Adam and Elise are now listening to Julius.
Julius-"So it's an underground fighting arena where prisoners are forced to fight to the death"
Adam-"Really?"
Elise-"You're certain?"
Julius-"Yes"
Joe-"I was shocked when he told me too"
Adam-"Have you seen it Joe?"
Joe-"No, Julius told you about it right after he told me"
Adam-"Julius, where did you find it at?"
Julius-"I had went back to the church to see if Bob and Jasmine were doing ok"
Adam-"It's at the church!?"
Julius-"Sort of, see when I went to check Aurora had just finished the revival spell"
Elise-"I thought the priest said the revival would take all night"
Julius-"That is what he said but he was clearly lying. Once she finished the revival spell, she used a sleeping skill on Bob and Jasmine so they wouldn't wake up for another several hours"
Adam-"Why did she do that?"
Julius-"After she was done reviving them, she exited through this secret door. I followed her where she ended up in the spectator section of the underground arena"
Elise-"So she was a spectator?"
Julius-"No, apparently they needed her in order to revive the prisoners after they die since execution is illegal"
Adam-"So that's how they got around that. I'm certain the guild would not be happy to learn about this"
Julius-"So I have decided to free the innocent people and stop this evil tournament"
Joe-"Well, they are prisoners for a reason not all of them are innocent"
Julius-"I already looked through the papers on them so I know who is and isn't innocent"
Adam-"You're saying you did all of this in the past twenty minutes"
Elise-"And that nobody ever found you"
Joe-"I know your a small fairy and all that but somebody would have had to spot you throughout all of that"
Julius-"I guess I'm just pretty sneaky, now will you guys help me put a stop to this"
Adam-"Slow down"
Julius-"What"
Adam-"You're trying to make this sound like a simple task when it definitely isn't"
Julius-"But..."
Elise-"If they really have a bunch of dangerous prisoners there from the kingdom that must mean whoever is running this tournament has high political power within this kingdom"
Julius-"We can't just do nothing"
Adam-"We won't do nothing. We'll contact higher ups at the guild about this"
Julius-"What is the guild gonna do"
Joe-"They can threaten to remove guild services to the kingdom which will mean this kingdom and it's citizens can't hire adventurers anymore"
Elise-"It is a very serious thing and with how much adventurers do for kingdoms the royal family won't want to lose that so they would shut it down"
Julius-"But that would take so long"
Adam-"It's safer, more effective, and will make us not criminals"
Julius-"You're right but it's so messed up, for this one guy specifically"
Elise-"Who?"
Julius-"His name is Damion and apparently he is the returning champion I guess with him winning fights for over a year"
Adam-"He must be really strong then"
Julius-"Yeah, but everyone in the stands hated him so much even cheering on somebody who burned down a whole village to kill him"
Joe-"He must have done something pretty bad then"
Julius-"That's the thing, when I looked at Damion's papers it said he has never committed a crime"
Elise-"Then why was he there?"
Julius-"Their Their only reasoning was that he is a curseborn"
The group goes silent.
Julius-"What?"
Adam-"So he uses dark magic?"
Julius-"He was born with it"
Joe-"He still used it in the fight though?"
Julius-"Well yeah, so he wouldn't die"
Elise-"Then that's a crime"
Julius-"Despite it being a fight to the death, his attack didn't even kill the other guy who was trying to kill him"
Adam-"Using dark magic is a serious crime Julius"
Julius-"He was born with it so you guys do not understand this"
Adam-"Dark magic is dangerous"
Julius-"So is literally every other skill. You could kill someone with a water skill or an earth skill so what is the problem with somebody being BORN! with dark magic"
Elise-"You don't understand"
Julius-"No, you don't understand. I thought you would, you were hated for being born with powerful fire magic this guy has it the same as you"
Elise-"There are differences"
Julius-"What differences?"
Adam-"Other skills can kill but dark magic can destroy the soul"
Julius-"It can what?"
Adam-"Dark magic is the only skill which can destroy souls preventing reincarnation"
Julius-"Oh..."
Elise-"That is why it's such a crime to use"
Julius-"He had no other option. He was born with it and the only reason he uses it now is to not die. He doesn't even kill the other fighters like the other people do"
Adam-"I can see why you're upset about this"
Julius-"Was he just going to be hated then no option about it"
Joe-"People born with dark magic are rumored to be cursed by demons, that's why people call them curseborn"
Julius-"What does that have to do with this?"
