Chapter 3 - 3: Living Again

"There are three types of Variants in this world. The Warriors that can use the Physical Powers, the Sorcerers that can use the Element Powers and the Warlocks like your father that are awakened with both types."

A handsome man who looked young, as if he was in his mid-20s, was sitting on a bed. He was talking to a little boy, who sat on his lap and looked at the man with big round eyes.

The boy looked like he was only 4 or 5 years old. He looked at the man, his gaze full of admiration as his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"What do you want to be when you awaken, young man?" the man asked the boy.

"When I grow up. I want to be like you, Father," The boy squeaked.

"Hahaha, yes, father is the best, isn't he?" The man said as he laughed out loud.

"Hey, are you saying that I'm not the best!" A woman walked up to them and sat on the bed as well. She looked to be younger than twenty even though she was older in reality. It was all because of the power she had.

She was wearing gloves on both of her hands, which seemed like they were made of rubber.

"Mamma is the best!" The boy said.

"That's like my good boy," the woman smiled as she patted the little boy's back.

"Father has physical power. Will I have that?" the boy said out of nowhere.

"Yeah, your father has the power of strength. It's super-strong power, but he still isn't satisfied," The woman explained as she smiled wryly. "As for you, little guy, You'll be even stronger than your daddy."

"Of Course, I'm not satisfied. I have Strength, which is awesome, but it's still not as good as the Physical Power of infinite healing." the man pouted as he looked at his wife. "Imagine being able to heal from any wound instantly? How awesome would that be!"

"We both know that it's only a rumor that you have made up. There's no such thing as that power yet. As far as I know, no one has awakened with that kind of power." The boy's mother squinted her eyes as she looked at her husband.

"None has awakened the healing, but it doesn't mean that no one will. It's entirely possible for there to be a power like that. I can think of a thousand more powers that can be there too, which we haven't seen yet." The man insisted.

"Hah, you're still hoping for your childish fantasies to come true, aren't you? I remember that you still have the novel from your childhood, "The Healer's Journey to Immortality". That's where you got that ridiculous idea from, didn't you?" The woman replied, laughing.

The man's face turned somewhat crimson as he asked, "You! Woman, how did you find my secret hiding location?"

****

Lucifer's tranquil body was lying in the trash in eternal silence.

There was no heartbeat, no movements. His once shiny silver hairs were now dull and dirty. One of the maids had closed his eyelids before putting him in the bag, but his mouth still hung open as if he was trying to breathe, except he wasn't breathing anymore.

But in that ominous, sorrowful situation, a miraculous thing was happening...

Even though he was declared dead, and his heart had stopped beating, somehow his mind was still working.

Lucifer kept getting flashbacks of his happy days with his parents, which played like a movie inside his head, and it felt surreal.

Everything in his life was so good until his 5th birthday when his parents left for a mission but never returned. Little Lucifer kept waiting eagerly for his parent's return, but he didn't realize that there was nothing left to wait anymore.

The ones that came back were men in army uniforms who took him from his house and left him in a place called "the facility". That was where he spent the next five years of his life alone, in a small room.

He still remembered the pain he went through when he was told that his parents were dead. It felt like someone had snatched the ground from under his feet, and a huge burden was thrown upon him.

He would often dream about drowning in infinite darkness and unable to breathe in it. It took him such a long time to process the information before actually believing it. He only did so when he was shown the news coverage in the facility.

The news anchor talked about the Strongest Hunter team of Elisium being wiped out inside the newly discovered Rank 4 dungeon at the center of the abandoned island of Friesia.

After a few days, Lucifer was told that this was a facility that would train and monitor his powers that might be as strong as his parents.

He was told that he could help humanity just like his parents, and he naively believed that dream. But years kept passing, and his powers didn't wake up.

Although the staff of the facility didn't misbehave, their behavior wasn't good either. He wasn't trained in the least. He had become just like a prisoner, but he didn't lose hope about awakening his powers and becoming a great warlock like his father. It seemed like a path that would make him feel closer to his parents.

His dreams came crashing when they told him that he wouldn't have any powers ever. But his misery didn't end there as he was brought to a room and tortured until he died.

His ruffled screams echoed through the room; he couldn't take it anymore, it felt like every bone and every vein inside his body was exploding. But nobody stopped the pain. Nobody paid heed to his non-stop begging as the pain increased fold by fold, pushing him towards the door of eternal death.

He still couldn't help but wonder what his mistake was. All he wanted was to help people just like his parents did. Yet, he wasn't given the opportunity.

Instead, he was tortured and killed by the same humanity that he wanted to help. Was this what his parents died for? What kind of 'humanity' were they trying to save. The one that didn't have the slightest regret while killing their son?

If this was it... if this was what humanity was... then he didn't want to be a hero who protected these so-called humans anymore. Humankind was not worth saving. Humanity was not worth any sacrifice.

His brain was indulged in so many random thoughts despite the fact that his heart wasn't beating at all.

However, soon another miraculous thing happened.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

Lucifer's completely stopped heart started beating again. His chest heaved as his nostrils sucked oxygen in, making him alive again.

His body that had gone pale started gaining color again as blood flow resumed in his body. His body gained back all the senses he had lost. He could hear the sound of the wind as well.