Gaining Strength [1]

Walking a few meters from the group, Null and Osmygold have a short chat about how Null shouldn't go alone and how he should follow orders instead of making his own plan.

Osmygold explained how it is not only dangerous for Null to go out alone but also dangerous for the rest of his squad since the difference of one person could be the line between life and death.

Returning to the group, Null could not help but feel like someone was glaring at him, and after turning around and looking someone in the eyes, he knew exactly what was happening and why it was happening.

After seeing that the person glaring at him wasn't much of a threat, he did not bother with him anymore. Null was already wary of most people in the group, and despite most of them being welcoming, he did not trust them one bit. In fact, the only reason he had chosen to go with them was because he couldn't go in without a squad unless he became a D-rank adventurer.

They continued to walk for a few more hours, most of them following Osmygold since he was the only person who knew the direction of the closest human territory on this dungeon floor.

In the meantime, Null stayed wary of any creatures nearby, and whenever he would sense one, he would dash towards it and kill it in an instant by slicing it into a million pieces before it could react.

He was trying to see how strong he currently was, yet due to the lack of technology on them, he could not tell how strong he was unless he were to fight someone on the same level as him.

He knew that he was barely as strong as a half-step first commandment goblin if he were to not use any of his voidwalker abilities. However, he was also certain that his aspect of void ability was beyond impressive, since even Null as the caster felt threatened by the blade he held.

{Author's note: For those who don't know, half-step means that they only need a little nudge to become full-fledged first commandments.}

"There it is!" Trishaless pointed into the distance and let out an excited squeal as if this was the first time she had seen the place.

"It's a town?" Rosepetal asked with a raised brow.

"Yes... I grew up here for a few years you know." Osmygold chuckled while the girls looked at him with sparkling eyes, wondering how the story would go.

"Before I start boring you with my stories, let's go there and find an inn. We will stay here for the night before leaving with a few other squads tomorrow to kill the boss monster of this floor." He explained while everyone except Peacexelr nodded.

It took another 5 minutes to reach the town's gates, and when they finally got to them and were about to open the large gates, Osmygold stopped and pointed towards the walls.

"State your names and tell us your reason for coming here!" A man with a spear shouted with a straightened back and a large frown.

"Hey, Richard! It's me!" Osmygold waved and made the guard relax before finally letting out a relaxed smile.

"Look who's finally here!" He shouted while jumping down and hugging Osmygold.

"Who are these behind you?" The man asked.

"They are my team. We plan to invade that goblin village that respawns every 3 or so days. Do you happen to have a map for it?" Osmygold asked.

"You're planning on killing that first commandment bastard on your own? Hahahahaha!" The guard began to laugh while the rest of the team began to argue with the man.

"No. We plan to join a few other teams in the fight against this thing. When is the next raid?" He asked while the guard touched his chin and thought for a second before answering-

"If I'm not wrong, there should be one the day after tomorrow. They are pretty famous, so a lot of people will take part in it."

"Wait, aren't the first three floors supposed to have little to no first commandments?" Peacexelr asked.

"Well, this is the boss we are talking about. The boss for the first, second, and third floors are in the first commandment despite most of the normal monsters not being in it. The third to 10th floor are mostly the second commandment. 10th to 25th are the third commandment." Trishaless explained.

"Enough of that!" Rosepetal clapped her hands and got everyone's attention.

"How about we set up for the night and go out for some drinks? On me!" She grinned.

"I don't drink." Null replied coldly. He didn't want it to sound cold, yet despite his efforts, that's how it came out. He didn't know if the mask made his voice more monotone or if his demeanor changed after killing semi-intelligent creatures for the first time. All he knew was that he was changing; he was just hoping that he would change for the better, not for the worst.

"Oh...Sorry." She pouted.

At the same time, Null could not help but feel like someone was staring daggers at him.

He knew it was Peacexelr, or Peace for short, but he couldn't be bothered responding to people like him anymore. He knew that Peace was jealous about something; he just didn't know what it was, nor did he care for it.

After a short silence, they all decided to find an inn first before anything.

Once they entered the inn, Osmygold paid for all of them since he was their leader, and after putting all their belongings in their rooms, they all went down to one of the pubs, leaving Null behind to rest in his room.

Null placed his hand on his mask and slowly took it off.

