Conquering the Second Hall [Solo]

[Icyferno]

Status: Fine / Rested

~

The Second Hall of Twilight. He had succeeded in finding the answer to entering the next hall, not that it made him feel any better. There were many questions burning in his mind, such as the purpose of this dungeon and why it was not discovered earlier. It left an unsettling feeling in his head, but he pushed it aside to focus on the task at hand, which was getting the answer to enter the Third Hall.

The Second Hall of Twilight appeared much like the First Hall, save the fact that the doors were gone, and in its place was a wide open area. He was not even sure if this could be considered a Hall anymore, for the path led into an indoor garden area with a plaque mounted onto the wall next to the door to the next Hall. Twelve Jacks were clustered around it, murmuring to themselves while another more ominous Jack stood, or rather waited, by the corner.

In any case, he was glad that there were no extremely strong mobs in sight. Since he now had a few moments to think and recover, he surveyed the area and took note of a few important details.

Firstly, all he could see were Jacks. Which was a good thing, considering they were not hostile unless provoked. Secondly, there was a plaque in the middle of the room where a couple of Jacks were gathered. Upon closer inspection, these Jacks seem to be blabbering about some people being of different classes, but what did it matter to him? Then again, he had yet to find out what he needed to do, so he supposed that it was related to finding the answers to moving on to the next hall. Perhaps he should keep an eye on those Jacks. Their presence seemed to signify something important.

~

Word count: 308
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462

[Icyferno]

Status: Fine / Rested

~

Scarcely a minute later, he found the question which he was supposed to find the answer to. He stepped towards the Jacks, for it was pretty much the only thing of interest in the entire hall. As he did so, the 「Ripper Jack」 that stood in the corner of the room stepped forward to meet him. The Swashbuckler tensed at the move, seemingly worried about an assault from an enemy which had completely unknown moves. Instead, the 「Ripper Jack」 merely raised a hand in greeting.

"Relax, Adventurer. I am not here to fight you."

Puzzled, the Swashbuckler lowered his sword, but made no attempt to shealth it. He immediately casted 「Scout」 on the 「Ripper Jack」, just for insurance.

The 「Ripper Jack」 looked surprised for a moment, as though it had not expected it, then nodded to itself. Gesturing to the 「Mini Jack」, he continued. "I see. So that was how you captured that Jack."

He did not think the 「Ripper Jack」 said "captured" though. Perhaps it was a translation error. In any case, he voiced out a question that appeared in his mind the moment he was stopped. "How do I find the answer?"

The 「Ripper Jack」 paused for a while, then spoke. "If it is the answer to open the Third Hall you seek, then simply talking to the fools crowded over at the plaque would give you the answer."

Gesturing to the twelve Jacks talking animatedly amongst themselves in front of the plaque, it continued. "According to the plaque, four rivals fought. The answer lies in finding out which rival won and what class they belong to. Unfortunately, those stupid Jacks keep telling lies, so it is almost possible to find out the answer." The 「Ripper Jack」 could not avoid letting the bitterness seep out of its voice. Why did the 「Ripper Jack」 need the answer so desperately?

Ignoring the translation error, it seemed that the 「Ripper Jack」 was also searching for the answer. For one crazy moment, he wanted to work together. Two heads were better than one, right? "If it's alright with you," he said, carefully thinking through his words in case any translation errors came up. "Would you help me find the answer?"

The 「Ripper Jack」 laughed a hollow laugh. "Adventurer, I have failed to arrive at the answer time and again for as long as this Dungeon stood here. So nothing I say would prove helpful."

~

Word count: 402
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 = 1065

[Icyferno]

Status: Fine / Rested

~

The reply the 「Ripper Jack」 was confusing. How long had the 「Ripper Jack」 been searching for the answer? Why did it want to find the answer? It seemed that more questions were popping up, so it left it well alone for the time being. Either he would find out later, or it will remain as one of the mysteries of this Mansion.

"Um, alright, let's here what the Jacks have to say first."

Stepping forward, he began speaking to each Jack, noting what they said by carving words with his sword on the pelt of a boar he happened to have in his inventory due to hunting earlier in the day.

Twelve confusing replies later, he stepped back as the Jacks crowded around the plaque continued repeating themselves, each asserting themselve to be speaking the truth. The sad thing was, he had never dug into the lore of Elder Tales too much, so he was left clueless about the classes and historical facts about the Yamato server.

