The air around Caspian shimmered with residual heat. His blood still pulsed with that final surge, the echo's strength now part of him. But something had changed deeper than muscle or reflex.
Something inside his core had opened.
[Crimson Loop. Unlocked]
[Skill Type. Core Protocol]
[Function. Recursive Combat Threading]
Description. Allows the user to mark a moment in time during combat. If activated within the Loop window, the user can return to that exact state—position, wound level, even thought intent. Loop resets all conditions to the marked instant. Only one mark may exist at a time. High blood cost. Cooldown required. Mental stability affected by excessive looping.
Caspian breathed in.
And then he laughed.
It was quiet. A breath more than a sound. But it was real.
"Memory combat," he muttered.
With this, mistakes didn't have to be permanent.
Not if he was willing to bleed enough to correct them.
The walls of the node began to melt, the challenge complete. A path opened upward—twisting veins forming a staircase into blackness.
Neris appeared beside him, stepping out of shadow like it was her second skin.
"Well?" she asked.
"It's done."
She looked at him differently now. Not impressed. Not wary. Curious. Like someone watching a weapon just beginning to understand its purpose.
"What did you get?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
But she smiled anyway.
"I felt the tower shift. The city knows your name now."
Outside, something rumbled.
They both turned.
The tower's pulse had changed. Slower. Deeper. Like it was waiting.
Or bracing.
Caspian narrowed his eyes.
"What just entered the city?"
Neris's smile faded.
"…You felt that?"
"Yes."
She didn't respond immediately. She didn't joke. Didn't flirt.
She just said one word.
"Problem."