“Now let’s begin,” Kian asked Arin. “I’ll remind you just in case, our goal right now is to open up the altar right there in the middle. How do we go about that?”

Arin knew that Kian was taking his time in trying to show him the step-by-step process required to optimize his way of thinking. As one of the three most qualified Solvers in the city, Arin’s father definitely was on the right track here. Although Arin didn’t prefer using his wits when he could just use his brute strength, his father was here and he had to listen very carefully.

Looking at the altar, the thin line at the top instinctively made Arin want to break it apart, hence, solving the puzzle immediately. Of course, there were a few caveats to this, such as the durability of the altar being beyond his strength. Knowing that Kian was the most intellectual of the three Labyrinth Solvers, Arin knew that his father wanted him to solve this using his wits.

“I just want to ask, why can’t we just break the altar apart?”

Kian laughed out loud, expecting this exact question from his son. Ever since he adopted him, Arin had always been prone to violence and strength so this was completely within his expectations. “You could, in fact, I welcome you. Just remember that your completion rate is something I’m looking forward to.”

Arin sighed, getting his answer, he looked around, from the sun revolving up in the air, to the altar’s sides showing different shapes and symbols. He then looked even further by the sides, showing pressure plates that would seemingly activate something if pressed. As Arin was vividly examining everything the puzzle had to offer, Kian was also taking his own notes on how to properly finish the puzzle.

Arin looked to the outer bounds where the endless desert seemed to stretch to. After seeing how empty it was, he shook his head as he dismissed the possibility of anything being on the outskirts of this stone area.

He then looked further at the symbols engraved by the altar’s side and noticed that there was a tiny smudge right below it. Feeling curious, he wanted to rub the sand covering it away but he asked his father first. “Dad, there seems to be something below those shapes. Am I seeing it right?”

Kian already noticed this much earlier, “Exactly, you are correct. Now, do we rub the sand covering the runes away or is there some step we should do first?”

“Something… else?” Arin looked around and saw nothing else but the boundless desert. He then rechecked everything within his sight and couldn’t figure out if there was anything he needed to do. “I don’t think so.”

Kian nodded, “Right once more, when solving a Trial, always remember to accommodate your train of thought with its difficulty. Since this is only a Maze-level Trial, there shouldn’t be any gimmicks or traps around it. Go on.”

Arin followed his father’s words and started rubbing the sand just below the sequence of runes and glyphs that were engraved on the altar. As he finished clearing it up he noticed the uncovered engravings actually be letters, N, S, NW, W, E, NE, and many others. A shape had one of these letters directly below it, correlated with one another but in a way that Arin couldn’t piece together yet. There were numerous letters here except for a singular E.

“Any thoughts as to what these letters mean? Anything familiar?” Kian subtly guided Arin’s train of thought in the right direction.

“N… north, NW… northwest, I think they’re directions. Now that I think about it, there are eight pressure plates surrounding the altar in a circular pattern,” As Arin continued to solve this puzzle step by step, his confidence was starting to spike up, everything so far had been easy, too easy. Even so, he didn’t feel accomplished or happy with his progress in stark contrast with his father’s great mood.

“Good! I never thought you were this smart! You’ve been training with those weights your entire childhood that I thought you were dumb but fortunately, I was blessed with such a smart child,” Kian came to right beside Arin and started patting Arin on his back, causing him to shake the sheer force that Kian was exerting on him.

“Yeah…” Arin was feeling the aftershock of his father’s strength. “Dad, can you stop?”

“Oh, oops. My bad, carry on. I think you got this, I’ll just observe from this point on,” As Kian stepped away, his eyes twinkled at how far Arin was going to take to solve this.

He should be able to get at least a 60% completion rate on his first Trial! Even if this was one of the easiest Trials out there, it’s still a monumental task for a newbie.

Arin finally had his thoughts to himself, without his father’s interruptions. He looked at each symbol with its accompanying letter and looked back at the altar in front of him. He recalled the fact that this was supposed to be a Maze-level Trial, the easiest kind. Adding on the fact that there were no restrictions, he shouldn’t just randomly fail out of nowhere.

