"Hyup! Hya! Hya! Hnh!"

Adam's staff clacks against mine, and I let my arms pull back a little before I thrust them upwards, sending his staff backwards. With Adam temporarily unable to defend, I shift my position and ram the butt of the staff into his stomach. He lets out a massive grunt before calling a yield.

"That's unfair," he complains.

"What is?" I ask.

"You got [Staff Mastery] in under half an hour!"

We were resting after dinner and I decided to play around with one of the staffs we received by looting some of the trees here. Adam decided he wanted to spar with me to see if he can gain [Staff Mastery] as well, though I don't think he did. Right now, we're both in just our pants and boots, with my tunic and other weapons currently stored in my cuff. We're both a little soaked in sweat as well from the training we've done for the last hour.

Just as I expected, we can get some pretty neat items from looting them, though I did cut down and store some of the trees in my cuff's space as well. I also looted individual parts of some trees.

"[Spear Mastery], too," I twirl my staff for a moment before sending it into my cuff, a spear appearing in my hand. "Didn't expect to get one of these as loot from a tree."

The spear has a simple wooden shaft with a metal head that's dark grey on the non-blade part and a lighter grey on the edges of the blade. There's a sort of slim, dark green cord wrapped around the spear where the head and shaft meet, though I think it's purely decorative rather than actually serving to hold the spear's head in place. At the very bottom of the seven loops of the cord, the two ends of it are tied off and a couple of dark grey beads are slipped onto each end.

"How did you even get them so fast?" Adam complains. "It took you much longer for [Sword Mastery]!"

"Probably from experience using other weapons," I point the spear at him. "And my desire to see how well I can fight with them. Adjusting to using them wasn't all that difficult. My Skill really gives a lot of help."

"We figured it out," Katie announces, and I look over to where she and her small harem are examining their maps.

"You did?" I walk over to them as Caleb sits up from where he was napping (he sleeps curled up and with his tail right in front of his face and it's actually kind of adorable). "What is it?"

Part of the reason Adam and I spent an hour training was because we're in the safe room nearest one of the exits into the Boss Chamber. The path leading to there only took us most of the day, and we decided to stop in the next safe room we found, which took another half-hour.

Fortunately. The last one we'd found on the way to the Boss Chamber was a two-hour trip away. That's why we figured there was one not far from where we were.

Since we've figured out that there's a puzzle in every Zone for every Summoned who caused an upgrade starting with that Zone's existence, the archers said they would put their heads together and see if they could figure out where mine was. It had to have been in our path at some point.

"Here," Katie points to a room we passed by a few hours ago.

"That's the room with the stacked stones, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," she nods. "We didn't think anything of it at the time since it's something that can occur in various rooms and we even encountered it in other rooms. But based on the types of puzzles this Dungeon has – assuming Caleb's correct – then this is our best bet."

"What do you mean, assuming I'm correct?" Caleb asks. "You think I'm lying?"

"What makes you think it's that room?" I ask.

"Well," Chance points at a few spots on the map. "We also think it could be here, here, or here. However, we were talking and realized that there's something crucial missing from information we were given. Why the puzzle is always on the path leading to the next Zone? That's something we were told, right?"

"Yeah," I answer. "It's always on the direct path-wait. It's not always on the direct path, right? I mean, we definitely probably could have gone another way and gotten to one of the entrances to the Tower Garden faster."

The "Tower Garden" is apparently the common name for the grassy yard around the tower, as it's one area with the Zone Boss being at the sole entrance to the tower itself.

"Yeah," Chance nods. "And that's what led us to realizing that it's possible that there are several potential puzzles, but only the first one the Summoned it's for encounters works. And since it's something that only someone from their world would know or understand…"

"No one else who came across it would realize," Katie says. "This chamber here is the closest possible one that we thought of. Look at the map – there's a sectioned-off portion of hall bordering this part, this part, and this part. That part's just a dead-end that leads to the wall of it, so we know it's not. But if your last puzzle had an actual room for you to go into…"

"Then it would stand to reason that might be the case here as well," I say. "So there are several potential puzzles, but I'll only be able to do one of them. That suggests that the Dungeon may also change a little as we travel to add the puzzles along the path."