I should have studied up on the lore while I still had Internet. Speaking of which, he certainly missed the Internet. All that time building levels in other games were all gone to waste him being stuck here. Shaking his head, he focused on the task at hand. Remembering the old world would only make him depair at his current situation.

He examined the words each Jack gave him, but came to no conclusive answer. Perhaps he needed to go hunting for hints. The 「Ripper Jack」 saw what he was doing and came forward with what looked like a grim expression.

"So how did it go? You probably confused."

Confused was an understatement. He trusted not the Tongue of Nature's translation ability, so he simply nodded in reply. While some of the what the Jacks said tallied, he had no way of knowing if it was all the truth, or a big fat lie. He was trapped in a spiral of truths and lies as he stared at the pelt, reading into each answer and narrowing down the possibilities t-

Nah, that was too much work. Easier to go hunting for clues. In any case, it did not seem like something that could be solved without having some sort of clue or hint to work with. With such thoughts clouding his mind, he absentmindedly said, "Having a clue would be nice."

~

Word count: 398
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 = 1662

[Icyferno]

Status: Fine / Rested

~

As if on cue, he felt a chill in the air. It was a strange chill, quite unlike the kind you would feel when the weather was cold. And it was coming from right behind him. In one swift motion, he twisted around, his sword coming in from the side to cut down whatever was behind him. The heated blade sung through the air as it came up to meet its adversar-

There was nothing there.

He stopped in mid-swing, confused. At the very moment he had begun his motion, the chilling presence had disappeared. What was it? He doubted he was imagining things, not with this Mansion, at least.

"Pocky, did you see anything?" The 「Mini Jack」 was likely looking around while providing light to the Swashbuckler, perhaps it might have seen the being behind him.

Let it be known that the 「Mini Jack」 was not too bright. Not in the sense of lighting, but that it was not smart. It was strange how he could think of a plant as having thoughts, but he was not in his own world, so he supposed he should get used to strange things. Back to the current scene, the 「Mini Jack」 shook its head, an obvious sign of saying, "Nope, tough luck."

It was the 「Ripper Jack」 that said what he wanted to hear. "A dark shadow, Adventurer. Best not to tangle with those creatures. More importantly, it left something behind." Glancing on the floor, he saw that it was right; a small folded note made of yellowed paper laid on the floor as if it had always been there.

The Swashbuckler picked up the note gingerly and unfolded it, reading its contents not once, but twice. After pondering over it for a moment, he placed it beside the pelt with the inscribed words from the Jacks and got to work on a small section of the pelt. After a few minutes, he completed what he set out to do, but was no closer to the truth than he was before. This is certainly the hardest one the Mansion has given me to date. It's like playing Knights and Knaves, only there are no complete truths and twelve sources.

~

Word count: 368
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 = 2214

[Icyferno]

Status: Fine / Rested

~

The minutes ticked by as the Swashbuckler was stuck at a dead end with no where to move. He could probably try to answer again, but it would take forever to find the answer if he went through that method. Besides, there was no guarantee that he had unlimited tries. If the 「Ripper Jack」 did not mention it, it was likely that he had only a few tries to get it right. Unless it was just trying to troll him.

In any case, he could currently eliminate one of the four rivals from the equation, which was a good thing in his opinion. Then again, his first thought was that it was that very guy simply due to that particular phrase he had heard from his History friend which suddenly popped out in his mind while trying to solve this problem. In any case, he weighted his options carefully.

After crossing out the choices which would probably not work, he was left with three choices. In essence, it meant that he had a one in three chance of getting it correct, should he try now. He felt that the odds were pretty good, but then again, having no way of finding out whether or not he would be attacked when he gave a wrong answer worried him.

Before he made his decision, he asked the 「Ripper Jack」, "If I say a wrong answer, would the door set Jacks upon me?"

"Who knows. Why don't you try and find out?"

What an annoying plant. It was probably trying to say that it did not know what would happen either.

It was at that point did he realize that in the First Hall, there was a book to write the answer. In the Second Hall, he had to say the answer to a suit of armor. Who is he supposed to give the answer to here?

"Um, 「Ripper Jack」, do you know who I am supposed to give the answer to?"

If a plant could sigh, then it certainly did so now. "Well, Adventurer, that would be me, though I would know not the key to opening the door only until you speak the correct answer."

That was a rather infuriating curse, geas or whatever the plant would call it.

