Clandestine Empire. An empire consisted of different regions where mages and non-mages co-exist. The north was protected by people with earth affinity magic, south with wind, east with water, west with fire, southwest with lightning, southeast with ice and the northwest with plants while the northeast had magic affiliated with animals.
Aside from the different territories under different lieges, the outskirts were composed of free cities. One of those cities would be found in the southern outskirts. The South City was also known as the Lawless City.
During the day, this city was just like any other city. There are different shops such as tea shops, armor shops, weapon shops and bakeries. There were people roaming around without fear despite the city's name.
"I told you to bring me that dagger, didn't I?" A seventeen-year-old young man said with a grim expression.
Kneeling in front of him was an eleven-year-old boy with ragged clothes and face full of dirt.
"F-forgive me, Leon. The shop owner never left the place today. I c-couldn't find the timing to sneak in." The boy rubbed his hands as tears escaped his eyes.
The young man called Leon kicked the boy's gut and spit on his face. "You're so useless." He turned to the other boys behind him. "Teach him a lesson. He needs to learn that I'm much scarier than the shop owner."
The other boys smirked as they cracked their fingers. One took the eleven-year-old boy by the neck and threw him to the wall. The other guys went to him and he was rained with kicks and stomps from the boys.
Such scenes were normal in the back alleys of the Lawless City. Most residents were brought to the city because of their aggressive and violent nature while other residents were runaway slaves who chose to live there instead of their abusive masters. Everyone could enter but those who were brought there weren't allowed to go out. There are soldiers stationed by the entrance but all they did was check the people who entered and left the city. They never interfered with the chaos caused by the residents.
"This place is both heaven and hell," An old man in his 60's said while walking around the market.”
"I agree, my Lord," the younger man in his early 40's said.
The old man scoffed. "I told you to call me Archie. I no longer hold any titles. I'm just a humble citizen of this lawless city, Royce."
The man named Royce frowned. No matter how many times he was told to stop addressing Lord Archie with respect, he couldn't. The old man who chose to live in this lawless city never ceased to do noble acts even in this place called hell by others.
They stopped walking when Archie saw a kid covered in blood in the back alley. It was the eleven-year-old kid who was beaten up by Leon and his boys.
"Is he still alive?" Royce panicked. Unlike Archie who became a resident in the Lawless City eight years ago, he wasn't used to that kind of scenery.
"He is. Can you carry him?" Archie ordered after checking the boy's pulse.
Royce felt calmer when he saw Archie's calm demeanor. He carried the kid and they immediately trod the way towards Archie's store.
"Welco—" The boy who was watching the store immediately moved to guide them to a vacant room. "What happened, Gramps?"
"We just saw him lying on the floor while covered with his own blood." It was Royce who answered the boy because Archie was already busy preparing the bandages and other medicines.
"Dio, wash his wounds." Archie ordered his grandson.
The boy named Dio followed at once. He brought a basin full of warm water and a towel. Then, he sat beside the boy, dipped the towel and gently wiped the wet towel to the boy's body, removing the blood and revealing the wounds.
He used the warm water to wash the wounds until there were no dusts left in any of the open wounds.
"Can I also help in bandaging, Gramps?"
Because his grandfather always brought wounded people to their store, Dio was experienced in treating wounds. However, his grandfather asked him to back off this time.
"You see the purplish color near the wounds? Those are effects of poison. I need to remove those poisons and put some medicine to the wound before we can bandage him."
Dio nodded as he watched his grandfather treat the wounded child. He bit his lips as he felt bad for the suffering child. A weak and defenseless kid was trying to survive in a place where aggressive and violent people lived. They were mostly the target of those people who liked to abuse others.
He clenched his fist after entertaining such thoughts. He knew that there's nothing that he could do for them aside from treating them every time they get beaten up.
"Dio, hand me the bandages."
He picked up the bandages that are neatly placed in the side table and handed them to his grandfather. He watched the old man's hands gently move and roll the bandage on the child's arm. He could hear some groans coming from the kid, indicating that he was already awake.
Royce entered the room when they finished treating him. He was staring at the child as he handed them a cup of tea.
"Quit staring like that, Royce." Archie reprimanded him.
Dio chuckled as he offered a piece of bread to the child. "You haven't eaten yet, right?"
"T-thank you." The eleven-year-old kid gratefully accepted the bread and ate it with a smile.
Royce watched the grandfather and grandson duo as they accommodated the wounded child.
In this Lawless City, there are still people who have genuine compassion for others.
He smiled as he looked at Dio. The kid was lucky because he grew up while watching his amazing grandfather.
"It's okay. You're safe now." Dio consoled the crying child.
He walked towards Dio and messed his hair. "You sure take after your grandfather, young master."
Dio looked at him with a frown visible on his face. "I'm not a young master, Uncle Royce."
Royce chuckled after hearing Dio's response.
He definitely took after him.
