After the ending of the great world war 4 in 2412, human population remain barely at a million. With the findings of the cold room, a unknown underground ecosystem berried 500km below sea level and stretched to unknown depths, new possibilities has been found. The cold room is a storage of new materials, few capable to change or mix between types of pre-existing states of matter. The world scientist joined minds to create peace with the solution of a sky sociality which was created in 2416, 4 years since the ending of the war.  As a nameless child suddenly gain intelligence by the use of the knowledge cube, 10 year later, a cheerful girl was born into the world. Anna was the girl’s name. She’s girl of many talents. She was born in the world of the sky with two caring parents. She smiles and she cares, even if her life there might be limited by destiny.

The next day at school is exhausting. Crescent ends up sleeping at 12, and her parents yelled at her for staying up so late. She rushes through the halls in school, and she makes sure to stay weary of whoever was going to make her day any worse than before. She has visible eye-bags under her eyes, and she's tired.

"Did you fight Crécelle yesterday or something?" Mint murmurs, Crescent glances at him.

"No. Very very close though" Crescent mumbles, she steals a grape from Ice's lunch tray. He pushes the grapes to her. 

"Are you sure? It seems a little tiring for you" Estelle mumbles. "I can't have my only rival in parkour dropping dead on me in athletics"

"Just challenge Aaron. He's definitely a better person to parkour with" Crescent mumbles.

The table stares at her in silence, there was no way Crescent could ever understand how busy Aaron was. Being a champion meant helping the principal with whatever, and training until you had maxed out your skills. From rumors alone people assumed that Aaron was golden haired. He had eerie emerald eyes, and his brows were always furrowed. He almost resembled the eldest of his home.

"What does Aaron actually look like?" Crescent asks, she wants to know. She needs to know. She can't defeat him without stats.

"Eyes blue like the atlantic, and he's going down like the titanic" Estelle sings.

"hair amber, warm and dramatic, and he's going down like the titanic" Mint joins.

"Skin pale, bright as the sunlight, and he's rising up, out of a nightlight" Ice hums.

"That last one makes no sense"

"He's 190cm. He's a titan"

"But you guys are also?"

"We're close. Not there but close" Mint sighs. "Aaron's like the elder one of the household. Ice's family worships him"

"Tough life?"

"Very tough"

The lunch bell rings, and Crescent escapes school as soon a possible. She pays Ignes and Elios a quick visit, and drops off some food for them. She talks with them briefly, and then they fly off for the day. She makes her way to the tombs again, and she tries to airbend her way to Kenma. He notices off the bat, and he knocks Crescent off balance. She chokes on her spit thanks to him.

"You're too slow." Kenma shoots. "You need to go quicker and have more stealth"

"I hate you"

Kenma motions her to a puzzle, and Crescent gets to work. She finishes 4 rooms and gets tired on the fifth. 

"Want a snack?" Kenma asks, he tosses her an apple, and Crescent bites down. It's juicy, and she's pretty sure it's one of the offerings that the school places for the old champions. No wonder Kenma was already developing his muscles. He's muscular, and despite not being too tall, he was agile. There was a lot to learn from him even if he was an ex-champion. He was no older than his twenties, and he had won against Aaron before. 

"The competition is in 4 months. You'll have plenty of time to learn the bending styles. Help me get the golden cage first and then we can talk" Kenma states, he finishes another puzzle.

"What's even in the golden cage? A Dragon?"

"My animal guide. A dragon" Kenma smiles. His shirt hikes up his chest slightly and a dragon mark is spotted. There were rumors that he had the final black dragon as an animal guide. He had the personality, and compared to the current champion, he was far more ambitious than Aaron. 

"What's Aaron's animal guide?" Crescent asks. Her voice echoes down the hall.

"Bloodhound. They fit eachother perfectly" Kenma answers, his voice is stiff.

"Does that mean he's bloody, vicious, and harsh?" Crescent mumbles.

Kenma nods. He finishes his nth puzzle, and around a hundred lie ahead of him. He works on the next puzzle, and he's confused at the sight of a three by three cube. They didn't have this in the streets, and he tries to pick at it, but he ultimately fails. Crescent takes notice of it. 

"Wanna switch puzzles with me? That's a rubik's cube and I can solve it" Crescent points at the cube in his hands.

"Solve it. I could probably get it down in a handful of minutes but the quicker we go the better" He throws the cube at the girl, and she gets to work. She speeds through it, and when Kenma finishes her half finished puzzle, she's done. She places it in the lion's mouth, and the light above it glows a soft blue.

"Tell me about your time as the champion"

"The shells. They're still in power right?" Kenma mumbles and Crescent nods. "They were still in power then. They hate change and Crécelle was a new elite back then. She already had a clique, and Hatsuki was new as well. They clicked pretty quickly. I won champion fair and square. I didn't discover molecule bending back then, but oxygen bending was in my grasp. I reigned for 4 years before they kicked me out for treason. They shoved a poison down my throat. Do you know what it was?"

"Arsenic. It's a water type poison, so waterbending helps get it out of your system. It's a shame you can't bend it" Crescent mumbles, finishing the puzzle. "Your dragon mark. It can cancel out the Phoenix one right?"

"Yeah. I refuse to do any cancelling though. It means my bond with my animal would be broken" Kenma sneers.

"Ah. I finished the row" Crescent mumbles. She turns to see Kenma opening the door. The room is empty, and in the middle sits a golden cage. Kenma sends a gush of air to get rid of the traps, and he sprints to the center of the room. He grabs the cage, and he runs outside before they bury him alive. Crescent stares at the closed cage.

"How do we get him out?" Crescent mumbles.

"We don't have a key huh?" Kenma taps the cage. He grabs a fistful of dirt, and he earthbends one. He unlocks the cage with ease, and a 12 meter long dragon soars out. The dragon doesn't roar, he knows where he is, and he opts for wrapping himself around Kenma. Crescent stares in awe.

The dragon sends a breath of fire her way, and she doesn't flinch. He shrinks, and he sets himself atop her head. Kenma and his companion could be a potential solution to Crescent's phoenix mark issue. But she wouldn't know and they wouldn't realize it until it was nearly too late.

When Crescent finally gets admitted to The Academy of the Elites, she’s more than ready to take revenge on them for kicking her parents out. Her plan is simple, become champion, become principal, and start the reform. The school system was corrupt and there were so many things to change. What happens when her plan doesn’t work? Simple, you improvise.

-✿-

“Molecule bending, particle bending, gravity bending, and oxygen bending. Please teach me!” The girl bows.

He peers at her in curiosity. Those bending types were banned in the school. Why did she want to know?

“What’s the point of learning something you can’t use?”