~

Word count: 378
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 = 2781

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Like it or not, the Swashbuckler had to admit that he needed another clue. It was not that he was being too reliant on these clues which mysteriously come from nowhere; the riddles were too obscure, too difficult for his young gaming mind to comprehend. He was more used to finding better positions in the battlefield than say, find out what the truth is regarding a certain four rivals. In short, he was inept in the art of logical thinking, but there was no helping it, for it was something that needed to strengthened over time to begin with.

But no matter how many excuses he could come up with, it was a reality that he was trapped here until he found the truth. Dying was not his idea of fun, especially with the monsters lurking around at this time of the night. He would probably have to die twice, AND lose all hs progress in coming to this area. No way he was going to just roll over and die just like that.

If memory served him correctly, according the Japanese history... he could not be sure. He was never really interested in history to begin with, so recalling facts after months of not even studying the subject was an impossible feat for him. If he could get past this problem with one more clue...

He had no idea at which point in time he began so reliant on the clues provided by a mysterious helper, but there he sat, waiting for a clue to be delivered to him while he pondered the true answer. Hopefully he did not get it wrong, and that he was supposed to get up and scour the room for the next clue. Perhaps he might try that after ten minutes of slacking off.

In the meantime, he supposed he could talk to Pocky and the 「Ripper Jack」. Speaking of which, he never got its name.

"We have not introduced ourselves, haven't we? I am Icyferno, a Swashbuckler. Nice to meet you."

The 「Ripper Jack」 remained silent once again, as if contemplating whether it should speak or not. Then it spoke its name. "Skuggi."

~

Word count: 360
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 = 3321
Note: Skuggi is norse for "Shadow", or "Shade".

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Hmm. If he remembered his language correctly, that is to say, not at all, the name 'Skuggi' should have something to do with shadows. Obviously, he could not tell which language exactly did it come from, but a rough guess should be good enough. In any case, it seemed to suit the dark Jack, whose appearance suggested that it would rather cling to the shadows than engage in a fight like a Guardian or stay in rear and attack like its more magely counterparts. At first glance, he would think that it was best suited to be a scout, or a spy.

If anything, Skuggi reminded him of a certain character from a series he used to read. One of the characters was a pumpkin called Halloween, if he recalled correctly. To be thinking about a character named Halloween around the time for Halloween, how coincidental.

But he had not the time nor luxury to be thinking about other things. The clock was ticking, and he had no idea how much time he had left before... whatever was to come. If he were to stop and think for a while, there were many things that did not make sense since he entered the Mansion, even by the game standards he had now come to associate with this world. It would surely have been handy to have thought to scour the streets for a Mechanic capable of recontructing a watch from the real world. At least he would be able to tell the time so he knew how much time he had spent trapped in this strange place.

But even without a watch, one could roughly estimate the time one had spent. If it were up to him, he would say that he had been here for about... fiftenn minutes? twenty minutes? He had been so focused on getting through the doors that he had not really paid attention to the time. Hopefully it would not matter once he reached the end of the Halls.

~

Word count: 334
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 + 501 = 3822
Note: Owed post 1 of 4.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

An answer came unbidden to his mind, one that seemed logical, though there were many other options which were available. Without missing a beat, he spoke the answer out, but it was more of a question than an actual answer. After all, how could he be sure with so many uncertain factors? It was as if the creator of the riddle deliberately made it such that one would have to guess out of three chocies. If that were the case, then he supposed there would be little harm that would befall him should he make a mistake or two, hopefully.

Skuggi listened to his answer for a moment, then shook its head. "Don't feel anything different. Try again."

He scanned the surroundings for any nearby enemies, but fortunately, nothing dangerous popped up as the Jacks surrounding him merrily bumped into each other or cackled in a faintly annoying way.

In the first place, how was getting the right answer to opening the door based on a gut feeling on Skuggi's part, he voiced this fact to the pumpkin, which nodded in assent. "It's stupid if you think about it like that, but does common logic truly apply here?"

He had to admit, it did not, so he kept his mouth shut after that. He examined the clues once again, but as before, he got no closer to finding the truth.

If he had had some contextual knowledge about the background of Nobunaga... he felt as if there was some connection, but then again, who was to say that the master of the Mansion even followed that? Perhaps it was a trap simply to waste the time of those who knew their history well, and that only wit would aid Adventurers through the mansion. Whatever the case was, time was ticking, so he knew that he must make his next decision quickly, lest he wished to find out what happens to those who tarry in a Hall for far too long.

