6 Chapter 6 - An Unexpected Gift

The arc of Lighting was fast; it sparkled through the air. Zefer barely reacted in time. The only reason he knew to move was that the girl was flashing her Magic earlier. Zefer was still hit in the shoulder, but at least it was better than his stomach or chest.

Another arc was set to come after him; this one was unavoidable. He had no martial talent or Mana Pool. He couldn't use Magic. He brought his arms up in a cross formation and took the blow, which caused him to grit his teeth since he felt a painful sensation flow throughout his entire body.

Zefer couldn't move; his body was paralyzed due to the Magic the girl just used. His eyes shifted towards the ref to see if he would call the match but didn't. Even if Zefer's body was releasing steam from it and could possibly be in danger, it didn't look like the ref would call the match.

"I guess these people don't care if a nobody dies..." Zefer muttered to himself. His eyes shifted back to the girl who was walking towards him. It seemed like she got what she wanted, paralyzing him. The girl was giggling, and when she reached Zefer, she socked him in the face with her fists laced with Lighting.

Zefer was moved by force, and his head snapped back, but the girl kept socking him over and over. Punching and kicking him all over. She was pretty much beating him. Blood could be seen tainting the platform they were on, and it looked like Zefer was about to pass out, but even then, the ref just looked away.

The girl finished Zefer off with a kick to the stomach that pushed him into a barrier. A barrier had been brought up to keep those watching safe. The wall shimmered to the force, but before Zefer could fall, the girl struck him with a massive bolt of lightning that caused him to groan in pain and jolt rapidly. Zefer collapsed onto the ground with his body severely burned.

"Wow, he couldn't even last more than two minutes."

"Trash."

"Disgusting."

"Worthless."

"He should just die already."

Rude and hateful mutters were directed towards Zefer; meanwhile, the girl would stretch her limbs out as if she had just finished warming up. She would then look towards the ref with a curious expression. "Are you going to call the match? It's clearly over." The girl said.

The ref shook his head. "One more blow should do the trick. Your opponent is still awake." The ref said. The girl looked back towards Zefer. She saw he was still on the ground. 'Do they want me to kill him? I won't be charged with murder, will I? I mean, these people clearly know what is going on here...' The girl thought.

"Fine." The girl didn't care for Zefer. As long as she wouldn't be charged for murder, then she would just end him. She wanted to go back to her friends anyways because they talked about the three hottest boys in the entire school.

"Wow... They really are going to kill me..." Zefer muttered with blurry vision. He couldn't feel his body. His pain sensors were all numb, and he felt like he was going to pass out.

"What did I do to deserve this?

"I didn't ask to be born..."

"I didn't ask to be brought into this world..."

"I didn't ask to have zero Mana and Martial Talent..."

"I tried my best to excel in other areas too, but..."

Zefer would grit his teeth as he recalled the only person that really understood him. The only person he could trust. The only person who loved him. It was his sister, and she had been taken away from him by the people of this city.

Zefer's sister was his only family since he was a child. His mother and father were part of the military. They were sent with a squad to battle against the Demon Faction during the war. At the time, the Demon Faction was aligned with the Vampire Faction. So Humanity was having trouble protecting their people.

This was actually just before the awakening of Mana in Humanity. Thankfully, typical weapons proved helpful, but over time it became clear that Humanity needed the same power as the other races to survive. Regardless, word came that Zefer and his sister's parents were MIA. It was said that those who were MIA were most likely taken as slaves for the enemy faction.

This just left Zefer with his older sister to take care of him. It would have been fine; however, when the awakening of Mana came for Humanity, everything changed. His sister had a Poor Mana Pool, roughly 100 Mana, whereas the average was 200 Mana. So, they were treated differently and tossed into a poor area. This area later became known as the Lower District.

Even with all of their setbacks, Zefer and his sister were happy. They helped each other and were there for one another. That was until about two months ago. A group of men from the Upper District barged into Zefer's home and started doing as they pleased. They kept Zefer in the kitchen and made him watch as they violated his sister.

Zefer had enough of hearing her pain-filled screams, and even when his sister tried to fight back, they just made it impossible for her to do so. Zefer took hold of a knife in the kitchen and stabbed a man in the back. The screaming of the pain caught everyone's attention, and they turned to Zefer.

They were now beating on him, and it looked like they would kill him, but his sister attacked them since they weren't focused on her. She used the last of her energy to kill another two men with lances of ice, tossing them through their backs.

Only two men were left, but they ran with their tails between their legs out of fear of being killed. They told the authorities of what happened, and from there, it became public knowledge about what Zefer did. It appeared they neglected to inform anyone of what the other party did. Zefer's sister died from shock and overuse of her Mana Pool.

Zefer tried to bring what the Upper District did to light, but people shunned him. Saying he was just a filthy Zero who couldn't be trusted and should be executed for murder. After that, Zefer just stopped caring altogether. It seemed that information slipped Ms. Veronica's ears, or perhaps she didn't pay much attention to it since she wasn't one to buy into rumors. Which was why she didn't understand why Zefer was the way he was.

"I hate these people..." A loud heartbeat could be heard.

"I hate this city..." It was slow at first but steadily rising.

"I hate all of it..." It continued to rise.

"If they are going to kill me, then I should just kill them..." Further beating, pounding away inside of Zefer's chest.

"I want to watch it all burn to the ground!" And just as if it felt like it was about to explode, something happened.

[Intalization process completed!]

[Diabella's Gift received!]

[System starting up...]

[System booted!]

[Welcome, Master Zillian]

A voice had spoken out to Zefer. It was a cute innocent voice. One that belonged to a girl. Zefer didn't know who it was coming from or what it was saying, but what he did know was that a Lance of Lighting was coming directly at him.

"So... I can do nothing..." Zefer grumbled, but just before touching Zefer, his body was lifted off the ground. A blast of energy expunged from his body, dispersing the Lance of Lighting entirely and causing the barrier to shimmer, then crack, and eventually, it shattered.

People watching were stunned, and some screamed, trying to shield their bodies from the immense amount of pressure coming from inside the platform. The ref was astonished. He didn't know what to say or do. He was told to have Zefer die. Someone even paid him for it, which was why he didn't stop the match, but he never expected this.

Neither did the girl. She had shielded herself and steadied her balance to not be blown off her feet. In fact, everyone was confused and didn't know what to say or do. What she saw could not be put into words.

Zefer was descending onto the ground slowly. Once his feet touched the platform, the pressure died down. His normal dark purple hair had streaks of neon blue that could easily be confused as white as if they were highlighted. Not only that, but his hair became longer. It was previously short and messy, but it was a medium length to his shoulders and straight.

His features looked somewhat better. Slightly more toned, and his shoulders were a bit broader. In addition to that, he looked somewhat taller. One wouldn't be able to tell unless they retook his height, though, but the most notable thing was the shimmering aura that was radiating off of him.

It was a mixture of dark purple and neon blue; it looked like ashen flames coming off his body. He set his head down and tilted it to the side, and opened his eyes. His right eye was pure neon blue, and the pupil looked unique. Instead of a small circle shape, it looked like a four-pointed star. It came in from the top, bottom, left, and right sides like a letter V. This left the center of the pupil open. His eyes looked towards a message that appeared in front of him.

[Congradulations! You have awakened the Rune of Destruction!]