Yang sighed as he walked over to the riddle. “Even after I told them…”

  “You said ‘your riddle’, not ‘the riddle’.” Gilgamesh spoke to him with a sharp glint in his eyes. “What did you mean by that?”

  “Don’t you know? Every riddle is different for each person.” Yang replied. “Mine is a painting of three phoenixes in a spiral, each one eating the one ahead of it, and in the center is a burnt egg eating the flames. There’s a brush with seven colors underneath the painting.”

  Gilgamesh mused on it. “Kill the one ahead, but be killed by the one behind. The egg devours the flames… Is it about generations? The ones that come after devour the current. The egg takes their fire and is burnt… Takes their knowledge and is scarred by their deaths in some way. Grief? Grudges? But if it is eating the flames, it should also grow stronger from the cycle. It’s an egg, so something will be born from it. What would that be? A kingdom? …Legacy?”

  Gilgamesh’s contemplation turned to the riddle’s place within the trial.

  “The egg must be the focus. Whatever hatches is what he will need from it. The brush is meant to change the painting in some way to acquire it, but for what? Heal the burns? Would simply healing it be enough to overcome whatever it is meant too? Devour even more flames to grow stronger still? Would it survive? In this first place, which colors imply any of that…?”

  Gilgamesh found the riddle as difficult as his own. There were not enough hints as to what the challenge of the riddle was, nor how to obtain what was needed, even if he knew.

  Yang patiently waited until it seemed that Gilgamesh had reached a wall. “Use the paint brush to add all the other colors of flames to the egg, so it can absorb everything. Good and bad. Ignorance will just lead to more of the same, a repeat of the cycle. Only through complete understanding can there be a fundamental change.”

  Gilgamesh was silent for moment. “...Why have you not moved on if you already know the answer?”

  “We have a whole day to clear this Trial, and it’s finally one where we can just talk and not worry about fighting all the time.” Yang answered with a laze. “Everyone’s always in a rush to get something. It’s even worse in this Tower now. But there’ll just be more problems up ahead, you know…"

  A trace of profundity showed in his serene eyes with the brief pause between his words. “If you reach for more than what you have, you might drop what’s already in your hands.”

  Disdain simmered within Gilgamesh. He did not look down on the Shen scion’s abilities, for anyone who had made it this far was not incapable, but his ideology filled him with sickening indignation. It was one that could only be born from a realm of comfort and privilege. One that could not understand what it was like to have nothing in their hands to begin with.

  “You will die in this Tower.” The words Gilgamesh spoke were not a threat, nor were they even filled with much hatred. It was simply an honest assessment. One who does not reach for more would be surpassed by those who do, and find themselves at the mercy of those who hunger still.

  “Maybe.” Yang didn’t even seem offended by the comment, let alone concerned. “I’m Yang, by the way."

  “...Gilgamesh.” He felt inclined to give his name.

  Yang's eyes widened slightly with some surprise and chuckled. “Well, I guess things are more complicated for you. Still, it’s good to chill out sometimes, you know.”

  Gilgamesh did not respond.

  “So? What are your thoughts about my riddle?” He asked.

  “...why do you care? You already have the answer.” Gilgamesh said.

  “It’s boring if there’s only one way of looking at things.” Yang explained.

  Gilgamesh paused for a while, then spoke with conviction. “Paint over the phoenixes. If they are causing harm to the egg, the egg has no obligation to toil for them. If their deaths will strengthen the egg, then they must die."

  Yang was somewhat taken aback. “I thought you’d say something else… Mm. Yeah, that would probably work. But… would something that hatches from an egg like that be a good one?”

  “What does that matter?” Gilgamesh coldly replied.

  Yang looked back with a laze that almost turned into something else. “Do you-”

  “Hey.” A stranger interrupted from the side. “You’re smart, right? Can you help me solve my riddle?”

  “Mine too!” Another shouted out.

  “Sure.” Yang took no issue with the small crowd forming around him. “What about you?”

  “No need.” Gilgamesh picked up the three potions and headed down a path without hesitation.

  As he stepped into the hall, a monstrous shadowy figure formed in the center and loomed towards him. Gilgamesh threw the first potion at it, which broke against the monster and doused it in its red contents. But the monster did not even react, and simply drew closer.

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  Gilgamesh threw the second, and this time it staggered in pain. Then he threw the third, and the figure let out an inhumane wail as it broke down into wisps of dispersing mist which fled through the cracks in the stone.

  [ Handsome Monkey King ] boasts he could have solved that in his sleep.

  ‘Creativity’

  Gilgamesh glanced at the word for the third riddle irreverently and continued onwards. The labyrinth path brought him to a single carved gateway. On one side was a full suit of plate armor, and on the other were three pedestals containing a gold coin, a chalice, and a crown. Above the gateway was a flat stone tile, upon which were three pairs of painted carvings.

  Only one other person was there with him, a familiar figure anxiously tormenting over her riddle. Such was the depth of her distressful contemplation that Heroine did not even glance over when he approached.

