“So you want me to go fetch that for you?” Erik asked the man he had just met.

After the recent events, Erik decided to explore the city. Despite how glorious and mighty it looked, it wasn’t long until he found the poorer—less pretty parts of the city. Here he felt more at home and he quickly encountered a band of beggars.

Erik took in the appearance of the men, his eyes stopping at the one in the middle—seemingly the leader. The man’s features were distinctly foreign, setting him apart from the locals. His almond-shaped eyes held a sharp look, and his skin was a shade darker. His jet-black hair was tied back in a low ponytail, but the man's size struck Erik the most. He was noticeably overweight, with a round face and a thick neck that seemed to strain against the collar of his tunic.

“Yes, it's a package wrapped in cloth. It should have white dust inside—that you shouldn’t pry open 'cause it's mine!’” The man responded with a weird accent. “Anyway, you have to retrieve it from the bad guys and give it to us.”

Erik raised his eyebrow. “And why are you asking me to do it?” Erik had just been exploring the place, he wasn’t interested in running someone’s errands. And to be honest, this didn’t seem like innocent errands anyway.

The fat man pressed his hand against his double chin. He hummed for a few seconds. “You seem like the right person for the job.”

“Why?”

“I can see it in your eyes, don’t question how.”

Erik opened his mouth to question it anyway but was met by a “shhh” before he could say anything. This led the youngster to frown but he did comply.

“Alright, but what is in for me?”

“Perhaps you’d like some gold?” the beggar asked, his hand dipped into his pants and after a few moments of rummaging, he retrieved a gold coin.

Erik grimaced. ‘That… I don’t wanna know where he was hiding that coin…’ the gold was covered in a brown substance that Erik wanted nothing to do with. Anyway, what beggar had gold coins? A gold coin was valued at 100 silver coins. It meant that a single gold coin was 10,000 copper coins or 10,000 crowns. It was enough to buy a decent house in Ashford—though maybe the capital really was that costly.

“Yeah…” Erik mused. It was good to not spend his money then if not even beggars with gold coins could afford a living here. Erik gazed at the man’s face, his smile mixed with his lack of teeth made Erik slightly shiver.

“Oh, so you want it?” the man asked before walking over to Erik, he tried placing the coin on—

Before anything could happen, Erik jumped behind—losing his bag on the ground. “I think I’m fine, thank you…” he forced a smile and a laugh. “But I need some other compensation.”

The beggar promptly pulled his pants forward and placed the coin in his undergarments again. Erik’s eyes squinted at that. At least the man wasn’t dropping his pants and showing something.

“What about I relieve your meridians then?”

Erik brought his hands forward to dismiss it. He didn’t quite get what the man meant but he chose not to trust it was good. “I think I’m good… I’m better off without being touched.”

“So you would pass on the opportunity to grow stronger? What a fool?” the beggar said, his fat fingers searching for boggers deep into his nose. After some seconds of scrambling, they found one and he ate it to Erik’s dismay.

‘Okay… I should get going before he does something even more disgusting… however.’

“What do you mean by getting stronger?”

“Well, you see,” the man said, his face brightening in the dim light of the alley as if the sun shone for him. “I am a master of several martial arts—the King of Beggars! I can easily empower a talented youngster like you with my abilities.”

‘Did he notice my mana core is awakened?’ Erik questioned as the man mentioned his talent. Was what the beggar said true? No, how could beggars have a king right? This didn’t make any sense. Yet, despite the absurdity of it all, Erik couldn’t see anything from the man’s face that made it seem like a lie. Was he delusional perhaps?

It was then that Erik noticed a friend of the beggar, holding a white crystal that cast a surreal glow in the dark alleyway.

So this was a play for them?

Frustration bubbled within Erik, causing his veins to throb against his skin. He forced a smile. “So… if you’re a master, can I test it?” He was full of sarcasm, but deep down, he yearned for the chance to unleash his pent-up rage.

“Ye—”

Before he could finish, Erik exhaled.

“[Ablaze].”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

His fist ignited into a bright fire explosion just as he stepped forth. His body fully enhanced by magic cut the distance between him and the man in the blink of an eye. Erik twisted his torso to get a good strike and punched him in the face.

The impact echoed like thunder, a shockwave rippling through the air, followed by a cloud of smoke that enveloped the alley. Erik staggered back, watching the haze slowly dissipate, dread knotting in his stomach. Had he gone too far? That man was probably dead after this.

If Erik were to take his tutor as undeniable truth, he would have achieved a level of strength above most D-rank adventurers—who to be fair were just newbies but one needed to have awakened to become an adventurer—and just a smidge below C rank. This made him several times stronger than normal people.

As the smoke settled in though, Erik could see the beggar still standing. The cheek Erik had just hit wasn’t even bruised. His friends looked unfazed as well like that attack wasn’t even worthy of being acknowledged.

“Just who the hell are you?” Erik asked as sweat started dripping down his forehead.

