A floating island; surrounded by nothingness. On it stood two fighters. One of them was an almost ***** young human boy, seemingly no older than twenty years old. Despite his young outlook, he was well built but also had many minor, bleeding scars all over his body. The boy had long silver hair reaching his shoulders. He had green eyes, which were glaring forward. He was not wearing any shirt, and he had many scars, mainly around his hands and some over his shoulders. In his right hand, the man was holding a sword. His sword was slightly transparent and was entirely light green. And this man's name was Nolin.

As for the other fighter, he had a shape of a human being; however, his entire body was white, except his eyes which were glowing red. That strange being also had a sword in his grip; similarly to the man in front of him, it was transparent, but it was red.

"This is the end!"

Shouted Nolin as he pointed his sword at the man before him.

"You have taken EVERYTHING from me... Now I am here to avenge my loved ones and get revenge for all the suffering you have put me through!"

"Suffering? Hah! I think you are the lucky one! You have been given a second chance at life AND get to survive. Since you did a splendid job, I am willing to offer you another job."

Stated the being and his voice echoed around the large floating island.

"Lucky? How so? You have taken me from my previous life; even if that was not a perfect one, you ruined that for me! Then you also ruined my life here! HOW can anyone call that lucky?!"

"It seems you have grown a lot since you came here, but you still lack the wisdom to understand it. I am asking once again, but this will be the last time, so choose wisely! Will you do my bidding? Or will you go against my will and fail miserably."

"I'd rather die!"

Shouted Nolin and dashed forward. However, suddenly, the being appeared behind him, and he was no longer able to move.

"It appears you have already forgotten who I am... A mere mortal slaying me, a GOD?! Laughable!"

Declared the being, and the moment he said taht, Nolin was again able to move; however, his right hand fell off. Noling kneeled down and opened his left pal, and a red orb appeared in it, and without hesitation, he slammed it to his fresh wound, instantly stopping the bleeding.

"****..."

Said Nolin and quickly turned around to face the being. Nolin quickly opened his palm once again and extended his hand; however, the moment his hand moved forward, all of his fingers were separated from his hand. Before he could even register what was going on, the being appeared in front of him, grabbed him by the jaw and lifted him up.

"I do have to applaud for the level of power you have reached, but no matter how hard you try, it will not be enough. You should just..."

Commented the being, however, was interrupted because, although Nolin's hands were injured, the missing parts reappeared. They were green-coloured and slightly transparent, but he could use them. And without indecisiveness, Nolin smashed the being in the face, freeing himself from his grip.

"Don't underestimate me otherwise..."

Declared Nolin, but instantly regretted that he was being cocky as the being kicked him in the chest. Nolin slid away and was coughing blood; however, he was not given enough time to catch his breath as he was suddenly uppercut by the being who appeared right in front of him. Nolin was blasted upwards, but the moment he was about to fall back down, the being appeared next to him once again. The being grabbed Nolin's head and dragged it down at an incredible speed. Upon colliding with the island, the whole island was shattered into six larger parts.

The being was floating in mid-air, and he pulled Nolin up, who was unconscious after that impact. As the being looked at the boy, he started laughing and then stated.

"Who said you need to agree to do my bidding?!"

"I am not finished yet!"

Shouted Nolin and opened his eyes. Much to his surprise, he was lying in bed, and he was inside a room. The room looked quite plain. It had a  bed; next to it, a table and a chair, both made of wood. On the other side of the bed, a cane was placed. On the other side of the room, there was a wardrobe, and next to it, a large bookshelf filled with books.

"What the?! This is my room... But how? I thought I was taken from here; I thought I was dead here! I can't even remember how long it has been since I was summoned... I know one thing; I have been fighting tirelessly; thus, I was respected. I ceased to age after I was summoned, so I was able to fool my opponents; hah, great old times... but here?! Here I am, no one! A failure!"

Mumbled Nolin and sat up, then stood up but soon sat back down on his bed.

"Yes.. this is me... My leg is just as weak as it used to be... Hah... Now that I think about it, in this world, magic exists, but if my memory is correct, it is quite primitive due to technological improvements. My past self was bad at magic, but I am not my past self; I am me with a knowledge of a different world! I will get strong and defeat taht fucking self-proclaimed god! But I don't know how that would be possible..."

