I am hungry.
I have been repeating those words thousands of times ever since I was born.
The thick fog and the smell of blood fills the slums with a rather disgusting smells. Dead animals, rotten food spilled in every corner, the kids who are well off venting their anger on the orphan kids from the slums and showing off their wealthiness.
It sucks.
"I am jealous of kids who are well off and have parents."
The young boy thought to himself as he saw a happy family passing by the road to get clothes.
"Well, time to hunt for today's dinner."
The boy sighed as he went back to the dark slums to find even a mole of bread. He lived in the slums where everyday was a battle for survival, he would need to commit theft and even sometimes hurt others to get even a mole of bread.
Nothing is free in this world.
He understood this from a very young age. Spending his time in solace with no memories of his parents, he constantly doubted his existence.
The only thing keeping him together from falling apart was his name, that he was given. Or atleast that's what he was told by the elders in the slums.
Kailen. Just Kailen.
The young boy had wounds and cuts all over his body, his clothes were a mess and his face was covered with dust.
"H-Help-!"
A hurtful voice came from the alleys far off. Kailen, recognizing the voice, ran through the alleys avoiding all his obstacles. Despite his malnourished body, Kailen had gotten used to the way around the alley and knew every nook and cranny of the slums.
People would often chase him which allowed Kailen to adapt to his surroundings fast and maintain his stamina even after running a whole day.
"You bastard-! You dare try to steal what's mine?! You pathetic bastard of slums?"
Upon reaching the place where the voice came from, the boy noticed one of the kid he witnessed earlier roaming in the streets with their parents, smiling happily without a care in the world, beating up one of his slum-dwellers.
These fucking nobles.
Those words came out with pure hatred as the boy jumped in to help his fellow neighbour.
"Wha- Who are you?! Stay out of this!"
The boy with long teeths spoke with a surprise in his voice, not expecting any interruption in between during his bullying.
"Enough, you beat him up enough. Don't you think you are going too far now?" The boy spoke with clear disgust in his voice.
"He stole what was mine. And if you don't want me to beat him up, then you can be his partner next!"
The ugly boy with long teeths spoke with excitement, not understanding what situation he was in.
"Tyler?! Where are you, honey?!"
A high pitched voice came from the streets.
'It looks like his mother is here. Well, that's good.'
"Tch, you are lucky I need to go now. But next time, should it happen I am killing you all."
The long teeth boys went back to where he came from.
Sigh
'Well, that was nerve racking.'
"Kailen, t-thank you for protecting me again."
The boy spoke with a shaky voice out of fear, clenching the already torn clothes of Kailen.
"That was the fifth time this week, how many time will you get caught? I can't save your ass every time, you know"
Kailen spoke with subtle humour in his voice but it felt as if the young boy had failed to understand the humour.
"I was j-just trying to gather some food for all of us, we can't always rely upon you."
There was sadness in the young boy's voice, which Kailen understood.
'What an innocent senior.'
"Don't worry about all that, just reply upon your elder brother," Kailen comforted him with a sneaky remark.
"B-B-But am the one who is older than you. How can you be my elder brother."
The boy did not know how to wrap his head around the situation.
"Then act like an elder, idiot."
And so, the day came to an end without finding even a loaf of bread. It was truly a tiring day.
In the blink of an eye, the next day came. Kailen was in his usual round to find food, he would often come across vultures feeding on the dead mice and sometimes even snakes.
'Never thought I would come across a day where I will be even jealous of vultures. At least they got food to eat.'
The young boy had developed a deep seated insecurity. Getting jealous of every one. Well, in his situation, who could blame him.
*Growl*
The insatiable hunger was getting more and more stronger
*ugh..urk..*
What followed next was the acid caused by the excess hunger. The young boy had not eaten anything for the last 3 days. He would often have to rely on the gutter water, that too was extremely rare.
The boy's skin was so pale. So much so that he could be mistaken for a washing corpse.
