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Fatima’s little rampage had damaged, if not destroyed, most of the pouches and their contents. After some digging, Nil found a couple of bottles of water, a broken vial of healing serum, an intact bottle of energy drink, and, fortunately, a smidge of burn ointment. He slathered the stinky salve on his hands and drank the serum before packing the rest into a couple of pouches. As he worked, burnt skin flaked off his hands. His palms stung, but Nil gritted his teeth through the pain. The damage from the briefly channeled energy wasn’t as horrid as he expected.

The nerves calmed but only alerted him of other injuries. Fatima’s blades inflicted clean slices. However, the ropey lengths of crystalized blood had shredded his skin and flesh. Everything itched as the healing serum took effect, fixing the damage. The area remained tight, and Nil knew he’d need to rely on the Fountain of Pyrene to fix the remainder of the damage.

After taking a sip of the energy drink, Nil ran. He didn’t bother using Absorb and propelled himself away from the building using Expend. The nearby fight was still ongoing and loud—far louder than he or Xiang had been. Yet Nil didn’t take any risks and ran swiftly in the opposite direction, not bothering to conserve much energy.

Several minor skirmishes and chases littered the arena, and Nil avoided them. He paused occasionally, studying the fighters and looking for people he recognized but only stayed for a short time. Most of the remaining participants were still in teams of twos or threes, and he didn’t particularly want to risk his chances of qualifying. However, when Energy Instinct highlighted a lone fighter slinking along the streets, Nil dropped on her from above and attempted to choke her out.

The woman proved too slippery. She slipped out of his hold and came at Nil with electrified bike-chain-like conjurations. If it weren’t for the symbiote, he’d be in trouble. He let the tethers wrap around his forearm and shoulder. The strength behind them surprised Nil as it disabled the limb. Absorb would leave him in a passive position, prolonging the fight. So, he relied on the power provided by Expend to pull. The woman yelped, stumbling into him, and suffered a headbutt as a result. 

As soon as the chains loosened, Nil slipped out of them and turned them on their user, wrapping them around the neck. The woman dispelled her conjurations, leaving herself unarmed. Since she had already slipped out of his hold once—probably because of superior Finesse—he didn’t attempt the merciful route. A sharp, empowered kick to the knee bent it the wrong way and brought the woman down. Nil slapped a hand over her mouth just in time to suppress the accompanying scream. She surrendered after he gave an elbow the same treatment. He claimed the sweets and a new bottle of energy drink from her supply pouch before moving on. 

Nil kept moving until the end of the hour. Then, just as the barrier started moving, he found a crow’s nest along the central road to the arena’s heart. It was tempting to leap on passing participants, but Nil stayed as still as possible, focusing on Energy Instinct. Familiar and unfamiliar energy signatures moved all around him. A surprising number of them moved toward the spot directly under the dome’s peak. The sounds of battle commenced as the lights converged.

At first, it made no sense why people were rushing to the center instead of taking advantage of the time on hand. Then, it occurred to him that not everyone probably thought to steal the pouches. Unless the arena construct provided multiple configurations of the same items, his last victim’s pouch had items from two different sets. If the other groups didn’t do the same, many were likely tired, injured, hungry, and dried. They were rushing to find other groups and still resources.

The number on the barrier above dropped to eleven. Nil circled the arena, avoiding fights and working toward the center. He occasionally restored the battery’s contents by jumping off roofs with Absorb active. With enough energy drink to last him all day, Nil hoped to run out the clock and avoid fights until the battlefield was so small that there was no avoiding other participants.

Unfortunately, the arena construct ruined his plans. The barrier didn't stop shrinking when the next hour ended, and the remaining participants dropped to eight. It covered the distance it should’ve at the usual speed, then continued to edge inward half as fast.

Nil guessed the arena took a fair bit of magic to maintain, and the powers above didn’t want to waste it so the remaining mortals could drag out the battle royale. He begrudgingly moved with the barrier, hoping the remaining fighters would thin the numbers for him. The sounds of battle reached him long before he saw any of the remaining competition. Animalistic yowls and roars punctuated the fighters’ grunts, yells, and flashing abilities.

