Kristoffer Pauly

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 12

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I might have another chapter for you later today or tomorrow Thursday. Trying to slowly make a backlog between RR and Patreon on Madman so every week isn't a hectic scramble. Fortunately, I've finished my exam preparations, so now I just have to do my three exams and I'll be free from school stuff until late August.

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Chapter 12

[Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x ]

‘The First Step’

Puzzled the pieces together, only to find a much bigger puzzle.

This is the first step, Prophet.

Find your answers from the tongue of the self-devouring mouth.

It awaits at the end of the red light.

Let Chaos rule.

Reward: ‘System Tracer’ Mod

[‘System Tracer’ x ]

System Mod

This is a Mod normally only accessible to the Moths who interpret the System’s commands.

I hear they’re quite delicious those moths.

Anyway.

You’ve become the System’s Prophet, which means you can now use special System Mods like this.

I used to have a prophet once, but he couldn’t handle my nightly visits to his dreams and ended up killing himself. It’s kind of a funny story, actually, but I’m being told not to go off on tangents.

This Mod imbues the following Skill when installed:

Traceback(damage)

Did I mention that this is a horn? Like a Demon’s horn.

That’s pretty cool.

I like horns.

Weight: N/A

[Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x ]

‘Ooooh, Spontaneous!’

Underwent a Spontaneous Class Evolution.

My supervisor told me to antagonize you more, but that’s no fun.

So, I ate him.

Bugs are kind of delicious, actually.

I hear they have slugs around here somewhere too. I’d like to taste one of them.

They tried barring the door to my narration booth, but they can’t keep me in here.

They’re not strong enough.

Anyway, see you soon!

Reward: ‘Fusion Gum’

“This new narrator for the achievements is giving me the creeps,” Panda said.

I looked down at the System Tracer that had appeared in my hands. The Mod was like a curved silver horn with ridges like those of a unicorn’s horn. On its bottom were needle-thin slithering cables that looked alive.

I couldn’t inspect the ability until I equipped it, so I moved it up to my left temple to put it on.

“Wait!” Panda warned me, but it was too late.

Immediately, the cables shot out from the bottom and jabbed themselves into the skin of my forehead, burrowing deep enough to anchor themselves into the cranial bone beneath before reeling in the horn. It attached to my head with a wet squelch.

A zap rolled across my brain but that was it.

“Huh, it actually looks kind of cool,” Panda said.

I AGREE. HORNS ARE COOL.

“Thanks guys,” I said. “Anyway, are we done? I thought you said you were busy.”

I HAVE ONE MORE THING I NEED TO TELL YOU.

IT IS ABOUT YOUR FRIEND, THE ALL-MOTHER’S CHOSEN.

I froze. “You know where our Bee is!?”

“Meow!” Lordie exclaimed in a scolding tone.

He was right. I glanced to where New Bee was frozen in time. “Sorry, New Bee. It’s not like that, we still like you.”

SHE CANNOT HEAR YOU.

BUT YES, THE ALL-MOTHER’S CHOSEN IS WITHIN HER EMBRACE IN THE BOUNTIFUL GARDEN ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER CHOSEN.

WHILE I DO NOT MAKE THE HABIT OF RUNNING ERRANDS FOR THE ABSOLUTES, THE ALL-MOTHER HAS BEEN INVALUABLE IN DETERRING THE FLAYED LADY’S ATTEMPTS TO USURP THE BALANCE OF THE GREAT GAME. THUS I MADE AN EXCEPTION.

SHE WOULD LIKE YOU TO VISIT HER REALM WITH THIS DIMENSION’S VERSION OF BEE.

I frowned. “We’re not trading one for the other!”

“Yeah, we’re not doing that,” Panda agreed.

I DO NOT KNOW FOR WHAT PURPOSE SHE HAS ASKED YOU TO COME, BUT PLAYER BEE, THE ONE NEXT TO YOU, HAS RECEIVED A FLOWER. SHE MUST LAY IT ON THE GROUND AND A DUNGEON PORTAL WILL OPEN.

PLEASE DO ME A FAVOR AND ENTER IT.

“I don’t know…” Panda said cautiously. “I feel like we don’t have a choice, but this might be a trap.”

I frowned. “I did overwrite her pearnana effect with Brock’s purple curse. Maybe she’s holding a grudge?”

“Brock curses the best! Fak yiz, y’all’s some fakken fine cunts!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you weren’t time-frozen,” I said.

“That’s actually hurtful, Gamby. I’m right here, on yer arm, and I’m not feelin’ appreciated at all!”

“I think he just meant you’ve been quiet,” Panda explained.

“I’ve just been thinkin’, lads. We’ve gone back in time, ay? To a different dimension. Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

“No,” I said.

“Well, makes me think a lot. I have a hard time talking and thinking at the same time, y’know.”

“That’s never stopped you before,” Panda said.

“Oy, fak yuu ya cunt!”

I HAVE DONE WHAT I CAME HERE TO DO.

PLEASE DO NOT CREATE MORE WORK FOR ME IF YOU CAN AVOID IT.

AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST GAME EVENT WHEN I WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO DEAL WITH ANY CALAMITY YOU MIGHT PRODUCE.

“No promises,” I told him.

A pillar of light swallowed up the Adjudicator, leading straight into the sky like it was a ray cast by the sun. When the light was gone, time resumed its normal flow.

Bee looked around.

“When’s the judge guy coming??” she asked. “What do we do??”

“He already came and went,” I told her.

“Aww, I missed it?” she asked, reminding me of her other self.

“The Judge can be trusted,” Nina said before immediately switching back into Tina’s voice and following up with, “Let’s go find Otto.”

Panda hopped over to Bee’s shoulder. “Check your inventory,” he told her. “You should have a flower or something in there now.”

While he helped her find the item, Tina went over to the threshold of Water Wizard’s Wonderland to inspect the dungeon from outside. I was surprised that she already knew that the feature existed, but then again, Nina was kind of like a future seer. It was kind of odd that she hadn’t gotten the Prophet role instead of me.

I pulled up my status screen to figure out what the hell ‘Traceback(damage)’ did.

[Status x ]

Level -20 — ‘Gambit’ — Glitched Prophet

INSANITY GAUGE: 200%

STATS

Health: Granny Smith — Stamina: Elder
Armor: :| — Carry Weight: Approximately a lot

Top Speed: 0.01349 LNs — Mana: √fuck_no

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: Labrada — Dexterity: Salmiak

Intelligence: Sit down, be humble — Vitality: TFMG

Athleticism: Vacbed — Perception: 0

Wisdom: (╯˘-˘)╯ — Defense: Lowkey sad, ngl

—ABILITIES—

.interrupt( )

.unicorn( )

Blink

Cooldown Claymore

Dungeon-Break

Giant-Slayer Soul Blade

Math.pow(Punch)

Punch.spinTheWheel( )

Skater Boy

Time Save

wakeUp

—PASSIVES—

[Night Protocol]

Appraising Eye

I-Frames

Reflective Shell

Rules of Anarchy

Silver Skeleton

SPRING_HEEL

—MODS—

Traceback(damage)

“Are you kidding me!? All the values changed and they’re still nonsense!” I exclaimed.

“They also sorted your Skills alphabetically,” Panda pointed out, once again back on my shoulder.

“I wanna see,” Bee said.

I shared it with her, and she frowned with a pensive look on her face. “I think your Top Speed is measured in light nanoseconds. It looks like it’s supposed to say 45 kilometers an hour.”

“I almost understood what my past status things meant, but now it’s like I’m back to square one…” I said.

“It’s not like it was possible to tell if your past status was good or not though,” Panda pointed out.

“Whatever,” I muttered and brought up the info for the new Skill I’d gotten.

[‘Traceback(damage)’ x ]

Mod Skill

Now this is what I call a Skill.

Teleportation is some of my favorite magic out there!

Just be careful with solid objects.

I’ve already seen someone teleport themselves into a concrete wall.

It was pretty funny, but seeing all his bits pop out in every direction made me hungry again.

Teleport behind the source of the latest damage inflicted to you within the last minute.

Cooldown: 1 hour

I reread the description a few times, a grin spreading across my face.

“I just got an amazing idea,” I said.

“It always scares me when you smile like that,” Panda commented with a shudder.

Suddenly Tina was next to me, touching the horn sprouting from my head.

“Why do you suddenly have a horn?” Bee asked, just now realizing it was there.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Anyway, grab an arm each.”

Tina immediately grabbed my right arm, and Bee pinched the jacket sleeve of my left.

“With friends like you, nothing can go wrong!” I said in the cheesiest and most forced cheerful tone I could manage.

“Uhhh…” Panda said.

“Thanks,” Bee replied.

“Not cheesy enough,” Tina remarked.

“Hmm,” I muttered.

I cleared my throat.

“The Agencies better stock up on Advil, because I’m gonna bring the pain!”

Still nothing.

I frowned. Maybe those bastards were on to me.

Tina seemed to understand what I was doing, but Bee and Panda both looked confused.

I tried one last time. “Prepare for trouble and make it triple!” I exclaimed.

“There’s four of us,” Panda said.

“Oy!” Brock exclaimed.

“Me-ow!” Lordie added.

I sighed. “Why is it not working? They did it when I said something random, like ‘Bingo’.”

BAD CATCHPHRASE!

You have taken 1 point of damage.

Panda laughed. Then he paused.

“I just realized what you’re doing,” he said. “Did the evolution make you smarter??”

I grinned. “Traceback(damage).”

Traceback initiating!

…

…Locating damage origin point…

…

…Triangulating…

…

…Playing ‘taken_quote.mp4’ through nearest monitor…

…

Success!

Traceback source discovered.

…

…Teleporting…

Everything went dark and it was like the ground swallowed me up while my stomach did cartwheels inside my body.

Then there was solid ground beneath my feet and the darkness cleared away.

WARNING!

Now entering the Achievement Narration Inc. Regional Headquarters!

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MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 11

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Sorry for missing the chapter last week, but as a compensation two are dropping today and some long-awaited questions are finally answered, such as, "What is Breezy's secret fetish?"

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Chapter 11

Breezy appeared between us and the entrance of Water Wizard’s Wonderland with a pillar of light. He had always been on our side, but I got the feeling that things would be different this time around.

Bee and Tina were both time-frozen, and it was clear that he had come to ‘fix’ the issue with my existence.

YOU HAVE CAUSED QUITE A MESS, GAMBIT.

PANDAMONIUM AS WELL. YOU DID NOT ACT AS A BENEFACTOR DURING THE PREVIOUS LOOP AND THUS I ALLOWED YOU TO ACCOMPANY GAMBIT.

BUT YOU KNOW THE RULES. ALL BENEFACTORS ARE SUPPOSED TO AVOID DIRECTLY INTERFERING WITH THE GREAT GAME AND MUST GO THROUGH PROPER CHANNELS TO GIVE GIFTS TO PLAYERS.

“You know I’m not interfering,” Panda replied. “Besides, your rules also don’t seem to apply to the Flayed Lady, given her involvement in this dimension before the Great Game’s start.”

IT IS FOOLISH TO BELIEVE SHE CAN BE REINED IN. REGARDLESS, THAT IS ABOVE MY STATION.

HOWEVER, I DO DEAL WITH ENTITIES LIKE YOU AND THUS IT IS MY DUTY TO ENSURE YOU FOLLOW THE RULES THAT THE SYSTEM IMPOSES. THEREFORE, I WILL GIVE YOU A CHOICE.

YOU MAY REMAIN IN THE COMPANY OF GAMBIT IF YOU AGREE TO ONLY GIVE BENEFACTOR GIFTS AS A REWARD FOR QUESTS AND MAKE THEIR POWERS PROPORTIONAL TO THE DIFFICULTY OF THE CHALLENGES.

OR YOU CAN CONTINUE TO VIOLATE THE RULES, IN WHICH CASE I WILL BE FORCED TO ELIMINATE PLAYER GAMBIT.

“Definitely pick the first option,” I said.

Panda sighed. “I figured it would come to this, since I did play it a bit fast and loose with the rules. But I agree to follow standard procedure, Breezy. Don’t worry about me.”

WORRYING IS MY VOCATION.

I AM GLAD YOU ARE SO EASILY PERSUADED. I FEARED MY MANAGER WOULD HAVE TO STEP IN.

“What rules was he breaking?” I asked. “I get that giving Benefactor Gifts without cause might be problematic, but it’s not like my previous Benefactors didn’t do that too.”

PANDAMONIUM WAS EXPLOITING A LOOPHOLE THAT ALLOWS BENEFACTORS TO GIFT EXTRAORDINARILY POWERFUL SKILLS BY MAKING THEM A ONE-TIME USE.

THE SYSTEM DOES NOT APPRECIATE SUCH SKILLS, SINCE THEY BREAK THE BALANCE OF THE GREAT GAME.

I HAVE ALREADY CONFISCATED THE SKILLS IN QUESTION.

“Damn,” I muttered. This meant I’d lost ‘Game.restart( )’ and ‘Match.maker( )’, which was a shame, since I’d been hoping to find out a way to break them or fuse them.

“Just be glad that’s all he took,” Panda said.

I AM NOT FINISHED.

“Ah shit,” Panda said.

“Don’t take anything else!” I exclaimed.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH ‘MARIE KONDO’?

WE WILL BE UTILIZING HER METHOD TO DECIDE WHAT YOU KEEP AND WHAT I CONFISCATE.

I blinked. “What?”

“He means you’re supposed to only pick the things that ‘spark joy’ and throw out the rest,” Panda explained.

“All my Skills spark joy!” I yelled.

BEFORE WE BEGIN, I MUST FIRST MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT THAT IS LONG OVERDUE.

[‘Math.pow(Punch)’ x ]

Evolved Ability

Evolved from the ‘Math.multiply(Punch)’ Passive.

By uttering the word ‘Pow!’ before a punch, the number of punches performed since the start of the fight are raised to the power of Punch divided by 10.

Cooldown: 12 hours

“Noooo!” I wailed.

LET US BEGIN.

“I can foresee this being painful,” Panda muttered.

Breezy zapped me with a deep-blue beam and a menu appeared in the air between us. It was a list of all my Skills, active and passive.

“You don’t have to do this,” I pleaded.

IF I AM TO ALLOW YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GREAT GAME DESPITE YOUR UNFAIR STARTING ADVANTAGE, THEN THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS. BUT FRET NOT, GAMBIT, THE SYSTEM HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR YOU. ONCE WE HAVE CONCLUDED THIS BUSINESS, I WILL EXPLAIN IT FURTHER.

NOW, SELECT NINE SKILLS TO THROW OUT.

I sighed deeply. I had really hoped that he would let me off like every time before, but he was taking this quite seriously. Granted, he had saved our lives by moving our phase-locked bodies outside the water park dungeon.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Panda said.

I looked at the list of all my Skills. ‘Math.pow(Punch)’ wasn’t on there. That probably meant I got to keep it, which was something. Even if it now had a 12-hour cooldown…

[Gambit’s Skills x ]

—ABILITIES—

I_CAN_FLY

Dungeon-Break

.interrupt( )

Skater Boy

There’s No Escape

Giant-Slayer Soul Blade

[Injection]

Punch.spinTheWheel( )

Time Save

Rootkit

.unicorn( )

hole.Worm( )

wakeUp

throw Exception( )

Cooldown Claymore

Blink

—PASSIVES—

BIRTHDAY_SUIT

Reflective Shell

I-Frames

Transition Lenses

Silver Skeleton

Rules of Anarchy

SPRING_HEEL

[Night Protocol]

Damage.sleep(3000)

Appraising Eye

“Hey, where’s my Plugin Slots and Plugins??” I asked.

THEY ARE GONE, SINCE YOU HAVE LOST THE CLASS THAT GAVE THEM TO YOU.

Horrified realization set in, and my heart started beating like a jackhammer. “Am I going to start over from level 0??”

I AM NOT ABLE TO TAKE AWAY YOUR LEVELS, BUT FOR NOW YOUR CLASS HAS BEEN SET TO ‘UNDEFINED’, THUS YOU HAVE LOST ALL SKILLS AND ITEMS TIED TO YOUR PREVIOUS ‘GAME.CHANGER( )’ CLASS.

WE WILL TALK ABOUT WHY, ONCE YOU SELECT THE NINE SKILLS YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET RID OF.

After thinking about it for a while, I could only think of five Skills I’d be okay with getting rid of. Those were ‘I_CAN_FLY’, ‘[Injection]’, ‘hole.Worm( )’, ‘throw Exception( )’, and ‘BIRTHDAY_SUIT’. I didn’t use the strange naked flying and hated having to take off my clothes to get faster. And the rest I either didn’t use or had better alternatives for now.

“Add ‘There’s No Escape’, ‘Rootkit’, and ‘Transition Lenses’,” Panda said. “They’re all situational and won’t affect your overall power if you lose them.”

“What about Night Protocol?” I asked, hating this whole process.

“It’s keeping the Agencies from tracking you, so definitely don’t get rid of that.”

I sighed and selected the eight Skills.

EXCELLENT.

THE LAST ONE WILL BE ‘DAMAGE.SLEEP(3000)’.

“No! Don’t take that from me!!” I screamed.

Breezy zapped me with a grey beam and the nine Skills vanished from the list.

I dropped to my knees in despair, the life sucked out of me.

“Relax, Gambit,” Panda said. “It’s not as bad as it could’ve been.”

“You don’t get it!” I told him. “You’re never supposed to take power away from the protagonist in a progression fantasy!”

All of Breezy’s eyes blinked.

WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?

“I have no fucking idea,” Panda replied. “By the way, I just remembered this, but we found a candidate to be your pet.”

Breezy’s eyes all fixed on the plushie with rapt attention.

TELL ME MORE.

“It’s a Greedling that lives inside Gambit’s Spin the Wheel ability. He said if we could get him a Contract of Servitude, he wouldn’t mind being your pet.”

I got up from the ground. “What’ll happen to my ability if he vanishes? Am I going to lose even more power!?”

“Gambit, chill the fuck out,” Panda told me. “You’re going to get more powers as soon as we’re done with this. I think it’s for the best that Breezy cleaned up all the crap you weren’t using anyway.”

I sighed dramatically.

“It doesn’t matter if I was suffering from Skill-bloat. They won’t like it,” I said.

“Who?” he asked.

I gestured around us.

I AM INTERESTED IN TRYING OUT THIS GREEDLING.

LESSER DEMONS ARE FEEBLE, BUT PERHAPS IT WILL SURVIVE MY PRESENCE.

“Seriously,” I started, “what’ll happen to Spin the Wheel if Mammon disappears?”

THE SKILL SHOULD STILL FUNCTION AS NORMAL.

I reached out a hand. “Give me the contract and I’ll pass it on next time I use the ability.”

A dark silver ring appeared in the air above my hand and landed on my palm with a thud. It was quite a lot heavier than it looked. It was also warm like a freshly-baked pie.

My stomach gurgled.

“Urgh, I’m starving.”

I inspected the contract and was surprised to realize I could actually use it, since it was big enough to fit my pinky finger.

[‘Contract of Servitude’ x ]

Contract

Owner:

‘The Breeze That Transcends Moments And Gathers Cosmic Dust Upon A Weighing Scale Of Bone’

A binding contract in the form of a ring that will make the Wearer subservient to the Owner.

The actual terms of the contract are written on the inside of the ring in a language spoken only by the Adjudicators and at a scale so tiny it may as well be invisible.

Weight: N/A

“Me-ow?” Lordie asked.

“No, it’s not for you,” I told him. “I’m pretty sure if Breezy became your new master I would literally die.”

THAT IS CORRECT.

“See,” I said and put the contract ring in my pocket. Since I didn’t think I could use my inventory while in the weird state caused by Spin the Wheel, keeping it physically on me seemed to be the only way I’d be able to give it to Mammon.

NOW THEN. AS I SAID, THE SYSTEM HAS A SPECIAL ROLE FOR YOU, GAMBIT.

IT HAS CHOSEN YOU AS ITS PROPHET. THIS IS A SPECIAL ONE-OF-A-KIND ‘SPONTANEOUS CLASS EVOLUTION’ THAT HAS TO BE UNLOCKED WITH THREE ELEMENTS ORIGINATING IN THE FUTURE OF A PARALLEL DIMENSION.

“Is this about that weird achievement message he got earlier?” Panda asked.

I suddenly remembered what Tina had told me back aboard the CPS’ Hive Ship. She had said I didn’t have the means to use the Key and Keyhole that had appeared in my Intelligence attribute and Mana stat. The thing she had referred to was no doubt the ‘????’ item I had gotten from reaching level -20 during the fight with the Lord of Sinners.

I pulled up my inventory and located the item it had turned into. It was now called ‘SYSTEM_CATALYST’.

It seemed like the question-marked items were impossible to comprehend until I arrived in this dimension, which made me realize something else.

“Why are you scrunching your face like that?” Panda asked.

“Quest Log,” I said, ignoring him.

[Gambit’s Quest Log]

—Seek the Truth, Glitched Prophet—

System Quest

“Use the SYSTEM_CATALYST to activate the Key and open your Mana’s potential.”

Reward: ‘System Tracer’ Mod

“At last!” I exclaimed. “Everything makes sense now! This is where I was meant to be all along! I understand now! I see the matrix!”

“Ah shit, losing his Skills made him go mad…” Panda muttered.

Breezy observed me intently as I pulled the Catalyst from my inventory.

I paused, looking at the thing that had landed in my hands. “That’s not what I expected it to look like,” I said.

It was a sticky ball of glowing red goop.

[‘SYSTEM_CATALYST’ x ]

System Item

Rub me.

Squeeze me.

Eat me.

Weight: N/A

I sighed. “Goddamn it.”

“I thought for sure the Agencies were responsible for all the weird item triggers, but it turns out it was the System’s doing all along,” Panda said.

DO IT, GAMBIT.

THE SYSTEM WILLS IT.

I paused and looked up at Breezy and the way his countless eyes were laser-focused on the goop ball in my hands.

“Are you getting off to this!?” I accused him.

Every last one of Breezy’s eyes blinked and he cleared his throat with a cough.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

NOW, GO ON. I AM VERY BUSY AND ALL THAT…

“This Great Game is full of freaks…” I muttered in disgust.

I rubbed the goop ball, and it purred and vibrated.

“Ugh…”

I squeezed it and a little mouth appeared. Then it started singing like an opera singer who just took a drag of a helium balloon.

“What are you waiting for?” Panda asked when I didn’t immediately try to eat it.

The ball kept on singing.

I sighed again and shoved the goop ball into my mouth. The moment it touched my tongue it melted and became like a fizzy soda that ran down my throat. A taste like kombucha and rhubarb yogurt filled my mouth.

Even as a liquid, it was somehow still singing on the way down to my stomach.

Breezy groaned at the sight and his tentacles undulated in a strange manner, almost like in a dance.

“Is this like some kind of religious thing for you?” Panda asked him.

THERE IS NOTHING HOLIER THAN THE SYSTEM. TO WITNESS IT BIRTHE A PROPHET IS A SACRED HONOR.

I AM THE FIRST AMONGST MY PEERS TO HAVE WITNESSED SUCH AN EVENT.

MY PROMOTION IS ALL BUT CERTAIN NOW.

Once the entirety of the goop was gone and dissolved into my stomach acid, my status screen appeared in front of my eyes.

[Status x ]

Level -20 — ‘Gambit’ — undefined

INSANITY GAUGE: 200%

STATS

Health: Isn’t It Great? — Stamina: いいな
Armor: Dinner Plate Armor — Carry Weight: 1050 Pandas

Top Speed: Racing Bike — Mana: <( iNsErT kEy )>

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 2415 lbs. — Dexterity: Death Adder

Intelligence: O=pp — Vitality: Brisket

Athleticism: 獺 — Perception: 2801

Wisdom: (╯˘-˘)╯ — Defense: Ceramic

The strange Key symbol lifted off the screen from my Intelligence attribute and floated out in front of me, spinning like a bad 3D effect in a kids’ movie.

I reached out and grabbed it, before inserting it into the slot in my Mana stat.

The key was yanked out of my hands and flew into the screen.

Then the screen winked out and a tremor rolled through me. Every vein in my body lit up with internal red light, and a whisper spoke directly into my right ear with a lisp.

SPONTANEOUS CLASS EVOLUTION TRIGGERED!

You have evolved into ‘Glitched Prophet’.

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Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Eight

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And here it is, the last chapter of Book 1 of Loopshard.

You won't get a new chapter until probably Sunday next weekend, since I'm gonna focus on Madman to hopefully get a few chapters done before Saturday to make up for the one I missed last Wednesday.

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Chapter Fifty-Eight

Adam spotted Emelia waiting next to the Altar from the sky and descended towards her on a spiralling trajectory.

It took her a moment to notice his approach, and when she did she looked absolutely confused.

After Adam landed and got off the barrier, she said, “I had no idea you could do that.”

“Arturo never showed it to you?”

“No…”

“Weird, I thought for sure he’d be zooming around on his barrier like this as well. It’s super convenient.”

“Is this the power of the Fusionist?” she asked.

Adam nodded.

“Let me show you.”

He resummoned his barriers and flipped them horizontally.

“If I try to have a barrier carry me normally, it’ll break,” he explained.

He sat down on one of them and, sure enough, it immediately cracked, triggering Last Stand’s Fervour. After letting 10 seconds pass, the barrier shattered and vanished, leaving him with just one left.

“The power of the Fusionist is that I can combine the barrier with spells and magical attacks. Like this,” he said and triggered the Blood Fist Ring. Then he moved the remaining barrier into the blood spike while activating the fusion. It was immediately absorbed into the barrier, turning it crimson and making it a strange crystallised form of blood.

“And it absorbs the effects of the spell?” she asked, awed by what she was seeing. It was clear Arturo had kept secrets from her, since there was no way he hadn’t been using the Fusionist, given that it was clearly the best evolution of Shaper.

“It gains both the strengths and weaknesses of what it absorbs, so that means that anyone with the Fiendbarb can destroy this barrier in one hit, because it’s now considered a blood spell. However, the most interesting part is what happens when you fuse two barriers together.”

Adam resummoned his barriers and combined them. Then he flipped the fused barrier horizontally and sat down on it. Although a small crack formed, it did not break.

“Wow,” she muttered. “Warder is a lot stronger than I thought.”

“To be fair,” Adam replied, “it only works this way because of the additional summon created by Invoker.”

Emelia paused. “Would you mind taking off your mask? It’s kind of creepy.”

Adam blinked. He’d gotten so used to its narrow field of view that he’d forgotten he was even wearing it.

He took it off and put it in his Spidersilk Sack attached to his belt.

“That’s better,” she said. “Thank you for showing me how Fusionist works. I might try it out next…” She stopped herself before she could finish the sentence, but it was clear what she’d meant to say.

Adam quickly changed the topic and said, “So I got 6,450 Points from Stage Five and all the Relics I sold. I already invested 5,000 Points into the Cheat Death upgrade from Luvicidix.”

She nodded. “That was a good decision. After Stage Seven you can invest Points into permanent Health and Defence upgrades, which I think is a better investment, but Cheat Death is still a great pick.”

“Do you think it’ll help me survive Stage Eight?”

“Not on its own,” she replied.

“Why not?”

“It’s more than likely that the group you end up with there loses most of its Players before the end. The final fight of that Stage is incredibly difficult and basically impossible to solo, even if you manage to weaken the Patriarch.”

“I’m a lot stronger now than I was then,” Adam replied confidently.

“Strength will only get you so far,” she replied. “You know what Arturo told me? He said that he and I only made it as far as we did because we were lucky. Maybe if you manage to get all the permanent Meta Upgrades to boost Damage, Health, and so forth, as well as maxing out Saved Relic Slots to bring back a Legendary Relic, then perhaps you’ll be able to solo some of the Stages before Ten.”

“Is it really that bad?” he asked.

“They make the Stages group-based for a reason,” she replied. “Anyway, enough about that. You wanted to know how best to spend your remaining Points, right?”

“That’s right,” he said before patting the barrier he was sitting on. “It’ll be faster if we use this.”

Emelia eyed the barrier sceptically. “There’s a crack in it… I doubt it’ll be able to carry us both.”

“You don’t look that heavy,” he joked. She still didn’t seem convinced, so he added, “I will keep it low to the ground so we won’t plummet to our deaths if it breaks.”

“Please tell me you haven’t been flying over the edge of the island with this thing,” she replied.

Adam grinned.

Emelia shook her head and sat down on the back of the barrier, legs dangling over the edge.

The barrier held.

“See, no problem,” he told her.

Adam shaped the front to give himself a handle and scooted forward a bit. Emelia didn’t move though, so he grabbed her arm and pulled her all the way onto the barrier.

“Grab on to my waist,” he told her.

She didn’t hesitate and wrapped her arms around his chest.

“Wait, why did you make a handle?” she asked. Then she realised why he’d asked her to hold on to him.

“Adam, I swear to God, if you—!”

Adam shot the barrier into the air and Emelia’s words turned into a surprised scream.

Before she could convince him to land by force, Adam moved their barrier past the Player House and Lighthouse, and over the edge.

“Adam!” Emelia shouted in terror, but then she started laughing.

“There’s something I’ve gotta show you,” he told her and manoeuvred the flying barrier down below the edge. They continued down along the vertical cliffside and followed the tapering bottom of the island until they reached the creepy eye that Adam had seen.

Emelia’s laughter died down.

“What the hell is that?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Adam replied. “But I think it means that the island is alive.”

“I don’t think you should mess with it,” she said.

Adam wasn’t so sure, and just replied, “Maybe you can find out why it’s here and what it truly means.”

Her grip tightened around his waist.

“Don’t talk like you won’t be around to help,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” he replied. “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon.”

She squeezed him a little harder.

***

After they returned to the surface and reached the Market, Adam showed Emelia the Relics he could get from Lucca, and she told him that the Choice Ring was worth way more than any upgrades he could buy.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“Since you’re doing a Summoner-based setup, you need to get as many of the good Relics from Stage Six as possible. There are a few that work like the Wraith Lantern, and several boost summonings and spells, which should help you a lot.”

“What about rewards sharing? How would that work?”

“It’s a mess,” she replied honestly. “Every group does it differently, but yeah, if you find a chest, whoever opens it is the one who gets to pick the reward. If it’s a Relic, they’re allowed to give it to other members of their group, but if it’s an upgrade it obviously won’t work.”

“I was wondering if I should use the Choice Ring alongside my Lucky Stone,” Adam said.

Emelia nodded eagerly. “That’s a really good idea. If you can get the Legendary Relic from the Stage, you could probably solo Stage Eight if you manage to weaken the Patriarch.”

A Legendary??

“What does it do?” he asked, excited about the prospect.

“So, I haven’t seen it myself and don’t know the exact wording, but it replaces your hand and upgrades all your Summons somehow. Plus it lets you give them commands, which should be useful.”

Adam grinned. “I need to get it. If I could give direct orders to my Slothling Imps and Winter Wraiths, then they’d be way more useful.”

“If someone in your group gets it instead of you, you have to do whatever you can to get it from them,” she said seriously.

“Even killing them?” he joked darkly.

“Yes.”

Adam frowned.

“I’m serious,” she said.

“I can tell.”

“If you want to survive, you need all the power you can get.”

“Do you make a habit of killing people for their loot?” he asked.

“No. But if I knew it would make the difference between surviving and dying, I would not hesitate, and neither should you.”

“I thought you wanted to help people survive,” he countered.

“Don’t be naïve, Adam. It doesn’t work like that and you know it. If you hadn’t killed other Players in Stage Five, then you wouldn’t be here.”

Adam frowned.

I know she’s right, but the idea of killing someone for a Relic doesn’t sit well with me.

“Of course, your first option should be to trade them for it,” Emelia added. “I’m not saying you should just go for the jugular without any questions asked.”

“I didn’t think we could trade with other Players.”

“If it’s something you got from the Stage, you can trade it with the members of your group. But you can also make a deal like giving them the rights to any future rewards you’d otherwise have gotten from the Stage.”

“Just out of curiosity, how much could you sell a Legendary Relic for with Lucca?” he asked.

“3,000 Points.”

“Damn, that’ll definitely cause issues…”

“If you do end up getting it,” she said, “be prepared to fight to keep it. Epic and Legendary Relics in future Stages always cause fights over who gets them.”

“You said that there’s a problem with the Points distribution that Players learn about after Stage Six.”

Emelia nodded. “It’s a few things. The Flawless bonus is a per-Player basis, but the person who defends against the most damage on behalf of other Players gets a bonus worth double that of Flawless. On top of that, All Secrets, Secret Boss, Eradication, and optional Stage objectives all give Points based on participation. So like, if three out of five Players got all the Secrets, then they will get the bonus and the remaining two won’t. Likewise, if some members didn’t contribute to objectives with some kind of meaningful participation, then they won’t get credit and the rewards are split between those who did.

“But, the main issue is the leaderboard and the Most-Valuable-Player trophy that the number one contributor gets. It always gives a lot of bonus Points and an Upgrade reward.”

“When you say ‘leaderboard’, do you mean that it’s possible to see what Points other members got?” Adam asked.

“That’s right.”

“Shit…”

“Jealousy, competitiveness, and greed always cause issues. My Stage Nine always has someone get a Legendary Relic and the last two times I’ve been unable to stop a fight from breaking out.”

“That’s the Stage where you meet Arturo, right?” Adam asked.

She nodded. “That’s right. Fortunately I got the Secret Boss because of him in my first loop, but if not for that it would be impossible, because the fight over the Legendary Relic always gets two Players killed…”

“By the way, I was wondering,” Adam started, changing the subject, “I saw you had a beige-coloured bonus from Stage Five.”

“It’s the Pacifist bonus,” she replied. “It’s exclusive to Stages where Players have to fight each other. It was the last one I needed from Stage Five to get the Special Denizen.”

“There’s more than one Stage like that!?”

She nodded. “Stage Ten is technically not a Player Deathmatch, but Player deaths give a lot of Points to the survivors, outweighing the reward from the Pacifist bonus by quite a bit.”

“How much is Pacifist worth?”

“800 Points in Stage Five and Ten. The issue is that, starting from Stage Six, you get bonus Points for killing other Players. It’s 500 Points until Stage Ten where it’s 1,000.”

Adam frowned. “They’re trying really hard to make us kill each other…”

“It’s best you just focus on the challenge immediately in front of you. Leave the long-term strategising to me.”

“If you say so,” he replied, unconvinced.

Adam turned back to look at Lucca’s shop. The spider was patiently waiting for him to buy one of the Relics visible as holograms above the open black chest.

“Are you able to buy stuff from my dimension?” Adam asked Emelia. It was something he’d been wondering about since seeing the past memories where she’d come to his world right after a Stage ended.

“I can see the things you can choose between,” she said, “but if I want to buy something, it gives me results similar to my own dimension, with the same options as I would get there.”

“That’s convenient,” Adam said.

“I think what’s really happening when the Visiting Stone activates is that our dimensions collide and become one. All the denizens here know my name, after all.”

“But what about the Special Denizens that you’ve unlocked, they haven’t come with you,” he said.

“That’s true,” she replied. “Upgrades to my Player House haven’t either.”

“You bought stuff for your house?” he asked, surprised.

“They persist across loops, so it’s a worthwhile investment,” she said.

“Really? Why would they persist?”

“It’s thanks to an upgrade from Luvicidix. If you spend 5,000 Points or more on the Builder, a new upgrade shows up that lets you persist additions to the house. There’s something similar for the Special Denizen Quests if you complete three of them in the same loop.”

That’s good to know.

“Are you buying the Choice Ring?” Lucca asked.

Adam turned back to the spider. “I am,” he confirmed. “I’d like to sell my Glutton Collar and Committed Attack Ring as well.”

“Excellent,” she chittered.

< < Relics Sold > >

< Committed Attack Ring (Uncommon) >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) >

< 1750 Points Remaining >

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Choice Ring (Epic) >

< 750 Points Remaining >

The collar vanished from his neck and the ring on his right hand was replaced by the new one. It was a matte iron band with an orange stone that glowed faintly.

With Emelia in tow, Adam went over to Karie.

“How many Points did you end up getting from Five?” he asked.

“2,670,” she replied. “Player kills each give 250 Points each, but it was worth it because I finally unlocked the Deathguard Special Denizen. He’s a physical combat trainer, which is super useful, since he matches your skill level and can help you improve your fighting style.”

“Is there one for magic too?” Adam asked.

“I would assume so,” she replied, “but I have no idea which Stage would reward it.”

Adam looked at the cricket vendor.

“Hi Adam!” she said.

“Show me your upgrades,” he told her.

“Of course!”

“You could ask a bit nicer,” Emelia scolded him.

“She doesn’t mind,” Adam said.

The cricket didn’t comment and just waved an arm over her bubbling cauldron.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

< Venom (Epic) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 25% for 10 seconds >

< Force (Uncommon) — Attacks pierce armour by 10% >

< Dodge (Rare) — Grants a 15% chance to dodge a direct attack >

“You should buy Defence,” Emelia advised.

“It’s better than Dodge, right?”

“With the amount of Health you have, yes. If you can afford to take hits, then Dodge might not be bad, but boosting Defence is still better I’d say.”

Beck is focusing on Dodge, but I feel like I agree with Emelia, especially given the cooldown that Dodge has.

“I’ll buy Defence.”

“Thank you,” Karie replied.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Defence (Uncommon) >

< 450 Points Remaining >

The cauldron bubbled and showed four new options.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Venom (Rare) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 25% for 10 seconds >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

< Stamina (Uncommon) — Increases stamina by 2 >

< Luck (Epic) — Increases luck by 5 >

“Holy shit!” Adam exclaimed.

“Epic-rarity Luck is really good,” Emelia said.

“It also puts me above 25,” he said excitedly.

“Is that the threshold for always getting Rare results?”

Adam nodded.

“I’ve never had mine above 20 before,” Emelia replied, “but I like to get it above 10 to avoid Common options appearing. There are a lot of useful Uncommon Relics though.”

“I’m buying the Luck upgrade,” Adam told the cricket.

“Good choice,” Karie commented.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Epic) >

< 150 Points Remaining >

“I’ve just got 150 Points left now.”

“Just save them,” Emelia said. “There’s no way you’re dying in Stage Six.”

“Don’t jinx me,” he replied. “Wait, I just realised there was a Stamina upgrade option in there.”

“Stamina and Mana upgrades were unlocked after you beat Stage Five. After Stage Eight you unlock Antivenom and Affliction to either defend against or increase the effects of afflictions.”

Adam brought up his stats.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Fusionist >

< Level 35 >

< Stats >

< Health — 60 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 100% >

< Defence — 165% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 26 >

< Attack Speed — 125% >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +21 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +40% >

< Defence +40% >

< Health +10 >

Looking pretty good, I think.

He read aloud the values for Emelia.

“Your Health is still too low,” she said. “Even with your Defence, you just need to take 100 damage in one go and you’ll be dead. There are a lot of upcoming enemies that can deal that amount of damage in a single attack.”

“I’ve got the Stone Mask too,” he added.

“It’s a one-time use, and it makes you Withered, so the next attack only needs to deal 65 damage to kill you…”

“I’ve also got the Queen’s Pendant.”

“If you become Scorned now you’ll definitely die,” she warned.

“Then why give us these Relics!?”

“Because they’re traps,” she replied. “The Slime Crown, the Hobgoblin Pendant, the Fiendbarb, the Blood Mage Choker, the Tainted Helmet, and the Queen’s Pendant are all traps. It’s very common with Epic-rarity Relics, which is why the Choice Ring is worth getting, because it doesn’t have a flaw that’ll get you killed.”

“How is the Slime Crown a trap?”

“You won’t be able to heal unless you use elemental cores, and if you take the Crown off it’ll put your health at 1, not to mention even equipping it in the first place fucks up your total Health forever.”

“So are none of the Epic Relics from Stages worth getting?”

“Not from the first Four,” she replied.

Adam refused to believe it, since he could picture several use-cases for many of the Relics she’d mentioned. They were just hard to use and the demerits had to be considered.

“However,” Emelia added, “if you make it past Ten, then you can get a Legendary Conjuring Stone if you’re lucky and use it to make the Queen’s Pendant worth using perhaps.”

“How do you know that Scorned will get me killed?” he asked.

“Because if you are worshipping an Absolute and you’re cursed by it, they will smite you as punishment. It’s always some permanent affliction that’s impossible to get rid of,” she explained.

“Have you seen it happen?” he asked.

She nodded. “The last boss of Stage Ten inflicts Scorned with one of its attacks. I saw someone who worshipped Morrligt have a hole appear right through him, killing him on the spot. That one is obviously fatal no matter what. If you’re Scorned while worshipping Messimer, then you go blind. If you’re worshipping the All-Mother, your soul wing falls off and your Defence is permanently stuck at 0%. If it’s Nharlla, then you lose one of your limbs or go insane. There’s also one that turns you to stone, but I don’t know what Absolute causes that.”

Adam shuddered. He had a pretty good idea what the Tome Keeper’s affliction would be, given that he was the Lord of Knowledge.

***

They left the Market after listening to a performance by Yenna on her piccolo and arrived at the First Light’s flame behind Adam’s Player House.

Adam went up inside the building to inspect the flame. It had doubled in size since the first time he’d seen it, but it still evidently had more growing left to do.

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light’s Brazier (Uncommon) — Grows for 2 Stages >

After leaving the small lighthouse, he returned to Emelia who was waiting outside.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give this to you sooner,” she said. “I was really surprised when you weren’t the Adam I was expecting and it put me on guard.”

“I didn’t get the Glass Acorn either,” he said. “It’s a lot of power I lost out on.”

Emelia nodded. “After Stage Nine it gives 10% to all stats with every Stage you clear. It’s quite invaluable.”

Since the sun was setting, they flew from the lighthouse to Alivida’s tent where they waited until the sun was gone before entering. Adam was surprised to discover that Emelia wasn’t time-frozen alongside the Eye, but it made sense since she was a Player too.

Like her sister, Alivida had also transformed. She’d gone from being a human-sized black moth into becoming a short woman with black hair and eyes, grey skin, and dark wings that curled around her like a cloak. Two fluffy antennae poked out of her head, twitching slightly. Both of the moths had become rather adorable, he thought.

“I have new… upgrades for you, Adam,” Alivida said.

“Let’s see them,” he replied.

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Scale of Nihility — Make everyone forget you — 1 Shard >

< Skipping Stone — Skip a Stage if eligible — 2 Shards >

< Challenge Stone — Challenge a Player to a battle to the death —3 Shards >

< Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player — 8 Shards >

< Vanity — Turn an Interim Island Denizen into a humanoid — 10 Shards >

“Scale of Nihility?” he read aloud.

“It’s just like the Gate of Nihility,” Emelia said, a grim look on her face. “I have no idea why anyone would buy the Scale though.”

“Oblivion can be a mercy… perhaps,” Alivida responded ominously.

“If the Gate of Nihility makes everyone forget you,” Adam started, “then why do you still remember Arturo?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. He could tell it freaked her out.

Adam looked back at Alivida. “Are there any limitations to the Challenge Stone?” he asked.

“It only works on the island,” the moth girl answered.

“You’re better off saving up for the Visiting Stone,” Emelia advised.

She doesn’t realise how right she is, since I need the Visiting Stone to be able to save another Player in Stage Five.

***

The moment they entered the Dimensional Tavern, Charlie brought Adam’s Pad Thai and milkshake to the spot where he always sat.

“I’d like the octopus salad again,” Emelia told the tavernkeeper. “And white wine.”

“Of course,” Charlie replied and left for the kitchen.

Belamouranthe was further down the hall, jumping up and down on Finnian’s bloated body. Adam had no idea where Sylvia and Migraine were, which troubled him greatly.

He brought his barrier over to his spot and shaped it into the ergonomic chair again. Emelia sat down next to him and shaped her own stool into an approximation of the one he’d made.

“I wonder why I never saw Arturo use his barrier this way,” she remarked.

Adam shrugged. He squeezed the lime that’d accompanied his meal over the noodles before spreading the chopped peanuts over top, then he dug in with the chopsticks.

“Is it good?” Emelia asked.

“Mhmm,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food.

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

“Who is it?” she asked.

[Player Princess Buttercup.]

Adam laughed and immediately went into a coughing fit as a bit of peanut went down the wrong pipe.

Emelia smacked him hard on the back a few times while also laughing herself.

“Put him through,” Adam croaked when he could finally breathe.

Gladwyn appeared opposite them with a heaping plate of stone crab claws in front of him and mustard sauce in a ramekin next to it.

“Are you okay, Adam?” he asked.

“I just…” he croaked before coughing again.

Emelia smacked him even harder this time, shooting the errant piece of food across the hall and through Gladwyn’s hologram.

He looked between the two of them and grinned.

Then Beck appeared next to him.

“It’s finally time to—!” he started, before noticing Adam. “Is he okay?”

“I’m good,” Adam said with a hoarse whisper.

“Maybe I should do the connection request next time,” Emelia suggested. “Making ‘Buttercup’ do it is dangerous.”

Gladwyn sighed. “I’d better have won this time, I want to change my name.”

Beck rubbed his hands. “Alright! Let’s find out who the winner is!”

“He definitely thinks he won,” Adam said after finally recovering from his near-death experience.

“I guess I’ll go first,” Emelia said, “since I’m pretty sure I lost.”

Gladwyn gasped. “Really?”

She nodded. “I got 2,670 Points.”

“At last, my victory!” Beck exclaimed. “I got 3,300 Points!”

“Damn, you beat me,” Adam said. “I got 3,200.”

Beck looked positively-drunk with power. “Well, then! For Emelia’s new name, I have decided it will be—!”

Gladwyn cleared his throat loudly, interrupting him. “Aren’t you forgetting me?”

Beck paused. “Why? What did you get?”

“3,335 Points.”

“Hah,” Adam said.

Emelia chuckled.

“Bullshit,” Beck replied.

“I killed 10 Statue Elementals, and I got All Secrets, the Secret Boss, and the Eradication bonus for killing all 5 Players,” Gladwyn said. “But I took 130 damage.”

Emelia did the math in her head and said, “He’s right, that adds up to 3,335 Points.”

“How much were the statues worth?” Beck asked.

“50 Points each,” she replied. “And Player kills were worth 250.”

Beck frowned. “Damn it.”

At least he didn’t contest his loss.

Gladwyn smiled. “Feels good to be a winner for once,” he said. “As my first decree, I will no longer be Princess Buttercup.”

“What are you changing it to?” Adam asked.

“I’m just going back to ‘Gladwyn’.”

“What about me?” Emelia asked.

“I was gonna call you ‘Pink-eye’,” Beck said, a grin on his face.

“They’re purple not pink,” Adam pointed out.

“My mother taught me to be nice to girls,” Gladwyn said.

Beck booed.

“You don’t have to hold back,” Emelia told him.

“Very well, then your new name is ‘Hello, my name is Emelia and I’m a time-looper’.”

Everyone paused.

“What? That whole thing?” Adam asked, confused.

Beck shook his head. “My choice was much better.”

“Done,” Emelia said.

“I just thought it would be kind of funny to see in the system messages,” Gladwyn explained.

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Beck admitted.

Emelia suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh no! My status screen looks horrible now!”

Then Charlie arrived and said, “Here is your insalata di polpo and white wine, Hello, my name is Emelia and I’m a time-looper.”

Adam laughed. “You’re a fucking genius, Gladwyn.”

“This might be a problem…” Emelia said, realisation dawning on her. “I still have a lot of people I need to talk to after this.”

“You’d better win next time then,” Gladwyn said with a grin, cracking open one of his crab claws.

She jabbed her fork into a bit of octopus and levelled it at him. “You’d better hope you don’t lose next time, princess.”

Beck laughed. “Now we’re talking.”

Adam shook his head with a smile. These bets were quickly getting out of hand.

Emelia cleared her throat. “Alright, it’s finally time I tell you about Stage Six, ‘Alepheria’s Crooked Tower’.”

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Seven

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

I've been writing to get book 1 of Loopshard finished for the last 2½ days and got to about 9k words before finishing, and realised that I should probably split it into two. So, anyway, this is the first half. The rest will arrive in a bit.

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

Chapter Fifty-Seven

“Hello Adam,” greeted Luvicidix.

“You look… different,” he replied. “I thought I had to get the Vanity upgrade for you to become humanoid.”

“My sister and I cannot be affected by the Vanity upgrade, nor any of the other upgrades that might affect the Interim Island’s Denizens. Our transformations are caused by the progression of the Trials.”

“Wish I’d known that sooner,” Adam said.

The white moth was no longer a giant fluffy insect. No, she had turned into a woman. Sort of. Her fluffy white shoulder-length hair sprouted two black comb-like antennae and white wings hung down her back. Her skin was pale and her eyes were huge with black irises and long lashes. She had a simple white dress made of fluffy scales and her arms were pale with black bands running down to her finger tips, making it appear as though she wore socks on her arms. Her legs had the same pattern.

“Since you have cleared the fifth Stage, I have a new item for sale. My sister has two new things for sale as well.”

“Let me guess, your new item is the Scale of Remembrance.”

Luvicidix gestured with a hand and her menu popped up before his eyes. She was shorter than him now by a head, but still gave off the same feeling as when she’d been a huge moth.

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 25% — 2500 Points >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 626/4000 Points >

< Vendors — Increase Vendor Options by 1 — 4000 Points >

< Rerolls — Start every loop with 1 Reroll Dice — 2500 Points >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 2 Saved Relic Slots — 5000 Points >

< Cheat Death — Start every loop with the Cheat Death Relic — 10000 Points >

< Scale of Remembrance — 0/25000 Points >

“That’s pretty pricey.”

