Kael sat in silence within the glowing chamber beneath Emberlight. One body had been conquered. His own strength—the Body of Iron—was now aligned. But the path forward was no longer physical.
The relic pulsed once, then again—slower this time, more hesitant, as if it too feared what came next.
"Prepare. The Mind is not like the Body. Here, doubt kills faster than steel."
Without warning, the world folded inward.
Descent into Thought
Kael didn't move, but space did.
He was pulled inward—into himself.
Darkness surged. Voices rose.
"You killed them."
"You feel nothing, do you?"
"What if the relic lies?"
"You don't deserve ascension."
He gritted his teeth, focusing on the fragment of flame flickering at the center of the void—his Will.
Then the trial began.
The Labyrinth of Mirrors
Kael opened his eyes.
He stood in an endless hall of mirrors. But these weren't ordinary reflections.
Each mirror showed him—not as he was, but as he could have been.
A boy too weak to protect his mother.
A youth who fled the bandits instead of fighting.
A mercenary killing innocents for coin.
A man kneeling before the Dominion of Chains, begging for rank.
Kael walked past them, jaw clenched.
But they whispered, clawed at his mind.
"All that strength, and you're still empty."
"No one will remember you."
Then he stopped before the mirror that did not reflect him at all.
It showed Riven Valemir.
Smiling. Admired. Beloved. A hero.
Kael's fingers twitched.
The Shard of Doubt
The mirror shimmered, rippled—and Riven stepped out.
But this was not the real Riven. This was Kael's doubt wearing Riven's face.
"You're not strong because you earned it, Kael. You stole a legacy."
Kael said nothing.
"You think pain is virtue? That solitude makes you worthy? It makes you pitiful."
The false Riven raised his hand.
A storm of mental blades launched toward Kael, forged from guilt, shame, and buried fear.
Kael raised no defense.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
The Choice
"You are not Riven," he whispered.
"You are me."
He opened his eyes—and they burned gold.
Kael stepped forward through the storm, each blade slicing his skin but never his will.
"I am the culmination of every mistake. Every failure. I don't rise despite my darkness—I rise because of it."
He gripped the false Riven by the throat and shattered him into thought-dust.
The mirrors all cracked.
Return to the Vault
Kael opened his eyes.
Back in the vault.
Malek stood still, but there was something reverent in his gaze now.
"Mind aligned. You have conquered your shadow."
Another sigil lit up within Kael's relic. Two bodies resonating.
The air around Kael had changed. Sharper. More precise.
He now understood himself.
Emberlight Stirring
Above, the Academy trembled.
Teachers whispered. Eyes turned toward the underground.
"A relic flare?"
"No… it's deeper."
"Call the Seers. Something is awakening."
Lirae, alone in the meditation hall, gasped.
Her third eye wept blood.
"Kael… you're slipping into something you can't return from."
Beyond Realms – The Watchers Stir
Far in the Outer Realms, where the stars are red and laws bend like wind, the Devourers stirred in slumber.
One opened an eye.
And in a voice like entropy, it spoke Kael's name.
"He walks the path again."