The City: PuzzleLocked Book 1

Alastair easily finished writing out his experience. The experience was fresh, anyway. The ‘Cats,’ ‘Lore,’ and ‘Achievements’ sections guided him when he needed direction. Flor looked as if she was taking a bit more time.

“Hey, Mida?” Mida looked up from her notes. “My notes are ready, but it shows a bit of a gap in my knowledge. There are blank sections in my lore. For example, there is nothing below the word ‘planet.’ Surely I should know more than that, right?”

“What other sections have nothing?”

He checked his notes rather than the interface since they were right there. “Uh, ‘planet,’ ‘island,’ ‘puzzles,’ and ‘other.’ There are also ‘cats,’ ‘achievements,’ and ‘people,’ but those have information under them. But really, it’s telling how much of a challenge we have doing this. This seems like a fantasy world but we’ve only seen people and cats. Heck, I don’t even think I’ve seen a dog, let alone a giraffe or a goblin or a dragon.”

“What’s a giraffe? There are goblins and dragons out there, but I don’t think there are any on this island. Do you mind if I run a quick experiment with you?”

“Like pouring knowledge into my head with needles or some such?”

“Slightly more gently than that, to start. You said there is nothing under ‘island.’ I’ll tell you the name of the island, and I want you to look and see if it fills in after I tell you. Then, we might go a little more in-depth if that works.”

“Let’s give it a go.”

“Sheljour Isles.”

Alastair looked at the interface. ‘Sheljour Isles’ appeared underneath ‘Island.’ Additional options appeared below that, also. “That worked! I have other things too. There are now sub-places including ‘city - West Shilgrave,’ which has a few sub-locations also. There are also ‘farms,’ ‘keep,’ ‘monastery,’ and ‘monument.’” {There is an appendix at the end of this book. Don’t go self-spoiling, though! And don’t expect there to be hints on the subsequent books, either!}

“Curious?! For the second part of the experiment, I wonder if your knowledge automatically transfers to Flor. Since she is in the room with us, although attending to other matters, she likely heard even if she didn’t intend to. So, I’m going to write a note and we will see if there is transference. Please be sure to keep the note completely out of her sightline.” Mida wrote a few lines, folded the paper, folded it again, and then handed it to Alastair.

He opened it discreetly, read the words, and then refolded it before handing it back to her.

“Flor, would you check the ‘place’ details in your interface, please?” Mida asked.

“Uh, one moment. Let me finish this thought.” She wrote a final thought in her notebook, then spaced out to check her interface. “I’ve got notes under ‘Sheljour Isles’ for ‘City - West Shilgrave,’ ‘Farms - Talking Trees,’ ‘Keep - Bacton,’ ‘Monastery - Diederick’, and ‘Monument - Widow’s Siege.’”

“That’s brilliant! There is no way you could have known those unless you had a remarkably productive first day,” said Mida.

“So, I caught part of it while doing my notes, but you think that if Alastair knows something, it fills my knowledge repository, also? And vice versa?”

“Yes! I assumed it from your earlier story and had a theory, based on Alastair having not pet a single cat, yet still having all the bonuses you’ve gained from cat petting. Now, Flor, sorry to disrupt you, but you may proceed with your notes, while I attempt to cram as much knowledge into Alastair’s head as possible.”

“It shouldn’t be long before I finish up my notes. Is there a way that you could split the task in two once I am done?”

“Yes. I just might.”

Flor continued writing. Mida turned to Alastair. “There are a couple of introductory texts that we have Scribe Zeros write out to build their base knowledge and penmanship. If you give me a few minutes, I’ll call a scribe to deliver a few copies. Then, I recognize it is getting late, so I’m certain that you and Flor have met your end of the bargain and I will have more than I can imagine to sort through, so you can hurry off to wherever it is you go at the end of the day.” She went to the door, yelled for a scribe, waited for one to attend, and then said a few words.

When she had settled again, Alastair said, “Well, we have a quandary. If we go back to the prison tavern we get impressed into a search party. We don’t want that. The only other tavern we’ve found is a hole called the ‘Angry Onion,’ and it might as well be a pigsty. Is there another reputable tavern and a meal that could be had for under forty coins?”

Mida thought. “I don’t know. I can ask around, but most Scribes stay here at the university in the dormitories. There is a chance you could stay here if we intake you as Scribes. Is that something you’d consider?”

“Would we wake up and not be allowed to leave the campus because we’re level zero scribes? That wouldn’t be worse, necessarily, than being released prisoners. But since we don’t understand the rotating job system or the limitations, I hesitate to jump at something even if it sounds better.”

“Well, zero-level Scribes do a few chores each morning. None of those chores earn you coins. I’m unsure if you could switch back after we impressed you. Job systems aren’t in our theories.”

“Thanks for the option, though. We may return to the Onion after we wander through the markets to see if there are unique items for sale that remain in our inventories.”

Someone knocked gently on the door. Mida yelled, “Come,” and a Scribe 1 entered with an armful of books. She handed them to Mida and waited for dismissal. Since Mida didn’t, the Scribe 1 turned to leave. “Wait. Do you or the other Scribes know of a tavern these two could lodge in for the night?”

“I’ll ask, Mida, and return.” Then the scribe left without further direction.

Flor had just finished writing out her notes and breathed a sigh of relief. “I haven’t felt so crunched since finishing my Master’s thesis. {Her thesis was based on using large language models to understand the economics of small communities. Alastair didn’t understand it, and frankly, I don’t either. However, the research introduced her to her current job. Arguably, that thesis was more challenging and complicated to write than the notes she worked on…} So, what are we up to next?”

“Mida was looking for lodging for us. And assigning homework. It’s back to school for us.”

“While I’ve assisted with the first, I’ve done nothing that you didn’t ask for assistance with on the second. But, thank you for the notes.” Mida handed over a couple of books to both of them. “This is a book on the basics of the history of West Shilgrave and the surrounding area. This one describes the ancient history of the Icounada Kingdom. They might be useful or they might not be. I’m uncertain if you read the books to absorb the knowledge, or if just being in possession grants you the information within. So, do what you do. Pet the book or something.”

Alastair laughed as Flor petted one of the books. “No harm in trying,” she said. “Let’s try from the inventory, instead?”

Alastair slid the book into his robes and then checked his inventory.