< < Now Entering > >
< Stage 6 >
< Alepheria’s Crooked Tower >
< 24-hour Tir >
Adam opened his eyes as he was puppeteered up the stone steps leading out of the Forbidden Altar and onto the engraved stone disc at the heart of the Elphin Sanctuary. Like last ti, there were just a few Elphin guards waiting on the steps of the ritual site, with all the other citizens returning to their daily lives.
The Eye floated away from Adam as he was brought to a halt in front of the stairwell he’d erged from. It moved to the centre of the large disc and then a tremor rolled through the ground as the disc spun, sealing away the Forbidden Altar.
[For what cos next, you alone will not be powerful enough.]
[With the power of the All-Seeing System, the dinsions shall converge.]
It already has converged, he thought but couldn’t say out loud, since he was still locked in the grips of the cutscene.
The air rippled and the disc spun around so fast that he barely caught the movent with his eyes, even as he felt himself spin with it.
Adam blinked and then there were four figures standing around the outside of the disc, just like him, and each the sa distance apart.
Déjà vu, Adam thought as he recognised one of the people, just like last ti he’d been here.
He only knew her as Kate, but she’d told him about the Green Sli Glove back during his third loop. It felt like such a long ti ago. He rembered her as being British, and she had dark skin and black hair cut in a bob, as well as friendly-looking apple-cheeks. She wore the fur coat like Adam, as well as the matching spring boots. She also had the vambrace Relic that caused parries to create weak points on her opponents, as well as the Duellist’s Glove and the Purple Sli Glove. Her weapon was a rapier, but Adam wasn’t familiar with its evolution and only knew that the weapon could parry, so it was strong against other Players.
He looked around at the rest.
Just five of us this ti. That ans everyone is ant to be here. I think…
The cutscene let go of them all and everyone except Adam stumbled a step. No sooner had they regained their footing than Adam saw a brief flash of warm golden light coating each of the people around him.
Is that the activation of my Brazier effect? he wondered.
It would absorb 50% of the damage from the first hit any of them suffered.
Uneasy glances were shared between everyone.
The stone orb for the Hardmode floated in front of Adam, but none of the others seed to really notice, since they were busy looking at each other. He left it switched on, even though he didn’t know what it did, and nudged it behind his back to hide it.
He thought about the completion of the Stage and its achievents.
I’m only missing Defender and Speedrun.
He wasn’t sure how fast he’d have to go to get the speedrun, but given that the Stage was 24 hours long, he guessed it was 6 or 8 hours.
That’s doable.
“I’m Kate!” the British woman introduced herself, her voice bright and chipper. “I’m using a rapier, and I’m good at deflections and parries.”
“Who are you worshipping?” Adam asked.
They all looked at him.
“How about we start with simple introductions first?” she replied cheerfully.
He nodded and pulled out the Spidersilk Needle. “I’m Adam, and I use silk and a needle. I can do a lot of damage from dium-to-close ranges, but I won’t survive a lot of hits.”
Once again, Adam had decided that it was a bad idea to tell people about his blood magic.
“I worship the Courtesan,” he added, lying.
“ too!” said Kate.
Shit. Maybe I should’ve picked a different one. I figured it was a rare worship option, but I guess not.
I’ll just have to bluff my way out of talking too much about that Absolute, since I don’t know anything other than the na.
“I’m Mikhail,” said the next person, a man with an East-European accent who had a salt-and-pepper beard and short hair, as well as piercing pale-blue eyes. He was the sa height as Adam and built of lean muscle. “I use a big sword and I am strong when outnumbered. My patron is Nharlla.”
We may encounter the human mimic because of him.
Adam recognised his weapon as being from the One Man Army evolution of warrior. It increased his power when he was outnumbered 3-to-1. Mikhail’s Relics were the Forlorn Cuirass, First Strike Earring, Scale Trousers, and so leather boots that Adam hadn’t seen before.
“My na is Sarah,” said a woman holding a staff in her arms. It had the sa appearance as Beck’s, so Adam knew she had fully evolved the weapon to beco an Elental Avatar. She had caral skin and long black hair in a ponytail, as well as a very round face and big brown eyes. He guessed she was South Arican based on her accent. “I can use magic and I’m strongest when I’m far away from the enemy.”
She wore the Bone Armour, Skittish Skaters, Barrage Glove, Echo Earring, and had an Affliction Ward hanging from her belt.
“Oh,” she added belatedly, when the others were still looking at her. “I worship Morrligt.”