Continued mumbling Nolin but paused for a moment, and then he grabbed his cane and stood up. He then walked over to his table and sat down.

"As far as I know, the highest rank recorded in history was tier ten... I only managed to reach tier nine, I was almost able to reach the tenth tier, but even then, I don't think I would stand a chance. No matter, I will find a level which will allow me to defeat taht fucker; I will not die until I get him!"

Said Nolin, and then he stared at his table. On it, there were a few books and his phone. After a few minutes of staring, Nolin grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It was five in the morning.

"I think I will have to go to school, and since I am still at home, it should mean that time didn't really pass while I was in that another world. But it does mean that I will have to go to school and learn again... I still  have some time before I have to go, so I might as well go for a walk... judging by my leg's condition, I will have to climb the tier list once again, but this time it will be faster!"

Monologued Nolin, and then walked over to his wardrobe and got dressed. He didn't have many clothes, so he quickly grabbed the first shirt and trousers he could find and got it over with.

"Maybe I should bring my bag... I might not be able to come back and then go to school in time... not that I would like to go..."

Mumbled Nolin and grabbed his bag, which was also in his wardrobe. Then he walked over to his table, grabbed his phone and left his house. The streets were mostly empty since it still quite dark outside.

"It is great... the fresh air feels so great. It is not mixed with the blood of others, or smoke, or anything else. It is quite pleasant. Also, it will make my things easier; somehow, the mana here is a bit denser and purer."

Said Nolin while he was walking, and as he was walking, a slight smile appeared on his face, but it soon faded. Nolin was walking for quite some time before he spotted a park. He decided to head there and sat down on a bench.

"I need to cure my leg, I didn't even walk for 30 minutes, yet my leg is shaking and hurts."

Said Nolin, and he rubbed his right leg. Then he closed his eyes and stayed like that for a few minutes, then finally he took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Maybe I should progress this time slowly instead of rushing things... Maybe with a stronger foundation... things would have been different."

Said Nolin, and he quickly looked at his phone.

"I still have plenty of time before school; maybe I should start laying the foundation down and finish it during classes."

Thought Nolin and once again closed his eyes. For an outsider, it would have seemed like he was sleeping. But in reality, he was concentrating and focusing. Meanwhile, time flew by quickly; soon, the city woke up, and more and more people went outside. More and more people visited the park, but most of them were only walking through it; however, some sat down and just enjoyed the scenery and the fresh air. Time flew by, but Nolin was suddenly interrupted. A girl around his age grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Nolin opened his eyes and coldly glared at the girl.

The girl had very long blond hair and light blue eyes and was wearing a fancy, glimmering outfit. And she had sunglasses in her right hand.

"I don't know who taught you this crapy technique but stop it this instant! You will hurt yourself! You should be more careful!"

Shouted the girl and glared back at Nolin.

"Hurt myself!? I don't think so; also, who are you? Also, I am not in the mood right now, so please leave me alone."

"What you are doing is not right! It is not the usual technique that is being taught at school! It was most likely..."

"Look, I said I am not in the mood. Also, why do you care about me? Who am I to you? So please leave me alone."

"Fine, do as you wish, but don't blame me if you end up dying!"

Said the girl and left. As she left, Nolin took another deep breath and looked at his phone.

"I still have some time before school starts, but I guess I should get there before time, just in case something happens."

"It is only me yet... I was faster than I thought."

Said Nolin as he entered the classroom. He walked over to one of the tables on the side and sat down, and then he closed his eyes.

The classroom itself was nothing too fancy; it had five main columns and six rows altogether for students. At the front of the classroom was the table for the teacher, and behind it was a large board. As time went by soon, the students started to arrive, and Nolin decided to lean onto the table as if he was sleeping. And then eventually, the class started. For the first three lessons, Nolin remained in his sleeping pose, and the teachers didn't really care, but things were different in the fourth lesson.

"Everyone, please pay attention! Although I know you will most likely not use it, you still have to know about the following topic. So I want you to copy what I am about to draw onto the board! Don't forget that it must be exactly the same as mine!"

Said the teacher. He had short black hair, started to get bold around the top of his head, and had a slight scrub under his nose. The teacher also had slightly damaged glasses. As the teacher finished talking, he looked back at the board and started drawing.