When he once again felt light on his skin, despite it being artificial and nothing like proper sunlight, he could not help but feel refreshed.

A wave of soothing warmth traveled through his skin and made him feel energized, while simultaneously, the coldness that was taking form within his eyes for the last few hours completely melted, leaving behind an aloof and slightly ignorant 16-year-old.

"Hmm... I still don't feel anything. Maybe it's easier since I know goblins aren't humans, despite having high intellect and a natural thirst for battle... Maybe being a-..." Lloyd's voice turned into a whisper as he continued, "Maybe being a void walker makes things easier?" He muttered to himself before finally shaking his head and putting his mask aside.

When he had his mask on, Lloyd felt like he couldn't feel emotions, yet now that it was off, he felt several complicated feelings rummage around within his heart.

It was as if Null and Lloyd were slowly but surely becoming different people.

The night passed as fast as a morning breeze, and when Lloyd finally opened, he stretched his hand to the side and put on his mask, an action that caused his eyes to turn extremely cold once again.

Walking out of his room, he looked to the side and saw Rosepetal looking at him with an embarrassed expression, yet before she could voice out some kind of apology, Null stopped her with a wave of his hand and a question of his own.

"Do you want to spar, Miss Rosepetal?"

He had seen her fight earlier, and despite her not being as calculating as Trisha, he knew she was very talented with the sword and would make a much better sparring partner than everyone but Osmygold.

While he could have asked Osmygold, he still chose against it. Osmygold was older than everyone at the party and much less talented. He needed someone he could grow with side by side, and in a way, Rosepetal was the perfect permanent sparring partner for Null.

"Y-Yes!" She was completely flustered by the sudden request, but after calming herself with a few breaths, she smiled and continued-

"Please call me Rose."

"Alright, Miss Rose... I'll meet you in the gymnasium in exactly 15 minutes. Please be ready. I prefer fighting people who are wearing a more..." Null paused and looked her up and down.

"-befitting attire for a battlefield."

With an expression of confusion, Rose also looked down. In an instant, her face almost became as red as her hair, and before she knew it, his face was buried in her hand as she sprinted into her room to change.

"I have to say, I never thought I'd see that bloodthirsty girl in such cute pajamas." A familiar voice entered Null's ears and made him turn around and meet a pair of hazel eyes.

"Mr. Osmygold? I did not expect you to be awake this early." Null tilted his head a few degrees.

"Oh, come on! Do I look like an old man to you?"

"Yes." Null replied without any hesitation.

"I'm only 35!"

"That is quite old for a man who is still in the first commandment."

"Hey, man! That kinda stings..."

"I am only speaking the truth, Mr. Osmygold." Null retorted

"You can call me Osmy." Osmygold sighed while Null nodded.

"I-I'm ready..." Rose's soft voice entered Null's ears once again, and while Lloyd would have been slightly flustered by the warm breath that tickled the back of his ears, Null didn't even give her a glance despite Rose invading his private space.

"Alright." Null muttered before turning away and walking down the stairs and towards the gymnasium, yet before completely moving out of sight, he secretly glanced at a door that was partially cracked open with an eye glaring at him from the other side.

'Peacexelr... Let's see how far you are willing to go.' Null mused.

...

"How do you want to do this?" Rosepetal asked while standing on the other side of the platform.

While being quite small compared to the one in the academy, the gymnasium still had the capability of holding and hosting several 100x100 platforms for people to spar on, and at that very moment, both Null and Rosepetal were standing on one while Osmygold stood in the middle as a referee.

"This will be a simple spar, alright? Don't attack each other's vitals. Don't aim for the head. Don't seriously hurt your opponent. Everything else is allowed." Osmygold explained.

"Ready?" Null asked.

"Yep!" Rosepetal got into a battle stance, yet before she could fully comprehend the situation, she felt immense danger coming from her right, causing her to slash in that direction before rolling to safety.

*Clang*

Null took several stabs back due to the force of her slash, yet instead of reevaluating his approach, he instantly dashed towards her again while swinging his blade vertically.

*Clang*

Rosepetal quickly blocked the incoming attack and once again rolled to the side, yet instead of waiting for the next attack, she took the initiative and blasted out an attack of her own.

Red flames enveloped her blade and turned it into a flaming sword as she slashed at Null with all her might, yet despite the impressive flames, Null easily stopped the attack with his own and pushed back, yet instead of following up with an attack of his own, he jumped back and created some distance between the two.

