The Greatest Merchant

Imuru stared in awe, the Dark Devider raised intrigue in him. From head to toe, it impressed him.

Even with this, he already had his favorite for this battle. "Why is it after the pup?" Imuru thought, a tinge of worry in his voice, noting the size difference between the wolf and Devider.

The Dark Devider took a few steps, before it leapt into the air. He held his club firmly above his head, and brought it down with tremendous force, expecting to land a fatal blow on the wolf.

Imuru gasped in fear for the wolf, only for it to dodge the attack at the last second. The wolf used its powerful jaws to hold the club, and threw the wielder to the ground with ease. Simultaneously it utilized its fire breath, unleashing a stream of fire at the Devider.

The thick smog from the utilization of the fire breath dissipated gradually, as it eventually revealed an unharmed Devider.

"I-Impressive," Imuru muttered in awe. "Not even a scratch?" His eyes flicker with worry. "What now?"

The Gray Persudo no longer snarled at the Dark Devider, as it took a few steps back. Its attention is briefly drawn from the battle. It sniffed the air, then glared at the Devider.

[[<Baseline Skill>]]

[[Hell Bullet]]

In one quick burst the Persudo Wolf fired a high intense laser-like bullet at the Dark Devider. It exploded on impact, scorching the ground and vaporized trees within its vicinity.

"Oh, goodness…" Imuru muttered in disbelief of the power that attack possessed. "Wait… Not all of the wolves can do that right?" He thought over, realizing just how dangerous a pack can be.

Imuru kept his eyes peeled. The heavy dust and smoke gave way to the sight of the Dark Devider, now on its knees, helmet blown off, arms limp at its side and most of its armor melted onto its skin.

The wolf let out a howl. Five pups emerged from the depths of the forest, and playfully made their way to their mothers side, with moderate difficulty.

Being overloaded with cuteness, Imuru let out a sharp squeal. "Oh, my goodness… It's a mother," He muttered, hardly capable of containing his excitement.

A single pup wandered off over to Dark Devider, its mother distracted by the other pups to be aware of what just transpired. The Dark Devider stood up in a flash, and grabbed ahold of the pup, it let out an air piercing shout before it collapsed back to the ground.

The pup wiggled from its grasp, and hurried back to its mother. Imuru removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, once the pup returned safely to its mother.

He let out a sigh of relief. A smile formed on his lips. "Ah, innocent creatures," He thought, watching the mother carry along with her pups.

Once they were out of sight and long gone, Imuru left his hiding spot to investigate the body. He got closer and to his surprise heard breaths of life, shallow albeit, but breaths neither the less.

"Eh… It really lived?" He thought bemused, his expression showing slight concern. "Hm, talk about fighting for survival… I can't bear to watch this."

"Okay…" He turned to the direction he came from. "I-I… I… Straight… Took a turn…" Imuru fidgeted with his hand, his mind struggling to recall where he came from.

He walked back to where he was hiding, and started off from there, to wander.

"I should've marked my way, or something… Now look at me…" He thought, his gaze drifting to the sky, he could see through the canopy.

The forest was an eerie silence unlike anything he'd seen before. Imuru didn't allow his mind to be filled with paranoia, especially considering it's broad daylight and it would be embarrassing if he was.

His eyes darted around ever so often, as he tried to be as vigilant as possible. The forest seemed to grow colder in an unnatural sense and he swore he could hear movement all around him. 

Imuru let out an annoyed shout at himself, and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. "What can sneak up on me… I'll surely tear them apart," He thought, his eyes beaming with rage. 

He stood in place, the sound of rustling bushes and steps drew his attention. With a tighter grip around the handle of his sword, he investigated the issue.

"Someone, following me?… Another person?" He asked himself in a low mumble.

He glimpsed the thing, and swiftly used a tree as cover. Imuru paused for a second, the Imagine of what he glimpsed replayed in his mind. 

He walked from behind the tree for his gaze to land upon that horse he met earlier. The once eeriness he felt from the forest faded in an instant.

The horse turned and looked at him, before it rested itself beside the tree it stood at.

Imuru looked away embarrassed for a moment. "Paranoia." Was all that could murmur, followed by a weary sigh.

He continued along at a brisk pace. With his calmness he managed to find a way out of the forest, back to the clearing and was kindly greeted with the sight of the wrecked village.

He stared on for a moment in silence, his expression blank. "Can't let that happen again," he thought, resting a hand on his hip.

Imuru looked at the palm of his hand, and gazed around in search of something. He strolled around, until he came back up on the path from the village.

Nonchalantly he aligned himself with the path, positioning himself towards the forest. "So, that was a bit reckless… Do I regret it? hm, not really."

