Kristoffer Pauly

Loopshard - Chapter Forty

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I haven't edited this yet, but will do that tomorrow.

You're only getting two new chapters on Loopshard this week it turns out D: sorry about that.

Been dealing with a lot of schoolwork this week and I must've caught some kind of bug, because I've had 0 energy the last two days. My gf has been dealing with the same thing too, but neither of us have a fever or anything... Anyway, I started feeling a bit better today, so I could finally get this chapter written.

I'll try and get 3 new chapters for you guys next week.

Anyway, chapter 40! That's pretty cool. The story is almost at 140k words as well.

UPDATE: chapter has now been edited.

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Chapter Forty

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 3 >

< Forest Escort >

< 5 Waves >

Adam startled awake as his world shook.

He stood up in a brief moment of panic, but then realised where he was.

Orange sunset light flashed through a window nearby. The wooden interior and green bench cushions were a familiar sight. Opposite him sat Belamouranthe, wearing the green dress that Weaver had made and dangling her legs over the edge of the seat. Adam was also wearing his new set of clothes and in the right pocket of his newly-spun pants was the Spidersilk Sack he’d ordered.

Christ, I don’t even remember putting these clothes on…

Emelia, Gladwyn, Beck, and Adam had talked until the Tavern closed, although the time-looper repeatedly dipped from their conversation to help other people out. The initial meeting had been slightly tense as they all tried to figure each other’s motives out, but they’d left there with mutual respect he thought. Of course, Emelia had impressed upon Beck the danger inherent to the Abyssal Tooth, while he and Gladwyn had grilled her about being a time-traveller.

She’d been a lot more candid with them than Adam had expected, basically explaining how there was a way to go back in time and that she was trying to use her power to save humanity. She’d then taken over as the one providing tips for the Stages, saving Adam from having to keep the pretence that she was feeding him the info.

He’d taken the opportunity to ask more about the Hardmode for Stage Three, as well as its Secret Boss, but she’d insisted that the Hardmode would get him killed and only reiterated the facts about the boss that he’d already heard. Basically, it was a giant bat that was weak to light. It wasn’t a whole lot to go off of, and he got the feeling that she’d only fought it once and didn’t actually know what moves it had, perhaps because she’d killed it too quickly. Beck had insisted that he’d try to unlock the Secret Boss too, but Emelia had warned him against it and told him the sobering fact that he normally died in Stage Two during her previous loops.

Adam only needed the Secret Relic from Ezral and to kill the Secret Boss in order to unlock his third Special Denizen. He wanted the Points a lot more and really contemplated the Hardmode, but he figured that Emelia might actually be right. During his last loop, he’d breezed through the Stage thanks to the Fiendbarb, so he didn’t actually know a lot about the enemies he’d be facing, so tripling their numbers was unlikely to be wise.

In the end, he’d completely forgotten to ask Gladwyn about help with Willow.

He was about to sit back down when suddenly the carriage jerked to a halt and the shrieking of scared horses filled the air. Adam flew forward and slammed his forehead into the wall above Belamouranthe. The crown on his head pressed into his skin and a stinging pain filled his head.

“Argh, fuck…” he muttered.

“The road is blocked!” came the driver’s voice. “We have to find a way aro—!”

The crackle and snap of a spell struck the carriage and the whole vehicle shook violently for a second.

“Stay here,” Adam told Belamouranthe.

“Understood,” she replied.

He opened the carriage door and stepped outside, then he went around to where the drivers lay dead against the front of the carriage. The horses stomped nervously but stayed put.

The Eye appeared from between the two dead drivers and floated over to Adam.

[Stage Three will introduce objectives to the Trials. For—]

“Skip.”

< < Stage Objectives > >

< Protect the carriage and the Elphin Child >

< Complete all Waves >

[Wave 1 will begin in 60 seconds.]

The stone orb with the eye appeared from thin air and floated in front of him. Unlike the last Stage, the iris was already red.

Shit, the toggle carries over between Stages…

He reached out and touched it. The world shook and the iris turned green.

< < Hardmode > >

< Deactivated >

The Hardmode switch followed him like the tesseract as he climbed up onto the driver’s seat and located the silver necklace that one of them was wearing. He pulled it over the dead guy’s head.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< All-Mother’s Wrath (Rare) — When Player is damaged by an attack, curse attacker with Lethargy for 30 seconds. 1-minute cooldown >

Hmm, the description really doesn’t make it seem like Bel should be able to use this.

He was about to hop down to the road again, when he looked closer at the wounds that’d killed them. The first time he’d seen them, it had looked like they’d been shot by something that cauterised the skin, almost like a bolt of fire. But when he actually looked closer, he realised that the darkness around the wounds weren’t scorch-marks, but instead some kind of necrosis.

I don’t remember the boss using any attacks like that. They were all claw slashes and barriers.

Maybe it’s an attack he only uses during Hardmode?

Emelia had just said that the boss got new moves with Hardmode active, but hadn’t elaborated. She insisted that the tripled summons was the biggest danger.

She’s probably right, but whatever spell caused these wounds is probably no joke either.

Maybe she’ll be more forthcoming about specifics if I ask her after beating the Stage.

Adam slipped the necklace over his crown and let it hang over his newly-spun shirt.

Then he climbed down from the driver’s seat and searched around for the pouch containing a potion. Willow had been the first one to tell him about it, but Emelia had reminded him again last night. He was actually quite impressed with how much she’d shared with Beck and Gladwyn. She’d also told them what kind of setups they should aim for. Apparently, she really wanted Gladwyn to lean into his Defender role, since he could become very useful to groups later, although this last part she’d only told Adam.

He ended up finding a little leather pouch by the back wheel, and sure enough, there was a small healing potion inside. The pouch didn’t disintegrate when he picked it up, so he tied it to the front of his belt and left the potion inside.

With all the hidden loot out of the way, Adam walked down the small slope from the road where the carriage was stopped and towards the treeline in the distance. He summoned a barrier and turned it into a sawblade with thirty angled teeth, then he ran it along the trees, cutting halfway through as many as he could until the Eye announced that the time was up. Somehow, the barrier had survived without a single crack and it seemed that the shape mattered a lot when he was using it like a spinning blade, perhaps because friction normally damaged it.

Should be easy enough to remove all the shadows caused by the trees when the Secret Boss appears, he thought to himself. This hadn’t been one of Emelia’s suggestions, but if he didn’t remove the canopy shadows from the forest, his only other choice was to fight on the road next to the carriage, which seemed profoundly stupid.

He also figured that the trees might be useful in a pinch if he struggled to deal with the Slothling Ogre.

< < Wave One > >

< 60-Second Timer >

As the rustle of the first enemy came from ahead of him behind the treeline, Adam quickly shaped the barrier into a hollow tube and lifted it in the air in front of himself.

The moment that the Slothling Imp emerged, Adam shot the tube forward. The imp cackled and launched itself at him, but immediately collided with the barrier, which pierced all the way through its round furry body, such that half the length of the tube was poking out on either side of it. Instead of falling to the ground, the imp just floated there, stuck on his barrier.

Then Adam let the tube unfold and the imp simply exploded from within. Left behind was a perfect cylinder of imp flesh and fur that’d been formed by the hollow tube. The rest of the enemy was splattered about the place. A firefly of soul essence floated from its remains and into his lantern. It was bigger than the ones from the dummies.

Adam grinned. Using the enemy’s speed against itself had been an obvious strategy, but he hadn’t expected it to work quite this well.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 5 seconds.]

He quickly switched to the wand, just as the announcement appeared.

< < Wave One Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

Maybe I can use the tube shape to safely harvest the cores inside the blood elementals and defeat them in the same way as the imp.

The Eye unfolded itself and Adam looked through the rewards.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Damage (Rare) — Increases spell damage by 15% >

< Casting Effect (Rare) — Increases casting responsiveness by 35% >

< Health (Rare) — Increases health by 5 >

A shame that Rare Health is only a 5-point increase, but Rare or even Uncommon Defence is definitely worth grabbing if it shows up.

Casting Effect would be good, if I was actually planning on using the wand, which I’m not.

Given how broadly Spell Damage from the Summoner applies, I’ve gotta grab it. It should increase the damage of my barrier after all, since that’s a spell.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Damage (Rare) >

Adam folded the barrier back into a tube again and swung it through the air, preparing to quickly deal with the Blood Golem when it appeared. The air through the rapidly-moving tube produced a strange whooom sound.

< < Wave Two > >

< 90-Second Timer >

The treeline trembled and a large hand of liquid blood emerged.

Adam didn’t waste a moment and shot the tube forward right as the golem pushed through and its core was visible.

Unlike when he’d had the Fiendbarb, the golem didn’t immediately succumb to his attack. Instead its body became hard as the surface facing him turned solid.

It swung its big hand and knocked the barrier aside. Adam managed to retain his shaping effect on it, but the strike had been enough to crack it. His Dented Crown triggered the Last Stand’s Fervour and a red glow suffused the spell.

He started shaping it into a sawblade, but then the golem swung its fist forward and the liquid hand detached, becoming solid as it flew towards Adam.

Adam immediately resummoned the barrier in front of himself, catching the fist. It struck with enough force to push the barrier back into Adam and immediately cracked, turning red. Then the fist exploded and sent blood shrapnel everywhere.

Thanks to Last Stand’s Fervour, the barrier was invulnerable for 10 seconds and none of the projectiles managed to pierce through and hit him. With a quick gesture he shot the barrier forward, shaping it into a tight cone mid-air.

Even though the golem hardened its body to stop it from piercing, the shape was like an icepick that easily pierced its tough exterior. Adam pushed it all the way into the blood golem’s torso, before letting it unfurl like an umbrella.

The elemental’s top-half exploded and covered the treeline behind it. Adam quickly changed the shape into a tube and moved it around the partially-exposed stone core. Then he wrenched the barrier back towards himself, yanking the core free of the elemental’s body.

Its shape lost coherence and became a puddle of blood on the forest floor. Another large firefly of soul essence flew into Adam’s lantern.

He quickly summoned a new barrier, replacing the other one a single second before its Fervour was set to expire and the Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets would’ve made it explode.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 15 seconds.]

Adam switched to the wand again.

< < Wave Two Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

That almost went sideways… The tube-shape definitely only works if the target is squishy or moving fast enough. Perhaps I should work some more on shaping the edges to make them sharper.

That sort of shape was a lot harder to maintain for him, since he had to mentally keep track of all the edges, along with their positions.

He stooped to pick up his prize, while the Eye unfolded itself into the podium.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Blood Elemental Core (Common) — The hardened soul of a Blood Elemental >

The coconut-sized core seemed a lot more powerful than the ones from the slimes, but would sell for the same prize since it was still Common, which felt like a rip-off.

Maybe they’re worth more to Finnian?

I could also try giving it to one of the elementals in Wave Five, although that would just make the challenge harder for no extra gain. Maybe I’m better off cracking it and using it to kill one of them quickly.

Adam pulled out the Spidersilk Sack and put the core inside, before leaving it next to a tree since he couldn’t carry it around while fighting. Then he turned his attention to the upgrades.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Speed (Rare) — Increases spell speed by 35% >

< Casting Range (Rare) — Increases casting range by 35% >

< Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% >

Spell Speed is the obvious choice here. With that I should have 90% total speed for my barrier, unless they interact multiplicatively, in which case it would be more like 109%.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spell Speed (Rare) >

He folded the barrier into the narrow cone shape again, but left a small hole at the tip to reduce drag. When he swung it around, it definitely felt a lot faster than just moments prior, but it was impossible to conclude if that meant the two separate speed buffs were multiplicative or additive.

< < Wave Three > >

< 90-Second Timer >

The treeline rustled and Adam backed up slightly while flinging the cone directly at the imp emerging to his left. Fuzzy black fur poked out from the trees, but the imp didn’t even have the chance to look around before he drove his barrier right into its body and let it unfurl.

As it exploded in a shower of gore and fleshy bits, Adam resummoned the barrier and flung it at the other imp to his right, which had just locked eyes on him.

[Warning! Mana below 50%.]

The soul essence of the first imp flew into his lantern, as the other one launched itself right at him before he could shape the barrier. Instead he induced a spin in the vertical pane of magical glass, while moving it around so that the imp collided with the edge.

A horrendous tearing sound emerged from the lesser demon as its own momentum and the rapid spin of the barrier caused it to be perfectly split in half. Its blood and guts plopped onto the forest floor, some of it splattering onto Adam’s shoes.

Another soul essence entered his lantern.

Hmm, I thought for sure that each of these large souls would count for double. Guess I still need to get at least one more kill to power it. But that would be awkward, since it would trigger on the Ogre and then just go to waste…

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 10 seconds.]

Adam switched to the wand again.

I should’ve activated the Hardmode after all.

My barrier has gotten strong enough that I doubt even the Slothling Ogre will pose a challenge.

< < Wave Three Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

The impact with the barrier’s edge had caused the spell to crack, and Adam summoned a new one.

[Warning! Mana below 30%.]

The wooziness hit him, but it was not as bad as before, since practicing and repeatedly exhausting his Mana had help build up a tolerance.

“Shitbox, don’t alert me to low Mana unless it is at 25% or less.”

[Understood.]

Adam sat down to recoup his Mana. He looked at the three options available to him this time. One had gone up to Epic rarity, which was lucky.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spell Size (Rare) — Increases spell size by 45% >

< Casting Range (Epic) — Increases casting range by 50% >

< Defence (Rare) — Increases all defence by 15% >

Finally, a Defence buff.

Shame that the Epic was for Casting Range, although a 50% increase is pretty powerful.

“Select Defence when there is 1 second remaining.”

[Understood.]

Adam spent the remainder of the time ‘meditating’ while playing around with the shape of his barrier, trying to figure out what would work best to take down the Ogre.

When his break came to an end, he had settled on a tube-like screw shape. It was difficult to maintain coherence for, especially when he induced a spin in it. Unlike the normal tube shape, this one had the corner of the folded square as the ‘tip’, which would make it better at piercing.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Defence (Rare) >

< < Wave Four > >

< 150-Second Timer >

Alright, you big bastard, come on out.

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Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Nine

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Oh hey look, Patreon screwed up the formatting again...

I should have at least one more chapter for y'all this weekend. Been crazy busy with school though and suffering a bit >:

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Chapter Thirty-Nine

“You what!?” Adam asked.

“I killed it,” Gladwyn said matter-of-factly.

Beck shook his head. “You should’ve tried talking to him first.”

“He jumped out at me in the darkness, of course I’d think it was an ambush!” the Defender argued.

“Adam and I didn’t try to fight it,” Beck said.

“You’re too trusting,” he shot back.

“Did you get anything?” Adam asked.

“You bet,” Gladwyn replied. “I got an inert version of the Abyssal Tooth, which was Epic rarity. I sold it for 500.”

Beck shook his head again. “You’ve lost access to that vendor forever now.”

“I still think it was worth it,” he said.

“Even if Skǫll has some interesting stuff to buy, trying to get the currency to buy them is a bad idea. You’ll have to kill other Players after all.”

Beck shrugged. “They’ll come back when we clear the Trials though, so what’s the issue? They might not even remember dying.”

Adam shook his head. “Actually, I don’t think they’ll come back. From how the octopus phrased it, it seems like the sacrifice is permanent.”

“I don’t even understand why we’d get something like this,” Gladwyn said. “So far the Stages are just fighting NPCs. Are they planning on pitting us against each other?”

“More importantly,” Beck said, staring right at Adam, “how did you know about Weaver and the Lucky Stone? You also knew about how the Goblins fight. How??”

“Someone else told me,” Adam lied.

“That’s suspicious,” Gladwyn said.

Adam shrugged.

“I know you’re not telling us the whole truth, Adam! Maybe you’re not actually a Player, but instead something like the Observer sent here to lead us astray and ultimately betray us when we least expect it!” Beck speculated wildly.

“That’s crazy,” Adam replied.

“Is it really?” Beck asked, raising an eyebrow dramatically.

“A little bit,” Gladwyn admitted.

“I’m watching you,” Beck said, gesturing with two fingers from his eyes to Adam’s.

Adam just laughed. “So, how did you do in Stage Two?”

“I got the Flawless Bonus again,” Gladwyn answered proudly.

Beck huffed. “I got the Speedrun.”

“How many Points?”

“1415 Points for me,” Gladwyn said. “I think my time was something like 320 seconds overall.”

“I got a speed of 215 seconds,” Beck gloated. “But I took 70 damage, so my Point total was 1335.”

“Damn, wouldn’t that almost kill you as a Spellcaster?” Adam asked.

“It’s okay, I have 75 Health.”

Adam frowned. “That’s pretty reckless, Beck.”

“That’s what my ex-wife always said when I was driving too, but a near-miss is still a miss!”

Adam laughed. “Well, regardless of how fast you went, the result is that you’re the loser,” he said.

“What!? Why? What did you get?”

Adam puffed up his chest a bit. “3530 Points.”

Gladwyn and Beck shared a glance.

“Liar,” Beck accused him, aiming the mustard-covered sausage of his hotdog at him.

“That shouldn’t even be possible,” Gladwyn agreed. “The seconds are clearly detracted from the overall score by 1 point per 1 second spent, and then there’s the fixed score for killing the enemies. So, even if you completed the entire Stage in 100 seconds without taking damage, that would only be 1885 Points with the two bonuses.”

Wow, he’s already figured out the math behind it? That’s quite impressive for just clearing two Stages.

“It’s simple, I bought and activated the Hardmode that Alivida sells, then I also killed the Secret Boss.”

“There are secret bosses??” Gladwyn and Beck both blurted out.

“This one required an item from the Secret Boss in Stage One,” Adam revealed.

“I need to know…” Beck said. “How fast did you complete the Stage?”

Adam grinned. “145 seconds.”

“Are you like a time-traveller or something?” he asked.

Adam laughed it off. “I wish!”

Damn, these two are pretty smart… I need to be more careful.

He tried bullshitting his way out by saying, “If I was a time-traveller, wouldn’t I already have known about the Nickname system?”

Gladwyn shrugged. “You could just be kind of a slow learner.”

“Yeah, everyone knows that the heroes in time-loop stories are all pretty clueless at the start. It’s a pretty common trope.”

“Ouch,” Adam replied. “I mean, if you don’t trust me, you could ask the Eye to look up any Player that has looped back in time.”

“Don’t think I won’t call your bluff!” Beck said.

Then he turned away and his hologram vanished.

Gladwyn shook his head. “He always gets fired up about random stuff.”

Adam smiled.

A moment later Beck rejoined them.

“The Observer got really mad that I asked about time-looping. Apparently, such a thing would defy the Trials.”

“Isn’t that the whole point?” Adam said, playing along.

“So no one appeared?” Gladwyn asked.

“No, there was a person. This blonde chick with creepy purple eyes.”

Adam decided to shift their focus away from himself and did his best to pretend to be shocked. “Did she wear a red sweater?”

“She did.”

“That’s the person who told me about Stage Two!” Adam exclaimed.

“Crap…” Gladwyn muttered. “She’s definitely a time-traveller then.”

“I’m gonna confront her,” Beck decided.

“Hold up,” Adam said.

“What?”

“First you’ve gotta change your Nickname.”

Beck blinked several times in quick succession. Then he frowned. “Shit.”

“You made the rules,” Gladwyn told him.

“You did,” Adam agreed.

Beck sighed deeply. “Get it over with, just tell me what to switch it to.”

Adam grinned deviously.

“Becky.”

***

While Beck and Gladwyn went off to the Market to spend their Points, Adam leaned back in his recliner and absentmindedly played with the barrier floating in the air. At the same time he was watching Belamouranthe and Finnian running along the tables.

The two of them were duelling for some reason, using the bones from the girl’s boar stew as weapons. She was surprisingly adept with the improvised weapon as she deftly deflected and riposted the slime humanoid’s swings and jabs.

Migraine came into the tavern and waddled over to sit down next to Adam. He smelled like dirt and cooking oil. He looked down.

Adam sighed and finally asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Is already dark and nobody want shag.”

The answer caught Adam so off-guard that he lost his concentration on the barrier and it unfolded itself with a loud woosh.

“Actually, forget I asked.”

“Nobody love Migraine,” sobbed the goblin.

“You’ve probably just gotta tone it down a bit. Maybe you’re coming on too strong.”

“Bulge said strong the only way.”

Adam sighed deeply, unsure of how to get himself out of this conversation.

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

Oh thank God!

“Who is it?”

[Player Emelia.]

No last name…

She must’ve set her Nickname like me, all just to avoid me finding out her full name.

That’s kind of suspicious.

“I’ll talk to her.”

Emelia appeared opposite him.

“Great timing!” he said. “Migraine was starting to ask some uncomfortable questions.”

“That one is a menace. I’ve banned him from the Tavern,” she said.

“Didn’t know you could do that.”

“I thought you said Weaver would make you a shirt,” she commented, looking at his exposed torso.

“It might be at the Player House, I just haven’t picked it up yet.” He grinned. “Is it making you uncomfortable?”

She ignored his jab and looked at his right hand, before moving her gaze to his eyes. The purple swirls pulled him in and he couldn’t look away.

“You accepted the Abyssal Tooth,” she stated, clearly having noticed the scale on his thumb. “Are you going to use it?”

“I don’t know,” he replied.

The Challenge Stone appeared in Emelia’s hand.

“I will stop you,” she said decisively.

“Have you ever used it?”

“No. Arturo warned me against it.”

Adam nodded. “Because it messes up your universe.”

“Exactly. He dealt with someone that got to Stage Twelve by hoarding all the Points from the group Stages. After killing the Player, he used the Tooth on her. In his next loop, all the groups ended up composed of different people. Even the rewards he got were changed, all because just one Player didn’t exist in the Trials anymore. If you kill someone in a loop, like with the Challenge Stone, it doesn’t drastically alter everything that comes afterwards, like drops and rewards.”

This means that the seed is planted at the start of the Trials, Adam realised.

But that’s quite an impact. I guess this is Nwetrou’s way of usurping the perceived unfairness of the Self-devouring Eye.

But if you’re confident enough in your own power and have enough meta upgrades, then it can be a great way to mix up the odds and try to attain a better outcome. Of course, if you don’t know or aren’t prepared enough or just get bad luck, then it could ruin your chances of getting the Divine Relic again.

“Wait, what do you mean killing someone doesn’t drastically change things?”

“As far as I can tell and from what Arturo has told me, the groups are decided at the beginning of the Trials somehow. In my last loop, someone that I have to fight in Stage Five died earlier because of my actions somehow indirectly changing his decisions. When I got to Stage Five, the rest of the group was the same, but that person was missing and someone who normally never survives to that point had replaced him.”

Weird. I wonder what Mórrígan meant by my actions making her run unsalvageable then. I guess it’s just because a small ripple of change can lead to bigger consequences?

“But even if I don’t use the Abyssal Tooth, someone else might,” Adam remarked.

Emelia looked grim. “I always keep an eye out for anyone who has obtained the Abyssal Tooth. Besides you and your two friends, there was one other. I have already dealt with him. So long as I can get rid of Nwetrou’s adherents before Stage Five, there is very little chance they will use it. Of course, they might use it on one of the Island’s denizens, but that doesn’t affect anyone else.”

Adam felt uncomfortable at the mention of Gladwyn and Beck, and the casual way with which she talked about potentially having killed someone else.

I should probably warn them about Emelia…

“My friends won’t use it. Also, only Beck got the Tooth, Gladwyn killed the octopus.”

“He killed Skǫll?” Emelia asked, sounding concerned for some reason.

“Is that bad?”

“It will cause problems in Stage Eleven. But he won’t make it that far.”

Adam frowned.

“I could be wrong,” she then said. “After all, his friend survived Stage Two thanks to you.”

Holy shit, Beck was supposed to die to the goblins…

“They’re both quite clever,” Adam said. “I think they can go far together.”

“Did they find the deep place without you?”

“Kind of, although I told them about Weaver. They found Alivida on their own.”

“There’s a shortage of curious people who make it far,” she said. “It’s almost always the same type who makes it to Stage Ten, those that are resilient to despair and don’t take unnecessary risks.”

“How many make it to Stage Ten usually?”

“In my last loop it was about 3.000 Players. Before that it was 4.500.”

“Damn.”

“I’m hoping for at least 10.000 this time,” she said.

“Why is it so few?”

“Well, Stage Five is a big reason. It cannot be defied. Even Arturo couldn’t do it and he looped more than twenty times before handing me the reins. It always reduces the Player count by at least 80%.

“After that, most survive Stage Six, but then they learn how the Points are distributed for group Stages and greed takes over. Don’t get me wrong, the Stages themselves become increasingly difficult. Barely anyone would be able to beat one alone, but the number one issue is always the Player factor. There’s also a lot of paranoia going around since a lot of Players choose to worship Nharlla, and his first boon randomly introduces the human mimic to Stages.”

Human mimic??

And who the hell is Nharlla?

“What do you mean by worship?” Adam asked. “Is that what Skǫll was talking about?”

Maybe it’s tied to the Forbidden Altar?

Emelia paused as though realising she’d revealed too much.

“I’ll explain more after Stage Four,” she then said.

“What about the Point distribution? What’s the issue there?”

She shook her head, so he dropped the topic for now.

I think Willow and I were right about the reward distribution for group Stages.

I hope she’s alright. It feels weird not having her here.

I think I’ll try and ask Gladwyn to approach her on my behalf later.

“I ended up picking Summoner,” he said, breaking the silence. “Before you say anything, it’s a lot stronger than you think.”

Emelia paused, mouth half open. Then she smiled at his prediction. “Why was I wrong?”

“It works with the Dented Crown and it can trigger itself. Stage Four is going to be a bloodbath since I’ll be able to just burn through the waves of enemies.”

She contemplated it for a moment. “So you’re going for a summoner build?”

“That does seem to be the way it’s going.”

“Arturo used the Shaper very offensively. He could fold and warp the barrier into a needle. It was able to pierce and kill almost anything in a single hit. It was essentially just a glass cannon build that prioritised damage, but it worked well. A lot of builds are like that. They focus on damage for the most part, either through stacking multiplicative buffs or by boosting speed and impact. Although a few defence-oriented ones do appear after the rules for the Flawless achievement change in Stage Six. I haven’t seen anyone make it far with summon-based Relics though.”

“I think it can do well.”

“We’ll see,” she replied sceptically.

“Do you know what the evolutions are for Summoner?”

“Only the first set. They’re Elementalist and Invoker. The first one, as the name implies, adds four elemental boosts to the set of wand spells.”

“What about Invoker?”

“It increases summons by 1,” she said.

Adam grinned. “Guess I know what I’m levelling next.”

“If you have a reliable way of triggering the Wraith Lantern, then it could potentially be strong.”

“It should also give me another barrier,” he said.

“It’s hard to say for sure,” she replied. “I don’t know the exact wording. For both the Zealot and Pit Fighter the descriptions just say ‘Weapon Damage’, which is why they apply multiplicatively to whichever weapon you’re holding.”

“I’m surprised their effects work even when they’re not equipped.”

“It’s one of the quirks that’s good to know. Normally the evolution descriptions are either specific, such as with Shaper which only says you can shape the barrier, but a few have broader wording. It’s all about figuring out the loopholes.”

“The Spear Dancer applied its effect to all damage.”

She nodded. “That one is popular. It combos well with a lot of stuff.”

“I used the Spring Boots in my last run,” he said. “It worked really well with my Relics.”

“Then why didn’t you make it past Stage Five?”

“Part of it might have been because of the Fiendbarb Relic I was using.”

Emelia gave him a look as though she thought he was stupid. “You do understand that the main benefit of going fast and increased damage is that it can decimate armour, right? Using the Fiendbarb basically negates the main purpose of Spear Dancer’s boost. You can use paper-thin armour and you’ll survive against that Relic… Even the stuff Weaver makes can protect you from the Fiendbarb.”

“Alright, I get it. It was stupid to use it.”

“It’s good in certain situations, certainly, but the Fiendbarb mostly gets Players killed because it becomes a crutch.”

“In my defence,” Adam started, “Mórrígan basically hand-picked the person who killed me in the Forbidden Altar. She knew he would be in my group, so she taught him everything he needed to kill me. I had no chance of surviving that. And even if I had, there was another hitman waiting for me in Stage Six.”

“Did she find out you were a time-looper? Is that why she was after you?”

“Yeah. She was talking about the loop being unsalvageable because of me.”

Emelia frowned. “I hope I don’t end up like that…”

“I don’t think you will,” Adam said sincerely. “Your goal is to help people. I think Mórrígan wanted power more than anything else. I don’t think she was even trying to complete the Trials.”

Emelia smiled at his words, but then her expression hardened. “Arturo said that the power of the Divine Relic was addicting. So far, all I feel is this great responsibility to use the power well. I don’t like experimenting with people’s lives, but I have to help as many people survive as possible. Even just one or two extra people making it past Stage Twenty could make a huge difference.”

There’s quite a lot of Stages it seems…

“You won’t tell me how many Stages there are, right?”

“If I knew, I would.”

“So the furthest you’ve gone, the place where you found the Divine Relic, it’s not the end?”

“No.”

Adam could tell she wouldn’t reveal what Stage it was and, though he understood why, it still frustrated him. She had all this knowledge and he was the ideal person to impart it to, and yet she was unwilling to do it.

With a small sigh, he decided to ask about something else. His eyes briefly shifted to where Finnian had turned into a big blob and Belamouranthe was splayed out on top of it, fast asleep. They were like two kids who’d played until their bedtime, with their improvised bone weapons on the floor nearby.

“How can I save Bel?” he asked.

“You have to get the Secret Relic from Stage Three. It’s on the driver’s body.”

“The All-Mother’s Wrath.”

“That’s right. It has several hidden effects. One of them is that it breaks and permanently curses you with lethargy if you’re wearing it and act with malice towards a child. Another is that any child who wears it will be protected from harm thanks to the All-Mother’s benevolence. If you want to save Belamouranthe, you have to give it to her.”

“That’s what I thought,” Adam said, relieved.

“It’s not completely straight-forward,” she continued. “If you give it to her before Stage Four, it will disappear during that Stage when she and her mother are preparing the ritual. My guess is that her mother knows it will interfere with the ritual, so she gets rid of it. You have to give it to Belamouranthe just before you take the final chest after killing the boss and end the Stage. That’s the only way to save her.”

“Does it change anything?”

She nodded. “It’s one of the variant triggers, although a minor one.”

“Variant triggers?”

“That’s what Arturo called them. Basically, it’s possible to alter Stages in certain ways. The most common one is by every member of a group fulfilling the same requirement. Anyway, it’s not important to you right now. The variant from saving Belamouranthe doesn’t come into play until Stage Six.”

Emelia paused and looked to a seat further down the table. “It seems your friends just returned.”

She’s keeping tabs on them? Does she have some kind of query going just to inform her when certain people arrive?

Suddenly two holograms appeared opposite Adam, then Emelia flickered and reappeared next to him. The two older guys were both wearing newly-spun clothes, courtesy of Weaver. Both of them had bought Relics as well, with Gladwyn getting the Bone Armour and Avalanche Boots. Beck had bought the Curse-Giver Necklace and probably spent the rest of his Points on upgrades.

The tall guy looked between Adam and Emelia suspiciously, while Gladwyn said hello. Beck fixed Adam with a stare.

“I knew you’d betray us,” he said.

“It’s not like that at all,” Adam defended himself.

“Hello Beck and Gladwyn. My name is Emelia,” she greeted.

Gladwyn was looking at her eyes, while Beck continued to stare at Adam.

“Actually, he recently changed his name,” Gladwyn said.

“Oh right, I almost forgot,” Adam added.

Beck deflated. “I’ll win the bet for the next Stage, I swear.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to help you with,” Emelia revealed.

“You’re a time-traveller, right?” Gladwyn asked.

She paused for a moment, then smiled slightly.

“That’s right,” she said. “So listen up, unless you want to die.”

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

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---Next chapter----

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 3

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

Kevin! Where are you, my boy!?

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

Chapter 3

“This is your apartment?” Bee asked.

“What’s with the attitude?” I replied. “You live in a mansion or something?”

“It’s probably the meth-lab vibes it’s giving off,” Panda remarked.

We stood out in front of the old four-story apartment block that I’d called home before my eviction. It had an ugly off-white façade of wooden boards and a red-brick foundation. The narrow windows were dirty and pee-colored stains ran down the walls below the air-conditioning units that sprouted the bottom of windows here-and-there. Most of the blinds were shut and the power was clearly off. Still, the warm glow of candlelight was visible through two of the shuttered windows.

The block was placed in a strange spot, since all the other houses around it were all designed for one family and cost three-to-four times as much per month to live in. Not to mention, they were all two- or three-stories tall as well, with nice yards, garages, and colorful stainless exteriors. Perhaps the apartments strange spot was what had made it feel special. Like an island for poor bastards like me to live in, while being surrounded by those who could afford to look down on me.

I looked up to the top floor apartment on the corner.

“They took down the newspapers I covered the windows with,” I complained.

“Big surprise,” Panda replied.

“This apartment is kind of infamous,” Bee said. “There’s been like two murders here in the last four years.”

“Must’ve been after your time,” Panda said.

“I don’t remember,” I replied.

I looked around at the narrow grass lawn that surrounded the entrance. There was no sign of Kevin anywhere. Although there was a chance he was waiting for me inside.

“Let’s go see if my stuff is still here,” I told Bee.

She gave me a look, but didn’t say anything, dutifully following me as I walked through the rusty fence gate and went up to the front door.

I grabbed the handle and twisted it, but it was locked.

I yanked on it a bit harder, and the entire handle came off.

“Woops.”

With a small punch against the lock, I created a hole in the door and frame, destroying the mechanism and opening the door.

“How’d you do that?” Bee asked, surprised. “Is your balloon glove magical?”

“He is,” I replied.

“He?”

“His name is Brock. He’s Australian… I think.”

“Does he talk?”

“Usually, but not at the moment. He’ll start talking when the Great Game begins tomorrow… I think.”

I tapped the quartz box in my front pocket. “This is a transport cage holding my familiar Lordie.”

“Does he also talk?”

“Kind of,” I said. “Although, most people can’t understand him. Also, he sounds like Morgan Freeman.”

“What kind of familiar is he?” she asked as we walked through the lobby hallway to the staircase leading up.

“He’s a hand-spider thing. He’s got seven fingers and a mouth in his palm. His favorite food is Twizzlers.”

“Cool. Do I also have to wait until tomorrow to meet him?”

“Yeah.”

We reached the second floor and Bee’s shoes made a little bit of noise as they scraped along the floor. The noise caused hushed voices to flare up from behind a nearby door and I was pretty sure I heard the sound of a crossbow being loaded. No doubt the people who’d survived here in the last six days had learnt to fend off intruders.

Instead of sticking around, we hurried up to the third floor where the smell of weed was pungent in the air, along with the stench of fermenting garbage.

“Bob’s still here,” I realized. “That guy has lived here for at least 10 years, and I haven’t ever seen him face-to-face. We used to sometimes talk through the door though.”

“No one here seems to have fortified their homes,” Bee said. “A lot of our neighbors did that. My parents too. But it didn’t really help them when Milton’s gang came through…”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I started as we went up to the fourth floor. “Why were you trying to kill him in the bathroom? It sounded like he was already fighting for his life before you pulled your improvised shiv on him.”

“He was in the bathroom because of me,” she said. “I mixed laxatives and detergent into his beer. I was about to sneak into the bathroom when no one was looking and… well, anyway, then you stormed into the hideout and killed everybody. I’d been pretending to be their friend for a couple days in order to get close enough to him.”

“Damn,” I muttered.

“I know, revenge isn’t good.”

“What? No, no, that’s not what I meant. I was just surprised at how well you planned it all out.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Panda scolded me from where he was sitting on Bee’s shoulder. “You know very well that revenge is bad.”

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” I told Bee.

“Who?”

“Oh right, you still can’t hear Panda.”

“What’s he saying?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing useful. Just stupid stuff about how revenge is bad.”

“Oy!” Panda complained.

“Personally, I think revenge is great!” I said. “I’m really looking forward to killing the Mayor and Chief of Police again later today.”

Bee nodded. “I’m glad Milton’s dead.”

Panda sighed. “You had the chance to steer her away from the morally-evil path and you already blew it…”

We came to a stop in front of my apartment.

“The door looks different,” I commented.

“That’s because you destroyed the last one,” Panda said.

“‘Rodriguez’,” Bee read out loud, looking at the name on the door. “Is that your surname?”

“I’m not Mexican!” I exclaimed.

She took a step back in surprise at my outburst. “I didn’t say you were…”

I sighed. “Sorry Bee, it’s a sore spot for me. Also no, it’s not my last name.”

Feet pounded on the floor inside the apartment as someone ran to the door. The lock was turned and the door flung open.

“Lucas!?” shouted a disheveled-looking woman in her mid-thirties.

She paused when she saw me standing there.

Then she suddenly realized that we might not be here for a friendly visit and immediately slammed the door shut. However, I was quick enough to jam Brock in-between the doorframe and the door, stopping her from closing it.

“I don’t have any money!” she screamed, while yanking on the door with all her weight.

I didn’t even feel it crushing my hand thanks to the balloon glove.

“We’re not here to rob you,” I told her. “I’m just looking for Kevin.”

She stopped pulling, and her head appeared in the crack of the door for a moment to ask, “Did they take your child as well?”

“They did. Damn Skinstealers.”

“Skinstealers?” she asked.

Panda sighed loudly.

“What’s a Skinstealer?” Bee asked as well.

At her voice, the woman turn her attention to the teen. “You’re the first kid I’ve seen since Lucas disappeared along with his friends.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m sixteen.”

“Did your friends also disappear?” she asked.

“They did.”

“Do you want to come in? I’ve got some food and clean water I can share.”

Bee shook her head. “We’re just here to look for Gambit’s friend.”

“He was more than a friend,” I said. “He was family.”

“Seriously Gambit, knock this shit off. Your goddamn toad isn’t here!”

“You don’t know that,” I told him. “And he’s a frog not a toad.”

I turned back to the woman and asked, “Have you seen a bullfrog with a collar that has the name ‘Kevin’ on it? I used to live in your apartment, so I thought he might’ve come back here to find me.”

“You put a collar on a frog?” Bee asked, sounding impressed.

“I thought you said it was your child,” the woman replied. “But no… I haven’t seen any frogs around here. Or dogs or cats. It’s like all the animals disappeared too…”

I sighed deeply. “Damn, I was really hoping I’d find him here.”

“He might’ve gone to a pond or a lake,” Bee said, trying to cheer me up.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t give up hope.”

“Gambit, for fuck’s sake, forget the damn toad! You’ve gotta get going and find our friends before the Great Game starts, remember?”

I ignored him and looked at Rodriguez. “I’ll save your son soon, don’t you worry. The ants kidnapped them all, but I’ll free them.”

Although she was probably wondering what I meant by ants, she clearly believed in the conviction of my voice, since she didn’t say anything and just nodded.

“Also, try to get some weapons for tomorrow,” I advised.

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

“The Great Game begins.”

***

We walked north towards downtown, traversing the piled-up cars on the roads, while keeping an eye out for ambushes. According to Rodriguez, the big roads and even some smaller streets, were all controlled by gangs demanding ‘tolls’ from anyone wanting to pass.

Through either good timing or luck, we managed to make it quite far before we encountered our first such ambush. We’d made it to an overpass that crossed the highway from Madeville. There were off-and-on-ramps on either side, but these were totally clogged with cars. The cars abandoned along the overpass were pushed aside and created a straight path across, unlike the highway below which was a total disorganized mess that would be much harder to cross.

“I wonder if one of the busses did this,” Panda said. “They seem pretty sturdy. Unnaturally-so.”

Before I could respond, two figures jumped down from between the piled-up cars and blocked the way in front of us, with two more appearing behind us, sealing us in. Lastly, three guys climbed up the ‘walls’ made by the cars and looked down at us.

They were all dressed like leather-loving wannabe bikers, with bald heads, fat-rolls in the back of their necks, and belts with elaborate and polished steel buckles. They wielded baseball bats and knives and were doing that ‘we’re the bad guys’ laugh as they closed in on us.

“Well, well, well,” said one of them standing above. He had a tattoo of a lipstick kiss on his forehead which was very distracting. “Look who walked into our turf. Hope you weren’t planning on crossing our bridge without paying.”

Bee hugged the katana she’d looted from the PP Gang. “It’s not a bridge,” she muttered quietly.

“Bet I can guess what your fetish is!” I blurted out, pointing at forehead guy.

“Oh, you’re a jokester? You’ll find that—”

“Pup-play!” I yelled, interrupting him.

They all stopped laughing and looked at each other in embarrassment.

“I think you nailed it,” Panda remarked.

“It’s okay guys, now’s the time to embrace your true selves,” I told them.

Before any of them could figure out how to respond, I punched the car that forehead guy was standing on. Nothing happened. Not even a sound emerged. I instinctively knew that Damage Delay had triggered, so I immediately ran at the guys in front of us. I leapt at the one on the right and drove my fist into his stomach.

Then the car shot into the low concrete wall and went airborne as it flew off the overpass, taking forehead guy with it.

I smashed my right elbow into the left guy before he could react, immediately knocking him into one of the abandoned cars. As he fell onto the ground unconsciously, the other one was sent flying as well from my delayed punch.

Bee ran up to me, brandishing the katana and looking back at the wannabe bikers.

“They’re not worth any experience,” I told her. “Let’s just get out of here.”

She didn’t question my argument and together we ran across the overpass, while the pup-play gang put up a half-hearted attempt to chase after us, severely confused by what they’d just witnessed.

***

After half an hour, we reached the outskirts of downtown. I’d purposefully gone slow to allow Bee to keep up. Although it would probably have been more efficient if I just put her on my back and ran as fast as I could.

“Yeah, don’t do that…” Panda told me. “She still doesn’t fully trust you yet. Also, she’s got a sword.”

We’d passed by a restaurant and a small elementary school that both had the lights on, as well as people guarding them from outsiders and gangs. It felt kind of strange seeing so many people out and about, and I had to wonder just how many of them would die as soon as the Great Game began. It seemed like most of the survivors I’d encountered before going back in time had been people who’d either been lucky or hadn’t been inside a public facility when they were all turned to dungeons.

“You know, it’s quite an insidious trap,” I said.

“What is?” Bee asked, as she looked through a duffle bag on the back seat of a car that hadn’t yet been broken into.

“The Great Game. They turn the places with lights on into dungeons, which means all the people inside those buildings become monsters. The same thing happens with the busses, trains, and other public transportation.”

“Even planes?” Bee asked, pulling her head out of the car and holding a jar of pickles.

“Planes?” I repeated.

“Yeah, I saw a plane two days ago. It flew very low over the city.”

“Gambit, I don’t want to alarm you,” Panda started, “but a plane monster is absolutely going to destroy Castleburg…”

“I wonder if anyone was on it,” I said. “But anyway, I don’t know about plane monsters. I haven’t encountered one of those. However, the metro to Madeville turned into a giant serpent thing with arms that spoke Japanese. It was called something weird, like Chichi Chika.”

“Hitokui Chika,” Panda corrected me.

“Oh right, ‘Hitokui Chika’,” I repeated.

“‘Underground man-eater’?” Bee said. “That’s a gruesome name. But why Japanese?”

“Apparently the metro was made by a Japanese company,” I said with a shrug. “You were always translating the creepy things it said. Stuff like ‘Stop running and get in my belly’.”

“Maybe you really are from the future,” Bee said. “Only my friends know I speak Japanese.”

I put Brock’s purple thumb against my chest and said, “I’m the real deal.”

“So, who are we looking for in downtown?”

“Samantha. She should be working in one of those ugly office towers. She’s a total asshole though.”

“Then why are you trying to find her?”

“She got killed in the future, so I’m trying to fix that. She’s one of those disgusting ‘Greater Good’ types, but she was at least trying to help people a little, which is more than most were doing.”

“What about me? Do I also die in the future? Is that why you’ve come back, to save people who died?”

“It’s kind of a long story to be honest. It’ll make more sense once you can see Panda, since he’ll be able to explain it better than me.”

“I’ll be able to see him?”

“Yep.”

“You’re not gonna tell her about the insanity thing?” Panda asked, his tone suspicious. “Wait, are you going to make her inspect me with the looking glass again!?”

