Chapter 13 Part 3

"1 in 10,000? You have to be shitting me!" Jake yells.

"That's a corrupt church for you." Christopher firmly states.

"Can't Emperor Octavianus fix it?" Jake says.

"He benefits from the corruption. He's not even religious, just likes the money." Christopher says.

Jake Huffs. "I guess it won't hurt to put in a request for some holy water."

"Good luck with that. I'm going to explore the capital a bit." Christopher says, leaving the building.

As Christopher walks out of the building, a beam of sunlight hits his skin. He basks in it for a moment and starts walking down the main road. Eventually he finds Rach and Steve's Apothecary. He takes a visit to buy some remedies for his mana numbness.

Upon entering the establishment, he transforms into a pink dragon newt with a sparkly pink tutu and tiara.

Christopher looks down at his new form and says, "Hmmm, transformation magic. How interesting."

"Awww! Your reaction is so boring!" Rach says.

"Is this your magic? It really is quite funny." Christopher says.

"Yeah, usually I get a different reaction though." Rach says, unamused.

Steve comes in from the back and says, "Finally, someone who can handle my wife's antics."

"What do you mean by antics?" Rach says, lightly slapping her husband. Steve lets out a throaty chuckle.

"So what is it we can do for you, young sir?" Steve says.

"Wait, how do you know I'm young?" Christopher asks.

"The number of gems in the tiara." Steve answers.

"Cool detail. Right, I'm here to see if you have any treatments for mana numbness?" Christopher asks.

"Been overdoing it, huh?" Rach says with a worried smile.

"A bit, yeah." Christopher replies.

"So will that be a herbal treatment? Or magic?" Rach asks.

"Herbal please." Christopher says.

"Alright, we can prescribe you a two-week treatment of herbal recovery." Rach says as Steve collects the bottles. As Steve comes back with the potions, Rach says, "Alrighty, with this prescription, you take one potion per day. Any more could lead to overexposure and could cause paralysis. Any less and you may not reap the benefits of the treatment. That sound good to you?" she asks.

"That's perfect." Christopher replies.

"Okay, may we take your name for discounts on future purchases?" Rach asks.

"That sounds awesome. My name is Christopher Newman." Christopher says.

Rach and Steve look at each other and take down his name. "Alrighty, so each potion costs five copper. There are fourteen here. That makes your total seventy coppers, please."

Christopher reaches behind his cloak and pulls out a silver coin. "You can keep the change. Take it as a thanks from Engilram, and a thanks from me too, for keeping him alive with your potions." He smiles and puts the bag of potions in his pocket dimension.

"I fucking knew it!" Rach blurts out.

"He told you about us?" Steve asks.

"Of course he did. He holds this place in high esteem. Said you two were some of the kindest and funniest people he's had the pleasure of meeting." Christopher says.

"Next time you see him, give him a hug for us." Rach says.

"I will. It may take a few months. Me and my siblings are going to college here in the capital." Christopher says.

"Awesome. We'll pop round sometime." Rach says.

"We would love that. I gotta get going. I need to explore the capital a bit more to get a feel for things." Christopher says.

"Not a problem sweetie, we look forward to seeing you again soon." Rach says.

"You too. I may pop in again to buy some magic mana potions. I say you can never have too many." Christopher winks as he opens the door.

Just after he leaves, Rach says, "I like that kid."

Steve comments on her statement. "So do I. we finally found someone that can handle your humour." Steve swiftly leaves through the door behind the counter before Rach can give him a glare.

Back with Christopher, we follow him along the main road. Most of the buildings are shops, especially towards the gates. The further in the capital you go, the more wealthy it becomes. Royalty and nobles surround the palace in the centre. The mid is filled with the middle class and the outside is the poor, along with most businesses.

Christopher slowly saunters down the road in the middle class territory. Several people stare at him as he walks past. Christopher notices a shady-looking person getting closer to him.

As they get close to him, he says, "I don't have anything on me for you to steal. Look for someone else to rob. Unless you have a death wish." He says, not even looking at them directly.

The person staggers and walks past Christopher. An elderly lady falls over not long after. After staring at the lady for a short while, Christopher walks past her. The woman looks at him, displeasingly.

Christopher puts his hands into his pockets and perambulates past dozens of side streets until suddenly he hears a woman's screams. He takes a look down the alley the scream came from and sees a woman being groped and harassed by several large men.

Christopher looks at the ground, and his face becomes the embodiment of wrath. He slowly walks down the alley and one of the men sees him.

"Hay, little boy. Get the hell out of here." he says.

Christopher lifts his head, and the man steps back for a moment.

"Leave her alone, or I will end your lives." Christopher says menacingly.

"Heh, a scrawny brat like you. Get out of here kid. We adults are trying to have a little fun." another one of them says.

"You disgust me. I will give you one last warning." Christopher says.

They look at Christopher and laugh. "Looks like this little boy has a death wish. Kill him boys, I'll keep her here." one molester says.

The four men that now face Christopher pull out knuckle dusters and daggers. Christopher scoffs and pulls out a short sword from behind his cloak.

The four men look at each other and laugh. One of them charges head on and goes in for a punch with his dusters. Christopher parries and slices his chest.

"I may not be as good as my brother, but I'm much better than you punks." Christopher taunts.

The men charge at him all at once and Christopher gets more than he bargained for. It takes everything he has to keep on the defensive.

(Narrator) He should have just cast magic. What a stupid mistake.

Christopher suddenly takes a huge step back and pulls out a high grade magic mana potion and chugs it.

(Narrator) Wait, now I'm confused.

"Look up idiots." Christopher says.

The four men look up and, well, see nothing. They get caught off guard by Christopher slamming both hands to the ground. The men collapse to the ground moments later and the one holding the girl staggers back.

"What the hell did you do to them?" he asks.

"Oh, I don't know. It could be that I sucked every drop of mana out of their bodies, killing them." Christopher says.

The final man cowers and runs away, leaving him and the lady in the alley. Christopher walks up to her and holds out a hand.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

The woman takes his hand and says, "I am, all thanks to you."

"I couldn't just stand by and let them hurt and disrespect you like that." Christopher says.

"You're quite the little charmer." the lady says.

"I'm not usually like this, ma'am. I only did this because this was an injustice." Christopher says.

"Oh, thank you anyway. I'll be on my way now." she says.

"Be careful from now on." Christopher says.

The lady exits the alley and Jake comes rushing in. He sees Christopher with the four men on the ground and says, "What the fuck did you do?"

"Saved a woman's dignity." Christopher says.

"These men are dead." Jake says.

"I know. They deserve it for being a bunch of dirty molesters." Christopher says.

"I don't think you understand. You're going to prison for this boy." Jake firmly states.

"Alright, how much is the bail?" Christopher asks.

"Easily 20 gold." Jake says.

Christopher reaches into his dimension and pulls out the 20 gold, putting it into Jake's hands. "There, just so you know. One man got away."

"Holy shit, how much money do you have?" Jake says.

"Let's see... I think about 300 gold." Christopher says.

"By the Mother." Jake says, slack jawed.

"It's only the money that dad gave us. The only money we've earned ourselves is that gold for the bandits." Christopher says

"Seeing as you paid the bail, there's no need to arrest you, but next time you catch something like this. Don't kill them." Jake pleads.

"I'll certainly try." Christopher says.

Christopher takes all the dead man's possessions and stashes them away behind his cloak before leaving.