Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Journey

Loki abruptly stood up, startling the priest beside him.

"I have one! Father, I have one!" Loki jumped in joy; he didn't expect that he would indeed receive a Class.

"Calm down, child," Father Laryatt said, smiling at the kid.

Loki withheld himself and turned to the priest with the biggest smile. "Father, I got a Class! It says here…"

Before he could continue, Father Laryatt raised his right hand, signaling him to stop.

"Don't mention your Class to me. I have told you that you must not divulge it to anyone."

"But why, Father?"

"We don't need to discuss that right now; aren't you excited about your Class? Go on, accept it."

Loki nodded in agreement. With a thought, he answered the Blessing and said yes.

The moment he confirmed, a pillar of golden light fell from the sky and went through to the ceiling of the church, then hit Loki's entire being. The light was the symbol of the birth of the new Blessed, a new challenger of the Dungeon. The pillar of light wasn't something new; perhaps a few eyes would glance, but nothing more. But then another pillar befell the church, and another one, and another. The light continuously descended, only halting when 5 pillars layered upon each other.

The sky was so bright and painted golden that it would surely attract people's attention.

Seeing this, Father Laryatt's face dimmed. His fear had come true. He prayed all night nonstop, wishing for the Goddess to spare Loki from the worst outcome. To his dismay, it was more dreadful than anticipated.

He wanted to pull Loki out of the light, hoping for Loki's Class Ceremony to halt. But he didn't do it; he knew it was too late. The light already garnered everyone's attention, and with certainty, the information would be on those unwanted people in just a matter of an hour.

Loki was in a trance; his focus was solely on his Blessing. He didn't even realize how much commotion his Class Ceremony had produced.

His two emerald eyes stuck on the box before him, reading the text with bubbling excitement.

[Name: Loki

LVL: 1 EXP 0/100

Class: Soul Harvester

Title:

Guide of the Soul

Stats:

Strength: 10

Agility: 7

Dexterity: 7

Intelligent: 8

Endurance: 5

Death Affinity: 1

Skill:

Soul Assimilate

Soul Domain

Soul Harvest (Passive)]

After a few seconds, the light gradually diminished until it was completely gone.

Father Laryatt didn't waste time. He didn't even let Loki utter a single word and handed him a cloth sack, then spoke in a hurry. "Listen to me, Loki. In this bag are coins and enough food for you to reach the city in the north called Vestia. I want you to go there right now and look for someone named Gerald. He is a Crawler that can teach you all the things you need to know. Meet him and show him the emblem inside the cloth sack. Tell him that I sent you there to learn; he will not ask you for payment and will take care of you. Also, before you enter a Dungeon, I want you to promise me that you will learn everything and master the basic skills."

The sudden action and words of Father Laryatt confused Loki. He wasn't even used to his situation, and the priest already wanted him to go to a city. Although going to a city was one of his goals—there was no Dungeon in a small town like his—he wanted to at least celebrate it with Father and say a few goodbyes to the people he knew.

He looked at the worried face of the priest and asked confusedly. "Is there something wrong, Father? I can't just leave; even though I only knew a few people in town, I should at least inform them that I'm leaving."

Father Laryatt placed both his hands on Loki's shoulders and looked at him directly in the eyes. "I know, child. But you must trust me; you need to leave now. I know what I'm asking is a bit confusing, but I have no time to explain to you. This is for the best. Just think that you went to achieve your dream sooner than anticipated. So, promise me that you will do what I say?"

Loki had a different opinion, but witnessing Father Laryatt's worried face left him no choice. He nodded hesitantly and said, "I promise to do what you said. But do I really need to leave right now? Can't I do it after eating?"

"We don't have time; you should go now."

Clutching the cloth sack in his hands, he walked slowly towards the exit. However, after taking a few steps, he stopped. He turned around and ran towards the priest. When he was close enough, he hugged the weak body of Father Laryatt and whispered a few words. "Thank you for everything."

The priest reciprocated and hugged Loki back. "Happy 15th birthday. Don't forget all the things that I taught you when you are out there. Remember, whenever you doubt your capability, think of me, who wholeheartedly believes you will do well and become a top Dungeon Crawler."

Loki nodded, his eyes stung from the tears forming in his eyes. A few minutes later, he let go, swiftly faced the door, and strode out, not wanting to let the priest see him in tears.

Father Laryatt could only watch Loki's back, his eyes full of worry.

When Loki exited the church, he gave it one final glance and recalled the memories he had there. After a while, he pivoted and walked toward the north with a determined look.

Loki walked into the town, glancing at the houses and stores. Even though he lived in this small town all his life, he could barely recall any memories he had of it. When he became an orphan, he barely visited the town. He was busy with work, as Mr. Donario always gave him something to do until sundown. Also, the church was a bit far from the town, so even if he had free time, he couldn't go, fearful that the gravekeeper would look for him.

While observing, he couldn't help but notice the murmuring of the town folks. Did something happen?

But upon seeing a fruit stall, his mouth drooled, and he completely forgot the strange murmuring around him. With the coins Father Laryatt gave him, he could maybe buy one. Now that he thought about it, he peeked inside the bag, curious how many coins were inside. His eyes widened the moment his sight landed on the contents. Inside were 5 silver coins, 3 breads, and an emblem.

