The world faded once again.
Kael didn't fall this time—he floated in a formless void, surrounded by silence, weightlessness, and the strange feeling of being watched.
Then, a voice spoke—not from outside, but from deep within him.
"Your final trial begins now."
A faint light shimmered ahead. Kael drifted toward it, but the more he moved, the farther it seemed.
"Trial of the Soul… What does that even mean?" he muttered, his breath echoing unnaturally.
Suddenly, the light exploded into a whirlwind of images—fragments of his life flashing before his eyes.
He saw Aira, smiling gently as she placed coffee beside his desk.
He saw his colleagues, mocking him behind fake smiles.
He saw the bullet piercing his chest.
And then—something new.
He saw himself, kneeling on the ground of a burning city, surrounded by corpses. His hands were drenched in blood. His eyes… were void of hope.
"What… is this?" Kael whispered, frozen.
The voice returned.
"Your soul carries guilt, pain, and a question: If you gain the power to rewrite fate, will you still be the same man?"
A door materialized in the void—an ornate arch made of fractured memories and glowing symbols. A lock held it shut.
"Enter," the voice commanded. "And face what you buried."
Kael stepped forward. The lock clicked open—not from a key, but from his heartbeat.
As he crossed the threshold, he was no longer in the void.
He was back in his old laboratory.
The Earth's sky outside was cloudy, and thunder rolled in the distance. Everything looked… exactly as it had that day. The day before his death.
Kael looked down at his hands.
They were smaller—younger. He was in his old body.
"This is a memory," he realized. "But why do I feel it like it's real?"
Footsteps echoed. The lab door creaked open.
And standing there…
Was Kael himself.
Older. Colder. With silver streaks in his hair and dark, tired eyes.
"You're not real," Kael said.
"Neither are you," the other Kael replied. "Not in this place."
The two versions of him stood in silence.
"You think saving her will cleanse your soul?" the older Kael asked.
"I don't want to cleanse anything," Kael answered. "I just want… to keep my promise."
"Even if you lose yourself in the process?"
A mirror appeared between them.
Kael looked in.
His reflection shifted—his current self flickered into the man in the burning city. Bloodied. Ruthless.
"If you keep walking this path," the older Kael said, "you may have to kill. Sacrifice. Become worse than the men you hate. Will you still move forward?"
Kael's fists clenched.
His heart pounded.
He stepped toward the mirror—eyes steady.
"If I become a monster to protect the ones I love… I'll take that burden. But I'll never become like them. That's my line."
The reflection changed again.
Now it showed Kael holding Aira's hand… smiling.
The older Kael nodded.
"Then you've passed."
The lab shattered like glass—light burst from all directions.
Kael felt his body lifting—he was no longer in the memory. No longer trapped.
And when he opened his eyes…
He stood once more before the goddess's statue in the center of the Tower.
And the final message rang in the air:
"Trial of the Soul: Passed."
Kael stood in the heart of the ancient chamber, his body still trembling from the emotional storm he had just endured.
The statue of the goddess towered above him, its arms gently outstretched as if welcoming him. The faint blue glow around its base began to pulse rhythmically—like a heartbeat syncing with his own.
"So… this is what it means to face yourself," he muttered, gazing at his palms. They felt no different. Yet something deep inside had shifted.
From the base of the statue, a circle of runes lit up, rotating slowly.
Then, a soft voice echoed in the chamber—one he instantly recognized.
"Kael. You have faced the darkness within. Now receive what is rightfully yours."
It was the voice of the goddess.
From the statue's hands, a sphere of light emerged and hovered before Kael. As he reached out, it dissolved into streams of knowledge that flowed into his mind—not just words or symbols, but understanding.
Blueprints.
Formulas.
Designs unlike anything he had ever conceived.
A single term burned into his thoughts:
"Astral Gate Core – Stage I Design Unlocked."
Kael staggered back, eyes wide.
"This is it… The base design for the dimensional device. The first step back to Earth…"
But along with the knowledge came something unexpected—a memory from the goddess herself.
---
A vast celestial library.
Scrolls made of stardust.
And the goddess herself, kneeling before an ancient law—her hands bound by radiant chains.
"Even I am not free," her voice whispered in Kael's mind.
"What I gave you, I gave at a cost. I've bent the rules of fate, but the more I do… the closer they come to noticing."
Kael saw the faint image of shadowy beings—faceless watchers in the stars.
"Who are they…?"
But the vision faded before he could ask.
---
Back in the chamber, Kael dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
Footsteps echoed from the corridor behind him.
Lyra rushed into the chamber, panting. "Kael! You're alive!" she cried, her eyes scanning the room in awe.
Behind her, Orin stumbled in, face pale. "I thought you were vaporized or… ascending to a god or something!"
