Systemless in a Parallel World

"Two years ago, Silas' sister wanted to help me in completing my Unique mission to regrow my arm. However, she disappeared one day while training for the Colosseum. Neither I nor Silas had expected Lara to suddenly disappear so we searched for her everywhere but she was just…gone. Their parents were devastated but they took it as a sign from their Gods that they had removed Lara, the misfit of their family, from their lives," Merlin said, taking a sip of tea from a small porcelain cup. The cup was adorned with intricate patterns that attracted Zayn's attention. The patterns were bewitching to look at.

However, that didn't prevent Zayn from feeling extremely weirded out at this moment. He had no idea why Merlin Kivan had opened up about his past or why they ended up inside Merlin's living room, chatting while drinking tea.

'Wasn't he suspicious of me an hour ago, and trying to find excuses to get rid of me?!' Zayn felt annoyed though his facial expression made it seem as if he was one with the essence of calmness. He took a sip of the bitter tea as well and continued to look at Merlin before clearing his throat to fill in the awkward silence.

"I understand literally nothing you're talking about. Why are you telling me this story? I thought you were still unsure whether you want to kill me or not."

After Merlin got to know that Zayn was actually affiliated with Silas Levian, the young receptionist of Zerek's Adventurer Hall, his attitude changed completely.

There may be a few moments in which Merlin eyed him with suspicion, but the one-armed man began to hide his attempts of scrutinizing the youngster while revealing things that were of literally no interest to Zayn.

"Didn't Silas send you to help me with my problem?" Merlin asked all of a sudden, rather than answering Zayn's question.

"Help you? I am 13, you know?" Zayn retorted while raising an eyebrow in disbelief, "I am searching for an instructor, not a way to kill myself…"

No matter what it may be, the moment a B-rank Adventurer with two Soulrings and enough soul particles to complete a stabilized soulframe for the third Soulring asked for help, people like Zayn should run for their lives.

He was still a G-rank Adventurer, his body was far from mature and his combat experience was mainly amassed from fighting a bunch of monsters while exploiting the existence of his Spirits.

He was not actually strong! Nonetheless, Zayn couldn't help but feel that this was an opportunity. Merlin Kivan didn't need money, but he was in dire need of his right arm. Helping him would certainly be helpful for him in the long run.

"But tell me more, I might be of help, who knows?" He pointed out while analyzing Merlin's reaction. Zayn was pretty sure that if Silas' little sister could be of help, it had to be because she was a Normie. Merlin Kivan's reaction to his revelation of being a Normie hadn't been bad either. It had been the complete opposite reaction than he received from other Blessed.

Merling looked at Zayn for a few seconds, until he seemed to have come to a conclusion. The determination in Zayn's eyes and both his honesty and genuine words made it clear that the young boy wouldn't lie to him. As for the reason why Merlin believed that Zayn wouldn't start telling lies, or betray him, it was his gut feeling.

Driven purely by his instincts, Merlin chose to trust Zayn, to a small extent only, of course, after everything he had heard. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together and it was time for Merlin to make use of them. 𝗳𝓇ℯe𝓌𝚎𝚋𝓃𝚘𝚟𝘦𝑙.𝑐𝚘𝙢

"The System Mission I was given to regrow my arm is to take revenge on the Family who is at fault for the loss of my arm. The Soul Monster that ended up biting off my right arm has to be killed as well," Merlin revealed. Zayn's ears pricked at that and he began to listen more intently to Merlin's next words.

"The family who did this to me is a big merchant family with big firms in most cities in the central region. Most of them are not that strong but they have enough money to purchase everything they want, making them nearly invincible. The merchant family was displeased with my attitude toward them, which is why they chose to act against me.

Doing something like that is usually foolish because I am the strongest Adventurer in Zerek, but the merchants were too invested in the existence of the highly demanded beauty products which are manufactured over here. As a result, they chose to assassinate me when I was on a high-ranked mission.

I don't want to go anymore into detail, but they got hold of a tamer who could temporarily control a Unique Monster with two Soulrings. It was known as cruel, merciless, and strong enough to fight off A-Rank Adventurers, but I nearly killed it even though I was already injured!"

Merlin's explanation of the given situation was detailed enough to understand what had turned him into an amputee. He didn't reveal the name of the merchant family that caused the loss of his arm and he had yet to speak more about the Unique Monster that seemed to be a lot stronger than an ordinary monster with two Soulrings.

"I think I roughly understand what you have to do…but how is that related to Lara Levian, and the Colosseum?" Zayn asked the questions that would inevitably end up becoming his issue if he were to take Lara's position to help Merlin.

There were many things to take into consideration, and Merlin's behavior was not really helpful in that regard. Merlin seemed to regain some of his suspicions and his eyes grew more vigilant as they moved around the room.

"The Chimera in the Colosseum is the monster that bit off my arm. It's permanently injured and won't be able to regain it's full strength, but it is currently still wreaking havoc, and killing a bunch of Normies, no matter how strong they're. You should know that the Chimera seems to loathe Normies, which is why it tortures them the most. Though, I do not know the reason for that," He explained after taking another sip, while his eyes lingered on Zayn.

"Well, that makes things a lot more difficult…"