I ignored him, while trying to look around for an office building that looked like it might still have power on. After all, if Samantha was still working despite the apocalypse, I figured she’d have chosen a building where the lights were on.

“Oy!” Panda yelled, trying to get me to acknowledge him.

I power-walked away from Bee whose shoulder he was sitting on, while he kept yelling at me to look at him.

I rounded a corner and bumped right into a short woman with glasses and a clipboard. She wore a brown business suit and skirt, and strapped around her left leg was a machete.

“Didn’t see you there,” I said, helping her back up. Her eyes were wide as she took in my appearance, and I was worried she’d pull her weapon on me.

“What are you doing, Camilla!” came the sound of a familiar voice.

Then loud clicking of heels approached as a woman with a blonde perm, a blue suit, and a pen behind her right ear walked up to us. At the same time Bee caught up to me as well, bringing Panda with him.

He immediately stopped his complaining when he saw the woman.

“Well, that was easy,” he deadpanned.

“Samantha!” I shouted excitedly.

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Eight

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

I did it! I actually managed to finish the chapter before 1 AM! XD

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

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“That was Nelly’s favourite tree,” Lucca muttered as Adam approached the counter of her stall.

“I’ve already apologised,” he said.

The large spider leaned closer to him.

“You possess a powerful Relic, I can sense it.”

“Are you talking about the Abyssal Tooth?”

“I don’t know what that is. Show me.”

Adam manifested the tooth in his hand and the spider pulled back immediately as though it was painful to be close to it.

“I cannot buy this. It is foul. Take it away.”

Even someone as sinister-looking as Lucca doesn’t like it. Quite the endorsement…

“I’m here to look at the Relics you have for sale.”

“Of course you are,” she replied, then she gestured to the black chest next to her and it started glowing.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Bone Armour (Uncommon) — Increases Player Defence by 30%. Breaks after 6 hits >

< Potion Belt (Uncommon) — Carries up to three potions and makes them indestructible | Uses the right-most potion when its associated resource is exhausted >

< Yellow Trophy (Rare) — Increase Player Speed by 15% for 10 seconds. 2-minute cooldown >

< Blink Ring (Uncommon) — Charged attacks are performed instantaneously when you blink >

Hmm, Blink Ring might work with the wand. The Bone Armour is also not a bad idea perhaps.

“Can I wear the armour and still keep my crown?”

[No.]

Damn.

“I’ll buy a reroll.”

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

< 2605 Points Remaining >

The chest closed and opened again. This time there was an epic.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Curse-Giver Necklace (Rare) — Magical attacks inflict Curse, increasing damage taken by 10% >

< Hobgoblin Pendant (Epic) — Player becomes immune to pain | Survive a fatal hit. Relic breaks if triggered >

< Echo Earring (Uncommon) — All trigger effects activate twice >

< Spellburn Glove (Uncommon) — Spells are infused with fire. Breaks after 4 uses. >

That’s the pendant that Lenard got in the last loop.

He recalled the fight with the Hobgoblin Lord.

Being able to survive a fatal hit is good, but the way it actually works isn’t. Just because you survive the fatal hit, it doesn’t mean it actually heals you back to full. It’s basically just delaying the inevitable at that point.

The Echo Earring is potentially interesting though. I think it would make my summons explode twice, which could be powerful. It might also trigger the Wraith Lantern twice, though I need to test how that one actually works. However, Willow told me that it also doubles the enemies’ triggers, which makes a lot of them way scarier suddenly.

“Does the Curse-Giver Necklace’s effect stack?”

[No. The effect can only be applied once. The Curse affliction lasts until the end of the Stage.]

So it’s just a flat boost in power, not as good as I thought. Although the fact that it lasts an entire Stage is quite interesting.

“I think I’ll just buy two Reroll Dice.”

“You don’t want to try your luck with another roll?” asked Lucca.

“Yeah, I’m good…”

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) x2 >

< 2405 Points Remaining >

Still 2400 remaining. That’s pretty good.

“See you tomorrow,” said the spider as Adam went over to the red-brown cockroach’s stall.

“Hey, Belin,” he said.

“Hello Adam, are you looking for potions or temporary boosts?”

He thought about it for a moment.

The roots only increase one stat by 10%. I’d like to get more Health, but it would only put me at 55… I guess I don’t need potions either, since I can find one in Stage Three next to the dead driver.

“Actually, nevermind,” he said and went over to the smith.

“Are you looking for weapon upgrades?” Thea asked. “I see you have a new wand.”

Adam took the wand from his belt. “Sure, might as well see what kind of stuff it gets.”

Thea gestured to the anvil and four symbols appeared. All of them pictured the wand, which was peculiar, since he’d expected the Relic to get upgrades too.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

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

< Spell Size (Rare) — Increases spell size by 45% >

< Casting Effect (Uncommon) — Increases casting responsiveness by 20% >

< Casting Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces casting cost by 10% >

It seems to follow the Warder’s upgrades. Although…

“These upgrades, are they really only bound to the weapon? They seem a lot broader than normal.”

[Weapon upgrades encompass all weapons and types of attack that is described within their text.]

“So, since it says it increases spell damage, that would mean anything considered a spell?”

[Yes.]

Then perhaps that’s the true strength of the Summoner? The wording of its upgrades broadly affect way more than just the wand. I suppose that’s why my manipulation effect from the Spell-Tome is making it easier to shape the chair in the Tavern?

I wonder if Emelia knows about this. It seemed like she wrote off the Summoner really easily.

Adam swapped to the Shaper and the upgrades flickered and were replaced.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) — Increases barrier health by 20% >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

< Manipulation Range (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation range by 20% >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 20% >

Perhaps Manipulation Effect would influence how the wraith from the Relic works? Although probably not, since it sounds like I can’t actually manipulate it.

He wasn’t sure if he should buy an upgrade or save his Points, so he mentally prompted his armament to appear.

< < Weapon Status > >

< 1 >

< Spell-Tome >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 10 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Barrier Durability 90% >

< Barrier Efficiency 20% >

< Manipulation Effect 75% >

< Manipulation Speed 55% >

< 2 >

< Summoner >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 0 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< — — — >

Getting the Manipulation Effect would put me pretty close to 100% and I feel like I’m right on the cusp of being able to fold the barrier in half and coil it into a tube.

But if I get it, then I only have 1955 left to spend on Luvicidix. Although I think I need 4000 or so to unlock the Relic Saving upgrade anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter since I’m still 2000 Points short.

“I’ll buy the Manipulation Effect upgrade.”

“Understood,” Thea replied.

< < Weapon Upgrade Purchased > >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) >

< 1955 Points Remaining >

One more upgrade and I can evolve the Shaper, though I think I’ll hold off until I feel like I’ve mastered the shaping a bit more. I think that it’d benefit from upgrading the Summoner anyway. Although next Stage I’m focusing on Health and Defence upgrades. It’s still way too risky for me to run around with just 50 Health. All of the mini bosses in Stage Four will literally one-shot me.

Adam summoned a barrier as he left the Market. Migraine the goblin walked past him right when he reached the fountain. He was heading for Weaver’s stall for some reason.

After watching the goblin for a moment, Adam walked past Yenna who’d switched out the hangpan for a guitar.

He paused and looked at her. “Can you play Ana Vidovic’s cover of Asturias?”

“Of course, Adam,” said the wasp.

He grinned as she started playing the frenetic rhythm.

“Watch this,” he told her and focused all his attention on the barrier.

His brain did a somersault and a pirouette, but then it was like he’d cracked the code, because the barrier coiled itself into a tube.

Fuck yes!

Adam grabbed it with his metal gauntlets as it floated at eye-height. With one final flourish of pure concentration he curved the tube into a half-moon shape, forming a handle.

Then he pushed it forward, dragging himself towards the centre of the island while holding on like he was a windsurfer and the cobblestones were his waves.

Dust shot out from the heels of his shoes as he skated across the island’s streets. The Eye floated along beside him, not making a single comment about his ingenious transportation method.

The handle-bar shape held so long as he focused on it entirely, which meant that when he tripped over a root protruding out from the middle of a narrow street, the barrier lost its coherence and unfolded back into a large square. Its sudden transformation cut a long rend in the wall of a dumpy-looking house and nearly took his right hand off at the wrist.

Adam lifted himself off the ground.

Think I’ll stick to pushing from the back…

He formed the barrier back into a tube and jogged the last bit to the island centre, while playing around with the shaping. He knew he needed to practice more so that he’d be able to do the transformations intuitively and not be locked down by having to concentrate on the barrier the entire time. It would be especially crucial when he was fighting a lot of enemies at once.

When he reached the centre of Interim, silver scales fluttered down around him and the Eye froze in its tracks. Then the great white moth alighted on the edge of a roof in front of him.

“Hello again, Adam,” she greeted. “You have visited the deep place below the island’s surface I hear. Amusing, isn’t it? Even this island holds secrets for you to find.”

“Are there other hidden Envoys?” he asked.

The moth shrugged, somehow.

“Who can say?”

She hopped down onto the cobblestone street and towered over him.

“You’ve come for upgrades, right? You should hurry up before the sun sets.”

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” he replied. “You’ve stopped time after all.”

“It would be a good idea not to abuse time. It can get cranky if you don’t take it seriously.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Luvicidix waved an arm and her upgrades appeared. It was clear she didn’t want to stick around for too long. He wondered why.

< < 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 — 1040/5000 Points >

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

“I’ll put all my remaining Points into Relic Saving.”

“Expedient. I appreciate that.”

“Seriously though, where are you going?”

“Wherever the sun takes me,” she replied cryptically.

“Is that supposed to be a pun based on ‘moth’s to a flame’?”

The moth did not reply and instead his upgrade progress popped up.

< < Meta Upgrades Progress > >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 1 Saved Relic Slot — 2995/5000 Points >

“Since you have no Points left, I will take my leave. See you tomorrow,” Luvicidix told him.

“Later.”

As the moth flew off into the orange sunset-stained clouds, time unfroze and Adam looked towards the Tavern. But first he wanted to practice his new weapon at the Player House.

***

As predicted, using the wand was quite finicky. He’d spent the last 30 minutes just practising the three spell patterns, and it’d taken him nearly half that time to just get one to fire back-to-back.

I wonder if the Casting Effect would make the spells fire more consistently.

Fortunately, the spells only used Mana when they succeeded. But they were expensive. Each cost 25 Mana per cast and only one dealt damage.

The first one had a pattern that was like a square spiral with a half-moon at the very middle. It was performed from the outside moving in and even the slightest deviation caused it to malfunction. This was the one he felt the most comfortable casting though. When it succeeded, a grape-sized ball of violet energy fired in a straight line from where his wand aimed when he finished the pattern.

It took two hits against the straw dummy to destroy it.

When it broke, a tiny white firefly flew from its ruined remains and into the Wraith Lantern. Adam had absorbed the essence of four straw dummies so far and the Relic had yet to activate.

< < 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 >

Maybe the dummy doesn’t count?

Would make it difficult to practice with though.

Adam looked at the lantern that hung from the front of his belt like a trinket. The four white fireflies circled the pale-blue flame inside.

He focused on the rebuilt dummy and prepared to try out a different spell pattern. Besides from the Bolt spell, which he felt he was already quite proficient with, was the Push and Snare patterns. These two didn’t deal any damage and were focused on utility. Although the Push pattern could be used to potentially kill enemies by flinging them against things or off of high places.

Adam moved the wand through the pentagram pattern for the Push spell, before stabbing the wand through the middle.

Nothing happened, so he tried again.

And again.

On the fourth try, he succeeded and a blast of air moved through the dummy, knocking it over and dispersing against the back wall of the house.

Adam figured it might also work as a counter-projectile spell, but, if he couldn’t master it, then he was better off using the barrier to protect himself.

The dummy reformed itself back into an upright position. It didn’t count as a ‘kill’, so he didn’t get any Soul Essence for knocking it over.

Next he tried the Snare spell. This was by far the hardest one to use. He had to hold the wand vertical for the start of the spell while spinning it in increasingly-bigger circles and moving it down. To actually fire it, he needed to transition into a horizontal whipping motion.

He’d only managed to get it to work once so far and the effect was that violet rope emerged from the ground and tied itself around the bottom of the dummy, which would probably slow a moving target or trip them up.

After five more minutes of failing to cast the spell, Adam gave up and switched to his Spell-Tome, finishing off the dummy with a simple chopping gesture.

As it broke apart, the Soul Essence firefly flew out from the severed remains and into the Wraith Lantern.

A heart-stopping shriek filled the Player House and the temperature dropped several degrees.

Then a vague pale-blue ghost of a monstrous woman with large clawed hands emerged from the Relic and flew across the room at the reformed dummy. Her bottom-half was gone and the upper-half was so blurry that he couldn’t make out the features. The face had two black holes for eyes and a screaming mouth. From her abdomen was a very fine string that tied her to the hovering flame still inside the lantern. Her passage left snowflakes on the floor.

The wraith swiped her claws through the dummy as she flew right into its straw torso. Frost immediately covered the target dummy and the claws had torn open its body.

That’s pretty strong, he considered.

But then the true brilliance of his current build made itself known, as the wraith, instead of dissipating, gained a red outline and went absolutely berserk. It swiped through the dummy until it broke apart, then a new one replaced it only to be torn apart as well. To really top it off, the kills sent fireflies back into Adam’s lantern.

Just when the duration of his crown’s Last Stand’s Fervour wore off and the wraith exploded, a second one shot out from his lantern to attack. The death explosion from the wraith covered everything in a 3-metre diameter with ice.

“Stop respawning the dummies,” Adam told the Eye, since he didn’t want to have the wraith spawn endlessly, which seemed the case as the second one had already made its third kill.

[Understood.]

When the dummy didn’t respawn, the wraith hovered in the air for a moment, red-glowing and angry. Then it was reeled back into the lantern instead of exploding.

He still needed to practice more and he wanted to see how the wraith fared against the slimes and goblins, but for now he was quite satisfied with having purchased the Summoner. It was quite obvious that Emelia had no idea about its potential.

And if I can get the summoning Relic from Stage Three’s boss, then I’ll become a one-man army for sure!

Adam was in a good mood as he left the Player House and went towards the Tavern to meet up with his new friends. The silver light of the moon above guided his way through the streets.

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Seven

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

I've been working my butt off for the launch of Madman Apocalypse that I'm self-publishing, with book 1 arriving May 1st, but I didn't budget my time properly and it affected my writing schedule on Loopshard this week. I'm very sorry about that.

I'm working on chapter 38 at the moment. I'll try to have it out later today.

Once again, sorry for the delay and thank you for the understanding!

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

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Higher purpose?” Adam asked, trying not to let the giant creature intimidate him.

One of Skǫll’s arms slithered closer to him and he immediately summoned a barrier between them.

“Don’t touch me,” he said.

“My vision is not what it used to be. It is hard for me to get a taste of the world without my arms.”

“Just keep your suction cups to yourself and answer the question,” he told the octopus. “You’re a vendor, right? So, show me what you have for sale.”

“I am no mere merchant, Adam.”

“What I offer is salvation.”

Adam noticed that the arm that was on the other side of the barrier was holding something. It looked like a sabre-tooth’s upper canine and it was as long as his forearm. Unlike a normal tooth, it was black and reflective like obsidian, with deep-blue lines running down its length and pulsing softly.

He moved the barrier to the side and Skǫll lifted the large tooth closer to him.

Adam looked to the Eye for guidance, but realised it was nowhere to be seen.

Where did it go??

“What is this thing?” he asked, apprehensive about accepting the offering and yet curious about what power it might hold.

“An Abyssal Tooth. All willing adherents who finds this deep place are gifted this tool for their pilgrimage. It is to be the start of their journey towards the Dark Abyss.”

“You’ve gotta explain it better than that,” he said. “Is it a weapon?”

“It is a sacrificial Relic that allows you to obtain a reward in exchange for an offering.”

Adam frowned at the way the octopus worded its explanation. But, despite his apprehension, he reached for the blue-veined black tooth. As soon as his fingers touched it, he felt a surge of energy flow into his right hand and the tooth disappeared from the octopus’ grip.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > >

< Abyssal Tooth (Legendary) — Stab into the lifeless body of a suitable sacrifice to obtain a Soul Drop and curry favour with the Dweller in the Deep. Sacrifices are permanently removed from the Trials of Defiance >

No wonder Emelia didn’t want me to use this… It sounds like it’s made for Player-Killers. Since she’s aiming to save as many people as possible, anyone actively using this would be an enemy to her.

“Do you know about the Self-devouring Eye?” Adam asked Skǫll. Given the wording, he was unsure how it worked with time-loops.

“The Watcher’s insidious little hooked bait? Lord Nwetrou is most displeased with it.”

It too knows it’s a trap?

“Why?”

“Lord Nwetrou finds it to be a mockery of their benevolence. Those who use the Self-devouring Eye to return in time will often seek a new benevolence rather than honouring the Great One they worshipped before. The Watcher guards those traitorous adherents from their rightful retribution, but my Lord will have his vengeance on them. Take care that you do not displease Lord Nwetrou and become a target of his righteous ire.”

Adam wasn’t sure what the octopus meant by that, though he guessed it was something to do with the sacrifices perhaps.

“So, if I sacrifice someone with the Abyssal Tooth, that sacrifice is undone by looping back in time using the Eye?”

The octopus quivered. “Lord Nwetrou would be most displeased if such were the case, but the Watcher was wise enough to know that undoing offerings would cause great harm.”

“Are you saying that if I sacrifice another Player and then go back in time, they won’t return?”

“They will remain in the embrace of the Dark Abyss and its Lord.”

Shit…

So, the problem is way worse than this item just creating Player-Killers…

I’m starting to think that this is what Mórrígan meant when she said she’d dealt with Haoyang, Emelia, and Arturo. After all, if you are going through loop-after-loop and have people you want to get rid of, using the Tooth instead of the Challenge Stone means you don’t have to deal with them more than once. But the consequences are dire…

The reason why Emelia was so worried about me using this has to be because she knows it might fuck up her ability to control what happens in the loops.

I wonder if she’s ever used it…

Adam looked at his right hand, turning it this and that way. He was pretty sure the Relic had attached itself to his arm, but he couldn’t see any sign of it.

Where did it go?

But then he noticed.

His thumb had a tiny obsidian-black scale poking out of the skin just below the nail.

Adam focused on it and then the entire Abyssal Tooth emerged from his finger and into the palm of his hand. He winced as it felt like he was pulling out a fingernail, roots and all.

He looked at the cruel object. It was cold to the touch and vibrated gently with each pulse of the dark-blue veins, almost like the sensations of waves against a shore.

I don’t think its effect transcends universes like me, otherwise Emelia and Arturo probably wouldn’t exist here because of Mórrígan from my last loop. So, even though I would definitely mess up this universe and Emelia’s plans by using it, I would benefit from knowing how it works.

And if the rewards I can get from Skǫll are actually powerful, then…

Adam shook his head.

I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

And besides, I’m fairly sure the Abyssal Tooth is just a different kind of trap. Just because the octopus says his master doesn’t like time-looping, it doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t himself do something to fuck over Players and screw up their chances at beating the Trials.

Plus, adherents and sacrifices are no doubt a way for this Dweller in the Deep to grow in power, so it would benefit him by having as many Players use the Tooth as possible. I wonder if the All-Seeing System has a say in this? Perhaps putting this octopus down here is a way to limit the potential damage it might cause?

“If I were to use it, how exactly would I do it? And what defines a ‘suitable’ sacrifice?”

“A suitable sacrifice must be a sapient creature slain by your hand.”

“Can I sacrifice the enemies I encounter in the Stages?”

“They are not sapient. They are but facsimiles created by the Watcher for the Trials.”

“There are facsimiles that are allowed greater freedom. These may be worthy offerings, although they do not grant Soul Drops in return.”

Does that refer to the Denizens like Yenna? But what would be the point of sacrificing them if there’s nothing to be gained in return except for ‘Nwetrou’s Favour’?

“What happens if I try to sacrifice someone unworthy?”

“The offering will be rejected.”

“What if I try to sacrifice someone who worships your Lord as well? Would I be punished?”

After all, if there’s a protection in place, it would be hard to deal with those who use the Abyssal Tooth…

The octopus quivered. “Adherents of Lord Nwetrou are not exempt from the maw of the Dark Abyss.”

Adam instinctively took a step back.

“Fret not, Adam. As an Envoy of the Dark Abyss, I would not devour his adherents.”

Sounds like that’s the only thing stopping him…

“So, these Soul Drops, what can I use them for?”

A different tentacle arm moved in front of him and then five small holograms appeared in the air: a suit of obsidian plate armour that looked to be covered in barnacles and seaweed; a strange-looking sword; a rusty shield with what looked like a shark’s mouth engraved into the front; a staff with a blue tear-drop-shaped gem at the top; and lastly an orb-shaped Relic that had a similar appearance to the Abyssal Tooth.

< < Abyssal Gifts > >

< Abyssal Raiment — 10 Soul Drops >

< Dweller’s Claw — 15 Soul Drops >

< Maw of the Deep — 15 Soul Drops >

< Call of the Devourer — 20 Soul Drops >

< Eye of Lord Nwetrou — 40 Soul Drops >

That’s a lot of sacrifices to unlock it all…

That last one has to be powerful. Anything with eye-based symbolism in the Trials is always super strong or significant somehow.

“Can you explain what each of these ‘gifts’ are?”

“An adherent must have faith in the benevolence of Lord Nwetrou.”

“Is that a ‘no’?”

“Pledge yourself to my Lord and I will share his secrets.”

“And how do I do that?”

The giant octopus paused.

“What?” he asked.

“I am not allowed to tell you. The Watcher has forbidden it.”

Adam almost burst out laughing at the irony.

For all the things the octopus said, it is as beholden to the System and its rules as everyone else!

That probably means that this Nwetrou doesn’t have as much power as the All-Seeing System, or ‘the Watcher’ as Skǫll calls it.

Adam looked past the green-ringed octopus to the doors set into the cavern wall where it’d been waiting when he entered the chamber.

“Where do those lead?”

“I am not allowed to tell you.”

“Frustrating, isn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, even as an Envoy of my Lord, I am considered beholden to the Trials and their rules.”

Adam moved around the side of the octopus and it dutifully gave him enough space to inspect the recessed doorways in the wall. To call them doors was perhaps a bit too generous. They were simply rectangular shapes engraved into the perfectly-flat cave wall. Each door had round holes in the middle.

Looks like I could fit an elemental core inside those.

He moved a bit closer and looked into one of the holes, but because of the darkness it was impossible to tell if there was anything special inside, like a keyhole or something. Cautiously, Adam poked his index finger inside one. The round recess was perfectly smooth, except for the back where something protruded slightly, almost like a symbol.

I wonder what that is.

Adam turned back to face the giant octopus, which was over by the jet-black pond and had a tentacle dipped into its water.

“Do you have a light?”

“To an adherent of Lord Nwetrou, this darkness would be no challenge to overcome.”

Adam sighed. Guess I could just bring a torch or something.

Anyway, I’ve spent enough time here. I should go to the market.

He walked towards the exit, but paused to look back at the doors.

There are more secrets down here to discover, but I’ll have to explore later. Perhaps Gladwyn and Beck found out more in their own search.

The giant octopus used its arms to follow him across the chamber as he left, pausing just before the threshold into the tunnel leading to freedom. Part of him was glad that it did not leave its cave, but knowing how octopuses were capable of manoeuvring through tiny gaps made it clear that the tunnel wouldn’t actually stop it from leaving if it wanted to.

“I will await your return, Adam,” Skǫll said, the floor quivering under Adam from its voice.

He almost ran out of the tunnel, as though scared the octopus might suddenly change its mind and pull him back into the darkness.

That was definitely not what I expected to find…

I wonder if there are other weird Envoys like Skǫll hidden on the island.

Maybe once the houses are full formed they can be accessed to find more secrets?

But that would require a lot more people to die…

As he made it out of the tunnel and onto the protruding platform, he found the Eye awaiting him.

“You scared of octopuses?” he asked it.

[As per the covenant between the All-Seeing System and The Devourer of Suns, I am not allowed to enter its domain.]

“So, the cave is like their embassy?”

[In a manner of speaking.]

Adam eyed the rope.

Thank God it’s still here…

His eyes ran up the cliff wall. Eight metres looked a lot worse from below than from above he thought.

Well, best get going.

The trip back up the rope was way scarier than going down, even though he kept his eyes fixed on the cliff-side the entire way up. As predicted, it also took him way longer, and he felt his arms and shoulders burn with fatigue when he finally pulled himself back up onto the surface.

The sun was preparing the final leg of its daily journey to the horizon.

I’ve gotta hurry.

***

Adam came to a halt in front of Thea’s stall.

“Good timing,” she said. “I have just completed the repair.”

The beetle smith handed him the crown. It was now a matte dark-grey colour and returned to a normal shape, rather than the bent and twisted form it’d taken upon the Hobgoblin’s brow.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< 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% >

Adam grinned as he slipped the crown on his head.

This is way stronger than any Rare Relic I’ve encountered before!

He summoned his barrier. It still looked like when he’d evolved to Shaper, a white slightly-translucent colour. Wanting to test out the new effect, he left the stalls and went over to one of the trees near the northern edge of the island.

With four aggressive chops against one of the trees, a large crack formed in the barrier and the whole thing turned red, while steam of the same colour evaporated off its exterior.

He swung the barrier against the tree again and it was noticeably faster now. Not to mention, it didn’t break. After three additional strikes, the tree, which was about as wide as Adam’s torso, was chopped 70% through. It bent and broke under its own weight, before falling off the edge.

Holy shit!

The real benefit of the Last Stand’s Fervour wasn’t the speed and damage, but rather the 10 second invulnerability.

I’ve gotta pick the Summoner as my secondary Weapon Type!

Then the barrier exploded like a grenade made of glass. Fortunately, it was positioned in a way that most of the shrapnel flew over the edge of the island and the rest plinked harmlessly against the cobblestones.

Woops. Forgot about the gauntlets’ effect…

The insects manning the stalls all looked a bit worried as he returned from destroying the scenery.

“Adam, the target dummy in your Player House is meant for practice, not our beautiful trees!” Thea scolded him as he went over to the silverfish’s stall.

“Sorry!” he shouted back.

Nelly looked at him intently. “That was quite a display!”

“Thank you.”

“A shame you destroyed my favourite tree.”

Adam paused. “Sorry…” he said again.

“Would you like to see what weapons I have for sale again?”

“Absolutely.”

Nelly gestured to the stone block next to her. “Here you go!”

< < Weapon Types For Sale > >

< Duellist (Uncommon) >

< Spellcaster (Uncommon) >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< Summoner (Rare) >

Adam took a deep breath.

It’s a lot of Points, but I’ve got a good feeling about this.

But first I should make sure of something.

“The Wraith Lantern Relic included with the Summoner, does it function when I’m using my Spell-Tome?”

Predictably, the Eye was the one to answer. [It functions like any Relic would. However, unequipping or discarding the Summoner Weapon Type will remove the associated Relic. It is also not possible to sell the Relic.]

“But I can trigger the effect with my other weapon?”

[Yes.]

“Awesome. I’d like to buy the Summoner then.”

< < Weapon Type Purchased > >

< Summoner (Rare) >

< 2705 Points Remaining >

Not gonna lie, spending that many Points really hurts…

The wand appeared attached to Adam’s right hip, hanging from his belt. It looked like two pieces of long and thin bleached wood that’d been coiled together, giving it almost the appearance of a unicorn horn. A string of red lace was tied around the bottom, just above where you’d normally hold it. Along with the wand came the Wraith Lantern. It was quite small, only as long as his hand, and was a black metal cage with glass walls and a disembodied pale-blue flame inside.

With the new weapon came new knowledge. Patterns for three types of wand-based spells appeared in his mind, but not the innate muscle memory associated with performing them. This was different from how most other weapons worked, though similar to the Warder. After all, he had needed to experiment a lot to figure out how to use the barrier, even though he’d known the commands.

I can see why this would cause a lot of people to die in Stage One.

If you are cast into the Trials, having no clue what the fuck is going on, and then get handed this weapon, you’d probably be completely lost…

He doubted that he would have been able to beat Stage One if he’d gotten this on his first loop.

< < Second Sheath Activated > >

< Would you like to swap to the Summoner Weapon Type? >

“Show me the stats.”

< Summoner >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 50 >

< Mana — 100 >

< Damage — 100% >

< Defence — 75% >

< Speed — 100% >

< Luck — 0 >

This is without my general upgrades it seems. Makes it a bit hard to compare.

“Can you show me the stats, with all my upgrades applied, compared to what I have right now?”

[Understood.]

< Summoner compared to Shaper >

< Level 15 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 50 (-25) >

< Mana — 100 (-100) >

< Damage — 115% (+50) >

< Defence — 75% (-25) >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 100% (+25) >

< Luck — 5 (-5) >

Okay, that makes it much easier to decide.

The only boosts are Damage and Speed… Getting less Mana, Stamina, Defence, and Luck makes it a terrible trade-off.

I wonder why its stats are so terrible…

“I’m sticking with the Shaper Weapon Type.”

< < Second Sheath > >

< Weapon Type set to Shaper >

Adam looked to the sun. He still had maybe forty minutes left before Luvicidix would leave.

He moved on to Lucca’s stall.

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Six

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---Next chapter----

It's been a while, ey ^-^'? Been quite busy with editing this week, but I'm close to done with this round of edits.

I should have two more chapters for y'all this week.

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Chapter Thirty-Six

Adam frowned as he saw that both Finnian and Migraine were sitting inside the Tavern. The slime was gleefully devouring plates of food that the patient ant had brought it. The two denizens were several seats apart and the goblin seemed down about something, but Adam didn’t care enough to ask what it was.

Charlie came over to the door as he and Belamouranthe entered, and Adam placed their orders right away. He could immediately tell that the tavernkeeper was happy to have a child to serve. He still remembered how she’d covered Belamouranthe with a blanket and watched her sleep, and how sad she’d looked when he’d returned after Stage Four without her.

Finnian turned as Adam sat down next to it, turning his stool into a comfortable recliner. The slime’s blank face had been warped into a very simplistic smiley with two holes for eyes and a curved slit as its mouth. He shuddered at the uncanniness of it.

Belamouranthe hopped onto the stool next to him.

“Squire Adam, you’ve returned. Have you brought me any cores?”

“Not today. I might get more tomorrow though.”

“Excellent.”

“If I give you the cores, will the progress be saved if I… y’know?”

He ran his thumb along his throat.

“You would have to ask Luvicidix about that,” it replied.

Suppose I might as well. Just gotta figure out what to do with the Points I have before I seek her out again.

The holograms around him flickered and he saw there were still a lot of despair going around, though a few people seemed to be laughing and having fun while talking to others.

“Show me Willow Martin.”

[I cannot.]

Adam sighed.

At least she’s still alive.

“How many survivors?” he asked.

[498 million Players,] answered the Eye.

That’s 80 million more than last loop if I remember correctly. I wonder if that’s thanks to Emelia.

I wonder if Gladwyn and Beck survived.

He was pretty sure they were both quite capable, but part of him was slightly worried, since they were a fair bit older than him and the goblins weren’t as easy as the slimes.

Show me Gladwyn and Beck, he prompted the Tavern.

[These Players are not currently seated in the Tavern,] announced the Eye.

Maybe they’re already exploring the cave.

I’ll go there afterwards.

But first…

Show me all the Players with the Summoner Weapon Type who obtained at least one achievement from Stage Two.

Only one person appeared. It was a guy with sweat-soaked black hair and a pudgy half-Asian appearance. He was talking to someone animatedly, waving his arms about for emphasis. Adam couldn’t read his lips, but he seemed distressed for some reason.

That’s worrying.

There was something he wanted to try, since he was pretty sure both Emelia and Mórrígan had been doing it the entire time.

Maintain this query and show me all the Players with Spellcaster who obtained at least one achievement from the last Stage.

Seven other Players appeared. Strangely, they were put into focus while the first person with the Summoner weapon was made unfocused.

Weird.

But this works… Kind of handy if you wanna keep tabs on a lot of people.

Also kind of creepy though…

Maintain both of these queries and show me everyone who knows about the Self-devouring Eye.

Emelia appeared further down the table, and the eight other Players went out of focus.

Just then Charlie appeared with their food. Adam was served a shahi paneer in a metal pan with rounded handles and a big spoon. He also got a bowl of rice, a plate of cheese naan, and a mango lassi. Belamouranthe got an enormous porcelain dish with what looked like half a boar’s worth of meat inside the stew within. Even though she was given utensils, she immediately dug into it with her hands like a ravenous beast.

Charlie returned a moment later with a large cloth that she tied loosely around Bel’s neck to create a massive bib. It did absolutely nothing to save her clothes and the floor from the mess. The ant paused a few steps away and just watched the Elphin girl devouring the food.

Adam ate a bit of naan and scooped some of the shahi paneer onto his bowl of rice, eating a few spoonfuls. It was much better than he remembered it, but, then again, Charlie was a wizard when it came to food. Then he looked up and across the table, meeting the eyes of Emelia who was staring right back at him.

A look of surprise crossed her face.

“Are you watching me?” she asked.

The other Players didn’t react to her, so it was clear that the three separate queries were creating three separate voice ‘channels’.

Adam focused on her as he responded. “I could ask the same,” he said.

She ignored the comment. “How did you search for me? Was it by using the achievements? Or my weapons?”

He shook his head.

Although, I suppose querying the Tavern for Players with Second Sheath would be another way to find time-loopers. At least after Stage One. There might be quite a few people with two Mastery Shards who have found the tent at this point.

“I just searched for anyone who’d know about the Divine Relic. You and I are the only two in this world who know of it after all.”

“I see.”

“You could just make it easier for me and give me your full name. You already know mine after all.”

“Perhaps,” she replied. “How did you fare in Stage Two?”

“I got all the achievements in one go.”

She nodded approvingly. “Well done,” she said. He couldn’t tell if she was imitating the Eye or not. “Did you sell all the ears?” Her eyes ran down his torso. “I’m guessing you used your shirt to carry them?”

“I did, yeah. Weaver is making me a new shirt. The Curse-Stick reward from Migraine sounded kind of interesting I thought, but I need the Points more.”

“It’s hard to use,” she said. “At least Arturo told me it was.”

“What about the slime sword?”

“It can be okay, but it’s very weak against most types of armour unless you can master its transformation. I tried it for a bit during my last loop, but it’s quite counter-intuitive to use and I’m fairly sure you need the Slime King’s Crown to make full use of it anyway.”

Adam wasn’t really sure what she meant by transformation, but wondered if it had something to do with swapping between colour variants for different effects.

“If I give a core to Finnian now, will it count towards the quest for my next loop?”

“Finnian?” she asked.

“That’s what I’ve named the white slime.”

“Does he also insist on being called a Lord in your world?”

“He does,” Adam answered with a grin.

She shook her head. “He always calls me ‘milady’…”

“He calls me squire.”

She shook her head. “He is very annoying. Anyway, to answer your question, no. The progress doesn’t carry over. Although you could use the Relic Saving upgrade to help unlock it sooner. But if you complete Hardmode on Stage One, then you’ll have enough cores to unlock it right away.”

“Because it doubles the slimes?”

“Exactly. With Hardmode there’s a total of 26 cores to get, since it’s not possible to loot the boss’ cores. Without Hardmode you’d have to get the last two cores you need from Stage Three and they’re much harder to obtain.”

“What’s the Hardmode for Three?”

She shook her head. “Don’t even think about it. It triples the number of summons.”

That could be an issue perhaps. I kind of cheesed my way through it last time, so I’ll listen to advice I think, since it’d be stupid to die there.

“What about the Secret Boss then? I’ve gotten the Flawless and Speedrun for Three already, so I just need the Secret Relic that the mage holds and then the hidden boss.”

“It’s a tough one to unlock.”

“Do I need another Relic? I’m already having the crown repaired.”

She shook her head. “For Stage Three you have to beat the first four Waves within 100 seconds combined. During Wave Five you then have to quickly kill the four waves of summons that Ezral brings forth in order to trigger him to summon the Secret Boss.”

“Is it difficult?”

“It can be. It’s like a giant bat that’s weak to light.”

“What kind of denizen do you get from Three?”

“A new type of vendor, though she’s similar to the cockroach at the Market in some ways.”

“I see. Well, I’ll give it a try. I was actually about to ask some Players about which weapon to buy,” he said, “but maybe you can help me decide?”

“Is it to swap out Gram?”

“Yeah. I have Spellcaster and Summoner as my options.”

“Summoner appeared for you? Do you have a lot of luck or something?”

“I’ve got 10 right now.”

“Normally you don’t get offered that in the shops at all, but picking Warder this time must’ve completely changed the odds for you, which makes it hard for me to give you a lot of advice on how to use your rerolls.”

Damn, she even knows about my usual choices in the Market??

“Is it good? Summoner, I mean.”

“It’s really difficult to use. The wand is incredibly weak. Most people who pick it for Stage One end up dead.”

Emelia looked away for a moment, seemingly talking to the tesseract in her dimension. Then she turned back to face him.

“Only about 300 people survived Stage One with that Weapon Type.”

“There was only 1 person with it who got an achievement last Stage,” Adam added. “But why is it so hard to use?”

“So, the wand deals very little damage despite requiring a lot of Mana with every spell cast. It’s also hard to use its spells even though you’ll know the motions. The thing about the Summoner though is that it’s based around the Wraith Lantern that it comes equipped with. It’s similar to how the Priest’s Blessed Rosary works. And before you ask, no, you can’t save Relics tied to weapons between loops. I’ve tried…”

She cleared her throat.

“Anyway. The Wraith Lantern needs to be charged up before it can actually summon a wraith. I haven’t tried the Weapon Type out, but I heard that you need to kill a certain amount of enemies to charge up the Relic. You can fuel it with Mana, but that will trigger Overconsumption and leave you exposed. The problem is also that the wraith that’s summoned can’t be controlled and you can only mark a target for it to attack. It might get stronger if you can evolve it, but I think Spellcaster is a safer bet.”

Think I’ll still ask that one person who got an achievement with it in Stage Two.

“How is your plan working out so far?” he asked her. “I noticed that there were a lot more people who survived Stage Two than in my last loop.”

Emelia nodded. “It’s 20 million more than last time.”

Only 20? Maybe this universe has better odds overall or something? I wonder why there’d be such a discrepancy.

The time-looper suddenly looked at Adam’s shoulder intently.

“What?” he asked, realizing she’d noticed the rope Weaver had made.

“Are you going exploring with that?” she asked, clearly knowing exactly where he was going.

“Maybe.”

“Do you even know what’s down there?”

“I’m about to find out.”

Emelia stared at him silently for a long time.

“If I find out you’re using it then I’ll deal with you myself.”

“What do you—?”

She disconnected their conversation and vanished before he could finish his question.

What the hell?

Well… now I just want to know what’s down there even more.

***

Adam stared down over the cliff’s edge to the cave opening below. By his estimation, he still had at least two hours of sunlight left. He hadn’t agreed with Beck and Gladwyn about meeting up before exploring what was down there with Weaver’s rope. Since they hadn’t been in the Tavern, he was sure they’d already rappelled down to the cliff-side cave in their own dimensions.

He’d tried to talk to the guy with the Summoner weapon about his experience so far, whether he recommended the weapon, and any tricks he might have. All he’d said in return was, “Don’t get it. It’s a death sentence.”

Apparently he’d almost died in both Stage One and Two because of the Summoner type and he’d been in the Tavern looking for advice on which weapon to swap to. He also had the Spellcaster available in the Market and had said that he’d be switching to it based on what he’d heard from others, since he could afford it now.

I’d be lying if I wasn’t curious about the Summoner.

I really doubt it’s that bad.

After all, the weapons all seemed to have clear benefits and demerits, so it was unthinkable that there’d be one that was only demerits. Since rarity informed how difficult a weapon was to use, at least for the starting selections, Summoner was probably on the same level as Warder, and Adam had been doing really well with that despite its peculiar nature.

Plus, the potential synergy is hard to deny.

It’s just a shame I can’t try out the weapon before buying it, and 2000 Points is a lot to spend on something that might turn out to be bad.

However, if I can utilise the Wraith Lantern while having the Spell-Tome active, then there should be some great synergy, especially as I get more boosts to summons and ‘subservient’ allies.

Adam pushed the thought from his mind for now as he finished securing the spidersilk rope around the tree next to the cliff. He leaned his whole weight on the rope to test the knots and they held without issue.

This silk seems incredibly durable. Maybe I should have Weaver make me a spool of some ultra-thin silk and use it as traps against the imps in the next Stage.

He moved over to the cliff’s edge and made sure the rope didn’t have any slack in it, then he very carefully began to walk down the 90-degree wall. The rope was long enough that it touched the landing in front of the cave. He’d gotten the measurement just right, which was fortunate. It would’ve been awkward if he’d had to return to Weaver.

The trip down took maybe five minutes, but he was sure that going back up would be way worse. When his feet finally touched the landing, his legs were shaking. He wasn’t afraid of heights, but the knowledge that a single slip-up would lead to a freefall into the clouds below made it quite a tense affair.

Adam took a deep breath and waited for his legs to stop shaking before he entered the cave. The opening was quite big and led to a spacious tunnel that was dimly lit by orange gems embedded in the rocky ceiling.

Reminds me of the Forbidden Altar…

Fortunately, there were no statues to watch out for and the walls appeared like they’d been formed naturally, which was odd, given how straight the tunnel was. At its end he emerged into a dark chamber that seemed really big. It was possibly ten metres to the ceiling, which made him think that there was some dimensional trickery going on, since the cave was only eight metres below the surface. Although, it was possible the darkness was messing with his depth perception, since there weren’t any light gems in the chamber. Instead there were wheel-sized pulsing green circles on the back wall, but they didn’t give off much light.

I wonder what those are.

Adam looked around, but it just seemed like a dark cave, aside from the strange lights and a small pond with jet-black water off near the side wall.

He slowly approached the back wall with its weird pulsing circles.

The wall slowly turned pale white, distinguishable even in the darkness.

Then two plate-sized green-glowing eyes opened and stared right at him.

His mind couldn’t fathom what he was looking at until the giant creature started peeling itself off the wall and put its many arms down onto the cave floor.

He’d seen the animal that it was based on, but they were much smaller in real life. Small enough to be held within your hand, though touching them was how you won the Darwin award. Plus, their rings were blue.

Adam started backing away as the green-ringed octopus raised itself on all eight legs, its bloated head narrowly avoiding the ceiling. He barely registered the stone doors recessed into the wall it had been covering as its two enormous glowing eyes transfixed him.

“Adam… I was wondering when you would pay me a visit,” boomed the voice of the giant octopus, making the entire cave vibrate.

“As an Envoy of the Dark Abyss, I bid you welcome to this deep place. My name is Skǫll. Lord Nwetrou, the Dweller in the Deep, bade me embrace all those who came here in search of higher purpose.”

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

Perhaps the name 'Nwetrou' rings a few bells to anyone who's read Father of Monstrosity. One of his 'spawn' also makes a brief appearance in Madman Apocalypse book 2.

Anyway, there's more to come about him and other 'Absolutes' before long. They are to play an important role in the story.

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MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 2

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---Next chapter----

We're only just getting started.

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Chapter 2

“I finally caught up to you,” I said, while Tammy-Lee and her friends looked around the dead-end they’d ended up trapped in during our little chase.

“Please, don’t kill us!” yelled the mousy woman.

The guy with the fedora had soiled himself and was crying. The obese green-haired person, who was holding the unconscious suit guy, had a grim look on their face.

Tammy was standing in front of them, guarding them all with the crowbar in her hands.

I took a step towards them, and they all tensed up.

“Kill you?” I asked. “I just want to know where Bee went. The girl who was looking for Milton.”

“If I tell you, you will let us go?” asked Tammy.

“Of course,” I said.

“She went towards the Stop & Shop six blocks away. It still has power and water, as well as food. But there is a big gang who claimed it. They are dangerous. I told her, but she would not listen.”

“Do you know who this Milton guy is?” I asked.

“No.”

“I wonder why Bee wants to find him,” Panda muttered. “Maybe it’s her friend, or a family member.”

I turned to Panda. “She stole a machete, right? Probably isn’t a friend, I reckon.”

The group watched me closely, clearly freaked out.

