6 Months later...
[Ring....]
[Ring....]
Inside a rundown apartment, a phone began to buzz and vibrate on top of a bedroom cabinet. Zoey lied down on her bed, her eyes slowly opening to the sounds of her phone vibrating. Her hair a mess, and circles under her eyes due to the long shifts of working at her job.
Soon after arriving at Zolorius City, Zoey realized that her allowance wasn't going to last her very long. The money her family had sent her wasn't much at all, so she knew that she had to secure a job in order to survive, and after much struggle, she managed to secure herself a job at a nearby supermarket.
"Urgh!" Zoey let out a strained groan, slowly pushing herself off the bed and stretching her body, letting out a yawn as the first few beams of sunlight fell onto her face through her window blinds.
She lazily rubbed her sleepy eyes, grabbing her phone from the bedroom cabinet next to her.
"H-huh!?" Zoey exclaimed in suprise, her eyes widening as she checked at the time. '[9:35] Crap I'm late!' Zoey thought as she threw her phone onto the bed and quickly bolted to the bathroom to prepare herself.
She took a quick shower, and immediately got dressed before dashing out the door, not even bothering to eat. Once outside, she climbed down the stairwell before realizing that she didn't have her smartphone on her, her hands roaming her pockets and soon realizing that she had forgotten it in her room.
"Dang it." Zoey sighed as she turned around, a bit irritated at her own stupidity and forgetfulness as she walked back to her room, unlocking the door and swiftly grabbing her smartphone, before locking it again and immediately rushing to get to work.
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The sun hang high in the sky, casting a warm and brilliant glow onto the light of Zolorius City. Cars zoomed by, their exhaust filling the air, Hunters roamed the crowded streets, each one varying in size and class.
"Huff...puff..." Zoey tried to catch her breath, leaning against the sleek glass-doors of the supermarket.
She looked ahead of her, the store was filled with many customers all shopping and moving about, but from the crowd of people, a very grumpy bald man walked up towards her, his face twisted with fury.
"Your late! Once again!" Zoey's boss yelled at her, his voice booming in her ears. He crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently.
"I-I'm so sorry Mr. Smith." Zoey apologized sincerely, "I overslept...it will never happen again."
"Never happen again my ass!" Mr. Smith boss said, "You already said that before, Mana-less girl." Mr. Smith reprimanded her harshly, even calling her by her shameful title.
'Heh, how satisfying. Yelling at a Monroe, one of the most powerful family's in Sunrow City. It's sad really, even normal people that aren't Hunters possess Mana in their bodies, with the possibility of becoming Hunters in the future.
But she will never be able to become one, since she doesn't harbor the slightest bit of Mana in her body. Kekeke~' Mr. Smith thought, a evil grin on his face.
There are two ways a Hunter can come to be, one being the most common, when a baby is born from a Hunter, the mother's Mana is then able to be inherited by their children, making it almost guaranteed for that child to be able to manifest their system in their early years.
In some rare cases, Skills and Talents will also have a possibility of being inherited by their children, but there have only been a few occasions when this has occurred so far.
The last way a Hunter can come to be is when the Mana particles in the air, can be absorbed by the human body to allow them to become Hunters.
This is usually much more slower than the first one, as normal people have a harder time absorbing Mana in their bodies, making most people take up to years before being able to awaken their systems.
"Wait, isn't that Zoey Monroe!?" One of the people amongst the crowd suddenly said, pointing at her with their pointing finger.
"It really is her!"
"The "Mana-less Girl" right? I heard she got banished from her family and had to come to Zolorius in order to survive."
Whispers broke out in the crowd, with most mocking her, and some feeling pity for her.
"If she wasn't good looking, she probably wouldn't have been able to secure a job anywhere, she should atleast be grateful to god for providing her such a pretty face." A teenage girl said, jealousy laced in her words.
'Endure....endure...you've been through this before...' Zoey instructed herself mentally, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves.
"Hey! That's enough!" A voice suddenly erupted from behind the crowd, the crowd turned around to see a girl with long black hair and a furious expression, her teeth grit and radiating a menacing aura that sent chills through the store.
As the girl strided through the crowd, everyone stepped aside to allow her to pass, not one person brave enough to stand in her way.
"C-christine?" Zoey muttered to herself in suprise upon seeing a familiar face, her colleague and only friend, the one who always stood up for her in situations like these.
Christine walked up to Zoey and grabbed her hand, dragging her away from the crowd, "Are you okay? Sorry for not showing up earlier..." Christine apologized, letting out a small pititful smile.
"N-no, you don't have to. Thank you for standing up for me....like always." Zoey said, looking away, ashamed to always be saved by her friend.
"Don't mention it, we're friends, and I'll always stand up for you." Christine replied, before letting go of her hand and standing infront of Zoey,
"Let's just go finish today's shift, then we can go out and grab something nice to eat. What do you say?"
