Chapter 664 Artemis' Bow Part 2
Arriving at the lake, Shiro circled around the perimeter and tried her luck once more but found nothing. Setting her clothes by the side, she jumped into the lake with her dagger in her mouth and continued to swim towards the bottom.
Swimming at impressive speeds for around a minute and a half, Shiro narrowed her eyes at the bottom and figured that if she was to continue down, she wouldn't be able to get back to the surface or she'll drown.
Spending a moment to try looking for something that might be of use, Shiro eventually swam back up to the surface and took several deep breaths.
"Hmm… On the bottom were only a few boulders and rocks. Nothing really of interest. Strangely enough, there aren't any fishes of animals in this part of the forest." Shiro muttered while climbing out of the lake. Taking a moment to dry her hair and body as best she could, she wore her clothes once more and made her way to the fallen tree leading up to the cavern.
Grabbing a few dead tree branches, Shiro created a makeshift torch as the sun was getting a little low. At this point in time, the lighting within the cave would be rather small so she'll need a light source of her own.
Entering the cave with a torch, Shiro noticed that the rocks shimmered lightly at the presence of her torch. Not so much that it formed letters or a pattern but enough for her to realise that something must be up with the rocks.
Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro looked around the cavern and noticed that some of the boulders around the place looked like they could be moved around.
"Interesting…" She muttered with a smile.
Placing the torch by the side, she walked up to one of the boulders and gritted her teeth.
"Hnnn!!!!"
Trying her best to move it, Shiro could feel a small shift but not enough so that it would flip over.
Letting go of the boulder, she jogged out of the cave and looked for a suitable piece of wood.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find one that could be used as a lever.
"£^&%&! Don't tell me that you have to be superhuman to actually obtain this bow." Shiro frowned.
Crouching near the boulder, Shiro waved her torch around in order to find a spot that she might be able to use as a handle so that she could roll the rock over.
However, when she waved the torch near the boulder, she noticed a mirror like surface that was underneath the boulder. The only reason she noticed this was because the mirror had reflected some of the light from her torch back into her face.
Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro checked the other boulders in the cave and saw that they all had the mirror like surface beneath them.
"Hmm…"
Narrowing her eyes at the boulders, she simulated what their location would be if she was to roll them over and the mirror surface was to be exposed to the light.
Tracing the simulated reflection into the cave, Shiro traced her hand along the dead end as this was where the light would focus should all the rocks be turned over. Of course, this was just a single simulation of the position of the rocks. They could very well turn in a different way and her current simulated end of the light is nothing but a farce.
Raising her torch against the wall, she only saw a few shimmers but nothing happened.
'Hmm… perhaps I need to wait till nightfall to use these boulders. If I was to snap my short sword to pieces, will I be able to recreate the boulder's reflection?' Shiro thought to herself but didn't make a move. After all, if her guess was wrong, she'd be left without a good short sword which would be quite detrimental.
Sitting on one of the boulders, she glanced out of the cavern and wondered to herself for a moment. Hopping off the boulder, she searched around the outer perimeter, around the fallen tree, and noticed that there were a few smaller boulders that had the same mirror like surface but the rocks were rather mossy with shrubbery coating the top of the rock.
'Moving all of this for it to be set in place seems rather impractical as the outcome would be randomised.' Shiro narrowed her eyes. Her instincts were telling her that the key was not moving these boulders but something else.
Memorising the location of the boulders, Shiro slowly noticed a small pattern and had her suspicions. Estimating where the next spot of the patterns are, she managed to find more boulders and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Well I'll be damned. I didn't expect astrology to be a part of this puzzle. I suppose Artemis did say that she was friends with Asteria." Shiro chuckled.
The spots of the boulders were precisely the star locations of Orion's Constellation.
"The forbidden love between the marksman Orion and the goddess Artemis. In the end, you had Zeus place him among the constellations." Shiro muttered with a small smile.
Understanding that the boulders are not to be moved, Shiro wondered about why they were facing downwards.
There was an idea in her mind but Shiro wasn't too sure since the possibility of such a thing was slim. And so far, she hadn't found any entrances unless…
Thinking about it for a moment, she turned towards the direction of the lake.
"I hope I'm right." She muttered.
While waiting for night to arrive, Shiro started to find strong pieces of vines so that if she couldn't find something at the bottom of the lake, she could at least try her best at pulling herself ashore.
After spending a few hours collecting the vines, she tied them all up securely.
With the sun setting completely, Shiro looked up at the sky and saw a crescent moon hanging above the lake.
"Is this a sign Artemis?" Shiro asked with a soft chuckle. After all, a bow was similar to a crescent moon.
Taking off her clothes, she tied the end of her long line of vines against one of the trees. Wrapping the other end on herself, she estimated that this should be enough to reach the bottom of the lake.
"I hope my guess is correct." Shiro muttered and took a deep breath.
Diving into the lake with nothing but a single bone dagger, Shiro narrowed her eyes and swam towards the bottom.
Surprisingly, there was a small flicker of light from the rocks beneath the lack due to the moonlight.
Slowly, she noticed the flickers of light trace the image of a bow and arrow, ready to be fired towards her left.
Turning her body so that she was facing the sky, she saw that the moon was directly above the lake.
Chuckling softly, she dived towards the image of the bow and arrow and noticed that the light forming the arrow tip was not actually a reflection from the moon. Instead, it was a Sigil that was domed like a boulder.
Reaching out for the Sigil, Shiro discovered that there was an empty space behind it.
Quickly cutting herself free of the vine with her dagger, she dived towards the Sigil.
"HAA!!!" Taking a large breath of fresh air, Shiro found herself on a water slide of sorts deeper into the earth.
Feeling the cold winds graze her skin, Shiro couldn't help but shiver a little from the cold.
"I swear if I, a spirit who started as a snow girl, get a f*cking cold from this I'm going to be pissed." Shiro muttered in annoyance.
After a short while, she braced herself as she could hear the echoes of a large cavern. Looking at the makeshift map she had simulated in her mind, she noticed that she was now beneath the boulder constellations she had found above ground.
Seeing the smooth ground, Shiro jumped off the waterslide and landed on the stone.
In front of her was a single crystal bow that was placed on top of a pedestal made from stone.
The bow itself seemed to radiate a soft light as the surrounding stones were lit up by this radiance.
Glancing above her, she saw the Orion constellation flicker with a soft light that was similar to stars
Smiling softly, Shiro walked up to the bow.
"Thanks for your help Artemis." Shiro chuckled and grabbed the bow.