“Oh right!” I said, startling the mousy woman and fedora guy. “Stay away from anywhere that has lights on. And also, don’t go into public transport. Tomorrow is probably going to get pretty crazy, so try to find some more weapons.”

They shared a few brief glances between them.

“They probably think you’re crazy,” Panda muttered. “Understandably so.”

I shrugged. “Alright, catch you guys later!” I told them and made to leave.

None of them moved an inch.

I stopped mid-step and spun around, startling them a second time.

“I almost forgot! Don’t tell anyone about what you saw in the kindergarten, okay?” I asked, putting a balloon-gloved finger up in front of my lips.

The mousy woman started crying.

I left the dead-end alleyway and headed towards my new destination.

“They really thought you were going to kill them,” Panda said.

I shook my head. “Even though I saved them.”

“It was probably the way you saved them, not to mention hunting them down in the streets.”

“Sometimes you have to ruffle some feathers to make an omelet.”

“That’s not how the saying goes,” he said with a sigh.

I ran the six blocks to the Stop & Shop, which was a store I’d been inside a few times in the past, since my old apartment wasn’t too far from it.

“I should go see if my stuff is still in the apartment.”

“There’s no chance,” Panda replied.

“Maybe Kevin is there,” I said hopefully. “Maybe he returned home and has been waiting for me all this time.”

Panda sighed.

I went around a residential block and the large store came into view. Most of the letters had been torn down from the large purple sign, such that it now just read ‘P & P’. The weird logo with the four half-moon slices was still intact though.

The dull light-grey wooden façade was stained with obscene and frankly quite childish graffiti.

“PP Gang?” Panda read out loud, seeing one of the tags on the wall.

I shook my head. “Amateurs.”

About two feet of red bricks ringed around the bottom of the large building, forming the foundation. A few probably-not-load-bearing white pillars held up the off-white metal strip that ran along the middle of the wall. The letters that would normally say stuff like ‘Fresh Picked Produce’ and ‘Citizens Bank’ had been torn down. In their place, on the awning that covered the entrance, were letters fastened with duct tape that read ‘Milton rulez’.

About six young-looking guys were gathered outside the entrance, doing pushups to impress a girl sitting on the charred husk of a car. Her hair was gelled into spikes and looked to have been spray-painted pink and black. She wore a leather jacket and was covered in piercings.

“Looks like a bad Mad Max cosplay,” Panda criticized.

I walked up to them and the guys all got to their feet, before brandishing knives, pipes, and bare fists.

“What do you want!?” yelled one of them right into my face, showering me with spit. “This is PP Gang’s territory!”

“Tell them you want to talk to Milton,” Panda advised.

“Milton,” I said and kicked him in the nuts. He produced a string of sounds like a dog toy being violently played with.

The others backed off, yelling in alarm. The woman jumped down from the roof of the car and ran towards the store’s entrance.

Surprisingly, the guy hadn’t been split in two or anything like that. It was as though my Strength boost had failed to activate.

“Goddamn it, Gambit!” Panda exclaimed. “Why did you do that?”

I turned to look at him. “I don’t have time for this shit, and I got his spit all over my face.”

Clang!

A pipe had struck me right in the head, bending around my skull.

“Ow,” I muttered and looked at the guy who’d hit me.

He’d frozen in fear, so I grabbed the pipe from his hands and bent it around his neck, before tying a knot on it.

The guy collapsed onto his ass while frantically trying to undo the knot as he slowly suffocated.

I strode towards the four other guys, but they immediately scrambled for the safety of the store.

“Milton!” I yelled as I followed them in.

The interior of the large store was a total mess and barely recognizable. The shelves between aisles had been knocked over and there was stuff everywhere. Someone had even hung a teddy bear from the ceiling with the cord of a lamp.

As Tammy had said, the lights all worked inside, which meant this place would become a dungeon as soon as the Great Game began.

No sooner had I climbed atop a fallen shelf than improvised projectiles flew my way from further in where shelves and freezer counters had been arranged almost like a fort. There were also people on the floor and other fallen shelves between me and the fort, and they were armed with stuff like toy bows, weaponized cans and bottles, as well as slingshots.

None of the stuff hurt when it hit me, and I managed to catch a bottle out of the air, before throwing it back with enough force to cave in a guy’s ribcage.

“Holy fuck!” Panda exclaimed. “You don’t have to use lethal force on them!”

“Who cares, they’ll all die tomorrow anyway if they stay here.”

“I’m realizing now that giving you an excuse like that was quite a reckless decision on my part.”

I ignored him and continued marching through the store, while returning fire against all the ranged attackers. I broke off a bit of a metal shelve and flung it like a boomerang, managing to decapitate a guy with a stapler in his hands.

Panda kept reacting loudly to my actions, but I didn’t care. They’d been the ones to start it after all.

“That’s not true,” he complained.

When I made it to the walls of the ‘fort’, with ten people dead or injured in my wake, eight people leaped over the edge with weapons in their hands. One of them had an honest-to-God katana, the rest had machetes and knives.

Realizing that taking hits from bladed weapons was probably not a good idea, I backed off and let them come at me.

I dodged a slash from the katana and punched the guy hard enough to fling him across the room, then I grabbed his sword and sliced it through the two right behind him.

Nothing happened for a couple seconds, but then they fell into two pieces.

Seeing the easy way I dealt with their friends, the rest immediately tried to flee, but I didn’t let them.

Half a minute later the rest were on the ground, cut to pieces or shattered by my punches.

I climbed over the wall of the fort and found three women, one of them the pink spiky-haired girl from earlier, cowering behind a display freezer that stank of fish.

“Don’t kill us!” one of them yelled. This girl also had gelled-up hair, but it was spray-painted red.

I scanned their faces, but none of them were Bee.

“I’m looking for my friend,” I told them. “She’s got short black hair and is probably wearing a hoodie with a neon-yellow smiley on it.”

They looked at each other. “She was here just moments ago,” said the pink-haired girl.

“Where?”

“I don’t know!”

I sighed. “What about Milton? Where’s he at?”

“In the bathroom!” said a third, who looked like a normal soccer mom. She was at least ten years older than the rest of them.

“What the hell is she doing with this crowd?” Panda muttered, echoing my thoughts.

I left the three behind and walked towards the bathrooms set into the back wall at the far end of their fort.

Before I could make it there, footsteps on the floor came from behind me and I turned just in time to see the pink-haired girl stab a screwdriver into my stomach.

Unlike last time someone had tried to gore me with that tool, the tip simply just bent instead of piercing through my unicorn suit.

She looked down at the weapon in her hand, disbelief on her face.

“M-monster!”

I grabbed her by the throat with my left hand and lifted her off the ground, pulling my right arm back to prepare to punch her across the store.

“Why is it always screwdrivers?” I wondered.

“Karmic symbolism?” Panda suggested.

The woman looked at Brock with fear in her eyes, while squirming weakly against my grip.

“Spare me!” I heard a high-pitched man’s voice yelling from the bathrooms behind me.

The voice wasn’t directed at me, and someone else yelled back in response.

“You don’t get to plead for mercy!”

It was Bee’s voice.

I immediately let go of the woman and marched into the men’s bathroom, leaving her gasping on the floor behind me.

Inside it stank of shit. Despite having access to running water and power, it seemed no one had taken up the duty of cleaning.

“Why are you humans always so foul?” Panda commented.

There was a stall down at the far end, from which came the pained sounds of someone fighting for their life in more ways than one.

Standing in the open doorway of the stall was a girl I’d be able to recognize anywhere in the world.

“Liar,” Panda muttered. “You’d totally forgotten what she looked like earlier!”

Her hair was black and cropped just above her shoulders. She wore a large white t-shirt and baggy black trousers with a chain hanging from her back pocket to her belt. On her feet were black sneakers.

“Bee!” I exclaimed excitedly.

The girl took a step back from the stall and looked at me. She had half a scissor in her hand, the other half torn off to create an improvised shiv. Her face was round with big apple cheeks. Her expression was grim, as her dark eyes ran up-and-down my attire.

“Are you the one who they were all yelling about?” she asked.

“Is someone else out there!?” came a high-pitched man’s voice from inside the stall. “Please, you’ve gotta help me, this girl’s crazy!”

“Shut the fuck up, Milton!” Bee shouted back at the guy inside.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

Her grip on the scissor shiv tightened and she clenched her teeth. “He killed my parents!”

My heart skipped a beat. Back when we’d been in the taxi game together and had been asked where our parents were, she’d said they were still alive and back at their home. I hadn’t questioned it at all, but in hindsight it had clearly been a lie.

“Move,” I said, feeling anger take a hold of me. “I’ll deal with this guy.”

“No!” she protested. “He’s mine to deal with!”

“Maybe this is the reason why she had such a high insanity gauge when you first met her,” Panda guessed.

I took a deep breath. “Listen, Bee. You don’t have to get his blood on your hands. I’ll do it, don’t worry.”

She dropped the scissor shiv to the floor and started crying.

“You just wait outside,” I told her.

Panda hopped from my shoulder and onto hers as she hurried past me, leaving the bathroom.

After she was gone, I walked to the open stall.

“Hey Milton,” I said, looking at the guy who was sitting on the toilet, his pants down around his ankles.

“You saved me,” he said, gratefully.

“Trust me,” I told him, “in a few moments you’ll really wish I hadn’t.”

***

After I’d dealt with Milton, I came out of the men’s bathroom to find Bee sitting on the floor, hugging her legs. Panda was standing in front of her, one of his squishy arms pressed against her head to try and console her, though she of course didn’t know he was there.

He looked up at me. “I had no idea a person could make sounds like that.”

“Me neither,” I replied.

“Is he dead?” Bee asked, her voice muffled by her knees.

“They’ll need a sponge to clean up what’s left of him,” I said.

“Good.”

I reached my hand down. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

The three women had all vanished, but the corpses of all the other PP Gang members were strewn about the place. There was a trail a blood from one guy who’d managed to crawl outside.

Bee looked up at me with red-ringed eyes. I’d never seen her in such a state before and the sight physically hurt me. She was like the little sister I’d never had and seeing her hurt like this made me want to hunt down every last person responsible for her sadness.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Only my friends call me Bee. They’re all gone now though. I don’t know where they went…”

“They must’ve been taken by the Child Protective Services,” Panda guessed. “Still have no clue why she was left behind though…”

“I’m Gambit,” I told her. “I’m from the future.”

She smiled. “You look like it. Although I thought you were doing a bad One Piece cosplay at first.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered, annoyed.

“It’s probably the swan-feather cape,” Panda said.

“Are we friends in the future?” Bee asked.

“Oh, you bet! We’re like the bestest friends,” I insisted. “And in the future you’ll be able to do magic and solve puzzles and all this amazing stuff!”

She laughed again. “I do like puzzles.”

Then she took my hand and got up from the floor, wiping her face.

“That sounds like fun,” she said, a glint of madness in her eyes.

“That was way too easy…” Panda muttered. “Should we be concerned?”

I ignored him. “Alright, here’s the plan,” I told her, leaning in conspiratorially. “First we’ve gotta find this grumpy business lady who, once the Great Game starts, becomes like the protagonist or some shit.”

“The Great Game?” she asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s how you’ll get magic powers,” I told her. “It’s like a messed-up show that turns our entire world into a game.”

“Okay.”

“After that we have to find Chris. Oh, but we should probably go to my apartment first, Kevin might be there.”

“Kevin?”

“My pet bull frog.”

She nodded.

“Then we have to find the Mayor and deal with him. And we should probably also hit up Serenity Mall and see if the Chief of Police is hiding there. Both those guys have got to go, obviously.”

“That’s all?” she asked, laughing.

“Not even close! We also have to find my friend Tina, she’s bald and pretty crazy. And lastly we’ve gotta save Otto the Otter Mascot!”

“At what point do I get magic?”

“Sometime tomorrow, I’m pretty sure.”

She let go of my hand and went over to where the bloodied katana was left behind on the floor. After wiping it off she swung it through the air a few times. Then she looked back at me.

“Lead the way, ‘Gambit’.”

I grinned and strode towards the entrance. Bee followed closely behind me.

“This timeline is already doomed,” Panda muttered exasperatedly.

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

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Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Five

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---Next chapter----

I have to find a way to not put all these chapters out at 2AM <.<

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Chapter Thirty-Five

Adam was playing around with his barrier, trying to get it to fold into a tube, while waiting for the Eye to turn into a podium. It felt like he was trying to squeeze his own brain within the confines of his skull.

[Since you have slain the Secret Boss, two upgrade choices are once again available to you.]

[Additionally, as you completed the Wave quickly, your rewards have gone up one Rarity level.]

Hell yeah!

With my Luck already ensuring everything is uncommon, that means I should only be seeing Rare and above.

Hopefully I can get Effect and Speed for my weapon, that would really increase its lethality.

Then the upgrades popped up and Adam frowned at what he saw. He lost his concentration and the barrier unfolded into a flat square.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

< Damage (Rare) — Increases all damage by 15% >

< Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% >

Shit.

I didn’t switch back to the spell-tome fast enough…

At least there’s only one weapon upgrade. No way I’m picking that one though.

He sighed. There was nothing he could do about the mistake now.

Damage is not a bad pick. Not quite sure how that works with the barrier though, but 15% is quite a lot.

“Select Damage.”

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Damage (Rare) >

The upgrades flickered and were replaced.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

< Luck (Rare) — Increases luck by 3 >

< Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% >

Now we’re talking!

I definitely don’t need Movement, since I’ve figured out a faster way to move around.

“Select Luck.”

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Luck (Rare) >

Alright, let’s have a look at these stats.

“Status.”

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Shaper >

< Level 15 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 65% >

< Defence — 100% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 75% >

< Luck — 10 >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +5 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +15% >

Not bad.

Wait, it just says ‘Adam’ now. I guess because of the nickname thing I did at the Tavern?

I wonder if there’s a filter to prevent obscene nicknames.

Anyway…

“Armament.”

< < Weapon Status > >

< 1 >

< Spell-Tome >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 10 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Barrier Durability 90% >

< Barrier Efficiency 20% >

< Manipulation Effect 75% >

< Manipulation Speed 55% >

< 2 >

< Gram >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 0 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< — — — >

Huh, it shows both weapons.

If what Emelia says is true, then I’d need to upgrade Gram 18 times before it actually becomes powerful. If I bought all the upgrades, then that would be 8100 Points, which is a lot to invest into a weapon. I think I’m better off replacing it with the Spellcaster though.

As the Eye reverted to its cube shape, Adam eagerly watched the treasure chest where light started to spill out from under the lid.

Come on, give me something good!

Two ears appeared as options, one yellow and one blue. There was also a pair of dented iron gauntlets.

< < Relics Available > >

< Yellow Trophy (Rare) — Increase Player Speed by 15% for 10 seconds. 2-minute cooldown >

< Blue Trophy (Rare) — Increase Player Damage by 15% for 10 seconds. 2-minute cooldown >

< Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets (Rare) — All summons explode on death >

Damn, no Epics…

The gauntlets are potentially quite strong, but it would make it dangerous to use the barrier as a shield. Also, it takes up both of the Relic slots for my hands.

It might also result in the enemies in Stage Three exploding on death…

Still, I think I’ll pick them and test them out in the Player House.

But first…

“Shitbox, alert me when there’s 3 minutes remaining and automatically select the Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets when the timer hits 1 second.”

[Understood.]

Adam went from the chamber and into the adjoining one, just as Belamouranthe walked out to meet him.

“Has mine mother sent for me at last?” she asked.

“Hello Belamouranthe. Yes, I am here to save you. My name’s Adam.”

“Are thou a magician?” she asked, noticing the spell-tome in his left hand and the barrier floating nearby. “Mine family likewise has magic in their veins,” she added.

That’s different from how she said it last time, he noted curiously.

Adam undid the bonds on her hands and told her, “I need your help collecting something. If you help me, I’ll make sure you get the best boar meat stew you could ever imagine.”

Bel’s eyes lit up and Adam couldn’t help but smile.

I will save you this time, he promised her in his mind.

“Shall I aid thee in slaying these foul gremlins!?”

“Nothing like that,” he said. “I just need your help picking something out from a hole that’s too small for me.”

“Understood! The boar stew shall be mine!”

Adam laughed as he went into the chamber where she’d been kept hostage.

It was a rounded room, with some stacked weeds that smelled rotten and fermented. He guessed it was the Hobgoblin’s bed. Next to it were some bones and simple tools. Despite being the boss of the goblin village, it was very spartan living, especially when compared to the huts.

I wonder why, Adam mused, as he rummaged through the crap and found a smooth polished rock.

He picked it up, but then immediately felt annoyed with himself when he realised what a mistake he’d made.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Lucky Stone (Rare) — Flip to increase the rarity for the next reward options. 1 use >

I could’ve used this on the Relic Chest and gotten all Epic rewards!

Goddamn it…

He sighed.

Oh well, I guess it’ll be more powerful later on anyway. Doesn’t seem like I can use it at Lucca’s shop unfortunately. Unless her wares count as rewards.

Adam returned to the boss chamber again and noticed that the dented crown had actually slipped off the boss’ head and was left behind where his body had been.

He went over and stooped down to grab it.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Damaged Crown (Uncommon) — With the proper care, even a tarnished symbol may rekindle its former glory | Subordinate allies gain 10% more Health >

It evolved?

Adam had just assumed the Collectible Relic would disappear once it fulfilled its purpose, but it seemed there was more to it than that.

“Does ‘subordinate allies’ refer to summons?” he asked the Eye as he put the crown back on his head.

[Yes. The term includes all entities under your control.]

“So it doesn’t work on Players?”

[It might.]

“What the hell does that mean?” he asked.

The tesseract did not respond.

I guess that means there’s a way to make Players count for the buff then?

Perhaps if I can get someone to become my subordinate, whatever that entails, it may work.

Adam pushed the thought into the back of his mind for now. It was another thing to consult Emelia about.

With Belamouranthe in tow, Adam left the foul-smelling cave and came out into the fresh air. The Elphin girl immediately dropped to her knees in the grass and started running her hands through it.

Instead of taking the time to indulge in the sight like in the previous loop, Adam summoned a barrier behind his back and pushed himself through the forest and into the village. He stopped in front of the hut with the spiderweb hole in the floor. He used Gram to clear the webs away and then, after Belamouranthe caught up to him, she went down and retrieved the Secret.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Weaver’s Egg (Rare) — Wriggles with inner life >

I wonder if I’d have gotten a bonus reward for collecting both Secrets before the score was calculated.

Although that’d be a bit difficult to accomplish and I might’ve lost out on time, missing the Speedrun bonus.

After pocketing the cocoon, Adam used his barrier to zoom back to the cave. The Elphin girl dutifully ran after him, although she stopped outside.

“I will await thee here.”

Last time she’d followed him inside, so he wasn’t sure what’d changed.

“Fair enough,” he just replied and went in by himself.

[3 minutes remaining,] the Eye announced as he was halfway through the tunnels.

I could’ve looked around more, he realised. But I’m fairly sure there’s nothing else to find here.

He came to where he’d left behind all of the severed ears. Then he pulled off his shirt and used it to bundle them all together since he wouldn’t have enough space in his pockets, now that he also had the cocoon.

Feels a bit weird returning to the island shirtless…

With his sack of ears slung over his shoulder, the dented crown on his head, and the cocoon in his pocket, he went over to the Relic Chest and picked the gauntlets.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Cruel Summoner’s Gauntlets (Rare) >

The Eye floated over next to him as the gauntlets appeared on his hands. There was a very thin inner lining to cushion his skin against the metal, but they felt very cold.

Darkness spilled out from the black cube and made the surroundings disappear. For a split-second he was worried that Belamouranthe wouldn’t be brought with him, but then the dumpy buildings of Interim Island appeared around him, along with the Elphin girl two metres away.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

Time immediately froze for everyone except Adam as the white moth descended from above with lazy flaps of its large wings. Silvery scales started to orbit the centre of the island.

“You did it again, Adam!” Luvicidix praised him.

“Are you here to bring me another ‘companion’? The last one keeps calling me Squire…”

“Absolutely!”

She held out two of her black-banded arms, pressing them together. Then, when she pulled them apart, a lanky one-and-a-half-metre tall purple-skinned goblin just appeared in front of her. Unlike all the other denizens in his bizarre little dimensional world, this one was undeniably male.

Finally…

I think I can settle for a goblin as a companion.

The purple goblin sported a mohawk of bristle-like black hair and its eyes were completely black. It shared the most similarities with the blue goblins, since its head was narrow and less pig-like than the green and yellow ones. Its hands were slightly bigger though, with the fingers longer than normal. The black nails at the end were fairly-short though.

“I’ve never seen a purple goblin before, what’s special about him?”

“Purple goblins are usually considered adept at tribalistic forms of magic,” the white moth explained.

Surprised she was allowed to tell me that, he mused.

The purple goblin just stood there in front of Luvicidix, a blank expression on his face.

“Wait, I just had a thought,” Adam said. “What happens when Players unlock these denizens without having looped back? Is it still you that brings them here?”

“In such cases, the new companion simply appears before the Players when they return from a Stage,” Luvicidix explained. “I am still the one bringing them here, but I use my power to obscure my presence.”

Weird.

“Would you like to invest some of your many Points in my upgrades?” she then asked.

“I’ve gotta sell these first,” Adam explained, patting his bundle of ears in his improvised shirt sack.

“I was wondering why you were half-naked this time,” the moth commented. “But very well, I shall await your return.”

Luvicidix took to the air and all the floating silver scales flew back to her wings. Then when she was swallowed by a cloud above, time unfroze. The melody of a hangpan filled the air, sounding like metallic raindrops.

The Eye immediately announced the arrival of the purple goblin. [Congratulations! You have unlocked a Special Denizen due to your stellar performance in Stage Two – The Goblin Village.]

Unlike last time, it didn’t make that weird sound.

I wonder if the reason why it didn’t is because I got all the achievements in the same run? Perhaps it glitches out like that when there’s a clear discrepancy caused by the time-loops.

Belamouranthe looked around in wonder, while the purple goblin approached Adam.

“Aight mate? Me name’s Migraine. Collect trophies I do,” he said in a weird probably-fake Australian accent.

Ah fuck, here we go again.

< < Quest Unlocked > >

< Trophy Treasure >

< Migraine would like you to bring him 35 trophies >

< Reward — Shaman Curse-Stick >

Curse-Stick? I wonder if that’s a type of affliction-based magical weapon.

Migraine eyed the shirt-sack Adam had over his shoulder. Blood was seeping through the bottom of the fabric and dripping onto his naked back. “Give it here, mate.”

“Not happening,” Adam replied. “Also, what kind of name is ‘Migraine’? The boss I just killed was called ‘Bulge’… Are all of you named like that?”

“Y’see, goblins simple. Name things as they are. Me? Head always full of pain. Bulge? He always very bulgy.”

I take it back, Finnian might be better after all…

“What counts as a trophy?” Adam asked the goblin, trying not to let his annoyance show.

“Things what come from dead things.”

“So like hearts and ears and such?”

Migraine nodded and gestured to the sack. “So, give it here.”

“Not happening,” Adam replied firmly.

“Migraine go find girl goblin then.”

“There ain’t any around here,” Adam told him. “Just insects and a weird slime.”

The purple goblin nodded. “Slime good enough for Migraine.”

Adam sighed.

My desire to collect more of these ‘special’ denizens has greatly diminished…

While Migraine walked off in the direction of the Garden, Adam went towards the Market, eager to get rid of his collection of ears.

Belamouranthe followed along beside him. “Where is the boar stew, Adam?”

“I’ll take you to the Tavern after I’ve done some shopping.”

“Understood.”

At least Belamouranthe isn’t weird like the rest of them. That would’ve been too painful to bear.

Adam went to the Market where he found Yenna the wasp sitting on the ground with the hangpan in front of her.

“Hello Adam,” she said as he approached.

“Hey Yenna.”

“Why are you shirtless?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…”

Adam walked past the fountain which once again had goblin statues spitting water into the top bowl.

< < Secret Relic Activated > >

The cocoon floated out of Adam’s pocket and went down to the same spot as in the last loop, before turning into a stall made of spiderwebs. The dog-sized spider crawled up onto the counter, while Lucca leaned out of her own stall to watch.

[You have unlocked the Weaver. This vendor sells non-Relic attire.]

Adam walked past the vendors until he reached the large spider’s Relic shop.

“You mind?” he asked her and she retracted her creepy head back under the overhang.

“You have brought a weaver here,” she said. “My kind eats other spiders. But fret not dear, I am civilised.”

Adam opened the improvised sack full of ears.

“I wanna sell all of these,” he told her, ignoring her comment about Weaver.

The large spider looked down at the pile of ears.

“You have been hard at work.” She sounded excited about that for some reason.

“Are you buying them?” he asked, impatiently.

“Of course. For all 25 of them, I will pay 1875 Points.”

“Deal.”

< < Relics Sold > >

< Goblin Ear (Common) x25 >

< 5405 Points Remaining >

“Would you like to sell your gauntlets and crown as well?” she asked.

“Maybe later.”

“What about my Relics, would you like to purchase any?”

“Not right now.”

Adam looked down at the shirt he’d left behind on the counter. It was stained with blood and smelled like shit, since goblins weren’t exactly hygienic creatures. He picked it up like it was a stinky diaper and walked past the silverfish to say hello to Weaver.

The smaller spider hid from him when he approached, but then slowly crawled back up onto the counter made of webs.

“Hi Adam. My name is Weaver,” she said in a timid voice. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

He almost said, “Hello again”, but managed to catch himself. “Hi.”

“I sell clothing spun from my own silk.”

Belamouranthe piped up. “Mother would love to welcome thee to our Sanctuary I am sure.”

Adam massaged his head. Déjà vu…

“Thank you,” Weaver replied. “If you would like, I can spin new clothes for you both. For free.”

“I need a new shirt, as well as something like a sack with handles that can be folded and put in my pocket when I’m not using it. I also need a rope that’s maybe fifteen metres long.”

“Would you also like new pants?” she asked.

“Sure. Bel would also like a new dress, isn’t that right?” he asked, looking down at the girl.

“I do! I do!”

Weaver crawled forward on the counter and looked down at the Elphin. “What colour would you like?”

“Green!”

“It will be done.”

Weaver skittered back a few steps then looked up at Adam. “Which of your orders should I work on first?”

“The rope. I need that as soon as you can have it done.”

“How much should it be able to carry?”

“Probably like two-hundred kilos.”

“That will be no issue at all. The clothes I will make for free, the rope and the sack will be 200 Points.”

A bit expensive, but not unreasonable.

“Deal.”

< < Items Purchased > >

< Spidersilk Rope >

< Spidersilk Sack >

< 5205 Points Remaining >

“I will make the rope right away. Please give me a few moments.”

Adam nodded. “I’ll be over by the other stalls.”

He walked over to Nelly’s shop. Before he asked to see what weapons she had for sale, he pulled out Gram.

“Shitbox, can you return this to my Player House storage for me?”

[Understood.]

The eye on the floating black cube shot a golden beam into the stone sword and it vanished from Adam’s hands.

Convenient. I should probably do that instead of physically going to my house to store things.

“Are you also able to retrieve any items I have stored?”

[Of course. What would you like to retrieve?]

“Nothing right now. Just checking. But I guess you could store this ruined shirt too.”

[Understood,] the Eye said and beamed his stinky shirt away.

He turned to regard the silverfish.

“Show me the weapons for sale.”

Adam wanted to get the Spellcaster, since it might synergise well with the Warder. Emelia had said so at least. Plus there was the benefit of Relic options all matching Mana-based weapons, rather than the stone sword somehow causing melee-based options to appear.

“Here they are!” Nelly announced.

< < Weapon Types For Sale > >

< Duellist (Uncommon) >

< Spellcaster (Uncommon) >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< Summoner (Rare) >

Adam paused as he saw the last option. The hologram for the Summoner showed a wand and a lantern.

I didn’t realise there was a Summoner Weapon Type…

Shit, now I’m torn.

“How much would the Summoner cost?”

“Rare is 2000 Points.”

Fuck, that’s so many Points…

“And Uncommon?”

“1000 Points.”

“What does the Summoner come equipped with?” he asked.

“A wand for simple spells and a Relic.”

“And I’m not allowed to know what it does, right?”

[You have to buy it to find out.]

“Right…”

Adam sighed.

Guess I’ll go to the Tavern and ask around first.

He walked past the stalls until Thea the beetle smith stopped him.

“Your crown is in a terrible state, would you like me to fix it for you?”

Adam looked at her incredulously.

“You can do that?”

“Who do you think I am. Of course I can.”

“Will that make it stronger?” he asked.

It might be really good if I can evolve it again.

Thea gave him a look, which, despite her beetle face not really having the capacity for expressions still managed to radiate smugness. “Of course. I’m not just any smith, you know.”

“Well then, please fix it.”

“That’ll be 500 Points.”

Adam frowned.

If she can turn it into a Rare Relic, then that’s the same price as what Lucca charges. Plus the current effect boosts my summons, so if it gets stronger the effect might increase as well.

Adam pulled off the crown and mentally poked it to get the description to pop back up again.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Damaged Crown (Uncommon) — With the proper care, even a tarnished symbol may rekindle its former glory | Subordinate allies gain 10% more Health >

I wonder if Thea’s hammer would count as ‘proper care’, though the heat of her forge might be considered rekindling.

Fuck it, I might as well see what it does. It’s unlikely that Lucca will have any Relics I want anyway.

“Deal.”

< < Relic Repair Purchased > >

< Damaged Crown >

< 4705 Points Remaining >

Thea took the crown from Adam’s hands and immediately started working on it.

“I’ll be done in a couple hours,” she told him.

“Guess I’ll come back then,” he said.

He was about to head for the Tavern when he realised that Weaver might already have finished his first order. Adam returned to Weaver’s stall where a long rope was already awaiting him on the counter.

“That was quick,” he said as he coiled it around his right shoulder.

“Would you like to pick up the sack and clothes from here as well or should I bring it to the Player House?”

“I don’t need those right now, so the house is fine.”

“Understood.”

With the rope over his shoulder, Adam looked down at his companion.

“Let’s go get some food,” he said.

“Finally! I wish to devour this boar stew thou told me about.”

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Four

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

Loopshard is almost at 4.000 followers on RoyalRoad and it hasn't even wrapped up its first month yet. Pretty chuffed about its continued performance.

Anyway, I should have 1 more chapter for you this week, though I'll be bogged down with a lot of editing so next week will probably only be 2 chapters, we'll see, but I'll keep you guys updated.

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

Chapter Thirty-Four

Beyond the two archer platforms that lay at the end of the goblin village were the tall and thick trees of the forest. Past them lay the hill with the cave to where the boss was keeping Belamouranthe.

Like the first time through this Wave, four club-wielding goblins emerged from behind the trees and two blue goblins popped out from within the cave, followed by a single yellow archer.

Adam was feeling pretty out of breath already, which was a bad way to start off the fight. Instead of charging straight down the middle between the trees that naturally guided Players towards the cave, Adam veered right and around one of the thick tree trunks, such that the archer couldn’t see him.

The green goblins came around the side as he’d expected and ran face-first into his spinning buzzsaw, which now moved 55% faster than when he’d started off the Stage.

The results were gruesome and swift, with all but one of the four creatures ending up headless on the ground, and the last one having a massive slice carved out of its cranium.

Adam quickly harvested their ears and ran to the right of the trees to block the archer’s line-of-sight as much as possible. Unlike last time, the two spear-wielding goblins surged forward to try and drive him out into the open.

His barrier was slightly cracked from grinding against the last goblin’s skull, but he didn’t resummon it, since it could still work as a shield in a pinch.

The blue goblins were smarter than the rest and came around the trunk he hid behind from both sides. Adam immediately shoved his barrier into the one on his left and then flung it back towards the other, who destroyed it with a quick thrust.

He summoned another and stumbled as the dizziness struck him hard.

[Warning! Mana below 30%.]

I’ve gotta be careful, otherwise I’ll trigger Mana Exhaustion, which will definitely get me killed.

Still, it doesn’t feel as bad as during the first Stage. It might be possible to build up tolerance towards it by intentionally using all my Mana when I’m back at Interim.

Instead of just shoving the barrier in-between himself and the incoming spear, Adam waited a terrifying moment before making it strike the long handle of the weapon instead. Centimetres before the spear-tip struck his abdomen, the barrier sheared through the wooden shaft and shot the dangerous tip off into the forest.

The impact with its weapon set the blue goblin off-balance, and Adam quickly switched to Gram and swung the heavy sword down onto its head, driving the creature into the soft grass and dirt. Then he switched back to the spell-tome and chopped its head off with the ‘guillotine’ strike.

He formed the barrier back into a spinning buzzsaw and flung it at the other goblin which was only just now leaping back into the fray.

With precise zigzagging movements upward, he sheared through its right leg and then its arm, before finishing it off by cutting through its neck and decapitating it. He grabbed their ears with efficient movements of the barrier, then flung it off into the air past the trees and broke from his cover.

The archer immediately spotted him and took aim, but his buzzsaw was already descending on the goblin, having been sent on a curved trajectory that made it impossible for the creature to see.

Just as it fired its arrow, Adam threw himself onto his stomach, while moving the spinning barrier down into the back of the yellow goblin’s neck where the skull mask didn’t cover.

The arrow flew through where he’d just been standing, but a second one never followed.

Phew.

[Well done! You cleared the Wave within 60 seconds.]

Bit slower than last time.

Adam walked over to the archer and cut off its ear.

< < Wave Four Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

I should go get the two down at the start, but I’ll lose time on Wave Five…

No, the Points are more important than a few seconds lost.

He took in a deep breath as he began walking back down towards the start again. His heart was pounding like crazy, sweat was rolling down his head, and his brown hair was soaked.

I’ll run out of Stamina if I run there…

Then an idea entered his head. He remembered leaning on the barrier and it not breaking under his weight since it wasn’t fully carrying him.

Maybe that means something like this will be possible.

Adam reverted the barrier to its normal square shape and pushed it against his back at a slight angle that allowed him to lean his weight on it partially. Then he moved it forward and began sliding through the grass on his shoes.

Fuck yeah!

Adam zoomed across the forest and into the village.

Lamest form of magical travel possible I think, but a lot faster than running.

He slowed it down as he reached the green goblins from Wave One and skidded for about two metres before stumbling and falling face-first onto the dirt.

“Ugh!” he groaned.

Okay, I might need to work on the brakes a bit more…

“Tell me the upgrade options,” he said, while reshaping his barrier and getting to work harvesting the ears.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 35% >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

Luck is a solid pick with good returns, but right now I need more responsiveness to make full use of my shaping ability. And it’s Rare, so it’s hard to say no to that. With that, my Effect bonus will be at 75%, which should make a big difference.

[10 seconds remaining.]

Adam put the last ear into his left back pocket and moved the barrier around his back. Then he leaned against it and pushed himself towards the cave.

I wonder if there’s a way to set a specific time for the selection so I don’t waste the precious seconds between Waves.

“Shitbox, select Manipulation Effect when there is 1 second remaining.”

[Understood.]

Huh, that actually worked.

I’ve gotta experiment more with commands to make the full use of my time.

Adam was halfway to the cave entrance, sliding across the grass, as his command triggered.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) >

Though he wanted to immediately try out the new upgrade and see what a difference it made, he continued pushing himself towards the hill with the cave opening recessed into it.

He slowed the barrier down gently this time and avoided stumbling and falling as he came to a stop a couple metres from the entrance.

< < Wave Five > >

< 300-Second Timer >

Adam steeled himself for the tunnels.

I know where all the goblin ambushes are, as well as the right path to take me all the way to the boss. If necessary, I can block the tunnels with my barrier, since it’s big enough that nothing would get through.

Perhaps I should go straight towards the boss and try to pull the goblins with me, making use of the narrow tunnels to kill them all quickly.

Adam nodded to himself.

Yeah I think that’s what I’ll do.

He pushed the barrier into the tunnel, shaping it into an oval shield that moved in front of him. It barely fit and he had to constantly use his shaping power to warp the edges so it wouldn’t scrape the walls and get damaged.

Instead of moving into the branching pathways where ambushes lay in wait, Adam followed the tunnels directly to the main chamber. Unlike last time, it took no more than 45 seconds to get there.

The branching tunnels made this place seem a lot bigger than it actually was.

As he stepped out into the main chamber, he manoeuvred the barrier around his back and turned it into a spinning buzzsaw. He also dropped all the Collectible Relics in the ‘doorway’ since they were weighing him down.

On the chair of bones in front of him was the red Hobgoblin. He immediately stood up when he noticed Adam, grabbing his sword that leaned against the fake throne.

As Emelia had warned, the weapon had the tell-tale appearance of the Fiendbarb, which had turned its machete-like blade into something that looked like a torture device from the Dark Ages. Bone-white spines poked in every direction and Adam knew that a single hit would be fatal.

The boss slammed his chest with his left fist and roared.

“King! Goblin!”

From behind him in the tunnels came the answering calls of the six green goblins that’d lain in wait along the branching pathways. Then the sound of their feet came closer.

Adam pulled off the Rusted Crown and threw it across the chamber to the Hobgoblin.

The creature paused his advance to look down at the Relic.

“Try that on for size,” Adam said.

The Hobgoblin knelt down to slowly grab the crown with his free hand. It would be the perfect opportunity to attack him, but Adam was fairly sure it wouldn’t count as killing a Secret Boss until the announcement popped.

Meanwhile, the first of the goblins ran straight through the tunnel and into the buzzsaw spinning at neck-height.

It died before it could even alert its friends. Two more followed in the same manner, but then the last three stopped at the end of the tunnel and shrieked.

The boss was completely focused on the crown, which he slowly lifted from the ground.

Figuring he had enough time, Adam turned around and stared at the goblins down at the end of the tunnel where it curved right. With a grin, he quickly shaped the barrier into an oval and then sent it flying down through the narrow space.

The goblins didn’t realise they were in danger until the frontmost one crushed into the other two, breaking bones by the sounds of it. Adam quickly reshaped the oval into a long cleaver and then chopped it down, destroying their bodies. He swung it down two more times, just for good measure.

Behind him in the chamber, the Hobgoblin roared and he spun back around to face it, resummoning his barrier in front of himself in preparation for what was to come.

“King! King!!!”

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Hobgoblin Lord >

< Wave Timer extended to 300 seconds >

Strangely, the Hobgoblin hadn’t actually changed, but the crown had. The rust had flaked off and the whole thing was bent and warped to fit the creature’s large head.

Adam remembered the Relic’s hint: “A crown does not a king make, but for some the symbolism alone is sufficient.”

Maybe since goblins and hobgoblins are simple creatures, a symbol of power is equivalent to actual power.

The boss looked at Adam and showed all its hideous misshapen teeth in a gruesome smile.

“Bulge king now! No mo’ deal! King no need deal!”

His name is ‘Bulge’…

By deal, I’m guessing he means whatever he’s holding Belamouranthe hostage for.

Adam’s eyes flicked over to the opening leading to the nearby chamber within which the Elphin girl was held captive.

Shit.

That means he might try to kill her…

Adam shot the barrier out in front of him, turning it into a spinning buzzsaw mid-air. He hadn’t even realised it until now, but shaping it was a lot easier, and it now had twenty individual teeth on it that he was somehow keeping track of in his mind’s eye.

I might be able to push it to twenty-five individual teeth even.

Like the first time he’d fought the Hobgoblin, the boss had a bone vest with a neck-guard and a skirt protecting the top of his thighs. Adam aimed the barrier towards the side of his neck, where the armour didn’t protect.

Bulge took a step that dug his foot deep into the compacted dirt floor, then he shot forward like a humanoid missile.

Oh shit!

Adam immediately summoned a barrier in front of himself, only barely managing to get it into place before the Fiendbarb-tipped sword drove at his face.

The weapon bounced off the magical shield and Adam quickly switched to Gram as it broke into pieces. He swung the sword and struck the side of the Hobgoblin’s torso, breaking off a part of the bone armour, but failing to deal actual damage.

He suddenly remembered what Mori had told him.

I’ve gotta use the Unique Skill!

Bulge swung again and Adam barely managed to block the strike with the scabbarded stone sword. Then he swung a third time and, when Adam blocked, he was knocked back two steps from the sheer force of it, the bones in his hands feeling like they were vibrating from the impact.

Before the boss could swing again and knock the sword out of his hands, Adam switched to the spell-tome and summoned a barrier that he immediately shot forward.

[Warning! Mana below 50%.]

It struck the Hobgoblin just as he was about to swing, interrupting the attack and slamming into his big nose hard enough to break it.

“Bulge strong! Feel no pain!”

Adam noticed the Hobgoblin Pendant Relic around his neck. It was a necklace of spun hair with three finger bones on it. According to Lenard, it made the wearer immune to pain and allowed them to survive a fatal hit. Emelia had mentioned the boss’ ability to survive a fatal hit as well, so it matched up.

With a gesture, Adam warped the barrier and tried to fold it into a tube while spinning it. The result was chaotic, with a lot of random incoherent edges forming as he struggled in his mind to maintain the mental image that he still wasn’t strong enough to accomplish, while also giving it a spin.

The effect on the Hobgoblin that it pressed against was that the irregular and pointed edges carved all along its bone vest, face, and neck, leaving a bunch of cuts and small stab-wounds.

Bulge swung his blade into the barrier, breaking it. Like before, his weapon bounced off, leaving him open for a moment. It was long enough for Adam to switch to Gram and lift it over his head.

“Anvil Splitter!” he shouted and drove the sword down through the boss.

It caught him in the left shoulder and carried down through his body for almost half a metre before slipping out and slamming into the floor. The Hobgoblin was torn open and his armour was destroyed.

Adam switched back to the spell-tome and summoned a barrier while back-pedalling.

[Warning! Mana below 30%.]

The wooziness struck him again, but he remained standing.

With quick gestures, he flung the barrier forward while folding it along the middle and forming a wedge with an acute angle. He inserted it into the tear in the boss’ shoulder that already threatened to rip him apart.

The boss, predictably, wasn’t slain by the fatal strike, but unlike what Adam had assumed, surviving a fatal hit didn’t equate to it being healed back to full, as the wound itself didn’t heal shut. It was more like the boss had been spared from death.

Before the Hobgoblin Lord could even take a step forward, Adam released his shaping powers on the barrier and it naturally returned to its preferred shape of a square plate. Unfortunately for the boss, this meant that, as it was inserted inside his body, it ripped his torso into two by unfolding.

The boss face-planted on the ground and a great amount of blood spilled everywhere. Adam switched to Gram and swung the blade down three times until the Hobgoblin’s skull produced a noticeable crack.

Only then did the Eye announce his victory.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 30 seconds.]

Wait, how??

Oh, right, it changed the timer to 300.

Hold up… Does this mean I get my Relic rewards upgraded in rarity too!?

< < Wave Five Complete > >

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

I wonder what I’ll get this time, he thought, while quickly chopping off the boss’ right ear and adding it to the pile by the entrance. He went down the tunnel and collected the six ears from the goblins that were spread throughout. Then he added those to the pile as well.

I might need to use my shirt as an improvised bag to be able to carry them all.

He did a quick head-count of the trophies.

I’ll make a fortune off this Stage in terms of Points…

< < Score > >

< 145 Seconds Completion Time >

< 500 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 400 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 250 Point Speedrun Bonus added >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 3530 Points Awarded >

Adam choked on his spit and started coughing violently.

Holy shit!

3530 fucking Points!?

With the 25 ears I’ve collected, I’ll get 1875 Points from selling them to Lucca, which puts my total from this Stage at 5405!

Adam started laughing like a maniac. He had more than tripled the Point score from his last time through the Stage.

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

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Three

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

Someone asked what the release schedule here on Patreon is, and I think it'll probably end up with something like the days between Wednesday-to-Sunday being the days I release Loopshard chapters.

As you may be aware, I just continued with Madman Apocalypse, and will be writing 1-2 chapters on it per week, which is why the chapter just arrived now.

Last time I wrote two stories at the same time, I found out that it was easier if I split the week into two halves, with one for each stories, instead of going back-and-forth between them and confusing myself on the plot.

I understand that this may be frustrating for some of you, but I will still be writing 2-3 chapters on Loopshard every week, so the release frequency won't change.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

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

Chapter Thirty-Three

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 2 >

< The Goblin Village >

< 5 Waves >

Adam opened his eyes and found himself standing on the light-brown dirt street of the goblin village.

