Despite this being literal hell, Selena seemed to relax at learning their current location. "Ah, I see. We should consider ourselves lucky to be in the first circle of hell, instead of deeper down. There is hope for our group and we may be able to return to the mortal realm in good time."

"We're in literal hell. Why do you sound relieved?" Wade asked, not understanding. "Isn't this eternal damnation?"

And also invaded by the blackrot, although that part felt more like a pro than a con right now to Wade.

"Eternal damnation?" Selena seemed confused to hear that.

"Reckon she's not worried because she knows the way out?" Illy asked. "Being a Paladin and all that, she'd be familiar with hell?"

"Paladin-in-training, Lady Illy," Selena corrected. "And I am familiar with this territory, in that I've read about it within maps and history lessons. As for the way out, it is the same as any other realm. The spirit realm borders every domain and is generally used in worldwide travel. The infernal realm is no exception. The barriers between realms grow thin around the skies of the first circle, so towers are built on the mountain peaks high enough that rituals work correctly. If we book a ferry to one of those towers, we can travel into the spirit realm. From there, we journey back to the mortal realm."

She moved toward Wade, dusting the metallic sand from his shirt. "My relief of our present location stems primarily from this." The gauntlet lifted up the particles of metal. "Mithril." She rubbed her fingers as it fell down like salt. "Which means, we are inside the mithril sea."

"And the feck would that be?"

"It is the barrier built to contain the blackrot invasion of hell."

"The what?" Illy rubbed one of her ears, "Sorry, I thought I heard you say something about hell itself getting invaded."

"It was." Selena said, dusting the mithril sand off her fingers with a few hand claps. "This all happened long before my time. The infernal realm suffered especially severe consequences when the blackrot rifts appeared into our dimension. And here, I believe it started from the ninth circle. After which, the invasion slowly advanced up the circles, searching for the way out. If the blackrot made it to the first circle and climbed high enough, they would have a direct line back to the mortal realm, something everyone needed to prevent. And while the invasion on Azdrial was successfully contained, the numbers coming from hell were predicted to overwhelm anything the nations could fight back against. So there was a war to hold them off while a barrier was planned and implemented."

"The.. uh, mithril sea?" Wade asked, to which Selena nodded.

Zin had told him it was the most jank bit of desperation he'd seen mortals come together to do.

"I suppose the architects had a more technical name for it," Selena continued. "However, colloquially, it is known as the mithril sea, or the shimmering sea. Mithril is one of the few ways to contain Blackrot after all."

Illy held up and waved her hands, "Hang on a wee second: Is hell even the same thing here? Because back home, it's where the rotten souls go for their eternal comeuppance. And you seemed more puzzled about that bit earlier."

Selena started to think it through for a moment. "I suppose it was something like this once? According to history books, long ago souls that failed to live up to their chosen god's judgements would be brought into this realm and given a slight chance at redemption if they completed trials and made it to the ninth circle without being eaten. Demons would consume their souls or something of that kind. I'm not certain, it's ancient history so I only know this as a paragraph or two within a text during lessons. For a more in-depth understanding, perhaps older demons would remember?"

"So these demons aren't... pure evil then?" Illy turned to Selena, her brow raised in confusion.

"Pure evil? I beg your pardon?" The elf asked, more confused. "Those I have met thus far have been very humble and honest folk to me." Her ears wiggled around with the actual question Selena wanted to ask.

Illy understood and sighed, "Well on Earth, they're basically the embodiment of all things wicked. Tempters of souls, torturers of the damned, the bartenders who water down whisky when nobody's looking. That's why I asked."

"That is rather…" Selena said, feathers and ears moving around. "Well. I suppose earth humans and our humans are at least similar enough beyond appearances. I can understand thinking the same about demons."

Wade narrowed his eyes on that. "How are humans seen on Azdrial?"

He remembered there was some elf racism here, and since they were about to break free, maybe better to know ahead of time what to expect.

