The fiftieth floor of Azura Tower wasn't just another match. The air itself felt heavy with expectation. The stands were crammed with gamblers, brokers, and thrill-seekers who knew this was no ordinary duel. This was spectacle. The announcer's voice cut through the roar of the crowd like a blade:
"Ladies and gentlemen—Stray and Shadowborn versus the Cult of Three!"
The gates shuddered open. Kai stepped forward with Velnix cloaked over him like a living shadow, and Mattethis emerged beside him, expression sharpened and unreadable. On the opposite side, three figures in bone-white robes drifted out. They were cultists, masks carved to resemble cracked skulls, eyes glinting with the glow of resonance. Their guardians flickered in and out: a whip of chain, a serpent made of ash, and a shield formed from writhing hands.
The gong rang.
The cultists didn't hesitate—they attacked as one, moving with eerie unity. The chain cracked across the sand, aiming to wrap around Matt's ankle. He ducked back, shadow-stepping across the arena to reappear behind the wielder, striking for the throat. At the same time, the ash-serpent lunged toward Kai, jaws snapping.
Kai lifted a hand. Velnix burst from cloak form into a streak of crimson-black energy, severing the serpent's body in midair before it could reach him. The crowd roared at the display, but the kill didn't take—the serpent reformed instantly, smoke drawing itself back together.
Kai grimaced. "Figures."
The third cultist stepped forward, pressing hands together. A ripple of resonance expanded outward—dozens of clawing hands burst from the sand to drag Kai down. Velnix swept through them like a scythe, but the hands multiplied faster than he could cut.
"Kai!" Matt's voice cut through. He lunged, pulling Kai free of the grasping sand, but in that moment Velnix shifted again—cloak spreading, shadow stretching wider to blind the cultists.
And that was when Matt's burden triggered.
The instant Velnix's cloak cut off visibility, the audience, the cultists, even Kai himself lost track of Mattethis. It wasn't stealth—it was erasure. Burden of Forgetability. When unseen, Matt simply… slipped. The mind refused to remember he existed. Even his enemies froze, eyes darting, trying to recall who else had stepped into the arena.
Kai blinked, momentarily rattled. The arena held him, Velnix, and the cultists. His chest tightened. Wait—wasn't there someone else?
Then Matt struck.
He erupted from a shadow behind the chain wielder, dagger flashing. He cut deep into the man's ribs, twisting before the cultist could cry out. Blood sprayed, the whip faltering. But even as Matt vanished back into the shadows, the burden twisted reality again. The cultist staggered, clutching his side, confusion etched into his face. "What—what hit me?!"
The crowd gasped but many of them whispered too, already doubting their own eyes.
Kai forced himself to focus. He couldn't afford to lose track of his partner, even if the burden made memory slippery. He clenched his teeth, letting resonance hum through his veins. "Velnix—lock the serpent."
The spirit obeyed, spreading wide tendrils to bind the smoke-beast in place. It writhed, shrieking, but Kai pressed his palm against it and converted its smoky body into raw red energy. The crowd howled as the serpent disintegrated in his grip.
But the shield-bearer was already closing in, resonance shield slamming toward him with bone-breaking force. Kai raised his hands, caught the strike—but the shield wasn't just defense. The writhing hands latched onto his arms, crawling up his skin, clutching with suffocating grip. He snarled, twisting, but the weight forced him to his knees.
And then, sudden relief. The cultist staggered, blood blooming at the back of his knee. A shadow moved and then was gone. Matt had struck again.
Kai shouted, loud enough to anchor himself. "Matt! With me!"
The sound seemed to tether Matt's existence for a breath. He shadow-stepped beside Kai, face hard, daggers ready. Together, they pushed forward. Kai blasted the shield apart with a burst of red aura, sending the cultist tumbling. Matt pivoted instantly, driving his blade into the man's chest before he could recover.
Two down. One remained.
The chain wielder roared, fury breaking his composure. He lashed wildly, resonance whipping across the sand, gouging deep trenches. Kai dodged left, residual step snapping him behind the cultist. Matt emerged from a shadow at the same time, dagger slicing for the neck.
But the cultist had been waiting. His chain lashed backward, catching Matt across the ribs, flinging him hard into the arena wall. The crowd erupted.
Kai didn't hesitate. He seized the chain mid-swing, blood dripping from his palm, and pulled. Red energy flared down the length of it, searing into the cultist's arm. The man screamed, dropping his weapon.
Matt reappeared, breath ragged, already forgotten by the onlookers. His dagger found the cultist's heart.
Silence fell.
Then the crowd erupted into chaos—cheers, curses, shouts, gamblers clawing at each other as credits shifted hands.
Kai stood in the center of the arena, chest heaving, Velnix flickering at his side. Matt leaned against the wall, half-faded by his burden, blood streaking his ribs but eyes sharp. For a heartbeat, Kai almost lost him again—mind tugging away from the memory. But he forced himself to look, to see.
"Still breathing?" Kai called.
Matt gave a thin smile. "Barely. But enough."
The announcer's voice thundered:
"Winners—Kai the Stray, and the Shadowborn you'll never remember!"
The fiftieth floor was theirs.
Kai stood in the center of the arena, chest heaving, Velnix flickering faintly at his side. Matt leaned against the wall, half-faded by his burden, blood streaking his ribs but eyes sharp. For a heartbeat, Kai almost lost him again—mind tugging away from the memory—until Matt caught his gaze and steadied him.
The crowd's roar washed over them, but Kai's mind drifted elsewhere. A question gnawed. Why hadn't Sovereign's cold voice rung in his ears the way it always did? Why had the notifications felt faint and delayed, as though muted behind glass?
The thought slipped out before he could restrain it: Why am I not hearing them?
A familiar presence stirred in his head.
[Oh, I turned that off a while back.]
Kai blinked. What?
Matt tilted his head at the sharp whisper, catching only Kai's audible reaction:
"What—why?"
Matt frowned but said nothing, confusion flickering in his eyes before he dismissed it, too used to Kai's odd mutters.
The reply came soft, almost sheepish:
[I just assumed you didn't want to be reminded of your kills. Every voice announcing blood. Every Boon tagged to a corpse. It felt… heavy. I've toggled it back on. Sorry, Kai. I'll try to be more helpful.]
Kai's throat tightened. He said nothing, only exhaled slowly, the weight of unseen eyes pressing down on him. Notifications began to whisper back into place, faint chimes carried on Sovereign's current. The reminder of what he had done—and what he was still becoming.
Matt straightened off the wall, wincing but grinning despite it. "Come on. Let's get out of here before they decide we're too expensive to keep alive."
Kai followed, the system's voice echoing freshly in his ears again.
[You have slain: Cultist Zehr.]
[You have received a Boon.]
[You have slain: Cultist Hark.]
[You have received a Attribute.]
[You have slain: Cultist Rhask.]
[You have received a soul item.]
The weight of it sat heavier now that he knew it had been hidden from him.
[I talked to sovereign and we decided that you both deserve the rewards for the kill even though Matt killed the others]
"Thank you"