Chapter 2: The 1st Meeting
There exists an age-old tradition known as ‘The Puppet Show.’ From the hands of local folk performers to the grand stages of modern times, its essence remains unchanged.
On a small wooden stage, puppets dangle by fragile strings, their fates dictated by the hands of the puppeteer. The moment a string snaps, the puppet collapses—useless, discarded, forgotten. Even if it breaks free, it is powerless.
Yet, among them, there are those who defy their fate. Puppets who, despite their helplessness, fight against their own strings. They struggle, resisting the invisible hands that seek to control them. And through sheer will alone, they rise—no longer puppets, but puppeteers themselves.
This is not a tale about a puppet show.
Its Not about the Puppet show.
Garden Of the Lupus Main Palace, Archimania
Date: 15 May,973
The air is thick with the last sigh of spring,
petals drifting like forgotten promises.
The sun lingers, soft and golden,
whispering farewells to the fleeting bloom.
A warm breeze hums a tired tune—
soon, summer will take its place.
Beneath the vast sky, a little boy with striking red pupils and jet-black hair wobbled on his tiny feet. His small hands clenched the air, determined yet unsteady. The palace maids giggled, whispering soft praises—until…
Bump.
He fell.
Hah... how frustrating.
Eirik lay still for a moment, staring up at the endless blue. Being a baby again is humiliating. The way these maids doted on him—it was beyond shameful.
The clouds drifted slowly, carrying away the worries of this small, helpless child. What should I do now?
He stretched out his hand toward the sky, yet it remained as distant as his fate.
No mana. No aura circuits. No power.
In this frail body, combat was impossible.
But if I cannot fight, I will move the pieces from behind the scenes.
Kael will be born soon. The first of those fated to shake this world. But whether this was their first life or second… he would soon find out.
For now, there was only one goal.
Learn to walk.
Then, sneak into the library at night.
History. Politics. Economics. Even fairy tales.
He needed knowledge—because right now, he knew nothing about this world.
The relentless cycle continued for seven long days—every hour, every moment, carefully molded to perfection.
At last, the moment had arrived.
"Yes... I did it..." Eirik murmured with a mixture of pride and disbelief, his voice a soft whisper to the silent room. "You frail humans, behold! I have balanced the body of a child in seven days!"
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He stood tall, his chest swelling with triumph. This, he thought, is why you should never give up. Every ounce of struggle had led him to this singular achievement. Tonight, however, he had an even greater challenge ahead of him—one that would truly define his path.
Tonight, he would complete his first mission: to infiltrate the library.
The desert night, cloaked in eerie silence, stretched endlessly across the horizon. In the stillness, one could hear the soft patter of tiny feet—almost inaudible against the vastness of the darkened world.
Who was it?
A small, determined figure darted across the shadows—Eirik.
For such a tiny frame, the grand, empty halls felt like an island lost in time, stretching endlessly before him. The silence hung thick, as though even the walls themselves were holding their breath, waiting. His own heartbeat echoed in his ears.
After what felt like an eternity battling the desolate, cavernous hallway, Eirik finally reached the coveted door to the Library. The moment he laid eyes on it, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. His heart quickened with excitement. The grand shelves before him—massive, towering, like the trunks of ancient trees—promised the kind of knowledge he had always craved. There were no less than fifteen of them, each one filled with wisdom from ages past.
He couldn’t contain his joy. His feet flew across the floor, eager to embrace the treasures within, but—
Bump!
The collision with the cold stone floor startled him, yet it did not deter him. With a quick shake of his head, he sprang to his feet and continued forward with unwavering resolve.
There it was—the book he had always dreamed of. The Archal Currency, The Arch of History—two tomes of untold power, tucked away beyond his reach, high above him. Their presence seemed like a cruel jest, mocking his efforts.
He sighed, a faint wish escaping his lips. "If only I could reach them..." he whispered in the ancient tongue of Archimania—a language he had mastered, despite already speaking seventeen others from the world of Earth.
But fate, it seemed, had a different plan.
A low hum filled the air, followed by a soft, mechanical click.
Before him, the books began to descend from their lofty shelves, as if the library itself had sensed his yearning. One by one, they fell—gently, as if guided by some invisible force—until the books lay at his feet, their covers whispering secrets only he could understand.
Eirik's heart swelled with an emotion too profound to put into words. This moment, this gift from the very walls that surrounded him, was nothing short of miraculous. The sea of knowledge, vast and endless, beckoned him forward, its depths calling him to dive in.
He took the first step into this boundless ocean, a true pioneer, a swimmer unafraid of the tides. There was no limit to what he could achieve here—no horizon too far to reach.
The journey had only just begun.
The Study Room of Lupus Palace
Date: 21st August, 973
A new hope had been born into the Lupus family. As Eirik’s younger brother, Kael, entered the world, the air itself seemed to crackle with power. A radiant pole of mana surrounded the Lupus family, a manifestation of the intense mana leak emanating from the newborn child. This was no ordinary birth—Kael was destined to be an inborn Genius. The entire Lupus family was in uproar, caught in the storm of joy and anticipation. But amidst the celebration, their patriarch, the head of the family, was absent—far from the palace, unaware of the birth that would shift the family's destiny.
The storm outside raged with relentless fury—rain poured, and thunder echoed through the skies, as if the heavens themselves responded to the birth of this prodigious child.
Within the calm confines of the Study Room, however, Eirik sat undisturbed, his eyes focused on the pages of his 999th book, The Tales of Mana and Aura. The serene silence of his study was broken only by the rhythmic turning of the pages.
A chilling smile slowly curved across his lips, as his thoughts turned inward. "So, you are born, my younger brother..." he mused quietly. "Let’s see what condition you are in."
A faint gleam of crimson light flickered in Eirik’s eyes—his sharp gaze unwavering as he continued his reading, awaiting the confirmation of whether Kael’s soul was truly of the second life or the first.
The Study Room of Lupus Palace
Date: 27th August, 974
A year passed in the blink of an eye. Eirik stood in his study room once again, the dark night stretching on in an eerie silence. The storm had not ceased; it raged with renewed intensity outside the palace windows.
Having just completed his 4,052nd book, The Tomb of Swordsmanship, Eirik closed the pages with a soft snap. He stood up and stretched, feeling the weight of the years of study he had endured. But tonight, something was different. A presence lingered at the edge of his awareness.
He turned toward the door, his senses sharpening. As if on cue, the door creaked open, and there stood Kael—still a child, yet no longer helpless. His violet eyes glowed eerily in the darkness, casting an unsettling hue in the room.
As Kael entered, a bolt of thunder struck outside, its roar shaking the very foundation of the palace. The sound seemed to resonate with Eirik's own crimson eyes, which flickered ominously in the dim light. A smile, cold and calculating, tugged at Eirik’s lips.
Should we Continue?