  Gilgamesh eyed her for a moment, then turned his focus to the riddle. He glanced at the pedestals, then again at the knight, and finally up at the carvings.

  In the first one, a knight with the same style of armor as the one by the gate walked in front of a king. In the next, the knight walked beside a priest. And in the third, he walked behind a merchant.

  “A coin, a chalice, and a crown… Wealth, Faith, and Authority.” Gilgamesh deduced of their symbolism. “Is the riddle then to choose which is best for maintaining loyalty? But any of them can work, depending on how they are used…”

  “The crown is obviously the safer choice, since the knight would be the vanguard. A knight must also obey his king. The chalice may also be ideal, depending on the kind of path and enemies ahead. Does their position imply they are equal to their god? Would the knight value the priest’s life above his own in that case?”

  Gilgamesh thought.

  “The coin seems to be the worst. Loyalty bought is untrustworthy. The merchant takes most of the risk and runs the threat of being stabbed in the back.”

  Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed. “The crown seems the best, but not completely so. There must be another hint.”

  Gilgamesh inspected the suit of armor closely. It stood tall with its head held high and both hands rested on the handle of its sheathed sword.

  “...It does not kneel, which means it holds no great importance for status. Its head is high which means it is prideful and thus with little reverence. It fights for neither duty nor devotion, only for gain. But it is dressed as a knight, not a mercenary or bandit. It will have honor. The answer is the coin.”

  Gilgamesh glanced over at Heroine, who had not changed her behavior at all since he arrived. “What is the stance of your knight?”

  Heroine startled at the sudden question, more so at the voice of who asked it. She snapped around in an instant and took a step back. Her expression was wary and unsure of how to react to him.

  “Do you want to pass this Trial or not?” He asked her bluntly.

  Heroine hesitated for a good while even then, but eventually she made up her mind. “...it’s kneeling.”

  “How? Tell me exactly.” Gilgamesh said.

  Heroine’s eyes lingered on him, then they scanned over the knight. “...it’s holding its sword out with both hands. It’s head is bowed…”

  “Your answer is the crown.” Gilgamesh told her as he took the coin from the pedestal. The knight shifted in place, and approached him to hold out its hand.

  Gilgamesh noted that Heroine did not react to the event. “Our riddles must be separate and simply overlayered.”

  He looked back at the knight. “You will receive your payment after you escort me to the end.”

  The knight lowered its hand and walked over to stand behind him. Heroine glanced around, confused at Gilgamesh’s actions, and warily watched him walk towards the gateway.

  “...is that all?” She asked about their interaction.

  “Yes.” Gilgamesh passed through the gate and the knight followed.

  What he entered this time was not a hall, but a strange path. Only the floor was clearly visible despite there being no torches nor anything else in their place to illuminate his way. The walls and ceiling around him were a pitch black that seemed to wreathe like flickering shadows within.

  Gilgamesh walked silently through the path, and the knight followed. Their silent journey endured for a while until a twisted shadow creature lunged out from the darkness and into the path.

  It pounced at Gilgamesh with frightening speed, but the knight was swifter and cleaved it in half. The creature dispersed away with an unsettling wail, and the knight returned to its position behind Gilgamesh as they continued their journey.

  Shadow creatures emerged one after the other in random intervals, and each time, the knight stepped forth to vanquish them. But the end of the path was still not in sight, nor was even the indication of it.

  A larger creature emerged, twice the size of the dark creatures that came before it. The knight rushed forth to dispatch it all the same, but it received a gash on its armor for the trouble. As the shadowy creature dispersed, it glanced at Gilgamesh. But Gilgamesh held onto the coin without a word, and the knight returned to its place.

  More creatures emerged, each one of them large and each one of them left the knight with a new wound. And after each fight, the knight would glance at Gilgamesh just a little longer. Finally, it received a more serious wound, and this time, it approached Gilgamesh directly to hold out its hand in demand of the coin.

  “You will receive your payment after you escort me safely.” Gilgamesh said firmly and in no uncertain terms.

  The knight lingered as it stared back at him. Then it lowered its hand and took its place behind Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh resumed the journey down the path, and noted that the knight walked a little closer behind him now. But he showed no concern for the subtle threats of danger.

  Gilgamesh walked and walked and walked, and finally he reached the end. Gilgamesh turned to the knight and handed it the coin, who promptly resumed his stance from the start.

  ‘Logic.’

  Gilgamesh glanced at the words for the fourth riddle, and walked back into the Labyrinth’s tunnels. As soon as he stepped through, he was transported to a simple reed boat with just enough space for one person to stand on.

  His boat floated perfectly still atop a large manmade river within an ancient temple. Ahead of him at the shore of the river was a large creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman, both menacing and enthralling.

  To his sides were 9 other heroes upon similar rafts, and among them was one he recognized, the Shen prince Shaoquan. Even though his mouth was hidden behind a bamboo fan, his eyes were clearly smiling.

  And behind them all, where the river flowed towards, was a void.