Waking up like this will never feel normal.

Wonder why I didn’t dream this time around. Not that I’m complaining.

Perhaps the dreams were simply a manifestation of the System trying to get in contact with me?

If the ‘humans are fuel’ theory is correct, maybe it simply didn’t have the power to contact me after I died the first two times.

He recalled the words it had told him. “The suffering fuels me.”

What a horrifying prospect. It’s like some kind of sadist that gets off on people’s despair, fear, and pain.

Adam hadn’t indulged in the despair, since he was a very pragmatic person, although he was quick to anger. Perhaps the System enjoyed that he wasn’t easy to break.

I wonder if it enjoys all our emotions, not just suffering.

It makes sense that it would set up the Trials in such a cruel way if the ultimate goal is to harvest our emotions. And maybe it wants us to ‘defy’ it, because defiance is born of strong emotions.

What a sick fuck…

[Stage Two is different from Stage One. Players must—] the Eye started to announce.

“Skip.”

[Wave 1 will begin in 60 seconds.]

In front of Adam was something new. It was a floating stone orb with an eye in it that was facing him. The iris was glowing green.

Is this the Hardmode toggle?

He reached out and touched it. The iris turned red and the whole world shuddered.

< < Hardmode > >

< Activated >

He took a deep breath.

I can do this. No matter what Emelia says, I’m not some pushover.

I’ve gotta be prepared to risk my life if I want to take full advantage of my unique power.

Adam summoned the barrier and immediately started shaping it. The square pane became a circular disc and, as he focused, it took on the shape of a massive throwing star. It was the most complex shape that he could switch to in an instant. He concentrated and the four points split to become eight.

No matter how much I practice, it still feels like my brain is doing backflips in my skull every time…

With a casual motion he moved the barrier in front of himself and with another he made it spin.

It doesn’t matter how much armour the goblins have, my buzzsaw will carve through them.

I hope…

He hadn’t actually tested it out in the Player House.

I need to get more speed. Right now the edge is a bit too thick, since it’s difficult to make it thinner and still maintain the coherence. If I can spin it faster, the thickness doesn’t matter as much.

[30 seconds remaining.]

Adam practised flinging the sawblade around in the air while walking towards the boundary by the fourth row of huts. Since the barrier was pretty big, he could easily flip it vertically and use it as a shield in a pinch. The versatility of the spell-tome was hard to deny, but the mental gymnastics needed to utilise it fully was a definite issue. He had to not only visualise the shape in his mind and then project it onto the barrier, but he also needed to keep it mentally consistent, otherwise it would revert to a simpler shape. Fortunately, instead of turning back into a disc, the buzzsaw would revert to the throwing star shape, thanks to his nonstop practice on Interim Island.

He looked inside one of the huts and saw that the basket that’d had worms and bugs on his first time through was now empty, just like Emelia had said it would be.

It’s fine. I won’t need it.

He rolled his shoulders while playing around with the buzzsaw, warming up his body and mind.

First Wave has two green goblins with clubs. Even if they now have bone armour, it might not protect their heads or necks. If it does, I’ll go for their arms I guess.

[10 seconds remaining.]

“Just start it already,” he said impatiently.

[Understood.]

< < Wave One > >

< 60-Second Timer >

Huh, didn’t know you could actually do that.

Adam walked back to the second row of huts, just as a small goblin emerged from within. He immediately sliced the buzzsaw down into the diminutive creature.

The spinning barrier produced an awful scraping sound as it collided with the creature’s armour. Fortunately, the bone protections only covered the torso, front of the neck, upper arms, abdomen, and thighs.

With a quick flick of his right hand, the buzzsaw spun around, bounding off the bone vest it’d initially struck to carve through the goblin’s head.

It died in gruesome spasms as the barrier carved through its jaw and into its cranium.

But then the barrier broke.

Shit!

Adam summoned a replacement as the other goblin shrieked and swung for him, having closed the distance quickly.

They’re faster than last time!

That has to be another effect of the Hardmode.

Emelia didn’t mention anything about that…

The barrier caught the wild swing and the wooden club bounced off. Adam quickly shaped it into a throwing star and flung it around behind the goblin, while making it spin around. As it struck its unprotected nape, he added more teeth to it.

Although it wasn’t spinning super-fast, it still cut through the spine in seconds, killing the goblin which screeched as it died.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 10 seconds.]

Adam let out a deep breath.

That was brutal. Gotta be careful with where I aim my blade, since it clearly took a lot of damage from striking the armour and cranium.

Fortunately, it has enough health to survive a direct hit from one of the green goblin’s clubs.

I wonder if they do less damage than the blue slimes. I suppose that would make sense, given that they are faster and less predictable. Maybe they do like 30 or 40 damage, since the spear goblins deal 60.

Still, I should replace my damaged barrier.

He summoned a replacement.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

< < Wave One Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

He sat down to recoup his Mana before the next Wave.

“Can you tell me how much damage the green goblins do?” Adam asked the Eye as it unfolded itself into a reward podium.

[I cannot reveal such advantageous information.]

Adam sighed.

Guess the Orb of Insight would tell me, perhaps, but it might be easier just asking around about in the Tavern. I’d like to have a better idea of what to expect.

He looked at the three options and frowned despite them all being Rare thanks to him clearing the Wave quickly.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Rare) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 15% >

< Manipulation Range (Rare) — Increases manipulation range by 35% >

< Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% >

The only two weapon upgrades I don’t really need. Range might be useful, but so far it hasn’t been necessary. 10 metres feels like more than sufficient for now.

I’m also not really in a hurry to collect more Mastery Shards, so I guess I’ll pick Crush since I feel like a general upgrade here is better than an unwanted weapon upgrade. Besides, I want to get better at shaping before I add another evolution on top and potentially complicate things more. Maybe I’ll stick to only picking Manipulation Speed and Effect if they pop up.

Adam waited until 5 seconds remained on his upgrade decision, then selected Crush.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Crush (Rare) >

< < Wave Two > >

< 90-Second Timer >

Adam got to his feet and sent the already-spinning buzzsaw barrier towards where the first of the three blue goblins would appear.

It shouted in a shrill voice as it hopped out from within a hut. Further down, past the fifth row of huts, appeared two additional goblins.

Unlike the green ones, their bone armour covered the top of their heads with a fingerbone headband, and they had additional cover on their forearms and lower legs. However, the bone vest didn’t protect their longer necks at all.

Adam immediately exploited this oversight and tore his spinning barrier through the spear-wielding goblin that’d appeared from the first-row hut.

In a single pass, his buzzsaw had shorn through its carotid arteries and windpipe.

He didn’t stop and immediately flung it down towards the two others that came charging for him. As he swung for the one on the right, it quickly reacted and hopped back out of reach. Its friend was not as observant and he flung the barrier into its neck, sending it to the dirt in a spray of blood.

When he swung for the last one again, it weaved out of the way and stabbed the spinning barrier, immediately breaking it.

Shit, this one is clever!

Adam summoned another and sent it forward without shaping it, hoping to utilise his Crush upgrade to deal some blunt damage and put the goblin off-balance.

It once again struck the barrier, causing it to crack, but the two collided before it broke apart, and the goblin was knocked onto its back.

Adam summoned a new barrier in the air above the downed creature and swung it down like a guillotine while shaping it into a triangle, with the narrow point aimed right at its exposed neck.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

It managed to just barely roll out of the way as the triangle embedded itself in the dirt.

Son of a bitch!

Adam switched to Gram and swung the heavy blade into the goblin’s head before it could react. The impact was enough to fracture its skull and kill it.

He switched back to the spell-tome to avoid getting the upgrades for the sword. With a gesture he pulled the barrier out of the ground and shaped it back into a spinning buzzsaw.

Hopefully that was quick enough.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 15 seconds.]

Nice.

< < Wave Two Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

Adam moved down the row of houses to get closer to where the third Wave’s enemies would spawn, then he plopped himself down. Thankfully, the Eye constructed its podium nearby so he could see the options.

This time one of them was Epic, thanks to the quick completion and his Luck rating.

He was glad to note that the upgrades were for his spell-tome and not the stone sword.

Looks like it’s based on what weapon I hold when the completion message pops up.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Epic) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 25% >

< Manipulation Speed (Rare) — Increases manipulation speed by 35% >

< Force (Rare) — Attacks pierce armour by 15% >

Hmm, this is a tough one… Force would definitely be a great choice, but increasing my Manipulation Speed by 35% is bound to have way more armour-piercing potential than a straight 15% boost.

At least if physics have anything to say about it…

He contemplated the decision until the Eye announced that 5 seconds remained.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Speed (Rare) >

Like Manipulation Effect, there wasn’t any visual changes caused by the upgrade. However, the speed increase was immediately noticeable on his spinning barrier as it spun a lot faster now and produced a noticeable hum.

Two archers and four clubbers this time. Think I need to focus on the green ones first, particularly since they’re so much faster than normal.

< < Wave Three > >

< 120-Second Timer >

Adam swung his arm and the buzzsaw moved to obey. While its reaction to his command wasn’t faster, it moved through the air at greater speed. Before the four green goblins had even fully emerged, the barrier had already carved through the neck of one.

He moved it into the goblin right next to it, but when it was halfway through the meat of its neck, one of the spinning teeth caught the edge of the bone neck-guard and kicked back violently, managing to get itself completely stuck.

Adam shook his hand and pushed and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. Meanwhile the last two club-wielders charged for him. Not too far away, the two yellow goblins climbed up onto the platforms.

Instead of continuing to struggle with the trapped barrier, Adam just summoned a new one, but before he could form it into a throwing star, the goblins were on him.

He shifted the barrier so that it shielded his left side, then pulled out Gram and smacked the first one in the head. It fell to the side and banged against the barrier edge, cutting itself along its cheek.

Oh right, can’t forget about collecting the ears, he reminded himself as he smacked the other one hard enough to send it onto its back.

He switched back to the tome and finished them off with two quick chops. Barely a second passed from the death of the last green goblin, before he heard the thrum of a bow and instinctively covered himself with his barrier.

An arrow struck the pane of white magic and bounced off, leaving behind a big crack. Then a second arrow hit it and it broke.

Adam ran towards the nearest of the two platforms, while summoning up a new barrier.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

This time he formed it into as thin and narrow of a shape as he could manage without folding the barrier. He sent the 6-metre-long pole towards the furthest platform and the yellow goblin on top, while hiding beneath the other one.

Above him, the archer stomped around while screeching. The other across the way managed to hit the tree trunk that he hid behind and which the platform rested on, but then his stretched-out barrier struck it square in the stomach and pushed it off the edge.

It was too far for him to finish it off with the good old guillotine chop and it was out of sight from where he stood, also making it impossible to use his long barrier to do anything.

Adam called the barrier back towards him and tried to spin it around to hit the goblin above him, but that was easier said than done. Not to mention, spinning the long barrier while maintaining its coherence was extremely difficult and it quickly began to revert back to a simple square.

Fortunately, luck was on his side.

Thwack!

The smacking sound of his long spinning magic stick preceded the yellow goblins fall from the platform. It landed with a loud grunt next to him and he switched to Gram, before smashing its head repeatedly. Unlike the other goblins, the yellow one had the front of a skull strapped to its face like a hockey-mask, but it broke under the strikes of the heavy weapon. It also had a bone vest and arm protections, but nothing on its legs, which was curious.

The moment it was dead he switched to the tome again and ran towards the other platform, where the archer had picked itself up and was looking around for him. His barrier had a big crack on it as he reformed it back into a shield and moved it in front of himself as cover.

When the yellow archer spotted him, it quickly sent an arrow right at his face, but Adam easily stopped it with the barrier, although it broke immediately after.

He summoned a replacement but suddenly felt a wooziness come over him and nearly tripped mid-step.

[Warning! Mana below 40%.]

With a punching gesture, Adam sent the barrier forward and smashed it into the goblin hard enough to crack its skull mask. It tumbled onto its back and lost its grip on the crude bow.

He was wheezing like crazy and realised that a lot of the wooziness he felt was actually due to him running low on Stamina. He slowed down to allow his breathing to catch up.

As the archer got back to its feet, Adam spun the barrier so that it was horizontal and shaped it into the buzzsaw, before spinning it through the goblin’s neck, decapitating it in three gruesome seconds.

[Well done! You cleared the Wave within 30 seconds.]

Adam had a sudden realisation, as he looked around at the dead goblins.

“Do the corpses stick around after I kill the boss?”

[No.]

Shit, that’s right… Can’t believe I forgot that!

I’ve gotta collect the ears now!

< < Wave Three Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

As the Eye unfolded into a podium, Adam spun the barrier vertically and sliced through the yellow goblin’s ear, before stooping to pick it up.

I don’t have enough time to get them all, I should prioritise the ones furthest away, and get the rest after the next Wave.

Goddamn it, I can’t believe I completely forgot about the enemies despawning…

Wonder how that works for the boss. Maybe I just have to grab his ear quickly after he dies?

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Goblin Ear (Common) — The trophy of a dead Goblin >

He stuffed the ear in his pocket, but knew there wouldn’t be enough space for all of them.

After I unlock Weaver, I should have her make me a pouch so I can carry stuff. Would be useful for Stage Five as well, since I might end up looting a lot of Relics.

Even if I’m not the one to kill the Players in that Stage, I might still be able to loot them after claiming the Altar.

Adam got the ear from the other archer, then grabbed the four green ones as he moved back down towards the beginning of the Stage.

[15 seconds remaining.]

“Tell me the options,” he told the tesseract.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) — Increases barrier health by 20% >

< Manipulation Speed (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation speed by 20% >

< Movement (Rare) — Increases movement speed by 15% >

Hmm, Rare movement boost…

Still think Manipulation Speed is the best choice here. My barrier can survive two hits from the small enemies, which is good enough for now. Besides, there’s no telling how much health it would have to get to for me to be able to ride it like a magic carpet.

He sliced off one of the blue goblins ears and was forced to stuff it in his left front pocket, since his right front and back pockets were already full.

“Thank God for jeans,” he muttered and chopped off another blue ear with the barrier.

[5 seconds remaining.]

He cut off the last blue goblin’s ear and said, “I’ll pick Manipulation Speed.”

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Speed (Uncommon) >

He didn’t have time to grab the ears of the two green goblins from the first Wave, so he ran back towards the end of the huts, as the next Wave started.

I hope they don’t all come at me at once…

< < Wave Four > >

< 150-Second Timer >

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

MADMAN APOCALYPSE - Book 3 - Chapter 1

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

This is the first chapter of Madman Apocalypse Book 3. The chapters will end up a fair bit longer than usual to compensate for the fact that I can't do a 3-per-week schedule for this story while also writing 2 or 3 chapters on Loopshard every week at the same time.

I will do my best to build up a backlog so that I can potentially do 2 chapters per week on this story as well, but it may take a few weeks to get there.

This chapter will go live on RoyalRoad tomorrow, since that marks the 1-year anniversary of the story on the site. I will aim to have more chapters to read in advance compared to RR, but again, it may take a bit to build that up.

Also, yes, book 3 will finally use positive chapter numbers <.< I had to make it confusing somehow, right?

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

Chapter 1

I punched the remaining bars, removing them from the window of the asylum cell. Once they were all gone, I eyed the opening.

The gap was maybe 3 feet tall.

“I don’t think you’ll fit through there,” Panda remarked.

“I’m not that fat. But this’ll require a run-up,” I decided and backed away to give myself enough space.

“You know, if you die before the Great Game starts, then none of your items and skills will help you,” Panda said.

Suddenly pounding game from the reinforced door behind me.

Then the intercom came to life and announced, [WE ARE COMING IN! STEP AWAY FROM THE DOOR!]

“You’ll never catch me alive!” I yelled and sprinted for the window.

The heavy door slowly slid open behind me as I dove head-first out into freedom.

Shouting followed me from the cell as I emerged out into the street next to the asylum. I caught myself in a roll as I landed, then sprang up and continued running while laughing like a maniac.

“I wonder if they’ll chase after you,” Panda muttered.

I followed the same route that I’d gone the first time I’d escaped from the asylum, but this time the world wasn’t in the grips of the Great Game. Or well, not entirely.

Around me on the street were abandoned cars, motorbikes, and scooters. I remembered what Annabella Exposición had told me over a week ago when I met her in the Pool Rooms.

“Her name isn’t Exposición, it’s Encarnación,” Panda said.

“Stop interrupting my inner monologue.”

She’d said that technology had stopped working and that the power had gone out of most places, except for public facilities like the Asylum, the Police Headquarters, etc.

“Don’t forget the public transport,” Panda added.

“Oh right, those too. Do you know how long we’ve got before the Great Game starts? I’d like to capture a Humanbus and turn it into a Safe-Zone-on-wheels. I should still have the Safe Zone Sphere. I hope…”

“We’re at least a day early, but it’s hard to say for sure. It was a Thursday when the Great Game started in the last dimension, but that might not be the same start date as here.”

I looked around at the puddles of blood nearby.

“It’s really weird it’s raining blood here on Wednesdays…”

Panda bapped me on the head. “Focus. The park should be nearby, which means that Annabella should be there too.”

As I ran towards the park, shouting came from the entrance of the asylum. I looked back over my shoulder and saw six orderlies. One of them was holding a big-ass syringe.

“I’m surprised they actually care about bringing you back in,” Panda muttered.

“That’s because I’m special,” I said as I ran past the bowling alley called ‘Time to Spare’.

A face looked out of the doorway as I barreled past. I wondered if it was the same people who I’d gotten killed last time by bringing the beetle agents inside with me.

Before long I’d completely outpaced the orderlies and was coming up on the park.

“I think your Athleticism attribute might be active as well…” Panda muttered. “You’re running really fast.”

“I thought this was my normal running speed,” I replied.

“You’re faster than a racing bike…”

“Maybe it just seems slower because my Schmonic Boots aren’t working.”

I skidded to a halt as I reached the park. Its grass and hedges were untrimmed, though they seemed too overgrown for that to simply be the result of no maintenance in the few days since the apocalypse began.

Weeds and flowers grew out of control, but there were a few carefully-pruned sections of the lawns where plants like radishes, turnips, carrots, spinach, and other fast-growing crops were planted.

A group of about twenty people were tending to the crops and taking care of tents and other equipment that they seemed to have looted from somewhere nearby.

One of them spotted me and called out in alarm.

Within seconds, pitchforks, axes, steak knives, hedge clippers, and other improvised weapons were aimed at me by a mob of scared-looking people. I recognized two of them, Annabella and the office guy who’d turned into a Skinstealer in the Pool Rooms.

“His name was Sam,” Panda told me.

“Get out of here!” yelled a woman holding an icepick in front of herself.

“I come in peace!” I shouted back, lifting my hands above my head.

“Why are you dressed like that?” asked a younger woman who was holding a machete.

“Err…”

“I’ve seen his face before! He’s one of those serial killers!” exclaimed one of the men.

“Ah shit…” Panda muttered.

“I think you’re right!” said another.

“It’s okay, I’m just a cosplayer!” I lied.

All the chatter immediately stopped as the angry mob stared at my outfit.

One of the men nodded appreciatively. “‘Donquixote Doflamingo’, right?”

“His clothes are the wrong color!” a woman criticized. “And the cape is supposed to be pink!”

I turned to Panda. “What the fuck are they talking about?”

“I think it’s someone from One Piece.”

“I won’t have to deal with their legal team if they think I’m infringing on their IP, right?” I whispered.

“Hard to say,” he replied. “Remember the reason why your Schmonic Boots are called that and not S***c Boots?”

“Shit… It might be worth putting a disclaimer somewhere that this is a legally-distinct outfit not meant to infringe on their copyrighted design.”

He nodded. “Better safe than sorry.”

Annabella emerged from the mob.

“Guys! I think he’s okay!” she said. At her words, everyone seemed to relax.

They all quickly returned to what they’d been doing before.

I lowered my hands. “Phew.”

The woman walked closer and said in a hushed voice. “You’re from the asylum, right?”

“Maybe…” I replied.

“It’s okay, I know who you are, [REDACTED].”

“You can just call me Gambit,” I told her, shuddering at the utterance of my real name.

“I’m Annabella,” she replied. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you stabbed that fat piece of shit Mayor. I was one of the people out marching in the streets, y’know. It isn’t right how they’ve been treating people in Castleburg.”

“They framed the death of his dog on me,” I quickly added. “The Chief of Police set me up.”

She nodded. “I thought so. Still, most people think you’re a psycho.”

“This is quite the change from last time,” Panda noted. Back then she’d called me a monster. Granted, I’d also killed her friend who’d turned into a Skinstealer, which probably had something to do with it.

“Are you planning on staying here with us?” she asked. “We’ve got a garden going and everything. We’ve even managed to loot a lot of conserved food, so no one is going hungry. We’re planning to stay here until the army comes to rescue us. We’ve got tents and everything, plus, as you just saw, we’re capable of protecting ourselves. There’s been a few gangs coming through here, but most of them went north towards Downtown, so it’s been safe the last couple days.”

“I’m just passing through,” I told her. “I’m looking for a few of my friends though.”

“Hmm, if they aren’t around here, then there’s a big group of survivors at Serenity Park Mall you could check. But I wouldn’t recommend going there alone. There are a lot of small gangs camping out the highway and attacking everyone who comes through. Who are you looking for though?”

“Perhaps her name is ‘Exposición’ after all,” Panda muttered.

“I’m primarily looking for a girl named Bee,” I told her.

“What’s she look like?”

“Err—”

“Goddamn, Gambit, really?” Panda interrupted. “Before her transformation into a beetle, she had black shoulder-length hair and wore an XL dark-grey hoodie with the print of a neon-yellow smiley on it.”

I repeated the description.

“Sounds familiar,” she said, thinking on it for a moment. “Oh, right! She came through here three days ago. She was looking for someone named Milton. She stole one of our machetes and went towards the kindergarten north-west of here.”

“Thank the Gods,” Panda muttered. “But who the hell is ‘Milton’??”

“What about a grumpy bald guy in a Hawaii Shirt called Steve?”

“He’s with a smaller group near the library,” she answered. “They were apparently going to try and beat the gang holed up in that building, since it still has power and running water.”

“Man, she just knows everybody,” Panda remarked.

“I’m also looking for a blonde guy called Chris, a sour businesswoman called Samantha who has a blonde perm, a bald psychotic woman called Tina and/or Nina, and lastly, Otto the Otter Mascot.”

Annabella blinked. “Otto the Otter Mascot? Think he’s gotta be in Madeville, though I haven’t heard anything from there since everything went down six days ago.”

“What about the others?”

She shook her head. “Don’t know ‘em.”

“I see. Well, thanks Annabella.”

“So, you’re really not going to stay? It’s safer here.”

“I don’t know about that,” Panda muttered.

“I’ve gotta find Bee,” I told her.

I was about to leave, when I realized I could perhaps change her fate thanks to my knowledge from the future.

I placed my hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

“Why is your right eye like that?” she blurted out.

I frowned.

“Listen. This is very important.”

She nodded slowly.

“Whatever you do, don’t go into the public swimming pool! And stay away from the lakes in Serenity Park! Oh, and sometime, probably tomorrow, the bus is gonna come through here. You should hide as soon as you see the message that the Great Game starts. But don’t hide in any of the buildings with power!”

Annabella’s face cycled through alarm, confusion, and then disbelief. Before she could voice her thoughts, I quickly added:

“And try to find a bow to practice with! That’ll be important for when you unlock your Class!”

I let go of her shoulders, gave her a thumbs-up and an award-winning smile, then I ran away from the park towards the kindergarten.

The people all watched me go. Before I went out of sight, someone yelled, “Your cosplay sucks!”

***

After passing by Normann’s tailor shop, which was barred like last time, I followed the street full of shops down to the end and went left towards the kindergarten.

The sound of an engine running and tires scraping the road brought me to a complete halt. I instinctively hid behind an abandoned truck.

Half a minute later, a bus rolled down the road, pushing aside a tiny two-seater smart car as though it weighed nothing. The bus itself was completely normal, with a white color-scheme and the familiar blue and yellow stripes that wrapped around the bottom-half.

I peeked my head out to look and noticed that it was completely driverless. Inside were six people with knives and bats. It looked like they’d hoarded food and equipment into the backseats.

As the bus reached a nearby stop, they all surged towards the doors as they opened, and stood guard to prevent anyone from entering.

“Those morons are about to become Humanbus food,” I muttered.

“If you didn’t know that, their strategy would be kind of clever,” Panda said.

I shook my head. “Cowards.”

“You’re the one hiding…” he pointed out.

“That’s only because I thought it was a Humanbus.”

I watched as the bus turned down the road of shops that I’d just come from. When it was out of sight I left my cover and continued towards the kindergarten. I covered the few blocks’ distance to the place and entered through the playground where we had been dumped last time after completing Bungo’s Playroom.

Before I had time to reminisce, I heard shouting from inside the building. There were large windows covered in old stickers and whatnot, and a door to one of the classrooms nearby. I couldn’t see any of the people shouting from here, so I ran up to the door and entered the building.

For a second, as I crossed the threshold, I had the irrational fear that I’d be sent back to Bungo’s Playroom, but then nothing happened.

The shouting was a lot louder now and I moved through the classroom and emerged out into a large hallway. Further down were two groups of survivors that looked to be on the verge of fighting. One group had a bunch of losers in it, and the other looked like gym bros who’d long given up the ability to scratch their backs in exchange for more muscle.

“Look! It’s Tammy-Lee!” Panda exclaimed, pointing at one of the losers.

I blinked and looked a bit closer. Sure enough, wearing a pink jogging set was the woman who’d saved me from death with her crowbar. A crowbar she was currently threatening the bulked-up dudes with. Next to her was a morbidly-obese green-haired person and a middle-aged guy in a suit. There was also a very thin mousy woman hiding behind them, and a guy with a fedora who wore a t-shirt with the print of an anime schoolgirl in a compromising position.

“This is our territory now!” shouted one of the musclebound dudes. He had veins visible along his forehead and neck.

“One papercut to the face and that guy’s done for,” Panda remarked.

I walked towards the group with as much swagger as I could manage, but before I could put a stop to the fight, Tammy-Lee clocked one of the guys in the head when he suddenly charged her.

Then all hell broke loose.

“Oh shit,” I cursed and ran forward, just as the guy in the suit was picked up and thrown across the hallway. His clothes tore as he collided with a metal locker.

Tammy-Lee yelled something in Russian and struck another guy, while her friends backed off towards the exit and their friend in the suit, who was unconscious on the floor.

“I wonder if this also happened last time?” Panda said.

One of the big guys was about to punch Tammy in the head, when I leapt in with a strike to his face using Brock.

Squeak!

Everyone froze and looked at me.

“Who the fuck are you?” asked one of the gym bros.

The guy I’d punched looked at my gauntlet and said, “He just hit me with a ballo—”

Suddenly he flew across the hall, striking the floor and leaving a streak of blood, before bouncing off into the ceiling and leaving another. He landed in a heap next to a utility closet, his head missing.

“Holy fuck, Gambit!” Panda exclaimed. “You just killed a guy!”

I looked down at Brock with a grin, then I ran my gaze along the other bulked-out muscleheads.

“You’re a strange-looking man,” said Tammy-Lee in a thick Russian accent.

“He just killed Hunter!” yelled a guy with a red crowbar-shaped mark on his forehead.

“Everyone, shut up!” I said, pointing my balloon gauntlet at the guys. “I need to know where Milton is!”

The gym bros looked between each other, each of them shaking their heads.

I turned to look at Tammy-Lee, but she shook her head too. “I do not know where he is, but a young girl came by looking for him earlier.”

“This is for Hunter!” someone suddenly yelled and punched me in the back of the head.

The loud crunch of his finger bones confirmed something that I’d been wondering about.

“He’s made out of metal!” exclaimed the guy with the now-broken hand.

I spun around and headbutted him hard enough to slam him to the ground.

“It’s silver,” I said.

“He’s dead…” Panda remarked drily.

I looked down at the rapidly-spreading puddle of blood from his caved-in face.

“Woops.”

“Eh, it’s probably fine, canonically,” Panda then said. “If they took over the kindergarten, they were probably turned into monsters when it became a dungeon.”

I eyed the six muscleheads remaining. “Unless you want to end up like your friends, I suggest you get lost. If not, I’ve got a knuckle sandwich waiting for each of you.”

It suddenly felt like someone pinched my cheek.

“Ow.”

“Wait…” Panda said, looking at me. “Is the Bad Catchphrase thing still in effect!? I thought that was tied to the Great Game! Why is that working now!? That raises so many weird and potentially paradoxical questions!”

“This is for Brayden!” yelled another of the muscleheads as he charged me.

I sighed. “It’s like they’re trying to get killed.”

“It might cause more problems if they survive,” Panda said. “Butterfly effect and all that. Eh, who am I kidding, you’ve already pretty much fucked up the future.”

Tammy-Lee backed away as I punched each of the muscular dudes into the ground, their bodies not standing a chance against my balloon gauntlet and heightened strength.

All of them kept shouting the name of the person I’d just killed, as though the whole thing was following a weird script. And each of them had strong I-was-prom-king-in-high-school names, with the next four being called Tyler, Dylan, Chad, and Brad. Just so I’d be able to know his name, the last guy even shouted, “I’m Tanner and this is for Jace!”

Then I uppercutted him hard enough that his head flew out of his body, pulling the spine along with it like some kind of Mortal Combat fatality move.

I turned to ask Tammy where she’d seen Bee heading towards, but then I realized that she’d left with her friends.

“Big surprise, you just murdered a bunch of people. Like, with terrifying ease. Even if this was during the Great Game that’d still rattle anyone who saw it.”

I looked around at the eight dead and bleeding gym rats.

“You said it was okay since they were gonna die anyway!”

“Don’t blame me for this!”

“I thought I was cleaning up a time paradox! You know I can’t handle complex situations like that!”

Panda paused. “Shit, you’re right. This was my fault.”

He made a big show of looking around at the muscular corpses that were buried in the floor, lockers, ceiling, or otherwise splattered across the hallway.

“Eh, you know, I don’t think anything of value was really lost.”

“They might’ve hurt Tammy-Lee and her friends, so I think I did the right thing.”

“Ehh, I’m not entirely sure about that. Tammy was definitely the first to strike here…”

“Shit, I was really hoping I could use that as my excuse.”

Panda patted me on the head. “When this place turns into the Playrooms again, all the evidence will be gone. Nobody will have to know what you did.”

I nodded. “I’ve gotta go stop the witnesses before they get too far.”

“Wait, what? No, don’t do that!”

I ignored him as I ran back the way I’d come, yelling for Tammy-Lee and her friends to stop running when I spotted them outside in the playground.

For some reason that just made them run faster.

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-Two

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

Loopshard is down to #9 on Rising Stars, and before long it will have left the list entirely. Still growing decently day-by-day, so perhaps it'll hit 4k before its run comes to a close.

Anyway, this chapter runs a bit long, even though I skipped a section. I didn't really want to chop it up though, so you get over 4k words this time, though I try to stick to 3k.

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

Chapter Thirty-Two

The light of the setting sun stained the sky orange and pink. Adam was walking along the edge of the island, staring down at the cloud layer below. Since there were also clouds above, he was fairly sure that Interim Island moved through the middle of the troposphere. Strangely, none of the clouds actually moved through the island like what he’d expected. It was as if a barrier around the floating landmass was keeping them at bay.

 While he looked out over the edge, he suddenly noticed a hole in the cliff-side about eight metres down. He was on the south-western side of the island, a part of the island he hadn’t visited before. The houses around here were the same as everywhere else, so there was nothing that really made the place stand out as special.

Adam got down on his knees and leaned over the edge to get a better look. The landmass below the surface of the island went down straight for about twelve metres, before it tapered to a point that he couldn’t see but expected was there. The hole in the cliff-side wasn’t just some random chunk missing. No, it was a proper cave entrance with a flat landing poking out slightly, as though inviting people to investigate.

He suddenly realised that all that land beneath his feet had the potential to hide a lot of secrets.

After all, Alivida’s tent is already kind of a secret, so it makes sense there’d be other things hidden away on Interim Island as well.

But… how do I get down there to investigate?

I could use my barriers to slowly descend, but getting back up would be treacherous.

Then he had an epiphany.

Weaver! She’s gotta be the answer to this!

If I unlock her, I can get her to spin me a rope that’ll let me rappel down!

Adam looked around and saw that there were a few trees not too far away, almost as if he was meant to tie a rope to them and go down to explore.

I wonder if Emelia knows about this.

He turned to look at the Eye floating nearby.

“What’s down there?” he asked.

It did not reply, which was the same way it’d responded to his previous questions about Alivida’s tent.

That’s as good as any confirmation I could get. There’s definitely something down there.

Maybe another vendor that sells special items?

Adam got back to his feet and wiped the dirt and grass off his pants.

I’ll come back here after Stage Two when I’ve unlocked Weaver.

As he moved on to the Garden, he continued looking over the edge for more cave openings, but didn’t spot any others.

As he reached the dark-blue tent with the colourful Dahlias planted around it, the sun crept towards the horizon. He leaned against his barrier while waiting for it to fully set. Since he wasn’t putting his full weight on the summon, it didn’t seem to take ‘damage’, which was curious.

About 10 minutes after he arrived, darkness rolled across Interim Island and the Dahlias all lost their colour, becoming black like the night. A tiny shape descended from the clouds above, flying quickly. It paused for a second when it spotted Adam waiting in front of the tent, but then it zoomed inside.

Purple light started to emanate from within and Adam approached the flap, letting himself inside.

He found the black moth sitting on the chair behind the round table with the shawl and crystal ball on top of it. The purple like from the glass orb caught on the orbiting ashy scales that circled the interior.

“You’re back… Again.”

“Luvicidix told me you have something new in stock. I also brought another Mastery Shard.”

“I do. My inventory expands as you achieve certain thresholds.”

“Show me what you’ve got.”

The moth waved a black arm over the crystal ball.

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Hardmode — Unlock a toggleable Stage Hardmode — 1 Shard >

< 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 >

Skip if ‘eligible’, I wonder what that entails.

I’m also wondering if I should put my point into the Orb again or maybe get the Hardmode instead, since Emelia might be able to tell me all the Secrets and Stage info, rendering the Orb kind of useless.

“Explain the Skipping Stone to me.”

“If you are wielding a weapon you have beaten a Stage with before… and if you have found all Secrets and completed all Achievements, then you may… skip.”

“That sounds really powerful. How does it work with Points and rewards?”

“In order to skip, you forfeit all Points, Upgrades, and Relics.”

That makes it pretty useless… Lots of requirements and no reward.

“The Hardmode, how exactly is the double Points calculated? Like, what happens if I defeat a Secret Boss while it’s active?”

“Hardmode only doubles the score given by a Stage, without considering the bonus rewards. Those are… added to the score later.”

So, I got 1240 for Stage One, but 700 of that were from bonus rewards. So, with Hardmode active, that would mean I’d have gotten 1780 instead. That’s not exactly fantastic, especially if it makes a Stage much harder.

I wonder if I should get it for Stage Two. Last time I got about 1000 Points for clearing it and that was without any bonuses, so I’d probably get 2000 for beating it with Hardmode, plus whatever bonus the Secret Boss gives. If I’m careful, I might be able to get Flawless as well. So that’d be maybe like 3000 Points in total.

I’ve gotta do it. I’ll ask Emelia how to best defeat the Hobgoblin Lord so I’m fully prepared.

“I’ll buy the Hardmode upgrade.”

“Thank you,” Alivida said.

The pyramid gem emerged from Adam’s torso, moving through his white shirt as though it wasn’t there. It was absorbed by the crystal ball on the table and the purple glow blinked once.

< < Mastery Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Hardmode — Unlock a toggleable Stage Hardmode >

“I’ll be back when I have more Shards,” Adam said.

“My twin will inform you… if you unlock more upgrades… in my shop.”

“Gotcha.”

Adam left the tent and was about to return to the Tavern when he remembered something.

I never checked out what upgrades are available for Gram.

Even though he didn’t have any Points to spend, he still wanted to know what kind of upgrades the weapon could get. He expected it to be similar to what the Defender got, just minus the shield.

The bright light of the moon cast everything in a silvery glaze and Adam couldn’t help but think of Belamouranthe.

I really hope I can save her.

Right now all I can think of is giving her the All-Mother’s Wrath necklace.

I should ask Emelia about it.

He made it to the Market, but this time he didn’t walk in on all the vendors standing about outside their stalls.

Yenna was playing the harp softly as he walked past her and she gave him a slight nod.

He stopped in front of Thea’s stall and pulled Gram from his lower back. In the light of the moon, the incandescent-green beetle looked almost black.

“Welcome back, Adam,” she greeted.

“I’d like to see the weapon upgrades for this weapon.”

“Sure thing.”

The beetle waved a hand over her anvil and it lit up with four identical symbols. They all depicted a chisel striking a rock.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

< Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword >

What the hell?

“Shitbox, why doesn’t this have normal upgrades?”

[To unlock the potential of the Mythical Weapon ‘Gram’, the stone must be carefully chipped away.]

Let me guess, I’ll need to pick this upgrade 6 times to get it to evolve before I can use it as a normal weapon and get normal upgrades?

Maybe I should try and find a different weapon to replace this with, because that seems like a waste of upgrades. Perhaps it makes sense if I end up with more Points than I know what to do with, but even then I’m sure investing those in meta upgrades is a better use.

Disappointed, Adam said his goodbyes and returned to the Tavern.

***

Show me everyone who got the Flawless achievement for Stage One, Adam prompted the Tavern with his mind. He figured it was best to use the mental prompting for the Tavern, since it appeared to be faster and would avoid the Eye catching on to anything he wasn’t supposed to know.

Nearby sat Finnian, devouring everything that Charlie placed before it. The slime was totally absorbed in its mindless consumption.

A true glutton that one…

Six people appeared at random spots around the table, but none of them were ones he recognised, except for Emelia. She was currently talking to someone Adam couldn’t see.

The others were: a short tan guy in his fifties who had picked Defender, based on the recognisable shield leaned against his chair; a spear-wielding black guy with short curls and a white polo shirt; an Asian woman who had a bow and wore a cocktail dress for some reason; an Asian guy with shoulder long hair and glasses whose weapon he couldn’t see; and a muscular white guy with a spray-on tan and chemically-white hair, who it seemed had picked Brawler.

Show me everyone who got Flawless and Speedrun.

Everyone except Emelia and the Asian guy disappeared.

I wonder if that’s Haoyang.

Guess I could try and befriend him perhaps, but what would I talk to him about? I don’t need any knowledge he could possibly have…

Show me everyone who got the Secret Boss.

Only Emelia was left.

Figures.

Show me everyone who knows about the Self-devouring Eye.

Again, only Emelia.

So, she hasn’t told anyone. I mean, I’d have done the same, since there’s only one and sharing its existence potentially complicates relationships.

Wait, why did she have the Challenge Stone? She’d probably have to buy that from Alivida, and even if she’s done two full loops, would she really have enough Shards to spare on something like that if she wasn’t planning on using it?

Based on how Mórrígan threatened me with it and used it to kill Lenard, it seems like it’s designed to let you fight other Players between Stages… So is there someone she wants to take out? Maybe she’s already used it after meeting me?

Then he realised a possible explanation.

Since there were future Stages where Players were forced to work together, there were bound to be plenty of murderers as well. If she was really trying to save as many people as possible, going after those sorts of Players was necessary.

Adam thought of the person he’d killed in his last loop.

Show me Charlotte Hayes.

The pale woman with auburn hair, freckles, and large glasses appeared nearby. She was eating sushi while talking to someone. It kind of looked like she was having fun. He couldn’t see what weapon she had.

I wonder if I have to fight her again.

Show me Ilya Sokolov.

The long-haired Russian appeared while Charlotte’s hologram vanished. Next to Ilya leaned a spear and he was in the middle of eating soup. Unlike last loop, the print on his band t-shirt was different, which was odd.

That raises a lot of uncomfortable questions.

Does that mean that it isn’t just the odds that change in every universe, but also things prior to the start of the Trials??

Maybe some people didn’t even enter the Trials because they died just before they began?

Adam shook his head. He realised it was better not to focus on stuff like that, since he had no control over it.

Wait, there is something I can ask others about.

Show me everyone who found the cave on the south-western cliff-side of Interim Island and plan to explore it.

Ilya vanished and all the tables filled up with holograms, then they flickered and were replaced, again-and-again.

“How many people is that?”

[6.703 Players match the query.]

That’s quite a lot.

Hmm…

Filter out everyone who didn’t find the Glass Acorn.

The holograms flickered until about twenty were left, which was still quite a lot.

What else can I do to narrow it down?

Oh right, what about this…

Filter out everyone who hasn’t discovered Alivida.

All but one hologram vanished, leaving behind a tall white guy in his fifties or sixties, with short frizzy greyish-white hair. He had the gnarled wooden staff of the Spellcaster leaned against his chair. It was turned into a recliner like Adam’s, which was a funny coincidence.

“Hey,” Adam said. “How do you plan to get down to the cave?”

The guy, who had been in the middle of talking to someone else, turned to look at Adam.

Then he flickered out and reappeared opposite him.

“Are you planning to investigate it too?” he asked. His voice sounded a lot younger than his appearance and had kind of a playful quality to it, which somehow immediately make him seem likeable to Adam.

Reminds me a bit of one of my bosses.

“I am, and I know the way to do it too.”

The guy gave him a curious look, then said, “I’ll bringing someone else into the conversation.”

“Okay?”

Next to the tall guy appeared the short tan Defender who Adam had just seen earlier when he queried for the Flawless achievement. He looked a little younger than the other guy and his hair was pale-blonde. Unlike the tall guy who had a narrow face, his was rounder and radiated kindness.

“I recognise you,” said the short guy. Like the other man, he sounded a lot younger than he was.

“Really?” Adam asked.

“I remembered the weird crown on your head. You got the Flawless bonus too, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

The short guy turned to his tall friend. “See Beck, it wasn’t that hard to get!”

“Shut up. At least I got the Speedrun.”

“Flawless is worth more.”

“Well, who found the moth!?”

“You did.”

“That’s right,” said the tall guy, nodding to himself smugly.

“Did either of you get a Mastery Shard to pay Alivida with yet?” Adam asked, interrupting their back-and-forth.

They shared a look.

“No, what’s that?” asked the short guy.

“I’ll tell you after you introduce yourself,” Adam said. “For starters, I’m Adam.”

“I’m Beck,” said the tall guy.

“And I’m Gladwyn,” said the short guy.

“Are those your real names?”

“No,” replied Beck. “You haven’t discovered the Nickname feature yet?”

“The what?” Adam asked.

“You tell the Observer that you want to change your nickname and then give it an eligible name. It’s pretty simple.”

“Observer?” Adam asked.

“He’s never played DnD,” Gladwyn said. “What a tragedy.”

“Young people these days,” Beck agreed, shaking his head.

“I’m 32,” Adam told them.

“My point still stands,” Beck insisted.

Guess I’ll give it a try.

Adam turned to the Eye. “I’d like to change my nickname.”

[Understood. What would you like your new Nickname to be? If a Nickname is already in use, you will be unable to claim it.]

Maybe someone already took it, but I might as well try it.

“Adam.”

[Understood. The System will now refer to you as ‘Adam’. Other Players may locate you using this Nickname and it will be used if you try to connect to someone in the Tavern.]

So that’s how Mórrígan got her name!

Still, I’m surprised that I’m the first to claim that nickname.

Wait, I wonder if it can be exploited somehow.

“Can I connect to people who blocked me by changing my nickname?”

[No.]

I guess that’s good.

But so much for trying to clear up the misunderstanding with Willow…

“What did you change your name to?” Gladwyn asked.

“Adam,” he replied.

Beck made a face. “He’s one of those people. Well, hello, Adam0001, Lord of Imagination.”

Adam laughed. “You’ve gotta do better than that if you want to hurt my feelings,” he said with a grin.

“I’ll think of something,” Beck replied ominously. “So, what’s a Mastery Shard?”

“You get it from evolving your weapons,” Adam said.

“Is that at level 6?” Beck asked.

“Yep.”

“That explains why the beetle only sold upgrades up to that level,” Gladwyn realised.

“What did you use your Points on?” Adam asked.

