Tension filled the air as the students watched the entrance before them. The place they were about to enter would perhaps decide their future.
The weakest of them could become the most powerful or lost to the River of Time. Forgotten and forsaken by all.
The most dangerous and yet the safest place that was what it represented. The gates rumbled as a powerful rift appeared before them.
Magic instructors used were comparable to a speck of the rift which stood tall. No one dared to relax, and they entered one by one.
Once Magnus stepped through, he felt like he was floating in an endless void before a guide appeared and gave him a path.
Then he found himself in a large hall. Its ancient structures depicted various beings, and beneath them were records of old.
Many others appeared, and they looked around in wonder. Magnus walked around and stopped before one statue.
[Demon Herald]
[Current ranking: 203] [Ranking of his time: 2]
[Time: 129 million years ago]
It wrote nothing more underneath the statue. These words radiated a certain might, however.
Millions of years of evolution. Progress never stagnated and everything moved on. And yet 201 people were the result.
Result of countless dimensions and hard work. All for just 201 potential powerhouses more powerful than the person from 129 million years ago.
How many descendants of the peak powerhouses must have tried? And a relic of the past defeated them.
Others, unaware of these records like Magnus, grew visibly tense as they read the texts.
He walked around and read other records.
Demons, Gods, Angels, Dragons, even worms. Long ago he noticed that the amount of statues exceeded the length of the walls surrounding the hall.
Like a database, it showed random people at first. Then, it worked according to one's wishes.
And soon he got his wish.
[Immortal Lin Fan]
[Current ranking: 1] [Ranking of his time: 1]
[Time: 879 million years ago]
Before the words translated themselves, he recognised the language.
To his surprise, it was very similar to Chinese. It creeped him out and when he walked around some more, other languages were quite similar to the ones on Earth.
He doubted the planet itself had special characteristics, though. What wasn't impossible was the possibility of either artificial creation.
Or parallel universes. If the latter applied, there must have existed a timeline where he died.
His eyes shone for a few moments before he sat down and waited like many others.
Soon, a small flame appeared above everyone. Everyone that looked at the fire soon entered an entranced state and their bodies soon turned corporeal.
As Magnus looked at it as well. He felt a warm embrace and words of encouragement before he dissipated, too.
'Walk far...'
...
Magnus opened his eyes and looked around. To his absolute surprise, he became a baby.
'Didn't I die?' He thought to himself as he quietly grew up. The world didn't seem to resemble Earth at all.
His hopes to return weren't dashed, though. The thing that killed him was still out there, creating chaos and destruction.
He had to stop it. And all he could do for now was to grow. And so he did. He grew in quite the family.
5 brothers and 3 sisters and all of them hated each other and would rather kill their brethren than traitors.
Why? Because they were battling for the throne, of course.
He became a prince of the Sky Eagle Empire. Second most powerful Empire out of dozens and it stood tall for thousands of years.
His prospects were almost zero as when he was born, his brothers and sisters were entering puberty.
Unless all of them died, the odds of becoming the Emperor were nil for the young Magnus.
A name that seemed to follow him even into the afterlife. To appease his siblings more than needed, he trashed his image.
From his memories, he played the perfect arrogant prince that would make young masters lower their heads in shame.
Scandals were numerous. Yet they never exceeded a certain limit. And although unpleasant, everyone else had their hands full with plots and he grew into obscurity.
Unbeknownst to them. Magnus grew more and more secluded. By the time he reached the age of 15, people would see him perhaps once every few months.
And most of the time, they would find him in the royal library, exclusive to the royal family.
Not the library that anyone could access. It was the real royal library where he spent most of his time.
While real. The library just held reference materials and many experiments that wouldn't damage the Empire too much if it ever got out.
To ensure no bad things happened. Only the Emperor's library held the most confidential truths about the Empire.
Magnus didn't care about those, though. For every day was a day where he could train.
With some digging, he found an old blueprint of the royal library. When one moved various things, a secret passage would appear.
Its goal was to give the descendants a way to run. But Magnus transformed it into his personal training ground.
