The Grand Duelist

The three continued their journey within the almost pitch-black darkness of the Underground Penitentiary. Joseph insisted on staying in the middle of the path for he could sometimes hear the sounds of the condemned echoing within the thick walls of the Penitentiary.

"This is a goddamned cursed dungeon... Everything is too dark and scary. The place is cold and damp, and the smell of ammonia in the air is so thick I could basically see it floating in the air... Could a Janitor really work properly in here? Or is a Janitor even needed in here?"

Joseph thought to himself. He glanced at Ezreal and found that he didn't seem to be particularly bothered about everything within the Underground Penitentiary.

In fact, he had a cool and composed expression on his face.

But Joseph interpreted that as a facade...

After all, he had a certain theory about Ezreal's true identity.

"I'll ask that bastard later about what's going on with him after all of these is over."

The Jail Warden who led the way in front of them suddenly stopped. Ezreal also stopped moving and Joseph who was taken aback by this sudden change also stopped.

"We're here. But before we proceed within the confines of the true Underground Penitentiary." The Jail Warden didn't even glance at Ezreal as he stared directly at Joseph.

"Are you really sure that it is your desire to be a part of those that live within the dark and condemn those with ugly souls that committed heinous crimes?"

Joseph gulped a mouthful of saliva when he heard the serious tone behind the Jail Warden's message. Afterward, several system notifications floated in front of him.

[You are now eligible as a Jail Janitor of the Underground Penitentiary For Heinous Crimes of the Kingdom of Nether.]

[The Underground Penitentiary For Heinous Crimes is a damned place with all sorts of dangerous criminals locked in! It is not suitable for those with weakened, or weak mental faculties. The system will now assess your mental condition and review your eligibility for the position.]

[ Analyzing... ]

[ The system has confirmed that you are truly eligible for the offered position! ]

[ Due to special circumstances surrounding the Underground Penitentiary. If you refused the job offer, your memories will be altered so that the secrets within the Penitentiary can be protected from the masses until they finally surface at the right time indicated by the system. ]

[ Please think carefully! Once the job is accepted or refused. You must sign a particular waiver. If you accepted the job offer, you must sign the waiver and if not signed within the next 72 hours. You will automatically be stripped of your position and given a binding debuff until you sign another waiver for non-disclosure about the secrets within the Penitentiary. ]

[ If you refused the job offer, you must sign a particular waiver for the altering of your memories. The Game Company will give you special compensation for accepting the waiver and they will also observe you closely for any strange activities within your brain after altering your memories. ]

[ Do you want to accept the job offer, or not? ]

Joseph turned silent when he saw the numerous system notifications that appeared right before him. The words contained within the system notifications contained grave information that hinted on the dangers within the Underground Penitentiary.

Just from the fact alone that becoming a member of the Underground Penitentiary required signing a waiver meant that the Game Company itself was taking the dangers of the Penitentiary seriously.

Knowing this, what would Joseph do?

Of course, he would accept!

"Yes, sir. I am sure."

[ The job offer has been accepted! ]

[ You are now a part of the Underground Penitentiary's Team of Jail Janitors! Further information about your job description will be revealed to you by the NPCs so please stand by! ]

[ The necessary waiver for the job offer is now available. You can sign the waiver whenever you want by opening your Main Menu and tapping on your newly-opened Options button. ]

[ Good Luck, Adventurer! ]

"Hmmm, I admit that you have guts. In that case, I'll wish you luck in your journey of becoming an Inquisitor." The Jail Warden slightly smiled. Joseph's figure trembled for a moment and he was about to open his mouth so that he could ask something, but the Jail Warden suddenly cried out.

"Come out!"

His voice strangely didn't echo out far away even though they were still within the tight confines of the Penitentiary. But in response, the darkness in front of them suddenly whirled and formed into a whirlpool. From the whirlpool came out a middle-aged man.

The newcomer looked like a generic middle-aged man apart from the fact that he had a scar that extended from his ear down to his cheek. Because of this, his generic looks became quite scary that Joseph had to calm himself down for a moment before he could calmly stare at the guy.

"Illusion Techniques?" Ezreal blurted out when he saw the whirlpool that formed behind the middle-aged man newcomer.

"Oh? You can recognize that this is an Illusion Technique, not an Encapsulation one?" The Jail Warden turned to Ezreal with lingering interest within his tone of voice.

