— The Awakening of the Deamonheart The next morning, Liam sat beside his mother in the royal garden. The garden was unusually quiet. Golden flowers bloomed along the marble pathways, while tiny balls of light floated above the fountains. Liam had always loved this place. It was one of the few places in the palace where he could forget that he was a prince. Today, however, Queen Elara had something important to tell him. "Liam." "Yes, Mother?" "You told me yesterday that you wanted to learn magic." Liam nodded immediately. "I want to become strong." Elara smiled. "Then before you begin, there is something you need to understand." She raised one hand. A tiny flame appeared above her palm. It flickered gently before transforming into water, then wind, then a small crystal of ice. Liam's eyes widened. "These are called elements." "Elements?" "Yes. The most common elemental affinities are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness. There are also rarer elements and special affinities that are much more difficult to awaken." Liam leaned closer. "So everyone can use every element?" "No." Elara shook her head. "Most people are born with an affinity for one or two elements. Some have no meaningful elemental affinity at all. A few extraordinarily talented people can awaken three or more." She paused. "And people with affinity toward every known element are almost unheard of." Liam's eyes sparkled. "How do we know what someone has?" "Through an awakening ceremony." --- Talent Awakening Elara explained that every living person possessed a unique potential called a Talent. A talent could influence almost anything. Magic. Swordsmanship. Physical strength. Healing. Alchemy. Summoning. Perception. Mental abilities. Some talents were ordinary. Others were extraordinary. And the rarest talents could completely change the fate of nations. "Talent is ranked from F to SSS," Elara explained. She drew a glowing list in the air. F → E → D → C → B → A → S → SS → SSS "F-rank is the lowest recognized talent." "And SSS is the highest?" "Among the recognized ranks, yes." Liam thought for a moment. "How rare is SSS?" Elara smiled. "Extremely rare." "How rare?" "Rare enough that some generations don't produce a single SSS-rank talent." Liam's eyes widened. "What about S-rank?" "S-rank talents are already considered exceptional. SS-rank talents are extraordinary. SSS-rank talents are considered treasures of an empire." Liam immediately remembered his sisters. "What about Elena?" Elara's expression became proud. "Your eldest sister awakened an SS-rank talent." Liam's mouth opened. "SS?" "Yes." "What about Mira?" "She awakened an S-rank talent." "And Lyra?" Elara smiled. "Another SS-rank." Liam's eyes practically lit up. "So all of my sisters are geniuses!" "They certainly are." Liam puffed out his chest. "Then I'll become even stronger than them." Elara laughed. "That confidence of yours..." She gently tapped his forehead. "Your sisters are indeed very talented. But talent isn't everything." Liam nodded seriously. "I'll work hard too." --- The Age of Awakening "There is one more thing you should know." Liam listened. "Most people awaken their talents around the age of six." "Like me?" "Yes. But six isn't a strict requirement." Elara continued. "Some awaken later. Seven, eight, ten, or even during their teenage years. There are even extremely rare cases of people awakening their talents as newborns." Liam's eyes widened. "At birth?" "Yes." "What determines when someone awakens?" "We don't completely understand it. The soul, body, mana, bloodline, and other factors may play a role." She paused. "Your awakening ceremony will be held today." Liam froze. "Today?" Elara nodded. "Today." A huge smile appeared on his face. "Finally!" --- The Royal Awakening Ceremony The ceremony was held inside the Imperial Temple. Liam had seen the building from outside many times, but he had never entered it. The interior was breathtaking. Massive pillars rose toward the ceiling, covered with ancient magical inscriptions. Hundreds of crystals floated above the ceremonial hall. At the center stood a transparent crystal nearly as tall as Liam. It was completely colorless. "The Talent Awakening Crystal," Elara explained. Liam stared at it. "That's it?" "That's it." "How does it work?" "You place your hand against it." "And then?" "The crystal examines your soul and mana." Elara smiled. "It will reveal your Talent and elemental affinities." Liam swallowed. His heart was beating faster. He had been waiting for this moment. --- King Aldric stood at the front of the hall. His golden hair reflected the light of the magical crystals, and his royal armor rested over his shoulders. Beside him stood Queen Elara. Behind them were Liam's three sisters. Elena. Mira. Lyra. They were all smiling at him. "You can do it, little brother!" Lyra shouted. Mira laughed. "Try not to explode the crystal." "Mira!" "What? I'm joking." Elena smiled calmly. "We'll be watching." Liam looked at his family. For the first time, he felt nervous. Not because he was afraid of awakening a weak talent. He was afraid of disappointing them. He clenched his little fist. I won't disappoint them. The priest approached. "Prince Liam Deamonheart." Liam stepped forward. "Place your hand upon the crystal." He took a breath. Then— He touched it. --- Everything stopped. Not slowed. Stopped. The priest froze. His clothes stopped moving. The flames of the candles became motionless. A drop of water hanging above the fountain remained suspended in the air. Even the expressions of his family froze. Liam looked around. "What...?" Silence. Absolute silence. Then something appeared before his eyes. A translucent blue panel. Liam stared at it. It wasn't magical. At least, it didn't feel like magic. It was something completely different. Words appeared. --- [CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.] [SOUL SIGNATURE CONFIRMED.] [SECOND-LIFE SOUL DETECTED.] [UNIQUE CONDITION SATISFIED.] [EXCLUSIVE SYSTEM ACTIVATING.] --- Liam's eyes widened. System? More text appeared. --- ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [WELCOME, LIAM DEAMONHEART] Status: Awakening World: Elarion Race: Human Bloodline: Unknown Talent: ??? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ [SPECIAL RECOGNITION] You possess memories originating from another world. A unique opportunity has been granted. The Deamonheart System has been bound to your soul. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Liam couldn't move. Another world... The system knew. It knew about his previous life. Before he could think further, another notification appeared. --- [Talent Awakening detected.] [Analyzing...] [Analyzing soul...] [Analyzing mana...] [Analyzing bloodline...] [Analyzing potential...] [ERROR.] [Talent exceeds standard classification.] [Recalculating...] [Classification expanded.] --- The next message appeared. [GOD-RANK TALENT AWAKENED] INFINITE COPY & EVOLUTION Description: Copy the talents, abilities, skills, techniques, bloodlines, magical properties, and other compatible characteristics of living beings or objects. Copied abilities may evolve beyond their original limits. Evolution potential: UNKNOWN. --- Liam stared at the words. God Rank? The normal rankings ended at SSS. But his talent was something beyond them. Much further beyond. Another panel appeared. --- [EXCLUSIVE ABILITY UNLOCKED] Deamonheart System Functions currently available: - Status - Inventory - Skill Management - Talent Analysis - Copy - Evolution - Quest System - Achievement System Additional functions will unlock as the host grows. --- Liam's breathing became faster. I have a system. A real system. Something that no one else in this world appeared to possess. But then the final message appeared. --- [AWAKENING COMPLETE.] [Time restoration beginning.] 3... 2... 1... --- Everything moved again. The priest's robes fluttered. The flames continued burning. The fountain continued flowing. Liam's family moved as though nothing had happened. Nobody had noticed the stopped time. Nobody except Liam. Then the crystal began to shine. --- First came red. Then blue. Green. Brown. White. Black. Silver. Golden. Purple. Then colors Liam couldn't even name. The entire crystal erupted with light. The hall trembled. The magical inscriptions on the walls began glowing. Everyone froze. King Aldric stood up. "What is happening?" The priest stared at the crystal in disbelief. "I... I don't know." The crystal continued shining. Six elements. Eight. Ten. Every known elemental symbol appeared around Liam. Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. Light. Darkness. Lightning. Ice. Space. And more. The priest's hands began trembling. "Impossible..." Queen Elara stared at her son. Her eyes widened. "Liam..." The crystal finally displayed the result. --- TALENT: SSS-RANK ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: ALL --- Silence. Complete silence filled the temple. Even King Aldric, a man who had faced countless enemies without fear, stood completely still. The priest looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe. Queen Elara covered her mouth. "SSS..." Her voice trembled. "And every element..." King Aldric slowly walked toward his son. He looked at the crystal. Then at Liam. Then back at the crystal. His expression became extremely serious. "Seal the hall." The guards immediately obeyed. "Nobody leaves." The doors closed. King Aldric looked around at everyone present. His voice carried the authority of an emperor. "What happened here today must never leave this room." The priest lowered his head. "Yes, Your Majesty." "Not a word." "Yes." "Not to nobles. Not to ministers. Not to foreign kingdoms. Not even to distant relatives." The king's gaze hardened. "If other empires learn that the youngest prince of Valaria has awakened an SSS-rank talent with affinity to every element..." He didn't finish the sentence. Everyone understood. Such a child would become the target of every ambitious power in the world. Some would try to recruit him. Some would try to control him. And some might try to eliminate him before he became powerful. Queen Elara stepped forward. "He is still only six years old." King Aldric nodded. "Exactly." He looked at Liam. His stern expression softened. "We will protect him." Liam looked at his parents. He didn't understand everything that was happening. But he understood one thing. They were worried about him. He walked toward his father. "Father?" Aldric immediately knelt and pulled his son into his arms. "I'm here." Liam smiled. Behind them, Elena, Mira, and Lyra stared at their little brother. Mira was speechless. Lyra's eyes were shining. Elena looked stunned. Their little brother had just awakened a talent beyond anything they had imagined. But Liam knew something they didn't. The crystal had shown only SSS-rank. It hadn't shown the truth. It hadn't detected the real name of his talent. It hadn't revealed the God Rank ability sleeping inside his soul. And it certainly hadn't revealed the mysterious system now silently connected to him. Liam looked toward the invisible blue panel only he could see. A final notification appeared. --- [Main Quest Unlocked.] RISE TO THE TOP Objective: Become the strongest existence in Elarion. Reward: Unknown. Failure: Unknown. --- Liam smiled. His previous life had given him nothing. His second life had given him a loving family. And now— The world had given him power. He clenched his tiny fist. I'll become strong. Strong enough to protect everyone I love. And somewhere beyond the imperial capital, an ancient presence suddenly opened its eyes. For the first time in centuries, it felt something that it had not felt since the beginning of the age. Fear. The awakening of the Deamonheart had begun.

THE AWAKENING OF THE DEAMONHEART