Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

Sorin spent the next few days reviewing his current research progress with Mordecai and ironing out contractual details. Employment contracts involving high-level members of other families were tricky because they involved intellectual property rights and agreements on sharing restricted information.

In the end, the Kepler Clan and Hargrave Clans agreed to a collaborative research agreement in which both sides would have access to the results. Certain tasks, like advanced catalysis and concoction methods, would remain confidential. The same applied to confidential runic imprinting methods belonging to the Hargrave Clan.

With regards to Mordecai, part of the agreement involved securing more low-level apothecaries to do the grunt work, prepare base poisons, and imprint lower-level poisons. Fortunately, there was a plethora of two-star and one-star apothecaries to choose from. The Hargrave Clan was not lacking in low-level mages looking to imprint a variety of poisons.

By the end of the week, the lab was fully operational. Sorin handed over the sprouts he'd created for nurturing and experimentation and proceeded to temporarily shut down the clinic in order to enter the Infinite Dungeon with the rest of Team We Don't Need a Life Mage.

Gareth and Lawrence headed to the inner city ahead of my gathering information, thought Sorin as he entered the inner city's gates. A golden access token flew out of his robes and initiated a secondary scan that everyone entering the inner city had to undergo.

There were two waves of energy this time. The first was lightning-based energy that inspected both Sorin and Lorimer, who was hiding in a small pocket in his leather armor. As before, it stopped short of probing both their bodies. Sorin's status as a God Seed ensured that his corruption went unnoticed.

The second wave of energy was related to karma, though it surprisingly bore the familiar scent of death. Like the lightning-based energy, it did not inspect him in depth. Instead, it inspected the karma and manifested a black sheet of paper containing instructions.

God Seed Access Granted. Admission tax is assessed at 10 three-star demon cores at C-Tier or higher.

Note: This tax must be paid regardless of gains in the infinite Dungeon. To be waived in the event that a dungeon core is claimed by the individual or associated teammates and surrendered to the Temple of Hope.

"Elder Marik warned me that there was an access fee, but this is just ridiculous," muttered Sorin. "Maybe I should try to find a way to wriggle out of it."

This thought immediately vanished from his mind when he saw a clause at the bottom of the tax bill.

This tax is enforceable across the Pandoran Continent and shall be enforced by the Hyde Clan. Failure to pay before returning to the Main Pandoran Continent is punishable by death and soul extraction.

Death and Taxes were two inevitable things in life. To have a single clan have power over both—no wonder everyone feared them.

Having issued Sorin a tax bill, the wave of karmic energy proceeded to forcefully imprint Sorin's soul. It was impossible to resist this imprint with divine energy alone. Though he was tempted to try using corruption to evade the imprint, he ultimately chose not to, as the nature of the imprint appeared like a voluntary pact.

This time, a stream of information detailed the contents of what was essentially a non-disclosure agreement entered his mind.

When referring to all activities in the Inner City and adjacent regions, the words Infinite Dungeon shall be used.

The following are forbidden topics that must not be discussed on the Pandora Continent regardless of circumstance…

The following are restricted topics that can be discussed if the following vocabulary substitutions are made….

Sorin was unfamiliar with many of the matters in the non-disclosure agreement, but he was confident that Lawrence and Gareth would have done their research. Whatever they missed, Astley, Daphne, and Stephan were sure to fill in.

Olympia faded behind Sorin as he took another step and found himself in a place filled with dense divinity and corruption. The sudden influx of energy took Sorin by surprise, as for the first time since opening the Gate of Initiation, he felt his cultivation advance naturally.

"Clear the gate so others can access the inner city!" a guard's harsh words made Sorin realize that he'd stopped moving for almost a minute after arriving. With dense energy like this, it's no wonder that a simple gate guard is a Flesh-Sanctification cultivator. I doubt a Bone-Forging cultivator could last more than a few days here, and that's only if they're heroes or at the peak of the Bone-Forging Realm.

The Inner City was small compared to the outer city and resembled an outpost more than anything else. There were no buildings taller than four stories, and the building materials were simple wood and simple stone, which were somehow resilient enough to handle the dense corruption and divinity in the city.

"Watch it!" Sorin stopped when he felt a sudden surge of demonic energy but refrained from attacking the approaching entity when Nemesis identified the creature as non-threatening. The two-headed ostrich demon rushed past Sorin, dragging along an archaic carriage carrying three Flesh-Sanctification cultivators.

This was but the first of many demonic entities that appeared in his field of vision. Most of the demons were tamed bestial demons, but some, like the green-haired lady with vibrant green eyes and light green skin he saw working at a small stall, were corrupted myths.

There are so many foreign creatures and so many corrupt cultivators here, thought Sorin as he looked from stall to stall, from street to street. He saw a cyclope, a dryad, and even a small humanoid creature that resembled the minotaur they'd faced in Daedalus's labyrinth. Judging by their actions, these are thinking creatures and not the wild and untamed creatures we faced out in the wilderness. And without exception, each of them is wearing a collar similar to Lorimer's.

Lorimer poked his head out of Sorin's pocket and hissed at a four-armed creature carrying baskets for a Bone-Forging merchant. Strangely, the merchant was unaffected by the dense corruption and divinity in the city, thanks to some sort of shield.

"Strange and concerning would be an understatement," Sorin agreed with Lorimer. "Let's not dally. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to look around in the future."

Alongside the large number of demons, another oddity stood out: armored humans and demonic beasts that didn't appear to be breathing. Sorin stopped to inspect a bulky axe-wielding man wearing thick plate armor. His skin was gray and covered in black runes, and his body reeked of preservatives.