The last guy waited until they were all looking at him before he introduced himself.
“My na is Jun Jie Lim. I have a sword and a shield as you can see, and I worship ssir.”
Adam suppressed a frown as he took in the last guy’s features. He was Asian, but his skin had a strange blue-tinted pallor and there were black lines on the sides of his neck, poorly hidden by the top of his Slothling Fur Coat. He had small eyes and a mouth curled into a self-satisfied grin that revealed prominent canines on his upper row of narrow teeth. His chin was well-defined and he had round cheeks that would’ve perhaps made him charming if not for the secret he was so poorly hiding.
He’s worshipping Nwetrou, Adam realised. He’s got blue skin and gills, exactly like Beck said.
He cannot be allowed to live.
Besides the fur coat, Jun had two First Strike Earrings, the Captain’s Cape, Slothling Spring Boots, and the Duellist’s Glove. His weapon was the Outrider evolution of Vanguard, which increased the damage of the first strike against an opponent, and was itself evolved from Defender. In essence, he could deal a lot of damage with his first hit.
But what made him truly scary was the spear on his back.
Adam recognised it as the Spear Dancer evolution of Lancer, which increased damage based on how fast you were going.
This guy must’ve had help to make this setup…
He is without a doubt the deadliest non-ti-looping Player I’ve ever encountered.
[The tir has begun.]
< < Stage Objective > >
< Find a clue to the Godstone in the Crooked Tower >
“Let’s go find out where the tower is,” Kate imdiately said and they all followed her up the steps leading out of the ritual site.
Adam kept a close eye on Jun. With just the boost from Vanguard and the two earrings, he could probably kill any of them in a single hit. It was all but certain he’d succeed if he used his glove and spring boots as well. Adam hoped that his choker would be able to stop him, if he tried to attack.
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Nwetrou or his Envoy must’ve put him up to this, Adam considered as they followed after Kate while she went around interviewing the Elphin guards and citizens about how to find the tower.
While Adam had practiced in his Player House with Beck the night before, he’d discovered that only 8 million 706 thousand Players had survived past the Altar. It had been 54 million before the Stage.
And despite how fucked this universe is, the Absolutes are still jockeying for control.
There won’t even be more than a handful of Players remaining after Stage Ten, but still they want to influence Players like
or Jun, forcing us to kill each other.
But while the Flayed Lady’s plans are evil, Nwetrou’s are disastrously cruel.
His sacrifices ensure that the wellspring of life is forever poisoned.
If I want to help Beck, then I’ve got to get rid of this guy.
I just hope he hasn’t sacrificed anyone yet.
Eventually they found a man who knew the direction, and he also said he could take them there in his carriage. It wasn’t the sa guy that Adam’s group had used last ti, but the carriage ended up being the sa.
I should’ve gotten the Beckoning Crimson scroll again, Adam considered as they climbed on board the carriage.
He still had the healing potion from Stage Three, but that wouldn’t really do much for him.
Activating the Hardmode might have also been a bad idea. I guess it would double the bonuses we get for killing the Elites and each other, but that might be it.
It would be really useful if it doubled objective rewards, but I highly doubt it would do that.
Still, there’s gotta be sothing useful for getting all the Hardmodes.
Since Adam hadn’t gone past Stage Seven, this would be his last Stage where he was able to use the Hardmode this run, and despite how much harder it had made the Forbidden Altar, it had definitely been worth it. He just hoped the sa would be true again.
As they drove through the forest outside the Elphin Sanctuary, heading towards the tower, Adam and Jun sat inside the carriage with Sarah, while Kate was up front with the driver and Mikhail.
I’ve gotta do it now, Adam told himself as he nonchalantly pulled his silken backpack off and opened it up in front of himself.
I should have five minutes to pull this off, give or take, before we encounter the Bone Creeper in the forest.
Sarah and Jun sat on the opposite bench, which faced in the direction they were travelling, and they were talking about music or sothing, though Adam wasn’t really listening.
At the bottom of his bag was the Hobgoblin Pendant, along with the Lucky Stone, Dwarf Nightwing Heart, and Queen’s Pendant.
Equip Hobgoblin Pendant, Adam prompted the Eye with his thoughts while he reached in to pull out the Lucky Stone.
The familiar numbness spread across his body as the pendant was swapped for the Blood Mage Choker.
“What do you have there?” Jun asked him as Adam pulled the stone out of the bag and put the backpack over his shoulder again.
