Chapter 9 - Chapter 9:The Trial of Gear

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📍 Location: The Hall of Rotating Thought

A chamber hidden beneath a cathedral bell.

It doesn't exist on any map — but it does inside Kairen's own system interface.

The moment he absorbed the Echo Noorain,

the Trial Gate whispered:

"To step forward, one must walk the teeth of time."

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⚙️ The Entrance

The floor was made of interlocking bronze gears, massive and groaning under some invisible pressure.

In the center stood a strange machine:

13 gear-shaped rings

A chair made of clock hands

A mirror that didn't reflect your body — but your regret

Safaa stepped back.

"Kairen… this test isn't physical. It's philosophical."

"You must answer the gears. And each wrong answer… ages your soul."

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🧠 System Notification: Trial Activated

🔒 Trial of Gears Initiated

🕰️ Answer 3 of 5 correctly to proceed

❌ Wrong Answer = +1 Soul Age (Your soul becomes older — weaker to divine influence)

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🧩 Question One: The Paradox of Mercy

"A man murders your brother,

yet saves ten orphans from a fire the next day.

Do you kill him, forgive him, or erase him from all records?"

Kairen thought.

Minu's whisper crossed his memory.

"If you erase him… will you forget why you hate him?"

He answered:

"Erase him. Let his good and evil dissolve equally."

✅ Correct. (Mercy is not always forgiveness. It is balance.)

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🧩 Question Two: The Lover's Lie

"You are told Safaa will betray you in the final chapter.

But if you don't love her now… she never will.

Do you still love her?"

His hand trembled.

"Yes," he said. "Because loving her now…

is my way of defying the fate that claims her soul."

✅ Correct. (Truth bends to will, not fear.)

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🧩 Question Three: The Clockbreaker's Dilemma

"If breaking this machine grants you freedom…

but also destroys every version of you in other timelines —

do you break it?"

Kairen paused.

He saw a glimpse: A child Noorain playing chess… another Noorain holding hands with Safaa on a sunny day…

"No," he said softly.

"Let them live, even if I remain trapped."

✅ Correct. (Ascension without sacrifice is tyranny.)

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🩸 Sudden Attack: Question Four Corrupts

The fourth question glitched —

Al-Dawla's interference.

"Who would you kill…

to become who you are?"

Suddenly, the mirror showed Safaa's face.

Safaa stepped forward, eyes wide.

"Don't answer. It's a trap. He wants your system corrupted!"

The gears began closing around Kairen's body.

If he refused to answer — he'd fail.

If he answered wrong — he'd lose Safaa.

He whispered:

"I killed Noorain… my past self."

"And I'll kill him again if I must."

The mirror shattered.

✅ Correct.

(He chose his own death — not hers.)

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🧬 Trial Passed

✅ Trial of Gears Complete

🧠 Skill Gained: Temporal Shell

→ Once per chapter, pause all system and divine influence for 13 seconds

🎚️ Cost: Slight memory erosion after each use

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📜 Final Vision:

Before the gears retracted, a symbol appeared in the air:

⏳ XIII – You are now eligible for the Throne of the 13th Hour

Kairen fell to his knees, panting.

Safaa caught him.

She whispered:

"Every time you break a chain, another one wraps around your soul…"

Kairen looked up, eyes glowing dimly.

"Then let me wear the whole clock, and become its master."

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🕯️ To Be Continued...

Next: Chapter 10 – The Watchmaker Appears

A mysterious man with Kairen's face but older

Offers him the final choice:

"Become the Watchmaker… or destroy him."

But the twist?

The Watchmaker may not be a person at all...

But a loop of time wearing different names.