1 A HORRIFYING ENCOUNTER
"Take out today's package, numbnuts." A raspy voice spoke up,
"I don't have any on me," Jack said with a tinge of hesitation in his voice.
"There goes the drama queen. Did you truly think we didn't observe your movements? Do you think we didn't see you getting the small bundler of notes from that old lady? Cough it up, boy." The man raised Jack's body from the ground and said to him while he was hanging there mid-air.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Jack stuck to his words.
"I guess we need to rough this up a little bit before little Goldie will cough up the money." Another man came around.
" I think Arnie is right. We need to follow the usual routine. Bitches do get acquainted with being treated roughly." The man who was holding jack spoke.
"The next moment Jack was thrown to the ground and a pair of legs began to thrash him badly. They weren't stopping no matter how hard jack was screaming. It all felt like a very bad dream and jack eventually lost his will to scream too.
He silently suffered the assault and eventually, the small amount of money that he had hidden deep within his jacket fell on the ground.
"here it is. See how easy it is to just give up on stiffness and live your life silently." Arnie said while he picked up the bundle of money. He turned around and was about to go when the man from before stopped him.
"The bitch needs to be taught how to obey us." The man spoke before thrashing Jack with even more ferocity and throwing him on a pile of garbage nearby. The two men laughed it out and left the scene, leaving an injured Jack surrounded by the dirt of the city.
Jack was in no condition to move around and lost consciousness in the middle of the day.
It was later that day, around the nighttime when Jack finally gained consciousness. He tried his hardest to sit up but his wounded body forbade him from rising. He looked around trying to find something to support his body, but all that he saw was garbage.
Eventually, the bleeding seemed to have stopped and the feeling of pain grew numb. Jack managed to lift himself in a sitting position and eventually raised his body to be on his knees. The sheer effort required to keep his body straight was taking a huge toll on Jack's mentality.
He saw the sky above him and suddenly he felt a little bit of strength in his legs. He eventually rose from the ground and dragged his body down the road. He didn't have anywhere, in particular, to go and as a homeless man, the open sky was his roof.
he passed some late-night shops which were catering to customers. Each and every one of them gave a disgusted look to the boy who wore rags and was dragging his body through the road. Some shops had a news channel where anchors were constantly spouting details regarding the current situation of the human world and the wars going around the world.
Around 50 years ago, monsters began to appear all around the world through small spatial cracks which were now called dungeons or space rifts. These monsters were focused on eliminating the human forces and conquering the planet.
Humanity tried its best to group all its resources together and resist the night of the monster. It was only once all the elements of war were employed did humanity learn a bitter lesson that modern technology humans had taken such pride in building up until now was no longer effective against the monsters.
Even though the situation was hopeless, in the face of death everyone wanted to resist the monster forces. Every man and woman on the planet was called upon by the world leaders to get together and fight for the survival of humanity.
Just when humans were on the brink of extinction, did those people appear. They weren't any different than normal humans, yet each one of them possessed abilities that far surpassed mankind. These p[people began to share their knowledge regarding the awakening of these special powers and more people began to emerge out of the blue, holding tremendous power within themselves.
These special ability users began to attack these monster hordes in mass, and humanity was slowly able to turn the tide against the monsters. The lost lands were recaptured with the efforts of the super-humans, and these monsters were slowly eliminated from the face of the world.
When monsters were finally restricted to these spatial cracks and peace managed to bloom within the planet, humanity's greedy side slowly began to take over. Governments that were previously demolished due to the monster outbreak began to reform. The only difference was that these special ability users began to take matters into their own hands.
Technology and weapons of war were no longer useful in this world. A nation's might was decided by the number of special ability users who were residing within it. new groups were formed. These groups called themselves guilds and began to horde power and resources around them.
The spatial cracks, which were previously thought to be the gospel of deaths soon became the greatest sport there is within the world. These special-ability users were given the terms of hunters and the monsters spawning within the spatial cracks were the prey they were supposed to kill.
Soon enough, power and ability became the commodity of the rich. Poverty, which was previously eradicated due to the monster invasion, suddenly became a harsh reality of the world. Jack didn't know who his parents truly were and how did he end up on the street.
The people who had helped raise him slowly began to fade away from the world due to hunger and excessive reductions of the commodities required to survive in the harsh world.
"I guess it is time for me to join you," Jack said while looking towards the sky. he always dreamed that the stars were the p[people who had looked over him throughout the years. His deranged condition has led him to slowly lose hope over time.
Jack turned his head around a nearby mountain. It was a familiar sight as he would often rush into it to get away from the bullies in the street. Today was one of those unfortunate days. he dragged himself to the very top of the mountain.
A lot of memories were captured in this place. One of which was the top view of the entire Avalon City. Even though all the city had given him was pure misery, it was still a mesmerizing view that always captured Jack's attention.
" I guess experiencing it one last time wasn't a mistake." Jack walked over to the ridge and looked below the steep cliff. He had lost all hope he had in the world around him. His poverty-stricken condition wouldn't allow him to gain this special-ability and there was no other way to survive in this society.
Jack decided to look at the stars one more time before jumping down and bringing a permanent end to this misery of his. Yet, something massive appeared in his point of view. At first, it looked like a small stone, but eventually, it grew into the size of a fully-grown human.
Before Jack could perceive the situation and dodge it, the figure bashed into his body and the duo blasted deep into the mountains.
Jack's injured body was writhing with pain from the impact, yet all he could feel was the heavy body on top of him. Soon enough, he felt that his surroundings had gotten wet, and only when the shine from the stars reflected through the crevices within the group of trees, did he see that the liquid on him was blood.
Jack panicked from the severely injured man over him and tried his best to move him away and stand up. He then began to inspect the man, trying his best to cover the injured areas.
"YOU NEED TO HOLD UP. YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME. YOU JUST NEED TO HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET SOME HELP." Jack was screaming on top of his lungs, trying his best to stop the blood from flowing.
" No need to bother. I don't have enough time to live." A weak voice sounded out of the man's mouth. Jack removed the mask from the top of his face and a handsome, yet pale face came into view.
"You will survive. Please hold on. I will get someone to help you." Jack tried his best to console the person. he rose up and decided to go call for help when the man suddenly grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him back.
" I wouldn't be able to live much longer. I just want you to do something for me." The man raised his hands and grabbed Jack's. A beam of light suddenly came out of his body and merged into JAck. No matter how hard Jack tried to separate himself from the man's grip, it was all for naught.
The light dslolw3y seeped into Jack's body, and patterns slowly began to emerge on his skin. These looked like some way, complicated tattoos which engraved themselves on Jack's body, both internally and externally. The pain was too much for jack to handle, and he began to lose consciousness.
"Remember, God's Sanctum... Run fast..." The man used the last bit of his remaining energy, to blast Jack deep into the woods. Jack didn't feel anything as he was unconscious by now.
