Chapter 6: Chapter 6. Flies

-a month later-

In the tavern nearest to the Great Holy Church, called Broken Broom, several holy knights and adventurers were drinking happily.

Usually, these two groups hated each other but tonight was a special night. Early this morning in joined forces they finally busted and imprisoned the last of the Big Three families of the holy city.

The Big Three Families were the rot of this city, controlling every corrupt business of the city, be it prostitution, drugs, murder, or bribery.

All three mighty beasts fell by the hands of a single woman, who bravery and recklessness, helped the holy knight get their hands on the documents which incriminated them, all in a single month.

Something like that never happened, people were beaming with excitement and pride.

Yet, there was somebody who wasn't happy.

Sitting in one of the single rooms of the hotel, the star of the day, Angela was looking at herself.

During the month her case worsened.

The green rashes have grown on, now covering her entire chest neck, and lower jaw. A thin line even spread to her left eye, coloring it green, coloring the left side of her vision in a green thin.

The black bumps have ceased to appear, thanks to a special cream she used, but she still could feel them growing in her insides.

She clashed her hands, trying to fight the disgust which was veiling inside of her.

In a month she took down the three most dangerous people in the city, saving countless lives, making corrupt leaders fail, and yet she found nothing.

Not a single clue about who that man wearing that sac was, or the substance he threw at here. It was as if he disappeared from the surface of the world.

Angry she hit the mirror with her fist, shattering it into little pieces.

Due to her strengths, she cut her knuckle, but she didn't care about it, since she couldn't feel it. She or the people examining her couldn't figure out the reason why she lost the sensation of pain, they guessed it was because the infection reached some nerve in the back of her neck, dampening the sensation.

"One month has already passed. And this is getting worse."

The doctors examined her several times but still couldn't find a way to heal her. The only thing that kept her going is the antidots which she drunk each day.

Knock. Knock.

She quickly hid her hand, not to make her comrades worried, and covered her lower face, with a scarf she bought recently.

"It's open."

The door slowly opened, revealing a knight pushing in a worried-looking middle-aged man, who was holding a small wooden box.

"Lady Angela, this person claims that he possesses something that might interest you."

"...Right, you may let him in."

To maximize the chance of finding that guy, she posted a request in the adventurer guild, with a sizable reward for whoever finds him first, hoping that the masses' greed for coins would speed up the search.

The knight pushed the man in before closing the door.

At first glance, the man didn't seem like much. He wore an old brown coat which saw better days, and a brown scarf around his neck.

"M-Ma'am, it's an honor to meet you. I h-heard so much about you, the th-things that you did for us it's so-"

"Please, skip the pleasantries. Tell me what you know."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

The man opened the box, showing it to Angela.

In was a cage, which contained an incredibly deformed rat.

It had short fur, two heads, and 7 limbs attached to it randomly. The craziest thing was that it was still alive moving its extra appendages as if it was nothing.

Yet, the thing that caught the girls' eyes was the small lumps and the green rashes that were somehow visible under the fur.

"While I was cleaning the se-sewers, I-I found several rats like this, each looking like they came out from a hor-horror story."

Angela looked right into the eyes of the old adventurer, a thin line of sweat running down on her cheek.

"Where?"

"Ehhh, maybe over the market. S-Sorry, I am not sure."

"Don't worry, that's enough information! Here, thanks again!"

Finally founding a lead, she grabbed the box, gave the old man a pouch filled with gold, before running out of the room.

The second he was alone, the demeanor of the man changed.

He smiled virelay while throwing the pouch into the air, making it disappear.

"One piece moved. Time for the other one."

*****

Finally done!

I stretched my arms while I yawn.

This body for all its inconvenience was amazing! No sleep required, no physical or mental fatigue, no hunger or thirst, no aching eyes, no sore neck!

I could read as much as I want without being bothered by anyone!

I put the book titled 'Basic Magic Spells for Absolute Beginners Vol1' onto the pile of books I have already finished.

[Congratulation.]

[you absorbed an insane amount of knowledge without using any external help.]

