Horn entered the library. The room wasn’t anything special. The walls were lined with bookcases, full of volumes and scrolls. In the middle, there were several old wooden desks, grayed from the passage of time. Comfortable armchairs stood at each of them, and everything was basked by the glow of crystals embedded in the ceiling. The air was stale and smelled of dust, lots and lots of dust. The only thing standing out was the massive stone doorway at the far end. A few dozen strange symbols, almost pictograms, were blinking on and out on its surface.

Sigrid was sitting at one of the desks, digging through a hefty tome. She didn’t notice him or didn’t care enough to welcome his chieftain. Horn had to cough to get her attention,

“Chieftain,” She just acknowledged him,

“Sigrid, I see you’re still deep in the books, so what’s interesting in here?”

“Knowledge,” She replied,

Instantly getting annoyed, he said, “Okay, a ground-rule. No single word answers. Give me something to work with.”

“Very well, the library mostly contains historical books. There are a few more practical tomes for construction and crafting, but they cannot be taken out of here. If we had a scribe, he could make some copies for us to take them. There’s also a small library of interesting blueprints for crafting and building, but again we need a scribe. I’ve also checked scrolls and blueprints brought from the dungeon and goblin’s chest, and here is a detailed list of them with small descriptions.” She said, producing a small scroll.

“Thank you,” Horn said, reading into the list.

Scrolls:

3 Create light – a basic fire magic spell, allowing to create a magical torch that burns for twelve hours.

6 Cure wounds – a basic healing spell, healing a decent amount of health and increasing regeneration.

1 Create earthen golem – an intermediate summoning spell, creating a golem out of nearby material up to uncommon quality. Lasts an hour.

2 Firebolt – a basic fire magic spell, lunches a bolt of fire on a target, dealing average damage

1 Minor invisibility – an advanced air magic spell, the target will become invisible for a duration of five minutes.

2 Dispel magic – an advanced spell, dispels most magical effect in a ten-yard radius from the target

1 Water breathing – a basic water magic spell allows the target to breathe underwater for a duration of thirty minutes.

Building blueprints:

Barracks Tier 2 – in library

House Tier 2 – in library

Lumberyard Tier 2 – in library

Windmill Tier 2 – in library

Enchanting house Tier 3 – in library

Smithy Tier 2 – in library

Minor temple Tier 2 – in library

Defensive walls Tier 3 – in library

Shamanistic circle Tier 3 – Goblin’s chest

Slave pens Tier 2 – Goblin’s chest

Breeding pens Tier 2 – Goblin’s chest

For the crafting blueprints, the list was quite massive. Like twenty positions for most crafts, with almost everything of Tier 1. “So what are the tiers?”

Sigrid rose her head from the book, poking her finger at her lips, before replying, “It's an indicator of the quality of the item. They start at Tier 0, which is improvised and primitive, going through Tier 1 – most mundane items and generally found, with Tier 2 being uncommon items and higher Tier’s rarer ones. Overall, two items made of the same material by the same crafter but of different Tiers would be around twenty-five percent more powerful with each Tier. For building, this works a bit differently; each Tier unlocks additional functionalities. For example, a Tier 0 housing would be a wooden one-room hut or a dirt hovel. A two-room wooden building with an outhouse would qualify as Tier 1, while the same building with a kitchen would probably be Tier 2. Resting in such place would grant some minor bonuses for health and stamina regeneration.”

“Hmm, so they’re important. Can we take the ones from the library?”

“No, as I said already,” She pouted, “We need a scribe to copy them. Nothing can be taken out of here.”

“Then it's good I just summoned one. He’s with Ingrid in the crafting challenge, and I’ll send him this way as soon as they finish there.”

“Oh,” Sigrid said, surprised, “A wise choice.”

“Er, thanks, I guess?” He replied, a bit surprised, “Never mind, So any luck with the door?”

“Ehm, yes, Chieftain. I’ve solved the first puzzle. It was an anagram written in elvish of the old saying ‘May the light guide your way.’” Sigrid answered.

Taking a look at the door and seeing only unrecognizable symbols spread all over them, he just said, “I don’t even want to know how you’ve done it, but great job. Let’s see what’s behind the door.”

Sigrid closed the book and delicately put it back on the shelf. Then she dusted her robe and approached the door. She began pushing in symbols in seemingly random combinations. Each rune she touched started to shine with bright violet light. Finally, the last one lighted, and the door began to crumble into the dust. It looked fascinating. A solid massive stone door just disintegrated in a fountain of dust.

Behind them, another room opened. It was much smaller, maybe five by five, with two doors leading out, one of each side. Over each of the doors, from the wall, emerged a head carved out of stone. On the ceiling, a magical crystal shone, basking the room in delicate light. Beside the doors, heads, and crystal, there wasn’t anything else in the room.

They stepped in, looked at the surroundings, then at each other before Horn asked, “Any ideas?”

Sigrid opened her mouth to reply when both heads began speaking in unison, “Behind one door, you’ll find the way forward, behind the other death. Ask each of us one question, but know this: One always lies, the other tells only the truth. Chose wisely traveler, or perish in pain.”

