Chapter 1: The beginning

'F#ck!' Thought Gabriel as he looked at his current predicament. 'How the f#ck did I get here?' He closed his eyes as he tried remembering how he got himself into this situation. After a few moment of thinking, Gabriel realized that he left a tavern to take a breather from all the noise and drunken people. He must have drank more that usual.

After a couple of moments, he recalled falling asleep next to a tree, only to wake up inside of a strange cave that he was currently in, being held hostage by a group of what you would call, Goblins.

"I guess I did drink more than normal,' Gabriel then remembered what his father had told before leaving to become an adventurer, 'Don't fall asleep in a forest when you're drunk.' One week after he had become an adventurer, his guild assigned his a multitude of assignments that required him to clean after a large raid had happened.

He never complained because he knew what he was signing up for. Beginner adventurers without talent in magic, at best, get treated like fodder or trash, Gabriel wasn't an exception. He was ostracized because of his inability to use magic, but, at the beginning, he didn't allow this to drag him down. He trained his body rigorously to make up for his inability to use magic, but his efforts were disregarded by the masses, despite his determination and grit.

This led to him becoming depressed, and his only way out of it was, of course, alcohol. He looked at people, who were mor fortunate than him, with disgust and disdain. The only reason why he was in this current predicament, was because he was trying to relieve his depression after being kicked out of the guild.

Gabriel was filled with depression and regret. It was clear that he blamed himself for the state he was in currently. But he also couldn't help but blame the fact that he couldn't use magic, while everyone else around him could. Gabriel felt inadequate, as if he was worthless fodder that was only created for the sole reason to make other people feel special.

He couldn't help but remember his past, and think of several different reasons for why his life turned out this way. For why people looked down at him for his entire miserable existence. This only caused Gabriel's worthlessness and hopelessness to grow exponentially more.

Suddenly, images of his family flashed in his retina. He gritted his teeth as he flexed his muscles. His muscles bulged through his shirt and pants as he tried to forcefully rip apart his bindings. His pupils glowed with a bright red haze as the whites of his eyes turned a musty black.

'I'm not about to die to some damn goblins!' Gabriel angrily thought as his bindings were slowly beginning to rip. 'I don't give a fuck about not being abel to use magic! I'll climb to the top of the pyramid, purely with my physical strength alone! Fuck using spells! Fuck becoming a mage! Those bastards will feel my wrath, once I become someone that even surpasses their capabilities!'

Your [Strength] is increasing.

Gabriel's bindings were progressively becoming weaker and weaker. It seems that these goblins made their bindings using a material a lot weaker than they should've. He felt a surge of willpower and determination course through his veins. Gabriel felt like he could take anybody one, and that nothing could stop him.

With his newfound strength and determination, he easily ripped through his bindings and quickly stood up, stretching as he stared at the goblins at his side. 'Looks like they haven't notice me breaking out of their bindings.' This information made him grin widely as he quietly stepped towards them. When he was close enough, he quickly and consecutively punched the goblins, three times in their faces. The fell limp to the ground as they tried processing what had happened.

Their instincts kicked in and they quickly looked towards Gabriel. Fear filled their eyes as Gabrile approached them with a massive smile. His eyes were filled with malicious intent as he stood above them. The girn was plastered all over his face when, suddenly, he stomped down on one of the several goblin's arms, crushing it in the process.

He continued doing this until all of the goblins arms and legs were crushed and bleeding, with their bone fractures sticking out of their arms. All of the goblins were unconscious because of the massive amounts of pain they were feeling. Gabriel stood above them, feeling a rush of excitement and power course through him, and couldn't help but grin happily. His feelings of self-worth were coming back, and realized that he didn't need magic to become powerful.

He looked down at the goblins, and remembered all of the memories of all the people that have rejected him and looked down upon him. A slight sense of satisfaction enters his mind. He stared at the unconscious goblins as he raised his foot above their heads, stomping down with all his weight, destroying their skulls as chunks of flesh exploded into the sky.

Your [Strength] is increasing.

Blood soaked his boots as he looked at what he had done. His smile grew wider and wider every minute, he finally felt free. His depression was nowhere to be found as the only thing on his mind was pure and unadulterated happiness.

His body was fully covered in the goblins blood and guts. Gabriel's bloodlust was growing and his adrenaline was surging. The feelings of freedom and liberty filled him with unbridled joy that he had never felt before. He finally realized, at this moment, that he finally had the power and control over his life. No longer would he be held back by anyone, and couldn't help but feel a sense of vindication.

