I remember the pain.
Not the ordinary kind, like a broken bone or a stab to the gut. No—this was the pain of an entire nervous system shutting down. The kind that tells you this is the end. My heart failed at precisely 11:59 PM on June 30, 2025.
Funny, considering I'd calculated I had at least another forty years in me. But life doesn't care how intelligent you are. Even with a 250 IQ, photographic memory, and knowledge of every known fact on Earth—biology, physics, engineering, philosophy, language, psychology, literature—none of it helped stop death.
I didn't expect what came next.
It was not blackness. Not nothingness.
It was… a voice.
"Welcome, Architect of the Future. You have been selected for rebirth."
The voice echoed within my consciousness like an algorithm embedded into the neural structure of my mind.
"You may carry your memories with you… for you will be the Seed of Realms."
A surge of data flooded into my senses, foreign yet familiar. Like someone overlaying a game interface on reality.
System Booting…
Name: Undefined.
Race: Human (Mutated).
Class: ???
World: Aetherra
Status: Rebirth Initiated
I was born screaming.
Or so the midwives said.
The moment I opened my eyes in this new world, the first thing I saw was light—pure, warm, magical light. Not the sterile fluorescence of hospitals, but the gentle luminescence of spell lamps and enchanted stone.
A soft voice cooed as warm hands cradled me.
"My little prince," a woman said—her words not Earth-English, but I understood them. The system was already doing its work.
[Language Acquired: High Aetherian]
[Title Acquired: Crown Prince of Aetherra]
[Trait Acquired: Royal Lineage – Dual Magical Inheritance]
[System Activated – Status Panel Unlocked]
And then I knew—I had been reborn into royalty.
STATUS PANEL
Name: ???
Age: 0
Race: Human (Aetherborn)
Class: Unawakened
Stats:
• Strength: 1
• Agility: 1
• Mana: 10
Stat Points Available: 5
Traits:
• Retained Memory (Earth)
• Genius of Two Worlds
• Royal Bloodline (King Ardyn & Queen Lira)
My body was helpless, but my mind was not. I watched, listened, catalogued.
My father, King Ardyn of the Silver Flame—tall, muscular, commanding. A battle mage who once melted a mountain with a single spell.
My mother, Queen Lira of the Verdant Veil—an elven descendant with control over healing and nature magic. Calm, wise, impossibly beautiful.
Together, their union made me something new. Something the world had never seen.
The palace buzzed with joy. The first heir to the throne of Aetherra was born.
No one knew that this infant—me—already held the knowledge of every Earth civilization, the schematics for nuclear engines, AI architectures, fusion drives, and quantum manipulation.
But I knew. And I waited.
Because I was patient.
Because I remembered Earth. And Earth had rules.
But this world… this world had mana.
And mana could change everything.
For the first few months, I acted as any baby should. Cooed, cried, watched. My parents were doting, the palace walls enchanted to protect me from harm.
But I spent every waking moment analyzing this world. The structure of mana. The shape of runes. The language of spellcraft. The history of kingdoms and the politics of nobles. The level-up mechanics of the system embedded in my soul.
[You have reached Age: 1]
[You have gained 1 Stat Point]
[Stat Points Available: 6]
I smiled when that message appeared.
Yes. This would be a slow burn.
But the world wouldn't know what hit it.
Because I wasn't just a prince.
I was a god-in-the-making.