“I feel like I’m getting good benefits from letting you drag me along. I hope this isn’t an imposition. But maybe one of these two would want to join you,” Galoots said.

  “Maybe. Regardless, let’s go finish this puzzle anyway.”

  The barn was empty, or at least as empty as they had left it. The interface table had risen in a stall.

  “You can likely do the puzzle faster and easier,” said Galoots. “Want the honors?”

  Alastair walked up to it, and the interface screen flashed to a map of the farms. A four-by-four grid overlaid it, with one square dedicated to the pop ring. The other sections were the orchard, fishing pond, duck pond, kiln, honey house, pastures, stable, fowl pens, gardens, fields, windmill and well, machinery shed, barns, and farmhouses. The corruption looked like it was in the duck pond, but it was stuck in the center. The real challenge Alastair had was identifying where all the other objects were related to each other since there did not seem to be much overlap between the pieces. However, he realized that there was still an easy solution. It just required moving the pieces in one direction until the corruption was gone, then moving the pieces back the other way. He felt like he had done that already on another slider puzzle, which must have been the monastery.

  Remove Duck Pond? Yes/No?

  Alastair selected yes. The screen flashed red and Alastair noticed his health drop by one.

  What? It was the duck pond? Why isn’t it accepting it? He looked closer at the other pieces on the board, aware that time was counting down but still with a very generous four minutes left. Eventually, he noticed that the tile labeled “kiln” was also dark and it looked like the icon on the kiln had exploded. Maybe it’s just my haste, but maybe that’s it. He shuffled the pieces back to their original configuration, then did the same order to the pieces surrounding the kiln.

  Remove Kiln? Yes/No?

  Yes. The kiln was replaced by a piece called ‘Null.’ There it is. He returned the puzzle to order and the familiar shrink and growth of the map occurred, then flashed his display.

  Puzzle complete. +2 to Sliders.

  Attempt puzzle again? Yes/No?

  No.

  Congratulations. You have completed the farms!

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  As the interface disappeared, Galoots gave a “Woot!” Then she said, “Well done. While you were under, Riffs and Tapas came in. From the smell of things, they have already started to get high.”

  “Ugh. Gross.”

  “That’s what I think.”

  “Well, I’m not going to hold you up from getting back to the monastery.”

  “Let’s go talk to them for a moment before you wander.”

  Traian and Mihaela were already lounging. “You came back,” said Traian. “Great.”

  Alastair avoided the sarcasm.

  “Yeah. But I’m done now, so I’m going to go see about this tower in the distance.”

  “Oh,” said Mihaela. “You’ve got rough travel boots? They don’t look like much more than the starter kit.” She seemed to be studying his boots.

  “No. These are just the normal boots.”

  Mihaela continued, “Oh, well you’ve surely got the Phase Disruptor?”

  “I haven’t heard of that.”

  “And you’re the recommended level four with a party of eight also at level four?”

  “Umm, not quite.”

  “And you’re fully kitted out?”

  “I mean, this is a full level one kit.”

  “So, what’s the holdup, man? Why are you still here?”

  Alastair felt defensive up to this point but finally had enough. “Look, Tapas. I’m just going for a look. Sure I’ll fail, but it’s not like I’m giving up and getting high each day.” He was sure that Galoots understood that went toward her also. “I’m trying to get out of this place. Get back to the real world so I can be with my real wife and not have to wake up in a rainy city every day. So, sure, you know more about the challenges that are out there. Have you gone to look? Maybe it’s all hearsay meant to prevent the weak-willed from even trying. So what if I die? It’s not like I haven’t died several times in this game already. So, thank you for the concern, but unless you want to provide some real advice, get bent.”

  Traian spoke up, “Good points, all. and Bon Chance. You’ll be fine. Just let us know how it goes next time you’re out this way. And yeah, maybe we should give you some advice. You can earn or buy the rough travel boots here at the farm. They’re expensive though. By the way, I’m Tapas. Traian. Tapas. Get it?”

  Alastair looked to Galoots then to Traian. He rolled his eyes. “Great, thanks. Where from - the boots?”

  “You can get them by putting out the fire before it spreads from the Butterfly Garden, or buy them at the farms’ gift shop for fifty coins. You need to be level 3 to equip them though.”

  “So I can’t even make it to this place without them?”

  “Oh, sure you can,” said Tapas. “Just be prepared to die in the wilderness tonight.”

  “I’ve reset in worse places.”

  “Sure thing, man. Well, again, good luck.”

  Alastair got the dismissal and almost felt petty enough to go in for a last word, but decided to leave instead. See, he was becoming a stronger person.

  He checked his clock and saw that it was far from the lunch hour. He realized that a day of wandering through the wilderness would leave him fully hungry. So, he left the barn and started to walk in a direction that he thought might have the gift shop.

  Galoots caught his arm. “Hey, Al. Don’t take their words too seriously, okay? There is a reason the tower is the pinnacle challenge. It’s meant to be tough. Why don’t you set your sites on the Keep, instead?”

  “I can get to the Keep any day, right? Just follow the road. It goes to the front door. But I can’t necessarily just find the tower. I have to search. And since I’ve started to make good progress on all things, maybe I’ll make good progress on this, also.”

  “Well, one more speculation. Supposedly there is a cove in the northeast corner that houses a pirate base. If you get lost looking for the tower, maybe you can make your way there.”

  “Thank you, Galoots. I’ll text you along the way. Enjoy drinking beer with those two.”

  “If they join me. It’s not certain, yet.”