20XX. City XX.
From early morning, fifty hunters had gathered in front of an S-rank dungeon gate.
This dungeon was special — to activate it, exactly fifty people were required, regardless of rank. The right to clear it had been granted to the guild "White Spear."
The guild was well-known. It had three S-rank hunters among its members, and one of them was personally leading the raid.
Lucas Gray — a veteran who had awakened fifteen years ago. He reached S-rank six years back and had already participated twice in the successful clearance of dungeons of a similar level. His name inspired confidence.
That was why there was almost no fear among the hired hunters.
Among the crowd stood a young man, about twenty-five years old.
Marcus Cross.
A C-rank hunter.
He had come at the request of his friend, to replace him in the raid. After a difficult B-rank dungeon, his friend had not yet recovered from his injuries, but he didn't want to let the guild down.
As for Marcus… he simply needed money.
He was confident in his knowledge of monsters and dungeons, but—
He understood perfectly well that for a hunter of his level, this place was nothing more than a deadly trap.
Lucas stepped forward and spoke loudly:
"Thank you all for taking part. You know what will happen if this dungeon is not cleared. A break. The death of civilians. We are obliged to take this risk.
The reward will be divided equally among all survivors."
The last word was heard especially clearly.
At that moment, Marcus was thinking about something else.
Survive.
He was a C-rank hunter, but possessed an A-rank skill — "Energy Control."
The problem was that to fully use this skill, one needed a strong body.
And his body had been weak since childhood.
Status
Name: Marcus Cross
Level: 54
Rank: C
Strength: 190
Agility: 160
Intelligence: 210
Mana: 2100
Physique: Weak (cannot be improved)
Skill: Energy Control (A)
Curse… — he thought, clenching his teeth.
"Everyone, get ready! We enter in ten minutes!" Lucas's voice rang out.
Inside the Dungeon
Inside, they were greeted by stone corridors resembling a medieval castle.
Torches lit the way, but the atmosphere was oppressive.
The first few minutes passed calmly.
Too calmly.
"Undead!" someone shouted.
Figures clad in armor emerged from the depths of the corridor.
Death Knights. B-rank.
Then a magical trap activated.
A flash erupted behind them — headless riders appeared in the corridor.
"Dullahan!" Marcus said sharply. "Try to evade their attacks. Their swords deal damage more like blunt weapons. If you take a direct hit, you're done for."
At the same time, Lucas was issuing orders.
The warriors took the frontline, mages and healers worked from the rear.
Marcus supported the group with buffs, but every second he felt his own helplessness.
And then he felt it.
Life energy.
The flow was strange — unstable, as if the dungeon itself was feeding on death.
"This is a trap…" he whispered.
But it was already too late.
After a brutal battle
The group entered a massive hall.
At its center stood a golden throne. Sitting upon it was a skeleton wearing a crown.
"For your greed, you shall know my wrath!"
A cold voice echoed.
"My name is Avaron, the Greedy Collector!"
Avaron waved his hand, releasing green flames. In a single instant, six hunters were destroyed, and their life force was absorbed.
For the first time in his life, Marcus felt pure life energy being torn from living bodies.
"He grows stronger with every death!" Marcus shouted.
"We can't let him kill any more!"
The group prepared for battle.
To avoid prolonging the fight and losing more people, Lucas decided to attack all at once and injure the boss, then finish him off.
At his command, everyone unleashed their strongest skills and spells.
After the barrage of attacks, only the boss's skull remained.
Everyone began to rejoice — the victory seemed too easy.
But Marcus and Lucas noticed something alarming.
There was no dungeon-clear notification.
At that moment, Marcus felt a fluctuation of life energy and looked toward its source.
He told Lucas, and they saw the skull's eye sockets glow with green light.
The boss was regenerating.
As Avaron began to recover, Marcus pushed himself to the limit.
He took the risk and activated his skill at full power, feeling as if his body was being torn apart.
Marcus intercepted the flow of life energy.
Just for one second.
But that was enough.
"NOW!" he screamed.
Lucas destroyed the skull.
And then, the dungeon-clear notification finally appeared.
Among the dropped items, Marcus found a scroll.
Enhancement Technique (??? Rank)
Suitable only for those with a weak physique.
He understood immediately.
I must learn this.
Returning home, Marcus immediately began studying the Enhancement Technique.
To learn the first level, certain conditions had to be met.
Description:
The description included the Sea of Consciousness technique.
After several hours of practice, Marcus opened his Sea of Consciousness.
Inspecting his soul, he didn't see a silhouette resembling himself, as books and web novels usually described.
Instead, there was a mass of energy resembling a flame, shimmering with countless colors — a mesmerizing sight.
After observing it for some time, Marcus began placing the brand as instructed.
As the brand was engraved, it felt as if his entire body was burning.
Clenching his teeth, he endured.
After twenty minutes, the brand was complete.
The burning sensation faded, but his soul, together with the brand, began to shine with an intense light.
He felt severe dizziness.
And lost consciousness.
When Marcus opened his eyes, he saw a vast room.
"Where am I?"
"This doesn't look like a hospital… More like someone's room in a medieval palace."
He looked around and noticed his hands were very small.
He was lying in a child's cradle.
Thinking it was a dream, he pinched his cheek.
An intense pain followed, and he burst into tears.
A maid rushed in, picked him up, and began to soothe him.
"Your Highness, it's alright. You pinched your cheek so hard that it turned red. Don't worry, I'll heal it now."
She lightly placed her hand on his cheek and softly chanted.
A bright white light appeared, and the redness disappeared.
At that moment, Marcus felt the pain vanish.
He realized.
This was real.
