< < Player Leaderboard > >
< Adam (MVP) — 17400 Points >
< Lasse Madsen — 12900 Points >
< Cathy Boyd — Deceased >
< Ellen May Johnson — Deceased >
< Jabari Williams — Deceased >
< Juliette Dahl Neo — Deceased >
17,400 Points despite all of that is not bad. Though most of those Points are because everyone except Lasse died…
Interesting that the petrification didn’t actually do any damage. I could’ve gotten Flawless if I hadn’t gotten hit by that Obsidian Rot.
Adam had lost two points of maximum Health from the rot effect as well, but it was fortunately quite a minor side-effect.
Still, what a terrifying affliction. It doesn’t bode well for future Stages…
He had arrived in front of the altar in the centre of Interim Island, but he was hesitant to approach it. Interestingly, the Godstone half he’d collected was floating in the air above the altar, spinning very slowly.
I wonder what happens when I get the other half. Elia didn’t really explain it that well.
Hopefully Lasse got one too, even though I was the one who grabbed it. It would be weird if he didn’t.
He had another MVP chest waiting for him, and from it he picked up an Epic Mana upgrade, putting his total at 90, though with the Prince’s Gambit sigil, he could only use half of that.
Adam didn’t want to deal with the Flayed Lady and her punishnt just yet, particularly because he wanted to prepare for a way to avoid it, if necessary. But when he tried to leave the centre of the island, an invisible boundary kept him from going more than a few tres.
[You cannot leave until after you have interacted with the Altar,] the cube announced.
“Fuck that,” Adam said and flew up, trying to find a hole in the boundary above.
But just like on the ground, sothing invisible kept him from flying away.
Shit…
He landed back down.
“Bring a Chimaera Core from my Player House and into my hand.”
[Understood.]
Given the way the Flayed Lady reacted to this last ti, I can clearly use it to avoid so of her hold on . But it would an giving up my magical powers…
Adam put the core into the pocket of his elentalist skirt and kept his left hand closed over it, hopefully preventing her from taking it from him.
He took a deep breath and then approached the altar, placing his glass hand on the round stone atop the plinth. He looked up at the Godstone as he was pulled away to sowhere else.
< < Now Entering > >
< The Covetous Spire >
Adam’s feet landed on sothing glassy and hard.
He first saw what lay beneath him, and it was a floor of crimson glass, through which he could see a twisting spire leading down to a distant surface that was the colour of freshly-spilled blood.
He felt the lody before him, resonating up through his glass hand, and it was of such intensity that it drowned out all other lodies perceivable to him.
As he raised his head to look upon his patron, he saw that he was in a hall of glass, which was shaped like a king’s audience chamber. Beyond its translucent walls and ceiling were the black of the cosmos, twinkling eyes observing them from afar. Many steps led from the floor where Adam stood and up to a monstrous throne upon which sat a woman of blood. Her shape was familiar to him, but unlike the last two tis, she was now entirely made of liquid, and her eyes and mouth were dark holes in her visage.
Adam knew without being told that this was her original form. Blood given sentience and figure.
Only belatedly did he realise that there were other lifeforms in the chamber with them. But these were not creatures he would consider to be living, though their low moaning and pained sounds made it clear they were alive.
The throne was but one amongst these lifeforms, but it was a hideous and jagged thing made of lted-together flesh. Living flesh, with the faces of their owners visible on the surface.
Arms, legs, heads, and torsos had been turned into a single fabric and conjoined to that of others, before being forcefully draped across the various blood glass furniture spread about the hall. It was an unkind fate, not only for the twisted existence of it, but because the flesh was pierced through by twisted screw-like horns of glass that poked out here and there from the glass skeletons of furniture over which they were draped.
The Flayed Lady’s throne seed especially cruel, as many thorny vines of glass coiled in and out of its fabric, sprouting blood-filled glass roses across their length, like so sort of barbaric IV drip.
The chairs ringed around where Adam stood were made of the sa design, each letting out their own unique sounds of pain. It was no doubt a simple matter for the Lady to remove their ability to speak and produce noises, given the ease with which she had reworked their bodies into such vile decorations. The fact that the mouths and eyes yet moved, and that their vocal chords were left intact, ant that this was how she wanted them to be.
They were made into an example to cow her adherents.
“You have failed , Adam.”
He squeezed the Chimaera Core in his left pocket.
“I fulfilled your quest,” he replied boldly.
“You have slain poor Juliette,” she said. “That was not what I asked of you.”
