"I hope I didn't make this trip for nothing, it's been a long time since I asked you and I've only been getting excuses ever since." In a dark alleyway hidden among the slum, a man stared at me. He was thin and had the look of a scammer, a rascal like everyone else around here... Honestly, I was sick of dealing with idiots like him.

"Don't worry about it boss, I know this took longer than I promised. But hey, unforeseen events happen and it's not like it's something conventional or easy to achieve." I nodded, even though I was annoyed I had to give him his reason.

In fact, I didn't even expect him to make it on time, but I also had my own schedule and delays were unacceptable. It was annoying to have to play the employer, but it was necessary for our sake.

"Here it is, straight from the Andes in fucking Peru! Your long-awaited and sought-after Bliss!" He grabbed a small vial from one of his pockets, the violet-colored liquid was slightly radiant, as if it were radioactive and I didn't doubt that it was.

"It was very difficult to find someone willing to sell this and bring it here, and I won't even mention the number of times the operation was almost exposed across borders and the countless skirmishes and bribes. But for my clients I'll do anything and even a little more..." I received the bottle, my heart easing little by little, my plans were not far off.

"Cut the bullshit, I told you I'd pay good money for it." It would have been nice to just swipe my credit card and call it a day, but that wasn't how it worked here. I pulled out a white gold necklace with a sapphire and diamonds adorning it.

"Ohh I knew the boss was generous but I don't think I'm worthy of it." Betraying his own words, he almost pulled my hand away to take it. The necklace itself was clearly stolen and valuable, but it wasn't the only thing I'd given him during all this waiting.

I could feel his greed analyzing the stones every time I handed him something new. At times he thought I had found some ancient treasure and was saving a fortune, but obviously that wasn't possible for a slum dweller like me. So I was simply a talented thief... or so he thought.

"I should do some more orders for you tomorrow, but we're done for today." He started laughing softly, his whole expression amused.

"Sure, see you tomorrow." I turned away, leaving the shadows that never suited me. The sunlight touching my skin reminded me of what it meant to be alive and the surroundings even more so.

Next to a makeshift concrete staircase, several houses of irregular sizes and shapes were clustered together, in which drunks full of vomit laughed like crazy. The smell of cigarettes was a relief to the lungs in the midst of drugs thousands of times worse and with even stronger smells.

"Oh my God! Go harder!" As I walked, I could hear the screams of women having sex without a shred of shame, and as they passed me, there were malnourished children who must have been no more than ten or twelve years old.

They didn't care about the appearance of the place, the screams or the drug addicts, they just talked and laughed, but not like ordinary children, of course. With bare feet they played soccer, without shirts full of dirt and without the childish language.

"You son of a bitch don't let the ball pass or I'll smash you in the face later!" That was the reality here and that's what it meant to be alive in this world. To live was to have to witness the degeneration of all things, children who spoke like drug dealers was the end of any hope I had in humanity.

Nobody chose to live in the slums, the slums chose them. Almost no one left here and the law was that of the criminals who, using the rules, could do anything they wanted. The terror of any man here was having a beautiful sister or girlfriend.

I remember the last time I saw Lucia, a brunette with sparkling eyes who had barely become an adult and with all her childish courage rejected one of the drug dealers. The result was the murder of more people than I want to remember, Including family and boyfriend who had to watch others "force" her...

Standing in front of the door of my house, which like all of them was a disgrace of a room, I noticed a group of young people coming up the stairs, some of them must have been in their early teens or a little more. The rebellious air had already begun to take hold.

Three boys and a girl who was clearly the youngest among them,were walking around chatting without any modesty or elegance. The girl in front had a blooming beauty, clearly out of place with her blonde, blue eyes, her life would soon be a total disaster.

It seemed ridiculous to think that in the midst of so much filth, piss and shit there was someone like her and it was a separate story how someone like her was born here

"Hey, isn't that your brother?" One of the marginal boys, the oldest in appearance, turned to her and asked. He was standing very close to her, his arm around her neck. I sighed internally.Oh shit here go again!

"Yes, I am." My expression was soft and welcoming, contrary to how I felt.

"Steady, boss?" He took his arm away for a second to shake my hand and with a smile my foot went up on its own towards his eggs without a hint of pity, hopefully he'd be sterile after that.

"She's too young for you, you little shit, go fuck a whore like your mother that cow and get out of here." His friends looked at me in awe for a moment, I could see a spark inside them wondering if they should get involved and help. Pressured by me, who was much more dominant and known for being extreme, they preferred to retreat while I pulled my sister by the arm.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I quickly brought her into the house without giving her the option of complaining or explaining what had happened, and I hadn't expected her to do so. After the shock wore off, she looked at me with barely contained anger.

"That fucking hurts!" With a violent gesture, she pulled out of my grip, her wrist bright red.

"If you're going to complain, you'd better not open your mouth, I've got other things to do and think about and you're not supposed to be hanging around with these thugs." I loved my sister, but for the love of all that is holy, she can give me a little peace. It wasn't enough that I was the only one looking after her, with no father, mother or at least a loving grandmother willing to help.

"Of course, always too busy doing the same as them, I won't even ask where the jewelry comes from." I ignored the acid comment even though it discouraged me, she didn't understand the world and didn't know that I was doing what was best for her so the only thing I could do was carry that burden for both of us.

