Kael left the Awakening Hall under a chorus of whispers.
“A C-Rank Sword Summoner?”
“What a waste.
I thought he might surprise us.”
“He’ll probably end up selling enchanted weapons instead of fighting.”
None of the comments bothered him.
In his previous life, he had learned that the loudest critics were often the first to flee when monsters appeared.
As he walked through the academy courtyard, the voice of Astra echoed in his mind.
“Master, are humans always this foolish?”
Kael smiled faintly.
“Not all of them.”
“Good.
I was beginning to think intelligence had gone extinct.”
He nearly laughed out loud.
For a legendary Divine Sword, Astra was unexpectedly sarcastic.
The academy grounds were bustling with newly awakened students celebrating their talents.
Merchants had already set up stalls selling enchanted accessories, practice weapons, and lucky charms.
Kael ignored them all.
Instead, he made his way toward an abandoned storage building on the eastern edge of the campus.
It looked ordinary.
Broken windows.
Cracked walls.
Overgrown weeds.
No student had entered it for years.
But Kael remembered.
Three months from now, a maintenance worker would accidentally discover a hidden chamber beneath the building.
Inside was an ancient trial that granted immense rewards to the first person who completed it.
In his previous life, that prize had gone to a future villain who used it to massacre entire cities.
This time, Kael intended to claim it himself.
He pushed open the creaking door.
Dust filled the air.
The room was empty except for old shelves and shattered furniture.
Walking to the center, he crouched and brushed away decades of grime from the floor.
There.
A circular symbol carved into the stone.
He pressed his palm against it.
Nothing happened.
Astra spoke softly.
“Use mana.”
Kael focused, channeling the faint energy he had awakened only hours earlier.
The symbol glowed.
Ancient runes spread across the floor like veins of liquid gold.
With a deafening rumble, the stone split apart, revealing a staircase descending into darkness.
“So it’s still here,” Kael whispered.
The underground chamber was unlike anything above.
Massive pillars stretched into shadow.
Blue flames burned without fuel.
At the center stood a stone pedestal holding a single bronze key.
The moment Kael stepped forward, the chamber trembled.
Three armored statues emerged from the walls, their eyes blazing crimson.
Trial Initiated.
Defeat the Guardians.
The statues charged.
Kael instinctively reached toward the Infinite Sword Archive.
A silver flash appeared in his hand.
Astra.
Though only partially unsealed, her blade shimmered with impossible sharpness.
The first guardian swung a colossal axe.
Kael sidestepped and slashed.
The axe split cleanly in half.
So did the guardian.
The cut was so perfect that the statue remained standing for a heartbeat before collapsing into two neat pieces.
The remaining guardians hesitated.
Astra’s voice carried a hint of pride.
“I told you.
I cut anything.”
The second guardian launched a barrage of stone spears.
Kael swung once.
The air itself seemed to divide.
Every spear shattered before reaching him.
The final guardian roared and charged with reckless force.
Kael lowered his stance.
“One strike.”
He moved.
The sword traced a silver arc through the chamber.
The guardian froze.
A thin line appeared across its body.
Then the enormous construct split apart from head to toe.
Silence returned.
The trial had ended in less than ten seconds.
The pedestal began to glow.
The bronze key floated into the air before dissolving into particles of light that entered Kael’s chest.
A message appeared before his eyes.
Congratulations.
You have cleared the Forgotten Trial.
Reward Acquired: Dimensional Inventory.
Kael blinked.
He hadn’t expected this.
In his previous life, the winner had only gained enhanced physical abilities.
“It changed…”
Astra answered immediately.
“History bends when destiny is disturbed.
Your regression is already altering the future.”
That realization unsettled him.
The memories he relied upon might no longer be perfectly accurate.
Every choice he made could create a new path.
As Kael climbed back toward the surface, another message appeared.
Hidden Condition Fulfilled.
Compatibility with Divine Swords: Exceptional.
Preparing to unlock the Second Sword…
Before the message could finish, footsteps echoed outside the storage building.
Someone was approaching.
Kael extinguished the glow around Astra and quietly closed the hidden passage.
The door creaked open.
Standing there was the academy’s top-ranked student, Lyra Valen.
Her icy blue eyes met his, narrowing with suspicion.
“You disappeared right after the awakening,” she said calmly.
Then her gaze drifted to the faint traces of mana lingering in the room.
“You were hiding something.”
Kael kept his expression neutral.
“And if I was?”
For the first time, a faint smile appeared on Lyra’s face.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to find out your secret.”
Unseen by either of them, deep within the Infinite Sword Archive, countless legendary blades began to stir, as though they had sensed the arrival of someone destined to change Kael’s fate forever.