As the gates to the Grand Abyss opened, what Eugene saw made him realise why it was named as grand. The first thing that came into view was a bustling city and numerous species of people walking, trading and chatting, the sky was completely dark but numerous lights adorned the streets and corners. It looked like a completely normal city with buildings and patrol guards. 

The most noticeable sight was a huge life-like crimson statue of a titan sitting on a throne which boasted as the tallest structure towering about a hundred meters that exuded an unexplainable majestic brilliance, when they saw this, they were awed and as Alak saw their expressions he smiled

"That's the statue of our Lord, the Great God Kazim"  Alak said full of pride

"Great god Kazim? Is he an actual god?"  Eugene pondered in his mind. 

And as if Alak had read his mind he promptly said  "He is a true god and our champion, all life and existences belong to him"

"Ah I see, so he is indeed a god and from this man's reaction it seems that they worship and adore him dearly" Eugene began to understand a bit what sort of existence it was and just as he was still in his thoughts someone spoke and snapped him out of it

"Wait, he is an actual god?" 

Alak frowned at the question and almost had the urge to consume this spirit for daring to question his Lord's position but he calmed himself and answered

"Yes, an actual god and an extremely powerful one so I'd advise you to show some respect"  Alak said indifferently and all the spirits let out a shocked expression, including Eugene as he didn't forget to keep up his act.

Alak then quickened his pace as he noticed the people everywhere began to stare at the spirits with looks of surprise and curiosity but they dared not approach as they clearly recognized the man leading them. Alak kept walking but didn't make use of the special technique to quickly arrive at the destination so as to allow these spirits digest the view of the city he was quite frankly a little proud of. 

They arrived in front of a building with two dark elf guards at the front, one male and one female and immediately the guards saw Alak they bowed and spoke almost in unison

"Welcome high commander"  They gave their greetings but kept their heads low

"Everything is prepared and ready according to the instructions of high commander" said the female dark elf 

"Alright, I shall take my leave and they will be in your care. If anything happens to them I don't need to tell you what awaits you" Alak said in a very cold tone which sent chills down the spines of the guards

"Yes high commander, we assure you that nothing will happen" said the female elf as her face almost turned pale from fear

"..."

The spirits observed all this and were speechless, because even though they couldn't see the faces of these Elf guards properly they could clearly tell that they were terrified of this man and what puzzled them more was how cold the man seemed.

"This man is not that simple"  Was what Eugene kept thinking 

"Good, you may lift your heads and also make sure to give them these when it's time" Alak said as he removed five crimson crystals from his cloth and gave them to the female elf. After he did, he turned and faced the spirits with a smile

"These two guards and the people inside will be responsible for you and afterwards you may explore my domain as you wish, no one will trouble you"

"....."

"Your domain?" Asked one of the spirits in a shocked tone

"Ah yes, this domain was granted to me by my Lord" Said Alak with a smile on his face

The spirits were shocked and became a little prideful in their hearts after realising the man before them was essentially the ruler of this Grand Abyss. Eugene maintained his expression but shook his head in his mind when he observed the man's expression

"Hmph, these petty tricks won't work on me old man"  Eugene sneered coldly in his mind but still put up an act on the surface 

"Alright, I'll be taking my leave so please make yourselves comfortable" Alak quickly said as a powerful gust of wind gathered at his spot and he vanished in the blink of an eye. The spirits, Eugene included were still thoroughly amazed at this technique seeing the empty spot in front of them where Alak once stood and just as their mouths were still open, a female voice snapped them out of their stupor

"Esteemed guests, please follow me into the building" said the elf as she slightly bowed and led them into the building

Eugene and the rest nodded and followed the female elf inside the building leaving the other dark elf outside to keep guard. Immediately they entered the building, the whole space changed and a majestic sight came into view. The interior of the building seemed much larger than the exterior and beautiful ornaments and decorations filled the place and a long black narrow carpet fitted with red flower designs laid on the floor from the entrance downwards. On the left and right, two spiraling silver colored steps combined to form a mini bridge just above the black carpet and an extremely large golden chandelier hung from the top of the building.

Standing on both sides of the carpet were different species of people wearing maid and chef clothes and just right in the middle, an elderly man with yellow eyes and four horns on his head, wearing a crimson red blazer and horn rimmed glasses bowed slightly and spoke

"Welcome, esteemed guests of his Lordship, we will be in charge of daily house maintenance...also I will be showing you to your various rooms and give you a tour of the building"

"....." 

Everyone was silent, even Eugene was stupefied at this point because this seemed way too overboard. They were being treated like actual royals so everything seemed surreal.

