A black expanse. Issac opened his eyes to a strange place. In front of him was an expanse that was so big that he couldn't see an end to it. Or was it because it was almost pitch-black? The place seemed to stretch to infinity both vertically and horizontally. The only place that Issac could feel was the hard and smooth floor beneath his feet.

Despite being dark everywhere, he could feel the pool of ankle-high water he was standing on and even the waves created by his movements.

"A dream?" the words that escaped from his lips did not echo and vanished in the air as soon as they came out. He raised his hand and looked at his palm. No matter how much he willed it, nothing formed on his hand. "So, not a lucid dream."

Having nothing to do, Issac began walking, and every time he moved his legs, the water would ripple. The water felt cool to the touch, and thankfully, he was on this scape barefooted. He did not like wet socks.

After a while of walking, Issac saw some lights in the distance. Small specks of light on the horizon dotted like stars in the night sky.

"What are those?" he walked towards the light. This was the first thing he had seen in a long while of walking here.

Soon, the small balls of light grew bigger as he walked close, and they took shape. They were lotus flowers made out of pure white light. Oddly, he could see their shape and outlines clearly. They floated on the surface of the water and swayed with the waves. Their soft glow illuminated the waters around them.

Issac walked among the lotuses. The place was calm and serene, and he felt at peace there. The darkness was not frightening and, instead, calmed his nerves. It reminded him of the time he had gone stargazing with June. The lotuses here reminded him of the stars he saw at that time.

He kept walking. Yet he did not feel tired. He could walk forever. Once again, he saw something in the distance. A figure was sitting in front of a low table; he recognized the table- it was a traditional Japanese table called 'Chabudai.' As he walked closer, the figure became more and more clear.

It was a woman. Her skin was the smooth color of honey, and her heart-shaped lips had deep-blue rouge on them. Under her curved eyebrows were a pair almond shaped eyes with irises the same color as her rouge. Her facial structure reminded Issac of women from Earth- she had a look reminiscent of Arabian and Middle-Eastern women.

She wore a Persian-blue bedlah. The top piece was not small like a fitted bra but a slightly more revealing sari blouse made of soft fabric that exposed her shoulders and décolletage. And beneath her exposed midriff, she wore harem pants. Behind her head was an elbow-length veil, and on her face was a thin veil that barely covered her lower face. A silver Arabian headpiece adorned her hair.

Her clothes did not have any over-the-top designs except for small beads scattered throughout all of her clothing. They shone softly and, with the Persian-blue backdrop, looked like stars shining in the night sky. And everything of color she had on her body, from her veil to her clothing, was the same shade of blue.

The woman looked up at him and smiled gently, "Welcome, Issac." Her voice was warm and inviting yet contained the vicissitudes of life.

"You know me, miss?" Issac asked.

"I do not." She pointed at the pillow or 'Zabuton' in front of Issac, "Would you like to take a seat?"

"Uh, sure." Issac copied the woman before him and sat on his knees in front of the mahogany chabudai.

She calmly took the porcelain teapot on the table and tilted the spout towards a cup. A rich and warm red liquid poured out from it and into the cup, filling it. With faint steam wafting from the tea, she gently pushed the cup to Issac and poured a cup for herself.

Issac took a sip, and the tea's slightly sweet and zesty taste spread into his mouth. After he was done, he looked at her. She had taken off her veil and was sipping at her tea. It seemed she enjoyed the company.

"What's your name, miss?"

The woman's lips which were colored Persian-blue, parted as she introduced herself, "I am called Nyx."

"Then, were you the one to bring me here?"

"I did not bring you here. I am simply visiting you in your dreams."

"You made this place, right?"

"Is it to your liking?" she giggled softly. "I thought you would be someone who liked the calmness of the night."

"I do like it, Ms. Nyx," Issac nodded. "But I would like to ask who you are and why you've come here."

"You don't beat around the bush. You should relax a bit, Issac. The night still hasn't ended."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"I've been summoned to a world that I have no idea about, and there's something going on with my friends and aiming for me that I have no way of retaliating against. I apologize for the disrespect, but I can't rest. I'll do the relaxing after this. Just like you said, this night hasn't ended yet."

"Very well," Nyx poured some more tea for herself and continued, "I am the Goddess of the Night, Nyx. And you're…I guess a soul attracted me."

"A goddess…." Issac pondered. "Then, are you older than me?"

She looked taken aback for a second before covering her mouth and laughing, "That's neither the question nor the reaction I was expecting."

"I'm sorry, but I really can't comprehend that a Goddess is standing in front of me. Back in our world, it's a kind of abstract concept. The only time I've ever heard someone calling some a 'Goddess' is when referring to her beauty. And if that's the case, then I can see why you're a goddess."

"Oh my, you're quite the flirt, aren't you?"

Issac chuckled with a deadpan face, "I'm glad you see me that way."

