The owner looked at Leo. He saw the 13-year-old who came to his chest in height asking about the person who just left. He quickly reset his face and put on a front.
"You are a kid. You shouldn't mess with them." He said.
Leo looked at the owner. He took out a wallet from his pocket. He took out a note and slid it onto the table. It was a 10000 Star coins note.
The owner looked at the note. He saw the amount of money on the note.
"What is this?" He asked.
"How much you owe them. I will pay this much if you tell me everything about them." Leo said.
What he did was daring. Even though he was rich enough to afford a loss of 10000 Star coins, he was doing more than that. He was going to find trouble with an entire gang. This could put him in a lot of trouble.
The man looked at Leo with a shocked expression. He recovered quickly.
"I... I can't accept this. This is a lot of money. How can I repay this?" He said.
"You just have to give me everything you know about them. That will be enough." Leo said.
"Fine," The man sighed. He didn't want to tell a child about his problems but he needed the money desperately. "The Blacktooth gang is a new power in the city. Their leader just showed up a year ago and they started expanding. I heard they took over the slums and started stealing money from them as well."
Leo nodded. He was a victim of this as well.
"They also lend out that money. They are the only place where small businesses can find money since Solhaven doesn't even have a bank. I took out a loan from them to keep the inn going. The interests stacked up and now I can barely pay them back each month. I paid them over three times the amount I borrowed till now." He ranted.
"Why don't you just tell the city guards?" Leo asked him.
He shook his head. "They don't care at all about crime. The only people who can escape are people with money in the Commoner's district. The rest have to endure this. Even the adventurers have to bear with it." He said.
Leo was confused. "Even the adventurers? Aren't a lot of them 1st Circle Aura Knights?" He asked.
"The Blacktooth gang is run by a Late-Stage 2nd Circle Aura Knight. He is more powerful than any of the adventurers who live in the outer parts of the Commoner's District. Any of the 2nd Circle Aura Knights who are in the 2nd Circle are in the deeper parts. Also, very few people are actually stronger than him in the city. There are less than ten people who are." He said.
"One person is that powerful?" Leo asked.
"If it was just one person, he wouldn't have that much influence. The Blacktooth gang has over 100 members. All of them are at least Apprentice Aura Knights. Half of them reached 1st Circle. They are very dangerous." He said. "I don't know what you will do with this information, but be careful. Don't go near them. You don't want to mess with them at all."
Leo nodded. "Thank you. I was just asking to keep myself safe. Do you know where they are more likely to be? I will stop walking around that area." He asked a final question.
"They are in the slums. You will find them very quickly if you walk near there. The slums are very dangerous now." The owner said. He slid the money a little toward Leo. "Are you sure this is how much you will pay me? This is very common information."
Leo stopped him. "Don't worry about it. What you told me was very important."
While what the owner said might have been less, it gave Leo the information he needed. He understood that there wasn't too much time till the Blacktooth gang became a problem for him as well.
If the gang had formed only 1 year ago and already spread this fast, it meant that they weren't planning on stopping. They would start entering the Commoner's District as well. The only place they wouldn't hit would be the Noble's District because of the Magistrate.
Leo lived on the edge of the Commoner's District. It wouldn't be too long before they come knocking on his door again.
However, even with the information that he received, there wasn't a lot he could do immediately. He could deal with the Apprentice Aura Knights, but what was he supposed to do with the rest of the Blacktooth gang?
Even if he somehow got rid of all the 1st Circle Aura Knights, he would never be able to deal with their leader. The only way he would be able to be would be if he made his 2nd Star. Then he could waltz through and easily deal with the rest of the gang.
He decided that he now had a goal - to get stronger so that he could deal with the Blacktooth gang. He would put Aura aside to focus only on Magic. This would mean committing to going to the forest for Beast Cores as well as practicing heavily.
While trying to defeat the Blacktooth gang might seem like an emotional action, it was the most logical thing for him to do at this point.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
If you like the story, then please consider voting with power stones.
:) Thanks. Have a great day.
Leo left the inn to go to the forest. It was convenient that he was planning on going anyway. His plan was to get ahold of a few 1st Circle Beast Cores for practice every week and quickly make his 2nd Star.
