Chapter 3 - Encounter

After traveling for half a day, the fat man finally stopped talking to Loki. The number of questions the merchant asked was so numerous that his eyes were on the verge of shutting down. Luckily, the inquiry halted before he fell asleep.

Loki learned that the merchant was hurrying back to Vestia to sell the information about the 5 golden pillars—which the fat man repeatedly asked him. Loki had no idea about the 5 pillars of light, if something like that appeared in the sky, why wouldn't he notice it? In any case, he ignored the topic and focused on himself.

At last, Loki had time to check his Class and skills. With a thought, his Blessing popped before him. The first thing he did was read the description of his skill [Soul Assimilate].

[Soul Assimilate Description: Ability to assimilate the souls of those you have harvested. With this skill, you will be able to use the ability of the soul you assimilated as your own.

Soul Assimilated: None.]

Wow, I can use the skill of anyone who died. Isn't this overpowered? What if I assimilated a powerful Crawler? Does that mean I can gain that Crawler's abilities?

Question upon question flooded his mind. As a result, his bubbling excitement increased by the second.

Due to his fidgeting, the fat man beside him noticed it and immediately asked. "What's wrong? Do you need to pee or something? If you do, say it. I don't want my product to smell like piss."

"No, I'm fine. I just remember something funny."

After hearing that, the fat man looked straight ahead and ignored Loki.

Loki decided to dampen his excitement. He would rather walk than listen to the obese man's endless mumbling.

With that done, he resumed his activity.

[Soul Domain Description: Ability to create a domain that will place everything that it engulfs under the user's influence, strengthening you and your allies and weakening your enemies. This skill will be dependent on your Death Affinity.

Soul Domain Power: 1%]

His emotion toward his second skill was a bit underwhelming, in stark contrast to what he felt toward his first skill. He had difficulty understanding his second skill. Yeah, buffing himself and his allies sounds good, but the skill buff was rather low for his liking. In any case, it was better to have the skill than nothing.

Turning his attention to his last skill.

[Soul Harvest Description: Ability to harvest and store the soul or soul fragment of those who died under your influence.

Soul: 0

Additional Effect: Soul Inventory.]

What! Do I need to kill someone to harvest their soul?

His passive skill washed away all the excitement he had for his first skill. Even though he worked burying a dead body for 5 years, he never imagined being the cause of someone's death.

Amidst Loki's dilemma, a commotion halted their advance. A few meters away from them were multiple people who were fully clothed in black; even their faces were hidden by a mask cloth. They were simultaneously attacking a person who wore plate mail.

This pulled Loki away from his Blessing. He leaned a little bit toward the fat man and questioned. "What's going on? Why are they attacking that person?"

The fat man copied Loki and whispered. "I think they are trying to rob the man."

"What? There are robbers here?"

Loki scanned the surroundings. The place was still barren, with a few trees scattered around. Most of the ground was dry and cracked, but occasionally a small area would have grass growing on it. It was a bizarre view.

Before he could finish scanning the place, the merchant ordered the horse to turn around, avoiding the commotion that blocked their way.

"Wait, aren't we going to help him out?" Loki asked, stopping the merchant's hand from flicking the reins.

The fat man looked at him with disagreement and advice. "Let me tell you something. Don't ever meddle with other people's business; you will only bring harm to yourself and the people around you."

"But if we leave him here, they might kill him."

"Listen here, kid. Look at them. The man being attacked was clearly a Blessed, and some of the attackers are one too. Do you think normal people like us have the ability to interfere?"

Loki stared at the fat man with confused eyes. "I don't think you're a normal person. How can you travel alone on this path with your merchandise without being robbed? I don't believe those people will ignore you when they see you have a lot of things."

"You sure are sharp for someone who came from a no-name town. But you misunderstand something. I'm normal, but who says I'm traveling alone?"

Hearing the obese man's words, Loki couldn't resist giving the cart's surroundings a final scan. When he couldn't find what he was searching for, he turned to the fat man and inquired. "I don't see anyone. Wait, are you talking about your horse?"

The fat man looked at him with unamused eyes. "No. Why don't you try looking inside the wagon?"

Loki didn't account for that. All sorts of items filled the wagon; how could someone stay there without making any sound for half a day?

"Are you guys talking about me?" A bald, black-skinned man said.

"Woah!" Loki exclaimed in shock and almost fell from the wagon.

Loki's doubt vanished when the head of a man appeared in the merchandise.

"Oh, by the way, fat man, the guy is running towards us," the bald man informed.

"What!" The merchant said in shock.

