2 Atlas The Common Filth

-----------Joffery-----------

"This town sucks, I can't wait to leave. I swear as soon as I get my classifications, I'm going straight to the Cestrum Academy of The Magic Arts." The count's son told the young maid currently dressing him. Joffery looked down to her and cupped her face in his hand, "And if you've got the right kind of drive, then I can probably afford to bring you with." He gave her an insinuating smile which caused visible shivers in the maid. He was confused, he didn't remember looking so ugly that a commoner would look at him so. He had strawberry blonde hair, well-defined musculature for an early adolescent, and with his sharp features, you'd have to strain to call him anything but handsome or perfect. He frowned before sneering at her and letting go of her face.

The door opened and a deep voice filled the room, "Joffery Wintercrest, what are you doing with the maid?"

Joffery turned to face the man, "Father." A burly redhead man entered the room. He was wearing a dress suit with a vest in the family colors, silver, and purple.

"Don't father me, I told you, you cannot force yourself on the maids or sleep with them."

"Don't worry father I wasn't doing anything, I don't even like her all that much."

"You don't have to like a whore to sleep with her."

"Tsk!" His father was getting on his nerves but he couldn't make a move against him. He had to be careful around his father, he couldn't speak out nor could he act out even acting out of emotions, his father would be there and he'd be too fast. As a Platinum Ranker he had the eyes of insight from the bronze rank, the enhanced body of the iron stage, the superior aura of the silver stage, and the refined mana of the gold stage, without even using the powers of his classifications he'd easily be capable of sensing Joffery's exact movements and mana as well as get to him before he could act, from several rooms and even buildings away. "Look I wasn't doing anything, I'm going to stop by the adventurers' shop in town." 

"You'd better not have done anything, I'll be going to the shop myself soon, why not wait to go with me?"

"Thanks, but no thanks." He knew that by acting out now his father would explode if he did anything he even slightly disapproved of but he didn't care. "I need some fresh air, mostly alone." He finished dressing before leaving the room in awkward silence. He looked up to see the two dozen or so buildings that made up the town of Wintercrest, the mostly wooden and brick buildings lining the paved streets symmetrically, "What a dump."

———Quinten———

        He was made for greatness, or so his family thought. Quentin was up at the crack of dawn training for a few hours before resting. When he would wake he'd return to training as soon as possible. Physical power was everything to a knight, Lacking the social power of a normal Lord they made up for it with their raw power. But unlike most knights he was special, he had drive unlike any other and understood his purpose. 

        At a young age, Quen was taken from his household and immediately sent to school. This wasn't just your ordinary school...it was a school for those higher up on the social ladder and higher in understanding, so instead of learning the basics young Quen was learning nearly every subject. He also learned the arts of sword fighting, Knight chivalry, and a little mana control. He quickly accelerated through all the classes gaining a little bit of reputation for being a prodigy.

        Today would be the end to this life of hard work, yes he'd finally be put into a life of harder work and more freedom. He woke up from his after-training nap in his father's estate, "Today is the big day." He began to get ready in his formal clothes, "I have to look good for my family."

        He heard a sweet but stern and mature voice ring out from a bathroom down the hall, "Quentin! I know you love your nice outfits but I must insist you wear your combat clothes and hurry I need you to find you, sister Chara. It's been long enough and today marks the last day of the solstice." The normally comforting tone of your mother was now filled with anxiety and a chastising air.

        "Yes, ma'am I'm on it" He rushed to put on his combat clothes, latching all the straps on his steel-plated leather armor, thinking "where could Chara be?"

        "You'd better be." Her voice rang out. She came to his room and showed off her favored stunning red dress that accentuated and hugged all parts of her figure. "How do I look?" His mother asked with a coy grin.

        He bowed "beautiful as always mother."

        "Quite the charmer as always, wouldn't be surprised if you gained a classification for that. Your look suited... I hear your sister Charli is in the square attempting to use her retainers to keep up a shop, she should be fine to leave her house for a while so go find her, I'd do it myself but after your father and I kicked her out I doubt she'd welcome the sight of me." She bit her lip giving a nervous grin "it'll be fine. Offer the free services of our house if you need to." She said more trying to convince herself than she did him.

        "I have it under control" He rushed out of the house to go find his sister but he soon ran into a poor boy with shabby clothes at best and rags at worst. 

