The air within the ruins of the Silent City grew colder the deeper Rain ventured toward the center. It wasn't a natural chill, but a sensation of life being drained from his limbs. Before him stood a massive circular building, its walls clad in shards of reflective glass that time had failed to shatter.
"This is the Hall of Mirrors," Elina said, her spectral form flickering slightly. "This is where the Throne Guardians once tested their will. The second shard is inside, but it is protected by a 'Memory Echo.' You will see the worst version of yourself, Rain."
Rain pushed the heavy stone doors open with effort, entering a vast hall filled with towering mirrors. As he stepped inside, the fog began to coalesce within the glass—but it didn't reflect his current self. Instead, it showed Rain as he was a week ago: the gaunt, terrified technician, stained with oil.
Suddenly, the "Old Rain" stepped out of one of the mirrors, clutching a rusted screwdriver, his eyes hollow and pitch-black.
"You think you're a hero?" the reflection spoke in a distorted voice. "You're just a frightened laborer who stole a weapon he doesn't deserve. The body you inhabit now belongs to the Echo, not to you."
The reflection lunged at Rain with staggering speed. Rain tried to summon the blade, only to find to his shock that his hand was empty.
"You cannot use the sword against yourself!" Elina cried out. "You must defeat him with your will as a human, not as the Throne Bearer!"
Rain took a heavy blow to the jaw that sent him sprawling. The reflection began to beat him relentlessly, channeling all the bitterness and inferiority Rain had suppressed for years in Cephalos. He felt his soul weakening, and the tattoo on his arm began to fade.
"I am... not that person anymore," Rain growled, gripping the cold floor. "I am the one who jumped into the abyss to choose his own fate!"
Rain spat gray blood from his mouth. Instead of summoning the sword, he concentrated the Echo energy solely into his fists. When the reflection lunged one last time, Rain met it with a punch powered by an "Echo Thrust" exploding from his knuckles.
The reflection shattered into a thousand glass shards. As it broke, a massive mirror at the end of the hall split open to reveal a gray metallic piece floating in the air. It was the second piece of the blade: the "Hilt."
The moment Rain grasped the hilt, the first shard fused with it automatically. A wave of silver light erupted, purging the hall of the black fog. Rain felt his spine straighten and his strength double.
[Second Shard Integrated: The Heir's Hilt] [Synchronization Rate surged: 0.08%] [Second Echo Channel Activated: "Steel Nerves"]
Rain fell to his knees, clutching the sword which now possessed a hilt and half a blade. The weapon was no longer just a piece of metal; he could feel its true weight and balance.
"You have passed the first trial," Elina said, looking at the weapon with reverence. "But beware. The Silver Council has sensed the completion of the hilt. They have dispatched a 'Gold-Rank Hunter.' Your next confrontation won't be with your memories... it will be with certain death."