Right as the bright light illuminating off of Aziel went off, vaporizing everything its sight, Alex summoned her treant and created a wooden shield from the ships deck. This quick maneuver saved them and allowed the group to advance to the next event.
Coco and Alex felt like they had been forcefully moved from one location to another, like someone grabbing another's arm and yanking them forwards. They were confused and disoriented for a moment, but they realized quickly enough that they were safe.
Most importantly, they knew they made it to the second round of Greed's Game.
Coco rushed to put her hood back up.
"We did it! We really freaking franking did it! This is super dooper greeaaaattt!"
"You saved us Alex. Thank you." Coco said with a small bow.
"Huh? Eh? Ummm. It was your shot calling that got us as far as we did, all I did was block a single attack…" Alex felt awkward from Coco's polite serious bow. "We all did great!" She shouted in nervous excitement.
"Mm, right. Now we need to face the next problem."
Coco and Alex turned towards the center of the room. Where the last few remaining groups started to appear. The room felt larger, since half of the thirty two groups were now gone.
David appeared, filling the room with a golden light, his bright and shining armor was unmistakable for anyone who has ever met David, the strongest adventurer.
"Congratulations to the sixteen groups who made it to the second round!" David followed up this comment with a few distinctive claps.
"As part of the good work you all did, I will bring back the group members most groups lost."
David snapped his fingers and then a small group appeared, roughly fifteen people in total. Zena and Fenrir were among them
They also looked disoriented for a moment. Almost like they died, got sent back to the real world, then got snapped back into this realm again kind of disorientation.
Zena, Fenrir, and the others who were brought back took a minute to find and group back up with their members.
Once this order of business was done, David continued. "The previous event was various groups facing off against my apex creations. Don't feel down if you didn't kill your assigned beast, since no one here was able to even seriously injure a single one of them."
This was surprising. These thirty two groups were all C rank or above except Team Earth who was given an exception. Not even the S ranked adventures could hurt one of Greed's creations.
"This next event though is less about fighting and more about problem solving. Unless you choose to engage with other teams that is.. Each group will be placed somewhere in my puzzle box. All you have to do is reach the center and take the portal out. The first eight groups to do this will advance to the last event."
"All we have to do is make it the center?"
"Isn't this much easier than last year's challenge?"
"This is definitely easier than the last event that we did."
"Sweet, we get a freeby!"
Murmuring began to fill the room.
Puzzle Box? I imagine this will mean it's a confusing place, with lots of parts. If what the scroll said before the last event is true then that means David uses the same ten environments. This is just a hunch, but whatever the two elements that were excluded during the last event were, they must be included into this one. Coco thought this trying to prepare for the worst.
"Right, who is ready!" David yelled in an announcer voice.
The room erupted into cheers from the groups, Alex even joined in.
David snapped his fingers again. Everyone was teleported out of the black liminal space and into the puzzle box.
Lets see what you have this time Team Earth. Greed said laughing to himself.
…
Team Earth started the second event looking down. The pure black met their gaze.
Fenrir tried to lift his head, but was physically unable to as a very strong gravitational pull was stopping him from moving.
Not just Fenrir, everyone was struggling with the weight of gravity in this room. They were forced to only look at the floor - a pitch black, void colored, marbled ground.
"Boost!" Zena casted her magic trying to fight the force that was targeted on them. Unfortunately it made no difference. As Zena attempted to look up, she could only lift her neck a little bit before it fell back down.
"Summon Milo and Fredrick!" Alex yelled summoning her friend, the two headed dragon, but it too fell to the ground not even a second after being summoned. Alex dismissed the spell, sending her friend back to the spirit realm.
Coco closed her eyes, focusing on the environment around her. She focused on this strong pressure pinning them to the ground. It changes pressure consistently, a constant come and go. What changes the force? What else is a constant in the room?
After a moment, a light bulb went off in Coco's head. "Stop breathing."
"What are you saying?" Fenrir asked, seriously confused.
"Just do it."
Everyone stopped breathing. Suddenly the gravitational force halted and the group was able to look around.
Everyone looked upwards, and saw a stairwell made of white circling upwards towards an exit.
Coco ran over to the base of the stairs, hopped on the first step, then breathed outwards.
The gravitational force re-appeared forcing everyone's bodies down again, their heads once again staring at the floor.
