Chương 52: Secret

Snap. A violent jerk whipped Gray's head back. The wooden chair vanished from beneath him, sending him crashing hard onto his tailbone. The table was gone. As was Tim. The temperature plummeted. The biting chill of the night breeze washed over his cheeks, instantly erasing the stagnant warmth of the pocket dimension. The high-pitched whir of the stadium floodlights flooded his ears, immediately followed by the wet crunch of displaced earth just a few feet away.

Instead of burying itself into Gray's skull, the heavy tip of Nabi's scarlet scythe had bitten deep into the field exactly where his head had rested a second prior. She whipped her head around, her eyes widening in shock as they locked onto his new position several feet away.

"You can teleport?" Nabi shouted. She wrenched her scythe free from the cratered dirt and surged forward. Gray dropped his center of gravity, falling back into a guarded stance as he braced for round two. Snap. Congratulations, you two! The fourth level has been completed! The duel has concluded. I have reverted all the Contribution Points lost during the battle.

Rewards Granted: 4, 500 Contribution Points 100% EXP Ability Shard Bonus: 7, 000 Contribution Points The seven plastic keycards hanging around Gray's neck dissolved into a mist of glowing pixels. Nabi aborted her charge as the holographic blue text box materialized in her view. The tension slowly bled from her shoulders, and she lowered her weapon right as a warm, golden column of light enveloped them both. You have leveled up! 4 → 5"Am I missing something here?" Nabi said.

"What just happened? Where's the level-master? Since when can you teleport? And how the hell are your wounds completely healed?"

"Oh, that." Gray rubbed the back of his neck, buying time. Previously, when they were teammates, Gray never hesitated to divulge the details about his class. Transparency was essential for survival. But after being hunted down by the one person who knew every tool in his arsenal, he realized a tactical shift was necessary. Holding a few cards close to his chest—even a blatant bluff—would be vital going forward.

"It's pretty sick, right?" he forced out, aiming for a casual tone.

"It's a new signature spell. Lets me blink anywhere I want. I gained a passive heal, too. Both unlocked right before you tried to skewer me with that overgrown pickaxe of yours." Nabi crossed her arms. Her expression went completely flat, staring him down in deadpan silence for a solid ten seconds. Gray had never been good at bluffing.

"Fine!" he groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"The System interfered. He froze time and gave me this whole deranged spiel about how I'm supposedly destined to be his savior. Which is great and all, but what's actually concerning me is why he explicitly warned me to avoid my brother! I'm honestly on the verge of a panic attack here." A twisted scowl warped Nabi's face. For a split second, she gripped the haft of her scythe as if entirely prepared to sever his head anyway.

"Why the hell," she said, her voice dripping with absolute disgust, "are you rambling about your ideal type being a tall woman with a big ass?" Gray stumbled back a step.

"Wha—what? I didn't say that!" A three-foot-tall figure blinked into existence directly behind Nabi. A wide, shit-eating smirk stretched across Tim's face as he dragged a finger across his lips in a zipping motion.

"You little shit!" Gray jabbed an accusatory finger at the empty air over Nabi's shoulder. Before she could turn, Tim's physical form scrambled into pixels and dissolved into nothing. Nabi tightened her grip on her weapon and whipped her head around, finding only empty space.

"I know for a fact my needles didn't pierce your brain," she muttered, giving Gray a hard look.

"Are you alright in the head?" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"No. I'm not alright," Gray snapped. The weight of his new class was finally sinking in. He had come to terms with reality: it wasn't a double-edged sword. It was just a curse. A suffocating, world-ending amount of duty had just been shoved down his throat, and the only sane response he could muster in the moment was to completely ignore it. Just the thought of burying his head in the sand and dodging the System's cosmic drama offered his racing mind a momentary respite.

Nabi swiped a finger through the air, pulling up a holographic screen. A deep frown creased her forehead.

"What is a 'Shroud'?" she asked.

"I thought your class was 'Mistveil'." Gray scoffed, flicking his wrist in a dismissive wave.

"Oh, that. Probably just a System typo. I plan on ignoring it for the rest of my life." Nabi crossed her arms, fixing him with that familiar, deadpan stare of absolute suspicion.

"What?" Gray challenged, matching her posture.

"Do I have to share everything? It's not like we're a team anymore."

"Fair." Nabi tilted her head. A geyser of liquid crimson erupted from her palm. The blood slithered up the haft of her scythe, coating the steel blade in a fresh, glistening armament.

