"The Trial of Crystallized Truths…" murmured the guard to himself after hearing it, only for the gears in his mind to start vigorously turning soon after.
"Wait…" By the time he recalled where he'd heard the term before, the man looked at the woman before him in slight shock. "Isn't that… the thing that's…"
"It is." The Director nodded, giving the guard a slight smile. "The other part about the Ocean of Crystallized Truths that all guards have to swear a veridical oath to not divulge to any other person."
Slightly shuddering as her words reminded him of the oath he and many others had taken in the past, the guard thought about her words for a bit more, eventually realizing that there was something off about it.
"Wait… why would the Trial of Crystallized Truths be the third possibility, Director?" he asked, looking at her with confusion.
"As far as you've told us, to trigger the trial in the first place, one would need to meet certain requirements that even the greatest prodigies that visited this place have not achieved."
"And that's precisely why I brought up in the first place," said the Director in response, turning the screen back towards her.
Interacting with it for a bit, she eventually turned the screen back to the guard, which showed both of them a detailed view of Valyr and Ataraxia currently experiencing the first test of the Trial of Crystallized Truths.
"In order to be eligible to take the Trial of Crystallized Truths, one must fulfill at least one of the three requirements that have been set by its creator."
Raising one of her fingers up, the woman looked at the guard with a solemn expression. "The first requirement is to have a main class that's at least Mythic grade or higher."
"The second requirement is to comprehend a concept so deeply before reaching Rank 5 that one's Intent would show part of the characteristics that would normally be seen from a Force."
"Hiss…" The man could not help but suck in a cold breath of air after hearing that. "Did either of the two fulfill one of the requirements then, Director?"
"They didn't just fulfill one of the requirements." The Director faintly shook her head, her expression slightly turning grim. "Though it may sound absurd…"
"They've fulfilled all three."
"All three?!" The guard looked aghast at the woman once more, feeling as if his understanding of the world was being tested by her words. "But wait… didn't you say the third requirement back then was the hardest out of all of them, Director?"
"That it is." The Director did not deny the thought. "After all, the third requirement is not only to be a Herald of the Zeihardt Clan…"
"…But also be oblivious towards the existence of the Trial of Crystallized Truths on top of that."
…
"Kuh…!"
Not expecting a wave of powerful mental attacks to strike them just as they got past the 500 meter mark, both Valyr and Ataraxia were caught off guard as they were forced to endure as much of the attack's might as possible.
Gritting their teeth as they tried their best to remain consciousness amidst the attack, the two glanced at each other for a bit, only to then come to the same conclusion in mind as they went ahead and activated all of their usual status buffs.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
'What should we do?' Feeling the pressure weighing down on their minds lighten after their stats underwent a significant increase, Ataraxia looked at his other self with a hint of concern as he spoke through [Soul Entanglement].
'We may have bought ourselves some time, but there's no telling if this situation won't last long.'
'…Should we head back up to the Shallows?'
'…Not gonna lie, with how off guard we were when we received that attack, I'm quite tempted to agree with the suggestion.' Thinking about the idea for a bit, Valyr eventually responded to his other self's question as he gave the latter a brief glance.
'However, I might have to reject,' said the young man soon after, leaving Ataraxia a brief loss for words. 'You're free to head up, though.'
'Is it because of sunk-cost fallacy?' asked the latter in return, wondering what kind of reason his other self would have to remain in a place that threatened their lives the moment they arrived.
'Are you feeling remorse in the thought of going back after getting this far?'
'Do I look like someone who'd feel that way?' Hearing the words that echoed in his mind, Valyr felt slightly offended. 'If it wasn't for the fact that I've started feeling a small pull from the depths after getting this far, I would have probably gone back to the Shallows already.'
'Wait… a pull?' Looking at his other self in confusion for a bit, Ataraxia soon shifted his attention inwards, temporarily forgetting the fact that both he and Valyr were still enduring against a series of powerful mental attacks.
By the time he was done checking through his senses, he looked back at the young man before him with slight surprise. '…Huh. I didn't notice it at first, but you're right.'
'There is a pull from the depths.'
'But wait…' Letting the gears in his mind turn after coming to that realization, Ataraxia looked back at Valyr with a slight frown. 'Are we planning to head deeper, then?'
'In our current situation? No fucking way.' Valyr profusely shook his head. 'For now, let's focus on defending against these mental attacks.'
'Only then should we start thinking whether to head deeper or not.'
Nodding in response to his other self's words, Ataraxia shifted his attention back towards the bombardment of mental attacks both he and Valyr were experiencing, only to notice that its might had slightly increased compared to a while ago.
Feeling slight dread at the thought of being overwhelmed by these attacks, the two of them decided to check if there was a better way to defend against these attacks, sparing no effort to find their answer in the shortest possible time.
Fortunately, it only took a few minutes for them to stumble upon the correct answer, which was to wrap their entire bodies with the energy of the concepts they've comprehended.
At the very moment they did that, both Valyr and Ataraxia felt the pressure weighing down on them get cut in half, allowing the two to inwardly let out wide sighs of relief as they continued to actively fight against the pressure with their concepts.
Wondering when the pressure weighing down on them would disappear, the two eventually received the answers a few hours later when the bombardment of mental attacks stopped all of a sudden.
Whoosh!
'Did we… did we survive?' Feeling the pressure weighing down on them disappear just as they were in the midst of resisting, it took a while for both Valyr and Ataraxia to realize what was going on.
Though, just as they were about to celebrate the thought that they could now search for cause of the pull they felt, the two stopped in their tracks the moment they heard a deep yet weary voice echo in their minds all of a sudden.
'…Finally.'
'The ones that shall set me free have finally appeared.'