         The boy seemed to notice his pause and took it as an opportunity to strike up a conversation, "Hey you ready for the final part of the ceremony? I may be a commoner but maybe the goddess will bless me too." As a noble and son of a famous knight, he couldn't allow himself to get tangled up with any sort of person this much below his status, it hurt but he ignored the boy as he hurried along.

———Charli———

        Charli woke up and headed to her shower, removing her nightgown, turning on the shower by flowing a bit of essence from the world into the runes on the handle for the shower before twisting it to steaming. Alone with her thoughts in the shower, she couldn't help but think about her parents and the responsibility on her shoulders. She was an orphan noble, not something you see every day, or like ever. When she was five her parents died in a house fire and she was the only one to make it out. She came from a great family of nobles, so from then on, due to the rest of her family, the Rutherfords, being dead, another noble family decided to take her in but as soon as as she was old enough to do things on her own she was kicked out. She had spent the time growing.

        It had been over a year since she was kicked out and she had a productive year buying a house and turning part of it into a store, an adventurer's shop to help support herself and those loyal to her original noble house. Charli was busy today, very busy.

        I'm swamped,  in the downstairs shop, she hustled. Customers were pouring in more than they were going out rapidly as it was the final day of the ceremony, and all the procrastinators tried to rush to get ready for their tower climb. A wiry commoner with rags for clothes walked into the shop. "Can I help you, sir, anything you're looking for specifically?" giving him a second glance she noticed his white hair, but it didn't seem treated. 

        The boy's eyes lit up, "Yeah... Just basic adventurer tools works, the cheapest you have to offer." 

        She looked at him wearily but went and found some of the supplies bring them to him. He paid although the way he was counting his coppers she almost believed he wouldn't have enough.

        The count's son walked into the shop with his two retainers and began lingering as he touches on the girls that walk past him or look at him "no really pretty ones, humpf, should have expected nothing more."

        "Can I help you?" She put on her best warming fake smile. She was already stressed and now this weirdo prick walked in. This could not get any worse. It wasn't that he looked bad, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Joffery's face and body looked sculpted, his features too sharp, his face too handsome, his limbs too toned and his terrible personality was only highlighted from the lack of flaws in his skin. 

        He smirked "never mind guys I think I found one. Yes, you can help me, I'm looking for some sturdy material that can take a pounding from a long sword, think you can do that for me?" He waggled his eyebrows in a failed attempt at a seductive gaze, it came off more creepy than anything else.

        "Yes follow me" fucking horn dog, she thought. He was already irritating, she'd have hit him or kicked him out if it weren't for the fact that his dad was one of the highest-ranking nobles in the city. He followed behind her staring at her the whole time. Then suddenly "Quentin!?!" Her brother rushed in.

        He saw the noble boy looking at her with ill intent and saw her... his sister, with disgust on her face. He walked up slowly, "Hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

        The boy looked at Quentin and his infatuation with her bottom dimmed as his eyes landed on him. He turned to face Quentin, "yeah mind your own business she'll be back in a second." 

        She ran off to the back as he became distracted, "Where did she..."

        She walked back with a tower shield, "here you go that'll be 1 gold."

        Quentin smirked taking advantage of her exchange to further make the boy look like a fool, "I- do not think I know you... I don't usually ally with pathetic boys, but I must always be aquatinted with my sister's suitors. May we become acquainted. I am Lord Quentin Starling."

        The boy's eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to hold back his rage, "I'm the Count's son, I own this land, I'm Joffrey Whitehaven!" He almost shouted are Quentin.

   "My apologies" he gave a mock bow in his presence "I mistook you for low life scum."

He scoffed "to believe someone could act like they didn't know me, he must be an idiot." He started laughing and his retainers join in with forced laughs.

        "Are you gonna buy this damn shield or not?" She inserted herself back into the conversation.

        "Oh, the tall hunk of metal? I was thinking of buying something a little more succulent." Suddenly the door had slammed open and everyone got startled as Joffrey stood at attention, "Father!" The man that entered looked like an older Joffery although his bone structure seemed less perfect, this only seemed to highlight his intimidating figure, being wider than his son and a bit taller he looked like if Joffery had been crossed with an ape or was a Mana enhanced Ape slayer. Again she took the time to walk away and grab some meat.

        She brought a pile of meat "here's some meat for you to beat into with that sword." She smiled super brightly at him.

