Legacy of Forgotten Times 53 The Trial of Wisdom

Linri shouted in fury, kicking the pedestal in front of him. This can't be it, he still had too much to do, he had to return home; his family.

The kick was not enough to subside his anger, he went to the wall and punched it with all he had. That did not stop it but he kept punching it. His right hand became a bloody mess, he was losing control in desperation and he knew it.

"HAAAAA!!!!" he roared like a fierce animal backed into a corner.

This furious beast was not him, he had to calm down. Remember what the old man had thought him.

1. Calm down; discard all unnecessary emotions. Anger, fear, anxiety, happiness, sadness, desperation, pain; everything. Emotions cloud your judgement so you have to learn to control them.

Linri started to take deep breaths, slowly calming down the beast inside of him. This was something new to him as he never lost control this much before. He was always calm because he was confident, he knew that whatever happens, it would always turn out fine so nothing could faze him easily. Just when had he lost confidence? When he lost the contact with the deities? When his knowledge about the future proved to be wrong?

Before coming to this world he didn't have those things but he never lost confidence once. Why should he let something trivial affect him then? He was not going to let that happen. He was not going to other things change him, because of something like this. He was finally calm and he started to feel the pain of his right hand. Damn that hurt like hell, wouldn't it be awesome if he could just turn off his pain receptors? He was getting off track so he focused again.

2. Assess your situation; look into your environment. Why are you here? What happened before everything lead to those events?

He looked around, the walls were getting closer. If they kept going at the same speed he still had 15 minutes before he was crushed to death. There were 3 pedestals, 3 different keys and 2 tablets. There was also rubble of the broken tablet.

Why am I here? Because I wanted to save my parents? No that's too general, I am here because I asked to be treated as a criminal from Lozna.

What happened before? I changed my deal with the gods so the future had changed. What was supposed to be a safe expedition turned into a death trap. Solas told me about this because she was 'interested' in my choice. What else? He also went through a minor awakening because of his compatibility with stones.

3. Analyse what you know; small conversations, hints, emotions, everything you know that got you here.

Okay, so he had to solve a riddle and get a key. He also saw some words when he came here.

'With great strength comes courage, but courage without wisdom is just recklessness.'

So this was some kind of trial where he proved his wisdom. How can he prove his wisdom, by solving a riddle? That would be too easy as a trial. What else? Escaping the room maybe? This seemed much more plausible as there was always more than 1 answer to this problem.

So how could he get out? Solve the riddle, B- Force open the door, C- Find an opening in the room.

B and C were impossible. He couldn't even make a dent with his punch on the wall so how was he going to destroy it? Dynamite maybe? Maybe B wasn't impossible after all, so he immediately got into action. He took out one handmade dynamite and threw it at the door. Linri closed his ears and turned his back.

'Boom'

He looked at the door again excitedly. The smoke cleared and he could see that there wasn't even a dent on the door. Yep B was impossible.

That only left the option A - Solve the riddle. He walked at the middle pedestal again to see the riddle. The same dreaded words appeared in front of him again.

'There are 3 keys in front of you, only 1 of them will be able to open the door. Choose carefully and prove your wisdom; The Key to Life and Death stands before you but it is impossible to touch. Yet, it is before everyone's eyes. No one can live without it. Everyone has used it. It is the only thing from which the Philosopher's Stone can be created.'

The Key of Life and Death, so something that can save lives maybe? Like silver, it could be used to detect poison so technically it held the key to your life and death. Nah the later words contradicted it, people could very well live without an ounce of silver. Thinking along this lines everything tangible was out of the list because people could not touch but everyone can see it.

Destiny, time, space, sun, moon, fate. Wait Sun! If it was not for it the plants would be dead so it holds the key to our life and death. It was also impossible to touch thanks to its temperature and distance. Everyone could see and no one could live without Sun. The only thing that was out of the place was the Philosopher's Stone verse. Why was it there anyway?

Wait, Philosopher's Stone? How could he not see this clearly before!? He knew about the Philosopher's Stone of this world. He even knew who possessed it right now! It was a certain student from Autumnfall. The person who helped him create Linri and thought him how to roleplay. Thank god he was not among the 8 people in the pictures. Getting sidetracked again think what you know about Philosopher's Stone.

Philosopher's Stone the greatest creation of the Alchemist association. If it can be combined with the human body successfully the body would gain immortality. The only side was that it would keep its shape meaning you could not get fat or gain muscles and vice versa.

What Else?

The process of creating was ... a ritual! What was the ritual again? Something like having complete faith in yourself without a shred of hesitation. Praying for 3 days straight without stopping together with 72 people.

Faith?

Didn't this answer fit perfectly? Faith determines your life and death, everyone is aware of it but no one can prove it or disprove it so Faith was untouchable. No one could live without a kind of faith be it to money or god. Most importantly Philosopher's Stone could not be created without having faith in yourself.

So what then? Was he supposed to just take a key in random and used it to open the door having faith that it will open it?

He did not have much of a choice as the walls were getting closer. Linri took the Silver Key from the middle pedestal and rushed to the door. He was about to push the key into the hole when he suddenly stopped. Something at the back of his mind was nagging at him. What was it? Then he remembered the words he saw at the beginning.

'With great strength comes courage, but courage without wisdom is just recklessness.'

Courage! He was focusing on wisdom so much that he ignored this word. Just where did courage come into play in all this? Faith and courage had nothing to do with each other. Faith was entrusting yourself to something and never questioning it or its value. Courage was the complete opposite, it was the will to do things others can not do.

So what does that mean? Courage and Faith cannot coexist in this test. He had to eliminate Faith as the test was about Wisdom 'and' Courage. What is he left with then? A key, a locked door and closing walls.

Wait locked door? Why did he think the door was locked in the first place? Was it because of the keys on the pedestal? At that moment a crazy possibility appeared on his mind.

4. Do whatever is necessary according to your judgement; no hesitation. Sherlock Holmes said that when you eliminated all the other possibilities the one you left with is the truth no matter how impossible it may seem.

Linri put the key back to his pocket. He took a deep breath and grabbed the handle of the door and turned it. The door opened without a hitch and the walls stopped its movement.

"Ha..Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Linri could not help but give a miserable laugh. In the Tablets, there was no mention of a key being necessary to open the door. Yeah maybe 1 of them could actually open or lock the door but he was 99% sure that all 3 of them would activate some kind of trap and kill him instantly.

The riddle itself was a trap. He had all he needed from the moment he walked inside the room. Everything else was based on his own conjecture and the fake riddle. The Wisdom came from checking the facts before accepting them as the truth. That was the real test.

Chapter end