Julius looked genuinely stunned after I whispered to him.
"Wait… are you serious? You're not messing with me, right?"
I gave him a firm, reassuring nod.
What I'd just shared was no small matter—it was a crucial piece of advice for the upcoming Hero's Trial. A secret only someone who had walked that path could know.
"I'm serious," I said quietly. "I remember every stage of the Hero's Trial."
That alone was enough to rattle him. I didn't blame him.
It's something that just doesn't happen. Heroes are never supposed to remember what they went through. That's part of the trial's divine design—a system of forgetting, enforced by the gods themselves. Even the strongest of heroes lose their memories of the experience, like a dream that fades the moment they wake.
So when I told him I remembered everything, it was no surprise he looked at me like I'd just broken the laws of the world.
I leaned in closer and whispered again.
