The bells of the Towers hadn't stopped.
Each toll rolled through Lowwater like a heartbeat too slow for a living body. The people whispered that it wasn't the Registry's call this time—it was the Towers themselves, bowing to the Ghost.
Evan Sharp stood in the plaza where the Tower Wardens had broken and fled. Broken shields littered the cobbles, and the captain groaned where he'd fallen. Evan hadn't killed him. He didn't need to. The city already knew who it belonged to.
His panel confirmed it.
Status — Evan SharpLevel: 9Speed: 610Skills: Quickstep (F), Burst Step (F), Momentum Shift (F), Echo Step (F)Techniques: Velocity Veil+ (E), Speed Sense (E), Vector Break (D), Vector Veil (E)Titles: [Uncatchable I], [Domain Strider II]Domains: Hook Street (Strong), Docks (Minor), Foundry (Moderate), Towers (Minor)Overflow: 13%
Four domains. Four threads woven. The hum under his feet was no longer a background sound—it was a song in his bones, every note urging him faster.
The crowd whispered. Ghost. Domain Strider. Fastest man alive.
But Evan's Speed Sense prickled. Arcs lit in his vision, white lines not of panicked wardens or fleeing citizens, but of boots landing in perfect unison. Dozens of them. He turned before the bells had even finished their toll.
Registry Silver had arrived.
They marched in formation, three columns strong, each man in polished armor that didn't clank, each step perfectly timed. At their head strode Aelira, braid gleaming like a whip, her silver insignia bright even in ash light.
Her eyes locked on Evan immediately. Calm. Unblinking. Promising.
She lifted a hand. The patrols behind her spread, shields sliding into place, halberds leveled. Above them, wardens carried devices on poles—shimmering nets of light stretched between them like glowing curtains.
"Containment screens," Aelira said, her voice carrying across the plaza. "Built for anomalies exactly like you. Run if you want. The net closes in every direction."
The screens hummed. Arcs of light licked across the plaza, forming a lattice. Even Evan's Speed Sense balked—the ghost-lines bent inward, every path collapsing toward a cage.
His panel pulsed.
Quest: Break the Silver Net.Objective: Escape Registry's containment array without leaving bonded domains.Reward: +80 Speed, Skill Unlock.Failure: Capture.
Evan's lips curved. "Then I'll break the net."
The Silver squad advanced. Shields thudded into the cobbles. The nets crackled, closing tighter, their hum drilling into bone.
Evan blurred. Quickstep carried him toward the first line; Burst Step cracked stone under his launch. His fist hammered a shield—recoiled. The screen shimmered, dispersing his blow like water.
He slid back, eyes narrowing. Not a wall. A rhythm.
Speed Sense lit the arcs again. He saw it—the lattice pulsing, gaps opening and closing with each hum.
"Veil," he muttered.
Velocity Veil+ burst outward. Ten Evans scattered, each ghost hammering a different gap. Nets snapped shut, sparks flying, but Vector Veil rotated the clean pocket between them. One afterimage carried truth. It stepped through a seam like walking between rain drops—and smashed into a warden's chest. The man toppled, his pole clattering. The screen above flickered.
The formation roared.
"Regroup! Tighten the field!"
Evan didn't give them time. He darted low, Momentum Shift catching a spear's thrust and turning it into propulsion. He slid under the shields, tapped Vector Break at their knees. For three seconds, their march forgot to march.
He rose behind them, fists blurring, half-strength blows from his ghosts slamming into armor until the line buckled. Two more poles dropped. The net sagged.
But Aelira stepped forward. Her hand lifted—and the world grew heavy.
Gravity pressed, sudden and cruel. Evan's legs trembled. The ghosts of Velocity Veil wavered, some collapsing under the weight. His ribs remembered the Docks. His breath stuttered.
Aelira's braid swung. "You think claiming four corners makes you untouchable? You've only made yourself louder."
She pressed her palm. The net surged, the lattice tightening, closing like a fist.
Evan laughed once, sharp, breathless. "Then catch me."
Vector Break (D) pulsed in a circle around him. The weight lifted—just a sliver, just three seconds, but enough. He chained Quickstep into Burst Step into Echo Step, Acceleration stacking until his body was a string drawn too tight.
He blurred between screens. Sparks hissed where ghosts died. One afterimage carried Vector Veil's truth, punching through. Evan followed in its slipstream, his fist hammering the support pole. It snapped, the screen above shattering into useless sparks.
The crowd watching from alleys screamed with joy.
But the net still held.
"Stronger," Aelira muttered, and the remaining poles burned brighter.
The plaza glowed with blue-white arcs. The hum grew so loud it swallowed thought. Guards closed ranks, their shields braced, halberds stabbing in time.
Evan ran the perimeter, Speed Sense painting every gap, every heartbeat of weakness. They closed too fast. They adjusted too quick. The net was learning him.
He stopped running.
"Acceleration," he whispered.
Then he stacked.
Quickstep. Burst Step. Pivot. Momentum Shift. Ghost smear. Burst Step again. Every movement folded into the next, compounding until his body was no longer choosing actions—it was a storm writing itself.
Velocity Veil+ ignited. Ten ghosts. Vector Veil rotated its pocket of truth, one every second.
He threw them all at the net at once.
Sparks exploded. Screens shuddered. The hum cracked, broke, screamed. Poles overloaded, guards thrown backward in showers of light.
The net collapsed.
Silence rang in its place.
The Registry squad lay scattered, groaning, shields shattered. Aelira stood untouched, eyes bright.
"You're growing too fast," she said softly. "But so am I."
She raised her hand. Pressure slammed down again, harder than before. Evan staggered, but his Domains hummed—Hook Street's stubborn cobbles, the Docks' tide, the Foundry's iron, the Towers' bells. Four voices braced his bones.
He pushed. His panel flared.
Quest complete: Break the Silver Net.+80 Speed.Skill Unlock — Accel Resonance (D).Effect: Acceleration chains extend to allies within bonded domains; Evan's momentum boosts companions briefly.Speed: 610 → 690.
His chest heaved. His grin was sharp. "Still not fast enough, Aelira."
She studied him, braid swaying, then lowered her hand. The pressure vanished.
"Not today," she said. "But soon." She turned, cloak snapping, her squad dragging themselves upright to follow.
The crowd poured into the plaza, cheering, crying, shouting Evan's name.
He stood tall, the Domains singing in his bones, and whispered to the bells, "Faster."
And the city answered.