The boy was maybe 12 or 13 years old and had short red hair that was currently dirty and matted together. He was lying on the ground in the fetal position and obviously in pain while clutching what looked like a loaf of bread to his chest. His clothes were filthy with many rips and tears, and he looked horribly malnourished. From what Desmond could tell, the kid was currently in a semi-delirious state with his eyes closed.

Desmond didn’t know how to handle this situation. He had never been good with kids. Even if the kid was just a couple of years and a growth spurt away from being considered an adult on this continent.

Desmond bent down and placed his hand a the kid's stomach, which caused the kid to flinch a little. Desmond then pushed some of his mana into the boy. Since the kid was awakened and had his own mana already there was some resistance, but the gap between them was too large for it to be meaningful.

Desmond tended to forget about his water affinity. It didn’t have a very large impact on him and he didn’t know a single spell for it. He did, however, know the basics of what water mana was good for, and it was very good a determining the condition of injuries. But the moment Desmond’s mana passed into the boy something unexpected happened.

[Exceptional Intellect](Rare): +18% increase to Intellect.

[Divine Favor](Legendary): Increases the holder's essence gain and allocation by 100%.

That was different. Was he able to look at legacies without going to the Soul Realm now? This was good to know. But holy shit [Divine Favor] was a cheat. That straight-up doubled the kid’s growth speed.

Growth speed was everything to a hunter, and it sounded like [Divine Favor] just doubled the experience one would gain from beasts. No, even the soul orbs were calling it essence so he should stick with that terminology.

Desmond honestly wanted that orb, it would represent a massive increase in his power down the line but quickly squashed that part of himself. Not only did stealing from a child feel wrong, the only way Desmond knew to get an orb was through the holder's death. And that was something he was absolutely not willing to do.

The information of the legacies in his head quickly faded and Desmond pushed his mana a little deeper. Now he could feel the kid's injuries and he instantly became furious again. Desmond had clearly arrived later than he expected. The kid had serious internal hemorrhaging that obviously came from more than that one kick. It was to the point of being fatal if not treated. He had let those guards get off too easy, they better hope they don’t cross his path again.

Desmond took a canteen and a Greater Healing Potion out of his storage. He poured out a small amount of water from the canteen and filled it with about a quarter of the potion. A Greater Healing Potion was far too powerful for a newly awakened so Desmond had to dilute it.

Desmond then sat on the ground beside the boy. He leaned the kid up and slowly made him drink the potion. Luckily, in the kid's half-delirious state, he was still able to swallow. After a few minutes, the canteen was empty and the kid fell asleep. Exhaustion was a sign the potion was working.

Desmond didn’t have much use for healing potions of this level himself as the healing they provided was lacking compared to his natural healing, but to a kid like this, its effect would be similar to a miracle.

Desmond leaned back against the wall of the ally and looked out into the market. It somehow looked busier or perhaps more chaotic than usual. Like everyone was rushing to get their shopping done before it snowed. It would seem his incident with the guards had gone largely unnoticed by the market at large.

Desmond looked up as the first few flakes of snow started to fall. What was he going to do with the kid? The potion would do its work over the next 20 to 30 minutes. So he had a bit of time to think it over.

Desmond didn’t see himself as some sort of hero. He had no intentions or desire to try and rid this world of all its problems. He just, couldn’t do nothing when something like this happened in front of him. Maybe this was from the morality of his past life, or maybe he had just been born with a bleeding heart in this unforgiving world. Either way, he had no intentions of changing. He was who he was, and it had gotten him this far.

Saving the kid had been one thing, but now he had a responsibility to help him. After all, if you’re going to save someone you have to follow through. Desmond reached out and examined the boy again just to make sure he was healing, which he was, and quickly at that. Now Desmond just had to figure out what to do with the kid.

The most obvious answer would be to send him to an orphanage. The Church almost always ran an orphanage in every city they operated in. He could send the kid there, and then provide a large donation, just so that he knows that they will take care of the kid. He also had several connections at the Church in this city he could use, to make sure everything went smoothly. In the end, the kid would be cared for until he was an adult, and Desmond would get to go to bed knowing he was supporting a good cause.

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Desmond watched the snow slowly descend in large flakes, then melt on contact with the ground. It wasn’t quite cold enough for it to stay, but that would change soon.

After around 10 minutes, Desmond could hear the kid grown as he woke up. When Desmond looked over he could see the kid staring at him with an expression of mixed fear and resignation.

“Oh, you’re up,” Desmond said trying to sound chipper. “I’m Dez, nice to meet you.” After a few moments of awkward silence, it was clear the kid wasn’t going to introduce himself so Desmond decided to just continue talking. “Since you’re up, we should probably get going.”

“I-Is this the afterlife?” the kid asked in a shaky voice.

