Blackmoor City, Nighkeeper Clan, Ascension Hall

In a dimly lit Ancient Hall, where the only source of light were candles and a Mysterious portal. A Black Robed man with a hood covering his face stood next to the portal which was swirling with blue light. His entire body seemed to be covered with a black aura, and although he was just standing there he released a frightening amount of pressure, the youths before him did not dare to make a sound and just stood still.

This was an Elder of the Infamous Nightkeeper Clan. His strength was so great that If he wanted to he could squash every youth in front of him with just a finger.

Among the youths who all wore tattered clothes, in an inconspicuous corner a youth could be seen standing with a calm face. Although he wore tattered clothes like the rest and had an average-looking face it was difficult to hide his ferocious aura.

Beneath his calm eyes, something ominous was brewing, his abyss-like black eyes were filled with frightening darkness that seemed ready to devour the entire world.

In comparison to his eyes, his body was severely malnourished and the only thing left in his body was skin and bones.

Although everyone present was an orphan picked up by the Nighkeeper family, clearly they had different pasts. Most had the physique that could compare to a normal human before the arrival of Grim, while only a few were like the youth, malnourished and weak beyond compare.

But, surprisingly nobody dared to stay close to the skinny youth, they were filled with fear as they looked at him, even the strongest of them was afraid of this youth.

It wasn't because of his strength, but his gaze. His eyes were too frightening for their young hearts.

Zod looked at the trembling youths around him with an indifferent gaze, he felt their fear and anguish towards him but he did not care. All he cared about was entering The Berserk Dimension: Grim. His only kin had disappeared into Grim and he must find her. He refused to believe that she died in that damned place.

The Elder seemed to not care about anything happening in the crowd, he pointed at one of the youths and motioned him to come forward.

Being stared at by the Elder's gloomy blue eyes which looked like will-o'-wisps, the youth shivered but walked forward not daring to disobey.

The Elder revealed his bony hand, the ring on his finger glowed a blue light and a sword appeared in his hand. The Elder waved his hand and the dark aura around him covered the sword and sent it directly into the hand of the youth. He then gestured for him to enter the portal. From, beginning to end he never spoke a word.

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The youth bowed his head and quickly entered the portal with resolute steps.

Following the youth, the rest were called one by one and each of them received a different weapon based on the Elder's choice. Some received, spears, blades, hammers but everyone seemed happy with the weapon they were given.

Zod was the last one to be called. He walked towards the Elder and waited for his weapon. The Elder repeated the same motions and a Dagger appeared in his hand which he sent Zod.

Zod received his dagger without even looking at it and entered the portal.

After Zod entered the portal the entire hall was silent, the Black Robed Elder who had not spoken a word till then spoke in a gloomy voice seemingly to himself,

"Interesting..."

...

As Zod entered the portal, he felt a sense of weightlessness and soon arrived in a white space. He could see a timer in the corner of his eye.

9:59...

9:58...

Knowing that time was limited so he quickly took action.

"Status"

Status:

Name: Zod Hellstride

Age: 16

Race: Human

Class: None

Level: 1

HP: 180/180

MP: 34/34

Trait: Sovereign

Stats:

Strength: 8

Agility: 7

Endurance: 9

Magic: 17

Spirit: 14

Unallocated Points: 0

Inheritance:

None

Skills:

Passive Skill:

Deter- When making eye contact, the target will earn Fear status if their Spirit stat is lower.

Fear- All stats -20%

Duration: 5 sec

Active Skill:

-

Zod looked at his Status and frowned, as expected his body was too weak.

He had expected this when he started practicing the Abyss Gaze Technique. As the Hellstride Family Heirloom technique, it was a powerful technique but it also had its drawbacks. The technique consumes a lot of energy, without enough energy it will lead to one being extremely malnourished and weak. It also affects one's emotions causing them to become indifferent to others except for truly loved ones. But, in return, the technique helps in improving the Magic and Spirit in the body and even learning a skill before entering The Berserk Dimension: Grim.

Unless one was exceptional in one field it was difficult to earn a Skill just after entering Grim. But, the Abyss Gaze technique not only gave a skill, but it was also a powerful passive skill.

Zod then looked at his Trait,

Sovereign: Immune to all sorts of illusions, debuffs, and curses as long as Spirit greater than the enemy.

"What a powerful Trait..."

Zod could not help but mutter to himself, this trait would eliminate most of his weakness.

Although his physical stats were weak he had some confidence to enter Grim now.

He looked at the timer again,

0: 11...

Zod took a deep breath and readied himself, he would face many dangers in Grim, he had to survive, in order to find her...

0: 3...

0: 2..

0: 1...

0: 0...

Zod's vision went black and the next moment he found himself standing on hard ground.

He was surrounded by rocks of various sizes, it seems he was teleported to a mountain range.

Zod quickly checked his surroundings and quickly looked for any Berserk Beasts. It seems his luck was good he did not find any Beast nearby.

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine, without even thinking he slashed his dagger backward,

Slash!

"Hiss!"

Zod jumped backward without even thinking and looked at his assailant with piercing eyes.