Damien had done a lot of shocking and absurd things in his life; from facing down people he had no business facing to going blow for blow against more than a dozen Spirit lords of equal or close to his level of power. He'd come close to death more times than he could count, all because of misplaced pride and arrogance.

  It was probably because of his proclivity for not knowing when to stand down and retreat instead of going against overwhelming odds that made him stop at the alley, gazing down into the dark corner at the fiasco that was about to happen.

  A creature, bright pink with skin that looked like it could withstand barely any amount of force. The serpentine creature looked more like an earthworm than a snake. It had two tiny, near-invisible legs at the rear end of its body and none at the front. This would have made for a tough endeavor to move, except that this creature had circumvented that difficulty by curling its neck, using it as some sort of make-shift front leg or tire?

  Its tiny head faced its twin adversaries, baring two tiny, fragile fangs at them in a futile play at intimidation.

  The adversaries in this case were two large rats, so huge that Damien would have mistook them for cats if not for their tiny front legs and hunched postures.

  They had black, dirty fur, with dozens of long, sharp spikes growing from their backs.

  Their heads were lowered as they stared at the tiny creature in front of them with hunger and malice, baring fangs that looked large enough to rend the serpentine creature in pieces.

  Still, in full view of the weapons of mass destruction aimed at it, the creature refused to back down, baring its fangs and hissing.

  Damien could see that the creature was terrified. The rats could also see it. Which meant that the only reason they hadn't torn it apart yet was because they wanted to play with their food.

  Damien saw this and his mind instantly went back to his last battle on Ra. Had he not been overreaching, he might have come out of that fight intact. Maybe save a few of the people who'd relied on him for protection.

  What would have happened had a greater power come to his rescue? Would he have won the war and conquered Solaria, or would the same outcome have played out, only in a different scenario?

  Damien saw himself in the little serpentine creature who was facing adversaries it had no means of defeating, and refusing to back down, despite knowing it wouldn't last a second should they attack. So he did the same thing he would have wanted someone more powerful to do should they find themselves in his situation and he on the other side.

  He stepped into the alley, not bothering with hiding his approach.

  The rats froze as a tiny bit of his aura was let loose, raising their fearful gaze to look at him.

  "Scram," he growled, and their shivering bodies fled immediately, tails curled under their body.

  Damien bent down behind the serpentine creature, who was also shivering with terror. The creature turned towards him with abject fear, which made him pity it all the more because, unlike the others, it couldn't flee quickly should he have meant it harm.

  From what he could see, the creature could barely walk, crawling on the ground with the upper part of its body and two tiny legs.

  He sighed and then brought out the Vorese meat he had inside his takeaway. He tore a piece of it and offered it to the creature.

  "Come on... Have it," he said gently, morphing the feeling of his aura from that of violence into something calm and reassuring. "I won't bite."

  The creature, who looked extremely malnourished... If a serpent could even be called that, looked at him a bit more. It must have been truly starving because it quickly rushed the meat, its tiny fangs tearing the soft meat in tiny chunks and swallowing with wild abandon.

  Slowly, so as not to startle it, Damien brought down a finger onto his back. He made sure the creature saw him coming, which unsurprisingly made it freeze for a second before it determined that he meant it no harm, and then allowed him to touch it.

  The skin was tender. Soft to a disturbing degree, which made the fact of its stance against those rats with skin more leathery and harder, crazier. After all, only a being that wasn't right in the end would try to contend with creatures who could tear you apart with barely an effort.

  The little serpentine creature, barely longer than his middle finger, soon finished the meat, swallowing the last one without pause.

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  The creature raised its head towards Damien imploringly, and he instantly got the feeling that the big slice hadn't satisfied it one bit. Which was surprising because that slice had been larger than the creature.

  Damien looked at the creature closely. Where did all the food go?

  With a sigh and a smile, he tore another strip and handed it over, leaving it for the creature who snapped it off his hand before the thing even landed on the ground.

  Damien waited for the creature to finish eating, watching as it burped a little and then wobbled, apparently sleepy.

  "Now we can't leave you like this on the streets, can we?" Damien cooed. "Look at you, all fat and belly full, just like me. The other critters down here would gobble you up in one single sitting if you slept here. Hope you know that?"

  He was just talking to the air, knowing that the creature could not understand him. But shockingly, it did.

  The serpentine creature's tiny slitted eyes widened, and the long-gone fear before suddenly returned.

