We climbed to the fourth floor, entering a chamber that imdiately evoked mariti thes. Tide patterns were carved intricately into the stone walls, creating flowing designs. Faint salt crystals clung around a shallow stone bowl positioned at the room’s center, and I could detect the subtle scent of ocean air despite being deep inland.
The academy had really worked hard on these shrines, they were very creative and unique. I wondered how the other shrines looked like.
The pedestal here was carved to resemble weathered driftwood, complete with rope-like patterns spiraling around its base. The inscription was etched in flowing script that mimicked the movent of waves:
"Where water forgets the weight of ships, I keep the knot of logs and nets. I speak in gulls’ grammar and rember every dragged rope. Say my na: the long shore that keeps the sea’s gossip."
I read the riddle aloud, and my team mbers imdiately began analysing the mariti imagery.
"It’s describing so kind of shoreline or harbour area," one observed. "Sowhere that deals with ships, nets, and ropes."
"The phrase ’long shore that keeps the sea’s gossip’ seems important," the other added. "It’s asking for a specific term related to coastal areas I assu."
I examined the base of the pedestal and found a coast glyph carved into the stone, with markings that appeared to indicate the third and fourth letter positions.
After several minutes of discussion, one of my team mbers spoke up confidently: "Longshore. It’s a mariti term for the shore itself, or work done along the shoreline. The riddle specifically ntions ’the long shore,’ and longshore fits perfectly with all the nautical references."
"That reasoning sounds solid," I agreed. "Speak it."
He approached the pedestal and declared: "Longshore."
The chamber responded imdiately, with the salt crystals beginning to glow and the tide patterns seeming to flow more dynamically across the walls. Another staircase was revealed, but as we prepared to ascend, we found ourselves facing a dilemma.
"We have the index clues from all four floors now," I said, reviewing our collected letters. "MO from the first floor, ON from the second, FA from the third, and NG from this floor."
My team mbers looked puzzled. "MONFANG? MONGFAN? None of these combinations make sense," one said.
"Maybe we need to rearrange them?" the other suggested. "Or perhaps they spell sothing when read in a different order?"
We spent several minutes trying various combinations without success. The individual letter pairs seed aningful, but we couldn’t determine how they were supposed to connect.
"Let’s go back to the first floor and examine each puzzle location again," I decided. "There might be additional clues we missed that explain how to use these letter combinations."
We descended through the shrine, stopping at each floor to re-examine the pedestals and their surrounding areas. The pattern seed consistent - each riddle had given us two letters - but the purpose remained unclear.
"Maybe it’s not about combining them," one team mber suggested. "What if each pair represents sothing different?"
"Or perhaps there’s a fifth floor that will provide the final piece," the other added.
After extensive discussion and examination, we decided to test one theory.
One of my team mbers said. "What if we’re supposed to speak all the letter combinations together as a phrase? MONFANG might be so kind of activation word."
We returned to the central area where all four floors connected and I spoke clearly: "MONFANG."
The response was imdiate and alarming. The floor beneath us cracked open in five different locations, and Elite-rank beasts began erging - creatures similar to those we had faced earlier, but larger and more aggressive.
A disembodied voice echoed through the shrine with ominous authority: "Only one attempt remains."
Five Elite-rank opponents was a serious threat that required imdiate action. I stepped forward decisively while giving instructions to my team.
"Each of you take one beast," I commanded, drawing my enhanced sword. "I’ll handle the other three."
The battle began imdiately. My team mbers engaged their assigned targets with the coordination they had developed during our previous encounters. anwhile, I activated my blood enhancent and charged toward the three creatures advancing on my position.
The fight wasn’t difficult. I had just defeated nine peak-elite statues and a transcendent rank lion. Handling three elite-rank beasts was nothing in consideration. My sword carved through their carapaces with devastating power.
Within minutes, all five beasts lay shattered across the shrine floor. We had survived the punishnt for our incorrect guess, but now faced the pressure of having only one remaining attempt to solve the final puzzle.
With the imdiate threat eliminated, I stood among the beast remains and focused on the real challenge, solving the ta-puzzle before our final attempt.
"Let’s think about this calmly," I said, gathering my team around . "We have four letter pairs: MO from the first floor, ON from the second, FA from the third, and NG from the fourth. Perhaps we shouldn’t skip the O’s and actually read them all."
I traced the letters in the air as I spoke them. "What if we’re supposed to read them in the order we encountered them? MO-ON-FA-NG."
"MOONFANG," one of my team mbers said, his eyes widening with realization.
I nodded. "That’s it, Moonfang... I think I read sowhere that it’s a legendary term from hunter traditions. A relic that is rumoured to have been forged under moonlight, used to bind hunting packs or unlock sacred vaults or so the ancestors believed."
The pieces clicked together perfectly. Each individual riddle had tested our knowledge of archaic terminology, while the ta-puzzle required us to understand deeper old lore about legendary artifacts.
"In the Academy’s examination system, Moonfang would be a keyword that unlocks significant rewards. This isn’t just about solving puzzles, I think it’s also about demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of both linguistic history and magical traditions."
We made our way to what appeared to be the shrine’s central altar, a raised platform that connected all four floors through an open shaft in the center.
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