Jack floated down the short, stone corridor.
The air here was different. It was less like a prison. But more like... a treasure vault. The oppressive feel of the Underworld still lingered though.
The corridor opened into a wider block. Not a vast cavern like the Dragon's lair, but a structured area. Twelve cells lined the walls, six on each side.
Heavy iron bars formed the fronts. Thick enough to hold something substantial. Inside each cell, a figure was either slumped or chained upright. They were all bound and gagged.
Muffled cloth stuffed roughly into their mouths. Thick and dark chains bound them to the walls or to the floor. Some had additional seals etched into the stone around them. Or marked directly onto their skin.
These were high-security prisoners.
Jack drifted closer. Inspecting them. A mix of races, sizes, and postures of despair or defiance. Twelve souls, locked away.
Then, the ancient voice, the disembodied narrator of these whole trials, boomed through the space. It wasn't loud. Not physically. But it resonated directly in Jack's consciousness.
"Trial of Freedom. Bonus Stage!"
Jack stopped his slow glide. A bonus stage? In prison escape? He hadn't expected that.
"The prisoners of this stage can be recruited to help for the next stage of the current phase."
Recruitment? He was supposed to break out, not build a crew. This trial was full of curveballs. Help for the 'next stage of the current phase'? The current phase should have been escaping the Underworld Prison. So, these guys could help him leave? Interesting!
"Warning! Each prisoner has different types of specialties and carries different degrees of risks. Make a careful choice in recruitment."
Right. Risky choices. Of course. They were most likely sinners, criminals. Recruiting the wrong ones would surely be like inviting them to stab him from the back.
But Jack had a cheat. He focused his senses. Activating his cheat-like [Eyes of Judgement]. The sight mode that let him peer into the essential nature of things. See the data that defined them in this reality.
He started with the prisoner closest to him. A hulking figure of dark grey skin and thick muscle.
As his gaze settled, a familiar data panel popped into his view. Overlaid on the figure in the cell.
[Entity: Underworld Prisoner]
[Name: Mauler Warbrew]
[Species: Half Orc]
[Karma: Evil]
[Power Level: Very High]
[Power Class: Raging Berserker]
[Current Status: Bound, Gagged, Sealed]
[Specialty: Frenzied Fighter, Extreme Strength]
[Personalities: Psychopathic, Sadistic, Selfish]
[Crimes: Mass Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Betrayals, Arson, Torture, Cannibalism, Grave Desecration, Treason, Regicide, Attempted Genocide, ... ]
Jack stared at the list of crimes. It scrolled down the panel. A litany of horrors. It kept going. It felt longer than his own past life's browser history. And that was saying something.
Mauler Warbrew? More like Mauler War... criminal. Psychopathic. Sadistic. Selfish. Evil Karma. Very High Power Level. It meant he was a massive threat even if he hadn't committed half the atrocities listed.
Jack felt a cold knot form in his gut. This was exactly the kind of 'guilty' he sought out and punished. Freeing this 'creature' was unthinkable. Even if he could be useful.
No. Absolutely not. He deserved every chain, every seal, every moment of his imprisonment. There was no way Jack would recruit this thing. Period.
He moved on. Letting his gaze drift across the other eleven prisoners. Seven of them displayed similar red flags in their data panels. Though the specifics varied.
All seven had Evil Karma, high to very high Power Levels, and extensive lists of crimes. Their personalities were consistently negative. Cruel. Arrogant. Greedy. Treacherous. Unstable.
Their Power Classes were different. Highlighting the variety of powerful individuals locked away here.
Three were Eldritch Warlocks. People who drew power from terrifying outer entities. Two were Supernatural Sorcerers. People who tapped into innate magical abilities.
Two were Fallen Acolytes. Servants of fallen deities with twisted and corrupted Faith Power. One was a Mystic Scholar. A person whose power came from learning forbidden knowledge and arcane secrets.
The last from the seven was a Heartless Swordsman. Someone whose connection with his blade reached an extreme level. Severing emotions toward other things.
From the last three, one prisoner stood out. He was... terrible, even among the rogues' gallery. His panel showed Pure Evil Karma. A black stain spreading across the display.
His Power Level wasn't just Very High. It was Extremely High. The highest among the ones he evaluated. His Power Class was listed as Primordial Warrior.
His crimes were fewer. Less detailed. But hinted at acts of destruction on a colossal scale. His Personality field was filled with just a single description... Malevolent.
Just looking at his data made Jack's spectral form shivered. Feeling a chill that had nothing to do with temperature. Freeing him would likely be the end of the trial. The end of his own existence. Another definite 'no'.
