I woke up groggily. It was dim, musty and the strong stench of garbage instantly out me at ease. Taking note of my surroundings, I realised I was in the slums. The question was where was I? I sat up to take a better look around, only to quickly fall back down. My legs throbbed from the sudden pressure I put on them. I got up again, this time slowly and using my arms. I looked down at what I was lying upon, nothing fancy, just some old newspapers put together in a make shift bed. The blankets were soaked through from the rain. I felt a cold splash on the back of my neck that sent shivers down my spine as I winced from the pain I felt from agitating my legs. Not good, take things slowly. I looked up and shifted my body just as another droplet drip off the eave. So that's what woke me up. I thought it was I heard someone or something nearby, but maybe I was mistaken? I took another glance around the area as my memory slowly came back to me. I had been extremely injured and bloodied, on the verge of death, so when I glanced down I was baffled by the sight that lay in store of me. Two legs that were perfectly fine, if not a bit weak and sensitive to pressure. And I should of been in a ditch on the roadside near the castle, so how was it I was in the slums again. This part of the slums was also a part that I did not frequent so I tried searching through my memory slowly for it. Ahhh...the puzzles slowly fell together...someone must have saved me.....but why?! Just as I was about to scramble away I noticed someone turning into the alley and making there way towards me. Seeing me on my feet, the person stopped five or so meters away, pulled off the hood from their cloak and spoke. "Cough up something. And don't even think about running."

Saviour? No, just someone trying to make some money by using a bit of magic.

Dull long red hair rolled down, covered in black derbies from who knows where. An alert face with sharp lines, eyes that were hard and cold, but showed no cruelty. Legs hardened from exercise, toes firmly gripped onto the ground, ready to spring into action at a moments notice. A child like existence that reeked of awareness and caution. Everything fell into place.

"Blood Doctor." I let slip.

"Don't call me that 'Mole'." She said that as if trying to demonstrate to me how annoying nicknames were. Well I didn't find my nearly as annoying as she must of found hers I guess.

Everything fell into place. The reason it took me so long to realise my location was I tended to avoid the territories anyone in the slums who I felt could threaten me. 'Pocket Pick' , 'Mad Dog' and 'Blood doctor'. Pocket Pick was what I would call a black thief. He stole from anyone anything. He was decent in a fight, decently hard to chase, and could steal things without you even noticing right in front of your eyes. He was intelligent, cunning and you would never catch him red handed unless he wanted you to. Apparently he could also pick the locks on doors, chests and safes, so people often went to him when they stole a safe and couldn't break it open. He would then open it, and of course, it goes without saying, get a profit on it. His connections were also moderately powerful because of this, and this all made him a dangerous opponent. He lived in the South East area of the slums, and although I rarely saw him because I never stole safes and never required his services, that one time I moved a bit too South, I lost my hair comb. I don't know if he stole it, and he would never admit that he did even if I asked.

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'Mad Dog' was another infamous person in the slum. I've never met him, because he lived in the opposite area from where I lived, but from what I've heard, and I've heard lots about him, he was a tyrant. He was violent, strong and deadly in a fight. Apparently he knew quite a bit of martial arts. His area was the most violent area of the slums and quite a number of times Imperial Guards have entered that area and had conflict with them. All the black hearted orphans tended to gravitate to that area. At least that lessened the danger in other areas somewhat. They give the slums a really bad name, although not that much worse from the ugly truth. He lead a group of other violent orphans and men and often attacked carriages in the city. He got his name because once he bit into you, he would hound you until your death and nothing would stop him. Or so I was told. That's not the only reason to watch out for him. From what I can tell, he's not all brawn. To get so many people to follow you, all violent in nature, as well as the subtle information manipulation he has been doing hint that he's quite crafty as well.

Finally, there was 'Blood Doctor'. Most girls didn't last long in the slums, especially orphans. The reasons are obvious. Things like kidnapping, and rape along with the generally weaker physique and mentality. That's not to say that there were not girls capable of surviving here, in fact there were quite a few, and one good example is the 'Blood Doctor' Instead of relying on her feminine wiles, she had the skills, capabilities and brains to survive. She had learnt beginner healing magic, and that along with her intelligence and medicinal knowledge allowed her to perform the basics required to heal an injured person. With fights occurring everywhere and the fact that she could save your life, not many people wanted to make an enemy out of her and treated her with some respect. With the lives she's saved, she's got many powerful connections. She only really became famous and started being called 'Blood Doctor' after her fight against 'Mad Dog' This was a few years back, back in the day when they were both still starting to become famous. This is the only known case where 'Mad Dog' didn't finish off an opponent, and that's because apart from those two, no one else knew about it except me.

'Mad Dog' had heard about her healing skills and wanted her to serve him. He also wanted her to serve him in other ways as well. Of course, she refused and so he sent his five close lackeys to capture her, beat her up and drag her to him in the middle of the night. It was a bloodbath. She killed four of them with an empty beer bottle. What happened to the fifth? A random brick, when no one was looking of course, fell off the top of the building killing him. Had absolutely nothing to do with me. After that, she went to him and managed to negotiate a truce between them. Of course I wasn't spotted eavesdropping on their meeting. Somehow or other the rumour got out about her fighting off five opponents, starting a blood bath, and along with her blood red hair, got nicknamed 'Blood Doctor'. People also joked about paying for her healing would cost you blood and sweat but that's another story. She eventually settled down in the North West region of the slums.

There was no doubt about it, the person standing in front of me was her.