Dawn broke over the temple courtyard, painting the black stone walls in shades of gold and purple that seemed to breathe with ancient magic. Frost still clung to the silver grass, and the air was so cold it made every breath visible as a small white cloud. Ashreign stood at the temple's main entrance, now thrown wide open after the first trial's completion, with Raven, Kara, and five of his most trusted guards forming a tight circle behind him.
"The rest of the group will stay here to guard our camp and tend to the supplies," Raven said, her gloved fingers checking and rechecking the straps on her shadow daggers one last time. Her wolf mask was tucked into her belt, revealing sharp features set in a look of fierce concern. "The temple's magic will only allow the heir to proceed through each trial. We tried sending scouts ahead, but the corridors simply won't open for anyone without Khain blood. But we'll be ready if anything goes wrong. If you're not back by sunset, we're coming in after you, no matter what the magic says."
Ashreign nodded, his small hand gripping the hilt of his newly upgraded Shadowlight Edge sword. The weapon hummed softly against his hip, its balanced magic already responding to his presence. To his companions, he appeared calm and confident, every inch the young lord trained for leadership, but only he could see the system's status screen still glowing faintly in his mind from the previous day's victory:
[TRIAL 1 COMPLETE: STRENGTH CONFIRMED]
[REWARD: KHAIN'S FANG UPGRADED TO S-RANK: SHADOWLIGHT EDGE]
He took a steadying breath and stepped into the temple, and the massive stone doors closed softly behind him with a sound like the settling of earth. The interior was vast beyond anything he had imagined. High vaulted ceilings disappeared into darkness, pillars carved with the faces of every Khain heir who had come before him, and walls covered in ancient carvings that seemed to shift and rearrange themselves as he passed, telling different parts of the story depending on where he looked.
At the center of the main hall stood a large stone table, polished smooth as glass and covered in scrolls made from thin sheets of silver, maps drawn in glowing ink that changed with every glance, and intricate puzzles made of crystal and cold iron. The air smelled of old paper, dried herbs, and something else, something sharp and metallic that made the back of his neck prickle.
The ancient voice echoed through the hall, loud enough for his companions outside the closed doors to hear:
"Heir of Khain. You have proven your strength in combat, facing a guardian forged from the very balance your bloodline represents. Now, prove your wisdom. The empire stands at a crossroads. Choose the path that will save it without sacrificing its soul. Choose wrong, and all you hold dear will crumble to dust."
[TRIAL 2: WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS]
[DESCRIPTION: Study the prophecies, histories, and strategic plans laid before you. Three paths are presented on the surface, but true wisdom lies in seeing what is hidden beneath. Choose the course that balances justice for the wronged, mercy for the misled, and survival for the innocent.]
[PREVIOUS PROGRESS CARRIED OVER: Bloodline fully awakened, Corruption Cleansing Crystal in possession, alliance with Shadow Tribes secured]
Ashreign climbed onto the stone chair beside the table, its height perfectly suited for someone his size, as if the temple had been waiting for him to arrive at this exact moment. He began to read through the silver scrolls, each one heavier than it looked, filled with elegant script that seemed to glow as he traced the words with his finger.
Path One:
Revolution - Overthrow the imperial court, expose the corruption to the people, and install a new government led by the noble houses you trust. The scroll promised swift justice but warned of decades of war as loyalists fought to restore the old order.
Path Two:
Patience - Work within the system, rising through the ranks until you hold enough power to quietly root out corruption from within. This path guaranteed stability but would condemn thousands more to suffer under the pact while you waited.
Path Three:
Exile - Take your allies and the Shadow Tribes to the northern territories, build a new nation free from the old empire's sins, and let the corrupt system collapse on its own. Peace for your people, but at the cost of abandoning millions to their fate.
But as he channeled his Shadow Insight ability into the pages, his newly enhanced skill from uncovering his grandfather's secrets, hidden text began to burn into view, visible only to his eyes:
The corruption was not an accident. It was created by the first emperor, Valerius the First, who made a pact with beings from the Void to secure his power and unite the warring tribes of the continent. Every ruler since has maintained the pact, believing it is the only way to keep the empire stable, even the current emperor, who weeps in private for the lives lost to maintain it.
The hero who was meant to oppose you is Mai Lumina, heir to the Lumina light magic bloodline. She was to be raised on lies about your family, trained as a weapon to eliminate anyone who threatened the pact's survival.
Ashreign's brow furrowed. This matched everything he had known from Elyndor's Fall. But as he turned to the final scroll, the one detailing the hero's prophecy, his heart skipped a beat. Where Mai's name should have been, a different name was etched in glowing blue ink...
"PRINCE CAIUS VALERIUS"
"No," Ashreign whispered to himself, his hand trembling slightly on the scroll. "It should be Mai. It has to be Mai."
He had spent the last five years preparing to face her, studying every tactic from the game, planning how he would show her the truth, how he would convince her they were fighting the same enemy. But here, in the temple's ancient records, her name was nowhere to be found.
