Less than half an hour later they had their camp packed up and were on their way down the pyramid. Levi had been looking forward to getting going, but he had forgotten how high up they were. It took multiple hours to get down the pyramid, dampening his excitement to be doing something. Based on how far Sam estimated their destination was they were unlikely to reach it in one day anyway, but tramping down thousands of steps could wear at anyone. At least on their trip up there was the mystery of what was waiting for them at the top.

It took the group all of the first day and some of the next until they reached the circular grove. Seeing it for himself, Levi had to admit it did look suspicious. He had a feeling trees didn’t actually grow that close naturally. In the rest of the forest there was a good few arm lengths between the tree trunks while this grouping of trees barely had room for a person to squeeze between them. They were so close their branches were intertwined enough to make it hard to tell when one tree left off and the next began. Levi still had that small doubt in the back of his mind that this was the wrong place, but it was clear at this point that something was here. The question was what.

“Can you see anything inside?” Alex said to Sam.

She shook her head. “It’s too dark. The branches of the trees are covering whatever is in there so there is almost no light. If we want to know what’s inside we will have to go in.”

“I should be the first one to go in then,” Alex said. “If there is some sort of danger I can take a hit or two. I’ll poke my head in and see what’s inside, and if it looks like it’s safe you guys can follow.”

Levi thought Alex’s plan made sense, as did the rest of the group. It was common sense to let the tank go first after all. Alex activated his level twenty-five super skill and inched his way forwards, clearly wary of any traps or monsters. Slowly and carefully Alex made his way into the copse of trees. Once he was halfway inside he paused, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom of the covered grove.

“Guys, I think this is it.”

“You mean the tree in the picture is in there?” Sam said.

“Yeah,” Alex said, moving fully past the perimeter and disappearing from view. “I think it’s safe for you all to come in.”

One by one the rest of the group followed Alex and slipped into the grove. It took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust, but once they did they saw a reasonably sized area with a single tree in the center, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it two trees. Either way, it was clear it was the tree depicted in the bas relief on the pyramid.

As everyone else came in Alex was already busy inspecting the tree, looking for any openings in its trunk. Seeing what he was doing, Levi joined him, soon followed by the rest of the group. They spent a few minutes swarming over the tree, but were unable to find any openings or orb-like objects.

Mia was the first to give up. “It’s probably inside,” she said. “Or it’s not here.”

“Let’s keep searching,” Alex said. “I don’t want to destroy the tree and miss some crucial clue. It might be a treasure hunt style thing and we need to get the clue to go to the next location.”

“Suit yourself,” Mia said, shrugging.

She wasn’t the only one to stop searching, as soon Sam stopped too, followed shortly by Duane. Levi tried to persevere, but even climbing the tree didn’t yield any clues. After about twenty minutes he stopped as well, leaving Alex the sole person poring over every single divot and edge of the tree trunk. It took an additional twenty minutes for Alex to admit defeat.

“Okay, there doesn’t seem to be anything here. I guess you guys think we should destroy it then?”

“What other options are there?” Levi replied. “While you were busy poring over the tree we took a look around the rest of the clearing and it looks like there are three options. The orb is in the tree, it’s buried underground, or it’s not here. My vote is in the tree.”

Mia and Duane nodded in agreement, while Sam said “We could have already found it if you hadn’t been groping the tree this whole time.”

“Hey, the tree could have been a valuable clue!” Alex said.

“Except that it’s not, so just let Levi destroy it.”

Alex reluctantly moved out of the way, giving Levi clear access to the tree. Levi hadn’t actually tried destroying a tree before, but unless it was some magical tree it should be a piece of cake. He was actually more worried about destroying the orb along with it.

Walking up to it, Levi pulled back his fist and using a small percentage of his strength struck out. His test punch shook the tree with a dull boom, creating a swoosh as the upper branches rubbed against each other. His next punch contained a hint of Aecylic Energy, and with a crash his fist penetrated one of the twin trunks of the tree sending splinters flying. He had to close his eyes to avoid the debris. It was lucky his skin was no longer the same as a normal person, as if it had been he would have looked like a porcupine from all the splinters stuck in him. As it was they all just bounced off.

