"Just give up Zach".
The Creaking of the ceiling fan added to the tension as silence loomed in the dimly lit office.
"We've rejected your contract application for over 5 months months now.." the voice paused.
Zach stood opposite the administrator, his fist clenched, jaws tightly locked together in a grit as his body shuddered lightly.
The administrator, a short and chubby man holding a cigarette tossed bunch of paper at Zach with displeasure, the paper scattered gliding around the room, dancing around until it landed gracefully on the wooden floor.
"B-But sir.."
"Shut up..!" The man snorted.
"I've given you enough time already.."
Zach face fell as the man continued
"You haven't still paid the inquiry fees I asked you to even after I gave you a chance." He stared at Zach with a blank expression.
"Please get out and don't waist my time, people like you are always a hassle." He spoke, his words heavy, Zach just looked at the man in silence.
Zach tried to speak.
The administrative board had made job applications free of charge for the new interns, mainly due ot the rising poverty in the empire.
That basically meant there was no such thing as 'Inquiry fees', this pig was just making that shit up to extract more money from minors, even though he was being paid enough already.
Suppressing his anger and with a calm tone Zach muttered through his gritted teeth.
"The head of administrative board said we--"
*BOOM*
A shriek of white light zipped past him like a bullet, crashing into the wall behind him like a gunshot. Leaving a sizzling dent in the wall him.
Zach's eyes widened, the attack barely grazed him, blood trickled down his cheek.
The administrator, pointing two fingers at him that were cracking with blue light hissed with a cold stare.
"Get out now, or I'll make you". A sharp sneer escaped his lips.
Zach couldn't do anything, he wasn't even at the curious stage yet, meanwhile the administrator was at the stage of curiosity and with a working Tether.
He couldn't even dream of fighting him unless he wants to be turned into a freshly made human donut.
'Ah, that's right, a poor man can't survive in a world where wealth and power is everything.'
Zach had always been struggling with financial difficulties ever since he was a kid, his dad passed away before he could actively recall anything.
Ever since he could remember it was his mom, who worked as a transporter, that took care of him and his elder brother.
They weren't rich, and that was their only sin.
Zach's elder brother was only 14 when he started working in this fissure mining industry as a miner. A highly dangerous job, and for what?, measly change?.
Zach exited the towering building with a cardboard box in his hand filled with all his, mystial drawins tagged as 'failed experiments', dragging his feet through the street like a zombie.
Onlookers and passerbys threw side glances at him, some with pity, others with disgust.
His clothes were worn, his fair skin had turned red because of the heat rays of the sun, his dark grey eyes were decorated with dark bags underneath and his messy black hair added to his overall disheveled appearance.
*Ring* *Ring*
Something vibrated in Zach's coat pocket.
He pulled out the object witch looked like a phone with multiple veins of cracks across the screen.
'Sigh.. not this guy again..' he sighed internally as he looked at the number displayed on the digital phone in his pocket.
His shaky hand clicked the click the 'answer' button and with a clicking sound a voice rang through the phone.
"Hi doc.." Zach tried to sound ecstatic but failed horribly.
"Zach, I'll go straight to the point " the voice spoke.
'Not even a 'hey how you doing?' or 'how's your mental health?' Just straight up business. Sigh.. Doctors are the worst' Zach internally shook his head.
"It's about your mom" Zach's face instantly turned serious as those words came through the phone.
"What happened?"
His voice turned frantic.
"..Is she ok?"
"Has her health improved?.."
The doctor on the other end sighed, "I'm afraid not Zachariah" his voice turned soft.
****
Zach's family counted on him to improve their financial situation.
Zach was sent to the mystic arts university, one of the most prestigious and expensive colleges at the time.
*Everyone that graduation with a degree in mystic arts were rich* so they said.
But then, Zach couldn't see the reality, the corrupt government, lies, and most of all, human greed.
The academy fees cut down their budget by so much and Zach wasn't going to do that to his family, but his mom and elder brother encouraged him.
Over the years he had worked his butt off and finally was able to get a scholarship half way through, saving their family a lot of money.
You might think that that would at least improve their financial situation, well it would've, if his mom didn't fall sick 2 months after.
All the money was being used for her treatment, and Zach had to do side jobs and sell a few illegal mystic drawings just to keep her heart monitor stable.
****
And now...
In the hospital.
Zach watched helplessly as his mother's corpse was being loaded into the transport pod.
In this world, proper funerals were exclusive only for the rich,while the insignificant others are thrown outside the city gates to rot.
Zach had this uneasy feeling in his chest knowing that his mothers corpse would be food for vultures, but what could he do?, if he decides to keep her that would be usless, the streets were mainly made of concrete and the stench of the body would be everywhere.
The transport pod was loaded, containing his mother and a shit ton of dead people, being moved to the outskirts.
Zach looked at the vehicle until it was out of site, his eyes wet.
The doctor approached him with a solem expression placing a cold hand on Zach's shoulder.
"Sorry kid.." the old man muttered.
Zach gritted his teeth.
It hurt.
It really did.
'After all the promises, she..'
His body shuddered uncontrollably as he sobbed, " it's okay doc.." his voice was shaky.
Life was like this sometimes, maybe it was time she was let go.
'Ive prepared for this day.. why the hell does it hurt this damn much.'
"Don't forget you're still owing the hospital 400 gold coi-"
"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP !!" Zach snapped at the doctor.
The doctors perplexed face slowly turned into raged.
"You gold diggers" Zach spat through his teeth and stormed out of the hospital premises, while the doctor whispered something to the nurse behind him not even baring an ounce of regret.
Night quickly came. And the night sky casted a warm glow as Zach walked through a dimly lit alleyway, pipes steaming above him with a violent hiss.
He looked at his door, and a pile of paint brushes and papers scattered all over in front of his residence.
'Rent past due'
The words were boldly written on the door frame.
'Oh that's right ..'
Zach just hunched down at the door's entrance, gathering the pieces of paper.
He placed it into his cardboard box as he sat down with his back leaning against the door.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, his body shuddered, and he curled up.
"where did I go wrong?".
Was it his fault?.
Was it really?.
He wasn't born with wealth, he followed the trends.. he read, he studied, and he couldn't even pay his rent?.
He sat in front of the door for quit a while, listening to the cricket, the night winds, the owls and...
"Oh.. look what we have here..." A ridged voice rang out.
'Oh God.. Can't I catch a break?!..' Zach's nostrils flared
Zach's lazily glannced at the thugs in the distance some held bats, some held metal bars.
He stood up, staggering, slowly as he looked at the group in front of him with a scowl.
"What do you what with me?" He asked with a cold stare, his fist clenched as he left foot positioned itself behind him.
A burly guy twice his size stepped forward, "you stepped on the wrong tail boy.." he cracked his neck.
"Must be a pretty long tail to be stepped on that easily..", Zach let out a dry chukle.
The brutes face lit red with anger "cocky huh?."
The brute grinned.
" see how well you talk when I disassemble your jaw" the brute shrugged like it was just another day on the job.
"You know, most people actually buy me dinner before threatening me, oh I forgot.." Zach paused as he pondered out loud, angering the brute even more.
"..You guys are just scrubs who wouldn't know common decency. " Zach flashed a smirk.
"I'll kill you kid..". He finally had enough.
"Oh no he's gonna hurt me, should I faint now or later?". Zach openly taunted with a straight face.
He positioned himself.
"I wasn't the second best genius fighter at the academy for nothing, you know".