Compile Under Fire

🏛 Arena of Twelve Circles — Exhibition Grounds

The dueling arena was no simple platform.

Twelve magical circles, etched in obsidian and silver, rotated slowly beneath the sand. Each one encoded with a unique elemental distortion field.

Announcers shouted names.

Crowds of nobles, scholars, and whisperers filled the terraces—some wearing rings that recorded mana signatures directly into memory crystal. Every spell cast today would be studied for years.

> And every spell I cast will be weaponized, Achilles thought, walking to the center ring.

Which was why he hadn't planned to cast any.

---

⚔️ Opponent: Ser Calwyn Arvane

3rd Year Swordsman

1st-Rate Aura Channeler

Wind Affinity

House Arvane (Minor Nobility, Military Branch)

Calwyn was older, stronger, and perfectly aware he'd been chosen to "test" the famous anomaly.

> "Lord Verentis," he said with mock formality, raising his training blade.

"I'll try not to hurt you too badly."

Achilles didn't answer.

Just stood, hands at his sides, eyes like frozen steel.

---

🔁 The Fight Begins

The moment the signal dropped, Calwyn vanished into speed-enhanced motion.

A burst of wind. Footprints kicked dust skyward. Blade gleamed.

Achilles didn't move.

Until the very last instant.

Then—

> >>> Predictive Movement Model: Loaded

>>> Overlay: Counter.V1 – execute

He stepped exactly 1.2 meters left.

Calwyn's sword missed by air.

The arena gasped.

---

🔥 Triggering the Lock

> >>> Live Mana Field: Active

>>> Entropy Threshold: 42%

>>> Injecting chaotic mana stream…

>>> Phase-2 unlock progress: 61%

Achilles blinked. The air shimmered slightly. His System interface expanded—invisible to all but him.

Suddenly, he understood Calwyn's aura like seeing a pattern of kinetic code: surge > delay > echo > surge.

> That's not instinct. That's a loop.

He reached out—not with a spell, but a command.

> >>> Interrupt.aura(flow_id_04)

>>> Inject: Null Delay

To the crowd, it looked like Calwyn suddenly staggered mid-step.

To Calwyn—it felt like his aura had tripped.

He hit the ground hard.

---

🧠 In the Viewing Chamber

"Did he cast something?" a senior mage hissed.

"No glyphs. No chant. Nothing!"

"But Calwyn's aura shut off like it was hacked—"

"—Don't say hacked," another growled. "This isn't a codebase."

But in the shadows, Bell knew better.

> You're wrong, she thought. He's treating magic like a live terminal.

---

⚡ Calwyn Rages

Bloodied but furious, Calwyn launched a stormburst strike—an advanced aura slash lined with wind-encoded glyphs.

Too fast. Too wild.

Achilles watched it come.

> >>> Now at 87% system entropy

>>> Pulse-surge accepted

>>> META_RUNFILE (Phase-2) — UNLOCKED

The world around him slowed.

Glyphs broke apart.

The wind spell… decompiled.

He raised his hand.

And whispered a single word.

> "Cancel."

The glyphs collapsed mid-air.

The energy dispersed into harmless sparks.

And Calwyn, moving too fast to stop, ran directly into Achilles' palm—

—And fell unconscious.

---

🏁 Duel Ended

No announcement.

No cheers.

Just a silence so heavy, it fractured itself.

Achilles turned and walked off the field.

> System entropy now stabilized.

Phase-2 unlocked functions stored.

And deep in his vision, a new prompt flashed:

>>> Welcome, Origin Node.

>>> System command privileges escalated.

>>> Command: RECOMPILE_WORLD (disabled)

>>> Access: ∆/core/framework/init_test.env

He didn't smile.

But for the first time…

He was curious.