Adam-"The fact is that he will probably stay locked up"
Julius-"So, even if we go to the guild and they take this down which could take months he wouldn't be let free even though he did nothing wrong"
Elise-"Most likely"
Julius-"I can't let that happen, I have to save them"
Adam-"Julius!"
Julius-"What?"
Adam-"Helping a dark magic user is also highly illegal"
Julius-"Can you stop with that, can't you see how wrong this is!?"
The group is silent again.
Julius-"Are you really not going to help me?"
Adam-"We'll tell the guild about this and they will shut it down"
Julius-"How can you be sure they'll do that"
Joe-"The most powerful members of the guild are really against this sort of thing, they'll make sure it gets shut down"
Julius-"Nothing to help Damion though?"
The group goes silent once again.
Julius-"You should be ashamed of yourselves"
Elise-"Look Julius, we don't want to become continent wide criminals"
Julius-"I'll do it myself then"
Adam-"If you free all the prisoners then they will just be escapees and not actually free citizens"
Julius-"I will free just Damion then since clearly he has no hope in your hands"
Elise-"Julius wait"
Julius's golem moves towards the window he opens it and the golem disperses with Julius flying away.
Adam-"Darn it"
Elise-"Did we say the wrong things?"
Joe-"Helping that Damion guy would make us criminals though"
Elise-"I know but, should we follow him?"
Adam-"Or should we go back to the guild to meet with the higher ups about this"
Adam, Elise, and Joe sit together wondering what they should do as Julius flies to the spot in the market where he exited through the ground.
Julius-"I guess I will have to do this myself"
Voice-"Are you sure about this?"
Julius-"They said it themselves, they won't help me"
Voice-"They are just trying to do this the legal way"
Julius-"Yes but, what about Damion?"
Voice-"Why do you care so much about him?"
Julius pauses for a moment.
Julius-"In the beginning, I was just curious what he did. When I found out that it was nothing, I was really invested"
Voice-"Why?"
Julius pauses again.
Julius-"Back in my senior year of high school, I was a scholar but another scholar with me was somebody named Devan"
Voice-"Similar names"
Julius-"Devon was a good guy, a semi close friend because we only had math class together. We hung out occasionally"
Voice-"I assume something happened to him"
Julius-"We were never the closest friends, I only knew him somewhat. One day we decided to hang out after school and go on a nature hike, it was his idea"
Voice-"Did something happen in the woods?"
Julius-"No, the walk was peaceful but when we got back police officers ambushed us and took him into custody"
Voice-"What did he do?"
Julius-"According to the police, he was accused of burglary and they found him guilty"
Voice-"So he wasn't who you thought he was"
Julius-"(Angrily) No, because when they convicted him the time was placed during the middle of our hour long hike, so I know he didn't do it"
Voice-"Well, you were just kids so his sentence couldn't have been that bad"
Julius-"Normally yes, but in some cosmic joke his eighteenth birthday was only a week ago, he didn't have some big party either he just relaxed at home that day with his family"
Voice-"So he was tried as an adult"
Julius-"Yes and he received ten years in prison"
Voice-"Unfortunate"
Julius-"I tried telling them he didn't do it but they wouldn't listen"
Voice-"What happened after that"
Julius-"After graduating Highschool I went off and got a PHD in physics and landed a job at a atomic research center where I have worked for the past ten years"
Voice-"Yes but what happened to Devon"
Julius-"After I worked at the atomic research center for a little over a year, he got out of prison I went to see him, he clearly had a hard time in prison but it didn't get much better"
Voice-"Why is that"
Julius-"Due to his criminal record he had a hard time finding work anywhere and was doomed to live in poverty. We had similar grades in school and our futures looked similar but while I was able to become a scientist he was never able to achieve his dreams"
Voice-"Damion reminded you of Devon?"
Julius-"Both were wrongly imprisoned and unlucky with their birth. Damion was born with dark magic, and if Devon had just been born two weeks later he wouldn't have gone to trial as an adult"
Voice-"I see"
Julius-"I wasn't able to help Devon but I can help Damion. I have to help Damion"
Voice-"Well then, what is your plan?"
End of chapter 13.