Returning to the circular room, Mari was already bordering on the cusp of exhaustion and longed for nothing more than a nice warm bath.  The masked woman was awaiting Mari’s return, greeting the sight of her with a genuine smile.

 

“Welcome back, Mari.”

“Shut it, let’s start the next trial.”

“As you wish.”

 

Mari’s eyes glanced at the three remaining trials: the wise Raven, the gallant lion, and the loyal hound. If any of them were combat oriented than Mari would be shit out of luck she didn’t have the Ballum to conjure a single spell.

 

Mari deliberated before settling on the next of the arduous trials to undertake she made her way towards the door of the wise Raven, sucking in one last breath to calm herself before stepping inside the blinding light.

 

Once again Mari entered an empty void with a spotlight in the center this time, however, the spotlight was cast onto an immaculate wooden table with a variety of mouthwatering food on the table. Everything from the finest saccharine cakes to most succulent meats.

 

Placed on opposite sides of the table rested too identical metal chairs, Mari’s mouth was salivating at the sight of the spectacular feast but her mind was telling her to give pause and wait before digging in.

 

Taking her seat at the table, Mari crossed her legs and waited for a sign which didn’t take long to materialize. No sooner had she taken her seat that a clapping rang out within the darkness and a figure appeared seated on the other side of the table.

 

The figure was young women no older than ten years of each dressed in spectacular red Victorian style dress with an insulting amount of ruffles and thrills.  The girls reeked of smugness and had to face that begged to be punched.

“Welcome to the tea party, Mari.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Ah, a direct one, how lovely.”

“I am a being who doesn’t exist outside of this trial. Call me Ruka.”

“Okay, Ruka, what’s the trial of the wise raven exactly?”

Ruka waved her hand and four silver goblets each containing an identical pink liquid appeared before Mari the drinks were odorless and bubbled and popped.  Mari’s lips were dry and cracked, and her tongue was begging for a drink.

“Thanks for the drinks, but how is this a challenge.”

 

“Oh, it’s a simple test of wisdom no fighting this time around, so don’t worry.”

 

“In order to leave, you need to drink two of the four glasses.”

“That’s it, really?”

 

“That’s all you have to do?”

 

“What’s the catch?’

 

“Nothing much, it’s rather simple, really.”

 

“Two of the cups are perfectly drinkable and the other two contain a dreadful poison.’

 

“So you’re asking to me to play Russian roulette?”

 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Of course you haven’t."

 

Mari’s heart started to beat rapidly like a drum inside of her chest as she looked at the four identical goblets of liquid, two of them contained a deadly poison while the others were safe to drink and there was really no obvious way of discerning which was which.

 

“This is such a pain the ass.” Mari groaned.

 

 

The guileful serpent had tested her combat and sorcery abilities this was a test of a different sort if Mari consumed the wrong glass then she would be in for a world of hurt and excruciating suffering.  

 

She could take her chances and just gulp down a drink but that would give her a fifty fifty chance, no there had to be a proper way to deduce which goblet was safe to consume and which contained the toxic poison.

 

Mari racked her brain pondering and then it clicked the nature of the test was to be wise so Mari would have to exercise her wisdom and think outside of the box.  After scratching her head for an eternity, see settled on a solution.

 

“Hey Ruka, can I ask you a question?”

“It’s not against the rules, so you may.”

“But you only get one, I don’t enjoy repeating myself.”

“Works for me, I’ll only need one question.”

“Ask away, Mari.”

“You’re not lying to my are you?”

“Don’t flatter yourself you’re not worth the trouble.”

“So which of the two is safe to drink and which contain the poison?”

“Young but wise beyond her years, congratulations you pass.”

“That easy, huh?”

“You exercised the wisdom to know when to ask others for help, that is a valuable quality and one I greatly admire.”

“To answer your questions these three are poison free and the one contains the poison.”

“Wait, I thought you said two contained poison?”

“I said that, but that was a dirty lie.”

“But you just said you wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Hey, I play the game just like you I don’t get a say in the rules.”

                                         

                                           “Bottoms up, I guess.”  Mari said, gulping down the mystery liquid.

 

 

 

It tasted like a fine wine as she swallowed and wiped the rest from her lips Mari prayed that she just hadn’t willing ingested a highly potent poison.  Thankfully for her Ruka was indeed telling the truth and Mari had blazed through yet another trial.