"Today, we will continue learning about how a magic circle is used, created, and can be read! As I have previously said, every tiny bit of pattern is essential and could greatly alter the outcome of a spell. So try to copy everything without altering the symbols and how they are aligned!"

Explained the teacher and stepped away from the board. On the table, he drew a circle; in it, there was a much smaller circle, and around it, there were twelve symbols. Four of the symbols were tiny circles. These circles were located at 12, 3, 6 and 9'o clock. Between these circles were characters similar to "C". The ones on the right side of a circle faced towards the centre, while the ones on the left side of the circle faced outwards.

"Nolin, would you mind explaining and demonstrating what is on the table? Since you were asleep all this time, I presume it means that you already know everything!"

Said the teacher with a smug on his face, and he walked over to Nolin, who sat up as he heard his name and looked at the teacher.

"You heard it right! Explain what that magic circle is for, and demonstrate its usage. Don't forget your wand!"

Said the teacher, and his smug smile just grew wither.

"Oh, right... magic is so primitive that they need to use wands to do anything... Well, I will pretend that my cane is my wand!"

Thought to himself Nolin, and then stood up and walked over to the board. Once he was in front of the board, Nolin looked back at the teacher.

"Are you sure this is the correct circle you wanted to draw?"

"Yes, I am certain it is a very easy one, everyone who has learned magic should be able to use it!"

"Strange... I believe this particular circle if drawn correctly, should be quite difficult."

"What are you implying by, "If drawn correctly"? Are you saying it is not correctly drawn?"

"Yes, it is technically full of errors; at best, it can create some light, but not a strong light. I don't know who came up with this one, but that person must be an idiot. As..."

"Idiot? Do you have any idea whom you are calling an idiot? You, with your pathetic academic performance, dare to declare such a thing?! You are nothing but a disappointment! If you are so sure about taht, then prove it!"

Shouted the teacher as he clenched his fist and slammed it on Nolin's table. As for Nolin, his eyes started glowing slightly, but after he took a deep breath, the glow dissipated.

"And what will I gain if I show you the correct formula?"

"You dare talk back to me?!"

Shouted the teacher and quickly drew his wand and pointed at Nolin. Those who sat in the front all stood up and walked behind the teacher.

"Yes, the teacher is right! Who do you think you are? You have proven nothing! You don't even have your wand with you; how do you expect us to believe you know better than the professionals!"

Shouted one of the students, and the teacher's anger vanished and instead, his smug smile returned.

"I will have to teach you a lesson! Degrading others' work without the proper backing is not appreciated! You and your mother should just accept reality!"

Said the teacher, and from his wand, a fast-moving red ball erupted and travelled towards Nolin and hit him. Upon impact, a large smoke appeared. The students quickly opened the windows.

"You are lucky I held back; at your current level, you would have died so ea..."

The teacher commented but suddenly stepped back, and his hand, in which he was holding the wand, started shaking. From the smoke, Nolin walked out and sat back in his seat, and looked at the teacher.

"Thanks for holding back."

Said Nolin, and he leaned back on his table. The teacher grabbed his shaking hand and looked back at the class, who were curiously looking at him.

"Class is over for today! You can go home!"

"But teacher, we barely started this lesson, and we still have two more and... "

"I said the class is over!"

The students were stunned but followed their teacher's words and left the classroom. Only the teacher and Nolin stayed in the classroom. After a few minutes, the teacher finally broke the silence.

"Who are you? And what did you do to me?!"

Questioned the teacher and grabbed Nolin's shoulder, who only smiled.

"You are the teacher; you should know better than me since I am just a failure! Thus I am unable to answer your question! Now, if you will excuse me, I will leave as well, since you said that the class is over, and we should leave. And as a good student, I am just doing that... Goodbye!"

Nolin brushed the teacher's hand off of his shoulder and stood up.

"Maybe you should have used your brain a bit more and should have paid more attention. There is a great expression which you should remember. Don't judge a book by its cover."

Said Nolin with a smile on his face, and he left the teacher in the classroom. Whose hand started shaking more and more, to the point he had to kneel down. And as the teacher looked at his hand, he noticed his veins were mostly visible around his palm, and they were slightly green.

"You just wait! I will show you that you shouldn't mess with me!"

Shouted the teacher and pushed himself up.