Then it hit him. The butterfly effect.
Every small action he had taken since waking up in this world had sent ripples through time. When he had exposed the forged evidence against his family, he had also saved a merchant caravan that would have otherwise been destroyed by bandits, bandits who were supposed to kill the messenger carrying lies about the Khains to the Lumina estate. When that messenger had arrived late, Mai's mother, who had always been suspicious of the imperial court, had already learned the truth from a Shadow Tribe healer Ashreign had helped weeks earlier.
She had chosen not to raise her daughter as a weapon. She had chosen to teach Mai the real history of the empire instead.
"So fate had to adjust," Ashreign realized, his mind racing as he connected the dots. "If Mai isn't the hero anymore, someone else has to take her place. And who better than the emperor's own son, heir to the throne, trained in secret by the pact's guardians, and completely devoted to preserving their power?"
For hours, he sat in silence, weighing each surface option while secretly weaving together a fourth path that accounted for this new reality. Using small stones from a bowl on the table, each carved with symbols for his allies, enemies, and the people caught in between, he arranged a strategy that would expose corrupt individuals first, build support among common people and lower nobility, and prepare for the threat of Prince Caius while also reaching out to Mai as a potential ally.
When he finally placed his palm flat on the center of the table, where the wolf and moon symbol was carved into the stone, the entire hall filled with warm silver light. The scrolls rearranged themselves into a new document, bound in dark leather and sealed with his family's crest. To anyone who read it, it would show only his carefully crafted surface plan for reform from within. But to Ashreign's eyes, hidden symbols danced across every page, mapping out his true strategy in code only he could decipher, including a section marked with Mai's name and the Lumina crest, labeled POTENTIAL ALLY.
From the center of the table, a small crystal no bigger than his thumb floated up and settled gently in his palm. It pulsed with soft light, and the moment his skin touched it, he felt a surge of clarity wash over him, every question he had about strategy, every doubt about his choices, simply melted away.
[URGENT SIDE QUEST COMPLETED: THE WEIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE]
[REWARD: MENTAL FORTITUDE]
[DESCRIPTION: Willpower permanently increased by 50 (now 240 total). Immune to mind magic, compulsion, and truth seeking spells.]
[TRIAL 2 COMPLETE: WISDOM CONFIRMED]
[REWARD: B-RANK ANCIENT WISDOM CRYSTAL (EVOLVABLE TO S-RANK)]
[DESCRIPTION: Grants +20 INTELLIGENCE (now 185 total). Allows glimpses of potential futures and reveals true intentions of others.]
[ADDITIONAL REWARD: +25 INTELLIGENCE, +15 CHARISMA (now 145 total)]
The ancient voice spoke again, now with a clear note of approval that made the stones around him seem to hum with warmth:
"Wisdom is seeing how one small act of mercy can rewrite the entire future. You have saved the intended hero from a life of deception, but fate demands balance, and a new champion of the old order has risen in her place. The final trial awaits in the inner sanctum, at the very heart of the temple. There, you will face what this new fate means for you, your family, and all of Elyndor."
As the voice faded, a hidden doorway appeared in the back of the hall, carved into the stone so seamlessly that Ashreign had not noticed it was there. It swung open to reveal a long corridor lined with torches that burned with purple flame, leading deeper into the mountain where the temple was built.
As Ashreign picked up the Ancient Wisdom Crystal, it pulsed brighter than ever, and within its clear depths he saw two quick visions:
First Vision: Six years from now, the Elyndorian Imperial Academy. A silver-haired girl with bright blue eyes stands before him, holding a scroll case instead of a sword. She extends her hand with a warm smile, and around her neck glints a pendant bearing both the Lumina sun and Khain moon.
Second Vision: The same academy hall, bathed in cold blue light. A young man in gleaming white armor stands where Mai had been, his face set in hard lines as he raises a sword of pure Void-touched steel. The crystal whispers his name again "Prince Caius Valerius."
"So this is what I've done," Ashreign thought, his grip tightening on the crystal as he stared down the dark corridor. "Every choice I have made to change my own fate has shifted everyone else's too. I saved Mai from being my enemy, but in doing so, I have given the empire a hero who will stop at nothing to protect the corruption we are fighting to destroy."
The corridor ahead stretched into darkness, and as he took his first step forward, the system screen flashed one final message:
[MAIN QUEST UPDATED: THE VOID SEALED TEMPLE]
[OBJECTIVE 4 UPDATED: Reach the temple and open the seal.
NOW INCLUDES: Prepare for the new hero's arrival]
[PROGRESS: IN PROGRESS]
[SYSTEM COMMENT: "Butterflies can move mountains when the wind is right. Just remember, you are not the only one who can change the rules."]
The final trial waited. And Ashreign knew that nothing, not even the prophecies he had once thought set in stone, could be taken for granted anymore.