"So why should I let you live, then?" Gray's mind frantically scrambled for an excuse to avoid a second death match.

"Uh… because Ava would be mad if her disciples slaughtered each other for no reason?" He flashed a painfully wide, artificial smile. Nabi's eyes narrowed into slits. The staredown stretched for a while until she finally let out a heavy exhale, the tension dropping from her shoulders as she broke her stance.

"Everyone's entitled to their secrets," she muttered.

"I'm not going to beat them out of you. Besides, I'd rather die than siphon your filthy blood into my core." With a single twitch of her finger, the wet sheen on the blade peeled backward, retracting seamlessly into her skin.

"You can just admit you've grown attached to me, you know." Gray raised his arms in an exaggerated, cocky shrug. Nabi hoisted the heavy weapon back over her shoulder and planted her lead foot into the dirt, winding up to hurl the blade straight at his chest. Then, a gentle voice cut through the heavy tension.

"Hello! I am so sorry for interrupting your fight, but the marker we need to reach is floating directly beneath your feet." A woman drifted effortlessly across the field, hovering a few inches above the grass. She had waist-length, platinum-white hair and a bright, welcoming smile—a cheerful expression that clashed sharply with the dead, hollow look in her eyes. Strapped to her back was a translucent scythe, a full head larger than Nabi's own, forged in swirling gradients of purple and white.

Tendrils of ethereal mist trailed lazily from the weapon's haft, pooling like dry ice on the ground below. Name: Xinyi Wang Class: Soul Reaper Level: 4 Rank: Awakened Ladder Rank: 3 Marching beside her was a heavyset man, his chin held high and chest puffed out in a blatant display of arrogance. Ginger hair framed a smug face, while light armor strained against his bulky frame. Thick brass knuckles gleamed on both fists under the stadium lights.

Name: Soren O'Riley Class: BlazeaFist Level: 4 Rank: Awakened Ladder Rank: 132"Stand down if you don't wanna get hurt," Soren barked.

"Are you kidding me? Hurt?" Xinyi hissed, leaning into his shoulder.

"Why do you insist on making an enemy out of everyone we see? At least check their page before you throw threats around!" Due to the acoustics of the barren field, her scolding whisper carried perfectly over to Gray and Nabi. Gray and Nabi exchanged a look. She gave a curt nod, took two measured steps backward, and swept a hand toward the empty space she had just occupied. Gray mirrored her retreat, though he skipped the dramatic hand gesture. The decision threw him off.

He and Nabi currently held a level advantage over the newcomers. If they were going to force a skirmish, now was the optimal time to strike— before the duo hit their marker and reaped the level-up rewards. He deferred to Nabi to call the shots, silently acknowledging her as the alpha in their fragile dynamic, but her passive approach made no tactical sense. Catching his hesitation, Nabi held up both index fingers and tapped them together. The 1v1 duel. Gray's eyes widened in realization. She was a genius.

The plan was to let the newcomers fight to the death, then ambush the battered survivor. Sleazy, but highly effective. In the meantime, Gray withdrew the Ability Shard from his ring, hoping to add a new skill to his arsenal before they jumped the victor. Ability Shards cannot be used in the presence of potential hostiles. Gray cursed under his breath and deposited the crystal back into his storage. Xinyi and Soren halted their stride in the middle of the field.

They flicked their fingers through the air, and a few seconds later, a familiar, warm golden light bloomed from their bodies. The level was complete. Nabi frowned, her grip tightening on the haft of her scythe.

"What? How? Didn't the prompt say you had to fight to the death?" Xinyi tilted her head, giving her Reaper counterpart a confused look.

"Uh… no? It just says we passed the level, and that we're free to do whatever we want until the time limit expires." Screw you, Tim, Gray thought, a tremor of rage shaking his clenched fist. Nabi caught the gesture, her gaze snapping to his eyes. He offered a grim, solemn nod. Soren cracked his knuckles, then rolled his neck until it let out a loud, satisfying pop.

"I'm still bordering the threshold of the Top 100, ya know," the pugilist said, his voice dropping into a rumble.

"Which means I don't have the luxury of cruising to the finish line like you two Reapers." He snapped his head toward Gray, flashing a wide, predatory smile.

"You understand my position, don't ya?" Soren wound his arm back and threw a heavy punch at the empty air. The brass knuckles ignited with a sudden spark, and a condensed beam of fire erupted from his fist, streaking across the field straight toward Gray's chest.