CHAPTER 3: QUESTION ANSWER SESSION

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

Kel'thus' third 'eye' shifted colors into a bright yellow. It's unknown whether he was feeling proud or shy.

Hermes couldn't contain his smile as he uttered those words. This complete debacle reminded him of the ways he used to trick his 4-year-old nephew. At this point, Hermes knew what kind of personality Kel'thus had. As long as you add in some boot-licking in everything you say to him, he will naturally let his guard down.

Now that he was stuck there, floating beside him, he was in no rush to try to find a way to escape. Because of how easily he can communicate with Kel'thus, he decided to try to pry out information from him about the present situation. After pondering his words for 30 seconds, Hermes quickly formulated his question:

"Honorable and most benevolent, Kel'thus. It would be my honor if you were to answer the questions of a puny servant like me. Would you give me the opportunity?"

After a brief pause and receiving Kel'thus' gaze, he quickly added,

"I apologize If I may offend you. I only hope to expand my knowledge so that I may serve you better!"

Kel'thus quickly nodded.

"Speak..."

"Lord Kel'thus, what was that beam of light you came out from in the beginning?"

Kel'thus slowly answered: "That... Is.... Gateway... Portal...."

'Portal?! It can lead outside the palace?' Hermes quickly cast his gaze from where the pillar of light shone. On the stone pavement floor one meter away from the platform staircase, a large circular carving can be seen.

The carving formed a symbol. Two thick lines started from opposite ends of the circle as they slowly spiraled inwards from each other to the center, forming a vortex-like shape. On the outskirts of the circle vortex emblem, eight gems of different shapes revolved around it at each cardinal position.

'So by standing on that emblem, I can teleport outside...' He quickly reeled his thoughts back to ask his next question.

"Thank you for your benevolence, Lord Kel'thus! I wonder how one activates that gateway portal?"

"Say... 'Activation'..."

'So it's that same word that transported the room that housed my coffin upwards... Is that language magical or something?' Hermes decided to ask it directly.

"Praise be to King Kel'thus! Lord Kel'thus, could you bestow upon me the name of the language you spoke?"

"... Solari..."

'Solari... So that special language is named after the solar system. Then what about the language I am speaking in right now to Kel'thus?' He decided to ask.

"Then what is the language we are speaking in right now called? Do you understand all of Solari?"

"... Mortuus... Language... Of... The... Dead...", He continued:

"Me... Know... Some... Solari..."

"Praise be to Lord Kel'thus for the fruits of knowledge he offers to his believers!"

Hermes received the answers he desired. However, there was still more to figure out. After a short pause to organize his words, he asked,

"Honorable King Kel'thus, what does 'Key to the stars' mean?"

This was the sentence that lined the circumference of the pillars. Kel'thus looked at Hermes for a bit before saying in doubt,

"Don't... Know..."

'It doesn't know? Doesn't he own this place? Maybe he isn't the original owner of the palace...' Hermes decided to press onward.

"What is this palace used for Honorable King Kel'thus?"

"This... 'Kingdom'... Me... Guard..."

Without letting Hermes interrupt him, he continued,

"Then... I found... Scepter... I... King... Now!"

'Kingdom? Why did he say it in Solari... Does it have a special meaning? Its answer basically proves my hypothesis. This skeleton became powerful after picking up that staff and declared himself king.'

'He said that he was guarding the palace grounds. Does this mean he was a soldier under the original owner of this palace and once his master left, he convinced himself to be the next king?'

Hermes wanted to ask further about the skeleton's past, but he was afraid he might offend him. He quickly redirected the conversation.

"Honorable King Kel'thus, what is that scepter? Where did you find it?"

Kel'thus paused for a moment as if trying to recall something, then said confidently,

"Scepter... Strong... Found behind... Throne..."

So far, Kel'thus had answered all of his questions, even ones that may raise eyebrows to someone with even the slightest bit of intelligence. Hermes quickly thanked Kel'thus exaggeratedly and started to ponder about the information he had just received. By now, his experiences all told him that, wherever he was, it was definitely not the Earth he knew.

'Now that I think about it, am I even on Earth? Did I get transported to another dimension or world like in those anime I used to watch? From my observations, this world's gravity is definitely way weaker than that on Earth.'