[You received sills: ]

What? I can gain skills just by doing what I love? This is awesome!

I stood up, stretched, and scratched my head.

I have been cooked up in here for who knows how long. A little walk will do me some good.

While stretching some more I walked to the barricade I made and jumped through it.

I couldn't walk through it since I couldn't control completely my power yet. When I tried it once, my foot went through the ground as well, making me bump my head into the boxes. This way was safer.

Also, I decided to go out naked today. No one could see me anyway, plus cloth hindered me in me passing through objects.

I looked around, seeing nobody, not even rats.

Good, then let's do this.

For the first time I gathered all the force in my legs, and with a burst of small wind, I jumped, before I hit the ceiling, I turned my body intangible, flying through it.

After a short darkness, I flew out landing in the middle of a busy street. Lucky for me, nobody noticed me. Immediately I turned my power off my legs and quickly ran to the nearest back alley.

During my physical experimentation, I discovered that while I stayed intangible, the sacks wouldn't burst no matter how I tried to pop them, meaning that if I was careful, I wouldn't infect anyone.

Once I reached a back alley, I jumped onto a nearby house roof and looked down from there.

Ugh, the sun is so bright it hurts my eyes...and my skin?

Yes, it felt like the sunlight was irritating the mold which held my body together.

It's understandable, most mold prefers dim environments and I have been in the sewers for a while. I'm sure that if I keep to myself, I will get used to it.

While I walked at the edge of the roof, I observed the people below me.

Reading books is fine and all but seeing the world in real life is a whole other thing. Since no one could see me, this is a perfect opportunity for me to do some field observation.

Walking through on the edge of the rooftop I observed the street which was bussing with life.

As I read, the people in this world lived in different 'social groups", based on the classes and levels they possess.

The highest Group belonged to those who had classes that were connected to the church, like holy knights, priests, or saints. Below them were the ones who possessed High Skills, knights, warriors, kings, merchants. Then there were the normal skills like carpenter, blacksmith and so on. Naturally, there were also Low classes, like farmers or my secondary, Runner. Classes that were usable only for a very specific situation and good for only labor.

They were at the bottom of the barrel.

The best thing was that my main class at least was between the High and the Holy Groups.

It would have been quite useful if I weren't in this sorry state.

While moving through the roofs I reached the edge of a square, which I believed to be the market.

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Stalls and tents were lined up which sell different products for passing by customers, their articles ranging from clothing to slaves.

That's right, slaves. Live humans or demi-humans can be brought here as if they were objecting some worth only some copper.

Who knows I might buy one in the future? I read a lot of mangas where the protagonist makes a harem of slaves. Well, I guess the lack of genitals thas hinders reproduction.

While laughing, I jumped off, smoothing landing on the ground on all fours, before standing up normally.

Maybe because the DNA-s in the bones is finally kicking in, but I noticed that my actions and movements are starting to look quite animalistic. It felt more comfortable for me to move with a hunched back, and sometimes using my long arms to move, just seemed natural for me.

If I could find a full-body mirror, then I could examine myself more thoughtfully and there could be a chance for me to identify the bones which made up my body.

While walking through the crowd, I stopped at the few stalls, looking at what they sold.

Clothing didn't interest me much, but the dried herbs and monster did.

"Come here! We have fresh Dark Spider Eye extract!"

"Basilisk venom! Who wants Basilisk venom?!"

"Goblin body parts! Cheap goblin body parts!"

I really wanted to buy them to experiment on them, but I had no money, and steeling them now would be pointless since I would be noticed in a heartbeat.

While walking I finally found a store which salt mirrors.

I walked to one of the nearest ones and observed myself in it.

As I already knew my entire body was made from mold and bones, moved by god knows what. The fingers and toes of this creature belonged to some sort of long-limbed being. My upper arms and legs seemed to belong to that creature with my spine. Forwards from that, the other bones looked normal, except for my ribcage. A normal human has 24. I had approximately 36, creating a cocoon, which was covered by the mold, making it impossible to see inside.

