The group slowly made their way down the tower. When they reached the ground, a voice called out. The old man from earlier swooped down on a sailcloth as if out of nowhere and landed next to them.
"My, my…it seems we have quite the enigma here. This tower and others like it have erupted across the land, one after another." He said. "It is almost as though…a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly."
"And I suppose you know nothing about this?" Urbosa asked suspiciously.
"Who, me? I'm just a simple hermit." The old man replied. "Incidentally, if you do not mind me asking…Did anything…odd occur while you were atop that tower?"
"We heard a voice." Link said.
"Well now! A voice, you say? And did any of you happen to recognize this mysterious voice?"
Link and Mipha began to respond but Urbosa stopped them.
"Hold it. We woke up in a strange chamber, not knowing who we are or where we are, least of all you. Why should we think you're an ally?"
"I must agree." Revali concurred.
"It seems I have some work to do as far as earning your trust goes." The old man sighed. "I suppose that is understandable." He turned away.
"I assume you caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle." He said, pointing. "That…is Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin. It appeared suddenly and destroyed everything in its path. So many innocent lives were lost in its wake. For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain that evil. But just barely. There it festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is fast approaching…"
The old man turned back to the group.
"I must ask you, courageous ones…Do you intend to make your way to the castle?"
"We do." Link said without hesitation.
"I had a feeling you would say that." The old man chuckled. "Here, on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs, with no way down. If you were to jump off, well…even for your goron friend, no death would be more certain. Or more foolish. It would be easy for your rito friend, but I highly doubt he'd be willing to carry you all."
"I should say not!" Revali sniffed.
"Of course," The old man continued. "If you had a paraglider like mine, that would be quite another story."
"I don't suppose you'd hand it over? Maybe several, if you have them?" Daruk asked.
"Oho! Certainly! Why not? But there is no such thing as a free item in this world, you know. Let's see now…How about I trade it for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby? Come. Let me show you something."
The old man led them up a nearby hill and pointed out a strange object.
"Do you see that structure there? The one shining with the strange light? It began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose up from the ground. I would think such a place would house some sort of treasure, wouldn't you? Treasure for the paraglider. A fair exchange, I believe."
Revali and Urbosa looked like they wanted to argue, but Link, Mipha and Daruk were already on their way to the structure. The two caught up with them at the thing.
"This is preposterous." Revali grumbled as Link examined the pedestal outside the structure's door. "If he has the paragliders, why not just give them to us? Why embark on this fool's errand?"
"Not that I'm disagreeing with you," Link said. "But I can't help but feel this thing is important somehow."
Link placed the Shiekah Slate against the pedestal, which blinked on, as did a circle on the walkway of the structure. The stone bars moved aside, revealing a round steeping stone. The group squeezed themselves into the structure, the stone flared up and began to descend.
"You stepped on my foot!" Revali suddenly yelled.
"Sorry." Daruk mumbled.
The elevator stone stopped in a massive room with smooth floors and ebon walls, lit by blue torches. As the four stepped out to view their surroundings, a ghostly voice rang out.
"To you who sets foot in this shrine…I am Oman Au. In the name of Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial: the Trial of Magnesis."
"How many disembodied voices are there in this kingdom?" Revali huffed.
"Ignore it." Urbosa said. "If we're to find this so-called treasure, we're going to have to figure out this trial."
"Aw, geez. I've never been good at puzzles…" Daruk muttered.
"Perhaps that would be helpful?" Mipha suggested, pointing at a pedestal just like the one on the tower.
Link went over to the pedestal and put the slate in. The pedestal accepted it and a drop of light fell from a stalactite onto the slate. Its screen displayed a magnet-shaped rune. Link pressed the rune and the slate was engulfed in a magnet-shaped aura, which Link used to move to large metal plates in the floor, revealing a hole with a ladder and a stream of water.
"Well, don't that beat all?" Daruk said, impressed.
"Please. Anyone could've figured that out." Revali sniffed.
The group followed the new path through the cavern, Link using the new magnesis rune to pull a metal block out of a wall of stone blocks, and encountered something that looked like a metal three-legged insect. Before any of them could ask what it was, it began to shoot blue beams of light at them.
"Everyone get behind me! Daruk instructed.
