Before the name Cassian.
Before the mask, the academy, the fake smile.
There was just Vincent Velcrist—
Older brother. Swordsman. Weapon of the Empire.
And for her—his sister—he'd give it all up.
---
[Before the Emperor's Decision]
He knew it was coming. The day he'd vanish.
He stood on the balcony, staring at the horizon that swallowed the capital. His sister, just behind him, held onto his sleeve like she was scared the wind would take him.
"I'm not going to die," he told her, forcing a smirk. "Just… changing."
He had to. No mana left in him. Muscles burned out. The last battle took everything. The healers said it was a miracle he could even walk. And the nobles? They wanted results.
But she needed a future.
So he let go of the name "Vincent Velcrist."
Let go of his past.
All that mattered now was her.
---
[The Emperor's Offer]
Vincent didn't walk into the throne room.
He was dragged there—bandaged up, coughing blood, barely able to stand.
But the Emperor looked at him like he was still a weapon.
"You lived. Barely," the Emperor said. "You brought us something valuable."
The corpse of a Dark Dragonic Beast. Even in death, the thing's energy leaked out like it hated being dead.
"You'll disappear now," the Emperor continued. "Officially, Vincent Velcrist died in the North."
Vincent's jaw tightened. "And what happens to my sister?"
"She'll be protected. Cared for. The Empire keeps its promises."
He didn't know if he believed that. But it was enough.
"From today forward," the Emperor said, tossing him a black-inked scroll, "You are Cassian Caervale. Son of a ruined noble family. Use the name well."
He didn't reply. He just took it.
A fake name for a real mission.
---
[The Battle – Dragonic Beast]
The North was a graveyard. Mountains cold enough to crack bones. And in that snow, it rose—
A beast made of bones and rotted scale, its wings stitched by magic, eyes glowing with cursed flame. A Dragonic Beast brought back from death by necromancy.
Vincent fought alone. The others were already dead.
His blade snapped twice. His arm dislocated. His mana cracked and burned his nerves. But he kept swinging.
He screamed, cried, cursed, bled—
But he didn't stop.
In the end, the beast fell.
So did he.
---
[Waking Up – Reborn]
He woke up days later. Wrapped in clean sheets. Pain shot through every limb. A maid dropped the towel she was holding.
"C-Cassian Caervale…! You're awake!"
That name again.
He looked at his hands. The same hands, but different. Lighter.
He stood up. Limped to the mirror.
Hair now black. Eyes dyed crimson. The Emperor's magic worked.
His face… disturbingly close to Cassian's.
Vincent Velcrist was gone.
---
[Now – The Start of Cassian]
The house was a mess. The old Caervale estate, dusty and abandoned. He walked in, dropped his bag, and sighed.
"This guy was a noble?" he muttered, wiping dust off a table. "Doesn't look like it."
He'd clean it. Fix it. Make it livable. Because now, he was Cassian. And he had to enroll in the academy—Grade 5, as ordered. He had one month.
One month to reach rank 8 Sword Enthusiast, the level the real Cassian had reached before he disappeared.
Right now, he was only a rank 9 Sword Beginner.
He cracked his knuckles.
"This is gonna suck…"
But he had no choice.
Because his sister's life depended on him never being Vincent again.