Age of Adventure

Chapter 59: FIELD OF ASPHODEL

THE UNDERWORLD

Thud!

He falls to the ground with a shaking momentum and his body felt a jolt of sensation. Aero finally felt the ground.

But he also felt the pain after crashing to the ground.

\'Arghh\' he lets out a groan of pain.

He thought his body would be squashed into mashed meat, yet, weirdly other than a few sores aching sensation on his back he is not dead even after falling from such a long height.

After hours of falling he thought that there will be no end to the falling and what awaited him in the end is only death

Then when he opened his eyes and tries to adjust himself, he was greeted with status windows.

-You have been blessed with Athena blessing-

-You can see the tormented souls in the River Styx-

-You can see the Gods in their invisible form-

-Because you were blessed by Athena all your stats increase by 40 points-

\'Uhm\' Aero was puzzled but his eyes turns calm as he tries to analyze what is happening to him.

After confirming the status window description and looking left and right he finally understands where he landed.

And that revelation make him felt scared and yet at the same time excited. He was not entirely wrong when he thought he would die

But he was not entirely correct either on what that entails.

The Underworld. That is where he is right now.

And he was at the entrance.

In front of him was a gigantic archway. At the archway was inscribed on the bricks of the archways Lasciate Ogne Speranza Voi Chintrate.

Aero chuckles a bit as he reads the inscription.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"

Aero read Dante Inferno so he understand what that means. Aero could see some spirits of the dead, roaming aimlessly around the entrance.

It seems they floated around in the entrance with no purpose.

There is some spirits that is just sitting and not moving in the archway, looking empty in the eyes and moving only when something seems to attract its attention.

Then he saw a spirit that attract his attention.

He probably died in battle, Aero thought to himself.

Aero believes that because the man armor is splattered with blood.

He looks around for a couple of minutes to see anything else but other than dark and gloom he sees not much else.

Then he tries to send a message to Dan and his other companion

Your message cannot be send

He tries it again and again and every time he got the same message.

Aero doesn\'t know what to do now.

The road in front of him looked dark and dangerous and the cold wind assault his body reaching down to his bones.

This is not normal cold.

Actually at first he thought he would die after being stabbed. But Athena has sent him to the Underworld with all of his items intact.

Of course the sword remains stolen. But at least now he doesn\'t have to worry about the robe. It is one of the thing he would surely regret losing.

He also already checked his health.

He was reinvigorated to full life. But now he began to regret accepting Athena offer. Dying from stabbing will not result in too much level loss.

But dying in the underworld with God knows what monster may lose him more levels than he could imagine.

Talking about that, he never thought the underworld was real. He thought like other lore in the game, it was just one of the backstory to make the world more vivid and exciting

But Aero also senses opportunity.

If he could send this footage to the broadcasting stations imagine how much views he will get which translate to more money

Proving that the Gods were real and the AI is existing with the players playing the game and even the Underworld exist. This might open a whole new questline.

Aero could already imagine the hype.

\'Heh\' he smirked.

He tries to log out and he succeeds.

Coming out of his capsule, he first pinches himself. Then a smile is slowly forming on his face and then he shouted

\'Yeah!!Hahahaha\'

And then he jump out from his capsule and then jump up and down in excitement in his room.

Calming his nerves, he went to the kitchen and down a bottle of water before making himself a lunch. As he is preparing the food, he is smiling and whistling.

Then as the happy steroid settling down, he went to his usual mode. He is thinking about many times as he think how best to prepare himself.

\'This is not yet the time to publicize this\' he thought to himself. And he nodded to himself as he is washing the dishes on the sink.

\'I need to prepare myself\'

He needs to check some more things about the Underworld before he could decide what to do with this information.

If he keep this to himself, maybe he could monopolize any future related quest regarding the Gods and the Underworld.

Thinking up to this point he decided to keep mum about his discovery…..at least for now. There is no use killing the goose that lays the golden egg…..at least not until it laid all of its golden egg.

He takes a nap for a while and then after resting adequately he logged back in.

\'I arrived again.\' Looking left and right and seeing a bleak area, cold, damp and full of blood stained paths he said

\'This place is really all gloom and doom. Well, I don\'t expect pearly gates but at least it should have some welcoming treats for the dead\' And he laughs at his own joke.

Aero….is a bad joker. And that is a fact any of his friend could attest to.

Jokes aside, Aero then started assessing his situation. He could not contact any of his friends but he can log off.

His items are fine. The only thing that is missing is his Sword of Mars. His level also did not drop.

Athena send him here to test him. This is based purely on his speculation and is not yet proven

All in all, it was a good result for him. He nodded after evaluating his circumstances

Now he needs to find the exit from this place. But it is easier said than done. It\'s not like everyone is equipped with the map of the underworld.

