---

---

Interacting with:@ReusableSword

Salem grabbed some vines that were hanging off a branch and made his way over to Victor. Hopping on his back as requested and then using his magic to wrap the plants around Victor's midsection, Salems ankles, and then tying Salems wrists together before Victor's throat. "Should be tight enough to keep me on if you move a bit faster than normal. Unfortunately I havent learned any transmutative properties yet so I couldnt exactly strength them. Now that we're agreed on west we should head that way." As they headed west, the practical seemed more and more in the bag, the path virtually clear of any obstacles and then leading them towards a stream with colorful glass baubles floating in the water.

"In the garden of time do the sightless sow emotions, fed by action and belief alike. Passion and envy and sorrow survive the encroaching centuries. Pick that which flourishes and face its consequences to the South. Well it sounds as if we're about to face one of my demons. Great, more mind magic I assume. its as if the princess gets a kick out of it Well we have Passion, Envy, and Sorrow and the consequences of each. I've seen what Passion can do to a person, even Envy and Sorrow so..." Salem guided Victor towards the edge of the stream where the blue bauble floated. Instructing him how far left, forward, and right to go in order to obtain the blue piece and make his way towards the South. "South should be towards our left, given the direction we've been travelling. So what do you think we'll be facing when we reach there?"

Dancing lights in the sky? Well, that was easy. Enough vampires waxed poetic over the centuries about the incredible display unless Ryner made some obscure reference but considering her obsession over them, he sincerely doubted she'd challenge them like that. So the Northern Lights it was. Which meant they were heading north. Excellent, first direction figured out and now they had a heading.

“Congratulations, you get a gold star or whatever juvenile, inconsequential reward system you nostalgic creatures so easily accept.” Varis grumbled over Aaron’s shoulder. It was more than just a little annoying he couldn’t add in an equally sarcastic slow clap but sacrifices did have to be made. “Hurry up and start walking. The sooner I get my sight back, the better. And I would appreciate them not using such visual solutions. It’s like they’re mocking me. Here I am, depending on a mage to guide me, and they’re taunting me with this imagery. The disrespect. Next, they’re going to ask us to analyze a painting for clues and I’ll be absolutely useless. What an unnatural arrangement.” Varis sulked from his spot on Aaron’s back. It was absolutely ridiculous. This entire situation was a nightmare come true.

Interacting with: @Obscene Symphony

---

"Fair enough," Max replied, picking up one of the blue blocks as Eris went for the yellow, "We could throw the rest in the bushes or something just to be a dick, but we should probably keep going." Wasn't really worth it to have the vague idea that someone somewhere might be getting inconvenienced by him, and like hell he was gonna stand around to wait for some poor sap to wander by just for a cheap laugh.

"West was..." He mentally retraced his steps while his finger swayed left and right indecisively, "That way, c'mon Eric." The mage tugged Eris along as he started walking again, tossing the block up and down with one hand as the other held a granola bar, its wrapper ripped open by its own aluminum lining. Probably a waste of magic, but Max was honestly far more concerned with affinity progress than some little cantrip that let him see in the dark, and any opportunity to practice was a good one. It would help if they would’ve told them how many of these stupid stops they’d have to make, though he guessed not having any reference to properly gauge one’s stamina was also a facet of the exam.

He missed the catch on one of his tosses, prompting him to quickly bend down and pick up the errant block. Eris definitely heard it hit the ground, the question was whether Max should bother coming up with an excuse for the infinitesimally small amount of face he'd lose for not catching a fucking hunk of wood. Eh, it wouldn't matter, if Eris said anything there were plenty of trees around to walk him into.

---

@Hero

The urge to roll his eyes at Varis’ taunting was strong, but Aaron had developed enough of a stomach for it over the past few months that he brushed it off with a decidedly neutral “Yes, Master” and set off North. He placed his steps carefully (the absolute last thing he needed was to trip over a root or something and faceplant with Varis on his back) but still maintained a decent pace, almost grateful he didn’t need to worry about guiding a second set of feet. A few signs here and there kept him on the right path until the forest opened into a small clearing.

