“Oh good, you’re back,” Isabella spotted Nil before he did her. Shawn walked next to her, covered in sweat and holding an ice pack to a red welt on his cheek. Nil had seen the most basic form of her sonic abilities. Absorb protected him from the bulk of it, but Isabella still rattled his bones and messed with his inner ear. Shawn’s more active defenses likely struggled with them far more. “I was starting to wonder when I’d next see you.”

“I’m so glad you took the job,” Nil told her. He received a cursory nod from Shawn and responded in kind. “You good, Shawn?”

“I’m fine. Isabella says we should be sparring partners.”

“Your barriers and explosions are a pain to deal with. I can see how training with you would improve my timing.”

“Both of you have a lot to benefit from such an exchange,” Isabella commented. “Nil’s base power and energy attacks will force you to improve your barrier strengthening and layering. The explosions won’t get through his defensive ability, but I believe you already have a decent counter for that.” She looked at Nil. “I’d like you to be able to break through Shawn’s barrier without wasting too much energy or hurting yourself. The biggest challenge will be withstanding the force blast afterward. It should improve your timing and focus significantly.”

“Do you mind if we leave that until tomorrow?” Shawn asked sheepishly. He exhibited a slight limp as he moved. “I’m not one to dodge a training opportunity, but—”

“I already told you to visit the infirmary and then have an ice bath, didn’t I?” Isabella asked, eyes narrowing. “Off you go. It's about time Nil and I have a much-needed catch up. There’s a lot he left out the last time we spoke.”

Shawn nodded. “I look forward to working with you,” he told Nil, smiling at him for the first time since they had met.

The barrier projector left them, limping away. As Isabella watched him go, Nil half expected her to comment on Shawn’s performance or personality, but she didn’t. Instead, the woman led him through the building, highlighting rooms that would benefit him the most. Nil was surprised to find a handful of rooms custom-designed to fit Isabella’s favorite training routines. The mini-cannon room was one of them. He hoped Layla was pleased with the recommendation. Isabella seemed to like what she did and was especially good at it.

Nil took the walk around to explain his affiliation with the Nexus and other recent developments. The woman’s eyes widened when he showed her the Source Gauntlets.

“You know how rare and difficult it is to get a soul weapon?” She demanded, grabbing her left arm and studying the gauntlet closely. Her fingers traced the smooth, seamless metal and the crimson gem. “They’re rare even in the Silver Gauntlet. I don’t know if you understand how rare they are and impossible to get. Winning a soul weapon seed or chassis in the arena isn’t enough. You have to awaken it or find a good enough soul smith that can help form it and then develop it.”

“Good thing the ludus will soon house a soul smith in training,” Nil replied, grinning. “I’m not sure if I told you, but I’ve had a soul weapon seed in me since before becoming a Summoned. I’d rather not go into how I acquired it, but Symbiotech was behind it.”

“Their Cursed Energy project involved soul weapons, didn’t it?”

Nil nodded. “They’ve been harvesting it through Death Gauntlet. Most of us Iron Realm employees have quests that involve taking out the co-conspirators.

“Since you’re an employee of the Nexus now, you might as well know. I was involved in the sabotage and explosion at Symbiotech. Whatever happened in there drained the Cursed Energy from my corrupted soul weapon seed. The last quest was more a reward than a job. I served a soul smith who repaired the seed and helped create the new chassis.”

Isabella stared at him for a moment. “I looked into your past. The incident with the crazed Summoned and your girlfriend. That’s when you got your soul weapon seed?”

Nil nodded. “It came with complications like her visage following me around for the last seven years, ruining all my relationships, and just making life difficult. I’m just glad that stage of my life is now beyond me.”

“In that case, you more than earned your soul weapon. It wasn’t just luck.” Isabella released his arm, and he projected his Schema interface, showing her Meatball’s and the soul weapon’s information. “These are major assets and will accelerate your growth and ascension significantly. Please remember not to race ahead. Take some time to master your new tools. I won’t stop you from accepting our employer’s quests, even if they involve the Death Gauntlet. I’d just like to ensure that you and your friends succeed and come back alive. There is a lot of good we can do working for the Nexus. The accompanying risk is no different from what we’d come across in more dangerous quests.”

“If I were to be honest, it's not the danger that bothers me,” Nil stated. “I’m more concerned about having to target and kill people.”

“Is it any different from your quests? Cursed Ones might not feel like real humans, but many used to be. You’ll need to get over that kind of thinking as soon as possible. Given your ability, it won’t be long before quests have you facing Agents of the Scourge. They’re as human as you and me.”

“I already had an encounter with vampires. That was hard enough.” Nil sighed. “I had to leave the actual execution to my more experienced companions. It was harsh, and I lost several nights of sleep afterward. However, that quest made me understand the importance of getting blood on my hands. It's not a black-and-white topic. Killing isn’t just good or bad.”

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“There are the right and wrong reasons,” Isabella told him. She displayed an uncharacteristic moment of affection and delicacy, placing a hand on Nil’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “The day it gets easy, you know something has gone wrong. But knowing that hundreds of innocents, if not more, won’t have their lives destroyed makes living with blood on one’s hands easier.” Isabella paused. “Let’s leave the morality nonsense to the thinkers. I believe Nexus has hired a psychiatrist to conduct such discussions. Let's focus on putting together a training regiment.”

Adam appeared just in time and agreed to a spar. Nil could think of no better method of demonstrating the Source Gauntlets. The brute didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the prospect of facing Nil’s energy blasts excited him.

“I’m not sure you understand how deadly this can be,” Nil said. “I appreciate you volunteering, but I’d rather not risk killing you. There has to be better methods of testing.”

“According to the Schema, I can recover from anything as long my heart or brain isn’t completely destroyed or rendered inactive. My ascension to iron came with a new ability that needs training, and unlike Shawn, you might just be able to hurt me enough to trigger and train it.”

The new ability only turned Adam into more of an undefeatable threat than he already was. Nil’s ordinary empowered strikes—Expand and Toggled Supercharging combined—did little but slow his opponent. Adam shook almost everything off. The minor contusions that appeared on his skin following each blow rapidly faded in seconds. The spiderwebs of burst capillaries repaired themselves, leaving no mark of ever suffering any damage. When Nil struck the same spot again, it suffered significantly less damage.

The tireless assault and endless strikes with no break made it challenging for Nil to get the upperhand. Adam’s ability did nothing to increase the power of his strikes. The brute relied on his Might attribute alone. However, the armored knuckles and never needing to take a break meant Nil couldn’t switch out of Absorb. Only Toggled Supercharging and the new energy channeling abilities that helped pour more power into the ability kept Brutal Battery from reaching capacity. Nil understood how the man had won several Gauntlet of Ten matches in a row with almost no break in between. He wasn’t just a vanguard meant to stand in the front and protect his companions. Adam was a significant martial threat.

Instead of risking it with Expend, Nil tapped into the energy stored within the Source Gauntlet’s crimson gems. He released a focused blast through his right palm, striking Adam’s left arm. The glancing blow ripped a monstrous chunk of flesh out of the limb. Tissue rapidly grew to cover the damage. Once sure the man would survive the Source Gauntlet’s power, Nil followed up with the three-finger blade, destroying half of the fist flying toward his face.

Bone, muscles, blood vessels, and skin regenerated, replacing what he had taken away. The follow-up swing failed to take away the rest of the hand. The rough energy knife sliced into skin and muscle but was unable to do the same with bone.

“When I regenerate or repair something, the new tissue is resistant to whatever destroyed the old,” Adam had explained before the fight. “The resistance isn’t absolute and doesn’t last particularly long, but theoretically, it should help me push through what would otherwise kill me.”

There was no winner. Despite the gauntlets, it ended in a stalemate. Nil believed that wouldn’t be the case if he were to cut loose. However, despite Adam’s ability, there was no non-lethal approach. If Nil used Expend and the Source Gauntlets to their full extent, he would end up killing anyone he faced. And he didn’t particularly want to kill any of his sparring partners. Nil had confidence in his ability to destroy arena opponents and enemies in quests but not much else.

“Your unarmed fighting skills, though excellent, are insufficient,” Isabella said, examining Nil’s bare forearms. Despite several uses of Expend and instances of energy projection, the previously armored sections showed no signs of damage. The Source Gauntlets and Galvanized had done their job, keeping Nil from hurting himself with Brutal Battery’s abilities. “It's time you get some weapon training.”

“I think so too,” Nil replied. “Maybe start with small blade training. The three-finger blade feels uncomfortable, and I’m working on developing something better, but it will take a while.”

“Small blades is a good start, though. We can adapt, overcome, and come up with something new as and when needed.”

“Amsmaster’s Disappointment will make things challenging, but we’ll figure out a way around it.” Nil hoped knuckle-duster knives would help him overcome limitations imposed by the feat. His three-finger blades hadn’t caused a reaction. “Maybe constructs born of the gauntlets and temporary energy weapons will be exempt.”

The planning went on for an hour, with sparring breaks every ten minutes. The first few ended the same way, but Adam started getting the upper hand. The power of his blows never eased, and his footwork never faltered. The only reason the final bout didn’t end in utter defeat was because Nil lost control and melted off Adam’s right leg below the knee.

“Your ability is crazy,” Nil told Adam afterward. Nil had planned a long day of exercises, but he felt spent and needed something less strenuous to center himself. “Are you sure your ability doesn’t increase your strength and speed?”

“Not directly, no,” Adam answered. “It significantly reduces my pain threshold, and Mind only reinforces it. Since my potency is reasonably high, I’ve been splitting my Tokens evenly between it and Finesse. So I can push myself harder with little worry of injury. Muscle tears, pulls, and strains aren’t a concern when you can recover from them instantly and become less vulnerable to them for a handful of minutes afterward.”

“So you’re more effective the longer the fight goes on,” Nil commented, feeling moderately jealous. Brutal Battery had more raw power but demanded a great deal of focus and micromanagement. Adam only had passive abilities, and they alone made him a devastating presence.

“Yes and no. Just between you and me, I have the ability to supercharge my healing abilities. However, the more I do it, the slower the regeneration gets. If I were to slow down and let you inflict enough damage or you stopped holding back, I wouldn’t have the upper hand in the end.”

“Does that mean if we had a couple of more bouts, I’d come out on top?”

Adam grinned. “Not with one arm tied behind your back as you are now. I had plenty of supercharging left to do.” He paused, wiping the blood and sweat from their bouts. “Do you feel disgusting? Regeneration is cool and all, but it is stinky business.”

“I think the appropriate term is manky,” Nil said. “Shower, swimming pool, and then a steam?”

“You have good tastes, Mr Roy, but may I suggest an ice bath first? I promise you, it will do wonders.”