Oryndor, Year 6
Six years had passed.
Kai stood atop a grassy hill just outside the quiet village of Aethergrove, the wind teasing his silver hair. The morning sun painted the sky in soft gold, birds sang in the trees, and the nearby river hummed peacefully. To anyone watching, he looked like a normal child.
But inside… he wasn't.
He hrst biad mastered walking before his firthday.Speaking before his second.And now, at six, his understanding of elemental theory exceeded that of local scholars.
Still, he played dumb.
He hid his mana. Faked fatigue. Let the village kids beat him in games. Let his parents believe he was a sweet, gentle boy—just gifted, not otherworldly.
He couldn't afford attention.
Oryndor's elemental system was rigid, structured. At age seven, all children were tested by the Elemental Conductor—a crystal that revealed their affinity with one of the four core elements: Fire, Water, Earth, or Air.
But Kai knew he wouldn't show any of them.
Because his mana had no color. It shimmered silver-gold. It didn't belong to this world.
That morning, he stared down at his hand and whispered softly, "Chrono-Stasis."
Time paused.
A leaf hung in midair.
A bird froze mid-flap.
Even the wind halted, as if the world itself took a breath.
Kai looked around the frozen world. He was alone in it. Again.
He walked through the frozen trees, passed the still river, gently touching petals suspended in time.
After six seconds, reality snapped back into motion like nothing had happened. The birds chirped again. The river flowed. Life resumed.
Six seconds was all he could manage now without burning too much of his hidden energy. He had to train in private to expand that window.
"Still too short," he muttered. "But better than before."
At Home – Aethergrove Village
His adoptive parents, Lysa and Calen, were waiting with breakfast.
"Training again?" Lysa asked, ruffling his hair. "You should be resting before the Elemental Ceremony."
"I wasn't training, I was just... thinking."
"You always think too hard," Calen chuckled. "Maybe you'll be an Air child. They're always in their heads."
Kai gave a faint smile. He had grown to love these people. Despite everything, they had raised him with warmth, no pressure. They didn't push him to be powerful. They just wanted him to be happy.
That made hiding things from them harder.
But necessary.
That Night — A Visitor in the Woods
Kai was heading back from a short walk near the old glade when he sensed it:A shift.
His eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.
A tremor shook the earth—brief, but unnatural. Trees bent the wrong way. Birds flew off in silence. And then...
A hole ripped into the air just meters from him. A tear, a glitch—reality itself bending like glass.
A figure stepped out.
It wore a long cloak of shadows. Its eyes were pure white, its form flickering between human and void.
Kai immediately backed up, his heartbeat calm but sharp. "Who... are you?"
The figure tilted its head. "Interesting. You didn't flinch."
Kai didn't respond.
"You don't belong here, Kai of the Forsaken Chronicle. But then again... neither do I."
That name—Forsaken Chronicle—it hadn't been spoken since his last life.
"You're from the other world," Kai said flatly.
The figure grinned. "From somewhere beyond it. You may call me Veyon."
Veyon raised his hand and with it, a rift opened beside him—briefly revealing a battlefield of ruin, another realm in flames.
"I've watched many like you. Reborn. Hidden. But you… you're different."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?"
"To warn you," Veyon said simply. "Oryndor will not remain peaceful. It, too, has roots in deeper chaos. The elementals are not as simple as you think. When you touch their core, they remember the void."
Veyon turned. "I won't interfere. Yet. But your story... interests me."
And just like that, the figure vanished into mist, the rift sealing behind him.
Kai stood in the silent glade, more questions now than answers.
Later That Night
He sat on the rooftop of his home, staring at the stars.
"Veyon..." he whispered. "Another variable."
He clenched his fist. He had only just been born again. The Elemental Ceremony was tomorrow. And already, cracks were showing in this world's perfection.
Kai wasn't afraid.
He was curious.
But for the first time since reincarnation, he sensed something bigger was coming.
Something that didn't just involve him.