“I saw that she was protected until she could fulfil her task to you. You didn’t ask
to keep her safe until the Stage was over. You only asked
to aid her until she had completed her quest.”
The living furniture around Adam moaned and wailed, as though resonating with the Flayed Lady’s anger at his defiance.
Adam went on, knowing this might be his only chance to avoid punishnt. “You never intended for her to survive, because her task to you was of such a nature that she was destined to perish. If not , then the Cloud Leviathan would’ve killed her. She knew this, but she still went through with it, because you promised her she would et her son again.”
“Amusing is it not?” the Flayed Lady replied. “All it takes is one little lie to turn soone. The right tune can change the course of a lody.”
Adam clenched his teeth.
“You’re no better than the All-Seeing System!” he told her. “You pit us against each other, all for your own sick fascination! Our suffering is nothing but fuel for your fire!”
The Absolute rose from her cruel throne and in an instant stood on the glass floor in front of Adam, her tall figure towering over him and her dark eyes staring down into his.
“I am NOTHING like the Seeing One!” she scread into his face.
“Then kill ! Prove you have that power!” he shouted back, undaunted by her attempt to cow him and his eyes locked onto the dark holes in her liquid head.
She seized him by the throat and lifted him up so that his head was level with hers.
“Do it!” he taunted her.
Her black eyes stared into his and her mouth was a thin line.
“You can’t, can you!? Because I completed your pointless quest and obeyed the rules of the Trials! If you kill , the Watcher will know you violated the fairness of his ga, and you will be punished in turn!”
The thin line curled into a dark grin.
Then the Flayed Lady laughed.
“This is my domain, Adam,” she said calmly.“I can do as I please here. After all, you ca to . But I am not done with you yet. If I kill you, you will simply leave my grasp, and we cannot have that. Why would I give up such an amusing adherent like you?”
She ramd her free hand into his torso, pushing her fingers of blood through his clothes, skin, and flesh. They swam through his insides, moving through his ribcage like eels until taking hold of his beating heart and squeezing it.
Adam felt a primal fear flow through him. The anticipation of death was worse than death itself.
But instead of killing him, she poured her blood into his heart and sent it pumping through his veins, adding to the gift she’d already given him.
“You are right,” she purred, the anger already gone from her voice. “You completed my request. Juliette fulfilled her task for
the mont she swallowed that parasite and made you believe she could be trusted.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The Flayed Lady’s grin curled and her body shivered.
“It was such ecstasy to experience. You, with all your walls up, are still only human. The others fear you and your stolen power, so I wanted to show them that. In the end, that is all you are, Adam. A human of flesh and blood.”
She pulled her hand out of his chest and released his throat, letting him fall to the ground.
Her dark eyes looked down at where he’d collapsed.
Thanks to the new blood that filled him from within, Adam struggled to move, so he had to endure her patronising glare where he lay at her feet.
“You are not the first of my adherents to have beco arrogant from receiving a morsel of my power. But even the proud Keening One grovels at my feet, knowing that I am far more than he could ever be.”
“In the city of Moonport, a coven of my once-blessed adherents have stolen the remaining half of the Godstone, using its power to tear themselves away from my benevolence.”
“I want you to eradicate them.”
“Every last one.”
“Show them that those who break their oaths to
are not long for this world.”
“And in their deaths, they will once more return to my embrace.”
She looked around at the furniture that moaned and whimpered in pain.
“I will make sothing special from their bodies. Once you return here next, I will show it to you.”
< The Flayed Lady >
< Defeat all of the Bloodfiends in the city of Moonport. >
< Reward: Relic >
Adam pushed himself to his feet, but it was a struggle to stand. “This is finally a quest I can get behind,” he said.
“Then rejoice in it and make their deaths sothing to amuse .”
“What about my reward for the last quest?”
“You did not fulfil the spirit of our agreent,” she replied. “Be satisfied that I did not chastise you. I would have taken the mories you cherish the most and curdled them into ones of betrayal and suffering. But now you get to keep them.”
Adam froze where he stood.
“Do not take
for a fool, Adam. I know how to punish those who cannot die.”
She ruffled his brown hair with her hand of blood, though none of it clung to him.
“Now leave. I must mourn my dear adherent who you killed.”
Adam fell through the floor, falling down through the centre of the twisted tower.
With a gasp, he was back on his feet in front of the altar and the Godstone half floating above it.
Fuck…
I sohow made it out of there, but she’s revealed her hand to .
My worship of her is nothing but entertainnt.
Which doesn’t bode well for .
