Loopshard - Chapter One-Hundred-and-Sixteen

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This should've gone up yesterday, but i ended up kind of busy because of the Isekai Exorcist book 2 launch. Anyway, chapter 117 will be out tomorrow.

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Chapter One-Hundred-and-Sixteen

Adam went down the steps of his Player House and into the basement restaurant, and no sooner had he entered than all of the special denizens, as well as Yenna and Weaver, came through the door in the back. Belamouranthe appeared like last time as well, transported to the island by a giant blue flower that appeared in the middle of the basement.

She greeted Adam and handed him the same All-Mother’s Fruit that she’d gifted him last time. Then she went over to where Charlie and Weaver were.

He had agreed to meet Beck and Gladwyn right after the Altar, but when he sat down on a seat, the constantly-running query to show him time-loopers didn’t reveal Beck.

“Show me Beck,” he told the Eye.

[This Player does not exist.]

Adam panicked for a second, but then he remembered that Beck wasn’t using the nickname in this universe.

“Show me Benjamin Sharpe.”

[This Player is not currently seated in the Tavern.]

Maybe I got here too fast, since he always goes to Gladwyn’s dimension first.

“Show me Gladwyn.”

[This Player does not exist.]

Adam shook his head. I don’t think I’ll get used to calling them by their real names…

“Show me Wi—”

[Another Player is trying to communicate with you. Do you wish to talk to them?] the Eye interrupted him.

“Is it Beck? I mean, Benjamin.”

[Correct.]

“Pass him through.”

Beck appeared opposite Adam. He was leaning his chin on the knuckles of his left hand while spinning an empty bottle with his right.

“Hey,” Adam said.

“William is dead,” Beck immediately replied.

Adam froze. He hadn’t expected this outcome.

“We ended up in the same Stage,” Beck explained before Adam could say anything.

“Shit…” he muttered.

“Yeah. It was bad luck. In a way, it’s ironic that the Diviner killed him in Stage Three last time, because if I’d had to fight him in the Altar, then I don’t think I would’ve kept going. I kind of feel like giving up already,” he admitted.

“You can’t!” Adam exclaimed.

“He had the lighthouse, and you said I can’t get a new flame from you because you only get one per loop. And since you’ll be gone when I loop again, I won’t be able to get it from you. So, it’s pretty clear that it’s impossible for me to save him.”

Beck sighed.

“I don’t want to do this all by myself again…”

“Benjamin, listen to me,” Adam said seriously.

The old guy lifted his gaze and met Adam’s hard stare. His purple spiralling eyes seemed a little duller than before.

“I managed to save everyone in my Stage,” Adam said. “Cathrine Boyle, Nicolas Sánchez Romero, Mei Wu, and Momo Manalo. I saved them all and still cleared the Altar.”

Beck sat up straight in his chair. “How?” he asked.

Adam explained everything he had done while Beck listened with rapt attention.

“Do you think killing all the statues played a part in it?” Beck asked. “And would I have to activate Hardmode?”

“I don’t know. But it might be easier that way, since it would slow down all the other Players. Only two of the four in my group ended up encountering each other before me, but they both ended up working together because there were too many statue elementals after them.”

Beck nodded. “I don’t think anyone in my grouping would die to those things, and if I coordinated with Gladwyn ahead of time, then we should be able to get everyone. I normally start in the westmost stairwell and Gladwyn arrives on the opposite side, so we’d have good coverage of all the chambers. Whether or not the others would be willing to cooperate is another story.”

“You’re not giving up, right?” Adam asked.

“It’s worth giving a try,” he replied noncommittally.

“Last time I was in the Altar, I saw one of my original friends die in front of me. But I’m still going because I know I can find a universe and save her, along with all my other friends,” Adam said. “You have a chance to save your friend in this universe, so you shouldn’t give up.”

Beck smiled wistfully. “William refused to trade places with me. He said he was too old to become a time-looper. Lying bastard. I’m older than him!”

“There’s also no guarantee that he would’ve made it to the Self-devouring Eye by himself,” Adam said, trying to support Gladwyn’s sacrifice in a way that Beck wouldn’t blame himself too much.

“He ended up dying to the Stage timer,” Beck went on. “I didn’t see it. He just vanished when the timer ran out and then I was transported to the Worship selection. It was a small mercy at least.”

