Though the boy's life was cut short, losing his soul to me at the age of 17, it was filled with information.
The happenings of this world were intricate, having advanced technology to the point of leaving their home planet. That was something only achievable when one had powers enough to resist space itself!
His memories were filled at every moment, the situations and possibilities on this earth were endless. Emotions clouded the scenes which I saw, creating the illusion that I was watching a story unfold.
As the story went on, the boy grew older. His happiness and excitement just from living seemed to slowly fade away, forgotten by even himself. He became less lively, his face grew more stoic, letting out little emotion, and the friends which he had promised to spend the rest of his life with vanished.
His life became bleak, with few things to look forward to. Everyday, he followed the same pattern, without it ever being broken. Tears of sadness filled the boy's heart, but he hadn't any way to let them out.
The only time when he ever felt happy was when he was home, in his dwelling. The space which he called his 'room' was a safe haven, where he felt free from the outside world, free from the expectations placed upon him by the world.
The only other place he felt at ease was with his parents, his mother and father, who had always supported him, no matter what he had done. But only last year, they had been taken away as well.
Last year, the world had changed. Portals opened, from which came monsters, fully intent on destruction and devastation.
And along with the portals and monsters, came mana. The portals didn't just release monsters into the world, but mana as well.
The boy's parents, along with a quarter of the population on this planet, fell into what was being termed as 'mana sickness'. When someone can't cope with mana, and their bodies fall into a coma.
I know the reason now, the boy was attached to his parents. That isn't irregular for a child, and so I had nothing else to say. I just continued down his river of memories.
Some people fell to mana sickness, and some people began to learn to control mana somewhat, but to me who was watching this through the boy's memories, it looked like child's play. Their unrefined techniques could barely manipulate the mana, nevertheless control it.
But such was to be expected, this world had only awoken last year after all. The mana was spread thin, and without a genius who could create a technique to do something with it, the mana was just… there.
What intrigued me the most however, was the term 'awakened'. They are the people who got 'lucky', and awakened a system in which they could increase their powers. They called it the Origin system.
I had many a time heard of this system, the one which granted off powers to certain individuals throughout the vast cosmos. But I was never a part of it, my power was obtained myself, through the techniques I created myself.
The Origin System wasn't created by a living being, but existence itself. The will of the heavens, or so it was told. But I never believed so, it was just false power, that of which never belonged to you in the first place.
It couldn't increase your lifespan, nor could it make you a higher being. All the origin system was good for was temporary power. You could become strong, but you couldn't become the strongest.
Aside from these 'awakened', there are also the people who have learned to use mana by themselves. Even though they were the true geniuses, they were considered the lesser of the two.
From the boy's memories, I knew that these Awakened were treated like kings. They had wealth, power, and popularity. They defended this planet, 'Earth', from the monsters.
Though the term 'popularity' was foreign to me, I understood its concept. It is ridiculous. If you truly have strength, why would you care about a bunch of ants who are beneath you? Nevermind giving up your dignity just to have them compliment you.
Once the scenes finally filtered through my mind completeIy. I had a blank look on my face. I felt deprived of my intelligence while trying to fathom the thinking of the human civilisation. I felt once again that it was unfortunate that I was reincarnated as one of them.
But, I could fix that. Ascending and becoming stronger can fix everything. Such was the practice of the demons! And while the divine clan didn't ostracise their members without strength, it was still a necessity if you wanted to be important.
What should I practice first? I couldn't decide. Within my mind, there were subconsciously two forces, each wanting a different thing. I both wanted to practice the methods of a sorcerer from the divine clan, and the body refinement techniques of the demon race.
And even amongst the techniques from my old clans, I was the sole person who had them.
I should do body refinement first. As long as my body is strong, I'll have less chances of being injured by others.
And thus I decided on my next course of action.. But where should I do such a thing? There was no one to practice fighting with, thus no movement and strengthening.
At that moment, the memories of the boy were roused. Scenery of a 'gym' played out in my mind. The weights, treadmills, and punching bags all fell into place.
This… where had this Idea always been? Had this been something used by the demons, they could have completely dominated everything by now. I felt this is where I needed to go.