After dealing with the sneak attack from Beast Den, Dream Avenue could refocus on taking out the zombies. Fighting in an orderly manner those zombies which were flung into the stronghold were taken care of one by one. Although some players came close to dying, thanks to the attentive healers the guild suffered no casualties.
Soon the zombie-throwing ghouls started to fall. There were still seven of those left though when C announced the next challenge. Watching the change happening to Infinito's arena the other guilds prayed that the next challenge didn't need something like a hundred candidates. If this were the case TwinThieves and Beast Den would struggle to deal with the zombie hordes.
Luckily, everyone's worries were mostly soothed when the layout of the arena was revealed. The place of fierce battles had turned into a peaceful library. Tall shelves filled with books containing mysterious knowledge surrounded a single wooden desk awaiting the candidates.
Mountain Lord frowned faintly. When recruiting new guild members, who would test their knowledge? Since the challenge was called 'Quiz of Crunaboul' it was rather obvious what would be expected of the candidate. With a sigh Mountain Lord could only send an inconspicuous frost mage called Glacier, who was the head of the guild's intelligence network.
As Mountain Lord hesitated to make his selection five seconds passed and TwinThieves also started the challenge. As a guild made up of ruffians they placed even less priority on the game's lore. They could only go for a similar decision as Mountain Lord, also sending one of their spies who had travelled large parts of Crunaboul.
Fifteen seconds later it was Beast Den's turn. However, compared to the two other guilds they were more than happy with the challenge as Glorious Sunrise was a big fan of all kinds of fantasy stories, naturally also invested into the world of Crunaboul. Thus, the guild leader personally went to face the challenge.
Cyclone and Balm watched as the three other guilds sent their candidates. They noticed that the players appeared on a chair next to the wooden desk, where they were quickly greeted by a few fairies waving around shields. Unfortunately, the content of the shields was obscured for those watching from the outside. But all the spectators had a good guess what it could be.
With a few seconds left until it was their turn, Cyclone and Balm were still struggling to choose a candidate. There were two options. Either they could choose a weaker member who had some knowledge of Crunaboul, or they could send someone from Hotpot.
Considering their friends, there were Silver Blade and Liam who had great knowledge of the game. Of course, Liam would definitely ace any test but perhaps they might still need him in upcoming fights. Of course, Silver Blade was no less important in battle.
Finally, it was time. Dream Avenue's arena turned into a library and the decision for the candidate of the eleventh challenge had to be made. Cyclone and Balm looked into each other's eyes, nodding determinedly.
"Let's do this!"
"Yes. Let's hope this challenge offers a good opportunity to take first place!"
Coming to a decision the guild leaders didn't hesitate any longer and picked their candidate. The world around Liam flashed and he suddenly found himself sitting on a comfortable chair in the peaceful library. The air carried the characteristic smell of old books, hiding untold secrets.
But before Liam could get a closer look of his surroundings, four fairies suddenly appeared out of thin air holding a wooden shield displaying a rose-coloured text 'Quiz of Crunaboul'.
"Welcome, candidate, to the fabled, great Quiz of Crunaboul. We are you hosts!"
"Before we can start, let us explain the rules to you."
"Skip!"
The fairies began to speak, switching turns after one or two sentences. Liam was somewhat annoyed thinking the small creatures were wasting too much time as Dream Avenue was already in last place. There was no need to know the rules if you could simply answer all the questions correctly.
However, Liam's interruption only earned him and angry glare. After that, the fairies didn't let him disturb their presentation, continuing to explain the rules in detail.
"Our quiz has twenty questions covering various topics."
"The questions become more difficult the further you advance."
"Of course, we don't expect you to know everything about the massive world of Crunaboul. Not even the old elves in the Enlightened Society would dare to claim being all-knowledgeable."
"Exactly. That's why we have provided some help for you. At any time, you are allowed to browse through the books in this library."
