Aariv went back to the city, he had a dead body over his shoulders. He went straight to the doctor's area and laid down the body on a mat. Beds were a luxury in the current era.
The moment the woman saw her husband's dead body she rushed to it and started weeping. Aariv took the little kid out as it was too traumatizing.
He was standing near the docks looking at the sea. The child was standing by his side.
"My father is dead, right?" He asked, looking at Aariv's face.
Aariv was surprised hearing those words coming out of a 4-year-old kid, but he decided to not lie.
"Yes, and I have avenged him," he said, trying to ease the kid's sorrow.
He looked at the kid and couldn't see any tears in his eyes. he just kept on looking at the sea. Aariv sat down and stroked his hair,
"What are you thinking?" He asked.
The kid looked at his face and said, "I wish I was strong, I couldn't do anything and... and I have no idea what's gonna happen to us now."
"You don't have to worry about anything, believe it or not, I am a prince, so I got a lot of money and if it's about strength... I can help you attain that, you just have to follow me" He said calmly and punched into a wooden pole, destroying it into small pieces.
The kid just looked at Aariv with devotion and said firmly, "If I can get stronger by following you, then I will follow you even if it is the end of the world"
Aariv felt strange, he didn't feel like he was talking to a child.
"What is your name?" Aariv asked.
"It's Satya"
"Nice name, it means truth and..." Aariv praised.
"Your highness," Aariv heard someone calling him.
He looked back and saw Vama(the guard) with Satya's mother.
"We have prepared for the cremation(burning the deceased body to ashes, typically after a funeral ceremony.)" He informed Aariv.
Aariv nodded and followed them to the secluded seaside, reserved for cremations. It was to be performed by the son.
...
After the ceremony, Satya's mother came to Aariv and bowed,
"Thank you, your highness, because of you, my husband's soul can now rest in peace." She said gratefully.
He nodded and asked, "It was my duty. What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know. My husband had a school, but now I'll have to close it down, as women aren't allowed to teach." She said with sorrow.
"Satya had decided to follow me, so you should come with me to Patliputra," Aariv suggested.
She nodded without thinking much, she didn't have any place to go. It was not the right time to talk more so Aariv went away to hire a nice carriage. They needed to travel 2000 kilometers so it was not feasible to ride horses for that long.
He went out of the city gate and found the best carriage, it was pulled by 4 horses and had an arched roof, covered with big cloth.
He went to the Driver,
"How much for this carriage," he asked.
The man mistook Aariv for hiring him "It's 5 bronze pana for the nearest town, sir"
"No, I mean how much to buy the whole carriage permanently," he clarified.
~Woah, who is this guy, he doesn't look so rich though, but I'll try my luck. I bought this for 2 gold pana with horse but my demoness wife nags me every day for wasting my money on this.~ The man thought to himself.
"It's 3 gold panas, sir" he replied after thinking a lot.
Hearing that Aariv took out 5 gold panas and gave it to the man,
"Here, take this, I am buying the horses too"
The man's jaw dropped to the floor, "But... but"
"What? is the money not enough?" Aariv asked.
"Oh no... no... sir, this is more than enough. The carriage is yours" He replied stutteringly.
He actually wanted to say that 3 gold panas were enough for carriage and horse combined. He then ran away towards his house to boast about the money to his wife.
Aariv looked at the carriage,
~Agh, I'll have to work on this, the wheels are not meant for long-distance, I need to make an iron covering for it and also, it doesn't have any suspension~ He said to himself.
He still had some time before Satya and his mother came, so he decided to work on it. He looked for a blacksmith but couldn't find one. He went to a guard and asked.
"Hey, is there any blacksmith shop nearby?"
"oh, your highness.... Yes... I mean no... there is no blacksmith shop here but if you need something you can ask the citiy's only official blacksmith, he is responsible for making swords and other things for the city." The guard replied.
Aariv nodded and went to the place, he bought some iron ingots from the blacksmith and went back to the carriage. He moved it to a secluded place.
He then used pyrokinesis and with Juno's help, he made a suspension system and covering for the wheel, to protect it from wearing off.
He got on the carriage and went back to the city gate where he told the mother and son to wait for him. When he reached there, he found them waiting for him.
