—7 years ago—

  Zeke lay on the cracked pavement of the lower ring corridor, the chill of the cold metal beneath him biting as if he was shirtless. The light from the artificial sky above bathed the area in a dirty brown color.

  Lucao and his group of friends stood over him, looking down.

  They weren't much older than him, they were 12-13 at maximum, however, the way they stood over him, the way they looked down on him like he was prey, it made him feel so much more inferior. There was also of course, the fact that they had factors and he didn't.

  Lucao crouched down in front of Zeke, resting his chin on his fist.

  “Thought you’d learn by now,” he said lazily. “You don’t get to walk around like you’re equal.”

  The boy didn't speak, his mouth filled with the weird taste of his blood, he didn't fully know how to describe the taste, was it metallic? Or did it not taste like anything at all. He couldn't tell. He did however notice lucao's fist glowing, he wasn't too worried about that part, his factor barely did anything, he was practically no better than him.

  He had the air totally knocked out of him when one of the boys used their factor to make him heavier, it made his ribs scream in pain.

  "Look at him," one of the goons jeered, kicking a stray piece of scrap Zeke had been carrying. It was a rusted stabilizer fin from a junked drone. "Still collecting garbage. What are you gonna do with that, Zeke? Build a ladder to the Upper Rings?”

  Lucao chuckled, a dry, grating sound. He reached out, his hand beginning to smoke. The heat radiated off his palm in waves, shimmering the air. "Maybe he thinks if he fixes enough trash, the Olympian will come down and give him a Factor of his own. Well too bad for you, that guy's dead"

  He pressed his heated thumb against Zeke’s shoulder. It didn't burn through the fabric immediately, but the searing heat made Zeke’s muscles hijack his brain with a jolt of pure agony. Zeke bit his lip until it bled, refusing to give them a scream.

  He laid there for a couple hours, even after the boys had left, he just stayed there. It was less so that he couldn't get up, and more so that he didn't want to. He just wanted to lay there, forever and ever and never get up again.

  It was then that he noticed a couple shadows walking past him, he looked up at them to see that they looked like professionals, nothing like the normal dirty rags the people down here wore, they were clean as whistles, they smelled fresh, they wore suits with ties and the main woman stood out the most.

  The people looked down at him, and he could hear them speaking “Damn bronze tier, the place already looked bad, now all these rust bugs sleeping on the floor makes it even harder on the eyes”

  He watched as they walked past him, out of the corridor into a more populated area.

  "Zeke!"

  A shadow fell over him, but this one didn't feel cold. Amina dropped to her knees beside him, her mint-green hair shimmering like a misplaced neon sign in the bronze-lit gloom. Her cerulean eyes, usually as bright as the gemstones he’d only seen in digital catalogs, were clouded with a frantic sort of heat.

  “Are you okay?”

  Amina gently put her hand to his shoulder, her touch as soft as silk. She helped him sit up, her expression tight with worry.

  "What happened this time?" She asked softly, her fingers tracing over the marks on his face.

  “Apparently He's got a problem with the way I walk.” The boy said before his mind thought back to those guys and woman from earlier. “ Hey uh, did you happen to see any really well dressed people?”

  “Oh, yeah, apparently those guys are inspectors or something, apparently their looking for someone, that's what my mom said, I wasn't there but they came to my house. Apparently one of them is a gold tier”

  “Huh! Really, a gold tier?! ” the boy questioned. No wonder they were so well dressed, they were from the middle rings

  What on earth would a gold tier be doing down here?

  —present day—

  “What the fuck!” Zeke picked up a metal rod, aiming at… something, he didn't know. He had no idea where that voice came from

  The metal rod trembled in Zeke’s hand, the cold iron slick with the sweat of his palms. He swung the makeshift weapon in a panicked arc, catching nothing but the stale, recycled air of his apartment.

  "I have a rod! I’ll- I’ll use it! Who’s there?!”

  The voice responded from seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

  "No need to worry," It said, a hint of smugness in its tone. "That rod cannot even dent my glorious frame.”

  Zeke gripped his weapon tighter, trying to find the source of the voice. It bounced around the room, echoing off the cracked ceramic walls.

