When they saw that there were three rugs, and there were only two of them there, they swiftly glanced at each other before they averted their gaze and sat down in silence with a dejected expression.

"Where is George and Henry?" Melvin asked without turning to look at the two, and he quickly received a response, "We don't know..."

This time he stood up and turned around asking, "Where do you guys pee around here?"

He had been avoiding drinking water the whole day precisely because of this reason, but when he saw the clay bottle beside him a while ago, he couldn't help himself and drank his fill.

The blonde-haired William stood up and said, "Follow me, I'll show you where"

The duo quickly got out of the shack, and took a turn to the left, heading in the direction where the stables were. As they approached, they were greeted by a wide entrance, its sturdy frame enveloping the multitude of rows inside. Each stable was constructed from sturdy wood, their roofs providing shelter for the beasts within.

Walking through the stables, Melvin was able to see all kinds of strange beasts curiously watching them from the relatively small door. A polar bear with a horn and ridiculously small wings, a horse with viciously sharp teeth, a giant otter, and so on...

However, this sight that would have previously made him feel a rush of excitement due to its fantastical element was overwhelmed by the intense smell.

The place reeked of both piss and the feces of dozens of beasts, the shit was so much that it accumulated into a thick layer that reached even the paths between the stables. Melvin's every step landed on the soft ground, giving his already death-filled boots an extra flavor.

The duo soon reached the end of the stables, where the walls were, and William merely pointed to a dark corner beside the brown rough walls.

Seeing the sight before him, he immediately understood that that's where they do it, 'Surely there is a better way?' He thought. Karl's shower was still fresh on his mind, so he knew that there was definitely a better way.

His bladder had different thoughts though, so he approached the beginning of where the pee was so strong and did his business. Throughout the process, he kept his nose pressed firmly into the crook of his elbow, desperate to shield himself from the pungent odor invading his senses.

When he finished, they quickly walked back, but on the way, they met someone. The short and slightly overweight coachmen whom Melvin had verbally confronted that morning and took three gold coins from.

The moment Melvin saw the creepy smile plastered all over his face as he looked at them, he knew that something was wrong and his steps halted.

"Good evening, The snake..." Loudly uttered the man from a distance, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he enunciated each word slowly.

William was about to start cursing, but Melvin quickly squeezed his shoulder, the last thing he needed was further enraging this man who oozed with strength.

Melvin coldly looked at the man and continued moving without saying anything else. But when he brushed past him, a voice resounded from behind, "I saw something very interesting today."

When he heard that, his steps stopped once again. For some reason, he knew exactly what the man was talking about, his wanted poster. His heartbeat's rate increased, and his mouth reflexively gulped.

He deeply inhaled trying to calm down his anxious state of mind, but he was met with the strong stench once again. Slowly turning around, he voiced, "What's that?"

By then the man had also turned around as well, meeting his gaze, and he said, "I think with that tone, you already know.", and then began gloatingly laughing.

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Melvin's face contorted into a grimace, and he felt that his only safe place was on the brink of being lost. He knew that they wouldn't be able to survive on the streets that were abuzz with guards and violent criminals.

The man smiled and continued, "The reward said 80 silver coins for information about you, but I have something better in mind."

"What do you want?" Codlly asked Melvin, though inwardly he couldn't be further from being confident.

"Triple."

'That's not so much' Melvin thought with a small calculation, 'triple is 2 gold coins and 40 silvers.'

Seeing his slightly relaxed expression, the man's smile widened, and said, "Triple the amount you took from me, 9 gold coins."

"What?!" Melvin unconsciously muttered as he approached the man with a mad look, and the man mirrored and closed the distance even further.

He was immediately overwhelmed by his presence, which woke him up as he retreated a few steps back.

Witnessing the sight, the man's smile widened even further, "See, you're just a brat. The Snake or whatever other names they call you is just nonsense. You will bring me the money the day after tomorrow or I will settle for that 80 silver coins."

Melvin immediately turned around and left, with William following behind with disappointed glares aimed at his back.

He paid him no heed because he was busy ruminating, 'Shit that was indeed humiliating.'

He could still feel his heart beating in fear, and when the man approached him he was even more afraid. However, he didn't feel disappointed in himself or anything of the sort, though it'd be a lie to say he didn't hate the whole situation.

Both the man's gloating gaze as he dominated him in that exchange, and the small brat's eyes filled with judgements made him feel bad. Melvin knew better than to let his actions be driven purely by emotions, after all the last time that happened he was going to be removed from existence once and for all.

'I will run away and go stay at a hotel.' He finally concluded once the two reached their shabby shack.

There is no need to mention even 1 gold coin, much less 9, he was completely broke. And even if he had them, he would never give that guy any money, that would be too humiliating, more than it already was.

William no longer said anything to Melvin, and he liked it as such as well. Their thoughts were too different from one another, and it wasn't just because of their age, it was something even more fundamental, their upbringing.

The group of boys and Jacob himself lived in such a brutal world that the way they approached the world and their places in it was very different.

Melvin knew that when the little brat would tell the others, no one would respect him anymore, and frankly this only made him resent them more, 'How heartless, your friend has just lost his memories and doesn't know how to approach the world and this is how you treat him.'

Dismissing such thoughts, Melvin sat down on the rug at the corner of the shack to the left and began writing.

After about two hours or so, he finally finished writing a real story about himself it was none other than the story he told Karl as well. When he began writing it, he debated whether to add some fictional elements because he didn't know exactly what happened to Jacob, in the end, he rejected that idea and decided to begin with the supermarket.

Finding his favorite brand of bread, seeing the afterlife, the gods, getting saved, waking up, etc... Until he came back from the previous confrontation and picked up the quill to write.

It took him a total of eight pages to go through all of that, and though he was very much aware that the way of writing was also important and he was pretty subpar in that aspect, he felt satisfied regardless.

He stood with excitement painting his face, and his heart beat with a beautiful rhythm of anticipation as he walked out of the shack toward where he went to pee earlier. Melvin knew that the process that was about to unfold would be a bit shocking, so he didn't want others to see.

When he arrived there with the folded parchment in hand, he began making sure that no one was paying attention. The sun had already started to take cover on the horizon, not that he was able to see that through the high walls, but he just knew that the sky had darkened which lessened his visibility to a degree.

This time, he walked into the deepest corner where people peed, and with his right palm above the parchment in his left hand, he unleashed the legendary skill.

Soon, the arcane symbols began to dance all around him once again, making the dimly lit corner slightly brighter. Before long, the characters jumped out of the parchment, drying out the pages in the process that slowly dropped down to the ground.

With Melvin's hands now free to rest to the side, he watched everything happen with a deep sense of awe and reverence. What made his excitement swell even more was the fact that, unlike last time, he could feel a sense of power being created through the arcane symbols and his characters dancing around one another.

Moment after moment, the two ingredients began to lose their previous forms and gradually transformed into just pure energy that swirled around him.

The dance increased its pace, and in the end, all of that assembled into a singular rune with a symbol that had the shape of a snake's serpentine slits.

Before he could even internalize the whole thing, two small windows appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have created a Rune: Cunning Venom]