What's worse is that Coco fell down. The stairs folded downwards dropping into the floor and walls.
"We all need to hold our breaths then run up the stairs as quickly as possible," Fenrir said, trying to beat Coco to the punch.
"The exit looks like it's sixty meters upwards, that will be hard to do," Zena added.
"Should one person go at a time? So if they fall we can catch them if they fall? I mean, it would hurt since they would just land on us, but if we do this, then no one should die" Alex said.
"This might be a stupid plan, but couldn't Fenrir absorb Zena's boost magic and the two of you could carry Alex and I to the top?" Coco said feeling bad about mentioning this idea.
"Ooo good idea Coco, Fenrir could pick me up and Zena can grab you."
"Coco, I trust you, but you have to understand that I have my limits."
"I know you do Zena, but I also trust you, which is why I mentioned it." Coco said with an innocent smile directed towards Zena, but forced to smile towards the ground instead.
"Fine."
"Three, two, one!" Fenrir shouted as a countdown for them to stop breathing. Their teamwork had increased over the last month so they immediately knew what Fenrir was going for when he began the countdown.
As Fenrir said "one" the staircase popped up from the wall, and they were able to move around again. Zena, Fenrir, and Alex all walked towards Coco and then breathed out again.
As they breathed out, the white staircase fell down again.
Fenrir leaned into Zena, "Absorb." Fenrir activated his magic, and took in a portion of Zena's magic.
"Three, boost" Fenrir began to count.
"Two" everyone breathed in deeply, taking in as much air as they could.
"One" everyone stopped breathing.
The white staircase shot outwards.
Alex hopped on Fenrir's back and he began to dart upwards. Zena grabbed Coco princess style and dashed up the stairwell.
Coco was heavier than Zena expected and it took a toll on her body not being able to breath.
The sound of their quick footsteps was the only sound filling up the room.
Halfway up the stairwell, it became apparent that everyone wanted to breathe.
Alex took her hands off of Fenrir's back, leaning more into him, just to cover up her nose and mouth.
Zena was disciplined enough, but Coco followed Alex's motion, with her free hands, she covered her nose and mouth.
Over three fourths of the way up the stairs Fenrir had to do the same, covering his face with his hands, but Zena couldn't do the same. Zena knew how to do shallow breathing, not making a single sound from inhaling and exhaling, but to not breathe at all was becoming a problem.
Vision was getting blurry, their lungs began to burn, they wanted to breathe as much as someone in the desert would want a cup of water.
Fenrir made it to the top, but made a mistake, him making it to the finish line with Alex on his back made him think he could now breathe freely. He collapsed to the floor and took a needed deep breath.
"No!" Alex yelled out realizing the mistake a second too late.
The other two party members, close behind, didn't quite make it across. Only a handful of steps away, the staircase folded under them and the strong gravitational pull filled the room again.
Zena was caught off guard, her right foot about to touch the next marbled step, swung at nothing. Her eyes went wide.
"Summon treant!" Alex summoned her treant, Vircan, right on the edge of the platform. In a second the treant fell to the floor but was saved by the platform that Fenrir and Alex were on.
Vircan's arm was dangling off the edge of the platform.
"Reach!" Alex demanded.
The large wooden creature launched its long arm downwards, being quicked downwards by the gravitational pull.
The wooden arm reached them in the nick of time wrapping itself around Coco and Zena, binding them together. The duo hung there unable to do anything.
"Three, two, one!" Fenrir yelled out.
Everyone stopped breathing, Zena and Coco were lifted up by the treant, pulled onto the same black solid square platform that Alex and Fenrir were on.
Realizing they were okay now, they started to breathe, but they were still inside the room, so gravity was weighing on them heavily again.
After a moment, they all stopped breathing for the last time, and walked outside and collapsed onto the grass.
"We are alive!" Alex yelled clearly out of breath.
"We did it." Fenrir said relieved.
Coco and Zena were just catching their breath, trying to stop the burning sensation that was lodged in their throats.
…
Looking around, the group noticed that they were no longer in a black and white flipped location, but a green grassy open area with some trees.
This section was similar to a bridge made of rock with ivory on it. Behind them was the staircase and faced in front of them is a large open cave.