When he reached the arena’s center, Nil saw only five fighters instead of seven. Much to his disappointment, they were primarily people he didn’t want to fight: Adam, the chain-knight, Winter Hunter, Shawn, and his pallid female companion. Frost surrounded a crushed giant feline. The visage kneeled over the corpse, studying it curiously. Standing on the roof of a building just outside what looked like the abandoned town’s square, he failed to spot Gwyneth. Given her summon’s state, he thought it safe to assume she was out of the fight.

The back of Nil’s neck prickled, and the visage waved, looking panicked and pointing behind him. It wasn’t cold but a more electric feeling. He threw himself flat on the roof just as lightning struck where he’d stood a moment ago. The spell missed, but he felt an uncomfortable sting on his left shoulder. Nil rolled onto his back just in time to see Viktor hop off the roof. Energy Instinct flared just as he gave chase. A thick bolt blasted upward from the street below. Much to Nil’s surprise, it arced toward him. Skidding to a stop did him no good. The magic struck his left side, and his muscles seized.

For a moment, Nil believed everything he had experienced since the night of his Summoning had been a dream. White consumed his vision, and his mouth tasted pennies. It felt as if the abrasive Officer Jones had shot him with an Arthurtech Stun Gun. 

Then, the arena’s cold air pulled Nil back to reality. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright and kicking the ground, moving away from the roof’s edge. Nil’s right hand shot to the burning around his left shoulder. He felt a scalding piece of metal, much like a drain plug, stuck to his bare skin. Attempts at pulling it off failed. It was a lightning rod. Then, he the crunching of boots on broken stone and knew Viktor had returned to the rooftop.

Nil’s vision hadn’t returned. Fortunately, Energy Instinct didn’t need his eyes to warn him of building arcane energy approximately seven feet away. It was then he learned the Schema could send him notifications even when he was blind. 

Energy Instinct has progressed to Mortal 7!

Expend through the left shoulder got the lightning rod to release and shoot away just as Viktor released his spell. The energy followed the piece of metal. Nil trusted Energy Instinct and lunged forward, kicking off the ground with Expend. His opponent didn’t have the Might or Finesse to take him out with a physical strike, so he didn’t bother with Absorb. Instead, he barrelled into where the sensory ability told him Victor was.

All the momentum behind the approach struck Viktor. A guttural scream burst from the man as the force knocked him off his feet and sent him flying. Nil blinked, hard forcing away the double vision. He needed to put the lightning wielder down before he recovered and came at him again. Viktor’s power somehow gave him excellent mobility, making up for the mage discipline’s shortcomings. 

Nil’s concerns proved unnecessary. The barrier had caught up to him while he was blind, and Viktor now hovered outside of it, soundlessly cursing and yelling. He disappeared with a flash a moment later. After taking a sip of healing serum and the energy drink, Nil returned to the square. He had less than a minute before the barrier covered the roof, and he would need to descend.

Only three combatants remained.

The Winter Hunter and Chain-Knight had disappeared. Nil couldn’t be sure whether the arena construct teleported them out before or after Viktor. Adam stood fighting Shawn while the sickly-looking woman crept around the pair, attempting to flank the brute. 

The dome above read four, and Nil no longer worried about not making it into Apocalypse Arena. So, he leaped from the roof. Adam had proved a decent and friendly guy, so he hoped to forge a temporary alliance. Nil landed behind Shawn, switched to neutral, and immediately launched into an empowered Superman punch.

The barrier-maker's reflexes proved extraordinary, showcasing superior instinct and senses further sharpened by Finesse. A wall of fist-sized hexagons appeared between him and Nil, softening the punch. The barrier shattered, and an invisible force buffeted him, but he still successfully landed a blow between Shawn’s shoulder blades. 

“Behind you!” Nil yelled as Shawn stumbled, dropping to a knee.

Adam spun around just in time to see the woman swiping at him. He dodged, grabbed her, and leaped away, dividing the last remaining team.

