V2 Chapter 14 Grinding

 _ _ _3rd Person Pov_ _ _

Acidic blood had been spilled, a dark violet exoskeleton had been cracked and pierced by spears, swords and arrows, all made of shifting light, all held by various featureless humanoid constructs. So yeah, Carmen was pissed to say the least. The pain running through her only served to increase the volume of her instincts which were screaming in her head, demanding that she kill, maim and slaughter her attackers.

Said attackers weren't making it easy for her that's for sure, in fact as she slammed her tail into a group of them, shattering their forms and turning them into particles of light, two more jumped down from above and drove their weapons into her back. Screeching in pain she rolled over crushing them under her weight just in time to get up and move out of the way of several arrows that pierced into the large rock wall behind her with relative ease.

"I didn't expect her to last this long..." Decker hummed with the slightest amount of surprise in his voice. 

"CoME nOw DEcKer mY fRiENd, YoU shOuLd haVE MoRe fAiTh iN yOUr StUdeNt."

The bear in question just growled in response to that. "I'm just a little taken aback as all, most new brats would have collapsed after being wounded that much or started whining that it is too hard and that it's not fair or some shit like that."

"He has a point, my lord." Raya nodded in agreement.

"I suPpOSe YouR coRrECt." Chranic laughed before turning back to the battle going on down below. "Hmm? I GuEsS sHE's aLMoSt DoNe wItH THis wAVe."

Carmen was currently finishing off what remains of this group of constructs, in fact she had just crushed one of them under foot while cutting another to pieces with a swipe of her claws. Finally she picked up the last of them and ripped through its body with her inner jaw, she literally split the construct in half by tearing through its abdomen.

{Round 6, complete.} A large holographic screen appeared above Carmen's head announcing the end of this round.

"Finally, that was fucking annoying..." She said, letting out a sigh, she of course could use some of her points to call in some help from her sanctuary or even to just heal herself, however for now she wanted to see how far she could get on her own.

"The kid probably won't be able to keep this up for much longer." Decker mused as he noticed just how wounded she actually was at this point.

{Reward: 83 points} 

As the next wave was about to begin Raya sighed as she noticed Chranic messing with a screen in front of him. "My lord...what are you doing?"

"Oh NotHiNG oF nOtE rEaLLy." Chranic chuckled but it was obvious he was up to something.

"I call bullshit on that." Decker said he didn't seem all that bothered by whatever Chranic was doing, however that didn't stop him from glaring at the three headed tv man in question.

"FiNe fInE, I'M siMpLy gOiNG tO mAKe ThE NexT rOuNd A liTTlE mOrE inTerEStiNg, tHAt'S aLl." He admitted.

Decker simply rolled his eyes at that. "Just don't go too overboard you damn attention whore." 

Despite finding it annoying he didn't try to stop Chranic's tampering, this was mainly because of three different reasons. Firstly, it wasn't like Carmen would permanently die even if she was killed in the challenge, after all she'd just revive outside if she did. And secondly, well, it could be a genuinely good experience for her overall, after all despite being completely and utterly insane, Chranic was not the type to make someone struggle and bleed in a completely impossible challenge. He actually found such things rather boring and tasteless to be honest, he had even killed several of his own people for doing just that behind his back by trapping them in the unbeatable games that they had created. Anyway though, he was incredibly experienced when it came to pushing someone to become something truly great, even if it was only for his own twisted sense of entertainment.

And finally the last reason, this was something that would never be spoken verbally mind you, in fact Decker would rather die an agonizing death than admit this third fact out loud. To put it simply, he was weaker than the Chranic, far weaker actually. Chranic was someone to be feared and respected, even if he was completely out of his mind. He was not only far older than most Alternatives but was also one of the few who had managed to ascend into the dimensional rank, something that not only gives you a lot of influence and authority but also changes you on a fundamental level so deeply and utterly that few can even comprehend it.

"Fuck this hurts..." Carmen growled, her body shifting uncomfortably as pain from her wounds spread across her form.

{Note. Changes have been made to Round 7 by Overseer Chranic, reward will be increased if the participant is successful.}

"Huh? What do you mean "changes"?!" She asked somewhat alarmed only to hear the familiar laugh of Chranic over the speaker system.

"I don't think you have time for questions, little Carmen." He said as a figure began to take shape not far away from her.

In the past few rounds there had been an increasing number of small rather annoying enemies that gradually got stronger and more intelligent as time went on, this time however it was different. There was only one enemy this time, a very large enemy, one that was a head taller than Carmen in her full sized form, it had a weapon that somewhat resembled a Japanese naginata. The most important thing however was its appearance, this light construct was different from the other ones that had appeared up until now, instead of looking like a featureless mannequin this one looked more solidified, more real.