"Ree!" said Lorimer.

"You're right," said Sorin. "This shop's guardian is an undead creature. Judging by the intensity of its mana, it's a three-star undead creature. And somehow, it's not attacking anyone." Undead creatures were known for their hatred of living.

Sorin wondered how they controlled these creatures, but it didn't take him long to figure it out when he saw a single living guard captain carrying a faintly glowing token commanding no less than four undead.

The undead creatures they saw varied greatly, but it didn't take them long to notice that each of them shared a common trait: they bore a mark or brand originating from the Hyde Clan. Death and taxes, indeed. By the looks of it, Ratten Hyde wouldn't even need to lift a finger in order to kill me.

The Inner City was relatively small, so it didn't take long to arrive at the center, where nearly a thousand adventurers were already waiting. Most of them proudly displayed their clan insignias; only a small group of adventurers belonging to unaffiliated teams refrained from doing so.

"Sorin! Over here!" Sorin spotted Lawrence and the rest of his teammates just at the edge of the unaffiliated zone.

"I was worried your clans were going to force you all to stand beside them," Sorin said to Daphne and Stephan.

"Who, us?" said Stephan with a snort. "First of all, we're hardly at the top of our respective lines of succession. I'm ranked 47th in my clan since leadership is decided by one's strength. Daphne is ranked something like 7th in the White Tower Group since everyone else had a head start with their businesses."

"Eight, actually," corrected Daphne. "New numbers came in this morning."

"Whatever," said Stephan. "Second, we're part of a mixed team, Sorin. If our clans shared their quota with us, they'd only be losing out. On the other hand, any extras that we snatch up can potentially be claimed in our clan's name and increase their respective holdings."

Sorin massaged his glabella as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on. "Quota? Extras?"

"I told you guys he wouldn't have time to figure this all out," said Lawrence.

"Unfortunately, we'll need to fill him in as things progress," interrupted Gareth. "The selection—it's starting."

The earth trembled as the gate at the center of the city spat out over a hundred white orbs, followed by a large white orb. The orbs flew up into the sky, where a transparent projection appeared in the air.

"It's a map," said Sorin, immediately recognizing the layout as similar to what he'd seen when meeting the Grand Elder. "A map of the inner city."

"It looks like you're better informed than we were going in," said Daphne. "But you're wrong—this isn't just a map of the inner city. Rather, it's a map of the entire Infinite Dungeon as we currently know it."

Sorin watched on with interest as the white orbs floated to various locations on the map. The bulk of the orbs floated northward, but a few were scattered about the outskirts of what Sorin assumed were established territories.

What else can they be but established territories, thought Sorin as the map broke out into multi-colored chunks. Each colored territory was associated with a crest, and crests were grouped together into patterns that reflected Sorin's understanding of Olympia's power structure. In addition, karmic threads connected these respective powers. Some were karmic threads of alliance, while others were karmic threads of enmity.

Sorin looked to Astley, who confirmed his guess. "While territories are mostly split up by the clans and associations, they're all grouped up according to eleven of the provincial capitals. The five largest territories belong to the five Divine Clans and their allies, while the rest are split according to the respective power of their alliances. In the Order of Phantasia, we loosely refer to these alliances as 'families.'"

Though the Kepler Clan's relationship with the Pollen Clan was a complicated one, both clans were from Delphi in the end and shared a relationship that transcended simple material interests. It was, therefore, no surprise to Sorin that their groups were marked as allied on the map. Their territories weren't clumped together but intermixed, and the same went for the Hargrave Clan and a few other major powers originating from Delphi, including the Dennings Clan, the Albright Association, and the Sun Sword Pavilion.

Daphne's White Tower Group belonged to the same alliance as Stephan's York Clan. This was surprising to Sorin since Daphne's group was based in Olympia and not Ephesus, but then again, it was the same for all other associations based in Olympia. They did not form one cohesive group but instead aligned themselves with the eleven cities mentioned.

The White Tower Group and the York Clan were allies of the Atlan Clan, their current leader. According to Elder Marik's summary of local power structures, the leadership of this alliance fluctuated from decade to decade. Whichever clan the God Seed of Artemis surfaced it would become the leader and would continue to lead the alliance until the God Seed appeared in Ephesus once again.

"I see the mark of the Hyde Clan everywhere in the inner city, and the Zeiss Clan seems to hold a lot of sway in Olympia," said Sorin. "But why do they not have territories like the others? The Divine Clans clearly don't shy away from competing for them." When considering the size of territories, the Divine Clans and their allies were clear leaders.

"Olympia is ultimately overseen by the Zeiss Clan," said Astley. "They never leave Olympia's inner and outer cities. As for the Hyde Clan that oversees Mattapan, is there really a need for them to control territories? Every clan—including your Kepler clan—pays tribute to both these clans in some fashion. In terms of profits from the Infinite Dungeon, no one exceeds them, not even the Divine Clans."

The white spheres soon finished moving. Lightning crackled despite the blue sky overhead, revealing three cultivators. Two of the cultivators were on the older side and sported white hair, white beards, and golden armor. The leader was neither of these two individuals but the golden-haired man wearing a white suit Sorin had seen in Hero Square, Aaron Zeiss.

"An eruption occurred in the Infinite Dungeon yesterday, and the situation has finally stabilized," said Aaron in a voice that projected across the entire square. "This time, 117 basic dungeons and 16 mid-grade dungeons have appeared, along with one advanced and potentially unclaimable dungeon. I will now assign these dungeons to our brave adventurers according to the usual rules, starting with the Divine Clans."