The forest did not sleep.
Even long after Hiro's roar of awakening had faded into the night sky, the ancient woods trembled as if the earth itself remembered his name. Strange creatures had fled deeper into burrows, shadows crawled away from him in fear… and the air, thick with mana, clung to him like a familiar spirit.
Hiro stood at the center of the clearing, chest rising and falling in heavy, controlled breaths, staring at the faint glyphs still glowing across his arms. Each symbol pulsed with an ancient rhythm—one he did not understand, yet one that resonated with his very blood.
His throat tightened.
He remembered the council's faces.Eldric's cold smile.Selena's quiet betrayal.The gasps, the whispers, the disbelief when the high priest declared him unfit.
He felt it again—that wave of heat rising from somewhere deeper than flesh. This time, he didn't resist it.
The glyphs burned brighter.
A gust of wind spiraled upward from beneath his feet, forming a vortex that made the leaves dance in circles around him. The trees groaned as if bowing. The sky dimmed as though refusing to look directly at him.
"What… am I becoming?" Hiro whispered.
The voice answered immediately.
"Not becoming… remembering."
Hiro jerked his head toward the glowing orb of primordial light that hovered near him. Since awakening, the sphere had drifted beside him like a silent guardian.
He narrowed his eyes. "You talk like you've known me before."
"I have. More accurately… I knew what you were meant to be. Before the gods sealed you. Before they chose fear over destiny."
Hiro's heartbeat quickened. "Fear?"
"Yes," the voice rumbled. "Because they sensed something inside you that should never have awakened. Something older than them. Something they could not control."
Hiro clenched his fists. "Control. That's all they ever cared about."
"And now they've lost it," the voice said. "They were fools to assume exile would destroy you. Instead, it freed you."
A bitter smile tugged at Hiro's lips. "Then tell me. What do I do with this power? This 'awakening'?"
"Before that," the orb said gently, "you must understand what was taken from you."
Hiro's expression hardened.
"Show me."
The orb pulsed. "As you wish."
The world blurred.
THE MEMORY THAT WAS NEVER HIS
Hiro's vision dissolved into darkness. His body felt weightless, drifting through an empty void. Then—suddenly—a flash.
Mountains carved from obsidian.A sky filled with swirling gold and violet.A palace floating above a sea of stars.And at its center—
A throne of shattered constellations.
Upon it sat a figure wrapped in luminous white, hair flowing like starlight, eyes burning with a power Hiro had never seen before. Divine. Ancient. Terrifyingly calm.
But what froze Hiro's breath was the face.
His face.
Or rather… a version of him.
"What—" Hiro gasped. "Who is that?"
The orb answered softly.
"Your past self. The Sovereign Who Challenged Dawn."
The figure raised one hand. Stars trembled.
The gods—radiant beings of light—stood before him in a circle, their faces twisted with anger, fear, and something far worse: desperation.
"You cannot ascend beyond us!" roared one god, his wings aflame. "Mortals should never surpass the divine!"
"You fear him," said another, voice shaking. "That mortal-born anomaly… that aberration… he must be sealed."
"Then seal him," hissed a third. "Before he remembers what he truly is."
The memory blurred. A blinding chain of golden light wrapped around the past-Hiro's throat, wrists, and chest. He didn't fight. He simply stared at the gods in cold disappointment.
"You do this out of fear," he said. "But you forget one truth."
He leaned forward.
"What is sealed is never destroyed."
The gods froze.
The memory snapped.
BACK TO THE FOREST
Hiro gasped as he stumbled backward, falling onto the damp forest floor. Sweat dripped down his forehead. His breathing was ragged.
"That… was me?"
"In essence," the orb said. "Your soul once belonged to a Sovereign whose power rivaled beginnings themselves. But the gods sealed that past, reincarnating you as a mortal prince."
Hiro gritted his teeth. "Why reincarnate me at all? Why let me be born again?"
"To keep you controlled," the orb replied. "A puppet prince. One they could watch. Manipulate. Shape. Until you became too strong too fast."
"And then they feared me." Hiro's fists dug into the dirt. "So they betrayed me again."
"Yes," the orb whispered. "This time through mortals loyal to them."
The anger burning inside him shifted. It became something colder. Sharper. Something like purpose.
"So this power… this awakening… is my past returning?"
"A fragment, yes. More will come as you embrace your true role."
Hiro stood slowly, the weight of the revelation settling in his chest.
"So what now?" he asked. "What do I do with this?"
The orb floated closer.
"First, you must survive."
THE FIRST HUNT
The forest suddenly grew silent.
Then—
CRACK.
A massive creature burst through the trees—a direfang wolf, taller than a horse, its fur black as midnight, its eyes glowing like molten embers. Its fangs dripped steaming venom. Hiro recognized the species from old imperial bestiaries.
A beast that even elite squads avoided.
It snarled, earth rumbling beneath its paws.
Hiro exhaled slowly.
"Perfect."
The wolf lunged.
Hiro didn't move.
Not from fear. From focus.
As the wolf closed the distance, Hiro extended his hand—instinct guiding him.
Glyphs ignited across his arm.
A pulse of golden force exploded outward.
BOOM!
The wolf was thrown back like a ragdoll, slamming into a tree with such force the bark shattered.
Hiro blinked. "I… did that?"
"Not even one percent of your potential," the orb replied casually.
The wolf staggered up, shaking violently. It howled, summoning a pack. Dozens of glowing eyes emerged from the shadows.
Hiro cracked his neck.
"I guess we're doing this."
He stepped forward.
The wolves charged.
Hiro raised both arms, palms open, and allowed the glyphs to surge. Energy spiraled around him like ribbons of golden flame.
The first wolf leapt.
Hiro punched once.
A shockwave tore through its chest.
Another wolf lunged at his blind spot.
Hiro twisted, grabbing its jaws mid-air, and slammed it into the ground. The earth cracked beneath the impact.
Three wolves attacked from all sides.
Hiro swung his arms wide.
An arc of primordial energy cut through the clearing, disintegrating them instantly.
The rest hesitated.
Hiro smiled—not cruel, not sadistic.Just… awake.
"Run."
They didn't.
So he ended them.
The battle lasted barely a minute. When it was over, the clearing was littered with fallen beasts, steam rising from scorch marks on the ground.
Hiro wiped blood from his cheek—not his own—and looked at his glowing hands.
"…This is terrifyingly natural."
"Because it is yours," the orb replied. "Claim it. Accept it. Only then can you recover what the gods stole."
Hiro's gaze hardened.
"I will."
A NEW PATH
The moon rose high above the treetops, casting pale light over the ruins of the battlefield. Hiro stood calmly, the orb beside him.
"What's next?" he asked.
The orb pulsed brighter.
"There is a ruined temple north of here. A sanctuary built by the ancient Sovereign's followers… before the gods erased their existence."
"What's inside?"
"A relic. One you once wielded. One that remembers you."
Hiro took a slow breath.
The old Hiro—the prince—might have hesitated.The betrayed Hiro might have felt fear.But the awakened Hiro?
He stepped forward.
"Then let's go."
The forest parted for him as he walked, shadows shrinking away, the wind carrying his presence like a whisper.
A whisper that foretold the return of something the gods thought buried.
Something they feared returning more than anything else.
The Sovereign.