So, to get troublesome things out of the way first, I feel obliged to inform you all that this is, and will likely continue to be, considered an unfinished rough draft. Something, something hating me because I like to be cheeky and play with your emotions. That is fine, I'm not against a little emotion S&M play. In short, (TL;DR), I used this story as an experiment; writing style, the flow of words, characterization, and plot devices, albeit likely typical, are included here due to experimenting in order to grow myself as a writer.

There is some 300k words, two complete 'books', and other such things that may distract you from its unfinished nature. That is, naturally, due to the fact this one went the ways of Ol' Yeller; taken to the back of the field, thanked for all the coyotes (stupid mistakes) it scared off, given one last hug (an incomplete attempt to artificially end a rather long project), and then, begrudgingly, I might add, broken off contact (abandoned said ending) in favour of the younger pups (more projects)! Bang! Much like my other project, Ephemeral Cycle, I have pretty much reckoned that this more-or-less requiring too much of a time-investment to re-write into my new style. This was made, admittedly, in four months of thoughtlessly hammering - half-asleep, half drunk, and guilty of many an emotional insert into the story - on the keyboard, hoping for the best, and revising later without any real direction as to where the novel would end up. I hate planning. Even more than that, however, is editing; there will be spelling mistakes, 'stolen words' as Chappy mentioned in the past (Hello! It's been awhile, man), and a few other things that may irk you. It's your own prerogative if you wish to keep on reading;

Things this novel will have:

-Magic

-Demons (and deep aspirations to become one)

-School Life (for, like, five chapters)

-An immature plot driver (because, well, it ain't really that great or relatable to be aiming for demon kingship some days.) Cue 'I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Every Was...' and press repeat.

-'However', 'yet', 'but', and other such conjunctions that I didn't know how to properly treat with grammatical punctuation and word choice. It's a major, major chore to rework everything and mimic my old writing style - badly.

-Somewhat jolty with pacing, I suppose.

-A burning, incomprehensible desire for minions - because, well, I watched Despicable Me not long after writing the first paragraph.

-A new-found hatred for editing extensively. It's easier to re-write completely, but I usually write too quickly, hop on tangents, and lead it astray in my previous attempts.

-One massive chapter dump before periodic updates to likely very stupid mistakes.

-And, of course, far too many attempts to inject references inside (... Just a small town guard...)

This must be something of an oddity. You were probably expecting something like, 'I would like to thank Douglas, Derek, and Dingleberry' - my fictitious Doutrio's names for the unenlightened, respectively, since most see it prudent to simply just offer it one name - and my Mother. The very mother who would, very likely, abandon the first sentence of the novel, fearing the appearance of mythical dragons - as it isn't realistic - and hop towards a True-Crime novel about inserting ice-picks, acupuncture needles, and axe-handles into someone's every orifice for fun and games. Waiting for the moment of gore and blood to see which, of them all, was responsible for finally ending it. She's an interesting lady. Nice too. No, not kidding.

I digress, even with all this said-and-done, I still feel it to be a decent-enough novel. It just isn't in my style anymore. As such, it is hard for me to add to it without seeming... inauthentic? Sounds like I stole it LOL. If that makes sense. To the Mods that will be looking at it, there is most certainly a fair bit coming - I forget if it is possible to add the second and third, etc, immediately, but this is more idle curiosity as to where the me in the past, one year ago, would have fared in regards to catering to tastes of this community.

... This definitely isn't a 'donation' to buy my forgiveness after forgetting to re-write Ephemeral Cycle... definitely not. Definitely. Welp, seems like the ones who would abandon it with all that have left. Or... they just skipped to the first chapter...? Huh, well, someone yell at them please (make extensive use of CapsLock, if possible) if they clearly skipped out on this portion. We even skip that icky birthing scene that so often plagues reincarnation novels so here goes!

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Chapter 1

A tiny, high-pitched voice echoed in the small room.

The speech was incoherent to most in the small town. However, there was a sense of intelligence in his eyes. Without warning, the neighbor cried from the window.

"Rae, check on the kid! He seems hungry again!"

