Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 246: The Trial of Mind

Eleanor drifted aimlessly through the space, unsure of where she was heading. Countless glowing orbs slipped past, left behind in her wake like forgotten stars. She saw many that radiated immense power, but none drew her in. Time felt strange here; she could not tell how much had passed. Yet she remembered Professor Sylpha’s warning... she will get five minutes to choose an orb.

"Nora, how much time has passed?" she asked inwardly.

"Master, time flows more slowly here. My perception is also affected. But I believe it has not yet been five minutes," Nora replied.

Suddenly, Eleanor felt a subtle pull... an almost imperceptible connection was coming from somewhere ahead. She surged forward, chasing the invisible thread. Colourful orbs drifted past her like captive galaxies, each humming with its own unique presence. Some exuded such overwhelming power that she almost abandoned the connection to seize them instead.

She steadied her mind and repeated silently to herself, "do not choose the orb. Let it choose you. Feel for the resonance."

The connection grew stronger with each movement until, at last, she saw it.

Set apart from the radiant constellations of orbs floated a solitary and unassuming sphere. It did not blaze or crackle with violent light like others. Instead, it glowed with a soft pearlescent radiance... like the colour of moonlight on weathered parchment. Within it, there was no outward surge of power, only a swirling nebulous pattern as if a galaxy folded into a single, all-seeing gaze. It felt calm, ancient and wise.

Her hand lifted of its own accord. She reached out with trembling fingers, expecting the cool smoothness of a glass-like surface. But the instant her skin touched the orb, the world around her dissolved into nothingness.

The vault, the orbs, all of it vanished. She stood now in an expanse of featureless white. There was no sound, no scent, no sense of surroundings... only herself.

Suddenly, she heard a voice that seemed to resonate directly within her mind. It was neither male nor female, neither young nor old. It was like the voice of the trial itself.

"The trial begins. To proceed, you must open the door. You have five attempts remaining."

Before her, a simple grey stone door materialised. It stood unadorned, about seven feet tall, framed by a plain archway that opened into a deeper, darker whiteness. There was no lock on the door, but a mechanism could be seen at its center... an intricate geometric puzzle of interlocking rings wrought from a strange, shimmering metal. At its centre lay a hollow, hand-shaped indentation.

shifted if she stared too long. It was no trap of brute force but a trial of logic and dexterity. This, at least, was

they grew nifty, moving with precision. She slid rings, aligned symbols, and traced pathways of order from chaos. Smaller puzzles revealed themselves, each solved with a click that rang like a promise of progress. At last, with a final and decisive rotation, the last ring slid

her. She pressed her right hand into the indentation... it fit as though the door itself had been

puzzle collapsed into chaos,

To proceed, you must open the door. You

though her hours of labour had never been. A prickling unease spread through her. Had she

asked for Nora’s help this time. She found a shorter path, a more elegant solution.

hand in the

The

trial begins. To proceed, you must open the door. You have three

her confidence. This doesn’t seem like a puzzle anymore... it was like a trick. Some hidden mechanism and some cruel secrets were mocking her. She abandoned pure logic and tried intuition instead, letting her

must open

strength. They were immovable, unyielding like a mountain. She tried to slip past the archway, to step into the blank beyond,

from me?" she screamed at the void. But there was

her. Minutes, hours, days... she could no longer tell. She solved the puzzle a hundred times, a thousand in her mind. She found a better way this time. With confidence, she started again. Her fingers moved in a blur, her body knowing the pattern like her heartbeat. This time, the same result: the blue

open

Elizabeth bloodline... her brilliant mind... had been broken upon this riddle. What was the point? The puzzle was solvable, yet the door remained

Nora’s voice stirred in her mind, soft but confident. "Master, I checked again and again, but there is no solution beyond

flew open.

key, but the lock? What if each time you complete it, you seal the door

cutting through the fog of despair. She replayed the words of the trial in her mind... "You must open the door." Not solve the puzzle.