The cube is where it all began, being summoned to different worlds with no end in sight. Four friends fight their way through the vast expanse of the multiverse.

"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.

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.

He looked around, nothing could be seen in this darkness. He extended his hand outward and used his magic staff to try to feel obstacles, like a blind man feeling his way. In a way, he really was blind here. He moved around several steps in random directions, his staff didn't bump into anything. It felt like this space was really spacious. He was considering maybe he should just go back the way he came from, how could he find any clue in such a dark place? Then he realized he didn't know which way the door was. Once the door was shut, it blended into the darkness. He didn't memorize its direction so he was completely lost now. He thought to himself that he should have prepared something like a flashlight or at least a makeshift torch before he came.
He was not afraid of the dark, but being lost in the dark without knowing what's inside the room and which way to go could be very unsettling. When he thought about casting either Mana Bullet or Energy Bolts, as they both emit a brief light that might allow him a glimpse to the room, a hum sounded. He tensed up. It was like the sound of a machine starting up. He casted Magic Shield instead and took out his sword.
Bright light flashed abruptly around him, completely illuminated the room. Jack shut his eyes as they could not cope with such drastic change. He opened them slightly and let them gradually adjusted to the bright light. When he could finally see things, he realized he was in a large room with oval shape. The curved wall was covered with metallic sheet that reflected light. The source of the bright light itself was from the floor. The entire floor was a series of glazed panes that radiated light from underneath. The ceiling was over ten meters height with a dark background and small dots of light crowded around it. It created the feeling of outdoor setting under a starry night sky. Yet the most astonishing sight was at the center of the room. A series of random blocks were floating over a round pedestal. He could feel a strange aura from those floating blocks.
He looked back and saw the door which he had come from. He inspected the surrounding walls and noticed that it was the only door. That meant there was no more stage after this. Whatever the Lizardman was guarding, it was in this place. But he could not see anything resembling a clue in this place. So he was mistaken, there was no trace in this place as to what had caused the changes to the world. He told himself not to be somber, if following game world rules, there should at least be a treasure here, otherwise there was no need for a guard. The only thing out of place were the floating blocks, so he approached the pedestal.
The whole setup was rather big once he was near. The pedestal height was half way to his chest. Its circumference couldn't be covered even if he used two hands to hug it. Each of the floating blocks above was larger than a basketball, and they were irregular boxy shapes. None of the blocks were identical. There was a panel on one side of the pedestal. There was no button to press so he assumed the panel was touchscreen. He touched it with his finger. No response. Upon closer inspection, he saw a thin slit beside the panel. The width was the size of a card. He looked at the card that was still being held in his hand. Maybe this card could also be used here? He slid the card inside. When it was halfway, a force suddenly sucked the card in. It slipped from his fingers and went all the way inside the panel.
"Crap! I can't take it out anymore," he lamented.
Some undeciphered voice suddenly sounded out. It was like the sound of a broken computer. The panel lit up, then a holographic image appeared in front of the panel. It was an image of multiple blocks. He looked at the floating blocks above and then looked at the image. They were the same. Fascinated, he moved his finger to touch the hologram. The block image which he touched was moved following the motion of his finger. He heard a sound and looked up and saw one of the floating blocks moved.
