The sun never touched Kaldrath's Hollow.
Kairo stood at the forest's edge, watching gray mist curl around the twisted trunks like smoke from an unseen fire. Behind him, Zevrin stirred restlessly beside the dying embers of their campfire, still regaining his strength.
But Kairo felt nothing.
Not relief that his friend was alive. Not guilt for what he'd given up.
Just… emptiness.
> "I'm going ahead," Kairo muttered without looking back.
> "You don't have to act like this," Zevrin called out. "You saved me. Just talk to me, dammit!"
Kairo didn't reply. The price had already been paid. There was nothing left to say.
---
The deeper he walked into the Hollow, the quieter the world became.
No birds. No wind. Only the crunch of his boots against blackened leaves.
Then a voice spoke—one not from the mist, but from within the system itself.
> [Trial Unlocked: The Hollow Soul]
[Origin: God of Balance – Thalor]
[Objective: Pass the three trials to awaken the third fragment.]
[Warning: Trial adapts to soul alignment. Current alignment: Broken.]
> "Broken…" Kairo echoed.
The first trial gate appeared like a ribcage of stone, jutting from the ground in a perfect circle. At its center hovered a black crystal, pulsing faintly.
He stepped forward.
> [First Trial: Reflection.]
[Face the self you buried.]
The world blinked—and changed.
---
Suddenly, Kairo stood inside a ruined city, one he recognized from memory: Arkveil, the place where his childhood ended.
Screams echoed from alleyways. Fires roared. Monsters tore through civilians while guards abandoned their posts.
And there—standing on the crumbled bridge—was a boy.
A boy with wide, frightened eyes.
Himself, barely ten years old, clutching a broken sword, blood on his hands.
> "Why didn't you save them?" the child Kairo asked. "Why did you run?"
Kairo's fists clenched.
> "There was nothing I could've done. I was just a kid."
> "That's what you always say. But you didn't even try."
The scene twisted.
Now he saw Zevrin, lying on the altar.
Velyria standing over him.
And himself… choosing.
> "You gave her your soul," the child whispered. "You didn't even hesitate."
> "He was going to die."
> "So what? What happens when someone else is dying? What more will you give up? What won't you give up?"
Kairo stepped toward his younger self.
> "I gave what was needed. That's all."
The boy stared into his eyes, then pointed at his chest.
> "Then why does it feel like there's nothing left in there?"
The memory faded into black.
And the system spoke.
> [First Trial Complete.]
[Reflection Passed.]
[Progress: 1/3]
Kairo fell to his knees, breathing hard—not from exhaustion, but from the weight of what he'd faced.
---
The second trial came quickly.
> [Second Trial: Judgment.]
[Face those you've failed.]
This time, it wasn't the past that haunted him—but the might-have-beens.
A village burned because he didn't arrive in time.
A girl crushed beneath rubble when he chose to protect someone else.
A mother begging for her son's life, and him turning away because it wasn't part of the mission.
They stood around him now—echoes of the forgotten.
Accusing. Condemning. Crying.
He didn't speak.
Didn't argue.
He simply took it all in.
And still, felt nothing.
When the final image—his own mother's face—vanished into smoke, the voice returned.
> [Second Trial Complete.]
[Judgment Passed.]
[Progress: 2/3]
---
He moved forward.
The third gate loomed tall, inscribed with glowing runes of an ancient language that pulsed like veins.
> [Final Trial: Choice.]
[Offer what remains of your soul… or walk away forever.]
At the center of the gate stood a new figure—one he hadn't seen before.
A man, armored in obsidian black, with a golden crown floating an inch above his head.
Eyes like dying stars.
> "You have come far, fragment bearer," the man said.
> "Who are you?"
> "I am the echo of Thalor. And you… are incomplete."
The crowned figure stepped forward.
> "You seek power. You seek answers. But your soul is damaged. If you offer what little remains, I will unlock the third fragment. You will gain strength that can challenge gods."
> "And if I don't?"
> "You'll walk away empty. Forever."
Kairo stared at him, then looked at his own hands—scarred, shaking, calloused.
What remained of his humanity was already thin.
What more could he give?
But deep down, something flickered.
Not emotion.
Not love.
But purpose.
He had to keep going. Not for revenge. Not even for Zevrin.
But because if he stopped now, all the pain would've been for nothing.
He stepped forward.
> "Take it."
The crowned man nodded.
> "So be it."
---
The world shattered.
And when it rebuilt itself, Kairo stood alone in the Hollow… with a new fire burning in his chest.
The third fragment had awakened.
But so had something else.
A storm was coming—and now, he was the eye of it.