Chapter 08: Violet Violence

The drunkard was dead - which made me uncharacteristically happy. I guess I truly had started caring for my mother. Crap. That's definitely not gonna do well for me in the future. Oh, well. There's nothing I can do about it now.

As I stared at his corpse, a shout echoed from behind me. "HEY! KID! WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!"

I turned my body around and found a knight walking up to the corpse and myself. I guess the guy did scream rather loudly. It made sense that at least one knight would hear it and come rushing. I scanned the man over once. He was clad head to toe in a suit of iron that gleamed so bright I could only assume it had never had a single scratch on it, suggesting the man had never engaged in an actual fight. On the chest of the suit was the emblem of the Night Guard from the kingdom of Laminia. Finally, after four years of life, I discovered which kingdom I was residing in. Although, I couldn't say I was too pleased about the result.

Laminia was the kingdom nicknamed 'Kingdom of Poorest Riches'. It was given this title as it's well known that it panders to the rich, and discards any poor. It's pretty much a place where the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. Judging off of that, I must have been born and residing in what's known as the 'Blacklight District' - the biggest criminal underground not just in the kingdom, but in the entire world. It takes up an unbelievable 70% of the entire kingdom - the other 30% being saved for nobles. As such, a Night Guard had long since been introduced to patrol the Blacklight District, not out of concern for the people, but out of concern for the noble's images. But obviously, due to the overwhelming number of criminals and gangs in the area, the Night Guard was completely useless. However, the nobles and royals of the kingdom didn't care, as they were still able to tell others that they were 'trying their hardest'.

"Kid? Mind answering my questions?"

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that guy in my tangent about the kingdom. I checked his belt, and saw exactly what I hoped I would - his sword. Alright...

"Sorry, sir..." I apologized in advance.

"Oh, it's alright, little guy. Just tell me what happened here, alright? This is no scene for a child to witness, so I understand your hesitance."

"No... I don't mean that... I'm sorry for this... Truly."

I did feel bad for the guy, as he seemed like a genuinely nice person. But oh, well. It's not like it'd be my first time killing an innocent person. Maybe in this life, but definitely not ever. Lightning coated my hands, before I jumped backwards and fired it off at him.

"AARGHH!"

He screamed in pain, before collapsing to the ground, dead. I suppose I could've used Final Flame and, if aimed correctly, it could've been a painless death. But Final Flame used a lot more mana than this little lightning spell, so it was completely inefficient.

Considering his scream was rather loud, I guessed that I had about a minute to get out of there before another knight, or maybe even an entire legion rushed over. At my current power, I may be able to handle an entire legion, but it would be quite difficult. So, I didn't particularly feel like it. I kneeled down by the knight's corpse, before mustering all the strength I could to pull the blade from it's confines.

The blade was quite generic; iron blade, rather sturdy hilt with a leather coat, and finally an iron hand-guard that was really ineffective. But truthfully, I didn't care how generic the blade was. I just needed anything to help me train with the sword. And this was far superior than just 'anything', as it was an actual sword.

I carried the sword in both of my arms as I sprinted away at top speeds. Unfortunately, I had been a bit stupid and forgotten to cast a speed spell. But it seemed that it didn't matter in the end, as no guards chased me. I retraced my steps, making sure to never miss a corner. I was about to turn the final corner when I glanced down an alley and saw it - the guards. At first, I thought that they'd been following me, and used some kind of shortcut, but that's when I realized that they were facing away from me. They all gathered around something in the middle of their five person circle, their swords sheathed, but their fists covered in blood. At first, I thought that perhaps they were just apprehending a dangerous criminal, but then I caught a glimpse of some of their faces.

Glee - that's the only word able to describe it. If they were truly apprehending a criminal, they'd definitely be a lot more serious. What could be happening?

"RRAHHH"

That sound. It wasn't a criminal's scream - there's absolutely no way. It was muffled, but it was definitely a little girl. Why were these knights all ganging up on a little girl? Well, whatever the reason, I couldn't let it pass. I may be fucked in the head, but I'm not fucked in the head enough to just ignore this - I was still a member of the Infinite Party, remember. I tried to put the sword down as quietly as possible, as I was still far too weak to use it properly, but due to my insufficient strength, it was less like me putting the blade down and more like me dropping it. A clang echoed through the alley, and all of the guards turned around and met my gaze.

It was during this turn that I caught a glimpse of the girl in the middle, and I finally understood why they were beating her. It was for one simple reason. She was a Sword-Spell crest, like me. Damn. How the fuck did the world come to this? How are Sword-Spell crests looked down on so much that people can just beat them half to death and still be considered one of the heroes defending the kingdom? These people aren't knights. In fact, they're no better than the Seven Cardinal Kings of Sin.

They're just fucking insects that need to be crushed.

"Ohhh, look what we have here, boys!"

"Haha, why is that kid looking at us like that?!... OH! LOOK! He's a fucking grey, as well!"

Laughter escaped their fucked up traps.

"Wow! Is this little slave trying to save the other slave?!"

"Haha, I never thought I'd see the day where a goddamn grey would be dumb enough to try and oppose even one knight, let alone five! This one must be fucking stupid, even for their standards!"

I took a breath, and boomed at them, "You're. All. Fucking. Dead."

I instantly cast multiple 6 Star body improvement spells on myself. I could've easily taken them out with Final Flame, or any other spell, but I thought that to be too merciful. And plus, I wanted to feel their puny skulls crack within my grasp.

I sped at them, not giving any of them so much as a millisecond to react. I threw a punch straight at the man in the middle's face, sending him sprawling backwards, flipping over the girl and landing face down on the concrete, cracking it. He was dead. No knight without mana would survive that.

