Chapter 1: 1 – Ability

A young boy wearing only a pair of tattered shorts stood surrounded by rock, his pale white skin covered in sweat. He stood at 5’10 and had a slim yet muscular build. Pitch-black, slightly wavy hair flowed to the bottom of his shoulder blades. His eyes were dark brown, and his whole face had a sharp look to it. 

Ruith grabbed the canteen from his belt and greedily gulped down the remaining water, it was near the end of his shift anyway.

Then, he raised his pickaxe just as he had for the past 11 hours, and began swinging away. The impact sent shocks up his exhausted arms, but he had to continue for him and his team to meet the daily quota.

Ruith sighed. The sound of rock being struck constantly rang out around him, enough to drive most people crazy.

Today was his 16th birthday, and here he was, deep in the mines, barely earning enough money to survive. But alas, he had no choice unless he wanted to starve on the street.

Another hour passed before he stopped once again, now his shift was over.

‘Ugh, finally…’

He and the other men hauled the ore from this day's work up in wooden boxes, and after nearly ten minutes of walking, they reached the surface.

Exiting the mine, cold air rushed into Ruith’s lungs, nigh euphoric after working in the stuffy and hot environment for 12 hours.

The overseer awaited them outside, watching as they placed the crates down.

“Good haul today…five copper coins for each of you!”

Ruith felt a bit of excitement.

‘Two more than usual, a good birthday present indeed!’

In the Bastion, the currency was simple. One hundred copper is one silver, and a hundred silver is one gold.

For people like Ruith, who didn’t have any special skills, all they could do was manual labor, barely earning enough to have a roof over their heads and food on their plates.

However, since it was his 16th birthday today, he would be receiving his ability. Ruith prayed that it would be good enough to let him stop working in this hellhole.

After receiving his money, Ruith and the other men loaded the crates onto horse-drawn carts. They all proceeded to sit on top of the crates as the driver began to move. 

Off in the distance, just a few miles away, rose the massive gray walls of the Bastion. 

The Bastion was the final hope of humanity. Now it had been 500 years since the mysterious Voideborne, terrifying creatures, had appeared, forcing mankind into the four Bastions. This was the last of its kind, the rest destroyed by monsters of unimaginable power. 

Driven to the brink of extinction, all hope seemed to be lost, until the fateful day 100 years ago. Humans gained abilities, and the power to use the strange energy called Mana.

Ruith did think it was slightly strange that in those 100 years, there had barely been any expansion, though several towns now existed outside of the protective walls.

As the cart drew nearer to the massive gates, he couldn’t help but wonder how these massive walls were constructed even before humans gained abilities. They rose several hundred feet into the air, and each side was around 20 miles long, forming a massive square.

Once Ruith entered through the gates he quickly hopped off the cart and made his way home. It was very dangerous to be out at night in the slums, and the ability awakening process would start in just under an hour.

Drawing nearer to an alleyway, Ruith heard voices coming from inside. Curious, he peeked around the corner.

A short young person, about 5’1,had been cornered by two ragged-looking men. The person seemed to be a girl at least from what he could tell, since she had a black cloak around her whole body.

Ruith sighed, sights like this were all too common. These people in the slums were already at rock bottom and had nothing to lose. Combining that with the fact that there was zero law enforcement around here, one could only imagine the terrible things that went on in the slums.

Normally Ruith ignored things like this, feeling that it wasn’t his problem. 

‘Well, maybe I should be a little helpful for a change…” He thought to himself.

He sighed once again and was about to move when something happened that completely shocked him.

As the two men walked towards the girl, her arm moved beneath her cloak. And from under it, came a long, silver sword. 

The two men barely had any time to react before the blade moved at a frightening speed, and slashed across both of their chests. Ruith was behind them, so he didn’t see where the sword had made contact, however, he did see the blood splatter onto the ground…

“AGH!” Both of the men screamed in pain and fear. All they saw was a seemingly defenseless young girl, never did they expect this.

