Brutal Battery had a twentieth of its maximum stores remaining. Thanks to his growing Spark score, it was no insignificant amount. However, it wasn’t enough for victory. The wounds running along his neck, arms, and shoulders continued to endlessly trickly blood. Nil could already feel a chill, and keeping his vision focused was a challenge. He didn’t have much time left until consciousness left him or he was forced to surrender. Neither thought appealed to him. Nil didn’t want to restart the Gauntlet of Ten.

Scanning the environment gave Nil a solution. He needed to go on the offense, and that meant refilling his stores first. Instead of a ruined city, Apocalypse Arena’s construct had transported him and his opponent to a rocky plateau covered in boulders. It was the perfect environment for his opponent. Thanks to Absorb, the woman hadn’t landed any deep or fatal injuries, but Nil felt a couple of hits away from death by a thousand cuts.

The last of Nil’s energy went into supercharging speed. Then Expend-powered strides propelled him forward and up the steep slope ahead. Even though his Finesse had grown over the past few months, it didn’t feel like enough to adapt to the rapid acceleration. Fortunately, it didn’t matter since he only intended to move in a straight line. Then, once he reached the top of the slope, he leaped with everything he had left.

Golden projectiles raced at Nil. Most shot past him, and a few followed. He had heard the arena construct attempted to match opponents fairly so individuals didn’t end up combatting someone who directly countered them. Mages didn’t have to fight brutes who could shrug off most of their attacks, and knights with defensive or capturing abilities didn’t get easy wins against rogues. Every match made Nil doubt the claims more.

Nil activated Absorb a second too late, and one pierced his calf. The pain left him clenching his teeth, and warmth trickled down his leg. But a moment later, when Nil plummeted several dozen feet and landed, his energy levels jumped to near half-full.

Absorb has progressed to Iron 2!

Brutal Battery has progressed to Iron 2!

Nil ignored the Schema and focused on Energy Instinct. The countless little arrows of light, flashing, dimming, and flickering, confused his sensory ability. He knew they were meant to confuse him and closed his eyes.

The visual feedback is a crutch.

It was a sixth sense, and he needed to treat it as such. The visual aspect was there to make things easier for him. It wasn’t a necessary part of the ability. He needed to feel out his opponent.

Each individual strand of energy pulsed, and Nil could feel secondary presences coating each. They expanded and contracted, affecting the light and arcane signature they gave off. Once he knew what it was, ignoring the overwhelming stimuli became easy. He ignored the projectiles hunting for him and followed the trail they left behind. Eventually, the density of the strands grew thicker, and he found the point where they had converted.

Found you.

Energy Instinct has progressed to Mortal 9!

Supercharged speed and Absorb made his approach fast but silent. Taking too much time would lead to his opponent finding him. She appeared to have a minor sensory ability through the strands. He needed to act before the spread-out motes of golden light could gather and overwhelm him as they did at the start of the match. It was why he had suffered several lacerations and was now starting to feel lightheaded.

Just a bit longer. You can do this.

Unlike most in the Iron Gauntlet, runners of the Gauntlet of Ten didn’t get any information on their opponents. Nil’s opponent dressed as a knight, and he expected to face as much when she initially came at him with a spear and shield, looking almost like a spartan soldier. The woman’s shield and spear glowed with the same light as her strange conjurations, blocking Expend’s second function and breaking through Absorb. She didn’t begin her ranged assault until Nil retreated and tried taking her down with a barrage of rocks, which proved far more deadly and hard to ignore than her melee fighting style. Now, as Nil tracked her down, he was surprised to discover that she hadn’t moved from where he left her. He couldn’t be sure since a rock wall separated them, but it felt as if she hadn’t changed stance since he last saw her, too.

Once again, he relied on the sixth sense given by Energy Instinct to study her, ignoring the visual element. The strands extended from her back, and only a handful of them remained entangled with her shield and spear. Worried the ones lingering nearby would trigger her detection ability, Nil tried a different tactic.

First, he threw a little stone around the rock. It skittered along the floor past her. The strands didn’t react, but he felt her twitch, and she returned to her immobile stance a moment later.

Nil grinned.

He finally had something on his opponent. It was unlikely for an Iron Realm to have an impenetrable defense, a super-penetrating defense, and an overwhelming sensory ability to boot. Everything had a cost and a drawback. He was powerful, too, but unlike her, he couldn’t use all his gifts simultaneously. The knight couldn’t move while projecting her power, and the more she spread her senses, the less aware she became of her surroundings. It wasn’t much, but they were weaknesses he could comfortably exploit.

Supercharged strength and Expend gave him a nice burst of power. He threw himself against the stone wall and pushed. It had already suffered several Expend powered blows and shield thrusts during their initial exchange. Nil went slowly, listening to the stone crack and bits crumbling around him. He was fortunate. The wall proved a boulder that didn’t go too far underground, and the foundation failed to support the weight above it. A collapse followed.

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Much to Nil’s disappointment, a hail of pea-sized stones alerted his opponent. She jumped to her feet and fled, avoiding the crumbling wall. However, the strings didn’t come with her. He only detected the few clinging to her weapon and shield. The knight had severed her connection to the rest of her little golden motes. It was the perfect opportunity and he pushed the advantage while it lasted.

Nil’s right leg wobbled and threatened to give out when he moved again. He gritted his teeth, supercharged speed, and threw himself after his opponent. Absorb let him ignore the chain of collapses he had triggered. The falling rocks restored his energy levels. So, when he caught the knight, his stores were almost full. She heard him coming, spun around, and launched a concentrated stream of motes from her spear tip. Nil had expected as much, grabbed a falling boulder—it had frozen for half a heartbeat on touching him—and threw it at the incoming attack.

