Zaber walked through the city streets, but he barely saw those around him. It was as if his thoughts, not his body, were directing his steps. Heavy, slow, but uninterrupted. At every turn, he explored not the city, but his inner self.
He spoke to himself in a low voice, almost whispering:
"I couldn’t ask for their souls... but to kill them, I only needed to deliver a great blow to their souls..."
He stopped. In a narrow part of the street, beside a damp wall. He raised his hand. He stared at his palm.
He slowly clenched his fingers, as if grasping sothing.
"With this chain... how much more can I do?.."
He started walking again. His steps neither quickened nor slowed. But his thoughts were now beginning to gather in one place.
"I didn’t feel pleasure like when I killed Sara... nor when I killed the village... nor when I killed those kids..."
He pressed his lips together.
"So... do I need to kill more people?.."
The mont the chain pulled. Resistance. And... sothing.
"I consud a bit of one soul..." he said in a low voice. "The chain... and I felt like I saw so mory..."
He furrowed his brows.
"Is this just imagination... or reality?.."
At that mont, he didn’t notice that he had arrived at the inn. He couldn’t clearly rember how he had gotten there. His feet knew the way on their own.
Zaber climbed the stairs. He entered his room. He closed the door.
Silence.
He went to the bed and sat down. His shoulders dropped slightly. He sighed deeply. This sigh was not from fatigue. It was the release of inner pressure.
He took his money pouch. He opened it.
He looked inside.
"Thirteen gold... eleven silver..."
He shook his head lightly.
"Eh... I need to earn money too..."
He surveyed the room. The ceiling. The walls. Then he looked at the pouch again.
"What should I do?.. Should I steal from soone?.. Or kill and take their money?.."
He fell silent for a mont.
"Or... work?.."
As soon as this thought left his mouth, he smiled to himself.
"Haaaa..."
He stood up. He went to the table. He looked at the beehive. He carefully took it in his hand. He stared at the six bee eggs inside.
"When will you hatch?" he said in a low voice.
The sli creature on the table—an entity not yet fully ford—seed to be looking at him. Zaber narrowed his eyes.
"When will you evolve too?.."
He leaned in a bit, getting closer to the creature.
"I want to use you sooner..."
With those words, he changed his clothes. He put on the elegant black coat and trousers. His black, long, smooth hair fell to his shoulders. The coat did not wrinkle; it sat heavily on his shoulders.
Zaber left the door.
Once outside the inn, he lowered his head slightly. His gaze seed directed not at the ground, but at people’s steps.
"I need to go to the rchants and adventurers guild..." he thought. "But first money... and equipnt..."
With this thought, he continued on his way.
His black, long flowing hair and unwrinkled long coat drew the eyes of those around. He didn’t look very rich. Nor very poor. The most dangerous state.
On one of the streets, he stopped.
He spotted a rchant.
Well-dressed. But drunk. Very drunk.
Zaber watched him for a while. The rchant was sowhat fat, short in stature. He staggered along his way, unable to walk straight. The sll of alcohol ca from his breath.
"Perfect," Zaber thought.
He walked toward the rchant. He stepped in front of him, grabbed his arm, and draped it over his shoulder. His movent natural, like that of an acquaintance.
"I told you not to drink too much, my friend," he said in a louder tone.
The rchant looked at him. His face was flushed.
"You... who are you?.."
Zaber sensed the alcohol sll and didn’t even look at the rchant’s face.
"I am your friend," he said with a smile. "What, you forgot?"
The rchant tried to walk. He shook his head.
"Friend?.." he said. "For so reason I can’t rember... but thank you for helping..."
He leaned on Zaber and started walking.
Zaber, inside, calmly:
Money doesn’t co on its own.
Sotis you just have to... take it.
He led the rchant deeper into the city. No one stopped them. No one suspected.
Zaber walked side by side with the rchant in the city’s narrow streets. The streets were not empty yet, but now the people walking here were hurried, heads down.
The rchant, drunk, leaned on Zaber as he went. He lost balance in his steps, sotis stopping and making a sound like laughter.
"My friend... may there be more good people like you..." he said in a drunk tone, barely moving his tongue.
Zaber smiled lightly. This smile was not sincere. It was a mask fitting the situation.
"There are actually many good people," he said calmly. "It’s just hard to find them."
The rchant’s face flushed. He lifted his head and looked at Zaber. His eyes were hazy, but sothing heavy lay inside them.
"Yes... I’m not a bad person either..." he said. "I just have too many problems in trade, that’s all."
Zaber continued walking, looking at the road.
"Yes... that’s a difficult situation," he said shortly.
They had already entered a small dead-end street where there were few people. Here the lanterns burned dimly, the walls were damp and dark. The end of the street was invisible, as if it led nowhere.
In an instant, everything changed.
Zaber threw the rchant against the wall.
The rchant hit the wall and sat on the ground. His breath choked, his eyes widened.
"What are you doing, my friend?.." he said, not understanding.
Zaber brought out the pink soul chain from his right hand. The chain was silent. It emitted no light. It did not stir the air.
"You know," Zaber said calmly. "I need money. And you have it."
He began slowly rotating the chain.
The rchant thought for a mont. Then he laughed drunkenly.
"So you want to rob ?.." he said. "But are you sick? You’re moving your hand strangely..."
He sighed deeply.
"They told ... there are maniacs in this city... I shouldn’t have co..."
Zaber looked at the chain in surprise for a mont. Then he approached the rchant. He got very close to his face.
"Don’t you see this?" he said.
The rchant looked at his hand.
"What are you talking about?" he said. "Don’t you see your own hand?"
Zaber slowly took a step back. He remained silent, looking at the chain.
"So..." he thought. "Ordinary people cannot see the soul chain."
Zaber controlled the chain with imagination.
In an instant, the chain pierced the rchant’s chest.
The rchant’s eyes widened. His pupils shrank. He clutched his chest with one hand. His breath began to break.
Zaber squeezed the chain with his fingers and pulled hard.
The rchant’s soul ca out of his body with the chain.
This process was silent. No blood. No scream.
Only trembling.
The chain wrapped around the yellow soul like a snake. The chain began to consu it.
Zaber separated the chain from the soul.
"Interesting..." he thought. "Can I hold the soul?"
He reached out to the soul.
He grabbed the fragnting rchant’s soul by the neck.
The soul trembled. It resisted. But it could not escape.
Zaber smiled darkly.
"Hahaha..." he said in a low voice. "I can hold the soul. The way to break it is not far."
He wrapped the soul with the chain.
The chain consud the soul.
Yellow streaks appeared on the chain.
One ring was added.
Zaber took the rchant’s wallet.
He walked back. The rchant’s body lay lifeless beside the wall. No one would see. No one would search.
"So..." he thought. "One soul—one chain ring."
He looked at his hand.
"Interesting..." he said inside. "How many souls will it take to extend it to ten ters... a hundred ters?"
Zaber erged onto the main street and blended with the people.
This city... still had no answer to this question.
"Friends, what do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comnts. Don’t forget to add this novel to your library. Power Stones and Golden Tickets help Chapters co out faster and give great motivation."
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