AA. 184

The journey to the beacon was swift and uneventful. Nil arrived first and poured all of his focus into Energy Instinct, hunting for any creatures or other teams that might be lurking in wait. He found nothing and also sought out high ground for a better view. Selia arrived next and also did a lap. Her sensory ability didn’t have much range but was more acute. She didn’t have trouble finding other Summoned, regardless of whether they used magic or any sort of energy for their abilities. When Selia found nothing, they took a moment to catch their breath, cultivate, and wait for the others to catch up.

The recent conflict had come with several notifications. 

Mind has progressed to Bronze 1!

Galvanized has progressed to Bronze 1!

Source Gauntlets has progressed to Bronze 1!

Quicksilver Burst has progressed to Iron 1!

Considering the barrage of attacks Nil endured, he expected Wield the Source also to gain a rank. Combining Order with Absolute Array hadn’t yet given him any boosts. Nil believed he had achieved something incredible, but it wasn’t enough in the Schema’s eyes. 

The Mind rank caught him by surprise. He didn’t expect to get one just for the brief interaction with whatever Void entity tried to tear its way through the veil. Dealing with the Void was bound to affect the attribute positively. Given his low potential, he thought it would take time. Meatball’s progress was also welcome. All growth lowered the likelihood of her suffering injuries and contributing more to the team.

If not for Regenerate’s Bronze Realm upgrades, Nil would’ve spent the rest of the Cleansing dealing with annoying burns and bruises. He looked forward to whatever bonuses Quicksilver Burst would provide once it also ascended. It was still a long way away, but he hoped the Cleansing would come with ample training. 

“Another team is advancing toward the beacon,” Zora reported once she and Shawn caught up to the duo. “There is another group close behind the five. I can’t tell whether the first will reach the gate before the second catches up to them.”

“So, it’s like the Chase,” Nil stated. “Four teams per quadrant. The first lot to arrive has the advantage and freedom to pick their challenge. The numbers don’t add up, though. Sixteen worlds. Thirty-two teams. Two make it through each checkpoint. But there are six gates.”

“The intelligence and constructs are inconsistent,” Zora said. “Remember, its objective isn’t a fair competition, but cleaning up worlds for their rehabilitation. The rules can be inconsistent for each gate. If a quadrant performs exceptionally well, more than the two teams might be allowed through. Things will get harder as we close in on the center. The intelligence wants the best teams reaching the end to increase chances of purging the Void, cleansing Wells of Power, and getting rid of any Cursed Energy.”

“We’re all too familiar with the inconsistencies,” Selia stated, patting Nil’s shoulder. “Hopefully, it wouldn’t screw us around too much. Go on. Zora. Do the honors.”

The arena intelligence relied on natural topography to create different sectors. Nil discovered while scouting that invisible barriers also separated the quadrants. The gate—a construct of hard light—and its interface was the only way through. It blocked the only opening through the mountain he could see, and the range seemed to stretch endlessly on either side.

Zora’s brows furrowed when she interacted with the hard-light console.

“What’s wrong?” Nil asked. “Aren’t we the first?”

“We’re the first here. These options just don’t make any sense.” Zora kept them in suspense for several minutes before sharing them. “There are three. The first involves challenging another team. There are two others in the zone, and I don’t like the look of either of them.”

“Either look like the Scourge?” Shawn asked.

Zora nodded. “It might be best if we leave dealing with them until later. The Scourge Champions rely on Cursed Energy to recover and fuel their energy. It might be best to take them on after they’ve tired themselves out some and after a quadrant with minimal sources for them to recover.”

“Then what?” Selia asked. “What are our other options?”

“We could fight a Cursed One with a danger level of low Silver. It could be easy with Nil’s Chaos Sphere, Shawn’s barriers, and my weapon. We can take down most big threats with ease, but at Silver Realm, the chances of things not being straightforward are fairly high. There could be defenses none of us could penetrate or offense that overwhelms everything we can put up. We might have to deal with a bunch of minions as well.

“The other option is dealing with a Void anomaly and related creatures,” Zora continued. “Which is even more unpredictable. However, the danger level is Bronze-Nine. This isn’t something I think we should decide alone.”

“The other two parties in the quadrant,” Nil said. “Do either of them look like the Scourge?”

“One might be.” Zora frowned. “Why?”

“If they make it through the quadrant, there is a chance we might face them down the line. Do we want them pursuing us topped up with Cursed Energy?”

Zora’s eyes wandered over the rest of the team. “I think this might be a good idea. Everyone for it?”

“Resource denial is always a smart tactic,” Selia commented.

“I’m for it.” Shawn nodded. “Standard four-man formation?”

A section of the hard light barrier melted away when Zora made her decision. The party slightly advanced into the pass, and the passage sealed itself behind them. More blockades ensured they had no option of paths, guiding the team to their battleground. Selia grinned when they ended up in a cavern lit poorly by bioluminescent shrubbery. It was the perfect battleground for her. Rocks, uneven terrain, walls, and ceilings were all perfect for her phasing power. They didn’t just give her hiding places but surfaces to shoot through and utilize hit-and-run tactics.

