The eerie silence of the ancient chamber was almost suffocating.
Aiden stood at the center of a platform marked by glowing runes. The residual power of his newly awakened Ascendant Skill — Arcane Pulse still tingled in his fingertips. Around him, the ruins whispered with the echoes of a long-forgotten civilization.
But the silence was broken—not by sound, but by motion.
The air shimmered. Runes flickered.
Suddenly, an obsidian door at the far end of the chamber opened silently. No creak. No groan. Just a beckoning void.
[System Notification: You have triggered a Silent Trial. Do you wish to proceed? Y/N]
Aiden didn't hesitate. He'd come too far.
"Yes."
As he stepped through, the door sealed behind him. The runes vanished. The light disappeared.
And then—
—he was blind.
Total darkness engulfed him. No light. No sound. No guidance.
For the first time, even the System's interface went dark.
[System Error: Interface suppressed. External interference detected.]
Aiden's heartbeat thundered in his ears. He reached out with his senses, his mana… but it was like he was floating in an endless void. No floor. No gravity. No sound.
Panic tried to creep in—but he clenched his fists.
"This is a trial. That means there's a way forward."
His voice was swallowed by the dark.
Then a faint humming began.
Low at first. Like a vibration in his bones.
Then he saw it.
A single flicker of light. Hovering ahead.
Aiden reached toward it—and the moment he did, chains of golden light erupted from the dark, lashing toward him. He barely ducked, spinning mid-air as another chain snapped at his back.
[Warning: Trial of Silence - Rule 1: No Words, No Spells, No Skills.]
His breath caught.
That meant… he couldn't even use Arcane Pulse. No verbal commands. No invocations. No mana manipulations.
It was a test of instinct. Reflex. Will.
A chain sliced toward him—he twisted, the momentum barely carrying him out of reach. Another came. Then two more.
This was a ballet of death.
No footing. No frame of reference. Just the void and the chains.
His muscles screamed as he contorted and dodged. There was no time to think—only to react.
[Physical Endurance +1]
[Reflex +1]
Even without the system interface fully functional, he could still feel subtle notifications trickle into his mind. He was learning. Adapting. Growing.
But the chains were endless.
Dozens now.
Every miss was narrower than the last.
His breathing became ragged.
[Health -4%]
One clipped his leg—burning pain lanced up his thigh. Another grazed his shoulder. He couldn't keep this up forever.
But then he remembered something Zephyr once said in a training simulation:
"In the absence of sight, listen. In the absence of sound, feel. In the absence of everything… trust your will."
Aiden closed his eyes—not that it mattered in the dark.
He slowed his breath.
Slowed his heart.
He reached within.
And suddenly—he felt the chains.
Like faint ripples in a still pond, he sensed their movements. Their paths. Their anger.
They weren't mindless.
They were testing his presence of mind.
The next time a chain came, Aiden didn't dodge. He redirected it—pushing its arc with his palm, spinning around it like a dancer. He used its momentum.
Two more came—he twisted between them.
Three—he slid along one like a gymnast on a pole, flipping over another.
It wasn't perfect. But he was no longer surviving—he was moving with purpose.
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Echo Sense (Lv. 1) – Perceive threats in the absence of vision or sound.]
He didn't smile. Not yet.
The chains began to slow.
Then stop.
Then shatter.
Each one dissolved into motes of golden light. They converged before him, coalescing into a new glyph:
[Trial Complete. Reward Granted.]
The darkness lifted. Light returned—painfully bright.
Aiden fell to his knees on a smooth stone floor, gasping. He looked up.
Before him was a glowing pedestal.
On it rested a small, translucent orb—its core swirling with liquid starlight.
[You have received: Core of Silence (Relic Tier)]
[Effect: Grants immunity to sensory suppression effects. Allows speechless spell casting once per day.]
A relic. A powerful one.
Aiden's hands trembled as he lifted it. The orb pulsed gently, and for a moment, he felt… clarity. As if the noise of the world dimmed.
[Core of Silence has been bound to Host.]
As he placed the orb into his inventory slot, the room shifted.
A doorway opened—this one with light streaming through.
But more than that, the System returned.
[Interface Restored.]
[Ascension Protocol — Sequence Alpha: Progression 8%]
That was up from 3%. Whatever he was doing—it was working.
But he didn't forget the message carved on the pedestal's base.
Etched in faded letters:
"Only those who can thrive in emptiness are worthy to command the stars."
Aiden stepped through the door.
And this time—he did smile.
Because this trial hadn't broken him.
It had forged him.