~

Word count: 330
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 + 501 + 495 = 4317
Note: Owed post 2 of 4.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

In the old world, the Swashbuckler was never really the kind of person to sit around and solve riddles. He was more likely to sit around and either read manga or play games. Such was the level of intelligence of the Adventurer, who was bascially much like any other student of his time, with little experience in such things and thus, he found it hard to do what someone who was experienced in the subject would do. Or rather, he would eventually get it at some point in time, but for the most part, it was something he would not think of in most situations.

In any case, he had little time to waste, so without further delay, he dished out another answer to Skuggi. Once again, he was wrong. Perhaps he was looking at this the wrong way?

He looked at what he had carved onto the pelt. There was not anything wrong with it, as far as he could se-

Wait a moment. He eyed his words carefully, some bad premonition dawning upon him. He felt his heartbeat rising as he quickly reviewed what he knew, and released he had made a fatal mistake, one which could have cost him the entire gig altogether had he not realized it. Well, it was better late than never, so he quickly fixed the errors he had made and re-examined his choices.

Yes, his choices were slightly different from before. Of particular note was one thing that was changed with the corrections in place. Honestly speaking, it was a foolish mistake, one which could be rectified from the start had he actually studied up on the names of skills and which classes each skill belonged to. It might seem like a stupid task at the present moment, but who know? Perhaps he might need to call upon such knowledge once more. Hopefully he would not forget this when he needed it the most.

~

Word count: 322
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 + 501 + 495 + 483 = 4800
Note: Owed post 3 of 4.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

The seconds ticked by as time passed while the Swashbuckler sat immobile on the floor, staring intently at the pelt. Perhaps he should have tried guessing until he got the answer, there were only twelve after all. However, to do so would be to consider himself to be cheating in order to get to the next Hall, and he did not even need the owner's word to know that he was supposed to play this fairly, even though apparently no penalties were set for wrong answers. What would be the point if one could simply push out the answer through brute guessing?

He had yet to arrive at the answer he sought, though he had a fair guess at which one it was. However, was this truly the correct answer? Was there something he missed? No, there was definitely something he missed. He was going to keep on failing if this keeps up. The frustration of his inability to find the answer gnawed at his insides, as though there was a void in his stomach that was eating away at his body, slowly yet surely engulfing him in a feeling known as despair, the despair of being unable to find the answer which lay before him.

This feeling stayed with him as his eyes bored into the pelt, weighting the options he had left. Then he made his decision. He was just going to try his luck and hope for the best. With that in mind, he spoke the answer which he believed to be true.

Skuggi remained silent, surprise enamating from the being as the doors rumbled, and the doors opened.

"That was... unexpected. It seems like what binds me to this Hall has been broken now that my duty has been complete."

~

Word count: 294
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 + 501 + 495 + 483 + 441 = 5241
Note: Owed post 4 of 4.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~
He could not believe it. He had broken through.

Standing up quickly, a smile broke across his face, the very first one he had made since he entered this Mansion as the tension of what he had just went through ebbed out of him. Sure, most of it was self-depreciation, but he had done it! He was not sure if he was meant to enter this Mansion with a party, but he was doing fine on his own, so he supposed that as long as he played it safe, he would be able to complete this dungeon and solve the mystery behind it.

Without glancing backwards, he called for Pocky to catch up and said his farewells to Skuggi.

"Wait. Swashbuckler Icyferno, take me with you."

The Adventurer stopped as he heard Skuggi speak, turning around, he saw the Jack standing right behind him. "But aren't you supposed to be waiting for the next party to attempt to pass the Hall?"

"Mine was a temporary contract; it was fulfilled once you completed the challenge. I have my reasons for wanting to see the owner of this Mansion. Let me accompany you, and I will fight by your side."

It would certainly help to have a capable fighter with me. But those motives irk me... I can't say I can trust Skuggi, but I guess it would not hurt to have an extra sword arm. Could always get backstabbed though.

"Alright, but don't blame me if you get killed, alright?"

Skuggi put on an air of contempt, as though it had seen many of the Adventurer's kind before. Had it? There was no way of telling unless he asked. "I think it's the other way around. Don't blame me if YOU get killed."

A Jack with an attitude. Just what he needed on his journey into the depths of the Mansion. He was already not looking forward to it.

~

Word count: 318
Total word count after multipliers (Animal Trainer): 462 + 603 + 597 + 552 + 567 + 540 + 501 + 495 + 483 + 441 + 477 = 5718
Note: N/A