The squad and Wallis sat in a room and looked at each other.
Felmer had taken Wallis to the central temple. There, they met with the rest of the squad. And now, Wallis brought them inside the hotel room.
"So…Is this the location of the second trial?" Felmer asked.
"Didn't you solve the poem?"
"I did…"
"Does this look like a temple? Or is there a dried-up river here?"
"No…"
Wallis then nodded, telling Felmer that this wasn't the place.
"You people are getting chased. So, I brought you here."
"When will we go there?" Melfer asked.
"Don't be hasty, young man. We will directly teleport there."
"Teleport?" Elna asked.
"Yes…Teleport. This is the only effective way to get there without getting spotted."
Wallis then poured some tea into five cups and gave them to the squad.
"Drink it or eat anything else. There is nothing to eat where we are going, and we won't be coming back until the trial is complete."
The squad looked at Wallis and drank the tea. They took out fruits from their bags and ate some of them.
"Ready?"
"Yes…" Felmer responded.
Wallis stood and signalled them to stand as well. He got near them and stood straight. He closed his eyes and extended his arms forward, and then lowered them. His hands began to glow, and suddenly, a magic circle appeared below them. The circle's light increased and covered the whole room. In the next moment, they were in a forest. In front of them was a small temple with bronze bells ringing. Beside them was a small passage for water. It felt like the river had dried up for centuries.
The captain tried to stand, but he stumbled and grabbed a tree branch. The teleportation had affected his health due to his deep wound.
Felmer stepped forward and asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes," The captain exhaled heavily. "Is teleportation magic always straining?" He asked Wallis.
"Not this much. Are you ill or something?"
The captain showed his bandaged arm.
"You should have told me before." Wallis stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and began to remove the bandages.
"What are you doing?" The captain asked.
"Heal your wound," Wallis answered, while removing the bandages. "All five skies have a special ability. Wernia's power is to lift things. Mine is to heal injuries."
Wallis placed his fingers above the captain's wounds. He imbued his fingers with magic, and they began to glow. The wound began to heal. The captain grunted with pain. When Wallis stopped, the wound was covered. The captain looked at it in amazement and smiled.
"Thank you…" The captain smiled.
"It's my pleasure to help…" Wallis then stood and looked at Felmer. "Are you ready for the trial?"
"What do I have to do?" Felmer asked with confidence.
"Come here…" Wallis said and began to move towards the temple.
Felmer followed him, and they stopped near a stone. There were three small passageways for water in three directions around the stone. Wallis pointed at the stone, "Sit."
Felmer pulled up his pants a bit and sat on the stone.
"I am not secretive like Wernia, so I will tell you what to do," Wallis said and crouched beside Felmer. "In this trial, you have to calm your heart. Your heart is beating irregularly. Your blood flow is rushed. You have to calm them and focus the magic residing in your blood on the tip of one of your thumbs. As your blood flow and heartbeat become calm, you will be able to hear more clearly. Then, after three silences of the bronze bells, you will press on these three passageways." Wallis said and stood up. He said it all in one breath.
Felmer looked at Wallis. He tried to process what he heard and understand. But he couldn't understand.
"I have to do what?" Felmer asked in confusion.
"I never repeat…" Wallis replied with a straight face.
Felmer turned back and looked at his squad. They were all gathered around the captain. So they didn't hear what Wallis said.
'It seems I am alone in this one…' Felmer thought. 'Calm your heart…Hear…and then press after the three silences?' Felmer still couldn't understand.
Felmer closed his eyes and breathed calmly. He inhaled deeply and let out all the air. He repeated and tried to calm his heartbeat.
'I have to make sure that my blood flow is calm as well.'
Felmer breathed as slowly and calmly as possible. He made sure that his heart was beating normally and calmly. After a while, he could feel his heart beating calmly.
'One step passed.'
Felmer couldn't know whether his blood was flowing calmly or not.
'If my heart is calm, then the blood flow is calm as well.'
Felmer began to focus on his hearing and focused on the bronze bells. The bells haven't even once stopped since they arrived at the temple.
'Do they even stop?'
He focused. And began to count when he thought they didn't ring. He focused his magic on his right thumb and pressed on the passageway in front of him. But he only felt the soil. He opened his eyes and looked down. Nothing has happened.
He repeated the process, but he failed again. He tried again and again, only to fail.
"Your blood isn't calm," Wallis said and went away from him.
'So a calm heart isn't calm blood flow?' Felmer thought and squinted his eyes.
The teachings of Wernia began to reverberate in his mind. He thought about it and tried to do the meditation trick.
Felmer calmed his heart, concentrated on his blood flow, and after a while, he calmed it. Then, he focused on the bells. With a calm mind and heart, he began to hear the bells properly. Now, with his mind completely focused on the bells, he began to hear the silence.
'1…2…3…' Felmer counted them and then concentrated his magic in his right thumb.
He drew his thumb in front of his eyes. He opened his eyes and saw his thumb. A cyan flame covered his thumb. He had no expression. He moved down his thumb and then pressed the passageway in front of him. It began to glow.
He counted the silences again. His thumb again glowed in the cyan flame. He pressed the passageway on his right. Then, finally, the left one.
The passages glowed, and then from below the stone he was sitting on, water began to emerge. The water flowed out, travelled out the passageways, gathered into one and began to flow towards the passage of the old river.
Felmer looked around him and then in front of him. A stone appeared in the centre of the temple. He got up, walked forward and picked up the stone and the paper below it.
'Easy,' Felmer thought and chuckled.
"Here the dead were weighed, not buried,
And names were fed to ash and wind.
Walk backwards through the broken hour,
The mark appears when time refuses." Felmer read the third clue.
"Guys…" Felmer called his squad. And they began to look at him. "We have the third clue." He smiled.