“It’s a secret item from the goblin village,” Adam told him. He held the stone flat in his hand while coaxing his numbing blood out through his palm and sticking it to the underside where neither Jun nor Sarah could see it.
“Do you mind if I take a look?” Jun asked.
“Sure,” Adam replied, handing him the Lucky Stone.
As he reached across the carriage with the Relic in his hand, Adam carefully manipulated the blood to stick to the stone in a way they wouldn’t be able to see it.
Jun grabbed the tip with his thumb on top and his index and middle finger on the bottom. Adam acted quickly, sending all of the blood straight through a small hole he made in Jun’s index finger.
The guy paused and turned the stone around, and Adam thought he’d been caught.
But then he just handed it to Sarah.
I think maybe my Bleed affliction didn’t trigger because the ‘attack’ dealt so little damage. A tiny poke to his finger might only be 1 or 2 damage. It should also have gotten rid of the protection my Brazier boon gives.
“That seems useful,” Jun comnted after he’d inspected the Relic, none the wiser to the numbing blood that Adam was slowly moving through the veins in his arm and up towards his brain. Since Adam was pushing it along Jun’s bloodstream, he figured it shouldn’t be dealing any damage, though even if it did, the numbing effect would ensure that Jun didn’t know.
“I’m hoping to use it to get sothing cool,” Adam said, trying to fake sincere naivety.
There was no guarantee that he could get the Legendary Relic with it, and he hadn’t spent his Mastery Shards to get a second stone from Alivida, since she’d told him he couldn’t stack the stones’ effect. It would of course serve him well to get Alepheria’s Mandate for its unlisted knowledge-based effect, but he would be happy with most of the Epic Relics available in the Stage, particularly the Mage Aspirant’s Cowl and any of the grafted limbs.
Jun nodded, though Adam saw the greedy glint in his eyes that he couldn’t quite hide.
Sarah handed the stone back to Adam. “What do you think we’ll find in the tower?” she asked.
Adam shrugged. “No idea.”
“Monstrosities,” Jun said, and it was clear to Adam that he knew more than he was supposed to.
Given that only Beck and Adam should have seen future Stages, it seed all but certain that Nwetrou was feeding Jun information sohow.
Perhaps he is upset that Beck killed his champion, this so-called Diviner, so now he’s playing dirty to get revenge.
Once I get out of here I need to tell him about it.
“I heard that those who worship ssir get an appraisal skill,” Adam said.
Jun nodded.
“Do you know what weakness you received?” Adam continued.
“Weakness?” Sarah asked. She worshipped Morrligt, and Adam still didn’t know what weakness was tied to his first boon.
“You receive both a boon and a weakness from your Patron, but it seems that not all of the weaknesses are obvious,” Adam told her.
“I think I know what my weakness might be then,” she said.
“Really?” he asked.
“I think using spells also drains my Stamina alongside my Mana. It feels like the air is pulled directly out of my lungs when I cast spells,” she explained.
Interesting.
“The weakness for ssir is that his adherents take double damage from those who worship the Flayed Lady,” Jun said, surprising Adam.
How does he know that??
Is he on to ?
I don’t know how much Nwetrou or his Envoy has told this guy, which is a problem.
I need to deal with him quickly, but I can’t do it here. I’ll wait until we encounter the Bone Creeper.
Adam thought it was a sha that the guy was aligned with such an evil God, because his build was incredibly strong and could’ve taken him far.
“I don’t know what weakness the Masked Courtesan has,” Adam said, which was true at least.
“We should ask Kate,” Jun suggested, the corner of his mouth lifted into a grin.
Oh, he’s definitely on to .
Adam let Jun believe he had the upper hand for now, even while his blood swirled around in the guy’s brain, ready to explode at the tiniest impulse from Adam. However, Adam’s magic had a certain range to it, so if Jun moved far enough away, Adam would lose control over the blood he’d injected into the guy’s bloodstream. Granted, if that happened, it wasn’t clear whether Jun would be fine or not, but Adam couldn’t risk it.
Almost the exact mont that they leaned out of the door to crawl onto the roof of the carriage, two loud thunk sounds ca in quick succession.
Adam hopped away from the carriage on instinct just as a large bone projectile struck one of the horses, instantly killing it and collapsing its body under the front left wheel of the vehicle. With the reins pulled under itself and the front wheels coming to a sudden stop, the carriage flipped forward, narrowly avoiding a secondary hit from the large bolt that ca after the first.
With an exertion of Mana, Adam summoned blood from within himself and pulled it out of his hands. He imdiately flung it at the carriage, controlling two separate globs that brought the vehicle to a standstill in a vertical position.
