Edge grinned as his avatars engaged in a vigorous battle, doing their best to either score a direct hit or knock their competition out of the ring they had drawn across the middle of the village.

  The living manifestations of his skills had improved their tactics since the last time he’d witnessed one of these matches. Instead of swarming each other in a frenetic melee, they were fighting in formation.

  The avatars that could brawl on their own were holding the line, and the ones capable of providing ranged support were arranged behind them. Most interesting of all, both Sea and Chibime were using several skills as equipment, letting them contribute even if their forms weren’t well-suited for a direct engagement.

  Sea’s team included Shadow Play, All-Seeing Gaze, Vacuum Blast, Rejuvenation, Double Slash, Wind Ward, Harden, and Counter Disruption. Chibime was leading Elemental Blade, Mental Fortress, Repel Water, Manifest Chain, Warlord’s Mantle, Sense Treasure, Summon Companion, and Regulate Temperature.

  Every few days, the Epic powers mixed up their rosters and the rules of engagement. Edge didn’t understand the logic behind their decisions, but he suspected they were trying to develop relationships between his individual skills and prepare them for a wide variety of situations in the world beyond his core.

  Regardless of the details, he was thrilled by this development. In addition to generating skill experience, these drills were teaching his avatars how to work as a team and increasing their ability to actively assist him in battle. While he mulled the matter over, he considered each of his powers in turn.

  Shadow Play was the largest skill in the village and tall enough to look Edge in the eyes. The avatar took the form of a shadowy hunter whose body was filled with swirling black mist.

  True to its name, Play was a goofy bastard that loved to be the center of attention. It could also be quite stealthy when it wanted to. He watched as the avatar vanished before reappearing behind Gaze, almost knocking it out of the ring before the skill swerved to one side at the last possible moment.

  All-Seeing Gaze was a pair of floating eyeballs the size of Edge’s fists. They had mismatched irises, which the avatar had inherited from the skills he’d merged to make it—Darkvision and Penetrate Foliage.

  The avatar was inquisitive and perceptive. It was also the only power in his collection that could track Play when the shadow man was trying to hide. They exchanged a vigorous series of blows that resulted in both avatars moving outside the ring and being eliminated from the fight.

  Elemental Blade was a floating crystal sword wreathed in an arctic-blue aura. It was a calm and reliable avatar that had saved his life more times than he could count. At the moment, Chibime was wielding Blade directly, although they could split apart without warning to take their opponents by surprise.

  The cartoon version of Edge was wearing Regulate Temperature like hide armor, protecting Chibime from the bursts of elemental energy Sea unleashed with her domains. Regulate looked like a heavy fur coat with an aura that formed a sphere around it. The avatar was focused and friendly and never caused any problems.

  Sea was wielding the scythe he had taken from the Gardener, which was wreathed in Disruption and seemed to be an even match for Elemental Blade.

  For armor, the tiny alien woman was wearing Warlord’s Mantle, whose avatar looked like the manifestation of the skill—a ghostly ruby cloak with intricate orange embroidery. Mantle was hyper and enjoyed a challenge. It normally flitted about like a leaf in the wind, but when it was excited, it tended to wrap itself around Edge’s shoulders.

  On the other side of the ring, the rest of his powers were going at it. Mental Fortress and Rejuvenation were battling head-to-head, doing their best to push the other skill out of the arena.

  Fortress took the form of a brain in a bubble. It was one of his most intelligent and expressive avatars—second only to his Epics. It was also the only skill who had allowed itself to be Extracted without fighting back, and the avatar was much happier in here than it had been in the inner world of the mind mage he’d liberated it from.

  Rejuvenation had come into being when Edge combined Regeneration with Resist Venom. The merger had changed the healing power’s appearance from a beating heart to something far more exotic and granted it a water-elemental aspect. Rejuvenation’s avatar looked like a tiny glass man with a complete circulatory system suspended inside, including a beating heart that pumped blood in a steady cycle.

  Double Slash and Vacuum Blast were unleashing in a frenzy of strikes—each trying to overwhelm the other in a contest of magical might.

  Double Slash had been created by merging Edge’s very first skill, Slash, with Double Strike. It looked like a stone sculpture of a hunter wielding a naginata. While the avatar still wore that appearance, its behavior had changed dramatically after the merger. It had originally been as still as a statue. Now, it fought alongside the other avatars, and Slash had become remarkably expressive as time went on.

  Vacuum Blast was one of the newest and most dangerous powers in his collection—the signature attack of the infamous jailbird, Yussuf the Red. It took the form of a translucent shimmer in the air that could detonate itself at will. While Blast seemed happy to be here, it was easily flustered and had an explosive temper.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Repel Water, Manifest Chain, Wind Ward, and Harden were fighting in a tight group, and Edge had no idea which side would prevail.

  Repel Water was a floating sphere of liquid that occasionally let out a powerful spurt of water. It had a serene presence and never seemed flustered—even in the heat of battle. Wind Ward’s avatar was a swirling vortex that never stood still. It was always exploring, interacting with its environment, or playing with his other avatars. Right now, it was using its power to knock water out of the air, shielding its allies from Repel’s attacks.