The old woman across the street chuckled as she saw a woman carrying another newborn on her hip. These two were twins. Yet, with even the slightest contact between the two, stubborn silence and tension would sky-rocket.

She looked longingly at the boy who seemed to be glaring at the girl. What she did not notice was the caustic glare the girl was giving in return.

Her light brown hair swayed in the wind as she approached the crib. After placing the girl down in the other crib, on the opposite side of the room, she heard the sorrowed cries. She let out a wry smile as she glanced at the boy.

"Andrew, you and Leya have to get along. Just for me, okay?"

Andrew, the boy, seemed to eye his mother suspiciously before offering a small, imperceivable shrug. However, Leya immediately began crying. Rae glanced between the two before she could only drop her shoulders in defeat.

After feeding the two, in turn, she called for her husband, Keryzn, to take care of the boy.

"Andrew, be good now, okay?" Softly spoke Rae with a tender smile. "Like usual, we'll split you up, but you have to play nice at the barracks, okay?"

Andrew let out a small, happy cry and nodded as rapidly as he could. Keryzn laughed heartily and gently carried the child up. Keryzn lit up his pipe and carried Andrew to the barracks.

It was time for his shift, but most already knew of the odd nature between the two of the children; each carried unbridled intelligence in their eyes; seemingly read on their own volition, and even were able to crawl unimpeded nearly anywhere. Furthermore, they were startlingly in control of their tiny bladders.

People were skeptical at first, but the two of them were given a strange allowance in the small town. While neither his father nor mother were high in terms of influence, they were given a small sense of regard due to the interesting spectacle that were their children.

It was a small town after all. Free-flying rumors went with the territory.

Andrew almost always preferred to be with his father. While it was nice to be able to feed whenever he felt like it, he had already been given a bottle for his most immediate needs.

"Okay, Andrew, play nice with the recruits. They won't do anything to you, but don't listen to what they say - they're idiots, alright?"

The boy cracked a small grin as he sat upright on the table. It was once a small planning room, but it was later converted to a small, loosely scattered library of sorts.

"Oh, the boy is back," laughed one of the young men. "Keryzn, I'll keep watch if you call off latreen duty."

Keryzn laughed and nodded. "Sure, fair enough. You are on diaper duty. It isn't nearly as bad though. Just wash your hands before you touch those books, Lupis."

Lupis grinned, "I'd expect nothing less. Anyways, Captain, just do what ya gotta do and I'll keep an eye on the kid."

With a small nod, Keryzn began to dress himself in his chain-mail armor. Andrew stared at him for a long moment before turning to a nearby book.

'Magic,' mused the boy inwardly. 'It wasn't in my old world... I wonder if that... well, Leya heard of it yet.'

He let out a wide grin as he pointed to the book. Lupis gave a small laugh and turn it open to the first page. After using a paper-weight to hold it down, he cautioned Andrew laughingly, without thinking it would even cause a stir:

"Be careful with the edges. And don't try anything too major, okay?"

Andrew nodded eagerly and pointed to a single diagram and then back to the guardsmen.

He sighed quietly and nodded.

"My mana pool is practically nothing, but I should be able to do this at least once. I might not be able to do this again, okay?" After seeing the intent, unwavering eyes, Lupis chuckled and spoke the incantation. "From air to air, heat to heat, I beckon thee to form upon my hand. Let fires rage and everything burn."

A small globe of fire morphed on the man's hand. It radiated a small heat on it that seemed to defy the heavens itself. Andrew clapped merrily due to the show. However, he notice a few beads of sweat coming from the man's forehead. The shifting eyes, glancing back at the other guardsmen, did not even half-ways enter into his mind as Andrew was enamoured with the magic.

"Finis," muttered Lupid.

The heat disappiated into the room and Andrew stared with wide eyes.

'Although I was different before... this magic thing is completely strange. Naturally, I could just distill oxy-aceletaline to make a standard blow-torch which would rival that, but - free blow torch!'

Andrew tried to garble the words, but his grasp over on his own tongue was rudimentry at best.

'Damn, well I should probably use something else, huh?'

