The boy looked behind him and much to his surprise, a very old man was standing there holding a wooden cane. It was the same old man that sold the berries to the other two people.
'He got behind me without me noticing. He's the real deal.' Thought the boy as he heightened his senses to the extreme. He was aware that this old man who looked frail and powerless could kill him easily. He didn't know how that was possible but his polished instincts, which passed through the hurdles of a long and dangerous life, will never betray him.
"What do you want?" He asked in a calm tone that hid all of his thoughts.
"Nothing, I was just intrigued to see what would happen. I'm nothing but a small merchant searching for some thrill in his life." The old man said with a small smile on his lips.
"You think that I will believe that?"
"Hahahahaha! Spare me from that, would you? Anyway, what's your name?" The old man laughed and brushed off the matter completely.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
"Hmm, you are right indeed. I am Lysen, it's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled amicably.
He looked like nothing but a cheerful old man meeting his grandchild.
'I don't have any memories related to this boy, quite convenient. I will use my old name then.' Thought the boy as he sighed inwardly.
"You can call me Acht." He responded. It was his name when he was working as a hitman in his previous life. It was the only thing he inherited from his deceased mother.
"Acht? Quite the peculiar name you have there, lad."
Acht didn't seem to bother with what the old man said since he had a lot of things on his mind. He first needed to discover the world he was reincarnated in. He also needed to find out more about the place he was in now.
Just from one look, he already understood that it was a modern city. The walls were made out of bricks and he could hear the sound of vehicles in the background.
Seeing that the conversation was over, Acht turned around and walked away.
"What a cold attitude," Lysen muttered to himself. But, even with that, he just watched Acht walk away without bothering to call him.
"If we're meant to meet again then so be it." Then he also walked away to an unknown place with the silhouette of that boy fighting still engraved in his mind.
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"My appearance is quite pitiful." Acht muttered as he inspected his appearance on a pond of water he found. He had long raven black hair that covered most of his face, his dirty skin was pale white and his limbs were deathly skinny. He wore a single piece of cloth that barely reached his knees.
"Why do I feel like I've seen this place before." Muttered Acht as he looked left and right. He sensed a familiar feeling about how this city looked and the atmosphere of this world in general.
But, that was not the only thing that made him feel like that. In the sky, on top of him, there was a huge planet that took a great chunk of the Sky view.
The planet was massive, so massive in fact that Acht could discern some details from the surface of the planet. It had a beautiful azure color mixed with the green color of the wilderness indicating the existence of life on that other planet too.
"That planet looks somehow so familiar." He muttered with a thoughtful look.
Seeing no point in dwindling around, he set up his first goal. He needed to get more information about this world and maybe unveil the mystery of his weird feeling of familiarity.
Acht didn't have any idea where to go, he just followed the main road of the slums in hopes of finding a useful thing that could help him.
'Maybe I should've asked that old man for help.' He reckoned. But, looking back at it, he couldn't forget the dangerous aura that seeped out of Leyan's body. It was an aura of someone who killed countless people and danced hand in hand with death on a regular basis.
After walking for almost 10 minutes, he found himself in the market again. The sun was still in the middle of the sky next to the mysterious planet so the people were still filling up every corner of the place.
"It really resembles earth in many ways."
"Excuse me." Acht found a random merchant sitting alone in a corner so he decided to talk to him.
Seeing the poor child that called him, the man snorted in disdain and spoke in a harsh tone, "what do you want, brat! Go away before I beat you up!"
His reaction was justified because many kids like Acht roam the markets and steal from merchants to feed themselves. Every single fruit and item in the stalls is important to the merchants since it's not easy to buy them from providers. Most of these items were special to a certain degree after all.
Acht didn't like the way the merchant spoke to him so he dropped the mildly respectful tone he had and responded coldly.
"What is the name of that planet?"
"Huh? You mean Ecrasia?" The man was puzzled by the weird question. Everyone whether young or old, rich or poor, knew the planet Ecrasia as it's an important piece of history of this world.
"Ecrasia?" Acht muttered in a daze as a wave of memories struck his head. He knew that name from a long time ago, when he was still a young man on earth, he read a fantasy book he found in a random library.
The book wasn't anything amazing or mind-blowing, but acht, who didn't have the luxury of enjoying anything found that book interesting.
He read it countless times and each time, he felt like he was discovering the book again and again. It was very impactful on him.
"This world…it's the world of that book!" He muttered with deep shock.
But, his surprise didn't last long as he soon started laughing loudly.
"Hahaha! That bitch got me good. Fair enough…fair enough indeed." He said to himself with a smirk.
He knew that the goddess was hiding something since she didn't explain anything to him and just sent him to the world immediately.
While Acht was having this conversation with himself, the man watched him from the sidelines with a weirded-out look. He thought that this child had lost his mind from hunger.
'From what I remember from that book, people here could use supernatural powers and incomprehensible energy to strengthen themselves and It all came from that place.'
His gaze shifted towards the giant blue planet in the sky.
'If I recall it correctly, people can travel to that place to find all kinds of treasures. It also has all kinds of creatures and races. Huh, now looking at it, this is a fantasy world indeed.' He thought.
With this discovery, his plan has totally shifted.
'I should make money. It's the most essential thing right now for me.'
Acht then started walking away while ignoring the existence of the merchant who probably had seen the most bizarre thing in a while.
Acht's steps took him out of the market. He had a solution for the money shortage he had.
"I should find some thug and take his money. It's the easiest way for now."
But, while having such thoughts, his senses caught something.
'Someone is following me.'
He didn't turn around to alert the stalker so he continued walking toward an empty area in the slums.
When he was finally far away from human eyes he stopped and looked behind.
"You know that your hiding skills are shitty, right?" He spoke while looking at a particular corner behind the street.
"What monstrous senses you have. Are you really a small child?" A hoarse voice replied to his disdainful remark shortly after.
Then, out of the corner, the man walked out with leisurely steps and gazed directly at Acht.
Acht took a light fighting pose as he coldly assessed his opponent.
"Wait! As much as the idea sounds tempting, I didn't come here to fight you."
"State your purpose then." Acht said.
"My boss…wants to meet you."
"Your boss?"
"Yes, after you killed one of our men, the boss took interest in you and he wanted to meet you immediately."
'Now this is an interesting turn of events.' Acht could only sigh inwardly at his luck. Not even a few hours had passed in this new world and he was already entangled with a gang of thugs.
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