* Might: Iron 2

* Finesse: Iron 4

* Mind: Mortal 9

* Spark: Iron 8

Brutal Battery: Iron 2

* Absorb: Iron 2

* Expend: Iron 3

* Toggled Supercharging: Mortal 8

Energy Instinct: Mortal 9

“Those are appealing attributes,” Isabella said, scanning the Schema interface Nil projected for her. He had just figured out how to do it. “It won’t be long before you have a Bronze Realm body. It will make your chances of surviving quests and getting through the Gauntlet of Ten significantly easier.”

“I’m considering investing all future Schema Tokens in Finesse,” Nil said. “The jump in Brutal Battery’s stores was incredible. I think I can do without increasing Spark for a while. By the time Finesse catches up, Spark might hit Iron-Nine naturally.”

“Increased agility, reflexes, and senses are always great. You can better use your supercharged speed. Those stumbles and falls might help fill your battery, but it won’t be long before you face opponents who’ll be smart enough to capitalize on the openings.” Isabella looked Nil in the eye. “You were pretty close to getting your ass handed to you.”

“Yeah. The arena’s matchmaking isn’t what I was hoping.”

“At least it ensures you face enemies who are new to the Iron Realm or not quite close to the Bronze. But, now that your Spark is near its peak, that’s going to change.” Isabella looked Nil in the eye. “That’s me telling you to slow down a bit and train before your next match. The decision is yours at the end of the day, and you don’t need my approval to sign up. I just don’t want you to mistake the numbers going up for getting stronger.”

“Believe me, Isabella, I’m not going to make that mistake again.” Nil’s hand gravitated to his abdominal muscles. The Fountain of Pyrene had ensured all visible signs of the fatal injury had disappeared, but the pain remained fresh in his mind. “And if things in the arena get too dangerous, I’m not too proud to surrender.”

Isabella approached Nil, deciding their break was over without telling him. She started with swift open-palm strikes. They didn’t hurt, but each strike rattled his joints. One got through Nil’s guard and hit his sternum. The discomfort that followed was unlike anything Nil had felt before. His heartbeat lost its rhythm for a moment, and intense nausea followed. Then she struck his head, and Nil was on his hands and knees with a mouthful of bile.

It took him a moment to gather himself, and Isabella was nice enough to wait until he finished evacuating. She insisted that he never eat or drink before their training sessions. Her ability felt like how Sonic Armament—one of his ability options when he became a Summoned—would’ve turned out after an ascension or two. Isabella had the ability to release sonic blasts from her hands and feet. Absorb nullified the bulk of the attack. However, the bit that got through disrupted the inner ear. It had proven useful for Might training.

After resting for a few minutes, they continued. Nil did his best to avoid Isabella’s palms for as long as possible. He got a couple more minutes than the previous round, but it ended the same way. The following attempt only lasted fifteen seconds. The point of the exercise was to fight in a neutral state and activate at the last possible second. Nil’s timing improved with every unit of Finesse, but it wasn’t enough against the former Silver Gauntlet fighter. A hint of red accompanied the bile he spat up after Isabella landed a minor blast to his abdomen. It took him several minutes to recover, and he was in no shape to continue afterward.

“Why did you ever quit the arena?” Nil asked, sitting on the floor, drinking electrolyte water. “I’ve seen you cutting loose—”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Regardless, you’re fast, strong, and an amazing hand-to-hand combatant. I looked at your match record. You had an amazing record, and your ranking was pretty high when you quit.”

“Did you see how many times I got knocked out of the Gauntlet of Ten?”

“Five. Given how many wins you had, you could’ve moved on to the Gold, running the standard gauntlet.”

“The closer you get to the next Gauntlet, the harder the foes get. After getting backstabbed a bunch of times, I didn’t want to get sucked into the group events either. The only way forward was the Death Gauntlet. I was frustrated and made a tough decision.”

“Will you ever go back to it if you get your hands on an ascension token?” Nil asked.

Isabella shook her head. “I’m done. I don’t want to ascend or return to the arena. The quests will get much harder, and I’ll have no choice but to deal with high mortality rates. Maybe things would be different if I lucked out and got a soul weapon, but—” She paused, studying Nil for a moment. “I’d rather not discuss this any further. The only thing that matters is I was an extremely ordinary arena fighter, and it's a wonder I got as far as I did. That’s not the case for you, though. Since you have involved a caseworker, speak to her and find out what you need to do to get your hands on a soul weapon early. Then pair up with decent Artisans who can help you mold it and go as far as you as the arena and Control Worlds will allow.”

“I’ve got a long-term, multi-part quest with an ominous ‘Possible Bonuses’ in the rewards list,” Nil said. “If I’m lucky, it will give me what I want. A soul weapon would be great.”

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“Have you thought about what you want?”

“I don’t have a lot of options. I’m limited to fist weapons.”

“Just because it involves the word weapon doesn’t mean it has to be that,” Isabella said. “During my time in the arena, I’ve seen armor, tools, and everything in between. Given your ability, though, a fist weapon would be great. Perhaps it will become a gauntlet capable of blocking or soaking up the type of attacks your ability can’t counter.”

“That would be great,” Nil said. “Honestly, I don’t know what I want or expect from a soul weapon. It just feels like Brutal Battery gives me everything I need. There’s no point in wasting time speculating now. Defenses would be great. Improvement to my ranged potential would be even better. My aim has significantly improved since I became a Summoned, but throwing rocks will only get me so far.”

