Yesterday, my mother came to my castle. When she saw the dark circles under my eyes, she started to freak out. Honestly, that woman cares about me too much(not that I'm complaining, of course). I just haven't been getting too much sleep recently. There has been an increasing number of nortals in the area. They have been pillaging villages and destroying entire buildings, eating whatever they could get their scaly hands on.

Speaking of reptilian bastards, the nobles have begun trying to pressure me into abandoning my son, George. Can you believe that? Just because he was born out of wedlock, they feel it is necessary to abandon him to protect my image in front of the citizens. What hypocrites! Did they think of their image when they kidnapped women to put in their harems?

I wish I could just pick up my sword and execute all of them for their misdeeds. Ha! That would certainly fix my image in front of the citizens!

-Excerpt from the Mad King Julius's journal when he was 46 years old.

A blonde-haired boy wrapped his shoulder around a petite girl. Smiling brightly, he affectionately kissed her cheek before speaking, "Hey, have you heard about Dion?"

"The orphan?" The girl's eyes glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Although they had been dating for months, she still felt too shy to be romantic in public.

"Do you know another person whose full name is Dionysus?" He pinched her cheek.

"No, but you can never be too sure. Anyways, what happened to him?" She glared at him while rubbing her cheek.

"He got full marks on the benchmark test!"

The girl looked at the boy, confused.

"That's impressive, but why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"You don't understand," the boy replied while shaking his head, "He never used to pay attention to his grades before. He barely passed each class and was frequently tardy and absent. Since a week ago, however, it's like he became a completely different person! He pays attention in class and It's actually freaking me out!"

The girl started to twirl her hair as she started to think.

"Maybe he awakened a superpower?"

"If he awakened a superpower, why wouldn't he apply to be a sidekick?" the boy spoke in disbelief.

"Not everyone wants to be a superhero like you, Damien. Some people just want to be safe. Plus, who says that his ability is combat-related? He could have just awakened a memory-based ability".

"I guess you're right, Nora. It still freaks me out though!"

At the moment, the boy they were speaking about, Dion, was flipping through a thick textbook, frequently scribbling down notes on a sheet of paper by his side.

Briinnng!

Dion sighed before leaning back and answering the phone call.

"Dionysus! Why aren't you back yet?" Immediately after answering the phone, a loud, shrill voice sounded out, almost bursting his eardrums.

"I'm studying in the library!"

"Hah! Don't make me laugh! YOU? In the library? Just come back to the orphanage quickly."

"Fine," he said as he hung up the phone.

He leaned back and started balancing his chair on two legs. After staring blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds, he got up, picked up his backpack, and started to leave.

It had been one week since he had gained control of this body. One week since his sixteenth birthday, when he had 'gained conciousness'.

"Haah...what did I do in my life to have reincarnated into this lazy asshole? I was a law-abiding citizen that never hesitated to help others in their time of need. I should be reincarnated as the son of a wealthy and strong noble who began practicing martial arts at the age of 4. Then, I would slowly grow into a powerhouse that would steamroll all others, eventually becoming the strongest in the world! Instead, I was reincarnated into a penniless orphan who never took action to improve his life."

He said goodbye to the librarian before promptly leaving. Although his school provided him wirh online versions of his textbooks, he preferred the printed versions as he felt like he could focus better when reading them.

As he walked, he took out a pair of headphones from his backpack before playing some music. As he jammed out to his music, he started to look around. Large skyscrapers cast shadows on the sidewalk, protecting Dion from the glaring summer sun. Smaller buildings surrounded the skyscrapers, selling a variety of items ranging from ice cream and food to clothes and appliances.

Boom!

Behind Dion, a large explosion destroyed the entire top of a skyscraper, rubble raining down on the road. Suddenly, the dust parted to reveal a cloaked person jumping out from the building. Shockingly, the person didn't fall down, and instead flew up, a black blur against the blue sky. A little while later, a man wearing a yellow cap flew out of the room and started to look around for the cloaked person. Unfortunately for him, the cloaked figure had already flown far away. The yellow caped man then went back to the building.

Dion, well out of the rang of the explosion, looked at the two floating men in awe. Although he knew of the existence of superpowers, this was the first time he had seen them, and as expected, they looked awesome. Granted, not all superpowers were as cool as flying in mid-air or causing explosion with a wave of a hand, but even then, Dion would kill to acquire a superpower.

When applying for a job, people with superpowers were granted priority over all other applicants and could even join a superhero organization as a sidekick. Sadly, unless he awakened, becoming a hero was a pipe dream.

Not willing to dilly-dally any longer, Dion sprinted back to the orphanage. The orphanage didn't look like much; it was a grey, two-story tall, cement building surrounded with thick metal gates. If one didn't know that it was an orphanage, they might just think that it was a research facility.

Hurrying into the building, making sure to close the gate behind him, he was met with a wrinkled old lady holding a metal ladle. Slowly smacking the ladle into her hand, she glared at Dion before motioned towards a wall.

Sighing, Dion bent over, placing his hand on the wall.

Smack!

The ladle smashed into Dion's arse, who took it without a single grunt. After around a dozen loud smacks, the lady's punishment ended and Dion could leave. Once he had entered his room and sprawled on his bed, he rubbed his ass and took out his phone.

"Once I get a job, I'm leaving this dump. Abusive caretakers and immature brats are as numerous as flies here!" He opened a file on his phone titled 'Beast Imitation Art'. Gaining superpowers wasn't the only way to get a job easily. One could also practice martial arts, reaching a level of physical fitness that could even match superpowers. The 'Beast Imitation Art' was a widespread technique that most martial arts practicioners practiced when they first started out.

Dion reached under his bed and took out a black bucket which was filled with copper sand, one of the cheapest, yet most effective sand to use for training.

He wrapped his hand in some cloth before straightening his fingers and bending his wrist. A few deep breaths later, his hand shot out, stabbing into the sand.He felt a sharp burning pain in his fingertips, which he promptly ignored as he continued to propel his hands into the sand. After a few dozen thrusts, he took out a syringe from his backpack and stabbed it into his arm before laying down on his bed.

A burning pain penetrated his body, causing Dion to ball his hands into fists. After a few minutes, the pain had receded and a cooling sensation flowed through his veins.

The Beast Imitation Art was one of the hardest techniques, mainly due to the tremendous amount of pain it causes. That isn't to say that other techniques were less painful, though. In fact, the better the technique, the more painful the training. The only reason Beast Imitation Art is free and widespread was because the creator couldn't find a suitable successor before he died. Not wanting his work to go to waste, he posted it on the internet, allowing anyone to practice it.

Dion grinned, "It seems that something good came out of reincarnating into a boy who gets beat up frequently!"

Because of his previous laziness, the caretaker would beat him frequently, causing his pain resistance to improve tremendously. When he recovered the memories of his previous life, his pain resistance had come with the body.

"Maybe my superpower improves my pain resistance everytime I get spanked".