Ralf knew he had already died once. How he died, he had no idea. He could only vaguely remember tidbits in his past life. The arguments, the fights, the gunshot. If there was one thing that confirmed Ralf's thoughts on being reincarnated was the painful feeling of lead tearing through his muscles. He never ever wished to experience those feelings ever again. The pure agony and the desperation of him trying to cling onto his life. Either way, you'd think that being reincarnated would give him some special advantage or maybe the heavens would be feeling merciful but that quickly did not become the case when he realized that he was born in a red district. Son to a prostitute who only decided to give birth to him because she was ignorant of him and upon realizing she was pregnant, was too far into the pregnancy that she couldn't abort him without risking her health. And so he was born, and quickly left in an orphanage that could not be more pathetic in its blatant attempt to make it not seem like a drug ring when it was so clearly was. Because alcohol bottles, pole dancers certainly did not ever appear in a normal orphanage. Ralf was pitied by some of the start and he got priority until he was one but from there, it quickly became apparent that this was a survival game and you'd either sink or swim in the district. Children were encouraged to steal, fight, entertain and basically do anything to survive until the next day. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, but because everybody was so focused and greedy on themselves on why Ralf was seemingly so much more mature than the rest and how fast he developed his motor skills. Ralf quickly learned that he was in Russia and his birthday was June 9 1983, corruption was rampant and if you were a street urchin your life would go something like this: you'd pickpocket, fight, steal your way until you'd either die for pissing off the wrong people or you'd get recruited into a gang or family, from there you can either work your way up the ladder or be content with lazing your days and being a grunt while getting a little bit of protection and bragging rights. Ralf fucking hated this, it was binding and it goes against his very instinct. He was what people called an individualist - is that how you use the word? - and he hated everything that the Russian gangs stood for: incompetence, laziness, arrogance, corruption, obnoxious, stupidity, abuse and so many more things that made him just want to avoid the gang. Because regardless of how much he hated the gang, he knew that he was too weak to do anything.
Ralf also had a secret that he knew if were to be ever found out, he'd definitely get killed or recruited for. He could use MAGIC. Or more specifically electricity magic, purple lightning that came up when he was 3 and got involved in a scuffle where a 5 year old managed to get a pistol from one of his uncles that was part of a low level gang. And as he was just about to squeeze the trigger, Ralf remembered the sensation of the bullet ripping through him in his previous life and Ralf screamed from the deepest parts of his soul, wishing that he would never ever feel that pain again. The next thing he knew, and the only way he could described it was , he felt something in his very soul echoing what almost sounded like a gate unlatching itself and purple lightning bursted forth and buried itself into the opposing boy acting almost like a taser. Instantly knocking him unconscious and putting him into comatose. Ralf remembered that day very clearly as he turned and run, and he kept running until he reached the hollowed tree that he made his little hideout and second home. He remembered feeling a myriad of emotions, elation, fear, suspicion, awe and so many more feelings. He didn't even feel an ounce of guilty for almost killing the boy because in the end, it was either the boy or him. The basic jungle ways of the district had desensitized him to any sort of compassion that he had. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't going psychotic or anything but he wouldn't hesitate to kill either. Ralf was maybe just a little sociopathic.
Like any curious 3 year old child, Ralf began experimenting with his new found powers, he scoured the dumps for any instructions on his new found powers. He learned what he could from the very crudely drawn instruction manuals for light bulbs, he learned that certain metals were more conductive to his lightning. The lightning also somehow allowed him to harden things, his skin for example. It also allowed him to multiply, he was very shocked when he channeled the purple lightning into a shard of metal and then see it multiply. Either way he knew that he had a distinct advantage with these skills and he could escape this hellhole if he became strong and sneak enough to leave this place undetected. Which meant that he needed to avoid any type of suspicion or attention onto himself. Maybe he could escape into the forests nearby? If he could learn how to scavenge for food and make a decent shelter, he'd be able to practice his magic without being bothered and can be independent at the same time.