After walking through the door that had been revealed by the reduction in the Lake's Level, we found ourselves in what appeared to be a tunnel. We followed the tunnel and eventually came to a Sign Post.
"Caution; Next Field blocked by Enchanted Fire. Only way out; Enchanted Lake Water. Previous Field and Next Field connected by path through Firmament" the Sign Post read.
"Looks like we're nearing our next challenge" I said.
"What a cryptic message" Ariel said.
"Sounds pretty straightforward to me" Keiran laughed.
We left the Sign Post and followed the tunnel all the way to its exit. As we neared the exit of the tunnel, we noticed the surrounding temperature begin to rise dramatically. By the time we came out into the next Hall, aside from those of us who had an affinity for Flame, almost everyone else was sweating profusely. Even Ciella who had an affinity for Flame was sweating since she had only recently began to master the properties of Flame. We found ourselves standing on bare ground and before us stood a great expanse of Fire burning from the edge of where we stood all the way to the other end of the Hall we now found ourselves in.
"Interesting, so this time it's Fire instead of Water" Keiran noted with a smirk.
"The heat in here is intense" Mitsuki complained.
"Look" Concordia pointed towards the ceiling.
We stared in the direction she was pointing to and saw the same openings in the Ceiling that the previous Hall had.
"I see, so that's what the message meant when it said the previous Hall and this Hall were connected by a path through the Firmament. The Ceiling probably links both Halls" Saito noted.
"Well, at least there are no Solar Death Rays here. There are no lenses in this Ceiling" Ariel said with a laugh.
"First it was Solar Death Rays and a Lake, now it's a Furnace" Arlene said with an amused chuckle.
"Couldn't we just fly over to the next side on Concordia's Kraken Andromeda?" Ariel asked.
"I don't think so. The level of the Flames almost reach the Ceiling. Any path leading to the next Hall has probably been concealed by the Flames" Concordia explained.
"Why does the Trial of Time alone have multiple Halls? All the other Trials had a single Hall" Ariel complained.
"A clue lies in the nature of this Flame itself" Mitsuki said.
"What do you mean Mitsuki?" I asked.
"The Sign Post said this Flame is enchanted and can only be put out by Enchanted Lake Water. Doesn't that remind you of anything?" Mitsuki said seriously.
"It's like when we fought the Basilisks. We only stood a chance if our affinities were superior to that of the Basilisks'" I realized.
"It's also like when we had to cure our patients. Remember what you said earlier about nothing being truly harmful but everything being harmless when used for the purposes for which it was designed?" Ciella pointed out to me.
"I see. Affinities huh?" I realized.
"Exactly. The nature of the flame seems to imply that there is an appropriate way to deal with this obstacle. You remember what my Dad said about Time being an element of Significance don't you San?" Mitsuki asked.
"He said Time determines what is appropriate and what is not as well as when a situation is appropriate and when it is not. He said to act otherwise would be like a boatman attempting to sail against the direction of the Wind or a person attempting to push a heavy load up a Mountain" I realized.
"Exactly, the implication of that knowledge is that every situation has an appropriate response. An inappropriate response will only complicate the problem instead of solving it" Mitsuki pointed out.
"It's like the Food Chain for instance. If a Spider attempted to attack a Serpent, the Spider would risk the likelihood of being devoured however, if on the other hand a Feline or Bird Of Prey attacked a Serpent, the Serpent would be the one in peril. Even the Food Chain teaches that there are challenges one must avoid as well as challenges one must confront. It's just like when we confronted the Basilisks" Keiran said.
"I see. So that's what my Dad meant by the clue 'Spiders flee before it'" I realized.
"In this particular scenario, if we consider the Enchanted Fire as a Basilisk, the Enchanted Lake would be a Feline or Bird Of Prey. In the previous level with the Lake and Solar Death Rays, it was actually the reverse" Keiran realized.
"Sounds like your classical Rock Paper Scissors or the Cherubim Formation" I said with a laugh.