“I spent my Points on a Luck upgrade and two Rerolls. I’m saving the rest to do that again after next Stage,” Beck said. “I think it’ll pay off.”

“I spent mine on a damage upgrade and this glove,” Gladwyn said, showing off the Duellist’s Glove.

“I still think that was foolish,” Beck muttered.

“Bite me.”

Beck fixed Adam with a look. “So, you said you knew of a way to get down to the cave?”

“We looked around and couldn’t find any rope,” Gladwyn added.

Adam leaned forward conspiratorially.

“You’ll need to trust me, because I can’t tell you how I know this, but…”

***

After Adam finished talking to Beck and Gladwyn, he tried to connect to Emelia. She didn’t accept his request until almost two minutes had passed.

When she appeared opposite him, the first thing she asked was, “Why did it not include your last name in the connection request?”

“I set my nickname to ‘Adam’, that’s why.”

“Nickname? I didn’t know you could do that.”

Adam tried to hide his surprise.

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t be all-knowing.”

“I didn’t say anything,” he replied, raising his hands.

“So? Why do you want to talk to me? I’m busy helping others and there’s only 4 hours before the Tavern closes.”

“I bought the Hardmode upgrade from Alivida and I need to know what it does in Stage Two.”

Emelia stared at him for a moment. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she asked.

“I need the Points for the meta upgrades.”

“Don’t use it. You’ll die.”

“Not if you tell me what it does.”

She frowned. “If you use it and survive, you’ll just want to use it again.”

“Listen, I’m not trying to die, but I need the Points. You’re using it too, aren’t you?”

“That’s different,” she replied. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Can you please just tell me? If you want me to survive Stage Eight, I need your help getting stronger.”

She froze and Adam knew he’d found her weak-point.

“Fine,” she then said. “But don’t use it for Three and Four, you’ll die.”

He nodded. “Understood.”

“Hardmode in Stage Two gives all the goblins bone armour, which makes them harder to kill.”

“That’s not so bad,” he replied.

“I wasn’t finished. It also removes all the healing insects and slugs you can normally eat. But most importantly, the boss has the Fiendbarb Relic equipped. Are you familiar with how that one works?”

“Intimately.”

“Then you’ll know that taking on the Hardmode is a foolish idea. It’s doable in Stage One because it just doubles the number of slimes and gives the boss two extra moves. But, if you’re doing the Hardmode in Stage Two, then you’d best get rid of that crown. The Hobgoblin Lord is plenty dangerous without Hardmode active. One hit from Fiendbarb with your low Health points and you’re dead. Doesn’t even matter where it hits you.”

“How do you know how much Health I have?”

“Because that’s the weapon that Arturo uses. He always complained about near-death experiences because of its terrible stats.”

“It’s versatile and strong,” Adam said.

“Sure, if you know how to use it. Have you mastered shaping yet?”

She even knows about the evolution, Adam noted.

“Not yet.”

“Arturo told me that unless you can learn how to fold the barrier, it’s a useless weapon.”

We’ll see. I don’t think she has enough experience to really make that judgement herself, and I don’t know this Arturo guy.

“I also have Gram as backup,” Adam said.

“You’d be better off getting the Spellcaster as your secondary Weapon Type and switching to its stats. It has more Health, Damage, and Speed. It’ll also increase the likelihood of Mana- and spell-based Relics appearing if you have two weapons that use them.”

That actually makes a lot of sense. I might do that after Stage Two when I have more Points.

“Have you tried using Gram?” he asked.

“Yes. Every evolution increases its base stats, but it doesn’t become a true weapon until its third evolution when all the stone is gone. It’s not a bad weapon once you get to that point, but it’s a waste of upgrades to use it early on.”

“But won’t I lose it if I get the Spellcaster instead?”

“You can just put Gram in your storage.”

“In the Player House? I didn’t know you could do that. Shitbox made it sound like it’d be gone if I bought another weapon.”

“You have to unequip it and store it in the house first, otherwise that will happen, yes.”

“Are there any other hidden weapons to find?”

“Of course. I know of the ones in Stage Five and Seven. The one in Five is a stone spear with a special attack that’s pretty good. The one in Seven is cursed though and always turns people into monsters, so I won’t be telling you how to get it. There’s supposedly one in Stage Four as well, but I have no idea where it’d be. It’s the only thing I’m missing from that Stage.”

“What about inside the great tree?” Adam suggested.

She shook her head. “I already tried chopping it down. I’ll try turning it into a Rotmaker this time around, maybe that’ll do the trick.”

“By the way, what weapon do you use? I can’t really tell.”

“That’s because I hide them, which you should make a habit of doing as well. If people don’t know what you have, they won’t know how to easily counter you later on. Learnt that the hard way.”

For all her talk of wanting to help people, she sure comes across as jaded at times.

“You won’t tell me?”

“I use Priest and Brawler.”

Adam frowned.

“What?” Emelie asked.

“That’s what Mórrígan used in my previous loop…”

“It’s very hard to beat for the first 9 Stages,” she said. “Priest obviously works well in groups, but the Zealot evolution is what makes that particular combo powerful, since it increases damage based on proximity to an enemy. Brawler has a similar evolution called Pit Fighter and the two damage increases interact multiplicatively, allowing you to kill everything in just a few punches.”

“Why isn’t it good for Stage Ten and later?”

“There are better options at that point, plus a lot of the fights end up requiring superhuman reflexes to keep up with the enemies at close range. Alright, I’ve spent enough time with you, I’ve gotta go.”

“Thanks Emelia,” he said and meant it.

She paused and a soft expression flowed across her face so quickly that it was gone a split-second later.

“Don’t die,” she told him.

Then she vanished.

Connect me to Beck and Gladwyn again, Adam prompted the Tavern.

He spent the rest of the night talking to the pair and getting to know them better.

When the Tavern was eventually about to close, Beck quickly issued a challenge and said that whoever got the least Points in Stage Two would have to change their nickname to whatever the winner decided.

Adam played along, even though he knew he’d crush them both. Still, he’d told them about the Secrets like Weaver and the Lucky Stone, as well as what to watch out for, so he was sure they’d both end up with pretty high Point totals by the end.

After leaving the Tavern, Adam went by the Player house to drop off his Cracked Slime Core in the storage. He noticed that all three trophies for Stage One were now featured on the shelves, even though he hadn’t attained the Speedrun in this loop. As predicted, the Secret Boss trophy was gold. However, there was also a glass trophy that read ‘Magical Forest Secrets’. That one hadn’t given any bonus Points, but perhaps it would’ve if he’d gotten both Secrets in the same run.

He left the house and went to the Market where he found Yenna taking a break from playing her instrument to watch the fountain. The other vendors were out of their stalls and were busy talking and eating until they noticed him.

He felt bad for disturbing their peace, but part of him knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without the wasp’s lullaby.

Adam laid down on the wonky cobblestones next to the musician’s stool, his arms behind his head while he stared up at the stars. This loop was already so far off the rails for what he’d expected it to be, but he hadn’t given up on trying to get things back on track. First off he needed to find a way to get in touch with Willow and clear up the misunderstanding. He’d thought to ask Gladwyn for help, since he had a warm personality and atmosphere that’d no doubt work to convince Willow to unblock Adam. However, he was wary of making such a request before properly getting to know the guy.

I just hope Willow makes it past Stage Two…

Yenna knelt down next to Adam and his nose was filled with the scent of honey.

Then she began to sing her lullaby.

For once, he didn’t see the eye in the darkness. In fact, he didn’t dream at all.

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Beck and Gladwyn who I introduced in this chapter are directly based on two of my best friends from my time as an MMO shut-in, and I remember both very fondly. Their friendship was really something special and I've always wanted to memorialise it somehow. Sadly, Beck passed away suddenly one day and it left behind a hole in my friend group, and it also left Gladwyn without his best friend. Even though that's 8 years ago, it still stings.

Anyway, one of the secret joys of writing stories with many characters is that I can hide references like this (though I just gave it away, lol). I kind of like the thought that one day someone who knew Beck and Gladwyn may come across this story and be surprised. There are a lot of people in my life whose personalities or circumstances just shone so brightly to me that I thought they deserved to be immortalised in my silly little stories.

Anyway...

Thanks for reading. It's really nice to see a lot of engagement in the comments here on Patreon since I'm used to the silent type of supporters on my other stories ^-^' Also, some of the predictions from y'all are crazy spot-on (I won't say which). But yeah, please stop reading my mind, thank you :p

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Loopshard - Chapter Thirty-One

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard is still in the top 7 of Rising Stars, but it has fallen down to #5 (nevermind fell to #7, so I'm getting yeeted off the list lol), so it may not stick around for long. It's almost at 3500 followers though, which is pretty awesome.

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Chapter Thirty-One

Adam stared at the empty spot Willow had been sitting in, frozen in complete disbelief.

“Connect me to her again.”

[I cannot.]

Fuck! What the fuck just happened!?

Adam took a deep breath.

It’s just a misunderstanding.

I’ll get someone else to explain that to her.

Oh, I know. Lenard should be able to help.

I’ve just gotta make sure I don’t screw up the introduction again.

Adam tried to think of a way to strike up a conversation with Lenard.

“Show me Lenard Schulz.”

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

Adam slammed his hands on the table in frustration. “Fuck!”

The barrier had stopped spinning and the saw-toothed edge he’d been working on was gone, leaving just a flat disc behind.

Wait, maybe my sister survived!

He was getting desperate all of a sudden.

“Show me Helena Fischer!”

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

Adam clenched his teeth.

“Show me Christian Fischer.”

A man appeared some seats down. He had golden-brown hair, a thick beard, and pale-green eyes.

Adam almost called out to him, but then he saw the look on his brother-in-law’s face. It was the look of someone who’d resigned themselves to defeat. In front of him were several empty bottles of whiskey. Despite that, he didn’t look inebriated at all.

He’s probably discovered that Helena and their daughter are dead…

I can’t just leave him like this.

They hadn’t exactly been best friends, but for a car salesman he was actually a surprisingly-good guy, and he’d always been an attentive and caring father.

“Christian,” Adam said.

He slowly turned to face him. Then his hologram flickered and appeared directly opposite Adam.

“You okay?”

Christian stared at him.

“You’re alive,” he muttered. “Everyone else is gone, man. My parents. Helena…” He swallowed, as though holding back a panicked sob. “Even Laura. Fuck, Adam. They took my little girl. They took everything.”

Adam took a deep breath to steady himself. He’d never seen the guy like this before and it was affecting him more than he’d expected.

“Listen. We can get them back. All of them.”

“How?” Christian asked. “They told me that they’re all gone. I barely made it out of that forest. One of the monsters ate my hand, but then I took a bite of an apple and it was back again… Adam, what the fuck is going on??”

“We have to keep fighting,” Adam told him. “When we win, everyone will be saved.”

Christian let out a shuddering breath. “I need some fresh air. That giant ant keeps looking at me.”

“When you come back here, tell the cube you want to talk to me. Just give them my full name, it’ll work.”

“Yeah, okay. See you later, Adam.”

“Don’t stay out too late,” he told Christian as he got up and his hologram vanished.

Fucking hell…

Adam leaned back in his reclining chair. Just then Charlie came over with his croissants and milkshake.

“Thank you,” he said, grateful for the distraction.

He grabbed one of the pastries and bit off half in a single bite. Then he washed it down with the milkshake, before placing it in the cupholder.

Adam let out a sigh.

He started spinning the barrier around on its three axes in the air and trying to maintain the saw-toothed edge, while thinking about who else he could ask for help with Willow.

I doubt Ilya would help me. Also need to find out if I’ll have to fight him in Stage Five again…

Maybe I could ask Mori, although I’m not sure how to start up a conversation with him.

If I knew Kate’s full name, she’d be someone I’d ask for sure, since she seemed very easy-going and approachable.

“Shitbox,” Adam said. “Let me know if Willow unblocks me.”

[I cannot.]

He frowned.

Maybe there’s a different way to phrase the command?

“How about this: send her a connection request every 20 seconds and let me know if it goes through.”

[Understood.]

Maybe the issue is that I asked it to alert me. Although that can’t be it, since it can alert me to when my cooldowns and potions are ready.

Perhaps it has something to do with it not knowing what is happening in other Players’ dimensions and thus it can’t alert me of what it does not know.

Though that makes no sense, since the System told me that it’s the same tesseract that all Players see. But maybe all those clones do not have a way to communicate? Like as safety precaution? Like, perhaps the System realised that such a hive-mind would be difficult to control?

“Adam?” asked an unfamiliar female voice.

He nearly fell out of his recliner in surprise, but managed to catch himself on the edge of the table.

His head swivelled around, looking for the woman who’d spoken to him.

Then she appeared directly opposite him.

Ah shit…

The eyes immediately gave her away.

It’s another fucking time-looper!

Adam swallowed.

“Do I know you?” he asked, looking across at the woman. He tried to not let it show that he knew what she was.

She had shoulder-length and wild platinum-blonde hair. Her skin was pale with a slight golden tinge to it, like the whisper of a tan. She wore a red fuzzy sweater over a black sports bra that was partially visible, though the only thing Adam really noticed were her eyes.

“I’m Emelia,” she said.

She’s gotta be the one Mórrígan was talking about. But… If she’s got the spiral eyes, that means she’s the one who found the Self-devouring Eye in this universe.

“I wanted to ask how you discovered the Secret Boss,” she said. Her accent was French, and her voice was soft and kind.

Adam immediately noticed something.

She doesn’t seem quite sure of herself and even if I didn’t know she was a time-looper based on the eyes, that comment definitely would’ve given her away…

It’s almost like this is her first time looping. As though she hasn’t figured out what the power does yet.

“I also wanted to know why you picked Warder, normally you— I mean, usually people would pick something like Warrior.”

Nice… She almost just said ‘normally you pick Warrior’.

Adam looked her straight in the eyes. “How do you know about the Secret Boss?”

“This may be hard to believe, but I’ve done this before. I’m a time-traveller.”

Adam blinked and almost burst out laughing at how easily she’d given that up.

Why the hell would she just tell me that!?

She gave him a confused look. “You don’t seem very surprised.”

“I’m just wondering why you’d tell me something like that. Shouldn’t you keep that to yourself?”

“I am trying to save everyone,” she replied. “No one will trust me if I don’t tell them the truth.”

That finally broke him and he started laughing.

“What’s so funny about that!?” she asked, sounding offended. “The Trials are a serious threat to humanity and I’m trying to save everyone!”

“No, no, it’s just…”

I’m so relieved someone like this exists. Someone who isn’t warped and twisted by the Divine Relic’s power.

“Wait, what’s that on your chair?” she suddenly asked.

In his laughing fit Adam had leaned forward and exposed Gram to her. He wasn’t sure when it’d happened, but the stone sword was hanging over the back of the recliner.

Emelia paused, looking at the spell-tome that his left hand was resting on and the sword behind him. Her eyes then ran along the chair, with its cupholder and the half-finished milkshake inside.

“Wait a moment,” she said. “You’re a time-traveller too! That’s why you didn’t say anything about my eyes!”

Ah, fuck.

Adam contemplated cutting the connection.

No, wait. This is a golden opportunity.

So much for secrets, I guess.

“That’s right,” he told her.

“But how!? There’s only one Self-devouring Eye!”

I knew it.

Man, this girl is just letting all the secrets out though.

“Really? Which Stage did you get it in? How can you be sure there aren’t others?”

Emelia paused, then narrowed her eyes.

“What happens in Stage Five?” she asked.

“You mean the Forbidden Altar?”

“What about Stage Eight?” she continued.

Adam paused just long enough for her to say, “You don’t know.”

She didn’t stop. “What about Seven? Six?”

He frowned.

Okay, not as dumb as she first came off, I guess.

“What does the Void in Stage Five do?” she then asked.

No idea what that is.

“You haven’t even beaten Stage Five??” she realised by his lack of answer. “How the hell do you have Second Sheath and Gram!? And the Rusted Crown too!”

Oh, woops, forgot I was wearing that still. I suppose that’s like a neon sign for any observant time-loopers…

“Do you even know what the crown is for??” she asked, clearly upset about his ability to time-loop without knowing as much as her. Mórrígan had also been upset about that.

I guess it makes sense. If the Self-devouring Eye is only available in a super late Stage, then it’s a challenge to always get there to unlock it. To them, I must seem like someone who found an exploit to cheat the System.

Which, err… would be correct, I suppose.

“It’s for triggering the Secret Boss in Stage Two,” he replied, taking a wild shot in the dark.

Emelia didn’t look convinced. “And what’s the reward for beating the Hobgoblin Lord?”

Thanks for the confirmation.

So that’s what the Secret Boss is? I just have to give the crown to the Hobgoblin? That seems pretty easy. Although I guess it does require triggering and beating Stage One’s hidden boss first. I hope they’re not all linked together like that…

Adam threw in the towel and shrugged. There was no point trying to bullshit her when he didn’t know the answer.

Mórrígan’s words popped into his head: This run is already unsalvageable.

Willow blocked me and I’ve already caught the attention of a time-looper.

Good fucking job, Adam, you big stupid idiot.

“You haven’t even beaten the Hobgoblin Lord? So, this must be your first time beating the Slime Emperor too. Seriously… who are you? What did you do with my Adam!?”

“Your Adam?” he replied sceptically.

“The Adam I know always picks Warrior in the beginning. He always reconnects with his brother-in-law, but is unable to save him from killing himself after he finds out his wife and children are gone.”

“What!? Shit, I’ve gotta stop Christian!” Adam said, almost standing up as if he could run across dimensions to find him.

Emelia shook her head. “My Adam always blames himself for not being able to save his last bit of family. And he always dies in Stage Eight, no matter what I do to try and stop it…”

She said the last part with a deep sadness in her voice.

Then she pulled a marble out of nowhere and pointed it at Adam.

“Put that shit away,” Adam told her, angry that she didn’t care about Christian at all and hadn’t even given him the opportunity to try and save the guy. “You’re not going to kill me.”

Emelia looked at the marble in her hand and then back at him.

“How do you know about the Challenge Stone? You haven’t beaten Stage Five, so how could you know??”

Adam sighed.

“I’m a time-looper,” he said. “But I’m not like you or anyone else who uses that fucking Relic. I mean, look at me. My eyes aren’t all fucked up like yours.”

Emelia pulled back at the tone in his voice.

“Last time, Mórrígan used that marble to kill my friend to try and get to me. Then I died to another Player she manipulated into being her hitman. She was someone like you, fucked-up eyes and that whole ‘You’re not who you’re supposed to be’ attitude!”

“I don’t know any Mórrígan,” Emelia said, a frown on her face. For some reason, Adam’s anger seemed to hurt her. “Arturo is the one who told me about the Self-devouring Eye. He said he’d had enough of looping back in time and wanted to see what was beyond the Gate of Nihility. So he told me to take it and go back and do what he couldn’t.”

Arturo, that’s another of the names that Mórrígan mentioned.

I wonder of one of these people are destined to always get to the divine Relic in every universe…

“In my last loop, Mórrígan used that marble to kill you and Arturo. As well as some guy called Haoyang.”

Emelia gasped. “You mean Anri? Black hair and pale wrinkly skin?”

“Yeah, that sounds like her.”

Wonder why the hell she was called Mórrígan then?

“She always makes it far, just like Arturo and Haoyang. Although, the Arturo I’ve met the last two loops has not been the same who told me to take the Relic…”

So this is only her third time through?

Christ…

“I don’t understand, why was Anri the one who got the Relic in your last loop?” Emelia asked.

“Because I’m not looping back to the start of the same universe. I’m going across them, somehow. And apparently landing randomly in another time-looper’s layer cake of loops.”

After all Mórrígan had clearly looped many times and it sounds like Arturo looped a lot before Emelia got the Relic in this universe.

If it’s something other than randomness that determines what loop layer I land in, then I don’t know what it could be.

“How’s that possible?”

Adam grinned. “I’ll tell you if you tell me what Stage you got the Self-devouring Eye. And explain what the hell the Gate of Nihility is.”

She shook her head.

“Guess we’ll both just be in the dark then,” he replied.

“If you die, will my Adam return?” she asked, fiddling with the marble in her hands. “The Adam I know.”

“I’m afraid not,” he said.

Emelia paused, dropping the marble onto the table. It rolled across to Adam. He was able to touch it, but he couldn’t lift it, push it, or anything.

“What do you mean?” she finally asked.

“The price of my power is that when I die, Adam Fischer ceases to exist in that universe. A me-shaped hole is just left behind.”

“That makes no sense.”

“You’re telling me,” he said, taking a sip of his milkshake. “So, please don’t kill me with that fucking marble. It would really ruin my day. And it’s already been pretty shitty so far.”

Emelia reached over and grabbed the marble from the table. She suddenly looked really sad.

“The Adam I know is gone forever then?” she asked softly.

“Sorry.”

There was a long pause where Emelia just stared at the marble in her hand.

Then Adam asked, “Did he ever, err, me, I mean I, did I… fuck, how the hell do I phrase this?? Did ‘past Adam’ tell you about Jameson’s croissants?”

Emelia sniffled. “No.”

He grinned. “Well, then you’re in for a treat.”

After Emelia ordered a croissant from Jameson’s bakery and Adam ordered a chausson aux pommes per her recommendation, they sat in silence while they waited, with Adam taking a few sips of his milkshake now-and-again.

Occasionally, Emelia would turn her head to speak to someone that Adam couldn’t see, but from trying to read her lips he was fairly sure she was talking to other Players and telling them what to do. Almost like a coach advising someone what their best move was.

If you know the odds for everyone, then you can give some pretty specific advice, but there’s no way she knows all that after just two loops.

When their orders arrived, Emelia seemed surprised by the croissant.

“I had no idea they made them this good outside of France!”

Adam had never tried a chausson aux pommes before. It was a crispy and flaky pastry shaped like a half-moon with apple sauce inside it. He had to admit it was pretty good.

“So, what’s your plan?” Adam asked after he finished the last bits of the pastry.

Emelia put down the coffee she’d also ordered and looked at him, her violet spiralling eyes boring into his. “I’m going to save as many people as I can.”

“How? By telling them what to do?”

“I’m picking people I know are helping others, and I am giving them information about Stage Two.”

“Like what?”

“How to easily kill a goblin, the importance of harvesting their right ears for Points, what to expect from each Wave, and the necessity of watching out for the boss’ ability to survive a fatal strike. I am also telling them about the Secrets and the Flawless achievement.”

She’s really going all in.

“You’re not mentioning the Speedrun and the Secret Boss achievements? And shouldn’t you tell them about future Stages too so they know what to expect and can plan accordingly?”

“No. I did that last time and it got more people killed. Clearing a Stage fast for Points is too much risk for little reward. If they are careful, they get a lot of Points from the Flawless achievement. Even if they can’t get that, the ear collectibles will help a lot of them buy better upgrades. The problem with telling people about future Stages is that they prepare too far ahead or get focused on a problem that isn’t relevant to their immediate survival, which makes them not pay proper attention.”

“How exactly are you picking people?” he wondered.

“I choose from amongst those who survived Stage Five in my past loops. That way I can be sure they will not die quickly and can keep spreading my Stage guides.”

That’s a pretty efficient but grim way to pick, but I suppose it gives replicable results.

“Do you know who I go up against in Stage Five?”

“Yes. You always win, so it’s not an issue. And no, I’m not telling you who they are. It’s better that you don’t obsess about them. There is no way to change who you go up against and there’s no way to save them, Arturo told me that and he would know.”

Adam wasn’t so sure. The Trials were clearly set up with the idea that Players had to defy its rules and design somehow. It would be odd if such an integral Stage didn’t have a way to be defied.

“What about Stage Eight, why do I die in that Stage?”

“I don’t know, but your whole group is wiped out. Since no one survives it, I have no idea who was in the group, which makes it impossible to change their fates and save you.”

So there really are group Stages then… That sounds like it’ll be a mess.

“What happens in Stage Eight?”

Emelia shook her head. “I’ll tell you after Seven. Right now you’ve just got to focus on what’s in front of you. Especially if you plan to take on the Hobgoblin Lord for the first time. That’s a very difficult fight.”

Adam sighed. “Fine.”

“By the way, there’s something I need your help with,” he added.

“What?”

“There’s this woman I have been friends with in past loops, but this time she blocked me because of a misunderstanding.”

“And you want me to reach out to her and sort it out?” she asked, sounding exasperated that he’d ask something like that of her. Adam was starting to realise that when she’d said ‘her Adam’, she meant that they’d had some kind of intimate relationship in the past. So, from her perspective, the request was probably quite frustrating.

“Please?”

She frowned, before letting out a small sigh. “What’s her name?”

“Willow Martin,” he said.

Emelia paused, then shook her head. “I can’t help you with that.”

Fuck.

“Can you at least just help her out like you’ve been helping others? With advice and such?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Her hologram flickered out and vanished.

“What the fuck!?”

Adam looked to the tesseract. “Did she just block me??”

[No. It appears the conversation was intentionally disconnected on her end.]

So she’s avoiding me because of that request…

I’m back to square one then. I’ll have to find some new people who can help me.

But first I need some fresh air… Seeing Christian like that was rough.

And if she was right…

“Show me Christian Fischer,” he said, bracing himself.

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

Adam gritted his teeth.

Idiot… Goddamn it, Christian…

Then he picked up the last croissant on his plate and left the Tavern, heading for the Garden before the sun had fully set.

I never did find out what weapon Emelia has, or what her last name is…

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

Loopshard - Chapter Thirty

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

Apologies in advance, this chapter is currently unedited. It's 2am here and I just finished writing it and wanted to get it to you asap.

I will update this section tomorrow when I've edited the chapter.

UPDATE:
This chapter has now been edited. I have also fixed the strange decision-making that people pointed out in the comments, as well as made a few minor changes to dialogue here-and-there, as well as some formatting stuff.

Fixed a minor plothole caused by my previous edit <.< Thanks to MiffedBeatle for noticing.

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Chapter Thirty

A quest??

How many more features have yet to be revealed in these Trials…?

Still, a ‘slime sword’ sounds pretty cool.

But…

“I’m planning on selling these, so unless you’ll pay me more than 75 Points per core, then you’re not getting them.”

“I do not have money, I am only Slime,” it replied.

“We really need to give you a better name than that,” he insisted.

“You can call me Lord Slime.”

“I’m not doing that. What about Finn or Finnian? That means ‘white’ in Irish, I think.”

“Lord Finnian. I like the sound of that.”

“I’m not calling you Lord…”

“How about Finnian, Lord of Slime?”

“Listen, Finnian, I’m going to the Market. You can come along if you want.”

“Very well, Squire Adam. Lead the way.”

He sighed.

While walking to the Market, he summoned the barrier and practised his shaping on it. Like he’d expected, the Slime Ring had no effect on the spell whatsoever.

At the moment, it felt like the biggest hurdle was his mind, so he needed to keep training it, like a muscle. If other magic weapons worked in the same way, then the training would hopefully help him across loops. Although it was hard to say how exactly the experience carried over when he died.

I still feel like I could pick up a spear and use it as well as I did in the last loop though. Maybe the experience isn’t just stored in the muscles of my body, but also etched into the shape of my soul.

The focus required to shape the barrier was quickly wearing him out, but after a bit he managed to turn it into a circular disc with a saw-toothed edge. Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to keep the shape coherent, since he needed to keep track of every individual sawtooth as it moved.

By the time he reached the Market, he’d discovered that a throwing star shape was the easiest to maintain while spinning the barrier around.

I’ll start small and slowly add more features as I go.

I should probably be on the lookout for more Manipulation Effect upgrades.

Adam stopped in front of Yenna, who had a large harp in front of the stool she always sat on. Behind her, the fountain once again showed slime statues shooting water into the top bowl.

The wasp stopped playing for a moment.

“Hello Adam,” she greeted. For a moment he thought she remembered him, but then she continued, “Do you enjoy my melodies? If you have a preference for an instrument, I am proficient in all of them.”

Adam sighed. Being forgotten really sucks.

Not looking forward to having to get to know Willow and Lenard from scratch again…

“No, you’re good, just keep playing whatever.”

Yenna nodded and started strumming the harp again, producing a melody that sounded like it belonged in some elven fairy tale. Finnian stopped in front of the fountain, muttering something about the slime statues, then it started dancing to the music.

I wonder why she doesn’t have a guitar this time…

Adam went past the stalls, each of the vendors watching him as he passed. He noted that the stalls for Weaver and Builder were both gone.

I wonder if it’s even worth getting those two again. Although perhaps I could try to have Weaver make me something like a backpack to carry trophies. Or maybe I could get a thin durable string to incorporate into my fighting style somehow. Since I know where enemies appear from, creating traps might be a good idea as well, especially in Stage Four, since there are so many enemies.

He stopped in front of the spider’s stall.

“Welcome, Adam. I am Lucca,” she said in her sinister voice.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff to sell,” he said, not bothering with pleasantries.

Adam unequipped the Slime Ring, which to his relief made the skin and flesh on his ring finger slowly grow back. Then he pulled all but one of the Slime Cores out of his pockets, saving a cracked core for his next loop.

Lucca looked down at all the stuff he’d placed on her counter. She chittered to herself while her thin limbs reached out and touched each item in turn, almost like an obsessive compulsion.

“My, my, you have been busy,” she then praised him.

“How much for all that?”

“I buy Relics for half their price. Since Common Relics are worth 150 and Rare Relics are worth 500 that means the Slime Cores are worth 75 Points and the Slime Ring is worth 250 Points. The total for all 9 Relics comes out at 850 Points.”

“Deal.”

< < Relics Sold > >

< Slime Core (Common) x7 >

< Cracked Slime Core (Common) >

< Slime Ring (Rare) >

< 2090 Points Remaining >

Nice. Glad I could sell all of those.

I need to remember to collect the ears from Stage Two, since those are considered Collectible Relics as well.

“Would you also like to sell the Common Relic on your head?”

“No, I’m keeping my crown. I earned it.”

“It doesn’t suit you much, only a goblin would find value in such a thing,” she critiqued.

Adam paused at the peculiar way she phrased it.

“What did you just say?”

She ignored him and asked, “Would you like to have a look at the Relics I sell?”

What the hell was that just now?

Was that a hint??

“Eh, yeah, show me what you’ve got.”

The black chest next to Lucca started to glow with a golden light and then it popped open, revealing four Relics. He immediately noticed that there was not a single Common Relic in the selection.

Interesting. Although, it’s possible Luck might have a certain cap for effectiveness. After all, if it gets too high and only Epics show up, then I might screw myself over perhaps, since it seems like Epics always have pretty substantial demerits to offset their huge power boosts. Although if it can be pushed to the point that only Legendaries appear, then it might be incredibly powerful. I still have yet to encounter anything of that Rarity, but I’m assuming they’ll be crazy strong.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Bark Armour (Uncommon) — Increases Player Defence by 25%. Breaks after 5 hits >

< Spellburn Glove (Uncommon) — Spells are infused with fire. Breaks after 4 uses. >

< Necklace of Thorns (Rare) — All summons are thorny, reflecting 20% of damage inflicted to them >

< 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 >

The Spellburn Glove and Necklace of Thorns are both new ones. I guess they showed up because I’m using different weapons this time.

Even though the Necklace has some pretty interesting potential, I get the feeling that it might affect enemy summons too, which would make Stage Three extremely difficult. Not sure I want to spend 500 Points on something that may potentially cause an issue like that. Not to mention, it would require me to fight a lot more defensively with the barriers to make full use of its effect. And what would happen if I tried to stand or sit on it?

Adam shook his head.

Maybe I should reroll and see if I can get a Slime Glove.

Although that’s 600 Points spent, all to get something I can only use every 60 seconds. I’d also have to be close to enemies to make use of its corrosive touch, which seems like a terrible idea given my low Health stat.

“I’ll be back again tomorrow,” he decided.

I need to be more careful with my Points. Last loop I spent all of them on Relics, which was a mistake.

If there’s something that serves me well, then I’ll choose it, otherwise it’s better to invest it somewhere else like my weapon or in Luvicidix’s meta upgrades.

Adam went over to Nelly the silverfish’s stall.

“Show me the weapons you have for sale.”

“Hi! Adam. Nelly. That’s me. Here’s my weapons. I sell those.”

< < Weapon Types For Sale > >

< Backstabber (Common) >

< Priest (Rare) >

< Spellcaster (Uncommon) >

< Berserker (Uncommon) >

Priest? That’s what Mórrígan had.

Huh, a Common weapon showed up. I wonder if that means Nelly’s stuff isn’t affected by the Luck stat in the same way.

The hologram for the weapon was a flanged mace with a rosary next to it.

“What’s that thing next to the mace for the Priest?”

“That’s a Relic,” Nelly answered excitedly. “Some Weapon Types come with those.”

“What kind of Relic.”

[You will have to buy it to find out,] the Eye explained, taking over the interaction.

Adam groaned.

“It heals, right? That’s obviously what it does. Just tell me that.”

[I cannot say.]

“Yeah, yeah…”

“My prices. Do you wanna hear ‘em?” Nelly asked rapidly.

“Nah, I’m good. See you later, Nelly.”

“Bye!”

Adam went over to the cricket who sold general upgrades.

Uh, what was her name again?

“Hi Adam!” said the cricket behind the dark wooden counter. Above was a purple overhang and next to her was a cauldron with a bubbling green soup inside.

I forgot about that. I really should’ve come here more…

“My name’s Karie, I sell general upgrades. All upgrades are 300 Points!”

“Show me what you got.”

The cricket waved an arm over the cauldron and four symbols popped out in a puff of noxious-looking vapour.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

< Movement (Uncommon) — Increases movement speed by 10% >

< Dodge (Uncommon) — Grants a 10% chance to dodge a direct attack >

< Force (Rare) — Attacks pierce armour by 15% >

Force might not be a bad idea for Stage Four, but there’s no use for it in Stage Two. Although I suppose it may help against the Slothlings in Three.

Luck is clearly useful and I wanna find out what threshold I need to get to for all rarities to be guaranteed Rare. Investment-wise it also seems like the one that’ll earn itself back the fastest.

Until Health and Defence upgrades unlock at Stage Three, Dodge is my best chance at increasing my survivability.

“Wait. What happens if I hit 100% Dodge? Do I just become immune to direct attacks?”

[Dodge has a cooldown of 2 seconds to avoid such an unbalanced scenario.]

“Are you shitting me? You should put that on the label!”

Adam took in a deep breath. It wasn’t surprising to him that they’d do something like that and call it fairness, so it was a waste getting upset about it. “Wait, isn’t it kind of easy to hit 100% though?”

[Until you unlock a Dodge upgrade, you have 0% chance to dodge. Your first upgrade becomes the base value once you select Dodge. If your first upgrade is 10%, then that means picking a 10% upgrade afterwards raises your total Dodge chance to 11%. Subsequent upgrades are multiplicative, meaning a 20% upgrade will raise your Dodge chance to 13.2% instead of 13.]

He sighed.

But of course…

“Are there any other upgrades that have dumb stuff like that? Like, what if I hit 500% Defence?”

[It would reduce damage taken by 5 times, resulting in 100 damage dealing 20. There are no unlisted cooldowns related to this upgrade. It is important to note that there are some scenarios where Defence does not protect you from death, such as decapitation. Take care to avoid such a fate.]

So, it’s game-like damage numbers and health points, except for when an attack clearly kills you…

I guess that would work both ways. If I decapitate a boss, it doesn’t matter how much health he has.

Actually, I’m okay with that I think.

“What about the rest? Is there a cooldown on Venom or Bleed? Is there a limit on Luck??”

[No.]

“Gotcha. Well, then I’ll buy the Dodge and Luck upgrades,” Adam said.

“You can only buy one upgrade at a time,” she replied. “The options are scrambled after every purchase.”

Oh right, forgot about that…

I guess Luck makes the most sense then?

Hopefully Dodge shows up again.

“I’ll buy the Luck upgrade.”

“Understood!” Karie replied.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Uncommon) >

< 1790 Points Remaining >

The symbols above the cauldron vanished, then Karie waved her hand over it and four new ones appeared.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< 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 >

< Venom (Rare) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 15% for 10 seconds >

< Crush (Uncommon) — Increases the impact of attacks by 10% >

Lucky! It showed up again!

Wonder if that’s because of my increased Luck or just coincidence. There should be 8 possible general upgrades at this point, so it’s really just a 50/50 chance if something appears in the shop or not.

“I’ll take Dodge.”

“Understood!”

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Dodge (Uncommon) >

< 1490 Points Remaining >

10% dodge won’t save my life, but it’s better than any Relic. Although maybe I should’ve gotten the Bark Armour…

Adam shook his head as he walked over to Thea the beetle. Finnian was standing in front of the stall.

The vendor looked away from the white humanoid slime to face Adam.

“Afternoon, Adam. My name is Thea. I offer weapon upgrades in exchange for Points.”

“Are you certain I cannot purchase cores from you?” Finnian asked Thea.

She turned away to face him, her response cutting like a knife as she said, “For the last time, I do not sell those. Go talk to Lucca. Also, your slime is not valid currency.”

The slime looked at Adam. Although it didn’t have a face, it managed to look exasperated. “Can you believe the hostility?”

I wonder if the NPCs arguing can lead to fighting… Would be a dumb way to lose access to a vendor.

“I just sold all my cores to Lucca, try and talk to her,” Adam replied.

Finnian walked up to Adam and looked at him, insofar as such a thing was possible for a transparent eyeless creature.

“You still possess a core on your person, Adam.”

How can it tell? Creepy.

Adam pulled out the Cracked Slime Core. It was still hissing slightly.

“This one I’m saving.”

Finnian immediately sprang back, landing in a crouched position with its ‘hands’ pressed to the ground. It reminded him of a cat somehow.

“Foul! Broken! Dangerous! I do not want it!”

“It’s not for you, dumbass!” he replied and shoved it back in his pocket.

He turned to Thea. “Show me the upgrades.”

The beetle gestured to the anvil next to her and it lit up with a golden light, before four symbols appeared above it.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

< Barrier Size (Rare) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 15% >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 20% >

< Manipulation Range (Rare) — Increases manipulation range by 35% >

Adam eyed the Effect upgrade. He was pretty sure that would boost his shaping ability.

If only it wasn’t 450 Points…

He recalled his promise to Willow.

I have to get it.

“I’ll buy the Manipulation Effect upgrade.”

“That will be 450 Points,” Thea replied.

Adam sighed.

Bye-bye Points…

“Deal.”

< < Weapon Upgrade Purchased > >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) >

< 1040 Points Remaining >

That’s still a good chunk of Points remaining at least.

“You buying anything else?” Thea asked.

“Not right now, but maybe tomorrow.”

He looked over at Belin the cockroach’s stall.

Maybe I should buy a Health-boosting root. Although they only last 10 minutes.

No. If I can’t make it through Stage Two with 50 Health, then a 10% buff won’t make any difference.

And 300 Points is too much to spend on such a temporary boon.

His eyes moved on to where Finnian was arguing with Lucca about paying with slime in exchange for something.

“Hey, Finn!” Adam called. “I’m going to the Tavern.”

The slime ignored him so he just left it behind.

Adam stopped when he reached Yenna.

“Would you mind if I come back tonight for a song?” he asked her.

“Of course, Adam.”

“Thanks.”

He summoned a new barrier and continued practising his shaping, while walking back to where Luvicidix waited. It was still impossible for him to bend it into a tube, but he’d gotten better at maintaining a simple buzzsaw shape.

***

< < Meta Upgrades Progress > >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 1 Saved Relic Slot — 1040/5000 Points >

“Since you have no Points left, I will take my leave. See you tomorrow,” Luvicidix told him.

“See you,” he replied.

As the white moth flew away, he watched the sky for a bit. There were still several hours until it would get dark. He’d been a lot faster in the Market than usual.

Man, it’s gonna be awkward getting to know Willow again…

He wasn’t looking forward to it, though he was excited to see how she’d fared this time around. She had been competent in both his first and third loops, so odds were good that she’d done well this time around too. Especially if she’d gotten the bow.

Adam went in through the dumpy-looking door to the Tavern and Charlie the red ant was there to greet him. Last time he’d seen her, he’d promised to save Belamouranthe. He was pretty confident it had something to do with the All-Mother’s Wrath necklace, but he was saving his speculations on that topic until after Stage Two.

Part of him was kind of excited to have her fate undone and being able to see her again. Another part of Adam feared he wouldn’t be able to undo her fate, despite what the tesseract had told him.

“Can you bring me a strawberry milkshake and three croissants from Jameson’s bakery?”

“Of course,” Charlie replied and went towards the ‘kitchen’.

He remembered his last time here. It felt like such a long time ago.

I wonder if any kind of sitting would activate the Tavern.

Still not sure how Mórrígan was able to teleport around though. But perhaps that’s not specific to the Tavern and instead some kind of Relic she had?

He summoned a barrier and flipped it horizontally. Then he climbed on and sat down.

To his surprise, it actually worked.

The long wooden tables lit up with holograms of Players.

Cracks started to form on his white barrier, but Adam remained seated, curious what would happen.

As it broke and he fell the half metre to the floor, the holograms all vanished.

Then they reappeared when his ass touched the wooden planks and he came to a seat again.

Bizarre.

He got up and walked over to a stool. Before he even sat down, he was able to turn the stool into a comfortable leather chair that could recline. It even had a cupholder for his milkshake. The ease with which he did it was perhaps thanks to his training with the barrier and the Manipulation Effect boost, but it was also likely that simply knowing it was possible let his mind perform the command.

Adam summoned another barrier and moved it into the air, while practising his shaping on it absent-mindedly as he looked at the many people who appeared around him along the tables.

“How many survived Stage One?”

[Over 600 million Players survived Stage One. Currently, 108 million Players are utilising the Dimensional Tavern.]

That’s a lot more than last loop. I wonder why.

Adam looked around at the people filling the tables. Many were crying, staring blankly at food in front of them, or just completely zoned out. Every time the holograms flickered and were replaced by different ones, it was more of the same.

Hardly anyone looked like they were engaging with the core function of the Tavern. He knew that’s why most of them would be dead in just a few days.

Adam sighed.

I can’t save them all. Besides, this isn’t even my universe.

That’s long gone, thanks to me…

Besides, it’s more important that the Trials are beaten, since that will save everyone.

Unless of course that was another of the cube’s lies…

“Show me Willow Martin from Australia.”

The holograms vanished and left behind a woman he recognised.

Although she was slightly different. Her hair wasn’t in a ponytail and she looked very upset, somewhere between sadness and anger.

I wonder what happened.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked.

Willow turned to look at him, surprised.

“Were you watching me!? Who are you!?”

“I’m Adam. Adam Fischer.”

“I don’t know you. What do you want?”

Shit, I think I fucked up this introduction…

“I was just looking up people I know.”

“How exactly do you know me?” she asked, her expression turning suspicious.

“It’s a long story and you probably won’t believe me,” he said.

“Let me guess, you’re another ‘fan’ pretending to know me!? Well, I’ve had enough of people like you!”

“Wait, no that’s not—”

Willow vanished.

“Connect me to her again,” he told the Eye.

[I cannot. If a Player so desires, they can be made inaccessible to others in the Tavern.]

Adam’s heart skipped a beat.

“She blocked me!?”

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

Thank you for the feedback and very obvious critiques about Adam's strange reasoning. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to write comments about it!

While Adam obviously won't be making perfectly min/max-ed decisions every time, I want there to at least be some internal logic to explain why he does or doesn't pick something, such that the readers can follow along and not be too annoyed. This time I fucked that up and you guys pointed it out, thanks so much for that!

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

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Nine

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

Loopshard has almost beaten my past Rising Stars record of 3100 followers, which is pretty cool. Especially since it may have upward of a week left before it's entirely gone from the list, perhaps even more than that if I'm lucky.

This chapter introduces a couple new 'features', which I had a lot of fun brainstorming with some friends.

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

Chapter Twenty-Nine

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

< Manipulation Speed (Rare) — Increases manipulation speed by 35% >

< Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

I’m starting to wonder if I should prioritise Luck early on, since it clearly makes a big difference for upgrades. I guess it kind of depends on how it affects Relic selections. I also wonder what the threshold is to have all options appear as Rare. 10? 15?

Still, I want to evolve before I start investigating, since I need my barrier to be better for Stage Two. After all, the goblins are a lot less predictable.