And the fact that she might be able to take my mories, or turn them into nightmares… It’s clear I need to find a way out.
Adam looked in the direction of the Player House, but then silvery scales fluttered down from above.
Luvicidix alighted on the ground behind him and he turned to face her.
She took a step back as she saw him.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head, clearly not wanting to say that he’d fully transford into a vampire. But she didn’t need to say anything. He could feel how he’d changed. He was sure he looked hideous now.
“I have a new upgrade for you,” she said instead.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Have a look,” she replied.
< < ta Upgrades For Sale > >
< Mana — Increase Mana by 50 — 5000 Points >
< Stamina — Increase Stamina by 10 — 1000 Points >
< Saved Weapon — Start every loop with a saved Weapon of Common rarity — 10000 Points >
< Scale of Rembrance — 2630/25000 Points >
“That’s it? A Stamina upgrade?” Adam asked, disappointed.
“When you activate that egg in your backpack, I will have another upgrade available for you,” Luvicidix replied.
“Then I’ll be back shortly,” Adam told her and went to the Market.
He wanted to get started on investing Points into the Saved Weapon upgrade, but he also had the Cloudmaker staff he wanted to try out, and upgrading it would give him more Mastery Shards.
I’m certain sothing will happen when I’ve given a Vanity to all of the denizens.
After I’m done at the Market, I’ll have a chat with the Keeper.
It’s about ti I sought him out again, especially now that I know for a fact I can’t trust the Flayed Lady.
The mont Adam reached the fountain where Yenna stood playing a flute, the egg lifted out of his backpack and floated ahead of him.
< < Secret Relic Activated > >
Unlike Weaver and Builder, Fisher’s egg didn’t go very far and stopped once it was on the other side of the fountain, where small statues of slugwhales were spitting water into the top bowl.
Then the egg unfurled, creating a wooden lawn chair and bamboo fishing rod in front of it, and placing a tal-black smooth-armoured beetle onto the seat.
Yenna turned to look at the newcor whose fishing line was already stuck into the water of the fountain.
“The fountain is not for fishing,” she scolded the beetle.
The beetle seed like it yawned before turning to her in a languid motion. “Ain’t no other fishin’ spot ‘round here, is there though? I goes where the water is, and is here, right in front of .”
She ignored Yenna’s scowl and turned her head towards Adam, her sleek body following the slow fluid motion and her compound eyes locking onto his.
“How do you do, Adam? I’m Fisher. I don’t reckon you can find
a place to fish ‘round here?”
“Howdy,” he replied. “You’re a vendor, right?”
“Sure am. But I ain’t got no hut or no fishin’ spot, so my vendorin’ is on hiatus. Mayhaps eternally, dry as this island is.”
< < Quest Unlocked > >
< Nice day for fishin’, ain’t it? >
< Find a place for Fisher to fish and sleep >
< Reward — Fishing Services >
Adam sighed.
Guess I have to buy her a pond and a hut from Builder.
Hopefully it won’t cost a lot.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he told her and walked past the other vendors until he reached the termite’s stall.
“Back for more construction work?” Builder asked as he stopped in front of her.
“How much would it cost to get a hut and a pond installed near my house?”
“For the newcor, I reckon?”
“That’s right.”
“I can do it for 3000 Points,” she replied.
Adam scratched his right canine tooth. It was itchy now that it had gotten longer.
“How much do I have on ?” he asked the cube.
< < Player Currencies > >
< Points — 18475 >
< Soul Drops — 1 >
Oh right, I had about a thousand from before the Stage.
“Sure, I’ll buy both.”
“Pleasure doing business with ya!” Builder responded.
< < Construction Purchased > >
< Garden Pond >
< Garden Shed >
< 15475 Points Remaining >
“Wait, I said a hut, not a shed,” Adam told her.
“Trust , that Fisher beetle won’t mind a shed. Long as it’s closed off from the elents, it won’t make no difference.”
“I’ll co back for a refund if she rejects it,” Adam said.
“Custor satisfaction is guaranteed!” Builder replied eagerly. “Also, I don’t do refunds.”
Before Adam could respond, she left her stall, disappearing out of the back.
He massaged the bridge of his nose.
I swear these denizens love to test my patience…
“Hello, Adam,” ca a voice from behind him.
Adam spun around and pointed down at Sprite.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about!” he yelled in frustration. “Stop fucking sneaking up on
every ti!”
“Have you collected any new plants for ?” Sprite asked, unperturbed by Adam’s loud complaint.
Adam pulled out a palm tree leaf from his backpack.
