Chapter 108: Birds

"Think about this. Don’t risk your life," said the scarred leader. "That platform is a lot more complicated than you think. We don’t want you to accidentally trigger a trap that would ruin it for the rest of us."

Eren looked at both leaders and smiled. "What makes you think that I can’t solve this puzzle all on my own?"

The scarred leader scoffed. But the woman with the ponytail just looked at Eren with curiosity in her face.

She was observing him. After all, she didn’t think that he would have been able to get close to the platform at all. That L-shaped stone trap would have been effective even against the scarred leader.

And yet, this unknown guy was suddenly able to duck from the attack as if he knew what was coming even before it happened.

Not only that, but this guy knew how to manipulate the glyphs on the platform to make it move. The woman remembered it taking her and her team about an hour or so before they figured out the control schemes of this platform.

"You can’t solve it through brute force," said the scarred leader. "You will learn that the hard way: by losing your life."

Now it may have seemed like a threat, but in truth, it was also a warning. The scarred leader truly knew that Eren was throwing his life away for no good reason.

Eren smiled. "We’ll see about that."

Then, he looked down into the platform and saw the myriads of R?zoň glyphs revolving in their own arcs and circles.

Now, it may seem complicated, but in truth, it was very simple. At least, as simple as compared to what he had learned back in Immor?.

He moved an S-shaped glyph on the ground to the upper right corner, right next to the sun-shaped glyph.

Immediately, the platform began to move straight forwards, surprising both leaders.

Then, the disc platform came to an abrupt stop. Three new disc platforms emerged from the depths of the chasm. They hovered there, waiting for Eren to make a choice.

There were a few symbols on each platform, each corresponding to a different Beast or animal from Immor?.

The symbols on my platforms have a double meaning for strength, bravery, and light energy. The obvious answer is the lion disc platform.

Eren immediately jumped onto the disc platform on the very right. As soon as he did, the other two discs disintegrated into debris, before falling back down into the chasm down below.

Behind him, the people of the Academic Sector were watching him with awe.

"How did he know to choose the Lion disc?!"

"It took us a few hours to solve that!"

Even their leader was flabbergasted. At first, she thought that this guy must have been very lucky since he was able to dodge her trap. But now, seeing him jump to the correct disc platform made her start to doubt her own words.

"It’s nothing more than luck!" said the Scarred Leader. He scoffed along with the rest of his twenty-something group members behind him. "You’ll see soon."

Meanwhile, the disc platform moved forwards. Then, once it was in the half-way point, it stopped abruptly.

It was at this point that ten new discs emerged from out of nowhere. And in each disc, the R?zoň engraved onto their platforms grew a deep red.

Then, the platforms began to morph and change. It was as if they were being molded by an invisible hand, folding, curving, into an entirely new object.

It wasn’t long before they took on the appearance of a simple bird. There wasn’t much detail to them. Only a beak and its talons. There were not even any feathers on its wings, nor could its wings even flap. They just floated there like a statue.

But they were big. About the size of a normal human.

"Ha!" the Scarred Leader laughed. "If you move forward even a little bit, those birds will attack you immediately!"

Eren ignored him and looked down at the R?zoň symbols in his platform. It was the symbol and glyph of a lion.

A lion against a bird... with symbolisms of vision, and imagery of a kingdom and sovereignty... I see...

Eventually, he made a decision. He looked at a circular glyph on his platform and moved it.

Soon, the lion disc platform moved forward. And it was at that moment that one of the birds swooped down towards him.

Its beak sped towards his face. He raised his hands up in an ’X’ pattern, defending against the eagle’s beak. If he hadn’t used Reinforcement on his hands, he would have been knocked out.

Then, while the bird was making its flyby to return towards him, he immediately moved the glyph forward again.

This time, another bird swooped down towards him. It was a simple pattern, straight down the middle, allowing Eren to block it again with his hands.

But immediately after, he stepped out of the way as the previous bird finished its rotation and attacked him again.

Seeing this, the group of people watching him from behind shook their heads in disappointment.

"That’s a bad mistake," said the pony-tailed woman. "He should have finished off that bird first before moving forwards."

It would only get harder and harder for him if he continued forwards with defeating any of the birds. Their group learned that lesson the hard way. They’d already lost two people because of it.

But Eren didn’t seem to care nor mind it.

He made a very bold decision and moved the glyph in a complete 360 degree circle, causing the Lion platform to move forwards through the awaiting beaks of the birds.

As his disc moved through space, more and more of the birds became active.

They swooped down on him from everywhere.

Eren raised his hand and blocked an eagle’s beak coming straight for his head, before another eagle headed straight for his torso.

After blocking both, another eagle swooped down from behind him and attacked his back.