Maybe the mystery of this body moving independently is hidden in it. Nah, I won't do a dissection on myself I still want to see what this world can offer me.

Smiling at myself, I kept on walking passing through anyone who walked next to me.

"Soul tags! Get your soul tags! Limited amount of soul tags here!"

Soul tags? What are those? They sound interesting.

Approaching the stall, my excitement dropped considerably.

The stall was old, and broken, wisely fixed several times. The sellers were an old woman and a kid, who was around seven years old.

On the table, several little cards of wood were placed facing down, on their back the image of a white and a black sword is drawn on them.

What is this a game?

"Nona, I don't think that anyone is going to buy one of our cards!"

"Don't worry I am sure that things are going to turn up. Now please go, by a small apple at the shopkeeper I like!"

Confused the boy nodded and ran away and left the old woman alone.

Not a good move, granny, somebody will steal from you.

"Don't worry, everybody is a nice person;"

?!

I briskly turned to the grandma who was softly towards me.

No. At me. She was aware of my presence?!

"During the years I learned to see without eyes. You are a strange one, but I can tell that you have a pure heart. Why don't you try your luck with these? I am sure that the threads of fate will be merciful with you."

I didn't know how, but her voice somehow hypnotized me. Without thinking I get closer and fluffed one of the cards on the table.

It was a small image. it had a green background with small sketches of trees on it, with a blue line crossing through it, probably representing a river.

in the middle of the picture, was the painting of a big, black fly with red eyes holding a how, a sword, a cup, and a flame, with a white skull laying at one of its legs.

At the very bottom of the picture, a simple name was written in black chalk.

Nergal.

What is this?

I looked up, but the old woman disappeared as if she turned into air.

In curiosity I wanted to turn over the other cards, but when I looked down back on the table, all the cards except the one I was still holding disappeared.

What the hell is happening here?

BZZZZzzzz.

I looked at the card which I was still holding, noticing that the fly on it started to move, and when it turned its ugly head away, a swarm of insects busted out from the card surrounding me.

WHAT?!

[Congratulation.]

[You received unique Title: []

[You received a Blessing.]

[Blessing many been added to status window.]

[Current Blessing:[ Blessing of Nergal]]

[[Affinities been added to the status window]

[You received affinities: [Basic Death Affinity]]

[Congratulation.]

[Level cap been successfully set at 70]

[Race been successfully defined as:

[Congratulation]

[You are now being observed by [Light] and [Dark]]

[

Name: Unknown.

Race: [Low Molded Chimera Skeleton] Lv: 10/70 (20/60)

Main Class: [Life Scholar]

Sub Class: [Runner]

HP(Health Points): 60/60

SP(Stamina Points): 70

MP(Magic Points): 20/20

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [Basic Fast Eye]

Passive Skills: [Basic Body Knowledge] [Basic Plant Knowledge] [Basic Medicine Knowledge] [Basic Stamina Enhancement] [Basic Movement Enhancement] [Basic Reflex Enhancement.] [Basic Sponge Mind]

Affinities: [Basic Framing Affinity] [Basic War Affinity] [Basic Pestilence Affinity][ Basic Fire Affinity.] [Basic Life Affinity] [Basic Death Affinity]

Titles: [The One Who Saw A Thousand Worlds] [Knowledge Driven] [Chosen by Flies]

]

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Mythology fan fact:

Nergal, in Mesopotamian religion, secondary god of the Sumero-Akkadian pantheon. He was identified with Irra, the god of scorched earth and war, and with Meslamtaea, He Who Comes Forth from Meslam. Cuthah (modern Tall Ibrāhīm) was the chief center of his cult. In later thought, he was a "destroying flame" and had the epithet sharrapu ("burner"). Assyrian documents of the 1st millennium BC describe him as a benefactor of men, who hears prayers, restores the dead to life, and protects agriculture and flocks. Hymns depict him as a god of pestilence, hunger, and devastation. The other sphere of Nergal's power was the underworld, of which he is king.

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