So the hologram from the panel was a control panel to move the floating blocks. But what's the point? He studied the holographic blocks. It was much easier compared to the floating blocks above, they were too big and so it was difficult to see the whole picture. After observing for a while, he thought he might have grasped the secret. The blocks were some sort of puzzle. They looked disconnected to each other but some pieces he noticed had edges that might fit with each other if brought together.
Excited, he started to work on the blocks. He moved the blocks around and tried different combinations. It was not easy, as the blocks were not able to move freely, there were some invisible patterns that he needed to follow in order for them to move, which made the effort harder. But he enjoyed the process. One other hobby he had other than playing VR games was playing puzzle games. Whether it was computer game puzzles or traditional block or jigsaw puzzles, he played them frequently during his free time.
There were more than a hundred blocks in the holographic constellation in front of him, solving it would take a long time. Without realizing it, time flew by. It took him around two hours to complete half of the blocks. There was now a colossal half cube floating above the pedestal, the remaining blocks scattered around it. It took him another two hours to complete another one quarter. Strange, he assumed it would be easier when the blocks became fewer, instead he used more time to complete fewer blocks as it became more completed. He realized it was due to invisible link that allowed the block's movements. At the start, there was more freedom to move the blocks around. As more were completed, the links decreased. He could only move them in a limited way now, which increased the difficulty.
After being aware of this rule, he decided not to rashly connect the blocks anymore. If the final block was left with a link that cannot fix with the rest of the cube, he might end up failing the puzzle. He was not sure if he could have a redo if he failed.
It was around twenty blocks left now. He studied them all and visualize their possible movement patterns. Like a chess player figuring out several moves ahead. Good thing he brought a pen and paper in his inventory. It didn't provide any effect but he was used to carrying them around. He used them to write notes and draw maps on important landmarks when he travelled. He jotted down the possible movements of the blocks onto the paper, and imagined several simulations. He tried several configurations on paper to make sure he could complete the entire blocks. He met several dead ends when arriving at the last few pieces and had to redo them again on new paper.
He was glad that he realized this early, or else he would have failed the puzzle. But as each configuration failed, he was worried that maybe he had made a mistake prior, so the remaining blocks might no longer be possible to be completed. He drove away the pessimistic thought and continued to work on the puzzle. On his forty-sixth tries, he finally reached the last piece and got the completed configurations.
"Yes!" He screamed out. A sense of achievement was always there whenever he completed a puzzle, that's why he enjoyed them so much.
He followed the configurations recorded in the last paper. He carefully moved the blocks. If he made the wrong move, then it would waste all his simulation efforts just now. When the last piece was inserted into the cube, the hologram vanished. He saw the floating cube started to hum and glowed. It began to revolve, slowly at first but then the rotation was so fast that he could no longer saw the cube shape, it looked more like a round object now. Several electrical discharges shot out from the cube.
Jack moved away, afraid that the electrical discharges might cause him damage.
Suddenly there was a bright flash followed by a loud explosion.

