The sounds of the river calmed me as I stared at the cloud above. In either life, the blue skies and white clouds were identical. These warm summer days were also indistinguishable. It was only when one looked at how one difference changed so much.

The perks of being reborn in a new world were that you got to live a second life. The small puffs of my breath were the same in either world. As was the slight chill of spring.

Less regrets. More knowledge. More life experience. More you.

Childhood was easy if boring as my peers were all immature brats. It was a nice relaxing stroll that lasted a decade. If filled with more yelling, and puffing of one’s ego then I had really liked.

I was the weird one and I had no problems accepting that title. Maturity was weird.

Have you ever talked to an adult? A real heart to heart? Yeah. We are all just tall children.

Back then, in my previous life, I was a simple man . A human who was just another person. Pleasant. Considerate. I was a generic nice guy. Someone who thought that they were at least not bottom of the barrel.

I was snide against those that I felt rude and cruel. Yet I envied them since they lived a life far more exciting than mine. Drugs. Women. Bling. A carefree wildness.

Me?

I was a man who was roped into getting educated at a nice university. I didn’t like my first major in history, so I went into computer science. There was a lot of growth and potential in tech.

Or so society told me. My friends. My family. News sites.

So I graduated with something 110,000? All debt.

Yet there was incredible prospects! Well paying jobs that would have me debt-free in just a few years.

The jobs themselves? Ugh.

What graduate had ‘10 years’ experience, and was willing to work for minimum wage!? Who? How?

So I got a generic office job. Paper pusher.

I looked over sheets. Filed sheets. Signed some sheets. Made more sheets from those sheets.

It paid enough to keep the lights on, and the instant noodles on my regular dining menu. Every now and then I would splurge to get some exotic flavors.

Leave it to the Koreans to make amazing smart tech, and even more amazing instant noodles.

No steady girlfriend, since depression and social media was more than reliable enough thank you. The upvotes and the knowledge that I was going to be in debt forever was the foundation of my day to day life.

No extra burdens of lady love needed. Which was often proved by the constant rejections I got.

Then I died from a tragic filing incident. A bully of a senior member of HR thought it would be funny to trip me.

So I fell. Then my head hit a box beside his desk, and the world turned watery. People were talking. I felt cold and tired. I wanted to sleep.

So I closed my eyes, and I never woke up again.

Life after a rebirth?

I was confident. This world had magic, which had tons of pros, and an equal amount of cons.

Hell I graduated from the Central Magic Academy debt-free. In fact I got a graduation gift from the kingdom. 50 silver coins. A hefty sum that I was more than happy to receive.

Half went to my parents in this world. They looked different but damned if they weren't as dysfunctional as my old pair. It was heartwarming to see them bicker so hard over nothing. They made sure I had a solid roof over my head, and food in my belly.

It was what every child needed. Though I could have done without the terrible advice they kept trying to give me.

In no scenario should a man be caught with his pants down in a pig pen without at least a freshly sharpened dagger. Wtf mom?

Or, that a random woman willing to wash my back, also will mean that my purse was going to get cut. Wtf dad?

In my old life, I had died before I felt I got the chance to repay my debt to them. The family was important you see. I still regret not being to succeed like they had always hoped that I would.

In life, both of them, you need all the allies you can get. A family should be the centerpiece to that bedrock.

In this life? 25 silver was a king’s ransom to the small-town lifestyle that they lead. They ran a reputable pub and were famous for its upkeep, and the marital spats that no walls could fully contain the ‘passion’ of their voices.

“Hey, James! We found something!” a gruff voice yelled out.

I nodded and picked myself up from the campsite. We were almost home from this patrol and I for one wanted to get some good food and a nice shower.

Sure city patrol could be rough, but the king gave out free housing and free food. Decent wages, but what could you expect from civil services?

I made my way over to George, A local guard. He was with Fred, the man’s eerie twin. They were from two different towns but those were identical. Both were overly fond of ale and shockingly allergic to any labor.

I waved at the two men on guard and I began to follow George and Fred.

Being in charge was nice. Higher pay, actual bonuses, and better quarters. The downside was essentially everything else. If there was weird nonsense, then it would fall into the most educated person’s lap.