“Get out of the vehicle!” Adam shouted.
Mikhail had already launched himself off the top of the carriage and was charging the leftmost bone creeper that had its legs clasping three separate trees.
I think the Hardmode must’ve doubled the Elites!
Sarah, Jun, and Kate got off the carriage, and Kate made sure to get the Elphin driver to safety as well.
A second after they’d all disembarked, the remaining horse and the vertical carriage were driven through by the giant bolts.
Adam relaxed his magic and the vehicle collapsed back down.
“Jun and I will take the left one, and Kate and Sarah will join Mikhail on the right,” Adam told them.
Sarah didn’t move for a second, perhaps paralysed by the sudden attack, but then Kate grabbed her arm. “You heard him!” she shouted.
Adam brought his floating orbs of blood back to himself along the ground like snakes so that Jun wouldn’t notice while they ran towards the bone creeper clinging to a tree several tres ahead of them. When the blood got close to him, Adam pushed it into his fur coat, where the black fur made it hard to tell it was even there. Fortunately, Jun was focused on the enemy ahead of them, allowing Adam to liberally use the blood to push himself to go faster, and making him able to almost keep up with the Outrider.
With the other three out of sight and hearing range, Jun said, without even lowering his voice, “Through his Envoy, Nwetrou told
about you. He said we should work together. I know you worship the Flayed Lady and I know what she has asked of you in this Stage.”
“And I’m sure I know what Nwetrou asked of you,” Adam replied, not trying to hide who he worshipped anymore since the guy clearly knew.
“Is that so?” Jun asked as they both dodged to the side of a bolt fired straight at them.
“He wants you to sacrifice soone, right?”
“I hesitated in the Altar,” Jun said. “This ti I won’t make that mistake. His Envoy told
about the powers I would receive if I am diligent in my ‘worship’.”
“Let
guess, one of those powers would be the ability to travel to another Player’s dinsion?” Adam responded.
“How did you know?”
Thanks for confirming that for .
I bet that’s what the Abyssal Gift called Eye of Nwetrou does.
“Lucky guess,” Adam replied.
As they reached the trees that the creeper had attached itself to, Jun looked up at the monster while it slowly pivoted its body so that its ‘barrel’ faced straight down.
Without warning, Jun kicked off the ground by triggering his Slothling Spring Boots, flying straight up at insane speed, which was clearly boosted even further by his Outrider ability to rapidly close the distance to a foe.
As Jun flew past the Bone Creeper, having aid himself slightly to the side of it, his blade slashed all the way through its dense body, producing a powerful shockwave when it cleared the other side and sending the two separate halves of the elite down towards the ground where Adam hadn’t even begun to try and prepare a follow-up attack.
The ground jumped under Adam’s feet as the heavy enemy struck the forest floor.
[Elite enemy defeated.]
He’s a lot stronger than I expected.
He might not be far from Elia’s normal damage with her setup.
Jun skidded down the side of a tree and landed on his boots on the mossy ground next to Adam.
“See?” Jun said smugly. “There’s a benefit to us working together.”
“Who should we go for first?” Adam asked.
Jun looked towards where the others were fighting the remaining creeper in the distance. None of the Players were actually visible, but they could see the impacts of their attacks echo through the treetops from where they were standing.
“Kate,” he said. “I fought soone with a rapier in the Altar. The parry ability it possesses is very dangerous. She might be able to put up a serious fight if we don’t take her out of the equation first. I don’t think the greatsword guy or Sarah would be able to do anything.”
He’s scared of Kate because she could actually nullify the entire strength of his build with a well-tid parry or deflect.
“Do you want to wait until we know how to finish the Stage?” Adam asked.
“No,” Jun said. “We don’t need them.”
Did Nwetrou also tell him how to beat the Stage? Adam wondered.
Jun turned back to face him.
“You’re pretty strong I’m guessing, even though you haven’t shown off your weapon yet. But you knew that attack was coming before it hit the carriage.”
Adam grinned at how right the guy was without even knowing the truth of it.
“That’s right, I’m pretty strong,” he said.
With an imperceptible twitch of the index finger bearing the control sigil, Adam exploded the Mana-infused blood inside Jun’s brain.
Thanks to the Hobgoblin Pendant’s effect, Jun didn’t even seem to register what’d happened as blood trickled out of his nose, ears, eyes, and mouth.
Then he collapsed to the ground.
“You chose the wrong God to worship,” Adam said.
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