"In any case, I'll simply just recreate the path… Sort of. Now first, to brush up this area…" He thought, a strange proud smirk playing on his lips.

Bursting from the palm of his hand, came a flame, a mix of vibrant blue and purple. It encapsulated the entire field, burning the once overgrown wildflowers, and grass down, leaving them in a smooth, low cut elegant state.

The flames returned gracefully to Imuru's palm as this endeavor was through. Imuru glanced around, his palm tightly shut. His face reflected one of bemusement.

He opened his hand. "So… It doesn't leave scorch marks? Oh, and surprisingly neither did it set the place ablaze," He rested his arm back at his side. "It went exactly as I wanted."

"I should probably give it a name… Hmm. Zora... Uh, Belzora… Belzora!" His face lit up with pure enthusiasm. "Belzora. That works."

Imuru traveled back on the path, until he reached the overgrown section. It was already getting late when he began to use Belzora to clear the vegetation from the cobble stone path beneath.

It carried him deep into the forest, much deeper than when he rushed to the confrontation between the Persudo and Dark Devider. 

This time around even in the dark, he didn't feel afraid. In fact he felt a robust sense of confidence. His hand sparked alight with Belzora, as he stood in place, lighting up the forest with a gorgeous glow.

Imuru stood in silence, his gaze fixed at the stars in the sky. The wind brushed across the forest, leaving Imuru with an uncomfortable chill. His attention lowered to the forest and cooked his head, a curious look on his face.

Hidden in the bushes, peering through a monocular, camouflaged in the darkness because of his cloak. His eyes were riveted, mesmerized by the sparks of light that came from the young person's hand.

"What a strange girl… She's dressed quite well. Hm, I wonder what would interest this person?" The man mumbled to himself, resting his monocular.

He paused, an eerie chill rising in his spine. "Why does it feel like someone's behind me?" He thought. Gradually, he turned around to face the person he was spying on, his heart now racing.

Sat right behind, his arms crossed, across his chest. Imuru stared at him, his expression unreadable. "What a weird guy," Imuru thought to himself. 

The man rubbed the back of his head, trying his best to act nonchalant about the situation. "How m-may I help you?" He murmured, in a shaky voice, ending with a light chuckle.

"Why were you watching me?" Imuru inquired, his head cocked in curiosity. His expression hinted at both suspicion and intrigue, as he sought to understand the man's intention.

He flailed his arms in pretend shock, but with genuine fear. "No! no! no! This is just a misunderstanding, I—"

"Uh-huh!!!" Imuru snapped, cutting him off. "So you weren't just watching me?" His voice raised with malice, an unreadable expression, replaced with a stern look.

The man bites his lips. He let out a weary sigh, and looked Imuru In his eyes. "Okay, okay. I swear on my life, I wasn't."

"Uh… Okay." Imuru shook his head. He stood up to leave, not wanting to press the situation any further, seeing as the man seemed to have no real ill intent or even pose a threat to him.

"Wait!" The man abruptly shouted, grabbing back Imuru's attention. He cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Prerent, admittedly one of the greatest traveling merchant of my time."

Imuru gazed at Prerent, a wide smirk of absolute disbelief on his lips. "A creepy merchant?" Imuru murmured, glaring at Prerent.

"Ah…" Prerent disregarded Imuru's words, as he got what he wanted, his attention. "Well, now, maybe I have something you might need. If you follow me, I'll lead you to my wagon."

This does raise Imuru's interest greatly. "Now…" A mischievous smile crossed his lips. "I think I can get what I need from him."

He rested his hands on his hips. "Okay, lead the way." Imuru gave him way, a calmness on his face.

Prerent gleefully smiled. "Alright great. Follow—"

"Wait!" Imuru said abruptly, halting Prerent and dropping his enthusiastic expression. "It almost slipped my mind. See, I'm not familiar with this, so I'd rather stay close to my path back."

Prerent laughed. "That's nothing. For this sort of profession you have to naturally know your way around, see signs and patterns… Even if everything seems familiar," He said gleefully, in the most dramatic way and tone possible.

"Okay. just give me a compass," Imuru swiftly replied, in an nonchalantly tone, his expression uncaring.

Prerent handed Imuru his compass from his waist, his body language expressing defeat. "There…"

"Hm. God it." He closed the compass and attached it to his waist.

Prerent soon after led the way to his wagon. Imuru took swift notice of a horse, the same one he saw multiple times. Made obvious by that amulet around the horse's neck.

"So the horse's your's?" Imuru murmured, perplexed. He now found it odd that he saw the horse repeatedly today and it made him think it wasn't much of a coincidence.