The lights had no trouble pursuing him and slicing skin and flesh. However, they struggled to do the same to the local stones. The stream exploded into several individual strands, dispersing. Instead of going around the boulder, Nil leaped through, shattering it with an energy release through his exposed, sliced-up shoulder. The ensuing burns cauterized the lacerations, but the pain was significantly worse. Nil didn’t care. It was the cost of victory.

When he emerged through it, fear filled the knight’s eyes. Her spear had lost all of its light, and the strings attached to it failed to do more than tickle him. The motes carried the bulk of the penetrative power, and they were behind him. Her shield still had a faint golden glow, but it wasn’t enough. Nil ripped through it with his momentum and an explosive punch. He grabbed the shield, pulled it out of her hands, and threw it across the arena.

Expend has progressed to Iron 3!

Finesse has increased to Iron 4!

Nil grabbed her spear in his right hand and launched an open palm strike at her midriff. Brutal Battery’s energy burst from his hand just as it made contact with her armored torso. The force threw her off her feet and sent her flying. Her weapon returned in his hand. He was on her again when she landed. The knight wheezed, struggling to suck her air into her lungs. Nil switched to a neutral state, supercharged strength, and punched her in the face. It was enough to knock her out.

A silver light flashed under the knight’s armor before consuming her. The woman disappeared a moment later, leaving Nil alone in the arena. He collapsed on his bottom, panting and blinking away double vision. He felt cold, and unconsciousness felt seconds away. The female announcer's words rang in his ears, keeping him awake. He hadn’t heard from her since the match began. It was similar to the pits; she commented on the fight, but the competitors couldn’t hear what she had to say.

“Sian ‘Wisp’ Thomsan has lost, ending her Gauntlet of Ten run with seven victories. A loss this close to the end has got to sting! Ouch!

“It’s about time Nil Roy gets a moniker, don’t you think, folks? Three months. Three bouts. Three victories. Three competitors out of the Gauntlet of Ten. He cut it close this time, but our boy might just graduate from the Iron Gauntlet just as suddenly as he appeared. We can’t leave him with a name, though. Remember to submit your suggestions. We’d love to see what you think and what sticks.”

The announcer’s voice cut out when the arena construct teleported him to the backrooms. A healer awaited him, and she was on him with her magic and medicine straight away. Pulses of green and gold washed over him. The freezing and stinging that accompanied the burns faded, as did the pain surrounding the many lacerations. Flesh and skin were stitched over the wounds. The formerly injured areas remained tight, ached, and appeared raw, but it didn’t look like they’d scar. Only the wounds left by Fatima remained across his midriffs. Nil had received no new scars and expected them to stay forever as a reminder of how Symbiotech got one up on him.

The teleporter at Wilson Luduses let Nil carry a gym bag, and he had brought a fresh change of clothes. He swiftly changed before using the return teleporter.

You have received 3 Schema Tokens and 250 Schema Credits for your victory.

A bonus awaits you and your world after two more victories.

The rewards were higher than his previous victories. He had only received two tokens for each of his victories and two hundred credits. He had one token already banked and smiled as he used them all to pump it all into Spark, increasing the attribute by two.

Spark has progressed to Iron 8!

“That was a close one,” Selia said, high-fiving Nil. The woman’s presence surprised him. Andrew stood close behind her and shrugged. “I half expected you to lose this one.”

“I almost completely expected to lose it,” Nil replied. He was even more surprised when she came in for a hug, and he reciprocated. “What are you doing here?”

“Shawn just went in for his bout,” the phase-shifting Summoned answered, nodding at the waiting group of people waiting ten feet away. A giant of a man waved at him. It was Adam, the brute. Nil spotted Gwyneth, the frost feline summoner, and other opponents from the Apocalypse Arena qualifiers, too. “Most of us have something today, so we came together. I just thought I’d say hello. We’re colleagues, after all.” She leaned in closer as she continued. “And might be living in the same ludus soon.”

“We will be?” Nil’s eyebrows shot up.

“I didn’t see it when we fought, but your performance these past few months tells me otherwise. You’re pretty good, Nil. I’m glad you saw the light and are doing good. Perhaps we can get together sometime.” Selia glanced at Andrew awkwardly, hovering nearby and pretending not to listen. “Just the two of us. Maybe dinner or drinks and talk about things. We might be able to help each other with our Earth-side quests.”

“That could be pretty great,” Nil replied, glancing at Andrew. The taller man smirked at him. “I—”

“Just let me know, alright? You’ve had my number for over three months now, and I’ve heard nothing from you. Shawn’s fight is about to start, so I’ll talk to you later.”

“Did you just get asked out?” Andrew asked after the woman left.

Nil shook his head. “No, and I’m not letting you talk me into thinking so again.”

“But I was right last time. Katherine just chickened out.”

“Well, that’s not the case now. So, chill the fuck out. I’ll kick your butt if you make a big deal out of this.”

“You’re such a killjoy, Sunny-boi.” Andrew sighed. “Let's go get some food. You must be starving.”

Several messages containing congratulations from Katherine, Susan, family, and ludus mates awaited Nil. He also had one from Festus The Curator. The man had already prepared a video of the fight and wanted to talk about a possible deal. Nil respected the persistence and caved.

If we’re going to talk, I want to do it in person. I know you’re in London. Give me a time and space, and I’ll be there.