The wait rooms for the fourth round were much more extravagant than before. The room, or rather suite, the participants entered into could have been taken straight out of a diamond star hotel. The center of the suite was dominated by a couple of massive monster-leather couches situated either side of an iron-oak coffee table.
To the left, through a little alcove, sat a giant marshmallow in the shape of a bed large enough to hold a giant with room to spare. The bedroom came with a wardrobe containing several self adjusting outfits and a large en-suite.
To the right of the suite was a mini kitchen complete with a fully stocked fridge, a stove and a messaging device they could use to order some food in case they were too lazy to cook. There was also a teleport pod.
The participants could place their weapons and armor inside the pod and have them repaired for free, courtesy of the Adventurers Guild. The organizers had decided that forcing the participants to spend a week in a harsh, monster filled environment and then enter a large tournament with damaged equipment would be unfair.
That, and the fact that they couldn’t legally send a bunch of half or even full naked people to fight in a public event.
The participants had an hour to rest this time, both to recover from the last round and also because there was a lot of footage the commentators wanted to show. This time Johann, Torin and Gloria all had spots in the presentation. Johann for his powerful spells, Torin for his … interesting leadership and Gloria because the sheer fact that she went through the entire week without fighting anything was an achievement in of itself.
At the end of the hour all the participants were refreshed and ready for the next round.
“Greetings Participants. For the next round you will be required to solve a puzzle. The puzzle will be tailored to your specific role but will otherwise be random. It may something simple like answering a riddle or something more complex. Each puzzle will have a time limit and if you fail to solve the puzzle within that time then you will fail. Further instructions will be given once you enter through the portal.”
“Good luck.”
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Torin quickly finished the cheeseburger and walked through the portal. On the other side he was stunned to find a massive room, similar to the second trial but even larger and with more obstacles. Looking around Torin saw a podium nearby with a glowing sphere on and a giant red button on top of it.
Walking closer Torin saw that the button had the words ‘press me’ written on it. He blinked, idly wondering if this was just the most obvious trap in the history of traps, but decided to press it anyways. After all, if they had gone to all the effort to set a trap then it would just be rude not to spring it.
The button didn’t unleash a trap, but it did cause a notification to pop up.
Greetings Participant,
In order to pass this trial you need to take the orb provided and visit each of the colored pillars starting at the red and ending at the blue. You have three minutes from the moment you pick up the orb.
-Red
-Green
-Purple
-Yellow
-Grey
-Black
-Pink
-Orange
-Blue
Torin looked around the room, spotting the pillars in question. Ignoring the orb for the moment, he didn’t want to start the timer just yet, he took out a pen and a piece of paper and mapped out the room, marking each of the pillars with a number matching their order.
He got through half of the list before he began to realize something. He still mapped out the rest though, to make sure. Once he was done he was almost completely sure but he decided to do a test run to make absolutely sure.
Starting at the red pillar he sped through the room, going through the list one by one until he reached the blue pillar. Once he did Torin ran another two laps just to make sure and, while he didn’t have an exact time he was absolutely sure he didn’t get less than five minutes.
Returning to the podium he pressed the button for the instructions and looked it over once again. Since he couldn’t do the run normally, even with his high Agility, there had to be some kind of trick. It too him a couple of read-through’s before he realized the trick; even though it stated that he must start with red and end with blue, it didn’t actually say that he needed to go in the order that was given.
When going in the order that was written in the instructions he would need to cross the room several times, zigzagging and losing valuable time. If he went in a circular pattern however, he would save massive amounts of time.
With the puzzle solved Torin grabbed the orb and started running, a timer appearing on the podium as he did so. Dashing through the room, he leapt slid, rolled and swung over the various obstacles in his path. By the time he reached the blue pillar he was panting, having pushed himself to his limits.
He didn’t need to though, he finished with almost two minutes left on the clock. As he left through the portal he idly wondered if there were any bets going for quickest solve. He figured he had a decent chance of coming in first.
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Gloria passed through the portal and into a surprisingly small room. The room was a stone box barely bigger than her bedroom back at the orphanage and had nothing in it apart from a some words written on the far wall.
