Tavari blinked.

  The darkness vanished.

  He stood in a forest.

  Cold air brushed against his skin. Tall trees surrounded him, their branches whispering as the wind passed through them. The ground beneath his feet felt real… too real.

  Tavari raised his hand instinctively.

  Nothing happened.

  No threads.

  No power.

  No connection to the elements.

  For the first time in a long time, he felt completely powerless.

  A sound came from behind him.

  Footsteps.

  Slow.

  Calm.

  Tavari turned.

  And froze.

  Standing a few meters away was another Tavari.

  The same face.

  The same eyes.

  But something about him felt different.

  Colder.

  Stronger.

  This version of Tavari carried no hesitation in his gaze.

  Only certainty.

  “Who are you?” Tavari asked.

  The other Tavari tilted his head slightly, almost amused.

  “I’m you,” he replied.

  Then he attacked.

  The strike came fast.

  Too fast.

  Tavari barely had time to react before pain exploded through his chest.

  He looked down.

  Blood spread across his shirt.

  The other Tavari had driven a blade straight through his heart.

  Tavari collapsed.

  Darkness swallowed him.

  Then—

  He woke up.

  The same forest.

  The same cold wind.

  Tavari gasped and touched his chest.

  A scar ran across it.

  Fresh.

  Burning.

  “What…” he whispered.

  The footsteps returned.

  The other Tavari stood there again.

  Unharmed.

  Waiting.

  They fought again.

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  This time Tavari tried harder.

  He dodged.

  He punched.

  He struggled with everything he had.

  It wasn’t enough.

  He died again.

  He woke again.

  Another scar appeared on his body.

  They fought.

  He died.

  He woke.

  They fought again.

  He died again.

  Each time he returned, a new scar burned across his skin.

  His body became a map of his failures.

  And each time he came back…

  The other Tavari looked stronger.

  Faster.

  More confident.

  Hours passed.

  Or maybe days.

  Tavari couldn’t tell anymore.

  Finally, after another brutal defeat, Tavari fell to his knees.

  Blood covered his body.

  Scars covered his skin.

  The other Tavari walked slowly toward him.

  “You still don’t understand,” the other Tavari said.

  Tavari looked up, breathing heavily.

  “Understand what?” he demanded.

  The other Tavari stopped in front of him.

  His voice was calm.

  “This isn’t a battle.”

  Tavari frowned.

  The other Tavari leaned closer.

  “This… is a test.”

  He placed a hand on Tavari’s chest.

  Right over his heart.

  “You cannot weave reality,” he said quietly,

  “until you defeat the only enemy that can truly destroy you.”

  Tavari stared at him.

  Confused.

  Exhausted.

  Then the other Tavari whispered the final words.

  “Yourself.”

  The forest began to dissolve.

  The world around Tavari cracked like broken glass.

  Far above, inside the Tower, the Watcher suddenly lifted his head.

  Behind the white mask, his eyes widened slightly.

  “Ah,” he murmured.

  “It begins.”

  End of Chapter 36