Nate sat on the foredeck of the Solaris with Wulfgar’s armour and axe in his lap. Conceptual Sight let him see what he was doing as mana flowed around him, influenced by the Divine Energy he was unleashing. Droplets of blue mana rained down on the armour like blood from an open wound, guided by Nate’s Divine Energy as he altered the armour and axe. Sigils for Blood and Creation wrapped around the armour as Nate shifted the nature of the solid metal that had encased Wulfgar for centuries.

The metal breastplate, once smooth, now dribbled downwards as though it was melting. The helm that had once protected the Bloodborne Executioner’s head while leaving the face uncovered was now a blank red mask that Nate had sculpted into the face of a demon, with the only openings being two eye slits and a fanged mouth.

Wulfgar’s axe haft was as long as one of Nate’s legs and made of a dark, black wood. As with the armour, the material had already been Divine, albeit a Low-Divine Artifact. That wouldn’t do for Nate’s goals and he had improved the material with the Sigils for Blood and Durability.

Finally, the wicked blade at the top hadn’t needed reshaping. That was mostly because Wulfgar had been wielding it for so long that Nate didn’t want to mess with the balance of the weapon. That didn’t stop him from imbuing the Sigils for Blood and Destruction into the metal, changing it from a shiny metal with a light red tinge to an almost black metal with hints of dark red.

Now, Nate was simply channelling all the accumulated Divine Energy into the two items and combining them into one.

Behind the Solaris flew a pack of Mythic-tier birds. Their grey feathers made it easy to spot the small army of winged-Fricks fighting back against them while Kiri Soul Shifted through the sky, the falling carcasses created by her blades of destruction creating an unholy mess on the ground below.

Originally, the plan had been to conceal the creation of a new Peak-Divine Artifact, but that was before they had learned that The System wouldn’t broadcast everything back to those watching on the world of Serpent’s Wing. It kept mostly to the battles and the System Challenges, sometimes even altering the area to make it hard for anyone who was in communication with the competitors to cheat and feed them information.

With that freedom from revealing exactly what happened to Wulfgar’s armour and axe, coupled with how far away the Divine Energy would be sensed, Kiri had voiced an idea. What if they used the creation of the Peak-Divine Artifact to lure in some Divine Beasts or even fellow competitors?

So far, the idea had been a bust and the only thing they’d lured in as they continued to fly over the sand-ridden desert below was the swarm of buzzards nipping at their heels. Still, the idea had been good as far as Nate was concerned. Even if all that came of it was Frick getting to cut loose against the attacking birds behind them.

Nate made the final touches to the armour before bringing up the stats of his new creation.

Bloodborne Regalia of the Executioner (Divine)

Features: Blood Shaping (Divine), Executioner’s Finality (Divine), Blood Absorption (Divine), Item Concealment (Mythic), Bloodborne Repair (Divine), Temperature Control (Mythic), Self-Cleaning (Mythic)

Blood Shaping: The weapon and armour are one, shaped by blood. The user can reshape them at any time, using the stores in Blood Absorption to alter size or add new features temporarily.

Executioner’s Finality: The blade of the Bloodborne Regalia of the Executioner carries the Truth of Destruction within it. Anything cut by the blade will receive a large dose of this Concept.

Blood Absorption: This item absorbs all blood it comes into contact with. This blood can be used to empower the weapon or the user. Enhancement is based on the tier of blood used and volume.
Current Storage Used: 0/100 litres.

Item Concealment: This item is runecrafted to conceal its nature from all identification up to Mythic-tier. Divine Energy will reveal its nature.

Bloodborne Repair: This item is runecrafted to repair itself over time using ambient mana. Feeding the item mana can accelerate this process. Feeding the item blood can vastly accelerate this process.

Temperature Control: This item is runecrafted to protect against the basic elements and has built-in temperature controls.

Self-Cleaning: This item is runecrafted to clean itself and, to some extent, its wearer.

“How does it look?” asked Wulfgar eagerly from where he sat nearby.

Nate detailed the new effects but any Lesser Divine could see that the item was now a Peak-Grade Divine Artifact. Wulfgar especially should’ve had an idea of how much Divine Energy went into it as the old warrior had provided most of it through Divine Orbs and Low-Grade Artifacts. That didn’t mean Nate hadn’t donated some of his own to make up the difference, but it wasn’t like Wulfgar was just mooching off of him.

