The Cultivator's outriding Scouts tangled with his own, and gradually they won out. They had a lot of Scouts, now, mirroring his own strategy but with four times the Refinement Centres. Their armies of Tier 2 Defenders, and in the case of Hao, even a few Tier 3's, came toward him. They also had some other combat focused units, now. Tier 2 Attackers, which were not dissimilar to his own Wolf Bugs, but stronger, plus some Tier 3 Attackers under Hao's control.

They were numerous and they were powerful, but they were also limited. He saw how they struggled to control more than about six units at a time, and thus that was the maximum number of the group of combat Symbiotes each Cultivator sent. A total of thirty Symbiotes. Strong Symbiotes, and numerous. He only had twenty total combat units.

But Nicolai's control over his own was sublime, better at controlling twenty than any of them was at controlling six.

Their armies clashed in the very centre, where they discovered a group of three Symbiotes, and a large deposit of Golden Shardache, and the battle began. Nicolai's hands tightened where they gripped his podium, his Soul focused to a razor edge, the Modules humming in his mind.

Symbiotes raged in a mass, crashing together. His Green Shell Crabs and Defenders formed a wall, a frontline, and right behind them were the Worm Spitters, throwing hardened chunks of earth through the gaps. Two Black Ink Snakes spat acid from amongst them, spreading globes of it through the enemiy army. Wolf Bugs acted as outriders and flankers, attacking on the edges, and his Scouts screened the area, and even acted as rapid hit-and-run skirmishers on weaker enemy units in the backline.

Aiming controlled the Black Ink Snakes and the Worm Spitters, and their attacks were unerringly accurate. Cyberwarfare piloted the Wolf Bugs, enjoying their vicious, harrying strategies. Threat Analysis moved the Scouts, using them like drones with teeth. Simulations held the Green Shell Crabs, holding and making space where it was most necessary, moving them with slow but perfect precision to fit and mould the flow of battle.

And Nicolai worked above them, knitting it all together, reinforcing with his will and attention wherever necessary, wherever was flagging.

He and the Modules were, to their surprise, having some of the most fun of their lives. There was something extraordinarily satisfying about performing a task they seemed so well suited for.

At the same time, the three wild Symbiotes that had been in the centre became central to the battle. One of them was a kind of hulking Attacker, which dealt tremendous damage. The other was able to release a sudden burst of force, one that knocked anything near to it flying. The last was the focus of all, because it was the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, the true prize of this Inheritance. The Golden Shardache was the other focus, with Symbiotes fighting and dying amongst the chunks of it that rose, shimmering, from the ground.

The Cultivators suffered. They snarled and raged at one another as their Symbiotes fell, but Hao held them together. His Tier 3 Defenders were a near-unbreakable bulwark, his Tier 3 Attacks vicious swords that could kill strong wild Symbiotes in only a few hits.

Nicolai pushed them back at first, and his Collectors, arrayed and prepared behind him, moved forward. They seized at the Golden Shardache, digging out as much as they could from safety. Two of his Green Shell Crabs surrounded the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, which was formed of two snakes, one black, one white, tied around one another. They hissed and bit powerfully at anything that came near, but their defences weren't strong. If he could just weaken it a little more, it would be his…

But the hulking wild attacker suddenly lumbered forward, smashed into one of his Crabs, once then twice and the Crab fell, dead. The Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote fled—straight toward the enemy. At the same time, he saw reinforcements coming. The Cultivators had kept their bases pumping out units as the fight continued, and now a stream of them were winding toward him.

Nicolai had some Defenders coming from behind, too, and these two Tier 2, plus Tier 2 Attackers. He'd only recently began to output them, but now was working to do so as fast as possible.

To Nicolai's dismay, Hao managed to seize the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote as the war continued. It had quite literally fled right into the centre of them, and been instantly surrounded. Bad luck.

Symbiotes pushed back and forward, and endless struggle. Damaged units attempted to retreat, to be healed by Workers waiting behind with Red Grass. Nicolai launched a sneaky attack, all his Wolf Bugs and Scouts, on the enemies healer-Workers at the back. The enemy wasn't ready, only just seeing him and reacting. If he could remove those Workers and take the Red Grass they carried it would be a serious blow, perhaps he could even take the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, which hunkered amongst them, for hims—

A dull tone rang through the room.