Adam nodded.

If he’d had to fight his friend to the death, it would’ve left a permanent mark.

I don’t think I could do it.

My power allows me to get out of making a choice in such a situation, but Beck has no choice but to keep living. If he wants to save his friend, he needs to keep going and survive.

Adam had a sudden epiphany.

The reason why this universe stopped looping is because of this moment.

It’s because Beck, the only person left with the potential to become a time-looper, gave up trying after watching his friend die in front of him.

I need to do what I can to support him so that he keeps going.

They hadn’t made a bet for Stage Five, since it had felt in bad taste, and now Adam was doubly glad they hadn’t. It would’ve soured things even more.

“I see you chose the Flayed Lady after all,” Beck suddenly said, his eyes locked firmly onto Adam’s.

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“Your skin colour and your eyes,” he replied. “Your skin looks like one of the vampire’s from Moonport, and the veins in the whites of your eyes have gotten bigger.”

Good to know there are tells.

“Do any of the other Absolutes change the appearance of those who worship them?” Adam asked.

“The squid guy’s boss gives you gills and blue-tinged skin,” Beck replied.

“You mean Nwetrou?”

Beck shrugged.

“Anyone else?”

“The All-Mother gives you a soul wing. The colour apparently depends on your personality.”

“I’ve heard about that,” Adam remarked. “But I didn’t think there’d be others who found out how to save Belamouranthe besides time-loopers.”

“During my last loop I met some Players who killed the Elphin Queen before she could kill the girl. There were also others who had the Queen die during their Stage Four, but since the girl survived they didn’t lose the Stage.”

“Weird,” Adam replied. He’d assumed that if the Queen died, then the Stage would end. But apparently the ‘defend the ritual site’ objective didn’t require her to survive, though he had to wonder how precisely that made sense and how the cutscene for Stage Five would play out if she was already dead.

“How did you know about the signs for Nwetrou?” Adam asked.

“That’s what the Diviner used,” he explained. “After I killed him, I tried to pull off his weird helmet, though it wouldn’t budge. But that’s when I noticed the gills and skin colour.”

“It’s gotta be related to the boons Nwetrou gives if you worship him,” Adam said.

Beck nodded.

There was a brief pause where neither of them said anything.

Then Beck asked, “Do you mind if I visit your dimension?”

“Sure,” Adam told him. “I’ve gotta show you my new weapon too.”

“You did promise that, didn’t you?”

Later after Beck had come to Adam’s dimension, they were in the Market where Adam was looking to spend his 9950 Points to evolve his Spidersilk Needle.

“Are you sure that isn’t hurting you?” Beck asked, a slightly disgusted frown on his face as Adam landed on the cobblestones next to him.

“Does it look that bad?” Adam replied. Thanks to the Flayed Lady, the pain of manipulating and moving his own body didn’t scare him anymore, and he’d become able to manipulate the blood in his own veins without feeling like he was about to die every time he stopped the flow for a second.

“Uh… Yeah,” Beck said honestly. “It looks like hooks digging into your weirdly stretchy shoulder skin and lifting you off to get butchered.”

Maybe I should practice this in front of a mirror before I go to the next Stage…

“It’s pretty useful though,” Adam said. “Especially for moments where I can’t collect a lot of blood and flesh to manipulate.”

As he said it, he shifted the flesh from his left arm to his right, bulking it out and making it strong enough that he could easily do a single-arm handstand to hold himself aloft.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Beck replied, turning away.

Adam returned his arms to their normal shape, or as close to it as he could. It was a bit hard to remember exactly how his flesh and muscle had been distributed, and since he was sure he’d shape the arms more in the near future, he didn’t worry too much about it.

“What have you gotten as your secondary weapon?” Adam asked Beck.

“Nothing yet,” he replied. “I’m waiting to get the Crawler’s Eye from the tower.”

“I’m not familiar with that one.”

“You need to complete the four optional objectives and then defeat the Crawler.”

“Won’t that empower it?” Adam asked.

“It’s worth doing,” Beck said. “The weapon is able to make you go briefly incorporeal, granting immunity to physical damage, and it uses these invisible hands as its form of attack which is pretty powerful. It took me a while to learn how to use it last time, but I brought that weapon all the way to the end with me.”

