The wind howled through the scorched ruins of the eastern forest.
Ash clung to Kael's clothes as he walked slowly through the devastation left behind by Raen's final act. Charred trees stood like skeletons, and the ground cracked with each step. No birds. No insects. Just silence and smoke.
And power.
Kael could feel it pulsing beneath his skin—raw, awakened potential.
His synchronization with the divine spark had risen again. His senses were sharper. His control was improving. But the words from the system echoed in his mind:
> Domain Detected: Destruction (Unstable)
He wasn't sure what it meant, but it stirred something in him—something ancient and terrifying.
Was this the path of gods?
Or monsters?
---
Kael's feet finally reached the edge of the ruined zone. The landscape returned to green and gold—the untouched forest beyond the crater. He paused at the treeline, wiping soot from his face.
It was time to leave.
He had no destination. No map. Only instinct, and a single burning goal:
Grow stronger. Fast.
But just as he stepped forward—
CRACK.
A violent ripple shattered the air above him.
A tear opened in the sky. Not a portal, not a spell—a literal rip in space, stretching downward like the gash of a cosmic blade.
Kael instinctively raised his barrier.
From the rift descended a man—tall, robed in flowing white and gold. His eyes glowed the color of starlight, and six ethereal wings flared behind his back, each feather etched with runes.
He didn't fly. He hovered, untouchable.
A voice like thunder wrapped in silk echoed from him.
> "Kael Solas. Ascendant. Spark-bearer. You are summoned for evaluation by decree of the Celestial Tribunal."
Kael's breath caught in his throat.
So it was true. Someone was watching him.
He stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The man's voice didn't change tone. It didn't rise or lower. It was unnervingly… perfect.
> "Designation: Watcher-Class Observer.
Name: Seraphon."
Kael stared. "You're from the Tribunal?"
Seraphon blinked. "Correct. I am the Eye sent to measure your compatibility and hazard level."
Kael narrowed his gaze. "Hazard level?"
"Your spark is awakening faster than predicted. The Domain of Destruction is not one to be left unchecked."
He descended gently, hovering just above the ground.
"I am here to assess whether your continued evolution poses a threat to divine balance."
Kael didn't move. "And if I do?"
Seraphon's wings flared slightly. "Then I erase you."
---
Kael's heart thundered.
He had just survived a death battle against a corrupted spark host—and now this being appeared with powers that made Raen's look like child's play?
Kael's instincts screamed.
He couldn't fight this thing. Not now.
So instead, he asked, "And what if I can prove I'm in control?"
Seraphon raised one elegant eyebrow. "Then you shall be permitted to ascend the First Path."
"The First Path?"
"The trials that determine whether a vessel may stand among the Celestials. Few complete it. Fewer survive."
Kael felt a chill.
Seraphon extended a single finger, and a glyph lit up between them. A geometric structure formed in the air—a maze of symbols Kael couldn't begin to understand.
"You have three options," Seraphon said calmly. "Submit to disintegration. Flee and be hunted. Or step into the Path."
Kael didn't hesitate.
"I choose the Path."
Seraphon nodded.
"Then let it be witnessed."
He snapped his fingers.
The world fractured.
---
The forest vanished.
The sky bent inward.
Kael stumbled as the ground beneath him shifted, reforming into a floating platform of obsidian hovering in the void. A dozen other floating stones drifted nearby, connected by thin strands of glowing silver light.
Below him? Nothing. Only an endless expanse of darkness… and stars.
A voice—no longer Seraphon's—boomed all around him.
> "TRIAL ONE: THE STORM OF REFLECTION."
Wind slammed into Kael's body, nearly sending him over the edge.
Lightning forked from the sky, striking the platform inches from his foot.
Kael dropped to his knees, bracing himself.
Another bolt struck—but this time, it wasn't normal lightning.
It took shape.
It became him.
Another Kael stood before him, made of crackling divine energy. Its eyes glowed blue, but its face held no warmth.
The doppelganger raised a glowing blade made from the same radiant light that Kael had once conjured in battle.
It didn't speak.
It just charged.
---
Kael raised his hands and activated his own glyphs.
> Command Seal: Barrier Shift.
He blinked behind the copy just in time to avoid the strike.
> Command Seal: Celestial Chains.
Silver tendrils lashed forward, but the clone countered—using the same exact move.
The chains clashed mid-air and exploded.
Kael flipped backward onto another floating stone, but the clone was relentless—mimicking every move, every strategy, faster and cleaner than Kael himself.
"Why is it copying me so perfectly!?" Kael shouted.
The Trial voice echoed:
> "The greatest enemy is not that which lies before you… but the one within."
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then let's see if I can outthink myself."
---
The fight raged across the floating arena.
Kael and his mirror-self clashed spell for spell, seal for seal.
He tried Radiant Spike—his clone mirrored it.
He tried Soul Divide—the clone used it first.
It was like fighting a version of himself without hesitation, without fear, without limits.
He was losing.
Then Kael remembered something Raen had said: "They tried to kill me when I couldn't control it… but the spark had already changed me."
Kael breathed deeply.
His power wasn't just mimicry.
It was creation.
---
Kael closed his eyes and focused on the feel of the divine spark. The chaos. The violence. The warmth. He felt the domain of Destruction calling to him—not as an enemy… but as a tool.
He reached into it.
And formed something new.
> Command Seal: Void Collapse.
A black orb surged into existence above his hand—silent, humming, hungry.
The doppelganger paused. It didn't recognize the move.
Kael hurled the orb.
The fake-Kael tried to absorb it.
Too late.
The orb collapsed into itself, creating a localized implosion that devoured the clone into spiraling strands of fading energy.
The Trial voice echoed:
> "TRIAL ONE COMPLETE. Candidate has surpassed the Mirror. Adaptation confirmed."
Kael fell to his knees, gasping.
But it wasn't over.
The floating platform cracked beneath his feet.
And he was falling.
---
He landed hard—this time on marble.
Kael looked up and found himself inside a vast coliseum, its seats filled with glowing silhouettes of ancient beings, watching from above.
At the center, a single figure stood.
It was armored from head to toe in celestial steel, a long spear resting on its shoulder.
Its eyes glowed like twin stars, and when it spoke, it sounded like ten thousand voices overlapping.
> "I am the Warden of Trial Two. You may have bested yourself. But can you best a god?"
Kael's knees trembled.
The next test had already begun.
---
[TO BE CONTINUED]