Lv1 Skeleton

"Wow, what a gorgeous beach, the white sand is so fine."

I stepped off the Nautilus and onto the sh.o.r.es of the New Continent.

"Lena, keep the Nautilus hidden and safe."

"Got it, I"ll keep it on patrol mode along the coast."

The fauna in this area was unlike anything from our continent. There were colorful birds flying among palm trees.

"It"s an environment similar to that of Rio Negro. It is also a tropical climate and it is teeming with wildlife.

"That"s pretty amazing, but I hate insects."

Walking into the rainforest I tried to ignore the countless bugs which swarmed me.

The strong sun rays were for the most part blocked by the heavy foliage, but due to us being near the coast, the humidity was unbearable and I almost suffered from a heat stroke.

"d.a.m.n, what"s going on? Why is it so hot all over here?"

"Johra a regular human would have already succ.u.mbed to a heat stroke and died, I think it"s best to take a break."

"Guess I have no choice."

I set up a teleportation circle beside a large tree and returned to my dungeon manor.

"Ah, it"s like arriving in heaven."

The surrounded in the cool dungeon air I couldn"t help but cry out in relief.

"Master, you"ve returned."

"Johra you came back!"

In the bathhouse they had specially prepared a cold bath filled with ice cubes.

"Great, thanks!"

Without hesitation I jumped right in, cooling off my body.

"Sigh, I need to do more exercise, I"m getting lazy."

My destination the Pali dungeon was still 5 days away from the beach. That was still ten times the distance which I had travelled earlier today.

After bringing my body temperature back to normal and regaining my condition, I returned to the rainforest.

"Lena, set the course."

"Understood, I"ll project the map to your cornea."

I kept forging ahead towards the Pali dungeon with Lena"s guidance.

Booooot Qauac

It happened instantaneously, a creature broke out from the ground and stung my foot.

"What the h.e.l.l, where did that come from?"

[You"ve been afflicted with the curse, Apollo"s venom]

I grabbed the bright red scorpion that had just stung me and crush it instantly with my right hand. Looking down, the wound was quite serious and had even reached my bone.

"How odd, I wasn"t even able to detect it with my sensors and prepare the Rohim shield intime."

"It"s no big deal Lena, just a small bite, but what is this Apollo"s venom?"

That little scorpion had even been able to break through my defenses which can even stand up to a Dragon"s attack, not to mention that it evaded Lena"s detection. I was really curious about the scorpion and was eager to experiment on it, but unfortunately I had already destroyed it.

"Johra it seems that the poison on your foot is quite serious."

"What?"

The color of my foot was turning green.

"s.h.i.t!"

I quickly set up a transition array, intent on heading back to the dungeon but it didn"t work.

"What"s going on, why isn"t it working, is it my magic? Material Creation! Material Creation! Why isn"t any of my magic working, is it due to the poison? Curse of Apollo? s.h.i.t this is the work of a G.o.d!"

"Oh my dear master, even your cries of fury are beautiful."

Thanatos appeared beside me and looked at me with a grim smile.

"Uhm… Thanatos don"t just stand there, do something about this!"

"Sorry, but I"ve arrived too late. It looks like you"ll have no choice but to die now."

She placed her hand on my chest and stilled my heart.

"Huuuuh what are you doing… Thanatos…."

"You know that my only ability is in killing, I don"t know how to save you other than my killing what is harming you."

I felt Thanatos" deadly will invade my every bloodvessel, cleansing out the poison. Eventually I couldn"t hold on any longer and pa.s.sed out due to the pain.

"Ahh Ahh Am I not dead then?"

"Yes, fortunately not, Master."

"That d.a.m.n Sun G.o.d, Apollo. Was the scorpion sent by him?"

"I"m sorry Johra, in the future I will be sure to have the Rohim shield active at all times."

Hearing her apology I couldn"t help but snort coldly.

"Then I will return to torture Harpok. Call me if you require my a.s.sistance, Master."

After Thanatos vanished the sunlight invaded my eyes and I had to cover them with my hands. I lay down on the ground for half a day, unable to stand up.

"d.a.m.n, although the poison was removed, I"m still unable to use any magic. Could it be that the curse is still in effect?"

I had tried to cast all of my skills but none worked.

"Lena, help me draw the array well."

I created a perfect teleportation circle with Lena"s aid, but wasn"t able to get it to activate.

"I guess I"ll return to the Nautilus, can you mark me the quickest route. I"ll also need to get drink and soon or else I might really die here."

