Nil got the opportunity to see the Scourge Champion before the quest’s end. Susan didn’t let him join the fight, but when chaos rained on the red light district, everyone climbed onto the hideout’s roof and watched the battle.
The Nexus had fulfilled Sakura’s wishes. She no longer needed to carry dozens of blades because she now had a soul weapon. Initially, it looked like nothing more than a black hilt with a diamond-shaped guard that had a slit running down the middle. Now, Nil saw the weapon in all of its glory as a blade of golden light extended from it. It grew, broadened, and changed shape as and when needed. Katherine provided ranged support as she went toe to toe with the Scourge Champion.
The man the pair fought looked like an ordinary brute at first, masterfully holding back the pair with masterful unarmed combat. Occasionally, he disrupted Katherine’s spellcasting with giant ice spokes that exploded on impact and covered the surroundings in a thick layer of frost. Civilians who got struck by the attacks almost instantly froze solid mid-scream or as they struggled to get the spike out of themselves. Similar spikes grew out of the Scourge Champion’s flesh as the fight continued, and they successfully blocked Sakura’s Cutting Light.
Nil’s stomach turned when the man pulled a whip out of his back and caught Sakura’s left arm in it. She successfully cut her way out of it, but the brief contact was enough to shred the flesh and left parts looking frostbitten. The ridges on the whip and the slight curve in the bone projectiles gave Nil a clearer understanding of the Scourge Champion’s power. His projectiles and weapons were neither conjurations nor made of ice. He was growing and shaping bones. Nil couldn’t begin to imagine the pain involved in such a power.
The Scourge Champion burned hard and fast. As the fight continued, his movements slowed, and his reaction times dropped. Once Skoll returned carrying Prince Albert on his back, Susan gave the two Summoned the green light, and they unleashed their full strength.
Sakura launched crescent energy blades with her slashes, and they successfully cut through the bone projectiles and spiky defense like they were made of butter. Each such projectile made her sword flicker, and it lost size and luminosity. She got a few clean hits in, and then Katherine successfully pinned her opponent with a giant dart of purple energy. Then Skoll finished the man by destroying the head. He exploded in a mass of jagged spikes, which almost destroyed the giant canine. Sakura had retreated to a safe distance and suffered no such damage.
I would’ve just gotten in their way.
It was a humbling reaction. The Scourge Champion's ability and martial skill put him well beyond Nil’s current capability. He wasn’t yet good enough to deal with such a threat, and it would probably take him a long time to get to such a level. High attribute scores and ability ranks meant little against such an opponent. He needed to get better with the tools he had, and that wasn’t going to happen by simply making the numbers go up.
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“Not your best work,” Layla commented. She faced Nil but didn’t look at him. Her eyes were focused on something invisible between them. “It's not all your fault. The Nexus shouldn’t have respected young Mila Stark’s request. The Scourge Champion successfully concealed himself from us, too. If we had detected its presence, the quest’s danger level would’ve been significantly higher. You wouldn’t have been sent on the quest at all.”
“Mila’s grandfather had been dead long before we arrived,” Nil said.
“On a positive note, you made wise choices in your companions and emerged from the ordeal reasonably unscathed. The quest was concluded to our contentment.” Layla reclined in her chair, her focus returning. “I apologize. We don’t and can’t expect more. All quests won’t end as brilliantly as we hope. Not all Summoned strive for the best possible result.”
“Are you saying you’ve had unrealistic expectations of me?”
“No. Not you in particular. I have unrealistic expectations of all my colleagues.” She smiled. “I don’t mean to be a bitch. But you’re no longer an ordinary Summoned, Nil. We consider them mercenaries, and you’ve become more than that.” Layla waved at the room around them. “This is your workplace, and you’re one of us. That means that you need to get better. Fast. You need to rise to the rank of us, and I believe you can do it. You’re not there yet, but I trust you will. As long as you don’t get killed.”
“So what now?” Nil asked. He nodded at the notes lying on the table between them. When Nil first returned from the quest, Layla was busy with someone else. She had sent a pink clone to talk to him, and it wrote down everything she had to report. “How should we deal with this? We know how Symbiotech is sneaking Cursed Energy into our world. I’m betting there are other unformed soul weapons like mine out there.”
Layla nodded. “I looked into your primary suspect, and you’re right. He carries an unusual volume of Cursed Energy. I’ve already reported this up the ladder. Someone is on the take or is neglecting their duties. We can’t move against Pietro without more concrete evidence. For the time being, focus on the Symbiotech sabotage and investigation. We know how they’re doing it, but not how they’re storing or using the Cursed Energy. Leave me to figure out what to do with Pietro and his accomplices.”
“Very well.”
The Nexus and Control Worlds thank you for your service.
You have earned 2 Schema Tokens and 50 Schema Credits.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Nil now had five Schema Tokens and three hundred Schema Credits. He immediately divided them between Finesse and Spark. And banked one for later.
* Might: Iron 1
* Finesse: Iron 2
* Mind: Mortal 7
* Spark: Iron 5
Brutal Battery: Iron 0
* Absorb: Iron 0
* Expend: Iron 1
* Toggled Supercharging: Mortal 5
Energy Instinct: Mortal 7
Nil understood that his attributes were progressing, but he hadn’t progressed as a Summoned. He needed to get better.
