Aj woke up with a panic. Raising his head he found himself lying in his bed at home. He couldn’t help but feel like that was weird but he couldn’t remember why. He quickly scanned the room looking for hidden threats that weren’t there. He could swear they were though, something inside him told him that he was in serious danger.
After a few more quick glances about, Aj decided that if none of the monsters were going to jump out at him then he should go back to sleep, or at least pretend to. He nustled back into his blankets and pillows and pretended to close his eyes. Peering outwards through the small slit left between his eyelids he waited, feeling that any moment something would surely burst through his door or come from behind his headboard and attack him.
But nothing came. Against his fears and instincts, Aj began to doze off.
“Gruag”
Suddenly Aj was made aware of a low grumble coming from the hallway. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn’t listen. His muscles felt like bands of steel wire as he tried to flex them and get out of bed.
The noise grew in volume and became even deeper. To Aj, it sounded like an engine from hell and he could tell it was getting closer. His muscles were burning as he strained to get them to move him from this bed, but still, they would not obey him. He was stuck in this bed waiting for whatever was outside his room to kill him.
With no notice, the grumbling and growling stopped leaving only silence.
A dark and thorned hand gripped the doorway, the tips of its fingers effortlessly piercing the wall surrounding the doorway digging into it.
With a burst of speed the the hand flexed forward pushing off the wall, propelling its dark and thorny body at Aj at blurring speeds.
In those last moments, Aj felt-
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Aj woke up his head ringing and his mouth dry, the telltale taste of dirt in his mouth. His mind raced remembering all that had happened to him and Kit. The threats, the dangers and most importantly jumping through a portal into the underworld.
“You're up, thank god” He heard Kit’s voice inside him. They hardly did the whole” hiding Kit in Aj’s heart thing” and they just figured out that’s actually what they were doing. It still felt a little awkward and strange and it was going to take some getting used to.
“Did I get hit by that guy's chains in the face?” Aj said, rubbing his chin while standing up. It felt like someone had tried to insert a shot put forcefully into his jaw.
“Nah, I think that was probably me,” Kit said unashamedly “I heard some voices coming this way and I couldn’t get you up” Kit continued. Aj was sure that if he could see Kit right now he would’ve been shrugging.
“Yeah, okay,” Aj said mentally moving on. He took a moment to take in his surroundings. He and Kit were in a tunnel about 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall. The tunnel was surprisingly bright thanks to a string of torches on the tunnel’s walls, though he could only really see about 50 feet ahead and in front of him as the tunnel seemed to suddenly bend. It was also very dry and hot in the tunnel, he felt like he was in an oven. His thoughts were broken by the sound of heavy clacking footsteps coming their way down the tunnel.
“What's the move?” Kit asked, his voice pretty calm considering the situation they were in.
“Not sure, I’ve seen a few anime about the underworlds. So I plan to play off that and get info as they ask questions. You read a web novel set in the underworld right?” Aj responded
“Yeah, but I only read about half of it, MC was too soft for too long” Responded Kit “We sure they’re gonna ask questions first?”
“I think so, they’re supposed to welcome new sovereigns and try to recruit them I think” Aj responded
Their conversation was cut off as a woman appeared from around the bend of the tunnel.
“Hello!” She said her voice pleasant, but dry. “My name is Natalia Tierbaja, I represent the Teirmon family,” she said completing a quick bow and removing her cap with a smile.
“Hello, I am Aj-” Aj’s thought process and speech were broken by an intrusion in his head
“Don’t tell her your actual name man!” Kit shouted mentally. Aj recoiled from the sudden outburst.
“Darkseed, Aj Darkseed,” Aj said, trying his best to disguise his sudden stopping as a dramatic pause.
Natalia didn’t seem to notice, or mind continuing. “You are a sovereign then of course Mr. Darkseed?” she asked “Are you beholden to any house?”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“Uhh, Yes I am a sovereign, and currently I have no affiliation with any house” Aj replied trying to sound more confident than he really was.
“Fantastic,” Natalia said flourishing a salesman's smile “It would be my pleasure then to escort you to the stronghold’s gate and welcome you to Rojasroc”
“That would be very appreciated thank you,” Aj said. Natalia nodded and turned around leading Aj ahead down the tunnel. As Aj followed her down the hallway he heard Kit’s voice speaking to him mentally.
“Darkseed?” Kit asked, clearly surprised and also stifling a laugh. “You gave us the last name of a phase 2 boss fight in Ascending Divinity?”
“It was the first name that came to mind!” Aj replied. He would have been laughing too if not for the seriousness of the situation they were in.
