Wolf

All told, it ends up taking us three entire freaking days to get all the way through every last room of the tower to end up on the bottom. Just of a single floor of this theme.

Three.

Days.

I groan slightly as I look at the totally-not-conspicuous gate at the center of the floor. One that is gray and purple in color, with two half circles connected to each other, with another circle in the very middle of it that’s part of one of the half circles. Very obviously a door in the floor that opens up.

How it opens up, I’m not-

The sound of a switch being flipped from behind me followed by the grinding of the gate I’m staring at interrupts my thoughts. So I glance back at Sapphire to find her looking curiously at a torch she just pulled down on the wall.

After seeing that, I just silently turn back to the gate again, deciding not to comment on what just happened.

Still. I hope there aren’t that many floor themes as long as this one.

Of course, I could always just skip past these rooms to the mini boss, but that would make the boss at the end of the theme a lot harder. And I really don’t want to risk it.

I’m not the only one I’d be risking after all. Sapphire would be at risk as well, so it’s best to play things safe.

Especially when I’m still adjusting to my power, albeit not as much as I would otherwise be.

Anyways, I glance at Sapphire to find her walking over to me, then I jump down into the tunnel within the floor.

And we immediately find ourselves falling through some sort of hole in a massive, underground stadium. One with bleachers surrounding the entire stadium, and that very same barrier as the other rooms covering the bleachers.

Sapphire and I land on the gracefully on the ground before looking around. But I don’t find any mini boss monster.

I frown and open my mouth to say something, only to close it again when I notice the large gate at the back of the stadium. A gate with what looks like a poisonous green mist leaking out from the bars.

Stolen novel; please report.

Huh.

“Well that’s not foreboding at all,” I mutter, making Sapphire nod her head in agreement, having noticed it as well.

Meanwhile the bleachers begin to fill to the brim, and the cheers immediately start echoing out everywhere. And the sheer number of people filling the bleachers is rather… yeah, that’s a lot of people.

The bleachers themselves are enormous, with multiple levels, and what must be a million seats surrounding the absolutely enormous arena I’m in at the bottom of the stadium. And every last one of them is very quickly being filled until there isn’t any more space.

It’s just… a lot of people.

I know I’ve been to the viewing rooms and spoken in them quite a bit, but this really is the first time I’ve been surrounded by so many people in real life outside of a viewing room. And while I’m not really anxious or anything, it does take some getting used to.

Because unlike in the viewing rooms, I can actually sense their life sources here with life sense. And I can sense the very heat in their bodies with my elemental senses as well.

Quite a few of the viewers try to break through the barrier, but to no avail as it doesn’t even show a hint of strain, much less cracking.

And, of course, Mikaela can be seen flying above them all.

To be honest, I feel like Mikaela has had his job kinda taken away for this floor theme. Since he isn’t really getting much chance to commentate when they’re in the real world, outside of a viewing room that would be under his control.

Poor guy.

Can’t spend his time talking about my fighting for my life.

Which is… actually, no, not poor guy.

I turn away from him to focus on the gate that is now beginning to rise, letting in even more of that poisonous mist into the arena.

Looks like the battle is starting.

Sapphire and I both tense up, passively freezing the poisonous mist that tries to approach us from the tunnel revealed by the gate. A tunnel filled to the brim with so much poisonous mist that you can’t even see into it.

Can’t see what’s lurking inside.

A low growl comes from the tunnel as the screams of the viewers grow a little quieter. Almost like someone pushed a volume controller on them.

Although when I look up at the bleachers, they don’t look like they’re any calmer. So I’m guessing this is a feature of the mini boss room.

The growl continues growing louder and louder, bringing my attention back to the tunnel, only to find a pair of glowing green eyes shining out from within the green mist. Then the creature reveals part of itself as I begin to hear skittering sounds and a few…

I can’t help but cringe slightly at the sight of the creatures beginning to swarm out of the tunnel, and I’m not the only one.

Cockroaches. Glowing green ones, but they’re basically just cockroaches, all ranging from an inch to a foot in length. And they’re all swarming into the arena.

So without any hesitation whatsoever, I send a wave of lunar ice of eternity to freeze the creatures.

No mercy for cockroaches.

I do not like roaches. They’re too unpredictable.

I don’t like unpredictable things.

Although I guess they aren’t all that unpredictable now considering how much stronger I’ve gotten since the last time I saw one, but still.

Habit.

One to kill cockroaches the moment I see them.

My actions end up with a wave of frozen roaches, following which my lunar ice begins pushing back against the poisonous mist to eventually reveal the mini boss.

Which is, of course, a giant cockroach.