Since I was the only one to graduate beyond primary, I was the candidate for all sorts of crap. Which also included not making them do anything. They were often inspired to write lengthy reports detail on how I was overstepping my boundaries should those moments crop up.

So we reached an agreement. I wouldn’t curse them, and they would do their damned jobs. Else I would write my own lengthy report, and the pair get docked again.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I was more than happy to be nice. I was also fine with applying a movement curse that made you think you had heavy arthritis. Which if you saw their 25kg of armor, equipment, and camping gear… it was hell to walk back.

I did it twice, and they stopped spitting on my shoes. Though that might be because I had this nice dehydration curse I had learned specifically to annoy them.

I sighed as I followed the two slow-moving pair.

In the year of service, I had learned more curses then anything else. I wish I was good with elemental spells, but they were subpar at best.

Blessing, curses, and rune magic? I was gifted with it. I must have been the logical teachings of computer science. The magic that did practical made sense. I use this magic, that effect occurs

Elemental manipulation? Less so.

It might have also been the combat instructor.

In no fashion should a muscular, old man try to teach a fireball by using words like ‘Lift the mana with your heart, and shape it with your rage!’ and then yell ‘Dodge’ as he rained said ‘rage balls’ onto the students.

We made it nearly a half click away when we made it down to a clean shoreline. No snow. Though the spring was still early and much of the water was still locked in snow, and snowfall further up towards the northern mountain ranges.

Though that colder weather did not explain the slumped form of the pale creature slumped onto the largest boulder here.

A trail of purple blood came from the water, and the scraped path showed that it had dragged itself over to this rock.

I then utilized the advanced medical skill imparted to all trained mages. I grabbed a medical prod that was a long-ish, and sturdy-ish stick. I hefted it and then proceeded to move over to poke the thing.

George and Fred followed me but held back a few meters. The brave guardsmen they often boasted about. Those boasts usually took place in the various taverns across the city. I had the misfortune to run into them more than once, and I often quickly paid my tab and left.

The demon had its eyes closed and I wondered what species this was. Just as there were several species of humans, so to was the demons divided.

This one had a small, human figure. Which meant it was either a midclass or a high-class demon. Though judging by its dirty clothes, and the fact that I could see bruises, probably meant it was a midclass.

Was it from a scouting party? Though it was a long-distance off from the northern Darkland Kingdoms. Perhaps it was from another set? The only other one was from the far east. The Republic of Shadows.

“Is it dead?” George asked.

I used my medical prod to poke it.

Nothing.

“It is probably dead,” Fred said as he nodded to himself.

I used my medical prod to poke it again.

Nothing.

“Dead,” George agreed as he let loose a yawn.

I ignored the two meat shields and used my medical prod to lift the tattered cape. If there were animal parts or mutations then this would actually be a low-class demon. If it was fully humanoid, then it was midclass. If it was fully mutated, or animalistic… it could have been all three.

The demon’s left arm shot out. A glowing ball of orange and red spun in its palm. A ball of raging flames spat from the things fragile-looking hand.

Utilizing the training I had gained from Mister Magic’s Mage of Might Training, I reacted and used my medical prod to push that hand aside. The fire hit George and the man yelped like a child as the magic set his clothing on fire.

Wow. Surprising. Who would have guessed that George was two meters behind me and one and a half meters to the right? Very random. No one could have ever predicted this.

The demon’s eyes opened up and I saw the gleam in the afternoon light. I immediately thought of amethyst as those hard eyes glared at me.

The fact that this demon began to cough immediately after that tinder-starting attack meant that they were pretty much done. Low magic could often result in death for demons.

I nodded to myself as I pulled out my notebook. It was a small, forest green booklet. Dozens of tabs poked out from various pages and old English, from my previous life, was foreign in this world’s modern English.

I leafed through the pages and I settled down on a forbidden spell. The soul binding spell of servitude.

It was illegal for humans, as the Kingdom of Oleon was a place of equality, culture, and magics.

Unless you were sub-human in which case you were tolerated.

Demons and whatnot? Who cares?

