Chapter 3: Normalcy [03/04]

Neon signs hummed with electrical current as they shone over Gray's slumped head. The streets below them were filled with cars speeding along, some passing by with loud music blaring through their windows.

Gray's surroundings were filled with hustle and bustle, even though it was quite late. As always, this district of the large Holo Isles proved to be alive at any time of the day. Even in the dead of night.

Gray looked ahead of him. His dark navy blue eyes narrowed into slits. His face was emotionless, his hands folded casually into his pockets.

"Another day... another loss..."

Gray muttered monotonously.

The teen's eyes showed enough. He was exhausted, even if his outward appearance and mannerisms gave everyone the impression that he was completely fine. Yet beneath his pale face and his dull blue eyes, there was a deep sadness and despair.

Everyone who knows him, however, knew that even if Gray was showing nothing outwardly, there was still hidden pain buried deep within him, a pain that would never be completely gone.

"After all... I am an F-Rank..."

Gray muttered to himself. No matter how hard he tried, there was no way for him to change that fact. The fact that he was an F-Rank Brawler.

He wasn't an elite like the Brawler known as Monolith or a powerful Magus Brawler like Kharlia. He didn't even have a proper Brawler skill. At least, one that served a use in battle. All he had was the insignificant boost to his physical strength that his aforementioned title provided.

Even so, despite this… despite these shortcomings, he still held strong in his determination. A determination that pushed him to find any opportunity to gain... money.

"I can't... Sis works so much and I can barely help to lessen the burden left for her..."

Gray sighed as he walked past a wall plastered to the brim with propaganda and posters that advertised the latest up-and-coming Brawlers. Some he recognized, most of them he didn't.

"I won't even be able to reach something like this..."

He said as he turned to the poster-filled wall, tearing off one and looking at the picture of a woman in a long red dress. Her brown skin seemed to glow brightly as posed in the photo, with her bright yellow eyes shining with excitement.

Besides that, in the photo, she wore a small silver tiara with a diamond-filled necklace on her neck. She smiled sweetly towards the camera, with both of her arms around a shorter woman beside her who also wore a smile.

"Notoriety... Fame... Money..."

Gray murmured as he stuffed the poster into his bag, before beginning to walk down the deserted street.

SRR! CRSH!!

Suddenly, a loud screech echoed throughout the streets. The noise sounded like tires squealing, causing many nearby cars to suddenly screech to halt as they came to a sudden halt.

Within a flash, an athletic and tall man rolled away from the skidding car with a much smaller person in their arms. Cars in the back honked loudly as the scene unfolded, the muscular man standing up as he yelled angrily at the cars, placing down the shorter person.

"Oh god...! Thank you so much!"

"It's no issue, just be careful next time you cross the road! A B-Rank like me won't always be around to save you!"

"Thank you, thank you!"

The man nodded and turned to leave before pausing and turning back around. The person he saved bowed down deeply with gratitude as well as a slight blush covering the rest of her cheeks. As the man left quickly, two others ran over towards the pair who were talking to each other with worry written all over their faces.

Gray watched the scene unfold with his neutral expression, feeling neither amused nor bothered by what had happened.

"Wow... what a hero...!"

One man nearby praised while nudging his friend with wide eyes and open mouth, staring at the spot the muscular man left in admiration.

"He was really nice! You were lucky he happened to pass by!"

Both the women commented as they crowded the girl that was saved.

"..."

Gray simply continued on with his communion home, ignoring the commotion around him.

"Strength..."

A distant whisper escaped from his mouth.

"Strength... it's the only way to squirm out from under the dirt, isn't it?"

As usual, he spoke aloud. His lips formed a thin line as his brow creased slightly. It was a habit he picked up in the early days of his career as a Brawler. A VERY early habit.

"What a joke..."

He whispered quietly, almost lost in thought as he continued to walk.

The young man shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts before continuing forward.

The young man shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts before continuing forward. His footsteps became louder as he headed deeper into the district of the large Holo Isles.

Being an F-Rank... is a hole not many if any have ever climbed out of...

And Gray... was no exception to this brutal truth.

===

The long walk went on for what felt like an eternity. Each step was like taking one more step closer to the end of a path Gray had already walked numerous times.

But each time it got harder, and each time, the path Gray took got further away from the end of the path. Or at least that's what it felt like to the sulking teen.

Every step he took now... meant another step he would have to take later.

