Memories & Magic

I drag Elizabeth's unconscious body away from the growing well of vomit-green acid. There's no telling how long it'll take before the stomach-like sack bursts and the acid floods the remains of the greater monster. Hoisting her body onto my shoulder, I pull Elizabeth toward the open wound.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a bright light near the heart of the creature. I glance back, almost involuntarily.

There, hovering a few meters beside the heart, is a glowing shape, quickly expanding outwards in complexity, like a tree growing on fast-forward. Much like the other greater monster, this one is casting magic.

There's something oddly familiar about those shapes. Those colors. A chaotic sequence, creating a mishmash of colors. Slowly, from underneath the clutter, patterns seem to emerge, just barely recognizable underneath the surface.

Fragmented memories seem to come together from barely recognizable places, scattered across my mind.

The memories of 10, 11, and 12. Shattered. Broken. But still vaguely present.

###

The sequence wasn't easy to reconstruct, but my plan had worked.

Beyond my closed eyelids, I, once again, witnessed the series of flashing colors.

It took longer than expected.

The spell, if it worked, would be able to transfer memories, and even mana, across worlds, so I would never again forget.

###

The sequence repeated over and over in my mind, still present, faded though it was. I can't help but wonder: What happens next?

Colors. Flashing. Shapes and symbols. Some I recognize. Some not.

The symbol stops moving. The spell is done.

---

The spell had worked. Number 12 was sure of it.

But the world is a big place, I thought to myself. Even if my memories exist within the next world, how would I ever find them? If the gods redact my mind once more, will I ever know to look for them? Surely, there must be some way.

War raged on outside. As Number 12, I had ignored my mission, and the greater monsters and Demon Lord had free reign. Intelligent races, like humans and elves, had attempted to fight the beasts, but ultimately, they had only defeated a single greater monster before their forces were wiped out. Even now, those still alive are gathering to make one last attempt. They will fail without me.

True, the gods may not have watched me much in the past, but surely they will have noticed this fact. So why am I still here, as Number 12?

I suppose there can only be one reasonable conclusion.

They can't reincarnate me.

A bit of a leap, to be sure, but thinking back to what I recall of my past lives, there is something that sticks out to me. A particularly important something. Mainly, my death. Or lack thereof.

Only twice do I remember dying. My first life, on Earth, and my life as Number 4, where I was constantly, painfully aware of starving to death. Apart from those, however, there is nothing.

If I'm right about this - and I both hope and believe that I am - the gods can reincarnate me ONLY when I am to die.

I kill the Demon Lord as Number 6, but sustain a fatal wound. Reincarnation.

I grow old and wither as Number 10. Reincarnation.

I am betrayed as Number 5. Reincarnation.

Whether it's some divine rule or simply a limit of their power, I believe this to be accurate.

Assuming that I am right, I can continue my work unhindered, until such a time when I die. I'll deal with whatever consequences the gods come up with there. With this new spell, I wonder to myself, would it be possible to transmit mana into this new world. Into Number 13's world? Mana is an incredibly powerful tool, when controlled, but I have no way of casting magic in this new world. I don't know its systems. I don't know its limitations.

So how do I transfer my memories to the next version of me. Well, I suppose I'll have to attach it to something. Something, somewhere, that only I could get my hands on.

But the worlds are all different. I cannot place it upon a mountain that only I can climb, or bury it underground. It needs to be something only I will be able to accomplish, but something that I am also certain to do.

Say.

There is something like that, isn't there?

The whole reason why a "hero" was needed. The reason why I'm here.

Greater monsters. The perfect vessels.

---

"They say you got her out just in time."

"Mm."

Vol and I are sitting in the cracked hall of the magic academy. After I dragged out Elizabeth's unconscious body from inside the dead greater monster, Vol and the people he had brought to the academy helped bring her to the healers here in Rosewood.

"Try not to make this a habit. I don't think getting knocked out is good for you, you know?"

"Sure."

I've fallen in and out of consciousness for the past hour or two. I think Vol is a bit concerned for me.

"I'm sure Elizabeth'll be alright, though! She's a tough one."

"Yeah."

Of course she will be. Still, I can't help but feel responsible for all of this. Certain memories have begun appearing in my mind. I'm getting the sense that the greater monsters aren't just after me because of my leaking mana store. I think *I* sent them after me. Number 12, that is.

A good plan, if I do say so myself, but unfortunately flawed.

None of this would be a problem in the past. Here, though, not only do the greater monsters here appear much more powerful, but my broken mana store is becoming a legitimate problem.

A problem, it seems, that I caused myself, by having the greater monsters target me. I must have thought that I'd be stronger at 14.

I suppose the concentration of mana inserted into this world is the very reason why the first greater monster appeared so suddenly. Without it, I might have been just fine. My mana store would never have collapsed. This whole thing is a long chain of dominos leading up to the trigger of a gun. And it starts and ends with me.

Regardless.

Things went the way they went and there's nothing I can do about it now, but keep going.

I can tell that Vol is trying to talk to me, but I'm a little bit distracted right now.

How could I not be, with Elizabeth's half-disintegrated sword hanging pathetically from my hand.