Classless King: I Absorb Anything I Kill

The rain hammered down on the rooftop of Westmont High like bullets from the sky. Aleric Ken stood at the edge, water streaming down his face, mixing with the blood from his split lip. Drake Hansen had him by the collar, his meaty fist cocked back for another punch.

"You know what your problem is, Aleric?" Drake's breath stank of energy drinks and cruelty. "You actually thought telling the principal would change anything. Did you really think anyone would believe a nobody like you over me?"

Aleric's vision blurred. Not from the rain. From the tears he refused to let fall. He'd cried so many times before. Not today. Not ever again.

"My dad donated a new gymnasium, you pathetic worm." Drake shook him like a rag doll. "Your dad? He's a janitor at some office building. You're nothing. You've always been nothing. And you'll die nothing."

The words cut deeper than any punch. Because they were true. For three years, Aleric had endured this. The beatings, the mockery and the humiliation. 

It started small. Drake took his lunch in freshman year and Aleric let it go.

 Then Drake started tripping him in the hallways. Pushing him into lockers. Spreading rumors that Aleric was a snitch, a coward, a freak.

By sophomore year, Drake had assembled a whole crew. They'd corner Aleric in the bathroom. Steal his homework and put their names on it. Post humiliating photos online that someone took when they pantsed him in gym class.

Teachers saw. They always saw. But Drake's family had money. Drake's father was on the school board. Drake was the star quarterback.

And Aleric? He was just the weird quiet kid who wore the same jacket every day because his family couldn't afford another one.

"I went to the principal," Aleric had told his mom last week. His voice shaking. "I told him everything."

His mother had hugged him. "Oh, sweetheart. Finally. Things will get better now."

They didn't.

The principal called Drake to his office. Drake lied with the confidence of someone who'd never faced consequences. His father showed up with a lawyer. They threatened to sue the school for defamation. For harassment of their son.

The principal caved instantly.

Then the real punishment began.

Drake caught him after school yesterday. Beat him so badly Aleric couldn't stand. "You want to play dirty?" Drake had whispered. "I'll show you dirty."

Today, Drake and his crew cornered Aleric after last period. They dragged him up the fire escape to the roof. The rain poured down. No one around to see. No one around to help.

"I'm going to make you apologize," Drake said now, pulling Aleric closer to the edge. "You're going to get on your knees, beg me for forgiveness, and then you're going to transfer schools. Because if you don't? I'll make your life so miserable you'll wish you were dead."

Something inside Aleric snapped.

He looked into Drake's eyes and saw it. The truth. Drake wasn't going to stop. 

Even if Aleric transferred schools, Drake would find a way to hurt him. To hurt his family. Because to people like Drake, people like Aleric weren't human. They were toys. Things to break when bored.

"You're right," Aleric said quietly.

Drake blinked. "What?"

"You're right. I am nothing." Aleric's hands, which had been trying to pry Drake's fingers off his collar, suddenly stopped resisting. They moved lower. To Drake's jacket. "But you know what's funny about being nothing?"

"What are you…”

"When you have nothing left to lose..." Aleric's grip tightened on Drake's designer jacket. "...you're free."

Drake's eyes widened. "Wait…”

Aleric threw his weight backward.

They both went over the edge.

The world tilted and the rooftop disappeared above them. The ground rushed up below. Drake screamed. A high pitched, terrified sound that cut through the rain.

Aleric didn't scream.

He felt... peace.

 Each second became an eternity. He could see individual raindrops suspended in the air. Could see the absolute terror on Drake's face. For once, Drake understood. What it felt like to be powerless. To be at someone else's mercy.

"I'm sorry!" Drake shrieked. "I'm sorry! Please!"

Too late.

Aleric's last thought before the impact wasn't regret. It wasn't fear.

It was a promise.

"Never again. Never again will I be weak. If there's anything after this... I swear I'll become strong. So strong that no one can ever hurt me again."

They hit the ground at the same time.

The impact should have hurt. Should have been agony.

Instead, Aleric felt... nothing.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

He floated in that darkness. No up. No down. No time. Just endless black.

Then, words appeared.

Not spoken. Not written on anything. They just... existed in the void. Glowing blue letters that seared themselves into his consciousness.

[SOUL FRACTURE DETECTED]

[DIMENSIONAL BARRIER WEAKENED]

[SEARCHING FOR COMPATIBLE VESSEL...]

[VESSEL LOCATED]

[WORLD: JUSAVIA - REALM OF MANA]

[INITIATING REINCARNATION PROTOCOL]

[WARNING: KARMIC DEBT DETECTED]

**[CAUSE OF DEATH: MUTUAL DESTRUCTION]**

[COMPENSATION: MEMORY RETENTION + SPECIAL SYSTEM ACCESS]

[REINCARNATION COMMENCING IN 3... 2... 1...]

White light exploded through the darkness. Aleric felt himself pulled, stretched, compressed. His consciousness spun through a tunnel of light and sound.

Then, suddenly, sensation returned.

Cold air on wet skin and bright lights. 

Voices speaking in a language he shouldn't understand but somehow did.

"It's a boy! My lady, you have a son!"

And Aleric screamed.

Not because he wanted to. Because the tiny lungs in his new body demanded it. Because he was an infant. 

He felt his hands and a weak old lady. Blood litters all over his tiny body.

“The F**k”