Extra’s Survival: Reincarnated with a Doomed Bloodline

The morning sun painted the Ackerman estate in golden light, but Fenix barely noticed the beauty around him. His body was back home, but his mind kept drifting to temple corridors and the weight of secrets he now carried. The feast last night had been a blur of congratulations and relief, but today brought different challenges.

He found Abigail in their mother's old reading room, sunlight streaming through tall windows as she sat curled in an oversized chair with a book in her lap. When she saw him, her face lit up like he'd hung the stars just for her.

"Brother!" She jumped up, nearly tripping over her dress in her excitement. "I was hoping you'd wake up early. I have so many questions!"

Fenix smiled, settling into the chair across from her. His little sister looked exactly the same, but somehow he felt like he was seeing her through new eyes. The temple had changed him in ways he was still discovering.

"Ask away," he said, though his stomach tightened. How do you explain hell to someone who still believes in fairy tales?

Abigail's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Was it scary? The temple, I mean. Everyone says it's the most dangerous place in the world."

Fenix thought about Maya's broken body, about the pack leader's golden eyes, about dying fifty-one times to learn a single technique. He chose his words carefully.

"It was... challenging. Very challenging. There were moments when I wasn't sure any of us would make it home."

"But you did make it home!" Abigail bounced in her seat. "I knew you would. I told Lily you'd keep your promise."

"You never doubted me?"

"Never." Her voice carried absolute certainty that made his chest tight with emotion. "Tell me about the others. Were they brave too?"

Fenix's expression grew darker. "Some were braver than they should have been. We lost Maya during the trials."

Abigail's smile faded. "She... she died?"

"She died protecting the team. She was one of the bravest people I've ever known." His voice cracked slightly. "The temple doesn't forgive mistakes, Abby. That's why it took so long for us to come home. We had to be perfect, or we'd have joined all the others who never made it back."

Tears welled in Abigail's eyes. "I'm sorry about Maya. But I'm so glad you're safe." She reached out and grabbed his hands. "Promise me you'll never leave like that again. Twenty-two days felt like twenty-two years."

"I promise," he said, squeezing her small hands. "No more temple expeditions for me."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Abigail's natural curiosity took over again.

"What was it like inside? Were there monsters?"

"Creatures unlike anything you can imagine. Some as big as houses, others that could move faster than the eye could track." He shuddered, remembering. "But there were wonders too. Treasures that seemed like they came from another world entirely."

"Did you bring any back?"

Fenix grinned. "Maybe. But first, tell me what's been happening here. I get the feeling I missed more than just boring estate business."

Abigail's expression shifted, becoming more serious than any ten-year-old should have to be. "Uncle Khan tried to keep things quiet, but servants talk. And I listen."

"What kind of things?"

She glanced around the room as if checking for eavesdroppers. "The Richter family is angry. Really angry. About the marriage arrangement being cancelled."

Fenix felt ice form in his stomach. "How angry?"

"Angry enough to threaten force." Abigail's voice dropped to a whisper. "I heard Uncle Khan talking to the advisors. Lord Richter says he's connected to one of the big Tier Two families. He claims they have the backing of one of the major aura houses."

"When?"

"He sent word four days ago. Said he'd be here tomorrow to... what was the phrase... 'resolve the matter with or without Ackerman cooperation.'" She looked up at him with worried eyes. "He wants to take me away, doesn't he?"

Fenix felt rage building in his chest like a furnace heating up. The idea of anyone trying to force his sister into anything made his new power stir dangerously.

"That's not going to happen," he said quietly, but his voice carried absolute certainty. "I didn't survive hell just to come home and watch someone threaten my family."

Abigail studied his face with the perceptiveness that had always made her seem older than her years. "You're different now. Stronger, but not just physically. You feel... more dangerous."

"The temple changes you," he admitted. "It has to, or you don't survive."

"Will you tell me more about it someday? When I'm older?"

"Someday." He stood up, decision crystallizing in his mind. "But right now, I have something for you."

He reached into his spatial ring - the incredible artifact from the throne room that had bound itself to him permanently. The sensation of accessing infinite storage still amazed him, but he kept his expression casual as he withdrew the healing necklace.

"A souvenir," he said, holding up the delicate chain. "I thought you might like it."

Abigail gasped as sunlight caught the shifting patterns in the golden material. "It's beautiful! But brother, this looks expensive. Are you sure?"

"Completely sure." He moved behind her chair, gently lifting her hair to fasten the necklace around her neck. The moment it settled against her skin, he felt a shift in her energy signature - subtle, but his enhanced senses caught the immediate integration. "Besides, big brothers are supposed to spoil their little sisters."

She touched the pendant with reverent fingers. "Thank you. I'll treasure it always."

