Welcome to Merrum

"Hmm, doesn't seem fair, there's clearly some favouritism at play here. And one would've thought that the legitimate champion would get the special treatment," a voice called out as Edric slowly gained feeling over his new body.

~Why does it feel like I was hit by a truck,~ he thought to himself, as a mind-numbing pain washed over him

"Still, it's not too late for things to be evened out. There's still the question of my payment, and in lieu of that greedy bastard, Mr favourite child over here will just have to pay his daddy's dues," the voice added, its tone musing.

Though Edric could hear somewhat clearly, it seemed his eyes would need a little more time before they could function properly. And with the excruciating pain currently consuming his body, he didn't dare move a muscle.

"By the way, Mr Favourite child, my time costs money you know, and it's quite expensive at that. Though take your time, it just means more for me at the end of the day," the voice added. It was a soft kind of voice, one wouldn't be surprised if it had come from a princess.

A few moments later, Edric's eyes finally started working, and the world around him slowly came into view. 

He was currently staring at the ceiling of some sort of stone structure, and based on the deteriorating rocks and ancient-looking inscriptions, he deduced that it was probably a ruin of some sort.

"Where are we?" he asked finally, finding that his body was no longer crippled by pain.

"A horror nest, and judging by the gatekeeper here, probably a second generation," the voice replied. 

Edric slowly rose from the uncomfortable stone altar he had been lying on and turned towards the voice.

Standing just a few meters away from the altar was a white-haired girl with azure blue eyes. She had the complexion of a vampire and a sort of cat-like beauty that made her seem almost alien.

She was draped in a pristine white cloak, that seemed to be made of an especially thick material. Etched into it were dozens of brilliant precious stones, that seemed to glow with power ever so slightly.

Mounted onto her back were six swords, three poking out on either side. And every single one of them looked to be a masterpiece in its own right.

"What are you?" Edric asked hesitantly, noticing the snow-white cat ears that just barely protruded from the top of her hair.

"A Bastet... 3rd tail," she replied, her icy eyes staring directly into Edric's. It felt almost easy to get lost in them, however, he was more intrigued by the amount of luxury she seemed to be covered in.

"What's that!?" he asked suddenly, just now noticing the massive monster behind her.

It was an obsidian black abomination, that looked to be a shapeless blob with multiple limbs sticking out of it at random places. Its skin was completely covered in welts, and it had two crimson gems at its centre that sent out streaks of red light.

"That's the gatekeeper," the girl replied blankly, not taking her eyes off Edric.

"Five minutes have passed since I performed the ritual," she said, pulling out a circular silver object from one of the pockets hidden within her cloak.

~A watch?~ he thought to himself, as she showed it to him. 

"I could've taken down a first-generation gatekeeper with that much. At today's current rate, its soul gem would've fetched a minimum of 2 gold coins on the market. Taking into account the information I've already given you as well -using the information guild's current prices as a basis- that totals to 2 gold coins and one silver," the girl added. 

It sounded completely out of place for such a sweet voice to be talking business like this. However, this talk of money was enough to allow Edric to find his bearings.

"Surely you're smart enough to understand I can't take your claims of current market prices as fact. Besides, for payment to be expected, there first has to be an agreement for a sale of goods, or request of service, none of which exists right now," Edric replied, before carefully taking a step forward.

He still had to get accustomed to the increased height of his new body, and that said a lot as he stood at 1.89 meters back on Earth.

"So you aren't going to pay me?" she asked, her expression going unnaturally blank for a moment.

In that instant, Edric felt an odd sensation ringing at the side of his head.

"I didn't say that. We can still decide on how the payment will be done, however, I'd like to get a few things out of the way first," he replied hesitantly.

Whatever this strange girl was, she was clearly stronger than him right now. And the six swords on her back had nothing to do with it.

"You're Edrea, right? That creature... Greed, told me that you'll explain how my powers work. Can you do that for me?" Edric asked.

Even though he had lived a relatively peaceful life back on earth, he was well aware that being in a room with an armed stranger whilst being unarmed was folly. At the very least he had to know how to use the only power at his disposal.

"10 gold coins," the girl said after a moment of thought.

~So this is Greed's champion, huh? Makes sense I suppose, though this level is a bit much,~ Edric thought to himself, realizing what sort of person this girl was.

"I don't have any money at the moment, perhaps we could create an account on goodwill as fellow champions of the same diety, and I'll pay you at a later date," Edric replied after some thought.

"Account?" the girl asked, her pretty face scrunched up in confusion.

~Do they not have any semblance of financial systems here, or is it that this girl is just uneducated in this area?~ Edric thought to himself, however, he quickly dismissed the second hypothesis.

She was smart enough to know the quotes of various items and add them together, and despite the simplicity of that calculation, concepts such as an account should've been something she heard of at least once if she knew this much

~Or maybe it isn't called an account in this world?~ he pondered.

He simply didn't know enough about this world to draw any conclusions just yet.

"I promise to pay you at a later date. I'll even add a few... gold coins to sweeten the deal," he said finally. To that, the girl smiled, and despite her beauty, it came out as a terrifyingly maniacal grin.

"Deal. I'll gut you and sell your soul gem if you don't pay me what is owed within the next month," she said matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them rumbled, and the room began to shake.

~Earthquake?~ Edric thought to himself, having been knocked down by the tremor. The girl however seemed unphased.

"There isn't much time, the nest is falling apart. I'll teach you as I extract the soulgems," she said, before drawing out a short knife from one of the pockets of her cloak. 

It was a translucent crystal knife, with several emeralds embedded in its hilt.

Edric blinked once, and she was already using the knife to dig out one of the "gatekeeper's" crimson gems.

"All systems work in two steps. The first is billow," she started explaining, all the while the room's shaking only got worse. 

After she said this, she took a deep breath, before exhaling. With that, a cloud of white smoke rushed out of her mouth.

"This step is simple. Merely uttering the word billow before exhaling is enough to perform it," she added, and with every word she uttered, more smoke was sent out of her mouth.

At this point, some of the stones that made up the wall began to crumble. The wall's integrity had been breached, and judging from the multiple crackling sounds that now filled the air, it would collapse at any moment.

"The second step is more complicated, and every system has its conditions. It's called ignite, and it's the activation step," she explained, before snapping her fingers.

With that, a bright white flame erupted from within the cloud of smoke. And in an instant, it was completely engulfed.

A moment later, a strange white portal opened right in front of her.

By now she had already extracted both gems from the creature. 

~What in the heavens,~ Edric thought to himself, as he witnessed the rather petite girl toss the massive monster into the portal with a single arm.

After another moment, a crimson gem was spat out of the portal.

"Of course, the effect of ignite will be different for everyone," she said, before pocketing the extra crimson gem.

"Take this, you'll need it. I wouldn't want you dying before you pay me," she said, before tossing him a knife.

It was a simple black knife, nothing at all like any of the other luxurious weapons she seemed to be so fond of.

"I want it back in exactly the same condition I gave i-" Before she could finish her sentence, Edric felt his body being pulled backwards.

The world around him wobbled as if its very fabric were made of liquid, before suddenly going dark.

A moment later, he found himself in a forest. No evidence of the ruin that had once surrounded him in sight.

"What is this world?" he whispered to himself in awe.