Samara glanced over at Bazel who was fidgeting – bouncing his leg and wringing his hands while staring at the floor with a worried expression.

When he confessed his desire to kill the divines, he had been so full of fire and determination that he seemed like a completely different person. Now he was back to being a quiet and nervous beggar.

They were sitting in a room with white walls and a mirror along one side. The metal bench was all they had to sit on, and their interfaces had been disabled, so Samara couldn't even retrieve the book she'd been reading. The guards had left them in the room alone and locked the door.

They'd been sitting there for over an hour.

Samara wanted to tell Bazel not to worry, but she was worried too. They had discovered something they weren't supposed to, and now it seemed they would be punished. What sort of punishment would gods from another world give them?

Samara didn't want to think about it.

The door opened and a dark-skinned woman walked in. Her hair was done up in multiple braids and tied back, she wore a black and white suit with wide-legged pants that almost looked like a dress. She was exceptionally beautiful.

"Miss Cassandra?" Bazel sat up and looked over at her.

"Good to see you again, Bazel."

Cassandra made a chair appear from her inventory and sat right in front of them, crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap.

"Seems the two of you caused a bit of a stir."

"Sorry," Bazel looked at the ground and wrung his hands some more, "I didn't mean to."

"I know." Cassandra looked at Bazel for a moment and sighed, "If it makes you feel any better, you're not in trouble. Not yet anyway."

"What do you mean 'not yet'?" Samara narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"I'm sorry," Cassandra smiled at Samara, "We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Cassandra, and I'm an assistant to the directors."

"You mean these gods that want to take over our world," Samara crossed her arms, "right?"

"Yes."

"So what's going to happen to us?" Bazel asked.

"A couple things," Cassandra summoned her interface and tapped the screen, then nodded to Bazel, "open your interface and read the message. You too, Samara."

Samara heard the "ding-dong" sound that meant she had a message and opened her interface.

《 Aethertech Non-disclosure Agreement

By accepting the terms of this agreement, the party Samara the Slayer promises to not share or reveal information about the true nature of Aethertech headquarters of world Φ-11507-3, or its Directors to any third parties who have not also signed this agreement.

Penalty for breaking the agreed upon terms can result in punishments up to forcible termination.

Accept terms?

Yes / No 》

Samara guessed she didn't really have an option in the matter, so she pressed the "Yes" option. Bazel looked like he barely even read it before he also accepted the terms.

"Good." Cassandra nodded, "Now I'm going to tell you some things about the dungeon and explain what you must do to ensure no further actions are taken."

"Further actions?" Samara raised an eyebrow.

"Trust me," Cassandra closed her eyes and shuddered, "It's better that you don't know."

"So what about the dungeon?" Bazel asked.

"Yes," Cassandra turned her interface around and the screen showed an outside view of the dungeon, "This is the dungeon. It is comprised of one hundred and forty-four floors further split into six distinct groups of twenty-four floors each."

The view zoomed in and showed the bottom floors, "The first twenty-four floors are testing grounds for new recruits. If you can make it to the twenty-fourth floor, then you're eligible for a promotion from rank 'E' to rank 'D', however,"

The view zoomed in even more to show only the twenty-fourth floor. The walls of the floor disappeared and showed what was inside it. It looked like a bunch of circular arenas around a central arena that was at least four times larger than the others.

"In order to be promoted," Cassandra continued, "You have to pass the trial set up by the director there. The trial itself is a tournament between employees."

"I thought you said I wouldn't have to fight other people." Bazel said.

"I lied." Cassandra said without hesitation, "It was necessary at the time. Sorry."

Bazel didn't answer, but resumed looking at the floor and wringing his hands.

"The tournament is fought in teams of three, meaning you will have to recruit another member to participate." The screen changed to show three symbols. She pointed to the first one that was a bull's head, "The first event is a monster battle. Your team will fight increasingly more difficult monsters for up to twelve rounds. If you pass all twelve rounds, you can go on to the next event."

She pointed to the next symbol that showed a fist holding a sword, "The second event is the team battles, where teams will be pitted against each other in a single elimination bracket-style fighting tournament. Winning that will allow you to move to the third event."

She pointed to the last symbol, a wreath made of leaves, "The third event is a battle against the director's champion, in this case, one of his children."

"Normally," Cassandra put her hands back in her lap, "you don't actually have to win all three events in order to be promoted. As long as the director feels your performance is adequate and you are at least level twenty-five, you can move on. Furthermore, the third event is entirely optional. Winning it grants you the director's blessing."

"However," Cassandra put her finger up, "What we require from the two of you is that you win all three events in order to prove your dedication. If you fail, you will be terminated."

Stolen novel; please report.

"I assume that doesn't mean we just get kicked out." Samara said.

"You're very perceptive, Miss Slayer."

"Okay," Bazel nodded and looked up, "so if we pass the trial on the twenty-fourth floor and get the director's blessing, we are in the clear?"

"Yes." Cassandra nodded, "The head director said that would be enough to prove your loyalty."

"The head director?" Samara asked.

"Yes," Cassandra made the image of the dungeon appear again. Each section of twenty-four floors was highlighted a different color, "Remember there's six different sections? There's a separate director in charge of each section except the lowest one. The head director is in charge of the top section and the whole operation."

"So there's five gods here?" Bazel asked, "Is that enough to fight the divines?"

"It should be." Cassandra nodded, "While all five of them are considered minor gods, that doesn't mean anyone can take them lightly. They've been around for a long time and are very good at what they do."

