The three of them didn't understand what Stephan meant. They voiced their objections but Stephan said one word; trust. They had to trust him because he also wanted to understand what changed and what stayed the same. She made the whole test, which meant someone asked. If the acting Lord of Dimitruicasten asked, it meant she was like him. Crazy and harbinger of death through her trials. From the game, the castle of Dimitruicasten was a weird place, a terrifying one. It was meant like a raid where many players participated in it to get handsome loots. Most importantly, it was one of the hardest places in the game to complete. It took him a month to get it done.
Stephan left them as soon as he made up his mind. The eyes followed him where he was going but the bodies didn't. They choked on their food and felt confused, unsure of what the boy was thinking. One moment, he was talking about finishing the quest and helping them to a point he even dragged a witch into all this, the other, he was talking about separating to verify some kind of hidden theory he came up with… Or maybe it fell on him from the sky.
Gillibrian glanced at the sky then moved on his way too, taking a complete different path. Soprana disappeared immediately after Stephan left; her broom flew higher, and Agandaur climbed aa tree and chose to jump around on branches like a monkey.
The path eventually emerged from the trees on to a vast plan. Stephan didn't know where he was going; he just felt he had to keep going separately from them. Without them, the quest isn't fulfilled. With them, it would be in the future. He raised his head, seeing rising grounds leading to low hills. The walk was enjoyable actually. He felt like he was in his garden in his big mansion that he sold because everyone was eying the properties closely. He was rich but didn't work so the money was depleted throughout the years, especially when he was playing a lot. He became a streamer when a coop friend of him suggested it.
All was peaceful and the danger ahead seemed to be none. He was thinking about the riddle. It was important. It was a guide. That was what changed; the riddles. She said she made the game and made the test. Her game was full of traps, mysteries and deaths. Why would the test be any different?
He pulled the drawing of the key and focused on it. As soon as he looked at it, the words came out again. However, this time, he focused on the drawing and the strange symbols. They could only mean something in the future, right?
There was a book; it was an opened one and it seemed thick. There was also the shape of a crown…
The sound of squealing and grunting attracted his attention from the garment. There was something that moved quickly towards him, a certain monster. The creature was paging a path through the thick grass creating wreckage behind it. It had two long tusks protruding from a snout. It had its head down charging without looking. It wasn't hard to understand it was a wild boar. However, it was big, bigger than the normal ones.
He jumped to the side, landing on his two hands and stomach. The cloth he had in his hands a moment ago was long trapped under the boar. His mouth cursed the luck he had… When he was finally able to see something new that excited him, a boar had to ruin it. Riddles excited him, who wouldn't be excited by them? They provided enough for the mind to be busy with.
"Oh no! My riddles!"
The boar ended up crashing against a tree, throwing it down. Stephan watched the scene dumbfounded. It was a big boar indeed with some kind of supernatural strength. But it wasn't time to think, the thing was preparing to charge again. With a firm hand, he pulled his sceptre from his back and dodged the second charged attack.
It took him two normal attacks to get the boar down. The first one was on the right leg, the second one was on the head. The boar fell with a bang. It wasn't hard as he expected. As soon as he remembered the cloth, he rushed to where the boar created a path. The garment looked miserable. However, the letters still appeared but the symbols were erased. Now, he had only the book and the crown as lead to remember.
He held the garment horizontally; the drawing of a key didn't look like a key anymore. It was different, strange and unexpected. It wasn't a key; it was a tower. The whole thing was a tower, than what kind of relationship the tower held with the riddle?
"What are you doing here? I thought you said we were supposed to walk each one of us separately."
Stephan turned his head slowly. He didn't expect his theory to be verified so soon. It was a gamble from his part and the whole thing had 70% chance of success. There was still the thirty part of it.
"I just met with a boar. It gave me a warm welcome," he tucked the garment inside his shirt and walked to Gillibrian. "We were indeed walking in different directions but it seems you found me."
"So you weren't following me."
"No."
"Then fate brought us together."
"It seems the case."
"If you met me, it means that again you were supposed to handle the quest."
"I had to be."
"And why are you doing it? Since I met you, I thought you were a good human boy. But staying with you all these days, I cannot help but wonder what you want from us, what you earn from all this."
"Nothing is free in this world, Gillibrian. If you keep looking for intentions then dubious suspicious you would get. Don't think a lot, dwarf! Your power relies in making weapons and armory. Thinking would only make you something different from a dwarf."
"Are you suggesting I am an idiot?"
"You don't have to think a lot. Let's go! I am sure we will meet with the others soon enough."