Surges were as deafening as Vivi remembered. The geyser-like surge coated almost the entirety of the fenced-off area with ether. A few contestants were caught inside. Small cuts appeared on their skin as wisps of ether aggressively grazed past.

  With Vivi’s sixth sense more present, the surge felt even more terrifying. Thousands upon thousands of wisps of ether shot forth from the ground violently. Each wisp immediately searched for a host to reanimate.

  The wisps quickly found the fountain and the skulls within. The monster formed. The fountain turned into a black slime-like substance, while each skull gained eyes. The monster was unstable for a moment until forming together all at once. The skulls poked out from the slime’s surface. Each skull became deformed and devilish. Some appeared to be crying. The slime formed hands and feet.

  Finally, the slime solidified into a humanoid shape. One larger skull became the head. The rest of the skulls were embedded into its black skin like large scales of a snake. A gaping mouth poked out from the monster’s stomach, large enough to fit Bwern whole in one bite.

  Its ether aura was the most disgusting and disturbing thing Vivi had ever felt. The aura wasn’t threatening. Rather, it was gluttonous. This boss wielded at least ten thousand ether, and it was hungry for more.

  Ven gritted his teeth. “A Life Devourer. A disaster boss. This is bad. It’s weak now, but it’ll grow.”

  Vivi watched in concern. Surely, the Stewards could take it down, right? All ten together. The Life Devourer by itself didn’t look too threatening.

  The Stewards stepped back, hopping over the fence. The twenty-six nimrods were left inside.

  All alone. Locked up with the boss monster.

  The Life Devourer swung its arm, grabbing the first nimrod. The poor man, who was likely wielding less than a hundred ether, couldn’t react. The Life Devourer tossed the man into its gaping mouth, devouring him whole.

  Another skull appeared on the Life Devourer’s skin. A crying skull with the horns of the man it just ate.

  A sick feeling welled up in Vivi’s stomach. Screams rang in her ears from inside the arena as the Life Devourer ate the next person. Vivi had the urge to puke. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move. She merely watched as the boss monster grew stronger, eating up nimrods to fuel its growth.

  Suddenly, Vivi felt like a total idiot. The Stewards watched from the sides with smiles on their faces. Of course they did. This was their plan all along. They never intended to fight with the nimrods. All twenty-six nimrods were thrown in as sacrifices.

  Vivi gritted her teeth. Someone had to do something!

  Ven held a hand in front of Vivi. “No, Vivi,” he said. “Those nimrods took a risk. It’s not our job to save them.”

  Vivi gritted her teeth. She was shaking. Eem, too, was unmoving on her shoulders, watching the scene with her eyes wide.

  The nimrods died in under two minutes. They couldn’t stand a chance. The Life Devourer didn’t specialize in speed, but its movements were lightning-fast compared to the nimrods, who were barely stronger than humans from the surface. It crashed into the fence, once, snapping the steel in half. At that point, the Stewards pushed the boss back into its arena, protecting the outside world.

  After everyone was killed, the Life Devourer’s aura must have reached fifteen thousand ether. Its skin was entirely covered in skulls. Each skull was tough; the monster specialized in its defense.

  The Stewards re-entered the playing field, ready to take down the boss.

  They stopped messing around. Immediately, Wheryn called his skill. Impenetrable Iron. His skin became ether-empowered steel as he faced the boss. The Life Devourer threw a fist at him. Wheryn’s footing dragged backward by five feet, but he stood, defending.

  The rest of the Stewards took their weapons. Six of them wielded two-runed outside-carved runeswords. One Steward wielded a large stone bow. His arrows shone with ether. He must have enhanced them with a skill. The arrow hit the boss in the shoulder, cracking one of the skulls.

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  Vivi barely paid attention to the lesser Stewards. Everyone there was strong, at least strong enough to rival Aang with his reserves maxed out. The boss continued taking hit after hit from the Stewards’ ranged attacks. Every time it tried to attack, the runesword wielders pushed it back.

  Vivi’s focus, however, was on Uundref.

  The skeletal Steward spun his fingers and two runic daggers appeared in his hands. Uundref concealed his aura, totally invisible within the messy fight. The portal appeared beneath his feet.

  His portal is a ghost-type skill, is it not? Vivi thought. She spoke calmly within her thoughts.

  “Um, yes,” Lucius said. “It looks like a twilight skill.”

  Twilight is a variation of the ghost type, Vivi thought. Both mainly use the void elements of ether. Spectral powers.

  “Uh, Vivi?” Lucius asked. “Why do you sound so scary?”

