Chương 134: In the dungeon of Hades (3)
I cast another glance at the machine that is still sending hundreds of dolls to their doom each minute. Daedalus follows my gaze and scowls.
"And what do you think you're looking at, punk?"
"I was just curious as to what purpose this machine serves."
His scowl fades and is replaced by an expression filled with sorrow and self-loathing. Daedalus looks at the dolls losing their wings to the sun and slowly begins to speak in a nasal voice as if holding back tears.
"This piece of trash is meant to forever remind me that no matter how much genius is behind my inventions. Humans can never go against the divine. Or all they are left with is regret and suffering. Man shall not be arrogant for that is what comes before the fall."
Daedalus seems to have an awful lot of complicated emotions connected to this little death parade that goes on here. Best not to pry further.
"Sorry for disturbing you. I'm Guy-"
"I know who you are. You're the monster sent from VR dungeons, the one who can make other monsters evolve into rarer forms or even skip evolutions. I compiled a file of work for you. Let me go get it."
He walks over to one of the workbenches and starts to toss stuff left and right. Loose papers and mechanical parts fly in every direction. I dodge a few cylindrical objects until Daedalus finally finds what he's been looking for.
"There you go. Read the file and do what it tells you. I marked the locations you need Charon to take you to with a yellow marker. He'll be there whenever you need him."
Daedalus presses a bunch of papers held together by a clip into my hands and motions for me to leave. I don't want to spend any more time here than necessary so I walk away from the artificial sun that is still annihilating winged dolls. Charon is still waiting in the pond where I last saw him.
"Were you told what you needed to know?"
"Not quite. But I got a file that should contain everything."
"Daedalus' work ethic is questionable as usual. Take a seat and read through whatever he gave you."
I sit down on the boat and begin to flip through the files I've been given. The whole thing is well written and the handwriting is very easy to read. From the introduction, I learn that I'm to visit different chokepoints within the labyrinth where the efficiency of my gifts will be at its highest. It also mentions a VR test though I have no idea what that means.
<VR tests are something we do to test dungeon defenses and find eventual loopholes. We receive the data of certain floors of a dungeon and create a VR simulation of it that one of us then enters and tries to best. Usually, we only do it for the higher floors but since you're here anyway Daedalus must have thought that we could just incorporate that.>
So a VR test is me trying to break through the defenses I just helped improve in order to find faults?
<Precisely. The resulting data will then be shared with either Hades or Daedalus so that they also have a chance to make changes.>
More work for me yay.
<Don't be sarcastic. Trying to clear a dungeon when you can revive is so much fun. Also, since it's VR we can adjust the pain settings.>
Can't you also do that in reality?
<Afraid not.>
I sigh and go back to reading my files. There are multiple stations that I'm asked to visit and Daedalus has sorted them by importance. Curiously he doesn't seem to want me to start with the most important but the least important one instead.
<Obviously, there are some trust issues that can only be resolved by merit. In other words, they want to see what you can do where it doesn't matter.>
Suits me fine. I take a look at the name of the first chokepoint. Memorial falls. There is a short description along with a blurry picture. It's a waterfall that marks the first boss fight.
"Charon, to the Memorial falls please."
"To the fifth floor then. I hear the ambiance there is soothingly tranquil."
He pushes the boat off the edge of the pond and with a slight quiver we are lifted out of the water by the purplish fog. We move through another spatial tear and arrive above another pond.
The tranquil atmosphere Charon spoke of is nowhere to be seen. Skeletons and a bunch of adventurers are violently clashing against each other. Behind them, an ice mage is trying to freeze a path across a lake towards a waterfall. As the icy path is formed the ice mage is constantly harassed by piranhas jumping out of the lake trying to bite him.
We have yet to be discovered by the adventurers as we are at the side of the large cavern we are in. I take a moment to assess my surroundings and get a grasp on the situation.
The adventurers all have levels ranging from 30 to 40 while the skeletons fighting them are only equal to an adventurer on level 10. I am a little confused as to why the adventurers are hurrying to get towards the waterfall. They should be able to clear out the skeletons that are outnumbering them in just a little while.
Before I can ask Navi or Charon what is going on I hear the rattling of bones from atop the waterfall and at least thirty skeletons drop down the cascade. That explains why the adventurers aren't trying to clear the place out.
I open the dungeon map and see that the entrance to the sixth floor of the labyrinth is behind the waterfall. Meanwhile, the icy path is large enough to hold all the adventurers so they can use it as a chokepoint against the skeletons.
Hey Navi, am I allowed to fight these guys?
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