Chapter 532: Test of Dao
Jack materialized in a different hall. This one was also made of stone, but was noticeably far smaller. Barely a hundred feet separated the floor from the ceiling, while another hundred spanned between the right to left and front to back walls. The entire room was a box a hundred feet to each side, giving no indication of its position inside the pyramid.
Jack’s perception failed to penetrate the walls, while his ears caught no sound. Wherever he was, it was completely isolated. This was probably a separate fold in space, yet the flow of spacetime around him indicated no such thing. An exquisite application. His mind returned to the statues of the Space and Time Gods outside the pyramid—could they have participated in the creation of the Hall of Trials?
“Greetings, young monster,” a voice welcomed him. Jack turned to its source—the single other thing in the room besides himself. An entity of stone stood against the back wall, patiently waiting. Jack took the time to inspect it as he walked over—it seemed like a living creature yet wasn’t. In fact, it reminded him of Sparman, the sparring robot he’d interacted with during the Integration Tournament. Sparman had later become an important guardian of the Forest of the Strong.
“Hey,” he replied, stepping up to the automaton. “How do you do?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” the thing replied. It was humanoid and made of black stone, enchanted to endure the infinite flow of time. It wore no clothes and had no facial features, except for a single white eye in the middle of its face. Its voice was produced through vibrations—oddly smooth and pleasant to the ear.
“The name’s Jack. Who are you?” Jack asked.
“I am the automaton assigned to this hall. I will be the overseer and conductor of your aptitude tests. Are you ready to begin?”
“Wait,” Jack said quickly. “Can you give me some information first? Who created this place? For what reason? What exactly will I be tested on, and how?”
“I am not allowed to divulge information on the tests before you face them,” the robot explained in an even voice. “All I can tell you is that this is the Hall of Trials: a training place for the new generation of soldiers.”