Sigrid frowned, drumming her fingers in the air, “Chieftain, that’s another puzzle. Let me think for a moment. I’m sure I can solve it!”

Chuckling, Horn replied, “No worries, got that one covered.” He approached the closest face and asked, “If I ask the other one which door leads forward, where would he point?”

The head answered, “This one.”

“Thank you, that was most helpful,” Horn replied, then proceeded to the other door and opened them. He heard Sigrid in the background, shouting, asking what was he doing, but decided to have his own fun for a while.

The door opened into a screen of pitch-black fog. Without hesitation, he stepped through. The mist turned out to be only a thin film, probably to scare and put doubt into his mind, but he knew that puzzle. However, if Sigrid didn’t…

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Aaarrggghhh!”

“Chief!” Sigrid shouted in panic. Steps were closing quickly to the fog covering the doorway,

“The pain! It hurts so much!” Horn kept charade,

“I told you to wait, you fool!” Sigrid screamed, her voice shaking,

Horn jumped out of the fog shouting, “Ugabuga!”

The dwarven scholar screamed and jumped back, but instead of giving her just a jump scare, he felt a wave of pain erupting from his shoulder. With disbelief, he saw a hilt of a dagger sticking out of it. “What the…”

“How – how dare you?” Sigrid dropped all pretense, “You stupid, irresponsible …” Finally, the situation caught up to her. All blood drained almost instantly from her face as she realized what she had said. “I’m sorry…”

Horn’s emotions were a roller-coaster from amusement at his prank, through pain and a bit of anger, and finally, shame and respect towards the scholar. He never saw her throw. It was blinding fast. “Yes, my fault, nothing happened. Just stupid jokes, all is fine. Let’s forget that this happened.”

Sigrid was panting but quickly controlled her breath. In a much calmer voice, she just said, “I concur, nothing happened.”

“Let’s see what’s in front of us. C’mon, that one is yours.” Horn said, diving back through the doorway.

The next room was almost indistinguishable from the last one, but a single doorway and a small table in the middle. The table was practically empty. There was a single plate with three identical pills on it and beside it a cup and a pitcher with water in it. As soon as they approached the table, there was a smack behind them, as the door shut closed and a voice spoke,

“Poison, a deadly threat, you can never know how it’ll strike. The only way forward is for each of you to swallow a pill, but beware it may lead to your death.”

“Well, shit, I guess one of them is a poison pill. How do we decide which one?” Horn asked while looking around for clues. He took the plate off the table – checked the bottom, crawled under the table. He checked the cup and the pitcher, finally took the pills, and tried to find anything on them, but without success. They were just as they seemed, identical white tablets.

The whole time, Sigrid was just standing and drumming her fingers on the table.

A few minutes passed, and Horn wasn’t any closer to solving the riddle. Resigned, he asked, “One in three chances? Not the worst odds. Which one do you want?”

Without hesitation, she took one of them, then said. “Take this one; I’ve solved it.”

“How?” He asked, frowning,

“Trust me, chieftain,” She said with a peculiar smile.

Horn wasn’t so sure about that. He didn’t fear dying too much, more the pain. In the worst case, he’d respawn, or maybe his healing could counter the poison. It was a slim chance as the challenge probably took that into consideration. Trusting wasn’t easy, especially if his life was on the line. On the other hand, if he wouldn’t trust his people, then who could he trust? So far, Sigrid was only helpful, and he was the ass.

“Very well, but then you’ll have to tell me how you solved it. Deal?”

Sigrid nodded and quickly swallowed the pill. Following her example, he put the large pill on the tongue, but the stress made his mouth dry. He was about to reach for the pitcher when Sigrid bumped the table, spilling it. Irritated, he kept the pill in the mouth until enough saliva gathered to swallow. He prepared for pain, but a few moments passed, and nothing happened. Instead, with a click, both doors opened. He stared intently at his scholar.

The woman had a smug smile on her lips, “The solution was a simple one. However, a devious mind had to prepare such a puzzle. There are exactly zero clues in the room to identify the good or bad pills. Taking into consideration that this is a puzzle, not a test of faith - one had to eliminate a probability of finding the solution with clues. If you then took a look at the pills, you’d notice that they are quite large. Swallowing them would be problematic. Also, the air in the room is extremely dry, making your mouth dry as well. Then you notice the water, it’d make the process much smoother, so the logical conclusion was to pour the water and drink it. The water is the only differential in a way one could swallow a pill. Ergo, the water was poisoned, and all the pills were fine.”

“Huh,” Horn said impressed, he couldn’t find a fault in her reasoning, but it was so far outside what he came up with, it was hard to understand. “Well done, Sherlock.”

“Sherlock?” Sigrid asked, slightly blushing.

“A famous detective from my world. One that solved the hardest mysteries.” Horn explained,

“Thank you, chief,” She said softly.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Horn said, “Let’s see what’s ahead.”

