Adam walked around behind the altar without actually stepping onto it, using his barrier to pull Shirong’s body towards him.
“Loot,” he said.
Loot ??— “Shirong Zhang”
Bone Armour (Uncommon)
Fragile Impact Glove (Uncommon)
Stone Bracer (Uncommon)
Stone bracer? That one’s new.
Relic
Stone Bracer (Uncommon) — Sacrifice the Relic to prevent a target from activating Relics for 30 seconds | When the Relic breaks, all of wearer’s Relics are put on a 2-minute cooldown
Yikes, that’s a nasty backlash effect on the user, but it’s got a lot of potential if you’re focused on just using your weapon to fight other players.
Adam looted the three relics and brought them over to the pile next to Zania’s body, before pushing it all onto the altar platform. He then used his barrier to move the heavy spidersilk sack onto the stone disc as well, taking a mont to lift the other relics on top of the sack, stacking them precariously. Lastly, he carefully pushed the barrier underneath the sack and lifted it and all the contents up off the floor.
He took a deep breath and walked onto the altar platform, quickly putting his left hand on the floating spidersilk sack, hoping that simply having contact with the thing would count as him holding it.
[You have reached the Altar,] the cube announced. [Place your hand on the Worshipping Stone to lay your claim.]
Adam reached down to touch the round stone in the centre of the fifteen plinths.
Stage Alert
Player Adam has claid the Altar
[Congratulations! You have defeated all your opponents and successfully claid the Altar.]
Stage Complete
Tallying Score
I just realised that the hardmode eyeball thing didn’t show up this ti around. I guess that makes sense since Alivida said it only works for stages I’ve completed.
Alright, let’s see what I got. I’m guessing the actual deity selection thing cos after this.
Score
24 Minutes 03 Seconds Completion Ti
3 Players slain 750 Points
10 Statue Elentals slain 500 Points
1,000 PointSecret Boss Bonus added
800 PointFlawless Bonus added
150 Point All Secrets Bonus added
0Damage Received
3,200 Points Awarded
It counts how many players I kill, so there’s gotta be so bonus for killing everyone…
“What was the speedrun ti for this stage?” he asked the cube.
[10 minutes.]
“Besides speedrun, what other bonuses did I miss? Is there one for killing all the statues?”
[I cannot say.]
Figures.
Adam sighed.
Then the whole world blinked.
Adam reappeared exactly where he’d just been standing, except all his relics were gone, as well as the spidersilk sack, the cube, and his weapons. He wore the clothes he’d arrived at the Trials with, not the spidersilk variants made by Weaver.
I feel naked without all my stuff…
Around him, eight of the fifteen plinths were lit up with potential energy. The altar was made of solid stone, but the platform under his feet was full of channels like the one in the elphin city, and the drip water from the stalactites filled them.
Adam stooped down and picked up the stone orb at the centre of the platform. The mont he touched it, all the water under his feet stopped moving, becoming perfectly reflective.
Am I in a cutscene again? he wondered, since the movent had not been his own.
His eyes ran along the plinths from left to right. The first three were lit up with a white haze, almost how heat waves were visible in the horizon during a hot day. The fourth was unlit, but the next two were lit. Then his eyes reached the big four. The first two were active, but the last two weren’t. Of the last five plinths, only the second was lit up.
Suddenly the stone in Adam’s arms felt heavy and painful to carry. He recognised the sensation of the cutscene letting go of him.
Worship
Select the Absolute you wish to serve
The voice was that of the System, the sa one he’d heard in the darkness. It was his voice, but it was spoken through an alien mouth granting it extra bass and authority.
Adam looked to the lone one on his right.
Nwetrou
Lord of Black Holes and Deep Places
Primogenitor of Gluttony
Boon — Breathe underwater | Black Ponds traversal
So that’s how it shows up. I thought for a second I’d just have to guess what each one did. It doesn’t show the negative effect, but I’m guessing it’s connected to the abyssal tooth or sothing.
Being able to breathe underwater is pretty useless right now, but it might turn out useful later on. The ‘Black Ponds traversal’ must have sothing to do with the pond I saw in Sk??ll’s chamber.
Still, serving Nwetrou is bound to force
into permanently sacrificing other players. I don’t think I’d ever pick this option. It’s clearly ant to just fuck up the Trials.
Adam moved his gaze to the two big plinths that were lit up. The normal plinths went up to his hip, while the big four were only slightly shorter than him. He’d really have to lift the orb high to get it into the cavity at the top of either of them.
