Each student is given a credit of a hundred gold coins to figure out their Helminth upon arrival on campus. Digging into my backpack, I pull out a handful.
Glock 17, I think. My favorite. Guns are one of the few things that can at least pique my interest.
As I imagine the components of the firearm, a feeling like frostbite crawls up my arm. At first, I'm not worried, this is likely due to how complex a gun is, but the more the pieces fall in place, the more it feels like my very essence is being sucked out of me. Concerned for my own existence I thrash my hand away halfway through as I stop visualizing the gun. I'm not sure why but it seems creating advanced weapons would cost me more than gold.
Despite nearly having my very being taken from me, I shake my arm in an attempt to warm up my chilly hand. I'll stick to simple swords. That soul stuff is out of my league right now. Plus, it's probably not the best idea to bring a gun on my first day of school.
I drop my arm and consider what I know. It seems that my power is to buy and sell items I can imagine. Certainly versatile
The apparent cons are: having a tax, certain objects I can't buy yet and a currency I have no clue how to obtain.
Every time a question gets answered, three more appear. Is there any way to avoid that frozen recoil? Is it like a battery? How would I even go about taking someone's soul?
For now, I decide to put a hold on whatever that was and return to the basics.
Can I sell anything?
Breaking off a branch from a nearby tree, I hold it out.
Sell
The branch disappears.
Yet nothing appears in its place.
Maybe it is because phantom oak is the cheapest kind of wood.
My fingers still sting from that frostbite thing. What was it trying to take?
Maybe it needs a soul? Can I sell a corpse?
That would make clean-up a whole lot easier. But I would probably get more if I sold them to an organ harvester.
Well, at least my Helminth is versatile and easy enough to hide.
"This is going to be an odd skill to have-" As I stand there talking to myself like a loser, someone suddenly bumps into me.
A boy with purple hair pushes past. I was out of the way, so I'm not sure if it was intentional or not.
"Out of the way!" The guy shouts with a scowl.
Seems to be the typical bully type. The question is, confidence or compensation? "Nice shoes."
The purple-haired boy turns around with a disgusted face. "The hell do you mean by that?!"
...Compensating. "I apologize; it's just when you bumped into me, I noticed how cool your shoes were."
"What? You looking for an apology?"
Standing there with my hands in my pockets, I think I feel some lint and two gold coins from earlier. I fiddle with some string that was left in there as well. "I wasn't looking for one, but it would be appreciated."
He towers over me with a pitied expression, as if my death would almost be too easy. "You know, I feel bad for how oblivious you are, so let me give you a lesson on how cruel this world can be!"
The boy unsheathes a sword, and suddenly it bursts into a blazing flame.
I instinctively pull my hands out of my pocket and flick a coin in the air. I had managed to tie the string to the coin while it was in my pocket. It's surprisingly easy to tie a knot with one hand after some practice.
Quickly grabbing a nearby stick, I hold it up as if it would actually protect me.
A brown-haired boy appears between the two of us; he strikes an oddly heroic pose as he manages to catch both of our blades... well, my stick. The large flame extinguishes as if it were never there. The coin attached to the string I'd flicked up in the air earlier falls to the ground with a clang before there is a moment of silence.
...Did he really have to block my attack?
The brown-haired boy looks at both of us, still holding that heroic pose. "Stop! There's no need to fight on the first day! We're all classmates here. How about we both just apologize?"
The boy with the fire sword looks down at us with a look of contempt. "Eh? Why the hell should I apologize to this slime?"
I don't react, slowly reeling the coin I threw earlier. That was close; I nearly crushed these strangers.
"C'mon, don't be like that! Why don't we just introduce ourselves and become friends?!" The boy questions.
"Whatever man, I don't have time for this." The hot-headed boy begins to walk away but turns around suddenly. "My name is Fuego! I don't say that so we become buddy buddy. I say that because soon, that name will be ringing through the halls of this shitty school!"
The brown-haired boy waves as Fuego stomps away. "Haha! Right! I look forward to studying with you!" He now turns, seeing me untying the string around my finger. "Are you alright man?"
The stereotypical hero. I'm curious to see how far that will take him at this school.
The brown haired boy has slightly curly hair that parts aside like waves. With a World war 2 looking green uniform, and black pants he looks like a typical adventurer.
He wears brown tactile gloves that match his hair almost perfectly. And across his chest, he has leather straps, attached to two sheathed swords on his back.
He meets my tired stare with his excited forest green eyes. "Don't hold it against him; I'm sure he's just nervous because it's his first day. Haha! Aren't we all though?"
"Parasite nullification, that's quite the ability." I state.
The brown-haired boy steps backward with a look of shock. "Wow! You're quick on the pickup; you saw through my attempt at a smoke screen."
"That must be a difficult ability to use. Truly a skill full of holes. What if the person has a buff? Or if it's a spell and you can't reach the caster?" I say that, but it's obvious through his strength that he has trained rigorously to compensate for the shortcomings of the power.
The brown-haired boy scratches his head as if he was just exposed. "Haha! Damn... kinda harsh. But you're certainly not wrong. Even though I only recently received the power, I'm still facing countless fun challenges." He suddenly looks excited. "But! I won't give up! Because I know Kishki wouldn't!"
He's a pro-Luminary known for being the underdog in the pro-Luminary world. He manages to dominate due to his strength and grit alone. Despite my knowledge, I decided it would be better to let him tell me; as people like to talk. "Kishki?" I question.
"You don't know who Kishki is?! He's The real-world Luminary! Even with a weak ability where he becomes stronger the more hurt he is, he still dominates every fight! Like, when he fought the Télos horde in Etióm! It was so cool!" the boy imagines the scene in his head, as he resists the urge to recreate it.
"I see you're quite the fan." I bluntly state.
The boy is blushing as if he just returned to reality. "Oh! I apologize. You're right, I was fangirling. Well regardless, it's nice to meet you. My name is Fletcher!"
I reach out my hand and introduce myself with a close-eyed smile. "Nice to meet you, Fletcher. My name is... Saint."
Fletcher reaches out and shakes my hand. They say you can tell a lot about a person from their handshake. Well, he is a truly honest person who won't be pushed aside, but won't leave you behind.
"So... what was your plan with that... stick? I mean... If I hadn't intervened."
I stare at Fletcher with my tired eyes, knowing full well I was about to kill Fuego. "For my sake, I guess it was a good thing you intervened."
Fletcher looks at me with concern.