On his way to the forest, he saw a gathering near the gate. There were many adventurers there scouting people for their parties.
"We just need a ranged 1st Circle Aura Knight! We will offer 5000 Star coins for the day."
"Looking for a tank!"
He knew that he was an anomaly. He was the only person who ventured into the forest alone. Everyone else entered the forest in parties of 5 or 6 people. That was to ensure that they wouldn't die if one person messed up.
He couldn't join any of these parties yet because it would be limiting him. Even though he could fake being an Aura Knight with a body-strengthening spell, he would have to split the loot with the entire party.
As a mage, he knew he could kill the magical beasts by himself. So he didn't bother entering a party for the time. He knew, however, that he might need to enter a party to hunt a 2nd Circle Magical Beast.
He went into the forest like usual and looked for Magical Beasts. He was so used to this at this point that it was like a habit to him.
However, for the first time, his routine was disturbed. He heard a scream from a distance. It was the scream of a woman. He immediately ran toward the scream.
As he got closer, he heard noises of battle. He peered through the trees and saw a party of three battling a bear. It was a Black-Eyed Bear that was a Peak-Stage 1st Circle Magical Beast.
When he observed closer, he saw that there was a fourth member of the party. She was lying on the side, wounded. Her leg was twisted and she could barely stand. She had a sword by her side.
He saw that the rest of the people were carrying shields and bows, but none of them were carrying a sword. None of them were able to deal any damage to the bear, and their only damage dealer was wounded.
"Are you okay now, Clarice?" One of the archers asked the woman. He was missing a few of his shots, but he seemed more concerned about the lady. With him being distracted and the firepower on the bear decreasing, the bear was able to knock out the person in the shield away from it.
The bear roared and activated its magic. Its eyes darkened and became completely black. He saw a huge drill made of sand form behind the bear. The drill flew toward the person with the shield.
Leo saw this as an opportunity since the bear was focused on attacking the party. He took out his dagger. He quickly cast a body-strengthening spell and ran toward the bear. He jumped up and landed on the bear's back.
He first cast a magic bullet into the skull of the bear. The bullet penetrated into the bear's skull and killed it immediately. Before it fell down, he plunged his dagger into the skull of the dead animal.
The bear fell to the ground. He looked up to see the state of the people there. The person who the drill was about to hit was on the ground. Leo had killed the bear just in time so the drill dissolved back into sand.
The female injured from the start was trying to get up. The male who had ignored the battle was trying to help her, but she was ignoring his help. The other archer, a female, was the only one who was walking toward him.
"Thank you so much for helping us. I don't know what we would do if you weren't here." She thanked him. "I am Evelyn. You are...?"
"Leo," he said. "It's okay. Anyone would have done the same thing."
After his attempts to help Clarice were ignored, the man also walked toward Leo. His attitude wasn't as friendly as Clarice's.
"Don't think too much about it. If we didn't do that much damage, he wouldn't be able to kill it. He only dealt the final blow. Look at him. He's a kid." He said.
Evelyn defended Leo. "Shut up Lucas! If you had done your job properly, then Tobias wouldn't have gotten pushed back by the bear. You put us in this state."
She turned to Leo. "I apologize for him. He can be an asshole. But he is right. You look incredibly young."
Leo smiled sheepishly. "I'm 13," he said.
By this time, the person who had been wounded at the start had limped toward the rest of the group. Even Tobias, the tank, had recovered. All of them had surrounded Leo.
He noticed that both Evelyn and Clarice looked the same. Clarice introduced herself.
"Hello, I am Clarice. I am the leader of this party. I thank you for saving us." She said.
"I am Tobias. I owe you for that, boy!" The big man who was the tank said.
"It's not that big of a deal. If all of you are okay with it though, can I buy the Beast Core from you? I can give you a decent price for it." He said. He was hoping for a discount since he helped in defeating the bear.
Before Lucas could say anything, Clarice interrupted him.
"Yes. The Beast Core is yours. You don't have to pay anything. Take it as a token of appreciation." She said.
Lucas immediately rebutted. "No! How can we give this person the core? That is worth 25000 Star coins! It's our entire day's work!"
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
If you like the story, then please consider voting with power stones.
:) Thanks. Have a great day.
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