"I miss the outdoors already!" Alex cried out not, looking at the only way forwards, inside the cave. She really did not want to go inside a closed off area again.
"We got lucky and stayed in an open area during the last event, I guess we now have to be stuck inside during this challenge." Fenrir pointed out as if to say this game has some kind of balancing mechanic.
The group took a second, making sure they were physically and mentally prepared to move forwards.
The interesting thing that was noticed during this short rest was the lack of hunger and thirst.
They might have been low on energy and exhausted on all fronts, but their bodies didn't need anything more than rest.
Coco surmised that in Greed's realm he made it so his competitors didn't feel hunger, thirst, or need for sleep.
Team Earth finished their preparations and began to walk inside the cave, the burning sensation that was in their lungs from holding their breath had been extinguished.
…
The cave was narrow, with a path large enough to only fit two people in a line. The group went in one by one.
Fenrir led the way followed by Zena, Alex, and Coco in order.
The cave has no temperature, it is neither hot nor cold.
This cave does have the same design as the previous section, void black floor and pure white walls. The pathway subtly leads downwards.
"Uhggg! We went up only to go back down again?" Alex pointed out in a complaining voice.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Fenrir asked, pausing and turning towards her.
Alex looked at Fenrir with a small tilt of her head, the visual representation of "?" that was strapped to her face. "The pathway is going downward, can't you tell?"
Fenrir looked in disbelief, like Alex was spewing lies. "Whatever you say, this is the only way to continue." Fenrir said, continuing his pace downwards.
"Don't worry Alex, Fenrir is just mad that he hasn't had his moment during these games yet." Zena said aloud, while looking back at Alex.
"What did you say, Zena? I can't hear you from down there!" Fenrir said in retaliation.
"You wanna pick a fight meat shield?" Zena said, looking at Fenrir's back with a sinister smile, ready to pick a fight."
"Guys, please don't fight, we need to work together during this event." Alex said, trying to please both aggravated party members.
"Why are we even in these stupid games? Because Zena got us in trouble with the guild? We don't even get anything out of participating!" Fenrir said angrily that the group was wasting time in this challenge.
"We are training to defeat the Demon King. Working together, fighting together, arguing together, all of these moments are for us to reach that singular goal." Coco said unfazed by Zena and Fenrir's frustration with one another. "Now let us focus on the next part of this puzzle," Coco continued.
The group looked forward. At the end of the narrow rocky pathway, there was a large opening. The ceiling of the cave in this section was clearly being held up by four giant stone pillars that are white with a black line spiraling up to the top.
The floor had now changed to be a checkered pattern of black and white squares.
The walls were split across the middle. Black on the bottom side and white on top. It was as if the room itself was at war, with one side trying to overwhelm the other.
At the back of this open section, there stands two large stone doors that are closed. There was a soft breeze coming from the cracks in the stone, including the small slit in between the two doors.
The group surmised that figuring out how to open the stone doors and getting to the other side would lead to the next section of Greed's Puzzle Box. And that the next section was outside.
…
The group spread out in the open space to come to their own conclusions.
Alex went to the walls, to see any discrepancies. Like if the cracks in the wall had a mechanism that opened the doors.
Zena looked at the entire area thinking that it might create some kind of image or depiction of something hat would lead to the answer.
Fenrir and Coco went to the pillars. Placing their hands on them, circling around them, staring at the strange symbols written in various languages.
I suck at puzzles! I am fine directing combat, being a shot caller, helping out my team, but I can't do puzzles. The first dungeon we went into, I couldn't figure out the first section for the life of me, it was Alex who pointed it out. Give me anything other than a puzzle. Coco thought to herself freaking out.
"Guys, the answer is embedded onto the pillars. We just need to decipher it." Fenrir said aloud to the entire group with full confidence.
"Really? How do you know?" Alex said excitedly walking over.
"On the third pillar, right here." Fenrir said, pointing at a section of the symbols.
"When ignoring the fluff, it reads, "Too heavy? I refuse. Too light? I refuse. Only balance unlocks my use." Fenrir read skimming his fingers across the letters. "This is an old dwarven saying."
"An old dwarven saying? What do they mean by it?" Alex asked perplexed.
"It refers to the perfect weight of a weapon to the wielder. My sword weighs four pounds, which matches my height and weight, since it's perfect for me, it has the right balance." Fenrir said, pulling his sword from its sheath.
