Chapter 6: "The Dark Reflection"
The sky above Azar grew darker as time passed, and the red clouds that fiercely watched over the earth seemed to devour the horizon. The tower he had destroyed was not just a place, but a test he had never expected. Now, after passing the test, he stood on the threshold of another world, a world filled with secrets yet to be uncovered.
What Azar didn't know, however, was that the gateway he had passed through was merely the beginning of a new journey.
Azar stood in an unfamiliar place, where the ground beneath his feet was made of transparent glass, through which he could see the heart of the universe pulsating with strange lights. A few steps ahead of him, there was a series of endless corridors stretching into the distant horizon. Each corridor seemed to reflect another version of this world, or perhaps an alternate world.
"Are we in another dimension?" Azar asked himself as he stared at the corridors. His footsteps echoed against the glassy ground, but there was no sound. The atmosphere was eerily quiet, as if time had stopped.
Then, the familiar voice, which had become a part of his mind, spoke.
"Azar... this time, you cannot rely solely on the shadows." The voice of the shadow was deep, yet it carried a warning.
Before Azar could respond, a distorted image of a dark city appeared before him, floating in space, on the verge of collapse. People wandered the dark streets, their faces strange, their eyes filled with mystery. The city held an unusual energy, as though it didn't belong to this universe.
Before Azar's eyes, a massive gateway appeared, spinning in a vortex of shadows, as if inviting him to pass through.
"If you cross, there is no turning back," the shadow said. "But if you are serious, you must face the challenge."
Azar, now beginning to understand that nothing comes easily in this world, decided to step through the gateway. The moment he passed through, it felt as if time and space had distorted, and he found himself in the midst of that dark city.
As soon as he set foot in the city, he felt something strange changing within him. The power he had relied on, the shadows, was slowly fading. It was as though a part of his essence was being lost.
"What's happening to me?" Azar wondered as he tried to regain his strength.
Then, as if the world was fading around him, a strange figure appeared before him: a person dressed in black armor, with eyes filled with wisdom. He stood still, watching Azar intently.
"You chose the harder path," the calm voice said as it approached Azar. "But you don't fully understand. This city is not what you think."
Azar stood in bewilderment. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"This city is a reflection of your mind," the mysterious figure said. "Every step you take, every decision you make, reflects a part of you. In this place, your power is not something fixed. It is a mirror of your mind."
Azar began to understand what the man meant. Everything around him was testing him in a different way. Every decision he made changed the reality of the city. The corridors he walked through transformed into dark paths, filled with riddles and strange creatures.
Then, suddenly, he realized the shocking truth. At a certain moment, the shadows completely disappeared around him. A feeling of weakness, as though a part of his being had been torn apart, overwhelmed him.
"You are not the only one here, Azar," the mysterious figure said. "You entered here not only to test your abilities, but to test your desire to survive. What if the shadows you relied on are the ones that trapped you? What if the source of your power is the very thing that weakens you?"
At that moment, Azar felt as though the ground had swallowed him. His voice, his strength, and everything around him were slowly fading. The strangest part was that the mysterious figure before him began to resemble a reflection of himself. He wondered, "Is that me?"
Before he could think further, a completely new image appeared before him: an image of himself, sitting in a dark hall, with a table full of black gemstones before him. He was picking up the gemstones as if he were betting everything, his hand trembling.
"The choice is what will separate you from the end. But remember, Azar... the power you think you have may be the very thing that will destroy you."
Azar realized that the game wasn't just a test of strength, but a test of the mind. The choice now lay before him: would he continue relying on the shadows and face collapse? Or would he replace them with something new, deeper, and more powerful?
But he didn't have all the answers yet. As the city changed around him, he felt something greater stirring within him. Could he surpass himself?
The ending was a shocking surprise: Azar finally chose a new path. But the moment he made his decision, the city exploded around him, as if it were a greater test he hadn't expected. The shadows that had been a part of him were now completely gone, and new eyes appeared, gazing at him.
At that moment, a resonance echoed in the space saying, "You've transcended your mind, but now you're in a world larger than ever before."
A surprise he never anticipated. And everything was preparing him for the days to come.