With these safeguards in mind, Arin came forward to one of the pressure plates and stepped on it. An immediate whirring sound came from the altar as it changed its shape from a previously cone-like appearance into something much more odd, a cube with holes directly in the middle of it.

Arin checked if there were any other changes in the vicinity yet he didn’t see anything. After checking the first pressure plate, he then went on to the second, which transformed the altar into an oval pod with a crack in the middle. He went on to the third pressure plate which showed another shape. Arin checked every single pressure plate and they all resulted in eight different unique shapes which made Arin a little uncertain.

“None of these shapes are the same as the ones in the runes. Just what is… wait a minute…” Arin looked up at the sky where the sun was still revolving around in a counter-clockwise motion. Arin immediately tested and cross-referenced this information with what he had on hand.

Arin first rechecked the sequence of shapes and pointed out the fact that there was only one E, the east, the direction where the sun rises, which also made the letter E glow bright in a golden hue. Using that sun’s rotation as a reference, Arin immediately stepped on the eastern pressure plate and went in a counter-clockwise motion, causing the altar to accurately depict the same symbol that it had in the sequence earlier.

Coincidentally, or yet, intentionally, where Arin stood was where the sequence started, meaning that this was similar to the puzzle solving itself, all Arin needed to do was ride it out. With each step, the altar accurately depicted the shape of the sequence where he stood.

Kian proudly smiled as he saw his son quickly grasp one of the methods for solving this.

That’s my boy, he got the 72% Completion Cate method since he accurately combined the clues all around him and combined it… wait… what’s happening?

“Arin?” Kian was living in his mind as the altar stopped transforming all of a sudden. “What’s wrong?”

“It seemed right but I felt something was missing.”

Kian’s eyes bulged wide open, to suddenly stop in the middle of success was something people weren’t prone to doing unless… they found something better. This made Kian’s heart race as he looked at what Arin was planning now.

Arin stepped right back to the eastern pressure plate which made the ‘E’ glow a golden hue once more. This time, instead of moving, Arin touched the glowing E in front of him and rotated it in a counter-clockwise motion, turning the golden engraving into an uncanny eye. The entire sequence in front of him suddenly moved, the extremely long sequence of shapes and symbols started rotating all around the altar as it started to influence what the altar shaped as. What was weird was that Arin wasn’t looking at the altar at all, instead, looking at the sun up above him. Even if he had trouble looking directly at it, he still continued as he started to spin the sequence on the altar continuously.

“The Sun’s Encompassing Gaze. I refuse to believe that’s not a clue,” Arin muttered under his breath.

At first, Arin’s attention was immediately caught by the golden light that the E was giving off, making him question if this was truly the best method. So he stopped moving and went back to where the E was, touching it. After Arin felt something slide, he followed the sun’s rotation and shifted the entire sequence of symbols around, causing a golden eye to show up. Arin then immediately recalled the Trial’s name, causing him to stare directly into the sun.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Arin continued watching for any kind of change within the sun as he rotated the sequence of shapes in a counter-clockwise rotation. This went on for a solid twenty seconds before something odd finally appeared, the sun rotating in the sky suddenly stopped as an eerie eye showed up staring back at Arin. The sun’s eye then shifted its attention back to the altar, beaming a transcendental light right at the altar. As soon as this light touched the altar, it suddenly melted down and a golden core appeared in its place.

Kian was completely shocked, his son had managed to find the true completion of this Trial. It was completely unbelievable, this took the first Solvers a few weeks before they managed to find the Perfect Clear conditions for this puzzle. This was what made getting Perfect Clears hard, the sheer complexity and cryptic sequences needed to achieve it were well beyond common sense.

“A Perfect Clear on his first try, haha! My boy did better than your kid. So what if Fiona managed to get a 96% completion rate on her first try, and my son got a Perfect Clear!” Kian couldn’t contain his excitement within himself. This was a feat that would’ve overshadowed everyone within the city.

