'Souls, souls, souls,' whispered the voices in Gray's head.

"I said shut the fuck up," shouted Gray as he woke up, sweat covering his face, and the mark on his right hand glowing ever so dimly.

'Huh? When did I?' wondered Gray as he realized that he was back in his house.

"These clothes, the goblin noble, I see, that demon kept his end of the bargain," whispered Gray as he got out of bed and walked to the dressing mirror at the corner of his room.

"What?" whispered Gray in confusion, although it had been a while since he had seen himself in a mirror, he clearly remembered having both his eyes and hair black.

"Demon what did you do to me?" asked Gray as he ran his fingers through his hair, causing the sleeve of his black suit to droop and reveal the mark that ran along his hand all the way to his forearms.

"When did the mark, wait," as Gray said this he began getting out of his cloak. There was a look of pure surprise on his face as he saw the intricate runes and patterns that ran along his right arm like crimson red tattoos, their warm slow glow seemed to hint at something both sinister and powerful.

[Goblin ranger blood has been used to upgrade the Mighty Sword replica. More abilities have been unlocked based on the quality of the blood used.] said the voice in Gray's head as he ran his finger along the marks.

"Upgrad-" as Gray opened his mouth he realised that his canines were longer and sharper than before.

"Vampire?" asked Gray finally, the white hair, red eyes, and fangs all hinted to one thing.

'No, more like lap dog,' whispered a voice in Gray's mind.

Gray instinctively removed the silver blade from the scabbard on his back and turned around quickly, holding it much like how the goblin noble he had recently fought did.

'For a lap dog you learn pretty fast. You're already trying to copy that goblin noble's swordsmanship. However it's a useless endeavour, such a technique will require a teacher, and I doubt the goblins would ever teach a demon thrall even if you held a knife to their throats,' replied the disembodied voice.

"Who are you? Come out, only cowards hide when they speak," taunted Gray with a smile on his face, still holding his blade out.

'So you can slash my head off? What a funny human,' laughed the voice.

"Human? Amaymon?" asked Gray, still not dropping his guard.

'You don't have to speak out loud. If someone were to hear you, you would harbor suspicion. And no, it's not Lord Amaymon, I am one of his subordinates, tasked with replacing you incase you become incapable of completing your mission,' replied the voice.

'I said I'll get it done, now leave. I don't need a leech eating away at my mind,' replied Gray.

'A leech? Me? Or do you mean the billion soulless specters that demand their pay? Sure, I'lll leave. But know this, the only reason your human mind hasn't been fried by the burden of so many specters is because I shoulder half of it. Still, its a miracle your still sane,'

'That demon bitch never mentioned this in our contract. He never said that I would start hearing voices,' replied Gray angrily as he placed the sword back in its scabbard and created a crimson pistol.

'Well, what did you expect making deals with the devil. Anyway what are you doing?' asked the demon.

Gray placed the crimson pistol in the waist slot of his suit that was meant for short daggers and began walking towards the door.

'Ignoring me huh?' asked the demon.

'Shut up, you're just as annoying as the specters. I'm going to claim the souls I owe,' replied Gray.

'Right down to business. It seems Lord Amaymon didn't choose a dumb dog after all,'

'I wish I could slash my brain open and fish this leech out,' thought Gray angrily as he walked down the empty streets.

'I can hear what you're thinking by the way,'

***

"White, where is Gray?" whispered Amos immediately after Tesse had passed through the portal.

"Master is... he couldn't make it. But I will make up for that," replied Tesse, a hint of concern appearing on her stone-cold face.

"Hmm, if you don't show results, your contracts could be terminated," warned Amons before handing Tesse a satchel.

"There are four elixirs in there. Take no more than two a day. Based on your performance, you will receive more later," whispered Amos before turning to walk away.

"Oh, and don't drink them in front of the government party. If they see you they'll know that we stole the production method from them," warned Amos before finally walking to the front of the group.

"A forest?" asked the captain of the Hephaestus guild as he swept his black hair to the side.

"It seems so," replied Ria as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Everything was green as far as the eye could see. Trees towered into the sky, if not for the clearing in front of the portal they wouldn't even know that the sky had a milky green texture. The landscape was reminiscent of an equatorial rainforest, however devoid of the sound of all wildlife.

"What's that?" whispered Judith as she noticed two blue eyes floating in the shadow of the massive trees in front of them.

"What do you mean captain?" asked one of the members of the Riot guild squad as they squinted their eyes in the direction where Judith was pointing however the eyes were already gone.

"Suzzie did you see that?" whispered Clare, prompting Suzzie to nod in affirmation.

"Amos," whispered Arena.

"I saw it too,"

'It seems that this ruin has something to do with beasts,' thought Tesse as she removed the sniper from her shoulder and held out it in front of her.

[The Ancient forest of the Amunkah clan does not welcome visitors. Hunt down the shadow runner, and avoid the hunter of the forest, lest you seek certain death.] announced an autonomous voice, prompting the portal behind them to disappear.

"So a hunting raid?" asked the captain of the Hephaestus guild.