Capítulo 6: Chapter 6. Crier
My days have been passing by slowly. It's been about a week since I joined the church, but nothing really happened. No graves needed to be dug nor bodies to burn. I spent my days in my house trying to figure out what I could do with the powers I gained.
The first thing I figured out was that my body was surprisingly light now. Even exercises that I would do during winter to avoid freezing were easy. I could even hold myself up on my left arm, legs extended to the ceiling. There were limits though; I couldn't keep exercising all day, and I could clearly feel my stamina depleting.
Next, I turned my spooky eye powers on and off repeatedly to get a hang of them. As I did that, I noticed that I could leave this power on for as long as I wanted, but after about 3 hours, my eyes felt like they were burning, even if I kept them closed.
What I couldn't figure out was the third thing that floating thing told me. Mana.
"The hell is that thing? I don't even know what mana is. How am I even able to use it? It does say it allows me to use magic. Do I need to shout out a spell for it to work?"
I pointed to the empty wall before me.
"FIREBALL!"
"…"
When nothing happened for a solid minute, I hid my face in embarrassment. Aside from ridiculing myself, I also retrieved my collarbone that I had hidden in the bushes. Not knowing how to make a weapon, I just wrapped the part where I was holding it in some bandages that I found. I also washed it since there was still some ghoul goo on it. Disgusting.
"I'll need to bury this thing when I get a better weapon. But for now, I am counting on you."
I looked outside my window while putting the bone away. The sky was still covered by clouds and was raining, but it wasn't pouring like crazy, meaning it was good weather. Not wanting to be cooped up in this house, I put on my coat and jacket, hiding my bone in one of the inner pockets, and headed out. I already asked the nun to know when I could leave, and she was quite carefree. As long as I returned before dark and if all the graves were dug, I could do whatever I wanted. The dead aren't in a hurry.
As I stepped outside, I walked down to one of the shopping streets. It seemed that I wasn't the only one taking advantage of the good weather; multiple people were walking around with stalls displaying their products to the passersby. As a fruit stall owner who was busy selling some stuff to a customer, I took the opportunity and stole an apple without them noticing and bit into it.
"Oh, this is the best."
Apples here were quite pricey. The rainy weather made them hard to grow, and since they were sweet, they were sought after by a lot of people. This stall owner should have been more careful.
While I walked down the streets, munching on the apple, I could hear a commotion coming from a nearby street.
"What happened?"
I walked over to the noise, where I saw a long-unseen scene. In a square, a podium was placed, while a metallic cage was put on it. In the cage, a man in a red robe stood, in fine red robes and a nose that looked like a beak. Around the cage were several black-armored people who kept the crowds away.
"A crier?"
Criers or town criers, if you wanted the full name, were in charge of announcing the news to the people in order, so that we can follow them. They also sometimes come to tell us about important news but it's rare.
In the upper parts of the city, there were some called 'newspapers' that told people about what was happening, but since no one in the lower levels could read, they usually were thrown into the garbage or used as toilet paper.
Curious about what this old bird will sing, I leaned against a nearby house wall, eating the rest of my apple, and waited.
As the crowd gathered, I had an idea. Concentrating, I saw the gray world, with the shadows. Most people in the crowd had shadows on them, meaning they killed someone, especially the guards.
When I was about to turn off my power, I saw something shocking. In the group, a hooded figure was looking at the crier. They were facing away from me, so I couldn't see their face, but I could see the shadows stuck to them. There were several dozen, all attached to him, moving agitatedly over his body.
As I watched, the shadows did something I never saw. One of them, the biggest one of the group, looked up, and its abdomen split open, revealing something I could only describe as a mouth with jagged teeth-like things in it. Its little stumps became long clawed hands, and it started to move, making hitting and clawing motions at the man, who was oblivious to this.
"That spirit…it certainly looks pissed. Never saw one that angry. Did it die in an incredibly gruesome way?"
Not wishing to see this any longer, I returned to my normal vision and was about to leave when the town's crier spoke up.
"Inhabitants of the lower parts! A week ago, a group of holy knights, may the gods be benevolent to them forever, eradicated a group of heretics who wished to destroy our way of life. As they fought, it came to their attention that some members of this group managed to run away, the cowardly rats they are. The king, to ease the burden of the sacred warriors, has declared a manhunt for the escaped heretics. From today onward, squads of knights will patrol the streets, doing regular searches through the inhabitants' houses to root out all heresy in this city."
