3….2…..1….”HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!”

The date was 1st January 2121, and the atmosphere was joyous in the Rajput Household, it was a rare occasion where Max spent his hard-earned money to buy an extravagant feast.

On the dinner table sat one grown man aged 26 and weighing in at a whopping 320 pounds, Max Rajput himself, alongside the twin nephew and niece of his real brother Rudra Rajput.

” Jake, don’t steal food from Amy’s plate, there is plenty of food here, just take another serving if you need one “. Max reprimanded Jake who stuck his tongue out and proceeded to still eat out of Amy’s plate anyway.

Max’s eyebrows twitched in anger, he wanted to get up and pinch the cheeks of his disobedient nephew at once, however, he felt too lazy to follow through on that urge since his 320-pound body did not like to be strained much through physical activity. It was one of the side-effects of having a desk-job as it made his bum lazy.

The new year was basically the only day in the year that Max met with his brother’s family. Technically his nephew and niece since his brother would absolutely not talk to him since their fight all those years ago.

Rudra was the lord protector of humanity and the single most powerful warrior on Earth. Which is why he was usually busy working on new year’s and his motherless kids hence spending this festival with their uncle Max.

Although Max did not show it, he loved the two brats with all his heart which is why he went out of his way to keep the new year’s feast grand and their gifts extremely expensive even though he worked a meagre government job.

” So uncle Max, can you tell us about our mom Naomi some more? What was she like?” Amy asked in an innocent voice and Max felt his throat clench up at this question.

Max looked at the smooth and clear grey eyes of his niece which were exactly like his brothers and it broke his heart to lie to her.

Max said ” Naomi she — ”

BOOM!

A loud explosion rattled Max’s house as the front door was blown apart.

Max was hit by a stray wooden projectile and started bleeding profusely from his head as his ears began to ring from the sound of the explosion.

” HIDE ” Max shouted while being disoriented, he did not care about his own safety but he could not see any harm being done to the kids.

Even through the ringing ears, Max could hear the terrifying howl of the werewolves as he saw five terrifying werewolves run through the burning door and circle him in a wolf-like manner.

To the horror of Max, the kids had not yet run away and the wolves had rounded them up as now the three of them sat on top of the dinner table surrounded by these beasts.

” Don’t worry kids, I will protect you ” Max said through gritted teeth as he picked up a butter knife and tried to look threatening.

But the wolves bared their fangs at the show of aggression from Max and snarled with nasty growls.

“You guys better run away before my brother arrives, because even your ashes won’t be left if he does”. Max tried to scare the wolves with his brother’s name but it seemed they knew perfectly well as to what they were doing and who they were messing with.

” The manaless trash is threatening us, Harry, how funny “. Rick the werewolf said.

” The famous Max Rajput, the manaless trash of the Rajput family, and the failure of humanity! What a pleasure to meet a legend like you in flesh ” Harry the werewolf mocked.

“Enough! Kill the manaless trash and abduct the kids of Rudra Rajput, we have two minutes before patrol forces arrive “. The biggest werewolf of the group who appeared to be the leader said as the others instantly obeyed.

One of the wolves pounced on Max and he tried to battle him off with the butter knife, but he was too slow and the werewolf bite his arm clean off.

” AGHHHH ” Max screamed in agony as he saw his severed limb in the mouth of the enemy wolf who chewed on it like it was cotton candy.

Blood Spurted from Max’s open wound and painted the surroundings red, as Jake and Amy screamed in panic and horror.

” UNCLE MAX!!!!! ”

Four wolves then attacked Max, ripping off pieces of his body one after another as the leader, the biggest wolf, dragged the kids over his shoulders after knocking them out unconscious.

“Night night , you manaless trash ” Harry the wolf said as he gauged one of Max’s eyes off with his claw and then poked another one sending waves of excruciating pain through Max’s body the likes of which Max had never imagined.

After that it was just pitch black darkness for Max, as he felt blood leak from his body from multiple cuts and severed limbs.

Through his functional ears he heard the footsteps of the wolves running away and the sound of the police sirens growing louder in the distance.

Soon Max started to lose consciousness from the blood loss as the inevitability of death finally sunk in.

His senses started to dull and after a while he could not feel anything but an endless darkness that he was drifting through. 𝗼𝐯𝐥.𝗻𝐭

During his final moments Max thought

“This is it I guess, this is the end of Max the Manaless, the end of my pitiful life.

It’s a relief that I’m finally dying, at least I won’t have to listen to Phil ramble about falling ratings in the Monday meeting.

Well to be fair what a wasted life I have lived. I was the most promising prospect of humanity before the first awakening, however because I could not sense mana I became the biggest failure.

Jake, Amy, I’m sorry, in the end your uncle could not even save the two of you from some tier 2 trash werewolves…

Ugh Damnit! It’s frustrating to die like trash. If only I could have a second chance at life, I would never let myself fall to such a miserable state.

Please god, if you are real, give me this one more opportunity, I swear I won’t let you down…..”.

Even thinking became hard for Max after this as he slowly drifted into endless sleep. However unbeknownst to him a golden light covered his drifting soul and dead body binding them together once more.