They stumbled and tried to scramble away, however, the girl was not so merciful. One man had his head nearly chopped off, and it flopped down, held on by a bit of skin.

Ruith gagged. He had seen a lot of gore while he worked in the mines, but seeing a life taken right in front of him, especially in such a gruesome way, was a different kind of feeling. 

The remaining man froze, staring in horror at his former friend, now just a corpse.

“P-please…” the man whimpered in fear.

The blade went into his belly, and the girl pulled it up. Organs and crimson blood spilled out onto the stone, making a sickening wet sound as they hit the ground. The girl yanked her sword out, and the body fell to the ground, lifeless. 

Ruith stared at the bodies, and then up at the girl, who finally noticed his presence. She stared straight into his eyes for a second, before looking down at the men, then back to him, and asking a question.

“Were those your friends?”

“Ah, no, I was just passing by…” 

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The girl looked at him a bit more and then seemed to believe him. Ruith spoke again, eager to leave. He doubted anything good would come from sticking around this girl who was much more powerful than he was, and had likely awoken her ability.

“Well, I’ll be going on my way now, bye!” 

Ruith hurriedly began walking away.

“Wait.” The girl spoke.

‘Here we go…’

“Yes?” Ruith turned to face the girl and forced a smile onto his face.

“I need someplace to stay tonight.” She said.

“Is that so? Well, I’m sure you can find a place.”

Ruith once again turned to leave.

“I’ll be staying at your house. Or do you have one?”

Ruith gritted his teeth at her question, but it seemed to be innocently asked. Well, he didn’t have a house anyway, so there was no reason to be mad. And why did she say that as a statement and not a question?

“I…have a place. Though I’m not currently accepting guests…” Ruith felt a bit of fear, he hoped this girl wouldn’t end his life just because he denied her.

“I’ll pay” The girl reached into her cloak, and brought out a coin. A silver coin.

Ruith looked at it with wide eyes. A single silver coin was what he would earn in a few months, with this he could finally take a short rest from work!

“We have a deal! Right this way.” Ruith said with a hint of excitement, forgetting any fear he previously had. Beckoning the girl to follow him, they walked for only a few minutes before arriving in front of a door.

Ruith’s home was really just a makeshift shed surrounded by other makeshift sheds, but he could already barely afford food and water, he had no chance of renting an actual room somewhere.

He pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. It took him months just to save up for a lock to finally stop worrying about being robbed.

The space inside was tiny but better than nothing. It was a 15 by 15 room, and the floor was simply rotting pieces of wood thrown onto the dirt.

“Welcome to my lovely home!” Ruith said.

The girl frowned while looking around, obviously reconsidering her choice, but shrugged in the end. Too late to turn back now.

“Now that we’re here…pay up.” Ruith held out a hand expectantly. 

The girl sighed and placed a silver coin in his palm. 

Ruith smiled at her, and then sat against one of the walls. 

“Now do whatever you want and don’t bother me, my Ability Awakening will be soon!”

The girl raised an eyebrow at this.

“You haven’t even received your ability yet and you’re fine letting a stranger into your…home?” It seemed to her like the boy was a little too trusting.

“Well, it’s worth the risk for this.” Ruith shrugged and held up the silver coin.

“Whatever you say…” The girl sighed and sat down across from him, closing her eyes.

Now done talking, Ruith patiently waited until the exact second he would turn 16. Just a few minutes later, it happened.

He felt pressure from all sides, gradually increasing by the second. Soon, it became nearly unbearable.

“Urgh…” 

A burning pain in his back. It started from the bottom of his spine, traveling up, like a piece of molten metal being pressed into his flesh.

It continued until it reached his head. 

“AH!” Ruith screamed, the burning feeling encompassing his entire skull.

And then it was over. A strange feeling encompassed his entire being like a warm, pleasant summer breeze.

‘This must be mana…’

In his mind symbols appeared, perfectly clear to him though he could not read them. Then, the symbols started shifting until Ruith understood what they said. The name of his ability.

Nature Manipulation [Unique]

Ruith proceeded to pass out having read it, completely exhausted. 

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