Sleep didn't take her.
It dragged her.
One blink on the straw mat in the slave barracks, and Uchi was somewhere else. The heat of the arena was gone. The stink of sweat and iron vanished. What replaced it was cold stone and endless dark, as if the world had been stripped to bone.
Chains ran across the floor like glowing veins. Every time she breathed, they pulsed faintly.
[ SHADOW TRIAL INITIATED. ]
Her jaw clenched. "So it begins."
A laugh drifted out of the dark. Not cruel, not kind — just… hers.
The other Uchi stepped into view. Same hair. Same scar. Same set to the jaw. But her eyes were calmer, smoother, like every sharp edge had been filed down into something smug.
"You've been busy," the shadow said, circling slow. "Breaking collars. Playing mentor. Collecting strays." She smirked. "Hope they thank you before they betray you."
Uchi set her feet. "If they stab me, I'll train the next one not to."
The shadow chuckled. "That's the problem. You think teaching makes you stronger. But teaching makes me stronger. Every vow, every chain you tie — all of it feeds me."
The System cut through her words.
[ TRIAL OBJECTIVE: PROTECT THE STUDENT. FAILURE RESULTS IN PENALTY. ]
The boy appeared behind her, shoulders hunched, collar still heavy, eyes wide with confusion. His voice trembled. "Where… where are we?"
"Nowhere that matters," Uchi said, stepping between him and the shadow. "Stay behind me."
The shadow spread her arms. "Cute. Let's see how long you can keep him alive."
She lunged.
The speed was brutal — faster than Uchi remembered being. A palm strike aimed not for her but for the boy's face.
Uchi twisted, intercepting with her forearm. Pain bloomed sharp as fire. She shoved him back. The chain between them rattled.
The shadow's grin widened. "You're slow. He's dead weight. We both know it."
She came again, fists precise, targeting the boy's knees, his ribs, his throat. Every strike forced Uchi to step wider, block harder, guard more desperately.
Her lungs burned. Her arms screamed. It wasn't just like fighting herself. It was like fighting herself with every hesitation ripped out.
"Every time you hold back," the shadow murmured, slamming her into the ground, "you bleed."
Uchi rolled, dragging the boy with her, barely avoiding a stomp that shattered stone.
The System pulsed.
[ STUDENT PROTECTED. ]
[ XP AWARDED. ]
The boy whimpered. "I can't—"
"You can." Uchi hauled him up. "You stand, or you die. That's all there is."
He shook, but his knees locked. He didn't fall again.
The shadow circled, amused. "You're not a master. You're a leash. You can't free yourself, so you chain others. Pathetic."
Her laugh echoed. Then she struck.
The clash was savage. Uchi blocked high, countered low, twisted the chain as a weapon. The shadow matched every move, mirrored it with sharper angles, uglier intent. It was like sparring a reflection that enjoyed every cruelty she'd ever buried.
Her arms shook. Her ribs burned where a strike landed clean. The boy stumbled once more, dragging her sideways. She saved him anyway.
The System answered.
[ STUDENT PROTECTED. ]
[ SHARED XP AWARDED. ]
The boy gasped — he felt it too. His next strike, clumsy as it was, actually slowed the shadow down for half a breath.
That breath was enough.
Uchi feinted high, looped the chain low, and snapped it tight around the shadow's wrist. The other her jerked, surprised. Uchi pivoted, drove her weight down, and slammed the shadow into the stone.
The floor cracked. Dust rose.
The System thrummed.
[ TRIAL PASSED. ]
[ MENTORSHIP BOND: SECURED. ]
[ REWARD UNLOCKED: NEW SKILL — CHAIN GRASP. ]
The shadow laughed through blood. Her eyes gleamed.
"Every promise you keep feeds me," she whispered. "Every one you break frees me. Either way… I win."
Then she melted back into the dark.
Uchi blinked awake on the straw mat. Sweat drenched her back. Her arms ached like she had really fought.
Beside her, the boy slept, curled like an animal, but his breath was steady.
She touched the chain linking them. It didn't feel like iron anymore. It felt like choice.
Above, nobles whispered in the night, already calculating odds and futures. Already asking if a slave who turned victories into lessons might be more dangerous than any Beast.