DEMON'S VIRTUE

There were only a handful of memory-books with parts missing left. But they were ones with rather large parts that had been ripped out of them. Eiro was positive that they were memories that were deeply connected to 'Emotions', something that was often rather hard to explain in words. So, it made sense if Eiro wasn't able to complete them just through logic by writing things down into the new books he was transcribing.

Eiro read through the books multiple times, trying to figure out how he should be able to recover the emotions from that time, but no matter what he tried, he was unable to feel anything. He felt weirdly disconnected from these memories, even when he made his ability focus only on that specific memory.

It was... like Eiro would never be able to feel that which he felt there at the time.

But then, Eiro slowly got an idea. Instead of focusing on a specific memory, maybe Eiro could change the library to only include books of a certain topic.

Since these memories that he still had to recover mostly had to do with the children, or other important people in Eiro's life, he had to try anything he could in order to remember them. He didn't want to return still not holding the same feelings for them as he used to.

Slowly, the Demon focused his mind and let go of this specific memory, instead just filling it with any memory that included Clementine inside of it. He knew everything about Clementine, and only Clementine filled his mind. This was what the minds of obsessive people had to look like, those that only ever lived for one specific person and cared for nothing but that person.

It felt a bit weird to Eiro, considering that he just drew this mental comparison, but he should be able to figure this out like this. He grabbed the books that were left now that still had memories missing, and once more read through them, using the memories of Clementine he had to fill in parts. He acted these memories out, and soon, a small scrap of paper fell from the ceiling as Eiro felt something.

He felt his deep love and care for Clementine from the moment that he had first felt this parental love for her. It basically merged with all other emotions that he felt for Clementine, and made Eiro realize that this truly did work out properly. He would not need to return without these emotions for the children.

After going through and completing any and all parts of the memories that had to do with Clementine, he did so with Sammy. And then with Rudy, Leon, and Avalin. He remembered all of them.

Eiro chose to leave Arc for last, though, since he was aware that there was something else of importance connected to him that he should figure out in that situation as well. So, Eiro first remembered the emotions he felt for everyone else.

Especially those complex emotions, that were a mixture of deep trust and anger, connected to James opened up a lot of different memories for Eiro. For the next hour or so, this was all that Eiro did.

And then, there was only one person left that he had to focus on in this way. Arc.

All of Eiro's mind was filled with this reckless, intelligent young man. The Demon became able to connect certain information about him in a new way, and soon ended up completing all of the memories that were missing.

Eiro remembered everything again. Finally, there was no need to worry about anything anymore. He would never end up forgetting something permanently ever again.

But not only that, Eiro's mind was filled with another realization. One that became even more apparent when Eiro returned to the normal library of his mind. A single book fell from the ceiling in the center of the room and slammed down onto the ground with a loud thundering smash, way too loud for what a book that size was supposed to be able to create.

It was a book with pure white leather covering its outside, and a small metal lock placed onto it, keeping it shut. Nervous about what was going on, Eiro approached the book. He slowly picked it up, noticing that it was many times heavier than it seemed to be at first. As if it was completely made from lead instead of paper and leather.

The Demon looked at the lock that was placed onto it, unsure of what it was that was held in here. But he had a rough feeling at least.

These were the memories that Eiro pushed down into his subconscious over time. Those that he didn't even want to remember somehow. Things that he rejected, or things that were so horrid that he didn't want to look at them.

He was able to figure out roughly which memories were in here from other memories. The specific memory of what it was like seeing Avalin be eaten alive.

The memory of what Eiro saw inside of his own chest cavity when <The Devil> opened it up using the Key card.

And the memory of what happened when Eiro nearly died during the fight against Edward.

There were certainly other small memories in there, and all of them were things that were important to know, and ones that Eiro did know before. Things that were probably sealed away when Eiro was given the chance to forget about them like this.

