Paragon of Lumine

Scenes of death flashed through his mind.

Black smoke billowed, as his throat burned and his lungs released worrisome hissing sounds.

Blood flowing from his rent chest, as a flaming spear hurtled toward him.

His whole body roared in pain, as he held a weight far beyond his limits. A fire raged around him, yet he felt no pain, nor did he feel the end that followed.

...

The endless crimson began to recede, followed by a deep darkness. He struggled, resisted the darkness with all his might as it dragged him into its depths.

At that moment, like a rising sun, he saw a golden light before him. In that light, he found his strength and after taking a step forward, he entered it. The darkness was blown away, as the light became brighter and brighter, until his vision was pure white.

Painful...

"Ahh..." Kaiden struggled to sit up and was now panting with great effort. In his dream he had died, over and over. First, the smoke of a terrifying fire had made him lose all means of resistance, suffocating as the flames devoured him. Second time, he felt attacks landing on his body from all sides, ending suddenly as a flaming spear popped his head like a balloon.

The final one was by far the worst, it felt as though he was trapped under a huge pillar, struggling to keep it up for even one second longer. He had not even felt as the fire raged around him, there was just the weight and the moment that it stopped pressuring him... or maybe it had crushed him.

He knew that he was in a nightmare each time, yet he just could not wake himself up. The dreams were so real that it took Kaiden a while to recover, he could feel a headache coming on. After his racing heart calmed down, he finally remembered that he had been preparing to leave to assist at the soup kitchen.

"No wonder I dreamed about all that death and fire, I'm practically burning my life here these days," Kaiden said to himself in a self-deprecating tone.

When he roused himself and was about to finish his preparations before leaving, Kaiden was stunned by the strange scene before him. Like being struck in the head, he was shocked and his mind went blank.

All the cheap, black-painted furnishings, the warm, white walls, the worn mustard-yellow bean-bag chair, a relic of the seventies, by the window... all gone.

There was no pile of tangled clothing, laptops and novels. The only things left were an old brown blanket under him, and a White blanket covering him.

Instead of lying in his bed, he was actually sitting on a narrow metal bed.

"Where am i?!"

In a situation like this, even as groggy as he was with his rising headache, Kaiden could feel that things had gone wrong. Even if he died in a fire and was sent to the afterlife, this drap place couldn't be it right? No way!

His heartbeat sped up due to the shock. Despite his sore body, he tried to stand up on his feet, but a sense of dizziness and weakness took over as soon as his feet touched the ground.

Kaiden hurriedly grabbed the footboard top rail to retain his balance. His face was pale, he had managed to have a quick look at his surroundings just now.

This was a circular room, it was about twenty paces across, and the walls and floor were both carved from smooth black rock. Including the metal bed, there was a wooden table nearby and a large metal door on the opposite side.

As he steadied himself and had another look, he also noticed a tray of food sitting by a flap in the metal door.

'What is this... Was I kidnapped?'

Kaiden struggled towards the door, falling onto his knee five paces away from it.

'Should I call for help? No, if I was kidnapped then that would only make this situation worse.'

Suddenly Kaiden heard the sound of footsteps echoing outside, coming closer with each passing second.

He began to panic, 'Wait, i'm not ready yet, how did they time that so badly!?'

Countless thoughts were going through his mind, but he, Erric would never...

Suddenly he felt head-splitting pain.

"Aaarghhhhh" The pain in his head even made him release a roar of pain as he clutched his head.

His screams and howls of pain went on till he became hoarse, then as his howling ceased, his head drooped and his flailing arms fell to his sides. It was as if he was a puppet whose strings had been cut... or as if he was dead.

However, after a few moments, his head seemed to move slightly, his eyes fluttered open as he began to stroke his forehead.

The door to his room swung open with a click.

At that moment, as his mind and body calmed down in recovery, memories began flooding him as they slowly appeared in his mind!

Erric Ashton, that was his name, a former mage apprentice of Wartshog Academy, a citizen of the Western continent's Caelum Kingdom, City of Arcelia.

His Mother Arrila was a 3-tier Mage who perished, sacrificing herself during a conflict over colonies in the Eastern Continent. The bereavement gave him a chance to follow in her footsteps, attending the same school that she had, Wartshog Academy.

His father Celton was a Knight of Faith, a devotee of the Earth Mother. He disappeared along with half his squad while their company was investigating Heretical ruins in the southern continent. His squad defended the company's retreat from the ruins, as monsters attacked them from within and the ruin collapsed around him.

He also had an older brother and two younger siblings, a brother and sister.

His family, now under the lead of his older brother, desperately searched for a way to support themselves and their lands. In the end, Luis, his older brother, decided to send him and their younger sister to learn magic.

He joined the Church of the Deep's knight order, his belief in the Earth Mother waned with their father's death, and he sent their final sibling, Lucien, to the Orders, hoping that he would get a chance to unlock his Aspect.