All of them looked up, seeing a green glow over the table.

Session end. Game state will be paused, and players are given a chance to rest.

Hours had slipped by unnoticed. The game was over. Nicolai's eyes skimmed over the Cultivators around him, and he found their gazes hard and vicious. There were no sneers or insults, not now, not after the gruelling battle they'd all experience.

The battle which is over… for now.

Nicolai's podium gained a new option. It read: Enter rest area. He tapped it, and the ground he stood upon shifted then began to sink. As the area his podium occupied sank into the ground, Nicolai watched the other Cultivators disappearing into their own underground areas.

After a minute he'd descended quite far, and the stone had sealed above his podium-elevator. He found himself in a small room, cut off from the others

Here there was a bed, chair, table, and a small separate wash room, all of very minimalist design.

You may stay in here for up to five hours. Or you may leave at any time, returning to the space above. If you leave, you may not return until the next rest period. The game is paused and will resume in five hours.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Four hours was enough for a Cultivating human to gain a full nights rest. Some rest was necessary, but he did not think he could afford the full four hours. He had something much more important to do.

He needed to break the resistance of the undead Soul trapped within the Lotus Blossom Soul Trap Symbiote. The undead's Soul was attuned to the Blade. Effectively, it held the keys to the Blade's proper activation. Without dominating the Soul, he would be unable to ever use the Blade.

And without the Blade, he was very unlikely to emerge victorious when his battle with Hao and the other Cultivators resumed. That reminded him of something, and he took the Blade from where it was slung on his back. Settling down into a crossed legged pose, he placed it across his legs. It felt comfortable there. He Examined it.

Astarlotz the Third: Hungry Edge (Angelic Artifact Blade)

Type: Blood/Sword/Angelic

Tier: 3

Charge: 100/100

Astarlotz, a 9th Circle Demon, was summoned by the Blinding Lights Sect, one of the Peoples' Seven Great Sects. They tore the Demon into three separate parts, which were used to create three Artifacts.

This was performed under orders by the Sect's Patriarch, who wished to gift these Artifacts to his favoured son, Gideon, as a reward for reaching the third Tier of the Foundation Realm, and as encouragement to push to the Core Realm. The Artifacts were designed so that they could be combined once Gideon had reached the Core level, to become one singular Artifact.

Alas, Gideon was never to reach the Core Realm. He was slain in a duel, and the Artifacts taken by the victor. Later the victor was hunted down and assassinated by the Blinding Lights Sect, but by this time the Artifacts had been traded.

Disciples of the Blinding Lights Sect were known to frequently hunt for the Astarlotz Artifacts in the years following, up until the fall of the People.

Following on from this the Hungry Edge turned up in an outpost of the People, located in the Jungle. There it was claimed by Nicolai, an individual afflicted by the Black Gift. In an effort to save his own Soul, he engineered an energy flip, and the Hungry Edge had its Demonic Energy switched to Angelic. This had little effect on the Blades nature which remained devoted to bloodshed and battle. However, it is now especially effective when facing Outsider or Interior entities, and will no longer seek to possess its wielder.

Hungry Edge is the third of the Astarlotz Artifacts, one part of the set.

Sword-type or Blood-type Symbiotes will mesh well with this Artifact.

It has several Sword-type Arts;

- Phantom Edge

- Flying Sword

- Counter

- Discarnate Edge

- Sheath

It has three Blood-type Arts;

- Blood Drinker

- Blood Summons

- Slaughter Momentum

He found it odd to see himself listed in the description, following on after these ancient and legendary individuals. It was a shame there was no description of what exactly all these various Arts the sword had access to could do, but he would be able to find it out in time.

For now, he knew that none of them would be useable. Even if he successfully dominated the undead's Soul, he would not properly fulfil the requirements to truly use the Blade. That wouldn't be possible until he was Tier 3. In fact, it shouldn't be possible for him to use it at all. His Soul simply wasn't strong enough to activate a Tier 3 Artifact.