“I want to defeat the champion”

-✿-

Update schedule: On pause

After Abel cast his first "white bone armor," a new skeleton symbol appeared on the Horadric Cube's skill tree. This meant that the spell was approved by the cube itself. From this point onward, if he wanted to use the "white bone armor" spell, he just had to activate it from his cube.
With another flip of the human-skin book, Abel found a spell rune for a new spell. The name was "clay stone guard," which was what the grey-hooded priest used to guard against spell attacks.
"I'm pretty lucky today, huh."
The "clay stone guard" was a summoning-type spell. That much was clear, but the book didn't talk about how it should be turned into armor. It didn't matter, though. All he had to do was to summon a clay stone guard from the ground.
While it wasn't the most powerful summoned creature, the clay stone guard had the spell ability to slow down its target. The effectiveness of this ability would be determined by the stone guard's overall rank. It would be -11% of the total speed at the start, and -63% at max level. The stronger the clay stone guard was, the more broken it would be at decreasing the frequency of an enemies' attacks.
As Abel drew a spell rune in the air, death qi started swarming out of it and went directly into his body. It wasn't a lot of effort to neutralize it. Soon, a stone guard made of clay appeared from the ground in front of him.
The clay stone guard didn't have very defined features. It had some holes for eyes and nose, but they weren't really there for any sort of practical reason. If it wanted to figure out what's going on in its surroundings, it just had to sense the earth, dust, rocks, and dust that were around it.
A symbol of a stone man appeared on the Horadric Cube's skill tree. The cube just learned a new skill. If Abel wanted to improve the rank of this spell, he should try to summon the clay stone guard for as long as possible.
Or, he could just use the soul potions he had in stock. He wasn't really sure about it, though. He wasn't sure if the clay stone guard was suitable for combat, so using the soul potion on it might just end up being a waste. Also, he hadn't mastered the "command stone guard" spell yet. It'd be very easy for the clay stone guard he summoned to be destroyed.
After thinking for a while, Abel decided to give up on the thought of ranking up his clay stone guard. It was not like he was short on his soul potions, but there was the need to save it for his other summoned creatures. It was probably the wise choice not to commit too much into the clay stone guard.
Abel decided to put the human-skin book into his portal bracelet. As gross as it was, it was a pretty useful book that was full of various content on using various spells. 
He decided to look further into the portal bone ring. Apart from some daily accessories that he decided to ignore, he realized that there was a small box that was lying on the table. It was an old-looking box. From its design, there was no way that it was made by the Orc Empire.
Actually, he recognized the patterns on this box. It was the same as his hanging fort. This box was from prehistoric civilization. There wasn't any lock on it, but as hard as he tried to open, he just couldn't separate the lid from the box's body.
"Is the lid stuck because it's been too long?"
As the box zoomed up in Abel's sight, he began to realize the small details that were on it. He was starting to see some peculiar patterns, which appeared to be some sort of code. They looked pretty complicated. Without finding the right line with his power of the Will, it'd be impossible to open the box correctly. 
Abel's head was starting to hurt. He could use the world stone fragment to help himself with this, but it would still take about a day to get this solved. He tried to cut the box open with his "steel" sword, but as soon as he did so, a white light came out and neglected all the impact of his swing. The box was also starting to shake in a very violent way and was making him very worried.
While it might be possible to pry the box open with a few more hits, Abel was worried that he would destroy the content that was inside. He could try to cut the edge with his power of the dimension, but unfortunately, he had already reached his daily limit by using it on the grey-hooded priest.
As it turned out, the only option was to solve the puzzle properly. After sheathing his "steel" sword, Abel reverted his attention back to the box. There were a lot of patterns that he didn't know about, so he decided to go with the simplest solution there was, and that was to insert all the possible solutions.
As simple as this method sounded, it wasn't something that anyone could do. Not everyone had Abel's brain did. The miracle spirit might be able to do this, but to be fair, it was just too hard to get access to a high-tech device like it.
Without doing anything else, Abel decided to put all his focus into the small box. It was starting to get dark, but the orcs had yet to find where he was located. 
He wasn't even trying that hard to hide from them. He was just taking a break inside his seclusion circle the whole day. He actually just forgot about them and went on solving the puzzle that was on the box.
Speaking of which, this was the first time that Abel used the stone world fragment for this long. His head was really starting to hurt, and he was seriously malnourished after using too much of his body's energy. 
After drinking a whole bottle of the blue howling rabbit's "ration potion," all the pain and hunger inside his body started going away. He tried to scan the box with his power of the Will again, and after doing so for an entire day, he was finally able to find the right way to open the box.
He started drawing a line with his finger. While doing so, he started injecting his power of the Will into the box.


I was reincarnated into another world, and I brought the Horadric Cube from Diablo II with me. 
Being a knight is cool and all, but being a wizard is pretty neat as well.
So, which one will it be?
  

On the tips of his toes, Yang Fu walked around like a cat. Steady and suspicious. Eyeing up the table, he didn't know whether he was truly being tested or was this all some big illusion?

Honestly, he'd heard many tales of the Continuum. He'd listened to the harsh realities and accounts of all those that knew and those that had returned.

Horror. That was the underlying concept, cruel and gruelling tests that would break a lesser being's mind, snapping their sanity intwine.

Yet, here he was. In a transcendent garden, like that of a celestial, everything was beautiful, everything was serine, everything was… right. Was it even possible for such a situation to be? Had the fateful survivors all been liars, coveting untold powers?

Only… Yang Fu could not know the truth of their hearts, the only thing that he could do was to press forward, even with the tension that was under his skin. Under his brow and in his shoulders.

Unknown to him, what an opportunity this was. Unknown to all those that had come before him. Seven Legacies, that is what has emerged from the Depths of the Continuum.

Cerberus. The Path of the Under-heart, enabling the daring and diabolical to manipulate the paths of Samsara, luring out the Jackal like being that guarded the Under-Dark, the pathways to hell, corrupting their hearts and forcing servitude upon them! Inherited by Ki Zong.

Ursine. The Path of the patchwork. An ancient bear made of many different creatures. The vicious heart that could wield this legacy could dissect creatures, implanting their qualities on towards others. One could also steal the blood of Phoenixes and Dragons… making it their own. Inherited by Yu Houlie.

Nemesis. The Path of the Hated, bending Karma to hate you, bending it to despise you. Calamity would befall the bearer of this standard, yet once absorbed… one would transcend. None would be above the tides of fate apart from he who inherited this mantle. Inherited by Jiang Wang.

Toxicus. The Path established by Daoist Greenshade. The Path of the most tumultuous and unbridled of poisons and toxins. The venom of which could destroy a thousand mortal civilisations with absolute ease, as not only does it poison the individual, but also the heavens and earth themselves.

Blood Sky. The Path of Devouring the blood of your enemies, when in combat or not. Originating from the Eternal Bat, resident of the Abyss. Inherited by Wen Dong.