  It looked at Damien with fear and then turned its eyes around, like it could sense other predators around, prowling and waiting for Damien to leave.

  Damien sighed and then brought down his hand. "Come on," he said. "You're too cute to leave here. Come, I'll take you with me."

  Tentatively, the creature looked down at his hands, and then up to his face. Damien smiled reassuringly, making sure to project calmness and confidence.

  The creature nodged his forefinger a little, its tiny head pressing against his thumb, and then it looked at him questioningly. Damien nodded, and slowly, it climbed up his finger, slithering with the upper body while its hind leg—more its only leg—propelled it forward.

  When the creature finally settled into his palm, Damien brought it up to his shoulder and gently put it down.

  "You'll be more comfortable here. Don't worry," he said, after which the creature snuggled in closer.

  With that, Damien stood up slowly, making sure not to disorient the creature. He turned a glare towards the corners where he could sense more of those monstrous rats hiding. They had slowly approached when the little one had still been feasting, but had stayed back because of his presence.

  He had no doubt what they would do to the little one when he left.

  They shivered, feeling his gaze, but Damien left them alone. After all, they could barely be considered Foundation realm monsters, all barely into the realm themselves.

  With slow measured steps, he walked out of the alley, leaving behind the shivering forms of hiding critters who didn't know how close they were to being annihilated.

  The street was crowded as Damien stepped back into it; the chaos and chatter drowned his senses so much that he had to pull back. The temperature slowly rose as the sun climbed high into the sky, and he felt a little bit of sweat drip down his eyebrows.

  Damien looked over as he felt the little one on his shoulder shiver. Whether from the crowd or some other reason, he didn't know, but he shifted the creature closer to his neck and then used the collar of his coat to cover him, or her?

  "Come to think of it," Damien said to the creature as he approached the source of the clanging sound in this side of the street. "Are you male or female?"

  His words seemed to have washed off whatever was disturbing the little creature, because it slowly turned toward him with a look of confusion, its red slitted eyes reflecting his face clearly.

  "You know that I know that you can understand me, right?"

  Still, it continued looking at him with confusion, this time with its head tilted.

  Damien sighed in resignation. He would have loved to continue this conversation to see if he'd get any other reaction other than a look of confusion, but he was already nearing his destination.

  He stepped through an enchanted glass door that slid open at his approach, widening to showcase the inside of an artificer's shop.

  At first, Damien had wondered why the owner hadn't bothered putting up a sign over the entrance to advertise their business. But given that, even from a distance, he could still hear the loud, continuous clanging of steel on steel, he realized that a sign was probably not needed.

  Surprisingly, the moment he stepped inside, the loud roar that had been assailing him disappeared, vanishing into thin air like a Sound wielder had just snuffed it out.

  A huge rack was situated to his left, over which hung dozens of different weapons, from recognizable ones to ones he had no idea even existed.

  A long exquisite spear swiftly drew his eyes the moment he looked over. It was made from some kind of purple alloy, with beautiful twirling patterns curling down its body. Damien didn't need his senses to point out the dozen or so tiny runes that had been inscribed onto the shaft, each giving off a powerful aura.

  The blade was a long one; a little bit over a foot long and angularly shaped, with an edge that spoke of deadly punishment should one stand against it. A line of jagged edges ran down each side of the blade.

  Looking at each, Damien almost shiver—

  "Good afternoon, sir," A voice greeted him and he swiftly turned, shifting his eyes away from the spear to behold a young dwarf standing behind the long counter.

  Damien frowned and then extended his senses a little bit, nodding a moment later when he confirmed his suspicions.

  Just as he'd thought, the entire counter had been enchanted to block out the senses of other people. No wonder the boy was able to creep up on him without him being aware.

  It was like he only existed in Damien's eyes and ears.

  "Good afternoon," Damien returned with a nod and then glanced to his left, seeing another rack.

  This one wasn't holding up weapons. Instead, what seemed like tiny models of armors and armor parts hung over it—detailed and flashy.

  "Umm, do... do you want to purchase something, sir? An armor? A sword?" The little boy asked. He was a nervous one, with thick brown hair running down his head. His face, despite his young age, was already showing the subtle hint of a beard. His black eyes were wide open, whether in fear or something else, and his hands shifted nervously on the counter.

  "No," Damien shook his head, "I'm comfortable with my kit—though I might change my mind in the future." He shrugged.

  "No. What I'm here for is to sell," he said...

  And then dumped the entire content of his spatial vault on the floor.