It's been five years since Levi did the potential test, making it twelve years since he reincarnated.
After Levi was determined to be a magicless, his life changed completely. The attitude of not just his parents, but almost everyone related to him took a complete U-turn.
Firstly, his mother Selina became aggressive towards him. The woman that Levi saw on the day of his birth seemed to have disappeared completely as he had a hard time believing in this one.
She always yelled at Levi in front of the servants, embarrassing him in front of not just them but all his siblings as well. She always made sure to make known how she felt disgusted at her son– Levi's entire existence and how she felt disappointed at herself for giving birth to him. She also publicly cussed herself for naming Levi after her own great grandfather.
Apparently, the man was a great mage and the only person in their family to ascend above the S-rank, but the talentless Levi couldn't be more undeserving of such a name.
His father's attitude also changed. Levi's father didn't become aggressive towards him or anything, more like, internally shrugged him aside. After discovering Levi's abysmal potential, he started ignoring and neglecting him. Yes, he made sure to perform most his fatherly duties but that was it, nothing more, nothing less. As far as he was concerned, Levi was no different from a stranger and little more than disposable trash to him. A stain on the Swordhearth family name.
Levi's older brother, Alexander, was also a genius on par with, if not more than Isabelle. He had an A rank mana pool as well as an arcane affinity; light magic. He was a prodigy who had entered Blackburn academy, the greatest magic academy in the continent, on scholarship!
Currently, he was already at the academy, but when he was around, he completely ignored Levi's existence. In fact, the latter could count how many times the former had communicated with him over the past five years on one hand!
As for Isabelle, she did not seem to care about the fact that they were twins as she completely turned her back on her brother. She was getting preferential treatment from both her parents as they hired the best teachers and magic instructors for her, they also ensured to give her anything and everything she wanted and it soon got to her head. She started to view her brother as an inferior, someone who didn't deserve to be breathing the same air which she did as she would always refer to Levi as a 'good-for-nothing' or a 'talentless bum' whenever she got the chance.
The only person who remained nice to Levi was his older sister, and a few of the staff. Aina had talent, but not as much as the other two as she was born with a B rank mana pool as well as an affinity in water magic. She had also experienced quite a bit of neglection from her parents due to her talents paling in comparison to her older brother's, so she kinda understood Levi's plight.
It wasn't his fault that he was born a magicless, he never wished for or chose it, he never even got a chance to choose anything. If you were to go right down to it, a person's lack of talent would be the fault of the parents who brought them into the world.
But of course, no one would be wiling to hear that. They only cared about whether or not you could live up to expectations. In the new world, where having at least one high level mage was a necessity for any relavant noble family, children are merely investments made to secure the family's future.
"Screw all of this, my life is sh*t. Looks like I am destined to be a worthless piece of trash no matter where I go to". Levi thought aloud as he walked down the streets. His reason for still staying in this world had completely changed since the potential test.
Since staying at home was more or less asking for trouble from either Isabelle or Selina, Levi would take frequent strolls outside the count's estate and in the main city.
At first, the locals were quite shocked at the fact that the count's son was always taking strolls around the area, it made them wary.
But after some time, they got acquainted to seeing him and would just go about their daily life. Levi himself also wasn't exactly a warm person, so the locals that tried to socialize with him were chased away by his constant glaring and nasty personality.
Levi walked for some time, before entering an alley as he was clearly going somewhere. And that somewhere seemed to be quite the shady place.
Levi walked straight down the alley way, then he took two rights and one left, all the while looking around for any tailers. He reached a rundown bar with a metallic door and knocked.
*Knock*knock*
The knocking itself seemed to have some sort of enough,pattern.Soon a pair of eyes emerged from the doors slit and asked:
"Password".
"We don't sell alcohol". Levi promptly replied.
The gaze of the man lingered on him for a few more moments then the door opened and Levi walked in.
Inside the place reeked of cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. This was the only establishment in the entire town that provided amenities for ALL age groups, it was also Levi's favorite chilling spot.
Levi went up to the counter and sat down, then he ringed the bell a few times. A few seconds later, a man emerged from behind the curtains. The man had black hair with streaks of red, he wore an eye patch on his missing left eye and the other one had black pupils. The man had a good build and wore a waiters uniform while smoking a cigarette, he was the owner of this establishment.
"Hoho, if it isn't the prodigal son". The man with the eye patch teased.
