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The Lone Descent

Chương 1: Pathways

The night sky was starless as Adam Wayfarer walked in the dirtiest part of the city, his eyes glued on the alleyway before him.

"Just a little closer," he muttered through gritted teeth, the reinforced gloves he wore already showing signs of wear and tear.

"I have to get another one then," he sighed and dragged the sealed bag behind him amidst stares from the locals. He was a regular; nobody would dare disturb him. And even if they did, he didn't have much to live for anyway, and they knew it.

"Be still!" He screamed, poking at the bag with a bayonet. Pained shrieks emerged from the wiggling bag. He tossed it to the side once he entered the alleyway, where the light couldn't meet him. It landed in a dull thud.

"I had to do this," he said more to himself than anyone else. Adam had always been a lone wolf, and surviving in the City of Selene was a miracle. The advancement of humans had shown him that he didn't belong there. He didn't even have the necessities in his world.

"That's probably why my parents left me; what do you think?" He said to the wiggling bag that suddenly went still. Wild beasts were not a problem in the upper strata of the city, no. They were seen as inconsequential as cockroaches. He took off the reinforced steel gloves he wore and flexed his hands.

His arms had scars running crisscrossed around them, and with every move he made, his muscles groaned in protest.

"This isn't worth it," he said through gritted teeth, skinning the poor animal. Its hide went for the solid price of 2 pieces of silver. That was enough for a week's meal as long as he only ate once a day. The problem with the wild beasts was how fierce they are to those without mana. They hunted in packs like hyenas, becoming an absolute menace if you let your guard down for a moment.

They also had traces of mana, but they were too stupid to use what they had. Although the dire beasts were powerful, they were no match for reinforced gloves charged with electricity. But the problem is the charge only lasts for a single hit. A 48-hour charge for a single hit. And Adam bought the blasted thing for 700 pieces of silver.

It was meant to be an investment. Until he found out that the original price was 100 pieces of silver, and he was given a refurbished version, one with more problems than he knew what to do with.

Adam Wayfarer lived in the lowest strata of the City of Selene. And he hated it. There was no food, no means of finding something worthwhile unless you did the dirty jobs. The mages of the upper strata were fond of visiting for one reason or another. They got the most desperate people to do their dirty work.

Finding the dire beast is the easy part. The hard part is finding a dire beast who has tasted manaless flesh. That was the true treasure. So, Adam had the dire beast bite his flesh before reeling it in.

That was the true nature of the City of Selene. That was how the desperate survived.

With a full belly and renewed vigor, Adam Wayfarer decided to leave the alleyway and get out in the open since it was night. The night is where everything happens; the best and shadiest of deals are made. If you're lucky, you come out richer.

If you're not… nobody will wonder where you end up anyway.

Adam walked with a sure gait, his eyes roving, his posture steady. He couldn't take chances; the city wasn't kind to stupid people. He reinforced his position in the lowest strata, which involved many fights and broken bones. Disfigured faces, too. This was how he survived.

In a world where weakness is synonymous with death, trampling on the weak is a mercy.

"You got some loose change? Something I can use for tonight?" A shady figure approached Adam, staggering from side to side. His eyes were bloodshot. It's a scene Adam has seen one too many times, a scene that one doesn't ever forget.

"No, I don't." Adam walked past him, but the stranger pulled him back.

"No, you don't? You don't? Who are you to tell that to me? I can kill you right here and now, and nobody will ever find out." The guy became deranged, his eyes showing a telltale sign of opium overdose.

"Unhand me," Adam said in the gentlest voice he could muster. It was taking everything in him not to react.

"Or what? You'll make some ninja moves on me? I can kill you before you blink." The guy staggers into a martial arts stance, and Adam immediately facepalmed himself. The stranger was one of those who couldn't differentiate reality from fiction.

"Okay," Adam said, coiling his fingers into fists and landing straight on the stranger's face. It was a one-hit KO.

"Next time, pick your battles well," Adam said to the motionless figure on the ground and walked away. He wiped his hands with a handkerchief. Even in the depths of hell, he tried to maintain a semblance of sanity by doing things normally.

But it wasn't an ordinary world, not by a long shot.

"Fancy moves you've got there. I'm impressed." A cloaked figure emerged from the shadows, holding a vial.

"Are you my contact, Mr. White?" Adam asked, no single fear in his voice.

"On to business, I see. Well, don't let me stop you. Hand over the merchandise." The cloaked figure spoke, but his voice came out in gravelly tones. Adam knew he was using magic to hide his natural voice.

Adam handed the skin of the dire beast, his eyes not leaving the cloaked figure. His magic was pretty advanced; there was no sign that Adam was talking to a real person. Within the cloak was pure darkness. There was no form to it.

Magic must be convenient, Adam thought as soon as the transaction ended, and he was paid a measly two pieces of silver.

"Wait." The cloaked figure motioned for him to stop. He did.

"How would you like to make some extra bucks?"

"I'm listening," Adam said, eyes alight.

In the City of Selene… money is God.