"Do you want to know the people you're up against?" Emelia started off asking him.

"Tell me what weapon Willow has," he said.

She gave him a worried look. It was obvious that she didn't believe that it was possible to save anyone in Stage Five, but she kept her thoughts to herself for now.

"She uses the level 12 Longshot bow, which has increased damage based on the distance an arrow travels. For Relics she has the Blink Ring, Barrage Glove, First Strike Earring, Sanctuary Defender's Robe, and the Captain's Cape. She seems to focus on damage and draw speed."

"The guy who killed me last loop had the Blink Ring too," Adam said.

She nodded. "It is quite effective up close in a confined space, but it takes a lot of skill to use at range. However, Willow normally dies to two other Players that team up, according to what you told me last loop."

Adam frowned.

Emelia continued, "The pair who team up are the biggest hurdle. It's a man and a woman. The man has the Assassin evolution of Backstabber and focuses on Speed. The woman has the level 12 Crusader evolution of Priest. If you take out the Assassin first, you'll be fine, but if he can get close you'll be in trouble since he has an affliction-focused setup."

"And the last two?" he asked.

"One has some evolution of the Berserker weapons, but I'm not sure what it does. The other is an unevolved Lancer. I've been watching them, and it doesn't seem like either has much of a plan for what they're doing. They both died to the duo last loop. You should watch out for the Berserker if you run into him though, since he has the Purple Slime Glove."

"The Berserker dual-wields weapons, right?"

"That's right. This guy still has axes, but I know it's possible to get dual swords or chains."

"Chains?"

"From what I've been told they're like whips," she explained. "They sounded difficult to use."

"Do you know why the Priest and Backstabber team up?" Adam asked.

"I don't. You never told me," she replied. "I've been watching them through the Tavern, but it doesn't seem like they're talking to each other, so I think Five is the first time they meet."

"Is it unreasonable to try and save them all?" Adam wondered.

"Yes," she replied honestly.

He sighed.

The All-Seeing System told us to defy it. There has to be a way to avoid killing each other!

"However," she started and Adam's ears perked up, "it is possible there is some way to dual-claim the Altar."

"Really??" he asked. "How?"

"I'll have to explain how Worship works first."

"Okay?"

"The thing is, there are fifteen potential Absolutes to worship. But you don't just get to pick and choose. You must fulfil their requirements for them to be options, and several are unknown to me."

"In my vision from the Orb of Insight, I saw eleven small plinths and four big ones."

"The big ones are for the strongest of the Absolutes, as far as I can tell," Emelia explained. "Of the four, I know three, and they are 'The First Light', 'The Eternal Serpent', and 'The Void'. The Serpent appears to anyone who has looped twice, the Void seems to always show up, and the First Light appears after finding the Brazier behind the Player House, but only if you haven't killed other Players or island Denizens."

"You don't know what the fourth one is?"

Emelia shook her head. "Even Arturo didn't know how to make it appear."

"What are the rest that you know?" he asked.

"I don't know the unlock conditions for each of them, but these are the ones I'm fairly sure about: 'The All-Mother' appears if you save Belamouranthe; 'Nharlla' appears if you've killed three Players; 'Nwetrou' obviously shows up if you have the Abyssal Tooth; 'Messimer' always shows up like the Void; and 'Morrligt' appears if you've used fire magic to kill something. Last loop, 'Masked Courtesan' showed up for me but I'm not yet sure why."

I wonder if the way I killed the Aristocrat counts for Morrligt, but otherwise the kills with my summons should count, thanks to the True Flame's Icon.

"So, counting the one big Absolute, there are six you still don't know about? Arturo didn't know either?" Adam asked.

"I do know two others, but not how to make them appear. They're 'The Flayed Lady' and 'The Guardian'. Arturo also didn't know what the missing four were. I think their conditions are really obscure or difficult."

"When we first met, you asked me what the Void does," Adam recalled. "What was the answer?"

Emelia looked away before saying, "It kills you."

"What's the point of that?" he asked.

"It permanently kills you."

Adam blinked.

Oh…

He realised why she wouldn't meet his eyes.

The Void is probably the only way for me to escape my death-loop…

"What about Nharlla?" he then asked, changing the subject. "You said something about a human mimic?"

"All of the Absolutes give you a boon when you first Worship them, but they also give you a curse or some demerit. Nharlla allows you to rearrange your stats, enabling you to take one value of an attribute and swap it with another. It's extremely useful, and many Players choose to Worship him. He usually shows up as an option since the winner of Stage Five tends to kill at least three other Players to claim the Altar."

"They pick it even though they know they'll be cursed with a mimic?" Adam asked, surprised.

It is definitely a useful power, but the thought of having to encounter whatever the hell a human mimic is sounds like it'd deter a lot of people.

"They don't know," Emelia replied. "The negative effects are usually unknown. I only know about the link between Nharlla and the mimic thanks to Arturo. But I know what the demerits are for the Serpent, the First Light, and the All-Mother. The Serpent doubles the duration of effects on the Player, both positive and negative. The First Light makes it so you take damage if you injure another Player. And picking the All-Mother gives you a soul wing like what the Elphin have. It's a pretty serious weak point, since any damage dealt to it cannot be healed between Stages and attacks against it bypass your Defence."