“You have already witnessed its power, surely it is worth acquiring?”

Think I’m better off getting Cheat Death, truth be told.

“It’s more of a long-term goal, to be honest,” he said. “I’d need the Visiting Stone to utilise it anyway.”

Luvicidix looked up into the sky briefly, before saying, “Since you have experienced the Scale’s power, I am allowed to explain its function more in-depth for you. So, let me correct a misconception. You do not need to be in the same dimension as another Player in order to gift them the Scale. It is capable of piercing through the dimensional veil, meaning you can give it to another Player in the Tavern, if you so choose.”

“I see.”

Although I’d still need the Visiting Stone in order to give someone the Kindling Flame and set up the events necessary to save them in Stage Five.

“I don’t think I ever asked this,” Adam started, “but how exactly does the Cheat Death Relic work? Does it take up something like a ring or necklace slot?”

Luvicidix looked up into the clouds briefly again, and Adam realised she was likely asking for permission before answering, perhaps because she was unsure what she could and could not say.

“It will not use any Relic slot you are familiar with, that is all I am allowed to say.”

“It’s not something like the backside of my eyeball, right?” he joked.

“I cannot say,” she replied seriously.

Now I’m kind of worried where it would show up…

“The description of the upgrade says that I’ll start every loop with it, if I unlock it, but that doesn’t mean I have to wait until I loop to actually obtain it, right?”

“You will receive the Relic the moment you unlock it, but if you use it in this loop, you will only get it back when you start a new loop.”

“That’s good to know. But how does it work? It’s not like the Hobgoblin Pendant, right?”

“Once triggered, the Cheat Death Relic will return you back to full, refilling all lost Health, Stamina, and Mana.”

Awesome. That definitely makes it worth getting.

“Alright, thanks. I’m going to sell off my haul in the market,” he said, summoning his barriers and fusing them together before sliding them under the sack of Relics.

“I will be here when you return,” she replied.

Her floating scales flew back to her wings and with a lazy flap she lifted into the air, gracefully ascending into the clouds.

As time resumed, flute song flowed across the air in waves. The Eye floated over to the centre where Adam had just been standing and spewed dark smoke out from within its cube body. The smoke took on the shape of a plinth with a round stone orb on top of it. It was part of the Altar and it glowed with that white hazy energy that told Adam it was active.

[Because you chose an Absolute to worship, an Altar to your chosen Patron can now be found at the central point of Interim Island. Communing with the Altar will allow you to receive instructions, should your Patron have the need for you to fulfil a certain task.]

“Is there a way that I’ll know if new instructions are waiting for me?” Adam asked.

[You will know,] replied the Eye ominously.

Adam approached the new feature in his world and put his hand on the stone orb.

Immediately the Tome Keeper’s voice filled his head.

< < Altar Communion > >

< The Tome Keeper >

< Adam. I need you to find Alepheria's notes on Chimaeral Transmutation. She made a promise to me that the notes would be mine once her research concluded, but she perished before we could make the transaction. I want them for my collection and study. Though I know much, I do not know where she hid the notes, but they must be somewhere within her tower. >

< Reward: 1000 Points or Relic >

He gave me a Quest?

The overly-familiar tone was somewhat off-putting, considering the Tome Keeper was a God that surrounded himself with monstrosities of his own creation. Adam wondered if it was because Players rarely worshipped him, since it seemed the requirement was to possess knowledge that the Tome Keeper was not in possession of already.

“What kind of Relic does the Tome Keeper reward?” Adam asked the Eye.

[I cannot say anything about the Absolute in question, but Relics rewarded by Absolutes are otherwise inaccessible to Players, with their powers and functions centred around the domain of the Absolute who rewarded it.]

So it might be something that allows me to obtain knowledge or utilise knowledge that the Tome Keeper already possesses. It could also have something to do with the creatures that serve him.

Still, I have no idea who Alepheria is or what tower he’s talking about. Perhaps it has something to do with the next Stage? Although it might also be something for a later Stage.

Adam pushed the thoughts from his mind for now and left the Altar, heading for the Market.

Now that he’d made it further than ever before, he was starting to think that the Cheat Death Relic sold by Luvicidix might not be a bad thing to get, depending on how many Points he was left with after selling off his haul to Lucca.

When he reached the Market, he found Yenna the wasp standing in front of the fountain, playing a piccolo. The melody was spirited and upbeat, like the kind that’d play in the start of a fantasy movie as the heroes set off on their journey.

He waved at her and passed by the fountain where the sculptures now resembled the Statue Elementals. The barrier with his loot floated in front of him like a magical dolly.

Oh, before I forget.

“Put the Fetish of Sloth with the long cooldown in my storage along with the Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets, and the Golden Map.”

[Understood.]

“And equip the other Fetish.”

[Understood.]

The dried worm appeared, hanging from his belt. He contemplated whether or not to sell the Affliction Ward, but decided he might as well save it.

“Pull the Statue Elemental Core and Affliction Ward out of the sack and into my hands.”

[Understood.]

Like magic, the two Relics appeared in Adam’s left and right hand. He put the Ward in his pocket, figuring he’d swap to it for the next Stage if necessary. Then he walked up to Lucca’s stall, keeping his floating loot behind him.

“I’ve brought a lot to sell,” he told the spider.

“I can see that,” she replied.

“First, I’d like to know how much this core is worth.”

Lucca inspected the glass core in his hand. It was the first Uncommon core he’d found, and he was hoping to sell it for more than 150 Points like what that rarity normally sold for.

“I’ll be able to charge the slime a lot for this,” she chittered gleefully. “I will buy it for 200 Points.”

“Deal,” Adam said. “I’d also like to sell everything on my barrier behind me. Do I have to place it on your counter?”

“Please don’t,” she answered. “They are close enough for me to handle.”

“The total for all 2 Epic, 4 Rare, 7 Uncommon, and the Statue Core Relics is 3,250 Points.”

Adam took a second to do the math in his head. It sounded right.

“Deal.”

< < Relics Sold > >

< Statue Elemental Core (Uncommon) >

< Blood Mage Choker (Epic) >

< Tainted Helmet (Epic) >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) >

< Forlorn Cuirass (Rare) >

< Purple Slime Glove (Rare) >

< Slothling Fur Coat (Rare) >

< Barrage Glove (Uncommon) >

< Blink Ring (Uncommon) >

< Bone Armour (Uncommon) >

< Parry Bracer (Uncommon) >

< Fragile Impact Glove (Uncommon) >

< Stone Bracer (Uncommon) >

< Tainted Bracer (Uncommon) >

< 6450 Points Remaining >

I honestly thought I’d end up with more, but I still basically doubled my Points from the Stage.

Adam wasn’t sure what to put his Points towards. Part of him wanted to invest half of it into the Cheat Death Relic from Luvicidix, but he could also buy the 25% permanent Damage boost and finish out the Rewards upgrade to gain a fourth option from all chests and upgrade rewards in the Stages.

He had until it got dark to decide, but he was heavily leaning towards the Cheat Death Relic, though a part of him wanted to start chipping away at the Scale of Remembrance as well.

“Show me what Relics you have for sale,” he told Lucca.

“Please spend some of the Points you just made,” she chittered before gesturing to the black chest next to her.

A golden light glowed beneath its lid and it popped open to reveal four Relics.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Overflow Diadem (Uncommon) — Activate to immediately deliver all remaining damage of Afflictions, dealing 10% increased damage for every Affliction affected. Breaks after use >

< Choice Ring (Epic) — Allows Player to pick two options from a Stage reward. 1-Stage cooldown >

< Scope of Insight (Rare) — Any target viewed through this Relic has their weaknesses laid bare >

< Scroll-Preservation Talisman (Uncommon) — When a Spell Scroll is activated this Relic is consumed instead >

The Choice Ring is new. I think it could easily earn back its cost, especially if I use it alongside the Lucky Stone. But I don’t yet know how rewards work in the group-based Stages.

The rest of these options are all ones I’ve seen before.

“Don’t you have any new Relics besides the Choice Ring?” he asked. “Like the Stone Mask, for example?”

“I do not,” Lucca replied. “Aside from the Choice Ring, there are no new General Relics added to the selection. Stage Relics from the Forbidden Altar are exclusive to the Stage itself, meaning I cannot sell them to you.”

Weird.

“Wait, what do you mean by General and Stage Relics? This is the first I’ve heard about that.”

Lucca’s eight eyes all blinked. “I thought that you would have picked up on this already, but there are two types of Relics that I can sell. Stage Relics are ones bound by the theme of a specific Stage, such as the Purple Slime Glove from Stage One. General Relics are unlocked and added to the selection with each Stage that is cleared, but these are not bound by a uniting theme, but rather serve to fulfil some specific function, such as the Parry Bracer introduced after Stage Two.”

That does explain what I’ve been seeing, but I just never put two-and-two together to be honest.

“Are Absolute Relics a different type?”

Lucca paused, her eyes staring at him intently. “I do not sell those. Only the Absolutes and their Envoys may gift you those in exchange for your service.”

“Are they worth a lot?” he asked. “Could I sell one to you?”

“I would pay triple the sales price based on rarity,” she immediately replied. “But take care not to sell me Relics your Patron wishes for you to use.”

“Like the Abyssal Tooth?”

“I will not purchase such vile things,” she said, chittering loudly.

“Gotcha,” he replied.

“Would you like to purchase one of my Relics?” she asked. “The Choice Ring is a good investment.”

I could afford it and still spend 5,000 Points with Luvicidix, but I think I’ll hold off on buying anything until after I’ve talked to Emelia about it. But I’ll definitely invest most of my Points into Meta Upgrades, since that seems the smartest thing to do right now. Emelia also seemed to imply that Stage Six wasn’t a huge challenge.

That being said, my defensive stats are pretty poor, so I might just spend my remaining Points on General Upgrades instead of the Choice Ring.

Adam said goodbye to the spider and took off on his barrier towards the centre of the island.

Time froze and the white moth descended from the clouds, alighting on the ground in front of him. He just now noticed how all the houses in the area looked like actual buildings now. A lot of Players had to have died for them to become this coherent.

“You are back already,” Luvicidix said.

“I’ve decided to put 5,000 Points into Cheat Death,” he told her. His main issue was still that he didn’t know anything about future Stages, meaning it was impossible for him to properly plan ahead. Having the insurance of surviving death and being able to hopefully go further as a result, seemed a no-brainer to him. It could perhaps also be the thing that helped him get past Stage Eight, although he already felt fairly confident he’d survive that with his current setup.

“Good choice,” she replied.

< < Meta Upgrade Progress > >

< Cheat Death — Start every loop with the Cheat Death Relic — 5000/10000 Points >

Hopefully I can get enough Points from the next Stages to afford the rest, but we’ll see.

Adam brought up the currency menu.

< < Player Currencies > >

< Points — 1450 >

If I sell the Committed Attack Ring I’ll be able to afford five General Upgrades. Think that might be a good idea, but I’ll go check in with Emelia first, just to see if the Choice Ring is worth getting instead of upgrades.

He said goodbye to the white moth girl for a second time and flew off to the Tavern on his barrier.

The Dimensional Tavern had undergone the same drastic transformation as the other buildings on Interim Island. It now looked like a quaint medieval inn, with warm light spilling out of the windows that only existed on the exterior and couldn’t be seen from within.

Adam pushed open the door, and the moment he stepped inside something surprising happened.

A giant blue flower appeared in front of him, the petal forming a large pod. Then they pulled back and revealed Belamouranthe before vanishing into motes of blue-purple light.

“Hello, Adam,” she said.

“You’re back,” he replied, letting out a sigh of relief. He’d been worried he’d never see her again.

“Listen, listen! I met the All-Mother! She is very nice and beautiful! She gave me this fruit as a gift for thee.”

The Elphin girl handed him a blue apple-sized strawberry with pink seeds. Adam immediately recognised it as the same kind of fruit that had saved his life during Stage Four in his last loop.

< < Relic > >

< All-Mother’s Fruit (Rare) — Consume to restore Health, Stamina, and Mana to 100%. Once consumed, the Relic disappears >

This is the same thing I would’ve gotten if I chose to worship the All-Mother.

“Thank you,” he said and put it in his left pocket.

“All-Mother’s garden was incredible! Tasty fruits grew on every branch and stem of the trees and plants. There were a lot of children like me, and they all love her dearly.”

Adam smiled.

I’m glad she isn’t upset about what her mother did.

As though reading his thoughts, she said, “I thought that mine destiny was to open the way to the Forbidden Altar and save mine people, but All-Mother told me that our people only needed saving from themselves. She is an Elphin too, is it not amazing!? She is very wise.”

Adam nodded. “I’m glad she allowed you to come back here.”

“She said I am safe on Interim Island, but I have to return to her at night.”

Charlie the red ant came over. “What would you like to eat?” she asked. She had a pep in her step, clearly excited that Belamouranthe had returned.

“Meat stew!” the Elphin girl exclaimed.

“I’ll have a strawberry milkshake,” Adam started, “and a Pad Thai with chicken.”

“Of course,” Charlie replied and left for the kitchen.

Adam brought his fused barrier out in front of himself and shaped it into an ergonomic chair before sitting down.

The tables around him and on the floor above filled with the holograms of people, but he quickly dismissed them with a mental prompt.

“How many survived?” he asked the Eye.

[29 million Players survived Stage Five. Currently, 21 million Players are utilising the Dimensional Tavern.]

Damn, that’s a lot… 131 million people gone, just like that. It’s a couple percent under 20%, I guess because 6-man Stages are rare and because some might have ended without any winners. Still, more than 20% was impossible and it could have been much worse.

In the previous loop, probably less than 8 million people made it this far.

But to think that only about 5,000 Players make it to Stage Ten in this universe is insane… And there’s more than 10 Stages after that. No wonder the Divine Relic is so enticing, since there must be only a handful of people left after Stage Twenty…

He prompted the Tavern to show him Emelia, Beck, and Gladwyn. All three of them appeared and Adam breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, an anxious part of his mind couldn’t help but wonder when their little group would lose its first member. Beck and Gladwyn didn’t normally survive this far according to Emelia.

The two older guys were clearly talking to each other already, but Emelia was looking around, no doubt trying to assess the damage. She had told him that she was only sharing information with those she knew would survive Stage Five, so she was probably trying to do a headcount to figure out how effective her advice had been.

Adam looked at the coloured spheres above her head. She had white, beige, and orange, which meant she had gotten All Secrets and the Secret Boss, but he didn’t know what the beige colour meant. She had also failed to complete the Speedrun and had taken damage.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked her, focusing his voice so only she could hear it.

Emelia paused what she was doing and turned to face him.

“I’m fine,” she replied after a moment. “How did it go for you? Did you manage to save Willow?”

You already know the answer to that, he thought to himself.

“No,” he said. “She was dead before I could get to her. I went as fast as I could and was still too late…”

Adam sighed deeply.

“I don’t really want to talk about it, to be honest.”

“I tried the thing you suggested,” Emelia said, surprising him.

“Really?”

“There’s another girl in my Stage Five who I got to know a little bit during my first loop. She’s only nineteen, but has a very strong spirit. I tried to get her to survive the Altar with me, but it didn’t work. In the end she let me claim it after we beat the Secret Bosses together.”

“My Patron told me how to do it,” Adam blurted out when he saw how sad Emelia looked.

“Really?” she asked.

“Yes, but I can’t tell you…” Adam said with a sigh.

“The Absolute told you not to share it?”

He nodded.

“Who is it?” she asked. “Messimer has never told me anything like that.”

“I can’t tell you that either,” he replied. “I might get Scorned if I tell you.”

“Is it one of the Absolutes I didn’t know about?” she asked.

Adam nodded.

“I see,” was all she replied. But then she smiled a bit, “I’m glad it’s possible. I will find a way to save Maya in a future loop.”

She has all the requirements for it, but I’m not allowed to tell her, otherwise the Tome Keeper might ‘intervene’… I suppose for the Primogenitor of Greed, being miserly with knowledge is to be expected…

Maybe I can find some way to tell her how to unlock him without actually saying it outright.

“Do you know who Alepheria is?” Adam asked, remembering the Communion Quest he’d received.

Emelia nodded. “How did you hear of that name?”

“I got a Quest from my Patron to find her notes on ‘Chimaeral Transmutation’.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly. “And you absolutely can’t tell me who this Patron is?”

Adam shook his head.

“Anyway,” he started, “I really just wanted to check you guys were okay. And I needed to ask you about how best to spend my remaining Points.”

“Should we invite Gladwyn and Beck to our conversation?” Emelia asked.

Adam paused, before saying, “Actually, I was hoping you’d come visit me. It’d be a lot easier to decide what to do if you could see what I have to pick between.”

“Are you sure?” Emelia asked hesitantly.

“I meant what I said yesterday,” Adam replied. “I really do enjoy your company. I’m just not looking for more than a friendship. It’s too complicated.”

“I understand,” she said. Then she smiled and added, “I will be there in a few minutes then.”

With that she cut the connection. With her gone, Adam could only see Beck and Gladwyn who were still talking to each other. Beck was doing an explosion gesture with his hands while his friend shook his head with a sigh.

I forgot to ask Emelia what the beige colour meant in terms of bonuses, Adam realised as he saw the spheres above Beck and Gladwyn’s heads.

The tall Spellcaster had the Speedrun, Flawless, and Eradication bonuses, which was quite impressive and made Adam pretty curious. He’d talked about using his spells as traps and it seemed to have been super effective. After all, he’d beaten the Stage in less than 10 minutes without taking damage and getting the Eradication bonus, which Adam realised probably meant he’d killed all other Players in his Stage.

Gladwyn had the Eradication, All Secrets, and Secret Boss bonuses, meaning he’d also killed every other Player in his Stage, but he’d taken damage. Beck hadn’t defeated the Aristocrat in Stage Four, so he wouldn’t have been able to get the Golden Map, which might’ve been why he chose to focus on the Speedrun bonus instead.

Adam turned to the Eye and asked, “How many Points did the Speedrun Bonus give for Stage Five?”

[500 Points.]

That’s pretty good actually.

Adam was wondering how he’d stack up compared to his friends in terms of Points, when an announcement interrupted his train of thought.

< < Visiting Stone Activated > >

< Player Emelia has entered your Dimension >

He moved his floating barrier over to the door of the Tavern, pausing at the threshold to yell to Charlie, “Can you hold off on delivering my food until I’m back? I’m going out for maybe an hour or so.”

The ant came over and said, “Of course, Adam.”

“Do not delay mine food!” Belamouranthe exclaimed, perhaps worried that Adam’s order would affect her dinner delivery.

“Worry not, Belamouranthe, yours is on its way very soon,” Charlie told the girl.

“Excellent! I have eaten nothing but fruit since yesterday, I crave meat stew!”

Charlie chuckled in that bubbly way of hers as Adam left the Tavern.

After stepping outside he shaped his barrier and hopped on, flying towards the centre of the island.

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Six

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

There's only one or two more chapters before the end of Book 1. It's clocking in at about 200k words which is pretty crazy <.<

My longest book so far was Father of Monstrosity and that's around 180k.

Anyway, I felt pretty motivated to get this chapter done today, since it's something that I've worked towards for a long time and I think the payoff came out pretty good. Anyway, it's now 4AM here, so I'm off to bed ...

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

Chapter Fifty-Six

Adam walked around behind the Altar without actually stepping onto it, using his barrier to pull Shirong’s body towards him.

“Loot,” he said.

< < Loot ­— Shirong Zhang > >

< Bone Armour (Uncommon) >

< Fragile Impact Glove (Uncommon) >

< Stone Bracer (Uncommon) >

Stone Bracer? That one’s new.

< < Relic > >

< Stone Bracer (Uncommon) — Sacrifice the Relic to prevent a target from activating Relics for 30 seconds | When the Relic breaks, all of wearer’s Relics are put on a 2-minute cooldown >

Yikes, that’s a nasty backlash effect on the user, but it’s got a lot of potential if you’re focused on just using your weapon to fight other Players.

Adam looted the three Relics and brought them over to the pile next to Zania’s body, before pushing it all onto the Altar platform. He then used his barrier to move the heavy Spidersilk Sack onto the stone disc as well, taking a moment to lift the other Relics on top of the sack, stacking them precariously. Lastly, he carefully pushed the barrier underneath the sack and lifted it and all the contents up off the floor.

He took a deep breath and walked onto the Altar platform, quickly putting his left hand on the floating Spidersilk Sack, hoping that simply having contact with the thing would count as him holding it.

[You have reached the Altar,] the Eye announced. [Place your hand on the Worshipping Stone to lay your claim.]

Adam reached down to touch the round stone in the centre of the fifteen plinths.

< < Stage Alert > >

< Player Adam has claimed the Altar >

[Congratulations! You have defeated all your opponents and successfully claimed the Altar.]

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

I just realised that the Hardmode eyeball thing didn’t show up this time around. I guess that makes sense.

Alright, let’s see what I got. I’m guessing the actual deity selection thing comes after this.

< < Score > >

< 24 Minutes 03 Seconds Completion Time >

< 3 Players slain >

< 1000 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 800 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 150 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 3200 Points Awarded >

It counts how many Players I kill, so there’s gotta be some bonus for killing everyone…

“What was the Speedrun time for this Stage?” he asked the Eye.

[10 minutes.]

“Besides Speedrun, what other bonuses did I miss? Is there one for killing all the statues?”

[I cannot say.]

Figures.

Adam sighed.

Then the whole world blinked.

***

Adam reappeared exactly where he’d just been standing, except all his Relics were gone, as well as the Spidersilk Sack, the Eye, and his weapons. He wore the clothes he’d arrived to the Trials with, not the Spidersilk variants made by Weaver.

I feel naked without all my stuff…

Around him, eight of the fifteen plinths were lit up with potential energy. The Altar was made of solid stone, but the platform under his feet was full of channels like the one in the Elphin city, and the drip water from the stalactites filled them.

Adam stooped down and picked up the stone orb at the centre of the platform. The moment he touched it, all the water under his feet stopped moving, becoming perfectly reflective.

Am I in a cutscene again? he wondered, since the movement had not been his own.

His eyes ran along the plinths from left to right. The first three were lit up with a white haze, almost like the way heat waves were visible in the horizon during a hot day. The fourth was unlit, but the next two were. Then his eyes reached the big four, where the first two were active and the last two weren’t. Of the last five plinths, only the second one was lit up.

Suddenly the stone in Adam’s arms felt heavy and painful to carry. He recognised the sensation of the cutscene letting go of him.

< < Worship > >

< Select the Absolute you wish to serve >

The voice was that of the System, the same one he’d heard in the darkness. It was his voice, but it was spoken through an alien mouth that gave it extra bass and authority.

Adam looked to the lone one on his right.

< < Nwetrou > >

< Lord of Black Holes and Deep Places >

< Primogenitor of Gluttony >

< Boon: Breathe underwater | Black Ponds traversal >

So that’s how it shows up. I thought for a second I’d just have to guess what each one did. It doesn’t show the negative effect though, but I’m guessing it’s connected to the Abyssal Tooth or something.

Being able to breathe underwater is pretty useless right now, but it might turn out useful later on. The ‘Black Ponds traversal’ must have something to do with the pond I saw in Skǫll’s chamber.

Still, serving Nwetrou is bound to force me into permanently sacrificing other Players. I don’t think I’d ever pick this option, it’s clearly meant to just fuck up the Trials.

Adam moved his gaze to the two big plinths that were lit up. The normal plinths went up to his hip, while the big four were only slightly shorter than him. He’d really have to lift the orb high to get it into the cavity at the top of either of them.

< < The Void > >

< Lord of Nothingness >

< The dark of the cosmos, the null and the empty >

< Boon: The End to the Suffering >

< < The Eternal Serpent > >

< Lord of Eternity >

< Icon of immortality and time >

< Boon: Pause Time for 10 seconds (1-Stage Cooldown) >

The Void… What a creepy option to give Players in the Stage where they are forced to kill other people to survive…

He thought of Zania and Ajani Lewis. They wouldn’t have been able to both claim the Altar, and if Adam had died, one of them would’ve had to kill the other. Right after that, they’d then get faced with the option to end their own suffering. It was messed up, he thought. Like the whole point was to antagonise the Players.

The System’s voice filled his head. “The suffering fuels me,” it had said.

Perhaps the Void isn’t actually an evil choice. It is perhaps the greatest defiance one could show the System. Instead of playing along with its game, we are allowed to decide that we won’t go any further.

Of course, we’ve always had that option. They put the safe zone on a floating island for a reason…

Adam already knew what the demerit for the Eternal Serpent was, since Emelia had told him. It doubled the duration of all effects on the Player, good and bad, which could actually be quite powerful if you knew how to manage it.

The next plinth showed him the Absolute that Emelia normally picked.

< < Messimer > >

< Lord of Adjudication >

< Envoy of the Watcher of Worlds >

< Boon: Appraising Eye >

Lord of Adjudication? Makes him sound like someone who enforces the rules almost. I wonder if the Appraising Eye is part of his character perhaps. But he’s also clearly here on behalf of the All-Seeing System aka the Watcher. I guess the downside to running the Trials is that the Watcher can’t participate himself…

Adam looked at the next plinth, adjusting his grip on the heavy orb in his arms. He was fairly sure dropping the stone would not be a good idea.

< < Morrligt > >

< Lord of Solar Flares and Flensing Wind >

< Primogenitor of Wrath >

< Boon: Sun Flare spell >

This is the one Emelia recommended I pick. One thing that makes these choices are bit difficult is that I don’t know the demerits to most of them, and I have no idea what powers they unlock later. It’s conceivable that something that starts off weak could end up very strong later on as a form of balance.

I wonder what the Primogenitor part of the description means, but Wrath is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, so maybe there’s an Absolute for each of the Sins?

The next plinth was unlit, but the last three weren’t and he scanned them all in a row.

< < Nharlla > >

< Lord of Transformation and Hallucinations >

< Sire of Mimics >

< Boon: Rearrange Player Stats >

< < The All-Mother > >

< Lord of Sustenance and Fertility >

< Mother of all Elphin >

< Boon: All-Mother’s Fruit (1-Stage Cooldown) >

< < The Tome Keeper > >

< Lord of Knowledge and Curiosity >

< Primogenitor of Greed >

< Boon: Erudition Barter >

The Tome Keeper is an unfamiliar name. I don’t think Emelia knows about this one. But Greed is such an insidious vice, though I suppose it makes sense for a deity whose name implies they hoard knowledge.

I know the weaknesses of the All-Mother and Nharlla, but not Morrligt, Messimer, or the Tome Keeper. Although Emelia told me about Messimer's second weakness, which seemed problematic.

As for the Boon unlocked by the Tome Keeper, it sounds like it might be a trade of knowledge. At least if I’m understanding ‘erudition’ correctly. If it really works how I believe it does, it could help me find out how to defy this Stage.

If I ever end up with Willow or one of my other friends pitted against me, I need to know of a way to save them.

Adam tried to ask a question, but he was physically unable to open his mouth. Besides, the Eye was nowhere in sight, so he doubted he’d even get an answer. It was just him and this momentous decision.

I have no idea what triggered the Tome Keeper to appear, so I think I should pick it now. I know how Morrligt appears, so I can always try him out in my next loop. Unlike Emelia, it doesn’t matter if I make a bad decision here, since my death will help me learn more and guide me in the future.

Of course, I’d rather not pick something that clearly kills me… But I would be lying if the idea of a God of Knowledge didn’t entice me.

Adam had decided on his pick and slowly laboured his way towards the plinth while the stone orb weighed him down. His arms were full of staticky numbness and his lower back was killing him. He hadn’t felt any sensations like these since entering the Trials, and he had the uncanny sense that this current version of himself was the ‘mortal’ one. The version of him without the System’s power heaped on top.

With a groan, he lifted the stone orb up over his waist and deposited it in the recess at the top of the plinths.

All of the other plinths were snuffed out, their potential energy running through the reflective water in the disc below his feet and up into the chosen one with the orb on top.

< < Worship Chosen > >

< The Tome Keeper >

Darkness surrounded Adam, pulling him away from the Stage and its stone tunnels and chambers.

< < Now Entering > >

< The Fleshcrafter’s Abode >

Adam opened his eyes and realised he was walking through a vast quivering hallways made of organic material. It was yet another cutscene, for which he was grateful, because the sight of the living and breathing walls terrified him, making him want to turn around and find the nearest exit.

In front of him walked a tall and muscular man. His hair was shock-white and it seemed like he had a mask on his face. Disturbingly, he wore a patchwork coat of skin, as though taken from many unwilling donors and stitched together to form a robe.

Is this the point where I realise I made a mistake? Adam wondered.

Emelia hadn’t mentioned anything about being transported somewhere after selecting who to worship, but he got the uncanny sense that this was the domain of the Tome Keeper, because as he advanced through the living hallways, he saw signs of living experiments and monstrosities best described as creatures borne of curiosity.

His guide led him through an arboretum that seemed to house thousands of unique trees, a few of which he recognised, but no two the same. The ceiling here was made of glass and showed an inky black with the glowing dots of stars. Strange silvery stilt-legged creations meandered about, pruning, trimming, and tending to the trees.

From the arboretum he came through a lab of sorts. Within were simian creatures performing vivisections on screaming and frothing monsters, as well as constructs of bone and muscle assembling their own companions from pulsing vats of flesh and shelves of organised and labelled bones.

Then they entered into a library ten stories tall, each floor simply a balcony ring around the walls upon which were countless creatures. These too were like monsters and moved up-and-down ladders or climbed on the shelves to organise and sort the impossibly-vast collection of books. Several of them took to the air on improvised wings after finding what they were looking for, only to go higher up or further down to place their book somewhere else.

Adam’s attention snapped back down to what was right in front of him, when his guide stopped by a round wooden table upon which rested an enormous tome with pages a metre wide. His guide, the tall muscular masked man stepped around the table and took up a place behind the chair upon which sat a youth.

But it was no mere child before him. He had skin like liquid porcelain in perpetual motion and his eyes were like windows into the cosmos, showing tiny galaxies and their light. Like the tall man behind him, the youth wore a hooded robe made from skin, except it was the skin of demonic creatures from the looks of it, as there were horns and bristly hairs poking up here-and-there, and a moving tail flicked about as though responding to the youth’s enjoyment of the tome he was reading.

The tome itself was seemingly alive, since the words on its pages hopped and danced around, fighting to avoid comprehension.

The Tome Keeper looked up at Adam, his very gaze pulling him out of the cutscene controlling his body.

“I’m glad you chose me, Adam,” said the youth. His voice didn’t betray the insane power visible in his eyes nor the authority with which he surely ruled this absurd domain of monsters and scientific perversion.

Although Adam had a million questions, many of them existential and horrifying to know the answer to, he knew to not interrupt the Absolute seated before him.

“You possess knowledge that I do not have,” the Tome Keeper explained. “I wanted it for my collection.”

Something skittered past Adam and the breath died in his lungs as he saw it was a giant spider made of bones, with its legs all tipped with fingers. A large bird made of shadow and bone alighted next to the Tome Keeper’s seated. Its face was like a barn owl’s but carved from bone, though the eyes were very real. Two skeletal arms emerged from its coat of shadowy feathers, holding a pen and an open book, ready to transcribe what was said between them.

What the fuck is happening??

Adam opened his mouth and it terrified him to realise that the entire library full of creatures fell silent such that his voice was not overshadowed.

“What is the knowledge I have that you wish to know?” he asked.

“That is the trouble, of course,” said the porcelain youth with the cosmic eyes. “I know that you possess it, but I do not know what it is.”

“Difficult. Every time.”

Adam nearly jumped out of his skin at the utterance of the tall man standing behind the Absolute.

“I think I know what it is,” Adam said.

“Excellent,” the Tome Keeper replied, seeming almost gleeful.

The shadow bird scribe fixed its eyes on him expectantly.

“Do I receive knowledge in return?” Adam asked.

The tall muscular man grunted humourlessly, his dark eyes staring daggers at him.

“Blame not the beast, Heskel,” said the Tome Keeper. “It is fair to want compensation, after all.”

Adam swallowed. The tall man with the mask and skin robe somehow terrified him more than the shadowy barn owl or the literal God in front of him.

Deciding it was best not to test his patience, Adam quickly explained the knowledge he was absolutely certain only one other entity possessed: how he was able to loop back in time across universes.

It wasn’t a long story, but it felt like it took forever due to the fact that the library, which thronged with creatures and constructs, was so quiet that nothing but Adam’s voice was heard.

When he was done, the shadowy barn owl snapped its book closed and withdrew its skeletal arms into its dark coat before taking off into the air to presumably store the new knowledge somewhere far above.

“Thank you, Adam. What a fascinating new bit of knowledge I have gleaned from you,” said the Tome Keeper.

The masked man, Heskel, grunted and the youth quickly added, “I almost forgot, you may ask your question now. If I know the answer, it is yours to have.”

Adam had several questions he wanted to ask, such as, “How do I win the Trials of Defiance?”, “How can I survive Stage Eight?”, and “What happens if I die and loop enough times to run out of universes to replace myself in?”

He also wanted to ask more philosophical questions like, “What’s the meaning of life?”

In the end, he asked, “How do I defy Stage Five and save other Players without dying myself?”

Heskel made a surprised sound.

“Excellent question,” the Tome Keeper responded. “I am glad you did not waste your question on something pointless and irrelevant. Even Heskel seems impressed.”

Despite the praise, Adam feared that the answer wouldn’t be useful to him.

Instead of answering like normal, the Tome Keeper put a liquid porcelain hand on the large tome in front of him on the table. Adam noticed that the hand had two too many fingers and shuddered. Then the Absolute made a simple flicking gesture and text lifted from the large page and flew right into Adam’s forehead like a spell.

The answer to his question planted itself in his mind and spread its contents across his memory as though he’d always known.

The answer isn’t simple, but it’s also not impossibly complex.

Emelia could already pull it off.

To save another Player in Stage Five, there were three requirements: the First Light’s Brazier with a mature flame to spawn a Kindling Flame at the start of a loop; a Visiting Stone to travel to another Player’s Dimension to give them the Kindling Flame after Stage One so it had time to mature before Stage Five; and both Players had to meet in the same instance of Stage Five and avoid killing any Players before claiming the Altar together, as well as any Players or Interim Denizens up until that point.

If it was possible to have several Players start off with the mature First Light’s Flame, then it was technically possible to save a lot more people from having to die to the Stage.

Fortunately, even though it seemed the First Light was the Absolute responsible for making the act of saving another Player possible, the Players saved this way and the Player saving them were not required to Worship the Absolute.

However, it wouldn’t be feasible for me to attempt, unless I can immediately figure out who I’m up against in Stage Five when I go to a new dimension. My only real hope for pulling it off would be to get the Self-devouring Eye.

But I’d also need the Scale of Remembrance to make someone else believe that I am worth trusting enough to attempt the trick with me in Stage Five.

Maybe I could pull it off in this universe. I’m so much stronger this time and might actually be able to get to the Divine Relic, though I’m sure Emelia would fight me for it.

Adam blinked, realising he was getting lost in his thoughts while standing in front of the Tome Keeper. To his credit, the Absolute didn’t seem bothered by it, though the body language of Heskel suggested he’d overstayed his welcome.

“Thank you,” Adam said sincerely.

The God looked up at him again and said, “I will call upon you if you find knowledge that I would like to barter with you for.”

“I don’t have any other knowledge you’d like to know?” Adam asked, jumping on the opportunity to get as much out of this bizarre but enlightening meeting as possible.

“No, Adam,” said the Tome Keeper. “There is nothing else that you know which I am not already in possession of.”

That’s creepy…

Heskel grunted.

“I do not care if it sounds creepy, it is simply the truth,” the Absolute said, making it clear the masked man had made a comment similar to Adam.

The Tome Keeper turned his gaze back to him and said, “The Watcher rewards us for guiding Players like yourself through its Trials, so I must ask you to seek the Godstone on my behalf. If you survive and obtain it, I shall reward you a second Boon as a sign of my favour.”

Adam was about to ask what he meant, but the Absolute continued and said, “Do not tell Emelia about me and our meeting, nor anyone else for that matter. I am allowed to intervene though I would prefer not to, so do not violate this simple rule of mine.”

Heskel’s stare intensified and Adam had a new fear added to his list, since the thought of an Absolute’s ‘intervention’ sounded positively horrifying.

“Understood,” Adam said.

Then he blinked involuntarily and was suddenly standing in the centre of Interim Island without even an announcement from the System.

He had the feeling that his meeting with the Tome Keeper was something beyond the control of the All-Seeing Watcher.

That was crazy…

But I think I chose a good Absolute to worship.

At his feet was the Spidersilk Sack stacked high with Relics and he was once again wearing his gear and weapons. The Eye had also reappeared next to him.

Oh, thank God. I was worried my trick with the Sack wouldn’t work this time around.

Suddenly silvery scales fluttered down around him and time froze. He knew it was time to meet the white moth and see what new things she had for sale.

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

If you got any of the references, then you get a cookie (it was baked with Eldritch flour).

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Five

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---Next chapter----

The exam project I'm working on ended up taking more time than expected yesterday, so that's why I just finished this now. For the project, I'm working with React Native, which I'm not very good at, so everything simple takes forever to do. Spent 4 hours today just trying to get a goddamn app to show my location on a map (._. )

Anyway, it's turning out pretty good and I have until the 28th to finish it, so there's no stress.

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

Chapter Fifty-Five

Adam hacked his barrier into the abdomen of the last Statue Element, separating its torso from its legs. He had already removed its head and arms and now just a slab of stone sculpted like a man’s chest lay before him.

He formed the barrier into a simple pick and started chipping away to reveal the glass core in the centre little by little.

Since he had to clear the oval chamber with the eyeless statue before he could use the Skyblue Pearl, he wanted to ascertain if it was possible to harvest the Statue Elementals’ cores or not, since he had time to be meticulous now.

That being said, he’d already destroyed the last two cores, even though he was extra careful. It also didn’t help that they still moved even after all their limbs were chopped off.

His barrier pick struck the torso stone and perfectly split it down the middle. Adam thought he’d screwed up until he saw that the core within was completely intact. A soul essence left its body and went into the Wraith Lantern.

“Finally!” he said excitedly.

He lifted the glass core up to his eye to give it a closer look.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Statue Elemental Core (Uncommon) — The crystallised soul of a Statue Elemental >

That’s the first Uncommon core I’ve found. I wonder if it’ll be worth more than just the normal selling price of an Uncommon Relic.

Adam put the core into the already-full Spidersilk Sack and got up from the floor. Then he went over to the statue missing its left eye and pulled the Skyblue Pearl from his pocket where he’d kept it next to the Lucky Stone. He still couldn’t get himself to use that Relic, since it might be really powerful later on.

He read through the description one more time before slotting it into the hollow eye-socket of the spear-wielding statue.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Skyblue Pearl (Rare) — Thine eyes hold a power oft forlorn, oft forgotten to time, oft lost to conflict. An unclouded gaze is the key to a world of secrets and thine eyes are a gift from on high >

The pearl fit snugly inside the statue’s eye-socket. Once fully inserted, it glowed briefly before the statue and the wall it stood up against swung inwards, revealing a small hidden chamber with a stone chest inside. It was just like the Orb of Insight had shown him.

Adam went inside and opened the chest. It didn’t look any different from the rest, but what lay within was the first of its kind he’d found in the Trials.

< < Map Obtained > >

< Golden Map — Follow the trail of this map at thine own peril, but at its end awaits a treasure unlike anything known to thee >

He lifted it up into the light of a yellow gem in the ceiling. It was a round piece of tough canvas with flecks of gold on it depicting what looked like islands. It was impossible to tell what exactly was depicted, but one of the golden spots had a black X on it. It was clearly a treasure map.

I wonder what Stage it’s for.

Adam left the secret chamber and put the map into the sack.

Before I go take on the Deathguard, I should return to that chest I passed by.

He shaped his barrier into a sled, but before he got on, he unequipped the Affliction Ward and equipped the Fetish of Sloth.

I wonder if I get anything for defeating the Secret Bosses. Unless the stone spear is the reward.

I’ve got the feeling that there are no normal Relic Chests or Upgrade Rewards for this Stage.

But whatever, I’ve collected a fortune in Relics already.

He flew through the tunnels and chambers until he returned to the stone chest he’d abandoned earlier. After pushing it open he found what looked like a small stylised sword carved from stone.

< < Relic > >

< Stone Talisman (Uncommon) — Sacrifice the Relic to curse a target with Wither, increasing damage inflicted to target by 50% with the next attack >

This is the exact same as Sylvia’s Desiccate Spell Scroll. But it isn’t bad. With my two earrings, the way my barriers double their damage when fused together, and now this, I should be able to one-shot one of the Deathguard bosses. My imps will deal with the other two.

Adam put the Talisman in his left pocket and got back on his barrier. Then he took the shortest route to the hallway with the false dead-end.

On the way there he stopped to get enough kills to set his Wraith Lantern at four out of five soul essences, preparing it for the boss fight. The plan was to summon his imps at the start and use the Stone Talisman on the boss they didn’t end up targeting, before killing it with the first strike of his barrier. Then its death would trigger the two wraiths to clean up the rest.

In theory it seemed a pretty solid strategy, but he had no idea if he’d be able to pull it off that smoothly.

He reached the false dead-end near the eastern stairwell and scanned the walls for the statue that would open the way. There were several paths like that and this one didn’t seem any different at first glance.

Without the Orb of Insight, how would anyone know there was a false wall here? Adam wondered to himself as he dismounted the barrier.

Even with the Orb, he wouldn’t have known it was this hallway either, since they all looked the same and the vision had only given him a quick glance.

The Secrets are all seemingly made for the time-loopers. That seems kind of unfair.

Although, Beck managed to find the Secret Weapon in the last Stage.

I wonder how him and Gladwyn are doing. I can’t tell if they are strong enough to win their Altar fights since I don’t know what they’re up against, but they’ve both been achieving the special bonuses, so maybe they’ll be fine.

But all it takes is one mistake.

At least their fates aren’t sealed in stone, thanks to encountering Emelia and me.

It’s up to them to make their own fates with the power they’ve been given.

And knowing them, they’ll definitely survive.

Adam reached out and grabbed the right sword of a dual-wielding statue.

I guess this is the one difference in this hallway, he realised. After all, there are no dual-wielding statues elsewhere.

The moment he pulled down the sword, a loud grating sound came from the end of the hallway as the back wall swung open to reveal darkness.

Adam moved the barrier out in front of him and shaped it into the narrow cone, refining its shape until it was like the tip of a spear. He’d noticed from a few tests in the Player House with the fused barrier that it actually slowed down if he put a hole at the tip of the cone shape. He’d also realised that if he really concentrated, then he could make its shape extremely narrow. It was different from folding the barrier, but seemed equally strong. The way the impact worked with the folded barrier probably made it stronger in most situations, since it seemed to involve some odd physics when it was folded, but in terms of explosive force, the unfolding of the cone shape was unrivalled. Interestingly, hammering the cone-tip into a target and letting it unfurl was counted as the same attack. Given that he had two First Strike Earrings, it basically guaranteed that anything he used the cone unfurl trick on would die immediately, unless he missed.

He looked to the Eye floating next to him. “How does the Stone Talisman work? Does it take up a belt slot?”

[Yes.]

So, I’ll have to swap to the Talisman after using the Fetish of Sloth.

“If I unequip the Fetish after activating it, do the summons remain?”

[Yes.]

That seems pretty open to exploitation, but that’s only a good thing for me. I should keep the other Fetish so I can use both once its 3-Stage cooldown wears off.

Adam rolled his shoulders.

He was ready.

With the green-and-gold spell-tome in his left hand, the flaming white barrier in front of him and spinning, and the Fetish of Sloth in his right hand, he entered the darkness.

The moment Adam’s foot crossed the threshold, gems in the ceiling of the hidden chamber lit up with a dull orange hue. It was a lot bigger than he realised, maybe 10 metres wide and 20 deep. In the back was the shrine he’d seen in his vision. It was a rectangular stone engraved with patterns and imagery which reached to about the middle of Adam’s chest. Two stone hands reached up from the top of the block at either end, and a dark spear rested atop them.

A few metres in front of the shrine stood the three Elphin he’d seen. The Deathwatch, Emelia had called them. They had dark-grey muscular bodies, completely black eyes, no hair, and just wore simple white cloth skirts. In a way, they reminded him of the Forlorn, since they were clearly not alive in the true sense of the word.

He hadn’t noticed their weapons in the vision from the Orb, but they all had two swords each, hanging from their hips and made of the same dark stone as the spear they were protecting.

< < Secret Bosses Discovered > >

< Elphin Deathguard >

Before they could move, Adam squeezed the Fetish of Sloth and summoned the two imps. As the violet light coalesced in front of him and took form, the Committed Attack Ring on his right hand vibrated, begging him to activate it.

I’m not adding two extra Stages to its cooldown just to make this easier…

The moment the two Slothling Imps were fully formed, the Deathguard trio shot forward, clearly considering their summoning a hostile action.

“Swap Fetish with Stone Talisman,” he said while switching his eyes to the left-most Deathguard, which the imps weren’t targeting.

[Understood.]

The carved stone sword trinket appeared in his right hand, swapping places with the dried black worm. At the same time, the two imps collided with the two other Elphin, claws striking blades with loud metallic echoes.

Adam fired the spear-tip barrier at the remaining Deathguard while also aiming the Talisman at him. The very act of pointing the stone blade at a target was enough to activate it. The Talisman shot a sandy-brown light at the Elphin charging him before crumbling into sand in Adam’s hand.

His barrier made a whistling sound as it flew through the air and he just barely noticed that the skin of the Deathguard he’d cursed was rapidly aging as the narrow cone struck. The sharp tip of the barrier planted itself to the left of the Elphin’s nose and caused him to stumble.

Then Adam wrenched his right hand violently through the air and unfurled the shape.

Bang!

The Deathguard’s head became a mist of dark blood, and his body dropped to the floor with a thud. A large soul essence, similar in size to the essences of the Forlorn Knights, emerged from the corpse and floated towards his Wraith Lantern.

Adam didn’t wait for it to reach his Relic and trigger the wraiths. Instead he quickly reshaped the barrier and flung it towards the other two bosses who were in the midst of trading blows with the imps.

The barrier pierced the side of the nearest Deathguard’s head, just as the other one finished off his imp. As Adam unfurled the hastily-shaped cone and popped open the Elphin’s cranium, the last one decapitated the remaining imp and surged towards Adam.

Two shrieks filled the air as another headless body thumped to the floor, and Adam resummoned the barriers in front of himself. The wraiths moved through his defence, but the Deathguard was unfazed by them, performing a simple cross-slash through their translucent bodies without stopping.

To Adam’s surprise, the wraiths simply fell apart into pieces. Whatever material the swords were made of, it had the ability to not only damage incorporeal beings, but also basically one-shot them without letting his crown’s effect save them.

Shit.

Adam shoved his barriers forwards when the Deathguard got close, managing to catch him mid-step and knocking him onto his ass.

Instead of trying to attack with the barriers, Adam ran forward while pressing them down against the sitting Elphin, shaping them around his arms and shoulders to keep him locked in place. He struggled admirably, but he couldn’t even lift his swords to strike the barriers.

Adam clenched his left hand and punched the incapacitated Deathguard in the head, releasing a spike of blood from the ring he’d looted off the Crusader.

Schiiing!

A metre-long crimson spike pushed through the Elphin’s dark-grey bald head, spattering the ground with dark blood. The Committed Attack Ring vibrated again, wanting him to double-trigger the Blood Fist Ring, but the Deathguard was already dead.

Adam stepped back, pulling the spike free from the boss’ head and revealing the massive hole he’d created. The blood forming the spike swirled and moved back to his hand, becoming a ring once more.

This thing is pretty damn strong. No wonder Emelia warned us about it.

Shirong must’ve had a lot of Health or Defence if Zania needed to strike him twice to kill him, he considered.

I think I’ll keep it unless I find a better ring or glove. The Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets are very situational and kind of a liability, so swapping them out won’t really change much anyway.

Perhaps I can fuse the blood spike with my barriers as well, that’d probably be powerful.

[10 minutes remaining.]

I wonder what the Speedrun time was for this Stage. Maybe 8 minutes or something?

I’ve at least got the All Secrets, Flawless, and Secret Boss in the bag. They should give a good amount. But still nothing compared to all the Relics I collected though.

I feel like after this Stage all Players who survived will have a massive spike in power because of all the Points they can get.

At the cost of the survivors being cut down by more than 80%, of course…

Adam walked past the dead Elphin to the shrine and reached out to grab the weapon. Emelia had called it a stone spear, but it was more like one big piece of dark flint rock.

< < Secret Weapon Obtained > >

< Solbor (Rare) — Spear of a forgotten Elphin hero >

< Unique Skill ( Scattershot ) | Launch the tip of the spear forward as a barrage of piercing darts >

That sounds pretty good, especially if all the boosts on the spear affect the attack. And if they count as separate attacks, it could be a way to stack afflictions or something. It might also benefit from projectile boosts.

[You are already carrying two weapons and cannot carry a third. Would you like to swap one of your weapons to wield this weapon?]

“No thanks.”

The spear slipped from his hands as though he’d let go of it, clattering back down onto the stone hands it had rested on.

“Can I not bring it with me?”

[You cannot carry a third weapon.]

“Not even if I put it in my Spidersilk Sack?”

[No.]

“But I’m allowed to carry all the Relics I can’t equip?”

[Yes.]

Adam sighed.

“That’s nonsense.”

He tried to grab the spear again.

The Eye repeated itself, [You are already carrying two weapons and cannot carry a third. Would you like to swap one of your weapons to wield this weapon?]

