Chapter 1293 1293 Reach for the Gold
--- Green ---
Paradoxically, just as things started to settle down, everyone burst into action. First it was Green. She was satisfied that the platforms were settled into their orbits. They were still moving quickly, but they were also moving consistently, and she had plenty of practice. It was a simple matter of waiting for two platforms to line up together, and then she made the jump. Part of her wanted to use her boots and go further away, but a few tests jumps to see if a challenge popped up was necessary.
In front of her, Burnice was returned to the glowing checkpoint once again. It was still burning hot, but she was ready for it this time. Burnice instantly jumped, not forward, but backwards, giving her a lot more leeway. Even with this, her split second decision meant she was slightly off and had to grab tightly to the ledge instead of landing on it safety, but it didn't take long for her to pull herself up.
Green didn't bother to check behind her, there wasn't time to waste on such things now that it was all down to the wire. If she did though, she'd see that Burgandy and Nell were very far down the climb. They were closer to the start then the finish line, and were more or less out of this race baring some exceptional circumstances.
Carl was still in it… theoretically. From Green's perspective her only competition was Burnice and that wasn't necessarily wrong, but Carl was at least closer to the two of them and had a chance to sneak in a win if the two front runners continually made mistakes. Though he seemed to be taking things slowly. Unlike Green and Burnice is who already trying to make progress Carl was waiting for things to settle down further. There wasn't much indication it would happen as he was hoping.
Green jumped for the second platform since the climb had restarted and found herself in a question box. *Dammit. I guess the challenges are still going then. This isn't what I was hoping for, but I'll just deal with it.* Green watched as the question was read out. 'How many bottles of wine can you fill with a standard wine barrel'
"Zero if the barrel is empty!" blurted out Green, hoping that was good enough. The question seemed to spasm in the air a few times before it shattered alongside the barrier. *Hmm… so it seems that DID work. Not sure if I can do something sneaky for all of the questions. Was it the justification that the barrel was empty that helped me there? Or was that unnecessary?*
Green managed two more hops without trouble, but was stuck on the third. A quick glance up showed Burnice had disappeared, somewhere. Green was certain the elf hadn't fallen, so they were in a challenge room. Green nodded as she stored away that information and waited for a platform to line up.
Five seconds later, and Green decided this was already too long. She looked further up as she pushed mana down towards her boots. Green watched the platforms, those that looked reachable to land on, and the others that she might just be able to grab. Deciding to play it safe, relatively speaking, Green jumped and then launched herself up towards one of the closer platforms.
Green landed, nearly overshooting it in the process but the grip of her boots clung on well. Her torso was flung forward and Green flung her arms and head backwards to help balance. There was a moment of uncertainty as lightning cracked through the dark, but Green managed to calm herself and stay on the platform. She didn't take any time to rest on her laurels though, jumping immediately onto a passing platform and then disappearing.
Greem looked around at a room full of junk. It had broken bows, shattered arrowheads, rusted swords. Boots that looked two sizes too big. A whole pile of literal garbage in one of the corners. A few shirts, as well as a number of glass cups with chips in them. The sign just off to the side said 'Touch something with red on it'
Green grimaced. An idea coming to her instantly. I don't want to do it… but fuck it. If I want to win I can't waste any time with actually finding something red. Green pulled out her dagger and removed one of her leather gloves before lightly poking the edge of her finger, letting a drop of blood well up. Green then pressed the finger in question onto a broken table nearby. Nothing happened. Green frowned and then pressed her finger on the spot again, vanishing the second time.
*Not sure why that only worked the second time. Perhaps because the object wasn't red when I initiated the contact? Whatever I guess. It's a shame my hair isn't red, or rather burgundy. Then I could've avoid cutting myself.*
Green sucked lightly on her damaged finger to remove some of the blood. It was more of a nervous tick, especially because she had to put her glove back on. Still, she wasn't doing anything but observing her next jump. It was good to be another tough one. The next 'ring' of platforms only had one platform in it, the others were destroyed or missing for some reason, and she'd just missed that one.
Looking upwards Green grimaced as the ring above wasn't much better. It technically had more platforms, but they were all bunched together and she'd need to wait almost as long for one of those to arrive. Grimacing Green tracked her eyes one line up further and saw it was filled with platforms. *Might be a bit far though. I'm going to really need to push it to make that jump. Might need to use a double boost from my shoes… and that's going to be a little finicky. Still might not make it but… better then waiting a few minutes.*
Green looked up to see Burnice climbing rapidly. She'd cleared two more platforms just in the quick glance Green had thrown her way. Gritting her teeth Green waited, one, two, seconds before kicking off the ground and launching herself as high as she could go… which wasn't enough. Green shoved more mana into her boots and the enchantment almost stuttered for a bit but it worked in the end. Green reached up and just barely managed to grab the edge of the platform.
As she pulled herself up she looked at the checkpoint. It was roughly in-line with where she was, just quite close to the centre of the 'structure' she was climbing. Green wanted to go for it, but another glance at Burnice made Green shake her head. The elf was stuck in a question box but that wouldn't last long. So Green leapt for the next platform. A question box of her own.
'When a fae has water in their lungs, what's is one method to prevent drowning' "Urgh… stab them in the heart," said Green. Wincing even as she said it. A rather morbid idea… but it would prevent them from drowning. The question spasmed a bit but the barrier shattered and Green was back on her way.
Things got a bit routine after that. Even if they were tense, no platforms were too far away for Green to jump. So she made her way upwards one platform at a time, slowly gaining on Burnice. The elf in question failed a question box, slowing her immensely, and Green was getting a lucky streak. No challenge rooms, just an easy question box or two and suddenly, she was just a few platforms behind Burnice.
Burnice was just three platforms away from the end, with Green close behind her with just five. It was all going to come down to these last few moves. Green jumped, Burnice jumped and bother were a step closer. Both were trapped in a puzzle box. 'How many hearts does a whittlebur snake have?'
*Shit! I don't know! I know that they're pretty deadly and their venom can take down just about anything at the same rank. Is it one? That seems too easy. Shit.* Green started to hammer on the shield that surrounded her while shouting numbers. "One, Two, Three, Four…" yet even as she did the barrier held strong. Even if it was brightening.
Green had made an easy mistake. A whittlebur snake was a type of plant monster. It had NO hearts. Alas, her failure to answer that final question settled the game. Burnice was able to answer her own question 'What climate does a frost lotus grow in.' The answer was, surprisingly, a dessert. Something Burnice knew.
So Burnice hopped straight up to the final platform and then disappeared. Green growled in frustration as the barrier shattered and she shot up the remaining platforms, disappearing soon after Burnice. Green had a slight hope there would be one more challenge… but it was shattered when she saw that she was back on stage with Thyme and Burnice off to the side. *I suppose second place isn't that bad.*
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