“Here’s your caramel apple young man. That will be 2 pisces. Ah, but you look so skinny. Just for you, I’ll give another one for free.” I handed the shopkeeper 2 pisces, the last of my money, and sighed. After all, today was the day I die. So, I wanted something sweet to eat as my final meal. I walk outside the shop, looking at the big letters on the wooden sign at the top of it, reading “A Humble Shopkeeper”. I glance around and see gigantic, colorful buildings lighting up the street. The blinding sun is being blocked by the apartment buildings on the other side of the street. It was such a narrow street, yet carriages were still being dragged by horses on both sides of the road. I go on my tippy toes and look straight, peering at an enormous castle up ahead, that is the size of my pinky from here. I take a bite of the crunchy, sweet caramel apple, and nearly collapse from the flavor. My eyes roll back from satisfaction as I continue chomping down on the decadent dessert, with rich caramel flowing onto my tongue, contrasting the light apple flavor. I finally open my eyes again, and look at the families on the street smiling, with a kid on the street even having a flying related ability. Or perhaps he is utilzing magic. I scoff, full of immense envy, as I continue downing the sweet treat with caramel bits stuck in my teeth.

  .Everyone in this world is born with some unique Ability. This is a gift from the gods, given to a mortal, that can be anything in the world, though most people’s abilities are usually insignificant. From the blessing given, our mana affinity is determined and we will be able to actually use and control mana. A person’s Ability and mana affinity is always stored in the Empire’s database. This is used as a protection against future threats, as the hardest enemy to fight is an enemy that you don’t know.

  But there was one lie that I said. Almost everyone awakens an ability. Most people awaken their abilities at birth, but sometimes it takes longer for some people to awaken. As far as I know, the latest age that a person has ever awakened was 10. The leader of this empire himself awakened at the age of 8. And the later that a person awakens, the stronger their ability will be. But like I said, not everyone awakens. There is a 0.0001% chance of not awakening an Ability. Out of the few billion people on this decrepit planet, only about 5 people a year are officially considered to have no Ability. This consideration happens when a person turns the age of 15. Today happens to be my 15th birthday. And sadly, I have no Ability. Last year, I failed the test, and I know for certain that I won’t pass it this year either.

  The issue with having no Ability in society is that if my inferior genes are passed down, then I would corrupt the future. Thus, I must be killed by the time I turn 15. Since the Human Empire has been established, eugenics has always been discussed. But the rights of humans always took precedent. However, that doesn’t count for those with no abilities, as we aren’t even considered humans. Today is July 7th, 400 years since the Human Empire was established. And officially my birthday. When I woke up, a note was attached to my shirt telling me to go to the Magic Center at 10am to determine if I have awakened any Ability so far, or if I should be mercifully executed (of course, they never said it on the note). It is currently 9:30. Before I go to the Magic Center to willingly turn myself in, I am going to visit my family's grave in the cemetery.

  I slowly tread down the graveled sidewalk, throwing the white wooden stick in a nearby trash can. I walk to my parent’s cemetery and look down. It’s been 8 years since my mom passed away due to the Hitch Plague. I lost them because we had no money. I look down at their grave and sniffle, tears flowing down my face, hitting the ground. It’s still hard for me to look at their graves. Well, tonight I will be reunited with them. Their bodies are gone, as are all of the dead who are naturally cremated. However, this area is considered their space. I still can’t believe that I have already lived over half my life without them, barely surviving in the slums of the empire. My mom was a fearless, strong woman, who took in an orphan baby like me and raised me to be great. And dad was someone I couldn’t remember, as he died so young, but my mom loved him, so I love him too. As I started to cry, reminiscing about my past, several men wearing black suits and white gloves surrounded me from all sides.

  A tall, handsome blond man with masculine features and a deep voice walked forward, looked me directly in my eyes, and said “Rocky Crow, you have been ordered by the Empire to come to the Magic Center at 10 AM. It is now 10:15. Are you going to disobey the orders of the Empire?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  I look down at my parents grave, then look around. After this, I was about to gladly offer myself up to them, or kill myself first. Yet, after being faced with this situation up front, my mind suddenly tensed and I filled up with fear and anger. The deadline to my death approached, and I was ready to die. But something about this entire situation felt unfair. I never asked to be born with no ability. The world hated me from the start. Why did I deserve to die? My entire life was filled with absolutely fucking nothing. I lived for the future, not for the present, holding out for the hope that one day I could actually live a happy life. And yet, it was all useless. I gritted my teeth and felt a surge of clarity flow through my mind.