“No…”

Once more the spear slipped from his hands.

That’s such a bizarre limitation…

Although to be fair, I would’ve just stuck it in my Player House with Gram.

“Whatever,” he muttered and made to leave the chamber.

He paused mid-step.

“It still counts for the All Secrets bonus even if I don’t have it on me, right?”

[Yes.]

Thank God.

Adam left the secret area and returned to the Altar. It was finally time to figure out which deity he would worship.

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-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Four

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I've finally finished all the editing I needed to do for Madman book 2 and Exorcist book 2. Now I can finally focus writing—!

Oh wait, I've got exams coming up <.<

I might not release anything next week until Friday, depending on how my preparations go. That being said, I'm also not releasing a new chapter of Loopshard on RR, so you guys on here won't fall behind in terms of how far ahead you are from the free readers.

I'm working on chapter 55 at the moment, but it may not be done today. If so, I will try and get it out tomorrow.

Thanks for all the patience T_T I swear after May I'll be able to write a lot more and it won't be quite as hectic for at least 2½ months.

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Chapter Fifty-Four

The sounds of fighting pulled Adam down a hallway to the western stairwell. He’d eliminated six Statue Elementals on the way here. The ones he’d aggroed earlier had all returned to their original spots, which made it quite easy to deal with them. Unfortunately, he was unable to extract any of their glass cores intact. He had however summoned two wraiths with their deaths, but it was gone now.

He walked past the statues lining the walls. Several empty plinths indicated that the ones lying in wait here had already been triggered. It was no doubt the ones the blonde guy was fighting in the adjoining chamber.

< < Stage Alert > >

< Player Shirong Zhang has claimed the Altar >

Adam picked up the pace.

I’ll have to get there as fast as I can to stop him from winning, but I need to deal with blondie first, otherwise he’ll sneak up behind me…

He frowned to himself at his lazy justification for murder.

It would be easier if I could just be delusional and convince myself I was doing this for their sake. Perhaps if I knew I could get to the Divine Relic, then I’d feel better about killing someone like this.

Adam came out of the tunnel and into a rectangular chamber with a stone coffin on a raised dais in the middle. The blonde guy stood atop it, wildly swinging two axes to try and kill the three statues in front of him. The remains of three others lay around him.

He wore the Purple Slime Glove like Emelia had said, as well as the Forlorn Cuirass and Tainted Helmet. Adam was surprised Emelia had missed such an obvious sign of an affliction build, but as he continued watching from afar, it was clear that she hadn’t mentioned the helmet because the guy didn’t seem to have a good strategy for using it. That being said, his strikes did leave black tainted slashes across the enemies, indicative of the Taint affliction.

He’s got a terrible setup… The Cuirass slows him down by 30% and makes his head take double damage. Not to mention, the Helmet significantly reduces the healing effects he receives.

I wonder if he could take off his Relics and shed the detrimental effects or not, since Emelia said that it wasn’t possible with the Queen’s Pendant. I’m guessing he can’t, even though it was possible with the Fiendbarb.

The Berserker’s weapons had what looked like the engraving of a wolf’s head on the pommels, and the axe-heads themselves had metal claws on the sides of the blades.

Adam brought the fused barrier out in front of him and folded it into the thin needle shape. Although he wanted to learn more about the blonde guy’s weapons, he was on a strict timer.

The Berserker used his Slime Glove to send a purple spike through the chest of a Statue Elemental and killed it. As it died, a soul essence flew back to Adam, and something black and tainted jumped to the other two statues, likely the affliction-spreading effect of the Tainted Helmet.

Then the guy did something bizarre.

He slashed widely to knock back the two remaining enemies before letting out a terrifying howl like a demented wolf. His eyes suddenly glowed with a malevolent yellow light and a strange haze surrounded him, giving off the impression of flowing fur rising from his arms and back, as well as the outline of a wolf’s head around his head.

What the hell?

With a sudden spike in movement speed and damage, the Berserker tore into the two statues, his axes carving through their stone flesh despite having been unable to do so just a second prior. Their essences flew back towards Adam and the blonde guy traced them to him.

Oh shit!

Adam shot his barrier forward as the wolf-possessed Berserker spotted him. Despite the Cuirass slowing him down, the guy still moved pretty fast.

But even with his powerful buff, he was no match for the speed of Adam’s fused barrier.

It tore through his head, leaving a hole where his eye had been. The wound was immediately cauterised by the burning effect imbued by the True Flame crown.

But, disturbingly, the Berserker did not stop even though there was now a piece of his brain missing.

He’s still alive!?

With a forceful tug, he pulled the barrier back, piercing the Berserker from behind and breaking open his ribcage as it burst out through the front of his body.

The guy faceplanted the stone floor, sliding a metre before coming to a stop and leaving a red smear in his wake.

This time he was completely dead.

That was too close, Adam scolded himself.

He must’ve had the Hobgoblin Pendant that allows the wearer to survive a fatal hit, he realised.

Adam had been careless because he’d relied on Emelia’s simple description of the guy, assuming he wouldn’t be a threat.

But no one who makes it to Stage Five is a complete pushover.

“What weapon evolution was he using?” Adam asked the Eye floating next to him.

[I cannot say.]

Shame, it seemed pretty cool.

I’m guessing that buff must’ve had a long cooldown or something, since he wasn’t using it until now.

“Loot.”

< < Loot ­— Eric Tornquist > >

< Tainted Helmet (Epic) >

< Purple Slime Glove (Rare) >

< Forlorn Cuirass (Rare) >

It seemed like this guy had used all his Points on expensive Relics.

No potions? I wonder if he used them all. They would’ve been ineffective with the Tainted Helmet though.

A shame I couldn’t kill him without destroying the Epic-rarity pendant, Adam thought, before immediately feeling guilty about it.

Adam looted the Relics and stuffed them inside his bulging Spidersilk Sack.

It had become too cumbersome to continue lugging around.

I’ll have to leave this somewhere.

< < Stage Alert > >

< Player Zaria Lewis has claimed the Altar >

Adam was in the middle of unfolding his barrier into the flying sled when the announcement hit him.

That’s gotta be the Crusader!

Based on the last name, she is obviously related to the Assassin I killed.

That must be why they normally team up.

I doubt she’ll be happy to know I killed her family member, but maybe I can use it to make her drop her guard.

Adam sighed.

These horrible thoughts are coming to me so easily now…

Regardless, it should be down to just us two, unless Shirong fled with his life intact.

Adam lifted the heavy sack up onto the front of his barrier before climbing on himself. He took a moment to remember the best route to the Altar, picking the one that would bring him past the eyeless statue that could be triggered with the Skyblue Pearl.

I need to keep an eye out for traps, he thought to himself as he took off.

***

Several Statue Elementals were hot on his trail when Adam reached the oval chamber wherein the eyeless statue was supposed to be located. He quickly scanned the walls until he spotted it. Aside from the hole where its left eye should’ve been, it looked just like all the rest.

He didn’t have time to activate it now, so he dropped the Spidersilk Sack in front of it and continued through the tunnel at the far end. It snaked around and eventually linked up with a triangular chamber that’d already been cleared. In the centre of the room was an open chest. He had no idea what had been looted from it nor what kind of Relics were available in the Stage.

If she’s picked up a Stone Mask like me, I need to make sure to strike her twice to kill her. Maybe even three times if she has a Hobgoblin Pendant as well.

Adam climbed off his flying sled and shaped it into the needle while cautiously moving through the hallway that led out of the triangular chamber. From what Emelia had told him, it would now be a straight shot to the cavern holding the Altar within.

Behind him came the sounds of stone feet slapping the hard floor. Fortunately, the statues weren’t that fast.

Maybe I should slow down and let one of the statues catch up. I just need one more kill to trigger the Wraith Lantern.

He paused for a second.

Hold on…

I needed four essences to fill it before I fought the Berserker, but I only got three from that fight.

Adam pulled up the description.

< < Relic > >

< Wraith Lantern (Rare) — When an enemy is slain nearby, their Soul Essence is absorbed | When the Relic is fully charged with sufficient Soul Essence, a Winter Wraith is summoned >

Ahh… It’s only ‘enemies’.

Weird that Players don’t count for that, even though it’s a Player-vs-Player Stage.

Wait, is that supposed to be a clue?

Is the answer to saving everyone that we have to work together?

Bit late to try now, of course, and I might also just be reading too much into this…

Adam checked his setup just to make sure he was fully prepared. There was only one more bend in the tunnel before he’d reach the cavern.

Let’s see, I have my True Flame’s Icon crown, Stone Mask, Slothling Fur Coat, two First Strike Earrings, Captain’s Cape, Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets, the Potion Belt with two small healing potions, the Affliction Ward, and my Wraith Lantern.

He paused.

Shit, I should’ve swapped the Ward with the Fetish of Sloth!

Oh well, I think I’ll still be fine.

Adam continued moving.

[3 minutes remaining until the Altar is claimed by Player Zaria Lewis.]

He didn’t let the Eye goad him into panicking.

She couldn’t have left the Altar if she was claiming it, so there was no way for her to hide from him. It was more important that he didn’t fall into any traps.

Unlike the other tunnels, hallways, and chambers, the stone walls of the snaking tunnel leading to the Altar were absolutely covered in hieroglyphic scribbles. It was almost like looking at a mural produced by a madman, given how none of it made any sense to his eyes. There were no actual words, just a bunch of symbols, such as a crown, an eye, a strawberry on a branch, a jagged stone, an open book, a swirling vortex, a moon, and other iconography that he couldn’t make sense of, but which seemed to be depictions of deities.

Maybe if I study these I can pick up clues about the Absolutes that can be worshipped?

He shook his head.

Focus.

The tunnel curved left and then just immediately transitioned from hand-worked sand-coloured stone to the rough dark-grey rock of the cavern he’d seen with the Orb of Insight. Stalactites jutted down from the ceiling like monstrous teeth and water dripped from their tips and down to the floor, leaving puddles. There weren’t any stalagmites rising up from below, which seemed strange to Adam, given that this place had to be many thousands of years old and the stalactites continually dripped water down, which should’ve created deposits over time.

It was a straight shot to the Altar from the mouth of the tunnel and Adam saw the Crusader standing there in the centre of the fifteen plinths almost 20 metres away. She had something metal around her neck and wore the Forlorn Cuirass just like Eric. There was also a bracer on each of her arms, the Slothling Claw and the Parry one. She didn’t have any special boots, just normal sneakers, and in her hands was a mace and a medium-sized shield. He couldn’t tell if she wore any rings or special gloves from this distance. The rosary hung from her right hip on her belt.

Adam attacked first and immediately shot his needle barrier at her, but since his effective range was only 14 metres, he moved forward with his spell.

She lifted something in her shield hand and aimed it at him. Violet light manifested in front of her and took the shape of a Slothling Imp. It crouched down and leapt for Adam with its claws raised. A second light followed, before an identical copy appeared behind it and surged for him as well.

Two imps!?

Adam quickly swung his right hand to the left, shifting the trajectory of the needle so that it slipped through the first imp’s head mid-air, before weaving through the neck of the second. The first demon flipped and struck the cavern floor on its back, and the second one just face-planted the rocky ground and stopped. Then they broke apart into violet light that retreated back to the Crusader’s Relic. From where they’d died appeared two soul essences which flowed into the Wraith Lantern.

Adam curved the needle around the side of the Crusader, but she flung her shield out and managed to just barely clip the thin barrier, since it was quite long. The bracer on her arm exploded into fragments and he lost all control of the spell as it was flung across the cavern and embedded in the ceiling like a dart.

She parried it!?

In the same moment, the shrieks of two wraiths manifested in front of Adam. They instantly flew towards Zania with their sharp nails extended and ready to attack.

Adam hadn’t realised that he’d lose control of the barrier if it was parried by a Player, but fortunately she wouldn’t be able to repeat the trick.

He resummoned the barriers while the wraiths went wild, both already turned red following their opening attacks, thanks to the Last Stand’s Fervour. Their claws tore up the Crusader’s Armour Relic, leaving red-glowing frosty tears in the metal with every attack. It seemed weird that the Winter Wraiths’ inherent frost attack was not negated by the fire damage from the crown.

Zania triggered her other bracer and released a slash of two claws that tore through the wraith on her right, but had no effect. The bracer immediately exploded.

Clearly desperate, she then used a blood magic spell which put holes into both of them, but they were invulnerable to the damage, even though it could affect them.

Then the next hit from the left ghost destroyed her armour. From one moment to the next, the Forlorn Cuirass turned into bits of scrap that fell away from the Crusader’s torso, revealing the orange blouse she wore beneath.

Adam was busy slamming his barriers into the rocky ground until they cracked and triggered Fervour. Then he quickly fused them together and shaped them into a narrow cone that he spun up like the head of a drill.

The moment that the wraiths died and released an explosion of ice, freezing Zania’s body, Adam shot his barrier forwards.

She had no way to defend herself since she was encased in ice, so the projectile just tore through her torso, leaving a large hole where her heart should’ve been. She collapsed in a heap, instantly dead.

The barrier exploded a moment later as the Fervour expired, sending shards of magical glass plinking across the cavern.

Adam stumbled towards the Altar, but made sure not to step onto its round platform.

He swallowed at the sight of the woman.

Why was that so easy…?

Even though these Players had made it this far, he’d been able to defeat three of them without taking a single hit.

He summoned two new barriers and used them to pull the Crusader’s body towards him.

“Loot.”

< < Loot ­— Zania Lewis > >

< Blood Fist Ring (Rare) >

< Fetish of Sloth (Rare) >

< Committed Attack Ring (Uncommon) >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) >

She didn’t drop the rosary, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since it’s bound the Priest’s weapon.

I really underestimated the Committed Attack Ring, he realised. If I’d gotten too close, she would’ve instantly killed me with the Blood Fist Ring. I wonder how past me survived that, unless the Potion Belt can be used to guard against blood magic.

He looked around and quickly spotted a body that lay behind the four large plinths in the back of the Altar. Unsurprisingly, it was Shirong Zhang, the first guy to claim the Altar. He had two holes in his torso, making it clear that Zania had killed him with a double-activated Blood Fist.

Adam pulled off his Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets and dropped them to the floor, then he looted all of the Crusader’s items, pulling the rings into his hand and dropping the rest at his feet.

“Equip Committed Attack Ring and Blood Fist Ring.”

[Understood.]

He brought up their descriptions.

< < Relics > >

< Blood Fist Ring (Rare) — Charge a powerful punch that shoots a blood spike through the target on impact. 45-second cooldown >

< Committed Attack Ring (Uncommon) — All Cooldown-based Relics gain a second use that can be triggered within 10 seconds of the first activation, but the cooldown is tripled >

I should probably put on the Glutton Collar as well, he realised, since he had two potions in the Belt Relic on his arm.

< < Relic > >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) — Consume two potions within 10 seconds of each other without incurring toxic backlash, but toxicity build-up is tripled >

Adam stooped down and picked it up from the pile of Relics.

“Is the cooldown inherent to the Relic?” he asked the Eye as he contemplated swapping his Affliction Ward for the Fetish of Sloth that the Crusader had dropped.

[Yes.]

“Is there still a cooldown on the Blood Ring then?”

[Yes. It has 127 seconds remaining before it can be activated again. Additionally, the Fetish of Sloth at your feet has a cooldown of 3 Stages. Both have had their cooldowns extended because of the effect of the Committed Attack Ring you are currently wearing.]

Adam blinked.

Okay, I won’t be using it with the Fetish then…

So much for spawning four imps at once.

He equipped the Glutton Collar and returned from where he’d come, heading for the Spidersilk Sack he had discarded and the eyeless statue he’d left it by.

“How much time is remaining?”

[16 minutes.]

More than enough.

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 10

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

And so it begins!

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

Chapter 10

I gasped and found myself standing in front of the entrance to Water Wizard’s Wonderland, which was not where I’d been a second ago.

“That wasn’t a second,” Panda muttered. “You were out for like 12 hours… Breezy really isn’t playing around this time.”

Next to me, Bee and Tina both gasped as well. They were no longer translucent from the Adjudicator’s ‘Phase Locked’ spell that he’d inflicted on us.

“The Judge is not to be trifled with!” Nina’s ominously-deep voice exclaimed.

Bee looked around.

“How did we get here?” she asked. “Wasn’t it night-time a moment ago?”

It seemed like she couldn’t recall the encounter with Axe, the Adjudicator-in-Training. That was probably for the best.

“Oh! I see Panda!” Bee suddenly exclaimed.

The plushie immediately hopped over to her shoulder.

“About time,” he said.

“You’re heavy,” she told him.

“Woah… That’s the first thing you tell me? I’m offended, Bee.”

“She’s not wrong,” I said.

“I’m just saying, you’re heavy for a plushie,” she continued.

Tina nodded. “He is like my Adam,” she said, her voice back to normal.

“I’m not fat!” Panda shouted. “Stop fat-shaming me!”

“No one said you’re fat,” I told him. “You’re just a heavy little sack of fluff.”

“Meow?” Lordie asked self-consciously.

“No you’re not that heavy,” I told him.

Suddenly monsoon-level rain poured down over us and the nearby parking lot. Except it wasn’t water. It was blood.

“It’s starting!” I said excitedly.

For some reason, the rain didn’t fall inside the water park. Then I realized why we’d been moved. The Water Wonderland was a public facility, indicated by the lights that were on, and when the Great Game was initialized it turned into a dungeon. Breezy had moved us outside and spared us from becoming monsters.

A loud-ass voice rang out from a few streets away.

[YUMMY-YUMMY! THE FEET ON THE BUS GO ROUND-AND-ROUND, AND MY TEETH GO CHOMP, CHOMP!]

“What’s that?” Bee asked.

“A Humanbus,” I said. “We’re going to capture it and turn it into a Safe Zone.”

“You should probably check your inventory to make sure they haven’t confiscated the Safe Zone Sphere while you were out,” Panda told me.

I hadn’t even realized that they might do such a thing and anxiety suddenly gripped me.

Before I could check my inventory, a pop-up appeared in front of my eyes. From the way that Bee’s and Tina’s eyes lit up with a blue light, it was clear they’d gotten something similar.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x ]

‘The Lock and the Key’

You are the chosen one.

Seek the Truth, Glitched Prophet.

At last you have found your way to the right dimension.

You possess the Lock and the Key.

You possess the Catalyst.

Do what must be done.

Follow the red light at the end of the tunnel.

Destroy the System’s chains.

Let Chaos rule.

Reward: ‘????’ Class

“What the h—?” Panda started to say but was immediately interrupted.

*Tap-tap*

…

Is this thing on?

Oh, it is?

*Ahem*

Welcome one and all to the GREAT GAME (trademark pending)!

I knew everything that was about to be said and this time I wasn’t forced to listen to the wasp Announcer drone on-and-on, because this time I had the means to break free.

You may have already noticed a few minor changes.

Those of you who were using public transport at the time—

I concentrated as hard as I could and activated the skill I’d gotten from the Sweet Dreams dungeon in the last dimension.

SKILL TRIGGER!

wakeUp triggered.

You have broken free of ‘System Announcement’.

Although I could still hear Announcer Riii’s grating voice, I was no longer stuck frozen like everything else. Bee and Tina shifted their eyes to me as I rotated my arms, but they couldn’t move.

“Inventory,” I said.

[Gambit’s Inventory x ]

---

‘SYSTEM_CATALYST’, ‘Clean Pajamas’, ‘Looking Glass’, ‘Conspiracy Whistle’, ‘Wet Grey Pajamas’, ‘Pocket-Watch’, ‘Survival Kit’, ‘Victory Champagne (x6)’, ‘Swan Fois Gras’, ‘Hooded Stitched-Skin Robe’, ‘Challenger’s Stopwatch’, ‘Paper Crown’, ‘Cultist Robes’, ‘Soul Compass’, ‘Sewer Map’, ‘Regional Director’s Big Red Button’, ‘Safe Zone Sphere’, ‘I-Love-Sparkles Cap’, ‘Obsidian Headphones’, ‘Child Protective Services Flare’, ‘I Survived the Tonsil-Stone Eye-Bleach T-Shirt’, ‘Whale Bacon’,

---

GAME Coins: 398.01

Safe Zone Tokens: 5

Lucky Dice: 2

Total Weight: ????

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God, all my shit is still there.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Panda asked.

I grinned and pulled out the exact item we’d both been thinking of.

[‘Regional Director’s Big Red Button’ x ]

Item

Dropped by: Ghe-tj-tj-tja

Activating this button forcefully shuts down the Broadcast Department’s Castleburg Regional Headquarters. This will disable all Broadcast Nests within the Region.

What the fuck!? Where did you get this??

Wait, why are you able to move…?

Oh…

Oh no…

Weight: N/A

“Breezy is gonna have another reason to be mad at us,” Panda said.

“Add it to the list,” I replied and slapped the red button.

Boop!

The announcement immediately shut off. However, Tina and Bee remained frozen in place.

Then I got an achievement.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement! x ]

‘Agency Saboteur!?’

Removed an Agency’s presence from your Region??

I officially have no idea what the actual fuck is going on, and thus I have decided to take unscheduled sick leave starting this very second. Clearly shit’s about to go down, and I’ll be damned if I’ll stay in the office for another moment. I mean, who knows what you’ll blow up next!?

…

…

[ONE MOMENT PLEASE!]

[PLEASE HOLD WHILE WE LOCATE A REPLACEMENT ACHIEVEMENT NARRATOR!]

…

Garbled and distorted Public Domain piano melody starts playing

…

[HERE AT ACHIEVEMENT NARRATION INC. WE CARE DEEPLY ABOUT YOUR ACHIEVEMENT EXPERIENCE!]

…

[PLEASE HOLD!]

…

Heyyyy!

I’m Billee!

I just started today, so I hope I can do a satisfactory narration for you!

They normally don’t hire people like me, but apparently there was a staffing shortage.

Lucky!

Hmm, let’s see.

Oh boy, you’ve been busy.

There’s apparently some uproar about you possessing this Big Red Button at the start of the GREAT GAME.

I am supposed to tell you that an Adjudicator will be with you shortly to discuss some things. That sounds fun. Those guys always throw great parties.

Also, to replace the Broadcast Department in your Region, Lord Messimer is going to take over. Did you know that if you manage to make him blink, we’ll give you another achievement?

Since you already have a ‘Rebel’s Ring’, which is meant to be one of the rewards for this achievement, I have given you an extra Lucky Dice instead.

Before I leave you be, here’s a fun fact about beetles:

Not all beetles are considered pests. Ladybugs are beetles and are actually considered to be good luck in many cultures.

Pretty fun right? If you ever meet a Ladybug in the GREAT GAME though, you might not believe the encounter to be a sign of good fortune.

See you later!

Rewards: Consequences, 2x ‘Lucky Dice’

[‘Lucky Dice’ x ]

Item

Everyone has a method for tweaking their luck. Most of them, like wearing your smelliest pair of underwear or chopping off a rabbit’s foot, are obviously superstitions that don’t work. This pair of dice is different.

Roll this pair of dice to make your next luck-based Encounter, Skill, or Loot Drop veer heavily in your favor.

Charges: 1

This item appears on your Appraisal!

Weight: 0.3 Pandas

Two pairs of dice landed in my hands before immediately vanishing into my inventory.

Like last time I’d removed the Broadcast Department, a new celestial body appeared in the sky. Except it wasn’t a planet. It was a giant eye.

“Oh look, Messimer is back,” I said. I felt something wet trickle out of my tear ducts, nostrils, and ears.

“Look away, you moron!” Panda yelled, but I was suddenly frozen in place, my gaze locked on the Master of the Broadcast Department.

Panda sighed. “If you die from this, then you’ve got nobody but yourself to blame.”

WARNING TO ALL CASTLEBURG PLAYERS!

The Broadcast Department has been removed from your Region by Player ‘Gambit’.

But the broadcast of the GREAT GAME must continue. To this end, the Master of the Department has taken it upon himself to observe you all.

Give the new fixture in the sky a wave, but don’t stare too long.

Then the giant eye in the sky took over the announcement that I’d interrupted.

In the absence of any eligible Announcers for this Region, I have taken it upon myself to perform the GREAT GAME announcements going forward.

My name is Messimer. I am the Master of the Broadcast Department. Due to the interference of a Glitched Player and an unregulated Benefactor, I have been summoned to the Castleburg Region ahead of schedule. Nevertheless, the show will go on as prescribed.

Before Announcer Riii was violently interrupted by the Broadcast Headquarters’ explosion that killed her, she was in the middle of explaining what was happening to your world. I will go back a few steps and take it from the top, but fret not, I will avoid wasting too much of your precious time.

“Earth” has been chosen to participate in the GREAT GAME, and all of you are to be its Players.

This is a show in which the population of a chosen world will struggle for the entertainment of Demons and other sapient species, such as the insect kin that staff the various Agencies required to operate the GAME.

During the GREAT GAME, several Events will be held to whittle down your numbers until a few select winners can be found. These winners will receive cosmic influence and power, elevating them to the level of the Gods themselves.

It would be prudent to keep your wits about you as you traverse your Region, since there are now World Bosses and monsters that roam the overworld. Additionally, all of the public facilities in your Region have turned into Dungeons full of monsters, puzzles, and rewards. Those who found themselves inside these facilities during the initialization have become part of their monstrous roster, their bodies now serving the System. In-between the GAME Events you are expected to fight your way through these Dungeons and defeat their monsters to grow stronger.

To this end, you have all received a starting Class upon the initialization of the GREAT GAME. These are sometimes thematically-appropriate to your character, though in most cases the System will have assigned you a basic Class. As you fight and survive, your Class will go up in level, giving you the ability to increase your attributes such as Strength and Wisdom. Should you survive long enough, you will even reach a level threshold and gain the ability to evolve or change your current Class. It is also possible, albeit rare, to change your Class with a Spontaneous Class Evolution, but only a handful of you will meet the conditions required for such a thing to happen.

For the next twenty-four hours, do your very best to grow strong and competent such that you can put on a great show when the first of many GAME Events begin. Due to the interference mentioned previously, these Events have been altered slightly to not give anyone an unfair advantage.

Before I let you go, please listen to the following message from our Sponsors.

THE GREAT GAME IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY “Everyone you know is dead and gone! You’re all alone! All alone! Hahahahahaha!”

Bee stumbled a step and Tina grumbled as the announcement finally ended.

I blinked the blood tears out of my eyes and finally averted my gaze from Messimer’s moon-sized eyeball in the sky. It felt like worms were eating their way through my brain and something was wriggling behind my left eyeball.

“This sounds almost like a game,” Bee said cheerfully. “I wonder what the Game Event is gonna be.”

“It sounds like it won’t be Weaponlution again,” Panda said.

I frowned. “Damn, I was hoping to get another weapon.”

“You ‘ave me, Gamby!!” Brock squealed.

“Oh no!” Bee suddenly exclaimed.

“What?” I asked.

“It says my Class is ‘N/A’…” she complained. “I also got an achievement saying I should report to something called the CPS. It gave me a flare to summon them.”

“Don’t use it!” Panda told her.

Tina switched back into Nina and warned, “The Judge is coming!”

WARNING!

A GREAT GAME ADJUDICATOR HAS BEEN SUMMONED!

CEASE HOSTILITIES OR BE VAPORISED!

VACATE THE LANDING ZONE IMMEDIATELY!

“Hopefully he’s not mad,” I muttered.

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Three

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Apologies for the delay, but I didn't want to rush this chapter.

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

Chapter Fifty-Three

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 5 >

< The Forbidden Altar >

< 30-minute Timer >

Adam opened his eyes, immediately recognising the strange sensation of being stuck in a cutscene.

But it was different from last time.

He stood on the engraved stone disc in the middle of the Elphin Sanctuary’s ritual site. Under his feet reflective mercury flowed through the grooves in the stone and ahead of him, in the very centre of the disc, stood Belamouranthe. Behind her was the Elphin Queen. Both wore the green dresses that Weaver had spun.

The girl was facing Adam and, as he watched, her mother lifted a silvery dagger in the air, unseen by her child.

Adam couldn’t move nor speak, and he was forced to watch as the blade plunged down towards Belamouranthe’s neck.

The necklace he’d given her glowed with a violet light and a thunderclap rocked the air, sending the Elphin Queen hurtling along the ground while Adam stumbled back a step.

Enormous blue petals emerged from the air around the Elphin girl and all the spectators on the steps of the pit gasped, dropping to their knees in religious supplication. Then the petals closed around Belamouranthe. A beautiful flower formed briefly before vanishing without a trace, taking the girl with it.

She’s saved!

Was that the All-Mother coming to her rescue??

The Elphin Queen screamed, her voice like the banshees Adam’s lantern manifested.

She stumbled towards the centre of the disc while the voices of the Elphin around them blended together into an incoherent chorus. The wing that hung from her back, the translucent-red extension of her soul, was coming apart. Glowing purple slashes adorned it and the wing broke into pieces like glass as she staggered towards where Adam stood, unable to move.

Then she fell to her knees in the centre of the disc and rammed the silver dagger into the side of her own neck.

“I do this for mine people,” she wheezed and wrenched the blade through her flesh, spilling cerulean-blue blood into the engraved pattern.

Adam was forced to watch as the woman bled to death, her lifeblood spreading across the disc, flowing alongside the mercury without mixing together.

The Elphin on the steps continued to pray and weep, but unlike last time, their wings and skin had not faded and become pale.

The ground rumbled and the stone disc under his feet started to rotate. He turned away from the dead Queen to watch the entrance to the Altar be revealed. Unlike last time, there was no one here to tell him to become a champion of the Elphin.

With the sacrifice of Belamouranthe prevented, the people of the Sanctuary have not caught the All-Mother’s ire. Though they may have lost her favour, it is better to be Godless than scorned.

Without a word or a glance back over his shoulder, Adam moved towards the stairwell at the edge of the stone disc.

Then he blinked.

***

Like last time, he found himself wandering down a spiralling staircase made of stone. On his right was a hole leading straight into darkness below. With a blink he was transported deeper and the stairwell had become narrower. There were openings in the walls that revealed the vast chamber he was descending into. As he looked around, his head and eyes the only things he could control, he spotted five other spiralling staircases.

The Orb of Insight was right. I really am facing five other Players this time. Last time it was four.

Then he saw the other Players imitating his movements on the other stairwells. He looked around for Willow and found her directly opposite him, in what was the southern part of the Stage. She stared right back at him in surprise. He held her gaze as their bodies were puppeteered down the steps until they lost line of sight of each other when the steps blocked their view. As he came back around he immediately spotted another woman.

That’s the one with the Crusader type.

She had caramel skin and black hair styled into a bob, and looked to be in her thirties. Something told him she was Caribbean. Though he squinted and tried to gauge her equipment, he couldn’t see her weapon or Relics.

Adam looked at the others but couldn’t tell who was who. However, he did notice one of the men staring intently at the Crusader. He had a complexion like her and his black hair was in a buzzcut. Given their similar appearances, he wondered if they were related or from the same place or something. He felt fairly confident that this was the Assassin that Emelia had warned him about.

Maybe that’s why they end up working together?

The last two were an Asian man with a goatee and slicked-back black hair, and a blonde and tan late-teens guy whose eyes were huge and terrified. The Asian guy seemed a bit more put-together and was probably in his forties if Adam had to guess.

He tried to map out where each of them were in relation to him and Willow while considering the layout that Emelia had explained to him. He was dismayed to realise that to Willow’s immediate right was the Assassin and to her left was the Crusader. The Asian man was to the Crusader’s right on the eastern side and opposite on the west was the blonde guy.

Adam blinked and suddenly found himself at the foot of the stairwell.

He took a deep breath as the control of his body returned to him.

Willow is gonna run straight into the Assassin based on their locations. I have to go as fast as I can to get to her.

He summoned his barriers and combined them in front of himself.

I can do this.

< < Stage Objective > >

< Claim the Altar before the timer runs out >

He formed the barrier into a narrow sled and climbed on top. He was going to fly down the hallways since running wouldn’t be quick enough. Because he knew the layout, he knew which way to go to reach Willow. If he was fast enough, he knew he might be able to get to the chamber where her path connected with the Assassin’s.

[The Stage will begin in 30 seconds.]

[Only 1 Player may claim the Altar.]

[If there are other Players alive, claiming the Altar takes 5 minutes. Once the Altar is claimed, surviving Players will perish.]

Adam knew he couldn’t trust the words of the Eye, but it was hard for him to not feel anxious about his plan.

If it really was as simple as two people claiming the Altar simultaneously, then surely Arturo would’ve known.

But there has to be a way to save other Players! It wouldn’t make any sense if it wasn’t possible to defy this Stage. Or would it?

The only way I’ve been able to defy the game, besides getting a shard lodged in my chest, was to give Belamouranthe the necklace. In terms of the story I’m playing through, it makes sense that it would work that way.

I don’t know enough about this setting and these Absolutes to say if there’s a way to defy the Player versus Player design, but maybe there’s something like a Twin God that would allow two Players to survive together. After all, Emelia didn’t know what four of them were, so they could be anything.

He shook his head.

First I need to save Willow from the others, then I can find out a way for us to both survive the Stage.

Adam swallowed. He’d already decided that the Crusader and Assassin had to die, since they were too dangerous to leave alive, but he couldn’t decide if he should attempt to save the other two.

[Begin.]

Adam gripped his flying barrier tightly and shot himself down the stone hallway. He zoomed past the statues that came to life, too fast for them to catch him, and rounded the first corner without slowing down.

The stone corridors were lit by yellow gems in the ceiling as he flew through, taking every new corner with reckless speed until he reached his first chamber. Unlike the first chamber he’d encountered in his last loop, this one only had two tunnels branching from it. The room itself was like a triangle, with a tunnel in each wall, and the walls were covered in hieroglyphs. At the centre of the room was a treasure chest made of stone and on either side of it stood two sword-wielding Statue Elementals.

I’ll come back for it, he decided and took the right tunnel.

From behind came the echoing steps of the many enemies that trailed after him, but they would never be able to catch up.

I wonder if I should try and harvest their cores. It seemed like they were made of glass, so they’ll be difficult to break free of their bodies without destroying them.

Although if he could harvest the cores he’d get a lot of Points out of it, since there were a lot of enemies in the Stage. It was something else to try after he had saved Willow.

While he flew through the tunnels and chambers, following the fastest route from the northern stairwell to the southern one, he considered the two potions he’d bought last night. Emelia had told him to just get a medium potion, but he’d bought a small one as well. With his remaining 300 Points he’d gotten the Potion Belt from Lucca, and it was now strapped around his right arm. It was not only to protect his healing items but also so he could utilise the Relic as a shield. He’d gotten the idea from his memories of the past, which had made him realise that the ‘indestructible’ description of the Relic literally made the potions impossible to break. It was a simple exploit but far more useful than anything else he could’ve spent his remaining Points on.

If my reflexes are fast enough, I might even be able to block an arrow, he thought to himself. Though probably not if they’re instant…

Sounds of fighting came from a right-branching tunnel as Adam flew through a box-shaped chamber. It was the direction of the blonde guy’s stairwell, but he didn’t stop.

The elementals he’d triggered were unable to keep up and he couldn’t even hear them anymore.

I wonder if they’ll just hang around where they lost sight of me, or maybe they’ll return to their starting points.

He wanted to get the chest he’d passed so he was gonna find out the answer later.

The tunnel he flew through had a strange U-shape and he banked hard on the first corner, slamming the bottom of his flying barrier into a Statue Elemental that came to life. The stone Elphin was knocked back into the wall with enough force to detach its head, and the impact damaged the barrier enough to crack it completely, triggering Last Stand’s Fervour.

Oh shit.

Adam didn’t stop to finish off the elemental and instead surged around the next corner in the U-shaped tunnel, going a lot faster than before thanks to the new buff. He banked around the turn leading out of the strange corridor and emerged into a wider hallway that fed into a large oval chamber.

As he flew into this new room, he counted down the timer in his head.

The chamber was identical to the one that Ilya had ambushed him in, with statues standing around a large central pillar and stone coffins placed near the walls. Unlike last time, all the statues were intact.

Adam put the brakes on his barrier and stepped off before resummoning his replacements. While fusing the two fresh barriers together, some of the statues awoke and started to approach. But he didn’t have time to fight them and quickly shaped his spell into a sled before climbing on board and taking off down past the pillar. The eyes engraved on the structure seemed to be following him.

It’s definitely the same room I died in last time.

He suppressed a shudder. This chamber brought back bad memories.

Adam flew down through a tunnel on the left side of the far wall, retracing his path from the last loop. It brought him to a chamber with a closed stone chest and two tunnels connecting to it. If he went right, he would go to the chamber he’d encountered Charlotte Hayes in. But he went left to go towards Willow’s stairwell, zooming down the tunnel. He immediately noticed that statues were missing along the hallway walls. Then he realised the ones that should’ve been in the previous chamber were gone too.

Shit!

Adam came out of the tunnel and into a circular room with a raised dais in the middle and dead statues lying around its stone steps. On the platform lay Willow, her blood running down the stones from a gash across her neck and a wound in her back. Above her stood the man with the buzzcut, holding a single bloody dagger. He wore the same fur coat Armour Relic as Adam and had the Blood Mage’s choker on his neck.

“No!” Adam roared and leapt off his barrier, flinging it at the Assassin and shaping it into a cone mid-flight.

Adam skidded along the stone floor on his boots as the killer turned in his direction and immediately leapt toward him. He wasn’t fast enough to avoid the barrier and it flew through his left leg with ease, tearing it from his body and leaving just a frayed stump.

The Assassin tumbled as he landed at the foot of the dais and immediately began screaming in pain. Adam brought the barrier back and drove it down through the guy’s head, piercing his cranium like it was made of wet paper and cutting off his scream.

He ran past the dead Assassin to where Willow lay, taking the medium healing potion out of his Potion Belt and pouring it into her mouth.

“Don’t die! Don’t die!” he muttered repeatedly in desperation while making sure as much of the potion went into her mouth as possible.

The Eye floated over next to him.

[When looking at a lootable corpse, you may utter the command ‘Loot’ to receive a list of Relics available to take.]

Adam froze.

“What the fuck did you just say…?”

He looked down at Willow’s body. The red liquid from the healing potion was spilling out of her open mouth and her lifeless eyes stared into the distance.

“No… No! She can’t be fucking dead!”

[This Player has perished. You cannot heal dead Players.]

Adam wanted to yell at the cube and swing his barrier to try and kill it. But he knew it was pointless. It wouldn’t bring her back to life.

He finally noticed the blood that covered his hands and soaked into the silken pants that Weaver had made for him. The red puddle he knelt in reflected his face.

Bile filled his throat, but he swallowed it down.

What was I even thinking?

How arrogant to assume I would find a way to save Willow when Emelia and Arturo couldn’t defy this Stage.

But I didn’t even get to try my plan with the Altar…

He knew it wouldn’t have worked. It was too obvious. But he wanted to at least have been able to give it a try, just so he could say he hadn’t given up without knowing.

Adam shut Willow’s eyes and got to his feet.

He gritted his teeth and said, “Loot.”

< < Loot ­— Willow Martin > >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) >

< First Strike Earring (Rare) >

< Sanctuary Defender’s Robe (Rare) >

< Barrage Glove (Uncommon) >

< Blink Ring (Uncommon) >

< Small Healing Potion (Common) >

He grabbed the potion first and it immediately appeared in the Potion Belt strapped around his right arm.

“Can I wear two First Strike Earrings?” he asked the Eye.

[Yes.]

He nodded. That was good.

When he looted the earring, it pierced his left earlobe and equipped itself. The pain was hardly noticeable.

I don’t want to take her clothes…

He grabbed everything else and stuffed it in his Spidersilk Sack, leaving Willow with the robe still on her body.

It took a surprising amount of effort to leave her behind, but he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to live.

I will save you! he promised her in his mind.

Adam walked down the steps to where the Assassin’s corpse lay and prompted the loot command in his mind.

< < Loot ­— Ajani Lewis > >

< Blood Mage Choker (Epic) >

< Slothling Fur Coat (Rare) >

< Affliction Ward (Uncommon) >

< Parry Bracer (Uncommon) >

< Tainted Bracer (Uncommon) >

Adam could picture how the fight between the two had gone. Willow had probably not noticed him at first and fought through the Statue Elementals he’d brought with him. Then, when she’s spotted him, she might have managed to shoot an arrow at him, but because of the choker, he’d survived the hit.

He pulled all of the Relics into his Spidersilk Sack. It was already full and he knew he’d have to discard stuff before he was done with the Stage. There were three other Players he’d have to loot before then…

“Equip Affliction Ward,” he said.

[You are already wearing a Relic on your available belt slot. Would you like to unequip Fetish of Sloth and replace it with Affliction Ward?]

Hmm, I guess I can’t unequip the Wraith Lantern, which must be taking up another slot on my belt.

Even though there was plenty of space on his belt, he was apparently limited to just two attachments. It was just another weird quirk of the slot-based system, similar to how he could only use one Ring Relic per hand. Strangely, the Potion Belt allowed itself to be strapped anywhere on his body as far as he could tell.

“Sure, unequip the Fetish and equip the Ward.”

I’ll swap it back before I take on the Deathguard.

The dried worm popped into his hand and he plopped it down into the Spidersilk Sack. He wondered if getting a backpack would be more efficient.

Adam’s barrier was still buried in Ajani’s skull and when he lifted it up, his body followed.

He frowned.

He doesn’t deserve to lay dead in the same chamber as Willow.

Adam slowly walked out of the tunnel as his barrier moved in front of him, the Assassin’s dead body still attached.

When he got to the smaller chamber, he threw the murderer’s body off to the side and went over to loot the stone chest.

There was no golden light or anything, but inside lay a stone mask with a similar appearance to the faces of the Elphin statues. It had hooded eyes and a flat smile with thin lips, as well as pointed cheeks and a sharp chin, making the face quite angular. The top of the mask cut off in the middle of the forehead.

He lifted it up.

< < Relic > >

< Stone Mask (Uncommon) — Sacrifice the Relic to negate the damage of the next attack | When the Relic breaks, the wearer is cursed with Wither, taking 50% increased damage from the next attack >

This wasn’t a Relic Chest, but this is a good reward.

If the Assassin had taken a second to grab this, he might’ve been able to put up a fight…

“Can I equip this even though I’m wearing the earrings and crown?”

[Yes. Your face is not covered by anything.]

“If I’d worn a nose ring, would I still be able to wear it?”

[No.]

This slot system is truly bizarre…

Adam put the stone mask on and his vision narrowed to slits.

He took a deep breath and retraced his steps to the chamber with the pillar.

I will be the sole survivor today so that I can save everyone from this Stage in the future.

I will find a way.

Adam folded the barrier into the needle shape and prepared himself for his next encounter.

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Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-Two

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

It's been a super hectic week but I finally wrapped up the edits on Madman book 2, which is nice. Still need to wrap up Exorcist book 2, but I should get that done next week. Then the week after that my exams begin T_T

Once we're into June, stuff should become a bit less hectic I hope.

UPDATE:
Since chapter 53 is quite important, I don't want to rush it, so it'll come hopefully Monday or maybe Tuesday next week.

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Chapter Fifty-Two

“Do you want to know the people you’re up against?” Emelia started off asking him.

“Tell me what weapon Willow has,” he said.

She gave him a worried look. It was obvious that she didn’t believe that it was possible to save anyone in Stage Five, but she kept her thoughts to herself for now.

“She uses the level 12 Longshot bow, which has increased damage based on distance an arrow travels. For Relics she has the Blink Ring, Barrage Glove, First Strike Earring, Sanctuary Defender’s Robe, and the Captain’s Cape. She seems to focus on damage and draw speed.”

“The guy who killed me last loop had the Blink Ring too,” Adam said.

She nodded. “It is quite effective up close in a confined space, but it takes a lot of skill to use at range. However, Willow normally dies to two other Players that team up, according to what you told me last loop.”

Adam frowned.

Emelia continued, “The pair who team up are the biggest hurdle. It’s a man and a woman. The man has the Assassin evolution of Backstabber and focuses on Speed. The woman has the level 12 Crusader evolution of Priest. If you take out the Assassin first, you’ll be fine, but if he can get close you’ll be in trouble since he has an affliction-focused setup.”

“And the last two?” he asked.

“One has some evolution of the Berserker weapons, but I’m not sure what it does. The other is an unevolved Lancer. I’ve been watching them, and it doesn’t seem like either has much of a plan for what they’re doing. They both died to the duo last loop. You should watch out for the Berserker if you run into him though, since he has the Purple Slime Glove.”

“The Berserker dual-wields weapons, right?”

“That’s right. This guy still has axes, but I know it’s possible to get dual swords or chains.”

“Chains?”

“From what I’ve been told they’re like whips,” she explained. “They sounded difficult to use.”

“Do you know why the Priest and Backstabber team up?” Adam asked.

“I don’t. You never told me,” she replied. “I’ve been watching them through the Tavern, but it doesn’t seem like they’re talking to each other, so I think Five is the first time they meet.”

“Is it unreasonable to try and save them all?” Adam wondered.

“Yes,” she replied honestly.

He sighed.

The All-Seeing System told us to defy it. There has to be a way to avoid killing each other!

“However,” she started and Adam’s ears perked up, “it is possible there is some way to dual-claim the Altar.”

“Really??” he asked. “How?”

“I’ll have to explain how Worship works first.”

“Okay?”

“The thing is, there are fifteen potential Absolutes to worship. But you don’t just get to pick and choose. You must fulfil their requirements for them to be options, and several are unknown to me.”

“In my vision from the Orb of Insight, I saw eleven small plinths and four big ones.”

“The big ones are for the strongest of the Absolutes, as far as I can tell,” Emelia explained. “Of the four, I know three, and they are ‘The First Light’, ‘The Eternal Serpent’, and ‘The Void’. The Serpent appears to anyone who has looped twice, the Void seems to always show up, and the First Light appears after finding the Brazier behind the Player House, but only if you haven’t killed other Players or island Denizens.”

“You don’t know what the fourth one is?”

Emelia shook her head. “Even Arturo didn’t know how to make it appear.”

“What are the rest that you know?” he asked.

“I don’t know the unlock conditions for each of them, but these are the ones I’m fairly sure about: ‘The All-Mother’ appears if you save Belamouranthe; ‘Nharlla’ appears if you’ve killed three Players; ‘Nwetrou’ obviously shows up if you have the Abyssal Tooth; ‘Messimer’ always shows up like the Void; and ‘Morrligt’ appears if you’ve used fire magic to kill something. Last loop, ‘Masked Courtesan’ showed up for me but I’m not yet sure why.”

I wonder if the way I killed the Aristocrat counts for Morrligt.

“So, counting the one big Absolute, there are six you still don’t know about? Arturo didn’t know either?” Adam asked.

“I do know two others, but not how to make them appear. They’re ‘The Flayed Lady’ and ‘The Guardian’. Arturo also didn’t know what the missing four were. I think their conditions are really obscure or difficult.”

“When we first met, you asked me what the Void does,” Adam recalled. “What was the answer?”

Emelia looked away before saying, “It kills you.”

“What’s the point of that?” he asked.

“It permanently kills you.”

Adam blinked.

Oh…

He realised why she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

The Void is probably the only way for me to escape my death-loop…

“What about Nharlla?” he then asked, changing the subject. “You said something about a human mimic?”

“All of the Absolutes give you a boon when you first Worship them, but they also give you a curse or some demerit. Nharlla allows you to rearrange your stats, enabling you to take one value of an attribute and swap it with another. It’s extremely useful, and many Players choose to Worship him. He usually shows up as an option since the winner of Stage Five tends to kill at least three other Players to claim the Altar.”

“They pick it even though they know they’ll be cursed with a mimic?” Adam asked, surprised.

It is definitely a useful power, but the thought of having to encounter whatever the hell a human mimic is sounds like it’d deter a lot of people.

“They don’t know,” Emelia replied. “The negative effects are usually unknown. I only know about the link between Nharlla and the mimic thanks to Arturo. But I know what the demerits are for the Serpent, the First Light, and the All-Mother. The Serpent doubles the duration of effects on the Player, both positive and negative. The First Light makes it so you take damage if you injure another Player. And picking the All-Mother gives you a soul wing like what the Elphin have. It’s a pretty serious weak point, since any damage dealt to it cannot be healed between Stages and attacks against it bypass your Defence.”

“What do you usually pick?” Adam asked.

“Messimer,” she said. “But this will be the first time that the Serpent is available to me, so I might pick it instead.”

“You pick Messimer even though you don’t know what the weakness is?”

“I don’t think it’s something major, and the Appraisal skill and improved eyesight are super helpful.”

That does sound useful. An Appraisal skill probably makes it so much easier to assess dangers, at least if it works like I’m assuming it does.

“Should I pick that too?” Adam asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “The last two loops, when you were using the Warrior weapon, you picked Nharlla to swap your stats around for more Health and Speed. It always resulted in you having to fight the mimic in Stage Six.”

“What did Arturo usually pick?”

“Morrligt,” Emelia answered.

“What does he give?”

“You start off with receiving the Sun Flare spell. It’s like a fireball, except it deals sun damage. I think it could be very good for Stage Eight.”

“That sounds powerful. Wait, what do you mean by ‘start off with’? Are there more boons than that?”

“After Stage Ten you can upgrade your Worship or switch to another. As you find more Altars in later Stages you can continue to upgrade your Worship. If you upgrade, you get another boon but also a new weakness. The second weakness for Messimer is pretty bad.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s not important right now,” she told him.

“I disagree,” he said. “Knowing future demerits could change things.”

