Core of Knowledge

Pos spun around at the cry. He saw a seated Father Raul in a corner of the room with his arms raised high over his head. He was with another guild receptionist, and both were smiling.

“Forty-nine minutes. You passed!” The receptionist said.

Pos’ eyes widened in shock, and he wasn’t the only one. The team exploded in applause as they rushed towards the [Wandering Healer] to congratulate him. When the exploration team described the puzzle on the second floor to Claudio, the Guild Master immediately assigned his clerks to research and checked if such a puzzle had been recorded before. If such a puzzle exists, then someone may have found a way to beat it before.

It did not take the clerks long to find a match.

The clerks reported that the puzzle is known as a jigsaw puzzle, a puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking pieces, each of which is a portion of a picture. Some dungeons have been known to use them, but they are rare which was why none of the exploration team knew about the puzzles.

Delvers who had encountered the jigsaw puzzles before had figured out some tricks to beat them, but the tricks are more like personal informal preferences of successful delvers, so no one knows how well the tricks would work outside the puzzles of their specific dungeon. Not helping matters was the fact that none of the other dungeons gave puzzles out as treasures before, so the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques had another ‘first’ to its name.

When it became known that the Adventurer Guild was issuing a reward for information on how to beat the jigsaw puzzles, adventurers lined up to give information. All these information was given to Claudio and the exploration team, and the Guild Master wanted one of the adventurers to learn the tricks to see if they work.

Father Raul immediately volunteered. As he was the one who did the best in the dungeon, the rest of the team unanimously agreed that he was the best person for the duty. Seeing that the priest had just finished the puzzle more than ten minutes before the time limit, it was the right decision. More importantly, it proves that these tricks work.

As he shouted his congratulations, Pos still a hard time understanding how Father Raul could manage it. He looked down at the table and saw the puzzle. Once it was completed, the magic of the puzzles had activated, and Pos could feel a sense of peace when looking at the beautiful painting of the multistory tower. Fabiana warns that the magic of the puzzle was limited, and that it would run out sooner or later. When that happens, the sense of peace would disappear, and it would be nothing but a good-looking painting. The [Sage] was waiting for that, to see if she could recharge the magics of the painting.

Pos hope that she would be successful. It would make the painting more valuable.

“How did you do that, Father?” Pos asked, “I could never complete the puzzle that fast.”

“It's not that hard, if you look at it objectively.” Father Raul preened in satisfaction, but the receptionist beside him gestured with her hand for him to continue and the priest blushed in slight embarrassment. “And having the right skills and spells help a lot.”

“Skills and magic?” Talata asked.

“Yes, more specifically spells and skills that assist with the mind like [Parallel Thoughts], [Quick Thinking], and [The Big Picture]. The delvers from the other dungeons also suggest skills like [Quick Hands] and spells like [Magic Hands] to help put the puzzle together faster.”

“You have that many Skills?” Heathon was incredulous while Pos suppressed a sigh. He had none of those skills.

“No, but I have [Flash of Insight] and this,” the [Wandering Healer] activates his Skill, and a transparent golden man appears beside him. “[Divine Servant], an extra mind and a pair of hands helps immensely.”

The priest smiled as Pos frowned. “That’s just unfair. It’s like two people solving the puzzle. Are you sure the dungeon will accept that?”

“No reason it won’t. It’s a Skill, and all the other dungeons accept it.” Father Raul said with a nod. “Which reminds me; no one had ever made a list on what Skills could help with a jigsaw puzzle, so maybe it’s time we start one.”

The [Wandering Healer] looked at Claudio while making the suggestion, and the Guild Master nodded his approval. Pos must admit it was a good idea; that does not help him at all.

“Father, do you mean a delver need the right skills and spells to do this puzzle?”

“Isn’t that always the case for dungeons?” Bazel said. “Without the right skills, you cannot go forward on your own. That’s why no adventurer should ever delve a dungeon alone. We all need a good team to make up for our weakness.”

The truth of that statement did not lift Pos’ heavy heart. So, he did the only thing he could. He gave everyone an annoyed grunt. Everyone in the room smiled in response.

“Good work father, go get some rest.” Claudio said to the priest. “For everyone else, let’s discuss what we are going to do about the dungeon.”

“What’s there to discuss? Everyone in town already knows of the dungeon, and we already know the method to beat the first floor. Just open it up and let the adventurers though.” Talata said.

Fabiana shook her head in response. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? Do we really want adventurers to go diving into this dungeon right now? We haven’t finish mapping it, and it is a very dangerous dungeon.”

“What else is new? Dungeons are always dangerous. More importantly, none of us have the right to stop people entering them.” Talata replied, and despite their species long-standing enmity, Pos found that he agrees with the elf.

“I am not saying we should stop them, just that we should limit entry to adventurers with the appropriate levels and Skills. We should be careful about this. We know how dangerous the dungeon is. Outside the dwarf, no one had ever beaten the dungeon. We lost on the second floor, and we are the highest levels in town. Imagine what the dungeon will do to the rest of the adventurers from Viaggia?”

Heaton scoffed and spoke with false sincerity, “What a fantastic idea! I am sure the other adventurers in town will be glad we are looking out for them.”

The [Sage] shot him a look before turning to Claudio, “Guild Master, this is my suggestion. Announced our failure on the second floor. Informed everyone the opening need to be delayed as the guild needs more time to explore the dungeon.”

“I cannot do that. You know I can’t. Delaying access for the first exploration is the best I can do. By the Charter of the Adventurer Guild, access to dungeons cannot be restricted. Father Raul there would be the first to object.”

“True,” Father Raul acknowledged and for the first time Pos notice the frown on the father’s face. The priest clearly did not like what Fabiana was implying. “By the decrees of the Gods, all dungeons are to be made available to any Classed who wished to enter them. No one may force any Classed to enter, and no one is allowed to stop any Classed from entering. ‘We force no one to level, and We will not allow anyone to stop the Classed from levelling’. That is the Creed, accepted by all the Gods of this world. What you are suggesting is blasphemy.”

Fabiana nodded. “Which is why we are not stopping anyone from entering, merely delaying the public opening till our exploration team managed to complete our job. It is common practice for the Adventurer Guild to prevent access till an exploration team complete a run. We haven’t completed ours yet.”

Pos finally had enough. “That’s no excuse, [Sage]. Our failure is our failure. It has nothing to do with the delves of the other adventurers.”

“They will die to the dungeon. If we do not stop-”

Pos did not let the [Sage] distract him from his central point, “Adventurers know the risk when they delve into a dungeon. That’s why some of us, like me, don’t do it for a living. By the Stones, adventurers know the risk when they become adventurers. There’s a reason why not every Classed choose this profession. If they are not willing to risk their lives, then they should give up being an adventurer and become an instructor or a Guild Master of something. No offence.”

Claudio gave the dwarf a wry smile as silence descended on the room. After a period of quiet, Claudio made his decision. The next day, the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques was open to the public.