At night, Loki was reading a history book about the world. The name of a planet Roger reincarnated was Zepthia. Zepthia was a modern world but highly depended on magic. It mainly consisted of humans. However, monsters existed as well. It was a world where most people could use either magic or superpowers.
In the schools, there are no rules on fighting other mages or even killing them as long as it is a fight with mutual consent. The police force contained high-ranked veteran adventurers who specialized in killing monsters and bandits. The city was also known for its magic and science academies filled with young, beautiful students.
After reading those last two things, Loki finally fell asleep.
The following day, Loki woke up late because it was Saturday and the school was closed. Loki decided to take a stroll around the city. In particular, he wanted to buy some alcoholic beverages for himself and his brother. He wanted to spend time with Darvin and learn more about him, like his hobbies. Also, he wanted to ask Darvin to teach him hand-to-hand combat, which Loki thought he lacked.
He dressed, and when he was about to leave the room, he heard a doorbell ring. After going downstairs, he opened the doors, looked outside, and saw Sara. He frowned and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk."
"Wait! We need to talk!" Sara tried calling out, but the door slammed shut, cutting her sentence off. Loki locked the door.
"Jeez. After the head injury, you changed so much!" Sara yelled behind the door
.
"Get out before I call the school telling everyone you are stalking me!" Loki shouted back, making Sara frown.
"What? Why? What's your problem?!" Sara demanded to know.
Loki went back to his room and spent an hour reading books. Then his brother came in.
"Dude. Why the fuck that girl keeps knocking at our door?" Darvin asked, sounding irritated and angry.
"I don't know who she is." Loki lied.
Darvin gave him a questioning glance.
"What?! I've told you, I have no idea who she is!"
"Oh really?!" Darvin laughed at Loki. "I assumed she was your girlfriend, but I doubt a loser like you could find one. haha!"
Darvin grinned and then patted Loki's shoulder.
"That's none of your business!" Loki growled, pushing away from his brother. After knocking stopped, he turned around and picked up his backpack before heading downstairs.
"Don't think you'll avoid the question again, little bro! Come on!" Darvin continued to tease him, following behind him. "Who is she?"
Loki huffed, annoyed, and stormed into the kitchen. He pulled out some fruits and a couple of cereals Darvin bought earlier in the store. He wanted to go outside, but suddenly the thought hit him. "Wait, did Sara say I had a head injury?"
He decided to ask Darvin about it.
"Darv, did I have a head injury not too long ago?"
"Yeah, why?"
Loki sighed, frustrated, and leaned back against the counter. He rubbed his forehead.
"How serious?" He questioned Darvin. "And how I got it?"
"Well..." Darvin trailed off, looking at him weirdly, "It was pretty bad. The doctor said you might lose some of your memories."
Loki narrowed his eyes and pushed himself off the counter. "When did that happen?"
"Two days ago. I guess you don't remember." Darvin explained. "Clara beat you up, good. Haha!"
"Funny?" Loki clenched his fists and felt anger rising inside of him. "Do you have an excuse not to tell me anything?"
"Um... I-" Darvin stammered. He realized he had messed up. "Look, Loki, I'm sorry, but I didn't think that mattered."
"You idiot!" Loki shouted. "Of course, it mattered! What if I decided to continue being her friend?!"
"Loki...!" Darvin pleaded. "Please don't be angry..."
Loki shook his head, disappointed at Darvin. Then with a judgemental expression, he said. "I am going out. I'll come back in the evening."
"Y-yes." Darvin nodded. He felt guilty about not telling sooner about what happened between Clara and Loki. "See ya tonight."
Loki walked over to the door, but before leaving, he turned around and glared coldly at Darvin.
"As an apology, you can make me dinner."
"Huh?" Darvin furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yes, now shut up. I'm sick of eating cereal. It's unhealthy. Just cook something."
"Right." Darvin nodded. As soon as Loki left the house, he realized that Loki didn't even ask what happened between him and Clara. "Does he not care?"
Loki arrived outside, went to his favorite park bench, and sat down. He watched the people passing by and took a deep breath, trying to activate the eye of chaos. In a minute, it was active, and his eyes glowed. But people who were used to magic and superpowers didn't pay much attention to that.
"I guess this is usual for them."
Loki took a sip of water and glanced at his reflection on his phone, wondering what kind of monster he could become if he tried harder. He asked himself if he could kill anyone without any problem. Or he would start feeling sympathy.
He started touching flying mana snowflakes, but nothing changed. Most of them still hurt him. However, after one hour of training, he created a small tornado on the tip of his finger after touching the snowflake. This success was the first time when a transparent snowflake of mana reacted the way he wished instead of cutting him.
"Yes!" Loki exclaimed happily. "I'm finally getting somewhere with this skill!"
He continued practicing for one more hour, and soon he got a hang of it and was able to manipulate the wind at will as long as the eye of chaos was active. He was able to control the wind mana that touched him. So he could even use his hands, feet, or even face to control it.
"Fuck yeah!" he shouted as he jumped off the bench.
Just then, he noticed people pointing at him and whispering about how stupid it is to train in the middle of the park.
He couldn't afford to look like a crazy person. He quickly placed the water bottle back into his bag and ran off. He went to the department store, bought two whiskey bottles, and went home.
However, on his way home, he saw a gang of bandits surrounding a young woman. He stopped and stared for a moment. He was curious about what was happening, but suddenly one of the bandits pointed a finger at him. The rest of the bandits turned their heads to look at him.
"Am I in trouble?" Loki muttered under his breath.
One of the bandits sneered at him. He walked up to Loki and pulled him toward his friends in a dark alley.
Now the bandits surrounded him instead of the girl. Not to mention, the girl actually joined them and stared at Loki with a vicious grin.
"Looks like a kid who just got lost. Do you want to follow us so we can take care of you for a little while?"
Loki's face grew pale.
"W-what?" Loki muttered.
"Hey, I'm asking nicely."
"Hehe!"
"Kill him." The leader ordered.
One of the bandits grabbed him and threw him onto the ground. Loki dropped the bag he carried and cried out as he landed on his back and then rolled to the side as the others surrounded him. The bandits laughed.
"Come on. How unlucky can a person be!" One of the bandits kicked Loki square in the face.
"We can't fight! I did not consent to this fight!" Loki shouted as blood trickled down his cheek.
"Is that so?" a bandit replied while kicking him again.
"Even if you don't consent, it won't matter as long as authorities won't find your body."
Loki had a thought continuously repeating in his head. A single word. "Why?!"
Loki bit down on his tongue as he struggled to defend himself. His vision started spinning, and blackness consumed his mind.
"You didn't kill him, right?" The girl questioned the bandits with a worried tone. "It would be troublesome."
"He should be!" The leader answered angrily. "He saw us making a deal. He needed to disappear."
"True." the girl sighed. "We should get out of here, though. It would be troublesome if someone sees us."
"Good idea," The leader agreed. "Let's get going."
After they walked away from Loki's body, Loki slowly stood up. His blood was boiling with rage, and he had never been so angry in his entire life. He activated the eye of chaos and, with golden mana, healed himself. In different circumstances, he would be amazed that the effect was instantaneous, but now his mind was clouded by burning rage, and he wanted to kill them all. He wanted to kill every one of them so badly. And so, he pulled out the pocket knife.