Atlas passed through the hallway, and the torches glowed a bright purple. This was the second to last trial, if what the system said had been correct. One trial for each stat and then a final trial that mushed them all together somehow. He had already gone through all of the stats but one, Intelligence.
He continued on until he found himself in a different room than all of the previous rooms. It had similar white stone walls, but it was multiple times smaller than any of the other rooms, and there were two wooden chairs in the middle, facing each other. On one side of the room hung a blackboard with a floating piece of chalk.
The Trial of Intelligence starts as soon as you enter the portal. Your goal will be revealed after you walk through.
Atlas hesitantly walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, and the system spoke again.
You will be shown 5 riddles, you must answer each one correctly to pass to the next challenge. You get three guesses per riddle. If you fail three times you will die, so answer with great care.
The Trial starts now.
There was a howl of wind, and suddenly there was a wizened old man standing by the chalkboard, holding a piece of chalk and wearing a wizard hat that almost doubled his 4 foot tall body that was covered in deep blue and purple robes. Atlas quickly scanned him.
Archmage Zores
T ? Level ???
It only told him his name, but that was actually more than Atlas had hoped for. He had expected to be met with only question marks.
“Hello… Atlas, is it? Please don’t scan people you don’t know, it's terribly rude. I am your Trial judge for today, and will be showing you the riddles and judging if your answers are close enough to warrant a successful completion. For example, if your answer is close to the correct answer, but not spot on, I will judge if it counts or if you need to try again.” The Archmage said in a dry, bored voice.
Atlas nodded.“Thank you… sir?”
The old man waved him off. “Zores will do just fine, are you ready to get into the thick of it? I must say, coming up with good riddles sure is fun.”
“I am ready whenever you are.” Atlas said. He was confident that he would ace these riddles, he had loved riddles back when he was in middle school, and he and a group of friends had spent a lot of time coming up with riddles and answering them for each other.
“Mm, okay here we go. First riddle.” Zores flourished his piece of chalk and stepped close to the whiteboard, writing quickly and efficiently. In just a few seconds, he had finished.
The chalkboard now held the first riddle. A man is looking at a photograph of someone. His friend asks him, "Who is in the picture?" The man replies, "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the picture?
Atlas stared at the board for a moment, thinking. No brothers or sisters… The man's father is my fathers son… can’t be his nephew as he doesn’t have siblings… “The answer is The man’s son!” Atlas realized aloud.
“Yes, that is the correct answer, very good.” Vores praised him, quickly erasing the board and writing down another riddle.
I am always coming but never arrive. What am I?
Always coming but never arriving? “The future?” Atlas asked, not completely sure.
“Mmm, that is close but not the correct answer.”
What is something more specific than the future? “Hmm…” Atlas hummed aloud, thinking. “Is it tomorrow?” It wasn’t possible for tomorrow to be today, so it fit the riddle perfectly, but it might not be the right answer.
“Correct.” Vores said, erasing the board once more. ”Here is the next riddle.”
With pointed fangs it sits in wait, with piercing force it doles out fate, over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, eternally joining in a single bite. What is it?
Atlas frowned, he wanted to say vampire, but he held off, as he felt that would be wrong. He considered the riddle more deeply. Pointed fangs it sits in wait… Can’t move and has fangs? Piercing fate it doles out fate… Affects the victim somehow? Bloodless victims proclaiming its might… its victims either don’t have blood or never did. Eternally joining in a single bite… Takes only one bite to change.
Atlas thought about it, breaking it into parts and then putting the parts together looking for a fit. He was now confident it wasn't a vampire, but he didn’t know what it could be. Then it hit him like lightning. He wasn’t completely sure it was right, as it was something from earth, but he was going to try anyway.
“Stapler?” Atlas questioned hopefully.
Vores blinked. “How did you figure it out so quickly? That was one of my best ones.” He said, askance.
Atlas smirked, so he was right! “It was the bloodless victims that tipped me off.” He told Vores.
