The Dao of Magic

35 - Reprove

Meh, I should have known better. I can't put weapons of mass destruction in the hands of children and then expect them to behave responsibly. One by one the group stumbles into the Tower, wet and exhausted. I scan their auras, but it seems like they kept their promises. The first time someone makes a conscious choice to murder, something snaps in their psyche. The undeniable fact that life is always balancing on a knife's edge makes a deep impact in any healthy person. Auras are representations of one's true self, so a simple thing like that is easily noticeable.

I check my mortal injury preventor and see the ticker standing at five. I stick my hand through the black fog of the entrance, sensing the aftermath. No additional fatalities, a few hundred people got injured but are not in mortal danger. They did pretty well, the spectacle to fatality aspect ratio is praiseworthy. Not that I will ever tell them that though. I hold up my hand, all fingers stretched out.

"Five."

The group stops slapping each other on the back to look at me.

"Two kids, a woman and two soldiers."

I let some anger show on my face. Not true rage though, I shift my expression to irritation. Yeah, the look as if I just stood in a pile of dogshit, you know the one.

"Had I not been there, those five people would be dead by now. I would have had to hunt you all down, cripple your cultivation base and take back any power."

I shake my head in irritation as their faces turn a shade paler. I walk towards the back of the reception room. As I walk over the immaculately clean floor, I hear the group whispering to themselves. I reach the first door and wait for them to catch up.

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

They all look at me again. I see no recognition in their eyes, I guess that that saying is not known here.

"Is something weak people say. I have enough power at my disposal to level this city. Should I?"

Let's have a small philosophical discussion before we start beating up some poor animals.

"You guys have enough power to topple a large part of this city, should you?"

They look at me blankly again. Ket is the first to speak up, as expected.

"No?"

Not the best answer ever, but it'll do for now. I look at the rest, obviously waiting for them to speak.

"I forgot that I didn't have any money."

Selis puts her glasses back on while replying. The inn they went to, the Lycan, is an underground slave hub. I honestly want to praise her and Bord for making trouble for that place.

"They wanted to take me back to Fellis."

Bord chimes in with a complicated look on his face. He seems torn between two options. He doesn't address that fat fuck as master Fellis anymore though, that's a good start to independence. I see something I can't be bothered to analyse on his face. Something big must have happened to him.

"And, and when we couldn't pay, they wanted to take me away too. They called the guards, who called the local mage, who called the..."

I cut her rambling off with a chop of my hand.

"And your solution was taking control of the mage's restraining water spell, and turn it into a hurricane?"

I face away from them, about to walk into the left doorway.

"I don't care if you freed slaves, gorged yourselves, ransacked the governor's private vaults, healed some injured or distributed food. The question you should ask yourself is; should you?"