Chapter. 2

"How did you end up here?" Nitish asked, breaking the silence.

Marco, the blonde-haired boy, leaned against the cold stone wall and exhaled slowly. "Got caught stealing food."

Karl raised an eyebrow. "Stealing, huh? You don't look like someone who'd need to steal."

Marco's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Yeah, well… things change."

"So, what's your name?" Karl asked.

"Marco."

One of Karl's lackeys frowned. "Wait a minute… If you had citizenship, how the hell did you end up here? No way a second-class citizen gets thrown into the slums unless they really screwed up."

Marco's jaw tightened. "It was revoked after I passed the age of awakening. They deemed me useless. Said I wasn't worth a mana core."

Nitish took in the words carefully. People awaken to possess magical powers. That meant power wasn't just inherited—it could be granted.

"So, how old are you?" Nitish asked, his curiosity growing.

"Twenty," Marco muttered.

Nitish's breath hitched. Twenty? That meant he had already passed the so-called age of awakening. His heart pounded in his chest. If twenty was considered too old, what about him? He was already twenty-one—turning twenty-two in a month.

His thoughts raced. If he had fallen into a world where strength dictated status, then being powerless wasn't an option.

"How many mana cores does it take to awaken?" he asked quickly. "And can someone who's already past the age limit still awaken?"

Marco studied him for a moment before answering. "It depends. Some people awaken with just one mana core. Others… even after consuming several, remain powerless. And yeah, people past the age limit can still awaken if they have enough mana cores."

That was the first good news Nitish had heard since arriving in this world.

"How much does a mana core cost?" he asked.

Karl burst into laughter. "Hah! You think you can just buy one?"

One of his minions smirked. "Slum rats like us can't afford mana cores, dumbass."

"Hell, even regular citizens can't buy them," the other added.

Marco scoffed. "They're monopolized by the noble clans. Only a handful of first-class citizens even have a shot at purchasing one."

"That makes sense," Nitish muttered, frustration creeping into his voice. If mana cores were that restricted, then getting one would be near impossible.

A sudden bark from outside the cell made everyone flinch. "Hey! Get out!"

They looked up as the metal door creaked open.

Karl stretched lazily and smirked. "Looks like we're free to go."

As they stepped past the guards, one of the officers sneered, "Slum rats… why do we even keep them around? We should just abandon them. They're nothing but human garbage."

Nitish glanced at the man. His face remained expressionless, but something dark flickered in his gaze.

Karl noticed. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing… just remembering his face," Nitish replied in a monotone voice.

"Oh? And what good will that do you?" Karl asked with amusement.

Nitish smiled. "That's the guy who arrested me for no reason and beat me half to death. A little payback wouldn't hurt, don't you think?"

Karl chuckled. "You're an interesting one."

Once they were outside, they wandered into a narrow alleyway. The air smelled of damp stone and rot, and the flickering lamps barely kept the darkness at bay.

Nitish turned to them. "So… what's the plan?"

Karl raised an eyebrow. "Plan?"

"I mean, do you guys want to stay in the slums forever, or do you actually want to do something with your lives?" Nitish asked, his voice steady.

Marco scoffed. "What choice do we have?"

"There's always a choice," Nitish shot back. "Now that I know there's a way to awaken, I can't just sit around doing nothing."

Karl's lackeys shifted uncomfortably. "We're powerless. There's nothing we can do."

Karl chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Unless we hunt a monster or something."

Nitish smirked. "Maybe we should."

A soft chuckle echoed behind them.

"Now that's interesting," a voice drawled.

Everyone spun around.

Two figures stood at the entrance of the alley. A man and a woman.

The man wore silver armor lined with crimson patterns, a deep red cape draped over his shoulder. The woman, dressed in a sleek, form-fitting assassin's outfit, watched them silently from the shadows.

The man stepped forward, eyes gleaming with amusement. "And how exactly do you kids plan to kill a monster?"

Nitish's mouth opened, but no words came out. The sheer presence of the man made it clear—he wasn't someone ordinary.

"You'd be dead before you even realized it," the man continued. "And even if you managed to survive, without artifacts, you wouldn't even be able to scratch an F-rank monster."

"We already know that much," Karl said, though his voice was tense.

The man suddenly reached into the air, his fingers closing around something invisible.

Then, without warning, five glowing crystals materialized in his palm.

Marco sucked in a sharp breath. "Mana cores…"

The man smirked. Then, in one smooth motion, he tossed the crystals toward them.

They landed on the ground with a soft clink, glowing faintly in the dim light.

Nitish, Karl, Marco, and the others stared at them, frozen in shock.

"You can try to awaken… or sell them and buy citizenship," the man said casually. "The choice is yours. Will you chase comfort… or risk everything for power?"

Then, before anyone could respond, the man vanished, his body fading into the night like a phantom.

The woman gave them a lingering look before melting into the shadows.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Nitish finally broke the silence.

"What… just happened?"

Karl shook his head, letting out a breathless chuckle. "Hell if I know."

They all turned their eyes toward the glowing mana cores.

For the first time since falling into this world, Nitish felt something stir within him.

A choice had been given to them.

Now, all that mattered… was what they would do next.