The month after Nil’s return blurred by.

  Every morning started with guiding Emily and Sam in their cultivation. Isabella occasionally joined them, looking for pointers. Her intimate connection with the energy that spawned her sonic attacks helped her skip the detection phase. The woman already had experience guiding it to her arms and legs, and it was just a matter of discovering her mana channels and circulating through them.

  Meanwhile, Nil’s Cleansing teammates all remained busy with individual training. Shawn and Selia’s cultivation and techniques weren’t quite at his level of mastery, and they still required Isabella’s guidance. Fine-tuning the design of the soul weapon also took a lot of time. Things remained icy between Selia and Susan, and neither party made any effort to meet the other halfway, making things uncomfortable for their respective partners.

  Nil did his best to use his time smartly. He spent three mornings a week training with Noah and dedicated the rest of his week to Meatball. She had grown more communicative, often gesturing while she squeaked. More of her sounds made sense to Nil. She also understood him better. So, he did solo combat drills with her and also brought her into spars with Isabella.

  “Hell, no!” Zora exclaimed when Nil brought Meatball out during one of their matches. “It's bad enough you squeezed in a year’s worth of training and growth in five months and can zoom around like an animated hedgehog on steroids. I’m not putting up with your spiky cannonball. Save her for the arena. Please.”

  Nil did just that. None of his attributes or ability ranks went up, but he felt more than ready when the time for the Hunt came. After speeding through the Iron Gauntlet with only seven matches, thirteen Bronze Gauntlet events, and countless hours watching recordings, Nil believed he’d seen most arena types and was ready for almost anything. Then, the day of the Hunt arrived, and all competitors got information on where they were to fight. Shock and surprise followed.

  Once in the backrooms, he purchased resistance concoctions for every weather type and also invested in rations. Nil hoped to target Cursed Ones and finish things as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that things would go as he had hoped. Wilson Luduses and Ten-Ton Lucy hadn’t reacted to his taunts, but Nil believed their fighters would come for him.

  The idea of creating a think-tank had worked, and ideas for taking down Lucy were already flowing in. Most thought that Nil needed to figure out how to launch his Source Sphere at high speeds. Many also advised that he leave it to a team member. After Death Gauntlet, many had theorized that Shawn and Selia would be joining him for the Cleansing. All believed that the pair would fare better against the woman.

  Festus The Curator’s viewers also helped narrow down the possible participants of the Hunt. The top of the list consisted of every Wilson Ludus fighter who lost to Cara Sue, Selia, and Shawn, coming in second or third in their respective tournament. There were also several prolific Bronze Realmers who hadn’t appeared in any of the tournaments. The channel’s biggest contributors and fans had also assembled Nil’s outfit from a pool of possible pieces. It increased viewer engagement, and Nil worried he’d end up in something ridiculous.

  Fortunately, his concerns proved unnecessary. Nil entered the arena wearing baggy dark blue jeans, a vest carrying the logo of his new sponsorship partner—the men’s grooming company—and the leather biker jacket with Garuda Systems’ wings across the back. He also had on a pair of running shoes but didn’t expect them to last. The new superhuman sporting goods company expected as much but was happy for the chance to have its logo seen in a high-profile event.

  Heavy rain and lightning welcomed Nil when the arena construct teleported him to his destination. He silently thanked Garuda Systems for adding a hood to their jacket and consumed the lightning-resistance potion. Despite the barrier of light containing him, powerful winds buffeted Nil. It was then he realized the barrier surrounding the arena was also a cylinder instead of a dome.

  “It’s rare for such magic-rich worlds to fall into the Scourge’s control,” the announcer said. “The ruling powers keep a close eye on them and never skimp out on sending Summoned to ensure it remains safe. Eternum fell through the cracks, but the multiversal powers reclaimed it, eliminating the controlling forces. Now, it's up to our Summoned to clean up the mobile Well of Power!

  “That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The Hunt brings us to the last temple of the extinct Stormcallers! The floating archipelago has become a breeding ground for powerful Cursed Ones. We have marked the specimens that carry the event tokens. Taking them down will be no easy feat, and many of our challengers might have to settle for survival and hunt each other. If that weren’t bad enough, the sky islands are surrounded by a perpetual mana storm. A blizzard or hail might replace the current downpour in the blink of a high. Other anomalies and dangers also await. Victory won’t be easy, but whoever comes out on top will walk away with a Cleansing ticket.

  “More than half of our twenty competitors are runner-ups from the planet’s six tournaments and the Chase. We added an extra complication this time. Tokens taken from fellow fighters are only worth half as much as those from Cursed Ones. So, they need to take out at least one scary big guy or steal from someone who has, or they’ll fall short.”

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  The announcer rambled on for a while longer, explaining more details of the Hunt. Nil listened carefully, hoping for more information about the arena. The ruling construct had dropped him off on top of a spire in the floating temple-city. He used the opportunity to get a lay of the land, scan for the most powerful Cursed Energy signatures, and also scan for other cylindrical barriers containing his competitors. Not many enjoyed the same elevation as him.

  Luck is for once on my side.

