“Fell, I’m leaving,” Ryu said, grabbing the man by the shoulder. “Watch over my sister and her friend, please. I’ll owe you one.”

“There is nothing owed between friends. You okay?”

“Yes, just going home.” He was not sure why, but he trusted the blonde man. Or at the very least, he felt he could kill him if things went wrong. Such was trust in the Rings.

“Alright, then. I will defend them with my life.”

Ryu left the party behind, forgoing even his horse. Bonny. If she could not escape on her own, how could he ever hope to free her? Was Keira lying? Was she dead? No. He could not think like that. He needed to find Lucius. The man’s boss was a damn oracle. He would know the truth of things.

Ryu threw open the door to the safehouse. It was empty, but then, one of Lucius’s spies would tell him of his presence soon enough. As paranoid a man as any Ryu knew, the spy had a dozen safehouses scattered about the Ring. This one was a small flat nestled above a seedy general goods store in the Aristocracy’s merchant district.

The flat contained little more than a bedroom, kitchen, and wash closet, leaving Ryu to sit on the creaking bed. A fine layer of dust sat about the place, and he screwed his eyes shut. Bonny… Gods, but he had made a mess of things.

What kind of fool put power above happiness? Murder, fighting, war… They were all things he had rationalized in his pursuit of strength.

Yes, he had killed a man in his sleep, but so what? A man who murdered his wife had no right to live.

Yes, he had started a fight with some guards, but so what? They were abusing their power.

Yes, he had thrown himself into the war with the Bugs on the front line, but so what? It was either them or humanity.

On and on, the justifications went. A foolish, degenerate man. Truth was, he loved Bonny, but violence was a mistress not easily sat aside. It was not emerald green eyes and red hair that filled the space behind his eyes. It was scenes of war. A peaceful life? A man like Ryu had never tasted such a thing, much less lived it. The only peace he would ever have was the peace of self-acceptance, and even that he denied himself, acting like the fighting in the Contest was anything but the breath-taking high he experienced.

For better or worse, Ryu loved every moment of it. Was it so bad to be tired of regretting it?

“Should I come back or…?”

Ryu snapped his eyes open. A squat man in the starched red uniform of the Third Republic stood by the door, a familiar smile stretched across his unfamiliar face. The tension sapped from Ryu’s body.

“Does Keira have Bonny?” His words were clipped, and he had to bite back the raw emotion that threatened to spill into them.

“I don’t know. She didn’t when Bonny left the city, but I can’t say for certain after that. Thief Classes are hard to track at the best of times.”

Ryu nodded. “If you knew she was at the party, then why not kill her?” he asked.

Lucius shrugged, shutting the door behind him. “Honestly? I would have liked to, but her death isn’t enough. Fanatics are easily replaced as long as their beliefs still live. Plus, I learned not long before you, so my warning was all I could give. I assume you met her?”

“Yeah. Said she had Bonny. Said she would talk to me after the Contest, if I won.”

“Good,” Lucius said. “You were planning on winning, anyways. Between my identity in the Republic and yours in the Aristocracy, we can pin Ender’s murders on the Flock. We might not even have to use the false story about them colluding with the Bugs. As long as you don’t do something reckless.”

“If she has Bonny, I can’t just wait for the forces to make their move.”

Lucius shook his head. “Why do you think she wants to talk to you? If she goads you into something stupid, then the game’s up. She probably has evidence you’re Ender, and with that, she can use you to target the Aristocracy.”

“Games within games.”

“Yes,” he said, “and I’m quite the player. If she has Bonny, we will get her. However, your lover is not more important than humanity’s fate on this Ring.”

Ryu worked his jaw. “I find myself in no mood to care.”

“Ah, so you want to be noble one moment and brutish the next? You agreed to help because you wanted to save lives. Now you want to be reckless? I can understand skepticism. In fact, I’m sure you will need to meet my boss before you understand the true games in play. I can’t understand blind stupidity, however. You are not all powerful. Hells, you’re not even really that powerful in general. If the Big Seven truly had so much strength and potential, their existence would be kept secret by their forces. There are true dragons hidden out there, my friend, and you are not strong enough to challenge them.”

“So what? I’m just supposed to roll over?”

“No.” Lucius’s tone was harsh. “You win the Contest and listen to what Keira has to say. If she shows proof of Bonny’s capture, then we will make a plan. If she threatens you, we will make a plan. If she attacks you, escape, and then we will make a plan. The blood on our hands ties us together. If you really want to atone, then you will make that blood the foundation for a better world.”

What place did he have in a better world? “Okay.”

