"Hey, lackey, hurry up. We don't have all day to deliver a simple soup," an authoritative voice resounded from the restaurant. "If you keep taking longer, I'll throw you out on the street, Martyn," the boss threatened, his tone relentless.
"Right away, sir," Martyn responded instantly, his voice filled with urgency. Getting this job had been tough, and he couldn't afford to lose it.
"Good, take that soup to the woman over there," the man ordered, showing a smile of authority as he pointed to the customer in question.
"Here you go, ma'am. I hope you enjoy it," Martyn said, handing over the soup with a forced smile, though his displeasure was evident.
"Well, it's about time my food arrived. I thought I was going to starve. For an 'impure,' you have a lot of nerve making me wait," the woman responded disdainfully.
The comment hurt Martyn, but he knew he had to stay calm. Discrimination was a constant in his life.
(Ungrateful bitch, people like you should be happy to eat something like this, we barely have enough to survive.)
Disgusted, Martyn decided to return to the kitchen.
"Hey, what's wrong, Martyn? Was that customer really bad?" his coworker, Victor, asked as soon as he entered the kitchen.
"You don't say, Victor. The 'blessed' think that being chosen by the gods means they can look down on everyone else," Martyn replied as he headed to wash the dishes.
"You know how things work here. We 'impure' must help those chosen by the gods. After all, no god wanted us," Victor said, bringing Martyn back to reality.
"Yeah, I know, but it's stupid. Just because we weren't chosen, we have to be less? Besides, these marks are annoying," Martyn retorted, showing his two marks to Victor. People with double marks were considered the lowest in society, the most inferior of the 'impure.'
"Hey, less talking and more action. Martyn, go serve soup to the customers who just came in and keep a smile," their boss interrupted, entering the kitchen and ending the friends' chat. It was time to work.
"Understood, boss," Martyn replied, leaving through the door with two bowls of soup.
"Here you go, sir. I hope you enjoy it," Martyn said with a forced smile.
"What is this? Why on earth is an impure serving me soup?" the customer spoke angrily, clearly disgusted by Martyn's presence.
"Sir, our soup is good. Being served by an impure has nothing to do with its taste," Martyn said, lowering his head. He was already used to this kind of treatment.
"Good? Is this a joke? You're an impure. The gods will punish me if I take something served by you," the man responded angrily. "I don't want your dirty soup," he said as he threw the bowl to the floor.
"I want someone else to serve me soup! Don't you know who I am? I'm a hunter of Olympus affiliated with the Egyptian gods. I've completed the great aspirants' trial, I've had missions and everything," the man boasted, showing his medal to demonstrate his status.
*whispers: "Wow, does that guy have no shame? Why is he serving food to a hunter, doesn't he know his place?"
The whispers of the other customers reached Martyn's ears, making him angrier, but he didn't have the strength to confront the man.
(Shit, he's a fucking hunter. They're the worst when it comes to the impure.) Martyn clenched his fists, angry at hearing the man. It was well known in the city that you should never confront a hunter of Olympus.
"What's the matter, sir? Do you have a problem?" After several minutes of hearing the man's complaints, Martyn's boss approached to speak to him.
"Do I have a problem? Of course I do. Why the hell is an impure serving me food?" the angry man responded, pointing at Martyn.
"My apologies, sir. This impure here is only supposed to clean, but it seems he came to serve you, great hunter, without my permission. Come on, Martyn, apologize to the man," the boss ordered while Martyn could only listen.
"But you were..." Martyn tried to tell the truth, but seeing the faces of the two men intimidated him. "I'm sorry," he said, angry inside.
"What? Are you a wimp? I can't hear you at all. I see what's happening, you want to mock me, don't you?"
The man, with a smile, approached Martyn. "Do you want a beating?" Martyn slowly backed away, seeing his intentions.
(Shit, I see what's happening. He wants to show off his hunter skills to everyone.) "No, I'm sorry, I just..."
Before he could finish speaking, Martyn received a punch in the face. His weak body fell to the ground instantly.
"Do you think you can mock a hunter and get away with it?" The man prepared his next punch, but it was stopped by chains holding his arm.
"What the hell? Who dares to touch me?" With rage in his eyes, the man turned around, but found no one.
