Chapter 16 - Appraisal and Atrocity

"Please wait in here, we'll be with you shortly."

"Sure, thanks," Nodded Rhyle politely.

We'd just arrived at the Adventurer Guild in town, and one of the staff had led us to a waiting room, once we informed them that we were here for an appraisal.

I was feeling both nervous and excited right now...once this is done, I'll finally be able to use my Skills and Soul Weapon without arousing any suspicion. But I'm also nervous because I'm a Heretic.

Yeah, I know that God gave me the ability to switch my active Attribute at will, and that the Dark Attribute will be active by default, but I can't help but feel paranoid.

My life in this world has been great, I haven't endured any hardships yet...but I can't deny that the scars from my previous life, where I got accustomed to things going wrong all the time, haven't quite healed yet.

My happiness getting unfairly torn away, I experienced that one time too many in my previous life, to varying extents...I don't want to go through that here.

"Hey, what's wrong? You okay, pal?" Inquired Rhyle with a look of concern, as he patted my shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine...just a little impatient and restless, I guess," I replied with a grin, before adding, "I'm also kinda nervous about the Magic crystal. Does it hurt?"

That's not a total lie, I've always been kinda queasy about surgery and stuff like that, the thought of someone cutting open my body makes me nauseous.

"Oh, no, not at all. It's very small, like the size of a sugar crystal. And it's implanted using a Magic Item that phases the crystal into your hand, so they're not gonna cut your hand or anything. There might be a small bit of discomfort in your hand once it's in, but that'll fade pretty quickly," He assured me.

"Oh, okay, that's not so bad then," I responded with a genuine sigh of relief, as the door opened and someone walked in.

"Good afternoon. Let's get the appraisal process started right away, shall we?" He greeted us.

"You ready, Larrk?" Inquired Rhyle in response.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I nodded affirmatively.

The guy from the Guild then walked over and sat down beside me, gesturing to me to place my hand on the table. As I did so, he took out a device that kinda looked like a laser pointer.

He then took out a small box and opened it, which was filled with crystals that looked like green sugar. He then pointed the device at the box and pressed a button on it, one of the crystals floating up towards the device as the point at the end of the device lit up.

Oh, cool, the crystal is hovering a couple of inches above the end of the device. The guy then moved the device towards my hand, pointing the crystal downwards.

As he moved the device closer towards my hand, the crystal reached my skin...and went into my hand without even leaving a scratch. Wow, it really did just phase right through, I didn't feel a thing.

He then switched off the device, and I felt a slight sting in my hand...I get it, the crystal must have become tangible when he switched the device off. It doesn't hurt, but it is a bit uncomfortable.

"Okay, the crystal has been embedded. To see the full list of your abilities, you'll need to learn how to control your Mana flow and concentrate some of it into your hand, which will bring up your Status Bar. For now, I'll do that, which will only display your Attribute," He informed me.

"So, does the crystal only work when it's placed in a hand or can it be placed anywhere?" I asked him curiously.

"Well, technically, yes, it works anywhere, but focusing Mana to your hands is easiest. For us Commoners, who aren't allowed to enrol in Magic schools, it may prove impossible to view our powers if the crystal is placed somewhere else, but almost anyone can learn to focus Mana into their hands with relative ease," He explained, as he pressed a finger onto the back on my hand, and I felt Mana flowing into that spot.

Suddenly, a hologram-like display popped up with a greenish, translucent hue to it, with the words...Attribute: Dark on it. I let out an internal sigh of relief, my shoulders relaxing. Great, looks like my paranoia was unfounded.

Anyway, since I displayed the Dark Attribute in the appraisal, we wrapped it up and left the Guild shortly. I was pretty impatient to get back home, but Rhyle wanted to stop by that cafe with the ice cream.

He claimed it was to celebrate, but I bet he just wants ice cream. Well, I can't exactly complain about that. I mean, it's ice cream. I definitely can't say that I don't want some myself either.

"Congratulations, Larrk. Pretty soon, you'll be able to see all your new abilities," He grinned, patting my shoulder as we headed over to the cafe.

"Yeah, it feels like I've been waiting forever for this. Hey, by the way, I was wondering...when that Guild guy mentioned Commoners and Magic, I figured he'd know about your abilities, since you're really good with Magic, especially for a Commoner," I pointed out curiously.

"Ah, well...when I was an Adventurer, I worked in a town pretty far from here, one that's near the beach," He explained in response.

Huh. The beach in Obsidian is all the way to the east of the nation, this town and our village are at the west-most parts of the country, so that's pretty damn far away, a few days by vehicle and a couple of weeks by foot.

"I see. So, you're trying not to stand out here?" I surmised, as we got within sight of the cafe.

"Smart boy. Yeah, that's right," He nodded affirmatively, before halting as a commotion echoed out.

"That doesn't look good," I frowned apprehensively.

A group of men in fancy armor were in a confrontation with a woman and a young boy, maybe seven or eight years old. Are those Knights?

"Please, he's just a child, he apologized!" A woman implored desperately.

"Shut your mouth, Commoner whore!" Snapped one of the Knights, striking her with the back of his hand, eliciting a pained cry from her as she clutched her mouth, blood trickling down her hand that she'd placed over her mouth.

"L-leave my mommy alone, you bullies!" Cried the boy, as he stood in front of her protectively, tears running down his face.

"Huh? Little shit...know your place, brat!" Responded one of the other Knights furiously, as he kicked the boy, sending him flying back and letting out a gasp of pain, writhing on the ground while clutching at his stomach.

One of the Knights had some liquid on the right leg of his armor, and there was a cup on the ground...I get it, the kid must have bumped into them and spilled that.

"How disgusting," I muttered to myself in disbelief and repulsion.

"No, don't hurt him!" Exclaimed the mother, throwing herself over her son, as a crowd on stunned onlookers began to gather.

"Such defiance against us Nobles is against the law, bitch. Fine, then, I guess we'll just have to make an example out of you, won't we?" Chuckled one of the Knights sadistically, drawing out his sword.

He...he can't be serious. He's going to kill them? For something so trivial?

"Why isn't anyone stopping them?" I grimaced as I clenched my fists, even though I knew the answer.

My anger, it's surprising...I always thought I never cared about what happens to people I don't know. No, I'm sure that was the case in my previous life.

This is something different, there's nothing righteous about my anger...I know what it's like to face despair out of the blue and have your happiness stolen away for no good reason. And seeing it happen right in front of me like this...it's making my blood boil.

Suddenly, one of the Knights who was looking around with a bored expression locked his gaze in this direction, his eyes narrowing, before one of the onlookers stepped in front of us to get a better look at the commotion.

And the next thing I knew, Rhyle was dragging me away, his expression pale, his hand clutching onto mine and trembling slightly.

"Dad? What's wrong?" I inquired in surprise.

"We need to go. And quickly," He replied with a grimace.

I've never seen him like this. Genuinely scared...and it's like he wants to look back, but he's too afraid to look back. Does he know that Knight or something?

I then felt my blood run cold as a woman's scream of pain echoed out, followed by horrified gasps and murmurs, the sound of flesh being pierced and slashed ringing out chillingly. They're...they're really killing them.

But there's nothing I can do about it...for the same reason why none of the on-lookers are getting involved, and are simply just watching the atrocity play out.

Because Commoners defying Nobles is suicide, plain and simple. And at the end of the day, throwing everything away for the sake of some strangers...no one's stupid or brave enough to do that. All everyone can really do...is be thankful that they're not the victims...

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