"Ah… Yeah. She's mine," Prerent murmured in a shaky voice. "W-What's the matter?" He asked cautiously, avoiding looking at Imuru entirely.

This raised even more suspicion for Imuru, but he highly doubted the man would accept any wrongdoing. "Hm. Nothing," Imuru replied in a reassuring tone, to calm Prerent's nerves.

Imuru approached the horse and took a closer look at the jewelry around its neck. He gave it a light tap with his finger. He glanced back at Prerent, the idea of what the jewelry might be forming in his mind.

"So he saw me through this? I wonder… Does he do this often?" Imuru mused. It was indeed only speculation, but a good one at that.

Prerent slid the cloth of his wagon open, revealing all that was inside. Imuru petted the horse one last time and headed around to the wagon.

"So what do you need?" Prerent asked, gesturing to Imuru to take a look. 

Imuru peered inside, his eyes dazzled by a multitude of elixirs, armor, and strange weapons. They were certain stuff covered, and chests that gave off an ominous aura.

"So you really are a traveling merchant?" Imuru murmured honestly, quite surprised. This stung Prerent a bit, but he kept a calm face. "...Stuff in there doesn't seem safe."

Prerent glanced inside, and shuddered. "Y-Yeah… Yeah, I also deliver stuff. Of course, I don't know what the stuff is," He drew the cloth of the wagon back closed. "Well, thankfully nothing bad has happened," He thought, a tentative smile on his face.

"Hmm. Anyway, I can't buy anything," Imuru said, slightly embarrassed. "Nor do you have the stuff I need, so…" He turned to walk away.

"Just a moment," Prerent swiftly rested a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Imuru positioned himself back toward him, an innocent, curious demeanor playing on his face.

Prerent cleared his throat, his hands shaking. "I'm sure I could assist in getting what you need over in the next town. As you can see, the stuff I carry are quite valuable and—"

"You want me to be your bodyguard?" Imuru asked, cutting him off mid sentence. He sighed, "Why didn't you just hire someone?" He inquired, perplexed.

Prerent gaze drifted off, as he held his chin. "Ah. Hmm. You see. You know everyone's—"

"You're cheap?" Imuru probed, his tone nonchalant and sure. The only conclusion he could've come to. If these stuff are as valuable and likely dangerous as they seem, he surely gets paid well enough to afford someone to protect him.

Prerent remained silent for a moment. He rested his hands on his hips. "Well… Will you help?" He inquired, his gaze wandering about.

"What is he looking for?" Imuru pondered to himself. He weary sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, sure… To make it simple, my home is empty. So essentials."

"Yes, that will do," Prerent replied, his expression and body language much less tense. He offered a hand, and Imuru shook it.

"Hey, are you sure you want me to guard you?" Imuru asked, as he watched Prerent head into his wagon.

"Yes! Of course, I've seen you. You're not ordinary! Those flames or whatever they were, were indeed quite mesmerizing!" Prerent replied, his voice muffled slightly by his wagon.

Imuru narrowed his eyes. The clanking and rustling in the wagon went dead, just seconds after.

"Not in that way. You're the only person out here so I assumed of course," Prerent replied, trying to sound as confident as he could. He let out a dry laugh, to mask his unease.

He exited a few minutes later, with something for them to sleep on, avoiding eye contact or even looking at Imuru at all.

"So. With your assistance, I should be able to take the shortcut," Prerent said, relief back on his face. 

"Hm." Imuru gazed at Prerent with an open expression. "So, is this shortcut dangerous?" Imuru inquired, in need of more information so he can prepare himself ahead.

"Uh-huh. The original way is longer and this here isn't fast per se. So the shorter path would be better," Prerent glanced back at his wagon, exhaustion crept up on his face. "I need protection from a potential Persudo attack. This is their territory after all."

Imuru blinked and his eyes widened, to express a hint of concern. "Persudo?

"Hm?" Prerent looked at him confused. "Yeah, Persudo. Gray Persudo Wolves. They thrive in these parts. You're really not from around here are you?"

Imuru sighed and shook his head. "But…" Imuru recalled the confrontation of the wolf and Devider. "Is that a Gray Persudo?"

Prerent spread out a cotton-filled blanket on the grass and placed a much lighter top for Imuru to use as cover.

"Well. You can rest here for tonight, and worry about that later," Prerent suggested, patting down Imuru's cover.

"Thank you," Imuru said, his gaze revealing slight distrust, with Prerent. "I'm confident, I'm capable of handling a Gray Persudo, But a pack would be the issue," He thought, resting down on his bed for the night.

"So, besides the Persudos, there's nothing else to worry about?" Imuru inquired, referring back to the encounter with Dark Devider.