"Yeah," Katie nods. "We thought of that."

"Okay," I examine the route. "It'll take us about an hour to reach that room, then an hour to get back here, then another half-hour to reach the Boss Room. Do you guys think we should attempt it, or should we just move on?"

"We can do the Boss Room in the morning if needed," Katie says. "We already discussed that and agreed that since it's late enough, we can handle staying another night if we try for the puzzle."

"Adam, Caleb?" I look at them. "What do you two think?"

"Fine with me," Adam shrugs.

"Guess I'm outnumbered," Caleb says. "So let's do it."

"Alright," I nod. "Let's get going, then."

We set off and make our way back to the chamber that the archers indicated. Since we already cleared out pretty much all of the monsters on the way, we encounter almost nothing in our path.

I begin examining the room almost immediately after we enter it. Though I'd given it a check last time we were in here in case there was a puzzle hidden, I might have missed something. There's a small pond against the wall that has a dead-end tunnel on the other side of it, a few lily pads on it with flowers on some of those. Seven stacks of stones are spread throughout the room with varying heights. Ivy covers most of the walls for the first ten feet up with flowers that are reddish with a slight pinkish-purple tint, flowers that are yellowish with a slight orange tint, and flowers that are green with a slight blue tint in addition to the standard blue or green ones we've found throughout the Dungeon. The floor is mostly stone pieces, moss covering most of it with all of the moss emitting a faint light.

As the "sun" in this Dungeon has set, the only light we have right now comes from the glowing plants. Just like with the other flowers, all of the ones of the other colors glow as well, which is also standard for any we find on the glowing ivy.

"Hm…" I assess the room.

"Maybe there's a mysterious word in the flowers?" Caleb suggests. "Like, the way the ivy is grown?"

"Probably not," I say. "I doubt the Dungeon would use the same puzzle twice, especially not for the same Summoned. Similar ones, maybe, but no… and I have to operate under the assumption that the puzzle itself might not necessarily be against a section of hedge that has a sealed-off room behind it."

"Why not?" Caleb asks.

"Not all of the others do," I tell him. "It's-wait."

"You figured it out?" Caleb asks.

I look at the ivy.

"Katie, Elise, Chance," I say. "Where are the entry-less rooms?"

The archers show me the areas where those rooms should be. Examining them, I realize that Caleb was partially right – it's the flowers. More specifically, it's the ones that are a different color from the standard ones. In a few different spots in each of those sections is a trio of those flowers in a vertical line.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Red, green, glowing yellow," I muse to myself. "Green, red, yellow. Green, green, red. Yellow, red, red. Guys, look for a vertical trio of them that has red on the top, yellow in the middle, and bluish-green on the bottom, uninterrupted by the blue or green flowers. That's the solution."

"How do you know?" Adam asks.

"Because I remember seeing one last time we were in here," I say. "Ah! There it is! Such an idiot. I should've realized as soon as I made the comparison that this was the puzzle."

It's a stoplight.

I approach the section with that and touch the wall. Nothing happen. Hm. We did learn that the flowers in this room stop glowing if we pluck one of the petals. I pluck off a petal from the red flower and from the yellow flower, but leave the bluish-green flower glowing. This time, the wall allows me to pass through.

This choosing-chamber for this puzzle is almost the same as the one in the first Zone, but with walls made of hedge instead of walls of stone and a ground of grass-covered soil instead of mossy stone. I approach the pedestal in the middle and examine the floating orb of shadows.

You may choose which reward you wish to accept, Summoned One. Box of Infinite Meal Bars Celestial Water Tree Sapling Jar of Infinite Lube Replenishing Coin Box Spirit Wings Charm of Regeneration Pouch of Infinite Tricks

The God of Magic and God of Weapons must have realized that their offers would have little chance of being accepted by me, seeing as those are missing from the list. I really don't want to just receive an item that would allow me to obliterate anything and everything in my path. If I can do that, I want it to be because of my own efforts – even if I do need less effort than others would to reach that point.

