Chapter 35: The Underworld

"...That makes sense."

And as Rhys was surrounded by the other recruits that were either groveling on the floor or struggling to sit up, he continued scanning his surroundings. When he was previously in the Underworld, he was inside some sort of cavern—but this time, he was outside.

He had seen photos of it before, but seeing it in person truly makes one almost feel like they were drowning. No photo could do this place justice.

The Surface world is a sphere, the horizons will always have an end. But in the Underworld, the horizons do not end, it loops. It almost made Rhys feel like he was in some sort of gigantic ball… which he sort of actually is.

It was hard to see the distance, however, as a sort of fog seemed to blanket the endless horizon. And of course, perhaps the most noticeable of all was the 'sun' showering everything with its light.

Floating at the very center of the inside of this sphere, Tartarus.

It is said that one of the gods, Hades, resides there—no one really attempts to find out, however.

"Well, I'll be. The very first thing you do in reaching the Underworld is think."

"!!!" Rhys then almost fell back to the ground as the very first thing Ayesha did when she reached the Underworld was smack Rhys on the back.

"You are going to have so much fun here, Rhys Wilder," Ayesha then let out a small chuckle as she started walking to the middle of all the recruits that were almost lifelessly lying on the ground,

"Recruits, gather up!" Ayesha then roared. And as soon as she did so, several more people in civilian clothes started to line up in front of her—and seeing as they weren't in uniform yet, they also seem to be recruits, but from an earlier batch.

"It's… her?"

"It's the Commander, she's here!"

"Shut up!" And before the recruits could start whispering to each other, Ayesha once again roared; causing the very air itself to tremble,

"I am Ayesha, Commander of the Underworld Corps. My word is the law here, and the law is to survive. As for the rest of you sorry lot, you are less than shit…

…You are sperm that was wiped in tissue and thrown in the toilet to never see the light of day again. Understood!?"

"..."

"Understood!?"

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!"

"For 120 days, you will be trained, hardened, and moulded to the point that you will want to die. For 120 days, the only sun you will be seeing is that!" Ayesha pointed at the Tartarus, "And I am telling you that you do not want to wake up the son of a gun that lives there!"

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!"

There were probably more than a hundred of them there, but Ayesha's voice drowned and overpowered even their strained screams.

"During the 120 days, if you perform poorly, you will not be sent back home! Instead, you will be punished and sent to a different camp closer to the monsters. Once you entered the gates of our base, you have already forfeited your life to the Underworld Corps. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lowborn, a Commoner, or even a cute precious little Noble. There is no going back! Understood!?"

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!"

"Good, now jump in the Hole and go back to the Surface."

"Ma'am, yes… Ma'am?"

The recruits all started looking at each other as they heard Ayesha's words. They were just told that they won't be seeing the Surface for a long time… and now their most superior officer was ordering them to go up again?

"I told you to jump. Jump!" Ayesha roared, causing even the recruits that were sprawled on the floor to crawl toward the Hole.

"And once you reach the Surface, you jump back down here and again, and then go back to the Surface. Jump through the Hole again and again until I say you stop! Understood!?"

"Y…Yes, Ma'am!"

The screams of the recruits could be heard echoing as they jumped back into the Hole. The only one that was perhaps not either screaming, fainting, or both was Rhys…

…and the two unlucky soldiers that Ayesha sent back to basic training, who were now for some reason seemingly falling closer to Rhys.

"Psst."

"..."

"Psst!"

Rhys could really only blink a couple of times as the two soldiers were indeed moving closer to him. The two of them, falling on each of his sides while staring at him.

"...Yes, sir?" Rhys squinted as he looked at the one calling him.

"You talked to the Commander? What did you guys talk about? Why did she personally call you to her tent?" The air resistance within the Hole worked in a weird way, but it still caused Rhys's to flutter and wave with it from time to time—but the soldier's brushed-back orange hair was completely still, not a single strand moving as he looked at Rhys,

"Did you know the Commander previously? What does her tent smell like?"

"Erik, stop bothering the recruit with your perverted questions." The other soldier stretched his hand toward Rhys, "You seem very calm for a recruit, could it be because you're just here to die? Most Lowborns that join the corps just want the gratuity for their families when they die. You came here to die, didn't you? It's fine, you can tell us."

"I'm… not," Rhys said as he shook the man's hand. And like Erik, there was also nothing moving on top of his head…because there was nothing there at all. His head was smoother than a baby's—not even an eyebrow in sight.

"Ignore James's gloomy shit," Erik scoffed, "So, how was it? What did her tent smell like? Does it smell like… indigenously hot?"

"Indigenously… hot?" Rhys slowly muttered.

"Yeah, like earthen and smoke, stuff like that."

"...No."

"Oh shit," Erik excitedly hummed and nodded several times as he looked at James, "I told you, her room probably smells like daisies and shit."

"Stop simping, man. It probably smells like sweat just like the rest of the tents."

"S…sweat? The Commander's… sweat?" Erik's nose started inflating. Rhys could swear he almost felt himself being pulled closer to Erik as he inhaled almost violently.

"Just stick close to me, Rhys," James sighed as he pulled Rhys away, "I will be a much better friend moving forward."

"...Friend?" Rhys could really only whisper as he heard the term.

"Pft, friend? The guy's not our friend, James," Erik scoffed as he shook his head.

And there it is. Throughout his entire stay in Old York High, he was completely isolated by the rest of the students because of his sta—

"He's our brother," Erik then flicked his head to the side as he smiled, his perfect white teeth, almost blinding the two as they reflected the light coming from James's bald head.

"Disgusting," James quickly frowned as he whispered, "Just wait for it, he's going to say something disgusting."

"And as brothers, we share no secrets," Erik's smile turned into something else as he looked at Rhys from head to toe, "So…

…what does it feel like being choked by the Commander?"