“I’ll keep my word,” Isabella said when Nil revealed his recent growth. “The wording on this event’s entry requirements is ambiguous. You need to be on the verge of Iron Realm for this qualifier, so there isn’t more than a quarter between qualifying and the first bout.”

“If I’m lucky, I’ll get the final rank in Absorb during the event,” Nil told her. It was the day after he returned from the quest. He had spent the previous evening eating, relaxing, and letting his friends and family know about the success—leaving out the bit about Misu’s passing. Even though he was in Old Oaksfield for about three days, five had passed on Earth. “Then it's just a matter of getting a quest with an Iron Ascension Token as a reward.”

“That’s what slows most people down. Iron Ascension Tokens are one of the most contested quest rewards. It's almost easier to find quests with the later tokens. If you don’t see one in three months, you’ll need to do the qualifiers again. That’s assuming you make it on your first go, of course.”

“You don’t think I’ll pass?”

“You’re not the only talented candidate,” Isabella replied. “Only about five percent of people make it through qualifiers. It's not all about winning, though. People who don’t get a top spot but sufficiently impress the organizers and show potential are also let through. So, just spend the next couple of weeks mastering the tools you’ve developed.”

“My caseworker gave me an idea of how to get better use out of Absorb. I don’t know if it will work and how I’d put it into practice—”

“Talk me through it. Maybe we can devise a training plan together.”

Nil took a moment to formulate his thoughts before presenting the idea. Isabella waited patiently, watching him. He couldn’t tell whether he had earned her respect for overcoming limitations and getting closer to Iron Realm or she sensed how the last quest had left him moderately deflated.

“I imagine my stored energy as a cylindrical tank with a release valve on the bottom,” Nil explained. “When using Expend's dual function, I open and close the valve to release the desired amount instantly. During the quest, I successfully opened the valve partially and released the desired energy over a longer duration instead of instantly. It wasn't as explosive, but it was still incredibly destructive, and it also damaged me significantly less.

“I want to try to achieve something similar with Absorb. Currently, when something hits me, it stops. This is greater for weaker or low-strength opponents but not for people stronger than me. I'd like to learn how to Absorb some and redirect the rest or turn it against my foe.”

“Right. You can't take advantage of your opponent's mistakes if they never over-extend or stumble. If anything, you're helping them out right now.”

Nil nodded. “There is an initial surprise when they lose all momentum, but against a skilled opponent, that won't work after the first couple of times.”

“I think we can build on your current regimen,” Isabella said after spending a few seconds scribbling in the notepad she always carried. “From what I understand of your abilities, Absorb is either on or off. It might change at later ranks, but currently, you can't manipulate it just to Absorb half of an incoming blow. Is my assumption correct?”

Nil nodded.

“Well, it's a good thing you've been practicing switching between it and the neutral state. I think we should experiment with you staying neutral and activating just as you get hit or just after. Maybe even the other way around. I think this is where Finesse comes in as your secondary attribute. You need it to sharpen your reaction time. This is a move you'll mostly use against foes stronger than you. I expect you to outspeed most such foes.”

“That sounds dangerous. Perhaps we should start with low power or speed.”

Isabella looked amused as she looked up from her notebook. “We don’t do things that way over here. Besides, you need genuine danger to your life to get that rank, don’t you?

“Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?”

The training in question wasn’t as terrifying as Nil expected. After Isabella rigged three little cannons to shoot metal spheres at him, he expected to face something terrifying like a mortar barrage. Instead, he found himself facing one of the ludus’ summoners. The bronze-ranked man got a discount on ludus fees by loaning out his twin bears to the trainers. The creature Nil faced had charcoal fur, a snow-white mane, and luminous crimson eyes. It towered over him and attacked with no restraint.

Initially, Nil couldn’t help but have Absorb active as soon as the creature struck. A casual strike almost filled Brutal Battery’s stores. If not for the additional unit of Spark, Nil was sure he would’ve been gravely injured. After emptying his stores while pushing the creature, he let it hit him again. He once again kept Absorb active, with the intention to switch to neutral as soon as the beast made contact. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work as he had hoped. He successfully deactivated the ability within a fraction of a second of contact, but it was enough time for Absorb to do its job. So, Nil focused his efforts on doing the opposite.

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The timing proved challenging. Nil believed a mental block and fear contributed to the difficulty. He struggled to let the giant-summoned beast strike him without activating Absorb just before the moment of contact. It wasn’t something he expected to overcome or achieve in a day, but the training felt more manageable than little cannonballs flying at him at high speeds from multiple out-of-sequence sources.

