Chapter 02: Eulark's Underbelly
The shop owner flinched violently, like a startled cat, as the shadows outside were already at his shop door.
He snapped toward Kandril. "Hey, kid—go hide in my kitchen."
Kandril just stared at him, totally confused.
"H-huh?"
Before either of them could move—
BAM!
The shop's door slammed open.
Four figures strode in with heavy steps.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Leading them was a bald man. Around six feet tall. A scar ran across his right eye—blind and milky white, jagged down to his cheek. His tank top revealed tattoos crawling across his shoulder and neck.
His name was Gabron Alorka.
"There you are, you scum fuck."
A notorious fugitive. A ruthless member of the Syndicate.
The Hangetsu.
His three henchmen spread out behind him.
To the right—
Lei Mon. Alias: Gorgy.
Bald. Tattooed. Buffed. The kind of man who didn't need to say a word to make a room feel dangerous. Shirtless from the waist up, a t-back barely visible above the waistband of his jeans.
Criminal Case: Panty Thief.
He stole over a hundred pairs in a single day. Every size. No exceptions.
To the left—
Sin Kho. Alias: Borgy.
Tall. Long, silky dark hair. He stood like a rockstar. Face riddled with piercings.
Criminal Case: Assault and Public Nuisance.
He once held a public concert. Sang like a dying cow. His guitar riffs were a crime against the ears. Someone in the crowd said so. He didn't take it well.
And at the center—
Jun Pho. Alias: Corgy.
Ugly as hell. There was no other way to put it. The man looked like a crossbreed between a human and a pitbull. Couldn't explain it further even if you tried.
Criminal Case: Acquitted Murder. Kidnapping. Theft. Physical Injury. Robbery. Arson. Possession of Illegal drugs. Possession of Illegal firearms. Many more...
He is Gabron's most trusted man.
The shop owner pressed back against the counter as they closed in. He felt like a puny mouse cornered at a dead end by four street cats.
"G-Gabron..." His voice barely came out.
Gabron looked at him the way a man looks at something he's already decided to break. Then he crossed the room, grabbed the shop owner by the collar, and pulled him close.
"Where's my money?" he asked, his voice low and domineering.
The shop owner quickly pleaded. "P-please, I still need time. My family, they—"
Gabron's eye twitched.
"Time," he repeated quietly. "Family."
Then his fist came forward like a thunderclap.
BAGAAAMM!
The punch landed clean across the shop owner's face. Blood hit the floor.
"I gave you two fucking weeks," Gabron hauled him back up by the collar. "And you bring me talk of family?"
"You think I care about your family?" A short, ugly laugh. "You think that matters to me?"
The shop owner's legs buckled. Gabron held him up just to look at him.
"You know what matters to me?" His grip tightened. "You know what's the only thing in this world is that I give a damn about?"
He leaned in close.
"Money. That's it. Just money."
He drew his fist back, ready to give another blow against the shop owner.
But—
"Oi."
A voice cut him off.
"That's enough."
Then—
BAGSSSSH!
A glass bottle shattered against Gabron's head. The impact snapped his head sideways. Glass rained down. Orange juice drenched him, dripping from his ear.
Stepping forward, Kandril approached with slow, deliberate steps.
"Beating an innocent man just trying to make a living?" he said. "That's low, even for scum like you."
Gabron stared at him.
Then—
A smile.
Low and dangerous.
"...Kid." His voice was almost gentle. "Do you have any idea who you just hit?"
Kandril looked at him.
Then, a grin.
"Hngggg~"
"A cue ball?"
A beat.
"Didn't hit you hard enough, apparently."
Gabron was chill. Not offended. The smile stayed on his face.
Until—
It didn't.
Gabron's face reddened, colour creeping up his neck. The anger didn't shout.
It just built. And built. And built. AND BUILT.
Like a volcano ready to erupt.
His henchmen felt it first. Without thinking, they each took a half step back.
Not long—
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!"
Gabron finally exploded. His hand shot to his waist as he drew a revolver. He cocked the gun, raised it, and leveled straight at Kandril's face.
"Let's see you talk now that I have a gu—"
But—
FWIP!
In a blink, Kandril closed the distance. His irises gleaming in a blue light. With inhuman speed, his hand closed around the barrel of the gun.
Then—
TWIST!
The gun barrel groaned and warped, folding out of shape like soft clay.
Gabron froze. Eyes wide.
But before even he could say a word—
Kandril moved without warning.
No wind up. No tell. Just—
BAAAMM!!!
His fist connected flush, caving into Gabron's face. The crack of it was sickening. Gabron's head snapped back on impact, his whole body lifting off the ground before slamming into the shop wall with a thunderous—
BAGAAAAM!
