Everyone had a bewildered look when Alzeth pushed him back. "Zeris, it seems like you must really want to die today!" The group consisted of 6 people, and each one of them approached Alzeth in a different direction.

Alzeth wore an emotionless expression as he dashed toward the one on his right before the others could even react. He grabbed the guy's left arm and twisted it forcefully to the point that blood was soaking his clothes. Alzeth quickly dodged the incoming kick from the others and took the opportunity to grab the bloody guy as a shield.

"Move and I'll break off his other arm as well!" Alzeth shouted aloud, his warning made the other freeze as they had no choice. The one that Alzeth was using as a hostage was a young lord of a noble family.

"L-listen to him, don't mo-! AGHH!" Richard tried to warn them as well, but Alzeth coldly cut him off. His right arm was almost broken now, just a bit more and it'll be a disaster for him. "I never said you can talk. Stay quiet till I'm out of here."

Richard couldn't believe what he was hearing, this wasn't the Zeris that he knew anymore. The timid and coward Zeris is gone.

"Same goes for you all, move and I'll make sure he won't make it out of here…" Alzeth took Richard out of the alley, trying to not make any noises. He soon saw a deserted hill and made his way there. By the time Alzeth got to the pathway, Richard had already fainted from the blood loss and pain.

Alzeth took the opportunity to pickpocket all of Richard's possession. He found many things that he has never seen before. "Well, since you have kindly gifted me so much stuff, I guess I'll let you off this time."

Alzeth left Richard by the entrance of the pathway, luckily there was no one here or there could've been a big problem. There was a big tree on the tip of the hill and a seated man below it.

Alzeth took out all of his possessions and lay them all down. At this point, he'd already figured out that this wasn't the afterworld. 'Seem like that group of scoundrel had tortured this boy till his death.'

Under Alzeth's clothes, there were many scars left behind, the fresh blood indicates that this was only recent. 'I've reincarnated into this young man's body… Is this fate or it's his doings?' Alzeth thought about Lucas's last words to him.

"Well, I guess only time will give me the answer." Alzeth starts to search through the stash of stuff. During this hour Alzeth had found out many things about this world.

He figured out the former owner of the body's name was Zeris Vagne. 'Looks like this will be my new identity from now on.' He'd gotten many things from Richard, but most of it was Mana orbs, the currency in this world.

What surprised him the most was that there was magic in this world. Alongside with mythical creatures like Phoenix, Griffin, and Dragons. In this world, everyone is born with a crest on a specific part of a body.

The crest allows them to absorb mana from their surroundings. Mana is like fuel to a car, without it magic isn't possible. Each crest can be different from others, they take on various forms like beasts, weapons, or a symbol that resemble an element.

One's crest can be strengthened by absorbing others or simply just training. The most common method is beast hunting. Each time a beast dies, it would leave an abundant amount of crest's energy that can be absorbed. If one is lucky, the beast might leave behind an essence orb that can be used to unlock an ability of the beast.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

There are 10 stages and 100 marks in a being's crest. Each stage represents 10 marks, at the 100th mark one can be considered a true awakened.

In the beginning, the crest will only be partially visible. When one reaches the next stage a portion of their crest will become more vivid. A mark is only considered as a milestone to the next stage. You'll only get a real power increase when you reach the next stage.

"Interesting." Alzeth muttered out loud while juggling Richard's book. "Wait, if everyone's born with a crest… then where's mine?" He quickly checked all around his body for a crest. Alzeth wears a serious face as he thought of how he's gonna get revenge without any power.

"Did the crest fade away when I took over the soul?" This was the only reasonable answer he could think of right now. Alzeth's mind was in wreckage till he spotted a slip of paper falling out of Richard's book. "What's this?"

"Richard, remember to come on time. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we can force that dragon into a contract, we'll be able to trample over all the nobles! Haha, don't forget to bring the mana crystal, we'll need it to trap the dragon. Remember the plan will commence during the Festival."

