You ever have one of those moments where life feels like it's just waiting for you to screw up? That's how it felt sitting in my hotel room that night.
I sat on the edge of the bed, scrolling through the news on my smartphone. My name was plastered across every digital banner, every broadcast stream and every holo headline in the region.
"The Lone Nomad Challenges the House of Rameses!"
"Five Daughters, Five Days — The God-Touched Duel Begins Tomorrow."
"Who Is the Faceless Fluxer Known as the Lone Nomad?"
Yeah. That's me. The dumbass who just decided to challenge five of his master's daughters in a row like this was some kind of speedrun. I sighed and tossed the phone onto the sheets.
"Great. I'm officially trending for bad decisions again."
The ceiling above me was a faint white glow, shifting between warm and cold light depending on my heartbeat. Some fancy mood-sensitive lighting system meant to "keep athletes calm." Didn't help one damn bit.
My master, Seirath, didn't waste a second after our little talk. Within hours, the CATF committee had released an official announcement confirming the duels for five consecutive days, one duel per day. If I lost even one match, the rest were canceled. Winner takes bragging rights and, in my case, the right to learn Augere.
The comments online were wild. People thought I was suicidal, delusional or just trying to become a meme. And honestly, I couldn't even argue with that.
"Vilythe Rameses," I muttered, looking back at my phone screen.
She's the youngest of the five at fifteen years old, fifth in ranking among the sisters but dangerous as hell. The clips I watched showed her cutting through simulations like paper. Her movements were faster than most cameras could track. She fought like lightning condensed into human form.
She's gonna kill me.
Still, I wasn't backing down. I made a deal with Seirath and if there's one thing I hate more than losing, it's breaking my word. He even went out of his way to make this harder for me. His rule to me was that none of his daughters could interact with me outside the duels. No friendly talks or training tips or sneaky practice matches. The man was testing me on more than just strength. He wanted to see what I would become when all I had left was myself.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling again, exhaling slowly. The silence made me restless, though. My mind kept jumping between strategies, counters and possibilities. Vilythe used aerial maneuvers. She thrived in open spaces and used lightning-based Flux amplification. I need stealth. A lot of it.
My gaze drifted to my smartphone again. I opened the system interface. My current balance was at 15,000 Pearlesia. That was my reward for reaching the Third Awakening. Not bad for two months of breaking my own bones and surviving void exposure.
I flipped to the Banner tab, my fingers idly hovering over the floating icons. Two banners shone at the top of the screen; the Fluveheart Banner and Relic Banner.
Fluvehearts were… well, wasting Pearlesia. I could eat them to boost my Xana reserves or refine them into my body but I didn't need more of that.
I tapped on the Relic Banner.
A dozen weapons and relics rotated in a slow, dance, each glimmering with its own aura. I already had almost everything worth having.
Igniferous Edge, five-star armor, capable of dispersing half the incoming damage. I got it using Verdamona's luck in the hospital after I defeated the cow Fluvium. I ate the Fluveheart I collected days after I got it.
Atomicus Structure, a five-star atom-structured weapon linked to my biological string weapons. It had Lucaren's Fluveheart that made my strings stronger and extremely durable.
Faceless Identity, the mask that lets me alter my entire facial and body structure to 99.99% accuracy. No one can tell it's me when I wear it. I can change my appearance using it to.
But two slots in my loadout remained empty; Soundless Nautic and The Cloak of Concealment. Just seeing the names on the banner made my pulse pick up.
Soundless Nautica were said to be boots that erased every sound made by their wearer. Every footstep, every impact, every trace of air displacement was gone. And on top of that, you could walk on water, glide over surfaces and even shift balance in midair.
Perfect. That's the second last piece I want.
If I got it, my full relic set would finally be complete. I'd become something close to what Phasnovterich was; an assassin built purely from instinct, stealth, and absurd precision.
Phasnovterich had been trained by the House of Argemenes. Since our consciousnesses had merged, I inherited fragments of his skills and muscle memory. I could still feel the echoes of his training when I fought. Every step, every turn, every breath was calibrated for silence. But even with that, I wasn't perfect yet. I needed the Nautica shoes. It was the missing rhythm in the symphony of my body.
My master's training had honed my strength, my Xana control and my reflexes to near superhuman levels. But this was where technology met Flux. And unlike the older generations, I didn't see that as cheating. There wasn't any rule forbidding it. If it existed, it could be used. That was the way of Flux combat.
Even though there are 27 Relics and Weapons in MoDS, including four and five star Weapons and Relics, having all of them is stupid. Just having four to five Relics is enough like in MoDS gameplay. Characters needed four to five Relics and a Weapon.
I took a deep breath. My thumb hovered over the glowing "10x Pull" button. The gentle hum of the interface vibrated through my hands like an old heartbeat waiting to be revived.
Alright. Let's see if the universe loves me tonight.
I tapped it.
The screen exploded into motion.
A thousand shards of color spun upward, forming a vortex of cosmic light. The Pearlesia count dropped. The air in the room seemed to hum, resonating with the system's soundscape. Ten relics descended in order, each one flashing as its rarity revealed itself.
Blue. Blue. Blue. Purple. Blue. Purple. Purple.
My jaw tightened as I continued to spam the button over and over. And then, it hit gold at the fifth ten pull, the maximum pity system of the game. Talk about unlucky. The tenth orb blazed like the heart of a dying star, its radiance bleeding into the room.
"No way…"
The name unfurled across the screen in flowing white script.
[★ ★ ★ ★ ★ — Soundless Nautica — "Move as if the world itself forgets your existence."]
I froze for a second, grinning like an idiot.
"Oh, you beautiful, impossible boots..."
At least I won my gamble. I got Faceless Identity after losing to the Infinity Flask so I did not have a guaranteed chance.
I tapped the screen again and a small golden hologram appeared beside the bed. It was digital projection of the boots rotating slowly. The design was sleek and dark with faint cerulean veins running along the soles like neural circuits. The projection shimmered and the real pair materialized on the carpet beside my feet, exuding a faint presence that bent the air slightly.
I slid them on.
When I stood, there was no sound. The air didn't even shift when I moved. I walked across the room, watching my reflection vanish and reappear in the window's glass as if I were blinking through existence itself.
Now I'm ready.
Tomorrow would be the first duel that could decide whether I touched the next stage or died trying. But right now, standing in the quiet, invisible in my own shadow, I finally felt the same thrill I used to get back when I was just another player.
"Vilythe Rameses, let's dance."