Chapter 212: Test III

Kaiser crouched beside the first step and carefully examined the golden symbol.

At first glance, it looked like a collection of strange lines arranged in a particular pattern. However, the longer he stared at it, the more he felt that there was something unusual about its structure.

He slowly ran his eyes across every line, trying to understand how they were connected.

’What exactly am I supposed to figure out here?’

Kaiser examined the symbol from different angles, but he couldn’t find anything that immediately explained its meaning.

He then looked at the unfamiliar characters written beneath it.

Although he couldn’t read them, he could sense that they were connected to the symbol above.

After observing them for a while, Kaiser noticed that several lines appeared to follow a similar pattern. Some curved inward, while others extended outward before connecting to another line.

’Could this be some kind of diagram?’

He wasn’t sure, but he decided to focus on the pattern rather than the characters.

Kaiser carefully studied each section, comparing the shapes and observing how they connected. Slowly, he began to notice a repeating structure.

The lines weren’t arranged randomly.

Each one seemed to have a specific position, and changing even a small part of the pattern would disrupt the entire structure.

’So the arrangement itself is important.’

He continued examining it, paying attention to the smallest details.

Several minutes passed, but he still couldn’t understand what the complete pattern represented.

Kaiser frowned.

He had expected the first step to be difficult, but he hadn’t expected to spend so much time staring at a single symbol without making any real progress.

Nevertheless, he didn’t give up.

Instead, he shifted his attention to the space surrounding the symbol.

The golden lines on the step seemed to extend slightly beyond their visible boundaries, forming a faint outline that he hadn’t noticed before.

Kaiser leaned closer.

’Wait a minute...’

He followed the outline with his eyes and discovered that the pattern had a clear starting point. From there, the lines branched into several paths before eventually converging at the center.

He stared at the center for a long moment.

For some reason, it reminded him of a structure he had encountered before, though he couldn’t immediately recall where.

He closed his eyes briefly and thought about what he had observed.

A structure had to follow certain principles to remain stable. If one part was connected incorrectly, the entire arrangement could become unstable or fail to function.

Perhaps the symbol was demonstrating a similar principle.

Kaiser opened his eyes and returned his attention to the golden lines.

This time, instead of trying to understand the entire pattern at once, he examined each section individually.

He started from the outer edge and followed the lines toward the center, carefully tracing each connection in his mind.

Gradually, the pattern began to make more sense.

The outer lines appeared to represent separate forces, while the inner lines connected them and guided them toward a common point.

However, he still didn’t understand what the structure was meant to accomplish.

’I’m missing something.’

Kaiser sat back on his heels and looked at the symbol again.

He had already identified its basic structure, but that alone wasn’t enough. Understanding how something was arranged was different from understanding why it had been arranged that way.

He needed to figure out the principle behind it.

After thinking for a while, Kaiser decided to try something different.

He focused on the center of the symbol and imagined the lines as paths along which something could move.

If each outer line represented a separate force, then the inner connections might determine how those forces interacted.

He followed the imaginary movement from one line to another, observing how the different paths converged.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

’They’re not just connected. They’re balancing one another.’

His eyes widened slightly.

The lines weren’t simply directing everything toward the center. Their arrangement also prevented any single path from overwhelming the others.

If one path carried too much force, the surrounding connections would distribute it across the remaining paths.

It was a remarkably simple principle, yet the structure had been designed to maintain that balance throughout the entire formation.

Kaiser studied the symbol again, and this time, he could see the relationship between its different parts much more clearly.

He couldn’t claim to understand every detail, but he had finally grasped the basic principle behind its construction.

Then, without warning, the golden symbol lit up.

Kaiser immediately straightened his back.

The light spread across the entire step, following every line he had been studying. For a brief moment, the pattern seemed to come alive, with golden energy flowing through its connections before gathering at the center.

A faint vibration passed through the stone.

Then the light disappeared.

Kaiser stared at the step in surprise.

"Did I get it right?"

He waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

Just as he began wondering whether he had misunderstood something, a soft click came from beneath his feet.

The first golden step shifted slightly, revealing a thin line of light along its edge.

Kaiser looked up.

The next step, which had previously appeared completely solid, now glowed faintly.

A smile appeared on his face.

’Looks like I passed.’

