She made her way home through the pouring rain, her umbrella struggling to keep the rain at bay, but she couldn't care less about the water droplets.

Being an accountant at Blackwood limited, Rose's life beyond working was limited to reading and sleeping. 

"No, no, no, a hiatus now of all times? They didn't even show us what happened to either Finn or the Duke after the battle."

For Rose, the simple picture illustrated stories brought about a joy, a simple feeling of escaping the world filled with work. 

"I'm going to have boring Monday's again, maybe I can read another one?"

She couldn't help but pout slightly at the disappointing news, while scrolling through her mobile. 

—Whoosh

The wind blew hard and a few drops of water tickled the phone screen. 

"Fuck!" 

Cursed Rose as she wiped the droplets of her phone screen.

 After wiping the water droplets off the screen the display went blank and turned red. 

"Uhhh, what now? I thought this was water proof but look at this. I hope the warranty hasn't expired yet." 

Her voice turned coarse from disappointment. 

'I spent a good fortune on this thing and look, this bastard is dead after a few water droplets fell on it.' 

"My friend did tell me not to buy this one... bu—"

Next thing she knew, she was already in the floor as the feeling of her legs left her body. 

"What the hell? How did I fall?!" she tried to get up, pushing herself up. 

"I'm sure... I'm feeling... dizzy?" 

Her mind went blank as she lost consciousness before falling to the ground flat. 

...

"Ouch!" 

She got up, which resulted in more pain followed by a series of questions. 

'Where am I, the hospital? What happened to me? And what's that smell?'

A sweet fragrance of lavender and rose lingered around.

What would have been a sweet scent on a normal occasion right now seemed to worsen the headache. 

"Ouch!"

She gripped her temples from the unbearable pain. 

Talking a few deep breaths, she tried to open her eyes. 

"Uh..."

Biting down the pain, she pushed open her eyes. 

The darkness crept in, but more noticeably her headache was gone. 

"What the hell was that, and where am I?" 

She places her hands on the bed, sitting up, but her hands sink into the soft mattress. 

Her eyes adapted to the darkness as the two large windows shone the bright moonlight on the golden accents around the room. 

The sheer size of the room took her by surprise. 

It was large, but rather than its size, the unique design stood out more. 

"Strange place, where am I?" 

She got up, inspecting the strange room. 

She noticed the walls depicted mosaic arts of humanoid figures. 

One that stood out was that of a lizard-like creature with multiple horns and golden scale, floating in front of a human. 

"Where in the fuck am I?"

She continued to look around, it to be taken over by the feeling of unease over and over again. 

"Don't tell me I got kidnapped."

The fragrance caught her attention once more. 

She followed the scent to find herself back near the bed. 

The two small lit candles exuded the deep fragrance. 

"Ass candles, I'd prefer the deep flavours over the light tropical ones." 

She leaned forward blowing off the candles. 

"What's with the large room anyways?" 

She spoted a mirror on the far side of the room and decides to take a look. 

Taking slow and deliberate steps, she reached the mirror. 

Upon reaching the mirror, she paused after seeing the reflection. 

"I must have hit my head... since when was I so beautiful?" 

She posed in front of the mirror. 

"Wow, it really is my reflection. Is it because of the moonlight?" 

"Nope, my cheeks are a bit more prominent, and my lips are pale... and... I have red eyes, and those large curves..."

"Aaggghh, who is that?" 

Rose pointed at the reflection in horror. 

"Calm down, it must be—" 

—Aggh!

"That's not me!" 

She took a deep breath once more before glancing herself once more in the mirror. 

"Red eyes, black hair, smooth skin, I look like some some strange girl, don't I?"

She strode around the room in panic, unable to wrap her head around the unexplainable situation. 

"What's going on?" 

Panic took over her leaving her slightly breathless. 

"I can't breath..."

She clutched her chest, only for her moment of panic to be interrupted by a knock. 

—Knock

The moment felt long after the single tap on the door. 

"Princesss? Are you alright, I heard some kind of sounds." 

The voice abruptly came from the other side, reeling her out her thoughts. 

Rose couldn't help but take another step back instinctively at the voice. 

"A female voice... princess...?"

"Princess?" 

The voice came once more. 

"Are you alright Princess? Did something happen perhaps?" 

She knew whoever was on the other side was worried about her from their tone. 

'I pray it's not one of those situations, but judging by how she's referring to me as the princess, I think...'

"I am coming in, Milady." 

She tried to keep calm, but her trembling fingers gave her off. 

'If that's the case, might as well play along.'

"Come in!"

