"Knights? You mean like medieval soldiers?"
"No, as in the first tier of awakened. You know, tier 1 awakeners? Jeez, I didn't realise how little ordinary people knew."
Rowan bit back an indignant retort as he waited for Lenny to continue.
"Well, anyway, the system only calls them Tier 1 awakened, but we call them Knights. Sounds cooler, right? And I don't know whose idea it was, but the rest of the sequence is apparently set to follow that naming pattern, with the strongest being a Duke, at a tier 7. Seems unlikely though, a Hell past tier 5 has never been spotted, let alone the tier 7 needed to become a Duke."
Rowan felt a surge of inspiration as he began imagining himself as a knight in a suit of armour. Then, he reminded himself that his goal was to live peacefully, not become a hero.
'Don't want to be great, just want to live comfortably.'
Lenny continued on, not noticing the change in Rowan's attitude.
"And like tiers of awakened, there are tiers of Hells too. As I said a moment ago, they go up to 5, which is where the really bad monsters come out of, like dragons and krakens."
Rowan nodded, relieved to know he wouldn't be facing a drake with nothing but his frail body, but also frightened at the prospect that if he wanted to get stronger, he would have to fight continually stronger beings.
"I see. What about the powers I can get from the Hells? Do you know much about that?"
Lenny grimaced at Rowan's choice of the word 'I', but sighed before continuing.
"The first one is random. I don't know much, but apparently it's linked to you in some way. They're divided into the categories of offensive, defensive, support, utility and special. Utility and offensive are the most wanted ones, while special is the wildcard."
"Wildcard? Like kinds of powers that don't fit into the categories?"
Rowan couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be covered with one of the four base types. What exceptions could there possibly be?
"Normally, it's the weird ones that branch across multiple categories or are of no use in actual battle. There's no point worrying about the small stuff like that; they'll tell you all of it again when they do the Hell induction tomorrow."
Rowan stiffly nodded. The Hell induction was something most people were aware of, as many gathered to watch it each month. Those who received their licence would enter into pre-prepared Tier 1 Hells and become Awakened.
"That's the majority of what I know about this stuff. Even though my dad was willing to bend the rules for me, there was some stuff he said he could only tell me after the induction."
Noticing that Lenny was beginning to think too hard about his failure at the Bureau, Rowan decided it was enough questioning for one afternoon and moved to stand up.
"Come on, let's go get you sorted with your own place. We'll want to get your rations sorted asap as well, otherwise you'll miss out tomorrow morning."
Snapping out of the state he had half drifted into, Lenny nodded and moved to stand up, but groaned as his muscles protested the movement. Rowan wasn't faring much better, but he was used to the hard ground in the complex.
Giving Lenny an early piece of advice, Rowan led him to the edge of the complex before taking the stairs down, avoiding the closer stairs on the interior.
"The lower levels aren't safe to be around, for a bunch of reasons. They're older, and inundated by waste piles so large that anyone could be hiding behind them. And people do. They wait for someone to pass by, and shove them headfirst into garbage piles. By the time you're done gagging, your stuff is long gone."
Lenny nodded, but not without asking a question that shocked Rowan.
"What about officers? Where do I go to report a crime, or if I'm getting chased?"
"Huh? What are centre cops going to do about it?"
Lenny's jaw dropped for a couple of seconds before he quickly realised how little the government actually cared about the people here. They hardly had enough manpower to protect the city of Cork from monsters, let alone other humans.
"Nothing, my mistake"
Rowan just blinked at Lenny's odd behaviour before continuing on.
'Weird'
><><><><><><><><
At the service desk, Rowan got Lenny all sorted, getting lucky enough to get in the same block as Rowan, only on level five. With that handled, he instructed Lenny on how to fill out the ration forms so that they wouldn't get denied for benign reasons.
"I never would have imagined there were so many convoluted steps in trying to get rations"
Lenny sighed, obviously dismayed at the hours they had spent on form after form.
"It's so no one doubles up on ration deliveries. I had to update my details when I turned fifteen; it took me two days to get my rations approved."
Though Rowan said it like it was nothing, Lenny seemed extremely disturbed. Yet, his face showed determination, which was as much as one could utilise in the complex anyway.
Taking the long path back to the block they both now lived in. Rowan watched as Lenny nervously looked down the alleyways, trying to spot any would-be attackers.
'As if they would be this far out. Not even the gangs would be that bold.'
Climbing the stairs reignited the pain Rowan felt in his legs, the muscles in his calf trying to break clean off his bone. He knew they weren't actually going to, but it didn't make the pain seem any less agonising.
From the top floor, the two boys could see through the alleys to the wall surrounding the city of Cork. Too far away to see over, they could only marvel at the sheer size of it and wonder what it must look like on the outside.
Using Lenny's new key, the pair entered the room and set out to investigate Lenny's new abode. It took all of about 5 seconds.
"Welcome to your new home! Don't go too crazy on the furnishing, or you'll be sleeping with your head in a cupboard."
Rowan's joke was dry, knowing that if Lenny saved up enough credits to buy anything, he would always buy food first.
"Heh, sure thing."
Lenny chuckled softly at the joke before his lips pursed, and he turned to Rowan in a more serious manner.
"But seriously, thanks for your help. Without the assisstance I would likely be going hungry tomorrow, and I would feel way too alone in this place. Thank you. I mean it."
Surprised by the sudden genuine appreciation, Rowan could hardly get out a few 'your welcomes' and 'thank you too's' before he evacuated out the door.
Exhaling slowly, Rowan turned to head back to his own room, wondering what tomorrow would look like. If he passed, he would finally be an awakened. If he failed... He didn't want to think about it. He'd address that problem if it came down to it, one way or another.
Lenny's words bounced around in Rowan's mind as he softly smiled, enjoying a rare moment of serenity in the concrete complex.
><><><><><><><><
The next day, Rowan awoke to a banging on the door, startling him out of his warm bed. Groaning at his bare feet on the cold concrete, he dashed to the door to check through the peephole.
Sure enough, it was Lenny. With a resolute look on his face, he stood with his arms crossed in front of the door, waiting for Rowan.
"How early does he wake up..."
Rowan muttered as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes, putting the same outfit from the day before on. It sat too big on his thin frame, but beggars couldn't be choosers, especially when it was cold.
Pushing his brown hair out of his face, Rowan stepped outside to see Lenny's face lighten.
"Come on. The induction starts in an hour; we need to get going."
"Won't it be open until 12? What's the reason to get up this early?"
Rowan retorted, locking the door behind him as he followed Lenny regardless.
"You want first pick, obviously. Not all of the Hells are equal, and some are much harder than others. For you, we need to get there as quickly as possible and snag one you can clear with no issues."
Rowan nodded while trying to stop the feeling of embarrassment. He had completely forgotten how the induction worked. After all, he hadn't attended any of the inductions in years. With the thought behind him, he picked up his pace and followed Lenny on the way to the induction.