Chapter 47
As he walked back into the labyrinthine tunnels, Gray's face betrayed nothing, though his body language screamed exhaustion. The truth was far from what anyone imagined. Each bruise, every stumble, was an act. Beneath the surface, Gray was unharmed, his superhuman body enduring each strike as easily as if it were a soft breeze. He wasn't there to win the crowd's favor or prove a point—he was there to learn, to study, and most importantly, to prepare. In those five days, he had learned a lot, from fighting hand-to-hand to understanding the new world he found himself in, which, much to his delight, included monsters—although the public only thought they were rumors.
"I should be under Machen's Library now. God, I hate those awful snobs. It's a library; everyone should be allowed," he thought to himself as he climbed the stairs leading to the library. He paused at the door, listening intently. "It's quiet. Why is it quiet?" he wondered as he opened the door leading to the library/museum exhibition area, where historical artifacts were displayed in glass cases. Immediately, Gray noticed six dead guards sprawled on the floor. Approaching them, he examined their wounds. "Slashes… some sort of monster, maybe," he thought to himself. Suddenly, he heard something sprinting toward him. Instinctively, he jumped, narrowly avoiding the charging entity.
Gray landed smoothly, his superhuman reflexes keeping him poised. As he turned to face the creature, he was surprised and muttered with a smirk, "Hello, beautiful." Towering over him was a massive, monstrous beast, hulking and grotesque, its muscular frame pulsing with unnatural energy. Its crimson eyes glowed with malice, and its spiked hide shimmered in the dim light. Gray didn't know its name, but he could sense its power. Without hesitation, he removed the ring on his finger, which transformed into a suitcase. From it, he retrieved his bewitched sword, imbued with Fiendfyre, the cursed fire capable of consuming anything in its path.
The fight began immediately, with the creature lunging forward. Gray sidestepped with fluid precision, his sword slashing across the beast's flank, igniting a fiery blaze. The creature roared, spinning around and striking with a clawed paw. Gray ducked, his movements methodical and deliberate, using only as much strength as needed. Each slash of his blade left burning wounds, yet the creature regenerated almost instantly. Gray's eyes lit up with excitement. "Oh, regeneration. This is going to be a nice ingredient," he thought, just as the creature landed a powerful punch that sent him crashing into a display case. Dazed but unhurt, Gray heard Rachel's voice emanate from his ring. "Gray, listen, that thing is demonic. Be careful. Use the potion to turn into a werelion."
"I was planning on it, but I still can't get over the fact I couldn't get a permanent one," he muttered to himself as he drank the lycanthropy potion. His body convulsed before transforming into a towering werelion. Now, Gray stood taller than the beast, wielding his sword in one hand and flexing razor-sharp claws in the other. The creature retaliated, extending its clawed, acidic tongue toward him, but Gray dodged effortlessly, slicing off parts of its body, which he collected with a gleeful chuckle. "Are you collecting ingredients right now?" Rachel asked incredulously. "What else did you expect from me?" Gray replied with amusement as he finally decided to end the fight. He used a fire-breathing potion, unleashing a torrent of flames that consumed the creature, reducing it to charred remains.
As Gray approached the smoldering body, a green flame erupted from the ashes and split into two. "Gray, that thing is dead!" Rachel exclaimed. "Yeah, I could tell," Gray thought dryly, just as the door burst open. In stepped a towering red-skinned humanoid with shaved horn stubs, a large right arm, a normal left arm, and a tail. The figure, smoking a cigar, pointed a massive revolver at Gray. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" the demon asked, his gruff voice dripping with suspicion. Taken aback, Gray stared for a moment before replying, "Guess the public was right. You do exist." Without warning, Gray consumed an invisibility potion, disappearing from sight and leaving the demon—Hellboy—momentarily stunned.
-scene change-
Back in his suitcase, Gray could be seen smiling as he looked at the pieces of the demon he had just fought. "That was a demon, I mean a literal demon," he said excitedly as Rachel, who was in her human form, sat in a chair she claimed as hers. She wore a thin, see-through shirt that made her bra visible and ripped jeans. Currently reading a book, she shot at him, "Hello, half-demon over here," which Gray ignored as he focused on the flesh he got from the demon. Rachel then returned to her staff form, causing Gray to look away from his barely started experiment as he asked, "What's wrong?" to which Rachel replied, "Knowing you, you'll probably skip meals and sleep as you try to figure out the properties of that material before you come up with some ridiculous potion. So, it's best if I stay in my cane form. I'll see you in a week," before she went dormant.
Rachel was still using the magic she absorbed from Gray's blood, which allowed her to retain her human form. "I probably shouldn't have drunk that many arcane potions," he thought to himself before returning to work. True to Rachel's words, Gray did, in fact, spend an entire week on the experiment, using some of his valuable materials. When he finally came up with a potion, the smile on Gray's face spoke volumes—it was a great one. A sleep-deprived, hungry, and smelly Gray held a perfect potion with maximum effect percentage for its grade.
[ Name: Veilbreaker Elixir ]
[ Grade:High ]
[ Description: This potion, crafted with level 7 Potion-Creation skill, combines flesh of The Desolate One, blood of the White Witch of Winter, and ground needles that devour magic. Upon consumption, it grants the user a permanent ability to nullify or destroy magical effects within a 50-meter radius as a pulse. The user becomes a living void against magic, immune to all forms of magical influence and able to erase enchantments, curses, and wards with mere presence. The effect is permanent due to the potency of its components but has a cooldown of 10 minutes. ]
[ Deterioration Rate: 100% – freshness of the potion ]
"Hah, I finally found a use for that magic-eating needle," he thought to himself as he drank the potion. However, he didn't feel anything at first. "That's weird," he mused, but deep down, he could feel it—a switch of sorts. Rachel returned to her human form immediately, grabbing her nose as she said, "Alright, take a shower, you stink," while extending her hands. Dark energy bubbled and fitted her hands like gloves as she telekinetically tried to move Gray. Tried was the keyword, as Gray released a pulse of energy that nullified Rachel's telekinetic attempt, shaking the whole room despite his efforts to limit the pulse's range and power. "Wha-what did you make now?" Rachel asked with a frown. Gray smirked and replied, "Ahhh, magic-nullifying potions," causing Rachel to sigh in defeat. "Yeah, what else did I expect from you? What did you use—Jadis' blood and the—" she stopped herself, realizing what he had said.
"Jadis? Who is Jadis?" It didn't take long for Gray to connect the dots. All the joy and satisfaction from crafting the potion disappeared as he looked at Rachel. "How do you know her name? In all my time there, I never once heard anyone say her name," he said, setting the empty test tube down. Rachel sighed before explaining, "Look, Gray, in my world, Narnia is just fiction—a book and a movie. But I realized that, even though The Chronicles of Narnia was a story in my world, it does exist." Gray pondered this for a moment before sighing and asking, "Does that mean my world is nothing but fiction in yours—a movie or a book?" There was no anger or fear in his voice, much to Rachel's surprise.