He was about to join the beta test on the newest VR games, Second World.

But an anomaly threw him into a world with familiar rules, a rule he usually only experienced in a game.

Now he must use his past gaming experience in this new world.

It was no longer a game, it was survival! A strive to reach the highest level possible.

Equipped with dual-class of melee and magic user, Jack was set on the path to become the strongest character in this brave new world.

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

The cube rebelled against my will, cursed me, and struggled to reject my sapphire. Using the connected tethers, I began resealing the puzzle. Every change and switch to the puzzle sent it into a panic. I felt my connection to the glowing blue cube grow with ever second my sapphire remained inside of it. In moments I controlled half of the puzzle. 
        "Stop please," A childish voice screeched. I snorted and continued my work. My aura sense bathed the cube in my ownership. "You don't understand I can't leave the captain's hand. Please, I'll help you convince another treasure." Sixty percent of the cube was under my control and it could no longer be solved. I rearranged the colors in a pattern that made solving it impossible. 
        "None of the others accepted me. You're my last hope." I said. 
        "No, choose someone else anyone else. I'm the last barrier protecting the world." I ignored the warning and continued marking the cube. "Why can't you leave me? I was happy fulfilling my purpose for all time." The cube screeched. 
        Seventy percent of the cube fell under my control and I began walking out of the room. "You must have some interesting powers why you don't show them to me." I said. 
        "That's where your wrong I'm worthless. I can't do anything flashy or powerful. The crystal phage was an accident. Captain Merrick and his crew were infected by a bacterium, I was just trying to help them. Please put me back, the plague can't be allowed to spread." A roar echoed through the submarine followed by intense stomping sounds. 
        A shiver crawled down my spine before a tidal wave of black and green aura bashed against my aura sense. "I guess that was the bacterium. Does the plague have a name?" I asked. 
        "False Dragon Disease, haven't you heard of it? How long was I down there?" The childish voice asked. 
        "It doesn't matter, I'll take care of the infected. What's your name?" I asked. 
        The cube paused for a minute. "I don't have a name but if you must call me something call me Ubik I'm a medicube. I'd give you my serial number, but the captain filed it down and erased it from my memory banks." Ubik said. 
My control over the cube increased to 85%. I felt a hum pass between my aura and Ubik something was waking up within the little box. "Why are you a puzzle?" 
        Before Ubik could answer the door to the command deck tore open, large bone claws sheared away the steel. A deformed human head peaked through. The eyes had been split apart by long green tentacles widening the creature's gaze as bone grew between the gaps. Bits of crystal fell away as long green and black cords split through the skin and out of the creature. A large green and black organ flashed in the open before ribs crawled over it before twisting burying the organ behind twisted bones. 
        "Can you become a weapon or something I can use against these creatures?" More of the monsters poured out. Bits of ancient clothing fell away revealing glittering dark green scales. Below the scale's bones shifted and bulged threatening to split the skin. Old hunks of human meat fell away while the creatures continued to mutate. Their auras and levels were growing by the second. I could sense a sharp lateral increase in power. 
        The creatures charged and I turned tail. Aura Rush burst around me, and I closed the doors as I ran. Soon I was in a closet filled with old treasures. None of them seemed very happy we were in there. 
Ping!
Connection Complete
Treasure Acquired: Ubik the Medicube
        "I have a plasma scalpel and you save my crystal phage, but both cost a lot of energy." I connected my aura to Ubik and felt the machine pull in vast amounts of aura. Blue sparks flew off the floating cube as it sucked in power. 
        Using my normal spells were out of the question. I didn't want to touch these creatures and risk infection. Taking two pills a day was enough for me. 
        "Power Cells fully charged new owner accepted. What's your name master?" The last words were grudgingly spoken. 
        "Get your plasma scalpel ready we have to kill these things." I said. 
