Sword God in a World of Magic

One month earlier, on Earth.

"Thank you for your loyal support, and please visit us again!"

A superficially cheerful voice shouted this phrase from a medium-sized grocery store. The phrase was targeted at a middle-aged man that was just leaving the store. The middle-aged man slightly waved one of his hands to show that he had heard, but he couldn't be bothered to answer.

As soon as the man left, the grocery store cashier sighed and went back to the cash register. The cashier was a young man with blonde hair, and he looked like he had just hit his 20s. A slight muscular frame was still visible when one looked at him from the back, but when looking at him from the front, one could only see a rather sizable beer belly.

Clack, thump, clack, thump!

As the cashier walked back to the cash register, the sound of his cane could be heard on the floor of the grocery store.

"Hello, welcome to Stevie's!" the cashier greeted with superficial politeness as he handled the next customer.

"Hard day at work, huh?" the young customer asked the cashier.

"It's alright," the cashier answered with a slight chuckle. "Everyone has to make a living."

However, these words didn't reflect the cashier's real feelings.

'This fucking grocery store is killing me, I swear!' he thought as he "happily" bagged the groceries. 'Every day with the same shit. Alex, do this! Alex, do that! I swear, when I've saved up enough money for college, I'm going to burn this place to the ground!'

Of course, these were only thoughts created in a stressful situation. Alex knew that he wouldn't really do it.

This cashier was Alexander Hoffmann.

Alex for short.

Alex's life hadn't always been like this.

He had had a bright future ahead of him in the past.

Sadly, life didn't go his way.

On the urging of his father, Alex started doing sports when he was 12. After all, doing sports while growing was very beneficial to the development of a teenager.

Alex's father was a huge fan of the MNFA, the Multinational Fighting Association.

The MNFA let fighters from nearly all disciplines of martial arts fight each other with the least rules possible. So, in short, it was an organization that handled mixed martial arts fights, MMA for short.

Alex had also grown to like watching these fights, and when his father urged him to do some sports, Alex decided that he wanted to do MMA.

His parents' feelings were mixed on that subject.

On one hand, it was great that their child was finally doing some sports, but MMA could get pretty dangerous if something wasn't handled correctly.

However, since it was not professional MMA and since there were several coaches around in the local gym, they agreed.

Some time later, when Alex had had his first practice fight against another kid in the gym, he got his ass handed to him. Yet, this experience awakened a certain kind of stubbornness in him, an urge to win.

Sadly, he lost the next couple of practice matches too. Well, one couldn't really consider these matches a loss since they weren't real matches. They were simply some sparring between two students.

Yet, when Alex didn't clearly win a fight, he saw it as a loss.

Alex had already planned to change sports and join another one since it felt frustrating to see how everyone was better than himself. Yet, he wanted to win at least one time!

So, he continued training, and eventually, he won.

When Alex won, he felt something that he had never felt before.

It was a kind of indescribable high!

He felt like he was floating on clouds, and he felt like he was the greatest in the world!

The feeling of fighting, which had always annoyed him since his body hurt after it, transformed into the polar opposite.

This feeling of fighting others wasn't annoying.

It was simply a clash between men!

They were showcasing their power in a very primal fashion!

Alex wanted to feel this feeling again!

Alex stayed in the gym and even came more often. MMA had transformed from a chore into a hobby. The pain of sore muscles became a familiar pain that Alex even started to enjoy. It sounded cheesy, but the common phrase of every single sports coach in the world resonated with Alex.

"Pain is simply weakness leaving your body!"

As the years passed, Alex completely focused on MMA. Even his grades started to drop, which had already been average to begin with. Alex wasn't stupid, but he never paid attention in school and didn't learn anything.

Stuff like math and physics was still okay since he could often deduce the correct answers logically, which was why those grades didn't suffer much. However, subjects like history and foreign languages had it far worse since one had to actually learn for these things.

Alex had a ton of arguments with his parents over this, but Alex always said that his future was MMA. He would join the MNFA, and he would earn a ton of money!

school but decided against going

MMA was his future!

as hard

entire life depended on his

manage to get

just after Alex's

greatest

was about to

match pretty easily since his first opponent was pretty weak. His horrible win-loss record proved

match, but it

struck at

back and forth, and he and his opponent were pretty

the

fighting from a distance since no one managed to find a good opening to tackle the other one to the ground.

CRACK!

barely recovered before the kick struck,

elbow

immediately broke, and the medics jumped into the

Alex got the news that his bones had damaged the nerves

that would allow him to walk somewhat normally with the support of a cane, but that was it. There was nothing more they

Alex's career was over.

his life,

a sum of money from his three fights, but he basically wasted all

His life was over.

There was nothing anymore.

he had to stop being such a pussy. One year was more

save

years old, and he was working in a grocery

the lowest low, Alex was still young, and he knew that he could still make something of his life.

college, and

up the place, Alex left at around 10 pm. It was already dark out, but the streets were well lit. After all, Alex

how long he had lived here, he simply couldn't

part of the city was for low-income families, and the state of the streets reflected

old newspapers,

a common sight on these

barely a kilometer away, a distance where people argued if they should drive

walking since he wanted to keep his living costs as low as possible. Additionally, Alex somewhat

he looked at a couple of cigarette butts

bin

on!' he thought. 'The

of the closest building. He hated these people that treated the streets

some minutes, Alex heard the sound of a whining

wasn't the usual sound

high-pitched, painful, and desperate. Obviously, the dog was

this city, but that sound definitely wasn't

dog and found it in a dark alleyway between two

at the edge of the streetlamps'

Blood.

Bone.

Alex's face as he saw the dog. Both of its hindlegs were severely broken. He could see blood coming out of its legs, and he could even

it was in so much

have a pet, but he also didn't hate animals. It was nice to look at and interact with them, but he didn't want to bear the responsibility of owning a

top of that, pets were

injury. A slight pain came from his ankle as

end, Alex

bring you to a vet, but I won't pay much for

alleyway and closed in on the dog. The dog didn't move and only continued

"Don't move!"

of adrenaline rushing

a knife at his

hold of him, but he calmed down somewhat when he felt a hand hurriedly

'A robbery,' Alex thought.

for two seconds, but his old fighting instincts kicked

Yet, Alex didn't attack.

was essential to analyze the opponent first. Otherwise, mistakes were

the robber. He wore a black hoody and black sweatpants. It was hard to make out his facial features in the darkness while looking at him from such an awkward

at the arm

much force that his arm is shaking, and the knife is also not directly touching my neck. He's probably new at this. Additionally, his arm is basically touching my

the appearance and condition of

me into this alleyway. A

slight smirk

chose

BANG!

robber. At the same time, Alex violently shoved his shoulder upward,

a

in just as much pain, but as a former