The gate behind Kael sealed shut with a soundless pulse of energy, cutting off the final whispers of the Veil. He stood alone at the threshold of the next trial, facing a vast corridor made of crystalline mirrors that stretched far into the distance. Each pane shimmered faintly, reflecting not just his image, but flickers of past choices, old memories, and possible futures.
This was no ordinary path.
The air here pulsed with latent will. Kael could feel it brushing against his skin—cool and sharp, like wind off a blade. His instincts screamed caution, but his steps were steady. He'd endured pain, fought against the impossible, and emerged from despair unbroken.
The Trial of Refraction awaited.
He moved forward slowly, scanning the mirrored walls around him. His reflection moved in kind, but something was off.
In one pane, his reflection bled from wounds he didn't have.
In another, he stood crowned in dark fire, surrounded by fallen allies.
In a third, he was smiling—but his eyes were cold, hollow.
Kael narrowed his gaze. These weren't just mirrors.
They were fragments—splinters of timelines, choices he could have made, versions of himself that might have existed. The Ascension Code was testing not his strength this time—but his identity.
A sudden gust swept through the corridor.
Every mirror shimmered—then pulsed—then shattered into a thousand slivers.
From the fractured reflections emerged shadowy figures. Dozens. Maybe hundreds.
Each one bore his face.
But each was different.
Some were twisted by power, their eyes glowing with cruel ambition. Others were gaunt, broken by failure. One bore the scars of betrayal. Another walked with the blood of innocents staining his hands.
Kael took a step back, his mind racing.
"What… is this?"
A voice echoed from all around him.
"These are your echoes. The Kaels that could have been. To ascend, you must face what you might become."
The first version lunged.
Kael barely raised his arm in time, deflecting the blow with a flash of Voidlight. Another came from the side, swinging a blade made of obsidian flame. He ducked, rolled, and blasted one doppelgänger back into a mirror shard, watching it dissolve with a screech.
They didn't fight like copies.
They fought like truths.
Every move was familiar—because it was his own. But tainted. Corrupted by what-ifs, by weakness or obsession or loss.
He fought through them in a storm of motion, his body moving with instinct and precision. His Voidfire cracked through armor. His fists shattered illusions. His mind sharpened with every strike.
But for each one he defeated, more emerged.
Sweat dripped down his brow. His breathing grew ragged. His movements slowed.
Until a blow caught him square in the ribs, lifting him off the ground.
He crashed into a pillar of glass and collapsed, coughing, pain blooming in his chest.
Above him stood a version of himself unlike the rest.
This one bore the Crown of Ash.
His aura was monstrous—swirling with a terrifying calm. Power radiated from his skin, but so did madness.
The Ashen Kael extended a hand. "You see it now, don't you?" he said, voice low, persuasive. "This is what you become if you keep going. This is what you have to become to win."
Kael forced himself up. "No."
Ashen Kael's smile widened. "You don't want to kill. But you will. You don't want to lose anyone. But you will. And every step you take, you'll become more like me."
Kael clenched his fists. His body screamed in protest, but his soul surged in defiance.
"I'm not afraid of what I might become. Because I know what I won't."
He charged.
Their clash was violent, chaotic—a collision of light and shadow, of mercy and ruthlessness. For every devastating blow Ashen Kael delivered, Kael met it with resilience, forcing himself to adapt, to outthink, to outlast.
Power surged through his veins—not rage, not despair, but clarity.
With a cry that echoed through the corridor, Kael unleashed his true flame—a wave of silvery Voidlight that washed over the chamber, burning away the lies, the illusions, the echoes.
One by one, the false Kaels dissolved into particles of dust, their eyes wide with awe.
Even the Ashen Kael, before fading, gave a small nod.
"You passed…"
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kael stood in the center of the now-empty hall, his knees buckling.
He dropped to the ground, breathing hard, drenched in sweat.
But he was alive.
He had faced himself—his fears, his temptations, his darkest possibilities—and refused to let them define him.
In the far end of the chamber, a light appeared.
Warm. Inviting.
Kael rose slowly, walking toward it with steady steps.
The trial was over.
But his journey was far from done.
As he passed through the final gateway, a soft breeze met him—a breeze that carried the scent of something new: dawn.
Kael stepped into the next space, and his system chimed softly in his mind. But unlike the loud declarations of level-ups or skill upgrades, this was quiet. Subtle.
[Trial of Refraction — Complete]
[You have resisted the fractured paths of fate.]
[Your sense of self has stabilized.]
[New Trait Acquired: Soulbound Clarity — Your mind cannot be fractured by illusion or mental manipulation. Your willpower resists outside influence even against god-tier entities.]
Kael smiled faintly.
That… was worth it.
He lifted his gaze, squaring his shoulders.
The next trial awaited.
And he was ready.