Adam considered himself very handsome, thanks to the caretakers at his orphanage always telling him so. At first, he had brushed it off as the lie every adult told kids to spare their hearts, but as he grew older, he began to notice subtle signs.
The way girls blushed before speaking to him. How his friends were more girls than boys, and how most boys eyed him with hostility.
When he was twelve, he had concluded that the males were jealous of his perfect face and had a slight realization.
Just a twinge of annoyance anytime he saw an ugly person. Not that you are ugly and I hate you, but you are ugly and very loudmouthed.
The man who had just walked into his shop looked like the epitome of ugliness, which made him feel dread deep in his heart.
The man's face looked like it had been through a battlefield. He was short and muscular—something that obviously didn't fit the dirty, mistreated overalls he was wearing.
And there was clearly something wrong with his throat. It probably stretched beyond its natural limit to accommodate the deep voice it held.
"Oh, a pretty boy." The man eyed him up and down, his thick beard swishing with the movement.
He moved closer, his feet shaking the foundations of the already weak shop. Stretching a dirty hand toward Adam, he smiled, his teeth a close reflection of the ground below him.
"Name's Maden."
Adam, of course, watched the dwarf awakener with vigilant eyes. It was immensely rare to see other races, and he was sure no human could be this short. That meant Maden was a dwarf.
Apart from him being an awakener, that fact also meant he should be immensely wary of him. All races saw themselves as superior to one another, and though they all lived in the same kingdom away from the threat of corrupted corpses, they didn't live comfortably with one another.
Dwarves were naturally more intelligent than other races; their genius minds gave them the unique ability to craft legendary weapons that could rival the gods. Well, not all of them—only those with high ranks in their awakened bloodline.
Which the scrawny rat in front of him obviously didn't have.
'Okay, no insulting the guy who could probably kill you in seconds.'
He glanced around the store from the corner of his eye, looking for ways to escape if this guy got angry.
'Though I would probably die if he decided to kill me.'
Well, he always kept his will ready—though there was no one to give it to and nothing to offer.
Knowing there was a slim chance of survival if he didn't please the ugly awakener in front of him, Adam quickly extended his hand, accepting Maden's handshake.
The hands were dirty, to say the least — marked with calluses, which was a strange trait for the thug-looking dwarf.
And when his hand touched Maden's, a shiver ran down his spine.
Not fear. He had only felt fear once and had steeled himself never to feel it again.
No, it wasn't fear.
Disgust.
That's what it was.
The kind that comes when you touch something so filthy that your body reacts to it.
Adam didn't know what it was, but the moment his palm grazed Maden's, he felt something slimy — and instantly knew where the dwarf had been before entering his shop.
There were many brothels in the capital of Euphoria, and one person dominated them all with an iron fist: Madame Julie, they called her. The woman no one should ever cross.
She was rich — no, beyond rich — and had immense influence in the city.
She made her money off uncontrollable idiots like the one before him.
He quickly pulled his hand back, nodding at the dwarf.
"Welcome, sir. Did you come for a coffee?"
There was no way he came for a coffee — but play dumb and pray to one of those gods the Eluthia churches claim are real.
Maden's smile twitched a little, something Adam caught perfectly.
"I always start with a smile, so why do weaklings like you make me so mad?"
'Okay, we're going down the angry route, then. No point in acting polite now.'
If he was going to insult this guy, then he was going to have to be creative.
Adam knelt, his eyes leveled with those of the dwarf's.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were the one handling collections. I should've known they'd send someone closer to the floor to match the shop's condition."
He had barely finished speaking when a fist materialized in his vision.
'Ah, this is gonna hurt.'