chapter 11: Reflections

Daemon finished reading and realized it was too late. Fatigue began to weigh on his eyelids, but he felt satisfied with the amount of information he had absorbed. He stood up and began putting the books back on their respective shelves, making sure to put them in their correct places.

As he walked towards his room, the hallway was silent, with only the echo of his footsteps echoing. Once in his room, he took a quick bath, letting the hot water wash away the tension in his muscles. He dressed in comfortable clothes and plopped down on the bed, looking out the window at the night sky.

The stars were shining brightly, much brighter than he remembered from his past life as John. In his old world, the stars were impossible to see due to light pollution, but here, in this new world, the night sky was a spectacle in itself. The moon, large and bright, added a touch of magic to the night landscape.

Daemon reflected on his past life and his current situation. Like John, he had been an average young man, with a routine life and no great adventures. Now, as Daemon, he had the opportunity to explore a world full of magic, danger, and infinite possibilities. However, he was also aware of the dangers that surrounded him.

He thought about the plot of the world he found himself in, a story where the protagonist was a cliché hero with a catchy name like Arthur, known for being incredibly strong and charismatic, clearly helped by the protagonist's luck. Arthur had faced many defeats before achieving final victory. But those same enemies that nearly defeated him were a threat Daemon was not prepared to face.

"I don't want to follow the predestined plot," Daemon thought, looking up at the stars. "I don't want to end up like the previous Daemon, who died without pain or glory, losing his parents and his teacher. I don't want to get involved with the hero or heroines. I want to become strong on my own, overcome obstacles in my own way."

Daemon remembered that in the future plot where he died that day, one of the world's calamities attacked the Valeria Academy, where he was a student. He remembered that Lumia had faced him, losing quickly and being on the brink of death. He also remembered his teacher Lyana, who was with him at the time. Lyana had signed up as a teacher at the academy to continue monitoring her progress.

The calamity was a being of enormous power, this guy was looking for a relic that frankly at this point Daemon didn't remember what it was for, but while he was looking for that thing he killed almost most of the people who were there that day. When he confronted Lumia, he had clearly humiliated her; her power levels at that point in the story were still very different.

 The previous Daemon, in her desperation to help her, told his teacher that they should do something. In his attempt to be a hero, he attacked him, honestly Daemon might be an idiot obsessed with his childhood friend but the bastard didn't lack balls. Lyana, knowing that the odds were against her, also followed him to protect him.

The attack of calamity was brutal. Before Daemon could react, the beast sensed his presence and lunged at him. Lyana, in a last attempt to save him, pushed him and tried to stop the attack. But the beast's strength was overwhelming. With a single blow, he split Lyana's body in two, killing her instantly. At that same moment she also finished off Daemon, cutting off his head.

Just as he was about to finish off Lumia, Arthur arrived with his comrades. They faced him, almost dying in the process, but managed to hold out until more adventurers arrived. Finally, they managed to make the calamity flee, Daemon remembers that that thing had a terrifying ability that he did not fully understand but he would try to remember.

Determination settled in his heart. He knew that to survive and thrive in this world, he would have to become much stronger than everyone. He would have to find companions that he could trust and avoid at all costs the dangers that came with the future plot of this world.

"This world is vast and dangerous," he thought as he drifted off to sleep. "But I am determined to find my own path, to face the threats that come, and to protect those I care about. I will not follow the predetermined path. I will forge my own destiny."

With that thought, Daemon closed his eyes, allowing sleep to envelop him, as the light of the stars and moon illuminated the night.