I had become far less arrogant. Luckily it wasn"t too difficult for me to hunt my own food considering my high attack power and Rohim Shield. Also with Lena"s help I could easily find water and avoid getting lost, but the fact that my magic was neutralized meant that I was severely handicapped.

"A G.o.d has directly interfere with me, I thought that they weren"t able to do that?"

I couldn"t help but grumble at my complete lack of information. As I arrived back to the beach and onto the Nautilus, I immediately collapsed in bed.

"Ah, so nice to have some regular temperature once again."

The Nautilus was fully equipped with food and drink and a comfortable place to sleep. It was the perfect place to regain my strength.

I had no idea how long I slept, but by the time I had awakened, we were submerged 10,000 meters below sea level.

"How long have I slept, Lena?"

"About 19 hours."

"Hoo Did you communicate with the dungeon manor? "

"I informed them about this situation, but for now there is no way to teleport back to the dungeon manor. Also there is no way for those inside to get out because there isn"t a real exit.

If not for the Teleportation array, our dungeon house and this world were simply in two different dimensions.

"So if I can"t resolve this curse I can"t return?"

"In theory, yes. Although it might be possible to complete the array with magic stones, it would be incredibly unstable and the results unpredictable."

"And in the case of failure?"

"It is unknown what would happen since magic stones aren"t very stable."

Hearing Lena"s explanation, I couldn"t help but despair. All my friends and family, along with all my preparations I had done in these last few years were located in my dungeon manor.

Now I was restricted to hiding in the deep sea, helpless.

"Lena where are we going?"

"To the deepest valley of the ocean floor."

"Why?"

"Because Johra is in a weakened and vulnerable state and it should be a safe place to hide out."

"So I"m just a weakling now that I can"t use magic…."

Frustrated, I reached into a small pocket and fished out the G.o.d necklace I already carried around with me.

"This might be the only solution to my problems… no, not like this."

I stopped to think for a little while before calling her out.

"Thanatos."

She instantly appeared before me.

"Did you call for me, Master?"

Unlike her sweet words, her voice was somber and a bit creepy.

"Thanatos can you release me from this curse?"

"Sorry that isn"t within my capabilities."

"Then can you teleport me to my dungeon manor?"

"That is likewise something I can"t do. My only abilities are to kill and follow Master around."

"Then what"s the point of you being a G.o.d?"

"Well, it might be to bring death to everyone other than you."

"Is there no other way that you could help me?"

"I can make you die temporarily."

"Temporary death? Like somehow dying but still surviving?"

Thanatos let out a hearty laugh.

"Right, it would be a near death experience (NDE) You would effectively be dead for a very short period of time, but later come back to life. Of course if I were to make a small mistake then you"d die for real."

"You"re quite dangerous."

"There"s no way you"d think that I"d let me dear master come to harm."

Thanatos" evil smile didn"t really inspire me with confidence.

"Maybe we will try that out as a last resort."

"Okay, I"ll go back to torturing then."

"How long do you think you"ll have left?"

"It seems to be having some effect. I"ve given him a few NDE now and he seems a bit dizzy as a result of it. But don"t worry I"m being careful not to kill him.

"That sounds quite horrible, wait, G.o.ds can also die?"

"I am not sure yet, but the NDE worked."

Thanatos" creepy smile returned as she recalled all the torture she had unleashed upon Harpok.

"Okay, when you get some concrete information, let me know."

"Yes Master, I"ll go take good care of our friend Harpok"

She instantly vanished, leaving me alone with Lena in this submarine.

"Hmmm what should I do?"

I struggled to decide whether I should put on the necklace and chance it. It was quite the difficult choice, especially having seen first hand how challenging some of its curses were to overcome.

"d.a.m.n, I can’t seem to find a solution.

"Johra, I encourage you to rest and think on this with a fresh mind."

"You"re right, who knows maybe this curse will dissipate over time."

I spent the next three months on the ocean floor. I often checked on the status of the curse, but was worried to learn that it never changed.

Finally one morning Thanatos was sitting on top of me as I woke up.

"OMG! I thought I had a nightmare!"

"Haha"

If you were to have nightmare with the G.o.d of Death, I can a.s.sure you that it would be an unforgettable experience."

"d.a.m.n, stop playing around again would you!"

"Why? I like to touch master"s body."

"We need wait for the right time."

"I"m ready for you, any time any place…."

"Fine, what did you come here for, Thanatos?"

"Harpok"s torture has finally ended."

"Really? What have you learned from him? How is he?"

"Well…."

"Huh?"

"I think I might have accidentally killed him."

"You what?"

"Hmm… he was kind of dead, but later he revived "

"What? Tell me everything."