---
#
Well...
**I got new powers.**
*Yay?*
(Insert sarcastic clapping.)
When I turned **25**, the **system** suddenly alerted me while I was just staring blankly at the stars, half-asleep.
> **[System Alert]**
> Congratulations, Aethonix, for surviving 25 years!
> You are awarded the **Earrings of Illusion**, bound to the user forever.
- **Earrings of Illusion**:
Thin silver hoops glowing with faint rainbow hues, almost invisible unless you focus.
They allow the user to create hyper-realistic illusions — enough to deceive gods, beasts, and armies alike.
They also strengthen mental defenses against mind control or emotional manipulation.
**(Bound: Cannot be removed. Cannot be stolen.)**
Cool, right?
Some mystical artifact that could trick an entire battlefield.
...Was I happy?
**No.**
Not even a little.
---
**Five years** had passed since **Umar** left.
(That's about **21 Earth years**.)
**Seven years** had passed since **Firehair** disappeared from my life.
(**30 Earth years**, if we're counting like humans.)
And honestly?
At first, I waited.
At first, I believed.
At first, every sunset felt like a promise they'd come back.
But now?
I didn't even think about them much anymore.
I know it sounds cold... but **waiting** for someone who might never come back eventually just **burns you out.**
Was I a fool?
Was I wrong for believing they cared like I did?
I don't know anymore.
At some point, it just hurt less.
At some point, it just became... a quiet numbness.
Maybe that's the curse of living too long
---
I'm **27 years old** now.
(Technically **around 113 Earth years old** if you count the weird Aurorian time difference.)
And if you count my **past life** back on Earth, where I died at 35...
*Yeah, I'm ancient, bro.*
But still —
Despite the years, the battles, the victories, the crowns, the statues —
**I feel immature.**
I have all this strength.
All this power.
All these memories.
And yet...
I don't feel wise.
I don't feel like some "ancient, wise king" out of the fairy tales.
I just feel... stuck.
*Is this what Thor felt?*
Thousand-year-old muscle-heads who still act like impulsive kids? Muscles bigger than mountains — but still thinking like a lovesick making Him a Hard time?
Bro, if that's the price of immortality or a long living God, then maybe I'd rather stay dumb and mortal.
---
I've relapsed a lot over the past five Aurorian years.
(That's **21 Earth years** for you slow math people.)
First, I still trained like a lunatic.
Morning till night.
Sword swings. Bow practice. Physical conditioning until my bones screamed.
My **mother**, my **father**, my **siblings** —
They never gave up on me.
They cheered me on.
Tried to keep me going.
But something inside me... broke.
I lost my drive.
I stopped feeling that burning fire inside me.
I stopped chasing anything.
Some days, I just lay on the grass, staring at the sky for hours, doing nothing.
Just wondering if this was all life was going to be.
Searching.
For what, even I don't know anymore.
Maybe for an answer.
Maybe for a purpose.
Maybe for a sign that I'm not just drifting like space dust.
---
Sometimes I ask myself:
I mean, *what would a protagonist in some fantasy novel do?*
Fight dragons?
Build armies?
Save the princess?
"Would they just sit and rot?"
"Or would they break free and chase something greater?"
But...
this isn't some light novel.
This is real.
This is life.
*I already fought dragons.*
*I already built armies.*
*I already saved cities.*
And still...
The emptiness stayed.
Was I just another pawn in someone's game?
Was my reincarnation some cruel joke by a bored god?
To be honest...
I'm tired.
Tired of swinging swords.
Tired of pretending everything's fine.
Tired of waiting for people who left and never came back.
I need an adventure.
A real one.
Something that lights that dead part of my soul back on fire.
---
Some days, I'd ask myself the heavy questions:
- **If you're immortal, what do you live for?**
- **If you can't die, what matters anymore?**
- **Do I become a hero, a villain, an anti-hero?**
- **Why do people even care about titles?**
I mean, seriously...
If I chose to be a **hero**, I'd be stuck in an endless loop.
Saving people.
Fighting villains.
Every Tuesday would be "Battle for the World" day.
**Bro, that's exhausting.**
If I chose to be a **villain**, I'd end up getting defeated by some "Power of Friendship" squad who talks about love while punching me through a mountain.
If I became an **anti-hero**, I'd just be edgy and lonely and still get betrayed by everyone.
That's just a fancy way of saying "confused dude who kills people sometimes."
So maybe...
Maybe I should just forge a new path:
The **"I Don't Give A F***" Path.**
Expand.
Protect my people.
Build my own empire among the stars.
Sip tea while watching galaxies spin in the sky.
*Be my own damn king.*
---
By now, Auroria has **over 300,000 Aurorians.**
It's crazy.
Kids are being born like crazy too.
Everywhere you look, someone's married, someone's pregnant, someone's raising a bunch of little half-monster brats running around with magic powers.
Meanwhile me?
Still solo.
I'm not even mad.
I've got centuries ahead of me.
There's no rush to fall in love again.
Love... love can wait.
---
**Aetheria** and **Terraka** (my twin siblings) grew into their roles.
- **Aetheria** became the **Head of Research and Training School.**
She's basically the Aurorian version of Einstein but prettier.
- **Terraka**?
He's out there every week, **leading conquests**, expanding territory, and wrestling apex beasts like it's a hobby.
---
My **father and mother**?
They're finally relaxing.
They're spending time together, traveling between the cities, hosting festivals.
They trust me to keep the system running now.
**Me.**
The kid who used to skip sword practice to stare at clouds.
Funny how life turns out.
---
But even with all this...
Every night, staring at my kingdom from my balcony,
with the stars above me,
the cool wind brushing against my skin,
the glowing cities twinkling in the valleys below...
I ask myself:
**What now?**
What am I supposed to do, when life stretches endlessly ahead and the spark inside keeps getting dimmer?
---
*Maybe...*
One day...
*I'll build an empire so strong that the universe itself will kneel before it.*
Not out of fear.
Not out of love.
But because it will be **inevitable.**
---
Sometimes, when I sip my tea alone, I whisper to the stars:
*"I wish I had the power to bend the world... to bend the very rules of reality itself..."*
*Aethonix.*
---
**To be continued...**
---