Arcadia I Chapter 3: The City of Ort(2)

Read chapter 3 of Arcadia I by I_live_in_your_walls on NovelPedia.

Throughout my life, I could always see the 'good' and 'bad' in people through the color of their souls, ranging from pure white to deep black. After one of our neighbors tried to interfere with my kidnapping, he was killed. When the new man stepped into the alley, I thought his fate would be the same. But when I glimpsed his soul, I saw one thing. A monster. Even those criminals who tried to take me from my brother didn’t have souls as dark as his. An abyss with no bottom. The air around him felt suffocating. How many terrible things has he done? How many lives has he taken to look so empty? Seeing him promise freedom but grant death made my blood go cold. The moment the man holding me fell to the ground, his limbs torn apart, I scrambled out of his weakened grasp. ‘Even if those men die, are we even safe around him?’ Rushing over to my brother, I struggled to get him up. “Nathan,” I whispered, my voice shaking, “we have to go.” “Cough… cough…” I managed to pull his arm over my shoulder, pulling him up. A tiny flicker of hope flared in my chest that we might actually sneak away while he was distracted. But a voice echoed from right behind us, instantly snuffing that small hope out. “Hello there.” Seeing the children struggle to stand, I walked up and introduced myself with a simple greeting, “Hello there.” The reaction I got was an unexpected one of pure panic. “W-what do you want with us!” The girl shouted, her voice cracking with terror, pulling her brother back. “Why would I want to do anything to you? I just saved you, didn’t I?” I replied with a hint of bafflement. I had just saved her and her brother; her intense hostility made no sense to me. ‘Just what did she see in me to invoke such fear? Me disposing of that trash? That can’t have been it. ’ As she met my question with silence, I turned to the mage. “Is there any way I can heal her brother?” Studying the boy’s figure before looking at me, the mage said, “Yes. First, put your hand on the bare skin where his wound is located.” Hearing his answer, I took a step forward and reached out. “Stop!” the sister yelped, trying to back away as her brother's wheezing continued. “I’m trying to help your brother.” I said coldly, stopping her with a hard look, “If I wanted to do anything to you, there is nothing you could do to stop me.” Hearing this, her face clammed up upon realizing they were at my mercy. As she backed away, I knelt. Lifting the brother's shirt, I placed my left hand firmly on his bruised torso, the action being accompanied by a low agonized groan. “Now what?” I asked the mage “Focus on where his injury is in his soul. Then focus on the area until it matches the condition of his body.” Closing my eyes, I shifted my perception. The ambient world faded, and the boy's soul manifested before me. Near his chest, the soul was fractured and warped. As I concentrated, the blurry, distorted image came into focus, showing his multiple broken ribs. “Now manipulate his soul ribs back in place.” Forcing his ribs back into place was reflected in reality as the boy cried out in pain from his moving ribs. Alarmed, the girl prepared to lunge forward. “What are you doing to him!” “Just wait.” For the next minute, the boy writhed under my hand as I meticulously realigned his rib cage, a minute of pain for the boy. By the end of the minute, the physical bone and muscle beneath my palm had knit together, the dark bruising rapidly fading away. ‘So the soul is the body and the body is the soul.’ Standing up, I looked at the girl. “See? I had no malicious intent.” Taking a glance at me, she didn’t answer right away. After a moment, she rushed forward, “Are you ok, Nathan?” The boy, having recovered, replied. “I’m fine now, thanks to him, Anna.” Seeing the siblings properly united, I moved straight to the point. “Do you two have any home to go back to?” “Yes, we will be going now-” Anna started, grabbing her brother's hand to pull him away. “Anna, what are you doing?” Nathan stopped, br