[
[Step one: Solve the first riddle!]
"A riddle?!"
"A riddle?!"
Two identical exclamations but accompanied by vastly different emotions. Balm's eyes were filled with excitement and Silent Acacia's shoulders slumped.
"Let's go! It's too noisy here."
Silver Blade received a rolled-up parchment from Lewriova and turned around, pushing through the crowd. The others followed and soon they reached a clearing in the forest at the foot of the mountain.
"This place should be alright."
As soon as Silver Blade said so she jumped down from her mount. A bunch of sparks flashed, and Balm appeared next to her with eager eyes. The tank couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, here, you can do it."
Silver Blade retrieved the first riddle and handed it over to Balm. The healer swiftly unfurled the parchment. Cyclone and Silver Blade curiously looked over her shoulder as Balm read aloud:
"Memoirs of our journey, so short, so short. Am I damned to be alone henceforth? Only memories remain of the day we met, do you still remember? I saw you floating above the hill, taming the fire. I offered you help; we became friends. Despite saving countless people you never sought honour. We returned to your temple, conversing deep into the night. Now, does your statue still stand?"
The friends all nodded along. Liam stood at the side, not saying anything. He was pretty confident that his friends would be able to solve the riddle. It wasn't of extraordinary difficulty. While the rest was pondering over the words, Silent Acacia stood next to Liam, letting out a sigh. He really wasn't made for this kind of quest.
Suddenly, a suicidal wolf fletched its teeth at the group. Silent Acacia glanced at the level 3 monster, feeling nostalgic.
An arrow shot through the air. The poor little wolf could only let out a wail as its HP flashed to zero.
[-7365!]
The others were startled by the sound. Raising their heads they saw the wolf's body, feeling some sympathy. But the random monster couldn't distract them from the topic on hand. Cyclone swiped her eyes over everyone, asking:
"So, do we have any clues?"
"Well, the person the riddle is talking about should be that nephilim friend, right?"
"I agree. But what is this about taming fire? There are many places with fire in the world. Perhaps it's one of the lava lakes in the Southern Wasteland?"
Balm stroked her chin, slowly shaking her head:
"I don't think so. Look, aren't you forgetting that part: floating above the hill?"
"Well, there are also many hills in the world…", said Cyclone puzzledly.
"Sure. But think about it. Zelgor the Titan. What are titans usually known for?"
"Their size.", added Watchful Eye indifferently.
"Exactly! For a titan it seems normal to call a mountain a hill. And where do we have a mountain with fire?"
A light lit up in everyone's minds. They turned around, staring at the volcano behind them. Although this was obviously not the only volcano in all of Crunaboul, but it was within the territory of the original nephilim.
"Seems like they met here on the island."
"Yes. I agree. Now we only need to figure out which temple they returned to."
Balm nodded thoughtfully. Her eyes wandered towards Liam.
"Expert, how many temples are on this island?"
"As far as I know it's only a single one…"
"Then that's it."
"Oh wait, we know that one, don't we?", said Silver Blade.
"Of course. It's where we fought through the first dungeon. It's the birthplace of Hotpot!"
"How nostalgic. Let's go, let's go!"
Even Silent Acacia felt some amusement now. It was quite interesting to visit the place where it all started. Hardly four months had passed but it almost felt like an eternity.
The friends followed the path in their memory. They made their way through the forest and soon arrived in front of Reylar's Temple. Looking at the familiar surroundings, old memories rose up.
"Hehe, those are the stairs where Fortune led everyone to attack Beast Den!"
"Ah, stop! That was so embarrassing!"
"But the video was quite popular, right?"
"Well, you could say so…"
The friends chuckled as they studied the surroundings. There were still ruins in front of the temple. To the side was a secret room. Only later did the friends learn that Liam retrieved Refresnim's dark orb of flight from there.
