chapter 47-clearance of a floor
"Looks like most of our mystic units' reserves are full," tommy observed. "It seems the place itself is replenishing our inner energy. That's good. For our next battle, we will be ready"
"Yeah, I know." I nodded. "Let's see what happens, but we probably need preparations beforehand. Tommy, I think the coffin strategy is best for now."
Tommy smiled, knowing where this was going, while Max sweated buckets.
"Please, I've got a better plan. You gotta hear me out on this, please don't make me get in that thing," Max pleaded.
"Fine, what's your plan?"
"Yes, yes! It's simple - with Tommy's Overheat abilities letting him superheat anything he touches, we can use the wood from the chairs to burn enemies and beasts. It's a good idea, don't you think?" he beseeched.
"You're right, it is good. Really good. So good that maybe we can try both plans. You're a genius, Max!"
"Wait, I didn't mean it like that!" Before he could finish, Tommy went behind him, creating what seemed a large iron coffin surrounding Max's body.
"I have human rights, you know! You can't do this."
"Stop whining, there's a handle you can touch to open it if you're in danger," Tommy said.
The coffin was simply a spiked, large iron and steel construction shaped like a coffin with horns and spikes protruding on the outside. This move was basically while fighting, Max could lend us his blessings and Pillar of Light skill while being protected himself. Even if creatures got close, they wouldn't be able to break the thing open without prep time. And it was perfect to move around due to its wheels - a smart plan for our dumb team.
"You comfortable in there, mate?" I knocked on the steel lid.
"Screw off!" he retorted. I could see why.
"Look, you're safe and can leave anytime. You're a priest, a child of the gods - you should rejoice in that." I tried to soothe him. "Max, I'm joking, but it's important you stay put. Tommy wasted energy, but we still have enough time for him to replenish to the max, so it's more a time issue than your issue, if you know what I mean."
Tommy created chains around the coffin, which he held together with his hands. Then with a pile of gathered wood, he made a second wooden layer chained around the coffin. Luckily Max could still see through the gaps we left.
He wouldn't burn to death due to the Pillar of Light granting fire resistance to some level.
"All of you are mad, I mean mad," Max grumbled.
We stayed silent as the time came - words represented by numbers in the air ticking down to zero. Now, it seemed, we were going to the next floor.
The multi-colored stained-glass windows started shifting, changing. The walls and marble floors did the same, brick floors rearranging themselves into a rippling effect across the whole room as engraved wall imagery disappeared.
I thought we would be teleported, or a hidden door would open - but this was not what we had in mind. The broken chairs we used for an earlier trap were devoured by the room itself.
"Jay, remember that movie about the old man and wife who turned into a house? This feels familiar," Tommy whispered.
"Shush, quiet. Everybody stay absolutely still," I ordered.
We made sure none of us were shifted away from each other, latching onto the coffin - it seemed the only place not shifting with the environment was the small circle around the three of us.
What was once a small church hall was now a clean, empty square dungeon room - no doors leading outside, no windows or chairs. Even the beholder's corpse was gone, devoured by the reshaping room which gave a dizzying, crawling sensation. Would we be devoured if it wanted? Not if we stayed focused. There was reason to this madness, a pattern, a system we needed to figure out. But not right now.
Torches lined the room, the only lighting in the area. Was this an arena? Did the Realm Master want us to fight each other to determine the strongest? If so, I doubted I could go through with it.
But the floor, more concrete and stone than marble now, opened four separate pits within the ground, shaking the room as it did so.