  Uundref’s portal reappeared in the air behind the boss monster’s neck. The boss didn’t sense the Steward coming. There, Uundref activated another skill. His runic daggers grew in length, and a large ethereal aura enveloped them. The weapon turned ethereal, resembling the grievous skeletons’ swords.

  With his dagger, Uundref spun, cutting at the boss’s head.

  The nape was slashed open in one clean blow. Wisps of ether gushed out from the wound. A fatal wound.

  The Life Devourer fell, and its body began disintegrating.

  The Stewards quickly collected its ether before nimrods could do anything stupid. Everyone was watching. They collected at least two thousand ether, making up for what Uundref had lost to the wheel landing on green.

  “No skills, huh?” Ven said, watching. “So much effort and nothing to show.”

  Effort? Vivi thought. What do you mean effort? They killed twenty-six nimrods! Just for a chance to earn a skill!

  “Show’s up, huh?” Alisa said. “Are we going? Do we have a reason to stay?”

  “No,” Aang said. “We saw what we needed to see. The Stewards have grown. Their fighting strategy is clever, as always. We learned a lot from this.”

  With gloomy expressions, everyone turned around, back toward the dungeon. Vivi stayed there for a moment longer, watching the Stewards. They simply discussed with each other, as if nothing weird had just happened.

  “Vivi?” Rohan asked.

  “I think I figured out Uundref’s weakness,” Vivi said.

  “You did?” Rohan asked.

  “Yes… Wait here. I’m going to do something quickly.”

  The fence had a hole not far from Vivi, where the boss had crashed into the opening. Vivi walked toward the hole. Lucius, spawn the ether orbs into my pocket, she said.

  “What?” Lucius asked. “Why? What are you planning?”

  “Vivi?” Rohan asked behind her. “Where are you going?”

  Vivi stepped into the destroyed surge-zone through the hole in the fence and walked straight to Uundref.

  She stood beneath the bony Steward, frowning up at him.

  Uundref regarded her with confusion. Then he grinned. “Well, hello, dear human. What brings you trespassing onto the Stewards’ private and strictly entry-forbidden surge-zone?”

  Vivi pulled one of Zand’s ether orbs from her pocket, worth exactly a hundred ether. “Here’s my payment for collection day. I won’t be visiting in line. I have things I need to do today.”

  Uundref tilted his head. “Everyone needs to visit the line, dear. No special treatment. Your ether reserves must be examined.”

  “You believe I’ve paid back my debt?” Vivi asked. She pulled another orb from her pocket, also worth a hundred. “You can have that too. These orbs are worthless anyway.”

  Uundref watched her for a moment. Then he giggled, accepting both orbs. “Very well. You have been marked as present and paid for today’s collection day. Happy hunting!” His grin fell. “Now, if you please, step back. This zone is private and your presence is punishable with a whipping.”

  Vivi turned around, back toward the hole in the fence. Behind it, Rohan stared at her with a panicked expression. All of the Hollows had turned to wait, as if Vivi had earned someone a death sentence.

  “Vivi?” Rohan asked. “What the hell was that?”

  “Just some business,” Vivi said.

  “What did you do?” Aang asked with his arms crossed, frowning.

  “I paid him two hundred ether,” Vivi said. “To skip collection day today. I’m heading to the smithy.”

  “You should have just waited six hours,” Aang said.

  Vivi ignored him. She knew what she did was stupid. Of course it was stupid and unnecessarily risky. Vivi didn’t exactly care. “What’s done is done. I’m heading to the smithy now. I know exactly what I need to craft.”

  Aang walked beside her. “Vivi, let’s not do anything rash.”

  Vivi bit her lip. She spoke quietly so that passersby wouldn’t hear. “I was thinking about it, Aang. That maybe life as a nimrod wasn’t too bad. Maybe the Stewards weren’t so cruel that they had to be killed. I really thought about it. And then they do that.”

  “The nimrods knew the risk,” Aang said.

  “Perhaps,” Vivi said. “But they were forced to make the gamble. Why? Because they’re too weak to earn a hundred ether. The twenty-six nimrods that died were people. They had lives. Now they’re dead, all because the overlords wanted a higher chance of earning skills. Don’t try to tell me that’s okay. You’ve all grown numb to cruelty. This needs to stop.”

  “I don’t disagree with you,” Aang said. “But we should talk about this first. Let’s not jump to decisions.”

  “I won’t do anything stupid,” Vivi said. “We’ll have plenty of time to discuss. I’m just heading to the smithy now.” She looked Aang in the eye. “I believe I figured out Uundref’s weakness. And I’m going to craft a sword that will make his powers utterly useless.”

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