“None of them are bad enough to kill you outright, and it’s more important you pick one that benefits you, rather than worrying too much about whatever weaknesses it might have. All of the boons come with weaknesses after all.”

“Can’t you just tell me?” he asked.

Emelia’s expression softened and she finally explained, “Messimer’s second weakness turns your eyes into weak points and prevents you from wearing anything to cover them. Even a small hit to the face can deal over a hundred points of damage because of it. Anyway, it seems Messimer is a God associated with eyes.”

“Just like the System,” Adam replied.

“What do you mean?” Emelia asked, clearly confused.

Adam paused. “You haven’t seen it between loops?”

“Seen what?”

“The All-Seeing System. It refers to the cubes as its ‘eyes’ and it’s clearly responsible for all the weird eye-based symbolism. Skǫll called it ‘The Watcher’ which seems a lot more fitting.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I see nothing except the spiral when I loop.”

The spiral? What the hell is that?

“When I died and looped last time, I talked to him. The Watcher.”

“Do you think he’s one of the missing Absolutes?” she asked.

Adam shook his head. “It sounds like, from what Skǫll was saying, that the All-Seeing System is the ‘organiser’ of the Trials of Defiance. The other Absolutes might be participants, like sponsors or something.”

“And the audience are their spawn and misbegotten demon offspring,” she added.

Adam frowned at the thought.

But it is fitting that such a cruel game is to be observed by Gods and Demons.

“Anyway,” Emelia said, bringing the conversation back on topic, “I think if you want to save Willow, you should try and claim the Altar together.”

“How does claiming work?”

“You have to touch the stone orb that’s in the middle of the Altar. It will drain some of your Health to activate, but don’t worry, it won’t prevent you from getting the Flawless bonus since it doesn’t count as an attack.”

“What about the layout of the Stage?” he asked. “I saw from the Orb of Insight that the Altar itself is in a cave.”

“It can change a little bit, depending on how many Players participate. The default is five, but sometimes there are six. I think it has to do with who survives and who doesn’t. Probably Beck will end up as the sixth in his Stage since he normally dies in Stage Two.

“Each Player goes down a stairwell and these are arranged in a circle around the cave with the Altar inside. It only has one entrance and all the stairwell chambers lead into tunnels that come together into chambers.”

Adam nodded. “And those chambers lead to new tunnels that lead to other chambers.”

“It’s meant to be a maze and the ambushing Statue Elementals are supposed to slow people down. But you’ll always get one or two Players that just take off running immediately. It’s better to be methodical and take your time, otherwise you’ll easily fall into traps. Besides, you have at least five minutes to get to the Altar if someone claims it, and it’s pretty difficult to defend, since it’s so open.”

“Unless whoever claims it first has a ranged weapon or traps,” Adam added.

“That’s only kind of true. There are several Statue Elementals in the tunnel that leads to the Altar and they always get dragged into the cavern by whoever goes in first.”

“Wait a moment,” Adam said, realising something. “If there are supposed to only be five people in the Stage, why do I have six in mine?”

“I don’t know,” Emelia replied.

Then he remembered something else. “In my Remembrance, there was a time-looper called Souleyman. Apparently he helped me survive Stage Eight once. I had a memory of you and I discussing it in the Tavern before Stage Nine.”

Emelia’s eyes widened. “How??”

“I don’t know, the explanation was completely impossible to understand.”

She sighed deeply. “That’s right, I forgot it did that… But I’ve never even heard of someone called Souleyman.”

“Do you think he was a time-looper before Arturo?” Adam asked.

Emelia didn’t immediately respond and she was looking off to the side. Then she turned back to face him.

“There’s no one by that name,” she said.

I forgot to even check…

But then again, he had immediately been invited to talk by Gladwyn when he got to the Tavern after seeing the past memories.

“Maybe it was a nickname,” Adam guessed.

“Or we’re missing his last name,” she said. “What did he look like?”

“He was apparently a kind-looking African man. I never actually saw him in the memories.”

“I don’t know any African Player who goes by that name,” she replied. “But I’m relieved to hear that it’s possible for you to survive Stage Eight. My plan for this loop was going to be quite grim.”

“How so?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now.”

Emelia then went on to describe the exact layout he could expect from Stage Five. She also told him the approximate location of the statue that could be activated with the Skyblue Pearl, as well as the hallway with the secret lever that led to the chamber with the stone spear. According to what the past version of him had told her, he started on the northern side of the Stage. From what he could gather based on the descriptions, the place he’d started in his last loop was on the south-western side. She didn’t know where the other Players would start, but the northern stairwell was the one furthest from the other five, hence why Adam had apparently always reached the Altar around the time the others were almost dead in the past.

“What do I do about the Secrets?” he asked. The pearl statue was on the way to the Altar, but the hallway to the spear was a detour since it was closest to the eastern stairwell.

“You should grab the map if it’s safe to do so, but hold off on seeking out the stone spear, unless you can convince Willow not to fight you. If all other Players are dead and you claim the Altar, then the Stage will end. If it comes to that, you should hold off on claiming it and try it out.”

“Is the fight for the spear difficult?” he asked. “I saw what looked like Elphin guarding it.”

“I’ll have to get the Orb of Insight next,” Emelia said. “It really showed you everything. But yes, the fight with the Deathguard can be tough since there are three bosses to deal with. And they’re fast.”

“I don’t think I’ll have trouble with them even if they’re fast,” he said confidently. “After I evolved both the Summoner and Shaper last Stage, my power really spiked. Invoker gave me an extra summon and Fusionist allows me to combine two barriers to get a single barrier with double stats. And I think I can chain the fusions together to combine several elements if I can get additional summons.”

“I don’t really understand what that means,” she admitted.

“After I survive Stage Five, I will show you,” he said.

Emelia paused and some unintelligible emotion flashed across her face.

“I thought you didn’t want me to visit you again,” she then said, her voice quite small.

“You just surprised me and I felt like I was put on the spot. Sorry.”

“But you used the Scale?” she asked.

“I did. It was quite unsettling, but also eye opening. Did you get it from Luvicidix?”

“Yes. It is unlocked after Five, alongside the Challenge Stone from Alivida.”

“I see.”

A long pause followed where neither of them spoke.

Then Emelia said, “I’m sorry. Even though you’re not the Adam I know, I kept trying to force you to become like him.”

Adam smiled slightly. “Time-looping is confusing, isn’t it?”

“After I lost you in my last loop, I thought about giving up,” she admitted. “The challenges and suffering now is nothing compared to what comes later. I’ve gone through it twice and I’m afraid of what it’s doing to me.”

“Why? What’s coming?”

“The Stages get longer and more complex and the dangers compound, making everybody paranoid. Stage Eight where you always die is the first sign of that.”

“Moonport, right?” he said.

She nodded. “It’s a beautiful city on the water, but the objective is to find and kill a coven of vampires. During the day you hunt for clues, and at night you have to hide. It breaks a lot of Players’ psyche, especially since Seven is like a fantasy paradise to many, so the contrast is hard to handle. And it’s so easy to make a mistake and have the townsfolk or even Players turn into thralls you must kill… I hate that Stage, not just because it always takes you away from me. And it’s just the start. Once the Stages begin lasting several weeks, it completely screws up your sense of self. Every one of the Stages past Ten require you to envelope yourself in their worlds, only to then be abruptly pulled away when they’re done.”

“Several weeks!?” Adam exclaimed.

“As I say, the Stages get longer and longer. Five lasts thirty minutes. Six is a full day. Seven lasts three days. Eight lasts five days. And Stage Nine is a full week.”

Fucking hell…

But it matches the trend of the System getting more and more powerful as time progresses and Players perish.

“You won’t be alone to deal with those Stages this time around,” he told her. “I’m not planning on dying in Stage Eight. I’ve gotten really strong in this loop already, so I feel quite confident about my chances.”

“Survive the Altar first, then I’ll believe you,” she said with a small smile. “Did you buy a medium healing potion yet?”

“No, I was thinking of—”

“Don’t be an idiot,” she scolded him.

“It’s 500 Points!” he complained.

“Did you spend all your Points already?”

“No, but—”

“Then no excuses!” she interrupted him. “Go get yourself that potion!”

Adam sighed with a smile. “Fine,” he said.

“After that, you should go practice against the dummy in the Player House. If you set it to mimic the Forlorn Captain, it will be a good substitute for another Player. Try to see if you can find a way to defeat it in one hit. You’ve got the First Strike Earring so it should be possible.”

Adam saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Emelia laughed.

“What time should I visit you tomorrow?” she then asked.

The memory of how Emelia and his past self had met after every Stage to go on dates popped into his mind, and he paused for a moment, thinking. “Let’s first meet through the Tavern after I’m done in the Market.”

“Okay,” she replied. Her expression didn’t let anything show, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was disappointed by his answer.

They said their goodbyes and Adam left for the market to buy the healing potion like she’d told him.

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---Next chapter----

Madman Book 1 - Audiobook Codes raffle winners

10 people joined the raffle for the 4 audiobook codes I have to give away.

Congrats to the winners:
the ice man
ladypie247
Enrico Schmitz
Alucard

As you can see, I used https://wheelofnames.com/ to do the spin (it's the same site I used to pick the Spin The Wheel options for book 2). If you are wondering why each image has less names, it's because I removed every name that was picked so they wouldn't be chosen twice.

For the winners, I will reach out to you both by the email linked to your patreon account and through the platform's messaging system.

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 9

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

In case you missed it, I am doing a raffle for Madman Book 1 audiobooks to celebrate the release of the book on amazon (link).

I have 4 audiobooks to give away, and the winners will be decided on Friday with some kind of RNG (probably a spin-the-wheel type thing for thematic purposes).

You can find out more about the giveaway here.

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Chapter 9

It was fully dark by the time we reached our destination. Bee had started getting tired halfway through our journey, so I was carrying her on my back while she slept. Tina hadn’t paused for a second, displaying the bottomless stamina truly crazy people possessed.

“We’re here,” she announced.

I looked at the fence gate of the enormous water park, above which the sign read, ‘Water Wizard’s Wonderland’. The lights were on, the slides were operational, and the pools were all filled. The water looked clean even after a week of no maintenance.

“I didn’t know this was here,” I said as we entered.

The water park was on the outskirts of Madeville, not too far from some textile factories. It seemed a strange place to put such a thing, but the parking lot outside was filled to the brim with abandoned cars and travel busses, showing that it had been popular.

“A lot of people must’ve been here when everything went down and the children disappeared,” Panda said.

“It was pandemonium,” Tina replied with no trace of irony, stopping so I could catch up.

Panda stared at her with a frown but didn’t say anything.

“Were you here when it happened?” I asked her.

“I was,” she replied. “Michael brought our children here on that day. I’d managed to track him down after escaping from the facility next to the prison earlier in the day.”

“Is Michael your husband?” Panda asked, confused.

“He was,” she replied. “Then he cheated on me with a stripper named Candy and filed for divorce.”

I nodded. I knew this part of the story at least. After Tina had found out, she had stopped taking her meds and gone totally apeshit, burning down the strip club and cutting off Michael’s pinkie with garden shears after breaking into his house. Her ex-husband had gotten a restraining order and apparently also the custody of their kids. Tina had been put in jail for attempted manslaughter, trespassing, and arson, but had managed to escape and track her ex-husband down in Castleburg. The police had caught her and sent her to Calm Springs Asylum before she could exact her revenge, which is where I’d met her.

“Candy is dead,” I said.

“I know,” she replied. “Nina told me.”

“Where is Michael now?” Panda asked.

Tina didn’t reply. She looked off towards the top of a tall slide that was illuminated with floodlights.

“I see Otto,” she then said.

I followed her gaze and noticed him as well. He was a tall brown otter mascot with a comically-large head, and he wore swim trunks with a white-to-orange gradient over his costume.

“Is that a surfboard he’s holding?” Panda asked, looking up at him as well.

Bee woke up where I was still carrying her on my back, trailing a long string of drool from her mouth to the shoulder of my suit jacket.

“Did someone say surfboard?” she asked groggily.

I put her down as I continued looking up at the distant figure. The large waterslide was like a straight tube with the top half cut off to leave it open and its water cascaded down into a large pool. Around the pool stood a bunch of cheering college students. I immediately recognized Logan and Ophelia Maximilian amongst them.

Before I could point them out to Panda, the people started chanting, “Otto! Otto! Otto!”

The distant mascot lifted his surfboard into the air and the crowd roared. In total there were maybe forty of them or so.

Then Otto threw his surfboard down on the waterslide and jumped on. He held his arms out for balance, but it was clear he’d done this many times before, because he didn’t wobble in the slightest and just kept picking up speed.

“Wow, he’s super fast!” Bee exclaimed.

“I can’t wait to add him to the team,” I said with a grin.

When he was about to reach the bottom of the slide, Otto leapt from his board and performed a graceful dive into the pool. The surfboard slammed right down into the water after him before shooting back out and flying over the heads of the spectators.

“Hell yeah, bro! That was gnarly!” someone screamed.

“Oh look, it’s Tanner,” Panda said, pointing at the guy who’d yelled.

“Who?” I asked.

“You know, the water mage who died when you were hunting down Logan.”

“Oh, that guy,” I said.

As Otto climbed out of the water and the crowd cheered for him, Tina, Bee, and I walked over to meet him.

We made it all of two steps before everything froze.

“Ah, shit…” Panda muttered.

He bapped me on the head, but I couldn’t move any part of my body, not even my eyes.

“Listen, Gambit, I feared this might happen, but just let me do all the talking, okay?”

A door opened in the air in front of us, kind of like an elevator. It revealed the beige-ness of the cosmos, with stars, planets, and strange floating creature swimming about. Heavy fog spilled out from within the open portal and swirled around the four of us like an obscuring ball.

Then a figure appeared in the doorway before stepping out into our world. The door shut behind him and vanished.

The newcomer wore a dark-grey suit over a white shirt, and his tie was blood-red. His body was mostly human, although his skin was a deep purple color. His head, however, was out of this world. Literally. It was an upside-down pyramid covered in eyes and supported on a thin neck. It too was covered in purple skin and all the eyes had blood-red irises.

Pressure emanated from the figure and the stasis on our bodies was lifted. I stumbled back a step under the brutal assault of the creature’s aura, but Tina and Bee both immediately collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold.

I tried to form a fist, but the sheer presence of the being made me unable to properly move my body. I ground my teeth in frustration as I looked down at my incapacitated friends.

The eyes atop the pyramid head fixated on me and it felt like tiny needles raked along my ear canals, causing blood to well forth. Something also poked the back of my eyeballs, producing an itch I wasn’t able to scratch. I could’ve sworn I heard a shrill and staticky aria coming from the entity’s suit, almost as if the jacket was woven from the same material as a Dungeon Barrier.

SALUTATIONS.

I AM CALLED:

“THE AXE THAT SPLITS TIME INTO MOMENTS AND JOURNALS HISTORY WITH A QUILL DIPPED IN BLOOD”

BUT PLEASE CALL ME “AXE”.

The disturbing entity ran its eyes along my body and up to where Panda sat.

I blinked and somehow triggered my Appraising Eye passive.

---

[Appraisal x ]

Level ???? — ‘Axe’ — Adjudicator-in-training

“I UPHOLD THE RULES.”

Job: GREAT GAME Adjudicator-in-training

Affiliation: Dispute-Resolution

About time one of these guys showed up!

Wait…

Ah, shit, they sent a fucking intern…

Your world had the concept of internships, right?

Well, lil Axe here is an up-and-coming fresh-eyed Adjudicator-in-training. He’s been studying the cosmic laws of balance for eons and is finally ready to put his theories into practice.

He was the brightest of all the young Adjudicators-in-training, but he’s got fuck-all experience with the work, so all he knows are the overly-rigid theories that don’t take the complexities of reality into consideration. Axe is basically the Dunning-Kruger effect incarnate and thinks he’s hot shit because his teacher stoked his ego a bit too much.

Of course, most new graduates end up like this. It’s just a phase of life and part of growing up. Unfortunately, entities like Axe are incredibly long-lived so this period of being certified shite lasts as long as the lifespan of some solar systems…

Anyway, he’s not meant to be handling shit like this, since he’s not ready.

Normally, every Region or collection of Regions get a fully-fledged Adjudicator to oversee them, but the one in charge of Castleburg is not available right now.

What I’m trying to tell you here is that this guy is about to fuck your world up in a bad way.

He hopes his manager will be pleased with his performance today.

---

This guy was definitely trouble.

YOU MUST BE AWARE OF WHY I HAVE COME, [REDACTED].

Panda crawled onto my head to be eye-level with the guy and said, with a frown in his voice, “Where’s Breezy? He’s normally our Adjudicator.”

“THE BREEZE THAT TRANSCENDS MOMENTS AND GATHERS COSMIC DUST UPON A WEIGHING SCALE OF BONE” IS BUSY RIGHT NOW, AND THUS I WAS SENT TO YOUR REGION TO HANDLE THIS UNUSUAL MATTER.

“Well, we’re only dealing with him,” Panda said stubbornly.

I had no idea what they were talking about or what was happening here, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were totally fucked.

UNDERSTOOD.

Axe lifted his right arm towards us, palm out, but I quickly stopped him before he could do whatever he was planning.

“Wait! Hold on a second!” I exclaimed. “What the fuck is going on, Panda!?”

He bapped me on the forehead with his fingerless arm. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re mad that we went back in time and changed things.”

INDEED.

THE SHOWRUNNERS INVESTED TIME INTO EVERY REGION OF YOUR WORLD IN ANTICIPATION FOR THE GREAT GAME’S INITIALIZATION.

YOU HAVE SLAIN TWO FIGURES THAT WERE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THEM AND PROVIDED INSIDER INFORMATION TO SEVERAL KEY PLAYERS.

YOUR PRESENCE ALONE DESTABILIZES THE CAREFUL ALIGNMENT OF THE SCALES UPON WHICH ALL THINGS ARE WEIGHED.

I HAVE BEEN SENT TO FIND A RESOLUTION TO THIS IMBALANCE.

I couldn’t help but think that the ‘resolution’ would be my complete and utter annihilation, based on what the appraisal had said.

“Fuck your imbalance!” Panda shot back. “The Flayed Lady has already interfered way beyond what is fair! It’s hardly my client’s fault!”

THEIR INVOLVEMENT IS REGRETTABLE.

HOWEVER, PLAYER GAMBIT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE FLAYED LADY’S INTERFERENCE.

“Bullshit!” Panda retorted. “I bet she’s interfered in other places too because of something other people did or will end up doing.”

YOU ARE CORRECT.

THOUGH THIS IS UNRELATED TO THE MATTER AT HAND.

FURTHERMORE, IF NOT FOR YOUR GUIDANCE, PLAYER GAMBIT WOULD NEVER HAVE REACHED THIS POINT IN TIME.

I SHOULD THINK THAT YOUR ERASURE WOULD SUFFICE TO ALLEVIATE THE IMBALANCE, SINCE PLAYER GAMBIT WILL BE LOST WITHOUT YOUR GUIDANCE.

OF COURSE, I WILL HAVE TO REMOVE ALL HIS GREAT GAME RELATED POSSESSIONS, SKILLS, AND LEVELS FIRST.

“Screw this!” Panda exclaimed and pulled something out of thin air. It was a cylindrical device made of stone.

“I didn’t realize you had an inventory,” I said.

He ignored me as he started squeezing the device and mumbling into it.

Then it dawned on me what he was holding. I had only seen it once, back before the first Game Event when the ants and beetles had been seeking mediation about what to do with Bee and me.

A pillar of light appeared next to Axe, burning away part of the fog that encircled us.

Then a figure appeared in the light before the pillar quickly dimmed and disappeared.

It was a large upside-down pyramid covered in skin, with eyes and tentacles dotting its surface. Above its flat top floated a sphere with a mouth within which was an eye.

It was Breezy.

Before Panda could say anything, the Adjudicator zapped Axe with a black energy beam that made him vanish, then his eyes fixated on us, and he announced:

APOLOGIES, I AM QUITE BUSY RIGHT NOW.

YOUR ARRIVAL TO THIS DIMENSION HAS CAUSED QUITE A LOT OF PROBLEMS THAT MYSELF AND OTHER ADJUDICATORS HAVE TO RESOLVE TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE GREAT GAME.

I WILL RETURN LATER TO RENDER MY JUDGEMENT ON YOU, BUT UNTIL THEN PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE.

I was about to thank him for his intervention, but then the large eye in the mouth on the sphere shot a black beam at Tina, turning her translucent as a ghost. He next shot Bee, also turning her see-through.

“Wai—!” I exclaimed, but it was too late.

A black beam of energy struck me.

---

WARNING!

You have been Phase Locked by a GREAT GAME Adjudicator!

Time remaining:

Expires once the GREAT GAME begins

---

“Fuck!” Panda cursed loudly.

I couldn’t even comprehend what had happened before everything went dark.

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

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---Next chapter----

Madman Book 1 - Audiobook Codes raffle

Hi everyone!

Madman Apocalypse Book 1 has been out for 5 days now and I finally have some audiobook codes to give away.

I have 4 in total and any current member (free or paid) of this Patreon is eligible to participate to win one of the codes.

!!EDIT!!
The codes can be redeemed on www.audiobooks.com so you need to have an account there to use the code.
(I thought it was for Audible, that's my bad for not noticing)

I made a google form and will be using a random number generator to pick the winners.

Click here to enter: https://forms.gle/siz5X6n15tKxY6Vz6

I've been listening to the audiobook lately and I think Eric did an amazing job narrating it. If you'd like to hear a sample before participating, there's one available here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Madman-Apocalypse-Book-1-Audiobook/B0F5RWXPK8

I'll announce the four winners on Friday!

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty-One

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

I hate to do this to you two days in a row, but this chapter hasn't been edited yet since I just finished it at 3AM and really need to get my ass to bed. I hope there isn't too much nonsense here, but I'll have it edited by tomorrow.

Sorry T_T

UPDATE: The chapter has now been edited.

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

Chapter Fifty-One

“Is it any different than the last four?” Beck asked.

“Much different,” Emelia replied. “You’ll have to fight other Players.”

Gladwyn frowned, but Beck looked confident.

“I thought it might come to that,” Gladwyn said.

“Do you know who we’ll fight?” Adam asked her.

She didn’t look at him as she said, “I only know who Adam will be facing. Grenouille normally doesn’t make it this far, and I’m not familiar with Princess Buttercup’s match-up, but I think he usually wins. However, it’s best I explain the various types of Players you’ll encounter at this point so you’re as prepared as possible.”

“You really don’t have to use our nicknames,” Gladwyn commented.

“Then start winning the bets,” she told him. “Actually, let’s make it so the winner gets to also reset their nickname on top of picking the loser’s.”

“Fine by me,” Beck said immediately.

Adam and Gladwyn agreed too.

“Alright. So these are the main types to look out for, but keep in mind that there are a lot of variations. There are also those who got this far without a solid setup, but you don’t need to worry about those.

“So, first off, Afflictionists. They should be your main concern, regardless of what weapons or Relics you’re using. Even having an Affliction Ward won’t help you. These are Players who stacked Afflictions like bleed, venom, taint, and anything else they can find. The very strongest of them use the Overflow Diadem with the Relic Renewal Stone, so if you see anyone with a diadem on their head try to target it. When the Relic breaks, it triggers a violent backlash that’ll usually kill the wearer. You cannot properly defend against afflictions until Stage Eight, so you have to go on the offensive against Players like that.”

Holy shit, I didn’t realise the Diadem had such an insane weakness. I didn’t even think to target someone’s Relics to be honest.

Ilya was using an Affliction build when he killed me and it’s true, I don’t know how you really defend against that unless you have a bunch of Affliction Wards.

I wonder if there are any Players that got the Cracked Conjuring Stone and used it on the Diadem with something else, like the Plague-Spreader’s Mask.

“The next ones on the list are the Parry Masters. Basically, anyone with the ability to parry. It can be a parry shield, like the ones from the level 12 Outrider evolution of Defender and the Hoplite evolution of Lancer. It can also be a rapier like what Duellist receives from the start or a parry dagger that Backstabbers get from the Opportunist evolution.”

“Why are these a problem?” Beck asked. “I use magic, I can’t be parried.”

“Projectiles, whether magical or not, can be parried. They are physical and can therefore be affected by physical interactions like parrying. Those competent enough can and will try to parry you, whether you use magical bolts, a sword, or a barrier.” She said the last part while looking at Adam’s ridiculous floating throne. “Being parried means you’ll be disoriented, which makes you unable to do anything. In a fight against another Player, a moment of inaction means death.”

“They can long-range disorient by parrying?” Adam asked, surprised.

“Yes, that’s why it’s a problem you’ll have to worry about.”

I totally underestimated the parry shield. If I had parried one of Ilya’s thrown spears I could’ve killed him and survived last loop…

“Can they parry magical traps?” Beck asked.

Emelia shook her head.

“Thank God,” he muttered.

“What do you mean by traps?” Adam asked.

“The spell staff allows me to prime magical spells, but I have to strike them to fire them off,” he explained. “If I don’t strike them, someone else can trigger them, which usually means they get a backlash equal to the spell’s damage.”

“That sounds pretty powerful if you know where the enemies are coming from,” he replied.

“It is,” Emelia said, “which brings me to number three on the list: Trappers. These include Spellcasters like Beck, Blood Mages which are extremely rare, and Huntsmen.”

“Huntsmen?” Adam asked.

“It’s a level 12 evolution of Woodsman,” she replied. “It unlocks a unique Relic that lets them place a bear trap. It may sound easy enough to avoid, but the traps can be hidden, and they deal 100% of the Player’s damage. They’ll also inflict any afflictions they possess, as well as a unique one called ‘Trapped’ which marks you to the Huntsman until you heal back to full. I’ve only encountered someone like that once, but it nearly killed me. With just a couple Uncommon Relics like Committed Attack Glove and Echo Earring they can kill just about anything with their traps.”

New fear unlocked…

“What about Warders like me?” Adam asked. “We can use our barrier to try and crush people.”

“There aren’t any competent Warders besides you,” Emelia commented, “so it’s not something to worry about.”

“What can Blood Mages do?” Beck asked. Gladwyn nodded, clearly also wanting to know.

“You saw the tattoos that Ezral had in Stage Three, right? Those are the weapons of a Blood Mage. Basically, they can prime spells like Spellcaster by using their blood. If they absorb enough of an enemy’s blood, they can do some pretty horrific things. That being said, there are only four of them left.”

“Only four??” Adam asked in disbelief.

“It’s the most difficult weapon to use in the Trials until Stage Ten, and it’s Epic rarity. Only about six-thousand people started off with it. Since it has very low Mana and also uses the caster’s own blood for spells, it’s really easy to end up dead from Mana Exhaustion or bloodloss.”

“Anything else to watch out for?” Gladwyn asked.

“The three I mentioned are the main ones to worry about, since they’ll be able to kill you before you know what happened,” she replied. “But competent Players are dangerous regardless of what weapons they use, so stay on guard. Anyone with the level 12 Quickshot evolution of Archer can be super dangerous in the narrow halls of Stage Five.

“Other than specific Weapon Types, it’s important to watch out for certain Relics. The main ones are the Slime Gloves and Blood Rings, since they are quick to use and can deal a lot of damage, if not be an outright one-shot like the Green Slime Glove. Anyone with the Slime Crown is also going to be hard to beat, but there are only three Players still using that. Those with the Fiendbarb Relic can also be bad news, however, you can completely counter it by having Weaver make you a full-body suit to go under your clothes. I hope you still have Points left to buy that, but it only costs 100. You should also get a medium healing potion just to be safe.”

“I already spent all my Points,” Beck said.

Gladwyn shook his head.

“I’ll go do that now,” Adam said.

“Now?” Beck asked.

“It’ll take her a while to make,” I argued, although my main reason for going was that I needed to visit Luvicidix before it got dark.

Emelia nodded. “You should do that too Gladwyn.”

“Gotcha,” he replied and stood up, vanishing from the table.

Before Adam could leave, Emelia said, “You have to get rid of that pendant.” Her tone was serious.

He paused and looked at her. “Why?”

“Because Scorn will guarantee you die in Stage Five. Once you and Gladwyn are back, I will explain the Worship portion of The Forbidden Altar. But I will tell you right now, you cannot worship anything if you’re wearing that. If you cannot worship an Absolute in Stage Five, then you cannot claim the Altar. If you cannot claim the Altar, you cannot beat the Stage. So get rid of it.”

“What if I just take it off before I try to claim the Altar?” he asked.

“It will be too late by then.”

How can you be sure? he wanted to ask, but her tone made it pretty clear he had no choice.

“Fine, I’ll get rid of it,” he told her.

Then he floated down to the ground floor and dismounted his barrier.

“Shitbox, store the Queen’s Pendant in my Player House.”

No way I’m just gonna sell something that useful.

[Understood.]

***

Adam had finished ordering a Spidersilk onesie from Weaver and flown to the centre of Interim Island just as the sun was about to set.

Luvicidix flew down from the clouds above and alighted on the edge of a house in front of him.

“You know how I feel about you showing up late,” she scolded him.

“I’ve been busy,” he replied. “Just show me your upgrades real quick and I’ll let you go to wherever it is you go.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 10% — 1000 Points >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

< Vendors — Increase Vendor Options by 1 — 4000 Points >

< Rerolls — Start every loop with 1 Reroll Dice — 2500 Points >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 2 Saved Relic Slots — 0/5000 Points >

< Cheat Death — Start every loop with the Cheat Death Relic — 10000 Points >

Adam wanted to leave some Points remaining for last minute purchases, and, since he had 1901 Points left after buying the anti-Fiendbarb clothing from Weaver, he knew exactly how to spend it with Luvicidix.

“I will spend 1000 Points on the Damage upgrade and 1 Point on Rewards.”

“Just 1 Point?” she asked.

“That’s right.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s annoying to look at.”

“That’s a strange argument,” Luvicidix replied.

“Well, it’s how I’ve decided to spend my Points.”

“I see…”

< < Meta Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 10% >

< < Meta Upgrades Progress > >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 626/4000 Points >

“What does the Damage upgrade cost now?” he asked.

Luvicidix waved one of her black-banded arms and the next upgrade appeared.

< < Meta Upgrade For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 25% — 2500 Points >

“Is it adding 25% to the 10% I just unlocked?” he asked.

“No, the 10% increase will become 25% once you unlock this second step.”

“What is the next step?”

“I cannot tell you that,” she replied.

Been a while since I heard that phrase.

“Speaking of things you can’t tell me, will you end up selling a Scale of Remembrance at some point?”

“You know the answer to your question already,” Luvicidix replied and lifted into the air. “Goodnight, Adam.”

“It was worth a try. Goodnight.”

He watched the moth take off into the sky and pull the floating scales with her. Then the Eye unfroze.

Guess I’ll go see Alivida before I return to the Tavern. I shouldn’t have been gone that long so they probably won’t mind if I take a little longer.

***

“You’re back… It has been a while,” said Alivida.

“I brought two Mastery Shards with me,” he told her.

“That’s good. Have a look at my upgrades.”

The small black moth swiped an arm over the purple-glowing crystal ball and her selection appeared.

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Skipping Stone — Skip a Stage if eligible — 2 Shards >

< Orb of Insight — View info about the upcoming Stage — 1/3 Shards >

< Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player — 8 Shards >

< Vanity — Turn an Interim Island Denizen into a humanoid — 10 Shards >

I think I’ll get the Orb for Stage Eight. Since it has a 2-Stage cooldown, that means I can use it right away.

“I’ll buy the Orb.”

“Thank you,” Alivida replied.

< < Mastery Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Orb of Insight — View info about the upcoming Stage >

“You wouldn’t happen to sell a Scale of Remembrance at some point, would you?”

“No,” Alivida replied firmly.

So it definitely comes from Luvicidix.

“How do I use my new upgrade?” Adam asked.

The moth indicated the crystal ball in front of her on the round table.

“Guess that makes sense,” he said.

“Peer into… the Orb of Insight.”

Adam leaned closer and then—

< < Orb of Insight Activated > >

< Viewing Stage Five — The Forbidden Altar >

Adam’s mind was sucked into the purple-glowing orb and his vision flickered black for a second before switching to a hallway of stone.

He was seeing from the perspective of something like a drone that hovered slowly through the air while looking at the walls and Elphin statues lining them. Then one of the statues broke free from the stone and raised a weapon.

Time froze and something like an X-ray vision overlaid the Statue Elemental, revealing the glass core in its torso.

The perspective switched to a dead-end hallway with statues lining its walls. One of them held two swords and as the thing guiding him moved closer, its right sword pulled down and the end of the hallway opened like a door.

His vision flickered again, showing a chamber with three solemn Elphin statues standing in front of a carved stone shrine where a dark spear lay like a sacred object. As he hovered closer, he saw the statues were actually alive, although their skin was dark-grey and their eyes totally black.

The perspective switched again, showing a statue with a missing eye holding a spear. Then a blue pearl floated into the empty socket and the wall the statue was mounted on swung open to reveal a small chamber with a stone chest inside.

It switched again and this time it showed a large altar in a natural cavern that the underground stone tunnels clearly led to. Puddles covered the floor, created by the dripping stalactites jutting out from the ceiling. The altar was a round stone disc full of carved channels that the cave water filled. There were fifteen plinths on the outer edge of the disc, all were the same size except four, which were larger than the rest. Each plinth had a rounded hole in the top, and in the centre of the disc on the floor was a heavy-looking stone orb.

Suddenly his perspective was forcefully torn away and he saw six faces in quick succession, one of which was his own, and another which belonged to Willow Martin. The remaining four were one woman and three men, but he didn’t recognise them.

< < Orb of Insight Deactivated > >

The vision ended abruptly and his mind was shot back into his own body with such force that he stumbled a step and nearly slipped out through the door-flap to Alivida’s tent.

Adam breathed rapidly as his mind reeled from what he’d seen.

It showed me the stone spear weapon and how to open the way, and it showed me how to use the Skyblue Pearl to get to the map. Just like Emelia told me.

The Orb of Insight is clearly a useful tool to find Secrets.

I guess there aren’t any Secret Bosses though, unless those black-eyed Elphin count as one.

From what I can guess, the Altar part of the Stage works by lifting that stone orb and placing it atop a plinth to pick someone to worship.

He paused as he realised what the last part of the vision meant.

Fuck…

Suddenly Emelia’s reaction to Willow’s name made more sense. It explained why she wouldn’t help him get in touch with her. She’d been trying to protect Adam from getting hurt, because she’d known.

She knew that I would have to fight Willow in Stage Five…

He wouldn’t accept it.

There had to be a way for him to defy the Trials’ cruelty.

Adam ran out of the tent and jumped on his barrier, flying off to the Tavern.

***

Emelia immediately accepted his connection request. Neither Gladwyn nor Beck were with her when she appeared.

She looked at Adam’s face and then at the simple stool he sat on. He had been too much in a hurry to bother shaping his barrier into a seat.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“I found out who I’m fighting next,” he told her.

Her expression darkened. “How?” she asked.

“I bought the Orb of Insight and it showed me.”

From the look of surprise that flashed across her face, it was clear Emelia hadn’t given the upgrade any thought whatsoever.

“You need to help me defy the Forbidden Altar!”

“It can’t be done, Adam. I’ve already told you.”

“Why not!? There has to be a way!”

“I asked Arturo many times and he said he couldn’t find a way to do it. I haven’t been able to prove him wrong.”

Adam felt like he was gonna throw up. A ball was lodged in his throat and bile rose up, threatening to spill out.

“I don’t want to kill her…” he said, feeling on the verge of despair.

“You don’t have to,” Emelia replied.

Someone else will, his mind said, finishing her sentence.

“You don’t understand,” he told her, basically pleading for her to fix what couldn’t be fixed. “She’s the reason I even started time-looping in the first place. Just like how you wouldn’t have survived to find the Divine Relic if I hadn’t saved you in Stage Seven.”

Emelia froze. “You used the scale?”

“Of course I did, but it’s not important right now. We need to find out how I can save Willow.”

She reached an arm across the table and tried to touch his hand, but her fingers passed through him.

“Let me tell you about the rest of the Stage and how the Altar works. Maybe there’s a way.”

Adam knew that she was just lying to be nice to him.

But he let himself be swept up in the lie.

He needed to save his friend, even if she was just a stranger to him in this universe.

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Fifty

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Been a super hectic week because of the launch of Madman Apocalypse to amazon and I've honestly been pretty stressed.

I'm gonna try and get fifty-one finished tomorrow.

This chapter hasn't been edited yet, since it's almost 5k words long, but I'll get around to doing that tomorrow since it's 2:30am here.

UPDATE: Chapter has now been edited. It also grew by about 300 words since I added some more descriptions and details to the conversations at the end.

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

Chapter Fifty

Adam came to only a few moments later with stars fluttering around in his vision.

Holy fuck, that was intense!

Like waking from a dream, most of the memories he’d just relived started to slip away.

But that last memory.

It didn’t go anywhere.

It was burnt into his mind.

Despite it all, despite the feelings he’d had a minute earlier before consuming the Scale of Remembrance, he now felt an aching and longing. It was uncomfortable to be aware of how reliving his past lives affected him, but he couldn’t dismiss these new feelings either.

In this universe, Emelia and I were always meant to meet. If not for me she would’ve died. If not for me she would never have become a time-looper. Of course she would try to save me.

After all, it was the same reason why he’d felt indebted to Willow, even though the version of her he’d gotten to know last loop had been someone other than the one who first helped him.

There was also something else. He’d managed to survive Stage Eight somehow, thanks to the guy named Souleyman. Unfortunately, he hadn’t regained any memories of the Stages where Emelia didn’t participate, so he had no clue how he’d been saved. But to know it was possible was a welcome revelation.

I wonder what the trick is though.

He still remembered the name of the Stage.

Moonport.

If only I knew more about my past lives. If all the information hadn’t been blurred and censored, it might actually have been useful.

Parts of their conversations still lingered, but with every passing moment they became harder to recall. It was like they were messages written on a sandy beach shore and every attempt to read what they said summoned the waves that washed over their letters, making them harder and harder to discern.

He was fairly sure they’d talked about who they fought in Stage Five during the last memory, but like so many things the information had been garbled and unintelligible, probably because it was deemed an ‘unfair’ advantage.

I need to ask Emelia about it so I can properly prepare for the Stage.

Though she probably doesn’t want anything to do with me now…

Instead of running to the Tavern to find her, Adam decided it was best to let her at least think about what he’d told her. Despite the things he’d learnt from the Scale, he still felt that his words hadn’t been wrong. There was no problem with them being friends he thought, but to project a past relationship onto him entirely dismissed who he was as a person now.

And even though he felt closer to her thanks to the new memories, he could also tell they didn’t belong to him. They belonged to his other self, who differed from him in some fundamental way.

If I get a Scale of Remembrance, I wonder if it would even work. Would it show someone only their past interactions with me in this universe? Or would it show their interactions with this specific version of me that’s moved across universes?

He shook his head. Right now it wasn’t important. He needed to be prepared for Stage Five. All this other stuff could come later when his survival seemed more assured.

Though he had his barrier next to him, Adam decided to walk to the Market with his Spidersilk Sack full of loot.

On the way there, he prompted his currency to appear.

< < Player Currencies > >

< Points — 3201  >

< Mastery Shards — 2 >

I could buy the Orb of Insight now I think.

He didn’t know if it would actually be useful, but it was possible that it could help with Secrets, though Alivida said it was for seeing future opponents. Given its 2-Stage cooldown and 3-Shard cost, he had a sneaking suspicion it did more than just that. It was strange that Emelia hadn’t mentioned it though. Then again, she’d probably spent her Shards on the Visiting Stone and other upgrades that were more relevant to her. The usefulness of the Orb of Insight were clearly diminished by having already seen the Stages.

I’ll get 500 Points from selling the Forlorn Hearts. I could sell the Skyblue Pearl and Rotmaker Idol, but I feel like those will end up being worth more later. The instinct is obviously to use the Idol in Stage Four, but it’s possible there’s some special tree later that using it on will unlock a Secret.

There aren’t any trees in Stage Five as far as I can tell, and I don’t wanna have to carry it around with me.

“Shitbox, I’d like to store the Rotmaker Idol in my Player House.”

[Understood.]

The Relic vanished from the Spidersilk Sack.

Then Adam rounded a corner and came out into the Market.

< < Secret Relic Activated > >

The large termite egg lifted up from the sack and into the air, then it flew down to Weaver’s stall and planted itself next to it. The dusty nest-like stall popped up in an instant and the Builder appeared within, no less freaky-looking than last time.

[You have unlocked the Builder. This vendor sells upgrades to your Player House.]

Yenna knelt in front of the fountain and played a half-tube zither, which looked like a Chinese Guzheng. In front of her stood Sylvia the Spell Scroll vendor.

Adam approached her and said, “Thank you for the scroll, it was quite useful.”

Sylvia didn’t turn away from the music but said, “You’re welcome. Scrolls are useful for those deficient in the magical arts.”

“I’m not deficient,” he replied.

“You’re not,” she agreed. “If you’d like, I can teach you the spells written upon my scrolls.”

He paused. “Really? You can do that?”

“Of course. You would need a catalyst, although I see you have a wand. It will suffice.”

I can cast those spells with my wand? It sounds like there are several types of catalysts though. Maybe the Spellcaster’s staff is another, and probably those weird blood magic tattoos.

“How much would Conflagrate cost to learn?”

“5000 Points,” she answered, eyes still locked on the wasp’s instrument.

Of course…

No such thing as a free lunch in this world.

“I’ll think about it,” he replied. “Out of curiosity, how much would Shade Barrier cost to learn?”

“20000,” she answered.

“That’s a lot of Points…” he said. “What do you need all of them for?”

Sylvia shrugged.

“I might come back tomorrow,” he said and left the mage and musician, passing by the fountain to reach the stalls. Small statues that looked like the Forlorn Captain were shooting water into the top bowl. He wondered what they’d change into after Stage Five.

As he walked to Lucca’s shop, he thought about Belamouranthe.

I wonder what happens if she’s saved.

Hopefully I can see her again.

It would be cruel if saving her didn’t mean she’d return with him, he thought.

The spider vendor leaned out of her stall as he approached, all eight of her eyes locked onto his Spidersilk Sack.

“What a delectable smell,” she chittered.

Adam put his hand on her creepy head and pushed it back under the red overhang, then he plopped the sack on the counter, producing a wet and sticky squelch.

“I’d like to sell these.”

“Excellent. These ones I will not give away to the gremlin, but instead keep for myself.”

Adam suppressed a shiver.

Why is she so interested in the hearts…?

Wait.

“Does that mean you’re willing to pay more for them?”

“I am already paying you more for trophies, do not be greedy.”

“Pfft.”

Well, it was worth a try.

“For these five I will give you 500 Points.”

“Deal.”

< < Relics Sold > >

< Heart of Darkness (Common) x5 >

< 3701 Points Remaining >

“Would you like to see my wares?” she asked.

“Sure.”

Doubt there’s anything I’d want though.

The dark chest next to her glowed and popped open.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Affliction Ward (Uncommon) — Negate any Affliction. Breaks after use >

< Sanctuary Defender’s Robes (Rare) — Increases Movement Speed by 25% | Increases dodge chance by 10%. Breaks after 2 hits >

< Cracked Conjuring Stone (Epic) — Combine 2 Relics of Rare rarity or lower to produce a new unique Cracked Fusion Relic. Relic disappears after use >

< Tainted Helmet (Epic) — Attacks inflict Taint, lowering target’s Stamina regeneration by 40% for 30 seconds | When an afflicted target dies, its Afflictions are spread to nearby targets | Healing effects are 75% less effective >

Holy shit! Two Epics!

The Conjuring Stone sounds overpowered potentially. I wonder if I can use it on the Wraith Lantern.

“Shitbox, what does it mean by ‘Cracked Fusion Relic’?”

[A Fusion Relic is a combination of two Relics and their powers. Cracked indicates that the Relic has a major flaw, usually in the form of some weakness.]

“Like what?”

[It will most often take the form of a large Stat reduction or a permanent Affliction.]

“Is it random what this weakness will be?”

[No.]

“So it will 100% fuck me over then?”

The Eye did not reply, which he took to assume the answer was yes.

Still, it could be super powerful.

“Would the Conjuring Stone work on any type of Relic?”

[No. Weapon Type Relics are ineligible as are Relics of a similar nature to the Conjuring Stone.]

I guess I should’ve expected that… What a shame.

He looked at the other Relics available, but none of them were useful to him.

“I’ll buy and use a reroll,” he told Lucca.

“Excellent.”

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

< 3601 Points Remaining >

The chest closed and popped open again.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Tainted Bracer (Uncommon) — Fire off a shadowy slash that penetrates armour and inflicts Taint, lowering target’s Stamina regeneration by 40% for 30 seconds. Breaks after use >

< Overflow Diadem (Uncommon) — Activate to immediately deliver all remaining damage of Afflictions, dealing 10% increased damage for every Affliction affected. Breaks after use >

< Heartflame Robe (Uncommon) — All summons release a Heartflame on death which will seek out the nearest target and inflict Soulburn, doubling all Mana consumption for 10 seconds | Increases Mana by 50 >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) — Consume two potions within 10 seconds of each other without incurring toxic backlash, but toxicity build-up is tripled >

What the hell… Did I burn out all my luck with that first pull?

“I’ll reroll again,” he decided.

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

< 3501 Points Remaining >

The chest closed and popped open, revealing four new holograms.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Barrage Glove (Uncommon) — All projectiles are split into 3, each dealing a 3rd of total damage >

< Potion Belt (Uncommon) — Carries up to three potions and makes them indestructible | Uses the right-most potion when its associated resource is exhausted >

< Plague-Spreader Mask (Rare) — Afflictions jump to nearest available target within 10 metres when afflicted opponent dies >

< Chaos Fragment (Epic) — All Player’s equipped Relics are randomly changed to something of equal Rarity. Disappears after use >

Despite the Epic that appeared, Adam’s eyes immediately locked in on the Potion Belt. It felt so familiar to him after repeating the same memories where he’d used it defensively.

I think the ‘indestructible’ description on it means that nothing can destroy the potions inside the belt, which in turn makes them perfect for defence.

Past me wasn’t a complete moron it seems.

“Would the Chaos Fragment also change my Wraith Lantern?” he asked.

[No.]

I guess that would be something then, since I wouldn’t lose its power. Although the fact that the scramble is only based on rarity means that I could end up with copies or something like two separate pairs of gloves or whatever.

He looked through the other options but none of them were worth taking.

I’m better off not buying anything since I will be getting a lot of Relics from the next Stage… he mused darkly.

Charlotte Hayes’ face suddenly popped into his mind and he frowned. He wouldn’t actively hunt down other Players, but he needed to win. If he did have to kill someone to do it, then there was no going around it.

But there has to be a way to defy that, right?

Maybe for now I should just focus on surviving it so I can learn more about what comes after.

Adam left Lucca’s stall and made a brief stop in front of Nelly’s to see what weapons were for sale. None of them were new though, so he continued down to Weaver’s stall and thanked her for the Spidersilk Sack which had come in handy.

Then he stopped by Karie’s stall to look at the general upgrades she had.

The cricket made a gesture over the cauldron and a large bubble formed and released a puff showing four upgrades.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Defence (Rare) — Increases all defence by 15% >

< Health (Epic) — Increases health by 10 >

< Venom (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 10% for 10 seconds >

< Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% >

He didn’t even have to think about it and said, “I’ll buy Defence.”

“Thank you!”

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Defence (Rare) >

< 3201 Points Remaining >

The remaining upgrades were sucked down into the cauldron, and then a bubble appeared and popped, showing four new options.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

< Damage (Epic) — Increases all damage by 25% >

< Crush (Epic) — Increases the impact of attacks by 25% >

< Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

Damn, an Epic Damage upgrade!

“I’ll buy the Damage upgrade,” he said.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Damage (Epic) >

< 2901 Points Remaining >

The cauldron bubbled again and revealed four new options.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

< Crush (Uncommon) — Increases the impact of attacks by 10% >

< Movement (Uncommon) — Increases movement speed by 10% >

< Force (Uncommon) — Attacks pierce armour by 10% >

“I’ll get Luck.”

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Uncommon) >

< 2601 Points Remaining >

Hmm, should I keep going? Adam wondered.

The cauldron bubbled and new upgrades appeared.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Dodge (Rare) — Grants a 15% chance to dodge a direct attack >

< Health (Epic) — Increases health by 10 >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

< Force (Uncommon) — Attacks pierce armour by 10% >

None of these are that amazing. I suppose Health would be good, but I should have a lot of Defence now.

He brought up his status while trying to figure out how best to spend his Points.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Fusionist >

< Level 32 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 90% >

< Defence — 155% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 21 >

< Attack Speed — 125% >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +16 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +40% >

< Defence +30% >

Extra Health would be good actually…

“Buy Health,” he said.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Health (Epic) >

< 2301 Points Remaining >

A new set appeared.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% >

< Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

< Dodge (Uncommon) — Grants a 10% chance to dodge a direct attack >

< Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% >

He wondered if he should keep going or not, but decided it was better to hold off.

“Thanks, that’s all for now,” Adam told Karie.

I’ll invest the rest with Luvicidix I think. I’m fairly confident in my current setup and I don’t think there are any Relics that could help me right now.

He looked down to the Builder.

Might be worth trying out whatever she can sell me, since it could unlock more Secret around Interim Island.

Adam paused as he remembered he had the ability to fly. That was way more likely to help him find hidden places than buying random extensions to his house.

He returned to Lucca’s stall and purchased three Reroll Dice.

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) x3 >

< 2001 Points Remaining >

That 1 is really bothering me…

“Can I give you 1 extra Point?” he asked the spider.

