The Shaman Market

"Friday. Call a Taxi."

"Yes sir. The Taxi should arrive in 10 minutes." a monotonous voice replied from the bracelet around his left wrist.

Peter had woken up early to head to the Largest Market in the city. The current city Peter lived in was one of the richer ones in the continent - Apex City.

School was going to start in a month and he wanted to get his school books and other equipment as soon as possible. None of his qualities stood out except for his exceptional academic skills.

The books he needed to buy were all either in braille or digital files that Friday would read out to him; although he preferred Braille (a tactile code enabling blind and visually impaired people to read and write by touch, with various combinations of raised dots representing the alphabet etc.) most books could either be found in the normal hardcopies for cheap or in audio files.

Peter's bank balance wasn't exactly the greatest. He only had 100,000 Credits left in his savings and most of it were gifted to him by Michael when he was still alive.

*A/N: 1 Credit = 1 Dollar*

With a small creek, Peter closed the mansion doors behind him and left the Magtris Household. He had his walking stick in front of him, moving it from side to side in front of him and walking onwards.

As soon as he entered the vehicle, he made himself comfortable and the driver finally asked: "Where do you want to go young sir?"

"The Shaman Market please."

"Okay… Isn't it too dangerous for someone like you to be going there by yourself. Aren't your parents worried?" The man asked, his voice showing concern. In fact, the driver had a daughter around Peter's age so he showed the worry of a parent.

"No. It's okay. Please just drive there. It's going to start getting hectic there."

"Right away." With that, the driver pressed the 'Engine On' button and the hovering vehicle ignited into life, speeding from 0-60 mph in under a second.

Vehicles were extremely fast in this era, as inventions were released that removed the wheels of vehicles, allowing hovering tech to take over the automobile industry. Most cars and trucks also had safety features that would stop vehicles from crashing into each other at high speeds.

After 15 minutes, the vehicle came to a halt revealing a rowdy and busy market. Hundreds of stores and stalls were open selling all sorts of magical equipment and high-tech gadgets.

"That will be 8 Credits, young man." The Driver turned his head toward the blind boy.

"Okay. I've wired it to your bracelet. Thank you." Peter confirmed the transaction and exited the vehicle. He took a deep breath, before extending his walking stick and walking onwards.

"Friday. Give me directions to a Book shop that sells academy books."

"Yes Sir."

Peter listened to the directions through his plug in headphones. The walking stick acted as a people deterrent as on goers moved out of Peter's way as he walked, not trying to hurt him. Apex city had strict laws against hurting people inside its boundaries and the Police would usually arrive in under 5 minutes if anything was reported.

Therefore, the blind boy felt a bit more secure, but he knew he wouldn't be immune to pickpocketing so all his belongings were kept inside the storage space of his Bracelet.

Ting! Ting!

The doorbell rang signalling the entry of another customer into the book store.

"You have arrived at the bookstore sir." Friday's monotonous voice played, before switching off.

He could only feel the presence of a couple people in the store and the nearest one to him seemed to be an old man's. He could tell as people of different ages had different patterns of breathing, their heartbeats etc. It changed based on each person and their relative fitness.

Peter took a deep breath, regaining his energy, then headed to the counter.

"Hello, young man! How may I help you?" An old man in his 50's spoke with a jolly tone. Most of his hair had gone white and his round stomach and red attire made him look like a Santa imposter.

"I want to purchase books as I'm going to be attending my first year at the Magic Academy. Since I'm blind, could you please sell me the audio files or if possible, any books that are written in Braille." Peter said politely.

The old man stroked his long beard, looking at the white bandage covering Peter's eyes with curiosity, then clapped his hands together.

A loud thud appeared, making Peter flinch.

"Here are all the books you'll need. There are 5 Books you'll be needing in the first year:

Basics of Magic

History of Magic

Basic Alchemy

First Year Combat Manual

Book of Magic Beasts

The first 4 are in Braille, whilst the last one: The 'First Year Combat Manual' is an audio file. However, I do believe that following the combat drills just based on listening will be extremely hard for you; I suggest you buy a high tech Visual Translator helmet that can translate audio books into visual books that even a blind person will be able to see." The Old book keeper explained.

"Mmh." Peter nodded, thinking about whether he should invest in getting one of those helmets, "How much would One of those cost?"

"The cheapest one I have is 12,000 Credits but the low end ones only help the visually impaired, not the completely blind, so I reckon you'll have to go for a mid - range one; I'd say 32,000 Credits with a 10% discount as this is your first time at this store."

Peter felt a sharp pain in his heart when he heard the price. That was ⅓ of his life savings… Was this really worth it? He could always buy it later.

'Let's be smart and see if it's as difficult as the old man says. If it is, then I'll have no choice but to buy one of those helmets later on.'

"Thank you for the offer sir but I'll have to decline. I'll just be taking the books." Peter said with a smile.

"Are you sure, kid? 32,000 Credits is well below the average market price for one of those bad boys."

"I'm a hundred percent sure sir."

"Fine then. The total for the 5 books will be 298 Credits." The old man sighed, tapping his fingers on the table out of impatience.

"Friday, wire him 298 credits."

"Transaction was successful."

"Thank you for your purchase young man." The Book keeper smiled.

Peter faced his wrist above the books and they dematerialised and entered his bracelet into his storage space.

He didn't waste a second and headed out of the quiet shop. It was already around 1 o'clock so the market was beginning to become busier. He wanted to finish his shopping before it would become too hard for him to move around.

"Young man! Young man! Please help me!"

Peter suddenly felt a tug on his sleeve from the right. He didn't know who just suddenly grabbed his sleeve but he immediately stepped back out of instinct, moving out of the stranger's grip.

"Please young boy. Accept this old man's request… I don't have any credits but I will give you the most precious thing in my possession in return. Please…" The beggar pleaded, crawling closer to Peter's foot.

Peter didn't move back this time and instead listened to the man's heart beat… He wasn't lying.

Judging from where the voice was coming from, the man was on the ground? Did he not have legs or was he really begging?

Peter felt sympathy for the old man and decided to listen to the desperate man's cry for help: "What's your request sir?"