Chapter 1

Jakuniku-kyoushoku, survival of the fittest, or social Darwinism, are all terms that convey the same message.

Might makes right and might is all the strong survive and the weak die. This is the iron clade rule that all organisms live by and the main focal point of this hellish world that we find ourselves in.

It was hard to believe that a mere three years ago he was reborn in this hell hole.

Surrounded by ignorant dullards who parade around the filth-covered streets spewing nonsensical bullshit while flexing their muscles like neanderthals.

This so-called town is plastered in muck and grime and populated by fools who crap in the open street and who get into fights over the littlest thing and drink all day and night until they vomit and pass out in the shit-smeared streets.

You can't blame them, nothing better to do around here after all. This world is a backward middle age mess.

All that he has been doing is wandering the town streets looking for scraps of food to eat and occasionally begging for handouts which have so far never worked as no one had sympathy for the three-year-old boy.

He had no choice but to hunt the streets for food like a feral dog simply because he had no other options.

He didn't have the heart to steal not out of morality but because the boy had seen too many a street urchin like himself be beaten to death after failing to get away from a pissed-off vendor owner.

That's right he was but a lowly gutter rat an orphan without a family or roof to live under oh woe was him.

Dressed in rags a small terribly emaciated little boy with deathly pale skin staggers across an alleyway until he found the cleanest spot he could and slumped against a crusty wall.

He had no name for his parents where ever they might be, threw him away before ever gracing him with such a thing.

The boy was so gaunt that his bones could clearly be seen from under his pasty skin. His haggard appearance made one wonder how he was even still alive.

His hair so caked in oily grime made telling what color it was impossible. The boy's eyes were dull and lifeless like that of a freshly deceased corpse.

In a hoarse broken voice, he choked out the words.

"This...is some life...huh? Hahaha"

Unexpectedly the boy began to chuckle to himself not out of madness or depression but out of...joy.

That's right he was happy because he was suffering and not because he was a secret masochist.

You see he was happy because he finally figured out why he felt so lethargic before.

Life before had been too...safe with no good reason to live but now he had to struggle every day just to eat which gave him a new sense of purpose he never had before.

He was finally living and not just sluggishly limping through life with his head hung low waiting for it all to end.

His goal was simple yet was somehow able to reinvigorate himself, to put it simply he just had to survive until the next day and that pleased him.

Alone in the alley, the boy waited until a door on the far end of the alley flung open, and a rotund man who smelled of yeast and butter came out and dumped a sack full of stale bread into a wooden waste bin and lumbered back inside not even sparing the boy a glance.

With weak shaky steps, the boy walked over to the waste bin ripped open the bag, and began savagely devouring the stale bread until he nearly threw up.

Taking deep breaths after eating way too much he quickly ran away from the bin knowing that if he stayed too long he would be attacked by other homeless bums who stalked this alley for the bakery's stale bread.

He always got here first so he could eat the bread before everyone else but that didn't mean that there weren't others coming to the bakery like him who wanted a free meal so he had to be quick about it.

He had to eat and run without getting into a needless skirmish. The last thing he wanted was to get into a fight with how weak he was and get injured something like that would be a death sentence for him.

He quickly made his way through the twist and turns of the alleys and since he knew them like the back of his hand he arrived at his favorite place to rest behind a pub in no time.

The owner was an old man who couldn't care less about some trashy orphan like him so he just let him loiter around behind his pub where none of his customers could see him.

"That meal...should tie me over...for a while." croaked the boy before dozing off.

...

"Heh wake up you disgusting brat!"

The boy awoke from his peaceful slumber to see the old pub owner towering over him with a threatening look in his eyes.

"Get up and get moving I don't want you around here anymore got it!"

He shouted at him until the boy got up and ran away even kicking him as he ran nearly causing the boy to tumble over and fall.

He didn't stop though he kept moving until he was far away from the pub in some other alley in the outer reaches of the town.

Breathing heavily he took a short rest sighing saddened by the fact that he could no longer loiter there anymore before getting back up and began looking for a new place to rest at.

He thought of a nice place behind an inn he could rest, where the owner wasn't a complete bitch who would yell at him to leave like the last douchebag but there was a problem.

If he wanted to get there he had to cut across the city square where the upper class gathered to buy various trinkets and wears from merchants who set up there.

This would be difficult since he was a lowly street rat who would offend those rich folks' eyes with his presence.

He could end up being beaten in the streets like some unfortunate bums he has seen before who foolishly tried to walk around the City Square like they weren't the pathetic trash they were.

He wanted to play it safe but he hadn't slept in so long and there weren't any other places around where he could safely rest without fear of being assaulted in his sleep, but could he take such a risk?

'Screw it I should just take this chance.' The boy then as quickly and discreetly as he could, made his way through the crowd of finely dressed people and into another alley and by sear luck, he made it without attracting the ire of a touchy nobleman.

Breathing a sigh of relief the boy was about to head over to his destination when he heard someone loudly speaking in the square about something particularly interesting to him.

"Everyone the Royal institute for mysticism and martial arts has announced that they are recruiting commoners into the academies as of now so anyone who is a commoner ages 12 or under may enter in a few months when a caravan that will be transporting the applicants passes through the town." said an authoritative man in a luxurious tuxedo standing on a small platform hold a bullhorn like device.

The crowd immediately erupted in a swarm of questions but the man remained calm and loudly proclaimed to the audience important news about the selection process.

"All of you quiet down a bit listen dozens of towns and villages are going to want their children to enter but there are only 200 spots for commoners on this caravan so only five children in the town may become applicants as per the royal institution's orders.

The Baron will hold tests near his estate a week before the caravan will arrive. All commoners who wish to enter the previously impossible-to-enter royal institution may come but know this. You will be tested and only the best of the best can obtain one of the five spots so let me make some things perfectly clear to all of you.

No one must cheat or else, no one over 12 may enter so no lying about your age or else, and finally, it doesn't matter if you are the son of a blacksmith or the daughter of a seamstress all may participate even if you are a gutter trash worm like that filthy child hiding in that alley."

The tuxedo-wearing man pointed in his direction which attracted a lot of gazes toward the boy which made him feel very uncomfortable.

He slinked deeper into the shadows of the alley making sure he was unseen but still able to hear the man speak.

The crowd didn't pay attention to him for long until they turned their gazes back to the man who was straightening his bow tie while muttering under his breath about how dirty this place was.

He noticed them looking at him after a few seconds and hurriedly said "that is all, good day you will receive more information during the examination." before quickly jogging off toward a carriage and leaving.

After that everyone went back to what they were doing while talking about this new surprising information.

The boy only grinned to himself before leaving to find a nice spot to loiter until the examinations began.