To be fair, it was not the fact that he needed to find something that was the issue. The real problem was what would actually constitute the "right vial."

But instead of running forward or even taking a single step, Riley noticed something else.

The timer had not moved.

Oh.

So did that mean the test had not started?

No. Wait.

Hmm. That did not seem right either. Because with the way the guardian was staring at him, the frozen human could only assume one thing.

Thyrran was waiting for him.

"..."

"..."

Riley stared back for a final confirmation.

Yep. Definitely waiting for him.

Ah, then would the timer only start after he moved?

It seemed like it would. And so the human, who even hid a tiny smile in his heart because he was afraid it would somehow count toward the timer starting, stayed perfectly still while he thought.

He needed to calm down before jumping to conclusions. Just like earlier, he had received another vague instruction. The only difference now was that there was a choice to be made and a likely correct answer.

But the problem still stood. What would make it the right one?

And what would even count as "finding" it?

Would touching one automatically lock in his answer? Or could he gather a few and then pick from them?

He should ask.

Then again, maybe he should also ask if he was correct in assuming that the sand timer was an hourglass. Surely, with that narrow middle, it would not be calibrated for a single minute, right?

Riley’s brain was all over the place. He realized that maybe he should just start moving, since the serpent guardian seemed to be staring at him with an even more intense gaze.

If only the human knew that it was not just Thyrran watching him so strangely. Because in truth, the other guardians were also wondering why the test had been at a standstill.

Did the pitiful mortal die on the spot?

Was he about to quit?

"For a trial that has a time limit, should he not be doing something already?" one guardian asked.

"Yes. But that is exactly what is unusual. Look at the timer. It has not turned."

"What?! How come?" another guardian gasped, staring hard. Sure enough, the timer had not begun.

Then, suddenly, another guardian muttered, "It is because the subject has not moved from that spot since entering the trial boundary."

"What?"

"Look. He has been like that since earlier. We’re simply not used to it because the younglings never take their time to look and think during trials. They are always wary of potential attacks. But this one? Is he actually buying time?"

"!"

__

Back at the testing area, Thyrran had realized the same thing. The human kept looking at him, but other than that he simply stood frozen, though his expression was contemplative.

But this was the Hall of Illusory Vessels. What could he possibly accomplish by standing still, unless he had the ability to pinpoint the barest hint of differing mana inside a place that was practically drowning in it?

If Riley could read Thyrran’s mind, he would have realized that this trial was similar to finding a needle in a haystack.

In reality, most younglings would have failed this trial, because it was one thing to rely on one’s own abilities, but it was another thing entirely to be sensitive to the abilities of others.

Unlike the previous tests, this one required patience, accuracy, and the ability to distinguish between countless sensory triggers, all while being battered by them.

The glittering vials that would attract younglings simply because they were shiny.

The way each bottle would seemingly emit slightly different scents and mana wavelengths.

The architecture that distorted and amplified every sound, making even the softest footstep grating to sensitive ears.

All of these details were meant to drive candidates to the brink of insanity as they tried to uncover the true secrets and rules of this trial.

And yet the mortal before them seemed to have figured out something none of them expected.

It was not that Thyrran did not know the trigger for the trial timer. He simply did not think it would matter.

And yet the moment the human first moved, Thyrran found himself being asked a question.

"What must be done when I find the right vial?"

The guardian was taken aback, but he still answered while wondering why that even mattered.

Hand it over.

Surprisingly, the human appeared satisfied with that answer. But he still asked another question, one that made Thyrran realize that this mortal might be up to something.

"And Lord Thyrran, that timer. Is it really an hourglass?"

Yes.

The giant serpent watched as the subject once again took out that rectangular thing and began fiddling with it.

Just what was he doing?

Well, for one thing, Riley was setting several timers, because it was not as if that hourglass would politely remind him how much time he had left.

He would not blame anyone who thought he looked strange. After all, his very next move after setting the timers was to crouch down on the floor.

__

Okay. From initial visual inspection, they all looked the same in Riley’s eyes.

Not that he could claim to have the same eyes as Kael, but surprisingly, after years of torturing his precious eyeballs, they had held up well through the years.

So at least he could be certain that the vials in front of him used the same glass bottle, were the same size, and all contained the same shimmery green liquid that changed its glow depending on how the light hit it. Heck, they even had the same corks.

Huh?

Wait a minute.

Same cork?

Riley leaned closer, bringing his face right above the nearest set of vials as he felt his backside tingle with suspicion.

Holy shit.

It was not just the same kind of cork.

They were exactly the same cork.

Four, seven, ten bottles. Every single one he checked had the same pores, the same little cracks, and even the same tiny knots.

"!!!"

Call him crazy or whatever, but as the person who had to answer to the dwarves about their precious ale, he had gone through a traumatizing crash course about at least this much.

And while humans had long been capable of producing synthetic corks made out of plastic polymers that could be mass produced with consistent specifications, that would never be the case for natural corks.

In fact, the treants would likely take that as an insult, because each natural cork came with its own unique characteristics. They might show similar patterns when taken from the same bark, but to get this many identical ones?

Natural my ass.

This had to be magic.

Actually no, scratch that. This had to be an illusion.

Because when Riley’s hand moved to grip one bottle, he was surprised to find nothing there.

And while that should have been the perfect aha moment for the elated human, it instead sent him into a full panic. He balled up instantly after hearing the sudden rush of sand pouring toward the bottom of the hourglass.

"!!!"

Oh hell no.

Riley’s eyes widened because there was no mistaking it. While it was great that this was not a touch-move type of trial and he could touch the vials before having to pick the correct one, that apparently came with a price. A wrong guess meant a reduction in his remaining time.

How evil.

Riley wanted to screech, but the serpent who kept staring at him might swallow him if he made any sudden sounds, so he tucked in his limbs, terrified to accidentally touch something again.

But behind the veil, the guardians were just as shocked.

"Did he actually figure it out already? And with only one bottle?!" exclaimed a very interested guardian.

"Yes. The way he looked at the timer immediately makes it seem like he understood the problem behind the trial."

"How unusual. I am surprised the subject could even hear the sound of the timer with all that grating noise."

Well, had it been one of those days when his ears suddenly became extremely sensitive, Riley would have been writhing in pain instead. But as it stood, the aide whose senses were in limbo could only be thankful that he heard nothing except the sound of rustling sand and his own pounding heart.

Because how could his heart not beat like crazy when he realized what the actual problem was?

Sure enough, there really was a right choice, because he was facing one hell of an illusion.

Were all the vials except one just magical constructs?

It was a good question, but one that did not matter unless he could come up with a way to identify the real thing without touching every single one of them.

With nearly a thousand bottles by his estimate, it would be impossible to check everything within a limited time.

Second, he needed a way to examine the vials near the middle without knocking over the ones surrounding them.

With barely a foot of space separating each bottle, there was no way he could crouch safely while checking the inner grid.

Riley had a very real problem.

And while he was aware this was an illusion, the usual approach was to identify its type and then break it.

Breaking it would help, because that would mean one fewer bottle to worry about. But—

Wait.

There was no bottle left after breaking the illusion, so this was not the type that altered an existing object’s appearance.

Ugh. If only he could ask the guardian whether he could see the vials, too, then this would be so much easier. If only he had another pair of eyes then—

Riley stopped.

Because come to think of it, he did have another pair of eyes that could not be influenced by this type of magic.