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Chapter 26 – The Emberclad Trial
Kael didn't speak for a long while.
Lys watched him silently, her fingers flexing near the hilts of her blades, eyes shifting between the obsidian blade embedded in the altar and the shimmer in Kael's gaze—like something was tearing at him from the inside. Not just memory. Grief. Guilt. Flame.
> Gracebound System Reminder
Pending Arsenal Selection
Grace Points: 210
The options pulsed softly in the edge of his vision—power-ups, weapons, pills. But his hand hovered above the obsidian blade, not the System's offerings.
"Are you going to choose?" Lys asked at last, softly.
"Not yet," Kael replied, gaze distant. "Not until I understand what she meant."
"She?" Lys tilted her head. "You saw someone, didn't you? In the memories."
Kael didn't answer. He stepped closer to the altar.
The blade—half-melted, its edge jagged—seemed more a wound than a weapon. And when he grasped the hilt, something inside the chamber reacted. A hum, low and deep, thrummed through the floor.
> Gracebound System Notification
Trial Initiated: Emberclad Judgment
Status: Bound to Flame Legacy
Objective: Survive the Trial of Heat and Memory
Grace Reward: +100 (Survival) | +150 (Complete Synchronization)
The floor beneath the altar split open.
Lys cursed and leapt back as molten chains erupted upward, forming a ring of burning symbols. A dome of transparent flame sealed the two of them inside. The temperature spiked instantly—Kael's breath turned ragged, his skin prickling with sweat.
Then, the Trial Guardian appeared.
It wasn't a beast. It wasn't even fully real.
It was him.
A blazing replica of Kael stepped from the fire—taller, leaner, cloaked in emberlight. Its eyes held none of Kael's hesitation. No pain. Just purpose.
Kael stared.
Lys hissed, "It looks like—"
"I know," Kael muttered. "It's what I would've become... if I hadn't broken the vow."
> Gracebound System Warning
Trial Difficulty: Tier II
Opponent: Emberclad Kael (Legacy Echo)
Combat Style: Precision Flame, High-Speed Assault
Duration: Until submission or synchronization
"Stay back," Kael told Lys. "This is mine."
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The clash came fast.
Blades of fire met the weight of Kael's gauntlet. Emberclad Kael moved like a dream—every motion fluid, merciless. It didn't just anticipate Kael's strikes—it remembered them.
Every dodge. Every instinct. Every flaw.
Kael grunted as a spinning kick slammed into his ribs, sending him skidding across the chamber. He rose with a snarl, blood running down his lip.
> Gracebound System Prompt
You may now access one Arsenal selection.
Choose wisely.
Kael didn't hesitate this time.
Selection: Flamebite Twin Daggers – 70 GP
Remaining GP: 140
The twin daggers materialized in a flicker of scarlet light—curved blades glowing at the edges, spirit-draining enchantment etched into the handles.
Kael caught them midair, spun once, and charged.
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The tide shifted.
Where Emberclad Kael relied on pure fire and form, the twin daggers added unpredictability. Kael ducked under a flaming arc, slashed across the copy's thigh, twisted, and landed a vicious cut across its side. The wound shimmered—spirit bled out, not blood.
The echo faltered.
It wasn't immune.
But it recovered just as quickly, snapping a punch into Kael's temple and kicking him back. Smoke curled off both fighters. The air thickened with heat and memory.
And then Kael remembered something else.
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[Memory Fragment: Echo III]
A battlefield. Ash covering the sky. Vireya limping through the wreckage, calling out—
"Kael! KAEL!"
He turned too late. A wyrm-borne explosion rocked the field. Flame surged. A figure fell.
He sprinted through fire.
But Vireya was already gone.
Or so he thought.
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> Optional Echo Recovered: Ash Reckoning
+25 Grace Points Awarded
Total GP: 165
Kael roared—rage and sorrow channeled into the daggers. He struck Emberclad Kael again and again, the blades burning with memory. The copy faltered... then collapsed.
> Gracebound System Notification
Trial Complete – Synchronization Achieved
+150 Grace Points Awarded
Total GP: 315
The flame dome vanished.
Kael stood trembling, smoke rising from his clothes, twin daggers still in hand.
Lys walked up cautiously. "Is it over?"
"For now," he whispered.
Then turned back to the altar. The obsidian blade was gone.
In its place sat a blackened scale.
Small. Gleaming. Ancient.
He picked it up—and the warmth it carried was unlike anything he'd felt. Not from this age.
> Gracebound System Notification
You have acquired: Vestige of the First Wyrm
(This item cannot be purchased, sold, or replicated.)
Effects: Unknown
Reactions to this item will vary.
Kael stared at the scale and finally asked the question out loud: "Why did you leave me, Vireya?"
And somewhere deep in the echo of flame, something—someone—whispered back.
"I didn't."
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