Ezreal looked somewhat angered. His ancestors were masters in all sorts of techniques and one of them was the Illusion Technique, of which even he was a master. How could he not differentiate between an Illusion Technique and a mere Encapsulation Technique? it was really funny...

Ezreal didn't reply to what the Jail Warden said.

'Why are you not replying? Don't act like that to the Jail Warden! You may ruin my quest!' Joseph inwardly screamed at Ezreal and he signaled using all sorts of methods to Ezreal.

But unfortunately, Ezreal only stared at him in confusion to Joseph's dismay: 'I swear if he ruins my mission like how he ruined my rewards, let's see what will happen!' Joseph swore that he'd never let Ezreal go if he ruined his plans.

Thankfully, the Jail Warden didn't mind it that much. He turned around and faced the newcomer.

"Guide these two to you and your brother's quarters. Inform them about the job description of Jail Janitors too." The Jail Warden said and the face of the newcomer imperceptibly changed. But he only bowed his head in reply before saying out loud: "I understand, sir Warden!"

The Jail Warden nodded his head before his body that was made out of smoke finally disappeared from their eyes.

Left alone with the newcomer. Joseph wasn't sure about what he should say.

He awkwardly scratched his head and stared at the stern expression of the middle-aged man before saying: "Ermmm, hello?"

Since the Jail Warden was already gone. The middle-aged man straightened out of his bow and coldly said: "Follow me, don't ask too many questions. I will only answer those what you need to know."

Joseph thought that the middle-aged man must've had a bad day and because of that, he didn't mind the rude attitude of the middle-aged man as much.

But for Ezreal who wasn't used to having someone as weak as the middle-aged man mocking him. He couldn't help but speak up: "Watch your mouth, we're not your servants."

The middle-aged man who led the way for the two suddenly stopped. He turned around and his scary visage became even scarier as he stared right into the eyes of the unyielding Ezreal.

"So, you are tough?" He asked.

Joseph coughed so that he could interrupt the two before saying: "No sir, we're certainly not tough. Yeah, we're not tough, right? Ezreal?" He even repeatedly blinked in an effort to send a message to Ezreal, but Ezreal ignored his signals as he replied.

"Yes, we are tough. So, what?" Ezreal specifically said, "we" and because of that.

Joseph was suddenly implicated by what was going on.

"Hey, what are you saying that we are tough? You're the only one that's tough! I'm not tough! I'm weak, okay!" Joseph hurriedly screamed out in an effort to dispel the misunderstanding.

The middle-aged man swept his gaze at the two...

He didn't mind what Joseph was saying for he only stared at Ezreal.

In fact, he didn't even spare a glance at Joseph whom he judged as extremely weak.

The danger signals that he honed from dealing with hundreds of criminals only worked with Ezreal.

His signals were saying that Ezreal was an incredibly dangerous person that he must not trifle with. But right now, they were in the Underground Penitentiary and this was his turf.

These two were newly-appointed Jail Janitor, and even though Ezreal was stronger than him. He had a far honorable position than these two.

This was the reason why he felt confident against Ezreal.

Hierarchy was extremely important within the Underground Penitentiary.

This was for the sake of maintaining the chain of command of the prison.

Because of this, if Ezreal truly opposed him then he could easily file a complaint and have Ezreal imprisoned along with the other criminals here for dereliction of duty and opposing those of higher position.

But of course, directly accusing them of treason and imprisoning them easily like that was boring...

And so, he replied...

"I see, so both of you are tough? Since both of you are so strong and tough. It'd be easy for both of you to reach the quarters of the Jail Janitors at the end of this dark corridor, right?"

"In that case then I will just leave right now. Wish you luck, and once both of you managed to survive. I hope that you two would finally understand..."

"Understand that the world within the Underground Penitentiary is vastly different from the outside world. Strength doesn't matter in here, only status and position..."

"Because of that, even though you are really strong. Within the confines of this dungeon, I am still the victor." He stared directly at Ezreal in a mocking manner.

Ezreal merely maintained his icy look as the middle-aged man venomously smiled. He waved his sleeve and a whirlpool made out of darkness appeared behind him once again. Without even waiting for the reply of the two. The whirlpool sucked him in and he disappeared from their sight.

