Chapter 5 - I Am… Trash?

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

[System]

…

[June 6th, 20:50:59, 2248]

Grin jumped backward and almost tripped as well. His eyes swerved up to make eye contact with the person he saw.

She had pale white skin that seemed to glow as if to enchant him. Her blood-red eyes also seemed to have multiple layers, so if you looked at her from different angles, the colors would have minuscule changes.

The red of her eyes also had three small rings in them that gave them another small amount of hypnotic effect.

Even though only her head could be seen due to her body being stuck in the cube, she had long, silvery-white hair that almost touched the floor. Her ears were long, as if she were an elf.

Yet, there was one thing Grin couldn't get over—it was how she was just staring at him and not saying a word!

"Can you say something!?" Grin practically shouted due to the stress he was feeling.

Yet, the woman stuck in the cube only continued to stare. Grin even sidestepped a couple of times to see if she was actually awake or if she was asleep with her eyes open.

Sidestepping to the left twice, Grin watched as her eyes followed him all the way to the left. Grin then sidestepped to the right five times.

Just like previously, her eyes followed and traced his movement without her moving her head.

Grin stroked his chin and then instantly snapped his fingers a second later. "You're stuck, aren't you?"

He nodded to himself like an idiot with his eyes closed. "So, how do I save you?" Grin asked as he kept turning his head to try and get different angles on the cube.

His query was only answered with silence. Grin could only rub the top of his head in confusion.

Turning toward the podium, Grin stared at the book it held. His inner loot goblin senses were tingling.

Grin rubbed his hands as he looked left and right as if someone would appear and stop him. Seeing as no one was, Grin used an appraisal skill on the book.

[Appraisal Used!]

[G's Mythical Journal]

[Rarity: Mythical+]

[Description]: This journal holds the glorious, awesome, amazing, and handsome feats and past of the legendary craftsman G. Upon opening this book, gain the ability to change classes to [G's Mythical Descendant].]

[Unable to appraise the inside of the book.]

"Holy shit!! Mythical tier?!" Grin exclaimed as he had never seen a mythical tier item before. He didn't even know if legendary items existed.

A mythical class was in the game? Grin could sell this for hundreds of millions of dollars or even billions and become rich!

And that's exactly what Grin was thinking at the moment as he fantasized about his new future.

Grin immediately picked up the book and raised it to the sky. "I have the power!" He said it aloud without caring about who would hear.

Suddenly, bright blue lights began flashing into the room. They were teleporting circles that had lit up from someone using them.

A man in a dark blue cloak pulled his hood down. "Put that book down, young man."

Grin was immediately on edge as he stared at the blonde-haired man, who had green eyes. He had seen this person before.

"Oric Von Gray..." Grin stared at the man with shock in his voice.

"So you know of me? Good. Put the book down and leave this place! You have no idea what you're doing." Oric reprimanded Grin as he pointed his staff at him.

"But... I found it..." Grin's head kept looking at the book and then back to Oric. His voice carried a hint of loot-goblin sadness.

"You did not 'find' it. It was placed here for a reason! Give it back now!" Oric was no longer asking and held his hand out while demanding the book's return.

"Alright, I'll give it back... but hey, what's that over there?" Grin said as he pointed behind Oric, and Oric, along with every other cloaked member, turned to look at what was behind him.

It was just the wall?

"Very funny, young man." Oric sighed as he turned to face Grin again. "Now give back the book-!" Oric was dumbfounded, as Grin had long since started running back up the way he came!

"After him!" Oric screamed to his men as Grin was trying to run. "He has the book; don't let him open it!"

All the cloaked men began chasing after Grin, and due to their level disparity, the cloaks caught up quickly.

Grin was only level 96, while the lowest of the cloaks was level 180. There was no way out of this one.

Grin saw how quickly they were catching up and cringed. "I said finders, keepers, fucker!" Grin immediately swerved and did a 180-degree turn while stopping his momentum.

"But if you don't want me to have it, then no one will have it!" Grin exclaimed as he began opening the book.

"No! Don't let him open it!" Oric couldn't help but outstretch his hand as he shouted in vain.

[Class change: G's Mythical Descendant.]

[Do you accept? Y/N]

"Yes!!" Grin immediately tapped and screamed out.

[His skill had been put to the test time and time again.]

[Yet, those hands never truly held the craft.]

[His greed and unwillingness to part with any of his creations shone through his actions.]

[Only when looking further into himself did he learn that...]

*BOOM*

A glowing white aura exploded out of Grin as the book disappeared. The cloaked members covered their faces with their hands as Oric squinted due to the bright lights and pressure.

Grin's arms were held to his sides as his head slowly rose from a looking-down position to upright and facing forward.

[Reseting level…]

[Skill gained: Beginner Blacksmith (MAX)]

[Skill gained: Expert Blacksmith (MAX)]

[Skill gained: Master Blacksmith (MAX)]

[Skill gained: Grandmaster Blacksmith (MAX)]

[Hidden skill gained: Legendary Blacksmith (MAX)]

[Hidden skill of myth gained: Mythical Blacksmith (Lv1)]

[Hidden skill of myth gained: The Legend Never Dies (MAX)]

[Hidden skill of myth gained: Endurance Is The Strength Of A Mythic (MAX)]

[Hidden ability of myth gained: Unbreaking Will Of A Descendant (S++)]

[Hidden ability of chaos gained: Who Decided That (SS++)]

[Title of myth gained: The One Who Became Mythical]

[Reputation with Hidden Containment Association -800]

[Imparting knowledge…]

Grin felt the knowledge of how to craft weapons, armor, and more enter his mind. After that was how to hold a hammer, how to correctly determine where to strike, and at what time. It was as if he were king at that moment.