Silver Horn. The Path of the Battle King. Harnessing the Crashing and Terrible Energies of your opponents and turning them against themselves. Digging deep, sacrificing your soul, your matter, your energy to battle. Then take the final step, condemning yourself to hell for the sake of rebirth… Inherited by Wen Shen.

Each of the names had vanished from the world, either being slain or walking the golden path long ago. Yet their legends still reside, tales of their aguish always concoct fear in the hearts of man and woman alike.

The scene before him though, it invoked and shattered his disbelief within a microsecond, thousand times over. Both his conscious and unconscious mind were working overtime, taking in and assessing the situation for traps and deceit.

Yet he felt fine, totally and fully. Nothing was the matter; everything could only be described as… perfect. This situation of perfection put Yang Fu on as much edge as the earlier traps that had sprung before him.

Nevertheless, he'd been tasked to do this from his grandfather – the ancestor of the Yang Clan. He'd told Yang Fu that, "The Winds of Change are afoot, Xiao Fu, I can feel it in my bones. The Heavens call out to both the Elders and I… they speak but one word – Yang."

When the ancestors had told him these words shivers had been sent down Yang Fu's spine, he'd acquired the Nine Suns Fury Technique like magic; it suddenly appeared out of the blue. Was it magical? Was it a gift from the heavens that spoke the word – Yang?

It was the only possible solution in his head.

Sitting his skinny bottom on the delicately decorated pillow, he looked downwards upon the obstacles in front of him.

Three items, a cube of many different colours, a box with two keyholes and a massive ivory 'tusky-horn thing'.

Touching the Ivory Tusk, a thought entered his head, "Long'er." His son's face came to mind, shaking his head it vanished, this was not the time for distractions.

"Why do I get the feeling this is a puzzle?" Yang Fu groaned, scratching his chin. His eyes practically going bloodshot at the thought of having to do some mental athleticism.

"Okay, lets' start with this." He said, picking up the multi-coloured cube. It had six faces, the centre of one had a prominent symbol on it, with the engraving 'Rubik' in the centre.

"I guess I have to align them so the colours on each side match! Doesn't seem too hard!" A smile broke out across his face.

Yang Fu, with the big dumb smile across his face, looked incredibly satisfied, the cube made of smaller cubes' two across and two deep looked like an easy challenge.

Until… "Oh Oops, did I do that right?"

Swoosh!

In a flash like an electric strike and with a buzzing sound, the cube suddenly grew!

After Yang Fu second-guessed himself, turning the cube backwards to his last position, it turned bigger!

"What?!"

All of a sudden, the big cube had three-by-three squares within it.

"Errmm." Yang Fu looked around, the smile from his face vanished, trying to turn it again it grew again!

Four-by-Four!

"Crap"

Five-by-Five!

"Shit!"

Six-by-Six!

"Fucker!"

"AHHHHHH!" Yang Fu sprang up from his skinny ass, throwing the Seven-by-Seven magic-multi-coloured cube into the distance.

Woosh!

"Take that you fucker! Muahahaha! None can match the might of Yang Fu!"

He jumped up and down like an ape, puffing out his chest and beating it at the same time.

Pop!

The sound of water splashing as something – roughly the size of a stone entered it.

Yang Fu's triumphant face froze… his entire body seemed like it deflated.

Turning around, he saw a cube in the water, growing and growing as a feeding frenzy of magical carp tried to feed upon it!

"Ahhhh!" Yang Fu's voice broke, soaring over to the increasingly growing cube, leaping into the water head first!

The story of Yang Chi, a former god-slayer reborn into the body of a young child.

Watch how Yang Chi transforms his new clan from pushover to the dominant force in the world!

This world isn't the limit Yang Chi's quest, after all, his ultimate goal is to forge himself into a weapon that can wipe out the God Clan and take revenge for wiping out his friends and family!


4 Chapter/Week
5 Chapters/Week, if = >400
6 Chapters/Week, if = >200
7 Chapters/Week, if = >100

"Shelly you're up! I need your help figuring out this puzzle." Maou and Arthur angrily twisted and turned something in their hands.

"Argh! I can't do this!" Maou handed me what looked like a puzzle cube with the colours all mixed up. "I can't figure it out. Help me, please."

"Fine." I reluctantly took the puzzle cube Maou handed to me.

"Here. I'm going to liea back down. I'm having a horrible headache. Keep the noise down please." I had an immense headache from that nightmare and just wanted some quietness.

"HOW! WHEN!" Arthur and Maou shouted as they stared at the puzzle cube. 

"Guys, the noise, please." I covered my ears from how loud they were.

"How did you figure it out so quickly?!" Maou looked at the cube dumbfounded. 

"Can you do mine next. Please." Arthur handed his to me. 

"Okay but look closely this time." 

"Here. Did you two get that?" I handed the cube to Arthur and they looked even more confused and amazed.

"In all my years of magic and fighting, I've never seen this sorcery before." Maou held the cube examining it.

"How are you so good?" Arthur asked.

"Back at the orphanage we all got a puzzle cube for one of our birthdays and everyday we would compete to see who could complete it the fastest. I always came in third but that was back when the older children were still living there." I massaged in-between my eyes trying to relieve my headache.

"Teach us, please." Maou and Arthur grabbed my hands

"I really don't have the mental strength for this right now." I refused.

"PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!" They begged looking me dead in my eyes passionately. 

"Argh! Fine." I agreed buckling under the pressure.

 "There is a simple technique for beginners to get good quickly. Look closely." I unfixed the puzzle cube. 

"You twist the top then twist the right side and repeat until it's fixed. That should be simple enough." I showed them the fixed cube. "Keep practicing while I lay down for a bit and keep the noise down."

"Did you get that?" Maou asked Arthur confused.

"Nope. Me neither." Arthur replied also confused. "Shelly went lightning speed and expected us to get that by saying it's simple and for beginners."

"Shelly sucks at teaching, honestly." Maou rolled his eyes in frustration. 

"This ungrateful little baby!" I thought to myself annoyed and angry clenching my fist.

"Growl!" 
"I'm starving right now." Maou held his belly slouching in the seat.

"We should be stopping soon, I think." Arthur continued struggling with the puzzle cube. "Is it noon yet?"

"I'm not sure but I think it's noon." Maou looked out the window.

"Oh! We're pulling off the road and slowing down it seems." We stopped in a small clearing next to the forest that had low grass and fewer trees than everywhere else so far.

"Could it be...?" Maou perked up with excitement.

Mr. Frederick unmounted the driver's seat and made his way to the carriage. He opened the door. "Sir Arthur, Sir Maou and Lady Shelly. We will be having a short lunch break. You can enjoy the outside scenery if you would like while I prepare the food."

"Yes! ~Finally, some fresh air~." Maou sang, rolling on the grassy ground. "~Green grass and the warm sun.~ ~What can compare?" 

