SAI SHINU
The room was quiet except for the ticking of my own heartbeat. Two, maybe three hours until the colosseum. Until I stood in front of the entire village and faced an army trained to break men apart.
I sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the dim blue flicker of the system window hovering before me. My body was calm, but inside me the storm wouldn't quiet. Every muscle remembered the last fight. Every thought replayed the weight of the master's blood on my hands.
I scrolled through the system idly, more to distract myself than anything else—until my eyes landed on something I hadn't noticed before.
[Ability: Gift-Weave]
"Share the system's bond with chosen allies. Gain access to their skills and abilities without stealing from them. The connection strengthens both parties."
I froze. My fingers hovered over the glyph as my breath caught in my chest. A faint glow pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, as though the system itself was waiting for my answer.
Gift-Weave… why had I forgotten this? Or maybe I had been too blinded by vengeance to notice.
I whispered, "If I can share the system… then maybe this fight won't just be mine."
The options appeared: [Select allies to weave]. Names shimmered into being, people bound by trust, however fragile it might be. My eyes landed on two: Yosuke and Yuri.
Yosuke, with his command of fire, wind, earth, and water—the basic elements themselves, honed into their evolutions: light, metal, freeze. A living storm. A force of nature.
And Yuri, the healer. Quiet, soft-spoken, yet her hands carried the gift to stitch life back together when everything else broke apart.
My throat tightened. They didn't even know what I was about to do. And yet, I could feel them—threads of their essence waiting for me to reach out.
I selected Yosuke first. A surge of heat filled my veins, the raw taste of flame, the grounded steadiness of stone, the cutting edge of wind, and the flowing rhythm of water. They blended inside me, a weight and a freedom all at once. It felt… vast. Too vast. Like I had swallowed a storm.
Then Yuri. Her power slipped into me quietly, like cool water on burnt skin. Gentle, steady, reassuring. Healing, not in the sense of power, but of balance. For the first time in days, the ache in my chest eased.
The system pulsed again:
[Gift-Weave complete]
"You now carry the powers of Yosuke and Yuri. Your strength is multiplied. Your burden is shared."
I exhaled slowly, lowering my hands. My body trembled under the sheer expanse of it all. Fire hummed under my skin. Wind whispered through my breath. Water pooled calm at the edge of my thoughts. And beneath it all, the soft, steady rhythm of healing pulsed, holding me together.
But the weight wasn't just power. It was responsibility. Their gifts were in my hands now. If I fell in the colosseum, their trust would fall with me.
I closed my eyes, whispering into the silence, "Yosuke. Yuri. Whether you know it or not… you'll be with me out there. And I swear I won't waste this."
The system flickered out, and I sat alone in the dimness of the room. Alone, but not alone anymore.
Three hours. Three hours until the colosseum. And this time, I wasn't just Sai Shinu. I was something more.
The hours slipped away like sand through my fingers. The next thing I knew, I was standing inside a stone room deep beneath the colosseum. The muffled roar of the crowd above pressed down on me like a living heartbeat, every cheer and shout vibrating through the walls.
The air was heavy with the scent of dust and iron. Chains clinked somewhere in the distance, the sound of gates being readied. My hands flexed at my sides. The Gift-Weave pulsed faintly inside me, Yosuke's storm and Yuri's light steadying my breath.
Then the door creaked open, and Namae rushed in. Her face was pale, her hands trembling as she shut the door behind her.
"Sai," she whispered sharply, her eyes wide with panic. "It's not what they said it would be."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
She swallowed hard, stepping closer. Her voice cracked, the weight of fear clinging to every word. "They told you it would be a test… entertainment… something safe. But I overheard the commanders. Sai, they don't plan to hold back. They mean to kill you."
For a moment, silence wrapped around us. My heartbeat slowed instead of quickening. Somewhere inside, I had already known this.
Namae grabbed my sleeve, her grip desperate. "You can't fight them all! It's not fair—it's a slaughter. Please, we can still run—use your shadow step, disappear before they open those gates—"
I lifted my hand and gently placed it over hers. Her skin was cold. My voice was steady, though inside me emotions churned like a storm. "Namae. I can't run. Not this time."
Tears welled in her eyes. "Why? Why do you have to be the one to suffer?"
"Because if I don't face this, your father loses his grip on the village. The suspicion doesn't vanish—it grows. And you…" I shook my head softly. "You'd be dragged into it too. I won't let that happen."
She looked at me, her lips trembling, searching for words but finding none.
I managed a small smile, though it felt heavier than any blade. "Besides… they don't know what I carry now."
The system's glow flickered faintly in my vision, Gift-Weave resonating inside me like a heartbeat not entirely my own. Fire, wind, water, earth. Healing. Shadows. Light and darkness both.
"They think I'm just one man," I whispered. "But I'm not."
A horn blared above, deep and thunderous, rattling the stone walls. The gates were opening. The crowd erupted in deafening cheers, demanding blood, demanding spectacle.
Namae's grip tightened for a heartbeat more before she let go, tears running silently down her cheeks. "Please come back alive," she whispered.
I stepped toward the heavy iron door, my shadow stretching long in the torchlight. "I'll do more than that," I said quietly. "I'll show them why gods should fear men."
And then the chains rattled, the gate lifted, and light poured into the room.