  The final seconds went into coming up with a strategy for the event. Once the barrier finally fell, he took off at break-neck speed.

  Bridges connected some floating islands. In some cases, giant structures stood built across multiple at once. Nothing but clouds and darkness lay below, and far too many openings waited for people to fall through. Nil couldn’t just go as fast as his body and Finesse would allow. The openings were frequent and not always obvious to someone moving as fast as a speeding car. Nil’s Finesse wasn’t enough, Energy Instinct didn’t highlight dangers, and he’d only take the risk if he still had Restless In Body And Mind. Because of the storm, there was no telling how high up they were. Even though Brutal Battery’s stores were vast, Nil doubted it had enough capacity to protect him from such a fall.

  The announcer hadn’t listed the participants as expected of events with a large roster. As a result, Nil couldn’t be sure whether the couple of individuals with Mind Magic were in attendance. He had no information regarding the local Cursed Ones’ abilities either. So, he occasionally supercharged psychic fortitude.

  Sounds of battle exploded around Nil, and he passed magic and abilities flashing past archways or platforms on either side of him. He also slid on walls, flying over fights. None of them interested Nil. Energy Instinct had helped him highlight the twenty strongest Cursed Energy signatures in the arena, and he intended to take out the closest of them.

  It took Nil five minutes to find his target. Another challenger had already engaged it. A man carrying a sword wider and taller than him fought a three-meter-tall humanoid Cursed One. If not for the characteristic skin, luminous orange veins, and dense energy, Nil would’ve mistaken it for a Summoned. Porcupine-like spines grew out of its arms and backs, and electric-blue energy arced between them.

  The fight between the pair appeared brutal. The swordsman screamed through the pain as the spikes planted into his shoulder and back attracted the Cursed One’s energy. The shock made him falter and spasm, but the burnt tissue returned to its original shade in seconds.

  He has enhanced regeneration.

  Nil almost felt guilty as he enacted his plan. Ideally, he would’ve liked to wait until one of the pair won or the two combatants whittled each other down. He had no such luxury. Time was of the essence. Every wasted second gave someone else the chance to find tokens and get closer to victory.

  Lightning arced off the spines toward Nil as he dove at the Cursed One from an overhanging gargoyle. Galvanized ate the brunt of it, and supercharged toughness helped him deal with the rest. The attack consumed a fourth of his full energy, and he immediately switched to Absorb. Not underestimating the swordsman proved wise.

  “Godpuncher Nil has one token!” The announcer declared.

  “Couldn’t have made it more obvious, ye slimy bugger,” he said in a strong Australian accent. All the wounds he had suffered at the hands of the Cursed One had already started to stitch itself closed. Only the damage around the stuck spines didn’t fix itself.

  The man’s speed seemed to increase, and he came at Nil with an endless barrage of chops and slashes. His weapon reminded Nil of the blade he had once seen Pietro, the late Frost Emperor, sneakily purchase to taunt someone into a Death Gauntlet match. He took it all, letting the swordsman slowly push Brutal Battery’s stores toward full. His sword also vibrated, glowing red hot. Galvanized again came to the rescue. As long as Nil caught the blows on his gauntlets or lower legs, they didn’t bother him.

  Wait for your window.

  Festus the Curator’s think tank proved valuable. The viewers highlighted the man as one of the possible participants of the Chase, and Nil watched recordings of him. Every barrage needed to end. The swordsman eventually ran out of steam, and Nil turned the tide. He leaped back, panting and adopting a defensive stance. Nil leaped at the opening.

  Absorb didn’t just protect him from physical trauma. It also ensured he didn’t waste stamina on blocking. Nil also wasn’t breathless like his opponent. Creating a Source weapon only took a moment. However, the energy signature coming off the man’s sword suggested it had more to it than met the eye, and Nil didn’t want to test a Chaos blade against it. Instead, he tried a new move.

  Wrapping a weapon in crimson lightning still demanded several seconds. However, turning Balanced Source into a catalyst and combining it with a chaos emission now took Nil just over a second. The approach to his enemy was more than enough time to achieve the feat.

  The swordsman anticipated a strike and blocked accordingly. Nil ducked under it, releasing crimson lightning from his right gauntlet. The energy didn’t go far, and he danced around his open palm, only reaching about thirty centimeters—a foot—from it. The Cursed One’s implanted spines acted as a lightning rod, as expected, and the crimson energy arced toward it. The man yelled, spasming for a moment, but that was enough time for Nil to grab his weapon arm around the elbow. Even though Chaos moved and behaved like lightning, it hadn’t lost its natural abilities; the technique just weakened them.

  Nil disintegrated the man’s arm while simultaneously kicking the weapon away. Before the man could retaliate, he did the same to his other elbow but didn’t bother with the extra steps and used raw Chaos. The man teleported out of the arena, cursing like a sailor.

  “Godpuncher Nil now possesses two tokens!”

  Nil didn’t celebrate. In the time it took him to find the Cursed One, his opponent had already taken out another challenger, scoring half a token for himself. The clock was ticking and not on his side. He took off toward his next target.