In the outside world. Magnus threw tantrums whenever he had to study magic or train spearmanship by the signature art of the Sky Eagle Empire.
What broke their last bits of hope they had for him.
Was his utter failure to tame a Sky Eagle. Rare species of griffins that were exclusive to the royal family.
If you couldn't tame one. They would consider you as a halfling and unfit for the throne.
And indeed, Magnus never tamed one. Not even in secret. While not hard to do so for him, the act of doing so would eventually bite him in the future and would lead to hassle.
His studies continued in peace...
2 years later, he was summoned to attend the funeral of the second prince.
Few months after that, the third prince had been banished and the eldest princess passed away.
The fight for the throne had reached its zenith.
In the end, after the endless and needless slaughter concluded. The victor would be decided between the fourth prince and second princess.
Except the third prince. Everyone else had been killed in accidents or in conquests.
Thanks to the influx of mana, his body stagnated once he hit the age of 19. Time passed, and he revealed some of his edge.
He supported the princess, and soon she swept through the entire Empire.
...
The coronation day.
Magnus watched on the sidelines as his sister, one of his last two siblings, accepted the crown and sat down on the throne.
When she did. The old emperor grew weaker. She, on the other hand, excluded an incredible amount of mana which soon suppressed almost everyone on the ground.
Be it the imperial knights or mages. They were all forced to kneel before the power of the entire Empire.
Ever since he was born. Magnus watched. With patience, he watched his sister learn under the guidance of the old emperor.
The old grew weaker, and the young grew in strength. Shortly after the old emperor passed away, the entire world shook in terror and shock.
A war erupted. The confederation of light which merged multiple Empires was revealed to be the nest of the demons.
The number one power on the human continent turned out to be traitors. Chaos, migration, famine.
Misery then ruled the world ever since.
Still, Magnus watched from sidelines. The Empress showed a commendable edge as she led many battles and, with her powerful buff, won with ease.
A few empires betrayed humanity, and the rest banded up. Led by the Sky Eagle Empire, now recognised as the most powerful human force, they battled a bitter war.
Soon enough, the quiet demon continent gave support to the losing traitors, and the tides turned.
Then, when everything seemed bleak. The third prince appeared and swept all the opposition from the cold palace.
His subordinates alone rivalled the most powerful generals. Out of nowhere, he became a pillar.
But he refused to come out of the cold palace.
With the momentum, the third prince showed. Magnus relaxed a bit more and continued his research in order to find a way to go back to Earth.
Fate then showed her hands for the first time.
The demon continent invaded the elven continent, and somehow. In under a month, the World Tree turned into a demonic nest that nurtured war machines.
Very few elves survived. With the world tree gone, everything seemed bleak. Nevertheless, the fight went on and years passed.
When the subordinates of the third prince couldn't hold on for any longer. He stepped out of the cold palace for the first time.
He swept through everything with a few swings and seemed determined to end the war in one sweep.
With powerful warriors, he entered the demonized elven continent. Few months later, the demonic world tree screeched and soon vanished from the face of earth.
The third prince with it. A few remaining elves blamed humans for destroying the tiny hope they had and the dark elves were born.
In the end, Magnus had to step out of his study. A day after, he quietly appeared near a port.
The mana in the surroundings cheered in joy, and soon a barrier engulfed the entire continent.
No one knew what happened, but peace was brought back.
Empires flourished and Magnus returned to his studies once again while enforcing the barrier every few years.
Over the years, a single question plagued his mind. Why?
From why bother? To why do they sacrifice so much? He lived much longer than in his past life and his tribulation soon appeared.
Decades passed and various Emperors and Empresses sat on the throne. Magnus watched, waiting for his answer.
Yet he received none. What grew, though, was his disgust for humanity and with the whispers, the real royal library soon vanished and became a legend.
A barrier which prevented humans from entering stood tall.
He became a total hermit.
He didn't know how much time has passed and he seldom left the research laboratory he created.
Still, the return seemed like a fleeting dream.
On another monotone day, a child appeared in the library. A girl with burnt wings behind her back and two sprouting horns.
That was his first guest in centuries...