Cyclone's eyes hovered between the three different images, murmuring:
"Hmm. That guy seems familiar…"
"It's the pirate captain, Osick."
"Damn. I remember that. It's one of the first bosses we fought together!", exclaimed Silent Acacia with a laugh.
"Back then we even had Sun's Knight in the team!"
The friends were hit with a wave of nostalgia as they remembered these 'ancient' memories.
"Is it a coincidence? It can't be, right? If someone else came here the possibility would be too low that they recognize some random low-levelled boss."
"I think so too. Especially since, if I recall correctly, Osick wasn't even a boss. He was a sub-boss or lord."
"Mhm. So, does anyone remember the colour of this crystal?"
Balm deliberately asked this question to bring everyone's attention back to the puzzle. She was successful as Silver Blade quickly nodded:
"Of course. This was the quest to retrieve that Blue Blood Trident and the crystal was naturally blue as well."
Seeing that everyone agreed, Quickstep didn't dawdle and drove the ship towards the right gate. Judging from the change in the night sky the friends had made the correct choice. In high spirits they continued and soon reached another crossing, this time facing five gates. The five images showed a majestic hawk perched on a towering tree. Its piercing eyes and sharp beak made it a fearsome predator. But the hawk was not in good condition with void energy corrupting its brown feathers. Even the characteristic line running along its back had started to turn violet.
However, what might have been the line's original colour? Red, green, black, white, or yellow?
"It's our first world boss!"
"It's also the first clash we had with Earthquake, Star Gazer, and the rest."
"You're right."
"What an interesting puzzle. This is a trip down memory lane. I like it.", said Silver Blade with a smile. Fortune's eyes lit up as she thanked the tank:
"A trip down memory lane! Thank you for coming up with a title for this chapter… eh, I mean, video!"
"Woah, stealing my ideas? Be careful I don't sue you."
Everyone smiled watching the two women joke around. No one was too bothered with this puzzle. After all, it was too easy for them. The first world boss! How could they forget its name: Void-Corrupted White-Striped Violent Hawk! After a few seconds Quickstep didn't even ask her friends before driving the boat through the image depicting a majestic hawk with a white stripe on its back.
The decision was obviously correct. After succeeding a few times, the friends were greatly confident. The next two gates were crossed almost without stopping. Everyone thought they would soon break through this maze. But the game didn't go easy on them. A few seconds later, they stopped at another crossing, surrounded by four gates. However, this time the differences in the images were difficult to spot.
The water gates showed a figure kneeling on the ground. Wearing a black robe there were no outstanding details. Even their head was hidden under a hood. However, the friends recognized the surroundings. It was the cultist temple on Six Demon Island. Thus, the figure kneeling in front of an effigy resembling Lekraxc could only be the high priestess Efroahnol.
"But where is the mistake?"
Cyclone voiced everyone's thoughts. They studied the images closely but could not find any differences. However, this time there was not only the single person in the image, but also a large part of the temple. Perhaps it was wrong to focus on the figure? Perhaps they should instead scan her surroundings?
The seconds ticked by and the confusion increased.
"I don't find it…"
"They all look the same."
"Watchful Eye, did you get anything?"
Even the observant bodyguard had to shake his head. The friends slowly grew more frustrated. Especially Cyclone was quite annoyed as she and Balm weren't present during this quest. She couldn't hold back and turned towards Liam:
"Expert, give us a hint!"
Liam pondered for a moment. But watching all the frustrated expressions and knowing that a mistake would send them back to the start he nodded and also studied the images closely. Since the puzzle would change in a way to project the experiences of the person trying to solve it, even Liam couldn't know the solution right away. However, since he had experienced it before, he had a better grasp on what to look out for. Thus, he soon noticed something.
"Ok, I'll give you a hint. Do you remember the race of the high priestess?"
"The race? Wasn't she… an elf?", asked Quickstep.
"Mhm. Sounds about right. But what does this have to do with this puzzle?"
"That's what we have to figure out. What do we know about elves? They are beautiful, great at magic…"
As Silver Blade took the lead the others added everything they knew. One striking physical detail was quickly mentioned by Balm:
"Pointy ears…"
Suddenly Watchful Eye jolted. He scanned the images again and let out a sigh.
"Pointy ears… we finally got it."
"What? Watchful Eye, did you find the solution?", inquired Silent Acacia with a hopeful expression.
"Yes. Look at their heads."
Everyone's eyes lit up as they scanned the heads of the four figures. But even then it took a while before Silver Blade tentatively said:
"It looks like only in the image to the right does Efroahnol have pointed ears. But it's difficult to tell with the hood on her head."
"Damn, now I see it. Silver is right!"
"Who came up with this? That's so… insidious."
"Yeah. C wants us to fail!"
For a moment the friends vented their emotions. This puzzle was really too difficult. Even know that they knew what to look out for it was still difficult to tell the difference between the correct image and the wrong ones. It was only the form of Efroahnol's head which gave it away.
Careful not to make a mistake the friends scanned everything thoroughly once more before deciding on the image to the right. Quickstep allowed the ship to pass the gate and the friends let out the breaths they held. Fortunately, the choice was correct! Yet there were still stars shining in the night.
"We still haven't passed the maze?"
"I hope we are done soon…"
The friends were feeling weary. They already asked Liam for a hint. If the difficulty increased again they might as well let the expert solve the puzzle by himself. But wouldn't it be too sad if they couldn't find the solution with seven people?
With apprehension in their hearts the party reached the next crossing. Two gates formed, projecting images. They showed a group of three people. They were an older human woman, a tanned human man, and a fierce orc. From the expressions of the three people, it was obvious that they were arguing, blaming each other. However, this was where the two images showed differences.
On one image the woman stared angrily at the man, who pointed at the orc, who in turn angrily fetched his teeth at the woman. In the second image the direction was reversed. The orc bared his teeth at the man, who pointed at the woman, who in turn stared at the orc.
"Oh, it's those three."
"That was part of the compass quest, right?"
"I don't think that's too difficult…"
The friends were somewhat surprised. Since the compass quest wasn't that long ago they still had some recollection. They felt like the puzzle was too easy this time. However, they didn't complain and rather felt relieved instead. After a short discussion they were confident that the first image was the correct one.
"Let's go! That's a level of difficulty I can get behind…"
Cyclone stood at the front of the ship, pointing towards the left image. Thanks to so much distraction she barely struggled with her seasickness. A moment later she felt the humid mist engulfing her. It was as if the ship passed through a cloud. A second later the mist dissipated again. Cyclone looked towards the sky and her eyes immediately went round.
The night sky had disappeared, replaced by a splendid sun. But surprisingly it was indeed only one sun. The other one was hidden behind a large head. The head was high in the sky, throwing a long shadow on the tiny ship. It belonged to a towering body which could even dwarf the old troll shaman Lekraxc. With perfect muscles and sitting perfectly still the person resembled a carefully sculpted statue. Cyclone couldn't help but gulp as she whispered:
"Did we finally find Zelgor?"
The others nodded lightly. No one dared to speak as an awe-inspiring pressure permeated the surroundings. The titan was like a sacred mountain or maybe even a god.
Quickstep took a deep breath and regained her bearings. She controlled the ship to slowly approach Zelgor. But when they came within a certain distance, Zelgor's eyelids slowly opened revealing two bright moons. The titan turned his head towards the ship, causing everyone's chests to tighten. A booming voice thundered, string waves in the ocean:
"Turn around, adventurers!"