W2 (24)

{To every man there is a God, to every demon—a machine, to every elf—treasures but to the gnomes there is none. Mention our links.}

‘What the—what kind of fucking question is this? Is this even a riddle?!’ Dina exclaimed internally.

Four races, four marks and they were to find a link? How?

Genad was silent, he seemed deep in thought as if trying to find a clue in the strange riddle, after all in every riddle the answer was always staring at one so blatantly and what one needed was just to find it…. that was when it clicked!

Four races, four marks, and a link but why four? Where was the fifth? Where were the angels? A link… how were the angels linked to all this? It was simple!

Over the years the angels could be stated to be the dominating race, in fact, they might as well be called the main rulers of Styr kingdom during these years. They tied the humans down with an illusion of worship to them as ‘the servants of the ancient god’, the elves they had blinded with treasures, effortlessly owning their loyalty, and the demons they had also tied down with their holy magic which was very deadly to them.

And although this was the same with angels too as they were weak to the demons’ destructive powers, due to how huge their population was along with their pure bloodlines they had also subdued the demons.

The only race that was never and would have never been dominated by them were the gnomes! And even after their sudden disappearance, the angels still couldn’t conquer their lands.

{Five seconds remaining!

5… 4… 3… 2…}

The counting was cut off by Genad’s immediate response—

“ANGELS.”

{Beep… beep….

Answers received! Calculating…

Results loading…

Beep..! BEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!

Correct!}

Feral felt his exploding heartbeat gradually reduce, at the moment the countdown had begun he felt so scared that he nearly blacked out with how fast his heart was beating. That was sooo close!

But their results couldn’t be celebrated for long because they had taken up all their time in the riddle prompting the second one to begin immediately.

{Riddle 2; Time countdown: 00:02:00;

My opening is for all creatures, my entrance for all races but my exit is for only the only true one and race. What am I?}

Dina felt herself sigh internally in relief, even she knew this and if even about anybody could get this question then Genad definitely could.

“The ancient portal.”

….and she was right!

{Beep! Beep!

Answers received! Calculating…

Loading results…

Loading….

Beep!

Accurate!

The next riddle will begin after 00:01:35}

Feral was happy that they were given a breather at the very least in this one and randomly rubbing Paw’s fur he tried to calm himself down while staring at Genad, his thoughts drifting off to the male's decisions. Was he really okay?

Just what was he thinking embarking on such a deadly journey as soon as he was out of the waters? His mates were out in various places, mostly in the demon realm enjoying the indulging life of immorality, others—although very few, were enjoying the thrilling risk of hiding among the other races and trying out new things.

After all, demons were known for their destructive nature and for their sinfulness, so now many would be indulging in food, dangers, and sexual experiences—lots of them. Then why was he here? Even if it was in preparation for the portal he could at least have enjoyed himself a bit, couldn't he?

‘Well, I do hope his hard work pays off. He might be a jerk but he deserves it.’

And then the last riddle was asked.

{What is the greatest treasure of the gnomes?}

Genad faltered slightly as he tried to think of a suitable answer, at first he answered ‘creation’ but was wrong and had his time cut off by half as punishment. Dina ended up having another minor breakdown on what could happen if he missed the next chance, however, this time….

“Wisdom.”

{Beep! Correct!}

He was correct. And just like that, the third trial began.

***

“Dina! Dina! Wake up!” a voice called out, it was smooth and its tone was a perfect slash between a female and a male.

‘That voice… could it be… no way!’ Dina’s eyes snapped open to see a dark-skinned girl facing her with two shiny pair of white rabbit-like teeth flashing before her and felt palpitations in her heart.

“Is something wrong Dina? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Annabelle asked worriedly, her sharp amber eyes thoroughly gazing over Dina who simply stared at her in a daze.

“Annabelle?” she muttered, voice filled with astonishment and unbelief and eyes so wide they seemed to bulge out of her sockets.

‘Just… what the heck?!’

“Yes?” ‘Annabelle’ answered, tilting her head in confusion at the petrified individual.

“Is t-t-this reall….”

Her words were however cut off with a sudden beep.

{Beep…! Beep…!

TRAIL 3 HAS BEGUN!

TRAIL LEVEL: MID

TRAIL TIME: 00:09:00

TRAIL: Find your partner in nine minutes!

BEGIN! Trail countdown: 00:09:00}

‘Oh. Now I see.’

***

[Earlier]

{Tips: This Trail isn’t limited to only one person and the higher the number the lower the difficulty level. Would the player like to consider a helper?

You have to choose in 3 minutes!

Time remaining: 00:02:59}

Before Genad could blatantly reject this idea, Feral speedily responded—

“I think we should consider this master!”

There was no way, she, Dina was missing this opportunity. She had to immediately grasp it! Who knows just how difficult this level might be? If she was allowed to help then hell yeah!

“Why is that?” Genad asked nonchalantly, why would this little elf of his want to help?

“I just wanna help. Won’t you let me? If you fail it means we’ll be trapped in this blank space to our very death! Please master!” Feral pleaded with great sincerity in his eyes showing his seriousness.

Genad was silent for a while and as the time ticked and Dina’s anxiety level had reached an almost impossible meter he finally agreed with a nod.

‘Thank goodness!’

“I would like to take a helper,” he called out to the AI which immediately stopped its count.

{Request granted!

Who would the player like to choose?

The Human The Beast}

“The human.”

{Affirmative!

Request received….

Loading….

Compiling data…

Loading…. Loading….

BEEEEEEEEP.

You will now be transported to your mission space! Please be ready in 5…. 4…. 3… 2… 1}

A bright flash of light enveloped the white space suddenly causing Feral to cover his eyes while Paws simply closed his and Genad leisurely took the impact head-on.

THUD! THUD!

Paws: !!

Paws fur straightened in shock when it saw the duo suddenly collapse. He circled around them for a while but even though they were breathing, they couldn’t be shaken up.

He growled at the empty space in a fruitless attempt to intimidate the AI but couldn’t find it anywhere.

After minutes of circling around them, Paws finally gave in before moving over to nuzzle in with the passed-out Feral while making sure to monitor his body status. If anything was to happen to its human then he would make sure to destroy this very space!