Kael chuckled, exhausted but relieved. "Not a god. Just… a man with a blueprint."
He held up the glowing crystal now floating above his palm—a physical manifestation of the Astral Gate Core design.
Lyra narrowed her eyes. "So… is it done?"
Kael looked at the glowing runes around the statue one last time.
"No. This is just the beginning."
The trio exited the chamber, the heavy stone door rumbling shut behind them as if sealing the memory of the trial within. The corridors of the dungeon were quieter now—eerily so.
Kael's fingers wrapped tightly around the floating crystal—the Astral Gate Core design now encoded within it. He could still feel the soft humming, as if the object was alive, responding to his very heartbeat.
"That thing," Orin said, glancing at the orb with wide eyes, "It's... magic, right? Or is it tech? Or both? Because I swear it's glowing in a way that makes my brain itchy."
Kael gave a half-smile. "It's knowledge. Compressed. Layered with divine structure and physical logic. A code of two worlds." He looked at Orin. "Try not to lick it."
"I wasn't gonna!" Orin lied, clearly tempted.
Lyra fell silent as they walked. Her gaze kept shifting toward Kael—not at the crystal, but at him.
"Something happened in there," she said finally. "You've changed. You look… colder. Sharper."
Kael paused at the archway that marked the end of the dungeon.
"I saw what I could become," he said, voice quiet. "And what I could lose if I cross the line."
Lyra's eyes softened.
"But you haven't."
"Not yet."
They stepped out into the open world again. The sky above the forest had turned orange, the sun hanging low, casting golden rays through the trees.
Kael turned to them.
"This blueprint is the first step. But I can't build it without rare materials—some not even from this continent."
Orin blinked. "So… what now?"
Kael's expression hardened.
"Now, we prepare for war."
---
Elsewhere...
Deep beneath an obsidian fortress in another part of the world, a dark figure sat in a circle of candles, surrounded by dozens of metallic mirrors floating in mid-air.
Each mirror showed a different face. Some wore robes, others armor, some wore masks—but all of them were watching.
A hooded woman entered, bowing low. "My lord. It has happened."
The man turned. His face remained in shadow, but a wicked grin crept across his lips.
"So… the boy passed the Trial of the Soul."
He stood.
"He's one step closer to building a bridge between worlds."
The mirrors shimmered as murmurs erupted.
"Shall we intervene?" asked one voice.
"Not yet," he replied. "Let him build it."
"Why?" the woman asked.
He turned toward her, the grin never fading.
"Because we'll be waiting on the other side."
That night, the group set up camp just outside the dungeon's stone ruins. The stars glittered like fragments of broken glass across the sky, the moon casting pale light on their faces.
Kael sat cross-legged, his notebook open and the floating Astral Core Crystal beside him, glowing softly. His quill moved furiously as equations, schematics, and energy patterns flowed from his mind to paper.
Lyra sat across from him, sharpening her sword, occasionally stealing glances.
"You're different now," she said suddenly.
Kael didn't look up. "You said that earlier."
"And I mean it. Before… you were focused. Now, you're consumed."
Kael paused, then finally met her eyes.
"Because now I know it's possible."
"To go back?"
"To save her."
A silence fell between them. Lyra looked down at her blade. "You love her a lot, don't you?"
Kael's voice was quiet but steady. "She was the only person who believed in me when the world thought I was insane. She smiled at my worst, supported me when I had nothing. And in the end…" His grip on the quill tightened. "She died because of me."
Lyra's hand lowered the blade. "Then we'll help you save her."
Kael looked up. "Even if it means facing a world you've never seen?"
She smiled. "You came to ours, didn't you?"
---
Meanwhile, Orin had wandered into the nearby trees, supposedly "scouting." In truth, he was nervously muttering to himself.
"Note to self: don't touch glowing crystals. Don't anger magical dungeon statues. Don't ask Kael what a hyper-dimensional gate stabilizer is…"
He froze as a noise came from the bushes—a soft whisper of movement, followed by a flicker of light.
"Kael?" he whispered, clutching his dagger.
But it wasn't Kael.
From the trees emerged a cloaked figure. A woman—tall, with sharp silver eyes and markings that glowed faintly on her exposed arms.
"You were part of the team that claimed the Trial Crystal," she said, voice like a blade.
Orin swallowed. "Uhh... maybe?"
She stepped forward.
"Tell your leader… the Celestial Court knows. And they are watching."
Before Orin could respond, the woman vanished in a blink, leaving only scorched leaves behind.
---
Back at the camp, Orin burst out of the trees, panting.
"Kael! Lyra! Guys! We've got a new problem!"
Kael stood up instantly, eyes narrowing. "What happened?"
Orin pointed at the sky. "You said we're heading for war, right?"
"Yes…"
"Well," Orin said, gulping. "I think war just found us first."
To be continue...