Sylas walked out of the trial ground with Lolaleen in tow. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it seemed that the system had acknowledged Lolaleen’s change in affiliation.
‘I wonder… when I enter with the Basilisk King, does it count as one or two?’
This thought surfaced in his mind as he realized how smoothly Lolaleen was taken under his wing. He was half expecting for her to be taken back with her group and then likely either restrained or killed. Either way, he had thought that using her again in the future would be difficult.
The only reason he didn’t kill her outright was because in his views, it still might be possible to use her again.
It was unlikely that they had a method to reverse enslavement or else their reactions wouldn’t have been so fierce. So, their only options would be to kill or restrain. If they did the former, so be it. But if they were foolish enough to do the latter, then Sylas might be able to make them pay by using Lolaleen as a tool for sabotage the next time they met.
Unfortunately, all those thoughts were moot.
‘Still, things have gone smoothly. I didn’t need to use the Basilisk King or
Sylas was always looking ahead. He knew that this wouldn’t be the end of the Dungeon, so he had no choice but to hide as much as he could for now.
The rules were still a bit of an enigma to him, so caution was the name of the game for now. That would certainly be easier with Lolaleen by his side buffing him.
“Tell me all of your Skills, Gene Talents and abilities—including what treasures you hold.”
When the duo walked out of the portal, they found themselves before a very familiar set of four doors. Realizing that the numerals matched the token they received earlier, Sylas came to understand something.
‘So that’s why…’
When Lolaleen finished telling him about all her stats, he then asked her to explain all the rules of this place.
‘… What a convoluted game.’
The Dungeon was, as expected, more of a coming of age ceremony for the Sylphs. It was also a way for them to challenge one another without going into all-out war, thus why they were separated into family factions.
Unfortunately for them, Sylas’ appearance had thrown a wrench into the plans… or so it seemed on the surface. From what he got from Lolaleen’s words, it was actually a good thing for them that Sylas had appeared this time because it meant that their fourth faction of the Sylphs wouldn’t be able to take their usual first place prize.
The ceremony was divided into two main parts. The first were the stair challenges and the second were the team challenges. The latter were thrown in purely so that these factions could vent their hatred for one another and display whose younger generation was the stronger of them all. It could be said that the stair challenges were far more important.
Until now, things were still fairly straightforward and there wasn’t much to be confused about… until the variability of “choice” was allowed.
Between each round, one could choose your opponents. This was meant to be a combination of strategy, foreplanning, and a little luck.
Usually, most would do whatever they could to avoid this fourth faction, or make guesses about how certain teams would perform during certain stair challenges to time when it was best to target them or avoid them.
This explained a great deal to Sylas. Clearly, all of these people had been so eager because they all wanted to target him, only to end up dropping a rock on their own feet.
This added layer was where the truly tricky problem came into play. That was because since there was so much swapping of opponents and variability in challenges, the ceremony was judged based off a weighted point system that fluctuated depending on several factors.
For example, if you targeted a group that was weak on purpose, the number of points you accumulated would actually be less. However, it was more than possible to offset this penalty if the team was too weak, which would still make such an option worthwhile, thus why Sylas was prime meat in their eyes.
By the same token, though, there were a great number of extra points to be gained by facing off against teams stronger than yourself. In later rounds, if there was a big gap to be surmounted, some might choose to do this on purpose and go all out.
But now… it seemed like it was Sylas’ turn to take advantage of such a thing. Since he had the option, why wouldn’t he target the group with only eight remaining members?
After all, according to this system, he was still by far the weakest. His little team was just two people now, while his enemy had eight. Surely he would still get the scoring advantage on his side.
Without much thought, he entered the IV door and was greeted with a whirlwind of ice.
Sylas had already asked Lolaleen what the levels were, so he was more than prepared.
The first stair challenge was a direct battle, but this one… it was a test of Will. They would alternate like this, back and forth, until the very end. This should be why the Dungeon recommended 500 Will to enter.
Sylas’ Will, however… was over 800 even without his extra 250% boost from Madness.
This time, the stairs were normal sized, but there was also far more than nine. The moment he raised his foot and touched down, a sharp cold penetrated into his very bones.
Behind him, Lolaleen shivered, hints of despair in her eyes. Teams were supposed to face off against this blizzard together. Wouldn’t they just die doing this?
Sylas looked back and reached out his hand. He couldn’t let this useful little support die. Not yet, anyway.
“Stay behind me.”
…
News that a human had infiltrated their coming of age ceremony had long since been spread to the rest of the Sylph Empire. Those that normally treated this matter as a formality showed slight hints of interest and the viewership began to slowly increase.
Normally, the stair challenges wouldn’t be broadcasted, while the team battles would be. So, when everyone saw the result of the first team battle, there was a harsh silence left behind.
…
A certain old man stood behind a bonfire, looking down into the flickering flames as though the smoke didn’t bother him at all.
‘A Level 0…’ he thought to himself silently.
At first, he hadn’t thought much of it. If the human had happened to stumble into the Dungeon when it had just appeared, it was still possible.
But then there was Sylas’ little display of Rune Soul, and now… his victory against all odds.
This was a problem.
It was impossible to contact those on Earth right now, the restrictions were too stringent, let alone the fact the old man still wasn’t sure exactly which planet Sylas was from.
However… what the Sylph did know was that this couldn’t be allowed.
The fact that Sylas was Level 0 and still so powerful meant only one thing…
He knew more than he should.
