Hanged!

Karyan took a deep breath, absorbing the familiar atmosphere of his laboratory. 

After a while, he began inspecting the contents of the room with a keen eye. 

Karyan carefully examined the scrolls; their brittle pages were the same as he had left them before.

"It's so good to be back home," he exclaimed.

Among the forgotten relics, he found another jar filled with a red liquid, "What is this?" 

With a cautious expression, Karyan recognized it as a potion crafted during his past life, "Aaah, the one for the king…" Memories flooded back, "If only... I should've left him to die back then! But now…?" 

Anticipation was coursing through him as he contemplated the possibilities.

Could he alter his fate once more? Karyan couldn't deny the temptation, yet doubts were still winning, "Bastard king." 

The consequences of meddling with the king's life were unpredictable.

Lost in the moment, he traced the outlines of an elaborate magical circle on the floor with his fingers. 

Each symbol held significance; it felt like a testament to his expertise in the arcane arts. 

As he completed the intricate pattern, the room resonated with an ethereal energy. 

The air shimmered with magical potency, and the atmosphere thickened.

 The soft glow intensified, casting a shining radiance upon the surroundings.

As the magical energies reached their peak, Karyan hesitated. "This…" 

The decisions of his past life and the consequences of his actions weighed on his conscience. 

Was he finally ready to embrace a new beginning? 

With furrowed eyebrows, Karyan opened his eyes, and the magical circle faded. The room returned to its dimly lit state.

"I can't escape the choices I've made," Karyan murmured, acknowledging the reality of his existence. 

The allure of rewriting history clashed with the acceptance of one's own future.

Sorting through his belongings, Karyan packed up his snake venoms, scrolls, and magical items. In the process, his hand stumbled upon an unexpected item – a fang.

 "What is this doing here?" Curiosity led him to pick it up, and suddenly, he felt a rush of power fill his brain.

The fang connected Karyan to Anaksu's memories. 

In those visions, soldiers used different elemental magic against the powerful creature.

 "Burn, snake!" Fire set Anaksu on fire, as the soldier´s hand kept trembling. 

"Maybe it likes water more?" Another soldier interrupted and formed sharp frozen blades, which cut through Anaksu´s throat. 

"Not enough." The earth magic filled its mouth with mold, and air magic cut through its skin like invisible blades once again.

Experiencing the struggles of Anaksu's past, Karyan gained a deep understanding of the pain the snake had faced. 

But even with all that torture, his loyal best friend never gave them a single amount of his memory. 

He never betrayed him, and when escaped, he searched for Karyan, to help him be reborn.

As the memories faded, he found himself back in his lab, still holding the fang. 

The realization struck him like a lightning bolt, and suddenly, he understood why Lanta had harbored such intense anger. 

His blood pressure surged, and a searing anger bubbled within him.

Unable to contain his emotions, Karyan clenched his fist, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, regret. 

On the other hand, he unwittingly held a jar, and in a moment of overwhelming emotion, he shattered it. 

The shards cut into his palm, releasing blood that mingled with the broken remnants.

His gaze shifted downward, and to his surprise, his blood was still tinted with the familiar green hue.

 A wave of disbelief washed over him – he was still infused with his own power. 

Anaksu's connection had not only unveiled memories but also reignited the dormant force within him.

In that moment of reckoning, Karyan stood amidst the shattered jar, his palm bleeding green, and the painful sounds of Anaksu's memories lingering in his mind.

Luckily, Karyan had a good memory of faces, and to find the soldiers that tortured his friend wasn't a hard task for him. "It's like you, yourself, wanted me to find them and kill them for you. Don't worry, and rest your soul, Anaksu. I will avenge us. They all will crumble before me…" 

With the last sentence, he closed the door of the laboratory.

He gathered everything he needed, "Sera!" Karyan shouted when the white creature came out from his bag, "Why did you follow me?"

 The snake avoided eye contact with her master, "Can you be more obedient, please?" Sera rolled her eyes, "Are you giving me an attitude?" Karyan asked immediately. 

She didn't do anything. "Ah, whatever, just get inside my coat."

As he came out from the woods, the busy market greeted him again, "No one would even notice a peasant like me," he muttered to himself.

 Trying to push himself through the crowd, Karyan was determined to reach his old family's house. 

He needed to see if they all were alive and safe.

Karyan had two brothers, both were younger than him, different fathers as his mother was a famous prostitute. 

However, even in his previous life, he was a bastard child, the same in this, but his father was a Duke, and that's why he was given proper care and allowed to enter the magic academy once his potential and element were discovered. 

"They should be okay, it's not like they did anything anyway."

As Karyan made his way through the bustling, grimy street, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease. 

His old house loomed ahead, in the city center. It was supposed to be just the same as it had five years ago, "So why am I feeling like this?" He asked. 

Each step felt heavier than the last, as if a weight was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe. 

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was waiting for him, something he wasn't sure he wanted to face.

As he stepped onto the street, his heart began to slow its frantic beat, the sound growing louder in his ears. 

Turning left toward his family's home, he suddenly came to a halt. His blood ran cold; it felt like the veins alone were stabbed a hundred times. 

His mouth opened, but his breathing stopped, as he beheld the sight before him: three cloaked figures suspended from a nearby tree, their skeletal forms were gently moved with each breath of the wind.

"Hey, brat!"