"A king is not born from his blood. He is born from the choice he makes when the entire world abandons him."
— Caelan Veyrion
The Room Time Forgot
Blue light filled the entire underground chamber.
The ancient inscriptions on the floor began to glow one by one, forming a massive magic circle Kael had never seen before.
The ground trembled.
Dust that had settled for thousands of years flew into the air.
Kael took a step back.
"What's happening...?"
Before he could understand what was going on, the ring on his hand began radiating an increasingly bright light.
Then...
The light slowly gathered before him.
Forming the silhouette of a man.
Tall.
With long black hair.
Wearing a black war cloak with silver trim.
A sword hung at his waist, still sheathed, yet its aura alone made the air around him feel unbearably heavy.
His eyes were sapphire blue.
His gaze was calm, yet it carried an authority that made Kael unconsciously hold his breath.
The figure smiled faintly.
"I never expected... the next heir to be someone this young."
Kael swallowed.
"You..."
"...are you really Caelan Veyrion?"
The man nodded slowly.
"At least... what's left of me."
The Lingering Soul
Kael studied the figure before him.
His body looked real, but every so often, it transformed into fragments of light.
"You're dead?"
Caelan let out a soft laugh.
"A thousand years ago."
"Then how did you...?"
"Ring of Eternis."
Caelan raised his left hand.
On his ring finger was a ring exactly like Kael's.
"Before my body vanished, I transferred part of my soul into this artifact."
"Not to live forever."
"But..."
"...to wait for someone."
Kael stared at the ring on his hand.
"Someone like me?"
Caelan shook his head.
"No."
"Someone capable of making the choice I couldn't make back then."
That answer only left Kael even more confused.
The Legacy the World Rejected
Caelan slowly walked around the altar.
"Kael."
"What do you think... does it mean to be strong?"
Kael remained silent for a long while.
"So I can protect other people."
Caelan smiled.
"That's a good answer."
"Then..."
"Why do you want to become strong?"
Kael clenched his fists.
Because for years, no one had ever asked what he wanted.
"I..."
"I just want to..."
"...be acknowledged."
Silence filled the chamber.
Caelan closed his eyes.
"An honest answer."
"But..."
He looked at Kael seriously.
"It's also the most dangerous answer."
The Secret of the Mana Core
Kael finally worked up the courage to ask.
"If you really were the strongest human in history..."
"...can you give me mana?"
Caelan let out a surprisingly loud laugh.
"They really didn't realize it."
"Realize what?"
Caelan pointed at Kael's chest.
"You haven't lost your mana."
"You..."
"...have too much of it."
Kael's heart pounded.
"What do you mean?"
Caelan raised one finger.
"Everyone in this world has a mana core."
"The larger that core is..."
"The stronger they are."
"Then what about me?"
Caelan walked closer.
"You don't have a core."
"You have..."
"...a Sea of Mana."
Kael frowned.
"I don't understand."
Caelan sighed.
"Imagine that everyone is born carrying a glass."
"That glass is the mana core."
"You?"
He pointed at Kael.
"You were born carrying an entire ocean."
"Because your body was too weak..."
"...that ocean fell asleep."
Kael's eyes widened.
"Is that... possible?"
"A thousand years ago..."
"I was the same as you."
Those words left Kael frozen.
All this time, he had believed he was the only human without mana.
But...
The strongest person in history had once suffered the same fate.
The Heir's Trial
Caelan suddenly raised his hand.
The entire chamber changed.
The stone walls vanished.
The night sky appeared overhead.
A vast grassland stretched as far as the eye could see.
Kael turned left and right.
"What is this?"
"The Soul Realm."
"The place where heirs are tested."
In the distance...
A small child appeared.
He was about seven years old.
His body was covered in wounds.
Three shadow monsters were chasing him.
Kael instinctively ran.
"Look out!"
But...
His hand passed through the child's body.
He couldn't touch him.
The monsters drew closer.
Caelan merely watched.
"Save him."
"I can't touch him!"
"Then..."
"...use your head."
Kael began to observe.
The monsters weren't attacking the child directly.
They always followed the child's shadow.
The shadow...
Kael immediately noticed the moonlight.
He picked up a stone and threw it at an old pillar.
The pillar toppled over.
The moonlight was blocked.
The child's shadow disappeared.
In an instant...
All three monsters vanished with it.
The entire world changed back into the stone chamber.
Caelan smiled with satisfaction.
"Good."
"You didn't choose to attack."
"You chose to understand."
"That's the difference between a soldier..."
"...and a king."
A Confession
Kael was still panting.
"That was just an illusion?"
Caelan nodded.
"And the little boy from before?"
"That was me."
Kael fell silent.
Caelan gazed at the cavern ceiling.
"I was cast out once, too."
"I had no family."
"No home."
"No one."
"The only thing that sets us apart is..."
"...I chose not to hate the world."
Kael slowly clenched his fists.
All this time...
He had only thought about how to make his father acknowledge him.
But now...
He was beginning to realize something.
Perhaps...
There was a greater purpose than simply gaining recognition.
The First Legacy
Caelan raised his hand.
Ring of Eternis floated up from Kael's palm.
The ring slowly spun.
Then it shrank until it fit Kael's right index finger.
Click.
As soon as the ring settled into place...
A warm current flowed through his entire body.
For the first time in his life...
Kael felt something he had never felt before.
Mana.
Not mana flowing out of him.
Rather, the world's mana had begun responding to his presence.
The air around him trembled softly.
Dry leaves on the floor slowly floated into the air.
The torch flames on the walls briefly turned blue.
Caelan nodded with satisfaction.
"Our contract has been formed."
"Starting today..."
"I will be your teacher."
"But remember."
"I won't fight for you."
"I will only show you the way."
"The one who will walk that path..."
"...is you."
Shadows on the Surface
Meanwhile...
Above the cavern...
Several black-robed figures stood around the hole where Kael had fallen.
One of them knelt and touched the ground.
"Ancient mana traces..."
Their leader raised his head.
His eyes were golden.
"Impossible..."
"That artifact..."
"...it's really active."
He smiled faintly.
"In that case..."
"Inform His Majesty."
"Ring of Eternis has chosen a new heir."
The black-robed men vanished into the shadows.
No one realized...
That from that night onward...
Kael wasn't the only one who had begun searching for his destiny.
The people who had waited for the ring's awakening for centuries had begun their search as well.