CHAPTER 2: THE KING

After ten minutes, the joyride ended. The cranking sounds of mottled stone gears and the erosion of materials never touched in millenniums stopped. After a slight pause, Hermes turned around to look at the murals from before, only to notice that they had disappeared. Like an illusion, the colors that were previously there had somehow faded away quickly without him noticing.

In its place was an ancient double door that connected to the infinite darkness behind it. Its top was curved like a semi-circle that peaked in the middle.

'This is the exit? The fact that it appeared out of nowhere verifies my conclusions. This is no longer just a prank or some elaborate hoax. Magic exists in this world...' Even though he already somewhat confirmed it with the ancient language, his time as a scientist made him want to observe the situation further before completely concluding it to be the case. A door suddenly appearing out of nowhere was enough proof for him this time to truly confirm the existence of magic.

After further observation, Hermes noticed that the door itself was made from stone, just like the rest of the room. Its outline was carved out into patterns of intersecting curved lines, like two snakes intertwining.

At the upper end of the door, at the center, an ancient symbol was carved. An eastern dragon was biting its own tail and forming a circle. At the center of this symbol, two clock fingers protruded out from the rest of the carving, one shorter than the other.

"An eastern version of the Ouroboros, huh? What could it mean..."

The longer clock finger was positioned directly north of the circle, the other was at a slight angle to the left of it. If one were to interpret it like a normal clock, it would read 11:59. Before Hermes had any time to ponder its meaning, the minute hand of the 'clock' suddenly ticked!

-Gong!

A sound that reverberated in his soul was instantly heard, jolting him from his relaxed posture. It sounded like a large clock tower with a bell announcing the apocalypse; each vibration rattled his bones. Hermes had no idea where the soul-shaking boom emanated from as it continued to drown out everything else. The 'clock' turned to 12:00. The clock fingers suddenly disappeared, as if they were being removed violently with a pencil eraser.

The dragon-carved circle was then split in half as a crack appeared between the two mottled ancient doors. The sound of stone grinding on stone could be heard. Hermes, who was still shocked and confused, waited patiently as the doorway opened before his eyes.

What reflected in his eyes was a large palace. On each side of the long hallway, four massive pillars shouldering the weight of titans were seen. It truly made him feel like an ant. At the bottom of the pillars as well as on the ceiling on each side of the long pathway, large crystals that were all colored and shaped differently from one another were visible.

The moment he passed through the doorway, they instantaneously shimmered with dim light, illuminating the entire palace-like structure. To Hermes, it was a truly glamorous scene. Because of the sudden influx of light, he decided to put his phone away to save its battery.

At the top of all eight titanic pillars, abstract symbols were etched around their circumference. For unknown reasons, Hermes instantly read their meaning:

"The key to the stars.”

'The key to the stars? What does that even mean...' He reeled his thoughts back and cast his gaze on the awe-inducing crystals. What was reflected was his figure. He quickly moved his eyes to his face to see if any alterations had been made.

His black hair and sideburns were still well-groomed and showed no signs of growth. Thanks to Ariana’s moisturizer, his skin remained smooth and supple. His thin and round-framed glasses sat on his sharp nose bridge, unbroken by whatever benevolent or malevolent forces brought him here, but were still tainted in layers of dust that only made seeing in the dark that much harder.

Hermes sighed in relief. 'Phew... At least nothing changed about me during my sleep in that coffin...' He decided to take off his glasses and begin wiping them off. Immediately, he was able to take notice of his clothes; a button-up shirt matched with black trousers and the usual brown oxford shoes, which were the same as when he left work, albeit with a healthy coating of dust that made his mission of cleaning his glasses that more difficult.

After analyzing his condition entirely and placing his now semi-clean glasses back on his nose bridge, he cast his attention to the other end of the palace. A stone platform stood there, elevated above his head. On its summit was an ancient colossal throne deemed unfit for a human to sit upon. It exuded an aura of a deity that was watching his subjects from below.

A staircase at the front of the platform provided access to its top. Each step was large enough that a regular-sized human needed to stretch their feet to the max to ascend them. To Hermes, it was clear at this point that whoever owned this palace was gigantic in size.

Without saying anything, Hermes slowly walked along the stone pathway lined on either side with pillars and crystals. Within a few steps, he would reach the primeval platform and throne. Suddenly, a pillar of light descended in front of the mottled staircase.

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Before Hermes had any time to react, a large stone staff with two curved prongs protruded out. It looked like a large fork. Between the curved prongs, a cube was hovering; it was rapidly spinning and randomly emitting small flashes of light on each of its six sides one at a time.

Hermes had no time to analyze further as he cast his gaze toward the skeletal hand holding the relic. Its figure slowly formed in Hermes' eyes as soon as he stepped out of the bluish-white pillar of light. It was a human-sized skeleton.

Its eyes showed bluish flames inside them with a black-gold crown over its head. At the center of its forehead was a large hole meant for a third eye that glowed an ethereal slew of colors, unlike its other two eyes.

Fear overwhelmed Hermes as he stood there, frozen. His thoughts were racing to find a way for him to survive. He quickly put up a battle stance, one that he had no way of checking would actually help him. After all, Hermes was nothing but a bachelor; a man whose biggest outdoor accomplishment was helping his father on his hunting trips when he was younger...