The Void
Lord of Nothingness
The dark of the cosmos, the null and the empty
Boon — The End to the Suffering
The Eternal Serpent
Lord of Eternity
Icon of immortality and ti
Boon — Pause Ti for 10 seconds (1 use per Stage)
The Void… What a creepy option to give players in the stage where they are forced to kill other people to survive…
He thought of Zania and Ajani Lewis. They wouldn’t have been able to both claim the altar, and if Adam had died, one of them would’ve had to kill the other. Right after that, they’d then get faced with the option to end their own suffering. It was ssed up, he thought. Like the whole point was to antagonise the players.
The System’s voice filled his head as he recalled its word: “The suffering fuels .”
Perhaps the Void isn’t actually an evil choice. It is perhaps the greatest defiance one could show the System. Instead of playing along with its ga, we are allowed to decide that we won’t go any further.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Of course, we’ve always had that option. They put the safe zone on a floating island for a reason…
Adam already knew what the derit for the Eternal Serpent was, since Elia had told him. It doubled the duration of all effects on the player, good and bad, which could actually be quite powerful if you knew how to manage it.
The next plinth showed him the Absolute that Elia normally picked.
ssir
Lord of Adjudication
Envoy of the Watcher of Worlds
Boon — Appraising Eye
Lord of Adjudication? Makes him sound like soone who enforces the rules almost. I wonder if the ‘Appraising Eye’ is part of his character. But he’s also clearly here on behalf of the All-Seeing System. I guess the downside to running the Trials is that the Watcher can’t participate himself…
Adam looked at the next plinth, adjusting his grip on the heavy orb in his arms. He was fairly sure dropping the stone would not be a good idea.
Morrligt
Lord of Solar Flares and Flensing Wind
Primogenitor of Wrath
Boon — Sun Flare spell
This is the one Elia recomnded I pick. One thing that makes these choices a bit difficult is that I don’t know the derits of most of them, and I have no idea what powers they unlock later. It’s conceivable that sothing that starts off weak could end up very strong later on as a form of balance.
I wonder what the ‘Primogenitor’ part of the description ans, but wrath is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, so maybe there’s an Absolute for each of the sins?
The next plinth was unlit, but the last three weren’t, and he scanned them all in a row.
Nharlla
Lord of Transformation and Hallucinations
Sire of Mimics
Boon — Rearrange Player Stats
The All-Mother
Lord of Sustenance and Fertility
Mother of all Elphin
Boon — All-Mother’s Fruit (1 use per Stage)
The To Keeper
Lord of Knowledge and Curiosity
Primogenitor of Greed
Boon — Erudition Barter
The To Keeper is an unfamiliar na. I don’t think Elia knows about this one. But greed is such an insidious vice, though I suppose it makes sense for a deity whose na implies they hoard knowledge.
I know the weaknesses of the All-Mother and Nharlla, but not Morrligt, ssir, or the To Keeper. Although Elia told
about ssir’s second weakness, which seed problematic.
As for the boon unlocked by the To Keeper, it sounds like it might be a trade of knowledge. At least if I’m understanding ‘erudition’ correctly. If it really works how I believe it does, it could help
find out how to defy this stage.
If I ever end up with Willow or one of my other friends pitted against , I need to know of a way to save them.
Adam tried to ask a question, but he was physically unable to open his mouth. Besides, the cube was nowhere in sight, so he doubted he’d even get an answer. It was just him and this montous decision.
I have no idea what triggered the To Keeper to appear, so I think I should pick it now. I know how Morrligt appears, so I can always try him out in my next loop. Unlike Elia, it doesn’t matter if I make a bad decision here, since my death will help
learn more and guide
in the future.
Of course, I’d rather not pick sothing that clearly kills … But I would be lying if the idea of a God of Knowledge didn’t entice .
Adam had decided on his pick and slowly laboured his way towards the plinth while the stone orb weighed him down. His arms were full of staticky numbness, and his lower back was killing him. He hadn’t felt any sensations like these since entering the Trials, and he had the uncanny sense that this current version of himself was the ‘mortal’ one. The version of him without the System’s power heaped on top.
With a groan, he lifted the stone orb up over his waist and deposited it in the recess at the top of the plinth.
All of the other plinths were snuffed out, their potential energy running through the reflective water in the disc below his feet and up into his chosen one with the orb on top.
Worship Chosen
The To Keeper
Darkness surrounded Adam, pulling him away from the stage and its stone tunnels and chambers.