[You will be asked seven riddles. For each riddle you will have only one minute to answer. The first riddle will appear when you say begin.]
Gloria groaned, she hated riddles. Riddles required a mind like a corkscrew but she had always preferred simple and straightforward things. It was why she chose to go down the shield route, the role was simple; you get hit so that others don’t. No faffing around with tricks and traps or complicated spells, just a slab of metal in your hand and a monster in front of you.
Sadly, there was no monster her, just annoying riddles. Still, she wasn’t just going to roll over and admit defeat. If becoming an adventurer meant she would have to answer some stupid riddles, then answer some stupid riddles she would.
“Begin.” Gloria said.
The old words disappeared, a riddle appearing in their place.
[What is everyone born with, yet no one has enough of?]
Gloria frowned, her mind racing. Since it said ‘everyone’ the answer definitely wouldn’t be a physical thing. She tried to think of something that everyone was born with. It definitely wasn’t intelligence, she’d met plenty of idiots who were clearly born without it.
Luck was a possibility, but it was unlikely. She tried it anyways but the question remained on the wall so she took it as incorrect. What was it that people were born with and also never had enough? After a few moments of thought she believed she had it.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Life.” she said, sure it was right. You literally couldn’t be born without it, and who ever had enough life?
Gloria was wrong though, the question remained. Gloria spent a few seconds quietly and with great satisfaction cursing the wall with any curse that might apply. This was the problem with riddles she thought, there were so many answers that could be correct, but only one that is.
It took her another thirty seconds to think of the answer. It annoyed her because it was basically the same as ‘life’.
“Time.”
The riddle glowed for a moment before fading away, another riddle springing into existance in its place.
[it can be awkward, it can be golden and it must always be unspoken. What is it?]
Gloria raised an eyebrow, wondering which intern they let write that one. After the previous one she had been worried, but this one was actually quite easy.
“Silence.”
The words faded, and were replaced.
[It whispers without a mouth, pushes without hands and flows without form, what is it.]
It seemed that Gloria’s unasked question was answered as she was struck into thought by the new riddle. It took her a few seconds but eventually figured it out, the ‘flowing without form’ being the key that helped her solve it.
[It is everywhere yet few ever see it. There is no life without it yet it is the death of many. It can transform the world with its touch, yet on its own it does nothing. What is it?]
Gloria actually knew this one, Johann had mentioned it back when he was going through his riddle phase a few months earlier. The answer was … on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t remember what the damnable answer was.
“Oh, gods, goddesses and that little idiot down the road damn it, what was the answer? I know it was something stupid that barely made sense but that crazy druid nutter thought was so profound. I swear, if I don’t get through because of these stupid riddles I’m going to- Oh, wait, Mana. That was it!”
The words faded from the wall to be replaced by others.
[Three brothers go of to fight three monsters. The first brother is slain, having failed to kill his monster. The second brother survives, but fails to defeat his opponent. The third brother is the only one to slay his monster but sacrifices his life to do so. Which is the better fighter, and why?]
Gloria smiled, as she knew the truth of this riddle. Many would argue that the third brother was the better as he was the only one that managed to kill his monster, but they were wrong. Giving your life to kill a monster is only a win if it is the last resort.
The three brothers sought out the fight, there was no need to die to kill the monster. The better fighter was the one who lived. As long as a person lived, they could train, get stronger and come back to fight again.
“The second brother. The best fighters do not throw their lives away but live to fight again.”
The writing disappeared after a moment, being replaced by a riddle that made Gloria’s eyebrows crease in confusion.
[How is a raven like a writing desk?]
“Okay, I’ve never said this before, but Da Fuq?” The riddle was so odd Gloria wondered if it had been made up by a mad person.
“Um, they have clawed feet?”
The writing remained.
“They both taste bad.”
The writing remained.
“No, they really do. I should know, I’ve tried both.”
The writing remained.
“Oh, you’re one of those people who say that ravens taste nice if you prepare them properly. You’re wrong though, they still taste bad, you just think it tastes good cause of the sauce.”
The writing remained.
“Wait, do you think the writing desk tastes good?”
The writing remained, though something about it suddenly seemed judgmental.