"Hm. Other than humans? If you're referring to other creatures, then no…" Prerent's eyes drifted from Imuru. "I hope…" 

Imuru crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Prerent with suspicion. "Uh-huh... At least he's not a good liar." 

Prerent took notice of Imuru's glare after a moment, and quickly changed his attitude back to being nonchalant. "Anyways, I'm gonna get myself ready for bed too…" He murmured, heading back into his wagon for another set of the cotton filled blanket and cover, and rolled it out, beside Imuru's.

He got in bed with an at ease look, snuggling himself as he bathed in the almost instant warmth. He found Imuru looking down at him, with a bemused expression.

Prerent's eyes darted around for a second, an uneasy look on his face. "Is this too close," He murmured cheekily, trying to make light of the situation even with his shaky voice. "I just thought I'd be safer here," He whispered.

Imuru sighed. "Has a point…" He thought in response.

"Ugh. I hate this… Now that I think about it, wouldn't I be even safer under my wagon?" Prerent thought. He rolled over to face the wagon, and promptly crawled over and under his wagon, getting snugg once again to finally close his eyes, so he could eventually drift off to sleep.

This left Imuru with himself and his thoughts. He observed Prerent with odd curiosity deep into the night. When he wasn't doing that, he strolled around in circles to make sure their surroundings were safe. Doing this throughout the entire night, until sun gave break, setting the sky alight with a fiery glow and warmth.

Seeing the sunlight, Imuru finally decided it would be a good idea for him to get some sleep. Without worry and got into his bed and covered himself, shutting his eyes he drifted off to sleep in mere seconds.

Even In his slumber, Imuru could hear miniecle movement that bothered him, forcing him to pay attention to it. He fought against getting up, and was poked by a soft touch repeatedly, until he gave in and forced his eyes open. 

Her eyes drifted to the side during the process of opening her eyes. Prerent was ideally kneeled beside him, his plastered with a curious look.

"Wha-What are you doing," Imuru questioned in a drowsy state. He sat up in an abrupt and shocked fashion. His attention was grabbed by the sun for a moment, as he squinted his eyes. 

He took in a deep breath and exhaled deeply with exhaustion. "What's the matter?" Imuru murmured, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh. Nothing…" Prerent handed Imuru a cup of tea, and a sliced bread, sandwich in half, a meat condiment dripping with sauce.

"Hm… Thank you," Imuru said with slight reluctance. He took the offer from Prerent, before he ate anything, he glanced back at Prerent confused. "What?"

"Just curious what a girl like you is doing here?" Prerent murmured, his eyes wide with intrigue.

Imuru chuckled lightly, a bright smile formed on his lips. "I guess my voice can be high-pitched sometimes… but I am a male."

"Uh…" Prerent stare, unsure of how to react to the information. 

Amused by Prerent's reaction, Imuru used the time to eat what was offered to him. His expression remains, once he finishes up.

Prerent snapped out of it gradually, and regained his composure. Embarrassed, he covered his face with his hand.

He looked up into the sky and waltzed over to Imuru. "Sorry…" He said, nervously. Prerent smiled and wrapped his arm around Imuru's shoulder. "Ah, besides all of that… I saw that you enjoyed the bread, it's nothing much of course, but the real flavor to it was the sauce… I made myself," He remarked proudly.

Imuru narrowed his eyes, in disbelief. "Is he trying to sell me something?" Imuru thought, unsure of what Prerent may be getting at. "And I'm broke."

Seeing that Imuru's wide awake and fed, he fetched a map from inside his cloak. "So the village's is right… there," Prerent moved his finger across the map, from his position to the village. "Perfect. Should be smooth sailing, after I deliver what my customer needs."

Prerent checked on his horse one last time before he climbed back on his wagon. Prerent glanced at Imuru and smiled briefly, as they soon set off.

Imuru walked slightly ahead, ever so often purposefully falling behind, trying to keep an open eye all around. The fact there's no path, made it just that more of a difficult maneuver through the forest at times.

Prerent looked at Imuru from head to toe. "Uh…" His expression, formed to one of surprise.

It took him a moment for him to finally work up the courage. "H-Hey… I never got your name. What is It?" Prerent asked. 

"Ah." Imuru looked back at him, surprised he never introduced himself. "Sorry… I… I'm Imuru," He replied, a strange look of uncertainty in his voice.

Prerent took notice of Imuru's tone. He smiled. "That's a beautiful name," Prerent complimented, his voice low and filled with care. 

This made Imuru flush a little, a happiness rising inside him just from someone liking his name. "Thank you," He replied, after he regained his composure.

