Dean was now lying on the ground. After he felt so much pain, his arm was all numb.
Rick made his part of the promise, breaking his left arm thoroughly and then paying the slave-dealer the right price for that female slave that he was aiming to sell before.
Dean was about to faint after passing for that torture. Rick even beat him for a while to teach him a lesson.
Through all that suffering, everything that the boy wanted was to snap back. However, his "Willpower" was now completely gone. What he had left in his body was just enough to keep him away from the infection of "Chaos" and to maintain his body regenerating from the previous harm.
That strange feeling disappeared from his chest after a while. He tried to make it come back a lot of times. If he could have the same strength that he got when punching that man on the face, he would be able to fight back against Rick, at least to maintain his dignity. Nonetheless, he couldn't control it whatsoever.
His mind was getting blurrier and blurrier as he thought about what could have happened if all those lines of "Chaos" in the air subtly started to gather inside his chest again. A bit of hope was still present in his heart. He knew that he couldn't count on luck to face his problems, but he liked to stick to this kind of thing sometimes, so he wouldn't think that his situation was helpless at all.
'You are still thinking like this even after so much time going through torture and never having the chance to fight back, not even when relying on luck. How much did you grow up this past month? Did you get even slightly mature?'
He moved his tired eyes upward, spotting Rick, who was beside him. His chain was still attached to Dean's body and he was talking to Derek, apologizing several times for what happened earlier.
'I think that I still didn't mature at all. Otherwise... I wouldn't need to be looked down upon like this...' Tears accumulated in his eyes, but he struggled not to let them fall. He didn't want to display such weakness to that scum.
His tears had a lot of value for him. He would only allow himself to cry once he got in Refuge Sarah, and just destiny would tell him if those tears would be of joy or melancholy.
Dean gazed at that girl from before.
Their eyes locked. She also was staring at him.
She tried to say something to Dean, but no sound came out.
'Ah, right... She can't say anything because some bastard ripped off her tongue... I wonder why they would do such a thing. Maybe it is some sort of punishment. She might have been the loud type.'
Instead of talking, the girl just moved her mouth, talking to him silently. She was emphasizing each syllable, so it wasn't that hard to understand, even though his mind was quite dizzy.
"Thank you very much." She spoke. Afterward, she gave him the brightest smile that he once received in his life.
At that moment, he saw something that the girl had different from his mom.
Dean's mother would usually be very cold. She wouldn't smile often. That was one of the similarities that she had with his father.
Nonetheless, that unknown girl had the most wonderful smile that he had ever seen, much different from the faint ones that his parents sometimes would show him.
Dean tried to retribute her smile, but he barely had the energy to do so.
The girl looked to the sides, wary of the people passing by there.
When she made sure that everyone was busy with their own things, she locked her eyes with Dean's again.
"I think we will see each other again. I am looking forward to it. Do your best." She moved her mouth slowly again, communicating with him. That phrase wouldn't last some seconds to get spelled, but she needed nearly a minute.
After this, Dean felt that "Willpower" arose in the air and his heart raced.
Dean's eyes widened once he realized what the girl meant.
'W-wait... Is she an Ascendant as well!? She!? And, such a refined and dense "Willpower" really belongs to this girl? But, she is only twelve years old. She Ascended before the average person. A genius, maybe?'
The slave-dealer looked at her briefly, but she stopped to emanate her "Willpower" just in time to not get noticed.
The girl averted her eyes, pretending that she wasn't even paying attention to the situation.
"Well, it was good to talk to you, Rick. And I will consider all this trouble to be solved once and for all. I just hope that this piece of trash doesn't give you any more troubles."
Rick nodded his head to him. He didn't want to talk anymore, and Derek was the talkative type. Any words would lead to extend the subject by miles.
"Well, some bad things come for good reasons. I don't think that this girl would fit the work, anyways. She is still young. And I was thinking for a long time to use her to my own advantage. I think that, with the proper orientation, she can help me to run my business. Sell females as slaves make my reputation go down, anyway. At least here in Refuge Crystal, where it is a taboo."
Rick nodded again, not replying with words.
Derek waved to him, getting his things and leaving that place.
His previous client was already dragged to a hospital, so the fuss from earlier was now gone.
Rick carried Dean to the carriage, throwing him there as if he was a bag filled with useless shit.
"You better not make this kind of scene again, brat. Don't give me a reason to break your other limbs slowly the next time. Also, Hector won't heal this wound for you. You will need to take care of it alone, regardless of you knowing how to do it or not."
Dean kept silent, still wondering about that girl and resting as much as he could.