The strange looking structure on the other side of the pond was clearly of the same make of the tower and the shrine of resurrection. When Katsuki stepped onto its front platform it seemed to hum under his feet, echoing in his heart. It had the same little pedestal that was in the second chamber of the shrine of resurrection, and before Katsuki could think he held the slate up to it, tapping it gently against the ceramics.
It clicked, and hummed. Just like in the shrine in which he awoke. A blue light emitted from the slate and flowed through the structure, turning the stone circle under his feet a bright blue. The door split into horizontal sections, falling away inside the shrine smoothly and interlocking into the shrine's walls. Katsuki cautiously stepped inside, brushing his hand over the interlocked components of the shrine door. It seemed to have completely melted into the material of the wall.
There was another glowing circle within the shrine itself, and Katsuki tentatively stepped onto it. It shone a beautiful blue light, before shuddering beneath his feet and began to lower itself into the ground.
A moving platform. Katsuki exhaled in wonder as he traced his knuckles alongside the wall, catching a bit of friction between his skin.
The lift carried him into the earth for what seemed like ages. He could not rest against the wall because it shifted as it lowered him into the ground, so he sat cross legged, back ramrod straight. He opened the slate, the glow of its screen illuminating the dark lift. The map had been updated when he entered the shrine, now listing the structure he was in as the "Magnesis Trial." He tapped on the blue icon to look for more information, but all that offered was the chance to "Travel" and little else. Since he was already in the shrine, he ignored that. He cannot travel to a place where he already is.
Something else in that unfamiliar script was written above the trial, and Katsuki tried so hard to read the little brick-like letters, but nothing came to him. He put the slate back onto his hip, and yawned, before sitting cross legged with his elbows on his knees. It was very dark and this lift was very comforting with its small mechanical noises. Most people would probably feel uncomfortable in such a contained and dark space, but Katsuki felt no malice in this place, nor smelled any magic that could harm him. Just technology beyond his understanding.
Suddenly the lift opened into a huge chamber made from blocks of clean cut stone. Katsuki shot to his feet. The symbols and architecture of the Sheikah were everywhere- glowing blue lamps that were brighter than the sky and great stone gates of carved ceramics. Great swirls that were similar to the ones on the slate were carved into the floor and onto two little platforms in front of him made of metal. The surrounding walls formed columns at different angles, triangular in some and rectangular in others. In the left hand corner another guidance stone like the one from the tower sat, ready to be activated.
He took a step off the lift and immediately the temperature changed. The sun-warmed air from outside suddenly became cool and sent goosebumps down his arms at the unexpected change. The smell of the air changed too, going from clean earth and fresh water to stale stone and a metallic taste filled his mouth. Just like when he first awoke in the Shrine of Resurrection.
He wished suddenly for a coat, or another layer to set over his thin rags. In this great shrine, that proudness and ruggedness of his newfound sword and shield suddenly felt horrendously plain in the face of such technological greatness. The sword was of rough made and was barely sharp enough to pierce his own skin without great force, and the shield would be little protection against a swing of a bat or hammer.
He felt small and powerless.
It really pissed him off.
He angrily shoved the slate into the guidance stone, and his anger turned to awe quickly as it did the same little flip-and-glow trick from before. He watched in fascination as many unreadable symbols suddenly appeared across the thick granite face of the guidance stone, condensing into one bright blue glop of data. It dripped onto the slate, and it spun back upwards and was very quickly back into his hands. Information stored in the form of liquid light.
He was still wary of the technology in this place, but the slate was his. It was a gift. It was given to him by that kind voice that awoke him. If his slate could so easily interact with the technology hidden in these little shrines, then it couldn't be too bad, could it?
A bright red icon filled one of the many blank squares on the damaged page Katsuki had noticed when playing with the slate earlier on the plateau. It was in the shape he didn't recognize, almost like a horseshoe. He read the description under it.
"Magnesis. Manipulate metallic objects through magnetism. Grab onto metallic objects with the magnetic energy that pours forth from the Magnesis rune. Objects held in the magnetic snare can be lifted up and moved freely."
The words didn't look like much, but Katsuki felt curiosity bubble up in him. Moving objects freely ?
