A Path Forward Part 1

Delmar City, Clover Forest

Two weeks later

If you tune out the hustle and bustle of the town around you and focus your attention on William Street down at district D you'll find a small bakery field with freshly baked delicious Goods with two teenage workers at the counter.

"Slow day again ain't it Timothy," he says while fanning himself because of the hot weather

"I'm not complaining to Max fewer people means less work" Leaning on a walk while eating one of the expired pastries Timothy suddenly belches.

"Dude you know you're not supposed to eat any of the merchandise the boss is going to kill you if he sees you doing that again".with a visible look of worry on his face Max hopes Timothy would listen to me.

"Relax these are the three-day-old ones that didn't sell they were going to get thrown out anyway, "with a relaxed expression Timothy disregard everything Max said.

"Think our boss is going to care he is still going to tear you out for lazing around and eating his stuff. You know he is just looking for a reason to fire you. so, can't you for once at least act like your a good employee. like seriously what am I going to do if you get fired".

Max stairs at Timothy sternly and Timothy stares back at him. They are both trying to make the other back down by using their stairs.

"Alright fine you win I'll throw out the pastries will that make you happy its just a waste of good food".He threw his hands up in defeat and begrudgingly left the store counter to throw out the three-day-old pastries.

"Thank you" Max replies victoriously. " yeah, yeah whatever" Timothy's voice is muffled as he was in the backroom stuffing trash bag full of expired pastries.

In the back alley behind Pete's bake Shop, Timothy could be seen throwing a large sack into the trash as he went back inside.

Not long after Timothy left a rugged old man could be seen rushing towards the trash bin filled with expired pastries. It was Little Soul he had been living on the streets ever since he got to Delmar City he still had not figured out where he lived.

"Score I hit the motherload this time" he was visibly excited as he enjoys the meal.

Little Soul had run out of food a little more than a week ago. living on the streets wasn't easy for him he had no idea where to go and had no money. He managed to find the eclipse Association Trade Center that the guard at the memorial wall was talking about but they wouldn't let him in.

They said he was too filthy to enter and they were right. Even a place that deals with skilled professionals that bring them parts of different creatures and monster cores every day has standards. The only clothes little soul had were the same clothes that the old man got killed in. It had blood stains on it, broken and ripped now it even had some stains from who knows what while he was living on the streets.

He had lost his sleeping bag of about a week ago it got stolen by another homeless man when he wasn't looking. Little Soul tried to chase him down, but he lost them in the crowd of people.

He slept in Alleyways away from prying eyes on a cardboard box as a bed and some trash to keep him warm. It got to the point he eventually thought it was only a matter of time before he woke up and found himself spooning a raccoon.

"Where did this old man live? I've been walking around so long yet no memories are surfacing. In my world, there are always so many stories about a brave hero getting whisked away to another world. He always gets the girl and everyone loves him so why is none of that happening to me?".

Depressed he decided to take his dinner for the day and find somewhere quiet to eat.

...

While walking down a less populated sidewalk Little Soul and the other people around him heard an explosion beneath their feet. It wasn't that loud, but it was loud enough the catch everyone's attention.

There was murmuring all around people were wondering what was going on. There was another booming sound, but this time it sounded like thunder. The sound was crisp and clear yet it most certainly didn't come from the sky.

"What's going on?, Does anyone know?" these were the questions repeatedly asked. The thunder kept booming again and again seemingly more violent each time.

The noise was coming from under antique shop when suddenly it exploded. The explosion completely leveled the shop. The area where the building stood was engulfed in flames some people even caught on fire a bit. A huge pillar of smoke rises up into the sky while one of the other buildings next to it was catching on fire.

People were screaming in fright trying to keep their distance from the burning buildings. Even Little Soul could feel the heat coming from the fire.

When suddenly a person came running out of the flames breathing heavily and his left arm injured. He was wearing a brown trench coat and brown pants. Following closely behind was another man wear blue jeans a leather jacket a white-T with shades he was covered in tattoos from his legs that went all the way up to his neck.

He was carrying another man in his left hand dragging him by the collar on his shirt. As he walked through the flames calmly as if the flames did not even hurt him.

"Stay back you psychopath," the coated man said with genuine fear in his voice. As he creates a fireball in his hand and chucks it at the other man.

The guy dragging the other man didn't even bother dodging. He took the fireball directly it exploded with the force of a grenade. The man in blue became engulfed in fire the explosion kicked up dust, but it was not enough to obscure the burning man.

As Little Soul thought the man to be dead he saw the burning man lift up his right hand and flick outward. It created a bolt of lightning that pierced through the other man's chest hitting the wall of the building on the other side of the street. He spasmed a bit before falling to the ground.

Little Soul had no idea if that man was dead or not but, he didn't care. "Magic that was magic it had to be there can be no other explanation. I can't believe it magic actually exist in this world. I have seen all the strange creatures and environment, but I can explain that with science. This, on the other hand, is entirely different".

Little Soul could feel tears forming in his eyes why wouldn't he cry after what he had just seen after what he had been through? To truly know that this was the world for him is something most people will never figure out he didn't need to second-guess it, this was magic. What so many people in his old world long for what they dreamt about, but could never bring to forwishen.

This let him know it was all worth it. He knew what he wanted to do, who he wanted to be it was a magician. He bet no one else ever felt they're calling so clearly before.

"Hay you sir" grabbing the shoulder of the closest person next to him on the sidewalk he began trying to get answers".

"What is it?" the lanky middle-aged man said trying to be as polite as possible to the old man just as he was raised.

"Who is that man in blue over there?" quickly stated without any form of restraint by the old man.

"Can't you tell just by looking it is an official magi from The Order of Peth. Their tattoos are a dead giveaway".

"The Order of Peth I see and there is that word magi again so that was what it was referring to". The old man's eyes got wider in the realization of the things he was oblivious to.

"What do the people in the order of peth do?"

Surprised by that question the middle-aged man looked at him in confusion "are you by any chance feeling ill everyone knows that the order of peth is a group of punishers. There a clan that stands on their own, but also outsources their skills to other Clans and is allied with the Morpheus Council so their punishers are given special permission to hunt down other rogue Magi or handle any other strange phenomenon dealing with magic.

Little Soul was extremely enlightened by all this he must know more.