POW!
The punch hit Rai like a over speeding truck. He didn't even see it coming, just a blur, then a sharp burst of pain as the bully's fist smashed into his jaw.
His body flew backward and hit the floor hard, knocking the breath out of him. His head spun and for a second everything around him faded into a blur.
He laid there, stunned and hurting as the bully stood over him, smirking. Everyone around them watched him struggle to get up, but no one dared to intervene.
"What did you say street rat? I couldn't hear you over the sound of your moaning." The bully smirked as he wiped Rai's blood off his knuckles and a white handkerchief.
Behind him, his crew watched in silence, and their faces were unreadable. But it was the girl behind him that stood out, huddled behind Xander, her hands shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks.
She looked at Rai with wide, guilt-ridden eyes.
It had always been like this since the start. In a highly prestigious school where a student's status mattered the most, Rai became a constant target for the school's most notorious bullies.
Most especially Xander's girlfriend, and for a while he was used to it, the constant insults and mockery. But the moment his family's name was tossed around like trash, it all changed with one word.
"Bastard."
The torment became even more prominent, and now, it became a public show.
"Hey, street trash." Xander put on a glove, then crouched smiling, and he held Rai's jaws tightly. "Beg me to stop."
Silence.
Rai didn't say a word, he didn't hesitate. He only looked at him with emptiness.
"I said said beg me you street trash." Xander shoved him hard into the ground, then spat on his face before standing up straight. "You think just because you somehow managed to get a scholarship that makes you one of us? The principal was a fool to make such a mistake."
"His mother might have pulled some strings with principle Xavier to get that scholarship, commoners would do anytime for a chance to attend this school."
"Is that right?" Xander smiled and slid his hands into his pockets. "I wonder how many rounds she offered him to get that scholarship."
Almost immediately, Rai's eyes snapped open, filled with anger. The wave of weakness that weighed over him momentarily vanished the instant he heard them mention his mother.
As the bullies laughed together, mocking his mother like it was some kind of joke, something in Rai broke. Without thinking clearly, he charged forward from the ground and drove a clean, powerful right cross straight into Xander's face.
Xander was caught off guard, and staggered back and fell to his butt, clutching his face in shock, while Rai stood firm with his fists clenched, and eyes blazing not with pain, but with rage.
"Xander!" Xander's lackeys didn't hesitate. The moment Rai's punch landed, they charged at him like a pack of wolves.
Fists flew, kicks landed and Rai barely had time to raise his arms before the first hit struck him square in the ribs. Another blow slammed into his back, and then another to his stomach.
He hit the ground hard, but they didn't stop. They kept attacking him relentlessly with punches and stomps.
"You bastard..." Xander wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his tongue briefly brushing the cut with a cold smirk. He got to his feet, brushed the dust off his clothes, and straightened his prestigious jacket like nothing had happened.
With slow and deliberate steps, he walked toward Rai, who laid bruised and beaten on the ground.
"You've got some nerves." Xander stood over Rai like a shadow ready to consume the light, and he cracked his knuckles, one hand after the other.
Then, without hesitation, he began to unleash brutal punches that echoed through the hallway. Each strike was heavier than the last, fueled by pride and disgust.
Rai didn't even have the strength to raise his arms anymore.
The crowd that had gathered began to back away, most turned their heads away, while others left entirely.
No one dared to step in.
By the time Xander was done with him, Rai was barely conscious with blood all over his face and his vision blurry as hell.
"What's going on here!? Stop this at once!" At long last, one of the teachers heard the commotion, and came running down the hall.
"Tch, that wasn't as satisfying as I hoped." Xander gave Rai a hard kick in the leg, then stepped over him without a second glance before taking off his gloves.
His gang followed close behind, laughing as they walked away, leaving Rai lying on the floor, bruised and close to death.
The girl followed after them with a wide grin on her face as if she enjoyed every second of it.
"Get back to class now!" The teacher ordered, keeping a safe distance away from Rai.
Once the crowd had fully cleared out, the teacher glanced down at Rai, then cleared his throat.
"You too Matasuragi, get yourself checked out at the clinic." He said, then returned immediately to his office.
Rai slowly pushed himself up, trembling as he rose to his feet.
There was no justice, no attempt to fight for him. After all Xander was the son of the school's chancellor, so to the teachers eyes, he was basically untouchable.
With his body bruised, and hurt, he left the school grounds in silence, heading home with nothing but pain and anger in his steps.
Rain Voltia.
An average 18-year-old boy, just about 6 feet tall. He has a lean but muscular build, blue eyes, and soft white hair. His looks and intelligence were nothing special, but he still stood out a little because of his hair.
Years ago, he lost both his father and older brother in a tragic car accident, leaving only his mother by his side. Since that day, the once joyful and respected Voltia family fell into silence and sorrow, their home no longer filled with laughter but with grief and struggle.
They became a struggling family, often surviving on just one meal a day. His mother worked tirelessly, barely managing to keep Rai in school.
But just when life seemed like it was starting to improve, tragedy struck again, and his mother was attacked by a group of thugs. The trauma of the assault left her hospitalized, both mentally and physically shattered.
Now, she couldn't receive treatment until the bills were paid. Despite struggling to raise the required amount of money, Rai also faced several hardships in school as he became a constant target for the bullies in school.
As Rai walked down the streets, his eyes were cold and distant, completely lost deep in thought. It wasn't that he felt nothing, on the contrary, he felt everything all at once.
