The weeks following Nil’s soul weapon ascension blurred by. Watcher lightened his workload and offered him out as a sparring dummy to Onyx Dragon Academy’s other masters. The training proved invaluable. He didn’t risk using Source Weapons outside of solo technique practice. The shell of Balanced Source contained Chaos’s pure destructive power, but Nil didn’t trust his control.

  Nil wasn’t sure if it was impossible or his control wasn’t good enough, but he failed to create weapons out of the colorless energy. Without Chaos or Order’s presence, they failed to remain stable. The invisible constructs wibbled like a mass of gelatin before collapsing.

  Instead, Nil focused all of his efforts on improving his other abilities and techniques. In real combat situations, Nil primarily used Anti-Friction Lattice to cover long distances. He wished to get better at maneuvering around foes by briefly activating the ability and zipping around them. Since manifesting the lattice, swiftly activating and deactivating it demanded a fair deal of focus. The chaos of combat often made him forget about it. The sparring sessions against fellow Bronze Realm fighters—who, despite their age, usually proved better than him—forced him to rely on Anti-Friction Lattice.

  Energy Instinct and Toggled Supercharging also saw regular use. After a year or more with the abilities, their use had become second nature to him. He hoped to achieve the same with Anti-Friction Lattice. Nil also got valuable practice with Wield The Source. Instead of using Source weapons, he often erected silver barriers.

  Almost all the young cultivators of the academy had more than just physical attacks. Fireballs seemed popular, and many were oddly colored and often carried debris. Instead of blocking them with his Source Gauntlets and risking it with Galvanized, he relied on Order. The silver barriers filtered out non-energy components, and Nil hoped the gauntlets would take care of the rest. Often, they did. Other times, he needed to rely on the supervising master or report to the infirmary to take care of the burns, frostbites, poisonings, or a plethora of other ailments.

  Then, during Nil’s final month on Ashe Fall, he went into Apocalypse Arena again, ready to take on the Chase. The arena construct divulged information regarding the arena before the match began, and Nil went in prepared. Adrian ‘Wildshape’ Wilson had gifted him a high-quality potion meant to resist arctic temperatures, and he consumed it upon arrival.

  Snow covered the ground around Nil, and frigid winds swirled around him. He hoped the concoction would last long enough to get through the event. Nil didn’t fare well in the cold. The arena backrooms had plenty of stalls selling warm clothing or enchanted outfits that kept out the chill. He hoped being cheap wouldn’t bite him in the bottom later. It was unlikely most would survive until the end of the match anyway. If his opponents didn’t destroy them, Nil would while Expending. Nil only bought water and rations for the long journey ahead.

  The arena construct placed him in an ice ravine that seemed to go on forever. Debris and barricades blocked his view of what lay ahead. Energy Instinct detected several powerful dark presences. Some lay directly ahead, while others were far off to his left or right. Nil imagined they stalked his opponents’ paths.

  The announcer went over the event’s rules and didn’t bother introducing the competitors. He just knew that there were sixty-four of them and only one ticket. Each stage would cut the number of participants in half until only two remained. Fighters would need to defeat several Cursed Ones, waves of Cursed Beasts, or each other to advance.

  Nil had countless questions.

  How did the arena construct find the perfect arena to house so many fighters?

  Where did it find all the Cursed Ones?

  How did the arena constructs bring all the monsters into the arena and position them to fit the event’s format?

  If it had the power to terraform, lure monsters, and perhaps control them, why did the construct use fighters for the job of eliminating them? Was its primary objective creating entertainment for the multiverse?

  It was unlikely he’d find answers any time soon, and it wasn’t the time to hunt for them. Instead, Nil focused on the many lessons he had learned while watching the event’s recordings. Despite what the name suggested, it didn’t feel like a race. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be gates limiting progression.

  The only benefit of reaching a gate before one’s neighbors was picking the opponent. Individuals would get information on the closest opponents and pick whether to face them or entities born of Cursed Energy. Then, all gates opened at the same time, and the rush to the next gate began anew. Terrain and Cursed Ones slowed their progress. Eventually, options would run out, and the arena construct would make the decisions.

  Once again, Nil believed it was all needless complication. If it were up to him, he would bunch the fighters in a handful of routes or a single path, fill it with obstacles, traps, and Cursed Ones, and then let them fight or weave their way to the end. Nil was no expert and didn’t pretend to answer the artificial consciousness’s machinations.

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  It’s a marathon.

  Only a person with endurance would be able to fight through waves of Cursed Beasts and Cursed Ones before taking on a gate and then repeat the same five times to win. Rogues would start with an advantage since most would avoid conflicts between gates, but Nil imagined they’d struggle after a few of them. The journey between each checkpoint was sure to tire them out.

  Traditional mages were the most ill-suited for the Chase because of their high energy demands, and things weren’t too different for Arcane Warriors. Nil imagined Summoners would have the least trouble as long as their companions didn’t get killed. Meanwhile, Brutes and Knights and anyone who treated Might as one of their primary abilities would have a clear advantage. Their incredible stamina made them great for such events.

