Ragnor says, "Well, first I need to know your strengths and weaknesses. What are your strengths?"
I reply, "I know some karate basics, I'm good at hiding, I have good intuition, and I have invisibility magic."
Ragnor looks at me, perplexed, and asks, "What is this 'ka-ra-te'?"
Oh crap, I forgot we're in a medieval fantasy world. I decide to explain to Ragnor what karate is.
Ragnor: "Ah, so it's a style of hand-to-hand combat."
Me: "Yes."
Ragnor says: "Well, now that I know your strengths, tell me your weaknesses and where you want to improve."
Me: "I have little stamina, I'm arachnophobic, I've never won a fight alone in my life, and my magic is limited to two minutes per day."
Ragnor sighs and says: "We have a lot of progress to make. Well, first, I want to see this so-called karate. So, we're going to do a 1v1. You can use your magic, your mana, and your karate. I won't be allowed to use my mana; I'll use only my natural physical strength."
I start to panic and think: What? He wants a 1v1 right away even though he hasn't taught me anything and the training has barely started?
Ragnor, seeing my fear, says: "Don't worry, I'll hold back my blows."
Having no choice, I get into a karate stance. Ragnor smiles seeing this and also gets into a fighting stance.
In my head: I have to fight smart. My opponent is Ragnor. He managed to fracture the skulls of several spiders and he has great reflexes. If I attack first, there's a 95% chance he'll dodge and counter-attack. And I don't want to use my minute of invisibility yet. But if I let him attack first, I won't be able to dodge because of my trash reflexes.
While I'm thinking, Ragnor rushes at me and shouts: "You think too much!"
He punches me in the stomach, sending me flying against a tree.
Bam.
Because of the noise, Ren wakes up and sees me on the ground. He says in a contemptuous tone: "It looks like a single punch is enough to put you in a bad state, slave."
Annoyed, I say weakly: "What are you talking about? I'm doing great. I'm just resting for a bit."
Thanks to a colossal effort and my adrenaline, I stand back up to prove Ren wrong. I wipe my mouth, which is covered in blood. Suddenly, I charge at Ragnor with a fierce will to win. Ragnor is surprised because he has never seen me like this. Destabilized, I manage to land a Mawashi-Geri (a roundhouse kick) to his ribs.
Ragnor coughs up a small amount of blood and says: "Not bad."
Suddenly, he grabs me by the neck and lifts me up. The grip isn't strong enough to kill me, but I have trouble breathing. Without me doing anything, my body turns invisible on its own.
2:00 minutes remaining.
I take the opportunity to poke Ragnor's left eye. Ragnor screams in pain and drops me violently to the ground. I gasp for breath heavily. Ragnor is holding his left eye.
After getting enough oxygen back, I realize what I've done. I get on my knees and apologize to Ragnor. But Ragnor laughs and applauds me.
Ragnor: "You defended yourself well. That proves you have potential. We're going to stop the training for today."
We extended the break so Ragnor could bandage his left eye and so I could take a nap.
Ren (POV)
Me: "You really got destroyed by a slave. Pathetic."
Ragnor replies sharply: "Stop acting tough. You know as well as I do that Yuta has potential. You're just too arrogant to admit it."
I don't reply. Deep down, I'm proud of Yuta's progress, even if it doesn't show. I watch Yuta sleep and whisper softly: "Well done, slave."
Ragnor asks: "What? What did you say?"
Me: "Nothing. You're too stupid to understand."
Ragnor: "You really are the most arrogant being I've ever met in my life."
Yuta (POV)
After waking up, we hit the road again immediately.
Me: "I apologize again for what I did to you, Ragnor."
Ragnor replies kindly: "No, don't worry about it."
Ren says sarcastically: "You're really acting like a little girl, slave. A man doesn't apologize."
I reply: "Shut up. I don't want to be heartless like you."
We continued the journey, bickering. After a few minutes of walking, we see a creature waiting for us. The creature was sitting on a branch. I couldn't guess what creature it was. Suddenly, the creature jumps from the branch and lands gracefully. Seeing the creature, Ragnor quickly gets into a fighting stance and whispers angrily: "It's a beast-man. Specifically, a wolf-man."
A wolf-man is a bipedal wolf that can talk. I'm a bit disappointed by their appearance. I thought he would be half-man, half-wolf. But no, he's just a bipedal wolf that talks.
The wolf-man says: "Calm down. I don't want to hurt you. I want to help you find the princess. I know where she is, but first, you must solve three riddles. Each person must solve one riddle, and each has 1 minute and 30 seconds."
Ragnor asks seriously: "How can we be sure you aren't lying?"
The wolf-man laughs and says: "A wolf's word."
Ragnor whispers in our ears: "This is too fishy."
Me: "We have no other choice. We have to accept."
Me: "Okay, we'll solve the riddles, but swear on your life that you'll lead us to the princess."
The wolf nodded. Even though he nodded, for some reason, I'm a bit suspicious.
The wolf-man says: "Well, choose the first person to solve riddle number one."
Ragnor, Ren, and I decide to play Rock-Paper-Scissors. Ren and I both chose rock, and Ragnor chose paper. Ragnor has to do the first riddle since he won.
First Riddle:
You stand before two doors guarded by two spectral knights. One leads to the Dragon's treasure, the other to an endless fall.