Hermes and the skeleton locked eyes. Seconds ticked by with every drop of sweat dripping from his chin. He didn't dare to say anything, scared that it may aggravate his enemy.

-Roar!

The deadlock was snapped. A large guttural roar was heard from the skeleton that spread dread across Hermes' body. For whatever reason, the skeleton was angered, without needing Hermes to do anything. In fact, his mere presence might have agitated it.

A rush of adrenaline seeped into all of his bones. The moment Hermes blinked, the skeleton disappeared. His instincts, for whatever reason, told him to jump to the side and roll.

-Boom!

Hermes' jump somehow landed him five meters away from his initial position. He quickly looked back to the place he leaped from. The skeleton somehow had teleported behind him and instantly slammed the ancient artifact in its hands into the textured stone floor, forming a slew of cracks and sending debris into the air that steadily floated up for a while before falling back to the ground several meters away.

'Are you fucking kidding me?... Did the person who sent me here have a vendetta against me or something?!'

Without giving any ounce of time for Hermes to breathe, the skeleton instantly lifted the staff in its hand off of the pavement it just struck. Hermes this time did not wait either.

He instantly dashed towards the pillars that were behind him. He wanted to create more space and obstacles between him and the enemy.

Before he could make it, a tug was felt from his body. It was as if an invisible force was enveloping him and slowing down his movements. In less than a second, it intensified, making it impossible for Hermes to resist. His body rapidly flew backward towards the skeleton.

As he looked back from the corner of his eye, He could see the skeleton's left arm which was not holding anything, was strung horizontally in front of its own body with its skeletal palm and fingers stretched open as if waiting for something to enter their grasp.

Indeed, what entered their grasp was Hermes’ neck. The skeleton's fingers instantly closed and tightened. It was clear that although it was but a mere skeleton; it exuded herculean strength! Hermes was left hanging off the ground, throwing his feet around in desperation to escape the enemy's clutches.

He could feel the tightness around his neck as he slowly suffocated. The skeleton slowly spoke a sentence in a language different from the one Hermes was introduced to earlier:

"Me... King... You... Enter... Dare you!"

Even Hermes, who was new to this language, knew how lacking his speaking was when it came to grammar and sentence structure. It was clear that the Skeleton was able to think, however, its intelligence was low.

If not for that, why would it even talk to Hermes at all? It could have instantly crushed his skull with a swing of the staff the moment Hermes was in its grasp.

To Hermes, It was clear that the skeleton was trying to enact a punishment on him similar to that of a ruler. These thoughts were being projected in his head at an unprecedented speed as he slowly suffocated. It was unknown whether it was because of his desperate struggle to escape or another unknown profound reason, Hermes felt his brain's thoughts explode.

It felt like he could do hundreds of calculations in seconds. His eyes were no longer darting around, but focused on the problem at hand as they quickly analyzed the skeleton's body and the surrounding environment.

Instantly, action potentials in his nerve cells were firing off thousands of times per second. In just seconds, he quickly formulated a plan.

"Your majesty! It is me! Do you not recognize your most loyal servant?!"

Trick the dumb skeleton! Instantly, the skeleton let words fly from his mouth as he continued choking Hermes.

"You... mine?..."

"Yes! I only entered the palace to see your magnificent figure! You are my god! A King of kings!"

The skeleton quickly undid its grasp on Hermes’s neck. It was clear it had no concept of scrutinizing facts. Hermes dropped to the floor and fell to his knees, coughing violently in a fetal position. Blood was dripping from his neck and a red imprint that circled around it was visibly present there.

He quickly looked up at his 'King'. The skeleton with its three eyes was eying Hermes from above as if it was looking down at the pitiful insect before it. It quickly spoke in a broken tongue:

"Me... King... Kel'thus... Want... Subject...."

'Kel'thus? He has a name?' Hermes quickly replied.

"Of course, my king! I am forever your loyal subject!"

The skeleton looked delighted as its third ‘eye’ shifted colors into a mellow pink. Using its staff's gravitation-like ability, Hermes was lifted off the ground. The skeleton walked all the way down to the raised platform and throne and sat on it. Its human-sized body was clearly not fit for such a large timeworn cathedra.

Hermes was still writhing in pain from the earlier attack as he floated to the side of the throne. The skeleton raised its voice and said,

"Subject... Need... Serve..."

Hermes was in no rush to escape. In fact, he was sighing in relief; he had effectively managed to stall for time! During that skirmish with Kel'thus, he realized that there was clearly something wrong with him.

Not only were his thought processes extremely clear, they were too fast! In addition, his eyesight was also improved and his focus was enhanced to inhuman levels.

He could almost instantly analyze something and create a mental profile of the object in his head. Coupled with the fact that he could immediately understand languages he had never heard before, It was clear to him that his body had been changed or enhanced.

Using his new brain-enhancing abilities, the opportunity to study his surroundings and look for a way to escape was a godsend to him! He quickly replied to Kel'thus:

"Yes, Your Highness, Kel'thus the Great!"

End of Chapter