The mist was thick—so dense it felt like breathing silk soaked in sorrow. The forest behind his grandmother's estate seemed ordinary to the untrained eye, a quiet expanse of aged trees and overgrown pathways. But Kaelen now stood before a hidden altar revealed only when the System judged him worthy.
The Soulforge Platform had risen from the soil like a slumbering beast obeying an ancient command. Circles of golden-celestial runes pulsed with light, radiating power that made the air heavy, almost holy.
Kaelen's heart pounded in his chest—not from fear, but from expectation. For the first time in this new life, he would step into a trial not as an outcast... but as a necromancer, a true inheritor of something long buried.
And more than that—he was a Warden by blood.
"Are you ready?" the System echoed in his mind.
"I was born for this," Kaelen whispered.
Behind him stood Nyxa, her sleek skeletal panther form crackling with dark mist and piercing violet eyes. And beside her, towering like a god of war, Bahlor, the skeletal warrior forged with plated bone and bound with Kaelen's first Golem core. They waited, unwavering.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
🧿 Soulforge Trial Initiated🔹 Trial Name: Unity of Flame and Bone🔹 Objective: Achieve High Resonance with At Least Two Named Summons🔹 Success Requirement: 85% Synchronization🔹 Trial Type: Adaptive Combat Simulation🔹 Survival Timer: 15 Minutes🔹 Rewards: +1 New Skill, Passive Bond Upgrade, Celestial Soul Fragment🔹 Warning: Death of Named Summons causes trial failure
BEGINNING TRIAL IN: 10… 9…
Kaelen exhaled slowly. His vision sharpened, focused. Every instinct buzzed to life. His magic core trembled—reacting not from instability but from a dormant legacy roaring awake.
The light shattered into darkness.
Trial Zone: The Black Arena
The world twisted.
Kaelen now stood in an abyssal coliseum suspended in the void. Above him hung a shattered moon, bleeding red, casting eerie shadows across the obsidian floor. The stands were filled with wraith-like figures—spectators from lost ages.
A cruel voice boomed:
"Let the Trial Commence."
The earth cracked.
Six monstrosities emerged—towering phantoms of ancient war:• A molten Dracofiend, scaled with obsidian and fire• A bladed Shade Knight, warped and ever-hungry• Four Gigantic Undead Juggernauts, held together by cursed chains and necrotic sigils
Kaelen's heartbeat slowed. Not out of fear, but focus.
"Nyxa—flank left. Use Speed Phase. Bahlor—center hold. Create a bottleneck!"
They obeyed without hesitation.
Nyxa blurred forward in a shadow-dash, dancing past the Dracofiend's flame burst and raking its side with claws glowing violet. The creature screamed and turned—only for Bahlor to slam his axe into its tail with earth-shattering force.
"Now… bind the Shade!"
Kaelen raised his staff. A complex tri-rune circle appeared beneath the shadow knight.
"Curse of Stagnation – Bind the soul, sever the time!""Mana Chain!""Entombed Will!"
Chains of ether lashed out, snapping around the knight's limbs. For a moment, the battle tilted in their favor—until the undead juggernauts roared and charged.
Bahlor pivoted, intercepting one with his shield, bones grinding as raw force clashed with precision. Nyxa vanished and reappeared atop another juggernaut's skull, detonating an abyssal claw into its brain.
But even with their synergy, Kaelen felt it.
Something was… off.
Their movement wasn't fluid enough. Their connection wasn't complete.
"Why now?" he whispered. "Why the delay?"
A whisper came—not from the System, but his own soul.
"Because they're no longer tools… they're companions. Family. You must open yourself… or they will fall."
His hands trembled.
He reached into his own soul—not just his mana but his bond—the threads of loyalty, emotion, memory, fear, and trust. He poured it into the link between them.
And then… it clicked.
The battlefield shimmered. Kaelen, Nyxa, and Bahlor moved as one.
Nyxa's attacks flowed like a hurricane, her movements predicting not only the enemy's, but Kaelen's intentions before he gave them voice.
Bahlor roared with a primal fury not seen before, absorbing an explosion of fire breath while slamming his axe into the Dracofiend's underbelly.
Kaelen lifted his staff and chanted:
"Soul Pulse!"A wave of dark-blue energy exploded outward—All summoned units gained 40% attack speed and 30% spell resistance.
Nyxa's claws shattered the drake's skull. Bahlor decapitated two juggernauts in a single, explosive spin. The Shade Knight shrieked but was already bound in flame and cursed frost.
When the dust settled, not a single enemy remained.
Only Kaelen, and the ones he trusted most.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
Soulforge Trial Completed— Soul Resonance: 92% Achieved— Named Summons Uplifted: Partial Ascension— Bond Perk: Summoner's Bond Lv.1— Skill Gained: Soul Pulse— Passive: Named Creatures can now summon Lesser Minions for Protection— Shared Awareness radius: +15 meters— Bonus: Celestial Soul Fragment x1 Obtained
Evolution Conditions for Nyxa and Bahlor Updated
Kaelen dropped to one knee, exhaustion rolling over him. But inside, he felt it—a new heartbeat, a deeper rhythm. He had passed the trial not by domination, but by trust.
He looked at Nyxa, who sat beside him like a loyal shade-hound. Bahlor remained standing, ever the guardian.
They had become more than summoned entities.
They were his first family in this new world.
"Thank you," Kaelen whispered.
"You chose me… now I will make you kings among monsters."
And from the depths of his soul, something ancient stirred.
A new evolution path for Nyxa and Bahlor silently unlocked… and in the dark corners of the world, fate took notice.