"What is this place?" Edelgard whispered with eyes wide with wonder as the descent of the platform she stood on slowed to a stop. Whatever expectations Edelgard had of the Shrine's secrets paled in comparison to the real thing.
The cavernous hall that the platform had descended into was completely artificial in nature. Every surface, every object, in her view had been clearly been built by someone out of some kind of stone-like material Edelgard could not identify. Despite being underground, a blue light shone from above that illuminated the entire room almost as well as daylight. Indeed, she could spy wall mounted fixtures on the smooth dark brown walls with glowing blue stones providing further illumination.
On the floor just ahead were two large metal plates that rested on the ground, made all the more conspicuous that there room was almost completely bare save for them. Just beyond that, a large metal gate that barred any further progress deeper into the shrine. Although there were more halls and passages visible from behind the gate's metal bars, there wasn't enough space in between the bars for anyone to slip though or climb over. Finally, what seemed to be another Sheikah Slate interface was in the far-left corner of the room.
Before anything else could be said, a mysterious voice suddenly echoed through the air, sending a chill down Edelgard's spine.
"To you who sets foot in this shrine... I am Oman Au," The voice declared hauntingly, "In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial."
Naturally, Edelgard, Link and Leonie came to a complete halt in response to the 'Oman Au's declaration. The three would be explorers then shared concerned looks which each other as they digested what had just happened.
"Tell me I'm not the only one who heard that," Leonie said.
"No, I'm pretty sure we all heard it," Link said.
"It seems we are not alone here," Edelgard said. "And 'The Goddess Hylia'? Her name is rarely used, but I'm reasonably sure the Goddess of the Church of Seiros is named Sothis."
"Different land, different Goddess, I guess," Leonie supposed.
"There's an awful lot of those eye symbols on the walls." Link observed, pointing at the strange symbols in question that were featured prominently around the chamber.
"A sign of the Shine's builders, perhaps?" Edelgard suggested, "We should probably get some backup now that we know we are not alone down here."
"Hold on, let me use this first," Link said, walking over to the interface for the Sheikah Slate and placing the slate upon it.
"Sheikah Slate authenticated. Distilling Rune."
The stalactite above the interface suddenly lit up in glowing blue runes that seemed to run across its smooth darkened surface like water. The runes flowed down towards the tip of the stone, collating into a single point at the very tip... a glowing blue drop of liquid fell from the tip onto the waiting Sheikah Slate directly below, causing an explosion of blue light on the interface.
"Magnesis Rune installed." The Sheikah Slate rose out of the interface, ready for retrieval.
"Magnesis Rune?" Link echoed curiously as he scooped up the Sheikah Slate to inspect it. "That's interesting."
"Did something happen? Link, what do you see?" Edelgard said, attempting to peer over Link's shoulder to see what had elicited that reaction from him.
"I think we just improved the functionality of the Sheikah Slate." Link replied, angling the device so that Edelgard could see the 'U' shaped red symbol proudly displayed on the surface.
Edelgard had suspected as much. While she had been preoccupied with a giant tower erupting out of the ground at the time, the last time something like this had happened, the Sheikah Slate had the map of the Great Plateau installed. It was clear these 'interfaces' were meant to improve the Shiekah Slates when interacted with. The question was, what had changed this time?
Link looked at the metal plates on the ground, then at the Slate. He tried pressing the new icon.
"What the hell?" Leonie exclaimed as a glowing blue construct materialized in Link's hands, glowing streams of light sipping out from it to latch onto one of the two metal slabs on the floor. With an unnatural sound, the metal object was lifted clean off the ground.
"Magnesis...magnetism! Of course!" Edelgard realized. Fodlan didn't lack magnets, both magical and otherwise, but it would have taken a team of mages to do what Link had done with the Sheikah Slate with no effort whatsoever.
"Hmm. Secret passage. I guess this is our way forward," Link noted.
The tunnel led to a stairway, one that led up to the landing on other side of the metal gate. At the top was a large wall comprised of stone cubes stacked atop each other impede their further progress. However, the single metal cube that clearly stood out among the stone cubes made it almost insultingly clear what the solution to the puzzle was.
"Well, this isn't much of a challenge," Leonie remarked.
"Maybe it isn't meant to be," Edelgard suggested. "Maybe this trial is meant not to test Link's abilities, but to teach him how to use this Magnesis rune."
"That could be the case," Link concurred.
Link used the rune to knock down the stone wall, and Leonie walked through the resultant gap. "What is that?"
"What is wha-at is that?" Link began as he and Edelgard came up beside her. When they saw what had gotten Leonie's attention, the pair were equally flummoxed.
Past the wall of stone cubes was another room, this one containing several spaced-out platforms above a shallow pool of water. At the far end of the room were two large metal doors that seemed to mark the finish line for the trial, as it were. But it was the strange three-legged 'thing' that lay in wait just beyond the wall that had caught their attention.