  "And what are you supposed to be," Zeke snapped, his eyes darting every which way. "Some kind of ghost?”

  "Ghost?!" The voice seemed to scoff incredulously. It filled the room with a sound that was equal parts mockery and arrogance. "You think I am a mere ghost? You insult me with your ignorance!"

  As the voice spoke, it seemed to get stronger, as if its owner was moving closer.

  Zeke could almost feel it right next to his ear now. Close enough to reach out and touch “okay then, who are you?” He asked.

  “You may call me… Zeus, I think”

  “…You think?” he shot back, rod still raised. “What kind of idiot forgets their own name?”

  There was a pause.

  “Okay Zeke, think, think, think. There's some weird voice talking in your brain, and it has a name apparently.” The boy muttered to himself, assessing the situation. “This could mean one of two things. Either I've gone insane, or… or” the thought froze in his head for a moment, could this possibly be it? The thing he'd been longing for all his life? Could this thing be some kinda manifestation of… his factor?

  He quickly made a decision, he had to go to that doctor. Right now. He remembered what he said. That he'd never awaken a factor but.. maybe he was wrong. After all it was still a bronze tier ability, it couldn't be perfect.

  “What are you doing? Where are we going?” The voice in his head, now known as Zeus questioned.

  He rushed to the door, ready to go see if that doctor was wrong. to know if he'd actually gotten a factor or had just gone insane.

  As he went to open the door to know, he stopped in his tracks when he saw someone behind the door. Actually, three people. They were all well dressed in clean tailored suits, much cleaner than anything else down here.

  “Young man, we would like to have a word with you.” The woman of the group said.

  Zeke backed away after remembering who these guys were. These were the guys that took Amina away. Talent scouts is what they were called, apparently their job was to find any person who slipped through the system, anybody who was above bronze tier down here in the slums would be pulled out and brought up to their rightful place in society, whether they like it, or not.

  “Who are these people?” Zeus asked, but Zeke ignored him.

  The three people let themselves into his home and he had no choice but to simply let them walk past.

  Their eyes scanned the area, finding nothing unusual. This was about as dirty and disgusting as they expected from a bronze tier.

  “We were patrolling the area mere moments ago when we noticed an incredibly bright light that emanated from this very shack. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?” The woman looked back at him with her lilac eyes.

  Crap, how unlucky was he that they'd been so close by, he gulped at the intensity of the woman's Gold tier gaze. There was no doubt that at her level of strength, crushing him like a bug would be easy.

  “Yes, that was I, the mighty Zeus” the voice in his head said, before noticing that the people seemed to have no reaction to his boast “Wait, can they not hear the mighty Zeus?”

  “What's your factor?” The woman asked the woman, which caused him to clam up. It was like all the saliva in his mouth completely disappeared. It felt like he was drowning and dehydrated at the same time.

  “Answer” she rushed him.

  “Uh, I- I don't have one. I'm a dull” the boy said

  "Hm" the woman turned back to the room, taking note of that.

  The woman nodded slowly "I see.. That explains it." She continued to look around the room, her eyes skimming it. After she took in the state of the place, the woman's expression changed slightly.

  "You live here by yourself, correct?" She asked, looking at him with a hard gaze

  "Yes, I don't have parents" he explained. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary, a lot of kids were sent down here without their parents.

  The woman's expression softened—just slightly, like ice thawing at the edges. Her lilac eyes flickered with something unreadable before she schooled her features back into professional neutrality.

  "Of course not," she murmured, almost to herself. Then, sharper: "You sure you don't have a Factor? Even something small?" She gestured to his hands expectantly—the universal prompt for Bronze-tier tricks like adjusting weight or bending light just enough to be noticed by scouts.

  Meanwhile, Zeus because apparently that was his name erupted in Zeke’s skull, "Oh-ho-ho! Tell them about me! Tell them I am the storm given voice!"

  A bead of sweat rolled down Zeke’s temple as he stared at the woman's polished shoes... "No."

  "I see. If that's all, then we'll be off" the woman said as she and the men exited his house.

  Zeke released a sigh of relief,

  "You should have fought those guys." Zeus said,

  "Now to deal with whatever you are." Zeke said to himself.

