Chapter 2: Lucian The Silent

"I think he accidentally killed someone with a pill or something 20 years ago."

"So, he's crazy?"

"Pretty much. I heard from the Boss that he also has the Tism or something. I would advise you not to get close to him. Treat him like he has the Rot or something."

"Is that why he only talks to the boss? Is that some sort of sensory thing…?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? He's just a retard."

"Enough! If you have time to chat, then you have time to move your hands and feet! Now!" And once again, Mr. Yang let out a loud roar as the looters were spending their time chatting instead of working.

Unfortunately for Mr. Yang, he couldn't really control them at all as they just started raising their voices even louder; practically screaming.

"Seriously, why can't those Cultivators ever kill a monster cleanly!?"

"Ssh! Shut up, what if one hears you!?"

"They could suck my lithums, then. Those fuckers just immediately leave after they're done — and what's worse, they get all of the lithums we loot!"

"Of course, they're the ones who killed it!"

"And we're the ones who are cleaning it!"

"What would you even do with this crap anyway!? It's only useful for Cultivators! And why are you even complaining when we are the ones looting near the fucking asshole!?"

The voices that surrounded the colossal carcass seemed to be even more chaotic than its mangled flesh, guts, and bones. Those who were on the head of the monster were talking to the people at the other end, screaming their lungs out just to communicate.

They could probably talk to the people in the section they were handling, but it was their way to distract themselves from the smell of the carcass, which was literally everywhere. The carcass was the size of an entire airbus, and from whatever remained of it after the Cultivators were done fighting it, it seems to be an Insect-type monster of some sort.

The smell, the smell was truly horrendous. And while the others were trying their best to distract themselves from this horrendous smell, Lucian just kept to himself; carving away the hours and just whispering to himself.

"3 millimeters to the right, there is a vein," Lucian murmured quietly, "Incision needs to be precise… it needs to be precise or the purity of the lithum would drop. Average purity of the lithums in this monster, 6.34%. Average purity of the lithums I extracted… 7.8%. Not enough, this is not enough. I need to—"

"Ahem, freak."

And as Lucian was busy talking to himself, one of the other looters passed by him, deliberately kicking the bag that Lucian was using to collect the crystals.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't see you—" The looter was about to laugh at Lucian, but as soon as the crystals that fell off the bag reflected on the looter's eyes, they immediately lit up as an excited smile crawled on his face, "What in the… why are your crystals so clean!?"

Lucian did not bother with answering the thug as he just started picking his lithums, patting them clean before returning them to his bag. The looter, however, seemed to have other ideas as he tried to grab one of the crystals from the ground.

"This is unfair! Why are your lithums so clean and---"

"Please, let go."

And before the man could lift the crystal from the ground, Lucian grabbed his hand, putting his weight to pin it on the ground.

"W…woah," the man, however, was just amused at Lucian's actions and even let out a mocking chuckle as he looked at him, "So, you can talk! We all thought you were some sort of retard."

"Please, let go," Lucian ignored the insult; his eyes, not even bothering to look at the man's eyes as they just reflected the crystal in his hand.

"You let go," the man's voice deepened, "You already have so many high-quality lithums in your bag, why don't you share it with—What… what are you doing!?"

And before the man could finish his words, Lucifer suddenly grabbed his knife and placed it on the man's forearm.

"You—"

"I suggest you not to move brazenly," Lucian whispered; his eyes completely focused on the man's arm, "If you move too much to the left, the knife will slice your radial artery — you'll die."

"What are you—"

"If you move too much to the right, the knife will slice your radial artery — you'll die," Lucian sighed, "If you try to punch me, there is a chance that the knife will slice your brachial artery, you will die even faster…

…If you try to move even just a single bit, the knife will nick you — you will still die but much slower and more painful due to infection. You will die whatever you do. So please, do not do anything."

"Let…" The man could really only take in a small gulp as he looked at the knife that was almost digging through his skin, "...Don't be rash. Are… are you really going to kill me just because of a single lithum!?"

"Apparently, that is what your life is worth," Lucian shook his head, "And no, you are going to kill yourself if you move — there is a difference."

"F… fuck… you're fucking crazy," the man then very slowly let go of Lucian's crystal. And as soon as he did so, Lucian also retracted the knife. The man then watched as Lucian just continued picking up the crystals and returning them to his bag without even saying anything else,

"...You fucking retard. Fuck you!"

The man kicked one of the lithums toward Lucian, but before it could even go far, to the man's surprise, Lucian caught it with one hand… while still looking the other way.

"What—fucking freak!"

And as the man finally left Lucian alone, Lucian glanced at him for a few seconds before just letting out a small humming breath and filling up his bag again and once again literally carving away the hours until it was time to get paid.

"Hm, good. Good — $320 for everything."

"$320!? Why is his pay way more than us!? I gathered 1 bag more and he gets $100 more than me!?"

"Shut the fuck up! Come back to me again when your lithums don't have any scratches!"

Everyone clamored and started to complain as Lucian was visibly paid more than the rest of them. But of course, as Foreman Yang mentioned, the lithums that Lucian gathered were far more superior to what they had.

But of course, none of them cared — for non-Cultivators like them, lithums are lithums.

And while everyone was complaining about their pay, Lucian just silently walked away with his money, not even caring about all the glares and insults he was once again receiving.

***

"Hm."

Lucian was now in front of the door of an apartment; sucking in a long and very deep breath as his hand, skinny as it could ever be, touched the door knob. He remained like that for a few seconds, seemingly trying to collect his breaths until they turned normal.

And as soon as a breath filled with at least a semblance of life escaped his lips, he opened the door.

"Malenia, Maeve… I'm home."

And finally, the exhaustion that persisted on Lucian's face disappeared, almost instantly as he stepped inside his apartment. Unlike his disheveled appearance, the apartment was clean, immaculate even; the floors obviously being mopped every day.

Lucian then removed his shoes, neatly placing them on the cabinet beside the door before rushing inside with a smile on his face. He went straight to the shower, taking a bath and scrubbing all of the grime, dirt, and dust away to the point his skin almost bled.

"Malenia, are you awake?" And as soon as he was done and dressed, he just quickly made his way directly to the bedroom; a consistent beeping noise, whispering in the otherwise quiet air as he opened the door to his room, "Daddy's home."

Lucian then quietly walked toward the bed, and there… a woman was quietly resting; more than a dozen beeping monitors surrounding her. She was covered with a blanket, but the parts of her that could be seen were hard to look at. 

The woman was, in a word, shriveled.

If someone else were to see her, they would think they were looking at a preserved corpse, a mummy. Her eyes were open, but there was no life in them; her cheeks were sunken, and her hair barely even existed.

20% of the human population is capable of harnessing and absorbing Lithum, an energy source that is being produced inside the body of monsters. The Lithum they absorb forms an energy core inside their body, which the humans have learned to call Lith.

Lith allows those who have it to surpass the limits of men, enhancing their strength to abnormal heights and sometimes even granting them special abilities. These people, Cultivators as they came to be known, are considered to be the evolution of men. But there is, however, a decimal percentage of the population that is susceptible to Lith…

…and that is exactly what Lucian's wife is inflicted with — the Rot.

"Hey there, beautiful…" But for Lucian, the ghoul being reflected in his eyes was his life, the most beautiful woman in the world,

"...I missed you, a lot."