Chapter 8 – The Masked Tower
> "There are places in the Arena where even the System cannot see. They say those places were made not for training, nor war, nor spectacle—but to remember what was forgotten." — Scholar Varneth, last seen entering the Tower of Masks
---
Four days passed since the Grave of the Tithe.
None of us spoke about what happened in the Deadmeat Basin.
Not the Bonebearers.
Not the screaming halberd.
Not the way I moved.
Vincent didn't ask questions either.
But he watched me differently now.
Like he'd finally found a knife worth sharpening.
And one he didn't entirely trust.
---
> [System Status – LEVEL 3] XP: 91 / 750
Stat Points Available: 2
Phantom Core Sync: 91%
Shadow Link Control: 1%
Team Sync: 3/3 (Stable)
Willpower: 26
Combat Sense: 13
Class Tree Progress: LOCKED (Requirement: ???)
---
We thought we'd earned a break.
Instead, we were summoned to the Tower.
Vincent only said two words:
"Memory Trial."
Cero groaned. "We're not even Cup-qualified yet."
Naera checked her gauntlets. "He's rushing our path."
Thorne said nothing.
And me?
I looked at the tower and felt my shadow shiver beneath my boots.
---
The Tower of Masks stood in the western sector—an obsidian spire that reached beyond the clouds, carved with a thousand nameless faces.
No one knew who built it.
No one who entered ever returned unchanged.
It wasn't designed to kill you.
It was designed to strip you down.
---
The Trialkeeper met us at the entrance.
A thin, blindfolded man in bone robes and a stitched smile.
"Team Eight," he rasped. "You will ascend one floor each. One challenge per soul. You may not assist one another."
Vincent smirked from behind him.
"If they die, consider it a discount on my investment."
---
> [Trial Initiated – Tower of Masks: Floor I–IV]
Assigned Challenge Order:
– Floor I: Wicky Varian
– Floor II: Naera
– Floor III: Cero
– Floor IV: Thorne
System Interference: Suppressed (Observation Mode Only)
Objective: Complete your floor. Do not break the mask.
---
The door opened.
I stepped into darkness.
And the world fell away.
---
I woke in my old bedroom.
Earth.
My desk. My empty soda cans. My cracked headset.
The same login screen I'd stared at for years.
> [LOGIN FAILED – SERVER ERROR]
[Would you like to try again?]
I blinked.
Tried to move.
Couldn't.
My hands were bound to the chair. My headset was on my ears. But I couldn't hear the game.
Only static.
Then—
A voice.
My voice.
From behind me.
"You think this is winning?"
I turned.
There was me—Wicky Varian—but older. Sunken eyes. Pale. Eyes hollowed out like he hadn't slept in years.
He held a controller.
But blood dripped from the buttons.
"I stayed," he said. "You left. What makes you think the world wants you now?"
I swallowed.
"This isn't real."
He stepped forward, shoving the bloodied controller into my chest.
"Then prove it. Fight me. Show me you're more than the mistake you used to be."
The walls melted.
And suddenly—
I was back in the arena.
And the enemy was me.
---
> [TRIAL: Mirror Blade – Confront Your Former Self]
Opponent: Wicky Varian – Echo Replica
Weapons: Equal
System: Suppressed
Goal: Shatter the memory, not the mirror
---
I had no shadow here.
No skills.
Only instinct.
He moved first—my old self.
Predictable. Fast. Sloppy. Desperate.
He fought like a gamer trying to pretend he was a warrior.
I knew every strike before it landed.
Because I remembered every failure.
---
I baited his left hook.
Caught his arm.
Kneed his gut.
Elbowed his face.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until he dropped the blade and stared at me with wide, broken eyes.
"You left me," he whispered. "You let me die."
I leaned in.
"No. I buried you. And I chose to live."
I swung.
The blade struck the mirror behind him.
It shattered.
And the world bled away.
---
> [Trial Complete – Floor I]
Echo Memory Resolved: "Fragment of Past Regret"
Reward: +1 Willpower, +1 Combat Sense
Passive Unlocked: Focus Surge – When fighting with no System assistance, gain 4% reaction boost
System Observation Mode Disengaged
---
I collapsed outside the tower's steps.
Gasping.
Alive.
Changed.
The System reactivated.
> [Phantom Core Sync: 97%]
Shadow Link Stabilization: +2%
Warning: Class Evolution Branch Approaching – Choice Will Be Permanent
---
Naera emerged next.
Silent. Pale.
Her hands glowed faintly, the runes on her arms pulsing in odd rhythms.
Cero came third.
Grinning—but his left hand was twitching uncontrollably.
"I fought my father," he said. "I don't even remember his face anymore."
Then Thorne.
No blood.
No wounds.
But his eyes were wet.
And no one dared ask why.
---
We didn't speak as we left the tower.
Not that night. Not the next.
Some battles don't require swords.
And the Tower made us fight all of them.
---
> [TEAM EIGHT – STATUS UPDATE]
Trial Passed
Team Sync Bonus Unlocked
New Title Gained: The Remembered
Vincent welcomed us back with silence.
But he handed me a sealed scroll.
No emblem.
Just a black wax seal.
Inside:
> Congratulations.
You are now qualified for the Preliminaries.
The next arena will not test your skill.
It will test your soul.
— Arena King's Hand
And beneath it, a new system prompt:
> [New Mission Assigned – Echo's Call]
Objective: Enter the Preliminaries
Location: Arena Core District
Timer: 3 Days
And the final line:
> "Bring your name.
Leave your shadow."
---
I looked down at the sand.
Saw two shadows beside me.
Only one of them moved when I did.
And the other was learning.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Waiting.