---
The second door pulsed like a heartbeat—calm, rhythmic, steady.
Kael approached with slower steps now, his limbs sore from the Trial of Flesh, his body aching but harder, denser. He no longer moved like a trainee.
He moved like someone forged.
And the cave recognized it.
As he passed through the threshold, the firelight behind him dimmed. No more pulsing veins of gold, no more suffocating heat. The path now turned colder, darker. And quiet—so quiet that even his heartbeat echoed through the stone like war drums in a tomb.
> [Trial Phase II: Trial of Will – Initiated]
Objective: Endure the illusions of weakness. Reject falsehood. Remember your path.
Restrictions: System UI disabled. Mental defense unassisted.
Warning: Illusions will target your core self. Surrendering to illusion results in permanent failure.
Estimated Trial Duration: Unknown.
The moment Kael took his first step forward, the cave changed.
---
The First Illusion
It started with a whisper.
"Kael…"
He froze.
The air around him grew thick, the walls warping subtly, bending inward like the ribcage of some unseen beast.
"Kael…"
He turned—and saw her.
Not Sylara.
Not Elira.
But his mother—from the life before this one. The life on Earth. She stood as he remembered, tired eyes, long hair tied loosely, a kitchen towel in her hands. Familiar. Safe. Human.
She smiled.
"You didn't have to go."
Kael's fists clenched.
"This isn't real," he muttered.
"But it feels real, doesn't it?" she said softly, stepping closer. "Just go back, Karan. To your books, to your old room. Why fight monsters when you never even fought your own grief?"
Kael said nothing.
"You're not a hero. You're just a boy who ran away. From school. From people. From loss."
She reached out, touched his cheek.
He let her.
Then he said, quietly, "You're not her. You're just her voice stitched onto my guilt."
He closed his eyes—and walked through her.
The image shattered like glass.
---
The Second Illusion
The tunnel expanded suddenly—into a great courtyard under a crimson sky.
The flags of Ashen Valor Academy fluttered.
He saw Riven standing tall, surrounded by the main cast—Elira, Rael, Darin—and even Sylara, standing at his side, her white hair glowing beneath the blood-red sun.
They were all laughing. Confident. Radiant.
Riven turned. "You shouldn't have come here."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "I never left."
"You were never part of this story," Darin sneered. "You forced your way into our world. Now it's cracking."
Elira looked at Kael—eyes full of pity.
"Even the stars didn't choose you," she whispered.
Then Sylara stepped forward.
She didn't speak.
She just walked past him, back toward the group.
That stung.
Because it almost felt real.
But Kael took a breath—and remembered.
This wasn't a story anymore. This wasn't a novel he could close.
This was his life now.
"No more fate," he growled. "No more roles."
He raised his hand, and the image of the courtyard burned away, consumed by a golden flame from within his palm he didn't even realize he summoned.
---
The Final Illusion
He stood now on a field of war.
Charred earth. Thousands of corpses. Black spears sticking from the soil like thorns from a cursed rose.
A lone figure stood ahead, silhouetted by a crimson eclipse.
Clad in gold armor, a red cape fluttering.
His face was Kael's—but not Kael.
It was Karna.
Not the historical one. Not the Mahabharata's version. But the Karna from the novel Kael had once read—and worshipped. The one who'd stood alone against the gods. Betrayed. Honorable. Tragic.
The figure turned, and golden eyes bore into Kael like spears.
"Why do you want my legacy?" he asked.
Kael stepped closer, voice steady. "Because I remember what you were denied."
"And you think you can carry it better?"
Kael hesitated.
"No," he said. "But I'll carry it further."
Karna unsheathed a weapon. Not a spear. Not a bow.
Both.
It shimmered between forms—just for a heartbeat. A divine armament of twin purpose, flickering between Vijay Dhanush and Vasavi Shakti.
"Then prove it," Karna said—and charged.
---
The Duel of Wills
The illusion became solid.
The ground shook.
Karna moved like light itself—fluid, devastating. His spear strikes came like thunderclaps, his arrows like sunbursts.
Kael could barely dodge.
He ducked under a slash, rolled to the side, and parried with the butt of his wooden spear—his only weapon, now splintered at the edge.
"You fight with broken tools," Karna said.
Kael coughed, blood on his lips. "That's how you fought too. Until the end."
Karna paused.
Then smiled—just slightly.
"You remember me well."
Another flurry of blows came, faster now. Kael blocked with instinct, no System aid, no overlays.
His arms shook. His back burned. But something inside him refused to give.
Because this wasn't about winning.
It was about enduring.
"You don't have to be perfect," Kael said, panting. "You just have to never stop walking forward."
The illusion trembled.
Karna stepped back. The eclipse faded.
And he lowered the weapon.
"You will fall," Karna said.
"Then I'll get back up."
"You will be hated."
"I'll keep walking."
"You will suffer."
Kael met his eyes. "Then I'll grow stronger."
Silence.
Then—a bow.
Not of mockery.
Of acknowledgment.
"You may take my burden, Kael Varian. But know this: the world will never bow to you. You must make it kneel."
And with that—he vanished.
---
Trial Complete
The battlefield faded into starlight.
A voice, quiet and deep, echoed in Kael's ears—not Karna's.
Something older.
Something divine.
> [Trial of Will: CLEARED]
Mental Resistance: +1 Rank
Trait Gained: "Unyielding Spirit"
Effect: Your mind cannot be broken by falsehood, illusion, or despair. Willpower-based resistance increased significantly.
Access Granted: Final Trial – Path of Unity
Kael collapsed to his knees.
Tears fell silently—not of weakness, but of release.
He had faced himself.
Faced memory.
Faced the legacy he once idolized.
And still chose to move forward.
---