"I can't! Take it or, go up to those wealthy streets." With that, he gestured to the other person standing in line.
By 'up', he means the middle layer. Currently, Nameless was in a sketchy alley around the Rotten market.
"One for six!!" Nameless said after carefully thinking.
The shopkeeper looked at him with annoyance. Then said without turning his eyes.
"One for four, and that's my final."
"No! One for five!"
"One for three."
"No!!"
"One for two!"
"What!!"
"Huhhhhh!! how about this boy i give you eight half pieces, for just one!!" shopkeeper said delightfully.
"Ok!!!" Giving him the shining ORB, nameless quickly outstretched his hands.
'so bargaining really does help.' Since Orbs are the only way of trading here.
After receiving the Rotten meat with his bare hand, nameless quickly left the market.
He didn't have the stomach to take all of that. While running, he could still see, huge lumps of flesh bulging out of people's bodies, some were melting, some were already Rotting from inside and bodies littered here and there all around it. Nameless cursed under his breath,
"There's a reason, why they call it the Rotten market!!"
Finally reaching the outer streets, he inhaled a lung full of air and started looking for a way down.
"Hey! handsome!" A playful voice called out to him.
To his right, a half naked woman with auburn hair, hurriedly took his hand and placed it on her open breast.
"Why don't we have some fun?!" Saying that she dragged him to her house.
It wasn't strange for 'Stayer's to drag their customers against their will. They would much rather prefer a human body than a repulsive reddish monster.
What baffled him the most, was her inhuman strength. Even for nameless, who have gotten considerably stronger and showed signs of muscular growth.
But in all that stir, his new mantel's hood was lifted off, revealing his face to the world.
The woman looked at him with confusion.
"Hey aren't you! that hunchedbacks Dog??" A voice broke the silence between them.
The woman's expression went from confused to shock then disgust.
"No wonder you smelled fishy!" Scoffing the woman went to her Merry way.
"You are the one who dragged me into this!"
With that he quickly found his way down.
Nowadays, his visitation to the lower layer has increased, so seeing him there was not so surprising anymore. But he still wanted to be cautious.
Previously he couldn't even visit any layer, but now the restriction has loosen up a little.
Reaching his primitive hut, he hastily changed his clothes and threw those royd meat strips in the hearth.
The hut had changed significantly, although the outside still looked unaltered, inside it was a whole new world.
Now the walls were reinforced with Civil borns and the hearth has grown in size. The bed that couldn't even hold his body, now three of him could fit there. The wall looked spotless with not even a single scratch on it.
The only thing that whispered of his cruel past, was a wooden black slate, which was filled to the brim with markings, and already in an eroding state.
He still didn't know wh...
"Ahh!!! It doesn't matter."
With that, he took out the strips and instantly lamented his decision.
"Ughhhh!! It tastes like Royd's ass!!" Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to eat the remaining strips.
It seemed no matter what he did, he just didn't have a talent for it.
He paused on the doorway for a long time then said evenly,
"If mom was here, she would have said 'have a good day." He chuckled and left the hut behind.
****
At the right foot of the temple, a large number of talkative crowds had gathered there. Nameless hid among them, not talking to anyone.
Its base stood on huge pillars, that stretched further into the silver stream, letting it pass. It's spier invisible to the naked eyes. Standing infront of the gigantic structure made him realise how insignificant he was.
Soon a reddish monster stepped forward the crowd.
"Today, you're going to clean the east side!!" After giving his order, he stood guarding the crowd.
One by one people started climbing the monument like ants. While, nameless couldn't find his pair.
A decrepit voice called out to him. Whipping his head around, he saw a wrinkly oldman wearing a simple civil tunic and a weird looking hat.
"Ah!! You are always a delight to see, nameless." Saying that, he tightly embraced him in his arms.
"Heyy!! Is my eyes deceiving me? Or, are you getting taller?!" Said after Shaking him left and right.
"No!! It's just your eyes Mr. Helper." Getting out of his embrace, He said seriously, "we need to get moving, or we are not getting the pay."
Nameless always felt nice speaking to Mr. Helper. His eyes always shone with gentle playful melancholy and had an air of experience around him. But most of all, he didn't hate him like the others do.
"Ah!! You are no fun." With that they both started climbing. Step by step they moved upward the structure.
Currently, nameless was carrying a huge basket on his back and civil fang on hand. He measuredly stepped forward, neither too light, nor too heavy.
"It's only been two months, since you started working here, now look at you!!" He said delightfully.
"Hmmm!! It has been that long? i couldn't tell?" He said without turning his head.
Yes, his health, food and even his hut, all went through profound change because of this job.
And it was all thanks to mr. Helpers request.
"Not just you, nobody could, time is eternally silent here."
"There he goes, again!!"
Mr. Helper had a bad habit of saying absurd stuff sometimes, like the other day he started saying,
'we are not real but just stuck in a rift in time.'
Sighing deeply, he increased his pace. By then people already started their work.
Work was simple, the temple was entirely surrounded by large vines and moss all over it, they just had to collect the moss.
But it wasn't to say, it's easy. Mainly because of 'Spit', a liquified monster that melts anything it touches. It waits in the moss for anything to graze it and jumps at it in full force, though it isn't sentient.
For as long as he remembers, he has been getting bombarded by this thing. And for some odd reason he heals from it entirely, every time.
After work while everybody was going home, nameless called out the old man.
"I'M TRULY INDEBTED TO YOU!! and thank you for being there for me, i know i'm not good with words but i truly am grateful!!!" He bowed deeply
"Whats this all about? Why so sudden?!" The old man said with a worried tone.
But no answer came from the other side.
The old man studied his face for a while then said with no humour in his eyes, " I'm sorry too."
'huh! But for what?' but the old man was gone before he could ash why.
'Weird till the very end.'
After working for what felt like an entire day, he finally laid on his lavish bed, looking up at the ceiling with no particular emotions.
Some might say, Now that his life was going so well, wasn't it about time, he started paying for his sins.
And, that's what he was gonna do today.
He didn't know when it all started, but he began collecting 'Orbs', one after another. He stopped sleeping, eating even thinking, he just had one goal in mind.
'collect orbs as much as possible, as many as possible', just for today, Just for the truth, just for his sins.
He put his mantel back on and took the sack that laid on the floor. Nameless stood on the doorstep between the misty twilight and the solemn darkness.
Clenching his bag tighter, he exhaled and took the final step to his last destination.
'there is no time! there is no going back now, whatever happened after this, i will be the only one responsible for it'
He had no will, no anger, no malice, no hatred, only a path, a path full of thorns. So he walked, walked and walked until their was nothing left of him to walk on.
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