  Meanwhile, outside the boys house, the talent scouts walked.

  "Stupid dull. Taking up our time." One of the men said.

  "He lied."

  "Huh?" The men looked back at her, confused by what she meant.

  "Earlier, I used my factor on that kid."

  "Wh-what?"

  "And not only did he survive. He didn't even seem to notice. There's no way he's a dull"

  The other scouts exchanged baffled glances. One of them shook his head slowly. "But he said he was, ma'am. Why would he lie about that?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The woman sighed heavily, more out of agitation than anything else. "I have no idea. But I'm not wrong."

  "Then, why are we leaving?"

  "To get someone more suitable for this"

  --A couple hours later--

  The mechanic, was working on something in his shop when he heard someone knock on the garages door.

  He looked to see Zeke walking in

  Zeke stepped into the shop, the cool, familiar interior a comfort after the day's events. The smell of grease and machinery filled his senses, a familiar, comforting scent he'd grown used to.

  The mechanic looked up from his work, surprise momentarily replacing his usual gruff demeanor. "Kid, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't have anything else for me."

  "I don't, I just wanted to ask. Where'd you get that cube thing from?" The boy asked as he came in.

  "huh?"

  "The one you gave to me yesterday." He clarified

  The mechanic's face shifted from surprise to puzzlement, his brow furrowing as he tried to recall the object.

  "Ah, that thing," he muttered, setting down his tools and rubbing his greasy hands on a rag. "Like I said before, got it outta the trash, why are you asking? Did you manage to open it or something?"

  "Uh, something like that."

  The mechanic stopped scrubbing his hands. He tossed the rag onto a pile of dented armor plating and squinted at Zeke, his eyes traveling from the boy’s nervous stance to the white-knuckled grip he had on nothing in particular.

  A moment of heavy silence passed before the mechanic asked "Kid, are you alright? You seem a bit... on edge."

  The man walked around from behind his work bench, studying Zeke closely.

  "Honestly? I'm not sure. Can't tell if I'm going insane or what."

  The mechanic stopped about a step away from him.

  The older man searched Zeke's eyes like you would a box of scraps, he was trying to figure the kid out but it was becoming apparent that just giving him a once-over wouldn't be enough to figure anything out.

  "So, what do ya mean when you say insane? Cause I've met a lot of people that I'd call insane."

  "I'm.. hearing a voice, in my head." Zeke said, swallowing.

  "You sure it's a voice? You sure you didn't just hear someone calling a name that sounds like yours? I hear that happens sometimes."

  "Nah, I'm pretty sure. He won't shut up" Zeke explained

  "How dare you say such a thing about me, you should be honored to be able to hear my voice." Zeus said.

  "Really wishing he would shut up" the boy said

  “Damn, sounds like you're right. You are insane."

  "Hey, aren't you supposed to reassure me or something?"

  "Ain't no reassuring that, if you're hearing voices then that means you're one screw loose of a coocoo clock." The man said

  "That's harsh."

  "He's right though, you do seem rather insane." Zeus pointed out.

  "Yeah well who's fault is that!" Zeke yelled at the voice in his head, only to see the mechanic staring at him strangely.

  "Sorry, he's just.. really annoying." The boy explained.

  "He?"

  "Yeah, he calls himself Zeus" the boy introduced.

  "Wait, you mean like that old god people back in the terrain era used to believe in?" The man chuckled at the statement.

  "Wait, god?" Zeke questioned.

  "Oh, yeah sorry. I forgot you never went to any education camps. Way back when, even before humanity shot off into space, people used to worship these things called gods, apparently they were all powerful or something, apparently they had a whole following around em, something called a.. relic-rilidgion? I don't know, those education camps didn't do Jack shit for me. But the point is, Zeus was one of those gods, and if you're little brain friend is naming himself after a god, then I think you're both crazy." The man explained.

  "Well, are you a god?" Zeke asked his roommate in his own head.

  "I.. do not know. I'm quite sure I was not alive in whatever this terrain era is."

  "He doesn't know" Zeke summarized

  "He's not." The man said. "Like I said, your insane."

  "I'm not insane.. I think" Zeke said. "I think the cube has something to do with it. A little after I brought it home, it glowed pretty bright and-"

  "Wait, that bright light was you?"

