Riddles are intellectual puzzles designed to force us to think differently. But… they are also tools of trickster gods that are up to no good.

~Svarog, the Slumbering Fire God

Unofficially, Crow’s living space had a new tenant. The two cultivated and sparred—on and off the bed. The entire time, Hooligan left her face uncovered while in his presence.

Two days went by quick, and they knew it was time to continue their Shrine hunt. Hooligan followed Crow as they left Sanctuary by going under the Colossus. It surprised her because most wouldn’t choose to do that at this point because it put them at risk. At least with the gates, people wouldn’t know where exactly they went.

Crow wasn’t sure if it was by design, but looking into a Shrine from a gate inside Sanctuary was pointless. Other people could not see which Shrine the gate was linked to, and the interior of every Shrine was the same. It made it nearly impossible to tell where someone was going unless they were dumb enough to shout it out.

“Why this way?”

“We are going north toward the volcano. I want to get those Shrines done before the difficulty escalates. I’m worried that if we wait until later, we might not be able to complete the volcano Shrine.”

Hooligan nodded because the explanation was reasonable. She knew Crow was curious about the main temple and the legacies, which meant he wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. It also gave her more time with her lover.

Their conversations left her unsure if Crow was just very open-minded about relationships or had a rascal level of shamelessness. It seemed like he cared for all the people in his inner circle, but he already had many wives. She didn’t feel guilty about being one of them and was comfortable around him, but he was not the type of man she thought she’d end up with.

Crow was an enigma she just couldn’t understand.

A week later, they arrived at a Mind Shrine. Based on Crow’s classification of crystals, she just started calling them what they were.

They stepped inside, and before them was a monolith with several lines written upon it.

I am intangible but more inevitable than death.

Waste me not, because I’m lost once spent.

Before me, nothing lasts, not even your last breath.

My counsel is the wisest, but I wait for no one.

I am the cruelest and the most forgiving.

The answer is etched on an object in this room. Find it and place it in the offering bowl to complete this challenge. A wrong answer will change the question.

“What am I looking at?” Hooligan asked.

“A riddle.”

Hooligan looked around and saw that there were a lot of fist-sized trinkets scattered throughout the room.

“Sand, Air, Life…” she read aloud. “This could take forever. There have to be at least ten thousand items here. Is there a time limit?”

“What did you say?” Crow asked.

“This could—”

“No, the last thing.”

“Time limit?”

“Time…” Crow smiled. “That’s the answer.”

“Huh?” Hooligan looked over at the monolith again and pumped her little fist in the air before she burst out laughing. “Hmph! Who’s the genius now? This little hooligan wins this time.”

Crow didn’t have the heart to tell her he figured it out almost immediately. Several idioms were layered into the riddle, making it easy for a mind like his to figure out the answer. However, seeing her beaming face, he let her have this win. He gave her a pat on the head and laughed with her.

“Now, find that stone,” Crow said and couldn’t help but chuckle when her face collapsed. “I’m just kidding. It’s over there against the wall.”

Hooligan went to where Crow pointed and thought he was just spewing nonsense. However, when she picked up the metal disk, it really said ‘Time’ on it. “How did you do that?”

“Bloodline power. Never forget anything, and I scanned the room when we entered.”

“Fine, whatever. You win,” Hooligan said and carried the stone over to the offering bowl. She dropped it in, and they were back inside the Shrine moments later. “Go back and play for a day?”

Hooligan’s face turned bright red. Although she had asked, Crow could tell by the way she was wrapping her face again that the decision had already been made. The strangest thing was that she might be more insatiable than him, and he couldn’t figure out where she got the drive. Despite that, she knew when to call it quits so they could get an early start.

The next day they continued on their northward journey, and Hooligan made him promise by threatening him with her fists that they’d stop after every Shrine. Crow didn’t mind at all but had to ask.

“Do you have a special constitution?”

“What do you mean?” Hooligan asked, but her eyes were constantly scanning their environment. After that night with the Shadowmen, they realized the number of people still present in this place had dwindled by a lot. Dozens of gates had gone dark, but in all fairness, it was a toss-up if they died or left like Munro did.

