Chapter 561: Perspective
The place for the second test was yet again inside another ordinary, spacious chamber. Adam looked around the room, wondering to himself, Hmm... could it be?
As he had expected, the chamber began to distort the next moment. The colors turned blurry, and the stones on the walls and ceilings began to melt.
In but a few moments, Adam found himself standing inside a vast plaza full of people!
"Another illusion," said the youth as he looked around.
The plaza was situated inside a bustling metropolis. From the attire of the men and women around him, Adam could guess that this was an illusion of an Acadian city.
However, it was something of the past. Adam had only seen people wearing these traditional clothes in paintings and history books.
Just as he was wondering where he was, a beautiful young woman walked up to him. She wore revealing clothes that flaunted the majority of her body.
Her eyes flashed with lust and longing as she dove into Adam's arms. "My love, I have been waiting for you!"
Adam was speechless and thought to himself, What the hell is going on?!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
He couldn't help but feel a warm tingling sensation inside his chest. After all, this person before him was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
"Everyone said that you won't return from the war, that you'd die at the hands of the enemy," said the woman as pearls of tears trickled down her fair face, making her all the more alluring in Adam's eyes.
She leaned closer and whispered in his ears, "But I knew you'd return. A man as strong as you would never be slain by those barbarians."
Adam's breathing turned heavy as he lowered his head and glanced at the seductive expression of this woman.
Although he knew it was an illusion, it was tempting. Very tempting.
The woman proceeded to nibble at his earlobe. Then, she gently stroked Adam's beard and said in an erotic voice, "Come now, my dear husband. You promised me that once you returned from the war, you would give me loads of children. Let us go home."
Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were clear. He had extinguished the ripple of emotion that was beginning to form inside of him.
"Nice!" He grinned. "I wonder if this is the reward for this trial-"
As if refuting his statement, the surroundings around him distorted once again. Seeing this, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
The Trial of Persepctive was far from over.
And just like that, he was put inside another illusion. For this one, he had to face yet another desire common to man: power.
But unlike the last one, Adam didn't have much problem dealing with it. After that, came another illusion where he had to face his desire for glory.
Once again, he passed it effortlessly. He had never bothered about such things to begin with. He believed in living a simple life, away from the eyes and ears of the public.
The only reason he even took so long battling his desire for lust was because he was still a young man in the prime of his youth. He just couldn't help it.
Finally, the last illusion was the test which took him the longest to pass. It was the most difficult one he'd faced in this trial.
He had to face his desire for wealth!
The Trial of Perspective made the seeker face multiple illusions of their own desire, each one more tempting than the last.
To pass, they had to reject the illusions, recognizing them as fleeting distractions. They had to choose the path of wisdom and humility instead.
After having finished the test, Adam stood at the center of the chamber with four raven feathers in his hand. His mind, however, was not on these weapons.
Instead, he was pondering the lesson the last illusion taught him.
"Is this your way of saying true wealth is found in wisdom and virtue, instead of material possessions or external validation?" He asked out aloud. "That leaves a bad aftertase in my
mouth..."
Right at the moment, the androgynous voice from before echoed yet again.
"The Trial of Perspective is complete! You may now recieve your reward!"