At some point while Jayce was floating around the pool, he felt a familiar pulling force drag him out of his semi-conscious state. Then, he returned to Mize’s bracelet and fell into an even deeper sleep.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Jayce was once again brought into the outside world. This time, he found himself in a room dyed in hazy blue light. Covering the polished marble floor were objects that Jayce couldn’t quite recognize. They were dark stone poles with glowing blue veins, all spaced evenly around the edges of the room. Floating in front of them were light blue screens filled with words and pictures. Mize sat on a chair at the center of the room in front of a particularly large veined obelisk and Erilin stood at her side. In front of Mize were several blue screens that she was tapping away at.

The screens vanished with a wave of her hand, and Mize’s golden pupils turned towards Jayce.

“Erilin and I just finished discussing strategy, and I’ve decided to inform you of certain things. Since your intelligence isn’t much lower than ours, it would be a waste to keep you in a state of ignorance.” Mize spoke in a somewhat bored tone while her tail drooped listlessly.

Jayce noticed that, while her dress hadn’t changed, Mize’s complicated hairstyle had been simplified to a pair of twin tails. Some time must have passed since his ‘bath’.

Picking himself off the floor, Jayce was elated to find that he could speak again.

“T-Tell me where I am. Why did you bring me here and how can I get home?”

“Pointless questions.” Mize shook her head as her eyelids drooped. “Answering them won’t change anything. You’re my slave. Where you are or why you’re here…A slave doesn’t need to know these things. As for returning to the Lower Bound, that’s simply impossible.”

Jayce clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly drew blood. Mize frowned as she looked at his rageful expression. Unfortunately, that was the largest protest he could make, since his ability to speak had been removed at some point.

“What kind of face are you showing your master? In front of me, you should be smiling.”

Though his breathing became strenuous and his lips twitched furiously, Jayce’s expression quickly settled into a bright and sunny smile.

“Not bad.” Mize wore an easy smile herself as she spoke. “You look much better like that.”

The young lady slowly leaned back and cupped her chin. Her golden eyes flickered between Jayce and Erilin before she seemed to come to a decision. Mize leapt off her chair and gestured to Jayce.

“Sit.”

Naturally, Jayce couldn’t refuse. He sat on the reclining chair that was made of some unknown leather-like material. His body sank into the cushions in just the right way and Jayce was surprised to find that this was the most comfortable seat he’d ever sat in. Though, he suddenly felt a lot less comfortable when Mize jumped into his lap and leaned on him.

“I’m tired.” Mize murmured, wrapping Jayce’s arms around her like a blanket. “Erilin, you explain.”

Jayce glanced at Erilin. The older woman’s brows were furrowed, and it seemed like she wanted to object to something, but she merely sighed and shook her head.

“I understand you’re confused and probably very angry with us, but both your life and my lady’s will be in danger in the near future. If you want to survive, it is in your best interest to cooperate with us. Can you do that?”

Jayce continued to clench his fists, but he found that he couldn’t make any large or sudden movements. Meanwhile, he could speak, but only in a low tone. Many actions raced through Jayce’s mind, most of them violent. When he finally opened his mouth, he was ashamed of the words he spoke.

“Tell me why I was tortured like that.”

‘And will it happen again?’ Was the unspoken core of his question. Despite all the worries in Jayce’s head, the largest was that primal fear of feeling such soul-rending pain again. If that was going to be a regular thing, then Jayce felt he would rather die now.

“Tortured…” Erilin rolled her eyes. “That was a very valuable gift.”

Unruffled by Jayce’s smoldering glare, she continued.

“One of the core differences between worlds in the Upper and Lower Bound is the Nexus system. Here, when a lifeform reaches a certain stage of maturity, they will be able to receive classes and grow with help from the Nexus. To receive a class, one must perform certain tasks, sometimes called rituals. When you don’t have a class, the Nexus will relax its rules to make it easier to obtain one. This is called a baptism and it can only happen once.”

“So, that was a ritual? I gained the Bloodrager class because I ate that drug Mize gave me?”

“You gained the class because you survived the effects of that drug. Not all classes are equal, and special classes have very difficult rituals that are essentially impossible to complete after your baptism.”

Jayce released a long sigh. At the very least, that torture was a one-time thing. With that question answered, Jayce felt his desire to live grow stronger.

“I’ll cooperate. It’s not like I have much of a choice. Tell me whatever you think I need to hear.”

The corners of Erilin’s lips rose in a slight smile. At the same time, Mize, who was half-asleep, pushed a little further into Jayce’s chest.