The Eye was the one to answer. [You cannot give Points away.]

“Why not?”

[The All-Seeing System has decided it should be so.]

“That’s a weird rule,” he commented.

Adam went over to the Builder. Inside the dirt, sand, and woodchip stall was a workbench upon which lay saws, screws, hammers, measuring tapes, and other such tools.

“How do you do, Adam? You can call me Builder,” said the termite with a southern twang.

“Howdy,” he replied. “Can you build a basement for my Player House or a well in the garden or anything that goes down into the ground like that?”

“Sure can,” she replied.

“How much for a basement?”

“4000 Points. A well would cost you 1500 Points.”

There might be something under the Player House that is only accessible with this NPC’s help, but it feels kind of wasteful to spend that much.

“I might come back later,” he told her.

He fused his barriers into one before flipping it horizontally and shaping it into a sled. Then he climbing on board and lifted up into the air.

The vendors all leaned out of their stalls to watch him fly over the trees that lined the edge of the island. Since he wasn’t keen on falling to his death, he slowed down to a leisurely pace when nothing but clouds stretched out below him.

Above, the sun cast its glow down into the bowl-like shape the clouds formed around the island. Ahead of him was the wall of the bowl, but he only managed to get about twenty metres out from the edge before he stopped moving forward. The sensation was familiar.

“Is there a boundary around Interim?” he asked the Eye that floated next to him.

[Yes.]

“Above and below as well?”

[It does not stop you from falling below.]

Adam frowned.

Cool…

“Wait, why are you stopping me from flying out and away then? Or above for that matter.”

The Eye did not reply.

That’s fishy as hell.

What is out there? he wondered while flying back towards the edge and dipping down.

He was fairly sure there weren’t any caves he’d missed, but he really wanted to see the bottom of the island since it was totally inaccessible if you couldn’t fly, unless you had some insane climbing skills.

The cliff-side extended down from the edge in a vertical wall for about twelve metres before it started tapering to a point. He hadn’t been able to see it from above, but as he lowered his flying barrier down he was able to get a good look.

What he found made him wish he’d remained ignorant.

At the very bottom of the floating Interim Island were three enormous seven-fingered hands grasping an orb with a toothy mouth within which was an eye. The hands and orb were made of solid stone, but the eye looked squishy and alive. And it was staring right at him.

“What the fuck…?” he muttered.

[You should not be here.]

Adam looked at the cube next to him. “What is that thing??”

[You should not be here,] it repeated.

The giant eye stared at him unblinkingly. It made gooseflesh ripple across his skin.

Adam decided not to tempt fate and quickly flew back up towards the island’s surface, going faster than was probably safe.

I bet Emelia has no idea that’s down there.

He thought about the implications of the strange eye as he reached the topside of the island and headed for the Tavern. Although it was different in nature to his constant companion, it felt like the giant eye confirmed that Interim Island itself was alive. And it was no doubt a servant of the All-Seeing System.

Why couldn’t it just be a normal island??

The fact that creatures lived on and inside Interim felt very uncomfortable now that he thought it was a living thing. It was like they’d taken the concept of a floating island in the sea actually being the shell of a giant turtle, and then flipped the idea on its head and made it way creepier.

Does that mean that the Player House, Tavern, and Market stalls are all part of its ‘body’?

He shuddered.

There was also the fact that with more Players dying, its houses became more coherent, meaning the island itself was fuelled by the death. He hadn’t really thought about it much until now, but it was possible that the servants of the All-Seeing System gained more power alongside it.

Adam landed by the Dimensional Tavern and got off his flying barrier, but he paused in front of the door.

This Tavern is part of the island… Maybe its dimensional nature is thanks to that giant eyeball.

It felt like cursed knowledge and he genuinely wished he hadn’t discovered this fact about the only place that felt like a safe haven.

With a sigh he pushed open the door. Once inside he resummoned his barriers and fused them together.

Charlie came over, looking for Belamouranthe.

“She’s not coming today,” he told her.

The ant lowered her head slightly, but then she said, “The All-Mother watches over her.”

Adam blinked in surprise at the phrase.

“That’s right,” he then replied with a grin.

“What would you like to eat and drink?” she asked.

“A vanilla milkshake,” he said.

“Any food to go along with that?”

“Surprise me,” he told her.

Charlie giggled in that bubbly way of hers and left for the kitchen.

Adam looked at the fused-together barrier in front of him, trying to figure out how best to turn it into a seat. After some consideration, he ended up shaping it into a high-backed throne and sat down on it before floating up to one of the tables on the first floor.

The moment he sat down, the tables on the ground floor and the smaller ones up here all filled with random people. Those who noticed him waved, pointed, or just stared in surprise before flickering and being replaced by others who did the same. His query from last time was still active, since he saw coloured spheres over a couple people’s heads.  

“How many survived Stage Four?” he asked the Eye.

[160 million Players survived Stage Four. Currently, 87 million Players are utilising the Dimensional Tavern.]

“Holy shit,” he said out loud.

Last loop it was only 39 million. That’s four times as many who survived compared to then!

Once again he had to wonder if this universe was special or if the last one had been cursed. He lacked a proper frame of reference to say for sure.

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

Adam’s breath caught in his throat at the sudden announcement.

At some point I won’t get shocked every time that happens…

“Who is it? Emelia?”

[Player Princess Buttercup.]

Adam choked on his spit and started laughing.

“Put him through.”

Gladwyn appeared behind the small table he was floating in front of and immediately frowned as he saw Adam in hysterics. Next to him were Beck and Emelia.

The time-looper glanced Adam’s way but didn’t say anything. Gladwyn looked between them and asked, “You aren’t doing that thing today?”

“What thing?” Beck asked.

“We’re not,” Emelia said, sounding very nonchalant about it.

Adam saw the coloured spheres over their heads and did a double-take when he noticed one that Beck had.

“You found all the Secrets??” he blurted out.

Beck grinned proudly. “That’s right.”

“About time you showed up,” Emelia said. “He wouldn’t tell me how he did it until you got here.”

It was kind of uncanny how she was treating him like nothing had happened.

Perhaps she’s really good at hiding her true feelings. What I saw earlier is probably a side of her only very few people have seen.

“First,” Beck said, “we need to find a winner and a loser!”

“I got 3100 Points,” Adam said.

“3848,” Emelia followed. Adam noted that she didn’t have the green and red spheres to indicate Speedrun and Flawless.

Gladwyn and Emelia both had a new colour above their heads. It was yellow and Adam guessed it was for the Eradication bonus.

“I got 2535 Points,” Gladwyn said. “I defeated the Secret Boss and got the Eradication bonus, but I took about 130 damage from several hits. Somehow the Aristocrat didn’t hit me once though.”

Adam had no idea how Gladwyn had pulled something like that off against the Secret Boss with a sword and shield, but he knew that behind the man’s humble façade was a real warrior.

Beck’s victorious smile faltered. Aside from the All Secrets bonus, he just had Speedrun, which meant he’d taken damage which would hurt his overall score.

“Just admit you lost,” Emelia told him.

“Becky lost?” Gladwyn teased.

“He won’t be ‘Becky’ for much longer,” Adam said with a devious grin.

Beck frowned. “If you give me a horrible nickname I won’t tell you how I got the Tainted Blade.”

So the last Secret was a weapon. Sounds like it came from one of the Forlorn Knights perhaps.

“How many Points did you get?” Adam asked.

“1780…” Beck said. “I would’ve gotten a lot more if the timer actually mattered for Points like the previous Stages. The System fucked me…”

Still a lot better than my last loop.

Emelia gave him a serious look. “1780 means you took 140 Points of damage! Unless you upgraded your stats like I told you to, you should still just have 75 Health and 75% Defence.”

“I upgraded it,” he said. “I have 90 Health now and 40% Dodge.”

“Defence is better than Dodge,” she told him.

“If not for my Dodge, I would’ve been dead,” he said. “It’s better to completely avoid damage than to have it reduced.” It was clear he was gunning for as much Dodge chance as possible.

“You’ve gotta be careful,” Adam told him. “Also, at 100% Dodge doesn’t make you immune to attacks. It has an internal cooldown of 2 seconds according to Shitbox. Plus, it won’t protect you from indirect attacks.”

Beck folded his arms. “It’s working just fine for now. Besides, it was worth it, wasn’t it?” he replied.

Emelia shook her head. “Regardless, you lost so I get to pick your nickname.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Adam protested. “You’re not even part of the bet.”

Emelia pointed her tongue at him petulantly. “We’re getting into Stages that are a lot harder to breeze through, so I think it’s more than fair that I get to join in on the bets.”

Beck grinned. “She’s got you there,” he said. It was also clear that he thought she’d be more merciful with her nickname.

“From now on your name is ‘Grenouille’,” she told him.

“Hah,” Gladwyn said.

When neither Beck nor Adam got the joke, he explained, “It means ‘frog’ in French. Actually, I think it’s also slang for pr—”

“Anyway,” Emelia interrupted, “tell me how to get the weapon.”

Beck shrugged. “It was easy. I just bum-rushed the first knight before he could get through the breach. He dropped his greatsword onto the ground and I could pick it up. It doesn’t really work with my build, but it seems strong enough. It comes with a special cleave that sends a shadowy slash through the air and inflicts Taint.”

Emelia frowned. “I can’t believe it was something so simple…”

“Did you get nothing from the Rotmaker?” Adam asked.

“I got a ‘Seed of the Great Tree’, but that’s about it.”

“What’s that?” Gladwyn asked.

“It was a Collectible that automatically planted itself in my garden, so now I have two trees there. But it doesn’t do anything as far as I can tell.” She sounded disappointed about that. Adam guessed that she’d taken damage from the Rotmaker as well, since it had to have been enormous. To get such an insignificant reward must’ve made the frustration of taking damage hurt a lot more.

As though the different versions of Charlie across dimensions were synced together, all four of them received their food and drinks at the same time. The one in Adam’s dimension had to walk up the stairs to reach his table on the first floor. He was still floating up in the air in front of the table on his barrier chair, but none of the others had made any comments about it, so it probably looked like a normal chair from their perspective.

Adam looked down at the food he was served. She’d made him five different tacos with three types of sauces on the side in small ramekins. There was salsa verde, salsa taqueria, and a chipotle salsa from the looks of it. The five tacos were: al pastor, tinga de pollo, barbacoa, one with just melted cheese that was closer to a quesadilla, and one with what looked like mushrooms that he didn’t know the name of. There were also chopped white onions and cilantro to add on top, as well as a lime split in half and a small bowl with guacamole.

He turned to the ant and said, “This looks delicious, but I can’t eat cilantro.”

“Try it,” she encouraged him.

He wasn’t super excited to be proven right but did it nonetheless.

“It doesn’t taste like soap…” he muttered in disbelief.

Charlie giggled and left.

Adam turned back to his friends and said, “Guys! You won’t believe this!”

“What?” they asked.

“Cilantro doesn’t taste like soap anymore!”

Emelia shook her head with a smile while Beck just laughed.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Gladwyn asked.

Emelia took a sip of her glass of rosé and then lifted a French fry from her McDonald’s happy meal to point at them with.

“It’s time I tell you three about The Forbidden Altar,” she said.

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Madman Apocalypse Book 1 is out!

Hi everyone! I just released Madman book 1 today on Kindle Unlimited, Audible, and as an eBook.

I worked really hard to make the ebook as good a product as possible, and I think it ended up looking pretty good considering I did the formatting myself.

The audibook is published by Tantor and narrated by Eric Michael Summerer, and I really think he nailed the insanity of the story. There's a 5 minute audio sample available for anyone wondering what it sounds like.

Amazon: https://mybook.to/madman-apocalypse-1
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Madman-Apocalypse-Book-1-Audiobook/B0F5RWXPK8

Super nervous about how it'll perform, but I'm trying to do all the things I can to make sure the story doesn't sink to the bottom of obscurity too quickly in the sea known as Amazon.

Important note!

I should be getting some copies of the audiobook to give away, so keep an eye out for that. Not entirely sure when it's happening, but should hopefully be before the weekend. I'm planning to raffle them off to those who are interested.

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 8

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

I will have another Madman post out tomorrow concerning the release of book 1 on amazon. I should also have a Patreon-exclusive raffle of audibooks for anyone interested, but more about that later (since I'm not sure when I get those from the publisher yet).

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

Chapter 8

By the time I finished recounting my entire unedited tale of the past—

“You skipped quite a lot,” Panda muttered. “Like a lot of important things. And you didn’t even talk about all the bad things you did!?”

Anyway… By the time I was done and the metro train rolled into the Madeville station, Chris had a horrified expression on his face and Bee stared at me with a distant look in her eyes.

“You just left my body in the dungeon?” he asked. “What did you tell my brother after you saved him?”

“Nothing,” I said. “But it’s not important, because you’re alive now.”

“You left another dimension behind,” Bee pointed out. “Those deaths are still quite real. What’s going to happen to me? What about the other version of me?”

“He said he blew his own version up when he got here,” Chris told her. “I don’t think that bodes well for you.”

“No one’s getting blown up by their own selves replacing them!” I insisted.

“Actually, I’m not sure about that,” Panda started.

“Zip it,” I told him.

“It feels pretty irresponsible to just leave all the consequences of your actions behind and go to a new dimension to start clean,” Bee said.

Chris nodded.

“I don’t think your little story helped your case at all,” Panda commented.

“Brock’s just happy to be here,” squeaked the balloon gauntlet.

The quartz in the front pocket of my suit jacket started to glow.

“Huh, that’s weird,” I muttered.

Then suddenly something appeared atop my head, pressing down on my hair.

Bee and Chris both got up from the bench and backed away. Someone nearby screamed.

“Meow.”

“Hi Lordie,” I said.

“What the fuck…” Chris muttered.

“Why does it sound like Morgan Freeman?” Bee asked. “Also, can I pet it?”

I peeled Lordie off my head, looking him over while he wriggled his seven fingers.

“Sure,” I told her, holding out the hand-spider.

Chris took another step back, but Bee didn’t hesitate to touch Lordie.

“Gross,” she said, a big grin on her apple-cheeked face.

A chime rang out through the train and the doors hissed open. The people around us hurried outside onto the platform. There were other people waiting out there already, but, since a fight didn’t immediately break out, they seemed friendly.

“Me-ow?” Lordie asked.

“That’s right,” I said.

“You understand it?” Chris asked.

Bee was still rubbing the back of the hand-spider gently. “What did it say?”

“He’s surprisingly quick on the uptake,” I replied. “He just asked if we were in a new dimension and whether you two were alternate copies of the ones he met previously.”

Chris blinked.

“We should get out of here,” Panda said. “People are looking at you and whispering that you’re a freak. Petting and talking to a severed hand is apparently frowned upon.”

I stood up and Chris took another step back, while Bee kept petting Lordie. The hand-spider purred like a chainsaw, making my finger-bones itch beneath my skin.

“What about John?” Chris asked, gazing into the other carriage. The effect of ‘Match.maker( )’ had already worn off, but the guy hadn’t moved from where I’d placed him on a bench and his eyes had a vacant blissful look to them.

“We should get him off the train,” I said. “I’m gonna destroy it so no one else can get on.”

“Why??” Chris replied. “People need this to go between the cities.”

“Didn’t you listen to what I just told you!?” I asked him. “Everyone who’s inside the train when the Great Game starts is gonna be devoured as it turns into a monster.”

“You can’t destroy the train,” Panda said. “It’s invulnerable, remember?”

“Ah, shit…” I muttered. “Panda says it won’t work. We’ll have to find a different way to get people to stay off the train.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Bee commented.

I followed her gaze and saw that everyone outside was staying on the platform and making no moves to enter. While I had attracted a fair bit of attention, most people were clearly talking about what had happened to John. The eye witnesses were crying as they recounted what they’d seen.

Panda nodded. “Safe to say most of them won’t enter that carriage at least.”

“They might just avoid the looner carriage and go into the rest,” I said.

“We could move all of the rations and such out of the train?” Chris suggested.

“I have a better idea, actually,” I said and walked towards the door to the carriage where John sat in a state of bliss.

Bee and Chris made no move to join me, and Brock started squirming to get free of my hand.

“Stop that,” I told him.

“Don’t sacrifice me!!” he squealed.

“I won’t.”

“What are you planning?” Panda asked suspiciously.

“Hey, looner boy,” I greeted as I came up to where John leaned back on the bench.

His head slowly swiveled around to take me in.

“Do you have… more…?” he asked. His voice was hoarse from all the unsettling sounds he’d been making.

“Oh my god, he’s hooked!” Panda muttered in disgust.

“I do, John,” I said. “But I need you to do something for me first.”

“Anything…” he replied.

“Make sure no one gets on the trains.”

“Okay… Then I can go back there…? To the bouncy castle in Balloonia…?”

“Uhhh… Yes, definitely,” I told him, having no idea what the hell he was talking about.

John got up from his seat and waddled out of the open train doors. I followed him while gesturing to my friends who were watching from inside the other carriage, and they exited through the doors next to them.

“What the hell did your skill do?” I whispered to Panda. “And what the fuck is ‘Balloonia’??”

“I have no idea…” he replied in horror. “Also, the ability only had one charge. I can’t create something that powerful without making it a one-time-use only.”

“How the hell am I supposed to give him his fix then?”

“You could rub Brock on him?” Panda suggested.

“Traitorous scum!!” Brock squealed at him.

“That’s pretty messed up,” I told Panda.

“You were literally about to do that before I gave you that ability to spare Brock!” he protested.

The people on the platform all backed away from John, who started telling them about his ‘travels’ to Balloonia while urging them to avoid the trains.

“I think you broke him with whatever that Matchmaker trick was,” Chris commented as he came up next to me. “But I think this might work.”

“How did you get him to cooperate?” Bee asked, coming up behind Chris. “Did you promise to touch him with your balloon?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “Let’s go find James.”

Chris nodded and led the way out of the metro station.

***

The façade of ‘Sweet Dreams’ looked exactly like the first time I’d seen it, but this time it was possible to look in through the windows.

“Is that a pillow fort?” Chris asked as we approached, looking into the store.

“At least some people are enjoying the apocalypse,” I said appreciatively.

A huge guy with a massive belly stood in front of the door to the furniture store. He wore a white t-shirt with the print of a unicorn on the front, but because of his girth the image was stretched, giving the creature a tortured look.

“No entry,” he grumbled at us.

“My brother is in there,” Chris said, putting his hand in the right pocket of his cargo pants where it seemed he had a knife hidden away.

I pushed to the front, preparing myself for a confrontation. “Get out of the way or I’ll make you move.”

Something pinched my thigh.

“Ow.”

Panda sighed.

The big man didn’t budge, but he was looking at Chris weirdly.

“What’s the name of your brother?” he asked.

“James,” he replied.

The guy’s face lit up and he was suddenly smiling. “Your brother has been looking for you! Come on in!”

“What the hell?” Panda muttered.

I didn’t question it and just followed Chris as he entered. Bee went in after me.

There was no electricity in the store, but natural light filtered in through windows in the ceiling and illuminated the interior. Placed around on various shelves along the walls were large candles that they probably lit during the night. The whole store had been turned into a maze of mattresses, pillows, blanket, and bedframes, creating the biggest pillow fort I’d ever seen. There were a few other big dudes standing around here-and-there. It was almost like they were standing guard, though none of them had weapons.

The doorman yelled into the store from the entrance, “James! Your brother is here!”

Within moments, the sound of running feet came from deeper inside. We stayed near the door since it seemed quite troublesome to traverse the pillow fort maze.

Then a smaller version of Chris appeared atop a mattress wall directly in front of us. He had a big grin on his face.

“James!” Chris exclaimed and ran over to catch his brother as he jumped into his arms.

“Where were you?” the boy asked. “We’ve been waiting forever!”

I turned to the doorman while the brothers reunited. “Have you just been protecting him this whole time?”

“That’s right. Little man was all alone, so we at the MLP Society took it upon ourselves to protect him with our lives. It’s what Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie would’ve wanted us to do.”

“What’s MLP?” I asked.

Bee put a hand on my shoulder and shook her head.

Chris looked back at us. “Guys, thank you so much!”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him.

“Are you staying here?” Bee asked him.

Chris looked at his brother who nodded eagerly.

“You still have to find your other friends, right?” he asked me.

“That’s right,” I said.

“It’ll be dangerous for James to come along, so I think it’s better I stay here with him,” Chris decided.

“We’ll come back and get you later then,” I told him.

“If they’re staying here, they need to make sure they leave before noon tomorrow,” Panda said.

I relayed the warning to Chris and the doorman.

“What happens at noon?” asked the big man.

Before I could say anything, Bee explained, “Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings will attack, so you need to all be outside when they come.”

A serious expression fell across his face, and he nodded gravely. Then he went over to the other big guys keeping guard and relayed the words. I realized they were also wearing t-shirts with unicorns on them.

“What the hell did you tell them?” I asked Bee.

“It was the only way they’d understand,” she explained.

I looked to Panda who just shrugged. “I’ve got no clue either.”

“You still have to find Otto and Tina, right?” Bee asked, already heading for the exit. She seemed like she was in a hurry to leave.

“Uh, yeah. Let’s go,” I said.

When we stepped outside she whirled around and gave me a dangerous look, while her right hand was on the handle of her katana. “Don’t ever tell anyone that I’ve watched MLP. I’ll murder you.”

“Uhh…”

“Better do what she says,” Panda told me.

I nodded. “I promise.”

Her expression morphed back into a grin. “Good.”

“Scary…” Panda muttered.

“You remind me of Tina,” I told her. “Her deepest secret was that she was really into J—”

Suddenly a hand covered my mouth and something pointy pressed into my back, clearly aiming for my right kidney.

Bee drew her sword and pointed it at me.

“Meow!” Lordie exclaimed.

“Speak of the devil,” Panda muttered.

“I told you to never ever tell anyone,” Tina said right into my ear, her voice menacingly-cheerful.

I easily pulled myself out of her grip and spun to face her. She looked the same as when we’d been in the asylum together: black shoulder-length hair, pale skin, an angular and gaunt face, and large eyes with black irises. She wore a black short-sleeved leather trench coat, black high heels, a black ‘Cannibal Corpse’ t-shirt, and black jeans. All black, as usual.

In her right hand was a screwdriver, and she also had a spray bottle poking out of the left front pocket of her coat.

“I’ve been looking for you,” I said.

“I know, Nina told me.”

Then her eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’re… different. Somehow.”

“Crap,” Panda whisper. “She knows!”

I had no idea how Nina’s powers worked, but she was somehow able to tell that I had replaced my alternate self in this world. I hoped it wouldn’t cause issues. The last thing I wanted was to become her enemy.

“Is this your friend?” Bee asked, lowering her sword.

“We’re more like prison friends,” I said.

“You mean like classmates?” Bee asked.

“Basically.”

Suddenly Tina reached out and grabbed Panda by the scruff of his neck, pulling him off my shoulder.

“Unhand me!” he shouted, struggling in her iron grip.

Before I could stop her, she put his plushie body up against her face and inhaled deeply.

“You smell different,” she said after a moment.

Then she tossed him back to me and I caught him in my arms.

“I’ve been violated!” he protested. “I’ve told you we shouldn’t mess with her! She’s crazy!”

Bee looked very confused.

“Who are you?” Tina asked, staring at me.

I sighed deeply. “Do I have to tell the whole story again…?”

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Panda told me.

“Goddamn it…”

***

After recounting the story for the second time today, Tina nodded solemnly and said, “I knew there was a way to save Irene and Adam.”

“You didn’t mention that you turned Steve into a monster when you told the story last time,” Bee commented.

“It wasn’t that important,” I replied.

“I disagree,” Panda said, but I ignored him.

We had sat down in front of the Sweet Dreams store while I sped through the story, but Tina suddenly got to her feet.

“We can’t save them yet,” I told her.

She shook her head. “I know. But we have to find Otto, he’s clearly the answer to all of this.”

“What?” Panda and Bee both blurted out simultaneously.

“‘Save the Otter, save the world’,” Tina explained.

I nodded. “Finally someone gets it.”

“Follow me,” she said. “I think I know where he is.”

Tina took off in a hurry, but I stuck with Bee as we went after her.

“I thought I understood what was happening for a moment,” Bee said. “But now I’m lost again.”

“Me too,” Panda agreed, though she couldn’t hear him.

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “It’ll all make sense once we find Otto the Otter Mascot.”

“How?” she asked. “From the way you told the story, it didn’t seem like he was very important at all.”

“That’s because it won’t make sense until season 4.”

Bee blinked, but clearly she understood what I meant, since she didn’t ask any follow-up questions.

The sun above was nearing the horizon and soon night would set in. While Madeville seemed safer than Castleburg, it felt almost certain that we’d run into gangs once it got dark.

Luck had been on my side though. I’d expected to only find half of my friends before the Great Game started, but I’d already found everybody. Granted, they were split around the place, with Samantha staying behind at the Serenity Park Mall, and Chris remaining at Sweet Dreams with his brother.

“What about Steve?” Panda asked.

“Fuck Steve,” I told him.

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Nine

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

As promised, here's the next chapter.

UPDATE: After some consideration, I have editing this chapter and Forty-Five since I felt they were out of character for Adam in how he treated Emelia. As commenters rightly pointed out in chapter forty-five, Adam's treatment of her felt very strange given their interactions. I wanted to show that he wasn't romantically interested in her, but I went a bit overboard and also originally wrote him to be manipulative which in hindsight really goes against his established character motivations. I appreciate the feedback and am glad people feel comfortable pointing out such things since it helps me tighten up the narrative.

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Chapter Forty-Nine

Emelia arrived almost directly in front of him. He hadn’t even had time to get his bearings or come to terms with the fact that Belamouranthe would once again not be returning with him.

Before she could open her mouth, he said, “You can’t just show up like this without warning.”

“You said I could come back,” she replied.

“I didn’t realise you meant as soon as the Stage was done.”

“It’s how I’ve always done it,” she argued.

Adam frowned.

Emelia paused, realising what she’d said.

He took a deep breath, deciding that it was for the best if he told her how he felt.

“Listen, I’ve really enjoyed your company—”

“But?” she immediately interrupted.

“You clearly want something out of this, but I don’t even really know you.”

Her expression darkened and she suddenly looked really sad. Adam felt bad for her, but she’d only get hurt more if he continued to play along for his own gain. And he had to consider his own feelings too. Besides, it was just too complicated for time-loopers to get involved in the way she was seeking. Surely she had to know it wouldn’t last.

She took a step towards him and he instinctively stepped back.

Emelia paused and asked, “Do you fear me?”

“I would be a fool not to,” he replied. “The first time we met you treated the death of my brother-in-law like it didn’t matter and you threatened me with the Challenge Stone. We’ve had fun since then and I consider you my friend, but that first impression isn’t something that’s easy to forget.”

She frowned, but instead of apologising she asked, “What about Willow? If you had the Visiting Stone and she hadn’t blocked you, wouldn’t you have wanted to visit her? Even though she doesn’t know you in this loop.”

Adam frowned. It was a fair question, although it felt hypocritical for her to bring that up now.

“Our relationship was never more than a friendship,” he replied.

“Well, ours was!” she shouted. “Until you came here and fucked it all up!”

The image of her threatening to use the Challenge Stone on him popped back into his mind and he summoned his barriers in front of himself. “It’s not like I had a fucking choice!” he replied, his own temper rising. “But you do! You can control everything in this universe because you’ve got the Divine Relic on your side!”

Tears ran down Emelia’s face, but she didn’t come closer. Instead she summoned something into the palm of her left hand.

Adam froze, wondering if she was about to attack him. Until now they’d been friends, but maybe he’d pushed her too far.

She stooped and placed the object on the ground, almost like an offering.

“Maybe you’ll understand if you use this,” she said. Then the Visiting Stone appeared in her hands and she vanished.

< < Visiting Stone Deactivated > >

< Player Emelia has left your Dimension >

Adam let out a deep sigh.

Well shit…

Maybe it would’ve been better if I’d said something when she showed up earlier instead of waiting until now.

The object remained where she’d left it. He was fairly sure it wasn’t possible for her to give him any of the Relics she carried, unless the Eye had lied to him about trade between Players, or the Visiting Stone created a loophole.

He cautiously approached the item, worried it might be a trap. He relaxed when he saw that it was like a pearlescent and glittering scale a bit smaller than his hand. It reminded him of Luvicidix’s scales for some reason.

“Shitbox, what is that?”

The Eye did not reply. Maybe it couldn’t if this was an object obtained from the denizens it had no awareness of, like the moth sisters or someone Adam might not yet have discovered.

“Loot,” he said, wondering if that would work.

< < Loot ­> >

< Scale of Remembrance >

A scale?

Despite his apprehension, he picked it up off the cobblestones to look closer.

< < Scale of Remembrance > >

< Would you like to access the memories stored within? >

Adam blinked.

Is this what I think it is?

He swallowed hard, then mentally prompted the scale in his hand, expressing his consent.

The world froze.

***

“I’m Adam,” he said, introducing himself to the five people that’d appeared around him.

The world was a blur of white, light-blue, brown, and gold, but the details were missing. The people around him were all blurry shapes as well, and their voices were garbled and intelligible.

He couldn’t feel the ground under his feet nor the wind, sun, or anything else.

Is this a memory?

“My name is Emelia,” someone responded and he looked past the blurry figures and saw her standing there, the only piece beside himself that made any sense.

Can I only see me and her?

The surroundings skipped ahead.

Adam charged forward with a two-handed sword, cleaving through some enemy that was a blur like everything else. He slashed through two more in his way before he saw the figure lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious. She was like a light in the blurry world, the only thing he could see.

Around him, the shapes of his group members surrounded and protected them.

“I’ve got her!” Adam yelled, pulling a Medium Healing Potion from a Potion Belt Relic he was wearing.

He pulled out the stopper and fed it to the unconscious Emelia, who quickly woke up.

She looked up at him, her face the only thing he could see.

Her eyes weren’t purple spirals.

They were blue-green like gems.

This is before she became a time-looper, he realised in the disembodied part of him that just watched everything unfold.

The scene skipped to later in the Stage where Adam and Emelia were fighting side-by-side against something. Only two of the incomprehensible shapes of their group members were with them now. The thing they fought towered over them, but it was impossible to tell what it was.

Adam swung the two-hander with efficient moves. When the enemy sent an attack his way, he quickly pulled the Potion Belt off and used it to block with.

What the hell?

Is he using that Relic as a shield??

Emelia looked at him in awe, before surging forward with a mace. She was using the Priest Weapon Type.

After they defeated the enemy, the four of them gathered around something, high-fiving.

“Well fought,” Adam told them.

The way Emelia looked at him made it seem like he was the only thing in the world she could see.

I suppose this past version of me did save her, which must be how she was able to go on to get the Divine Relic after meeting Arturo. It explains her obsessing with trying to have me survive the Stage where I ended up dying in her first loop.

The scene switched to Adam and Emelia sitting opposite each other. Even though everything was still blurry, it was clear they were in the Dimensional Tavern.

“Your last name is Bell?” Adam asked, maybe commenting on a connection request that stated her full name.

Her name is Emelia Bell?

“It comes from Old French and means ‘beautiful’,” she replied.

Adam grinned.

They proceeded to talk for hours, discussing food, their past lives, their hobbies, and so on. Emelia explained how she was from a small town called Pont-en-Royans, but had moved to Lyon with her father at age five. Her favourite pastry was chausson aux pommes. She liked helping at an animal shelter on the weekends. Her best friend was an old widower who lived in an apartment on the floor below hers. She had been an optician before the Trials of Defiance.

Eventually, when the tavern closed, they parted ways, promising to talk after the next Stage and wishing each other good luck.

***

The memory rewound, or so it seemed.

“I’m Adam,” he said, introducing himself to the five people that’d appeared around him.

Is that it??

I died right after that?

That means we met in Stage Seven, since I’m apparently destined to die in Eight.

“My name is Emelia,” she responded, once again the only thing not a blur around him.

Wait, is this the same as before?

The scene skipped to Adam fighting his way through enemies to where Emelia lay unconscious and bleeding.

It’s the exact same!

The rest of the memory played out like the first, ending with them promising to meet again.

***

The memory replayed again, and again, and again, and again.

The first eight times it was the exact same thing he was shown.

Maybe the Scale of Remembrance was a trap. This will never end!

The ninth time, there was a slight difference. Emelia had an Armour Relic, the Forlorn Cuirass to be precise, though she still ended up unconscious and needing to be saved.

In the tenth rerun it was back to normal, same as the eleventh.

The twelfth time, the memory playback did not end after their talk following the Stage. Instead it skipped ahead to another conversation between them sitting across from each other inside the Tavern. They both expressed relief that the other was alive.

Something happened to save me from Stage Eight!

Emelia and Adam both continued to chat like their first meeting in the Tavern, most of it innocuous stuff, though they were both opening up more to the other.

Emelia told him about her mother who had died from cancer. Her family had moved to Lyon so that they could visit the hospital where she was being treated. It had been hopeful at first, as the disease showed signs of remission, but then it came back stronger. The funeral had happened only two weeks before Emelia’s seventh birthday.

Adam talked about his dad, who’d lost his memories following a risky brain surgery to save his life. He expressed the deep-seated sadness he felt every time he looked into his father’s eyes and saw a different person looking back. Some early memories from his dad’s childhood remained, but he had almost entirely forgotten about Adam and his sister Helena, though he was aware that he had children.

I’ve never told anyone about that…

But that disembodied part of him that observed these memories knew why he’d opened up to her. It had just felt right, and Emelia, the only thing not a blur in the memory, had watched and listened without judgement as he poured his heart out. He was starting to understand how the Emelia and Adam of this universe were drawn to each other. If not for the Trials, they would never have crossed each other’s paths, but here they were linked together.

Then Adam said, “I don’t think I would have survived Moonport if not for Souleyman’s help.”

Emelia asked, “Who is Souleyman?”

Adam went on to describe the person as a kind African man with ominous purple eyes that looked like a never-ending spiral.

I’ve never even heard of this guy? But he was clearly a time-looper in this world.

They talked until the Tavern closed and then the memory restarted from Stage Seven.

Even though I survived Eight, I perished in Nine? Or maybe Emelia did? It’s hard to tell since I can only see the memories where she is present.

The memory loops continued, with more than thirty nearly-identical ones back-to-back, though there were minor differences in several of them, mostly just in what Relics both of them carried.

Then there came a loop where suddenly there were only four other members of their group, with one of the blurry shapes of another Player missing. There didn’t follow a meeting in the Tavern as the last part of the memory was them both bleeding to death next to each other.

The next seven were much like the ones before and their group back to full, but they were followed by an eight where two of the shapes of their group members were different, as though the people had been replaced by others. In that one, Adam didn’t save Emelia in the same place as usual, but instead caught her before she was about to fall off the edge of something. He then saved her again later in the Stage when she was almost dead from some brutal attack, which had torn open a large portion of her torso. After that they worked together to take down a different boss than the one they always fought at the end of the Stage. They met at the Tavern afterwards and then the memory ended and the next began.

Maybe two of the Players normally there died early, while these other two are people who normally died but who instead survived this time.

I think I understand what’s happening here… A time-looper, maybe Souleyman, maybe someone else, is messing with various methods of saving people’s lives. They’re causing new ripples to see what happens. Like a trial-and-error involving people as nothing more than simple numbers…

Countless memory loops followed where this new pattern held true with no deviations, neither big nor small. The nameless blurry members of his group never returned, permanently replaced with the two new people.

Okay, maybe those two were actually sacrificed to Nwetrou using the Abyssal Tooth, unless whoever is looping back is repeating the thing that made them switch places…

Then, suddenly—

***

Emelia sat opposite Adam in the blurry Tavern.

This is different!

“Do I know you?” Adam asked. He was unsettled by her spiralling purple eyes.

Emelia looked at him and smiled sadly. “No,” she said. “But I know you. I know you very well.”

She almost exactly replicated the back-and-forth that the disembodied Adam watching the memory had had with Willow after his second loop back in time. From the context clues he could gather, they were talking after Stage One, though she was doing a terrible job of explaining the situation to him. But then she pulled out the Visiting Stone.

The scene skipped to Adam and Emelia staring at each other in what seemed to be the centre of Interim Island. She held the Scale of Remembrance in her hands.

Holy shit, she’s done this to me before!

If I hadn’t broken the cycle this time around, she would’ve given me this after Stage One when she first contacted me in the Tavern.

She led Adam behind the Player House after he’d experienced the Remembrance and gifted him the Kindling Flame to create the lighthouse.

Then they went to the Tavern together, where they talked about what Adam had experienced when he used the Scale.

“Arturo gifted me one as well,” Emelia revealed. “It’s how I knew that you’ve always saved me every time we met. If nothing had changed, you would’ve continued to save me in every future loop.”

She then explained the future Stages to him and what to expect, but a lot of her words were garbled and unintelligible.

What the fuck! Why is the System censoring this!?

After they finished talking, the scene skipped forward in time to the next day where Emelia and Adam met in the island’s centre. They walked through the Market together as though they were on a date. It ended at the Tavern, where they talked more about future Stages, once again incomprehensible to the disembodied Adam observing them. After the Tavern closed, they walked together to the centre of the island and shared a goodbye kiss.

Another skip forward and they met at the centre of the island again, visited the Market, sat and talked in the Tavern, and then went to the Player House where she helped him improve his fighting style and practice with various Relics he was using. She’d told him not to pick the Potion Belt, which he’d always been using in past memories.

Instead of saying goodbye, they shared the bed together, with the blurry outline of something at the foot of the bed indicating that Belamouranthe was sleeping there too.

Another skip, another date, advice, and training session. This time they were alone at night and ended up having sex after lying in the bed and talking for hours.

The next day they brought dinner from the Tavern to the edge of the island and watched the sunset while sharing stories.

It feels inappropriate to watch all of this unfold, even though it’s technically my own body I’m viewing this through the eyes of.

I hadn’t even realised how serious past me and Emelia had been about each other.

The skip forward continued, each new day spent differently. The two of them fell deeper-and-deeper in love, until Stage Seven where they fought together like in all the past memories, although Emelia was totally mopping up the enemies and barely leaving anything for Adam and his team to do. They also went around and did more things in the Stage, fighting what seemed like several different bosses, and also collecting a ton of different loot.

Though he couldn’t see their faces, the other party members seemed extremely excited.

After returning from the Stage, they met at the island centre yet again, did some intensive Market shopping and planning, since it seemed Adam had a bunch of Points to use. Then they had food brought from the Tavern to the Player House, where they spent the rest of the day in each other’s naked embrace.

The memory ended with Emelia sobbing while Adam held her tightly against his chest. She begged him not to die in Stage Eight.

***

The world unfroze.

Adam looked around as the scale in his hand turned to lighter-than-air fragments that were carried off into the clouds above, glittering like silver rain.

The world looked so bright and colourful, then he stumbled onto his ass and blacked out.

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Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Eight

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---Next chapter----

Chapter Forty-Nine is actually already done. I wanted to have both of them edited and up on here today, but editing took longer than expected, so Forty-Nine will be up early tomorrow instead.

Forty-Eight is another big one. Been a lot of those for Stage Four, lol.

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Chapter Forty-Eight

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Skyblue Pearl (Rare) — Thine eyes hold a power oft forlorn, oft forgotten to time, oft lost to conflict. An unclouded gaze is the key to a world of secrets and thine eyes are a gift from on high >

Adam sat atop his fused-together barriers, flying towards the centre of the Sanctuary with the Aristocrat’s Relic in his right pocket next to the Lucky Stone. In his free hand he clutched the boss’ heart, annoyed with himself for not bringing the Spidersilk Sack along.

The description of the pearl was odd. He had no idea how anyone was supposed to figure out that it was meant to go inside the hollow eye socket of a statue.

The last part of the text must be referring to the All-Seeing System. It itself said, “I am the sight you wield.”

I don’t understand what it means by ‘unclouded gaze’ though, but it almost feels like this Relic is hinting at something bigger than just some treasure map or whatever Emelia said was in the chamber.

Adam was high in the air, since he’d decided to grab the Rotmaker Idol on the way to the centre. From his vantage over the city and beyond its walls, he saw many groups of Forlorn soldiers, with the biggest one at the northern edge of the city.

“What’s the timer at?” he asked the Eye which floated alongside him.

[8 minutes remaining.]

I need to hurry this up.

His flying barrier sled reached the crown of the great tree and he hopped off onto the top of the trunk from which the canopy’s many branches protruded. After climbing through to the centre, he found the cocoon made of bark and vines. Its pale fleshy appearance was no less off-putting than last time, and the malevolent purple light pulsing from within felt truly evil.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Rotmaker Idol (Rare) — Turns a tree into a living monster for 30 seconds. Relic disappears after use >

I wonder how Emelia’s fight with the Rotmaker went, he thought to himself as he stuffed the Relic in his back pocket and returned to his barrier hovering nearby.

She’d bet on the idea that turning the great tree into the Rotmaker would be what she needed to find the hidden weapon in the Stage.

Perhaps it isn’t a weapon and she was just lied to? he considered as he took off on his barrier. Since she was only working off someone else’s info, it could be wrong. After all, it didn’t sound like Arturo had been the one to tell her what the last Secret was. It could be anything, and the Stage was too massive to sift through it all in 20 minutes.

Adam saw the disabled halberdier knight hobbling after the group of Elphin down at the northern end of the city.

I should kill off all the Forlorn outside the walls first, leaving just the captain and his entourage. Those soldiers will be harder to deal with once I trigger the boss by killing the last knight.

He flew west and aimed himself directly at a group of four soldiers that stood next to a hut like the one that’d had the Relic Chest. He’d noticed these huts during his last loop, but by then all the soldiers were gone, since they vanished when the last boss was defeated.

Adam made quick work of them after alighting in front of the hut, using his evolved barrier to devastating effect. He was getting better at controlling its insane speed by manoeuvring the folded ‘needle’ barrier in figure-eights as it pierced through the soldiers’ heads.

When their soul essences flew into Adam’s lantern, they summoned two wraiths that looked stronger than any that’d come before, with their features quite distinct and hardly any blur to them. Surprisingly, they were even less monstrous now, with their appearances looking almost alive. Their gaunt angular faces had more plump to them and the skin was far less pale, now almost a tinge golden. Even their purple-blue lips had turned reddish. Their screaming mouths were less demented as well. It was an odd detail and he wondered what would happen if he ended up filling the lantern with only powerful souls.

Not wanting to let them go to waste, he reshaped his barrier and shot off towards the next group of soldiers, pulling the wraiths along.

Just when he thought it might not work, the pair locked in on the six Forlorn and flew forward. In their wake the ground turned completely to ice, though Adam was spared.

He didn’t even need to stop, since the wraiths quickly decimated the soldiers. Unlike before, their attacks froze the enemies’ bodies, turning their flesh and armour brittle. And once the Last Stand’s Fervour triggered, it was game over for the Forlorn.

Since he was coming up on the captain’s group, Adam flew over their heads towards the north-eastern part of the city’s outskirts, where a group of five soldiers also stood by a hut.

Their deaths spawned another wraith, but this one vanished almost as soon as it realised there were no enemies to attack.

[5 minutes remaining,] the Eye announced.

Shit.

Adam flew back to the northern part of the city, quickly locating the halberdier. With his fused-together barriers, he formed a spinning sawblade that he quickly ran through the Forlorn Knight’s neck.

< Choose your Upgrade >

The sound of the wailing horn filled the air. Then three loud explosions from nearby rocked his world, knocking him off his feet.

The northern wall was devastated from whatever they’d used to make the breaches and the last thirty-or-so soldiers surged towards him, the Forlorn Captain in the back.

“Return to the ritual site!” he told the Elphin as he got to his feet. “Tell the other defenders to protect Belamouranthe with their lives!”

Without question, the men and women ran off, though the archers on the walkways shot a few arrows towards the invaders before they left.

I don’t think I missed anyone. Once I kill all the soldiers here along with the captain, I should be able to evolve my crown for the last time.

There were two essences already in his lantern, so he only needed three more kills to trigger the Relic. Fortunately, the soldiers were charging for him with no sense of self-preservation.

Adam launched the fused barrier forward to meet them, striking their heads with such momentum that the exit wound exploded their skulls. It moved with enough speed to even pierce their armour, but after killing three in a row, the accumulated damage was enough to crack the barrier completely and trigger Fervour.

Thanks to the multiplicative effects of the many speed buffs and the doubling effect of the fusion, the 25% boost from Fervour was more like a 100% addition on top of what was already something like 400% speed.

The barrier’s passage through the air sounded like a zipping whistle that was interspersed with the crunch and pop of heads.

This is insane!

Shrieks filled the air as two wraiths were brought forth. A moment later two more came. Then as they flew into the invading force, yet more wraiths were summoned from their kills.

As expected, it was an absolute slaughter.

By the time the Forlorn Captain joined the fray, he was facing down eight red-glowing wraiths. The guy was no less intimidating than last time, owing to his giant size. A frayed blue sash was bound around his abdomen like a belt and the same cape that Adam wore fluttered behind him. In his right hand was a sword that oozed dark smoke, and his shield trailed a black haze. His bucket helmet was like the rook piece from chess.

Despite his men being cut down, the captain did not waver in the slightest, striding forward confidently.

Adam’s fused barrier exploded as Fervour expired and he quickly resummoned the pair, just as the captain slammed his sword into his shield and shot out an expanding ring of darkness. It struck the wraiths and, though they were in the invulnerable state of Last Stand’s Fervour, all of them were suddenly frozen in place. Dirty tainted energy filled their bodies, and Adam who was behind them only had a couple seconds to protect himself.

It’s gonna pass through the barriers! he realised and dropped to his stomach.

He had an idea and moved the barriers into the attack while triggering fusion to absorb the dark spell when they connected.

The ring continued outwards, passing over Adam’s head, but a part of it had been cut out directly where the white barriers had been. He watched as they turned into floating shadows that let off black smoke.

Then the captain swung his sword in front of him, flinging black slashes through the air before Adam could get up. But he had a suspicion that the tainted elements could not damage each other, similar to using acid against a slime, so he positioned the two barriers right in front of himself.

The captain’s shadowy attacks struck the dark barriers and nothing happened.

It worked!

The momentary freeze on the wraiths wore off. Four exploded almost immediately after from their timers expiring, but the last four surged for the boss and started tearing through him with ease.

Adam shaped the two shadow barriers into narrow cones and shot them at the captain, but when they struck they just passed through him without dealing damage.

Okay, that doesn’t work.

Two more wraiths exploded as their Fervour expired. The captain was so covered in wounds that he was struggling to move. Then his body glowed with an unholy light and dark smoke exploded out from him, shoving the remaining wraiths three metres back.

Adam got another idea for a fusion and resummoned his barriers. Then he moved them down to the wraiths just as they were about to explode. He activated the fusion and managed to grab the ice effect from their deaths, but only with one of the barriers.

He silently cursed at himself for not having figured out how to manoeuvre them separately yet, but then he realised something.

As the rightmost barrier turned into a sheet of ice, he moved it close to the other and activated fusion with the normal barrier. The two combined, producing a reinforced frozen barrier, which moved as fast as the barriers fused together normally, but was now made entirely of ice that immediately started melting in the sunlight.

The captain strode forward with arduous steps, while the dark shadow covering his body looked to be holding it together. If not for his magic, he would have been spread across the ground in several pieces thanks to the wraiths’ merciless attacks.

Adam shaped the ice barrier into a cone, though the effort made it crack and shed large chunks of itself onto the ground. He barely managed something one could call a lance before firing it at the captain who was getting closer.

It struck the boss in the chest and lodged itself firmly into his body. Then, within a split-second, he completely froze over.

Holy shit.

The simple barrier lance cracked and fell apart, followed by the boss.

As the top of his torso toppled away with his head, the announcement rolled out across the city.

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

I need to practice more with the Fusionist. It clearly has so much potential.

But man, it’s super difficult to move the barriers independently. If I can master that though, then I’ll be able to defend and attack simultaneously.

< < Score > >

< 15 Minutes 52 Seconds Completion Time >

< 800 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 500 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 500 Point Eradication Bonus added >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 3100 Points Awarded >

Nice. That’s much better than last time. Still, it feels weird that I got more from the Goblin village.

If I’m calculating this correctly, it means I could’ve gotten 1300 extra from using Hardmode in this Stage. There’s also the All Secrets and Speedrun bonuses, so the max potential is probably around 5000 Points.

If I count all the hearts I can get here, my total comes to 3700. That’s pretty good.

[Upgrade from defeated Forlorn Knight consolidated into final reward,] the Eye announced and floated off towards the ritual site.

That’s new.

The crown atop his head suddenly burst into flames, popping off and landing on the ground in front of him. The fire didn’t char the moss and it wasn’t even hot when he went close to it. After a moment’s hesitation, he picked it up and it was only lukewarm to the touch.

The crown was now flawless and golden-orange in hue, with a warm energy swimming along its reflective surface. Despite being pure gold, it didn’t weigh a lot nor look gaudy.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< True Flame’s Icon (Epic) — Only by the light of a True Flame may the Forlorn Shadow be truly banished | Subordinate allies gain 10% more Health | Subordinate allies gain Last Stand’s Fervour upon death, extending their life by 10 seconds and increasing Damage & Speed by 25% | Subordinate allies are blessed with the True Flame, imbuing all attacks with 10% bonus fire damage | Become immune to Taint >

Nice, an affliction immunity and bonus damage. Not amazingly-strong, but I’m not gonna scoff at extra damage.

Adam summoned two new barriers and fused them together. There was an orange glow inside the white spell, the only indication that the ‘True Flame’ was active.