Unlike the solo opponents Nil had faced before, Shawn wasted no time on small talk, jibes, or curses. He attacked. A dense sphere made of hexagons appeared in front of Nil and exploded before he could activate Absorb. The force knocked him backward. By the time he regained balance, Shawn was on his feet, had similarly dense spheres surrounding his fist, and was throwing punches. 

Nil let the first couple of blows land and charge Brutal Battery. The unit of Finesse he gained from fighting Fatima proved invaluable. He was still less agile and precise than his opponent but had an easier time following Shawn's movements. Nil kept Absorb on and focused on blocking. Then, as he got used to Shawn’s relentless attack pattern, he transitioned to parrying. Finally, Nil evaded while switching to a neutral state poured energy into his fist, and punched his opponent’s chest.

Much to Nil's surprise, he felt a second of resistance a quarter of an inch just before striking Shawn. An almost invisible barrier shattered, absorbing a chunk of the strike's power. The shock didn't win the man any respite. Nil released a quarter of his now nearly full storage through the front of his fist as an old-fashioned blast. A grunt escaped Shawn as the force knocked him off his feet and sent him flying. Nil was sure he had heard something crack but couldn't be sure. Unwilling to take any risks, he chased with empowered bounds. 

A concave barrier caught Shawn. He coughed loudly, spraying blood and spittle as he threw his hands up, pointing them at Nil. Several barriers appeared between them. Ignoring the inevitable pain, Nil channeled Expend’s secondary function, releasing the tiniest trickle of energy he possibly could through the outer edge of his hands. He chopped through the walls like they were paper. Shockwaves buffeted him as each shattered, and without Absorb, he struggled to maintain his speed and balance. Ankles threatened to sprain, and all other joints groaned, but Nil refused to give his opponent a chance to recover.

A scream burst from Shawn when a sideways chop sliced through a barrier and then eviscerated an outstretched palm. Energy Instinct warned Nil of the compressed energy rapidly swelling inside his opponent. He activated Absorb just in time to defend against the layered barrier that exploded from Shawn. Each shattered as they touched Nil. The first couple filled Brutal Battery's stores from twenty percent to full while the third battered and threw him backward. The force knocked the air out of his lungs, and he landed painfully on the rubble littering the square.

Absorb has progressed to Mortal 9!

The sickly-looking woman was on Nil before he could recover. She didn't strike him. Instead, she placed a foot on his chest and pushed. The ground seemed to have turned into mud as he sank into it. Then, she stepped away, and everything solidified, leaving Nil's chest and shoulders stuck in the stone. He could neither move nor breathe. The hard ground restricted his rib cage's ability to expand, and he saw no option but to risk burns and trickle energy through his torso, breaking down the material trapping him. Unlike destroying armor, flesh, and bone, it was a slow process that took about five seconds. Nil wasn't sure how effective an explosive release would be against the dense stone and worried the shrapnel would shred his face and perhaps eyes.

Meanwhile, the woman had retreated to Shawn. The barrier-maker was on his hands and knees, coughing blood. Nil guessed he had broken a rib and, in turn, punctured a lung with his strike. After witnessing and experiencing only one instance of the woman's power, he had no clue what it could be, but he was sure of his ability to take, at least, Shawn out. Then, there would be two, and he could try his luck against the survivor, making a play for the top position.

A somewhat clenched jaw helped ignore the screaming nerves. Nil threw himself at the woman, moving as fast as he could without losing stability. He extended an arm, hoping to catch her around the neck or transition to a grab if she attempted to dodge. Instead, he passed through her, stumbling and staggering dangerously close to leaving the battle royale. The barrier had continued to shrink while they fought. He caught sight of Adam just outside, half stuck in a wall. The brute disappeared in a flash of light.

Phasing?

A pair of soft feminine hands gently wrapped around Nil's burned shoulders. He sank into the ground. Expend through the shoulders hurt as more skin and flesh burned, but he heard her scream as the explosion of energy knocked her back. Nil used the last of his power to free his legs, gritting his teeth through the pain. He successfully climbed out, but then an explosion struck the middle of his back and threw him four feet forward. Nil activated Absorb just as he landed, catching himself.

Then, the arena's barrier passed over Nil, locking him outside. It was over. He was out of the match.