God!
It hurt.
Kaiser didn't know what was happening. Everything felt distant and fuzzy as he tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't budge.
A sharp pain slammed into his ribs. The agony shot through his body as he coughed and winced. He tried to curl more tightly into a ball on the ground, pressing himself against the dirt.
After a while, the two men seemed satisfied with the beating.
The blows stopped, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing around him as he struggled to catch his own breath.
As they straightened up and stood over him, he was finally able to regain his thoughts.
Shit.
These bastards.
These two bastards were there to collect "protection money" from anyone living in the area. They went from house to house demanding coins from people, and if you didn't pay, you ended up like him, beaten into the dirt.
It was extortion.
You'd think the guards would do something, but this was the slums. They didn't want to venture too deep, caring little for the unfortunate bastards who lived there.
"Have our money by the end of the week, brat, or you won't like what will happen," the tallest one said.
He laughed, a sickening sound that matched his appearance.
Tall, with a fat belly and an ugly mug, he grinned with his yellow teeth on full display.
The other man joined in, his laugh high and sharp, almost like a whistle.
Short and skinny, with a long, cruel face, just as ugly and menacing as his partner.
The two of them walked off, their laughter echoing down the street.
Scum.
Kaiser spat onto the dirt and struggled to his feet, wincing as his ribs protested. Trying to ignore the ache, he stumbled back toward his room.
As he entered the shabby room, he couldn't stop thinking about how he had ended up there.
Kaiser had once been the heir to one of the Five Great Houses, House Odinsen, but it seemed someone had a problem with them.
House Odinsen had been wiped out in what seemed like a single night, but he was certain their decline had begun long before then.
He wasn't sure exactly when or why, only that the threads of betrayal had begun quietly behind the scenes, and now he was paying the price.
He suspected it had something to do with the major houses, and perhaps even the other Four Great Houses.
For the past two years, Kaiser had been hiding in the slums.
In that time, he had trained his magic and mana and had finally reached Novice Rank One.
In this world, a mage's strength was measured by the rank and stage of their mana core. There were four stages: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master, each with ranks ranging from Rank One to Rank Nine. It was believed that a stage beyond Master existed, but that was a mere myth, as no one had ever surpassed Master.
The higher the stage and rank, the more mana a mage could store and control.
As a mage's rank increased, so did their physical strength, and their lifespan would be extended significantly.
Mana was the energy that mages used to perform magic.
Every mage had a mana core inside their body that stored and regulated this energy.
When casting a spell, a mage drew mana from their core and shaped it according to their chosen mana type.
The most common mana types were the basic elements: fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning.
With enough training, any mage could learn to wield these elements.
Some skilled mages could combine multiple elements to create advanced mana types, producing magic that was stronger and more complex.
The rarest of all were unique mana types, special abilities that manifested in only a few individuals, each one unlike any other.
During his training, Kaiser had awakened one such type.
He could feel it deep in his chest, his mana core pulsing with energy.
It wasn't much.
He could barely summon even basic magic without draining himself completely.
But it was a start.
Kaiser's unique mana type was what he called Cloud.
It was primarily a defensive mana type, allowing him to form shields and coat his body to greatly enhance his physical defenses.
However, it also had offensive potential. By channeling his basic lightning magic through it, he could amplify it enough to wield it effectively in combat, even with only a Rank One mana core.
Kaiser reached his shabby bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
His beat-up face stared back at him.
He had just turned 14, with shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes.
He stared at his short, malnourished body.
He had put all his focus into training to reach Rank One, neglecting his body even though he had enough money to buy the food needed to properly strengthen it.
Sighing, Kaiser turned and undressed slowly, wincing as he pulled off his shirt.
He looked down at his body, covered in scars and bruises.
Two years in the slums had left their mark.
He hadn't exactly been prepared for this kind of life.
Growing up as the heir of House Odinsen, Kaiser had been pampered.
Houses existed outside the scope of kingdoms due to how powerful they were. Any kingdom that had one within its borders tried its best to forge an alliance with them.
Each house, besides having powerful mages, also possessed its own bloodline, one that granted whoever wielded it extra advantages, such as heightened control over flame or similar abilities.
However, the members of each house had to first awaken their bloodline. Each one had different requirements to do so, and some might never manage it at all.
The purer the bloodline, the more powerful it was.
As a member of the main family, Kaiser had a real chance to awaken his house's bloodline.
Even so, he didn't know exactly what his family's bloodline entailed. He would have to return to his homeland to find out.
Each house guarded the details of its bloodline carefully, and Kaiser's family was no different. Only those who had already awakened it had the right to learn more.
Kaiser finally finished undressing and walked toward the tub in the corner of the room.
When he reached it, he began to cast a water spell.
A magic circle formed in his palm, glowing faintly as he held his hand over the tub, palm facing downward.
Water began to pour from the circle, quickly filling the tub.
Kaiser was exhausted after reaching Rank One the day before. Most of his energy had been spent breaking through the barrier, leaving his body strained and weak.
He stopped the spell and stepped into the tub.
The water was cold, causing him to shiver.
Better than paying for it, he supposed.
Now that he was Rank One, he could register as an adventurer and take on missions to earn money.
But that wasn't his real goal.
What he needed were mana cores harvested from monsters. It was a faster way to raise his mana and reach Rank Five.
He needed to reach it before turning 18 if he wanted any chance of attending the entrance ceremony for the Grand Mason Academy.
It was the greatest academy for mages in the world.
Most houses sent their children there, not just for the education, but because it was the perfect stage to display the strength of their younger generation and build lasting connections.
It was the best place to start searching for clues and finding possible allies.
So tomorrow, Kaiser would take the first step and become an adventurer.