Alysse’s POV
By the time I reached the final trial…
I wasn’t the same person anymore.
My body ached.
My heart was heavy.
My soul… torn between two bonds that refused to break.
But I was still standing.
And that had to mean something.
The path led me to a vast, open clearing.
Unlike the others—
There was no darkness here.
No monsters.
No illusions.
Just light.
Soft. Golden. Endless.
It stretched across the ground, the sky, the air—like I had stepped into another realm entirely.
I frowned slightly.
“This is the final trial?” I asked.
My voice echoed gently around me.
No answer.
No instructions.
No enemy.
Nothing.
I took a cautious step forward.
Then another.
The light didn’t hurt.
It felt…
Warm.
Familiar.
Like something I had always known but never understood.
“
