Knowledge Thief

The Power Within

The moonlight bathed the marble path of the merchant sector. The road was devoid of major activity during this hour as all the merchants would either be asleep at their homes or be busy at the market. At this hour, an old man in his fifties and his friend were travelling from the market to their homes. This old man was Brutus, one of the most prominent merchants in the city.

‘Today was very good for us. Look at how much we earned’ commented Brutus while patting the pouch tied to his hip.

‘Yeah. If it weren’t for those labors, we could have earned more’ commented his friend.

‘True, why do we have to pay those fools anyway? We have to speak to the Esthers about this’ nodded Brutus.

As they were discussing about how to increase their profits, a lean & tall man bumped into them and they all fell down.

Brutus was angry and irritated by the stranger and he turned to shout at the stranger. That’s when he saw the stranger get up stumbling and yell, ‘Run! Run for your life!’

As soon as the stranger yelled, Brutus heard the howls of a wolf. He was petrified and all three started to run from the place. Just after he took a few steps, Brutus realized that he has lost his coin pouch during his fall. He turned around with the intention of getting the same.

Both the stranger and his friend thought that it was a bad idea and asked him to reconsider, but Brutus had made up his mind. It was his hard earned gold and it was just a few steps away from him, so he didn’t want to give it up.

As he took a step towards the pouch, a big white direwolf jumped out from the bushes and growled at him. The menacing image of the direwolf was enough to paralyze him as he stood firmly rooted in his spot. When the direwolf started to advance towards him, he closed his eyes as he understood that his life was going to end today.

The direwolf pounced on him but he was whisked away by the stranger and the direwolf abruptly landed on its side. Taking advantage of this momentary distraction, the stranger put Brutus on his shoulder and started to run as fast as he could. Brutus didn’t open his eyes even after being carried by the stranger as he could hear the direwolf’s wild breath and growls near him. He opened his eyes only when the sounds subsided.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was near the bustling center of the city. The stranger dropped him in front of the library and sat down because of exhaustion. Brutus’ opinion of the stranger completely flipped. Even his friend abandoned him but this stranger saved him from an untimely death, so he was extremely grateful to him.

‘Young man, I am eternally grateful for your help’ said Brutus in a humble manner.

The young man, who was still breathing heavily from exhaustion, waved his hand to indicate that it wasn’t a big deal.

‘May I know your name? So that I can compensate you for your help later.’

The stranger took a moment to gather his breath and answered ‘My name is Lee’. He then added, ‘You don’t need to compensate me sir. It was I who brought this danger to you. For that, I am extremely sorry’

‘No, no. It wasn’t your fault. I could understand that you didn’t do it on purpose’ consoled Brutus and added, ‘My name is Brutus by the way.’

‘Pleasure to meet you, sir.’

‘Pleasure’s all mine.’

‘If you don’t mind, may I know how you came across the direwolf?’ asked Brutus in curiosity.

‘I am new to the city and I came here with a friend. I was wandering around the foothills near the market as it was very picturesque at night. That was where I found the direwolf, or should I say, the direwolf found me’ answered Lee with a nervous laughter.

‘Oh! I didn’t know creatures like these roamed the foothills. I have to speak to the Esthers about this’ said Brutus.

As they were both discussing, Mana came running towards Lee.

‘Are you hurt anywhere, Lee’ asked Mana with a concerned look.

‘No, we somehow managed to escape’ said Lee and added, ‘Mana, meet Brutus. This respected sir helped me escape the direwolf.’

Mana immediately turned towards Brutus and humbly bowed down while saying ‘Oh! Thank you very much for saving his life, sir.’

‘Mr. Lee is very humble, he was the one who saved me’ answered Brutus in an embarrassedly.

Brutus then turned towards Lee and asked, ‘Can you join me for a drink?’

Before Lee could answer, Mana interrupted to inform, ‘I am sorry sir. But my master is having an important meeting today.’

Lee shot an angry stare towards Mana and turned towards Brutus to humbly apologize, ‘Maybe next time, sir.’

‘No issues. We will meet up later’ said Brutus and added, ‘My shop’s name is Brute's Gold. You can come there anytime you wish.’

‘Sure’ answered Lee. He then turned to Mana and asked her to lend the coin pouch. Mana gave a small coin pouch to Lee.

‘I know that this isn’t much but please keep this as a compensation for the gold you lost’ said Lee as he handed over the pouch to Brutus. 

Brutus’ opinion on Lee grew so much by this act of kindness. He humbly accepted the money pouch and invited Lee again to his shop before bidding farewell to the duo.

As they saw Brutus returning back, both Lee and Mana burst into laughter. ‘I didn’t know that stealing could be this fun’ commented Mana.

‘It is, isn’t it. By the way, you chose the perfect animal for the role. That was menacing’ said Lee.

Mana felt proud and held her head high as she retorted, ‘What else did you expect?’

After enjoying their success for few more minutes. Mana enquired Lee about their next plans.

Lee said 'We're going to find out about my power' and started walking towards the mountain shrine. Mana followed him excitedly.

In this cold night, the mountain shrine looked like a shining spectre. Although it was shining brilliantly, both Mana and Lee didn't bother to give it a second look as their mind was filled with something else.

As the duo entered the shrine, their eyes fell on May, who was praying near the sacred pool.

Both Mana and Lee approached May, and she turned around after hearing the approaching footsteps.

'Hi auntie' greeted Mana.

'Hi Mana, what brings you here at this time?' asked May.

Mana didn't know how to reply as Lee didn't want her to reveal the information that he is the champion to people. So, she stayed silent for a few moments.

But Lee stepped forward and said, 'I want to check my power.'

'OK. Let me start the ritual' said May and went near the pool. She then started to chant some prayers.

'You told me not to reveal, but now you yourself revealed it' pouted Mana.

'It's because of Gin. She would surely have come here first before going to the bar. So, your auntie should have guessed the truth when we met her this morning. I just confirmed it' said Lee.

'Also, isn't it better to get an ally' added Lee.

Just as he said those words, May called out for him. Lee went near the pool while May continued to chant.

Lee was astounded when he looked at the spring water in the pool. The water was clear and luminous, but it didn't show any reflections. Instead it was like looking at thousand sparkling stars in close density.

His admiration was cut short by May, who asked him to dip his hand into the water. Lee carefully dipped his fingers in the water.

As his fingers touched the water, he felt a warm soothing feeling. He went further and dipped his wrist in the water. May asked him to remove his hand.

As he removed his hand, he could see a golden bracelet wrapped around his wrist. The bracelet had looked like a chain of numerous small golden beads that were closely string together. Although it looked tight, he didn't feel any constriction on his hand. It was as if the bracelet was also part of his hand.

Lee was astounded by the bracelet but a little disappointed about the ritual. He thought that there would be some blinding light or turbulence, but there was nothing but ripples in the water. He felt partly disappointed and partly relieved that there was no acknowledgement from the world.

He put that thought aside and focused on the bracelet on his hand to check out his power.

'Swipe it' called out Mana. She then came near Lee as he swiped the bracelet.

The golden beads rearranged themselves when Lee swiped the bracelet. As they rearranged, some of them changed to a green color, and thosd green colored beads came together to form a word.

The bracelet read 'Learning'