Great — continuing now with:
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Arc II of the Duel — Caius vs. Alarion
"He didn't just fight.
He remembered."
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Location: Arena XIII — Midway Through the Duel
The dust hadn't settled.
Every time it tried, flame or void scattered it again.
The sand no longer looked golden — it was ash-stained, scorched black, carved by impact craters and cracked glyphs.
And in the center of it all:
Two silhouettes.
Breathing hard.
Aura-scorched. Bleeding.
Unyielding.
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Alarion stood upright, chest rising and falling slowly — disciplined, regal.
His shoulders glowed faintly with residual Vein fire.
Caius stood hunched, one arm hanging lower, ribs bruised purple beneath a half-torn shirt.
"Wound severity: 3rd tier contusion. Left wrist sprain. Pain suppression required."
The Codex pulsed against his ribs like a second heartbeat.
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(Caius – Inner Monologue)
He hits like a saint with something to prove.
And his aura doesn't crack. It sings.
Perfect. Beautiful. Controlled.
And I want to drag it into the mud.
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Alarion took a step forward.
His footsteps sizzled. The sand beneath turned molten for a heartbeat, then cooled to glass.
"You don't have to keep going."
"Is that mercy?" Caius spat.
"It's exhaustion."
"You mistake exhaustion for memory. I'm just… remembering harder."
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🔥 Then Caius moved.
Red Waltz — 40% active.
He sprinted left, then juked right mid-step.
An illusionary feint using a technique he stole from a blind duelist in Kharthuum.
He dropped low, pivoted, and spun his leg in a sweep toward Alarion's knee.
Alarion dodged — but just late enough for Caius to graze him.
First real damage.
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Alarion's smile vanished.
He raised his hand and ignited the air.
"Vein Technique: Soulfire Spear."
A golden shaft of burning Veinlight shot forward.
Caius ducked, but the spear bent mid-air — curved like it wanted his spine.
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"Codex Fragment Adaptation: Reflex Offset Pattern Learned."
He twisted. Not dodging.
He redirected.
The spear grazed past, singing the edge of his ear.
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Caius growled.
> "You bend fire now?"
> "Fire bends for truth."
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The Codex pulsed.
Hard.
Not in adaptation.
In resistance.
> "Foreign Vein type incompatible. Burn risk detected. Nullifying…"
> "…Override Denied."
A second spear formed.
Caius didn't dodge this time.
He caught it.
And screamed.
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SYSTEM RESPONSE
> "Wound registered: Flamebrand. Soul membrane breached. Pain response critical."
> "Codex Response: Consuming input."
> "WARNING: UNSTABLE VEIN ECHO ASSIMILATION."
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Caius dropped to one knee.
The fire coursed through his arm. The pain was unbearable — not heat, but purification.
Pyros didn't burn flesh.
It burned lies.
And the Codex was full of them.
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(Caius – Inner Monologue)
He's not purging me. He's judging me.
The fire knows I'm not supposed to be here. That this soul wasn't meant to dance.
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Alarion approached slowly.
> "Yield, Caius."
"Or what? You'll absolve me?"
"You'll vanish. The way things that don't belong should."
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Caius looked up.
Eyes red with pain.
Lips cracked open in a smile.
"I may not belong…"
"But I exist anyway."
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Codex Activation: Level 3 Echo Bloom
The Codex surged.
The memory of every person he'd absorbed — every scream, every regret — rippled across his skin like scars blooming backwards.
He stood.
Bloodied.
Eyes glowing.
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"Let me show you what existing costs."
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He slammed his hand into the dirt.
> "Codex Skill: Hollow Pulse — Memory Field Unleashed."
The arena shifted.
For a second — just a second — the whole battleground became a graveyard of echoes.
Alarion blinked.
He saw ghosts.
They weren't real.
But the grief was.
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And then Caius moved through the illusion — fast. Too fast.
He landed a strike to Alarion's ribs.
Then a knee to the thigh.
Then a slash with the burnt spear fragment, dragging flame into void.
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Second Contact Sequence
> "You fight like you remember every wrong thing," Alarion said, finally rattled.
> "I do."
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They clashed again.
Fist to fist.
Aura to aura.
Flame met Void.
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And for the first time…
Alarion staggered.
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The crowd gasped.
Chainseekers leaned forward.
A professor dropped their quill.
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Then Alarion shouted.
> "You think pain makes you strong?!"
> "No," Caius shouted back.
"But it means I've already survived what you're trying to protect me from."
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Alarion's flames exploded outward.
A column of solar light engulfed the center of the arena.
Caius vanished inside it.
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Silence.
Ash.
And a single word from the Codex:
> "...Burn Complete."
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