Chapter 74: Welcome to My World.
Only when they stepped inside the third section did they finally pause, recognizing the totem placed in front of them, but its incantation wasn’t the same.
Levi ignored the recovery totem in the shape of a wooden ice droplet bottle and focused on the walls around him.
He recognized the totem to be the Emberheart Totem. It was a grade C recovery totem used to cure any diseases or wounds related to coldness... frostbites, Coldheart, Lungfreeze Sickness, and more.
It was quite an unknown totem as it wasn’t included in the schools’ curriculum in hot places like their region. On the other hand, it was taught in schools in overseas winter regions.
The fact that Levi had recognized it should have been enough to pass him this section since it implied that he had read about totems outside of his region.
However, Instructor Seraphis had already given them a free section related to memorization to earn them free points.
’I have to rely on Astra’s services in public.’
Levi nodded twice without saying anything. Yet, Astra AI recognized that he wanted her to scan the walls and feed him with their content. He did this to avoid speaking out loud and ruining his progress.
Levi could use soundwaves to paint a much clearer picture and accelerate his progress, but he didn’t want to waste unnecessary solar energy.
He was still on day two, and he had already burned through 40% of his tank. Levi knew that his Echolocation ability would be a must during the Combat Trial.
But, most importantly...
’He is really relying on Astra’s services.’ Instructor Seraphis murmured, ’How is he supposed to remember everything she is saying without noting it?’
Instructor Seraphis was keeping a close eye on Levi as he was curious about his means to pass this trial. It wasn’t an everyday scenario to have a blind candidate coursing through the challenges.
When he saw how Nurah and Demetris were using many holographic screens to help them organize their thoughts, he didn’t know how Levi would be able to match their speed.
The fact that Levi wasn’t using holograms was starting to draw the attention of the viewers and nightcrawlers.
-Is he really that confident in his memory?-
-Even if he is confident, why waste time with mental gymnastics when holograms are allowed to facilitate the work?-
-Maybe, he is growing complacent. I have seen it happen too many times.-
Whether the nightcrawlers or the viewers, no one understood what Levi was attempting to pull with this foolish stunt besides wasting his time.
Only Ash’Kral, Shia, and the others with knowledge of his disability knew that it wasn’t up to him.
Uncaring about anyone’s opinions, Levi was seen brainstorming on the answer for the right incantation as he listened to Astra’s narration of the clues.
’There are too many fake clues unrelated to the subject. But, at the same time, I can’t make Astra prioritize information related to the totem.’
Levi knitted his eyebrows as he listened to the barrage of unnecessary info dumps used to throw off the candidates with no idea about the totem’s origin.
While Nurah and Demetris could use their eyes to scan their walls and make an educated judgment, he was stuck like this unless he found a way.
Ting! Ting!
Suddenly, the bells on Nurah’s and Demetris’ doors rang, attracting everyone’s attention. When they saw that they had already cleared the third section and went inside the fourth, the viewers cheered at their insane speed.
"They found the answer that fast?"
Jojo’s pupils widened after recalling the intense effort she had to go through for more than twenty minutes just to solve the puzzle. But as her emotions were starting to rise, she caught them off guard with a deep breath.
’There is no need for emotions in low-stakes situations... No need, no need.’ Jojo kept humming in her mind, completely forgetting about the other two.
Meanwhile, Arthur couldn’t give a sh*t as he was showing a heated expression.
"Damn it! If my brother wasn’t bl... damn it!"
He couldn’t even back up his brother without exposing him, forcing him to bite his nails and wait for his brother to show them his true capabilities.
Meanwhile, when Demetris and Nurah didn’t hear Levi’s bell after minutes passed inside the fourth stage, each one had a different reaction.
’Heh, a struggling cripple will always remain as one.’ Demetris snickered, anticipating this much from Levi.
’Is this his limit?’ Nurah sighed, ’If he has to take this much time to solve the third section, he may not complete the whole hall.’
Soon, Nurah refocused on the puzzle that had eluded her for the past few minutes, leaving her utterly stumped.
Demetris was in the same boat as her. If the third section was relatively difficult, then the fourth section was difficult, difficult.