"That looks fun. I wanna try that too!" Arthur and Maou together, rolled in the grass enjoying themselves. They really were like little kids.

"Shelly. You have to join us. It's super fun, try it." Maou invited me.

"I'm good. You have your fun. I'll just sit in the carriage." I refused lying down in the carriage to stay out of the sun.

"Boo! Boo! Shelly is no fun." Maou jeered trying to get me to join him.

"It's not going to work. I'm too smart for that Maou." I calmly replied.

"Fine, be like that. I guess we'll just have all this fun, just me and Arthur." Maou spoke in a tempting tone. "All this smooth and fresh green grass. This warm and beautiful sunlight."

"Shelly, Maou is right, it's beautiful outside. It really would help your headache."  Arthur advised. 

"Fine! I'm coming, give me a minute." I sluggishly pulled myself out the carriage.

The bright sunlight greeted my eyes harshly and I squinted as my eyes slowly adjusted. Maou grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the flat grassland. 

"Lie down." Maou and Arthur spread out on the grass fluttering their arms, creating grass angels.

As I lay down, I felt the soft bright green grass squish, forming a soft cushion for me. The Sun was not hot and scorching but rather it was like a warm blanket as the skies were slightly overcast, lowering the heat. 

"It really is nice out here." I admitted feeling relaxed. The relaxing and calming atmosphere actually made my headache and stress from earlier slowly ease away. 

"Sir Arthur, Sir Maou and Lady Shelly. Lunch is ready." Mr. Frederick stood next to a large cloth. An assortment of food was placed down with everything set up under the shade of a tree very close by.

"Food!" Arthur and Maou got up racing. I slowly followed behind, as I only ate a few pieces of watermelon. So I was most definitely hungry around this time.

On the cloth there were sandwiches, watermelon slices and tea.

"Why do these look so... triangle like?" Maou was a bit confused.

"Have you never had a sandwich before Maou-sensei?" Arthur asked surprised, hearing this for the first in his life.

"No, I don't think I have ever had one before actually." Maou put a hand on his chin while thinking back. "Food has changed since back in my day." 

"Has it really?" Arthur asked chewing on a sandwich.

"Very much so." Maou took a bite from one of the sandwiches. 

"Yum! This is really good. What is it made of?" Maou opened the bread slices and looked inside.

"It is mashed potatoes with salt and soy beans." Mr. Frederick explained. "I hope it is to your liking Sir Maou."

"Yes, I really like this." Maou started eating speedily and washing it down with the tea

"Hey! Don't have it all to yourself." I picked up my pace in eating as I wasn't going to be left behind like the other times.

"Frederick, eat some before it's gone." Arthur followed. Stuffing his mouth with the food.

"Please don't worry about me Sir Arthur. You all seem to enjoy the sandwiches greatly and I am most happy watching you eat." Mr. Frederick had mostly mint tea with a few slices of watermelon but had a little happy smile as he watched us eat the majority of food.

"Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! Ahhh!" Arthur, Maou and I washed down the sandwiches and watermelon slices with the mint tea and we fell onto our backs into the soft grass. The lunch was good. Just then a cool gust of wind flew by. It was so cool and enchanting as it massaged our faces. Soon after, we fell asleep, leaving Mr. Frederick to watch over us.

Shelly's parents were brutally killed during the goblin invasion that destroyed her home village, Sehsarro. She and her younger brother Kelly had to run away through the forest grief-stricken while being chased by goblins coming to kill them. 

In an attempt to save her brother, Shelly distracted the goblins, nearly dying in the process. Almost having a date with death itself, she was saved by her soon-to-be orphanage mother, Mother Theresa. 

Years later, the 19-year-old Shelly leaves to go and find her brother. Dead or alive, it wouldn't matter to her. But before Shelly leaves home, her luck is cut short when she was pierced through the chest by an Ice-Magician. She nearly died, but fate so had it that she was saved by a mysterious silver-eyed boy named Maou.

Will Shelly ever find her long lost brother in a vast world filled with swords, magic, dangerous monsters and malicious people?

And who is this mysterious, silver-eyed boy?

Finally! A female character who isn't a useless Sakura till the bitter end. Also, maybe Shelly is a little more 'blessed' than she realizes...

Interested yet? I guess you'll have to take a look and see what happens in the "The Epic Adventures of Maou and Shelly"

Also, there's no romance in case someone needed to hear that. Just kick-ass entertainment. 

***DISCLAIMER***

The first Chapter has the slight mention of goblin r*pe. If that is too much for you, You can skip to the second Chapter and be just fine. It also has gore.

