Kiresula saw that there were people waiting, apparently constantly checking the status of… something. At least they had the expressions of people interacting with the system. Kiresula dropped onto the ground, making a loud noise. She looked around and saw several [Holy Guard]s immediately move to attack, but upon seeing her freeze. One of them called out to Haina, who rushed in from the rest area.
“You’re back!” he shouted, “We were close to thinking that you managed to escape! And were about to call it a day.”
“I am sorry. Of course the dungeon, even though it wanted a favour from me, had used a puzzle to protect its core. Also, while the process felt like it took hours, it probably didn’t. Any further accumulations of broken magic?”
“None,” Haina confirmed.
“You shouldn’t get any more and it ought to be safe to re-open the dungeon. But I would prefer to run it first before I say that. Just to make sure, you know.” Kiresula looked around, saw all synthic magic easily contained and yet still in reach to do serenity and smiled.
The cleric nodded tiredly: "Sounds like a plan, but I require you to remain by my side and not, again, break the ropes. Next time, I won't let it slide. And you do the riddles!"
That last thing made Kiresula quite happy. She loved riddles and had always preferred the puzzle path over the battle path in the Dungeon of the Bridge. "Sure, strap me in! I will try to do my best to stay away from any more trap doors. I can't guarantee though that the dungeon won't do anything like before again. I mean, it wasn't my decision to leave you behind…"
Haina nodded: “That will be okay.”
They walked through to the next room and Kiresula smiled. It had a huge jigsaw puzzle on a mat in front of it. Kiresula looked at Haina, then went ahead and looked for the edge pieces. The puzzle was easily assembled. Kiresula saw children on a carousel having a lot of fun. Compared to the Forbidden Dungeon, this was so wholesome it made her smile. As soon as the last piece was placed, a door opened.
Haina immediately urged her to go through, but Kiresula shook her head and turned the puzzle upside down. A mess of black and white lines was shown. She pointed at it: “There is a second puzzle in here. I noticed the backsides and would like to solve this first. There might be extra rewards for doing so.”
Haina looked at her tiredly: “You are going to try everything when it’s already this late?”
Kiresula nodded: “Of course! I need to…” she stopped herself before she could say: “Gain experience”.
He gave her a quizzical look and then said: “Go on!”
Kiresula said: “become better. I might not be able to gain stats, but I do believe that my mind can still become better and with my frail glitchling body, that is the only way, I can make it in this life.”
He nodded: “Your dedication to progression is quite endearing. But I am going to sit back for a moment.” He yawned and sat down.
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She smiled apologetically to the [Holy Guard]s and then solved the second puzzle. This one showed a message in modern writing: “What do you always see when your eyes are open, but you only seldomly realise it?”
Kiresula paused: This could be a metaphor, this could also be quite literal. Given that the dungeon apparently was around during the Island-and-Coast invasion, it could also be a metaphor that made no sense in the modern language. She started pacing, murmuring to herself, wondering if there was any system function that she didn’t realise integrated into the vision, apart from the notifications, but those were not always showing. There were other answers, like light or magic, but not everyone had a sense for magic and light was not always visible. As she was pacing, she too had to yawn and when doing so, stopped: “My nose?” she asked.
That was when another door opened. Kiresula walked towards it. Haina opened his eyes and walked over. “What’s this?”
Kiresula smiled: “The jigsaw puzzle had a riddle and that opened this door.”
As she entered, she saw a bowl of yellow plums and the text: “Have a treat!” She ate one and savoured the sweet and juicy taste. As she did so, she received a notification:
Dungeon Achievement: Smells good! You solved the second puzzle in the first room. Better rewards await you upon completion of the Dungeon of the Awakened Mind.
She smiled and handed the bowl to others. Some took a plum but Haina didn’t.
The next rooms were similar: There were puzzles with one easy and one hard solution. Solving the easy one opened the door to the next room, solving the hard one gave a treat. Kiresula had the best fruits she had in a long time in this dungeon: a delicious, crisp apple, blueberries that were juicy and sweet, and some fruits that she never encountered before but which had the most excellent taste. Everytime, she ate one of the fruits, she received a dungeon achievement. In the last room, she saw a fruit basket with stone sculptures of all the kinds of fruit that she ate (and offered to the group). Then there were the names in Mainlandic as well as in Je-ashvehanu squiggles. Kiresula assigned each of the fruits to their names. The last door didn’t open, but the crystal in its middle started glowing. A very tired Haina was about to shuffle to it, but Kiresula re-ordered the fruits based on the order they were found in the dungeon. The light in the door-crystal turned brighter and the colour turned more yellow. Another notification appeared:
Dungeon Achievement: Fruit Wizard! You solved all second puzzles in the dungeon. Better rewards await you upon completion of the Dungeon of the Awakened Mind.
Kiresula smiled. “Now we can go through. I think we got everything here.”
Haina motioned at her to go through first, but she shook her head: “We are going to be separated by that door. So, I feel that for my own safety, it would be better if you go ahead.”
Haina nodded. “Good thought! Please don’t dawdle.” He put his hands on the crystal and after a moment, received a colourful blanket from a previously hidden chute above it. It looked utterly fluffy and warm. He then stepped through the door. The rope broke as soon as he stepped through. One after another of the [Holy Guard]s received rewards, often toys or sweets, one of them received a plush lion with colourful fur. Eventually, Kiresula was the last one in the room. She put her hand on the crystal and twitched badly. She felt as if her body was in immense pain. It was as if she had touched the core. As she did so, she heard a voice in her mind: “I am trying to give you the reward directly, so they cannot take it away from you. Check your status when you have a free moment. I will give you a toy as well, so it doesn’t seem suspicious that you got nothing.” Then, the chute dispatched a stick with a rainbow-coloured band attached to it. When she waved it, there was a slight glow. A children’s toy. As she left the dungeon, she noticed that she had pending notifications.