'A single jump of mine to dodge Kel'thus' attack made me leap more than 3 meters into the air. The rubble that flew out when he smashed the staff into the ground went higher than what I thought should be a normal trajectory. My body felt so much more free while moving around, too.'

'At first, I thought that maybe I had gotten stronger, but Kel'thus' attack clearly proved otherwise. Yes, even my escape from the coffin was probably due to the lack of gravity. That latch definitely weighs close to a ton if it was on Earth...'

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'Am I on another planet? I wonder how much time has passed during my sleep. Ariana was preparing steak for dinner when I talked to her on the phone after clocking out. My mother was invited as well...'

Hermes decided to not reminisce. He knew very well that such thoughts would not bring him any closer to his family. His priority was to grasp every detail of his current situation and find a way back home.

Even if it was difficult, he was not the type of person to give up prematurely. Before completely formulating the plan he had in mind, he decided to ask another question:

"Honorable Lord Kel'thus, does that scepter use Solari to work?"

"... Yes..."

Hermes could finally get an answer to all his questions. He had nothing left to ask. His only objective now was to escape. To do so while being controlled gravitationally will be challenging. He decided to take a risk; he quickly said to Kel'thus,

"That is amazing, Lord Kel'thus! You are truly a genius! Say, would you so humbly allow me, a mere insect, to clean it for you? I will also clean the throne and the rest of the palace afterward. I want to serve you, my immortal master!"

Kel'thus hesitated for a bit. Seconds passed by, and Hermes counted each of his heartbeats as they slowly went faster and faster. His back reeked of cold sweat. He could not tell what Kel'thus was thinking about. More time passed before Kel'thus said,

'Me... Can't... Let... Go..."

Before Hermes could say anything, he blurted,

"Must... Clean... While... Me... Hold..."

'Phew... It worked. His answer also holds a valuable piece of intel. It's clear now that Kel'thus' power heavily relies on that staff to the point that he refuses to let go of it. If I can somehow free it from his body, I might have a chance at escaping or even defeating him!'

As soon as his thoughts formed, Kel'thus quickly levitated Hermes in front of the staff on its other hand. To make himself more convincing, Hermes took out the handkerchief in his pocket.

'I need to pretend I am cleaning the thing quickly and find an opportunity to snatch it from him...' I hope god watches over me... If I fail, I am so dead...'

He hurried his hands closer to the staff's pole and held it. Before he could even start cleaning, the ancient and mysterious cube that was spinning at the top slowly flashed with white light that drowned out the entire ancient palace.

Kel'thus stood there in shock, unsure of what had happened. Hermes, on the other hand was even more shocked; the moment the flash of light happened, a wave of information suddenly flooded into his head.

"The key to the stars..."

"Solari... 'Activation'... 'Blink'... 'Gravity'... 'Spatial Slash'..."

"... 'Kingdom' of Knowledge..."

"... Apocalypse... Xulu..."

The information echoed in his head. It made his blood vessels slowly protrude under his skin. His temples throbbed in pain and his vision quickly turned into pastel colors, as if someone poured water on a canvas not yet dry.

On his glabella, a symbol glowing in cyan-white was visibly beaming outwards. It formed the shape of an arched door. Behind the door symbol was a four-pointed star. Slowly, a vertical pupil-less eye took shape inside the door symbol. It emitted a color purple, unlike the rest.

The developments did not stop there; less than a second after the formation of the symbol, the staff shredded its texture and 'skin' and turned into incorporeal bright light of the same shape. Quickly, the staff split into blobs of light that twinkled like stars.

Before Kel'thus could even react, the orbs of light rushed into Hermes' body. Hermes' levitation was ended. He could finally move his body freely. Kel'thus was thrown into a rage.

"Thief! You... Lie!"

Kel'thus quickly got off of 'his' throne. An outburst of madness could be seen in the flames of his eyes. His third 'eye' shifted colors into that of blood red. It was clear what he was planning to do to Hermes.

Seeing this scene, Hermes swiftly reacted by jumping off of the high platform with as much leg strength as possible. It was good that he did that, because only half a second later, Kel'thus swiped his skeletal foot horizontally in front of him. Its speed and strength could have destroyed Hermes' entire ribcage and ruptured his lungs.

Hermes landed like a trained gymnast a few meters away. The gravity on this 'planet' was weaker than Earth's, giving him an immense advantage in movement. The same can be said, however, for Kel'thus as well.