Raising one's eyes, one could peek into the entrance of the temple. It was occupied by the same arrogant holy nephilim who hired the adventurers to cleanse the temple. And surprisingly, adventurers were not lacking. There were still new people joining the game every day. Thanks to Hotpot the race of original nephilim was slightly more popular than the others so Reylar's Temple was never completely deserted.
Liam and his friends slowly advanced, searching for the statue mentioned in the riddle. But their impressive appearance riding on colourful basilisks instantly attracted much attention.
"Wow, look. High-level players."
"They are riding on mounts…"
"Hmpf. So arrogant. Did they come to the newbie area to show off? What a joke. Give me a month and I will surpass them."
"Ehm, bro. Are you sure about that?"
"Definitely! Mark my words! If I, Prince Potato, haven't surpassed that guy called… Bleary Mirage… in a month, I shall be hit by lightning! No… wait… Bleary Mirage?!!!"
"Tragic!"
"Don't worry, I recorded everything."
"I'll start arranging your funeral."
"Let's look for a new party member."
"No, no! It was a joke, ok? A joke!"
Prince Potato's expression was terrible as his party members erupted in unbridled laughter. But they quickly stopped and followed the crowd gathering around Hotpot. Excited chatter surrounded the famous party. Liam and his friends tried to placate the people while searching for the statue when someone asked what they were doing and Cyclone answered offhandedly.
"You are looking for a statue of some old nephilim here?"
"Guys, let's help them!"
"Right! Swarm out!"
The friends watched with some surprise as the players dispersed in all directions like worker bees heeding their queen's call. It didn't take long at all before loud shouts came from three different spots. The friends swiftly checked the first and the second, but both had statues depicting Reylar. The friends had already figured out that Reylar took over the temple after the death of Inerwos. Thus, the statue they were looking for was definitely not depicting Reylar.
The friends thanked the players who tried to help and rushed to the third spot. It was behind the temple, almost entirely hidden by trees. Only the upper body of a statue was lying on the ground. It was the face of an unfamiliar nephilim.
"This looks promising.", stated Quickstep as she circled the statue.
"Ok, but how to we solve the riddle now?"
The friends looked the statue up and down, left and right, their foreheads in deep wrinkles. Just than a shy voice could be heard:
"There… there is still something over here."
Cyclone looked over and saw a teenage boy in simple warrior garbs staring at her group with stars in his eyes. The mage froze for a moment as a special feeling hit her. She glanced towards Balm and realized that her friend wore a similar expression. They were both touched by the boy's eyes. He had exactly the same look as them when they imagined meeting their biggest idols.
The two guild leaders suddenly felt an immense sense of confirmation. They walked over to the boy and looked at the object he found. It was the foundation of a statue. One corner was buried in the dirt, and moss and weeds were hanging from the exposed part.
"Hmh. This could be it. Thank you very much. Well done."
Cyclone didn't hold back with praising her fan. The boy stood at the side, wearing a big grin as he received his idol's acknowledgement. But his eyes sneakily wandered towards Liam. When the latter noticed something and threw him a kind nod, the boy was so pleased he forgot his surroundings.
Meanwhile the party turned their attention towards the statue's foundation. They pushed the weeds away and found a plaque with the name Inerwos on it.
"Hmm, but still no sign of a riddle…"
"The quest also didn't upgrade."
Silent Acacia looked down on the foundation with crossed arms. He noticed something at the back of the foundation. Although it was hidden by some dirt but there was some kind of ring. His instincts honed by the [Pathfinder] auxiliary skill rang. Silent Acacia lightly kicked with his foot. A click could be heard. A compartment sprung open and some kind of leather pipe shot out.
"Wow, as expected of out expert riddle-solver. You found it!"
"Perhaps these riddles are simply too easy for Acacia."
"Are you trying to steal my job?"
Silent Acacia rolled his eyes at his friends teasing him. He picked up the leather and handed it to Balm, who didn't dawdle any longer, studying the next riddle. Unexpectedly there was no text. It was only a picture of a nephilim, a goblin, and a titan each holding a fish.