The thing fired another laser beam. Daruk braced himself for the blast, and summoned a red honeycomb-patterned force field around him. The laser bounced off the barrier and flew back at the machine, blowing it to bits.
"Well, that's another skill that'll come in handy." Urbosa said. Daruk beamed.
Link used the magnesis rune to move another large metal plate so they could cross stone islands and get to a large metal door, which he also opened. Behind the door was a display case containing a shriveled gray corpse with long white hair, a large straw hat and the Shiekah symbol on its forehead.
"Well, that's an attractive sight." Revali dryly quipped.
Link shushed him and touched the barrier of light, which immediately burst apart.
"You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero." The ghostly voice said. "I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Ganon. With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled. In the name of Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you…Please accept this Spirit Orb."
A purple orb flew out of the monk's body and was absorbed into Link's.
"May the goddess smile upon you." The monk said before his body vanished into light.
The group exited the shrine when a voice called out. The old man drifted down on his paraglider and landed in front of them.
"It seems you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb. Well done!" He said.
"I'd ask how you knew that," Link said. "But clearly there's something big going on around here, so, paraglider. Please?"
"I encourage you to slow down for a moment, my courageous friend." The old man said. "The appearance of those towers and the awakening of this shrine…It is all connected to that Sheikah Slate you carry on your hip there."
"Look, we did what you asked, so the paragliders, please?"
"I have yet to finish speaking! Long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands. The great power of their wisdom saved this kingdom time and time again. But their ancient technology disappeared long ago…Or so it is said. It is interesting, however, to think…how something like that survived all this time, hidden away in a shrine. These shrines are tucked away in numerous places all across this land. On this plateau alone, I believe there are still three more. Bring me the treasure from each of those shrines…and I will give you my paragliders."
"That wasn't the deal!" Link protested, his companions looking just as outraged.
"Oh? Well, I suppose I changed my mind. I'm sure that won't be a problem for a bunch of go-getters like you! Since I'm feeling generous, I will also teach you a trick for finding shrines. It's always best to survey the area by looking around from a high point. Let's see here…How about you make your way to the top of the tower again?"
"Got it!"
"I admire your eagerness! But let me teach you something else before you go. Take a look at the map on your Sheikah Slate. See those blue icons? You should recognize the cave where you woke, the shrine you came from and the tower. You can travel instantly to any of those places with the Sheikah Slate.
The old man turned away.
"Or so I heard quite some time ago…I do not know if it actually works as such." With that, he ceased speaking.
Link pressed the Great Tower icon and he and the others were turned into blue light which dissipated and reformed on the tower.
"Now that is the only way to travel!" Daruk said.
"I agree."
The group turned and were shocked to see that the old man was there waiting for them.
"I'm surprised it took you all so long to catch up with an old man like me!"
"Did you…fly here?" Link asked, dumbfounded.
"Oho ho! So you think an old man like me needs to fly to stay ahead of you? I still have a few tricks left in me. Now then…I wanted you to join me up here so you could use this as a vantage point to search for shrines. Did you know about the scope on your Sheikah Slate? Look through it and you can stick a pin anywhere you'd like to mark on the map. The pins on your map serve as reference points for your travels. Just stick a pin anywhere you're interested in!"
"I got it." Link said.
"Go ahead and take a look if you feel so inclined to do so."
Link held up the Slate and looked through it. Sure enough, he could see a shrine on a distant cliff, atop a mountain and over by some ruins. He marked them all the Slate and led the others down the tower.
"That guy knows a lot more than he's telling us." Daruk said as he climbed down.
"Pardon my bluntness, but you're way too accepting of how he knows so much about the Slate." Urbosa said to Link.
"You're probably right, but he's the only living soul we've seen so far. Who else can we listen to?"
"I still can't believe you asked that old man if he could fly." Revali said.
"I don't suppose you have a better idea of how he could've gotten there before us?" Link shot back.
The group made their way to the shrine in the maze of ruined walls, having to climb said walls due to the doorway being blocked off by rocks. Link used the Slate to open the shrine and they all descended into the belly of the structure.
"To you who sets foot in this shrine…I am Ja Baij. In the name of Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial: the Bomb Trial."