"Looks like someone is looking for me," to everyone's surprise, a girl with long silver hair stood behind the man without warning.
"Who... who the hell are you?" the man asked, clearly scared.
"I'm a hunter of Olympus just like you. I was enjoying my meal, but your shouting and fighting bothered me," the woman said, while her chains began to sprout steel thorns.
"This energy... you're a hunter affiliated with the Greek gods. I'm so sorry, I didn't know," the man changed his expression completely and knelt before the woman.
(A Greek hunter here? I can't believe it.) Martyn looked at the woman in amazement. Hunters affiliated with the Greek faction were known as the strongest in Neo Tyran. The only way to join was if you were very talented.
"Alright, just don't make any noise and leave," the woman said with a cold look. The man didn't hesitate for a second and left.
"Alright, are you okay, kid?" The girl's face changed to a smile as she offered her hand to Martyn to help him up.
"Yes, thank you," Martyn replied, getting up on his own. He couldn't show himself as too weak.
"Apologies, hunters have a lot of ego sometimes. Oh, right, take this," the girl gave Martyn a coin. "It's compensation for the soup earlier." After saying those words, the girl turned and left the place. Martyn wanted to thank her, but the words didn't come out.
(Shit, it's a silver coin. I'd have to work a whole month to get something like this, but I don't like it at all. I won't use it,) Martyn thought as he put the money in his pocket.
***
"Hey, why are you only paying me 3 bronze coins for a day's work?" Hours had passed, and it was payday. Every day Martyn received 5 bronze coins.
"That's your pay for today. A customer was upset with you, so be grateful I paid you. For an impure, you're very lucky," Martyn's boss responded, getting ready to leave.
(Shit, but with this amount of coins I can't even pay for the house.) Although he wanted to complain, Martyn held back and left the place with such a miserable pay.
"Shit, all this because I'm an impure. It's not my fault I have no talent," Martyn said angrily as he kicked a trash can and started his way home. Although Neo Tyran was a city with a lot of technology and quite large, the impure lived in the lower parts of the city where they barely had electricity. And in one of those places lived Martyn.
"I'm hungry. I should see what I have in the fridge to eat," he said as he opened the door of his house, dropped his bag on the table, and went straight to the fridge. His physical condition was quite weak because he couldn't eat much.
"I only have bread, cheese, and some water. It'll do until tomorrow," he said as he prepared to eat. Martyn lived alone since he was very young. His parents died in one of the "great ascents" the city suffered.
(Shit, today was worse than the others. I even got hit.) Martyn thought as he prepared to eat. "I wish I wasn't an impure. I wish I was as strong as the hunters and could teach them a lesson."
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Martyn's fantasies were interrupted by someone knocking at the door.
(Who the hell could it be at this hour?) After hearing the voice, Martyn went straight to the door to see who it was.
"Good evening, young man. Do you have anything to offer this old man?" To Martyn's surprise, he found an elderly man, quite small.
"Hello, sir. I really have little food, but here you go," Martyn took out the coin the woman had given him earlier. He really didn't want to see that coin; it only reflected his weakness.
"Thank you, kind young man. Thank you very much," the man said, holding the coin with both hands, revealing something hidden in him.
(He has three impurity marks? It must have been even harder for him than for me,) Martyn thought as he saw the man's mark. People with three impurity marks were those without talent and who also didn't believe in the gods, so that was their punishment.
"Alright, young man, I'll be leaving now
. See you later," said the old man before leaving instantly.
"See you later? I hope he doesn't come here every day asking for money," Martyn said, still doubtful, as he closed the door to eat and prepare to sleep.
(Alright, another day is over. Time to sleep.) As always, Martyn lay on his couch, since he couldn't afford a bed, ready to rest. Tomorrow he had to work without fail.
[Welcome.]
"What happened? Did the alarm already go off?" But as soon as Martyn opened his eyes, he found himself in a place different from his home. "Where am I? Is this a dream?"
Unsure of what he was seeing, Martyn asked, sitting in a large and beautiful garden with a big tree in the center.
"A dream? Is my kingdom a dream to you?" But to cut off his doubts, a voice spoke to him from behind, making the boy turn his head.
"Thank you for the coin earlier, boy. I am Odin."
"Wow, this dream is really weird," Martyn murmured.