“Good. Is that all? I do have a position to manage,” Lucius said. “It’s a good thing Republic territory is close to the Aristocracy, else I’d stand out like a sore thumb.”

Ryu nodded at the small talk. “That’s it, I guess. Find me after the Contest.”

“Will do.” Lucius left the safehouse, and Ryu stood. He had an Inspiration Stone sitting in his storage. It was time to use it.

The more powerful Ryu was, the more his Skill [Shadow of One’s Self] taxed him. It was why he had left the Inspiration Stone alone for so long, but Lucius had reminded him of a truth he had forgotten. Ryu was too weak to save Bonny. He could no longer suppress his hunger for strength, not when it was needed.

Master Classers could advance in three ways: forming new Techniques, upgrading old Techniques, or boosting their cultivation. The last required a great amount of Qi, and he lacked the Insight for the second. Fighting underleveled opponents was not the challenging environment he needed to form Insight. No, Ryu needed a new Technique.

Sliding the safehouse door’s enchanted lock into place, Ryu pulled the stone Haru had given him from his storage. Smooth, white, and etched with the image of a gallows, the stone was a plain thing. Strange how something so small was valuable enough for forces to fight over, but then, humans had never needed motivation to war with each other.

First, he needed to start with a goal. Techniques came in a variety of forms, especially in Crafters, but at their core, Battle Techniques were used to defend their user, attack the opponent, or enhance the user. Soul Eater was an enhancement type Technique, so for this new one, he would choose an attack type. Of course, wanting something was not enough to make it so. Inspiration struck every user in its own way.

“You ready?” he asked Ender.

Power, his Shard Twin said, laughing. I am ready.

He sighed. That was the other issue with forming Techniques. Crafting a Technique from the visions of the stone was not enough; his Technique would be pitted against Ender’s in a battle in his Shard Realm, the space within his soul Ender inhabited. For Bonny, he would do it, however. He only hoped his love for her would not be lost in the reignition of his lust for power.

Ryu squeezed the stone, and his vision darkened, the safehouse disappearing.

---

Ryu’s bare feet slapped against wooden steps, his malnourished figure clothed in scratchy burlap. Rope bound his hands behind him, and armored men marched on either side of him. He blinked in the harsh light, looking at the crowd gathered on the grounds below the wooden stage he walked onto.

The crowd jeered and cursed him. He looked past their dirty, snarling faces to the castle above. Its dark stone walls loomed large, and a single black flag fluttered at the top of its battlements. A small village sprouted on the hill below.

The butt of a spear prodded him forward. Strong hands gripped his arms, and in moments, his neck was cradled by the tough rope of a noose. His mouth dried. Was that piss he smelled? Aye, it was his own. It was a poor thing to die in one’s own piss, but then, he supposed that was his lot in life.

“For crimes against the Duchy of Ramos, you are to be executed by the gallows. Any last words?” a man said, his tired eyes and plain face filling Ryu’s vision.

Moments passed, and Ryu said nothing. His mind was focused on a single word. The wood beneath his feet dropped away. The snap of a rope filled his ears. His throat…

Executed.

Blackness stole his vision away once more. A lacquered wood handle filled his hand, and his eyes opened to a new scene. Snow was banked on either side of a cobbled stone street. A crowd of filthy men and women stood across from him, their ratty clothes soiled with dirt and gore. A man was on his knees beside him, head leaned over a stone block. The heat of the burning village behind him warmed his back.

Ryu looked down, his breath clouding in the cold air. The handle belonged to a long, one-edged axe. “Some of you think you can steal from me,” his voice said. He looked up at the faces. “Now I’m a generous man. I share with my crew. When I eat, you eat. When I fight, you fight. So tell me, what am I to do with a thief? Let this be your answer.”

His axe came up, its edge gleaming in the soft gray light of morning. His lower hand pulled the axe handle up, while his upper hand pushed it down. Its wicked edge descended, seeming to split the soft silence left by his voice. Blood spattered across his trousers. The smell of shit filled the air.

A single word consumed his thoughts. Executed.

His vision shifted once more. He was a warrior, winning his duel with a final strike. Then he was a king ordering the death of his prisoners of war. His last vision was that of a man strapped to a chair in a cold stone room. He died as electricity wracked his body.

Attention

Under the influence of an Inspiration Stone, a Technique may be formed. Do you wish to continue? Y/N

Ryu focused. He circulated the mana in his body, feeling it move. A single word floated amongst his thoughts.

Congratulations

A Technique Battle will now commence between you and your Shard Twin. The winner’s Technique will be formed as a permanent Technique. Good Luck!

Temporary access provided to Headsman.