The man bowed slowly. “I am the King of Beggars, Bob Lee,” he said before going back up, a smile probed into his face. “That punch wasn’t bad but you lack form youngster, it was sloppy and slow, I almost fell asleep watching it come.”

Erik clenched his fists. The single act of doing so pained him, making him look at it—his knuckles were burned through. That was an aftereffect of using his flames as a form of power-up. Erik brought his father’s gauntlets to the Capital in hopes of repairing them and making them usable again as with them he could do like his father and fight surrounded by flames.

After a moment of thought, his gaze shifted to Bob Lee.

“You’re telling me I just threw a punch strong enough to—”

“—to wake up a sleepy old man?” Bob Lee interrupted his short eyes wide and filled with amusement. “You’re a talented boy, that much I can see. But you’re nothing where I came from, kid. Better get that arrogance out of you before you get yourself killed,” all the time Bob spoke in an annoying tone. It was like he wanted to anger the boy but he still chose to speak the truth.

Erik loosened his tight fists. “Then how about you show me how to get stronger, ‘King’?” His voice was calm and low, he didn’t want to antagonize someone who could be useful to him—and who could end him.

“That’s what I said, Erik, go get our sweet white powder and I shall make you stronger,” he said with a smile before looking to his friends on the sides and bumping them with his elbow.

Erik furrowed his brow. How did he know his name? The man’s demeanor was extremely weird but Erik chose to not question it.

“Alright, just tell me where I have to go.”

----------------------------------------

Erik stood on a rooftop, his gaze focused on the window of the building just in front of him. This abandoned place was where the package was. It seemed like the person who was gonna give it to Lee decided to play hard at the last second so it was Erik’s job now to do it.

‘Am I going to find anyone in there?’ Erik thought. He would prefer to not have to talk his way out of things—or fight his way out of things—when the entrance exams were looming but perhaps it would be the only way.

Erik sighed.

Since the doors were barricaded and he hoped to not draw too much attention, breaking that window was the best option. The problem was, that it was located at least three meters below and six across. It would have to be a calculated jump.

Now, even if Erik smashed his head against the wall or fell to the ground from three stories high he wouldn’t die—though it would hurt so he’d rather avoid it.

Erik breathed and threw his heavy bag towards the glass window. The impact shattered it instantly, sending shards flying into the air. Without hesitation, he followed, his body leaping forward with feet-first, aiming to enter the building with as much grace as possible.

But he hadn’t thought through the landing.

Erik’s angle made it so that he couldn’t transition into a landing, making him crash on the wooden floor with a loud thud, sliding on his ass. The momentum carried him over the room until he slammed into some piles of wood.

“Argh, shit,” he groaned, wincing as pain flared from both his head and the bruising impact on his rear. For a moment, he lay there, stunned, feeling the burn in his body and his pride.

Slowly, Erik pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his temples and cursing under his breath.

“Smooth, Erik. Real smooth,” he muttered to himself in sarcastic tones.

He stood there for a second, collecting himself, and scanned the room.

The room reeked of decay, a foul, putrid odor that made his stomach turn. As Erik stood, he could hear the faint sound of cockroaches darting between the scattered trash and abandoned construction materials. Torn, dust-covered bags lay strewn about haphazardly, filled with who-knew-what, while piles of wood and rusted metal beams were scattered in careless heaps. The floor was full of dirt, and vine plants, and stained with dark crusts.

“Great. Just perfect,” Erik muttered, waving a hand in front of his face as if it could fend off the awful stench. Eventually, he settled in for pulling his shirt upwards a bit, using it as a mask to filter through the odor as he searched the place.

Bag after bad, he searched for what Bob Lee had requested from him. Then, after what felt like more time than Erik could be bothered to use, he opened a package with the foretold white powder. Now, Erik had no idea what that was but he wouldn’t pry on it more than he needed so he hurriedly closed the cut he made with cloth and placed the package inside his bag—making sure it wouldn’t dirty his clothes and anything else he had.

That’s when the door creaked open.

Erik’s eyes darted towards it, watching a tall and large man enter the room.

“What…”

“I was sent here to get a package, no hard feelings, okay?” Erik got up from his squat and moved closer to the window, paying no further attention to the man.

“Hey, you can’t do that, you can’t-” his desperate voice wasn’t heard anymore after Erik got on top of the window frame and jumped to the building he came from.

‘Alright, now I just gotta go back to him!’ he thought with a smile. He had wasted what? Two hours? Erik was happy to get this over with.

Erik sprinted across the roof, his feet pounding against the cobblestones as he leaped onto the next building’s slanted rooftop. The midday sun blazed overhead, making him sweat as his heart raced. He moved with ease however, he had grown so accustomed to using magic that hopping from one rooftop to the next was child’s play for him.

Below him, the city bustled with life, unaware of the figure darting across the skyline who besides just entering the city already did his bidding.

Each jump was made perfectly in sync with the uneven rooftops. The tiles beneath his feet were hot, baked by hours of relentless sunlight, but Erik didn’t slow down. He was close—so close to getting back.

But as he landed on the next rooftop, the tile beneath his foot shifted.

“Ah, shit—”