The weight of his mother's condition, the pain from the beatings, and the constant struggle pressed down on him like a storm he couldn't escape.
The similarities between all of them? He was too weak to do anything about it.
"Hey kid!"
Several people called out to Rai, their voices echoing from nearby shops and sidewalks, but he didn't respond. It was as if their words couldn't reach him, like they were drowned out by the noise in his own mind.
They shouted even louder this time, but it was no use.
Then came the blaring horn of an incoming vehicle, cutting through everything like a warning bell too late to stop.
As Rai looked up, it was already too late, and a speeding truck barreled toward him like a battering ram. The impact was brutal, sending his body flying before it crashed onto the pavement with a sickening thud.
Blood splattered across the sidewalk, painting a grim scene on the pavement.
Just before his consciousness slipped away entirely, a faint smile curved Rai's lips. The pain was fading, and the noise grew distant. And though a part of him ached at the thought of leaving his mother alone in such a harsh world, another part felt relieved.
And for the first time in a long while, everything was quiet and peaceful. It was over, the pain, the suffering and agony, all fading into the abyss.
"Mom... I'm sorry." Just as his eyes closed, he caught a glimpse of a shadow figure, dressed in a black hooded cloak, wielding a large scythe in his right hand. And he stared directly at Rai.
Then.
Darkness.
That's all Rai saw.
There was no pain.
No sound.
No color.
Just his body body floating in a cold, endless and absolute void that stretched to infinity.
"W-where... Am I?" He muttered, his voice echoing through the abyss.
The silence pressed in.
He looked down at himself, and after staring into the darkness — he arrived at an inevitable conclusion. "Is this..the after life?"
[System Activate.]
"W-what?" A translucent blue panel appeared before him.
[Searching....]
[Aen System....10% error]
[Neurolink System....30% error]
[Vampire system....40% error]
[Assassin's System.....50% error]
[Dragon Sage System.... 100% success.]
[System successfully synchronized!]
[Transporting....]
"W—Wait, what's going on!?"
SWOOSH!
He felt his body being yanked forward by a rush of energy. His eyes spun, and he felt like he was thrown into a rippled vortex at blinding speeds.
Then his eyes opened.
And all he saw was darkness once again. Before he could even begin to comprehend where he was or what had happened, voices echoed all around him, whispers, murmurs, and fragments of speech.
They came from every direction, overlapping in a chaotic hum.
"W-where are we?"
From the tone and pitch of the voices, it was clear, whoever they are, they were teenagers. Some spoke with urgency, others with fear or confusion, and a few with anger. It felt like he was surrounded by echoes of souls just like him, lost, and caught in something far beyond their understanding.
"I see, we died... Didn't we?"
"That's right, you both died." A high-pitched voice, sharp and commanding, rang out above the rest, demanding attention and obedience. It carried a tone of authority that silenced the other murmurs instantly.
Without warning, a blinding light flooded the vast darkness, forcing Rai's eyes shut. As the brilliance gradually dimmed, it revealed a radiant, angelic figure hovering before him, wings outstretched, eyes glowing with ethereal wisdom, and a presence so powerful it made the space itself feel sacred.
That wasn't all. Now that the darkness had lifted and the space around him was bathed in light, he noticed two other figures floating nearby. They were boys, and the two of them wore the same school uniform as he did, torn, bloodstained, and eerily familiar. A cold chill ran down his spine as the realization hit him.
They were from his school.
And somehow, they had died at the exact same moment he did.
Though the two boys both wore the same school uniform, their faces didn't ring any bells. Rai scanned each of them carefully, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't place them in any of his classes, clubs, or even passing glances in the hallway.
"W-who are you!?" One of the boys suddenly shouted, his voice trembling with fear and panic.
Terror, fear. Both were born from the same root, humanity's inability to comprehend the unknown or predict the uncontrollable. In that sense, their reaction wasn't weakness, it was instinct.
Aside from the boy that panicked, the other one remained still, unfazed. That didn't mean he wasn't afraid. Fear pulsed somewhere deep within him, buried beneath layers of shock and resignation. But what use was fear to the dead?
The glowing light around the angelic figure faded, and in its place stood a woman so beautiful it was hard to believe she was real.
Her skin looked smooth and pale, almost shining. Long white hair fell down her back, and her golden eyes seemed to glow gently.
Before she could speak, her eyes went wide, and she immediately glanced over her back. And she saw Rai, floating aimlessly behind them.
"Who are you?"
Rai gulped.
Although he was a distance away, he could it clearly, the malice in the woman's eyes. He could feel the disapproval in her words, almost as if he was invading her personal space.
"I asked who you are." As she said, Rai could feel himself being overpowered by a tremendous force and in the next second, he was floating directly besides the two boys.
"I-I am Rai Voltia..." Every part of him screamed only one thing, to obey. Her presence was far more intimidating than the hooded figure that everyone saw moments before their death. "A-are you the one taking me to the afterlife? Are you the grim reaper?"
"G-grim reaper!?" Her voice thundered through the void like a violent storm, sharp and furious, raging in response to his question.
"What part of me made you compare me to that hideous decayed slave of Hades!?"
She drew in a deep breath, steadying herself. She had no intention of letting her emotions flare over a mere human, but to be compared to the Grim Reaper? That, she could not accept.
"I am Virelia, the goddess of fate." She replied with a calm and gentle voice, each word flowing like a soft melody through the vast space.
Her tone carried warmth, yet an unshakable firmness, exuding the brilliance of the title she had attained.