world for centuries. Each of them was built on power so absolute that even the strongest warriors outside their bloodlines can only dream of reaching their heights."

Caelum nodded. He had grown up hearing their names, learning their influence, but he had never truly understood what made them so untouchable.

Varian continued, his tone steady. "The House of Silent Echoes—assassins who move in silence, wielding sound itself as both a weapon and a shield. Their ability to erase their presence makes them deadly ghosts on the battlefield."

Caelum thought back to his childhood. There had been whispers of them, stories of entire warbands vanishing in the night without a single drop of blood left behind.

"The Stormborn Clan," Varian went on, "their children are born during storms, their strength dictated by the lightning that welcomes them into the world. The greater the storm, the more powerful they become."

Caelum had seen them before. Warriors with eyes that crackled like thunder, wielding spears that could split the sky.

"The Hollow Monarchs," Varian's voice darkened, "a family cursed to be born without hearts—yet in exchange, they command the spirits of the dead. Their bodies are not bound by human limitations."

A shiver ran through Caelum. To be born hollow, to wield the power of the dead… what kind of existence was that?

"The Children of the Vanishing Sun," Varian said next, "descendants of a god who once swallowed the sun itself. They rule the shadows, manipulating the void as if it were an extension of their own being."

Caelum had always feared the dark. He never understood why, but something about it had felt too alive at times.

"And then there's the Ouroboros Lineage."

Caelum swallowed. He already knew what Varian would say next.

"They are reborn each time they die, their power shifting, their past selves lost in the cycle of endless reincarnation. No one knows how many lives a single Ouroboros has truly lived."

Caelum clenched his fists. So many monsters in human form…

But Varian wasn't done.

"There are others," he said, lowering his voice. "Families that do not make their presence known. The ones who work in the shadows, who influence the world in ways that can't be seen."

Caelum's breath hitched. "Like… the Oblivion Heirs."

Varian nodded. "The family that can erase memories. Each time they use their power, they, too, are forgotten. To most, they don't even exist."

Caelum had heard the rumors. Stories of warriors who disappeared from history, their legacies erased. If it was true, then how much of the world's past had already been lost?

"But they are not the only ones," Varian said. "There is also the Keepers of the Written Truth. The ones who record everything, who safeguard the knowledge that should never be forgotten."

Caelum inhaled deeply. Two sides of the same coin—one erasing, the other preserving.

He understood now.

The world was not random. It was built on foundations far older than anyone realized, and those who ruled it… were not ordinary men.

And yet, he still had to stand against them.