---
Darkness.
Not the kind born from absence of light—but a deeper void, a hollow silence that echoed with forgotten songs of eternity. In that space between death and rebirth, something ancient stirred.
A soul.
Torn from divinity, stripped of memory, scattered into fragments by betrayal. And yet—still burning.
Then—
a heartbeat.
And then another.
Light. Pain. Air.
And a scream—shrill, high-pitched, unmistakably infantile. The world greeted him with overwhelming sensation, too bright, too loud, too alive.
He was no longer the First God.
He was no longer divine.
He was a child.
---
Snowflakes gently dusted the humble wooden cottage nestled at the base of the Howling Peaks. Inside, warmth crackled from a modest fireplace, where a pair of tired eyes—soft and maternal—gazed upon the newborn wrapped in silken cloth.
**Lilly** (softly, cradling him with trembling arms)
"He's so small... but he's warm. Like a star."
Her voice held awe.
**Jack** (gruff, arms crossed, peering from behind her)
"He's got your nose. And your stubbornness, probably."
She smiled through her tears.
**Lilly:** "We'll call him... Lawrence."
Outside, the snowstorm intensified, as if the world were reacting to the naming of something once divine.
---
Years passed. Seasons churned. The child grew.
Lawrence was different.
He spoke early. Walked before others. Read before his peers could pronounce their names.
At five, he deciphered an old grimoire Jack kept locked in a box beneath the floorboards.
At six, he began hearing whispers when he touched the stars through a telescope.
And at seven—it awakened.
The System.
---
**[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]**
**User Detected: Reincarnated Entity - Class: Undefined**
**Welcome back, O Fragmented One.**
**Synchronizing Core Memories... ACCESS DENIED.**
**Initializing Skill Pathways... COMPLETE.**
**Primary Traits Assigned:**
- Intelligence: Beyond Parameter
- Affinity: ??? (Unstable)
- Origin: [Redacted]
**Skill Seed Installed: Dimensional Aptitude [Passive]**
**New Objective: Grow. Remember. Reclaim.**
---
The screen shimmered like mist behind his eyes. No one else could see it. But he felt it, in his bones, in his breath. It pulsed with familiarity.
He didn't tell his parents.
Not yet.
Instead, Lawrence began to study.
He read every book the village had, and when those were done, he crafted his own—binding knowledge passed down from the System into crude journals he hid beneath loose floorboards.
He learned to manipulate heat with a glance.
He learned to freeze water with a whisper.
He learned to listen to the wind and understand its secrets.
And all the while, his dreams were haunted by stars.
By three shadows.
By betrayal.
He could not name them. Could not remember why they hurt. But each time he awoke drenched in sweat, his system would whisper:
**"Grow stronger. They are waiting."**
He grew.
He trained.
He waited.
And deep within him, a spark flickered.
A god, reborn.
Unaware.
But never forgotten.
---