This caused most of the citizens to shout, even making me grimace a little. If the guards are going to rummage through the stuff of these people, then there will definitely be blood. This place is filled with illegal stuff; no one will be happy with the people who treated them as garbage going through their stuff.
"I hope they will not go to the cemetery. Then again, I have nothing to hide there."
Chuckling at the idea, I noticed that the man who had the aggressive spirit on them started to move.
"...Damn it."
Very curious about what sort of man would have a spirit like that, I started following them. This could be dangerous… screw that, this is dangerous. Even with the knowledge that what I was doing was stupid, I still continued following the cloaked figure, my gut telling me that this could be an ample opportunity for me. Not to mention, I was confident in my power. I have the body of one of those knights now. I should be able to handle a normal person…right?
I kept following the figure, making sure to keep a safe distance between them and me, with one of my hands on the bone I had. After a long walk, we were in the darkest parts of the slums. The air here was thick with the smell of garbage and despair, with people almost looking like undead wandering around or tough-looking guys leaning against walls, looking
for their next prey. Even without activating my power, I could tell that a lot of death happened here. Somehow, it made me feel a little glad, meaning I didn't reach the bottom of the barrel after all when I was still normal.
While wondering about that, I realized that I lost the figure in an alleyway. Not hesitating, I activated my power, holding the bone tightly in my hand. As the world lost its colors, I quickly checked my environment. As I did, I could not miss the giant slashing spirit that was behind a dumpster.
…
I acted as if I hadn't seen it, turned around, and walked away.
"Not worth it."
I had a cozy life right now. There was no point in ruining it for now. As I arrived back at the shopping street, I sighed when something hit me.
"I should get a real weapon."
*****
From the dumpster, the caped figure peeked out, and when he was sure he was no longer followed, he ran through the alleyway and took several turns till he arrived at what looked like a broken store. The sign reading 'Turk's clothes' was dirty with the letters barely visible. The windows were boarded up, and garbage was spilled in front of it. Quickly, the figure opened the door with a key he was hiding in his cape and stepped in, locking it after himself. The inside was dark and dusty, with clear signs that nobody had been living there for a long time. Not even bothered by the limited light, the man went to the back of the store, where the basement was, and ran down the stairs.
Down there, several candles were lit, and several figures were packing several silver objects into bags.
"What happened?"
One of the packers looked up at the newly arrived one.
"A town crier. Apparently, the guards will search the houses of the slums."
"Damn. We are lucky to have prepared so quickly. This is the last batch. Why are you breathing like that?"
"I was followed. I don't know who they were, but I managed to shake them off quite easily."
"Okay, the next time this happens, just kill them. The dead can't speak. Now help us! We need to get these to the upper level by tomorrow!"
*****
-At an unknown place-
In a hall entirely made from gold-colored marble, several people in shabby armor, and quite young, entered the place through a swirling green portal at the back of the room. Aside from the sound of crackling energy, the room was filled with the murmurs and whispers of the people in here, looking quite excited.
Among these excited kids was one that was smiling like no other. He had brown hair and green eyes; his posture was perfect as a heavy-looking greatsword was hanging on his back. 'Finally, I will become a hunter!' the boy thought.
He and the others in this grand place were training for about 3 months and passing various physical tests to be ready to enter the world beyond the portals, where money and fame awaited them.
As he was dreaming about what he will do with the millions he will make by killing monsters, a three-meter-tall holographic figure of an Asian man with long white hair and silver armor appeared before them.
"Greetings, everyone. To those who don't know me, I am Isamu Haru, leader of Japan's Silver Ribbon guild's greatest party, and the designated guide for you rookies. If you guys are standing here it means that you have made it. You have been deemed qualified to be part of the new lineup of hunters who are tasked to protect our world from the world beyond the gates.
As you all should know, this is a job of great importance. Not only does the gate have resources that help us maintain our way of life, but we need to be ever-vigilant to gate breaks, when portals open up to the other side as well, allowing the monsters to come into our world."
The hologram clapped his hands, the sound echoing in the room.
"Now, you who will now become Awakened, will be able to roam free after the process is done. You can join a guild by contacting one of our representatives here in Dis, or go through a portal that will take you to a different area. Just be sure not to go down to the lower levels because it's a highly dangerous area, and we cannot protect you all."
As the last words left their mouth, the giant doors behind the hologram slowly opened up, letting in a bright light.
"Now, without further ado, I welcome you all to the world of the dungeons."
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