Chapter Text
(Read the desciption. Mature and Dark themes. This work is written by me, for myself.
If you enjoy it; that's great. If not, that's fine also.)
Any and all artwork, music etc used was sourced from the public domain and is freely available for use or is subject to Fair Use in a transformative way as part of a non-profit work.
All rights and ownership remain with their respective holders, and this is not challenged.
Chapter 1: Opening
Awaking in the forest; I again squint as the sun, shimmering through the leaves; slowly waving with the mild wind, blinds me.
As the birds twitter away and the sound of the flora moving in the win enters my ears I begin to realize that It's not a dream.
'Everything I'd worked for... Everything we'd fought for. The hard and sad times, the joyful and peaceful times, it was all gone... Again.
Forever; we said.... I should have known...
12 years.... I'd thought it enough, but one never can truly let one's guard down.
Reincarnation. It's a gift, to be sure.... But it's also a curse.
If I could choose to forget... No... I need these memories. I'll learn from them, as always.'
Deciding that I've had enough edgy melancholy for now, I need to do something about this situation.
It seems so peaceful compared to the chaos of just moments ago... As though it might as well have been a millennia...
No... No. I just said enough edgy shit. Come on!
A new life! A fresh start. I need to let it all go. I should be used to this by now. This isn't new to me anymore...
Sighing, I get up. I need to find a stream or something to check my reflection in. I'll reverse the image shown to see my true reflection.
It's one of the first things I do after awakening. You'd be surprised by the difference in treatment you get based on how you look and if your personality matches your appearance.
Crafting a personality that suits my current self is important. I learned that the hard way on round one. Ineducated commonfolk can be scary.
Leaving the small clearing I awoke in, I spot a forest stream along with a stone "riverbed" made up of an assortment of rocks and stones.
Raising some water, reshaping it similarly to a mirror, raising some soil behind it and holding it all still; then removing impurities I check my reflection.
White hair... Hmm... Typical. Not that I mind it. About 12 or 13, skinny but enough muscle to work with.
This is doable. I shouldn't die within the first 48 hours at least.
At this age I'm sure I can manipulate to have an easier time with things. I'm beyond feeling bad about it, now.
It's human nature and I don't intend on missing out on opportunity. I learned that during the third round.
Ugh, I said enough edgy shit. ...agh, I give up. Fuck it.
Releasing the magic over the stream, I stop and let myself breathe, just taking in the fresh air and enjoying the scenery. The forest's a lot more grassy than I'm used to. It looks completely untrodden.
Maybe I should just relax here for a while, and enjoy time off from the usual.
My magic control and ability seems to have survived as usual, and with that I don't need to worry about survival.
Looking at the moss on the trees and the position of the sun it was pretty early morning so why not at least enjoy today. I could always go out and explore at any point I want, right?
Screw it. Camping! Nature! Relaxation!
I deserve this.... Right? ....yeah. Yeah, it's fine.
Wandering around for a while, I float some sticks, leaves, logs, stone and clay from a nearby riverbed and some fish back to the stream clearing and make up a makeshift campsite, complete with a decent looking primitive tent.
With magic, I could keep away any wildlife and insects and I could prepare the fish without any real skills.
"Ah, this is nice....."
"Aghhhhh!!!!" a scream pierces through the trees, shattering the peaceful scene before it.
'Ugh... My fucking mouth... Should I just ignore it and place a sound barrier? ...............ugh, FINE!'
Begrudgingly; I get up and float over towards the approximate direction of the scream, lazily cursing it's owner for the disturbance.
There lies a young demihuman. A wolf girl or something. She's been chased by a pack of her less humanoid cousins and is now being sent painfully flying into a rock by what looked like a wind spell. Ouch.
"Ahhh!" She screams again, before wailing between hyperventilating gasps.
I send the canine culprits flying with my own form of wind magic to see how they like it, and it seems to make them more hesitant.
Using this chance, I cast translation, healing and purification magic on the girl before kneeling to pet her head, shh-ing her and telling her to try to slow down her breathing as it was going to be alright, now.
The pain was gone and I was going to take care of the wolves.
She didn't seem to react much, but her breathing became calmer, so I took that as a sign of understanding.
I cast advanced translation magic on myself and get ready to take on the wolves again before the girl stands by my side, thanking me, then stating that she won't let me fight them alone.
I smile before sending a water blade at a wolf, severing its legs.
She cringes and carefully gives me a look of 'WTF'.
"You can't afford to be kind to your enemy. Even if they look a little like you, these are wild animals and they won't hesitate when it comes to ripping you to pieces or worse."
"Ughh.... Wait... Worse?" she groans before asking.
"Not the time, pupper. Straight ahead!" I warn, as one of the wolves leaps at her and receives a sharp boot to the snout and a hard punch to it's spine after flipping forward.
The girl has more skill than I thought.
"I'm not a dog!" she glares, launching herself at the remaining wolf before being sent flying again by it's wind magic.
"Ok, ok. Sorry. I meant it in a playful way, but I can see it bothered you. On another note, maybe keep your feet on the ground when fighting wind aspected foes?" I tease as I cast Breeze Net to catch her gently before setting her down.
Raising a boulder out of the forest floor, I launch it at the wolf, who unsuccessfully tries to slice it in half; unaware of the nullification barrier I'd cast on it.
