Conquering The Novel

As the team stepped through the doorway, they found themselves in a vast hall. In the center of the room lay a long table, cluttered with various objects. In front of the table, a large chest with an ancient appearance stood, and beside it rested a pedestal with a glowing orb on top.

As they approached the pedestal, a hologram of the old wizard from the previous round materialized before them.

[Welcome, students. I am the keeper of this chamber, and I present to you Challenge 3 - the Puzzle Round.] the hologram declared.

[To unlock the chest in front of you, you must correctly place the objects on the table into their corresponding slots. However, be cautious. There are decoys that will lead you astray. Work together and choose wisely, and you will unlock the chest and earn your next clue. Good luck.]

With those words, the figure vanished, leaving the team to begin their challenge.

The team approached the long table and observed the jumbled mess of objects. The items included a miniature griffin statue, a golden goblet, a vial of purple liquid, a silver key, a leather-bound tome, and a crystal prism among many others.

"...The chest has three keyholes-- well, they are not exactly keyholes as they have different shapes," Emma explained hesitantly as she examined the chest.

!?

"What shapes are the keyholes?" Ayla inquired, her interest piqued.

"They resemble three different mouths with razor-sharp teeth," Emma responded.

"I believe we must feed the right object to the correct mouth for it to unlock," Ayla suggested as she scrutinized the chest.

"How are we supposed to determine which object goes where? They are numerous and scattered on the table," Marcus pointed out as he surveyed the objects.

"I suggest we begin by identifying the decoys," James suggested.

"I concur," Ayla agreed. "Let us search for any clues around the table."

After scouring the table for clues, Marcus found a scrap of parchment hidden in one of the objects, containing a riddle:

"I am not a book, but you can read me. I am not a drink, but you can taste me. I am not a key, but you can unlock me. What am I?"

Marcus read the riddle aloud for everyone to hear.

"This seems like a clue," Alex noted. "Any ideas what it means?"

"It could be referring to the leather-bound tome," Emma said immediately.

And as she saw the others' faces, which seemed to be asking why she thought that, she began to explain.

"...Based on the clues, 'I am not a book, but you can read me' suggests that the answer is something that can be read like a book, but it's not actually a book. The 'leather-bound tome' is the only object on the table that fits that description," Emma explained, pointing at the object.

"And 'I am not a drink, but you can taste me' suggests that the answer is something that can be tasted but it's not a drink. I don't see any other object on the table that fits that description except for maybe the fruit, but it's not something you 'unlock'," she continued, looking at the fruit and the other objects.

"Finally, 'I am not a key, but you can unlock me' suggests that the answer is something that can be unlocked but it's not a key. The only object that fits that description is the leather-bound tome because it has a lock on it," she concluded, confident that her answer was correct.

"Let us try placing it into one of the slots on the chest then," Ayla suggested, impressed by Emma's quick thinking.

Noticing Emma's hesitation, Ayla remembered her from the previous rounds. Though Emma was knowledgeable, she feared that if her answer was incorrect, the team would blame her for it.

"Here, James. Please feed it into one of its mouth-like slots," Ayla instructed, passing him the tome.

Though James was confused as to why Ayla did not do it herself, he decided to shrug it off and carefully placed the book into one of the mouth-like slots. To their surprise, they heard a click, and one of their mouths closed.

Suddenly, the voice of the old wizard echoed through the chamber, congratulating the team on their success.

[Congratulations, students. You have correctly identified the first object. But your journey is far from over. Continue on to the next object.]

"Good job, Emma," Ayla said with a smile, to which Emma nodded, embarrassed.

Encouraged by their success, the team turned their attention back to the table. After some searching, they found another scrap of parchment hidden within the vial of purple liquid with a riddle written on it:

"I am born in fire and die in ice. I am not a living creature, but I have a heart. What am I?"

After reading the riddle aloud, the team fell silent, each lost in thought. Ayla was the first to break the silence.

"Born in fire and die in ice. It's not a living creature, but it has a heart," she repeated, furrowing her brow in concentration. "What could that be?"