"Hop on, it's time to go," Aariv said from the driver's seat.
Both of them got on the carriage, Aariv had bought some cushions for comfort, so it was very nice and cozy inside it. They both settled in and Aariv started to move but then he heard a guard screaming and running towards him.
"Your highness, what should we do with those arrested guards?" He asked after reaching Aariv.
Aariv scratched his chin, thinking for a bit,
"Chop the legs and arms of the leader and throw him in the sea and send the other 4 for 10 years of intense labor." He said nonchalantly and went away with the carriage.
Those 5 were not worth thinking about too much for him. The guard just bowed his head and returned.
...
Aariv had calculated that it would take him 4-5 days to reach Patliputra and he would go via Ujjain. Another major city of the empire.
He was getting bored while driving the carriage. not just him, everyone was getting bored, except Juno. She was back to watching some movie or drama.
"So, what's your name madam?" Aariv asked, trying to strike a conversation.
"Oh, I am sorry I didn't introduce myself all this time. My name is Malini Devi," she replied.
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"We are from Ayodhya" She replied nonchalantly and ended the conversation unknowingly, she just kept on looking outside.
Aariv took the hint and didn't ask anymore. He then decided to talk with little Satya who was looking at Jojo.
"You can touch him if you want to, his name is Jojo"
Satya, although talked like an adult, still had the heart of a child. got up and sat beside Aariv, he started stroking Jojo's back. Aariv smiled looking at that.
"You wanna see magic?" Aariv said.
Satya nodded.
Aariv took out an apple from his bag and used levitation on it. Looking at the floating apple, Satya was surprised but he then used his hands and waved them around the apple to check if it was tied from a thread.
Aariv was shocked seeing that, usually, a 4-year-old kid should just feel surprised and excited with magic but Satya was trying to find out how it was being done.
~Maybe I found a diamond in the rough~ He thought to himself.
[woosh]
Out of nowhere, an arrow came flying towards Aariv, the arrow just hit Aariv and fell down like it hit metal.
He looked around and noticed some men hiding behind the trees.
~Agh... For god's sake, can't I spend one day without killing someone~ He complained to himself.
"Haha... fools attract fools," Juno mocked.
Aariv stopped the carriage, he looked at Malini and Satya.
"Stay inside the carriage, don't come out" He warned them, and jumped out with his sword.
"Come out suckers, I know you are here," he said loudly.
5 men came out, smiling foolishly.
"You're sharp, boy. Now leave the woman and the money and run away," the ugliest one said.
"no boss, we can sell the kids," another one said.
Aariv unholstered his sword and started walking to the man.
"Do you know the 2 kinds of people I hate the most?"
They all started to look at each other.
"Slavers, because I abhor slavery. The other is Rapists, that's the kind of people I hate the most. Because, according to me it is a crime even worse than murder. Rape doesn't just harm the body but it actually murders the soul. It makes the victim a living dead." Aariv said angrily.
He then suddenly dashed and slashed his sword at the head of the ugly man. A second later he was holding a chopped off head by its hair.
The other 4 men got scared but still ran towards Aariv with their sword.
"Fear not, as I am about to grant you salvation... with fire"
Aariv hit his sword on a rock, creating a small spark. He used pyrokinesis to control that spark and then sent fire inside their bodies through their mouths and slowly started increasing its intensity...
All 4 of them were running when suddenly they felt a burning sensation inside their body, it kept on increasing to the point that they started screaming and rolling on the ground. Some of them started scratching their chests and stomachs. One by one their screams started to diminish and soon it went back to silence.
you could only hear birds and the breeze.
"Perfection, no blood only death," Aariv said and started to walk back to the carriage.
Initially, he had decided to cut them but after chopping the head of the first guy he noticed Satya peeking out of the carriage. So, he granted them a death without spilling blood but with pain as compensation.
He hopped on to the driver's seat and resumed the journey.
"Scared?" Aariv asked Satya, who was continuously looking at Aariv.
Satya just shook his head and said,
"I want to get stronger"
"haha... then eat more fruits and drink more milk, kid," Aariv said laughingly and handed him an apple.
He then looked at Malini, who was also looking at him.
"Thank you," She said with a bow, not because he saved them, but because he was helping Satya cope with his father's death.