  "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry, it just kinda happened on it's own, but what I really wanna talk about is what happened next. The cube turned into some kinda liquid, and jumped into me, next thing I know I've got a second heartbeat." He explained,

  "... And you came to me with this?" The mechanic asked, trying to understand why the boy would tell him instead of someone equipped to deal with this stuff.

  "Well I mean you were the one who gave me the box. Plus you're the only one down here I trust."

  "Hm, this one seems reliable, what is his name?" The voice in his head asked.

  "Hey, don't ask a question like that. It's insensitive" the black haired boy said to... Himself? The person inside of him? No that sounded wrong.

  "What did he ask?" The mechanic wanted to know.

  "He asked.. for your name." Zeke explained.

  "... Listen here Zeke, there ain't a thing wrong with it. If he doesn't know he doesn't know, ain't nothing wrong with that. Besides it's not something I'm self conscious about." The man calmed the younger boy, "I don't got a name. Only upper ring people get names. I was born down here so I don't have one of those. Didja get that?" He explained to Zeus, or whatever it was he was calling himself.

  "Hm, then why is it that you have a name? Human?" Zeus asked the person who's mind he was in

  "I wasn't born down here that's why. Those guys you saw earlier, Talent scouts, they were the ones who took me away from my parents at birth and brought me down here, because I was born without a factor" the boy explained.

  "Wait, those talent scout g

  uys showed up at your house? What for?" The mechanic asked.

  "It was, cause of the light. They saw it and came to check it out. They left after they couldn't find anything." The boy explained.

  "What is a factor?" Zeus asked.

  "You don't even know that?"

  "I.. don't remember."

  Zeke exhaled slowly.

  “A Factor is… power. Everyone has one. Well-almost everyone. It’s like… an ability. Bronze tier can do small tricks. Silver can do combat stuff. Gold-” He swallowed. “Gold can crush buildings. There's three levels beyond that. But I can't even imagine the level of power those guys have”

  "Oh, I see"

  "Listen kid, I wish I could help you, I do. But I don't have a clue what's going on with you, and I can't fix something I don't understand."

  "Yeah I get it," the boy said, standing up and walking out. "But, thanks anyways."

  ---a few minutes later---

  Zeke laid flat on his back, on one of the only patches of grass in the entire lower ring.

  "Zeus... Who are you really? What are you really?Are you even actually there or am I really going insane?" Zeke asked

  "Why do you care? I thought you wanted me gone? Isn't that why you went to that man?"

  "I never said that. I just wanted answers. So far I've spent a whole day with you, and I've gotten over the shock of it a little bit. if you're gonna stay in my head then.. I want us to at least be friends. So.. tell me about yourself." Zeke said.

  "I cannot do that." The voice in his head said.

  "Really?"

  "I really cannot tell you anything."

  "Aww man, and here I was hoping to finally have a friend down here."

  "Hm?" The voice humphed, so Zeke explained.

  "I'm... A dull. Do you know what that is?"

  "Based off context clues? I'm assuming it's a person without a factor."

  "Correct. I was born like this, and because of that I got grabbed by talent scouts and thrown down here with everyone else. And this has been my home ever since then. I've only really ever had one friend. But she isn't here anymore, and ever since she left, the mechanic is the only one who's actually cared about me... Y'know, sometimes I look at the ceiling and wonder.. what if I was up there? What if I was born with some cool ability, like the Olympian"

  Upon saying the name of the Olympian, Zeus went into a state of contemplation. He knew he'd heard that name somewhere before, but where?

  "But, I've grown up outta that stupid dream. I mean how could I ever become like the Olympian? I'm a total loser."

  "Loser?"

  "Yeah, I mean my best friend went up there to live the life of her dreams, and I'm still all the way down here, wasting away, doing nothing with my life, letting others push me around? I'm.. a total loser. And that's all I can ever be."

  Zeus listened to him talk and decided to speak up.

  "I cannot tell you about myself... Because I do not know either." The voice said, this piqued Zeke's interest "from the moment you noticed my existence, that's the last point in my memory I can access. I do not remember anything before that. And yet still, there are... Concepts, that I know, that I understand, but I have no idea how I know them."