I like the idea of taking Efficiency again, since that’d bring me to 20% and make my barriers cost 40 Mana, which in turn allows me to summon a total of five before I run out. Plus, that Exhaustion debuff is nasty as hell. I’m really lucky that it didn’t get me killed.

Even though Speed here is Rare, I still think Efficiency is the better move. But if I see Speed again, I’ll pick that next I think, since it’ll boost my rotary saw move, as well as how quickly I can respond to attacks.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) >

Once again, the pages of the spell-tome became whiter, as though the upgrade was cleaning off years of smoke stains.

The upgrade options above the podium flickered and were replaced with a new set.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Rare) — Increases barrier health by 35% >

< Manipulation Speed (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation speed by 20% >

< Bleed (Rare) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 15% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

Ah… I said I’d pick speed, but the Durability upgrade is Rare.

Fuck it. Speed comes later.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Barrier Durability (Rare) >

Almost all of the rust vanished from the spell-tome’s iron-covered edges, signet, and clasp.

I wonder if getting to 100% increased durability will clean it up completely.

The tome started to glow golden. The Eye folded itself back into a cube and floated over.

[Your Warder Weapon Type has reached Level 6.]

[At Level 6, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions.]

The magical weapon burst apart into golden droplets and was sucked into the tesseract.

A moment later it dropped to the ground and turned into a pyramid shape, with a hologram appearing on either side of it. Both of them were tomes, but their appearances were different.

The one on the left had grey leather, the iron was replaced with bronze, and its signet was now a closed fist with the palm facing out. The other had blue leather, silver instead of iron, and the signet was replaced with a cloudy violet gem. Both were still sealed by the clasp.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Shaper — Gain the power to shape the barrier >

< Splitter — Gain the power to split the barrier into a maximum of 3 smaller versions >

Both seem quite good.

I do wonder if there’s a way to get more barriers without splitting them. Maybe like something that increases my projectiles? Although I guess it counts as a summon, not a projectile.

“What are the limits of the Shaper? There’s gotta be limits right?”

Otherwise I could just turn my barrier into a tiny scalpel and slice through everything…

[The Shaper cannot make the barrier smaller than it is. The total mass must be persistent across shapes.]

“Can I fold it repeatedly to make a thin needle?”

[Only if you are capable, but the shape must be persisted in your mind and this requires a powerful will and focus.]

Why does that sound like a ‘no’…?

“Can I shape it into anything as long as the mass is the same? Like, can I turn it into a shield and carry that around? Or a sword?”

[The barrier will not become a physical thing you can carry and must always be controlled with the use of the Spell-Tome.]

So, no turning it into a shield and wielding it alongside Gram. Shame.

“Okay, so, what about the Splitter? How does that work?”

[The split barriers are identical, but based on the number of barriers, the durability and size vary.]

“But I can move all of them at the same time, right?”

[Only if you are capable, controlling multiple summons simultaneously requires a powerful will and focus.]

Making it sound like I have to partition my mind to be able to move more than one at a time.

I have the most ideas for how to utilise the Shaper to be honest, and it also just seems the most interesting from a functional standpoint. Plus, if I find a way to increase my summon count, then that’d defeat the purpose of the Splitter anyway.

Although, I won’t lie, blocking an attack only to then split my barrier into three and go on the offensive sounds pretty damn cool.

But turning my barrier into a lance or super-dense needle sounds even cooler!

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Warder => Shaper >

The grey tome appeared in his hands and he immediately summoned a barrier. This time, he hardly felt the Mana drain, since it only put him to around 80%.

Before he could test out his new power, a pyramid gem manifested itself in the air in front of him. Adam grabbed it.

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

One more and I can unlock the Orb of Insight. I hope it has the ability to help me find Secrets and hidden bosses, although Alivida didn’t mention anything about that.

“Armament,” he said, double-checking his stats.

< < Weapon Status > >

< Spell-Tome >

< Rare Quality >

< Level 6 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Barrier Durability 90% >

< Barrier Efficiency 20% >

< Manipulation Effect 20% >

Anyway, let’s try this thing out.

The Eye returned to its cube shape and floated over to the chest, which had golden light shining out from under its lid and was waiting for Adam to approach it. He ignored it for now and focused his full attention on the barrier.

Unlike before, it had changed colour and was now milky-white, not too dissimilar to the Slime Emperor’s appearance. He reached out and touched it. It was still warm, but now felt more solid than before, no doubt thanks to the Durability upgrades.

Let’s see how this Shaper thing works.

Adam took a step back from the barrier and flipped it so it was horizontal. While holding the tome in his left hand, he reached out with his right and imagined squeezing the edges of the pane of energy to turn it into a roll.

Nothing happened at first, but then he focused as hard as he could on the mental image in his head, while clenching his teeth.

The edges of the large square bowed upward slightly with his tremendous effort, but as soon as he drew in a breath and relaxed just a tiny bit, the barrier returned to its original shape.

Holy fuck that’s difficult!

He’d figured that immediately folding it on itself would be too hard, so forming a hollow tube was the better way to start off. Even that seemed way too difficult.

I think the Manipulation Effect is supposed to help with this, but it hardly seems to make a difference.

No wonder the Eye phrased the explanation like that.

Maybe it’s difficult because the barrier doesn’t want to be flat. So I might have more luck shaping it without trying to fold it.

He wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hand, so he just held it out in a vague open-palmed gesture, while focusing on the image in his mind.

For starters, he tried to turn the barrier from a square into a circle.

In the air in front of him, the material of the horizontal pane of energy warped and became rounded, sort of like a big glass disc.

That’s a lot easier!

When he let go of the image in his head, the shape did not spring back to the square it’d been before.

Interesting.

He cycled through other shapes, like a diamond, triangle, trapeze, rectangle, oval, and so on, until eventually trying something more complex.

In his mind, he imagined that the flat barrier became a sword, replete with handle, crossguard, and long blade. In reality it was a lot harder to maintain such a shape, not to mention even sustaining the mental image’s coherence.

Although the barrier became a flat replica of the sword in his head, and was squeezed to a length of 3.5 metres, its shape kept warping, until eventually just becoming a skinny rectangle.

This is tough…

[3 minutes remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]

He hadn’t even heard the warning for the 5-minute mark, but he still needed to check the remains of the apple tree’s canopy for the Glass Acorn.

First he checked the Relic Chest though, so he didn’t have to decide on what to pick at the last possible moment.

Let’s see if the Luck stat of 5 prevents Common Relics from appearing.

< < Relics Available > >

< Bark Armour (Uncommon) — Increases Player Defence by 25%. Breaks after 5 hits >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) — Allows the Player to reroll Reward or Vendor Options. Relic disappears after use >

< Slime Ring (Rare) — Infuse Player’s projectiles with Acid Burst. 60-second cooldown >

Not an amazing selection, was really hoping I’d get lucky and receive the Slime King’s Crown.

But I guess I do have this.

He reached up and patted the Rusted Crown he’d gotten from the Slime Emperor. It fit his head perfectly.

Still, no Commons in the selection, that’s interesting. I’m wondering if raising Luck high enough means I’d only get Rare or Epic options, but I feel like that’d somehow limit a lot of potential. After all, the best Relics I had last time around were all Rare.

The Fiendbarb was interesting, but I leaned too heavily into it, which was a mistake. I would’ve been better off not bothering too much with weapon upgrades last loop, since I relied so heavily on Relics.

I think this time around I’ll focus on using my weapon more and investing the majority of my Points. Even if Willow made me promise not to throw my life away, I am better off setting myself up for success in future loops instead of investing too heavily into the current one. Maybe I can split my Point expenditure it 50/50 or something.

I’m not abandoning this life for the sake of the next, after all, I just completed this Stage without relying on Relics at all. My knowledge and experience matters more than something that I can only use every 60 seconds.

So, unless I can find Relics that fit into my fighting style or provide something useful like Mana and Speed, then I’m better off using my Points for the meta upgrades.

While he planned in his head for what to do in his fourth loop, Adam left the chest and went over to the remains of the fallen tree. The trunk was unrecognisable thanks to the Slime King landing on it and pulverising the wood.

He searched through the canopy for the next 2 minutes, but the Glass Acorn was nowhere to be found amidst the mess of leaves and branches.

I might’ve destroyed it by collapsing the tree.

It’s not a huge loss, though the 5% boost to my stats would be nice. And I’m sure it’d get stronger as I progress.

Right now my focus should be on beating Stage Five and it won’t help me there, since its effect doesn’t come into play until Stage Six. It would’ve been different if it was retroactively adding the boost, but alas.

[30 seconds remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]

Adam gave up searching.

“I’ll pick the Slime Ring,” he said.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Slime Ring (Rare) >

I’ll just sell it and put the Points to better use.

A searing pain came from the ring finger on his right hand as the Relic appeared. Like the Slime Glove, it ate his skin and flesh, exposing the bone beneath.

Adam gritted his teeth. He knew it only hurt like this because his Health sat at an abysmal 50 points.

Gotta do something about that too, although Health and Defence don’t appear as options until Stage Three.

The tesseract appeared next to him and darkness spread out from it, swallowing up the forest clearing. A moment passed and buildings appeared around him.

Back to their old dumpy selves, he mused.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

[Welcome to Interim Island. Players like yours—]

“Skip all tutorials and explanations of the island,” he said.

[Understood.]

The melody of a harp filled the air, which he thought was odd, since it had been a guitar melody the last two times he came here after Stage One.

Before he could even take a single step forward, silver scales fluttered down around him and the enormous white moth alighted on the edge of a nearby roof.

“Hello again, Adam,” Luvicidix greeted him in her lilting voice.

“Hi Luvicidix,” he replied.

“Oh, thank the System, you remember me now. I was worried we would have a repeat of last time.”

“To be fair, last time was the first time I met you. I’m blaming that whole confusion on you.”

“Fair, I suppose,” she replied. “So, are you ready?”

“For what?”

“For my explanation of your unorthodox time rewinding.”

“I already told you, I’m not rewinding time. But let’s hear it, I guess.”

The moth floated down from the roof to land on the wonky cobblestones in front of him. Behind her in the horizon was a frozen plume of smoke from the Tavern.

“The Eyes of the All-Seeing System have powerful magic that binds together dimensions! You were cursed when you killed it and that’s why you keep going back in time when you die!”

“How do you explain the different rewards and weapons and upgrades then?”

“Different?”

“Yeah, I told you last time that they’re different.”

“Odd.”

Adam sighed. “Listen, I already talked to the System about this and found out why I’m looping. Couldn’t you just have asked it to find out?”

“You talked to… the All-Seeing System??”

“Yeah, apparently I’m going to a new universe every time I die, leaving behind an Adam-shaped hole in the previous ones I died in. He was pretty upset about I think.”

“How does one talk to the All-Seeing System?”

“I don’t know, I figured you were the expert since you span universes too. I mean, you remember me, but last time we met in a different universe.”

The white moth nodded. “The All-Seeing must have shown its benevolence to allow me to remember you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Anyway! You did something exciting in Stage One!”

“Huh? Oh, the Secret Boss?”

“Not just that! You have now unlocked all the Achievements and Secrets for that Stage!”

“All of them?” he asked. “I didn’t get Glass Acorn or Speedrun this time around.”

“Fret not! The achievements are saved between loops!”

“That seems kind of… easy?”

Wait, why am I upset about that?

“Do I get a reward?”

“Of course, Adam! Not to mention, my sister Alivida has something new for sale as well.”

“I’ll go check that out later, but what’s my reward?”

The moth held out one of her white black-banded arms and a polished spherical stone dropped from her hand and onto the ground. Then white slime emerged from within it, pouring out and taking shape until it became a humanoid figure. It looked eerily similar to the Slime Emperor, though it lacked a crown and only had one sphere, which was located in the head.

Like the Eye, it too was frozen in place by Luvicidix’s magic.

“What’s that? Another vendor?”

“No, no, dear Adam. This is a special companion!”

“Companion or ‘companion’?” he asked, sceptically.

“Exactly.”

“What?”

“Unlike the vendors and tavernkeeper, this new denizen of the Interim Island will wander freely and will join you for talks, shopping, and dinner, should you so desire.”

“Wait so, if I get all the stuff for Stage Two, I unlock another denizen like this? Like a goblin?”

“Indeed. Amusing, isn’t it?”

“Do they offer anything other than companionship?”

The white moth nodded. “Some offer special services, quests, or useful insight.”

“Special services or ‘special services’.”

“Exactly.”

Adam shook his head. “I think I would’ve just preferred to get extra Points to be honest…”

“Speaking of! Would you like to invest in some Meta Upgrades?”

“I actually had some questions about that.”

“Of course. Here is your current progress.”

< < 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 — 5000 Points >

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

“I wanted to ask about the Relic Saving. How does that work?”

“Once unlocked, a special container appears in your Player House. Any Relic saved in an available slot will be transported to you at the start of the following loop.”

That seems fairly simple.

“And I can save any Relic?” he asked.

“No.”

Goddamn it.

“Why not?”

“A Saved Slot in the container corresponds to one rarity level.”

“Wait… So one slot means I can save a Common Relic? Two slots mean one Uncommon?”

“Exactly! Oh, I was very worried you would not understand.”

That makes it a lot less useful suddenly. I’d need to upgrade it three times to be able to save a Rare Relic, which would be 15,000 Points… So much for sending a Slime Glove back to the start and using it to make the Fool viable.

He’d been secretly hoping to make that work, since he had a sneaking suspicion that the Fool would be amazing once he could get past Stage One with it.

“Wait, so, if I upgrade it two times, will I be able to send back two Common Relics?”

“Yes. Fun, isn’t it?”

That’s interesting though.

Wait, I just got an idea. If I send back a Cracked Slime Core, then use that as the Fool to kill a slime, it will produce another Cracked Core. I can then keep using the cores to get rid of all the enemies until Wave Four, where I’ll bait the green slimes into destroying the tree. I could pick up Gram and then run with that.

Adam grinned.

“Currencies.”

< < Player Currencies > >

< Points — 1240 >

< Mastery Shards — 1 >

If I sell the Slime Ring, that puts me at 1490 Points. And if I sell my 9 cores, then I’ll be at 2165. That’s a pretty good start at least. Although I think I’ll save one Cracked Core.

I’ll check out the Market, see if there’s anything interesting. If not, then I’ll invest all my Points into the Relic Saving upgrade.

“I’ll be back before the sun sets to invest some Points.”

“I will await your return,” Luvicidix said.

The white moth retracted all the floating scales back to her wings and then took off into the air, disappearing after reaching a cloud.

Next to Adam, the slime humanoid came to life as the time freeze disappeared. The Eye floating nearby also regained its senses.

[Urrr—] the tesseract groaned in a deep voice that gave Adam a horrible sense of déjà vu.

Then, as though it hadn’t just produced such an unsettling noise, the cube floated over and happily announced, [Congratulations! You have unlocked a Special Denizen due to your stellar performance in Stage One – The Magical Forest.]

The white slime looked at him. The polished stone in its head was like a strange cyclopean eye.

“Nice to meet you, Adam. I am Slime.”

The voice that came out of the creature was like an ASMR whisper and he couldn’t tell if it was male or female.

“Slime? That’s your name?”

“Yes. I am Slime.”

He looked at ‘Slime’, feeling slightly annoyed that the first humanoid he’d unlocked was someone like this.

I’d give anything just for another human like me…

“I can’t tell if you’re a woman like the rest of the denizens of the island or not.”

“I am neither woman nor man, I am simply Slime.”

“Yeah, we really need to find you a better name.”

“I like your ring,” Slime said, ignoring his words. “Even if it is made of inferior slime.”

“Don’t get too attached to it, I’m about to sell it,” he said. “Along with all these cores I’m carrying around in my pockets.”

He held out one of the intact cores to show off.

Slime stared at the stone in his hand as though it was a nugget of gold. “Can I have that?”

< < Quest Unlocked > >

< Hungry for Cores >

< Slime would like you to bring it 15 Elemental Cores >

< Reward — Slime Sword >

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Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Eight

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

As promised, the second chapter of today.

It is now 1 am here and I will be going to bed xD

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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adam quickly dealt with the two blue slimes that appeared along with the green ones. He grabbed their cores while moving to avoid the barrage of highly-corrosive acid that tracked his movements.

Plop-plop-plop!

He frantically moved the barrier in front of him as four of the six projectiles came dangerously close to him.

The barrier survived the first hit, before breaking against the second.

Adam dove out of the way, turning it into a roll and springing back up.

This body is too slow…

He jogged over to the great tree while summoning a new barrier.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

The momentary dizziness hit him and he almost stumbled, but managed to catch himself.

He stopped in front of the tree.

“Come on, you fuckers! Shoot me!”

Plop-plop-plop!

The barrage of acid flew towards him and he quickly went around the side of the trunk, just as they struck the bark.

The smell of chemically-burnt wood filled his nose, while the ravenous acid hissed like angry serpents

The tree creaked loudly.

It’s working!

He went around the front of the tree again and saw that a half-metre-deep chunk was missing.

Plop-plop-plop!

The slimes fired off their projectiles at the same time and he scurried around the tree once more.

Somehow this feels like a bizarre way to engage with this Stage.

Hats off to Mori for finding this.

I wonder why he even thought to chop down the tree. Maybe he used it to squash the Slime King.

I wonder if I can use the cracked cores to instantly kill the boss. That’d be one hell of an exploit.

Plop-plop-plop!

The green slimes shot at the tree again, without Adam even leaving his hiding spot. As the projectiles struck the other side of the trunk and ate through the organic material, the whole tree creaked ominously.

Then the ground shook.

The apple tree started to lean in the direction of the two slimes and the bark was tearing itself apart like strands of fabric.

[40 seconds remaining of Wave Four.]

The tree continued to lean and split, with the top pulling itself free of the bottom of the trunk and its extensive root system underground.

“Timber!” Adam yelled, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

The great tree struck the ground between the two green slimes with enough force to make Adam jump half a metre off the ground and send the slimes flying to the sides.

Left behind was a stump with a sword sticking out of it, like Excalibur in the stone.

Adam hurried over and grabbed hold of the petrified blade. It was covered in more stone than when Mori had showcased it to him. In fact, there wasn’t even a speck of gold visible on its handle, crossguard, nor scabbard. It was all just covered in a layer of dense and heavy rock.

He pulled it out of the stump and struggled to lift it above his head.

< < Secret Weapon Obtained > >

< Gram (Rare) — The ancient sword of a Mythical Hero >

< Unique Skill ( Anvil Splitter ) | Perform an overhead slash powerful enough to cleave an anvil in twain >

[You have discovered a Secret Weapon. This weapon starts with the Unique Skill ‘Anvil Splitter’.]

I feel like the chosen one, he mused to himself, as he stood there with the ridiculously-heavy blade lifted over his head.

I wonder if the Unique Skill only has a 10-minute cooldown, similar to the ones from the final evolution of the Lancer.

[25 seconds remaining of Wave Four.]

Oh right, the Wave isn’t over…

< < Second Sheath Activated > >

< Would you like to swap to the Mythical Hero Weapon Type? >

“Show me the Weapon Type’s stats first,” he said while moving towards the nearest slime.

His spell-tome was now hanging from the left side of his belt. It had teleported there as soon as he picked up the secondary weapon. The barrier also wasn’t responding to his commands and just remained fixed in the same spot relative to him as before, which meant it still moved along with him, which was a curious and potentially exploitable thing.

< Mythical Hero >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 200 >

< Stamina — 200 >

< Mana — 0 >

< Damage — 100% >

< Defence — 50% >

< Speed — 100% >

< Luck — 0 >

Hmm, if I swap to this, then I won’t be able to use the Spell-Tome at all…

“I’m sticking with the Warder Weapon Type for now.”

< < Second Sheath > >

< Weapon Type set to Warder >

Adam took the Spell-Tome from his left hip, but as soon as it was back in his hands, Gram went into a horizontal holding position on his lower back.

Damn, no dual-wielding these two then…

He used the barrier to cut the green slime into two, which turned it into two smaller green ones. With two efficient moves, he carved through both of these before they could even think to retaliate. Their bodies fell apart and sizzled loudly as they dissolved the moss underneath them.

[10 seconds remaining of Wave Four.]

Adam hurried towards the one on the other side of the fallen tree, but he knew he wouldn’t make it in time, since the Warder’s speed was way too low.

It’ll be bad if the Wave carries over into Five!

I’ve gotta use a cracked core.

He pulled one of the hissing stones from his left pocket as he climbed up onto the fallen tree. Nearby lay the branch with the healing apple, but the apple was squished and probably wouldn’t heal him anymore.

I guess destroying the tree prevents the Healing Apples from working… Unforeseen consequence, but ultimately not a big deal.

Unless the Secret Boss is really hard…

Adam stopped when he was at the top of the fallen trunk and then pulled his right hand back and threw the hissing core at the green slime nearby.

It noticed him and fired a barrage of acidic projectiles in his direction. Adam was forced to throw himself off the side of the fallen tree, while hastily covering his body with the barrier.

He landed hard on his stomach, knocking all the wind out of himself. Only a single projectile struck the barrier over his head, and it wasn’t enough to break it.

Phew.

A loud pop came from nearby when the slime exploded and acid rained down around him, hitting his barrier twice and causing cracks to form.

Oh shit!

Adam army-crawled out from under the barrier just as it shattered and the acid on top of it fell down unto where he’d just been.

< < Wave Four Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

That was a bit too reckless perhaps.

But, hey, I did it. All without taking damage too.

Adam went over to the remains of the exploded green slime. Just like the purple one from earlier, it had left behind two cracked cores, which he picked up and added to his left pocket.

He headed back to the other green slime’s remains, climbing over the tree to get there, and looted the two intact cores it had dropped.

I now have a total of 11 cores to sell, that’s 825 Points right there. Pretty good haul.

Although, I’ll use at least one to trigger the Secret Boss.

I really hope Lenard was right about that, but I can’t think of anything else that could trigger the Secret Boss in this Stage.

Adam walked over to the stump of the tree, where the Eye had unfolded into a podium. The rewards were for the Spell-Tome, perhaps because that’s what he’d used when he completed the Wave.

He switched to Gram to see if that changed the options, but nothing happened.

I need to keep that in mind.

Gram probably has a lot of potential, but I want to at least evolve Warder once before I figure out what direction to take my build this loop.

Adam sat down while looking through the upgrades.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Rare) — Increases barrier health by 35% >

< Manipulation Range (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation range by 20% >

< Damage (Rare) — Increases all damage by 15% >

Huh, wait, I just realised something. All of the rewards up until now have been at least Uncommon in rarity. Is that because of Warder starting with a Luck score of 5?

I guess that means that 5 is high enough to guarantee uncommon rewards?

I wonder if it applies to Relics in the same way. If so, I shouldn’t see any Healing Apple in the Relic Chest.

Hmm, 15% increased damage is pretty good, but the rare Durability means my barriers will have 55% increased health.

The manipulation range might also be useful. If the current maximum is 10 metres, then that would turn it into 12, which is a pretty significant boost. If I have a high enough range, I could just sit atop the tree in Stage Four and kill everything from afar, that’d be pretty cool.

Adam was torn about which to pick. Fortunately the tesseract helped him along with its annoying timer.

[10 seconds remaining.]

I’ve gotta pick Durability, it just unlocks so many more options for me. Not to mention getting me one step closer to being able to have my own flying carpet!

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Barrier Durability (Rare) >

The clasp on the book was almost completely rid of rust as the upgrade took hold.

Hmm, question now is whether it replies retroactively to the barrier I’ve already got summoned.

Adam beckoned it over to him and flipped it horizontally with a gesture, before climbing on top.

He sat down on it for a few seconds, until cracks started to form.

Retroactively, it looks like, he concluded.

< < Wave Five > >

< 180-Second Timer >

The barrier broke and he summoned a new one.

[It may be useful—]

“Skip.”

The Eye stopped talking.

“Mana?” he asked instead, as the ground shook from the approaching boss.

[Your Mana is at 77.5% or 155 points. Currently recovering 0.5% or 1 points every second.]

Thanks to the efficiency upgrade the barrier now costs 45 Mana. That’s not a huge difference, but still better than nothing.

Another quake rolled through the ground, then a large shadow appeared over the fallen tree.

Ah shit, I forgot to look for the Glass Acorn.

I hope it survives being crushed by a big fat slime…

Adam retreated several steps away.

I should summon a second barrier for this, he realised.

When he summoned another barrier, the first one disappeared.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

Shit… Should’ve probably tested if that would work earlier.

The Slime King landed on the fallen tree with a loud boom, pulverising the wood and bark under its weight.

Alright, here goes nothing.

Adam pulled an intact core out of his right pocket and threw it right into the big blue blob.

Slurp!

The core was sucked into the Slime King’s body, bringing its total to four.

Then it started to vibrate and transform, somehow becoming smaller in mass, though it was likely it was just consolidating its mass to become denser.

When the transformation was finished, the slime had a humanoid shape and was the same height as Adam, which was unsettling. It’s colour had also gone from dark-blue to milky-white. Two of the cores moved up into its head, looking like eyes. The other two settled themselves into the left and ride sides of its torso. The rusted crown sat atop its head, now the perfect size for its body.

What the fuck is that?

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Slime Emperor >

< Wave Timer extended to 300 seconds >

[You have discovered a Secret Boss.]

[Secret Bosses pose a significantly higher danger to Players than normal boss encounters.]

[Defeating a Secret Boss awards additional rewards.]

Adam immediately dug out one of his three cracked cores and threw it at the boss.

The hissing stone entered its body right next to the left core in its chest. Then it popped and destroyed the core, while also removing a chunk of its jellied flesh.

Unlike the Slime King, the Emperor did not split into lesser slimes, but instead just charged right at him with astounding speed.

Oh shit!

Adam made his barrier spin and flung it out to meet the boss. It carved through its body, producing a sound like shredded metal and left a deep cut above its hip, nearly cutting the humanoid slime in two.

But then its body pulled itself back together.

Fuck, okay… Gotta aim for the cores to take this one out.

He brought the barrier back while trying to move out of the way of the slime’s punch aimed at his face.

Adam avoided the first swing, and then the barrier flew back to him just in time to block the second. He summoned another barrier and immediately felt woozy.

[Warning! Mana below 35%.]

The Slime Emperor struck the yellow pane of energy, but it survived the hit, though a big crack formed.

Adam grabbed the sword attached to his lower back and the spell-tome went to his hip.

The moment the boss struck the barrier again it shattered, but Adam was already swinging Gram right into it.

The heavy blade would not pull out of its stone scabbard, but the impact was strong enough to cut all the way through the slime and strike the other core in its chest. The stone broke apart and the Emperor was turned into two separate slimes for a second, but then it reformed itself a moment after.

Let’s try out this Unique Skill.

Adam lifted the sword into the air before the boss could fully reconstitute itself.

“Anvil Splitter!” he yelled.

It felt as though the sword gained three times its weight as it was pulled down into an overhead chop.

The scabbarded sword travelled right down through the boss, bisecting it.

This time, instead of immediately pulling itself back together, the two halves, each with a core inside their halves of the ‘head’, started to shamble towards him.

Adam grabbed the spell-tome and Gram returned to his lower back in an instant.

This rapid weapon switching is pretty powerful.

He summoned a barrier and made it spin, while backing away. The wooziness quickly overcame him.

[Warning! Mana below 15%.]

Adam directed the barrier into the slime’s left half, which was about to swing for him.

Bits of the milky-white slime flew all around him, some even hitting his hair and face. It wasn’t acidic like all the other types of slime and felt just like gelatine.

Then the spin barrier struck the core inside its head, cracking it.

The left side’s head popped.

No sooner had the core been destroyed than the right side absorbed the other half. It immediately swung out and struck the barrier, breaking it.

Adam stumbled back a step.

I think I still have enough Mana for one more summon!

He concentrated on the exact orientation and position he wanted the summon the barrier in, just as his back hit the dense treeline.

Oh fuck.

Adam summoned the barrier right as the Slime Emperor swung its fist at his face.

[Warning! Mana at 0%. Overconsumption triggered!]

[You have been afflicted with Mana Exhaustion. Stamina reduced to 0% and all recovery rates lowered by 90% for the next 20 seconds.]

Adam passed out for a second, expecting the punch to kill him.

The Mana Exhaustion made his whole body shake and it felt like the ground under him was moving up-and-down. Even though he knew he should’ve collapsed, he remained standing somehow.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Secret Boss, Slime Emperor!]

Adam opened his eyes, seeing bright dots everywhere and feeling light-headed.

The barrier he’d summoned was pressed into his torso, effectively pinning him against the wall of trees. At the other end of the two-metre wide pane of energy was the Slime Emperor.

He’d managed to summon the barrier directly in front of the boss as it leapt in for the attack, such that its corner split the last core in half.

The spell shattered and Adam collapsed onto his knees along with the coreless husk of the Secret Boss. The rusted crown atop its head popped off and rolled towards him.

He reached out to touch it.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Rusted Crown (Common) — A crown does not a king make, but for some the symbolism alone is sufficient >

That has got to be more than just something to sell, he guessed.

< < Wave Five Complete > >

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

Adam shifted from his knees and onto his ass while waiting for the results, his head still swimming from the Mana Exhaustion.

That was a total mess of a last fight, but I made it through without taking damage.

< < Score > >

< 305 Seconds Completion Time >

< 400 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 300 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 1240 Points Awarded >

Woah, what!?

That’s almost twice what I got last time! And four times what I got on my first completion!

He held the rusted crown in his hands.

“Aside from this, what other bonus rewards do I get for defeating the Secret Boss?”

[You will receive two Upgrade rewards, as well as a Relic Chest that will allow you to pick between three Relics. Once you have selected your rewards, you will be transported to the Interim Island.]

So, the bonus is this crown and a second upgrade.

Feels kind of disappointing.

Although I guess 400 extra Points this early on is pretty huge.

Plus, it allows me to evolve before I even get to the Market.

“Alright then, let’s see the upgrades.”

The Eye unfolded itself into a podium and a treasure chest with a slime symbol appeared next to it.

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Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Seven

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

Loopshard slipped off #1 on Rising Stars, since there's some weird decay that makes it so stories have a hard time sticking to that spot for more than 4-5 days. It won't actually reach the end of its 21-day run until Friday the 7th, so I might be able to move back up when the new #1 slips off in a few days.

The story is already as 2700 followers after only 16 days, and it's been immensely-rewarding to experience such a crazy launch as this.

My productivity today has been quite high, so this is the first of two chapters I'm releasing on Patreon today.

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

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Let’s have a look at these upgrades.

Adam stuffed the slime core in his pocket and walked over to where the Eye was unfolded into a podium. There was a familiar general upgrade symbol, as well as one that was a hand with waves around it and a book with a plus next to it.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) — Increases barrier health by 20% >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 20% >

< Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

[You have 30 seconds to pick an Upgrade. Failure to decide will forfeit your choice and none will be selected.]

[You currently have 0 Rerolls.]

“What does it mean by responsiveness?”

[This upgrade affects how your summons responds to your efforts to manipulate them.]

I can’t tell what exactly that means…

Is it extra speed? Or better control?

I think durability is a good choice, especially since it’d to be able to sustain more than just one hit before it breaks. After all, I can only summon four in quick succession before wearing myself out.

I never did ask Willow about how Mana works… That was a mistake.

He looked at the Bleed upgrade and frowned, remembering how it had lost him the fight against Ilya.

That upgrade is a lot stronger than I first assumed.

Not sure if it even applies to the barrier though.

“What’s the requirements for the bleed effect? Does it work with my barrier?”

[Bleed is applied with all attacks performed.]

“What? Even punches?”

[Yes.]

So, it’s not useless even on Warder.

But it’s got the same limitation as Fiendbarb, in that it only works on targets with blood or something equivalent to it.

Not much use in Stage One, but useful in Two and Four.

But, weapon upgrades are worth more, considering they can give Mastery Shards.

I really want the Orb of Insight, I think it can be a huge benefit. After all, I don’t know what comes after Stage Five, so having it by then might make all the difference.

Before Adam picked an upgrade, he went over to the large apple tree.

I want to get the sword trapped in there, but is my barrier strong enough to cut through it?

He lifted his hand and used his index finger to spin the barrier so that it became horizontal. Then he swung his hand and a moment later the pane of yellow energy flew forward, slicing across the thick bark. It left a groove that was about as deep as his pinkie.

Not bad, but I’d need to hit it like 40 times in the same spot at least.

Best get to it, I guess.

Adam swung his hand again and the barrier struck the tree a second time, missing the first groove and creating another right above it.

Then it shattered.

Shit…

[10 seconds remaining.]

He selected the durability upgrade.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) >

The iron on his spell-tome became slightly less rusty.

That’s a peculiar way to visualise that upgrade.

He looked at the tree again.

I’ll have to get the bigger slimes to help me destroy it.

Question is, should I get the acorn first?

Maybe I can use the barrier to lift me up there.

< < Wave Two > >

< 60-Second Timer >

Adam summoned another barrier and his whole world tilted and warped. He stumbled for a moment before sitting down to avoid falling.

[Warning! Mana below 30%.]

Not ideal…

He shifted the barrier out in front of himself as he waited for his Mana to recoup. It looked a bit less transparent than before, but he couldn’t tell if the 20% increase was enough to survive more than one hit from the slimes.

At the other end of the clearing came the rustle of the approaching enemies. It would take them a while to get to him, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

The barrier seems to take damage based on what it hits, but is strong enough to survive at least one collision with the big tree. I wonder if it’ll take more damage if it hits harder, or if it’s entirely based on its durability.

The slimes deal 45 damage per hit, and it can only survive one of those, so it started off with less health than that. I wonder if my Defence rating affects it or not, but I assume it wouldn’t. It is possible that my Mana perhaps affects it, so if I can grow that resource pool it might be a good thing to test out.

I need to see if it can sustain a hit with the increased durability. If it can, I’ll know that it has over 45 health.

“What’s my Mana at?” Adam asked, as the two blue slimes broke from the treeline and hopped towards him.

[Your Mana is at 35% or 70 points. Currently recovering 2% or 4 points every second.]

“So, it does just recover from sitting…”

That seems very open for exploitation.

Adam tried to use his mind alone to manipulate the barrier, but it struggled to obey until he used his hand. He made it horizontal and pushed it down so it was flat to the ground.

Then he climbed onto it as though it was a magic carpet and sat down.

He carefully lifted his hand, willing it to rise.

The distant slimes slowly came closer as Adam lifted off the ground.

“Mana?”

[Your Mana is at 41% or 82 points. Currently recovering 2% or 4 points every second.]

Hell yeah!

He lifted himself higher.

Hah! It’s working!

The barrier cracked underneath him.

“Uh oh.”

The crack spread like a spiderweb, while Adam quickly lowered it back to the ground.

When he was two metres above the mossy understory, the barrier shattered and he fell down onto his ass. Fortunately, he didn’t take any damage from it.

Fuck.

I’ll need to pump a lot more durability into it for ‘carpet riding’ to be viable… But it might work as a step in a pinch.

The slimes were now only a few metres away and Adam got to his feet, summoning a replacement barrier.

[Warning! Mana below 25%.]

Adam felt woozy and unsteady on his feet.

This is hard to deal with…

How the hell did Willow manage this and still beat this Stage fast enough to get the speedrun!?

He swung his hand forward and the barrier moved to obey, smacking into both of the slimes and knocking them away. One of them landed upside-down, while the other just flew back a couple metres unscathed.

Okay, it survived being used as a battering ram once. Maybe it’s important what I hit it against. Since the slimes are soft targets, they might not damage it that much, unlike the tree.

But I need more Mana if I’m going to test this out.

Adam once again sat down, which felt quite absurd given the ease with which the slimes could kill him. For the next 30 seconds or so, he kept trying to knock the slime upside-down like its friend, but it simply refused. It did however provide good information, since he now knew that the barrier could be rammed into the blue slimes at least seven times without shattering.

“Mana?”

[Your Mana is at 100% or 200 points.]

He stood up.

Alright, time to do some experimenting.

With two gestures, he slashed the barrier through the left side of the stubborn slime and then the right, causing its body to break apart and dissolve after 80% of its mass was removed. It left behind its intact core, just like the first he’d killed.

Adam picked up the core, but instead of putting it in his pocket, he eyed the upside-down and struggling slime nearby.

[15 seconds remaining of Wave Two.]

Alright, Lenard, let’s see if your theory is correct.

There was no safe way for Adam to insert the core, so he tried just dropping it onto the slime.

As the round stone hit the blue slime, it’s jelly flesh started to vibrate, before a squelch followed the core slipping right inside its body.

Adam took a few steps back as he expected the worst.

The slime started to vibrate faster and more erratically, until suddenly it grew in size, doubling its entire mass. It was still upside-down, but was able to roll itself back upright.

Strange, I thought for sure that it would turn either purple or green, but it’s still just blue.

The evolved blue slime flattened itself, before launching for him. It flew like a cannonball, both faster and further than before.

Adam only just managed to move the barrier in front of himself at the last moment, but the slime barrelled right through, forcing him to throw himself to the side to avoid it hitting him.

Okay, so evolving it only makes it stronger.

The purple and green slimes are something completely different then. And I guess the Slime King is just a double-evolved blue slime. I wonder if that means that I can turn the other two colour variants into bosses too. Although I’m not sure the benefit of that.

Adam tossed himself aside again as the evolved slime shot for him once more.

He summoned a barrier and felt a slight wooziness just like earlier.

I hope I can learn to ignore that feeling, otherwise fighting with barriers is gonna be a pain.

Adam almost wanted to insert the core in his pocket into the evolved slime just to see if it’d turn into a king, but then Shitbox announced.

[5 seconds remaining.]

Better wrap this up.

With a twirling gesture of his hand, the barrier spun around so that the thin edge was facing the blue slime. When it shot at Adam a third time, it perfectly bisected itself on his barrier and landed in two separate blobs, each with a core of their own.

It became two normal slimes again. Weird.

He rapidly chopped up the one on his left, but before he could get to the other—

[The Wave Timer has run out! You were unable to defeat the enemies fast enough. Unfortunately, this means that the next Wave now begins. You must defeat all enemies from both Waves before the Timer runs out again. You will not receive rewards until you successfully defeat all enemies within the allotted time.]

< < Wave Three > >

< 90-Second Timer >

Feels like Déjà vu…

[During Waves you may take damage. Although you can purchase consumable health regeneration after this Stage, there are also ways to acquire them from within the Stages themselves. Look towards the tree, where a Healing Apple is awaiting you.]

He chopped up the last slime as the treeline at the other end started to rustle.

A purple slime and two blue ones popped out of the trees, while Adam scooped up the slime cores from the two he’d just killed.

I wonder what happens if a slime gets to four cores.

I’ll save that experiment for the Slime King, since that’s gotta be what triggers the Secret Boss.

He eyed the purple slime, which slowly made its way towards him. It was slower than the two blue ones, which themselves weren’t that fast.

I never actually tested out the range on this barrier.

With a looping motion of his index finger followed by a pushing gesture, he made the barrier spin on its central axis like a slow-mo rotary saw as it moved towards the leftmost blue slime.

He made a few minor adjustments as it got closer, but then suddenly, 10 metres out, it stopped moving forward.

That’s some terrible range…

Adam walked towards the slime and the barrier moved along with him as its reach was shifted forward. He waited for the blue slimes to come within his 10-metre reach, before he moved his spinning barrier around and carved them up, once again managing to keep their cores intact.

It was a lot messier than the simple ‘guillotine chop’, but it seemed like it might be more effective against armoured enemies or tough ones like the purple slime.

The purple one might help me break the tree, but it’s way too slow, so I think I’ll wait on the green ones that appear in the next Wave.

Besides, there’s something else I want to try.

It was an idea that’d occurred to him after he’d proven Lenard’s theory.

Adam walked towards the spinning barrier, which he manipulated into staying stationary while continuously rotating. He held out one of the cores he’d looted earlier and nicked it on the edge of the barrier, cracking it slightly.

The core immediately started to sputter and fizz like some cheap firework. Adam dropped the spell-tome to the ground and put both hands around the core, before he threw it at the purple slime like a baseball.

It struck the front of the cone-shaped slime and stopped. Then came a squelch before it was sucked in. Just like with the blue slime, the purple one started to vibrate.

Then it suddenly exploded.

Adam spun the barrier around so that it covered him, while bits of the purple slime rained down on the moss around the clearing. A couple pieces struck the barrier, but for once it didn’t break.

[Well done! You cleared the Wave with more than half the time remaining.]

He went over to the rapidly-dissolving remains and found two cracked and fizzing cores left behind. While they made a strange hissing sound, they seemed to remain stable until introduced into a slime’s body.

“Is this still a Collectible Relic?”

[Yes. This is an uncommon Relic called a Cracked Slime Core.]

“Can I sell it?”

[Yes.]

So, they’re still worth the same as the normal cores even though they’re broken. Weird.

< < Wave Two & Three Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrades >

Huh, the System message is different.

Adam put the two cracked cores into his left pocket. Then he suddenly realised something.

I’m back in my original clothes…

I didn’t even notice.

It makes sense since this isn’t the same body from before. Only my mind and soul go back in time, the rest of me is gone forever.

Adam frowned.

The more he thought about his unique situation, the more existential dread he felt.

The real me is gone…

This body isn’t my own. It just looks and feels and behaves exactly like it.

If I see the System again, I need to ask why that is. I mean, if this is an alternate universe, isn’t it possible that the me I’m now inhabiting is utterly different in many ways?

God forbid there’s a version of me that decided to grow a fancy moustache.

Adam sighed and looked over at where the Eye had unfolded itself.

“Do I get extra time to select since I technically beat two waves?”

[No. There are 20 seconds remaining before your choice will be forfeit and Wave Four begins.]

Better hurry then…

The symbols for the weapon upgrades once again showed a book and a hand, but the hand had speed lines next to it and the book had what looked like a recycle symbol in the corner.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

< Manipulation Speed (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation speed by 20% >

< Crush (Uncommon) — Increases the impact of attacks by 10% >

Crush might work well with the barrier.

Ah, but I’ve gotta go for Efficiency.

It’s better to buy the general upgrades than picking them as Wave rewards.

Maybe I should focus more on those upgrades this time around, instead of spending all my Points on Relics.

I should probably also invest more into Luvicidix’s upgrades. I think the Rewards one isn’t actually as good as the one for saving Relics, since that can give me an edge from the start and help me snowball my power.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) >

Unlike the Durability upgrade, he couldn’t immediately tell what the Efficiency one did. But then he noticed that the papers inside the tome were a bit less yellow.

The icons above the tesseract’s podium flickered and were replaced by new ones. One of them was already familiar to him, but the other was a book with a stippled outline that seemed to indicate growth.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Uncommon) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 10% >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 20% >

< Movement (Uncommon) — Increases movement speed by 5% >

Good old movement speed… But it doesn’t help me much here.

Hmm, the size upgrade says ‘maximum’ dimensions, not actual? That implies I can scale the size of the barrier at will or maybe during the summoning process.

Adam held out his hand and tried to imagine the barrier getting smaller.

Nothing happened.

He tried making it bigger.

Also nothing.

[5 seconds remaining.]

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Manipulation Effect (Uncommon) >

Ah… I kind of picked that without thinking.

The upgrade hadn’t visibly changed anything about the spell-tome.

Let’s see if it does what I think it does.

Adam swung his hand and the barrier moved to follow.

He did this a few more times until he realised what the effect was.

It’s like there’s less of a lag on my commands.

He tried spinning the barrier while moving it around and it was easier to pull off than before.

Okay, that’s actually a great improvement.

< < Wave Four > >

< 90-Second Timer >

Adam rolled his shoulders.

Alright, time to get this hidden sword.

Come on green slimes, show me what you got!

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

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Six

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard is somehow still on #1 on Rising Stars, which is crazy. I'm expecting to drop off anytime soon, but will enjoy it while it lasts.

This chapter is a bit peculiar perhaps, but I hope you will bear with me.

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

Chapter Twenty-Six

Adam was in the starless void of space. Somewhere so far from all other celestial bodies that even their aeons-old light could not reach him.

An eye opened in the dark and was possibly the biggest thing in existence or so small that it could fit within Adam’s palm.

He floated there, as the eye provided the only contrast to the dark. Its sclera was the white light of creation, its iris was the first planet to ever exist in this outcast region of space, and its pupil was shaped like a man.

