AN: i'm trying to keep every chunk of the exam around ~5 chapters except maybe the final tournament bracket as that would mostly be the same no matter what and I dont want to rewrite the events of cannon *cough* naruto fanfics chunin exams *cough* so I will most likely have one more detailed chapter after this concerning puzzles and then another chapter wrapping it up and transition towards the start of Zevil island exam. Anyways, on to the chapter!
Looking at the luminescent markings that had appeared after the use of the strange lantern oil a small smile crept on my face
'This reminds me of an old puzzle game I used to play, anyways it looks like clues can now be discovered depending on what fuel type I am using.' Though it seems there are not any "clues" to be had as all that got illuminated was an outline of a door and a glowing brick alongside some strange symbols that were strewn on the wall for decoration.
*clack* after pressing in the glowing brick the doorway appeared as I entered the staircase leading to the next room, though unlike previous sequences of entering a room the door surprisingly did not shut behind me.
'Well that probably means I will have to go back up there to solve the next puzzle huh?' I mentally noted as I continued to look around the room and was met with quite the site. Three large archways divided the room into three main sections with two paintings on either side of the walls in each subsection making six total paintings in the room.
'These two are an Owl and a Bat, the next set is a otter and a buffalo while the last set is truly weird. One is a lanky bipedal creature covered in fur with numerous set of arms and four beady eyes on an oblong face, while the other one looks like a stereotypical ghost…' further looking and prodding around the room resulted in nothing of note, only wasting my time. Walking back to the entrance of the room I looked back at the room as I began considering all of the clues I have gathered.
'The only real clues I have gathered most likely again relate to the light, the animals seem to be divided in three groups. Being Diurnal, Nocturnal, and supernatural animals, my current theory is each of these correlate to a certain type of light… but even with the luminescent oil nothing changed when pressing or touching the paintings. The only thing I can think of now is the upstairs room having something to do with all of this…' deciding to go back and ascend the staircase back to previous room I am once again met with all of the symbols I previously thought were useless.
'I am actually braindead arent I?' after only a second of looking at the symbols I am met with with six pictograms that somewhat resemble animals. However, the reason for my distress at looking at the symbols was because after touching one of the animals the stone it was on depressed in an all too similar manner.
"...I actually got stuck on what is essentially a skyrim puzzle…" following this came the repeated actions of pressing the buttons and descending the stairs to see if the button and painting matched, after numerous trips back to the room I finally matched the paintings with the buttons.
'Yet nothing has happened… okay lets mess with the lantern and hope that does something?' fatigued both mentally and physically I sat down in the middle of the room as I fiddled with the lantern and changed the light level of the room while inspecting all the changes made. Going from luminescent, to turning it off, and finally normal lamp oil, yet nothing changed at all. Continuing all sorts of nonsense I tried every sort of idea that came to mind yet no progress was made.
*tick* turning off my lamp to begin switching oils again I tucked the normal oil can into my inner coat pocket and in turn took out the luminescent oil can and screwed into the bottom of the lantern.
*tick* again illuminating the room in an eerie purple light I look around the room once again with dead eyes, having already lost interest in the "challenge" the puzzles brought. They were not exactly fun or engaging, having weird nonsensical solutions that were not really intuitive or alluded towards.
*clack* yet for whatever reason a doorway at the end of the room opened up, stunning me as I froze in place with wide yes staring at the phenomenon
'Why did it only open now? Wait was it another weird order thing with the lights changing. I originally went luminescent -> dark -> light but before it opened it was light -> dark -> luminescent… is it supposed to represent a day cycle of night to day and the luminescent is supposed to be some sort of witching hour? You know what, I just won't question it and just move on from here.' moving through the door I am met with yet another stair case downwards
"Well at least I am making some sort of progress… getting closer towards ground level and all that." entering another small room I am met with a notable difference to past rooms, there is a visible door on the other side of the room. Additionally the room seems to be furnished with a table and chair with a box on the table and a small bedframe and mattress pushed into the corner of the room alongside other smaller pieces of furniture.
*bzzt* "you have reached the first checkpoint in… 11 hours! You have 61 hours elft to make it to the bottom of trick tower. Feel free to use this rest area before continuing on your way. Also, please note that the first checkpoint signifies completing the first quarter of this exam." after the automated voice over the speakers finished its information dump silence returned to the room. Deciding to turn off my lantern due to their already being lighting in the room I began to take in the information
'So its been 11 hours since I started, making it roughly seven in the evening… I have ¾ left of this exam and if I were to retire for the night and had roughly eight hours of sleep tonight I would have 53 hours, making my average pace ~19-20 hours per quarter leaving me twelve-ish hours for fuck ups. Meaning I can hopefully get out of here in time, or with time to spare which would be very useful as it would allow me time to memorize hunter tags in the crowd of passing examinees.
'Well I guess I will retire for the night… is there a clock or something around here? Aha! There is, good old digital alarm clock! Lets set you for eight hours and subsequent alarms in eight hours five minutes, eight hours ten minutes, etc.'
"Well good night… I guess." and with that I flicked the lightswitch on the wall and laid down on the bed.