I pushed to my feet, and Wren immediately clutched Chu’s arm, her grip hardening with visible worry as he rose alongside me.

  “Balt, would you be so kind as to protect Chu’s family. I won’t be long.”

  He lifted his drink in a lazy toast, and a shimmering force field bloomed around the table. With that, I stepped out toward the so-called warlord.

  To my surprise, Jase fell into step beside me. He wore a smirk now, back to the cocky brat I’d first met in the Guild master's office. The quiet young man from our walk to the Hungry Dragon now gone without a trace. Chu had a cold; focused glare locked on the group ahead.

  I stopped about fifteen feet from Ryn Don and looked him over.

  The warlord wasn’t quite six feet tall, sporting a short grey beard and long hair tied into a neat ponytail. He wore gaudy purple-and-gold robes, cinched with a dark sash. He looked less like a warlord and more like someone who’d gotten lost on the way to a costume party.

  Identify triggered.

  Jox stepped forward quickly. “That’s him, Warlord. The man I told you about, the Champion Riven.”

  Ryn Don looked me over once… then unleashed his aura at me. It washed over me like a warm breeze. I didn’t even blink. It was strong but nothing compared to the last Floors boss.

  I watched a flicker of confusion go across the Warlords face, a crack in the confidence he was trying to project.

  I gave him a flat, almost bored look. “Listen closely, fuckhead.” My voice surprisingly calm despite my words, “I was enjoying my night, a drink in my hand and good food with friends, before your little boy band crashed my evening. So, here’s the deal: take your purple-robed asses out that door… or this evening turns into the worst night of your life. The choice is yours.”

  The indistinct murmur of patrons had died the moment the Warlord and his men entered, leaving only the creak of floorboards and the faint hiss of the hearth.

  I watched the Warlords face flush bright red, but I stopped him before he could even speak, slicing the air with a sharp gesture of my hand. “Just so you know,” I said, my voice carrying across the now hushed room, “I do not waste breath on empty threats. This is the only warning you’ll get from me, go home now, but if you want to see whether that shiny Warlord title can save you from my boot in your ass… by all means, fuck around and find out.”

  Patron's chairs scraped as they fled to the back of the Hungry Dragon. The purple robed figures the Warlord had brought with him shifted into battle ready stances, ready to surge forward, but Ryn Don raised a hand, stopping them in place like a steel gate shutting in their faces.

  His jaw worked for a time before actual words came out, but when they did his voice was a restrained calm. “I am told the Vice Guild-master referred to you as a Champion. Is this true?”

  I saw no reason to lie. “Yes.”

  The warlord’s eyes narrowed. “A champion has not darkened our doors in some time. I have a proposition for you; one you will accept if you wish to remain breathing. Refuse, and I will kill you and your friends here and now and be done with it.”

  A grin spread across my face, sharp as a blade. “Excellent. So, now we know where one another stands. Look, I don’t give two shits who you think you are. I’m not interested in any proposition you might have, that’s going to be a hard pass, so let's get to you trying to kill me part, I don't have all night.”

  The warlord’s voice cracked like a whip, strained with fury. “Since you seem like an ignorant Kerr, let me enlighten you. The man beside you refused to join the Floating Lotus Sect. Instead, he entered the very tournament where our star pupil, Lee Don, will compete. An obvious attempt to dishonor my sect and me,” I raised my hand again, cutting him off mid-sentence.

  “I sounded out the words like the Warlord was slow. I... don't... give.... a ... shit...wait a second. So, the star student is your son?”

  The Warlord drew himself up in obvious pride. “Yes,” he said. “The best of the best, trained in the Wind Crane style.”

  I leaned forward; the lantern light catching the grin on my face. “Then riddle me this." I said in a loud voice so all could hear. "If Lee Don is so all-powerful, why did you send that eyepatch thug and his cronies to kidnap Chu’s youngest son, Ling? Could it be that your son’s just a sissy, and you knew it? So you tried to stop an actual warrior like Chu from competing? For a guy who talks about honor, that does not sound very honorable to me.”

  The inn seemed to hold its breath. Even the flames in the hearth sputtered low, as if waiting for the Warlord’s answer.

  It didn't take long for Ryn Don to explode. “I was just going to hold the boy for Chu’s own good! What would you know of honor, you witless son of a bi…

  I stopped listening to Ryn Don’s bluster. This was the man who had sent thugs to Chu’s house to snatch Ling, who had threatened to burn this place to the ground simply because Chu was here. I was also certain that Jox, that pissant, had orchestrated this little visit tonight.

  I summoned Ember. The Warlord’s eyes widened at the sight of my blade, and his men reacted instantly, hands rising into fighting stances, steel flashing into existence. Swords. Spears. A chain tipped with a dagger.