        His face flushed red as her gesture as his father began to yell. "JOFFREY YOU BETTER NOT BE WASTING TIME!" He looked at everything in the shop as he asked, the question more rhetorical as he clearly saw his son gazing at her with the eyes of a pervert and now he's holding some meat and a sword. "RIDICULOUS!"

        Joffrey cowered at his father's words, "No father I was just leaving."

        "Good! Come now, boy." He turns and walked out of the shop waiting for Joffrey to follow.

        "Have a good day!" She said in an upbeat and sarcastic tone, super low under her breath she mumbled "perv."

        "Hello sis how are you?" he asked truly curious about her wellbeing.

        "Good other than nobles asking for a piece of ass anyways what do you want brother?" she was annoyed and frustrated, and if this man didn't get to the point she'd boil over any second now.

        "May I ask a favor of you?" He said not even meeting her gaze as he looked down, although she was the one kicked out she technically had equal power to the head of his house and was, therefore his better, but working with adventurers had removed the notion of betters and lessers from her mind, it was just the strong, the brave and the stupid.

        "Favor? If I do this you'll owe me a favor in return, that's how it works." She stated firm, there would be no breathing room, she was a merchant and ruler at heart and so deal and requests wouldn't be taken lightly.

        "Mother summons you to the tower and offers our men and women to help run the shop while you're out." He reached out for her hand.

        She gave him a quizzical look and pulled her hand away "I'll come, no need to touch me" she still didn't consider him really family, and she didn't trust the family altogether.

———Atlas———

        He woke up on the floor but he remembered going to sleep on a rooftop. On the balcony of the drug house he had slept in, a glance up told him that someone had taken his spot in his sleep. He found he still had his money on him, "71 silver, it's enough to pay for access to the tower and some tools. Today I'm going to get class and prove those bastards wrong."

        The Dark God may have had his dungeons but the Goddess had her towers. You could get a classification and become attuned just by going to your priest but if you wanted a rare one you could risk your life in your goddess tower. The towers were created by the goddess and her celestials. Gods In their own right. He found that there were bruises on his side indicating he fell. This confirmed the suspicion that they threw him off to get his spot.

        He got up and went to leave the town to head to the tower stopping by and adventuring shop along the way. He soon came to realize he smelled and was filthy and while he was likely to come out of the tower looking worse... the rive was right there and strong enough to wash him just by walking through it, a minute detour from the dirt path to the tower. He just needed to make sure his bag wasn't wet or it would be impossible to carry. He tossed his bag over, snug just between two trees, and made sure to tie some rope to it and his hand beforehand. he pulled himself through the river with a strain. after getting out and drying off he continued to the dirt path. On his way along the dirt path to the tower, just outside of town on the other end, he saw Joffrey, his long-time bully, and son of the count. Damn it!

        He took in a long deep inhale, then exhaled and looked for a way to escape. There is no way I can take him without a class, maybe he didn't see me yet. But it was too late... he was spotted.

———Joffery———

        After his stressful talk with his father and being nearly embarrassed at that shop Joffery needed to blow off some steam, I don't see why I was the one in the wrong? How could father embarrass me like that, and those damned nobles. They dare stand against me, I work so hard with my father to keep this place running and they disrespect me and deny me what's rightfully mine. I'll climb the tower and get the best set of classes to grace this backwater county.

        His thoughts suddenly halted as he paced back and forth on the dirt road just before the tower, his eyes locked on a common boy, the boy he could use to relieve stress whenever he wanted because no one cared for him, he wasn't even placed into an orphanage and was tossed into a dumpster around 4 to 6, found and raised by crack heads. It was a miracle he didn't end up dead, "Is that Atlas!?! Atlas the common filth just out in the open? With a smile no less." he laughed. "No way you're headed to the tower are you? You're a rugrat... there is no way you could survive that much less pay for it." He chuckles. The white-haired boy tried to ignore him and walk passed but Joffrey wouldn't allow it. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Answer when your betters speak to you."

        He turned back toward Joffery with a deadpan and almost tired expression "Better?" He tried to throw Joffery's hand off of him. "You're richer, not better..."

        But he failed as Joffrey was much stronger than him and could see his hand coming, "So slow... so weak. You dare touch your betters in such a manner?" He punched Atlas in the right of his face, his knuckles connecting to the right of his nose as it slipped from his cheek and down his face, breaking the nose in the blow. "Know your place... street trash."