“Hrmph. Next riddle.” Vores said, now visibly grumpy.
Lives without a body, hears without ears, speaks without a mouth, to which the air alone gives birth. What is it?
Atlas glanced at the riddle before smirking. This was an easy one, practically a freebee. “A echo.”
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Vores nodded “That one was an easy one, but the next one will not be so easy.”
He started writing on the chalkboard again.
My thunder comes before the lightning; My lightning comes before the clouds; My rain dries all the land it touches. What am I?
Atlas hesitated. This one was definitely harder. He was sure it was a natural disaster, but he didn’t know what type of natural disaster. Couldn’t be a tornado or hurricane, as those would make things wet, along with floods, it couldn’t be a drought or a famine either, because they didn’t have anything to do with thunder or lightning. Maybe it was a “Dust Storm?” Atlas asked, hopeful.
Vores grinned at him.“No.”
Atlas gritted his teeth, thinking harder. The riddle hinted at some sort of explosion that started the whole thing, but what sort of disaster? Atlas furiously scanned through anything before he came across an idea, not sure if it was right, he continued to think. Natural disasters… Atlas’s mind kept coming back to one idea, and he finally gave up and just said it aloud. “Is it a volcano?” Atlas asked, hoping it was the answer, but knowing that it was most likely wrong.
Zores’s face lost all its glow. “Correct.” He grumbled.
Atlas let out a breath of relief. If that had been wrong, he didn’t know what he would have done. There was nothing else he could have thought of that fit all of those ideas.
You have completed the challenge!
1/2 challenges completed.
Next challenge starts… now!
There was a twisting portal that appeared over the other chair, and after a few seconds a form popped out. It looked like one of the demonkin from the dexterity trial, but there were some clear differences. This demonkins skin was purple and it was clothed in very fancy and lavish clothing. The scariest difference though, was that the demonkin’s eyes held a glint of intelligence he hadn’t seen in any of the other demonkin.
Demonkin Duke Daryl
Tier: 2 Level: 56
“A human? This should be fun. I haven’t had the chance to do a battle of wits in quite some time, so this should be very enjoyable.” The demonkin said, liking his lips and flashing his razor sharp fangs at Atlas.
Vores coughed lightly into his hand and glared at Daryl. “This next challenge will be a battle of wits. I will show a riddle as before but you will now be versing the other challenger along with all previous rules. Three failures on a riddle will result in death, but if your opponent beats you three times they win, and you will be killed and turned into experience for them. Atlas, you have more to win from this battle as you are a lower level, but your intelligence is also lower than Daryl’s, meaning that he will hold the advantage in this battle.”
Vores looked them both in the eyes and then spun around, “The challenge begins now.” He declared.
Different lights do make me strange, thus into different sizes I will change. What am I?
“A flower!” Daryl shouted, smirking at Atlas.
Vores was unamused. “Incorrect.”
Daryl was shocked, but Atlas was deep in thought. Different lights make me change… change into different sizes… “A pupil!” Atlas yelled confidently.
“Correct.”
Daryl snarled and glared at Atlas, fangs bared.
Two icons appeared in the top right corner of the board.
Daryl: 0 Atlas: 1
“Next riddle.” Vores erased the board and quickly wrote down another.
You can see me in the water, but I never get wet. What am I?
Both contenders were silent. Daryl had obviously learned from his mistake last time and was double checking his answer and not just blurting out the first thing that came to mind. Outwardly, they both looked calm and collected, but on the inside, their minds were furiously churning with different answers.
Daryl was the first to spit out an answer. “A reflection!”
Vores nodded, “Correct.”
Daryl smirked at Atlas and Atlas glared back at him.
The board changed to show the new scores.
Daryl: 1 Atlas: 1
They now both had one answer each, which meant the next person would pull away and could potentially win it the round after.
“Next riddle.”
A prisoner is told: "If you tell a lie, we will hang you and if you tell the truth, we will shoot you". What did the prisoner say to save himself?
