Adam spotted Emelia waiting next to the Altar from the sky and descended towards her on a spiralling trajectory.

It took her a moment to notice his approach, and when she did she looked absolutely confused.

After Adam landed and got off the barrier, she said, "I had no idea you could do that."

"Arturo never showed it to you?"

"No…"

"Weird, I thought for sure he'd be zooming around on his barrier like this as well. It's super convenient."

"Is this the power of the Fusionist?" she asked.

Adam nodded.

"Let me show you."

He resummoned his barriers and flipped them horizontally.

"If I try to have a barrier carry me normally, it'll break," he explained.

He sat down on one of them and, sure enough, it immediately cracked, triggering Last Stand's Fervour. After letting 10 seconds pass, the barrier shattered and vanished, leaving him with just one left.

"The power of the Fusionist is that I can combine the barrier with spells and magical attacks. Like this," he said and triggered the Blood Fist Ring. Then he moved the remaining barrier into the blood spike while activating the fusion. It was immediately absorbed into the barrier, turning it crimson and making it a strange crystallised form of blood.

"And it absorbs the effects of the spell?" she asked, awed by what she was seeing. It was clear Arturo had kept secrets from her, since there was no way he hadn't been using the Fusionist, given that it was clearly the best evolution of Shaper.

"It gains both the strengths and weaknesses of what it absorbs, so that means that anyone with the Fiendbarb can destroy this barrier in one hit, because it's now considered a blood spell. However, the most interesting part is what happens when you fuse two barriers together."

Adam resummoned his barriers and combined them. Then he flipped the fused barrier horizontally and sat down on it. Although a small crack formed, it did not break.

"Wow," she muttered. "Warder is a lot stronger than I thought."

"To be fair," Adam replied, "it only works this way because of the additional summon created by Invoker."

Emelia paused. "Would you mind taking off your mask? It's kind of creepy."

Adam blinked. He'd gotten so used to its narrow field of view that he'd forgotten he was even wearing it.

He took it off and put it in his Spidersilk Sack attached to his belt.

"That's better," she said. "Thank you for showing me how Fusionist works. I might try it out next…" She stopped herself before she could finish the sentence, but it was clear what she'd meant to say.

Adam quickly changed the topic and said, "So I got 6,450 Points from Stage Five and all the Relics I sold. I already invested 5,000 Points into the Cheat Death upgrade from Luvicidix."

She nodded. "That was a good decision. After Stage Seven you can invest Points into permanent Health and Defence upgrades, which I think is a better investment, but Cheat Death is still a great pick."

"Do you think it'll help me survive Stage Eight?"

"Not on its own," she replied.

"Why not?"

"It's more than likely that the group you end up with there loses most of its Players before the end. The final fight of that Stage is incredibly difficult and basically impossible to solo, even if you manage to weaken the Patriarch."

"I'm a lot stronger now than I was then," Adam replied confidently.

"Strength will only get you so far," she replied. "You know what Arturo told me? He said that he and I only made it as far as we did because we were lucky. Maybe if you manage to get all the permanent Meta Upgrades to boost Damage, Health, and so forth, as well as maxing out Saved Relic Slots to bring back a Legendary Relic, then perhaps you'll be able to solo some of the Stages before Ten."

"Is it really that bad?" he asked.

"They make the Stages group-based for a reason," she replied. "Anyway, enough about that. You wanted to know how best to spend your remaining Points, right?"

"That's right," he said before patting the barrier he was sitting on. "It'll be faster if we use this."

Emelia eyed the barrier sceptically. "There's a crack in it… I doubt it'll be able to carry us both."

"You don't look that heavy," he joked. She still didn't seem convinced, so he added, "I will keep it low to the ground so we won't plummet to our deaths if it breaks."

"Please tell me you haven't been flying over the edge of the island with this thing," she replied.

Adam grinned.

Emelia shook her head and sat down on the back of the barrier, legs dangling over the edge.

The barrier held.

"See, no problem," he told her.

Adam shaped the front to give himself a handle and scooted forward a bit. Emelia didn't move though, so he grabbed her arm and pulled her all the way onto the barrier.

"Grab on to my waist," he told her.

She didn't hesitate and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Wait, why did you make a handle?" she asked. Then she realised why he'd asked her to hold on to him.

"Adam, I swear to God, if you—!"

Adam shot the barrier into the air and Emelia's words turned into a surprised scream.

Before she could convince him to land by force, Adam moved their barrier past the Player House and Lighthouse, and over the edge.

"Adam!" Emelia shouted in terror, but then she started laughing.