Link darted over to a nearby pedestal where he received the remote bomb rune for the Shiekah Slate, allowing him to create bombs out of pure blue energy. Using the bombs, Link and company were able to blast through several cracked stone walls, made it to the monk who gave them another Spirit Orb before vanishing. When they made their way out back into the ruins, they passed a strange metal cylinder that suddenly reacted to their presence. Red lights flashed on all over it as a blue eye like apparatus on its rotating top focused on them. The group stared at it in curiosity.
"What on earth is that?" Urbosa asked.
A blinking red beam was emitted from the cylinder's eye and focused on them. It began beeping fervently before firing a blue laser at them. They barely had time to dodge the attack which flew past them and took out a sizable chunk of the wall behind them with a large explosion. Before they could regather their wits, the cylinder was already aiming and preparing to fire again. All they could do was run and didn't stop until they could no longer hear the cylinder's strange noises.
"What was that?" Mipha gasped.
"Bad news, that's what." Daruk said. "I've never seen anything that could attack like that. Good thing it couldn't move."
"Then we shouldn't worry about it." Link said. "Let's get to the next shrine."
They headed for the shrine on the cliff when they came across an old cabin with the old man sitting in front of a fire.
"Oho! Fancy that! So we meet again." The old man said when he saw them.
"What are you doing?" Link asked.
"This body of mine isn't what it used to be." The old man told him. "Recovering from a bout of hard work takes a while…If you're hungry, I have an empty pot you can use to cook yourself a meal."
"That sounds like a good idea." Urbosa said. "I don't think we've eaten since we awoke."
She, Mipha and Link gathered up some nearby apples and mushrooms and cooked them. They all began to eat, save for Daruk who was eating rocks he'd gathered up.
"Why are you eating rocks?" Revali asked.
"Dunno, it just felt natural." Daruk replied.
Before she spoke, Urbosa looked and saw that the old man had vanished while they'd been gathering food.
"We should discuss what we know and what we don't know."
"That's easy." Revali said dryly. "We know nothing and we don't know anything."
"If you could rest that sharp wit of yours for a moment, we were put in a shrine in a kingdom that was completely ravaged by a monstrosity that will destroy all that's left if it's not stopped in time. A voice told us we're the only ones who can stop it but we don't know why we were in that shrine to begin with, who that voice was or what exactly we have to do with all this. And all this is from an old man who won't give us any clear answers."
"I know all that," Daruk interjected. "But what else can we do? As far as we can tell, there's no one else on this plateau and he's got the only means of getting off it, so we really don't have a choice."
"I suppose using force on him is out of the question?" Revali said.
"I'm not that annoyed." Urbosa replied.
"Well then," Mipha said. "I suppose our only option is to complete his task and earn the paragliders."
"I think you're right." Link told her.
There was a long silence afterward. No one really wanted to keep playing the old man's game but they couldn't think of what else to do.
"It's late. We should get some sleep and finish this shrine business in the morning." Link finally said.
In agreement, the five extinguished the fire and retired to the old man's cabin, quickly falling into dreamless sleep.
Link awoke several hours later, while it was still dark outside. He noticed that Mipha was gone and exited the cabin where he found her staring out at the trees.
"Am I intruding on something?" He asked her.
"No, not at all."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just…well, I have this nagging feeling that there's something important I've left behind. Not really something, more like someone."
"I'm sure we all feel that way.
"But I know that the answers aren't here. I can understand why the others are so frustrated with the old man. I am too, I'll admit. The answers to our questions are out there somewhere and he's got the only means for us to do so. Only he's making us do these shrines which are just adding to the confusion."
"I get why you feel that way but I can't help but feel that these shrines are pieces to the puzzle. If we keep going, we'll get the answers we're looking for." Link put a hand on her shoulder.
Mipha sighed. "I wish I had your confidence. I just feel like this whole thing is far bigger than we are."
"We just have to have faith in each other." Link assured her. "This may be a bit forward of me but when I look at you, I don't know why, but I feel like I can do anything."
Mipha turned to look at him and the two drew close. Dangerously close.
"I…I should go." Mipha said, quickly drawing away and going back into the cabin.
Link watched her go and looked up at the night sky, wishing he was half as confident as he had seemed.