You have earned 6 Schema Tokens!
You have earned 1000 Schema Credits!
“That’s a lot more than I was expecting,” Nil said, immediately deciding to bank all of the tokens. When he first started as a Summoned, he raced toward using all his resources to maximize his attributes. However, he now had access to the Moon Rabbit Emporium and still had their Spirit Pill. Given how the Body Pill accelerated his attribute growth, he wanted to push Spark with cultivation first. Naturally increasing attributes got harder with each rank, so he hoped to delay using the tokens for as long as possible.
“It's well deserved,” Layla replied. She flicked through several visible schema interfaces. Nil spotted Katherine and Susan’s names on a couple of them. He suspected the display was partially for his benefit. “I know things didn’t go exactly as planned or as we expected, but the results are still excellent.”
“Really? There is possibly a monster running around London that wants to assimilate me. I know no one could’ve predicted this, but it certainly doesn’t feel excellent.”
“We’ve arranged for you and your family to move into the new ludus straight away. Not everything will be up and ready, but you’ll have arcane security capable of keeping such entities at bay.”
“Is that legal?” Nil asked, eyebrows raised. “Doesn’t the government and Nexus regulate what magic can exist on Earth?”
“Only on territory that counts as Earth.” Layla grinned. “Most wouldn’t consider this ethical, but we disguised our purchase as an Apocalypse Arena property. The construct agreed to go along with it as long as we host bi-annual minor qualifiers—just solo and duo tournaments from the smaller private luduses.” She pulled up a familiar image. It was the old Arsenal stadium near Highbury and Islington Station. The popular football club had fallen apart five years after the fall of the British football league. “It’s not the worst idea. We don’t have the many legitimate means to earn local currency without revealing the ludus’ true affiliation and ownership. Hosting Mortal Realm events will be a great way of counteracting that.”
“Do you think that’s enough to cover the Nexus’ tracks? Wouldn’t it be better just openly to admit that it’s a Nexus ludus?”
Layla shrugged. “I’m just a caseworker and middle manager. The higher-up's machinations are beyond me. I suppose there is a bunch of politics involved, and the Nexus can’t afford to be seen favoring one country to bring higher magic to Earth. It's none of our concern. Just maintain confidentiality. We need to limit who has what information.”
“Katherine knows and is going to be working for an intelligence agency instead of the Nexus. She could very well leak everything she knows.”
“We’ve dealt with that already. She has enough incentive not to reveal anything about the current missions or our ludus. Her Summoned status is on the line, and losing it might impact her new career.”
“This is a lot to process, but I suppose if you’ve got protections for my family and me, I won’t have to worry about this too much. Are you putting together a team to look into the escape symbiotes and perhaps investigate them?”
“We are, but we don’t need you just yet,” Layla answered. “I have something else for you.” She failed to hide her displeasure as she continued. “Please understand that this quest offer came from up top, and I petitioned against it but was shot down.”
Objective: Challenge and eliminate any three of the following Summoned in the Death Gauntlet.
* Pietro the Frost Emperor
* Natasha ‘Airlock’ Patel
* Klocky Kennit, God of Time
* Jaqueline The Shredder
* Alex ‘Furball’ Maher
* Omar ‘Djinn’ Fahid
* Shervon Gray
Rewards: 5 Schema Tokens and 1000 Schema Credits per elimination Bonuses available.
“This is a hitlist.” Nil frowned, reading through the list. He recognized several names. Festus had highlighted some of them as Death Gauntlet regulars who refused to move on to the Bronze Gauntlet. “Are these people who’ve been working with Symbiotech?”
“They’ve been doing a lot more than that,” Layla answered. “They’re involved in finding test candidates for them too. The bastards also have more blood on their hands than most vampires.” She lowered her voice and leaned across the table. “You don’t have to accept the quest. You’ve done enough to gain residence in our ludus. There will be other jobs.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but I’ll tell you now. I have no interest in risking my life in Death Gauntlet. I’ll give the Gauntlet of Ten another shot. Failing that, I’ll climb using the basic point system.” Nil pushed the Schema interface aside, disgusted by the idea of becoming a hitman. He understood that the job needed to be done, but going into the Death Gauntlet with the express objective of killing people felt wrong. “There’s something else I wanted to discuss.”
“Losing feats?”
Nil nodded. “I get that the symbiote took Haunting Visage and Restless In Body And Mind. They were both born of Cursed Energy. But why did it leave Armmaster’s Disappointment behind?”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“The trait is intimately tied to your power seed. Brutal Battery is what it is because of it. It probably tried, and is probably why you felt like you were having a heart attack.”
“Could it have succeeded?”
Layla shook her head. “It might’ve succeeded at killing you, but separating a person from their power seed is impossible. You shouldn’t worry about it. The symbiote can’t do it without Symbiotech’s machine, and it's been destroyed. We’re now working with your government to scour and dismantle the building and all of Symbiotech’s other assets. Their illegal tech and operations have been exposed. Katherine Park has also ensured the news gets out and can’t be suppressed. It’s a shame she won’t be working for us. Katherine is resourceful and an excellent investigator.”