        "Unlike the treasures around here I'm just a medicube. There aren't any mystical secrets held within me I'm just a simple device. It would have been better off if you had chosen any other unit. I raised my hand and called Ubik to me. His form shifted before wrapping around my wrist. A blue plasma beam emitter sprung out from above. A long barrel slid well over my wrist. I pointed at a wall and felt a tiny kick. Bright blue from plasma the steel cried down the wall. 
        "Due to data corruption from my long time in stasis, all files retaining to the crystal phage have been deleted. From what little remains, I was able produce this."  Small bits of blue metal crawled down my fingers armoring them without limiting movement. With a flex of my will the weapon disassembled leaving the armored glove and a cube on my wrist. "This is all I can do; we must contain this outbreak." I nodded slowly. 
        One of the creatures burst from one of the useless vents above sparks of electricity from old wires shocked the water as the creature howled. It released its anguish, its pain, and all of its hate. The it opened its mouth and unleashed a cloud of spores. "Don't breathe them in. I dashed to the side and fired off a shot slamming into the creature's heel. The flesh burned away, and the bones cracked beneath. Long dark green tendrils moved to the wounded around. New scales began to glitter over the around. New green bones grew in the cracks. 
        In that moment of distraction, I moved. Diving forward I grabbed the creature's tail and yanked it off its feet. Two shots fired off blasting it in the chest. Flesh burned away revealing a spiraling barrier made of ribs. The longs had long since turned black and rotted away. Green tendrils had set into the bones and fought to protect the whirlpool of bones within from my plasma rounds. 
        "Ubik this might hurt a bit." I withdrew the barrel and punched forward. My blow yielded the explosive force of around 10 sticks of TNT. Even holding back most of my strength the bones protecting the heart exploded with incredible force. The organ it protected exploded and the creature released a death shriek. 
        The second my blow struck I shot out of the room as spores erupted from the dying creature. I heard more creatures in the room than when I left it. While they were distracted, I found another hole and dove into the room with the bone machine. Despite how weak they were I didn't want to chance an infection. Plasma dripped off Ubik sterilizing his surface. 
        "The infected will devour their dead and grow stronger. I hope that wasn't your full strength." I needed to do something. I had plenty of levels saved maybe it was time to purchase another system upgrade. With that in mind I purchased item enhancements. I felt my system practically bend over backwards rearranging itself. 
Ping!
Sacred Treasure Update
Ubik The Medicube lvl1 Blue Crystals needed to level up.
Type: Tech
Color: Blue
Grade: 1
To Enhance Grade 10 Grade 1 treasures required
        "I feel funny what's wrong with me. Did I get infected? Machine's aren't supposed to get infected. Did the disease evolve somehow?" Ubik asked. 
        "Don't freak out." I said. 
        I grabbed a sparkling blue spear from the ground. The treasure snorted coldly at my impertinence. "What are you going to do with that?" I pushed the treasure against Ubik. The spear shrieked as its form was ripped apart and fed into Ubik. "What! No, get it out of me it feels weird there are so many flakes and it feels oily. Stop!" Ubik shrieked. 
        "I'm almost done just a little longer." I told the cube. The spear shrieked as it ground down fed into Ubik like a pork butt through a meat grinder. 
        Ubik suddenly erupted with new energy. "What did you do to me I feel great?" Ubik yelled. 
        There were many more spears on the ground. Many went quiet as I approached them. Not a one had the power to rebel. Spear after spear I fed them to Ubik. Each one was torn apart by Ubik's plasma and devoured. 
Ping!
Sacred Treasure Update
Ubik The Medicube lvl1 Blue Crystals needed to level up.
Type: Tech
Color: Blue
Grade: 1.1
To Enhance Grade: 15 Grade 1 treasures required
        There were so many treasures in this place. I was sure they wouldn't miss a few more. The ground was covered in spears. Spears lined the walls. Higher grade spears filled the high walls. This submarine was much larger on the inside than the outside. 
        Slowly, I made my way through the piles of spears sacrificing them to Ubik. The monsters hadn't found me yet so that gave me time to move through and clear out the piles. 
Ping!
Sacred Treasure Update
Ubik The Medicube lvl1 Blue Crystals needed to level up.
Type: Tech
Color: Blue
Grade: 1.9
To Enhance Grade: 90 Grade 1 treasures required
        Aura crackled around Ubik he stretched halfway up my arm now. The ground was getting a little empty but there were other rooms. Once the monsters came Ubik and I would handle them. Just after I cleared another spear pile alarm blared across the submarine and the water levels began to drop. 