In the centre of the clearing stood a stone pillar, rising just above Aaron’s head. Into it were carved two shelves, and in each one was a key, slowly twirling mid-air as if suspended on an invisible string. The first key was red, and the second blue. Above them, at the top of the pillar, a riddle was inscribed:

The world around no longer a concern, turn sightless eyes inward.
So often is the truth eagerly hidden and buried
But now it’s time to choose which key is its unlocking:
Blood quick moving or gears slow turning
Soon still in the East.

Aaron came to a halt, silently reading the riddle over a few times, and examined the keys for a moment before cluing Varis in. “We’ve come to a clearing, Master. There’s a stone pillar in the middle, a little taller than me, holding two keys; one red, one blue. On top there’s a riddle written.”

He read the riddle aloud for Varis, pausing another moment to phrase his next words carefully. “It seems I’ll be needing your wisdom for this one, Master,” he ventured, informed both by the ‘sightless eyes’ clue and the fact that he had no sweet clue where he could even begin. He thought that maybe the ‘blood quick moving or gears slow turning’ line could have been a comparison between mages and vampires, but he wasn’t sure if that made any sense. “Does anything I described mean anything to you?”

“So long as we complete our task here we won’t have to worry about experiencing that again tonight. I don’t know how there are mages that travel like this regularly.” Amaris agreed that inquiring about alternative modes of transportation might be for the best moving forward, but she knew such a request was likely to be denied under similar circumstances. The princess had everything planned out just so, every detail accounted for to ensure that the students were tested properly. Amaris wouldn’t have been surprised if the teleportation was just another part of the assessment.

The countess listened intently as Madalyn activated a spell with a single word, finally revealing the world around the pair to herself… or so Amaris assumed. In all actuality, she had no idea how effective such a spell was for general night vision or if it had more to do with the signs she was supposed to be locating instead. Curiosity pushed at her to ask, but she silenced herself so that she could listen to the mage read. There was a hint of disdain in the girl’s voice by the end as she described an inscription of a compass on the sign, though perhaps it was more an unamusement than true disdain.

“I suppose it’s better than nothing at all.” Amaris countered with a shrug before falling silent for a moment. Madalyn was correct about compasses pointing only one direction, but it was something known as magnetic north which had its moments of venturing from true north from time to time. Would such a distinction even matter for their cause?

“Interesting. Well, I guess it is one less thing we would have to keep track of while stumbling around out here. I’m just a little surprised at how straightforward this hint was… Wasn’t expecting impossible right out of the gate, but this wasn’t as fun as I had hoped.” The countess sounded almost disappointed in how quickly they were able to solve the riddle. It was a guarantee that the difficulty would be raised the closer to the finish line they got, but the information was of a subject that held little interest to her. Either way, the pair had their answer and all that was left was to follow it.

“So I take it we should be following the little fake compass north then? How does the path look in that direction?”

Varis’s grumbling faded away after a few minutes, growing bored of complaining as he reflexively tried to look ahead. He even tried sharpening his sight but its difficult to tell if something was working when he couldn't see anything. Varis sighed irritably, silently resign himself to his fate while the boy carried him along to their next destination. Hopefully, this next challenge would prove more entertaining. He quite enjoyed puzzles and he was glad he had an opportunity to do something. This was not a situation he was familiar with and frankly, he had no desire to repeat it but the riddles at least gave him something to focus on. He only hoped the next one would come quicker.

And no sooner did the thought cross his mind than when the boy stopped and described their next little game. Varis frowned at the description of the area. A stone pillar with keys? An interesting decision. [color=f7976a] “Read each line again, one at a time.”[/colo] Vari demanded, listening intently. “The first line is clearly instructing which one of us should make a decision unless you’ve suddenly been rendered unable to see. However, I’m frankly sick of being reminded that I’m crippled. It’s difficult to forget without every passing object screaming it at me.” Varis grumbled under his breath as the boy ready the next part.

“The truth hidden and buried…” Varis mused for a moment, his fingers tapping thoughtfully. “That could be anything but if we consider turning inwards, it’s clearly a metaphor for some self reflection idiocy. Of course Ryner would turn this into a night of self discovery. May the Queen save us all or we’re doomed.” Varis sighed as he gestured for the next line and then the line after. “Clearly, we pick a key to open up some hidden part of ourselves and the keys here are symbols of how we do that. Clearly the red key is blood fast pumping. Besides the direct correlation of color to substance, red is the color of passion which gets the blood pumping quickly. The blue key by default is the other. I’m going to take a wild guess and say the gears slow turning suggest a lethargic analytic process because blue is the color of intelligence, the mind, and self reflection. Either way, this “turning sightless eyes inwards” nonsense ends when we complete the challenge.”

