Sariel moved quickly, striking the aggressive animals as fast as he could.
He and Mein had been at it for three hours. They'd taken a few breaks, but they were still both exhausted."I feel like a king..." Mein murmured, lying on the ground.She was now level 5. Leveling up in the beginning was surprisingly easy.Sariel had reached level 10, and he could already feel it was becoming harder to progress."We'd better start hunting deer if we want our status report to look decent," he said."Absolutely—just give me a minute."A minute turned into two before Mein finally got up. Sariel stood as well, spinning his mace in his hands."Not to be rude, but can I ask your level?" Mein inquired."Uh, 10," Sariel replied."Really? Holy. You can try learning how to generate Imperia now!"Imperia was a powerful energy that boosted the body and was a fuel for skills. Since slayers were the only one that could be blessed with unique powers, they were primarily known for using imperia despite it being something anybody could learn. If they were talented enough."Like it's that easy," Dandy chimed in from a distance, covered in dirt and small prick marks. "It can take months to learn, and years to master." He added, "Anyway, come on. I caught five deer. You two need to catch some today."Sariel noticed a change in Dandy's demeanor. He was no longer acting like an asshole for some reason.Irish, however, was giving Sariel strange looks. He was bleeding but seemed more concerned with Sariel.His alignment was obvious—a yellow outline. Sariel ignored this.Mein and Sariel prepared to hunt deer.Mein was excited, marching forward like a soldier, while Sariel kept a close watch on their surroundings.They passed tall trees of varying colors, green, yellow and sometimes white. The birds flying in the air would sometimes hover over them before flying away.The birds outlines switched from white to red rapidly when it was over them. Sariel assumed they were debating whether to kill them or not. Perhaps they had away to judge a person's level, so they saw Mein as an easy target, but Sariel as an absolute no.Sariel and Mein didn't even target the random big centipedes they would come across, they were focused on finding a deer.At a certain point, it was becoming frustrating.There was no deer in sight for the pass 20 minutes.Sariel stopped walking and said, "Let's go back. We shouldn't go deeper into the forest.""You sure?""Unless we want to get killed.""Right... But damn this is disappointing.""Trust me, I know."They turned back. Maybe Dandy killing spree made the other deers scared?Dandy was resting on the ground when he noticed the two returning."No deer," Mein reported."Check again in the next ten minutes or so," Dandy suggested. "There are plenty of them. One might even see us and try to get a kill.""I thought they were herbivores," Sariel remarked. "Why would they kill us other than for self defense?"They are. But we're not the only ones killing to gain levels."That surprised Sariel, but it made sense given the way deers reacted. That also meant the birds were probably trying to gain levels.Irish suddenly spoke up, "Maybe he scared them off."Everyone's eyes turned to Irish."What? The dude's a freak. I don't get why y'all are acting like he's normal.""Then why did you come here?" Sariel asked."Got told to," Irish said, walking up to Sariel. "And I'm not afraid of a freak. Honestly, why don't you go back to wherever you came from?""And you would know where that is?""No, but it would be better if we didn't have to deal with you living among us.""Hey, hey. Cut it out," Dandy intervened. "Lurock gave him an invitation. If the boss trusts him, he's good.""The boss hires anybody, even cripples. It's just labor, don't be naive."Mein interjected, "You're being disrespectful for no reason. What's your deal?"Irish turned to Mein. "You don't know anything about him, do you?""Well, he's helpful.""Yeah? I'm sure you've seen how the slayers look at him. Why do you think that is? When he showed up outside the gate, they tried to kill him. The only reason he's here is because of Neil and the two others in his squad."Neil, Natasha, and William—three of the first people Sariel ever remembered interacting with.Dandy, who was trying to diffuse the tension, suddenly had a serious expression. He looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.He didn't want to know anything. He preferred to stay ignorant, but... a part of him was desperate to know why.Irish asked Sariel, "Isn't that true?""Yeah, it is." Lying was pointless."Because they can't read your essence. When someone tries, they hear a mysterious voice in their head."Dandy couldn't believe it. He'd heard rumors about a kid with some weird trait like that.Was it him...?Mein, however, hadn't heard the rumors and couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That makes no sense. You're just making things up. The fuck is your issue?"While it seemed they were arguing over a small detail, the ability to read someone's essence was natural among the humans of Gyasku. However, it was considered incredibly rude to do so without permission—like