Dios looked around after having abruptly awoken from hitting a hard cold stone floor. He was confused and a little lost as he clearly remembered jumping to his death so he wondered if this was the afterlife.

“From the way this place is set up, I seem to be in a castle of some sort? Underground? Is Hell really so simplistic? No fire?” Dios questioned as he analyzed his surroundings and he, for some reason, believed he would end up in hell.

His life wasn’t the most “positive” so he wouldn’t have been surprised if Hell was the next phase of his life.

However, as he slowly stood up and started walking with his mangled and thin body that no 16 year old should have, he started doubting his previous guesses. He was in a stone hallway with no decorations aside from some little gems glowing with a faint red-white light that illuminated his surroundings. He had never seen these types of lighting methods in his life so he curiously touched one of them only to feel scorching heat burn his fingertip.

The pain didn’t do much but surprise Dios as pain was but an accomplice to his regular day to day life so he was quite used to it.

He threw the fire gems to the back of his mind as he continued his exploration and moved further down the hall. With a slight limp and an exhausted body, he managed to reach the end of the hall where he saw a metal door with odd and slightly mystical looking engravings on each side. Learning from his previous experience he didn’t immediately touch the doors but observed silently before deciding to see if anyone was there.

He did think that this may go wrong but considering he had just accepted his death and plunged into the depths of darkness, he didn’t really care about the consequences.

A weak but determined voice echoed throughout the hall. “Hello! Is there anyone there!?”|

On the other side of the metal doors, someone with an expression of pure shock slowly turned around.

Dios did not know whether there was someone but he decided to try again and once again, he tried yelling to the best of his broken body’s abilities. “ Hello! Is someone there!? My name is Dios! “

The shock on the other party’s face became even more evident but he calmed down shortly after. He walked towards the metal doors calmly and steadily but with an insanely curious look as he wondered what was creating those weird sounds outside his doors.

Dios heard the footsteps and although he thought them to be oddly loud, he prepared himself to meet whoever it was as his confusion to his current situation needed to be cleared.

He waited patiently and he finally saw one side of the door slowly open outwards towards him. Backing up he raised his head towards whoever was on the other side with slight apprehension as Dios was always weary of things and people he did not understand or know.

Clearly today was the day where things just got weirder for him. He saw in front of him a large bodied person, shrouded in some dark green smoke as though a gentle layer of fog blocked his view from the other. The outline looked like a human but the man seemed to be close to three meters tall.

He caught glimpses of mystical patterns engraved on the mans robes. Dios was surprised as to what he was seeing but aside from the shock, there wasn't much else.

He decided to speak up after an eerie amount of silence between the two as the other kept looking at him. He couldn't see his eyes but the instincts in his body told him that he was beying eyed almost as prey would feel facing a predator.

"Uhm..He..Hello!" Dios managed to get out even with the suffocating presence the other was emitting.

"Hmm." The other being was quite surprised to see a little human in front of him. Especially when he considered where he was.

Taking a moment to adjust something on his fingers. A little golden light flashed as a ring made of jade appeared and he put it on.

"What is a little human like you doing here?" The shrouded man asked.

The confusion in Dios's eyes vexed the other. However, Dios did manage to utter that he fell.

After a stupid amount of time. Dios finally spilled the story of how he ended up here which caused slight surprise to come from the shrouded man.

"Hehe, so you fell off a cliff and ended up here? Hahaha, wonder if you were lucky or not. Anyways my Name is Gray little one, come follow me." Gray slowly spoke to which Dios simply nodded. Gray laughing left him a little perturbed as the laugh would not sound comforting to anyone.

Gray walked down the through the doors to his alchemical station which had a variety of different items of different colors and origins sprewed about. Gray couldn't help but murmurr: " Guess the expirement wasn't a complete failure. There is a new test subject now hehe."

Dios hearing the murmurrs couldn't help but shiver even though he did not hear the words clearly.

Gray eventually fiddled around with a few items before placing the in a skilled way across the table.

Dios couldn't help it anymore as his curiosity reached its peak and asked " Gre...Mister Gray. Who are you and where are we? Am I dead?"

Gray didn't bother turning around but continued on as his voice lazily explained: " No, little one. Very much alive, however, you ended up in my little space after that explosion which was probably what led you to me. As to who I am, you wouldn't know even if I told you."

Gray then finally turned around holding a black crystal which he pulled out from a sealed case that had a few liquids poured onto it before finally unsealling the case.

Dios was surprised at the sight of such a dark crystal, it almost felt like his soul was going to get sucked into it the moment his eyes landed on it. Gray however brought his attention back with a cough.

"Little one, how would you like to help me out today?" Gray asked while still shrouded in his misty green haze.

"He..Help you with what Mr.Gray?" Dios had a premonition and asked but he knew he wasn't really in control as he knew this feeling quite well.

"Hehe, don't worry so much." Gray spoke calmly as he gently sat down on a seat nearby that was adorned with dragons and ghost carvings. He waved over Dios who limped over and gently sat him down with a force of his hand which spooked Dios.

"I just want to see if anyone can learn this scripture I created from my little discovery in the great void." Gray slowly spoke as his misty green cloud thickened for an instant.

"I don't know but I was never very smart Mr.Gray so I don't know if I could learn it." Dios honestly replied as he didn't want to be beat for lying even though his curiosity about everything mentioned was reaching an all time peak.

Gray looked over the boy and couldn't help but smile which Dios of course did not see. "No worries, this is a special scripture that I had personally transformed from what I had gotten that day even the dumbest of idiots could read it. I will give it to you. In return, if you do manage to succeed in fully learning and using its abilities, I want a favor."

Dios was very lost but he still inquired " What will learning it do for me and what favor do you need?"

Gray smiled again while saying" Your not as dumb as you say you are. Hehe, your soul has a trace of spiritual chaos ingrained in it. It makes you quite compatible with the scripture and if learnt can grant you quite the power in this universe. My favor is but a little one, I only wish for you to help me leave this place." His tone had turned slightly solemn towards the end.

Dios realized that Gray was actually trapped in this castle and he wasn't really in control either. However, he started thinking about the power Gray had told him he would get. Dios never really craved for power but he knew if he had it, his life wouldn't have been so brutal in the first place. He didn't really know what kind of life one would have if they had power but he had yearned for it from time to time as a fantasy to escape from his reality.

Gray once again looked over Dios's body and with a slight smirk said " It seems your life was a cruel one, little one. The reward aside from the power the scripture can grant you is also quite interesting for someone like you. I'll give you the scripture upon signing a pact and send you out of this place where you will have a chance at a new life."

"A n..new life!?" Dios was shocked as he didn't understand what that meant. He almost felt like he was dealing with a god.

"Well, in a way. You will have to train the teachings of my scripture and this place is really the last place you can succeed in doing that. I'll send you somewhere else where you can give it a shot as long as you promise to help me once the time is right."

Dios couldn't help his face from showing his emotions. He didn't expect his life, that hell he grew up in to suddenly turn into a new opportunity at a different life. One with... power.

Gray finally asked:"What is your decision?"

Dios didn't really think about it much as he simply agreed.

Gray finally smiled again and with a speed that Dios couldn't catch, poked him between his eyebrows with a black crystal.