Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter 33: Ultimate Sacrifice

Loki and Athena arrived before Ved and patiently waited for their final riddle.

[I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. What am I?]

Loki noted down the riddle and excused himself. Athena did the same. They approached a nearby reading table and seated themselves. 

"Athena, This is the final riddle, It's difficult to deduce but not impossible. We should take our time and break down it carefully." Loki suggested.

"Alright, Let's do it," Athena replied.

They both sank into deep contemplation and exchanged their thoughts countless times.

Loki thought of some possible answers and checked it with the ball.

"Phone!"

[Incorrect!]

 Ved glanced at him." This time I shall put a shackle on your sense of smell." He announced, the ball glowed slightly and dimmed down.

"Sound!"

[Incorrect!]

"This time I shall put a shackle on your sense of touch."

"Thunder!"

[Incorrect!]

"This time I shall put a shackle on your sense of sight."

"Thoughts!"

[Incorrect!]

"This time I shall put a shackle on your sense of hearing."

This was his final answer. He took a deep breath and calmly muttered his answer.

"Echo!"

[Correct!]

HUH?!...

"It's correct! But wait… How did I hear its voice, isn't my sense of hearing on shackle?" He questioned confusion etched on his voice. 

"It's an ability of the crystal of cognition. It can communicate with you directly through your mind. Similarly, As the owner of the crystal, so can I." His voice echoed in Loki's mind.

"Congratulations! You've completed the trial of wisdom. You may proceed to the next trial." He grandly announced. A gate appeared in his place glowing lightly. 

"Ohh… and you can pick two books from here as a final reward, Enjoy!" He chuckled slightly and vanished.

[Ding! Condition completed…]

Athena stood before Loki and helped him. Loki was now technically disabled with all his five senses gone. He had made the ultimate sacrifice to complete the trial. 

Sigh

"Now that I am disabled for who knows how long, I need to think of some alternatives. This is very frustrating." Loki pondered, requesting help from Athena in search of two particular books. 

Athena noted the book's name and started her search. She roamed the library for a while and returned with all the books he had requested.

"Copy Curse of Perception."

[Ding! curse of perception added to the status…]

(The curse of perception is the five-sense curse.)

He copied the skill that made him disabled. It would probably be quite useful in the near future. Loki glanced at the status and continued searching for the solutions.

Loki was in deep thought, searching for alternatives when a certain skill flashed in his mind.

[Sensory Field]

Instantly, a 3D vision of the surroundings appeared in his mind. 

"Hmm… This works for now I guess." He murmured, storing the books in his rings.

They stood in front of the gate and slowly passed through it. 

woosh

A grand room appeared before their vision. The room was adorned with colorful lights and glowing intricate runes carved precisely on the walls.

If Loki had his vision intact, he would have immediately said that this room's interior looked similar to a casino. Technically, it was a casino.

The casino was bustling with a lot of rich individuals flaunting their immense wealth. Some were playing card games while others were just having some fun.

They didn't garner any attention as everybody considered them as a passerby like themselves.

Loki used his skill [Sensory Field] and noted down the interior of the room. He could roughly make a layout but other than that he was powerless.

As they were about to explore the casino, an organizer appeared before them and greeted us.

We introduced ourselves and inquired from him about the trial. A realization struck on his face as he hurriedly led us to a certain room.

It was a simple room with a pair of chairs and a table in the middle. A man stood seated on the opposite side. He wore a jester mask and had a butler outfit. 

The organizer politely greeted the man and excused himself.

"You may sit down." He suggested, gazing at us.

We approached the chairs and sat down before him. 

"Greetings Challengers! Welcome to my casino. This is the trial chamber and I am the trial guardian of Trial of Luck. My name is Pen Wise." Pen

Introduced, and began explaining some rules of this trial.

"Inspect."

[Name: Pen Wise]

[Age: -]

[Title: Timeless Jester]

[Tier- Epic]

[Rank: low-Diamond]

[Affinities: Illusion ]

[Abilities]

[ Host's strength is too low…]

[Cannot access the abilities…]

[Copy condition: Complete his trial.]

Pen's status appeared in Loki's mind. He became slightly tense glancing at Pen's rank. 

"All of them are monsters." He murmured, silently listening to Pen's explanation.

"The Trial of Luck is as the name suggests based on luck. If you're lucky, then this might be your easiest trial and if you're unlucky, then you might meet your end at this place. 

The rules are simple, We will be playing a game of cards. Winner takes all while the loser shall fall." He explained, shuffling an ancient deck of cards, each one illustrated with vivid, moving images that seemed to pulse with life.

"Uhh… But I am Blind." Loki confessed with a puzzled face. He can't play cards without his vision, That's just unfair. 

"I will play." Athena stepped up with a determined look. She whispered some words to Loki and accepted the trial.

"Alright, The game begins!" He announced, closing the door. Instantly the atmosphere changed. Pen's carefree attitude was replaced by a serious look. 

Both players draw one card at a time, revealing it to the table. Each card has a unique power and value. (It's a regular poker card, don't think too much. XD)

An hour later, 

"H-How?!" Pen inquired, flabbergasted by Athena's skills. 

They had played a regular game of poker as their first game. The game was pretty smooth at first until Athena became serious and absolutely destroyed him at his own game. 

"This is how I normally play with my grandmother," she replied tilting her head with confusion.

It was quite easy for her as she used to play card games with her grandmother regularly. Although she always lost, her knowledge grew with each game.

"Don't get too excited just because of a single win. We got five more matches before we decide the winner." He grumpily responded, deciding to play call break next. 

Five minutes later,

"You were lucky this time." He consoled himself after yet another loss. This was quite humiliating as it's been eons since he had last lost this pathetically. 

The game continued with Athena winning a majority of the matches while Pen was suffering from frustration and anxiety.

He tried everything from poker, blackjack, spades, etc but the results were the same. He lost pathetically in almost everything. 

"Stop stop! I admit defeat! You are the greatest card player I've ever played with. Don't humiliate me any further, You have completed the trial." He pleaded, forsaking his long-gone dignity.

A gate appeared appeared behind Pen glowing slightly. It was the gateway to another trial. He stepped aside and replied."You may pass through."

Loki slept for the whole session as he got quite bored early. He couldn't help Athena as has blind. Neither could he watch the game for the same reason. So, he decided to take a quick nap and felt asleep beside Athena.

"Loki, Let's go. The trial is completed." Athena whispered to Loki, startling him.

"Huh?... Trial is completed. When? How?" He groggily questioned.

The system didn't notify me, is it because I personally didn't complete the trial? I pondered thinking the most probable answer. 

They both stood up and approached the gate. 

"Here, Take this, a reward for defeating me." Pen passed his card deck to Athena and vanished from the room.

Athena examined the card, The cards looked quite ancient with various depictions of mythical creatures on each side. She closed the deck and stored it in her ring. 

They stepped into the gate and passed through, entering the next trial.