Wind russled Damien's hair, going on to caress his body as he glided softly in the air. Beside him, and a little bit ahead, flew Keilan.

"Come on... Is that how fast you can go?"

Damien rolled his eyes, "You know how fast I can go. And unless you're willing to placate the locals, I'll keep to my current speed, thank you."

Ever since they began this journey, Keilan had been pestering him for a race. It wasn't that Damien was afraid, matching Keilan was something Damien could do, at least for a short while. Damien wasn't slow by any means, it was just that wind cultivators were extremely fast. And besides, Damien didn't want to risk the commotion it would bring when they broke the sound barrier.

[You could just limit your speed at the edge, never breaking through,] Gray said.

"Yes! Thank you, Gray, for that wonderful idea. Now, Dame, you up?"

"No. Besides, we could overshoot our destination, or more likely, alert a hidden calamity monster to our presence, which would then lead to a senseless battle I do not want to take part in," While he said this, he slowly wrapped a thin layer of destruction energy around his body, limiting air resistance.

They were probably hundreds of feet in the air, so it was a fifty-fifty percent chance of any locals hearing them. In the spirit of competition, he decided to cheat.

Keilan laughed, a mischievous smile gracing his lips, "Dame, you know I've been bonded to the wind for years now. I know I can't claim complete omniscient, but when I tell you that when it comes to the wind," he chuckled. "I know everything that happens in it."

Before Damien could say a word, a booming sound erupted as Keilan broke the sound barrier, leaving a trail of clouds behind.

Damien was just about to pursue when he heard screams down below.

He sighed.

"I knew this was a bad idea! Now look what you've caused," he shouted. "Now I'll have to go clean up your mess."

He reduced his speed, setting his descent for a large forest area closest to the crowd he could see gathered.

He descended to the edge of the forest, grateful that no guards had come running with weapons bared. They'd probably ran the other way. Landing, he moved out of the tree covers, dusting tree leaves from his body.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, it's all my brother's fault; he sometimes does stupid things without thinking," Damien said as he approached the crowd, raising his hands to try and placate any pissed-off old women.

Getting closer though, he slowed down, confused.

Among the many boons high-level cultivators were blessed with, long-range hearing was one of them. They could hear things from half a mile away or farther–the higher the realm. However, due to the constant noise that always came in when they utilized this ability, a lot of cultivators chose to limit their range of hearing. That was why, aside from the initial screams he'd heard from the sky, he didn't pick up anything being said in the crowd.

Approaching the crowd, he was surprised to find himself being ignored, with the attention of the crowd turned elsewhere.

Thankful for not being the true reason for the commotion, Damien moved deeper, wanting to know what this gathering was all about.

Pushing through some of the gathered people, eliciting a few curses, he got to the middle of the large circle.

A small clearing was made in the center, occupied by a young boy – probably nine or ten years old. He held a bleeding arm as tears streaked from his eyes, his fearful eyes looking up at a man in a guard uniform standing over him while holding a short sword traced with lines of blood.

Also lying on the ground and covering the boy protectively was a woman. Tears and loud pleading could be heard from her as she looked at the guard.

"Please! Please, I beg you, please spare him; he's just a child," she begged, looking to the crowds for help. None came forward.

Damien frowned at this. Aside from the usual murmuring and whisperings he could hear from the gathered audience, none of them took a step forward.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The guard's face turned dark, "Move woman, or you'll just join him in punishment," he stepped in threateningly, eliciting a small squeak from the young boy and a moan of misery from the woman as she held the boy tighter.

Seeing this, the guard nodded to another man – also in the same outfit – in some kind of signal. Visibly acknowledging, the second guard moved with shocking speed, and before the woman could react and tighten her grip further, he'd already gotten close.

The woman screamed as the man dragged her by the hair away from the boy. This caused a loud murmuring from the crowd that was easily quelled by a look from the first guard.

Having had enough, Damien was about to step in when a familiar voice spoke above the crowd, "What's going on here?" Keilan spoke, his figure coming down to levitate above the crowd.

Seeing this, the crowd's reaction was immediate. Everyone immediately got down on their knees, with some even bowing their heads.

Damien was the only one left standing, which nobody commented on, probably leaving me to my doomed fate for not showing respect to an esteemed Cultivator.

Despite the immediate subservient response, Damien could still hear whispers from the crowd, about a savior cultivator coming to the aid of the boy.

