The hot, blazing sun penetrated the skins of the soulless morsels that eroded the slum. They walked, worked, and wandered around, hopeless, and devoid of any enthusiasm. In the back alleyway, there was a commotion.
An orphan beggar was surrounded by gang men dressed in black blazers.
"You think you can get away from us" shouted one of the men whilst spitting on the floor.
"This brat must be feeling brave. Should we send him to his maker? But then again, who would make this garbage" laughed the other one.
One of the men took a step forward, and the others became silent.
"Oi Eli, hand over the money you owe us."
"You must be out of your mind" responded Eli
"What?"
"You think I can pay you back? I borrowed only 20 skals from you, but you are asking for 200 skals!"
"That's just business; life is hard nowadays, naïve Eli. Didn't we accept your plea when you came and begged us for money to pay for medicine for the orphan brats that you look after? Now it's only right that you pay us back," he responded, twisting his words.
"I can get you the 30 skals within a week, but 200 is too much. You know I can't get that much money."
The man became infuriated. He looked at Eli as if he had been staring at an insect.
"Well, there's nothing more we can do, Eli; get it within a week."
"Ah, I nearly forgot… tch… tch…tch… boys, show him what happens when you speak against the manager of the Bracos gang."
Eli knew they would try to beat him up; he gathered his posture and took a deep breath.
The men approached, laughing and smirking; one swung his fists, aiming for Eli's face. Eli dodged to the left and evaded out of that man's hit zone. Another ran at him to grab hold of him, but Eli quickly moved back; he then countered with a left kick. But the kick didn't do much damage.
Damn it, I have to find a way to escape.
Eli wasn’t the strongest; he didn’t even have much endurance from being on the verge of starvation every day. However, he did have one feature that no one could beat him at. Eli has exceptional eyes; he could see the whole picture, identify any weaknesses or peculiarities, and see more than what others could. He had this ability since he was born, remembering in detail the faces of the man and woman who laughed as they dumped his tiny body in a dumpster. This allowed him to be strong, even without any strong muscles or powers, as he could identify ways to escape, counter or find tiny details that made the situation advantageous.
Right there! If only I can get through these three people and dodge their attacks, I have a good chance of climbing onto the ladder and escaping through the building.
His eyes focused, he gathered his stance and started running as fast as he could; the man was surprised that Eli was running straight at him; in a panic, he swung his metal rod only to miss and hit the floor. Now hunched over, Eli took this opportunity to step on the man's shoulder. He lunged forward and stepped on the other man's face, and before the last man could grab him, Eli jumped onto the ladder against the wall.
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He had managed to get away from danger, or so he thought. As he climbed the ladder, it detached from the wall, taking them both down. Before it could hit the floor, Eli managed to evade and reduce the impact but was still hurt from the landing.
“I’ve got him now”
Two large hands grabbed onto his back; he was captured. The manager of Bracos gang, approached closer with a metal baseball bat, he looked at Eli.
“Look at how much trouble you’ve caused us”
“It was you guys that caused a fight over your ridiculous repayment scam”
“HAHA, he still has the gull to talk back”
The manager swings his bat, hitting Eli on the stomach.
“This is for talking back to adults”
He hits him again.
“This is for hitting my men”
He hits him again, each time the noise getting more and more vivid, the sound of crunching bones and metal hitting flesh permeated the alleyway.
“This is for trying to be strong”
The manager paused for a second to regain his breath. Eli was bleeding. He had been hit really severely; his ribs were broken, and his arm was too damaged to move.
The man's underling retorted, "Boss, there's no way this scum can pay us back. I heard he's been looking after the local orphans. I say we just sell them; there's a lot of filthy, rich bastards that'll take those filthy beggars."
Eli's veins shot up in anger. His broken body escaped from the grasp of the two men holding him, and he lunged forward, biting the hand of the man who had just crossed the line. The men grabbed him and moved him away.
“UGHH this runt” the bitten man responds as he brings out his pocketknife.
“Wait! Wait!”
“But manager, this mongrel just bit me”
“I told you to wait damn it, does it look like I’m your friend” the manager glared into the man’s eyes.
“N…no sir!” the bitten man responded whilst biting his teeth in anger and falling silent.
“Ha-ha. I like this one’s energy; you’ve got one week from now; you owe me 300 skals, or I'll sell all the little ones you protect,” said the manager.
The manager then used his club and hit Eli across the face, knocking him unconscious.
Eli’s vision started to fade; all he could say was “Damn it” before he passed out.
~
A couple of hours had passed, the sun grew more tired, and the temperature dropped. The ringing in his head started to grow more and more; he could feel the cold, damp ground seep into his skin as the wind dried his blood.
Eli opened his eyes “UGHH, my head hurts”.
He picked himself up slowly, grabbing his ribs in pain. His right hand shattered; he had to lean against the alleyway walls to bring himself outside.
“Those scumbags!!!!” he shouted.
“If only I was stronger, I could protect myself and my younger siblings from that trash.”
Eli was angry; his expression was fierce; he was furious at the Bracos gang members and angry at himself for being so weak and pathetic.
Eli looked up outside the alleyway; in front of him were massive buildings made of glass and concrete. He was on the edge of the slums, closer to the start of the city. There, he noticed something that captured his interest; on top of the building in front of him was a massive screen commonly used to show advertisements for a plethora of wealthy companies, but this time, it was different; it was a video.
The man in the projection spoke:
“Are you tired of living life as garbage! Have you had enough people looking down on you, or are you exhausted from a life of no excitement?
“The perfect solution of the century has arrived at this world.”
“THE BATTLE EMPORIUM”
“Here, it doesn’t matter about your race, class, or wealth; all that matters is a burning desire to win. Gain wealth, reputation and strength through this heavenly gift.”
“Battle your way through leagues, becoming the strongest to walk on this earth”.
“They say ‘dead men tell no tales, ‘But in the Battle Emporium ‘, dead men tell the best tales’ their abilities and reputation are gained by you the moment you beat them; you acquire their immortal legacy and become passed down in history as the strongest ever”.
“So, what are you waiting for? The world won’t wait for you unless you can stop the world from moving”.
“Join today”.
A light was ignited in Eli’s eyes, and the only way for him and his siblings to have any chance in this world would be through the battle emporium.
“I have to change my life and their lives. No more will I let this world exploit us and abandon us.”
He had set his eyes on the recruitment hall for Battle Emporium.
This is where his journey to becoming The Battle Emporium’s Legend begins.