  Harden was focusing its efforts on thwarting Foebinder, pinning down one of the most versatile avatars on the field while its team took care of the rest. Harden’s avatar took the form of two forearms that were covered in intricate diamond scales. The defensive power had saved Edge’s life on countless occasions and could always be relied on in a pinch.

  Manifest Chain was his only Unique skill and the only avatar that didn’t live inside the village. It usually stayed behind the black door, where the ravenous lord was bound by endless black chains.

  While Edge had grave reservations about Skill-Eater, the left chain, Foebinder had become his stalwart ally. It was just as smart as Chibime and Sea and had a personality that reminded him of a trained hunting dog. He still hadn’t learned the name of the right chain that appeared when he used Extraction, but he suspected he would be able to manifest it too once the skill obtained another rank or two.

  That just left three of his least-expressive skills. He was surprised that they were participating in this contest too.

  Summon Companion was the power that let him teleport Rue in and out of the fox’s dimensional den. It was a small shimmering portal that was so quiet and reserved that he usually forgot it was there. He hadn’t realized it could fight, but apparently, it could absorb the other avatars’ manifestations and make them reappear a short distance away, protecting its allies from ranged attacks.

  Counter Disruption was a meta skill that could be linked to two other powers at once, preventing them from being affected by the antimagic fields generated by all cored creatures. It was invisible—although he could sense it when he focused—and usually spent its time wrapped around one of his other avatars like a second skin.

  Last but not least, Sense Treasure was an ocular power with no combat utility. Instead, it let Edge sense rare and valuable resources in his environment. The avatar’s manifestation was a floating ball of light, which sparkled with the range of colors he saw when he was using it.

  Before he conferred with his avatars as a group, there were two more skills to consider. They weren’t permanent members of his collection, but it was useful to remind himself what they could do from time to time. They were both inside the representation of his Auxiliary Skill Slot implant, which sat in one corner of his central chamber.

  It reminded him of the aquarium his mother had maintained while he was young, which had been full of brightly colored tropical fish. After getting the implant upgraded, the device had doubled in size, featuring two chambers stacked on top of each other with glass panels that slid open.

  Unlike the skills that lived in his village, the powers in his auxiliary slot couldn’t be advanced or merged and remained frozen in a stasis-like state when he wasn’t using them. The implant was useful for picking up temporary skills that were helpful in specific situations but weren’t well-rounded enough to become a permanent part of his skillset. He could also use the implant to test out a skill he was interested in, taking it for a trial run without committing to obtaining it.

  Right now, one chamber was filled with a giant pair of ears, which represented Enhance Hearing—a skill he’d picked up from the undead bear during the last stampede. The other chamber held a rodent’s nose the size of his arm. Sense Fruit came in handy when he needed to find a snack in the wild, but given the size of his vault, he was planning to replace it with something that had combat utility before the kaiju arrived.

  Now that his strategic review of his powers was complete, Edge looked up in time to watch Chibime and Sea come together for the final exchange of the contest. Besides the Epics, the only avatars still in play were Mantle and Blade. Chibime was holding the iceblade by the hilt, and Sea had the glowing cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

  She dismissed her scythe before swooping down in a soaring dive, and he didn’t see how she could counter the reach Blade offered her opponent. However, both Edge and Chibime had underestimated the clever avatar. At the last moment, Sea summoned her raincloud, drenching her nemesis in a deluge of droplets.

  It wouldn’t have mattered in most situations. But with the subzero sword in his hands, Chibime found himself encased in a solid block of ice. Sea perched on top, twirling her dress with a vicious grin on her face. The ice faded away a few seconds later, as did anything that wasn’t a permanent fixture of his core, but it had clearly counted as a win.

  Chibime muttered darkly before sticking out his hand in a surprising display of sportsmanship. Edge clapped while the losing avatars congratulated the others on their win. He was glad to see his Epic powers were getting along. They hadn’t liked each other at first and had taken a while to warm up to one another.

  Now that the battle was over, he called his skills over. They gathered in front of him as Rue ran circles around them. He spent some time praising their efforts, then concluded the meeting with, “I wanted to thank you again for your help during the war with the Claws. You really went above and beyond, and I wouldn’t be standing here without your support. Oh, and thanks for playing with Rue and keeping him safe when I can’t.”

  The fox growled in irritation at always being locked up when shit hit the fan. Edge did his best not to offend the little guy by laughing out loud, although the pup’s frustration was both adorable and hilarious.

  “Don’t worry, when you grow up, you’ll be able to fight with me too. Right now, your job is to eat, grow, and learn some skills that will help you survive. When you hit stage one, we can start hunting beasts in the field. Until then, focus on your training, and we’ll get there before you know it.”

  The last thing he needed to do before returning to his body was console Vacuum Blast, who was angry he hadn’t used it during the fight with the reaver.

  “I’m sorry, but you’re so powerful that you would have killed the monster before I got to steal any skills. I promise your turn is coming soon. Together, we’ll take down the kaiju and obliterate every undead that stands in our way, and everyone will know just how awesome you are.”

  The compliments mollified the volatile avatar, so Edge bid his powers farewell and stepped back into his own skin—ready to attend to a few final matters before leaving these lightless depths for good.