I, Akira Tsukishiro..

“I can’t believe these demons are this strong!”. My name is Akira Tsukishiro, a 24 year-old mage who can only defeat lesser demons. I have struggled hard to kill the weakest enemy ever since I've dropped out of the magic school. Using a basic ‘Fast-step’ skill, I accelerate behind the lesser demon, most commonly called ‘Drowning Soul’ and deliver a blow from behind its shoulders with my blunt, battle-worn dagger.

“What are you doing, idiot!! Go and keep our goods safe instead of bothering our fight!” yelled the Party leader, Hammer Head.

Since, I'm not a licensed mage, the only Guild who accepted me are ‘the Hammer Heads’, a D-Rank scavenging party of mages with their leader, Hammer head Oji-San, a C-Rank old man with an unusual love for hammer head sharks, to the point where he made his own life built around it. Even his armor resembles a shark head, and his magic is a water hammer that deals deadly blows to the enemy it touches.

“You’re useless against these demons, don’t bother.” said the son of Hammer head Oji-San, ‘Sting ray’ Roshan, a E-rank Lancer with a terrible attitude and aim, he uses spear-shaped water objects. He doesn’t fight better than me, but he gets treated better by other party members because he’s the son of the leader.

‘What a scum’ I muttered to myself.

“HUH!! Did I hear you say something?!” Roshan replied.

“Ah! Nothing.. hahaha , I'll guard the bags as you wish.. Excuse me.”

“You really are weak, huh? Hammer Head Oji-San picked this spot because there’s only weak demons here but it seems like you can’t even handle that. Well, no problem because I’ll protect you. Don’t worry.” said the D-rank Assassin, ‘Jellyfish’ Iori, who uses wind magic to float and move faster to kill demons.

Iori is a decent person compared to the other two but he still doesn’t know not to kick a person when they’re down.

I took a seat near the bags, full of food supplies and medical aid which we bought before arriving at the warp gate area. Since the gate that opened here is too small for anyone to enter, It’s been classified as a E-rank warp gate by the Magic Guild Association (MGA), and left to be dealt with by any guild who is willing to clean up the lesser demons which enter our world through this gate.

In a society where Guild and Mage ranks are everything, I’m just a nobody who dropped out of Kyoto Academy of Magic in my final year. I couldn’t handle the stress. Magic Guild Association doesn’t give Mage license to drop-outs.

For 24 years of my life, I never felt like I belonged with anyone. Everyone assumed that I’m not important enough to be considerate when they talk to me, so they took advantage of me as much as they could.

And I played along. I didn’t want to stand out from the crowd. It’ll only bring more attention to me. Attention meant trouble.

“Like a frog in the warm pot of water..” I sighed. Well, this is my life now. I guess I'll quit trying to become a mage and focus on my part time job.

I earn way more when I’m cleaning retail store shelves, than tagging along on a Guild raid like I’m doing right now.

Just when I’m thinking that the raid was over, a cold, sharp pressure burst through my chest. I tried to scream, but only a wet gurgle escaped my throat as blood filled my vision.

I was thrown to a tree branch, piercing me from behind.

I looked around to find everyone else had been massacred to bits. There’s blood everywhere.

Hammer Head Oji-San, Roshan, Iori, they were all killed in an instant by a dozen demons. Possibly, A to S-rank by their demeanor.

Even though it would seem like I never liked the Hammer Heads, they were still the only ones who gave me a place to stay when I slept in parks. My family in Saitama prefecture were killed by a sudden warp gate, back when I was 19 years old.

“O-Oji-San..”

Hammer head Ojisan was the only person who is considered ‘family’ to me. Roshan is an idiot but he still took care of me like a brother and shared his room with me. Iori is the only one who could be called a ‘friend’. He always asked me how I’m doing every time he visited us.

“Roshan.. Iori..”

I was content with my life, even if it was pathetic. I looked for Hammer Head Oji-San, whose corpse is being eaten by a large ogre looking demon.

“Damn it all!!!” I picked my blunt dagger and forced my legs to run towards the demons to attack.

