The rate of his mental recovery had increased but so had his mental capacity. It took him a while before he felt comfortable lighting the remaining patterns. After they were all alit, he climbed the stairs to the last step he could climb. The 75th.
He stared at the hall before him and he clenched his fingers. He really had to spend his time on the patterns on the ground. Sighing, he gently raised his hand to feel the barrier but to his surprise, his and went through!
This came as a surprise. After all, he was sure he had done his math correctly. He cautiously took a step forward and did the same for the next step and his hand went through. Could it be that he had miscalculated?
This went on for a while until he was at the 95th step. This came as a surprise for him and it appeared that there were extra rules. He smiled at this thought but still that was a distance away from the 1000th step.
His mind was really beginning to show off a side it had been hiding. His mind was very curious and he always wanted to be able to feel in control. The fact that his calculations had been proven wrong at the end brought him to think about more variables.
Still, his mind could not help but wander. It was likely that with the first row activated, one would be able to climb up to the 100th step. That was his thought. It appeared that because he had destroyed one pattern, he was only able to climb up to the 95thstep.
Lyren stood at the 95th step after he had calculated the math and he felt a sense of joy. At least the creators were considerate, even though it was not their intention. Maybe the rules had just formed themselves that way.
He felt the barrier gently and he turned back to look behind him. Below him were 94 steps. Fruits of his hard labor. The ground seemed further away and it would not have been visible had it not been the 15 patterns glowing the distance below him.
'So this is my peak… Lyren thought.'
His peak was very low compared to those ancient monsters who had spent their lives here but there was no denying the fact that he was making very great progress. He was not ready to leave this peak of his yet and go down so he sat there in thoughts.
The next trials were going to be nothing like he had encountered before. Just recalling the second row made his mind want to shut down at the thought. He chuckled at himself. Unless he took that step, he was going to age here and spend the rest of his life away from his mother.
Again, he could see her smile and he could even here her voice urging him to go forward and never give up or even lose hope. He clenched his fist tightly as he vowed that he was going to pass this trial and leave this place as one piece.
His eyes lit up with determination. There was no way he was going to let this woman who had placed her trust on an inexperienced twelve-year old boy down. He was her greatest pride and that pride, he was going to make sure she kept being proud of him.
He felt something crawling and pressing on his skin and that sensation turned to a warm caress which he realized that it was Elyria. Now that he thought about it, it had stopped pressing down too much on him to the extent he had forgotten about its existence.
Now that his mind was finally drawn from the patterns, he suddenly felt the Elyria on his skin. It wanted to force its way into his vessel but it was being repressed. It appeared that studying those patterns had helped him in matters concerning Elyria.
He could feel that he was close enough to be able to touch it but at the moment, if he tried, he would just lose the feeling of having the Elyria so close to him. He opened his right palm and looked at the pattern.
'What secrets do you carry?"
Lyren could not help but speak to the pattern and as though in reply, he felt a warm sensation wash across his right arm as the pattern released a golden glow.
'Now that's a surprise…'
Lyren thought as he watched the pattern dim and remain etched on to his palm. Somehow, it appeared slightly raised. He clenched the palm into a fist as he stared into his small fist. Well, that fist was going to do wonders one day in the future.
Lyren took his time to recover for he knew whatever the second row's patterns carried was not going to be just a walk in the park. He closed his eyes and started meditating. This high and mighty made it feel calm even for him and he did a mistake he was going to regret for the rest of his stay in this place.
…
This is… Lyren appeared in a void. Too dark he could see nothing not even himself. He unconsciously tried to look side to side forgetting that he could see nothing at all. He tried to feel his surrounding but the only thing he could feel were his feet.
It was almost like he was stepping on a viscous liquid which he could float on. He lifted his foot and felt the other sink with the liquid.
'What a weird place.'
Lyren tried to move around aimless and the liquid sank as he stepped on it but his foot could not tear its surface tension so he realized that he was not going to sink inside it. he wandered for a long time until he realized that he was not making any progress and he was not going to make any.
With nothing to do he sat down but just as he was about to do so, he felt a slight vibration. It did not have a specific source and it was like it was coming from everywhere. His body shook and his mind felt like it was quaking.
"Something is wrong… where is this place? And why does my head hurt? Ouch… what's going on?"
Lyren was totally confused. This place should have had no adverse effect to him but it hurt him so much just from that one vibration. He could feel his heart race and his breathing become difficult. He had to get out of this place.
His thoughts were lagging so much that he wondered if he was going to lose his consciousness and get buried at this place. Just how much danger was this place going to put him to? To make matters worse, he could not even tell how he got here and finding an exit was no more than a pipe dream.
He was still in the middle of the thought and this time, it was not just vibration but even the viscous liquid seemed to boil. His body all ached and even his thoughts almost stopped. His breathing stopped and his heart was also on the verge of stopping.
As for his mind, it was under so much pressure he felt like someone was squeezing it with their bare hands. How had he fallen into this predicament? Maybe this was the end for him.
"Lyren…"
"Lyren…"
"Lyren..!"
"Lyreeen!"
The voice that drifted into his ears came as a distant echo but with each call, it got clearer and a whisper. By the last call, it was almost like a shout. Again, it was his mom calling him.
"Wake up!!!"
'So, I fell asleep again…'
Lyren's eyes shot open. There was no way his mind, even when he overslept, would ignore just one call from her for him to wake up. Let alone this time he was called several times and she had shouted at him to wake up.
That voice carried a deep weight and that shout, was enough to leave him a trauma if she did it in real life. Still, it was she who had saved him, again and it appeared that this was not the end though...