Selena looked guilty for a moment, looked over to Illy, who shrugged back. "Go on knife-ears, say it all flat out."

The half-elf sighed, then looked down at the ground. "Humans are a short lived, physically weak but territorial and aggressive race. Their only advantages are fast breeding, a strong liver, and compatibility with just about every race and monster out there. Most beastkin are half human as a result. Humans also tend to universally live within burrows, tents and dens no matter where they are in the world and form small highly social tribes."

"Wade," Illy asked. "Am I hearing this right, or did she just describe all of humanity like a pack of chihuahuas?"

"And part gopher." Wade added. "I think we have a poor reputation on Azdrial."

"I can.. somewhat understand your chihuahuas as a pet dog breed?" Selena was having a difficult time with Market's blessing whispering in her ear what things were. "I don't mean to insult your race as gophers either. Humans simply seem pathologically attracted to having shelter above their heads."

"I sense there's some more there you know about." Wade said, giving her a questioning eyebrow. "Why the liver? That seems oddly specific."

"Humans always find ways to make liquor from anything." Selena said with a shrug. "Anything."

Eri clicked his jaws in the background, as if deeply amused. Wade turned to him, "I'm guessing you found a way to make booze even under the Nathir thumb?"

The skeleton lifted one hand and gave him a thumbs up.

Illy came up and elbowed the elf, "And? You had other things on your head about humanity here, spill it."

"And…" The elf crumpled in on herself, as if defeated. "And you are notorious for short term thinking, unnatural fascination with fire, and always travel in packs. If someone is walking by a group of humans, it is almost expected they will harass you, simply for being near their territory."

"We are the angry geese at public lakes," Leon said, laughing. "No, wait. We are their version of goblins."

"Goblins constitute a completely separate species unrelated to humans." Selena clarified, looking confused. "They're more commerce-oriented with better long-term thinking. Humans are considered odd in comparison as you- or rather humanity I mean, lives twice as long as goblins and yet have difficulty planning more than a year ahead."

"I think she just called our whole race idiots that can't plan anything." Illy laughed.

Selena ears started twitching rapidly, as if trying to recover from this. "I did not mean you couldn't think ahead, only that… oh goddess, I mean it…" She stopped trying to think. "Long term planning doesn't occur naturally to humankind without self-reflection, deliberate planning and training."

Wade wondered how she'd react to learning all of earth was controlled by humanity and no other species at all. The way she spoke of humans out on Azdrial, it was as if they'd accomplished very little of note. Although... she did have a point about short term thinking.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The number of issues with company CEO's breaking everything just for a little bit more profit for the next quarter was a tale as old as time.

"Gonna have to learn a wee bit more about elf habits if I'm to insult them back properly." Illy answered, the smile widening. "Should be a right laugh."

Leon interrupted, helping the poor elf out. "Maybe we talk about how to escape hell some more instead of socio-cultural preparation? You saying they built towers to escape?"

Selena shook her head, but looked deeply relieved to have an out. "Not to escape, those towers are built to assist maintenance of the mithril sea, to make it easier for mage teams to travel here. Demonkind can't escape the infernal realm in the same way mortals can. They are bound by the old gods to the infernal realm. They cannot truly die, when their bodies do, their essence is drawn back here. I heard the stronger demons could escape on their own power, however, all others could only escape by being contracted to a warlock. Almost all had to go that route."

"You make it sound like there's a huge catch to that." Illy said. "What's the problem?"

Wade already knew. He'd met Zin. He just couldn't say a word about it due to the contract.

"In desperation to escape, they were forced to accept any offer. Even if those contracts were essentially enslavement. That is why I pity them, their lives on Azdrial are only slightly better than what they could expect under the mithril sea. And despite being great immortal warriors, they are terrified of dying far more than mortals would be now."

Wade remained silent, thinking about Zin's situation in a new light.

