As the giant watched me, my eyes inspected him as well. It was in quite a bondage, if the situation was not like this, I would've wanted to learn more about it. The chain was wrapped around quite tight - in fact, it didn't look like giant had any capability of movement. But, this did not relax me at all. There was an invisible pressure on me - presumably originating from the giant. It felt, dangerous. Like I was a prey watched by a hunter.

Even if nothing was pressuring me, the sheer size of the giant would be enough to deter me from any thoughts about relaxation. It was simply too big - if I was not a distance away, it would not even fit into my vision range.

Still, my reason for coming this much down was to see whatever it was on the end of the chain. Leaving just because of something scary showed up would make everything go to waste. Even though I was quite sure that the language barrier was still there, if on off-chance we managed to communicate then I would be most happy.

It did not seem like the giant was any interested in starting a conversation, so I started. "Hi?"

Alright, that was quite lame. My throat felt weird when it tried to talk as well - the lack of conversation was quite detrimental.

The giant did not gave any reaction to my greeting. It was still watching me, so there was that but nothing to indicate whether it heard me or not. This was annoying. At least it should've made a gesture about whether it understood me or not so I would know whether I should leave.

"Hey, can you understand me? If so, please give me an answer."

This time it reacted to my voice. It did not seem like it understood me, but then it closed its eyes and made an expression as if concentrating on something. Before I could fell in to my usual contemplation/questioning round, the eyes opened.

"Yes, I can understand you now." Now? This was weird. Still, SOMEONE TO TALK TO. Thank god or deity or devil or whatever existed there. Finally. Finally someone could understand me in this beautiful shithole. Then, my feelings died down. The excitement was still there, but making sure that my expression was not weird was important to continue. "So, uh, who are you?"

It looked a bit amused. As if my question was something it did not expect, something weird. "Me? I would be called, hmm, Svargand in your language. It is one weird language as well - I must admit. It feels like one of the ancient ones. What is the name of it?"

Is my language weird? Wasn't it English? What's so weird and ancient about that? I mean, it could be weird for all I care, but ancient? Who the fuck calls English ancient? Paying attention to my speech again, I answered him. "My language is called-" before my sentence was complete, my thoughts were frozen over. Something I would never expect was happening. Whatever I was talking in, it was definitely not English. My subconscious was telling me it was Lokkish, the language of my race.

But why? It was the result of my race change, but why did my language change as well? Still, this was not the time. Not wanting to wait the giant too long, I repeated my answer. "My language is called Lokkish. It is the language of my people" - if they existed. The window explaining my race told that they were exterminated. I froze again. Why the fuck would I use the name of the language then? Was I looking to die? If they could get exterminated with the abilities like mine, then they would be able to kill me with ease as well. Still, next words of giant put me at ease.

"A language I have not heard of before. But, the ancient aura could easily be felt from the way you talk. Is your people, perhaps, one of the ancient races?" Oh no. A wild question I totally did not want appeared. Time to play dumb.

"Well, if we were ancient, we would not be still living, right?" My lack of knowledge about the subject was glaring. My words were just something I pulled from my ass. Still, doubling down was the best choice. "So, no, we are not part what you call ancient races. Just somewhat isolated, in fact, I am one of the few outside." This would perhaps explain my lack of knowledge. But I needed knowledge, quick. Going blind was a terrible idea. "Also, can you enlighten me about the ancient races? My people have not heard of them. Perhaps we were isolated for far too long..." I finished with a mutter intending to be seen as talking to myself.

"Alright. But I want you to explain your people to me as well, is that all right?"

"Of course." Stupid mouth. Why did you accept?! What I was going to tell? The Earth?

"Then, about the ancient races. There is not much knowledge about them actually, so it is normal for you to not know. Even the gods do not know much about them. I could be considered one of the best on the subject." It was bragging. Definitely bragging.

"The ancient races were a group of races lived during or near the creation. They were the first rulers of the universe, as well as the caretakers. When the other races started to born, they made sure that no race had gone extinct. Then, one day, they disappeared. We still don't know what caused it."

--"They are the makers of the system everything uses. This is usually a secret from the mortals, as gods like them to think that the gods created the system. But that is wrong. The gods had no part in the creation of the system. In fact, they could only use it very limitedly. If the system was not working automatically, the gods would not be able to start it. The most they could do is to change parts of the explanations and add small stuff - like new titles. Gods are not kind or omnipotent or omniscient. They are simply people like you, but with immortality and very strong power."

--"Number of the races are up to much debate, but it is usually considered as two or three. I am part of the three camp, but the evidence is too low to put any definite answer due to the passing of time. We do not even know the names of the races, or even their titles. When they disappeared, it was as if they took all the records with them."

Wow. The amount of information was not too much, but there were many things I had no prior knowledge of. So, the gods existed - and they were not omnipotent. It appeared like that the races it talked about was like gods themselves, but then why did they disappear?

Well, the ancients and like was much above my pay grade. But, something was clear in his speech. An obvious hostility to gods. If someone else were to hear its words about them, they would consider it a heretic.

"Who are you really? How do you know so much about gods?"

To my question, it smiled. "Now now, first, how about you answer my question?" The longer it smiled, the higher its amusement looked like. It was as if this conversation was something much outside of its knowledge.

Time to bullshit my way through. "My race was living on a far away world. Too far, in fact, there was no one else that came to there. The only thing we knew about outsiders was from our records. We mainly focused on technology, magic was never our forte. Then, after few thousand years of isolation, the leaders decided to sent around. I was one of them, and followed an arbitrary route to here."

That should be enough, right?

"That is quite interesting. I am surprised that the system allowed you to leave without enough mana in you, but it looks like you were quite strong in other subjects. You called it technology, right? What is that about? Something without mana is quite interesting."

