---
The Aftermath
The entire Academy was in chaos.
Magic arrays flickered in and out, leaving shimmering remnants in the air. The field where Harvey fought was scorched—etched with deep, unnatural marks that not even high-tier professors could explain.
Security teams cordoned the area.
Elders gathered in hushed urgency.
Students were told it was a "training malfunction."
But rumors spread like wildfire.
> "Did you see that masked thing?" "I heard someone fought it—alone!" "They say it was the system ghost from 30 years ago..."
Harvey ignored all of it.
He sat alone in the infirmary, arms bandaged, skin torn, body sore.
But his mind?
Sharper than ever.
> [Regression Sync: 28.3% – Memory Threads Unlocked.]
> [New Trait Awakened: Codebreaker's Insight.]
---
Voices from the Past
Harvey leaned back against the infirmary bed, allowing the memories to surface.
Fragments of his first regression—the timeline he was never meant to remember.
A time when he wasn't cold-blooded.
When he wasn't feared or calculated.
He'd been naive then.
Optimistic.
A magic prodigy who believed in peace.
That version of him had trusted the wrong people.
Professors who saw him as a threat.
Friends who betrayed him at the summit.
The girl who kissed him on the eve of war… only to hand over his location to the Holy Order.
> "You were kind once," a familiar voice echoed from the recesses of his soul.
> "And I paid for it."
---
A Visit from the Dean
The door opened.
An older man in a crimson coat stepped in—Dean Aldren Vaughn, head of the Academy and one of the most feared Archmages alive.
His eyes scanned Harvey.
> "You stabilized your core despite a Class-Z anomaly attack. Explain."
Harvey looked up slowly.
> "It wasn't a regular anomaly."
> "Then what was it?"
> "A System Hunter."
The room fell into silence.
Dean Vaughn's brows furrowed. "That classification was erased by the World Codex decades ago."
> "Exactly. Which means something—or someone—brought it back."
Vaughn stared at him.
Measured him.
Then said, "Walk with me."
---
Classified Hall: Chamber of Forgotten Regrets
They walked through hidden hallways beneath the Academy. Ancient sigils lined the walls—suppressing eavesdropping and teleportation.
They arrived at a chamber long thought to be myth: The Chamber of Forgotten Regrets.
Inside were relics.
Names of expelled students.
Artifacts from suppressed timelines.
And at the center: a crystalline prison containing a sealed book titled:
"The Black Spellbook of Regression: Vol I."
Dean Vaughn turned to Harvey.
> "This belonged to you in another life."
> "I know."
> "You're the only person to have ever reached the core of the Spellforge Tower and survived."
Harvey didn't answer. He stepped forward, pressing his palm to the barrier.
It melted at his touch.
The book opened itself with a whisper.
And memories surged into his mind.
The night he lost everything.
The hour the Order arrived.
The moment he watched his brother burn alive for his sins.
---
Buried Truths and New Threads
> "They're coming again," Harvey whispered.
> "Who?"
> "The ones who erased me from history."
He turned to Vaughn.
> "And this time, I won't just survive. I'll break them."
Vaughn gave a rare, tight-lipped nod.
> "You've changed. I remember the boy you were."
> "That boy died the day he trusted the Empire."
> "Then what will you do now?"
Harvey's eyes glinted with something ancient. Something cruel.
> "I'm going to gather the Seven Shadow Keys."
> "That would make you an enemy of every major faction."
> "Good."
> "Why?"
> "Because that's what it takes to rewrite fate."
---
Meanwhile… A Hidden Chamber in the East
Far from the Academy, in a secret lair within the Eastern Dominion…
A girl with silver hair opened her eyes from meditation.
> "He awakened early," she murmured, voice laced with unease.
A boy in priest's robes nearby tensed. "Should we act?"
She held up a hand.
> "Not yet. But when the third seal breaks, we'll no longer be the only ones watching."
> "The other regressors?"
> "And worse…"
Her eyes glowed.
> "The Firstborns will return."
---