Under no circumstances was I going to be able to do this, especially not with this kind of pressure, the water slowly filling the room made it hard to concentrate. There was no way I could succeed in solving the puzzle on time. I made this very clear.

“No. I... I can't, I won't. This isn't going to work. I can't do one of these by myself.”

But of course, I hadn't thought through on the ramifications of absolutely refusing to do it. Alexius looked at me, a slightly disappointed and sad expression on his face.

“Do you want to break one of the escape stones now and give up on clearing the dungeon?”

I lost my breath for a moment and it was like I had a lump in my throat. Give up? That was what we would have to do. Of course, that wasn't a choice. Once you leave this dungeon, you cannot go back in for at least a month. There was no way we would stay that long in Probium just for another try. Even then, it would be such an intolerable month.

I don't want to become a burden to him, I can't take it. I know that he wouldn't say anything and just accept it if I say yes right now. He won't blame me, but I will. Even if he regrets bringing me along, I know that he would never say it, but I would still fear that it is how he would truly feel. Screwing this up, giving up here would be the worst thing I can do.

“N, no! I will... do my best. I... can... I can do this!”

I might sound doubtful, but what other choice do I have? I don't know what expression did Kardenon have under all that armor, but he nodded at me an said enthusiastically.

“Okay then! Let's do it like this: I will teach you the best way to go about solving these kinds of puzzles. Once you're confident enough that you can do it by yourself, I will go to the other side and keep solving every puzzle that appears as fast as possible. You can watch, Alexius, but I would recommend that you go solve your own puzzle once she becomes confident that she can do it.”

The two of us nodded in response, that seemed the best plan for the moment. Time was going by and, moment by moment, little by little, the water level was rising.

“I would be immensely grateful.”

I showed my respect and then, the teaching began. He started talking about how it was better to figure out which bigger pieces were appropriate to be used, then start testing the smaller ones to fill the gaps. I asked questions, full of nervousness and he answered each one of them calmly. I didn't get it. I didn't understand. But I insisted, I listened, I thought about it and I tried it. When the water was above my knees, I had finally solved a puzzle with Kardenon's help.

“There you go. That's exactly how you solve these things. It's actually kind of easy, isn't it? Do you think you can do it by yourself this time?”

Not really, but there was a limited amount of time. Whether I was confident or not, I had to do it. We each stood in front of a different puzzle and tried our best to solve them. Every time they shifted, it took such little time for Kardenon to call out that he was done that it almost irritated me. No, I was irritated at myself and my inability to solve it within the time limit.

“Just calm down and you can do it, I know it!”

Alexius, I know that you're just trying to encourage me, but please, don't put any more pressure than I already have... But of course saying that to him wouldn't help, so I tried my best to ignore the water which, at that point, had almost covered the entirety of my legs. A few times I almost got it and could even see the solution, but was unable to do it in time. At first, Alexius only succeeded in half the tries, but as time went on and I kept failing, he got better and better, eventually rarely failing to solve the puzzle. As for me, I was all up and down, sometimes getting close, but just as often being stuck at the first few steps.

Then it came, for the first time, it felt like something clicked. I looked at the puzzle in front of me, then at the pieces, submerged on the ground, and after picking a few of them, I knew how they fit, how they could fit. I set out and, while certainly not as fast as Kardenon, managed to solve it quite fast. A wave of relief and triumph rushed through me and I couldn't help but shout.

“Ah! Haha! I did it! I solved it!”

It actually felt so good, in that moment I almost felt that all that that tension before had been worth it. Then, it all faded in a puff of smoke when the puzzle shifted in front of me. No! Why?

“I'm sorry, I failed. Fuck!”

The pained voice from Alexius reached me. He did not solve the puzzle in time. No! Damn it, why? No, no, no. A new feeling started taking over me. There, I had succeeded, but at the critical moment, it was Alexius who had failed, so I can just safely give up and not be blamed. No, I can't accept it. I have to concentrate. At this point, the water was above my belly button and part of the puzzle on the wall was starting to get submerged.

“Come on! It's easy, if you both have succeeded at least once separate, then you can succeed together! Do it, don't give up!”

Kardenon was right. Instead of allowing despair to take over as the one time I had succeeded, Alexius failed, I had to take hope in the fact that I had succeeded once and could do so again. I will do it! We kept going and I kept failing, but this time, I almost always got close.

Then, one time, as I saw the solution in my mind, I heard Alexius' call, I breathed, in, out, and didn't lose focus. As I put in the last piece and solved a let out a roar of triumph. The puzzle in front of me shined in a way that I had not seen before, then disappeared and the water that was up to my breasts not only stopped rising, but now started receding.

Commemoration, hugs, laughter and encouragement filled the room as we, for the time, ignored the keystone that was now sitting in an altar in the middle of the room.

“You did it! I knew you could do it!”

I didn't. Also, I was still angry...

“Please don't do anything like that ever again. You failing when I had finally succeeded almost broke my heart...”

At that, Alexius looked apologetic.

“Well, you know, when you said you solved it, I guess I panicked a little, thinking like I really could not fail.”

“Are you blaming me for that? Unbelievable!”

“No, no. It was definitely my fault.”

Then Kardenon cut in the middle.

“Aw, come you two, no need for that. We pulled through, didn't we? Come on! Let's just push forward now. There is no way things can get any worse from what we just went through.”

How wrong he was. I should have slapped him then. You can't jinx things like that!