He decided to check if the system still worked.
Name: Kael Valkarion
Level: 1
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 3
Mana: 30
Soul Power: 20
Free Stat Points: 0
Physique: Weak (cannot be improved)
Title: Second Prince of the Valkarion Empire
Spells: None
Skills: Energy Control (A-rank), Language Comprehension (D-rank) (gift from "???")
"…What?" Kael (Marcus) muttered.
The maid smiled at him.
"You look so surprised. That was basic healing magic. When you grow up, you'll be able to use other spells as well, if you choose the path of a mage."
Soon after, several people entered the room.
At the front walked a tall man around thirty years old. He had red hair and red eyes, slightly pale skin, and a cold gaze that looked down on everyone.
Behind him stood a young man wearing glasses and a mage's robe. In his hands was a crystal orb glowing with a faint blue light.
Beside them was a woman holding two infants.
She was slightly shorter than the man, about twenty-five years old. Her hair was white — almost silver.
The silver-haired woman looked at Kael (Marcus) with a cold stare.
Kael felt it clearly.
She wants to kill me.
The man spoke first.
"Stop looking at him like that, Selesta. Wasn't what you did to his mother enough?"
Kael was shocked and thought he had misheard.
But—
"I don't know what you're talking about, Your Majesty," Selesta replied calmly.
"Enough," said Aldric, the Emperor. "We are not here to start arguments. Ortis, begin checking the potential of the princes and the princess."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ortis replied.
"I ask the maids to place the princes and the princess on the bed. I will examine them one by one."
The maids carefully laid the children on the bed in front of the mage.
Ortis took the crystal orb, infused it with mana, and began examining the children in turn.
He checked the princess first.
"Princess Serina possesses magical potential. Her physique is average — nothing outstanding — but her mana channels are very strong, and she has an affinity with the fire element."
Next, Ortis examined the prince.
"Prince Seyran possesses a high-level physique, possibly even top-tier once he grows up. His mana channels are as strong as his sister's. He may become a magic swordsman."
Finally, Ortis moved on to Kael.
After examining him, Ortis spoke with sadness in his voice.
"Prince Kael has an extremely weak physique. His mana channels are also weak. However…"
Ortis paused.
"I cannot determine his elemental affinity. He may have affinity with all elements — or with most of them. I only see countless intertwined colors."
Emperor Aldric pondered briefly, then spoke enthusiastically.
"This is wonderful! Serina has the potential of a great mage or higher, and Seyran may become a Heavenly Knight like myself — perhaps even surpass me!"
His voice was filled with joy.
Then his tone changed.
"But Kael…"
He sighed.
"Perhaps it is because his mother was poisoned during pregnancy. To save his life, she requested that the birth be induced a month early, so that at least he would survive."
"But as a result…"
He closed his eyes briefly.
"He is useless. Send him to an orphanage in some small kingdom, where he will never learn of his origins. Inform everyone else that Prince Kael died due to weak health."
Ortis and the servants hesitated, but ultimately decided to obey the order.
Selesta, meanwhile, was overflowing with joy.
She even thought about killing him on the way to another kingdom.
But Emperor Aldric spoke again.
"Don't even think about it. I will send Brandt with him — to watch over him and ensure no one learns where he is left."
Selesta looked surprised.
"Your Majesty, I never even thought of such a thing. He's just a small, innocent child. Why would I ever harm him?"
She smiled as she spoke.
At that moment, Kael was in complete turmoil.
His potential had been deemed worthless.
His mother had been killed during pregnancy.
And his father not only failed to punish the culprit, but also exiled his own son and ordered false information to be spread about his death.
I was just reincarnated… and I'm already thrown onto the trash heap.
After preparations were complete, two knights entered Emperor Aldric's office.
The first was nearly two meters tall, massive like a bear.
His name was Brandt.
A Heavenly Knight, one of the defenders of the empire and the Emperor's right hand.
The second knight was slightly shorter than Brandt, with a similarly sturdy build and a resemblance to him.
This was his son, Kaiden, a Earth Knight.
Kael was wrapped in swaddling cloth and carried in Kaiden's arms.
He stared unblinkingly at Emperor Aldric, thinking about how he would one day take revenge for the mother who had given birth to him in this world.
Though he had never seen her, he wondered what it was like to grow up with a mother.
In his previous world, his parents had died during a dungeon break when he was four years old.
His grandparents had taken care of him.
When he turned twenty, they passed away as well.
After coming to this world and realizing he had been reincarnated, he believed he would finally have a family.
But that, too, had been taken from him.
Kael was already planning how to take revenge on Selesta — and on his own father, who had failed to punish those responsible.
At that moment, he heard Emperor Aldric speak.
"Hide Kael in the Erendal Empire. No one will search for him there — our relations are poor, and Selesta won't be able to reach him even through her family's influence."
"Let him grow far from home and in safety, rather than here under constant threat of death."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty," Brandt and Kaiden replied.
The Emperor looked at his son and spoke softly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect your mother. I tried to punish Selesta, but even as Emperor, much of the power is currently in the hands of the aristocracy."
"They stood on her side, saying your mother was merely a commoner, and that it was inappropriate to punish high nobility because of her."
"Forgive your powerless father."
Aldric thought Kael wouldn't understand.
After all, he was still just a baby.
But he apologized anyway.
Kael thought coldly:
Even if you apologized, you are still one of the culprits.
So what if you couldn't punish her?
Just wait.
I'll tear all of them apart and make them beg for mercy.
After giving his orders, Emperor Aldric sent the two knights away with the exiled prince.
Their mission was to leave him as close as possible to the capital of the Erendal Empire.