Escape

Sic didn't have much, so packing his stuff wasn't very hard. He had two pairs of clothes, four pairs of socks and a single pair of shoes. He debate bringing his sack, but he hoped he would find a better bed once he was in the city. After collecting his belongings and putting them in a bag, he headed towards the station where Nicholas was.

As he walked, he saw almost no one around. He was planning on asking Nicholas why so many people were missing. After walking for awhile, he finally made it to the train station. It was a large building that was built into the wall surrounding the dumps. He opened the front door and headed towards platform 4. When he arrived, He noticed the Nicholas and waved at him. Nicholas shook his head.

"That was fast. You got everything?"

Sic nodded

"I didn't really have much. It's hard around here, you know."

Nicolas smiled

"Of course I know. I was born here, actually."

"Really"

He smiled

"Yeah. Only for a bit tho, my father managed to obtain a blessing and make a better life for me and my mother. That man was something else."

Sic smiled. He was glad to hear someone had actually escaped the dumps and lived a good life. It was hard to tell if the stories about people escaping were real or just something people hoped for.

After waiting for awhile, the train finally arrived. Him and Nicholas walked in and found their seats. Sic assumed Nick could afford much better seats, but he had a hunch he would rather spend time with the people he has been evacuating.

Speaking of, Sic finally got his answer about why they dumps were so empty

"Why people aren't there anymore? Well, it was an order from the Saint of Humanity. There appears to be a very strong monster heading towards the dumps, so he decided to evacuate people to limit the amount of lives lost before we can prepare for the fight."

'A strong monster?'

Sic had heard of the Saint of Humanity, and needless to say, he wasn't a big fan. It was the Saint of Humanity that had come up with the plan of using the dumps as basically human fodder.

Maybe he changed?

He felt like something bigger was going on, but he didn't ask anymore questions until they were well on their way to the city.

Sic was sitting in one of the cabins of the train, eating to his hearts content.

There was so much food! Different types of fruits and vegetables he had never seen or tasted before. Multiple different sweets for him to eat too. He favorites were the things called a 'peach' and a 'macaroon'

He had never heard these names before, or even seen these foods, but they tasted amazing.

Nick seemed to enjoy watching Sic enjoy the food. There were around 5 cabins filled with people from the dumps. Nick had also paid for the food to each of those cabins, too.

The people seemed to really appreciate him, both because the easiest way to get someone to like you was to pay for their food, especially when food was hard to get in the dumps. But also, he was just seemed reliable!

While Sic stuffed his face, Nick explained some things about the city.

"...when we get there, you'll need to find somewhere to work until you learn how to fully use your abilities."

Sic gulped down another peach slice and questioned him.

"Don't people with abilities have jobs made specifically for them?"

"Normally, yes. A bearer can apply to join a squad and take on bounties given out by The Family. However, bounties require you to fight monsters, or even other humans. After seeing you fight, you would probably die before you could even fully explore your abilities."

Sic was going to retort what Nick said, but after thinking about it, he decided to stay silent and nod. Nick was probably right. Sic had experience in small street fights, but he had never killed anyone before. And fighting in the streets was completely different than fighting against monsters or other bearers.

"When we get to the city, I have a couple places I need to visit. I'll let you explore and try to find an inn and a job you're interested in. Being who I am, I can probably get you a job without much issue. Just make sure you're not completely useless at it."

Sic thought that made sense. Asking for a job and then being horrible at it would probably lower Nicks reputation. Sic didn't know exactly what Nick's reputation was, he didn't even know what Nick's actual job was. All he knew was that he worked for the Saint of Humanity, but that was about it. After Sic ate enough to make him sick, he laid down in this booth. He had been exhausted after the excitement of being able to leave the dumps. He closed his eyes and let himself fall into the darkness.

***

After Sic was woken up by Nick, they both got off the train and walked into the city. He stepped out of the train and looked around the inside of the train station of the city. It was 100 times more clean, and much more fancy. Following Nick, he walked outside of the station and experienced seeing the huge city for the first time.

Sic was amazed with the pristine buildings. He noticed vendors selling all types of food down the street he was looking at. Looking farther into the distance, he saw the massive building that was the home of The Family, who were the ones who funded and controlled the central city. It was a large white house, complete with golden trim. It was big and magnificent enough for him to see it from hundreds of kilometers away. He turned his head and saw people everywhere. Some where buying different things, others were entering or leaving building, and a small group was staring quite intensely at Nick.

Nick checked his watch and sighed.

"Well, this is where we depart. I hope I'll see you soon, kid. Make sure to find a place to sleep for tonight. If you need to find me, simply look for the building with the big lighting bolt on it. That's where I work."

He thought for a second and then handed Sic a 100 dollar bill.

"I doubt you'll find a job as quickly as I hope, so just in case you need to get by for awhile. As long as you're careful with your spending choices, this should be enough to last a week."

Sic smiled

"Thank you, Nicholas"

He laughed

"It's no problem, really"

He waved at Sic one more time before leaving towards a different street.

And with that, Sic was alone inside the city.

His first task was to find an inn, however he had no idea what an inn looked like, or how to find them.

He decided to approach on of the vendors who was selling peaches, and ask him for directions. As he walked up, he noticed the man straighten up and stare at Sic

"Hello, do you know where the nearest inn is?"

The man waited a couple seconds before answering.

"Uh... sure. Go down this street and turn on the second right. Keep going that direction until you find the building that's slightly bigger than the other ones. They should accept you there"

Sic smiled and nodded

"Thank you!"

Sic turned towards the direction of the inn and made his way towards his new life.