Loki glanced behind the wagon, and sure enough, the man holding a sword was running towards them, bringing with him four people carrying knives.

"What the hell is he doing?" The fat man shouted, his belly moving like a wave.

"What should we do? I don't think your horse can outrun them," Loki asked while his sight never left the people behind.

So that's a Blessed. This is the first time I have seen someone that fast, and there are three of them. Now that I'm a Blessed, can I run like them?

"What can we do but stop and have a proper conversation?" The merchant pulled the reins, halting the horse from taking another step. After that, the fat man went down from the wagon and nervously walked to the back, facing the people running towards them.

Loki followed the merchant, curious about what was going to happen. He knew the situation wasn't good, but he couldn't control his lips from forming a smile on their own. Whether it was due to fear or excitement, he didn't know.

Just behind them, a black, muscular man exited the wagon. He didn't have any clothes, except for the brown pants. Even his feet didn't have any protection from the burning ground.

How can he endure the heat?

Loki didn't manage to completely scrutinize the black man as the group of troublemakers arrived.

The man with the sword stopped before them, but before he could even speak, the two robbers—who were able to catch up to the Blessed swordsman—preceded and said. "Who are you? This is not your business; turn around and leave."

"That's what we are intending to do. So, are we free to go?" The fat man said with a disgusting smile plastered on his face.

"Wait!" The swordsman interrupted. "They are from the occult, pretending to be robbers. I have important information for the church; if you help me bring it to them, they will surely reward your effort."

The merchant's demeanor changed when he heard there was going to be a reward. "Oh, I didn't know this was related to the church! This one is a loyal servant of the Goddess; of course, I will help you."

Loki rolled his eyes. The fat man's acting was so bad that even a small child would know his true intention.

"Hey, fat man! If you don't want to die, leave! If not, I will curve this knife into your fat belly!"

The merchant acted like he was very offended by the words and screamed like a pig. "How dare you! I see, you two are indeed from the occult! Lorenz, go and help the man from these abominable people!"

However, after waiting for a while, no one reacted to the order.

The obese man embarrassedly glanced at the bald man and whispered. "What are you doing? Come on, help your partner once."

"Hey, this is not a part of my contract. My job is to protect the wagon from any attackers, but you're the one provoking them. So, this is out of my contract," Lorenz whispered back.

"You greedy bastard. Fine, I will increase your pay."

"Nope, double it."

"What!" The merchant couldn't hold himself back and exclaimed. Realizing this, he awkwardly looked at everyone, then whispered again, like it never happened. "Don't you think that's a bit unreasonable?"

"I don't think so. I'm risking my life for something you cause. If you aren't someone I have worked with for a long time, I would have asked you for more."

As the two of them converse. Loki couldn't believe what was happening right in front of him. Are these two serious? How can they argue while in the middle of this?

The two robbers finally lose their patience and pounce at the swordsman. The swordsman wasn't surprised and swiftly dodged the first attack and blocked the other one with his sword.

Loki's eyes sparkled after witnessing the display. He had dreamt of watching something like this his whole life. The only time he viewed an exhibit of fighting was when his father trained with his party members. But that happened a very long time ago, and the image became blurry in his mind. Now that he was looking at a true life-and-death situation, his heart beat even faster.

Loki ignored the dealing between the fat man and the bald man, focusing his attention solely on the three Blessed.

The swordsman was fast and precise. However, the two robbers weren't too far behind when it came to skill. With the robbers' coordinated attacks, they slowly overwhelmed the swordsman. If the robbers had fought fair and square, the winner would be without a doubt the swordsman.

When the two robbers were about to corner their prey, the swordsman used some kind of skill that made his sword illuminate. When the two robbers saw this, they agilely jumped back. Even so, the swordsman continued his attack. With a swing of the sword, a white slash appeared and rushed towards one of the robbers.

When the crescent moon slash was about to land, the black-cloaked man vanished and reappeared behind the crescent moon.

Loki's mouth dropped; the real fight between the Blessed was even more amazing than his imagination.

"Fine, I will double it!" The fat man shouted.

It seemed the argument between the two was finally over.

The black man stretched and cracked his knuckles.

"That's more like it."

Loki glanced at the two. When he saw the bald man sauntering towards the fight, Loki noticed something that confused him. "Aren't you going to use a weapon?"

The bald man looked behind him and smiled. "Weapon?" He kissed his biceps. "These bad boys are my weapons." Then he dashed towards the robber behind the swordsman.

"Don't worry, kid. That man's Class is Brawler. Those arms of his are deadlier than those weapons," the fat man explained.

