The mist thickened. Three shapes emerged from the fog, graceful, silent, and deadly. They all looked like Seris… but none of them were her. Each had different eyes. One red like blood, another black like void, and the third completely white. Like empty vessels. Seris stepped beside me, breath shallow. Her hands trembled.
"You don't have to fight them," I said.
"I do," she replied. "They're me."
The system confirmed it.
[Phase 2: Doppelgänger Trial]
[Subject: Seris Vael]
[Objective: Aid or Observe]
[Risk: Link Feedback - Damage shared if bonded]
[Reward (if successful): Fate Sync Fragment + Class Trait Node]
I didn't know what a Fate Sync Fragment was yet, but anything with "Fate" in the name screamed important.
[Linked Status: Active - All feedback shared]
[Combat Mode: Assist - Passive Skills applied to bonded party]
I summoned my Spirit Pulse Blade.
"I'll cover you."
Seris gave a tight nod and stepped forward alone. The first clone moved fast, launching with a leap and a crescent-shaped dagger. Seris didn't flinch. She ducked under the blade, twisted low, and swept the clone's legs out from under it. The second charged in, twin blades spinning like wind. The third hung back, chanting, illusions, disruption. Seris grunted, taking a shallow cut to the shoulder before she flung a throwing spike into the caster's eye.
[Clone Eliminated - 1 Remaining]
The last clone, the blood-eyed one, smiled wide.
"She's the part you buried," I realized aloud.
Seris nodded grimly. "The part that liked the killing."
It didn't attack immediately. It just spoke.
"You like what he's becoming," it said, nodding toward me. "Admit it."
Seris didn't answer.
"I remember when you killed your first master. When you smiled afterward."
"I was a child," Seris whispered.
"No," the clone said, stepping closer. "You were free."
I saw the pain flicker across her face, not fear, shame. I took a step forward, but the system blocked me.
[Warning: Fate Trial - Target must complete solo confrontation]
[Interference will erase the reward node]
Damn it. This was her fight. The clone lunged. Seris dodged, spun, and slammed a knee into its gut. It staggered, but not much. They clashed again, blades flashing. Each hit faster, more violent, more furious. I saw something in her stance change. Less defense. More instinct. She was slipping. Then the clone struck a nerve.
"You know you'll betray him too."
Seris froze for half a second. It was enough. A dagger slashed her arm deep. Blood sprayed. But instead of panicking, she smiled.
"I already betrayed everyone who mattered," she said coldly.
Then she shoved her dagger into the clone's throat.
[Phase 2 Complete]
[Shared Feedback: -14% HP]
[System Reward: Fate Sync Fragment + Class Trait Node: "Silent Execution"]
[+8% Critical Chance, +5% Evasion]
Seris dropped to one knee, panting, sweat and blood mixing on her skin. I helped her up.
"I'm not like her," she muttered.
"No," I said. "You're worse."
She blinked.
"In a good way."
She punched my shoulder. The caverns began shifting again. This time not with mist… but with mirrors. A full ring of glowing reflections formed around us, each showing a different version of me. In some, I was alone. In others, dead. In one… I sat on a throne of bones, eyes glowing with dragonfire.
The system's voice grew colder:
[Final Phase - Rewrite Node Detected]
[Objective: Choose Your Fate Line]
[Warning: One choice only]
[Outcome is permanent until next Tier Break]
Seris gasped. "This is… this is what the old sects died for."
I stepped into the circle. Each mirror pulsed with emotion, power, cost; but one stood out. It showed me standing in shadow, surrounded by enemies, bleeding, alone… though undefeated. I walked toward that mirror. The system trembled.
[Confirm Path: Jade Rebellion - Lone Ascender Route]
[Perks: +Critical Recovery, +Breakthrough Speed, +Skill Mutation Bonus]
[Drawbacks: No Allies Saved During Crossroads Events]
"Do it," I said.
The mirror cracked. A piece of it drifted into my chest like a shard of ice.
