Arin turned the fragile page slowly. The title at the top was written in darker ink, as if the writer himself had felt the weight of the story.
The Era of the King.
The chapter began with a single name.
Altan.
No one knew exactly where he came from. Some records said he was born in a small coastal town. Others claimed he appeared suddenly, like a storm that had no beginning. But every story agreed on one thing: Altan possessed power beyond anything the world had ever seen.
While most gifted people controlled one element—fire, wind, water—Altan seemed to command them all.
He could call storms from a clear sky.
He could split the earth with a gesture.
Entire rivers changed their course when he walked near them.
At first people believed he was a hero. When he defeated corrupt rulers and tyrants, many celebrated him. They thought the world had finally found a protector strong enough to end wars.
But power has a strange way of changing people.
Soon Altan began to believe something dangerous—that no one else deserved to rule the world except him.
One by one, he challenged the leaders of the ten great regions. Armies gathered to stop him, but armies meant nothing before a man who could bend nature itself.
Cities fell.
Kingdoms surrendered.
Those who resisted were crushed.
Within a decade, the entire world belonged to one man.
Altan became the only king the world had ever known.
But his rule was not peaceful.
People lived in constant fear. If a village disobeyed his orders, storms would destroy their crops.
The head of the people of that villages was beheaded and placed in the city centre .
" He have made one special tomb for the heads" .
And he visits every time when new head are hunged .
If a city refused to send soldiers to his armies, earthquakes would shake their homes. Rivers flooded without warning. Lightning storms burned entire forests.
It was as if the world itself had become Altan's weapon.
The book described those years as The Dark Reign.
Not because Altan wanted destruction—but because no one could stop him when destruction happened.
Altan didn't just conquer; he dismantled the hope of every nation he touched.
He systematically executed the kings of all ten kingdoms, performing the slaughters in front of their own citizens to ensure the people's spirits were broken forever.
The executions were so agonizing that even the proudest monarchs ended up weeping, begging for the mercy of a quick death.
First, Altan would drive white-hot iron rods into their eyes, blinding them to everything but their own pain. Then, with agonizing slowness, he severed their fingers one by one.
For the final act, he locked the broken kings inside iron cages filled with starving rats. The citizens watched in horrific silence as the vermin began to eat their rulers alive.
Even the strongest warriors were helpless.
For twenty long years, the world lived under the shadow of one man's power.
Then something strange happened.
Altan disappeared.
No battle ended his reign.
No hero defeated him.
The stone of power was also disappeared with altan .
Some says that he met with the sage who showed him something which was beyond the power .
With the last world to his army chief
"Power brings fear and fear brings insecurity, insecurity leads to violence''
One day he simply walked away and was never seen again.
The world slowly rebuilt itself after his disappearance. Nations created the system of the ten regions and the five-year contests so that no single person could ever control everything again.
Arin closed the book slowly.
The quiet library felt heavier now.
He stared at the wooden table for a long moment.
"Everyone is chasing power," he whispered to himself.
"At the academy… in the world… everywhere."
But history had already shown what happened when one person gained too much of it.
Arin leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.
"Maybe the real question isn't who becomes the strongest," he murmured.
"Maybe the real question is whether anyone should be."
With these thought in the mind he leaves the
Library.
Terrified of being caught and harassed by Rex, Arin tried to slip away from the school as quietly as possible. His heart raced with every step until he ran directly into a student named Peter.
Arin's stomach dropped.
He was certain Peter was about to join in and make fun of him.
His eyes were wide with fear, bracing for a cruel remark. But instead, Peter spoke with a calm kindness.
"Hey, Arin," Peter said. "I've been wanting to ask if we could be friends. Let's get out of here and go grab some burgers."
Arin hesitated, his mind spinning in confusion
. After a long moment of silence, he finally agreed. As they walked away toward the cafe, Arin looked at Peter as if he were a god—a rare spark of light in a society that usually felt so evil and cold.