  “Outside,” I said, my voice like iron. “You have admitted to trying to kidnap a child and rig the tournament in your favor. No more talk.”

  Ryn Don faltered, words dying in his throat as I leveled Ember’s tip at him. Before he could issue a single order to his men, I Flash Stepped.

  I had been waiting for the right moment to test something I had long thought about. And the Warlord… he was the perfect candidate for my little experiment.

  In the blink of an eye, I appeared before him. My left hand shot out, clamping around his throat. Then, with Ember gleaming in my right, I Flash Stepped again, dragging him through the open door and into the night.

  I’d never Flash Stepped with someone in tow before. His neck creaked under my grip, too close to snapping. “Good to know...” I mumbled.

  Ryn’s fingers twitched, maybe instinct, maybe an attempt at spellcasting.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Not on my watch.

  Ember flashed. A white-hot arc, a scream half-born, and his forearm hit the dirt with a wet slap.

  The world went strangely quiet for a heartbeat. Blood hissed as it hit the cold ground, steaming in the night air. Ryn stared at the stump, eyes wide, mind blank with shock.

  That was when his sect members burst through the door, weapons raised

  They froze the second they saw their Warlord dangling from my grip, his blood dripping onto my boots. One man’s jaw unhinged. Another stumbled back as if he’d been gut-punched.

  “Move,” I warned, lifting Ember, “and I cut him in half.”

  None of them dared breathe.

  Before the man’s eyes could roll back, I let him drop. He hit the dirt hard, wheezing like bellows.

  Before he could crawl anywhere, Ember’s point found his thigh. The blade slid through muscle and stone underfoot, pinning him like an insect on a board.

  Ryn screamed, a raw, broken sound that echoed off the tavern walls.

  Behind me, one of the purple robed guys whispered a prayer. Someone else gagged.

  A few of them tried to move again, but Jase covered in that shadow armor of his, cut down any that moved to much.

  I looked for the man who had caused this little encounter. Jox was now crouched behind a spear wielder, and I spotted liquid running down and pooling on the ground next to him.

  I bent low until my shadow fell across the Warlord’s face. Terror flickered in his eyes, pain etched deep into his features. I drew a slow breath, steadying the storm inside me before speaking.

  “Sometimes,” I said, voice calm and deliberate, “you meet people who don’t give a damn about titles or threats. I am one of those people. All I wanted tonight was a quiet meal, a chance to unwind. But men like you never learn their lesson unless they bleed.”

  He opened his mouth, but before a word escaped, I ripped Ember free from his leg. His scream tore through the air, raw and jagged. My Aura flared, controlled but heavy, pressing down on every soul present.

  “All I want,” I continued, my tone edged with steel, “is for you and your sect to leave me and mine alone. I came here to compete in this tournament, not to be dragged into your petty squabbles. So, I ask you, Ryn Don, can you swallow that pride, pick up your severed arm, go to a healer and walk away? Or will you force me to finish what you started?”

  The Warlord spat at my feet. His men gasped in unison. I sighed, the sound heavy with inevitability.

  “I tried.” Ember sang once, swift and merciless. His head tumbled from his shoulders, silence crashing down over the room.

  A System message flashed across my vision: Level Up. I dismissed it. The boy-band brigade still needed dealing with.

  I turned to the purple-robed figures, their weapons trembling in uncertain hands. “I’ll offer you the same deal I gave your master. Swallow your pride. Never bother me or mine again.”

  One by one, blades vanished, spears dissolved, chains fell slack. They bowed, stunned into obedience.

  But Jox bolted.

  I Flash Stepped, appearing before him, my hand clamping around his arm before he could escape. He fumbled for his rapier, but my backhand sent him sprawling, the blade still half-sheathed.

  “I’ll take the deal!” he wailed, voice breaking. “Please don’t kill me!”

  I shook my head, eyes cold. “You had your chance. And what did you do with it? You sided with a man who tried to kidnap children, was about to burn down a family’s livelihood just because it suited him. If I let you go, you’d try something like this again.”

  Desperation spilled from him. “I can pay you, credits, get you women, raise you to the nobility… my father is”

  I silenced him. Ember’s swift strike ended the duel to the death he had forced upon me this morning.

  Their bodies burned, flames devouring the last trace of their existence. Only the severed arm remained, the one still clutching Anchor. I lifted it, ready to consign it to the fire as well, when a new System notification pulsed across my vision:

  I clicked yes and pulled up the screen that showed me my stored inventory. The warlord had immense wealth on him. If I had to guess, it was the entire sect’s treasury. I smiled as I incinerated the rest of the Arm. At least something good had come from this little skirmish.

  I turned my gaze to the purple-robed figures, watching them flinch as my eyes swept over them.