When Gray reached the outskirts of the previous district, his eyes caught sight of the rapidly deteriorating state of the building surrounding him. He'd finally reached his district... Villa Gorgon.

The place he spent the most time in over the past ten years of his life.

At first, he didn't feel anything when he saw the dilapidated structures. Gray merely shrugged off the old memories and feelings that flooded his mind, allowing him to move forward again.

Then, as he neared the front entrance of the building, he felt a vibration in his pocket, followed shortly after by a message bell ringing but muffled due to being in his pocket. Without thinking too much about it, he pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen to see who sent a message to him.

It was a notification from the Crowd Control Association app that comes pre-installed on every cellphone. No phone could escape this app, no country or manufacturer.

As soon as he read the text, Gray began to walk forward, ignoring the few people who passed him.

[looking for a low-rate to mid-rate Brawler to take care of a small F-Rank Dungeon that's been bugging me and my neighbors for the past few weeks any offers?]

The message read in the live feed of constantly updated job offer notifications.

A short list of possible candidates appeared next to the message, including jobs for high-pay and low-risk work. He ignored those postings and solely focused on the one he had received a notification about.

He hadn't seen any proper job openings recently and wasn't interested in having to deal with 'those' kinds of things anyway.

Gray swiped his finger to the side of the screen, taking him to the main page of the job offer. He opened up the new tab and immediately tapped the pictureless profile.

[Salvador Lucibello]

[Joined: 33 Minutes ago]

[Destription: idk what to put here. read this if u like pineapple on pizza]

[Jobs Posted: 1 (Recent)]

Gray raised an eyebrow upon reading the description, before clicking on the link to view the offered job details.

"What's wrong with pineapple on pizza...?"

Gray muttered to himself as he clicked through the available job. The same short message he saw on the job application popped up again in the corner of his screen.

[Looking for a low-tier Brawler to take care of a small gate that's been bugging my neighbors and me.]

"Tsk."

Gray grumbled under his breath. He tapped the job again and opened up a new chat log. He then typed out a simple reply and pressed 'Send'.

[I'm interested. Send information about your job and contact information to me.]

He responded simply, his eyes trained on his screen, waiting patiently for a response from the other party. For the moment he waited… a series of new messages appeared in his chat. Rashly written ones in particular.

[gr8!]

[hello, give me a minute and let me send u the inf]

[Take your time]

Gray wrote as he stared at the message that appeared on his screen. After a minute passed, there was a response.

[(Location sent)]

[okay i've sent it to u]

[Great, how much would you pay for it? You didn't list anything regarding payment beforehand. I don't want to do any cheap shit either so no going below the average.]

Gray typed back without hesitation, his back leaning against the wall as his gaze stayed glued to the phone as he waited impatiently for the reply. A few seconds later a new message appeared on his screen once more.

[don't worry you'll get pyd properly]

[Can you at least give me an amount?]

[Salvador is typing...]

[gvie me a scnd brb]

Salvador texted back with abbreviations and broken text.

Gray sighed as he let the arm holding his phone fall to his side. He knew that he couldn't go below the standard pay of an F-Rank Brawler. There are only so few times a guy like him could earn enough money that he could use to afford groceries and food, school supplies, and other stuff along those lines. And yet above that, he still needed to save money for the bills, for both his siblings and to pay for his apartment...

At most, he could do one or two jobs listed for F-Ranks per week, and even then the pay was so low it didn't make a dent in his pocket.

However, the price did come with its perks...

More jobs completed meant that people who left job postings could recommend him to higher-level jobs where he would get paid better, which meant money for rent. It almost functioned like a freelance service to him.

However, even though he made decent money for doing jobs like this, he was mostly treated like a fumigator.

Going over to the listed Dungeon plopping in and killing the singular monster that's usually found in F-Ranked Dungeons and then back out in only a few minutes.

The root of that factor is that F-Ranked Dungeons are so common and more of a pest than a real issue, unlike higher-ranked Dungeons. A fact that makes them a daily occurrence like a busted pipe or broken roof.

In contrast, smaller and less known dungeons have a lot less of a problem that requires lesser levels of experience to solve.

If he wanted to go to a bigger and better Dungeon than the ones he'd usually take, he'd need to up his Brawler Rank by a substantial amount.

And that required going to places like Gate Gyms. But places like that are tightly controlled and gatekept by various Squads and associations with strict security and monetary measures to prevent outsiders from entering.