"There's something I've gotta show you," he told her and manoeuvred the flying barrier down below the edge. They continued down along the vertical cliffside and followed the tapering bottom of the island until they reached the creepy eye that Adam had seen.

Emelia's laughter died down.

"What the hell is that?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Adam replied. "But I think it means that the island is alive."

"I don't think you should mess with it," she said.

Adam wasn't so sure, and just replied, "Maybe you can find out why it's here and what it truly means."

Her grip tightened around his waist.

"Don't talk like you won't be around to help," she said.

"Don't worry," he replied. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."

She squeezed him a little harder.

After they returned to the surface and reached the Market, Adam showed Emelia the Relics he could get from Lucca, and she told him that the Choice Ring was worth way more than any upgrades he could buy.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Since you're doing a Summoner-based setup, you need to get as many of the good Relics from Stage Six as possible. There are a few that work like the Wraith Lantern, and several boost summonings and spells, which should help you a lot."

"What about rewards sharing? How would that work?"

"It's a mess," she replied honestly. "Every group does it differently, but yeah, if you find a chest, whoever opens it is the one who gets to pick the reward. If it's a Relic, they're allowed to give it to other members of their group, but if it's an upgrade it obviously won't work."

"I was wondering if I should use the Choice Ring alongside my Lucky Stone," Adam said.

Emelia nodded eagerly. "That's a really good idea. If you can get the Legendary Relic from the Stage, you could probably solo Stage Eight if you manage to weaken the Patriarch."

A Legendary??

"What does it do?" he asked, excited about the prospect.

"So, I haven't seen it myself and don't know the exact wording, but it replaces your hand and upgrades all your Summons somehow. Plus it lets you give them commands, which should be useful."

Adam grinned. "I need to get it. If I could give direct orders to my Slothling Imps and Winter Wraiths, then they'd be way more useful."

"If someone in your group gets it instead of you, you have to do whatever you can to get it from them," she said seriously.

"Even killing them?" he joked darkly.

"Yes."

Adam frowned.

"I'm serious," she said.

"I can tell."

"If you want to survive, you need all the power you can get."

"Do you make a habit of killing people for their loot?" he asked.

"No. But if I knew it would make the difference between surviving and dying, I would not hesitate, and neither should you."

"I thought you wanted to help people survive," he countered.

"Don't be naïve, Adam. It doesn't work like that and you know it. If you hadn't killed other Players in Stage Five, then you wouldn't be here."

Adam's frown deepened.

I know she's right, but the idea of killing someone for a Relic doesn't sit well with me.

"Of course, your first option should be to trade them for it," Emelia added. "I'm not saying you should just go for the jugular without any questions asked."

"I didn't think we could trade with other Players."

"You can trade Relics with the other people in a Stage with you. And if you get that Legendary, you can make a deal with the others, like giving them the rights to any future rewards you'd otherwise have gotten from the Stage or something. No matter what, you need to get it if it appears."

"Just out of curiosity, how much could you sell a Legendary Relic for with Lucca?" he asked.

"3,000 Points."

"Damn, that'll definitely cause issues…"

"If you do end up getting it," she said, "be prepared to fight to keep it. Epic and Legendary Relics in future Stages always cause fights over who gets them."

"You said that there's a problem with the Points distribution that Players learn about after Stage Six."

Emelia nodded. "It's a few things. The Flawless bonus is a per-Player basis, but the person who defends against the most damage on behalf of other Players gets a bonus worth double that of Flawless. On top of that, All Secrets, Secret Boss, Eradication, and optional Stage objectives all give Points based on participation. So like, if three out of five Players got all the Secrets, then they will get the bonus and the remaining two won't. Likewise, if some members didn't contribute to objectives with some kind of meaningful participation, then they won't get credit and the rewards are split between those who did.

"But, the main issue is the leaderboard and the Most-Valuable-Player trophy that the number one contributor gets. It always gives a lot of bonus Points and an Upgrade reward."

"When you say 'leaderboard', do you mean that it's possible to see what Points other members got?" Adam asked.

"That's right."

"Shit…"

"Jealousy, competitiveness, and greed always cause issues. My Stage Nine always has someone get a Legendary Relic and the last two times I've been unable to stop a fight from breaking out."

"That's the Stage where you meet Arturo, right?" Adam asked.

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She nodded. "That's right. Fortunately I got the Secret Boss because of him in my first loop, but if not for that it would be impossible, because the fight over the Legendary Relic always gets two Players killed…"

"By the way, I was wondering," Adam started, changing the subject, "I saw you had a beige-coloured bonus from Stage Five."

"It's the Pacifist bonus," she replied. "It's exclusive to Stages where Players have to fight each other. It was the last one I needed from Stage Five to get the Special Denizen."