As they did their talking, Ermos went wandering anyway. He approached the fiery well of blue-lava and gazed down into it, feeling the immense heat against his face. It could probably melt a whole pear in an instant. He decided to test it, reaching for the last pear that he had hidden in his sleeve.
He stuck it on the end of an old rod of iron that he had just found and he plunged it into the lava, before quickly pulling it out again. The whole thing had immediately turned black and bubbles formed beneath the surface as juice was spat out. It was easy to imagine from that how it might affect a human.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spied something even more interesting. A bronze cube that sparkled as the blue light of the lava reflected off it. It had been discarded on the floor, just by the well, as though someone had tripped up and dropped it, only to fall straight into a fiery death. He picked it up and examined it with a curious eye.
It was made of lots of different smaller cubes, or so it appeared. Sixteen small bronze cubes made up each side of it. He wondered whether it was hollow, with a treasure inside and he held it up to his ear and rattled it.
"I think master might have discovered something," Ermos heard Pash say, drawing the attention of the group towards him. "Where did you find that master? It looks like a puzzle."
"On the floor," Ermos said, pointing to the spot where he found it.
"A puzzle, you say?" Mane repeated, plucking the cube from Ermos' hand without asking.
"Hey-!" Ermos tried to protest, but it seemed he was being ignored.
"Try pressing in the squares on each side," Pash said," they might give way to something."
A frown appeared on Mane's face as he concentrated on the cube inside his hand. He fiddled with it all he could, but didn't seem to be making any progress.
"What does that have to do with the keys though?" Cherry asked, not quite understanding.
"I'm not sure yet," Pash admitted, "but we have no other clues, so we might as well explore this one."
Lucifan was scowling in the background, apparently having taken Mane's threat seriously.
"Can we not blast through these doors as well? Or maybe if we all pushed at the same time, they'd have to swing open, wouldn't they?" Fer suggested.
"You can try," Mane said, "but they seem rather solid. I do not want to risk dulling my blade on them."
Given a little task of his own, Fer was only too pleased. He went away like a happy rabbit and began trying to push on the door. Ermos could tell that he wasn't going to get anywhere, but it was fun to watch.
Quickly, Mane grew frustrated with the cube's puzzle and he tossed it to Pash. "Doesn't seem like a puzzle to me. None of its squares will budge."
"I'll try it anyway," Pash said, giving the cube his focus, "there might be a little trick to it." Ermos noticed that his apprentice was growing more confident the more time they spent underground. He was able to finally use that cleverness of his. Ermos was pleased for him.
His apprentice fiddled away with his fingers like he was a master puzzle solver. He tried all sorts of different things, shaking it – to which Ermos proudly thought 'I tried that!' – and then twisting it. It was twisting it that had the first effect. The top row of the cube spun round all at once.
"Oh…" Cherry said in awe.
"You're onto something there lad," Mane said encouragingly.
All the while, Fer was beating on the iron doors with a vigour, calling out his battle cry against them, using his palms to strike at it, thinking that he would be able to open them by mere heart alone. As Mane had warned him, he refrained from using his sword.
With the first row twisted, Pash did something else with his fingers and a square pushed in. To Ermos, it was like watching a magic trick. He had no idea what was going on. Had it been him, he would have tried throwing it against the stone floor as hard as he could, and, when that didn't work, he would have given up.
His fingers went to work once more and he pushed in another section of the cube, only, this time, something slid out. "Key one," he said, holding up a bronze bar with little teeth carved into its centre, whilst it was still square at both ends from where it had sat in the cube.
Mane shook his head in admiration. Everyone present felt the same. Unless they had been told exactly what to do, no one would have figured it out.
From there, it was a quick process for Pash. He took the cube apart hand piece by piece until he was left with five bars that he deemed to be 'keys' and the rest he discarded as useless. "They were pretty confident, just leaving their keys lying in plain sight," Pash commented as he handed them over to Mane.
"No… I think they just didn't expect anyone to be able to break into their puzzle," Mane said back. "You're a bright lad. Are you sure the path of a swordsman is the one you're meant to walk? The Slash is in dire need of strategists. With my recommendation, you could start a strategy apprenticeship by the beginning of next week."
"Really? Thank you!" Pash said enthusiastically, before turning back to look at Ermos and slowing down slightly. "…But, I can't take you up on that offer. I want to become the strongest warrior in the Slash, not just a strategist."
"A difficult road... If you wish to be the strongest, you will soon have to overtake me. But, if you find a way to use that mind of yours as a weapon, and I'm sure you'll see your strength soar up," Mane said.

#Silver Winner of Writing Prompt Contest #144!


Have you read One-Punch Man? Did you enjoy it? Then this novel is surely for you!

It strives to be a novel that can be enjoyed by anyone. Our main character is a loveable fool with a godly strength to his sword.

Several years before the beginning of the story, Ermos Windbreaker finds himself to have a talent with the sword. With the arrival of a wandering warrior in his village, he decides that he will challenge him, though he had yet to own a sword of his own. There he racks up his first victory, wood against steel. Though, as it happens, no one saw that duel of his and they dismissed his claims as the rantings of a mad fool.

A peculiar case of bad luck followed him around for a while. He would demonstrate his strength whenever he got the chance, but there was never anyone around to witness it.
That was, until he met Pash. In a village southeast of the Untamed Forest, a grimy boy was wandering through houses abandoned by war, searching for food to fill his belly. It happens that was very same village the infamous Bored Bandits had set up camp in. They seize the boy with the intent of selling him as a slave.

Ermos wanders by with much the same intent as Pash – that of searching the abandoned houses for food and wealth – and he too attracts the attention of the bandit crew. He manages to defeat them with the same accidental ease that he had won all his duels in. Seeing such strength, Pash begs that he take him on as his apprentice.

Not entirely understanding the responsibility of a master’s position, Ermos agrees. The two of them spend three years questing for their fortunes, but cursed with Ermos’ notoriously bad luck, nothing ever comes of it. Ermos turns to gambling – being the fool that he is – to try and reverse his fortunes, only to land himself in a terrible amount of debt.

The weight of that debt finally gets to him, and he loses the enthusiasm he once had, working himself into a rut. That is, until, he meets a drunk trader on the road who offers him ‘magic stones’ in return for his horse. Of course, Ermos accepts, not realizing that he is being fooled. But as fortune would have it, a scam points him in the right direction and he explores the ancient ruins of the Stone Tree.