  “Be gone,” I said, voice low and final. “But do not mistake my mercy for weakness. If I see any of you again… I will end you.”

  With a flick of my hand, they scattered, leaving behind the two corpses Jase had felled earlier. I incinerated them where they lay, flames consuming the last of their presence, then stepped back into the Hungry Dragon without another word.

  The other patrons filed out as I crossed the room, silence trailing in my wake. At the rear table, Mei sat with Balt and the others. I stopped before her and, mindful of her people’s customs, offered a small bow.

  “I apologize if this brings you trouble,” I said evenly. “But I’ve dealt with men like him before, and there’s only one way to deal with them.”

  Mei returned the bow, her voice steady but warm. “If you had not intervened, the Hungry Dragon—my home—would already be in flames, and my brother crippled or dead. I thank you for your swift action. If there is anything I can do for you, you have but to name it.”

  “I was planning to ask before the night was over,” I replied. “Balt and I have no lodging for the tournament. Would it be possible to rent rooms here?”

  Mei’s smile lit the room. “I would be honored.” Two hundred credits a week for lodging, three hundred if you want meals included.”

  I waved my hand, and a heavy bag materialized. I placed it in her hands. “Let me know when that runs low.”

  She opened it, and her eyebrows nearly leapt from her face. Before I could speak, her Anchor shimmered, the money vanished, replaced by three keys.

  “When you are ready,” she said, “I will show you your rooms.”

  I handed one key to Balt, who nodded his thanks, and another to Jase. He frowned, staring at it as though it burned his palm.

  “I am not a member of your party,” he whispered. “You owe me nothing.”

  I met his gaze. “You stood with me. Backed me up, though you barely knew me, and though we fought earlier today, I feel like you’re not a bad dude. That money was the Warlord’s. It cost me nothing to help you. I know what it’s like to be in a new place, feeling alone.”

  For a long moment, Jase said nothing. Then, his fingers closed around the key. He gave a short, sharp nod, more a peer than a friend, but his eyes carried a flicker of respect. What I felt was a good first step with my fellow Outlier.

  “Then I’ll accept,” he said.

  “That’s twice you’ve helped me,” he said, voice low. “I won’t forget it. I only hope we place high enough in the rankings that we’re not put in the same block.”

  I clapped him on the back, grinning. “Hey, I was happy to help. Screw that guy.”

  But one word stuck with me. “Hold up. Block? What do you mean ‘same block’?”

  Chu gave me a tired, amused smile. “Right… I keep forgetting you entered this tournament blind.”

  He folded his arms and Began to explain, “Once the merit scores are completed, organizers sort the top hundred competitors into blocks, ten people per block. Each block fights in a free-for-all. Only the last one standing moves on.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “So one winner out of every ten?”

  “Exactly,” Chu nodded. “Those ten winners become the official tournament bracket. From there, it’s one-on-one until a champion is crowned.”

  He continued, “Placement matters. Rank one fights the block containing ranks one hundred to ninety-two. Rank two fights ninety-one to eighty-three. And so on. The higher your merit, the better your odds of surviving your block.”

  I let out a low whistle. “Yeah… I hope we’re not in the same one either.”

  With goodnights exchanged, I walked toward Mei, who stood beside the staircase at the back of the Hungry Dragon. Balt and Jase waited nearby, listening as I relayed what Chu had just told me.

  “I am curious how these badges will work,” Balt mused, his brow furrowed. “And how they’ll assign merit points.”

  “I agree,” I said, “but that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, I need sleep.”

  “Seconded,” Jase added, his voice weary but firm.

  Mei led us up a beautifully carved wooden staircase, its banister polished smooth. Lantern light flickered across the walls, casting warm shadows as we reached the landing. Three doors awaited us, each marked with delicate carvings of dragons and lotus blossoms.

  We parted with quiet goodnights, and I stepped into the room I was shown would be mine by Mei.

  It was far nicer than I expected. A small sitting room opened into a study with a desk and chairs, the scent of fresh ink lingering faintly in the air. Beyond that, a bedroom with a queen-sized bed draped in soft linens and luxury of luxuries, a private bathroom.

  I stripped off my armor and let the hot water of the shower wash away the blood, smoke, and tension of the night. Steam curled around me, carrying the weight of battle down the drain. When I finally lay back on the bed, exhaustion claimed me instantly.

  When sleep came it did not feel like sleep.

  The world shifted.

  I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a dojo, polished wooden floors gleaming beneath lantern light, the faint scent of incense drifting through the air. Scrolls lined the walls, each painted with flowing calligraphy.

  And there, waiting at the center, was Master Matt.

  He smiled, calm and knowing, as if he had been expecting me all along.

  “Welcome back,” he said. His voice carried both warmth and gravity. “Now… show me what you’ve learned.”