The wall cracked behind him. A tremor ran through the floor, through the shelves, through everything.
Then—
Gabron slid down the wall. Face bloodied and swollen. Body twitching. Eyes vacant. Like his soul had already packed up and left without him.
His men stood there. Staring. Couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't process what they had just witnessed happen to their boss in the span of a single breath.
Then the disbelief turned.
All at once, they rounded on Kandril, teeth gnashing with fury.
"You punk dare do that?!" Corgy snarled. Without a second thought, he charged.
"You're wishing for death, kid!" he roared. Behind him, Borgy and Gorgy surged forward, eyes seething with rage.
Kandril didn't move. He stood his ground, eyes cold and steady as they closed in. No fear. No hesitation.
Just... nothing.
Then—
BZZZZZT!
Thin arcs of lightning skittered across the floor, crackling and snapping beneath the kids feet.
The next moment—
He vanished.
He reappeared in the middle of them.
Then—
BWAAAAZT!
A burst of energy erupted out of his body, electrifying and violent. It tore through the air in every direction writhing, stabbing, and slamming into all three at once. Their bodies jerked. Every muscle convulsed. Uncontrollable. Helpless.
Then it stopped.
Just like that. The lightning was gone.
Gabron's men instantly collapsed. Heavy. Like puppets with their strings cut.
Silence followed.
Kandril turned to the shop owner as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, Unc. You alright?"
The shop owner stared at him. Then slowly, his head began to shake. Side to side. Small at first. Then wider. Like a man watching a disaster unfold that he had no power to stop.
"No..."
"No, no..."
"No. No. NO!"
He grabbed Kandril by the collar before the boy could even blink, hands shaking, eyes blown wide with something past fear.
"Didn't I warn you?!" His voice cracked. "Didn't I tell you not to mess with them?!"
His breathing came in ragged pulls.
"Do you have any idea at all what you just did?!"
He swallowed hard. Like the words themselves were difficult to say out loud.
"You've just declared..."
A pause.
"...A WAR AGAINST THE SYNDICATE."
--
The shop owner had resided in the colony long before the syndicate had ever formed. He had witnessed their rise, their cruel deeds, and the merciless way they dealt with anyone who dared oppose them. The atrocities committed by the syndicate were inhumane, and the shop owner knew better than to challenge their authority.
But his concern wasn't just for himself...
It was for the young boy before him, Kandril.
Kandril was more than your average human.
He is an 'Astralis'.
According to the records of the Gonesth, Astralis were humans who had awakened an energy called 'Idra', enabling them to bend nature and create mystics beyond human comprehension.
Kandril was one of the rare few of his generation to carry such a gift. But gifts like his never came free. Many Astralis were hunted the moment they were discovered. Captured. Enslaved. Sold on the black market to the highest bidder.
The very power that made them extraordinary also made them prey. And the shop owner already knew the danger Kandril faced if the Syndicate ever caught wind of him.
--
"Leave." The shop owner's finger shot toward the door. "Get out of my shop."
Kandril took a half-step back, eyes squinting. "L—Leave? What do you mean, Unc?"
"I said... GO!"
Kandril stood frozen, torn between confusion and defiance. "I-I can't just leave you with them! You said it yourself—these people are dangerous."
The shop owner drew a slow, heavy breath, the irritation crawling through his skull at the boy's stubbornness.
"Kid." He grabbed Kandril by the shoulders and fixed him with a hard stare. "You clearly don't understand, do you?"
A pause.
Then—
"YOU STUBBORN LITTLE SHIT!!" Both hands clamped around Kandril's cheeks. "The Hangetsu isn't some small-time gang! They're a massive organization with a huge network of connections!"
A deep breath.
"Do you think that just because you have some power, you can easily defeat them?!"
Kandril was speechless. He had no answer. All he could see was the dead seriousness in the shop owner's eyes.
Then, in the middle of that silence, a gruff chuckle echoed from behind them.
"Heh-he-he..."
The shop owner went rigid. So did Kandril.
One sound. That was all it took. Neither of them needed to turn around to know that voice.
"That's enough explaining, saphead. You've revealed too much already."
It was Gabron, pulling himself upright. A manic grin stretched across his blood-smeared face as he rolled his shoulders, shrugging off the pain like it was nothing. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
Then his eyes found Kandril. "You think you can put me down that easily, kid?"
The air shifted. Something oppressive rolled off him in waves, and the light inside the shop seemed to dim.
"Didn't that saphead tell you not to mess with us?" His voice was lower now. Darker. "You really don't know how to listen. Don't you?"
He flexed his fingers slowly, joints cracking one by one.
"Now you're going to learn the hard way."
TBC…