The Abyssal Monsters and Poisonous Miasma

"That pesky human again. What does he exactly want from me?"

Behind the door, Riize asked herself with a frown. On her hands were two ceramic plates, ready to twist a spin in the air if the man were to utter any more repulsive words to her.

"Love, maybe? It is normal for a vigorous young man at his age to act that way when it comes to the matter of heart."

From behind her, a faceless slime glided from the direction of the kitchen, saying flatly as if it was stating a matter of fact. It had only slipped out a panicked expression when it saw the valuables in her hands.

"My goodness! Put that only fortune of ours down in this instant, young lady! Slowly, gently, and one at a time. It's the only remaining thing of value that we have!"

Riize blanked out, nodding upon the realization, "Oh."

She placed the plates back to its exquisite packaging box, wrapping the box carefully with a silk cloth before putting them aside as per the slime's instructions.

"Tsk, be mindful next time!"

The seemingly-displeased slime coldly snorted, to which Riize merely rolled her eyes as a reply, her mood no better.

That human… To bug her everyday without rest despite her continuous rejection and blatant dislike, what was he thinking? Or to be exact, what does he intend to obtain from her?

Riize furrowed her eyebrows, numerous speculations popping in her head.

With an unsettled mind, she retreated to the dressing table in her dimly-lit bedroom, grabbing the fearsome mask of a devil she had casually strewn beside her bed.

As she sat before the only existing mirror in the house, she pulled her hood down, letting the rough fabric crumple on her narrow shoulders.

Needless to say, she looked not much different from the first time she set foot into the town of Mork, despite the passing of nearly half a year.

Aside from the gruesome patch of burnt mark taking most of the space on her once delicate face, it was the tiny horn poking out of the top center of her forehead that had garnered the most of her attention.

With a face as hideous as this, just what had the human seen in her to be this persistent?

A glint of mirth flashed past her darkened eyes. Love? Hah!

Riize scoffed, her lips curling to form a mocking scowl.

"Utterly ridiculous."

===

After completing her daily routine, Riize didn't stay for long. She pulled her hood to hide her tiny horn and wore her devil mask, securing the knot on her cloak tight before she left for Mork's fleeting market with the silk-wrapped box at hand.

She hadn't locked the door, presuming that even if she did, anyone with enough malicious intentions could easily break into her stay from all sides with a little bit of effort.

And due to a certain someone, she hadn't bothered to leave any additional marks that could give away the presence of unwelcome visitors in the house, knowing well that the man would come to ruin all her meticulous traps in no time. 

Oh what an annoying fly he was!

Nevertheless, she could do nothing to the man for now when her companion, Pookie the know-it-all slime, refused to make the first move. The centuries-year-old slime had a far richer experience than her and its survival instinct rarely went wrong. Thus, she could only endure him for now — at least, until she couldn't hold back her itching hands and went to deal with him herself.

As she navigated the familiar path to the fleeting market, Riize raised her head to peer at the gradually clearing sky and surroundings. Judging from the thin layer of murky air veiling the surroundings, she must have set out quite early for the day – thanks to a certain someone.

Still, it was better to be early than to be late. Wasn't there a saying that early birds get the worm?

Riize comforted herself, and it was only then did she felt a bit better.

Similar to the Demon Realm, the borders welcomed the surge of poisonous demonic miasma on a regular basis. But unlike demons, humans and monsters were prone to the dangers the miasma wields. Due to this, the 'day' in the miasma-covered area was mostly divided into three time intervals: the working hour, hunting hour, and hiding hour.

The Working Hour referred to the time when most of the miasma receded into the abyssal cracks. It was the only time when the weaker humans and monsters could move around freely, the hour lasting for an approximate time of 12 hours.

Next was the Hunting Hour, when the miasma started to reach out to the surrounding area, bringing along the abyssal spawns out of the cracks. These evil spawns feed on the flesh and blood of the living, a very dangerous existence equipped with sturdy builds and some, with special abilities. However, as dangerous as they were, their bodies offer precious treasures free for the capable to retrieve and thus, for some, this was their 8 hours long hunting hour.

Lastly, the Hiding Hour, which spans for the remaining 4 hours, was when the circulating demonic miasma started to get nasty, being able to affect even the strongest circle of humans in history. In this hour, humans would retreat to their respective settlements and hide behind protection barriers, a mana-powered magical formation that could stand against the miasma and deflect them away.

"Handsome misters and beautiful missus, come! See what you want and I'll give you the best price!"

"High-quality Grade 3 turmerics, anyone? A gram for 5 Ethers! Take ten, get an extra gram as a bonus!"

When Riize reached the perimeter of the fleeting market, rows after rows of temporarily-set stalls started to line as far as her eyes could reach, vigorous shouts of the vendors coming from her left and right.

Although most of the towns and settlements were dominated by humans, it didn't stop the Demon Realm's only-existing currency, Ethers, to be widely used in the border's areas, noting that most of the customers the locals dealt with were people who frequently went back and forth from the Demon Realm.

And the fleeting market, a popular district that was located in neither surrounding towns and settlements, was naturally of no exception. This special district was as the name stated, a momentary market district that would be set up the second the demonic miasma showed signs of retreat and torn down once nearing the end of the Working Hour.

Due to the sky-high rental price of the area within the magical barrier, most small merchants couldn't afford even the lowest tier and thus chose to set their stalls on uncovered sites such as the current location. Though bothersome and dangerous to a certain degree, they were readily available and most importantly free of charge.

Like a fish in water, Riize navigated the chaotic place with ease, reaching her destination spot in no time. It was a very popular stall that offered a huge variety of herbs, ranging from the most common and cheaper ones, to the rarest and most precious ones that could easily fetch hundreds or even thousands of Ethers.

It wasn't easy to land a hand on these precious herbs and naturally, being one of the main suppliers to the business, Riize was favored by the vendor so much that upon catching sight of her drifting figure from afar, the vendor jumped out of his seat to wave his hand at her in glee.

"Oii, Little Riize. Has the sun risen from the west today? How are you so early here?" 

The vendor Martin, a fat and round middle-aged man with a bald head, whistled in an attempt to tease her, only to realize that there's no such thing as a sun in the borders.