Reincarnated as an Elf Prince

The path narrowed fast.

Whatever old trail had once been carved here had fallen into the same silence as the rest of the mountain. Cracks split through the stone underfoot. In some places, whole slabs had sheared away and dropped off into the frost below.

Lindarion stepped carefully. Each footfall checked before weight followed. The leather of his boots creaked faintly, but not enough to echo. Too much wind for that. It swept in sideways now. Thin. Needle-cold.

Meren slipped behind him with a soft yelp. Ardan caught the back of his collar without even looking and nudged him back onto the trail.

"Thanks," Meren muttered. "Didn't need all of my dignity anyway."

Ren was ahead of them both, squatting by a patch of exposed stone. She scraped her glove across the surface once, frowned, then stood again like the answers were too boring to share.

Lira kept to the right, nearest the drop. Her eyes didn't stop moving. From shadows to cracks. From cracks to sky. Then back again.

Lindarion took in the rhythm of their movement. Five bodies. Two with weight spread forward like predators. Two with every step louder than the last. One that watched the wind more than the trail.

'Ardan hears everything. Ren hears only what she finds interesting. Meren hears himself. Lira hears what might kill us.'

His own breath left no cloud. Not from warmth. Just control.

Then something inside shifted.

Not pain. Not sharp. Just… precise.

Like a door quietly unlatching somewhere behind his ribs.

[System Update: Core Stabilization Complete]

[Affinities Reactivated]

[Blood – Active]

[Void – Active]

[Fire – Active]

[Ice – Active]

[Darkness – Active]

[Astral – Active]

[Time – Active]

[Water – Active]

[Divine – Active]

[Lightning – Active]

He blinked once. The screen faded faster than usual. No lingering glow. No sound. Just the weight of those words settling into his spine like a long coat thrown over the shoulders.

'Finally.'

He didn't test anything. Not here. Not while Meren was still whining about the slope and Ren was muttering something about the curvature of tree growth in the distance.

But he felt it.

A quiet pulse behind his eyes. A new light in the bloodstream. That itch along the edge of his fingers where mana waited to be called.

He adjusted his scarf.

Nothing dramatic. Just breathing better now. Steadier. Sharper.

Ahead, the path curved behind a fallen pillar. Whatever old structure it had belonged to had long since crumbled into a pile of moss-crusted stones. Strange for moss to be growing this high up. Strange for anything to.

Lira paused at the bend.

She didn't speak. Just held up one gloved hand, fingers low.

They stopped.

Ren stepped sideways without being told. Ardan moved a step forward.

Lindarion's hand drifted toward the grip of his sword. He didn't draw. Just touched it. Like greeting an old friend.

Something was different here.

Not dangerous. Not yet.

But different.

The wind had stopped.

No howl. No cold bite across the cheeks. Just stillness. Heavy and absolute.

He narrowed his eyes at the trail ahead.

It continued.

But it wasn't empty.

—

The trail curved again. Not wide, not dramatic. Just enough to make the next twenty steps a mystery.

Lindarion adjusted the strap of his pack. It pulled against his shoulder a little too tightly, but he didn't stop to fix it.

The weight wasn't bad. Not anymore. His legs didn't shake. His breath didn't hitch. Even the cold felt manageable now. Like a guest overstaying, not an enemy.

The wind stayed quiet.

Still wrong. But quiet.

The rest of them moved with the same tension he felt. Lira hadn't blinked since they stopped. Ardan's fingers twitched once, then steadied again against the worn hilt of his sword.

Ren looked amused. Not calm. Just entertained, like the mountain was trying its best and failing to be scary.

'She's never serious when she should be.'

He stepped forward, slow.

The moment his boot landed past the curve, something clicked in his chest.

Not literal. Not audible. Just a sense.

[Skill Sync Fully Complete]

[User is at 100% Functional Capacity]

A faint pulse moved through him.

Not loud. Not bright. Just confirmation.

'Took long enough.'

No glow, no whisper, no magic trick. Just the feeling that everything inside him had finally woken up again. Like a room with all the lights flicked back on.

He could feel his affinities now. Not as words or elements. As sensations.

Darkness sat low in his spine. Heavy. Steady. A weight that wanted to be moved.

Fire lived behind the ribs. Flickering, impatient.

Void coiled somewhere in the gut. Cold. Watching.

Lightning tapped his fingers. Water cooled his breath. Ice lingered at the base of his neck.

Astral pulsed behind his eyes, sharp and weightless.

Time hung strangely in his thoughts. Slippery. Just out of reach. He didn't trust it yet.

Divine… he wasn't sure where Divine was. It didn't sit. It hovered. Present and distant. Like something watching back.

Blood was everywhere.

Not in a violent way. Just aware. Alive in the veins. Ready.

He swallowed once. Quiet.

No one noticed.

They walked on.

The path narrowed again.

Boulders lined the left edge now, dark with frost and streaked in pale lichen. The right side dropped off into a shallow ravine, covered in brittle brush and old snow packed into ridges.

Lira spoke without turning. Her voice low. Clear.

"There's a pass ahead. Barely wide enough for two."

Ardan nodded. "And after that?"

"A climb."

Ren grinned. "About time."

Meren groaned. "No. No climbing. I was promised a trail."

"You were promised survival," Ardan said.

"I'm still reconsidering."

Lindarion didn't speak.

He just looked up.

The ridge above them sloped at an angle that made his knees ache just thinking about it. Not too steep. But enough to require hands, not just feet.

A few scraggly trees clung to the rocks. Their trunks bent low. Wind-warped and quiet.

The path kept going.

And so did they.

Every step felt cleaner now.

Like the mountain had stopped pressing against him, and now walked beside him instead. Watching. Testing. Waiting to see if he deserved the path it offered.

Lindarion didn't look back.

Whatever was behind him wasn't stronger than what had come awake inside.