Merchant Of Yliaster

Herman opened his eyes to a familiar place, the threads moving with the same pattern he was used to. Racks of carcasses surrounded him, but the air was strangely sterile, as it had no odor.

The butchery was an unorthodox one, and the few people who ever got to see it were amazed by the fact that Herman could do anything inside. There were no boards to cut things on, and there were no tools to do the said cutting.

Herman never really needed the board, as he was good enough to just cut the meat when it was hanging, but the tool part was a recent development as he advanced to tier 2. The skill the system gave him took care of blunt knives forever.

Herman breathed in and found himself feeling an emotion he hadn't felt for a long time. He could vaguely remember that this wasn't the first time he felt this emotion, but it had been a long time for sure.

When he was a kid, before the times when he wasn't here, there was a time when Herman was a normal kid. That time had been the last instance he could remember feeling like this.

As he stared around the carcasses around him, their threads felt inadequate after the things he had seen. They were simple, and they lacked the depth that the people in the gathering had. Before this, Herman had no idea that things could be complex to a degree, yet his expectations were shattered by the man with the green eyes.

The whole existence of the man-made world felt like it was an illusion. In a way, Herman could call the man more "real" than anything else. It was as if his being was woven carefully by the gods themselves.

For the first time in decades, Herman was feeling bored, and in his heart, he found that it was a great motivator. He took in another breath filled with stale air and took a step towards the door.

Before, the door had a simple function for him; it was just a place for meat to arrive. Now, he could see another use. He pushed it and found that it was unlocked.

Apparently, no one thought that he would try to leave.

Bob punched an elephant on the head and watched its head explode with no particular reaction. This was a common sight for him in the recent days, and to be fair, it was starting to get a bit boring. This rift's unending aggressive creatures were starting to annoy him, but he kept killing them.

His territory grew slowly, and among the beasts, he was starting to find a few that could respect his strength and obey. He was pretty sure Maxwell would have a fancy word for describing his method. Something like "Killing by Selection". Bob really missed his friend, but he really didn't want to lose all the territory he gained by leaving the rift.

He was pretty sure that there would be a point where he would be able to stabilize the forest, but he was not sure exactly where. Luckily for him, though, as his territory got bigger, his abilities seemed to consider this as an act of protection, and he found himself stronger and stronger.

All of the animals under him were now considered beings under his protection, and he was more powerful than ever. For some time now, he had been stuck in level 49, but he had no idea how to surpass that to reach level 50.

Even in his combat craze, which he could proudly say that he could control to a degree, thanks to the unending combat, he could see that there was something he needed to do to reach the said level. Something extraordinary, maybe? Well, maybe finishing the territory would count towards that goal.

As he was lost in thought, his body moved by itself, squashing a boar's head with a slam, and breaking one of its tusks before he shoved it into another's throat. Bob had no idea how these animals came to be, as no act of procreation would be enough to create the number of animals he faced, but he was really, really starting to get sick of it.

"What do you mean, he is the king now?" The commander asked Ellie, his voice tinged with disbelief. Ellie found his brother a bit dense sometimes, but even she knew she shouldn't show any sign of that here. Instead, she chose to explain.

"Apparently, the king liked the leader of the outsiders so much that he adopted him. Then, he liked him so much more that he chose to step down from the throne, making him his sole heir," she said, not being able to keep her explanation completely factual.

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The commander sighed, covering his eyes with a palm. He did that a lot these days. The recent unknown mercenary, the state of the world after the initiation, and the complete instability created by the crashed outsider ship on the borders made the man a stressed mess in recent days.

"I expected a battle, if not a grand one, at least a skirmish. I see that I'm using the logic of old times now. What about the other princes?" He asked, but his tone lacked any hope. In a way, he was right.

"Radam, or Radam Olegor, as he is now called, killed them all, but he was pardoned as he was the only heir remaining. He said that the other princes were planning to kill their fathers to launch a revolution, bringing democracy to the kingdom of Olegor," Ellie said.

"What?" His brother shouted, unable to comprehend the new fact despite his low expectations. Somehow, Ellie couldn't blame him this time.

Merridock moved from roof to roof, his form blending with the orange light the disappearing sun gave. People had always been quite skeptical of his abilities due to his affinity, as they thought that assassins would need something along the lines of shadow as their affinity, but his served him pretty well.

As he moved, he reevaluated the information he received about the job at hand. The organization had been failing spectacularly recently, especially when it came to Rodricks, and Merridock didn't want to mess this up.

It also helped that none of the people on the other missions survived. He didn't want to die a premature death on a stupid political mission like this. It was truly the worst nightmare of any assassin.

He came to a stop over a tall building and moved to the shade, it embracing him like a blanket. He watched as his target moved slowly through the streets.

The little girl moved through the streets like she owned the place, no sign of concern showing on her face. It made Merridock's intuition buzz with doubt. No one wore a smile that pure on the streets, no one but the supremely powerful. The real world never was like a fairytale, and Merridock knew this more than anyone.

This was the outer city, and it was not filled with harmless farmers with good intentions. It was filled with people with dubious intentions, with a very bad state of security. It made his job a lot easier. He shrugged and appeared behind the little girl, his body momentarily moving like a hum of light.

The little girl was walking through a shady back alley like she always did when she was returning home, and Merridock was truly curious about how nothing happened to the girl before he arrived.

He lifted his dagger and prepared to hit the girl with the handle. He could kidnap her without knocking her out, but he didn't want to traumatize her needlessly. The smile the girl wore felt almost sacred. It felt wrong to replace it with terror.

He brought his hand down, and for a moment, he felt contact. Yet, the feeling was wrong. His eyes widened, his eyes registering the reality before him after the first input of his sense of touch.

He gazed at the handle in his hand with incomprehension, as it was buried in a teddy bear's belly. The feeling was soft like it was a normal teddy bear, yet the fact that it was standing on the girl's shoulders proved that this was quite untrue.

Merridock jumped back, his reflexes kicking in despite the weird situation, but the bear's eyes never left him as he created some distance.

"Huh?" The girl exclaimed as the bear jumped on the ground and gazed at the bear with widened eyes. "Pax? You can move?" the girl asked with no emotion other than delight. The same careless smile could still be seen on her face.

As much as Merridock was amazed by the level of carelessness shown by the girl before him, he was distracted by something. On the ground, a previously small teddy bear, which is apparently named Pax, slowly got bigger with no signs of stretching. It looked more like an illusion than a real phenomenon.

As its size got bigger, Merridock started to feel a hint of fear in his heart, which slowly evolved into a storm of negative emotions. The bear took a step forward, and the emotions revolved, as Merridock felt his vision getting hazy. Why was he here anyway? What was the point of it all if death awaited them all?

The bear took another step, and Merridock started to cry. Why didn't he have a family like the others? Why didn't he have the same opportunities? The rich prospered in their inner city, while he suffered since he was born in the outer one, and he was forced to do things he hated for all of his life. What was the point?

The bear took a couple more steps, but Merridock found himself not caring. No fear could penetrate the apathy and anger he felt towards the world. The anger felt hot, and the apathy cold, yet even he didn't understand why he didn't act as he was hoisted up by the paw of the bear, who was now staring into his eyes.

In these eyes, he understood why he didn't act. For all his anger, what could he manage to do by himself against this unfair world? He was just a single, insignificant assassin who didn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, he would not amount to anything for all his anger.

As the bear's jaws closed in on his neck, he smiled into the darkness. He understood his purpose now. He would be one among many, but he would matter in the end. As a whole, they would matter, and they would be made fair.

It would be a world where no little girl cried.