Mythical Enigma

The quest had taken an unexpected turn following the discovery of Tunlop's lies, the question remained. What exactly was down here that Tunlop tried obtaining?

"Why would Tunlop be after something those Drakons are after? It's possible that trespassing here could be what triggered the awakening of those reptiles, but if that's the case that wouldn't explain why the Drakons disintegrates when attempting to reach here. So what is it?" He speculated within his thoughts, attempting to uncover the truth.

As they passed through the forest which enclosed the hidden temple, they came across certain vegetations which was unfamiliar to Renji.

"Do you know what these flowers are Reo?" He asked, crouching to his feet as he examined a pasture filled with multicolored flowers with a weird hexagonal shape.

"No, I don't recognize any of these flowers." He replied.

"Reo is supposedly an expert when it comes to plants, I could tell from earlier when I asked for the shiso. His vast knowledge of nature allowed him to gather even the rarest of herbal weeds, so for him not to know this plant is saying something." He said in his thoughts.

Standing up to his feet, he sighed softly as they all proceeded towards the temple. It didn't take long before they arrived at the huge temple erected in the middle of the forest. Its towering stone columns weathered by centuries, vines began crawling up it's walls in it's quest for sunlight.

"How did such a thing get here in this small village?" Hinata said as she admired the tall structure.

"The more we try to understand all this, the more it becomes even more complicated." Reo added, highlighting the fact that in just a couple of minutes they had been faced with several mysteries.

"It's too early to beat yourself up just yet." Renji chuckled slightly as they approached the temple, arriving at the entrance they came to discover that it was sealed shut.

"It's sealed shut." Hinata spoke with a soft voice, seemingly their investigation was cut short.

"Ah man, this always happens!" Renji said, complaining loudly as they hit another bump in their investigation.

"Is there not another way in? After all it's a hidden temple." Reo suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. For what ever purpose this temple was created underneath your village's river they didn't want anyone getting what was inside. So they would have created measures to prevent us from going in even if we did manage to get past the river." Using this realization as a drive, he began searching round the temple.

"Can't we just break down the door?" Impatiently, Hinata asked with frustration.

"I don't think that's plausible, given how old the temple is, if we did that the whole building would come crashing down. Plus even if it didn't it wouldn't work, you should be able to tell how powerful the magic used to create that double river is. No doubt it's the same magic that was used to build this temple." With a carefully analyzed response, Reo said.

"You know a lot about magic and temples, you won't mind educating me a bit would you? After all I can't find any one else smart enough to do so." Aligning her fingers together, she drew closer to Reo as she attempted to flirt with him.

"I don't mind at all, maybe after we solve this I can teach you a thing or two." Reo replied as he smiled softly.

Shaking his head slowly, Renji scoured the sides of the temple searching for any clues on how to get in. "Does she not understand the situation we're in, seriously what is wrong with women?" He muttered softly, even in his past life he had the same problem with Mia.

"Oh?" He stumbled upon a clue at long last. "Guys over here!" He said aloud, drawing the attention of the two towards what he had just found. A pedestal with several chunks of stone with depictions on each one.

"What is this?" They both asked in confusion as they laid eyes on the pedestal, they looked each other in the eyes as Hinata blushed slightly as they started saying the same thing.

"This right here, is our clue to getting in. That or I haven't actually found it, honestly I gave up searching after I found this." He sighed heavily given the amount of stress he has been put through till now.

"How are we supposed to get in with this?" They both asked.

"How am I supposed to know? Why don't you ask him, he's the smart one." He said aloud, reminding her of her statement from earlier.

"Well, if you insist." Stepping in front of the pedestal, he examined both the stones and the surface they laid upon. "Notice how all this stones are created intricately with it's individual depictions? And how for some reason the surface of the pedestal can hold all this stones perfectly?" Reo added with another thought-provoking question.

"It's a puzzle." Renji said chuckling softly.

"You mean they chose a puzzle out of every other harder ways of ensuring the temples security?" Hinata questioned, disappointed at the creator's method of security.

"Now now, the hard part isn't figuring out it's a puzzle, it's actually solving it. With not much details to lead with, we have absolutely no idea what this puzzle is." Renji said as both him and Reo attempted to solve the puzzle.

After several tries, it appeared they went farther from solving the puzzle than closer. "How are we not close to solving this!? Infact I think we messed it up even more." A frustrated Renji exclaimed.

"It's possible that the creator scattered the pieces just a bit knowing whoever tried entering would mess it up even more in an attempt to gain access." Reo said, attempting to guess all the contingencies the creator had in mind.

"Are you actually trying to make us look stupid?" Renji mumbled with his face against the pedestal.

Hours passed and they still couldn't solve the puzzle, when all hope seemed lost, another miracle happened.

[You have arrived at a Mythical Enigma]

[New Quest: Solve the puzzle within the stipulated time]

[Failure to do so will result in a reduction of your XP]

[Time remaining: 30:00]

"Huh, Mythical Enigma?" Renji uttered within his thoughts as a new notification popped in, in context mythical enigma referred to as a Mythical puzzle or ancient puzzle which usually relates to mythical beings or creatures.

"Why would the creators use a mythical puzzle to secure a secret the temple? Sure it's difficult to guess but, don't tell me that this is a-" He contemplated within his thoughts as he turned to face the temple.