That also means there are probably only a handful of Brawlers that even reap the benefit of them.

Vrr! Vrr!

Knocking him out of his thoughts, Gray turned his head towards his phone again. A notification showed up in the top right corner of the screen indicating that Salvador had replied to him.

[the payment would be around 3000 Utopian Lucre. that's good right?]

Gray's eyes widened as he read the message.

That's a pretty hefty sum of money for a low-ranking Brawler. E-Ranks usually are paid 2000 Utopian Lucre per job, but in the case of an even lower-ranked Brawler like him, they would probably pay around 500 or 750. Not ever reaching quadruple digits for a job.

[It seems I'm going to owe you one…]

Gray chuckled to himself as he gave his reply.

[so is good?]

[It's perfect! I'll be over there immediately! I'm not that far so I'll be finishing this in under 30 min!]

[gr8! lmk when you are finished with it so I can send ovr the payment!]

[Sure thing!]

With the conversation settled Gray started to make his way to the exit of the Villa Gorgon district. As he walked away from it, he looked back at a tall building in the direction of Villa Gorgon.

It looked to be in quite poor condition compared to the buildings nearby to him, as well as the surrounding buildings around it. It stood out amongst them with its shabby exterior and dirty windows. A long winding staircase leading upwards to each of the floors was visible in the distance. He could faintly make out the silhouettes of several men standing outside on a barely stable balcony.

After a quick glance around, Gray sighed softly to himself and continued walking towards his destination.

'Sorry, sis... I'm gonna be home even later than I thought...'

===

Gray's walk continued on for about 5 minutes till he finally reached the location Salvador had sent him. He basically ran over due to the promise of such hefty pay. In a blink of an eye, he arrived outside of a large expensive-looking building.

Gray took a step backward and looked up at the building before him with his arms crossed. His eyebrows were knitted together as he silently examined the structure that was clearly very extravagant.

This building was at least twenty stories tall with thick walls, multiple windows along the top floor, and many balconies along the sides.

"Were's the Dungeon Gate?"

Gray asked while staring intently at the building, his lips slightly parted. He looked around the street and the building for any sign of the typical orange hue a gate would give off, but he found none.

After being silent for a few moments longer he began to question himself whether he should call it a day and leave, when suddenly...

[hey!]

A message from Salvador read as his phone vibrated again.

[i can see u down there im on a balcony up here!]

[Hey, where's the gate? I can't see it]

[is in the alley to the right of the building all the way on the back you may need to climb over a fence before getting to it]

[Got it, I'll take care of that now]

The tired teen placed his phone away in his duffle back as he began to walk to the right side of the building to look over at the gate Salvador spoke of.

A couple of meters ahead of him was a large, high fence that was taller than him. He slowly approached it before pausing briefly to take a deep breath.

With his hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers, Gray walked forward until he was close to the fence. Gray reached a small alleyway surrounded by a metal fence. There were no lights inside it, just a narrow opening. It looked like it led to the other side of the tall building.

As soon as he laid eyes on the deep end of the alleyway he made out the clear intense orange gate that clung close to the wall, almost like a fungal growth.

The intense orange of the gate seemed to emit some kind of red light through the gap that was made each time the swirl-like pattern within it moved in a certain way.

Gray glanced around carefully, taking notice of any movement coming from the building next to his. No signs of life were shown.

He quickly grabbed hold of the edge of the fence and with another deep inhale he pushed aside the fence and climbed over it easily. The metal creaking sound rang out as his shoes hit the ground.

"So this is the Gate..."

He muttered to himself as his eyes scanned the area that was lit up by the orange glow. The place looked deserted apart from a pile of garbage near the entrance.

He stepped forward cautiously and took a look behind him before moving forward again. He stopped once he was in front of the gate.

"Seems normal enough..."

'Guess I'll just go for it then...'

Gray gave himself his final thoughts as he let his duffle bag slip out of his shoulder and hand and to the floor. He then bent his knees slightly as he prepared himself to spring forward into the dungeon.

'Work as usual I guess.'

As he jumped onto the gate, he felt his whole body being lifted off the ground with incredible force. As he felt himself rising higher he could feel a slight pull on his stomach as he was lifted in the air.

Just before he could feel his stomach drop, the feeling disappeared leaving a tingling sensation across his stomach. After feeling nothing anymore, his body crashed hard against the ground. The impact forced all the wind out of him and he struggled to breathe as he sat up.

