Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

[??? POV]

The first time I opened my eyes… after a long time…

I saw a single boy.

Just one.

I looked at the boy with red eyes and black hair.

His eyes were still filled with fierce determination — even in the face of death.

I found it amusing.

I could've ended him with ease.

My power had regressed a lot, yes — but for someone like him? Someone who held a rank far below what I once did?

He was nothing.

His features weren't familiar. Not remotely.

He didn't look like someone I'd know.

Not at all.

At first, I just wanted to devour his core.

That was it. Nothing personal. Just survival.

His presence was strong enough to help me recover — even if only a little.

Moreover, he seemed to be a holder of supreme ability…maybe even a supreme of some small world.

But I wasn't curious enough to know his story.

Not when I'd been trapped in this dungeon for hundreds of years.

And after a while, everything stopped mattering.

My thoughts faded.

All that remained… was a shell.

My body — frozen in time — used to power the dungeon's mechanisms.

But my mind… my mind was not so lucky.

It remained awake. And it suffered in the void.

Still, even in that void, I could see… flickers.

I watched, through them, as countless adventurers challenged the dungeon.

At first, I couldn't even think clearly.

But over time, the seal began to weaken.

And little by little… I could influence it.

That's when I started learning new things about this dungeon.

This dungeon — it wasn't natural. It was distorted.

It devoured echoes of reality — branches of possibility — and fed on them.

But those echoes…

They weren't real. They were just possibilities of reality… influenced by the choices of the intruder who entered it.

That's when I understood… I could use this.

So I started experimenting.

Using my ability.

I tried extracting them. Claiming their cores.

Their skills.

Their essence.

And after hundreds of years… I succeeded.

I started absorbing fragments. Stealing pieces of power from the fools who challenged this place.

It wasn't much. Never enough.

But it was something.

Enough to open my eyes today.

Enough… to finally be free again.

__

And then… there he was.

The boy who unknowingly broke the last lock. He killed the guardian which held the final part of the seal together.

His body was completely broken by now.

Still, he stood up again.

Even in his broken state he stood up.

Then it happened.

Just for a moment he released an extraordinary presence.

It didn't even last a second.

But it was unmistakable.

It was something only someone from my family's bloodline would possess.

Even now, with most of his aura broken, his body bloodied and breath ragged, the echo of that power still remained.

There are very few people in this universe, who can carry that bloodline.

Even fewer whose souls emit that exact rhythm—that celestial pulse.

It wasn't a diluted bloodline. Not collateral.

It belonged to only the direct descendant of my family.

My eyes narrowed.

How could that be…?

Most … most of my family died after that.

And then, I saw it.

The pendant hanging on his neck. The small pendant. It was smeared with blood but still intact.

My breath froze in my throat.

I recognised it.

No…

That pendant—

That pendant belonged to my mom.

It was a keepsake. A relic. A story.

A memory.

It was the first thing Dad gave her when they met after his ascendance.

Before the wars, before the heavens split and before that event.

Mom never took it off.

Even when injured. Even when we fled.

So how?

How was it now in the hands of a half-dead boy with eyes full of suspicion and pain?

No.

Not in the hands.

Around his neck.

Close.

Protected.

And still pulsing with residual soul essence, which meant…

She had given it to him herself. It wouldn't have made sense otherwise.

Which meant—

My throat tightened.

"…Alden?"

I whispered the name.

He didn't answer.

But his hand tightened around his blade.

His bloodied fingers trembled slightly.

Recognition?

No. Not quite.

Something inside him stirred.

And yet—

I felt doubtful.

Why?

Why was he like this?

Why did he still look so young?

So fragile?

He should be grown by now. A man.

A wielder of flame and sky.

Instead…, he looked like someone completely different.

His face was wrong.

Is he perhaps a descendant of my brother?

That could be possible… given the time that has passed.

But somewhere within a corner of my heart… I felt it. He wasn't a descendant… he was my brother.

If so,

How long…?

How long had he been living like this?

What happened after the fall?

Where was Mom?

Why wasn't she—

Is this perhaps something done by Mom?

If it was indeed her… She must've definitely left some clue.

The pendant… I'll know once I touch it.

I walked a step closer.

