Chapter 77 - New Allies (2)

"Hey there are you lost?" asked several women as Arya walked around town looking for something fun to do.

He wasn't interested in the riffraff that kept approaching him, although Arya was a virgin in his past life he wouldn't stoop so low as to let his first time be with a hooker.

As he was walking he heard a lot of laugher coming from a building. "A tavern huh?" thought Arya as he entered the tavern.

There was a jovial atmosphere, everyone seemed to be having their own type of fun. Some people were trying to hit on the waitress, some were telling fantastical tales to their companions, while some people remained solitary at the edges of the bar.

Arya went straight for the counter, "A glass of nectar please." said Arya to the bartender.

"This is no place for a child." replied the bartender before another gentleman at the counter stopped him.

"Hey now Cullen. So long as he has money in his pockets shouldn't you let him do what he wants?" asked the man sitting next to Arya.

The man looked rather sly, Arya didn't trust him one bit and acted like he wasn't there. He knew that characters like him were only looking for trouble.

"My name's Nolan, what's yours?" asked the man as he turned to look at Arya. He noted that Arya looked like some rich man's son and would probably make a lot of money for holding him ransom.

Arya didn't turn to look at the man, but he could tell from his peripheral vision that the man was more interested in what was in his pockets than what his name was. 

Arya just waited for his drink and didn't reply.

"Oi, boy are you ignoring me?" asked Nolan, a bit surprised that a kid had the gal to ignore him.

Several people in the bar could tell what was going on.  Nolan was a well-known thief in Alclara, but no one would help a stranger, much less a child who had purposefully entered a tavern on his own thinking that his father owned the place.

"Calder should we help him?" asked a small hooded figure at the corner of the tavern. Her voice was low and childish but had an emotionless tone to it.

"Why would you ask that? Do you know him?" asked another hooded figure next to her. This one was larger in build and had a manlier voice.

"No, but I can sense mana radiating from him." replied the girl's voice.

"I never thought you were one to joke Myara." said the man as he chuckled at Myara's response.

"I'm not joking," replied Myara in a serious but flat tone.

"You mean to tell me that the kid sitting over there is a mage?" asked Calder taking her more seriously now.

"Kid listen to me when I'm talking to you," said Nolan now furious that he was being blatantly ignored by what looked like a 10-year-old.

Arya didn't pay him much attention and just finished his drink. He had come to see if there was anything interesting here but soon realized that it was a bad idea.

"What was I thinking? Was I so absent-minded that I thought I would find fun here?" thought Arya as he pulled out a sack full of coins and handed a bronze coin to the bartender.

Nolan's eyes shone with greed as he looked at Arya place the sack back in his pockets and leave.

"It's like his begging to be mugged." thought Nolan as he signaled his friends to follow the kid.

As Arya left, Nolan and three other guys followed. The two hooded figures weren't far behind as well.

"I feel sorry for that kid," said Cullen as he shook his head in pity.

Arya walked down an alleyway in the opposite direction from where the inn he was staying at was. He quickly turned down a narrow path, and Nolan and his goons soon followed.

Arya walked into a dead end. "It's the end of the road kid," said Nolan as he and his friends began laughing at their luck.

"Where's your mommy little boy?" asked one of Nolan's friends making fun of Arya.

Arya wasn't dumb, he didn't walk into the tavern without thinking it through. Rather he wanted to draw attention, he needed something to take his mind of things. And what better way to do it than to rid the world of a bunch of street thugs.

"You're right, it is the end of the road. For you that is," said Arya as mana coursed through his veins.

"Child of water heed my call, bring about a chill to freeze my foes."

"look, the kid thinks he is a m-" one of the men was about to say before the ground beneath him turned to ice.

"What the h-" Nolan was about to say before Arya sprinted towards him using the ice to further increase his speed. Arya pulled out his blade and jumped aiming to slit Nolan's throat.

Arya felt stronger than he was before, due to his new physique he was able to exert greater power than before, slicing Nolan's throat with a single strike.

"M-monster!" shouted the remaining thugs as they tried to run away abruptly, however the ice would not allow such careless movements.

"Where are you going? Didn't you want to know where my mother was?" asked Arya as his eyes emitted a dim blue glow.

Arya ran straight for the man who had spoken about his mother. The man tried to defend himself by pulling out his own knife, but it was already too late.

Arya stabbed his blade in the man's mouth and chanted an ice spell. His dagger quickly froze, sealing the man's mouth shut.

'"I think I like you better this way." said Arya as his eyes began to glow even brighter.

"Yes, that's it. More, more!" whispered the dark figure in Arya's mind.

The other two thugs who had been watching decided that this was their chance and pulled out their knives quickly, attempting to stab Arya.

"Who said you could move?" asked Arya as he ducked under one of the thug's attacks and held his palm on the man's stomach.

"Freeze!" chanted Arya as his eyes were now emitting a bright blue color.

"He's a variant," said Marya from the corner that she and Calder had been watching.

"He's a monster," replied Calder surprised at the amount of brutality that a mere child could unleash.

The thug's stomach instantly turned to ice, and Arya kneed it so hard that it shattered.

The area around Arya was becoming colder by the second, at this point Arya's breathe was visible.

"More, more!" whispered the voice in Arya's head, before Arya began to feel dizzy.

"Wait, why am I doing t-" Arya was about to ask before he passed out.

"You're still too weak it seems. But oh well, we have a lot of time before my plans come to fruition.." said the dark figure as Arya's world became dark.