Everything that could go wrong went wrong.  An Apathetic system AI is suddenly trapped in the body of his host.  Watch as after decades of apathy he gains power, friends, and waifus to have sex with.   

Smut starts on chapter 28

Shen Luo'an moved closer to take a look.
It was a small puzzle with nine grids, so it was very simple.
However, for a two-year-old child, it isn't easy.
Shen Luo'an took one glance at it and in disbelief, asked, "Did Xiao Yue'er complete this by himself?"
"Yes!" Shen Zhilie said rather excitedly. He then looked at Shen Luo'an and said, "I bought this for him and earlier on, I had passed the puzzle to him and he immediately started working on it. The little chap's fixing up the sixteen grid one right now. Come on, let's go take a look!"
Shen Luo'an, felt extremely proud and excited when he heard this.
He tagged behind Shen Zhilie as they made their way to Xiao Yue'er's nursery room. There, they saw the little boy sprawled out on the floor engrossed in playing with his toys.
When he noticed Shen Zhilie and Shen Luo'an entering the room, he looked up at them and laughed merrily before calling out, "Daddy! Uncle!"
"What are you playing with?" Shen Luo'an asked as he walked over and squatted down beside him to take a look.
Xiao Yue'er looked at him and then proceeded to point at the puzzles before obediently replying, "Uncle."
"Did Uncle give this to you?" asked Shen Luo'an. He then caressed the boy's head gently and asked, "Do you like it?"
"Yes, I like it," said Xiao Yue'er with a grin.
Shen Luo'an glanced at the puzzle and realised that Xiao Yue'er was almost done with it.
The four corners of the puzzle were already completed properly.
"Have you completed the puzzle?" asked Shen Luo'an.
Shen Yuexiao looked at the puzzle in front of him and proceeded reached out for the puzzle piece in his father's hand. He then shook his head and simply said, "No."
Subsequently, he pieced the puzzle that he had grabbed to where it was supposed to be on the sixteen-piece puzzle set on the floor.
Shen Zhilie and Shen Luo'an watched him in silence, awed by his ability. Soon, they realised that he had completed all sides of the puzzle perfectly, all the pieces were fitted correctly.
Within a short period of time, he was fixing up the last piece of the puzzle which features an eye-catching image of Wolffy, the Big Grey Wolf. The puzzle was completed perfectly, without any error.
Shen Luo'an seemed as if he had expected this and looked to be in complete disbelief. On the other hand, Shen Zhilie simply laughed out loud and said, "Brother, look at this."
Shen Zhilie pointed at a lego house in the corner of the room. It was a tall and beautiful little villa with such intricate detailing.
"I just brought all these toys home today. Look how well he has built the house," said Shen Zhilie.
Shen Zhilie looked extremely proud when he said this. "Like I said. My nephew can't possibly be dumber than other kids," he said.
"Who said that Xiao Yue'er was dumb?" Shen Luo'an asked as he raised his eyebrows. "He has always been very smart. There were many times when he could remember little details and facts even though I've only told it to him once. You often play with him as well, don't you? You're not the least concerned about your nephew and yet you have the cheek to say such a thing?" questioned Shen Luo'an.
Shen Zhilie felt slightly awkward and so he coughed lightly before trying to defend himself, "Well, I just realised. Kids from other families are also pretty smart. Look at Ou Ming's daughter. She's one year younger than Xiao Yue'er but she already knows how to use the bathroom by herself. She's also articulate and very quick-witted."
"Girls tend to be quicker in learning how to speak. Their brains will also develop faster. But the development is only limited to its physical growth. Xiao Yue'er's IQ is much higher than his peers," countered Shen Luo'an.
"Well... My sister-in-law's son is also pretty smart. I'm referring to Li Jinnan's son," said Shen Zhilie.
"Oh?" said Shen Luo'an.
"He speaks smoothly and he enunciates clearly," continued Shen Zhilie.
"Does he know how to solve the Rubik's Cube?" Shen Luo'an asked.
"Gosh... How would I know?" Shen Zhilie replied, dumbfounded.
"Xiao Yue'er already knows how to solve the Rubik's Cube. He can even fix his own broken toys," replied Shen Luo'an nonchalantly, making it extremely evident that he was bragging about his son's capabilities. "This child's just like me. He doesn't like to talk much but his mind is definitely much sharper compared to talkative people like you," continued Shen Luo'an smugly.
"...So you're even launching a personal attack now?" Shen Zhilie asked.
"Am I?" said Shen Luo'an as he took one glance at Shen Zhilie. "But aren't I speaking the truth?" he continued.


In her previous lifetime, they had married for five years. He meant everything to her, but she was thrown away like an old shoe. 

After her rebirth, she gave him a divorce contract preemptively— 
“Divorce after one year, the terms of the contract are as follows: husband and wife shall not share a room or bed. Intimacy forbidden?” 
he raised his eyebrow. 

Who knew that after she got drunk one day, leaning on the headboard, he rested his deep-set eyes on her. "You broke the contract, Mrs, Li."

