AA. 179

“Everyone is going nuts about the lightning blades and Taser Hands,” Bunty told Nil during their first call after his return. “A bunch of them have been following you ever since the qualifiers and can’t believe how much you’ve grown and changed. Some are questioning how you’ve not burned out after this many chapters in quick succession. What was it? One a week?”

“Something like that.” Nil hadn’t elaborated on his time away. Bunty just knew that Nil couldn’t appear for things personally because he was away on a quest, and there was some time dilation involved. “It's not enough to keep them satiated, is it?”

“Never. The viewers are always hungry for more. They’ve been complaining about the slowdown since you got the ticket.”

“Well, they’ll be even more pleased when the Cleansing begins,” Nil replied. “I’m working on something new and far cooler.” 

“Are we going to workshop a name like last time?”

“No. In all honesty, I’m not sure if it will be ready in time. Best not to waste time on something that might not be ready until Silver Realm. What are people saying about Selia and me?”

“Summoned power couple taking on the Cleansing together?” Bunty laughed. “It's testing well. We have fragrance brands, jewelry companies, bridal boutiques, and wedding planners asking for your time.”

“We’re up for quick photoshoots, but nothing that takes more time,” Nil replied. “This call is already eating into my training time.”

“Are you working on anything big?”

“A few. But again, they might not be efficient or powerful enough by the time the Cleansing begins. Just keep words like Lightning Sphere, Source Spike, and Shiver Shield in your back pocket.”

“We really need to work on names together.” Bunty sighed. “You suck at them. Do all of them do what they sound like? I’m guessing you figured out thermodynamics and kinetic energy to finally make a heat-stealing barrier?”

“You could say so, and I’m working on it. A lot of work is involved, and my time is limited. I don’t care if you come up with your own names during the livestream. Just don’t go with anything super silly.”

“Got it, bud. I’ll drop you a message if there is anything we need to discuss before the Cleansing. We’re running another outfit poll. I’ll send you the votes once they’re all in—”

“Did you find everything I requested?” Nil interrupted. 

“I know you like physical copies, so I sent it to the Forge’s office. They’ve been instructed to prepare eight bound copies. One for each team member and teacher, and one extra.”

“Thanks, Bunty. You’re fucking amazing.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing, Nil. You’ve made me more financially comfortable than I ever hoped. It's the least I can do. Anyway. Kick some butt and put on a good show.” The holo device buzzed. A long list of offers, requests, and fan mail entered Nil’s inbox. Bunty had put in the effort to separate them into categories. “The Void is scary stuff. Don’t get killed. Please.”

“I don’t intend to. Your cash cow is going nowhere.”

“You know that’s not what I mean, mate.”

“I’m just kidding, Festus the Curator. Thanks for everything. We’ll have a big get-together and party when we get back. No excuses. I expect to see you there.”

“Make it into the top three, and I’ll never give you an excuse for as long as I’m alive,” Bunty replied.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Nil said. “No takebacks.”

“Deal.”

Regular training got more intense as the Cleansing rapidly approached. Nil indulged in a lot more private training. He practiced mastered techniques, improved incomplete techniques, and worked to develop new ones. Selia did the same, but they always set a few hours aside to practice joint tactics. They combined techniques and learned to work around each other. Selia walked him through the details of her soul weapon’s ability: Sunmetal Chains.

“Its magic won’t harm other humans, but any creatures weak to sunlight—vampires, Cursed Ones, the Scourge—will get hurt,” Selia had explained. “Let me set up traps, and you throw enemies into them. If they’re vulnerable to the magic, amazing. If not, we can try to entangle them.”

“It’s a good strategy, but just dicing them up might be better,” Nil said. They sat on the ground between one of their many drills, catching their breath. “It makes sense if we’re swarmed or something, but in most instances, finishing the fight as quickly as possible should take priority.” He ran his fingers along the chains. Nil expected something with a name like Sunmetal to carry some warmth or luminosity, but it didn’t. “My energies are more easily recovered than yours. We should conserve your chains for ambushes or when we really need them.”

“Fine.” Selia sighed. “Noah has been teaching me how to use the chains in tandem with the rest of the weapon, so I plan to throw it into the mix from time to time. Recovery and energy management will be my biggest challenge.”

“Your priority is hit and run, taking out dangerous, hard-to-reach targets, and ensuring I don’t get overwhelmed. I’m the one with endless endurance who’ll be taking everything to the face.” Nil pointed at himself. “Striker.” He pointed at Selia. “Assassin. You don’t have to meet me halfway. Remember what Maya said. The point of working in a duo is not to match one another. This team-up needs to be complementary. You do what the Weave taught you best. Leave the meat-head stuff to me.”

