Ch 9 - Welcome to Ravenwood City

Rin and Nayla were helpless to resist as the soldiers marched them through the great stone archway and into the city. The manacles they had been chained with seemed also to be a type of sealing artifact that suppressed one's cultivation.

Despite the situation, Rin was unable to help from gaping at his surroundings. From a very young age, he had known only the quiet isolation of the Endless Forest. His little village had at most 30 or 40 people, all of which he had known quite well.

By contrast, Ravenwood city was home to hundreds of thousands. The streets were narrow, and bustling with activity. Vendors were everywhere, shouting over each other to hawk their wares. Crowds of ordinary citizens milled to and fro, going about their daily lives. An overpowering aroma of unwashed bodies mixed with cooking food and general filth filled the air.

But when they saw the soldiers in dark blue uniforms, their eyes went wide and they hurried to stand to the side. As if by magic, a path opened up before them.

"Enforcers!" Rin heard someone whisper in the crowd.

The soldiers ignored the people and marched Rin and Nayla along down what seemed to be the main road. Before long they reached a large stone complex. Two blue-clad enforcers stood guard at its great iron doors. The guards exchanged nods, and they were allowed to enter the building.

The interior of the building was dimly lit, torches set at regular intervals along the walls. A young, professional-looking blonde lady sat behind a counter, looking very much like a receptionist. Iron bars formed a barrier between her and the rest of the room, obviously for her protection, and she also had two more guards flanking her on either side.

[Security seems pretty tight…] Rin thought with a sinking feeling in his heart.

"New arrivals?" the blonde woman asked curtly.

"Yes Miss Fang!" The soldier leading their group cupped his fist and bowed to the woman.

"The boy is nothing special, he'll likely be assigned to the mines. But Commander Fei has ordered a special room for the woman, with double guards posted! She'll likely be auctioned at a very high price…" He studied Nayla appreciatively, then laughed. "That is if the Garrison Commander doesn't take her for himself!"

Rin could feel a cold rage building in the pit of his stomach but unfortunately, he was powerless at the moment and acting rashly would only do more harm than good. Rin and Nayla were separated, and Rin could only cling to the hope that perhaps if the situation became dire she would be able to return to the orb, much like Airi had done already. Nayla had told him once before that if they were separated by too great a distance, she would likely be unable to maintain her physical form and return to the water that she had come from.

Rin was marched down a dark stone corridor. The air was filled with pitiful wails and the walls were lined with row after row of iron bars. This area was composed of around 50 cells, most of which had an occupant. Each was extremely cramped, not even wide enough for a single person to lie down.

At the very last cell, the guards stopped and one of them took out a set of keys. Rin was tossed unceremoniously into the tiny stone cell. The floor was stained dark with years of refuse, blood, and other accumulated filth. As they locked his cage, Rin heard the guards laughing.

"I hope we get to watch when the commander 'inspects' that bitch." The man grinned lewdly.

Rin inspected his surroundings gloomily. [I never would have expected the situation to turn out like this…]

Before today he had not even known this city's name, so how could he have known that it was a human trafficking hub controlled by a group of ruthless mercenaries?

Rin's gaze was listless, staring blankly at the floor when he noticed a tiny furry shape lying in the corner of the cell. Nudging the mound with his foot, he saw it was a little baby mouse. Strangely, the mouse's fur was a lustrous golden colour, though it was so caked in dirt and filth that at first glance it looked to be a dirty grey-brown.

At first, Rin assumed the mouse was dead. But when he nudged it with his foot, its head moved slightly and he locked eyes with the tiny creature. With some surprise, Rin felt a degree of intelligence and emotion beneath that gaze, a certain sense of fear and mutual understanding.

Somehow, Rin got the impression that the mouse's expression was very much like his own bleak gaze at the moment.

[No matter how dire my situation is, at least I'm better off than this little guy.] Rin smiled wryly.

He awkwardly reached around with his manacled hands and fished through his trouser pocket. The guards hadn't bothered to search them when they'd been captured, though they wouldn't have found anything dangerous anyways. All Rin had were a few scraps of jerky left over from the meagre meal that Reinalt had given them, presumably to gain their trust.

