Past Life

'No, No, No, No, No, No' Pride was shaking his head as if to erase his thoughts out of his mind.

'I am the great General Pride. I can't let this keep me down.' he tried to convince himself.

'But I am not really... I am just a human. Demons are all soldiers but that isn't the only path for a human.' a voice of doubt in his head told him.

'I should calmly look at reality. I am not a kid no matter what I look like. Thinking with a clear head is one of my advantages since I've became a human. Or maybe I've gone back to being a human is what I should be saying.'

"...Gone back..." Pride mumbled.

His eyes shined with a new light. He smiled and got up at his feet.

"That's right... How did I not notice something so simple..." he said to himself.

His first life. One that he has no memories of, before he became a Demon.

Demons where once members of other races. After dying, if they were not buried properly, their souls did not leave this world and stayed at their corpses. Negative feelings, such as grudges, hatred and guilt seeped through the soul, dyeing their magic power black and breathed new life to them. This process took many years, but no-one was sure how many. And thus a Demon was born. After their birth Demons did not retain any of their past memories but they were still left with something. Even if they couldn't, their bodies remembered what to do.

"Heaven's Path: Haste!" Pride shouted. A faint white light appeared at the bottom of his feet. The light flickered as if it was a candle, then became transparent and soon his magic power disappeared. Pride once again fell to his back and felt like his was going to pass out.

"I... forgot... recover... magic power..." he said between breaths.

'But I can use it' he thought with a smile.

He did not know the origins of this Skill. All his Skills were named Heaven's Path and while he was a Demon he could not use them. His black Magic power seemed to be incompatible with his Skills so he forgot about them a long time ago. He thought it sounded cool though, so he named his seven self-made Skills Hell's Path.

He tried to remember the rest of his Skills. There were quite a lot and seemed usable.

'With this...' his smile seemed to be changing into a sinister grin.

"I can fight"

The sky was starting to darken. After recovering some of his power, he started heading home. He would try out his Skills tomorrow. He was patient. This was his starting point. There was no reason to hurry.

He was now on his own world and didn't notice the direction he was heading.

"Good evening...Keita..." a small voice greeted him.

It was the village chief's granddaughter.

'Crap. I didn't even notice she was there. She must have thought I was coming over to talk. But more importantly...' he felt a cold sweat running through his body.'What was her named again...?'

"Hi..." he really couldn't remember.

"Are you picking berries? It's getting late." he tried to move the conversation as fast as he could.

"Yes, I like the berries that are growing in this area. You want some?" She gestured at her small basket full of red berries.

"Nah, dinner is going to be ready soon. You shouldn't eat too much or you will kill your appetite." he said with a stiff smile.

The girl frowned.

'Did she notice? I haven't called her with her name yet. Did she notice?' Pride thought.

"Keita." she said with a hint of anger.

"I am older than you. By TWO years" she put emphasis on the number. "Don't talk to me as if I am a child just because you are the youngest in the village" she seemed to say proudly.

"I didn't..." Pride was a bit lost for words.

'Is my attitude condescending? I though I was playing the kid character quite well..'

"Sorry, Helene" he apologized to the girl. The name seemed to roll out of his tongue naturally.

"May I have one?" he asked with a smile, reaching for a berry.

"Sure, you worked really hard so you can have as many as you like." Helene told him with a cheerful smile.

Pride hands paused close to his mouth.

'Worked hard... She doesn't think I am just playing around...?'

He ate the berry and was amazed for a moment at how good it tasted.

"This is really good. Maybe I will pick some while I am here next time. Thanks Helene." he said to the girl while munching the berry.

"Then... " she started to say something but turned a bit red and stopped herself to gather her courage.

"Then... " she repeated "I will bring some tomorrow." she said while blushing.

'She really is a cute child.' Pride thought. He felt that this girl might have a crush on him but to his eyes she was no more than a kid. He had no special feelings for her.

"Ok. I will be waiting for you tomorrow then." he said and prepared to leave.

'Is it alright to just leave though?' he thought.

It was late and soon he won't be able to see anything. The village was relatively safe from bandits and the like but the fact that Orcs and Demons were so close to this country made everyone uneasy.

"Should I..." he started to say.

'No that sounds a bit condescending still' he decided to change how he was going to ask.

"Should we walk home together Helene?" he asked the girl who enthusiastically agreed.

There were still a mountain of things he wanted to do in order to become strong. He was at the starting point of his new life but his mortality made him feel uneasy.

'Don't rash. I am just getting started. I have no goal and purpose. There is no reason to be reckless.' he thought while sneaking a glance to the girl besides him who couldn't help but smile. 'Ordinary life is not something I should completely forsake in order to become strong'

The two walked towards the village in the night.