Chapter 1 Beginning

Ever since I died, there had been a stark lack of feeling. I wasn't sure what I expected from the afterlife, but it was not being conscious of a distinct lack of anything. It was simultaneously the most relaxing thing I had ever experienced and the most torturous.

When the feeling rapidly vanished, leaving me feeling warm and secure, I was not sure how to feel. The events that followed my newfound ability to feel only made me more uncertain.

I felt as if I was being crushed on all sides, as if I had been thrown into a tubular garbage compactor. Soon, the feeling faded as I was pushed out of something, the warmth and comfort vanishing in the same moment.

It took me a moment to realize I could hear again, and another moment to realize that a baby was crying somewhere.

"It's a boy!" a cheery voice called from somewhere behind me.

"A…boy?." someone above me said as I was wrapped in heavy fabric and moved towards the voice.

Having lacked the ability to see, hear, smell or feel for an indeterminately long time, it took me a moment to gather myself enough to parse what was happening around me.

I was in a small room with several figures standing around me. There was one more figure in the room. She was laying in bed while she looked down at me with a strange look on her face. Maybe it was just my eyes being unused to seeing things, but she looked a bit like a Picasso painting. I felt myself relax as she swung me back and forth in her arms. When did I get so tiny?

"You will make a proper Devil." she said with a small, pleased smile on her face. "My little Riser Phenex."

My crying cut off and I blinked at her uncomprehendingly.

If nothing else, this promised to be interesting.

XXX

Three Years Old

Being a baby sucked. It was one thing to lack any form of feeling or body; it was an entirely different form of torture to have a mature mind trapped in a body that didn't respond to your commands, too undeveloped to support its own weight. I was only stuck like that for a short year – or was it a year and a half? – but it was long enough for me to develop a deep set fear of being paralyzed. If I never experienced that helplessness again, I would be a happy man.

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I stepped out of my room and waddled down the hall. Fine motor control was something I was still working on, but at least I was mobile now. That meant it was time to explore!

I looked around to make sure no one was following me, then rushed as fast as my stubby legs could carry me towards the family library.

If there were any clues on how to start playing with my magic, they would be there. I was reborn into a world of magic in the body of a magical creature whose power was fueled by imagination. Why wouldn't I partake of such fantastical abilities?

Finally having reached the door to the library, I propped myself against its surface and began scrambling up towards the handle just as I had to escape my playroom. It took some effort, but I was able to hook two fingers over the edge of the handle and use my bodyweight to pull it down, falling into the door as I did. The door swung open and I fell flat on my face as my brace disappeared. Even so, I was all smiles.

I scrambled to my feet and pushed the door closed behind me with my shoulder. Waddling over to the shelves, I began to scan the spines of books to see if I could find anything on magic.

I'd asked my mother, father, Ruval and Raycal for help figuring out how to use magic, but they'd all laughed to themselves and told me to wait until I was older. Well I didn't want to wait. I was a grown man trapped in a child's body whose only entertainment was stuffed animals and kindergarten-level picture books. I was going crazy.

Spotting an interesting book, one titled On Shaping Mana, I climbed my way up to the third shelf and pulled the book off. It hit the ground with a dull thud. Excited, I climbed down after it and sat on my butt in front of it, flipping it open.

My giddy smile slowly morphed into a disappointed frown. The book was not telling me anything I did not already know. Devil magic was powered by imagination. The stronger one's imagination, the stronger their magic.

Was it really that easy?

Skeptically, I looked down at my hands. I was a Phenex. The Phenex Pillar was known for its three demonic traits. Hellfire, the ability to summon and shape the fire of Hell. Wind, the ability to command and finely control the air. And Immortality, the ability to regenerate damage from almost any attack. From what I remembered of the anime, Hellfire would be the easiest to try. As I focused on willing flame into existence, my little eyebrows scrunched together in a look of concentration.

I felt…something pulling at me. It was as if there was a cup inside my chest brimming with liquid, moments from overflowing. I followed that strange feeling and tried to spill whatever the cup was holding.

My hands were covered in an orange writhing flame.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air in triumph. I'd done it. I made magic! There was still a lot to learn, like using magic that wasn't part of my bloodline, but for now, I needed to figure out what all I could do with my fire.

I brought my hands back down and stared at the fire coating them with consideration. The fire should do whatever I told it to, right?