《The Boy of the Slums》Advice, Temptation and Fall – Part 1

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Everything was going well for Lunis. She was working as an adventurer magician. To make it rich quick she would sometimes take slightly risky jobs however that doesn't make much difference when your profession puts your life on the line everyday. She knew how many dangers adventuring had along with opportunities, but she believed in herself.

And why wouldn't she, she was an intermediate class healing magician, a C rank adventurer and her luck can be said to be very good as well considering she usually got good pays and her luck had saved her many times from situations which could turn life threatening and which had turned life threatening alike. When she became 23 years old she met a good man named Clive, an adventurer swordsman, fell in love with him, and they married and settled into a village far away from the bustle of cities. When she got pregnant, she retired from being an adventurer and settled down in the village completely.

But as it is said, all good things must come to an end, her life began to take a turn for the worse as well. On the day of the childbirth, an abrupt heavy rain occurred which resulted in Clive, who had gone to hunt some monsters near the village losing his footing and losing his life in a fight. Things did not end here, Lunis's son, Ray, which was born on the same day as his father's death, came to be known as a cursed child who ate his father's life. Lunis did not believe this, she started working in the fields to feed her family of two, but she did not know her own life was nearing an end.

At the fifth birthday of Ray, the village was covered in excitement as people came out of their houses and looked up at the sky. When Lunis came out with Ray and looked in the direction the villagers were looking into she saw something she could not believe - a dragon. It had a gigantic body, strong claws and fangs, and the way it flew into the sky while radiating that overpowering presence, it truly looked majestic. When the dragon got close to the village, it lowered its altitude and looked at a certain person - her own son Ray. People were already stiff from seeing the dragon up close, but that all changed soon after. The dragon raised it's head and fired a breath into the sky after which it disappeared.

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But that was the least of people's worries as from the sky were now raining fireballs, massive fireballs. They burned everything, and everyone as well. Lunis took her son and ran towards the town, getting injured in the process and died at the town gates.

"How long has it been?", thought Ray to himself as he dragged himself from the streets of slums. Having neither properly eaten nor slept for four days he was experiencing a hellish hunger and tiredness.

When he first came to this town, his mother died. He cried and wandered on the town streets but that changed as soon as night came. The guards looked after him some then threw him in the slums as no one came looking for him.

From there he did not know how long he cried. He sat in a relatively clean place placing his back against the wall and cried again.

But his sobbing was interrupted by a kick delivered to his side by a boy of about 10 years of age. Having lost his place to sit, the boy wandered around the slums in search of food. He scavenged the garbage and found a rotten apple.

He hesitated to eat it as his mother said not to eat rotten things, losing to the hunger, he had only eaten a bite out of it and the next instant, the apple was gone.

The source of it was a skinny man who had taken it from him. Being afraid he would be kicked again, Ray did not say anything, trembling in fear, and the man walked away.

The process repeated itself over days and now Ray was so hungry, he was willing to eat anything as long as it was edible. This day too came to and end without him being able to eat properly.

When he was dragging his feet in one of the streets, in one of the particularly dark streets, he saw a bald, muscular man wearing a vest and pants threatening another man with a sword.

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The man being threatened was a middle aged man who did not look special in any meaning, having brown hair and eyes wearing common clothes. But, in front of the big bald man, he was cowering in fear, as the bald man moved his sword closer to his throat and said,

⌈So, are ya gonna gimme what I'm asking er not?⌋ (Bald man)

⌈P-p-please, I-I-I don't have any more money to give you! Just let me go!⌋ (Common man)

⌈I'know, there was this alchemist who said he needed a pair of human eyes, so why don'e give'im what he's lookin for? Whaddya say?⌋

⌈P-p-p-p-please! Believe me! I do not have any more money to give you!⌋

⌈Y'know pal, I can check that out for myself once I've killed you. And this is slums, the slums. No one's gonna come look for a shitty merchant like you. Give it up, not like I'm askin you to hand over aaaaalllll the money you've got. Just gimme half of it and we're set. Or maybe you don't like you movin on your own legs?⌋ (Bald man)

⌈...Fine! But please put that thing away first!⌋ (Common man)

Once the man had given in, the bald man puts down his sword and moves back a little still not sheathing it. The common man, or rather the merchant takes out money from a pocket on the inner side of his shirt and hands half of it to the bald man. Once he has confirmed the money he received, the bald man gives a sinister smile.

⌈Omg, you've got more than I was imagining, guess nothing I can do'bout it.⌋ (Bald man)

⌈Can I go now?⌋ (Merchant)

The merchant asked hesitantly, to which the bald man nodded.

But as the merchant was leaving, another figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere and blocked his way. The figure was clad in complete black while also wearing a black mask and was holding a shortsword in one of his hands.

⌈Now give me the remaining half.⌋ (Black man)

⌈Huh?⌋ (Merchant)

For a moment the merchant did not understand what had happened, the next, he was slashed in the throat.

⌈u-u-uh.....⌋ (Merchant)

The Merchant could not even let out a scream, let alone meaningful sounds as blood flowed from his throat and he died just like that.

Ray could not even let out his voice at the spectacle before him. The Black man took the money from the dead Merchant and started walking away with the Bald man.

⌈That was a nice game⌋ (Bald man)

The Black man did not reply as he kept walking. But soon he stopped in his tracks seeing Ray. The Bald man followed his line of sight and saw him as well. They walked closer to him and stood towering in front of him.

They looked like demons of hell to Ray who was only a five year old boy.

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