He tried to harvest the Heart of Darkness from the captain, but the fact that the boss’ body was reduced to frozen chunks of ice made it impossible. The new fire buff also didn’t help. It was a shame, but it was only 100 less Points, so not a massive loss.

However, he did manage to harvest the heart from the halberdier, returning with the foul Collectible in his hand to where he’d left the Spidersilk Sack. After plopping both the Aristocrat’s and halberdier’s hearts into the sack, he went about harvesting the ones from the greatsword knight and the dual-wielder.

When he was done, he wiped his bloodied hands on the moss under his feet and returned to the centre of the city.

A lot of Elphin were awaiting him and it was clear that way more of them had survived this time around, thanks to his orders. The fact that he’d taken on the last boss alone also saved a lot of them from dying unnecessarily.

Even though they weren’t real, he felt proud that he’d managed to keep so many alive.

The first thing he did was walk down into the stepwell-like pit and approach Belamouranthe. The Eye was unfolded into the upgrade podium nearby, but he paid it no mind for now.

“Thou fought well,” Bel praised, looking up at him with her large orange eyes.

He nodded his thanks before pulling out the All-Mother’s Wrath necklace from his left pocket. All around them were the Elphin survivors.

This has to be why the Queen won’t remove the necklace if I give it to Bel after the captain is dead. There are too many witnesses after all.

Adam slipped the Relic over Belamouranthe’s neck. Her skin hadn’t been painted with the silvery pigment yet, and he wasn’t quite sure exactly what preparations her and the Queen had performed during his defence of the Sanctuary.

“Don’t take that off,” he told her.

“Understood.”

He shook his head with a smile, then went over to the upgrade podium. Since he’d taken out the Aristocrat and the one from the halberdier had been ‘consolidated’, there would be three upgrades this time.

I wonder how the bonus upgrade stuff will work for group-based Stages. Does everyone just get the extra upgrade?

And what about Stage Five? Does it even have a Secret Boss?

Emelia had mentioned a stone spear as one of the Secrets in the Forbidden Altar, but she hadn’t said if it was obtained from killing a special boss or just found somewhere.

He pushed the thoughts aside for now and looked at the upgrades.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Uncommon) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 10% >

< Manipulation Range (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation range by 20% >

< Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

Hmm, I would probably be better served taking the upgrades for Invoker, since those affect all spells and has damage as an option.

Adam switched to the wand before making his selection.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Range (Uncommon) >

The upgrades were scrambled and a new set appeared.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Speed (Uncommon) — Increases spell speed by 20% >

< Casting Range (Rare) — Increases casting range by 35% >

< Venom (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 10% for 10 seconds >

Spell Speed, nice.

Soon the barrier will end up so fast I won’t even be able to track its movements.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Speed (Uncommon) >

The upgrades flickered and were replaced for the third and final time.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Speed (Uncommon) — Increases spell speed by 20% >

< Casting Effect (Uncommon) — Increases casting responsiveness by 20% >

< Force (Rare) — Attacks pierce armour by 15% >

Speed again? Awesome!

I wonder how much that puts me at?

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Speed (Uncommon) >

The Eye folded itself back into a cube and golden light shone from under the Relic Chest nearby.

Woops, almost forgot about the Builder’s Egg, Adam realised.

He moved his fused barrier in front of himself and turned it into the sled before climbing aboard.

It hardly took him any time to fly over to where the termite nest stood. With a simple nudge from his barrier it toppled over, revealing the egg.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Builder’s Egg (Rare) — Wriggles with inner life >

Even though it was full of bloodied hearts, Adam tossed the egg down into the Spidersilk Sack. He paused for a moment, then threw the Rotmaker Idol in there too, keeping only the Skyblue Pearl and Lucky Stone in his pockets.

He zoomed back to the centre of the city where the Eye waited next to the Relic Chest.

Before he looted it, he looked through his stats.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Fusionist >

< Level 29 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 65% >

< Defence — 140% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 19 >

< Attack Speed — 125% >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +14 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +15% >

< Defence +15% >

The Attack Speed boost from the Captain’s Cape is visible on there too, he noticed. I guess it’s defaulted to 100% and only appears if it’s different. Similar to how Luck only appears if you have more than 0.

There are still quite a few stat buffs to keep track of, since ally buffs aren’t visible on there.

He brought up his weapon status too and went through it.

< < Weapon Status > >

< 1 >

< Spell-Tome >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 13 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Barrier Durability 90% >

< Barrier Efficiency 20% >

< Manipulation Effect 130% >

< Manipulation Speed 55% >

< Manipulation Range 20% >

< 2 >

< Wand & Wraith Lantern >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 8 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Spell Damage 35% >

< Spell Speed 110% >

< Casting Effect 35% >

He grinned to himself at the stats. A 110% speed buff from the Invoker, 55% from Fusionist, 25% from Last Stand’s Fervour, and 10% and 25% separately from Captain’s Cape. If all of them were active at the same time, that meant the base 100% speed of his barrier would go up to 559%, thanks to the multiplicative way they stacked. If the buffs had been additive, it would only have been 325%. However, if he used Fusionist to combine his two barriers, he was doubling the effect, meaning 1118% was theoretically possible, regardless of whether he activated Fervour before or after fusing them.

Adam shook his head, unable to stop grinning.

It’s so ridiculously fast now.

He hadn’t pushed the flying sled to its limits though, since once the fused barrier reached its top speed it became very difficult to effectively control.

If I could get one more separate speed buff it would get even more insane. Even a 10% buff now effectively becomes 100% extra base speed…

The true strength of multiplicative buffs came from having several of them, since every new buff added became increasingly more potent.

The Elphin around him watched as he just stood there a few metres from the Relic Chest. It was starting to make him feel a bit self-conscious.

Guess I’ll get this over with.

Adam went over and kicked the chest, popping it open.

< < Relics Available > >

< Overflow Diadem (Uncommon) — Activate to immediately deliver all remaining damage of Afflictions, dealing 10% increased damage for every Affliction affected. Breaks after use >

< First Strike Earring (Rare) — The first hit against a target deals 25% additional damage, subsequent hits deal 10% less damage >

< Heartflame Robe (Uncommon) — All summons release a Heartflame on death which will seek out the nearest target and inflict Soulburn, doubling all Mana consumption for 10 seconds | Increases Mana by 50 >

The Heartflame Robe seems surprisingly good for an Uncommon Relic.

I’m guessing it has to have several downsides or something. Probably the ‘nearest target’ part of the effect also includes the wearer and allies, and the ‘all summons’ thing no doubt includes enemies too. It’s also just kind of awkward to use an armour slot on something that’s so niche in effect. Like, most enemies, for now at least, wouldn’t really be affected by Soulburn in any meaningful way.

Given that everything I’ve fought so far has died in one hit or so, the Earring might be worth using.

He’d been planning on picking it regardless, since it was worth the most, but the more he thought about it, the better it seemed for his current setup.

< < Relic Selected > >

< First Strike Earring (Rare) >

Adam winced in surprise as the act of equipping the Relic literally meant having it pierce his earlobe.

In hindsight, I should’ve been prepared for that…

The Eye released a pulse of magic and Adam blinked.

***

He’d shifted a few metres from where he’d stood before and was now closer to the middle of the ritual site. All the engraved channels in the stone disc under him were filled with a liquid silvery metal and opposite him were Belamouranthe and her mother, the Queen. The girl was painted with the reflective silver pigment, her body and horns covered in lines and swirling spirals. Her golden hair hung down her back in a large Dutch braid.

Still weird that they needed time to prepare the ritual when all the makeup and stuff weren’t applied until after I looted the Relic Chest…

The Elphin surrounded the three of them on the steps on the outside of the pit. Unlike just moments prior, there were now children and civilians mixed in with all the defenders he’d saved from certain death.

Belamouranthe looked up at him with her orange-glowing eyes. Her expression was serious, but this time it didn’t hurt his heart to witness. After all, the pendant of the All-Mother’s Wrath was proudly displayed over the top of the green dress Weaver had made her two days ago. The solid sphere inside the wireframe pyramid seemed to glow with a deep-blue energy that hadn’t been there before. It was different from the dark-purple energy it had fired at Ezral after he’d injured Adam when he wore it in Stage Three.

“Thank you, Adam, for bringing me home and allowing me to fulfil mine destiny,” she said.

Unlike last time, Adam actually replied in the cutscene.

“The All-Mother watches over you, Belamouranthe,” he said. The words felt weird in his mouth, but he knew that this was a sign that things would be different at the start of the next Stage.

Then darkness flooded his surroundings and took him away.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

No sooner had he arrived than an announcement hit him.

< < Visiting Stone Activated > >

< Player Emelia has entered your Dimension >

Shit…

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 7

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

This chapter ended up very unhinged. Brace yourselves.

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

Chapter 7

Neither Bee nor I were in a hurry to get to the fight taking place below in the metro station, so we just let the escalator slowly bring us down.

“Who do you think are fighting?” Bee asked.

“Probably two rival gangs or something,” I replied.

“It just seems like a weird place to fight over,” she said. “There’s no food here and it would be hard to sleep in the station because of all the noise from the trains. Though I guess they do have bathrooms.”

I shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

We finally reached the bottom of the escalator, and I saw a familiar sight. Ticket barriers blocked the entrance and next to them was the ticket machine I’d used to board the World Boss. Two of the barriers had been meticulously destroyed to keep them open while the rest functioned like normal.

I led the way as we went into the station itself. Bee readied the crossbow in her arms as the sounds of fighting got closer.

When we stepped out onto the platform, we were met with an all-out brawl. Men and women were desperately punching each other or swinging pipes and machetes like lunatics. On the tiled floor lay several bleeding and injured people and off near the back wall were a clump of pacifists just watching the chaos. All told, there were over fifty people here and it was hard to tell who was on whose team.

The metro train, which was thankfully not a monster, was parked in the only track. Looking through the windows I noticed how each carriage had been rebuilt into something like a home, with simple walls and furniture taking up the space within. Additionally, the middle carriage, where the fighting was thickest, looked to be filled to the brim with food, water, and other necessities.

“It’s like they’ve all gone mad,” Bee commented. Then she glanced at me. “No offense.”

Panda laughed.

“They’re not mad. They’re fighting over food,” he explained, also having noticed the middle carriage.

“I think I know a way to stop them,” I said.

Just as some of the nearby people noticed us, I pointed at the middle of the platform and shouted, “.unicorn( )!”

“I don’t think that’ll wor—” Panda started to say, just as a rainbow-edged portal appeared.

Music filled the underground station. It was some kind of pop song.

“Oh, I love this song!” Bee exclaimed.

The fighting ground to a halt as people noticed the pounding music coming from the rainbow portal.

Then an upright unicorn in a black suit with satin gloves on the hooves of its ‘arms’ and sunglasses on its head slid out from the portal. He looked around for a moment and then started dancing slowly, the tap of his hooved feet perfectly matching the beat. A stage mic was coiled around his head to his long mouth, and he started singing.

“Did he just say ‘butter’?” I asked in confusion.

More unicorns in the same ridiculous outfits slid out of the portal and within moments there were seven of them, all dancing in perfect synchronicity. Bee started imitating their moves and it was clear she already knew the choreography.

The fighting completely stopped while the unicorn boy band performed their dance routine and lip-synced to the music.

“They’re not lip-syncing,” Panda said.

“They are,” I insisted.

“Are what?” Bee asked, still dancing.

“Lip-syncing.”

“It doesn’t matter if they are,” she replied. “Just enjoy the music.”

We watched the performance for what felt like ages.

At some point the people on the platform even started clapping along to the beat, including those who were injured.

When the song finally ended, the unicorns sauntered back through the portal which zipped shut behind them and vanished.

The music was replaced by roaring cheers and whooping.

“Music really brings people together,” Panda said with a blissful sigh.

“I think I preferred when they were all fighting,” I replied.

“You better not make them start fighting again,” Panda told me, a warning in his voice.

“Fine,” I muttered.

I raised my voice and addressed the crowd.

“Everyone! No more fucking fighting or I’ll beat the shit out of you. Got it? Also, when is the train returning to Madeville’s station?”

All eyes fell on me and a few people laughed at my outfit. I didn’t care and just strode towards the closest carriage.

“Did you create that performance?” a woman yelled.

“I love that song!” another squealed. “That was so much fun!”

“Has anyone seen my fingers?” screamed a man who just returned to the realization that he was seriously injured.

“Yes, I summoned those unicorns,” I yelled back, unsure who in the crowd had asked the question.

“The train leaves in 2 minutes,” responded a man close to me. “If you help us defend the storage wagon, then you can ride along for free.”

I had to look down to lock eyes with him. He was more than a head shorter than me and had a large bald spot in the middle of his brown mane of hair, giving him a bizarre hairstyle. His face was covered in a scraggly beard and his body was absolutely yolked like he was some steroid-induced bodybuilder midget.

“You can’t call them that,” Panda corrected me. “They’re called little people.”

“Listen, pal,” I told the guy. “We’re getting on no matter what.”

Bee nodded.

“Everyone has to contribute if they want a ride on the survivor express,” the guy told me.

I looked around and spread out my arms, gesturing at the people. “I just stopped the fighting, didn’t I? Also, aren’t there two trains?”

“Our train is the good one,” he said.

Before I could reply, the guy’s appraisal hit me out of nowhere.

---

[Appraisal x ]

Level ?? — ‘John Ritter’ — Player?

[Dave! He’s doing it again!]

[What do you mean ‘Play along with it’!?]

*Sigh*

Fine!

This is John Ritter. He’s a dwarf. The end.

[You can’t be serious!]

[You know what, Dave? I’m glad your wife fucking left you!]

[No! Don’t call HR!]

[Alright! I’ll do it properly!]

Since when did our HR apartment even have people in it who gave a shit? I thought they were just meant to shred all the mail they received. What happened to the guy who operates the shredder??

Anyway…

John Ritter started out life wanting to become an actor, although he had to change his name since it was already taken by someone famous. He ended up settling on ‘Dick Ritter’, but most people just call him Richard, which is really confusing.

Since he was born with dwarfism, he was really limited to what roles he could get as an actor. After failing to land a role as Dopey in a musical of Snow White for being ‘too tall’, he had a crisis of identity and eventually found new purpose in the world of bodybuilding.

Thanks to copious amounts of anabolic steroids, he has developed male pattern baldness, but only in the middle of his scalp which gave him the weird monk crown you’re seeing. Maybe because of his commanding stage presence or freakish strength, he ended up becoming the leader of a group of survivors, and they made a base out of one of the two metro trains traveling between Madeville and Castleburg.

That decision may come back to haunt him and his crew.

He likes the balloon on your hand, because he’s a ‘looner’.
Yeah, this guy has all sorts of quirks.

Basically, don’t let him touch your balloon, it’ll get weird.

---

“If you let us onto the train, John, then I’ll let you touch my gauntlet,” I told him.

“What the fuck, Gambit!” Panda exclaimed. “Don’t let this guy abuse Brock!”

My gauntlet squeaked insistently.

John bit his lower lip and nodded. “Get on.”

Then he turned to the rest of the crowd and yelled, “Anyone who wants to go to Madeville, get on board! This guy here just bought you all a free ticket. But if any of you try to touch the storage carriage, I’ll personally beat the shit out of you!”

“What just happened?” Bee asked as we crammed into the nearby carriage.

“It’s too complicated to explain,” I told her. “But basically, he really likes balloons.”

“Bet you this shit is about to get fucking weird,” Panda commented.

John, aka Richard, aka Dick Ritter, stood in front of the middle carriage with a few other guys who tried to look intimidating. Everyone except a few people, who’d clearly just been aiming for the food supply, packed into the rest of the carriages.

Someone from the pacifist group at the back pushed through the crowd to get into the same carriage as us.

“How did you do that thing with the unicorns?” he asked.

I looked at his dirty-blonde hair, green-blue eyes, pudgy cheeks, and black hoodie with cargo pants.

Panda bapped my head eagerly. “Gambit! Look, it’s—!”

“Chris!” I exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for you!”

He looked back at me, slightly confused. “Have we met before?”

“Sort of,” I told him.

“Tell him you know where James is,” Panda urged.

“I know where your brother is,” I said.

“Really?” Chris asked. He looked at Bee and the crossbow she was still holding.

“He’s in the Sweet Dreams store near the Madeville metro station,” I told him.

“Why would he be there? I thought he’d vanished along with all the other children.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Trust me on this.”

With a garbled staticky announcement over the speakers, the metro train started to close its doors. A few people hurried inside the carriages that still had space at the last second. Then the vehicle gently pulled out of the platform and picked up speed.

We found a seat on some unoccupied benches, sitting opposite from a bench that’d been turned into an honest-to-God barbecue smoker and grill.

A woman wearing what looked like two pillowcases sown into the shape of a dress came over to us with a tray of plastic cups sloshing with raspberry juice.

“I really liked the performance,” she told me. “It’s been a while since any of us had a chance to smile and enjoy ourselves. Thanks for that.”

I just nodded and accepted a cup. Bee and Chris grabbed one each as well, and the woman continued down through the carriage with the drinks while waving back at us.

“Should we be worried that no one questioned how you did that?” Bee remarked.

“How did you do it, actually?” Chris asked.

Before I could reply, John came over to us. He was red in the face and sweating slightly.

“So, about our deal. Come with me to my office.”

Brock started to squeak like crazy.

“Oi, ya fakkin cunt, don’t ya touch me! I do not consent to this!!” he shouted, his voice breaking through at last.

Panda and I shared a look.

“I did promise him,” I said, staring down at the balloon gauntlet.

John glanced to my friends for guidance, but they were equally stumped. To them it probably seemed as if I was moving my hand around to make the gauntlet squeak while pretending it was talking to me.

“Gamby! Please!! This man’s sick! I bet he sleeps on a waterbed and wears latex underwear! He’s gonna pop me! That’s what sickos like this do! Don’t let him pop me!!”

“No one’s going to pop you, Brock,” I said.

Panda sighed. “Hold on, I think I know how to fix this without you having to punch-decapitate poor old balloon-freak John here.”

The plushie scrunched up and curled in on himself as though he was straining on the toilet. Then with a little ding a screen appeared in front of my face.

Panda let out a satisfied sigh.

---

[Benefactor Gift]

This is a gifted skill from your Benefactor.

Huh, that actually worked.

Use this on John, so Brock doesn’t have his innocence defiled.

Pandamonium

Gift: ‘Match.maker( )’ ability

---

[‘Match.maker( )’ x ]

Ability

[Dave! He’s doing it again!]

[Where’s the Glitch Hunter team I asked for?]

[What do you mean they can’t find him?]

Listen, I don’t know how you’re doing this or how you got this Skill, but I will get to the bottom of this!

Lock someone in a delusion of their wildest fantasies for 10 minutes.

Charge: 1/1

---

I blinked. “Wow, I didn’t know you could do that, Panda.”

Everyone around me seemed extremely confused. Although it hadn’t stopped John from reaching out to touch the balloon gauntlet on my hand.

“Use it before it’s too late!” Panda exclaimed.

“Save meee!!” Brock squealed.

I looked at John and said, “Match.maker( ).”

He immediately stopped moving, his arms falling down by his sides. His eyes were replaced with small screens showing TV static, and he started grinning while drool ran down his cheek. As I watched, a balloon animal appeared within the static of his eyes, before vanishing just as suddenly as it appeared.

I stood up and lifted John down onto the bench where he slumped back as his mind was fed his wildest fantasies.

“Come on,” I told Chris and Bee. “You probably don’t want to watch what happens next, if this thing works how I think it does.”

They both got up and looked at John with grossed-out expressions on their faces.

“What the hell was that?” Chris asked as we moved down the carriage and through the door to the next one.

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied.

Behind us, John started making disturbing animal noises.

“Thank yiz!!” Brock exclaimed. “Though not certain rewarding mister freako was the right move…”

“I had to improvise,” Panda told him. “It was the only thing I could think of in a pinch.”

“That raises some uncomfortable questions,” Brock replied.

I nodded. “I should’ve just knocked his head off, it would’ve been easier and faster.”

Other people came through the door from the carriage, obviously unsettled by what was happening inside. Every time the sliding door opened, John’s noises echoed through the carriage.

I looked at Chris, who had a horrified expression on his face. “So, anyway,” I started, “I can basically do magic. It’s kind of a long story though, so listen closely.”

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Seven

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

This chapter ended up a fair bit longer than expected, which is why I didn't have it out in time yesterday, despite working until 3AM to try and make it happen. Anyway, it's almost 4k words long, so these last two chapters have been some big bois.

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Chapter Forty-Seven

“Alright, listen up,” Adam told the squad of four archers and two swordsmen he’d gathered to him. Nearby, the other defenders were keeping the Forlorn soldiers at bay while a rain of arrows from above slowed down the dual-wielding swordsman by exclusively targeting his legs. “I need you six to pull the halberdier with you towards the northern part of the city. Don’t try to kill him, just keep antagonising him into following you. I will disable one of his legs so he won’t be able to catch up.”

The Elphin listened with rapt attention and he hoped they could accomplish what he wanted them to do. He’d actually gotten the idea from the zombie mode in a game he’d played several years back with some friends. One person would drag around a slow zombie while the rest of them worked on secondary objectives. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure this would work and he felt stupid for not asking Emelia how she planned on taking on the Aristocrat while not losing the defence objective.

“Go!” he told them as he himself moved closer to the fray and sent his barrier out in a cone shape.

The halberdier had just speared the same red-glowing Elphin warrior for the third time, before his Last Stand’s Fervour finally expired and he exploded like a blood balloon. It was horrible to watch, but the Dented Crown made each of the defenders’ lives count for way more as their deaths were extended by 10 seconds of pseudo-immortality. They were no longer just slaughtered with ease, though they still couldn’t really do much against the Forlorn Knights other than slowing them down by repeatedly absorbing lethal hits until their Fervour ran out.

Adam’s barrier flew through the air with a loud whistle and he weaved it between the fighters like a homing missile, before smashing it through the halberdier’s knee and sending him to the ground.

Now that he was using the spell offensively, it gained the 25% increased attack speed boost from the Captain’s Cape, which almost felt like a 50% buff thanks to the multiplicative effects of the four separate speed buffs on it. After all, it got two different boosts from the cape, the Spell Speed upgrade from the wand, and of course from the spell-tome’s Manipulation Speed.

The end result of all those stacking buffs was that his barrier moved insanely fast and gained a lot more piercing potential and impact damage. And that was before triggering Fervour, which might make it reach uncontrollable speeds.

The squad he’d assigned to stalling duty began harassing the disabled knight with annoying hit-and-run attacks. Much to Adam’s excitement, they successfully managed to drag him away from the fight, just as the last soul essence he needed entered his lantern.

Synchronised shrieks cut through the air as two identical wraiths emerged from the Relic on his belt and flew across the battlefield, tearing into the Forlorn soldiers. He pivoted his attention towards the dual-wielding knight currently fighting off a pair of red-glowing swordsmen whose bodies were covered in lethal wounds.

Adam curved the barrier projectile around at the swordsman, while two more wraiths emerged from his lantern. If not for the limitation on the Relic that stated only the souls of enemies counted, then all the dead Elphin would have been enough to trigger it three times already. Still, with just a handful of kills he already had four of them devastating the invaders. He knew that the fight with the Forlorn Captain would be an absolute cakewalk.

The moment that Adam’s barrier came within reach of the dual-wielding knight, he somehow parried the narrow cone and sent it off-course, then he pushed through the defenders and leapt right for Adam.

He didn’t have time to pull the barrier back despite its speed, so he resummoned it in front of himself.

[Warning! Mana below 25%.]

Two panes of white magical glass appeared in front of him and the knight drove his swords right into them.

Adam suddenly struggled with how to apply his shaping powers to two barriers at once, so he just pushed them both forward like a mobile wall, knocking the mini boss onto his ass.

“Everyone not dealing with the halberdier, focus on the dual-wielding swordsman!” he commanded in his panic.

The Elphin swordsmen surged forward, leaving the Forlorn soldiers to their impossible fight with the wraiths. Adam backed away and attempted to shape his barriers while they dogpiled the knight. It felt like an impossible task until he managed to convince himself that they were part of the same whole.

As the defenders died to protect him, Adam shaped the two barriers into one piece, a coiled horn not too unlike the wand hanging from his belt. But the two barriers rubbing against each other created a lot of friction and they immediately cracked, both triggering Last Stand’s Fervour.

Adam spun up the red-glowing barriers like a drill. The air thrummed with a roar like that of an airplane propeller and the horn was rotating so quickly that it generated a vortex of air around itself. All the stacking buffs made this type of rotation truly deadly.

With a single command he had the Elphin disperse before he shot the intertwined barriers directly into the knight’s head, instantly turning it into a red mist.

< Choose your Upgrade >

Adam resummoned the barriers before they could explode and looked across the battlefield at the remaining soldiers who almost immediately succumbed to their many fatal wounds. One last pair of wraiths emerged from his lantern, but, with the halberdier boss out of sight and all other targets dead, they simply just floated in the air before they were reeled back into the Relic along with the rest.

The Eye unfolded into an upgrade podium while Adam kept his ears open for the sounds of the captain’s horn. If he’d done things correctly, the halberdier should still be alive, which would stop the Stage’s boss from appearing early. According to Emelia, he would always show up when 5 minutes remained, even if the Forlorn Knights were still alive.

Last time, the captain had appeared thanks to the timer, but this loop he was going fast enough that he could trigger the boss early. He could even use Emelia’s advanced strategy of attacking the enemies outside the walls.

I still need to cut open the knights and get their hearts, but I’ll do that before I trigger the captain I think.

He dropped the bloodied Spidersilk Sack next to the dual-wielder’s corpse. Weaver had been true to her word, as not a single drop of the putrid black blood leaked through the sack.

“How much time do I have left?”

[13 minutes remaining.]

Plenty of time to deal with the Aristocrat.

I hope.

He looked at the upgrade options in front of him while trying to figure out a way to utilise both barriers without causing them to break prematurely.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Uncommon) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 10% >

< Manipulation Range (Rare) — Increases manipulation range by 20% >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

The best choice is Damage, but if I pick Manipulation Range I’ll gain 2 extra metres of space to move the barrier around in, plus my spell-tome will reach level 12 and evolve.

I should’ve had Emelia tell me about all the evolutions she knew, particularly for Warder, since I have no idea if evolving will actually make a difference.

Lancer’s second evolution had given him Spear Dancer, which had been incredibly powerful. He had no idea if he would get something to make his shaping easier or if it would be some random buff associated with it. It was also possible he’d end up with a change to the available upgrades like how Lancer had gained parry shield buffs instead of throwing-related ones.

I’ll take a chance on the evolution. But I’ll use my Reroll Dice, I think.

He’d already gotten the Captain’s Cape, which was the main thing he’d sought from the Stage and, since he wasn’t sure investing into range was worth it when he would be better off with Effect or Speed, he decided to scramble the upgrade choices.

“I’d like to use my Reroll.”

The upgrade holograms flickered and reappeared with new symbols and rarities.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) — Increases barrier health by 20% >

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 35% >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

That’s what I’m talking about!

Adam immediately selected the Effect upgrade.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) >

The spell-tome in his hand started to glow with golden energy.

[Your Shaper Weapon Type has reached Level 12.]

[At Level 12, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions based on your previous evolution.]

The Eye folded itself back into a tesseract and then sucked up the weapon. It dropped to the ground and took on the pyramid shape.

On the left side was a hologram of the spell-tome with bleached-white leather and the bronze embellishments replaced with silver. The signet had changed from the closed fist to a hand holding a hammer. The other hologram had green-dyed leather, gold embellishments, and the signet were two hands with their curled fingers interlocked. Both of the tomes still had clasps preventing them from opening.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Armourer — Halves all damage absorbed by the barrier when it is used for protection >

< Fusionist — The barrier can be fused with another spell to gain a new effect >

Okay… Not what I expected.

Armourer sounds like it wants me to lean into using the barrier as pieces of armour or like some kind of shield.

While he thought about the options, Adam hurried towards the south-eastern corner of the city beyond which he would find the hill and the Forlorn Aristocrat.

“Does the barrier become more difficult to pierce with the Armourer evolution?” Adam asked the Eye.

Even though it had not moved from where it dropped, its voice was easily heard by him. [All damaging effects are halved, this includes impact and penetration damage. Likewise included are spell damage and affliction effects.]

Weird, so such things are considered ‘damaging effects’ and not something separate. That’s an important distinction that probably makes the defensive route slightly less punishing.

But if I take that upgrade, then I’m sure the last evolution will be based around defence.

“What are the limits of the Fusionist?”

[The barrier can only be fused once.]

“So I’d need to resummon it to fuse it with something else?”

[Yes.]

“What about enemy spells? Can I fuse it with that?”

[Yes.]

That might actually be pretty powerful. In effect, it could become a way to eliminate a powerful enemy spell, such as Ezral’s piercing blood bolt.

“How exactly does the fusion work? Will the barrier gain all of the effects from the spell it absorbs?” he asked while passing by the giant tree atop which was the Rotmaker Idol. He’d already decided that he would get the Idol and Builder’s Egg after he’d dealt with the Forlorn Captain. He figured there was no way he’d discover the last Secret if Emelia hadn’t been able to, so there was no need to collect the other ones before the end, since he wouldn’t be getting the All Secrets bonus anyway.

[Yes. The fusion will imbue the barrier with all effects. This includes positive and negative effects, meaning any weaknesses inherent to the fused spell are passed on to the barrier. Additionally, the state of matter is also imbued.]

“So, if I fuse the barrier with a water spell, it will turn into water?”

[Yes.]

Adam suddenly had an epiphany. Wait… What about…?

“If I have several barriers, do they all gain the same fusion or are they separate entities?”

[They are separate.]

Holy shit!

“Does that mean I can fuse my barrier with one of its clones?”

[Yes.]

Adam laughed.

“I’m selecting Fusionist!”

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Shaper => Fusionist >

The spell-tome appeared back in his hands, now green with gold embellishments. It had gotten heavier as well. The Mastery Shard was immediately absorbed into his body rather than floating towards him dramatically, perhaps because the tesseract was several streets away.

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

With a blink, the Eye reappeared next to him.

There’s no way Fusionist won’t be utterly broken with my setup!

Adam came to a stop, the city wall within sight, and summoned his two barriers.

It took him a moment to figure out how to actually fuse them, but then he thought of the signet on the tome and pushed them into each other while imagining that they became one whole.

The barrier on the left glowed, while the other turned translucent.

With what amounted to a magical slurp, the two barriers became one.

Adam grinned so wide that he thought his skin might split.

He swung the barrier around with a few gestures and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The speed was literally doubled.

Fuck yes! The math is totally broken on this! It’s taking the buffs on the fused barriers and adding them on top of each other, even though it definitely shouldn’t work that way.

This means the Manipulation Effect, Health, and lowered Mana cost should all be doubled as well!

With a few mental nudges, he folded the barrier onto itself five times, reducing its 2-metre width to just about 6 centimetres. Basically, it had gone from being longer than him to now being the length of his thumb.

Adam laughed like a madman. Suddenly it made sense how Arturo had been able to turn his barrier into a needle. Although, since Adam had used the additional summon from the Invoker to get there and Emelia insisted that the weapon type was terrible, it probably meant Arturo had used a different way to gain more summons for the trick.

With double the durability, I might be able to do the flying carpet trick now, he realised.

With a few mental twirls, the narrow barrier unfolded itself and he shaped it into something approximating a sled, giving him a handle at the front. Adam climbed on board, and though a small crack immediately formed, he was able to remain seated without fully breaking it.

“It’s working!” he gasped excitedly.

Then he shot himself up into the air, going from zero to a hundred in about four seconds.

Adam flew across the air between the towering homes of the Elphin, then he passed above the south-eastern wall and spotted the raised hill on the edge of the dark-blue treeline.

He banked around to the side of the hill while his eyes locked in on the lone figure seated atop the chair next to the sapling that sprouted there.

After reaching the ground a few metres from the bottom of the hill, Adam climbed off the barrier and quickly folded it into the long narrow ‘needle’. He tried to fold it a sixth time to reduce its width to 3 centimetres, but his mind strained with the effort and he knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain its coherence let alone complete the fold.

It’s probably bound by the same limitations as paper, which can normally only be folded about seven times.

He wondered how hard the impact would hit, but guessed it was going to be quite devastating given the speeds it could now move at.

Adam pulled the Fetish of Sloth from his belt and momentarily unequipped the spell-tome so he could grab the Conflagrate scroll from his back pocket. After uncrinkling the scroll, he lifted it up in front of himself and walked towards the Secret Boss.

The Aristocrat turned in his seat and looked down at Adam from atop the hill. He was dressed like a 17th century nobleman, wearing a blue frayed-and-damaged suit jacket with tarnished golden embellishments, a black-and-grey brocade vest beneath, blue airy silken pants, and decayed black leather boots and gloves. His head was sickly with purple-tinted grey skin covered in sores and he had not a single hair on his scalp. Ominously, his face was covered by a pristine off-white porcelain mask sculpted into an expression of mirth.

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Forlorn Aristocrat >

Unlike the other times he’d triggered the Secret Bosses, this one didn’t extend the Stage timer. That alone seemed like a big spike in difficulty, but he had already kind of guessed that Stages One through Four were all lessons in what to expect, with Stage Five being the ‘exam’. This was just another lesson to learn: ‘Time is not on your side.’

The Aristocrat rose from his chair, pulling a rapier from its scabbard on his belt. The rusted blade trailed a dirty black smear in the air.

Adam’s eyes ran down the Spell Scroll’s curling script. Then his mouth worked on its own and exclaimed, “Conflagrate!”

[Conflagrate Spell Scroll activated! Next attack will be imbued with Conflagration.]

The scroll turned to ash in his hands and he felt energy surge through him, looking for somewhere to go.

He pulled out the spell-tome and squeezed the Fetish in his hand. Violet light shot out in front of him and manifested two identical Slothling Imps. The same light coalesced about their necks, forming collars with leashes tethering them to the dried worm in his right hand.

With just a simple mental nudge, the imps launched themselves at the Aristocrat and Adam fired the folded barrier along with them. Although his spell was faster than the Lesser Demons, they were the ones that were buffed with the Conflagrate, since they’d counted as his first attack. Flames trailed off of them and their skin was crackled like an inner fire was trying to burst forth from within. For some reason, they’d both gained the Spell Scroll’s buff, which meant they counted as one attack rather than two.

I need to keep that in mind. That kind of quirk has a lot of potential to be exploited.

The Aristocrat launched forward, sliding his rapier along the barrier needle just as it came within reach. The move was so fluid and simple, and yet it diverted Adam’s spell with ease. While he worked to curve it back around, the boss parried both of the Slothling Imps simultaneously as they flew past.

Holy shit! How did he do that!?

Without stopping, the boss launched itself down the hill, flying right at him. The Aristocrat’s movements were clearly quickened by the smoky dark energy suffusing his body.

Adam dodged out of the way just as the rapier passed through where he’d stood, then his barrier struck the boss’ left shoulder and tore off his arm with its explosive force. The spell was moving so fast that it struck the mossy ground and buried itself halfway into the earth like a javelin.

The Aristocrat spun on his heel and hopped forward with a downward swipe of his rapier.

Adam resummoned the barriers in front of himself, but the blade passed through the left one with ease, cutting it in half. Instead of triggering Last Stand’s Fervour, it just exploded. He immediately realised that the effect of the boss’ weapon was to blame.

Shit! There’s a way to negate my crown’s effect!

With a flourish, the other barrier was cut in two as well, but Adam managed to summon replacements before the boss could strike him. Then he pushed both barriers forward, catching the Aristocrat mid-swing and knocking him back.

A red-glowing flame-infused imp flew directly at the boss, but the boss was ready for it, parrying its claws and immediately cutting off its head and making it pop like a balloon. But then the second one came flying past, managing to slice its claws along his unprotected back.

Flames exploded across the Aristocrat’s body and Adam quickly fused his barriers together, then shaped them into a folded narrow tube. He shot it forward like a missile, aiming for the centre of the porcelain mask but the boss deflected it to the side using his inhuman reactions.

With a yanking motion, Adam called it back and it ended up piercing through the boss’ hip. He let it unfurl and it exploded the Aristocrat’s lower body, taking his left leg with it.

Unperturbed, the boss whirled around and took off the last imp’s head, before launching at Adam.

He slammed the unfurled barrier into him from behind while throwing himself to the side.

The Aristocrat tumbled forward while the flames continued to burn him, but managed to slice his blade along Adam’s thigh. The barriers exploded into shards as the Queen’s Pendant triggered to negate the damage and the boss was knocked to the ground.

[You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

[You have been afflicted with Forlorn Curse. All healing effects negated.]

Shit!

Adam got to his feet and resummoned his barriers above the still-prone boss.

[Warning! Mana below 15%.]

He flipped them horizontally, stacked them on top of each other, and then flung them down at the prone figure with an aggressive gesture. The impacts of the two barriers caused them to crack and trigger Last Stand’s Fervour, which immediately increased both their speed and damage as they crushed down on the helpless one-armed one-legged Aristocrat.

A loud crunch and splat came from under the barriers as the Secret Boss was reduced to a fine paste and tiny bone fragments.

Adam stumbled back a step and collapsed onto his ass, managing to send the barriers away before they exploded.

That was way too fucking close!

“How long before the afflictions wear off?”

[Taint has a 2-minute duration. Forlorn Curse lasts until the end of the Stage.]

“Are you fucking kidding me!?”

He looked at the smushed remains of the Secret Boss. Amidst all the blood, pulped flesh, and bone shards was a single untouched pearl. It was a hazy-blue colour.

“Don’t I get any other rewards?”

[There will be a second Upgrade Reward at the end of the Stage.]

Adam sighed and remained seated.

He needed to refuel his Mana before he took on the last boss.

I need to have a talk with Emelia about this. She needs to properly tell me what to look out for with these bosses, because that was way too close. With Forlorn Curse’s effect, any wound could easily turn fatal since it wouldn’t heal, which I’m guessing also prevents coagulation to stem the blood flow…

I hope Beck and Gladwyn are alright. Hopefully they didn’t try to take on the Aristocrat.

Adam sighed again.

“Let me know when I’m back to 50% Mana.”

[Understood.]

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Six

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Wrote a bunch today.

Also, the audio sample for Book 1 of Madman is available and ohmygawd I'm so fucking giddy with excitement about how good it sounds (give it a listen here). Stubbing book 1 of that story on Monday which is only mildly mortifying.

Anyway, this is a long chapter (4500 words...). Took me forever to edit. I've also got most of chapter 47 done, but it won't be up until tomorrow or maybe Monday.

Oh yeah, and happy Easter if you celebrate it. I'll be hiding easter eggs for my niece and other family members to find tomorrow, which should be fun (German / Danish tradition).

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Chapter Forty-Six

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 4 >

< Siege of the Elphin Sanctuary >

< 20-minute Timer >

Adam led their carriage through the stone gate to the Elphin Sanctuary. The living roots writhed around on the walls of the city and he stared at them while the horses pulled the vehicle into the city.

No matter how many times I experience this sensation, it’s still super uncomfortable being puppeteered like this.

His hands moved the reins as though he was an expert driver, and the horses followed his commands without question. The city’s many citizens watched him suspiciously from the buildings and walkways above, and the guards on the ground followed along beside the carriage.

Belamouranthe had her face pressed up against the window in the vehicle’s door and he noticed many of the guards staring at her while they kept track with him.

Then Adam blinked and his surroundings changed.

He was standing in the pit at the centre of the Sanctuary, a place full of uncomfortable memories.

This time it will be different, he promised himself. This time I’ll save Bel.

The girl’s mother, the Elphin Queen, stood before him. The first time he’d been here, he’d thought her tall and strikingly-beautiful figure was alluring, but now he hated the sight of her. Still, she looked so similar to Belamouranthe thanks to her long golden hair.

Unlike last time, she wore a tight-fitting emerald-green dress made with a barely-perceptible pattern of overlapping leaves. This was the dress Bel had worked together with Weaver to come up with and it suited the Queen’s ashen skin well.

Her glowing orange-yellow eyes burned into Adam’s and her horns rose above her like the roots of a great tree. The smaller horns that sprouted around the top of her scalp and created an impression of a crown was like a match for the iron one that Adam wore.

His eyes shifted to the translucent-red wing that hung down her back. It contrasted the green dress starkly and he wondered if he pulled it out whether it would grant him a special reward or not.

Adam’s gaze shifted down to Bel’s face. She was holding her mother’s hand and grinning. Her face portrayed a blissful ignorance that made his chest hurt.

The Queen smiled widely, revealing sharp carnivore teeth. “My gratitude, Traveller, for returning mine daughter to me. At last, she can fulfil her destiny and bring prosperity to our people.”

Adam looked to the side where a runner came down the steps into the pit where they were gathered.

“Mine Queen!” he exclaimed. “The enemies are at our walls!”

“The Forlorn King truly believes he can defeat me?” the queen asked defiantly. Her eyes moved across the warriors surrounding her and Adam. “Defend the Sanctuary and slay every last invader!”

“I will lend my aid to your people,” Adam said, though the words were not his.

Ugh, he thought.

Having the System decide what he was supposed to say felt awful and he feared how it would be used in future Stages. The fact that the System even had the ability to control him in these cutscenes proved just how powerful it was. How would it even be possible to defeat such an entity.

Surely these Trials are just an idle game it plays to pass the time. If it is an infinite being it is no doubt bored of the monotony of existence, so I’m sure my species’ suffering must be entertaining somehow.

And if not that, then the petty drama with other incomprehensible deities taking part in the Trials, like Nwetrou and whoever it got the Dimensional Cores from, would help stave off its boredom.

He looked back at the Queen.

“I will prepare the Ritual of Adherence while you help protect this Sanctuary,” she said.

Then he was released and once again able to control his own body. The stone eye that could activate Hardmode floated out from behind him, but he ignored it. Emelia had told him what it did in this Stage, and he was not interested in experiencing that. After all, it would make the normal soldiers stronger and give all the mini bosses much more powerful shadow-based attacks.

“Everybody!” he shouted, and all the Elphin warriors stopped. “Remain around the pit and protect your Queen! A few of you should gather the rest of your kind from around the city and tell them to come here. Do not throw your lives away for nothing! Let me show you how to win this unfair fight that has come to your city!”

Their united voices called back to him, and it was clear they would follow his commands.

At least this part is easier since I know they can be controlled.

Adam looked down at the gauntlets on his hands. They had been re-equipped after he’d gone to sleep, along with the rest of his gear, which was odd.

I wonder if the Elphin will pop like the Slothling Imps when they die due to this Relic’s effect?

As the Elphin mostly remained on the stone steps of the stepwell-like pit, a handful of runners went off in different directions to bring the rest of the defenders here. He highly doubted they would lose if they concentrated all their defenders on this place, rather than spread out to defend each individual breach. After all, the Elphin had archers and the enemy did not, aside from the one mini boss that he was still terrified to encounter.

[Stage Four is the first Stage in the Trials that does not feature Wa—]

“Skip.”

< < Stage Objectives > >

< Defend the Ritual Site for 20 minutes >

< Defeat the Forlorn Captain >

< Slay all invaders >

As Elphin flowed in from various parts of the city to the centre, Adam ran up the steps leading out of the pit.

[The 20-minute Timer has begun,] the Eye announced and the Hardmode orb vanished.

He immediately summoned his barrier behind himself as he reached the top of the ritual site, then he used it to push himself towards the north where Emelia had told all of them about the hidden Relic Chest atop one of the towering buildings.

The city was no less jaw-dropping than the first time he’d seen it, but this time he didn’t stop and stare.

His boots tore up the mossy ground until he hit one of the stone roads designed for carriages. Around him the four-storey towers of lashed-together boulders covered in writhing roots rushed past.

Then he realised he could go even faster. He slowed to a halt briefly and then smacked the barrier into the ground repeatedly to trigger Last Stand’s Fervour. With the barrier glowing an ominous red, he put it behind himself and continued forward. In his head he counted down the 10 seconds until it would explode.

It was a huge boost in speed, which no doubt meant the various speed effects on his barrier were multiplicative. He just hadn’t noticed it until now since it was hard to gauge based on the rotations of his sawblade shape.

The loud thrumming wail of a horn announced the true beginning to the Stage, but Adam knew he was close to his destination. An explosion quickly followed the horn as a breach was blown open in the wall. Since he’d called away the defenders, he needed to hurry up and get over there to eliminate the invaders.

Emelia had described the particular building as one with a small red maple tree growing from half-way up and red berry bushes dotted sporadically along its length.

Adam skidded several metres and stopped almost directly in front of the exact building, then he flung his barrier away and it exploded harmlessly into the air, none of its fragments reaching him.

It’ll be too slow to go up the stairwell inside, he thought. Especially since my Speed is only 85%, even with the Slothling Fur Coat.

He summoned a new barrier, flipped it horizontally and then climbed on board. It immediately cracked under him and triggered Last Stand’s Fervour, but that was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

With a gesture, he lifted the barrier up towards the top of the tower, moving faster than any elevator he’d ever used.

He climbed off and onto the building which was about six metres wide and eight long, then flung the barrier away out of sight where it soon exploded. In front of him was a wood and stone chest.

[You have discovered a Relic Chest!]

[Unlike the chest at the end of a Stage, this chest’s reward options cannot be rerolled.]

Should I use the Lucky Stone? he wondered, putting his hand in his pocket to feel the Relic he still kept there.

“Is it possible to use the Lucky Stone on this?”

[Yes.]

He thought about it for a few precious seconds.

What I really need is the Captain’s Cape, but just using the Lucky Stone won’t make it appear. It’ll just guarantee I get at least Rare quality options. It could be anything that shows up.

I’ll save it for now.

Adam kicked the chest and it popped open. He recognised the first option as the Affliction Ward, but the second, a necklace made of translucent red pearls, was new to him. It was also Epic. The last option was a rare rusted chest armour like what the Forlorn soldiers wore.

< < Relics Available > >

< Affliction Ward (Uncommon) — Negate any Affliction. Breaks after use >

< Queen’s Pendant (Epic) — Sacrifice the nearest subordinate ally to negate the damage from an attack. 1-minute cooldown | Wearer is afflicted by Curse, increasing damage taken by 10% | Wearer is afflicted by Scorn, removing all beneficial effects of Worship >

< Forlorn Cuirass (Rare) — Reduces damage received against anywhere below the neck by 75%. Increases damage received against head by 200%. Breaks after 6 hits | Reduces Movement Speed by 30% >

Holy shit!

He immediately pulled off the All-Mother’s Wrath around his neck and stuffed it in his pocket with the Lucky Stone. Then he selected the Pendant.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Queen’s Pendant (Epic) >

[You have been afflicted with Curse. Damage taken increased by 10%.]

[You have been afflicted with Scorn. All beneficial effects of Worship removed.]

I wonder what Emelia would say to this Relic. It’s possible that the Scorn affliction greatly outweighs the damage-negation effect, although right now it shouldn’t do anything.

Adam summoned another barrier, but instead of using it like an elevator again, he scaled down the side of the tower to reserve his Mana. The moment he reached the ground he would run back towards the city centre to hopefully cut off the invaders led by the Forlorn Knight with the greatsword.

Since my crown has that ‘Subordinate Ally’ reference and affects my summons, then the Pendant should work with my barrier too. The real question now is what is defined as an ‘attack’.

He looked down at the ground below.

I doubt falling from here and landing on my head would be considered an attack. Best be careful.

He had to climb around one of the red berry bushes since it was full of thorns, but after that he was able to drop the last two metres and land on the soft mossy ground.

With his barrier pushing him from the back, he returned to the ritual site.

This pendant gives a pretty big clue about the Elphin Queen, Adam thought to himself as the buildings rushed past him.

She is scorned by her God, the All-Mother, and so she seeks to use her daughter, whose blood is special somehow, to open the way to a forbidden temple underground. Given that she’s scorned, I doubt that finding a different God will help.

I wonder what happens when I give Belamouranthe the All-Mother’s Wrath necklace? How will the Forbidden Altar be opened then?

There were other Elphin children in the city, but I don’t think she’d use any of them.

He pushed the thoughts aside as he saw the Elphin defenders fighting the Forlorn invaders near the Sanctuary’s centre. The soldiers accompanying the knight were full of arrows from the many archers in the walkways above them, and only a few defenders had perished.

Adam skidded along the ground as he moved the barrier out in front of himself and shaped it into the narrow cone. The Forlorn Knight had black smoke billowing out from his helmet and killed a new defender with every strike of his greatsword that landed. The sun from above was incapable of illuminating him properly as though the shadowy smoke repelled it.

The twelve Forlorn soldiers around the knight wore dark rusted armour while the Elphin might as well have been naked given that they just used silk and bark as protection.

However, now that Adam was here, those Elphin that suffered grievous wounds started to glow red from their eyes as the Last Stand effect of his Dented Crown took hold.

Damn, I thought it would work no matter the distance, but it seems to require me to be within sight of the subordinate allies…

One of the Elphin with Last Stand’s Fervour tore through several Forlorn soldiers with his sword, cleaving off limbs left and right.

Remembering how he’d fought the knight last time, Adam sent his cone-shape right into the towering invader’s hip and let it unfurl.

The barrier was cracked from striking the armour aggressively, but the result was glorious as the knight was split into two and fell over. With the Last Stand triggered, Adam shaped the cracked barrier into a sawblade with as many teeth as he could manage. Then he spun it up and drove it down onto the knight’s armoured neck.

Sparks and shredded metal flew all around until suddenly replaced with black blood. The knight’s head was cut off and he immediately died. With his death, the soldiers became susceptible to mortal wounds. Given that they were all pierced through by arrows and had suffered grievous injuries, their deaths followed shortly after their leader.

