"What is this place?"
Eren found himself in a place far different from what he expected to get teleported to. He looked up and saw the night sky that was studded with glittering stars. But the sky was devoid of the moon.
Then he looked around and found out that he was teleported to a barren land above a mountain. A large and expansive platform was created. It looked like the peak was chopped off by something very sharp in one go, allowing for the creation of such an unnaturally flat platform above a mountain.
The wind felt cold. But it didn't feel like it was being influenced by the snow. Plus, it was too stable to be called a natural wind– considering the height Eren sensed he was supposed to be at.
Eren used his movement spell and moved over to the edge of the platform. He saw that the mountain he was on was one of many in the range of mountains surrounded by a dense forest. The platform was created when the mountain's peak was chopped. And yet, it stood taller than the other mountains in the mountain range.
"Wondering where you are? Let me tell you that this place exists for real. What you see in front of you is a look-alike of the actual place.
But it's not in what you call the Edinburgh kingdom though."
Layla's voice was heard in Eren's mind. He thought to himself and concluded. The solo towers send their participants to field dungeons that are based on real places.
"What do I need to do?"
Eren asked while maintaining his vigilance. He couldn't see any opponents in front of him. But he felt that the wind was getting chilly by the second.
"Survive, Eren. Survive in this place for seven days and seven nights. We'll talk about the next step afterwards."
Layla said and stopped talking. Eren also sensed a fluctuation of mana right at the centre of the platform. He got tense and tried executing his spell combo in anticipation.
Sedated Perception
Stunning Speed
Blitz Bolt
….
…
'Hmm? There's something wrong with the time-element spells.'
Eren felt his time-element spells not getting activated when he was about to launch his combo. Alephee's voice was heard in his mind before he could try to cast the time-element spells one more time.
'Time-element spells won't work here, Eren. At least not in the usual way. That's because the entire place is rendered on a time-element array. Remember what the caretaker told you. A few days could pass in here while in the real world it would only mean you have spent a few hours inside.'
Eren furrowed his eyebrows after he heard Alephee's statement. He kept his eyes at the centre of the platform. A medium-sized, complex array was lit up on the ground– indicating something was going to appear from it.
'Can't you do something about it, Alephee? I mean you created a miracle once when you sent me to my past. Allowing me to use my time-element spells shouldn't be impossible to you.'
Alephee replied soon after:
'It's not that I can't do it. It's the tower's mechanism. It will sense that an anomaly has been created inside the time chamber. We don't know how it will react to that anomaly.
So my suggestion would be that you drop the idea of using your time-element spells here. The risks might not be worth the advantage you seek in your battle.'
Eren heard Alephee say inside his head. He could choose to override the dungeon's time-element spell restriction with Alephee's help. Or he could drop the time-element spells from his spell combo.
Eren thought of something else as he was watching the array at the platform's centre getting brighter by the moment. He couldn't help asking Alephee about it:
'Alephee, your existence wasn't detected by the tower. So you are beyond the tower's fail-safe mechanism. Is there any way you can help me besides enabling me to use time-element spells?'
Eren asked with hopes in his eyes. He needed all the help he could get from the looks of things. That's because the chilliness in the air has grown since the array appeared. He felt a strange mana signature in the surroundings that he hadn't felt in either of his lifetimes.
The butcher had come to realize that he was going to fight off an unknown kind of creature. Not knowing about your enemies raised the difficulty of the battle.
'Sorry to burst your bubble, Eren. I won't be able to do much if you want to avoid the repercussions from the tower. Plus, I'd like my existence to stay hidden from the tower's mechanism. For some reason, I feel that Layla isn't the only one keeping an eye on you.
But I can give you heads-up for your upcoming battle by making use of my soul sense. I'd have to compromise on being put to sleep if I tried to exert my consciousness like this. But your survival is more critical here at this point.'
'Do it.'
Eren didn't take long to reply. He had already been exposed to the potential of a soul sense application in battle. Alephee's tips were also welcoming. The butcher could trust her because their existences were interconnected.
Alephee spread her mana sense after she got Eren's confirmation and used it to scan the incoming enemies. Only a few moments had passed since the array appeared.
'Eren, I have bad news. Against your upcoming enemies, your lightning element offensive spells will almost be of no use at first. Use all your fire-element spells. Those would help you the most in dealing with their rotten bodies.'
Alephee informed Eren, who immediately cast his spell combo. He didn't have the luxury of taking his time and considering her suggestion.
Blitz Steps
Fire snake
Fireball
Breath of Fire.
Eren executed his spell combo that focused on his fire-element spells. Immediately, his feet were surrounded by tongues of lightning. His katars' edges caught fire as he tweaked the fireball spell to do so. And there appeared a bunch of fire snakes around him that all focused their gazes on their new enemies that had started appearing from the arrays.
"What the fuck are those?"
Eren couldn't help his shock when he saw his enemies. He soon heard two voices in his head, coming from Alephee and Layla at the same time, saying the same word in unison.
"Wraiths."