Once his body became steady and he felt comfortable enough that his feet touched the ground, he instantly fell forward, rolling over and landing on a small patch of soft grass.

He opened his mouth to try and breathe properly and took a few breaths in.

When he looked back up, he saw the gate above his head and above that a huge vertical cave that went up for what seemed like forever. The smallest bit of natural light sinning down not even coming close to the glow emitted by the Gate.

Just beyond that was a path that extended deeper into the cavern.

"A cavern type? Odd for an F-Ranked dungeon to have this..."

He hummed curiously as he stepped off the patch of grass, walking casually down the cavern like a normal Sunday stroll in summer. His pace was slow and deliberate as he tried to get a sense of the environment.

His footsteps echoed loudly in the silence between the tunnel. The entire pathway was completely dark except for the faint orange glow from the Gate that gradually became weaker as he walked further.

It was as if he was walking down a corridor of nothing but darkness, and that very same darkness was consuming him bit by bit.

As he kept walking, the orange glow from the Gate started to dim even further.

At some point, after what felt like a lifetime, the orange glow from the Gate faded out completely, leaving Gray completely lost in the pitch blackness of the darkness. He couldn't even hear his own steps anymore as the sound of their echo died down in an instant and was replaced by a heavy, oppressive silence.

It was so quiet and so dark that Gray's breathing started to feel restricted. A cold chill crept up and down his spine, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

'Weird...'

He rubbed the goosebumps covering his skin with his fingertips as he slowly inched forward, trying to keep himself calm.

'Nothing's happened yet.'

Gray continued onward cautiously, slowly making his way through the cave. As he neared the middle of the tunnel, it got noticeably darker and colder, giving his bones a feeling as if it might fall off any second.

After a five-minute walk in complete silence, he could see a single torch light that hung low in the distance. When it appeared to be in view, he hurriedly put his hands up and covered his eyes due to the sudden change in brightness.

The sight was a bit surprising, but what was more surprising was the large stone door that was only a few paces away from him. This gate appeared to stand out among the rest of the cave's walls which were extremely rough and unkempt. Its rusty and rough edges made it look rather ancient.

'What the hell is this…?'

He stared at the large door curiously as a small box of text was clearly carved on it. Deep into the rugged, uneven wall, he could make out the words written neatly.

[Shall you plant your feet at the gates of our steps?]

Gray read aloud while scratching his chin absentmindedly. What an... odd thing to have on a doorway.

'Is it also a puzzle type?'

"Either way I'll finish it..."

He said confidently, smirking with confidence oozing off his smile before something odd began to occur.

He stared at the door with curiosity in his eyes as he pondered how he'd get the door to open. Before anything else could happen, he suddenly heard the loud rumble of the door starting to open up.

It made a creaking noise that was filled with the sound of stone scraping against stone. The rumbling slowly grew louder and louder as dust kicked up in the air.

The sound of rustling fabric grew stronger and louder until it came to a screeching halt as the large stone door stopped moving.

Gray kept quiet as he looked ahead. Just then he saw the light of the torch flicker a few times as it swayed from left to right. At first glance, everything looked normal, but then it flashed with a bright flash followed by the loud bang of a metal rod hitting something with a thud.

A large room in front of him began to light up as one by one the torches on the wall beside the entrance flared up with different colors, all emitting a warm light, and illuminating a vast space filled with piles of various items, all roughly piled together and covered with dust.

The walls themselves also had many small gaps and holes in them. Some were big enough to fit two people inside each one, others small enough to fit only one person at a time.

And some...

Seemed to be endless tunnels leading to nowhere.

'This really isn't normal, is it..? Why's an F-Ranked Dungeon as big as this? At most it should have a door and a medium-sized room...'

Gray thought to himself as he stood still staring at everything before him in shock.

Before he could even process what had just happened, he heard the sound of metal scraping and snapping as he sharply turned his attention toward the sound.

"GEKEKEKE!"

There stood a short dark green-skinned creature with a long scimitar swinging wildly in his hands. Its face looked like it was grinning from ear to ear.

It swung its weapon around as if it was dancing and giggled as he swung it back and forth before it locked its pitch-black eyes on Gray. The blade of the sword began to shine a dark yellow color as the creature started laughing crazily.

'A Goblin?'

The singular Goblin in front of him had a wide, toothy grin on its face that stretched from one ear to the other and showed sharp fangs. It only looked to be able to reach up to Gray's hips and seemed to be wearing a leather armor suit with a pair of shorts on underneath.

