Chapter 59

Inside the cave, a small shrine lay near to a doorway cut into the stone. A look inside the doorway revealed steps carved into the living rock of the mountain, leading down into the depths of the world. I paused for a moment, frowning and decided that making an offering at the shrine before heading down might not be the worst idea in the world. I reached into one of the various storage scrolls I kept on my person and pulled out a bowl of white rice and a pair of incense sticks. Placing the rice at the base of the altar and channeling chakra into the incense sticks to light them, I set the incense in the burner, bowed my head in a moment of silence, and shut my eyes. When I opened them, I saw a small, skinny, translucent, boar piglet that glowed with light eating the rice.

"A ghost boar piglet?" I mused as the piglet ate.

When it finished, it looked over at me bowing it's head. I could see it visibly start to plump up as it ate the offered rice and breathed the incense smoke. It pawed at the ground for a moment before the impression of thankfulness hit me and it vanished in a burst of light, leaving behind a parcel wrapped in white tags. Unwrapping the parcel revealed an odd knife blade made of shark teeth embedded in a wooden handle. I wasn't certain why, but I knew I'd need the odd looking knife going forward. I picked it up and stashed it in a storage scroll before heading through the door.

The stairs down were lit by glowing lanterns for the fist five minutes or so of walking, before I reached a landing. Here there were two paths forward, one went further down the stairs while the other led to a massive stone slab of a door with no visible handle, lock, or key. Faintly, I could sense that it needed some sort of spiritual energy technique to unlock so the slab could be pushed away with chakra flow enhancement. Likely, this was the shortcut into the Deep Archives for the monks. Certainly it appeared to require both proficiency in the Raigo (Welcoming Approach) and the Onmyōdō of the temple. Of course, I already knew I wouldn't be able to take this path. Turning toward the stairs, I continued heading down.

The first sign that something unearthly was going on was the chill. Underground was normally warm. Anyone who had been down in one of the many mines of Rekka Province could tell you that. Fire country was generally warmer than a lot of other places as a matter of course but it also was unusually active geothermally. We actually had the secondmost number of naturally occurring hot springs in the Elemental Nations after the aptly named Hot Springs Country. If anything, it should be getting warmer as I descended the stairs, but the opposite was happening.

The second sign that something unearthly was going on was the sudden underground mist that started to hang around as the stairs ended and the tunnel levelled out. A white mist hung low to the stone floor, whirling about in unnatural patterns. It forced me to pay more attention to my surroundings, which was where the four grave markers came into view. They were faded and weathered, but the red names could still be made out on the markers. Master Ryōgen, first disciple of Founder Kūkai, Master Genshin, second disciple of founder Kūkai, Master Giku, third disciple of Founder Kūkai, and Master Benkei, fourth disciple of Founder Kūkai. The names meant nothing to me, but I assumed from the titles that these were the disciples of the founder of the Fire Monastery.

I shook my head, proceeding and was met by the apparition of a ghostly Monk in black and white robes and an old-style O-Yoroi Curiass, cowled hood that somehow couldn't hide the full beard, and naginata. The very image of a Sohei of the Warring Clans Era. He spotted me and his eyes blazed with unearthly fire, as if he'd just sighted prey. When he spoke up, his growling, gravelly, voice echoed like thunder through the cavern.

"You are not of the Temple. Should you wish to proceed, you must prove your worthiness by accomplishing a task set before you. Fail, and I shall strike you down where you stand! Turn back now, for in staying, you accept my terms!" Growled the Ghostly Sohei.

"I shall accomplish your task. What would you have of me?" I questioned.

"To proceed, I ask a simple matter." Intoned the Sohei, slashing out with his naginata and parting the mist to reveal a stone bowl filled with water.

"Simply write your name in the water and you may proceed. I will allow you but a single try and if you cannot even accomplish this much, then I will strike you down." Intoned the Sohei.

I frowned, puzzling the task out. How was I supposed to accomplish that? Any ink applied to water would immediately diffuse into meaningless whorls. I supposed there might be a way to do it with the Steel Release by using metal shavings, but if there was such a pointless jutsu, I sure as hell didn't know it. Maybe if I used blood? But no, that ran into the same problems as ink and likely wasn't a good idea in front of a ghost besides.

I pondered the problem for a few moments before I realized the key. The Ghostly Sohei never specified the water had to remain in liquid form. Grinning, I reached into one of my storage scrolls and removed a pair of freezing seals and a kunai. I applied the seals to the sides of the bowl and fed them a spark of chakra. These two seals were normally used for food preservation in the wilderness alongside thawing seals in the event you didn't have space in your storage scroll. I kept a few on-hand just in case. Between the two of them, the water in the bowl froze solid. Then, I took the kunai and carved my name into the ice.

"Unorthodox, but acceptable. You may pass." Nodded the Sohei.

Then he and the bowl vanished and the mist parted revealing a path forward through a stone archway carved into the shape of a Torii Gate. I proceeded forward through the Torii archway and found myself in a room with a small sapling standing in the middle of it. As I entered, I found another apparition waiting for me. This one was dressed in all white and bared his bald head and shaved face, as opposed the the Sohei's cowled hood, his most distinguishing feature was his pointy nose. As he spotted me, his eyes also lit up with ghostly fire, as if spotting a target.

"So, you have passed Benkei's test. You must now pass mine or I will strike you down where you stand! Another task, I have for you. This sapling grows unnaturally in my home. You must cut it down using a blade of neither metal, nor stone, while neither standing, nor sitting. Do this, and I shall allow you to pass. Fail and you will be struck down." Commanded the Ghostly Monk.