trying to peek up a person's robe to see their nakedness.The individual would also feel that their essence was read. As a result, Mein and Dandy had refrained from doing it.Irish looked Mein dead in her eyes and said, "See it for yourself."Mein appeared perplexed. She then told Sariel, "Why are you letting him say such bullshit? Tell him to fuck off. To stop saying such bogus crap!"Sariel however didn't say anything."Come on! Sariel!" She shouted, frustrated.When she wasn't getting a response out of him she grew quiet.You don't have permission to interact with this essence.The message repeated, over and over. Mein took a step back, disbelief in her eyes."No way... What's with that voice in my head? Who is it?!" She seemed more scared than angry.Dandy tried to calm her. "Hey, hey. Take it easy.""How can you tell me to calm down?! Are you insane? What if he's some kind of monster?"Unable to bear it, Mein ran off.Irish backed away, saying, "Get lost, man. Don't ever let me see your face in the city again."He left too. Dandy remained, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.Sariel took a deep breath and turned towards the forest.Then Dandy spoke, "Wrong direction, my guy. The city is in the opposite direction. Not sure where you plan to go, but it seems dangerous."Sariel was confused, but Dandy just grabbed the deer and started walking back to the city."You shouldn't let guys like that bully you," Dandy added. "Though... I should've put him in his place myself. Whatever, he's just a level 1 punk. You're level 10, right? Yeah, next time, beat his ass.""You're not acting like an asshole anymore," Sariel noted.Dandy shrugged. "Well, if you are some kind of monster, I wouldn't want you to hate me. I just want a normal life, one where I see myself as the main character. Nothing too grand, but grand enough to feel achievable.""I'm not a monster." At least he didn't think he was. This was just System's doing, that was all."Yeah, I don't think you are too. Let's head back."Dandy really was strange...They walked back to the city. As soon as they arrived at the Hunters association Sariel put his mace and shield in his locker.He stood there, facing his green metal locker for a couple of seconds before leaving the building.People were walking up and down like usual.He took a deep breath in and checked the amount of money he had left.20 valus—more than enough for four bread rolls. He should have been hungry, but his appetite was more ruined than usual. But it didn't matter, he would grab some bread to eat.While making his way toward the nearest bread shop, he caught Irish glaring at him and chose to ignore it.He entered a small shop and waited in line.The small bread shop exterior was a bit worn, with a narrow window displaying a few loaves of bread. Inside, the space was tight, with a wooden counter and shelves filled with different kinds of bread. Most of them were just bread in different shapes, such as sphere, rectangle, triangle, etc. Although there were some raisin bread.Once the two people in the line in front of him were done, he walked up to the counter, and requested, "4 bread rolls please,"The baker nodded. "That'll be 8 valus."Sariel took out 8 yellow marbles with an inch-round flat bottom. He got the bread rolls in a straw bag and immediately started eating them while walking away, despite his lack of hunger.Two kids with strange black lines all over their bodies took his place in the waiting line. The lines looked like a physical manifestation of darkness—so odd.The baker had a sudden change in attitude, as if he was dealing with animals. This confused Sariel since the kids were well dressed and had meat on their bones, so it wasn't like they came to beg."I want 4 bread loafs please," she said."50 valus,"He responded.Sariel stopped walking. He wasn't sure what those loafs normally cost. But 50 sound ridiculous."Oh... Ok." She took on her purse, but a man snatched it from her hand."Hardly anything in here," Irish sneered. "Vendor, give me some bread."The vendor rolled his eyes. "Stealing right in front of me? Bold move.""They've got shadow lurker blood in them. Who cares?" Irish retorted.The vendor shrugged. "Fair enough."The little boy lunged, his voice cracking. "Give it back!""Back off." Irish tried to swat him away with the back of his hand, but the older sister moved to take the lash instead.Is this guy serious?Sariel stepped in. "Why would you hit a child?"Irish raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I tell you I didn't want to see you here again?""I asked you a question."He lifted his foot, intending to kick the boy. "Watch me do it again—"Before he could do anything, Sariel punched him squarely in the face, breaking his jaw and sending him sprawling."F-fucc!" Irish screamed, clutching his jaw. He tried to form more words but they sounded like gibberish.Sariel stared down at him, memories surfacing. He should have acted sooner, stopped a child from getting hurt when he had the chance.But he hesitated, like he usually did.He bent down, picked up the purse, and handed it back to the kids.They looked stunned, perhaps unused