Taking full opportunity of this moment, the woman immediately shook herself from the grip of the guard holding her, the force leaving a large patch of her hair behind. She crawled on the ground, "Please, master, I beg of you, please spare the boy; he's just a child."

Keilan looked at her, with no emotion on his face. He turned his gaze toward the guards.

"Speak," he commanded.

The guard, alongside his partner who had already gotten over their shock, immediately spoke, "The boy is a permanent property of the Mayor. He was caught stealing, and when it was reported," he pointed at the woman. "This woman helped him run away from punishment. The mayor has commanded that he be brought back for punishment."

Keilan's face tightened as the man spoke. Damien shook his head, seeing the underhanded warning. During his explanation, the man had managed to stress the word 'permanent property'.

The rules about slave ownership in the region were very straightforward. If you were temporarily indentured to a master, it was allowed for an outside party to interfere in matters between you and your temporary master. But permanent slavery was a level above that, where there was no room for outside interference. Meaning if you ever got into trouble with your owner, your fate depended solely on their whims and the mercy in their heart. This was a law held and heavily enforced in many Kingdoms, and any efforts to intercede would lead to swift repercussions from the law enforcement authorities.

The man stressing this was a silent signal telling Keilan to back off or risk trouble he couldn't handle. Keilan knew this, which led to his twitch of annoyance.

"What did he steal?"

The guard, thinking Keilan should have backed off, was a little shocked by the follow-up question, but he quickly answered. He opened his mouth, a confused look crossing his face as he closed his mouth, looking to his second for assistance.

"Two loaves of bread," the second guard said, with the first repeating the same thing.

Damien grimaced, that was a big mistake, and not for the kid.

"I was just hungry; our next meal wasn't until night," the little boy used that moment to defend himself; this earned him a hit on the ribs from the first guard, "Shut up, cretin."

All this while, Keilan's face had already gone cold when the crime was mentioned, now it got deeper from the actions of the guard. His face turned stone cold, like thick obsidian cold.

"You chase down a child, almost mutilating him, just for two loaves of bread?" Keilan said, his normally cheerful voice now coming out chilly.

The guard, now realizing that there must have been a mistake somewhere, tried to explain, putting himself into more trouble, "But he's property. He's pro– ahhh!!" He never got to finish his words, screaming as he was suddenly flung far up into the sky.

Damien looked at Keilan who was now suddenly standing where the first guard had been.

"How far did he throw him?"

[He should be reaching the clouds any moment.... Oh no, a monster just picked him up.]

"That's pretty far, how can you tell?"

"How can't you? I'm practically using your senses."

Damien sighed, moving toward Keilan who was now bent to pick up the little boy.

Damien pulled out a healing potion, coming closer to the boy, "This is going to sting a little." He poured a tiny drop on the injured arm, watching as it quickly closed up.

"What's your name?"

Still confused, the boy answered, "Yulon, sir."

Keilan turned towards the woman who had already stood up, looking at both of them with a mixture of fear and hope, "Is he your child?"

She shook her head, "No, his parents are diseased. His mother was my friend."

Damien stopped, a complicated emotion rearing up within him. For some reason, her response dredged up old memories.

"You know that you will have to move away from this town?"

She nodded, "Yes, master."

He frowned, "None of that. Do you have anything important in the city that you need?"

"No, mas– uh.. sir." She answered, looking at him in confusion.

Damien nodded, "Well, then you'll have to relocate from the place. How does the capital sound to you?"

Her jaw dropped while another round of murmuring immediately erupted from the still-gathered crowd.

"Won't the authorities come after us? And we don't have any money to start a new life in the capital."

Keilan laughed, waving it off, "Don't worry about any of that, you won't get into any trouble."

The woman clearly didn't believe them, but they were esteemed cultivators, who would refute their words? Eventually, she nodded.

"Good, hold on, this is going to be bumpy," Keilan said as a gust of wind rose to encircle the woman, lifting her.

Before they left, Damien turned to the second guard who just stood there, shaking with pure fear, "Go tell your master what happened here. I don't care if you give him my description, nothing will come of it. Tell him I said he's lucky, and if he chooses to pursue this matter, he might just get unlucky."

With that, Damien and Keilan rose, Yulon and the woman between them, while the crowd watched as they disappeared into the sky.