Eventually, after some tries and using his phone to take notes, Albert came to the conclusion that there was no logic behind how the glyphs were placed on the circles. He managed to translate them with ease, and it turned out that the outer circle was made of symbols that represented animals while the inner was numbers, but there was no correlation between the numbers and the meaning. Furthermore, the circles could be rotated independently without any indication that a particular configuration was the correct one.
There had to be some other way to progress beyond the doors. Taking stock of the alternatives, Albert went over his skill list.
[Perception] gave him the shape of the cave, and not much more. He could see well in the dark when using it, but that was it. He could also hear some sort of rhythmic beating sound coming from somewhere in the depths of the mountain he was in, but he couldn’t make anything of it. If it was a solution or even a hint, he didn’t know how to interpret it.
The other skills were [Healing] and [Fireball], plus the time traveling gemstone in his pocket. That was it.
Finally, he decided that he had enough of it. There was always the brute force way, he thought, like using the fireball to superheat the metal of the door until he could be let through. He knew he could somewhat do this, even though it meant abusing the skill, by not throwing the fireball and letting his defensive ring ward him from the excess heat. He went at it by seting up some rocks he found on the ground so that his hand was in some sort of furnace, shielding his body and directing all the heat to a singular point in the doors. Right where the lock and its mechanisms were supposed to be.
Once they were heated up to melting point… he paused. There was a problem with his plan. Melting point for brass was close to a thousand degrees Celsius, and he doubted that his fireball could ever reach that temperature and even if it did, that his ring could protect him from that kind of heat. But! It didn’t need to! He didn’t need to melt the door open, he only needed to weaken the mechanisms until he could finally force it open. He had a skill to help him with that, didn’t he? [Strengthening III] gave him superhuman explosive power as well as a maximum output of force up to three times his normal strength.
As far as plans went, it was not the most conventional one but it seemed to fit right in with the plasticity theme, especially because it used most of his arsenal of skills to accomplish the task. He doubted that the trial would be over just with him opening the door, but it was a start. He also foresaw one possible problem that might arise once the doors were finally forced open, and he prepared for it. As he slid his hand in the makeshift furnace, he also clutched the gem in his pocket with the other hand. Better be safe than sorry.
The door began to redden around the point of contact. The greenish tint of the oxidized metal began to change color around in a halo, while specks of something on the surface of the metal burned and filled the air with the smell of coal. There was no pain coming from the hand stuck in the furnace, meaning that the smell must have come from some sort of residue. Once it was hot enough, the door was easy to break with a firm shoulder slam.
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Too bad the ring had exhausted its charge. Albert recoiled in pain, massaging the area where his arm touched the heated metal. It was going to blister, but he could spare the mana to supercharge the healing process while he explored. Speaking of exploring: now that the door was finally open he could take a look at what was inside. Or that was the plan, because as soon as he took one single step beyond the threshold the whole place began to shake.
The quake was quickly strong enough to make Albert lose his footing, and large sections of the walls and ceiling were beginning to show cracks and sings of irreparable damage. There was a gamble to make, a bet Albert was counting on winning. He clutched the gem and slid one single FU of mana in it. Immediately time reversed its flow. The cracks disappeared, crawling back to where they originated, the doors behind him slammed close and the red glow around the height of the lock quickly grew dim and disappeared.
A fireball held above his palm lit the darkness he found himself submerged in. He was inside. His gamble worked. The security system of this place was tied to the door, and opening it without the right combination was what triggered it. Now that he was inside there was no danger, no detectors that could spot him. There were bound to be traps around, of course, but the first hurdle was—
The soft texture of his bed accompanied the sensation of pressure on his legs and back, telling him that he was back to his cross-legged position on the bed.
[Daily Challenge Complete.]
* Reward: 100$
“That’s it?”
The whole plasticity trial only consisted in opening a door and surviving?
At least he now had 200$ in his pocket to spend however he liked. That was a good thing for sure, although he was a bit disappointed. Perhaps at the lack of an adventure, or perhaps because he had hoped to gain some more magical stuff from the trial. Perhaps he shouldn’t get his hopes up too much or he was going to get spoiled by the system, used to getting too much stuff too easily. But, at the same time, wasn’t that the very purpose of the system?
There was other stuff to consider though, for instance how the trial went well only thanks to his wit and his preparations. Only because he was overly distrustful of what lied beyond the door did he save himself from a big emergency situation. It might not seem like it because it went well, flawlessly even, but his life had been at stake. Make no mistake there. He was taking it all too lightly, treating the system like a game, and his life like it didn’t matter.
The sensation of paralyzing fear seemed to settle in, taking over his body. Deciding that he didn’t like it, he went back to his mindset of desiring more power, seizing the thought that fanned his ego. The system was surely going to come to his rescue.
[New quest]
* You have undoubtedly realized the advantages associated with mastery of time. From escaping tough situations, to being able to have more time to do the things that matter, being a master of the flow of entropy has obvious advantages. Your creative use of it also gave you insight.
* Quest: Train [Perception] until you become able to perceive entropy gradients.
* Reward: Bullet Time skill video.
See? Just like he hoped. And it was still early morning, he had plenty of time.
There was a wide grin on Albert’s face as he read through the quest instructions and rewards.
“Bullet Time sounds very Matrix-y. I’m excited.”