What made the Trial, The Sun’s Encompassing Gaze unique was its extremely easy clear conditions as one could essentially guess the pattern and still complete it albeit with a low completion rate. This, in turn, made the Perfect Clear conditions ludicrously cryptic, showing off just how much more superior Arin was compared to Fiona within Kian’s mind.

“Arin! Touch the golden core!”

Arin did as he was ordered and touched the floating golden puzzle core in front of him, teleporting both him and Kian outside the puzzle. The teleportation was instantaneous as the previously bright blinding sunlight suddenly turned into all-encompassing darkness, only illuminated by the tiniest glow of insects.

Arin still showed up in the same posture that he had when he touched the golden core. Reaching out in front of him.

Before Arin could make sense of what was happening, he immediately heard a few animal noises around him. This made him confused as there shouldn't be any animals in this forest except for insects and trees. Thinking back at the Trial’s details, the reward was livestock so it only made sense for him to be rewarded with these animals.

Kian came up to Arin and gave him a big hug, “That’s my boy! Who knew your first clear would be a Perfect Clear? Gahahaha!”

Arin stiffly accepted the hug. Kian used too much of his strength, almost crushing Arin’s ribs, “What about… the animals?”

“Mm? Oh, those?” Kian looked around him and saw that there was much more than he thought. “As expected, that’s a lot of animals.”

All around them were countless cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and other animals that were plump enough to be slaughtered. The previously wide clearing suddenly turned quite full due to the number of animals that showed up, in fact, this small clearing wasn’t enough, and some animals even spread out to the forest.

“I’ll call some people to sell them off. And since you earned it by yourself, you’ll get all the money,” Kian let Arin go to catch his breath as he looked back at the Trial which dimmed down in comparison to before. The bluish tone was almost non-existent and the door seemed almost completely impenetrable despite no matter how strong they were.

“Since you did so well, do you want to check out what a Sephirah Trial looks like?” Kian’s previously joyful expression turned solemn, emphasizing that this would be an entirely different kind of challenge awaiting him.

Arin already resolved himself to see the world where his father hails from, “We already planned to go in, what’s different?”

“I was going to go in with you earlier but this time… I was planning on letting you go without me.”

“I don’t see the problem, there shouldn’t be any danger-”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Arin. A Sephirah Trial’s in a completely different league than a normal Trial, so different that it’ll make you question if this was even the same, to begin with. Are you sure you want to see the world where I’m in this early on?”

“I understand,” Arin thought that the earlier Maze-level Trial was such a breeze to complete. It was so easy that it bored him, beating someone to a pulp would’ve entertained him more than this.

“No, you don’t understand. Arin, I can clearly see that you’re confident that this will be a breeze so I’m a little uncertain. I want to join you this time but I believe that witnessing the hopelessness yourself would let you see the difference.”

Arin felt that his father was starting to talk even more unhinged than usual. He was already prone to switching his mood quite often but talking this gravely was a new one for him.

Kian snapped his fingers and five figures immediately came from the shadows. Arin hadn’t even noticed that there was anyone around them which made him completely wary of these five people that came out of nowhere.

“I initially didn’t want to do this but this will be a good showcase of your first Sephirah Trial. These five people are all real Solvers who have gone through the Baptism. Although they aren’t skilled, they know the Sephirah Trial of this puzzle quite well. You’ll be leading them there and they’ll test out all your hypotheses of how to solve it. They won’t give you any tips or hints until the end. Any questions?”

Arin immediately felt something was off, these five people seemed loyal to his father yet he could clearly see their hostility towards him. He could sense the malicious intent behind their gazes which made him question why his father would be so willing to send him off along with them. He wanted to ask his father why he was going on such a Trial with these kinds of people but he held his tongue, there must be a reason for doing so.

“How do I go in?” Arin placed all the bits of doubt at the back of his mind, fully focusing on the task at hand.