{Round 7, start.}

"Welp, this isn't ominous at all." Carmen muttered to herself as she glared at her opponent who for the most part just stood there completely unmoving.

"Is it just going to stand there until I attack it or...?" She asked only for an idea to pop into her head. "Let's see how it reacts to this." She hummed as she picked up a nearby rock that was the size of a large dog and threw it.

The moment the large rock in question was about to collide with its form the construct seemed to come to life in a flash of movement. With surprising speed and precision it sliced through the mass of compacted dirt and stone with ease before turning its attention toward Carmen. 

"Oh shit!" She hissed not expecting it to move so quickly.

Strangely however the construct did not move to make a counter attack, in a physical sense anyway. Instead it released a bizarre greyish white mist like energy from its body, an energy which was rather odd in many ways. It moved with incredible precision and control, it was almost like watching a cloud of millions of tiny nano machines all moving in perfect formation. What was more alarming was that everything this cloud touched seemed to change, the very environment around them seemed to become completely symmetrical, everything took on an artificial look that was just far too perfect and unnatural.

And what happened when it came into contact with Carmen? Well, it was like two forces that were never meant to meet colliding. Almost immediately she was hit by a feeling of overwhelming and sickening repulsion, a wrongness so disgusting and vile that it made her instinct scream and her soul cringe as a nauseating feeling filled her very being. To make things worse she couldn't move and could barely think coherently, she felt like she was suffocating as she struggled to stay conscious.

(W-what the hell is this?) Carmen thought as she fought to stand up and keep herself from passing out.

"What you're currently experiencing is a simulated version of an Essence, more specifically the Essence Of Stagnation, the Essence used by our complete fundamental opposites, the followers of Order." Raya answered, probably guessing what the struggling xeno queen wanted to ask.

In her current state of mind it was hard for her to understand what it was that she had just been told, thankfully though she was able to at least get the gist of it. Unfortunately however there wasn't much she could do, in fact she had no real way to fight back in that moment as the construct began to move in her direction, and it wasn't hard to guess what it would do once it reached her.

As the pressure on her grew more intense however something began to shift, a part of her deep down began to react. She didn't really understand what was going on but almost in response to the sheer disgust and repulsion that the Essence Of Stagnation inflicted upon her something within her began to boil to the surface. It started as a chorus of tiny whispers, whispers that spoke in an arcane and fragmented language she couldn't comprehend let alone understand, whispers that quickly became screams of defiance and hatred.

It felt like a boiling heat that spread outward from her heart, it flooded through her veins and blood, quickly reaching her bones, ligaments and muscles, then her skin, nerves and finally her organs. In the end it spread to everything, every single cell in her body was infested by it. This growing sensation, this pressure was begging to be released, to be unshackled and allowed to run rampant. And so she released it, she didn't even try to hold it back, oh no, she let it erupt out like a violent wildfire.

"LoOkS liKE ThIs liTtLE oNe sTiLl HAs sOmE FigHt iN hER." Chranic laughed as a strange warping energy began to explode out from all over Carmen's body.

Decker simply shrugged at that. "Seems like it..."

The energy in question, which was black like the abyss with streaks of dark violet running through it, had erupted out of her body like an uncontrollable storm. It crackled with untamed fury like a raging and starved beast that had been let off its leash, all the while it mashed into the greyish aura that pushed down upon Carmen's form with surprising ferocity. For a moment the two energies buckled and fought one another in a chaotic dance, each trying to subsume the other, like two unrelenting waves of equal power smashing into each other with murderous intent.

So yes, to put it rather simply, in that moment Carmen was now quite the sight to behold indeed. The energy pouring out of her body was spiralling around her like a hurricane as it roared and shifted like lightning, all the while she stood in the centre of the storm, her veins glowing green under her exoskeleton. Additionally it had the opposite effect of what the Essence Of Stagnation seemed to do, in fact it caused the environment that it touched to rapidly grow, shift, mutate and evolve in unnatural and bizarre ways that made little to no sense at all.

"I'm surprised that she can release her Essence so soon after manifesting, although it's not all that rare in the grand scheme of things it is still a little surprising to see." Raya hummed as the two opposing forces collided, one violent and wild, the other calm and surgical.

"It's not all that amazing, but yeah, I'd be lying if I said that I had seen it coming beforehand." Decker hummed with an emotionless expression.

