Heartless Bastard

Grant only managed to speak those two words before he passed out from the exhaustion.

The moment that the staff made contact with his neck, he had moved slightly in the direction the staff was moving so as to absorb some impact of the bow. Once he had absorbed enough of the blow to make it believable, Grant immediately activated the skill Void of Vitality to make it appear as if the blow had somehow managed to kill him which would lure Skit into moving closer.

Once he was close enough, he deactivated the skill and placed the sword against the skeletons neck bone.

"I see your brain isn't there just to fill the space in your skull, you actually know how to use it. Although that trick would never work in a real fight, I commend you for the strategy nonetheless."

Since Grant was unconscious due the fatigue, he never heard the words Skit spoke.

A few hours later, Grant finally awoke from his sleep. Every fiber of his body was screaming in exhaustion and it was difficult for him to even sit up. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious but he didn't see Skit anywhere so he assumed he had been out of quite awhile.

He decided that he would just stay where he was and rest some more. It didn't even matter to him that the floor was a typical rocky surface that provided him with zero comfort.

Soon enough he was once again fast asleep.

After a long period of time passed, Grant finally woke up again. This time, although sore, he was no longer in pain so he pushed himself up off the ground to go check the condition of the weather outside.

Before he even reached the entrance of the dungeon he could tell that the whether hadn't changed at all and, if anything, it had only gotten worse. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but had to be at least 12-14 hours so he was slightly caught off guard that the storm was still raging so fiercely but there was nothing he could do about it so he turned around and walked back into the dungeon.

He eventually found Skit, sitting at a new table that had been placed in the same spot where Grant had destroyed the original one, looking at something that resembled paper although it wasn't white like the paper Grant was used too.

"Hey buddy, how does it feel to lose to someone weaker than you?"

Skit didn't even lift his gaze from the papers in front of him before replying.

"Although you won, your strategy was not just dangerous, it was foolish. As I said before, you would have lost in a real fight within the first few moves. Don't get carried away."

Even though he knew that Skit was trying to teach him a lesson, Grant still couldn't help but laugh cheerfully.

"Whatever Skeletor. I won and that's all that matters."

"Ohoho I thought I told you my name is not Skeletor? You sure have grown arrogant after winning once.

Come closer and I will teach you the meaning of respect, human."

After a short bout of taunts, they both burst out laughing. It seemed like they were two kindred spirits who although so different in many ways, shared a similar personality and arrogance.

Although Grant was proud of himself for pulling a victory out of his ass in the first bout, he knew that it was a fluke and it would never happen again. That didn't stop him from wanting to challenge Skit again so he could take advantage of the opportunity to improve himself.

Once the two were done laughing at each other, Skit put down his documents and walked past Grant, headed back towards the main room of the dungeon.

"Since we will be working together for the foreseeable future, I cannot allow you to fight like a newborn baby. We shall fight until I am satisfied with your progress."

"How does a newborn baby even fight? And wait, you're not my sensei or something so stop treating me like I'm your student!

Ah fuck it, lets do this thing!"

Over the next two weeks, Grant and Skit would engage in dozens upon dozens of battles.

Grant never won a single fight over the two weeks and ended up unconscious at least once every day. Whether he had reached that state due to exhaustion or a swift strike to the head, it did not matter, because it was the only way that Skit would allow the training to end.

Grant had been checking the weather every day, but the storm had ended up raging on until the 15th day. Grant had asked Sherlock why the storm had been raging on for so long but he said it was likely due to the mana in the air and Earth trying to adapt to the changes. Inclement weather was just a "side effect" of the Earth walking its own Path.

After being defeated for what felt like the thousandth time, Grant struggled to his feet.

"You have improved tremendously since you walked into this dungeon, I am impressed. Now you can actually hold your own in a serious fight against me, at least longer than you could before. Ohohoho"

"You have a savage streak you know that?

You couldn't go easy on me even once? Heartless bastard."

"You are not wrong in that sense, I do not have a heart. I am surprised it took you so long to notice."

Grant just rolled his eyes at Skit's attempt at a joke. Over the past two weeks they had basically spent every moment together, other than when he was unconscious of course, so they had become much closer than Grant thought he'd ever be with a skeleton.

"You may be happy to know that the whether outside seems to have calmed down. If you are planning on fetching those three people you were spending time with, you should go now. We need to begin our project quickly. We have already wasted too much time."

"You got it boss! I will head out immediately!", with exaggerated motions, Grant saluted Skit like he was his lowly goon or something before walking over and grabbing his rucksack.

As he was heading towards the entrance of the dungeon, Grant made sure to yell his thanks back towards Skit.

"Thanks for the fun for the last couple weeks! I'll be back in a few days hopefully! Then we can get started on our little project!"

Skit didn't even say anything, he just watched Grant walk towards the exit before he too turned around and walked back towards the room that they had held their first meeting in.

When Grant reached the entrance of the dungeon, he was completely stunned by the sight before him.

Unlike when he had entered the dungeon, the world outside the dungeon had well and truly been fucked up. There was debris flung everywhere, buildings were collapsed in every direction he looked, and he couldn't even make out where the roads used to be.

He felt like he was standing on a hill at the edge of a garbage dump and staring out over the piles of trash. He couldn't believe that a storm had managed to ravage the world so greatly.

Grant was anxious to check on Ally and the kids to make sure that nothing had happened to them during the storm. The only thing that provided him with comfort was knowing that the building they were in was completely made of cement like an old time above ground bunker.

If anything was going to keep them safe from the storm, other than something like the dungeon, then it would be the building they were supposed to be staying in.

He knew that it would take a lot longer for him to reach the gun store with the amount of debris in his way so he didn't dawdle any longer and started forcing his way forward and creating a path as he went.

Grant decided he should also pay a visit to the settlement that was located on the University campus when he had time. While he was walking he saw stores like Walmart and the local grocery store had also been reduced to nothing but piles of rubble, just like everything else.

If the superstores such as Walmart had been destroyed even with their enhanced structural design due to their size, then it was very likely that whichever building the settlement had been using as shelter had also been destroyed. He had no doubt that the survivors of the shelter must be suffering greatly at the moment and he wanted to see how the leadership was dealing with it.

As much as he was opposed to dealing with all of that right now, he did have a friend there and he wasn't completely heartless to the plight that normal people must be facing. If he could somehow assist them in the short term, then he would.

While lost in thought, Grant trudged onward through the chaos and debris.