I opened my eyes and saw a room I did not recognize. "Did I reincarnate once again?"
No.
My last memory was of my brother's face, he was laughing when he saw me falling, then I used wind magic to try to lessen the impact. Maybe that had worked.
Although I had felt a pain that was indescribable. Well, I knew very well what it was like to be crushed, but the pain of breaking some bones from the impact of a fall was very different. I did not remember very well, but I knew it had taken me a few more seconds to pass out.
"Mother, father, he woke up!" I heard a girl shouting.
When I turned I saw her, she was beautiful, her hair caught my attention, it was tied in a different way.
An elf entered the room, I remained lying down, I tried to get up, but he walked faster and stopped me from doing that, his hand was firm, but he touched me with care. His eyes were gentle, but at the same time, he seemed to be a strict person.
In my world elves did not exist, nor did other beings considered part of humanity, they are many, like beastfolk and elves. In my world there were only humans and demons, and the term humanity served only for humans.
That equality was a little strange to me.
"Do not strain yourself, to be honest, I am very surprised by your recovery, you fell from a great height, you were very lucky not to have been hurt worse." His voice was gentle, it brought me comfort, maybe that was why I did not question where I was.
Not only the voice, the whole environment gave me that feeling of calm and tranquility, that was very good.
A human woman entered, she was also beautiful, her red hair was loose, but what caught my attention were her breasts, they were large and bounced as she walked.
The girl said they were her parents, but she had inherited her father's blond hair. Even though she was a half elf, her ear was not pointed. My ear was the same as her father's, elves and demons shared this similarity, now my ear was like any human's.
"My father is just being modest, he can heal every kind of injury, so you do not need to worry anymore."
The elf just laughed.
"Do you remember your name?" the woman asked.
"Yes, I am Lian Zord." When I said it, the two looked at each other.
They seemed not to like my family, but I would not blame them, it was even likely that my parents owed money to this couple.
"Your family must be worried about you, I will ask a messenger to contact them and..."
"No!" My voice came out louder than I wanted. "I do not want my brother to know that I survived."
They kept looking at me and I explained what happened, but I omitted some facts. I was not sure of the reason my brother threw me, but I believed he might have discovered my secret training. At some point he could have seen me using magic, at least I believed in that possibility.
If that was the real reason, it was better to stay quiet about how I was able to use magic, I did not know if these people would see me as a threat or something similar.
The woman looked at me with pity, the man too, but he managed to show his emotions less. That contrasted with the first impression I had of him.
The little girl hugged me, her hug was warm and I liked it.
"What do you intend to do about it?" he asked me seriously.
"I do not know, it is not like I am not angry, but revenge was not something I wanted, not at the moment. In my state I would be killed easily," I did not know how to answer the question, "it is not as if a child could beat a trained adult."
He put his hand on his chin and thought for a few minutes, then nodded.
"That was a good answer, in a way. You are angry at him, but at the same time, you do not seem like someone blinded by the desire for revenge, that is a positive point."
His wife kept watching and said nothing, I felt that she wanted to say something, but could not put it into words.
"Do you want to learn magic?" he said very quickly.
I was caught off guard, I really did not expect that.
"I am still very young, I cannot learn."
"Actually, you can, the books are wrong about some information, like the age when people learn to manipulate mana. Since people learn from these books, some lies are taken as truths and just passed along."
He paused, meanwhile his wife went to get a chair for him to sit.
That made sense, and I knew it was possible to manipulate mana even when young.
He explained everything he knew, but in a superficial way, he really understood how magic worked and then, only at the end of the explanation, he told me his name. He was Silas, a magic teacher. His wife was Thalya and their daughter was Jasly.
I was a little far from home, they did not know my family, they only knew the name because we were, at least on paper, owners of a nearby village.
But even so, I was far from home, my brother had taken me to a very distant place and Silas had found me while hunting with a friend, he saved me with healing magic, but it took me a few days to wake up.
The first lessons were easy, Silas explained very well and managed to make me understand some ideas that I could not before. He was making an effort to explain to me, I did not understand the reason and I did not believe it was motivated by my answer.
Days went by and little by little, I began to understand more and become a little stronger, but in a fight I would lose very easily, I could not expect more from a fragile and so young body.
Besides being inexperienced in combat. At least here I was.
Silas taught at a school he had, besides magic, he taught children and young people to read, write, do basic math. This study was common among the children of nobles, seeing commoners learning that was interesting, in my world education was unified, at least among demons, we were a cooperative race, as much as possible. So it was common even for servants to know the same as a noble.
Humans always liked to exclude even their own kind, here it was no different. Maybe because he was an elf he wanted to help others, or not. It could be because of nationality, he was from some country whose name I did not know, or simply he was one of the few exceptions of decent people.
Jasly also studied magic, she had great strength, at least compared to mine, she would also lose a fight to an adult human.
I was getting used to the house and the new family, if I could call it that, I did not know if I was considered a burden or not, but they treated me well and I tried to give back in some way, I always helped with household chores. Until one day it became natural.
My relationship with Jasly was like that of two siblings. We played, it was fun. We also trained and did what two siblings would do. At least I think, since I was never very close to my other siblings, in this world and in my old world.
From an early age I was separated and trained away from the others, my clan would be the next to have a Demon Lord, the position was rotated among the five great families, as the eldest son, it was my duty to lead.
In some book I read about the Demon King that existed in this world, I thought he did not exist, it was a surprise when I found out. But here he was a supernatural figure and had the powers of a true King.
In my world we were just representatives of the demons and the ones who ruled everything was the council, composed of the five families and others, but these families had limited power, they worked more like advisors to the true rulers of the demons, who were the leaders of the five families.
Even though some things were unified, the form of government was not.
Thalya asked if I wanted to learn swordsmanship, I accepted, she was strong and the technique she had was incredible, if she and I fought in my old body, maybe I would come out with serious injuries. I could see how hard it was for her to hold back, what monstrous strength did she have? And why was she not leading some army?
Maybe I would never know, and I was fine with that, although it was a doubt that bothered me.
Jasly did not like sword fights and so she did not take part in the lessons.
Thalya was an excellent teacher, she could easily fill a class with several students. That was why it was a pity Jasly had no interest.