The first book is finally complete on my website, so if you want to read it then have a look on there. I will still be updating on Royal Road, but as usual, the story will be ten chapters behind, so you've got around 5 week son here until book 1 is complete and I start book 2, Heaven. If you are enjoying the series and want to support me, then click here to go to my Patreon, otherwise enjoy!

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The crowd let out a collective sigh as soon as they knew the fight was over. There was something incredible about watching two Saint ranked super experts enter combat, even if they could not quite keep up with what was happening. Cleo, on the other hand, was still astounded at Law’s capabilities. To do what she had seen the boy do, and switch between five different martial forms with ease, one had to be able to fully immerse themself into a martial form at high speed, then shift out of it into another at equally high speed. Immersing yourself into a martial art took high degrees of skill, even more so without the weapon that the style was meant for. Cleo had heard of swordsmen who could transform their fingers into swords using mana, but this was something new to her.

When the match was truly over, Winoa shook Cleo out of her stupor and dragged her towards the boy they had spotted earlier. He was still surrounded by people, but there were a lot less people crowding round him now. The big crowd that had surrounded the boy had lessened, as it seemed like people were no longer allowed to change their bets. It seemed like there were three more fights that would go on, but the most unpredictable fight had already happened. He was still flanked by two men in the same uniform that Law had worn, but they were a lot more lax about their situation now there were no longer tens of people surrounding them.

Cleo and Winoa wandered up to the boy, slightly unsure of how to begin. The boy looked up from the various notes that he was carrying in his hands, humming a quiet ditty. Seeing how they were standing awkwardly, but apparently trying to get their attention, the boy waved at them and ushered them over. “Well, what do we have here then?” He said.

“Umm.. I’m not really sure how to go about this, but my friend and I are hunting for the devourer. We’ve heard that a child, or at least someone with a childlike height is the beast we’re searching for, and we need to find him to set our friend’s mind at rest. She’s really been tormented by it”. Winoa was the first person to brave the crowds. She had no problem with talking to new people, but she had never tried to talk to someone who was the focus of, or at least near to the focus of over a hundred people. Cleo was the same. It was slightly nerve wracking for them, but they managed to push past it because of Rose.

“The devourer... As in the guy who ate the nutrients from all those people in the Pen?” the boy laughed, “Oh no, we don’t have anyone like that here.Though I wouldn’t put it past Yun to try and feast like that... the guy is weird”. Jim hopped off the table he was perched on, and put away the notes into his box. “Look, I’ll ask around, but I can’t promise anything. There’s actually no one I know who has the powers that the devourer is supposed to use, but I can find out from my friends who are in the gangs. Come back in a week and ask for Jim. I’ll tell you if I find anything then”. The boy, Jim, bowed at the two girls and turned back to his box that he seemed to be able to fill with masses of paper and bags that people craved.

“Excuse me,” Cleo piped up, “Where did you get that box?”

“This?” Jim replied, “Law made it for me. He and I have been friends since he arrived in Spirit”.

“Law made it for you?” Cleo asked, mouth agape. “But is he not... Is he not a member of the Dominus clan?”

“Not at all, his full name is Laurence Absolution. Golden child of the absolution clan from two years ago”.

“And he’s an arrayist as well as a combat prodigy?” She could barely believe such a person existed, let alone that he was only a year older than her. There were legends of golden children who were more prodigious, but they were usually ten or fifteen years apart. There had not been any such prodigies in her entire lifetime, at least not in her clan. She smiled wistfully at the thought, Perhaps I could have been one such prodigy, if I had not been born from my father.

“Be happy you aren’t Law. He’s a gifted fighter and maker of tools, but he’s not exactly the most emotionally balanced of people. He’s unpredictable. Honest to a fault though”.

Cleo sighed. “Okay, well thank you for your information, and hopefully we will be back in a week”.

“You’re welcome,” Jim replied.

With that, the two girls left the arena. If what Jim had said was true, then there was very little left for them to find in the martial school.There were only a couple more places that the two girls could reasonably expect to find anything, namely the mercenary soldiers, the Bobbies, or the gangs. With Jim asking the gangs, their only real option was to ask the bobbies if they were willing to share any information.

They walked through the streets of Spirit as the moon came up, the moonlight bleached road giving the whole view an odd, almost spooky feeling to the girls. They walked for about fifteen minutes before the road split. One way would lead them back to their house, the other would take them to the headquarters of the Sir Robert’s men. Winoa turned to Cleo and said, “It would probably be a good idea if I went and check on Rose. you reckon you’ll be okay dealing with the bobbies on your own?”

“Okay, I’ll be back as soon as possible”.

The two girls split off and Cleo continued her journey towards the headquarters of the peacekeepers of the city. The quickly darkening streets made her speed up her steps. Even a saint was not entirely safe in the streets of the city at night, but the closer to the bobbies base she got, the less likely she was to encounter anything. Eventually her pace slowed as she reached a tall and imposing granite building. There were gargoyles on either side and the crest of the Anvale family affixed above the door in plain view. It was obvious that while this was not the most important base for the bobbies, they still treated each building with a large amount of respect.

She walked inside and was immediately met with the hustle and bustle of a guard force that was thoroughly understaffed for the area that they had to deal with. Looking for someone to talk to she immediately spotted a familiar face. Her landlord was sat at a desk near the entrance of the building, at a table that was slightly higher than the rest of them. Quickly she ran over to him.

“Mr Mallory!” She said, “What are you doing here?”

“I work here,” the balding man replied. “You may not realise this, but I am Captain Bertrand Mallory, leader of the Executioners Pen bobbies. I usually only work at nights though. Sleeping through the day has been so ingrained into my blood that at this point I think I would probably die if I did anything else. Now, what have you come down here for... Cleo, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Cleo. Umm... I’m here because of the girl who I am sharing the house with”.

“What, that Winoa girl? Has she done something?”

“No, the other one. Rose. We knew her long before you housed us together. We’re golden children of the same generation, so we met on the way up. But that’s not important. She thinks she is being hunted by the devourer, and Winoa and I are looking for him. We were wondering if you would be able to give us any information on finding him, because the rumours seem to point to the fact that he is a golden child”.

“I had heard something to that extent, so why should I give you any information we have? He’s a dangerous individual, and you are not only my protectorate, but also my tenant. Surely, I should be less inclined to give the information to you”. Mr Mallory spoke sensibly, but Cleo could tell that he was must looking for a reasonable excuse to give her the information.

“You should know that I am a golden child, and that so is both Rose and Winoa. That means that not only are we valuable members of our respective clans, but also that all three of us are Saints. Surely it would be better to give us the information and let us deal with it than let some poor Earth rank bobbies meet the devourer by acting on your information and just adding to the already considerable death toll?”

Mr Mallory paused, then pulled out a leather bound folder from his draw. “Fine. This is a folder that contains a copy of the information we have on the devourer. If you can find him and stop his rampage, then that’s great, but don’t bite off more than you can chew”.

“I won’t”. Cleo smiled, curtsied to the man who had gone out of his way to help her twice this day. She then turned round and began the long journey home through the dark of the city.