The Guide raised his hand.A sharp gesture.And space split open before them.
Not a door.Not a portal.A clean, vertical tear—as if the world itself were cleaved in two.
Beyond it, nothing but an icy void.A pale abyss of light.A passage to elsewhere.
Kael felt the vibration run through his bones.Not merely a tremor in the air—an inner jolt, as if his veins protested the rupture.He set his jaw.One step.Then another.
Thana, minute, still perched upon his shoulder.Her fragile glow mirrored in the rift—one solitary spark against the gulf.
They crossed together.
Absolute silence swallowed them.No breath.No heartbeat.Nothing.
Then—suddenly—gravity returned.Kael's foot met cold stone.Space sealed itself behind him with a dry snap.No more rift.
Before them, elevated, stood the Guide.Motionless.Luminous eyes fixed upon them, as if he had been waiting there forever.
He loomed above, poised on a stone dais.No stair.No access.As though he simply hovered just beyond their world.
Hands clasped behind his back, he watched them for a long moment.A heavy hush, nearly crushing.Then his voice fell like a sentence.
— "Good day, Conqueror.Welcome to Floor Four."
His diction was neither warm nor hostile.Simply… implacable.Each syllable landing like a verdict.
Kael held his gaze.He said nothing.His golden eyes glowed faintly, but his breath betrayed the strain.
The Guide lifted a hand.A sign.Not a suggestion—an order.
— "Before we begin, activate the reward obtained on the previous level."
Kael ground his teeth.One heartbeat.Then he obeyed.
His palm closed, releasing a wave both dark and gold.The window flared to life.
Thana, diminishing spark, watched in silence.Her halo trembled faintly, wavering between worry and curiosity.
What would the hidden objective be this time?Surely Avatar Rank E if logic held—and yet doubt lingered.
The air shifted.As though space itself recalibrated to a new anchor.Every breath felt heavier; every shadow, denser.
The Guide did not blink.— "Good. Now listen carefully."
He extended his hand.A pale fissure slit the air, then unfolded into a wide, translucent pane.Lines of light etched themselves with surgical precision.
⟡ [ Interface — Stage of Devouring Reflections ] ⟡
• Primary Objective: Find the access to the next floor through your reflection.• Secondary Objective: Succeed on the first attempt.• Hidden Objective: Attain Avatar Rank E.
Kael read each word with growing weight in his chest.The term reflection rang like a promise of illusions, of treacherous images.His mind flashed back to Floor Two.Lyana.Her smile.Her absence.
A bitter taste rose in his throat.
Thana, small upon his shoulder, knit her faint features.Her halo throbbed with an unease she did not try to hide.
But the Guide spoke before she could breathe a word.
— "The longer you delay, the less you will gain from the Mystic Infusion Bath.The relation is simple: inversely proportional.Every second lost reduces the reward.Every hesitation tears away a slice of your future."
His eyes burned like cold embers.
Kael felt his muscles tense despite himself.He didn't only have to win.He had to do it quickly.
Thana dropped her gaze, voice almost cut short:— "If you fail on the first try… the loss will be immense."
A silence.Then the Guide inclined his head, almost satisfied.
— "So then, Conqueror… let us see how long you withstand your own reflections."
A dry crack split the air.The walls changed texture before their eyes.Dark stone sheathed itself in a translucent skin—smooth, glacial.
Kael stepped forward.His breath caught.For in that polished surface, a figure answered him.
His own.But not exactly.
His reflection smiled while his face stayed grave.Another clenched its fists, ready to strike.A third—taller, with lengthened fangs—stared back with scarlet eyes.
All around him, dozens of images multiplied.Each one him.Each one false.
Were they truly false, deep down?
Thana tensed.Her tiny fingers curled; her features locked in worry.Her halo flickered like a coal on the verge of going out.
The reflections began to move on their own.Some stepped forward.Others raised a weapon.All seemed to wait for the signal that would send them swarming.
Kael inhaled slowly.Every fiber screamed alert.His golden eyes narrowed, hunting the flaw.
A dry, high screech rose.The walls vibrated like glass on the edge of shattering.The trap had sprung.
The screech climbed.Shriller.Unbearable.
The silhouettes moved all at once.Dozens of Kaels lunging at him, blades up, fangs bared, eyes full of hate.Their steps thundered through the hall, yet none touched the floor.An empty din—like the echo of a nightmare.