After only a few minutes of walking the twisting tunnels, they came to a more open cavern. Walking out into the cavern Aj could see several other tunnels similar to the one he came from feeding into this chamber. Opposite of where they entered he saw what was the gate Natalia mentioned. It stood out from the walls around it as it was made of dark and glossy stone with intricate geometric carvings. Natalia held up her hand and signaled for Aj to stop while she approached the gate. With a few quick movements, she pushed and pulled on particular components of the gate’s carvings which rotated or indented as she manipulated them.
“Sovereign Darkseed, it is my honor to be the first to welcome you to Rojasroc '' Natalia said as the gate began to open in front of them revealing a large cavern. In that cavern was a city made of copious amounts of red-tinted stone. Houses stood stacked on top of each other crafted out of huge round stalagmites of varying heights the tip peaking out around 200 feet tall. Around the clusters of homes sprawled an avenue that appeared to have been excavated out of the ground. As if a giant’s finger came along and moved the stone as easily as a toddler moves the sand, creating roads and avenues a layer beneath where the ground should be. The walls of those avenues were excavated and too turned into buildings and homes.
“Wow,” Both Aj and Kit said together at the same time, Aj’s portion being said out loud though.
“It’s quite a sight to see isn’t it?” Natalia smiled and surveyed her home as well. “Follow me please Sovereign Darkseed, we’ll be taking a side route to avoid the crowds”
Aj nodded and followed her as they walked past the gateway into the city. Only now did he notice the two groups of four guards that manned the gateway. They looked like rough men, each wearing thick layered leather armor covered in what looked like black soot or dust. The majority of the men seemed to be peering at the tunnels Aj and Natalia had come from, expecting some danger Aj suspected. However, a single guard had his back to the gate and was staring at Aj as they walked away. His emerald eyes glaring at him, his face in a tight sneer, Aj felt like he was staring into his soul.
“We could beat his ass” Kit claimed mentally, sensing Aj’s unease and trying to lighten the mood.
Natalia seemed to notice as she turned her head slightly and glared back at the guard, who quickly turned around and joined the guards.
“Some of the lesser bonded can’t help themselves but to feel envy, please forgive them.” She said, Aj nodded and tried to make it seem like he understood what was going on.
“So Natalia, if I could ask, where are we going exactly?” Aj asked
“Of course Sovereign Darkseed, we are headed towards one of Tiermon’s finest barracks. A place where you can rest your head and we can discuss your future here in Rojasroc” She said flashing the same genuine salesman smile.
“That smile is giving me the heebie-jeebies” Kit said mentally to Aj,
“Same man, same, I feel like she’s eyeing up a juicy steak” Aj replied to Kit “We keep following her?”
“Yeah, I think so. She got us in the stronghold and seems to know her way around. Let's just keep playing along, but be careful” Kit replied.
The time flew by as Natalia escorted them through the torch-lit city’s alleyways and corridors. Several times he saw people flee when they noticed the two of them walking. A few people though did not care about them at all and Natalia had to kindly ask them to move so that they could pass.
In no time at all they arrived at the barracks, which was a surprisingly inviting building. It had a small foreyard that sported the first plants that they had seen since entering the city. There was a trail through the foreyard which led to the entrance of the building. There were no walls or doors to the entrance just a few carved pillars supporting the roof above and three large gaps open for entering. Inside there were a plethora of carved stone tables and chairs for sitting and a bar at the back of the room.
Natalia only nodded at the guards in the foreyard ushering in Aj behind her and finding a table for them to sit at. It was surprisingly comfy to Aj as if the chair were crafted perfectly for him. Wordlessly attendants came towards the table carrying baskets of bread, water, and drinks.
“Wine or ale sovereign?” the attendant asked
“I’m good, thank you though” Aj responded, the attendant nodded and backed away followed by the others.
Aj went to take a gander at the loaf of bread in front of him but stopped, noticing that the attendants also dropped off something else. It was a large red gem the size of a grapefruit, set in a stand of silver and gold. Before he could say anything Natalia started.
“Sovereign Darkseed, the Tiermon family is very interested in you and would love to bring you in as a prospective member of the family. Please enjoy these accommodations, but when you’ve had your fill we must talk business”
“Actually, as much as I appreciate all the accommodations. I would prefer to discuss business now if that’s okay” Aj replied, he could feel Kit mentally nodding agreeing with him.
“Of course the first step is to willingly put your hands upon the eye of the arbiter” She said gesturing to the red gem placed on the table.
“Oh, okay what does the eye of the arbiter do?” Aj said placing his hand on the gem.
“Essentially it’s a connection to the arbiter of the 1st ring. It allows the Tiermon family to request the vision of the arbiter in assessing the power and progression of a sovereign” Natalia said.
“Fuck” Kit said mentally.