"Power, when seen by the wrong eyes, becomes currency".
Kaien stood frozen, his mind reeling.
What just happened?
The thugs had long fled. Cindra leaned on the alley wall, her breathing shaky but alive. Kaien's hands still tingled. That pressure... that sensation...
He didn't understand it.
But someone else did.
Above, from the broken balcony of a rusted building, Aigris had watched it all.
His wrinkled face, partially hidden beneath a velvet fedora, cracked into a grin. A cigar glowed between his teeth. Eyes like coiled vipers glinted with amusement.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
Aigris was a name whispered in fear across the inner city. Once a low-level smuggler, now the king of black-market trade, illegal fighting pits, arms dealing—and worse. He controlled men with money, women with words, and fools with blood.
And now, he had seen something... new.
Descending the stairs with the grace of a seasoned predator, he entered the alley just as Kaien helped Cindra to her feet.
>"Oi, kid," he called, voice like gravel. "You ever think of using those fists for something... profitable?"
Kaien turned, wary. Cindra tensed.
"Who are you?" Kaien demanded.
Aigris didn't answer. He pulled out a card—black, with a snake insignia.
"You've got something special, boy. Power like that? Could rule half this rotten slum."
He flicked the card toward Kaien. It landed at his feet.
"Name's Aigris. If you want to stop starving... come find me."
With a final smirk, he vanished into the smoke-filled maze of the slums, his long coat swaying like shadow.
Kaien picked up the card.
He didn't know it yet, but the gears of fate had begun to turn faster.