Arcane Innovator

[Choose one treasure to keep:]

[Bounty of knowledge] [Bounty of might] [Bounty of affluence]

When I saw the few lines of glowing text in front of me, I couldn't help but blink a few times.

My first thoughts were, 'Treasure? ...A treasure!' Which was quickly followed by a feeling of immense frustration. 'What do you mean I have to choose only one? I want all of them!'

Then, after a brief pause, I reluctantly came to terms with the sad reality that there was simply no way around this and furrowed my brows, contemplating the trio of enticing choices before me.

'They could at least give me more details.' I sighed. Still, if I had to make a choice, there was only one option, really. 'As one wise man once said - an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest...'

My hand swiftly touched a particular part of the glowing script, and in the next moment, there was a bright flash of light as something manifested itself upon the pedestal.

Startled, my hand yanked back while I hurriedly stepped away.

When the light finally disappeared, and everything seemed to return to normal, I warily approached the pedestal again to take a look at the item lying upon it.

At first, I was not very impressed. What met my eyes was a thin, plain-looking book, its worn-out cover twisted and cracked by the passage of time.

However, I quickly realized that this was not an ordinary book. 'Is this...?'

With wide eyes and a silly grin, I hurriedly leaned over, eager to study this unexpected reward.

Despite appearing like any other book that could be found inside this illusory library, the more I looked at it, the more certain I was that this was the real deal.

When I focused my magic sense on it, I could feel its essence emanating out from it, pulsing even. Its presence spread across the tiny chamber almost as if it had a mind of its own.

At that moment, I knew that this was a very special kind of book—a Grimoire.

So far, I have only read about them but never seen one with my own eyes. They were as coveted as they were guarded, for such books were used to record actual spell incantations and instructions on how to cast them. In other words, they were priceless.

'They give something so rare as a common reward in a test? ...I'm not even a proper apprentice yet!'

This made me wonder what sort of reward they would give in an actual competition. 'All the more reason to join...'

I quickly tucked the thin book under my shirt, afraid it would disappear if I took my eyes off it for a second. Fortunately, it was no trick; the book was as real as it could get.

It was positively humming with energy while being warm to the touch, and I briefly considered studying its precious contents right here and now. But then I decided now was not the time, as I was too distracted by everything else going on.

So, with nothing more to do, I promptly exited the small room. The door immediately closed behind me with a barely audible click, becoming almost invisible again, with only its contours faintly announcing its presence.

'Hmm, Interesting... So those who activate the mechanism and then run straight for the gate completely miss the reward.'

This only further reaffirmed my previous decision to take my sweet time here, as going for quick results didn't always guarantee the best outcome.

It seemed that in addition to multiple solutions to the maze, there were also hidden features that could only be spotted by those with keen eyes.

I previously wondered why we were given so much time here since the maze could be completed in well under an hour. Granted, I cheated a little by using my magic sense to navigate. But even without it, once you understood how the maze worked, it was fairly easy to figure your way around.

'Hell, since the keys react to magic, it would even be possible to just go down an aisle by aisle while blindly casting spells left and right, and you would eventually stumble upon one of the fake books with the key inside...'

Nodding absentmindedly, I turned around, wanting to go back down the main corridor to see if I had missed something interesting, but then I froze, wide-eyed. 'Wait... keys?'

I quickly looked over at the hidden doors as a certain crazy idea manifested itself in my mind.

Throwing one more furtive glance at the hourglass, I noted that there was still around half the time left, and a broad grin began slowly creeping upon my face.

***

I dashed through the aisles casting breezes, seemingly at random, so it would look like pure luck when I inevitably stumbled upon the other keys. Meanwhile, guided by my magic sense, I was meticulously getting closer and closer to their true location.

At first, I tried to devise a cleverer way to reach them, but after a while of futile effort, I decided not to worry too much and settled for the brute force approach.

To any outside observer, it would look like I was just fooling around, as my effort seemingly had no order.

Like that, I merrily continued with my rampage, and before long, I was tightly grasping two small ornate keys in my hand, enough to get the remaining rewards. 'I hope this works.'

I returned to the front, passing the still-opened gate and going straight for the secret door beside it.

I held my breath as I stretched out my hand with the key toward them, and when I saw the shimmering keyhole manifest, my heart lept in joy. 'Now we're talking!'

The very same scene played itself out as I entered the tiny chamber, and to my surprise, I was even presented with the identical set of choices as before.

Although the idea of getting another grimoire was extremely enticing, I didn't want to tempt fate in the likely case that it was simply some sort of glitch and there was no reward left to give. Thus, I opted to get one of each.

At that moment, I couldn't help but wonder why there were even multiple keys for the same gate.

The only thing that came to my mind was to increase the probability of finding one. 'I guess whoever created the maze must have later found out that the test was too difficult and was forced to make some alterations.'

They also probably didn't count on the possibility that there would be someone like me who could perceive all the keys and go back to look for them after the gate was already opened.

I was, of course, perfectly fine with exploiting this, watching eagerly as another item manifested itself upon the pedestal. 'What's this?'

It was a long and slender 'Scepter? ...A wand?' crafted out of dark, polished wood with intricate carvings running the length of its handle. Its tip was made out of sleek reddish metal, probably bronze or copper, with a small, clear magic gem embedded at its very top.

Whatever it was, by the look of it, it was clearly something to help channel your magic, and although not my first choice, it made my heart beat faster nonetheless. 'It's an Artifact!'

I had no idea how to use it, but the wood looked sturdy enough, so in the worst case, I could simply use it as a makeshift club to bang someone over the head with it. Since we weren't allowed to bring anything with us to the Trials, this would certainly be a welcome help.

Smiling broadly, I left the chamber and used the final key.

The last treasure was, as expected, a small pouch of coins. However, contrary to the inviting glint of silver or gold, what met my eyes were thirty white-ish coins that looked plain and dull.

Still, I didn't dismiss them since what they lacked in appearance was more than compensated by their aura. I could feel the distinct traces of essence emanating from them like they were some sort of artifact, and I instantly knew there was much more to them than what met the eye.

I quickly tucked them away and cheerfully entered the still-opened gate. It took me, on average, around half an hour per key, so I still had around twenty minutes to spare when I emerged from the portal.

I blinked, finding myself in the same spacious chamber as before. I looked around with a pause, finding it strangely deserted. My first thought was, 'Wait, am I the first one to make it out?' I furrowed my brows. '...That can't be true, can it?

But before I could wallow in my uncertainty any longer, the same young woman overseer approached me. For a second, she gave me a strange look but then broke into a broad smile.

"Well done! You've succeeded in your Trial. You can now join the others in the waiting room over there while waiting for the rest to finish." She said, gesturing toward her left, where I saw an open door I hadn't previously noticed.

'She said to join the others, so I'm not the first!' I thought excitedly, as I was not keen to be the center of attention.

"Ah, thank you," I replied politely before making my way over there, smiling. 'Now, onto the last Trial...'