Conquering The Game's World

Chapter 291: Minas: The Boy In The Slum!

Minas remained silent for quite a while. He lowered his head, not daring to look at Luis or Jack. After struggling with himself for a moment, he finally took a deep breath and slowly began speaking.

"My family lives in the slums."

His voice was calm, but there was an obvious bitterness hidden within it.

"My father passed away when I was very young. Since then, my mother has been the only one supporting our family. She works at a factory every day, leaving early in the morning and only returning after it gets dark. Even after working so hard, her wage is only enough for the three of us to barely get by."

Minas paused briefly before continuing.

"My mother happened to know Uncle Judy. They were old acquaintances, so she asked him if he could teach my sister and me his craft. Uncle Judy agreed and accepted both of us as his students."

A faint smile appeared on his face when he mentioned his sister.

"Meena is much more talented than me. Uncle Judy always praises her. She learns quickly and rarely makes mistakes."

His smile gradually disappeared.

"I... don’t have that kind of talent."

"No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t carve as well as her."

Even so, Minas never thought about giving up. Every time he saw his mother’s tired face after returning from work, he forced himself to practice harder. He knew his mother had placed her hopes on both him and Meena, and he didn’t want to disappoint her just because he lacked talent.

"Then about a week ago..."

His expression became complicated.

"Uncle Judy asked me to clean the old storeroom behind the workshop. While cleaning, I found a strange blue stone and an old book covered with dust."

"I was curious, so I picked them up."

"The moment I touched them, a sharp pain spread throughout my body. I don’t remember anything after that."

"When I woke up, both the stone and the book had disappeared."

Minas looked at his own hands.

"After that... I somehow obtained a strange power."

"I found that I could swap the positions of two objects."

At first, he had been excited by this unexpected ability. He didn’t understand where it came from, but having such a strange power naturally made him happy.

However, that excitement didn’t last long.

"Not long after, I started getting hungry. I thought it was nothing at first."

"But every day, I became hungrier than before."

"No matter how much I ate, I still felt hungry." His voice gradually became quieter.

"My mother’s salary was already barely enough for the three of us. She couldn’t possibly afford to feed me several times more than before."

"I tried to endure it."

"I drank water whenever I felt hungry."

"I slept early so I wouldn’t think about food."

"But it only kept getting worse."

He clenched his fists tightly.

"In the end... I couldn’t bear it anymore."

"I knew stealing was wrong."

"I knew my mother would never forgive me if she found out."

"But at that time... I was just too hungry."

Minas lowered his head even further.

"I’m not trying to make excuses."

"I know I was wrong."

"If you hadn’t stopped me today... I don’t know what I would’ve become."

Silence fell around the bus stop.

Luis didn’t interrupt him once from beginning to end.

Jack was the first to speak after hearing the entire story.

"That blue stone was most likely a Mana Gem used during the awakening process. You accidentally trigged the awakening. You happened to be lucky, otherwise you would have died."

"As for the old book, it should have been a Skill Book."

He looked at Minas thoughtfully.

"The skill you obtained should be a rare space-type skill. I just don’t know its exact name and rank."

After saying that, Jack continued with another explanation.

"As for your increased appetite, that’s actually normal."

"You’ve awakened, but you don’t have enough mana to support your body’s consumption."

"You also don’t know any mana refining technique."

"When your body can’t obtain enough mana, it instinctively looks for another source of energy. That’s why you’ve been eating much more than before."

Luis had already reached the same conclusion. He nodded before looking at Minas.

"You’ve probably guessed it already."

"But now we can confirm it for you. You’re now an awakener."

"And the ability you obtained came from that Skill Book."

Although Minas had already suspected it, hearing the answer directly still left him shocked.

"I knew it..."

"That book and the stone must have been something precious."

He grabbed his hair in frustration.

"Uncle Judy... He treated my sister and me so well."

"And I ended up taking something so valuable from him."

"How am I supposed to face him now?"

Luis looked at the guilt-stricken Minas and spoke, "I’ll give you a choice, Minas."

Minas slowly looked up.

"How about coming to work for me?"

"You won’t have to worry about going hungry anymore. You’ll be able to eat your fill, your mother won’t have to carry everything alone, and your sister can continue learning without worrying about the family’s expenses."

He paused before adding,

"As for Judy, I’ll help you explain everything to him and compensate him."

"Work for you?"

There was surprise in Minas’ voice, followed by a trace of caution.

"What kind of work?"

Luis was about to answer when he suddenly remembered something.

"Well, I—Wait...! How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

Luis laughed helplessly. "Then you’re still too young to become a full-time guild member."

"For now, you’ll be a trainee."

Seeing Minas still looking confused, Luis introduced himself.

"My name is Luis Suarez."

"You may not know me, but the Suarez Guild behind me is one of the strongest awakener guild in the Aiverson Empire."

Minas had never heard of the Suarez family before.

But even someone living in the slums knew what one of the strongest awakener guild in the empire represented.