Afterward, the whirlpool vanished.

"Gone, just like that?" Joseph thought.

He then fiercely glared at Ezreal before saying: "Look at what you did, you fucked up man."

Ezreal shrugged and acted innocently: "What do you mean about that, Master? I never did anything wrong."

"You never did anything wrong?! You could've done better than what you did today. Now, what should we do? We're alone now, and without a guide inside this dark and stinky dungeon!" Joseph looked like he was about to go crazy.

"Hahaha..." Ezreal lightly laughed.

"You're even laughing?!" Joseph fiercely glared at Ezreal.

"Don't master think that this is a great opportunity?"

Joseph's eyes widened when he heard the word, "opportunity". He swept his gaze around him and couldn't find anything about the opportunity that Ezreal was talking about.

"Don't master think that the Underground Penitentiary is too tame in contrast to what the rumors are saying about it? I mean, ever since we met the Jail Warden. We didn't see any prisoners or even monsters that often lurked within cold and damp dungeons like this..."

Ezreal's words made sense and Joseph exclaimed: "Wait, you're right! Even though the smell of ammonia is too thick, the surrounding itself is too clean! But wait, didn't you mention something about Illusion Techniques earlier? Could that be the reason why..."

"Yes, master! That's the reason why!" Ezreal cried out in excitement.

He didn't even let Joseph finish his sentence.

"But although I do not have any experience when it comes to facing against Illusion Techniques, you know about my identity right?"

"I am supposed to be immune to all sorts of abnormal conditions and that should include Illusion Techniques," Joseph asked in an uncertain manner. He had a hint about what was going on, but he couldn't say for sure without proof.

"It's true that those of the myths are immune to abnormal statuses or conditions, but what if the Illusion Techniques weren't used against you but on your surroundings?" Ezreal made a proposal which ignited the excitement and shock within Joseph's eyes.

"Wait, are you saying that what we are seeing right are just illusions?" Joseph couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, master! That's exactly what I am talking about!" Ezreal's excitement deepened.

"Then, how can we break this Illusion Technique? Are we even supposed to break it? The Jail Warden led the way for us amidst this so-called Illusions so what if we got lost after we broke it?" Joseph asked in a concerned manner.

"We are supposed to break this master. Did you see that whirlpool earlier that swallowed that arrogant and ignorant prick? His disappearance was just a part of the performance to make you think that he just transferred into another place instead of re-entering reality!"

Joseph doubts were finally removed, but he still had doubts so, he asked once again...

"That does make sense. So, can you remove these Illusion Techniques?" Joseph went straight into the point and Ezreal coldly snorted: "Hmmph! Just who do you think I am, master? Let me tell you this, back then when I was just a Gre-"

"Okay, okay, okay I understand! Please just tell me about how are we going to break these Illusion Techniques!" Joseph hurriedly stopped Ezreal from talking because he knew from his experience that Ezreal would never stop talking once he started.

Especially if he started one of his bragging sessions about his journey throughout the continent.

Ezreal puffed his cheeks in apparent irritation due to the fact that Joseph stopped him from talking about his adventures whilst he was still the Great Wandering Bard.

But he actually felt conflicted...

He wanted to continue on talking but at the same time...

He understood that priorities should be first.

Joseph noticed what he was feeling so, he said.

"How about this Ezreal, isn't it boring to only talk about your adventures to a single person? How about you talk with that bastard earlier? His face looks like he had never seen sunlight and I think that he'd appreciate you talking to him about the outside world."

Joseph made a proposal in an effort to console Ezreal.

Ezreal's eyes brightened in excitement: "You're right, master. I'm sorry that I was too hasty."

Joseph nodded his head: "As long as you can understand and not do it again, then I accept your apology."

Meanwhile, Joseph profusely apologized to the middle-aged man in his mind for he knew about the terror of talking with Ezreal.

Especially, when the topic was about his adventures as the Great Wandering Bard.

"When it comes to breaking these Illusion Techniques, I need Master's help..."

"Oh? What help?" Joseph's interest was piqued. This was the first time that the powerful Ezreal asked for his help.

"It's like this, master..." Ezreal moved and whispered his plans to Joseph.

After a short moment, with the efforts of the two. A dull explosion rang out within the Undeground Penitentiary and a part of its true colors has finally been revealed...