CH363

Once Jake had recovered from the brief exposure to Ben’s mind, Ben cooked a meal for everyone before they all decided to rest. Just because they’d gotten through the first section safely enough didn’t mean they’d have the same luck with the next, so they needed to sleep while they could.

At least, Ben tried to. As the others were having far more success, he was gripped in his usual nightmares without the option to go to his god’s realm to rest. They may have gotten lucky on that first floor, but it wasn’t like Ben hadn’t gotten lucky in the last trial at all either, it wasn’t enough to keep his unconscious minds from dwelling on the hell he’d gone through, forcing visions of earth and fire and death upon him as he thrashed about, waking up after far to short a time to his pounding heart, along with someone holding him close and whispering in his ear.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, I’m here,” Thera kept telling him over and over as Ben grabbed onto her, holding her tight until he felt himself calm down.

“Sorry,” He muttered, his face buried in her chest as she gently rubbed his head.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” She whispered back, hesitating for a moment before continuing. “I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

The only time he’d truly slept around her since leaving the trial had been when they’d gone on their way to deliver the statue to the church of Eneth. Each other time he’d been letting his body rest, just never his mind. When he’d mentioned continuing nightmares she’d known it was bad, but she hadn’t had to see him go through it.

“Ah, well, you know how it is. Usually, I can just zip up to Myriad to keep my subconscious from giving me hell. Here, not so much. I’ll be fine.”

She didn’t bother suggesting he could leave, she knew he wouldn’t agree, so instead they just laid there together as hours passed until the rest of their companions finally got up.

“Alright everyone the ride goes on!” Jake yelled out as he stood at the door to the next section. “If you want to get off, now’s the time. If not, make your peace with your fate and let’s go!”

It was far from inspiring, but they’d all rested long enough. Ben could feel Thera’s eyes on him, watching with worry, but he ignored the concern. Even if he wanted to be anywhere else, he wasn’t going to let her walk into a death trap like that alone, so pushing aside any hesitation he stepped through the door to the second floor of the earth tower.

The first thing he noticed as he got in was that nobody was in front of him, making a bit of panic shoot through his as his eyes darted to the tracking band on his arm, making him look to his left and right to see he’d been too hasty in his worry they’d been separated, even if they had a different problem to deal with.

Jake, Amy, and Thera were all to his left, with Yuzu on his right. All of them were close by and easy to see, but they were each separated from each other, a translucent barrier dividing them all, giving them each a few meters to roam around in but otherwise sealed away from the others as they all looked onto where they were, the center of a colosseum.

As worried as he was, having no idea what they were about to be forced into, Ben couldn’t help but admire the structure. It immediately brought to mind visions of what the one in Rome must have looked like in its heyday, the massive arena around them made to pull in an audience of thousands, if not for the fact that it was entirely empty.

Better than the seats being filled I guess. If I came in here and every seat was taken I’d be thinking that we’d need to fight through all of them in the worst battle royal in history. Having said that, it still looks like it’s going to be a fighting one from how things are set up so how is it going to work?

What he was certain was going to be the exit out was on the opposite side of them, but it looked sealed shut, a thick stone bar across it that he doubted they’d just be allowed to move to get rid of, and he had no choice but to try and understand what the point was of the setup.

Is this an escape thing? We’re basically being trapped by barrier magic but that doesn’t really feel like something you’d have to deal with in the earth tower. Unless of course we’re supposed to use earth magic somehow to get out, in which case I get to be a lovely damsel in distress as I wait for the others to save me. Speaking of…

He looked to the side where most of them stood trapped, able to see Jake, Amy, and Thera all reacting to the situation in different ways. Jake looked like he was saying something, but the lack of noise would indicate the barrier was soundproofed, while Amy and Thera both looked like they were trying to get out, Amy trying to break through the barrier with her weapons while Thera used the stone Ben gave her earlier to try and force her way through, neither having any luck.

…So if part of the goal is escaping on our own I guess we’re screwed. Cool.

He cast a look to his other side, finding Yuzu sitting contently, waiting to see what would happen as he decided to do the same, just as the first sign of whatever the floor had in store for them all began.

From the ground emerged three golems, similar to the last section but smaller, at least relatively. He’d say the ones before them all stood at double his height, each in the standard hominid form looking like hard granite that was ready to pounce, while at the same time only one of the enclosures opened, letting Jake step out.

He looked hesitant, casting his eyes at the rest of them as he went forward for whatever was to come as he faced it alone, with a voice ringing from the sky for all to hear.

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“Fighters, show your valour!”

That signal was apparently what the three golems needed, each of them moving far faster than Ben would have expected from them as Jake stood, briefly caught off guard before he started to run.