Chapter One - Grimoire Ceremony

/// Rayn POV ///

"Finally," I exclaimed excitedly, looking outside the cracked window of our cramped room in the church as I saw the burning orange orb rising, its rays providing a subtle warmth. Looking back, I saw Asta and Yuno still snoring, sharing a single blanket.

For some reason I always needed less sleep and was never short of stamina. I stretched my arms above my head, feeling active. I turned around and started walking towards the door. Reaching for the handle I pulled it and went outside. Looking to my left I saw father Orsi, stretching his body and doing some weird exercise.

"You're going to break your back if you keep stretching, old man", I said from behind. His body vibrated and lost its balance, falling on his bum with his legs stretching on the either side.

"Ohhh, R-Rayn... God, you scared me", he said, rubbing his back as he looked at me. Letting out a light chuckle I made my way towards him and extended a hand towards him. He took my hand and pulled it- standing up.

"So, today's finally the day huh? You kid sure grow up fast", He said as he looked at me.

"Yeah, time flew by quickly", I lied. It had been one hell of a slow time for me. Being born with no control over my own bowels and motor controls it had been a nightmare for me. I could vivdly remember and still feel the joy I felt when I crawled. The amount of happiness was greater than any achievement I had achieved in both lives combined.

"Well go and help Sister Lily and get ready yourself too. There isn't much time left either", He said.

"Hmm, yeah. I'll go and help her. Take care father and...", I paused. A word got stuck in my throat. I never admired such things or had a feeling like this before, not even to my own parents. But because I saw how painstakingly Father Orsi took care of me, I felt it, "and thank you for raising me", I said and started walking away. I could feel his silent sob behind my back, but I ignored it. He thought of us as his own so he must be shedding tears of joy.

"Ahh you're here. I needed your help", Sister Lily chimed in, a bucket full of wet clothes in her hands. I quickened my pace and took the bucket from her hands. Her hand recoiled back, and she stumbled for a second but regained her balance,

"You, ok?", I asked.

"Yeah, I am fine. Lack of sleep I guess", she replied sheepishly, scratching her neck. Now that I see her closely, she had dark circles beneath her eyes.

"Why?", I asked. I didn't need to explain what I was asking. It was simple enough for her to understand.

"It's nothing... just that you three are leaving now, so been feeling down lately", she replied her voice trailing off in the end. I let out a chuckle and walked past her,

"Don't worry, I will take care of that musclehead. You don't have to worry about that idiot too much", I said loudly and started to walk towards the back side of church to dry the clothes on the lines.

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We walked leisurely towards the tower. It was finally time we received our grimoires. While I wasn't too confident about Asta due to his magiclesness, I still believed in him. Since coming into this world, I have had glimpses. Like I had read the future somewhere. Like the events happening here were a movie and I had watched them somewhere before, but I can't remember them.

The memories came with a migraine that would plague my head even for a whole day, so I stopped thinking about anything and just started blindly believing these glimpses. Somehow, they were never wrong.

My stride faltered as I watched in front of me. A tower with multiple windows all over it appeared in sight. It was made out of bricks with no cementing over it. Well, this was a mediaeval world so I can't expect anything like that.

"LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", Asta screamed, almost exploding my ear drum for the millionth time since I came here. Despite considering him as a brother, sometimes I just wanted to stuff a lot of grass in his mouth and then roast him like a pig for making me a deaf guy just by talking. Asta started running and dashed inside the tower.

Yuno took a few steps and then stopped. Looking over his shoulder he spoke, "Hurry up or you'll be left behind".

"My grimoire isn't going anywhere. Doesn't matter if I receive a bit late. You still won't be able to beat me", I said, slipping my hands in my pockets and walking past him. Yuno ran and caught up to me, his golden eyes drilling holes in my skull,

"I will beat you both and be the first one to become wizard king", he said, determination practically oozing out of him.

"Sure, sure. Be my guest. I have no interest in becoming a wizard king anyways. Too much of a pain", I replied nonchalantly, walking past him. I didn't need to see Yuno's expression. I knew it too well. His piercing gaze continued to dig holes in my neck as I kept walking.

"Just what do you aim for then?", Yuno asked, making my steps halt. It was a question I had asked myself many times before. What is my purpose here? Why was I sent here? Who sent me? Now that I am here, what do I do?

I never reached a definitive answer, so I made a purpose of my own. My past life was full of hardships and constant struggles. I worked myself to the point I had multiple mental and emotional breakdowns, neglected, battered. So, I decided that this life, my second life will not be decided by others. I will not do anyone's bidding. I will live my life as I want and anyone who tries to sabotage that will have to pay,

"It's simple", I paused, letting my words create a tension in the air itself, "I just want a normal life, nothing else", I completed and started walking away from there, leaving the confused and baffled Yuno alone.