Suddenly, he heard a feminine voice, screaming into the tunnel from the entrance of the cave. Footsteps could be heard until they abruptly stopped. Gabriel looked towards his left, when he heard a gasp from behind himself. He turned around and saw a relatively small figure. She had light green hair and diamond blue eyes. When Gabriel took a closer look at the female, he noticed that the female had pointy ears.

New entity, [Elven] Woman has been added to your database.

The Elven woman seemed startled with her arms around her mouth at the sight of the carnage that had happened. She gasped and stepped back in shock and disgust. "What have you done? You've slaughtered them!" She exclaims, in a shocked tone.

Gabriel looked towards her in annoyance. "They were goblins. Besides, if left unattended, they would've assaulted passing females without a second thought. Its better to kill them before they become a massive nuisance to the nearby villages." Gabriel walked towards the entrance of the cave before passing the Elven woman. "Also, another thing, you should quit being an adventurer if you aren't willing to see some blood."

"Who do you think you are? Some sort of hero? I'll have you know that goblins have just as much of a right to live as anyone else. They are sentient beings, just like you and me." Gabriel could tell that she was quite upset, and doesn;t quite buy his explanation as to why you slaughtered them.

Gabriel looked towards her before dropping a bombshell of a fact. "Goblins averagely assault and violate Elven women more than any other race. If you aren't willing to accept that simple fact, fine, do whatever you want."

"I-I don't want to hear any more of your slander! The goblins aren't like that!" She is clearly trying to deny that fact to herself. In her mind, goblins are just misunderstood creatures that get a bad rep.

Gabriel looked towards her with a disgusted expressions before raising his voice. "FINE! Believe that all you like! It's not going to be my fault when you eventually get molested by a group of goblins!"

She has a look of pure anguish on her face, like she was trying to hold back tears. She doesn't say anything for a moment, but then she responds. "You're such a heartless jerk!" She looked away with tears in her eyes and sprinted out of the cave, but stopped a few feet away.. Gabriel could tell that she was starting to doubt the goblins. Perhaps, he may have been able to change her perspective slightly.

"I swear, you Elven people are way too unproblematic for your own damn good!" Gabriel said before exiting the cave himself. "People like you, have never truly experienced real desperation and anguish."

"Whatever, maybe if you had some more compassion, you could finally find peace in your life instead of slaughtering innocent goblins!" With that, she finally ran away from the cave. Gabriel could feel a slight sense of guilt for the way he treated her, but instead insisted that he had helped her. 'She needs to learn that not everything in the world is rainbow and sunshine. Maybe it's because they evolved in an environment where they had no natural predators. Maybe that's why they have such an unproblematic attitude when they leave their natural environment. That's probably why, their seen as easy prey for many beasts.' But, Gabriel couldn't help but feel annoyed at her statement.

"Heh, like I give a fuck." Gabrile said before walking into the dense forest that surrounded the entrance of the cave. He walked and walked before arriving at a clearing in the forest. In the middle of it, was a tall boulder, which was probably taller than two spears stacked on top of each other.

The boulder seemed to be made out of smooth granite, but it was also tattered with what seemed to be runes that he couldn't make out. The surrounding forest was incredibly dense, and he could hear the occasional sounds of birds and small critters, moving about in the brush.

Gabriel walked toward the boulder and stared at it, before climbing to the top of it. He lied down on top of the massive boulder, and started into the endless abyss that was the sky. The stars glowed ever brightly, like they were completely unshackled by their surroundings. They seemed to truly be free.

The man raised his fists in front of himself, and stared at them as he envisioned shackles binding him towards the earth. He tightened up his fists as he wished that he could join them one day, up in the sky, unbothered by the things that surrounded him.

As he continued to look into the sky, his imagination started to run wild. He felt like he could finally break free from his restraints with his newly acquired strength, and fly towards the stars.

Gabriel is suddenly thrown out of his fantasies when he hears a scream in the distance. He looked towards it's general direction, his face conflicted with different emotion. 'That ain't my problem.' Gabriel said as he tried ignoring the urgent scream.

"AAAHHHHH!"

The scream was even louder this time. Gabriel looks towards the general direction of the scream again, and cursed under his breath as he jumped down form the boulder, And ran towards the scream.