Chapter 65: Trial of Wisdom 2
They walked until they were almost at the end of the bridge, when suddenly a blinding light flashed in front of them.
The world around them transformed again, they found themselves standing atop a city wall, a war raging furiously below.
The old man stood beside them, pointing his cane downwards where thousands of soldiers clashed amidst rivers of blood.
Fire consumed buildings whole, the wails of the dying people and creatures echoed in every direction.
Jacob and Xenia stood in horror of the scenes that unfolded beneath them.
"W—What is this?" Xenia stuttered, flashes of her childhood trauma starting to seep back into her brain upon watching the bloodshed.
"A choice." The old man responded, his expression bland.
The sky suddenly split apart, a monstrous creature descended from the heavens, it was a dark blue color. It possessed four arms and four eyes, fangs that were larger and almost sharper than regular swords. It’s body almost eclipsed the entire sun itself as it fell towards the earth.
The old man pointed his cane at it. "You may save the city."
Hope suddenly flashed across Xenia’s face, although there was still a hint of worry.
"But only one city." The old man continued, crushing any sense of hope Xenia once had.
The world trembled, the scenery began to change. A second city appeared, then a third, then a fourth.
Until twelve cities floated before them.
Each of these cities contained millions of people, above every one of these cities floated an identical monster.
They were only to save one.
There was a short silence before Jacob spoke up.
"If we save one, what happens to the others?" He asked, a frown on his face.
"They die." The old man responded.
Xenia immediately hung her head in her hands, then raised her gaze again. "There has to be another solution." She proposed.
"There is not." The old man replied again, his voice calm words cold and sharp.
"You possess no cultivation. You possess no ancient treasures." He said, then, shifting his gaze to Jacob, "You also possess no special abilities. You may save only one city. Choose."
His words cut deep,
They were both lost for words, contemplating within themselves as they paced around the top of the city wall.
Jacob racked his brain, calculating every outcome in different though patterns, but still, he couldn’t provide a solution.
Hours passed.
"You are running out of time." The old man reminded them.
Every city was different. One housed innocent children. One contained great scholars. One possessed ancient knowledge. One was home to healers. Another held the strongest warriors. One preserved priceless history.
Saving any one of them meant condemning the others.
The more they learned about these cities, the harder the decision became, the frustration on their faces could not be hidden.
Xenia sat on the edge, a defeated expression plastered on her face as she was very clearly still suffering from her memories.
"I—don’t... I don’t know." She muttered to herself, her voice shaking.
"This isn’t wisdom." She spoke again.
The old man smiled at her words, "No?" He asked.
"No! It’s cruelty, how do you even expect us to do this?" She raised her voice now.
"Such choices are made everyday." The old man calmly responded to her outburst.
More time passed.
After a while, something finally occurred to Jacob.
He looked at the old man, his gaze shifting slowly to the ground they stood atop, then to the cities, and then the monsters.
After taking in these sights, his gaze shifted back to the old man.
"Why?" He asked, a question seemingly simple, but one he should’ve asked a long time ago.
"Why what?" The old man asked.
"Why are we choosing?" Jacob responded.
"The trial requires you to choose." The old man said as his smile widened slightly.
"No. The trial requires us to believe we’re choosing."
The old man remained silent as Jacob stepped forward.
"The bridge assumed there was only one path, the riddle assumed there was only one answer. Now, this challenge assumes that there are only twelve choices.
And every assumption before this has been false." Jacob concluded, his words were firm.
Xenia looked up at him, none of the words he was saying had remotely crossed her mind, for the longest time she had been torn between hoe to save every one at once.
"None of these cities are real." Jacob said.
The old man expression changed, he stroked his beard slowly as he looked Jacob up and down, then he waved his hand for the umpteenth time, the cities shattered into rubble.
The monsters disappeared, the battlefield vanished.
A bright light shone again and Jacob and Xenia found themselves at the end of the bridge.
They both took one step onto the floating island and immediately, Gattu materialized before them again.
His smile was genuine, he spoke in a calmer voice, one that a father who was proud of his son would have.
"For thousands of years, every challenger chose a city. Some chose the children, some chose the scholars, some chose the warriors. They spent years bickering. They cried and suffered, still they chose." The old man narrated as he looked directly at Jacob.
"You are the first to question whether the choice itself was real."
As the old man concluded his narration, the Great Sage’s voice thundered throughout the heavens.
"Congratulations. You have passed the Trial of Wisdom."
In a blurry haze, they were whisked back to the real world, where Light was sitting on the ground, tearing through another piece of meat.
"Congratulations on completing the trial." Shinzo spoke.
Light jerked up, startled as he hadn’t noticed that they had returned, he immediately composed himself, fixing his hair and wiping his face.
"That was a tricky one." Jacob said, running his hand through his hair.
Xenia let out a sigh of relief and clutched her chest, bending over.
"Wisdom is not merely answering questions. It is knowing when the question itself is flawed, knowing when the path before you was laid by another, and possessing the courage to seek a different one." Shinzo responded to Jacob as Light came running towards them.
"XENIA! Are you okay." Light screamed, hurriedly hovering around the woman to see if she was doing alright.
Jacob smacked his hand, telling him to give her some space.
The Great Sage watched as that one gesture had quickly dragged them into a playful mood.
His eyes were on Jacob alone.
’You are indeed a fine young man, Jacob Ironfell.’