“The audacity of this whole affair. Can you believe not only does she force us to work like this but she has the gall to then take it a step further and try to force us toreflect? Varis gripped. “Nothing to be done about it now though. Take the blue key. As if passion is some sort of virtue, bah.” He gestured blindly forward as he instructed

Aaron read each line dutifully, listening thoughtfully as Varis mulled over each one. He thought he’d made it obvious that Varis was the one who needed to decide this riddle—he wasn’t quite so thick as to need that spelled out for him—but that wasn’t important. Aaron had passed over the representation of the keys as passion and intellect as too obvious, too, but it seemed he must have been over-thinking again. A trap he fell into a lot, apparently. He was a little surprised that Varis bothered to lay out his reasoning, although he was grateful for it. Maybe he was just thinking out loud; Aaron certainly wouldn’t complain.

He took the blue key from its compartment as instructed, tucking it into his pocket for safekeeping and regaining his bearings before setting off East. To his surprise, Aaron found himself agreeing with Varis for the second time in one night; this was going to be a very long night if Princess Ryner decided to use the exam as some kind of tool to force personal reflection. It was bad enough he’d have to commit to ‘emotional honesty’ for his upcoming arcane major, and even if he wasn’t already uncomfortable with digging any deeper than he needed to pull out a court smile, that awful experience after Revel certainly cemented his distaste. A disgusted shiver ran up his spine at the mere memory, kneeling there all docile under thrall and laying bare to Varis things he was reluctant to admit even to himself. He’d agree with Varis that it was a pathetic display, and he had no interest in doing anything similar tonight or ever again.

“I imagine it's meant to play into this trust exercise, Master. I find it wholly excessive,” he concurred, a bit of distaste colouring his words. “Hopefully this is the end of that nonsense.”

The night grew colder as Aaron followed the next path, wind sneaking into his collar and clouds overtaking the moon. Though the thickening darkness wouldn’t have been an obstacle to him normally, he was glad he had the foresight to keep up his spell; as he’d predicted, the instructions along this path were not nearly as obvious as the ones before, and he would have missed the inscriptions hiding in the wilderness had he relied on his regular sight alone. Varis stayed quiet the whole way, apparently having lost the energy to complain, and soon enough the two arrived at a dead end in their roundabout path without incident.

Two massive trees blocked their way, each with a metal door melted into them, as if they had grown up around them for centuries. Aaron nearly sighed, exasperated; plant magic, Salem would probably get a kick out of that. The doors were identical, bearing an unmarked keyhole and handle each, and a sign stood between them.

“We’ve come to a dead end, Master,” Aaron informed Varis. “Before us are two unusually large trees with metal doors set into them, each with a keyhole and handle. A sign between them reads: Now it comes time to choose which lock responds to that you picked. If red is your belief, valiant but weak, Left is right, right is wrong, right is right, and left is left. If blue is your morale, slow but steady true, choose opposite above and make your final do. But warning if you chose the opposite of true then suffer with the consequences so be wary what you will. But a final word of warning: That which turns cannot too touch til victor claims the spoils.”

Aaron read the sign slowly, reading it over a few more times silently when he was done. As he moved to get a better look at the doors, his foot met something on the ground; it was a little mound of dirt, freshly disturbed and sharply contrasting the otherwise abundant undergrowth. He looked at it curiously for a moment before noticing another, and several others after that.

“There are also several spots of ground nearby that look freshly dug up,” he added dutifully, eyeing the nearest one. Varis would feel his body move as he brushed one of the mounds aside with his foot. The dirt moved easily, but revealed nothing; sure enough, it wasn’t just a pile of dirt, but a filled-in hole. Given the sign’s final clue, he assumed something was buried in one of them, but he’d have to use his hands to find out.

“Master, may I please put you down for a moment?” he asked, anxious to investigate. “The ground here is a little grown-in, but level, save for these mounds of dirt. There shouldn’t be much risk of you tripping.”