Katsuki activated the rune, and instinctively held the slate up to look around. The eye on the back of the slate must actually act like an eye. Although there were red lines drawn across the picture, a perfect match for exactly what Katsuki saw. He held his hand in front of the eye on the slate, watching the red lines move across his skin as he flexed his fingers. He didn't feel any different, so it must be purely integrated into the slate itself.
Then he caught sight of a brilliant pink in the middle of the room. Katsuki had all but ignored it before in his shock of the sheer vastness of the room, but there were two large metal door-like objects laying on the floor. A symbol popped up next to the red marked objects on the screen, and he tapped it. When the slate emitted some sort of beam of light, he immediately dropped it.
It landed on his foot, and he hopped around for a few precious seconds, rubbing his foot as he cursed internally. Then, for good measure, he flipped the slate off o before picking it up again with a huff.
Moving objects freely . He tapped the symbol again.
The slate emitted the same beam of light, connecting to the metal. It didn't seem to do anything at first before Katsuki reached to somehow turn off the beam and the metal was suddenly moved to eye level with Katsuki. Moving the slate around with both hands maneuvered the object. Katsuki grinned, before slinging the metal into the bars lining the wall. It didn't even leave a single scratch on the cemertics, but the metal clattered to the floor and broke the light with a dense klang .
Katsuki let out a sharp laugh, surprising himself with the sound before continuing to snicker. Already Katsuki could see the possibilities. He was going to kill so many monsters by moving their shit around and dropping it on their heads. The boulders outside were shiny with metal, and he could probably maneuver them to whatever monsters were nearby and slam it into their bodies like what he just did with the bars. Or could he somehow take this door out of the shrine? It looked too big to carry it through the lift, but perhaps Katsuki could force it through somehow.
Could he perhaps even take swords right out of the monster's hands?
Suddenly, this wasn't a trial like what the slate said. It was a game. He jumped down to the floor that was revealed when he moved the metallic door, skipping the ladder entirely. Rushing water ran past the little walkway he was on, and he reached down to cup the cooled water into his mouth.
He expected it to be stale despite it running in a current, but it still surprised him when it didn't taste of mud or of sunlight. It barely tasted of his own sweat. It was just flavorless and tasteless, despite possibly sitting in this shrine for hundreds if not thousands of years. He could really only hope that there were no stagnant diseases waiting under the water.
He rose, following the footpath next to the artificial river, leading into another grand room with a wall lined with cement bricks and a singular metal one in the middle. Upon inspection, the cement wasn't actually cement at all, but rather of the same material of the walls and floors. There was no mortar keeping the bricks together, and they moved slightly when he shoved his shoulder against them, but were too heavy to move on his own. They were too smooth to climb and just tall enough that Katsuki couldn't dig his fingers into the seams.
Then, an idea struck him. If he could move that metal one in the middle, he could probably move the rest out of the way by knocking into them. He grabbed the slate from his hip, activating the rune and sending the blocks flying into the air with a single jerk of his wrist.
Another whoop of excitement escaped his lips, and he jumped over the remaining blocks with a grin. Then, he realized his mistake.
A strange orange metal object with legs like a spider and a singular glowing blue eye was caught under the bricks. Blue liquid, similar to the ink that dripped down from the guidance stone just a few minutes ago, spilled onto the ground. It let out a pathetic sounding beep before groaning, and the light dimmed from its eye.
Katsuki could only stare in horror. Was it alive? Was it an inhabitant of the shrine? A humble attendant waiting for years upon years? The ink pooled around Katsuki's feet, and he couldn't pull himself to move from his frozen state, even as the ink seeped into his shoes.
He killed something. This wasn't like killing the monsters, who only burst into a purple smoke when he injured them. This left a body behind. This had blood, no matter how strange the color. This was alive .
Then its body exploded. The force of it slammed Katsuki onto his ass, knocking against the fallen bricks with a yelp of pain. He blinked the stars from his eyes.
The body of the strange looking thing had completely disappeared, including the strange blue blood that seeped into Katsuki's shoes. It didn't even leave a stain.
How strange.