Kael clenched his fists.His golden eyes tightened to slits.He braced for impact.
But it never came.
A colossal crack ripped the air.Then another.And another.
Every glassy wall split at once.Vast fractures, as if the world itself burst beneath pressure.Then everything exploded.
Translucent shards fanned into rain, powdered to dust before they fell.A cold gust swept the room.No reflections.No sound.
Silence.
At the center of the void, the Guide snapped his fingers.A small, ridiculous sound against the collapse that had just ended.
— "Congratulations, Conqueror."
His voice rang through the empty hall.Implacable.As if nothing of note had occurred.
Kael stood frozen, chest tightening.Thana did not dare speak.
It was over… before it had begun.
He did not move.Breath locked in his throat.Fists clenched without knowing why.
All of it gone.The reflections.The warping.The threat coiled in the ice.
Only a bare room remained.Empty.As if nothing had ever existed.
Thana blinked.Her halo guttered, nearly died, then returned in a faint glow.She trembled.Not from fear.From shock.
— "That's… impossible," she whispered, voice cracked.
Kael lowered his eyes to her.He searched for words, found none.His mind itself refused to accept what he had just lived.
The trial, announced as formidable,swept aside without a single motion.
The Guide remained impassive.Perched on his dais, he watched them with chill satisfaction.
He repeated, like a verdict already given:
— "Congratulations, Conqueror. The trial is cleared."
Kael set his teeth.— "…How?"
Silence.At last, the Guide allowed a thin smile.
He raised a finger—a simple gesture, as if brushing away invisible dust.A translucent window opened before Kael.
⟡ [ Reward — Floor 2 ] ⟡Seal of the Authority of Lust: Immunity to mind control and illusions.
The words etched themselves slowly—cold, inexorable.
Kael did not move.His gaze clung to each syllable as though they refused to belong to him.
Thana lifted her tiny hands to her mouth.Her eyes flew wide.— "Then… all of this…"
The Guide dipped his head.
— "Correct. The stage was a field of illusions,an ice-trap waiting to devour any who lost themselves within."
He paused.His stare grew heavier, spearing Kael through and through.
— "But for you, Conqueror… the trap never existed.Your seal annihilated it before it could even trigger."
Kael's jaw knotted.His fingers still trembled, as if seeking an unseen foe to strike.A rough breath escaped him.
— "So… it was over from the start?"
The Guide smiled.A cold smile.
— "Yes. You had already won."
It was logical: no illusion, no ordeal.
Fresh text inscribed itself in the air, lucid as crystal.
⟡ [ Primary Objective validated ] ⟡⟡ [ Secondary Objective validated ] ⟡⟡ [ Hidden Objective in progress ] ⟡
Criterion: Success on the first attempt.Effect: Mystic Bath available at maximum duration.
Kael blinked, incredulous.He felt Thana's halo quiver faintly on his shoulder, as if even the light doubted.
— "At maximum duration…" she murmured, almost to herself.A rare privilege.A devouring gift.
The Guide lowered his hand.Before them, the floor split.A circle of runes flared, and a translucent basin slowly rose.Inside it, a liquid both dark and luminous heaved.Not water.Not fire.An unstable blend, saturated with Magia.
The heat it gave off made Kael shiver.A primal instinct screamed that to enter would not be a mere blessing… but an ordeal in itself.
Eyes fixed to the basin, Thana whispered:— "This is your crossing, Kael.Your Avatar… will be marked forever."
The Guide closed his eyes, as though all were already decided.
— "Enter. And see how far your body… and your soul… can endure."
Kael stepped toward the basin.The dark-luminous liquid stirred at once, as if it had been waiting for him.Curls of vapor rose—both burning and freezing.
His breath hitched.Every fiber thrummed with anticipation, fear, and hunger knotted together.
Behind him, Thana fell silent.Her halo flickered one last time, then steadied—as if she, too, were holding her breath.
The Guide slowly raised his arms, palms to the sky.Slightly elevated, he presided like a living statue.His voice swelled, ringing through the hush—keen and solemn at once:
— "Descend, Conqueror.And prove your Avatar can survive the Infusion.
And show humanity you will be the first to rise!"
Silence dropped.Nothing remained but the yawning basin, ready to engulf him.
Kael drew a deep breath.Then, without looking away, he took the decisive step.