Alzeth suddenly thought of a plan to solve his current biggest problem. 'This is my only chance… If I can get there before they do then… No, first I need to know more about this world.'

"Hey! Zeris!" The sudden shout from a girl almost startled Alzeth to death. "What are you doing here! Your parent had been looking for you the entire day!" The girl has a pretty face with dark brown eyes staring intently at Alzeth.

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away without giving him a chance to talk. Her blonde hair was brushing all over his face as she jogged down the hill. 'Family… I never thought I would hear these words.'

Alzeth was taken away by an organization the moment he was born. He never got a chance or news of his parents. Every single day he asked about them, for 10 years straight. Unable to receive an answer, he gave up all hopes of finding his parents.

Alzeth's emotion had already been numbed, but for some reason, he felt warmth in his heart. It seemed like Zeris's body was also influencing his emotions.

Not long after they finally arrive in front of an average size house. Before the unknown girl could open the door, 2 people burst out. "Zeris! You're finally back!"

A/N: I'll start putting Alzeth as Zeris now.

The woman who seemed to be Zeris's mom immediately pulled him into an embrace. His dad was watching the two while holding his soon-to-be little sister. "Zeris, we have a lot to talk about, but first go rest for now."

Zeris never spoke a word ever since he was dragged away by the unknown girl. He merely nodded and walked inside, luckily his name was imprinted on the door. Zeris immediately searches for any useful things the moment he entered the room. After 10 minutes of checking out the content in the room, he gave up.

Zeris couldn't find anything useful at all, feeling tired, he jumped onto the bed. What greeted him was a hard pillow. "F**k why is this pillow so hard?!" He then realized that there was a journal written by the real Zeris was hidden in it. The Journal looks like it hasn't been opened for months.

On the front, his name 'Zeris Vagne' was imprinted on it. There was a lock on the journal, and luckily he'd already found the key while rampaging through the entire room.

He excitedly opened the lock, but since it was neglected it didn't go through right away. Zeris tried to unlock it from various angles till the lock finally clicked. Inside the journal, there were only about 5 written pages, which disappointed Zeris greatly.

In the journal, the real Zeris described how he was bullied and shamed in school. There were many names that he'd written down including Richard. He'd been enduring all this time in order to keep his family safe, if he tried to fight back they would've gone for his family.

Zeris merely smiled with cold deadly eyes. "Don't worry, now that I'm here, I'll make sure to make them pay." Zeris didn't do this out of pity, but rather he felt that he was indebted to the real owner of the body.

The rest of the journal only described his close friends and family. Zeris could only breathe out of relief when he saw the list of names. His parents were Ron Vagne, Alice Myir, and finally his little sister, Ava.

Sigh…

"I can't believe so much had happened in a single day…" Zeris couldn't help but exclaim out loud. He suddenly jumped out of bed when remembered something. 'I wonder how I look now.'

Zeris hasn't gotten a chance to get a proper look at himself in this new body yet, so he was really curious. He quickly got the mirror just to see how miserable he looked. "Tch. That's why they looked so worried…"

Right now, Zeris's face was hideous, it was filled with bruises and many fist marks. Even with this injury, Zeris can make out most of the face. He has clear ocean eyes coupled with his dark pitch-black hair. Zeris definitely wasn't handsome but he isn't necessarily bad looking either.

From the journal, he'd also found out that Zeris Vagne had just finished school last week. He was 16 years old trying to get into one of the Magic Academy near him. He also measured himself to be approximately 172cm.

Zeris's turned grim at this, according to the journal, most of his peers should already be at the 8th stage. "Sh*t I'm already on the losing side before the game even started!" As Zeris planned on what to do next, a sudden knock shooked him out of his thoughts.

"Hey Zeris, I've made dinner you should come out to eat." For some reason, that mere sentence had almost made Zeris burst into tears. Now, he no longer knows if his emotion was being influenced or not, after all, he'd never heard anyone say this to him in his entire life.

"Yes, I'll be there in a second…"