With his herculean strength, he instantly jumped forward toward Hermes, leaving afterimages behind him. His arm was clearly cranked back and his fist was closed tightly. It was clear to Hermes that Kel'thus was readying a heavy punch.

-Boom!

Hermes swiftly dodged to the side. Kel'thus' punch landed on one of the pillars. The pillar was thick enough to withstand the blast, but not without being dealt enormous amounts of damage.

'I need to think fast! My stamina is clearly less than his! I'll run out of steam soon. Who would have thought that the situation would devolve this quickly? I had no time to analyze the staff for its weaknesses!' His hyper cognitive ability quickly kicked in as he started analyzing his situation for a solution.

'The staff clearly went inside me. Maybe I can use its abilities that I learned about during that flash of information.' Before he had any time to do testing, Kel'thus was already in front of him. It was clear that even without the staff's ability to 'blink', Kel'thus was fast enough to be a threat to Hermes. Without a hint of hesitation, he said in Solari,

"Blink!"

His figure was pierced by Kel'thus' mighty fist as it slowly faded away; It was an afterimage! Hermes' figure instantly reappeared at the top of the ancient raised platform, looking down at Kel'thus. This enraged him extremely.

"ME KING!... ME KING!"

He quickly dashed towards the staircase. During this short period of time, hundreds of thoughts had already formed inside Hermes' head.

'Since the staff is inside me, I can probably call for it. After that flash of information, I learned the incantation. It seems that with my abilities, every use of the staff's abilities drains a lot of my energy. I can probably only use them two more times... I need to end this now.'

Hermes was no longer as anxious as he was before. There was a hint of confidence in his eyes. The rush of adrenaline had revealed its impact on his psyche. Coupled with the fact that his abilities enhanced his focus, any ounce of hesitation that he had before had completely disappeared from his body. He was now entirely focused on executing the plans he was developing in his brain.

Kel'thus had already reached the top of the platform and was readying to throw a punch that could decimate Hermes' skull. Before he finished pulling it off, Hermes quickly yelled out loud,

"That punch will destroy your throne!", as soon as he said it, Kel'thus showed signs of hesitation as his horrifying punch missed its target; Hermes had already used 'Blink' over Kel'thus' head!

Before gravity could pull him down, he formulated the word in his head: 'Activation!'. Suddenly, a slew of incorporeal orbs of light formed around his arm as they rushed together to form the shape of a long pole with two curved prongs and a cube at their center; Hermes had successfully brought the staff back outside his body!

As he was plummeting down, he held the staff with both hands over his head. His destination was right underneath him; Kel'thus' skull!

Kel'thus, sensing the danger, glanced up, his eyes burning in a frenzy. Without giving him any time to dodge, Hermes quickly swung the staff from overhead and yelled in Solari,

"Spatial Slash!"

Hermes could not see the form of the attack, however, the result was enough evidence of its destruction. From the top of Kel'thus' third eye, going down the center of his nose hole and reaching its lower jaw, a crack formed; Kel'thus' skull was split in two!

During Hermes' question-and-answer segment, he was analyzing Kel'thus to find any sort of weakness that he could exploit. The thing that stood out the most was its third eye, which shone different colors based on its emotions.

From this, Hermes deduced that the incorporeal gradients of light that protruded from that eyehole were its brain. If he can land an attack there, it might spell Kel'thus' doom!

His hypothesis proved correct. Kel'thus quickly dropped to his knees. The flames in his eyes dimmed as he fell face flat on the platform; the two sides of his skull rolled away from his spine. Hermes' quick thinking abilities were able to find a solution!

Hermes quickly landed on one step behind the now-dead Kel'thus, who was prostrating in front of the throne. He continued looking at it with vigilance in his eyes, afraid that the skeleton would get back up again.

After making sure everything was okay, he quickly went around it and sat himself on the throne. His body quickly gave out; it was clear that he had overexerted himself.

'I... I defeated him! I could win! I-I can't believe it ended just like that. I had already formulated a plan B just in case my attack may fail or his weakness turned out to be false... It's a good thing though because I literally can't move my body anymore...'

As soon as he said that, Hermes' eyes slowly shuttered as his senses became harder and harder to control. A few minutes later, he was completely in deep sleep.

End of Chapter