Loopshard - Chapter 130

-Previous Chapter-
--Encyclopaedia---
---Next Chapter----

In case you didn't see it, over the weekend I shared the final art (here) and a 1-minute timelapse of it being made (here).

I'm really happy with how it turned out and I'm sure I'll get more art from the artist in the future, because the linework is just perfect.

Anyway, it's pirating time!

-----------------------------

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Thirty

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 7 >

< The Floating Sea of Gold >

< 3-day Timer >

Adam opened his eyes to golden light. He was running along the grey-brown wooden deck of the Creaking Madam to adjust the control lines that changed the angle of the mainsail.

These cutscenes will never feel natural to me.

Strange that I have the same role in the cutscene as last time though.

There were four other people working around him and a sixth person stood at the helm, controlling the ship’s heading. Adam moved on to adjusting the jib sail at the bow of the ship, while a woman crawled up the ratlines next to him. He noticed how her eyes tracked him even as her body moved along with the puppeteering strings of the cutscene.

Adam felt an aching nostalgia for the last time he’d been here.

Even if I find a world where Emelia hasn’t been sacrificed, there’s basically no chance of us ending up together in this Stage ever again.

I wish I could’ve enjoyed it more.

Although Adam was meant to protect another worshipper of the Flayed Lady, he wanted to keep everyone on his team alive. It wouldn’t make his mistakes of the past go away, but he thought he might feel better about himself, especially after the mess of Stage Six.

He looked past the jib sail that he was adjusting and down to the figurehead below the bowsprit. The voluptuous woman sculpted from wood was wearing a dress and shawl, and she looked the exact same as last time, even down to the cracks and signs of wear from the weather.

As Adam ran back up the deck towards the helm, he tried to spot the other Players, but without the ability to turn his head it was difficult to see a lot. But it was clear that besides himself were at least two other guys and the woman who’d been staring at him. He moved up the steps from the main deck to the helm, and the guy holding the wheel let go to look at Adam and the other Players who gathered around him.

Adam looked at their faces in turn. The six of them were evenly split between the two genders.

I wonder if that’s the norm. That’s how it was last time too.

Based on the distribution of genders he often saw in the Tavern, as well as who made it to the Self-devouring Eye, it was clear that the base power was lifted equally for both men and women, eliminating genetic differences in that regard. He had known this instinctively but just hadn’t really given it much thought.

The guy who had manned the wheel during the cutscene was a Warrior who seemed to have gone the Frontliner Colossus route, though he had to have picked the final evolution because his two-handed sword was slightly different than the one for Colossus.

That’s probably some Defence-oriented evolution since Colossus gives him 10% Defence with every kill.

He was a spindly black guy, which was a bit at odds with his large weapon and the Forlorn Cuirass he wore. He also had the Scale Trousers, Avalanche Boots, and Lead Coating Relics, the last one covering the blade of his weapon making it a dull grey.

The next was a woman who had picked the Javelineer evolution of Lancer and then an evolution that gave her a shield alongside the throwing spears. It seemed like a strange combo to Adam.

She wasn’t super tall, had pale skin, and her grey-brown hair was tied up in a ponytail. From her expression and the way she carried herself, she seemed a bit mousy. She wore the Bone Armour from Stage Two, which surprised Adam, both because there were so many better options since then, but also because it meant she hadn’t gotten hit enough for it to break. She wore the Captain’s Cape, Duellist’s Glove, and Slothling Spring Boots, and around her neck was the Boomerang Necklace.

A bit of a mismatched setup, but probably not terrible?

After her was another woman with long dark-brown hair, who had gone the Crusader route of the Priest, based on the shield she carried alongside her mace, but it was different than how he remembered it looking when he’d fought the Crusader named Zaria Lewis in his fourth loop, so he assumed she’d taken it to a third evolution.

She wore the Forlorn Cuirass like the Lancer, but she also had the Chimaera Helmet on her head and the Reckless Warlord’s Cape hanging down her back. The cape allowed her to verbally taunt enemies, and Adam guessed she had been the tank in her last group. Lastly, she had a Potion Belt full of medium healing potions, and the Spirited Defender’s Nose Ring, which staggered enemies when she successfully blocked their attacks and increased the damage of her next hit.

But what caught Adam’s attention the most was the black slits on her neck, which the cuirass didn’t fully cover, and the blue-tinged hue to her white skin.

She’s worshipping Nwetrou…

I knew Nwetrou would plant his worshippers in our groups, because there’s no way Beck and I would have encountered them naturally when there’s only forty of them amongst the millions that have survived to this point.