"Wh- What?!"

"Has the brat already unlocked a mana pool?!"

"He has to have! That's the only way he could move that fast or punch that hard!"

"Even still, he just got lucky! He doesn't stand a chance!"

I landed on the ground next to the girl, the four remaining knights in front of both of us - all with their swords drawn. It seems they weren't as well versed in mana history as the drunk man from before, as they clearly didn't recognise that I was a never before seen prodigy. I looked next to me for a second at the girl. She looked to be around my age, with long purple hair, bright violet eyes, dark skin, and a frail physique. She was gagged. I guessed that the guards did that to prevent her from screaming too loud at the beating or calling out for help. Luckily, she didn't need to. I shot her a small smile, trying to have her relax - even just a little. She appeared to be a little shocked, but all things considered, she was taking this whole situation extremely well. Almost too well, but I mostly just ignored that.

I twisted my head back around, before leaping at one of the remaining men, kneeing him in the jaw. He instantly flew backwards, landing straight on his back. He coughed up blood, and rolled around on the floor - unable to deal with the pain. But he wasn't dead.

One of the other three slashed at me with their sword, but luckily due to my body improvement spells and the sword's shoddy craftsmanship, it shattered the second it made contact with my skin - only leaving a slight graze in exchange. Before he could pull his outstretched hand back, I grabbed onto the wrist and snapped it upwards, before pulling it off completely. He screamed in pain, before I threw his own hand back at his skull, creating a hole in his head. Dead

Three left alive. Two able to fight.

Before either of the two able men could react to the situation, I sped towards them and grabbed them both by their necks, before pulling them down to my height and smashing their heads together at least 20 times. Their already deformed heads became completely mangled and their brains splattered onto the stone beneath us. It's safe to say that they were dead.

One left alive. Zero able to fight.

I walked over to the man licking his wounds on the floor, before kicking him in the stomach with all my strength - sending him flying into and completely destroying a brick wall, as well as cracking the stone beneath my feet. He was dead.

I breathed a sigh of relief, before walking back over to the girl. I untied her arms and legs, before taking out the fabric gagging her mouth.

I outstretched my hand, offering her a hand to stand up, before asking, "Are you okay?"

After a second of hesitation, she accepted my hand, pulling herself up. She didn't respond to my question, instead directly averting her gaze from me. She probably thought I was scary - not that I blamed her. Seeing that type of show would scare any four year old. Although, her expression didn't seem like one of fear, but rather mild annoyance. It was at this point that I noticed something. Something I never thought I'd see.

"Wait... You have a mana pool!" I screamed in shock. Judging from it's rank (around 3 Star), she probably hadn't had one for long - 2 years at most. Still, even if she had only had one for two years, that would still make her the third youngest mage in history - just behind my current life at number 1, and my past life at number 2.

She froze for a moment, before she appeared slightly pissed, "Yes, I do. What's it to you?"

"Nothing! It's just cool, because I've never seen someone else my age with a mana pool."

"Yeah, well, that's because people our age shouldn't have mana pools. It's not normal. The only reason I have one is because my circumstances are different. You definitely shouldn't have one."

'Circumstances are different'? What's that supposed to mean?

"I'll have you know that my circumstances are also quite different. In fact, I bet it makes far more sense for me to have one than you."

Wait... Why was I letting this stuff get to me? Damn this stupid child psyche!

"Heh, I highly doubt that. Plus, even if it made sense for you to have one, it makes no sense for you to already be a 6 Star."

Did this girl just use the Star System? Cool.

"Wow. If you can determine the exact rank of someone just by observing them for a little while, you must have a deep understanding of mana. How exactly are you so proficient, huh?"

"That's what I should be asking you!" She got slightly closer to me, as she became more agitated, yet intrigued.

"The answer to that question is simple. I was just born this way. Now you - why are you so good?"

"You think I'd accept such a bullshit answer? It's obviously something more than that!"

As I expected, she's not just a prodigy in magic, she's also extremely intelligent.

I sighed slightly. "You're right. It is something more than that. But I'm not sure I trust you enough to tell you."

The girl looked slightly taken aback for a moment, clearly not expecting such an honest answer. However, it seemed to only intrigue her more.

I began walking away, "I'm headed home. See ya around, I guess."

"You mean you're going home looking like that?"

The comment caught me off-guard, causing me to turn around and face her again. When I did so, she began gesturing to my clothes. I looked down to find that they were covered in blood.

"SHIT!"

These were the only clothes I had, and I could not, under any circumstances, let my mother see them in this condition.

The girl laughed a little, before stating, "Now, I've got some spare clothes stored away back where I live. But in order to get them, you have to tell me the true reason."

I mulled it over for a second, before landing on something. "Fine. But let's get there first, otherwise I won't believe that you can hold up your end of the deal."

"Sounds fair to me."

We began walking - going in the complete opposite direction of my house. Who was this girl? How was she so smart at such a young age?

"If we're gonna become acquaintances, we might as well get to know each other. I'm Kane, what's your name?"

She looked at me a little, before sighing. "I- I don't have one."

I didn't know why, but I just instinctually felt like that wasn't true. But I had no other reason to believe she was lying, so I just went with it. Plus, not having a name was normal for children born in the Blacklight District. What was I meant to call her, then? Oh, I know!

"Alright then, I'll just call you Violet."

"Violet? Why?"

"Because of your hair."

She seemed slightly apprehensive, but eventually gave in. "It seems a bit generic of a reason to choose a name, but fine - Violet it is."