This wasn’t Jake’s first time engaging with a magic puzzle, but it was his first time encountering this type. Before returning to Earth, the practice cauldron Villy had given him during his alchemy training session deployed similar methods to this gate’s magic puzzle. However, the cauldron had been focused on alchemy, while this gate was more of a regular and more general mana-puzzle.

Except… you couldn’t really call it a regular puzzle. It was like those weird puzzle games with ropes and rings you could buy as a gift to a friend to piss them off because you knew they sucked at those kinds of things, and that was totally not something Jake had ever done.

This brain puzzle did differentiate itself from even that by one huge thing: you couldn’t test things. One could also compare it to having to do a puzzle, and while you could see all the puzzle pieces, you weren’t allowed to misplace a single piece on the board. Doing that would result in being infected with a curse… in other words, every move had to be accurate from the beginning to the end.

Finally getting a proper understanding of the puzzle, Jake suddenly understood why so little progress had been made. It also had to be mentioned that this wasn’t an individual puzzle, but the board was visible to everyone. Therefore, any progress made on the puzzle benefitted everyone present. This had ultimately resulted in no one daring to try and make the next move in case it was a mistake, and they would be punished for it, possibly having to leave.

Now, Jake didn’t actually think it would mark the end of the Treasure Hunt for him if he fucked up and got cursed here. He had seen that woman be cursed when he first entered, and while it was potent, it wasn’t something he couldn’t handle. He didn’t want to do it, though, as curses were damn annoying and took so long to get rid of.

Jake observed the circle first from a distance as he furrowed his brows. They have made a bit of progress, he concluded. A few basic steps had been taken. About one-twentieth of the puzzle was solved already by the crowd.

The first part did seem relatively simple. Like most puzzles of this kind, it got harder the further you got. At least partly. In some ways, it also got more manageable as you began to understand the logic behind the puzzle and how it all fit together to create a whole.

He had to admit… he liked that things like this puzzle door existed in the Treasure Hunt. He liked that it wasn’t all about fighting but also that things like the trap room he had trivialized had been there. It made it all feel less like just another murder fest. Well… it was still a murder fest. Which was good for Jake. Jake was good at murder, after all. But he felt like he was also usually pretty good at puzzles, so he wanted to solve this one.

It scratched that same itch alchemy did. Would Jake possibly to able to obtain more rewards if he decided to just leave and hunt down more foes or scour the rest of the tower for other hidden treasures? Probably… but now he wanted to solve this puzzle, so he would solve the puzzle.

With all that in mind, Jake got up from his chair as he walked closer to get a better look at the whole puzzle in all its glory. He got a bit of attention, but most were either focused on the puzzle or had gotten used to his presence now. Or maybe they just realized gawking wouldn’t lead to anything and ignored him consciously. Either way, Jake was left alone as he got closer and stared deeply at the gate.

What if you direct the mana through… no, false pathway. That way, then? Hm… no, another dead-end. Ah, but if you move it through, wait, no, that would trigger that thing.

Jake ended up closing his eyes as he entered Thoughtful Meditation, the entire gate and magic circle still prominently displayed within his head, courtesy of the Sphere of Perception.

He began going through possibilities in his mind as he cradled his hands and made a miniature version of parts of the puzzle as he experimented. The small construct broke apart time and time again, but it slowly expanded as well.

during this time, primarily those who were less magic focused, likely believing their time was better spent searching the tower for treasures while leaving their party members behind. Hours passed by like this, and soon the large chamber had over a hundred people, nearly all

alone, but a few people did notice his construct and how his was larger and more elaborate than anyone else’s. Yet, he wasn’t happy as he felt quite a few kinks in this method. He felt like he was missing a piece of the puzzle somewhere, as he had been stuck at the same

their identical oscillation when probed,” he suddenly heard an excited voice say, cutting through his meditation. Jake frowned, and without thinking, he checked it out and found

in her mid-twenties with two older men behind her. She had long black hair and two dark eyes looking down at him as he sat in meditation. She didn’t look at him in a condescending way but just looked happy she had figured

he replied, as he Identified all three of them. Jake assumed they had also tried to Identify him earlier, but he had kind of begun filtering out the sensation of being Identified as people tried – and failed – to all the time. The two

[Human – lvl 113]

[Human – lvl 115]

[Human – lvl 116]

but he didn’t for a second doubt she was the strongest person in the group of three. Jake wondered why he

neither speaking as she looked down at him. Slowly her smile faded as she broke out of her excitement. She instead

if they were a higher level, but more her supports. Needless to say, they were elites of the clan, but neither had gone for the Perfect Evolution. Instead, they had chosen to prioritize some immediate power for the clan over their own

with Lord Thayne after he assisted them within a tower. The

regarding Lord Thayne. Her great grandfather was still set on having her be the leader of the diplomatic entourage

aware of it primarily being because she didn’t understand him. The Noboru clan had looked into him and his background to see who he was before the system, and it was just a whole pile of… nothing. He

even a single known noble anywhere in his family tree. There was nothing that made him special. And somehow, not only was the Lord of Haven an outstanding

long line of successful businessmen and women and had been a young prodigy and genius from birth. His

repeated itself with all they investigated. All of them had been prominent figures, either infamous or famous. One could simply not hide heaven-sent talent like what was required to truly stand out in this new world. There had to be traces and evidence. Reika didn’t believe in coincidences. So she surmised something did

teacher Caleb Thayne. Even that Casper of the undead faction only seemed to be who he was due to his relation to Jake Thayne. He had been a tutorial with both the Augur and William… making her sure he was the one common denominator of these odd occurrences.

life to do that. She had her own goals and objectives in this Treasure Hunt, and learning more about Lord Thayne was just one of them. Hence why

to the tower and see if he is still there, and if not, have them explore it,” Reika commanded

up from the crypt again as the man in charge of communication gave

Thayne has slain a Count of Blood within the tower and is now working on some kind

the chamber of a Count, and you needed one such Mark from a Viscount… how the hell had the man managed to slay a Viscount and

Wait, a magic puzzle?

defeated it

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