Nephin lay on the ground, wreathing in pain. His consciousness on the verge of fading away and his body devoid of energy to fight back. Death looming over him, watching him struggle to get up.

Fu- uc- ah! Fuck! The bitch set me up! It hurts goddamn it! Power my ass.

The man who had beaten him up took of to the bar counter, mumbling to himself in an angry tone. “Goddamn dog-borns.”

A man walked over to Nephin, looking down at his pathetic self, drinking a pint of beer.

His hair a shade of teak and his eyes black. A well defined jaw and slightly short nose that attenuated his graceful face. He stood at six foot and has broad shoulders and a strong build which was brought to attention by his tight auburn shirt and pecan coloured pleated trousers.

He had a polished look and a professional aura to him which made him feel out of place in such a rowdy gathering of people.

“You ok there? Need help?” The man calmly asked Nephin as he sat down and finished his drink.

“f- fuck off” Nephin replied with a deep cracked voice.

“You seem new here, haven’t seen you before.”

Nephin managed to get up, holding on to the leg of a chair, he looks up at the man and asks, in a cracked voice with a tinge of anger and annoyance. “What do y-you want?”

“I want answers. Why is a branded person doing in a tavern getting beat up by a drunk?”

“Branded? Wha-“ but before he could finish, his hands gave up causing him to fall down. His left hand fell into a pool of beer and splashed it all over himself and the man.

Nephin felt a flow of water throughout his body, originating from his heart. It felt like a small but powerful stream of water rushing from his heart to everywhere in his body. Even to his hand that lay in a puddle of beer

The flow escaped from Nephin’s index finger onto the beer puddle, causing ripples to form. The ripples all expanded outwards before collapsing in on itself, causing beer to float into the air. Drops of beer floating from different points, all collecting in a single point, on top of Nephin’s index finger.

The beer drops formed a giant sphere of beef that floated on top of Nephin. Stunning all onlookers and the drunk that had just beaten him up. The man froze there , his eyes widened by the sight in front of him.

Before he could process what was happening however, the sphere came rushing towards him. The man was shocked for a second, before gaining clarity as he tried dodging the sphere, to no avail. The sphere hit him, throwing him backwards, causing him to hit a shelf full of glasses and bottles of different alcohols. Destroying everything.

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Everyone there was dumbstruck, unable to understand what had just happened, everyone except the out of place man who sat next to Nephin.

“Quite powerful, dangerous even. And you don’t seem to have control either... Who are you?”

Nephin looked up at the man questioning him with a frown. He did not understand what the man was talking about, because for him, he had never used any ‘powers’. His mind was cloudy, all he remembered were falling down again and feeling a ‘flow’ inside him.

What is he talking about?

“Do you really not know about Brands? God! Where did you come from?” His voice now of a higher pitch, betraying his calm attitude. The man was genuinely shocked by how Nephin knew nothing about Brands. This was happening for the first time. He had never met such an eccentric fellow before.

“What is a Brand? And wh-“ Only then did Nephin notice the commotion that had occurred in the tavern. The bar counter split in two and the shelf behind it shattered with a giant crater in the middle of it, litres of beer and other liquids puddled up and oozing out.

And the man who had beaten him up laying down beneath the crater, unconscious and badly damaged. Splinters on his arms and torso. Blood flowing from them and from his head.

“What happened here?” Nephin asks the man seated near him. His voice unsteady.

“you did this kid.”

Nephin was taken aback by the answer. He had no recollection of ever doing anything.

Unless... The flow! That must be it!

“I felt something inside me. Like... Water flowing through the veins in my body... Maybe that? But I didn’t try to attack anyone!”

“oh... So you can already feel the ‘channel’... And expressing it in that way, water flowing through your veins huh... That’s a fun explanation. And it Seems like you don’t know anything about Brands either”

“Well kid, my name is Jonah. Johan Carlson. Nice to meet you kid. What’s your name?”

“Nephin.”

“Just that? No last name?”

Nephin tried getting up again, this time with the help of Jonah. Using the Jonah as support, he was able to get up . Jonah hung Nephin’s hand over his shoulders and started to walk away towards the exit.

“I- don’t really remember my last name...” Nephin replied as he limped away with Jonah.

“Quite the mysterious young lad, I must say”

Jonah turned around and threw a wad of cash over to the bartender that had gotten up. “sorry for the damage old man!” he exclaimed.

The bartender looked towards Jonah with a frown but failed to catch the wad of cash, the events from before still in his mind.

“Well, you’re lucky Nephin because you met me! I’ll take you to some officials and get some stuff sorted out.”

Officials? Wait... what?

“what do you mean officials?” His voice reflecting his worry.

“The people that are in charge of course! We need to see if you’re a threat or an ally after all. Can’t have rogue Abstractors running around. Especially ones like you who don’t even know the danger!”

“Abstractor?” Nephin asked.

“people like you and me who are branded. You’ll understand everything after we reach the office.”

“ah! Speaking of which, here we are! The office!”

Huh? But... Isn’t this the building opposite the tavern?

Nephin then noticed a small wooden sign hanging near the window of the building.

[Tribule government abstractor regional office]

Tribule? Government abstractor? What is all this?

The more Nephin thought, the more questions he faced rather than answers.

“Tribule is the name of the town we’re at right now and this is it’s abstractor regional office. Simple isn’t it?” Jonah explained in a rather friendly and aloof tone as he opened the door and walked inside.

“Come on, lets go”

Nephin walked inside together with Jonah, meeting a brunette beauty sleeping on a couch to their left and an empty registry to their right.

“Welcome to the Tribule Government abstractor regional office! My name is Jonah Carlson, the regional manager here. Nice to meet you Nephin.”