“That’s good. If my lady can focus on controlling her other two slaves, she’ll have a large advantage over her siblings.”

“Siblings? Is Mize sending us to battle in some kind of tournament?”

Images of a real-life P*kemon battle flashed in Jayce’s eyes. He found the notion both hilarious and terrifying.

“Kind of. Mize and her siblings will be playing a game of sorts, and only one team will be allowed to survive. First, you’ll spend half a month inside a known as the Fragmented Ruins. How much you’ll gain from that time will be dependent on your own abilities and Mize’s leadership. Afterwards, there will be a series of death matches between teams to decide the winner.”

When Erilin finished talking, the blue room was silent for a while. Jayce grit his teeth as the rage and indignation that he had wisely suppressed rushed up to his throat.

“You want me to play along so that Mize and her siblings can enjoy watching their slaves kill each other?”

Suddenly, Mize’s tail came alive and slapped Jayce in the face. While her tail acted, the girl’s small, doll-like body didn’t move in the slightest.

“’Enjoy’ what?” Mize muttered in a rare acerbic tone. “Only one team can survive. The team leader is included in that.”

“Mize has only just come of age.” Erilin explained. “You can think of this as part of her class ritual.”

A chill ran down Jayce’s spine.

“Isn’t that incredibly unfair? Some of her siblings should be older, right?”

Erilin shook her head. “Black salamanders are born in clutches of five to eight. Mize’s siblings are the same age as her. The biggest difference between them is the slaves they’ve summoned. This is a matter of luck, or you could call it ‘favor’ from the Nexus.”

“Two of them were eliminated before we came of age, so there’s only five teams in this game.” Mize added. “We were forced to report the ranks of our slaves, but the specifics are still a secret. With one A, one B and one C-Rank, my luck is decent. Only one of my siblings summoned an S-Rank slave.”

“How powerful is an S-Rank?”

“Hmm.” Mize’s tail flicked back and forth as she pursed her lips. “In the Lower Bound they’re sometimes called . They’re intelligent, powerful, and their life orders are almost as high as mine.”

“Life order?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Mize said dismissively. “By the way, how do you humans usually fight?”

Even though Jayce was willing to answer, that familiar invisible force pried open his mouth and forced him to give a lengthy description of both hot and cold weapons used throughout human history. When he finished, Mize’s tail coiled around their bodies and the chair, pulling them closer together.

“You aren't as primitive as I thought. Rest assured, I was always planning on having you use ranged weapons. They’ll be prepared tomorrow.”

From there, Jayce quietly listened as Mize and Erilin traded off explanations about various things. They talked about the Fragmented Ruins, strategies for killing dungeon monsters, countermeasures against Mize’s siblings, and even gave him some basic information about his fellow slaves and the other races that might’ve been summoned.

When Mize finally hopped off his lap, Jayce felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. At the very least, he knew why he had been summoned here and what would happen next. Mize and Erilin’s patient explanations had also cooled a lot of the hatred he felt towards them. Jayce even felt lucky that the person he was forced to serve was a cute young lady instead of some bastard.

But then, as Mize brought Jayce back into her bracelet, a thought crept into his mind.

‘After talking for several hours, neither of them asked for my name.’

That chilling thought lingered as Jayce was forced back to sleep.

---

Once again, Jayce suddenly woke up in an unfamiliar room. This time, Jayce was able to watch as Mize brought her other two slaves out of her bracelet. The fact that she summoned him first proved that Mize was treating him differently after their talk. Still, Jayce felt very anxious in front of Mize and Erilin. He knew their acknowledgement was superficial. Intelligent or not, he was still just a slave.

At a glance, Jayce saw that he was in a well-decorated hall. Sculptures and paintings filled the periphery and their arrangement reminded him of the throne room where he’d first been summoned. There were some chairs and couches that were shunted off to one side of the room. Aside from those, most of the room was just empty space.

“Our equipment is ready.” Mize announced, glancing at Jayce. “You aren’t allowed to practice with it because you might accidentally gain a new class or some levels. Everyone is supposed to enter the dungeon with one class at level 1. Ah, except for us team leaders who only have half a class.”

‘Does that mean Mize has never practiced fighting before? No, she just wasn’t able to unlock any classes until today. Considering her situation, I’m sure she’s an expert in some form of combat.’

With a wave of Mize’s hand, several objects appeared on the floor in front of Jayce.

“Put the defensive gear on first. Erilin, help the other two with theirs.”

