Great! Here's **Chapter 7: The First Test of the Living Mystery** – the tension mounts, as Jacob and Argo face the dark power of the house:---

## **Chapter 7: The First Test of the Living Mystery**

The silence in the cellar was almost palpable. Every step Jacob and Argo took echoed off the stone walls, as if the house itself were measuring their courage. The sarcophagus pulsed stronger, and the shadow of the woman who had appeared within it began to emerge towards them, slowly taking on a more and more tangible form.

"This is the moment of testing," Mara said, her voice barely audible above the echoing of the cellar. "The house wants to test your courage, your heart, and your mind."

Jacob felt a tightness in his chest. The woman's shadow moved toward him, and with it came echoes of the past: all the mistakes, fears, decisions he regretted.

“I must look directly at the truth,” Jacob muttered to himself, feeling Argo tense beside him. “I cannot run.”

The shadow stopped just in front of them, its eyes glowing like two burning coals. Then a whisper came from the fountain:

“Face what you fear most…”

Jacob closed his eyes and recalled all his moments of weakness: the times he had failed his friends, the decisions he had made in haste, the fear of what he did not understand.

“I cannot run anymore!” he cried. He opened his eyes and looked directly at the shadow. “I accept all that I am and all that I have done!”

The shadow vibrated, as if responding to his words. Sparks of light began to flow from within it, and all the reflections of the women in the fountain seemed to calm.

Argo barked happily, as if sensing the threat had passed. The shadow slowly vanished, leaving behind only the silence and the pulsing peace of the sarcophagus. "Well done," said Mara. "That was the first test. The house accepted your courage. But don't think it's over. It's only the beginning."

Jacob took a deep breath, feeling both relief and heaviness at the same time. He knew the house would try them many more times, each test more difficult than the last.

"What now?" asked Jacob, looking at the sarcophagus.

"Now you must discover what truly lies within," said Mara. "And the answer could change everything: the past, the present... and the future."

Jacob looked at Argo. The dog rested its head on his knee, ready to face this with him.

"There's no turning back," said Jacob. "We move on."

And so, in the heart of a house full of secrets, Jacob and Argo entered deeper, ready to uncover the sarcophagus's greatest mystery and confront what the house had hidden for centuries.

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I can now prepare **Chapter 8**, in which Jacob and Argo discover the first true secret of the sarcophagus—something that will connect all the women from the house's past and reveal a mystery Mara never truly knew.

Want me to continue?