The creature's glowing red eyes seemed to brighten, gleaming with something that might have been amusement, pity, or perhaps both mixed together.
"Strange human," it said, and now the voice carried a subtle but unmistakable persuasive quality—not magical compulsion exactly, but the weight of genuine, reasonable advice. "Why not simply give up this tenth-layer trial? I can see quite clearly, with absolute certainty, that you have virtually no realistic chance of achieving victory against me. Why risk your valuable, promising life so foolishly when you clearly possess such remarkable natural potential for significant future growth?"
Its glowing eyes seemed to intensify their light, becoming almost hypnotic in their steady gaze.