Then there's the [Replenishing Coin Box]. That's still an offer from the God of Commerce, but it's an inferior version of the [Refilling Coin Pouch], even if it's still Item Quality 9. Instead of having a set amount of coins that always replenishes when some are removed, the [Replenishing Coin Box] will, once a month, replicate up to ten of each of five coins placed into it.

"All I would really need to have effectively infinite money with that is put in something at platinum or higher," I muse. "I doubt I'd need more than ten plat a month. Let's hold off on picking something like that while I'm still trying to figure out if I like the adventurer's life or if I want to settle down for good."

Though I guess the gods can change, add, or revoke their offers with different puzzle rewards. He may not offer it in a future one.

"Does that mean they're actively submitting this every time?" I wonder aloud. "Or do the rewards carry over once offered until either accepted or the god decides to revoke it? Probably the latter, I doubt the gods would actually put in the effort to update their offering every time."

There's also a reward offering from a god who didn't offer something last time. The [Charm of Regeneration] is a small talisman that can be worn on a bracelet, necklace, anklet, etc. While worn, it provides a powerful healing buff to the wearer, allowing them to recover from even near-death within seconds. That… would honestly make me nigh immortal unless I received an immediately-fatal wound.

"Jeez, the rewards are ridiculous," I say. "There's no way someone hasn't accepted the God of Life's reward before if it's been offered, and I doubt I'm the first to get it. How come no one's mentioned such powerful rewards?"

Also, why do the Summoned vanish from public eye after awhile. That part has been bugging me ever since I discovered that Summoned seem to disappear within a year or two of their arrival. They're known about and tracked, and then they just vanish.

I shake my head. No use worrying about that now. We probably get sent back home or something, likely with some perks or something. My gut's telling me that I might be the first from Earth to come to Tielmar, which would help explain why no one on Earth seemed to know anything about magic and whatnot if we do retain some magical benefits from this trip.

"And then there's the reward from our mysterious but lovely god," I muse. "He's offered up quite the interesting object."

The [Pouch of Infinite Tricks] is a pouch similar to the coin pouch on my belt. Small and portable – and filled with infinite tricks. Really, they're actually glass marbles and new ones appear inside of the pouch anytime one is removed from it. Their effects are unknown until they're activated to Stage 1 at a cost of 1 Mana, and then they can either be directly sent into Stage 2 – where the effect actually happens – by the wielder or automatically enter it thirty seconds after activation of Stage 1.

Something tells me that the effects can be beneficial to the user, but also potentially detrimental. I kind of like that sort of chaos and want to see what it does, but I'm not insane enough to actually give it a try.

What if it results in a town being hit by a meteor?

"Yeah, no," I mutter. "So let's see. The meal bars, sapling, and wings seem like the best bets here. The jar can be useful but not necessary, I want to try earning my money right now rather than just receiving it for free, the charm would make every Dungeon run too easy and possibly actually be counter to letting me get stronger because of that, and the pouch just seems too chaotic for me to use, even with my curiosity at it.

"I'll nix the meal bars," I say. "The Mana cost isn't really an issue, but foraging for food and hunting beasts is something that seems feasible everywhere and I'd rather just make the meals myself. If I decide I don't want to adventure, I also wouldn't need a small, portable food source. I mean, it'd be useful, but nah."

Maybe in a future puzzle completion, though. If nothing else meets the factors I'm looking for, then I'll grab that just in case of an emergency need for food.

"So that's the wings and sapling," I look between the two options. "The wings would let me fly basically anywhere I wanted, and the speed is fairly decent as well. Probably faster than most forms of travel in this world even at the default speed."

Ten miles per hour is rather good, especially since the wings can maintain that indefinitely.

"But the sapling…" I think about that one for a bit. "The water at the roots of the tree would, ultimately, be extremely pure no matter what, so long as the tree doesn't get cut down. I can store it in my cuff and there won't be any issues, too. I can use it for something to drink on any journey without having to worry about spending money on it or treating the water and it's cheaper than just conjuring water myself. If I decide to settle down instead, I could sell it off or plant it on my own property. If I'm understanding this correctly, the water from the tree once planted will actually have holy properties."

