Back to the multitude of average streets of the town, the stranger reverted back to his otherworldly appearance, deeply attracting the passerby's gazes of bewilderment and fear.
No one could avoid themselves from looking at him and wondering things like what if the god was real and was walking amongst them. Well, no one could, no one except perhaps the most brazen thief of Osmenti Town, the Fast Fingers.
Fast Fingers was hiding in a back alley, surveying the street from its shadowy edge, looking for potential victims to steal from for the day. He was looking out for a big score when he caught sight of the stranger. He was momentarily stunned just like all the others before him while looking at the stranger's unfocused facial features.
His deep greed for money though, no matter the insignificance it held against the mysterious nature of the stranger, proved to come at the top in Fast Fingers' mind. Seeing this stranger with confidence in his steps and the superior aura his whole being held, made Fast Fingers sure that he was no ordinary individual, and most likely someone very important with deep pockets.
Not even his cheap clothes could hide these characteristics from the experienced thief's eyes; they were probably a disguise to hide his real identity as a rich person.
With this ironclad belief, Fast Fingers chose the stranger as his target and moved at once into action.
Reaching the stranger from his side without him noticing and bumping onto him to disorient him was as easy as casually walking in the park. Using his special moves to snatch the leather coin pouch from his victim's belt and walking away before he had time to react proved to be even easier than stealing candy from a child.
As soon as he finished the act, he bolted from the scene, ran a couple of minutes through many of the back alleys and turned more times than he could remember before he could finally stop to count his price.
Exhilarated by the prospect of this being his biggest score ever, he opened the leather pouch expecting the gold color to blind his eyes, already envisioning a life of luxury and unrestrained pleasure.
But instead, he froze with his mouth stuck as a smile, for the shiny gold he was expecting turned out to be just dirty unremarkable gravels that anyone could find on the ground or stuck under their shoes.
He didn't know what went wrong, his movements were perfect, every part of his experienced actions was flawless.
Stupefied by this ridiculous outcome he was refusing to accept, he failed to notice that his own leather coin pouch - which was previously strapped to his belt - was now missing…
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In the Osmenti Town's Roasted Pig Tavern & Inn, the atmosphere was merry and cheerful, with the smell of the tavern's signature dish, the roasted pig, and the alcoholic beverages permeating the air in abundance. Melodies of songs being played and the different voices chatting and laughing filled the main dining room of the tavern with an entertaining and friendly ambiance.
The townsfolk who finished their work for the day were enjoying themselves through food, drinks, singing and chatting with their friends and acquaintances; catching up on the latest gossip, telling a new joke or just simply having fun to distract themselves from the bandits's imminent annual attack. Few travellers and passersby were also there to get a meal and maybe rent a room for the night, either unaware of the bandits' attack or not caring at all.
Everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves when the door to the tavern suddenly opened. If it was any other townsfolk or traveler who came in through the door, he would only receive a couple of glances before being greeted by acquaintances or ignored, but this time was a vastly different circumstance. That's because the one who entered wasn't just anyone, but a stranger with unsettling presence and blurry facial features.
No matter who it was, either they were eating, chatting, drinking or serving, everyone immediately felt his otherworldly presence and turned towards him with all the sounds ceasing to exist at the same time.
Because they were feeling relaxed and joyful until that point, the sudden appearance of the stranger brought an even more profound impact on them than what the other people outside experienced.
They were frozen solid on the spot, paralysed to the bone by the pressure of his existence and by the fear of the unknown his undefined features created. Nobody was moving, all stayed still where they were with many of them unconsciously still maintaining the smiles etched to their faces as they saw him surveying them with his obscure eyes.
Then the stranger did something that almost shook their brains out of their skull, so shocking it was, it was inconceivable. He waved his arm and brought something out from literally nowhere, materializing it from seemingly thin air. They couldn't explain with they were seeing as no words could describe it. The only thing they saw about it which they could understand was that it was some kind of metal book exuding light, nothing else.
He moved his fingers over it, touching and sliding the light as if it was something tangible, an impossible act to them, and when he stopped, he made it disappear like it was never there in the first place.
From the moment he entered they observed and saw so much unbelievable things that they would never be capable of explaining, but still, nobody moved, nobody screamed like mad. They kept staring at him, with only horror starting to grow in their hearts.
The stranger watched them for a few seconds longer after that, which felt like unending torturing years to them, and then he finally moved. They trailed him with their shaking pupils as he walked in silence towards an empty table and simply sat down like he was a regular person coming to enjoy the food and music of the tavern.
His indifference and normality in his movements and actions like he belonged there, came in stark contrast to his presence and earlier unbelievable actions.
Seeing some things that clashed against everything they knew so far, and then the person responsible for them acting like nothing happened, kind of short circuited their brains. But instead of falling into madness trying to interpret what they saw, their minds opted to ignore them completely to safeguard themselves.
Slowly but awkwardly, everyone began laughing and chatting amongst each other, selectively pushing the previous events and the presence of the stranger at the back of their minds, but still conscious enough of them to be forced to restrain their activities. The music resumed and the food and beverages were once again being served to the tables, restoring the earlier atmosphere to the best it could.
After a couple of hours of this restrained atmosphere, the stranger, who stayed still all the time in his seat, abruptly stood up. They couldn't help but stop the noises and clamour once again and watch as a second later the stranger brought out that mysterious object of a marvel again for a moment and later made it disappear just like before.
They watched him walk towards the tavern owner behind the bar in their stupor. The moment the owner saw the stranger coming towards him, he began feeling anxious for his purpose.
When the stranger stopped right in front of him, he was so nervous and afraid, sweat started dripping from his forehead. But more so than ever when he saw the stranger took out the marvelous object yet again and while staring at him, he moved his fingers with lightning speed.
When the owner heard audible but undiscernible noises coming from the strangers' blurry mouth, he was scared sh*tless, wondering madly in his head what kind of being was opposite him. He was so disturbed he had failed to hear the clinging sounds in front of him.
It took him a couple of seconds, feeling uncertain about his future, to eventually notice that the stranger had put several coins on the counter, worth at least two horses.
The poor guy was on board his personal negative emotions roller-coaster and was drowning in fear. When the sudden coins appeared, they caught him off guard. Not knowing head or tail and being just deeply confused, he stared back at the stranger full of silent questions and pleas for his life.
In the ludicrousness of the whole events, the tavern owner remained stupefied as he saw the stranger make simple gestures with his hands, both slow and specific. The owner followed the movements and eventually understood the meaning behind them.
So much glad he was to finally get rid of the walking peril in front of him, he quickly took the coins and called one of his employees to guide the stranger to one of the rooms.
As the unfortunate employee guided the stranger upstairs, the owner and all the others gathered below couldn't help but exhale deeply, feeling the massive boulder crushing on their shoulders - the stress from the stranger being amongst them - rolling away.
When the stranger disappeared behind the door of a room, most of them paid their bills and left, not wanting to take any chance of being in the presence of that figure again.
The owner knew that he was bound to lose profits the moment the first customers began to leave, but he could not blame them, if he was in their place he would have left too. Lamenting his misfortune in silence, he continued his work until the very last customer left for the night, trying very hard to ignore the unsettling stranger who now stayed in his tavern.