"Well, it seems you won't be at ease if I don't tell you what I visited you for." Nyx sighed and held her head. "Well, I'll go on to just that. But before-" she smiled playfully, "-let's see what you ended up doing yesterday."

Nyx hit the water beside her, and it splashed oddly, creating a screen of water near them. And in it, Issac's memories of the previous day began to play.

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"B-Bastard! You made me k-kill someone…!" Issac screamed at the Owner.

"Just treat it as payment for my services," he shrugged it off.

"W-Which kind of payment requires you to fucking kill someone, you dolt?"

"My kind of payment," the Owner's eyes narrowed as his lips pressed together into a thin smile, "now, why don't you stop squabbling and sit down?" He gestured to the stool in front of the counter.

Issac did not move. Kneeling on the floor, he looked at his slightly bloodstained hands that were shaking. The fear-stricken eyes of the man he killed etched themselves in his mind as the haunting scene kept playing again and again. He wanted to vomit again, but there was nothing left to vomit out.

The Owner waited patiently for Issac to get up but stared at Issac's every move. The same scene kept playing in his mind, yet he still couldn't process what he had done.

"Such heartache for killing a man you didn't even know…." The Owner shook his head, "Was he worth it?"

Issac did not even look up and said, "Do you understand the repercussions of killing a man?"

"Here?" the Owner raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly, "There are none." Without paying much attention to Issac's thoughts, he continued, "And besides, that man you killed was tailing you."

"Tailing me?" Issac was taken by surprise, but the Queen's earlier words played in his head. "Ah, so this is the guy that the Queen sent to stalk me...?"

"Yep, so don't feel too bad about killing him. You should tie up all loose ends, right? Or something like that."

Issac sighed. His hands still hadn't stopped shaking, and he could put enough strength barely into his legs. Yet he dragged himself on the ground and on the stool. He slumped forward, his elbows propped up on the counter and his hands holding his head up. His hair spilled out from the gaps in his fingers.

His face had scrunched up from distress, and he felt his head begin to heat up from all the thoughts in his head, no, from the single thought in his head- "I killed a man…."

"Well, anyway…" the Owner's voice brought Issac back from his lamentations. He put four things in front of him- a bag of some round things, a book and a small cylinder with a handle at the bottom, a black button, and a grapnel at the top.

"What are these?"

"This is a bag full of Low-Grade Mana Bombs," he pointed at the bag.

"Bomb!?" Issac was alarmed.

"Don't worry. They only work when you activate them. Like all bombs should." He took one out of the bag and showed it to him. It looked like a rough grey sphere, like those bombs he'd seen in cartoons, except without the fuse. However, there was a cyan circle on one side of the sphere. The Owner continued, "You place your palm on the circle right here-" he rolled the bomb around to show the cyan circle to Issac, "-and instill a bit of your mana in it. The circle contains the fuse part of the bomb. After your mana is in it, the bomb has your mana signature, and you can detonate it from a radius of fifty meters."

"Seems innovative…."

"Yeah, the explosion is strong enough to kill-" Issac tensed up, "-Bronze Rank Adventurers and injure Silver Ranks. So, at least it's good for self-defense. And next up is-" he lifted the book and held it in front of Issac's face, "-this 『Skill Book』. It's for the skill 『Simple Illusion』. It's the full book on 『Simple Illusions』 with auditory, optical, olfactory, visual, tactile, and gustatory illusions included."

"So, they mess with all the five senses of a human."

"Yeah, but never forget some of your opponents might have a sixth sense. And those will be hard to fool. 『Complex Illusions』 is where you'll really start messing with them."

"Ah, I see," he replied without understanding anything.

"Just hold it in your hands, and you'll see a prompt in front of you. Press 'yes' then."

"Fine."

"And this-" he picked up the cylinder, "-is every third-rate thief or assassin's best friend- the grappling hook."

"Grappling Hook?" Issac's eyes shone, and he momentarily forgot about his peril.

"Yeah, grappling hook. You aim the grapnel to wherever you want to grapple to and press the button on the handle here." The Owner pointed at the button he was talking about. He continued, "Then the hook will launch out with rope attached to it. Once it grabs onto something, press the button, and it'll constrict, taking you with it."

"Is it enough to carry my weight?"

"As long as you're not over 265 lbs, you'll be just fine," he assured Issac.

"Whew!" Issac heaved a sigh of relief, "I'm 198 lbs. That should be fine, right?"

The Owner then picked up the last thing- the black button. "And this is the last thing. It's an Interceptor. I won't tell you what it is. That's for you to figure out. And these are the things you'll be purchasing," the Owner took out a paper bag from under the counter, "should I pack these for you?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Issac held his head and sighed, "This fucker is too unpredictable."

The Owner put all his things in the paper bag and gave it to Issac. He held the bag awkwardly like he was holding a toddler.

The Owner clapped his hands and smiled, "Thank you for your patronage. Please be sure to visit again."

Issac got up and walked out of the store. He left the store with significantly more on his mind than when he came in.

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