"Good. Now, how about we take a walk? I want to see how the estate looks after three weeks away."

They strolled through familiar gardens and courtyards, Abigail chattering about small domestic dramas while Fenix reacquainted himself with home. Everything looked exactly the same, but he felt like he was seeing it through a stranger's eyes. The estate that had once seemed vast now felt small and vulnerable.

After an hour of walking and talking, Fenix stopped near the base of the mountain path that led to Ghost's training ground.

"Abby, I need to visit my teacher for a while. Will you be okay?"

"Of course! Lily's probably having heart attacks wondering where I am anyway." She grinned. "Go see Master Ghost. He's been even more mysterious than usual since you left. I think he missed training with you."

Fenix ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'll see you at dinner."

The climb up the sakura-lined path brought back a flood of memories. Every switchback, every familiar tree reminded him of brutal training sessions that had seemed impossible at the time. Now, after what he'd endured in the temple, those challenges felt like warm-up exercises.

How naive he'd been just three weeks ago. How weak.

The cemetery where his parents rested came into view, and Fenix paused to offer a silent prayer of gratitude. That single conversation with Ghost beside their graves had changed everything. Without his master's training, the temple would have claimed him in the first hour.

At the summit, Ghost stood with his back to the path, perfectly still as he gazed out over the valley below. Even without enhanced senses, Fenix could feel the power radiating from his master's deceptively casual stance.

"Welcome back, young master."

Fenix nearly stumbled. In all their months of training, Ghost had never called him anything but "kid" or occasionally "boy." The formal address carried weight that made this homecoming feel suddenly ceremonial.

"Come on, old man," Fenix laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "You don't need to start with the fancy titles now."

Ghost turned around, and Fenix was surprised to see genuine approval in those usually unreadable features. "Actually, I do. You've earned it."

The master's eyes took in every detail with professional assessment. The way Fenix held himself, straight-shouldered with unconscious confidence. The subtle changes in his energy signature that spoke of advancement far beyond normal parameters. Most intriguingly, the weapon at his side that radiated power unlike anything Ghost had encountered in decades of combat.

"You've grown," Ghost observed simply.

"The temple doesn't give you much choice."

"No, it doesn't. Most people break rather than bend. The fact that you're standing here, whole and sane, tells me everything about what you've become."

To Fenix's shock, Ghost suddenly dropped to one knee, head bowed in perfect formal submission.

"Master?" Fenix's voice cracked with surprise.

"I pledge my service to you, Fenix Ackerman," Ghost said solemnly. "As I once served your father, as I have served this family for twenty years, I now offer my loyalty to you. Not as teacher to student, but as retainer to lord."

Fenix felt emotion swell in his chest. This man had shaped him, forged him from weakness into something capable of impossible achievements. To have his respect, his acknowledged loyalty, felt more valuable than all the temple's treasures combined.

"I... I accept," Fenix managed. "But please, get up. You're my teacher, my friend. I don't want that to change."

Ghost rose smoothly, but his expression remained serious. "Everything has changed, young master. The question is whether you're ready for what comes next."

"Speaking of which," Fenix said, extending his hand to help his master stand, "I think it's time you stopped hiding, Soren."

Ghost froze, his eyes widening with the first genuine shock Fenix had ever seen cross his features.

"How do you know that name?" Ghost's voice carried dangerous undertones. "I never told you—"

"I learned a lot. Some through methods I can't fully explain yet." Fenix met his master's stare calmly. "But I know who you are, what you're capable of, and why you've been content to hide in the shadows while the family struggled."

Ghost's enhanced senses were going haywire as they analyzed Fenix more carefully. The boy's aura signature had evolved dramatically, but underneath it, something else entirely was flowing through his spiritual pathways. Mana. Refined, controlled mana that spoke of constitutional awakening that should have been impossible for someone of his bloodline.

And that weapon... Ghost's perception recoiled as it touched the katana's energy signature. This wasn't just superior craftsmanship. This was a legendary artifact that belonged in myths rather than mortal hands.

"What happened to you in that temple?" Ghost asked quietly.

"I became what our family needed me to become," Fenix replied. "Tomorrow, when the Richter family comes calling, they're going to discover that the Ackermans aren't as helpless as they assumed."

Ghost's smile was sharp as a blade's edge. "I've been waiting twenty years to hear those words. What do you need from me, young master?"

"Everything," Fenix said simply. "It's time to remind the world why people used to fear the Ackerman name."

As the sun began to set over the estate, painting the sky in shades of gold and crimson, master and student stood together on the mountain peak, planning for battles that would either restore their family's honor or destroy them completely.

But for the first time in years, Ghost felt genuinely optimistic about their chances.

The boy had returned as something more than human. Tomorrow, their enemies would learn exactly what that meant.