Chapter 98: Riddle

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Riddle

Kenny’s sword came down.

The instant the blade struck the beast—

Everything disappeared.

Kenny’s body jerked forward.

His sword cut through empty air.

He stumbled a step before catching himself.

Silence.

Kenny stood completely still.

There were no beasts.

No endless plain.

No wounds.

No exhaustion.

He looked down at himself.

His armor was intact.

The scratches and dents were gone.

His breathing was normal.

For several seconds, he simply stared.

Then he looked around.

He was back in the dark cavern.

The same cavern they had fallen into earlier.

The underground stream still flowed quietly through the stone.

The pale glowing plants still illuminated the walls.

The Spirit Crystals still protruded from the rock.

Kenny slowly lowered his sword.

"What...?"

He turned around.

There was no sign of the trial.

No doorway.

No strange voice.

Nothing.

He looked at his hands, then touched his chest.

Everything felt real.

He hadn’t imagined the exhaustion. He could still remember every moment of it.

The fear.

The pain.

The countless beasts.

And that voice telling him to stop.

Kenny let out a slow breath.

Then he heard footsteps.

He turned.

Tolu was standing several meters away.

He was in the same condition as before entering the trial, hammer resting against his shoulder.

Kenny stared at him.

"You passed too?"

Tolu nodded.

"Apparently."

Kenny looked around once more.

"So that was a test."

"Looks like it."

Kenny lowered his sword completely.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Then Kenny laughed quietly.

"I thought I was going to die."

Tolu glanced at him.

"You nearly did."

Kenny looked at him in surprise.

Tolu continued.

"At least according to what I saw."

Kenny frowned.

"What did you see?"

Tolu shook his head.

"Nothing like what you saw."

Kenny studied him for a moment, but Tolu didn’t elaborate.

Before Kenny could ask again, something in the center of the cavern began to glow.

Both of them turned toward it.

A faint light appeared on the stone floor.

The same symbol from Tolu’s trial.

Kenny’s expression became serious.

"What now?"

Tolu tightened his grip around his hammer.

"I don’t know."

The symbol brightened.

Then the cavern trembled.

The trembling finally stopped.

Tolu and Kenny remained still, watching the symbol glowing on the cavern floor.

The light slowly spread outward.

A faint rumbling followed.

Then the stone beneath them split.

Not violently.

Almost deliberately.

A small pillar of dark stone rose from the ground between them.

At its top sat two objects.

The first was a small, rough piece of black stone covered in thin green veins.

The second was a small transparent jade-colored vial containing a single drop of pale silver liquid.

Kenny stepped closer.

"What are those?"

Tolu didn’t answer.

He could feel the earth energy inside the stone.

It was dense.

Far denser than ordinary energy stones.

The Dungeon Heart stirred inside his mind.

"Interesting."

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

"You know what it is?"

"Not completely. But I can tell you what it will do."

The stone slowly lifted from the pillar and floated toward Tolu.

"This is a technique imprint."

Tolu caught it.

The instant his fingers touched the stone, information flooded into his mind.

His eyes widened.

He saw himself standing in the middle of a battlefield.

His hammer was raised.

Then he brought it down.

BOOM!

Earth energy spread beneath his feet.

The ground beneath an enemy suddenly cracked.

A massive column of stone erupted from below.

The pillar was enormous, wider than a man and covered in jagged spikes.

The enemy was thrown upward as the stone tore through the ground.

Tolu’s eyes opened.

"Rising Monolith."

The name came naturally to him.

He looked at his hammer.

The technique wasn’t simply another way of throwing rocks.

It used the earth beneath his opponent.

That meant he could attack from below.

Kenny leaned over to look at the stone.

"That looks useful."

Tolu nodded.

"It is."

The technique imprint dissolved.

The stone disappeared into his body.

For several seconds, Tolu stood quietly as the technique settled into his mind.

He understood its basic principles.

He couldn’t use it yet.

Not properly.

The technique required more control than his current earth manipulation.

But he could feel the path.

With enough practice, he would be able to summon a large mass of earth beneath an enemy and force it upward in a single violent eruption.

Tolu smiled.

"Not bad."

The second object floated toward Kenny.

He caught the jade vial.

The moment his fingers closed around it, information entered his mind.

A technique.

Kenny’s eyebrows rose.

"Windstep."

He immediately understood how it worked.

Wind would gather around his body in a thin layer.

Not enough to make him fly.

Not enough to give him overwhelming speed.

But enough to push him.

A short burst could carry him several steps forward.

Another could help him change direction.

A controlled current could soften a fall.

And if he touched someone else, he could extend the technique to them.

Kenny looked at Tolu.

"I can use this on other people."

"Then it should be useful."

Kenny grinned.

"Very."

He imagined using it during a caravan attack.

A sudden burst of wind could move a merchant out of the path of an attack.