I just started living with Emiyo and I was still disappointed with my body since its way too much young and it doesn't grow faster, wait a second! Why the heck am I thinking like an 8 Y/o child. Anyways, according to the isekai anime I have to train my body so I can use some serious skills. I kept thinking and realized that I can probably access that system which keep popping in my mind. I sat on bed and tried to concentrate, I was able to see screen and the system's voice started echoing "You can't access system with current stats" Hearing that annoyed me. I felt so bad for myself but keeping my feeling aside I have to figure out when I can access the system, I need to focus again. I sat and tried to focus again, this time I tried to ask the system about when can I access it, so window popped in my mind with an echo like before this time the voice said "Dear host, raise you strength and IQ to the appropriate to access the system settings. Your current strength and goal will appear on screen now"
𝓗𝓸𝓼𝓽-𝓐𝓴𝓲𝓽𝓸 𝓐𝓼𝓪
~~~~𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼~~~~
𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓽𝓱-5/50
𝓐𝓰𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂-??/??
𝓢𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓮-??/??
𝓥𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂-??/??
𝓘𝓠/𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮-7/50
𝓦𝓲𝓼𝓭𝓸𝓶-??/??
Seeing the stats, I realized that it would be really hard to raise up the stats. Well I'm really confused why system was doing this to me, why can't I become OP protagonist like isekai anime MCs.
I need to gather strength and train myself hard, I started thinking doing some work out. But, wait how am I supposed to run in this forest? I can do push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, etc. without an issue though. I also need to train my IQ stats, should I start solving some puzzles and stuff? But does this world have puzzle like we use to have on earth? I better ask Emiyo, I knocked her door and she opened it in no time. She asked "What's up Akito?" I answer "I want some puzzles to play, I'm really bored right now." her eyes had sudden sparkle in it and said "In that case, I have some good puzzles" she ran towards outside the house, I guess she have brother complex but I am not complaining about it since in my last life no one really cared much about me. Suddenly she appeared with a big box full of books, some looking weird Rubik's cube, some artistic pencils and whatnot. I was really shocked seeing those, Emiyo patted on my head and said "It's all yours now, you can enjoy it!" I smiled and thanked her from my heart, she exclaimed and said "OH! I forgot to say, if you need help or clue just let me know I can guide you in how to solve that puzzle, ok?" I happily replied "For sure Emiyo!"
I came back in my room and checked all the puzzles in the box, I was amazed to see this many puzzles and I kept exploring, I found many puzzles were same as the world I came from but some puzzles which look like Rubik's cube and some jigsaw puzzle were different. This Rubik's cube is really weird it doesn't rotate like the real Rubik's cube, rather it looks like a box with just a pen mark. When I checked the jigsaw puzzle it is sliding puzzle, and again it doesn't move lust like rubik's cube wasn't rotating. I decided to ask Emiyo, but I feel bad for myself since I am solving kid level puzzle and can't figure out what to do. I am almost 21 according to my previous life, but anyways I should try solving the one I can before I call her. 
_________________________________________
1 hour later 
HAHAHAHA it was damn easy, I could even solve it while sleeping. I solved around 12 puzzles out of 20, my IQ must've gone up at least a little bit. Let's check!!

A guy who killed himself due to some reasons and then got teleport to another world and get some serious OP skills which are most unique in that world. The new world is full of magic and fantasy stuff and looks literally like some anime/game world.

"So what do you think, Boss?" Lone asked. 
Tycondrius pulled out the chair to the desk, placing his hand on his chin in thought...
"Once we touch down at Cersei's Rest, we need to appeal to the highest power we can manage. Archbishop Crucis' assistance would behoove us in particular..."
He grit his teeth in annoyance, "--if she would deign to grace us with her presence."
Natalya wouldn't be happy to see him... but he was confident in being persistent enough to be granted an audience. 
A dull thud rang out. Lone had struck his forehead against the bottom of Tycon's bunk, "Ow. No, Boss, I mean... you know... what do you think about the other passengers?"
Tycon tilted his head, pursing his lips. There were two other Iron-Ranks on the ship, Arod of House Highblade and the tiefling guild leader, Ramon. No one else was powerful enough to be of consequence. 
"I advise you not to grow too close to Mister Ramon. Stupidity is contagious."
Concerning Lone's clumsiness, Tycon's feared that his advice may have been given much too late. 
He turned his attention to the puzzle box he'd taken from the dining hall. It was a peculiar wooden cube with moveable panels. Something rattled inside... which would presumably be released upon discovering the puzzle's solution. 
It didn't seem difficult... and with so many panels moved and mechanisms activated, he believed he was nearly finished. 
Lone rubbed his forehead, grimacing... "Well, how about... a certain elf?"
"...Arod Highblade is an insufferable prick. Treat him respectfully-- as I do."
"No, I mean--"
"Mister Lone," Tycon growled, pushing the puzzle box away. With his last movements, its internal mechanisms had reset... its conditions identical to when he'd first began to fiddle with it. 
"Say what you mean, young man," He sighed. "The best way for me-- or anyone to understand your intentions is to be *transparent* about them."
"Yeah... but... but it's not always that easy."
Tycon took a deep breath, grabbing the box once more... pondering its weight and which possible actions he could safely eliminate... 
"By process of elimination-- and in assuming you're not interested in either the half-elf Captain or the fellow in Ramon's group... then you're referring to that Coraline girl."
"Y-yeah," Lone nodded, this time, being mindful about his available headroom. "I just think that... me and her, we--"
Tycon held up a palm, his attention still focused on the box, "Hold a moment. I apologize for interrupting... but before you continue on, understand that I recommend against any sort of romantic pursuit."
"Against wh-what?" The Ranger stammered, "O-oh, you mean... the two of us? Like-- wait, what?! Why??"
"The most obvious fact of the matter is... you're an adventurer under contract, Mister Lone... and you have nowhere near the amount of coin required to buy your way out of service. As such, you go as the guild requires... While not impossible, you have little time to pursue a long-term romantic relationship."
Lone grew quiet, allowing the details of his situation to sink in. Tycon's own situation was similar... his long-term goals taking precedence over finding a mate. Lone's contract was finite, but Sol Invictus owned him for another three years-- outside of special circumstances, like debilitating injury or death. 
"Boss... what if... what if she joins Sol Invictus?" 
Tycon chuckled at the young man's naivete. Judging by Miss Coraline's social aptitude, covering for Master Arod, and based on her class and metal-rank, she would be a fine addition to either his Guild Invictus or Athena's Guild Letalis. 
"Unfortunately, I'll have you recall how vehement the young lady was *against* joining Mister Ramon's guild... I suppose you could blame the tiefling's unprofessional mien or his absurd guild name, but my speculation is that Miss Coraline's unwillingness may stem from a deeper, unknown issue."
Lone turned his body in his bed to face him... "What do you think it could be?"
Tycon furrowed his brows, "I do not have such information-- hence my speculation. At a certain point, little brother, *you* must be the one to seek out the answers you desire..."
He turned to face Lone directly, "You are a Ranger, are you not?"
"Well, yeah? What's that got to do with it?"
"Then such answers are your prey, so to speak... You must task yourself with the hunt, with your... burning sense of curiosity as your motivation."
"Hmm..." Lone adjusted his body to stare at the underside of the top bunk, "You kinda make it sound like... an unfortunate condition."
Tycon rolled his eyes, "I'm not talking about your inability to wash your genitals, you oaf. Now, go to bed before I beat you within ilms of death with this puzzle box."
Seven hells. He considered doing it, anyroad, if there were any chance it would get the thing open. 
Lone let out a heavy, overly dramatic sigh... "I just think... there's a spark... a connection."
"With a young lady you haven't spoken a single word to?" Tycon smirked. 
"It's just a feeling, Boss..." Lone insisted, "Like you said... it's a burning--"
