Limping?

Both Magnus and Ronnan navigated the Village slums, but their demeanor set them apart.

Ronan maintained a stoic expression on his face as he made his way through the dilapidated streets. The sight of the slums seemed to evoke no particular reaction from him.

In contrast, Magnus looked upon the slums with a mix of apprehension and pity. He couldn't help but feel sorry for both the impoverished residents and himself, caught in such destitute conditions.

The narrow alleys they traversed were shrouded in darkness and littered with trash.

Dirty water pooled on the uneven road, while ramshackle huts surrounded them.

A pervasive aura of dread and hopelessness hung heavily in the air, casting a pall over the entire area.

As Ronan moved forward, Magnus observed him from behind and an idea sparked in his mind.

"Should I test my power on him?" he pondered, contemplating the mischief he could conjure.

"I'll play a harmless prank on him," Magnus decided, his pace quickening as he closed the distance and began walking alongside Ronan.

Ronan, his eyes drooping, shifted his gaze to acknowledge Magnus. He nodded casually. "I hope we stumble upon some good game," Ronan remarked.

"I hope so too," Magnus responded. "By the way, are you injured?" he inquired, arching an eyebrow.

Perplexed, Ronan furrowed his brows. "No, why would you think that?" he queried.

Magnus activated his technique, feeling the familiar itch in his throat that accompanied its use.

"If you're not hurt, then why are you limping?" Magnus pointed out, directing Ronan's attention to his leg.

"Limping? Me? Are you out of your mind? Look, I'm walking perfectly fine," Ronan retorted, demonstrating his unimpeded gait.

"No, you're limping," Magnus insisted, employing his Subliminal Mind Control technique to reinforce the idea in Ronan's mind.

"I assure you, I am not..." Ronan began, but Magnus interrupted.

"Hmm..." Magnus fell silent, not wanting to make the conversation awkward.

He decided to gradually embed the notion in Ronan's thoughts.

Ronan, growing exasperated by Magnus' persistence, let out a sigh and continued walking.

"This guy has lost his mind! I am not limping," Ronan thought to himself, perplexed by Magnus' unwavering conviction.

As they distanced themselves from their previous position, Magnus spoke up once more.

"I might be mistaken, but it appears you are still limping," Magnus stated, adopting a concerned expression in an attempt to maintain his charade.

"No, I am not!" Ronan finally snapped, irritated by Magnus' unwarranted observations.

"Ok, ok, don't get angry I was just worried about you, I just think that you were limping," Magnus said while raising his hands in defense.

Ronan snorted and then ignored him, "Don't try to play games with me." He said and then looked at his leg.

'Am I limping?' He walked forward and could feel slight bumps on his legs.

Magnus looked at him and when he saw that his walking has become disturbed a smile formed on his face, this means his technique was working.

As they moved forwards suddenly a cat came in front of them and Ronan jumped back in fright and then fell on his ass.

Magnus quickly moved towards him to give him a hand.

"Walk carefully, you might not believe it but you do have a limp." He reminded Ronan.

Ronan looked at Magnus and then at his legs, by now he has started to believe that there might be some truth to Magnus's words.

"Am I?" Ronan stood up with the help of Magnus and asked with his brows raised.

He was genuinely concerned about his walk by now.

Magnus who got the proof that his powers were working, decided to stop the prank right there.

"No, you are not, I was just joking." He said with a sneaky smile on his face.

"You...!" Ronan's eyes widened in annoyance, however, he soon calmed down and let out a sigh of relief. "You got me this time, but remember, next time I will get you." He said and started moving forwards.

Magnus smiled and followed him, soon enough both of them reached a forest entrance, and beside the entrance, there was a trail of dirt.

"Let's go," Ronan said and move on the trail.

From his memories, Magnus could tell that the dirt path moved towards the river. He could also tell from his memories that this forest was dangerous and many magical beasts roamed around in it.

Although there were not many in the outskirts there were still some that slipped by and if one has bad luck then they may encounter it.

Magnus took out the small beetle from his robe. "Go around and scout, if you find any danger come back and buzz in front of me." He whispered to the beetle.

As if it could understand it, the beetle opened its wings and took flight in front of them.

Magnus sighed and moved behind Ronan, 'I hope we don't find any trouble today.'

While the beetle scouted the area from the sky, both the boys moved through the dirt path.

Soon enough the scent of water mixed with soil waffled in their nose and both their gazes were greeted with the sight of a large river in front of them flowing at a slow pace.

They could also spot other slum people there, hoping to catch some fish just like them.

There were many tents, and people were sitting cross-legged around their fishing poles.

The fishing poles were nothing but a string attached to a round stone. Whenever a fish got caught in the hook, the people would manually circle the string around the rock.

Ronan moved towards a small tent and Magnus followed.

Outside the tent, an old man was sitting with wrinkles covering his whole body, he had a stoic expression on his face and his eyes were gazing at the river like a soulless wraith.

When the old man saw the two boys coming towards him, he raised his eyes and then sighed, standing up he moved inside the tent and brought out two cloth bags.

"Two copper coins." The old man said.

Ronan smiled at the man and rubbed the back of his head.

"Old wang, write it in the credit book," Ronan said.

Wang looked at both of the boys for a few seconds and then took out a book from his tattered clothes.

He then wrote their names and the amount of money they owned.

"The month is gonna end soon, I hope you have enough money saved," Wang said with a monotonous voice.

Although his voice was plain there was a threatening undertone to it and it didn't go unnoticed by Ronan and Magnus.

Both of them nodded.

"Don't worry Old Wang, we always pay on time," Ronan said and took the bag.

The old wang was the one who supplied everyone in the slums with fishing strings, hooks, and bait.

Although one can prepare them by themselves, the fishes in the river were not all normal.

Sometimes one can encounter a magical fish that could easily crunch a normal bait and sting.

However, the hook and string that Wang gave on the lease were infused with magic and could even sustain the attack of a magical fish.

Magnus remembered all of this information and then he followed Ronan, to a bank nearby.

Both of them took some round rocks and after preparing their fishing equipment they threw the bait with the hook in the water.

Ronan sat down and turned silent as if a snake has bitten him.

Magnus on the other hand sat for a few seconds and then his eyes landed on a bird that was flying above the sky.

It was a big bird with a large wingspan and black feathers. He remembered from his memories that this bird was called Black Tail Sparrow.

Although there was a sparrow in it's name, it looked nothing like one, it was at least five time bigger then the sparrows on the earth.

Magnus's eyes focused on the sparrow as it swooped down like an arrow and took out a fish with it.

His brows raised as an idea popped up in his mind.

He remembered from his memories that this bird was expert in catching fishes.

Thinking about it a smile formed on his face.

Standing up he looked at Ronan, "Hey you catch some fish, I remembered something and have to go." he said.

Ronan didn't mind his words and only hummed in response.

"Hmm..." he didn't care if Magnus stayed or not.

Magnus on the other hand didn't mind his nonchalance and pickled up the string, took it out of the water and packed it again the the bag.

He then moved towards the old Wang's shop.

"Old man you can have it back, I don't want to fish today."

The old man looked at the boy, an ugly expression appeared on his face, however he didn't berate him, instead he silently took the bag back.

"Don't trouble me again boy, or it would not be good for you, this time I am cutting you slack, next time I will deduct money, even if you instantly bring the things back." The old man said and then took out the credit book and crossed the name of Mangus from today's credit.

Magnus on the other hand smiled, he didn't expect to get his money back.