He had no idea whether he had understood the entire principle or merely the part required by the trial. However, the result was clear enough.

He had figured out what the first symbol represented, and the path forward had opened.

Kaiser stood up and stepped onto the next stair.

The moment his foot touched the golden stone, the first symbol faded behind him.

A new symbol appeared on the surface before him.

Unlike the previous one, this pattern was much more complicated. It contained several overlapping circles, with countless lines crossing between them. Some connections appeared incomplete, while others ended abruptly without reaching their intended destinations.

Kaiser stared at it.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

He crouched down again and began examining the new pattern.

This time, however, he didn’t feel as confused as before.

He had already learned that the symbols were not meaningless decorations. Each one contained a principle that he needed to understand before proceeding.

With that in mind, he carefully studied the overlapping circles and their connections.

The first symbol had taught him about balance between different forces.

Perhaps the second one would build upon that understanding.

Kaiser began tracing the lines, looking for repeated patterns and unusual connections.

After a short while, he noticed that several of the circles shared the same central point, while others appeared to operate independently.

He focused on one of the incomplete connections.

’Why does this line stop here?’

He followed it toward the nearest circle, then examined the other lines surrounding it.

The more he studied the pattern, the more questions arose.

Unlike the first symbol, whose structure had eventually revealed a clear principle, this one seemed to contain several interacting arrangements. Understanding one part didn’t necessarily explain the others.

Kaiser took a deep breath and continued examining it.

He didn’t know how many steps lay ahead, nor how long it would take him to understand them all.

For now, he had only one objective.

Understand the symbol in front of him.

Nothing else mattered.

He continued studying the pattern, slowly piecing together its structure and testing different possibilities in his mind.

Time passed, but Kaiser remained focused.

He no longer looked at the golden steps as obstacles that needed to be overcome as quickly as possible. Instead, he treated each symbol as a problem that required patience, observation, and careful thought.

Whenever he reached a dead end, he returned to the beginning and examined the pattern again.

Whenever he discovered a connection that didn’t make sense, he tried to understand why it had been placed there.

Gradually, he began to notice details that he had overlooked before.

And with each discovery, his understanding deepened.

Eventually, the second symbol began to glow.

Kaiser immediately looked up.

The golden light spread across the overlapping circles, illuminating their connections one after another. The incomplete lines extended until they reached their proper destinations, and the entire pattern settled into a stable arrangement.

A moment later, the third step lit up.

Kaiser let out a satisfied breath.

"Two down."

He climbed onto the third step and found another symbol waiting for him.

This time, he didn’t complain.

He simply crouched down and began studying it.

The trial continued.

One step at a time, Kaiser moved forward, devoting himself entirely to understanding the strange symbols left behind by the Forgotten Gods.

Some were simple enough to comprehend within minutes, while others forced him to reconsider his assumptions repeatedly before he could grasp even a small part of their meaning.

Yet every time he successfully understood a symbol, the corresponding step lit up and allowed him to proceed.

As he continued climbing, Kaiser gradually noticed something else.

The symbols were not entirely unrelated.

Certain principles appeared repeatedly in different forms. A concept he had learned from an earlier step sometimes became the key to understanding a later one.

The trial seemed to be arranged in a deliberate sequence, with each step building upon the knowledge gained from the previous ones.

’So this isn’t just a collection of random puzzles.’

Kaiser examined the next symbol before him.

’They’re teaching me something.’

The realization made him even more attentive.

He began looking for connections between the principles he had already understood, trying to determine how each new concept fit into the larger picture.

The deeper he progressed, the more complicated the symbols became.

But instead of becoming discouraged, Kaiser grew increasingly absorbed in the process.

He had entered the trial expecting to prove his worth through endurance. Instead, he was being forced to examine unfamiliar principles and discover their meaning through his own observations.

For someone who had spent much of his life solving problems by finding the most effective way to use the resources available to him, this was an entirely different kind of challenge.

There were no enemies to defeat, no rewards to claim, and no shortcuts that he could immediately identify.

There was only the symbol before him and the understanding he needed to gain.

Kaiser continued climbing.

Step after step, he immersed himself in the trial, gradually uncovering the principles hidden within the golden symbols.

He had no idea how long he had been inside the formation, but by the time he reached another platform, he had already forgotten about the passage of time.