The rest of the shrine was quite easy to solve. He manipulated another fallen door to make a bridge between two segments in the room, jumping from platform to platform. Then he opened up two metal doors, which he almost immediately closed again upon seeing what lay behind them.
This was the true shrine. The part he just traversed through was just some sort of puzzle to trick people who entered. This part was the true place where power resided.
He slowly opened the door again, slipping through before the metal doors slammed behind him, cautiously approaching the shrine. It was a simple box shaped room, with lines of glowing blue data ink running through an invisible wall similar to glass. Inside it, the shrunken body of a man inhabited in shekiah clothing sat peacefully, his fingers forming the shape of a triangle. Guessing his age would be impossible, as he was all but a skeleton with skin so ancient it looked more like leather than skin. Its face was eternally etched into a smile, its dried lips (thankfully) covering its teeth. White hair protruded from its scalp, forming a loose bun. Huge stone beads lined his neck.
This was the true power of the shrine. The Magnesis rune was small in comparison.
Katsuki was meters away but he could feel the power radiating off of this man. It was soft, barely noticeable in the stale air of the shrine, but it hid in the slow currents of the room and even now was embedding itself into Katsuki's skin.
He was unsure of the protocol or tradition to approach such a being, so he did so slowly and cautiously. As much as he wanted to reach for the slate on his hip or the sword on his back, he did not. He felt the man's gaze pierce into him, despite his eyes being closed.
This wasn't a shrine. It was a crypt.
A small set of stairs led up to the crypt, just where the mark of the Shekiah was embedded into the glass. Katsuki swallowed his apprehension, and slowly walked towards the man. He balanced carefully on the little platform before the crypt, gazing into the closed eyes of the Shekiah. When nothing happened, he let his gaze wander.
Now that he was closer he could see something like a clover of lights inside, illuminating the man from above. It looked so similar to his bed in the Shrine of Resurrection that for a moment Katsuki truly believed he was back there, feet dipping onto cold tiles and the horrible cloying blue liquid expelling from his lungs. He stumbled back, slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from coughing, and in doing so he just barely touched the glass of the crypt.
A gentle ripple flowed out from where he touched, like a stone being thrown into water. Katsuki paused, before bringing his hand up to the glass once more, pressing all five fingers into the eye.
It rippled once more, before shattering into a thousand impossibly tiny pieces, all glowing with that faint blue. Before Katsuki's eyes they all but faded into nothing, like ash burning into the air. It left no smell, no residue, and no evidence that it never existed if it wasn't for the afterimage burned into Katsuki's eyes.
"You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero." A voice reverberated from the entire chamber, raspy and horribly hylien. He knew right away that it was the skeleton's voice, even if the mouth did not move for speech. Perhaps he could not move at all, not even to open his own eyes."I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial."
"I am K-A-T-S-U-K-I," he signed back. He did not even try to speak. He did not even let a single breath past his lips. To even sign in this man's presence felt… dangerous, somehow.
"I know who you are," he said, almost slyly, as if spoken with a smile. "I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of One for All and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat All for One."
One for All. That felt so familiar, somehow. Warm. Like something was building in his throat, tipping off of his tongue and catching behind his teeth.
"With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled. Please accept this Spirit Orb."
A light flashed from Oman Au's chest, and that light wrinkled and folded into a faint purple orb, bearing a crest he did not recognize. It moved through the air as if being gently pushed by the wind, and he watched it cautiously as it floated towards him. He did not jerk away as it settled against his upper chest and swirling into a flash of light that looked like dancing ribbons, or feathers falling though the wind. It occupied some cavity in his chest that was previously unknown to him, untouchable and unreachable. He could feel it there, in the same space as his heart. He reached up to trace its entrance, exhaling over his fingertips.
"May One for All smile upon you," said the monk.
He watched, transfixed, as he dissolved into light like how salt dissolves into water, into glowing green particles that left only the scent of sulfur that drifted in this invisible breeze inside the shrine. He disappeared, taking all of the knowledge and secrets of this shrine with him.
If it wasn't for the energy settled next to his heart, he would have probably felt sad. But instead, he felt incredibly happy, as if he just witnessed something amazing.
Perhaps he did.
