The Sea of Glass wasn't made of water—it was a land of broken crystal, stretching as far as the eye could see. Shards of translucent material jutted from the ground like frozen waves. The ground shimmered in hues of violet and blue, reflecting twisted skies above. Below the glass, currents of Garmon Radiation pulsed like veins of liquid light.
Kael stood at its edge, feeling the weight of this new challenge. Each of the past trials had pushed him to his limits, but this place—the Sea of Glass—felt different. It wasn't just a test of strength. It was something older, stranger, deeper.
Ryssa stood beside him, her cloak drawn tight to block the glass-slicing winds. "Looks like we've walked into a dream gone wrong," she muttered.
Seris, ever cautious, scanned the horizon. "This is where most expeditions vanish. The land itself is alive—changing, watching."
Veyr, the rune mage, squinted at the crystalline ridges. "The Ninefold Gate is at the center of this place. That's where we'll find the path to the Final Rift."
Kael nodded. He could feel it—the pulse from his Gauntlet was stronger here. Something in the heart of the Sea was calling to him.
---
They entered the Sea with careful steps. The ground beneath them shifted and clicked with each move, like walking on fragile ice that didn't crack. Yet the deeper they went, the more time and reality seemed to distort.
Night and day passed without consistency. Hunger came and went. Memories of time blurred.
Their first true test came in the form of a massive creature—a crystal beast with jagged limbs and a wailing cry. It burst from the ground, shards flying like blades.
Kael reacted fast. He thrust his Gauntlet into the ground. A pulse of temporal energy rippled out, slowing the creature's movements. Ryssa darted forward, slicing at its legs. Seris unleashed a storm of fire. Veyr's runes detonated beneath the creature's core.
It shattered into a thousand singing fragments, but not without cost—Seris was bleeding, Ryssa shaken. Even Kael felt drained.
"This place is poison to the soul," Seris said, clutching her wound.
Kael looked deeper into the shimmering wastes. "We move forward. We don't stop now."
---
As they moved deeper, strange illusions began to appear.
They saw people frozen in time—ghost-like figures locked in repetitive actions. A man endlessly trying to drink from an empty cup. A woman hugging a child who kept vanishing in her arms. Echoes from before the Cataclysm.
"These are memory scars," Veyr explained. "Trapped moments. The radiation locks them into loops."
"Can we free them?" Kael asked.
"Not until we close the Final Rift," Veyr said grimly.
Kael watched one frozen mother fade into mist and grit his teeth. He would end this.
---
They made camp near a spiral of black glass that looked like a broken tower. That night, Kael dreamed again. He was on a shore made of starlight. The Sovereign stood before him, the ocean behind glowing with Garmon energy.
"You're close, Kael," the Sovereign said. "But what happens when you realize you were only ever a piece of the machine?"
Kael raised the Gauntlet, but the Sovereign only smiled.
"Strength means nothing if you don't know your purpose."
Kael woke with a start, breathing hard.
---
They reached a great depression in the glass terrain—a crater-like valley sunken deep into the world's crust. At its center stood the Ninefold Gate.
It was a majestic structure—a cathedral made of spiraling beams of light and memory. Nine towering pillars encircled it, humming with ancient energy.
Ryssa stepped forward, eyes wide. "This is it."
Veyr studied the pillars. "Each one represents a Trial. We must pass all nine to open the Gate."
"What kind of trials?" Seris asked.
Veyr traced symbols in the air. "Knowledge. Courage. Sacrifice. Memory. Faith. Pain. Balance. Truth. Will."
Kael approached the first pillar. "Then let's begin."
---
Trial of Knowledge placed them inside a glowing dome where Kael's past was dissected. Holograms of scientists surrounded him, asking questions.
"Why did you survive the Garmon exposure?"
"Why were you chosen, Kael?"
Kael took a breath. "Because I refused to break. I chose to become more than my pain."
The illusions faded. The first pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Courage brought them to a crumbling glass bridge over a void. Voices whispered fears into their ears.
"You will fail."
"You are nothing."
Ryssa stepped forward without pause. Kael followed. The bridge cracked but held. He ignored the voices. One step at a time.
Second pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Sacrifice was the hardest yet.
They each had to give something personal.
Seris relinquished her control over fire.
Ryssa gave up a cherished memory of her sister's laughter.
Veyr surrendered a forbidden spell that had saved him once.
Kael hesitated. Then, he let go of the name the world had once used to label him: weak, bullied, nothing. That part of him died.
Third pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Memory pulled them into Kael's past.
They saw his death—the alley, the cold, the blood.
They saw him wake up in the rift world, alone, terrified.
He didn't look away. He let his companions see who he had been.
Ryssa placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are not that boy anymore."
The fourth pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Faith required complete silence.
For an entire day, they could not speak, act, or defend themselves. Illusions taunted them—family members begging for help, enemies striking them down.
Kael kept his eyes closed and trusted his team.
The silence broke after what felt like an eternity.
Fifth pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Pain summoned a creature forged from their regrets.
It showed Kael the burning labs. His parents' screams. His own helplessness.
He fell to his knees, but he didn't resist.
"I accept this," he whispered. "I carry it with me, but it will not define me."
The creature dissolved into dust.
Sixth pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Balance turned them against one another.
An illusion made Seris believe Veyr had betrayed them. Ryssa tried to stop her. A fight erupted.
Kael used the Gauntlet to freeze time for a split second—just enough to show them the truth.
They calmed, embarrassed but united.
Seventh pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Truth confronted Kael with the Sovereign once again.
"Why do you fight me, Kael?" he asked.
"Because you stand in the way of life," Kael said.
"Life? You don't even know your purpose."
"Then I'll make one," Kael said, walking past him.
Eighth pillar dimmed.
---
Trial of Will was the final and most brutal.
The team was surrounded by a storm of Garmon Radiation. Their bodies screamed in agony.
Seris collapsed. Ryssa couldn't breathe. Veyr's runes fizzled out.
Kael dropped to his knees. Time fractured around him.
He thought of the boy who once had nothing. The boy who died in an alley.
He stood.
Step by step, he pushed forward, reaching the final seal.
The ninth pillar dimmed.
---
The Ninefold Gate opened.
Light poured outward, revealing a portal filled with swirling energy and echoes of forgotten voices.
Kael turned to his companions. "Beyond this lies the Final Rift. The Sovereign. And the end of all this."
Seris steadied her staff. "Then let's go finish it."
Ryssa smiled. "We've come too far to stop now."
Veyr nodded. "Time to complete the cycle."
Kael stepped through first.
He fell—not through space, but through history, through pain and possibility.
And then he landed, on the edge of a world where reality bled into nothingness.
In the distance, the Sovereign waited.
But Kael no longer feared him.
He understood now. He wasn't just a survivor.
He was a storm.
And storms don't ask permission.
They tear down what stands in their way.
Kael clenched his fists and walked into the Final Rift.
Ready to end it all.