"Who are you?" Came the inevitable question from the girl as she watches me gather materials from the wolves as I heal the stumps of the one I'd dismembered while it snarls at me, unable to do anything as I'd drained it's magic.
"Call me Sei. I'm a sorcerer currently spending some time in nature to help further attune to the elements. You?"
"Huh? Oh, my name. I'm Rena. Thank you for helping this lowly Demihuman. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I'm sorry for snapping earlier. I don't have anything to offer you as thanks, so you can do what you want to me-"
"Whoa, wait a minute. What does that mean?!" I interrupt, knowing full well what she's offering.
"Well.... Usually my human masters use me as their toy. They strip me naked and cover me in their-" she goes on to explain before I cut her off.
"That's enough! ....Look... I won't be doing that.... You've..... clearly had a hard time with humans, but I don't intend on treating you like that.
You don't owe me anything and that wouldn't be the way to repay it if you had. Just... come eat breakfast and tell me what's going on." I sigh, knowing I'm getting myself into a situation I'd rather not be a part of.
Walking back towards the camp, she's pretty much silent, and seems anxious. I don't break the silence and just decide to let her speak when she's ready.
Arriving at camp, I show her the setup and ask if she'd like me to make her a tent just like mine for the night or if she's planning on heading home.
This seems to upset her, and after a sudden few sobs she starts crying and begins to tell me what happened.
It seems that she, her Brother and her Mother were captured on the way to a nearby Fortress Town and were taken by slavers to a city further away.
After her Brother was sent off to work by their new master and her mother was used for..... Well....
She was left to the sons of her new master. It started off with teasing, but their childish curiosity mixed with their sense of "ownership" of her slowly warped their actions until it became too much.
They were abusing her more each day and they were planning to take the next step as they wanted to brag that they'd become men.
She'd resigned herself to her fate as she'd come to accept everything that happened to her up until then as she was powerless to stop them under threat of harming her mother but after hearing that her mother was killed by her master for disobeying him she forced her way through the gates at a chance moment and escaped.
She felt sorry for her brother and worried that he'd be punished for her and her mother's defiance but she couldn't put much thought into that as she heard that the guard was planning to send the trained Gale Wolves after her.
She ran as swiftly as she could towards the forest, knowing full well that it was dangerous but she'd decided that humans wouldn't follow her in there and that the wolves might give up upon approaching the territory of stronger beasts but it didn't end up working out like that.
I comfort her as best I can, praising her for her bravery and telling her that she should be proud of her speed and technique. I apologize for the actions of the humans and tell her that her story had moved me and that I'd be willing to rescue her brother.
She flinches when I go to pet her, so I use transformation magic to change my body into that of a demihuman, complete with ears and a fluffy tail.
"Wh-what?! What's happening?! H-h-how did you?! What are you?!" She exclaims, jumping backwards and taking a fighting stance.
"Heh, I told you. I'm a sorcerer. Formchange magic is something I struggled with for a long time but I'd say I'm pretty good at it now, right? Am I pretty?" I smile, laughing and twirling for effect.
"Pretty?! You're a boy, right?! And well.... Yeah, but- -what's Sorcery anyway?! That's not normal magic..."
"Heh, yeah I'm a boy and before you ask, no I'm not human. Sorcery is just another type of magic. Call me a Magic Swordsman, a Red Mage, or whatever makes sense here."
'This is getting awkward. I've always been terrible at explaining all this stuff so I usually end up using psychic magic but I dunno... I feel like I should just be honest, here.'
"Swordsman? You don't have a sword though. I mean... I don't see a wand or a staff either but..."
"Yeah, I just kinda pull it out of inventory when I need it."
"Inventory?! That ultimate magic?"
"Ah, shit. Look, don't tell anyone, ok?"
I sigh, loudly as I realize I've told this girl far more than I needed to. For some reason I feel like it'll be fine but I'm not comfortable with how comfortable I am sharing all this.
I need to sort out my head before I need to deploy Psychic magic en masse again.
"So... You're a demihuman? .....you're not human... right?"
"I'm not human. I'm not a demihuman either, but I guess you can call me that. It works, kind of. Anyway, like I said; shall we go rescue your brother?"
She seems to relax a little upon hearing that I'm not one of the awful humans that abused her but she still seems on guard a little after hearing that I'm male. Understandable, considering.
"Look, I'm happy you didn't let those wolves eat me but I don't know you. Why are you telling me all of this, and what do you get from rescuing my brother?"
The girl asks a reasonable question, likely not used to generosity or kindness as this world seems again to be one unkind to demis.
"I'm new to this continent. I've been travelling since I got here and don't have any friends here. It's been lonely so I'd like to meet a few people that maybe wouldn't mind joining me on my aimless travels.
Your situation seems like it would work well for that, so I'd like to offer my help."
"So it's for selfish reasons after all..." She sighs.
"Well, if I'd told you it was just because I wanted to help, what what you have thought?"
"Suspicious. Like maybe you'd want to enslave my brother and do naughty things to him."
"What? Where did that come from?!" I exclaim, worried about the mental state of this poor girl.
Luckily she laughs, and legitimately seems to be feeling somewhat better.
"I'm glad you told me your selfish reason. Who knows, you could end up actually being a decent guy. Maybe I'll let you have my brother. We'll see." She grins, finally showing off her true personality a little.
"Ugh, you're too much..." I whine, before continuing to banter with eachother while I make breakfast and we slowly bring together a plan on how to free her brother.