Disappointed with his results, Levi thought over his approach. He was hoping to destroy the tree in one punch, making it burst into smithereens. But thinking about it logically that kind of thing could only happen in anime. Instead, he went with the much more stable approach. He channeled a large amount of Aecylic Energy along with Physical Will and instead of punching the tree he starting ripping it to shreds in search of the orb he thought it contained within.

At first he was a bit worried about ripping away the base and having the top of the tree fall down on him, but the upper branches were so intertwined with the surrounding trees that they were supported even without the trunk, allowing Levi free reign to unleash a wood shredding frenzy. He started reasonable high up on the trunk and worked his way down, systematically dismantling the tree. It made a deep impression on everyone else. They had somewhat adjusted to life post System, but seeing someone rip a tree to pieces with their bare hands really drove home their new reality.

A small time into his tree shredding Levi reached the part of the tree at his chest level, and when he reached the center of the tree where the twin trunks were intertwined he felt something hard, something that clearly wasn’t wood. With trepidation, he used his hands to clear out the surrounding wood before pulling an orb about the size of a toddler’s head out of the tree.

The orb was a pure light grey color, but it looked more like some magical crystal ball than a precious stone or rock. The color looked consistent, but also seemed to writhe and swirl within the orb, creating the impression that there was some sort of grey mist struggling to break free. The rest of the group, seeing Levi remove the orb, crowded around, staring at their prize. They too were mesmerized, the convoluted grey drawing their eyes in. It felt magical, like watching snow falling outside lit up by a spotlight while you were safe indoors with a blanket in front of a fire. It was something you could watch forever and lose yourself in.

“We found it,” Levi said, breaking the spell.

“So do we just take it back now?” Mia asked.

“We should,” Alex said. “It’s not one hundred percent that this is what we are looking for after all. We still need to check if it fits.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sam said. “Are we looking at the same thing? Of course this orb is what we’re looking for. I’ve never seen a more obvious ‘this is a magic artifact’ in my life.”

“How many magic artifacts have you seen though?” Levi said sounding confused.

Sam shoved Levi’s shoulder, which didn’t move him at all, and stormed off in a huff. “We’re wasting daylight. Don’t stand around here all day.”

Everyone was in high spirits for the trip back. No one actually though they had the wrong orb. What Sam said about its appearance was what they all though too, and the idea that they were one third of the way to solving the puzzle on top of the pyramid gave them boundless energy and a sense of accomplishment. But once they got back to the top of the pyramid they were faced with a dilemma: where to actually put the orb.

Levi was still the one carrying the orb, and as soon as the group made it to the top of the pyramid they beelined for the center of the temple where the three indentations for the orbs were. But as soon as they reached central area they realized the problem.

“Wait,” Alex said. “Where are we going to put the orb? There’s three spots.”

“Does it matter?” Mia asked.

“Of course!” Alex nearly shouted. “By putting it in the wrong area we could trigger a trap, or worse destroy the orb!”

“Or worse?” Sam muttered under her breath.

“Alex is right,” Levi said. “I hadn’t thought about it, but part of solving the puzzle might be figuring out which orb goes in which slot.”

“How big a chance do you think there is that something could go wrong?” Duane asked.

“Honestly? I have no clue. But it’s a non-zero number, and Alex is right to bring up consequences.”

“Levi knows what’s up,” Alex said. “But now that we have the orb there’s no need to rush. There must be clues somewhere as to where each one goes.”

“Couldn’t it just go in the slot facing the direction we found the orb?” Duane said.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Mia said.

Alex wasn’t sold. “Maybe, but there’s no need to rush.”

“Do you mind if I see the orb for a sec,” Sam said, stepping towards Levi.

He handed it over to her, and then faster than everyone could blind, she quickly leaned over and slotted it into the indent Duane suggested. Levi stared at her in shock. If he had been on guard he was fast enough to have stopped her, but it was beyond his expectations that she would take a such a reckless approach.

“Oh fuck,” Alex said.

The group held their collective breath, waiting for something to happen. The pyramid was silent, the orb sitting innocently in its slot.

“See? You’re all a bunch of pansies,” Sam said. “It’s obvious Duane was right and it went in the slot facing where we found it.”

“But you couldn’t have been sure,” Alex said. “What if something bad happened?”

“But it didn’t.”

“But it could have.”

“But it didn’t.”

Levi was just about to interject when he felt something from near his feet. Looking down, the orb seemed to tremble for a split second before a blinding flash covered the top of the pyramid and all Levi could see was white.