'One-on-one like any other gate I've been in...'

He narrowed his eyes slightly as he clenched both his fists tightly. There were no weapons on him. None at all. There was absolutely nothing he could use to fight off this Goblin.

Well, nothing but his fists.

Gray got into a proper fighting stance as he readied his arms. He waited patiently as the Goblin approached him before throwing a punch with every intention of knocking the Goblin's teeth out of his skull.

"Gahahahaha!"

The Goblin cackled as the swing was blocked by his opponent's hands. With ease, it knocked Gray's arm back as a small cut made its way onto his wrist. The cut stung quite a bit, but the pain was quickly swept away as his blood ran down his arm and dripped to the ground.

"You're weak like me... so a cut with a flimsy weapon won't do much to me!"

"Geh!?"

Gray brought his fist back again, pushing past the small sting in his wrist. He threw another blow with his hand and was rewarded with a grunt.

He immediately followed up with another punch. The goblin grunted again but didn't seem too affected as it dodged Gray's attack easily and continued to laugh.

'Little bugger is a quick one! Shit..!"

Gray cursed under his breath as he tried to hit the Goblin once more, but it dodged each attack. Every time Gray moved to attack, the Goblin would dodge back and continue to laugh maniacally.

'Playing a game, huh? Well, how's this for a game?!'

The Brawler thought to himself as he swept his legs out, aiming for the Goblin's ankles. With a shout, he sent a flying punch at the Goblin's chest with his uninjured hand.

But the Goblin only laughed as his opponent hit its chest with all his strength. But instead of receiving any injuries from the kick, the Goblin merely grinned wider, showing its long row of fanged teeth, and bounced off the kick without even flinching.

'I'm clearly damaging it... So why is it still standing up so effortlessly?! Does it have a skill or something?'

In response to the kicks, it only chuckled evilly and danced around the rapid kicks that came flying at it. In the blink of an eye, it was within striking range, and it lashed out with its blade at Gray.

"Haa~!"

The Goblin struck Gray's chest with its blade and sent him flying backward slightly.

After Gray hit the wall, he pushed himself up using his elbows and flipped backward before landing steadily on his feet. Gray held his bleeding wound as he wiped away the fresh blood from his nose and spat out the backwash of his blood and spit.

"Ok then... Fine."

Gray grunted as his legs went into a sprint as he made his way toward the Goblin.

He didn't hesitate to take his steps forward toward the small enemy. He ran straight at the creature who was about to swing his sword at him as it also started charging straight toward Gray.

As soon as they met, both of them exchanged blows. Gray blocked and parried the Goblin's slices and attacks with his fists and elbows with ease, but after several tries, he was still unable to land a hit on the Goblin's body and was left panting heavily, having exhausted most of his energy.

The Goblin, on the other hand, looked completely unscathed, despite Gray taking several hits on his body. Gray growled furiously as he launched a counterattack.

"Damn you..!"

Even though Gray managed to land some of his punches on the Goblin's body, he couldn't do any substantial damage. It was almost as if it wasn't even damaged at all.

But in his mind, that didn't make any sense.

An F-Rank Dungeon only has one enemy, and that singular enemy can easily be slain by any average Brawler, even a normal human if given the proper tools.

A Goblin shouldn't be able to keep going like this, so how was it still standing up straight? If not for the fact that the goblin appeared to be immune to physical attacks, it would've already given up and died ten times over.

'Hm...'

He observed the goblin carefully. From the looks of things, there wasn't anything abnormal about it. Aside from being a little taller than most normal Goblins, it seemed very well built.

Even when it attacked, its attacks were quick and fierce, making it hard for any of its opponents to react appropriately. And although Gray didn't know exactly how strong a Goblin was, he guessed that it must be stronger than an average.

But as he analyzed it, he noticed one thing.

'The scimitar... It's glowing'

He thought to himself as he observed the Goblin's scimitar which shone a bright yellow hue whenever it struck something.

'A skill?'

He thought as he watched closely as the Goblin slashed downward to catch him off guard. Quickly turning his head aside, Gray landed a punch to the goblin's stomach.

But as he did so, he took hold of the Goblin's wrist, placing a lot of force on it as its hand shook from the sudden pressure.

It let go of the scimitar in order to cover its stomach while gasping for air. Gray then grabbed hold of the Goblin's arm with one hand, twisted it behind its back with his free hand, and slammed it into the floor causing it to crack loudly as he pressed down on it with all his weight.

