The moment his consciousness began to awaken, the first thing Sol did before even opening his eyes was to open all his senses wide, trying to feel where he was.
This was also a habit he had developed. If there were any enemies in the surroundings, he could fool them into thinking he was still asleep.
Once he was sure that there was only one person aside from him in the cave, Sol slowly stood up while grunting.
*Crack* *Crack*
All of his body seemed to produce sound as his bones aligned themselves in his body.
‘What the?’
“You are awake? I see that we reached our first goal sooner than I thought.”
Sol threw a look at Kiyo before focusing on the changes of his body.
If he had to be honest, the changes weren’t that incredible. But he felt at ease now. He was without a doubt much tougher and more resistant than a week ago.
“Don’t be surprised by only this much. This was to be expected after what you went through.”
“What do you mean?”
Sol finally stopped inspecting his body and asked Kiyohime.
“Well…You know about the saying, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? For divine beasts in general, that saying is very, very accurate. Even more so at a low level before becoming a duke.”
Kiyohime mused, wondering how to explain easily, but Sol beat her to it.
“Basically I am like a mortal who began to live on a high mountain. At first, I was unaccustomed to the low amount of oxygen and had a hard time breathing. But now, it’s becoming easier for me. Once I completely adapt, it will be even easier.”
Kiyohime nodded in appreciation, “I like smart people since I don’t have to explain too much. The goal of his training isn’t for you to clear Tartarus or whatever, but to simply induce your body into evolving faster. Once your body reaches a certain level, I will allow you to leave and continue the training with Mother.”
Standing up, Kiyohime walked toward him and stretched her finger. A blue light flowed from it before it changed into a transparent flower as it entered his body.
“This is a small protection. I won’t necessarily be with you during this trip and mother can’t always check on you, right? This mark allows me to sense you anywhere in the whole of Tartarus.”
She took a few steps back as she continued, “From now on, there will be a safe zone at the end of each hell. I will wait for you in each of them. I will also guide you if necessary and or give you information. Remember. If you feel like you are in danger, just activate the flower. Your training can take place any time, but there is only one you.”
Kiyohime proceeded to explain the situation to him. From the 4th circle onwards, the situation was completely different. Previously, the chaos spawn had attacked crazily as mobs without organization, but from the 4th circle, all the spawns were under direct order of Duke class chaos spawn.
There were already more than 10 Duke in the 4th circle alone, and those 10 Duke generally had different territories. After all, the size of the 4th circle was equivalent to that of an entire medium-sized kingdom. The numbers of Duke tripled in the 5th circle
In the 5th circle, there were more than thirty Dukes present and furthermore, some of them were powerful beings from the Astral Realm or Mortal Realm. There were even some divine beast traitors who chose to stand with Chaos over Order. Each of them was more powerful than the last.
As for the 6th circle, the ones residing there were the mighty Giants and Titans. There were basically more than hundreds of Duke at that level and they were extremely well structured.
“No young dragon has ever completed the 5th circle. The highest one reached the 6th circle before having to be saved immediately. That person is Kaiser. He is a good child related to Fafnir.”
Kiyohome had a good impression of Kaiser. Aside from a little too much pride that needed some grinding, he was a good boy who had a chance to reach the King level if everything went well.
Sol wasn’t interested in beating some kind of records, in fact, he was more curious about what laid further in, “What about the 7th circle?”
Kiyohime's expression grew stern as she shook her head.
“Don’t enter that place. Even if you somehow manage to reach the end of the 6th circle, just call me and I will take you out. The 7th circle has a few King ranked Titans and Chaos spawn.”
Her gaze showed an incredibly serious glint, “I am serious Sol. Don’t enter there. Just don’t. If you are unlucky and meet one of the three Hecatoncheires[1]—you will die. Even someone at my level has to be very careful when entering that zone with my siblings for the recurring purge.”
Sol waved his hand, “Just what do you take me for? Relax, I am not dumb.”
He wasn’t one of those protagonists who were too curious for their own good.
Why the hell would he enter a super-death zone that even a King ranked dragon feared?
Sol was confident in his Dimension, but he knew that a King who had mastery over space like Freya or Lilith could still kill him if they were determined.
Once Kiyohime made sure that Sol wouldn’t act crazily and explore the 7th circle if he had the chance, she released a sigh of relief and began to walk away.
“The last thing I have to say is, you can stay here or in any safe zone as long as you like. If two months are up without you moving, I will take it that you gave up.”
She stopped and threw him one last glance before leaving.
“Don’t forget Sol. You are the one who wishes to become stronger. You are also the one who accepted this training. I hate quitters more than anything, but there’s nothing I can do about them. So, whenever you are about to give up, remember why you are doing this and that no one forced you to do it.”
—--
Once Kiyohime left, Sol, now alone, stood up silently as he examined the cave more deeply.