Jon retrieved the paper with 'Grab' spell and sat on the ground thinking what should he do.

"So the enchantments on the Dwarven Centurions was part of the answer… But a Zero Gravity area is not easy to build with magic. Actually, it is impossible to negate all the gravitational force coming from the planet and then enchant a whole 40*50 meters area with no power source whatsoever… It is impossible even if you are Divayth Freaking Fyr."

Jon sat on the ground and started making the calculations again and again with every Aspect and Effect he knows of but they were all not possible by 'Mortal Means'.

"Technically, it is possible to make the Dwarven Centurions resist the Zero Gravity without enchantments! They are dead objects so there is no need to go through all the trouble as it won't affect them anyway because you CAN'T POSSIBLY CREATE SUCH A GRAVITY FREE ZONE WITH MAGIC! IT IS AGAINST THE NATURAL LAW SO THIS IS NOT A ZERO GRAVITY ROOM!"

At this part, Jon was absorbed in the mystery of the room and didn't even think about the cube anymore. He just sat there and began studying.

***

On the top floor of Tel Fyr, six Dark Elves were watching while nodding.

"It is true, it is against the natural law. He surely picked that up fast!"

"Fufu! Don't look down on my apprentice, Beyte. He is not even trying just yet."

"Said the one who fell on her knees just a minute ago and begged Lord Fyr to take him out."

"Alfe, leave me alone."

"I actually didn't think he would be able to kill the Bull Kagouti and even reach to the Puzzle Room, you have a good apprentice Nurina."

"Thank you, Delte. Sorry for worrying you."

"Excuse me, Lord Fyr. But how did he manage to reach the Puzzle Room? And what is that Cube he is aiming for?" Uupse asked the Elderly Dark Elf who was sitting on his chair and watching Jon.

"Hmmm… A dear and old friend of mine built this room with me so we can watch a few good challenges together. The Cube was something he worked on to be something similar to a masterpiece he created long ago. Alas, he passed away before we receive our first challenger." The man spoke in a normal tone that reflected some of his sadness.

The five ladies were shocked with the emotion Lord Divayth Fyr showed. The man who was mostly indifferent and expressionless was speaking softly.

"As for how he got there, he used the old big pipe. And the reason behind him targeting the Cube should be… fate!"

***

Back to Jon who was in the middle of a brainstorm.

He was sometimes writing and sometimes looking around like crazy while counting stuff and making things in order.

"So it is not a gravity spell as I said, it is simply a levitation spell. But that still doesn't make any sense. The Space negates all sorts of 'Waterwalking', 'Levitation', and 'Teleportation' spells. So how can it be possible that… Oh!"

Jon jumped up and looked around again.

"The Space! The answer is the Space!"

Jon was happy for some reason and he collected the tools he took out and put them back on his bag.

The answer he arrived for was that the Gravity Law in the room was not enchanted, it was the Space that was enchanted to make anything in the surrounding levitate including dead objects. The dormant Dwarven Centurions were all distractions. A facade to make the challenger not focus on the main issue. Levitation was applied onto space and the Dwarven Animunculi were all here to make it look like they are not flying around because of the 'Resist Gravity' effect. The truth was that they are stuck to the ground and are not going to move by all means.

The Dwarven Spiders were put behind the walls to make a background effect and distract from focusing on the main issue. The focus tends to flatter away when a lot of threats are around.

Even the Dwarven Spider that Jon met outside the room was there to give the illusion that they can come out easily so the challengers had to be wary all the time.

Now, none of that was even the main issue.

Jon had to find a way to navigate across the levitation area and avoid any of the traps that he didn't even find yet. Still, he had an idea where they are.

'In the space, just like the enchantment!'

Jon realized that the traps are not in this version of reality. They were applied on space and designed to be activated once space they are connected to gets messed with.

Jon spread his detection far and wide then retrieve it and focused it around his eyes. He then opened his eyes and activated his new version of detection, the 'Third Eye' or the 'Eye of the Mind'.

