As we walked out of the building, everything felt surreal. Grandmother, mother, and Alicia were proud of the results. Grandmother and mother were making plans for me to learn the more difficult and high leveled light magic. They looked excited while talking about my results, so I did not disturb them. I went in front of the building, but not too far from them. I wanted to check out the sites and things I can see around. We were located near the center, so the streets were bustling with people, going on their way, maybe for business or pleasure. Some are in carriages, others on horses, people walking on the sidewalks. There are some vendors selling items and food, people shouting trying to get the attention of people to buy their products. Even though there's a large gate that separates the streets from the magic tower, I can clearly see the people outside.
From all the commotion outside, there were sudden yells you can hear from afar. A couple of hooligan looking guys were running while yelling at the top of their lungs for someone to stop. I looked around trying to find the person they were shouting at. There, amongst the crowded sea of people, a little girl was running desperately, her hands were in chains, while her feet were bare-naked. Her hair was disheveled and there were tears running down the side on her dirty and muddy cheeks.
"STOP! I said stop right there you imp. If you don't stop I'll kill you." One of the men yelled.
The people gathered and crowded suddenly panicked when the man shouted his words. They began running away, as they did not want trouble for themselves. Some people looked at the men, and they realized that they were from the slave merchants. They did not want to get involved as they stepped aside to let the men seize the said slave from running away.
The little girl who kept running and running suddenly fell on the vendor stall some of the items they were selling fell and rolled on the floor. With a loud thud, her face hit the floor and blood was pouring out of her forehead. The people who were running away had formed a stampede, one person accidentally stepped on the poor girl, while the girl gave a sudden shriek from the pain. Her foot now bent on a weird angle.
I could not help myself from running towards the girl who was crying pitifully on the streets all alone with a bunch of filthy old men ganging up on a single girl. Her look was so pitiful that it reminded me of the bloodied site of my sister through her.
I was able to reach her before the men did but one man suddenly said, "Get away kid, this has nothing to do with you as we are only here for the merchandise." He was trying to intimidate me with his face while touching the hilt of his sword.
I ignored him and looked at the poor child who was crying on the floor. I got on one knee to get a better view of her feet, I could see that it was her ankle that was broken. I was about to hover my hand on her foot to heal her but she suddenly bit me. Blood started to ooze out of my hand as she bit with all her strength, however, I did not retract my other hand instead I used my other hand to touch her hair and pat it. "There, there it's going to be alright. I'll heal you so the pain will go away, okay?" I said gently to the girl. She then looked up at me, and our eyes met. Her jet black eyes that were as clear as the purest gemstones were mesmerizing. I smiled at her, and she gently released my hand from her bite.
"Hey you fucking kid, I am not in the mood for this kind of shit. If you don't get away now then don't blame me for killing you." The man said menacingly to me. The girl's body suddenly became stiff when she heard this, she then reached for my sleeves as if trying ask for help from me, pleading not to leave her alone. I who still had the same gentle smile looked at the man.
"How much is she?" I asked calmly.
"What did you say brat?" He said as if he has misheard me.
"How much is this child's worth?" I asked again in the same calm manner.
"Brat, are you fucking playing with me? I will behead you and feed your head to the dogs if you don't stop this fucking nonsense." The man shouted, he was ready to draw his sword any minute. However, he was not given a chance as a number of robed people can be seen approaching them. The man staggered back and did not continue drawing his sword. The other men started to panic as they did not want trouble from the magic tower.
"Max, what are you doing?" My mother asked me. She saw the commotion from afar and after realizing that Max was not beside her, she found out that Alicia was running out of the gate chasing after someone. There was only one person who could make Alicia panic like that which was his younger brother so they all followed Alicia who was now standing behind Max with a drawn sword.
"Mother, please buy her for me," I said bluntly as I pointed at the young girl beside me. My mother did not ask me any questions, instead looked at the men from the slave merchants.
"How much is she?" Mother asked bluntly.
The man had a sudden glint in his eyes as the woman in front of him looked wealthy. He then said," she is a part of our special merchandise, so she is not for sale." The man was trying to increase the price of the girl by saying a bunch of things. However, my mother was not in the mood to haggle with these people as she did not like their reputation or the way they do things.
