The flow of time was broken like glass under pressure. Colors inverted. Kael's vision blurred and all of his discomfort and emotion vanished without a trace. The battlefield vanished, and so did the smell of blood and fire. The scent was ripped away by a gust of wind that felt like spring.
A disturbing voice was heard in Kael's mind.
"You have seen the end of the world."
Kael furrowed his brows as he heard the mysterious and unfamiliar voice play in his mind. And then the voice continued.
"You have felt true despair."
Kael was even more dumbfounded. And then he thought to himself:
"Is this the afterlife? Will I just be here for eternity with a random guy talking in my damn hea—"
But then he was cut off by the mysterious voice.
"Take this chance, unworthy child. Make it right this time. You won't get any more chances."
Kael's vision exploded in white.
Then, he screamed.
The scream died in his throat as he jolted up in his bed while being drenched by sweat.
Kael quickly sat up, gasping for air as if he had been tortured just now.
When he opened his eyes, he was not in the battlefield.
Just him and silence. Kael's chest heaved as his eyes darted around.
Wooden ceiling, stone walls and a weirdly familiar desk with old textbooks and scrolls stacked on top of it.
He looked around further, and saw an open window where sunlight streamed through, lighting the room up.
He heard the laughter of the people outside. He quickly got up from his bed and stumbled to the window with his heart racing. He knew this place too well, it was the continent's greatest academy, Slirentia.
The academy was whole, untouched and there weren't any rifts in the sky nor dark creatures.
Down in the courtyard, students were laughing and having fun. The academy stood large and crowded, just like how he remembers it.
People were alive.
Kael then collapsed to his knees from shock. He then looked at his hands only to find no bruises nor blood.
"I went back..."
He whispered to himself. And then louder:
"I went back!"
And for the first time in his life, Kael felt the stirrings of something deep inside. Very deep.
He closed his eyes hard and blinked into brightness again. His breath caught in his throat as the bloody image of the battlefield still clung to his mind.
But it wasn't a dream.
He had died and humanity had ended. And now, he was here. In his dorm. In the past. Alive.
Kael slowly sat up, then rose to his feet and stood before the mirror. A younger version of himself stared back. Brown hair, blue eyes, and that same well-defined face. It was definitely himself.
He ran his trembling fingers across his face, pressing into the skin. Almost desperate to wake up from this dreamlike situation. But nothing changed. This wasn't a hallucination. This was real.
But still, this doesn't change the fact that everyone will die.
Kael turned away from the mirror, his hand still trembling on his face.
"I can't let it happen again."
But what could he do about it? He was still weak. Still the same damn extra who is weak.
The academy bell rang in the distance.
Kael put on his uniform, a standard black tunic with a silver trim. He took one last look at his own reflection. The eyes staring back weren't heroic at all. They were determined, and maybe even angry.
"If I could change even one thing, then this second chance is worth it."
He quickly muttered under his breath and made his way to the lecture hall, weaving through the usual morning chaos of the students.
No one even looked at him. He's still the same invisible extra, after all.
He entered the classroom and quietly took his seat at the far back. Students trickled in, the geniuses and nobles sitting front and center.
The professor entered the classroom with a swirl of emerald robes, his staff tapping sharply against the marble floor beneath him. The professor began,
"Today,"
The professor then continued,
"We continue our discussion on magic flow disruption in mana based combat. Open page 214."
Kael opened his textbook, but his mind was elsewhere.
He had five years.
Five years before the demon king appears.
Five years to train, to prepare, to do anything.
As the lecture continued, Kael lowered his gaze and clenched his hands under the desk.
"No more hiding. No more fear. I won't let this be a repeat of my previous foolish life. I don't know yet, but I WILL change fate."
Even if it meant dying again for him.
The lecture dragged on even further, but Kael barely heard a word. The professor's voice was a dull murmur drowned within the thoughts of Kael's mind.
His painful memories of burning crimson skies, shattered weapons, and dying screams clung to him like chains.
Five years. That was all he had. Five years to rewrite a doomed fate.
The pages of the textbook blurred in front of him as his mind became scrambled.
He clenched his fists on the desk. He couldn't afford to drift. Not anymore.
He needed information. Allies. Powers.
After what feels like eternity, the bell finally rang. The students began to rise, chatting idly about weekend plans and food of the cafeteria. But Kael remained seated.
His eyes were fixed on the textbook in front of him, but he was not reading it. He was just zoning out of reality.
He rose and left the hall quietly, weaving through the large crowd like a shadow. He was too experienced at this type of stuff. Faces passed by him, some unfamiliar, and some painfully familiar. Those were all people who would die in the future.
Unless he changed fate.