Chapter 99

Everyone present was a bit surprised by Zoe's announcement, but they quickly prepared themselves, and 5 seconds later, a flash of light filled the place. After a brief moment of vertigo, the group found themselves in the middle of a vast vestibule carved into the living rock.

"What happened?!" A young man with soft aquamarine-colored hair, looking around in surprise, asked in astonishment, a feeling shared by the other students who were looking around in amazement.

"We're in the palace, I guess," Liliana commented while looking at the huge black wooden door at the end of the vestibule.

"That's most likely; the staff sent us here, after all."

Without being bothered by the others' surprise, Zoe commented calmly while studying her surroundings, quickly noticing the door that Liliana was looking at, which was the only thing worthy of attention in the entire vestibule.

"I guess we should go to the door..."

Zoe nodded in agreement with Elara's thoughtful comment and quickly ordered in a serious and authoritative tone.

"We are in the palace of the trial, so from now on we must be even more alert and ready to react to any unforeseen events."

 Although the students were still full of confusion and doubts, they quickly decided to set them aside and nodded with serious and concentrated expressions while preparing their weapons. This included the direct disciples, who took their weapons from their storage rings and mobilized their mana, covering themselves with various preventive barriers and strengthening their bodies. 

After giving each other enough space to react to an unexpected event, the group reached the door, which immediately seemed to come to life, softly illuminating with iridescent colors, tensing the group. But they relaxed slightly when they saw that it was actually different holograms, which contained what seemed to be runes.

"Is that runic language, isn't it?" Liliana asked while analyzing the words on the holographic screens.

"It seems so." Elara nodded in agreement, and then the three girls turned to look at Ethan, who was studying the runes displayed on the holographic screen with attention.

The runic language was an ancient-written language no longer in use, from the Boreal League, based on runes that were very similar to those used to create magical artifacts or spells. Although they had some differences, it was common for practitioners of the Aegis system to have some knowledge of this language.

Suddenly finding himself the center of attention, Ethan pretended to cough a couple of times to clear his voice and stepped forward with a serious expression.

"Indeed, it is runic language, a well-thought-out choice for the trial, as, although it is now a language in disuse, it was very popular in ancient times, and it is possible that we may encounter it in the ruins. Luckily, I have learned a bit and can translate it."

With a serious and concentrated expression, Ethan reviewed the runes on the holographic screens, and then pondered for a while, trying to adapt their meaning to the Galactic language, after which he commented.

"The written message goes more or less like this: In hands of sages and warriors, power does reside. He who walks with history and wisdom, the path shall reveal. Reflect the past, wield the key, and the door to knowledge will open wide."

Upon hearing Ethan's translation, everyone immersed themselves in their thoughts, pondering its meaning. Elara was the first to speak, in a thoughtful tone, with her hand on her chin, deeply immersed in her thoughts.

"I suppose the key refers to the staff…"

"That makes sense, but what does it mean by 'reflect the past'? Does it have something to do with the light affinity?" Zoe added shortly after, while looking at Liliana.

"I highly doubt it; although 'reflection of the past' is indeed a spell of the light affinity, it is something of a too high level and only possible for Arcane-levels; I don't think they expect us to perform that spell, plus the light affinity is too rare for the riddle to be related to it," Liliana commented in disagreement, which convinced everyone.

"Liliana is right; 'Reflect the past' must refer to something more metaphorical…"

With Elara's words, everyone once again returned to their thoughts, trying to find the solution to the riddle. Ethan, on the other hand, continued to look at the runes carved on the door, trying to find any useful clue, but he found nothing that particularly caught his attention.

 After giving up on the door, Ethan turned his attention to the staff in Zoe's hand, and after examining each of its runes, he noticed something strange. Although it was slightly illuminated, the staff's surface seemed to faintly reflect the image of the door. But what was really strange was that, through the reflection on the staff, one could see a faint figure carved on the door resembling a hand.

Ethan's eyes lit up like lanterns when he noticed this, and he quickly turned to look at the door again, where he couldn't see anything similar to what the staff's reflection showed. This put a smile on his face, and he announced, absolutely convinced it was the key to solving the riddle.

"It's the reflection of the staff!! 'Reflect the past' refers to the reflection of the staff!!"

Ethan's words captured the attention of everyone present, who curiously looked at the staff, where indeed, after watching it for a while, they could see the faint figure reflected on the door of an arm. Zoe quickly began to move it, revealing that the figure was actually a mage, fighting a knight.

"You're right; the door's reflection in the staff shows 'a scene from the past', Elara commented delightedly. Zoe, with a smile on her face, began to change the position of the staff, trying to trigger some reaction, but nothing happened.

"Could it be the angle or the distance?" At Zoe's question, Liliana gently commented after considering it for a moment.

"Maybe it's both; try taking a few steps back and changing the angle so that the images of the mage and the warrior appear at the same time on the staff."

After nodding in agreement, Zoe took several steps back until she reached the perfect spot where the figures of the mage and the knight were seen simultaneously in the staff's reflection. This quickly confirmed it was the correct answer, as the staff and the door began to glow intensely.

"It looks like that was the right answer, Zoe commented with a charming smile on her face. The smile spread to the other two girls, causing the men in the team to swallow heavily, captivated by the enchanting and almost hypnotizing beauty of the young disciples.

While the young men were almost mesmerized by the beauty of the direct disciples, the huge wooden doors opened, revealing a descending spiral of stone steps on the other side. Zoe quickly ordered.

"Everyone, be alert; we'll go down in defensive formation. Stay alert and ready for combat."

Zoe's voice woke the young men, who quickly formed up, with two students at the front, followed by Liliana and Zoe, who summoned her spirit fox companion and gave her the staff. She stayed in the center, while Ethan and Elara, followed by the last student, covered the rear.

At the bottom of the stairs, the group arrived at a huge cavern supported by gigantic pillars, which had a beautiful palace at its center that seemed to have come straight out of a fairy tale. Seeing the palace in the distance, the group almost jumped with excitement but managed to keep their emotions under control. They approached the place cautiously and in a circular formation, with the spirit fox in the center holding the staff in her mouth.

The group continued their way towards the palace attentively and alertly, growing increasingly excited about seeing their goal up close. However, suddenly, a magical circle formed out of nowhere, conjuring a barrier around them.

The group stopped in their tracks, surprised by the barrier, but before they could say anything, a huge fireball hit the barrier, causing it to tremble violently until it shattered like glass. Yet still fulfilling its purpose of keeping them safe.

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, ACTIVATE BARRIERS, AND RETREAT!!!" Zoe shouted quickly while extending her ethereal projection to the maximum, trying to identify the attackers.