In the kingdom of Rolar, humans were the supreme race. They existed above the lesser race of beast kin.
The capital of Rolar, Rivia was located to the north of the second great capital, Rold.
Felix was born and raised in Rivia. Though his upbringing was harsh as he was born a beast kin. Life is ultimately unfair. But many other people shared Felix's fate, and due to them having a common enemy, these people, the beast kin had a close bond with each other.
After living in this world for two days, Felix had figured out that that was not the case for him.
S M A C K
"DID YOU SNEAK SOME OF MY FOOD, YOU RUNT!?"
The voice was raw—slurred and hoarse—but it came with force. The backhand sent Felix stumbling into a cracked wooden wall, splinters biting his back.
Alex blinked through the pain, his cheek already swelling. He looked up. The man in front of him reeked of stale beer and piss. Unshaven. Mean-eyed. A monster in a man's skin.
He looked like Felix.
Which made it worse.
Alex, no, Felix—felt something squirm in his gut. Not fear, not exactly. A leftover fear. Something from the old Felix, the one who used to flinch at the sound of that voice.
And something else…
A gnawing, awful hollowness. A yearning for affection that wasn't there anymore.
Alex hated it. He hated feeling this. Hated that this body still wanted love from someone like him.
He clenched his jaw. "I didn't touch your food."
But Felix's mouth said something else.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I hadn't eaten fo—"
CRASH.
A bottle shattered against the wall behind his head, glass raining like a cruel reminder. He flinched anyway.
"If I wanted to waste my damn money on food for two, I would," the drunk snarled, eyes heavy, half-lidded. He wobbled as he spoke. Maybe he'd pass out soon. If Felix was lucky.
Alex gritted his teeth. His fists curled at his sides. This wasn't his life. This wasn't supposed to be his life.
He wasn't supposed to be weak.
"Then why do you keep me around?"
He said it louder than he meant to.
And then softer, he mouthed—
"Fucker."
The man didn't notice. Or maybe he didn't care. He was sinking into the chair, muttering nonsense now, fingers twitching as he reached for a bottle that was already empty.
Felix stayed utterly still until he heard the sound of snoring.
After he did, he got up and glared at the man.
After a long minute of silence, he sighed and scowled, his eyes glistening. Why did this happen to him?
"Hey god, I didn't really mean it when I wished to transmigrate". He said looking up.
"Especially not into a shitty world I didn't even fully write!", he yelled.
The passed out man kept on snoring, unbothered by the noise.
Felix's stomach grumbled. The slice of stale bread he had eaten hadn't done anything to sate his hunger.
Then a fragment of Felix's memory surfaced.
———
It was a random morning. Felix had just endured a beating from his father. He was starving. He was hurt. And he was 'hurt'.
He had been crying and walking for a while. Every person around him had avoided him, they weren't fortunate enough to help themselves, they wouldn't waste time on him.
But, even in mud, you can find a pearl.
A woman, beast kin. She had blue hair and matching eyes, maybe. The memory was blurry.
She saw him, gasped and instantly applied some weird paste on the wound on his face.
She had said to him to come by her stand if he ever needed help. But he wouldn't, he didn't want to leave his father…
———
Good thing that Felix was gone. Alex was in control now.
Felix walked up to the passed out drunk man and shoved his hand into his pocket. He found a few coins, he didn't know what they were worth, he had never really made a currency system for any kingdom.
He walked out of the house without looking back.
He referred back to his memories and followed the path to the stall.
He walked awkwardly, whether that was due to an injury or due to his inexperience with this body, only he knew.
The stall came into view and he saw the woman tending to a customer. She had whipped up something for him to drink. He thanked her before walking away.
"That's definitely her", he muttered to himself as he walked up to her.
She locked eyes with him and gained a surprised expression. "It's you! From two weeks ago!".
"Yeah, that's me", he said, smiling at her. It was awkward, a trait he had brought with him from his previous life.
Felix reached into his pocket and gave the coins to the woman. "Could this get me any food?"
The woman looked at the coins, her eyes darting quickly between them.
"This could probably get you two-three slices of bread… which I don't sell", the woman explained.
"I don't wish to get swindled, could you maybe help me out", Felix said, looking intently at her.
'Am I speaking too formally?' Felix in his previous life had always liked speaking properly, choosing to use slang only when with his friends. He was once told he sounded really arrogant and dismissive.
Thankfully, he seemed to be worried for nothing. "...Okay", the woman said. She then blurted out a few simple directions. "That's my house, Fenrir's probably at home, tell him his mom Layla sent you and to give you some food".
…
"So then I came here and waited for a bit. Then you came home"
"... That's some Grim level luck", Fenrir said. Grim was one of their friends, his real name sounded like some runic curse so they didn't bother trying to say it.
"Yeah…", he said, his smile waning. Of course his smile faded, he was just reminded of the life he was pulled away from.
"Hey man, this is like a giant opportunity. We literally got reincarnated into a world we made. We know it inside out, we could lowkey rule it eventually!", Fenrir exclaimed, his hands spread wide as if he were delivering a grand speech.
"Yeah… but what about the god level threats and factions who want to do the same thing?" Felix said, his arms crossed.
That made Fenrir calm down. "... We could probably take them. At least, I could", Fenrir said.
"And what exactly makes you more qualified than me?" Felix deadpanned.
Fenrir smirked, " 'Cus, I'm a water mage!".
"..."
"..."
"How many spells do you know?"
"...One"
"Tides edge?"
"Tides edge"
After that short dialogue, silence ensued for a while before the sound of Felix's hunger dispersed it.
"Got any food?"