The hall was unusually quiet, the echoes of Arthur Frederick's failed breakthrough still lingering. Students and instructors alike had felt the surge of energy when he attempted to step into the Adept realm—and fail.
When they approached, Arthur lay on the ground, trembling and unresponsive. Murmurs ran through the crowd:
"Did you see that? The energy… it was like nothing we've ever felt."
"He… he didn't make it through. His core… something's wrong."
"Arthur Frederick… he's… unconscious?"
Instructors hurried forward. Carefully, they lifted his inert body, noting the faint pulsing of a strange energy—cold, unyielding, unlike anything they had ever encountered. Even seasoned cultivators felt a chill run down their spines.
"Take him to the infirmary," Kaelen Ryn ordered, voice low and measured. "Keep the area clear. No one approaches until he stabilizes."
A group of students carried him in silence, the hall buzzing now with whispers of fear and awe. By the time they reached the infirmary, Arthur's pulse was weak, body trembling from exhaustion. The lead healer frowned, sensing the unnatural constraint on his mana.
"This isn't just fatigue," the healer murmured. "Something has bound his core. He's… restricted in ways I've never seen before."
As his body was laid on the bed, Arthur's consciousness drifted into the world within Soulborne. The shadows of the fallen coiled around him, pressing on his mind, and suddenly he was thrust into Rex's final moments.
He felt the terror, the desperation, the helplessness of his friend as danger closed in. Every pang of fear, every ounce of pain, every betrayed hope burned into Arthur as if he were living it himself. The memory clawed at him, relentless and suffocating.
His body convulsed on the infirmary bed, sweat soaking him, muscles trembling violently. Then, with a gasp, he snapped awake. Heart hammering, vision blurred, chest heaving, he could feel the chains of Soulborne pulsing around his mana core, enforcing their cold, unyielding judgment.
He tried to move, tried to summon even a fraction of his cultivation—but it was impossible. The SYSTEM's voice echoed sharply in his mind:
SYSTEM NOTICE: SOULBORNE CLASS
Primary Task: Dissolve the resentment of Rex, former best friend.
Status: Target unavailable (Rex has been reincarnated).
Arthur froze, fists clenching. The trial could not begin because the first task—confronting Rex—was impossible. But the SYSTEM continued, indifferent and mechanical:
Sub-Task Assigned: Locate Rex in Alora within 7 days.
Penalty for Failure: Full regression to mortal status. All cultivation lost; body and core weakened.
Seven days. Alora. Find Rex—or lose everything he had worked for.
Arthur's body trembled, exhaustion and lingering pain from Soulborne still coursing through him. The chains around his core reminded him constantly that he was powerless, judged, and trapped by the consequences of his past choices.
"Seven days… I will find him," he muttered, voice hoarse, almost to himself. "No matter what it takes."
The SYSTEM pulsed once more, like a heartbeat:
Sub-Task Timer Initiated: 7 days remaining.
Even lying in the infirmary, weak and shaken, Arthur Frederick understood one brutal truth: the Soulborne trial had only begun, and failure would cost him everything.