Magus of the Streets

Power has a price; it is the motto of existence itself.  Simon is a competent mage who was dealt a bad hand in life. He is a manifestation mage; those are one in a hundred. A mishap during an Ascension event caused him to lose his old life and be thrown to the streets. Now the man is a mercenary for hire in a very seedy part of town.  All our main character needs to do is earn enough money to attempt another Ascension, and this time he will not fail.  However, the world he lives in is much darker, one his previously cushy life did not prepare him for. Will he become great as he so believes? Or will he be swallowed by mechanations he scarcely understands?