BXBX NOVEL Chapter 107 Battle Trial
The two thought about doing some other things in that camping tent, but they opted to rest before their exploration of the ruin. No one knew what could be down there, so preparing was the best decision.
"Good night," Damian said.
Nothing happened during the night apart from the noises, some they could not differentiate. But nothing came to attack their camp, and that was what mattered.
The camping tent was not a great place to sleep, not as comfy as their day-to-day bed, but they, as superhumans, had to survive in harsh scenarios, so Damian and Aurora did not complain.
If one can\'t survive a night sleeping inside a camping tent, how would they survive days or months inside the dungeon?
When morning came, they first ate something — fish again — and then unpacked all of their stuff, moving toward the major structure where they saw the staircase.
"Will it be dangerous down there, Damian?" Aurora asked.
"I hope not, but it\'s not like we are lucky, are we?" Damian said.
"You\'re the right one."
They still had their snacks inside the cooler that would last them a few days if everything went to shit.
Damian went first, holding his flashlight to brighten the way. The staircase, the walls, everything was made of stone, almost entirely green because of the moss and other vegetation.
It was humid down there. The deeper they went, the fewer sounds could be heard.
There were no more singing birds or nature sounds like outside of that building. The only thing they heard was the dripping of water from the ceiling, and the various bugs living on the vegetation down there.
"What is this place?"
After the two went down the stairs for a few minutes, they faced an open room with many statues. The room itself and the statues looked perfect, with no broken parts.
"It looks like a puzzle or something," Damian said.
Four types of statues: an archer, a warrior with sword and shield, one with two daggers, and one with a spear.
Damian scanned the area, looking for other clues, yet found nothing. "Usually there are places to drag the statues to and open some sort of passage," he thought.
That was the most common type of statue puzzle, but was not the case for that room.
How did Damian know it was a puzzle? There was nothing down there except an open room and the statues. No other way to follow, no door, nothing.
No one would build a staircase like that one, then an underground room, only to put some statues inside. It would be stupid. Also, Damian knew those ancient people loved to hide things, and that was one reason people still knew little about them.
"So, how should we proceed with this? I see nothing here," Aurora said, placing her hand on one statue.
When she did that, the statue moved, startling her!
"What?"
That was not something she or Damian expected, and hell, it should not even be possible! They had yet to build robots to move like that, so how did an ancient civilization have it?
"This has to be something like a trial!"
Damian quickly understood the situation. Those statues were like a defense mechanism for outsiders to enter their underground place, and when someone touched it, they activated!
"Damian, what should I do?" Aurora asked as she moved back closer to him.
The statue was the one of the man with a sword and shield.
"Maybe to pass this room we have to defeat the three statues?" Damian said.
It was only a guess, but it made sense considering there was no other thing inside the room except the three statues.
"Take this," Damian said as he used his Slime Ring, tossing a weapon to Aurora.
"A sword? Thanks. Can you give me your power?"
Damian nodded, moving forward to Aurora. When she touched him, she frowned, and could not understand what was happening.
When Aurora touched someone, she would have flashes of the person\'s ability, and then it would belong to her for a specific time. But when she touched Damian, there were more flashes, and it was confusing.
"Damian, your ability is the Telekineses, right? Why am I seeing more things?" Aurora said.
Damian had more than one ability, but one needed the Necromancy Book to work, and the other was a passive that boost his mind powers.
So the only ability Aurora could use was the Telekineses itself, as the others depended on external factors.
"I have more than one! Focus on the Telekineses!" Damian yelled, noticing the statue getting closer to him.
Aurora tried her best to only focus on the images showing Damian levitating things, and sure thing, it worked!
She got the ability, and when she turned around, the statue was slashing its sword down, trying to cut her. With the power of her mind, Aurora moved her body backwards, using more force than she would if using only her physique.
"Can we work together to defeat it or is it a one versus one?" Aurora said.
That was a valid question. Damian tried to impede the statue, but it did not mind him, only moving forward focusing on Aurora. It was like he did not exist there!
"I think this is a one versus one," Damian said.
He wanted to attack and help her, but what if that triggered traps around the area? It was a risk, and one he would only take if Aurora did not have the ways to defeat the statue on her own.
"Let me handle this," she said.
Aurora swiftly moved throughout the room, dodging all the attacks with mastery. She had trained a lot since her junior years, as her body and skills were the only thing that remained with her forever.
She did not have a specific ability to keep training. Every time she touched someone, it would be a new ability.
To be fair, Aurora did not even need to train! The moment she touched somebody, she would get their experience using the ability as well, and with the control mastery she had over her mana, Aurora would become better with the ability than the real user!
That was how powerful she was, and someone with a unique type of ability, a copying one. Damian did not know, but everyone would go after her if they knew her ability was that powerful!
Anyway, the statue tried to attack her using its own stone sword, but no matter how many times it tried, it never worked. Aurora was too fast, and with the help of the Telekineses, she twisted her body to make impossible dodges!
But even though she would never get him, destroying the statue would be a pain in the ass! Aurora hit it multiple times using the slime sword Damian gave her, yet all it did was scratch the statue.
"Damian, how can we destroy this thing?"
"Let me think."
Damian thought about trying to use his Bone Spear to damage the thing, but he still had to master the spell, and could not even cast it! That would play with his luck.
"Maybe…."
The statue was pure stone, but it still moved. It couldn\'t be a robot, as that was utterly impossible for any civilization to have, so the logic was that it was built using abilities!
That was defying logic as well! Based on the studies, these ancient civilizations did not have the dungeons or abilities at all, so how?
Even if it was made of stone, it still had a consciousness, so Damian tried to enter inside its mind to control it! A bold move, one he thought it would never work, but it did!
The feeling of controlling the mind of that statue was strange. A beast would talk back, send its thoughts back, but the statue did not. It was as if its mind was asleep, and the only movements it could make were those which were programmed.
"Well, it must be down here for at least 800 years or even more. So it makes sense its mind is not working properly," Damian thought.
Aurora noticed the statue stopping, so she asked, "what did you do?"
"I controlled its mind."
"Awesome! But I still don\'t see how I can destroy this thing…."
The statue would do anything Damian ordered, but even if it remained still, the slime sword would not hurt it. That was when Damian had an idea.
He moved toward the other statue, the one with a spear, and touched it. It moved after a few seconds, going after Damian to kill him!
But, as it tossed the spear toward him, the statue with the sword and shield stood before him, blocking the attack.
"I get it! It will be a fight between statues!" Aurora said, gaping at her mouth.
It was a good idea the one Damian had, and the two stepped to the side, letting the two stone statues destroy each other.