“Hah.” I stared at the pool of water, the image of a boy and girl clad in draconic mana striking down an opposing figure quickly fading away as I dispelled the magic. “It appears I made the right choice in saving the boy and his family.”

It had been a passing whim, really. I had done it under the guise of taking advantage of the child to obtain information about the current era. In truth, I’d been curious if perhaps the boy born partially of my supreme magic would prove to be interesting.

As it would appear, was beginning to look the case.

It had been my mistake that the boy retained his identity, only ever meant to be the physical vessel for my former apprentice until the time was ripe for our rebirth. In a rarity, I’d failed to account for something, that my former apprentice, not a fully realized Great Sage, may not have the magical and spiritual resiliency to withstand the passage through thousands of years into a body already attuned to bloodline magic, ‘kin’ magic as the modern people called it. As a result, while his vessel had been born perfectly healthy, his essence had dissipated within the timestream.

But I mused to myself as I looked about my chamber. It was perhaps for a worthy cause. Seeing how interesting this child may prove, I’m sure he would have understood.

Rook Baster. A child born with a body formed by the most wondrous magic ever conjured, magic breaking through the fabric of the fourth dimension, time itself bowing before my abilities. I was the first Great Sage to have found insight into my question, not just any question, but one of the elusive pillars of creation.

With just a speck of insight, the things I had achieved.

Not only was the child born of my own magic, but interwoven into his essence was magic that had never existed in my era.

Intriguing. All so intriguing.

I’d sought many things in my life. I’d achieved power, wealth, authority, and renown until I was left with nothing more than a hungering desire for anything, anything at all, to sate my curiosity, intrigue, and amuse me.

After my successful reincarnation, I discovered this era was tame, docile, and calm. My fellow Sages had been hunted; our teachings were now considered forbidden knowledge-

Ridiculous. As if any knowledge should ever be ‘forbidden.’

-the mischievous gods had taken to masking themselves amongst the masses, and The True Dragons of old had hidden away or simply died off

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And yet that child found himself upon the grave of old Solarus.

It wasn’t fate. As it was often understood, fate was nothing more than pure chance reinterpreted to fit with the narrative of those who lacked the power to change the world around them. Yet, it was apparent these weren’t simply circumstances of a random chance either. I’d watched the child step into the Pond of Elvermarzon, and after, he had vanished from my sight for some time.

No doubt the other Sages doing.

When I’d finally tracked him down again, he had been just outside the God Mountains, traveling to nowhere else but where I had cast down Solarus in our final battle. He was changed, albeit only minorly, showing the earliest signs of his first ring, the foundation ring. Something about the marking was different, unlike any I’d seen in the past. It alone had been enough to pique my interest.

When I’d seen him confront the mage upon the mountain, a man who thought himself great for drinking in the watered-down essence of Solarus, I had been tempted to intervene, worried my curiosity would be pruned before it ever ripened. Even the spirit of Solarus diluted into something… lesser than what the ancient True Dragon once was, was still far too much for the boy to handle as he was.

Yet, to my amazement, the boy had drunk in the essence of Solarus himself, pure and undiluted, unlike the mockery of dragon mana his foe claimed as his own.

Had it ended there, I would have been satisfied as is.

Instead, the girl accompanying him, an ordinary, unremarkable girl, had it thrust upon her as well. I had written her off as dead as soon as the effects wore off; she was no mage, and even had she been, dragon mana was like corrosive acid that would burn away at the very soul of a person. But I was proven wrong.

Wrong. How long had it last been since I was outright wrong?

The girl hadn’t died. The child took my amazement a step further, doing what had never been done before, drawing in the dragon mana from the girl and incorporating it further within his foundation ring.

Amazing.

Even I had no idea how he managed it.

I smiled, looking up at the crystals hanging from the ceiling above me, retrieved from the Pond of Elvermarzon shortly after my revival into the current era.

Was this your doing? Leading this boy in a direction, hiding it from me, all so you could gift me this pleasant surprise?

My fellow Sages, now long deceased, had seen me in the ripe of our era of old and witnessed the boredom that beset me, slowly driving me insane.

Now, far into the future, my peers had saved me from insanity, sowing the seeds of something wonderfully new.

How long had it been since I’d seen something new, genuinely new? In the time it took me to become a Great Sage, I had discovered the world’s wonders, uncovered lost secrets, learned forbidden arts, and forgotten more magic than this world ever knew existed.

New.

The excitement buzzing through me was intoxicating. I couldn’t let it go, couldn’t let this spark fade away.

It was time I did my part and set the scene for something that would dazzle even the gods.

Not that those old coots need me to entertain them in the first place.

The water within the basin reformed, showing me the image of barren land desolated after the eruption of a massive volcano directly centered on the island continent.

It was perfect.

Now then. I flexed my fingers, my smile creeping once more upon my face. It’s about time I make my move and set the stage for a play unlike any the world has witnessed.