This one though was a good looking specimen of demonic descent. More importantly, it also had the ability to use magic. I could use it to tutor me and that would be almost free. Food costs aside, it would be cheaper than a real tutor.

Worse comes to worst, I could sell it as well. Though that would be a complex thing as I didn’t know how to transfer slaves using this little spell yet.

I grinned as I pulled out the small bookmark made of pure silver, and it was also inlaid with pure gold. It was sharpened on one corner and I used it to poke myself in the thumb.

A nice bead of blood formed, and I immediately focused on that blood. My mana pooled there, darkening the life fluid until it was nearly black.

The curse of living. The tyrant of life. The mark of servitude. The truth of the master. The chain that only death could sever.

I ignored the demon’s panicked look.

I pressed my thumb into its forehead. From here I was supposed to draw the rune of my choice. Either darkness, or servitude, or something else.

Instead, I simply held it there. This was the faster, but an equally dangerous method. Though it would also have a higher chance of unique success. There was a chance of a soul binding that would etch itself into the essence of its soul.

Servitude that only these of legend could sever.

The demon resisted. It fought back. Or at least it tried.

The wounds it had was too much, and its resistance failed.

I kept my will strong as I looked into its eyes.

Which saved my life as a sudden surge of power shot into me. It traveled through my blood, into my thumb, and then it assaulted my mind and spirit.

It was like that time I had seen that werebear go crazy in the southern borders. It killed two knights before we had worn it down, and I was able to put it to sleep so that the Academy could study it.

That was an awful first week of work.

Then the energy petered out and the demon slumped forward as my spell took hold. The exhaustion worked against it as the pure energy filled the void left by the struggle.

As one exhaled to blow as hard as they could, so must they inhale to regain air.

My magic permeated its spirit deeply, and I could see the spiritual chains form between us.

I slumped and threw up. The guards tensed but I was able to wave them off.

I wiped at my mouth and I looked at the slumped form of the demon. It was breathing, and I nodded to myself as I could feel its life force ebbing away.

I used a blessing of health onto it, stabilizing its body. My best healing spell was a midgrade one and it was exhausting. The thing was also unconsciously draining my magic at a rate that I could sense.

I sighed as I realized that this mage demon was fairly strong. If it was healthy then I would have been in real trouble. The fact that it was able to nearly kill me with two of its feet in the grave…

With a levitation spell, I lifted the demon and we made our way back to camp.

The two idiots complained while talking about potential rewards for finding a demon.

I nodded to myself.

I would train the demon to light these two morons on fire for treats.

Hell. Maybe their captain would give me a nice bonus if I could make them quit. There were lots of little rumors like that floating around.

By the time we made it back to camp, the two who went out hunting came back with two birds and two rabbits. I smiled as we were eating well tonight.

I made sure to tuck the demon into my tent and save a portion of my food for it. It would be hungry when it woke up.

Then I went to bed as the guards talked about who would have first watch.

The magic drain was enough that I fell asleep immediately. Tomorrow I would be back in the city, and the Academy would have some interesting questions for my new pet.

——

Alliana opened her eyes as the darkness fell.

The steady breathing of the human scum sickened her. His breath, his scent. Ugh.

The smell of food near her however caught her attention. She who once ate nothing but the finest curated meals… she quickly ate the food.

She hadn’t eaten in nearly a week, using magic to support her failing body.

Licking her fingers, she eyed her new ‘master’. Her test to harm the human proved futile as her body froze whenever she tried to act out in her desire to harm him.

The idiot was lucky, she would give him this.

Yet she was also disciplined. She would play the good girl. Then she would regain her strength, find her scattered relics of power, and sever this damned curse.

Then after she had skinned this dirty human slowly, she would return to do the same to the traitors that had nearly succeed in killing her.

Alliana Darkking, King of Darkland, Warmaster of the Nine Tribes. She would have her revenge.

Her amethyst eyes slowly closed, and a smile played on her soft lips as she took a final glance at her master. Oh yes. Slowly. Painfully.

Her dreams were sweet with the hoarse pleas of his shattered spirit. His broken body.

She only needed time. Something that she currently had plenty of.