DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro stood in this large space, the white ground stretching out into the infinite distance while the black sky hung above him, with a small sun illuminating this space. And just as Eiro was thinking about it, he was able to see certain figures approaching him at a rapid speed. And these figures once more were alternate versions of Eiro. Versions of him that could have been, and versions of him that could happen from here on out. And around him, Eiro soon found the right 'target', although surprisingly, it was a little different to anything that Eiro had moved into last time.

The way this seemed to work last time was that he moved into the body of a certain version of himself, practically leaving behind the older ones to fall to dust. And so, Eiro tried to switch into that other body, but somehow, he wasn't able to. However, what did happen was that certain versions of himself simply fell apart into dust as he was still standing here, even though his perspective didn't change. It was like a wave moved outward starting at Eiro's body, destroying all these alternate versions of himself. And that even included the 'target', the one that was on the path of what Eiro would become in the future. Or at least that's what he deducted this version of himself would be.

All of the alternate versions just fell apart, before the dust started moving around as if it was being picked up by the wind. A storm formed around Eiro, while the view of the world around him was being blocked out. And soon, the dust just dropped right to the ground, revealing the world around him.

Last time, Eiro was in some sort of weird city with huge buildings all around him. And now, he was sitting in some kind of large hall, like some sort of auditorium. Bright light was being shot at the stage in front of him, when a figure suddenly walked out from the large red curtain.

"It's been a while, Eiro." The figure said, in a voice that Eiro wasn't able to really recognize as anything in particular. It was like Krista, just... all at once. Krista would slightly change every time he blinked or looked away, but this being was changing and shifting all the time.

At the same time, it looked like a little girl as well as an elderly man. And the same was the case with its voice. Eiro simply wasn't able to pinpoint it at all. Last time, it had borrowed the bodies of the people that were walking around Eiro, but this time, that wasn't the case.

The world was standing there in some form of weird body it had chosen for itself.

"It has..." Eiro replied, "But erm... could I ask you what's going on this time? Why wasn't I able to see what would happen to me and my body?"

"Ah, you see..." The world itself replied, placing its hands behind its back, "Last time, you were on the path to a change that was to be expected. This time, it's a little different. It felt like the fact that I showed you specifically where you might end up actively changed something about this, so I chose to simply not show the specific outcome this time. Of course, due to the nature of that space, you were still able to see any possible future, past or present, I simply called you here earlier than last time." This being explained to Eiro, who let out a slight sigh.

"I see." He muttered, "Not that it really matters anyway. More importantly, will you-"

"Will I allow you to take that second gateway to the Spirit Realm into your very being? If I were not to, I would not be speaking with you, my child." The being explaiend to Eiro, who smiled with relief in his mind.

"Great, thank you. Then... I have some more questions, if that's fine with you? Before I leave again?" Eiro asked, and the being in front of him quickly nodded, "Of course, go ahead. But remember, I cannot answer every question, for I am not all-knowing."

"Right, I remember. Rather, it's another question regarding my soul... I'm sure you can see this 'shard' or 'splinter' or whatever inside of me, right? Do you know what exactly it is? Or where it came from?"

"...All I know is that it is something I do not know." The incarnation of the world explained to Eiro in a somewhat sad tone, and Eiro himself felt somewhat disappointed. Until he understood what this being meant.

"So you're saying that... It's simply new?" He asked, "This... thing inside my soul didn't exist before?"

"Yes, and no. Yes, it did not exist in that form, but no, it did exist. Everything comes from something, and never from nothing. You were... unique. A young soul created for a new purpose, a purpose not seen within my children thus far. By a being even I was unsure existed. A being outside of what I can see, something so powerful that my relationship with it may be called that which your relationships with your gods are. Or at least, that is the best way to put it into logical terms. Of course I do not pray to this being, nor do I care for it, but..."