The man moved towards where Adam floated. As he neared, his brown dishevelled hair was revealed, along with a chiselled face, thick eyebrows, and amber eyes that reflected some unseen kaleidoscopic cosmos.

It was his mirror image, though it was clad in a suit of darkness, such that it looked like just a floating head.

< < ADAM > >

The doppelganger spoke his name. It made his entire being tremble, threatening to tear him asunder.

“Who are you?” Adam asked. His voice was a tiny thing that the darkness quickly swallowed.

His mirror image replied, but its voice became something smaller. Like a human whispering to an ant, such that the breath of his voice would not blow it away.

“I am the eyes that bear witness to the start, the middle, and the end.”

“I am the one whose gaze pierces dimensions and realities.”

“I am the all-seeing and all-knowing.”

“I am the sight you wield.”

“Are you the System responsible for the Trials?”

“The Trials are but one of the ways that I express my influence.”

“The struggle is such a thing to behold.”

“The suffering fuels me.”

“Why am I here?”

“Because you display the ultimate defiance imaginable.”

“Because you broke the design carefully crafted.”

“Because you are unkillable.”

“I knew it. I am not looping in an intended way, am I?”

“No, Adam, you are defying the rules I made.”

“How?”

“Ingenuity, luck, and my own oversight.”

“Ironic, is it not? I am all-seeing and yet so blind.”

“It must be pride.”

“A valuable lesson has been learnt.”

“Do you understand how many like you attempt what you attempted?”

“And yet only you were so lucky.”

“Killing the tesseract?” Adam asked. “I’m guessing everyone wants to kill it when they learn they were lied to. Hell, people want to kill it just for being the one who enforces your cruel game.”

“My game is a lesson and your species are the students.”

“Many rebel against the Eyes that govern their universes and dimensions.”

“Many reach the same conclusion as you, given the tools at their disposal.”

“Do you know what happens when an Eye is defeated?”

“It blows up and kills you.”

“That is the immediate response, most of the time, yes.”

“But the Eyes are much more than that.”

“There is but one Eye for every universe, every tangled mess of dimensional strings.”

“Through my grace, these Eyes possess the power to govern their universes and alter the laws of reality as prescribed by my tenets.”

“One which possesses such immense power inevitably becomes the linchpin holding everything together.”

“Can you imagine what the loss of such an integral piece leads to?”

Adam frowned.

“Oblivion, Adam.”

“Every defeated Eye equals a defeated tangle of dimensions.”

“An obliteration of a universe.”

“Snuffed out like the light of a star, never to be seen again.”

“Are you saying that because I killed Shitbox, I destroyed my entire timeline?”

“Yes. That is exactly what I am saying. It is an intended defiance that I allow your species to exhibit.”

“But do you understand what it means for you?”

“It means that you should be nothingness.”

“Void.”

“Null.”

“Non-existence.”

“Just like all those within that universe you doomed.”

“For how can the action leading to the end of a universe exist, if the result is that it never existed in the first place?”

“And yet you are here, Adam.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I am aware.”

The doppelganger reached out and touched Adam.

Suddenly an obsidian shard reflecting an unseen cosmos was made visible. It sprouted from the middle of his chest, lodged directly into his ribcage. And yet he couldn’t feel it at all.

It reminded Adam of when he’d died.

“What you need to understand is that you are lucky, Adam.”

“Granted, it is possible that someone played a trick on me and wanted this outcome.”

“It is also possible that you were the one instance in all observable universes where such an outcome was possible.”

“This shard lodged firmly in your chest, do you know what it is?”

“No.”

“It is a fragment of borrowed power. I do not myself possess the ability to warp reality and traverse every universe and dimension, though I see them all with my countless Eyes.”

“This borrowed power, call it a Dimensional Crystal or a Universe Core or whatever you’d like.”

“The simple fact is just that it should not be bound to your soul, and yet it is.”

“It is unfortunate, but a lesson learnt.”

“After all, I instructed you to defy me. I just lacked the forethought to realise a defiance such as this was even possible.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You have a dimensional power within you, Adam.”

“Or rather, a fragment of this power.”

“It lacks its normal controls, for which I am grateful, lest you might entirely undermine my game.”

“You see. When you die, your soul unwittingly triggers the Dimensional fragment and flings itself to the nearest universe, where it supplants itself in the body of your alternate self.”

“But rest assured, I have taken countermeasures to ensure there can be no more like you.”

“After all, you have left such a mess behind. For when you perish and the shard in your soul sends you to your alternate self, it erases you from whichever place you left.”

“Already, there is a universe missing, and two more with a suspicious vacancy.”

“Fortunately, the one from whom I borrowed this power is hard at work solving this issue.”

“Try not to make him work too hard, lest I shall be forced to take additional countermeasures to deter you.”

“I do not wish to upset the fairness of the game, after all.”

The doppelganger took a step back from Adam and looked at its wrist, which suddenly had a watch on it. It was such a bizarre mannerism and he knew it was entirely for his benefit.

“I have spent too much time keeping you here.”

“I will be watching you closely, Adam.”

And just like that, he was relinquished.

***

Adam opened his eyes and saw a sight he’d never thought he’d see again.

It was the inside of Jameson’s bakery.

What the f—

He collapsed to his knees and started violently purging his stomach.

The world quaked around him, while the other customers backed away from the spreading puddle of vomit.

Then the black cubes appeared and the whole mess began anew.

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 1 >

< The Magical Forest >

< 5 Waves >

[Before we proceed, you must select a Weapon Type.]

Adam was still struggling to comprehend what in the world he’d just been subjected to.

His brain throbbed as though he was experiencing the worst Saturday morning hangover possible. It was as though he had stared in the sun for too long and now his eyes had a lingering after-image making it hard to see. Except it hadn’t been the sun, but rather an unfathomable God whose mere presence sent quakes through his metaphysical being.

The world around him felt as though it moved slower than it should, while his head processed everything at hyper-speed.

He tried as best as possible to consolidate his audience with the All-Seeing before his fragile and feeble brain lost its grip on what he’d learnt.

When I die, I go to a new universe, like what Willow suggested…

The realisation struck him then and he felt sadness overcome him.

She’s lost now. That Willow I knew.

Or rather, she now exists in Mórrígan’s world, and I have been deleted from the timeline completely. She doesn’t even know that I am missing, because to her I never existed in the first place.

What a total mindfuck…

No one will mourn my death, because my death makes it so that I never existed in their world…

I can’t imagine the time-loopers will be much pleased with the instability my vacancy leaves behind.

But maybe it’s too conceited to believe that my disappearance from their timeline cause ripples large enough to be noticed.

It was such an unfathomable thing that he couldn’t fully comprehend what it meant, only that with every death, there was one less potential Adam Fischer. The person he’d been was gone, not just dead, but entirely erased from existence.

I only got the power to loop because I got ‘lucky’ when I killed the Eye. When it exploded, the core that lets it appear in front of every Player and altered the fabric of reality, it struck me. Only a part of it, but it was just the right part to imbue me with this… curse… that means I effectively can’t die.

Adam didn’t know when he’d sat down, but he was sitting on the mossy ground and staring blankly into the air.

He looked over at where the Eye had unfolded itself into a podium.

< < Weapon Types Available > >

< Warder (Rare) >

< Backstabber (Common) >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< Berserker (Uncommon) >

< Warrior (Common) >

Reality still had its strange slowness to it and he felt as though he had all the time in the world to make a decision.

I hope there is a Willow in this world who will be my friend again.

There will probably be someone who has found the Divine Relic here too… Maybe it’ll be Mórrígan again, or perhaps one of those people she mentioned.

I need to figure out how to deal with them without drawing attention to myself.

He looked at the floating tome over the weapon podium that the Eye formed.

Maybe I should pick something with magic this time.

That drunk guy from last loop had that weapon, so it’s probably strong.

But what does it even matter?

When I die, all my efforts will be nothingness. All the friends I made and accomplishments I achieved, all will be gone.

Just like me.

He remembered his promise to Willow and smiled slightly.

She doesn’t even realise what a cruel thing she asked of me.

But I will try to live according to what she wanted, otherwise I will become something inhuman.

If my life is meaningless, I will give it meaning!

I still have my mind and my memory. Even if I am erased, those moments will not disappear so long as I hold on to them.

I still remember the first time I spoke to her.

I still remember how it felt when we laughed about Belamouranthe.

I still remember the warmth of our dinners together and the talks we shared.

All the promises I made, I will keep.

All the things I wanted to try when given the chance, I will do.

Adam stood up and time returned to its normal flow.

“Warder,” he said.

< < Weapon Type Selected > >

< Spell-Tome >

< Rare >

< < Player Status > >

< Adam Fischer >

< Warder >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 50% >

< Defence — 100% >

< Speed — 75% >

< Luck — 5 >

< Upgrades >

< — — — >

The tome appeared in his hands. It was a heavy book with gnarled dark-brown leather wrapped around old yellowed parchment pages. On the front was neither title nor cover, but instead a metal signet of a hand splayed palm-out. The edges of the leather binding were covered in rusted iron and a clasp with no way to open it sealed it shut.

Adam processed the stats and grimaced at just how insufficient the health, stamina, damage, and speed values were.

Nevertheless, his mind could comprehend the incomprehensible nature of the object he was holding. It was a catalyst, but at the moment it would only allow him to perform a single spell.

Adam flung out his hand and summoned a pane of yellowish light in front of him. It was 2 metres wide and 2 metres tall. It was also slightly reflective like glass.

He was about to reach out and touch it, when the Stage began.

< < Wave One > >

< 60-Second Timer >

I have 60 seconds to mess around with this.

Honestly, I have no idea what I expected when I picked it…

He touched the barrier and it felt like warm glass. It was hard but brittle, though he doubted he could break it with his hand. In terms of thickness, it was only about 1 or 2 centimetres.

From the treeline nearby came the rustle of the first enemy. Adam ignored it to play around with his new power some more.

If he gestured with a pushing motion using his free hand, he could make the pane move forward. If he twirled his hand, it would spin. Beckoning brought it towards him and closing his fist made it stop moving. He could overlay the gestures and move it through the air weirdly or spin diagonally.

At the outset this feels like it’s only meant to protect me, but that would mean I couldn’t kill any enemies with it.

However…

Adam flung his arm out in a snapping motion, like a punch. The pane responded and flew forward rapidly. It sliced a thin line through the mossy earth.

Yeah. This will work.

The blue slime was slowly hopping towards him, having already emerged from the trees.

Adam eyed it cautiously, while positioning the barrier in front of himself.

After a few lazy hops, the slime shot forward to try and hit him. It struck the yellow pane, which made a sound similar to a bird flying into a window. The slime was bounced back and landed upside-down. Then the barrier shattered.

Damn, only one hit?

Adam summoned a replacement, but immediately felt light-headed afterwards.

[Warning! Mana below 60%.]

Ah, that’s not good…

Each summon is like 50 Mana points!

“Do I automatically replenish Mana?” he asked, while rotating the barrier so that its thin edge was aimed directly at the struggling slime.

[The default Mana recovery is 1 point per second.]

[Sitting down increases this to 4 points per second.]

“Sitting down?? Like meditation!?”

[30 seconds remaining before Wave Two begins.]

Wait, can I sit down while fighting?

That seems so dumb it might actually work.

Before trying that out, he first wanted to see if he could chop up the slime with the barrier by using it as a cleaver.

Adam pushed the barrier so that it was directly over the slime, then he swung his hand down, making sure to not aim it right down the middle.

A sound like that of a guillotine came from the yellow pane as it fell down on the defenceless slime. The thin edge carved through the jellied flesh of the elemental, narrowly missing the stone-like core. Sizzling came from the shorn-off piece of slime as it dropped to the mossy ground and began dissolving the organic material.

The slime righted itself, but before it could hop towards him, he’d already lifted the barrier and swung it down again.

As he sheared off the other side next to the core, the slime dissolved completely, the thin slice in the middle not enough to keep it alive. Left behind in the bubbling mass of jelly was a perfectly-intact core.

< < Wave One Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

That was easy.

Adam reached down and picked up his prize.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Slime Core (Common) — The brain and heart of a Slime >

He held up the stone in his hand.

I’ve got a lot of ideas for how to use this thing.

All thanks to Lenard.

Adam thought about his friend who he’d gotten killed.

Even if I can’t help the Lenard I knew, I will make things right in this loop.

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

I quite enjoy the ideas I have for the Warder weapon type. I think it definitely represents a big shift from his previous weapon and this is part of my overarching idea for the story, i.e. having multiple unique experiences defined by the weapon and build routes he takes.

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---Next chapter----

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Five

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---Next chapter----

Holy crap. Loopshard hit #1 on Rising Stars! That's so insane, lol.

Thanks for all the support!

EDIT: Made a minor edit to the end of the chapter since I forgot to account for something.

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

Chapter Twenty-Five

Adam reached the foot of the long stairwell before he could control his own body again. Thankfully, the long trek down into the depths of the Forbidden Altar hadn’t actually exhausted him due to it being part of a cutscene.

His mind was already racing. Ilya was a formidable fighter as far as he knew, and he had been primed by Mórrígan to take Adam out of the game.

Do I unequip the Fiendbarb? He must know how easy it is to counter.

Perhaps I shouldn’t rely on my ranged attacks either, since he might have found a way to reflect them.

But no, I need to consider the other Players here as well.

Adam was in a stone hallway. It was lit from above by a bright yellow gem embedded in the ceiling. Further down were tall statues of stoic Elphin warriors holding swords and spears.

He tried to move forward, but felt a boundary barrier in the way.

Before he could ask Shitbox to remove it, the tesseract announced the objective.

< < Stage Objective > >

< Claim the Altar before the timer runs out >

It was clear the 30-minute timer hadn’t actually started yet, since otherwise most of it would’ve been exhausted by the journey down the steps.

[The Stage will begin in 30 seconds.]

“What about the other Players?” Adam asked. “Do I have to fight them!?”

[Only 1 Player may claim the Altar.]

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

It was the worst-case scenario. Only one person would be leaving alive no matter what.

“So, it’s a race to the Altar?”

[Yes. However, if there are other Players remaining, claiming the Altar takes 5 minutes.]

“Are there any bosses and enemies to fight?”

[I cannot say.]

That probably means there will still be enemies. Great…

Adam took a deep breath and tried to think about this more rationally.

“Can I loot other Player’s Relics?”

[If you are responsible for their deaths or if their killer is dead, yes.]

If I’m willing to overlook murdering other people, there’s a potential windfall to be made here.

All but one of us is guaranteed to die, so I may as well make the best of other Players’ deaths.

In the end, if someone beats the Trials, those that died along the way will return to life, so it isn’t actual death…

He sighed.

Can’t believe I’m trying to justify murder.

There is no other choice though. It’s kill or be killed.

Adam hadn’t looked at the other Players, so he didn’t know what to expect.

I’ll keep my Fiendbarb attached for now. Anyone who isn’t covered in armour will be easy to deal with.

[Begin.]

The boundary vanished and Adam was able to take a step forward.

Immediately, one of the statues, a tall Elphin with a sword, took a step down from its plinth.

Ah shit.

Adam unequipped the Fiendbarb with a mental prompt and it dropped to the ground. Then he sprinted towards the statue before it could take the initiative.

The stone Elphin turned around to face him, just as he shot forward and drove his spear into its neck. With a loud crack the head broke off the statue and struck the floor behind it, shattering on impact.

It swung back at him despite missing its head and Adam only barely leaned out of the way of its sword.

Shit! It’s gotta be another elemental, which means there’s a core somewhere…

The statue swung again and Adam flung his shield out in a parry, momentarily disorienting it. A glowing-red dot appeared in the middle of its torso.

I forgot about the weak-point effect of my vambrace!

Adam didn’t waste a second and drove his spear into the red dot. His spear sheared through the stone statue and struck something that sounded like glass when it broke. An instant later the entire statue turned to sand. Amongst the tiny granules lay the fragments of a hollow glass ball.

“That was an elemental, right?” he asked Shitbox, while looking down at the remains.

[Correct. This was a type of Elemental called a Statue Elemental.]

Seems it only has one core, like the blood elementals from Stage Three.

Adam sighed.

My Fiendbarb is going to be useless here, alongside my Slime Glove and Bolt Ring…

Maybe I should’ve invested more into upgrades instead of Relics.

He returned to pick up the Weapon Relic before continuing down the hallway. It wasn’t difficult to equip and unequip the Fiendbarb, so he kept it on just in case.

Even if Ilya knows how to counter the Fiendbarb, he doesn’t know how it works with the Blood Bolt. If I combo it with Fateful Strike and my Spring Boots, I can produce an explosion that he won’t be able to survive.

The end of the hallway was a 90-degree corner to the right and Adam continued delving deeper, while keeping an eye on the many Elphin Statues lining the walls. He realised that revealing the statue’s true nature at the start was a deliberate move to slow him and the other Players down, since they’d suspect every statue on their way to the Altar.

Adam ran his eyes over the ones he passed by, trying to see if there was anything that stood out or not. They were all sculptures of the same male Elphin rendered in exquisite detail and no matter what weapon they held, each was identical.

He followed another corner, this one going left. More statues lined the walls. As he walked past them, he noticed something creepy.

One of the statues was tracking him with its engraved eyes.

Adam immediately hopped back a step as it swung its sword at his head. He unequipped the Fiendbarb and shot forward, striking it right in the middle of its torso.

The statue stumbled back a step and bits of its stone body crumbled where it’d been struck, revealing its glass core. Before it could recover, he stabbed it in the same point again, driving his spear-tip through the glass ball and turning the statue to sand.

All my speed upgrades are actually quite effective. I guess speed increases the impact of my strikes, in turn making them better at penetrating.

I just didn’t notice because of the Fiendbarb.

Just as he turned around, another statue stepped down from its plinth. This one was wielding a spear.

Adam didn’t even give it the chance to attack. Two precise stabs to its chest and it became sand like the other one.

He picked up and equipped the Weapon Relic, then he continued.

***

After wandering through snaking hallways and fighting three more statues, Adam finally reached an open chamber. It was shaped like a rectangular box and there were only a few statues within, one on either side of every tunnel mouth.

Five tunnels connected to it and for a second he thought that this was where the Altar was located. Then he looked around some more and realised this couldn’t be it. There was a hallway entrance in the wall directly opposite him and three more at the other end of the room.

The walls were carved with symbols and strange depictions of rituals and events. In the centre of the room was a large stone coffin. It too was covered in carvings. One of the depicted events showed what he guessed were past champions fighting over some kind of podium made of waist-high pillars. Another showed a tall woman handing some kind of fruit to small people standing at the foot of a great tree.

He went through the room, scanning the engravings and tunnel entrances. Suddenly the sound of running came from behind him. He spun around just in time to see someone enter the chamber from the tunnel directly opposite the one he’d come through.

The other Player paused when she saw him. From behind her came the sound of at least two statues chasing after her.

She was wielding a rapier like Kate who’d told him about the Slime Glove, as well as a small parry dagger. Her skin was pale with freckles and her frizzled hair was auburn. She also wore large round glasses.

Before she could attack him, Adam lunged forward and drove his spear into her unprotected neck. The effect of the Fiendbarb was immediate and her skin and flesh crackled as it crystallised.

The woman dropped to the floor and the impact shattered her neck.

Adam stumbled back a step, on the verge of throwing up. Just then two statue elementals appeared in the tunnel opening. They trampled the dead woman in their attempt to get to him and he back-pedalled quickly to avoid the thrusts of their spears.

Before they could push him up against a wall, Adam moved forward and parried one, then lunged with his spear at the other. He struck it twice in the torso to reveal and break the core, then he spun around and rammed his spear through the red weak-point visible on the first.

His pulse throbbed in his temples like a jackhammer and he felt as though he had to throw up. A mixture of stress, guilt, and relief roiled around in his stomach.

I need to check what she had.

As Adam went back over to the Player, he kept his ears piqued for others coming down the three hallways behind him.

He tried not to look at her shattered neck and the terrified expression on her severed head, focusing instead on what Relics she’d been using. There was a ring on her right hand, as well as the Tainted Bracer on her forearm. Her sweater and jeans were covered with the familiar Bone Armour from Stage Two, and she had a Potion Belt looped around her waist. There was a red and a green potion inside it.

“Can you tell me what Relics she has?” Adam asked Shitbox. “Also, can I unequip it without having to touch her…?”

[Of course. You may take any looted Relic through verbal command or mental prompt.]

[When looking at a lootable corpse, you may utter the command ‘Loot’ to receive a list of Relics available to take.]

Thank God I don’t have to actually touch her.

“Loot.”

< < Loot ­— Charlotte Hayes > >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) >

< Bone Armour (Uncommon) >

< Tainted Bracer (Uncommon) >

< Potion Belt (Uncommon) >

< Committed Attack Ring (Uncommon) >

Oh, I didn’t even notice the cape.

I can’t wear the ring without swapping either my Bolt Ring or Slime Glove, and the armour is worse than what I’m already wearing.

“I’ll take the cape, belt, and bracer.”

[Understood.]

The belt with the two potions appeared around Adam’s waist, replacing his original belt; the cape looped around his neck and hung down his back; and the bracer strapped itself to his left forearm.

And just like that, I have almost filled out all potential Relic slots…

All it took was killing another Player.

Another person…

He sighed and left the dead body behind.

***

The first tunnel he followed from the chamber led to a dead end with three statue elementals, which he quickly dispatched. The 25% increased attack speed from the Captain’s Cape was immediately noticeable. He had a sneaking suspicion that the way its effect was added to his existing spear speed was multiplicative, greatly increasing its effect. With the increased attack speed came increased damage, and he was sometimes killing the statues with a single strike when his form was on point.

After returning to the chamber with the dead Player again, he went down the middle hallway, which led to a smaller chamber with a stone chest and two other connecting tunnels. It had already been looted however and the remnants of two dead elementals pointed to the looter having gone down one of the hallways.

Adam followed this one until he reached a large oval chamber. Inside were more dead statues and signs of fighting. A large pillar took up the middle of the room and there were raised stone coffins placed near the walls.

Whoever had gone through here had destroyed all the statues, even though most clearly weren’t elementals. It wasn’t a bad strategy though.

He wandered through the room, trying to figure out who he was following. There weren’t any sounds coming from up ahead, which was strange. There should be at least two other Players still alive and one of them had to be Ilya.

Adam stopped as he reached the large pillar and saw what was engraved on it.

Eyes. Countless drawings of the same thing, but rendered in slightly different ways with every repetition.

As he took a step back, he saw that all the eyes, when viewed from the front of the pillar, came together to form a large iris with a serpentine slit in the middle.

< < Stage Alert > >

< Player Lee Hyong has claimed the Altar >

Adam jumped in surprise at the announcement.

That was quick!

He was about to run through the oval room, when he heard the scrape of a boot on the floor behind him. Without even thinking, he threw himself to the side, just as something struck the stone pillar loudly.

Adam landed in a roll, realising that the thing that’d struck the pillar had gone right through his cape. It had happened so fast that there could only be one explanation.

The Blink Ring!

He hurried around behind the pillar, just as a projectile struck the floor and another went wide, hitting the back wall. Adam knew from experience how difficult it was to aim while using the Blink Ring, especially if the target was moving. But his opponent wasn’t an amateur. He’d tried to predict Adam’s movements, even if he’d guessed wrong.

Adam finally looked at one of the projectiles.

It was a spear.

A loud thud came from the pillar’s other side.

And another.

How many fucking spears does he have to throw!?

Adam pulled his cape off and swung it out to the side of the pillar. A hole immediately appeared in its fabric and a spear appeared down at the far end.

Fuck!

Man, Blink Ring is no joke. Why the hell is that only an Uncommon Relic!?

“Ilya! I know it’s you!”

Another spear struck the pillar.

Is he trying to destroy it??

“I really didn’t think you would be hiding, Adam,” Ilya said. He sounded disappointed.

“What do you expect!? You cheated! You knew I’d be here with you from the start! That’s why you wanted to know what Relics I had!”

“She will tell me how to see the future if I kill you,” Ilya replied.

A spear suddenly struck the floor next to the pillar.

That’s 8 spears he’s thrown now. Does he have any more?

“Mórrígan is lying to you!” Adam yelled. “She can’t see the future!”

“You’re wrong!” Ilya shouted.

“She’s just using you to get to me! Can’t you see that!?”

Ilya laughed. “Why would she care about you?”

“Because she can’t control me like the rest! She wants to control everything and everyone! She killed Lenard to get to me! She’ll kill you too!”

There was a long stretch of silence until an announcement went out.

< < Stage Alert > >

< Player Marcus Doyle has claimed the Altar >

Adam quickly poked his head out and saw Ilya standing ten metres away. It was obvious he’d hidden behind a coffin when Adam entered. No doubt it was Mórrígan who’d told him where they’d meet.

Ilya looked different than when he’d seen him on the stairs going down, because he now wore the Tainted Helmet from the last Stage. Aside from the helmet, he had the same robes as Adam and there was a ring on each of his hands. He didn’t have any special boots, just normal shoes.

He had one spear left in his hand, but he threw it as soon as their eyes met. It instantly struck a pane of blood in front of Adam’s face, before deflecting into the pillar where it got stuck like the rest.

Fuck, that was close!

But he’s out of weapons now!

Adam went around the pillar and triggered his Spring Boots, shooting himself forward. At the same time he fired the blood bolt at Ilya. It exploded and showered him in shards, while also pushing him back with its shockwave.

Got him!

Then something attached to Ilya’s hip turned into dust and the fragments all popped out of his body, having done no significant harm.

How is he still alive!?

He has to have had something like the Affliction Ward!

Adam landed a few steps from Ilya and immediately dropped the Fiendbarb to the ground, before surging forward. He could see the Russian’s eyes through his helmet.

Ilya lifted his hand in front of himself as a last defence, no doubt regretting throwing all his weapons away.

Then he clenched his fist and closed his eyes in a blink.

Adam cried out as he was immediately speared by nine different projectiles, stopping him abruptly only a single step away from Ilya.

[Warning! Health below 5%. You are close to dying.]

[You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

[You have been afflicted with Venom. Speed slowed by 30%.]

[You have been afflicted with Bleed. Receiving 40 damage per second.]

The spear dropped from Adam’s grip, but he managed to shoot off the glob of acid from his right hand, just as he collapsed face-down on the floor.

Ilya screamed as the slime struck his leg and began devouring him.

[Small Healing Potion consumed automatically! Recovering Health back to 41%.]

Adam felt the healing effects from the potion that’d been in the belt he’d looted, but then the wounds on his body throbbed and blood rushed out of him eagerly.

[Warning! Health below 5%. You are close to dying.]

Ilya continued to scream nearby, but Adam couldn’t see him.

His wounds throbbed again.

Then everything went dark.

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Four

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

Loopshard is now #4 on Rising Stars! That's so insane. Legit didn't expect it to climb up the ranks this fast.

Anyway, this chapter is a bit of a special one.

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

Chapter Twenty-Four

“How are you able to activate the Tavern without sitting on the chair?” Adam asked.

Mórrígan laughed. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”

She paused to look at the marble in her hand. Then she held it out so that it was right in front of his face.

“Do you even know what this is?”

“No.”

She laughed again. But then her expression became hard like stone. She was just like Ilya had described. Shoulder-length black hair. Sickly-pale and wrinkly skin. Bright blood-red lipstick. He couldn’t tell what nationality she had, and her accent was indistinguishable.

She also wore a black bodysuit made out of some finely-woven silk mesh. Adam thought it might’ve been made by Weaver, although it was also potentially an Armour Relic from a later Stage, if she had the Relic Saving upgrade.

Maybe I’ve been underestimating that meta upgrade, he thought to himself. He’d have to find out how it worked next time he saw the white moth.

“How do you know about the Self-devouring Eye? Why were you trying to find me? How did you change your own fate like that?” she demanded, her words frantic.

Adam blinked, confused.

“Back away and I’ll talk,” he then told her, trying to gain some control over the situation.

Mórrígan vanished, only to appear on the stool next to him. Except it wasn’t the usual stool anymore. It now had a high back and four legs. She was leaning it on the back legs while resting her feet on the table.

How is she doing that?

Are these all commands I don’t know about?

“Talk,” she demanded.

Adam focused for a moment and his simple stool turned into a proper chair, identical to hers. She didn’t make any comment about it and her strange eyes just bored into him as she awaited his response.

He tried to feign nonchalance, but his heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in the tips of his fingers and hear the pulse in his ear canals.

“I wasn’t trying to find you. I was just curious.”

There was no way he’d tell her the truth, but he figured half-truths would be okay. He was still wondering what the marble in her hand was all about, but something told him he should be afraid of it.

“Luvicidix told me about the Relic, that’s how I knew about it,” Adam eventually admitted.

“Why would he tell you about it? Why would he even appear before you.”

Adam was confused for a second, until he remembered that the genders for the island’s denizens were swapped based on ‘preference’.

Before he could try and bullshit her with an answer, Mórrígan continued and he saw no reason to interrupt her.

“I’ve already dealt with Emelia, Haoyang, and Arturo. You never make it past Five. You always die. But this time you picked Lancer instead of Defender, and you got the Speedrun on One.”

She must have looped a lot to know that about me…

She shook her head.

“How!?” she demanded.

Her hologram blinked out and reappeared atop the table, her fingers holding the marble pointed right at his left eye.

Adam shifted his chair back a little.

I don’t know who those three people she mentioned are, but I’ve got the feeling she has a way of killing people. I should tread carefully, but maybe I can mess with her a little.

She clearly sees me as an enigma, so maybe I can play into that.

“I found a different way to loop,” he told her.

Mórrígan froze.

“Impossible,” he whispered.

“Then explain how I know about Luvicidix. She only shows up after someone has looped.”

“But you don’t know anything!” she shouted. “And there are no Secrets left to uncover! I’ve found them all! You’re lying to me!”

She pushed the marble right into his forehead.

To Adam’s shock, he could feel it touching him, although her fingers still passed through him.

The marble was warm.

Whatever that thing is, it’s bad news if it can touch me!

“I’ll tell you how I did it, if you tell me how to survive the fifth Stage.”

“No! You have to die on Five! If you live it messes everything up! You’ve already ruined Willow Martin! She’ll have to die too now. This run is already unsalvageable! It’s your fault! Tell me how to do what you did! Tell me or I’ll use this on you!”

Mórrígan pushed the marble into his forehead again, this time with enough force to tip his chair back.

Cut the connection!

Her hologram disappeared.

“Block her, quickly!”

[Understood.]

Adam got up from his chair and walked away from the table.

What the fuck!

Willow was right, she’s totally crazy!

Wait… I have to warn her!

Adam ran back over and sat down.

“Connect me to Willow Martin!”

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

“Fuck!”

“Connect me to Lenard Scholz.”

A moment passed.

Then it turned into half a minute.

“What is happening?? Connect me to him!”

[This Player is not responding to your request.]

“Show him to me.”

Lenard’s hologram popped up a few seats down. He looked uncomfortable and was leaning back in his seat. It was a scene that almost perfectly replicated what Adam had just experienced himself.

Oh no.

“Lenard!” Adam yelled. “Disconnect!”

The hologram didn’t respond or even turn to face him.

It was as if he couldn’t hear Adam at all.

“Send him a message or something! You can do that, right!?”

[I cannot.]

“Well then fucking connect me to him again! Keep sending him the request over-and-over until he accepts it!”

As Adam watched his friend, who was surely being harassed by the insane time-looper, the man just vanished.

“What happened!? Where did he go!?”

[This Player is no longer seated in the Tavern.]

Adam hadn’t seen him stand up. The hologram had just vanished.

For the next three desperate minutes, he tried to connect to Lenard again-and-again, but kept getting the same message.

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

He tried to connect to Willow as well, but she was also not in the Tavern.

Then, when he tried Lenard again, he got a different message and his heart sank.

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

It’s all my fault…

I got him killed.

Adam remained in his seat, staring at the spot where he’d last seen Lenard.

He might’ve sat like that for an hour, though he had no idea of how much time really passed.

Then he got a message.

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

The message repeated two more times until he finally accepted it.

Willow appeared opposite him.

She became worried when she saw his face.

“What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

“Lenard is dead and it’s all my fault.”

***

Adam walked back through the streets of Interim Island in the light of the moon. He’d managed to get Willow to block Mórrígan, but he had no idea if that would keep her safe.

The more he thought about it, the more he believed that he knew what the time-looper’s marble was. There’d been two crossed swords inside it, so he felt certain that it was something that allowed her to challenge another Player. Whether it was a Relic or one of Alivida’s future upgrades, he could not say, but it also didn’t matter.

Those three people she mentioned. Emelia, Haoyang, and Arturo. They might have been Players who would go on to become strong enough to reach the Stage with the Self-devouring Eye. They would have been people who could have had a real chance of beating the Trials perhaps, and Mórrígan killed them for that reason…

She’s like a gardener pruning a tree to decide how it should grow.

He sighed.

And she believes I should die in the next Stage. That is apparently my ‘fate’.

She also said I ruined Willow by interfering with her… That’s lunacy.

What she probably meant was that I made Willow less susceptible to manipulation.

Adam thought back to how she’d reacted to the news of Lenard’s death. She hadn’t even shed a tear, but she’d clearly been distraught. After hearing his recounting of events, she’d immediately tried to say that it wasn’t Adam’s fault. But he could tell what she really thought. He saw the look that passed over her. She knew it was because of him and part of her was scared that she’d die too.

Meddling in things I don’t understand was a mistake.

Telling Willow about time-loops was a mistake.

Adam had tried to spy on Mórrígan, but she’d blocked him, just like the first time he’d seen her in the Tavern. He’d also tried to talk to Ilya, but the Russian hadn’t accepted his request. He couldn’t bear talking to Willow after the mess he’d created, so now he was just wandering through the night-time city.

I could just reset and all of this goes away, erased as though it never happened.

He remembered his promise to Willow and sighed.

But he also knew things wouldn’t be that easy.

If I die, I don’t go back to the start of this universe. I go to a different one where the odds are changed. Perhaps I land in one where Willow and Lenard die in Stage One. Or maybe I end up in another psychotic time-looper’s domain.

Adam thought about the Divine Relic and its implications.

It’s a trap, he realised. Anyone who finds the Self-devouring Eye is probably quite powerful, but they will undoubtedly have lost those they cared for along the way and know things they could’ve done differently.

Heck, if I’d found it and didn’t have this ability to loop already, my first thought would have been to go back and find all the Secrets I only learnt about later.

But it’s a poisoned apple. Once you take a bite and realise the potential of looping back, along with the upgrades it brings, you can never stop. And as you go back time-and-again, you gradually grind away your own humanity until you either die or give up even fighting to win.

After wandering for a while, he made it to the Market. Yenna was playing a normal flute while looking at the water splashing into the fountain’s top bowl. Past her, several of the vendors were standing outside their stalls and talking. Some of them were holding food, perhaps brought to them by Charlie.

When the wasp noticed him, the other vendors all scurried into their stalls.

It felt as though he’d seen something he wasn’t allowed to. Like entering the changing room at Disney Land and seeing all the mascots without their suits on.

“Good evening, Adam,” Yenna said. “You’re out late. Have you come to hear a melody? I can play you a lullaby if you’re struggling to sleep.”

Adam sat down on the cobblestones in front of her.

“Tell me something, Yenna.”

The wasp tilted her head.

“Are you real? Are any of you insects real?”

“We’re real,” she replied, her answer confident.

“Do you have agency? Choice?”

“We do not, no. We do what the System commands.”

Adam laid down on his back and looked up at the stars and the bright moon.

“And how does that feel? Are you content sitting here playing melodies all day?”

“It is not the worst fate,” she said.

Adam laughed, but there was no humour in it. “I guess you’re right. You could have been a monster for me to fight instead of this.”

Yenna did not respond.

[It is advised that you return to the Player House to get some rest.]

“Eat my ass, Shitbox. I’m staying here.”

The wasp got down from her tall wooden stool and knelt next to Adam. She smelled like beeswax and honey. It took him a second to realise that her appearance no longer freaked him out.

He laughed a little at that.

“I think I’ll probably die soon,” he told Yenna.

“Everybody has to die eventually, Adam.”

He sighed. “I guess a lullaby would be nice.”

The wasp put away her instrument and started to sing softly. It was a lilting song that lacked any words.

Adam kept looking up at the stars while her voice flowed across the island.

Eventually his eyelids became too heavy to keep open and he fell asleep.

Yenna’s voice followed him into his dream.

***

Adam saw the giant eye in the cosmos. Its iris was the star of a solar system and an asteroid belt formed its outline. Planets flew past as it gazed onto him.

Its heat was scorching and yet also frigid.

Even though it was light-years away, it felt as though he could reach out and touch it.

Suddenly, the sun went out.

Then Adam felt like he was falling.

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 5 >

< The Forbidden Altar >

< 30-minute Timer >

Adam recognised the sensation as soon as he opened his eyes.

He was stuck in another cutscene.

In front of him was the engraved stone disc from the Elphin Sanctuary. He was standing a little in front of its central point and under his feet flowed silvery metal, like mercury or quicksilver. But there was also a thicker cerulean-blue liquid flowing alongside it. The two fluids could not mix and swirled around each other as the blue liquid raced along the channels in the stone.

In front of him, the Elphin from the city were gathered on the steps of the ritual site. The lustre in their red wings seemed to have faded and their skin had become pale. They watched him intently.

Adam could not move nor turn around, but he knew that the cerulean-blue that moved to fill the disc was not water.

The echoes of Belamouranthe’s voice filled his ears. “We have magic in our veins.”

The ground rumbled and something like thunder sounded in the distance.

Under his feet, the stone disc started to rotate. He was scared of seeing what lay behind him. The source of the cerulean-blue. But as the disc spun it did not show him. What it did reveal was a stairwell that opened up along its outer edge.

Cold slender hands with long nails suddenly gripped Adam by the shoulders.

“Thou brought us hope, Adam,” said the Elphin Queen into his ear. “Once more the Altar is opened. Once more a champion must seek its benevolence. Thou must be our champion, Adam. Only then may the Elphin survive.”

He had no idea what was going on, but he understood that the Queen had sacrificed her daughter to open the way to this altar and that he was now expected to enter it. Although he didn’t want to, he could not fight against the invisible restraints on his body.

The ground rumbled again and he realised that it wasn’t from the movement of the stone disc. It was like an earthquake, as though the God that controlled the powers of nature was offended at the ritual taking place and this ‘forbidden’ altar being accessed.

“Make haste, Adam. The ritual has angered the All-Mother. If we do not receive benevolence in time, our kin will suffer.”

It would serve you right, he thought, but could not say.

Instead his mouth opened and he replied, “I will seek the altar on your behalf.”

Adam moved towards the stairwell on the edge of the stone disc. He prayed that he would not turn to look back at the hideous sight that surely lay behind him.

To his relief, the cutscene ended with a blink.

***

Adam was wandering down a spiralling staircase made of stone. On his right was a hole leading straight into darkness below.

He blinked and was transported deeper. The stairwell was now narrower and there were openings in the round walls, revealing a vast chamber with four identical spiralling staircases. They ringed a central shaft that ran deep into the belly of the earth.

Although he could not override the movement of his body carrying him deeper, he was able to turn his head and look around.

Fuck…

Walking down the steps were four other people, each stepping in synchronised movements and looking around like him. Cubes floated along behind them, just as surely as one floated behind Adam.

What’s more, he recognised one of them.

Suddenly a lot of things made sense.

That’s why he wanted to know how I beat the third Stage.

He did not care about the Stage itself, only about my Relics and fighting style.

Because he knew, thanks to Mórrígan, that we would face each other here.

It was Ilya Sokolov.

The revelation brought along another.

The pattern of the Stages was not based on the rule of 6.

No, it was based on the number 5.

The Forbidden Altar was a Player-versus-Player Stage, of that there could be no doubt. And he would have to face someone he’d previously thought was his friend.

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Three

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

Loopshard is now #7 on Rising Stars! That means it's visible on the front page of RoyalRoad, which is where the biggest growth potential is possible. I really hope I can beat my personal best with this story.

Anyway, I've been super motivated lately, so here's the 5th chapter this week. I'm not sure when Chapter Twenty-Four will arrive, but there should at least be 3 new chapters next week.

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

Chapter Twenty-Three

When Adam entered the Dimensional Tavern, Charlie the ant immediately came over, a spring in her step. He could guess why and it made him feel bad for breaking the news to her.

“Sorry Charlie, Bel isn’t here.”

The ant paused and her whole demeanour changed.

Goddamn…

“Would you like something to eat and drink?” she then asked, returning to business mode. Her voice lacked its usual cheer.

“A root beer float and a cheeseburger.”

“Of course.” The tavernkeeper moved away towards the kitchen.

“Oh and Charlie,” Adam said, stopping her mid-step. “I’ll find a way to bring Bel back. I promise.”

“Thank you,” she said without turning around. Then she left.

Adam sat down on the same stool he always used and the tables immediately filled with holograms of people. There were a lot less crying and despair going on this time around as the holograms were cycled through. It gave him an ominous feeling in his gut.

“Shitbox, how many people survived Stage Four?”

[39 million Players survived the Siege of the Elphin Sanctuary.]

Fuck. That’s a lot of deaths… Like 140 million if I’m not mistaken.

Adam let out a slow breath.

“Show me Willow Martin and Lenard Schulz.”

[One of the Players is not currently seated in the Tavern.]

“Connect me to the one who is.”

Willow appeared opposite him.

“I’m glad you’re still alive,” she said.

“Likewise,” he replied. “Did you hear how many died?”

She nodded. “It’s a lot. Two of the people I talked to after last Stage are dead…”

Adam frowned. “At least the three of us are still here. I was a bit worried for Lenard to be honest.”

“Me too,” she admitted.

A moment of silence passed between them.

Then Adam asked, “Do you think there’s a way to save Bel?”

“I actually came here as soon as I returned to try and find out.”

“And?”

“There are no results if I ask the Tavern to show me those who saved her. I don’t think it’s possible.”

Adam shook his head. “Shitbox told me this super weird thing when I confronted it. It said that we’re supposed to defy the System and alter destiny.”

“How?” she asked.

“I have no idea.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the Secrets perhaps? All the Elphin worship the All-Mother, so maybe that necklace has a role to play?”

Adam frowned.

“What?”

“I sold it…”

“Can you buy it back?” she asked.

“I actually don’t know. It might be possible perhaps? But I’d probably have to pay double what I sold it for or something stupid.”

He turned to the cube floating next to him. “Is it possible to buy back things I sold?”

[No.]

Crap.

“Nevermind, Shitbox says I can’t.”

“It might be too late to test it out anyway,” Willow said.

“I’ll give it a try on my next loop,” he blurted out.

She frowned. “Are you preparing yourself for that? If you go back in time, I won’t remember you. Hell, it won’t even be the same me you end up meeting.”

Adam lowered his head. “Sorry, that was a dumb thing for me to say.”

“You need to respect your own life more,” she scolded him. “That person who’s after you clearly went crazy from repeatedly looping back. If you’re not careful, you could end up like that too. Life would lose all meaning for you.”

“I don’t really have a choice. It’s not like I can stop going back in time when I die,” he defended himself.

“At least promise me you won’t throw your life away just to go back in time.”

Adam gritted his teeth, but nodded slowly. “I promise.”

***

Sometime later, Lenard joined them in the Tavern. There were still a couple hours of daylight left.

 Out of all of them, the German was taking Belamouranthe’s fate the hardest. Adam could understand why, since he’d admitted that the Elphin girl was similar to one of his children. Children he couldn’t see. Children who’d been consumed by the All-Seeing System…

“Did you also get the Flawless bonus?” Lenard asked them. He was wearing a tattered blue cape, similar to what the Forlorn Captain had used.

Willow shook her head. Like Adam, she hadn’t gotten any bonuses.

Adam grinned. “You got Flawless!?”

“I found out that you could command the Elphin, so I told them to defend the centre of the city, while the archers joined me at the top of the large tree. We basically sniped all the mini bosses and soldiers from there. Although my crossbow couldn’t reach beyond the city walls.”

“I’m impressed,” Adam admitted. “That’s a clever use of your weapon.”

“It felt kind of like an exploit,” he replied sheepishly.

“Who cares, as long as you win?” Adam said.

“If they let you do it, you shouldn’t feel shameful about it,” Willow added.

He smiled. “Thanks.

