"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.
"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 in mid-air.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Jake 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 mistreated." The man who was holding Jake spoke.
The next moment, Jake was thrown to the ground, and a pair of legs began to thrash him badly. They weren't stopping, no matter how hard he screamed. It all felt like a terrible dream, and he 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 give up on resistance 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 Jake 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 Jake surrounded by the city's dirt.
Jake 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 Jake 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 he saw was garbage.
Eventually, the bleeding seemed to have stopped, and his body grew numb. He lifted himself in a sitting position and raised his body to be on his knees. The sheer effort required to keep his body straight significantly affected his mentality.
He saw the sky above him and felt a little strength in his legs. The beating was cruel, but he managed to survive. Rising from the ground, he dragged his body down the road. He didn't have anywhere to go, and the open sky was his roof as a homeless man. This was the fate of the unprivileged in this world.
He passed by some late-night shops that were catering to customers. 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 news channels where anchors were constantly spouting details regarding the current situation of the human world and the wars going on around.
Around 50 years ago, monsters began to appear worldwide through small spatial cracks, now called dungeons or space rifts. These monsters were focused on eliminating the human forces and conquering the planet. They weren't ordinary beasts but humongous hordes of beings to destroy the world.
Humanity tried its best to group all its resources and resist the night of the monster. 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. Except for nuclear weapons, nothing else seemed to work.
Even though the situation was hopeless, in the face of death, everyone wanted to resist the monster's forces. The world leaders called upon every man and woman on the planet to get together and fight for the survival of humanity.
People with supernatural abilities appeared as humans were on the brink of extinction. They weren't different from normal humans, yet each possessed abilities far surpassing humanity's wildest beliefs. These people began to share their knowledge regarding the awakening of these extraordinary powers, and more emerged out of the blue, holding tremendous power within themselves.
These particular ability users began to attack these monster hordes, and humanity was slowly able to turn the tide against them. The lost lands were recaptured with the efforts of the super-humans, and these monsters were slowly eliminated from the face of the world. The wars were brutal and killed many, but they were won in the end.
When monsters were finally restricted to these spatial cracks, and peace bloomed 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 particular ability users started to take matters into their own hands. As a person with the strength to turn the tide against the monsters, ordinary people were no longer in control. Strength was the only language.
Technology and weapons of war were no longer helpful in this world. The number of particular ability users residing within a nation's might was decided. New battle types started to appear, with these strong individuals fighting against each other to come on top. New groups were formed. These groups called themselves guilds and began to horde power and resources around them. Users with supernatural abilities began to gather together in these organizations and work for their selfish interests.
The spatial cracks, previously thought to be the gospel of death, soon became the most fantastic sport in the world. They were vast pools of resources that were previously untapped. Resources that were non-existent on Earth began to appear. 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. Jake was one of these unfortunate people who was an orphan. He didn't know who his parents indeed were and how he ended 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," Jake said, looking towards the sky. He always dreamed that the stars were the people who had looked over him throughout the years. His deranged condition has led him to lose hope over time slowly.
Jake turned his head around a nearby mountain. It was a familiar sight as he would often rush into it to escape 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." Jake walked over to the ridge and looked below the cliff. He had lost all hope he had in the world around him. His poverty-stricken condition wouldn't allow him to gain this unique ability, and there was no other way to survive in this society.
He decided to look at the stars again before jumping down and permanently ending his misery. 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 he could perceive the situation and dodge it, the figure bashed into his body, and the duo blasted deep into the mountains. The impact was so strong that it knocked the surrounding area into disarray.
When the dust cleared, his 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 apertures within the group of trees did he see that the liquid on him was blood.
He panicked from the severely injured man over him and tried his best to move him away and stand up. He inspected the man, trying his best to cover the injured areas.
"YOU NEED TO HOLD UP. YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME. YOU NEED TO HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET SOME HELP." He was screaming at the 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, covered with a strange mask. As he removed the mask, a handsome yet pale face appeared.
"You will survive. Please hold on. I will get someone to help you." Jake tried his best to console the person. He rose and decided to call for help when the man suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
" I wouldn't be able to live much longer. I want you to do something for me." The man raised his hands and grabbed his hands. A beam of light suddenly emerged from his body and merged into Jake's. No matter how hard he tried to separate himself from the man's grip, it was all for nought. His grip was firm for someone so injured. It was, without a doubt, a supernatural ability user.
The light seeped into Jake's body, and patterns slowly emerged on his skin. These looked, in some way, like complicated tattoos that had been engraved on his body, both internally and externally. The pain was too much for him 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 Jake deep into the woods. He didn't feel anything and was unconscious by now.