The Runic Alchemist

Damian just sat there listening the old man's tale. Nobles, priests and freaking dungeons? Moreover he wasn't the father of the kid but his uncle... Family got killed just to test his skills.. Damian knew how despicable the schemes and plots of these nobles were but he never thought they could fall so low. His family selling him for money seemed like a way lighter version of this story.

A dungeon.. huh? Now that was certainly a game changer. Damian knew they existed and also how each dungeon was occupied and controlled by the lord of that region and the knights in his or her service. That was the main reason promising knights swore fealty to their lords, a pursuit of greater strength.

One could level in wild, but dungeons were far more valuable and provided much faster and efficient method to level up. Not to mention it was an infinite monster spawner as long as one didn't destroy the dungeon core. There were grades of dungeons and many types and stuff, there wasn't much knowledge public about it since all families protected their lord's dungeon secrets with their lives.

Dungeon also provided mana stones and monster materials which were always in high demand, so it was also one of the main source of income for the lord of the region.

Only strong enough families had access to dungeons though, no one else could protect it. Almost all forts and seat of power for nobles were built upon a dungeon entrance. If the old man was telling the truth, there really was a real nice chance here to quickly level up.

However the other people who were with the old man also knew about it, the beastmen and there was also a thing of the strange chanting that the old man didn't remember for opening the dungeon. And all that was based on if he could trust the man at all.. He didn't look like he was lying though.

"Help me save Sam.. with the Dawnstar knights and I promise will tell you where the dungeon is..."

"Look old ma.. Anthony.. I really feel for you and I am sorry that such things happened to you but I can't help you man..."

"That's not all. The beastmen told me what happened after they defeated the main beast of the dungeon... There was a secret opening with a riddle written at the entrance... The beastmen believed that the dungeon was not finished and another section was waiting to be opened if they figured out the answer for the riddle...

They already had what they wanted so they just left but I still remember the riddle.."

"They had what they came for...? They knew about the flaming sword..?"

"Yes, one of the humans told me it was the reason they found the dungeon. Once there was this one cruel lord that ruled over that region who had burned the whole city with that sword and killed everyone in it... The sword was famous or something... It was in the books they told me..."

"Is that so..."

Damian had not come across any folktale about flaming swords but then again he didn't know where this place was located and he just knew stuff about Dawnstar and little about it's neighboring kingdoms.

"I will tell you the location and the riddle and I will also do whatever you ask me to do... But just.. please... save him... He is the only thing that matters.... I promised...

I promised..."

Damian did not know what to say to the old man. Fighting against some random people on the street to save someone was another thing and going against royalty was totally another thing. Not to mention the royals had two monster of a people that he knew about, who knows how many monsters like that they had..?

"I am sorry Anthony..."

The old man slumped his shoulders and just sat on his chair motionless, his face was in too much pain and sadness that Damian could not even look at him straight. Putting the bill amount on the table, Damian slowly got up and walked away. After some walking some steps he looked back and saw the old man in the same position and just sighed.

He was just a kid, he was not meant to do things like this. This was not his fight.

Damian fell once again on the way to the library and he kept hearing people talking and discussing the fate of a young boy, by now everyone knew the story somehow and for some reason almost everyone branded the kid as a demon child and just wanted him to get killed. He had killed their knights after all. For people of Fearunia that's all that mattered.

Finally reaching the library Damian tried getting lost in the books and failed miserably but he continued the effort. The talks of execution of the kid never left his mind.

This world was not fair, he knew that from the day one. The kid had done nothing wrong, it was his powers that got him in this mess. He did not want to kill the Fearunian knights but he was too afraid to understand what he was doing, yes he was a threat but so was every single person who had this much power in this world.

If they did not push him to the limit, he might never even have revealed his power in all his lifetime..

At the end of the day it all came to this one point, the value of life in this world was abysmal. Your powers decided your worth. You can't just live in peace among monsters who were constantly striving for more and more power... Either you were a pawn in their game or a collateral damage. There was no option of standing at the sides and forgetting everything around you to enjoy momentary peace.

God like powers makes humans just more and more monstrous huh..? Who could have imagined that..?

Damian closed the fourth book he was trying to read and was getting nowhere. A familiar feeling of a mana signature walked from behind him and sat next to his chair. Damian had his head on the table, but he knew who it was without even looking up.

"I thought you won't be coming out much after yesterday..."

"Yeah... Sorry about that. Alex is just too dumb."

"I'm also sorry princess, I'm not in the mood to learn spells today..."

"Yeah... I don't have anything to teach you today either..."

"Who is the burned knight...?"

"Uhm... He's Sir Galen Thorneborn... He is the recently made vice commander of the king's guard."

"What will happen to the kid...?"

"Well... for now he is confined in the cells below knight's headquarters... He would most likely be executed after killing four knights like that..."

"Did your father ordered to find the kid to Sir Galen Thorneborn...?"

"Huh...? How do you know that..? No one knows that..."

"Did he..?"

"He was a potential recruit, he did what he had to do... Healers are rare and we always have to fight over them with other kingdoms and even the priests and highswords..."

"What if he wasn't a healer...? What about his family..? What about the people who love him..?"

"Look, I understand you being a commoner and where you are coming from... But it's not that simple.. If not us others would have gotten him sooner or later... Strength and status are not free to come by.. If he had proved a valuable recruit he would have received money and knighthood and lands to rule over..."

'Freakckkkk....'

Damian did not know when he had done it, but unknowingly he had punched the thick book he was reading with so much force, his hand had come out on the other side of the table making a big hole in both the book and the table.

He had heard enough, this world was too drunk on power, they had long lost any vestiges of humanity. There will be no justice here unless he brought it. Being an orphan all his life living with all the little kids Damian drew a line when a young kid's life was at stake. He just could not take it any longer, it was incredibly stupid and made no sense..

But deep in his heart Damian knew it was the right thing to do.. He just didn't want to do it...

They could fight and scheme all they wanted but they will not play with another young boy's life as if he was just another sack of grain. Not while Damian was still breathing.

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