The second-to-last person was a tall guy with tanned skin, light-brown buzzcut hair, and emerald-green eyes. He wore the Slothling boots and coat, and hanging from his hip was the Scope of Insight that let him see a target’s weaknesses. He also had the Magical Quiver to go along with his bow, which was some evolution of Trickster. Since Trickster was based on rapidly firing arrows that could ricochet, Adam assumed the final evolution was something along that vein as well.

Adam’s eyes fell on the last person.

So, this is who I have to protect…

From the bright-red tattoos on her hands it was clear that she was also a Blood Mage. The patterns matched those of the Blood Speaker, and it seemed she hadn’t evolved them beyond that, perhaps because she’d gotten the blood sigils late. Predictably, she wore the Blood Mage Choker, two blood rings, and from her hip hung the Fetish of Sloth that Adam also possessed. Most eye-catching of all though was the red armour she wore. It was near-identical to the one that Riccardo D’Alia had possessed, which meant that it would be resistant to magic. It also looked kind of similar to the armour that was created when Adam used the Beckoning Crimson spell.

I wonder if that makes her resistant to blood magic too.

The way she was staring right at him was off-putting though, and it gave Adam a bad feeling, reminding him of how Riccardo had immediately accused him of being a mimic.

She was half Asian and maybe half European, based on her double eyelids and defined jaw. Even with the anaemic appearance caused by the Flayed Lady’s gift, it was clear her natural skin tone leaned more towards the pale side of the spectrum. Most of her shoulder-long hair was black, but some on the right side was snow-white. He couldn’t tell if it was dyed that way or a natural occurrence.

The cutscene let go of them and everyone except Adam stumbled a step. Then the golden light from his lighthouse’s boon flashed across everyone briefly.

There followed a few tense seconds where nobody said a word, then the guy with the two-handed sword asked, “No one here is a mimic, right?”

“I was just about to ask the same thing,” Adam replied, pretending to also be surprised that there were six of them.

“If one of us were a mimic, how would we know?” asked the Lancer.

The first guy laughed. “Good point.”

“Did you also have mimics in your last Stage?” Adam asked him.

He nodded.

“Anyone else?” Adam went on.

No one else said anything, so he quickly explained what it was and how it was tied to worshipping Nharlla.

“That’s who I’m worshipping…” muttered the Warrior in dismay. “After finding the skinned face in the Tower, I now have to find and kill something called the ‘Half Mimic’.”

“I have to find the False Judge,” Adam lied.

“Me too,” said the Archer, his voice surprisingly deep.

“I need to find a tainted parasite and give it to a dragon,” the Crusader said. Her tone was firm and somewhat cold.

She has to find the parasite?

It’s like I thought then, there must be an island above the bottom of the world where they exist. Perhaps one of the factions is holding on to some?

“I was told to befriend a ‘Noxious Slug Dragon’,” the Lancer revealed when they all looked at her next.

The Warrior laughed. “Befriend a dragon??”

That sounds difficult. Especially if it’s ‘noxious’.

“Who is your patron?” Adam asked her.

“The Guardian?” she replied as though she wasn’t sure.

“And what about you?” the Archer asked the woman who wouldn’t stop staring at Adam.

She finally broke eye contact and said, “The Flayed Lady asked me to defeat the White Flags.”

Her voice was sharp like a blade and there was an ice-cold certainty to it that reminded Adam of the dagger-wielding woman who he’d encountered in his third loop, and who, on the orders of Mórrígan, had promised to kill him in Stage Six.

Shit… I was hoping to get someone normal, but instead it’s a fanatic.

I guess you’d have to be for the Flayed Lady to show an interest in keeping you alive?

And her quest is bad, much worse than what Beck said.

[The timer has begun,] their cubes announced before they could finish their introductions.

< < Stage Objective > >

< Find the Godstone in the Floating Sea of Gold >

“We should introduce ourselves before we get going,” said the Archer. “My name is Lasse.”

“I’m Jabari,” said the Warrior.

Both of them seem reliable and friendly, which is a good sign.

“Adam.”

“I’m Cathy,” the Lancer said.

“My parents named me Ellen, but just call me Elle,” the Crusader explained. Adam thought she radiated an arrogant sort of middle-manager energy, which would doubtfully combo well with her insane quest to summon the Cloud Leviathan.

“Julie,” said the Blood Mage.