I’ll die here. Powerless, Pathetic, and a fool to the world but at least, I'll die by my own terms. But.. But, just this once.. I want to live again. If only I had taken my chances and lived how I wanted..

A bright light blinded me, as I felt like I'm dropping through a void. At that moment, I felt a silver pendant with a small clock grasping my fingers.

“I must’ve died. It’s all over, huh?.. Well.. at least in the next life, I'll do my best.”

“Ou.. oh!! This kid is alive! He is muttering something!”
“Nurse! Come here, check his pulse!”

I open my eyes to find myself in a hospital ward. The nurse gave me some juice, and told me that I was met with an accident during a combined raid training with Shin Sekai, the No.1 Guild of Japan.

I remember that ‘raid training’ with Shin Sekai. It happened when I was 17 in my final year at Kyoto Academy of Magic.

“Wait, what year and day is it now?” I asked the nurse.

“You’re a student, right? Stop joking. Here, this pendant must be costly. It was discovered on your person when you were admitted here.” replied the nurse and kept the odd, clock pendant by my bed side, turned on the TV and left.

The Live TV news is broadcasting the Shin Sekai x Kyoto Academy of Magic raid training, with the date and year denoting 7 years ago which was back when I used to be 17.

I looked at my lean arms and legs. I turned the TV off, and looked at my own reflection.

“I really have become young.. How could this be..?”

I took the clock pendant, and examined it. I have never seen this artifact before.

“I touched this pendant before death, this must be the cause of my regression!”

Outside the hospital, the miracle of Akira's survival draws attention. Some members of Japan’s top guild, Shin Sekai guild stand outside to safeguard the hospital from Media reporters .

In this new timeline caused by Akira’s regression, Shin Sekai rescued the 17 year-old Akira, and admitted him to the hospital ward. Akira’s injuries were kept secret from the public and his own family because it will damage the prestigious Shin Sekai Guild and Kyoto academy of magic’s reputation.

In the shadows of the hospital shelter, a man hidden in darkness talks.

“He couldn’t have survived. That kid’s injuries were worse by the time I arrived.”

“Well, maybe it's just sheer luck, Amaterasu. They aren’t all geniuses like you to never worry about surviving. It's a hard-knock life for regular people.” replied the Supervisor of Shin Sekai, a lean old man with a cigar and all the nice things in life.

Amaterasu is the S-rank mage of Japan. The strongest of the strongest in the country.

“You should keep an eye on the kid. Something seems odd. I feel like he is a demon in disguise.”

The old man took a whiff of the cigar and coughed. “Come on.. He is just a nobody who clung to his dear life! I checked his school records, he is a remarkably unimportant student in school. It’s a surprise how he even survived this long in Kyoto academy to begin with!”.

Amaterasu wasn’t convinced with the supervisor, he gazes out into the rain.

Back at the hospital ward, The pendant activates from Akira’s touch.

“What the.. Everything froze..”

I moved around the room, and a pigeon was sitting by the window. I got closer and touched.

“Ouchh!..” Time resumed again and the bird flapped off my arm against the metal bars of the window. My whole body feels heavier than before, I feel the blood rushing through my brain.

I instinctively learned the rules of this pendant’s powers: 10 seconds of frozen time, where I can move during the freeze, but when time resumes, my muscles take a heavy toll.

And ever since touching the pendant, my body has been healing faster than what an ‘Heal’ spell could do. I tested the limits carefully in the hospital room.

“I don’t know what other abilities this pendant hides and I have a feeling that I only scratched the surface with this ‘time freeze’ skill..”

I will get stronger with the chance given by this pendant artifact. More importantly, my real family is still alive and the Hammer Heads are probably alive as well, though they wouldn’t recognise me if I met them.

“Yes.. This settles it.” I’ll become the Top mage in the world and solve the mystery of the warp gates, along with the secret of this pendant. I’ll save my family and undo every wrong choice I made, even if I need to push through a mountain of pain.

This is the only chance to fix my life.

“But first, I’ll have to train my body harder than before. Alright, My training starts tomorrow!”