He looked at the crypt, empty of its monk. He slowly reached for the slate on his hip, the familiar weight a balance in his hands. He began his walk back to the entrance.
The giant metal slabs did not fit through the lift.
He emerged into the light of the late afternoon sun, dipping beyond the mountains far off the Great Plateau. The old man was leaning against a giant boulder, his skinny limbs casting long shadows as the wind played with his ill fitting cloak. His face was turned towards the castle, watching it closely. He did not move as Katsuki emerged from the shrine.
Katsuki did not waste a single moment. He jumped off of the shrine, kicked a rock to get the man's attention, and silenced whatever he was going to say with a glare.
"Hand it over, old man." He signed, narrowing his eyes. "I did what you asked."
He tried not to think about Oman Au disappearing into nothing, or the little spider thing that he killed with his carelessness.
The old man raised an eyebrow. "And what did you find in that old shrine that could qualify as treasure for me?"
Katsuki's mouth opened, then closed into a grimace.
The shrine had nothing that the old man could use. No gold, nor weapons nor gems nor anything of value. Katsuki had tried to bring those strange metal objects through the door of the shrine, but was unable to fit either one into the moving platform. He just had a few spare pieces from the shrine's guardian and a strange orb of smoke filled in his chest. His pockets were lined with monster parts and a half eaten slab of meat. He doubted that any could be of use to the man.
So, he did the logical thing. He spotted the brightly colored paraglider just under the man's cloak. He pulled the sword from its scabbard and with little fanfare, kicked the man in the shins and when he doubled over in pain, grabbed his wrists and yanked him down, pressing the blade to the old man's throat.
The old man did not seem surprised, but raised a single thick eyebrow. "So this is the way you wish to do things?"
Katsuki pushed the blade into the meat of his thin neck, an angry red line forming under the sharpened metal. The man's jaw snapped shut, and his eyes hardened. He pulled one arm out from Katsuki's grip, and in the moment he was unbalanced he punched him square in the chest, sending Katsuki sprawling into the pond.
Katsuki gasped as he hit the cold water, and scrambled for air, dropping his sword in the process. He broke into the surface just as the old man rightened himself, dusting the dirt off of his clothing and bringing his hands up to the shallow cut on his neck.
Katsuki pushed himself onto the bank.
"We had a deal!" he signed with a growl, shaking his head angrily like a wet dog.
The old man only raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what were the specifics of that deal, exactly? You were to bring treasure from this shrine, and yet your hands are bare."
Katsuki bit his lip, his nose curling into a snarl and rushed at the man, hands outstretched.
The old man grins sharply and easily dodges his charge, letting out a hearty laugh just as Katsuki spotted it, just under the sleeve of his cloak. Colorful and small, folded for convenience.
Could he tackle the old man again and make a run for it?
He let out a roar of frustration, or possibly glee. Soaking wet and with his sword at the bottom of the pond, he reached out and slung his arms out wide in an arc that will most certainly capture the old man like before-
Whack!
Katsuki stumbled, clutching his face as his nose throbbed with the force of the swing. The old man had swung his lantern square into his nose, sending him to the ground.
"You want to get off this plateau, don't you? There are rules in this world that must be followed. Deals must be fulfilled. Promises that must not be broken. Do you understand?" The old man spat. A lock of blond hair fell out of his hood, framing his shallow face. His sunken eyes glinted in the late morning light. "You are young and full of life, and a skilled warrior all the same. But that means nothing in the absence of trust and loyalty. Do you understand?"
Katsuki nodded dumbly.
The man nodded, relaxing his stance. He reached a hand to help Katsuki to his feet. Katsuki glared, but took it anyway, wiping the blood that trickled from his nose with his short sleeve.
"There are three more such shrines on this plateau." The man turned, tucking his lock of hair back behind his hood. Katsuki caught sight of his wrists, thin with malnutrition. "If you enter them, you may find treasure. Enter all three, and explore them deeply."
"I will do them all today." Katsuki signed. Then he realized the old man wasn't looking at him, so he grabbed his shoulder, firmly repeating himself.
The old man laughed, a deep sound from his belly. "Well, you are quite a stripling young man. Of course you will. He's counting on you to do so."