  Zeke humphed, he thought stuff like that only happened in stories and old folk tales.

  "Hah, there you are!" Zeke turned around frantically as he heard the voice of lucao, the boy and his goons were walking up to him.

  "Ah crap,"

  The older boy grabbed Zeke by the scruff of the neck "Thought you could hide from us huh? Those talent scouts are asking for ya, thanks a lot for getting us in trouble asshole." He headbutted Zeke, causing his nose to leak with blood. "Now we gotta hand you over before they start punishing all of us!"

  Yep, metallic, that's definitely how his blood tasted, like copper, or rust, he wasn't unsure about it anymore.

  The blood that leaked from his nose pooled into his mouth, pretty much forcing him to drink it.

  Then, lucao punched him across the jaw, sending him to the floor.

  "Get up. Those scouts are waiting and I don't wanna go testing their patience. Now get up like a good little bitch and follow us, or else."

  Zeke scrambled back on the sparse, synthetic grass, his heels digging into the dirt. "But I didn't do anything!"

  "So? Do we care? We're just trying not to get punished, why the hell should we care about you?" One of the guys said as he used his factor on Zeke.

  The guys factor was turning thins Heavy, not the most useful factor in the world given how low the intensity is, but it's quite good at causing pain.

  Zeke bit into his own lip, to stop himself from screaming at the pain. Even after all this time, he hasn't gotten use to it. Zeke let out a choked gasp, his face pressed into the dirt.

  "This is... Pathetic." Zeus spoke, his voice not smug as before, but instead anger, and it wasn't just directed at the kids beating in Zeke, but Zeke himself. “will you really allow this? How do you allow yourself to be beaten like this and then call yourself my host, pathetic”

  "Shut up!" Zeke yelled under the heavy weight on top of him that felt like hell "I don't have a factor! There's nothing I can do. If I fight back l, I'll be killed in an instant. You try being a dull, see how you like it."

  "I do not care for your words. This is a pathetic display and you know it. Even if you have no power, you should still fight back, or how dare you call yourself my host! I do not know who this Olympian is, but if this is how you act, then you don't deserve to even dream of being like him!" Zeus yelled at him, seeming particularly heated at the part about the Olympian.

  Zeke's eyes widened at the words being said to him. Truthfully, he had spent his entire life backing away and letting himself get beaten, he knew that, he could acknowledge that he was a damn loser and there wasn't a thing he could do to change that. So then why... Why did those words sting so badly?

  "Who the hell are you talking to!?" Lucao slammed him in the face with a superheated fist. That left the boy's vision growing darker, and darker, and darker, until he lulled into unconsciousness

  --7 years ago---

  "It's seriously pathetic y'know?"

  "Huh?" Zeke looked back at his friend, confused at why she said that.

  "The way to let yourself get beaten? The Olympian wouldn't do that." Amina said, looking back at him with a smile.

  "Yeah well what can I do? I'm a loser without a factor to defend myself. I'm pretty pathetic." The boy said, sighing.

  "Y'know who wouldn't let himself be beaten by the likes of anyone, factor or not?"

  "Yeah, yeah I know. The Olympian." Zeke looked at her with a fondness he couldn't quite explain.

  "haha, yeah. I guess I'm like a broken record at this point huh? But it's true tho. He's not just the strongest because he's got a powerful factor or help from anyone. It's cause he's awesome, cause he had the guts to kick logic to the curb and do the impossible. That's how he rolls." Amina said.

  Zeke listened to her words and he found himself agreeing, well not entirely. The Olympics did need to have guts to live the way he did, he needed to have guts and be strong and never give up. He fully agreed on that front... But.. how was he supposed to do that? The world was not the same as it was in the Olympian era, this world didn't care about guts or will or anything, all that mattered was his power, and he had none of that.

  "Hey." Amina said, pulling Zeke out of his momentary trance. "Can I get your advice on something?"

  "Hm? Me? You want my advice? What for?" The boy asked her, questioning why she'd want any advice from him of all people.

