The moment his life ended, everything slowed.
A blaring horn. A pair of headlights. Screams. Then silence.
He had always imagined death as an end, a blank nothing. But instead, it began with light.
Floating in that endless whiteness, he felt weightless—stripped of form, yet whole. Then came a voice. Not human, not divine. Just... there.
> "Your soul has been marked. Your heart defied fate. You are chosen."
Before he could ask what that meant, everything shattered into warmth.
He gasped.
Crying. Air filled tiny lungs. Voices—muffled and strained. The smell of wood smoke. Pain. Life.
He was reborn.
---
The woman holding him coughed violently. Her skin was pale and thin, her eyes sunken but gentle. Beside her lay a man, equally sick, trying to smile.
They cradled him in trembling arms. His new parents. They had nothing—just an old cottage, a cracked pot of stew, and a blanket worn thin by time. Yet they sang to him with love that ached in its sincerity.
And then, within weeks, they died.
The disease took them both. It swept through their village like a curse. But strangely, it never touched him. The illness ignored his tiny body, passing through him like mist through glass.
Before their final breaths, they left him wrapped in cloth, resting him gently at the doorstep of an orphanage in the village outskirts.
He never forgot their faces. Not in that life. Not even now.
---
The orphanage was humble but safe.
The matron was firm but kind. The children loud, curious, wild. And among them were two boys who would one day become legends—one loud and relentless, the other quiet and composed.
Asta and Yuno.
He blended in easily. A white-haired boy with crimson eyes and a calm smile. No name was left with him, so the matron let him choose his own when he was old enough.
He picked a name that didn't exist in this world.
> "Call me Kael."
That was the first time he spoke in his new life with real purpose.
---
The memories of his past life never faded. He remembered the world of machines, schools, cell phones, anime. He remembered reading Black Clover—the world he now breathed within.
He had been a nobody in his old world. A boy who lived simply, died abruptly. No grand story. No loved ones left behind. Just a dream of something more.
Now, he had a second chance.
And with it, a gift.
---
On the night of his first birthday in this world, a golden screen flickered in his vision, invisible to all but him.
> [INFINITE ASCENSION SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Welcome, User: Kael
Abilities, body, and talents can be infinitely enhanced through synchronization with key events and plot checkpoints.
Progress: 0.1% Synced
He couldn't fully understand it then, but he felt it—power humming under his skin, sleeping, waiting. As he grew, the system whispered guidance. It helped him walk sooner. Talk faster. Learn better.
While other kids struggled to summon sparks, Kael could feel mana inside everything.
He never told anyone. He never would.
This was his burden—and his responsibility.
---
By age five, he already showed signs of being different.
He never got sick. Never got tired. His reflexes were sharper, his thoughts clearer. The caretakers thought he was simply blessed. The other kids admired him.
Asta called him his "cool rival." Yuno never said much, but Kael caught the curiosity in his eyes.
Kael was always kind—calm, cheerful, helpful. But when one of the younger kids was bullied by outsiders, Kael snapped. He had no magic yet, but his body moved like lightning. Three older boys left bruised and terrified.
From that day, no one messed with the orphanage.
And Kael learned something vital: when those he cared about were hurt, something dark and ancient stirred inside him.
He feared it—but he would use it.
---
That winter, it happened again.
> [CHECKPOINT REACHED – "Childhood Phase: Orphanage Bonds"]
Sync Rate: 3.4%
Upgrades: Body Enhancement Lv. 1 → Lv. 5
Magic Affinity: Awakened – Fire, Wind, Earth
He almost collapsed from the rush. Power surged through his body like magma in his veins. His breathing sharpened. His vision flared. When he looked at the trees, he could see the mana dancing in the bark.
He wasn't ready to reveal it, so he trained alone behind the orphanage each night. Quiet. Precise. Obsessed.
He shaped tiny blades of wind in his palm. Formed sparks with his fingers. He imagined weapons, and they appeared—crude, unstable, but real.
Each success synced him further with the world's "plotline," as the system called it. Each sync made him stronger.
This wasn't just a second chance.
It was evolution.
---
Still, he was just a boy in the world's eyes.
But within him burned a storm of power, a memory of another world, and a vow.
> "I will protect everyone I care about. No matter what it takes."
As the years passed, the capital loomed on the horizon. The Magic Knight Exam awaited. Fate would soon intertwine Kael's path with nobles, royalty, demons, and destiny itself.
But on that cold winter night, beneath a sky full of stars, Kael stood in the snow with open hands and glowing crimson eyes.
Reborn.
Unknown.
But not for long.