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Well, fuck. I shot myself on the foot, than cut the other one. Time for delay tactics, then bail out.

"I answered your question, isn't it your time to answer now?"

This was a dangerous gamble, but my trust in chain confining the giant was quite high. Even if it did not work, I could simply run with my skill. Also, the smile of giant looked even bigger. A good sign, I think.

"You're right, apologies." The smile grew even bigger. I could even feel the amusement of it now. "I told you before, but let me introduce myself again. I am Svargand, the old god of space."

Hey, understanding.exe, are you okay? Do you need any restarts? How about you get some help from the comprehension.exe and speech.exe? In fact, while you are at it, please start the what_the_fuck_is_going_on.exe, thanks.

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN A GOD?! Wasn't the gods lived on heaven or something? Why are you in this shithole with a chain around you? Someone have a grudge or something? Also, why do you not act like a god? Shouldn't you go, I don't know, 'O mortal, I welcome you to my place. Your soul cannot stand my presence for too long...' etc etc?! This was quite clearly outside of the script.

It appears that my agitation showed on my face, because the giant was laughing now. I calmed myself. Whatever happened, happened. Even if it was a god, it was still in chain. Also, my trust in my skill was quite high - even if I could not kill it, running should be no problem. My skill relaxed me, and returned me to my previous state.

"Wow, I did not expect that. Then, are you in chains? Did something happened? A feud, grudge or something?"

It stared at me, hard. The gaze was boring into me. Hell, my mind was constantly on my skill - I felt like a trigger happy policeman. I was just shy on using it. If the answer was something negative, then I would simply run. My objective could be considered finished, so leaving now would not be a waste of time. But, the hostility I was expecting did not came.

"Alright, I will explain to you. But since I would be answering you twice in a row, you need to answer two of my question afterwards."

"Alright."

"Then, the answer to why am I here. A big part of it is about history and part of my question so I will be explaining it simply. The reason is like what you assumed, a feud. Someone had tried to kill me in the past, but could not manage before I ran away. Because of my powers, running was quite easy - so they trapped me with this chain. Although this chain stops me from moving at all, it also protects me - nothing could attack me as well. If they wanted to kill me, they would need to take the chain of, but those cowards are afraid that I will run away and kill them one by one. That's basically it."

--"Now, to my questions. First, please show me this technology you talk about. Everything I know works with mana, at least indirectly. Something that does not work with mana... That's something that would change everything."

Well, here comes the dreaded question. How am I going to show this non-existent technology? How- no. What if I were to show my die? It's part my soul right? Considering I have no mana, it probably does not either. Yes, it could work. If it doesn't then I could always blame our people's lack of perception.

"Okay, I will be showing my basic weapon then. Here it is." I took the die and floated it near the giant. In the bluish light of the cave, it was quite clear. Svargand focused on the die. After a few minutes of staring, it sharply turned back to me.

"How does this work?! There is not even a shred of mana! And it's... it's somehow connected to you and-" Svargand took a deep breath and calmed itself. "Somehow, it looks like it is part of the universe and at the same time not... How does something like this actually work? What is the connection between you and this object?"

Well, according to the agreement, I was only going to answer one more question. The smug smile on me was definitely not obvious. Yup, just checked, totally not obvious.

"Is this your second question?" Svargand would definitely not ask this. From his explanation before, it looked like it was a request rather than a question. I was not going to accept it, but listening would be nothing bad.

"No, no. Alright. My question is not too much of a question, but more like a request. I wish you will accept it."

--"It is about the people who put me in this chains. When I told you it was old history, I meant something quite old and something not known by mortals. You probably know that there could be more than one god of light or god of time or lightning etc. The titles does not limit the number of gods. But, when you say God of Space, it always means a single entity. That is because we, gods, take some authority about our subject from the universe. The on with most authority is always a single person, to protect the balance. They are the strongest of gods, and the rulers."

--"That kind of thinking was our mistake, however. A new generation of gods, that was born after us, created a group. And somehow, they managed to get the help of the most ancient god - God of Time. When we were most unsuspecting, they made a coordinated attack on all gods - and immediately usurped the authority. I am the last remaining from my generation, and even the reason I was chained is because of that God of Time."

--"My request is simple. Although it would mean that you are going against the gods, I just want you to get the key to my chains, and free me. If you do that, then I would reward you very handsomely - I would even make you a god by giving you my blood. If I managed to get away from here, killing other gods would not be hard, I was defeated because of numerical disadvantage."

--"Of course, getting the key would not be easy. If you accept it, then my advice was to being a priest of a god. After you rise through the ranks, then you could get the key after getting their trust."

Noooope. No way. Get away by yourself. What do you mean steal something from gods? If you wanna die, then die by yourself. There is no way I will do that. Also, Svargand, you don't look like you would give me your blood either. You look untrustful of gods - and after what they made you, would you create another God of Space?

"No, thanks. I am on a mission right now, so I can not spare time for it. But, if I got time, then I will look for a way to free you."

After my rejection, Svargand's eyes turned hostile. Completely hostile. It did not look like it was waiting a rejection. Then, the pressure on me doubled.

"Well, that's not good. Now that you know that I am trying to escape, I can not let you blabber to them, can I?"

The pressure increased even more. Although it was not something that I could not stand, it meant that it was time to bail. Taking my die, I immediately started soaring. As I neared the hole, the pressure continued to build up.

When I entered the hole, I could hear him cursing to the chain and me. Still, it was not important. This fucker thought that it could bully me into being an enemy of gods. Fuck that.

With my anger slowly increasing, I tried to calm myself while climbing the hole. During the climb, I passed through the towns I massacred before, and offered a small apology. The climb did not take long with no reason to stop now. After not even the tenth of the time I spent during descent passed, I could see the sun and the red sky.

It was time to leave this hell.