“You do realize that at Silver Realm, my maximum range is about ten feet.”

“But if you retain any potency, that’s still devastating. If you don’t break bones, screw up someone’s inner ear—” Isabella’s expression told Nil that he was spouting information she already knew. So, he smiled sheepishly and shut up.

“I don’t even know if I want to continue in this line of work,” Isabella sighed. “I make enough money off my yearly quests and royalties to live comfortably, if not luxuriously. All my good students except you and Lucy have quit the ludus. It feels like I’m wasting my time here. She’s probably on her way out too.”

“If you consider another ludus, someplace new with good resources and a focused membership base, were to make you a generous offer, would you accept?”

Isabella’s eyes narrowed. “What are you trying to tell me, Nil?”

Nil shrugged. “My days here might be numbered, and I might be going somewhere new that needs good staff, especially trainers for people like me.”

“Get them to send me an offer, and I might just consider it. Assuming the ludus’ members are worth training, of course.”

“I think you’ll be impressed with their roster. Things are still up in the air, but I’ll do my bit.”

Isabella nodded. They called it a day after discussing a more focused training regimen. It was Sunday, and her agreeing to training with him was a favor. She had a lot more free time after the qualifiers and appeared glad to make time for Nil, even though she didn’t say so.

After cooling down with a couple of laps, Nil had a hot shower, dressed, and took a taxi to his family. Weekend traffic made the journey annoyingly long. Nil arrived just in time for dinner and was glad to find Emily’s attempts at their mother’s best dishes: mutton curry, lentils, fried okra, and rotis. The rotis—thin flour flatbreads—were thick and tough, and the rest were a poor imitation, but Nil kept his critique to himself. He appreciated the effort, thanked Emily, and dug into the meal hungrily.

“Where’s Katie?” She asked halfway through the meal. “I thought you’d bring her.”

Nil shrugged, mouth full of food.

“When did you last see her?” Udit asked.

“Last night,” Nil answered, unsure whether his words made sense over the roti and mutton in his mouth.

“And you didn’t invite her?”

Nil shook his head.

“Is everything okay between the two of you?” Emily asked.

Nil knew his sister and father well. They weren’t going to drop the matter, so he swallowed before replying. “Things are still casual, and I don’t see this progressing any further.”

“What? Why?” Emmy frowned. “I love Katie. She is amazing!”

“Our interests and goals aren’t aligned.”

“Aren’t you both working for the Nexus?” Udit asked.

“That’s the issue, I think,” Nil answered. “We mixed work and pleasure, and the cracks started to show. She’s decided that the Metropolitan Police is more important to her than the good we do while working for the Nexus. Our quest might’ve cost Katie her job, and she blames me for it.”

“Did she say so?” Emily asked, eyes wide.

Nil shook his head. “But it's pretty obvious. If I hadn’t recommended her and gotten her entangled in the quest, she wouldn’t have been put on administrative leave. Katie only kept pushing and continuing her investigation for my sake and lost her job for good as a result. It's in her tone. Her body language. She’s with me and is continuing the quest now because she has no other options. I’m almost sure Katie will jump to a different job at the first opportunity.”

“So why are you still with her?” Sam asked.

Explaining the matter to a twelve-year-old was beyond Nil, and he didn’t have a concrete answer. “We comfort each other, I suppose. Katie’s the first person I’ve been able to get close to since Aisha, and she’s also taught me mental exercises to ignore the visage. She knows the truth, and she knows my hang-ups. It’s comfortable.”

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through following Aisha’s passing,” Udit said. “It's horrible and beyond me. But whatever you’re doing with Katherine isn’t right. If you have no intention of committing to this woman—in the short or long term—then end things so the both of you can move on with your lives. I know it won’t be easy, but it's the right thing to do.”

Silence fell over the table, and everyone focused on their food. It was tempting to go for seconds and thirds, but Nil resisted. Given his new appetite, he wouldn’t have any trouble clearing everything on the table, but it was enough to feed the family for two or more meals. Nil planned on getting a takeaway on his way home instead.

“I’d rather not make any decisions or ruin our working relationship until this leg of the quest is over,” Nil said after some thought. “Katherine’s insights, experience, and ability are vital to gathering information and finding out who else might be involved in this whole messy affair. I’ll end things afterward. I promise.” Udit nodded, but everyone else kept their eyes on their food. Emily appeared unhappy about the development but kept her thoughts to herself. “Good job on the food, Emmy. I needed this.”

“Does it taste like Mum’s cooking?” She asked.

“You should be asking whether it tastes like my cooking,” Udit said. “I taught her how to cook, you know.”

“We know, Baba,” both of the Roy children said in unison.

“Working for the council doesn’t give me a lot of time, or I’d cook more often.”

“Would you consider a job that gives you more time?” Nil asked. “I’d much rather you retire, but how would you feel about a low-commitment job that pays well and comes with a bunch of perks? It would require moving, though.”

“I’m not married to my job,” Udit said. “In fact, I’ve grown to hate it since your mother passed. But it would need to be a hell of a job for me to give up the house.”

Nil glanced at Emily and Sam. “Maybe we should discuss this in the garage.”