5 Years of Suffering!

— Bloody Emperor! —

It took Nex five years to regain his title.

He went from an unknown weakling to the Slums' only Bloody Emperor, the Alcove's ultimate weapon.

Razark'Oph was incredibly difficult to kill, and so was Asher Black, but both could be defended against. Nex was different, far different.

How many times had people tried to bully his people? Every time he would appear in a bloody rain to collect every debt. Anyone standing in his way would get melted.

Fight directly? No need! He'd bust their shelters open, letting the acidic rain in.

Some could resist the Bloody Rain, but Acid + Nex combined was too much to handle even for them. After all, he had trained, trained, and trained some more.

Even now, he was still considered powerless basic-specs wise but had become an accomplished warrior under the old Lizard's tutelage.

Oh, the man was a horrible teacher. The worst ever! He was the kind to pummel students until they learned….something. Whatever that something was, he himself didn't know.

Hence…

— Slap! Bam! Kick! —

"You need to sense the punches. It's easy!"

"You're not using your muscles correctly! You need to….just do it!"

"Are you still playing dead? It's just your chest that caved in, keep fighting!"

Kept fighting he did.

Again, and again, and again, and again…

He painted the training court crimson many times over. He showed so much dedication that it even moved the cold Asher Black.

The shadow assassin only had a single request: "I'll teach you the way of the assassin, but in exchange, once you beat that shitty lizard, tell him it was all thanks to me."

The two abysmally incompetent Teachers entered a teaching competition, and he their masterpiece.

Razark'Oph —> Pure head-on blood boiling fighting

Asher Black —> The complete opposite! A cold assassination technique, only targeting one's weak points.

The training was so harsh that even Kero, who had previously hated him, started to feel sorry for him. "Hehe, here's some Mutant Rat skewers to cheer you up!"

Nex shivered every time he remembered those nonsensical days. He had felt so much joy when he had finally managed to defeat that shitty Lizard!

He'd forever remember his green baffled face as he lay on his ass, helplessly staring at the bloody sky!

For good measure, he had also crushed Asher. The shadow being had flickered for an entire month from the shock of defeat.

Even now, he was still weaker than the two, but he could beat both because he knew all their weaknesses and habits.

As for fighting external enemies? Nex would only ever go out in the blood rain! He'd roam the Slums Area, shouting, "Who wants to challenge me!" followed by "Quack, Quack!"

Quack Quack! —> Duck Summon, he had finally unlocked it! (Spoiler, useless AF!)

It had taken him months of magical training to be able to cast that ability. It would summon a weird reddish-yellow duck with no fighting power at all.

It would simply waddle behind him and Quack along.

To add insults to injury, most of the Orphanage kids had mastered the same spell in a day to a week, invoking various useless critters. Rats, mouses, moths, tiny snakes, bats, etc.

Exhausted potential —> A real pain!

Anyone else would have given up, but not him. Thus a legend had been born, the invincible Bloody Emperor (only in the Slums), one announced by the Quacking of Doom.

His enemies had come to associate the Quacking with the cry of the Grim Reaper. The fiercest Slums Overlords would pale at the mere sound.

Sigh, many times, he felt like giving up.

- No potential

- Unfamiliar World

- Calamitous World

- Horrible Neighbors

- Monsters all over the place

- ….

He actually had a list of why this world sucked. It was big enough to deserve its own log-book! — Today, I barely survived X… —

But every time he felt like giving up, he'd remember his own stories and more importantly see their innocent smiles.

The kids would cheer him from the side. From cooking him weird mutated purple food to learning basic recovery spells for his sake, they did all they could to help.

"C'mon, Nex. Beat his scaly ass like a drum!"

"You almost won! You destroyed 0.01% of his scales!"

"Fighting, big brother! Sera believes in you! You got this!"

Sera was always the most supportive. Her small wings would flutter in excitement as she watched him fight. There was always so much confidence in him in her shiny gaze.

Whenever he felt down, he'd remember those eyes. She believed in him and he wouldn't let her down! From time to time, they'd even train together.

She had grown into a beautiful moth young lady, but her Aether intolerance was getting worse. It was only a matter of months before her condition became critical.

Yet even as she suffered, she kept encouraging him as she tried to hide the pain.

That's why he had kept fighting for the Orphanage, or scheming as the Lizard called it. Then again, this appellation regrouped anything that wasn't fighting.

—> He became the unofficial Alcove's shot caller

—> He made peace with the surrounding towns, killing any potential dissidents, and even establishing an alliance.

—> He negotiated with the surface dwellers to establish the Labor Square, a freelance job finding platform. "Slums rats" were perfect for shitty odd jobs….for the right price.

Many condemned him for the Labor Square.

Wasn't it the equivalent of slaving away for nobles? So what if they were rich and powerful? Even Slums dweller should have their dignity!

Nex 100% agreed. He actually felt the same.

He hated it to his very core! Every time he showed a business smile to an arrogant noble, a little bit of him died. Yet, he had done it and would keep doing so, if only for their sake.

In the last year, he hadn't improved one bit. He was utterly stuck. From time to time, his own powers would even taunt him.

[System Loading! Please Standby!]

[Current Loading Rate 99%!]

[Error! Initialization Failed!]

It would appear just to remind him of its presence, teasing him. He could have bid his time, waiting for his system to awaken.

He could have laid low instead of overturning the Slums and making countless enemies. Yes, he could have. But he didn't want to!

Humans needed a goal to live. Not surviving, but living!

So what if this world was scary? He wouldn't stop living nonetheless! As for his current goal…it was a simplistic sounding one that was near impossible.

He would give them a good life.

All the kids that had cheered him on, he would give them a chance in this god-forsaken world. This would be his legacy! After all, they were family.

—> Elixirs

—> Good Food

—> Proper Magic Teachers

—> He wanted them to have it all and more!

Only the Lizard knew of his dream: "You should dream smaller. The Slums will always be a cradle of filth and despair. That's just how things are."

"But that's not how they should be. This world's wrong, and I'll fix it."

"You will? What if gods themselves stand in your way?"

"Then I'll just have to kill gods…."

Just. He said it so simply, yet with such conviction. Nex really was thinking of committing deicide. Had it been anyone else, the Lizard would have laughed, and yet…

"Haha, I'll evolve into a mighty heavenly dragon and help!" He cheekily replied.

They both knew such a thing was impossible, but so what? Under the bloody moonlight, they shared a peaceful moment of madness.

—

Since then, countless days had passed, yet both were still secretly dreaming to this day. Hope was something so ludicrous yet kept them going.

At a certain Orphanage, a man suddenly exclaimed with joy.

"A Blood Rain's coming! Oy, you shitty Lizard, we're going out!"

"Tch— My poor scales! Do you know how painful it is?!"

He complained, yet was already calling "babysitter" Asher over. Under countless cheers, the Bloody Emperor departed… his lizard sidekick by his side.

He still looked the exact same as all those years ago, around 16 years old. But none would have underestimated him now. Especially now that he had a clear goal…

'I'll heal you, Sera. Just leave it to your Big Brother.'

Destination Labor Square —> The source of their hope and despair, a grim reminder of their powerlessness.