---

"Hmm? Oh no, it was the traps going off. There's a bunch of falling rocks trying to kill us," Max responded as innocently as could be, "I dropped something, relax." He got cut off by a sudden gust of wind, eliciting a grumpy huff and a shiver, "Better not fucking rain." He'd hope Ryner would've had the foresight to at least check the weather before making them tromp around in the wilderness, if not call in a bunch of mages to just wrangle the climate into submission. Could that even be done? Probably. One of Ryner's personal mages was an aeromancer for fuck's sake.

Max gave little regard to Eris' footing in the undergrowth, only bothering to steer him out of the way of obvious roadblocks like trees and heavy foliage. When they arrived in the clearing, the mage let out a groan. The increasingly vague directions were annoying enough, but now they had another riddle. The colors matched the blocks from earlier, at least, which meant they probably got the first riddle right.

"Hang on, there's another stupid riddle," Max called back to Eris while he investigated the scene. No directions were even given this time, they had no choice but to solve the puzzle. It seemed easy enough, the only problem was whether he was meant to read both riddles together or if they were each a separate solution to the puzzle. Considering there was a bullshit teambuilding aspect to this test, the right answer probably involved both of them.

"Okay, there's two... things with square-shaped holes in them and they match the colors of the blocks we grabbed earlier. Each one has an incantation or something written on it. According to the riddle, I think we have to put the blocks in, walk five steps backward, and say the incantations at the exact same time. Your word is... what the fuck, stratum pecan? Sratum Picon," He explained as he tugged the vampire in closer, moving to grab Eris by the shoulders and steer him right up to the yellow hole. "Let your arm go limp and I'll guide the block in with magic so we're both in sync, then we can count down from three or something for when we need to say the goofy gibberish. Sound good?"

---

@Hero

Varis sent the back of Aaron’s head a scathing look at the request. The impedance of his request notwithstanding, the shoes Varis wore cost more than the head of every mage in this insane exercise. If the boy thought for one single second he’d acquiesce to this pathetic request without protest then he had another thing coming. Varis spent his time considering it however before sighing. “Another thing to add to the list: strength and endurance training. Perhaps tonight isn’t as much of a waste as I thought. It seems to be highlighting your weaknesses.” Varis dug at the boy as he let himself down. His grip was irn on his bicep though and the Count had little interest in letting him move, standing less than a hair’s width apart as he reflectively tried to peer around at their surroundings.

“We’ll stay right here until we’ve solved the riddle. Clearly, we just need to unlock the door and claim whatever is inside. Hopefully, further directions.” Varis demanded. “Now, left is right and right is wrong, right is right and left is left. What an annoying little phrase. This is precisely while language is such a mess. How many different readings does this have? At least three depending on how you stress the words.” Despite his complaining, Varis’ tone lacked much of his normal bite as he spoke. Puzzles were fun when they weren’t poking at his injured pride or lack of independence. He tapped his foot thoughtfully.

“And a final word of warning... But nothing mentions these little spots of dirt?” Varis asked. That seemed odd but maybe it had to do with the magic that got doors in trees. His knowledge of the magical arts were limited to those that didn’t affect him and those that did and while plant magic fell firmly into the latter, he never considered it threatening enough to be interested. “Well, we should probably first consider which door to use this key on and then once we decide that, we can figure out what the last line means. Left is right and right is wrong… So, either the left tree is the wrong tree or we should consider the left tree the right tree which is wrong. Right is right and left is left. Which suggests the red key is the right key for red so the first interpretation is the most likely. He repeated the last phrase a few more times.

“What else can we turn here? Is it only the key?” Varis asked the boy.

Interacting with: @Obscene Symphony

Victor wasn’t particularly fond of how things were progressing but he kept his cool. This test was for both of them after all. Victor could only wonder just how far the princess would make them go. The vine around his throat was definitely his least favorite.

Salem began to motion for him to slow down. Victor couldn’t hear anything or anyone around them so he figured the boy must have spotted something.

"In the garden of time do the sightless sow emotions, fed by action and belief alike. Passion and envy and sorrow survive the encroaching centuries. Pick that which flourishes and face its consequences to the South. Well it sounds as if we're about to face one of my demons. Great, more mind magic I assume. it’s as if the princess gets a kick out of it Well we have Passion, Envy, and Sorrow and the consequences of each. I've seen what Passion can do to a person, even Envy and Sorrow so..."