Daryl was the first to speak up once again. “You will shoot me!”
“Close, but incorrect.”
Daryl started to speak up again but Atlas was faster. “You will hang me!”
Daryl glared at Atlas but it was too late.
“Correct.”
“Yes!” Atlas couldn’t keep himself from celebrating. He had basically stolen that riddle from Daryl, and he was proud of it.
The board changed to count for Atlas’s new victory.
Daryl: 1 Atlas: 2
If Atlas won this next riddle, it meant that he won the entire challenge, but if he lost, he would have to go against Daryl one more time and the victor would win it all.
Vores told them as much. “If Atlas wins this next riddle, Daryl will lose and be killed. Conversely, if Daryl wins, we will have one more battle that will be decided by whoever wins.”
Daryl grit his teeth and snarled at Atlas clearly not happy about the situation that he had been forced into.
I can flutter and take your breath away. I can take a beating, but do not bruise. If I stopped you would be sure to lose. All day and night, I am with you. What am I?
Daryl was the first to speak up once again. “Your heart!”
“Correct!” Vores exclaimed, looking at both of them in turn. “This is the final riddle, the winner will move on to the final trial, while the loser will die.” He told them both grimly.
The board changed to hold the new scores.
Daryl: 2 Atlas: 2
Atlas gulped. It all came down to this, if he lost this, then his adventure would be cut short, but if he won, he would live to see another blessed day. And he would get rewards for it, he would take all of Daryl’s experience, which was more than simply killing him would get him. When you killed a monster, you got all of their experience to the next level, multiplied by the danger level and your potential. But if he won this, he would take ALL of Daryl’s experience.
For a brief moment there was no sound except for Vores’s chalk scratching against the board, and then the next riddle was revealed.
You are trapped in a room with no windows or doors, the only things in the room are a table and a saw, how do you get out?
Atlas wanted to laugh, but he was too busy answering. “Cut the table into halves! Put the halves together to make a hole and then jump through the hole!” He yelled excitedly.
Vores looked pleased.“That is correct! Atlas is the winner!”
Multiple things then happened at once.
The board changed to reflect the final score.
Daryl: 2 Atlas: 3
Daryl suddenly ceased to exist, only leaving behind a scream of terror and rage, and multiple messages popped in front of Atlas.
You have completed the challenge!
2/2 challenges complete!
The Trial of Intelligence has been completed!
You may move on to the 7th and final room. Prepare yourself.
Level Up! X41
Atlas let out a scream of pain as pure energy rippled throughout his body, condensing into pure power and upgrading him. His mind whited out from pain as it was boosted.
Atlas came to and hurriedly brought up his stat sheet and eagerly looked at the changes, excited to see what his stats looked like now.
Atlas Channing
Tier: 2
Level: 41
Class: Reaper
Subclass: Absorber
Titles (Disabled): Moonwalker, Skiller, Lucky, Boss Slayer, Strong Soul, Legend of the Tutorial, Sythesiser
Skills (Disabled): Ultimate Debuff (Z), Elemental Affinity (SSS), Death Mist (SS), Consume (SS), Reaper’s Senses (SS), Endless Strength (SS), Blitz (S), Demonic Claw (S), Fade Away (A), Weapon Mastery (A), Damage Resistance (A), Toughen (B), Crafting (B), Lightning Beam (B) Herbalism (D)
Spells (Disabled): None
Talent: Z
Potential: Z
Stats:
Endurance: 578
Constitution: 578
Strength: 657
Dexterity: 657
Wisdom: 607
Intelligence: 607
Free points: 41
Atlas split his free points and put 20 in Endurance and 20 in Constitution, bringing them up closer to his other stats. He would prefer to be more well rounded, and not let his endurance and constitution stay behind his other stats.
He turned to speak to Vores, only to find him already gone. Smirking and shaking his head, Atlas walked over into the last hallway, ready for the last challenge.