I need to verify. I need to know what happened.

His blade flickered towards me.

It was a subtle movement, barely perceptible.

But I knew an attack when I saw one.

His killing intent—still buried beneath hesitation—finally snapped loose.

He lunged.

Wild and desperate but determined.

"—!!"

I didn't strike back.

I just sidestepped, letting his sword slide past my shoulder.

His movements were sloppy.

Every one of his breaths was strained. He was still bleeding inside. Internal damage. Mana burn. Fractures across his ribs.

He shouldn't even be standing.

Let alone fighting.

But he was.

I raised one hand slowly and snapped my fingers lightly.

My bloodline ability was unleashed.

Not to strike.

But to heal.

A ripple of white golden flame covered his whole body.

The true bloodline fire.

The kind only our direct lineage could wield.

It had different properties based on the wielder, and mine didn't burn—it healed.

The moment it touched him, I saw the tension in his shoulders falter.

His breath steadied.

His bleeding slowed.

And still—he didn't stop.

So I released the spirit.

The small one.

The one he'd been hiding in his shadows.

The little creature that had dared strike me earlier, even though she was terrified.

I opened my fingers toward her neck.

"Go", I said softly.

The spirit flew out, eyes wide in disbelief.

She bolted toward him like lightning, wrapping herself around him protectively.

A shield.

His gaze flicked between me and the spirit, still panting.

Suspicion and confusion.

And…something else.

"Stop," I said as I lowered my arm. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He didn't speak.

Just stood there, his muscles still tensed for battle, his sword wavering in his grip.

I took another step closer.

His eyes narrowed, readying another strike.

"I said—stop." My voice dropped.

Not harsh, but heavy.

The kind Mom used when he cried for no reason and wouldn't settle.

And then I asked the one question I hadn't dared until now.

"… Who are you?"

His eyes twitched.

He didn't answer.

So I asked again.

"Are you Alden?"

He flinched this time.

So small a movement, a mortal might have missed it.

But I was not mortal.

Even with my lost strength, I saw it.

My heart twisted.

"A… Are you really Alden?" I whispered, my voice breaking slightly.

Still no answer.

His breathing was uneven again.

Not from pain.

But from restraint.

He was still thinking like a fighter.

Weighing options.

Evaluating outcomes.

He doesn't trust me.

…Good.

If he had, I would've worried more.

A child who survived like this couldn't afford to trust.

He was trying to stall.

Trying to figure out a way to survive.

I could see the calculation in his eyes.

He was waiting for a window. Stalling for time until the dungeon collapse. That way he would be teleported out of the dungeon.

But that was fine.

"Alden", I said again.

Gently, this time.

"Do you… remember me?"

Nothing.

That was a dumb question. Even if he was Alden, how was he supposed to remember me?

We were separated when he was just a child.

Just a few months-old baby.

My heart was sure this was my brother but my mind still wanted confirmation.

I took another step forward.

I knew my mother. She wouldn't just do anything without thinking.

My first clue was 'pendant', but she must've left something else.

I channelled my mana to my eyes…as the golden glow in them intensified.

My vision shifted… then I saw it.

The pendant he wore had magic imbued in it…

…a memory?

It wasn't something any person could see or feel… because it was my mom's magic.

My hands clenched…

Mom must've anticipated I would meet him… Then why?

Why didn't she ever come back for me…?

Did she never get the chance—

Was I… not important enough?

… Or was my brother that much important to her?

I hated that thought. I pushed it down. Buried it under reason. There had to be another reason. There had to be.

My heart twisted with negative emotions, but I controlled it.

I looked at him again.

Then at the pendant.

I stretched my hands towards his pendant…

I shouldn't hesitate. Not now. Not after all this time.

But my fingers trembled slightly before touching the pendant—I didn't know the emotion.

Perhaps it was because I was afraid to find out the truth.

He tried to resist but it was futile.

My white fire healed him and restricted him at the same time. And he wasn't fully healed yet.

As soon as my fingers brushed past the pendant, something clicked.

The pendant started to glow in bright light enveloping me and the boy in front of me…

The world stilled, and everything turned blank for a moment before we were in a new scenery.

"Alden… Caera… my children… Are you here?"