“No.” he spoke interrupting Salem. Repeating the riddle time and time again he slowly began to realize what was being said. “This one is not for you.” A flash of anger encroached into his mind and through his voice for a brief moment. “In the garden of time do the sightless sow emotions.” He repeated, “That’s talking about me… not you. Fed by action and belief alike? Passion and envy and sorrow survive the encroaching centuries? That’s talking about what we have done, what haunts us or guides us, what pushes us.” These riddles were incredibly personal but Victor could only guess that this would ultimately strengthen their bond if he wasn’t entirely overthinking things. “Pick that which flourishes and face its consequences to the South…” he paused for a moment, he didn’t move for what seemed like minutes. “Pick what you think would best describe sorrow and let’s go.”

He followed Salem’s instructions and stepped into the small stream. After he retrieved whatever was in it and asked his question, Victor remained silent focusing on the terrain ahead of him. His thoughts soon began to focus on his first love and the events that led to her death. Shaking the feeling wasn’t easy, especially when he couldn’t distract himself with something else. “Hopefully its nothing and we can get on with this test.” The vampire didn’t seem too eager to find out what was going to happen next and wasn’t trying to hide this fact from his mage.

@Trainerblue192

“Straightforward directions would have been preferred, as would have been some type of clearly marked path… but then this wouldn’t be much of a test now would it? I hate to admit it, but sometimes the most effective way to learn is to dive head first into the deep end. Amaris had folded her arms across her chest while she and Madalyn had been talking, her tapping index finger an agitated contrast from her otherwise calm exterior. The anxious tick came to a slow stop as the countess inhaled slowly and deeply, exhaling the tension she had allowed to build. Now wasn’t the time for her to panic, after all, they had only just taken their first steps.

Stay calm. Your role here is as a resource, a role you cannot fulfil properly if your mind is clouded by wayward thoughts. Stay focused on what can be solved and nothing more. The countess scolded herself silently before finally relaxing.

“I leave myself in your very capable hands, Maddie.”

It was difficult for Amaris to proceed without her sight, her hesitant steps only serving to slow their already limited pacing for what felt like a long time. Eventually, as Maddie grew more confident in her ability to guide so did Amaris’ confidence in her ability to be led. Still, having some semblance of perception would have been much preferred to the current situation.

As the path stretched on, the countess’ thoughts wandered inward to the blood within. So far she had only learned how to trick the eyes into seeing something other than what was before them, but was it possible that there was a way to see through the spell placed on her? Would it be wasted energy to hope such a feat would be a passive one? Amaris had to silence the scoff before it had a chance to make itself known to her partner.

How childish.

Eventually the pair came to exit their initial path, the change in pressure alerting the blind vampire to the approach of a second clearing. This one was a bit different from the last, however, as the silence was broken by the sound of metal striking metal… no, that wasn’t exactly correct, it wasn’t as crass as that. With each brush of contact the metal sang to the space around them, each voice adding to the previous until a chorus had been born. Windchimes?

Her thoughts were confirmed as Maddie read the sign and described the scene for her, yet somehow the countess was still hopelessly lost.

“Neither do I, but for all we know it’s just meant to intimidate and distract us. Let’s just take a moment to pick this apart and figure out what we can before moving on. Hopefully that will help ease some of our uncertainties.” Amaris began to chew excitedly at her lower lip as her mind went to work, careful to not break the skin like she had so many times in her youth. The first riddle might have been disappointing to her but this one? This is what she had been waiting for.

“It sounds like our direction is pretty clear, so this must have more to do with an obstacle we will face along the way. Is there anything in particular about this that stands out to you?” The countess was itching to pick the lines apart one at a time and analyze the many possible meanings they could have but the test was not hers alone. Normally Amaris would be disappointed in having to show such restraint, however this was a good opportunity to learn a bit more about her partner. Not only would she get a glimpse into the mage’s thought process, but she might glean a new outlook on the puzzle before them if she halted herself from prematurely injecting her own bias.

