I looked up at the sky. The stars I used to stare at when I was a kid... were dimmer. Some had lost their light completely.
Just like me.
"So... A-Ahh... T-This is it..?"
I barely managed to speak. My voice was hoarse, my throat dry.
I was sitting on a mountain of corpses. Over a hundred of them. Dragonic monsters.
Beasts that had been injected with both wyvern and dragon blood—turning them into freaks. Stronger, tougher, ruthless.
I killed them all.
But the cost...
My left arm was gone.
Huge claw marks tore through my chest, back, and right arm. Blood kept pouring from places I couldn't even feel anymore.
"D-Damn it... it hurts... ha..."
I stumbled down the corpse pile. Legs gave out. I rolled onto the dirt, back hitting the ground like a sack of rocks.
"Ha... so m-much... regrets..."
My vision blurred. Everything was dark. Cold.
I closed my eyes. Thought that was it.
Then—light.
'So this is what they meant... by the light at the end of the tunnel, huh...'
SLAP!
"Gah!?"
I jolted awake. My face stung.
I blinked. Looked around.
My bedroom.
I wasn't dead?
"Ha... so I lived. Tch. Thought I'd get reincarnated or something."
I turned my head. Standing beside the bed was my little sister.
Aveline Velcrist.
"You idiot!! I thought you were gonna die!!"
She lunged forward, hugging me tight.
"AH! Watch it! Still recovering here!"
I winced, gently patting her head.
She backed up, eyes still wet.
"So... how long was I out?" I asked.
"Two months."
"Two—WHAT?! Two whole months!?"
I nearly jumped out of bed, pain shooting through my side.
Aveline's expression darkened. "The doctor left a message... bad news."
"What is it?"
She hesitated. Looked down.
"Your Mana Core... it's completely depleted. The doctors said you'll have to start from zero."
My eyes widened.
Twenty years of effort. All the power I worked for... gone.
'If I stay like this... if I keep my current name... my enemies will come. They always do. My family will suffer. And this time... I can't protect them.'
I gritted my teeth.
'So if I want to survive... if I want to protect Aveline and the rest of them...'
I'd have to disappear.
Start over.
Just like the Emperor warned me.
-End of Chapter-