The more human and small a Cursed One appears, the more dangerous they are. Bigger bodies demand more energy to fuel and support. Smaller entities use their hearts to fuel magic and supernatural entities.

The passage Nil read in the Onyx Dragon Library returned to him when he saw their opponent. It looked like a seven-foot-tall armored knight and carried a simple-looking claymore. The two-handed sword was almost as tall as him. Nil sensed three mighty hearts in the entity, but the armor limited his ability to locate them. Energy pulsed through the monster’s equipment, clouding Energy Instinct’s detection. The sea of Cursed Beast’s surrounding the ‘knight’ also concerned him. They ranged from hounds to more soldiers like him. Cursed Energy shrouds protected them all.

A maze of barriers went up first, creating elevation and cover for Zora. She began her bombardment without hesitation. Each strike took out a beast or maimed several. The weapons flying out of her portals had the same power as what Nil faced during training, but the intensity and variety of arcane effects were far beyond what she had displayed before.  He wondered whether she had spent the last year holding back or they were seeing the fruit of her recent training. It was a question for another time.

Shawn took up position just in front of the blockade, sword at the ready. His mastery over barrier-folding had improved significantly. The weapon was no longer than his arm, but almost expertly shaped constructs made it wider and longer. Relying on it had proven more energy efficient than shattering and exploding barriers. He danced around the conjured blockades, ensuring the charging wolf and boar-like beasts didn’t reach Zora. He took them apart with clean, precise cuts, slicing almost as cleanly as Nil’s chaos weapons. 

The training under the druids made Shawn’s new fighting style truly terrifying. He swung through his barriers without slowing. It seemed the separate constructs interacted as liquids of different densities when they met, allowing the other through but not combining. Shawn faced little hindrance, also luring the enemy to run into seemingly flexible surfaces, only for them to bounce off and into each other. 

The setup got the Cursed One and its minions’ attention, giving Selia the perfect opportunity to disappear. Chains sprouted from walls, the floor, and the ceiling, creating more burning obstacles for the enemy. Every time Selia emerged, she took out one or more of the enemy’s ranged attackers—mostly archers firing projectiles charged with Cursed Energy. There were a few mages among them, too, but their spells seemed to enhance allies. 

Nil struggled to combat the Cursed Ones and the surrounding soldiers. The Chaos sphere and weapons struggled against the armor and weapons, leaving gouges or dents but not disintegrating them. Each spell-caster Selia eliminated weakened the Cursed Beasts’ defenses. He ceased failing where Zora had succeeded from the start. Nil took down the enemy and advanced toward the beast at the center of the battlefield.

Energy Purification worked overtime as Nil fought. He broke down the Cursed Energy released by all the dying foes, rejected the unwanted, and turned the rest into fuel for himself. It helped him to keep pushing forward without hesitation or pause. He only slowed when the attacking barrage became overwhelming, forcing him to switch to Absorb momentarily. Shiver Shield proved its power. The technique restored Brutal Battery’s energy, slowed the enemy’s attacking forces, or froze them altogether.

It was Energy Purification that helped defeat the ruling monster. It didn’t need the spell casters to bolster its defenses. Instead, the Cursed One reinforced its armor and weapon without assistance. The hearts fueled the magic. Nil had to bob and weave, weakening the armor while his friends kept the minions busy and off him.

The clash lasted a third of an hour, and everyone but Nil needed to catch their breath afterward. After his friends eliminated most of the minions, Zora kept the monster off balance with an endless barrage. Then, a Chaos Sphere found its way into the creature’s midriff. It took a moment to counteract the defensive enchantment, but Nil took out one heart and damaged the second. Then Selia emerged from the floor and removed the head, separating the final intact core from the rest of the body. Nil stomped it into dust. The act destroyed what remained of his boots, but the metallic layer covering his lower legs protected him from the orange slag. 

Team Forge has completed the first gate challenge and may continue to the next section of the arena. The team has twelve hours of rest that must be used across the first three rest points.

Since Team Forge was the first to reach the gate and complete a gate challenge, no subsequent sections will open until they move on. If a waiting team has run out of their allocated rest period, they’ll be ejected and may continue.

All team members have earned 4 Schema Tokens and 100 Credits.

“There is far more strategy involved in this than I assumed,” Shawn said, eyes wide as he read the Schema notification. “A team can maintain their lead indefinitely and slow others.”

“For the first half, at least,” Selia added. “I imagine things will even out from the fourth section. Or the differences will be marginal.”

“How long should we wait?” Zora asked, wiping sweat from her face and neck. She had remained immobile during the fight. Shawn’s efforts ensured no Cursed Beast or empowered arrow reached her. However, she appeared the most drained of the lot. “It might be smart to wait around a bit and check out who else makes it out of the quadrant.”

“I disagree,” Nil replied. He didn’t want to step on any toes, but Zora came across as a leader open to suggestions. “We didn’t just make it to the gate first, but no one else has completed a challenge yet. We have a considerable lead and could maintain it for a while. I say we only stay in the rest area for as long as we need to catch our breath and refuel.”

“You’re right.” Zora sighed. “But let’s check out the rest area first. It would be silly to rush forward just so we can stay ahead. Maintaining a lead has its advantages, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.”