Floor 2 was silent, too silent.
There were no enemies. There were no traps.
Only statues. Thousands of statues.
Stone trees grew from the ground, with silver roots and flowers carved from marble. The "fruits" hung from the branches like faces frozen in agony. Eidan walked among them, each step more uncertain than the last.
[Passive Activation: Gaze of Truth – Level 1]
He hadn't even decided to activate it. The Eye was working on its own.
And that was when he saw one of the statues breathe.
Subtle, imperceptible. A slight movement of the eyelids. A twitch in the muscle of the jaw. It wasn't stone.
It was someone hidden behind the stone.
She turned toward him. He looked like a young boy, dressed in the robes of an apprentice magician. He was trembling.
"D-don't look at me like that..." he stammered.
But it was too late.
Eidan's eyes pierced him.
[Truth Revealed: He's not a boy.]
[Species: Illusory Parasite - Mimetic Class]
[Emotional Truth: He lies out of fear. He remembers his own betrayal.]
Eidan saw the original scene. The "boy" was nothing more than a shapeshifting creature, who had sold his companions to save himself. He had taken the form of the last one he had killed. He had survived... but was no longer alive.
"Enough!" the creature screamed, falling to its knees. "Please... I don't want to remember!"
Eidan stared at him in silence.
Then he looked away.
"Neither do I."
He continued. But he felt something boiling inside him. The Gaze didn't just reveal the truth of others.
He also revealed his own.