If any of the yokels heard a high blood like me is still kicking rocks and eating nice things like this while they're probably starving or fighting for their lives, well if I were in their shoes, I'd be looking to rectify that glaring issue personally.

That's what he meant. But Wade didn't have more time to think on it, as light started to seep through the darkness beyond, slowly illuminating their little cave.

The group all turned their attention, everyone equally confused. Things started to grow pale, almost like a half-light dawn. Then all at once, the storm passed through and left completely.

Just slipped past, gone.

Wade saw an almost ashen sky outside. As if someone had taken a black and white photograph. No clouds were above, no sun anywhere either. The sewer tunnel was naturally slanted downwards, and Wade could see a larger clearing outside.

It was all filled with shimmering wet mithril sand, quite a lot of it looking trapped in what he recognized as almost black purple leaves and moss on the ground. The leaves were shaking in a small wind, the mithril slipping off in clumps like oil on water.

Wade took a few steps to the gateway, squinting against the strange light. Then he got to see what was beyond the rocks blocking his sight. The view made him pause mid-step.

Before him stretched what could only be described as a sea.

Not of water, but instead made of iridescent clouds.

"What the hell..." He muttered, then half-groaned at his unintentional pun. "What is all this?"

Selena walked out at his side, watching. "This would be the mithril sea." She looked equally starstruck, and Wade had the feeling for her it was also the first time seeing this in person.

"All right, I can see why it's called a sea." Wade said. There was a massive wall of similar clouds far off to their left. Like a tsunami moving away from them. So huge, he'd thought for a moment it wasn't moving at all. "And that thing?"

"I heard there are seven waves that perpetually roam through this world." Selena said. "I believe we were simply caught within one of those waves as it passed us by. The sight is indeed as... massive as was reported. They claimed only the very peaks of mountains here or the towers were taller."

Massive was an understatement, the wall of cloud moving away from them seemed to outright eat the horizon line. Wade could see nothing beyond the retreating wave.

The 'regular' cloud sea on the other hand looked turbulent, roiling and moving. Covering the entire world like an ocean would. And in the distance, he could make out small dots of dirt and deep purple colors. Islands that looked more like sharp triangles through the cloudy expanse.

No, he realized, if it's all clouds out there, then we're on mountain tops.

Far beyond, walls of shimmering gray clouds blocked the horizon line completely, creating the impression that they were standing at the edge of a vast bowl. The other waves, slowly making their way through the world then?

"And all of that is mithril sandstorms?" Wade asked, gesturing toward the cloud sea. "The whole thing?"

Selena's feathers puffed up and down. "Somewhat correct? It is pulverized mithril suspended in an alchemical solution." She walked further out into the light, then knelt down and cupped a handful of wet mithril sand. "Mithril is dense and generally heavier than water. However, the cloud solution here allows the mithril remain floating this high up. I am unsure the details beyond this, I am no alchemist. I think at our current altitude, the solution isn't effective, however if I threw this clump down far enough, it would begin to expand out into vapor and float again, clinging to the mithril."

Selena let the clump of wet mithril slide off her fingers, back down on the ground.

Wade looked up to the rest of the mountain and realized he couldn't see the top. It felt more like he was sitting at the very base, not halfway up it already. He couldn't see how far off the sides the mountain was either.

The Nathir had build their shelter city into all this, like goddamn mount olympus. Maybe the height they'd built it at would make it difficult for land-based attacks?

When he walked further out the clearing and looked down, what he saw was a giant cliff of hearty purple plants and dirt, before it was all swallowed up by the clouds lapping off the side far below. The cliff wasn't incredibly steep, but still gave him some vertigo just looking at it. "And… under that cloud layer?"

"The remnants of the late demonkind civilizations I would expect," Selena said with a shrug. "Cities overrun with Blackrotten demons, all tearing at each other. Or plains of untended farmlands, with infected animals moving around. I am not certain. What I do know is that each time they die to one another, they are returned to life elsewhere, free for as long as they can run and hide. I hear there are survivors that manage to climb up these mountains past the mithril sea every now and then, and that replenishes the population of demons that do die on the mortal realm."

