Spectator

In a dark room, a flash of silver repeated until the armored statue it was coming from shuddered. A series of cracking noises slowly got louder as hairline fractures appeared on the statue. A slow melancholic tune echoed in the large room for a few minutes until the statue was close to shattering. The cracks eventually stopped spreading and started reversing, the statue going back to its original state save for the slightest wisp of silver light under the visor.

'... I can't move' was the first thought it had.

'I can see, but it's too dark', was the next.

'Status.' Was the third, and a thin transparent grey tablet popped up in its mind.

[ Name: N/A

Race: Golem

Vitality: 200

Energy: 250

Core: Lapis Crystal, Unknown Soul

Durability: 1000/∞

Materials: Labyrinthine Stone

Durability: 1200/1200 ]

'That doesn't tell me much', it thought. Time slowly passed by as it tried to move and figure out where it was without success. The only thing it could see was dim crimson crystals hanging inside sconces on the walls and some sort of silhouette near the middle of the room. Soon the faint sounds of metal clashing and shouting could be heard. The sound died down and the sound of boots scuffing against stone was heading towards the room it occupied.

Its range of vision wasn't too big, it couldn't turn its head and it was also wearing a visored helmet. From the very corner of its vision, something started moving in the darkness along with a loud creaking noise, then light started pouring into the room. It could see that it was a door opening, a particularly large bronze door, with several figures behind it. The dim crimson crystals started to emit light and grew brighter the further the door opened.

'This should be a dungeon right?' It thought once it could clearly see the room.

The room was immaculately clean and other than the silhouette in the middle that turned out to be an eight-foot-tall suit of armor that was standing on a slightly raised platform there were armored statues lining a balcony that stretched around the entire room.

'I was wondering why I'm in a weird pose, is this an arena?' It pondered as it realized it was another one of the cheering statues lining the balcony.

The people entering the room were wearing varying degrees of armor and looked almost human. There was a short one wearing leather with a bearded ax that should be too big for him to wield, a woman wearing a cloak and holding a large staff with a shining red gemstone embedded in the tip, and a large brute of a man wearing nothing but pants, showing off a muscled furry body while his face was like that of a lion.

The woman stopped the other two, "This room has changed too, be careful."

"Another? I don't see a difference," the short male said with a strange accent.

"Are you blind? There are many more statues than there should be," the lion man chided.

"They should be decoration, there's no magic coming from them," the woman assured.

"Good, those things are like ten times my size, how am I supposed to hit the crotch if I can't reach it?" The short one laughed.

"Enough, we're not paid to waste time, we need to check for abnormalities." The lion-man commanded as he stepped onto the arena platform.

As soon as he stepped onto the platform the bronze doors closed with a slam and the armored figure shuddered, "Prove your mettle!" It roared and dashed towards the lion-man, a bastard sword materializing in its hand. The lion-man met its charge with his own along with a chant, his claws dulling and turning into metal as he parries the bastard sword. The woman and the short man also jumped up onto the platform, the woman held her staff and started chanting, making runic circles appear in the air as the short man let out a battle cry and charged in to attack from the side with his ax.

The armored figure gave a ghastly laughed as he swung his sword with fervor, easily fighting both of his large and small foes at once. The stalemate continued until the woman finished her chant and spears of ice emerged from the runic circles, launching themselves at high speeds towards the enemy. The lion-man and short man moved out of the way without looking back, perhaps a sign of teamwork. The armored figure managed to deflect most of the shots but two still managed to pierce through his left should and right hip.

Before he could recover the pair of fighters were upon him again, relentlessly attacking from both sides but even injured the armored figure managed to fend them off using the length of his sword to his advantage.

The fight continued with the trio slowly wearing the enemy down by making him focus enough to be hit by a few spells and attacking him without rest. By the time the armored figure finally fell the trio wasn't even that tired, the lion-man and short man were only panting lightly and the woman was sweating from spending so much mana.

'That was interesting, are those the adventurers I was told about?' The singular spectator thought.

"Haah, haunted armors shouldn't be that tough, why was it in the boss room?" The short man complained.

"Because the dungeon chose it to be a boss, is it so hard for you to think?" The woman scoffed.

"... Something's not right, there should be an exit or some sort of treasure." The lion-man stated, looking around warily.

The trio stood on guard and eyed the room, the door was still closed and the armored figure turned to dust, confirming its death. The short man did a double-take, and the thing he was complaining about came true when he noticed a statue on the balcony shudder.

'Oh? I can move, am I supposed to fight already?' Came the thought of the spectator.