Reincarnated as the world's strongest atom

A couple minutes have passed and now Julius and Damion are past the kingdom walls.

Julius-"We are just past the kingdom walls now, I need to take break"

Damion-"Shouldn't we get farther away before we surface?"

Julius-"Yes, but my mana is getting low so I need to recover real quick"

Damion-"Alright"

Julius and Damion sit down and relax. Julius reduced the lighting to dim and stopped producing oxygen knowing they had a few hours of oxygen and he would only need to rest for about 30 minutes to replenish his mana.

Julius in his head-"Can I use the stamina recovery skill on myself"

Voice-"No, you cannot use a skill to recover your mana by using your own mana"

Julius in his head-"Why not?"

Voice-"Because you can't"

Julius in his head-"Fair enough"

Julius-"So, do you know what you want to do after this?"

Damion-"Not sure"

Julius-"I'm sure you have had a lot of time to think about it though"

Damion-"You're right about that"

Julius-"I have been meaning to ask, how did you get captured in the first place"

Damion-"It was because I have dark magic"

Julius-"I know but I mean, how, when, and where did it happen"

Damion-"Well for starters having my red eyes didn't help me out"

Julius-"Yeah I figured"

Damion-"Well, it was about 7 years ago when I was caught"

Julius-"That long ago?, how old were you?"

Damion-"I was only 12 at the time"

Julius-"Hold on, the tournament said you were the champion for a year but you were imprisoned 7 years ago?"

Damion-"They couldn't make me fight until I was an adult"

Julius-"They are willing to make innocent people fight to the death but they draw the lines at making kids do it"

Damion-"From what I have heard the creators of the tournament would get in more trouble if kids were forced to participate in the fights"

Julius-"I see, continue on with your story"

Damion-"Ok, like I said I was only 12 at the time so still just a kid"

A flashback starts with Damion narrating it.

Damion(narrating)-"I was always seen as a weird kid, I looked weird, acted weird, and people felt weird around me"

A small town is shown with a young 12 year old Damion walking down the street smiling. He is  walking towards multiple kids but they avoid him. Some are whispering to each other.

Kid 1(whispering)-"It's that kid again, why is he  so creepy?"

Kid 2(whispering)-"We shouldn't get too close"

Kid 3(whispering)-"My parents said I shouldn't play with him"

The kids disperse leaving Damion walking alone.

Julius(narrating)-"Those kids were cruel"

Damion(narrating)-"The adults weren't any better, they didn't even try to hide their distain for me"

The child Damion is once again walking down a different street.

Adult 1-"It's the weird street urchin"

Adult 2-"That child probably has some disease"

The young Damion then accidentally bumps into adult.

Adult 3-"Hey!"

The young Damion looks up to him still smiling.

The adult shoves Damion away from himself and walks away.

Julius(narrating)-"Why do they all seem to hate you?"

Damion(narrating)-"A lot of rumors went around then about my parents so it carried onto me as well"

The young Damion walks away towards his house.

Adult 3-"Makes since such weird parents would have such a weird kid"

Damion(narrating)-"There were only three people in my life that I cared about"

The young Damion opens the door of his house showing his mother, father, and younger brother. His younger brother looks similar to Damion having the same black hair and red eyes while being a few inches shorter. His mother and father are only black silhouettes with white eyes and mouths. 

Desmond(Damion's younger brother)-"Damion you're home"

Young Damion-"Hey Desmond"

Damion's mother-"Hello Damion did you enjoy school"

Young Damion-"(bows his head) Yes mother"

Damion's father-"You both left school at the same time yet Desmond has already been home for 14 minutes and 17 seconds before you arrived, what took you so long"

Young Damion-"(bows his head again) I apologize father, (Damion keeps his head down as he talks) I was talking with some other students while Desmond hurried home"

Desmond stands next to Young Damion and bows his head as well.

Desmond-"It's true father, I saw Damion talking with some other students before I left"

Damion's father-"I see, trying to make friends were you?"

Young Damion-"Yes father"

Damion's father-"Did you know these other students before hand?"

Young Damion-"I knew their names, we are in the same class together"

Damion's father-"Were their grades exceptional?"

Young Damion-"I don't know"

Damion's father-"What were their family relations"

Young Damion-"Well, one of them said they have an older sister"

Damion's mother-"It sounds to me they couldn't offer very much"

Damion's father-"If they don't come from money and aren't very smart then I don't see what you could gain from them"

Young Damion-"I don't know, I'm not sure they wanted to be friends though"

Damion's father-"What made you believe that"

Young Damion-"They kept walking away from me when I was talking to them"

Damion's mother-"How foolish, they should have realized they were talking to someone superior to them, they should have been thrilled at the opportunity. 

Young Damion-"(smiled and looked up at his mother) Am I really superior to them?"

Damion's mother-"Of course you are, you and your brother are destined for great things, only a fool would avoid you two"

Damion's father-"They could have at least had the dignity to try to take advantage of you, youth these days just aren't very smart"

Desmond-"They must have been really dumb"

Young Damion-"Yes, I wouldn't want to try to be friends with fools right father"

Damion's father-"Of course not son, now we must hurry. It's dinner time and you were late"

Young Damion-"Yay"

Julius (narrating)-"Your father seemed kind of, strange"

Damion (narrating)-"He loved me and my brother in his own way, I think"

Damion's family walked out of the back door of their small ragged house and walked out into the woods.

A deer is revealed eating some tall grass, the deer sees Damion approaching it, the deer slowly begins to sniff Damion's hand then turns away to prance off.

Young Damion-"(raised his hand towards the deer)  Dark skill: soul unbinding"

The deers falls to the ground with its soul now leaking out from the body. The soul is then pulled towards Damion as a vapor, Damion then breathes in the vapor until it is all gone, this causes Damion to glow a dim white light for a few seconds.

Young Damion-"That was really delicious father!"

A flock of birds begins to fly out of a tree in response to the deer making a thud as it fell onto the ground. 

Desmond-"Dark skill: soul consuming thorns"

Thorny vines shoots out of Desmond's hands and wrap around the flying birds, their souls are slowly drained and flow into Desmond. 

Desmond-"Yes super tasty!"

Damion's parents walk out of the bushes still remaining as silhouettes.

Damion's mother-"Great job again sweeties"

Damion's father-"Yes splendid work"

Desmond-"Aren't you going to eat any father?"

Damion's father-"Oh no I'm quite alright, I ate earlier"

Young Damion-"What about you mother? Are you hungry?"

Damion's mother-"Oh no I'm also full from earlier. We ate something even more delicious"

Young Damion-"Really, what was it"

Damion's father-"You'll learn when you are a little older"

The family headed back to their house now that dinner was concluded.

Julius (narrating)-"So you ate, animal souls?"

Damion (narrating)-"Yes?"

Julius (narrating)-"How long has it been since you last, did that?"

Damion (narrating)-"A little while, sometimes I would eat the souls of the rats and bugs that scurried around the dungeon, seemed to weird out the other prisoners for some reason"

Voice-"I wonder why"

Julius (narrating)-"You had an, interesting childhood"

Damion (narrating)-"It was nice, I loved my little brother and my parents. I didn't have any other friends but I didn't need any, but that didn't last for very long"

End of chapter 18.