Meanwhile, Levi had realized that silence and Astra AI didn’t match. Even if he wanted to continue using gestures, it wouldn’t be as accurate as asking her exactly what he needed.
Although Levi wanted to save solar energy, he also wasn’t stupid and stubborn enough to stick to his decision even if it was affecting him negatively.
’When the time comes, I will see what I can do, but now, I need to be efficient.’ Levi paced over the platform while holding his chin, seemingly deep in thought... But, in reality, he was using the noise of each step to release a soundwave pulse.
Each pulse drew the walls and all of their engraved inscriptions. Levi’s auditory vision replicated the walls in his mind, and he started analyzing each wall on its own.
When he did this, he finally noticed an actual clue related to the totem’s origin called The Healer’s Cry... The surprising part, it was an English poem!
Instead of wasting more of his energy, Levi relied on Astra to read him the poem by gesturing with his head at it.
"Vast lands he crossed, in silence deep,
All to cure, his vow to keep.
Eyes of stone, and heart of gold,
Led him to where the tale was told...
’Is this...’
As Astra was reciting the poem, Levi was surprised to recognize it immediately. He had read it years ago when he studied cold-related totems. It was about a traveling Daywalker who visited a village with its people all cursed by a plague that made their blood turn cold on full moon nights.
Levi didn’t know if it was a fictional fable or based on a true story, but the totem used to heal those villagers was the Emberheart Totem, and that’s where its name came from.
Seeing that the incantation wasn’t written on it, Levi knew that Instructor Seraphis would never be this direct.
’The original incantation must be correct and just missing a word or two that were customized by him.’
Levi analyzed the poem deeply, and it didn’t take him long before he found out that the first letter of the first half could be combined to create an IIthorien word even though the poem was in English!
’Vael’thura, it means sacred light. This must be it!’
Levi immediately used the word in conjunction with the original incantation in his mind until he got the most logical one.
Without further ado, Levi uttered out loud for the first time since he entered the third section.
"By sacred light’s eternal glow, let warmth dissolve this frigid woe!"
The moment Levi’s voice faded, the Emberheart totem shone brightly for a moment before the walls’ glow changed to green.
Ting!
The bell rang on the door as it slowly opened up to the fourth section under the cheers of Arthur and his friends inside the assembly and outside.
’Tsk, he must have gotten lucky.’ Demetris clicked his tongue in irritation.
’Finally, he had me worried for a second there.’ Nurah chuckled, not wanting to lose a decent rival so quickly.
But soon, their expressions turned solemn as they gazed at the peculiar totem in front of them.
They didn’t know it, but it was the same totem presented for all candidates arriving at the fourth section. Yet, what was keeping them stuck in this section was the way the clues were presented.
The moment Levi stepped into the fourth stage, he found out what was holding everyone back.
ᚨᚢᚱᛟᚱᚨ ᛒᚱᛖᚨᛏᚺᛖᛋ ᚦᛖ ᛞᚨᚱᚲ, ᛚᛖᛏ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛚᛁᚷᚺᛏ ᛒᛖ ᚢᚾᛒᛟᚱᚾ... ᚠᚢᚱᚤ ᚱᛁᛋᛖᛋ, ᚦᛖ ᛞᚨᚱᚲ ᚲᚱᛁᛗᛋ—ᛒᚢᛏ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛚᛁᚷᚺᛏ ᛋᚺᚨᛚᛚ ᚾᛟᛏ ᛒᛖ ᛞᛖᚾᛁᛖᛞ...
The clues were whispered in ancient IIthorien by deep, eerie voices, making it extremely challenging to catch anything.
Ancient IIthorien was considered the original version of the IIthorien language. The one used in modern times was a downgraded simple version.
While the ancient version was also taught in school, no one bothered to learn or master it since the modern version was enough to activate most known totems.
The fact that it was ten times more complicated than the simplified version made it an easy choice for most of the populace to abandon it.
Nurah and Demetris had studied some of it, but clearly, it wasn’t enough as they were still struggling to understand the clues... especially when the pronunciation was very important to distinguish a word from another, and they were getting the clues by whispers.
Meanwhile, the moment the ancient eerie voices whispered in Levi’s ears, he heard them as clearly as a summer noon sky.
’Welcome to my world.’