"I'll have to decline like always, you're always the one paying for our meals, it makes me feel like a freeloader." Zoey says with a bit of shame in her voice, her voice cracking slightly.
Christine sensing the building tension inside Zoey, gently placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling warmly "I understand, just don't be too hard on yourself okay?" Christine replied, before turning around and walking away to attend to her work.
"And oh," Christine suddenly stopped, looking over her shoulder, "If anyone dares to harrass you, make sure to call me okay? I'll make sure they regret it instantly." She said before walking away.
'Good grief...she's too good for me..' Zoey thought with a sigh, a small smile forming on her face.
'Alright then, let's wrap this up so I can go home!' Zoey thought determined, walking to begin completing her tasks for today.
----
The day passed by quickly, with many customers coming and going in the supermarket. Zoey worked in a secluded part of the shop, sorting and packing some of the goods and placing them on the shelves.
'Let's see...' Zoey pondered, wiping a bead of sweet from her brow. She reached into her pocket and gazed at the time, [9:15], a small smile formed on her face 'Almost time to check-out.'
"Yo! Hello there!" A voice came from behind her, walking up to her.
'A customer? I thought they all left already?' Zoey thought, standing up and looking over her shoulder, seeing that it was a boy close to her age.
"Yes, what can I help you with?" Zoey asked, her tone polite.
"Wait a minute..." The boy's eyes narrowed, his eyes scanning her facial features, "I've seen you somewhere..."
'Oh no...' Zoey thought, her expression hardening, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her face.
"Oh! I remember now!" The boy suddenly exclaimed, pointing his finger at her, "You're Zoey Monroe! The "Mana-less Girl!"" The boy said, laughing a little under his breath.
"I heard word that you worked in this supermarket, I just had to come and see it for myself." The boy continued, each word coming out of his mouth felt like a blow on her pride, but she tried her best to not let her emotions get the best of her.
"It must really suck to be you, banished from such a prosperous and respected family. Your two siblings are really talented, they're already making a name for themselves, growing in both popularity and power....."
'Calm down...calm down...' Zoey told herself inwardly, her willpower slipping and her knuckles turning white with the force of how clenched her fists were in that moment, a vein popping at the side of her head, her eyes burning with a fury that had been kept in-check for way too long.
"Must be rough, huh? No Mana, no future. Even I'll be a Hunter one day, and I'm just some guy. But you? You're the family embarrassment—tossed out like garbage. Guess that's all you'll ever be."
'This damn brat!' Zoey snapped, her anger fuelling her thoughts and actions. She couldn't take the disrespect she was facing anymore, and she was going to make this boy pay for every word that left his disgusting mouth.
Just as Zoey to a step forward, determined to put the boy in his place, a familiar voice called for her, making her stop in her tracks and come to her senses, "Zoey! Zoey!" Christine called for her, before finding her with the boy at the back of the supermarket.
"There you are." Christine said, her eyes moving from Zoey's to the boy's, raising an eyebrow curiously "What are you doing here? All the customers had left already." Christine asked the boy.
"Oh..uhm.." The boy struggle to come up with a excuse, "I just got a little lost in the store, and lost my sense of time talking to Zoey." The boy said, glancing at Zoey with an evil grin.
Christine sighed, placing her hands on her hips, "Well, the store's closed now. So you'll have to leave immediately and come back tommorow." Christine said, placing her hands on the shoulders of the boy, spinning him around and pushing him out the store.
Once alone, Zoey stood there silent, the words of the boy replaying in her mind like an endless loop. "Trash?" Zoey asked herself, gazing at her hands, the same hands that fought so desperately to secure a job in this society ruled by the strong.
"....." Zoey's mind drifted back to the books of Hunters she used to read as a kid, "If clearing a dungeon is what it takes to show that you are strong....then I'll do it. I'll show the world that I too have what it takes to survive in this world, without Mana."
Zoey's muttered to herself recklessly, she didn't care anymore, all that mattered to herself now was proving to herself and the world that she wasn't "Trash."
"But where will I even find a dungeon? It's not as if I can join the association and accept a mission they have, they'll never take me..." Zoey sighed, realizing that her thoughts were all over the place.
'I need to go home and rest.' Zoey thought with a sigh, walking to the entrance of the store.
"See you tommorow." Christine bid her goodbye as she watched Zoey grab the door handle, but her eyes widened a little upon witnessing Zoey's expression "Hey..are you okay...you seem...upset." Christine asked, her voice filled with worry.
Zoey flashed Christine a small smile to try and hide the emotional turmoil inside her, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm fine. I'll see you tommorow Christine." Zoey said as she left the store and closed the door behind her.
'Something definetly happened....' Christine thought, sighing slightly.