The air inside the Temple of Broken Stars was thick — not with dust, nor with age, but with something far worse.

  Memory.

  Every step Arjun and Ishani took echoed like a heartbeat across the stone walls.

  Their torches flickered weakly, struggling to push back the strange, liquid darkness that pressed close from all sides.

  Arjun could feel it already: a pressure on his mind.

  A whispering at the edge of hearing.

  The Trial of Spirit was not some physical test; it was one of the soul.

  > System Notification: Trial of Spirit Initiated.

  Objective: Endure and survive the illusions born from your own deepest regrets, fears, and attachments.

  Warning: Failure will result in permanent mental collapse.

  Arjun clenched his fists.

  This was the real thing.

  Ishani gave him a sideways glance. “Stay close, yeah?”

  He nodded tightly. “Stay sharp.”

  Together, they pressed forward, deeper into the temple.

  The Shifting Corridor

  The walls began to ripple.

  What had been simple stone suddenly morphed — faces bulged from the surfaces, mouths open in silent screams, hands clawing outward as if trying to escape.

  Arjun gritted his teeth.

  These were not real.

  He knew they were not real.

  But knowing something and believing it were two very different things.

  “I’m fine,” Ishani muttered beside him, her voice tight.

  Arjun looked at her — her face was pale, eyes wide.

  She was seeing something too.

  The Trial of Spirit was working its way inside both their minds.

  They needed to act fast.

  Arjun’s Vision

  Suddenly, the corridor twisted — and Arjun was alone.

  The torches were gone.

  Ishani was gone.

  He stood in the ruins of his old orphanage.

  Broken beams.

  Collapsed roofs.

  The faint smell of burning wood.

  And there, standing amidst the rubble, was Mother Anjali — the kind, gray-haired woman who had raised him.

  “Arjun,” she said softly, her eyes glistening. “Why did you leave us?”

  He felt the air punch from his lungs.

  “Mother Anjali... no,” he whispered.

  She stepped forward, arms outstretched. “The children needed you, Arjun. I needed you. And you abandoned us.”

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  “No!” he shouted.

  “I had to— I had no choice!”

  But her face twisted, warping into a grotesque mask.

  Her mouth opened unnaturally wide, and from it poured hundreds of whispering voices.

  > “Coward.”

  “Abandoner.”

  “Failure.”

  Arjun fell to his knees, clutching his head.

  He could feel his spirit buckling under the weight.

  > System Notification: Spirit Stability 70%.

  He gritted his teeth.

  He remembered the Karmic Throne.

  He remembered the promise he had made.

  Slowly, painfully, Arjun pushed himself back to his feet.

  “These visions are lies,” he growled.

  “I carry my past — but I am not chained to it!”

  He slammed his palm forward, channeling a burst of karmic energy.

  The vision shattered like glass.

  Ishani’s Vision

  Meanwhile, Ishani stood frozen in her own nightmare.

  She was back in the Assassin’s Guild.

  A dozen black-cloaked figures surrounded her — her old mentors, her old friends.

  “You betrayed us,” one hissed.

  “You should have died with us,” another whispered.

  Their knives glimmered in the darkness.

  Ishani’s hands trembled.

  She had left them behind.

  She had escaped, yes — but they had been slaughtered.

  And she had always wondered, deep down, if she should have stayed.

  “Coward,” the shadows breathed.

  But then she remembered Arjun’s voice.

  She remembered his stupid, stubborn refusal to leave anyone behind.

  And she snarled.

  “Enough!”

  With a feral scream, Ishani lunged, slicing the illusions apart.

  They evaporated, leaving her breathless but standing tall.

  Reunited

  Arjun and Ishani stumbled back into the main chamber, gasping for air.

  They locked eyes.

  “You okay?” he panted.

  “Yeah,” she rasped, brushing hair from her face. “You?”

  He nodded, though his legs shook.

  Suddenly, the walls of the chamber pulsed — and from the center rose a massive stone figure.

  Its body was carved from star-metal, its eyes glowing with dying constellations.

  > System Notification: Final Spirit Trial Unlocked.

  Boss: Sentinel of Shattered Memories.

  The construct raised an arm, and a tidal wave of spectral energy crashed toward them.

  The Final Fight

  Arjun drew his sword, its blade crackling with karmic light.

  Ishani unsheathed her daggers, flipping them with practiced ease.

  “Together?” she asked.

  “Together,” Arjun agreed.

  They charged.

  The Sentinel moved with crushing force, its blows shattering stone.

  But Arjun was faster — dodging left, striking hard, drawing the construct’s attention.

  Ishani darted behind it, her daggers finding weak points in its joints.

  Again and again, they coordinated — moving like dancers in a deadly ballet.

  But the Sentinel adapted.

  With a roar, it unleashed a pulse of memory-magic — a shockwave that blasted Arjun into a pillar, slamming the breath from his lungs.

  He coughed, dazed.

  The Sentinel loomed over Ishani now, lifting a stone fist.

  “Ishani!” he cried.

  She looked up, eyes wide.

  The Karmic Breakthrough

  Arjun forced himself up, vision swimming.

  He had to move.

  He had to act.

  He reached deep — into his soul, into the Karmic Throne itself.

  He felt power surge.

  Golden chains wrapped around his arms, his legs, his chest.

  With a roar, he raised his sword high — and called the karmic energy forward.

  > System Notification: Karmic Breakthrough Achieved.

  Skill Unlocked: Chain of Binding Stars.

  Golden chains shot from his blade, wrapping around the Sentinel’s arm mid-swing.

  It froze, roaring in frustration.

  Ishani didn’t waste the opening.

  With a scream, she leapt forward, burying both daggers into the construct’s core.

  Cracks spread like lightning.

  The Sentinel gave one last, shuddering roar — and then shattered into fragments of starlight.

  Aftermath

  Silence.

  Only the soft rain of fading light remained.

  Arjun collapsed to one knee, panting.

  Ishani knelt beside him, equally breathless.

  They had done it.

  The Trial of Spirit was complete.

  > System Notification: Trial of Spirit — PASSED.

  Reward: Karmic Resonance Boost (x1), Ascendant Memory Shard (x1), Access to Next Trial Unlocked.

  Arjun stared at the glowing shard in his palm.

  He could feel its power — a piece of memory, of wisdom, waiting to be unlocked.

  But that was for later.

  For now, they had survived.

  They looked at each other — exhausted, bruised, but smiling.

  “One down,” Ishani said, voice hoarse.

  Arjun smiled faintly.

  “Two to go.”

  And somewhere, deep within the temple, the next trial stirred awake — watching, waiting, hungry.