But then, Jack came to the last two cells. As his Eyes of Judgement focused. The data panels that appeared were different. Their Karma wasn't Evil. Both had Neutral Karma.
Their Power Levels were also high. But not overwhelmingly so, compared to the others. Their personalities weren't marked by malice.
Jack checked for details...
[Entity: Underworld Prisoner]
[Name: Flint Edgecrow]
[Species: Human]
[Karma: Neutral]
[Power Level: High]
[Power Class: Supernatural Sorcerer]
[Current Status: Bound, Gagged, Sealed]
[Specialty: Shadow Control, Stealth]
[Personalities: Pragmatic, Reserved, Loyal (Conditional)]
[Crimes: Large Scaled Thefts, Extensive Property Damage, Resisting Arrest]
Okay. Neutral Karma. High Power. A few relatively minor crimes compared to mass murder and soul-selling. 'Loyal (Conditional)' was interesting.
Not innocent. But not inherently malicious either. A supernatural thief who probably crossed some lines. This was a potential recruit.
The other one.
[Entity: Underworld Prisoner]
[Name: Zendo]
[Type: Human]
[Karma: Neutral]
[Power Level: High]
[Power Class: Martial Monk]
[Current Status: Bound, Gagged, Sealed]
[Specialty: Hand-to-Hand Mastery, Complete Body Control, Ki Control]
[Personalities: Disciplined, Calm, Principled]
[Crimes: Murdering Nobles, Disrupting Public Order, Resisting Arrest]
Neutral Karma. High Power. Monastic type. Principled personality. This one looked even better than Kael. His crimes seemed reasonable. He didn't care about the 'murdering nobles' one. Not many nobles were good people. Definitely a potential ally.
For Jack, his observation of the prisoners wasn't just about recruitment. It was an education. The data panels provided new classifications and terms. Especially about power classes.
He recognized Eldritch Warlocks, Supernatural Sorcerers, Mystic Scholars, and Fallen Acolytes. They were some of the primary 'transcendent' power types he had learned and encountered outside the trial.
But these other classes... Raging Berserker, Heartless Swordsman, Primordial Warrior, Martial Monk. They felt older. Perhaps more primal. Or too rare to be found in the current era.
The Raging Berserker... exemplified by Mauler Warbrew. It was transcendent power gained by linking soul and physique to emotion. Unadulterated physical fury.
It wasn't just amplifying strength through rage. It was pushing the user beyond their physical limits, ignoring pain and reason.
It was dangerous because of its inherent lack of control. And the specific, psychopathic personality it tended to create as side effect. It represented a path of power fueled by internal turmoil and unleashed violence.
The Heartless Swordsman... seen in one of the evil prisoners was the opposite. It was a transcendent path of martial skill purged of emotion. Not just training discipline. But an active mystical suppression or removal of empathy, fear, and restraint.
This transcendent class generated swordsman who killed with perfect, brutal efficiency. Unburdened by conscience or hesitation. Their power came from absolute focus and lack of human weakness. Making them terrifyingly effective killers.
A chilling counterpoint to the passionate fury of the Berserker. Skill honed to a terrifying degree. Mystically divorced from any emotion or moral framework.
The Primordial Warrior... the power class of the terrifying Pure Evil entity was ancient system. It utilized fundamental power tied to the very essence life.
It was acquired through mystical concoctions that brought the consumers to the brink of death. And torturing them with extreme spiritual and physical pain.
Only the one who survived could gain the power class. One with terrifying resilience, constitution, stamina, and burst of power. The drawback was... not many of the surviving Primordial Warrior could stay sane.
And finally, the Martial Monk... the class of the other 'decent' prisoner. This class gained transcendental power through strict discipline. Through physical and mental rigor. And drawing power of 'ki' from within. From focused energy or spiritual practice.
Unlike the chaotic Berserker, the emotionless Swordsman, or the destructive Primordial Warrior, the Martial Monk suggested a path of self-mastery and honed physical ability.
Their power wasn't external magic or raw emotional output. But internalized strength and skill made supernatural. This required constant hard work for a long time though.
Jack processed this new information. The trial was indirectly teaching him about the landscape of power in this reality. Even as it challenged him to escape it.
Jack contemplated. His human form, Jack Night, was a Steamrune Engineer. His current specter form, Jack Mystery, was a Mystic Scholar. But...
His Black Buto form, Judge Jack, hadn't adopted any power class. Always brute forcing through everything only using his high attribute and supernatural trait. Should he choose a power class for it?
Then, what about this bonus stage. Should he free the only two decent ones among the prisoners? Or could he risk freeing others too?