.::Soul Sacrifice::.

[Zoxre]

The Wicked Sorcerer

CHAPTER 1

"Pay Up"

It was no good. The sorcerer
had me cornered.

I had just been
passing through town.

Our eyes happened to meet, and he
swiftly offered me a unique fruit.

"It's good. try it"

I obliged, and the moment I
finished eating, he came at me.

"The fruit's not cheap, you know."

It was a scam.

The man demanded a fortune.
Enough for three modest castles.

"If you can't pay, you'll have to
work off your debt. Har Har Har!"

He persisted 3 days and nights -
I lost the battle of wills.

And so I ended up helping
the sorcerer with his work.

I have become indebted to
him, and all because I
Accepted a piece of fruit...

I doubt I've ever felt
more pathetic...

In the world of men,
wealth and power serve to
measure one's worth.

Only, sorcerers have their
own ways of judging people.

We risk our lives daily
in fierce combat.

For many sorcerers, wealth
is an abstraction.

This man was an exception.

I'd never seen a sorcerer
so obsessed with counting beans.

"Keep your nose to the grindstone
'till you're paid off. Har Har!"

He laughed as he spoke,
revealing his shiny gold teeth.

I could only sigh.


CHAPTER 2

Carnatux.

I nearly fell over
when I heard his name.

He was infamous.

He targeted monsters
driven by lust for money.

And was known for demanding the
greatest share of the spoils,
leaving his allies short-changed.

Carnatux continued to
badger me about my debt.

"Better pay quick. Before the
interest gouges you! Har Har Har!"

I accompanied Carnatux
on a short trip in order
to pay off my dept.

A sorcerer has no use for
riches...
And yet Carnatux insists on
collecting his precious
trinkets...

Carnatux cared about
nothing other than wealth.

"No fortune is ever enough."

We two are both sorcerers.

a sorcerer worth his salt can make
a small fortune. It just depends
how low he is willing to stoop.

But still he was not satisfied.

"It's not enough. Not even close."

The question is: what fueled
his insatiable lust for wealth?


CHAPTER 3

We hid in the shadows,
observing.

We spotted our target.

"A pretty impressive beast, Eh"?

Some people wield sorcery
to satiate their lust for wealth.

Blindly melding with random gold
trinkets to grotesque ends.

Countless people have suffered
this fate, transforming into
monsters.

We faced one such creature then.
Similar ones scattered the land.

They are sometimes
called "slum slime".

"Har Har!
We're in the money today!"

Carnatux cracked a conniving
smile, and set after the monster.

Carnatux's right arm has
become sheathed in gold...
A consequence of his
irrepressible greed, surely.

"This one was
drowning in debt"

Carnatux knew our target.

He knew this avarice slime when
he was still human, and how
he devoted to his state.

He couldn't bear to see his
wife and children in poverty.

He loved his family, and thought
that money would bring them
happiness. But his love soon
transformed into unbridled greed.

Carnatux reflected plaintively.

"It's the curse of wealth."
"Greed could drive a man mad."
"The world can do without
more greedy wretches like me."

He did what he had to do.
But not what I expected.


CHAPTER 4

Carnatux told me that we
had one more job to do.

"Deliver the contractor the news."

Now I realized we were hired guns.

I had no choice but to follow.

"The poorer areas produce
more than their fair share
of monsters."

It was an old story.

A person facing difficult
circumstances was easily
seduced by material greed.

"If we were all rich,
there'd be no more monsters."

this was not the sort of thing
I expected to hear from him.

I was now very curious.

Just what kind of a place
were we destined for?

"If everyone in the world
were rich, there would
be no monsters."

That was his creed. I must
admit, I am curious to learn
more of his thoughts...

*To be contunued