Now, he had to make the choice if he wanted to remember them. It was an easy one, really. Eiro put a bit of pressure onto the lock that was holding the book shut, and it quickly shattered into pieces. Sure, Eiro wasn't able to use actual strength here, but there was no way that he would let anything be sealed away within his own mind without being able to exert mental power onto it.

Eiro slowly opened the book up, as numerous memories filled his mind. Most of them were just overwhelming memories, like times where he felt extreme sensory stimulation, but there were the memories he thought would be there.

And two of them made Eiro question quite a lot of things. Or rather, the things that those memories seemed to hint at.

Eiro opened his eyes and stood up, looking at Lognir immediately, "I'm done. I recovered all my memories." Eiro explained to the Dragon of Truth, who looked back at Eiro surprised, "What? Already?"

"Yes, already." The Demon muttered. He was more focused on the two important facts that were revealed to him after unsealing all those memories.

Eiro took a deep breath and looked at the figure in front of him, "Can you teach me the rest of the steps of manipulating my abilities? Is there anything else that I need to know in particular?"

"...Well, there's not too much. You should be able to combine your abilities with each other rather easily. And then, combining Magic will work in the same manner, it's just a lot tougher and requires much more mental focus. And of course, it will use a lot more mana than normal, fusing magic within yourself."

Eiro slowly nodded his head. He understood what Lognir was saying. But right now, with his mind racing as it was, Eiro wanted to do something to make it stop.

The confusion was too much for Eiro. Sure, he brought this onto himself, but that didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to struggle with this new knowledge.

Eiro tapped into the Spirit Gateway that he held within himself and pulled raw magic from there. And at the same time, he created ice magic within his own body that he would be pushing out of his body soon.

The Demon made both of the magical elements intertwine as he brought them to the tip of his finger Eiro slowly pushed the two types of magic out of his hand, and kept trying to merge them. But for now, all that happened was that a cloud of mist dropped down, due to the cold air and hot air hitting each other instantly.

Slowly but surely, Eiro pushed them together into each other.

"Wha-... you want to start with trying to fuse magic?" Lognir asked with a wry smile, "Sure, go ahead. But I don't know if it's going to-"

And the next moment, a flame sparked up in front of Eiro's hand, interrupting that which Lognir was going to say.

It was a pale blue, nearly white, flame that was floating in front of Eiro's finger.

"There we go." Eiro muttered quietly as he waved his hand around, making the flame grow in size.

"So, now that I can do the hardest step, I can probably do the rest as well. Is there anything else you wanted to teach me?" The Demon asked, but Lognir slowly shook his head.

"I... don't think there is much to teach you anymore, no. Now all you need to do is master these things, and any sort of abilities you can figure out from then on out is part of the next step. But that step is truly just to figure out which version of your abilities and skills is best suited for different situations, and being able to switch between them instantly." The Dragon explained, so Eiro took a deep breath.

"... I see." The Demon muttered quietly, before smiling at Lognir, "Thank you for your help. I'm truly indebted to you. If you ever need my help, in any way, shape, or form, I'll do whatever I can."

Lognir laughed quietly, "I will keep that in mind, but for now I'm fine as long as you stay around Solomon and choose to help him out when you can."

"Of course, that's what I was planning anyway." Eiro pointed out. Slowly, they made their way to the next room over, where the other Dragons were sitting like normal, just playing around a bit.

The moment they did so, Krista stood up and walked over to Eiro and Lognir, "So, you finished your training, I assume?" She asked, and Lognir slowly nodded, "Yes, why are you asking?"

"It's quite simple. Come here, child." Krista said, clearly looking at Eiro. The Demon approached her and felt the Dragon of Chaos' palm pressing onto his forehead.

And then, for just an instant, his mind went completely blank, before numerous senses and memories filled his mind in a chaotic manner, coming at him randomly. Things were slightly different for a few moments, changing every time Eiro focused on anything in particular.

Just a minute later, everything returned to normal though. And Eiro looked back at Krista, confused and startled before the Dragoness spoke.

"There you go.. My training must be a bit more simple. But I'm sure now, you will understand what 'Chaos' truly is, is that not right?"