He could help someone jump across a gap.

Push an injured person away from danger.

Even in a fight, a sudden change of direction could mean the difference between taking a blade and avoiding it.

It wasn’t overwhelming.

But it was versatile.

And that suited him.

Kenny carefully memorized the technique.

The glowing symbol on the floor slowly faded.

The cavern returned to its previous darkness.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then Kenny looked at Tolu.

"So we passed."

Tolu glanced at him.

"Looks like it."

Kenny smiled.

"I think I’m starting to like dungeons."

Tolu gave him a look.

"You almost died."

"Almost."

Kenny sheathed his sword.

"But I got a technique out of it."

Tolu shook his head.

"You’re going to get yourself killed."

Kenny laughed.

"Not before I build my business."

Tolu looked at him for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"Fair enough."

Neither of them noticed the faint glow returning deep beneath the cavern floor.

The trial wasn’t finished yet.

....

The faint glow beneath the cavern floor suddenly brightened.

Tolu and Kenny both turned toward it.

A low voice echoed through the cavern.

"You have passed the first test."

The sound seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Now comes the second."

The glowing symbol on the ground changed.

Lines spread from its center, forming a large circle around the two of them.

"This test may be taken alone."

A pause.

"Or together."

Kenny glanced at Tolu.

"Together?"

Tolu nodded slowly.

The voice continued.

"This test is not one of strength."

The cavern became completely silent.

"It is one of intelligence, a riddle."

Kenny’s expression changed.

"A riddle?"

At first, he almost laughed.

After everything they had just gone through, a riddle sounded almost insulting.

Then the voice spoke again.

"Answer this."

The symbol in the center of the circle pulsed once.

"I am given before I am earned."

Kenny frowned.

"I can be inherited without being owned."

Tolu’s expression became more serious.

"I can be built without hands."

The light pulsed again.

"I can open doors without touching them."

Kenny’s eyes narrowed.

"I can be lost without being stolen."

Another pulse.

"I can make strangers trust you..."

The light dimmed.

"...or make them fear you."

Silence.

"What am I?"

Kenny immediately answered.

"Reputation."

Nothing happened.

He frowned.

Tolu considered the words.

"It could be."

The voice remained silent.

Kenny looked at the glowing symbol.

"Maybe not."

The voice finally spoke.

"Your answer is close."

The circle beneath their feet brightened.

"But incomplete."

Kenny’s expression hardened.

"So there is more."

"Always."

The word echoed through the cavern.

The first line of the riddle appeared again in glowing letters.

I am given before I am earned.

Then another line appeared beneath it.

I can be inherited without being owned.

Then another.

I can be built without hands.

Then another.

I can open doors without touching them.

And finally:

I can be lost without being stolen.

The voice spoke.

"You may change your answer."

Kenny crossed his arms.

"Then it’s a name."

The cavern remained silent.

Tolu looked at him.

"Why?"

"Think about it."

Kenny pointed toward the words.

"A person is born with a name. They inherit their family’s name without owning it. They build a name through what they accomplish. A good name can open doors."

He paused.

"And someone can ruin their name without anyone stealing it."

Tolu nodded.

"That fits better."

The symbol pulsed.

For a moment, it seemed as though the test had accepted the answer.

Then the voice spoke.

"Then answer the next question."

The words on the ground changed.

If your name opens the door...

A second line appeared.

Who walks through it?

Kenny stared.

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

The voice continued.

"Is it the name?"

Silence.

"Or the person?"

Another line appeared.

If another person carries your name farther than you ever could...

The cavern trembled slightly.

Does the achievement belong to you?

Kenny slowly lowered his arms.

The riddle was no longer about a word.

It was about what that word meant.

The voice continued.

"If your family gives you wealth, is the wealth yours?"

"If your master gives you knowledge, is the achievement yours?"

"If people respect your family before they know you..."

A pause.

"...have they respected you?"

Kenny glanced at Tolu.

Neither spoke.

The voice had stopped asking for a single definition.

It was forcing them to examine what they actually wanted.

The light beneath their feet grew brighter.

"Perhaps the answer is a name."

"Perhaps it is reputation."

"Perhaps it is influence."

"Perhaps it is something else entirely."

The voice became quieter.

"But if you answer only with a word, you will fail."

Tolu’s eyes sharpened.

Kenny looked at him.

"So we have to explain it."

"No."

The voice answered.

"You must understand it."

The circle suddenly split into two halves.

One remained beneath Tolu.

The other beneath Kenny.

"You may solve this test together."

The two halves slowly moved back toward each other.

"Or you may solve it alone."

The light settled.

"Choose."

Kenny looked at Tolu.

Tolu looked back.

Neither had an answer yet.

But both understood one thing.

This test was no longer asking them to guess the right word.

It was asking them to understand why they wanted what they wanted.