They fell into the black unknown and Kaelen scread like a girl. "Eyaaahhhhh.......!!"
And as Kaelen fell there was no rush of wind, no pull of gravity. Only the sickening lurch of reality itself unraveling around them, the sensation of tumbling through a space that defied physics, defied sense.
It was less like falling and more like being unmade, their very existence stretched thin across the void.
Kaelen twisted midair, fingers already forming the sigils for a float spell—but the magic died before it could ignite. His mana, usually a roaring river within him, was gone. As if the very concept of energy had been erased from this place.
"Why is this happening to !?"
At the sa ti Neal’s eyes blazed gold, his muscles tensing against the unnatural stillness. "Sothing’s wrong—!"
Then—
The world snapped back into place.
They landed.
Not on earth. Not on stone.
But on mories.
They found themselves in a dark place yet filled with fragnts of mories floating around the place. When they turned to look around they realised that they were alone and separated.
Then a voice echoed, far older and colder than the last.
"The trial of power reveals your strength. But strength ...ans little without self"
The ground beneath them was not solid, not real—it was a shifting mosaic of their pasts, their regrets, their deepest wounds given form.
For Kaelen, it was the scorched remains of a Maglor city, its walls blackened and splintered, still smoldering in a ring of fire, a fire that burned without heat, without sound.
The air slled of charred wood and sothing tallic. Blood! "Yo! Guys?! Where the hell are you?!". His voice echoed, but no one answered his calls. Irritated he screams "And what the fuck is this place?!"
For Neal, the shattered obsidian tiles of the Throdan estate, each one cracked under the weight of so unspeakable force. The remnants of a grand hall, now reduced to rubble, the imprints of monstrous feet still fresh in the stone. His fists clenched. He knew this place. He knew what had happened here.
For Alira, a battlefield under a sky choked with stars. Not the romantic kind, but the cold, distant kind, the kind that watched without pity.
The ground was littered with broken weapons, discarded armor. And there, in the center, two figures, frozen in their final monts. Her breath caught. She knew them. How could she not because in front of her was her parents who had died protecting her.
For Derek, a hall of swords. Not standing, not whole, broken. Each blade shattered, each hilt bearing a na. A graveyard of steel, of promises unmade. His fingers brushed against the nearest fragnt, and the tal humd beneath his touch, whispering a na he hadn’t heard in years.
Around them, the labyrinth took shape—a nightmare collage of frozen monts, suspended in ti. Walls ford from grief, corridors built from regret. A maze not of stone, but of truth.
And then, the voice returned.
It did not echo. It did not boom. It simply was, as if it had always been there, waiting in the silence.
"You have stepped into the Labyrinth of Truth."
The words settled into their bones like a verdict.
"Here, you will face trials that reflect your origin, your fears, your path... and your sins."
Everyone took a deep breath.
"If you survive, your class shall awaken a fragnts of its true purpose."
The words hung in the air, heavy as an executioner’s axe.
And then—
The labyrinth began to move.
Kaelen found himself standing alone on a floating platform of pristine white marble, its surface so polished it mirrored the infinite expanse of stars stretching endlessly above and below. The air was still, silent and as if the universe itself held its breath.
Then he saw it.
His reflection stared back at him from the glass-like floor—but with a wrong expression.
The face was his, the robes the sa, yet the eyes burned with sothing sharper, crueler. And the smile—too wide, too knowing, stretched across its face like a crack in a saint’s mask.
"Hello," it said, voice dripping with saccharine mockery.
Kaelen’s frown deepened. "Great. Of course it’s ." He crossed his arms. "What now? You’re gonna call arrogant?"
The reflection chuckled, rising from the marble floor as if peeling itself free from liquid glass. Its robes glead brighter than his, its aura purer, its divinity untouched by doubt.
"Oh no, no," it purred, stepping forward. "I just wanted to ask—who exactly do you think you’re helping, cleric?"
Kaelen’s jaw tightened. "Humanity."
"Really?"The reflection’s voice turned venomous, its radiant eyes narrowing. "You think patching up your friends makes you holy? That your healing and your divine class make you a savior?" It leaned in, its grin widening. "You have no idea what divinity is."
Kaelen exhaled sharply, summoning his mana threads and nonchalantly flicking his wrist. "Shut up."
The reflection’s grin turned feral.
Then—
It exploded in divine light.
A perfect copy of Kaelen materialized before him, sa robes, sa weapons, sa skills, but none of his restraint. None of his hesitation.
Followed by several skills he owned.
Active Skill: Continuously heals all allies by 10% of the user’s mana and strengthens their defense by 10%.
Duration: 20 seconds.
Active Skill: The target gains a shield immune to any one attack of gold rank and below and heals the target by 500 HP/sec (adjusting to the user’s current level: immune to any attack below yellow rank and heals 5 HP/sec).
Duration: 5 seconds.
Active Skill : Removes every negative status effect below epic rank and grants immunity to status effects for 10 minutes (adjusting to the user’s level: anything below yellow rank).
An epic rank light type domain skill.
Summons holy spears within a radius of 300 ters
A vapor of silvery light that explodes on contact.
A buff type holy skill making any skill deal holy damage.
Gains a holy shield which pulse holy damage every 5 seconds for 2 minutes.
Creates a holy phantom of the user’s attack or defence
Golden fire erupted from the doppelgänger’s body, the sheer force of its awakening cracking the marble beneath its feet. Holy radiance surged forward like a tidal wave, the heat blistering, the light blinding.
Kaelen barely had ti to widen his eyes.
"OH F— THAT’S CHEATING!" he scread as the inferno rushed toward him.
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