Emelia didn’t mention that one.

I get the feeling that her idea of which weapons are worth using or not was quite shortsighted though. There are probably a thousand ways to get strong, it just takes skill, luck, and perseverance to get to the Self-devouring Eye.

Adam had shown Beck a little bit about how his Spidersilk Needle worked, and he had immediately expressed interest in its evolutions. It was something Adam was also very curious about.

As such, they stopped in front of Thea’s shop and Adam spent the 8100 Points necessary to fully evolve it to level 18.

The first evolution gave him a choice between two options that either made the needle gain a silver tip or glowing green veins throughout the off-white bone it was made of.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Spidersilk Needler — Double the maximum potential speed of the needle >

< Spidersilk Spinner — Double the effectiveness of spidersilk >

“Neither seem that good,” Beck muttered. “But I would pick whichever is more likely to give you upgrades tied to magic.”

Adam nodded. It was the same thing he’d been thinking. “Since the Spidersilk Needle is both a physical and magical weapon, these evolutions clearly target those two aspects. Needler is no doubt going to focus on boosting the physical aspect, and since spidersilk is what allows me to cast spells, or whatever you call them, then Spinner should lead to more magical stuff. At least I hope so.”

“The green effect also looks cooler,” Beck added.

Adam grinned. “Then it’s settled.”

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Spidersilk Weaver => Spidersilk Spinner >

The next two options changed the appearance of the spidersilk itself, one turned it an ephemeral green, though it was only really noticeable when it was coiled together. The other turned the string golden along with the glowing effect of the needle’s veins.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Hallowed Vale Seamster — All spidersilk constructs can be triggered twice >

< Golden Loom — Effectiveness of spidersilk constructs scales up to 300% based on complexity >

“This is a tough one,” Adam said.

“Double triggering is always good,” Beck commented.

“Stacking boosts is even better,” Adam replied.

“It’s based on complexity,” Beck pointed out. “In the time you take to make one complex construct and trigger it once, you might be able to make two simple ones that both are triggered twice.”

Adam scratched his stubble. “So, it’s a choice between power and speed.”

“Always pick speed,” Beck said.

“But I always go for power…” Adam replied.

“I don’t know if I can do this if you’re gonna be like that,” Beck told him.

Adam laughed.

Then he picked Golden Loom.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Spidersilk Spinner => Golden Loom >

“I swear you’re just doing this to irritate me,” Beck muttered with a frown.

“When I crash and burn because of my choice, you’ll know to pick the other option,” Adam replied.

“I thought you said you’d stick with me to the end.”

“I don’t think I said that,” Adam responded.

“No, I’m very sure you did.”

“Old age must be affecting your memory.”

“That’s right, you should listen to your elders.”

Adam laughed again.

After six more upgrades, the final set of evolutions appeared. The left hologram had the needle adorned with a golden tip. The right option gave it a gold-and-violet tip, and infused the glowing veins and string with violet as well.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< The Golden Tailor — Spidersilk constructs become stable enough to be worn >

< Gold-specked Illusionist — Unique Skill ( Golden Illusion ) | Weave an illusion of golden spidersilk that will perform one action. 50 Mana cost >

“Hah!” Beck exclaimed. “You’re gonna end up making clothes!”

“That does sound pretty useful actually. I could take my time weaving something and then use it for later. Like a glove that punches really hard, or a shirt that nullifies damage, or whatever you can think of.”

“Are you actually able to weave things like that?” Beck asked.

“No…”

Beck grinned derisively.

“But I’ll learn!” Adam exclaimed.

“You should pick the Illusionist,” he said.

Adam looked at where the Eye sat on the ground shaped into a pyramid. “Since the Illusionist says ‘weave’ in the description, does that mean I literally have to weave the illusion?”

[Correct. Although the Golden Illusion spell will assist you.]

“How much will it assist me?”

[I cannot say.]

Beck’s grin widened. “You should’ve picked the Hallowed whatever evolution.”

