The black dragon or the Archbishop must have known exactly where they were going because the portal opened right beside a temple that looked exactly like the step temple in the very first trial instance that Karl had entered.
"There is an opening at the top. Would you like me to fly you up there to begin the investigation?" Nacht asked.
Karl shook his head. "No, I think it is important that you walk up the steps. This is identical to a World Dragon Temple in a trial I was in. The goal was to get as far up as you could. Now, this one might be broken, but if there is even a little lingering magic, it will be important that we have walked all the way up under our own power." Karl explained.
All of the beasts came out to examine the temple, and Hawk was filled with a sense of nostalgia. It would be much easier to walk up the steps now. He was huge, and he might even be able to do three at a time.
Karl led the way, then paused and went around to the left side of the Temple.
"If I'm right, this one used to be the strength test side." He explained.
Karl stepped onto the temple and began his ascent. There was no magical resistance, no sign of response from the temple, but he continued up the thousand steps to the top anyhow. If nothing else, it was a good workout.
The others followed behind, curious to see if Karl would be able to provoke a response from the temple by mimicking the way that it used to function as a trial. They were about to give up on the whole notion when Karl reached the top and nothing happened. But when he took one more step forward, the temple began to slowly pulse with energy, a faint signature, but growing.
"Well, I'll be. It really did respond to your technique. What do you think you should do next?" Nacht asked.
The Archbishop was making notes as he walked up, ensuring that no detail was missed. The old cleric surely had ideas, as he was the greatest expert in the world on the topic, but Karl went with the simplest idea first.
"There is what looks like an offering box on the altar. I will start with that."
The altar was made of the same ancient grey stone as the rest of the temple, but the box was heavily weathered brass, and most likely bolted down if it was still there.
Karl reached into his inventory and took out a piece of gear that he knew was system compatible from the last resurgence, and placed the magical dagger in the offering chest.
The dagger vanished as soon as he placed it in the box, and Karl waited to see if anything happened, or if everyone had to make an offering.
The power in the temple was growing, but not everyone was at the top yet, as the clerics and Dana lacked the superhuman stamina of Karl, Ophelia or the dragon.
Eventually, they did all make it to the top of the temple, and the power level began to grow proportionally to the number of people gathered around the altar.
"Are we going to do something?" Ophelia asked.
"First, we wait a few more minutes. Then we will offer it a few more system enhanced treasures in the offering box. It accepted the dagger I offered, so I know it works, at least a little." Karl explained.
After a few minutes, the power growth seemed to slow to a crawl, but the Archbishop had an idea.
"I think it just lacks the mana to continue. You clearly triggered it well enough, it just can't complete its desired task. Between myself and Nacht, we should be able to fix it." He explained in a tired voice.
For the first time, Karl noticed that the Archbishop was not a young man, or what could be called middle-aged, or even aging. Behind his beard and his clear eyes, he was very obviously elderly, and might not have more than a handful more years left.
But once he recovered from the long walk up the stairs, the strong aura was back, and the two Totems began to focus their energy on whatever was happening in the pyramid. That was bringing it to life, and Karl smiled as he realized that Corbin was right. There was something immensely powerful here. It was faint, but the energy coming off it was like nothing that Karl had ever felt before.
It almost felt holy, but not in a way that Karl could put his finger on. Perhaps they really had found the tomb of a Demigod? If that was the case, Corbin was going to be devastated, even if he was given the credit for the initial find.
The Black Dragon smiled. "I can feel it. There is something remarkable here. Prepare yourselves, I think that it is going to activate."
The air seemed to twist, as if an anomaly was opening, and then Karl was floating in the void. There was nothing around him, only absolute darkness.
For the first half of a second.
Then he felt wind rushing past his face, and altered [Flaming Body] so that it gave off a large amount of light.
On his right, Lord Nacht was spreading his wings to begin a gentle glide around the area. So, Karl called Hawk out, only to find that the beast hadn't been returned to his space, and he wasn't here wherever they were.
Karl shifted to flatten himself against the wind, slowing his fall, and waited for the ground to come into sight.
Nacht was already far above him, as the dragon had simply opened his wings. He hadn't realized right away that Karl was beside him and couldn't fly, so his first instinct was to explore the area.
Then Karl realized that he didn't have to actually fly. He could change his armour and hope it adapted.
[Bestial Raiment] was removed and reactivated, giving him a new pattern of armour with a layer of cloth connecting his limbs that allowed him to soar through the air, greatly reducing his fall speed.
[Good call Boss.] Remi congratulated him.
[You're with me? I thought we were all separated.]
Remi gave a mental shrug. [When things started getting weird, I just went home.]
That was a very Remi thing to do. She wasn't fond of trouble, and liked to watch new things from the safety of her swamp. Only once she knew what was going on, would she come out.
Karl realized that the others were likely in the same situation he was in right now, and frowned.
[I hope they're all alright. Hawk can fly, so can Cara. Dana can walk on air, but the two clerics, Thor and Rae could be in trouble.]
He had other things to worry about, though. He could see the ground now, or at least a mountain range in the distance, and Nacht had come to soar beside him.
{What a curious thing this trial is. If there was anyone else in this instance, I would have expected it to be the old man, not you.} He offered, keeping pace beside Karl.
"It is a shock to me too. I wonder how it sorted us, or what sort of trial this is. It clearly didn't sort us by power level, and it doesn't make sense to sort us by size." Karl agreed.
"Land there, on that ledge halfway up the mountain. Then, if we need to fly again, you can get on my back."