Now that they were freed from the cutscene, Adam could hear all the melodies that radiated out from his teammates. He could also hear the melodies that came from the distant horizon in every direction, and two large sources were relatively close, which didn’t bode well.

I think those groupings of melodies might be from airships, and I’m pretty sure they’re getting closer.

That must mean this is the Fallow’s Fallen pattern that Emelia described.

They’d gotten the Whale Eaters’ pattern last time, which revolved around that faction hunting down Mast-Chewer. Though she hadn’t told him much about the one with the Fallen, it started with two airships attacking them, and apparently featured a lot of raids all over the Floating Sea, which meant they’d get attacked a lot more often.

“Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, we should get ready,” Adam said. “I see enemies in the distance.”

Lasse, who also worshipped Messimer, looked in the same direction as Adam, but clearly couldn’t see anything. Nevertheless, he didn’t seem to question it.

“I’ll control the ship,” Adam said. “Lasse, I need you in the crow’s nest, since you also worship Messimer, and the Scope of Insight is going to be a boon as well.

The Archer nodded and hurried up the ratlines to the top of the foremast.

“I will handle the main sail,” Julie said.

“Then I will take the jib sail,” Ellen decided.

Adam nodded. “Jabari and Cathy, can you handle the broadside ballistae? We’ll be fighting two airships at once.”

Cathy didn’t seem so sure about it, but Jabari gave her a thumbs up and she went down below the main deck with him.

As Adam steered the Creaking Madam slightly and increased the propulsion of the propellers on the back by the rudder, using the throttle on the wheel, Julie came over to him, ignoring the lines for the main sail.

“So, you are Adam Fischer,” she said. “The Flayed Lady told me I would be protected during my quest.”

She ran her eyes up and down his body, pausing at the sight of his red glass hand.

“You must be one of her favourites,” she commented.

Given the gifts that he had been given and how the Flayed Lady had protected him from being completely controlled by Kate’s charm, it was hard for him to deny it.

“Your quest is difficult,” he remarked. “We need the White Flags for now, so let’s wait until the final day before we eliminate them.”

Julie nodded. “If you say so.”

The way with which she easily accepted his words made him suspicious.

Does she know I’m a time-looper?

“How much did the Flayed Lady tell you about me?”

Julie grinned, which made her look slightly demented. “Everything, Adam.”

He sighed.

Of course she did.

“Are we keeping the others alive?” she asked.

Adam met her eyes, giving her a stare of disapproval. “Of course.”

“Even the one who worships Nwetrou?” Julie went on.

Adam paused.

She really told her everything.

“She can’t be allowed to get her hands on a parasite eel,” Adam said. “But we shouldn’t get rid of her just because she worships Nwetrou.”

Julie leaned in close, her lips right next to his ear. “You don’t believe that,” she whispered.

Then she went back to her main sail duty, leaving Adam in a frustrated position.

I think I understand why time-loopers go mad trying to fix all the odds.

With this many Gods and their worshippers planning and scheming, it must be impossible to ensure a specific outcome.

Perhaps I’m being naïve, believing that it’s possible to find a world with all my friends in it. But if I beat the Trials and they don’t exist in that universe, then I fear that I’ll lose the chance to ever see them again. While death may not be the end for people, so long as someone wins, being sacrificed to Nwetrou sounds like it has no option to undo.

Adam pushed his thoughts aside when the two Fallow’s Fallen airships came into view. They had white-painted planks instead of the grey-brown of the Creaking Madam, and there were black spots wherever the paint had flaked away. The vessels were much sharper in shape than Adam’s ship and they moved through the air at higher speeds, thanks to the extra fins on the sides of the hull. The rightmost one had a figurehead of a grinning skeleton holding a lantern, and the other had a snake made of skulls, with candles in each of the empty eye sockets. Both ships flew a white flag with a golden skull on it, which reminded Adam of the first airship he’d encountered last time. Each of the ships also had a large ballista at the front, and he knew Fallow’s Fallen liked to use chains to board enemy ships to loot them.

To maximise their own firing angles, the two ships split and moved at diagonal lines along each side of the Creaking Madam, making it difficult to bring their own ballistae to bear on one ship without exposing themselves to the other.

Although, we will become a narrower target for the one we aren’t aiming at, since its broadside will be firing down at our ship from the front.

His initial idea had been to sail between them, but that was clearly going to be difficult, and the logic of such a move was also questionable at best.

The ships were still hundreds of metres away, but they were already launching bolts through the air.