“Simple, on the Trial’s door, touch the Sephirah.”

Trial: The Sun’s Encompassing Gaze

Difficulty: Maze

Participants: No Limit

Restrictions: None

Goal: Unlock the Altar

Rewards: Livestock

Sephirah: -5

&̷̨̡̢̖͙̺̥͔̭̃͊̎͋̊̈́̈́ͅͅ3̷̛̖̳̲́̓̿͆̈́͝ņ̶̎̓̊̀́͆̃̆̏̆̌͂͘̚f̷̦̼̰̊̐͒̐͊̔̍̒͌̀̔̔̈́̈́͝g̴̡̹̬̜͌̃̇̀̊̈̊̃̏4̸̧͈̭̉̉̀́F̸̺̼̫̰̘̟̫̿͑̒̌́͐͜͠3̵̨͖̫͙͖̩̻̩̎̈́̓̃͌͋̕͘͜

Ĝ̴̛̮͖̬́̐̀͗͘͝n̷̡̧̤̥̖͉̥̻͓͚̭̞̜͈͆̐͊̾̓̌̕4̶̢̠̺͚͍̰͇͒̄̈́̾́̅̉̈́̏̽͊͘͝͝i̴̝̦̩͎̐͌̅͆̚͠0̴̱̼̬͕͕̘͕͚̍3̴̢̨̡̞̻̼͙͓̱̻̹̺̱̣̗̚ľ̷̨̧͈̙̾̽̆͆̈͝7̶̪̘̭͔̿̀͗̅̈̈́̽͒͗̈̒̽͜͝^̸̢̮̬̰̫̫̙̟̜͓̣͐̋̌̊̒̉̍̍̑̇͊̀͒͜͝2̵̡̘̺͈̼͙̗̰̙͊̔̑̾̋̚

n̷̛̘̪̻͈͓̱͔͔̞̼̹̊́́̏͊͠4̶̡̪̯̜̪̪̻̲̱͂́̉́͆̈́̽͛̃̚͘̕͝g̸̞̋̀̾̓̇́͗́̾̽̚͝3̶̢͖͉̪̖̅̒̓́͑̿̅̂͑͠ó̸̧̗͇͍̥̬̳̳̹͎͉̥̪̈́̃̏̏̋̅̚ͅ@̷̮̫̗̳̺̭̋̔̎̚͝3̴̣̯̦̗̋̌̉̋̂̉͒͐̑͗͜$̵̗̆̌͌̎̑͐̎̐̈̎͌̈́͘͜ͅ$̷̡̯͈͎̒̌͑͛̅̏

Arin followed his father’s instructions and went over to the dimmed blue-hued door and touched what he needed to. As his finger felt the cool runes, everything suddenly blurred in front of him as the runes and glyphs all morphed one more time into something new.

Sephirah Trial: The Sun God’s Malevolent Stare

Difficulty: Maze

Participants: 1~6

Restrictions: 5 Minutes

Goal: Appease the Sun God

Rewards: Secret Fragment

Sephirah: -5

&̷̨̡̢̖͙̺̥͔̭̃͊̎͋̊̈́̈́ͅͅ3̷̛̖̳̲́̓̿͆̈́͝ņ̶̎̓̊̀́͆̃̆̏̆̌͂͘̚f̷̦̼̰̊̐͒̐͊̔̍̒͌̀̔̔̈́̈́͝g̴̡̹̬̜͌̃̇̀̊̈̊̃̏4̸̧͈̭̉̉̀́F̸̺̼̫̰̘̟̫̿͑̒̌́͐͜͠3̵̨͖̫͙͖̩̻̩̎̈́̓̃͌͋̕͘͜

