Chapter 28

Troves of Fire (II)

The massive, iron gates were flung open as soon as the given hour of rest ticked by. Their creaking and loud weeping jolted the small party to their feet as they spun on their heels and faced the gap. To their surprise, however, they did not discover a set of stairs leading up, but rather a seemingly infinite sea of darkness.

Cain approached cautiously, followed behind by everyone else, and peered in and about, noting that there were no enemies and, instead, there only appeared to be a single thing within the vast sea of the dark -- fire-laden gates of sorts that burned above the smoke-cast ground, and a seated, old man wearing a straw hat that hid his features in front of it.

Frowning, Cain tried to inspect the old man through a window, but only received a whole heap of ‘???’ everywhere. That meant one of two things -- either the old man had a unique skill that prevented others from reading his stats, or his level was at the very least a hundred up on Cain’s. With meeting Lillia, he was inclined to believe the latter.

Nonetheless, he walked in, knowing that there was no retreat either way. He stopped a few feet in front of the old man and patiently waited, yet the latter remained seated without even looking at them. Cain also noted the fishing rod in the old man’s hand that sprayed out into the dark, unmoving.

Just as Cain was about the break the silence and talk the old man up, a notification window flashed in front of him.

//Welcome to the Realm of Blight!

During the Empire’s Fall, the Realm of Blight was used as a sacred, hiding place for the Empire’s most important people, including a sect of scholars who inscribed their wit and intellect into the darkness here.

The third challenge, ‘Wit of Blight’, begins!

You will be asked 10 questions -- you only need to answer the first 3 correctly to proceed to the next area. Each successive, correct answer, however, will increase the reward.

If you fail to answer any of the first three questions correctly, you will be kicked out of the Molten City and be barred for future entrance.

If you fail to answer a question past the third one, you will be allowed passage but will forfeit all the rewards.

If you listen to the question, you are obliged to attempt to answer it.

After answering the first three questions correctly, you can withdraw at any time and collect your rewards.

Good luck! //

Oh... fuck... Cain’s expression dropped visibly, almost as though his spirit had abruptly left him. It’s gonna be riddles and shit, ain’t it?

Not all challenges within the Tower had to do with combat -- rather, others frequently appeared alongside it. Riddles were one of them, as were questions, and general ‘brain teasers’. Something that Cain was really, really, really bad at. Sighing, he prayed inwardly that the first three ‘questions’ were easy, and that they can proceed forward. Ah, wait--Diya's pretty smart. As are most people here... eeh? Am I the dumbest one here!? No, there's Justin... I'm at least smarter than a kid... right..?

“... give me food and I shall live,” the old man spoke out suddenly, startling everyone. Their ears perked up, especially Cain’s, as they were terrified of missing some important information. “Give me water and I shall die. What am I?”

“... a-are we... are we allowed to discuss the answer among ourselves?” Cain asked attentively. The old man replied without lifting his head up.

“Yes. You have three minutes to give an answer.”

“... okay, cool, cool,” Cain let out a sigh of relief, turning around and facing the rest of the group. “Okay, to make up for how I screwed you guys out of a fight that last challenge, I’ll let you lot carry us this round. Go!”

“...” almost everyone immediately shot him a look of disdain, but he merely whistled and pretended not to notice them.

"... does 'food' mean literal food or something more along the lines of 'sustenance'?" Rick asked, rubbing his chin.

“I think it should be ‘sustenance’,” Emma echoed the sentiment. “If ‘food’ keeps it alive, and water kills it, it’s most likely not organic.”

“Uh... are there any species that are literally allergic to water?” Jamal asked.

“... I... uh... don’t think so?” Rick replied with uncertainty.

“--I... I may have an answer...” Diya spoke up all of a sudden, drawing all attention toward her and regretting it slightly. “It’s... it’s probably wrong...”

“It’s fine, just give it your best shot.” Cain encouraged her with a beaming smile. Come on, show me merits of that SS intelligence...

“... uh... fire? Maybe...”

“...”

“...”

“...ah! Yes!” a collective gasp rang out through the darkness as everyone thought it through, realizing it was the likeliest answer.

"... food, as 'sustenance', probably refers to the wood in this case. And, well, you toss some water on the fire, you snuff it out," Emma nodded. "Yeah, fire is probably it."

“Not to mention that ‘fire’ in general has been a pretty symbolic companion throughout this place thus far...”

“Yeah, I concur. It’s fire...”

“Let’s go with the fire...”

“...” Diya seemed to grow more and more nervous as everyone began agreeing with her answer. After all, if she was wrong, all of them would be kicked out of this place and it would all be her fault.

"Relax," Cain comforted her. "The worst-case scenario... we save ourselves a few hours of walking back, alright? Anyway, old man, our answer is -- fire!"