'...That guy really tried everything in his power to support us'

He remembered Luis' final request of him... of Erric.

"Are you alright? It took a bit longer than expected to find you, it was hard to believe that you lived through that, Erric."

A figure had entered the room and seemed to be speaking to him, but his mind was too cloudy to comprehend the unfamiliar language. His comprehension seemed to still be slowly rising as he heard more spoken words.

'No, that can't be right my name is Kai..den?'

Another flood of memories

Kaiden, he had lived multiple lives, both as a reincarnator and transmigrator.

He had lived as holy champion of the sword god, as a hunter wielding axes and executing evil beasts, and as finally the man called Phoenix. That was a unique experience, where he had been reborn twice before being forced to transmigrate again.

Speaking of that... he could not remember any specifics about his final death, or what had happened to him after he passed on.

He groggily muttered as he continued to stroke his forehead, "Huh... am i alive? Did someone save me, or did i transmigrate into a grown body for once?...Where am i...Who am I really..."

He could feel it, his memories from both sides were incomplete, he felt an unbearable disgust rise from within his gut. It felt as if all these memories were manufactured, foreign to him.

He felt his stomach twist, this was worse than being kicked in the balls while firecrackers went off under your ass.

"Oi, it's time to wake up young'un!" A rough male voice echoed.

"..."

"...What would this be, the seventh time that I was forced to burn you?" The voice took on a tone that was both severe and jovial.

"Leave him alone! He is obviously in pain... let me soothe him." A young woman spoke these words as she strode past the hulking figure occupying most of the doorway, and sat by Erric, lifting him into her arms and allowing his convulsing body to rest on her lap.

The woman met his gaze, and a relieved smile hung on her lips as she cupped her hands over his mouth and chest.

Kaiden had a stunned expression on his face seeing this voluptuous beauty whispering as her face neared his own.

"Oh Lady of Eternal Youth, Goddess of the Primordial Moon. Bless this young hero with your cleansing light. "

A bluish light began to shine from her body, spreading across Erric's body in waves.

The light formed by this prayer lit up her face. Her face had youngish features, but her body had a mature charm, especially her well-proportioned curves at the right places.

Her skin pale and radiant as the moon; her eyebrows were curved and slender, and her hazel eyes were as beautiful as twin gladiolus.

Her long silky black hair fell over her shoulders, pooling around the hand she held firmly to his chest. Despite wearing a blue tunic and skirt, it didn't diminish her elegance and instead suited her tall figure.

"Sister Rayla?" Kaiden unconsciously muttered as he felt relief spread through his body. He was sure that not even models who did plastic surgery could be compared to the beauty before him.

'I wonder if being charmed is a concept here...'

"Eri, didn't I tell you to wait for us? How many times are you going to scare us like this? Oh god look at what he's done to you..." Rayla said in a strained tone as her beautiful brows wrinkled. She began to gently support him as she examined his back.

Kaiden could see the pained look in her eyes deepen, and he began to feel an unnatural sense of guilt. This sensation of guilt, the love for this woman blossoming in his heart... should he accept it?

"....hn..hrg..." Erric felt wounds that he was not previously aware of closing all over his body, as his stomach began to rumble.

"Alright, that's enough drama out of you for one century, let us proceed with this retrieval mission."

Kaiden took a proper look at this man for the first time...if you could call him one.

He resembled a middle-aged man, with a grey beard and flowing mane of brown hair with a few grey stripes peppered in. He had wrinkles but didn't appear old. His skin was grayish-blue,and he wore a thick, furry beast hide that covered his abdomen and waist, with a large cloak wrapped around his shoulders.

His chest and legs lacked protection, but that allowed Kaiden to witness his physique. His neck, arms, calves, and feet were exposed, revealing all kinds of old scars, and his pulsing veins over the skin on his massive forearms gave them a manly look. His leg muscles looked strong and toned, as if he never skipped leg day from the day he was born. Kaiden would not be surprised if this man could shatter skulls with ease.

The most unusual area was his head though, thick horns sprouted amidst his shaggy mane, curved in a dangerous spiral.

"It is time to go whelp, we've already saved your hatchling and there is no time to let you recover here."

"W-who are..." Kaiden managed to stutter half his question as his mind began to drift towards sleep.

"Hahaha! I am King Drake ,whelp, the future grandfather of the greatest drake in the universe!" He said as he suddenly grabbed Erric by the waist, throwing him over his shoulder, before striding towards a long flight of stairs at the end of the hall.

"Why would you even add that in, literally no one but Ignacio and I would get that" Rayla muttered as she strode after him.

As his vision faded, he managed to catch a glimpse of the corridor they were leaving behind. Dead bodies clothed in a white armor were strewn all over the space behind them. A middle-aged man wearing a baggy white robe with bronze embroidery, and a white biretta-style hat on his head and a black cross-shaped totem in his left hand. He simply stood there, solemn and silently staring into Kaiden's eyes as he slipped into unconsciousness.