As he did, the pillar lit up, the symbols started to move around and change.
After a moment, the same saying, "Too heavy? I refuse. Too light? I refuse. Only balance unlocks my use," was repeated over and over again, going down the pillar.
"That worked, that really worked, Fenrir you are amazing!" Alex said with glee.
"To be safe, Fenrir, I need you to stay like that." Zena said with caution.
"Eh? What for? Are you messing with me again?" Fenrir asked, perplexed, with a hint of frustration.
"If you walk away from that pillar, there is a chance that it will stop lighting up and go back to how it was before, worse off, we might not be able to activate it again." Zena added for clarification, her expression was unchanging.
"Hmmm, you make a valid point, but I need to help you guys figure out the rest of the puzzle."
Coco looked at Fenrir and shook her head, "now that you pointed out the solution, I can handle it from here. Good work, Fenrir." Coco turned away and went back to the first pillar.
…
Coco was stumped at the first pillar's message. The message was written in the oldest known language in the world, ancestral, the language of the Gods. This was a forgotten language that only few in the world still know.
Realizing she wouldn't find the solution staring at this black and white stone pillar, she went to the fourth pillar. Working backwards might be better.
Thump, thump, thump
Coco's footsteps echoed in the cave. When arriving at the last pillar, it had the same complex random words overlapping other words. This time though, the language on the pillar was the most common language in the world, the language of humans.
After a moment of deciphering, Coco read aloud, "Only through what is given up, may the path open up."
"Sacrifice huh?" Coco said with her hand on her chin, in a mumble. Then she realized, "Alex, can I see an arrow?"
"Sure." Alex took out an arrow and tossed it over to Coco who held the arrow up to the pillar.
"This is the arrow of a dear friend, this is my sacrifice."
The pillar opened up, the stone peeling away, revealing a cylinder. Coco placed the arrow inside, then the stone closed around the item and lit up.
"Coco! That was a precious arrow!" Alex yelled in complaint.
"Yes, which is why it worked. Hopefully you will have it back when we go back to our real bodies." Coco said with a hint of sweat running down her cheek at Alex's anger.
Then she walked over to the second pillar.
Thump, thump.
Coco, discovering the same complex pattern as the other pillars, she read in elvish. "Still your flesh, steady your aim, let yours become mine, and I will grant thy life.""Zena, I need you to come over here and not breathe." Coco said while waving her hand signaling Zena over to her.
"No! No way! I refuse to hold my breath again."
"Please. I will be fast on the first pillar… it won't be like last time."
"You owe me one."
"Happily."
Zena walked over to the second pillar and held her breath. Shortly after her air became still, the stone pillar lit up.
Coco then walked over to the first pillar. Coco looked at the complex language that no one in the group could read or speak, and the unknown language stared back at Coco.
Breath equals life.
Weight of decisions equals balance.
To own something means to sacrifice it later on.
This is the way that life works. Life and sacrifice are only compatible with enough balance. That must be the answer.
Coco repeated the previous answers of each pillar in her mind endlessly until something finally clicked.
"We seek passage!" Coco spoke to the pillar.
The pillar lit up and the doors, with the sound of crumpling rocks, opened outwards. The wind that was faintly in the room before came in like a flood and filled the room with fresh grassy air.
Zena took a deep breath in "You took way too long!"
"Haha, well it worked out in the end didn't it?" Coco said with a small chuckle and a smile towards her friend.
Fenrir and Alex also regrouped with Coco.
"How did you come to that conclusion Coco?" Alex said, looking at Coco waiting in anticipation.
"Umm, the passage was aiming forwards, and the other pillars pointed towards the various aspects of life, but time always moves forwards, so seeking passage to move onwards, that seemed like the best bet." Coco said, stumbling on her words.
"Your deduction skills are on point! You are really something you know." Alex said happily.
Fenrir was in the back feeling like his thunder was stolen from him once again.
I could have solved what Coco did. I don't want to hold anyone back, but I feel like everyone is passing me by. Coco is smarter than I am. Alex has more observation skills. Zena is stronger. I want to improve. I will improve. Fenrir said to himself looking down at his arm. An internal promise he made to himself.
The group moved straight ahead walking past the doors and into the next section of Greed's world.