Now Entering
‘The Fleshcrafter’s Abode’
Adam opened his eyes and realised he was walking through a vast quivering hallway made of organic material. It was yet another cutscene, for which he was grateful, because the sight of the living and breathing walls terrified him, making him want to turn around and find the nearest exit.
In front of him walked a tall and muscular man. His hair was shock-white, and it seed like he had a mask on his face. Disturbingly, he wore a patchwork coat of skin, as though taken from many unwilling donors and stitched together to form a robe.
Is this the point where I realise I made a mistake? Adam wondered.
Elia hadn’t ntioned anything about being transported sowhere after selecting who to worship, but he got the uncanny sense that this was the domain of the To Keeper, because as he advanced through the living hallways, he saw signs of living experints and monstrosities best described as creatures born of curiosity.
His guide led him through an arboretum that seed to house thousands of unique trees, a few of which he recognised, but no two the sa. The ceiling here was made of glass, showcasing an inky black beyond with the glowing dots of stars. Strange silvery stilt-legged creations andered about, pruning, trimming, and tending to the trees.
From the arboretum he went through a lab of sorts. Within were simian creatures performing vivisections on screaming and frothing monsters, as well as constructs of bone and muscle assembling their own companions from pulsing vats of flesh and shelves of organised and labelled bones.
Then they entered into a library ten stories tall, each floor simply a balcony ring around the walls upon which were countless creatures. These too were like monsters and moved up-and-down ladders or climbed on the shelves to organise and sort the impossibly-vast collection of books. Several of them took to the air on improvised wings after finding what they were looking for, only to go higher up or further down to place their book sowhere else.
Adam’s attention snapped to what was right in front of him, when his guide stopped by a round wooden table upon which rested an enormous to with pages a tre wide. The tall muscular and masked man stepped around the table and stood behind the chair, upon which sat a youth.
But it was no re child before him. He had skin like liquid porcelain in perpetual motion and his eyes were like windows into the cosmos, showing tiny galaxies and their light. Like the tall man behind him, the youth wore a hooded robe made from skin. This was the skin of demonic creatures from the looks of it, as there were horns and bristly hairs poking out here and there. A moving tail flicked about as though responding to the youth’s enjoynt of the to he was reading.
The to itself was seemingly alive. The words on its pages hopped and danced around, fighting to avoid comprehension.
The To Keeper looked up at Adam, his very gaze pulling him out of the cutscene controlling his body.
“I’m glad you chose , Adam,” said the youth. His voice didn’t betray the insane power visible in his eyes, nor the authority with which he surely ruled this absurd domain of monsters and scientific perversion.
Although Adam had a million questions, many of them existential and horrifying to know the answer to, he knew better than to interrupt the Absolute seated before him.
“You possess knowledge that I do not have,” the To Keeper explained. “I wanted it for my collection.”
Sothing skittered past Adam and the breath died in his lungs as he saw it was a giant spider made of bones, its legs all tipped with fingers. A large bird made of shadow and bone alighted next to the To Keeper’s seat. Its head was a barn owl’s skull, though its eyes were very real. Two skeletal arms erged from its coat of shadowy feathers, holding a pen and an open book, ready to transcribe what was said between them.
What the fuck is happening??
Adam opened his mouth, and it terrified him to realise that the entire library full of creatures fell silent such that his voice was not overshadowed.
“What is the knowledge I have that you wish to know?” he asked.
“That is the trouble, of course,” said the porcelain youth with the cosmic eyes. “I know that you possess it, but I do not know what it is.”
“Difficult. Every ti.”
Adam nearly jumped out of his skin at the utterance of the tall man standing behind the Absolute.
“I think I know what it is,” Adam said.
“Excellent,” the To Keeper replied, seeming almost gleeful.
The shadowy bird scribe fixed its eyes on him expectantly.
“Do I receive knowledge in return?” Adam asked.
The tall muscular man grunted humourlessly, his dark eyes staring daggers at him.
“Bla not the beast, Heskel,” said the To Keeper. “It is fair to want compensation, after all.”
Adam swallowed. The tall man with the mask and skin robe sohow terrified him more than the shadowy barn owl or the literal God in front of him.
Deciding it was best not to test his patience, Adam quickly explained the knowledge he was absolutely certain no other mortal possessed: how he was able to loop back in ti across universes.
It wasn’t a long story, but it felt like it took forever due to the fact that the library, which thronged with creatures and constructs, was so quiet that nothing but Adam’s voice could be heard.
When he was done, the shadowy barn owl snapped its book closed and withdrew its skeletal arms into its dark coat, before taking off into the air to presumably store the new knowledge sowhere far above.
