The Sphinx continues to simply regard the young man. Even though, she practically radiates calmness, the way her eyes are always fixated on the Champion makes it quite obvious that she is ready to defend whatever she is protecting. Ready to attack. Ready to kill, should there be the need to.

After another moment of complete silence has passed, the creature finally shows some kind of reaction to the young man approaching her. Her human lips slowly curl into a small smirk, her dark eyes still locked on the boy. "You may pass." And then with a rather intimidating raise of her eyebrows she added, "Or you may not. It all depends on you." A small pause ensued during which she regarded the boy once again, as if figuring out whether he was worth it.

In the end it seems he has proven himself worthy, as the Sphinx raises her head briefly and finally addresses the champion again,

"Deep in the wood in an orchard of old,
An apple tree grows, a sight to behold.
The branches are full and the limbs hand down.
It must be magic, there's none on the ground.

From the twisted old trunk, four branches sprout.
And from each long branch, fifteen twigs stick out.
From each of these, three ripe fruit dangle free.
Tell me the number of pears in the tree."