Not long after Damien passed out, he suddenly woke up. “Ugh, my head,” he groaned, rubbing his temple. After a few minutes, he looked around the room and suddenly realized something important.

“Wait… that’s right. I entered the door the spirit was telling me about and then passed out.” Worry began to spread in his heart as he questioned why the spirit had lied to him about what was on the other side of the door.

Standing up, Damien decided to set aside his concerns for now; he needed to figure out where he was and how to get out. As he surveyed his surroundings once more, he realized he seemed to be in a bedroom. He had woken up on a soft bed, and the walls were adorned with various paintings. In one corner of the room stood several bookshelves.

While examining the room, Damien felt something strange about himself—he felt shorter. Confused, he walked over to the full-length mirror he had spotted earlier.

Upon standing in front of the mirror and looking at his reflection, Damien almost stumbled backward in shock. “Who the hell is that?” he yelled, bewildered by the fact that he looked completely different from how he remembered.

Walking back to the mirror, he examined the body he found himself in. Unlike his usual self, which was tall with black hair and eyes, the person in the mirror had long blue hair with piercing gold eyes and was quite a bit shorter than Damien’s normal height. He was also wearing robes similar to what Damien imagined a priest would wear.

Before he could think further about how he had ended up in this person’s body, a knock came at the door. “My lord, are you alright? I heard you screaming.” Hearing the words from the person outside, Damien was at a loss for what to do. Calming his nerves, he responded as best as he could.

“I'm alright,” he said, keeping the response simple so as not to give away that something was amiss.

“In that case, my lord, I was just coming to tell you, the head is waiting for you. When you are ready, I will be outside to escort you to him.”

‘The head? The head of what?’ Damien thought. He was doing his best to figure out where he was and how he had ended up in this situation, but he couldn’t come up with any plausible explanation. Letting out a loud sigh, he walked over to the door and stepped outside without thinking further.

Whatever was happening, the spirit must have known this would occur and had chosen not to inform him for some reason. However, Damien believed that the spirit's intentions were not malicious, as he doubted he would have awakened in this manner if they were.

As he stepped outside, he looked around and felt something familiar about his surroundings; they reminded him of the temple where he had taken the trials, although these grounds were far less decrepit. Upon seeing Damien emerge, the man who had spoken to him earlier bowed.

“My lord, if you would follow me.” Hearing the man’s words, Damien noticed his bowing gesture. After studying him for a moment, Damien nodded, prompting the man to lead the way.

While walking, Damien decided to ask for more information. “Why is the head waiting for me?” he inquired, hoping the question wouldn't raise any alarms.

“Did you forget, my lord? Today is the day the head’s son is to be coronated as the official next leader,” the man replied briefly.

Feigning a look of realization, Damien chose to remain silent; asking more questions without sufficient information would only be foolish and could lead to exposing himself or raising suspicion among others.

Fortunately, the man seemed to be chatty and continued talking about the events planned for the day.

“You’re always so forgetful, my lord, so let me remind you of everything scheduled for today along with your responsibilities.” He paused briefly to collect his thoughts.

“In addition to the young head’s coronation, there will be a grand feast to celebrate. During the celebration, you will need to interact with the leaders of the other organizations. I know you don’t enjoy activities like this, but as the support for the young head, the responsibility falls on your shoulders.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Glancing back at Damien, the man offered an encouraging look and added, “Also, don’t forget that the young lord will be with you while you talk to these leaders. Make sure to keep him in line and prevent him from saying anything he shouldn’t.”

Finally done with his explanation, the man began to ramble about unimportant topics, such as his life and the women he was interested in. Tuning him out, Damien maintained a calm expression on the outside while inwardly he was panicking, unsure of what to do. According to what the man had just said, he had a significant responsibility ahead of him.

If he was being honest, he had no idea how he was going to make it through the day without someone becoming suspicious of his actions or words. At that point, he was already contemplating how he could escape from this situation.

Inwardly sighing, he shook his head at that idea. He must have been placed in this situation for a reason, and running away was not the answer. ‘I just need to find a way to gather information about myself and the people I will be meeting, along with the relationships I may have with them. Easy, right?’ Damien thought to himself, half-mockingly.

While he had been lost in thought about how to avoid exposure, they had already arrived at their destination.

“My lord, the head is waiting for you inside,” the man who had led the way spoke aloud, bowing once more.

Snapping out of his thoughts Damien glanced around feeling that the surroundings were increasingly familiar but he shook the feeling off and made his way through the door.

Almost immediately after entering the room and examining its interior, Damien realized where he was and why the building felt reminiscent of the temple where he had taken the trials. This was indeed the temple, resembling what it looked like in the past.

With this understanding, he began to grasp what was likely happening. "If this is the temple of the past, then that means I will mostly be learning about what had occurred, just as the spirit said. But not only will I be learning—I will have to live through it..."

As his thoughts flowed, Damien understood more and more, eventually concluding that this should also be a trial and that he was likely in some sort of illusion.

The only thing he couldn't figure out was whose body he was inhabiting. It couldn't be that of Tobisha, as they looked nothing alike. As for the old spirit, while it was possible, he wasn't sure since there was again a significant difference in their appearances.

"What has you so absorbed in thought, Sokai?" Hearing someone speak, Damien looked toward the center of the room. A man sat on a throne, his gaze aloof as he rested his cheek on his fist, staring in Damien's direction.

As he looked at the man, information suddenly flooded into his mind, causing him to wince slightly. Fortunately, he managed to keep his expression stable. The details included the man's name, status, strength, and more appeared in his mind.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts Damien quickly responded to avoid the man questioning him for his lack of response. “Sorry head you know I can be rather forgetful and I was taking some time to gather myself.”

In response, the head let out a low chuckle, “Yes you are quite forgetful so that makes sense, today however I need you at your best. Do not let me down, understood?”

“Yes, head,” Damien responded briefly.

“Good, now let me tell you the real reason for me calling you here.” the man said his expression turning serious.

“I’ve received some information that someone will likely cause trouble today at the coronation, I need you to be ready to evacuate my son using your abilities should something happen that is out of my control or expectations.”

Glancing up at the head Damien saw him staring at him waiting for his response, “It shall be done, but do you mind telling me who would have the zeal to do so under your watch.”

"Sokai, you should know that there are many in this world with strength similar to mine, whether they are heads of other organizations or sects. However, what you don’t know is that there are outsiders from other planets trying to stir up trouble and claim this world for themselves."

The leader paused, contemplating as he observed Sokai's reaction. Seeing him wait expectantly for more, the leader nodded. "Unfortunately, some on our planet have fallen into these outsiders' temptations and allied with them in their efforts."

"With that being said, you should understand why I gave you this instruction. The moment you believe I cannot handle the situation, you are to take my son and head to the location marked on this map. There, you will find someone who can help you leave the planet."

With that, the leader flicked his wrist, and the map flew toward Damien, who barely managed to catch it. After examining it for a few moments, he tucked the map away.

Just as he was about to ask the man a question, the leader spoke again, "You may leave," leaving no room for Damien to respond. He could only stand up begrudgingly and make his way out the way he had entered.

Outside this illusion, the old spirit was watching all of this with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Now, Damien boy, will you choose to follow in my footsteps and follow the orders of the leader? Will you disobey him as I should have done? Or will you do something surprising instead?”

"Hopefully, you don’t choose the first of the three."