Alex had been doing his best to just go with the flow, but the reality of what was happening started to hit him. He pushed it down.

‘Live now. Cry Later’

Taking his attention away from Grave, Alex instead inspected the room he was in. It was well sized, Alex estimated somewhere around 200 square feet, and covered in expensive looking items. The walls were made of a polished wood paneling, reminding Alex of his grandparents' basement. Large art pieces adorned the walls and items in small glass cases, similar to the ones in the store, were spread throughout. He took a moment to examine a few of them, but nothing jumped out to his senses. When he reached one item that glowed, but still emitted no magical energy, Alex figured they were well protected and moved on. Attached to the walls, intermittently dispersed throughout the room Alex spotted multiple screens that resembled monitors. Instead of black screens they were a translucent white color, and he could see a few colorful gems below each one.

The furniture was mostly dark stained wooden pieces, and they would have fit right in at a cigar lounge. Taking a seat in one of the most comfortable chairs he’d ever sat in, Alex considered his plan. He didn’t know how long it would be until his fight, or what that fight entailed, so he’d have to get moving. Taking a few minutes to mentally sort out the important details, Alex stood up.

“Grave, is there a bathroom?” The bulky figure pointed to a corner of the room, and Alex thanked them before heading in. Closing the door behind him Alex looked around the bathroom for cameras. He used his sixth sense skill to feel for any magical equivalents, but after sensing nothing, got to work.

Fiddling with the storage ring for a minute he tried to open it to no avail. It took another few minutes for Alex to figure out how to push mana into the ring and create a brief link with the object. It tried to pull more mana, and Alex guessed that was the binding Janet had been talking about. Stopping his flow of mana he felt the link fade and wondered about the difference between a bound and unbound storage.

Not wanting to get his entire fortune stolen Alex only shifted ten gold and twenty silver into the new ring. He tried pulling the money back out and, while he had fewer options, the base one of having the money appear in his hand was still available.

Alex had no idea what higher leveled people could tell about the spatial device he was using, so having keeping a bit of money in there seemed like the best option. If he lost it however, he wouldn’t be that much worse for wear. Monetarily speaking at least; Janet would likely be pissed.

Exiting the bathroom, Alex saw Grave back against the wall, standing in the same position they’d been in when he had entered, but now a set of clothes were folded on the couch near the center of the room.

“Grave.”

The golem turned to face him at Alex’s call but did nothing else. While messing around with his new storage Alex had devised a few questions for the golem. Some, that if he’d guess correctly, could help him in his still forming plan.

“Are you sentient?”

The golem raised an armored hand and seesawed it in a surprisingly human gesture. Alex supposed if they couldn’t speak, they’d needed to get good at communicating in alternative ways. Trying something Alex focused on his Comprehend skill and signed in ASL. He’d never mastered the full language, having only learned bits and pieces as he’d grown up which meant he mainly needed to rely on the finger spelling to get his ideas out. Luckily, he knew the few words he needed now.

“Can. You. Understand. This.”

There was no response from the golem and Alex assumed his attempt had failed. A couple of reason as to why jumped to the forefront of his mind, but Alex didn’t know when Ralph would get back and had other things to figure out first. Still, he couldn’t help asking.

“Could you learn a new language?” Grave nodded and Alex filed the information away for later. “Ok I'm gonna fire off a few questions. They’ll be yes or no. Nod for yes, Sideways shake for no. Sound good?” The large golem nodded, and Alex began.

“Is this room-” He almost said bugged but considered a synonym the golem might have heard before, he wasn’t sure how colloquialisms translated through his skill, “being watched. Can Ralph or anyone else see what’s happening in this room.” A nod yes.

“Can they hear?” A shake in the negative. “Can anyone see or hear in the bathroom?” A shrug from the golem made Alex regret not asking earlier. He hoped he hadn’t leaked one of his secrets. That along with how creepy bathroom cameras were.

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“Okay, Ralph said you have to do what I say. What power does that give me? Wait.” Rephrasing into a yes or no question Alex asked. “Does that give me the same control as Ralph.” The Golem started to shake not then paused, instead doing the same hand motion from earlier.

“So similar, he holds ultimate control or something but because of his phrasing my own control is not far off?” A nod. Alex wondered if the man had done that on purpose, someone who lived to be old as him was unlikely to make such simple mistakes, but Alex would take any advantage he could get.

