Chapter 2

  Theo was still looking around, and out of nowhere, he felt a presence all around him looking at him, which was very weird because he saw no one in sight. Then a message appeared:

  “Would you like to be soul-bound to the pseudo-divine being, genius locorum, known as Gehenna, yes or no?”

  Confused and dazed by all the events that happened in less than five minutes,

  “What in the world is happening?” Theo pondered, his mind swirling with confusion.

  The pressure intensified around him; no words were exchanged. The presence felt impatient, and again, the message appeared before him, with the inkling that saying no would be a terrible decision. Out loud,

  Theo said, “Yes.”

  With the utterance of that one word, a connection formed between him and Gehenna, and then a searing pain hit him throughout his entire body. It felt like every cell in his body was on fire. In his pain, he went on his knees and then curled up in the fetal position. Then it all went black. Waking up, Theo saw a message before his eyes:

  “Congratulations on a successful soul bond with Gehenna.”

  In the back of his head, he felt another smug and happy presence, and the pressure of the feeling they had all around him moments ago was not gone but different, like when you walk into your home after a very long day.

  “What is going on?” Theo thought.

  In response, he received images and feelings explaining that he had just found himself as the Warden of this plane.

  “Is there any information on what that means?” In response, he saw a massive room filled with books.

  “Okay, that will take me forever to find the information, even if it is there.” Can I speak with someone to figure out what's going on? Theo thought.

  In response, he got an image of a tablet sitting at a gold-plated desk, a purple rug with red banners across the room, and a decorative sword over the fireplace.

  “God, that is garish and gaudy,” Theo thought.

  Theo noticed it was no longer extremely hot and dry; he felt comfortable. At the same time, the prison gates opened, and he felt a mental nudge from the bond to head towards the now open gate. As he walked closer to the prison, he could see towers and barbed wire that were similar to those of modern prisons, but the stone walls looked ancient, like those of a medieval castle. All towers looked rough and rundown. As Theo was walking, even inside the courtyard, nothing was on the ground; it was desolate, just dirt. There was no pathway of any kind, just compact dirt. The walls were solid, with no cracks, but just looked old, which felt right for the building. The ancient prison appeared to have been standing there for centuries. Walking inside, the stone walls and floors were unadorned. It was a large entranceway with numerous doors on the back wall. To his right, part of the wall slid down, revealing a staircase. He felt another mental nudge to go that way. As he was on the stairway, the missing part of the wall rose from the ground and closed off seamlessly. Shaking his head, he started to head up the staircase. No doorways opened up for him, so he continued up to the top level of the prison, and at the end, he was huffing and puffing.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Man, I’m out of shape,” Theo thought.

  As soon as he reached the top, the part of the wall slid down, showing the office from the vision. Sending a thought to Gehenna

  “Is there any way that I can change the décor?” Theo thought

  Gehenna sent Theo a vision of him thinking of a design or layout of the office, and then sending that image to Gehenna

  Following the instructions, Theo imagined a new look for the room and sent that image to Gehenna. To his surprise, the office transformed into a more comfortable and inviting space, complete with a wooden desk, a leather chair, and the fireplace bursting into life, radiating warmth throughout the room and creating a cozy ambiance. The red banners on the wall transformed into pictures of landscapes, and the decorative sword was still on the mantel of the fireplace.

  Sitting down in a very comfortable chair, he saw a metal device that resembled a modern tablet—a glass screen and a metal case—but on the back, there were numerous engravings that he wasn’t sure of. Touching the screen, it turned on, but he could not read the language. Sending his thoughts toward the still smug and happy being, it showed images and feelings again. It showed a vague outline of a person opening up one of the drawers of the desk, grabbing a small dagger, then using the dagger to make a small cut on one of their fingers and dropping a bit of blood on the device. With nothing else to lose, Theo followed the instructions and did it. As soon as the blood touched the tablet, he felt a minor but similar connection to it than from Gehenna. On the device, the words changed into English, and it said,

  “Welcome to the Galaxy Trade Store, also known as GTS.”

  There were various options he could click on. There was even a search function. Out of curiosity, he clicked on one that had weapons. There was a buying and selling option featuring a variety of weapons ranging from Common to Legendary.

  “Whatever that means,” Theo muttered, his disbelief evident.

  Exiting out of the weapons tab, he found a section for tutors and scholars. When he was about to click on one, another option appeared: "System Guide/Integration.” Clicking on that, he saw a fee ranging from 1,000 gold to an outrageous number: 1 trillion gold. The exorbitant amount took Theo aback.

  “Who can even afford that?” Theo thought.

  With that, the other party in his mind showed him images of numerous vaults filled with coins, jewels, and orbs, along with a sense that the 1 trillion was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the wealth he had at his disposal.

  “Okay, I guess I’m going to go with the outrageous one,” Theo mumbled.

  With that, he hit the 1 trillion option.