  "Well you see. There's this guy I know, he's really fun, he cares about people, he's totally powerless, yet he aims to be just like the strongest man on the planet. In my opinion he's the awesomest person I know, even if he himself wouldn't entirely agree. Yet despite all that, he doesn't actually know how cool he is. He thinks he's a loser and a screw up, he can't see that the people that bully him are weaklings themselves, and are only making themselves look thougher than they actually are. So now, tell me. How exactly am I supposed to deal with this friend?" Amina said, turning back to look at him, with eyes that said much more than they needed to. She genuinely cared about him and it was Easy to tell.

  Zeke sighed, turning away from her with a red tint to his cheeks. Even if he didn't agree with her, he appreciated it.

  ---an unknown amount of time ago---

  a man walked down a crowded street, pushing past every person who was in the way.

  "Aww man, this is impossible, how the heck am I supposed to get to work like this?" He asked nobody in particular, or at least, no one Zeke knew about.

  "Alright then, I guess I should change routes." The man said, squeezing through into an alleyway, to beat the crowd.

  It was then that he noticed a man getting mugged next to a dumpster. The man could've just walked away, it woulda saved him a lot of trouble. But he didn't.

  "Hey, you know crime doesn't pay right? I'm gonna have to ask you to stop what you're doing." The man said to the 3 thugs who were now staring straight at him.

  The three thugs surrounding him. One man's fingers turned into jagged obsidian claws.

  Another one turned his hands to stone.

  "Walk away, salaryman," the leader growled, his eyes glowing a faint, toxic green. "This doesn't concern a guy like you. Don't you got a wife and kids to look after or something?"

  The man in the suit loosened his tie. He didn't have a wife, or kids, nor was he planning on walking away from this.

  "You're right," the man said, a terrifyingly calm smile spreading across his face. "It doesn't concern me. But it bothers me. And when I'm bothered, I tend to kick logic to the curb."

  "Oh looky here, this guy thinks he's the olympi- gack!" The leader of the thugs didn't get to finish his sentence before he got punched in the face, sending him flying back into a wall, leaving him coughing up spit and blood.

  The man then spun on his heel, sent his heel to the shins of the guy behind him, then jabbed him in the neck.

  The other tried to attack him with his stone hands, but the man simply side stepped him and kicked his legs out sending him to the floor.

  The man then fixed his tie and waited for the men to get back up.

  " Oh Good, now that I've stretched my legs a bit. Time to get to work." The man said.

  As all the men got back up and were ready to go at him again, the man pointed to the sky, to the clouds and he shouted something.

  "BRING THE THUNDER!"

  ---present day---

  Zeke awoke in a cold sweat, that last memory... Wasn't his. He wasn't the guy in the memory nor had he ever bring in a situation like that one. He was confused.

  It was then that he realized that he was sitting on a metal chair, and a man had a hand to his face.

  Before long the man removed the hand, and walked over to a group of people that he recognized, it was the talent scouts.

  "You're wasting my time. This kid doesn't have a factor" the man said to the lilac eyed woman.

  "I know what I'm talking about, my factor didn't work, thats not something that can happen with a dim" the woman said, her eyes sharp

  "Oh please, what even is your factor, possession? You probably weren't looking directly into his eyes. My factor detects factors and if I didn't detect anything, then you're wrong." The man said.

  "Alright then, let me show you exactly what I'm talking about." The woman said, walking over to the boy before grabbing him by the face.

  "Look into my eyes" she said as she stared directly into his eyes. There was no mistaking it or misinterpreting it, they were making direct eye contact.

  Zeke had no idea what was going on tho, he hadn't hear the conversation earlier so he wasn't sure what was happening right now.

  "Stupid woman" Zeus spoke.

  "Huh?"

  "Even if I think you're pathetic, this woman is even moreso. Who does she think she is trying to possess the vessel of the mighty Zeus! As long as I'm here mind tricks like that won't work." Zeus explained.

  The woman let go of his face, and walked over to the man who doubted her.

  "See what I mean?"

  "Maybe your factor is just weak." The woman gave him a deadly look

  The woman’s lilac eyes shifted past Zeke and settled on Lucao.

  “You three,” she said calmly.

  Lucao straightened instinctively. “Y-Yes, ma’am?”