But he believed he would be capable of it. He'd already used it once before. Of course, it would be more accurate to say the sword had used him, but from that he knew that it was possible for it to be active in his hands. The description said it wouldn't try to possess him, but he didn't want that, and the description also said its nature hadn't changed. He hoped that with the Dark, he would be able to coax it into activating.

Even then, the best he could hope for was being able to utilise its most basic Art—the ability to pass through shields made with Oma. According to what he'd learned, if an Artifact possessed that ability then the Art would be permanently active so long as the Artifact was being powered, and there was no need to manually activate it. So long as it did work, it would be all he'd need.

He took out the Soul Trap. Due to being a Symbiote, he was able to store it in his Nodes, and it was thus hidden from being easily detected and understood by other Cultivators.

But it was different to most Symbiotes. Currently, he could not do very much with it while it was in his Nodes. This was because he had not broken the undead Soul trapped inside.

As a result, it was as though the activation of the Symbiote was jammed. Only if that Soul was broken and dominated, would it be possible to activate.

He settled into a crosslegged Cultivating pose and held the Symbiote before him, focusing upon it. He could not activate it, as he could not activate any Symbiote in this Inheritance. But that was fine; he couldn't activate it anyway since first he needed to defeat the undead Soul within.

This was a place where he had worried he might encounter trouble. But it transpired that within the Lotus Blossom Soul Trap, there was a small and strange space; a space considered separate from the Inheritance. In there, he could act freely, and the Inheritance didn't block him from entering.

His mind pressed into the Lotus Soul Trap, and entered.

He found himself in a blank white space, nothing around him. He felt a rushing, and saw something shooting towards him.

Before he could react it had crashed into him, swarming at his mind and Soul.

Give in, and let me seize you! hissed the undead, digging at his mind.

Nicolai fought back instinctively, tearing at it, but it was fast and working hard, making ground.

I know… it said, as it dug through his memories. Nicolai. From a strange place. A strange thing. You will be mine…

Snarling, Nicolai shoved back, and suddenly he experienced memories from the undead. A great castle, long ago. He recognised it. The same castle, but back when it was in a good state of repair. Armies of dead. Warring on the jungle and the beings living there.

Chaos, as the People rose up against their Imperial masters. They needed might, and they found it in the Unwinder. They opened the gates, and it came through…

Nicolai was knocked from the memories as the undead surged into him once more.

They fought, back and across, but as they went Nicolai managed to dig more information out of the undead.

There was a secret, something it clung to, something that was right on the surface of its thinking but it tried very hard to stop him finding it. A piece of information that would change this battle, would cause them to no longer be on equal footing. Knowing this, he dug and dug, hunting for the crucial piece of information. After numerous back-and-forth mental battles, he managed to steal the secret.

This white space was his white space. He was the one who had control over the Symbiote. He owned this place. Making use of that control simply required a change of mindset.

Chains appeared from nowhere, in response to his imagination. They wrapped the undead Soul and pulled it away.

So, you worked it out. The Undead sighed, then it laughed. But you are in trouble. You only have a few days in which to break me and make me give in, Nicolai! I merely need to resist that long, and you will be killed by these Cultivators you have encountered. When you die, I will be free from this trap!

Nicolai gazed at it. But as you know, Ezreal, I am no stranger to torture, nor lacking in skill or willingness. I will put you through significant pain. Wouldn't you rather avoid that, and give in now?

No, no, I don't think I will. Do as you will—it will not be enough. You do not have long enough to break me.

Nicolai thought deeply. Was the undead correct? This strange place was under his complete control. He was a kind of god here. He should be able to find some ways to use that creatively.

For now, he settled on something simple, beginning to test its limits. The torture began. The undead was torn apart bit by bit, then put back together and it started again. Nicolai didn't take any pleasure in the acts, but nor did he experience any squeamishness. To the undead's dismay, he was increasingly creative.

Everyone gave in under torture—eventually. The only factor was how long they might last. Typically, not long, but there were always outliers.

An hour passed. Soon the undead Soul was blubbering and screaming, which he felt was a good sign. But it did not give in.

Another hour passed.

Another hour… and another…

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