Chapter Twenty-Three: Since When Did a Little Death Hurt Anyone?

  “Let’s see how you’d do as a fighter.” Hades gestured toward a shadowy form in the distance.

  The beast erupted from the shadows, a grotesque marvel of sinew and bone. Muscles coiled like serpents under its dark, leathery hide, and jagged spikes jutted out in chaotic rows, like shattered fangs. Its eyes blazed with an ancient, malevolent fury. The creature was a monstrosity, towering and formidable, with claws like scythes and venom-dripping fangs. It looked like someone had bred a dragon with a rhinoceros.

  Jace felt the armor lock around him, a prison of metal that seemed to constrict with every breath. There was no time to adjust; the beast charged, its roar a shockwave that reverberated through his very bones.

  His first swing was desperate, the sword slicing through the air with a hollow whoosh. The beast moved with terrifying speed, its claws raking across his armor as if it were paper. Jace stumbled, the weight of the armor dragging him down, each movement a herculean effort. He gasped for air, his lungs burning, as the creature’s jaws clamped around his torso. The last thing he saw was the triumphant glow in those feral eyes, before darkness engulfed him.

  Hades stood beside the mangled remnants of his body, watching with a bored expression. “Well, that didn’t go too well.”

  In a blink, the scene reset. Jace was alive again, standing in the same spot.

  “What was that thing?” Jace asked breathlessly.

  “A house pet from Tartarus,” Hades mused. Jace thought he saw a spark of mischief dancing in his gaze. “But I believe we can find something more suitable for you.”

  With another snap of his fingers, Jace’s heavy armor vanished, replaced by lightweight leather gear. A bow materialized in his hand, and a quiver full of arrows settled across his back.

  “This is more your style, perhaps,” Hades said.

  Jace’s eyes widened at the change, and the sudden realization that he would have to go again. This time, the beast was different—a flying creature with a wingspan twice the length of Jace’s entire body screeched in the sky. Its beady eyes locked onto Jace as it dove straight at him.

  Jace gripped the bow awkwardly, his fingers fumbling as he tried to notch an arrow. His grip was all wrong, and the string twanged noisily as he released, the arrow flying off to the left, nowhere near its intended target. He fell to the side as the creature swiped at him, just missing his leather-armored chest. His cheeks burned in embarrassment, but there was no time to dwell on it.

  With a quick, unsteady movement, he grabbed another arrow from the quiver. His hands were trembling. He attempted to steady his breathing, but his heart pounded like a drum in his chest. As he pulled back the string, his footing slipped on the loose dirt, sending him sprawling backward. In his fall, his fingers released the string, and the arrow flew haphazardly. It struck the stadium wall and ricocheted wildly.

  Determined, he scrambled to his feet, grabbing the last arrow. The creature screeched and launched itself at him again. His movements were frantic, desperation clear in his eyes. This time, he tried to find a solid stance, but his legs felt like jelly. Drawing the bowstring back, he aimed shakily at the creature. As he let the arrow fly, he stumbled once more, his balance off. Miraculously, the arrow arched through the air and, by some stroke of luck, grazed the creature’s wing. Jace stared in disbelief as the creature faltered in the air.

  “Yeah!” he cheered as the creature crashed to the ground. He looked over at Hades with a smug grin. “Not too bad for a—“

  Hades only smiled and nodded his head back in the direction of the beast.

  Jace turned just in time to see a beak rocketing towards his face before everything went dark again.

  He reappeared in the same spot as before. “Ah! Stop doing that!”

  “I’d give that a two out of ten,” Hades commented dryly, shaking his head. “What about a rogue?”

  The coliseum shifted, the ground beneath Jace’s feet trembling as the arena transformed. Before him, a complex obstacle course appeared, filled with twisting pathways, tall walls to climb, and treacherous pits to navigate. It seemed manageable at first glance. “The goal,” Hades said, “is to make it through the obstacle course and retrieve the artifact at the end.”

  Jace surveyed the scene and nodded. “That doesn’t look too hard,” he muttered.

  Hades smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” With a snap of his fingers, the scene changed dramatically. Flames erupted from the ground, roaring to life and turning the course into a fiery inferno. The heat was intense, and the once simple obstacles now gleamed with shard blades and spikes.

  “Better get going!” Hades shouted over the cacophony of crackling flames.

  Jace’s heart pounded as he stood at the edge of the fiery maze, his eyes wide with trepidation.

  Teach me to open my mouth.

  “Okay, Jace, you got this. Just a bunch of fire and... death... everywhere. No big deal,” he muttered to himself, shaking his hands out. He forced a grin, psyching himself up. “Piece of cake.”