This must have been what the sharktooth blade was for. I made my way over to the sapling and removed the strangely-made blade from its storage scroll. Neither standing nor sitting would mean kneeling. I did so and began to saw away at the trunk of the sapling. Eventually, my sharktooth blade managed to saw all the way through the trunk, felling the sapling. The ghostly Monk nodded at me as I completed his task.

"I see. It is a wise man who stops to honor the Kami before an undertaking. You may pass." He acceded.

With that, the mist in the room cleared out, taking the apparition, sapling, and shark tooth blade with it. The next gate, this time an archway inlaid with jade, appeared at the opposite end of the chamber from the one I entered through. I headed forward, going through the archway to find myself in a third chamber, this one lined with statues of Oni, Kami, and Yokai. In the center sat a third Ghostly Monk, garbed in a mix of black and white, with squinty eyes, and jowly cheeks. His eyes flashed with ghostly light as he spotted me, just as all the other Ghostly Monks' eyes had.

"Please, sit. To have passed the tests of Benkei and Giku you must be both wise and strong. I have a task for you as well. This one will test your resourcefulness. You must accomplish it, or be slain where you stand. I want you to bring me a box without hinges, lock, or key with precious treasure inside." Demanded the Ghostly Monk.

I grinned, I knew this one! It was a common riddle back in my old life on Earth. Fortunately, I just so happened to have one left in one of my storage scrolls. I reached into the scroll and unsealed a hard boiled egg, my last hard boiled egg, in fact. I held the egg out for the Ghostly Monk to inspect and he cocked a translucent eyebrow at me.

"This is precious treasure?" He queried.

"To a starving man, an egg is the most precious treasure of all. Sustenance." I answered.

"Clever. You may pass." Chuckled the Ghostly Monk.

Then he disappeared with the mist, taking my last hard boiled egg with him as he went. The next archway was revealed, this one shot through with gold and silver inlaying. I went through it and found myself in a large cavern beyond which lay a pagoda of golden wood, burnished bronze, and red lacquer. The doorway was flanked by guardian Shisa statues and the frame of the double doors was plastered in paper shide tags that burned with spiritual energy even to my non-sensor senses. That had to be the Deep Archives.

Of course, standing between the Pagoda and myself was one last Ghostly Monk. This one's robes were of an older style, with a nine-paneled Kesa Sash that was traditional during the early and middle Warring Clans Era for monks. Aside from the Kesa, his wrinkled face and long eyebrows also showed his seniority compared to the others. Once more, his eyes lit up with ghostly flames as he spotted a challenger. Nodding, he began to speak. Where the last three had a booming quality to their voices that echoed, his was quieter, a half-whisper, half-croak that nonetheless reached my ears.

"You have passed the tests of Benkei, Giku, and Genshin. Now only the test of Ryōgen remains, and my test will equal all three of my Brothers' in one. Accomplish my task, and entry into the Archive will be yours. Fail, and you will be consumed by flames on the spot. You are wise, powerful, and resourceful. Now we must see if you are capable of comprehending the deeper mysteries. Tie a ring into a knot, after that bring me fire wrapped in paper, finally make for me a rope of ash. Accomplish these tasks and you may pass." Intoned the Ghostly Monk.

I nodded, as I puzzled out how to do these. Obviously the middle one could be accomplished with a lit paper lantern. I had one that could be attatched to a pole for night time guard duty in the field, so that was easily done. The last one was a fairly well-known one from back in my old life on Earth and involved burning a rope to make ash. I had a length of silk rope for climbing purposes. The first one. . .well, nobody said the ring had to be made of metal. I could kill two birds with one stone by using another rope aside from the one I planned to use for the rope of ash bit. I reached for one of my storage scrolls and got to work.

First, I took out the rope, looping it into a circle and then tying that circle into a bow. I handed that off to the Ghostly Monk before pulling out my paper watch lantern, lighting it with a bit of chakra and handing the Monk that as well. Finally, I pulled a length of hemp rope out of the storage scroll and set it on the ground before casting Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet) at it. The rope burned to ash right there and I nodded at the Ghostly Monk.

"A ring with a knot in it, fire wrapped in paper, and a rope of ash." I offered, pointing at each item in turn.

"Interesting. I see now that you solved all these tasks this way. That is acceptable, for but a single entrance. Be warned, should you return for a second trip to the Deep Archives, and attempt to treat our tasks as riddles to be solved again, you will be struck down in the attempt. There is only so much of such cleverness that can be allowed to pass unchallenged, after all." Cautioned the Ghostly Monk.

Then he disappeared, taking rope, lantern, and ashes with him. The mist parted and the red lacquered, bronze studded, wooden double doors to the pagoda swung open for me. I made my wait into the Deep Archive even as the last Ghostly Monk's warning reverberated in my mind. I hopefully wouldn't need to return, not if I found what I needed in the next forty-eight hours. Looking at the multiple floors lined with bookshelves however, that was currently looking to be easier said than done. There was nothing for it, though.

Nodding to myself, I stepped further inside the Deep Archives of the Fire Temple and got to work. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, impossible tasks are a thing endemic to folklore. Some of these were pulled from various folktales, others were made up wholecloth, and one in particular started as a joking Monty Python reference before I put a bit of thought into it. I hope they were at least interesting.

The purpose of the last test being a three for one deal actually has a bit of IRL Japanese numerology behind it. In Japan, four is considered an unlucky number because the word for four is pronounced the same way as the word for death, even if the characters used to spell them are different. Meanwhile, the number seven is considered lucky because of the Seven Lucky Gods. So by solving the forth test by solving three problems in one, he converts the four tests into seven and thus avoids death, becoming lucky and gaining entry into the Archive in the process.

At any rate, the next chapter will be about learning parts of the true history from the Archive.

Stay tuned. . .