Child Of Time

Yawn.

My eye slowly opened but snapped shut as a blinding light assaulted my vision. I raised a hand to shield my eyes and tried again. What I saw left me baffled.

"What in the Seven Hells is this?"

I muttered, surveying my surroundings. I found myself in a luxurious chamber, adorned with rich tapestries and fine furnishings. Gold accents glimmered even in the soft light.

'Did I survive? Is this some kind of healer's quarters?' I wondered, testing the movement of my limbs with a mixture of excitement and confusion.

Wait, I can move?

I examined my situation: I was lying on a bed, but the body I now occupied felt... foreign. I sat up, my confusion growing.

"Where am I?" I murmured. It was clear this was not the infirmary of my old palace.

I placed a hand on my abdomen, where a grievous wound should have been, but found nothing. How had they healed such an injury? Unease crept into my thoughts. Something was wrong. I noticed a large mirror in the corner of the room and moved toward it, my heart racing. When I saw my reflection, I was struck by shock.

In the mirror stood a handsome young man with jet-black hair and skin as pale as marble. His most striking feature were his golden eyes.

"What trickery is this?"

Perplexed, I touched my face. Was this truly my visage? What had happened to my silver hair? Why did I look so young?

"Didn't I die?"

As I touched and pinched my skin, a sharp pain seared through my head, forcing me to the floor. I clutched my temples as a flood of memories assaulted me. It was as if my mind was being battered, each memory crashing down like waves, threatening to drown me in confusion and pain.

Blood trickled from my nose as I lay back, staring at the ceiling. 'These are the memories of this body.'

"Have I been reborn?" The thought flashed through my mind.

But if so, why was I in the body of a young man? Shouldn't I have been reborn as an infant?

For every answer that came, new questions emerged, overwhelming me. My head pounded relentlessly.

I drew a deep breath, striving to calm my thoughts, then forced myself to rise. I wiped the blood from my nose and sat on the edge of the bed, grappling with my new reality.

I appeared to be inhabiting the body of a young heir, the son of a powerful guild leader.

This was... unexpected.

In this world, it seemed that kingdoms and monarchs had been replaced by influential guild leaders who held power akin to kings. This society was built around hunting monstrous creatures that simply appeared out of nowhere.

Even more intriguing was the concept of mana—a power unknown in my previous existence. Here, mana granted individuals extraordinary abilities, allowing them to wield control over elements like wind, fire, water, light, and darkness.

"Fascinating." I reflected. In my former life, we used chakra to enhance our physical abilities, but this was on an entirely different scale.

However, my burgeoning excitement quickly soured. The atmosphere in the room grew chillingly cold.

"Damn it," I growled through clenched teeth, recalling the memories of the boy whose body I now possessed. This child had no mana—not even a trace. In a world where even the lowliest being possessed mana, he was utterly devoid of it.

The realization struck me hard. While others wielded powerful abilities, I was left with nothing—an ordinary soul in a realm of the extraordinary.

"Tch," I scoffed, the chill settling deeper within me. "What if I lack mana? I was once a mighty ruler, and I shall not remain a mere mortal. It is but a matter of time before I seize control of this world."

With that thought, a determined smirk curved my lips, a dangerous glint igniting in my golden eyes.