The financial advice that cooking healthy food is cheap disregards the fact that poor people don't have kitchens. Little punk kid Belaphorde would not even know a good place to buy fresh produce in the run-down streets of the metropolic hive he lived in. It was hard enough for his mother Marianne to keep the household afloat as an underpaid cleaning lady. There was no opportunity for her to spend hours doing housework, so their little family of two spent many evenings at their local corner store.
Terry Pratchett wrote something about how being poor means you can only afford cheap boots. The crap material then perpetually breaks down and so keeps eating away at your funds. Meanwhile, those who have good enough standing can invest in boots that hold for years. The classic poverty trap.
Or as the Red Queen of Wonderland put it, "It takes all the running you can muster to keep in the same place". The quote is not exactly correct but Belaphorde prided himself for his literacy. The moment he had cracked the code to read he was hooked on books.
The local library was his sanctuary. A number of old uncles camped out in the lobby. They read their newspapers, sipped coffee, and spoke hot air. Every day was a gallows humor party hosted by people with the past behind them and not much in front of them. Marianne trusted the geezers to look after her boy while she was off to work. It made the uncles feel somewhat responsible for the kid. Not that it was strictly necessary since Bel was quiet, polite, studious, and determined to not be a burden to anyone. Too mature for his age. Still, they were his guardians and teachers. All too happy to relay their life stories to someone who would listen. When Belaphorde realized their family economy would not work out he turned to the wizened uncles to find out all and any way he could get an income.
Some of the old men were Esper Hunter veterans. People with enhanced bodies and powers who made money farming energy crystals from monsters that appeared through Rifts. It was dangerous. It paid well, even for low-ranking Espers taking on small fry. However, the build-up of ichor that comes with using powers meant that the hunters were soon unable to work. Just sitting there with ugly scars and black ichor-filled veins without the money needed to book a Guide who can cleanse the corruption out of their system. Richer people scooped up any decent Guides to help people who could afford to be in the healthcare system. As a child listening to their stories and seeing their pain Belaphorde decided that the hunter business was an idiotic meat grinder.
At twelve Bel was running shady errands and educating himself at the library, fueled by convenience store sandwiches. All grit, teeth, and exhausting running. The year passed. Marianne got bad knees. A fire raged down their street. Once, they had to duck behind a vending machine to avoid a rampaging body-enhancing Esper. It was bad. They were surviving. And yes, Bel did take some "free" snacks as the vending machine smashed to pieces.
Then the shit really hit the fan. A calamity to hit the metaphorical train of Bel's life, explode into the air, summersault, and then land on another continent.
Bel was reading Introducing Geography when the sirens cried. People were screaming. A bright white Rift had opened right on top of their city block and an obsidian Godzilla-looking kaiju monster crushed everything.
The veterans who had been sitting in their usual spots sprung up to the windows to have a look and then began to shake. Ichor came out with their sweat and their eyes turned black, telltale signs of a rampage.
"Look away!" Bel shouted.
One of the men had his head pop like an oil-filled balloon. Ichor splashing out across the wall.
A gentleman by the name of Vigo had stayed in his seat. He was a grizzly old man with scars and had 'general-pain-everywhere' syndrome. Bel, seeing that Vigo had yet to be affected by the sight of the monster, took Vigo's hand. His heart was beating fast, his eyes wide and laser-focused. The alarm rang as he slammed open the emergency exit and escaped outside.
"Uncle, what's the quickest way to get out of here?"
Vigo was shaking but Bel held on tight to his hand. He could feel the ichor pulsating beneath the skin. Belaphorde breathed to let himself think.
"I got an idea. Come along, kid." Vigo answered in a collected manner. His eyes cleared. The darkness that usually lingered on his iris had turned to receding tendrils.
A minute later Belaphorde and Vigo were speeding down the chaotic streets on an antique motorcycle. Something about Belaphorde's touch kept Vigo sane. Focused. They drove out on the highway and up the hills. Belaphorde could not bring himself to look back at the unstoppable monster. Stomping his home into pieces.
"You alright kid?" Vigo slowed down and leaned down to speak to Belaphorde in his lap.
Bel was silent for a moment. He prayed for his mother and turned to Vigo.
"We have to go. We are not safe yet. Let's hunker down somewhere and try to get some more information."
"Alright. Let's get out of here." Vigo did not remark on Belaphorde's heartbreaking tone. "Here, hold on to this." He reached into the breast pocket of his leather vest and handed Belaphorde a handkerchief. Belaphorde wiped his face of tears. He did not even know he had cried. He painfully clutched the handkerchief in his palm.
The sun was setting. Dirt blew across the barren land, the red bike glistening. Once they arrived at a gas station they found other refugees. They gathered around the television that showed scenes of destruction. Monsters. Politicians shouted at each other about what should be done. Panic.
Belaphorde had no money. No identification. All he had was some old guy from the library that he needed to rely on and powers he did not know what to do with.
Shit was fucked.
***
That was all now in the far past.
Belaphorde had collected some scars through the years. Last hunt he busted his left knee and probably needed to rest. But a hunting opportunity had presented itself, and those were sporadic enough that he had to suck it up. A Rift had appeared on the outskirts of town by an overgrown car factory. It was low enough in energy output that the big fish guilds would not come rushing, but with enough monsters that it would be worth at least three regular hunts for the low-ranking unregulated guilds.
