"..."
Viria woke up due to the swaying of the boat.
When he came to and straightened his back he realized that he was tied up.
After carefully looking around he saw two men rowing a small boat while the third one was sitting right in front of him, carefully watching his every move.
"Did they change my sentence to being dumped into the ocean or something?"
The young man asked, motioning his head at the man keeping an eye on him.
'Where do you think the Prison Dungeon is located?"
The man answered Viria's question with another question, but he also pointed behind his back with his thumb, making the young man furrow his brows and look up over his shoulder.
Indeed, although their boat was surrounded by a mass of water that seemed boundless at the first glance, there was a dark shape creeping up in their direction right where the man was pointing.
"The lone island where criminals from all over the empire are brought to work for the betterment of the society..."
"Correct."
Viria breathed out in hesitation, feeling that something is wrong, while the man in front of him nodded his head in confirmation.
He certainly wasn't a talkative type, that's for sure.
"...?"
Viria furrowed his brows, still unable to point out what exactly didn't seem right to him, where his eyes wandered to the bottom of their small boat, and he noticed a small bag with various medicinal herbs by the leg of his guard.
Then he realized – his face didn't hurt nearly as much as he expected it to after getting beaten up so much by the court guard!
"...you've treated my wounds..."
Viria said in a hesitant voice. His face still felt sore, but the difference between back then and now was colossal.
...although it was suspicious in and of itself...
It was understandable that the jailors wouldn't want a prisoner to die before he even got to the prison, but... wasn't the care provided a bit too much? It certainly didn't feel like basic medical care.
"Correct."
The man nodded his head with an indifferent expression... and that single word was all that he had to say.
"Why?"
"Lord Warden's orders."
Viria inquired and the answer he received could only be shorter if the man didn't say anything and just shrugged it off.
After that, Viria tried to have a conversation with the guard and the two in charge of rowing, but he soon realized that it would be easier to make the boat they were in speak than to get more relevant information from the trio.
Although Viria wasn't sure how long they were on their way before he woke up, it wasn't afternoon until the island hosting the Prison Dungeon showed itself properly, and then it still took them until the sunset to actually come ashore.
The name Prison Dungeon wasn't just some play on words, it was as literally as it got.
There were hundreds of monster-spawning dungeons all across not only the Spirit Empire, but the entire world, and one of the most profitable ones to harvest materials and minerals from was the one right in front of Viria.
The entire place was managed by the Vindras family through generations, but instead of being open to any martial artist wanting to explore it, just like most of the dungeons available, it was ruled with an iron hand by them.
To make matters even more surprising, although it was confirmed that Prison Dungeon is one of the largest and deepest dungeons in the world, only the first three floors were being explored and mined.
Apparently, there were two reasons for that.
First – each night all the minerals and monsters would simply respawn, ready to be harvested the next day.
Second – the monsters living on the lower floors were too dangerous to attempt slaying.
Not to mention that floors four to eight straight up collapsed, making it far too difficult to explore...
The second reason was related to the abilities of the lord Warden. Yarezu Vindras. His god grade soul weapon – Eleven Gates – granted him eleven abilities, amongst which one allowed him to set a limit on someone's cultivation level, turning even the most dangerous criminals into easy-to-manage workers.
Even though only three levels of the Prison Dungeon were in active exploration, it still was one of the most profitable places in the entire Empire – why would the warden and his family not want to explore deeper? The wealth that should be found there could be unimaginable...!
And yet, despite that fact, nothing changed at all, as everything happening behind the walls of the Prison Dungeon was developing according to its warden's will.
That was the place where Viria was supposed to spend the rest of his life – which realistically speaking didn't have to be all that long.
No matter how good he was with his little low-level martial arts, with a trash grade soul artifact that couldn't even put a chink in a guard's armor before breaking, there was little to no chance to survive multiple encounters with monsters of any type.
...not to mention other prisoners, who despite having their cultivation levels restricted, simply had to be stronger than he was...
The future was bleak...
Viria breathed out before raising his head and glaring at the massive, menacingly-looking black door in the middle of a dome-like structure that was the first level o the dungeon.
"Lord Warden is a just man, don't worry."
"...huh...?"
The man who healed Viria surprised the young man by muttering kind of reassuringly before having the other two push the door open.
Stunned Viria was staring at the other man with confusion before the door opened and he was blinded by the bright light coming from the inside.
"What in the...?!"
If the words of the surprisingly kind man were enough to throw him off, then the first look at the first floor of the Prison Dungeon straight up took his breath away, leaving him wide-eyed and with his mouth ajar.
The bright light, colorful stands by the cozy-looking huts, tens and hundreds of people walking around with bright, happy expressions as if they were enjoying some sort of a festival...
"...!"
Viria shook his head and unintentionally took a step back.
What was that supposed to be?