The ground trembled and the treeline shook as the massive Slothling Ogre broke through. The trees toppled and blocked off the path it's huge body had made. Even though Adam had defeated it before, the sight was no less intimidating.

The four-metre tall ogre pulled itself forward on its two massive arms and basically dragged its small legs along behind it. First time he'd seen it, he'd thought it was like a gorilla with the way it walked, but he now felt that its posture wasn't actually comparable. The legs were feeble, incapable of holding up its weight properly and so it was forced to rely on its bulky arms to move.

Adam immediately shot the screw-shaped barrier at the ogre's fuzzy black torso, aiming to avoid its lower body, legs, and arms which were covered in the dense bone-white armour. It had been incredibly difficult to pierce during his last loop, so instead he focused on where he knew he could deal damage.

KHA-KHA-KHA! the beast laughed, its violet eyes transfixing him while its needle-toothed underbite smirked at his obvious discomfort.

As the screw shape spun through the air, Adam backed away from the giant and tried to maintain enough awareness of it to not get himself squashed. He managed to pierce it through the side of its torso with his barrier and it dug in quite deep. But then he lost control of the transformation and the shape unfolded violently.

The ogre groaned in pain and Adam switched tactics, turning the barrier into the many-toothed sawblade and sending it at the monster's neck while spinning.

A deep thrum emanated from the barrier as it spun, but when it struck the ogre's neck, a crack formed. Then the Dented Crown triggered Fervour and the saw glowed red, while picking up speed.

Black fur and blood spattered from its neck as he continued to press his barrier into it, but then the ogre reached up and grabbed the disc with its left arm, before smashing it into the ground.

Adam lost sight of the barrier under the ogre's fist and, since he still relied on visual contact to manipulate it, it returned to its square shape. But the monster was strong enough that it could not fully unfold below the weight of its arm.

Then the Fervour expired and the barrier exploded under the ogre's palm.

It groaned in pain again and swung its arm out in retaliation. Adam was far enough away to avoid it, but the powerful clawed fist tore through a few trees and sent them toppling in his direction.

Oh shit!

He summoned a barrier above himself just before a falling tree crushed him. The impact against his spell was enough to crack it, which triggered Fervour and turned it red.

Adam angled the barrier so that the tree slipped off, then he flung it towards the ogre and gave it a narrow cone shape.

The mini boss swung to try and grab the spell, but Adam manoeuvred it around its arm and hammered it into the soft furry flesh right behind the shoulder joint. Then he let it unfold like an umbrella and the result was devastatingly-gory. Fur, flesh, and blood shot out in all directions, and the ogre's left arm separated from its body.

But Adam wasn't done. He pulled the barrier back a bit and shaped it into the cone again. Then he hammered it into the bloodied tissue where the shoulder joint had been, burying the barrier as deep as it would go inside the ogre's body.

When he lost sight of it, it unfolded into a square, the Fervour expiring at the same time and his Cruel Summoner's Gauntlets making it explode like a glass grenade.

KHA—! the Slothling Ogre started, but then its voice died in its throat along with the light vanishing from its eyes.

The mini boss collapsed onto the forest floor with such an impact that the ground bounced Adam half a metre and three nearby trees toppled over, compromised by Adam sawing through their trunks earlier.

That could've gone smoother… he thought to himself. But he knew he'd managed to kill it pretty quickly.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 25 seconds.]

Any slower than that and I wouldn't have gotten the rarity upgrade.

The ogre's soul essence flew out from its corpse. It was the size of a crow, whereas the ones from the imps and golem had been like sparrows, and the ones from the dummy had been like fireflies.

Adam watched as the soul essence flew into his lantern.

Then a loud shriek filled the air and a wraith shot out from his Relic, bound by a tendril to the pale-blue flame within the small black lantern on his belt. Despite being fuelled by far more potent soul essence than ever before, it wasn't any bigger. However, the wraith seemed more 'complete' than before.

