I thought I heard something from the pit, but it was barely audible.
“Silly question,” Sera stepped closer to the doorway, looking down. Just seeing her that close made me uncomfortable. “But if this goes down, would it be a possible shortcut to the floor we’re looking for?”
“Not a bad thought, actually.” Derek peered down into the darkness.
Vera finished her circuit of the room and came to stand by the rest of us. “I heard the rock hit the ground after about five and a half seconds. That means the floor is about a hundred and forty eight meters down. Unlikely we’d survive that fall, and it’s also several floors down.”
Those were some pretty impressive senses.
Sera set down her backpack. “I’ve got rope. Could we lower someone down and break through a wall at the correct altitude?”
Derek scratched his chin. “Maybe if there’s a hollow wall that’s designed for it — and there are a bunch of those in the tower. Have to be careful, though. If you try to break through one of the normal walls, the tower usually sends something to stop you. Even I wouldn’t want to take the risk of fighting one of those guardians if I can avoid it.”
Vera knelt down and pressed a hand against the stone just below the doorway. “I don’t detect any weaknesses in the wall right near us. There are two of them in the chamber we’re currently standing in, though. They’re located directly opposite the two visible doors.”
She gestured to the south side of the chamber. “They’re thinner than the standard wall segments, but I also detected mechanisms on the other sides — meaning I don’t think they’re meant to be smashed open. I think they’re shortcuts back into this room from other parts of the tower.”
Derek nodded. “That’s pretty common. Lots of ways back to the entrance. We could try to bust through one to find a shortcut, but it’s not worth the risk of antagonizing a spire guardian.”
I gestured at the open door. “Do we have any way of knowing if this even leads to a way down?”
Vera stepped away from the doorway and turned to me. “Nope. But most tower paths tend to lead in a big circle, unless they end at a teleporter or a treasure room. If we keep exploring, we’ll hit a way down eventually.”
Derek nodded in agreement and closed the door. “We could probably handle this pretty easily, but the first door usually gives you an idea of the character of a specific route. I’d rather avoid puzzles if we can.”
If I was going it solo, I’d have probably disagreed, although timing-based puzzles weren’t my greatest strength. With this group, though, fighting our way through did seem a lot safer than counting on everyone properly timing their jumps.
We headed over to the other door and Derek opened it without incident.
The next room was a long rectangular one with a single door directly opposite us.
In between us and the door, however, were three titanic green slimes.
Slimes were among the most basic monsters in any of the spires. They weren’t smart or particularly dangerous. They were essentially gelatinous mana with a hint of animal cunning. The most common theory I’d heard was that they were essentially the byproducts of failed spells and magical experiments.
The more solid ones could slam into you to break bones, but most of them just tried to envelop and suffocate people. This wasn’t generally a big threat, since they weren’t very fast or strong, either.
These slimes, though? They were a good ten feet tall, and I was pretty sure the stone beneath them was sizzling. Acidic, then.
Derek turned toward Sera. “You want to handle these?”
Sera blinked. “I mean, we could, but wouldn’t it be easier for you to do it? And did we already decide on this room?”
Derek waved a hand into the chamber. “Definitely. We’re lucky to have found something this easy, trust me. I haven’t had the luxury of fighting slimes in years. I’ve seen you fight once before, but I’d like to get a better idea of your whole group’s fighting abilities. It will help give me a better idea of who I need to focus on protecting.”
Orden leaned up against a wall near the door. “I agree with Derek’s sugestion. While I’m confident that Derek could handle most of the monsters here without any difficulty, I’d like to see what the rest of you are capable of. And I’d rather that Derek save his strength in case Katashi isn’t feeling diplomatic.”
We had a moment of silence as everyone processed the gravity of that particular statement. Orden and Derek shared a nod of acknowledgement.
They’re planning for the possibility of fighting him, I realized.
I’d been so worried about Derek that I hadn’t really considered what might happen if Katashi wasn’t sufficiently satisfied when we delivered Vera to him. What if Vera told him something he didn’t want to hear?
I didn’t want to think about it.
I’d seen Keras fight Katashi for a few moments, so it was possible for a human to survive a conflict with a visage briefly. I still didn’t know what that entailed, however. I’d heard that Keras had escaped, but that didn’t mean he’d gotten out intact.
I didn’t know how Derek stacked up against Keras in combat ability, but I doubted he was much more powerful. I didn’t know how powerful Orden was, either. I hadn’t missed the fact that she’d been deliberately evasive about how powerful she was with her Wayfarer Attunement, but even if she was another Emerald, I didn’t think they stood any significant chance in a direct confrontation.
Maybe they could survive long enough to teleport us out, though?
I dismissed the errant thoughts. I didn’t have enough information to speculate with any level of accuracy. I had a few contingency plans of my own if I needed to use them.
I turned to Derek. “Can we just hit the slimes with attacks from out here?”