"Excuse me?" Shiro asked with slight surprise.
"I'm your teacher for two days or rather, two months in the pocket dimension." Hades replied with a small laugh.
Remembering the figure of the fearless woman traversing the steps of mount Olympus and facing Zeus without hesitation, Hades couldn't help but find the girl in front of him acting rather cute right now. It was like she was a lost kitten confused about where she was.
"Huh… I'll be honest, I'm not trying to be rude but the fact that I now have a god for a teacher for the next two days is rather… astonishing." Shiro shrugged.
"Mn well just think of it as a senior instructing a junior then. After all, you are a Demi God now and perhaps even a God in the future." Hades' smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
"In that case then I'll be under your care."
Nodding his head, Hades' glanced towards Nan Tian.
"Young lad, I didn't expect to see you again." Hades smiled as Shiro raised her eyebrow.
"Ok what the hell, why does everyone know each other?" She asked with a twitching smile.
"Well I have also completed the god trials so it's only natural that I ran into Hades." Nan Tian chuckled since he didn't follow the party last time because of two reasons. One, he was busy ascending to Tier 6 and the other was that he had already completed the trials. He wouldn't be able to climb the mountain again.
"I guess but you two seem… well acquainted." Shiro asked as Hades chuckled.
"That's because he was rather friendly when he climbed up the mountain. While he did take some rest, he took the time to converse with a few of the gods. Naturally, I found this rather interesting so I had a talk or two with him." Hades explained as Shiro nodded her head.
"I see…. Right then. Anyways, enough with the second meeting I suppose. Shall we start the training? We have limited time after all." Shiro asked as Mio chuckled.
"So hasty with training. Reminds me of your father when he was younger." Mio smiled as Kalus twitched hearing Mio mention Koji.
"Don't talk about that brat. I'm still rather peeved about the way he had kidnapped you from here. He does realise that he could have been a bit more respectful right?" Kalus complained as Sitril rolled her eyes.
"Ignore him. He just didn't like the fact that your father flipped him off when he left with Mio. He should know where the pocket dimension is so I'll let him escort you there with Lord Hades'." Sitril smiled.
"I thought I told you about referring to me as Lord. Just call me casually I'm not like my brother who's so persistent about honorifics." Hades sighed.
"Mn that is true. Zeus was rather annoyed about my attitude." Shiro shrugged.
Talking for a little longer, Kalus led the way as Hades and Shiro followed behind him.
Glancing back, Shiro gave Nan Tian a thumbs up and wave.
"Seems like the relationship between you two is rather good." Kalus smiled as Shiro nodded her head.
"Mn, he's been a great help to me. Plus, he's a friend of mine from when I was a kid." Shiro replied with a smile.
Seeing this, Hades glanced back between the two of them as a smile slowly formed on his face.
"I see…" He chuckled.
"What are you thinking about." Shiro asked curiously.
"Nothing much. I know your trial must have gone well considering that you're a Demi God now but if you don't mind me asking, I'm rather curious about what had happened." Hades asked as Shiro placed her hand on her chin.
"Well… I guess I was sent to a different world of sorts. Have you ever heard of something called the forgotten realms?" Shiro asked.
"Hm… not exactly but I have heard of one or two rumours. It's a realm that's completely sealed off from the real world unless you have a key no?" Hades replied.
"Mn, I was tasked with clearing a few trials as well as some hidden objectives in that realm. I completed it a little ahead of schedule since there was a hidden task but it allowed me to reach Demi God status. It also allowed me to get this little soul warden of mine." Shiro said with a smug smile.
Summoning the lantern, Hades looked at it with interest.
"How fascinating… You've actually made your own soul prison. If I had to describe it, it's literally a miniature hell." Hades said as Shiro nodded her head.
"That was the plan."
"Speaking of which, I did also have a little tea party with the primordial gods." Shiro mentioned offhandedly as Hades paused in his footsteps for a moment before collecting himself.
"Pardon? You had a… tea party with the primordial gods?" He asked just to make sure that he was hearing things correctly. After all, she could have said she had a tea party and talked about the primordial gods. There were a few times that he had misheard things in life so it was better to make sure that the information he had received was accurate.
"Yup you heard right, I was able to have a small talk with Tartarus, Ouranos, Gaia, Chronos and Nyx. They're going to help me I suppose in the new age in hopes that I would 'win'." Shiro replied as Hades opened and closed his mouth a few times like a broken door.
He didn't know how to react since not even Zeus was able to have a casual talk with the primordial gods and yet Shiro was now having their support in the background for the new age.
"I… see." Hades said after a moment of hesitation.
{And now you've broken him. Who is next on your hit list? You've broken humans, spirits, monsters, admins, demons and even gods now. Next thing you know you're going to mentally break the creator of the universe.} Nimue asked while laying down on an island lazily. Taking Iziuel's advice, she had vowed to not give a single crap for the next week. If she did, the mana realm would be in shambles right now.
'Surely it's not that bad now. He seems rather composed after knowing the truth.' Shiro replied.
{Of course. Otherwise his dignity as a god would be thrown out the window.} Nimue shrugged.
'I guess… Surely I'm not THAT bad right?'
{. . .} Staying silent, Nimue took a deep breath.
'Need a table?'
{Yes please.}
Making a table for Nimue, Shiro watched as she grabbed the surface with both hands.
{URAHHH!!!!} Flipping it as hard as she could, Shiro watched as it disappeared off into the distance.
*Whistle~
'Impressive.' Shiro clapped her hands as Iziuel held up an imaginary 10 from the distance.
Huffing slightly, Nimue glanced at Shiro before planting herself in the mana ocean that surrounds the islands. She would have drowned already should she not be a water spirit.
Shaking her head, Shiro focused back on reality.
Following behind Kalus and Hades, they made their way through the realm as semi translucent steps appeared, connecting the islands to one another.
Snapping his fingers, a magic circle appeared in front of Kalus as he made a small cut on his finger and completed the magic circle.
Suddenly, the magic circle expanded out in front of him and formed a portal of sorts.
"This is the pocket dimension. The moment we enter, the timer will start and for the next 48 hours or rather, two months, it'll be non stop training in hopes of you honing the divine energy within you. Are you ready?" Kalus asked with seriousness. This was different compared to what Shiro had seen in the main hall as she knew he was no longer joking around.
Nodding her head with determination burning in her eyes, Shiro prepared herself mentally as both Hades and Kalus nodded their heads with satisfaction. Opening the portal properly, they stepped inside.
Meanwhile, Mio led Nan Tian to a different training area in the realm. Preparing a few weapons, she glanced at him.
"So then, I have a question for you." Mio said as she glanced back at him.
"Mn what is it?" Nan Tian replied.
"Speaking as Shiro's mother, I want to know what you think of her. You're quite attached aren't you?" Mio said as she flickered next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Despite him being tier 6, he almost lost sight of her which only showed her true power.
"Since my baby girl seemed to be rather close to you, I want to make sure you're actually a decent person." Mio narrowed her eyes as she was going to make sure she gets his true answers during this training period.