Demon Lord's Reincarnation

John started looking around the weapon shop and he found that it was even bigger than he initially expected it to be. He had been walking for half an hour now and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. He had tried to pick a weapon to look at but it was as Alphonso said, it was the weapons that choose the master. The weapons wouldn't allow him to pick them up as they told him he wasn't their destined one.

John sighed as he continued looking for a weapon that would accept him. A few hours had passed and he still could not find a suitable weapon for himself.

"Having trouble picking a weapon?"

John turned around and saw Alphonso sitting on top of a shelf eating an unknown object that looks similar to bread. He was munching onto his food as his eyes stared at John, who felt a little unnerved by his stare.

"... It seems you were right about me, I guess I wasn't worthy of any of the weapons here,"

John answered dejectedly. In the beginning, he was thrilled to learn that this place houses weapons stronger than even the Emperor's weapon Snertal. It felt like this was the start of his own great adventure, were he would choose a famed sword and go out and start his tale. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like his story would end that way.

Seeing how dejected the boy was Alphonso sighed as he threw his food away and landed in front of John.

"Hey brat, are you going to give up just like that? Is this is all you have to offer?"

The moment Alphonso spoke those words for some reason John saw the image of a powerful being instead of the small child that was Alphonso.

"... What can I do, no matter what weapon I pick they reject me."

"So what? If you fail once, then do it again, if you fail twice then do it again. No matter how many failures you accumulate it doesn't really matter, since those are not real failures. The real failure is when you give up. Since giving up means there's no more chance for success, so that's what true failure is."

"..."

John didn't respond and remained silent while his head was lowered. This was the first time in his entire life that he had experienced a setback and it took him by surprise. He understood what Alphonso said, but it was still difficult to get over his first failure.

'Tsk, I kept on saying that I wanted a challenge, but in the end, this is how I end up when faced with a true challenge.'

John hated himself, for being such a hypocrite. Now that he remembered his past words and thoughts, it would seem that he was rather arrogant, no he was too arrogant. John once again sighed, but the moment he did so Alphonso had kicked him from behind.

"Hey, brat! I don't like the way your moping around with self-loathing. If I'm correct you're one of those kids that idolize Ren, right?"

"... Yes, what of it?"

"Let me ask you this, do you think Ren has failed before?"

"What are you talking about? Everyone knows that the legendary Emperor was ever victorious and was always unbeatable. I do not believe that he had ever failed."

"Heh, that's what you know, but those who truly know Ren, know that Ren has failed numerous times. He has failed over and over again, yet with that vicious smile on his face and his soul burning with fighting spirit, he kept on going forward. He had experienced all kinds of failures, he has seen all kinds of horrors, there might have been times when he would fall but he would immediately stand right back up and continue onwards. In the end, Ren was never such a perfect existence, but what made him stronger than anyone else was his will to go forward no matter what. In his failures, he found indomitable strength, an unwavering heart, and a will of steel."

John was quiet as he listened to Alphonso's speech. He was still a little skeptical about the legendary Emperor having so many failures, but as he listened on he felt like maybe there was some truth in what Alphonso said.

'Indomitable strength, an unwavering heart, and a will of steel. Can you really gain those from failure?'

When Alphonso still saw an inkling of hesitation within John, he scratched his head in irritation. Normally, he wouldn't even bother helping those who enter his shop. After explaining the rules, he would usually not even bother looking at them. Yet for some reason, he felt like helping the kid.

'Is the pull of his destiny so strong?... This kind of person if he's able to break free from the flow of destiny he would become a great ally of the Strongest Mortal Soul. Fine, I guess I'll help... I'm not doing this because the brat has intrigued me, I'm doing this to help Ren prepare for the future battle against that almighty being. Yup, that's it.'

"It seems like you don't believe me, you little brat, then allow me to show you a little of what kind of failures Ren has experienced."

Alphonso snapped his fingers and a pocket watch floated into his hands. This was the same pocket watch Alphonso used to help Ren regain his memories. After using it on Ren, the experiences Ren and his past incarnations had were now recorded into the watch. Not all of the experiences were recorded, but there were still quite a few. With Alphonso's current mastery of the pocket watch, he could show a tiny bit of Ren's failures.

"Kneel down so I can show you."

John wasn't quite sure what was happening and after hesitating a little he did as he was told. Alphonso was now able to press the pocket watch on John's forehead. Once he did so he controlled the pocket watch to show John images of Ren's failures.

John suddenly saw the image of the Emperor losing to what looked to be a lich. He then saw the Emperor mourning for the death of his father. There were many images that flashed by John's mind, he had seen not only the Emperor fail over and over again, but other people who seemed equally powerful as him fail as well. Some of their failures could've devastated anyone else into not being able to move onward. Yet no matter what came those people would always look forward with a smile on their faces.

"Those weren't just about the Emperor, who were those people?"

"Those people you saw are all part of Ren. Those were the people he used to be, his past reincarnations. Do you see, no matter what kind of failure he experienced he would always stand right back up with that smile on his face. Those kinds of people will never know true failure."

When John once again heard what Alphonso had to say, now that he has seen those images he could not help but feel pathetic. He then clenched his talisman and gritted his teeth. John stood up and looked at Alphonso.

"Thanks."

"Hmph, no need to thank me, just go and find your weapon. I hope this time you won't give up so easily."

John nodded his head with a smile on his face. He then continued to look around the weapon shop.