Kage knelt, brushing away centuries of accumulated dirt and vine growth. His fingers traced the outline of a hidden stone panel—about three feet square, perfectly flush with the surrounding floor. Anyone else would have missed it entirely.

He pressed against the edges, testing for give. Nothing budged.

'Of course. After all that simplicity, they make this difficult.'

Kage stood and examined the walls. The blue ghostfire illuminated ancient carvings—more calligraphy, but different. Instructional rather than poetic.

"Three gifts to open the path. Water and Fire. Blade and Shield. Heart and Mind."

Kage's eyes narrowed.

The same elements from both towers' inscriptions. A combination lock of sorts, but using physical objects rather than symbols.

He stepped back outside and surveyed the courtyard. The half moon's light blazed. That detail mattered—the tide cave's puzzle had required moon phase knowledge. The Academy designed these tests to reward observation.

'Water and Fire.'

The stream he'd crossed earlier—that was water. But fire?

Kage's gaze swept the ruins until he spotted it: a section of the courtyard where the vegetation grew wrong. Blackened earth, twisted wood. A fire had burned here, perhaps during the Harmony Wars. Charcoal and ash still remained, partially buried.

He gathered a smooth river stone from the stream—roughly fist-sized, worn by water—and a piece of charred wood from the burned section. He returned to the tower.

'Blade and Shield.'

More obvious. Any sharp stone would serve as a blade. He'd seen dozens scattered around the ruins—flaked flint, fractured slate. He selected a particularly wicked-looking shard, testing its edge against his thumb. It drew blood immediately.

'Good enough.'

For a shield... Kage considered.

'A flat stone, perhaps?'

Something defensive rather than offensive. He found a broad, smooth stone near the collapsed bridge—likely part of the original construction. Roughly the size and shape of a small buckler.

'Two down. One more. Heart and Mind.'

He paused. This was the poetic one, the abstract pairing. Heart represented... what? Emotion? Life? Growth?

Mind was knowledge, thought, intellect.

'A living plant for heart would make sense.'

Kage plucked a flowering vine from the wall, roots and all. Still green, still thriving despite the ruins' decay.

And for mind... written words. Knowledge made tangible. But where would he find—

Kage looked down at his sealed scroll.

'No. Can't use that yet.'

He needed paper, or bark, or something he could write on. And something to write with.

After several minutes of searching, he found what he needed: a piece of smooth bark peeled from a dead tree, and a lump of charcoal from the burned section. He used the charcoal to write on the bark:

"Knowledge is the blade that cuts through ignorance. Wisdom is knowing when not to cut."

Simple and philosophical enough to satisfy whatever criteria the Academy had established. And true, which mattered more than he wanted to admit.

The moment he finished, Kage waited. A second passed. Two. Three. Twenty. He frowned, nerves beginning to prickle.

Then the flames flickered, and the platform groaned open, revealing stairs that spiraled downward.

Kage looked down with a small smirk, blue radiance casting ghastly reflections across his cold face.

As he descended, blue flames followed him, igniting in wall sconces as he passed.

The staircase opened into a chamber carved from living rock. Circular. About thirty feet across, connecting both towers beneath the ground.

Three stone pedestals arranged in a triangular formation, each with a shallow depression at the top.

Above each pedestal, symbols were carved into the wall:

First pedestal: Rippling water and dancing flames.

Second pedestal: Crossed blade and raised shield.

Third pedestal: Blooming flower and unfurled scroll.

'So literal it's almost insulting.'

Kage approached the first pedestal and placed the river stone and charred wood together. The depression accepted them, and they sank slightly into the stone with a soft click.

The second pedestal received the sharp flint and flat stone. Another click.

The third pedestal received the living vine and the bark with his written words. Final click.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the floor's center began to grind and shift. Stone scraped against stone with a sound like grinding teeth. The triangular space between the three pedestals split open, revealing a compartment beneath.

Kage approached and looked down. He reached into the compartment and withdrew a small jade box, sealed with wax.

He broke the seal and opened it.

Inside were three items. The first was a partial map of Shenlonford Island—showing safe routes, water sources, and notably, a clear outline of something labeled "The Silent Groves" with red markings around it.

A medicinal herb guide—drawings of five plants with notes in both Eastern and Western scripts describing their properties. Silver leaf, thornbark, blue moss, red cap mushroom, and something called "lootroot."

The third was a warning, carved on a thin jade tablet:

"The southern forest bears corruption's mark. Those who sleep beneath twisted trees will face their deepest fears made manifest. Steel your mind or find another path, for nightmares there are real as flesh. The northern route is steep but pure. The eastern route is swift but corrupted. Choose wisdom over haste."

A small smile spread across Kage's face.

'This was what he wouldn't stop talking about that day. The Silent Groves. A place of deepest, darkest horror—and unavoidable if you want the fastest path.'

A pity he had to share this knowledge with the Emberforge girl as payment for her help. And considering the kind of person she was, she'd feel indebted. The best form of manipulation is making people think they owe you.

Kage sighed and looked into the box, withdrawing the second medallion—jade engraved with a book and sword crossed, surrounded by two clasping hands.

At the bottom of the box, he found the second truth.

"East and West are directions, not destinations. The blade cuts, the chains bind, but neither alone achieves Harmony. Seek those unlike you, for in their difference lies your completion."

His face almost twisted in disgust.

As Kage climbed back up the stairs, he noticed something he'd missed before. Carved into the archway at the top of the stairs, barely visible:

"Where corruption sleeps beneath beauty's face, and mirrors show what lies in grace, the brave who look will clearly see: the final truth is 'Who am I?'"

A riddle for the third marker's location.

'Mirrors. Beauty and corruption together. Probably near the Silent Groves.'

Kage emerged from the tower and paused in the moonlit courtyard.

"Who am I?" he repeated softly, tasting the words.

A philosopher's question. An identity question. The kind of navel-gazing nonsense that appealed to people who needed external validation to define themselves.

But also... a legitimate question for someone like him.

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