Back to the battle anyway, seeing the current situation the construct began to move, it pushed forward while ignoring the clashing energies around it. To its surprise however Carmen slashed at its body with her tail and claws as she used her rampant Essence like a smoke screen to somewhat obscure her large form. Of course the construct fought back sweeping its weapon in her direction flashing deep bloody wounds into her exoskeleton but not without receiving some in return.

Much to Carmen's annoyance however, her acidic blood had little effect on the weapon and construct in question, in fact she had a feeling that Chranic was probably, definitely the reason for this. So as her number of wounds increased she could only grumble internally about how her most dangerous weapon had practically been nerfed, even if only against this one singular enemy.

Things went like this for quite a while, the two danced around in each other as the energies released from their bodies battled alongside them like two hurricanes spiraling around one another. Eventually the construct was able to kick Carmen in the side causing her to stumble, and in that moment her opponent swung it's naginata at her head, aiming to split it in half diagonally.

Barely managing to jolt backwards just enough so that the blade only left a shallow cut on her head she quickly got moving once again. The first thing she did was charge forward while its weapon was out of place, with her head down and ready to slam into its chest she sprinted towards it, her clawed feet digging into the ground as she moved.

The construct of course didn't take this lying down, it swung its weapon down cutting through a part of Carmen's head crest as well as lopping off her left arm with surprising ease. Unfortunately for it however, the momentum that she had built up was still there and she could no longer stop even if she wanted to, Carmen crashed into the construct with enough force to send it skidding backwards several meters as it attempted to maintain its balance.

Taking this chance she jumped forward knocking the construct onto its back, not before it could position its naginata to peers through her torso though. And yet despite being impaled she didn't seem to care, after all her body was currently numb from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She slashed at its neck with her remaining arm before grabbing its head and biting onto it, the construct struggling violently as it tried to pry her jaws apart with its hands but it was far too late. Using her inner jaw she ripped through its head in one quick movement, she had finished it off once and for all, its body already beginning to break apart into hundreds of light particles.

{Round 7, complete.}

{Reward: 240 points awarded.}

"ImPrESsiVe!" Chranic applauded.

"God damn...this really fucking hurts..." Carmen hissed as the pains from her now very severe wounds began to claw their way back into the forefront of her mind.

"Do you plan to give up little miss?" Chranic asked, seeming to already know the answer.

Carmen for her part barely heard what he said or the pain assaulted her mind. "What?"

"You won't be able to win the next round in your current condition, so I ask again, do you plan on giving up here?" 

"I've come this far so I might as well keep going." She groaned.

"That's the spirit!" He clapped with a large smile on each of his three screens.

{Round 8.}

"Bloody hell..." she growled knowing full well she probably wouldn't survive this round considering her current state.

{Start.}

 _ _ _Decker Pov_ _ _

Three days, it had been three days since Carmen first entered the Colosseum. She, of course, had died in the eighth round of the game and soon ended up respawning outside, considering her condition at the time I wasn't surprised in the slightest. Anyway, I ended up paying several million fragments so that she could stay and continue gathering points until she had everything she needed. In the end I then left after she went through the challenge another two times. I couldn't stay here and watch her the whole time as I had things to do, not that I wanted to stay that long either.

After getting a call from Raya some time later however, I returned to pick my little brat up. Thankfully Chranic hadn't seen it necessary to meet me again once I arrived, he did send Raya though but that was fine, she was far easier to deal with than that bloody lunatic.

"How long?" I asked as I made my way to Carmen's current location.

"She has been going at a steady pace for the last three days straight, sir." Raya explained. "The furthest she's reached is the twenty third round so far, however she hasn't managed to get past it even after dozens of attempts."

"Breaks?" I mused with a slight amount of interest.

"Every five or six attempts she stops for fifteen minutes before continuing."

(For someone who just manifested in the Nexus that is rather impressive...) I thought to myself.

"How many times has she gone through at this point?"

"I believe this is her two hundred and eighty sixth run, sir." I glanced at her a little surprised but said nothing in response as we made it to our destination.

Once we arrived at the challenge area I walked inside, not really caring if my student was currently in the middle of another attempt or not. When I entered I found Carmen breathing heavily with various weapons made of light sticking out of her, weapons that were slowly turning into light particles.

"Decker?" She panted when she finally noticed me.

"Looks like you have been quite busy." I hummed getting right to the point.

"Yeah..."

"So what's your balance at?"

In response to my question she waved a clawed hand as a system panel appeared before me. (I guess she figured out how to share specific parts of her info, good.) I thought with a small smile.

"Well, would you look at that..."

{RP: 46,780}