Chapter 5

I awoke to the sound of a growling dog, my body drenched sweat that seemed to dry up right in front of my eyes. My vision was still blurry from what I assumed was, the teleportation of my body by the tower to the tutorial area however judging by how much I was sweating, the tutorial area must be an extremely hot area. This was because back on Earth I had once lived in Mombasa, a town at the coast of Kenya which was at sea level, meaning it was one of the hottest places in Africa and the fact that I was already accustomed to the heat of Mombasa meant that I was already adjusted to high temperature areas. However the temperature of this place was on a whole other level.

When my vision cleared, I saw that I was in…..well…. in what could only be described as Hell. The land was dark red in color with sharp pieces of black rocks protruding from the ground. In the distance, dark red mountains rose into the sky and they were so large that they almost blocked the view of the sun. The sun itself was orange in color and judging by its size, it was definitely larger than the sun on earth which would explain the extreme temperatures that I was feeling and as I watched, the sun could be seen slowly rising into the sky, radiating a bright and fierce light which shone on the land, scorching underneath it. The sky itself was red and seemed to stretch in all directions infinitely and seemed to encompass the creatures on the land. The creatures were what could only be described as monsters.

Some were large with protruding spikes from their bodies. Some were small with leather skin and reptilian eyes. Some were the size of lions, with rigged teeth and sharp claws. In the distance, I saw a creature the size of a horse, with four legs covered in spikes and scaly skin unhinge its jaws and swallow a creature, that looked similar to a wild boar, whole with little effort ... and I was down-right terrified. I had always thought that mankind was at the top of the food chain however this place had proved me wrong, I could instinctively tell that in this place I was the lowest in the food chain which terrified me even more. I was so scared that my legs started trembling, my heartbeat increasing to the extent that I could hear the sound of the blood in my veins pumping throughout my body.

"Calm down boy!"

A loud commanding voice sounded behind me and I turned to see a man so old his wrinkles had wrinkles. He wore a dark cloak that covered his dark armor and a brown girdle strapped around his waist. The cloak concealed most of the man's accessories however I was able to catch a glimpse of a long black whip strapped on his girdle which seemed to exude a menacing aura that sent shivers down my spine. The sandals on his feet seemed to be made of some type of leather which were certainly not goat or cow leather. It was probably of some creature in this horrible place. His beard was as dark as his clothes and was so long that it reached his knees. His eyes glowed a dark malevolent orange which seemed to contrast the dark clothes that he was wearing and within his orange eyes were what looked like tiny stars twinkling within them which was oddly beautiful.

"You will attract the demons with your fear" he said as he stroked a large creature around three times the size of an elephant which mostly resembled a dog with paws and fur but the feature that stood out the most about it was the fact that it had three heads ,that were more wolf-like than dog-like, which at the moment were looking at me as if I was their next big meal and the fact that they were drooling while licking their lips did not help ease my fears.

"Thanks for the warning…. and who might you be?" I asked as I slowly prepared to run away because I had a gut feeling that these two were extremely dangerous and if didn't escape, I would die here and the thought of dying made me sweat in anxiety. Or maybe it was just the heat of this place.

In a loud malevolent voice that made the air colder, the old man answered, "I am known in history by many names, however the most common name known to mankind is HADES."

As soon as he said his name, the air became even colder as the color of the soil changed from red to black and the entire sky was enveloped in darkness as if life itself was being sucked out of it. The vegetation swayed back and forth as the creatures around us trembled in fear and I couldn't blame them. Hades is a famous figure in both books and movies on earth as he is known by many humans by many titles such as the Great God of Death, The ruler of the underworld, The King of Hell and the Ruler of Demons. He was a being so great that even the other gods were afraid of him because unlike any other entity in existence, he was the only one to ever truly conquer death and based on history, it was said that he could never truly die hence making him a true immortal, a god among gods.

Such a being was seating in front of me.

I peed a little at the thought that this may be real and clutched my chest gasping for air as his very presence was making me unable to breathe properly.

"It would seem that a bit of my mana leaked out, sorry about that."

I watched as a dark mist (which I assumed was mana) gather around the god as it was slowly absorbed into his body while around me, the air slowly started to become hotter as the soil turned back to its red color and the sky returned to its natural red color which showed that things were returning back to their original state and I could feel my breathing also becoming steady. The creatures also seemed to calm down as they slowly regained their composure and returned to their normal activities however some of them were still shivering from the experience.

It took a moment for me to stop shivering as well.

So that was the mana of the god of the death, what a terrifying man he is! He had only leaked a bit if his mana and yet the entire surrounding had been affected. It made me realize how great and terrifying gods were.

"Sir, why have you appeared before me."

If this man was truly Hades, then I figured that he wouldn't appear in front of me without a reason and I was also curious as to what he wanted from me.

He looked at me for a moment as he examined me before smiling.

"I see you are a smart child. It would seem I have not made a mistake in selecting you."

His answer puzzled me, what did he mean by select?

"Selecting me for what sir, haven't I already been chosen as a player?"

Hades frowned at the thought of having to explain his answer to a mere mortal as he glared a at me a little causing me to unconsciously take a step back.

"Yes, you are indeed a player however what I have chosen you for is a completely different matter."