Gray smirked slyly.

"So it's the scimitar... guess it nullified your pain!"

The Goblin looked up in pain and glared at Gray angrily. However, the moment Gray saw the look on the Goblin's face he instantly pulled it up and twisted its arm until it broke. He then threw it to the side carelessly.

With a 'pong', the Goblin flew backward as it coughed up blood before landing on the floor.

Gray stood still as he looked at the fallen Goblin, it was still alive but barely so.

He stared intently at the fallen Goblin for a few seconds, watching as it struggled to get itself up. It gritted its teeth in pain as it clutched its broken arm close to its body and stared fiercely at Gray. He bent down and gripped the scimitar firmly in his hand.

'Oh? So that's how it works...'

Gray thought to himself as he looked the blade over curiously and studied it from every angle.

Then he noticed something peculiar; a single scratch on the handle of the dagger where a small yellow gem was placed. It looked like the Goblin had scratched the handle on accident when it fell earlier.

'Interesting... I would say if I hadn't been taught the difference between a skill and an enchant'

He lifted the scimitar high into the air above his head as he held the handle firmly in his left hand, ready to bring it down at any second. Then just as he brought it down, he suddenly stopped.

His lips curled into an arrogant smirk.

"Catch!"

Gray yelled as he threw the blade suddenly with a strong pull and watched as the scimitar shot through the air with a speed that surpassed what it should've been capable of. The Goblin caught the sword as its black eyes widened and stared at it with confusion.

After a couple of moments, it slowly turned its gaze to the blade that was thrown at it. Its confused expression gradually changed to that of anger as it opened its mouth wide with a loud snarl.

Gray returned to his fighting stance, a typical boxer's stance with his right knee bent and his left shoulder raised. He narrowed his eyes and stared directly at the Goblin who was still holding onto the scimitar as it stared back at him.

They stood like that for several minutes until the Goblin suddenly charged forward with its weapon raised above its head. At the same time, Gray rushed forward as well, raising his hands as his fists began swinging in rapid succession.

They clashed harshly against each other's skin, producing the sound of metal vibrating as his fists carefully hit the dull side of the Goblin's blade.

It swung its scimitar wildly as it tried to push Gray away, but Gray's movements weren't hindered at all. With a flick of his arms, he redirected his momentum and swung his entire body into the goblin's back with a sharp thrust of his elbow.

BANG!!

And striking the Goblin's face. A loud crash rang out as the Goblin's nose broke in half as its lips split apart. The Goblin staggered backward as it wiped the blood from its nose with the back of its hand while laughing madly.

"GEKEKEKEKEKE!!!"

"Heh... Did my punch hurt?"

Gray asked with a playful tone. The Goblin stopped its maniac laughter as it only growled in response. As for Gray, he smiled mischievously as he pointed at the Goblin's mangled nose.

"Hey, pigface! Your nose isn't just broken, it's shattered. Finding it hard to breathe?"

Growling loudly again, the Goblin clenched its fist tightly as its eyes flashed dangerously. Without warning, it dashed toward Gray, slashing at him with the blades as it moved closer and closer.

As expected, Gray barely managed to dodge the attack and retaliated by jabbing his knuckles into the Goblin's stomach.

But instead of staggering away, the Goblin was sent flying backward, colliding heavily into the rock wall behind it with such force that the stone cracked as a result.

Gray grinned triumphantly.

"You see? That's why you should be careful with rare artifacts like that scimitar... one misstep and that enchant gem is broken for good"

Gray told with a head shake, followed by a finger wag.

...

...

But... the Goblin was already dead... Its body turned into bright specs of dust as the scimitar then followed suit.

Gray stared in surprise as the Goblin corpse vanished. He blinked twice and tilted his head in puzzlement.

"And now I'm talking to myself..."

"This always happens when I get too into a fight... jeez I'm absolutely broken... I need a bed..."

He sighed dejectedly as he walked out of the chamber.

"And I also have to wake up early tomorrow... fantastic"

Gray mumbled unhappily.

As Gray walked out of the chamber, on the far opposite side of the large room, a large door, much like the one he came in through made itself visible as its outlines chiseled their way onto the rugged rock, glowing a faint red as another small box of text was slowly carved onto it as well.

[Do you wish for strength?]

[If so...]

[What does strength mean to you?]