"So you just want me to enter this tunnel? Where is my equipment?", Roberion asked in front of the door. A massive and dark tunnel could be seen; as he talked, some lights at the side started to shine, sufficient to barely guide him.
Roberion waited, but there wasn't an answer from the Cerulean Baroness. At his side, he sees a movement on the floor, a box raising from it. It was the box in which he put his equipment. The cover from it desintegrates.
"How many of the contentans will die because they forget to take their equipment? I guess this is another test, or the baroness is pranking me", Roberion said to no one in the room, taking his equipment.
I really don't want to wear this armor. I`m starting to doubt that document; if it were for me, I would call it a failure just because of how abominable it is to wear somebody else's skin. Even if it were the undead behemoth, I will wear it anyway though; I want to leave this hell alive.
Roberion started wearing his clothes, first the [Behemoth Skin], then the leatherleaf equipment. It's weird to put the boots and gloves under an armor like that; the thing is thick, it feels like a little more pressure, and the leatherleaf armor will tear. It's peak mundane, so I'm not sure it won't, except the [Basic Elemental Gloves], that is . Let the leatherleaf tear; I won't use that skin like a bodysuit alone.
Taking the portable sphere of the [Hellish Plasma Cannon], Roberion put it in his space bag. Taking a look inside the back, it seems nothing was stolen. Roberion put again the bangle of Shining Crown, feeling again the strong connection with the creature. When he connected, he felt an emotion of discontentment from Shining Crown; the roothorn didn't care about being stored, but being alone without connection troubled the plant-animal.
"Sorry buddy, I had to do it; it was not like I wanted to lose my portable roothorn", the creature didn't answer Roberion, just content with the restored connection.
The null finished equipping his amulets, took a look at the open door in front of him, and just walked inside the tunnel. Roberion didn't know when the battle would start, so he was just waiting to take his spear if he needed it or if the die didn't select Jubilant Choir.
The tunnel was darker and longer than he thought. Without the help of the sparse illumination, he would have a bad time walking. The whole atmosphere exuded a feeling of danger and suspense. Roberion had almost already activated the die and run right there and now. But going to this new place warranted caution and strategy.
Fighting the participants won't be a joke. If they survived this much, they must be strong or have an ace on their sleeve. Now that I think about it, they must still have their perks, and I bet they had an easier time with the trials. If they have the same perks as I had, I need to kill them as soon as I can; the perk Trashed and Scattered must be a pain in the ass to deal with. It's way weaker than the undead regeneration, though.
Finally, Roberion saw light just ahead; the light seemed to be dark purple, the same hue he observed while trying to feel the lines. This light seems way more concentrated than the room in which I did the physical trials, only weaker than the healing the Ceruelean Baroness did. I can't shake the feeling that this has some insidious plan.
Entering the space, Roberion felt the place familiar; it seemed like the training ground where he learned his spells and fought with the old couple of fiznaults. The biggest difference, aside from the fact that the place was covered, was the weird purple symbols; they were all over the place and seemed to be connected, like being part of a giant picture.
On the other side, a null could be seen. This null seemed normal; his equipment seemed familiar to the guard that worked on the farm of the seven-tree bulls. His oponnent didn't seem to have a space bag; his weapon was just at his back, a rifle similar to the one he used before.
Maybe it's some sort of distraction, a way of making me lose my guard, and he shoots flying swords from nowhere. Roberion was cautious, just waiting for the Ceruelean Baroness to give her go ahead. His opponent was just doing the same, looking at him, if a little afraid.
From nothing, the hologram of the Ceruelean Baroness showed up, her regal and noble outfit on full display. Roberion thought that she looked somewhat beautiful but artificial; there was not even a little imperfection.
"Welcome participants. In this duel, participant number 886 will fight participant number 4358", as she said, a number was displayed in front of each one; Roberion's number was 4358, so his opponent was 886. "In the fight, anything can be used; it's your time to show your strengths in full display, survive, and prove your worth."
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"After the fight, you can take anything your opponent is carrying but his body and any part of it; this trial is also research, and your body is data. Now prepare to wait for the signal in the middle of the camp; when it shows up, fight. Until then, wait; don't use or activate your weapons; don't cast spells; don't use your perks; in short, just don't try to be smart, or you will be eliminated."