Edelgard had a hard time describing it. It was clearly a machine, entirely made out of both metal and that stone-like material the Shrine's builders seemed to like so much. It had three segmented legs placed around its' body, reminding Edelgard of an insect. Glowing orange lines were sewn across its' squat body, and a single blue eye was the most defining feature on its' dome shaped head. Frankly, it looked ridiculous. However, as small as it might have been, Edelgard nevertheless instinctively knew it was dangerous. While she had never actually seen something like this before, her studies into Fodlan's past had hinted that unmanned machines built for war were once used in abundance. In fact, Edelgard and Hubert had a strong suspicion some might even still exist...
Suddenly, the machine before them began to emit a high-pitched whine as the glow of its eye began to intensify. It didn't take a genius to realize that, whatever this thing was, it was about to attack. "Everyone, get back!" Edelgard cried out in warning, just as a bolt of destructive energy shot out from the machine. It narrowly missed her and impacted against the Shine walls. A small but violent explosion ensued.
"Get to cover!" Link shouted, and the three adventurers took cover behind the stone cubes.
Leonie unslung her bow and shot an arrow at the machine. The arrow simply bounced off of it. "Great. What do we do now?"
Link looked at the machine, then at the Sheikah Slate, and had a moment of inspiration. Using the Slate, he lifted the metal cube as high as it would go, and positioned it above the machine. He then deactivated the Magnesis rune, allowing the metal block to fall, crushing the mechanical foe.
"Clever," Leonie commended.
With the mechanical foe dealt with, Link opened the metal doors keeping the three from the end of the shrine.
Before them lay some kind of square shaped altar, decorated in ornate architecture that was at odds with the rest of the spartan nature of the rest of the shrine.
Behind a shimmering barrier made of translucent blue light, a lone figure sat on an elevated platform, cross legged in a meditative pose. The figure, wearing what seemed to be religious vestments of some kid, was clearly dead if its' blackened skin and taunt body were any indication. Edelgard couldn't help but note that the corpse's ears were tall and pointy, just as Link's were, and its' fingers were arranged before to form some kind of triangle. On the barrier itself was that strange eye symbol, standing out as if beckoning them to touch it… the same one tattooed prominently into the corpse's forehead. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, the final destination they had striven so hard to reach. This was the end of the Shrine.
"I've never seen a corpse like that before," Leonie noted.
Link climbed the steps to reach the luminous barrier and touched the symbol. It made a sound not unlike a water droplet hitting a pool, and with an explosion of light, the barrier shattered.
"Do not be alarmed, young ones," The haunting voice of Oman Au suddenly spoke up once more before panic could even register into Edelgard's mind, "This is merely a consequence of passing the trial. You will not be harmed."
"What the–" Leonie began, but the voice cut her off.
"I am Oman Au, creator of this trial. I am but a humble monk, blessed with sight. And I see the potential in your allies, Chosen of the Goddess."
The corpse. The voice was coming from the corpse. Edelgard could scarcely believe her eyes and ears. This was unlike anything she'd ever heard of.
"Chosen of the Goddess?" Link asked.
Oman Au ignored him. "Edelgard von Hresvelg. Bent, but not broken. The fire in your soul will serve you well in Hyrule. There are no undeserving enemies here. And Leonie Pinelli. From little, much. Your pursuit of greatness will be of great benefit to this land, and to you while you are here."
"How do you know these things?" Edelgard challenged.
"My sight has never led me wrong before," Oman Au informed her. "Sadly, as I did not foresee your involvement, I have no reward for you but this advice: search the lake for better weapons and clothing.
"For you, though, Hero, I offer this spirit orb." An orb of pure magical energy floated over to Link and glided into his chest, where it entered with a soft splash of light.
"So, what does this 'spirit orb' do?" Link said.
"You may not be aware of this, Hero, but your body is not what it once was," Oman Au explained helpfully, "Much of your strength was lost after a terrible battle that almost cost you your life. With these blessings from the goddess, a measure of your power will one day return to you."
"I knew it." Edelgard whispered.
"Lost my strength after a battle? And did you mean 'almost' cost me my life? And, wait... You know who I am!" Link's eyes widened in realization, "Please, tell me who I am! I-I can't remember anything! Please, I need to-"
Link reached out towards the mummified corpse, his face showing open desperation for answers. However, he would not get his answers this day.
"I wish you luck, young heroes. May the Goddess smile upon you." Oman Au said as he bid them farewell. Much to their shock of the three onlookers, the body of the ancient monk began to disintegrate into green sparkles of light, drifting up and away into the ether.
For a moment, the three young heroes just stood there. Leonie finally broke the silence. "I have no idea what just happened."