[Arthur's POV]

What is a miserable life?

My earliest memory is of my three-year-old self being abandoned on the street. How I got there, I have no recollection.

I learned in a harsh way that to survive you need to depend on yourself. I called out… hell! I cried out for money, for food.

But who would care about a dirty little abandoned thing that stinks like shit?

Haa.

From a young age, my eyes were opened to reality. I knew that to survive; I needed to shed off my old skin; and let off my childish mentality if not I would just end up dead without a corpse.

And adapted I did!

To survive, I had to steal. At times I got away with it, but most times I just ended up getting beat to near death.

Hell! I even picked up some weird fetishes after watching the interaction of men with their women on the street at night, seeing how the ladies are touched here and there…

Ah! That was the only upside of my life.

But everything changed completely one day in a dark alley.

As usual, to eat, I ended up stealing from one of my favorite food clients... though he enjoys beating me to near death whenever I get caught.

As fate would have it this day, I ended up getting caught again. But my now seven years old ass was used to this routine, so to me, it was nothing new.

I opened my now swollen eyes into tiny slits as I gazed at the fat man, flashing him my blood-stained teeth that seems to convey 'You beat me. Now what? I will still end up stealing from you again'.

As the fat man saw my expression, he brought his right hand behind him and he seemed to pull something from his pants.

'Huh… isn't that a knife?' my swollen eyes opened abruptly.

"You little punk, I am fed up with you. Do think I don't dare to kill you?" said the fat man with an enraged face. "You seem to enjoy pain… huh?"

"Then I will let you have your fill of it before your death," he said as he conjured up fire on his left hand and placed the knife into it until it became scalding red.

I looked up at him with a blank face, my brain still not registering what was going on.

As I saw him un-summon the flame, stretch out his left hand to my face, and open my left swollen eye fully while bringing the hot knife closer towards it with a wicked grin on his face… I could not help but think 'If my life is not miserable then what is?'

My eyes were already lifeless even before I felt any pain. I wanted to cry but even tears refused to shed... it felt like it also abandoned me. The pain in my heart was so stifling that I couldn't breathe...yet I did not bother struggling because I realized that there was no need.

'Why?' I asked myself.

As if replying to my question, I felt a small flame lit up in my lower abdomen.

Huh? Before I could wrap my head around what had just happened, the hot knife was a few inches from my eye. As I looked up with horror, a silver aura emanated from the small flame and wrapped around my entire body as I felt my world turn around.

No, that's wrong! It felt like I was flying but with no air around.

When I felt the sensation stop, I looked up and saw no one. I looked around and found myself near a lake.

'Huh?'

….

I later found out that I finally awakened my magic... space magic.

It felt surreal. Like I was given a new lease on life with some kind of extravagant power.

The next few years of my life became somewhat easier. I still stole to eat, but only from our favorite fat vendor. I would always teleport before I got caught, frustrating him to no end. Once he even coughed up blood from anger, but I ignored it and continued with my revenge.

Hell! I even made it a hobby to touch mature women at night with my soft, small hands. I would always teleport out fast though before they even caught a sniff of me, earning myself the title 'invisible imp'.

'Huhahaha!' Space magic is the best man.

Or so I taught until a few days back, I found out that space magic is looked down on. Apparently, aside from the teleportation skill, the element itself is barely useful.

So, in the army and even in the adventurer's guild, people with space magic are barely useful. Aside from running away with your life in a time of danger and building space portals in kingdoms, the magic itself is useless.

Do you know how it feels like to think that your life is miserable, then you found out that you are blessed with a special power making you feel like you are a protagonist with a new lease on life, only to end up finding out that the so-called 'special power' is actually 'crap'?

It felt like a bird dung its crap on my face!

During my period of anger and reproach, I heard the information that there would be a tournament in the faraway mystical 'Goldsborn kingdom'.

I don't know about the others, but when it comes to space magic, there are many ways I can make use of it. Perhaps it is because of my talent or something else, but I don't really care.

I decided to show the world what I could do with my space powers and make myself known around the world.

And this brings us to the present where I make my debut in the Goldsborn kingdom.

….

In the coliseum.

The duke had a deep frown on his face as he commanded with authority, "Someone throw this beggar out of here!"

Two guards appeared on the stage as they made their way toward me.

'Heh' With a sneer on my face, I thought to myself 'beggar, huh?'

I didn't wait for them, though. I ran towards them while calling out with vigor "LET'S GO!"

*****

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