Breaking off a small piece, Rin tossed it towards the mouse. He watched for several minutes as the little rodent weakly moved its head to nibble on the scrap of meat. Before too long it had eaten everything the little mouse's eyes once again turned to Rin. This time the fear was gone, and it gave off the impression of a little puppy begging for more food.

"Oh fine…" Rin sighed and tossed another scrap of jerky to the mouse. "But don't get too greedy! I don't have much left and who knows how long we'll be stuck in this place!"

The mouse let out a barely audible squeak. It may have been his imagination, but Rin felt like the mouse was expressing its thanks for his kindness.

"You are very welcome! Us prisoners have to stick together." Rin chuckled quietly.

All of the sudden, he felt very tired. It had been a long and exhausting day, filled with excitement and then betrayal, and all of the accumulated stresses were now catching up to him. Rin leaned back against the cold, hard wall and closed his eyes.

[Rin… Wake up Rin…]

A faint voice tickled at the back of Rin's consciousness. It seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it in his memory. From somewhere, a jingling, scraping metallic noise was grating on his nerves. Rin opened his eyes.

"Airi…?"

The cell was unchanged. No matter the time of day here, no sunlight could penetrate these halls. The dim and flickering torchlight remained the only source of illumination. The pitiful wails of his fellow prisoners were the only sounds to pierce the silence.

Suddenly, Rin heard that clanking metallic sound again and looked down at the floor. There, sitting upright in between his legs and starting up at him expectantly was the little golden mouse. Rin was dumbfounded, not by the presence of the mouse, but by what it held in its teeth.

[It can't be… The guard's keyring!] Rin was overjoyed!

"Excellent work little mouse!" Rin praised the rodent and stroked its furry head. The mouse closed its eyes and let out a small, happy squeak.

Rin was simply unable to believe his luck. It seemed that perhaps this little golden mouse might be one of those mythical Divine Spirit Beasts, spoken of in legends. Divine Beasts were incredibly rare manifestations that occurred through random chance coincidence. Around half of the animals born into this world would possess innate strong Source Energy, qualifying as Monstrous Beasts. Of these, 10-20% possessed an innate grasp of World Energy, allowing them to become Spirit Beasts with power far beyond ordinary Monstrous Beasts.

Out of these Spirit Beasts, only one in a million would ever have a chance to become a Divine Beast. Only those with an extremely strong and pure Spiritual Energy would eventually develop their Spiritual Sense and gradually form a consciousness. Most Spirit Beasts would only ever form an extremely rudimentary form of sentience, but Divine Beasts were said to be on par with if not beyond humans, some even possessing the ability to speak.

This phenomenon was mostly down to sheer chance coincidence, though it was far more common in a few rare species that were extremely long-lived and possessed innate strong energy, such as true dragons. For a creature such as a simple mouse to develop sentience, let alone as a baby, the odds were likely less than one in a hundred billion.

These legendary creatures were called "Divine Beasts" because many believed they had been imbued with a spirit by the gods. Often, they were depicted in stories as wise and helpful protectors, offering sage advice to a young hero or guiding them to a lost ancient treasure or secret art that would increase their power to new heights.

Taking the keys from the Divine Mouse, Rin cautiously peered outwards through the iron bars of his jail cell. It was difficult to see too far down the corridor, but there had not been any guards posted when he'd brought in. He would just have to risk it.

The ring had many different keys on it, and not knowing which unlocked the manacles Rin was forced to try them out one by one, not an easy task with his arms firmly locked behind his back. Finally, he stumbled upon the right key, and his manacles popped open with a click. Instantly, he felt a little bit stronger as the suppressive effect of the manacles was lifted.

Rin quickly found the large black iron key that the guard had used to unlock his door. He guessed that every cell on this block was probably secured with the same lock, as there were not nearly enough keys to unlock every cell if they had all been different. Rin reached through the bars of the cell and fumbled with the lock for a moment before successfully finding the keyhole.

Slowly, Rin pushed the door open, wincing as the rusted hinges let out a resounding screech. Luckily, nobody seemed to notice the sound over the general cacophony of human misery that dominated this place. Rin glanced behind him to see the little golden mouse staring up at him. Smiling, Rin bent down and reached out a hand.