As the boy kept walking, he got out of the alleys and was now standing in the center of the road.
"And you know what happened next-"
People were walking without noticing him, as if he didn't exist.
'Well, it's better that way.'
Heavy steps filled the road, as everyone made way for the Imperial knights, coming in heavy armour that covered their entire body, and a sword at their side.
'Ah, that's right. It's been so long since I came out of the slums that I forgot that this was a world ruled by swordsmen, mages and emitters.'
Being a swordsman or a mage,even an emitter came with various advantages. That included heavy wages to live a comfortable life. It was a life, Kailen could only dream of.
However, there were also mercenaries who would take upon jobs given by the Association of Mercenaries. They would earn wages based on the contribution and results they gave for the completion of the mission. Although, the pay wasn't high paying for new mercenaries or mercenaries with low skills and rank, they could still earn enough to not starve to death.
And that's precisely why Kailen would often come out of his dwelling to the capital. It was to work as a mercenary. By living in the slums and stealing the nobles' money, bit by bit he was able to save enough to enroll as a mercenary.
"Welcome!"
Kailen was greeted by a young blonde receptionist, whose smile filled the entire room. The Association of Mercenaries was among the richest Association of Arcia, the continent of miracles.
The Association was built by white bricks which were known as Lakhori, one of the rarest bricks in the entire Velar. The Association head is said to be a S-rank mercenary and a prodigy with his magic skills. Although, he is no match for the Top 10 Arcanists of Arcia.
Arcanists are referred to as those who use mana in any way. It includes all the swordsmen, mages and emitters.
These Top 10 are said to be the strongest of the strongest, capable of being a calamity itself of wiping the entire capital.
"I would like to enroll as a mercenary," Kailen spoke to the counter, he was barely able to reach the front desk. The receptionist almost felt pity towards him.
"Sure thing, sir. May I know your name, age,class and mana affinity?"
The lady spoke, holding back her pity towards the boy.
"Kailen. Just Kailen. I am 6 years old. My class is Swordsman and I still haven't unlocked my mana channel."
Kailen spoke with much anger. Everyone knows only the nobles and royal family are able to unlock their mana channel at an early age. She knows I am from the slums and yet, she asked.
'Is this what people call rubbing salt in the wounds?' Kailen could not help but wonder and get more annoyed.
"All done, sir! Here is the discount coupon for all the weaponry you would require from the stores and an entry permit for E rank dungeons and areas. Please be aware that this coupon only works on forgery under our Association and the entry permit only works on E rank dungeons and areas."
Needless to say, Kailen was admitted as an E rank mercenary, however, he could always rank it up. For that, he would require to clear 20 E rank dungeons and missions to be registered as D rank adventurer.
The first thing Kailen did was to go to a local weapon shop.
"Hello, is anyone here?"
Kailen opened the door, dust coming scattered from just the opening of the door.
'It doesn't require a genius to understand that this place has been long abandoned by the shopkeeper.'
This place caught the young boy's attention when he first came to the capital, Velar. This place was long abandoned yet no one came to this shop due to it being quite shabby and dusty.
Kailen picked up a normal long sword made of stainless steel, because of the faint mana present in it, it hadn't gotten rusty yet. Despite that, it felt as if this sword would break any minute. As a safety precaution, Kailen grabbed a small pouch and filled it with daggers.
The young boy had never picked up a dagger before let alone a sword, yet he was determined to become a mercenary all so that he could fill his stomach and the people of slums. Kailem picked up armour made of leather. It was good enough to last a couple of dungeons.
'I feel so heavy that I can barely walk.'
Feeling the weight of the sword and the armour, he never used, it was difficult for him to move an inch. Since the store was abandoned, Kailen took his time to adjust to his new gear and the sword practicing his swings countless times until his body felt sore.
*Urk-!*
Yet again, he vomited out of an empty stomach.
'I can never get used to this feeling.'
Another day of the ordinary life of Kailen had come to a close.