Did somebody hurt you?

Chapter 53: Did somebody hurt you?

Mary continued to walk until they were back out onto the main street and away from the luxury houses. She turned around to see that Kalon was still following her while holding the towel against his eye. She felt a little awkward at the fact that they weren't talking, so she decided to take the initiative and be the first one to speak.

"So, what's your name?" Mary asked as she tried to make herself feel less uncomfortable about the situation.

"Erm, it's Kalon," Kalon answered quietly. He could sense how she was feeling but didn't know what to do to ease it.

"Well, I'm sorry about what happened, Kalon. Where do you live? I promised that I would take you back to your parents and explain what happened." Mary explained as she looked around before they continued to walk back in the direction of where they had first met each other.

"I don't live here. I am just here with a friend. She is at a tavern with a picture of two cats and a moon above the door. I wanted to explore the city since it is my first time here, and I can't remember which way I have to go to get back." Kalon explained calmly to someone who was lost.

To Mary, it seemed as though he wasn't too worried about it, which told her that he didn't know the dangers of the outside world. It made her panic a little as she thought that he might be from a rich and famous family since he seemed sheltered and well looked after, but given the shabby clothes he was wearing, she calmed down.

"The two cats tavern? That's not too far. My parents go there a lot, so I know how to get there. Just follow me." Mary said with a smile as she happily walked along the street. It was still strange to Kalon how everyone else seemed to stop what they were doing to make way for her as she walked.

When he was alone, no one could even see him. Let alone make space for him to walk. Mary wasn't much taller than him, but somehow everyone saw her and stopped to stare as he followed slightly behind her.

"Excuse me. Why is everyone looking at you?" Kalon asked the question that had been brewing on his mind since they had walked out into the main street.

"Looking at me? Well, If you mean why they moved out of my way, I guess it's because I'm a little bit famous. I'm a strong guardian trainee and a contender for the trial of the holy swords." Mary responded with a smug look on her face like she was proud of her achievements, but Kalon was indifferent since he didn't know the value of what she just told him.

"I'm going to be a guardian, too," Kalon said with a smile. Roah had told him about guardians being people who used weapons to fight, and casters were people who used the power of Qi. However, Roah was a special case since she used caster powers to create weapons to fight with.

Mary looked back at Kalon for a moment after hearing what he had said and smiled. She thought that it was nice that she could inspire children to want to grow up to be strong just like her, but she didn't know that Kalon was already a single step away from becoming a guardian trainee himself.

"You want to be a guardian when you grow up? That's nice, but you should know that it's a dangerous job and requires you to fight against all different types of monsters. Even werewolves and vampires. You have to have a lot of bravery to do something like that." Roah dismissed his comment as a childish dream and didn't think much about it as she tried to warn him about the dangers.

"No, that's not what I mean. I will become a guardian. The reason I came to the capital was to go to school and become a guardian. My friend told me all about it and then taught me how to use Qi so I could catch up to the older students." Kalon said with a slight frown.

'Why is she treating me like a child if she isn't that much older than me?' Kalon asked himself as he replayed her words in his head.

"You know how to use Qi? How old are you?" Mary quickly asked with a gasp. She didn't think that someone as young as Kalon could use Qi, but she had yet to learn his age, so she was quick to judge him from his appearance.

"I'm twelve. What about you?" Kalon asked. He wanted to know why she was treating him like a child despite her childlike appearance. Roah had told him that some cultivators didn't age since they were so strong, but he doubted that Mary was one of them since he didn't feel a sense of danger coming from her.

"Twelve? I thought you were younger. I guess the baggy clothes make you look smaller than you actually are. I'm sorry. I'm fourteen. Hmm, so you're going to Frisson Academy too?" Mary asked as they turned a corner down onto a familiar road that Kalon remembered being near the tavern.

"Yeah, I am supposed to take an enrollment test tomorrow or something, but I'm not sure how that works. My friend is busy talking about something, so she hasn't explained it to me yet." Kalon said as he heard a voice call out towards him.

"Kalon! Where have you been?! I looked all over for you, but you were nowhere to be seen!" Roah shouted out as she ran towards both Kalon and Mary before bending down to hug him.

"It's fine. I just took a walk, that's all." Kalon said. But as soon as he spoke, Roah noticed him holding a towel against his eye.

"What happened? Are you okay? Did somebody hurt you?" Roah bombarded him with questions as she was worried about what had happened. She was willing to kill whoever hurt him, and Mary could see the violence burning in Roah's eyes as she looked up at her.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I accidentally bumped into him and hurt his eye. I didn't mean to do it, I swear." Mary bowed her head to show how sorry she was.

Roah took a deep breath before placing her hand on Mary's shoulder.

"What is it with kids bowing to me these days? Didn't your parents ever teach you that you shouldn't bow down to any man or woman? Save that for your wedding day." Roah sighed before lifting her shoulder to get her to stand upright.