The Eagrelan Kingdom, Bluerise City, Slums
In the weekly market that is situated in the center of the slums, countless people were walking back and forth looking at all kinds of merchandise. From fruits to meat and everything in between.
The merchants were doing their best to attract every customer that reached their vicinity. Living in the slums was a tedious thing, one bad day at work as a merchant and you could stay without food for days. That's why fights over customers are nothing out of the ordinary.
This situation also applied to the people that live there albeit with even more intensity. Being dirt poor was the norm in this area, this explains the shabby clothes of most people in the market. In fact, almost no decently well-off human will have the desire nor the audacity to live in the slums unless he had a death wish.
"How much are these berries, geezer?" Two tall and skinny men halted in front of a stall and asked the old man sitting silently.
The old man looked frail to the point where anyone could mistake him for a skeleton. He held his wooden can to his side as he gazed at the two customers.
"7 copper coins." The old man answered after some time.
"7 copper coins?! Did you get these berries from Ecrasia or something?! This is outrageous!" One of them shouted angrily. His loud voice made the old man flinch in annoyance.
He glared at him with an extremely cold look and said in a slow manner "7…copper…coins."
The skinny man felt the threatening aura that oozed out of the old man. He could've started a fight but he didn't want to grab the attention of the population around him. He needed those berries urgently so he clenched his teeth in frustration.
"Fuck! Fine, give me 3 kilos of these." He said.
"That will be 24 copper coins."
Then, the man took the huge amount of berries and intended to walk away. However…
*Swish*
"Huh?!" A weird voice came out of his mouth in shock. He looked ahead of him and saw a small child holding a bag full of berries and running away at an alarming speed.
"Shit! He stole the berries!! We need to get him!" The man cursed as he pulled his friend and started running between the masses.
The bustling market made their chase even more tedious. They barely could see the small frame of the child as he ran left and right.
"This piece of shit! If we don't catch him, our plans will go down the drain! Hurry up!!" The man shouted in fury.
The chase lasted for 30 minutes. They chased him all the way from the market to the outskirts of the slums where the population was quite scarce.
"Shit! I can't run anymore! I feel like I will faint!" The other man suddenly halted his steps and bent down on his knees gasping for air.
"I will follow him! Come after me."
The boy had already taken a turn in the near alley.
They could still see where he went so the man didn't want to lose his tracks.
When he turned to the alley that the boy went to. He found the child standing in front of the wall motionless. It was a dead end.
"Hahaha! You bastard! You thought you could run away! I will beat you up for making me run like this!"
However, the child didn't react to his voice as if he didn't hear him. This infuriated the man even more. So, he approached him and grabbed him roughly from the shoulder.
But, when the child turned around, a spine-chilling coldness suddenly invaded every pore of the man's being. He felt his heart stop for a moment as he looked into the boy's eyes.
They were cold, emotionless, and almost inhuman. They were so lacking in any human emotions that they put insects to shame.
'W-What is this? I…will die.' The man thought frantically. He didn't know why, but just looking at the boy made him feel like he was held by the neck by a soul reaper.
The young man saw the deep horror in the man's eyes so he spoke to him in a calm, terrifying tone "What do you want?"
The man started slowly retreating, but then, it hit him.
'Why am I scared of a mere child?! Did I go crazy?!'
He couldn't believe the fact that a child could threaten his life so he shook his head and glared at the boy again.
"Give me the berries and I will only beat you up without killing you."
Silence suddenly took over the place, the man watched attentively what the boy was going to do. He didn't feel it, but his body was already on full alert.
"And what if I don't?" The boy suddenly asked with the same calm voice.
"Then I will murder you! Don't think that I won't dare to do that! You're not my first victim, brat!" He said with a strained smirk.
"I see." The boy only muttered those words before suddenly dashing towards the man.
He was taken by surprise by the sudden action, but he acted accordingly and threw a punch at the boy.
With a swift move, the boy sidestepped and dodged the punch fairly easily. He then grabbed the man's arm and punched his elbow with his left hand intending to dislocate it.
"ARGGGHHHH!!!" A loud groan of pain escaped his mouth as he held his arm. It was very painful but the boy knew that the punch didn't dislocate his elbow.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, he approached the man again.
"You fucker!!!!! I will kill you!!" The man has already lost his sanity because of the pain. He stood up and pulled a knife out of his pocket.
The weapon was not big or sharp by any means, but it was more than enough to penetrate the boy's frail skin.
He then closed up on the boy and thrust his knife towards his stomach.
"Die you bastard!" He shouted with a mad grin plastered on his face.
"Weak." The boy muttered under his breath.
*Bam*
With a swift move, he grabbed his arm again and struck his hand making the knife fall down. Then, he kicked the skinny man in the stomach.
"Blugh!!!" His lungs got emptied of air and his eyes opened wide in shock.
Holding his stomach, the man fell down to the ground whining in pain.
"You could've run away when you had a chance and I would've ignored your threats. But, your ego made you think that I will not kill you. How unfortunate!" The boy said as he looked down at the man.
"Now, your death is set in stone."
*Swish*
The boy tried to do a final strike to the throat to end the man's life. But…
"I won't let you!" Another man appeared out of nowhere and tried to grab the boy.
However, in just a split second, he dodged his hand and created a distance between them.
"Another annoying bug." He mumbled quietly.
"Are you ok, Big bro?!"
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Cough! Cough! That boy is dangerous! We need to go!" The injured man answered.
"But, what about the berries?! What are we going to say to the boss?!"
"Forget the boss! Our life is on the line here and I'm not sure if we could handle him even if we gang up on him! We need to escape!"
Then, the injured man grabbed his knife and a handful of rocks and looked at the boy with wary eyes.
"I said your death is set in stone. Running is useless." The boy said in a cold tone. The certainty and confidence in his voice made him sound as if he was stating nothing but the truth.
*Swish*
The boy dashed straight towards the two men to face them head-on.
"Shit! Go away!"
The man then started throwing the rocks at the boy while retreating at the same time.
The boy didn't stop or even slow down, he just jumped left and right, barely evading the barrage of rocks that were thrown at him every single time.
"Goddammit! Hurry up and go!" The man shouted.
But, his voice fell on deaf ears, his partner, who was standing by his side a few moments ago, was already far away. He didn't even bother to wait for his brother.
"That fucking bastard!" He cursed loudly.
"Die."
The boy finally reached him and grabbed him by his leg. The man tried to kick him but failed miserably.
Then with a quick move, he threw the man to the ground and struck him straight on his throat.
"Urgh!!" One last groan from his mouth and then he lost all strength in his body and died.
It was a one-sided fight, a fully grown man wasn't able to even keep up with a child. No one would believe that this was possible. Such a scene could only be a sick joke to many.
"That goddess put my soul in the body of a child. She really wants me to have a hard time, huh." The boy muttered as he looked at his hand with calm eyes.
His last strike sprained 3 of his fingers. This indicated the state of this boy's body before he got reincarnated into him.
"Not the ideal start. But, this will do for now." Even with the stinging pain in his hand, he clenched his fist tightly with a thoughtful look.
Then, he started walking out of the alley intending to leave. However, a deep voice made him stop in his tracks.
"I enjoyed the show, young man."
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