NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: The riddle
The dried mud cracked with every step he took, the last hour was spent walking through the forest as far away as possible from the swamp and the goblins. He needed to think and make a plan, this was something he was always good at. Looking at a situation and figuring out a way to achieve a result he was satisfied with. He wasn't strong enough even with the experience he got from killing that goblin. That was a fact he had to remember, two levels didn't make him into a better fighter all of a sudden. Ethan knew he should concentrate on his surroundings but like in his life before the tutorial he started to blend everything out and just focused on his thoughts. It was a way for him to cope, to cut himself from the world and just work on the problems at his own pace.
The first thing he needed to do was stop thinking this was a game. Just because it had the appearance of one with all the floating screens and stats. This was his new reality, his and that of the whole universe. So when this was the new status quo he needed to adjust. An athlete could improve speed and endurance. A bodybuilder could raise his strength and build up more muscles. So for him it should be possible to improve his magic beyond the limits of skills and abilities, it was after all now part of his body.
A grin crept onto his face while he thought about the potential he could unlock when studying the arcane arts. With a rough plan in mind he quickened his steps and even when he stumbled, Ethan never stopped. His arms and legs burned from the ordeal of the day but there was just no time to rest until he was safe.
While looking for shelter he tripped over a root and landed on his face, with a groan he tried to push himself upwards but the ground under him moved down an arm's length and stopped again, locking him into a square pit. "Okay…slow an- " he couldn't finish the sentence when the ground suddenly moved down again on one side and his own weight pulled him into the darkness, the tunnel he was in was covered in roots, rocks and a lot of insects. He closed his eyes and mouth, covering his face with his arms while he slid down the tunnel.
At one point the hard packed dirt vanished and was replaced with rough stone, but instead of stopping he glided downwards even quicker, some sort of thick slime covered the walls, ground and ceiling. A scream escaped his lips and as unexpected as the journey started it also ended. He was dropped through a hole and fell into a pond, this one crystal clear water, not a pit of mud again.
He climbed from the pond and spat out the water that had entered his lungs. He wanted to curse and slam his head against a wall for being so dumb and not observe his surroundings. Then Ethan just rolled on to his back and looked at the ceiling, which was covered in tiny white crystals, their dim light illuminating the cube shaped room. When he pushed himself to his feet he looked around the room, it had no visible exit and the only way up would be through the tunnel. He spotted white glowing symbols on the opposite wall and with no other option he decided to check it out.
I am a symbol, ancient and wise,
A creature of cycles in both dark and light skies.
I eat my own tail, forever I twine,
A sign of eternity, where beginnings align.
What am I?
Ethan rubbed his chin while looking at the text for some time. He tried to think of different things he read in his life but he couldn't find an answer. He felt like he had the knowledge but it was blocked behind something, like he needed to go another step to unlock it. Of course he still tried to just push against the wall but even if he was tall, his skinny body had no noteworthy strength to show off. Sliding down the wall he crossed his legs and closed his eyes. His way was at least a safe space he could use as a makeshift camp.
After resting for a few hours Ethan finally wanted to test his theory, so he pointed his staff at the pond and activated his [Ice Bolt] spell. Like he expected the small spell circle was at the tip of his staff, when he opened his eyes but instead of shooting off against a wall it just stayed there. So he activated his spell again and a second circle appeared right next to it. The feeling of mana moving through his veins was growing, an itch he couldn't scratch.
The second spell already took longer than the first and it drained more mana from his pathetic mana pool. His stat screen was now open while he tried to conjure another spell into existence, but the moment it appeared a sharp pain traveled through his body like a molten metal moving through his arms and the three spell circles vanished. Ethan cursed and rubbed his forehead, the pain still lingered and he noticed some health points were gone. It seems overextending yourself could be the way to an easy death.
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So he started to test things, again and again he conjured spell circles, making it to three before the pain started again. When his mana was emptied out he thought about that riddle he found on the wall.