Wings or effectively infinite water. The cost for water from the sapling is the same as it would be to conjure that much water with [Water Creation] Level 20, so it would also be useful for providing water to clean with as well. That's extremely useful, especially in a prolonged Dungeon run or if I end up traveling somewhere where water isn't too common.

"Alright," I accept the sapling, and it appears in the center of the shadow orb.

The sapling comes with its roots in a canvas bag, soil nearly up to the brim. Its stem is about six inches in height and is green in color, with a few leaves shooting off of it on small 'branches'. Other than the stem being a little bit on the thicker side, it appears almost as if it could be just about anything leafy.

However, this is a divine gift. Ordinary it may appear, but this plant is far beyond extraordinary.

I reach into the shadow orb and pull out the sapling, examining it.

[Sapling of the Sacred Water Tree] Quality: 9 This is a rare sapling of the Sacred Water Tree. When planted, it will grow strong and tall with a pond forming around its roots, eventually turning into a lake around the great tree, its waters pure and magical, blessed with holy power. Before being planted, the sapling can be imbued with Mana to produce water on its leaves at a cost equal to [Water Creation] Level 20.

Despite the description not mentioning it, I also know that the sapling is virtually indestructible. Branches can be 'harvested' from it once it's fully-grown, but not very easily and not very often. The tree actually has a soul and will defend itself from harm if there's something that can harm it. To receive a branch, one must ask it kindly and be liked, on top of making the request while it's in a good mood.

I send the sapling into my cuff. Since that actually works, I can assume that still-living plants can enter it, at the very least. None of the living monsters I attempted to put into the cuff actually entered, so that nixes the idea that I could store people inside of it.

"What did you get?" Adam asks after I leave the choosing room. "I don't see anything new on you."

"A water source," I tell him. "It's in my cuff right now, but can effectively provide us with unlimited pure water. We just need the Mana to draw it out, but the cost is fairly cheap."

"How cheap?"

"[Water Creation] Level 20 kind of cheap."

"Damn," Elise says. "That's higher than most dedicated water wizards reach in their entire life."

"Yeah," I nod. "Let's head back to the safe room. Even if we did clear pretty much all of the monsters around here, there's no telling if one might wander in while we're resting."

"How come you aren't getting money?" Adam asks. "Money is always a good reward."

"Money could be a good reward," I agree with him. "But only if you don't plan on doing stuff that will earn you a ton of it, anyway. What use is infinite money if you're not even using it? Even if we stop after this Zone, this run will earn us four or five gold coins each, at a minimum. That will last us months unless we spend it recklessly. That's also assuming we don't just take time off. From what I hear, a single gold can last a normal person two or three years."

Longer if they aren't trying to live comfortably but in a more frugal manner.

"Infinite money?" Adam asks. "If we got infinite money, I could make my hoard really big. But it's not as if you could get infinite money, Jamie. But why not something that could get us, like, a hundred godsteel's worth of gold coins? I could make my hoard really big with my share."

Right. I'm talking to someone who has draconic aspects and likes hoarding shiny coins. Seems like gold coins are the ones he likes most.

"Adam," I say. "The reward is mine as the puzzle was designed for me. And remember, this cuff lets us store all of the loot we can get in this place, vastly increasing our earning potential. Also, if I wanted to sell the source of pure water, don't you think that would sell for an absurd amount?"

"Oooooh, yeah," he says. "Alchemists would pay out the wazoo for infinite pure water. But I still think money would be the better option."

I step directly in front of him and place my hands on his shoulders, meeting his gaze.

"Adam," I say. "If there ever is a puzzle designed just for you – as impossible as that seems since those types of custom Dungeon puzzles are only for Summoned – then I pray to the God of Commerce that you're able to get a lot of shiny, golden coins."

The odds of Adam getting a custom puzzle are nil, but the prayer boosts his spirit a little.

"Come on," I say. "Let's head back to the safe room. I'm fairly exhausted and want to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll tackle the Boss Chamber."