章 75: The push (3)
I promptly snap my eyelids shut. I don't want any hypnosis BS in my mind. Having a talking navi in there is already enough.
<I see what you did there. Very funny. But you should really keep your eyes closed. Argus is a stickler for rules and with all his eyes he always sees when someone breaks them. I doubt he will simply give them their instruction. It's probably a sort of punishment.>
As Navi says that a resounding snap echoes past me. I forcefully suppress the urge to open my eyes and find the origin of that sound. A good decision as I discover only moments later.
All the other participants of this meeting except Argus start to scream. And not in a fun way. Those are the screams of creatures that are being tortured or feel pain of similar severity. Argus must really be a scary foe.
<Imagine fighting some without being allowed to look at him. One wrong look and boom hypnosis. And even if you don't look at him he still sees everything. That gives rise to some very scary skill combinations.>
Did you ever fight him?
<No, I never fought against him but I fought alongside him a few times. He is a top-class monster but Vespasian just uses him as a secretary and observer.>
The wailing around me dies down and an almost deathly stillness settled over me. I keep my eyes clamped shut and hope that nothing too bad happens.
"It's over, Jade. You can open your eyes again."
I tentatively open one eye and look around ready to snap it shut any moment. I avoid looking at Argus directly and check out the others first. The manticore is standing at rapt attention with its scorpion tail held high. The cyclops is rubbing his big eye but his back is straight as a rod. The amazonian-spartan couple is standing at attention with their right fist above their heart.
From the looks of it, the show is over. I open both my eyes and look at Argus.
"And what are you looking at? Did my display of exquisite power scare you?"
"Only a coward relies on mind tricks."
"But a coward that relies on mind tricks survives while others inevitably die due to their own bravery."
"I can respawn."
"Point taken. Now, let's move. The legion should have already broken through the wall in the 18th colosseum. We have to quickly establish camp before the entrance of the 17th colosseum and prepare our forces. The kobaloi should already be there."
We move as a group and use the breach to get past the wall and reach the entrance of the colosseum. There we walk through a large set of iron doors with countless engravings and for a moment I feel that same sensation I usually get when I am transferred into a new body.
<That is the feeling an ordinary soul senses upon being subjected to spatial displacement. That set of iron doors is a spatial passage that connects the individual colosseums. Apart from those doors and the circle of Janus, there is no way to enter another colosseum.>
Then these colosseums aren't located somewhere in the planes?
<The first one, the entry point, is. But all the others were created in separate folds of space that can only be accessed using the exact coordinates.>
And the alpha plain can't get those coordinates? To my knowledge, they use exactly that mechanism to move adventurers and carriers into dungeons.
<They do indeed have that kind of technology and initially, they were able to teleport into all the colosseums they had entered once. However, Vespasian made some changes and now the folds of space move. The doors are constantly connected so they experience no problem while the Janus circle doesn't work with coordinates but locations.>
So they really need to fight their way through every colosseum? Poor adventurers! Do you know how many there are?
<Sarcasm doesn't suit you. And no we don't have access to the higher floors. The only thing I know is that Vespasian always creating more colosseums meaning their number will continue to rise.>
On the other side of the iron doors is another meadow. A wide grassy plain extends away in front of our eyes.
"This is unexpectedly similar to the 19th colosseum. I would have expected something different."
"That's how everyone reacts. 18 and 19 are basically identical in all ways except for the troops stationed there. This is just a rumor so I never had the opportunity to confirm it but apparently, the Imperator uses dice to decide what environment is inside a colosseum."
Argus seems to know an interesting story about anyone within this dungeon. I wonder what his level is.
<I can't tell you this often enough. Get an appraisal-type skill as soon as possible. Without it, you won't know friend or foe.>
How about some real advice. How do I get such a skill?
<That depends on which one you want and if you can get that specific one. It usually works best when you discover one on your own.>
Does Guy have one yet?
<He does. And his version is a new skill that we don't know much about yet. However, preliminary tests have revealed that its potential might be out of this world.>
He and his stupid luck.
<Oh you should have seen Darwin when he saw those preliminary test results. He was practically spitting fire from how jealous he was.>
Darwin being jealous? Isn't he this wildly overpowered ancient monster that can do everything he wants with ease?
<A funny way to describe him. But while it is true that Darwin holds immense power he is far more restricted than you think. His own conscience and the dungeon master make sure to keep him on a tight leash at all times."
While Navi and I are mentally chatting our group reaches a wall like on the previous floor. The only difference is that this one had a most and a wooden drawbridge that has already been lowered and is guarded by members of the undead legion.
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