Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

Chapter 287 The Dark Memories Of The Past [1]

Ron fell facedown on the ground right after at the same time as the demon beast behind Zero. But as he fell there was no sign of despair, regret, or pain on his face; he carried a smile.

Though none of this mattered to Zero. He sat there on his knees, looking blankly at his father's corpse. There was no expression on his face, it was just plain.

However, even then one could tell that all the color had drained from his face and it seemed like someone had squeezed his soul out.

He stayed quiet; there was no voice coming out of his mouth. And there was a buzzing and ringing in his ears as if a bomb had exploded right next to him. All the sound the demon beasts around him made was canceled out. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing and heartbeat.

Then the moisture in his eyes increased, and soon they gleamed and reflected like a lake under the moon in the night sky. Slowly the liquid increased, and soon there was what you could say, water in his eyes.

A single drop of tear left his eye, traveling in the air it aimed for the ground. Zero took a breath, a deep inhale that provided his lungs with air.

The drop of air covered half the distance to the ground, and at that time all the demon beasts near Zero jumped at him all at once. Req delivered a huge blow of black energy, clearing out the chunk around her, and turned toward Zero as she sensed something—something dangerous.

"No! Don't do it! That's too much, you won't be able to handle it!!!" she screamed and dashed toward Zero.

She ran fast, clearing the beasts in the way with one sweep of the sword. She stretched out her hand and was about to reach Zero when a drop of the tear hit the ground.

There was conjured great ice, and not just a shard or a pile of ice it was. With Zero as the epicenter cold winds were hurled in every direction. The winds were so cold that they froze the ground itself as it moved forward.

Since the ground turned to ice, one could see a large blue circle appearing and expanding outward. The winds moved further and froze everything that came their way.

Whether it be a demon beast or Req, everyone was frozen solid into a statue of ice. The process was rather fast and in the span of about a minute the area of hundred miles of radius around Zero was completely and utterly turned to ice.

This was Zero's elemental magic, or rather this was Zero's true elemental magic. These were the extent of his powers. All the demon beasts within the hundred miles radius were frozen completely.

Although there was a major flaw in his power as of now; Zero was not immune to his own elemental magic. Therefore as he sat there on his knees, the ice froze him as well.

Slowly his body was covered in a layer of frost, and he lost consciousness as he fell into a state similar to that of cryogenic sleep. As he fell into a deep slumber, the events that had happened forced him to remember the dark memories of his past which he had locked away deep inside his heart.

***

I was thirteen years old when I figured that I was not like all the other people. It was on the day my dog died. I'd gone to take him on a walk—after being lectured by my mom for it—and we were returning home.

We were walking on the side of the road when he noticed another dog on the other side and started barking and trying to run toward him. I was just a thirteen-year-old boy and he was a good big german shepherd.

It wasn't long before he freed himself from my grip and ran toward the dog across the road. He was so focused on the dog before him that he didn't notice when a truck came from the side and hit him, tossing him high in the air.

He was whirled up and spun before he crashed down a few yards away. He probably died just then, but the truck driver didn't care to stop and ran over him, turning his body into a crushed pulp.

A moment later all the cars stopped since there was a dead dog at the center of the road, and then I ran up close to him. I stood there as I looked down at Fluff—it was his name.

I couldn't recognize him; his head was utterly crushed. But as I stood there looking down at him, a smile could be seen on my face. I was thrilled. Loads of adrenaline and dopamine were rushing in my veins.

To tell it in a way you could understand, what I felt at that moment was similar to the feeling you get while coming down a roller coaster.

My whole body was entertained and refreshed. I liked this feeling. I wanted more of it.

Later on, I did a few experiments to confirm that—for example throwing a brick at my neighbor's kid, throwing the puppy of a stray dog from the top of a building, deliberately starting a fight with a student in my school, and then beating him till he bleeds from his nose and mouth.

I did some research on the internet as well, and after a while, it was confirmed.

It was just me and that feeling which came whenever I saw others in pain and suffering. I knew that soon I was gonna get addicted to it, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered.

Now I just needed a way to get more of this; the things I was doing up until now were simply not enough. Therefore I searched for a few days, eyeing and analyzing everything around me carefully and finding what I could use. Then one day I found the answer I needed.

It was at my school. During the time of recess, I saw a student getting bullied by a group of four. They were making fun of him, snatching his things away, making him do weird things and actions, and beating the shit out of him.

They were at a place that was out of sight and couldn't be found until you deliberately searched for it; a storeroom behind the school building at the corner of the ground.

I stayed there and watched, and observed the fact that even after the bullies beat him up and went away, the boy didn't dare try to tell anyone. He sat there and sobbed for a while, then picked himself up, dusted the uniform, and went back.

This lit an idea in my mind. I knew what I had to do. And as I thought of the things I could do this way, a grin washed over my face.