"So be it Mory, it's good to know what you think, I hope you don't end up with me and them and go to school not to flirt with thugs but to try and get out of this life. Now get some money and go buy some bread and a piece of cake please." She looked at me confused for a moment but just shrugged. I never asked her to buy cake, it was an unusual request as if I wanted to celebrate something.

"Ahh and before you go." I grabbed some flour from the fridge and an egg and before she could react I smashed it over her head and threw the flour at her, turning her white.

"That's better, now no one will be interested in you!" I was quickly punched in the stomach and fell to my knees.

"If it weren't for the bakery closing soon... When I get back I swear I'll beat you up a lot more!" She said, slamming the door and leaving. I'm getting too old for this and she's getting stronger... what the fuck.

Our house consisted of just one room with everything we needed, no leisure activities and a single bed that we shared on good days, i.e. almost never.

I didn't even know, anymore ,how to sleep anywhere other than on the cold floor. On hot days it was quite invigorating, to be honest.

Under my bed, hidden from prying eyes, I kept a backpack with items that were basically priceless, unique all over the world and acquired in various and often illegal ways.

But this time I had to admit that I wasn't the one who had gathered them and had already acquired them ready for use and as I said they were unique, even if decades passed I wouldn't be able to find them for sale, let alone be able to produce them.

Today was a special day and I would use them as expected. I took a bottle of silver ink out of my backpack and began to draw around a circle with my finger, the smell was of blood, one of the many materials used to make this item, and the edges of the ink were a dark blue.

"If I get the runes wrong I could die... I'd better not think about it..." It had been a long time since I had seen the correct drawing and the original source had been burnt out, so I could only rely on my own memory and intuition this time.

The ink was low and I was afraid it would run out, but it seemed to be going well. Some of it had already been used up to make some "tattoos" on my spine and arms as part of the ritual.

The circle on the floor was supposed to connect me to the world and through the runes on my body I was supposed to connect to this link and the other runes would perform the spell. But, of course, what was missing was an activation, a switch to start the magic. And that's where Bliss came in, an addictive drug with medicinal uses with extreme side effects. Using it more than once meant depending on it for the rest of your life.

I could deal with the consequences later, but the fact that it would allow me to activate everything, the energy would simply explode out of me uncontrollably activating it.

Soon everything was ready for activation, but there were still other things to be done. Picking up a sheet of paper, I began to write a letter, which contained a lot of sentimental nonsense that I refused to think about... it was better just to let the feeling roll off my back and consume me for a while.

I ignored the tears falling on the paper as I listed the location of some money in case everything went wrong and asked her to not investigate my death or our relatives any further. The worst thing that could happen to me was for my sister to die for the same reason.

"Tell me you've got money because this was expensive as..."I heard the door creak open with my idiot sister. Without thinking, I hugged her for what could be the last time.

"You know, I regret every day that I didn't sew your mouth shut. You're so wonderful when you keep quiet and yet I still love you enough not to, I want you to remember that. That even in the face of everything I loved you and always wanted the best for you."

"Okay, I guess." Coming out of the crush I could see her still trying to process everything, she found me increasingly unpredictable and I preferred it that way.

Eating a sweet piece of cake, talking like two idiots one more time. Playing a few cards to remember the old days, I was very nostalgic comparing who she was with her current self. And finally, say good night.

She saw the runes but ignored them as usual, magic was never taken seriously by her who never saw what it was capable of. Just another belief, she thought like everyone else who was foolish.

When her breathing became shallow I uncapped the bottle of Bliss and brought it to my mouth, the liquid was sweet and corrosive at the same time, its acidity couldn't be described in words as it burned and tore at my insides.

The world around me seemed to distort as I plunged into waves of intense pleasure, but I didn't focus on that as I saw various lights flashing. I could see through the window several white threads stretching from the earth to the sky, the threads of destiny that would guide the chosen ones.

But I wasn't one of them and that's why magic was necessary, a fake invitation to invade a party of the world's most exclusive elite. If the host found out, not only would he throw you out, but he would basically kill you in the worst possible way in front of everyone to set an example.

The runes glowed brightly as my spine burned as if wounded by hot steel. In front of me, what looked like the mouth of a gigantic evil creature opened. No wonder why it was called throat after all. This was my path to the life of a true king.

I stood up and walked over to it. Behind me, I caught a glimpse of my fallen body convulsing,perhaps the only remnant of my already erased existence. The walls seemed alive and warm in there, in a strange blackness and silence. But it would lead me to a good destination and now it was almost impossible to go wrong.

"Look what we have here, a little devil tried to invade my domain." Shit... A powerful woman's voice greeted me.

I felt all sadness and discouragement come over me. Instead of improving my sister's life, in the end I ended up screwing up her life even more.Well, I just had to accept my fate from now on…I wonder if she will be sad, no, she will probably get angry and blame me as always.

"You can only blame yourself for your foolishness, only the chosen ones can cross freely. Since you dared to try to cheat, I'll give you what diabolical cheaters deserve." A force invaded the throat like a gale, breaking down the walls and sending me plummeting into an endless abyss.

"Lucky for you and contrary to your megalomaniac ideas, I'm known for my benevolence, so I'll give you a chance to live if you deserve it."