"What the f*ck should I do now?" Kael thought, cursing to no one in particular.
He walked toward the city as the guard had told him, looking back once to wave at them.
The first thing Kael noticed was the pipes—lots of pipes running everywhere. He also noticed the sky wasn't there. Instead, a massive stone ceiling covered the dead sky.
"Is it to stop Stargazers from using their power?" Kael thought.
He realised that without stars visible to the naked eye, Stargazers couldn't use their powers here.
"Well, I have my backup. Thankfully, I stored it in my Stellar Core, whatever it is."
Kael looked around and saw people bustling and hustling. The houses were made of steel, not the old brick used in the Old World. They were made of rusted metal sheets. The houses weren't too big, but they looked okay.
Also, he didn't feel too cold in this place.
"Is it because of the magma?" Kael voiced out slowly.
He moved here and there, seeing people talking and laughing with each other. Seeing this gave him a sense of familiarity, reminding him of talking to his father and mother, as well as his friends.
"I need to get back to my home," he thought.
He moved to a stall that was selling cooked mushrooms. The aroma was sweet and tasty, which made Kael hungry as he moved closer to the stall.
He saw an old woman with wrinkles sitting there. She was wearing thick glasses, maybe to be safe from the glare, as in this new world, no one could look directly at light sources without protection.
"Too much damn radiation," he thought.
She spoke, watching Kael come closer to her. "What do you need, kid?"
He looked at the freshly cooked mushrooms. As all vegetation was dead in this world, the only thing that mattered was fungi, as they didn't need the sun to grow and could be farmed anywhere underground. It was the staple food for the people of the New World.
"Can I get half a kilogram of mushrooms? And how much will it cost me?"
She started taking out the mushrooms and packing them. "It will cost you 2 Lux."
"It's expensive," he voiced out loud, looking at the old lady while taking out his pouch and handing her two Lumen Coins.
"Yes, it is, boy. We also need to survive. We can't hunt monsters, and we won't survive if we don't pay taxes here."
"So tax is still a thing, I suppose," Kael thought.
He gave her the 2 Lux and moved to the street, looking at different people. They were wearing thick clothes, but not as heavy as the ones outside.
He saw lots of guards wearing Rigs—armoured suits made with science that were powered by Lumen Cells to generate heat.
He looked at the guards and thought, Well, it only generates heat. Nothing else. Maybe they also get power from it when the sky is not clear?
Maybe. He wasn't sure. He moved on, seeing that the city was organised. Smoke rose from the ground; as the city was surrounded by magma, it was being heated from the inside out.
Kael ate the mushroom and found it pretty tasty, like nothing he had eaten before.
"It's so tasty," he said while eating.
In a matter of seconds, he ate all the mushrooms, and his hand was empty.
"Oh, I already finished it."
While walking, he saw someone singing using an instrument made of bone. He stood there and listened to the song for some time.
"It's so peaceful."
Oh, right. I forgot to turn off my Event Horizon, he thought. I don't need it right now in this city.
He smacked his forehead and focused hard, visualising the barrier dropping. The surrounding air returned to normal.
"Damn, so I was using it all along and forgot about it? I am so stupid."
He stayed there for some time and then left the place. As he was walking, he sensed someone following him from behind.
"Is someone following me?" He looked back, thinking he saw something, but there was no one.
"I am sure I was being followed."
He moved fast in this bustling city, took a left, and entered an alleyway where no one would be.
As he did, he heard footsteps following him. He looked back and found a guy wearing a Rig following him.
"Why are you following me?" he spoke before the unknown guy could speak.
"Well, well, you found out. Right now, my time is not going well, you know? So I was in need of some money. And I saw a boy who looked like a beggar carrying a lot of Lux. So, I am here to ask for tax."
"Tax? What tax are you talking about?" Kael was annoyed.
The guy was bald with glasses on his eyes. It was hard to see his eyes as the lenses were black. He wasn't wearing a gas mask, so his broken teeth could be seen when he smiled.
"Oh, tax. It's for protecting you, worthless people. You know how we risk our lives protecting you and getting nothing? I need tax for that." The Rig guy held out his palm. "Give me the Lux."
"What if I don't give it to you?"
"You don't want to be in the hospital, right? So let's be gentlemen. Give me the Lux and you go your way, I go my way," the guy said to Kael.
"Fuck you," he spoke out slowly, calmly.
And then he whispered, "Event Horizon."
"Haha, you're messing with the wrong person, boy," the Rig guy said. He lifted his hand, and his chest plate glowed bright yellow. He was using a Rig powered by Lumen Cells, so he could use thermal blasts even if the stars weren't there.
He conjured a bright yellow fireball and threw it toward Kael. It destroyed the ground, travelling at a high speed.
When it landed near Kael, it just disappeared, as if it hit some kind of invisible wall.
"Wait... you are a Stargazer?"
"What if I am?" Kael replied.
"My turn." Kael's face turned serious. He lifted his hand and closed his palm, as if he was trying to crush something in thin air.
"Ahhh!" the Rig guy screamed. "What are you doing?!"
He was being squeezed to death by gravity.
"This is what happens when you mess with me."
"Now die with it," Kael said, unmoving.
The Rig guy's armour got destroyed as he was squeezed slowly and painfully. His nose was bleeding, and his whole face was turning red as if he was going to pop like a balloon.
And there, Kael just watched him.
"It's okay." He lowered his hand, and everything went back to normal.
The Rig guy collapsed on the floor, unconscious from the crushing pressure.
But as soon as the guy hit the ground, Kael felt a surge of heat, as if his whole body was burning from the inside.
"Wha... what is going on?"
Ahh, did I use my power too much?
His eyes were becoming blurry. He fell to the ground. He closed his eyes, seeing only darkness.
"Shit."