Instead, he pointed to another passage. This one seemed to represent stone or earth, but the finer words were beyond him.

Lupis gave a small, irritated look, but noticed a crowd was gathering. Instead of doing it himself, he pointed to another recruit and beckoned him forward.

"Your turn. This one is just as easy, but make sure to end it with 'Finis' as well if looks unstable."

Before the man could look up the words, Lupis picked up Andrew roughly and took him to a training hall. The young man behind him smiled wryly and picked up the book.

After they were facing several wooden dummies, riddled with poorly bond arrows, Lupis beckoned him forwards.

"From dust to dust, let the earth answer my call. Stone shards evisorate and sunder the enemy," recited the man as he looked at the target dummy.

Instead of a flame dancing across the man's palm, the air shuddered and earth formed from the air itself. In moments, the earth rounded and formed a pellet that shot through the air. It completely missed the dummy. However, there was a small shudder against the stone-reinforced wall.

Andrew gave a satifised nod and smiled towards the young man. After seeing the small crowd gaze at the boy, Andrew laughed quietly and looked towards the book on the ground.

His garbled words could not invoke even the slightest reaction so he chose to do it mentally, echoing the language to the best of his ability time and again.

'From dust to dust, let the earth answer my call. Stone shards evisorate and sunder the enemy.'

After several concentrated attempts at perfecting the words, which proved dreadfully beyond his scope at first; Andrew was shocked to see the earth form. It was nowhere near the fist sized chunk of earth from before. Rather, it was similar to his own tiny fingers. However, it still pelleted the wall before his mind felt like it was being torn.

He coughed up several small chunks of spittle and sour milk before he fell back. Lupis immediately caught him, but Andrew just motioned for the bottle in his front pocket.

Thinking he was just starving, Lupis lifted the bottle to his mouth and began to feed the boy. It took a short nap, several well-kept secrets, and half a bottle later before the infant wore a victorious smile on his face.

"You... what the hell?" Murmured Lupis as he softly sighed. "No! Stop!"

Andrew disregarded the man and launched another pebble towards the wall. Once again, he felt his mind being torn in two, but the pain had lessened a bit.

"What are we going to say to the Captain?"

Lupis was clearly distraught, but with the last vestige of his concentration, Andrew beckoned the young man to carry him. As he complied, Keryzn entered into the room and saw several shocked faces. However, with a mutual look of secracy, the men laughed awkwardly.

"Cap'," smiled Lupis. "He is a good kid. Wanted to see some magic from the book. Hell, you just missed him actually. He was really excited, you know?"

Keryzn nodded them dully before he shook his head. "Fair enough, I was just planning on getting something to eat back home, did you need to do anything?"

Lupis shrugged, unfazed, "fed him about half hour ago, diaper change and wash, a short nap, and watched him for a bit."

Keryzn nodded and picked up Andrew gently from Lupis' grasp. After seeing he was sound asleep, he went back home quietly.

---

Days passed and Andrew carried the same routine. He had inadvertently made the original group of guardsmen co-conspirators. However, seeing that an infant could do it, they soon began to add basic magic spells into their training regiment. Andrew was always behind in potency, retention ability, and stamina.

Yet, he never needed to voice the incantation. In fact, the original stone incantation was reduced to a single word, 'sunder' or 'bullet', in his mind. The fire magic terrified Lupis and the other men so they starkly refused to have Andrew control it. Although, that did not stop him in the slightest. With each passing day, his stamina regarding the magical techniques grew exponentially.

Today was the day of rest, Sunday where he was from, so he was at home with his entire family. Leya was glaring at him from the other side of Rae's breast. However, Andrew wore an impish smile as he disregarded his old nemesis.

Keryzn looked at the two curiously before he spoke, "Rae, do you know what's going on with Andrew?"

Andrew's gloating smile froze and he buried himself under the cloth blanket latched in his palms. He very much loved that 'blanky'.

Rae smiled at the scene; however, she shook her head. "No, why do you ask?"

Keryzn looked at the quivering blanket and let out a deep sigh. "He's doing something with my men - I mean, they're actually training. What in the actual hell could have made them like that?"