Without a target for her ire, the wraith just floated on the spot and slowly turned to face him. She seemed less monstrous this time around, as the details of her face and clothes were clearer. Her face was angular and her mouth wide with the purple-blue lips of a corpse. Her eyes had black irises and her eyebrows were thin. Her slender neck ran down to an emaciated body clad in a transparent dress. Last time her body had been a blur, but now he could make out the individual folds of her clothes.

After a couple of seconds of looking at Adam, the wraith just simply broke apart into snowflakes. They drifted to the ground where frost already coated the tips of the grass and moss in ice. It apparently didn't count as a 'death', since the effect of his Gauntlets didn't trigger.

As expected, it was a total waste since it was summoned after the wave completed…

That being said, it's good to know that it needs to absorb 5 souls to trigger, no matter what. Makes it easier to plan around.

< < Wave Four Complete > >

< Choose your Upgrade >

Adam let out a deep sigh before sitting down on the ground. The Eye unfolded itself next to him, having patiently waited for the wraith to dissipate before getting on with business.

I should've completed the first step of the Secret Boss unlock conditions, since I've completed the first four Waves in 55 seconds, which is well within the 100-second limit.

Next I've gotta kill Ezral's four waves of summons in quick succession to trigger him to summon the Secret Boss. I'm guessing that I have to wait to cut off the arm holding the Secret Relic until afterwards, since it seems to be how he summons stuff. Emelia didn't mention anything about it, so I'll just play it safe.

I do wonder if I need to wait until after killing the Secret Boss before I cut off his arm or not. The Imp summon it creates would definitely be useful in the fight against it.

Adam remembered how Carsten had explained the Relic to him, and he knew it would be powerful when combined with the Dented Crown. He was still a bit bitter about the fact that he'd missed the opportunity to get it last loop, but this time he had a much better setup for it.

If I can evolve Summoner and get double summons, then it would be truly powerful.

He looked at the upgrade podium.

Ah shit, I forgot to switch to the wand…

He'd been too distracted by the wraith.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Rare) — Increases barrier health by 35% >

< Manipulation Effect (Epic) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 50% >

< Luck (Epic) — Increases luck by 5 >

Adam blinked in surprise.

Wait, huh… Two Epics!?

All three options were actually good for once.

If I select Manipulation Effect, it should greatly boost my ability to fight with the barrier.

He was fairly sure that his current way of using the barrier wasn't the most optimal and speculated that if he could fold it more than once, then he'd be able to use it like a telekinetic arrow that could pierce almost anything. Emelia had said that Arturo was able to fold the barrier into a needle, so he'd probably focused on maximising Manipulation Effect.

But man… Luck is so tempting.

[10 seconds remaining.]

Adam ran through the pros and cons of picking either, but the choice was obvious.

I don't need the immediate power boost here and now, so there is more value to be had in the long run from increasing my Luck. I currently have 10 points in total. Sooner-or-later I should be able to hit the threshold for where all options are guaranteed Rare.

Then he suddenly remembered the stats from the Fool. He hadn't thought about that Weapon Type in a while, but he had a sudden epiphany as it re-entered his mind.

The next threshold has to be 25!

The Lucky Bracelet Relic probably just works by adding 25 Luck to a Player's stats, which ensures that all options are Rare quality or higher.

I just need 10 more to reach that point, and given the self-reinforcing nature of Luck, that should be easier the more I have.

[5 seconds remaining.]

"I'll pick Luck," he said.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Luck (Epic) >

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Adam rolled his shoulders.

Alright, I know what the first three waves of summons are, but no clue about the fourth.

I've gotta stay on my toes for this one.

There's three wolves to start off with, then two, and then an imp. That means the wraith will trigger off the second wave of summons. I can't really control it, so I'm not sure how to avoid it going right for Ezral and I've gotta keep him alive to summon the Secret Boss…

Maybe I can position myself in a way that the wraith will go for the imp instead.

Though I might have to keep one wolf alive to time it properly.

He took a deep breath.

I can do this.

