The hallway of the Royal Aegis Academy dorms felt smaller than I remembered. Or perhaps it was just that I had grown used to the sprawling vaulted ceilings of the Imperial Palace.
Students hurried past me, their faces bright with the naive excitement of the Opening Ceremony. Among them, I saw faces I hadn't seen in years—people who would eventually become legendary generals, and others who would become nothing more than statistics in the coming war.
I ignored them all. I had exactly forty-five minutes before the Academy's high-level security array performed its morning synchronization.
[Mission Progress: 15 minutes remaining to alter Minor Destiny.]
[Current Karma: 0]
The blue screen flickered at the edge of my vision. In my past life, I had spent this hour sitting in the Great Hall, listening to the Headmaster's droning speech about "honor" and "bravery." That was where I had first caught the eye of Prince Marcus. That was where my leash had been tied.
"Not today," I whispered.
Instead of turning toward the Great Hall, I headed for the North Wing—the "Library of Forgotten Records." It was a dusty, neglected place that most students avoided.
"Hey! Voss!"
A hand slammed onto my shoulder. I didn't need to look to know who it was. Chadric. A low-level noble whose only talent was making life miserable for "commoner" students like the old me.
"The ceremony is that way, trash," Chadric sneered, his breath smelling of expensive tobacco. "Or are you planning on skipping so you can go cry in the dirt where you belong?"
In my past life, I would have stuttered an apology. Today, I simply turned my head. My eyes, hardened by a decade of slaughter, locked onto his.
Chadric flinched. He didn't know why, but for a split second, he felt like he was standing in front of a predator.
"Move," I said. My voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a graveyard.
"W-what did you say?"
I didn't give him a second chance. I stepped into his space, my fingers brushing a specific pressure point on his wrist—a technique I had learned from an elven assassin in the future.
His arm went numb instantly. He yelped, stumbling back and tripping over his own feet.
[Notice: Small deviation detected. You have humiliated a 'Destined Bully'.]
[+10 Karma Points awarded!]
I didn't stay to watch him scramble. I had bigger fish to fry.
Ten minutes later, I stood in the basement of the Library. The air was thick with the scent of old parchment and damp stone. I walked past the rows of prestigious scrolls and headed for a pile of discarded, rusted artifacts in the corner—the "Junk Heap."
I knelt, digging through broken mana-conductors and shattered crystals until my fingers brushed something cold.
It was a simple, blackened iron ring. To anyone else, it looked like trash. But I knew better. In five years, a traveling merchant would buy this for a copper coin, discover its secret, and become the richest man in the continent.
I pricked my finger on a sharp edge of the ring. A drop of blood fell onto the iron.
SHING.
The black soot flaked away, revealing a dull, pulsating violet metal underneath.
[Alert! 'The Seal of the Void Sovereign' (Relic Grade) has been identified.]
[Fate Altered: You have stolen the 'Merchant King's' beginning.]
[Calculating Karma... +800 Karma Points!]
A surge of cold energy rushed up my arm, settling in my chest. My mana circuits, which had been sluggish and weak, suddenly screamed with life.
[Karma Shop Unlocked!]
[Available Balance: 810 KP]
[Recommended Purchase: 'Shadow-Step' (Early Stage) - 500 KP]
I slid the ring onto my finger. It resized itself instantly, becoming invisible to the naked eye.
"One down," I murmured.
I looked toward the ceiling, in the direction of the Great Hall where the cheers were just beginning. Marcus would be giving his "friendship" speech right about now.
He thought he was the protagonist of this era. He thought the world revolved around his golden light.
He had no idea that in the shadows of his own academy, a monster was sharpening his claws.