Rae laughed gently and patted Keryzn on the arm. "Isn't that a good thing? Maybe helping him turn the pages is getting old for them?"

"Not that. I don't think so anyways. Regardless, it isn't bad. Was Leya good today? Sorry, morning shift."

Rae nodded and gently carressed the left bump under the cloth.

"She was a little rilied up, but she's well-behaved whenever she's alone with me or... well, around anyone else."

Andrew cried out indignantly, 'I'm not that bad! She's the evil one!'

However, no matter how much he wanted to put it into words, no logical words formed on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he brought himself off his mother and tugged at her arm.

"What is it he is saying?" Spoke Rae thoughtfully. "He seems to know what's going on, but... as for what I don't know."

"Something to do with little Leya, I imagine," laughed Keryzn. "Well, she's the same too."

After his departure, Leya shrugged herself off and felt herself rested on the woman's knee. Andrew hugged Rae's arm before beckoning to Keryzn.

"Like usual," spoke Keryzn.

"Well, boys will be boys," laughed Rae as she stabilized Andrew before Keryzn's waiting hands.

Paying little attention to the pipe still in his mouth, Andrew half-toddled, half crawled over to the top of a table and began looked gloatingly at Leya.

"Let's see how shocked she is," smirked Andrew as he looked towards Leya. "I bet she doesn't even realize it yet."

After securely cushioning himself on his padded rear, Andrew looked at his glaring sister before he let out his small tongue.

It took only a few seconds before the incantation was recited in his head. And in that time, Keryzn was looking at Andrew oddly. However the moment the nail-sized flame appeared in the room, the man was stunned. Equally stunned were the other two.

'Finis,' mused Andrew as he discarded the flames.

Although weak, he crawled back to Keryzn from the edge off the table. Absentmindedly, the man grabbed the beckoning child who nuzzled himself against the man chest.

'What have you got, 'Hero'?' Cackled Andrew inwardly.

Leya cried loudly and seemed to try to arouse their guilt. And, for Rae, it worked.

"Andrew, don't scare your sister," spoke the woman, seemingly, completely disregarding the flame.

Whereas Keryzn wore a wry smile as he set down his pipe. "Did you hide this because you wanted to show us later?"

Andrew nodded and garbled an agreement. Yet, even with hawkish eyes pointedly glaring at the other infant, Leya still cried despondently.

"Be quiet! You're just jealous," cried Andrew in response.

"No fair - that's no fair! She is keeping me captive and you can run around all you want," seemed to be what her garbled words echoed.

Of course, only the two could understand the rough speech. However, Andrew rose his chin before his gaze grew cold.

"Ah, well at least I killed you once before!" Interrupted Leya in an attempt to thwart his haughty attitude.

"I took you down with me! How'd you like that lightning trap? Just be because you're good with a sword and gun doesn't mean anything anymore!"

"Lies! It is even better. Now, I'll just have to find one of those books... tell me, where did you find it?"

"The guar- ahem, not telling."

"I knew it! You were up to something. I know that cheeky smile! I'm going to steal dad from a bit now."

Andrew's eyes sharpened on the girl and he protectively clung to his source of magic - his father. He was the reason he could enter into the guards' barracks. Otherwise, the relatively gigantic men would be exceedingly terrifying to trudge towards alone. However, his source's, his father, Keryzn, eyes still seemed to be whirling.

Andrew noticed the girl call to him and wave her arms dramatically.

Keryzn numbly spoke, "what did want to know magic too... at three months?"

Nevertheless, he picked up the girl after being offered her by Rae. She wore a strange expression and traded Andrew with Leya.

However, Andrew plaintive cries seemed to confuse Rae.

"I thought you didn't want to be near her?"

Her voice was cracking so Andrew glared at Leya for a moment, "you win this time! That is my territory - and always will be!"

"Such a joke," scoffed Leya.

"One of these days..." growled Andrew.

With an impish smile, she laughed. "I thought we agreed we'd wait? When we're older then we can kill each other. At least be nice to your new birth mother."

Andrew exhaled sharply and turned his head - as much as physically possible. This time he chose to use the opportunity to nap.