(Writer's Note: Now, let's shift the timeline forward a bit. We are jumping to exactly 10 years ago from the present day. Pay attention, because the threads of fate are about to tangle again.)

  In a dark, unforgiving forest, a desperate woman was running for her life, clutching her 4-year-old child to protect him from pursuing enemies. With no other options, she forced the boy to hide behind a tree, and then she ran in the opposite direction to draw the bad people away.

  The little boy stayed there, waiting and crying in the shadows. But as the hours stretched on, a harsh reality settled in his young mind: no one was coming to help him, and he had to do things himself if he wanted to survive.

  He wandered through the dangerous woods, scavenging for food, until he managed to find some fruits. While carrying his meager meal, he stumbled upon an injured ape. The beast looked just as hungry and desperate as the boy did. Showing a rare spark of empathy in a cruel world, the little boy decided to help the creature.

  That single act of kindness changed his fate. The ape recovered and took the boy under its wing, caring for him until he turned six years old. In those two years, the beast became his guardian—it fed him, played with him, and eventually began to train him in the ways of survival.

  One day, the silver-haired boy finally asked the question that had been quietly burning in his mind. He asked the great ape who he truly was.

  The beast looked down at the child and replied with a question of his own: "Why do you ask, boy?"

  The young boy answered earnestly, explaining that he simply wanted to know the person who had helped him so much. He confessed that he had nothing to call his savior and didn't know anything about him.

  Hearing this, the ape let out a deep, rumbling laugh. He agreed to share his identity, but first, he asked the boy not to tell anyone his name.

  The ape then stood up to his full, towering height, looking directly into the boy's eyes. With the sun positioned directly behind his head, his huge, muscular figure was cast in dark, imposing shadows.

  With a gentle smile, the being began to speak. "I am from a different world, though my roots are here," he revealed. "I am the son of Anjana and Kesari, the incarnation of Lord Shiva and the servant of My Lord Ram."

  He paused for a moment, letting the weight of those ancient titles settle in the quiet forest.

  "I'm also the son of the god of wind and my name is Maruti," he continued. "I was born on a planet called Earth whose star I once ate mistaken for a fruit. People now there, know me with the name that was given to me by Lord Brahma, the God of Creation."

  Before the great deity could finish his sentence, the boy's voice broke the silence.

  "Hanumaan?" the child guessed.

  Maruti's eyes widened in sheer surprise at hearing his legendary name spoken by the boy. His surprise quickly melted into a knowing smile. "So you too are from the Earth," Maruti said softly. "I should've known, silver hairs, Death Forest."

  Knowing the boy's true origins, the ancient warrior made a decision. "You must take this with you then," he commanded.

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  With a powerful, resonant chant, Maruti summoned two divine artifacts into existence: a gleaming set of armor and a pair of earrings.

  "This armour and these earrings belong to the most powerful warrior of the Mahabharat," Maruti explained, presenting the sacred gifts to the child. "You must have heard of it in your world."

  The boy's eyes lit up with absolute astonishment as he immediately recognized the relics of the tragic, undefeated hero. "Karn's Kavach and Kundal," he breathed in awe.

  Following this incredible revelation, the ape's massive body began to shift and transform. The beastly features faded as he took on a powerful, humanoid appearance. Looking down at the silver-haired boy, he spoke once more.

  "This is my real form," he said.

  "I belong to the mythical race of the Vanar," the humanoid figure declared, his presence radiating an overwhelming, divine warmth.

  He looked down at the boy with a solemn, fatherly gaze. "Now, I should go. My work here is done. But you must remember this lesson well, boy: you will always win if you are kind-hearted and fight for justice. However, the day you fight with ego, you will lose—even if you are a thousand times more powerful."

  With those parting words of wisdom, the mighty deity summoned his legendary mace, resting the massive weapon casually upon his broad shoulder. He leaped into the air and flew off into the heavens, leaving the silver-haired boy alone in the clearing with the divine armor and earrings.

  For the next two years, the boy lived, ate, cultivated, and trained tirelessly in the unforgiving depths of the forest.

  Then, when he was eight years old, an anomalous event occurred. A huge, suffocating amount of aura suddenly spread outward, blanketing the entire forest. The boy was deeply confused by the overwhelming pressure, but driven by his pure instinct to survive, he simply ignored it and kept moving.

  While wandering, he stumbled upon a weird, incredibly old cave hidden in the wilderness. Cautious, the boy equipped his armor and gripped a sword he had recently acquired from a dungeon, and ventured inside.

  Almost immediately, a strong, oppressive presence weighed heavily on him. Deep inside the cavern, he found an orb that was pitch black, pulsing and glowing with a weird, unnatural light. Drawn to the anomaly, the boy reached out and touched the sphere.

  Instantly, the world warped. He was teleported into an endless, dark void.

  Looming in the darkness before him was a colossal Black Dragon. Its scales were like the void itself, contrasting sharply with its pure white eyes and the shock of stark white hair forming its mane.

  The dragon peered down at him. When it spoke, its booming voice sent freezing chills straight down the boy's spine.

  "Let me see... a boy," the ancient beast rumbled. "Not so strong now, but possessing a high amount of spirit energy and mana. A unique core, one of its kind. Hmm... let me see, the Jade Dragon core. I'm not a good friend of the Jade Emperor's Dragon though, but... I'll manage."

  "What are you talking about? Who are you?" the boy demanded, standing his ground despite his fear.

  "Pardon me, boy. I didn't introduce myself," the dragon replied, its massive head lowering. "It has been thousands of years. I am the Yang Dragon, the Dragon God, and the father of the True Dragons. I served in the Demon King's army once, but I was defeated and sealed here. I cannot get out of this place as I am a spirit dragon; I don't have a physical form. Therefore, I need a person with high spirit energy to move in the real world. So... will you grant me the boon to merge with you? I will grant you my help in return, though it costs your energy to summon me."

  The silver-haired boy stood in the heavy silence of the dark void, weighing the ancient beast's offer. He thought for some time, his young mind calculating the sheer necessity of survival in a world that had left him with nothing. Realizing he needed this power, he agreed.

  The moment he gave his consent, the massive, ethereal form of the Yang Dragon surged forward and went directly inside his body. The sheer magnitude of a Progenitor-level spirit merging with his young core was overwhelming. The boy felt an excruciating, searing pain rip through his veins before he instantly fell unconscious, his mind plunging into darkness.

  When the boy finally opened his eyes again, the damp walls of the ancient cave and the looming canopy of the Death Forest were entirely gone. The next thing he saw was the grand, opulent ceiling of the royal palace.

  Rescued from the wilderness and brought into the highest echelons of the kingdom, he then started living and cultivating there, quietly honing the terrifying draconic power resting within his soul.

  And it was there, leaving his nameless past behind in the forest, that he was formally named Drake.