Rose finally muttered the words, 

'This seems to be the best course of action, and I'll be able to understand what is going on.'

—Creak

As the doors opened, her heart started beating faster.  

'What happened to me?'

_________________________

The ground trembled as a battle took place. 

The terrifying battle had uprooted the trees, painted the lush green forest in a canvas of blood and bone. 

—Roar!

A massive beast towered at the centre of the massacre. 

The creature roared in furry as the shockwave travelled across the battlefield. 

The five horns protruding from its mane, shimmered deep bright red along with its red semi transparent body. 

The body had a skeletal frame covering it on the outside with the same material as it's horn. 

Yet amidst the carnage stood a tall man leading a small group of knights along with him. 

"Duke, we should retreat, the demon is way too powerful for us." 

One of the bleeding knights requested. 

"Sir, leave with your men, I can take care of this." 

The white haired man requested the man who had spoken earlier. 

The creature roared once more opening its jaw. 

"Sir Mordred, get out of here!" 

The white haired man drew his broadsword, holding it up. 

Dark particles manifested around the tall creature's mouth, forming a mass of large black cloud. 

At the same time a faint white glow enveloped the sword of the white haired man.  

"I am one with my sword, for the sword is bu—"

—Shing!!

Shooting out of the creatures shadows were large black chains, covering and wrapping around it as it pulled the beast down. 

"Tenebrion Original~Semblance Manacles." 

More spiked chains continued to wrap and coil around the creature as it stopped moving for sometime. 

From the shadows came out a tall middle aged man, his hair falling over his violet eyes, donning a long robe and few pieces of armor on his chest and shoulder. 

"I take it the Death Knight escaped?" 

Mordred looked over at the hooded man, a hint of disdain flashing his eyes. 

"I'm afraid not, Sir Mordred."

The man replied with a soft tone making his way off towards the white haired man. 

"Finn! Are you alright?"

The white haired man turned to face him now that the demonic creature in front of them had been restricted. 

"I'm alright, but I couldn't get them all, few of them got away."

The man in the long coat sheathed his katana as the demonic beast struggled under the chains. 

"Mordred, take your men and evacuate, we'll take care of this." 

The white haired man turned back to the struggling demon. 

"But, Si—" 

Before Mordred could complete his words, the man in the long coat cut in. 

"Leave if you don't want to end up as cannon fodder."

Sir Mordred's grip on the sword tightened in shame, before turning back to face his men. 

"We shall retreat," the group pulled back. 

"Please come back, My Lord," he looked at the white haired man, tapping on what seems to be a wrist watch, "you too, Finn."

As soon as he spoke those words, the group of people disappeared, leaving behind dust particles floating in the air. 

"Care to lead the dance, Duke Archibald?" 

Finn asked, drawing his katana out with a small smirk. 

"Be careful."

White energy flowed from his hands all over the sword, coating it in a white aura. 

"I'll try." 

Finn replied as a similar energy covered his sword, but the hue was much darker. 

...

—Cough Cough!

Finn's breath hitched as he spat blood onto the ground. 

"Finn!" The Duke grabbed onto the fainting man. 

The hood fell off, revealing his a beard and a moustache dyed in red from all the blood he had vomitted. 

The towering demon's corpse lay flat a few meters away from the duo while blood oozed from the hole in it's cranium. 

"It's alright..." 

The Duke held his right hand tightly, while his eyes darted over to the missing left hand and the puddle of blood around it. 

Finn tried to speak, but the sensation of the metalic tang filled his mouth overflowing from the side of his mouth. 

"No, it's not alright, don't you have a sister to take care of... a life to live?" 

The Duke's grip on his hand tightened as the small sense of guilt washed over him as it was him who had ordered him to help him. 

"You can take care of her, after all she like you the most—"

 —Cough

Finn choked on his own blood as his eyelids closed in on him. 

"No... Finn—" 

The Duke's voice rang in the head, the voice was a warm sentiment before his final moments in the dark. 

"Finn..."

Placing two fingers on his eyelids, he closed the eyes of the cold corpse, bidding farewell to his friend. 

...

Calculating outcome 

Undesirable results obtained 

Resetting the records

Reincarnation ticket had been consumed. 

Summon succesful 

New plot point added

Regression ticket has been consumed 

Candidate Finn Zen Tenebrion will recieve memories of his past life five years prior to the incidents of ?#?!

 

Goal - Unknown 

Current number of variables- Two

System— Er—

Data has been added to the akashic records

Data wipe complete 

...

'Huh? Is this the afterlife...?'

Finn tried to move his head, but felt an unimaginable amount of pain around his head. 

