Chapter 1: The Nightmare That Wasn't
Kael Ishen awoke with a violent jolt, gasping for air as the remnants of his nightmare clung to him like a suffocating fog. His body felt heavy, soaked with sweat, but it wasn't the fear of the nightmare that troubled him—it was the feeling that something was off.
The room around him was dimly lit, the walls faintly glowing with the purple hue of a distant cityscape. His pulse raced, not from the dream but from the sharp, inexplicable sense that he wasn't alone. A cold chill crawled up his spine.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood. As his feet hit the cold stone floor, his body felt... wrong. Strange, as if it had been stretched to its limits. He staggered, feeling something foreign moving inside him—an unfamiliar energy, a strange power that was not his own.
"What the hell was that?" Kael muttered, wiping his brow. His mind raced to piece together the fragments of his dream. Fighting. Death. A throne.
He gripped the edge of the bed, struggling to gather his thoughts. The nightmare had felt so real, too real. The weight of a sword, the cold wind blowing through his hair as a battle raged around him. And yet, something lingered... a sense of déjà vu. It was like he had been there before.
He shook his head. "Get it together, Kael. It's just a dream." He glanced around the room again, his eyes narrowing as he noticed something odd.
On the far wall, a small, unassuming mirror glowed faintly, its surface rippling like water in a storm. He hadn't seen it before.
He took a step forward, drawn to it by an invisible force. His reflection stared back at him, but it wasn't quite right. The face was his, yes, but the eyes—those were different. Cold, calculating, sharp.
A sudden surge of memories hit him.
He saw himself, not in this room, but in a vast, golden hall—a throne room, perhaps. A crown sat upon his head, a crown that he had never seen in this life. But the power it represented… it was unmistakable. The memories of a king, of battles fought and kingdoms lost, flooded his mind.
His breath caught in his throat. He staggered back, shaking his head, trying to clear the images. But they wouldn't go away. And that voice—deep, commanding—whispered in his ear:
"You are not just Kael Ishen. You are the legacy of countless lives."
Suddenly, a strange sensation washed over him. His heart raced, his hands trembling as he reached up to touch the mirror. The glass shifted, rippling under his fingers like water. And then, it was gone.
He was back in his room, standing in front of the ordinary mirror as if nothing had happened.
But something had.
"System?" Kael muttered, unsure of what he was even expecting.
There was a pause. And then—flashes of light—the world around him seemed to warp, as if reality itself was being recalibrated.
A new voice, one that wasn't his own, whispered inside his mind. "Welcome, Kael Ishen. The Infinite Clone Simulation System has been activated. You have lived countless lives before this one. Now, you will learn from them."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. "What...?"
"Your first trial begins now. Relive your past life. Master its power." The voice faded, leaving behind a tingling sensation in his chest.
Before Kael could even react, the mirror pulsed with light once more, and a world of shadows appeared in front of him.
Without warning, Kael was pulled forward, his body lurching uncontrollably as the mirror swallowed him whole.
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"Thanks for reading! If you liked the start, drop a comment or power stone/vote—Chapter 2 drops in 4 hours