Zayn was already exhausted, bruised, and wounded in several areas, but he still continued to move as if he was full of vigor.
He whisked the iron pole to the side the moment the remaining three Goblin Skeletons thrust their spear at him. The spears collided with each other while Zayn used the opening he had created by grasping the closest stone spear with his free hand.
'Pseudo Morningstar, let's go!'
Ignoring the blood oozing out of the wound on his forehead and the aching back, Zayn used his momentum and remaining strength to again throw the Goblin Skeleton on the rest of them.
They fell over like bowling pins, creating more opportunities for Zayn. He shot forward and made use of the precious seconds he just gained by smashing the head of a Goblin Skeleton twice in a row before its bones finally scattered over the cavern tunnel's ground.
Afterward, only two Goblin Skeletons were left for him to tackle but they were not as agile as expected. He smashed the head of one of the Goblin Skeletons when it was about to get up from the ground while simultaneously grasping the stone spear of the other Goblin Skeleton.
That way, he prevented it from attacking him with the stone spear as he finished it off. The last Goblin Skeleton was defeated not much later.
"I…a-m…really out of…shape…"
Zayn was breathing heavily to catch his breath. His sight was still blurred and he could only hope that he would receive a few more seconds to gasp for air.
He could barely defeat five Goblin Skeletons. That was ridiculous in comparison to what he had done in the past. At least, there were fragmented memories that showed him how strong he had been in the past.
Sweat mixed in the blood that trickled down his head and his limbs were aching and sore. His body was crying for rest and he wanted nothing more than to take a break but that was not something he could afford right now, unfortunately.
'Soul Wisps!'
When he had gotten his act together, Zayn collected the remnants of soul particles that would have otherwise ascended with the Soul Wisp. His hands were hurting from crudely absorbing the soul particles but that was the easiest way to become stronger.
Becoming stronger was one of the two reasons why he had entered the shithole that had once been the Goblin's cave. As for the other reason…he was in dire need of money!
"That feels much better!" He exclaimed when he felt the highly potent soul particles inside his body. They were accumulated in his heart where they strengthened his entire body.
However, instead of allowing the soul particles to remain in his heart, Zayn circulated them through his head to heal his wound as quickly as possible.
'How do I even know how to control them… Muscle memory? But…that doesn't make any sense…'
Zayn had always been bothered that his memories of his life before he came to this world were fragmented. It was really bothersome because he didn't feel like he belonged in this world but also because some memories surfaced without any warning.
This was happening just now as well. While the few soul particles he had acquired circulated through his head a bad headache overcame him. Even more blood began to trickle down his nose and eyes and Zayn's legs gave in just when he was about to start collecting the purple marbles of the Goblin Skeletons.
"You fucking bastards! Just give me everything at once, instead of playing around with me!!" He groaned out in pain and cursed himself.
However, even if he hated the feeling of memories resurfacing, they were usually of great use. This was the most annoying because it made him feel as if he was being led around by himself, the past version of him!
Less than a minute passed before he stopped bleeding. He got up from the ground and wiped the blood from his face.
"I already knew what I was supposed to do, you dipshit!" Zayn cursed the memories that represented exactly what he was going to do either way.
His vision was much clearer than before, which made it easier to take a look around. The commotion his fight had caused was not too much but they were in a cavern tunnel, which meant that the noises traveled much farther as they bounced off the walls and echoed in the closed space.
With that in mind, Zayn chose to act quickly.
He closed his eyes and imagined the empty Grimoire of the Ancient in front of him. Zayn saw it with his closed eyes, the cover of the Grimoire of the Ancient was now open.
The Grimoire was still empty but that wouldn't be the case for long. After all, he was about to allow his Grimoire to devour the soul particles he had just absorbed!
Some might think that it was stupid for Zayn to do something like that, especially since his body had finally undergone a slight transformation. However, Zayn looked at the long-term goals! He needed the first page of the Grimoire of the Ancient, right now!
When he opened his eyes, the Grimoire of the Ancient had manifested in front of him. It was hovering a few centimeters above his palm and transmitted its desire for soul particles.
'Is it sentient, or can it instinctively feel that I've just absorbed soul particles?'
The Grimoire's desire for soul particles had intensified the moment he absorbed the soul particle remnants of the Soul Wisps like a child would crave for his favorite chocolate. That was a little bit weird but it was not as if Zayn had something else to do with his soul particles, to begin with.
He circulated his soul particles through his arm and released them through his palm. The golden particles shone brightly and they caused a great headache to Zayn. It shouldn't be possible for someone on his level to circulate soul particles through the body, let alone to be able to control them enough to manifest the soul particles outside his body.
However, that was exactly what Zayn was doing, flawlessly at that.
The soul particles that manifested outside his body swirled around the pageless Grimoire of the Ancient. They continued to circulate around the Grimoire until they slowed down and settled down at the Grimoire's spine.
The soul particles gathered at the spine of the Grimoire where they were devoured and weaved together, becoming the first page in the Grimoire of the Ancient. The Grimoire devoured the soul particles greedily but it suddenly stopped after devouring only around two dozen golden particles.
There were still a few more soul particles left but the Grimoire of the Ancient didn't desire any more of them. It had taken enough and the first page was already forming.
"That was already enough to weave the first page? Is that my beginner's luck or a newbie bonus?" Zayn mumbled, not sure how it could have been so cheap and easy to weave the first page.
He was pretty sure that it should have required much more soul particles. It was weird that it took him only a few Goblin Skeletons to create the first page, but it was as if he was given a present. Who was he to reject such a precious gift?
When the first page was just about to be formed, the Grimoire of the Ancient created a sudden void that sucked in and devoured the remaining soul particles.
Zayn was surprised, but he remained silent and watched the situation unfolding right in front of him.
It took a few seconds but when he noticed what was happening the corners of his lips tilted upward.
'The snippet of an empty page?'
"...Amazing!"