Soon after the Guards checked on the Heroes to make sure they were all sleeping one of them went to find the Head Guard. He found the Head Guard and reported to him briefly about the fact that all of the heroes were asleep. The Head Guard spoke briefly “Good, I will report this to her Highness, for now return to your post and keep your eyes open.” The other Guard nodded and left returning to the hallway that many of the Heroes Quarters were located. The Head Guard left where he had been and made his way to where he knew the Princess was. She was in the quarters of the King, her father; he paused and slowed in his approach when he heard her speaking softly.

“Hello Father, we summoned a new batch of heroes today, there are a few who might be a match for him, but it is worrying as the names of one of the Summoned is identical to the name of someone he held dear. That being said, one of them has a class that could be particularly useful in the upcoming battles, a WarCrafter. They could perhaps replace my dear sister in the hearts of our army, as despite her death, some are still loyal to her, though we have been weeding them out.” The Head Guard entered as she finished speaking so as to not be too rude.

For a time the shadowy figure simply wandered about the Castle. They did not do anything in particular they just wandered. They went all over; they went through one of the other Dining Halls and came out near the Kings Quarters. They happened to arrive not long before the Head Guard did and they heard what the Princess had said. They decided to stay while the man was giving his report to the Princess. “They are all down and I have men watching them now.” “Very good” she replied with genuine gladness evident in her voice. For the next while they spoke of menial things for the most part.

The content varied from the efficiency of the servers to which servants would be granted and possibly sacrificed to which Heroes. From there they went on to discuss the training schedule that the Heroes would face in the coming days. The Shadowy figure began to leave seeing as how they were discussing nearly irrelevant things as far as it was concerned. The figured stopped however as the tone of the discussion the two in the room had been having changed suddenly. “Milady will we go see Him again?” the Head Guard spoke these words hesitantly. The Princess responded with a sigh and stood up as she responded. “Sure, with the information we got today I may be able to get a response out of the bastard.”

The figure that had been following the Guard and the Princess stealthily crept behind them, while leaving little trace of their presence. The duo and their stealthy pursuer made their way into the lower levels of the Castle, where the castle’s Dungeon was located. It wasn’t a normal dungeon found in castles, but a Dungeon, a construct created from massive concentrations of Magic and what fuels it. This one was unique as it was created from a Dungeon Core granted to the kingdom, by Tamara their Patron Goddess. It was created years ago to house a being of great power, the Kingdom had tricked the being into the Dungeon and it had remained there since.

The duo paused as they reached a large door made of iron, it filled the hallway and was solid except for a small area near the top that was open, but blocked with vertical bars. They paused as they approached it and the large Head Guard walked forward and knocked on the door. As he did so one of the Guards stationed on the other side looked through the opening above before nodding and moving backwards as they undid the seals on the door, the Guard nodded seeing the Princess and spoke to her.

“Hello Princess Kara, You here to see Him?” Kara nodded at that and walked forward as the guard closed the door behind her and the Head Guard, though that did not obstruct their unknown pursuer, who simply passed through the heavy door. The Dungeon held a far different appearance and atmosphere than the Castle on the other side of the door. The walls were stone, but they were moss lined for the most part, and they had a much different appearance from normal stone, they glowed slightly with the magic that is inherent to Dungeons and their structures.

Several places on the walls had small holes and areas inlaid that contained lights, many Dungeons had such things, though Adventurers generally brought their own light sources as Dungeons were tricky things. This Dungeon however was different as it was controlled by the Kingdom, well the royalty of the Kingdom anyways. The room that contained the entrance was small, but it could still easily fit a dozen or so grown men comfortably. The Head Guard walked forward into the corridor leading from the entrance room. The corridor was made of the same stone that the entrance was.

It took some time, but soon enough Kara and the Head Guard reached their destination deep within the Dungeon. They reached a long corridor with a dead end at the end of it, along the corridor there were cells lined up, like that of a prison. They stopped in front of the only occupied cell and the Head guard took a position at the only entrance as the Princess started speaking. This time her voice contained little of the elegance and refinement it did when she spoke to the heroes earlier. “Hello Dear. We summoned a new batch of Heroes; many of them are gullible, much more so than you were. If only you hadn’t liked my sister more than me, we could be married and you would be living a life most men only dreamed of, but no you made her become infatuated with you, even though she knew you were to become mine."

She paused to catch herself before she continued in a saddened voice, which was surprisingly genuine. "It was because we had to do away with her that my father was rendered into his current state, not that I would tell our future soldiers that. Anyways I just came here to tell you that there are others that were Summoned despite your efforts all those years ago.” The princess turned around and started to leave before she turned back and shot a final phrase towards the cell. “Oh and it seems that She is among them, Dear Victor.” A slight movement could be heard then all was silent. At that the princess huffed in annoyance and left abruptly the Head Guard trailing behind her.

The stealthy intruder stepped forward as the Princess and her escort left the Prisoners area. As the intruder stepped forward they gasped at the sight that was displayed in front of them in the cell. There was a large man, strapped to a table of sorts that stood upright. The man was large, nearing a size many would consider to be monstrous. That was not the only thing that caught the beings attention though, the man’s form was heavily scarred, though there was some unblemished skin, it was hidden under layers of caked on blood. The straps were not the only thing holding the man to the table; he was also pinned by several bladed instruments.