The sound of the crackling fire had woken the five-year-old kid. The smoke was already thick and his surroundings were bright red-orange. The boy covered his mouth as he coughed. The smoke made it hard for him to breathe. He heard his mother called for him so he dragged his tiny body out of the bed. The room was so hot and the smoke burned his eyes, yet he still continued to move outside his room and go to his worried mother. He followed the direction of the voice and found his mother's room. Despite the burning pain, he turned the knob. He saw his mother lying on the floor, some of her skin was burned but what brought terror to him was the dagger pierced in his mother's body. "Mother!" "Dio!" Dio immediately opened his eyes and saw his grandfather's worried expression. "Gramps, mother is. . ." Dio h
"Gramps!" Dio excitedly called out to his grandfather when he arrived home because he brought good news with him. However, he was welcomed by a kid's groaning inside the room where they brought wounded people. He peeked on the slightly opened door and saw that the kid he helped earlier was writhing in pain. He immediately opened the door wide and stood next to his grandfather. "What happened?" "Good thing you're here, Dio. Can you help him? The poison spread too fast because it was put in his open wounds." "How about the antid—" he couldn't continue what he was about to say when he saw the grim expression on Archie's face. "You couldn't." He sat beside the kid and covered his hands with his eyes. He could feel the surge of power coming from his core towards his hands as he focused the mana in his fingers. He calmed the kid first. He made his sensory nerves numb for a moment so that he wouldn't feel pain temporarily. Removing a poison f
It was a fine morning. Archie saw his one-and-a-half-meter tall grandson picking up herbs from their backyard. The boy's mint-colored hair fluttered with the wind as he hummed. "Dio." The boy's face turned toward him which revealed his gray hazel eyes. "Yes, Gramps?" "Let's eat." He smiled as he watched his grandson nod his head cheerfully. "Oh!" Dio said as he turned to face Archie. "Mr. Marcus Stannard said that he would prepare a contract for us to supply tea leaves for him." Archie nodded his head in response to Dio's information. "That will be great. Will you do the deliveries?" Dio smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Archie went to the dining area while listening to Dio's blabbering. He was somewhat relieved that Dio still had this side of him despite being exposed to the juvenile atmosphere of south city. "Gramps?" Dio hesitated as he sat across Archie. "What is it?" He saw Dio's pupils shook as he looked aw
"Please, Mr. Archie!" Matt prostrated in front of Dio's grandfather. The old man pursed his lips as he stared at the young man bowing his head in front of him. "Why does it have to be Dio?" "Dio knows a lot about herbal plants. Aside from the fact that he is the second-best when it comes to medicine, he is the only one I could ask to come with me," Matt answered truthfully. Archie turned to look at his grandson who was looking down. It felt like too much of a coincidence that Dio suddenly asked about his opinion on him being an adventurer last week and an adventurer suddenly visited to ask if he could take Dio with him on a mission. "Dio. . ." "I didn't do anything, Gramps." Archie sighed when he sensed the truth when he looked at Dio's eyes. However, Dio didn't even try to hide his expectant and happy gaze towards Matt. "Can you promise to protect Dio?" "Even at the cost of my life, Mr. Archie." "Matt!" Dio blu
While Dio was on an adventure with Matt, Archie was preparing something. He was putting the gold bars he collected for more than eight years into a spatial bag. Then he moved to the medicine cabinet and moved the highest quality magic and health potions as well. After putting a couple more items necessary for survival he then entered his room and opened a hidden door under his bed. He opened a chest full of magic crystals and lastly, he took a twin dagger hidden in the chest and moved them all to the bag. He opened his space ring and put the bag in there with a sigh. “This should be enough,” he mumbled as he put the ring on his pinky finger. He went back to the store when he heard a sudden knock. “I hope you’re ready.” “I’ve been waiting for you.” Archie let out a dark smile. “Dio!” Matt called out to the kid who was suddenly attacked by a canis. They were just a few meters away from the heart of the forest when a pack of canis attacked them.
Dio threw the shovel to the side after he finished burying his grandfather’s remains. He sat on the ground with his legs crossed as he stared at his grandfather’s tomb. He played with the ring on his finger, the last thing that his grandfather gave him, as he sighed repeatedly.“Heir apparent.” He sighed after reading the letters carved into the ring. If it was the reason why his grandfather wanted him to live on, then it would be useless. He threw everything away that day and nothing was left for him to live for.He poured mana onto the ring and a magic circle appeared in front of him. He already expected that it would be a space ring, yet his lips curved upwards when he realized that he was right. He peeked at the contents of the dimension storage and he shook his head in disbelief. In the end, his grandfather prepared everything for him to live a good life. It was obvious with the stack of gold and pieces of jewelry that he found inside as we
Dio opened his eyes and he saw the dark sky above him. He looked around and realized that he was still in the alley where the boys left him. He touched his side and felt disappointed when he felt the dried blood but the stab wound was completely healed. His restoration ability was something that he inherited from his mother. It would be hard to kill him unless his heart or brain was crushed or he suffered from too much blood loss that his restoration wouldn’t be able to keep up. Though they can heal and regenerate, they could still feel the pain. “What a lousy bunch. They couldn’t even do a good job of killing me,” he mumbled as he stood up. His stomach grumbled when he smelled the aroma of grilled meat just right outside the alley. He sighed before moving his feet and walked towards the store. “2 chicken skewers, please.” He took out 4 copper coins from his space ring and gave it to the vendor. The vendor gave him his order and he went on his way. Once again
It took Dio a few more days to collect himself. Knowing fully well that he wouldn’t die easily unless he commits suicide, he decided to just continue what he had been doing-- walking without moving forward. Besides, it wasn’t that bad to comply with his grandfather’s last request: live on.Dio found himself staring at his grandfather’s grave once again. This time, he was neat-looking and well prepped. Unlike the past days when his body hasn’t been washed and covered with sweat, dirt, and tears.“Should I go on an adventure?” He stood up and put his hands in his pocket. It was more of a question for himself than to Archie. Dio lost motivation to continue living but he remembered his grandfather’s words.“I need to get moving, Gramps. Please rest in peace.” He bowed in a ninety-degree posture before leaving.As he turned his back on his grave, he felt a pang in his chest. Just the mere thought of lea