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Entering through the creaking door that led to the grimoire room I walked through the hustle and bustle nimbly, not trying to attract any attention. There was a variety of reactions everytime someone entered. Mocking gazes of the snotty nobles, scrutinising gazes of nerds who tried to study each and every person who walked in there.

All in all it could be summed in one word- CHAOTIC

I walked with my back straight and hands tucked inside my pockets.

"Look at that peasant, acting all cocky just because he's getting a grimoire", One of the third-rate nobles said, his chin unusually high and his eyes looking down on me. Letting my white hair fall on my face, I looked the other way, trying my best to ignore them and suppress the urge to kill them.

"Look at the other idiot. His magic power is so low I can't even sense it", the other one mocked. My brows twitched in annoyance, an unalloyed anger bubbling up in my gut. I had next to no self-esteem thanks to the Asian parents I had in my past life, however, mocking people I deemed as my brother was still an unforgivable act.

My fingers twitched, an arc of red lightning manifesting. I had seen someone using lightning magic before. While having lightning was good enough, I knew this much that my magic attribute wasn't lightning. Only the basic appearance. I still needed my grimoire to better comprehend it. The arc of lightning catapulted from my fingers to the boy who had just insulted Asta.

The lightning instead of touching him seeped inside his body. Screams of horror reverberated in the room as he fell to the floor with a thud, his body convulsing violently, a thick cloud of foam coming out of his mouth.

The panic that seemed to be out of control was suddenly suppressed as a few officials took him out to be treated while the others controlled the uproar among the frenzied 15-year-old. Not that I was any better, but coupled with my past life, I had the brain of a 35 years old.

After a while the ceremony started with an old man giving the introduction speech and some blabbers about grimoire being bound to the soul- something I had heard a million times from birth.

"And now, the ceremony shall begin '', the old tower-master said as the whole room filled with vibrant lights, multiple colourued grimoires in every shape- long, short, thick, thin, small, huge. Every variety of grimoire flew in every direction.

My attention was diverted to my back by sudden gasps. Looking over my shoulder I saw Yuno face-to-face with a 4-leaf clover grimoire that hovered in front of him. With a plop the grimoire fell into his hand.

His honey tinted eyes looked at me, a smug grin plastered over his face,

"I will become the wizard king", he proclaimed proudly as the whole room filled with roars, some of envy, some of appreciation.

My heart suddenly thrummed against my chest... a nostalgic feeling filling my heart,

"Its finally here", I muttered under my breath. The next moment a near-palpable pressure filled the room, squeezing the air out of everyone's lungs. Even I felt chills deep inside my very soul, the overwhelming dread. An aura so diabolical that it made me want to buckle to my knees and cry my heart out- out of pure terror and despair.

"A- A cloverless grimoire..? How is that even possible?", someone managed to say but I ignored it. The amount of leaves my grimoire had was the last thing on my mind.

A book clad in a jet-black cover appeared in-front of me. Golden engravings shimmered to life on its cover, providing a subtle warmth in the otherwise granite-cold and dark environment. The book opened, streaks of crimson lightning ran all over the pages, forming words. Words I could somehow comprehend. Words that seemed to have written with the life-blood of a human.

The darkness increased and entered my body, my vision blurring. A myriad of thoughts and an otherworldly stream of knowledge entered my mind. The knowledge in itself was useless, but somehow I understood one word. One word, that was enough for now- the building block of what I would achieve later.

My mind became stuffed with thoughts of destruction, an incomprehensible thirst for blood, murder, destruction overtaking me.

"Do you finally realise?", A voice said.

A voice I don't know.

No.

A voice I know very well but is locked in the deepest corners of my mind.

Yet, I wanted to reply to it.

"I do", I replied.

"Do you finally get what this power is?", he asked again.

"I do... reality...chaos..." I spoke.

It was an incomprehensible string of words that I myself couldn't put my finger on.

"Good... let the game of chess begin", a faint voice said followed by the mephistophilis-tic laughter of 2... no 3... I don't know. I can't understand, yet I can comprehend this much.

"They are..."

My vision returned to me as I saw Yuno holding me by my waist while everyone else was standing at least 2 feet away. Seeing I was back to normal Yuno looked at me with a questioning look over his face.

"It's a unique lightning magic", I replied.

A lie... I knew very well what magic I had. A grin formed on my face,

"So it's that huh. Never imagined I'll be getting this attribute", I muttered under my breath as I shifted my gaze to Asta, who laid on the floor, a grimoire in front of him.

A migraine hit me, making me wince in pain. My head ached.

An indication something was wrong. Flashes of memories that I often used to get hit me again. That's when I realised. He shouldn't be getting a grimoire. Not here at least. What is happening?

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(A/n Phew, my head hurts from all the planning I did for this fic... RIP me. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter. Feedback Is appreciated. I have decided on the ship already but you can still recommend girls for him.

It won't be a harem. Still do comment how you like it and which girl is better for our boy Rayn.

Anyways enough of my rambling, meet ya all in next chapter)