---

"The riddle says the game starts when they're whole again, so I'd assume something stupid is gonna happen after we do this, but it doesn't give any directions we can go on otherwise." Max responded as he switched his own block to his armored hand. Better to just guide both in magically to be safe; he wasn't quite sure how perfectly syncronized they'd need to be for the test to consider them 'in tandem'. The vambraces moved of their own accord, raising both their limp arms upward and, after a quick glance by Max confirming they were aligned with the holes, tugged their hands forward to fit the blocks snugly into their assigned slots.

"Okay, now five paces back," Max instructed as he followed his own advice, all the while watching Eris' movements for confirmation. Ideally, even their steps should be syncronized, but that was a lot harder to do when Eris couldn't see and he didn't have nearly enough metal present to just puppet the vampire's legs like a marionette. When they were both in position, Max turned his gaze back toward the magic bird feeder in front of him. Best case scenario? This opens a neat little portal to the finish line. Worst case? He didn't even want to guess; the only thing this school had really taught him is that even his most pessimistic predictions could be exceeded at any moment.

"Alright, ready? Three... Two... One. Oceleusi Picon."

---

@Hero

While Ben understood the insistence on concentration, there was no escaping the nagging feeling that the practical was being used as an excuse not to talk properly. He would much rather insist, but that said, the more he pushed the more he risked alienating Lilie further, that much he was sure of. How troublesome. That said, there was one possible solution: continue to push whenever there was a lull in conversation after solving the steps. She couldn't refuse his conversation if she didn't have any excuses.

Mercifully Lilie did read out loud the instructions given as well as everything in the vicinity. He agreed with her proposed course of action and decided to think on the riddle. A comfort at night was the moon, or at least that was his initial reaction. The dark was terrifying to all, the moon and stars offering comfort to all. As to how the moon correlated with the bushes, that much he was unsure. "I'd say the moon is most comforting to those in the dark," He offered his interpretation of the hints given. "I can't say I have much knowledge in botany, but maybe one of the flowers is connected to the moon. I've heard of a flower that blooms at night, but I can't say I remember what it looks like or what is it called."

As limited as the information was, he sincerely hoped it would help in some shape or form. If he needed to regain her trust then this was the time to do so. He shuffled in place as he crossed his arms, fingers flexing for a moment as he waited for something to happen.

Taking advantage of a rare opportunity, Aaron rolled his eyes at Varis’ digging as the Count climbed off his back, though his expression twisted into a pained one when Varis dug his fingers into his bicep with a force comparable to before. While it felt more than enough like a punishment for his percieved impudence, Aaron knew that wasn’t the case; even if Varis wouldn’t admit it (probably not even to himself), his blindness clearly had him terrified.

Turning his mind back to the riddle, Aaron listened to Varis’ reasoning as he himself tried to get a closer look at the piles surrounding them. They were uniformly sized but seemingly randomly placed, with the exception that they weren’t crowded too close together—by the looks of it, none of them were closer than two feet apart, maybe more. They didn’t form any pattern that he could see, but he was sure they played into the puzzle somehow.

“The left door, yes,” Aaron murmured his agreement absently. Truth be told, he couldn’t quite follow Varis’ roundabout way of speaking; he’d never voice as much, but it sounded like the Count was over-complicating the clue. Aaron had simply read the phrase like a math equation, working it out in order. Left is correct, correct is incorrect, therefore right is correct and left is left. Then take the opposite for the blue key. Simple, straightforward, and it spat out the right answer, just like it should. Or, what he assumed to be the right answer anyway, since Varis came to the same conclusion.

It took a second for him to survey the area at Varis’ request. “I think so, Master. From here it looks like the handles on the doors don’t move,” he replied, glancing around at the piles. “As for the dirt, I think it has something to do with the “spoils” the riddle mentions. I’d be willing to bet something is buried under one of them that we’ll need in order to claim whatever’s behind that door. I’m not sure who the “victor” would be, though. Maybe whoever finds it, or maybe it’s just a turn of phrase.”

He read over the clue once more. “We could try the key in the door first and see what it does, though that warning is foreboding. It sounds like there could be a consequence if we use the key without these “spoils”.” He shifted uncomfortably in Varis’ grip, feeling his fingertips start to tingle once more. “I can search the piles if you'd like, Master, but to do so I’d need you either to walk with me or let me go.”