Night fell quietly over the Whispering Isles, but Kael couldn't sleep.
The wind carried no sound, and the waves, usually so full of life, had gone dead silent—as if holding their breath.
He sat by the edge of the cliff, staring into the ocean's pitch-black depths, the echo of Selrik's words looping in his mind:
| "The sea catches you because it wants to see more."
But what if it didn't like what it saw?
---
🌊 A Memory Resurfaces
Without warning, the Tideborn Flame on his chest flared—then burned cold.
He was yanked into a memory.
Flames. Screams. The scent of salt mixed with blood.
He stood again at the edge of his village, watching the ocean rise—not to save—but to destroy.
A dark silhouette, armored in coral and bone, emerged from the tide. The Ocean Warlord. The man who broke everything.
Kael shouted. No one heard.
He ran. Too late.
His mother's voice was the last thing he remembered—her scream cutting off as the sea swallowed her.
---
He woke up gasping, the mark glowing furiously.
And beside him stood Lirien.
"You saw it again."
He didn't answer.
She sat next to him in silence, then said, "Pain either drowns us… or teaches us to breathe deeper."
Kael whispered, "I don't want to breathe. I want them to suffer."
Her gaze hardened. "Good. You're finally speaking like someone who understands the sea."
---
🌀 The Storm's Test – Trial Two
The next morning, she led him to a new trial.
This time, a chamber carved into an underwater cave, lit only by glowing jellyfish and eerie blue crystals.
"You will fight… yourself," Lirien said simply.
In the center of the cave, water shimmered—and formed into a perfect reflection of Kael.
Same face. Same blade. Same pain.
But the reflection smiled cruelly. "You don't need allies. You don't need mercy. You need power."
The fight was brutal.
Every blow was met, every thought countered. But slowly, Kael began to adapt—not with rage, but with precision.
He feigned, struck, and finally shattered the illusion.
---
🔥 New Technique: "Mirror Fang"
Allows Kael to mimic an opponent's attack moments before they make it, based on reading body tension and water displacement.
---
As the image dissolved, Kael stood alone.
Lirien's voice echoed:
| "You don't fight the world by being loud. You fight it by becoming the quiet before the wave."
---
🕯️ End of Chapter Six
That night, Kael didn't dream.
He watched the sea.
And for the first time…
It blinked first.