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.
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“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.
With the attributes he’d gained by coming to the world, he was able to move at a shocking pace when he wanted to, enough that he was able to get away from the three golems, at least briefly.
As the three watched Jake run, it looked like a decision had been made amongst them and they split up, covering more ground to try and get him cornered as they bared down on him, with Jake holding up his staff to face the closest, firing a spell as he did.
Even restricting himself to only his non-affinitied mana, he was far from weak as he put his power to use, using his magic to pick up one as it threw a punch, throwing it in return to the next making its way to him, bringing both to the ground and out of his thoughts before redirecting himself to the final one standing, using his power in the same way Ben used his destruction, disintegrating the entire thing as a pile of sand and dust took its place.
Thinking he was done, he turned back to the rest of them, giving them a confident thumbs up before his look turned to confusion as he watched them all screaming at him, only a second before he was tossed through the air.
Oh shit, don’t be dead don’t be dead don’t be dead. Ben prayed, quickly seeing that the worst hadn’t come to pass as Jake got up on shaking legs, flooding his body with whatever healing spells he could as he saw what hit him.
Of the three golems he was facing, he’d only actually destroyed one, and while he was distracted by what he’d thought was his victory the others got back up, catching him while he was unaware and about to go in for the kill as Jake did his best to throw himself out of the way from the next strike, holding out his staff as a different spell was fired off, his aim not quite right but the size of the golem making up for that as the attack turned half of it to sand.
It collapsed to the ground, not finished like the first one had been, clearly able to drag itself around on the single arm and leg it had remaining, but no longer a priority as Jake’s focus switched to the final fully intact enemy, throwing its stone fist directly at his face in the same instant that Jake displayed just how versatile non-affinity magic could be, the mana held in his soul exploding forth in the form of the same sort of barrier that trapped the rest of them, blocking the attack long enough that he had a different one at the ready the second it came down, the golem disintegrating before all of their eyes.
Far more humbly than when he’d had thought he’d won only minutes prior, Jake destroyed the last golem as it crawled around on its two remaining limbs, standing guard to wait for anything else as the sounds of cheering came up from the empty stand, a voice calling out his victory.
“With victory comes well earned pride! Would the competitor return to their area to await the next match?”
The destroyed golems disappeared into the ground as Jake looked about, the area he’d been kept before still open as he picked up on what was expected of him, going back in to be sealed away to watch as the next fight would begin.
Okay, this seems annoying but doable. Ben thought to himself after observing all of that. If we each need to be proving we can fight against three golems like that then I can definitely handle it with the tools I have on hand. It might suck a little but I can definitely manage.
As if to eliminate that bit of confidence Ben had for what was to come, he and the others watched as new golems rose up from the ground, not three like last time, but six.
…Okay, this might actually get kind of bad.
His worries for whatever the future held were put on hold though as Amy stepped forward, her turn next as the same announcement for Jake went up for all to hear.
“Fighters, show your valour!”
Unlike Jake, Amy knew what she was getting into and rushed into the thick of things, the weapon Ben had made her held in her hands taking the form of a spear drenched in her mana, the effects of her augmentation skill clear even without Ben’s mana sense as it looked flooded with a bright energy.
Ben would have thought it would be a terrible match-up, a weapon user going against a slab of stone, but Amy was quick to prove him wrong, the spear in her hand sliding into the first golem like it was nothing thanks to her power as she quickly switched the weapons form, turning it into a sword to bisect it before jumping out of the way of two incoming strikes.
With what happened next, Ben couldn’t tell if she’d been incredibly lucky or had planned it, but as she jumped out of the way of the two golems throwing their fists at her from either side, moving at the very last second, both golems instead collided, one arm cracking from the force of the blow as the other shattered while Amy ignored them, instead continuing on her attack from where she’d jumped to, her weapon shifting to an ax as she expertly controlled it, leaving a deep gash through the next one, that while not cutting all the way through, left the bit holding the two halves unable to bear the weight of its own stone body for long, with a loud snap as it broke off shortly after.
In all of that, she hadn’t actually eliminated one yet. If what Jake's fight had shown was any indication, they had to be left unable to continue, but splitting them wasn’t enough if their limbs could still be moved. Still, it hampered them to the point that they were basically harmless, with only two of them free from damage while Amy seemed to decide to change her attack.
Still using the ax, she threw herself away from the one she’d just split towards another as it tried to punch and dodge, neither connecting as she cut off a leg, bringing it to the ground, unable to stand.
With that there were three, two with damaged arms and one in mint condition as they all seemed to realize that she’d keep picking them off one at a time if they didn’t work together, and with that came a change in the fight.
Moving as one they rushed at her, the first launching itself from the ground in sacrifice, attempting to crush her but understanding it was more likely to be destroyed as the other two rushed in, preparing to go for the kill as she was dealing with the first, but they were all locked into their choices as she did something different.
It was the one with the shattered arm who threw itself at her, and rather than attacking it she dodged to the left where the only remaining whole one was preparing to go in with the kill as she switched back to a sword, letting the weapon glide through both the stone fist and torso coming at her as the two halves fell on the one that lunged, weighing it down long enough that she could focus her all on the last one standing, switching back to an ax to take off its limbs, leaving every golem in pieces.
From there she didn’t know what she needed to do to have the fight called to an end, so she did the only thing she could think of, using her weapon to take the limbs off each golem that was still wiggling across the ground, getting rid of any potential to move as it seemed to do the trick, the announcer calling out her victory and letting her go back to rest.