“Oh come on, ravens aren’t like writing desks!”
The writing faded.
“You’re probably one of those sanctimonious twits who think their smart because they come up with some nonsense like, they both have wings as black as night or something stupid like that.”
The new riddle, if it had been a conscious living being capable of thought, would have been alarmed at the seemingly crazy person in front of it.
Gloria finally noticed the change. “Oh fuck you! Seriously? The wings thing, really? That literally doesn’t make any sense! That’s it, if I ever find the nutless loony who made that one I’ll rip his arms off and beat him with them.” Taking a deep breath Gloria read the new, and last, riddle.
[What is the best weapon for killing monsters?]
Gloria smiled as the tension went out of her. The entire time she’d been worried, deeply, that she’d run up against a riddle that she couldn’t solve. The last one might have gotten her if it wasn’t for a lucky guess, or a lucky rant rather.
This riddle though, this was one she could answer. It was one she had contemplated for many years. Some might say that swords were the weapons of kings, others that spears were the simplest yet best weapon. Plenty would argue that a good spell was far better at killing monsters than anything forged.
Some might go more figurative. Words were well known for their power, the right word at the right time might see the death of thousands of monsters. Politics had destroyed entire empires, though one could argue that it was merely a form of wordplay.
Greed was a mighty and insidious weapon, the driving force behind more killing than there were stars in the multiverse. Fury and hate were powerful as well, though they paled in comparison. As did duty, honor and all the other virtues espoused by anyone who claimed to be holy or righteous.
All those were wrong though. The best weapon was all of them and none of them.
“The best weapon is the one you use the best.”
The deadliest spell was worthless in the hands of a swordsman and a mage wielding a sword was more likely to kill themselves than anything else. The best weapon was one that was trained with, one that you could use with the utmost effectiveness. Anything else would lose efficiency, and therefore not be the ‘best’.
The words faded, and a portal appeared.
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Johann was faced with a mechanical puzzle, one that was both exceedingly simple and practically bog-standard when it came to puzzles. Arrayed in front of him were seven levers. On the wall behind them was a twelve Mana crystals.
Each lever would either empower or de-power certain crystals. In order to power up all of the crystals as the puzzle required Johann needed to activate the right combination. He only had ten minutes to do it but he wasn’t worried, it was simply a matter of pulling levers and keeping an eye on which lever corresponded to which crystal.
After a bit of trial and error he managed to get all twelve crystals lit up, six minutes still left on the clock. As he went through the portal into the rest area Johann wondered if all the puzzles were this easy or if it was just him.
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The rest are was almost exactly the same as before, with the sole exception of a television that was now located on the wall near the couches. The screen was currently blank apart from the words ‘Please wait until all participants are finished’.
Johann read the words and shrugged, heading over to the kitchen to fix himself a coffee. He had to admit, the Adventurers Guild really knew how to live. He put the Rune-Kettle on, the appliance taking only a single point of Mana to work. The model was ten times more efficient then the one at home, the runework far more detailed and delicate.
He was halfway through brewing when the Television suddenly blared to life. Replacing the words was an elderly gentleman with magnificent handlebar mustache.
“Greetings participants, for those of you who are unaware my name is Gengorio Randrudal and I am the Guild Master for the Feulac Chapter of the Adventurers Guild. I would like to formally congratulate each and every one of you for reaching the final round of the Trials. All of you have shown that you have the ability and dedication it takes to be an adventurer, and I for one would be proud to welcome any one of you into the guild.”
“But this is the Adventurers Guild, and we only take the best of the best. In a moment the final round will begin and, much like previous years, it will be an elimination style tournament. Within this tournament there is only one rule, no outside assistance. You may use whatever means you have at your disposal to defeat your opponent but it has to be your means. This is a test to determine who is the strongest, not who has the wealthiest family.”
“Other than that, make good use of the resting areas and please pay attention to when your name is called. If you fail to enter the portal within a minute it is considered your forfeit and, as much as I love hearing complaints and the occasional wildly stupid death threat, you will only have yourself to blame if you fail to respond in time. Other than that, goodbye…”
“... and good luck.”