Story Title :- idle guy
Chapter 16: The Trial Beyond Time
Kael blinked. The sky above him shimmered like a broken mirror, stars wheeling in patterns too fast and chaotic to be real. The platform beneath his feet was smooth and dark, like obsidian, but pulsing faintly with light from below—as if something massive slumbered beneath it.
The Riftwalker stood across from him, their blade of starlight crackling like frozen lightning.
“This is not your world,” they said, voice neither male nor female, but something in between—older, wiser, colder. “This is a reflection of the true plane. A trial to measure your soul.”
“I didn’t agree to this,” Kael snapped, tightening his grip on the Nullsong Blade.
“You were chosen the moment you donned the Crown. You carry ancient blood… You were born to be tested.”
Kael stepped forward, eyes blazing. “Then let’s end it.”
The Riftwalker vanished—then reappeared beside him in an instant. Their blade slashed once, fast and brutal. Kael barely blocked it, the impact rattling through his bones. He staggered back, then rolled to avoid a second strike.
Their speed was impossible. Their movements unnatural.
Kael’s instincts screamed: This was a being unbound by time.
Dancing With Shadows
As the duel continued, Kael realized something terrifying: the Riftwalker wasn’t fighting to kill. They were teaching him.
Each strike was precise, calculated—not to maim, but to draw out a reaction. Kael countered, dodged, adjusted. The Nullsong Blade began to shimmer, absorbing the ambient energy of this plane. With every clash, it grew colder, heavier—hungrier.
“You’re learning,” the Riftwalker murmured. “Good.”
They twisted through the air, blade arcing in a crescent of white fire. Kael ducked, sliding under the strike, and countered with a thrust aimed at their heart. The Riftwalker caught the blade—barehanded.
And smiled.
In that moment, Kael saw it: beneath the surface of their skin were constellations—entire galaxies swirling in place of organs. They weren’t just touched by the Rift.
They were part of it.
The Fracture Within
A flash of light.
Kael was thrown backward. The world twisted, and suddenly he was standing in a burning village—a memory. He recognized it.
His own.
He saw his younger self running through the flames. His sister, Elen, screaming. His father trying to hold back a creature—tall, faceless, dripping with shadow.
Kael stumbled forward, heart pounding. “This isn’t real.”
The Riftwalker’s voice echoed from above. “But it was. You never let this go. You never forgave yourself.”
The young Kael vanished, devoured by flame.
“You think revenge will heal you? You think power will redeem you?”
Kael roared. “I need power to stop what’s coming!”
“And what is coming, Kael Veyrin?”
“The end,” he hissed, gripping his blade. “Unless I stop it.”
The Riftwalker paused. “Then let me show you the price.”
Truth in the Rift
Suddenly, Kael stood atop the Spire. The vision from his dreams—but clearer.
Chains of light wrapped around its base. Floating cities drifted in the skies around it, but they were crumbling. The throne of mirrors stood before him, and seated within it… was himself.
But older. Twisted. Cloaked in void-fire. A crown of bones resting atop his head.
Kael stared, horrified. “No…”
The Riftwalker appeared beside him.
“This is one path,” they said softly. “The Rift recognizes your potential. It offers power freely—but it always takes more than it gives.”
Kael watched his older self raise the Nullsong Blade—now blackened with rot—and strike down hundreds of innocents in a single sweep. He turned toward Kael and smiled.
“Is this the man you wish to become?” the Riftwalker asked.
Kael trembled. “No.”
“Then choose another path. Forge your fate, Kael Veyrin.”
Return to the Real
With a shattering sound, the vision cracked like glass.
Kael awoke in the ruins of Velmor, gasping. Lira was kneeling beside him, hand on his chest.
“Kael! You were gone—you just collapsed!”
He sat up, drenched in sweat.
“I saw… everything. The Rift. The Spire. Me.”
He looked down at the Nullsong Blade—it now bore faint star-shaped runes along its edge, glowing gently.
“Did you… pass?” Lira asked.
Kael nodded slowly. “No. I survived. That’s all I could do.”
She helped him to his feet. “Then let’s keep surviving. The Spire still waits.”
Kael stared into the horizon.
“No,” he whispered. “I wait for it.”
End of Chapter 16
