Two more days had passed and arena after arena Izo continued working hard. The clock ticked while this awful acidic feeling brewed in his stomach.

The nagging pressure created a hairline thin fracture in his mind that constantly grew till breaking. 6 hours or less of sleep and continuous battling made Izo come intact with his own humanity in both physical and psychological ways. His smidgen of humanity that he got to know was turning irascible and was on the way to being insane.

Neither Izo nor Jae had encountered a special battle yet. Though Izo of course wanted to be the luck one, if she gets it first, he would be accepting too. Anything, just to make the gnawing nervousness disappear.

It was afternoon and the trio of him, Sun Hee and Sung Soo had just finished another Kill arena. The familiar enemy and the terrain should’ve made it easy but their reactions were a second too slow. Sometimes, they would have to repeat the orders since they didn’t cognize the first time.

Their performance was dropping thus irritating Izo and Sun Hee. This formed a cycle where they only got more mad at themselves.

Sung Soo had limited his combat time even more. Not by choice however since Sun Hee chastised her father.

“Let’s return.”

Sung Soo said as the three trudged to the dark gate.

Izo currently had 18,530 points. By tomorrow at noon, the combination of his arena and his customers payment (they had to earn it in arena’s too and most candidates have little liquid funds) would allow him to reach 20,000.

“Let’s eat then rest.”

No one had the energy to spare so they simply ate high energy crackers and water then went to their own huts.

Izo was so sleepy that as soon as he hit the bed, he was halfway through his dreamscapes. His finger touched the immaterial and he could already see the trout, his soul, as it welcomed him.

The inviting nothingness except relaxation invited him. He was tempted beyond compare but something was stopping him.

Not something but himself. The heavy lead ball that had made its home withing its stomach was growling. Shouting at him to worry. Worry about the possibilities. Worry about his own weakness destroying all his hard work since the start of training.

‘It’s so hard.’

Before long, the bubbling hidden streams rumbling beneath his façade burst forth. Two thin streams fell from his eyes.

‘Does it have to this hard.’

*

‘Do I tell him?’

Milyaa was currently in a dilemma. She had just gotten information that Jae hadn’t exited her arena for a long period of time. Kill arenas can be completed fast but it’s relative. Battling stone gargoyles could last 10 minutes. Some of the other arena types may even be as long as 20.

’30-40 minutes can only mean that she is in a special battle.

The scouts weren’t told the content of the training as this was the set upon rule by the three behemoths. If one analyzed however past trainings, one can make educated guesses.

And if Milyaa had to guess right now, the #1 was in a non-straightforward battle that would take a more creative and unorthodox approach.

This gave Izo a chance. A slim one that would be another gamble on top of the mountain of gambles that he has done.

The problem however was Milyaa could see that Izo was on the precipice of a mental breakdown. She had already gauged if he would be angry if told to slow down and the answer was no.

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Izo wanted to push himself. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Milyaa could only support him.

‘I guess I have to give him the choice.’

Milyaa was a pampered flower. Hardier than others in her meadow of the Nexus aristocracy but still a weak plant. If her identity was discovered now, she would still be somewhat safe.

Her every need was only too easy to fulfill and legions would be glad to serve if she only made a call.

Izo and Sun Hee were superhumans by comparison. Seemingly drawing inner strength from nothing. Though Sun Hee’s motivation came from a more positive place than Izo’s.

‘I’ll tell him then. If he falls, I would be there to pick him up.’

*

Izo was grabbing his shoulders with his opposite hands. This made it so his tears leaked to the side of his arm.

[ Jane: Izo. Jae maybe in a special battle right now. ]

A sudden message appeared.

He wiped the cold liquid on his shirt and gathered a small amount of composure,

When Izo finally understood the message, it wasn’t panic that he felt but relief. Relief that soon, whether he won or lost, there would be respite.

He lifted his heavy limbs and equipped his equipment. However, Izo was a stubborn man. Enough so that he lowered himself in order to win.

Jane, Sun Hee and Sung Soo had brainstormed a possible way to win when desperate. The condition was he had near 18,000 points.

This plan B was to borrow more money from others to get a particularly powerful equipment and use it to speed through arenas.

Seems like a good idea at first glance but the special battles with its now more than 2000 points reward had such a low chance of appearing. Trying brute force to get it through volume was a big gamble at best.

This made it so only a few people let him borrow their precious points. Izo managed to get 2500 points. However, it still wasn’t enough. He had to again rely on Sun Hee and Sung Soo for another 1700.

He felt like he was taking advantage of them. He felt angry at himself to the point that he would rather lose the award than inconvenience the two even more.

This was why Izo was hesitant with this plan and only wanted to use it if Jae suddenly gets a special battle. He just found this method pathetic.

‘Fuck. I can only risk it now.’

He opened the shop and chose the weapon section. They already had candidate that fit very well.

Requiring to be directly charged to Izo’s small nuclear reactors. Costing 4200 points and further 200 for daily maintenance in the future. Jane assured him that this was a battle tested and feared weapon.

‘A Lasrain armored personal carrier.’

By the same manufacturer as the Decimator drones, it materialized outside of his hut in its two meter by four meter rectangular shape. Angular, blocky and brutalist, it could fly for 3 hours while carrying its double Lasblaster cannons.

Izo connected it to his wrist and ordered it to hover just above him. It floated with magnetic power and in its center was a hatch.

It opened and a force pulled him inside. Izo sat himself on the seat closest to the front.

Not only a weapon but also a mount, it was spacious enough inside to comfortably sit four. Six people if they made do. There was also a spiritual control on board for trained pilots where one could simply order the Lasrain to do whatever is desired. Of course, there was also a more manual and less precise controls in Izo’s seat and an automated mode.

By Jane’s words, countless wars and petty rebellions were crushed with this weapon,

‘At least. I don’t have to tire myself so much.’

Before he reentered the arenas, Izo briefly considered if he should wake up Sun Hee and Sung Soo.

‘They’re probably asleep already. They’ll only get more tired and the Lasrain would do all the work anyway.’

His weak spiritual power still couldn’t control it so he ordered it with his wrist controller to go inside one of the dark arenas.

*

Jae kept her breath still. Feeling the darkness and the damp moisture of this labyrinthine location.

She was in a large sewer. 10 meters in diameter, the branches were numerous and she hadn’t reached the boundary.

‘North?’

She used a compass to have an idea of where she was. It’s green glowing symbols were matched by the same-colored light of the mushroom all around her.

There were small animals living in this underground ecosystem. This was a big clue however to the creature that inhabits the arena’s tendency.

Jae had only seen it once when she arrived and 30 minutes in sustained darkness had borne no fruit.

‘It would seem that this will be a difficult special battle.’

She followed the increasing stench of sulfur as she had to jump and skip across acid pools. A short but fruitful test earlier revealed their potency.

“Aaaah!”

A scream then a thud. A flashlight waving panicked Cilae fell to the floor.

Jae knew her as a brave candidate and she was #72. This cream of the crop however crawled away while using her nails to dig into the bricks just to earn more of a purchase.

A sharp limb however scythed down in a black carapace only barely brought to light by the flashlight.

The candidate was teleported out.

Jae waited. She only knew a pitiful few of the enemies’ characteristics. It would be far better for her to be patient and learn more.

It was the hard meeting of metal and stone that she heard. Its movement was quiet and only the splashing of acid gave it away.

In only ten seconds, it had disappeared from Jae’s hearing.

‘Medium size? Definitely fast. Aggressive.’