< < Wave Five > >

< 240-Second Timer >

The treeline started to rustle and he shaped the barrier into the narrow cone with a hole at the end for better aerodynamics.

It produced a woosh when he swung it through the air as fast as he could.

I'll go for the closest wolf, he decided.

Then the trees shook again and liquid red snouts poked out of the treeline, before the three wolves all hopped out at the same time.

Less than a second later, his barrier lanced through the central wolf's neck, just behind the baseball-sized stone core in its head. He unfurled the cone and exploded its body across the trees.

As the other two bounded for him, he flung his barrier into the right one, slicing it in half with the unshaped barrier. Even though the wolves had the same ability to harden as the golem, it seemed they could not defend against what they couldn't see.

Although, I'm not actually sure where their 'eyes' are.

The severed wolf collapsed, but wasn't defeated, since enough of its liquid body remained attached to the core.

Adam couldn't swing the barrier back around fast enough to protect himself from the last wolf, so he summoned a new one in front of himself.

The blood elemental struck the barrier hard and left a small crack, before bouncing onto its back. It hadn't dealt enough damage to trigger Last Stand's Fervour.

Adam quickly shaped the spell into a sawblade and sliced through the wolf's body. Even though it hardened its outer layer, it could not withstand the many teeth of his spinning saw and he easily carved it into pieces, until there was not enough of its liquid body left to keep it alive.

While he finished off the one that had survived being cut in half, Ezral emerged from the trees, accompanied by two more wolves. The soul essences of the three wolves flew into the Wraith Lantern, while their intact cores were left behind where they'd died.

Like the first time Adam had encountered him, Ezral wore a stained grey travel cloak over a dark-blue shirt and black pants. The hood of the cloak covered his head in shadows and black tattoos swirled around on his hands. In his left hand was the Secret Relic, which looked like an old dried worm that had a purple string around its middle. The violet leashes on the wolves connected to the worm Relic.

Adam immediately flung the barrier into the wolf on his left, just as they both surged towards him. It died quickly with his stab-and-furl technique and its soul essence went into his lantern. A moment later he cut the other one in half, but made sure not to kill it so that the wraith wouldn't be triggered early.

"Give me the girl!" Ezral demanded and raised the dried worm, which started to glow violet.

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want her," Adam replied.

"You have no idea what she will unearth! In my care, the world will not have to suffer!"

Adam was forced to move the barrier in front of himself as the summoner flung a rapid blood dart at him. It struck Adam's defence, but didn't stop.

The spell pierced through the barrier with ease, penetrating Adam's shoulder and exiting out his back, before getting lodged in the trunk of a tree behind him.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, dropping to a knee. The pain was immense. It felt like hooks were pulling open the narrow wound even after the attack had finished, and his shoulder throbbed and cramped with every pulse of his heart.

[Warning! Health below 25%. You are close to dying.]

[You have been afflicted with Necrosis. Health recovery reduced by 50%.]

Shit!

The All-Mother's Wrath triggered and a dark-purple lightning bolt shot out of the strange pendant. It struck the boss, turning his skin sallow with dark veins.

Adam mentally prompted the damage readout, while fumbling with the pouch on his belt and trying to find cover behind a tree.

[The attack dealt 45 points of damage, which was reduced to 38 thanks to your Defence rating. That means you now have 12 Health or 24% remaining.]

Even though the spell had left a hole in the barrier, the impact hadn't actually dealt enough damage to break it. It was clearly designed to pierce armour and magical defences.

That was the attack that killed the drivers! he realised.

Adam finally managed to get the small healing potion out of the pouch and drank it, while using a tree as cover.

[Small Healing Potion consumed! Healing effect halved due to Necrosis Affliction. Recovering Health back to 44%.]

If I take another hit I'll die…

"I am doing this for the good of all!" Ezral yelled and started mumbling something into the worm idol. The violet glow flew off to the side where it took on two separate shapes.

Two imps!?

Emelia didn't say anything about this!

