I stood there for a while staring in awe and curiosity at the huge hall below. The room was huge, gigantic, I could tell that the dome from which I looked down was one of several that each held its own lighting crystal. I couldn't see the crystals but I could see the spotlights on the floor below. The room was a rectangular space with a large door at the far end open all the way and showing the open outside.

The outside!

I was seized with excitement, there was the way out of this place! I only had to go down about forty meters, approximately, to the ground under the dome, and go out through the door to lose myself in the infinite exterior... All this without being noticed by those beings below.

It was impossible, there was no way I could pass unseen and blending in with them was out of the question, I am too ugly even by human standards, to those beings I might as well be an abomination to scare children with.

But maybe, just maybe, I could get forty yards of rope and come back when there was no one in the room. I could escape! Freedom!

I continued fantasizing about my incipient escape for a while and enjoying the pleasant music, which I must admit, was very soothing, when the music stopped. There was a sort of murmur throughout the room as a voice echoed throughout the room.

"The host Drope Le Dosopia, tamer of the storm, and his daughter Miss Nabue Al Dosopia have arrived!"

On the opposite side of the exit that had held me enthralled all this time. There was a large staircase descending from somewhere I could not glimpse. All the people turned to look in that direction and somewhere I could not see because of the curvature of the dome. But which I calculated was on some landing of the staircase, a placid male baritone voice sounded.

"Welcome, your attendance at this, my humble abode, brings joy and honor to our family." he paused and continued.

"Today is a momentous day in my life, today is the day my beautiful girl... Nabue. Becomes an adult. It was only three hundred and fifteen little years ago that she came into our lives and now, as if in the blink of an eye, she has already grown up more than I ever expected." I heard a nasal sniffle as if holding back tears.

"But that day has come, and it is today. With all of you as witnesses, that my daughter, Nabue Al Dosopia, will be recognized by the world as an adult and capable woman. Moreover, today will also be, as tradition dictates, the day on which her marriage is decided for the next hundred years... After which she may decide to perpetuate it or end it to formalize a new one, just as her mother did. But that will be a matter for the future. Nabue, my dear, say your terms..."

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Now a woman's voice sounded, very melodious and captivating, just by the voice, I could imagine the woman's beauty, surely comparable to that of all present.

"Today my first husband will be decided, as tradition dictates, I have to present a condition that will serve to judge the suitability of the candidates and allow me to choose one of them. My condition in very simple..." At that point I could see the tension of everyone waiting for her words, especially the young men who had approached the staircase.

"Power" Said the woman "My first husband will be the most powerful, SHOW ME YOUR POWER!"

And then all hell broke loose..…

All the guys at the entrance suddenly started attacking each other with swords, bows, spears, knives or just their fists, all accompanying their attacks with beautiful visual effects like lightning, fire, water jets, flying rocks, etc. All being seen as a simple spectacle by the other attendees. Shock slingshots from the collisions traveled throughout the room and a blast of smoke and hot steam ascended directly into the opening I was looking out of.

I quickly stepped back from the edge an instant before a jet of hot steam erupted violently like a geyser and began to gather at the top of the room. I could see the edges of the opening begin to melt, I was horrified, immediately stood up and began to descend the ladder as fast as my legs would carry me. The hot steam continued to build up at the top and filled the entire space, I stumbled up the last few steps and managed to get to my feet and run back to the tunnel where I had come from, the steam continued to build up and flow down the tunnel and I could feel its heat from a distance.

Despite my fatigue, I managed to muster my strength and run a couple of hundred meters through the winding tunnels, each intersection dispersing the steam in various directions, until the steam reached me, and although it was very hot, it only burned me a little like a sauna, rather than cooking me like a boiled potato. I kept walking through the tunnels for a while, getting as far away from the steam as I could until the heat of the tunnel disappeared and it was once again cold and dreary as always.

Those beings were terrifying, I thought, good thing I was able to react quickly and escape before I burned to death. Before on earth, I would not have been able to react so fast, fear would have paralyzed me.

I leaned against the wall at an intersection to catch my breath and reviewed everything that had happened so far. I fell down a hole in a place full of monsters, I was judged like a slave, I was taken to a place where a talking snake told me to grab a marble, and then it sent me through a maze of tunnels to a place full of lightning where I almost died fixing something I don't understand, then I get lost and see a party of terrifying people where I almost burned to death. How was I not shrieking in terror in a corner like a coward? I wanted to be like that!

That was the moment when I noticed that since I had arrived at that place, despite feeling fear, I was never 'terrified' to the point of paralysis. Despite having plenty of reasons to do so.

The same thing happened with the lightning thing, I vaguely remember that for a moment I felt a paralyzing terror, and then no more... no more. As if the fear went away. That's not normal!

Minutes passed and I heard footsteps down the tunnel approaching me.