Kaelen felt the air shift. The jungle had always been alive with whispers—rustling leaves, distant growls, and the occasional snap of a branch. But now, silence swallowed everything. No wind, no movement. Even the distant hum of insects had vanished, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
A shiver ran down his spine. He was not alone.
Then, from the shadows between the trees, it emerged. A figure, neither man nor beast. Its body was shrouded in flowing mist, shifting and curling like a living entity of its own. Faint traces of armor glinted beneath the ethereal shroud, and its face was a mask of ancient bone, carved with cryptic markings that seemed to pulse with an eerie glow.
"You stand where you should not." The voice was not heard, but felt—a presence pressing into Kaelen's mind. "Why have you come?"
Kaelen tightened his grip on his crude spear. "I did not choose this path. It was forced upon me."
A deep, resounding hum filled the air, neither approval nor dismissal. The spirit's mist swirled, and the jungle around them seemed to shift, the trees stretching taller, their roots twisting unnaturally.
"Then prove that you belong."
The mist surged forward. Kaelen barely had time to react before the world around him changed.
The First Test – The Warrior's Trial
A battlefield stretched before him. The jungle had vanished, replaced by a vast, open plain littered with fallen warriors, their weapons gleaming under a crimson sky. The air reeked of blood and ash.
Then they moved. Corpses that should have been still rose, their hollow eyes burning with unnatural light. Weapons clattered in skeletal hands as they turned toward him, their intent clear.
Kaelen's heart pounded. He had never faced such numbers before. But running was not an option.
The first one lunged. Kaelen sidestepped, thrusting his spear forward. The tip pierced through bone, but the warrior did not fall—it only grew faster. The others closed in.
A voice echoed through the battlefield, the same voice that had spoken to him before. "Strength alone will not carry you. A true warrior sees beyond the fight."
Kaelen gritted his teeth. What did that mean? He parried a strike, barely dodging another. They were endless. He could fight until his body gave out, and it would still not be enough.
Then he understood.
He threw down his spear. The warriors hesitated. Kaelen took a deep breath and stepped forward—unarmed.
The figures paused, then slowly lowered their weapons. One by one, they turned to mist, fading into the air.
The Second Test – The Mind's Trial
The battlefield melted away. Kaelen now stood before a colossal stone gate, carved with runes he could not understand. A deep pressure weighed on him, pushing into his thoughts.
"Tell me, child of Yusolo, who are you?"
Kaelen opened his mouth, but the words felt heavy. Who was he? A boy abandoned in the jungle? A cursed omen? A warrior fighting to survive?
The weight intensified. Images flooded his mind—his mother's face, the sneers of his family, the night he was cast into the wilderness. The spirit was not just asking him to answer—it was forcing him to confront everything he had been running from.
Kaelen clenched his fists. "I am Kaelen," he said, his voice steady. "I am not a curse. I am not weak. I will carve my own path."
The runes on the gate flared to life. The stone doors groaned open.
The Final Test – The Soul's Trial
Darkness awaited him beyond the gate. A void stretching endlessly in all directions.
Then, a figure stepped forward.
It was him.
A perfect mirror—same face, same body, but the eyes were different. Darker. Sharper.
His other self smirked. "You believe you are strong, but strength means nothing if you do not understand what you will become."
Kaelen's chest tightened. This was no physical fight, no riddle to solve. This was a battle against himself.
The other Kaelen moved first, striking without hesitation. Kaelen barely blocked in time, the impact sending a shock through his entire body. He was fast. Too fast. Every move Kaelen made was countered, every strike mirrored with greater force.
The spirit's voice echoed once more. "You cannot defeat yourself. You must accept what you are."
Kaelen panted, his muscles burning. He had always fought—to survive, to prove himself. But this battle was unwinnable.
Then he lowered his guard.
The other Kaelen hesitated. The smirk faded.
Kaelen stepped forward, his breath steady. "I accept you," he said. "You are my fear, my anger, my doubts. But you do not control me."
The other Kaelen stared at him. Then, slowly, he nodded. The darkness around them dissolved.
The Guardian's Verdict
Kaelen stood once more in the jungle, the spirit watching him.
"You have passed."
A gust of wind swept through the trees, and the mist around the spirit began to fade. The bone mask cracked, revealing glimpses of something ancient and weary beneath.
"You walk a path filled with shadows. But now, you are not blind to them."
The spirit raised a hand, and a faint glow surrounded Kaelen's chest—a mark, seared into his skin, though painless.
"This will guide you when the time comes."
The spirit's form dissolved into the wind, leaving only silence. The jungle, once lifeless, stirred again. Birds called in the distance. The leaves whispered.
Kaelen exhaled. He had faced the unknown. And he had survived.
But something told him this was only the beginning.