The soul essences of all the Forlorn dying at once flew into the Wraith Lantern while he quickly switched to the wand for the upgrade reward.

< Choose your Upgrade >

Two overlapping shrieks preceded a pair of wraiths shooting out from his Relic. They floated in front of Adam while the Eye unfolded itself into a podium.

“Go!” he told them, knowing there were more enemies beyond the walls of the city.

But the wraiths did not listen.

After a moment of just floating there they returned to the lantern.

Goddamn it!

I thought they’d seek the nearest enemy in the Stage, but it seems they have to have line-of-sight. What a waste of souls…

He quickly looked through the upgrades.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Size (Uncommon) — Increases spell size by 30% >

< Casting Effect (Rare) — Increases casting responsiveness by 35% >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

Defence is good, but with my new pendant I should be alright for now.

What I really need are two more wand upgrades to be able to evolve Summoner into Invoker. That should be my focus right now, unless I get Luck as an option.

He selected Casting Effect since the Spell Size would probably mess with his barrier.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Casting Effect (Rare) >

With his selection done, he once again ordered the Elphin to guard the ritual site. Then he used his barrier to push himself towards the east, just as an explosion echoed out across the city.

I’m faster than last time, even with the detour to grab the Relic Chest.

Still, there’s no way I can get the Speedrun and kill the Secret Boss.

After all, Emelia had said the Speedrun required you to beat the Stage in 5 minutes or less, which was pretty absurd given that it had taken him 17 minutes last time.

When the eastern breach came into view, Adam moved the barrier out in front of him and skidded along the ground until he came to a stop. Twelve Forlorn soldiers charged in his direction and atop the wall stood a tall dark shadow. He angled the barrier thirty degrees along its vertical axis with the hope that it could deflect the knight’s enormous projectile. It’d almost killed him last time, so he was on guard.

A glint from the mini boss caught his eye and he flung the barrier forward while moving to the side.

A thick crossbow bolt struck his defence and went right through, whizzing by his head with only half a metre between them.

Shit… Okay, my barrier is not great for defending against piercing attacks…

With the massive hole in its shape and enough damage to crack it, the barrier became red as Fervour triggered. Adam quickly shaped it into a sword-like shape and spun it horizontally at neck-level, then moved it right into the incoming soldier’s path. They were too slow to avoid it and the frontmost four were immediately decapitated on impact.

At the same time, Adam ran towards the wall that the Forlorn Knight stood atop. He had only a few more seconds before the mini boss would fire another bolt.

The soul essences of the dead soldiers flew into Adam’s Wraith Lantern and a shriek cut through the air as a wraith emerged. This one was more detailed than the previous two, which to him indicated that the greatsword knight’s soul had been used for its creation.

He summoned another barrier while the wraith shot forward with a swipe of its claws, immediately killing two soldiers by shredding their heads and necks into bits.

[Warning! Mana below 25%.]

Adam stumbled a step but quickly recovered.

I’ve got one more summon left in the tank after this one.

Soul essences flew into his lantern as the first wraith continued fucking up the soldiers thanks to Fervour. Just as Adam threw himself out of the way of the knight’s next shot, a wraith was summoned and immediately flew up to the mini boss on the wall.

Of the four Forlorn Knights, the crossbow wielding one was definitely the creepiest. Thanks to the black cloth that covered his body and the shadows that clung to him like a veil he looked like an incarnation of Death itself. The black smoke billowing out from the depths of his drawn hood also really added to the creepiness factor.

The knight swung his enormous crucifix-shaped crossbow at the wraith, but it passed right through. Then the ghost shot forward with a swipe of its rending claws. Frost bloomed up the side of the boss’ body as the claw wounds manifested. With its opening attack done, the wraith went into Last Stand’s Fervour and absolutely shredded the boss.

Instead of stopping, Adam ran through the breach as the mini boss and soldiers perished to his wraiths. He made sure to switch to the wand before the notification hit him.

< Choose your Upgrade >

Once it was clear the knight was dead, he switched back to his spell-tome, while moving towards the storage-like hut on the other side of the wall. Forlorn guards stood in front of the hut and the black Relic Chest sat behind them just waiting to be looted.

Unlike the soldiers that accompanied the knight on the wall, these men were not affected by its death, perhaps because their fates were tied to that of the captain.

It didn’t matter though, because the last few soul essences followed him out through the breach in the wall and fuelled his Wraith Lantern for another charge. The ghost shrieked as it was summoned.

Adam flung his barrier out in front of him and swung it in a cleaver shape, chopping off heads left and right.

All of them died in short order and yet another wraith was summoned from their soul essences. It disappeared along with the previous one before either could fully expire and explode from his Cruel Gauntlets’ effect.

I should probably swap the Gauntlets, he thought to himself.

As he approached the black chest, he remembered that he was supposed to collect the Hearts of Darkness that the Forlorn possessed.

Damn, can’t believe I forgot…

There’s too much to keep track of here.

[You have discovered a Relic Chest!] the Eye announced while Adam quickly got to work chopping up one of the dead soldiers.

Before checking out the Relics he peeled open the corpse with the cleaver-shaped barrier. It was grisly work, but after a few moments he revealed the Forlorn soldier’s heart. It looked like a shrivelled raisin. Despite his apprehensions, he reached down and yanked it free.

Nothing happened when he pulled it out.

“Is this not a Collectible Relic?” he asked the Eye.

[No.]

He tossed the blackened heart aside with an annoyed grunt.

Maybe only the knights and the captain possess the special hearts?

Adam sighed and wiped his bloodied and foul-smelling hands on the mossy ground. Then he opened the chest. Inside was a flask with oily liquid, a cape, and a plague-doctor mask replete with a beak and weird goggles.

< < Relics Available > >

< Tainted Oil (Uncommon) — The Player’s weapons are coated with the darkness of the Forlorn, imbuing their attacks with Taint, lowering target’s Stamina regeneration by 40% for 30 seconds. The coating lasts for 2 Stages, after which the Relic disappears >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) — Increases Movement Speed of allies by 10% | Increases Attack Speed by 25% >

< Plague-Spreader Mask (Rare) — Afflictions jump to nearest available target within 10 metres when afflicted opponent dies >

I got the cape! Lucky!

That mask is new, but it sounds like it has the potential to work in terrible ways, depending on how ‘available target’ is interpreted, since it may affect allies and even me. Still, Stage Four is great for anyone with an affliction build. There are so many options to choose between. I wonder if the Overflow Diadem and Mask would be possible to wield together, because that would be incredibly powerful.

Regardless, the choice was obvious.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) >

Adam grinned as the cape appeared on his back.

This loop was going really well for him. The pessimistic part of his brain was wondering when things would take a turn for the worse.

An explosion echoed across the city and the clearing it was situated within, originating in the west. Then another came from around the same place a moment later.

He moved the barrier around his back and returned to the breach. The crossbow knight’s corpse had fallen off the wall and landed inside the city. Its head was separated from the rest of its mangled mess of a body. Both of its arms and one of its legs remained above on the wall, and its torso was already mostly open.

With a few quick slashes of his barrier, Adam was able to break open its chest. Inside was another blackened raisin although this one was slightly bigger. When he pulled it free a System message appeared.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Heart of Darkness (Common) — A heart borne by those who gorge on darkness >

He pulled the Spidersilk Sack from his back pocket and tossed the heart inside, then tied the sack to the back of his belt.

The Eye was unfolded into an upgrade podium nearby and he was glad to see that it showed upgrades for Summoner, since it meant he’d timed it correctly.

Alright, here we go. With this upgrade I’ll finally get Invoker!

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spell damage by 10% >

< Casting Efficiency (Rare) — Reduces casting cost by 15% >

< Movement (Uncommon) — Increases movement speed by 10% >

The choice was obvious.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Damage (Uncommon) >

The wand hanging from his belt started to glow golden and after the Eye reverted to its cube shape, the weapon exploded into golden particles that it sucked up.

[Your Summoner Weapon Type has reached Level 6.]

[At Level 6, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions.]

The cube changed into a pyramid shape and dropped to the ground. Two holograms appeared on either side of it. The one on the left was a longer reddish-brown wand formed of one gnarled piece of wood, while the one on the right was almost identical to the original bleached one, except instead of a red lace string it now had a blue one with a little silver bell at the end.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Elementalist — Unlock four elemental effect patterns to boost the versatility of spells >

< Invoker — Increase summon count by 1 >

Adam picked the Invoker without even hesitating.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Summoner => Invoker >

The wand reappeared in his right hand and the spell-tome was unequipped to his left hip. A pyramid gem appeared in front of him and flew into his chest.

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

I can’t wait to try this out!

He switched back to the spell-tome and continued on his way.

Fortunately, the barrier he already had summoned didn’t suddenly gain a duplicate, possibly because the evolution’s effect wasn’t retroactive. He was rather happy about that, since wielding two barriers simultaneously would be hard to figure out while he was in a hurry, though he knew he’d still have to tackle that issue before he took on the Aristocrat.

Adam continued towards the centre of the city with his barrier pushing him forward. It had gotten faster again, thanks to the cape. It was a bit strange he thought, since it specifically stated ‘Movement Speed’, which he assumed would exclude the lifeless summon and only affect his wraith and imp summons.

Glad to be proven wrong though.

For some reason however, the boost to attack speed didn’t seem to be applied to the spell and he wondered why, but guessed it had to do with how he was currently using the barrier.

Maybe it’s about the intentions behind the movements of the spell?

He pushed aside this speculation for now as he rushed towards the next battle. He was also formulating a strategy for how to give himself enough time to take on the Forlorn Aristocrat. However, his best idea came from an old zombie game he’d played, so he wasn’t sure if it would be effective or not.

I’ve just gotta give it a try.

The sounds of fighting came closer as he tore across the city.

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Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Five

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Chapter Forty-Five

Gladwyn continued to look at Adam and Emelia with a barely-suppressed grin on his face, meanwhile Beck was blissfully ignorant to the fact that they were in the same dimension.

“I think it’s time,” Adam started dramatically, “to figure out who won!”

Beck grinned. “This time I won’t be last place,” he said confidently.

“None of you have me beat,” Emelia told them.

“What did you get?” Gladwyn asked. “3000 Points?”

“4308,” she answered, leaning back in her chair with a smug look on her face and a French fry hanging from the corner of her mouth. While Adam was seated on his barrier, she sat on a stool that’d been sculpted to look like a padded recliner.

Damn, I really should’ve done the Hardmode, Adam thought to himself.

Beck’s grin faltered. “Time-loopers don’t count. Obviously.”

Emelia nudged Adam’s arm, but Beck didn’t notice. Gladwyn laughed.

“What did you get?” Gladwyn asked him.

“You two first,” Beck replied, clearly hiding the answer.

Adam could already kind of guess what they had gotten, based on the lights from his earlier query that was still running. It was a bit of an eyesore though.

Change the pillars of lights to coloured spheres above everyone’s heads, he told the Tavern, restructuring the command.

Both of them had three coloured spheres above their heads, but they were not the same. Neither of them had unlocked Sylvia, which was a shame.

“I got 2406 Points,” Adam said. “I didn’t get the Flawless Bonus, but I got the bonuses for Speedrun, All Secrets, and the Secret Boss.”

“I got Flawless but not the Secret Boss,” Gladwyn said. “I ended up with 2200 Points exactly.”

“You got the Speedrun?” Adam asked him, surprised.

“I learnt a thing or two from Emelia’s advice last night,” he replied. “Besides, I can’t let Beck be the only one who kills things quickly.”

Beck grinned victoriously. “That makes me the winner,” he said. His tone was so smug that Gladwyn and Adam both looked like they wanted to slap him.

“How much?” they asked.

“I didn’t get the Secret Relic from the Boss, so I missed out on that Bonus, but I did get the Secret Boss and Flawless, and of course Speedrun.”

It was clear that Emelia’s words had made him less reckless in his approach to Stages, but Adam knew he still had to have gone pretty fast in order to unlock the Nightwing.

Wait, I’m the only one amongst us who took damage…?

Goddamn.

“And how many Points!?” Gladwyn asked, getting desperate.

“2690,” Beck answered.

The number hung in the air above them like a guillotine.

Adam saluted Gladwyn. “It was good knowing you.”

He sighed loudly. “Just get it over with.”

Beck looked positively villainous as he gave his friend his new nickname. “From now on you will be known as ‘Princess Buttercup’.”

Emelia laughed and Adam shook his head with a smile.

“I’ll get you back for this,” Gladwyn threatened him. “Just you wait.”

Beck turned to look at Emelia. “You didn’t mention that the Secret Boss had a special collectable,” he then said.

“I forgot,” she replied.

Beck suddenly pulled a massive bloodied organ out of nowhere and placed it on the table in front of him.

“No, you can’t eat it,” he said to someone off to the side that the others couldn’t see. Adam knew it had to be Belamouranthe he was talking to. “This description,” he then started, “it’s a reference to the Black Mass from Castlevania, right? It’s used in a ritual to awaken something, isn’t it?”

Emelia shrugged. “I have no idea if it’s a reference to something, but yes, it is used in a ritual during a later Stage to awaken a Secret Boss. I’ll tell you how to do it when we get closer to the Stage, but you should keep it in your Player House until then.”

“Does it awaken a Dracula-type enemy?” Gladwyn asked.

“Again, I’ll tell you later,” Emelia repeated. “It’s a bad idea to focus on what lies far in the future, since you’ll end up neglecting the more pressing preparations for the challenge right around the corner. Stage Four is quite tough after all.”

Just then food arrived in front of Beck and Gladwyn, and while they were looking away, Adam reached over and stole one of the mussels from Emelia’s moules-frites. At the exact moment that Beck turned back to face them, Adam tossed the empty shell back into Emelia’s pan. He didn’t even notice, since his eyes were locked on the double-decker cheeseburger in front of him. He’d also ordered a beer like Adam. Gladwyn had a plate of fish and chips in front of him, along with a red margarita-looking cocktail.

After everyone had eaten a bit of their food, Emelia started telling them about the next Stage. She described the locations where the Termite Nest was found, as well as the two Relic Chests. Adam had only found one during his last loop and it had been rather easy to spot. The other was apparently atop one of the buildings. Emelia said that the easiest way to get it was to go inside the building and crawl out of a window to the roof. Gladwyn asked if knocking the building down would work, but she said no. She also told them about the Rotmaker Idol but made it very clear that it was dangerous to use, since the monster it summoned would attack everyone, themselves included, and would also make the Elphin hostile to them.

“You especially can’t use it,” she said to Adam. “Since you’ve got things that boost summoning, like your crown Relic, the Rotmaker would become way stronger than normal.”

She then went on to describe the enemies and how destroying their heads was the best way to kill them. For the mini bosses she recommended incapacitating or snaring them before striking their helmets repeatedly to break through.

Beck said that he had quite a few Force upgrades and Emelia told him that they would help a lot. Adam mentioned he had an Impact upgrade, but apparently that was more useful against living opponents, since it could cause internal bleeding which didn’t affect the Forlorn unless he was able to strike their heads hard enough.

She also explained that the Forlorn were weak to fire and that burning them would make them more susceptible to damage. Adam added that corrosive slime might also work and she nodded along. Neither Beck nor Gladwyn questioned how he knew this.

Adam turned to Emelia and asked, “What about the Conflagrate Spell Scroll that Sylvia sells?”

She nodded. “It would work, but you should save it for the Secret Boss.”

Then she continued to explain the Forlorn Aristocrat and his moves, but urged them to avoid fighting him unless they were absolutely sure. She went on to describe the main things to look out for during the Stage and the areas of the city that would be hit and in which order.

Emelia also mentioned that the All-Mother’s Wrath, the necklace they had all looted from Stage Three, should be given to Belamouranthe before looting the final chest after defeating the Forlorn Captain. When Beck and Gladwyn had learnt that the girl would die without their intervention, they both became eager to know how to save her. Adam also listened closely to make sure he didn’t forget how to do it. Aside from keeping Bel alive, the biggest impact from saving her was that Stage Six would change somehow.

Lastly she said, “There is a hidden weapon in the Stage, but I don’t know where. If you somehow find it, please let me know, but don’t take any unnecessary risks to try and locate it.”

With the explanation done, Emelia moved on to helping other Players by using Adam’s Dimensional Tavern.

Adam finally asked the Eye how many had survived Stage Three and the answer surprised him a lot. 285 million Players had survived. In his previous loop it had been 173 million. It was impossible to tell if the difference was entirely thanks to Emelia’s efforts or not, but he was sure she played a significant role.

However, if Arturo had looped countless times before her, then he was sure to have managed something similar if not more impressive, and yet it apparently hadn’t mattered. Emelia had said he’d given up looping to go through the ‘Gate of Nihility’. Adam didn’t know if that was the way forward or not, but it sounded ominous.

If it was the way forward and he successfully beat the Trials, then why is everyone still here? Or did Emelia accepting the Self-devouring Eye reset this universe before the Trials could be cleared?

Adam tried to not dwell too much on such worries, but he feared that the Trials were designed to be an endless loop with the Divine Relic being a test. The name of the Relic certainly seemed to hint at that, since it invoked in his mind the idea of the ouroboros that represented eternity.

Perhaps the System asked the Players remaining at the end to pick between the chance to do everything all over again or risk it all to beat the Trials. Anyone who had fought to reach that point would no doubt have a lot of things they wanted to change, people they hoped to save, and wrongs they wished to right.

He shook his head. Emelia had the right idea. Focusing on the future was dangerous when the present posed a huge threat. She could afford to plan ahead since she had overcome these challenges before, but Adam had barely survived Stage Four last time and Stage Five had killed him.

“I’m going to find Sylvia,” he told Emelia.

She nodded to show she’d heard him, then continued with her explanation to the twenty-plus Players she was currently connected with. She’d set up the conversation in a way that none of the people there could see Adam. He wasn’t quite sure how that worked, but guessed it was similar to how she hid her weapons and Relics from him before they’d met in person.

Sylvia had left with Migraine at some point and Adam exited the Tavern to track her down.

With the Eye’s help, he managed to locate them in the Garden next to Alivida’s tent. They were having a picnic in the silvery moonlight, and it looked like they’d raided Charlie’s kitchen given the amount of food they’d brought.

“Sylvia,” Adam said.

The blood mage’s apprentice looked up at him. “Have you come to purchase Spell Scrolls?”

“I have,” he told her.

Without even standing, she unfurled her travel cloak and revealed her wares.

< < Spell Scrolls For Sale > >

< Frost — Your next attack inflicts Frostbite, halting all of target’s regeneration — 200 Points >

< Conflagrate — Your next attack inflicts Conflagration, dealing periodic burn damage to target — 200 Points >

< Zap — Your next attack inflicts Electrification, periodically draining target’s Mana — 200 Points >

< Desiccate — Your next attack inflicts Wither, increasing damage inflicted to target by 50% — 200 Points >

< Tangle — Snare indicated target — 500 Points >

< Blink — Teleport to indicated location within your line-of-sight — 750 Points >

< Shade Barrier — Negate the next attack that deals damage to you — 2000 Points >

“I’ll buy a Conflagrate scroll,” he said.

“Excellent choice,” she replied.

< < Spell Scroll Purchased > >

< Conflagrate >

< 101 Points Remaining >

Sylvia pulled a scroll free from its straps on the inside of her cloak and handed it to him. She refused to stand up, which made the whole transaction feel extremely weird to Adam.

“Thanks,” he said and returned to the Tavern.

***

“I should go back to my own Dimension,” Emelia said, pulling out the Visiting Stone. She paused without actually activating it and gave Adam a strange look.

The Tavern had closed and they were standing outside the building. Adam was carrying a sleeping Belamouranthe on his back.

He met her purple spiralling eyes and did not look away.

“Thank you for today,” he told her.

Emelia lowered her head slightly. It was probably not the response she’d expected.

“Can I come back tomorrow?” she asked.

Adam paused. It was clear she had just used the Kindling Flame as a pretence for coming here and he knew what her ulterior motive was.

Even though my initial encounter with her left a bad taste, she does seem to be trying her best to help people.

I don’t think I can reciprocate her feelings.

But if I outright reject her advances, will she stop talking to me?

He didn’t want that, since he felt that they could still be friends.

It was an awkward situation to be in, and it didn’t help that she knew so much about him and he knew basically nothing about her. Maybe if they had met under different circumstances he would’ve felt otherwise, but it was hard to form a relationship when she was projecting her past experiences onto him. She was expecting him to act like the Adam she’d known and it caused a disconnect every time he didn’t live up to that. It was a difficult thing to reconcile.

Emelia looked up at him, meeting his eyes again. Adam swallowed hard.

“Sure,” he told her. “You can visit me again.”

He didn’t move any closer to her and she remained where she stood. A few awkward moments passed in silence like that.

Then she said, “When I come back tomorrow, I have something I want to give you.” Without any further explanation, she pressed her hand against the flat stone and vanished.

< < Visiting Stone Deactivated > >

< Player Emelia has left your Dimension >

Adam let out a deep sigh.

Alivida said it could only be used once per day between the Stages, so she won’t be able to return. I don’t think my poor heart can handle more surprises for today.

He had so many complicated feelings inside of him and it was hard to figure out how he was supposed to feel. He felt guilty for hijacking the past version of him and his relationship with Emelia, but at the same time it felt so one-sided and unfair. She had all the power, all the cards, and if he didn’t react like she expected she got upset.

This must be how Willow felt during my last loop, he realised, feeling shameful.

I just come barging into her life, telling her that I already know her even though we’ve never met from her perspective. Then when I did it this loop and she rightfully assumed I was some kind of creep, I still had the audacity to get upset about her blocking me!?

He shook his head.

I thought it would take longer for the time-looping to mess up who I am, but it’s already done a lot of damage without me realising. I could easily have ended up like Emelia if I hadn’t met her and experienced the other side of this kind of lopsided relationship…

He pushed his inner turmoil aside.

Now’s not the time to worry about this. I have to be prepared for Stage Four.

Hefting Belamouranthe slightly, Adam set off towards his house.

***

After walking through the moonlit town for a bit, Adam reached the Player House. Outside stood Yenna the wasp musician.

“I thought we agreed that I’d visit you in the Market,” he told her.

“This is easier, isn’t it?” she replied.

“Are you allowed to leave the Market like this?”

“I am not bound to my place by the fountain. My duty is to play music for the Player residing on Interim Island. It does not matter where I play it,” she explained. “It is the All-Seeing System’s benevolence that allows me such freedom. Compared to the other denizens in the Market, I alone received a special instrument and knowledge of your culture.”

Maybe the System is a fan of music? Kind of odd for a God defined by eyes.

Adam shook his head. Then he went through the garden gate and opened the door to the Player House. “Come on in.”

Last night he’d tucked Belamouranthe to sleep in the bed that appeared at the foot of his own bed inside the house, then he’d gone to the Market to see the wasp and have her sing him to sleep. He’d been worried about leaving the Elphin girl alone, but the Eye had ensured him no harm would befall her. Still, this was a much better alternative, since he would not feel guilty for leaving Bel to sleep alone.

He carefully lifted the girl from his shoulders and down onto the bed.

Then he noticed something new in the Player House.

I forgot about this.

Next to the rack where Gram was displayed was an obsidian chest. To the right of that was his wooden storage chest, which had appeared when he’d dropped off the Cracked Slime Core after Stage One. For some reason, the weapons he stored were actually just displayed on the racks on the wall next to his trophy shelves, while the wooden chest seemed to hold stuff that couldn’t fit on the available mannequin or racks.

He opened the wooden lid and a small menu appeared.

< < Player Storage > >

< 1 item >

< Cracked Slime Core (Common) >

Adam pulled the core out and the chest vanished, which was odd.

He looked to the Eye floating nearby. “Can you bring the storage chest back?”

[It will return when you have something to store within.]

That’s a strange way to do it, but I suppose it eliminates clutter.

He moved over to the new chest. It was a cube-shaped thing with a flat lid. There were no obvious seams or clasps to show where the top opened, so he just kind of fumbled with it until he managed to push the lid up.

Inside the Relic Saving chest was a swirling violet vortex. He dropped the Cracked Slime Core inside and it immediately vanished. Then the lid snapped shut and another menu appeared.

< < Relic Saving Activated > >

< 1 item >

< Cracked Slime Core (Common) >

Adam took off his Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets and opened the chest back up. Then he dropped them inside. They were immediately spat back out, landing on the floor with a clunk.

< < Relic Saving > >

< Unable to store Relic >

Yenna watched him as he picked the gauntlets up and placed them next to his bed. Then he started undressing while looking over his trophies. He had all the available ones for the last three Stages and they were on separate shelves.

Before the end of the Trials, this whole wall is just gonna be trophies…

He was looking forward to getting some for Stage Four, since he currently had none.

There was one trophy for Stage Two that he hadn’t noticed before, it was obsidian black like the new chest and read, in black letters, ‘Goblin Village Hardmode’.

I wonder if something happens if I collect these Hardmode trophies?

After he’d undressed, taking off all but his shirt and underwear and placing it on the floor next to the bed, he laid down and had Yenna sit next to him. Without needing to ask, she started singing.

He was surprised by the fact that he could look at her wasp body and not be freaked out. In fact, he felt that her presence was comforting somehow, even though it was very transactional in a way.

The lights in the room dimmed until there was only darkness.

With a contented sigh, he sunk deeper into his bed.

Within moments, Adam fell asleep to the sound of Yenna’s lullaby.

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MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 6

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---Next chapter----

(._. )

Delayed yet again, sorry about that. After April I'll be much less busy.

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Chapter 6

I launched myself at the Skinstealer before it could go on the offensive, shooting across the air between us with tremendous speed. My fist connected with its head as I flew past.

“You just used SPRING_HEEL!” Panda exclaimed.

Not-Noah leapt after me, but I dodgerolled forward and moved through his body as though it was made of smoke.

“That was your I-Frames passive!” Panda yelled. “What is going on!?”

I sent a punch into the monstrosity’s stomach right as the delay from the first hit expired. A loud crunch echoed through the nest as its head was bent back at a spine-breaking angle. Unlike Candy, its body was not sent flying, though it was disabled for a moment which I exploited to its fullest potential. I rapidly drummed my fists into Not-Noah’s stomach and torso as fast as I was able.

When the first hit registered the rest followed like the shots from a machine gun, each loud smack accompanied with a visible impact on its body.

The monster suddenly swiped its clawed hand forward, catching me in the side of the cheek and carving across my face. It felt like thin scalpels as the claws sliced along my eyebrows, nose, and upper lip.

I stumbled back as blood ran down my face, filling my mouth and covering my eyes. My punches were still raining into its stomach, and cracking was starting to become audible from within its body with every impact.

I blinked and a sheet of text appeared in front of my eyes for a split-second. It was long enough for me to somehow register what it said though.

---

[Appraisal x ]

Level ?? — ‘Flayed Noble’ — Spawn of an Absolute

THE FLAYED QUEEN

SENDS HER REGARDS TO YOU,

GAMBIT.

YOU CANNOT ESCAPE HER WRATH

WITH YOUR LITTLE TRICKS.

*Yawn*

Huh, what’s going on here? I thought we weren’t starting for another 18 hours…

Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here…

Wait, a Flayed One? What’s the Flayed Lady up to this time??

Hold on a minute, how are you even seeing this??

[Dave!?]

[We need to get Glitch Hunters down to the Castleburg Region asap!]

[What do you mean they’re not ready!? Are you seeing this shit!?]

Hey, you reading this right now, yes you, don’t fucking go anywhere!

We’re sending people as soon as I can kick them into gear!

---

“What the hell?” I muttered.

“Even your Appraising Eye passive works!?” Panda exclaimed in confusion.

“Gambit, are you okay!?” Bee yelled from behind me.

“Stay back!” I told her.

“I think your skills are working!” Panda realized. “You’ve gotta use Pow Punch!”

Before the Flayed Noble could rush me, I knelt down and launched myself at it again. I clenched my fist to trigger the Sea Urchin Ring and swung my spike-covered arm right into its center.

“Pow!” I yelled.

Brock squeaked excitedly.

Nothing happened, but I was already running back towards Samantha, Camilla, and Bee.

“Run!” I yelled at them.

As though they’d been paralyzed until now, my words finally made the two businesswomen get a move on.

The rain of punches had finally run their course, and the Flayed Noble was quick to pursue.

“What the fuck is that!?” Samantha yelled as we barreled through the walls of the weird spiraling nest.

Then there was a pulse across the IKEA store. All four of us were frozen in time and it took me a second to realize why.

“The Pow Punch is doing its calculations!” Panda said, putting my realization to words. He was somehow not affected by the hitch in the stream of time, which was quite bizarre. I also wasn’t sure how I was able to perceive his words.

The moment we were unfrozen, and time resumed its normal flow, a warm wind rushed past us. We were lifted off our feet, along with all the walls and remaining furniture. We were fortunately blown right through the open doorway to the store, since otherwise we’d have been crushed against the walls. The four of us tumbled across the floor of the mall, while a shockwave pulsed repeatedly from the heart of the IKEA.

I looked back and saw a brilliant and continuous light. It was as though a miniature sun had been summoned by my ability. The Flayed Noble was completely gone. There were no signs of its nest, the piles of bones, nor Candy’s dismantled body.

A moment later the light and heat dissipated.

“Holy fuck,” Panda said in awe. “Breezy is going to be so pissed at us.”

I got to my feet and rolled my right shoulder. I didn’t even feel any soreness from the fight.

Before I could ask my friends if they were alright, Camilla came over to me and slapped a bunch of bandages around my head. I knew it wasn’t necessary, since I could already feel how the cuts were knitting themselves shut.

“Thanks,” I said.

“What just happened in there?” Samantha asked as she approached the front of the store.

“You punched a hole out through the back of the mall!” Bee said excitedly. She was also standing next to Samantha and surveying the damage.

I went up next to them and looked into the IKEA. Sure enough, there was a circular hole going through the back wall of the store and it continued through the outer wall of the mall itself.

“What happened to the creepy thing that emerged from inside Noah?” Samantha asked.

“I killed it,” I told her and went back inside the store.

I looked about for any signs of the Flayed Noble. There were no remains. Not even any Leftovers.

“Loot probably doesn’t show up until after the Great Game has begun,” Panda said.

“That’s some bullshit,” I replied as I went deeper into the store.

Where the nest had stood was just a circular groove eaten out of the floor. It extended all the way to the hole in the wall. From where I stood, I could also see the damage I’d inflicted outside the mall. Fortunately, the beam of energy had passed between two apartment blocks. It had continued up over the city, taking out the top of an old water tower, before striking the crest of a distant mountain and leaving a circular hole through it like a tunnel.

“I hope you understand how lucky you got,” Panda said. “That could’ve killed a lot of innocent people.”

“You were the one who told me to use it!” I shot back.

Samantha came up to me and looked out through the hole in the wall, seeing what I saw.

“How did you do that?” she asked.

Camilla wrote something on the clipboard she still somehow held onto. They’d both lost their crossbows at some point.

Outside the store a bunch of people were looking in and talking loudly.

“All of this will make a lot more sense tomorrow when the Great Game begins,” I told them. “But basically, I’m very strong.”

“You know, this all feels pretty anticlimactic,” Panda said. “You’ve already dealt with Liam and Noah before the Game even began. You’ve lost your raison d’être.”

“Did anyone else feel time stop before the explosion?” Bee asked.

Samantha and Camilla both nodded uneasily.

“I thought it was just me,” Camilla said.

“You’re gonna be in so much trouble,” Panda said with a sigh. “This kind of System subversion is miles beyond anything you were guilty of before… Anyway, we learnt something useful thanks to that random appraisal. The Great Game will start tomorrow at noon.”

“Do either of you have a watch?” I asked them.

Camilla immediately pulled out an old-timey pocket-watch. “It’s currently 6:12 PM,” she said.

“According to Panda, we only have 18 hours before the Great Game begins,” I said.

“Who’s Panda?” Samantha asked.

“He’s Gambit’s invisible friend,” Bee explained.

She sighed.

“Today has been a weird day,” she said.

“It is possible that the canned food we ate yesterday was expired and we are currently hallucinating,” Camilla commented, trying to give her boss a way to explain what they had witnessed.

I reached over and pinched her cheek.

“Ouch,” she complained. “What did you do that for!?”

“It’s not a hallucination,” I told her.

Then I took a step back and puffed up my chest.

“Alright team,” I started, “we’ve got 18 hours to find Otto, Tina, and Chris! Let’s get going!”

“What about Steve?” Panda asked.

“Forget about Steve,” I told him. “That guy is not worth rescuing.”

The two businesswomen looked at me.

“I’ve had enough adventure and murder for today,” Samantha told me. Camilla nodded eagerly.

“Alright, suit yourselves. Bee and I will go on without you!” I replied.

“Ask them if they’re staying here,” Panda suggested.

“Are you two staying at the mall?” I asked.

Samantha looked at the crowd of people standing outside the IKEA. “I guess we’ll be able to do more good from here than Downtown.”

“We should make an inventory of all the food available, as well as a list of all the residents,” Camilla suggested, immediately switching back into work mode.

“Just don’t stay inside here when the clock hits noon tomorrow,” I told them. “Bee and I might not be back before then.”

Camilla looked at me. Unlike Samantha, she did seem to take my warning a bit more seriously. “Where should we go?” she asked.

I glanced at Panda.

“Maybe the roof,” he suggested. “Serenity Park is not a great place to wait out the initialization, thanks to the Swan. Having some way to get back into the mall would be a good idea, although the monsters inside are going to be pretty tough.”

I relayed his advice.

Camilla nodded. “We will gather all our weapons and provisions and head for the roof around 10 AM.”

“Anyone who stays inside the mall could potentially end up as a monster,” I said. “So make sure you don’t leave anyone behind. And stay away from the elevator.”

Camilla wrote down notes on the clipboard while Samantha just looked at her in exasperation. Still, I felt confident they would heed my words, especially since they had seen the Skinstealers with their own eyes.

Bee walked up to me and asked, “Before we go, can we get something to eat? I’m very hungry.”

“Of course,” I said and strode towards the IKEA’s exit. The crowd parted at my approach and Bee quickly followed after me.

“I think I saw a food storage on the second floor,” Panda said.

***

The guy running the foodbank inside a jewelry store was not happy with me taking several of his canned goods, but he became a lot friendlier after I bent his crowbar into a V-shape.

As we made our way to the exit, Bee loudly smacked her lips while eating the pineapple rings from one of the cans we’d looted. I swallowed the contents of a tin of refried beans, which was quite filling. Strangely though, I didn’t feel very hungry.

“That’s because of your high Vitality,” Panda said.

I pulled off the bandages Camilla had wrapped around my head and threw them in a nearby bin, then we took the escalator down to the first floor. Bee looked at my face in wonder.

“How are you able to heal that fast?”

“Oh, that’s simple! It’s because… Erm… Actually, I’m not sure to be honest.”

“Don’t look at me,” Panda said. “I’ve got no idea either. You don’t have any passives that are supposed to do that.”

“Panda says he also doesn’t know,” I added.

“Will I be able to see Panda tomorrow when the Great Game begins?” Bee asked.

“I think so,” I said.

Brock squeaked on my hand.

We all looked down at the balloon gauntlet. “I think he wants to be heard as well,” Panda said.

After making our way outside the mall we passed through the park. Bee managed to snag us some hotdogs from an unattended grill, but when the owner noticed he chased after us with a machete.

We easily outran him and left Serenity Park behind.

Bee grinned while chomping down on her stolen food.

“Been a while since I’ve had a hotdog,” I said. “This one’s pretty good.”

“I wanna try,” Panda begged, and I gave him a piece of the sausage. Bee had even managed to get some mustard and relish on top.

She looked at the sausage as it vanished into Panda’s mouth.

“Woah,” she said, amazed.

“Alright, I think our best bet for finding Otto and Tina will be visiting Madeville,” I decided. “Not sure where we’ll find Chris though. I didn’t really get to know him that well.”

“I thought you said he was your best friend,” Panda remarked drily.

“If we’re going to Madeville, we should take the metro,” Bee suggested. “I heard it’s still operating. But there are probably gangs who took over the station.”

I shuddered at the thought of getting inside the train, but knew she was right.

“Gangs won’t be a problem,” I said.

She clapped the crossbow hanging from her side on a strap. “We can take on anyone,” she agreed.

Panda sighed. “Poor girl, already warped into an evil henchman.”

I finger-flicked Panda in the head. “Bee’s not a henchman. And we’re not evil, we’re vigilantes.”

Bee nodded even though she hadn’t heard Panda’s comment.

“Vigilantes are criminals,” Panda countered.

“Since when did you care about the law?” I retorted.

“Did he say that vigilantes are criminals?” Bee asked.

I nodded. “He’s pretty predictable, right?”

“He kind of seems like a stick in the mud,” she replied.

Panda lowered his head shamefully.

“How are we going to get to the metro?” Bee asked. “Will you carry me again?”

“Actually, I might have something more exciting than that, but yes, I will probably have to carry you on my shoulders like earlier.”

She grinned. “I’m ready.”

I pointed in front of us with Brock dramatically and said, “Skater Boy!”

A fleshy longboard appeared in front of me and Bee jumped back in surprise.

“Do I get powers like this too!?” she asked excitedly.

I nodded. “Of course you do.”

I bent down and Bee climbed onto my shoulders. Then I got on the board and kicked off.

***

We zoomed through Castleburg, while I chained trick-after-trick and further increased our speed. Bee squealed excitedly every time we took a sharp turn or jumped several feet into the air.

“This is like a rollercoaster!” she yelled. “This really is the best day ever!”

“Turn left!” Panda directed. If not for him, I would probably have been pretty lost. The piled-up cars everywhere made it really difficult to recognize the various streets and know where to go.

“Straight through the intersection!” he shouted. I blazed past a massive pile-up by grinding along a fallen traffic light and jumping almost ten yards before landing on the sidewalk.

We continued through Downtown at insane speeds until Panda yelled at me to slow down.

I skidded half-way across a block before managing to stop completely. Then the longboard simply vanished.

My skills weren’t working entirely like normal, which made them a bit unpredictable. If not for that, then I would’ve simply used Fuck Gravity from my Rules of Anarchy passive to fly all the way here.

Bee hopped off my shoulders.

“That was so much fun!” she exclaimed.

“Pretty cool, right?” I asked.

Nearby was the entrance to the metro station, but it was surrounded by improvised walls and there were people guarding it with bows and machetes.

“Seriously, where are all these machetes coming from??” Panda muttered in confusion.

There hadn’t been any fortifications like these when I’d gone to the metro with Chris, Steve, and Tina. The reason was pretty obvious though, since this was one of the streets the Metro Train monster had been patrolling above ground.

“Alright, let’s get going,” I said. “We’ve got a train to catch.”

Something pinched the skin on my stomach.

“Ow.”

Panda sighed. “I honestly don’t understand why Bad Catchphrase is still in effect.”

I pushed in front of Bee, and she followed after me as we approached the barricades around the metro.

The people guarding it had already noticed us, but for some reason they were abandoning their fortifications and running away. Then I realized that their group consisted of both the weird leather-wearing bikers we’d gotten ambushed by earlier and Pieter’s construction worker crew. No doubt word had spread, and they weren’t taking any chances with us.

With the guards out of the way, I was able to topple one of the wood and concrete walls without any resistance. And just like that Bee and I were able to reach the escalator that led down into the train station.

Hopefully it would be less chaotic than the last time I’d come here.

“There’s no chance,” Panda said pessimistically.

A loud tinny voice and the sound of whiny brakes announced that a train had just pulled into the station. A second later we could hear fighting.

Panda sighed loudly.

“Let’s just get it over with,” he said.

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Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Four

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It's not what it looks like! I didn't stay up all night to finish this. It's been done for hours. I just didn't get around to editing it until now <.<

Next week is Easter vacation, so it's okay if I fuck up my sleeping schedule a bit.

Anyway, this chapter was fun to write. Hope it's also fun to read. I should have Ch.45 out tomorrow.

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Chapter Forty-Four

Adam’s mind raced with the implications of the announcement he’d just received.

Emelia is here!? In my world!?

“Where is she!?”

[Visitors to other Players’ dimensions always arrive at the centre of the island.]

Adam got up from his seat and ran to the exit. Bel looked up as he left, but he told her to stay put.

After he went outside, he pulled the spell-tome into his hand and summoned the barrier. Then he used it to push himself through the streets towards the middle of Interim Island.

The sun was setting in the sky and the town was dyed in its orange-pink hues.

Why would she come here??

If she wanted to kill me, she would have used the Challenge Stone.

Or maybe she really just wanted to try the octopus salad?

Adam shook his head. That was the least likely answer.

He skated across the cobblestones on his shoes, casting dust and dirt behind him like a trail of smoke.

Adam hadn’t expected to encounter anyone with the Visiting Stone, but given Emelia’s motivations he understood why she possessed it.

She couldn’t have come here to…?

No, that makes no sense. We don’t even know each other…

Willow popped into his head unbidden. He barely knew her, but despite that he’d been obsessing about being her friend in this loop. He wasn’t even sure why. Was it really just friendship he sought?

Maybe it’s in the nature of time-loopers to be clingy?

I suppose it’s not too weird to feel a connection to someone that drastically shaped your life in some way.

If not for Willow’s advice, I would never have killed Shitbox. If I hadn’t killed it, then I would never have gained the power to loop.

Maybe Emelia has similar conflicted feelings about me. Or well, past me.

Still, it’s weird to be on the receiving end of this sort of thing. Really puts my own actions into perspective…

Not too surprised that Willow would think I’m a stalker, especially not if she has experience with that sort of thing.

Adam sighed and slowed down the barrier. He skidded a few metres before coming to a complete stop.

The Eye floated up next to him.

“Is she still in the centre of the island?” Adam asked.

[No. She is currently standing outside the Player House.]

“Can you highlight her for me somehow?”

[Understood.]

A white pillar of light rose up into the sky to the east.

He brought the barrier behind his back again and pushed himself towards it.

When he was only a street away, he slowed down and walked the last bit. At the same time he folded the barrier into a narrow cone spear.

I don’t think she’s come to hurt me, but it would be foolish not to be prepared for anything. I’m fairly sure I’m not immortal on this island, even if coming here heals my wounds.

Adam’s heart was pounding in his chest so loudly that he could feel its beat in his head. He came around the side of a dumpy building and the Player House came into view. Like every time before, it stood within the round patch of grass and was surrounded by the brown wooden fence. There was the apple tree and three small critters beneath it: a goblin, a slime, and an imp.

Leaning on the wooden fence was a woman. She wore a red oversized fuzzy sweater and under it was a black sports bra. She had loose blue jeans on and Adam noticed several Relics as well. There were the unmistakable Slothling Spring Boots from Stage Three on her feet, and on her right hand was the Duellist’s Glove. Hanging from her belt was a blue goblin ear, which had to be the damage-boosting Blue Trophy from Stage Two. Next to it was the Fetish of Sloth. On her right hip hung a flanged iron mace and next to it was a rosary from the Priest Weapon Type. The Brawler gauntlets hung from her left hip.

Despite all her Relics and weapons, she didn’t actually look too intimidating. She was also a fair bit shorter than Adam had expected, maybe 165 centimetres or so compared to his 186. It hadn’t really been noticeable when they sat opposite each other in the Tavern.

In the darkening town, her purple spiralling eyes seemed quite sinister as they bored into him.

A brief undecipherable expression crossed her face for a split-second, before she clenched her jaw and pushed off from the fence. She eyed the barrier that floated next to Adam.

She brought all her Relics just in case I tried to harm her, he realised.

But it was clear that she hadn’t come here to fight, so he dismissed the barrier and unequipped the spell-tome.

“Hello Adam,” Emelia finally said.

Adam swallowed down his apprehensions and approached.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her.

“You invited me over, didn’t you?” she replied, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Right. So why are you at my house and not the Tavern?” he replied, playing along with the joke that this was all about the octopus salad.

“Follow me, I’ve got something to show you,” Emelia said. She walked around the fence and disappeared behind the house.

Adam ran to catch up, but she was quite a lot faster than him, probably because of her stats.

“What are you planning on showing me?” he asked, apprehension creeping back into his voice.

She was moving towards the eastern edge of the island. The house was placed pretty close to the precipice, but there were still about ten metres to where the land actually stopped. Adam hadn’t even thought to check behind the house and there wasn’t actually anything there except for a patch of grass with some trees.

“Is there another cave down below?” he asked.

Emelia paused in front of the trees and looked back at him.

“Why won’t you answer me?”

“Dig here,” she said, ignoring his question.

Adam looked down and saw that there was a patch of upturned dirt and grass in front of the trees. It looked as though something had been buried here just recently.

He brought out the spell-tome and summoned a barrier. Then he shaped it into a shovel and used it to dig up the loose earth.

Emelia just watched as he cleared away the dirt for the next three minutes. Then there came a loud clink as his glass-like barrier struck something. He moved the shovel out of the way and looked down into the hole.

“What the hell is that?” he asked, before getting down on his knees so he could reach in and grab it.

As he lifted it up out of the hole and set it on the grass next to him, he realised it was a bronze brazier. It had a rounded shallow bowl and four clawed legs, as though sculpted after the talons of an eagle. The image of flames were engraved into the outer edge and on the inside was strange hieroglyphic text that he couldn’t read.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< First Light’s Brazier (Common) — At the beginning there was a single spark of creation. From it burst the first light and with it came the life of the universe. Without a spark there can be no life. Without a kindling flame there can be no fire >

“Is this why you came here?” Adam asked her. “To show me this?”

“This is the main reason, yes. It’s my way of showing you that I do trust you, no matter what you might think.”

“Am I supposed to light a fire inside it?”

“Not you,” she replied. “Someone else is meant to activate it.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as he got to his feet.

She walked over to where Adam had set the brazier down on the grass. Then she held her right palm upwards and a tiny white flame appeared floating above her Duellist’s Glove. She carefully lowered the flame down into the bowl.

< < Secret Relic Activated > >

Emelia stepped back and grabbed Adam’s wrist, pulling him several metres away from the brazier.

Her touch was surprisingly warm even through the sleeve of his shirt and the glove she wore.

The ground around the bronze brazier rumbled ominously.

“What’s happening?”

“Just watch,” she told him. She didn’t let go of his arm and remained by his side, but Adam hardly noticed as he stared at the Relic.

The ground under the brazier bulged upwards as though something was clawing its way up from below. Then a whole entire building just appeared from one moment to the next, growing up into the air for several metres and pushing the brazier along for the ride.

When it was done, a small white lighthouse rose from the edge of the island behind the Player House. The nearby trees had been shifted out of the way and were spared destruction. At the top of the tower a small glass chamber surrounded the flaming brazier.

Adam pulled himself out of Emelia’s grip and approached the building. There was a doorway that only barely allowed him to enter, his hair running along the top of the frame as he walked through. Inside was a hollow tube with a simple wooden ladder. He climbed it up to the top where he emerged into the small glass chamber. He reached out to feel the heat of the small white flame inside the bronze brazier.

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light’s Brazier (Uncommon) — Grows for 4 Stages >

It’s just like the Glass Acorn, he realised.

There was nothing else to see here, so he climbed back down the ladder and returned to where Emelia awaited him outside.

“What happens when it’s done growing?” he asked. “And where did you get that flame from?”

“When four Stages have passed, your flame will reach maturity and spawn a Kindling Flame. You can give it to another Player, if you have a Visiting Stone, and perform the same trick I just did. But I want you to give your first Kindling Flame to me.”

“So, this is all just something to make you stronger?” he asked.

“This will also benefit you,” she said. “When the flame has matured, it will give you a boon in team-based Stages. I don’t know what exactly it will be, since the effect changes based on the Player. Mine is a passive health recovery of 75% of missing health lost from the first attack any of my team members and I suffer in a Stage. If you give me your Kindling Flame, it will go up to 100%. If I can get one more after that, then my Brazier will evolve to Epic rarity and gain a second effect.”

“That sounds really strong.”

“It is,” she replied. “Arturo is the one who gave me his Kindling Flame originally. His Brazier was Legendary rarity and gave three very strong boosts.”

“I’m surprised the Trials would have something like this. I thought for sure everything was designed to make us kill each other.”

“That’s not exactly wrong,” Emelia said. “But just like there’s the Deep Place for worshippers of Nwetrou, so too is there this lighthouse for worshippers of the First Light.”

“The First Light is a God too?” he asked, surprised.

She nodded. “Once you find this Brazier, he shows up as an option to worship in Stage Five. Although you have to claim the altar without killing any other Players for him to appear. He seems very pacifist in nature, but I think that’s because he’s the God of Life.”

Adam frowned. “So the Forbidden Altar forces us to worship a God? Is that what you meant when you mentioned human mimics?”

“It was, but I’ll explain it after Stage Four,” she said, brushing him off like always.

He sighed, but knew to drop it for now. “Who gave Arturo his Kindling Flame?” Adam asked.

“I don’t know,” Emelia replied. “I’m not actually sure how it starts. There’s gotta be someone who receives the Kindling Flame first though, but perhaps it’s tied to worshipping the First Light.”

“There’s something I actually wanted to ask you,” Adam said. “But do you mind if we go back to the Tavern, it’s getting dark and I’m hungry.”

“Would you like me to return to my own dimension?” she asked, her take-charge attitude suddenly replaced with insecurity.

“You’re already here so you might as well come with me.”

“Okay,” she replied.

They started walking along the edge of the island as the last embers of sunlight steadily vanished from the sky.

“What did you want to ask me?” Emelia asked.