Wulfgar reached out for the armour and Nate felt the man activate the Blood Shaping effect. Like red water, the armour and axe dissolved into a puddle which then crept up Wulfgar's tan skin until the man was covered from head to toe in the dark liquid. As Nate watched, the blood hardened and shifted back to metal. Where a moment ago there had been a mostly naked, bald, old man, now stood a towering reaper encased in dark red armour holding a black axe out to his side.

“How’s it feel?” asked Nate.

“Like a second skin, lad. Like a second, fucking skin. This is amazing!”

“Good,” yelled Kiri as she appeared on deck. “Glad you like it. Because we’re about to put it to good use.”

Nate’s eyes flicked to the Bowl of Divine Seeking and he saw the four dots fast approaching them from the west.

“Seems like someone took the bait after all,” commented Nate as he stood up.

“Seems like,” agreed Kiri. “Frick’s almost done with the birds. The swarm seems to be losing interest now that you’re not dumping out bucketfuls of Divine Energy. Points for competitor kills go to the one who takes them down, so try and set them up for Nate.”

The last was directed at Wulfgar but it made Nate frown. He could kill. He had killed. On more than one occasion. But he never got a taste for it. It was always a necessary evil and the fact that they would be effectively setting up some of their opponents so Nate could finish them off left a bad taste in his mouth.

That said, letting Arikanvil get his hands on whatever was in Worldhammer’s vault would no doubt leave a worse taste in his, and everyone else's, mouth. Even if he and Kiri had managed to divest themselves of their Class Cores by then, their friends and Kiri’s parents would probably not have. Nate wasn’t ready to see them die. The nail in the coffin that was his resolve was that the ones approaching had chosen to take this fight. They’d chosen to come looking for the source of Divine Energy. Well, as far as Nate was concerned, they had found it.

Nate moved to the prow of the ship even as he sensed Jemima head below. The Alchemist paused to hand over potions to both Kiri and Wulfgar before vanishing. The old warrior sniffed the concoction, clearly not trusting anything from Jemima. Kiri on the other hand threw the potion back like she was out partying before throwing the now empty flask over her shoulder.

“Strength enhancer?” asked Nate curiously. The Concept had felt like muscles to him.

“Yep. Short duration and apparently damaging to the body the whole time, but not like I care about that kind of thing. Kicks like one of those cats from the jungle. You know the one I am talking about?”

Nate smirked, “I do. You going to drink that, Wulfgar?”

Wulfgar cursed, “Ah Nine Hells, fucking fine!”

Wulfgar followed Kiri’s lead, drinking the whole potion down then throwing away the empty bottle.

As the old warrior grumbled next to them, Nate finally caught sight of their opponents and any concern he’d had about fighting them evaporated. Covered in black that included faceplates to conceal their identities, it was one of the assassin teams that had found them. Nate didn’t believe in coincidences and debated telling off Kali’Terra. He stopped when he realised maybe The System had done so intentionally to prevent them getting attacked by an assassination squad while dealing with another threat or team.

“Not sitting on the sidelines this time, lad” muttered Wulfgar.

“Four of them. Four of us. Only seems fair. Take your pick.”

Swooping in on what looked to Nate like flying surfboards, the assassins made their move. The flying devices vanished as the assassins tried to make landfall on the ship deck. Only one succeeded. Nate watched as Kiri tackled one over the side. The second was suddenly swarmed by three flying Fricks and Nate had time to see their flying device reappear as they began battling beneath the ship. As for the last two, Nate allowed the single individual to land so that Wulfgar could fight them on the deck. The old man didn’t have a flying device yet and Nate had never seen him use a flying Skill.

As for the last one, Nate’s opponent, up became down and the assassin was launched into the air by a Gravity Control rune as Nate followed suit, floating into the sky. The assassin had clearly expected it as a moment later the flying device disappeared, and then so did Nate’s control of the gravity around the assassin. Conceptual Sight revealed the cause and Nate’s eyes widened slightly. The Assassin was using a High-Grade Divine Artifact that reeked of Gravity, the mana flows around the purple band they wore on their wrist twisting and turning into funnels that pulled the air towards the item.

“Interesting item,” Nate commented calmly, trusting that even with the rushing wind around them and the fighting going on below, the assassin would have the Skills or Stats to hear him.

“Brought in especially for you,” answered the assassin, their voice indistinct as they rushed forward on their flying device. A blade of light appeared out of nowhere and Nate recognised a second Divine Artifact, this one Mid-Grade.