"There's more than one Stage like that!?"

She nodded. "Stage Ten is technically not a Player Deathmatch, but Player deaths give a lot of Points to the survivors, outweighing the reward from the Pacifist bonus by quite a bit."

"How much is Pacifist worth?"

"800 Points in Stage Five and Ten. The issue is that, starting from Stage Six, you get bonus Points for killing other Players. It's 500 Points until Stage Ten where it's 1,000."

Adam frowned. "They're trying really hard to make us kill each other…"

"It's best you just focus on the challenge immediately in front of you. Leave the long-term strategising to me."

"If you say so," he replied, unconvinced.

Adam turned back to look at Lucca's shop. The spider was patiently waiting for him to buy one of the Relics visible as holograms above the open black chest.

"Are you able to buy stuff from my dimension?" Adam asked Emelia. It was something he'd been wondering about since seeing the past memories where she'd come to his world right after a Stage ended.

"I can see the things you can choose between," she said, "but if I want to buy something, it gives me results similar to my own dimension, with the same options as I would get there."

"That's convenient," Adam said.

"I think what's really happening when the Visiting Stone activates is that our dimensions collide and become one. All the denizens here know my name, after all."

"But what about the Special Denizens that you've unlocked, they haven't come with you," he said.

"That's true," she replied. "Upgrades to my Player House haven't either."

"You bought stuff for your house?" he asked, surprised.

"They persist across loops, so it's a worthwhile investment," she said.

"Really? Why would they persist?"

"It's thanks to an upgrade from Luvicidix. If you spend 5,000 Points or more on the Builder, a new upgrade shows up that lets you persist additions to the house. There's something similar for the Special Denizen Quests if you complete three of them in the same loop."

That's good to know.

"Are you buying the Choice Ring?" Lucca asked.

Adam turned back to the spider. "I am," he confirmed. "I'd like to sell my Glutton Collar and Committed Attack Ring as well."

"Excellent," she chittered.

< < Relics Sold > >

< Committed Attack Ring (Uncommon) >

< Glutton Collar (Uncommon) >

< 1750 Points Remaining >

< < Relic Purchased > >

< Choice Ring (Epic) >

< 750 Points Remaining >

The collar vanished from his neck and the ring on his right hand was replaced by the new one. It was a matte iron band with an orange stone that glowed faintly.

With Emelia in tow, Adam went over to Karie.

"How many Points did you end up getting from Five?" he asked.

"2,670," she replied. "Player kills each give 250 Points each, but it was worth it because I finally unlocked the Deathguard Special Denizen. He's a physical combat trainer, which is super useful, since he matches your skill level and can help you improve your fighting style."

"Is there one for magic too?" Adam asked.

"I would assume so," she replied, "but I have no idea which Stage would reward it."

Adam looked at the cricket vendor.

"Hi Adam!" she said.

"Show me your upgrades," he told her.

"Of course!"

"You could ask a bit nicer," Emelia scolded him.

"She doesn't mind," Adam said.

The cricket didn't comment and just waved an arm over her bubbling cauldron.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

< Venom (Epic) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 25% for 10 seconds >

< Force (Uncommon) — Attacks pierce armour by 10% >

< Dodge (Rare) — Grants a 15% chance to dodge a direct attack >

"You should buy Defence," Emelia advised.

"It's better than Dodge, right?"

"With the amount of Health you have, yes. If you can afford to take hits, then Dodge might not be bad, but boosting Defence is still better I'd say."

Beck is focusing on Dodge, but I feel like I agree with Emelia, especially given the cooldown that Dodge has.

"I'll buy Defence."

"Thank you," Karie replied.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Defence (Uncommon) >

< 450 Points Remaining >

The cauldron bubbled and showed four new options.

< < Upgrades For Sale > >

< Venom (Rare) — Attacks inflict venom slowing target by 15% for 10 seconds >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

< Stamina (Uncommon) — Increases stamina by 2 >

< Luck (Epic) — Increases luck by 5 >

"Holy shit!" Adam exclaimed.

"Epic-rarity Luck is really good," Emelia said.

"It also puts me above 25," he said excitedly.

"Is that the threshold for always getting Rare results?"

Adam nodded.

"I've never had mine above 20 before," Emelia replied, "but I like to get it above 10 to avoid Common options appearing. There are a lot of useful Uncommon Relics though."

"I'm buying the Luck upgrade," Adam told the cricket.

"Good choice," Karie commented.

< < General Upgrade Purchased > >

< Luck (Epic) >

< 150 Points Remaining >

"I've just got 150 Points left now."