“Take it,” he said and shoved it into Sprite’s shadowy hands.
“Ooh, this is quite useful for alleviating rashes and inflammation,” Sprite said excitedly. “When mixed into a slurry with Tallberry and Oakbeard mushrooms, it also develops a powerful laxative effect, good for purging poisons from one’s system.”
“Don’t you dare feed that to anyone,” Adam told the little evil genius.
< < Quest Progress > >
< Plantastic Alchemy >
< Sprite would like you to bring him plants from 5 different Stages >
< Progress — 2/5 >
“See you later, Adam!” Sprite said. “I am off to experint yet again!”
Adam watched the elental skip down past a house and vanish from sight. Since Adam was unable to track him with the Mandate of Blood, the elental might as well have teleported the mont he was gone, as far as Adam was concerned.
He looked around in paranoia of Finnian sneaking up on him as well, but the sli was nowhere to be seen. But just in case, he flew towards his Player House, since he figured that he couldn’t be startled by anyone that way.
Once he landed in front of the door, Adam inspected the sapling growing in the garden.
< < Secret Relic > >
< Glass Sapling (Rare) — All Stats grow by 5% for every Stage completed | Grows for 2 Stages >
Still two more Stages.
He wanted to use the Rotmaker Idol on it once it turned into a tree, because he had a feeling sothing might happen, especially since the little sapling had a lody emanating from it. It was a one note thing that radiated calm.
I wonder what happens if I feed it my blood, he suddenly considered. It must be similar to how the Flayed Lady makes her crimson glass, especially those thorny vines with roses.
He shook his head.
No, it’s clearly a bad idea.
Why am I even thinking about replicating her disturbing powers…?
Adam tried to clear his mind as he walked past the sapling and the apple tree with the critters around it. There was a tiny slugwhale next to the other creatures from the previous Stages.
I still don’t get the point of these things being here…
As he ca around the side of the Player House, he saw that the garden had been expanded to fit a simple wooden shed and a pond. Next to the water was the wooden lawn chair and bamboo fishing rod belonging to Fisher, though she was nowhere to be seen.
As Adam approached the pond, her head suddenly poked up from below the surface.
“Heya Adam!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin, since he hadn’t been able to sense her lody at all, though now that her head was above the water, he could sowhat discern the notes emanating from her.
“You’ve all gotta stop doing that,” he said with a frown.
“Sozzle,” she replied.
“What?”
< < Quest Complete > >
< Nice day for fishin’, ain’t it? >
< Found a place for Fisher to fish and sleep >
“So, do you want to buy a fishing rod?” Fisher asked.
“Is that what you’re selling?” he replied in disappointnt.
“That’s right!”
“Uh… Maybe later,” he told her.
This may have been a waste of money.
But at least that’s one out of three denizen quests done. If I can do two more this loop, there’ll be another ta upgrade waiting for .
Adam left the pond and flew back to the centre of the island where Luvicidix t him.
“Because you welcod Fisher to your island, you have unlocked a new upgrade,” she announced.
Adam sighed.
“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.
“I’m fine,” he replied. “I just hope that I can get a useful denizen soon. I an, what the hell am I supposed to do with fishing gear?”
“Fish?” Luvicidix replied, not understanding that he was asking rhetorically. “Well, here’s the new upgrade,” she said, waving her arms.
< < New ta Upgrade For Sale > >
< Rembered Secrets — Start every loop with known secret vendors unlocked — 5000 Points >
“How does that work?” Adam asked.
“Secret vendors like Weaver, Builder, and Fisher will be here on the island from the very beginning once this upgrade is unlocked. If you find more vendors, the sa will apply to them.”
“And what about the eggs in the Stages? Can I collect them again and sell them?” he asked.
Luvicidix shook her head, her antennae swishing from side to side. “No. The eggs will already be collected when you visit a Stage.”
“And that won’t affect my All Secrets bonuses, right?”
“Exactly,” she replied.
“Then I guess I should get it,” he told her. “I’ll get the first tier of Saved Weapon too while I’m at it.”
“Good choices!” she said excitedly.
< < ta Upgrades Unlocked > >
< Rembered Secrets — Start every loop with known secret vendors unlocked >
< Saved Weapon — Start every loop with a saved Weapon of Common rarity >
Adam was left with 475 Points after the transaction, but he still had so things he could sell, such as the Relics he’d taken off of Julie’s body.
But first I’ll go to the well and speak with the To Keeper.
After that I’ll hit up Beck and see how he fared.
I hope he didn’t have to deal with the Cloud Leviathan too.
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