  “You brought him in?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Lucao answered quickly. “We didn’t know what he did, but you were asking for him and we didn’t want any trouble”

  She raised a hand slightly. He shut up immediately.

  Her gaze hardened.

  “Then take the trash out of my sight.”

  There was a beat of silence.

  Lucao blinked. “T-The trash, ma’am?”

  Her eyes flicked to Zeke for half a second, then back to Lucao.

  "The boy sitting on the chair, get rid of him." She clarified.

  "Not a problem ma'am." The boy said as he grabbed Zeke.

  The factorless boy looked up at lucao in surprise, he'd never seen him like this before. So submissive. It was... Absolutely pathetic.

  Was that what he looked like? Huh, he really wasn't all that. He'd always seen lucao as this strong guy who he could never beat no matter how much he tried. But now that he was seeing lucao in this way? He realized.

  This guy's no less of a loser than he is.

  The boy tried to pull Zeke up, but he refused, and no matter how much lucao tried, he couldn't pull lucao up. This guy wasn't strong. He wasn't anything special. How could he delude himself into thinking this guy was any stronger than him? Unlike lucao, he'd spent a lot of time working out trying to close the gap, but it turns out there wasn't a need for it.

  "Get your ass up"

  "Okay... Make me."

  The boy gripped him by the collar "now you listen here you little punk-" as soon as he activated his factor to start burning him, he regretted it, as he got punched in the face.

  Knocking him out cold.

  "Hah, there you go human! Now you're starting to look a little bit less pathetic."

  Zeke looked at his hand in amazement. "Oh wow, I just punched lucao in the face and I'm not gonna get beaten up for it." He spoke far too quickly, as one of the men sent a punch straight to his gut.

  The punch was so strong that it knocked him unconscious then woke him back up.

  "Damn rust bugs can't do anything right." The man said as he gripped the back of the boys shirt. "I'll get rid of him" the man said as he walked out of the building with the boy.

  "That seemed more forceful than necessary." Said the man who could detect factors.

  "I've learned to ignore it, out of anyone I've ever met he hates bronze tiers and dulls the most" the woman explained.

  The man had brought him to a giant hole in the ground. The pit, where all the garbage was thrown.

  The man threw him in with no regard for his life.

  The boy fell for a long time, would this be his end? Was this really how he would die? Falling into garbage?

  Well, he guessed it was fitting for the life he lived.

  "A fall such as this will do nothing to the mighty Zeus!"

  "Great, that means you have a plan for us to survive Right?"

  "... I will need a second to think on that." The voice said.

  Zeke was getting dangerously closer to the floor of garbage, and he hadn't a clue what he was supposed to do right now.

  Time seemed to almost slow down as his life flashed before his eyes, every moment, every conversation everything.

  BRING THE THUNDER

  Oh yeah, he remembered that guy from his memories, he said it while raising his hand to the sky.

  It didn't seem like just some random thing, why would someone say that in a fight without reason?

  It was a long shot but he had to try it.

  "BRING THE THUNDER!"

  as he said that, a powerful beam of lightning crashed through the middle rings, lighting up the entirety of the lower ring.

  Before long the lightning calmed down, and a bunch of people went to check the area to see what had happened.

  The only thing that anyone could see was a flash of golden light as something flew out of the whole.

  In fact it flew out of the ring entirely.

  It was now in.. the middle rings.

  A large sprawling metropolis area with people and buildings and transport as far as the eye could see. It was infinitely better than the lower ring in every way.

  ---hours later---

  "Why'd you bring him to my house? I can't do anything about him"

  Zeke struggled to open his eyes, as he awakened. What had happened? He thought that he was going to die in that hole, so what happened?

  How did he end up here?

  "Huh, oh, he's waking up, I'll call you back."

  He eventually managed to open his eyes fully, and he found that he definitely wasn't in the lower rings anymore, the ceiling was too clean for that.

  "You're finally awake"

  Zeke turned to his right to see a girl with blue hair staring at him, she looked kinda relieved that he was awake and not dead.

  "Where am I? Who are you?" He asked, staring confused.

  "Uh, right, I'm Sophia, you're in nova York, in my room. For some reason."

  Did she just say Nova York?.. As in..

  The Middle Ring?