Magnificent Mage of Life

Punishment as a Mortal

IT HAS BEEN OVER 20 years now since Kamizoel was born as a mortal earthling and his life has been riddled with unfortunate disasters.

He was dumped as an orphan in front of a foster home and grew up without knowing either his human mother or father. The memories of his past life came to him on his 9th birthday. He was out in the field, raking the dead leaves in the yard, which was his duty for the week alongside 3 other foster children when he felt a searing pain flash in his head.

He fell to the floor, groaning but his companions paid him no mind. They all disliked him and watched him writhe in pain for over 15 minutes.

Then the pain passed and left with him the scarring memory of his past life. About how he was an Eternal warrior, and the punishment in the void, and even worse, the punishment on earth, and lastly, his hate for humans.

His contempt grew towards every human around him, but sadly, he could not do anything because Tanis had put him in a human body that was smaller and more puny than usual, so over the years, he had had to endure the torture and bullying from his peers.

Today was his 21st human birthday, he was working in a restaurant, as a cleaner.

With each swipe of the mop, he cursed all the Eternals under his breath.

"Fucking Tanis," He muttered. "I am sure this long 21 years is not even up to a blink in his sights." He dipped the mop into a bucket and pushed it forward. "I wonder what he'll do when I use up my human years," He squeezed the mop and resumed mopping another area. "After all, the average of a human's life is 80 years old… maybe he'll let me die." He ran his mop along the length of the floor. "Or maybe, he will put me in another body to continue this misery."

He sighed. Over the 21 years, he still had not gotten used to the aching and fatigue of the human body. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and sat down tiredly on a chair.

Suddenly, the back door busted open and his boss walked in.

"You lazy bastard!" His boss snarled. "What are you doing? You think I am paying you to sit around and do nothing?"

Kamizoel looked up blankly at the man. This was one of those moments when he wished he still had his demi-god powers. He could have destroyed this pudgy man and the store without any remorse.

"I am talking to you!" The man snarled again. He looked around, "You have not even started anything at all. Look at that spot!" He pointed at a place where Kamizoel had mopped before. "If not that the law forbids it, I would have whacked you across your head with my stick!" He said and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Kamizoel's eyebrows drew together in a thick frown. This was one of the many reasons why he hated people. Just a bunch of irrational mortals. He stood up and started to resume his mopping when the door opened and a group of guys walked in.

He took one glance at them and groaned, "Can today get any more worse?" He asked himself. He paid them no mind and continued with his duties when one of the guys looked at him and laughed.

"Hey, guys," He called to his peers. "Look at who we have here," The other guys crowded closer.

"Isn't that Kami?" One of them asked.

Kami was the short form of Kamizoel and it was his human name.

"Of course, it's Kami," The first one said and laughed.

These were his college mates, and they made his life a living hell whenever they could. Most of the time, Kamizoel chose to avoid them, but there was nowhere to hide now.

"What do you guys want?" Kamizoel asked. "You can place your orders and sit down, I will be with you shortly." He said through gritted teeth when all he wanted was to rip out their heads from their necks.

"Oh, you're being so polite now, eh?" Another one asked. "Where is the usual arrogance?"

Kamizoel looked away.

"It's because we are at his workplace," The first one said. They all jeered and laughed. "And he's a miserable cleaner. Why did you hide the mop? We know what you are."

Kamizoel snorted. "You do not know what I am," he muttered to himself. "If you did, you would shit in your pants out of fear."

"What did you say?" They asked. One of them jabbed at his shoulder. "I dare you to repeat it."

The backdoor opened and Kamizoel's boss came in. "What is going on here?" His eyes immediately went to Kamizoel. "Is this how you treat the customers?"

"But, I–"

"Shut it!" His boss snapped. "I always knew you were good for nothing and if you are not careful, I will send you away." then he turned to the coursemates and said in a calm voice, "What do you gentlemen want?"

Kamizoel sighed and walked away to continue his work. He listened as his coursemates listed meals worth almost $100 and then ended it with, "Kami owes us some money, sir. You can take it from his salary."

He was shocked by the blatant lie, and even more shocked when his boss nodded and said, "It's not a problem, boys."

They sniggered and gave Kamizoel a small wink as they left the store.

$100?

That was even more than his student monthly salary. That would mean he would not be receiving any money for the month. His head felt like it was going to explode as he ended his shift and walked to his one-room apartment.

His mind wandered as his legs wandered too. He thought of the good old days. Almost 1000 years ago. When he was a demigod of immense power and strength. When he had fought in different human wars just for the thrill of it, how come Tanis knew of the battle of Dumstrand?

That question flitted in his heart as he walked blindly in the late evening sun. But instead of him to head home, he changed direction and walked to a lonely spot where he liked to relax and think.

It was an open area with one big shade oak tree and a 200-meter cliff that dropped into sharp boulders and dusty plains. He sat under the oak tree and brought out his lunch. It was a cold chicken sandwich that he took from his workplace.

As he ate, he kept on wondering how Tanis knew of his involvement with human matters.

Then the answer came to him in the rustling of leaves.

Marzurk.

Marzurk knew about Kamizoel's frequent adventures on Earth, and he was the one who had told Tanis about it.

He gritted his teeth angrily.

There was a sound from behind him, it was the sound of a whistle. He turned and saw that it was his coursemates, the ones from his workplace.

He stood up abruptly as they approached.

"Did you follow me?" He asked.

"Did you follow me?" One of the guys echoed him mockingly and they all laughed. They fanned out as they walked to him. The five of them formed a semi-circle.

"What do you want?" Kamizoel asked.

"We should be doing the asking," one of the guys snarled. "And you… you should be quiet and answer when spoken to."

They towered over Kamizoel's small frame, but his eyes glinted in defiance and anger as he looked at each of them. "What do you want?"

"Why did you not want to pay for our meals, huh?" The leader asked.

"What?" Kamizoel was confused.

"You heard me right. You started to argue when we said you would pay." The leader said, stepping forward to crowd Kami who stepped back involuntarily.

"You lied on me…" Kami argued, "I don't owe you guys any money."

"We did not lie…" The one on the far right snapped.

Kami took another step backward. Suddenly, he was standing on the edge of the cliff, and the boys were still pressing him to move backward. A stone fell loose from beneath his foot and toppled down.

Kami glanced back. "So how am I owing you?" He asked.

"You owe us your life," The leader said. "For not killing you. You hear me?!"

A human reaction made him start sweating profusely and a wave of fear abashed over him. He frowned slightly. Kamizoel, the warrior demigod does not fear anything or owe his life to anybody, And especially not to some stupid brats!

Mustering all his courage from his spirit, he said, "I think 3 of you will be owing me."

"What did you say? What do you mean?"

"For letting 3 of you live." He said. With that, he gripped the two closest to him and fell backward over the cliff.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the two boys clutching at him desperately as they screamed and fell to their deaths.

They landed with a sickening thud and crack on some boulders.

The last thing Kamizoel said before his eyes closed finally was, "Fuck Tanis!"