SUPREME ARCH-MAGUS - Chapter 957 - 957: Trial of the Silent Will
Kent sat still, unmoving, eyes closed in endless prayer. His breath, steady as a monk, now flowed in tandem with the rhythm of a strange pulse — the resonance of the weapon spirit that had entered the bow, and now… had entered him.
Without warning, his mind was pulled inward.
Darkness swallowed his senses.
Not the absence of light, but the collapse of everything around him — space, sound, feeling — all reduced to a single point, which stretched and pulled until—
He found himself standing.
Inside the Soul Space
Kent stood barefoot upon a wide, circular stone platform, floating in a void of shifting clouds and chaotic winds. The air smelled of ash and rain. A storm was gathering on all sides — red lightning lashing through golden clouds, and thunder shaking the edges of reality.
He looked around.
The space felt infinite.
Yet it felt like his.
His soul, pulled into manifestation.
“Where am I…?” he muttered.
And then — she appeared.
A woman stood several paces ahead, her robes made of layered flame and smoke, flowing without wind. Her face was clear now — sharp eyes, steady lips, glowing with a tired, ancient power. She was not beautiful in a mortal way, but in a dangerous, holy one — like a forgotten statue of war given breath again.
“You’ve asked the gods for worthiness,” she said, voice calm but edged with fire.
“I was sent to see if you deserve it.”
Kent took a breath, not stepping back.
“Are you the one… who entered the bow?”
She didn’t answer. She raised her hand — and the world shifted.
The clouds parted.
A wall of crimson flame erupted from the edge of the soul space and charged toward Kent — as wide as a mountain, as hot as a star. It howled like a beast. It devoured air as it moved.
Kent didn’t flinch.
He raised his arms in front of his face, focusing the flow of mental energy to harden his skin, reinforcing it with storm essence. The fire collided with him — the shock of heat tearing at his spirit layer — but he stood firm.
His teeth gritted.
He didn’t scream.
Didn’t bow.
He burned — and endured.
When the fire vanished, the woman stood there again, watching.
“Most scream in the fire,” she said.
“You clenched your jaw and stood.”
Kent’s breathing was heavy, but he met her eyes.
“Pain passes. Weakness doesn’t leave unless you let it.”
She raised her hand again.
This time, the warmth vanished.
A chill unlike any Kent had ever known wrapped around him. The soul space turned into an endless glacier, with storms of ice slicing through his skin like knives. The ground cracked beneath him. His body stiffened.
But what made it worse — was the voice.
Dozens of voices echoed through the storm, whispers that sounded like his own thoughts:
“You’re not strong enough.”
“You’ll never match those from noble realms.”
“They only fear you because they don’t know you.”
“Once they learn, they’ll throw you aside again.”
Kent’s lips curled. The wind pulled tears from his eyes, but his will stood tall.
“Words don’t decide fate,” he whispered. “Will does.”
He stepped forward, each step crunching across soul ice.
The voices grew louder.
“You’re alone.”
“The gods are watching, waiting to mock your failure.”
“She will leave you too.”
But Kent kept walking.
Eyes focused.
Step after frozen step.
Until the ice melted away.
Now the space exploded.
A maelstrom of elemental chaos surrounded Kent — fireballs, sand blades, lightning spears, and shadow vines spun across the air like a battle between realms. Kent could see no ground, no sky — only war.
“No mercy,” the woman’s voice echoed. “No pause. Fight or fall.”
A long pole appeared in Kent’s hand — forged from stormlight, wrapped in spell threads.
He didn’t hesitate.
He spun it.
Moved through the storm like a silent general, deflecting a fire spear with the rod’s tail, slamming aside a wind axe with the force of his shoulder.
A blast of water smashed into his side. He flew, coughed blood, rolled across the void — but got back up.
He kept fighting.
The storm came harder.
But his resolve got stronger.
His lips whispered nothing.
No chant.
No plea.
Only breath.
Only presence.
The chaos stopped.
Not because he had won — but because the one who summoned it had seen enough.
The goddess stood before him again.
But this time, her eyes weren’t testing. They were… almost respectful.
“You felt fear,” she said quietly. “You heard doubt.”
“But you never stopped moving.”
Kent exhaled, his body broken in many places — in the soul space, pain was still real — but he stood tall.
“So,” he said finally, voice hoarse. “Are you going to tell me who you are?”
She was silent for a moment. No words passed between them.
Only her eyes spoke — and they said this:
Now, I will show you why I burn.
She raised one hand and circled it slowly through the air. The space before them rippled like disturbed water, and a mirror formed — tall as a gate, wide as the sky. Its surface shimmered not with reflection, but memory.
Kent felt a strange ache press against his chest — not from pain, but from what the soul around him was about to reveal.
“Watch,” she said softly. “And understand why I chose you.”
The mirror rippled and the soul space filled with color.
A divine city appeared — made of red crystal and sapphire flame, suspended above the clouds, its towers gleaming with endless twilight. Within a grand temple of polished obsidian, two girls stood hand in hand.
They were young, glowing with celestial aura. One was calm and noble — the elder, with golden eyes and a steady smile. The other — a little smaller, wilder, but joyful — clung to her sister’s robes.
“That’s me,” the goddess said quietly. “And my sister, Naera.”
Kent watched silently.
He saw the elder sister teaching the younger how to summon flame. Carrying her to the divine gardens. Sharing her food. Protecting her during lessons from arrogant elders.
One image burned brightest — a moment where the elder took punishment in front of the Flame Council for a mistake Naera made.
“I was next in line to become the Heavenly Spear Goddess,” the spirit whispered. “My soul was forged in discipline. My power in restraint. But my love… was in her.” The scene played nonstop.
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