So Aero decides to pray to Athena. But he never learns how to pray to the Goddess.

Thinking about this, he thinks when he got to the surface again, he needs to brush up his knowledge on the Gods and Goddess of this world.

So Aero just put his hand together and said.

"I pray to you, Wise Goddess of War to give me strength and guidance" He remembers that Athena in his world is referred as the Goddess of Wisdom and War

The moment he uttered the words of prayer the Space Time around the entrance seems to b disturbed as a small light materialize out of thin air and the light shimmered.

From the shimmering light Athena appears as the light repels the spirit that is flying nearby as they flew away frightened.

Aero look at Athena and he frowned. Athena did appear but her image does not look solid.

"You have finally prayed to me adventurer"

Athena was looking at him, smiling a wistful smile and her eyes seem to contain all the wisdom of the world.

Aero realizes that Athena image is an illusion crafted by the Goddess.

Athena realizing that Aero is looking at her intently said

"I could not come to you in my solid form for Lord Hades realm is not my realm and a special realm where all authority of it lies solely in the hands of Lord Hades\'

Aero nodded.

Athena then continued her words

\'I have seen your unjust punishment young hero and I have taken a liking to you. I would ask you do you want to take back what you have lost? Do you want to see Poseidon punished for his transgression? "

Said Athena trying to motivate Aero. Aero jut nodded. Remembering how he was stabbed suddenly without explanation lit a fire in Aero heart.

Then Athena proceeds to tell Aero the reason why Poseidon kill him. Listening to her, Aero finally understands why he was being attacked by a God.

\'Damn, Lizhu Gerard really had crazy adventures. Adventures which implicates me\' Aero thought to himself.

But still to kill him just because of that, --that is hardly appropriate.

"I called for a quest!" suddenly the Goddess declared.

"A quest, Wise Lady?" said Aero puzzled.

"Yes, the only way to get what you lost is by convincing the other Gods you were worthy and Poseidon act was wrong if only it was voted by the all the Seven Gods. So I will give you task that will endeavor you to them"

Then Athena continue

"For the first task you must search a man called Deria in the Field of Asphodel and bring him with you to solve the second task"

Tting. The quest notification sounded.

SAVING DERIA

The Goddess Athena has asked you to search and save a man called Deria in the Field of Asphodel.

Reward:

: Fame increase

: Reputation increase

: You will be gifted a special gift by Athena

: Strength increase

: Wisdom increase

: Intellect increase

: Gain the approval of Hephaestus.

Difficulty level: C

"Who is this man, Wise Lady?" Aero asked.

Aero knows how important information is. So he would drill the Goddess for answers until he could not dig anything anymore out of the Goddess

Athena seems to hesitate to tell Aero but then she tells Aero who the man really is.

"Well, he is the offspring of Hephaestus with a mortal. For the crime of trapping Zeus in the throne, Hephaestus was punished to live as a maiden for one hundred years and never to have affairs with a mortal for that period of time. But Hephaestus was curious in his womanly bodies" Athena said while blushing

"You mean she was horny" Aero said grinning.

"For lack of a better word, yes. She was." Said Athena sighing.

The Gods have incredible strength and also quite the appetite for lovemaking, even in his world, myths about the Gods are like this

"So borne a child from her union. Enraged, Zeus curse the boy to die an early death. Hearing this punishment inflicted to his child, Hephaestus has always carried resentment toward Zeus and the reason why he is helping Poseidon."

The Goddess explained to Aero that Poseidon knows his movement from Hephaestus snooping.

"Poseidon promised him, that if he tells him about your movement he will find a way to release Deria from the Underworld. But you\'re not going to let that happen would you?" the Goddess smiles

Aero was thinking. Then he said.

"Wouldn\'t saving the boy would invite Zeus wrath on me?" Aero inquired.

From the story it is clear that the Lord of the Sky punished the boy for being born.

If he saved the boy, what would that make him?

Athena smiles that mysterious smile and she said

"Do not worry about that young hero. I will persuade the Lord of the Sky to forgive you if you succeed" said Athena confidently

Satisfied of the answer Aero agree to accept the quest. Before Athena steps away, she said

"Lord Hades feed on despair. He will trick you, present you with hard obstacle, and make you mistrust your own decision. He never let people willingly leave. Heed my advice." the Goddess advised

"Of course" Aero reply, with a confident smile on his face.

Aero bowed and the Goddess disappeared.

Sighing Aero shakes his head

\'This might be a C rank quest but I know it would not be that easy\' Aero thought to himself.

Then even as he was complaining inwardly in his heart Aero started walking to the entrance.

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A new chapter as Aero began his quest. if you like the story please vote for the story. A new chapter will be posted tomorrow