  For these people, in the worst case they are attempting to catch a person who has no Ability. That means most of these people are probably useless idiots with low rank Abilities. I look at the man in front of me, nod, and then walk slowly towards him. Then, I instantly start sprinting and run as fast as I can, throwing the remaining candy apple at him. He gets distracted catching it, feeling intense fear that there may have been something inside, which gave me a few seconds to get away. Those few seconds were all I needed to run out of the cemetery and into the streets of the city.

  I look behind as I race through the streets of the city, the little bits of gravel continuously bumping into my shoes step after step, as I jump over wooden vendor carts housing all sorts of fruits and fresh goods. I hear the Empire’s people right behind me, breaking all sorts of wooden carts, and yelling at people to get out of the way. I looked forward as there was a busy street right in front of me, and ran faster than I ever thought I could, sliding right under the wooden carriage, regaining my momentum, and running even faster forward. I didn’t know what would happen to me doing this, but it was much better than being killed for no reason. I ran more and more and more through this medieval street, dodging the people on the crowded sidewalks as best as I could.

  And then, I abruptly stopped in a running position, and suddenly straightened. I couldn’t move my body anymore. 2 minutes. That’s all the time that I could last running away. I looked to my left, and a beautiful young woman with silver hair, in a tight military bodysuit just moved towards me. She was extraordinarily beautiful, otherworldy even, and her Ability seemed to have something to do with telekinesis. She straightened me and looked at me with her cold, silver eyes. “Why are you running? There is no point in trying to escape judgment from the Empire.”

  I knew this woman. Everyone is forced to know her, whether we like it or not. She is one of the princesses of the Empire, Courteney Godwin. One of the future leaders of the Empire, a 20-year old with an incredible, unknown ability, and mana greater than most geniuses. Her eyes neared my own, and I just looked down at her neck. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes. I felt fear, knowing that my last breath on Earth was about to come. Was this really how it all ended? I should’ve been the knight in shining armor, yet I was caught by the princess.

  A glint of red catches my eyes, and I see a red gem necklace around her neck. Suddenly, as if possessed, my hands grab it. She seemed as surprised as I was that my body moved, and proceeded to punch me in the gut. I hit a building and my heart wails as I spit out blood. I view my surroundings, and everything's so blurry. My stomach hurts so much and I can’t see anything anymore. I fall to the ground, whimpering. All I hear is faint talking between the man in the cemetery and this bitch who nearly killed me. “Why did you attack him? We can’t kill him. He has not done anything wrong nor has he harmed anyone. We need to first check if he has an Ability. Let’s take him there.”

  She coldly responds, looking him dead in the eyes, “He dared to touch me, and that alone is reason enough for his death. I will burn him alive.” Suddenly, my body felt alive, and I noticed a sewer cover right under me, just my size. Only young kids could even think about fitting through the hole underneath this cover. Or a skinny teenager like me. This is a cover I was always used to. My perfect escape route. A life of starvation and stealing led the sewers to be my partner in crime. And now, it’s going to help me escape from the government. I used all my strength to open the sewer cover, and took off crawling as fast as I could underneath this tight passageway. There was no way any of them could fit through here, so I was very lucky. I kept crawling nonstop until I saw another cover grate right in front of me. I pushed open the grate, and fell out of the hole, landing on rock solid, cold, wet, stench-filled ground. To most, nobody would even dare to come here. But to me, this was my home. I groaned as I tried to get up, but my stomach and mouth were still bleeding, and it didn’t seem like it would stop soon. Then, I felt a puncture in my lung.

  “AAAAAHHHHHH,” my screams echoed through the closed sewers, mixing in with the sound of running water. I couldn’t breathe anymore. My broken rib punctured my lungs. I look up at the gray ceiling of the sewer, and I kept on wondering, why was my life like this? My birth mother was killed for having no Ability. My dad died to an Anomaly. My mom died because we didn’t have enough money. Everyone around me always died. What was the point of living? I should’ve died long ago. A person like me should have never survived for this long. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

  Then suddenly, I feel the red gem in my hand vibrating. I suddenly hear a booming voice yelling in my mind, “WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A TRIAL TO INHERIT MY DYNASTY?”

  Before I can even think, my mouth responds, “Yes.”

  And suddenly, the pain was gone, and so was I.