The Iron Knight always tells the truth.
The Bone Knight always lies.
However, you do not know which is which. Furthermore, a spell prevents you from asking a direct question about the doors. You can only ask one question to one knight, and this question must be about what the other knight would answer.
The question: What must you ask to identify the treasure door with certainty?
Ragnor answers calmly: "I approach any knight and ask him: 'Which door would the OTHER knight point out to me as being the treasure door?'"
The wolf says: "Correct. But I want an explanation as to why it is correct?"
Ragnor explains: "No matter who I talk to, the answer will always be the wrong door. If I talk to the one who tells the truth, he will honestly tell me that the liar would point to the fall. If I talk to the liar, he will lie about the fact that the honest one would point to the fall. In both cases, I just have to take the other door."
The wolf smiles and says: "Well played. Flawless."
It's Ren's turn because he "won" (lost) the Rock-Paper-Scissors. He grumbles and whispers: "Why didn't I lose on purpose?"
Next Riddle:
Seven archmages are sitting around a round table to seal a pact. For the pact to be valid, each mage must clink glasses with their immediate neighbors (left and right) as well as with exactly two mages sitting across the table.
No mage can clink glasses twice with the same person.
The mage Meldor refuses to clink glasses with Valerius.
The mage Valerius is sitting directly to the right of Meldor.
The question: Is it mathematically possible to validate the pact under these conditions?
Ren yawns and says arrogantly: "This is so easy even a one-year-old baby could solve it. The answer is no, it's mathematically impossible."
The wolf says: "Correct, but why is it mathematically impossible?"
Ren replies, yawning: "It's a simple question of graph theory. Imagine each mage is a point on a circle. Each mage must clink glasses with their 2 neighbors + 2 mages across from them. This means each mage must have exactly 4 interactions (degree 4). The problem is Meldor and Valerius. Valerius is to Meldor's immediate right. For the pact to be valid, they must clink glasses because they are neighbors. If Meldor refuses to clink with his direct neighbor, he can never reach his 4 interactions without breaking the 'immediate neighbors' rule or without clinking twice with the same person. By refusing this single mandatory interaction, the cycle is broken. The pact cannot be sealed."
Ren adds: "I hope you understood, stupid wolf."
The wolf replies with annoyance: "Correct. But couldn't you explain that without the arrogance?"
Ren: "I'm not being arrogant, I'm only telling the truth."
The next one is me, and my riddle is this:
Third Riddle:
A mad alchemist presents you with three identical vials: a Potion of Strength, a Potion of Sleep, and a Potion of Poison.
On the labels, it reads:
Vial A: "This is the Poison."
Vial B: "Vial A contains the Strength."
Vial C: "The Poison is here."
The alchemist cackles: "Only one of these labels tells the truth, the other two are lies."
The question: Which vial contains the Potion of Strength?
I think for a few seconds.
In my head:
Statement A: "A = Poison"
Statement B: "A = Strength"
Statement C: "C = Poison"
If statement A is true, then statement B is necessarily a lie (because A cannot be both Poison and Strength). But if A is true ("A is the Poison"), then statement C ("C is the Poison") must also be a lie... so the Poison is not in C. That seems possible.
Wait. Let's look at statements A and B. They both talk about vial A.
If A is the Poison, label A is TRUE.
If A is the Strength, label B is TRUE.
If A is the Sleep, labels A and B are both LIES.
Suddenly I shout in a confident tone, with only 25 seconds left: "I found it! The answer is Vial A. It's the one that contains the Potion of Strength."
The wolf nods and says: "Now, give the explanation."
I only have 12 seconds left, so I start explaining quickly: "I-It's... it's simple. We know only one label is t-true. Let's look at labels A and B. They are... c-contradictory: one says A is the poison, the other says A is the s-strength.
If label A were true, then label B would be a l-lie. But that would mean label C is also a l-lie. If C is a lie ('The poison is here'), then the poison would be neither in A... truth... nor in C... lie... which is i-impossible because there is only one poison.
If label C were true, then A and B w-would be lies. If A is a lie, A is not the poison. If B is a lie, A is not the strength. So A w-would be the Sleep. But if C is the poison... t-truth... that works... E-except the prompt s-says there is only one truth. The only l-logical solution is that label B is the o-only truth. If B is true, then A c-contains the Strength.
L-let's check: If A contains the Strength, label A ('This is the poison') is a l-lie. Label C ('The poison is here') is also a l-lie, so the poison is in vial B. Everything c-coincides: only one truth (B), and the three p-potions are placed: A equals Strength, B equals Poison, C equals S-sleep."
The wolf applauds me and says: "You found them all. As promised, I will show you where the princess is. Follow me."
We follow him, and 35 minutes later, we arrive at an entrance. The wolf-man stops and says: "She is in there. Go in, I'll wait for you here."
We open the entrance gate and step inside. Suddenly, we fall into a hidden hole.
Ragnor says angrily: "Damn it, it was a trap. We've been played like suckers."
My thought: I should have listened to my intuition.
Ren tries to climb out of the hole, but the wolf pours a potion on him. Ren falls into a deep sleep. Ragnor and I suffer the same fate. I feel my body giving out and my eyes closing on their own. Everything goes black.