Sword God in a World of Magic

Chapter 2 - Alex

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 couldnʼt 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 Stevieʼs!” the cashier greeted with superficial politeness as he handled the next customer.

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

”Itʼs alright,” the cashier answered with a slight chuckle. ”Everyone has to make a living.”

However, these words didnʼt reflect the cashierʼs real feelings.

ʼThis fucking grocery store is killing me, I swear!ʼ he thought as he ”happily” bagged the groceries. ʼEvery day with the same shit. Alex, do this! Alex, do that! I swear, when Iʼve saved up enough money for college, Iʼm going to burn this place to the ground!ʼ

Of course, these were only thoughts created in a stressful situation. Alex knew that he wouldnʼt really do it.

This cashier was Alexander Hoffmann.

Alex for short.

Alexʼs life hadnʼt always been like this.

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

Sadly, life didnʼt 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.

Alexʼs 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 parentsʼ 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 wasnʼt 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 couldnʼt really consider these matches a loss since they werenʼt real matches. They were simply some sparring between two students.

Yet, when Alex didnʼt 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 wasnʼt 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 wasnʼt stupid, but he never paid attention in school and didnʼt learn anything.