"Survivors?" Wade thought. "Wait, there's still demons living here? Above the cloud layer?"

"Well yes? So long as they do not fall back through the sea themselves, there is little danger on this side of the barrier. And being bound to the infernal realm, they cannot travel like traders do, they need to be summoned directly into another realm. Mountain tops here are the only place in hell where the blackrot cannot invade, so the survivors exist here. Some mountains are more hospitable than others. This particular mountain seems too steep for any city, or maybe we might find some kind of civilization on the other side? A map of this region would help."

"An' the demon folks here, they ain't afraid the blackrot won't just tunnel through the mountains up and avoid this whole cloud layer?" Illy asked, also coming to stand next to Wade to look out at the sight.

Selena shook her head. "Blackrot is as intelligent as an animal would be. Demons are intelligent, certainly. However, Blackrotten Demons are still completely feral and incapable of planning something as complicated as that. I would imagine all ladders or trails that lead out of the sea up to the mountains here must pass through the cloud layer in some way."

It all looked rather peaceful up here. Odd to think it was a completely different story just under the layer here.

"However a word of warning, despite being named as a sea, it is a cloud layer. Not an ocean." She pointed a spear at the massive landscape before them. "Do not slip into this. It is not water, you will sink through without the proper equipment. As I heard it, the solution will cling to your body and slow your fall greatly, but you will eventually reach the underside of the cloud layer, at which point you will continue falling normally on the other side. If that fall doesn't end your life, the inhabitants below surely will."

A soft wind tugged at his clothes as Wade got closer to the cliff edge, carefully placing each step on the rocky terrain. He peered down the side, trying to gauge just how far the drop went before hitting the mithril sea below.

"Watch yerself there," Illy called from behind him. "Don't fancy seeing you tumble down a cliff after we survived the death city, be right stupid way to die."

Wade nodded absently, his attention caught by something unexpected along the mountainside. Right where the clouds started meeting the mountain, partially obscured by an outcropping, was what looked like... a wooden fishing boat? It was secured to the mountain by a few dozen ropes, thick cords stretching in multiple directions to anchor points hammered into the rock face. It looked very snug. A little tiny at this distance, but with his glasses Wade could somewhat see it.

"Hey, guys," He called back without taking his eyes off the discovery. "There's a boat down there, is it abandoned or something?"

Selena appeared at his other side, her feathers ruffling with happiness. "A fishing boat, excellent. The goddess smiles down on us, the locals here might help direct us to the nearest tower or even ferry us there, certainly saves us from having to wait for someone to spot us."

The vessel was weather-beaten but intact, its wooden hull looked like it was crusted over with mithril and age. At least a dozen thick cords splayed out like a spider's web connecting it to the mountain base. And he could spot two humanoid looking people come out of the cabin, brooms in hand. One was large, and the other looked like a tiny imp. Both had ropes tied to their waist as they moved around.

So these were demons then. Or ones that were similar to Zin, just not fully human-like.

Wade scanned the mountainside between their position and the boat, searching for any path downward. The terrain was treacherous, rather sheer in some places, crumbling in others, with patches of the strange purple vegetation clinging to whatever purchase they could find. And the closer he looked, the more he spotted… oysters? Barnacles and other shell-like critters all attached to the rocks here.

"I don't see an easy way to reach it," Wade admitted, running a hand through his hair.

Selena shook her head. "There isn't that I can see. We will need to scale the mountain down."

Ah. There it was. The catch.

Scale down a wet, slippery mountain, and if anyone slid off, they'd fall through the cloud layer here, sink through it, and then die in the worst possible place to respawn at.

Also they had to make the trip before the fishing boat here detached from the mountain side and left, because the two demons there were clearly doing some kind of pre-launch routine and wouldn't stick here for long.

Lovely.

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