He let out a quiet sigh, knowing very well the weight of their expectations settled on his shoulders.
"Enroll in the Spirit Tamers academy? Nah"
"Huh?"
"What do you mean no!? Now that you finally have the chance to assimilate with a talent stone and claim what's rightfully yours, you are really going to let those bastards get away with it? After everything they've done!?"
Reginald stood up fast and slammed his hands on the table, his face full of disbelief.
"Calm down Reginald, let's hear him out first. Yao, why don't you want to enroll into the academy?" Linda asked, curious to hear her son's point of view.
After all, between the three of them, he had the greatest reasons to take back what's theirs.
"That smile." Ethan replied simply.
"Huh?"
"That smile just now, how long has it been since you smiled like that?" His question left the two stunned, and Reginald sat back in his chair.
"In fact, I don't remember the last time I smiled like this." Ethan looked up at the ceiling. Ever since his mother's death, his mind had been consumed by a single thought, revenge.
He couldn't even remember the last time he smiled from a place of true happiness.
"From your reaction earlier, you knew who injured me, and enrolling into the Spirit Tamers will be just be waging war against them. And in war, there are always casualties. Even if it means giving up what's rightfully mine, I don't mind it, as long as we all can smile like this."
"I see, so that was your game all along." Reginald let out a quiet chuckle, arms crossing over his chest as he locked eyes with Linda
"Lady Linda, I must admit, you raised one hell of a kid."
She had no words for what she felt. Part of her was disappointed that he gave up his birthright, yet another part swelled with pride, he had sacrificed what was rightfully his for their happiness.
"Ethan..." She mumbled softly for a moment, then a bright smile lit up her face as she reached for her chopsticks. "Let's eat."
..
"What a day." Ethan sighed as he collapsed onto his bed, completely drained.
The Heavenly Divine Pearl had sapped every last drop of his stamina while restoring his body to its normal state.
"At least now... I can finally rest." A faint smile touched his lips as he closed his eyes, sinking into the quiet embrace of sleep.
However.
That peace did not last long.
BOOM!
A loud explosion shook the cottage, tearing through the quiet night. The walls trembled, dust fell from the ceiling, and Ethan shot up in bed, wide awake with his heart racing.
"What was that!?"
He looked out the window and saw a thick cloud of smoke rising from below, curling into the night sky.
"Mom! Reginald!" He jumped out of bed and rushed downstairs, only to find the front of the cottage destroyed. Reginald lay on the ground, unconscious and bleeding badly.
But that wasn't the worst part, Linda was trapped beneath a pile of burning, charred wood, barely visible through the rising flames.
"Mom!" He cleared the stairs in a single leap, dropping to his knees and sliding toward Linda, who lay barely conscious beneath the burning wreckage.
Without hesitation, he began tearing through the flames and charred wood. The heat bit into his skin, but he didn't care, his instincts screamed only one thing, to save her.
"So, that old hag was right, you did survive."
A voice from behind caught him off guard. He turned sharply, only to find six men standing there, each clad in a suit of armor and wearing black masks.
"Are you the ones that did this?" He wasted no time. His eyes, cold and indifferent, bore into the six masked men, laced with quiet hatred for what they'd done.
"Oh? Your eyes are saying you want to kill us, you've got some nerv-"
THWACK–SCHLRRRK!
The leader of the invaders eyes went wide as he slowly glanced over his right shoulder, only to find Ethan standing in front of his men, with a burnt wood sticking out of his chest.
"When did he-"
Ethan dashed toward the leader in a blur, but just as he reached out, his eyes went wide, his arms were no longer attached. They flew past his face, severed in an instant, trailing blood through the air.
"W-what?"
"Oh?" With a single, precise kick, Ethan's body arched backward, launched through the air before crashing into the burning pile of wood.
"It also seems, you can now assimilate with a talent stone, that is if course if you're ever fortunate to find one. However, it doesn't matter now."
As the leader spoke, the house suddenly collapsed in flames, crashing down directly onto Ethan's body.
Ethan's vision blurred as blood loss dragged him toward unconsciousness. But in those final moments, the leader removed his mask and revealed his face.
He had the tattoo of an arrow, tracing down his left eye.
"Goodbye forever, you illegitimate bastard. Long live King Klaus."
The house collapsed completely, the flames devouring everything inside until nothing remained but ash and charred ruin.
"Why.." Ethan found himself slipping into the abyss, the same darkness that covered him the moment the united clans sealed him away.
"Is it too much to ask for?" All his life, all he ever wanted was peace, to be with the ones he loved, but now, fate spat back in his face for such desires, costing him the lives of two innocent people.
He didn't want to be involved in the affairs of the royal family because of this, but now that it had come to this, now that they had taken away the second chance at peace and happiness from him, he couldn't contain his rage anymore.
"I'll kill them, I kill them all! No matter, I'll be the one to burn them to the ground!"
Then.
"Huh?"
Darkness.
That's all Ethan saw.
There was no pain, despite being burned alive moments ago.
No sound.
No color.
Just his body body floating in a cold, endless and absolute void that stretched to infinity.
"W-where... Am I?" He whispered to himself.
The silence pressed in.
He looked down at himself, then stared into the darkness.
The agonizing pain of being burnt alive was gone.
Even the burning cottage was gone.
Then, a glowing text materialized in front of him.
[Ding!]
[System Integrating...90%...100%]
[Synchronization successful!]
[You have activated the Primordial Returns system!]
Ethan's breath hitched for a moment.
Then his eyes went wide as a sudden presence pressed against his senses. He spun around, and he froze the second he saw it.
A massive pair of blue, glowing eyes glared back at him, ominous and unblinking.
He opened his mouth to speak, but his words failed him.
"Ethan Kaiser." A deep, resonant voice echoed through the abyss, cutting straight into Ethan's very soul.
"H—How do you know my name? Who are you?" He finally found the courage to speak.
"You have great hatred and anger in your heart that rivals even mine. I have found favour in you, and I have deemed you worthy to carry on my will."
"Deem me worthy? What are you talking abo-" His brows furrowed as the memory struck him "Deem you worthy." Those words were familiar, too familiar.
It was the crucial requirement for assimilating with a Talent Stone.
'A talent stone?'
He was sure he didn't have any talent stone on him.
"Your anger shall be your ally, and my wrath your weapon. Do you accept this fate?"
The voice in the abyss's question was straight to the point, and it was a bit perplexing.
But here and now, that was all he felt, anger and hate. All the suffering the universe had heaped upon him had accumulated into a single, burning resolve, and at now, he had a chance to set it right.
In a million years, he never imagined he would assimilate with a spirit will. Yet now, it was before him, a chance, a single opportunity to avenge the death of the two most innocent people he cared about.
With a cold voice, he stared right back at the eyes in the abyss. "Yes."
Silence.
Even after he spoke, nothing changed. The eyes continued to stare unblinkingly, their intensity throwing him completely off guard.
"Is the assimilation complete?" He asked, confused.
"To complete the assimilation, you need to know my name."
"And what is your name?"
Everything around him froze, as if time itself had paused to unveil the name of the entity that spoke within the abyss.
Then in a word, the entity finally revealed itself.
"Chronos."