Savior

Sic had woken up with a killer headache. He didn't even remember what had happened, or where he was for that matter. He looked around and noticed he was in a room he didn't recognize. In the room was a simple, yet very soft bed he had woken up on. There was a closet and two doors, one on the opposite side of where his bed was, and another parallel to his bed.

He slowly stood up and opened the door near his bed. When he entered it, he was surprised to see...

'A bathroom?'

It was a fully furnished, completely functional bathroom!

Sic immediately began to drink from the sink water. Clean water was almost impossible to get around here, so he felt like he was drinking the best water ever.

After he was done drinking to his hearts content, he looked into the mirror

The boy looking back at him was only 16, but looked much older than that. His face was bruised on his right side. He had messy dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, that now has a hint of red in the middle.

After washing his face and drinking from the sink one more time, he walked outside towards the other door.

Before he could open it, however, someone walked through.

It was the man he had tried to rob. He was still in his suit, but he could see his face much more clearly. His eyes were deep and dark, almost like a bottomless pit. He was wearing circular glasses and had a cigar in his mouth.

He looked at Sic and took the cig out.

"Well, looks like you finally woke up"

Sic coughed.

"Uh....yeah. Sorry for trying to.. you know... rob you?"

The man laughed

"It's fine, you weren't the first. I was glad to find you were a bearer, I would've been in a lot of trouble had I killed a follow on accident.

Those were terms Sic had never heard.

"Bearer? What's a bearer?"

The man looked at him questioningly.

"You don't know?"

Sic was completely oblivious to anything outside of the dumps.

"I can't say that I do"

The man sighed

"Bearer's are the people who have been given a Runic Blessing. How did you get a Blessing without even knowing that?"

Sic had been scared of this question. He didn't know why there were police surrounding the tunnels, or why his boss and coworkers had been missing, but he had a hunch that it wasn't anything good.

He didn't know if he could lie his way out of this thought. He didn't even know how normal people got blessing in the first place.

So, he tried his best

"Uhm.. just from.. somewhere.."

Sic mentally facepalmed

'What did that mean!? That was so suspicious!'

The man looked at him and smiled.

"Good. Never tell anyone where you got your blessing from."

'..what?'

Sic had no idea how that worked. What was the man talking about? How would telling someone how you got your blessing be bad? luckily for him, it worked somehow, so he simply nodded.

The man glanced at Sic and then said, in a monotone voice:

"Now get out."

Sic was stunned by the immediate switch in tone.

"Wha-"

"I'm not being paid to babysit, so hurry and leave before I force you out of here."

He was shocked.

'Rude much?'

Sic looked at the man and nodded. He didn't want any trouble with someone who managed to knock him out like he did.

As he was walking out, he wanted to know who the man was. Why was someone with a Blessing in the dumps? He wanted to ask, but he felt like the man wasn't in the mood to talk.

He walked out of the room and headed towards the front door. The rest of the house wasn't nearly as lavish as the bathroom, but it still looked quite nice.

He opened the front door and walked out, closing it behind him. He looked out into the street where the house was and tried to find his way home. He realized how close he was to the train station

'I wonder if I could ask that man for some money..'

As he was thinking about it, he stopped paying attention to where he was going and accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh!.. sor-"

He was about to say sorry, until he looked up and noticed who he had bumped into.

It was Victor.

Victor was a gang leader who Sic owed some money to. Apparently, the knife his mother had given him had actually belonged to Victor before she stole it, so after Sic sold it, Victor came by demanding money.

Even when he didn't have any money, Victor didn't let it go. He would harass and assault Sic whenever he saw him, to the point where Sic would avoid places he knew Victor would be hanging out around.

Victor was a large man, with muscle that looked inhuman. He was very tan, with short brown hair and simple brown eyes. He always has a wicked smile on his face, like he enjoyed seeing other people suffer.

That was because he did.

It was different now, though. Sic had some abilities, and was a bearer, so he could finally teach Victor a lesson!

Victor spat

"Watch where you're going, punk"

Sic clenched his fist.

"Watch your tone, Victor"

Victor smiled.

"Oh? Did the small rat finally learn how to stand up for himself? It's some really unfortunate timing"

Sic was already tired of listening to him. He imagined his trusty pocket knife and plunged it into his side...

Or at least, he tried.

Victor's skin seemed to be made out of pure stone, and the knife shattered on impact.

Victor laughed.

"That was pathetic. Even having a blessing wasn't enough for you to be stronger than me"

Victor quickly clenched his fist and pinched Sic in the gut.

The pain was overwhelming.

'What the hell was that?? He doesn't normally hit that hard!'

Sic was confused. As strong as Victor was, he was just a normal guy. Getting punched shouldn't have hurt him as bad as it did.

Well, it was surprising enough finding out he could still feel pain in the first place.

Victor was still smiling.

"While you were screwing around, I managed to also find a Runic Blessing. It makes my body as hard as metal while I have it active, if you couldn't tell"

Sic, blinded by anger, lunged at him while making another knife. This knife didn't immediately break, because he had completely missed Victor entirely. Victor had dodged and ended up behind Sic before he could even react.

He was too fast. Was that also part of his ability?

Victor slammed his fist into Sic's ribs, causing him to fall to his knees.

He laughed

"That'll teach you for getting in my way. I don't need your money anymore, with this ability, I can finally get out of this hell hole"

Sic gasped

"Go... to hell"

Victor smirked and walked away, leaving Sic by himself on the streets, hunched over in pain.

He vision was blurry for awhile. He could've been robbed while he was wreathing in pain, but luckily, that didn't happen. After a couple of minutes, he felt good enough to stand back up. He looked around and noticed the man in the suit standing nearby.

He walked up to Sic

"That was embarrassing"

Sic looked at him and nodded. He was in too much pain to say actual words.

The man looked at his lavish watch and then glanced at the train station.

"My work here is almost done, and you don't seem like you have anywhere to go. I'd feel bad leaving you out here by yourself."

He thought for a minute.

"How about you come with me? I can teach you about some city stuff, considering you'll need the information to live as a bearer over there."

Sic looked at the man and thought about the offer. He did need someone to teach him about how the outside world worked now that he could finally leave the dumps, and having someone pay for his trip was always welcomed. He wanted to accept, but something was holding him back.

Chaos.

He still had no idea what has happened to him. When he was knocked out, he had expected to be put back into the dream. However, that wasn't the case.

Was Chaos still there? Maybe the only way to get out is to die?

He didn't know. Leaving the dumps to go all the way to the city was a big decision, and he didn't know if Chaos was somewhere in the dumps somehow.

After thinking about it for a moment, Sic finally spoke

"Fine, I'll go with you. But you'll have to pay for the food!"