Ancestral Lineage

The world fell silent as they approached the cliff.

No wind. No sound. Not even breath.

Just the towering obsidian wall of the Mirror Climb, rippling faintly with mirage-like distortions — a sheer ascent littered with crystalline outcrops, jagged ledges, and floating shards that shimmered like fragments of broken thoughts.

Maverick let out a slow whistle. "Looks like the wall's been staring at itself for too long."

"It's staring into us," Sage muttered. "Be careful what you let it find."

Ethan activated the Grimoire's veil, a shimmering dome around the group to dampen ambient psychic feedback. "This will protect us only from the surface effects. The rest is up to us."

Saareiya gripped Ethan's cloak. "Will it… show us things?"

"Yes," Galeno replied gently. "Things you fear. Things you've buried. The Mirror Climb shows not just illusion—it reflects desire, guilt, and failure. All you must do… is not believe it."

"Do not trust what you see," Ethan warned. "Not even each other. Trust only my voice."

They stepped onto the path, feet crunching softly on psychic frost.

They hadn't gone far when it began.

Whispers echoed, faint at first.

Then louder.

"You abandoned her."

"You're too weak to lead them."

"She's already dead."

"Monster. Failure. Weapon."

Saareiya gasped and looked back—only to see her own reflection grinning from a fractured shard in the wall, eyes black, mouth split too wide.

Ethan gripped her hand. "Ignore it. Eyes forward."

She nodded, trembling.

Maverick suddenly paused. "Hold up… that's—" He stared at a figure floating above the ledge—a younger version of himself, wings tattered, eyes lifeless.

"You lost them all. You could've saved them," the reflection whispered.

"Shut up," Maverick snarled, shaking his head. "That's not real. That's not me!"

Stygian barked, "Then stop staring and climb, dumbass."

A moment of tension—then Maverick laughed harshly. "Still bossy, huh, Temper Furnace?"

"Climb."

Halfway up the cliff, the climb became steeper.

The stones beneath them began to shift — hands reached from the walls, grabbing at their legs, whispering old memories.

Sage's eyes flared with sound. "The illusions are stabilizing. I can disrupt them."

He placed a clawed hand on the wall. Grey concentric sound waves pulsed from his forehead symbol — bwooom — reverberating through the cliff.

The whispers cracked. The hands retracted. The wall shuddered.

"You good?" Ethan asked.

"Fine," Sage replied, though his voice was tighter than usual. "Let's keep moving."

They did. Up and up—until they reached a ledge overlooking the valley below.

And that's when they saw it.

Herself.

Standing at the top, silhouetted in red light. Four arms. Crown of spikes. Nine-spiked tail.

Queen Ashtora.

Or rather, an illusion of her. Watching. Smiling.

"Come, then," her voice echoed in their minds. "Break, one by one."

With a wave of her arm, the cliff fractured again.

Ethan blinked—and suddenly he was alone.

Alone in darkness. Standing on broken stone. The others… gone.

"Ethan?"

He turned to see Onyx, crying. "Why did you leave me?" she whispered. "Why did you choose them over me?"

"No," he said coldly. "You're not her."

The illusion smiled and faded.

"Nice," said Maverick, stepping out of the fog nearby. "Passed your test?"

"Apparently. You?"

"Oh, I punched mine."

They kept moving, illusions shattering one by one. Galeno's will held firm. Sage resonated sound barriers to guide them. Stygian simply burned through every false construct with raw intent.

Saareiya stumbled once—nearly pulled into a memory of her as a child, sobbing while her mother screamed for help.

Ethan caught her.

"Not now. Hold on to now."

She looked up at him—tears in her eyes—and nodded.

At last, the illusions broke.

The shimmer stopped.

The wind returned.

They stood at the top of the Mirror Climb—on a flat cliff ledge overlooking the E'Sheril stronghold below. Obsidian towers. Floating guards. Psychic barriers crackling with resonance.

Galeno took a breath. "She knows we're here now."

"She was waiting anyway," Sage said.

Ethan turned to them all. "Get ready. From here on out, there will be no illusions—only truth."

"Good," Stygian growled, summoning his flames. "I'm done playing."

Maverick rolled his shoulders. "Let's knock."

Saareiya stood beside Ethan, resolve burning in her.

"Let's get my mom back."

"Good. I'll leave her rescue—and the tribe—to you," Ethan said, his voice calm but resolute. "I'll deal with the Queen myself."

His form began to shift.

Maverick grinned, teeth flashing. "Are you planning to go all out?"

Ethan's smirk mirrored his. "I can't afford to hold back. Not against something with Saint-level power—especially one who wields true Psychic magic, not just an affinity."

As he spoke, his hair lengthened and shimmered like energy, golden streaks pulsing with quiet intensity. A third eye—deep blue and serpentine—opened on his forehead: the Psyche-Eye. His sweater disintegrated into sparks, revealing a sculpted upper body inscribed with glowing alchemic tattoos. The markings radiated a soft, dark blue light that rippled with power.

"I'll go all out. Most of my other abilities are sealed, but this—I still have. My original power. And the Psyche-Eye."

As his aura burst outward, shaking the air with force, Saareiya instinctively stepped back—eyes wide, stunned again by the magnitude of her master's power.

"Hahaha! You owe me a duel, Master!" Stygian bellowed. His claws extended, fangs lengthened, and his hair erupted into wild, dark purple flames.

"Me too!" Maverick shouted, his own alchemic tattoos flaring to life, echoing Ethan's glow.

"You people never change," Onyx muttered, rolling her eyes. She turned to Saareiya. "You stay with me, sister. You think you can throw some kicks and jabs?"

"Yes!" Saareiya answered with fiery conviction. Her silvery-blue eyes shimmered with inner light, and her hair began to float, charged by rising power.

"Good. Let's show them hell."

"Good luck, Master," Sage said as he gave a respectful bow. A beat later, he unfurled his wings and launched into the skies.

"I'll be waiting," Galeno said quietly, calmly sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Ethan's eye twitched. He still hasn't changed… Even with all the evolution and growth, a tortoise was still a tortoise—divine or not.

"See you on the other side, everyone," Ethan said, casting a last look at his team. "Onyx—Saareiya and her mother come first. Prioritize their safety. And keep your distance. That's an order."

With a snap of his fingers, a golden portal spiraled open before him, light dancing in its core.

He stepped into it without hesitation—and vanished.