Loki had no idea what Brawler was, but seeing the merchant's confidence, he chose to believe and watch.

Lorenz's speed was even faster than the three Blessed. With one push of his foot, he traveled across the distance and reached one of the robbers. With a grin, Lorenz threw a punch, startling the masked man. Still, the robber was quick to react and block the punch with his knife. It was futile. The black-cloaked man flew away, signifying the terrifying strength of the bald man.

However, before the masked man could reach far, the other two robbers finally arrived and caught their flying comrade with difficulty. Regardless, the attack was still able to injure him, as a tint of red was visible on his black mask.

"Do you understand the complications you will receive with your action?" The injured robber said in a hoarse voice.

"Hahahaha!" Lorenz amusingly laughed. "Complications? Why will I worry about that? If all of you die here, then who's gonna tell on us? As the saying goes, dead men tell no tales." After saying that, the bald man disappeared, then reappeared in front of the injured robber.

The three masked men scattered, attempting to surround the black man. Yet, their effort was useless. Lorenz was just too fast. In the blink of an eye, the black man was already preparing to use his fist, targeting the Blessed.

When Lorenz's attack was about to land, the same thing happened. The robber vanished and popped behind Lorenz.

The masked man seemed to be using a skill, as his knife glowed like the sword of the swordsman before. With agile movement, the robber thrust his glowing knife into the bald man's back.

The knife didn't even manage to get closed and was immediately halted. Lorenz grabbed the robber's wrist and smiled wildly. "Don't you know that you shouldn't fight a Brawler in close combat?"

The masked man screamed in agony as the bald man broke his wrist. "The Occ-." The robber was about to say something but got interrupted by the fist on his face.

"Wow…" Loki could only utter a single word; he was too amazed to think. But then he noticed something in the background.

The two robbers were escaping in different directions.

"Lorenz, they are escaping!" Loki warned.

Hearing this, Lorenz turned his attention to the two robbers and complained. "Oh, come on! Don't make my job difficult!" Then he went after them.

"Huh, serve you right." The fat man smirked and mocked the black man.

Loki ignored the obese man's remark and placed his focus on the other fight. It seemed that without his partner, the other masked Blessed couldn't handle the swordsman.

Even though the swordsman had a few cuts here and there, those injuries were far from fatal. However, the robber, on the other hand, couldn't counter-attack as the swordsman unleashed a set of sword combos that left no time for the masked man to breathe.

Sure enough, a fatal mistake occurred, as the robber missed his timing. The swordsman didn't waste the opportunity and thrust his sword into the masked man's throat, wetting the dirt with the blood that poured from the robber.

Loki didn't even flinch after witnessing something gruesome. He was so used to death that they didn't bother him anymore.

After defeating his enemy, the swordsman slumped his butt on the ground, exhausted from his life-and-death experience.

When the fat man saw that the fight was finished, he sauntered to the tired Blessed.

Of course, Loki didn't want to be left alone and was about to follow the fat man, but then he perceived something moving within the periphery of his sight. The other masked robber was still alive and was about to throw his knife at the unsuspecting swordsman.

With no time to think, Loki picked up a stone large enough to fill his hand and quickly hurled it at the robber. Nonetheless, his speed wasn't fast enough. The masked man was able to project his knife before the stone hit his head.

Due to lowering his guard, the swordsman couldn't discern the danger. The knife struck the exhausted Blessed in his throat.

Seeing this, the fat man screamed. "No! My reward." Worried about the reward, the obese man accomplished something impossible by swiftly running to the swordsman. "Don't die yet! The information, give it to me first!"

Regardless of the fat man's words, it was already too late. The swordsman died with his eyes wide in shock.

Loki could only shake his head in disappointment. The effort put into fighting the unknown men went to waste.

"What happened?" Lorenz returned with both hands soaked in blood.

The merchant looked angrily at the bald man and shouted. "This is all your fault! Why did you not make sure the enemy was dead? Now, we gain nothing from this!"

Lorenz shrugged his shoulders and responded. "Hey, don't blame me. How would I know that man will die for someone who is already in a half-dead state?"

Loki ignored the two while they argued; his focus was on the green ball of light floating above the robber's corpse.

Can't they see it? Wait. Is this related to my skills? Yeah, because I hit the robber with the stone, does that mean I have some influence over his death? So, that ball of light. Is that a soul?

Loki approached it cautiously. When he was close enough to touch it, he extended his hand, curious what would happen if he grabbed the soul.

When his hand made contact, a notification appeared in front of him.

[Do you want to harvest the soul of Mel? Yes/No]

Without thinking deeply about his decision, Loki responded, yes.