Ĝ̴̛̮͖̬́̐̀͗͘͝n̷̡̧̤̥̖͉̥̻͓͚̭̞̜͈͆̐͊̾̓̌̕4̶̢̠̺͚͍̰͇͒̄̈́̾́̅̉̈́̏̽͊͘͝͝i̴̝̦̩͎̐͌̅͆̚͠0̴̱̼̬͕͕̘͕͚̍3̴̢̨̡̞̻̼͙͓̱̻̹̺̱̣̗̚ľ̷̨̧͈̙̾̽̆͆̈͝7̶̪̘̭͔̿̀͗̅̈̈́̽͒͗̈̒̽͜͝^̸̢̮̬̰̫̫̙̟̜͓̣͐̋̌̊̒̉̍̍̑̇͊̀͒͜͝2̵̡̘̺͈̼͙̗̰̙͊̔̑̾̋̚

n̷̛̘̪̻͈͓̱͔͔̞̼̹̊́́̏͊͠4̶̡̪̯̜̪̪̻̲̱͂́̉́͆̈́̽͛̃̚͘̕͝g̸̞̋̀̾̓̇́͗́̾̽̚͝3̶̢͖͉̪̖̅̒̓́͑̿̅̂͑͠ó̸̧̗͇͍̥̬̳̳̹͎͉̥̪̈́̃̏̏̋̅̚ͅ@̷̮̫̗̳̺̭̋̔̎̚͝3̴̣̯̦̗̋̌̉̋̂̉͒͐̑͗͜$̵̗̆̌͌̎̑͐̎̐̈̎͌̈́͘͜ͅ$̷̡̯͈͎̒̌͑͛̅̏

Almost everything changed in front of him. From the amount of participants to the goal to even the rewards. The most shocking one for Arin to grasp was the five-minute time window, the almost non-existent time limit made him extremely uncomfortable.

Although the reward changed into an extremely appealing Secret Fragment, the fact still stands that this was a much more dangerous Trial than it was initially presented to be. Although the jumbled-up words didn’t change, it was still something for Arin to note. From seeing the contents of the Trial change so severely, numerous questions popped up in his mind.

“If I were to deduct the time it took for me to explain everything, it only took you four minutes to get a Perfect Clear. I believe you can do this. Even in the worst-case scenario, you’ll survive. Just try your best.”

The blue-hued door suddenly turned vibrant once more. The previously tame-looking door now turned rigid and erratic, even the door frame wasn’t the same as it used to be, causing a sense of uneasiness on Arin. The new changes ever since it became a Sephirah Trial completely turned what seemed to Arin as an easy puzzle into an eerie gateway to the underworld.

When Arin entered the door, instead of the previously white void, it was now pitch black, one last difference to show just how different the new scenery was going to be. Right behind him, five other people quietly followed right behind him.

As the door closed, Kian started counting down the minutes in his head. In truth, he was completely terrified of what would happen if Arin met some kind of mishap. A Sephirah Trial was something only a Seal Solver would have the right to start tackling, no matter how talented they were. Even then they would only start tackling the Trials that were already solved, personally experiencing what kind it was before going on a Sephirah Trial that they had no information on.

Kian paced back and forth counting down the time, hoping that the people he sent were competent enough to guide Arin in the right direction. He checked the time and there were only three minutes left. Even still, these last few minutes felt like an eternity, each second longer than the last.

Even the noisy clearing filled with animal cries was drowned out as Kian started to think about the countless possibilities of how this could end. Even his iron will was faltering as he thought that he made a mistake.

Two minutes remain. Kian was already starting to panic. “Maybe… maybe I got too hasty. He did get a Perfect Clear on his try but this might be too much for him. I should’ve gone alongside them at least that way Arin would’ve been safe.”

Time was ticking down and Kian’s ramblings were starting to get worse, “That was a mistake, that was definitely a mistake. If Arin gets injured here then I don’t know what I would do…”

All of a sudden, despite there being a minute and twenty-four seconds remaining, Arin appeared. Kian immediately came forward to him and checked if there were any injuries. He gave a sigh of relief as Arin dazedly looked in the distance. His body was completely covered in blood, the blood of the people who ‘sacrificed’ themselves so that he could survive.

As for the rest of the members, they were nothing but puddles of blood on the ground.