“I’ll make it work,” Adam told him and picked Golden Tailor.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Golden Loom => The Golden Tailor >

The 18 upgrades he’d bought to get the three evolutions were as follows:

< < Weapon Upgrades Purchased > >

< Needle Damage (Epic) >

< Needle Damage (Rare) >

< Needle Damage (Uncommon) >

< Needle Impact (Uncommon) x2 >

< Needle Speed (Epic) >

< Needle Speed (Uncommon) x4 >

< Spidersilk Effect (Uncommon) x2 >

< Spidersilk Efficiency (Uncommon) x2 >

< Spidersilk Power (Rare) x2 >

< Spidersilk Power (Uncommon) x2 >

< 1850 Points Remaining >

Adam had also gotten three new Mastery Shards to his collection, putting his total at five. He heavily considered spending three of them to get another Lucky Stone from Alivida, since he’d end up with two and might be able to guarantee he’d get the Legendary from Alepheria’s Crooked Tower. Although, first he had to make sure they could be activated simultaneously to buff the next reward.

“I’ve got 1850 Points left, what else should I buy?” Adam wondered.

“Are you going for anything specific, long-term?” Beck asked.

“I want to get the meta upgrade that lets me save weapons between loops.”

“What do you need for that?”

“Five fully-evolved weapons.”

“You should save up for that then,” Beck said. “Unless you feel particularly weak in some area.”

Adam brought up his status to check.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam Fischer >

< Red Prince >

< Level 53 >

< Stats >

< Health — 170 (+20) >

< Stamina — 50 >

< Mana — 75 >

< Damage — 125% >

< Defence — 60% (+60%) >

< Speed — 70% (+20%) >

< Luck — 10 >

< Attack Speed — 125% (+25%) >

< Relics >

< Attack Speed +25% >

< Defence +25% -25% >

< Speed +10% >

< Upgrades >

< Bleed +40% >

< Defence +60% >

< Health +20 >

< Movement +10% >

I definitely need more Mana and Defence.

Even with Blood Mage Choker and Slothling Fur Coat cancelling each other out, 60% Defence is terrible. And the more Mana I have, the more effective I’ll be with my blood magic and the Spidersilk Needle.

“Yeah, I need to buy some more upgrades,” he told Beck.

He went over to Karie the cricket’s stall, and in the first batch got a Rare Mana upgrade. In the next set of five he had to pick between Uncommon Mana and Defence, and ended up picking Defence. Next he got a Rare Bleed, then Epic Defence, followed by a Rare Defence, and lastly an Epic Luck.

< < General Upgrades Purchased > >

< Bleed (Rare) >

< Defence (Epic) >

< Defence (Rare) >

< Defence (Uncommon) >

< Luck (Epic) >

< Mana (Rare) >

< 50 Points Remaining >

That’s better.

Adam was now at 80 Mana, 110% Defence, 55% Bleed, and 15 Luck.

He felt ready to take on Stage Six.

But first, I need to practice more.

“Let’s go practice,” Adam told Beck.

“You’re just gonna make me watch you knit sweaters, I bet…” he replied sourly.

“Possibly.”

Beck shrugged. “I guess I can always go down into your basement when I get bored.”

“That’s the spirit,” Adam said with a grin.

They immediately left the Market and went to the Player House.

On the way, Beck said, “I didn’t get the Tome Keeper this time.”

“I figured,” Adam replied. “He’s a hard one to unlock. Who did you pick instead?”

“Messimer,” he replied. “I’ve heard a lot about the Appraisal skill he offers.”

“You didn’t get pulled into a weird place, right?”

“No. It was kind of anti-climactic, truth be told. I was just met by this weird triangle-headed guy in a suit in front of my island altar.”

“Another time-looper I met said that Messimer’s Envoy wore a toga,” Adam replied.

“Weird. This guy just had a black business suit on. Although his tie was kind of cool. It was red and had blinking eyes on it.”

“Maybe they send different Envoys depending on the universe,” Adam guessed.

“I’m glad he wore a suit. A toga is one slip away from being a sexual crime taking place. I mean, it’s all just out there,” Beck said, making a face.

“I’m pretty sure they’d wear something under the toga,” Adam replied.

“No, they definitely won’t. Everyone I’ve seen in a toga has gone commando underneath.”

Adam laughed. “And where have you seen this?”

“Every time I visited William down in Florida.”

Beck paused for a moment.

“Actually, it may have just been a Florida thing, now that I think about it.”

Adam laughed even harder.

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