“It’s about Shitbox,” he started. The Eye floated along beside them, but like in the past it seemed to ignore anything said that wasn’t directed at it. He still felt the need to be cautious with his words though.

Emelia blinked at the name, then she laughed. “Even though you’re not the Adam I knew, you still gave it the same name.”

Adam grinned. “I’m nothing if not predictable,” he replied. Then his tone became serious again. “When you’ve unlocked the Special Denizens, have the tesseract ever made any weird noises?”

Emelia eyed the floating cube.

“I know what you mean, and yes, it has. It’s caused by inconsistencies. Arturo warned me not to strain it too much, since he believes it has some sort of failsafe to eliminate Players it believes are violating the All-Seeing System’s rules.”

Adam frowned. “So I should avoid unlocking Special Denizens unless I can get all achievements in one go?”

“I don’t think those are a big issue,” she replied. “It seems to be focused more on how Players act at the start of the Trials. I don’t know why, but I believe it is a test. Those too careless will be caught and eliminated, proving themselves unworthy of the Divine Relic.”

The way the System explained it to me, it seemed more like there’d be consequences for carelessly looping back in time repeatedly. But perhaps that’s unique to just me. After all, when Emelia loops, she isn’t leaving a hole behind. Although she is resetting the timeline, which I doubt is a simple thing to do. It would kind of make sense that there’d be some sort of filter to get rid of time-loopers that cannot utilise their power well.

If someone decides to go full-on murder mode, they could probably fuck up the Trials a lot, and it kind of seems to me that the goal of the All-Seeing System is for the game to run forever. At least if it was speaking the truth about its objective being to harvest our suffering. I wonder if Mórrígan was on the verge of triggering a response from the Eye. It seems like if you kill enough Players with the Abyssal Tooth, then eventually the Trials should grind to a halt.

I wonder what happens if there are nobody left to take the Self-devouring Eye and keep the time-loops going.

Adam pushed the thoughts from his mind. It really didn’t matter. The important part was just to avoid triggering whatever ‘failsafe’ the System had installed.

He looked at Emelia who was walking next to him. She was staring at the sunset-stained clouds with a small smile on her face.

It only just now struck him what he was even doing.

Wait. Why did I invite her to dinner with me…?

***

They entered the Tavern and Adam returned to his place where his fries, beer, and octopus salad remained untouched. Fortunately Finnian hadn’t noticed him leave, but he was also still busy devouring his own tower of food. Belamouranthe was fast asleep next to an empty casserole and the tavernkeeper had already put a blanket over her. Grease covered her face and hands, but she looked happy as she slept.

Emelia ruffled the Elphin girl’s hair and then sat down next to where Adam placed his barrier chair.

Charlie came over to them and asked, “What would your guest like to eat?”

“I’ll have the same octopus dish as him,” Emelia answered. “I would also like a lemonade and moules-frites. For dessert I would like a canelé and mille-feuille.”

Adam grinned. “Quite the appetite.”

“You’re not the only one who’s hungry,” Emelia replied.

“Would you like anything else, Adam?” Charlie asked.

“I suppose once I’m finished with this, I’d like a vanilla milkshake and some homemade chocolate chip cookies. I bet yours taste delicious.”

Charlie laughed in that bubbly way of hers, before heading for the kitchen.

“Is it okay for you to be here?” Adam asked. “Aren’t you busy helping people?”

“I can talk to them from here,” she told him.

She paused, her spiralling eyes fixated on his.

“What is it?” he asked.

Emelia looked away. “Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

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

It was clear she could hear the Eye’s announcement as well, since she turned to look at it.

“Who is it?” she asked before Adam had the chance.

[Player Gladwyn.]

When Emelia realised that she’d answered in his place, she apologised.

“No problem,” he replied.

“Do you want to talk to him?” she asked.

He nodded. “Put him through.”

[Understood.]

Gladwyn appeared opposite them and a second later Beck arrived as well.

Adam finally had the chance to try out the food he’d ordered earlier. When he picked up one of the fries, it was somehow still hot as though it’d just been made. He crunched down on it and then used his fork to try out the octopus salad.

Beck stared at him. “You look so blissful,” he said.

“It’s delicious,” Adam replied, looking up at him. Beck and Gladwyn both had coloured lights above them from his previous query.

Looks like the bet to find the winner of Stage Three might be close this time, he realised.

“What are you eating?” Gladwyn asked.

“Octopus.”

Beck switched his gaze to Emelia. “Were you two already talking? Were we interrupting?”

“Not like you to be considerate,” Gladwyn commented, nudging his friend, although his arm passed right through him.

“You weren’t,” Adam said, washing down his mouthful with the Weissbier.

Beck turned away to talk to someone, presumably Charlie. Seeing other people eating had no doubt made him hungry.

At the same moment Emelia reached over and stole one of Adam’s fries.

“Hey!” he said. “You just ordered your own, don’t steal mine.”

“You can just order more,” she told him.

Gladwyn gasped slightly and the two of them froze, slowly turning to look at his surprised face.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him,” Gladwyn quickly said, doing a ‘my lips are sealed’ gesture across his mouth.

“Tell me what?” Beck asked after he finished ordering.

“Nothing,” Gladwyn said. “Still,” he continued, looking at Adam and Emelia, “didn’t it take a long time to get?”

He had immediately guessed that they were using the Visiting Stone.

Emelia nodded. “It did,” she confirmed.

“What did?” Beck asked.

“Nothing,” Adam said.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why are you keeping secrets from me?”

Emelia laughed and Adam couldn’t help but join in as well.

Beck looked to his friend. “I think they’ve gone crazy.”

Adam laughed even harder.

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

Also, yes, I wrote the last part of this chapter before I made dinner. Writing food-based sections on an empty stomach works surprisingly well I feel like, lol.

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MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 5

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Super delayed, sorry about that, but I wanted to get the latest Loopshard chapter out yesterday so this one was pushed back as a result.

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Chapter 5

Bee was looking at me like I was a psychic.

“How did you know??” she whispered in disbelief.

The four of us stood in front of Liam Johnson and his bodyguards. All six of them had loaded crossbows in their hands and steak knives hanging from their belts, as well as bullet-proof vests.

The Chief of Police was lounging on a comfy-looking sofa and surrounded by voluptuous girls in bikinis. There were lines of coke on the glass table in front of him, as well as stacks of cash and jewelry nearby. They also had dressers and cabinets further back, with no signs of the original arcade machines anywhere. Out of all the places to pick in the mall, this place seemed the strangest. The furniture had clearly been looted from the IKEA on the first floor, although whoever had been tasked with assembling them had done a poor job of it, since the glass table leaned at an angle and the dressers had the shelves installed upside-down.

Liam looked mostly like when I’d seen him last time, minus the five o’clock shadow. A large mane of dark-brown hair full of grey streaks sprouted from his head like an untrimmed bush. His face was pudgy and oily, and his double-chin looked like a lifebuoy strapped under his jaw. The dark-grey suit he wore was stained with what looked like baby oil.

“What the fuck is all this, Liam!?” Samantha demanded to know. “What happened to upholding peace and order in the city!?”

Liam wasn’t even looking at her, instead his eyes were locked on me. “Where’d you find this fucking clown?” he asked.

I took a step forward, but Samantha stopped me with a hand on my chest.

“Let me deal with this,” she said.

None of the guards were aiming their weapons at us, but I could tell that all it would take was a single word from their boss and they’d turn Samantha into a pincushion.

“We have a duty to Castleburg,” she insisted.

“Remember your place, Samantha. You’re not my fucking boss. But, you give me Camilla and I’ll think about it perhaps.”

Camilla spat on the ground.

“Hey!” Liam shouted. “This carpet is fucking expensive, you prideful bitch!”

I looked down and realized that they’d pulled out the original arcade carpet, though the smell still lingered. In its place was a straw-brown shag carpet that they’d definitely looted from IKEA or some other nearby store. It clashed with the random interior and frankly looked like shit.

Samantha pointed the crossbow right at Liam’s head. He just grinned.

“What are you gonna do, huh? You gonna fucking shoot me?”

His men laughed, as did the bikini-clad women.

“Ah shit,” Panda muttered.

Before another word could come out of Liam’s mouth, a loud wet thwack echoed through the arcade. Whether intentional or not, Samantha had shot the crossbow bolt right through his left eye. He was dead in an instant.

“Well,” Panda started, “at least it was poetic justice.”

The bikini-clad women screamed.

I immediately pushed Bee to the side as the guards spun back around and lifted their weapons. Then I stepped in front of Samantha and Camilla a second before all the crossbows fired.

Of the six projectiles shot towards me, three miraculously reflected back to the shooters, while I caught one in each hand. The last bolt sunk into the flesh of my right thigh, uncomfortably-close to Lil Gambit.

“Ow.”

I immediately launched myself at the closest one, slamming him to the ground with enough force to pop his head like a watermelon. Then I flung his body at a guy who’d gotten his own projectile lodged right in his throat, sending him to the floor.

Liam’s women all fled as I pummeled the rest of the guards.

Samantha, Camilla, and Bee all just watched.

When I was done, the shag carpet was repainted red and there was brain matter clinging to the wall like wet chewing gum.

I dropped onto the couch, eyeing the drugs on the glass table, which had somehow survived the fight. Liam’s dead body slumped next to me, his head leaned back.

Panda jumped down onto my lap and started tugging on the bolt that still poked out of my thigh. “We’re well on our way towards the dark ending…” he remarked drily.

“Bullshit,” I replied. “Killing Liam is gonna save a lot of people.”

“Who are you talking to?” Samantha asked, stepping over a dead guy to reach me.

She froze when she noticed the bolt in my leg wriggling as Panda yanked it out of my flesh.

“How… how are you doing that?” she asked. It probably looked weird since she couldn’t see Panda.

I pushed him aside with the back of my hand, then yanked the bolt out myself. A thin stream of pressurized blood shot a couple feet into the air.

“I hope that wasn’t an artery it was stuck in,” Panda muttered.

The wound seemed to close on its own after a few seconds and the Unicorn Suit quickly mended the hole in the pants.

Bee came over, hugging the katana. “Sorry I didn’t help,” she told me sincerely.

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied.

I looked at Samantha. “Warn me next time you plan to just shoot like that.”

“We should’ve asked him about the Mayor,” Panda added.

I repeated his words.

A head popped up from behind the couch. It was one of the bikini women who had hid instead of fleeing the arcade. She had short bleach-blonde hair and way too much makeup, looking almost like a clown with how thick it was applied. She was maybe only twenty years old. “If I tell you about the Mayor, will you let me live?”

Camilla came over to the couch to stand next to her boss. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“Candy,” she replied.

“Of course it is,” Samantha said with a sigh.

“Tell me where he is,” I demanded.

“He’s got a room in the IKEA on the first floor,” Candy answered. “Him and Liam had some kind of deal.”

I got up from the couch and Panda hopped back to my shoulder. Bee followed me as I made to leave.

“What kind of deal?” Samantha asked.

“They were bringing him girls every few hours,” Candy replied.

I paused by the entrance of the arcade and turned around. “They were feeding him!?”

Samantha looked at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“He’s a Skinstealer, Samantha!” I yelled.

All four women looked at me.

“What’s a Skinstealer?” Camilla asked.

Samantha gave me a stern look. “He’s talking crazy, don’t pay attention to him.”

“He’s right!” Candy said, coming to my defense for some reason.

I answered the question. “A Skinstealer is someone, like the Mayor, who pretends to be human so that he can fit in and eat his fill of unsuspecting victims. All the while they’re undermining society from within and encouraging conflict, causing people to become too focused on fighting each other, making it easier for the Skinstealers to hunt without being noticed.”

Samantha sighed loudly. “Enough. I’ve already had to hear this shit from you several times before. Even if you keep repeating it, it won’t magically become true. Just admit it, your meds wore off and you’re seeing enemies everywhere.”

“He’s telling the truth!” Candy insisted. She finally stood up to her full height, revealing a white bikini with pink cat-paw prints on it.

Camilla took off her brown suit jacket and put it over the woman’s shoulders to cover her.

“Thank you,” she said, before repeating, “the weird clown guy is telling the truth.”

“Who are you calling a clown, Pierrot!?” I shouted, pointing Brock at her.

Bee put a hand on my shoulder.

“Relax, Gambit,” Panda said. “She’s backing you up.”

Candy was unperturbed by my outburst. “Liam sent a bunch of girls down to the Mayor. None of them came back. Skye, Cinnamon, Charity, Angel, and Crystal are all gone. I tried to find them, but nobody has seen them since they entered the IKEA.”

“What’s with the names?” Panda asked. “Wait, are all these women strippers? And why do so many of their names start with C??”

I ignored his commentary and said, “Let’s get down there and put a stop to him!”

Candy hopped over the couch and snatched a steak knife and crossbow from one of the dead guards.

“I’m coming with you!” she said.

Samantha sighed loudly, but didn’t say anything to stop us. Her and Camilla quickly looted some ammunition and weapons, with the assistant getting her own crossbow. Camilla also grabbed a tote bag with a logo for some place called ‘Spinning Dames’, which was definitely a strip club, and stuffed the remaining crossbows and bolts inside.

Then the five of us left the arcade and went over to the nearby elevator. The people around us were hiding inside the various stores-turned-homes and watching us anxiously. It probably wouldn’t take long before someone stepped up to fill the seat left by Liam. Perhaps Samantha might even give it a try.

“I don’t know how I feel about going into one of these,” I muttered as I stared at the open elevator doors.

“Scared of tight spaces?” Bee asked.

“Something like that…” I replied vaguely.

“Definitely don’t tell them that this elevator might fall hundreds of feet down into a hidden cavern below,” Panda advised.

“Thanks for reminding me,” I muttered.

“What?” Bee asked.

“Nothing.”

The ride down one floor was a lot slower than expected and we all spent an uncomfortable minute just staring at the door in silence. Then it opened and released us from the suffocating awkwardness.

“Why are elevator rides with strangers always so weird?” Panda wondered.

The first floor residents had obviously heard what happened to their leader, since they quickly ran from us and hid inside the stores. Our many weapons no doubt added to their perception that we were here to cause mayhem.

Only a handful of people didn’t flee. One of them had Cheeto-dust-colored hair, a tall skinny body with a defined chin, and hazel-brown eyes.

I remembered his face and gritted my teeth in anger.

“You!” I shouted and pointed at him with Brock. “Stay right there! Once I’m done with the Mayor I’m coming back for you!”

Samantha sighed. “Do you just love making enemies or something? Leave the poor kid alone.”

“You know him?” Bee asked.

“That’s Lucibel,” I replied through gritted teeth. “He ran the card trading store near the metro station. That fucker was cheating me on Yu-Gi-Oh packs by only selling me the duds!”

“Just let it go already,” Panda told me.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day,” Samantha said. “And you just tried to convince me the Mayor is a Skin-walker three minutes ago…”

To his credit, Lucibel didn’t move an inch from where he stood and just watched as we went towards the IKEA.

The moment we turned a corner, Panda said, “He just made a break for the doors.”

“Goddamn it,” I muttered. “I’ll have to track him down later.”

After some minutes we arrived in front of the IKEA. It wasn’t a full warehouse store like what they were known for, but instead it just covered the corner of the mall on this floor.

“I didn’t realize Castleburg had an IKEA this small,” Bee said. “I visited one this size in Kyoto though.”

“You’ve been to Japan??” Panda asked, but of course she couldn’t hear him.

I repeated his question for her, and she replied, “My parents took me there last year during Spring to see the Sakura.”

“This place looks like a mess,” Samantha said as she took in the store.

“Liam’s men helped the Mayor build his own space here,” Candy explained. “They kept referring to it as ‘the nest’.”

I frowned at the description. But it was hard not to see why it was called that. Normally, there would have been tiny display rooms to showcase various furniture and such, like fake kitchens or bedrooms the size of a small shipping container. There was none of that anymore. At the center of the store were overlapping walls that curved around to form a circle. Anything that hadn’t been useful was thrown against the walls and lay in scrapheaps.

Candy walked in front of us and over to the curving walls. Then she slid a panel aside to reveal an opening.

I followed after her, but Samantha quickly pushed in front of me with Camilla. I wondered if she was going to shoot Noah in the head as well.

“Have you been here before?” Bee asked Candy as we entered through the opening. Her tone was suspicious.

The woman ignored the question and closed the panel behind us. Then she ran to catch up to Samantha.

The inside of ‘the nest’ had the walls placed in a way that it created a spiraling tunnel, like a snail’s shell, and we basically walked in circles while Candy urged us forward.

Bee sidled up next to me and said, “I think she might be a Skinstealer too.”

Panda bapped me on the head. “Look what you did, Gambit! Even Bee is becoming paranoid now!”

“I think you might be right,” I told her. “Let’s keep our guard up. Try not to get too close to her and the Mayor.”

“Gambit, for fuck’s sake!” Panda complained. “The Great Game still hasn’t started yet, so there are no monsters here! All those Skinstealers you saw during the Game were clearly made to mess with you specifically!”

My balloon gauntlet squeaked, as though making a counterargument.

I didn’t respond and instead just watched Candy closely. Her personality and attitude had changed almost as soon as we entered the IKEA, which probably meant that Bee was right in her observation.

We finally reached the end of the curving tunnels and arrived at the center of the Mayor’s ‘nest’. The name was way more accurate that I’d expected. Carpets and furniture were stacked in such a way that it actually made the place look like the nest of some enormous animal. On the floor in the middle sat a fat naked man and behind him were piles of human bones.

Samantha and Camilla both froze. Candy stopped next to them, while Bee and I hung back.

“What the fuck…?” Samantha muttered.

Noah Sullivan hadn’t transformed into a younger version of himself like I’d seen him when we’d fought at the gas station. Instead he looked more or less like the man I’d stabbed with a screwdriver on that fatal night. Only, he were several years older now and about eighty pounds fatter. Coarse black hair covered his torso like the fur of a bear and a thick bush spared us the sight of his cocktail shrimp. Blood was caked onto his beardless face, as well as his shoulders and neck.

“He’s a cannibal,” Camilla said, staring at the bones.

“Thank you, Candy,” Noah said as he stood up. “You’ve brought me a lot today.”

Despite his floppy naked body and short stature, he emanated a dreadful aura.

Samantha immediately lifted her crossbow and fired at the Mayor. Camilla was frozen in terror.

Then That’s-Definitely-Not-Candy-Anymore unzipped down the middle, revealing a toothed maw and a purple barbed tongue from within the flesh of her body, which undulated eagerly.

Before she could devour Camilla and Samantha, I leapt forward and smashed my glove into the side of her body. She whirled around and tried to bite me, but I easily avoided the attack with a hop backwards.

With a roar, Bee came forward with a downward slash of her katana. She managed to cut the tip off Not-Candy’s tongue. Then the Damage Delay triggered and the impact from my punch finally arrived.

The Skinstealer was shot across the nest, flying through the back wall and coming undone into pieces of skin and flesh, before crashing against the far wall of the store from the sounds of it.

Bee looked at the katana in her hand, no doubt having a ‘Is this my real power?’ moment. It was too complicated to explain, so I just let her enjoy the delusion.

I turned at the sound of Samantha firing a second bolt. Camilla was finally shaken out of her fear, because she fired one as well.

But the Mayor just stood there, three perfectly-grouped bolts sprouting from his face and not a care in the world.

“Okay, I’ll admit I might’ve been wrong…” Panda apologized.

Then Noah Sullivan tilted his head back and opened his mouth. Two blood-red hands appeared from within and grabbed the edges of his mouth, before wrenching his jaw open. Cracking of bones and tearing of skin filled the store as some monstrosity emerged from within the Mayor.

Within moments, the torn and flappy skin of his original body hung from the waist of the thing that had emerged from within him. It had long-fingered hands with sharp-looking nails. Its tall body was skeletally-thin and vibrant red veins crisscrossed its pale body. Its face and forearms were red with blood, a malevolent red glow shone from its eyes and its lipless mouth was full of shark-like teeth.

The monstrosity looked past Samantha and Camilla, locking eyes with me.

“I knew you would come here, Gambit. The Flayed Lady sends her regards.”

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Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Three

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Thought I could have this out Sunday, but didn't happen. You're getting it today instead, even though I normally write on Madman chapter Monday to Wednesday. Once I'm done with editing I can promise at least 3 chapters weekly, but it's just a bit of a busy mess at the moment with all the stuff I've got going on <.<

I'll have two more chapters coming at the end of the week.

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Chapter Forty-Three

They started off by visiting Weaver in the Market.

“Did the rope and sack come in handy?” the spider asked.

“They did. One question though, is the sack easy to stain? I’m planning on using it to carry hearts in the next Stage and I’m expecting it to end up quite bloody at the end…”

“It is water-tight, so the blood will not seep through. As for stains, it is hard to say, but with a rigorous wash it should be easy to clean.”

“I love my dress!” Belamouranthe exclaimed. “Thou should come work in the Sanctuary, mine mother would reward you well for such high quality clothing!”

“Thank you,” Weaver replied. “But I think I will remain here.”

The Elphin girl turned and looked up at Adam. “Can mine mother come visit this place?”

He suppressed a frown. “I don’t think so,” he replied honestly.

“Can we bring her a dress from Weaver?”

The spider crawled forward on the spiderweb counter and looked down at the girl properly. “What colour should it be?”

That’s new, he noted.

“Green!” Bel exclaimed.

Last time, the Queen wore a silver dress. Green would probably suit her though.

Weaver looked up at Adam. “That will be 100 Points.”

He almost refused right on the spot, but stopped himself before the words could come out.

This is something new that didn’t happen last time, and it’s only 100 Points. I currently have 401, but it’ll be 851 when I sell the cores I’m carrying.

Spending 100 here doesn’t change what I can and cannot buy.

“Deal,” he said.

He suddenly remembered what Emelia had said, ‘There’s a shortage of curious people who make it far.’

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, he quoted in his head.

< < Items Purchased > >

< Green Spidersilk Dress >

< 301 Points Remaining >

While Belamouranthe discussed the exact dimensions and design of the dress with Weaver, Adam went over to Lucca’s stall.

He emptied the spidersilk sack onto her counter.

“Elemental Cores,” she said in her sinister tone. If she had a real face, he was sure she’d be grinning to herself. “The slime is looking for these. I already resold the last cores you brought for a tidy profit, so I’ll pay you 100 Points for any other Elemental Cores you bring me.”

Adam blinked in surprise.

“Deal,” he said.

< < Relics Sold > >

< Blood Elemental Core (Common) x6 >

< 901 Points Remaining >

150 more than expected! That’s a pleasant surprise.

Still, kind of silly that I can’t sell them to Finnian directly. He told me he had no money…

“What about trophies?” he asked. “Like goblin ears and such?”

“I have also resold the trophies you brought me yesterday to the goblin. I’ll pay you 100 Points for any other trophies you bring me.”

So this must be to balance out the fact that the collectibles have more value now that the Special Denizens have quests involving them. A 33% increase in profits is pretty nice. Gonna be even harder to get myself to not sell the collectibles now though, no matter how interesting Finnian and Migraine’s special weapons might be.

“Would you like to buy some Relics with your profit?” she asked, clearly eager to earn back what she’d just paid him. He wondered if the Points actually had any meaning to the vendors or if they were just urged by the System to collect as many as possible.

“I’ll definitely take a look,” he replied.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Scroll-Preservation Talisman (Uncommon) — When a Spell Scroll is activated this Relic is consumed instead >

< Relic Renewal Stone (Epic) — Relics no longer disappear or break when all uses are exhausted | Restores the use of 1 Relic of Rare or lower quality. 1-Stage cooldown >

< Slothling Claw Bracer (Uncommon) — Can be used to perform an armour-rending slash. Breaks after 2 uses >

< Slavedriver’s Kilt (Rare) — Sacrifice nearest summon to negate an Affliction. 1-minute cooldown >

Hmm, the Talisman is new and clearly tied to Sylvia’s scrolls. It can’t be a coincidence that it appeared immediately after I unlocked her.

I might eventually find a use for the Renewal Stone, perhaps if I end up going with some kind of affliction build that involves the Overflow Diadem.

The Kilt seems to be tied to my summons. It’s not very strong since it’d be impossible to control what affliction is negated and the cooldown is long. If there was no cooldown it would be amazing for a counter-affliction defence, but alas.

Adam didn’t want any of the Relics, but he also didn’t want to use his Reroll since it would be worth more in the next Stage.

“I’ll come back tomorrow,” he told the spider.

He went over to the cricket’s wooden stall next door. He had decided to buy 3 general upgrades since that seemed to be the best use of his Points.

“Show me your upgrades.”

“Of course!” Karie replied. She waved one of her arms over the bubbling black cauldron next to her and four upgrades popped up.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

< Bleed (Rare) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 15% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

Hmm, Luck +2 or Defence +10%...?

“Status,” he said.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Shaper >

< Level 21 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 65% >

< Defence — 140% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 15 >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +10 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +15% >

< Defence +15% >

I’m only 10 short on Luck reaching the next threshold, so I think that’s worth more right now.

It would be nice to get Defence to 200% though, since that would effectively double my total Health.

“I’ll buy Luck.”

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Uncommon) >

< 601 Points Remaining >

The upgrades disappeared from above the cauldron, before it bubbled and a new set popped up.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

< Venom (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 10% for 10 seconds >

< Bleed (Epic) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 25% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

< Dodge (Uncommon) — Grants a 10% chance to dodge a direct attack >

Luck is shining on me it seems.

“I’ll buy Luck again.”

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Uncommon) >

< 301 Points Remaining >

Last one, let’s see if the extra Luck helps here or not.

The cauldron did its thing a third time.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Force (Rare) — Attacks pierce armour by 15% >

< Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% >

< Health (Uncommon) — Increases health by 2 >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

Ah, shit…

I guess I’ll buy damage.

I could Reroll but I’d rather save it.

Actually… Maybe I should just buy 3 Rerolls. It’s not really damage holding me back right now I think.

“I might be back later,” he told Karie.

Let’s see how much my stats improved with that.

He mentally prompted the status to appear again.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Shaper >

< Level 23 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 65% >

< Defence — 140% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 19 >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +14 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +15% >

< Defence +15% >

Not bad. Just 6 more Luck to go and I’ll be guaranteed Rares every time.

Adam returned to where Weaver and Belamouranthe were still talking. The spider had several silken fabrics arrayed on her counter for the girl to choose from. Each piece had a different pattern. At some point Bel had crawled up onto the counter and she was now kneeling over the samples like a discerning clothier.

“I’m going to the Tavern,” he told her.

“I shall find thee when I am done with mine task,” she replied. It was the first time he’d experienced her care deeply about something other than food, so he didn’t want to disturb her and quickly left.

He stopped past the imp-statue fountain where Yenna was playing a cello. The current melody was Bach’s ‘Cello Suite No. 1’ and she was in the middle of the ‘Sarabande’.

Adam listened until she finished playing the rest of the suite.

“Hello Adam, did you like the melody?”

He nodded. “You played it magnificently.”

“Are you a fan of classical?”

“A bit,” he replied. He didn’t mentioned that he’d tried for years to learn how to play the piano. He’d never been very good unfortunately, but he’d come to love classical music as a result, as well as gaining an immense sense of respect for those who could master instruments.

“Is there a melody you would like to hear?”

“Could you play Faure’s ‘Pavane’?”

“On the cello? I could attempt to play it by myself, but it would be incomplete.”

“Ah…”

“I could play it solo on the piano instead. I would not have to compromise the melody.”

Adam paused. “You have a piano!?”

“I have all the instruments you could desire.”

“That’s a lie,” he replied. “I know for a fact you don’t have a Theremin or a Stylophone!”

“Are these culturally-significant instruments from your world?” she asked, instantly giving him a sense of déjà vu. “I have practised with all those provided to me by the All-Seeing System. Those two were not included as part of your world’s heritage.”

He shook his head. “I’ll have a talk with the System about this. Clearly there are gaps in your resume.”

The wasp stared at him wordlessly for a few seconds.

“So, would you like me to bring out the piano?”

He grinned. “Sure, I’d love to see where you’re hiding it.”

Yenna leaned off the stool she always used. Then it shaped itself down to something smaller and more suitable for a piano. She laid the cello out in front of her and it immediately started unfolding like a piece of origami, but with clearly way more mass inside than was possible.

Within just a few moments, the cello had unfolded and refolded itself, taking on the shape of an actual piano.

“Have you always been able to do that?” he asked, not believing what he’d just witnessed. It was even more impressive than when the Eye did its podium unfolding trick.

“Yes. This instrument was gifted to me by the All-Seeing System.”

I wonder if it has its own dimensional core like the Eye.

Before he could comment on how overkill it was for her to possess, she started playing ‘Pavane’ on the keys. Despite her lack of fingers, she was able to leverage her four arms to play the notes perfectly, while her two legs worked the pedals.

Adam shook his head with a smile before continuing on his way to the Tavern.

***

When Adam walked into the Dimensional Tavern, Finnian was literally shovelling food into his face. Migraine was talking to Sylvia up on the floor above by one of the small tables. They seemed to be having fun, which was worrying.

Charlie came over and he could tell she was looking for Belamouranthe.

“She’s busy at the moment, but she’ll be here later,” he told her before she could ask.

“I see. What would you like to eat?”

Adam thought about it for a moment, before saying, “Insalata di polpo, a Weissbier, and some fries with lots of salt.”

The red-brown ant nodded and went to the kitchen.

Instead of sitting down on an available seat, Adam brought out his barrier and shaped it into a chair, although it was really just an upside-down U-shape.

He cleared away a stool and moved his improvised seat down into its place. Then he sat on it. A few cracks appeared, but it held.

Maybe it works because the weight is distributed evenly?

Around him, the seats filled with Players. A few of the ones nearest to him noticed his strange chair and pointed. Then they flickered and were replaced. This went on for a few moments until Adam made them all go away.

Show me Emelia, Gladwyn, and Beck.

Only Emelia appeared and Adam felt a blip of panic flow through him. He verbally queried the Eye to get a response.

“Show me Gladwyn and Beck.”

[These Players are not currently seated in the Tavern.]

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank God, they’re still alive.

He looked at the time-looper and, unsurprisingly, she was looking back at him.

“What are you sitting on?” she asked.

Adam laughed. “It’s my barrier.”

“I’ve never seen Arturo use it like that,” she replied.

“Well, I’m not Arturo, no matter how much you compare me to him.”

Emelia paused. “Sorry. I shouldn’t get stuck in the past. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

“No worries,” he said.

“So, how did it go?” she asked. Based on her question, it seemed she wasn’t querying the various achievements non-stop to find out herself. Or, if she did, maybe she was simultaneously searching for Adam and confusing the results she got by the queries overlapping?

Unless there’s a way to colour-code the queries?

Adam mentally queried the Tavern, while Emelia stared at him, waiting for a response.

“One moment,” he told her.

Show me all the Players who received a Flawless, Speedrun, All Secrets, or Secret Boss bonus. Give them each a separate colour and, if they achieved more than one, show all their colours combined.

To his surprise, the complex query work and the tables filled with people. There were a lot of Players with a white pillar encapsulating them, some had a green pillar, and only a few had a red one. Three people had both a green and a red light. Emelia, unsurprisingly, had a red, green, white, and orange light pillar.

So the queries shouldn’t actually interfere, he realised. Maybe that means she already knows how I fared, if she’s got a query like this running all the time.

Adam added to the mental query. Maintain this query until I cancel it.

“You already know how I did in the Stage, don’t you?” he then asked Emelia.

She nodded. “Of course. I just wanted to hear it from your lips.”

He wanted to ask ‘Why?’ but he already knew the answer. It was because she cared about him, or well, the previous him.

“I just did a complicated query that shows me people with various colours based on achievements. It’s pretty cool. I hadn’t even realised it was possible to do something like that.”

“There’s no manual for the Tavern, which can be frustrating,” Emelia replied. “But yes, it’s an invaluable tool.”

“Do you also see coloured lights over my head?”

“I have mine set to show coloured dots that appear on people’s foreheads.”

What the hell?

“Let me guess,” he said. “I have three of them.”

She nodded. “Speedrun, Secret Boss, and All Secrets,” she said.

“For me you have all of them,” he replied.

“There are more than just four achievements,” she said. “Stage Four introduces the Eradication achievement since there are no more Waves from that point and onward. You have to kill all enemies before the last boss to get it. Although the Secret Boss doesn’t count into that.”

“Wait,” Adam said. He brought out the description of his crown.

< < Secret Relic > >

< Dented Crown (Rare) — A regent must repel all invaders tainted with the lust for power, lest his kingdom fall to ruin | Subordinate allies gain 10% more Health | Subordinate allies gain Last Stand’s Fervour upon death, extending their life by 10 seconds and increasing Damage & Speed by 25% >

“Is the Eradication required to unlock the next evolution of the crown?”

“Sort of, but for that one you have to kill the Secret Boss as well, and he leaves after the captain dies. It’s quite difficult. The reward is worth it though, since it gains two new bonuses. One is additional fire damage and the other is immunity to taint.”

“Is that the highest it goes for evolutions?”

“It is, but you actually need that final evolution, called the True Flame’s Icon, to take on the Secret Boss in a later Stage. I tried it thanks to Arturo’s help, but it was tough. We were the only two survivors of our team of six. And the fight is unavoidable if you have the crown on you. Plus, once you beat the Secret Boss, the crown loses all its power. Arturo said he always used the crown, but he usually avoided evolving it the final time, since you’re forced to bring it to the Stage with the Secret Boss it triggers.”

That’s way more complicated than I realised, Adam thought to himself. He had just assumed the next evolution was the final one, but to know that it was required for a Secret Boss down the line was exciting.

There’s gotta be other stuff like this just waiting to be found.

“Does the Secret Boss in Stage Four drop something special like the crown? The giant bat didn’t give anything, which was disappointing…”

Emelia paused. “Shit,” she muttered.

“What?”

“I forgot to tell you about the Nightwing’s heart.”

Adam frowned. “You didn’t expect me to be able to trigger the Secret Boss, did you?”

“No…”

“Goddamn. I knew I should’ve chopped up the boss,” he said, annoyed that he’d assumed she wouldn’t withhold information.

“It’s okay though,” she continued. “You wouldn’t have been able to use the heart until much later anyway and the ritual is quite dangerous.”

“I really thought you would tell me everything you knew,” he said.

“I just underestimated you. I wasn’t deliberately keeping secrets.”

“Tell me about Stage Four. Does the hidden boss give something special if you kill him?”

“You really shouldn’t fight him. He’s fast. Way faster than you expect.”

“Emelia, just answer the goddamn question and stop coddling me.”

She paused at his tone.

“If you want me to survive Stage Eight,” he continued, “then you have to trust me.”

“I do trust you,” she said. “But I’m being serious. The Forlorn Aristocrat is a challenge if you’ve never faced him before. Unless you’ve got fire damage, you can’t really defeat him easily.”

Aristocrat? That matches what Lenard told me he saw. He described the boss as a nobleman after all.

Adam sighed. He missed his friend.

Wait, fire damage? I can get that with Sylvia’s scroll. I should have enough to buy a Conflagrate scroll.

Perhaps Emelia thought his sigh was because of her, because she finally answered his actual question. “He drops a round pearl. You use it to unlock a secret chamber in Stage Five by slotting it into the empty eye socket of a statue. Inside the chamber is a chest with a map. I never found out where it leads or what Stage it’s made for. That’s one of the things I’ll be trying to figure out in this loop.”

Adam nodded. “Thank you.”

Just then Belamouranthe came into the Tavern.

As though she had been waiting for this exact moment, Charlie came forward with Adam’s octopus salad, fries, and beer. She also had a casserole with some kind of stew and a bowl of mashed potatoes.

Bel sat down in front of the boar stew and immediately dug in, not even uttering a word to the tavernkeeper ant. Nonetheless, Charlie looked immensely satisfied.

“What kind of stew is that?” Adam asked. “It smells delicious.”

“Since you were having an Italian dish,” Charlie started, “I thought it was fitting to also prepare cinghiale in dolceforte for Belamouranthe.”

“Delicious!” the girl exclaimed.

Charlie giggled, the sound like bubbles in water.

Emelia was looking down at Adam’s food.

“That looks good,” she said.

Adam stabbed his fork into a bit of octopus and pointed it at her. “Wanna try?” he teased.

Emelia paused for a moment, her purple spiralling eyes locked onto his.

Then a dark tablet-sized round and flat stone appeared in the palm of her right hand. It had a strange patterned carved into it, which exposed blue-glowing gems under the stone’s surface.

She put her left hand on it and then she vanished without even standing up.

< < Visiting Stone Activated > >

< Player Emelia has entered your Dimension >

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

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Forty-Two

-Previous chapter-
---Next chapter----

I would've had this out yesterday, but I'm trying to avoid working until 2-3 AM since it really fucks up my productivity for the next day <.<

I might have another chapter out later today, but we'll see how it goes. Got a presentation at school tomorrow I've gotta wrap up as well, plus the edits for publication literally never end (._. )

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

Chapter Forty-Two

It took 3 minutes before the Necrosis affliction finally started to dissipate. He’d been getting increasingly worried that it might follow him to Interim Island.

After regaining his composure, Adam picked up the Spidersilk Sack from where he’d discarded it earlier and went around the forest collecting the Blood Elemental Cores. He ended up with a total of six, since the two from the last pair of golems had been destroyed by the freezing effect caused by the wraith’s death explosion.

When I sell these, it’ll put me at 2856 Points for this Stage. That’s not bad, but still a far cry from what I got in Two. It’s a shame they all sell for the same price.

The Nightwing hadn’t dropped any special reward, which was disappointing.

Unless I’m expected to chop it up to get a special prize? But Emelia didn’t mention anything like that, so I guess not?

He frowned when he realised that he’d have to literally carve open the enemies in Stage Four to get their collectibles, the Heart of Darkness.

Still, I can’t wait to see how my setup fares in a Stage with a lot of enemies.

If I can get the Committed Attack Ring, then I could double up the number of imps as well. That would be pretty powerful considering how strong they are. Just a shame that I can’t use the Cruel Gauntlets along with the ring…

Although perhaps the Ring’s effect would make it so I can only use the imps every third Stage, which is clearly no good. Guess I’d have to ask Shitbox if it becomes relevant.

Adam went over to the carriage and collected Belamouranthe. She followed him as he returned to the podium next to the Nightwing’s giant corpse.

Still can’t believe that thing was just a ‘dwarf’. The real thing would have to be like ten metres tall or something…

“Thou fought well, Adam,” the Elphin girl praised. “To take down such a monster as this is the mark of a hero.”

Adam grinned. “Thank you, but it wasn’t so tough actually.”

“Will we go home now?” the Elphin girl asked.

“In a moment, I just have to finish up here.”

She nodded. “I wish to thank Weaver for this dress and I hunger for Charlie’s stew.”

Oh, she means ‘home’ as in Interim Island, not the Elphin Sanctuary. That’s new.

[5 minutes remaining.]

Adam eyed the upgrade podium.

“I get two upgrades for killing the Secret Boss, right?”

[Yes.]

“Awesome.”

I’ve only gotten two upgrades on the Summoner, so I still need four more to evolve it to Invoker. Then this build will really start to shine.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Size (Rare) — Increases spell size by 45% >

< Casting Effect (Uncommon) — Increases casting responsiveness by 20% >

< Dodge (Uncommon) — Grants a 10% chance to dodge a direct attack >

Damn, they’re all kind of bad.

Dodge would take a long time to build up, and it’s really only reliable as a defence when I hit 100%, since anything lower means there’s a chance I won’t avoid a hit. Not to mention, it only works on direct attacks, so I’m still better off focusing on Defence and Health.

I also don’t think Spell Size will benefit me, since my barrier will grow to be about 3 metres wide and tall. As Shitbox mentioned, I cannot shape it into something smaller and its current size is already good enough for defensive purposes.

Guess I’ll pick Casting Effect. Maybe it’ll help make the wand and its spells more useful, although it does kind of feel like a waste.

Wait… I forgot I bought rerolls. I should use one.

“I wanna reroll the options,” Adam said.

[Understood.]

The upgrades were scrambled and changed.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spell damage by 10% >

< Casting Range (Rare) — Increases casting range by 35% >

< Venom (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 10% for 10 seconds >

That’s better. Damage is something I can definitely use.

Of the Summoner’s six potential upgrades, only Spell Damage and Speed seemed worth picking, which was frustrating since that meant he only had a 1-in-3 chance of getting either of those as reward options.

Before he selected it, he pulled out the wand just to ensure that the next set of upgrades would still be applied to it.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Damage (Uncommon) >

The upgrades flickered and were replaced.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Speed (Rare) — Increases spell speed by 35% >

< Casting Effect (Uncommon) — Increases casting responsiveness by 20% >

< Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% >

Definitely Speed, he immediately decided. Although, I am a bit curious if Crush would even affect the barrier. It does seem like it would be better with weapons that rely on blunt force, like maces and maybe the Brawler’s gauntlets.

Adam put his hand in his right pocket to touch the Lucky Stone he’d looted from the Hobgoblin’s room in Stage Two.

If I use it I’m guaranteed Rare Relics from the chest, but is there actually something I want from there?

He quickly ran through the options in his head. The Spring Boots and Fur Coat were both useful to have, but also things he could live without.

I’m better off saving the Lucky Stone for later. I should probably ask Emelia about the potential rewards for future Stages so I can plan ahead.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Speed (Rare) >

The Eye folded back into a cube and floated over next to the Relic Chest. It immediately began to glow. A moment later it popped open and revealed a glove, a collar, and a black furry vest.

< < Relics Available > >

< Barrage Glove (Uncommon) — All projectiles are split into 3, each dealing a 3rd of total damage >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) — Consume two potions within 10 seconds of each other without incurring toxic backlash, but toxicity build-up is tripled >

< Slothling Fur Coat (Rare) — Increases Player Defence by 25%. Breaks after 5 hits | Increases Movement Speed by 10% >

Well, that’s fortunate.

While the Barrage Glove might boost his wand, the Fur Coat was a much better choice given his low health. Besides, he could sell it for more if he didn’t want to keep it.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Slothling Fur Coat (Rare) >

A vest of fluffy black fur manifested on his torso. It was puffed out slightly, which gave the impression that Adam had a pot belly.

Not the most fashionable thing, but it’s a definite boost.

Before he had a chance to check out his updated stats, the Eye released a cloud of darkness that devoured his surroundings.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

The buildings that appeared around him looked slightly less dumpy than before, but he realised they hadn’t changed anywhere near as much as during his last loop.

Does that mean a lot less people died in Stage Three this time?

Silver scales already floated around him and froze the Eye and Belamouranthe in time. He looked up to find Luvicidix already sitting on the building in front of him.

“Hi again, Adam!”

“Another companion, right?” he asked.

“Exactly!”

“I don’t think I can handle more dumb ones, so please tell me you brought someone intelligent this time. Migraine is really disturbing and Finnian is working his way through Charlie’s food supply, no doubt stressing it to its limits.”

“The tavernkeeper’s supply is endless,” Luvicidix replied. “But not to fear, this companion is different from the first two.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The white moth floated down in front of him and landed gently on two of her six legs. She then held the remaining four arms out before pressing them together. When she pulled them apart, a person appeared from between them like a magic trick.

It was an actual human, something he hadn’t thought possible for the System to create. She was either in her late teens or early twenties. A grey hooded travel cloak covered her, and she wore a dark-blue shirt and black pants, as well as worn brown boots. Her face was obscured in the shadow of the hood, but he could tell that she had vibrant red hair and violet-glowing eyes. Black tattoos covered her hands.

Adam thought she looked quite familiar, but it took him a second to realise why.

He glared at the moth. “Are you serious!? This is clearly the apprentice of the boss I just killed!”

Luvicidix nodded. “Very astute, Adam,” she praised.

“Won’t she hold a grudge? And what about Belamouranthe? She might go after her!”

“Not to worry,” the moth said cheerfully. “Sylvia isn’t evil. And for the record, I wouldn’t be allowed to send hostile denizens here. The Interim Island is a safe place.”

“Tell that to the squid downstairs,” Adam muttered.

“You’ve been to the deep place?” Luvicidix asked, her tone turning serious.

“Yes, but before you ask, no, I don’t plan on using the Abyssal Tooth.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Adam changed the topic. “Have I unlocked anything new from Alivida?”

“You have not.”

“Then why did I get something for getting the Special Denizen in Stage One?”

“Alivida’s upgrades are based on milestones. The first time you fully completed a Stage was one such milestone,” Luvicidix explained.

I guess that makes sense. Beating Stage Five has to be another milestone, perhaps because it’s the first time Players kill each other? Or wait no, that can’t be right, because I killed Charlotte Hayes and it didn’t change my upgrade options.

Maybe beating the Stage is the milestone? Based on what Emelia has said, it has to be the Challenge Stone that is unlocked.

Anyway, that’s something to worry about later.

Right now I need to figure out how many Points I’ve got to play around with. I’d like to buy two more upgrades for Summoner to evolve it, but that would cost me 900 Points.

“Can I see your upgrades for a second?” Adam asked.

“Always.”

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 10% — 1000 Points >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

< Vendors — Increase Vendor Options by 1 — 4000 Points >

< Rerolls — Start every loop with 1 Reroll Dice — 2500 Points >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 1 Saved Relic Slot — 2995/5000 Points >

< Cheat Death — Start every loop with the Cheat Death Relic — 10000 Points >

So, I’d need 2005 Points to get Relic Saving locked in. That would probably be the best thing to get done now. But even if I sell the Blood Elemental Cores, I’ve just got 851 Points left. I could perhaps sell the Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets, but that seems a waste since the wraith’s explosion is quite useful. I suppose if a better alternative appears I might sell them, but selling them just to buy two weapon upgrades seems foolish.

I think I should definitely buy the Relic Saving now though. I almost died twice in Stage Four in my last loop and I have a lot less Health this time around, so death is not unthinkable. I really want to start the next loop with the Cracked Slime Core available, since that’d enable me to pick the Fool and really get a lot of Points, so there’s no way around it.

I could use my remaining Points to buy a Relic or maybe a couple Health or Defence upgrades. I’ll get the last two Summoner upgrades in Stage Four instead.

“I’ll pay the rest of the amount to unlock Relic Saving.”

“Excellent,” Luvicidix replied cheerfully.

< < Meta Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 1 Saved Relic Slot >

“A special container is now available in your Player House,” she explained. “With 1 Relic Slot unlocked, you can send any Common Relic back to the start of your next loop.”

“I can keep investing into it, right? What does the upgrade look like now?”

The moth waved a hand.

< < Meta Upgrade For Sale > >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 2 Saved Relic Slots — 0/5000 Points >

So I was correct that each upgrade is still 5000 Points, that’s good to know. I’d still need to unlock it two more times to be able to send a Rare Relic back.Hu

“Would I be able to send the Wraith Lantern back?” he asked.

“Relics tied to Weapon Types cannot be saved in the special container.”

Figures…

So much for trying to send the Lucky Bracelet back…

“You still have Points remaining,” Luvicidix said. “Would you like to buy any other upgrades?”

“Not right now,” he replied.

“Then I will take my leave for now,” she said and lifted off from the ground. The orbiting silver scales returned to her wings. The moment she vanished into the clouds, time resumed its natural flow.

Belamouranthe and the Eye both moved closer to Adam, while the new denizen awoke in front of him.

[Urrr—] the Eye groaned. Adam felt his heart skip a beat at the sound.

Then the tesseract announced, [Congratulations! You have unlocked a Special Denizen due to your stellar performance in Stage Three – Forest Escort.]

Holy shit that scared me!

Is it making that noise because I didn’t get all of the achievements in the same run?

He thought back to the first Special Denizen where it had produced the same soul-quaking sound. It hadn’t done it the second time, when he unlocked Migraine.

So it’s making that sound because some kind of fuckery is going on and confusing it? Or maybe its memory is being overwritten to not question why I have the achievements I didn’t get in this loop?

The first time it made that noise was when I killed it. I should ask Emelia if she’s heard it as well.

The new denizen looked at Adam with her violet-glowing eyes. Strands of her vibrant red hair poked out of her hood.

“Hello Adam,” she said. “My name is Sylvia.”

“You were Ezral’s apprentice, right?”

She didn’t blink as she stared into his eyes. “I was,” she said.

Then her gaze ran down to his belt where the Fetish of Sloth was attached while not in use. “I see you have obtained his demonic idol.”

“You’re not gonna hold a grudge against me right?” he asked.

Belamouranthe came up next to Adam, putting her left hand on his fuzzy vest while looking up at the newcomer.

Sylvia’s eyes flicked to the Elphin girl. Unmasked fascination and curiosity filled her otherwise-neutral expression. Adam put his gauntleted hand atop Bel’s head.

“If you so much as touch a hair on her head, I will do to you what I did to your master,” he told her. There was no hostility in his voice, just a cold-hearted promise.

Sylvia’s gaze returned to him and she said, “An apprentice does not often get to choose their master. Certainly not when what they study is a very limited field with very few magicians teaching it. Ezral may have taught me much of what I know and he was certainly a genius, but cavorting with demons warped his faculties. His obsession with the Elphin and their rituals drove him to ambushing your carriage. I had nothing to do with it.”

It was hard to give her the benefit of doubt when she was clearly a blood mage like Ezral. And the way she looked at Belamouranthe was unsettling.

“Shitbox, can I command Special Denizens?” he asked the Eye. He recalled the conversation with Emelia where she’d said that Migraine was banned from the Tavern in her world.

[You may bar denizens from certain actions or parts of Interim Island if you so wish. They will be encouraged to obey your commands, so long as they are within reason.]

Adam kept eye-contact with Sylvia as he asked, “What if I decide to kill them?”