"What do you say little Divine Mouse," he asked, "how about we bust out of this place together?"

The mouse squeaked in response and hurriedly scrambled onto his palm, scurrying up his arm to his right shoulder. There, it perched like a tiny parrot, peering cautiously out at the world through Rin's long dark hair. The two of them stepped out of the cell and into the corridor.

At this point, Rin wasn't quite sure what he should do. He could clearly remember the path the soldiers had taken, but that way would certainly be guarded. Besides, leaving Nayla behind wasn't an option.

Turning to the Divine Mouse, Rin whispered, "Little mouse, my companion is still trapped somewhere here. Do you think you know where she might be?"

The little mouse tilted its head as if confused.

Rin sighed. Of course, this place held hundreds if not thousands of prisoners. How would the mouse know which one was Nayla? He thought for a moment.

[This mouse clearly has some ability. After all, it somehow knew the keys were what I needed and found them extremely quickly… It can definitely be useful in our escape.]

"Little mouse, somewhere in this prison there is a woman who smells of the ocean. She is being held in a special room, with two guards outside the door. Can you find her?" Rin felt a little silly addressing a mouse like this, but at this moment he had little choice but to place his faith in it.

The mouse appeared to consider for a moment, then it squeaked and jumped from his shoulder. In a flash, the golden mouse streaked into the shadows and was gone from sight.

Rin sighed helplessly. He could only hope the mouse had understood his words and would help him. He decided to stealthily follow behind.

As he crept along the passageway, Rin couldn't help but glance into the cells he passed. Row after row, figures huddled dressed mostly in rags. A few were wailing in anguish or pain, but most were either huddled and sleeping or just staring blankly at the floor. Most did not even take notice as Rin glided silently through the shadows.

As he passed by, one of the prisoners caught his eye. So far this person had been the only one who was actually possessed enough awareness to notice him. Startlingly beautiful grey-green eyes stared solemnly out at him from a dirt-streaked face. As their gazes met, Rin couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy. The ragged little girl in the cell couldn't have been more than 12 years old, the same age he had been before his entire life had been turned upside down.

Rin cursed silently. He wanted to draw as little attention as possible, every moment he lingered here the risk of discovery grew.

[What if a guard comes on patrol? Or the prisoners might raise the alarm themselves if they realize I'm roaming free and try to call out to me.]

Furthermore, he was really in no position to be rescuing anyone. It still wasn't certain whether he'd be able to rescue Nayla or even get himself out of this prison.

Rin studied the girl for a moment. She was extremely thin and frail-looking, but there was a light of cold, bright intelligence behind her eyes. This girl had clearly endured many hardships, but instead of being crushed under the trauma, she had become hard like tempered steel. Kneeling down in front of the bars, he beckoned the little girl closer.

"Want to leave this place with me?" Rin asked simply.

She regarded Rin blankly for a moment, her expression showing no fear, no emotion at all. Slowly she began to nod, as if not quite understanding what Rin was asking her.

"If I let you out, we will have to move quickly and silently. You will have to listen to every word I say and obey without question. And even if everything goes well, the chances of us being captured or killed are high. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded again, more vigorously this time. Now, her eyes seemed to shine in the darkness and Rin quickly made his decision, unlocking the cell door as quietly as he could. After he stepped back, the girl timidly moved out into the corridor and Rin unlocked her manacles. He placed a finger to his lips meaningfully and the girl nodded, following silently along behind him like a second shadow.

They reached the end of the cell block without further incident, none of the other residents possessing enough mental strength or awareness to pay them any mind. Now the cellblock opened onto a stone corridor split in two directions, one towards the main entrance, and the other leading presumably deeper into the complex. Rin hesitated for a moment here, unsure of which path to take.

Just then, a furry little shape scampered towards them, coming from deeper within the complex. Noticing Rin standing there, the golden mouse stopped and stood up on two legs, frantically gesturing with its paws and squeaking. The little girl behind Rin gasped upon seeing the mouse acting so strangely and then clapped her hands over her mouth. She shot Rin a fearful glance, but he ignored her and walked quickly towards the mouse.

