Fallen hero's second life

Frosthold – East Tower, Dawn

Kael sat alone atop the tower, wind carving across the sky.

His sword rested across his knees, quiet — but not empty.

Inside it, the whispers of the Mirrorblade Pact still lingered. His soul was no longer solitary. It was shared. A tether stretched between past and present, and it tightened every time he tried to forget.

But what haunted him most now…

…was Zeid.

A man who moved through flame and illusion like a joke. Who shut down Veyna Ashblood — a legend — with nothing but a casual sentence and a smile.

"They call me when stuff gets fun."

[System Notification]

New Objective Added:

.Seek Zeid for Off-Record Training

. Warning: Mortality Risk > 40%

Reward: ??? (Elite Sync Trait Path Unlocked)

Kael didn't hesitate.

He got up and went looking.

Location: The Maze of Mirrors – Frosthold's Forbidden Training Arena

No one was supposed to enter this place without elite clearance.

So, naturally, Zeid built his room inside it.

Kael stepped into the mirrored arena — an infinite loop of glass, reflection, and warped mana.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the door vanished.

Then Zeid's voice echoed:

"Took you long enough, rookie."

Kael turned — but saw fifty Zeids in the mirrors. Each smirking. All illusions.

Then one stepped forward, real.

"You ready to learn how not to die?" Zeid asked, stretching lazily.

Kael drew his sword. "Always."

WORLD NOTE: The Maze of Mirrors

Built by a guild founder who mastered illusion and perception. Mirrors are bound to soul signatures, projecting your fears and fragments. Used for elite training, but most recruits never make it past level 1.

Training, however, was not one-on-one.

Because today, Zeid wasn't alone.

Another figure stepped into the mirror chamber from a black ripple — tall, armored in enchanted obsidian, carrying a massive chain-blade pulsing with red runes.

Her presence hit like a tidal wave.

Zeid pointed lazily.

"Kael, meet Commander Veyrix Umbra. Chain Division's deadliest duelist."

She didn't smile.

Didn't even blink.

Just nodded once. "So this is the Time-Touched mess."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "You always this friendly?"

She smirked. "I'm always this honest."

Commander Veyrix Umbra:-

Rank: S-Class Chain Commander

Class: Reaper Duelist

Title: The One Who Cuts Fate

Trait Path: Abyssal Chains — absorbs power through perfect kills

Notable: Rumored to have killed three guild traitors without blinking

Aura Type: Suppression Field – lowers the morale of weaker enemies

Zeid clapped. "Alright, lovebirds. Round one: don't die."

With a snap of his fingers, the mirrors exploded into light.

The room changed.

Kael blinked — suddenly, he was standing on a crumbling bridge in the sky.

Clouds below.

Lightning above.

And Veyrix… was already charging.

Her chain-blade whirled like a scythe, striking from multiple angles with every flick of her wrist. Each motion was perfect — economical — terrifying.

Kael barely dodged the first strike.

Then the second clipped his shoulder — crack.

He skidded back, breathing hard.

"You think the battlefield waits for you?" Veyrix asked coldly.

Kael gritted his teeth.

And activated Wraith Step.

He vanished.

Reappeared behind her.

Struck.

Her blade deflected his mid-swing — without her turning.

She smirked. "Good. Now fight like someone who's died before."

WORLD NOTE: Sync Traits & Temporal Users

Sync Traits unlock hidden memories, instincts, and pathways from either past lives or soul-bound sources.

Temporal Users — like Zeid — bend these pathways, predicting split-second decisions or breaking cause-effect logic. They are rare, unstable, and often not human for long.

The duel raged.

Kael adapted. Fast.

He stopped fighting like a soldier.

He fought like a survivor.

Using terrain. Timing. Soul-sense.

After five minutes, Zeid finally called it:

"Enough."

Kael dropped to one knee, exhausted, bleeding, but alive.

Veyrix nodded once. "Passable."

For her, it was a compliment.

Zeid helped Kael up. "Not bad, rookie. Most die in the first three moves."

Then his tone changed.

"Now," Zeid said, serious for once, "we talk about Veyna Ashblood."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

Zeid waved, and the mirror-walls rippled again, showing a memory…

A city on fire.

Children screaming.

And in the middle — Veyna, standing in ash.

"She's not a rogue," Zeid said. "She's the last survivor of the Ashblood Pact. A group who believed they could overwrite the system itself using memory flame."

Kael frowned. "Is that what she wants from me?"

Veyrix spoke. "She wants you because you're Time-Touched. You're not just remembering your past. You're altering it."

"Your soul's unstable," Zeid added. "But also valuable."

He flicked Kael's forehead. "You've become a variable."

Kael looked up. "So what do I do?"

Zeid smiled again.

"You learn how to be more dangerous than the thing chasing you."

[System Alert]

Trait Awakened: Strategic Awakening Lv.2

➤ Passive: Predict combat patterns 1s ahead

➤ New Skill: Rewind Decision — Undo 1 move per battle (5-min cooldown)

➤ Trait Tree Branch Revealed: Reality Shift (Locked)

Later that night, Kael stood at the edge of the Mirror Maze.

Zeid and Veyrix remained inside, discussing things he wasn't ready to hear.

He looked at his hand — the one that held the soul fragment — and watched a faint red ember flicker inside his skin.

Not all of it was his.

But he would learn to master it.

Before it mastered him.

Far above, deep in the sky, an airship hovered behind magical clouds.

Inside stood a man cloaked in white steel.

Watching Kael through enchanted glass.

He turned to a scribe beside him. "Initiate Project Mirrorfall. He's waking up too fast."

The scribe hesitated. "But the council—"

The man's eyes glowed silver.

"I am the council now."

Next Chapter: The Mirrorfall Memory -"The Mirrorfall Directive" — A secret guild authority marks Kael for "containment." Meanwhile, Kael and Lyra investigate a ruined cathedral holding memory-locked weapons from the first