Prince Aerys had been struck by a sword to the stomach—or so it seemed.
Ighoras, his loyal guard, ran as fast as he could, his movement skill carrying him across the forest. When he arrived, the clearing was littered with bodies. Most were missing their upper torsos. Only one masked man lay intact—but a dagger protruded from his head.
It's the dagger I gave him… Ighoras thought,
disbelief twisting his features.It was what ighor had given to Prince aerys on his 10th birthday.He had never taught Aerys a single skill with a weapon. By oath, nothing martial could touch the boy until he entered the Academy. Yet here was proof: Aerys had killed one of his attackers.
"Oh… Prince!" Ighoras gasped.
He found Aerys slumped on the ground. Blood drenched the earth. A chill of doom ran through Ighoras's veins.
Please… he thought. Don't let him die here. If the Prince die here, he wouldn't be able to find the right words to apologize to the boy's mother. However, something was weird..
"…Huh?"
Aerys's breathing was steady. His clothing—though tattered and soaked—showed no wounds. Ighor's hands trembled as he knelt beside the boy. The clearing was soaked with blood, yet his stomach was clean.
What…? Ighoras's mind raced. Did the Emperor intervene? No… he would not. Then who saved him—and killed these men?
Questions swirled without answers. Carefully, Ighoras buried the bodies, then lifted the Prince onto his shoulders. Activating his movement skill, he vanished into the forest toward the boy's small manor.
As Ighoras's hands pressed against him, a shock ran through Aerys's mind. His eyes snapped open.
"The flow has frozen… Master, come out of the shadow."
Confused, Aerys glanced around. The forest blurred past. his weight on this back—solid, real—it was Ighoras's.
"IGHORAS!" he whispered.
A calm, ethereal voice returned in his head.
"The Binding of Kinship is recognized ,Wards of Severance dissolved. Inner Flow awakens, restoring Essence."
"Ugh!" Pain exploded in his skull. .
"Prince! You're awake. Are you okay?" Ighoras's voice broke through the haze.
Aerys could only groan. , And with it, a severe headache struck the boy's head and he grabbed it with both hands.
"Prince! You're awake. Are you okay?"
ighoras smiled and asked excitedly.
"Prince?"
But the boy couldn't stand the headache and fell unconscious darkness swallowing him again.
His existence became a torment. New flesh and bones were fashioned for him, filling the voids of his being as his heart fell silent. He slipped a second time into the darkness.
For fifteen days of emptiness, a single dream inhabited him: he was walking through the valley beside his mother. She brushed his forehead with a kiss, and then the shadow tore apart. He awoke in a body that burned.
He awoke the next morning, drenched in sweat. Or was it sweat
"What… what is this?!" he stammered, panic rising.
The voice came again—inside his mind.
[Master. Are you awake?]
"What? Who's there?"
[Master, calm yourself.]
Aerys froze. The voice was not outside. It was in his head.
[Correct, Master.]
"What!" His heart raced. magic ? No… it can't be.
[I am an Incarnation of Essence, crystallized a fregment that dwell within the hollows of your mind.]
Aerys's knees weakened. "Wait… what? An… artefact?"
"In a way, yes—but more."
The boy's face paled. Artefacts were rare, powerful, and silent. None had ever spoken.
"A-are you… evil?" he asked, voice trembling.
The voice seemed to sigh.
"I am neither evil nor good. I am Essence crystallized a fregment Bound to you, Master."
Aerys swallowed, trying to comprehend. Every word felt like a current through his brain, sharp and alien.
"Why me?" he whispered.
"Because you have survived. Because you can wield what others cannot. Because your blood… resonates."
The boy's mind spun, but a spark ignited inside him—fear fused with awe, pain with a strange power. He was still weak, still confused, yet he sensed that his life had changed forever