After one hour of careful search, Sol found a spear, a pair of gloves, and a hammer as a weapon as well as a few knives. He also found many medicines that could heal him when he was in danger.
There were also rations of preserved food that could last him a few days if he took care of them. Since this time he wasn’t restricted from opening his dimension, Sol easily opened a small gate and threw the food there.
As for the weapon, he immediately equipped them by placing the knives around his leg, the spear on his back, and he had sent the hammer in the dimension.
Finally, he found a map that showed the different territories in the 4th circle.
Since the seven circles were regularly swept clean in order to avoid an overflow, the different Duke’s identities would also change whenever previous ones got killed.
There was also the fact that Chaos Spawns were cannibals who mercilessly devoured each other.
Thus, it was common for dukes to fight each other. In the end, the map was only there to serve as a reference and indicate to him where the exit was.
Once everything was ready, Sol finally opened a drawer and took the few hunting suits folded in them.
‘Well, I am more than ready...at least I think I am.’
It was time to see what the fourth circle looked like.
—-
[4th Circle of Hell]
“Ugh…Disgusting.”
The moment Sol entered the 4th circle, he bent down a few seconds as he fought to get back his bearing.
Currently, he felt as if thousands of maggots were crawling all over his body, and breathing became once again nearly impossible.
‘Is this really the kind of world the Wings of Freedom fight to bring?’
He had heard about the little speech of Neun from Setsuna. In essence, their ideology was not bad, only their means were detestable. Now that he saw what it means to live in a world infested with Chaos, Sol couldn’t help but reject their dreams from the very bottom of his heart.
This world was a world unfit for the weak. There was only one rule, "Survive, evolve, or die."
It was the rule of survival of the fittest at the highest degree.
“Where am I?”
He could see that it was in what looked like a jungle with trees of different colors. Once Sol became a little accustomed to the ambient mana and atmosphere, he was about to bring out the map and find in which territory he had landed in, when—
*Bzzz* *Swoosh*
More with instincts than with thought, Sol leaned back and avoided a fast-moving projectile.
The moment it landed on the ground, everything began to corrode and in the blink of an eye, a large portion of the tree and the ground in the surroundings melted away.
Sol’s expression grew awful and he immediately converged all his energy while moving forward.
‘What the hell was that? I couldn’t even feel it until it was close to me.’
*Bzzz* *Swoosh*
A long chase begins as Sol ran through the jungle. Running, jumping, and climbing trees, again and again.
His movements were incredibly erratic as he constantly avoided all the projectiles. In the process of evading, he extended his senses and tried to find the source of the attack.
The more he moved, the harder it was to move as he wanted. The enemy seemed to slowly grasp his movement and corner him. In the end, after Sol jumped out from a tree, the very moment he landed-
*Bzzz* *Swoosh* *Bang*
He was finally unable to avoid it and was shot in the head.
—---
Somewhere a little more far away, about three kilometers, a weird life form that looked like a fusion between a mosquito and a man, lowered an appendage that had the form of a sniper rifle and showed an ugly smile.
“Hahaha, those little dragons aren’t that strong after all. Lord Dordonii will reward me greatly. Perhaps I can even eat enough to become a lord myself. Kukuku! Lord Derk! Such a mighty name I will have!”
Since the dragons would regularly send young elites to sweep through the lower level, the Dukes that managed to survive were extremely cunning. Different entrances had different guardians and their job was to attack the intruders while judging their strength.
There have been very very few cases of them succeeding in killing a young dragon, but they didn’t need to. As long as a dragon was put on the verge of death, powerful dragons would come and save them.
“To think that his head didn’t explode even after receiving a direct shot.”
He couldn’t help but salivate at the thought of such a powerful body.
‘It would be fine if I just ate some of his limbs, right?’
“Heh, It’s the first time I see a Chaos Spawn that isn’t a mindless beast. I guess those close to the Duke level are different?”
‘Not good!’
The insectoid being felt a chill run down his spine and tried to flee, but a claw powerfully gripped his neck, threatening to snap it at any moment.
“I like dealing with intelligent beings. After all, intelligence means an understanding and fear of death.”
‘How is this possible! I was sure I got him. Even if he has a powerful body, how did he reach me so fast?’
“Now then, let’s make some rules clear.”
Derk immediately felt like he was being plunged into cold water. A killing intent so powerful, that it was as if a sword was piercing his heart.
“Move and I will kill you.
Use your mana and I will kill you.
Make a sound and I will kill you[2].”
At each of his words, the killing intent grew stronger and fiercer. He had no doubts that the being behind him was no young dragon. The difference in power between them was simply too wide.
“Now that you understand, slowly close your eyes. Don't resist. You know what will happen if you don't listen to me, right?”
Standing behind him, Sol grinned. Now it was time to experiment on a live body.
[1]: In Greek myth, they are also known as Centimanes. Basically, Titans with fifty heads and hundreds of arms giants.
[2]: Only legends can catch the reference.