The hours vanished while he experimented, he tried to use the spell in different ways with some minor success. He managed to make it appear where he looked, even had it follow his movements and the rotation of his head but after a few seconds the pain returned when he tried that. His best guess was that he was either dumb or trying to achieve things not meant for a person at level three.
In the end he understood even less but was excited about the possibilities. He smiled while an ice bolt appeared in the pond and shot towards the ceiling, a trail of water behind it. Leaning back he sighed, why couldn't he summon more than three ice bolts and why did he feel pain when he summoned the third one, that was the question on his mind right now. He knew that magic must be a long road but still, Ethan had dreamed about magic for such a long time.
He spun his staff in his hand and never even thought about using [Identify] on it. Maybe that was the answer! Excited, he used his ability and read the short messages that appeared.
[Wanderers Staff - A staff made from simple wood that used to be the companion of a wanderer]
"Wow…thanks…system." he mumbled and pointed the staff towards the pond. Ice bolts appeared, they even appeared instantly and didn't need to first appear from a spell circle, now there was no delay and they were ready to use instantly. He moved the twin ice bolts around before snapping his fingers to make them shoot into the pond. Of course the snap was just for show but he got bored after a while and he thought it looked even a bit cool. A blush formed on his cheeks so he shook his head, there were more things to do!
Ethan stood up and he looked at the riddle again, looking at each word, reading it backwards and even switching words around. He did it a lot of times already but the answer wouldn't reveal itself to him. He thought about the words and it was obvious it had something to do with an animal, about circles and eternity. So he listed some animals he knew from mythology like, Jörmungandr, Medusa, Quetzalcoatl and finally…"Are you…Ouroboros?" the snake that ate its own tail, a symbol for infinity or the eternal, it was fitting for the riddle.
A laugh erupted from the throat of a harpy that sat on a golden perch, her long beak was sharp and looked like a formidable weapon. She watched as the puny human listed old gods and legendary monsters to find an answer to the riddle. She cackled and in a high pitched voice she exclaimed. "He will never get it right." Her eyes drifted away from the display she saw Ethan on and focused on another tutorial.
Then a large white bear rolled around until he laid more comfortably on his side, his large paw swiped at something and he also watched Ethan's performance. His eyes staring right at the human and with a grunt he focused on the harpy. "I told you to keep quiet, stupid bird." The bear grabbed some thick blankets with his paw and wrapped himself in it, his eyes drifting over to the corner where a man sat. "I think you need to prepare, he will get it." His eyes closed and he drifted off into sleep.
The man smiled, his eyes also looking at Ethan. "So he is the one…I hope you choose well." The man stood up, cracking his neck while he summoned a simple looking staff into his hand. "Let's see if she made the right decision. He might live a day longer if he does well enough after all. His voice was like honey, flowing from his mouth like a river of golden sweetness. His eyes fixed on the screen he finally heard his answer and the man vanished. The bear opened one eye again. "Finally some peace and quiet."
"Are you Ouroboros?" The moment Ethan spoke those words the world around him vanished. The cube shaped room was gone and he appeared on a field of knee height grass, water swirled around his feet and reached up to his ankles. He didn't even feel the shift and guessed it must be some form of teleportation. His robe was gone and exchanged for a shirt and some loose pants, only the staff was still clutched in his hand.
He looked around and only then he noticed the man standing a few meters away from him, dressed in the same clothes as Ethan. He could feel that the man was old even if he looked like a thirty year old man in his prime and an example of physical fitness. On his shoulder rested a simple wooden staff and the smile he had on his lips made Ethan shudder. "W-who are you?" he asked, his voice sounding subdued by his presence. The man twirled his staff in his hands.
"You solved the riddle right? I'm Ouroboros and you're Ethan…I hope you're ready." he stopped playing around with his staff and let it rest comfortably in a two handed grip. "Because I'm gonna beat you up kid."