"So, this is all you have, Miss Rose?" Null asked while looking at her with a raised brow behind his mask. While being a very talented swordswoman, Rosepetal was still quite inexperienced, and while Null knew that he shouldn't underestimate her, he also knew he could not let his guard down.

"You haven't even shown me your true strength," She retorted.

"Is that so?" Null muttered before stepping to the side, followed by several more as he began to circle around Rosepetal.

"Come at me then." He taunted with a cold tone.

Rosepetal was about to take the bait, yet before she could, Null suddenly disappeared from her vision and reappeared behind her.

'What the-'

She could not finish her thought as she was forced to turn around and block the incoming attack that sent her tumbling for meters.

She had no idea how Null had done it, but she was not about to question him in the middle of a battle.

She quickly got back up and was about to slash at Null with all her might, yet when she looked to the side, she noticed that Null was not there anymore.

Just as she was about to turn around, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, and when she looked down, she saw Null's blade piercing through her flesh.

"Null!" Osmygold shouted, yet Null ignored him and retracted his blade before kicking Rosepetal in the stomach and sending her flying towards the wall.

"Null! I said don't hurt her!" Osmygold shouted again, yet Null still ignored him and dashed towards Rosepetal with his blade held high.

Just as he was about to slash down, Osmygold appeared in front of him and stopped his blade with his own.

"Null, what the hell are you doing?!" He shouted while looking at him with a stern expression.

"I am sparring with Miss Rose. What does it look like I am doing?" Null asked with a cold tone.

"You are not sparring! You are trying to kill her!" Osmygold retorted.

"No, I am not. I am merely trying to find out the limits of miss Rose's strength." Null innocently retorted.

"By trying to kill her?!" Osmygold shouted while pushing Null back.

"I was not trying to kill her. I merely wanted to find out how much she could take. I did not even use my full strength. I was merely toying with her." Null explained.

"You expect me to believe that?" Osmygold asked with a raised brow.

"It is the truth." Null shrugged.

"Fine. I will believe you this time, but I do not want to see you do that again. You understand?" Osmygold sternly said.

"Yes, Mr. Osmygold." Null nodded.

"Alright. Now, let's go check on Rose." He said before walking back to the platform where Rosepetal was still lying down.

Null followed behind him with a bored expression, and when he finally reached the platform, he saw Rosepetal slowly getting up with a hand on her stomach.

"Rose, are you alright?!" Osmygold asked with a worried expression.

"Y-Yes... I'm fine." She nodded while slowly getting up.

"What about your stomach? Let me see." He said while slowly moving her hand.

"It's fine, really. I just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all." She smiled while moving away from him.

"Are you sure? I can take you to the healer if you want." He said while following her.

"I'm fine, really." She nodded.

"Alright. If you say so." He sighed before finally giving up.

"Null, are you sure you were just toying with her?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Of course. I would never try to kill someone I am sparring with. That would be pointless." Null shrugged.

"If you say so..." Osmygold sighed before walking back to the platform and sitting down.

"So, what do you think?" Null asked while sitting down next to him.

"About what?" He asked.

"About Rose's abilities." Null shrugged.

"Well, she is quite talented with the sword, yet she is still quite inexperienced. She needs more training." He explained.

"Is that so?" Null muttered before standing up and walking back to the platform.

"Miss Rose, are you feeling any better?" He asked.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." She nodded while looking away.

"Good. Then let's continue." He said before once again getting into a battle stance.

"W-Wait! I'm not ready yet!" She shouted.

"If you are not ready, then you will lose." He narrowed his eyes.

"B-But..." She stuttered.

"If you are not ready, then I suggest you forfeit." He said while taking a step forward.

"I-I won't forfeit!" She shouted while once again getting into a battle stance.

"Good. Then let's begin." He said before once again disappearing from her vision.

They continued to spar for the next 4 hours with Rosepetal continuously being on the losing side of the spar. Eventually, Null's void walker physique's stamina won over Rosepetal's, causing her to finally collapse in the middle of the platform out of exhaustion.

Null, who was standing in front of her with his blade above her neck, could not help but let out a long but deep sigh. He retracted his blade and sheathed it in an instant with a subtle but echoeing-

*Click*