I_am_RK

In a future where reality is stitched together by unstable dimensions and ancient codes, Kael Riven is a broken warrior haunted by a past he can't remember—and a future he fears. Branded as a failed Reclaimer, Kael is assigned to purify corrupted Gate fragments left behind by dead kings and forgotten gods. But when a mission goes wrong, he awakens a power long sealed beneath his skin: the Seed—a sentient, living force tied to humanity’s original fall.

As Kael collects fragments of the Seed, his strength grows—and so does the voice in his mind. It belongs to a mysterious girl in red, a ghost who claims to be more than just memory. Each fragment awakens visions of a life he never lived: a throne, a war, and the truth that he may not be a man at all… but the very King who shattered the world long ago.

When the forbidden Gate XIII begins to stir from within him, Kael must travel beyond known space to confront his past self—while resisting the pull of a throne that remembers everything he tried to forget.

Teamed with Yanis Drae, a sharp-tongued warrior with secrets of her own, Kael must navigate collapsing realms, corrupted Seedborn, and the emergence of factions who believe Kael's return means the end of all timelines.

But the greatest enemy lies inside.

Because Kael didn't just carry the Seed…

He created it.

Ascension Protocol: The Last Reclaimer

Kael knelt before the cracked Seed, its pulsing white fissures reflecting in his eyes. The vault had fallen silent except for the slow, rhythmic hum that echoed from the Seed's core—like a heartbeat displaced in time.

> "Are you sure about this?" Aeyra asked quietly. Her voice, usually resolute, trembled slightly.

Kael didn't answer right away. His palm hovered over the Seed, just inches from contact. Every instinct in his body screamed caution—but his Glyph, his very soul, pulled toward it like a thread unraveling back to its beginning.

> "This isn't just knowledge," Yanis warned, stepping closer. "It's trauma. The kind that burns the soul raw. Whatever's inside that thing broke people far stronger than you."

> "Maybe," Kael muttered. "But they weren't me."

A searing cold shot through Kael's arm, followed by a blinding white light. His breath caught in his throat as the chamber shattered into fragments. Time collapsed. Memories that weren't his invaded — millions of them.

Screaming in battle. Burning alive. Rising from ashes. Killed as a traitor. Crowned as a god.

Reclaimer. Outcast. Father. Monster.

Each version of him, seeded across the timelines, met ruin. Not because they lacked power—but because they lacked balance. They all took the Seed and lost themselves to it.

> "Find the Memory Forge," said a voice—his voice—older, ragged, burdened. "The truth is buried in the fracture. You must be the one who remembers and survives."

Kael gasped, collapsing to the floor of the cradle chamber, coughing up glowing threads of mist. Aeyra caught him before he hit the stone completely.

His eyes opened, glowing with a new hue—a silver-blue spiral, not unlike the Seed's own fractal core.

> "I… I saw everything," he breathed. "Daelin's fall. The first failed Reclaimers. The Cradle War. Even Virel's betrayal of the Forgemother…"

Yanis stepped back. "Wait. The Forgemother? That's a myth."

> "Not anymore," Kael said grimly. "She's real. And she tried to split the King from his Seed to stop this… to stop me."

> "The fracture in this Seed—it's a mirror. I touched it, and it touched me back. I'm not just Kael anymore. I'm… I'm parts of them all."

> "Then we need to keep you anchored," Aeyra said, gripping his shoulder. "We won't let you lose yourself."

A sharp alarm rang from deeper within the vault—metal doors hissing open on their own.

Yanis drew her blades. "Too late. They're here."

From the entrance corridor, footsteps echoed.

But it wasn't a soldier. Not a hunter.

Small, pale-skinned, with glowing green eyes and a Seed embedded in her chest like a cursed jewel. Her body shimmered with unstable matter, as if she wasn't entirely solid.

> "Kael of the Fracture," she said softly. "The Forgemother sent me. You must remember her before the King finds you."

> "I'm her last Seedchild," she said. "And your next step lies in the Forge that remembers."

Chapter 60: The Fracture Within