Emma spoke up. "Well, it's obviously not a literal heart. It must be some kind of object."

"But what object could fit all those criteria?" Marcus asked.

Alex leaned in, examining the riddle more closely. "It says it's born in fire. Maybe that means it's made of something that's formed in extreme heat?"

"Like what?" Ayla asked.

"Like...a crystal?" Alex suggested tentatively.

The group considered this for a moment before Emma's eyes widened. "Yes! A crystal prism! It's not alive, but it has a geometric heart, and it refracts light like fire and ice."

Ayla nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. And there's a crystal prism right here on the table."

"Good catch, Emma," Marcus said, impressed.

"Here, Alex. You can feed it to its other mouth," Ayla said as she passed it to Alex.

Alex took the prism from Ayla and placed it into the chest's open mouth. As another mouth closed and clicked shut, the old wizard's voice could be heard once more.

[Excellent work, students. You are on the right track. But beware, the final object will be the most difficult yet.]

"Nice one, guys. Let's quickly move on to find the next object," Ayla suggested.

Suddenly, Marcus had a curious question, "I wonder what happens if we place the wrong object into its mouth?"

"Oh, the chest will just grow larger and eat you alive," Emma replied nonchalantly, causing everyone to stare at her in shock.

!!

"What?!" they all exclaimed.

Emma quickly pointed towards the pedestal and said, "It's pictured on the side of the pedestal, look."

They all turned to see the small engravings on the pedestal, depicting a chest chewing the half body of someone.

"W-Why didn't you mention this to us sooner?" they all asked, except for Ayla, who seemed to have noticed the engravings long before.

"Eh? I-I thought you all had noticed it too," Emma said, feeling a bit flustered.

"No, we didn't," they all replied in unison

"What are you all making a fuss about? Let's not waste any time with this useless discussion and move on to find the final riddle, okay? We don't want Ares to be disappointed in us, do we? He gets really scary when he's angry, you all know that, right?" Ayla said with a smile, trying to diffuse the tension.

"...."

Feeling the pressure, the team turned their attention to the remaining objects. After a few minutes of searching, James finally found a final scrap of parchment hidden under a pile of books.

"I'm found in the deep and the dark, and I'm sought by those with a spark. I can guide you on your way, but also lead you astray. What am I?" the riddle read.

The team pondered the riddle for a moment until Ayla suggested, "I think the answer might be a compass. It can guide us in the right direction, but if it's not calibrated correctly, it can lead us astray."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," James agreed, and they began searching for the compass on the table of objects, but to no avail.

"W-What? Is our answer to that riddle not correct?" Emma questioned, confused.

Suddenly, James spoke up in realization. "W-Wait a minute, I think I know what the answer is!" he exclaimed, holding up a small, intricately carved statuette of a griffin.

"Um, James, I don't think that's a compass," Emma said skeptically, eyeing the statuette warily.

"I know, but hear me out," James replied, a glint of excitement in his eyes. "I read in an ancient book that griffins were known to have exceptional senses of direction and an innate ability to navigate even the most treacherous terrain. I think this statuette could be a representation of a griffin and its remarkable navigational abilities."

The team exchanged skeptical glances but was intrigued by James' theory.

"...I suppose it's worth a try," Ayla said thoughtfully. "At the very least, it's something we haven't considered before. James, why don't you try placing the statuette in the final slot?"

"O-Oh, I think Marcus should do it. Alex and I were the ones who placed the previous object, right?" James said nervously, passing the statue to Marcus.

!?

"Huh?" Marcus was about to protest, but the intense gaze of his teammates made him feel the pressure to take action. He reluctantly took the statue from James and made his way to the chest, hoping that James' theory was right.

He took a deep breath and placed the statue in the final slot.

Click--

With a satisfying click, the last mouth closed, and the chest in front of them unlocked with a loud creak, revealing the scroll inside.

"Congratulations, students. You have proven yourselves worthy and have passed this round. Take this scroll and continue on your next challenge" the wizard hologram said.