Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – Hell’s Dungeon

“You want information?” Lord Virgo sized up the young man in front of him. Without his beast, he would’ve surely died.

“Yes sir. When I woke up in the forest, I didn’t even know there were other people around until I found Justus and Aries battling the beast.” Theseus explained.

“What a peculiar fellow.” Lord Virgo thought the situation was miraculous and strange.

“I guess I’ve seen it all now. Young man, you woke up in Hell. My condolences.” Lord Virgo shook his head.

“I… I see.” Theseus put his head down. Of his two options, this was the worse one. Purgatory was seen as the neutral ending while Hell was the bad ending for the afterlife.

“This, all you see around you, is Floor One of Hell. Us Suzerain Lords and our servants have taken up residence on this floor, mainly because we can’t find the exit.” Lord Virgo explained the predicament.

“We assume the way out is through the Desolate, but not even us Suzerain Lords are strong enough to face the Royalty Realm Beasts that infest the deep chasm. Perhaps if we all worked together, it would be possible, but most of us would die. Therefore, we shouldn’t bother. The Oceanic Realm is enough for us to live in.” Virgo shrugged.

“Rather than attempting to conquer the impossible, we’ve grown to adapt to our new home. I do thank you for bringing back that troublesome Shade of mine, Theseus. Now that you know the truth, what is your plan?” Lord Virgo was curious about the tamer. He was different from the typical soul that wandered into his territory.

The spirits found who knew nothing about the Oceanic Realm sometimes went to the Desolate to try to conquer the floor, but most became his subordinates. Part of the reason Justus and Aries were assigned to the border as scouts was to find wandering spirits that appeared in the forest apart from their secret mission. The other reason was to be guards against beasts or surprise attacks from other Lords. Lord Virgo was curious. Just what did this intriguing tamer desire?

“I want to explore this world and find a home for Leo and I.” Theseus didn’t hold back the truth. Because of the Truth Contract, he couldn’t anyways.

“What a strange desire.” Lord Virgo contemplated. Theseus didn’t want power nor wealth nor women. Lord Virgo wanted to know Theseus’s past and to recruit him at all costs.

“Well, as Lord of this territory, I welcome you to this place after your journey. Your contribution in saving a peak Greater Spirit Captain like Aries is worth much more than the little information I gave you. If you so desire, with your beast, you could become a Captain alongside Aries.” Virgo offered. Aries looked at Theseus meaningfully. They had talked about this before, but he hoped Theseus would change his mind.

“I have made up my mind, but I thank you sir for your hospitality. I have grown close with Aries over our time together, but this is a decision I’ve come to over months.”

“How? That Shade?” Lord Virgo internally screamed. He thought Aries was perhaps his most insubordinate and unagreeable Shade he had ever met!

“If that is the case, I implore you to stay a few extra days. You may like what you see.” Lord Virgo offered a place to stay. As the Suzerain Lord, it would look bad if he didn’t give something of value to Theseus.

“I will accept that then. It would be disrespectful not to accept your graces.” Theseus smiled at the malicious Lord. Leaving the throne room, Lord Virgo contemplated this duo. It was good to have his strong captain back, even if he had sent him on a suicide mission earlier. It was quite a loss to lose the tamer, but it couldn’t be helped, for now.

As the duo left the room, they blinked and came to themselves. The Authority Skill wore off, and the two remembered the truth. Before entering the territory, Theseus tampered with a common memory rewrite skill, Rewrite Memory. This skill was a skill that could temporarily rewrite memories as long as the user or other person consensually agreed to the rewrite. The problem with the skill was that it was easily dissolved by anyone with basic memory magic knowledge. Even the person affected by the skill could dissolve the skill by accident if the truth was discovered by accident. It was a flimsy skill at best.

Theseus’s experimental mind rewrote the rewrite skill into a full-fledged Authority Skill. He named it: Memory Edit. As a stronger version of the previous skill, Memory Edit only worked because of specific limitations placed on the user. The skill only worked until the conversation with Lord Virgo finished speaking with them, for example.

The results were good. Even the memory specialist didn’t pick up on the Memory Edit. It was another risky plan from Theseus, but his plans paid off, for the most part.

“I can’t believe that worked.” Aries sighed nervously.

“When are you going to stop doubting me?” Theseus smiled.

“Don’t get full of yourself brat. Didn’t you die because of your recklessness?” Aries grimaced at the thought of Memory Edit failing mid-conversation. Virgo was smart enough to poke some holes in their story, and Aries himself grew close to remembering because of the illogical story. The reason they weren’t found out was because they activated the skill when they entered Virgo’s territory. If not for the tangible experience traveling, the two wouldn’t have believed their own story as deeply.

