I was on the verge of breaking up again, but something unusual happened.


    ''!''


    ''A squirrel! WOW! A normal animal.''


    ''It''s my first time seeing one since I got here. Thinking about it, it''s quite funny.''


    *chuckle


    ''My first time encountering an animal in the middle of the forest…''


    ''''Pfff''''


    ''''Hahahahaha''''


    ''''If even someone small and fragile like you can do it, so can I, right, little buddy?.''''


    The squirrel froze for a second, looked at me, and after that, continued to follow his path.


    For some reason, seeing the little creature bravely surviving in such an inhospitable place filled me with determination once again.


    *deep breath


    *step, limp, step, limp…


    - A couple of hours later -


    As I walked through the dark night and dense mist using the terrain to guide me, I finally arrived at the end of the forest and saw the beginning of my climb.


    To my left was the rocky wall of the mountain; to my right, a cliff that seemed to stretch on forever and forward, the path that appeared to be constructed by a natural formation that disappeared into the clouds above.


    The path was made of rocks of all shapes and sizes, making it a difficult climb; in fact, that was the first challenge to enter the ancient god''s tomb.


    *sigh


    ''If my memory serves me right, this place was set up in an emergency… The ancient lightning god was mortally wounded while fleeing from the great war during the immemorial era, so he set up this place to give his inheritance to his great-grandnephew, the demigod who possessed the wind sound boots.''


    ''Unfortunately for him, his inheritor never came because he died not far from here. Well… Sooner or later I''ll also get the Wing Song boots, so he will have his wish fulfilled in some twisted way.''


    ''''heh''''


    ''Now if I''m not wrong, this first challenge has something to do with the position of the sun and shadows… Some parts of the path are false, and I could see which part of the path was true by the cast shadows. Well, I can''t at the moment.''


    Looking around, I picked a small branch from the ground.


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    ''Yeah, this will do.''


    I took two steps into the path and poked with the branch on the third.


    It went through the ground as if there was nothing there.


    ''Illusion, the same as I remember… Since it was made in such a hurry, there are plenty of ways to cheat.''


    ''''I''m sorry, Keravnos, you probably put a lot of thought and work into these so your spear didn''t fall into the wrong hands, but there''s no way I''m waiting until tomorrow morning just to solve your puzzles.''''


    *deep breath


    ''All right, let''s do this.''


    *step, limp, poke…


    - Half an hour later -


    *huff,huff,huff…


    ''This was rough. The illusions weren''t that bad, but the uneven steps, the cold wind, and the cliff below were horrible. ''


    The top of the Mist mountain was breathtaking, figuratively and literally. The oxygen was low on air, making me more exhausted than I already was.


    But on the other side, the view was nothing short of spectacular. First was the peak itself. It was flat, there was a white dry tree next to a pond, and the grass here was green, not blue, like on all other parts of the mountain. They grew in a way that seemed to be taken care of by a gardener and not the result of nature. There were also a few white rocks near the pond; they were arranged like a circle, and at the center of it, there were a bunch of different flowers.


    Although it was night, the moon was shining bright in the sky; I could see everything below: the river, the forest, the clouds, and even the place where the terror birds made a nest.


    ''''WOW!''''


    *deep breath


    ''Now how should I proceed?''


    I walked up to the lake, and unfortunately for me, the bright moon was making the lake have a good source of light.


    ''This is going to be a bit complicated…''


    Crouching down and touching the lake felt like touching hands with someone, not water… and that someone was my own reflection.


    ''Yeah, just as I thought, the mechanism is working tonight... Now… how can I break the water mirror… Maybe the rocks? ''


    Picking up some of the loose white rocks, I threw them into the pond.


    - Thud,Thud… -


    The sound echoed for a while, but it didn''t give me the results I hoped for.


    ''Well, that was a bummer… The reflections also worked on the rocks, and it was barred from entering.''


    *sigh


    Looking around, I found my next attempt.


    ''The flowers… If I release a couple of petals, maybe it will work? The mirror must have a limit on how much it can block.''


    Picking up a bunch of flowers and taking off their petals, I threw them into the pond.


    It fell graciously and touched the water, but nothing in the pond sank.


    *sigh


    ''The normal way to do this is to wait for the wind to break the mirror and then jump in… But tonight there''s no wind whatsoever.''


    ''Think, think…''


    *deep inhale


    *PUFFFFFFF


    The water in the pond shook a little, and some of the petals started to sink, but as soon as my air was gone, some of them floated back.


    ''Hum…!!!! …… The tree!''


    I walked to the dead tree and inspected it, and after a few minutes, I found a crack in it; then I proceeded to grab it and use the weight of my body to break it.


    - Crack, crack…crash—


    After a few attempts, a chunk of the tree fell off.


    ''Finally.''


    Grabbing the chunk of the tree, I carried it back to the pond and used it as a fan, causing a ripple effect that pushed all of the rocks and pebbles to the bottom of the pond, but I didn''t stop it there; I continued to fan for a bit more until the entire pond was covered in ripples.


    ''Alright, that''s it. One, two…''


    *Splash!


    Diving into the pond, I swam to the bottom, where a circular stone plate with intricate patterns stood.


    Using my hands, I searched for a small sphere at the center and pressed it.


    -RUMBLE-


    The entire mountain shook.


    The stone plate started to move; it went up. I was lifted up with it.


    It went up, and up until I was high enough to barely be able to see the ground below. By the time it stopped, the oxygen in the air was not enough to support life for long.


    Closing my eyes, I stood up from the plate stand and walked forward, taking a deep breath before stepping off the edge of the platform.


    I didn''t fall; I stood still like I was standing on firm ground.


    I didn''t open my eyes; that would be a fatal mistake. I knew that fear or panic here would lead to my death.


    I also remember this path "solution." It was a zigzag invisible path made to be almost exclusively completed by using the Wing Song boot. But there was another way of doing it; in Tartdia, it was done first by trial and error; later, the players discovered a coded text in one of the ancient god''s temple ruins with the correct steps.


    ''There are fifty-two weeks in a year, five weekdays, and two weekends. Five steps forward, two to the right.''


    *Step, step, step, step, step.


    ''Right.''


    *Step, step.


    ''Forward, One.''


    *Step, step, step, step, step.


    ''Left.''


    *Step, step.


    ''Forward, Two.''


    …


    - Half an hour later -


    ''''Forward, fifty-two.''''


    ''''I''ve made it! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAN''T BELIEVE I REALLY MADE IT!!''''


    In front of me, there was… absolutely nothing.