The other null took the gun out of his back, holding it. This doesn't seem fair; I need to activate my die before. If Percival or Julibant Choir shows up, it will complete different combat tactics. Although I don't feel like using the [Hellish Plasma Cannon] here could be a good idea, I don't have a place to cover and aim it right; that thing is big. Maybe I don't even need to aim. Nah, I will just use the fireball to feel the opponent while I run like mad. Maybe those bullets are special; running should be my priority.
Roberion focused on casting the fireball the first thing during the fight; aside from that, he concentrated on his legs; he needed all the speed he could get at the start of the fight. His opponent looked to choose a shooting position.
"What type of monster are you? What did they do to your skin? Just let me kill you; you don't want to become a monster…", his opponent kept talking while Roberion only focused on the fight with other problems on his mind.
This guy is the first sentient being I'm killing; the guard on the warehouse was more like self-defense. I kind of feel that I should feel hesitation in killing the null, like we are the same species. But it still feels like there is something broken in me that has changed. It doesn't matter what the masked guy changed in us; I still won't feel remorse. I doubt this guy would hesitate a second to kill me, just as I do. I will try to put him down as fast as I can.
After less than a minute, a great purple signal showed in the middle; all the other symbols seemed to flicker with strength before growing weaker and becoming normal. Roberion didn't wait to analyze; running and activating the glove, he felt the wooden sturdyness of Jubilant Choir. Trying to use it in a defensive way, he deflected the bullets with it. Roberion wasn't faster than bullets, but the massive size of the weapon worked wonders.
His opponent seemed to be screaming in fear and babling something, which Roberion ignored because he wanted to finish it as soon as he could. The fireball was created, and Roberion didn't wait a second before throwing it at the other Null.
Roberion waited with bathed breath for a secret weapon to be shown by the other null, a secret defense, a spell. But the only thing he saw was the burning corpse of his opponent; he was curious how the baroness would analyze it. This was fast.
This guy must still be mundane, but if that is true, letting a—wait what was the incarnation before Touched? I think it's Witness. Anyway, this guy is way weaker than me. This time its for my benefit, but imagine later I need to fight a Blessed guy, I doubt a null already reached it, but imagine.
"Alright, let's worry later. First, let's see if this guy has anything useful... And it's a bust; this guy has some half-eaten rations, this rifle, and nothing else. Really amazing. My reward for winning is trash. Alright, what do I do next, Ceruelean Baroness?"
The hologram showed up; this time she seemed more human, not in a normal sense, but the baroness was more there, less robotic like a program. "You don't want to take anything from participant 886? Fine", less than a second after, the corpse and the equipment were sucked in by the floor, vanishing even with any traces of the burning.
"Now, just wait a few minutes in the position you were before; a new oponnent will come here. Congratulations are in order. First, as it seems to be a worry for most of the participants, I prefer to divulge it, as it could influence the trial negatively. There aren't any Blessed participants, and after this trial, there are no more Witness and Ordinary ones", the baroness said as a matter of fact.
"Can you answer what Witness and Ordinary means?", Roberion was still suspicious of the emphasis she said participants but he wanted the information about incarnation more; he didn't even ask the old couple about it, as he was too focused on becoming stronger and learning about his previous incarnations seemed needless.
"It will be the last answer you get from me, at least before finishing the duels. Witness incarnation means that you have enough connection with the lines to use weapons and equipment, though they need to be of the mundane tier, or you suffer the blacklash if using an enchantment. If the items aren't enchanted without any incarnation, that is, in some cases, they can be used by people with a Witness incarnation, although rare for a multitude of reasons, like value, weight, energy, and others. Ordinary is ordinary; if you have a brain, you can deduce what they are", the baroness said petulantly.
"What would matter if you explained or not?", Roberion asked anyway. He suspected that Ordinary just didn't have any connection, but he wanted a complete explanation.
"Will and time, go to your position; your oponnent is near", the Ceruelean Baroness said before changing the hologram to the middle of the place.
Roberion obeyed the hologram reluctantly. After a few minutes, a different participant showed up, this time a bearded male human. He didn't look strong; his build was average, but they had a bloodied sword with him.
I won't underestimate him. I already killed stronger opponents before, like that panther; this guy just needs an opening and a strong attack to kill me. I won't give him that, at least not easily.