  With a final nod, he leapt into action, sprinting forward with determination. His confidence lasted all of two seconds before a wall of fire erupted right in front of him. “Oh, come on!” he yelled, flailing as the flames engulfed him. The searing pain was immediate as his skin roasted. The agony overwhelmed his senses, and in an instant, everything went black. Consumed by nothingness, he had no time to even register his failure.

  Moments later, Jace reappeared at the starting line, his body restored. He glanced around, a mix of confusion and frustration etched on his face. “Will you stop that? Dying hurts, you know!” Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization. “Oh no, my EXP!” He frantically opened his character sheet, bracing for the worst. To his surprise, his EXP count was unchanged.

  “No respawn fees in here,” Hades explained with a wave of his hand. “Technically, you’re already sort of dead. Anyone here gets the Dead Status while in this realm. Perks of being my Chosen.”

  Jace could hardly call the ability to die over and over again in the Underworld a “perk.”

  “But the System said...” Jace started.

  “The System said... the System said.” Hades mocked. “Listen, Chosen, when you are under the direct purview of the ‘System,’ as you call it, you are correct. Death comes with quite a cost. Loss of aether, items, and potentially, something far more dear. But even the Infinite does not micromanage. And this,” Hades waved his hand expansively, “this is my domain. Now, let’s try again,” he said, motioning to the fiery doom-maze.

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  Jace’s heart slowed as he focused. “Can’t really die. Yeah, okay. Since when did a little death hurt anyone?” He recalled a martial arts movie he had once watched with his brother. “Pain is just pain. It won’t kill you,” he repeated the words, calming his mind. Hades watched with keen interest.

  The intense heat licked at his skin as Jace dashed into the maze, keeping low to avoid the flames. Sweat poured down his face, stinging his eyes. The roar of the flames and the distant rumble of shifting walls filled his ears. The path twisted and turned unpredictably, forcing him to rely on his instincts to navigate the labyrinth.

  As he rounded a corner, a jet of fire erupted from the wall, narrowly missing him. The heat singed his hair, prompting him to quicken his pace. His mind raced, trying to anticipate the next trap. Each step was a gamble.

  He leapt over a chasm, barely making it to the other side. The flames behind him roared louder, as if angered by his escape. His lungs burned with every breath, the air thick with smoke. But he pushed on, driven by the desire to prove himself.

  Ahead, he saw the faint glow of the artifact, a small, shimmering object radiating an otherworldly light. Jace grinned in triumph, but his victory was short-lived. A wall of fire erupted in front of him, blocking his path.

  He skidded to a halt, eyes wide with panic. There was no way around it. The flames were too high to jump over and too wide to dodge. He was trapped.

  “Think, Jace, think!” he muttered, his mind racing. He glanced around, searching for anything that could help him. His eyes fell on his ring. He touched it and felt a cool energy emanating from it in a faint glow. He focused on it, and a prompt appeared.

  Ring of the White Raven has requested access to your Aether Pool.

  Accept | Reject

  Jace hesitated for a moment before choosing [Accept]. Instantly, a powerful pull seized his mind, tugging at his essence like the exhaustion of a marathon compressed into a heartbeat. His aether surged into the ring, slowly at first, then faster and faster. A cool aura enveloped him, forming a protective barrier against the encroaching flames.

  You Have Gained a Temporary Buff

  [Fire Resistant]

  Stay cool, Ponyboy.

  Where was the System coming up with these references? Jace was pretty sure that one wasn’t even right.

  He sprinted forward, ducking and weaving through the inferno. The ring’s power gave him just enough protection to push through the worst of the heat. The exertion took its toll, his stamina waning as the mana draw drained his strength. His legs felt heavy, his breath labored, but he pushed on.

  Halfway through the fire, he felt the heat pressing on him again, the ring’s energy fading. His muscles ached, and his vision blurred. He needed to push through before the protection ran out completely. The artifact was in sight. Just one final stretch, one small jump between him and it.

  Jace gathered his remaining strength, took a deep breath, and leapt. But the aether drain hit at the wrong moment, sapping the last of his energy.

  Aether Pool Critically Low

  Insufficient Resources to Maintain Resistance

  The ring’s glow flickered out, leaving Jace in sudden darkness. Mid-jump, his legs gave out, sending him stumbling as the flames surged, the barrier failing. “Fuck!” he cried, engulfed by searing pain until darkness claimed him.

  Jace reappeared at the starting line, panting and frustrated. Hades stood beside him, eyes fixed on the ring with a glint of reserved curiosity.

  “Where did you get that?”

  Jace glanced at the ring, then back at Hades. “I bought it,” he replied, defensiveness creeping into his voice unbidden.

  Hades smiled knowingly. “Is that what you think?”

  Jace frowned. “Wait, what do you mean?”

  Hades remained silent, his expression unreadable.

  “Come on! You can’t just say stuff like that and not explain,” Jace said, shaking his head in frustration. Why is nothing ever straightforward here? he thought.

