The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1430 Puzzle Room

Moving forward, the Immortal passed a few empty rooms, assuring him that he was past what he had recorded as the “hallway of temptations”, which were actually guest suites when they weren’t set up to troll intruders.

“She didn’t put the puzzle far enough into the castle, we’re about to run out of places to safely lead him.” Cara complained.

“That’s fine. He’s supposed to find it, after all. I’ve decorated the room for him and everything, so we can mess with him as he tries to solve the puzzle.” Misty replied.

She had set up speakers in the room to relay their voices, allowing them to pretend to be part of the spell, or to speak for the System, if that was how they wanted to play it.

“This place is incredible. I can feel at least two types of magic stronger than Immortal Ranked, and both have been active for eons.” He muttered to himself as he examined a carving on the wall.

“He called me old. I’m certain that he just called me old.” Misty complained. “Should we put some more violent obstacles in his way?” Cara asked hopefully. Misty nodded. “Yes, do that. I’m tempted to just throw him out right now for that remark. But Matilda said that he’s supposed to get the chance to try the puzzle”

The thought of those two dragons relying on each other as positive reinforcement was enough to make even Cara wonder how the world had survived this long.

But it had, so they must complement each other’s strengths.

Cara set the next obstacle in the way, and she wasn’t holding back this time. Instead of something large and obvious, she used Crypt Scarabs, a flesh eating beetle, at the Mythic Rank. Then, she gave them [Limited Invulnerability]. They weren’t likely to die in one hit unless he panicked and went all out, and the beetles appeared by the swarm, thanks to [Chaotic Zone].

The high-pitched squeal that the man made was not a sound that should have come from a creature his shape, Karl was certain of it.

But the message that it conveyed was unmistakable. He was absolutely terrified of bugs.

Dozens of fireballs exploded in the hallway as he shrieked, and then dozens more after the beetles were long gone, turned to ashes in Immortal Rank Hellfire.

“Burn them, kill them with fire. No more bugs, no more bugs.” He muttered to himself, over and over, while he wrapped his arms around his midsection.

“Oh, I think that we hit an old trauma there. That’s more than just a little bit of ‘doesn’t like bugs’. But that will teach him to call our lovely little Misty bad names.” Cara declared.

She knew the dragon was ancient. Karl knew the dragon was ancient. But she liked the appearance of a small girl, so that was how everyone treated her.

Well, everyone outside the Church, as they all treated her as a revered Bishop, one of the highest authorities of the Church in this world.

The traumatized visitor slowly made his way down the hall, occasionally tossing fireballs into the shadows and continually increasing the output of his light spell until he could be walking through a surgical suite.

Slowly, he was calming down, and he hadn’t even noticed that Karl had hidden the side hallways from sight, leading him straight to the puzzle.

“How does the puzzle work? Is there a time limit? Or do we just troll him until he gives up?” Karl asked as their unwanted guest reached the final doorway.

“Matilda said that we would know once the puzzle started, so I don’t really know yet. That’s part of the fun, isn’t it?” Misty asked.

So, she was hiding the answer from herself, avoiding seeing that particular part of the future so that it would be a surprise when it happened.

The door opened, and the Immortal found himself standing in a room full of golden reward chests, each one slightly different, arrayed along the walls in a double row, while a circular altar stood in the middle, with holes carved in it for the System Stones.

At least Matilda wasn’t going to make the visitors guess what the pattern looked like.

{Choose Your Challenge} appeared along one wall in Matilda’s distinctive script. Then repeated in a half dozen more languages, including Runic, circling the room above the golden chests.

“Choose my challenge? What does that even mean? Am I supposed to solve a puzzle? To what end?” He muttered to himself.

{I recommend not taking a battle of wits.} Cara joked in her best creepy ghost voice.

“Who’s there? Dammit, this place is messing with me.” He complained, still looking for the source of Cara’s voice.

But the speakers were hidden behind the stones of the wall, distorting the voices even further until they were a haunting whisper.

The researcher scanned the room, looking for the source of the voice, until the message repeated itself.

{Choose Your Challenge. Random Challenge in 30 Seconds.}

That got him motivated.

“I choose magical theory. Can that be the challenge?” He asked.

{Theoretical Challenge Accepted. Please select a starting location.}

The golden boxes lit up, and Karl waited for the perfect moment.

The researcher touched a box and Karl gave a deep laugh.

“Yes, start with that one. That is the way.” He mumbled, and the researcher’s

hand froze.

Cara laughed hysterically as the man began to panic, wondering if the voice was messing with him, or if it was intending to help him. But Karl wasn’t saying anything else, so he was left to his own devices.

“This is so much better than just watching them try to solve the puzzle. But remember, we can’t help the challenger, or directly hinder them. We’re just here to make them doubt themselves and to have a little laugh.” Misty reminded

them.

“Of course. We won’t go too far. He made it through the obstacle course alive, so he won’t crack under pressure if we just give him random laughter.” Karl

agreed.

The Temporal Dragon nodded, and took a bite of cake, moaning happily as she

chewed.

A sound that Cara broadcast into the trial room.

“Wait, is there someone else here? Hello? Can you hear me?” He asked.

Then he paused, looking confused. “I could have sworn that I heard someone having sex in the next room.”

Misty stuck out her tongue at the projected image. It was far better than that. She was having cake.