Anton checked the time in his browser and saw that it was almost noon, so he minimized his Diablo II game to join his family for lunch. The four hours of playing earned him three levels aside from the Spirit Crystal Sword runeword weapon that he had just made so he was now level sixty-two.
When he went outside his room, he saw Devon guarding his door.
“Did you stay here for several hours?! You should have just joined the others in the village hall. It’s boring here.”
“It’s okay sir Anton. This is our job and I’m used to guarding several hours at a time. Besides, we received so many benefits from you and your family and you kept us from any injury, so this amount of boredom is nothing.”
“So, you agree that it’s boring here?” Anton asked jokingly.
“No! I just meant that it’s a pleasure to serve you,” Devon stuttered which made Anton laugh.
Anton went downstairs to look for his family while Devon followed him. While he was walking, he noticed that the inn’s attendants were looking at him wide-eyed and Devon told him that everybody in the inn already knew that he was a wizard. He just ignored that information and looked for his family in the common room.
Anton didn’t find his family, so he sat at one of the tables and asked Devon and one of the inn’s attendants to join another table at his to make it larger then he asked his guard to tell his family that he was waiting at the inn’s common room.
After a few minutes of waiting for his family, an old woman followed by an old man approached Anton.
“Mighty wizard, can we ask you for help? We’re willing to pay you everything we have,” The old woman said with a trembling voice while the old man who was following her whom Anton assumed was her husband was twisting his cap in his hands, his face filled with anxiety and fear.
Anton noticed that everyone was quietly listening and waiting for his response. There were few people in the common room and a couple quietly stood up and left fearing a powerful wizard's negative response to a bothersome request.
“Madam, can you and your husband please sit?” Anton offered the chairs beside him. The old couple were surprised at his politeness and the other people gaped at him. This told Anton how wizards usually behave.
The old couple declined and explained why they approached him.
“Our son was a mercenary and lost one of his legs and one of his arms. We implore you to heal him. Since he lost his limbs, he lost his will to live, and we can’t bear to watch him fade.” The old man started crying but the old woman’s eyes were clear, but she was wearing a face full of resolve.
It took Anton a huge amount of willpower not to break down. The old couple reminded him of his parents. He remembered his mother on Earth who was always the strongest in their family. He remembered his father who was always kind and never lifted his voice in anger.
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“Return here in a couple of hours,” Anton told the old couple while he stared at the table.
The old couple went and sat at a table far from his to wait while Anton waited for his family to arrive. He remembered that he had always wanted to learn if his aura could regenerate a lost limb, and this was a good chance as any so he planned to follow the old couple to their residence and would try to heal their son’s lost limb.
After a while, Anton’s father and Anna together with Lucas and his family arrived.
Anders and Lucas noticed the weird atmosphere in the inn’s common room.
“What happened here, Anton?” Anders asked his son.
“An old couple approached me and asked me to heal their lame son. According to them, the man lost his limbs in battle, and I thought of checking if my spell could heal a lost limb, so I told them to return after a while.”
“Are you sure about doing that?” Anders asked.
“Well at first, I was thinking of experimenting using an animal like some sort of bird or a pig but since somebody volunteered, might as well try. Even if we don’t succeed, I’m thinking that nothing will happen to us, and we could even compensate them for using their son as an experimental subject.”
Anders then shrugged and told him that since he knew more about magic they would abide by his decision. Anton’s father then ordered food from the inn’s waiter and waited for their food to arrive.
While they were waiting, Anders told Anton that they purchased a lot of broken and old equipment from the villagers. Nemina reported that they also managed to get a lot of broken pieces of jewelry and clothes and once they were repaired it would be more valuable since the items were from the city of Leminthor.
They left the items in the village hall and were assured that nobody would steal those broken and dilapidated items.
When their food arrived, Anton and Anna were surprised at the quality of the food. Lucas informed him that the inn did their very best to serve the best food to them due to Anton being a wizard and due to them being very rich.
They started eating and they were full of praise at the inn’s food so Anton implored Nemina to purchase a lot of food from the inn so he could store it in his private stash and could eat it anytime. Nemina assured him that she would do her best to purchase a lot of food.
Anna then told her brother that everyone was amazed at the amount of rubbish they were buying, and the villagers couldn’t understand why they were buying garbage.
“After lunch, Lucas, Nemina, Anna, and Lunelle will go back to the village hall to continue purchasing items from the villagers. Me and Devon will follow you to the old couple’s residence to act as your bodyguards and to check if your experiment will be a success. I’m curious what will happen.” Anders told everyone.
“No fair! I want to see as well,” Anna complained.
“Fine. Anna would join us as well.” Anders relented.
After lunch, Anton asked Devon to call the old couple and Anna mocked him for acting as someone important.
Anton conjured a tiny amount of mana water and splashed it on Anna’s face which made everyone laugh.
“Father let’s pass by the horses. I want to give them some mana water.”
Anders nodded and Anton, his father, Anna, and Devon went to the stables first while being followed by the old couple. After giving mana water to the horses who were especially close to Anton they followed the old couple to their residence.
When the old couple saw Anton conjure some magical water for the horses, they were amazed, and it brought hope to their old faces. The old man and woman brought them to a small house that looked very much like Anton’s old family house on their farm in Mendi.
The old couple invited Anton, Anders, Anna, and Devon inside their home and Anton saw the inside of the house which was incredibly poor but very clean. Anna whispered to Anton that the old house looked like their old house and Anton nodded. Devon heard Anna and looked at them in disbelief which made Anna and Anton laugh.