The eatery fell silent after the whispers spread. All eyes turned to Shubh as though he carried fire in his veins. For a moment, the young warrior felt the weight of their stares, but his voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"I don't care from which clan I come," Shubh said calmly, setting his spoon down. "I'm not here to hide behind history. I'm here to prove myself."
The crowd exchanged uneasy looks. He leaned forward, his tone firm yet curious.
"Tell me," Shubh asked, "what do you know of the Sun of the West? And what can you tell me about this city?"
At the mention of that name, a ripple of fear swept the room. One of the older men, a scarred fighter with lines of battles etched across his face, gave a sharp laugh—though it sounded more like despair than humor.
"You're here to challenge him?" he asked, shaking his head. "Boy, if you value your life, listen well: avoid getting too close."
Shubh didn't answer, only waited.
The man leaned in. "The Sun of the West… he isn't just a fighter. He's a Master—a rank feared across the lands. Do you know what that means? He commands ninety-three abilities. Ninety-three! And each one of those abilities spawns countless attacks. If he wished, he could burn half this city to the ground before anyone could draw a blade."
Another voice joined in, a younger fighter with trembling hands. "Metris is no ordinary city, stranger. This is the City of Fighters—a place where warriors live and die by combat. At its heart stands the Tower. Three hundred floors, each one harsher than the last. Only the strongest fighters can climb it. And the Sun of the West… he rules them all."
The scarred man nodded grimly. "Above those floors, beyond the three hundredth, are the Tower Masters. Only seven tower Master exist. And above them…" His eyes hardened as though the thought itself was too heavy. "Above them stands one who has defeated all the Tower Masters—not in duels, not one by one, but all together. A single man against the combined strength of all fighters in that tower "
The room grew colder at those words, silence pressing against the walls.
Shubh sat quietly, absorbing every detail. His face remained hidden beneath his hood, but his fists clenched under the table. Not out of fear—but determination.
To the others, the hierarchy seemed like an impossible wall. To Shubh, it was a ladder waiting to be climbed.
At last, he spoke, voice steady and unshaken.
"Then I know where I must begin."
His journey in the City of Fighters had only started. But even as the people warned him, even as they doubted, Shubh's heart burned with a single truth: to reach the Sun of the West, to climb the Tower, and to etch his name among legends