Nathan felt a whole new heartache leaving his childhood home to return to the city that had beaten and abused him. But he was determined to make a place for himself on the coastal city. A long drive from the quaint town back to the city of his dreams. Nathan arrived at the city near an apartment his mother had helped him rent. Nathan could easily create his own money, being able to create tera crystals with an extreme capability. His ability to absorb ather was apparently rated on a national scale due to the sheer quantities he could pull in given the right conditions. Once his soul refined it all he had to do was compress the refined ather products into a small dense solid. He had tested and found that just absorbing the ather from average air allowed him to produce more teras in an hour than his old job paid in day. Nathan didn’t resent Jack for giving him the aura creation technique anymore, how could he? It was the greatest technique he had ever received, even leading to a very high quality cultivation art.

Nathan looked at his new apartment building, the quality difference clear. The fresh coat of paint, the clear signs of maintenance and cleaning obvious. Nathan found his way to his apartment following some hallway signs and began the short process of unpacking. His body size fluctuations had gotten rid of the majority of his wardrobe and most of his novelty items were small enough that setting them up on some shelves only took a few minutes. After getting everything in order he started looking to accomplish his first of many goals. Fighting in an arena, preferably somewhere medium sized as to avoid much stronger or weaker opponents. Finding nothing of interest on the internet, he decided to go for a walk.

The streets of Ria were familiar but different. Not just the fact that some small shops had gone out of business and some new ones opened, but the way people walked and the alley ways seemed to have changed in a qualitative manner. The streets were crowded, but there was little bumping or pushing on the sidewalks. A stark difference from when Nathan had to fight through people to get to work on time. The alleys seemed strangely empty, lacking thugs to intimidate or homeless people begging for change. Maybe this is what Reggie had been working on? Some sort of city wide clean up? Why were people walking like decent humans, what happened to the alley people? Nathan shook the thoughts from his mind and continued searching for some type of arena event.

Nathan looked up at opulent five story building that was holding a large scale one on one tournament for all levels in a week. It was a sleek and shiny building with artwork and expense carved into every inch of it. Nathan re-read the flyer a few times before deciding to bite the bullet and go ask the receptionist about it. He walked in, the inside surprising him in how it managed to look ever more expensive than the outside, and asked about the tournament.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“It’s a week from today, lasts three days and you can expect to fight a minimum of five fights, but up to several times that if you manage to make it to the final fight. It's an elimination style but the first five are a qualifier of sorts. Regardless if you lose one fight in the qualifier your still out, but you have an opportunity to take others out with you. No weapons, no debilitating techniques that last longer than 24 hours, if a ref calls you your out. Anything else, any questions?” The refined man asked after explaining the gist of the rules.

“Any prizes or cost of entry?”

You don’t have to pay to compete, but there is a variety of prizes based on how far you go. It’s thanks to our wonderful sponsors the Scarlet Throne sect. If your interested in them I have a flyer here, and their definitely going to be looking for recruits at the tournament.”

“No thanks, I doubt any sect would accept me. Can’t use most techniques that they teach anyways.” The receptionist seemed a bit puzzled but didn’t ask. It saved Nathan some awkward explaining. A bit more searching later he ended up heading back to his apartment and relaxing. Going through the motions of sitting down in a comfy chair, he was halted by a knock on his door. Nathan briefly considered pretending not to be home before opening the door.

“Sup loser, we need to talk about some stuff and things.” His brother said, stepping into the apartment. Nathan watched as he walked in, pallid and subdued. Nathan understood stuff and things weren’t going to be the happiest of conversation topics.

“Alright, you want me to make some tea before we talk?” Seeing the nod from his brother, Nathan headed to the kitchen. A brief spell later he sat down at his low table on a pillow and handed his brother a cup of steaming tea.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

“I have been offered an alternative promotion instead of becoming a gold Enforcer. It’s a bit secretive but highly prestigious.” He said staring at the cup of tea.

“Sounds great, your gonna take it? Or does have strings attached?”

“No not really, the problem isn’t strings attached but the rate of survival. Only 3% ever make it to retirement. That's three out of a hundred.”

“I know how statistics work. And im not seeing a problem here. If this thing is as prestigious as you say it makes since it would have a low retirement rate. I imagine some become Eternals and simply stay in the system forever, and others get moved out of the division. But mostly your better than 97% of people. I have faith that you can do whatever you need to stay safe in your new field.” Nathan countered. His brother looked at him with what Nathan presumed to be gratitude and confidence. After that it was just happy chit-chatting and catching up between brothers. Once his brother left Nathan sat down and tried to ignore the worry that had settled in his lungs. ‘I wonder what he’s going to do with his new promotion.’