Three days later, the town was buzzing with a new kind of energy. Posters had been nailed to every wall—THE ANNUAL FIVE ACADEMIES TOURNAMENT – THIS SATURDAY AT THE CENTRAL ARENA.
"The five academies?" Yu Qing said, reading a poster. "Twilight Weave, Shadow Script, Starfall Archive, Iron Quill, and… Void Page Academy. I've heard of them—they're the most powerful in the land. And the prize… 'A chance to rewrite one page of the world's great book.'"
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed. The dark thread he'd seen earlier was now tied directly to the tournament. "That's what the shadow is," he said. "Someone's going to use that prize to rewrite the world in their own image."
Just then, a man in a black robe with silver trim walked past—his badge marked Sequence 6: Shadow Weaver from Void Page Academy. He glanced at Lin Chen, and his eyes glinted with something cold and familiar.
"Who is that?" Gao Yang asked, tensing.
"Xie Yun," the tailor said, poking his head out of his shop. "The prodigy of Void Page. They say he's already mastered Sequence 6 at seventeen—and he's got a special ability: he can erase other people's stories entirely. He's the favorite to win the tournament."
Lin Chen felt a chill. Erasing stories wasn't like his Narrative Erasure—Xie Yun's power destroyed the person along with their story. This was the major threat he'd been seeing.
"We have to enter the tournament," Lin Chen said.
"Enter?" Yu Qing said, surprised. "But we're wanted by Twilight Weave. They'll arrest us the moment we step into the arena."
"Not if we enter as a team of 'unaffiliated warriors,'" Lin Chen said, pulling out the plain robes the tailor had given them. "The tournament allows it. And if we win… we can stop Xie Yun from rewriting the world."
Gao Yang grinned. "Finally—something that involves fighting instead of hiding. Count me in."
By Saturday, the central arena was packed with thousands of people—students from all five academies, spectators, and nobles. The five academy masters sat in a high box, including Wei Zhen from Twilight Weave, who scanned the crowd with a sharp gaze.
Lin Chen, Yu Qing, and Gao Yang stood in the unaffiliated section, their faces hidden by hoods. The first match was already underway: a Starfall Archive student vs. an Iron Quill warrior. The Starfall student won with a burst of light that wrote a shield of text in the air.
"Each match is a best-of-three," Yu Qing whispered, checking her notebook. "They fight using their Sequence abilities—no holds barred, but no killing… usually."
Then came Xie Yun's match. His opponent was a Shadow Script student with a powerful Chronicle Keeper ability. Xie Yun didn't even move. He just raised his hand, and the student's badge flickered, then went dark. The student screamed, clutching his head, as his memories—his entire story—faded away. He collapsed to the ground, a blank slate.
The crowd gasped. Even the masters looked shocked. Xie Yun stood over him, a cold smile on his face. "All stories are temporary," he said, his voice carrying across the arena. "Only the one who writes the final page matters."
Lin Chen's hands clenched. This was exactly what he'd feared.
Their turn came next. They stepped into the arena, and the announcer called out: "Unaffiliated team—The Unwritten!"
Wei Zhen sat up straight in his box. He'd recognized Lin Chen's voice.
Their opponents were two Iron Quill warriors—Sequence 7: Scribe Fighters.
"First match: Gao Yang vs. Iron Quill's Chen Bo!"
Gao Yang stepped forward, twirling his staff. Chen Bo pulled out a quill and wrote a line in the air: This staff will break.
Gao Yang's staff snapped in two. He grinned. "Nice trick. But I'm a Storyteller—I can rewrite that." He pointed at the broken staff. "This staff will mend itself—and grow longer."
The staff glowed, mending and extending into a six-foot pole. Gao Yang swung it, hitting Chen Bo's quill out of his hand. "Match point!" he yelled, knocking Chen Bo to the ground.
Gao Yang won. The crowd cheered—they loved an underdog.
Next: Yu Qing vs. Iron Quill's Li Na. Li Na wrote a line that made Yu Qing's legs feel heavy, but Yu Qing—now Sequence 8: Archivist—pulled out her notebook and read a line from a past battle: This weight has been lifted before. The heaviness vanished, and she used a burst of archived energy to knock Li Na out of the ring.
Two wins. They advanced to the next round.
But as they walked back to the unaffiliated section, Xie Yun approached them. "The Unwritten," he said, looking at Lin Chen. "I've heard about you—someone who thinks the blank can stand against the written. How cute. I'll erase your story in the final match."
He walked away, and Lin Chen felt his power surging. The matches had pushed him—every fight had made his Unwritten Sequence stronger. He checked his status:
[STATUS: LIN CHEN]
[SEQUENCE: ??? - THE UNWRITTEN (ADVANCED)]
[ABILITY 1: NARRATIVE ERASURE - Wipe up to 3 events. Cost: 1 page each.]
[ABILITY 2: POTENTIAL WEAVING - Bind up to 10 sparks. Cost: 3 pages.]
[NEW ABILITY 3: STORY WEAVING - Merge your unwritten path with others to create a single, unbreakable narrative. Cost: 5 pages.]
He looked at Gao Yang and Yu Qing. "We can beat him," he said. "But we have to work together. As one story."
The next round was tomorrow. The final match would be The Unwritten vs. Xie Yun. And the fate of the world's story would hang in the balance.
But for now, Gao Yang was already talking about celebrating with Old Ma's noodles. "After we win," he said, "we're getting extra egg and extra vegetables. It's only fair."
Lin Chen smiled. Even with a major antagonist waiting, there was still room for light. And that was the one thing Xie Yun would never understand.