  Hades shifted topics smoothly. “Enough of the maze. Let’s see. How about Mage? You do look a little… home-schooled, after all.”

  In an instant, the fiery maze dissolved, replaced by an intricate ritual chamber. Arcane symbols glowed ominously on the floor, and strange, ancient markings lined the walls. Jace stood in the center, holding a staff in one hand and an old leather book in the other.

  “This one should be simple. Just read the book and chant the spells correctly,” Hades instructed, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

  Jace glanced at the staff, then at the glowing symbols. Cautiously, he began reading the incantation, trying to sound confident. At least it was in English. “By the power of the arcane, I—“

  Suddenly, the symbols flared to life, and the staff buzzed in his hands. The magic spiraled, the energy crackling wildly around him and sending a gust of wind around the room. The chamber trembled as the chaotic magic swirled, growing stronger and more erratic.

  “I… summon you, the essence of night and light… and er…” He could barely see through the wind, the pages of his book fluttering in his hand. A sudden gust caused him to drop the book, its pages flying out and joining the spiraling vortex.

  “Wait, wait, no!” Jace’s voice cracked as he tried to regain control, but the spells twisted and tangled. The magical energy lashed out, striking the walls and floor, creating a cascading clash of sparks.

  “Stop, stop, STOP!” Jace shouted, waving the staff around desperately, but it only made things worse. The energy engulfed him, wrapping around his body like a serpent. His eyes widened in horror as the magic pulled him apart, piece by piece.

  He screamed as his body disintegrated rapidly. His mind was a whirl of panic and pain until, mercifully, darkness took him.

  Jace reappeared, gasping for breath, his body whole once again but his mind reeling from the experience. “Nope, nope!” he yelled. “Definitely not a Mage.”

  Hades chuckled, shaking his head. “Not your forte, I see. Let’s try something else, shall we?”

  “Can I at least have a minute?” Jace asked, his voice tinged with desperation.

  Hades seemed to consider it for a moment before saying, “I don’t think so.”

  Without warning, Jace found himself in the midst of a battlefield. Explosions thundered around him, the cries of the wounded piercing the air. He was wearing an old medic’s outfit from the third world war. The acrid smell of smoke and blood filled his nostrils, and his heart raced with the intensity of the chaos. A bodiless voice echoed around him, “Let’s try cleric on for size.”

  Jace’s eyes darted across the battlefield, taking in the carnage. He saw a soldier with a severed arm, blood gushing from the wound, and a female medic, her leg crushed under rubble, her face contorted in pain. The sergeant, his face set in grim determination, tossed Jace a healing spell scroll. “Use it wisely,” he barked, his voice carrying the weight of command and urgency.

  It was a test. He had to choose.

  Jace knelt beside the medic, her eyes wide with pain and fear. She tried to reach for him with her uninjured hand, but her strength was fading fast. He glanced at the soldier, whose eyes were filled with pleading and agony. The spell was only meant for one. The weight of the decision bore down on Jace, a knot of anxiety tightening in his chest. “This isn’t fair. Neither of you should die,” he whispered, feeling the cold tendrils of fear creeping up his spine.

  Then, something shifted in his senses, like an answer to his plea, a thought that had been just out of reach, a dream that had faded away. He latched onto the perception. A faint glow appeared around them both and around the sergeant. The sergeant’s glow was strong and vibrant. Both the medic’s and the soldier’s lights were dim and flickering like dying embers.

  He had an idea. A crazy idea. He felt his own life force, reaching out to each of them. He focused on both, attempting to connect them, to bind them temporarily, perhaps tricking the spell into counting them all as one. He had no idea if it would work, but he had to try.

  The scroll glowed in his hands, and he channeled the energy through himself, directing it towards both the medic and the soldier. The spell resisted at first, the magic intended for one fighting against the division. But Jace’s determination and sheer force of will pushed it beyond its limits, pouring his life force into the spell. He felt his energy draining rapidly, the life force ebbing away as he pushed harder, binding their fates together.

  A soft, radiant light enveloped them, knitting their wounds with an otherworldly grace. The soldier’s severed arm regenerated, the medic’s crushed leg mended, and the agony in their eyes gave way to profound relief and gratitude. Jace, however, felt his strength ebbing away. His vision blurred, and his limbs grew heavy.

  He collapsed, energy spent, a sense of triumph mingling with the encroaching darkness.

  He tried to halt the spell, but it defied him, accelerating its drain on his life force. His final thought lingered on the lives he had saved, the emotional victory offering a fleeting moment of satisfaction.

  This is just a game. Why does it feel so real? he wondered.

  Jace reappeared beside Hades, panting heavily, exhaustion evident on his face. His body trembled from the exertion, a lingering effect even after his regeneration.

  “Well,” Hades mused, a glimmer in his eyes, “that’s something we can work with.”