Aldric believed he had supernatural abilities. Whenever his emotions flared, strange things happened around him, sometimes glass in his hand would shatter, other times sudden flames would burst out.
The intensity of these occurrences depended entirely on how strong his feelings were, and he had no control over them. That's why he had moved to the woods; if his powers showed up in public, people would hunt him down and dissect him for research.
After realizing his powers were tied to his emotions, Aldric had been working hard to control his feelings. He found that by mastering his emotions, he could direct his powers and shape them the way he wanted.
Clearly, his efforts over the past six months were paying off. Back when he fought the black dog, his mind had been focused on ending the threat. As a result, the rod in his hand seemed charged with magic, moving faster and hitting harder.
'With this, I can move on to the next step of my plan,' he thought. His eyes gleamed in the dark as he drifted off to sleep. Soon, the gentle sound of his steady breathing filled the little shack, two rounds of consciously using his power had been exhausting for the slight boy.
In his past life Aldric Thistlewaite could easily be called a lucky man, at least if success was measured by wealth. Considering his rough start as a street thug who grew up in an orphanage and was kicked out at fourteen, ending up owning a mansion in a wealthy New York neighborhood, married, and with a child was nothing short of incredible.
His luck was legendary. From the moment he hit the streets, whether he was caught in brutal fights or dangerous shootouts, Aldric always walked away without a scratch. That earned him the nickname "Lucky Aldric" from everyone who knew him. But luck wasn't something that stuck around forever, maybe he'd already spent it all during that big bank robbery.
Even though he'd pulled off the heist and made a fortune, his middle age was full of problems. His daughter was dead set on a career in adult films, and his wife cheated on him all the time. But the worst part was that old enemies kept tracking him down despite his new identity.
Then, on a late night in July 2025, a single gunshot ended Aldric's story. Or so it seemed.
When he woke up again, he was stunned to find out Lady Luck hadn't abandoned him after all. He had been reborn in 1991, in the body of a frail, battered little boy.
Looking through the kid's memories, Aldric noticed something strange: this Aldric didn't even have a last name, but he had superpowers! Though he couldn't control them yet, these powers had made the other kids call him a monster and beat him mercilessly. But now, those powers were his to command.
Aldric didn't care about other opinion compared to the body owner, he'd seen too much suffering among society's lowest levels to be fazed by it.
If this body hadn't had superpowers, Aldric figured he probably would have ended up in gangs or stuck in the harsh orphanages known as "gangster camps." But armed with his experience from his previous life, Aldric was confident he could make it and thrive in this world.
After building a network and gathering money through various contacts, Aldric planned to retire comfortably and dive into the investment world to turn his life around completely. In fact, he already had several foolproof investment ideas spinning in his head, he'd heard plenty of success stories back when he was wealthy.
School? You want a adult, former gang leader and bank robber to sit down and study every day? That was ridiculous.
Aldric hated studying more than anything. He'd only learned the basics of reading and writing English after he got rich, just so he wouldn't embarrass himself.
Besides, this was England, an old capitalist country where a homeless orphan rising through education was nearly impossible. Simply surviving was already a victory.
As Aldric saw it, in a society like this, someone like him had to bend the rules to get ahead. Following the upper class's rules, or most people common sense meant you'd never rise.
But then these superpowers threw a wrench into his plans. If he'd had this power in his past life, he wouldn't have died from a single bullet. If he had it, he would have succeeded already, no need to risk robbing banks.
So Aldric was determined to master this power, no matter if it took years or even decades. Once he had control, he was confident he could quickly build wealth and influence.
For the past six months since arriving in this world, Aldric had been holed up in a rundown shack, training his powers. His approach was simple: calm his emotions and focus on making the wind chime hanging from the ceiling move.
Aldric had some experience controlling his emotions, which helped him stabilize his power fairly quickly. He no longer accidentally set the shack on fire.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the wind chime to budge. He thought maybe his desire to move it wasn't strong enough.
Then, just last night, Aldric thought he'd finally succeeded. During a fight with a big black dog, the short stick in his hand responded to his will, moving faster and with more force.
Excited, Aldric returned to his shack and resumed his usual training. Sure enough, for the first time, the wind chime moved at his mental command.
Inside the shack, Aldric woke up and opened his eyes. The wind chime dangling from the ceiling came into view, and seeing it, Aldric smiled. Over the past six months, he had fallen asleep and woken up staring at this very wind chime.
Aldric had crafted a wind chime from some broken glass and fishing line he'd found, and despite its humble origins, he'd made up his mind: he was taking it with him when he left this rundown shack, and he'd keep it for the rest of his life. After all, Aldric had decided it was time to leave this dump behind.
Now that he had learned to control his powers and spent a lot of time healing his body, he stood tall enough that the bullies at the orphanage no longer saw him as easy prey. As he dreamed of marrying a mafia princess, becoming a crime boss, and living the life he'd always wanted, something caught his eye, a letter lying beside his pillow.