“Do the two of you have a method of communication besides yes or no questions?” The golem confirmed they didn’t though they said it was possible. Alex wasn’t sure how long the command would be in effect, but he mentally noted it just in case. It made him wonder if he could figure out a way to get Grave or a golem similar to them. An army of golems that he could speak to in a secret language seemed useful.

“Can Golems be bought?” The nod he received excited him, though he felt a little odd talking to a golem about buying a golem. Still Alex wanted to know. “Would a golem like you cost more than three hundred gold?”

This time the Alex saw Grave’s nod as unfortunate, but Alex had a plan to make some money. Where there was underground fighting there was underground betting. It great reason not to fight with his face visible. People might get mad when he went to get his winnings. The first part of his plan was simple. Bet most of his money on himself. While the odds were probably mediocre, they were almost definitely not in his favor.

“Grave are the monsters in the lower leveled fights F grade?” A shake. “Are the monsters E grade?” A nod. “Then are they weakened in some way?” A nod. “Is there a way to surrender?” Receiving the hand motion as the only response, Alex asked his final question. “Do people often die in these lower-level fights?” A nod.

He had guessed some of this based on the way Ralph had emphasized “weakest beasts” rather than saying a grade. It did solidify his betting plan however; the money was of no use to him if he was dead. Now he just needed to figure out how to deliver the money to the bookie, and what the betting after his fight would look like.

Alex conversed with the golem for another fifteen minutes. He had been using yes and no questions to figure out the golem’s best guess of when his fight would be and figured he had at least an hour to kill. After learning Grave spent most of their time in this room Alex had an idea that might work, if he lived long enough. The golem had seen plenty of fixed fights and back-room deals, once Alex began asking the right questions Grave could tell him exactly what he needed to know.

They had figured out a general plan by the end of their conversation. Alex would come back with his increased funds after his fight and tell Grave the names of the fighters. Grave would then say yes if that person should be bet on and no if they should not. He didn’t know where Ralph would be, or if the old man would care, but it was the best he could do.

“Can you get me another mask. Something less common?” The golem shook their head no and Alex felt annoyed. He’d decided to wear his regular clothing out but didn’t want to show his face when making a bet with such a large amount of money. He could use the mask Ralph gave him, but he was unsure if it would be more or less suspicious. He’d rather people see his face than suspect he was betting on his own fights. That was frowned upon everywhere.

“This would be easier if you could just transform and come with me.” Alex had muttered the words, more as an idle thought than anything else, but the muted glow that came of Grave showed they saw it as more. Their body began to shift under the light and as it faded Alex looked at the now much smaller form of Grave. In their plate armor they had been nearly seven feet, bulky, and extremely memorable. Now they were only about 5’9 and in the frame of a young woman.

All the armor was gone, as was the sword, instead the golem now had a heart-shaped face and dark skin that glowed in the dim light of the room. Their silver hair was styled in a sleek ponytail that flowed down their back, contrasting beautifully with against their dark skin. Their eyes were a deep, dark shade of purple, just like Ralph’s, and Alex had to remind himself Grave was a golem as he looked into them. Even though they couldn't speak, Alex could see the intelligence in their eyes and wondered how being a golem worked. They seemed like a person to him. Grave’s outfit seemed to have been inspired by his own as it consisted mainly of black, red, and blue. For pants, they wore something black that looked to be close to leggings in material. Their top was a blue and red crop top hoodie that showed off a toned abdomen underneath, while their sneakers were the same black and white as Alex’s. Realizing he was staring, Alex swallowed and asked the golem another question.

“Has anyone seen you in that form?” Alex had half expected a vocal response but received the standard nod instead. “Is it common? Would they trace you back to Ralph?” A shake. “Ok that should work then. Grave I’ll need you to act as my guide.” Alex trailed off for a moment as he had another thought. “Can you use a spatial storage?” A shake in the negative. Alex put up a finger.

“Wait one moment please.”

Going back to the bathroom he messed around with his inventory for a minute. He saw that he could place stuff within at a short distance, about anywhere he could plausibly reach. Picking stuff up required physical touch or the manipulation of one of those inventory portals, but he would only need to remove stuff from his inventory for the moment. Walking back out he explained the final version of his plan to Grave.

The golem would act as the leader of their little duo. Alex would do the talking, while they stood there silently, looking not to care. He’d given the golem Janet’s ring, as to not raise any suspicion, and had created a trigger of sorts for when Grave should make it look like they were ready to place a bet. Though he would be the one to actually make the money appear. As the pair walked out into the underground compound Alex felt pretty good about his plan.