Samara had to take a moment to parse what Cassandra just said.

In their world, the seven divines were the all-powerful rulers of everything. All natural forces and phenomena could be attributed to the divines and their power. It was said that they sustained all life in the world and could end it with a snap of their fingers.

Cassandra said that five minor gods could defeat them.

The thought threw Samara's mind into disarray. She always imagined gods as immortal and omnipotent – how could something kill them in the first place?

"They can't actually kill the divines," Samara asked, "right?"

"They absolutely could." Cassandra answered, "They've done it before on many other worlds."

Samara was struck silent.

After learning she could use the dungeon to become a god herself, she knew it was what she wanted. She imagined that nobody could ever hurt a god, but here, Cassandra mentioned it as a matter of course. Not only could they hurt and kill a god, they had done it before.

So what do I do? Will becoming a god actually grant me any security?

Samara's greatest desire now felt like a foolish dream. Even if she succeeded, it might not give her what she wanted. Bazel was right when he said there was always someone stronger, and Samara knew she might never gain the strength she wanted to protect herself and those she loved.

I have to try though!

If she gave up now, she could never know the limits of her strength. She wanted to be the strongest, but knew she was far from the goal now – much further than she had originally thought.

Even if she could never categorically be "the strongest", she could still be much more than she was in that moment. And the first step to gaining that strength was to complete the task set before them.

We will win that tournament!

Samara stood up, "Let's go, Bazel."

Bazel looked between Samara and Cassandra. Cassandra made a shooing motion.

"We're done here, just remember not to speak of the dungeon's true purpose."

Bazel followed Samara out of the building which was located next to the plaza on the opposite side from the shops. Samara marched across the plaza with purpose.

"What are we doing?" Bazel asked.

"We're going to get another job," Samara pointed in the direction of the job office.

"Right now?"

"Yes." Samara stopped walking and Bazel bumped into her. She turned and crossed her arms, "We need to get levels so we can be powerful enough to win the tournament. We need credits to buy new skills and upgrade our weapons. We also need to improve our stats through training! We don't have time to waste!"

"Okay!" Bazel put his hands up.

Samara heaved a sigh and shook her head, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just frustrated by this situation. We've been thrust into a fight we didn't really want."

"Yeah, I know." Bazel put his hands down, "And worse yet, even if we're successful in helping the directors complete their mission, we might just be trading one cruel master for another."

Samara already considered that. If the directors managed to bring down the divines, then the directors would be the new rulers of their world. They still didn't know much about the directors, but they knew enough about their organization.

Aethertech ran like a business, and anyone who had the ability and drive could rise up through the ranks to become part of it. As Cassandra and others said, it was even possible to obtain godhood through the organization.

In that respect, it differed from how the divines ruled.

The all-mother and her divines would never allow lowly mortals to obtain that much power. Aethertech not only allowed it, but encouraged it. They even laid out a clear path of how to get there – climb the dungeon, grow in power, show you're worthy.

Samara thought that to be the best route. Obtain godhood for herself and be one of the new rulers of the world. Maybe her power could never rival that of other gods, but she would still be high above most.

She could live with that.

"We can worry about all that later," Samara clasped Bazel's shoulder, "for now, let's just do our best."

They continued on to the job office. When they arrived, Chris wasn't behind the counter, and a regular man stood in his place.

The man's neatly-combed black hair shone in the light as if he had grease in it. His black and white suit was the same kind Chris wore, with the pants added to the ensemble. He wore a blue tie.

"My name is Tim." The man stuck out his hand, "How can I help you today?"

"Samara," Samara shook his hand, "We need a job. Preferably an open bounty."

"Ah, yes!" Tim looked at his interface, "Since you're both level four, there's a perfect bounty on the fourth floor for you. Would you like the details?"

"Please."

Ding-dong!

《 You have a job offer!

The ruins of an old city are crawling with poisonous snakes! Scholars want to investigate the ancient site, but can't get close. Go and thin them out for us would you?

Reward:

200 Credits for every Poisonous Snake killed,

2000 Credits for killing the Poisonous Brood Mother,

Note: You must return to the Job Office to collect rewards for this job.

Accept Job?

Yes / No 》

Samara and Bazel both accepted the job.

Tim nodded, "Good! Would you like me to teleport you now?"

Bazel removed the Xanadu from his inventory and nodded at Samara. Samara took out her mace and nodded to Tim.

Tim smiled as he tapped his interface, "Good luck!"

The world shifted, and Samara found herself standing in some grassy plains. Nearby were the ruins of an old city – white marble pillars with triangular stones on top and white stone walls with pieces missing.

Bazel looked around on the ground, "I don't see any snakes."

"Let's search inside the ruins." Samara started walking, "Stay behind me and get ready to fight."

They stepped carefully between fallen pillars and scattered stones, keeping an eye on any place where a snake could crawl out from. As they rounded a lone-standing column, Samara heard the hiss of one of the slithering fiends. Samara turned to face it.

A snake crawled out from behind a wall, green scales glinting in the light.

"I should have expected this." Bazel said.

"Me too." Samara sighed.

The snake coiled up a dozen feet away from them and raised its head in the air. it flicked its tongue while staring at them with yellow, slitted eyes. It hissed menacingly.

Even coiled up as it was, the snake's head still rose about ten feet high. The thing was big enough to swallow a man whole. It waved back and forth a couple times as if doing a dance.

Then it struck.