The next room was split in half by a wall. An almost transparent door made out of crystal barred the exit, and behind it, Horn could see a massive stone chest. The wall seemed solid, and the door was more like a window. The size was correct, but there was no handle nor a keyhole. He was almost sure this was the final riddle. As they approached, a voice spoke, “The key is found within your head. Use the key to paint me red, be aware of what you spurn, for what you give - shall be returned.”

“Ideas?” Horn asked while already prodding and poking every bit of the wall and the door. Not surprisingly, he didn’t find anything, but kept muttering to himself, “Found within your head, an idea? A thought?”, “Use the key to paint me red – doesn’t make any sense.”, “what you give shall be returned – if I punch the door, it’ll punch me back?” He tested the latest theory, but nothing happened.

Sigrid, as usual, was standing almost still. Only her hand was drumming on an invisible surface. However, this time there wasn’t any apparent breakthrough. Finally, Horn said, “Let’s brainstorm, and maybe that’ll help.”

Seeing her nod, he continued, “Found within your head, wisdom, a thought?”

“That would be a good assumption,”

“Paint me red, why red? There isn’t anything that color here, nor in any part of the trial so far.”

“Maybe that’s not a color assumption. Paint me red can mean anger me, hurt me, or kill me,” Sigrid said,

“Yea, that’s possible, so a thought, anger or hurt. Should we think bad things about the door? That’s for sure not working as I’m visualizing shattering it to pieces for the last few minutes.” Horn chuckled,

“Mhmm,” She discarded the comment, her eyes focusing on the door, “What you give shall be returned. This part is the most mysterious. How shall we give anything to the door?”

“I have literally no id-,” Horn began speaking, then snapped at the door, “No way...”

“What?”

“We’ve been trying to solve the riddle, but what if it's not a riddle but a literal instruction? What’s in our heads, not abstractly, but in the flesh?” He asked,

A second later, Sigrid replied, “Blood.”

“Yea, and it's red. So, ‘paint me red.’”

“Correct, then be aware of what you spur. You shall get back in return. So whatever we paint with blood shall be given to us? We cannot paint an entrance.”

“Yea, that’s where I’m a bit stuck. My first guess would be a key like a riddle said, but there’s no keyhole.”

“Hmm, what about a knob?”

“That’s good. Let’s try it.” Horn said. He hefted his axe, cutting his finger. Then smeared a straight line in a place where the handle should be. For a moment, nothing happened when the crystal began growing. It bulged out, and indeed a doorknob appeared. Pushing it, the door opened with a click. The moment it happened, a chime echoed in his head.

Quest update: First steps II

You have conquered the puzzle challenge! Reward: Tutorial level cap increased to 8. Your remaining reward is in the chest.

Current completion: 3/5

Inside, the massive, almost chest-high stone chest was very underwhelming. Three books and three vials were laid out on the bottom. Horn almost had to dive in to pick them up. Taking them out, he activated Lore, and the underwhelming reward seemed so much better.

Elixir of Power – Rare – Superb – Grants two free attribute points. Bonus applies only once per five total levels.

Tome of Mind – Rare – Above average – Reading this book will increase your Mind attribute by two. The book will crumble into dust as soon as five people read it. The book cannot be read more than once by the same person.

Tome of Might - Rare – Above average – Reading this book will increase your Might attribute by two. The book will crumble into dust as soon as five people read it. The book cannot be read more than once by the same person.

Tome of Reflex - Rare – Above average – Reading this book will increase your Reflex attribute by two. The book will crumble into dust as soon as five people read it. The book cannot be read more than once by the same person.

The potions were exactly the same, and he had three of them. The books were quite thick. He casually opened the Reflex one and saw it written in a small but understandable font. Reading it through would take a while. The reward was amazing, twelve points. Of course, getting them would take time, but that was two full levels!

He wondered why the hidden challenge didn’t pop up. They’ve finished all puzzles on the first try. He asked Sigrid the same, but she just shrugged and promised she’d work on that. He handed her the Tome of Mind, but she asked for the Reflex one to his surprise. He agreed but asked something that didn’t stop bothering him, “Sigrid, why you didn’t ask for the ascension stone?”

The scholar stared at him with disbelief for a moment before replying, “Chieftain, I’m a simple scholar. What worth could I have, but my knowledge? The stone is for heroes and warriors.”

“Huh,” He eloquently said, the answer surprised him. Then added, “Your as you call it - simple scholarship, got us a challenge completed in a record time. Also, Ingrid isn’t a warrior either. Do you think her worthless?”

Gulping, she answered. “Of course not. Lady Ingrid is a famous war beast raiser and a skilled administrator, and she’s a great asset to this clan.”

“Lady Ingrid, good one, “ He burst laughing. Seeing a confused look at Sigrid’s face, he forced himself to calm down, “Listen, we have dozens of warriors and a single scholar. Don’t underestimate your worth. There’s a saying in my land - ‘quill is stronger than a sword,’ and I agree with it. Keep it up, find me the secret puzzle in here, and we’ll talk afterward. Oh, and I expect that book back with me after you finish it. Don’t let anyone else read it!”