What he saw next was something out of a fairy tale. It was simply marvelous.

In the empty place in front of him, a lot of rune circle with all sizes and colors were filling the space.

It looked like a festival of magic that was about to be unleashed when a small thing is just to touch one of those.

They were all beautiful magic circles that were imprinted on the space but each and every one of them is deadly without a doubt. One wrong move and death is a certain thing. All these magic traps were all around the third section of the room filling of the space.

"Hehehe! Now that's what I call a trap."

Jon shook his head helplessly as he had no idea who to bypass that trap.

He was lost in its beauty and wonder to the point that he was just simply standing there doing nothing.

He knew that the moment he steps in there, he will be just moving around with no control over himself in a 'Zero Gravity Mimicking Levitation Space'.

"Or maybe… can it be another round of Hopscotch?"

Jon had this funny idea that seemed to be very unreal but when he thought about it, it actually became visible to him.

'I see, that rune and that rune… shut up! Can it be really done that way?'

Jon started making his calculations once again and detected the safest route to the Cube.

"Sigh! Here goes nothing."

Jon walked into the space and completely submitted himself to the Levitation force. Once he was in, there was no room for mistakes.

He calmed down and tried to reach clarity then opened his eyes and pushed himself slowly and very carefully towards a certain white magic circle in the space.

He kept flying slowly until he reached the circle. Once he put his hand on it, he felt like it had a matter and reassembled a platform in the middle of space.

"Genius!"

He couldn't help but praise.

Jon then stepped on the circle and jumped pushed himself through the space towards the other one, and from it to the other the third and the fourth.

A minute later, Jon was floating in front of the Dwemer Cube.

"Hehe! Found you!"

Jon was feeling great but he had to be cautious of any hidden trap around the Cube.

The Cube was surrounded by a glass container and was locked with a key. The keyhole was protected with magic and could only be locked by a key.

"... Or our good old lockpicks."

Jon took out some lockpicks from his bach and isolated the magic in the keyhole from interfering with the picks. Luckily, it didn't require a certain key to open the lock as the lockpicks were already doing their charm and…

*tink*

The lock opened safely and Jon could open the display and stretch his hands in.

Of course, just like any cliche story, once Jon held the Cube in his hand, shit went down.

First, the 'Levitation' enchantment on the Space got disabled and all the traps on the Space also disappeared.

Jon who was floating fell on his face.

"Ouch… okay! I saw that one coming so I won't complain… no, I am complaining! Why are you guys moving?"

Jon looked around and saw a horde of Dwarven Animunculi swarming from left and right. All the Dwarven Spiders and the Dwarven Spheres, that he assumed won't be moving, all came towards him at once.

*TINK* *FEEEEEEHHHH*

*TINK TINK TINK*

*STOMP STOMP*

Jon heard a more unpleasant sound behind him and lo and behold the three Dwarven Centurion that just came back to life.

"So you guys were to come out when the cube is taken? Tsk, how dirty!"

Jon already collected the prize and was in no mood to stay. The third section's traps were all removed but the 'No Teleportation, No Levitation' rules were still applied.

More to that, on higher platforms, some new faces entered the scene. A total of ten Dwarven Ballistas came out and aimed their big bolts at Jon.

"Perfect! I guess, it is time for me to go."

Jon started walking slowly while smiling to the Dwarven Spiders and Spheres around him. He then broke into running towards the second section.

All sorts of projectiles were shot at him yet he reacted faster and increased his speed to the limit. With, only a few meters away from the second section, Jon got ready to take the show to an end.

"Ladies, this is the day you'll always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jon Dare. WULD NAH KEST!"

***

All I can remember next was causing a big explosion after going through the second section with the 'Whirlwind Sprint' Shout and the shockwave sent me flying through the first section.

I then landed outside it and used the 'Teleportation Scroll' to return back to the Onyx Hall.

