Chapter 7: Trial of Sloth
Entering the fourth trial, Tom already knew what he needed to do. The first thing he did was to check the color of the Fog.
A new trial and a new color for the Fog. This time the color of the Fog was sky blue. Tom wondered again why would the color of the Fog change every time. He already knew that it got something to do with the target of each trial but can his knowledge of this help in any way?
He didn't have much time to wonder because the same voice spoke as expected.
"To can but not do wondering where thou are? To see but not do is the death of you. A heart that doesn't seek is simply for the weak."
Tom thought about it for a while, taking more time than in the previous trials to find the objective.
After a couple of seconds passed of him trying to figure it out, he found his answer. Since the previous trials were for one of the seven sins and the hint he was given, he thought that this trial would probably revolve around the Sloth sin, also known as laziness these days.
Tom thought to himself, "Sloth hah an interesting sin for someone to have, unlike greed which makes people thrive and do something. Sloth was the opposite Sloth is almost equal to death to be unchanged to stay still without doing anything."
Since he wanted to be prepared for the trial, he rushed right in because he knew that the enemy of not doing is doing.
…
Tom opened his eyes only to look around and find himself in a straw house with a kid and a woman.
After analyzing the situation for a while and waiting for his memories to be wiped like the previous trial, he was surprised by the fact that his memories weren't wiped and that he doesn't have the memory of the guy whose body he is using.
Suddenly and out of nowhere, a sudden message appeared in his mind. "An old fisherman that you are, keeping your family fed is a must. A son and a wife you have, them dying means you fail."
Tom thought to himself first, "This wouldn't be hard if I only need to keep them fed," and two, "What does this have anything to do with sloth?"
Unexpectedly just when he thought that this trial was going to be a walk in the park, a strong feeling of laziness attacked him, a feeling that life was pointless and that he didn't want to do anything.
Because this feeling of sleep was so strong, Tom had to go to his bed in this tiny house to lie down and sleep for a couple of hours.
Seeing him sleep, his wife, Emma, and his son Haor. Decided to let him take his time, thinking that they had enough food to last them for a couple of days, and if they needed any more, they would simply ask him when that time came.
The first day after Tom entered the trial, he stayed asleep on the bed. Tom felt his body sinking deeper and deeper, feeling that his life was meaningless and that everything was pointless.
Thinking he was merely exhausted from work fishing all day on the boat all alone, Emma used one of the three big fishes they had to make fish soup for the family. First, she fed her son Haor then after that, she fed Tom thinking that it was better to not make him move, which might delay his recovery, and after that, she ate what was left.
The hours came and went, yet Tom was still looking at the roof of the house, wanting to move, yet every time he tried to, his heart demons whispered to him that he didn't need to do anything and that everything would sort itself somehow thus they led Tom more astray.
The second day came, and Emma got more worried about the situation. It's not like she doesn't want her husband to rest, but their social standing and financial status didn't allow them to not work for more than a couple of days in the year.
Emma went to Tom and asked him if he was ok or if he needed help? And his reply was straightforward, "Yeah, I am simply exhausted and need to rest for a couple of days." So Emma let him rest, thinking they still had one fish left, and it was not like they would die if they didn't eat every day.
On the third day, Emma used the third and last fish. She smoked the fish on low heat until it got soft and added a couple of herbs, one of them being a red ginseng she hid for a special night. Thinking that if nothing woke him up, this recipe of her mother would give him the energy of a horse in no time.
After Tom ate this "Special dish," he felt his body more energized, yet that didn't help because Sloth isn't an illness of the body but an illness of the mind. A person that lacks energy in their body only needs to eat or sleep to get it back, but a person lacking energy in the soul would need a miracle to fix it.
A godsent miracle Tom needed and A godsent miracle he got. The enemy of inaction is action, and the enemy of lack of motivation and Sloth might come in many ways. Some people are moved by responsibilities towards friends and family, and others by greed for themselves. If you ask Tom which of the two he was, he would tell you he was the latter.
Greed, an emotion and a so-called sin that he needed to control in the previous trial would be the cause of Tom's breakthrough in this one.
Haor, the son of Tom, came to him on the third day wanting to simply chat with his father, not realizing the dire situation they were in and merely thinking that his father was a little ill.
Haor asked Tom a question with an innocent child's voice, "Dad, what are your dreams in life? For example, I want to be the richest man in the world and make you and Mom happy, not needing to work ever again."
Listening to Haor's first part of the question about what was his dream, not caring about the latter of him being happy and whatnot, Tom thought to himself, "What is my dream again? IMMORTALITY I, Thomas Blackwood, shall not die in this stupid trial. I will reach it no matter what, and if I need to keep this family fed by defeating my laziness, I will feed them until they can't eat anymore."
Tom rose from the bed, saying to Haor thank you for worrying about me. It seems that I have recovered. I am going to catch some fish for you and your mother.
With that, Tom wore his fishing clothes, prepared his equipment, opened the door, and stepped outside.
Suddenly Tom saw himself exiting the sky-blue Fog, meaning that he had defeated this floor, but how?
Waiting for an answer to come from the old voice, yet nothing of that sort happened. So Tom thought to himself that if he wanted to find out the reason, he would need to reach the peak of this tower.