“Nope, it’s far too cold,” Desmond replied in a matter-of-fact way.

“T-then, how am I-”

“Alive?” Desmond finished. “Your injury was nothing a good healing potion couldn’t fix.” Desmond took out the two-thirds full Greater Healing Potion and swished it around a little. The kid’s eyes quickly fixated on the potion.

“So then, what’s your name, kid?” Desmond asked.

“Oh, ummm it’s Ash,” Ash replied still staring at the potion in Desmond's hand.

Desmond moved the potion back and forth a little and sure enough Ash’s head followed it like a dog following at a treat. This almost made Desmond laugh but he held himself back. Did the kid know its value? Even like this, the healing pot would probably go for around 400 LP or whatever that was in gold. To a poor slum kid that must seem like an astronomical sum.

“Do you want it?” Desmond asked.

Ash just nodded his head at the question without his eyes leaving the bottle.

“OK, come with me and you can have it,” Desmond said as he stood up. They were actually quite close to the main Church building right now. Desmond didn’t know where the orphanage was so he would just have to ask when he got there.

Ash stood up and started following behind him as he walked, still holding onto the loaf of bread. The bread had seen better days. It was a hard loaf, but it had still been covered with dirt. Maybe he should get the kid a meal on the way? There was no real reason to hurry.

“Ummm, where are we going?” Ash asked timidly.

“We are going to the Church,” Desmond replied. “There is an orphanage there that-” Desmond stopped talking at the sound of quick footsteps and turned around. Sure enough, the boy had run off into the crowd of people.

That was strange, the kid had seemed content to follow him until he mentioned the Church. Desmond knew the Church wasn’t immune to corruption, but everyone he had personally met from there had seemed like they were good. What happened to turn a kid against them this much?

Desmond let out a sigh as he followed the kid’s red soul with his eyes. This was going to be more annoying than he expected.

It only took Desmond a few moments to catch up with Ash and appear right in front of him. In fact, Ash was so busy looking behind him that he ran right into Desmond's breastplate and fell backward on his ass. Ash then stared up at Desmond with a frightened look in his eyes. This was the first time he got a good look at the kid’s eyes. They were a light red color, almost pink really, and they looked on the verge of shedding tears. Desmond needed a new tactic.

“You’re not going to be able to outrun me, Ash,” Desmond said still trying his best to sound friendly, but this only seemed to frighten the child more. “How about this, I know a good food vendor close by, let’s go get a meal and you can tell me why you’re running from the Church. Don’t worry I can keep a secret and the meals on me, come on now.”

Desmond helped Ash to his feet and then started walking. After a moment's hesitation, he could hear Ash following him down the street. They walked in silence for a while. Desmond figured it would be easier to talk to the kid once he had food in him.

Desmond ordered some jerky-like meat from a random vendor as he didn’t know this part of town at all, and gave it to the kid. He then sat down with his back to one of the storefronts and indicated for Ash to sit beside him. Ash sat down and stared scarfing down the jerky.

“So, why you are so scared of the Church?” Desmond asked.

“That is, ummm,” Ash said in a way that made it clear he would rather not answer the question.

It was clear Desmond wasn’t getting anywhere like this. So he took out the two-thirds full healing potion.

“You want this, right?” Desmond asked as he held the small bottle up. “Answer a few questions and it’s yours.”

“Really?” Ash asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

“Really,” Desmond answered as he handed the small bottle over to Ash to hold. “But I must warn you not to drink it

like this. It’s far too strong for you if you don’t dilute it.”

“How do I do that?” Ash asked back quickly.

“My question first,” Desmond said.

Ash went silent for a minute so Desmond just sat there beside him and gave him the time to think. When Ash started to quietly sob, Desmond started to internally freak out. This is why he hated dealing with children. What was he supposed to do here?

Desmond placed his hand gently on Ash’s shoulder and waited patiently for the kid to calm down. They drew the eyes of a few people who walked past but no one stopped to talk to them. A kid softly crying in the street was unusual, but Desmond had a certain intimidating presence about him that tended to keep people away.

After a few minutes the sobbing stopped and a few minutes after that Ash started to talk.

“I-It’s not the Church per se,” Ash said softly. “It’s who the Church would tell. It’s not safe there, w-we can’t go there.”

“I see,” Desmond said taking a mental note of the use of ‘we’. “And who is it they would tell?”

“T-the ones,” Ash said before stopping for a moment and trying again. “The ones that, that-”

Ash shut down again at this point so Desmond decided to change the topic. There was clearly something more to this than a child’s fear of the Church.

“Why are you so interested in that healing potion,” Desmond asked while indicating to the potion Ash was holding.

“Oh, this is for my sister,” Ash said sounding not exactly chipper but a little less sad. “How do I ‘dilute’ it?”