The ruins became a crucible.
Each day within the Circle of the Veiled Moon tested Steven in ways no battlefield ever had. He meditated under shifting moonlight, communed with arcane echoes buried beneath stone, and dueled spirits forged from old spells and lost regrets.
The Circle's leader, High Mistress Elareen, guided him with a balance of warmth and severity. "To command the Codex, you must first understand yourself," she said during one training. "And to understand yourself… you must face your echoes."
One evening, under a blood-red moon, she led Steven to the Mirror Chamber—a hall of obsidian glass and suspended starlight.
"You're not here to fight," she said. "You're here to see."
The doors sealed behind him. Silence.
Then—reflections stirred.
From the mirror stepped… himself. But not the Steven he knew. This version wore a cloak of voidfire. His eyes were hollow. In one hand, he held the Codex like a weapon; in the other, a chain of severed timelines.
Steven stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The reflection smiled. "I'm what you become when fear wins. When power becomes purpose."
A duel began—not of magic, but of truth.
Each clash of energy sent ripples through the Mirror Chamber. The Codex inside Steven pulsed, resisting him. Doubting him.
"You want to save the world?" the reflection mocked. "You can't even save yourself."
Steven fell to one knee, breath ragged. Doubt surged.
But then… a memory.
Seraphis' words: "The Codex is a tool. But it is your will that shapes its power."
Steven stood. "You're not me. You're what I could become. But I won't."
He unleashed a torrent of balanced magic—chaos and light woven together. The reflection shattered, the Mirror Chamber erupting in radiant fractures.
Outside, Elareen watched as the doors blew open, light pouring out.
Steven emerged—changed.
The Circle bowed their heads.
"He has passed the first trial," Elareen declared. "The Moonborn awakens."
Steven looked to the stars above.
And far away… in the distance beyond mortal sight… Th
e Absence stirred.
---
To be continued