Belaphorde was in charge of the operation. He knew his team of Espers and had the respect to order them around. With so many targets it was best to play the stealth game. Pick targets off and be as silent as possible. Team A and B supported each other from different flanks while Team C stood back at the entrance gate to swap agents out and secure a safe getaway. Though calling them "agents" might not be appropriate. They were a mishmash of criminals and refugees. Down on their luck people in need of that manmade concept that ruled the world; money. Belaphorde was no different. No matter anyone's ideals or identity, capital is still king.
With a laser pointer, Bel picked out the next target and a woman from team A used her directed sound powers to frenzy the crystalline beast. Bel held up a hand, anticipation growing as the monster searched for its target. It passed a corner of a container and Belaphorde's hand fell down, setting off the espers who ripped it apart, took its shining crystal heart, and put it away in a bag to immediately be delivered to the C team.
As everyone returned back into position Belaphorde counted all officers. He noted that the sound power esper had shaky legs and black ichor in her eyes. He gently touched her hand and pulled up her sleeve for skin contact.
"What is your name?" He whispered with a direct inquisitive tone while monitoring the corruption with an intense stare.
"Cassandra."
"What is 21+32?"
"53." She answered with slight irritation, looking away at her boots.
Bel continued to ask trivial questions while guiding the ichor out of her body. His hand felt like he was touching nettles. An itching burn that only lasted for a few seconds as Cassandra was restored.
"Team leader, incoming from the west side!"
"Over here too! They are rushing like mad!"
What had caused the situation to change so suddenly? Belaphorde ordered everyone to fall back to the defense point and tried to get a few strong members to cover the group but to no avail. They might be a well-organized rag-tag guild but they were still far from professional. Bel bit down his frustration and ran down as fast as he could when something shifted in his knee. He fell over, winced at the pain, and tried to crawl back up but the knee locked in this painful position. He could hear the blood rushing through his ears and saw black auras. He needed to keep running or the horde of crystal energy monsters were going to crush him.
“PROTECT THE GUIDE”
A group of three stood behind Bel, throwing out fire and bullets as Cassandra lifted him up over her shoulder. Anyone who awakened with guiding abilities was highly sought after. They were the only ones who could heal ichor. Left alone it could take years to never to disappear on its own. Belaphorde did not have any training, or an official guiding license, because going the official route would put him in jail for not having the necessary paperwork to be treated as a human by the state. “Illegal alien”, as it was stated.
“Go, go, go! We'll cover you.”
The sudden teamwork and care for his life tasted odd in Bel’s mouth. But he did have a unique position here in the outskirts. He was fit, good with a gun, could lead hunts, and of course his ability to Guide.
Once behind the security wall, the drop-out med student of the team took a quick look at Belaphorde’s leg. He gave him a piece of cloth to bite down on and pushed it out of its lock with a painful snap. He let out a high-pitched whimper which had the medic giggling.
“I don’t get it, the monsters are all coming this way but don’t seem to be after us.”
“They are running away from whatever is in that building.”
“Don’t just stand around, try and do something!”
The troops talked among themselves. Those with ranged abilities stood on top of the wall, hailing down a storm on the monsters. Belaphorde tried to think. What was the next step they could take to manage the situation?
He took a deep breath, stood up, and counted all the officers. They had lost one while running away. He compartmentalized the information and made a mental note to look up who died later. Next, they had monsters banging at the doors, but it was being handled. Most of the horde fanned out from the middle of the factory grounds and tried to get over the barbed-wire walls, breaking them in places and heading for the meadows. So the question was, what was happening to the rift hidden in the middle of the factory?
Belaphorde took a deep breath to center himself and shouted. “Anyone with sensory capabilities, do you feel any different energy coming from the rift?!”
***
Kaigo sat on top of a remote radio tower overlooking the landscape. He was blowing pink bubblegum bubbles while blasting EDM music through sticker-bombed headphones.
“Three days a week; Friday, Saturday, Sunday ~” he hummed along and bobbed his head back and forth. The whites of his eyes were pitch black which highlighted his ocean blue eyes. On his hands and at the side of his face the veins were dark beneath the skin.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and without looking at it he pressed a button at the side of his headphones.
“Whazzup, my favorite manager. Good news I hope?”
“Where are you? I can barely hear a thing- No matter. You left the guide I got you back at HQ without saying as much as “hi”. I should beat you up. Do you know how close you are to rampaging? You look like a freak.”
“Oh, why, thank you Applepie.”
“This isn't a game we are playing.”
Kaigo’s look suddenly turned dark as he leaned forward.
“I know. And you know what happened to the last three guides you got me? I get a snack and they get hospitalized.”
It got quiet on the other end for a second before the manager got herself together.
“You still have to try or you will snap at some point.”
“Good talk. Any news about the rogue boss?”
“Yes, actually. We got a match. Low-level rift with unusual monster output. I just got this information a minute ago, which is why I’m calling. It’s enough for you to head over and we’ll see if the energy levels change. Then we will know for sure it’s the Knave.”
“Thank you Applepie. You are so sweet and understanding. I’ll give you a candy as a reward next time I see you.”
“Stop being a creep and get moving.”
“You got it, boss lady!”
He hung up on the call, leaned back, and jumped out into the air. Stretching out his arms Kaigo had two blasts of water at high enough pressure that the streams gently guided him down like a water jet-pack. He threw himself over his trail bike, slotted his phone into the center case between the handles, and put on the GPS.
“Let’s rev it up.”
The young man smiled to himself and speeded off into the woods.
