Chapter 1289 Chapter 1289 Bag of Tricks
--- Green ---
Green hopped across platforms at a steady pace and learnt a few things along the way. The first thing she learnt was 'How much wood can a woodchuck can chuck' which was 'a woodchuck can chuck as much wood as woodchuck can chuck'. At least that fact was pretty amusing. The others were basic trivia questions that Green didn't struggle with at all. No the real problem was the math question. It had symbols she didn't even recognise, so that was something.
What really surprised her was that last thing. The first 'trap' hadn't been a trap at all but a learning opportunity. It seemed that the question traps worked exactly the same way as the first platforms. You could answer the question and leave quickly, or you could get out the same way as the first trap. Either by smashing it, or just waiting. It made Green more confident in getting across. Especially as it seemed she might just be the first person to figure that out. Maybe.
Carl was taking things slow and steady. It wasn't paying off yet, but if things went on too long, then he'd probably be the best rested for the final sprint. For now? It just meant he was falling behind. Nell was missing again. The poor bear seemed to be getting all of the ones that teleported you away. From that, Green had quickly worked out that the colour of the platforms had nothing to do with the type of questions at all.
Some had fancy designs, and maybe those meant something, but the designs were all different and Green hadn't noticed a pattern. Burgandy was currently a few steps ahead of Green, but she'd just vanished as well, so Green was probably ahead then right? Burnice wasn't in consideration, she was still trying to get that checkpoint off to the side for reasons Green hadn't yet figured out.
*Should I be going for that checkpoint as well? What about the one all the way on the other side? I feel like I'm missing something extremely obvious here. Why would she be bothering with those?*
Green shrugged and leapt off the side of a platform. It was one of the higher ones, and would allow her to test a theory. When she vanished upon making contact, she almost wanted to blame time for it. What were the chances really?
Green blinked the blinding lights out of her face as she found herself in a large domed area with a pool in it. A signboard saying 'Swim to the other end and back' was not what she wanted to see. Sure the pool wasn't all that long, but Green realised she'd either need to take her clothes off and risk losing them when they she was teleported, hide them away in her storage ring and hope Thyme doesn't call her on it… or accept that her clothes were going to be soaked.
"Dammit," Green cursed as she dove into the water and then activated her boots, rocketing across the pool. It took only a few seconds to reach the end and turn around, then a few more seconds to get back, but she was still soaked. It was even worse when she was teleported back, sans momentum and immediately began to fall down. Activating her boots again Green shot herself upwards and onto the nearby platform.
Green collapsed down onto her but and groaned. *Dammit. At least I know that's a risk but what the heck am I going to do now? My clothes are soaked and I don't want to run around naked. Not only would that be rather indecent but I have important enchantments on my gear I do not wish to be without.*
Green slapped her face a few times and stood back up and winced at the squelching in her boots. *Wish I had a way to get dry but whatever.* Green hopped forward a few more times before another question came up, butt she answered it easily and continued on her way. The water in her clothes dripping off as she leapt, but not all that quickly. Hopefully the leather wouldn't start to stink afterwards.
Green glanced over at Burgandy who was, relatively, nearby and now had a large purple afro for some reason. As she did, Green got a terrible idea. Should I get into a fight with the fire user so that I can dry out my clothes? Yes. Yes I think I should. Green changed her trajectory angling to chase after Burgandy. Green was speeding across the platforms when, SLAM. Green smashed face first into one of the barriers.
Green cradled her nose, which thankfully didn't seem broken, and she blinked tears out of her eyes. Burgandy turned, probably hearing the groan, definitely not the sound of Green's face hitting a wall. The fae looked confused at Green's sudden change of direction before her eyes lit up in understanding and she booked it across three platforms… before vanishing.
While that was happening Green had recovered and looked over the question. It was some nonsense about healing magic that Nixilei had probably told her before. 'What is the optimal way to heal areas of missing skin greater then 10cm squared' *Honestly. How would I know the answer to that? I suppose I could just guess?* "With mana?" said Green. No response. "Um… from the edges?" Still no response. "From the centre? From the left? From the right? With two hands?" Nothing happened.
*Now… is that because I got the question wrong the first time and you're only allowed to answer once or because none of my answers were correct? It'd be really nice to know, but I'm not going to get a question wrong on purpose just to check.*
Eventually the barrier fell and Green kept going forward towards Burgandy. It didn't take long, and a few jumps later she was one step away from the platform Burgandy was on… but no Burgandy. The fae hadn't shown up again just yet. *Right… so do I try and swipe the challenge from her? Do I wait and then attack? What's the plan here?*
Green unsheathed her dagger and got ready to leap at Burgandy when she got out of the challenge. Green was waiting… and waiting… and waiting. A full minute had passed and Green glanced over towards the rest of the competitors who were still doing their thing. Nell was catching up it seemed, Carl was missing and Burnice was still heading off to the side. *She must really want that checkpoint. I have to be missing something. She's behind everyone at this point, so why is she trying for it? Admittedly she's not too far behind us all, but still behind.*
Green looked at the platform Burgandy should be on… and still nothing. Grimacing she glanced over at Nell again as the beastkin took the lead. *Dammit fine. I'll give it one more minute and if nothing happens I'll… shit do I try and complete the task Burgandy is on or do I backtrack?*
Green grimaced and looked over at the platforms she'd used to come over here. The moving platforms that she'd used. *Shit. They might not move quickly, but that could be a problem for me. They're out of order now, and I'd have to backtrack by jumping over a bunch of new blocks. Not ideal… but I don't want to be at risk of being attacked from behind either. So I might just have to go forward with it.
I mean, I still want to fight Burgandy and have her cast a few fire spells at me, but it's just not worth this time loss. So… do I try and clear this challenge and stick around her to fight eventually? Or do I cut my losses now?*
Green shifted her footing a bit and felt the squelch of water in her boots. Green's eyes hardened. *I'm fighting that bitch. How dare she not be present to dry out my clothes!* Green leapt forward onto the platform and vanished. Green found herself in a room with five glass jars. The largest one, the one with a big 7 on it was completely full. The rest were empty, and on the back wall the sign said 'Ensure that the same amount of water is in each glass'
Green looked over the puzzle that was clearly meant to be about pouring the water from glass to glass and balancing it all with the various numbers. Green… did not do that. Instead she just picked up the largest glass and dumped it all on the floor before being teleported back to the platform.
Green looked around warily and couldn't see any trace of Burgandy. *Now. Is she missing because she hit another teleport or did she fail to come out? I suppose it's also worth asking if she's actually struggling to do that challenge properly, or if she's just using that place to hide from now she knows I'm after her.*
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