"What do you usually pick?" Adam asked.

"Messimer," she said. "But this will be the first time that the Serpent is available to me, so I might pick it instead."

"You pick Messimer even though you don't know what the weakness is?"

"I don't think it's something major, and the Appraisal skill and improved eyesight are super helpful."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

That does sound useful. An Appraisal skill probably makes it so much easier to assess dangers, at least if it works like I'm assuming it does.

"Should I pick that too?" Adam asked.

"I don't know," she said. "The last two loops, when you were using the Warrior weapon, you picked Nharlla to swap your stats around for more Health and Speed. It always resulted in you having to fight the mimic in Stage Six."

"What did Arturo usually pick?"

"Morrligt," Emelia answered.

"What does he give?"

"You start off with receiving the Sun Flare spell. It's like a fireball, except it deals sun damage. I think it could be very good for Stage Eight."

"That sounds powerful. Wait, what do you mean by 'start off with'? Are there more boons than that?"

"After Stage Ten you can upgrade your Worship or switch to another. As you find more Altars in later Stages you can continue to upgrade your Worship. If you upgrade, you get another boon but also a new weakness. The second weakness for Messimer is pretty bad."

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's not important right now," she told him.

"I disagree," he said. "Knowing future demerits could change things."

"None of them are bad enough to kill you outright, and it's more important you pick one that benefits you, rather than worrying too much about whatever weaknesses it might have. All of the boons come with weaknesses after all."

"Can't you just tell me?" he asked.

Emelia's expression softened and she finally explained, "Messimer's second weakness turns your eyes into weak points and prevents you from wearing anything to cover them. Even a small hit to the face can deal over a hundred points of damage because of it. Anyway, it seems Messimer is a God associated with eyes."

"Just like the System," Adam replied.

"What do you mean?" Emelia asked, clearly confused.

Adam paused. "You haven't seen it between loops?"

"Seen what?"

"The All-Seeing System. It refers to the cubes as its 'eyes' and it's clearly responsible for all the weird eye-based symbolism. Skǫll called it 'The Watcher' which seems a lot more fitting."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "I see nothing except the spiral when I loop."

The spiral? What the hell is that?

"When I died and looped last time, I talked to him. The Watcher."

"Do you think he's one of the missing Absolutes?" she asked.

Adam shook his head. "It sounds like, from what Skǫll was saying, that the All-Seeing System is the 'organiser' of the Trials of Defiance. The other Absolutes might be participants, like sponsors or something."

"And the audience are their spawn and misbegotten demon offspring," she added.

Adam frowned at the thought.

But it is fitting that such a cruel game is to be observed by Gods and Demons.

"Anyway," Emelia said, bringing the conversation back on topic, "I think if you want to save Willow, you should try and claim the Altar together."

"How does claiming work?"

"You have to touch the stone orb that's in the middle of the Altar. It will drain some of your Health to activate, but don't worry, it won't prevent you from getting the Flawless bonus since it doesn't count as an attack."

"What about the layout of the Stage?" he asked. "I saw from the Orb of Insight that the Altar itself is in a cave."

"It can change a little bit, depending on how many Players participate. The default is five, but sometimes there are six. I think it has to do with who survives and who doesn't. Probably Beck will end up as the sixth in his Stage since he normally dies in Stage Two.

"Each Player goes down a stairwell and these are arranged in a circle around the cave with the Altar inside. It only has one entrance and all the stairwell chambers lead into tunnels that come together into chambers."

Adam nodded. "And those chambers lead to new tunnels that lead to other chambers."

"It's meant to be a maze and the ambushing Statue Elementals are supposed to slow people down. But you'll always get one or two Players that just take off running immediately. It's better to be methodical and take your time, otherwise you'll easily fall into traps. Besides, you have at least five minutes to get to the Altar if someone claims it, and it's pretty difficult to defend, since it's so open."

"Unless whoever claims it first has a ranged weapon or traps," Adam added.

"That's only kind of true. There are several Statue Elementals in the tunnel that leads to the Altar and they always get dragged into the cavern by whoever goes in first."

"Wait a moment," Adam said, realising something. "If there are supposed to only be five people in the Stage, why do I have six in mine?"

"I don't know," Emelia replied.

Then he remembered something else. "In my Remembrance, there was a time-looper called Souleyman. Apparently he helped me survive Stage Eight once. I had a memory of you and I discussing it in the Tavern before Stage Nine."

Emelia's eyes widened. "How??"

"I don't know, the explanation was completely impossible to understand."

She sighed deeply. "That's right, I forgot it did that… But I've never even heard of someone called Souleyman."

"Do you think he was a time-looper before Arturo?" Adam asked.

Emelia didn't immediately respond and she was looking off to the side. Then she turned back to face him.

"There's no one by that name," she said.

I forgot to even check…

But then again, he had immediately been invited to talk by Gladwyn when he got to the Tavern after seeing the past memories.