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Theseus was a genius! But, a mad and crazy one at that.

“Are you really leaving?” Aries asked the quiet Theseus.

“Yes, I will find a home for Leo and me. It’s a promise I made to myself.” Theseus looked at Aries with determined eyes.

“Good luck finding a decent place to stay in the Oceanic Realm. All Seven Suzerain Lords are equally terrible!”

“Then maybe I’ll build my own home.” Theseus suggested.

“Good luck with that.” Aries snorted. “Any village that becomes large enough will be subjugated by the Suzerain Lords as a vassal.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. Paying some taxes isn’t so bad if I have a home. If they really try to take advantage of me, I’ll just beat them up.” Theseus joked.

“It’s your funeral.” Aries snorted again. He didn’t want Theseus to go, but it was probably a good thing. This brat was making him friendlier. Once the kid was gone, he could start his revolution plan again and take the Suzerain Lord spot for himself.

***

Three days passed, and Theseus was finally sent off alongside Leo. Lord Virgo himself came back out to try and recruit Theseus again, but it was a null endeavor. Walking on the road to the outskirts of the territory, Theseus waved and said his final goodbyes to Aries.

“One day, I’ll make you mine.” Lord Virgo smiled to himself. True talent was hard to come by. Virgo planned on getting rid of Justus and Aries because their personalities outweighed their worth, yet he put up with terrible Captains like them because of their combat potential. Now that they were in harder times, he needed to keep Aries despite his obvious flaws.

Theseus ignored the Suzerain Lord for now; it was a problem he would have to deal with when he was stronger. For now, he set his sights on the future.

The Oceanic Realm was reminiscent of the real world, but it was slightly different. The planet Ryko was the final planet in the universe. A single planet orbited the twin binary stars in a sea of darkness. Ryko was the last bastion of life, and held a colorful arrangement of races, technologies, and magics. The fundamental difference was the lack of day and night as well as not needing to drink water.

Here, on the first floor of Hell, the diversity the realm held was limited to ghosts, Shades, spirit beasts, and native beasts like Leo, who were alive. There were no suns here, and the undergrowth and forests were like gigantic versions of underwater plant life. Although this new world looked different, and the technology wasn’t as good, the people lived the same.

Living in cities, villages, and towns, the ghosts Theseus came across lived their lives as if they were still alive. These lucky spirits were also crippled and sent back to the F Rank Mortal Realm when they were summoned here by the dungeon, but most were normal people without prior experience dealing with aura. All the ghosts could do was come underneath a Suzerain Lord to survive the hostile environment. The Lords enslaved and bullied the weak, and Theseus sighed as he went from town to town, experiencing the suffering Lord Virgo caused.

It was an awkward situation for the newly born ghosts, but they lived decent enough lives. The Suzerain Lords themselves took slaves and servants, and they ruled like true warlords. Despite this, the people grew crops, raised beasts, and survived like the old world. They ate, slept, fought, and loved.

Theseus wandered the Virgo Territory and witnessed the lives of the masses as he recovered over three months. Guards and commonfolk questioned Leo frequently about Leo, but the excuse that he was a tamer was sufficient for most. Leaving the territory, Theseus and Leo headed into the unknown. These borderlands were the place Theseus was looking for. Because the grasp on the border was fought over by multiple Suzerain Lords, it was often left alone to bandits while the soldiers fought occasionally.

Away from the Suzerain Lords, Theseus thought he could find a suitable home, even if its inhabitants were rougher than the civilians closer to the Suzerain controlled towns. Over a month passed, and Theseus’s aura realm soared to his old peak. In his free time, Theseus also cultivated silently while Leo watched. Since their journey in Virgo’s territory started, four months in total came and went.

Leo himself found the journey enjoyable. Meeting new people and not fighting constantly in the forest was like a vacation! The more time Leo spent with Theseus, the closer he grew attached to his new friend. Leo felt that the only thing that was missing was being able to communicate with Theseus. He was certainly smart enough for a beast to communicate on a basic level, but Theseus had yet to figure out a good way to talk to Leo. Normally, the two could communicate just fine so far without speaking, but Leo still felt like something was missing.

Looking around the borderlands, Theseus patted Leo and climbed up a hill. As far as he could see, there were farmlands, meadows, and trees. This hauntingly beautiful sight in the underwater world stunned Theseus.

“Wow,” exclaimed Theseus out loud. Pointing to a place in between the woods, meadows, and farmlands, Theseus imagined building a log cabin. Soon, he and Leo would have their new home.

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