The ones received me were Nurina, the Fyr sisters and an elderly Dark Elf with silver hair that I directly recognized as Lord Divayth Fyr.

"Apprentice Jonhild Firemane pays his respect to Great Grandmaster."

I mimicked some of these wuxia novels when an apprentice greats a great master. Divayth Fyr is the greatest master after all.

"Haha! Divayth Freaking Fyr accepts your respect."

Oh boy! He must have heard it.

I felt like being struck by lightning but it seemed Lord Fyr took it as a joke.

"Sigh… Heroes! They get luckier every century." Lord Fyr sighed and spoke with a smile. "This Cube, why did you choose it?"

Lord Fyr asked me a question I was really trying to figure out an answer for. I can't possibly say that a creepy incorporeal entity that dwells inside me had the gave me a hint.

"A creepy incorporeal entity that dwells inside me had the gave me a hint."

"Ahaha! Amazing, you have one of those." Lord Fyr laughed it off, "By the way, that Cube was made by my dearest friend so I will lend it to you, whoever of us dies first then the cube will belong to the living one."

Oh! It seems the Cube is really precious and holds a sentimental value for Lord Fyr. I wanted to return it back but I really went through some crazy troubles to get my hands on it.

"Deal!"

"Good then. I hope to see you once you have grown into the best promise of yourself. Until then." Lord Fyr said and turned away.

I was holding myself not to blush the whole time.

This is Lord Fyr. I don't want to sound like a pervert but when he patted my shoulder just a while ago, I vowed to not ever let anything touch it again. I am considering removing it and keeping it in a museum.

Once he turned around and left, Beyte and Uupse followed him and I got introduced to Delte who arrived just a while ago.

After that, Nurina took me to the side.

"Brat! Do you know what did you just take?"

She was speaking and beams of joy were shooting from her eyes.

"Nope, I just felt it is the best thing in there."

"Damn, you are so lucky. Listen closely, the place you went in was an old Dwemer Ruin that got 'relocated' under Tel Fyr by Lord Fyr and a close friend of his."

"Aha! I see, so that friend is the expert in the Dwemer artifacts."

"I am glad you noticed."

"Hey, was it Yagrum Bagarn?"

"No, it is not. I doubt that he would want to do anything related to Lord Fyr's personal sport."

Not Yagrum Bagarn, the last living Dwemer? Then who was it?

"The room you was in is called the 'Puzzle Room'. It was created by the efforts of Lord Fyr and his venerable friend and you just beat it and took its most important treasure. You brat has beaten the work of Dungeon Master who is specialized in Magic and a Puzzle Master who is specialized in Dwemer Technology."

I gulped a mouthful of saliva.

"Damn!"

I clearly realized what I just did.

"Who is Lord Fyr's friend? And what is that artifact?"

Nurina sighed and calmed down then said some words that I doubt my sanity afterward.

"The friend is Sotha-Sil and the artifact is the 'Haven Cube'."

[AN: the Haven Cube is inspired by the mod 'Haven Bag by Haishao. Just an immersive and lore-friendly version of it.]

Meet Jon Dare, your every day's 25 years old who one day wakes up in Honorhall Orphanage in the city of Riften in the Kingdom of Skyrim. He reincarnated in his favorite game 19 years before the start of the game’s events. Armed with knowledge about the future and full potential in Magic, Combat and Voice, the Nord kid will set out from Riften to find himself becoming a Hero way before the start of the game events.
----------
Extra Tags: Domestic Affairs, Animal Sidekick, Creative MC, Strong MC
----------
Find Extra Early Chapters and our Discord Server on this link...
https://linktr.ee/donovel

puzzle cube novel

Cube

The Epic Adventures of Maou and Shelly

Wait, you're dead already?

The dark gamer of another world

Unwieldy

Second World

The Academy of the Elites

Trapped On A Death World

The 99th Divorce

Dragonborn Saga

People search puzzle cube also like: