“I’m so glad you’re alive!” Bunty exclaimed when he and Nil met. The building, with group training rooms and Apocalypse Arena services, also had a cafe and meeting room for visitors. Since Nil didn’t feel comfortable showing up in public yet, he picked it as their meeting space. “After the Symbiotech thing and not hearing from you, I was sure you died.”
“That’s my bad,” Nil said. “Andrew is supposed to contact you if I spontaneously leave on a quest without telling you. But he ended up getting summoned too, and is on a long-term quest. I’ll ensure henceforth it's the ludus that informs you whenever I’m away on a quest.”
“Don’t worry about stuff like that. I might not be a Summoned, but I understand the Summoned life.” An uncomfortable exchange between Bunty and the waitress interrupted their conversation. The awkwardness felt like more his fault than hers. It was apparent that his wheelchair-bound state was a recent development, and he had a complex around it. Nil’s mother had experienced something similar, and acknowledging it only made her feel worse. So Nil did his best to ignore it. “I’m sorry about your last defeat. It must be frustrating to get knocked out of the Gauntlet of Ten after solid victories.”
“It's quite alright.” Nil sighed. “It's better if I think of them as a growth opportunity instead of a loss. The match helped me get the necessary ranks to ascend my body to Iron. I hope it didn’t affect your channel too poorly.”
“It didn’t. This audience is different from the kind I’ve dealt with before. They’re more for the show and story than the wins.” Bunty laid a tablet between them that had several graphs and stills on display. It appeared he had made a website dedicated to the channel. The top of the page read: Gallery of Festus. “The Gauntlet Of Ten usually pairs fighters with similar abilities and a number of wins together. As this chart should tell you, historically, the pairing brackets are zero to three, four to six, and seven to nine. It's ridiculously rare for the second and third brackets to get paired together. You got unlucky, and the audience respects that. In fact, they’re fascinated by how close you got despite the difference in experience and probably overall ranks.
“It's been just over two weeks now, and people are going crazy over some of the moves you pulled off. People love the mystery of the unknown. Then, the incident at Symbiotech followed by your disappearance, made the message boards and comments sections explode. I had to hire a couple of moderators, and there are a dozen conspiracy theories flying about.”
Nil didn’t know what to think when Bunty pulled up a collection of screenshots. Much to his surprise, a couple of them were pretty close to what was happening with Symbiotech. Worried that another cover-up would follow. Andrew had created bots that posted information regarding Symbiotech’s activities, evidence, and camera footage at regular intervals. Nil wasn’t entirely sure how any of it worked, but Andrew promised that his involvement was untraceable. People digging around and trying to track the bots would find dead ends in the Pits and illegal arena betting sites.
Since Andrew had tied Fatima to Symbiotech too, the most popular theory was that Symbiotech was running experience on unaware children and Summoned. Fatima was one of their failures. They had tried the same with Nil, but his power made the system go haywire. The most important bit of news that Nil and the Nexus wanted out was that the company was illegally storing and using Cursed Energy. Nil doubted most civilians could comprehend the implications, but he hoped that the Summoned and people in power would understand the gravity of the situation.
The reports claimed no traces of Cursed Energy remained, and the authorities had found no traces. Nil, his friends, and Layla couldn’t tell whether it was all a cover-up or the symbiotes had taken it all.
If they did, where are they now?
A short question-and-answer session regarding the match, Symbiotech incident, and quest followed. Nil answered as much as he could without incriminating himself. Bunty had brought a camera and microphone with him, and they retreated to a secluded corner to record. Nil surprised the man with the Source Gauntlets but refused to go into detail regarding its abilities.
“If you and your viewers want to see what it can do, you’ll just have to wait for the next fight,” he said.
“When or what will that be?” Festus asked from behind the camera. “Do you intend to attempt the Gauntlet of Ten again?”
“No. There are some special solo and group events coming soon. The rewards seem good, and they accelerate progress toward the Bronze Gauntlet.” He didn’t mention that the solo game in question was the Death Gauntlet. Nil wasn’t sure about the legality of discussing them. Neither he nor Bunty had found any laws against sharing the information. It appeared that world governments or an international regulatory body were actively censoring the information. “If I find decent teammates and work well together, we’ll attempt the team event. Or I’ll try my luck at the solo games.”
“Your performance in the qualifiers battle royale drew a significant chunk of the channel’s original audience. Everyone is keen to see you in a team setting again.”
“They’re fun and chaotic,” Nil said. “There are also plenty of summoned peers who I’d like to attempt group events with. However, the Iron Gauntlet is a stage of rapid development for most. Many of us are still trying to get used to our growing abilities and changing physiologies. Adding teamwork to the mix is challenging. None of my friends and I are in this for the short-term riches and fame. So we’d rather take our time and learn to work together before committing to anything major.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Well put,” Bunty said after pausing the recording. “This is all good stuff. After a little bit of editing, we’re set. There is a lot of discussion of who you are as a person. A vocal minority are ranting about you being a bleeding-heart loser for the whole Fatima thing during the battle royale, but the majority liked how you tried to save your team. Watching you speak and your demeanor should help cement the current positive image.”
“Has Garurda Systems changed their mind about the sponsorship?” Nil liked the idea of an income stream that was not connected to Nexus. He wanted the extra capital to build some personal wealth and help his family as their needs increased and changed. As a man of simple tastes, there wasn’t much he desired. Nil’s new employer provided him and his family with excellent accommodation and charged them a nominal fee in Schema Credits. They were well furnished, and the bill included cafeteria food too. However, Meatball and the Source Gauntlets would soon become a significant drain on his quest and arena earnings. “After the recent revelations, I understand if they’re hesitant about—”
“The offer still stands.” Bunty grinned as he interrupted. “In fact, since there is no evidence against you and many consider you a victim, sympathy points have increased. They were worried you died, but I’ll happily inform them that you’re not.” He paused. “I have a better idea, though.”
Nil raised an eyebrow. “What do you have on mind?”
“Don’t accept any deals until after your next match. Win or lose, your popularity is bound to skyrocket once people see the soul weapon. I can think of no more than two dozen people in the Iron Gauntlet that have one and most on the list I gave you. Better deals and contracts might be on the horizon.”
“That’s assuming you want to make money hand over foot.”
“It's not about the pursuit of wealth for me,” Nil answered honestly. “Money makes life easier and more comfortable for the person holding it and those around him. I’d just like enough so I have a healthy savings account and investment portfolio when and if my arena career ends. Leaving a nest egg for my family would also be great if anything were to happen to me.”
“Well, I like money and if you’re willing to wait, this will be a better deal for both of us. I can also find you a decent accountant if you’d like.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
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Saturday arrivedp before the first saplings sprouted in the garden room. Most lacked any notable qualities but Energy Instinct detected weak signals radiating from them. Meatball especially enjoyed her little kingdom and Nil couldn’t be sure but she had appeared to have gained some mass. He also enjoyed minor growths.
* Might: Iron 6
* Finesse: Bronze 0
* Mind: Iron 0
* Spark: Bronze 1
Brutal Battery: Iron 4
* Absorb: Iron 4
* Expend: Iron 5
* Toggled Supercharging: Iron 1
* Energy Instinct: Iron 3
Source Gauntlets: Iron 1
* Wield The Source: Iron 2
* Galvanized: Iron 1
Ironroot Whelp: Iron 6
* Reinforce: Iron 2
* Regenerate: Iron 4
Energy Instinct and Wield The Source’s growths especially excited Nil. It meant his cultivation exercises and the manuals were doing their jobs. He also regularly trained with Adam and Shawn. The latter only faced him while under Isabella’s tutelage. The man occasionally joined him and the other’s for meals, but still maintained a stoic coldness during their interactions.
Sparring with Adam continued to end in draws. Meanwhile, Shawn frequently gained the upper hand while fighting Nil. His use of barriers and the force blasts when they shattered proved challenging to counter. On the bright side he could feel his Finesse closing in on the next rank. He hoped Absorb and Expend would soon follow.
The Forge’s weapons trainer proved a competent teacher. Unlike Isabella, Noah Granger was an active combatant in the Silver Gauntlet. The short and slender Afro-Caribbean man had failed out of the Gauntlet of Ten twice and had opted to work his way up through the point system. Increasing one’s score became significantly more challenging at the higher realms.
At first, all the weapons they tried triggered Armsmaster’s Disappointment, leaving Nil fumbling. It took several hours of trial and error before Noah Granger narrow down exceptions. Punching daggers, katars, and knuckledusters didn’t grossly effect his motor skills. Noah Granger carved a custom practise weapon out of wood. Sharp spikes covered the knuckles and it extended into a four-inch-long curved blade.
“It’s called a knuckle knife,” Noah said. “There are better weapons. Its mostly used as a concealed weapon that has lethal and non-lethal capabilities. I’d rather use a combat knife with a knuckle guard.”
“I would too.” Nil sighed. “Unfortuantely, my feat doesn’t like them.” He tested the weapon, throwing a jab before pulling his arm in across his face. Then he swung outward, making a stabbing motion with the blade. “I suppose this works. As my control over the gauntlets and energy increases, perhaps I can extend the blade’s length.”
“I suggest we limit our training to these and punching daggers. Once you’re competent with both, we can consider katars.” The man took a step back and watched Nil mime stabs. “Yeah. You need a lot of work. We’ll need to break a bunch of bad defensive habits.”
“It’s worth noting that I’ll never use the energy weapons for defense,” Nil said, striking his gauntleted right arm with the left. “Between Absorb and these beauties. I’m set. The daggers will exclusively be for offence.”
“Understood. But your stance and footwork need a lot of work. I suggest we run offensive and defensive drills, so you can learn to meld fighting styles, using whatever move is best suited for the situation.” Noah took the wooden weapon from Nil and handed him a punching dagger. “We’ll start with this as its closest to your current weapon. I imagine you’ll be using this for breaking through an opponent’s defenses. Isabella forwarded me your fight videos and you clearly have talent but there is a lot of room for improvement. We’ll beat the cockiness and bad habits out of you first. Then, I’ll mold you into something powerful and bloody terrifying.”
“I’m in your hands, Noah.”
“Good. Before you agree to a training regimen, its important you know that I consider pain an important and vital teacher.” Noah grabbed a practise combat knife and held it in a reverse grip, falling into a stance Nil had seen several times before in films. “So we’ll train and drill without any abilities active. Once you’re competent, we can add your ability to the mix.”
Nil fought his reflexes as Noah came at him. He succeeded but suffered the first bruise of many seconds later.