Some of the implements were medical tools while others were swords and daggers, as well as other similar weapons. The figure took a silent step back when the seemingly dead figure lifted its head and looked at them, for a moment they started until they remembered they could not be seen in this form. They stepped forward, this time with a bit more confidence, though that was shattered when the man started to speak. “What have we here? A Ghost? No, you are something else aren’t you? No matter, I don’t get many visitors down here Little Ghostling.”

The man’s voice was intimidating to an extreme; it caused the figure to shiver at the promise of violence it seemed to contain. Despite that it was also soft and pleasant to listen to strangely enough, it also didn’t hint at all at the pain he must have been feeling. “No need to be so afraid Little Ghostling, even if I were inclined to violence, this place keeps me mostly contained and powerless.” The figure stepped forward once more and looked inquisitively at the strange being before it. They took another step back however as the man tensed his muscles and the straps holding him down broke, nearly disintegrating at the force put into them. He then stood up and grimaced as he removed the numerous weapons littered throughout his body.

Many of the weapons were rusted; others were cake with so much dried blood that they were essentially glued to his body at the insertion point. He looked over at the figure who had let out a gasp during his actions “As I said Little Ghostling mostly, they cannot afford to kill me, it would offend too many powerful beings. Anyways who and what are you and why are you snooping around this place, it is mighty dangerous here.” The figure opened their mouth to speak when the man’s deep voice interrupted them.

“Sorry to interrupt but unfortunately you must have drawn the presence of the Dungeon, there are Guards heading this way. You would do well to leave now or bad things could happen especially to one such as you.” The figure nodded before glancing at the man once more before their form dissipated and vanished as if they had never been there in the first place. The glance had contained an appraisal, only two bits of information were available, they others were blocked, due to an apparent level difference and the fact the man was Sealed.

Race

Enlightened Godling: Most Mortals have no chance of obtaining immortality or the power of True Divinity, but there are ways. Some Mortals can gain such power by being devoted servants of a Deity; others can simply become so powerful that they border on the Divine. There is however a third category, the Enlightened Godling. They are Mortals, or former Mortals at least, that through certain means have obtained divinity, yet still remain mostly Mortal.

This process is caused by a Mortal channeling Divine powers of a certain magnitude for a long period of time, years. They are very rare as even if the Mortals mind and body remain intact many Deities grow jealous and angry at what they perceive as a mortal gaining godly powers through none of the hardships they had to go through to gain their vast powers.

Class

Divine Guardian: An extremely rare and versatile defensive Class, granted by the Gods, this Class is rare for multiple reasons chief among them is that it requires many Deities working in concert with one another to Bless the same being. Another reason is that that being must be pure of heart and has been tempered through hardships that most wouldn’t even imagine, and they have survived through them intact. The possessor of this class can not only use divine power to defend but also to support those close to them.

The main thing about this Class is that its possessor can form Bonds with others, though the Bonds have strict requirements, and they can grant the other person in the Bond the same protection from the Gods that they are granted. Despite the fact that the possessor of this class is heavily protected from Divine powers, they are also in part heavily reliant on them.

As the Shadowy figure left him the man no, Victor chuckled over the shock the other party must be feeling upon seeing his Status before he put himself back on the table, it groaned under the strain of his weight. He had not been off of the table for a long time, but thankfully due to his Unique Skill he did not suffer many of the effects that people would normally suffer from for being in one spot for such a long time. Unfortunately he currently healed slower than he had in the past due to the damned Goddess and her interference.

As the Shadowy figure left him the man no, Victor chuckled over the shock the other party must be feeling upon seeing his Status before he put himself back on the table, it groaned under the strain of his weight. He had not been off of the table for a long time, but thankfully due to his Unique Skill he did not suffer many of the effects that people would normally suffer from for being in one spot for such a long time. Unfortunately he currently healed slower than he had in the past due to the damned Goddess and her interference.

Normally the Gods and Goddesses were forbidden from contacting and interfering with the events of Aethion directly, there were a few exceptions though. It was during one of those exceptions that Tamara set events into motion that caused the other Gods and Goddesses who had a hand in his powers to think he had died, thus she was able to imprison him in this Dungeon of her followers. He snapped his fingers causing the straps to repair themselves just as hurried footsteps approached his cell; soon enough several Guards came into view.

They looked around briefly before one approached his cell while the others left to search elsewhere. The one that stayed boldly kicked the bars of the cell before speaking in a brash and arrogant voice. “Oi Traitor did you see someone over here?!?!” The Guard then turned away as they weren’t really expecting an answer, they shuddered and froze as a lazy and harsh voice reached his ears. “Why would I tell you even if someone had? Be careful I don’t want to have to smell you piss yourself again."

Victor let out a dark chuckle as he continued with his statements towards the Guard. "Then again I won’t be the one to clean it up; who knows the dungeon might clean it up automatically. Oh, never mind. Hey One of you might want to come and take this incontinent whelp away before your Dungeon decided it likes it meat marinated.” Victor yelled the latter part of his words down the hallway as the Guard had fallen against the wall opposite the cell and had urinated himself again. If one paid attention to the tone of his voice rather than just the content they would be able to sense that he was holding back laughter as he spoke.