"Corvin, you have disappointed the prestigious name of House Duskryn. Not only did you awaken the lowest-ranked, Marginal Gift, you also failed to evolve it into the next rank… Tsk."
"To think such a failure would be born of me… you have embarrassed me before the entire nobility."
"Until today, the Duskryn household has never failed to produce an Adept warrior before the age of eighteen. Yet you... despite having the resources of House Duskryn for six years, are still only at the Initiate stage. This is nothing but disgrace."
"From today onward, you are expelled from House Duskryn. You will serve as a knight in the monster subjugation unit stationed in Cinderreach. Get out of this house immediately, before I change my mind and kill you."
I stared at the man who spoke, my mind unable to process his words.
Standing before me was a man in his fifties, his rigid appearance marked by neatly kept black hair and beard, the kind of dignified presence that commanded respect in any gathering.
Lord Garrick Duskryn, Viscount of Duskfall March, my father, was expelling me from House Duskryn.
My body froze in place, unable to move.
I looked around in a daze, and the sight of the room struck me with a wave of nostalgia, so strong it made my head spin.
A vast chamber with thick stone walls.
A cracked, uneven floor left intentionally bare. Along the walls hung old banners, mounted with spears and swords.
This was Lord Garrick Duskryn's office.
How… how could I be here?
The question puzzled me endlessly.
"Hmph. Take him out of here,"
Lord Garrick said coldly, not granting me even a second chance.
His voice carried no warmth whatsoever.
At his order, two guards rushed forward and seized my arms, dragging me outside the room before I could resist.
Once they threw me out, they immediately returned to their posts, standing guard at the entrance as if nothing had happened.
I blinked repeatedly, my mind drowning in disbelief.
How is this possible?
There was no way, absolutely no way, this could be real.
Yet everything was the same.
His voice, his expression, his commands… all identical to what I had experienced at the age of eighteen.
Even the grip of the guards felt real.
Looking around, I found myself standing in the inner courtyard of House Duskryn, a wide expanse of stone paved with expensive gray slabs, tall enclosing walls, and the sharp clang of swords echoing from the training yard.
Everything was exactly the same as in my long-lost memory.
"Haha, Father finally decided to kick out this useless trash for good."
"Now our family can finally be rid of its only stain. I couldn't be happier."
The voices came from the side.
I turned my head and looked at the two who had spoken.
One was tall and broad, his posture straight, his sharp and handsome face paired with a well-toned body honed through disciplined training.
He appeared to be in his mid-twenties.
Beside him stood a younger man with similar features, likely in his early twenties.
I knew who they were.
They looked much younger now.
Edric and Malrec Duskryn, my half-brothers.
They had hated me for no reason until the day they died in the war.
Seeing them like this… they truly looked like young boys.
Edric, the elder one, despite his words, perfectly concealed the disgust he felt toward me.
Malrec, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide it, his eyes narrowing as his lips twisted into a smile full of mockery and satisfaction.
I said nothing.
I simply looked at them blankly and slowly began to walk away.
Everything inside my head was a tangled mess.
"Even Baron Ravencourt's daughter, Isolde, refused to marry you. And now you've been expelled from the family…" Malrec laughed.
"Haha… this is only fitting for a bastard like you."
I stopped.
Turning back, I looked at Malrec with a puzzled expression.
His face was twisted with anger and ridicule in equal measure, an expression I couldn't fully understand.
But it was just like him.
No different from before.
Suddenly, a memory flashed through my mind, the moment I had swung my fist at him in rage, only to be immediately knocked down by Edric standing beside him.
The memories continued to surface.
The same expulsion.
The same humiliation.
I still remembered how devastated and enraged I had been back then.
For six years, I had done everything I could to evolve the Gift I awakened at the age of twelve.
Yet I achieved nothing.
Despite being born an illegitimate son, despite enduring constant torment and bullying, I believed things would change once I became stronger.
But nothing ever changed.
I couldn't even reach the Adept stage until the day I died.
I was a talentless loser, through and through.
No matter how much effort I put in, I couldn't evolve my Gift beyond Grade VII.
Not only did it fail to evolve, it also held me back from reaching the next stage of strength.
The very Gift I possessed became an indestructible obstacle, preventing me from exerting my Aether outside my body, while even those not blessed with Gifts could reach the Adept stage after decades of hard work.
A bitter smile spread across my face.
I glanced at Malrec for a moment and realized how foolish I had been to swing my fist at him back then.
Everything he said was true.
I had been blind and stupid.
I should have accepted my fate and lived quietly as a knight in a border town, earning credits under the monster expedition unit.
If I had done that, I would have lived a comfortable life, one that countless civilians desperately wished for.
But instead, I was delusional.
I believed that if I worked hard enough, if I risked my life enough times, I could earn the position of a legitimate heir.
Yet no matter how many merits I earned, nothing ever changed.
At that moment, when I saw my former fiancée desperately clinging to another man, someone who appeared to be around my age, I felt utterly humiliated.
Blinded by rage, I rushed toward her and tried to force myself on her.
I never expected that the man she was with would turn out to be the crown prince in disguise.
After my imprisonment, not only was my knight position stripped away, but I was also punished in the cruelest way imaginable, my manhood was severed.
Unable to survive in any city afterward, I was forced to live on the farthest frontier, fighting monsters day and night until the very end of the world.
I still remembered the scene clearly.
Standing alone at the very end, surrounded by the corpses of fallen heroes, sages, saints, geniuses, and elites.
I remembered the strange happiness I felt as I watched the world, humanity, which I hated so deeply, collapse and perish without resistance.
I thought I had died when a beast's claws pierced through my chest.
But the next moment, I was here, standing in this room, being yelled at by Lord Garrick Duskryn.
I didn't know what the hell was going on.
I was utterly confused, unable to tell whether any of this was real or not.
Then I remembered a saying I often heard on the front lines: when someone is on the brink of death, their entire life flashes before their eyes.
Is that what I'm experiencing now?
Do I really have to re:live this hell one more time before I die?
A depressed sigh escaped my lips as I turned away and began walking toward where my room should be, according to my memory.
If I wasn't mistaken, everything inside would already be packed, and soldiers would be waiting to escort me to Cinderreach, the border town.
I just needed to get through this past once more, so I could finally rest in peace forever.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?! I'm talking to you!"
As I turned back once again, I saw Malrec's face twisted with anger as I continued to ignore him.
I was amazed.
This dream, no, whatever this was felt so real.
It even perfectly reflected Malrec's true nature, exactly as I remembered it.
Malrec rushed toward me and grabbed my collar.
"You bastard... how dare you ignore me?!"
He swung his fist with all the force he could muster, aiming directly for my face.
I didn't expect him to do that.
I knew my half-brothers were assholes, but were they always this unreasonable?
The thought crossed my mind in a detached manner.
Before I could even finish thinking, my body reacted.
The Gift I had loathed for half my life suddenly activated, within less than a twentieth of a second.
All the experience I had accumulated on the battlefield surged through my veins in an instant.
The world froze.
My mind began to perceive everything around me at nearly seven times its normal speed.
I could clearly see the trajectory of his fist, the subtle shifts in his posture, and every detail of my surroundings.
My gaze fell to the sword at his hip.
In that moment, I saw a perfectly clear path, no wasted movement, no hesitation.
I could draw the blade and slit his throat instantly.
For a brief moment,
My body prepared to kill Malrec right there in front of me.