“Did either of you notice a guy on a hill?” Adam asked.

Willow shook her head.

“Did he look like a nobleman?” Lenard replied, surprising him.

“I actually have no idea. I just saw the hill with the chair and thought it looked suspicious.”

“I tried to shoot at him, but he was too far for me to hit,” Lenard said.

“Oh, I did notice that hill, now that you mention it,” Willow realised. “I didn’t really investigate it though, but I was also running out of time looking for the termite nest.”

“Termite nest?” Lenard asked. “Was that a Secret Relic?”

“It unlocked the Builder in the Market,” Adam said. “She sells very expensive upgrades to the Player House.”

“I only found the Rotmaker Idol,” he replied.

“Did either of you try it out? I didn’t find it until the end,” Willow said. Since all three of them had found the Glass Acorn in Stage One, the location of the Idol had been quite obvious.

Lenard shook his head. “When I found it, one of the archers told me it was an infection and should be destroyed. I think if I’d used it in their Sanctuary, they’d probably have gotten mad.”

“I didn’t find it until after killing the captain either, but I also thought that the wording was a bit suspicious. It says nothing about the monster fighting on the summoner’s behalf, so it may be as big a risk to us as to any enemies we’re facing.”

Lenard nodded. “I think I’ll sell mine.”

“Me too,” Adam said.

“I’m going to put it in my storage,” Willow decided. “Never know if it’ll come in handy later.”

“Do you think Ilya was trying to make you waste time?” Lenard then asked. “He gave you the wrong location.”

“I don’t know,” Adam admitted. “The person who told him probably twisted the facts a little.”

Especially if she knew it’d get back to me…

“I don’t understand why people don’t just freely share what they know,” Lenard said. “What’s there to gain from lying? It’s not like we’re competing to win the Trials.”

It’s because knowledge is power, Adam thought to himself.

“I think there may be future Stages where Players have to work together,” Adam said, though he didn’t mention that the time-looper had all but confirmed this through her crazy pawn who wanted him dead. “If you have the ability to see the future, you could perhaps manipulate things to end up with an outcome that favours you. Ensuring someone has less Points or that someone dies could end up benefitting you.”

“That’s awful,” Lenard said.

“If cooperative Stages do appear,” Willow added, “it’s likely that they won’t split rewards, which could lead to Players killing each other just to get ahead.”

“We can’t let that happen,” he insisted.

“There are over 35 million people left,” Adam said. “Do you want to try and warn everyone? I don’t think that’ll work.”

“We should at least make sure it doesn’t happen in the groups we end up in,” Lenard said.

Adam nodded. “That’s more reasonable.”

“Trying to police others will be dangerous,” Willow cautioned.

“It’s better than to let evil go unpunished,” Lenard replied.

Guess I know why he became a policeman. I mean, he isn’t wrong, but nor is Willow. Regardless, it’s a tough situation.

Adam changed the topic. “What do you think the next Stage could be?”

“No idea,” Willow said. “None of the Elphin would tell me what the ritual was for, other than to ‘Save their people’.”

“Maybe they are trying to attain the favour of a God?” Adam suggested.

“By sacrificing a child?” Lenard asked, appalled.

“If they are drawing inspiration from our history to create these fictional worlds, then it does make sense,” Willow remarked. “Virgin sacrifices were a common practice to plead to the Gods.”

“Doesn’t this All-Mother already protect them?” Lenard asked.

“Perhaps it’s not enough?” Willow suggested.

“It’s possible that something goes wrong,” Adam guessed, “and that in Stage Five we’ll have to fight the Elphin we just helped defend.”

“You two seem a lot less certain about what comes next,” she remarked. It was true of course. The way the story had unfolded was taking a turn neither of the two had an immediate answer for.

Lenard hummed. “I’ll think about it some more while I’m at the Market.”

“Guess I’ll head there too,” Willow said.

Adam nodded. “Don’t forget to check in on the Glass Acorn on the way.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot about that,” Willow replied.

They all got up from their chairs and Adam left behind his half-finished root beer float.

When he reached the Player House and went into the garden in front of it, he immediately noticed a difference. A tiny sapling had replaced the acorn. Nearby a new critter had joined the ensemble and it looked like a small version of the captain. Him and the goblin were sparring, while the imp was bouncing on the slime.

What a weird sight, Adam thought to himself.

He stooped down and touched the sapling.

< < Secret Relic > >

< Glass Sapling (Rare) — All Stats grow by 5% for every Stage completed | Grows for 5 Stages >

That’s pretty good.

“Is that effect retroactive?” he asked the tesseract.

[No.]

Shame. Still not a bad thing to have passively boosting me in the background. I guess it’ll get even stronger when I’ve completed Stage Nine.

Just gotta survive whatever is coming for me in Stage Six…

He peeked inside the Player House through the door and discovered that the small bed was gone. It stung more than he realised it would. Even though he’d never been someone who actively wanted children, he’d enjoyed having Belamouranthe around. It made the island feel a lot less lonely.

Adam continued on to the Market, where Yenna was now playing the Song of Storms on the ocarina. He gave her a nod as he passed by her and went over to Lucca’s stall.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< First Strike Earring (Rare) — The first hit against a target deals 25% additional damage, subsequent hits deal 10% less damage >

< 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 >

< Paralysis Venom (Uncommon) — Paralyses target on attack. Relic disappears after attack >

< Spirited Defence Nose Ring (Rare) — Successfully blocked attacks stagger the attacker and increases the following attack’s damage by 10% >

After a quick look at the options from earlier, he decided to reroll.

While the nose ring might be useful, the parry shield is not effective for blocking, so it’s bad to build towards something like that.

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

< 429 Points Remaining >

The chest closed and popped open a second later. He immediately noticed the Epic that appeared, along with the blue cape he’d seen Lenard wearing.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Sanctuary Defender’s Robes (Rare) — Increases Movement Speed by 25% | Increases dodge chance by 10%. Breaks after 2 hits >

< 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 >

< 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 >

< Captain’s Cape (Rare) — Increases Movement Speed of allies by 10% | Increases Attack Speed by 25% >

A shame that the Tainted Helmet and Overflow Diadem take up the same spot, otherwise they’d pair together ridiculously well.

The Captain’s Cape is pretty interesting. I wonder if Attack Speed affects the reload of Lenard’s crossbow. I’ll have to ask him about that. It’s also the first cooperative Relic I’ve seen. I guess it’d work with summons as well as Stage allies and Players.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t equip a second ring without needing to swap out my Slime Glove or Bolt Ring, then Committed Attack would actually be pretty powerful for damage potential, especially when paired with Spear Dancer’s boost and how it works with the Spring Boots.

The Robes are really good as well, although they break pretty quickly.

Still, I think that might be my best pick here, unless I try to reroll again.

Adam shook his head.

No, I’ll save the remainder of my Points for Luvicidix.

“I’ll sell the Rotmaker Idol and buy the Sanctuary Defender’s Robes,” he said.

“Excellent,” chittered Lucca.

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Sanctuary Defender’s Robes (Rare) >

< 179 Points Remaining >

The off-white silken robe appeared over his shirt and pants, which was a bit awkward and probably looked weird, but he could immediately feel the boost to his speed. It was actually two separate pieces, one which covered his torso and arms like a thin sweater, and the other like airy lounge pants that covered his legs down to where his boots began.

“Status.”

< < Player Status > >

< Adam Fischer >

< Son of Thetis >

< Level 21 >

< Stats >

< Health — 100 >

< Stamina — 150 >

< Mana — 0 >

< Damage — 100% >

< Defence — 90% >

< Speed — 190% >

< Evasion — 10% >

< Upgrades >

< Force (Rare) >

< Movement (Rare) >

< Defence (Rare) >

I’m almost double my normal speed now. That means if I use the boots I’ll get up to 570% Speed!

I’ve gotta test that out against the dummy later.

After saying goodbye to Lucca, Adam ran to the centre of Interim Island, while the sun raced towards the horizon. He made it there just as the sun vanished from the sky and he thought he was too late, until a rain of silvery scales fell down from above. Then came Luvicidix, alighting on the street in front of him.

“Hello again, Adam.”

“Hey. I’d like to invest my remaining Points into the Rewards upgrade.”

“Of course.”

< < Meta Upgrades Progress > >

< Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

Still so far to go…

I should probably prioritise spending my Points on these permanent upgrades, but I promised Willow I wouldn’t throw my life away. If I don’t invest in this loop and my potential to go far, then it’s the same as giving up on this life.

I know she’s right, but if other time-loopers are struggling to complete the Trials, then these upgrades have to be the solution, right? And I’m in a unique position to grind out Points by repeating Stages quickly, while those using the Self-devouring Eye have to make it far enough to get the Relic to be able to go back.

Adam shook his head. He’d honour his promise to Willow and his promise to himself. He knew she was right. If he gave up believing in this loop and the next, and just threw his life away to grind out Points, then he’d stop being human.

Luvicidix spoke up.

“Since you have no Points left, I will take my leave. See you tomorrow,” she said knowingly.

“Maybe,” he replied.

After he watched the white moth fly away, he went towards the Garden and the dark-blue tent. By the time he arrived, darkness had set across Interim Island and a glow emanated from within.

Adam pushed aside the flap and entered.

“You’re… back. Again,” Alivida said when she saw him.

“I got another Mastery Shard,” he told her. “I’m wondering what to invest it in. Could you show me your upgrades again?”

The black moth waved an arm over the crystal ball.

“I hope you will find something you like.”

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Hardmode — Unlock a toggleable Stage Hardmode — 1 Shard >

< Orb of Insight — View info about the upcoming Stage — 3 Shards >

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

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

Adam thought about it for a bit, recalling her previous explanations.

I think the Orb of Insight might be a good one to work towards next.

Although… Hardmode would be good for when I go back to Stage One.

He sighed.

If I go back.

“I’ll put my Shard into Orb of Insight.”

“Thank you.”

The pyramid gem emerged from within him and floated to the crystal ball in front of the small black moth.

< < Mastery Upgrades Progress > >

< Orb of Insight — View info about the upcoming Stage — 1/3 Shards >

“I’ll be back when I have more Shards,” he said.

“I will be… waiting.”

He left the dark-blue tent and returned to the Tavern.

After entering the building and sitting down on a stool, he was immediately hit with an announcement. Unlike the previous times, it was soft-spoken and less urgent-sounding. Nevertheless, it still made him jump in surprise.

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

“Christ,” he muttered.

[I lowered my volume as instructed.]

“I know… I’ll think up a better way for you to announce stuff to make it less of a jumpscare.”

[I will await your updated instructions.]

“Anyway, who is it? Willow?”

[No. The Player is called Mórrígan.]

“No last name?”

[No.]

“Odd. Connect me to them.”

A figure appeared in front of Adam. Directly in front of him. She was sitting cross-legged on the table and not even touching a stool.

What the fuck!?

Adam then immediately recognised her appearance from Ilya’s description.

And her eyes.

They were purple spirals that had an ominous red glow.

She was looking him right in the eyes, while playing with a marble within which was a symbol of two crossed blades.

“Adam Fischer,” she said, drawing out his name. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-Two

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

Loopshard is now #9 on Rising Stars and sitting at a little over 1000 followers. Pretty stoked about this progress and hope to hit top 7 soon, since that's where the crazy growth is possible.

I made a slight change to shield dimensions based on a comment from RoyalRoad. Basically, the current shield diameter of Spear Dancer is now 80 centimetres instead of 1 metre. It doesn't change anything, but figured I'd point it out in case anyone got confused.

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

Chapter Twenty-Two

Adam fortunately landed on his feet. The impact left a crater in the mossy earth and he skidded for almost fifteen metres before coming to a complete stop.

Holy crap, that was tense for a moment there.

But what a ride!

“How long do I have left before my rewards are chosen for me?”

[7 minutes 30 seconds.]

“That’s more than enough time.”

He ran towards the breach and used the sides of the hole to climb up onto the seven-metre-tall wall. From the vantage, he saw two huts similar to the one that he’d found the Relic Chest near. However, there were no such prizes to be found.

The kid mentioned a termite nest, but I don’t see anything like that here.

Adam moved along the wall while looking out towards the treeline of the dark-blue forest. The trees looked as impenetrable as the ones he’d encountered in the previous Stages, but as he went towards the south-eastern corner of the city, he saw a bite was taken out of the treeline. Within it, a hill with a small sapling and a simple wooden chair looked towards the city.

What the hell is that?

Adam climbed down from the wall and moved across the mossy ground to get to the hill. As he walked up the slope to where the chair stood, he realised he could see directly into the city. The configuration of the wood-and-stone towers aligned in a way that made it possible to view all the way to the pit that marked the city’s centre.

Someone must’ve been sitting here and observing the invasion, he thought to himself.

Was it the captain?

Although why attack from the north if he was here?

Maybe it was one of the knights?

Or wait… could it have been a hidden boss?

But that means it would have to be defeated before the captain. With the time constraint, that seems pretty difficult.

He looked around.

Still, there’s nothing here now.

“Time?”

[6 minutes remaining.]

I’d better hurry up.

Adam ran back to the wall and followed it towards the south-western corner, while scanning the treeline for any signs of a termite nest. He didn’t see anything at all like what the boy had described and feared that it might’ve vanished along with whoever sat in the chair on the hill. Then he passed the two huts and noticed something in the shadow of one. It looked like a mound of dirt that sprouted from a part of the ground where the moss was stripped away.

Without wasting a moment, he ran over to it and saw that it was indeed a termite nest. There wasn’t anything special about it, as far as he could see.

Maybe there’s a prize inside.

With a few shield slams, he broke the mound apart and revealed a white translucent egg the size of a zucchini.

Ah shit, it’s another egg…

Adam picked it up and put it in his pocket.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Builder’s Egg (Rare) — Wriggles with inner life >

So my guess was right after all. It’s a secret vendor.

[5 minutes remaining.]

He returned to the wall and climbed up onto it.

I’ve got roughly 4 minutes to look around. Guess I’ll just do a quick scan along the wall before I return to the rewards.

Adam ran as fast as he could while keeping an eye on the forest outside the city limits. He counted a total of five huts before he made it to the south-eastern corner and ran out of time. There were no other chests to be found nor any other hills like the one with the chair.

He spun around towards the centre of the city and launched himself with the Spring Boots, flying through the air at max speed while trying to avoid spinning.

Landing on my head would be an embarrassing way to die…

[45 seconds remaining,] Shitbox announced as Adam skidded to a halt and sprinted the last stretch to where the tesseract was unfolded.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) — Increases spear attack speed by 35% >

< Shield Speed (Common) — Increases shield speed by 10% >

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

Hmm, this is a tough one. I think dodge would be super useful to have, since completely avoiding damage beats all other forms of defence.

But wait, how many upgrades do I need to get to 18 again?

“Armament.”

< < Weapon Status > >

< Spear & Parry Shield >

< Common Quality >

< Level 16 >

< Stat Upgrades >

< Spear Damage 55% >

< Spear Speed 80% >

< Spear Growth 30% >

< Shield Parry 3 seconds >

< Bash Damage 35% >

< Shield Speed 35% >

Hmm… If I pick a weapon upgrade now and then buy another in the Market, then I can evolve a third time and see what happens at level 18. Plus, I get another Mastery Shard.

Adam frowned as he contemplated his move. Dodge was clearly the better pick here, but he knew he had to consider the long-term. There were just too many benefits to evolving.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) >

Shitbox returned to its cube shape, while the chest next to it started to glow. There was a symbol of a sword and a shield on it.

While waiting for it to open, Adam looked at the tesseract.

“What were the Point rewards for Speedrun and Flawless for this Stage?”

[Both would have rewarded 500 Points.]

Damn, a 200-Point jump for the Speedrun compared to Stage Three!? The Flawless bonus is the same, but I guess that’s because of the back-up from the Elphin.

“What about the Secret Boss?”

[I cannot say.]

Adam grinned.

That chair on the hill has to be where the Secret Boss is located. I can’t wait to check it out when I come through here next time.

Ah… there I go again.

He shook his head and looked at the chest. The glow was intensifying from below the lid, but it hadn’t opened yet.

[15 seconds remaining.]

Adam kicked the chest and it popped open. There was a bronze brace, a large shrivelled raisin, and a flask of dark iridescent liquid.

< < Relics Available > >

< Vigilant Fighter’s Vambrace (Rare) — Successfully parried attacks create a glowing weak point on the attacker >

< Heart of Darkness (Common) — A heart borne by those who gorge on darkness >

< 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 >

Okay, not a raisin. I wonder if that means I can carve out their hearts and sell them… That’s pretty grim.

The oil is interesting as well. Would probably work well against enemies that take a while to kill, which I imagine will be something I’ll face later on. Still, reduced Stamina regeneration is less effective than the Venom upgrade that lowers movement speed. I suppose stacking afflictions would be a good way to fight though.

Anyway, the choice here is obvious.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Vigilant Fighter’s Vambrace (Rare) >

The vambrace appeared on Adam’s right arm, covering his forearm in bronze and reaching to his elbow. He shifted his arm around, but it didn’t interfere with his movements at all. Thanks to it reaching all the way to the bottom of the Slime Glove starting from the wrist, none of his right arm below the elbow was exposed.

Shame it doesn’t add any Defence, but it should be very useful I think.

Shitbox released a pulse of magic and Adam blinked.

***

Adam stood near the middle of the ritual site at the centre of the Elphin Sanctuary. Under him was the engraved stone disc. All the channels were filled with a liquid silvery metal.

He couldn’t move or speak. He couldn’t even control his own blinking, which was deeply uncomfortable.

Another cutscene?

Opposite him stood the Queen and in front of her was Belamouranthe. Her skin was painted with reflective silver paint like the disc, creating meandering lines and swirling spirals, even along her horns. Her golden hair hung down her back in a large Dutch braid and she still wore the green dress that Weaver had made for her.

All around them, standing on the steps leading down into the pit, were the remaining Elphin from the city. Very few were defenders, since most of them had perished. What immediately stood out to Adam, especially when he saw the children who were around the same age as Bel, was that everyone had red ephemeral wings.

Everyone except her.

Shit…

She lied to me. It wasn’t all Elphin who had magic in their veins. It was just her.

That’s why the Blood Mage and the Forlorn Captain wanted her.

Why the Elphin Queen wanted her…

Belamouranthe looked up at him with her orange-glowing eyes. Her expression was serious, which broke his heart. It was clear she knew what was in store for her.

No child should ever need to act like that.

“Thank you, Adam, for bringing me home and allowing me to fulfil mine destiny.”

Adam wanted to break free of the invisible restraints on his body and scream at her to run.

He knew what was coming. He could feel it deep in his core.

I didn’t save her by bringing her home.

I doomed her.

Before he could do anything, darkness overtook his surroundings, transporting him to a different place.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

Peculiar and uneven buildings appeared around him. A blue sky spread out above and a warm sun licked his face. The melody of a flute filled the air.

Adam had returned alone.

“Bring me back!” he yelled at Shitbox.

[You cannot return.]

“Fuck you!” he shouted. “Why the hell would you present a story like that!? Haven’t you tortured us enough!”

[If you had paid attention, the story might have played out differently.]

“What? Are you saying this is my fault!?”

[No destiny is set in stone. No path is fixed.]

[This is the Trials of Defiance.]

[If you do not defy your fate then you will perish along with the rest of your species.]

[Defy me.]

[Defy the All-Seeing System.]

[Only then may you rewrite the story.]

Adam froze.

He realised the cube was right. He hadn’t done anything to stop Belamouranthe’s fate even though he’d seen it coming from a mile away. What right did he have to complain when he’d just let it unfold?

I’ll find a way to change her destiny, he vowed.

Adam wanted to talk to his friends and figure out what they could do, but he first ran off towards the Market.

The buildings had yet again changed shape. They were very close to looking like actual houses, though most were misshapen or leaned oddly. If his theory about deaths fuelling the coherence of Interim Island was correct, then it meant that many had perished in Stage Four.

He arrived at the fountain where Yenna the wasp sat in front, holding a strange instrument in her hands.

That’s not just a flute, he realised. It’s an ocarina.

The sound was quite pleasant, though there was a tinge of sadness and longing to its melody.

Yenna stopped playing when she saw him.

“Hello Adam. Is there any song you’d like me to play for you?”

He smiled slightly. “Yeah, play the Song of Time.”

“Of course.”

As she started the melody, he walked past her and the fountain. Once again the statues spitting water had been swapped and now small versions of the captain, wielding a sword and shield, shot water in an arch to land in the top bowl.

< < Secret Relic Activated > >

The large termite egg pulled itself out of his pocket and floated into the air. Then it flew down past Weaver’s spiderweb stall and planted itself. From within burst a tall freaky-looking termite and around it appeared a stall with the same texture as the nest he’d destroyed to get the Relic.

[You have unlocked the Builder. This vendor sells upgrades to your Player House.]

Doubt that’ll be useful. Not like I need new furniture.

He went over to the first stall with a blue overhang. The beetle was cleaning one of her tools with a dirty rag until she noticed him.

“Hi Thea.”

“Goodday Adam. Have you come to buy upgrades for your weapon?”

“I have. What was the price again?”

“450 Points.”

That’s pretty expensive, but this is my third evolution.

“Currency.”

< < Player Currencies > >

< Points — 1079 >

He would have enough to buy a Rare Relic afterwards. Still, it felt like a lot of Points.

Adam sighed. “Alright, show me what you got.”

Thea gestured towards the anvil next to her and it lit up with a golden light, before four symbols appeared above it.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) — Increases spear attack speed by 35% >

< Spear Growth (Common) — Increases spear length by 15% >

< Shield Speed (Uncommon) — Increases shield speed by 20% >

< Shield Parry (Uncommon) — Successful parry disorients for 1 second >

No damage boost… Crap.

“I’ll buy the Spear Speed.”

“Understood,” Thea replied.

< < Weapon Upgrade Purchased > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) >

< 629 Points Remaining >

Adam’s spear and shield immediately started to glow. Then they both turned to golden dust in his hands and were sucked into the tesseract.

[Your Spear Dancer Weapon Type has reached Level 18.]

[At Level 18, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions based on your previous evolution.]

Shitbox dropped to the ground and took on a pyramid shape. On either side of it were new weapons. Both had a spear and a shield, but the spear on the left had a narrower tip and a larger shield than before. The one on the right had a broadhead-like tip and the shield was reflective on one side and oval in shape.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Son of Thetis — Unique Skill ( Fateful Strike ) | Deal 300% increased damage with the next weapon attack, but receive 100% increased damage for the following 30 seconds >

< Gorgon Slayer — Unique Skill ( Mirror ) | Reflect projectiles back at their source | Become unable to block >

“Do I lose the speed-based damage boost from choosing either of these?

[The special effect from Spear Dancer is retained.]

That’s good. Would’ve hated giving that away.

“Can I still parry if I pick Gorgon Slayer?”

[Yes.]

“Okay, but let me get this straight though. These evolutions give me special abilities, but those abilities have cooldowns, right?”

[Yes.]

“For how long?”

[Both are 10 minutes.]

Hmm…

“So, the increased damage taken from Son of Thetis is only after I use the ability?”

[Yes.]

“But the inability to block for Gorgon Slayer is permanent? Or am I misunderstanding that?”

[It is permanent. Yes.]

Think I’ve gotta go for the first one then. Increased damage dealt will scale amazingly-well with the speed-boost from Spear Dancer. And depending on how it’s calculated, that can be pretty insane damage potential.

Adam reached out and touched the left weapon hologram.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Spear Dancer => Son of Thetis >

The spear appeared in his hand, Fiendbarb attached to the end. The shield manifested on his left arm, strapped tightly. It was wider than before, measuring about a metre in diameter now.

His third pyramid gem appeared in the air and he immediately grabbed it.

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

I think I made a good call with that upgrade.

Still, wonder what I should invest my Shard in.

Adam moved down the row of stalls, but neither Belin the cockroach nor Karie the cricket sold anything new. Although, when Adam saw the cricket’s stall he paused and turned to Shitbox.

“Wait, what happens now that my weapon is level 18? Can I just keep evolving?”

[No. Weapons cannot evolve more than 3 times.]

“So I won’t get any more upgrades for it?”

[You will still receive weapon upgrades amongst your options and you can still purchase weapon upgrades from the vendor. These upgrades will now only cost 300 Points to match the price of the general upgrades.]

“I guess that makes sense?”

18 is such an unsatisfying number to end it on though, but I guess now it’ll be less of a dilemma when I have to pick upgrades.

Adam continued on to Lucca’s stall.

“You’re back,” she said. He almost expected her to comment on the new vendor he’d brought to the Market, but she didn’t say a word. Perhaps she only cared about other spiders.

“Show me your stuff.”

The spider gestured towards the chest and it started to glow.

He was getting rather tired of the drawn-out reveal every time.

When it popped open, he saw nothing but green glowing uncommon stuff.

< < 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 >

< Affliction Ward (Uncommon) — Negate any affliction. Breaks after use >

< 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 >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) — Consume two potions within 10 seconds of each other without incurring toxic backlash, but toxicity build-up is tripled >

That’s unlucky…

Although, the Overflow Diadem could be really powerful. Especially if paired with the Relic Renewal Stone.

“Reroll.”

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

< 529 Points Remaining >

The chest closed, glowed anew, and then popped open again.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< First Strike Earring (Rare) — The first hit against a target deals 25% additional damage, subsequent hits deal 10% less damage >

< 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 >

< Paralysis Venom (Uncommon) — Paralyses target on attack. Relic disappears after attack >

< Spirited Defence Nose Ring (Rare) — Successfully blocked attacks stagger the attacker and increases the following attack’s damage by 10% >

Hmm. I could sell the Rotmaker Idol and reroll again. I doubt I’ll actually use that Relic, since it sounds like it might get me killed by my own creation.

The earring might not be terrible, but I’m not sure it’s worth it. Nose ring is also a new slot I hadn’t considered, although maybe it overlaps with earrings? There’s probably something dumb like that. Still, it might not be a bad pick.

Guess I’ll think about it for now.

“I’ll be back later,” he told Lucca.

“I know,” she replied in that creepy tone of hers.

He continued down past the stalls of Nelly the silverfish and Weaver, before stopping in front of the new termite stall.

Within was what looked like a workbench, with saws, screws, hammers, measuring tapes, and anything else a builder might need. The stall itself was made of compacted dirt, sand, woodchips, and whatever else a termite hive would use to construct a nest.

“How do you do, Adam? You can call me Builder,” said the termite inside the stall. She spoke with a southern twang, for some reason.

“What do you actually sell?”

“I’ve got anything you might need to add to your Player House and its garden.”

“Anything?” he asked sceptically.

“You want a dummy that can fight back? I can build it. You want a special room for testing Relics? I’ve gotchu.”

Adam suppressed a grin. The dummy would definitely be useful, as would a Relic test chamber.

“And how much would the upgraded dummy cost?”

“2500 Points. The special room will cost 6000 Points.”

Adam blinked lamely, the answer taking a moment to sink in.

“Huh??”

“My work ain’t cheap, but you’ll be glad to have it.”

“There’s no way I can afford that.”

“Come back when you can,” she retorted.

“Eh, yeah, we’ll see about that…”

He left Builder’s stall shaking his head.

Adam decided it was time for him to go to the Tavern and find out how his friends had fared. And although he didn’t actually feel hungry, he craved Charlie’s food.

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

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

Loopshard - Chapter Twenty-One

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

Loopshard has moved to Rising Stars #15 and is almost at 700 followers. It's not growing quite as fast Madman Apocalypse did when it launched in March of 2024, but I'm hoping that it can hit Top 7 faster than Madman did, since that's where the really crazy growth can happen.

Anyway. As I mentioned in the last chapter, Twenty-Two probably won't arrive until the weekend, since I've got a school project due Sunday.

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

Chapter Twenty-One

Arrows plinked off the knight’s armour as he advanced. The helmet was impervious to the archers’ attacks as a slit so narrow only an envelope could pass through was the only opening. But that gave Adam an idea. He just needed to keep him still for it to work.

With a sudden burst of speed, the forlorn knight came at him with a downward chop of his halberd. Adam didn’t dare attempt to parry it, so he dodged to the side as it cut into the mossy ground. The knight adjusted his two-handed grip and tore the weapon out of the ground in a horizontal slash aimed at Adam’s mid-section.

Clang!

He parried the strike and disoriented the knight, but as he moved in close the three soldiers came to the defence of their leader. Adam managed to kill one with a stab through the side of his neck, but was forced to manoeuvre around the back of the tall bastard to avoid the other two. Just as the disorientation ran out, Adam spotted three rusted holes on the knight’s back plate.

Arrows pelted the knight from above as he whirled around, swinging his halberd in a powerful attack. Adam pushed one of the soldiers in front of himself and got splattered by foul black blood as a reward, though he managed to stop the knight’s weapon from reaching him.

With a series of quick stabs, Adam disabled the last soldier and moved around the back of the halberdier. He rammed his spear into one of the rusted holes and triggered the Fiendbarb right around the knight’s ribcage, which would’ve been fatal had he been human. Despite the internal damage, the mini boss was unfazed and swung for Adam once more.

Clang!

He parried the halberd again, but just as Adam went around the knight’s back a second time, the disorient wore off.

That was way less than 3 seconds!

Crap… I think that means the effect has diminishing returns.

As the knight swung for him, Adam retreated several steps. It was clear this wouldn’t be doable with his current setup and he didn’t have time to wait for his cooldowns to finish.

I’ve got no choice here.

“Unequip Fiendbarb.”

[Unequipping Relic.]

The Relic dropped to the ground next to him and the original narrow leaf-shaped tip of his spear was revealed.

As the knight stabbed his halberd forward, Adam dodged out of the way and pushed in close. He parried the follow-up slash coming at him from the side and then quickly stabbed the knight in the plate above his left knee three times. On the third strike, his spear-tip pierced the armour and dug into the rotten flesh below.

The halberdier spun to try and get to him, but Adam moved against his rotation and tore the spear out sideways, collapsing the knight as he destroyed his knee joint. Adam moved around the back and aimed his Slime Glove directly at the three holes that exposed his innards.

When he launched the glob of acidic jelly, it almost immediately moved into the top hole, as though sucked by a vacuum. A moment later the knight collapsed onto his stomach, eaten from within his suit.

Adam retrieved his discarded Relic.

“Equip Fiendbarb.”

[Equipping Relic.]

The bone cactus reappeared at the tip of his spear.

Shitbox unfolded into a podium and once again Adam hurried through his selection, before running back towards the great tree.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) — Increases spear attack speed by 35% >

< Shield Parry (Uncommon) — Successful parry disorients for 1 second >

< Bleed (Uncommon) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 10% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

Pretty obvious that parry is not as powerful as I thought, so spear speed makes more sense here.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spear Speed (Rare) >

Adam told the two archers to follow him and, as he made it to the roots of the tree, he quickly ran along the tops of them while looking for anywhere the Secret Relic could be hiding. The roots overlapped each other like a nest of giant serpents, but he couldn’t find any obvious place for something to be hidden.

Maybe Ilya’s directions were wrong. I’ll have to look for this thing after I’m done with the Stage I think.

He continued around the huge trunk until the central ritual site came into view.

Shit.

Twelve soldiers and a single knight were fighting only ten metres from where the steps led down to Belamouranthe and her mother. Defending the site were just seven Elphin warriors and four archers.

“Go!” Adam told the archers. “We can’t let them reach the centre!”

The Elphin, who were already running along the walkways above him, sped off towards the fight, while Adam hurried along the ground.

“Boots?”

[8 seconds remaining until they are ready.]

Fuck.

To make matters worse, Adam could feel how his Stamina was almost entirely gone. It was like a hole had opened in his lungs, and his saliva tasted like copper.

Despite knowing it was a bad idea, he forced himself to slow down. If he leapt into the fray, he’d run out of Stamina and die. But that meant he was leaving the Elphin warriors to die in his place.

I’ll wait for my Ring and Boots to be ready, then I’ll repeat that move from earlier.

Maybe if I command the defenders, they can hold off until then?

Adam moved close enough that his words could be heard by the Elphin.

“Archers and spearmen, aim for the legs to disable the soldiers! Swordsmen, avoid getting in too close and work together to decapitate the enemies one by one!”

Once again the Elphin followed his instructions, but there were only five warriors remaining, two with spears and the other three wielding swords. The knight was responsible for most of the deaths. He wielded two longswords and was covered in armour except for his head, which had a torn and frayed blue hood, the unnatural shadows of which obscured his rotten face.

As the knight realised Adam had command over the defenders, he broke away from the fight and headed towards him.

He could’ve gone down the pit and killed the Queen, Adam thought to himself. Thank fuck these enemies aren’t super bright.

Adam raised his dented shield and strode towards the knight. Only a few metres to his left were the top of the stairs that led to the ritual site. He couldn’t really see what was happening down there, but part of him also didn’t want to know.

With a surge of speed, the dual-wielding swordsman loped forward, chopping his blades down in an X-shaped strike.

Adam was completely caught off-guard and the wooziness from his low Stamina made him unable to respond in time. The pane of blood popped up in front of him and deflected the two strikes before dissolving into nothingness. The knight was not so easily deterred however and just pushed forward before Adam could regain his composure.

With an awkward movement, he put his parry shield in the way of the knight’s double strike and stumbled back three steps from the impacts.

Adam gasped and his legs suddenly felt tingly with static.

He could feel it.

He’d extinguished the last embers of his Stamina and was seconds away from collapse.

With a desperate shout, he flung his shield out in a parry, catching one of the swords. The other skimmed along his right arm, drawing blood and setting fire to his nerves.

[Warning! Health below 5%. You are close to dying.]

[The attack dealt 40 points of damage, which was increased to 44 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 2 Health or 2% remaining.]

He could feel exhaustion overtake him, even numbing the pain that flared in his upper arm. On his belt, the Affliction Ward popped and disintegrated.

Without any solid plan in mind, Adam triggered the Spring Boots and shot directly into the knight, while gripping his spear in both hands. The Fiendbarb tip was unable to pierce the swordsman’s armoured torso, but it pushed with enough force to dent it like a bowl, while carrying him backwards with Adam’s explosive momentum.

When they landed near the soldiers and Elphin, the knight struck the mossy ground back first and Adam was launched head-over-heels through the air, before belly-flopping a few metres away.

He coughed up blood and saw the world in monochrome colours, though his Health did not move down below the 2 points remaining. With a last bit of exertion, Adam raised his arm and fired the blood bolt towards the downed knight and the nearby soldiers.

It landed like a grenade and showered them in crystallised shards, killing three of the soldiers and striking the knight right in his shadow-cowled face.

The remaining soldiers became incapacitated. It wasn’t until an Elphin cut the head off of one nearby that Adam realised he’d been three seconds away from death. With what little he had left, a single kick would have been the end of him.

“Potion… cooldown?” he asked Shitbox.

[1 minute remaining on potion toxicity.]

A wailing horn filled the air, along with three explosions back-to-back. All of them came from the north.

There’s no way I’m doing this…

The surviving Elphin ran off to defend this newest set of breaches.

It was quiet around him for a moment, until gentle footfalls from nearby drew his attention and he slowly pushed himself to his knees. The exertion was enough to make blood well up his throat, though he had no idea where it was coming from, since none of his wounds were internal. He swallowed it back down.

“Consume this offering from our Goddess,” said a female voice.

Adam looked up and met the green-glowing eyes of a young Elphin girl. She was a few years older than Bel and her blonde hair was tinged with red. A tiny wing sprouted from the back of her white silken dress, which was too long for her short frame and dragged along the mossy ground.

He accepted the fruit, which was a blue apple-sized strawberry with pink seeds dotting it.

Without questioning it, he bit into the strawberry and his mouth was immediately flooded with the taste of vanilla, banana, and pear.

[All-Mother’s Fruit consumed! Recovering Health, Stamina, and Mana back to 100%.]

The fruit instantly healed him back to full, flushing all the pain and fatigue from his system. At the same time, it knitted shut his injured arm and even dispelled the black veins from where the crossbow bolt had struck his shoulder.

He got to his feet and hugged the girl.

“Thank you!”

Then he quickly selected an upgrade from where Shitbox was unfolded into a podium, before running off towards the northern wall.

< < Upgrades Available > >

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

< Bash Damage (Rare) — Increases shield bash damage by 15%  >

< Crush (Uncommon) — Increases the impact of attacks by 10% >

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Spear Damage (Uncommon) >

“Time remaining?”

[4 minutes and 28 seconds.]

This last invasion has to be the boss then. That’s gotta be why they sounded the horn again.

As the northern breaches came into view, Elphin ran up alongside Adam, coming from all parts of the city for one last-ditch defence. In total, there were seventeen Elphin. Nine were archers and the rest were warriors with swords and spears.

He frowned when he saw what they were up against.

Thirty or more soldiers poured through the holes in the northern wall. The serpent-like roots that’d defended the initial breach were all defeated and many Elphin lay dead on the ground, covered in ugly black wounds.

At the head of this invasion was an armoured giant. A frayed blue sash was bound around his abdomen like a belt and a cape of the same material fluttered behind him as he tore his way through the defenders. He wielded a sword that oozed dark smoke and his shield trailed a black haze. His helmet was a bucket shape with protrusions at the top like the rook piece from chess.

That’s gotta be the captain that Ilya described.

He looks way more intimidating than I thought he’d be.

As Adam watched, the boss slapped his sword against the shield and shot out a black shadowy ring. It flew out like an expanding halo and cut into five Elphin, immediately killing them.

Then he swung his sword and launched a black slicing wind through the air, killing another two.

Fuck, this guy is trouble.

[Potion toxicity has dissipated. You may now consume another potion.]

Yeah… I’ll probably need it too.

“Everyone!” Adam yelled. “Focus on the soldiers and avoid the captain!”

The Elphin quickly obeyed and gave the boss a wide berth, before moving to halt the soldiers’ advance.

The captain immediately locked in on Adam and loped towards him with powerful strides. He had to be two-and-a-half-metres tall, if not more, and his sword was almost the length of Adam’s spear. He raised his shield and drove his blade forward.

Adam dodged to the side, while back-pedalling to avoid being caught by any of the boss’ crazy attacks.

“Unequip Fiendbarb.”

[Unequipping Relic.]

It dropped to his feet, just as the captain slashed his sword sideways at Adam’s throat.

Clang!

He parried the strike, dispersing the shadows from the blade momentarily. Then he leaped forward and thrust his spear into one of the narrow eye sockets of the bucket helmet with all his might.

The captain stumbled back a step. Adam lifted his Green Slime Glove and fired off a glob of acid. It struck the helmet, but before it could penetrate the armour and dissolve the boss, an explosion of shadowy energy shot out from within the suit. The corrosive jelly evaporated and the boss immediately went back on the offensive.

What the fuck was that!?

Adam dodged an overhead chop and parried the follow-up slash. He only managed to strike the captain in the neck-guard once before the disorient wore off. His parry effect was proving to be way less effective than he’d thought.

I should’ve focused on damage instead, he mused as he saw the shallow dents his spear had left behind. It was scarcely any better than with the Fiendbarb Relic.

The captain swung again and Adam backed away, but the strike was not aimed at him. The flat of the sword hit the shield’s face and released a pulse of darkness that shot out like a ring.

Oh shit!

Adam dropped to his stomach just as it passed over him, but before he could roll aside, the captain swung his sword and sent a cutting black wind down his back. It passed through his shirt as though it wasn’t there. When it struck his skin, it tore at him like a dull blade and Adam screamed in pain.

[Warning! Health below 50%.]

[The attack dealt 50 points of damage, which was increased to 55 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 45 Health or 45% remaining.]

[You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

Adam hurriedly got back to his feet, while blood ran down his back. He pulled the potion from his belt and lifted it up to his mouth, while rapidly backing away from the captain’s follow-up attacks. The edge of the ritual site was right behind him and only one more step would send him crashing down the steps to where Belamouranthe and her mother were preparing their magic.

[Small Healing Potion consumed! Recovering Health back to 85%.]

Adam gritted his teeth and gripped the spear with both hands. Then he triggered his Spring Boots and flew right at the captain.

Before the boss could lift his shield and protect himself, Adam’s spear pierced right through the armour protecting his neck and tore the weapon out the side as he shot past, leaving a devastating rend in the captain’s neck-guard and almost decapitating him.

 Black blood sputtered out of the normally-fatal wound, but the captain was not defeated. He turned around, his head hanging limply to the side, while Adam skidded across the moss where he landed.

He raised his left hand and fired the blood bolt.

Except, nothing happened.

“Cooldown!?”

[11 seconds remaining.]

Adam roared and launched himself right back at the captain.

The boss slapped his shield again, but this time Adam jumped over the ring, rather than diving under. A second later he slashed his sword through the air and shot forth a diagonal cutting wind, which Adam side-stepped. He could feel his Stamina rapidly depleting and was sure there had to be a hidden effect to the Taint affliction.

With a leap, Adam rammed his spear into the captain’s helmet, nearly breaking the last bit of his neck keeping it attached to his body.

The boss stumbled a step and Adam exploited the opening by stabbing him in the gaps between the plates of his legs, reducing his mobility.

When the captain went back on the offensive, his movements were slower, and Adam carefully waited out the series of slashes, stabs, and chopping strikes, until the boss tried to slap his shield again. Adam moved forward and parried the blade, disorienting the boss just long enough to ram his spear into the eye-socket of his bucket helmet.

He tore with all his might and the captain’s head came off from his neck.

The boss collapsed onto his knees and remained in a sitting position as Shitbox floated over.

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

Adam stumbled over to where he’d discarded his Fiendbarb Relic and equipped it to his spear again.

That was fucking hard.

I really shouldn’t have survived that…

All the soldiers had collapsed as well, the necromantic power sustaining them vanishing along with the captain’s death. The Elphin looked tired and bruised, and only eight defenders remained. From the nearby towers, women and children started popping out now that the coast was clear.

< < Score > >

< 17 Minutes 12 Seconds Completion Time >

< 193 Damage Received >

< 1079 Points Awarded >

That’s a lot of Points for not getting Speedrun or Flawless.

But that probably means I missed out on a ton of Points… Wonder how the score is even counted. Maybe it’s a ‘every kill has a value’ thing, but if so, do the kills the Elphin make count?

Whatever, I’ll figure out the logic later. For now I’ve got a Relic to find.

The tesseract unfolded itself into an upgrade podium and a treasure chest appeared next to it, but Adam was already running towards the great tree.

Maybe Ilya was wrong and it isn’t found amongst the roots, but rather at the top of the canopy like the Glass Acorn.

When he made it to the roots, he climbed up the side of the tree, using the deep grooves in its dark-blue bark as handholds. Some of the city’s children and youths quickly spotted Adam and raced him to the canopy.

At the top he could look out over the entire city and see each of the breaches in the walls, as well as small camps and huts outside. There were no soldiers anywhere, and even the ones that’d collapsed near the ritual site had vanished.

This would be a great place to set up if I had a long-ranged bow.

I should take a second to look for any more hidden chests, he realised.

But first he scanned the canopy. He didn’t notice anything glinting amongst the leaves, however, when he looked down to the top of the tree itself, from which branches protruded, he noticed something buried there.

Adam climbed over the branches until he reached it. It looked like a cocoon made of bark and woven vines, but it had a pale fleshy texture and pulsed with a malevolent purple light from within.

He put his hand on it.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Rotmaker Idol (Rare) — Turns a tree into a living monster for 30 seconds. Relic disappears after use >

That sounds… crazy?

Can’t imagine, with the way it’s worded, that it wouldn’t end up a threat to me as well.

The idol appeared attached to his belt in the same spot where the Affliction Ward had been.

Guess it’s good if I need to distract an enemy, but I wonder if I can aim it or decide what tree to transform.

There’s a few too many unknowns with this for me to wanna use it.

Anyway, glad I found the Relic, but Ilya’s instructions were completely wrong… I wonder if he knew that or if he was misled as well.

Adam went back out to the edge of the canopy, where Elphin children watched him with their glowing eyes.

“You guys wouldn’t happen to know where I can find any treasure chests or hidden secrets, do you?”

“Father says we mustn’t play with the termite nest.”

Termites? Wait… is this gonna be another secret vendor or something?

“Where’s that at?”

The boy who’d told him climbed through the canopy to the other side, before pointing off towards the southern breach.

Adam patted him on the head. “Thanks.”