“Ready on starboard ballistae!” Adam yelled, turning them towards the portside, which was his left.

Bolts zipped through the air, not yet locked in on them, but still too close for comfort.

Adam lifted his Spidersilk Needle out from his belt and manipulated it and its string through the air after activating his blood rings to give himself some material to work with. He managed to weave a push spell pattern while controlling the ship, and it was hard not to feel a bit smug about how Julie was staring at him and his ability to multitask.

“Grab the wheel,” Adam told her as he went over to the starboard side and floated his body down towards where the tips of their ballistae bolts poked out.

Fwoosh!

The bolt directly below him fired off, the surprise nearly making him lose the control over the Mana in his body.

Maybe this was a bit too foolish, he considered as he quickly placed the woven spell onto the tip of a different bolt. The pattern was filled with more blood than usual, which would create a bigger bang.

Once it was primed and ready, Adam pulled himself up, just in time to watch it launch from the ballista inside the ship.

Fortunately, the aim was spot on and the bolt struck the hull of the enemy vessel, killing two of the pirates and triggering Adam’s spell, which delivered its payload into the hold of the ship where most of their ballistae were placed. As the blood shot out, crystallising on activation, he could briefly track the projectiles thanks to the melodies they shared with him. Only three of the dozen shards that were fired actually struck flesh-and-blood targets, but it was enough.

Adam concentrated before sending out a pulse of Mana along the right frequency to trigger the Blood Crystal spell that he’d learnt from Sylvia’s scroll. He couldn’t see the effects, but four of the melodies coming from the enemy ship winked out as the three who’d been hit exploded like blood grenades, taking out a fourth who’d avoided the initial hit. Along with the two that the bolt had killed, the crew who manned the weapons had been wiped out, leaving just a few on the deck, one of whom was killed by the next bolt that struck true.

While Julie and Ellen watched on, Adam ran along the main deck to the bow of the ship before leaping off. The Priest Crusader yelled something after him, but he rapidly outdistanced their ship as he pulled on the Mana in his body to fly the hundred-or-so metres to the ship on their left.

By the time he landed on the enemy helm half a minute later, the first of the Fallow’s Fallen ships had been defeated, sinking down below the floating point, and Julie was turning their portside to bear on the airship Adam was on.

[Small airship defeated.]

Fortunately, none of his ship’s ballistae fired towards him and Adam was able to make quick work of the pirates aboard the ship, since they still had flesh and blood in them, even if they were corrupted by the gold curse and their gilded bones exposed.

Once all of the pirates were dead, an Upgrade Chest appeared along with the message, [Small airship defeated.]

Adam got a Rare Luck upgrade out of it, which put him just 2 away from 25, the threshold for guaranteeing Rare rewards.

Once he’d collected all the blood and flesh from the pirates, as well as some of the valuables that lay around, he flew back to his own ship while the one he’d boarded coasted forward despite no one being at the helm.

Before he landed on the deck, Adam plastered his harvested flesh to the front of their airship, filling the cavities he made with blood. He figured it would serve as an extra layer of defence if he changed the density of the skin that coated the flesh, and having the blood there would be quite useful since he didn’t need to drain himself.

Although, the main reason for placing it all there was that it would be hard to get the others to trust him if he was openly using his grisly form of magic.

“How did you do that?” Ellen asked him as he dumped the looted valuables onto the deck.

“I’m a blood mage,” he replied. “That means I can control my own blood, allowing me to fly.”

From the look that Julie gave him, it was clear that she couldn’t do what he’d done. But then again, she hadn’t picked Flesh Shaper.

That’s probably for the best.

I’d feel uneasy about her being able to fly wherever she pleases.

“What was that stuff you put on the front of the ship?” Lasse asked as he came down from the crow’s nest.

I forgot he was up there…

“It’s an extra layer of protection,” Adam said, not going into detail.

Lasse nodded.

He’s surprisingly quick to just accept anything, Adam thought. He was the only one who would’ve gotten a good look at what exactly Adam brought, so the fact that he didn’t raise a stink helped a lot.

Jabari and Cathy came up from below deck a moment later.

“Good shooting,” Adam told them.

“That was kind of fun,” Cathy said.

Everyone looked at her, surprised by the comment from the timid woman, and she curled into herself a bit from all of the attention.

Then Jabari laughed. “I didn’t even get to fire a single shot!”

Adam laughed as well.

Maybe we’ll be fine with this team.

-----------------------------

-Previous Chapter-
--Encyclopaedia---
---Next Chapter----