Hundreds of years passed since Rex Draco's defeat, but yet, for his soul, it had been a meager 18 years.
Coming back from the world sealed on the Witch's staff, his soul carried the memories of these eighteen years of a different life.
The previously contaminated soul was now pure and cleansed, unshackled from the corruption of demonic power.
Rex Draco started digesting the memories that it brought.
In the sealed world, the soul's new body was born in a mysterious way, much like the old one. It was never sure exactly how, but the child managed to survive the first six years of its life, living in the streets alone.
At that time, his soul still remained corrupt. The boy was vicious and cruel, disposing of everything and everyone that was not useful, or didn't have sufficient meat to become substance for him. His first kill was when he was three by making use of his recently growned full set of teeth to bite off a police officer's throat.
Full of savagery and bloodlust, this life did not prove to be any different from his old one. Living like a Dragon, the boy killed for food, survival... and amusement.
That's when he met an old man, whose life was coming to an end due to old age.
"Give me your money! If you don't, I will kill you." the boy had said.
"Kill me? Don't threaten me with a good time, boy. Death is just a nap time that I have been delaying for far too long."
The boy was perplexed. Normally, there were only two responses to his threats. Fear or mockery. The old man was not threatened by him, because killing wouldn't be bad but instead would be a favor.
In a wave of rebellious feelings, the boy decided not to not kill the man, thinking that making the opposite of what the old man wanted would surely make him give up.
He was wrong.
"Why do you not fear death?" he had asked.
"What's there to fear? I've lived a long life. I was supposed to die much younger, but I strived to survive one more day, not only to stick to my ideals and goals but also for those close to me."
"Where are they? The ones who were close to you."
"They have abandoned me, I believe. But I did not seek a reward from them in the first place."
"So... you fought for your life for nothing?" the boy was confused.
"For nothing? Quite the contrary. All my goals and desires were fulfilled, and even if it hurt to see them abandon me, I was still rewarded by the world."
"Rewarded by the world?"
"Have you heard? To those whose actions have caused good, a new life awaits them, filled with new opportunities and goals."
"Heaven?"
"Heaven?! Gods, no, after finishing everything that I had to do, there wouldn't be anything more boring than just sitting with angels!"
The old man turned to the boy, a weird grin could be seen behind his dirty and long beard.
"What I want is not rest, but a new adventure. To be someone I never was, to meet people I never even thought to be possible to exist, to see places that seemed like a fantasy book, to find new adventures, to find a new reason to live."
The boy was left in thought. He had heard a lot of people talking about how good actions would lead someone to Heaven, where they would rest in a peaceful life. He had scoffed at such an idea, it seemed ridiculous to him.
However, the man's words resonated inside the young boy.
A desire for new adventure and goals, life a fire ignited amidst the darkness of the corruption of his soul.
The man died after some time, but his words still echoed on the boy's head.
'A new me' he thought.
What would he look like? How different would he be? What kind of experiences would he have?
A new goal other than survival was discovered by the boy. To finally find such an adventure.
However, what is the correct way to achieve it?
The old man had talked about being rewarded by the world because his actions have done good. A new question arose in the boy's mind.
'Am I capable of good? Do I have other desires other than survival that I need to fulfill? Do I have someone important to me?'
The answer was no to all of them. Other than survival and reaching a new life, he didn't have other desires. He was always alone, and he didn't care about anyone.
The boy continued to live as he had always lived, constantly asking himself this questions.
It was when he was ten, that he found his answers.
When he met . . . Her.
She was like the sun, illuminating wherever she went, helping whoever she met. Her smile caused something deep inside him to steer and twist.
At first, the boy believed these feelings were pure disgust, it was what he usually felt towards similar people.
But then she approached.
"Hey! Do you need help? You seem pretty tired. Are you alright?"
The boy was for the second time in his life confused.
He had been eating well the past few days. He had found a good place to stay that was quite warm, meaning he had been having a good sleep. Not only that, but he even found a good place to take a bath, so he was spotless. Why did she think that he was tired? It did not make sense.
"What do you mean?" he voiced out.
"Ah! Well, it seems that you have a lot on your mind, and my mama always says that people with a full mind get exhausted!" she explained.
The boy fell into thought. Was the conversation that he had with the old man affected him that much? It seems so, at least.
"Maybe I really am, I'm not sure."
"Well, Papa says that the best way to get rid of that type of tiredness is to concentrate on other things. Like playing!"
Without a warning, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to somewhere else so that they could play together.
It was the first time that the boy tried to do something else other than killing, stealing or intimidating someone. It felt... refreshing.
She was refreshing.
Being with her made him feel... different.
Like he was someone else.
Someone better.
Someone deserving.
But was he? Didn't matter.
He found himself willing to make himself deserving to receive such treatment.
Since then, his days were different.
Instead of killing and stealing from his victims, he stole a book from a store and learned how to hunt and make a camping site.
He used his strength and instincts to help others in exchange for money.
And every day, he visited her.
He escorted her from school to her home, he helped her when she needed help with something and played with her when she was alone.
Although he was fine to always give and never receive from her, she refused.
She helped him to set up his tent. She taught him how to cook, even though she preferred to just give him some packed food she had cooked. Furthermore, she taught some things she learned in school that she believed would be helpful for him.
They grew up, and soon became 16 years of age. The girl grew to be the most beautiful flower in the fields. At least in the boy's eyes she was.
Among the dozens of new emotions and experiences the boy found out ever since he met her, a new one appeared over the last few years.
Backed up by his hormones and her importance in his life, the boy grew to love her.
"I love you, *****" he once said.
"... I love you too, ***" she answered
With a lump in the back of his throat, the boy continued to speak.
"I have done a lot of bad, *****, are you sure I deserve your love?" he confessed
"I already know, ***. I always knew. Everyone warned me and tried to persuade me to avoid you, and yet you've become my greatest friend, and much, much more. I love you. "
Those words were not just enlightening but cathartic in the sense that they literally cleared the corruption his soul had suffered from Rex Draco's body.
"You are really much more than I should ever have." the boy said.
Love.
It was a powerful emotion. You cannot change love. You can pretend you are changing it, but you are not. In the end, it's love that changes you. On a deeper level than what you could ever imagine.
And the boy—no, Rex Draco had just learned that.
No. Not just that. All the emotions and experiences the boy had gone through, were now Rex Draco's, or rather they always were.
Rex Draco went unconscious after the overload of information.