"Additionally, we will give you one hint every thirty seconds should you be unable to answer a question."
"We advise you to answer carefully. You will be eliminated after two wrong answers! A new candidate has to be chosen and they need to start all over again!"
"So, you better make sure to answer correctly!"
The fairies giggled lightly, winking at Liam. The latter kept an indifferent face, waiting for the talkative quizmasters to finally start with the action.
Fortunately the fairies didn't dare to delay any longer. Finally, they presented the first question.
"Candidate. Listen up. The first question is: In the history of Crunaboul there have been many big events which shook the whole world. The most prominent among them being the three catastrophes. Tell me, candidate. Which event became later known as the first catastrophe?"
Only after the fairy finished did the question appear on the wooden shield in case the candidate didn't understand the host correctly. However, Liam didn't need this help. He answered without hesitation:
"The first catastrophe happened when the devil Gnemotrimn incited chaos among various forces, which led to a massive war in the region now known as the Southern Wasteland. Through the war Gnemotrimn saw a strong rise in power and shattered the barrier between hell and the mainland, invading with an army of infernals, causing death and destruction."
"Wow, what a perfect answer! Congratulations!"
"And you didn't even need any help! Well done, candidate! However, this was only the first question. Be prepared. It won't be getting easier!"
Liam was somewhat annoyed that the fairies were wasting so much time talking. He could only tell himself that it wasn't different for the other candidates. Despite not caring about Liam's thoughts the fairies luckily continued with the next question:
"Candidate, you have proven that you know how the first catastrophe began. But do you also know how it ended?"
"The godspawn rallied 36 of the 72 adjutants to lead a massive army made from the combined forces of all the major powers of the order faction to battle the devil Gnemotrimn. The order faction was victorious, and the devil fell but not without killing five of the adjutants and countless other heroes."
"Wow, great! You are a walking history book!"
The fairies had their faces light up, clapping excitedly. Yet the wooden sign remained floating in the air. The fairies showed embarrassed expressions and hastily grabbed the shield again, keeping up pretence.
As the challenge was underway no one knew how quickly the candidates proceeded. Yet Cyclone and Balm were confident to the point where they didn't even care about the arena, taking over Liam's role and urging the guild members to eliminate the zombies.
The two young women were already considering the next challenges. After Liam pushed Dream Avenue to first place, they would need many points to defend themselves against attacks and perhaps to reduce the difficulty of further challenges.
Sadly, the other guild leaders couldn't share their confidence. They watched the arenas closely. Although no other candidate went to the bookshelves for the first two questions, one could tell just from the facial expressions that Liam was entirely at ease while others began to struggle. As the fairies presented the third question, TwinThieves's candidate was obviously hesitating.
"After the first catastrophe infernals kept swarming the mainland and the chaos faction came into being. The order faction realized that the lives of civilians were threatened by the millions and devised the guardian system. Each major country or organization appointed at least one guardian who would stay away from politics and only protected against external threats. Name…"
"Therim Riverbell, King of Basilisks Lennreo, Moon daughter Lauriiohl, Magus of the Earth Jerim…"
The fairies were startled for a moment as Liam interrupted them, shooting answers like a bullet. They quickly returned the favour:
"Alright, alright! Candidate! We only asked for three names. You splendidly answered this question as well! Congratulations!"
"Yeah! Congratulations!"
Liam fell silent again, watching the fairies dance around for a moment. This time, luckily, they didn't wait too long to present the fourth question:
"Well done so far, candidate. Now, let's not deal with this dark history for too long. Be careful, the difficulty rises sharply with this fourth question: Before humans reached the Central Plains, which race had the highest population living on the Central Plains?"
Hearing this question Liam grinned faintly. Most people might think the answer was orcs, as it was them who clashed with the arriving humans and were mostly chased out of the Central Plains. However, there were other races living inconspicuously everywhere in the Central Plains. Thus, Liam's confident answer was:
"Goblins."