He ignored the two and focused his attention on the coins. He had never seen this much money in his entire life. After all, a silver was enough for him to survive for a month! The church didn't have money; where did Father Laryatt get the coins? And why give it to him? His suspicion doubled and made him want to turn around and meet with the priest once again. However, remembering the serious tone of Father Laryatt halted him.

Father will never do something to harm me, so I should just trust his words and listen.

With that thought, he held himself back from buying fruit. The coins were something he had to cherish and use wisely. He strode, his eyes only at the exit of the town.

The town was so small that it didn't even have any barricades to protect it. Luckily, there weren't a lot of ferocious animals nearby, as the town was located in a pretty barren place. Even though the catastrophe happened a few hundred years ago, the scar it left on the land still lingered. People could hardly grow any plants. The town would have been in trouble long ago if not for the wandering merchants who sometimes delivered resources. Of course, the price was extravagant; that was why the town became poorer and poorer.

As he was thinking this, he coincidentally saw a merchant sitting on a wagon while a brown horse was pulling it towards the north. He was a bit anxious about his journey to Vestia because he had never left the town before. He was afraid to lose his way. If the merchant would go to Vestia, maybe he could follow them there. It was safer that way, too.

Before the merchant could leave the town, Loki ran towards it and screamed. "Wait a second!"

The merchant seemed to have heard him as it stopped.

"Do you want to buy something, kid?" A slightly obese man wearing a brown hat and simple clothes asked him.

"No, I'm not going to buy anything," Loki said with a smile.

The merchant's friendly demeanor was instantly replaced with displeasure. "If you're not going to buy something, then don't waste my time."

"Wait, wait!"

"What? I'm in a hurry!" The merchant annoyedly said.

"Can I ask, are you going to Vestia? If so, can I ride with you?"

The obese man frowned. "Why would I agree with that?"

"How about I pay?"

The merchant scanned Loki up and down.

But before he could say anything, Loki unveiled a silver coin in his hand, removing the doubt of the fat man.

Seeing the silver coin, the merchant's action changed 180 degrees once again.

With a big grin and holding both hands in front of him like a miser, the merchant negotiated. "Why didn't you say it faster? How about 50 copper?"

Loki had no idea how much he should pay, but looking at the disgusting face of the obese man, he could discern that he was asking for a high price.

"Woah, that's too far, don't you think? How about 20 copper?" Loki had shown a shocked face and made his own offer.

The merchant's smile froze and counteroffered. "Hey, I'm losing money with your offer; how about 40 copper?"

Loki stared at the fat man with exasperated eyes and said, "How are you losing money?"

The two of them stared at each other's eyes awkwardly for a few seconds.

"Anyway, that's a lot. How about 25?" Loki broke the silence and proposed.

"That's too low! 35, that's the lowest I can go!" The merchant adamantly said while crossing his arms.

Loki contemplated for a while, and the merchant seemed resolute with his decision. However, the coins came from Father Laryatt. Maybe if he lowered it a bit, the merchant might accept it.

Copying the obese man, he crossed his arms and declared with resolve. "30 copper! Any higher than that and I will decline. It will be better if I just walk."

Loki wasn't even done with his offer, but he was already thinking of a way to make the merchant accept his proposition.

But then, surprisingly, the fat man smiled ear to ear and said, "Deal!"

The merchant's sudden acceptance made Loki feel that he had been scammed. Nevertheless, he didn't voice his complaint and just climbed the cart and sat beside the fat man.

"Are you sure you're going to Vestia in that attire? I have clothes in my wares, I can sell them to you for a low price," the fat man said while scrutinizing Loki.

Loki examined his worn-out brown clothes. "There's nothing wrong with them; why waste coins? As long as I can wear them, they are still usable."

The merchant shrugged and flicked the reins, resuming the journey to the north. "Well, whatever. I can already imagine the guard refusing you to enter Vestia."

Is it really? I don't know if I can trust the words of this fat man.

Loki contemplated; he was now experiencing the consequences of being ignorant. Even though he had an inkling he was being scammed, part of him still believed the obese man's words.

"I will buy later if the guard stops me."

"Sure, but at that time, the price will increase," the merchant said while grinning.

"Hey, how is that fair?"

"Don't blame me; that's how the world works. If the product is in demand, then its price will skyrocket. So, if I were you, I would buy now while I'm still being generous."

Loki's right foot began to move up and down. He was debating with himself whether he should buy now or wait for later. After all, if the fat man was telling a lie, he would save a few copper coins. But then again, what if the fat man's words were true? Based on the merchant's personality, he would definitely ask for a high price.

"To make it easy for you, I will only ask for 5 copper for the clothes. I will even throw a hat as a bonus," the fat man offered.

Loki couldn't help but look at the obese man with suspicion. With their brief interaction, he could already tell that the fat man was scheming something. The problem was that he didn't know what it was. Upon eyeing the merchant for a few seconds and not seeing the scheme, Loki gave up and said, "Fine."

The merchant laughed happily, stopped the cart, and searched his merchandise. Although he had a massive body, his movement was swift and agile. In just a few seconds, he was already handing him the clothes.

Loki accepted the clothes with disbelief. How much greed did the fat man have in his body that he could move like that?

With all that, the merchant continued the journey, and this was the beginning of Loki's journey to uncover the mystery of the world.

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