Even with his autopilot engaged, Jayce froze up in confusion. None of the items by his feet looked anything like ‘defensive gear’. There were no pieces of armor, or even any clothes. Jayce was enlightened when he looked over at Erilin and saw her placing metal bands on the feathered dragon’s arms and legs. In his pile, there were five identical bands resting in an enlarged ring box. Jayce followed the instructions drawn on top of the box and snapped the bands onto his wrists, ankles and neck. When he finished, a faint white light swept across every inch of his skin. The light vanished as quickly as it came, but Jayce felt like there was something covering him now.

He tried pinching his skin, but the light didn’t appear.

Mize noticed what he was trying to do and grinned. “If you want, I can ask Erilin to help you test it.”

Jayce hurriedly shook his head.

“Pour some mental energy into it to form a connection.” She ordered.

Even though he had no idea what she was talking about, Jayce didn’t talk back and tried his best to follow her orders. To his surprise, he felt a stream of energy pour into the five bands. After a few seconds of focusing, Jayce felt something unlock inside his head. He could feel an intangible connection to his equipment. As for his mental energy, the cost to form a connection was negligible.

Five-Piece Protective Bands (Polished)

Energy Requirement: Below First Gate

A basic protective artifact built for humanoid lifeforms. Passively protects the body from damaging attacks and absorbs shock. When the barrier is broken it will slowly recharge.

Some information entered Jayce’s head when the connection formed, leaving him momentarily stunned.

“Polished?”

When Mize didn’t answer, Erilin eventually spoke up.

“Artifacts can be , normal or . Being polished means they are expertly made and will produce effects above their grade.”

“How do I see its grade?”

“The energy requirement is its grade. All of the gear you’re receiving is for lifeforms at the lowest level.”

Jayce glanced at the dark metal bands on his wrists. It seemed hard to believe that these lightweight objects were more effective than a suit of armor or a Kevlar vest. He was starting to understand why Mize didn’t look particularly impressed when he talked about human warfare, only praising him as being ‘not too primitive’.

‘Wait, then why was her father wearing a suit of armor? Fashion?’

Turning his attention to the weapons, Jayce couldn’t help but feel some excitement. There were two. An impressive white and gold rifle with glowing blue veins and a crescent shaped gun that looked alien to him. Jayce picked up the rifle first and formed a connection to it just like the bands.

Seeker (Polished)

Energy Requirement: Below First Gate

A lightweight rifle from the ‘Seeker’ series. Fires highly compressed mana bullets. Its stopping power, projectile speed and range are all above average for its grade.

With a length of 1.5 meters, this gun was clearly not meant for close range. Its shape reminded Jayce of bolt-action rifles, but there were no openings for bullets of any kind. To his surprise, the gun didn’t have a trigger either. A quick mental inspection showed him that the gun’s trigger was controlled by his mind. Even though it had a familiar shape, Jayce quickly realized that this gun’s internal structure was like nothing he’d ever seen.

Shaking his head, Jayce turned his attention to the other weapon.

Spirit Nail (Polished)

Energy Requirement: Below First Gate

Fires ‘spirit nails’ that will inhibit the target’s movement and mental reasoning. There are only ten nails in total and all of them will return to the gun when its user reloads. Sticking a target with all ten nails can reduce any lifeform below the first gate to a vegetable.

Note: A low-grade version of a certain artifact refiner’s pet project.

After seeing the name, Jayce could admit that it looked a little like a nail gun. There was a columnar grip in between the two ends of the crescent, and when held, he would point the outer edge of the crescent at enemies. On that outer edge, there was an inconspicuous hole where the nails would be fired from. Like the rifle, it could only fire one projectile at a time.

“Keep in mind, that gun’s bullets are ethereal.” Mize warned. “They’re only useful for support and don’t deal any physical damage.”

Jayce thought for a moment and then asked, “Can my protective bands block these?”

Erilin nodded appreciatively, knowing he’d found the core of the matter. “They can’t. That’s why those nails are so powerful. Armor and regenerative abilities are useless against that weapon.”

The edges of Jayce’s lips tugged upwards as he stared at the weapon in his hands. Getting gear and going into a dungeon to level up, it felt like he had been summoned into a VRMMO. Before Jayce could get too excited, he remembered the two most painful events of his life that had happened back to back. Even though he wasn’t going to undergo another baptism, that didn’t mean he was safe. It would be strange to expect to get out of this deadly tournament unscathed.

“Mize, with this gear, how would I fare against your siblings?”

“Hmm.” Mize’s tail swished while she pondered, a clear sign that she was enjoying herself. “If it’s Zoe, Liza or Quint…Maybe ten? If it’s me or Lors…About five, I guess.”

“Five/Ten what?”

“Seconds to live.”