011 Money?

"What's with the girl in your arms." The man asked him, seeing the unconscious Hayley.

"She's a bit sick. Do you know someone who can help her?" Liam asked, as he looked rather concerned.

"I'm guessing she needs a healer, but those can be quite expensive. You have money, right?" The man advised Liam.

"Hh-h, yes." Liam was unsure. He had never heard of that term, money. What is that? He asked himself.

"Do you mind me asking, how old are you two? You look rather young." The man continued questioning Liam.

"We're both 16." Liam answered him, not thinking too much about it. He was a lot more focused about this "money" thing and how he could get that to help his sister.

"So, they are runaways, huh?" The man thought to himself. "Hey, listen kid. If you two work on my boat for the next 2 years I won't tell anyone about you. You'll have to do everything I say and you won't receive any pay. This is non-negotiable. Go heal your sister and come back to the dock, they won't be able to find you two on my boat." The man said to them, as if he was giving them the deal of a lifetime.

"What is this guy talking about. Who would be looking for us and why would we agree to work for him? He must have a problem in his head." Liam thought to himself, but he didn't want to be rude, as he was still on his boat. "Okay, thank you for your gracious offer. Could you point me to where the nearest healer is?" Liam said. He just wanted to use the man. He won't ever come back.

"Yes, we reached the dock. When you get off the boat head straight down until you reach the plaza. Then you'll see a road to the left, with another smaller road on the left side. At the end, is an incredible healer. Just tell her that I sent you, she is an old friend of mine.

Liam did as the man said and started following his directions. Then he got off the dock and onto the busy road.

"Where do you think you're going? Go to the sidewalk, my horse almost hit you." A man riding a carriage, towed by a creature that man called a horse, screamed at him.

Liam remained silent and moved to the side of the road where other people were walking.

As he was walking down the sidewalk, he noticed a lot of stares coming his way, he didn't know for sure why so many people were staring at him, but the unconscious sister of his, in his arms was at the top of his list.

Liam looked around him, blocky buildings a few dozen meters high surrounded him. The buildings were of varying colors and design, it all looked so different from the oval black houses that they had in Coralopolis.

While the houses were different, the robes on their bodies were mostly the same as the ones Liam and Hayley were wearing.

Liam knew that he arrived at the plaza, when he overheard a couple talking. It was a big open space with no buildings but the floor had a layer of different colored tiles, forming a nice design.

At the very center of the plaza stood a massive 80 or so meters tall statue. The statue depicted an old bald man with a long, but thin and

well-kept beard. The man's eyes were closed and he was seating in the lotus position.

Liam did not care to much about the man, he looked around and found that the plaza was like a crossroad, there was a road on each of its four sides. Liam looked towards the road to the left of the one that he came from, and headed straight towards it.

Liam made his way to the left road and started looking in between the buildings for the alley way that the man on the boat had mentioned. He didn't have money, that the man said he needed, but he hoped he could figure that out later.

Liam suddenly felt a weird sort of pressure descending on him. When he looked around, he could see that everyone was already kneeling on one knee, and they were all facing the same direction.

Liam couldn't think straight from the enormous pressure that he was felling and he started panting, but he still held on to his sister, not letting go of her.

"WHO DARES STAND BEFORE ME" A loud booming voice was heard across the whole town, the sheer amount of force that was carried with the voice put cracks in people's windows and broke the cups that were outside.

Liam almost fainted, he felt as if the world descended on him. He wasn't sure but he felt as if the sound was directed at him.

In his blurry vision he saw a man standing before him, it was too blurry to see his face or expression, but from the aura and pressure that he was felling, he was quite certain that the man was angry.

"What do we have here? Some runaways as it looks like." The man said as he laughed. "I thought we caught all the runaways, didn't think there would be any left." The man continued talking to himself.

"You know that I wouldn't have caught you two if you just knelt, and didn't attract my attention. I am here for an important meeting after all. But this girl in your hands, her spirit root and natural talent are amazing. I would quite like, to make her a disciple of mine." The man stood and pondered for a bit. Liam's eyes were half closed and he was filled with sweat. Enduring the pressure of the man, when he was standing right before him was extremely tiring.

"You know what, I will be taking her. She looks to be in a dire condition and you don't have the means to save her. It would be a waste for such a talented pupil to die. I don't have time to bother taking you in, I'll just send someone after you later." The man said out loud, then Hayley floated out of Liam's hands and remained floating still beside the man.

In Liam's blurry vision, he could see his sister floating away from his arms. The thought of losing his sister, never to be able to see her again. He couldn't bear that. He would do anything he could to have her by his side.

Liam remembered what the Hooded man taught him, he took a drop from the dark blue liquid, as he had about 12 lefts. He divided it into as many particles as he could manage and he spread them all over his body.

Liam felt the burst of energy that he was receiving, his blurry vision was returning to normal and he could finally stand up straight. He took a good look at the man as the anger was boiling inside of him.

"You can't take her!" Liam shouted at the man, as he rushed towards him.

"How impressive, a fourth human realm cultivator kid can stand up straight even when experiencing my natural pressure. I wonder how he managed to get that strong at that age, with his lackluster natural talent." The man thought as he looked at him. "You are thinking too highly of yourself." The man increased the pressure that he put onto Liam.

"Argh!" Liam fell to one knee, the pressure he was felling made his muscles strain and his bones felt like they were about to crack, the air in his lungs was about to burst and his eyes closed.

"It can't end like this. I won't allow him to take Hayley!" Liam screamed as he took the remaining 11 drops of the deep blue liquid and spread them all around his body.

The sheer amount of energy he received and the strain on his body caused blood to seep out of his mouth nose and ears, but he could stand up again.

"Impressive, I will tell them to look out for you, try and figure out how you can display this strength at that cultivation level. From the strain it causes on your body it might be an evil cultivation technique, how interesting." The man said as he increased the pressure even more pinning Liam to the ground.

Blood was now pouring out of every orifice in his body. He was unable to see from the blood seeping out of his eyes. His ribs fractured and he was choking on the blood in his mouth and airways. He didn't even have the strength to cough it all out.

"You are just going to kill yourself if you continue using that technique. Go to sleep now." The man used some technique to knock out Liam, then he released the pressure that he was putting on him. As the man flew away in the opposite direction from which he came from, he thought to himself. "What an interesting kid. I have to hurry now or I'll be late."