"You found her?" Rin whispered in amazement. "Unbelievable! Good job little mouse!"

The Divine Mouse squeaked again and turned back towards the direction it had come from. It paused for a moment, looking over its shoulder as if making sure Rin was following behind. Rin gave it a thumbs up and flashed an encouraging smile.

Before long, the mouse stopped at an entrance to a corridor and looked back again. Rin cautiously approached the entrance and peeked around the corner. About ten metres away, two guards stood to either side of an iron-bound wooden door. Their postures were relaxed and they were chatting casually, not seeming to pay too much attention to their surroundings.

Rin's mind raced. Now that he had actually found his target, he needed to come up with some method of rescuing her.

Rin considered his options, [A straight-up confrontation is out of the question… I can borrow a little bit of power from the orb, but my control is severely lacking. My physical strength is probably better than average but my combat ability is simply not high enough yet. And even if I managed to take them out, I'd probably make so much noise that everyone in the complex would be alerted.]

Rin knelt down, whispering towards the Divine Mouse, "Little mouse, I have an idea but I'm not sure if you can help me…"

The golden mouse nodded its little head and looked up at him expectantly.

Smiling apologetically Rin continued, "Do you think you could run up to the farthest guard and maybe... bite him in the leg? I just need you to distract him for me for a bit while I deal with the other one. Try to get him to chase you down the hall if you can, but don't let him catch you!"

The Divine Mouse appeared to think for a brief moment, then it shot off like a streak of lightning. In an instant, it had closed the gap and scurried up the guard's leg, biting him viciously several times in the thigh and groin. The guard bellowed in pain and anger, swatting at his leg madly and hopping about. The little mouse dropped to the floor and scampered off a few metres before turning back, almost seeming to taunt the guard with its stare.

The guard roared in anger and started to sprint after the mouse. Meanwhile, his stunned companion was now bent over double with laughter. Rin wasted no time and approached stealthily from behind, knowing he could not lose this golden opportunity.

At this moment, every fibre of his being was completely sharp and focused. All traces of nervousness left him and Rin raised his right arm in front of him, palm up, and released a thread of Source Energy. Instantly, the surface of the surrounding stones seemed to crumble and blow away like sand in the wind. This dust coalesced in the center of Rin's palm, forming a tiny black sphere that was nearly invisible to the naked eye.

Rin waited for half a heartbeat as the other guard disappeared around a bend at the end of the corridor. In his focused state, Rin acted purely on instinct as he held up his palm near his face. Gently, he blew another thread of Source Energy towards the dark sphere.

The tiny ball lept from his hand and shot through the air with barely a whisper. A fraction of a second later, two things happened almost simultaneously. The laughing guard, who had raised his hand to wipe the tears from his eyes, suddenly stumbled as his head was violently jerked forward and Rin snapped his fingers.

The guard's head disappeared. Rather, it was instantaneously vaporized and now coated the walls and ceiling as fine pink mist. The now headless guard dropped to his knees and slowly keeled over forwards onto the stone. This brutal and sudden death was accompanied by a loud pop, like the uncorking of a champagne bottle. Behind him, the little girl let out a small squeak of terror.

Rin was likewise stunned, and although he felt somewhat nauseous this was overshadowed by a feeling of triumph. Not only had everything worked exactly how he had intended, but he'd even managed to keep the noise level to a minimum by minimizing the density and size of the sphere. Behind him, the little girl was staring wide-eyed at the dead guard and Rin, but she didn't say a word and continued to keep close at his coattails.

Rin quickly approached the door, gingerly pushing the corpse out of the way with his boot. He stared at the door in dismay. Clearly, this lock wasn't going to take the same key as his cell. Frustrated, Rin scanned through the keys, trying to find one that looked like it might match. But there were at least 30 different keys on the huge ring and he simply did not have the time to try them all.

Rin let out a quick breath and consolidated his Source Energy once more, this time focusing it on the lock. Sure enough, the iron and wood quickly began to break apart under his touch. After a moment, he released his hold and the condensed matter exploded with a crack.

Rin winced at the noise, but luckily the trick had been successful and the door swung open easily, pieces of the destroyed lock falling to the floor with a clatter. What he saw inside filled his heart with cold fury.