Tower of Heaven

Wasn't it a bit too much to show them an image of a clock before they entered the trial? They already knew where the secret would be hidden, so the entire challenge became meaningless, right?

It was understandable to think so until one truly entered the trial room.

The first detail that both Atlas and Horus realized was that there were no clocks in this room.

Rather, was there anything?

They found themselves in a small study belonging to someone who was clearly a scholar. The several desks, walls, and even the floor were covered in countless papers that were covered in scribbles of a language that Atlas didn't know.

The person who owned this place was clearly engrossed in his research, but for that very reason, he did not keep a clock in the room. Time was his enemy. He refused to acknowledge his presence as he delved deeper and deeper into his studies.

"What are we supposed to do?"

Horus asked the obvious question. Unlike the mirror room, there was not a battle waiting for them here. There was nothing other than this room's original owner's research notes.

How were they supposed to interpret this situation?

Atlas moved into the room and picked up a random sheet of paper.

'I cannot understand this language, but it is very similar to the Ashkan Language of the Herella people.'

The Herella people were part of a dominant tribe on the Dark Continent in Atlas' time. He had been there only once or twice when his adventures took him to those lands, but he vividly remembered his encounter with that tribe.
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'They were battle-hardened people. They did not put value in research, instead choosing to willingly adhere to a plain view of the world.'

When Atlas met them, he wondered why they didn't accept the advancements of society.

According to their leader, it was a matter of tradition.

To their tribe who rarely interacted with outsiders, the common perspective was irrelevant. They valued the teachings of their ancestors and the connection with the Dao they received through their uncivilized views.

Back then, Atlas was forced to respect it. They were too adamant for him to even suggest that they change.

The person who wrote these documents was different from them, but the culture he came from had to be similar.

"Time…"

The "clue" they received from the tomb was that this trial had something to do with time. The true solution was up to them to decipher.

'Are these notes meant to be translated?'

Looking at Horus' attitude as he cluelessly sifted through the papers, the Ashkan culture was no longer present in the world. It was impossible for the tower to expect any Ascender born in modern times to understand these texts.

'Then, it must be something else.'

That was easy to say, but what else was there?

These bookshelves housed knowledge not privy to the eyes of new Ascenders. These desks were filled with the thoughts of a single man, a man who could no longer be understood.

This study was the record of a man who vanished in the rivers of time.

Atlas frowned.

As he tried his best to think of a solution, Horus chose a different route.

He randomly chose books off of the shelves, looking for anything he could understand. In the process, he pulled on a certain book, causing a reaction in the room.

Rumble!

The ground shook, attracting Atlas' attention.

The entire bookshelf in front of Horus was moving, making way for a hidden path.

"Found it…?" Horus said with a sheepish grin.

"Indeed you did," Atlas confirmed with a nod.

'Have I become overly cautious?'

He didn't think of the possibility of a secret area. He merely took the facts presented to him and attempted to reach a logical conclusion.

His process wasn't necessarily wrong, but it was inefficient in this scenario.

'Hmm…'

Atlas kept it in mind as he followed Horus into the hidden corridor.

Not everything needed complex explanations to rationalize. Sometimes, it was better to act first and think later.

The duo followed the narrow path to its end, reaching another room.

"What is this?" Horus sighed.

Immediately, both of them understood that this room was exactly the same as the one they just came from.

Was there a single noticeable difference?

Perhaps, but the perception of these two Core Formation Realm cultivators was not enough to discern them.

They were instead forced to investigate every little thing as they did previously.

Though, the first room served as a hint. The two of them went to two different bookshelves and started looking for suspicious titles. They searched high and low until Atlas made a sound of contentment.

"Ah!"

He pulled on a book with a name too strange to even think, and as he expected, the shelf moved and revealed a corridor.

The problem was…

Rumble!

…that sound did not come from Atlas' side.

Both he and Horus turned around in surprise and saw that the room had opened into two paths that they could choose from.

"So, how do we do this?" Horus asked, a bit arbitrarily. He was also searching for the answer in his mind, after all.

Atlas also wondered the same. In an isolated circumstance, it was impossible to find a pattern to follow at this step.

However, they had a clue, didn't they?

"If the theme is clocks, then shall we move clockwise?"

Horus stated what should have been an obvious conclusion. Atlas reached it as well, so he nodded his head without a word.

The two of them went down the path that he chose and once again found themselves in the same room. Different from the previous times, the bookshelves were not the answers.

In the third, fourth, and fifth rooms, they found their answers in the papers on the ground. In the sixth, seventh, and eighth, they found them in the strangely placed candles on the desks. In the eighth, ninth, and tenth, there were no clues at all. Using their previous knowledge, they had to physically shatter the rooms where they assumed the paths would be.

And finally, in the eleventh and twelfth, they started seeing clocks. There were two, one from each room, that were cleverly hidden in the clutter. They were only found because Atlas and Horus already took note of the hidden areas in the room through their past searches.

Finally, when they completed the twelfth room, only a single path opened.

It led down into the center of the circle they'd made, to the middle of the clock that was this assortment of rooms.

They walked that corridor like any other, but they were well aware of how clocks functioned. They already made it through the twelve digits that represented the hours of the day. This room…

"This is where the true challenge is."

No further proof was needed after they entered the room. It was the first place that differed from the rest. The area was covered in moss and stone, though it still bore a slight resemblance to the study.

Was this what the area looked like before that place was built?

It didn't matter, because rather than the environment, the eyes of the two men were directed at the being in the center of the room.

It stood up from its seat as if it had been waiting for them, brandishing the club in its hand.

"I told you. All cultivators are like this. No matter how tricky the trials may seem…"

Horus grinned.

"...it's always going to end in battle."