On days the bear was unavailable or busy with someone else, Nil continued to polish his skills against armed and unarmed fighting partners. Shawn, the Barrier-Maker, had highlighted his martial shortcomings. Drilling wasn’t enough; Nil needed to improve and sharpen his instincts. Fatima, especially, helped him improve his ability to deal with faster opponents. She used ordinary daggers dipped in blood instead of her blood knives, reducing the danger level. It also let her not hold back, and she left streaks all over Nil, highlighting all the times and ways he could’ve died.

“Our qualifier is a battle royale,” she told him, reading the ludus’ internal mail. There was a solo and duo tournament, too. Isabelle had told him that it was unlikely she’d get him into it. “Fifty-something participants. The final five standing are guaranteed entry into the Iron Gauntlet. It's an official Apocalypse Arena event, so the top three combatants will also win prizes. There is a lot on the line.”

“Fifty-two is an odd number,” Nil said, reading the information in the ludus’ internal messaging. “It’s not divisible by three, and having twenty-six teams is just bizarre. Are we expected to challenge this in groups?”

Fatima nodded. “Each participating ludus can put forward one to two teams for battle royale. Golden Aegis has ten eligible candidates but only six slots. Four, including us, have blanket approval. It's up to us to pick the other two. Many aren’t happy because you just got here, but can’t make a fuss after we proved the team’s stars in Capture The Flag.”

“That’s just strange. Who is on the other team?”

“Viktor and Lily have the guaranteed spots. They’ll probably pick a striker or someone ranged. Mobi is pissed because he was skipped over and will be sucking up to us. Everyone else from the old team is in the pool of waiting six and a couple more.”

“What about our mysterious knight?”

“Solo tournament. They’re the only one going through for it, and Ted is pissed off. Not surprising after he lost in the last event.”

“Who do you think we should pick?” Nil asked, going through the list of candidates. He was familiar with only half of them. “We’d benefit from ranged support or a scout. Anya, maybe?”

“No,” Fatima said. “I don’t like her, and she doesn’t have much going for her besides the stealth. Her archery skills are decent but nothing amazing. If she also made and used trick or bomb arrows like the red team’s archer, I’d consider her. Elisha would be amazing, but I doubt she’ll join us. She and Viktor have a thing going on, and since she’s one of the ludus’ best long-range mages, he’s almost certainly going to pick her.”

“I don’t dislike Mobi, but I’m not sure I can trust him.” Nil scrolled through the list. “What do you know about this lot?”

Fatima clicked the first person on the list of unknowns. The image of a muscular woman came up. Nil had seen her sparring with the unarmed combat trainer but never dealt with her directly. “Hilda is a standard brute. Her ability is like the Steady Charger feat. She gains mass while moving in a straight line.”

“So inflicts more damage from the momentum,” Nil stated watching a little clip of her in action. She had participated in the duo battles during the previous event and lost.

“It also improves her defense. Hilda doesn’t have the range we need but excels at closing in on the enemy. She loses the mass rapidly unless she gains velocity again.”

“So good in short skirmishes but not in prolonged fights.” Nil couldn’t help but wonder what kind of quests the Nexus offered Hilda. “Who’s next?”

“Xiang.” The image of a petite Chinese woman appeared on the aetherscreen. “She’s not too different from me. Xiang conjures chakrams. They’re sharp as hell and great at close and mid-range. The blades are more potent when thrown, bouncing around, and slicing through things. It's most terrifying when she explodes them for a nice little frag grenade. No blood involved, so she can afford to conjure multiple and stay ranged.”

“That’s pretty great. It sounds like she toes the line between mage and rogue. High Finesse means she might just be able to keep up with us.”

Finally, they flipped to the last person on the list. It was a lanky man who appeared a few years older than Nil. “I’ve seen him around but never seen him in action before the last event,” Fatima said. Nil remembered him from the duo matches. “He’s somewhere between an artisan and a knight. He constructs his own armor and weapons and then empowers them in the field.” The video showed him firing bolts of pure energy from a crossbow and then switching to a sword that glowed, similar to Sakura’s Cutting Light. “The benefit of having Nowel is his ability to stand in the front lines as a shield bearer, dish out damage, and then be just as decent at range.”

“Jack of all. Master of none.” Nil rewatched the clip again. “His versatility is bloody amazing, but I don’t know if he’s right for us.”

Fatima nodded. “Man’s too slow.”

“Let's make Elisha our priority. If Viktor scoops her up, then we turn to Xiang.” Nil tapped Nowel’s image last. “He’s our last resort.”

“I would rather not have Elisha, at all. She’s annoying and full of herself. But, she is good at what she does. Let's give her and Xiang equal weight. Besides, Elisha isn’t the most mobile.”

“I imagine you want to take the lead with recruitment?” Nil asked.

“I am the more charismatic of the two of us.” Fatima chuckled. “But with Xiang, it might be best if we approach her together.”

“Alright. We’ll try to catch her the next time she shows up to weapons training.”