SUPREME ARCH-MAGUS

Chapter 981: 3 Wisdom Steps!

Kent drank wine that sparkled with stars. He bathed in moonlit springs with the goddess, whose name was Liora, meaning “Light of the First Ocean.” She kissed his wounds, fed him with her hands, whispered that he had no more burdens. No enemies. No war. No destiny.

“You’ve fought enough,” she told him one night as they lay under the cherry trees. “Why must you suffer? Why chase impossible dreams when everything you seek is right here?”

She held his face with both hands. “Stay. Be mine. Let us raise our children, grow old together, and when the stars fall… we will fall together.”

Kent smiled.

And he believed it.

Years passed—so it seemed. His beard grew. His strength mellowed. The battlefield became a dream, a distant echo.

He was father to four. Husband to a divine being. Master of a domain of peace.

Until one night, in the middle of a gentle rain, he sat in silence, watching his youngest child sleep in his arms. Something stirred.

A faint buzzing.

It was almost like… thunder.

His heart beat faster.

The child in his arms blinked up at him and smiled. “Why are you sad, Father?”

“I… don’t know,” he murmured, brushing the boy’s hair aside.

Liora came and took the child away. She kissed his forehead. “You mustn’t worry, love. You’re safe here. Everything is fine.”

But Kent stood slowly.

He looked up.

The sky.

It was… too perfect. Every star was in place. Every cloud too gentle. Every breeze too timed.

Something was wrong.

“This isn’t real.”

He whispered it aloud.

Liora turned. Her expression remained calm, but her eyes—those perfect, celestial eyes—flashed ever so slightly with unease.

“Darling,” she said sweetly, “don’t be ridiculous. You’ve just overthought. Rest. Let me bring your favorite wine.”

Kent closed his eyes.

Then he opened them again, not with the gaze of a husband—but of a warrior.

“No.”

He stepped back.

Memories poured into him like a dam breaking. The bow. The war. Neela. Nyara. Jojo. The Naga clan. The Forbidden Abyss. His oath.

Liora reached for him again, this time her fingers trembling.

“Kent… don’t go. I love you. You chose this. We built everything here.”

Kent stared at her.

And smiled with gratitude, not affection.

“You showed me what my heart could long for. But I never asked for peace bought with forgetfulness. I’m not ready to rest. Not yet.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but this time they glowed like stars.

And then… everything shattered.

The world collapsed into water, and the sky above turned into glass that cracked and split. The children, the servants, the golden palace—gone like breath from a mirror.

Only Kent remained, floating in a sea of memories.

And before him appeared the Golden Circle, now radiating with brilliance.

The Guardian’s voice echoed:

“You passed the first trial, O Scaled One.”

“You were offered everything your soul craved. Not power. Not lust. But peace. A life. A family. An end.”

“And yet, you chose truth over comfort. Purpose over paradise.”

The sea beneath him trembled as the next gateway opened.

“Prepare for the Three Wisdom Steps. There is no rest here, only the refining of the spirit.”

Kent raised his eyes, fire igniting in his blood.

He stepped forward.

The legacy awaited.

–

The golden light of the illusion trial faded. Kent found himself standing on a spiral staircase made entirely of polished sea stone, suspended in an endless void of deep blue water and starlight.

This was the beginning of the Three Wisdom Steps.

As he placed his foot on the first step, the air—though underwater—grew heavy with spiritual pressure. The silence was absolute, until a low chuckle echoed from the mist that rose from the next platform.

Kent narrowed his eyes.

A shadow formed in the fog ahead—massive and slow-moving. The mist parted like a curtain, revealing a hunched figure. Its spine curved like the arch of an ancient bridge. Its face was hidden beneath the mane of seaweed hair. Its body resembled a twisted seahorse, with claws instead of fins and a mouth stitched in all directions, though it could somehow still speak.

“Greetings, Scaled One,” it rasped. “You’ve passed the illusions of desire, but now comes the trial of judgment. Sit, listen, and answer.”

It raised its long, scaly arm and conjured a floating stone firepit in mid-water, above which the blue flames danced eerily. Kent, still weary but sharp, lowered himself cross-legged before the beast.

“What tale do you offer?” Kent asked calmly.

The creature’s mouth twitched. Then, it began.

The Tale of the Just King and the Silent Prince

“Long ago, in the Eastern Sea Province, there ruled a king named Vayan, who was known for his wisdom and love for his people. He had three sons, each born under different omens. The youngest, Prince Dulan, was born on a silent night when even the waves stilled. And from that day on, the child never spoke a word.

The healers said he had no ailment. The monks said he held secrets not yet meant to be uttered. But the people whispered, ’A prince who does not speak cannot rule.’

One day, a mysterious sage visited the palace. He was cloaked in ash robes and wore no shoes. He said, ’O King Vayan, your land is bound for great trial. A plague shall come, unless a prince is sacrificed into the Abyssal-Spring of Sorrows.’

The eldest prince stepped forward but was told he was too proud. The second tried to bribe the sage for a solution, but his heart was impure. Then all eyes turned to the silent Prince Dulan.

He neither nodded nor resisted.

The king, torn with grief, asked, ’My son, will you give yourself to save the realm?’

For the first time in his life, Prince Dulan spoke.

He said, ’If my death gives life, let it be so.’

And then he walked into the Spring.

But as he vanished, the sage smiled—and transformed into a celestial being. He cried aloud, ’He who gives willingly is never lost!’ and vanished with the spring.

From that moment, the kingdom flourished. The silent-prince became a legend.”

The beast paused, eyes glowing. “Now then, Oh scaled one. answer my question without any lies. If you were silent even after knowing the answer, your head will split into 1000 pieces…”

Its voice shifted, sharper now as it face Kent.

“Did the king do right by letting his son walk into death, knowing he had other children?”

“Was it the prince’s duty to obey and die?”

“Or was this all an injustice masked by sacrifice?”