Athar took the bus again to return to the outskirts of the city, to the dilapidated building he had been staying in for the past four years.
He was culminating the last phase of his journey, the fifteen minute walk from the bus stop to the building when he suddenly found his path blocked by three men. The three men were in their late thirties with burly bodies, sparky grins and devious and hideous expressions. They were the local thugs and gangsters of the area.
A system of these thugs, gangs, worked in these parts of the city. They were the ones who maintained 'order' in the area.
And in return, they took up thirty percent of the income of powerless people like Athar and small businesses and roadside stalls and vendors.
They called it 'protection' money. And from what and whom did they protect? They protected these powerless people from themselves. The city protection force hardly paid any attention to the outskirts of the city. Or maybe they were in cohorts with the protection force.
According to whatever rumours Athar had heard, this web of thuggery was a well organized and run system to earn crystals, and some influential and powerful people were the ringleaders of the entire system.
Athar, for the past decade, had paid his thirty percent of income to these thugs. If not for this, he might have been able to buy himself an iron grade egg. Not that he complained. He had now gotten a silver grade beast from the common grade egg he had bought.
For the past decade, Athar had remained docile in front of these people and had never caused any trouble. He had been powerless.
The man in the middle, the leader of this area, Dervin, chuckled obnoxiously, staring down at Athar.
"Athar!" He bellowed. "I heard that you got an admission into the academy."
"Never had I thought that you had so much money to buy an egg for yourself and become a tamer," he said with a sneer.
"Dervin," Athar replied calmly, "I had paid thirty percent of all the money I made. It was my money from which I bought the egg."
"Oh, I never said that you did not pay, Athar," Dervin replied. "I remember everything very well."
"After all, you paid double or even triple the amount a single person would normally pay," he continued. "The mad Athar who wanted nothing more than to earn money."
"But who would have thought that you were saving up the money for this purpose. I thought you would have spent it on booze and girls," he said, earning laughter from his two lackeys.
Athar, meanwhile, remained quiet. He only wanted to know what this man wanted from him.
"Ah! You are the same as always, Athar. Not willing to do small talk," Dervin remarked in a mock sadness.
"I will therefore come straight to the point," he said, his face turning serious.
"Just because you have entered the academy, do not think that the relationship between us has broken apart. In the academy, every student receives a weekly quota of cultivation resources which is free for the first six months," he continued. "It is also increased depending upon the talent and the contributions made by a student."
"Thirty percent of everything you receive in the academy," he declared. "I want it."
Athar narrowed his eyes in contemplation. Although he was raging inside, he tried to maintain as calm a look as possible. He kept the same neutral expression plastered on his face.
Dervin leaned in towards Athar menacingly.
"You might think that if you escape to the academy, we cannot do anything to you," he whispered. "But Athar, our strings are far and wide. You will never escape us. The people behind me are powerful and influential."
"We will know exactly how much you receive from the academy. We will know everything."
"So, be honest as you always have been," Dervin said.
Dervin flashed his aura towards Athar. Athar knew that Dervin was E Rank. And though it was a way to frighten Athar by his aura, Athar did not feel a thing. Dervin, on the other hand, seeing Athar remain quiet, thought that his little trick had worked.
"What beast you got?" He asked further.
Thinking that they might really have an insider in the academy, Athar thought to repeat the same information that he had provided in the academy. He was not powerful enough to go against these thugs at the moment. It was not the correct time. But one day.
"A snake. Iron grade," he replied.
"An iron grade from a common grade egg," Dervin smiled. "Quite a lucky fellow you are."
"Remember what we said," Dervin added, moving sideways and giving way to Athar. "Every week, thirty percent of the resources you receive."
Athar, after a few moments of silence, gave a nod and walked away.
"Dervin," one of the lackeys questioned as the trio looked at the departing back of Athar. "Do you think that he will try something funny?"
Dervin shook his head with a mocking chuckle.
"That guy is a coward," he said. "He will do as I say. He does not have the guts to go against us."
"Do you remember if he had ever missed his payments?" Dervin asked, and the lackey shook his head in denial. "He may be an extremely hard working man but he is a coward through and through."
"He will not miss even now," Dervin added with an evil grin.
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As Athar walked towards his building, a feeling of extreme rage took over him. This bullying, this pushing him down and shoving him on the ground. Was it never going to end?
While for years Athar had remained subservient and never tried to go against the powerful people and had acted docile, he was completely different from the inside.
He was an extremely ambitious man. Unlike most orphans whose ambition ended at a comfortable sleep and a delicious meal, Athar was different.
He aspired to be successful. He wanted power. He wanted to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
For his entire life, he had been constantly belittled and bullied because of his lower status. As a poor orphan, he had no power, and that had been his fate. Though he maintained his smile, bearing all that was thrown at him, he had seethed in anger from inside.
For the past ten years, Athar had increased his efforts and hard work manifold. He had honed his physical body to a very high degree. He had collected crystal after crystal so that he could buy himself an egg and become a tamer and not end like those whose mana veins were sealed away. He had wanted power.
Everything that was possible for him to do in his state, he had done it. Despite his status and little hope for a brighter future, he had never been demotivated.
And even now, this bullying was not going to stop. But he had had enough. He now had his path to power, and he would never bow down again to such bullies.
"You will not even see a single penny of my resources," Athar vowed to himself as he walked back. "I will kill you all!"
"If this is what I have to do to be free of your clutches," he mumbled, his voice thick with conviction.
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