  Nil imagined that Adam, a fallen acquaintance with incredible regeneration abilities, would perform incredibly in the event. His assumptions didn’t take into account inconsistencies caused by abilities and their evolutions. He was sure there would be many who subverted his expectations.

  “We’ll need to work together on this one,” Nil told Meatball, releasing her even before the barrier dropped. “We’re going to go fast and hard, defeating as big ones as we can while on the move. Once we reach the gate, they might converge on us. If we’re lucky, the system will let us fight something else and push through before any survivors catch up.”

  Meatball’s squeak sounded very much like an emphatic ‘roger.’

  “I need you to keep me from getting overwhelmed, but not at the cost of falling behind. I can’t be finishing a gate and ready to carry on but then have to wait because you’re chasing monsters. Is that understood?”

  The following squeaks sounded angry.

  “No. I’m not calling you incompetent.” Nil sighed. “Just laying out the game plan. This is going to be long, and you might get hungry.” He pulled out an assortment of dried meat cubes, seed loaves, and compressed dried fruits out of his pockets. “I got treats for us both. Alright?”

  A bribe got the Ironroot Whelp to get over the slight and she jumped into his arms. It amused Nil how her personality had grown significantly over the past year, but she hadn’t displayed many physiological changes. Whatever changes Ashe’s leaf triggered were yet to be seen.

  The barriers fell, and the Chase began.

  Nil had filled Brutal Battery before teleporting to the arena from the academy’s mess hall. He accelerated with Expend and heavily infused Toggled Supercharging. He ran until he encountered a long stretch without many obstacles. Then, Nil wrapped his feet in Anti-Friction Lattice and slid onward. He ceased supercharging speed and switched to Absorb.

  Anti-Friction Lattice demanded both wrapped feet remain in contact with the ground. Pulling one off it deactivated the ability. It had taken Nil the longest time to get used to the limitation. He couldn’t kick off the ground to speed himself up. Directly pushing off objects with his hands proved ineffective as well. It always affected speed, and angles were rarely perfect. Nil preferred using Expend blasts, but they currently felt unnecessary.

  After the first five minutes of progress, rubble began raining on Nil and the path. Cursed Ones and beasts were descending on him from above. He ignored them and sped onward, only hesitating when a giant spider appeared in his path with a swarm of smaller arachnids gathering on the surrounding walls.

  “You’re up, girlie,” Nil whispered. He used the same move he had during his match against Pietro. Nil pulled his arm back, took aim, and threw her, Expanding and supercharging strength at the last second. “Don’t forget to Reinforce!”

  Meatball flashed red as she flew. Her spikes appeared longer as they extended out of her carapace. The wood appeared darker and more dense. She struck the giant spider’s face like a cannonball. The Cursed One screeched, and the minions echoed the cry.

  Nil didn’t switch to Absorb. Instead, he manifested the Source Gauntlets and manifested the knuckle-duster daggers, wrapping Chaos in Balance so the energy wouldn't get consumed after the first couple of slashes. The blades extended twenty centimeters from the serrated guards over his fingers. A shoulder guard would’ve made for an excellent addition to the chassis. He could have trickled energy through it and melted his way through the swarm. Instead, Nil settled on slicing through them. Hand blasts helped him prevent head-on collisions, and he left a trail of black sludge and orange slag in his wake. When the giant spider’s legs appeared in his path, he sliced through them as well.

  Meanwhile, Meatball bounced around, crunching spider heads or crushing bodies as she advanced. The whelp occasionally extended tentacles to swing off the giant spider’s legs or rocks, just about keeping up with Nil. When he realized that fleeing the swarm and their towering leader was impossible, he got under it and deactivated Anti-Friction Lattice. An Expend-powered leap carried him to the giant underside, and he hit it with a titanic blast. A Source Sphere would’ve been better, but Nil didn’t have the time to prepare one.

  Fortunately, Nil didn’t have to cut deep to reach the Cursed One’s first heart. He followed Energy Instinct, slicing as needed and cleaving through the organ with a three-finger blade. Hand blasts got him out of the way of the molten orange rain that followed. The giant arachnid, let alone a very human scream, stumbled into the ravine’s side and caused another ice shower. Nil used the opportunity to track down the second heart and destroyed it. He immediately switched to Absorb, letting the rain of debris restore his energy.

  Meatball chirped loudly at Nil from several meters ahead.

  “Yes. Yes. I’m the one that needs to catch up to you.”

  Nil laughed, enjoying the thrill of the fight. He felt powerful and confident.

  Once the giant spider fell, its smaller followers scattered. They felt more like Cursed Beasts than full-fledged Cursed Ones. Nil cut down any that got in his path and pushed onward. After getting through the mass, he skated forward again. He ignored the rest of the monsters and used hand blasts to accelerate and adjust angles. It took him fifteen minutes to reach the first gate.

  Damnit.

  You’re the second in your grouping to reach the gate. The first arrival has decided to challenge you to a fight.

  The gate opened, revealing a widened section of the ravine with squared-off sides. A man waited beyond it. He wore Wilson Luduses’ colors.