Pressing his head against the shabby wooden table before him, the cloaked figure sighed before raising his head.
Inside the relatively small bar, where most customers were in their mid-thirties and had faces full of facial hair, the cloaked figure stood out.
With a small stature and height of 5'8", the boy with jet-black hair and ocean-blue eyes seemed a bit older than sixteen.
Wearing tattered pants and a piece of dirty black cloth that stretched from his hair to his waist, the boy finally raised his head upon hearing a figure approaching him.
With an exhausted expression, a server stopped by the boy's table, with two trays full of drinks balancing on both of his hands.
"The usual, Athen?"
Ignoring the waiter's question, Athen stared at the glasses full of a light-orange liquid with a dreamy expression.
"..."
After a couple of silent seconds passed, the waiter was about to walk away when an angry voice yelled out from behind them.
"DAMN IT, DARREN! I TOLD YOU TO KICK OUT ANY NON-PAYING CUSTOMERS. NO HOBOS IN THIS FINE ESTABLISHMENT!"
Behind the bar counter, the furious bartender stared at Athen, his eyes practically bulging out of his face.
Upon hearing the last part, a couple of snickers emerged from the other customers, who quite resembled hobos with their tattered clothing and ungroomed faces.
The bar was far from a fine establishment.
Inside, the bar was dimly lit, though not in a charming way—it was more like the flickering glow of a single failing bulb.
The walls were covered in peeling wallpaper, stained yellow from years of cigarette smoke, and adorned with faded posters from decade-old events.
Even the floor was sticky and uneven, and dangerously covered by countless glass shards.
Darren, exhausted, turned back to face Athen.
"Look, Athen, I have no idea why you come despite knowing damn well you have zero money... but it needs to stop now."
*CREAK*
As two more customers, dressed in suits and equipped with briefcases, entered the bar, Athen finally looked away from the glasses.
Reaching into his pocket, Athen ignored the annoyed server before digging even further.
"OH!"
By some miracle, Athen's face lit up in excitement as his hand emerged from his pocket with a rusty bronze coin.
Smiling as if he had planned the entire thing, Athen exchanged the bronze coin for a glass of the light-orange substance.
Exasperated, Darren placed the glass on the wooden table before turning to leave.
Staring at the glass of beer in front of him, Athen's eyes sparkled with exhilaration.
Day in and day out, his life was miserable.
Scavenging for scraps all day and looking for a place outside to sleep all night.
Yet, at this moment, with the glass of beer in front of him, all of that disappeared.
Not wasting a moment, Athen grabbed the glass before swiftly raising it to his mouth.
As the light-orange substance rapidly entered his mouth and the glass drained, a wide smile appeared on Athen's face.
Within a few seconds, the entire glass was empty.
Putting down the empty glass, Athen wiped his mouth, staining the black cloth covering his arm a light orange.
Leaning back in the chair, Athen stared at the empty glass in front of him.
"Now...where do I sleep?"
Though Athen realized he had just spent his housing funds for the night, a wide grin still appeared on his face.
Basking in the drink's strong aftertaste, Athen thoughtlessly stared at the glass, simply enjoying the moment.
However, something quickly caught his eye.
Through the curved surface of the glass, a pure-blue object shimmered, instantly catching Athen's attention.
Maybe... this damned ability of his would finally prove useful!
Leaning back further in his chair, Athen stared backward and attempted to find the diamond.
And there, in the pocket of one of the new customers, the diamond shone as if saying to Athen, "Please take me!"
And how could he resist?
Glancing around the bar, Athen also spotted the enraged bartender still staring at him.
"Well, it's about time I leave anyway."
With his brain spinning from the drink, Athen carefully grabbed the empty glass before standing up.
"DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THAT DAMN GLASS WITH YOU!"
Most of the customers, immune to the bartender's yelling at this point, continued talking, thankfully paying no attention to the two.
Waving his empty hand, Athen smiled before placing the empty glass to his mouth once again.
"Don't worry, I'm not leaving until I'm finished with the glass, boss!"
Scowling, the bartender was about to say something before realizing it was utterly useless to communicate with the deranged boy.
Keeping an eye on Athen, the bartender began taking orders from the new customers, who stood out even more than Athen.
With their fancy suits, pure-black fedoras, and well-groomed faces, they practically emulated the word "rich" to Athen.
People like them were rare in Athen's hometown of Blackthorn, or more commonly known as "Scrapthorn."
Located on the outskirts of the human realm, Scrapthorn was quite literally the farthest place from the capital city.
Although Athen had never left his hometown, the stories of the capital city brought by visitors were always interesting.
Especially that term they always mentioned.
Magic.
Having fought with his fists all his life, Athen couldn't even fathom the idea of something that could kill or harm another person without any physical contact.
Even the idea of utility spells that could do what took Athen an entire day in less than a second brought a headache to his head.
Fireballs, man-made tsunamis, light spells, and alcohol-creating spells?
They were interesting, but Athen didn't have the time or resources to waste exploring this idea of magic.
But that wasn't to say Atlas didn't believe their stories of magic.
After all, he also had some sort of unbelievable power...though it hadn't been as useful as that magic the visitors always talked about.
Perhaps realizing the wealth of his new customers, the bartender's expression changed from furious to amicable.
Breathing in and out, Athen carefully concentrated his heartbeat, dismissing all the other various sounds of the dirty bar.
As the sounds disappeared, Athen closed his eyes, trying his best to keep his composure despite the lurid smell.
Feeling a sudden breeze rush against his face, despite the fact that he was inside, Athen smiled.