I Chose This Path, Now the Universe Will Know My Name

Everything here was alive.

Not in the way forests breathe, or rivers move. No — this place thought.

It watched.

The second trial space was a cathedral of roots — glowing with soft green and gold light. The air buzzed with power, not hostile… just expectant. The walls pulsed like a heartbeat.

"Trial Two: Understanding Purpose," the voice echoed once again. "Begin."

I stood still for a moment, trying to feel what was different.

There were no enemies this time.

No obvious challenge.

Just… silence.

And a question.

My body still ached from the fight with the other "me" — but something deeper hurt now. A fatigue in my spirit. Like the adrenaline had worn off and all that was left was me… standing alone with the truth.

"Purpose…"

What was my purpose?

To win the tournament?

To survive?

To make a wish I hadn't even thought of?

I walked slowly through the winding passage. As I moved, images flickered across the root walls — ghost-like and soft.

My bedroom in Florida.My mom making breakfast.Anime still playing on my laptop.Tairo — smiling.Lyssira — laughing just a little.My name, glowing in the sky.

They weren't memories. They were pieces.

Fragments of me.The life before.

Then came the new images. Not memories — projections.

Me, standing over a mountain of defeated foes.

Me, holding a crown made of roots.

Me, burning with wings and light and scales—

I stopped.

That image.

It wasn't just powerful. It felt inevitable.

"Is this who I become?" I asked aloud.

The trial didn't answer.

Instead, the light dimmed… and I was no longer alone.

A child stood in front of me.

Seven, maybe eight years old. Brown skin. Wide eyes. Wearing a hoodie way too big for him.

He looked… exactly like me.

"You remember me?" he asked.

"You're me. When I was a kid."

He nodded.

"You used to dream big. Thought the stars had names. Thought the sky could be touched."

"And now?"

"Now you're scared."

I swallowed hard.

"I'm doing what I have to. To survive."

"That's not purpose," he whispered. "That's desperation."

He lifted a small hand and pointed.

"So what do you want, Zavier? Not just today. Not just to win. What's the reason you keep standing up?"

The room shook.

Roots snapped, splitting apart.

A blinding light spilled in from above — from the ceiling of the world.

And through it, I saw the Tree again.

But this time, I wasn't looking at it.

I was looking through it.

The roots spanned worlds. Stars. Realities.Each thread connecting lives. Struggles. Choices.

Then the voice returned.

But it wasn't cold this time. It wasn't mechanical.

It was ancient. Alive.

"Purpose is not given. It is chosen."

"So choose, Zavier King."

"What do you fight for?"

I stepped forward.

The little version of me smiled faintly.

And I said the words without thinking.

"I fight so I never have to lose anyone else."

"So no one like me ever feels powerless again."

The world erupted in light.

The roots wrapped upward, forming a cocoon of glowing vines that surrounded me, not trapping me — transforming me.

Not physically. Not yet.

But something clicked inside me.

A core.

A center.

I didn't just want to survive now.

I wanted to grow because others couldn't.

Because I had to.

"Trial Two Passed."

"Purpose: Accepted."

And just like that, I was falling again.

Not down… but across.

LYSSIRA

It had been over a full day.

The mana wards around the gate pulsed weaker now, my own reserves low. I hadn't slept. Had barely eaten. But I'd waited.

Then — the gate flickered.

Just for a second.

Not opening.

Just… breathing.

"Zavier…?"

But he didn't come out.

Instead, the snow rose.

Fast.

Too fast.

Something massive passed overhead — a shadow blotting out light, wings made of stone and smoke.

I ducked behind the bones, eyes wide.

"What in the stars…"

I reached for my spear, unsure if it would matter. Because that wasn't a creature.

That was an Apex-Class.A monster fit for the final stages of evolution.

And it was heading… toward the Tree.