As I made my way to the city center, I bumped into a group of young men, and the one in the lead was instantly sent tumbling down.
"Oh my, I apologize," I said as I bent down to pick him up.
"Don't touch me!" He screamed hysterically.
...
It seems this kid is autistic.
So of course I made sure not to touch him, since I am afraid of triggering him. His mates quickly run to him with frantic looks on their faces as they help him up.
He really is autistic, since they looked scared and worried.
"Can't you see where you are going!? Or are you more blind than... than... an ox!?" The young man screeched, pointing his fingers at me, with his spit hitting the air barrier I set up.
What? I had to make sure he might not mistakenly touch me and be triggered, though I was not expecting such an outburst from him. And why did he not see the air barrier? ... It's air; you can't see air, even practitioners can't see it, so they usually manipulate the air to usually appear green around them.
Won't other practitioners then see your attack? Again, it's air; you can't see it. Imagine throwing an invisible knife at someone; you can't see it, and your opponent can't see it unless the attack gathers some debris in its path. Other than that, it's not an ideal attack method, only useful for defense and movement. It's good when you are close to your opponent, since air attacks can't really travel far, and your opponent won't see the attack coming, literally.
"I think you meant a bat?" I corrected him as his face turned red. It seems he was already triggered, huh?
His fat face quivered, and his body shook. By the way, his belly was moving up and down with every breath he took; it seems he was having trouble breathing.
"Young master, please calm down.
One of his helpers said, looking concerned.
The others looked like they were giving me a sign to leave since I might trigger the young man more by being there, so I excused myself.
"Don't tell me to calm down! And you! Stand there for me!!" The fatty yelled again, his voice louder than before.
I, of course, stopped and looked back at him innocently, I might add, since I did not know what he wanted.
"Who said you should leave!?" He asked with a trace of fury in his voice? Wait, is he angry at me? That can't be right?
"Uh, no one?" I responded with confusion in my voice. I mean, you would be confused too if a young, autistic, fat man got angry at you for accidentally bumping into them.
"Then why did you try to run away then, when I did not ask you to leave!?" He asked again.
"I was not running away; i just felt it was not convenient for me to be here."
"You think you can run after hitting me to the ground!?... Guards!!"
Suddenly a dozen men suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wearing shining red armor, standing behind the boy in a neat line. One of them stepped out, in orange armor, looking at me coldly... Which I did not like.
"Come with us nicely," he barked, as I caught sight of his hands reaching for his blade, as did his subordinates.
"What if I don't?" He clapped back calmly.
"Then don't blame us!"
"Yes, guards, seize him!" The fatty screamed, pointing at me.
Okay, I am getting a bit tired of this young man. I can be patient at times, but I am actually in a hurry to quickly get to the city center. The meeting might soon start, and the sect master would not be happy if I came late.
I felt the tension rise as the onlookers, well, looked with bated breath.
"Please stay your hand." A lovely and sweet voice was suddenly heard.
I looked in the direction I heard the voice come from and saw a girl of about 16 to 18 walk out of the crowd.
She had light brown hair and almond-shaped eyes, having gold irises resting in them. She dressed quite commonly compared to others that came in lavish clothes to the city. Of course, this was the only road that led to the city center entrance, so she might also be an aspiring practitioner.
"What do you want?" The leader of the guards asked as he blocked his young master behind him, who was looking at her with a strange look and was licking his lips.
Is that another autism thing?
"I just came to inform you that fights and private guards are not allowed on the road leading to the city center on this day," she said with a shrug as she came to stand by me... A little too close, if I might add.
That means after today, it can? Remind me not to pass here after today.
What? I don't like violence; I want peace always.
"So?" The young master quipped.
"So, that means you can get disqualified by bringing your guards here," she explained matter-of-factly.
The guard leader looked at the young master, who clicked his tongue, and with a nod, the guards that had appeared disappeared.
That was a surprising feat, with how crowded the road was, to be able to conceal themselves like that.
Right, a little explanation: the armor the guards were wearing is inscribed with concealment runes, invisible to the naked eye, but to a practitioner like me, not easy to hide, since they used a level 2 rune for that—cheap, but still expensive for normal people, so I'm guessing he might be from a big clan or family.
"This is not over; we will see inside." He huffed, passing by me with his lackeys, who gave me apologetic looks.
Guess he was not autistic, huh?
"Thank you, young lady." I turned to the girl.
She looked at me for some seconds and, seeming to have come out of some trance, stretched a hand and showed me a ring.
"Y... you had this stolen from you," she said with a blush.
Oh, the ring I let the child that brushed me take was not a storage ring, just a ring that I had inscribed a tracking rune on since I always get lost during my travels, and this helps me get home safely.
"Thanks," I said, taking the ring.
Hm, maybe I should give her something for the trouble.
I took out a ring from my storage ring and handed it to her.
She looked at the ring with an excited look on her face and stretched out her hand to me.
I'm guessing she already knows this is a perfume ring.
I slipped it on her finger and watched as she looked at the ring with a dazed look on her face.
"Bye," I waved as I made my way to the city center.
This experience made me realize that there are still some mortals that might give me some problems when I go out since this is not the first time such a thing has happened.
"Sect master was right; disciples can handle all the dirty work for me," I mused.
Maybe I should really take in disciples since they might make the easy life I want to live easier.