"Esteemed guests, I will be outside please make yourselves comfortable and I will see you tomorrow for further procedures" Said the female Elf guard as she bowed slightly and hurried back to her post. After she left, the the elderly man politely guided the spirits to their rooms and gave them a tour of the building and afterwards they arrived at a certain spot.

This place was just further down the building, separated from all the rooms and gardens. It had just a single huge and completely black tree with black leaves almost giving a frightening aura at first look but as they approached they felt extremely comfortable and the elderly man spoke

"This is the Sanguine Tree and it will be responsible for your consolidation, you just need to stay under the tree and these cracks will naturally disappear and strengthen your spirits"

They all nodded and began to approach the tree, Eugene was extremely skeptical but he had no choice so he followed to stay underneath the tree with the rest. 

Just as they were approaching the tree, they all realised that the cracks on their skin began to heal and they were amazed because they hadn't even reached the tree yet, immediately they reached beneath the tree all the cracks immediately healed and another change began to occur. 

Their spirits began to strengthen and the initial golden glow began to become dimmer until it completely disappeared and they all felt immense power in themselves. Eugene was shocked as he felt like his body became firmer and tougher and his body became warm, he was extremely curious as to what just happened and as soon as they were done and arrived at where the elderly man was, Eugene was about to ask a question but was interrupted by one of the group

"Old man, what just happened? I feel a lot of power surging in me and my body feels a bit warm, I thought we were supposed to be dead?" asked a young teenage looking boy with red hair and violet eyes in a slightly arrogant tone

"You all just had your spirits consolidated, the sanguine tree was created by his lord and it completely heals and strengthens the spirit and also breathing life into the spirit" answered the old man respectfully, he didn't seem to mind the arrogant tone

"What!! breathe life? Impossible only a-"

The young boy didn't finish his sentence because he remembered the words of the middle aged man earlier stating that their Lord is an actual god

The Elderly man gave a little smile "Yes, it is possible because of our Lord"

Eugene kept silent and observed the man but he didn't notice any trace of lies and he became even more shocked 

"Such an impossible situation is actually made possible?!, such profoundness"  Eugene thought to himself and felt like his whole world view had been turned upside down because he himself did not believe in any god but right now that was thoroughly shattered. 

As the elderly man was done, he led them out of the spot and told them to explore the building as he left them to carry his duties. The five people looked at each other and it was quiet for a while but later began to interact with each other. Eugene didn't care much about this because he wasn't much of the social type and also he wanted information so after a little while he left for his room.

The next day, the female elf guard made contact with them and gave each of them the blood crystals containing the mark of the lord, once they received it, the crystal immediately melted and fused with their spirits, shortly after a small crimson star shaped mark appeared on the back of their palms

"That is the mark of the Lord, with this you can walk around safely but we will accompany each of you secretly just to be safe" said the female elf indifferently. 

Eugene frowned and his expression changed, not because of what the female elf said but because he had a bad feeling about this mark and he felt it wasn't something as exalted as these people made it sound. 

"Forget it, I should try and gather information when I'm out, that's the most important"  Eugene began thinking and then he asked the elf

"So now that's done, we can do as we see fit right?"

"Yes, within the grand abyss you're free to explore and everything is free to you select five with the mark" the elf spoke casually

"Free?" shouted the four people beside Eugene

They were all shocked and immediately all had solemn expressions including Eugene, they weren't stupid and knew that there was so no such thing as free and if someone was offering them something for free then their end would be quite disastrous

"No such thing as free food, ah fuck this is the worst"  Eugene wasn't happy with this situation

Just as he was thinking, the female elf noticed their expressions and immediately understood why they seemed uncomfortable so she further explained

"Yes, it's all free since you have the mark and are future important soldiers under the Lord...your potentials to evolve are of great benefits to the Lord as stated by the high commander" Explained the female elf 

They listened to the explanation and immediately relaxed, they felt it was acceptable because benefits were indeed involved so the tense atmosphere dissipated. Eugene however wasn't satisfied with the answer because the explanation was somewhat similar to the man who brought them here and he already concluded that they were being lied to but his expression remained calm.

The female elf talked a bit more with them, explaining the rules within the city and after that they all left. Eugene wanted to act alone so he left towards the centre of the city and the busy places and immediately began gathering information.

Just like that, Eugene and the rest kept doing the same things by exploring and occasionally gathering together to have friendly chats and although Eugene isn't one to socialise much, he still talked a bit.

Time flew by and 2 weeks passed, it was time for this group to meet Great God Kazim in person.