The night half of the sky pressed heavier than before, its darkness swallowing the distant stars one by one. The "mountain" beneath Kaelen's feet felt colder, and the sensation of being watched refused to fade.
Kaelen sat near a small fire he'd made from dry branches. The flames cast flickering shadows on the jagged stone, but even the fire seemed reluctant to grow in this place.
He opened the Sovereign Shop again, scrolling through its categories. Most of the items were far beyond his current means:
[Silver-Tier Cultivation Manual – 500 Points]
[Low-Grade Spirit Armor – 320 Points]
[Beast-Taming Token – 100 Points]
For now, he only had 17 Sovereign Points left. Not enough for anything truly powerful.
A faint thud came from behind him.
Kaelen turned, hand on his dagger. A figure stood just beyond the reach of the firelight — tall, thin, draped in robes of shadow. No face, no features, just a silhouette.
"You're not part of the Trial," Kaelen said cautiously.
The figure tilted its head. Its voice was like stone grinding on stone.
> "Candidate… unregistered anomaly detected."
Before Kaelen could respond, the System's interface glitched. Words flickered in and out:
> [Error… Entity Override in Progress…]
The figure stepped closer, and Kaelen's instincts screamed. Without thinking, he threw the dagger — but it passed through the figure as if it were mist.
> "You should not be here, Candidate," it whispered. "This mountain does not belong to the Sovereign."
And then, without warning, it vanished.
Kaelen's fire guttered out. The darkness pressed in, heavier than before, and a new notification appeared:
> [Hidden Event Triggered!]
"The Mountain Watches"
Objective: Unknown
Time Limit: Unknown
The air shifted, and the ground beneath him trembled. From the black forest below, dozens of eyes opened — red, gold, and silver — each belonging to something massive.
The System's voice returned, strained and hurried:
> "Candidate Kaelen, anomaly detected. Adjusting Trial parameters. Survival priority increased."
Kaelen didn't need the warning. Whatever was moving in that forest was far beyond his current strength. He grabbed his pouch and began climbing higher up the mountain.
Each step felt heavier, as though the mountain itself resisted him. Rocks slid away under his feet, and strange whispers curled in his ears — promises of power, threats of ruin.
Halfway up the slope, a deep roar shattered the air.
The treeline erupted as a creature the size of a fortress emerged. Its body was stone and root fused together, its eyes glowing molten gold.
Kaelen froze. The System spoke again:
> [New Objective: Evade the Mountain Guardian]
Reward: +50 Sovereign Points
The guardian's gaze swept the slope — and locked on him.
Kaelen turned and ran. The slope was treacherous, every foothold threatening to collapse. Behind him, each step of the guardian shook the world. Pebbles and boulders tumbled past him, some large enough to crush him flat.
As he leapt across a gap in the rocks, Kaelen spotted a narrow crevice. He dove inside just as a massive hand of stone slammed down where he had been.
Dust choked the air, but the crevice held. The guardian's steps faded after a moment, though the ground still thrummed with its presence.
Kaelen stayed still, counting his breaths. Then he noticed something carved into the wall beside him: ancient runes, glowing faintly blue.
When he touched them, information flooded his mind — not from the System, but from somewhere older.
The heart of the mountain holds the first key.
Before he could process it, a System notification appeared:
> [Hidden Quest Unlocked: Key of the First Gate]
Clues Found: 1/5
Kaelen leaned back against the stone, breathing hard. The guardian was still out there, and now he had two trials to survive — the System's, and the mountain's own.
And for the first time, he wondered…
Was the Sovereign System truly in control here?
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