Prerent chuckled lightly. "No problem. So I'm curious, are you an adventurer? If so, it's been awhile since I've seen one by themselves. And if you don't mind where are you from?"

"I'm not an adventurer, but it sounds intriguing," Imuru replied. He crossed his arms across his chest, and thought for a moment about revealing where he's from. He took a look at Prerent, then shrugged his shoulders.

"There's a wrecked village back where we're coming from," Imuru said nonchalantly, pointing behind him with his thumb.

"Wait what?!" Prerent abruptly blurted out, frightening Imuru.

Imuru's head spun around to face him, shaken up by his sudden unexpected outburst. "Uh… What's the matter?" He asked his tone uneasy.

Prerent calmed down and leaned back a little. "That one was once the 6th Demon King's.

"The 6th? So there are six Demon Kings?" Imuru replied, unsure of what to say.

Prerent shook his head. "No, this one is from a family that has a line of successors. The 7th is now the current one in power, Ukuter."

Imuru seemed at ease hearing this. "So, I don't have to worry about him," He thought, letting out a sigh of relief. "But… Now it's the 7th, what happened to the 6th?" He asked.

"Ah…" Prerent paused to recall the details of the story. "The Demon King of The Rising Empire Rone, Lucktan And The 6th Demon King Of The Misfit Of Fairies, Uin…. They battled, what specifically caused it, I don't know," Prerent replied hesitantly. 

"Was there a winner?" Imuru inquired, now curious to know who came out victorious in the conflict.

Prerent thought about this for a moment. "It's strange… I'm not sure what happened to the 6th, but I haven't heard a thing about the Demon King since the battle… But, based on the news and statements from the reporters of the world's nations, who interviewed the 6th family, 'Lucktan was defeated'. Pretty much all they said." 

"I might secretly be next In light to be Demon King… you never know," Prerent said abruptly with a grin.

Imuru narrowed his eyes. "Wait what?" Imuru murmured, bewildered by the sudden change of topic.

The days go by smoothly without any encounters and trouble for the pair. As the day winds down, Prerent begins to set back up with the assistance of Imuru for the night.

"We didn't encounter anything of danger today," Imuru thought, preparing his place of rest. "Guess, I need to prepare for tomorrow. I highly doubt It will go as smoothly. I guess Le-va-none would say 'this is my Eld-onone side'. Maybe I'm not that much of an optimist."

Prerent dropped the wood for the fire, and headed back into his wagon for a brief period.

Imuru looked over at Prerent, once he came out with a transparent flask with red liquid. Prerent, shake it a bit, his face plastered with a confused look.

"Is this it?" Prerent pondered. "I should at least mark the stuff I'll use." He sighs. "Well it looks like it, so it'll have to do." He removed the cork and poured it around the camp.

"What's that?" Imuru asked, curious to know what was in the flask.

"Prerent chuckled lightly. "Well, that was meant to repel creatures…" He smiled on the outside. "If that was it." He thought on the inside.

"But, listen…" Prerent got close to Imuru, grabbing his shoulders. "If it doesn't work, it's not what you think."

"Um…" Imuru looked at him unsure of what to say. "Uh… Okay," He murmured.

"You know…" Imuru pat Prerent on the back. "Get some sleep," Imuru suggested, encouraging him to head to bed.

Without complaints, Prerent does just that. Imuru sat down on the other hand, got ready for another long night.

When he got up he set up the campfire, lighting it alight with Belzora. He strolled around the camp for a bit.

A whisper reached Imuru's ears. He walked back to the only person besides him here, and stooped down beside the wagon. "Prerent?"

"Sorry, I just didn't see you… So I thought something had happened," Prerent whispered.

"Why are you worried?" Imuru asked innocently. "I'm sure you've done this before?"

"What? No, no, no. I just wanted to make sure you were safe, that's all," Prerent gave a thumbs up. "Don't mind me, you can head back to patrolling now, talk tomorrow."

Imuru gave him a warm smile, speak with you tomorrow. Imuru got up and left.

It took awhile, but Prerent was capable of eventually falling back into a slumber. It felt as if seconds had passed before he left something poking him. Grumpy, he opened his eyes to see Imuru and closed them.

"You're gonna oversleep," Imuru murmured, his voice a melodic whisper.

Forcing himself Prerent gathered his strength and crawled from underneath his wagon. He stood up and rubbed his eyes. "I really hate waking up late… Just feel so tired… ah."

Imuru playfully poked him, a gleeful smile on his face. "Good morning to you."

Prerent chuckled lightly, and smiled. "Good morning to you too," He murmured, gazing into Imuru's eyes, before it drifted off to the sky.