Blood Online: Evolving Endlessly-Chapter 173: Sensing The Being
Akhil stood frozen, his mind struggling to process what he’d just witnessed. His sister had become winter personified. His friend had become a force of nature capable of splitting stone.
’When did they get this strong?’ The question burned in his mind. ’The hunts... the constant combat... the pressure of preparation... it changed them even more than I realized.’
Nyla’s cold gaze swept across the arena, her glowing blue eyes seeming to take in every detail with icy precision. Then her attention fixed on Jeren’s elevated platform.
But not quite on Jeren himself.
Her eyes lingered for a moment, focused on a point just behind the Titan of Tournaments. On empty air that wasn’t quite empty. On space that should have held nothing but somehow felt occupied.
’She can sense it,’ Akhil realized with a jolt. ’Maybe not see it like I can, but she knows something’s there.’
As if responding to Akhil’s thought, the ice domain that had been radiating from Nyla began to retract. The temperature didn’t rise gradually—it snapped back to normal with the same abruptness it had dropped, as if Nyla had simply decided the display was complete and dismissed the power with casual authority.
Frost faded. Ice melted. The visible manifestation of her power vanished, leaving only the shattered remains of her opponent as evidence it had ever existed.
Akhil felt a surge of emotion that he couldn’t quite name. Relief that he wasn’t alone. Pride in what his sister and friend had accomplished. But underneath it all, a growing weight of responsibility.
’They’re here. In the tournament. Which means I have to watch out for them too. Have to make sure they survive, not just myself.’
The burden of leadership, never far from his thoughts, pressed down with renewed weight.
Jeren’s voice cut through the stunned silence, his enthusiasm cranked up to levels that would have seemed excessive if not for the spectacular displays he’d just witnessed:
"MAGNIFICENT! Absolutely MAGNIFICENT!"
He practically vibrated with excitement on his platform, his fan snapping open and closed in rapid succession—a nervous habit betraying just how genuinely thrilled he was.
"Such power! Such precision! Such absolute DOMINATION of your opponents!" His bright eyes swept across Nyla and Nibo specifically. "The gods are delighted! I am delighted! This is EXACTLY the kind of performance we were hoping for!"
He raised his hand dramatically.
"The first round is complete! And what a round it was! You’ve all earned a moment’s rest—ten minutes! Use them well!"
The barriers around each platform shimmered and lowered slightly, no longer trapping the fighters in complete isolation. The oppressive sense of being watched lessened marginally as the gods’ attention diffused across multiple platforms rather than focusing intensely on individual fights.
And immediately, the divine gifts began to descend.
Akhil watched as white light bathed Nyla, a notification appearing above her head that all could see:
{GOD POLONEUS GRANTS HIS FAVOR!}
{SUPER BOOSTER RECEIVED - Luxury Car}
The gift that would increase her first attack’s strength by eighty percent and boost all damage by ten percent for an entire battle. Incredibly valuable for someone whose opening strikes were already devastating.
Nibo received his own divine light:
{GODDESS AURANOVA ACKNOWLEDGES YOUR STRENGTH!}
{MENTAL DEFENSE +1 RECEIVED - Inspiration Capsule}
Protection against mental manipulation and psychological attacks. Given the level of opponents they’d be facing, potentially life-saving.
Akhil didn’t expect anything. His fight had been competent but not spectacular—exactly as he’d planned. He’d given the gods nothing to get excited about, no reason to invest in him.
So when white light suddenly descended on his platform, he actually flinched in surprise.
{UNKNOWN SHOWS INTEREST}
{FULL RECOVERY RECEIVED - Massage Chair}
The notification hung in the air above him, visible to all. Complete restoration of health, stamina, and status effects. One of the most valuable gifts possible, and it had come from that mysterious god who only ever identified as "Unknown."
’Why?’ Akhil wondered, staring at the notification. ’I didn’t do anything to earn divine attention. Unless...’
Unless Unknown wasn’t watching his combat performance. Unless they were interested in something else about him. Something that had nothing to do with how well he fought.
The thought was unsettling, but Akhil filed it away with all the other mysteries accumulating around this tournament.
Other fighters received their own gifts—fewer than Seth and Ryan’s group had gotten, but enough to show the gods were maintaining interest. Some received boosters. A few got single-use skills. One lucky fighter obtained a manifestation ability that made him shout with joy.
During this distribution, as the arena buzzed with fighters checking their new gifts and tending their wounds, Nyla and Nibo began walking toward Akhil’s platform.
Akhil’s gaze had drifted back to Jeren—or more accurately, to the many-eyed figure standing behind him. The thing had retracted most of its eyes, but several remained, tracking various fighters with that unblinking intensity.
He was so focused on it that he didn’t notice his sister and friend approaching until they were right beside his platform.
Akhil turned, ready to greet them, to congratulate them on their incredible displays, to apologize for not noticing them sooner—
"I’m sorry," the words tumbled out before he could organize his thoughts. "I should have noticed you both were here, should have coordinated with you, but I was preoccupied with—"
"I’m sure you can sense it too, right?"
Nyla’s voice cut through his apology with the precision of her ice blades. Her glowing blue eyes—still active despite the ice domain being retracted—fixed on him with uncomfortable intensity.
"Or perhaps you can see it."
She turned her gaze toward Jeren’s platform. Not at Jeren himself. At the space just behind him. At the figure that shouldn’t be visible to anyone.
At the thing that Akhil could see with perfect clarity.
The words hit him like a physical impact. Akhil’s breath caught in his throat, his mind racing through implications and possibilities.
’She knows. She can’t see it, but she knows something’s there. Her ice abilities... do they let her sense things? Temperature variations? Distortions in the air? Or is it something else?’
Nibo stood beside Nyla, his fierce expression softening slightly as he looked at Akhil. "Your sister has exceptional senses when her power is active. She felt something wrong. Something that doesn’t belong."
"And you," Nyla continued, her eyes never leaving that space behind Jeren, "have been staring at that exact spot since you arrived. Not at Jeren. Not at the arena. At something nobody else seems to see."
Her gaze finally shifted to meet Akhil’s directly.
"So what is it? What are you seeing that the rest of us can’t?"
The question hung in the air between them, heavy with implication.
Around them, other fighters rested or examined their gifts or tended their wounds. Jeren stood on his elevated platform, speaking to someone—or something—that only Akhil could fully perceive. The gods watched from their realm, still buzzing with excitement over the spectacular displays.
And Akhil stood between his sister and his friend, facing a question he didn’t know how to answer.
Because explaining what he saw would mean explaining the many-eyed horror that existed in plain sight of thousands. Would mean acknowledging that there were layers to this tournament none of them understood. Would mean admitting that even if they survived the fights, there were other threats lurking in shadows most couldn’t even perceive.
The ten-minute break ticked away, each second bringing them closer to the next round.
And Akhil, staring into his sister’s knowing eyes, realized that some secrets couldn’t be kept.
Not when they might mean the difference between life and death.
"Well, if I’m to be honest I think...." he started, then paused, choosing his words carefully.