Tycon reached into the small pouch on his belt that contained daily necessities, tossing one of its contents to Lone. 
"Huh? What's this?"
"It's a bar of soap. Snap off a piece of it for use, next time you wash."
"B-boss! I don't have crabs!"
Tycon narrowed his gaze. His attempt at being helpful had failed... "Perhaps you should have specified your burning as figurative, as opposed to literal."
"It was in the *scope* of conversation, Boss."
Admittedly, it was. He certainly would have noticed, if he cared to pay attention. 
"...You are aware that I am... bad at that."
"Yeah," Lone sighed. "I'm aware..." 
"Anyroad," Tycon smiled politely, "what is your first task from hereon, Mister Lone?"
"I guess I have to bathe with the soap," The young man groaned listlessly. 
"I mean, concerning a certain young lady, you dolt," Tycon sighed. "Also, you should have been doing that, already."
"I guess? I dunno the first step, though?" 


I woke up in this world with a System and a sword. Without hesitation, I chose to complete the princess’ quest with my weapons: Arrogance. Cunning. Pride. I will lead guild Sol Invictus. Denizens of the 7 hells, respect me. Servants of the 11 heavens, know fear. Guild Invictus, know the suffering of training so you can wrest victory from the jaws of those who dare doubt you. 

This is a story about a snake named Tycondrius waking up in a fantasy world of swords and sorcery. There is action, violence, unapologetic murder, and arrogant displays of power. There is an emphasis on combat growth as well as psychological growth on more than a few members of Guild Invictus. There is camaraderie and also the inevitable comedic dialogue amongst manly men. There are even elements of romance and Tycon running away from terrifying, powerful women. (Did you know most female snakes eat their partners after mating?) 

Give this book a read. I hope some of these stories can inspire you to fight your battles with analytical intelligence, heroic courage, and ruthless lethality. 

Schedule: 5+ chapters per week. 
Mon-Fri @ 11:00 PDT
Chapter Length: 1000+ words per chapter 

Here is my discord: https://discord.gg/NNbAj7N 
Constructive criticism and corrections welcome. Other Authors extra-welcome.

You can find a list of characters at https://snek.fandom.com/wiki/Character_List

Cover image credit: Johnabrash at Fiverr

The Skinned Lizard was busy, much of the traffic through the inn, that served as a restaurant during the day, was because of the night before's closure.
Left and right people were coming in to speak with Tek, Tenra, and Gehne, searching for the reason why their favourite spot had been closed on a night that was generally quite busy. The answer they gave was half-bullshit, half-truth, something about an important meaning about the future of the restaurant, and then a follow up stating that, no, the Skinned Lizard wasn't going anywhere soon.
We hoped, anyway.
The morning was quite nice, with it being the day that most took as their weekend, though most barely got a day off a week if they were lucky, so the atmosphere was quite nice as I sat at my table and drank a warm tea as I regarded my surroundings.
I was the only human within the store, at least at the moment, I could see the small families of Gek and Tiliquans who'd made their way here for the breakfast, relaxing amongst those they might consider their own kind, adding to the community that already existed.
My presence got me more odd looks than it had when I'd first walked into the inn, I wasn't even dressed in my suit at the moment, but I recognised faces and expressions, people that I'd passed by on the street while in my upper-class persona.
There was one young Gek boy who'd caught my attention, his massively oversized eyes staring directly at me as he knelt on top of the wooden chair, fiddling idly with a wooden toy in his hands while his mother dealt with what seemed to be his little sister. A difficult delineation to make, especially so young, but I'd made a point to learn to separate the two.
The young boy was more brazen about his interest. It was a mixture of bewilderment, trying to grapple with just why someone who he'd seen walk the streets in a suit would possibly wear anything less, and curiosity. Curiosity was a natural extension of his mind, manifesting in its own whole set of emotions.
It was pretty common for a child to experience a powerful, almost overriding curiosity. Many had it stamped out of them quicker than most, but the majority retained at least a little bit of it. This child though… he was a little more than that. Honestly, the sense of curiosity was so powerful that it almost didn't register quite right in my own mind, but when I did the equivalent of playing with the connectors, it all hit me at once.
It was something different, to watch his emotional state move with his mind in such a clear and distinct way, forming and unforming ideas like nothing else I'd ever truly witnessed. I'd delved as deeply into the minds of legends, Mayer, Keeper Armament, Gallar, even Rethi now, but all of them didn't quite match this little boy's mind, exploding with a pure curiosity and creativity that I'm not sure someone could ever reproduce artificially.
Without his mother's attention on him, he gently slipped off of his chair, locking his eyes with me and walking forwards with steps of only slight hesitation. The curiosity in his eyes were too strong, compelling him forth like a moth to a flame. I wonder what it was that he specifically saw in me that compelled him to move, but he did regardless of my understanding.
I felt a few sets of eyes move onto me, watching as the child toddled towards me as I waited for Rethi and Alena to appear from their rooms. There was worry, and a fierce protectiveness in those gazes that I'm not sure was something that was all that present in the reptilian species on Earth, but the Reptilia here certainly were.
It only took a few steps for the boy to reach me, his mother still entirely unaware of who her son was approaching. I remembered the boy, his bright green skin contrasting slightly against his mother's forest green skin-tone was she pulled him away from the side street he'd been playing in, forcing his head down into a bow as I passed by in the much poorer district. I had wished I could ease the mother's worry then and there.
But that child hadn't been scared in the least, only wishing that he could catch one last glimpse at the strange human that'd walked down the streets of a notoriously Reptilia dense sector.
The young boy made his way to the seat opposite mine, placing the wooden toy on the table and then clambering onto the wooden surface of the other chair, kneeling like he had at his own table. Then, the boy didn't talk, at all. In fact, he didn't even open his mouth.
I could see the emotions and his mind working, shifting like a dense cloud so full to the brim with water, but unable to say a single word. I rose an amused eyebrow at the child, watching and waiting for something to happen.
But his mind only continued to swirl. Over the course of months, my empathy had grown to an incredible power, to where I could understand emotions so well that it may as well be complete telepathy. It's one downfall was my inability to conjoin a coherent sentence or thought from someone head, but what I had found that I could do, was pull from their emotions and memories.
I blinked once at the child, then a second, and much like I had with the table of tense figures the day before, I pulled on the strings of his mind and felt as he felt, experienced as he did. For a moment, I was him.
I chuckled, "Well, of course I'm here. Do men in nice clothes not need breakfast too?"
The boy's already wide eyes pulled open just a fraction more, but enough to make it look as if they were going to pop right out of his head. His features pulled into a frown, an odd look on a Reptilia, though he did open his mouth to display a set of tiny teeth at the ridges of his mouth—an uncouth display for a Reptilia, only acceptable in children.
With another flash of thought and memory, I tapped the underside of my jaw, and his own snubbed snout clacked close like an inbuilt instinct after hundreds of warnings from his mother in just the same way.
"Are you out for breakfast with your mother?" I asked innocuously and he answered with an honest nod. "Bored?" I asked just after, a grin sliding onto my face warmly. He took a moment before answering in the positive, nodding quickly and eagerly while keeping his own gaze locked with mine.
"Does the toy help keep the boredom at bay?" I said, gesturing at the wooden toy sitting on the table. I had looked at it closer while the boy was clambering into his seat, realising that it wasn't just any old toy, but a bona fide puzzle box. A pretty complex one at that.
The Gek boy looked down to the wooden box before picking it up and, with an amazingly fast set of inputs that were no doubt aided by his sticky fingers, the box popped open revealing the empty interior. He looked back to me and screwed up his nose with distaste.
