The cold wind howled through the broken cliffside where Aryan had fallen. His robes were torn, soaked in blood and rain. Yet, his eyes—those tired, beaten eyes—remained locked on the ancient stone gate that stood before him.
**Nine Floors. One Path. Three Gods.**
He could feel it now. The presence that had slumbered here for centuries was stirring. Something… someone… was watching.
### **Inside the Temple – First Floor Cleared**
After surviving the trial of pain and rebirth on the **first floor**, Aryan's body had changed. His bones were denser, his skin radiated faint heat, and inside his veins, a strange energy hummed—a **fragment of Brahma's Vajra essence**.
But the real trial had just begun.
---
### **Second Floor: The Trial of Sight**
The stairs to the second floor were carved with glowing Sanskrit symbols. The moment Aryan stepped in, the room vanished. He stood inside a black void, where **mirrored copies** of himself surrounded him—**laughing**, **taunting**, **bleeding**, and **dying**.
> **Vision Clone:** "You're nothing. The third son who couldn't feel Qi. You think this temple chose you? No. It's a curse."
Aryan's hands shook. The illusion felt *real*—every blow, every scream. He relived his worst moments: his father turning away, Kael's mockery, his sister's cold eyes, the moment he jumped from the cliff.
> **Aryan (gritting his teeth):** "That *was* me… But I'm not him anymore."
He closed his eyes, centered his breath, and let the **Qi of Brahma** flow. The vision clones shattered one by one.
Then came a burning flash—**a seal branded onto his forehead**.
---
### **A New Gift: Future Sight**
> **Voice of the Temple (booming):**
> "You have accepted truth. Brahma grants you *Darshan*—the ability to glimpse what *could* be."
Suddenly, time felt different. His senses stretched outward like ripples in water.
He saw **Kael's blade move before it was drawn**.
He saw **paths that hadn't yet happened**, flickering like sparks.
But only for a moment.
> **Aryan (panting):** "This... this is dangerous power."
---
### **Outside the Temple – Time Resumes**
When Aryan descended, his robe billowed in the wind. His steps were steadier. There was calm in his eyes, but behind that calm… a silent storm was brewing.
He did not return to the palace. Not yet.
He had seen something on the second floor—**a brief image of his own death**. Not now, but someday. And it wasn't at Kael's hands.
It was something far darker. **A shadow in fire. A god-like figure smiling.**
---
**Last Scene – Back at Sector 5**
Kael stood in the courtyard, slicing training dummies in half with arrogant ease.
> **Kael (laughing):**
> "I'll crush him the next time we meet."
A breeze passed. Kael turned—
And for a fraction of a second, **he thought he saw golden eyes watching from the roof above**.
But no one
was there.
---
**To Be Continued in Chapter 6: The Blood Pact**