The paint on Nate’s robe shifted as he incorporated an additional Sigil for Shadow into his Reinforced Barrier rune. The blade of light shaved off some mana and a little Divine Energy from Nate’s Regalia but did little else.

“Because you think I am a Space Mage, right?” asked Nate curiously.

“We have the recordings of your battle against Flux Industries. Teleportation, Gravity, Spatial Condensing and the reports of the size of your custom spatial zone. You’re a Space Mage alright. And now we’ve got you right where we want you!”

Nate had already sensed the second assassin closing in from below with Frick tailing the attacker. At the same time the light-blade wielding assassin dove from above. Nate didn’t bother sighing. He simply changed the painting of the Solaris he was storing inside of his Regalia to show him standing on the deck near the controls. Then he activated Life Imitates Art and rewrote his position in Reality.

Far above him the assassin attacking from below managed to veer out of the way their comrade at the last second. The light-blade wielder didn’t manage as graceful of an exit, crashing into three Fricks that began swarming them, latching on with legs, arms, and even teeth. Nate looked away as the words ‘Kamikaze Frick’ drifted down on the winds along with the remains of the corpse.

Nate used Life Imitates Art a second time to snatch the two Divine Artifacts along with the Divine Orb from the dead assassin, making them appear in his hand before he tucked them away. At the same time a small amount of Divine Energy was flowing into him from the now-dead opponent.

The second assassin had looped around but Nate could feel the other fights were drawing to a close and decided it wasn’t worth it to hold back too much. This fight would be televised or whatever The System’s version of sharing recordings was. For that, Nate wanted to send a message. Art Imitates Life activated and a painting from Nate’s gallery vanished. The dark winged demonic beast before Nate looked like it was wrought from pure Shadow, but standing this close to it Nate could sense the Destruction he had incorporated into the painting. With the addition of Divine Energy the Construct took wing and began chasing the final assassin who chose that moment to try and flee. With the Gravity Divine-Artifact now in his control, Nate used his own Gravity Control rune to make the assassin’s escape an impossibility.

As the Construct of Shadow and Destruction bore down on the final assassin, Nate calmly walked the deck to where Wulfgar was finishing off his opponent. The Bloodborne Executioner had left huge rents in the assassin's black armour and the scent of Destruction and Blood was ripe in the air as the assassin was clearly already dying from his wounds. As for Wulfgar himself, the man had clearly taken a few wounds but they were already healing, courtesy of the new Regalia’s Blood Absorption’s enhancement to Wulfgar’s own regeneration Skills.

Nate created his Beam of Destruction rune and finished off the assassin at the same time as his Construct finished dealing with the assassin that had attempted to escape.

Kiri chose that moment to fly over the balcony, now riding one of the assassin's flying devices, carrying the final attacker like a sack of potatoes. An armless sack as Kiri had clearly chopped them off. With only a small frown, Nate created another Beam of Destruction to finish the last assailant off.

“Easy enough?” asked Kiri.

“We were underestimated,” replied Nate. “Did they have any Divine Artifacts meant to counter you?”

“Yep!” Kiri said with a grin, producing a milky white orb that pulsed with Soul Energy and something else.

It took Nate a moment to recognise the second Concept but eventually his eyes could make out what the steady heartbeat of the white orb was doing.

“Disruption.”

Divine Energy flowed into Nate but it felt like barely a sip after taking the four lives of the assassins.

With the fight over, Nate brought up the leaderboard for all to see.

Individual Leaderboard (Top 10)

• Perenthia Illari’svell - Severing Blade Sect (127)

• Kalin Silverscale - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (126)

• Kole Darkscale - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (119)

• Lunar Sylvin - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (118)

• Captain Borin Vaughn - The Golden Tide (117)

• Sel’kin Might - Flux Industries (115)

• Nathaniel Weber - Risen Sun Sect (113)

• Wu Tos’ama - The Starbreaking Guild (102)

• Drim Hall - The Eternium (98)

• Gee’k Dumma - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (96)

“Eighty points. Twenty for each competitor. Which means the Divine Artifacts they brought to the World Reaping don’t count for points,” remarked Nate.

“Yeah,” agreed Kiri. “But more importantly, isn’t that name at number one the pink-haired girl that was sizing you up in the arena before we left?”

“And?” asked Nate.

“Well, if it turns out she’s a little older than you, she might be in your striking range!”

Nate rolled his eyes as he levitated the last body off the ship into the desert below. They were in the middle of a Reaping. Who had time for romance?