“... is that your final answer?”

“It is!”

“... your answer is correct.” the old man said, prompting cheers from the small party that were immediately interrupted as he continued speaking. “I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. I have oceans, but no waves. What am I?”

"..." this time around, nobody spoke out, and instead they turned toward Diya, putting her on the spot.

"Oi, don't just rely on her as you relied on me the last go-around," Cain quickly interjected. "Brainstorm! Okay... okay... uh, cities but no houses... uh... aliens?"

“... you have some really unhealthy obsession with aliens, man,” Rick sighed and shook his head. “If the first one is anything to go by, it likely won’t be anything too complex, and instead the simplest answer possible.”

“... uh... maybe a painting?” Emma put forth a suggestion, causing many pairs of eyes to light up. “Wait, no. Only the last two kinda fit...”

“... could it be a map, then?” Justin spoke aloud, seemingly without even realizing it, yet his words immediately prompted everyone to turn silent. “’cause, you know, on most maps we have like those dots that represent cities... but no, wait, there are also city maps and such...”

“... no, no, the general map fits all criteria,” Rick said. “Usually, they only draw out the general topology and framework -- so, larger cities, mountains and mountain ranges, rivers and lakes, and on the bigger ones, obviously, oceans. That’s likely it.”

“Hmm... I agree,” Emma nodded. “Seems most fitting.”

“...” No, wait, wait just a goddamn second -- this kid can’t be smarter than me! While everyone else appeared relatively triumphant, Cain’s expression was that of a defeated man. “Hey, old man... our answer, I guess... is a map. Yeah, a map. A freakin’ map...”

... is that your final answer?”

"Aye, aye, the map's our final answer..."

“... your answer is correct,” this time around, however, nobody cheered but instead focused themselves even harder as it was likely that the last ‘question’ would be the hardest since it indicated whether they’d be moving forward or not. “I am forever for everyone, yet for now for one; too quick for some, yet relative to everyone. What am I?”

Uh... isn’t... isn’t this one... kinda obvious? Cain pondered inwardly as he stealthily glanced around, noting the somewhat strained expressions across the board. No... wait... am I wrong, or just way smarter than I thought? It’s time, right? The answer’s time! It has to be! It makes complete sense...

“... something like a shadow... maybe?” Lamia suggested.

“Or thoughts?”

“Oxygen maybe?”

“Life?”

“...” Oi, these guys are messing with me on purpose! It’s... it’s time, right?

The reason why Cain was so hellbent on the answer being 'time' was almost exclusively due to the last hint -- 'relative'. He still had nightmares from the high school days where he had to stay after school and had his physics teacher beat the Theory of Relativity into him so much that he still somehow retained a great deal of knowledge about it. Furthermore, the rest all fit easily into the idea of 'time', which was also why he was so confused as to why everyone else was grasping.

“... uh... guys...” he voiced out.” Isn’t it... time?”

“...”

“...”

“... I... I can’t believe C’ got that one before me...” Emma mumbled in shock.

“... I am deeply ashamed.” Rick assented.

“... holy crap, am I dumber than this idiot?!” Justin joined the fray, and even Diya seemed to want to say something.

“...” Cain’s expression darkened as he glared around at everyone. “Look, I know you all want some shitty, cathartic payback for the last time... but this is bullying! Straight-up bullying! Didn’t we learn in school that bullying is wrong?! Huh?!”

“Ah, yes, coming from a guy who, literally an hour ago, called the rest of us pathetically weak.” Emma said with a grin.

“Oh my, how the turntables...” Rick said.

“... that reference could be your fucking daughter, dude,” Cain replied. “Stop trying to appeal to the young people and accept the fact that you stopped trusting your farts on the very day most of them here were born.”

“... ouch,” Emma glanced at Rick, sucking in a cold breath. “Even I felt that one...”

“Yeah, I’ve heard plenty of people called old,” Jamal nodded with a pitiful look in his eyes. “But that might have been the most ruthless one yet...”

“... let’s... let’s just answer the riddle...” Rick himself realized that it was pointless to try and come back from that one, at least just yet. However, the look in his eyes confirmed that he hardly forgave and forgot.

“... come at me, any time,” Cain noticed it and spoke out, grinning at him. “But if I were you I’d hurry. I can already hear the boys...”

“... what boys?” Justin asked as almost everyone else collectively facepalmed.

“... old man, our answer is ‘time’.” Emma quickly spoke out, trying to end it all.

“... is that your final answer?”

“Yes...”

“... your answer is correct.” the old man said as the fiery gates in front of them widened all of a sudden to the width of two grown men. “You have cleared the minimum requirements of the challenge. If you wish, you may pass through these doors and move onto the next stage. You can also attempt and answer more questions, each of which will progressively get more difficult. Choose not quickly, but wisely...”