The horn's scream rattled bone.
The sand floor shimmered with heat, but all Uchi felt was the chain at her wrist tugging away as the guards shoved the boy toward the ring.
Her student. Her anchor. Her risk.
[ RULE ANNOUNCEMENT: STUDENT TRIAL. ]
[ CONDITION: MENTOR INTERFERENCE WILL VOID STUDENT'S GROWTH. PENALTY: EXECUTION. ]
The crowd howled at the text hanging over the arena. Nobles clapped, coins clinked, and bets flew like ash on wind.
The boy stumbled, almost falling face-first into the dirt before catching himself. He looked back once — eyes wide, lip trembling, fear naked and raw. The chain still linked them, but it was slack.
"You breathe," Uchi said, voice low, steady. "In. Out. Don't run."
He nodded like a drowning man nods to an anchor.
The gate across from him clanged open. His opponent stepped through.
A man twice his size, muscles corded with scar tissue, chest etched with crude carvings. Across his ribs were words cut in jagged strokes:
Pain strengthens me.
The vow bled into the air around him. Even the sand seemed to lean away.
The crowd roared approval. They loved ugly rules.
The man grinned, teeth cracked and red-stained. "Little lamb," he rumbled. "You'll make me a god."
The boy froze.
The horn cut the air clean.
The man came first, no hesitation. A fist swung wide. The boy ducked too slow. The blow caught his shoulder, sent him sprawling.
Sand bit his cheek. The crowd jeered.
Uchi clenched her fists at her side. She couldn't move. The System had warned her. Her vow would turn to ash if she stepped in.
The boy staggered up. Another strike met his ribs. He folded, gasping.
The vow on the man's chest glowed faint. His muscles swelled. He laughed. "More!"
The boy whimpered.
"Stand!" Uchi barked from the sideline. Her voice cracked across the arena like iron. "Feet under you!"
He tried. His knees shook. His fists dangled wrong.
The man grinned wider and drove a knee into his gut. The boy collapsed again.
The crowd roared like animals.
The System pulsed.
[ STUDENT CRITICAL. INITIATING VOW TRIGGER. ]
[ REQUIREMENT: FORM FIRST VOW OR FACE DEATH. ]
The boy's eyes widened as he saw the words. His lips moved, trembling. "I can't… I can't—"
"You can!" Uchi's voice tore across the stands. "Breathe! Promise something you can live with!"
The man laughed and kicked him in the ribs. "He has no promises. Only bones to break."
The boy spat blood. His body wanted to stay down. His mind wanted to crawl. The chain tugged faintly — Uchi's weight, not dragging, just reminding.
Never enough, the crowd's voices whispered. Too weak. Too small. Waste.
The boy slammed his fist into the sand and screamed.
"I… will never fall while my master still stands!"
The System answered.
[ VOW ACCEPTED. ]
[ POWER AWAKENED. ]
[ LIMITATION: STRENGTH ONLY WHILE MASTER REMAINS ACTIVE. ]
Light crackled across the chain linking him to Uchi. His knees straightened. His eyes cleared, still scared, but something else had joined it — something that looked like choice.
The man snarled, vow burning on his chest. "Good. More pain for me."
He charged.
This time the boy sidestepped, clumsy but sharp. The fist grazed instead of breaking. He swung back, wild, but it landed. The man grunted.
The vow glowed stronger. The man's body thickened. But the boy didn't fold. He blocked once, twice. Took the third hit but stayed up.
"You breathe!" Uchi shouted. "You listen! Forward, not back!"
The boy staggered forward, threw another punch. It cracked against scar tissue. Weak, but real. The crowd went strangely quiet for a moment, like they didn't recognize what they were watching.
The man grinned through blood. "More. Give me more!"
He swung again. The boy ducked — too slow — but instead of folding, he slammed his head into the man's gut. Both toppled, sand exploding around them.
The boy's fists hammered desperately into the man's ribs. Not skilled. Not elegant. Just surviving.
The vow across his ribs flared. The man grunted, power surging again. He caught the boy's arm, twisted it, pain sharp and hot.
The boy screamed. His knees buckled. He nearly fell—
The chain jerked.
Uchi hadn't moved, but she was still standing. Still breathing. Still watching.
His vow burned. His legs locked.
"I won't fall!" he screamed.
He slammed his free hand into the man's jaw. A crack echoed. The man reeled.
The boy tore free and drove both fists forward. Once. Twice. Again. The man collapsed backward, laughing even as blood filled his mouth.
The horn blared.
Silence. Then chaos.
The crowd howled, torn between disbelief and fury. A boy had survived. A nothing had earned a vow.
[ VICTORY. ]
[ STUDENT VOW INITIATED: ANCHOR BOND. ]
[ MENTORSHIP BOND: STRENGTHENED. ]
The boy dropped to his knees, gasping, clutching his ribs. Blood poured from his lip. His eyes were glassy, but alive.
He turned toward Uchi. His voice broke. "I… didn't fall."
Uchi met his gaze. "You stood," she said simply.
The crowd didn't chant broken. They didn't chant slave. They whispered his survival like it was a mistake that might grow teeth.
The System hummed in her bones.
[ RIVAL ENTERING. ]
The far gate opened.
A tall figure stepped through. Calm. Smirking. His vow burned bright above him:
"I will never lose to anyone weaker than me."
The boy shivered. The crowd erupted.
Uchi narrowed her eyes. Her shadow laughed inside her skull.