'Uh, I can't, this pain...' 

He tried to move only to be stopped by the pain once again. 

"No!"

Biting his lips hard, he pushed open his eyes.  

"Ouch!"

Striking his head, he felt that immense disappear without any trace of him having experienced it. 

"What was that?" 

He put his hand on her floor, trying to look around. 

"Wait..." 

The surrounding seemed familiar, too familiar to be a coincidence. 

After all, how could one forget their home?

But what felt even stranger was the fact that his home looked the exact same as it did back when he was a child. 

"Dusty candles... the small table, and a... mat..."

He looked down at the match he was laying on with nothing else. 

He did not even have something to protect him from the harsh cold climate. 

"How did I survive, besides—"

However the sight he saw next left him breathless. 

"My hand... why is it this skinny?'

He held it up, twisting and rotating whole inspecting it from the different angles. 

"My left ha—"

"Arrghh!!"

He yelled out in fear, noticing the left arm he had lost during his battle with the demonic beast was still there.  

"What's going on? I have both my hands, and there aren't any scars... what kind of trickery is this?" 

"Mirror! Tch! I don't have one!"

He spat looking around unable to find anything with a reflective surface. 

But the memory of where his house or rather the hut was located came to mind. 

It was near to a small lake, located quite a few meters away from its bank. 

"Yes... that's it!"

Rushing off, he pushed off the mat, running through the door, he ran out of the house. 

"What's going on?"

—Huff Huff...

He felt breathless after running for just the few meters out of the small shack, but he did not stop. 

Upon reaching the bank, he slid through the ground before placing his hands on the ground to stop himself. 

—Huff Huff!

He looked down at the clear motionless water, only to be left speechless. 

The reflection that stared back was... 

"I'm young...?"

He ran a finger through his cheeks. 

A much younger version of the gruff Finn looked back at him, his eyes were hazel brown, while the black unruly tousled hair looked different from his overgrown hair. 

"What's this!"

_________________________

The streets bustled with its busy crowds. 

Citrinia, the city of lush and green situated at the west of the Aurumae continent was known for its greenery. 

The street lamps lit up the darkening city, revealing the magnificent architecture. 

Particularly the stone paths lined up along the ground paired with green from over growing climbers or the moss alongside the walls. 

While the roads were clean with vehicles of two and four wheels going around. 

The world teetered around futuristic yet a touch the old era of gear and steam lingered around. 

Amidst the busy chatter, a single man made its way through the crowd, stopping before a small wooden establishment. 

The man looked up at the signboard that hung outside it. 

Iron Heart, it displayed in the board, swaying slightly to the cold wind. 

The long day of chopping and delivering wood always led the man back to the tavern for a break. 

The man's life as a lumberjack was evident in his wide chest, broad shoulders, but the small slouch of softness around his abdomen indicated his indulgence in alcohol. 

Opening the door, the warm scent of alcohol and hearty meals invited him in. 

A small gust of wind escaping struck his hair, revealing a slightly receding hairline. 

As he made his way over to the counter, he made small gestures to others who were enjoying themselves at the tavern, others he seemed to know.  

"Get me the usual, Vlad." 

The man spoke slightly as he sat down on one of the stools at the counter. 

The bartender turned away at his words, pulling out a wooden tankard and filling it with a golden liquid that bubbles up to the top. 

—Thump 

He placed it in front of the other man, making slight eye contact. 

"What's that look supposed to mean?" 

The man asked, picking up the tankard. 

"You've been drinking too much recently, I think it's time you tone down quite a bit."

The bartender's voice was firm yet tender, almost as if caring for the other man. 

"Why would you say that?" 

He took a big gulp, before continuing. 

"I'm quite the lonely guy, and this is my—"

"Relief?" 

The bartender said, cutting him off. 

"You can say that, but I'd prefer the term, happiness."

"Whatever you say, alcoholic."

Looking around, the man took another sip of the golden liquid. 

"I like the new changes, Vlad. Frost runes?"

He pointed at the sigils on the walls which emanated a faint blue glow. 

"Yep, you like it, my regular idiot?"

Vlad made another snarky comment. 

"Careful now, you wouldn't want to lose one of your favourites, would you?"

"Actually, I wouldn't mind."

"Bastard."

He looked away, placing the tankard on the counter. 

"I didn't know you were quite versed in runes."

"You know what they call me, The Jack of all Trades." 

The man waved his hand in the air in an extravagant manner. 

"Pfft!" 

Vlad burst out laughing at the mention of the specific term. 

"Lightweight idiot." 

"Oh, come on!"

"Lightweight idiot, Jack."

_________________________