"A witch! That's the word I'm looking for! Or is it a name?" Sunny said, turning to Saint. He had been trying to remember the word for about an hour. It had all started when he had opened the runes for Lament of the Depths.
[Lament of the Depths] [Transcendent]
[Description]
[There was once a fisherman who lost everything to the waves except his trident. Driven by vengeance, he made a blood pact with the trident and started to hunt the sea. With every horror the fisherman killed, the trident grew more proficient in battle. Absorbing the blood of monsters, it grew more sentient, eventually even drinking from the fisherman.]
[Thermohaline Circulation] [Essence Required]
[This weapon spins in place, increasing its strength exponentially with each circulation for an indefinite amount of time.]
[Out For Blood] [Passive]
[0/1250 Liters] [0/5 Proficiency]
[The more a target is hated, the fiercer this weapon fights. This weapon grows more sentient the more blood it feeds on. It does not discriminate. This weapon becomes more proficient in battle the more it is fed.]
[Skin of the Deep] [Passive]
[While holding this weapon, no pressure will affect you. While holding this weapon, freezing temperatures down to 0°C do not affect you.]
After reading the description, Sunny conducted a couple of tests. First, he had Saint hold the trident, which he then ordered to levitate until Saint was completely off the floor. The trident lifted Saint effortlessly. Next, Sunny had the trident spin in place for three minutes and then released it. With a shockwave that made Sunny stumble back, the trident went flying for three hundred meters before its accumulated power dissipated and it returned.
Lastly, Sunny grabbed the trident to see if there would be any changes to his body. As soon as he grabbed the trident, his skin started to feel thicker, but the most noticeable difference was the pull. The moment his hand made contact, Sunny could feel how his blood suddenly started to be pulled towards his hand—or, more accurately, towards the trident.
After thinking for a while, Sunny came to the conclusion that "Out For Blood" only worked if there was an open wound the blood could flow out of.
After reaching this conclusion, Sunny decided to continue with the march west, looking out at the vast, empty expanse of land filled with gray ash. With not much to do, Sunny got tired of walking—not because he was physically exhausted, as Sunny could have walked for many hours more, but because there was no mental stimulation. Deciding to let his guard down a little bit and try something new, he asked Saint to lift him up and place him on the trident.
It was a little awkward at first, since he had to keep his back straight so as not to fall, but Sunny got the hang of it eventually. Sunny continued riding the trident, and eventually, a smile formed on his face.
This is not bad. I could get used to not walking everywhere, Sunny thought, the smile still on his face. Sunny turned his face towards Saint and gave her a thumbs up.
"Thanks for the help, Saint!" Sunny said to his trusty companion. Saint only nodded.
Accepting that response, Sunny turned to his shadows. He wanted to know what they thought of his new method of transportation. Sunny looked at Happy and suddenly forgot that he wanted to boast. Sunny's face turned to one of confusion while looking at Happy. The reason was that his shadow was imitating him riding the trident, but he was seated differently.
While Sunny was seated with both his legs hanging to the left side of the trident, Happy's legs were on each side of the trident, with both his hands grabbing the shadow trident. That image of Happy riding in that particular way had sent Sunny into a search for a memory—one that he finally found an hour later.
"A witch! That's the word I'm looking for! Or is it a name?" Sunny had said to Saint after remembering. Looking around, Sunny saw that there was nothing in front of him for miles, and an idea came to him.
"Hey, Saint. Have I ever told you how I became an entrepreneur?" Sunny asked, looking at Saint. The silent warrior only turned her head slightly. Sunny smiled and adjusted his position on the trident.
"Well, it all started on a cold day around the beginning of the winter solstice. I had just come back from depositing some credits I earned from doing some jobs for the local gangs, and I was walking towards the outskirts," Sunny said with an unfocused gaze, as if he could see the scene clearly in front of him.
"Normally, people in the city took trains everywhere since there were stations all over, but that was not the case for the outskirts. Don't get me wrong, Saint; there were transportation facilities in the outskirts—it's just that they were 'in the making,' and had been 'in the making' for as long as I can remember. But that's not the point," Sunny said, letting out a breath and shrugging his shoulders.
"Since I always had to walk whenever I came back from the city, I often saw how other people lived in the outskirts. You see, Saint, not everyone is equally poor in the outskirts. In fact, there are people who actually live quite well in the outer edges. This meant that the deeper you went into the outskirts, the worse the living conditions became. While walking through what could be considered a 'good' part of the outskirts, I saw a family coming out of their house," Sunny said, adjusting himself again on the trident. He wasn't accustomed to keeping his posture straight for this long.
"Normally, I would just keep my head down and not look at them, since if I did, rage at the unfairness of my circumstances compared to theirs would start to consume my mind—and I really wasn't in the mood to be mad, you see. But for some reason, I looked at them, and the moment I did, I stopped in my tracks. From the house came a little girl who was wearing a black dress that was torn at the bottom and a black pointy hat. But that wasn't the worst part," Sunny said, looking at Saint with his eyes wide open.
"A broom. The girl was carrying a broom! Looking at the girl and what she was wearing, my first thought was that her parents were going to sell her to some kind of pervert! So, I did something that would have never crossed my mind before: I got into someone else's business," Sunny let out an exasperated breath.
"I started to follow the family from a distance. I didn't know what I would do, since the parents of the girl were easily twice my size, and they looked healthy and well-fed unlike me. Still, I followed them with no plan in my mind. Eventually, they entered the city and, on a corner, joined a group of other adults with children of a similar age to the girl. Seeing that there were so many other kids, and knowing I would be noticed if I were just sneaking around the city following them, I decided to infiltrate the group," Sunny said, nodding his head as if only he could have come up with such a brilliant idea.
