After three months of rigorous training, the Hollow Elders summoned Aelric.
He stood in a sacred circle surrounded by outcast warriors, flames flickering around stone runes.
> "You've lived, bled, and trained among us," said Elder Morrin, voice like gravel. "But if you wish to carry our name, you must earn it through combat."
> "The Bloodmark Trial," Vael muttered beside him. "No rules. No mercy. One victory earns your rite."
Aelric nodded. "Who's my opponent?"
The crowd parted.
And from the shadows stepped a monster of a man—Brakk the Unchained, a half-ogre warrior banished for massacring a noble patrol with his bare hands. He wore iron bands around his wrists, etched with names of those he'd killed.
> "You want our mark, prince?" Brakk growled. "Then survive me."
The duel began.
Brakk charged like a living battering ram.
Aelric dodged narrowly, using Chrono Severance to rewind and reposition before each massive swing. His blade cut through the air, but barely left a scratch on Brakk's thick, rune-etched hide.
Brakk grinned. "You fight like a dancer. I fight like death!"
He grabbed Aelric by the throat, slamming him into the ground.
Crack.
Pain erupted through Aelric's ribs.
He reached deep—not just into his magic or his blade, but into his past life. Into that calm space he once entered on a battlefield filled with chaos.
The Sword Saint awakened.
> Speed won't save me. Power won't break him. But timing…
Aelric reversed time three seconds—again, again, and again—mapping every motion, memorizing Brakk's pattern.
Then, in a blur—
He struck.
Once at the base of the ogre's knee.
Twice at the exposed armpit.
Third, directly into the neck—a thrust so precise, it slipped between armored scales and pierced the artery.
Brakk dropped like a mountain falling.
The Hollow fell silent.
Then: cheers.
Roars.
Aelric stood—bloodied, bruised, but alive.
> "Let it be known," Elder Morrin announced, "Aelric of the Hollow bears the Bloodmark. He is now warrior. Outcast. One of us."
Selene wrapped a cloth around his wound. Kara stood beside him. Vael and Orrin nodded in grim approval.
For the first time since his reincarnation—
Aelric didn't feel like a lost soul.
He felt whole.