“Thank you, Adam. What a fascinating new bit of knowledge I have gleaned from you,” said the To Keeper.
The masked man, Heskel, grunted, and the youth quickly added, “I almost forgot, you may ask your question now. If I know the answer, it is yours to have.”
Adam had several questions he wanted to ask, such as, “How do I win the Trials of Defiance?”, “How can I survive stage eight?”, and “What happens if I die and loop enough tis to run out of universes to replace myself in?”
He also wanted to ask more philosophical questions like, “What’s the aning of life?”
In the end, the question that he yearned to know the most was, “How do I defy stage five and save other players without dying myself?”
Heskel made a surprised sound.
“Excellent question,” the To Keeper responded. “I am glad you did not waste your question on sothing pointless and irrelevant. Even Heskel seems impressed.”
Despite the praise, Adam feared that the answer wouldn’t be useful to him.
Instead of answering like normal, the To Keeper put a liquid porcelain hand on the large to in front of him on the table. Adam noticed that the hand had two too many fingers and shuddered. Then the Absolute made a simple flicking gesture, and text lifted from the large page and flew right into Adam’s forehead like a spell.
The answer to his question planted itself in his mind, spreading its contents across his mory as though he’d always known.
The answer isn’t simple, but it’s also not impossibly complex.
Elia could already pull it off.
To save another player in stage five, there were three requirents: the ‘First Light’s Brazier’ with a mature fla to spawn a ‘Kindling Fla’ at the start of a loop; a ‘Visiting Stone’ to travel to another player’s dinsion to give them the kindling fla after stage one so it had ti to mature before stage five; and both players had to et in the sa instance of stage five, without killing any players or Interim denizens, before claiming the altar together.
If it was possible to have several players start off with the mature First Light’s fla, then it was technically possible to save a lot more people from having to die to the stage.
Fortunately, even though it seed the First Light was the Absolute responsible for making the act of saving another player possible, the players saved this way and the player saving them were not required to worship the Absolute.
However, it wouldn’t be feasible for
to attempt, unless I can imdiately figure out who I’m up against in stage five when I go to a new dinsion. My only real hope for pulling it off would be to get the self-devouring eye.
But I’d also need the scale of rembrance to make soone else believe that I am worth trusting enough to attempt the trick with
in stage five.
Maybe I could pull it off in this universe. I’m so much stronger this ti, and might actually be able to get to the divine relic, though I’m sure Elia would fight
for it.
Still, is this the only way?
I find it hard to imagine there isn’t sothing easier that anyone can do without being a ti-looper.
Adam blinked, realising he was getting lost in his thoughts while standing in front of the To Keeper. To his credit, the Absolute didn’t seem bothered by it, though the body language of Heskel suggested he’d overstayed his welco.
“Thank you,” Adam said sincerely.
The God looked up at him again and said, “I will call upon you if you find knowledge that I would like to barter with you for.”
“I don’t have any other knowledge you’d like to know?” Adam asked, jumping on the opportunity to get as much out of this bizarre but enlightening eting as possible.
“No, Adam,” said the To Keeper. “There is nothing else that you know which I am not already in possession of.”
That’s creepy…
Heskel grunted.
“I do not care if it sounds creepy, it is simply the truth,” the Absolute said, making it clear the masked man had made a comnt similar to Adam’s thoughts.
The To Keeper turned his gaze back to him and said, “The Watcher rewards us for guiding players like yourself through its Trials, so I must ask you to seek the Godstone on my behalf. If you survive and obtain it, I shall reward you a second boon as a sign of my favour.”
Adam was about to ask what he ant, but the Absolute continued and said, “Do not tell Elia about
and our eting in this loop. I am allowed to intervene, though I would prefer not to, so do not violate this simple rule of mine.”
Heskel’s stare intensified and Adam had a new fear added to his list, since the thought of an Absolute’s ‘intervention’ sounded positively horrifying.
“Understood,” Adam said.
Then he blinked involuntarily and was suddenly standing in the centre of Interim Island without even an announcent from the System.
He had the feeling that his eting with the To Keeper was sothing beyond the control of the All-Seeing Watcher.
That was crazy…
But I think I chose a good Absolute to worship.
At his feet was the spidersilk sack stacked high with relics, and he was once again wearing his gear and weapons. The cube had also reappeared next to him.
Oh, thank God. I was worried my trick with the sack wouldn’t work this ti around.
Suddenly, silvery scales fluttered down around him and ti froze. He knew it was ti to et the white moth and see what new things she had for sale.
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