She also didn't mention the piercing attack!

The change in the boss' summons had to be because Adam was going fast enough to be able to trigger the secret summon. As for the special attack, it was likely a response to Adam attacking from afar, which would explain why Emelia didn't know about the attack, since she used a melee-focused build.

To make matters worse, Ezral was already invoking the next summon, which was no doubt going to be stronger.

He better not summon another ogre!

Adam flung the barrier out and killed the blood wolf just as it had finished rebuilding most of its body. Its soul essence flew towards him, while the two new summons appeared in front of the blood mage.

I'm screwed if the wraith goes straight for the boss, Adam realised.

A loud shriek filled the air and the bark of the tree Adam hid behind was covered in a layer of frost as the wraith emerged from the lantern on his belt. Unlike after the ogre, she was a bit less detailed, perhaps because the mini boss' soul had contributed a lot more essence.

She immediately flew towards the closest imp, trailing snowflakes as she moved. The imp was looking right at Adam when she swung her claws through it, leaving nasty cuts all up its round torso. As the Last Stand's Fervour triggered, following her opening attack, she started glowing red and went absolutely berserk on the imp with a flurry of slashes. The minor demon tried to fight back but was unable to hit the ghost.

The other imp ignored the wraith and launched itself at Adam. He didn't have the time to turn its momentum against it and was instead forced to use his barrier as a shield. Its flying slash was caught by the magical defence and left a big crack, triggering Fervour as well. The imp bounded off the barrier with a flip, but, before it could launch at Adam again, the wraith came up behind it and tore it to shreds.

Adam flung his barrier out, shaping it into a sawblade and cutting the imp's torso in half. Its soul essence, along with that of the first, flowed into the lantern.

The wraith turned around and flew at the summoner, only a couple seconds left on her Fervour. Adam's barrier would blow up any second now as well.

Just then, Ezral finished his new summoning spell and two coconut-sized stones appeared in front of him, before blood-red liquid emerged from within them and took shape around the cores. He had summoned blood golems.

The wraith exploded right in front of the golems, freezing both of them solid. Adam's barrier was behind her and struck the golem on the right, before it too exploded. The elemental burst into tiny shards of frozen blood and its core was destroyed.

Ezral stumbled back a step and yelled, "You have left me no other choice!"

He put his right hand over the worm Relic and blood fell down onto it from a hole that opened in his palm, causing a bright violet glow to emanate.

That's it! He's summoning the Secret Boss!

Adam summoned a new barrier and flung it forward to destroy the last golem. Their essences joined the imps' and Adam knew that Ezral's soul would be the fifth and final one to summon another wraith to take on the giant bat.

He backed away and started destroying the half-severed trees around him, creating a domino effect as they toppled into each other. Within five seconds he'd cleared half of the area of trees and the shadows cast by their canopies.

Then the glow from Ezral's worm idol shot forward onto the ground where it took on a massive shape. A purple leash formed around the neck of its large head, but the bond immediately broke, with the summoner grimacing. It seemed he'd lost control of it.

Adam sent his barrier forward in the shape of a spinning saw and quickly severed Ezral's left wrist, causing him to drop the Secret Relic. Then, before he could react and raise a blood shield to defend himself, Adam moved the saw up through his torso and neck, killing him. It was clear the Lethargy caused by the All-Mother's Wrath had dulled his reactions.

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Dwarf Nightwing >

< Wave Timer extended to 150 seconds >

The summoning had finished and before Ezral's gutted corpse stood a towering six-metre tall bat. It's hide was reddish-brown and covered in bristly black hairs, and its head was as big as one of the blood golems. It leaned forward on the claws at the end of its wings, with its feet pressing its weight into the ground. Malevolent violet light glowed from its eyes, but if not for its size, it would've been very close to a fruit bat in terms of appearance.

Adam pulled his barrier into the back of the boss, producing a loud shriek from it in response. Then the soul essence from Ezral's body, which was as large as the ogre's, entered his Wraith Lantern and a new shriek filled the forest.

