Chapter 15 - A Race Against Riddles

Right after guessing the answer, he picked up the quill and wrote the answer. He saw the letters shining in a golden hue, indicating he had answered it correctly. "One more to go", he thought. The water level had now gone down to the level of his calves. "How will the last riddle be?", he thought.

"I am the reason you run. I am the reason you scream. I am the cause of your pain. I am a cage from which you will never be free", he read. Lucas began to process it. "Let's see. 'I am the reason you run'. Let's see if I can find anything consistent from the start. The first one was 'Science', the second was 'English', the third was 'Human Emotions'. Is there any connection between these three?", he began to think.

"I can't find any connections between them. Then why, why did the person write these specific riddles? They shouldn't have done this without reason. Or maybe, they just wrote down what they could remember? If that's a possibility, I can't imagine how complex that person's mind could have been", he was perplexed.

"All right. Let me stop trying to find a connection and just solve this as a solo riddle. 'I am the reason you run'. What could it be? Maybe fear. Then let's see the second line. 'I am the reason you scream'. Could fear make a person scream? Not all the time, but there are times a person screams due to them being afraid", he thought as he placed his fingers under his chin.

"But if I go to the next line, 'I am the cause of your pain'. Fear doesn't make sense anymore. And bringing 'fear' to the fourth line, 'I am a cage from which you will never be free'. Extreme fear or Phobias can always be overcome. Which means 'fear' can escape from the cage. Am I analyzing this wrong?", he thought.

"How else should I break this down? Maybe, if I do what I did at the second riddle, will it be easier? Let's do it anyways. Run, scream, pain, and an eternal trap. Let me reconstruct this into a single sentence, which isn't very confusing for me. An eternal trap of suffering, from which you will never be able to run away. What is an eternal trap from which we, as humans, try to run away from?", he thought.

"Could it be death? Death is the eternal trap for every human being, and everyone always tries to run away from it", he thought. He then picked up the quill and wrote the answer. The letter glowed red, and Lucas exclaimed. "AAH!", he screamed in fury. The water level began to rise and ended just below his ribs. "One more and I guess it's game over for me", he thought.

"Whoever designed this, I am impressed. Such a crafty and cruel way of killing someone slowly. Pressurizing them and making them think wrong", he smiled. This time, he began to think deeply. "If death isn't an eternal trap, then it's something whilst being alive", he concluded.

"What is an eternal trap when a person is alive? Guilt? But guilt doesn't form unless a person commits an act. Even though guilt is a trap, from which someone can't escape, he will do everything to mend his heart. So that can't be the answer. But what else could it be? It's a good thing the creator didn't place a time limit", he thought.

He racked his brain for a solution. "The only common thing between these riddles is that they've all been quite complex, yet the answer is something simple. Let's apply the same principle to this one. Wow, I figured out the theme", he smiled. "This person is very crafty indeed", he muttered.

"A simple yet complex answer? A trap? Maybe not for a human, but a soul? If it's a soul, then the longest and eternal trap for it is the human body. Let me try and match it with the keywords. Run, yes. Without a human body, a soul can't run. Scream, yes. When a body feels pain, it inevitably screams. Pain, yes. Be it the pain of the heart, or any external pain, without a human body, it isn't possible. And finally, an eternal trap. Yes, this must be the answer", he smiled.

He picked up the quill and wrote the answer. The words showed a golden hue, and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. The water level receded, and it completely disappeared. Lucas was soaked wet, but he didn't mind. The halfway open glass suddenly closed shut. The engravings on top of the glass began to rearrange themselves. "No way!", he exclaimed.

In front of him, there was one last riddle. And there was a timer running below. it had three minutes on it. But that wasn't the end of it. Water began to slowly rise from his feet, and it didn't show any signs of stopping this time. It was slow and steady. "Wow! And here I thought it wasn't hard enough already", he thought as he began to read the riddle.

"I can be flipped and broken but I never move. I can be closed, and opened, and sometimes removed. I am sealed by hands. What am I?", he read. There were some words underneath it in a bracket. "Use fresh blood to write the answer, so that you may break the seal. Good luck!", he read and his eyebrows twitched.

"Yeah, good luck my ass! Anyone else would have died before they even got here. What were the ancestors thinking when they made this? Is this why Kate and Sam were never sent to this palace?", he thought.

Lucas began to think, and this time, he didn't have the leisure of comparing. He understood the theme and began to contemplate. "The theme is Simplicity in All Things. However complex they may seem, it always has a simple answer", he concluded. He then began to think in the same way.

"What can be flipped and broken, closed and opened, and it is sealed by hands. What could it be?", he thought. "First, let me try to understand the term, 'sealed by hands'. What does it mean?", he thought. "If it's referring to the sealing technique, then it is indeed sealed by hands. As it requires the user to use their blood, and seal it using their hands", he thought.

He then wrote it down, and it flashed red again. The water got a little faster, and it had reached his knees. The countdown was now at two minutes, and the water was rising faster. "At this rate, I will be drowning in 1.5 minutes", he thought.

"Let's see, think. Sealing is a complex method. I forgot to rule that out. 'Sealed by hands', a simple one would be an agreement. A mutual agreement between two people always ends with a handshake, and if this is taken as a sign, then indeed it is 'sealed by hands'', he smiled.

"But let's not rush yet. What else requires a handshake other than an agreement? An agreement can be broken, but can it be flipped? I'm not sure about that. But, what if it's a deal instead of an agreement? Deals can be flipped and broken. And there are also two types of deals, an open type, and a closed type. And this doesn't happen often, but a deal can also be removed. And it is sealed by a handshake. It must be a deal", he thought.

The water level had reached up to his neck and was slowly reaching his lips. He took his hand out of the water and bit the end of his thumb to get some blood. He dipped the quill in his blood and wrote the answer. The words glowed a bright gold, making Lucas close his eyes momentarily. A stone platform rose from below Lucas's feet, taking him out of the water. There were only forty seconds left on the countdown timer. The glass opened up and Lucas took out a cylindrical container and stored the scroll in it.

He then looked around, finding a way to escape. The water didn't show any signs of going back, and the door was sealed shut. The only way was to somehow get out of here, but he couldn't find any way. "What if the way was underneath the water?", he thought as he dived into the water.

He swam around, but he couldn't see anything. He was out of breath, and he went back up to the surface. He dove in again, trying to look around for something when he spotted something. "A lever? What is a lever doing here?", he thought and swam towards it.

He was about to pull the lever, but he was out of breath. He went to get some breath and came back down. The lever was in the corner of the room, thus giving Lucas some foothold to put some strength into. He pulled the lever hard, and it moved slightly. He began to give more force, and he quickly ran out of breath. The lever slowly began to reset.

He went to catch a quick breath and came back to pull. He gave it one hard tug, and slowly, the water began to recede. He was out of breath again, and he went up to catch his breath. "The more I pull the lever, the faster the water level will decrease. Let me go and pull it harder this time", he thought.

He went to the lever and pulled it again, and the water level began to decrease a little bit faster than before. Just as he was about to lose his breath, the water level decreased below his head, making him breathe and pull easier. He gave it one hard tug, and the water quickly drained away.

"Now, how do I open this door?", he thought as he began to look around for an answer.