“You’re not a meathead.” Selia scooted onto Nil’s lap and wrapped her arms around his skull, pulling it into his chest. She rested her chin on top of his head. “Hard-headed. Impulsive. Rash. But not meathead.”

“You get what I mean. Throw me at an issue. I’ll pummel it into submission. Hold it back. Or eliminate it.” Nil nuzzled into her caress. Warm. Gentle. Comforting. “If I sort out my new defense in time, little will be able to take me down. Let me be the focus that takes all the attention. You hit strategically.”

“I understand what you mean, handsome,” Selia said, playing with Nil’s wild, untamable locks. “I understand how our tactics should work. I’d just like to take some of the weight off your shoulders, but I’ll accept that you don’t want me to do that. My job is to make your job easier and not the other way around.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Selia asked. “Supercharging psychic fortitude might not be enough to protect your mind against the Void. I know you negotiated something great for your family, but—”

“There are no buts,” Nil interrupted. “We only move forward. Eliminate the Scourge. Fight back the Void. Claim our prize.”

“You’ll risk death time and time again for your family, won’t you?”

Nil nodded. “Not just for them. I’ve seen someone I love suffer and die and could do nothing about it. Never again. My first priority is to ensure they never end up in the same situation again. The second is to make their lives better. Third. When neither of the above works, fight tooth and nail to keep them from harm. Now, you fall into the small subgroup of people I’m willing to risk everything for. Unfortunately, I know you’ll never listen to me like my family does. You’ll throw yourself into danger just like me. So, I’ll…” Nil smiled. “We’ll do just fine together.”

“I changed my mind,” Selia said. “You really are a meathead.”

The team and their trainers found the booklets put together by Festus the Curator incredibly useful. It included information regarding all the people on the Wilson Luduses’ team. Shawn, of course, took issue with it but ceased protesting after Selia told him off and reminded him of the meeting with Adrian, Lucy, and Olaf. A reminder of the organization's strategy lessons to specifically counter each of them didn’t seem to satisfy him. But he shut up and listened.

Nil agreed with the sentiment that the people on the opposing team weren’t necessarily bad people or their enemies. However, it didn’t change the fact that Wilson Luduses had directed the group to target everyone from the Forge and ensure they didn’t progress far in the Cleansing. So, he shared his experiences with Lucy and Lily. Everyone sensed that Shawn knew Olaf and Ateeq—the final member of the opposing team—but he didn’t contribute more than what Bunty had provided.

The two men in the Wilson Luduses team were both far more experienced than all the other Cleansing participants from their Earth. Both had trained in the Junior Wilson Luduses, become Summoned while Shawn didn’t, and rapidly risen the arena ranks. They had spent the past three years at Bronze Realm and trying to progress to Silver Gauntlet. Despite meeting the advancement requirements many times over, neither had ever acquired enough Silver Ascension Tokens.

Zora was intimately familiar with Olaf’s power and gave them a rundown, which gave them far more details than Bunty’s research or Shawn's experiences. However, the group failed to get any details about Ateeq beyond the little gathered from recordings. He was a hard-to-pin-down rogue. It was hard to tell whether he could turn invisible, teleport, or shadow walk. One thing everyone was sure about was the fact that he had acquired a soul weapon in the past six to eight months. It was a bow, and the types of projectiles fired were inconsistent. Wilson Luduses had done well to keep him a mystery.

The best part of the document was all the information Bunty had gathered on the Void from previous large-scale events that included them. He had detailed writeups regarding different classes of scuttlers and how assimilators functioned. The document also featured some lesser-known Void entities and anomalies, proving valuable. Unfortunately, he had found nothing about the biomechanical creatures made of metallic chords. It was still better than nothing.

The rest of Nil’s final days before the event went into spending time with his family.

Much to Nil and his father’s disappointment, Emily made it through the Iron Gauntlet qualifiers. Her ability evolved to include fire elementals as the possible summons. She also gained the power to call forth a complex specimen that involved the fusion of three basic critters. Emily used them strategically, sacrificing summons like chess pieces whenever necessary. She progressed through the tournament, overwhelming or shocking her foes and creating minions to counter them masterfully. She made it through with flying colors and was even tapped by a Wilson Luduses recruiter. But they backed off after finding out about her last name and link to the Forge.

Nil expected Sam to be disappointed or jealous, but he surprised everyone by not making a big deal of it. Starting down the path of cultivation appeared to have sufficiently placated him. It seemed he wasn’t bluffing or mistaken about detecting the Forge’s rich energy. His aether channels had already started to open. 

The Nexus would be stupid not to nurture like him. He deserves to go to Ashe Falls. Watcher might turn him into someone extra-ordinary.