With a single flap of its massive wings, the Nightwing leapt across the area and landed within the shadows cast by the remaining trees, somehow careful enough not to topple them over. The wraith immediately chased after it.

Adam feared the boss would go directly for Belamouranthe, but its eyes were locked on him. It seemed that without Ezral's control, it was just like a wild animal.

He quickly went over to the summoner's corpse and picked up the worm idol. For a second he thought it might turn to ash in his hands, but then the System announcement appeared.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Fetish of Sloth (Rare) — Summons a Slothling Imp to perform a single attack on designated target. 1-Stage cooldown >

The wraith reached it and swung its claws at the beast, but they just phased right through its body as if it wasn't there. In return, the bat grabbed the wraith with one of its feet and crushed it against the ground, triggering the Dented Crown's effect.

Adam didn't want to waste the wraith like that, so he put the barrier behind his back and pushed himself towards the Secret Boss. It seemed content to just wait for him in the darkness, even though it would be a bigger threat if it went on the offensive.

Adam came to a skidding halt 10 metres from it and flung his barrier out to strike the trees, creating a new domino chain of collapse that robbed the Nightwing of its precious darkness. When the last shadows disappeared from the beast, the wraith was finally able to strike back at the boss pinning her down.

At the same time Adam activated his new Relic by squeezing the dried worm in his right hand. Violet light shot out in front of him and manifested a Slothling Imp identical to the ones he'd fought, even down to the violet leash connecting it to the Fetish.

The imp cackled and then launched itself at the boss. Adam also flung his barrier forward while shaping it into the narrow cone, hoping to strike the bat in the head to instantly kill it.

The Nightwing was about to leap out of the imp's path, but then the wraith exploded and froze its legs together. Adam's summoned demon tore through the boss' right wing as it flew past. Then, instead of vanishing like it was supposed to, the Dented Crown also triggered the Fervour on it and it cackled even louder. With renewed power and speed, his imp launched itself at the Nightwing's back, while the monster tried to break the ice binding its feet.

The moment that the red-glowing imp struck its back and carved through part of its left wing, Adam's barrier struck its neck, digging deep.

Then he unfolded the barrier and the Nightwing's neck immediately exploded.

The boss died before it could even launch a single attack.

[Well done! You cleared the Wave within 40 seconds.]

The imp jumped around on top of the corpse until its Fervour timer expired, then it popped like a flesh-and-fur balloon, showering the area in gore.

If you know the gimmick, then the boss really isn't a big deal. But the waves of summons preceding it might have been hard to deal with if I didn't have this current setup.

This time, Adam remembered to switch to the wand before the pop-up arrived. The Fetish of Sloth moved from his right hand to his left, as the spell-tome went to his hip and the wand appeared in his hand. It was clear the new Relic wasn't a trinket he could just hang from his belt, but instead seemed to be categorised as an off-hand weapon of sorts.

< < Wave Five Complete > >

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

Adam was excited to see what score he would get, but as the adrenaline rushed out of his bloodstream, he immediately started to feel the pain in his shoulder. It throbbed insistently and cold sweat ran down his neck and back as a result. It was a different kind of pain from the rest he'd experienced so far. The Necrosis affliction was quite a nasty debuff it seemed.

< < Score > >

< 95 Seconds Completion Time >

< 600 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 300 Point Speedrun Bonus added >

< 150 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 38 Damage Received >

< 2406 Points Awarded >

Damn, that's barely any higher than last loop…

I would've gotten almost 3000 Points if I'd known about the unblockable spell.

Adam winced as his shoulder throbbed again.

Also, I would've been dead if Ezral had fired that dart at my head…

I suppose it's for the best that I discovered that my barrier is not bulletproof now, rather than during Stage Four or Five, but it's still hard not to feel bitter about.

He sighed and sat down, while the Eye unfolded itself into a podium and the Relic Chest appeared next to it.

I just need a few minutes, then I'll be ready again…

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