Chapter 164 - 163: A Player at Heart
The path ahead was no longer a corridor, but a spiral staircase descending vertically.
While there wasn’t any black pudding, there was green slime—acidic sludge that could devour flesh and organic matter, even dissolve metal. But Tassera easily dealt with it with a single Flame Arrow.
Walking in front, Tassera was determined to lead the way, worried that Leon would brute-force his way through the puzzles. She hadn’t solved a single puzzle yet, and she no longer expected Leon to be stumped, ultimately forcing him to ask for her help and giving her a chance to shine.
"Honestly, aren’t you worried you’ll destroy those game pieces and fail to solve the puzzle as the dungeon designer intended, leaving that door unopenable?" Tassera asked while cautiously observing her surroundings. After all, where there was one patch of green slime, a second one wasn’t far off, and there was always the chance of more black puddings making a reappearance.
"Because I think I’ve played something like this before, and it worked back then," Leon pondered aloud. "If those game pieces are all small magic statues, they’re obviously meant to be destroyed. Otherwise, why go through all the trouble to craft so many of them..."
Leon took a deep breath and said, "A war can be won either with flawless strategies or sheer overwhelming force."
Tassera nodded slightly and said, "Looks like you’ve thought it through. At least it’s not just mindless brute strength."
Leon smiled politely—more theatrical than awkward—and said grandly, "Boldly hypothesize, carefully verify. Don’t box yourself in, don’t bind yourself by your own limitations. There’s never only one way to solve a problem. If you want to grow stronger, you can’t just follow someone else’s path—you have to carve out your own."
Tassera didn’t respond, for once falling into silent contemplation.
Leon smirked, thinking it’s one thing to talk the talk but another to walk the walk. Still, spouting cheesy aphorisms was easy for someone raised on a steady diet of motivational "chicken soup" for the soul.
After descending the spiral staircase, they entered another room.