Chương 43: Talent Show

The world flipped inside out the instant Gray shoved the meat down his mouth. The cozy warmth of Gozen's living room was gone, replaced by the biting cold outside. This time, he stuck the landing. Gray doubled over and coughed up a mouthful of sand, then straightened to get his bearings. He was standing on a grassy slope that ran down toward a wide, slow-moving river.

Bridges stretched across the water, their pillars throwing long shadows over the current, and a cold wind rolled off the surface, carrying the scent of salt water through the air. Behind him, concrete paths wound through the grass, littered with abandoned bicycles and empty baby carriages. Out in the open field, aluminum bowls of half-eaten ramen lay toppled over picnic blankets, soju bottles and torn-open bags of chips scattered beside them, as if everyone here had vanished mid-bite.

This was the Han River in Seoul, or at least a replica of it. The eerie, post-apocalyptic scene wasn't what worried him most, though. What worried him was the curved edge of steel resting inches from his throat.

"Turn around slowly," a voice murmured behind him.

"Move fast, and I'll take your head off right here." Gray lifted his arms in surrender and turned, slow and careful, to face whoever held it. The woman wore charcoal sweatpants and a red hoodie, her hair spilling loose beneath the hood and hiding half her face. He didn't need to see the rest of it. He'd never forget the Scarlet Scythe that had haunted him in the first level. The Blood Reaper—Nabi.

"You?" Gray blurted, dropping his arms and crossing them over his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Nabi drew the scythe back and sighed, clearly unimpressed.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know. Why the System paired me with you for the fourth level is beyond me."

"Paired?" Gray tilted his head.

"Yes, paired." Nabi said it like the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

"The fourth level runs on collaboration. And with my luck, I get stuck with the one who contaminates the air around him with smoke." She waved a hand in front of her nose, exaggerating the gesture for effect. Gray's face twisted into a scowl, then eased.

"I mean… fair point." A familiar chime rang through his mind, cutting through the tension. Welcome back from the intermission! I hope your boons are much to your preference! We will see just how they affect your performance for the upcoming level! But before we start, I will be granting everybody a ten-minute preparation period. Use this time to get adjusted to your new goodies, level-up rewards, and partners for the upcoming level! Numbers glowed on the floating screen overhead, ticking down.

10: 00 09: 59 09: 58"I did pick up another ability I can channel through my katana," Gray said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Haven't had a chance to test it yet." Nabi stepped back, planted one hand on her hip, and waved the other toward the thick oak.

"What is it?" Gray asked, glancing at the tree before meeting her eyes again.

"Might as well test it out here," Nabi said.

"Sure." Gray nodded. He drew Tobari and gripped the handle with both hands. Stepping up to the tree, he pulled the blade back to his side and swung with everything he had, a full horizontal arc, testing his new soul blade in its regular state. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The steel bounced off the wood with a loud ring, vibrations rippling out across the river.

The impact traveled down the blade and into the handle, shooting up Gray's arms until they trembled. Nabi scoffed, then burst into a roaring laugh.

"What made you think it was a good idea to choose a katana of all things, samurai?" She managed between breaths, wiping a tear from her eye.

"You clearly don't know how to use it." Gray's face flushed, heat rushing to his ears. Fine, if she wanted a flashy performance, he would give her one. He opened the gates to his Cloud Mastery storage space and let Tobari siphon straight from the pool. Energy flowed out of the reserve, through his core, and down his mana circuits into the sword. The runes etched along Tobari's flat steel flared white, the glow crawling upward to stop at the final mark just beneath the tip.

Vapor bloomed from the crossguard, cloaking the metal in a plume of ash-colored smoke. Cold sweat beaded on Gray's forehead. The drain was immense, yet far more bearable than the first time he'd wielded the weapon. The wave of smoke swelled outward until it doubled the length of the blade. He raised the sword high and brought it down. The blade left a hazy trail in its wake, passing through leaves and wood without resistance. Above, a flock of mecha-birds burst from their scrap-metal nest, screeching in alarm.

Gray rode the momentum through the meat of the oak, driving the strike until the blade bit into the dirt. For a few seconds, the tree stood perfectly intact. No visible damage. Then the ripple hit. Leaves scattered. Branches snapped. The ten-foot trunk split straight down to the stump, sending both massive halves crashing into the grass. But this wasn't a conventional sever. The exposed wood withered fast, decay spreading wherever the smoke had touched. Gray reeled back, and a second later his legs gave out.

He collapsed onto his back, chest heaving in ragged gasps. That single strike had emptied his Cloud Mastery reserves. Starved of fuel, the smoke coiling around Tobari dimmed, and the glowing runes faded to a dull, hollow black. Nabi crouched by the stump and dragged a finger along the ruined wood, whistling low.

"Looks like somebody signed a deal with the devil." Sprawled on the grass, Gray barked a breathless, hysterical laugh.

"More like a contract with a Soul Blade." The sight of the decaying oak stirred something between intrigue and dread in him. Showing Nabi up with a devastating attack was satisfying, but it left him deeply unsettled about the true nature of his class.

"We're not done yet. There's still more to test." Nabi stepped over and extended a hand to him.

"I need to know exactly what you bring to the table if we're going to survive this level," she said.

"Did you beat the third level?" Gray grunted.

"Then, show me what those ability shards gave you." Gray gripped her hand and hauled himself up. The ability shards hadn't spawned directly into his hands after completing the third level. He figured the System had dumped them into his dimensional ring right before the intermission summons. A quick mental check confirmed it. They sat tucked in the corner of his ring. He willed the two shards from his inventory and consumed them immediately.

"Let's see what they gave me." Gravity Well [Wind] - TIER I Cooldown: 10 minutes Duration: 8 seconds Active: Designate a point as the center of gravity, pulling the surrounding area toward it. So, it just sucks things in? Gray thought. His gaze slid to Nabi, and a slow, conniving smile spread across his face. Nabi raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"What?"

"Well, you did ask for a demonstration." Gray shrugged, spreading his palms as if it were obvious. He designated a spot two feet away from Nabi to unleash his new skill. Gravity Well The air over the spot began to fray. Then a compressed tornado tore through the rift, about five feet tall and vaguely shaped like an hourglass. Branches a foot from the anomaly were yanked free and flung at the vortex. The tree trunk wasn't spared, either.

Sheets of bark tore free from the tree, and the picnic blankets scattered nearby were pulled into the center of the storm. The moment it activated, Nabi was pulled toward the tornado and jerked into the gravitational vacuum. Her heavy scythe went first. She gripped the haft tight and dug hershoes into the dirt, keeping the scythe from tearing loose. She gradually slid toward the singularity, losing the tug-of-war against the pull, inch by inch.

Three seconds in, the pull flung her off her feet and away from the tornado. She landed hard on her rear, scythe clattering onto the grass beside her. The tornado's force had drastically weakened into a soft breeze, tugging only at the loose leaves and dirt around its base. It lasted five more seconds until the vortex collapsed in on itself, leaving a compact ball of debris behind.

"You little shit!" Nabi shot up off the ground and hurled the scythe at Gray. Gray couldn't move out of the way in time, so he called on the second ability he'd gained to dodge the whirring scythe. Wraith [Smoke] - TIER I Cooldown: 10 minutes Duration: 5 seconds Active: Enter WraithForm. The scythe passed seamlessly through Gray—or what was left of him. It parted his smoke body, and the scythe's tip wedged deep into the tree behind him. He didn't feel the impact of the blade, or anything for that matter.

The sensation of his Wraith body was similar to when he was in his Shroud Domain. Save for one big difference. He couldn't move.