"Alright," Grin said in a weirdly deep tone that he definitely didn't have before. "Let's do this."

[You are now level 1!]

Grin's aura immediately disappeared, and he was left with nothing but boxers.

"Uhh..." Grin looked a little perplexed. "I can explain." He said as he realized he had gained zero power.

One of the cloaked men quickly appeared in front of Grin and tried to slash his head off.

[-10]

[You have taken a fatal attack.]

[Activating: Legend Never Dies...]

Instantly, another burst of aura exploded out of Grin. The cloaked man who tried to kill him was blasted back with ease.

[You have become invulnerable for ten seconds.]

"Oric..." Oric flinched as Grin said his name in his weirdly deep voice. Grin began walking forward, and with every step, cracks appeared on the floor.

"You have made a grave mistake," Grin said as his hair covered his eyes while he looked down. "And now you will PAY!!!"

Grin shouted the last word, which reverberated and caused a gust of wind to shoot toward his aggressors.

Half of the men were sent flying while the other half rushed in. Grin's hair floated menacingly as he walked forward, with every step seemingly looking as if he were an insanely powerful warrior.

One of the men caught up to Grin. "I've got you!" The man said as he swung his sword.

Only for Grin to swipe his left hand in the direction of the sword and have it bounce off his hand without a scratch. The man who did this, as well as all of the association members who saw this, looked at Grin in shock and awe.

Yet Grin kept walking forward, his aura blasting outward, in the direction of Oric. His steps were precise and heavy.

Grin suddenly lifted his right foot and stepped hard on the ground. This caused a spiderweb of cracks to appear on the floor and even caused some of the cloaked men to lose their footing and fall over.

Grin pulled his fist back as far as it could go. He was aiming at Oric! Oric could do nothing but widen his eyes as he saw the embodiment of death right in front of him, leaking an aura of magnitudes he'd never seen before.

Right as Grin began to throw the punch-

[Your invulnerability has ended.]

His aura disappeared that instant. Halting his punch and returning him to mortality.

Oric, who had closed his eyes in a flinch from the punch, stared at Grin with a dumbfounded expression.

"Hahahahaha!!" Oric laughed like an idiot as he realized it. "You wasted all your power walking instead of actually attacking!"

Oric shook his head with his palm on his forehead. Grin was quite literally shaking as he realized his power was gone.

"Alright, I've had enough of this farce," Oric said as he fixed his clothes. "Kill him."

*BANG*

Right as that order was given out, the cube that had been floating off the ground cracked one last time and exploded into pieces.

Due to Grin taking all the attention, no one was focused on the cube that had been losing power until it could no longer function and burst into thousands of shards.

Grin, along with everyone else, turned their attention to the cube at that moment. Grin stood in shock alongside the association members, but both were shocked for different reasons.

The association had been holding that woman here due to how frighteningly powerful she was, and they were currently fearing for their lives.

Grin, however, stood in shock due to the beauty of the woman and because she was naked with only her hair covering her. Mostly because she was naked...

The woman's body was currently floating off the ground and looked as if she were in slow motion. The second her pale white feet touched the ground, her legs seemingly failed to hold her, and she fell into the fetal position while still on her feet.

Her eyes blinked softly, and then she refocused on everyone in the room.

[You have been affected by Vampire Queen's Wrath.]

[-15% in all stats.]

Everyone in the room had their vision pulled into the eyes of the vampire. Unlike everyone else who was fearing for their lives, Grin stared in fascination.

"Kill him before she can recover! We need to get out of here!" Oric screamed as he pointed at Grin.

Grin immediately flinched as one of the cloaked members began running towards him.

*CRACK*

The floor cracked beneath the vampire as she rushed forward. Her long hair that went down to her lower legs flowed behind her like water down a calm stream.

Her hand reached out to Grin as the sword of the cloaked member tried to take his head off his shoulders.

The second her hand made contact with him, her arms wrapped around him and her hair wrapped around both of them.

However, the sword strike wasn't stopped. It struck the back of the vampire. Her skin was being split as blood gushed out of the wound.

The entire time she was being cut, both Grin and she had been staring at each other. The blood that flowed out of her back froze in the air, only to turn into tendrils.

"Everyone get back!" Oric shouted as the blood tendrils ravaged through the room.

They attacked anything and everything, the only one being saved from this onslaught being the one the vampire held in her arms.

The second the tendrils were stabbed into someone, their blood would be sucked out of their body so fast that it seemed as if they had turned into a pile of skin in the blink of an eye.

Oric teleported out as the room was decimated. All of the cloaked men he had brought along instantly died due to a tendril or multiple piercing their bodies and taking their blood.

When all was said and done, the tendrils retreated back inside the body of the vampire, along with her hair unwrapping from both herself and Grin.

"May I know the name of my savior?" The vampire's words registered in Grin's ears, but he had first felt the words. It felt like he was on the beach while the sun shone down brightly on him, only for a cool breeze to hit him perfectly.

"Grin." That was the only thing he could say without stuttering.

The vampire smiled and then walked past Grin with her long hair waving behind her.

Grin stared in shock once again before a loud clap was heard.

"What a beautiful name, my sav—my savior?" The vampire had turned around with a bright smile, only to see that no one was there.

"Grin..." The vampire quietly said his name as if she were afraid of wearing it out. "I didn't even get to tell you my name..."

She looked around, only to find no trace of him. With a quiet sigh, she began making her way out of the cave.