“Excellent.” Nil sighed, ignoring the topic of Katherine. He didn’t want to think about it or discuss her. “I guess I’ll spend a day or two exploring the Nexus Market and then head home. Food for my spirit companion and some cultivation materials would be great.”
“Why not just go on a quest?” Layla asked. “It’s better than wasting time doing nothing.”
“I don’t think I can focus on much, not knowing what happened with Andrew. Our communication cut out abruptly, and I worry Symbiotech’s Summoned security was after him.”
“They were.” Layla smiled. He almost sighted a hint of mischief on her face. “But we got him out of there.”
Nil’s eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat. “Andrew finally got Summoned?”
The caseworker nodded. “We parted ways just minutes before you arrived. He’s done a great service to the Nexus and is being paid in kind. We’re taking care of the scrapyard and his assets, and he’ll move into the new ludus as soon as he finishes his quest. It will be a while, though. We sent him on a long-term quest. Would you like to visit him?”
“Of course?! Is he in trouble? Is there a quest there?”
“He’s apprenticing under a sought-after Soul Smith. The woman constantly has Scourge Champions, agents, and local powers pursuing her for her services. Many are aggressive enough for the Nexus and the Control Worlds to interfere. She’s stubborn and refuses to move to a Control World, you see. Since she’s such a valuable resource, we often have to send Summoned to assist her with research or for protection. Individuals interested in soul weapons can especially benefit from the quests. Your friend Sakura spent a few weeks protecting him too. You saw her ego sword at play. Samara does beautiful work.”
Nil glanced at his arms. He could feel the unformed soul weapon more than ever. It seemed the Cursed Energy had muted their connection. And the visage probably had much to do with the interference. The Fountain of Pyrene had healed him but done nothing for the emptiness in his forearms. The soul weapon was trying to stir but was too ravaged to do so. He needed someone to undo whatever Symbiotech did and then help him rebuild it from the ground up. Something like Sakura’s weapon would be amazing, but Nil knew better than to expect much. He had a defective tool, after all.
“Of course, I’ll go,” Nil said. “I would even if Andrew weren’t at risk.” He wanted to see his friend, tell him about the unexpected turn of events, and celebrate his rise to the status of Summoned. It seemed he was now a Summoned and not just any kind but one under the tutelage of a Soul Smith—whatever that was.
“A friend and neighbor capable of tinkering with soul weapons will be an excellent asset,” Layla replied, leaning back in her chair and smiling. She seemed satisfied with herself. Her clone and the floating hands working around the office brightened. Nil hadn’t noticed before, but they had dimmed, losing luster when she spoke of his new quest. “There are a couple of more details we need to go over. Then, I’ll send you on your way.”
Nil was pleased to learn that the Nexus had gone into a great deal of effort to protect him and all other Nexus employees on the quest from legal backlash. He didn’t understand the legalese, and Layla appeared to be reading off a script too. But the gist of it was that any leaked information didn’t count as violating any NDAs or industrial espionage. The company, Doctor Shina Patel, her employees, and all affiliates were officially involved in criminal activities and in violation of Nexus’ accords with the British government. If Symbiotech’s backers or investors discovered that Nil and his associates were in any way involved in the company’s collapse, they couldn’t come after them using legal routes. The discovery put Nil’s mind at ease.
Next came the paperwork involved with the new ludus, his family’s residency, and all the people Nil had recommended for the jobs. Everyone on his list had received the Nexus’ approval. There was some friction regarding Isabella’s hiring, but Layla’s bosses changed their minds when he declared her essential for his training. Since Nil had brought the Cursed Energy and Symbiotech issue to light, it appeared he had won their favor, and the higher-ups were keen to please him. However, the new quest suggested that their expectations of him were uncomfortably high, and they expected him to cross lines and complete tasks he didn’t particularly want to engage in.
However, Nil understood the need to remove people like Pietro from the equation. The man had given him a bad feeling during their first meeting. His involvement in Cursed Energy harvesting operation and finding innocent lab rats perturbed Nil. It was vital people like him be stopped. Otherwise, he’d continue to kill people for sport in Death Gauntlet and find other avenues to use his skills. The fact that all the people on the list had corrupted soul weapons and probably symbiotes brimming with Cursed Energy also made them ticking time bombs. Most would probably be far more dangerous than Fatima if they had a mental break.
Apparently, there were far more than what was on the list. The eight were the only individuals operating in the Iron Realm. Layla suspected there were a few in the Bronze Gauntlet and even more that weren’t potent enough to get involved in the arena. The failed and unstable test subjects were one bad day away from causing an event like the one that took Aisha’s life.
The more Nil thought, the clearer it became that getting rid of people like Pietro was a necessary task. The Nexus was right to offer the quest. Nil didn’t know yet whether he wanted to be involved in the operation. The last quest had already endangered lives and livelihoods. The unexpected results would likely get a bunch of people killed. Nil wasn’t sure whether he wanted more blood on his hands.
Indecision is going to fucking haunt me, isn’t it?
Nil took solace in the fact that he didn’t need to make the decision straight away. Besides, he wasn’t strong enough to embark on such a journey just yet. He needed to get used to his Bronze Realm body, get better with his new gifts and traits, and improve his combat skills before risking it all in the Death Gauntlet.