The doors groaned as they opened—massive arcs of starforged obsidian etched with a thousand runes older than the sun itself. Light did not pour through them. It was pulled inward. Drawn like a breath into the deep, waiting dark beyond.
Maximilian stepped into the Crucible of Souls.
Behind him, the Flamebound Chamber sealed shut. He was alone now—no allies, no professors, no watching rivals. Only the System, and the presence buried within the dungeon's heart. Even his aura bent under the weight of this place. The Crucible was a soultrial, one of the few tests that reached beyond combat or knowledge. Here, the flames judged the very structure of a person's identity.
It wasn't just about strength. It was about truth.
Phase One: The Mirror Gate
The Crucible's opening chamber resembled a broken cathedral. Spiraled columns rose to a shattered dome, through which the sky burned with stars unfamiliar even to Maximilian's astral senses. The air shimmered with coalesced memory. Each step he took left footprints in golden ash.
A pedestal awaited at the chamber's center, and upon it: a mirror.
But it did not show his face.
It showed his potential.
An older version of Maximilian stared back—clad in stellar-weave regalia, a crown of shattered constellations upon his brow. Beneath his hand, the System twisted like a leash. Countless kneeling figures surrounded him—some familiar, some monstrous, others divine.
He blinked. The vision fractured.
Then it spoke.
"Would you walk this path, Maximilian Kriegswald?"
"The Path of the Worldforger, breaker of fate. He who bends time and soul alike."
The choice hung before him like a blade.
Rejecting it would mean safety, obscurity.
Accepting it…
"I do not walk for thrones," he said quietly. "I walk because I must."
The mirror shattered. Shards of fate scattered.
And the gate opened.
Phase Two: The Soulforge Gauntlet
Maximilian stepped into the next chamber and found it transformed into a rotating labyrinth of floating platforms, each pulsing with runes and shifting mana flow. Souls—fragmented echoes of ancient warriors—materialized at each crossing.
The System flickered:
Trial Parameters UpdatedPhase: Soulforge GauntletObjective: Survive for 144 soul-seconds.Bonus Objective: Absorb three Ascendant Soul Cores.
Ghosts came. Dozens.
He drew Zeitbrecher—but this time, he activated its soulsplit mode.
"Form Shift: Blade of Diverging Threads."
A shimmer of blue and silver light erupted from the hilt. He became a blur, moving not in time, but between timelines. Every strike carved echoes from reality, reducing the soul-phantoms to data traces.
One soul—a massive armored figure—resisted. It struck him across three timelines at once. Maximilian screamed as three versions of his body fractured momentarily before converging.
But he held.
He invoked a new trait: Astral Core Resonance.
His aura flared—white and silver interlaced with stellar flame.
The soul shattered.
Ascendant Soul Core Acquired: [Ardent-Seeker Lucien]Trait Unlocked: Pulse Weaving – Tier A+
Seconds ticked. Sweat streamed down Maximilian's temple. But when the trial ended, he stood—bloody, blazing, breathing.
Trial Success. Ranking: S.Soul Integrity: 92%.
Political Intrigue – The Watchers in Flame
Unseen by Maximilian, the trial's outcome was being watched.
In the uppermost tower of the Sovereignty Chamber, the Flamebound Council gathered. Projected above the central table, Maximilian's aura signature pulsed.
Archflame Meisterin Veltraxa narrowed her eye.
"He is accelerating too quickly. Even for an S+."
Lord Rauven of Emberwrought scoffed. "He hides something. Perhaps we force the truth?"
"No," said another voice—gentle, shadowed. Maelis der Aschenträgerin stepped forward, her black-flame robes trailing silence.
"He is not ready. But soon… he will need us."
"And if he rejects your Unaligned path?" asked Warden Stahlgrau.
Maelis smiled faintly. "Then the flame will choose. Or it will consume him."
Phase Three: The Forgeheart Memory
The final chamber of the Crucible revealed no enemies.
Instead, a throne of ancient crystal rose from a lake of molten starlight. The moment Maximilian stepped forward, it consumed him—not his body, but his soul.
He found himself elsewhere.
A memory. But not his own.
He was in a ruined citadel surrounded by ash. An empire burned. People screamed. The sky was split by a falling star—and from that wound descended a being cloaked in cosmic shadow. A Worldbreaker, born of forgotten divinities.
A young man—Maximilian's mirror—stood before it with a weapon made of singing light.
He fought.
He lost.
But before the shadow could claim him, the man raised a hand—and sealed his soul into a golden shard. A shard now embedded deep in Maximilian's own heart.
He awoke gasping.
Class Synchronization Increased: 54%Path of the Star Soul – Stage II AwakenedNew Title: Echo of the Worldforge
Item Profile: Zeitbrecher (Evolutive Form II)
Name: Zeitbrecher – Phasebound Variant
Type: Soullinked Weapon – Tier S
Mode: Longsword / Chakram / Soulsplit Blade
Unique Trait: Chrono-Breach (Allows time-state shifting within micro-realms)
Soul Compatibility: 98%
New Function Unlocked: Threadmirror Severance – Instantly split a chosen enemy's action into three future scenarios and reflect one.
Lore Drop: The Path of the Star Soul (Stage II)
Few have ever touched the Stellarweave. Fewer still survive the Star Soul's Second Awakening.
This path grants the bearer partial access to Worldforger Memory Echoes—allowing them to weave fragments of impossible futures into current reality. At this stage, Maximilian can alter not just his actions, but his existential positioning—becoming more difficult to track or predict.
But the cost is steep. Every thread pulled from the Worldforger's Loom frays another part of his soul.
Epilogue: The Visitor in the Flames
Back in his quarters, Maximilian knelt before the quiet brazier. He hadn't spoken since the Crucible.
Kira Eisenmoor entered but paused in the doorway.
"You're different."
He looked up. "I saw… who I was. Who I might become."
"And?"
"I'm not afraid of it. Not anymore."
From the shadows, Maelis stepped forth.
"That's good," she said. "Because the next trial is not one of strength. It's politics. The Houses are preparing to vote. They want to name a Flamebound Heir."
Maximilian's eyes narrowed.
"Let them try."
End of Chapter 20 – Der Seelenschmelztiegel – The Crucible of Souls