"I think I get what you mean, don't worry. It seems like you won't be able to answer that question. It's still a decent hint, though, so thank you for that." Eiro replied with a smile on his face, before slowly asking his second question, "Then instead, could you tell me... What sort of 'message' is this now? This seems unfamiliar to me as well, kind of, so I assume that it's not just a place of your choosing?"

The being slowly nodded its head, "You are correct to assume that. But again, even I myself do not know what this message might mean. Although, I am quite sure that there is even more to this than just this empty room." With a snap of its finger, the being suddenly disappeared from where it stood on the stage, instead sitting right next to Eiro in one of the soft, clean seats.

Slowly, the lights became dimmer, as the curtains were pulled open. Beyond it stood a figure, weirdly mechanical like one of those dolls that he had seen and fought against in Zaragon's chambers. The doll stood underneath a large crystal orb. It slowly raised its hand and placed it onto the surface of the crystal, before pulling its hand back, just that it was now holding a large glowing, crystal spear, while the crystal orb became somewhat smaller.

And then, the doll stepped to the side, and made way for another doll to do the same, just that this time, it pulled a crystal bow out of the orb. More and more dolls came and pulled a weapon out of the crystal orb, until it became nothing but a small version of itself, practically marble-sized, while the dolls started showing Eiro a play.

They fought against each other, and smaller dolls came along and fought against them as well. And then, during one particular fight between the larger dolls, one of them died, and one of the smaller ones, one whose color was a light red instead of the golden hue the others had, grabbed the large weapon that that doll was wielding.

Using that weapon, it fought against the larger dolls, pushing them behind the curtains while their weapons were left behind. There were a handful more beings that grabbed those weapons, some others were stolen by some of the larger dolls, but most of these crystal weapons soon shattered into pieces, each fusing with one of the dolls.

A handful of the smaller dolls got particularly large pieces, and seemed to stand out amongst the rest. Meanwhile, the dolls that had stolen the weapons of the large ones retreated to above the stage.

And the small dolls started continuing the play. Half of them began to build some kind of city, while the others attacked that city. The ones in the city fought back against the destroyers, and vise versa. This fight continued, until two of the puppets, which had grown in size, started fighting against each other instead.

It was clear what was happening, at least in Eiro's mind. This play was showing the story of how this current system came to be. He knew part of it from what the Arcane Dealer had told him, but this all seemed to have a lot more details than what he heard, in some weird roundabout manner, at least.

Slowly, the two sides of this war, the people and the monsters, each retreated to a different side of the stage, building their own bases. And then, a hand slowly stretched out from the top of the stage. A huge one, larger than the bodies of the dolls that represented the gods just earlier.

It grabbed the crystal marble that had been leftover, and grabbed the dead body of a fallen human. It tried to push the marble into that body, but it didn't work. So instead, he focused on one of the dolls that had grown in size. It wasn't the hero... instead, it was holding a small book.

The giant hand saw this doll fight against some large, strong monsters, and pushed the marble into its body in the middle of the fight, causing the doll to die. Its body wasn't left behind, but rather dragged to the monsters' castle, and thrown into a pile of other dolls' corpses. Bit by bit, more dolls were thrown onto the pile, until the doll representing the Monster king grabbed the dolls one by one. Their bodies completely shifted in size and form, and they were turned into different monsters for the King's army.

Until it got to the one that had the marble placed into itself. When it was working on this doll, the monster king was interrupted, and the monster that was created didn't fully change. Instead, it simply gained horns, a tail, and a pair of wings, while keeping the rest of its body the same. The monster king threw this doll out of its castle anyway.

The doll was laying there on the ground, before it slowly pushed itself up. It turned toward Eiro, as the curtains closed.

This play... was the full story of how Eiro was created.

His soul was not just that of any human.

His soul had been played with by a higher being for a reason Eiro didn't know.

Eiro's soul was that of a special being to begin with, only 'improved' through a higher power.

He used to be the Sage.