No Goal But Strength

Asako doesn’t chase dreams. He chases power—because power is the only thing that leads upward, through the city, through the arenas, through the systems that protect the ones at the top. Every fight brings him closer. Every shard sharpens him. Each victory pulls him higher. Each step forward closes the distance. The Empire watches him rise. The arenas open their gates. And beyond the gates, beyond the roar of the crowd, beyond the rules written in blood, stands the reason this path exists at all. The man he is hunting. His father.