"The infiltration was successful. No one noticed me, and soon after, the group started to move. We walked for a while, and at some point, I noticed that all the kids had weird outfits on. After noticing, panic started to rise, but I had no chance to dwell on it because the group had suddenly stopped in front of a house.
The door opened, showing a woman inside. The children started to do a little chant, and when they finished, she handed us candy. I remember looking at it and then at the woman, waiting for her to ask for something in exchange. But that moment never came. The woman closed the door, and the group moved to the next house. I was almost left behind since I couldn't believe what had just happened," Sunny said with disbelief on his face.
"I quickly recovered and followed the group to the next house. The same thing happened: someone opened the door, the kids did their little chant, and they got candy. This continued happening with every house in the neighborhood. Later, the group moved to the mall that was nearby and went to most of the stores. Lastly, the group headed to the government offices, and the kids also got candy there after doing their little chant.
By the end, I had so much candy that I needed to take my shirt off to be able to carry all the candy I got. Seeing this, a female government worker stopped me and got me an empty trash bag. I will always be grateful to that woman, since it was really cold outside," Sunny said, putting a hand over his heart and closing his eyes, remembering the face of the female government worker.
"After this, the group started to head their own separate ways. I remember walking back to the outskirts and thinking that the candy could not be real. It had to be made of rubber or something, since who would give candy away and not ask for anything in return? Thinking this, I got out a piece of candy and bit into it.
It was the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted in my life, since all the food I could remember eating in those days was Synthpaste. At first, I thought about eating all the candy, but then later, while I was walking towards the deeper sections of the outskirts where I used to live, an idea came to mind. What if I sold or exchanged the candy? And just like that, Sunny's Exchange—or S|X for short—was born. The venture was a complete success," Sunny said, pride in his voice at the remembrance of his capitalist venture.
"Some of the things I remember exchanging for were a piece of cloth, a sharp but sturdy piece of metal, many credits, and even a whole piece of fresh bread. My customer list was very diverse, you see. I had kids, many younger than me, who came from the same area and had never tasted a piece of candy. I had adults who wanted to buy some for themselves or for a loved one—many of them humble workers who could not afford the full boxes in which the candy came, but had no problem paying or exchanging something with me for two or three pieces.
Lastly, there were the junkies. Some of them just wanted to taste something sweet for the munchies; most of them thought that I was selling them hard drugs and paid good amounts of credits. I didn't see the need to correct them and just took the money. By the time I was done, I had enough money to pay a private investigator to find my sister," Sunny said, cracking his knuckles absentmindedly.
"But not everything was good. A gang had caught wind that I was making money in their territory and they weren't getting a cut. It happened the day I went to deposit the credits. I was walking through the main street of the outskirts, maybe two or three blocks from where I was staying at the time, when suddenly I was jumped. It was the gang of a kid three years older than me named Six. His mother was what he called a 'worker of the night'; anyone there who called her a whore to his face would get a beating," Sunny said, spitting at the ground, remembering the vile child.
"Like the name suggests, Saint, he was the sixth child of the unprotected ventures of his mother. Believe it or not, I had actually met his other five brothers. They were actually all honest, hardworking people, which meant that Six was the problem child. But I guess seeing your mother bring home a new man each night would turn you into a criminal. Don't get me wrong, I don't sympathize with him; my mother, even with how poor she was, would have never turned to the streets," Sunny said with disgust at the idea of even comparing the two women.
"Anyway, Six and his gang tried to steal from me, but fortunately, the money had already been stored away. This only meant I would get a beating, since I was sure they would come up with an excuse for why I owed them the money I had made myself. You see, Saint, I have always been a very resourceful person, even before I was infected by the Spell.
Knowing that only pain would be in store for me if I waited any longer, I acted first. It seemed that fate was on my side that day, since there was a convenient pipe lying right at my feet. I waited for a moment when Six was distracted by his own monologue about how this was his territory and I had to pay him a portion of my money. The moment came, and I didn't waste it," Sunny said, a mischievous smile on his face.
"Picking up the pipe, all it took was a single well-placed strike to the side of his left knee. Six fell to the ground, screaming curses at the dead gods. I didn't stay to watch him suffer; taking my opportunity, I bolted out of there. Since that day, I have tried and succeeded in avoiding Six. Last I heard, that strike shattered his knee. Normally, a wound like that could be easily fixed in the city, but in the outskirts—where the government only gives us the minimum to survive—the only thing Six could get was a cane," Sunny said with a mix of sadness and indifference.
Sadness for the many people who needed help in the outskirts and could not get it because of their financial situation. Indifference, because that was what Six deserved. How can you feel entitled to another man's money when you didn't even lift a finger!? Sunny thought with disdain.
Shaking the bad feelings away, Sunny stood a little straighter and looked at his companions.
"So, what do you guys think?" Sunny asked, his cheerful mood back.
Happy stopped grabbing his shadow broom and gave him a double thumbs up. Gloomy only shrugged and looked down. Saint, who was on his other side, only turned her head and looked at him for a moment before turning back to look forward.
"Yes! I know. I have a true 'coming from the bottom' story! When I get out of here, I'll write down the start of my entrepreneurial journey in my biography. Though I might want to keep out the part about shattering someone's leg. That might only make me look like a mobster," Sunny said, closing his eyes and nodding sagely.
After proclaiming this important fact, Sunny opened his eyes and saw the end of the field of gray ash.
Finally, I'll be able to sleep normally, Sunny thought, relieved. It wasn't that he didn't like to sleep in Saint's lap—it was actually really comforting to have someone to hold him through the night—but sleeping upright was getting old. For that reason, Sunny was glad to see something resembling a forest a few hours up ahead. It was a vast expanse of gray trees that had appeared on the horizon.
More gray? Really? Sunny thought, letting out an exasperated breath.