[Fate Line Locked: Jade Rebellion]
[Core Trait Updated: Mutant Ascender (Jade Path)]
[Unlocked: System Threading - You may fuse skills under combat pressure]
The cavern's mist burned away. The world reformed. And we stood at the mouth of the Mirror Caverns, no longer students of fate, but those who had shaped it. I looked down at my hand. The jade mark glowed brighter than ever. I wasn't just reborn. I was chosen. We barely made it twenty steps from the Mirror Caverns before the sky changed color. A pulse, like thunder, but slower, rippled through the air. The system buzzed in warning before I even registered the sound.
[Heavenmarked Status Pinged]
[Bounty Pursuers Incoming: 6]
[Threat Level: Tier 2.5 - Ambush Formation]
[Combat Suggestion: Eliminate All Witnesses. Jade Path bonus applies.]
I clenched my fists. No more running.
Seris unsheathed her blade, stance tense. "You feel that too?"
"Yeah."
"I count six auras, two sword cultivators, three rogue elementalists, and one in concealment."
I grinned. "Then let's show them what the new me can do."
We moved fast, through twisted underbrush and jagged terrain, into a clearing laced with old spirit seals, a trap. But I wanted one. At the center stood their leader, a woman in sky-blue robes, long dark hair braided in silver rings. She didn't look older than me, but her aura flared with practiced cruelty.
"Jin Ranziel," she said. "Your head buys my entire sect's debt. Sorry."
I took one step forward, letting the jade core in my chest light up with green fire.
"I'm worth more alive. But you won't live to spend it."
She signaled the others. They attacked as one. Blades from the sides. Fire from above. Earth spikes underfoot. Perfect! I let the system kick in.
[Core Trait: System Threading - Active]
[Eligible Fusion Detected]
➤ Flame Roar + Voidstep = Voidflare Dive
I selected it mid-dash. The new skill locked in. Voidflare Dive ignited beneath my feet, I blinked through the firestorm, reappeared mid-air, and slammed down in a vortex of flame and force. Two enemies were vaporized on contact. One tried to raise a shield, his arm turned to ash before he finished the word.
Seris clashed with the dual sword cultivators fast and focused. However, one of them used a wind-boosted strike that knocked her backward into a tree. Blood sprayed across the bark. I activated Phantom Parry, my blade flashing just in time to deflect a strike aimed for her throat.
[Damage Deflected - 60%]
[Counter Window - Active]
I counterattacked with a sweeping arc, using the Spirit Pulse Blade fused with raw jade Qi.
[Fusion Bonus - Critical Hit]
[Loot Matrix Absorption Eligible]
The sword cultivator screamed once. And then his core broke like glass. Four down. The woman in blue glared at me from the far side of the field.
"You're not supposed to be this strong already."
I grinned. "You're not supposed to be alive. Let's fix that."
She slammed a silver token into the ground. A glowing sigil burst outward.
[Emergency Summon: Shadow Beast - Tier 3.5 Construct]
[Time Limit: 2 minutes]
A creature of smoke and fangs rose from the ground, twice my size, its tail cracking like a whip of blades. The system pulsed:
[Target Too High Tier - Standard Skills Inadequate]
[System Threading Suggestion: Spirit Pulse Blade + Flame Roar = Soulburn Fang]
Accepted. The blade shifted in my grip, flames crawling along its edge like living snakes. I charged. The beast roared and lashed out. I slid under it and slashed upward through its chest. The fire caught inside it. The jade echoed with heat, and the beast, detonated. Ash rained across the field. Only the woman remained, breathing hard, her sleeves burned, her pride gone.
"You really chose the Jade Path," she said quietly.
"Why do you say it like a death sentence?"
"Because it is. You walk alone now. No sect. No heaven. No allies."
"I've got enough power to bury all of that."
I stepped forward. She tried to retreat. I grabbed her collar and slammed her to the dirt.
[Execute: Y/N]
Bonus: Tier Skip Token drop if finished by Core Blade
"Yes."
The light drained from her eyes. The system flared.
[Combat Complete - All Targets Eliminated]
[Loot Matrix Assimilation: Soul Armor Thread (Epic)]
[Tier Skip Token Acquired: May ascend one core level without bottleneck]
[Fame Spread: Jade Rebellion Path confirmed in two regions]
[Infamy: Increased - Active Hunters: 417+]
I stood over the ruin of the field, heart steady, breath calm. Seris staggered beside me.
"You're... stronger again," she said.
I nodded. "And we're just getting started."
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