"Maybe it was a nickname," Adam guessed.

"Or we're missing his last name," she said. "What did he look like?"

"He was apparently a kind-looking African man. I never actually saw him in the memories."

"I don't know any African Player who goes by that name," she replied. "But I'm relieved to hear that it's possible for you to survive Stage Eight. My plan for this loop was going to be quite grim."

"How so?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now."

Emelia then went on to describe the exact layout he could expect from Stage Five. She also told him the approximate location of the statue that could be activated with the Skyblue Pearl, as well as the hallway with the secret lever that led to the chamber with the stone spear. According to what the past version of him had told her, he started on the northern side of the Stage. From what he could gather based on the descriptions, the place he'd started in his last loop was on the south-western side. She didn't know where the other Players would start, but the northern stairwell was the one furthest from the other five, hence why Adam had apparently always reached the Altar around the time the others were almost dead in the past.

"What do I do about the Secrets?" he asked. The pearl statue was on the way to the Altar, but the hallway to the spear was a detour since it was closest to the eastern stairwell.

"You should grab the map if it's safe to do so, but hold off on seeking out the stone spear, unless you can convince Willow not to fight you. If all other Players are dead and you claim the Altar, then the Stage will end. If it comes to that, you should hold off on claiming it and try it out."

"Is the fight for the spear difficult?" he asked. "I saw what looked like Elphin guarding it."

"I'll have to get the Orb of Insight next," Emelia said. "It really showed you everything. But yes, the fight with the Deathguard can be tough since there are three bosses to deal with. And they're fast."

"I don't think I'll have trouble with them even if they're fast," he said confidently. "After I evolved both the Summoner and Shaper last Stage, my power really spiked. Invoker gave me an extra summon and Fusionist allows me to combine two barriers to get a single barrier with double stats. And I think I can chain the fusions together to combine several elements if I can get additional summons."

"I don't really understand what that means," she admitted.

"After I survive Stage Five, I will show you," he said.

Emelia paused and some unintelligible emotion flashed across her face.

"I thought you didn't want me to visit you again," she then said, her voice quite small.

"You just surprised me and I felt like I was put on the spot. Sorry."

"But you used the Scale?" she asked.

"I did. It was quite unsettling, but also eye-opening. Did you get it from Luvicidix?"

"Yes. It is unlocked after Five, alongside the Challenge Stone from Alivida."

"I see."

A long pause followed where neither of them spoke.

Then Emelia said, "I'm sorry. Even though you're not the Adam I know, I kept trying to force you to become like him."

Adam smiled slightly. "Time-looping is confusing, isn't it?"

"After I lost you in my last loop, I thought about giving up," she admitted. "The challenges and suffering now is nothing compared to what comes later. I've gone through it twice and I'm afraid of what it's doing to me."

"Why? What's coming?"

"The Stages get longer and more complex and the dangers compound, making everybody paranoid. Stage Eight where you always die is the first sign of that."

"Moonport, right?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's a beautiful city on the water, but the objective is to find and kill a coven of vampires. During the day you hunt for clues, and at night you have to hide. It breaks a lot of Players' psyche, especially since Seven is like a fantasy paradise to many, so the contrast is hard to handle. And it's so easy to make a mistake and have the townsfolk or even Players turn into thralls you must kill… I hate that Stage, not just because it always takes you away from me. And it's just the start. Once the Stages begin lasting several weeks, it completely screws up your sense of self. Every one of the Stages past Ten requires you to envelope yourself in their worlds, only to then be abruptly pulled away when they're done."

"Several weeks!?" Adam exclaimed.

"As I say, the Stages get longer and longer. Five lasts thirty minutes. Six is a full day. Seven lasts three days. Eight lasts five days. And Stage Nine is a full week."

Fucking hell…

But it matches the trend of the System getting more and more powerful as time progresses and Players perish.

"You won't be alone to deal with those Stages this time around," he told her. "I'm not planning on dying in Stage Eight. I've gotten really strong in this loop already, so I feel quite confident about my chances."

"Survive the Altar first, then I'll believe you," she said with a small smile. "Did you buy a medium healing potion yet?"

"No, I was thinking of—"

"Don't be an idiot," she scolded him.

"It's 500 Points!" he complained.

"Did you spend all your Points already?"

"No, but—"

"Then no excuses!" she interrupted him. "Go get yourself that potion!"

Adam sighed with a smile. "Fine," he said.

"After that, you should go practice against the dummy in the Player House. If you set it to mimic the Forlorn Captain, it will be a good substitute for another Player. Try to see if you can find a way to defeat it in one hit. You've got the First Strike Earring so it should be possible."

Adam saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

Emelia laughed.

"What time should I visit you tomorrow?" she then asked.

The memory of how Emelia and his past self had met after every Stage to go on dates popped into his mind, and he paused for a moment, thinking. "Let's first meet through the Tavern after I'm done in the Market."

"Okay," she replied. Her expression didn't let anything show, but he couldn't help but wonder if she was disappointed by his answer.

They said their goodbyes and Adam left for the market to buy the healing potion like she'd told him.

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