The cave air thickened with a strange pulse—as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Kael blinked, fanning away the thin mist clinging to his skin like cobwebs. "Okay, note to self: don't insult creepy statues. They do hold grudges."
Moments earlier, he had playfully mocked a timeworn stone effigy of a one-eyed sage. Now, an ominous glow bled from the walls like bruised veins of red and black light. The sigil burned faintly on his chest under his robes—hot, rhythmic, familiar.
"Kael…" Seris whispered, stepping beside him with furrowed brows. "Your aura—it's changing."
"No biggie," he shrugged. "Just unlocking the next season of my internal horror show."
Behind them, Aria was squatting beside a cracked stone basin, staring at something engraved in ancient runes. "This isn't part of the trial. It's a memory seal. And... it's responding to you, Kael."
Kael turned toward her, half-expecting a ghost to jump out of the wall. "Great. I was hoping for a massage or maybe enlightenment. But trauma works too."
A tremor shook the floor. Dust cascaded from the ceiling, and a guttural voice echoed faintly through the chamber.
"The Vessel stirs... the Lotus remembers..."
"Oh, hell no," Kael said, stepping back. "Why do cryptic voices always sound like they smoke death for breakfast?"
Aria and Seris both turned sharply toward him.
"You heard that too?" Seris asked.
Before Kael could respond, black-red mist began curling up from the floor, and the runes in the stone basin flared with violent light. The mist wrapped around Kael's legs like shadowy vines and yanked him into the basin's glow.
Seris shouted his name, but Kael was already gone.
---
Inside the Memory Vein
Kael landed hard. A swirl of distorted colors surrounded him—like the inside of a kaleidoscope having a mental breakdown.
He stood on a cracked marble floor, surrounded by floating lotuses—black petals, red centers, pulsing like hearts. A tall obsidian statue loomed at the center, its face eerily familiar.
"Welcome back, Kael of the Lotus Vein," a smooth voice echoed.
"I swear," Kael muttered, looking around, "if this is some ancient spirit trying to possess me, at least buy me dinner first."
The statue's eyes glowed, and a ghostly figure appeared—a man with the same white hair, the same crooked smile… but older. Wiser. Sadder.
Kael stared. "You look like me if I grew up in a gothic temple with unresolved trauma."
"You are me," the figure said. "Or rather, I was you. A fragment of the last Vessel of the Lotus Vein."
Kael blinked. "Wait—am I a reincarnation? Like, proper cosmic do-over?"
"More like... a continuation," the spirit said. "The Vein doesn't pass through bloodlines. It passes through will. And you—despite your jokes and your chaos—have the will."
Kael snorted. "You say that like sarcasm isn't a viable coping mechanism."
The ghost smiled faintly. "You joke to hide pain. The mark on your chest burns because the Lotus Vein is remembering you. And what comes with it is power... and danger."
Kael folded his arms. "Danger's been my middle name since birth. Actually, no, it was 'What now?' But close enough."
The spirit waved a hand, and behind him, a memory unfolded like a painting—war, fire, shadow beasts tearing through cultivation sects. In the midst of it, a man with a lotus-shaped flame stood alone, holding back a tide of darkness.
"That was the last time the Lotus bloomed," the spirit said. "And now, it's blooming again."
Kael swallowed hard. The mocking grin faltered just a little.
"So what do I do?"
"Survive," the spirit said simply. "Survive... and remember who you were always meant to be."
The memory collapsed. The mist surged, yanked Kael off his feet—and threw him back into the real world.
---
Back in the Trial Grounds
Kael shot upright, gasping.
Seris caught him by the shoulders. "Kael! What happened?"
Kael looked at her, then Aria, then at the basin—which had cracked straight down the middle.
"I think I just met... myself," he said slowly. "Older, moodier me. Kinda hot, not gonna lie."
Aria raised a brow. "Did you get answers?"
"Sort of. More like I got a cryptic trailer for a series I didn't know I was starring in."
As he rose, the sigil on his chest flared once—then dimmed.
Kael brushed dust off his shoulder. "On the bright side, at least now I know my power comes with cool side effects like mysterious flashbacks and unsolicited life advice."
They moved deeper into the trial chamber, which had begun shifting—walls sliding apart, revealing a long corridor bathed in flickering green light.
"This place is alive," Seris murmured. "It's reacting to you."
Kael smirked. "Well, I am charming."
Suddenly, a low growl echoed down the corridor.
A creature emerged—hulking, skeletal, glowing with ghostfire. It wore tattered robes of a long-forgotten sect and clutched a staff made of bone.
Aria's eyes widened. "That's a Soul Warden. They were used to guard forbidden places."
Kael cracked his knuckles. "So… punch it till it dies again?"
"No," Aria said. "We can't hurt it. But we might be able to outsmart it."
Kael grinned. "Finally. Something I'm actually good at."
---
The Soul Warden's Riddle
The Soul Warden raised its staff and rasped, "Only the one who remembers may pass."
"Oh great, another riddle ghost," Kael said. "Why can't ancient relics ever say: 'Hey, here's a cookie and a map?'"
The creature's hollow eyes narrowed.
Kael stepped forward. "What do I need to remember?"
"The moment you broke," it said.
That hit Kael harder than he expected. For a second, his sarcasm wavered.
He thought of a day long buried—when his master was executed, when he was cast out, when the world told him he was nothing.
"I remember," he whispered. "I remember all of it."
The Soul Warden tilted its head, then stepped aside.
"You may pass."
Kael walked through, not looking back.
Seris followed, quiet.
Aria gave him a long glance. "You okay?"
"Me?" Kael forced a smile. "Totally fine. Just had a dramatic emotional breakthrough and survived a ghost interrogation. Nothing out of the ordinary."