“I practice a couple of different cultivation methods because of my curse,” Crow claimed by way of explanation. “One of them produces yang energy, which is fire-based. It was used to help temper my body toward fire and pain, but it had a nasty little side effect. Because my curse is fire-based, it… augments the yang energy, which is the male libido. I have strong sexual urges that are only tempered by a woman’s yin energy. I’m not sure if there is another term for the innate sexual energy in both men and women, but that yang energy is why my sex drive is so high. My wives can’t keep up with me, so they don’t mind sharing because they can take a break. I just don’t know where you get that drive and thought maybe you have a special constitution.”

“So you used me to temper yourself?”

Crow grimaced and didn’t know how to reply.

“Relax, idiot. If I didn’t think you were sincere toward me, I’d never have shown you my face or gone that far with you. I wondered why my cultivation had such a huge boost, and now I know. I’m guessing that was a build-up? What would have happened if you didn’t release it?”

“Normally, I’d have been fine, but—”

“You fell into the frigid waters and had to use your curse to survive?”

“Hah, so you already knew?”

“Not until you explained your… sex problem. You were previously cautious around me, and then, suddenly, you were charming. Would you have forced yourself on me?”

“Well, I took some of those loose Frigid Starburst fragments.”

“That didn’t answer the question.”

“Yes. I’d have lost my rationality and forced myself on you—or anyone with yin energy. Those fragments would have been enough to help me keep my sanity so I could warn you to run.”

“My life is tragic, but yours is pure chaos,” Hooligan laughed. “I do have a special physique, but it’s not related to my sex drive. It is the Gravity Marrow Physique, and it allows me to make my bones denser, which helps me train my body. Because of it, my stamina is abnormal, and my fists can eventually contain a planet’s power. My sex drive is because I worry that we won’t see each other again when I leave here. Stamina isn’t my problem. Losing you is. Maybe I’m a silly naive girl, and when we leave, I’ll realize how foolish—mmph.”

Crow kissed her to shut her up. In his arms, it was like her body had melted. Minutes later, he finally pulled away. “Stop talking like that. It is okay to have doubts, but I vow you won’t get away from me that easily.”

“Give me a piggyback ride,” Hooligan laughed. So he bent down and let her climb on his back. His hands reached back and shamelessly grabbed her ass, ‘pretending’ to hold her up. She didn’t mind.

After a few hours, Crow was sweating, and at first, he thought something was sapping his energy. In the fugue of traveling long distances, he didn’t notice Hooligan’s body shaking against his. When Crow snapped out of it, he knew that she’d held back her laughter for a while.

“Damn you,” Crow grumbled, finally understanding her trick. Hooligan had been making her body heavier and heavier but did it slow enough that he wasn’t paying attention to it.

“I dare you to say I’m heavy…” she whispered menacingly in his ear. Shuddering, he clammed up. Sometimes he was oblivious, but he wasn’t stupid enough to make fun of a woman’s weight. “Good boy.” She pet his head like she would a puppy.

“If you keep this up, you better believe I know a thousand soft torture methods. You’ll regret it.”

“What does that mean—Ahhh!” Hooligan gasped and moaned as she felt his fingers press against her forbidden hole. Almost instantly, she was aroused, and then he stopped. Pretending like nothing happened. “Y-you fucker.”

Crow chuckled, and they continued to approach the next Shrine. He set a formation down that night, a habit he had ever since the Shadowmen appeared. They spent a long night filling the forest with the sounds of Hooligan’s screams and moans. Well… it would have filled them if the formation he used didn’t block sound.

A week later, they arrived at another Shrine.

“Combat?” Hooligan asked.

“Looks like it.”

“These must be rare since it’s only the second one we’ve come across.”

“Or we somehow avoided the others until now.”

“Exploding arrow thing?”

“Yes, but we should plan for it having the ability to block it.”

“Let’s go in and rest up inside. At least we know it won’t trigger immediately, and it’s safer in there.”

Crow and Hooligan entered the Shrine and saw the conical hat wearing scarecrow. This time its beady eyes weren’t lifeless but watched them. It was creepy as hell.

“Uh, maybe we should wait outside next time,” Hooligan grumbled.