**
The System flickered:
> **ALLIANCE UPDATE:**
> **• DARIUS: TRUST 80%**
> **• LIRA: TRUST 65%**
The real trial was tomorrow.
The mirrored walls swallowed sound and light, fracturing Kael into a thousand broken versions of himself. The Proctor's voice boomed like distant thunder:
**"Trial Two: Confront the Echo in the Glass. Destroy it… or be destroyed."**
A reflection *stepped free* of the glass.
> **[SHADE OF KAEL]**
> **• STATS: USER MIRRORED + 20%**
> **• ABILITIES: [DEAD CALM], [WRATH-SURGE], [SHADOWSTEP]**
> **• WEAKNESS: SANITY IMMUNE (NO COST FOR ABILITIES)**
It moved before Kael could blink—dagger aimed at his throat.
---
Kael parried, the clash of steel ringing like a death knell. His arms *screamed* under the shade's enhanced strength (**STR 29**).
**"Pathetic,"** the shade hissed—Kael's voice, but colder. **"You cling to these weaklings like a crutch."**
Darius roared, fists sheathed in stone, and charged. **"Get off him!"**
The shade didn't turn. **[Dead Calm Activated].** It sidestepped, hooked Darius' ankle, and sent him crashing face-first into a mirror. Blood sprayed across fractured glass.
> **[DARIUS: CONCUSSION - AGI/PER REDUCED 40%]**
Lira materialized from shadows, daggers slicing toward the shade's kidneys. It *vanished*—reappearing behind her.
**"Too slow, *ghost*,"** it mocked, driving an elbow into her spine. Lira crumpled, gasping.
Kael lunged, desperation fueling **[Wrath-Surge: STR]**.
**"IGNORE THEM! FIGHT ME!"**
The shade caught his wrist. **Bone cracked.** Agony blinded Kael as he was hurled into a wall. Mirrors shattered like ice.
> **[KAEL: RIGHT WRIST FRACTURED | SANITY: 65 → 50/100]**
**"It knows our moves!"** Lira choked out, dragging herself up. **"Even *mine*!"**
Darius spat blood, swaying. **"How?!"**
The shade advanced, twirling Kael's stolen dagger. **"Because he *fears* you seeing his truth."** It pointed the blade at Kael. **"The War God's ghost. The System. The *lies*."**
Lira's eyes locked on Kael—shock, then dawning fury. **"You *did* hold back earlier…"**
Kael's stomach dropped. *It's breaking us apart.*
The shade struck—a whirlwind of steel aimed at Lira's heart. Kael moved on instinct, shoving her aside. The dagger plunged into his shoulder instead. White-hot pain erupted.
**"Always the martyr,"** the shade sneered, twisting the blade.
Kael screamed—but through the agony, the System pulsed:
> **ANALYSIS COMPLETE:**
> **• SHADE PRIORITIZES THREATS (LIRA = HIGHEST PERCEIVED DANGER)**
> **• EXPLOIT: USER IS 'INVISIBLE' DURING ITS FOCUS ATTACKS**
**"Darius!"** Kael roared. **"Shatter the ceiling above it! NOW!"**
Darius didn't hesitate. He slammed his stone fists upward. **[Seismic Stomp]**. The mirrored dome *exploded*.
The shade looked up—just as Kael ripped the dagger from his own shoulder and lunged. **[Dead Calm Activated].**
**"For the *real* Kael!"** Lira's shadows lashed out, tangling the shade's legs.
Kael's blade struck true—through the shade's eye and into the brain.
It froze. Glass shards impaled it from above like divine spears.
**"You… lose…"** it gurgled, dissolving into black smoke.
Silence.
Kael collapsed, blood pooling beneath him. Lira crouched, pressing her cloak to his shoulder wound. Her voice was ice. **"The System. The War God. Explain. *Now.*"**
Darius stared, horror dawning. **"Gods… that thing wasn't lying, was it?"**
Kael met their eyes, the System's bronze text flickering across his vision like a confession:
> **[WARNING: ACADEMY PROCTORS REVIEWING COMBAT FEED]**
> **[SUSPICION LEVEL: 85%]**
**"I'm not your enemy,"** he whispered. **"But it's hunting me… and now it knows about you."**
Lira's grip tightened on her dagger—not threatening, but calculating. **"Who's 'it'?"**
**"The Academy,"** Kael breathed as darkness crept in. **"Or whatever controls them."**
They limped from the trial chamber, Kael leaning on Darius. Blood dripped a trail behind them.
Proctors watched from high galleries, their faces impassive masks. One, a gaunt man with eyes like frozen mercury, lifted a comm-crystal. **"Subject Kael Vance. Confirmed anomalous energy signature. Recommend escalation to Tier 3 observation."**
Lira walked ahead, shoulders tense. **"If we're targets because of your secrets, Vance, you owe us."**
**"What do you want?"** Kael rasped.
She glanced back, shadows swirling in her irises. **"The truth. All of it. Before the next trial kills us."**
Darius grunted, heaving Kael higher. **"And a barrel of Blackmire ale. My head's splitting."**
Kael almost smiled. Almost. The System's warning pulsed:
> **[TRIAL THREE: THE ABYSSAL CHASM - 97.3% FATALITY RATE FOR MARKED TARGETS]**
The War God's whisper coiled in his mind: *"Trust no one. Not even them."*
--