to witnessing violence."T-thank you," the girl stammered.The boy nodded silently.Sariel turned to leave. A woman with similar dark markings rushed into the shop, moving to the kids, asking if they were alright.Perhaps she heard the shouting of the kids.When they pointed to Sariel, she called out, "Hey!"Knowing what would come next, Sariel quickly walked away.He made his way back to the building where he usually slept on the roof. It wasn't dark yet, so he sat and rested, thinking about Mein. He thought he had made another friend, but he was foolish.He wasn't too bothered by it, but he couldn't help regret paying for her food. That was money he needed!He sighed, and opened his small bag. He didn't need the healing potion, but the sacs of ink. It was from a dectaoctupus. Of course, he was gifted this.He took some of the ink and dabbed it into his hair strains that were out of the knit hat. It was meant to keep the color black.After he was done, he just waited for the ink on his hand to start evaporating. It lasted 'long' in his hair, but not anywhere else."Hey, hey!" someone shouted from below.Sariel ignored it, assuming someone wanted to harass him."I know you can hear me, Sariel!"He paid attention to the voice this time and realized it was Dandy's.What did he want?He got up, moved to the edge, and looked down to see Dandy.Dandy raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I thought they were joking when they said you slept up there. Do you always wear that hat too?""What do you want?""Just wanted to know if you wanted to drink and chill."There was a brief silence."Are you asking me on a date or something?""Oh, fuck you. That's not what I meant. I just… you don't seem like the person people make you out to be. I asked around about you, wanted to see if you'd done any heinous stuff, you know? But all I heard was that Neil's group brought you in, threaten those that tried to kill you, Natasha treated you, and I saw that Louis has an interest in you. Stuff like that never happens."Louis was known to have only chosen 3 people to train."Oh...""So... is it a yes or a no?" Dandy asked."If you were a hot lady... Maybe."Dandy stared at him."I'm joking," Sariel said. Perhaps his humour was only funny to him."Oh. Well, make it more obvious next time."Sariel climbed down from the building. "So, where are we going?""Got any place in mind?""I only know of a restaurant. I'm not sure I'd like alcohol, though." He also didn't have money for it."Hmm. Let's just walk, then.""Sure."They walked on the side walk, ignoring the busy carriages driven by feline donkeys moving up and down.Dandy asked, "So do people really hear a voice in their head when they try to essence-read you? Or is it just some hallucination?""Didn't you try it?""Me? Hell no. I was tempted, but that's crazy rude, and I figured it was something you'd really hate.""You confuse me. Why are you so different now?""I saw you talking to Jasper and avoiding Louis. I respect slayers; I wanted to be one. Almost every kid wants to. Seeing that made me think, 'Oh, this guy is in a different league than me.'""Oh." So he respected Sariel now?Dandy sighed, hands in his pockets. "Why don't you want to become a slayer?"Sariel was puzzled. "Why do you care?""I can't help but think you're someone special who's meant for more than the life you're living. I'm weirdly envious, but not really. I really wanted to be a slayer, so I should be envious of the attention you're getting from a slayer master, but I'm not. It just feels… out of this world. I'm just curious I guess.""I have my reasons.""To be a hunter instead? Really?""Being a hunter has fed me and made me stronger. You have no idea what it's like to be hated by people far stronger than you."Or to have his first memory be absolute helplessness."Then why not become a slayer? Get the training. As a hunter, you'll never be stronger than a slayer.""So you're saying I should take Louis's offer?""Hell yeah. She's one of the most renowned slayers for a reason. Probably in the top 10 slayers in the North. A Museigen too. Insanely wealthy. Why haven't you taken it?"There was an official ranking system, but Dandy rarely looked at it since it made him depressed."Because I've interacted with her before. She makes me feel… like a toy. I don't feel safe when she looks at me.""Come on. The first interaction couldn't have been that bad… right? What happened?""Not much. It was my first time meeting Jasper. Some guys wanted to fight me—they were higher level. Jasper saw and helped me. Then she came over, and when she saw me, she just… looked at me. She tried to essence-read me. Instead of being creeped out like everyone else, she smiled. It wasn't a creepy smile, but it didn't make sense to me. Then she asked, 'Do you want to become strong? I can make you a slayer.'"Her outline was white, ironically."Oh... That makes sense.""Exactly. So, for now, I can only survive this way, becoming stronger on my own terms.""But if someone else offered to train you, would you take it?""If it didn't feel like a trap, sure. But with how slayers treat me, what's the chance of that happening?"