"I guess not." I chuckled with amusement, "Well, we had a puzzle back where I'm from that, to some, never got old." The Gek boy tilted his head to the side, his attention laser focused on my words.
"It wasn't a particularly hard puzzle, though it could be very difficult to do it without a proper strategy. But once someone figures it out, it can just be rearranged into a new puzzle altogether." I mused thoughtfully onto a very niche part of my memory from Earth, something that was hardly interesting to even Rethi or Alena who seemed endlessly interested about the world I'd come from. For some reason, it was these small things I could talk about with nostalgia, rather than the crushing sadness that sometimes still got to me when I was feeling low.
"Ah, anyway, I don't want to bore you–" I began saying, but the boy beat his little fist on the table with an expression of complete rapture. I grinned mischievously, knowing better than to keep the goods from such a terrifying bandit.
"Well," I said slowly, drawing on the boy's curiosity even further but picking up the opened puzzle cube and closing it, "it is a puzzle cube made of other, smaller cubes." I drew on the cube where each of the nine small faces were on each side, making it clear that there were shared surfaces.
"Then, each of the sides is given a colour; red, green, blue, yellow, white, and orange." I continued, tapping a side of the imagined puzzle cube, watching as something almost as tangible as an image appeared within the young child's emotions, revolving around it with his intense curiosity. He waited impatiently for me to continue. I grinned teasingly.
"Each of the faces can turn, and every vertical or horizontal section can as well," I motioned the two actions, making sure that the boy understood how I was explaining the puzzle, which was very poorly mind you. However, the boy barely needed the explanation, the curiosity in his mind absolutely humming with the possibilities.
"Now, you randomly twist the cube many times so that none of the colours match anymore, and your goal is to get back to each side being all one colour." The boy wasn't even looking at me anymore, instead his eyes were fixed on the puzzle cube I held, but not the physical form of it, but the imaginary one that I was now holding for him.
I watched as his mind tried to process the information, using his incredibly sharp mind to conceptualise the cube, yet kept running into a wall of frustration when he couldn't actually play with the cube in his mind, the randomness and difficulty of it alluding his understanding.
"Don't worry," I laughed gently, opening the toy for a moment, then closing it again to put it back onto the table and slide it over to him, "That puzzle can be quite difficult to solve, so you'd probably need a real one to–"
In the course of my explaining, I was interrupted by a sudden spike of wariness, then one of pure horror as the boy's mother realised that her son had gone and sat at my table. Not just anyone, either, because she remembered my face and was absolutely mortified at what punishment her son's actions might incur upon him.
"Oh Gods, I'm so sorry sir!" She practically squealed as she bustled over to my table and roughly grabbed her son, practically lifting him by his shoulders in a feat of agility and strength. I just laughed warmly as she forcer her son to bow, though he seemed totally disconnected.
"Oh no, it's no worry," I said, waving her anxiety away mostly unsuccessfully, "he's good company to have." I finished, tweaking something small inside of her. Almost disbelief.
"Pardon, sir?" She asked, confounded, her face still pointed at the floor despite her own curiosity eating at her to look me in the eye. Now that I got a good look at his mother, I started to see the small similarities between mother and son, though the boy's own curiosity was a league more potent.
"Your son." I said easily, sipping at the slightly cooled tea generously, "He's an excellent conversationalist." As the eyes of the others around our tables turned their sight and hearing to us, I felt a wave of humiliation from the woman. I got the impression that she thought I was intentionally lambasting her and her son in front of the entire inn, though of course I wasn't.
"I'm sorry sir. My son is… daft." That… made more sense. If I was reading the subtext correctly, which I probably was, she was doing the equivalent of saying that her son was mentally disabled, which was so far from the truth as I understood it. At least from my small encounter with him.
"Is that so?" I drawled, letting the genuine befuddlement leak into my voice, "I swear that he speaks just fine with his eyes." The forest green-skinned woman snapped her neck up so quickly that I would have been concerned if she were human. Her face was filled with a terrible shock, as if something deep within her, a quiet suspicion, were being confirmed—despite her logical mind telling her otherwise.
"We were talking about puzzles, weren't we?" I said to the young boy, and his mother turned towards him with disbelief, looking down at the box in his hands. He hesitated a moment before nodding almost imperceptibly, though it was enough for his mother to be shocked right to the core.
She turned back to me, her jaw slightly agape with the revelation that her son, as different as he might be, was hiding a real intelligence from her. It was something that she'd dreamed of, I could tell. That her son might one day wake up normal and they would live as a normal family, and now he was showing a simple sign of being more than a body she fed who would remain that way for the rest of his life. I tapped the bottom of my jaw, just as I had with her son, and her jaw snapped closed with a look of embarrassment.
"I–" she stammered, "he's never responded like that before." I smiled, small lines appearing at the sides of my brown eyes.
"Well, you'll have to learn to ask more interesting questions now, won't you?" I asked, flicking my own eyes to the boy along with his mother's as he nodded again, more surely this time.
"What's his name? And your own, if you don't mind?" I asked quietly, the young boy losing interest almost instantly, reverting his gaze back to the imagined puzzle in his mind.
"I-It's Jovum," she faltered, "his name is Jovum. Mine is Glerr." I tilted my head slightly, trying to determine whether the names were Gek names or just standard names for the area. Not my business, though.
"Well, Glerr." I said easily, meeting her large, bright orange eyes with a gratuitous smile, "I believe that your son may be quite a smart boy, possibly very smart." Her eyes filled with a dangerous hope that I instantly quelled with a shake of my head. "But I do not think that he will ever be what you consider normal. Jovum will have to find his own normal, and I think I have a nice way to start for you." I turned back to Jovum, the boy intent on the box in his hands.
"Jovum," I commanded softly, though he didn't react, "I have a special puzzle for you." The instant I mentioned a puzzle, the boy's eyes were locked to my own, something that would have been uncomfortable if I couldn't sense the intense interest behind them.
"When you get home, I want you to show your mother how you open that little box of your, okay?" I asked, and he nodded afterwards, though still waiting for the special puzzle I alluded to. I waggled a warning finger amusedly, "You'll find your special puzzle inside the box. You'll have to help your mum with it too." The little boy glared at me, the curiosity of what was inside the box already eating away at his intensely focused mind. After a moment of silence, Jovum shook the box lightly, and the small clinking sound inside made the minds of him and his mother twitch with interest.
"Good lad." I winked at him, and shortly after he nodded before staring at the box again, mind split between the two interests.
"Have a good day, Miss Glerr." I said, nodding my head with a goodbye, and while she desperately wanted to ask me a million questions, a glance around her told her that this was neither the time, nor the place to do so. She bustled back to her table awkwardly, and moments later the Skinned Lizard was back in normal conditions.
After a few minutes, both Alena and Rethi emerged from the stairs leading into the dining room floor, plonking themselves down in the chairs opposite me. Alena opened her mouth to speak, but Rethi was the one to break in first, his tone hushed.
"Why is everyone giving us looks?" He asked, staring at me intently, almost with accusation, but I shrugged flippantly.
"No idea." I brushed the look away, continuing on with what I originally planned for, "Now, down to business. I have a task for both of you."

Maximilian, brought into a God's rat race to fill the numbers, was transported into another world. Nothing like the brilliant contestants that fill the other spots, Maximilian was an afterthought in the God's game. Confronted with the frustrating reality of being boiled down to three statistics, Maximilian needs to get his act together, or the worlds he's found himself in might very well suffer for it.

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