A lot better.
Quests alone wouldn’t do that. Nil needed to train and fight to improve his body and abilities. There was a long way for him to go.
At least, Through Sheer Grit is putting in the necessary work.
“You might as well know now,” Layla said, leafing through the notes. “Just so it doesn’t hold you back in this quest, we’re arranging a new ludus for individuals like you. The Control Worlds, and we agree that it's about time our agents have a place of their own. Apocalypse Arena gets Earth-side property. It's about time we get the same. It won’t be as grand as the Wilson Luduses, of course. But they’ll certainly be significantly better than where you are now. You can expect decent equipment, above-average trainers, and, of course, subsidized costs. I mean no registration or membership fees. Much like Earth luduses and employment, we will deduct a portion of your earnings for housing and food. Vendors and staff don’t accept arcane resources for supplies and labor, after all.”
“Will the other people on the quest get the same benefits?” Nil asked.
“That’s up to them.” The woman shrugged. “You’re not affiliated with any organizations or factions. That makes you perfect for us. Your friends would need to sever their connections with the local government and police force and look beyond the petty local politics. The world and multiverse are at stake. Susan Johanssen has already been working for us and has already declared her willingness to leave the police force to serve us.”
“I wanted to talk to you about her. I think she could be a great addition to our quest.”
“I’ve already spoken to her about it. She’s willing and disillusioned with her Earth-side superiors. Unfortunately, things aren’t the same for Katherine Park. She needs to sever connections and commit. Perhaps you should talk to her. I’m sure a little convincing—”
“No. Recruiting people isn’t a part of my job. This is Katie’s decision, and I don’t want to interfere with it in any way.” Nil did his best not to sound too abrasive or short. It wasn’t that he wanted to distance himself from her or didn’t want her around. He refused to influence Katherine’s decision or tell her to turn her back on her personal goals and desires. They were currently friends with benefits at most, and he wouldn’t even do so if they were in a serious relationship. “Where are we with Andrew? He’s done a lot to help with this investigation. In fact, we’d have none of this information if not for—”
“We’re already looking into Andrew Harper,” Layla replied. “We’re interested but need to ensure he’s a good fit first. Also, there is a lot more he can contribute to this investigation. Pulling him away now might hurt the project.”
“Thank you for doing this ludus thing,” Nil said after taking a moment to process everything he had just learned. “It's a big weight off my mind.”
“I’m glad to hear that. The whole point of this is so you focus on your Earth-side quests without worrying about sponsors to survive. So—”
“Hold on a moment. Does this mean I can’t work with sponsors at all?”
“Employment with the Nexus comes with no such restrictions. What you do on Earth outside of the cases is nobody’s business but your own. As long as none of it interferes with your work for the Nexus and there is no conflict of interest, it shouldn’t matter. Make money and get tools for the arena. Do what you want.”
“Excellent.” Nil paused for a moment, thinking of how best to articulate his thoughts. He failed and blurted out the question. “Am I a Scourge Champion?”
“What?” Layla asked, looking surprised and confused.
“Given the descriptions I’ve heard and what I saw, it certainly feels like that,” Nil said. “I have a bunch of feats born of Cursed Energy. My soul weapon sucks it down like it's dying of dehydration, and Cursed Energy is water. Lastly, Expend is devastating but like a double-edged sword, just like the Scourge Champion and Fatima’s ability. I’ve done my research and can’t find any abilities that damage the owner like it does me.”
“It's because you have more feats than the average individual of your Realm,” Layla replied. “The fact that they are made out of Cursed Energy or the soul weapon has nothing to do with it. I’ve told you from the beginning that your feats impact the ability you’re given. The more feats, the stronger the ability. Despite Brutal Battery’s rank, it is far more potent than your body can handle. Have you found anyone with a defense and offense as equally potent as yours?”
Nil shook his head after taking a moment to think about it. “They have one or the other.”
“You can blast through most things or disintegrate them with pure energy. The power seed fed off your feats and gave you something so devastating that the rest of you simply can’t handle it. You’re not a Scourge Champion. You’re just ridiculously strong, and things will stay that way because a body can’t climb multiple realms above the power seed it houses.”
“What’s the workaround then?”
Layla shrugged. “Perhaps you’ll eventually get a sub-ability or soul weapon to circumvent the issue through increased defense or self-healing. Until then, you just need to be careful with how and when you use Expend’s dual function.”
“Thank you for clarifying that.” Nil sighed. “I was worried I’d snap and go on a rampage like Fatima or the guy that killed Aisha. Toward the end, it didn’t look like either of the Scourge Champions, or themselves were in control.”
“They weren’t,” Layla said. “It's just what Cursed Energy does. All magic is living, including the dark and twisted. When someone intertwines their body and mind with dark magic and welcomes a power seed born of it into their being, they’re asking to be taken over and controlled by the darkness. Their mind, soul, and who they are slowly gets eaten away, and something worse replaces them. The same shouldn't happen to you if you let someone actively corrupt your power seed or merge it with a soul weapon made of Cursed Energy. Feel better?”
Nil nodded, but it wasn’t the complete truth. Knowing that the Fatima he had befriended was gone for good stung, and he wanted to ensure Symbiotech didn’t do the same to anyone else.