"Drop it, Stan. You're teasing a twelve year old, do you have no shame". Levi asked, his mood already getting lighter.
"Hahahaha! A twelve year old? You gotta be kidding me! What kinda twelve year old leaves his fancy mansion to come to a sh*t hole like this one? Hahaha".
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, call me anything you like".
"So...prodigal son. What can I get for you today?" Stan asked. He already knew what Levi's reply would be, but he still asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Just the usual".
"Alright. I'll be back with your order.....sir". He added while smirking, he then disappeared through the curtains to get Levi's order.
He soon reappeared, with Levi's order in hand. It was a jar of non alcoholic wine with a plate of beef at the side.
Levi wasn't the kind of person who would get involved with underage drinking or gambling. He just liked this spot very much since they didn't discriminate and nobody here gave a damn about who his father was.
In this place, everybody treated everybody like cr*p, the food being tasty was just a bonus.
As soon as Stan dropped the food in front of Levi, he dug into it and started eating hungrily.
"Woah there kid. You acting like you didn't have breakfast this morning".
"Well, thats cuz I didn't. The atmosphere was too tense for me to enjoy my food properly, so I just ate a little then left. So, I more or less skipped breakfast". Levi said.
"Wow, you skipped breakfast? Won't your family start wondering how your still growing properly even after skipping meals like that?". Stan looked at Levi meaningfully and Levi returned the gaze for some time before saying:
"Don't worry about it Stan, those bastards don't give a damn about whether I'm dead or alive. You and your 'legitimate business' are safe".
"Well that's a relief". Stan said, smiling.
They engaged in a little more idle chatter before a customer called for Stan.
"Well, see you later kid. Enjoy your meal, I gotta attend to my 'legitimate business'". He winked at Levi then left.
Levi ate the food like a hungry man, clearing his plate in minutes. He called Stan again and asked him for yet another serving of the same meal which Levi ate happily before downing the jar of non alcoholic beverage.
After his meal, Levi was finally satisfied, he paid Stan 30 copper coins for the meal then proceeded to leave. As he was about to leave the bar, he bumped into another person.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!" The man spat venomously, his breath reeked of alcohol and drugs with his shiny yellow teeth on full display.
Levi didn't even spare him a second glance and simply ignored the grown man who was throwing a tantrum and tried to leave, but the man wasn't about to allow a kid to walk all over him like that.
"Hey! I'm still talking to you". The man said while holding Levi's hand, preventing the latter from going any further.
The man in question had a scrawny build, his skin was of a brown shade and so was his hair and his eyes were black. Overall, he had below average looks and wore rags.
"Do you think it's right to bump into someone like that and not apologize, just because you're nobility?" He said with a smug expression, he was short but he still stood a good head taller than the twelve year old Levi
Levi looked at the man with contempt, he then looked around the bar to check if he had any allies but nobody was moving, not even Stan instead they had all fallen silent and were looking expectantly at the two men. The spectators didn't care about either men's status, to them this was merely free entertainment.
"Listen up kid, it ain't in my best interest to be beating up children. Apologize and hand over all your money, then I'll let you go". The man said, he was leaning forward to add some pressure on Levi, but the latter just remained completely unfazed.
"I should hand over all of my money...you must be joking". Levi said, he had become cold. His voice sounded calm, but his tone oozed malice.
"Oh, you think this is a joke? Let's see how you feel after this..." The man said while throwing a right at his opposition.
Levi responded by dodging to the left. The man threw another punch, this time a left but Levi responded by ducking to the other direction.
"Hmph, stand and fight me like a man!". The other man shouted while throwing yet another sloppy punch. Levi ducked under to avoid the fist, and immediately tackled the man's legs throwing him to the floor and also didn't waste any time in assuming a position directly above the other man.
Now he had the advantage.
"It's my turn now". Levi said with a smirk.
*POW*POW*POW!*
He started pummeling the man, he threw a barrage of fists at the man's face breaking his nose and severely injuring other facial organs. But even though Levi was clearly the victor of this short skirmish, he didn't stop pummeling his opponent until the victim spoke up.
"I-i gib..... pleab..b-bare me..." The man said, he had already lost numerous teeth and could no longer speak properly.
Levi threw one more punch at his opponents face before finally getting up.
"That's what you get for screwing with me..." Levi said.
He ignored the loud chants and cheers of the spectators who were satisfied with the short match before turning to leave the bar. Levi may not have a good build or technique for fighting, but he definitely knew how to get down and dirty.