"Just save them," Emelia said. "There's no way you're dying in Stage Six."

"Don't jinx me," he replied. "Wait, I just realised there was a Stamina upgrade option in there."

"Stamina and Mana upgrades were unlocked after you beat Stage Five. After Stage Eight you unlock Antivenom and Affliction to either defend against or increase the effects of afflictions."

Adam brought up his stats.

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Fusionist >

< Level 35 >

< Stats >

< Health — 60 >

< Stamina — 75 >

< Mana — 200 >

< Damage — 100% >

< Defence — 165% >

< Dodge — 10% >

< Speed — 85% >

< Luck — 26 >

< Attack Speed — 125% >

< Upgrades >

< Luck +21 >

< Dodge +10% >

< Crush +15% >

< Damage +40% >

< Defence +40% >

< Health +10 >

Looking pretty good, I think.

He read aloud the values for Emelia.

"Your Health is still too low," she said. "Even with your Defence, you just need to take 100 damage in one go and you'll be dead. There are a lot of upcoming enemies that can deal that amount of damage in a single attack."

"I've got the Stone Mask too," he added.

"It's a one-time use, and it makes you Withered, so the next attack only needs to deal 65 damage to kill you…"

"I've also got the Queen's Pendant."

"If you become Scorned now you'll definitely die," she warned.

"Then why give us these Relics!?"

"Because they're traps," she replied. "The Slime Crown, the Hobgoblin Pendant, the Fiendbarb, the Blood Mage Choker, the Tainted Helmet, and the Queen's Pendant are all traps. It's very common with Epic-rarity Relics, which is why the Choice Ring is worth getting, because it doesn't have a flaw that'll get you killed."

"How is the Slime Crown a trap?"

"You won't be able to heal unless you use elemental cores, and if you take the Crown off it'll put your health at 1, not to mention even equipping it in the first place fucks up your total Health forever."

"So are none of the Epic Relics from Stages worth getting?"

"Not from the first Four," she replied.

Adam refused to believe it, since he could picture several use-cases for many of the Relics she'd mentioned. They were just hard to use and the demerits had to be considered.

"However," Emelia added, "if you make it past Ten, then you can get a Legendary Conjuring Stone if you're lucky and use it to make the Queen's Pendant worth using perhaps."

"How do you know that Scorn will get me killed?" he asked.

"Because if you are worshipping an Absolute and you're cursed by it, they will smite you as punishment. It's always some permanent affliction that's impossible to get rid of," she explained.

"Have you seen it happen?" he asked.

She nodded. "The last boss of Stage Ten inflicts Scorn with one of its attacks. I saw someone who worshipped Morrligt have a hole appear right through him, killing him on the spot. That one is obviously fatal no matter what. If you're Scorned while worshipping Messimer, then you go blind. If you're worshipping the All-Mother, your soul wing falls off and your Defence is permanently stuck at 0%. If it's Nharlla, then you lose one of your limbs or go insane. There's also one that turns you to stone, but I don't know what Absolute causes that."

Adam shuddered. He had a pretty good idea what the Tome Keeper's affliction would be, given that he was the Lord of Knowledge.

They left the Market after listening to a performance by Yenna on her piccolo and arrived at the First Light's flame behind Adam's Player House.

Adam went up inside the building to inspect the flame. It had doubled in size since the first time he'd seen it, but it still evidently had more growing left to do.

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light's Brazier (Uncommon) — Grows for 2 Stages >

After leaving the small lighthouse, he returned to Emelia who was waiting outside.

"I'm sorry I didn't give this to you sooner," she said. "I was really surprised when you weren't the Adam I was expecting and it put me on guard."

"I didn't get the Glass Acorn either," he said. "It's a lot of power I lost out on."

Emelia nodded. "After Stage Nine it gives 10% to all stats with every Stage you clear. It's quite invaluable."

Since the sun was setting, they flew from the lighthouse to Alivida's tent where they waited until the sun was gone before entering. Adam was surprised to discover that Emelia wasn't time-frozen alongside the Eye, but it made sense since she was a Player too.

Like her sister, Alivida had also transformed. She'd gone from being a human-sized black moth into becoming a short woman with black hair and eyes, grey skin, and dark wings that curled around her like a cloak. Two fluffy antennae poked out of her head, twitching slightly. Both of the moths had become rather adorable, he thought.

"I have new… upgrades for you, Adam," Alivida said.

"Let's see them," he replied.

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Scale of Nihility — Make everyone forget you — 1 Shard >

< Skipping Stone — Skip a Stage if eligible — 2 Shards >

< Challenge Stone — Challenge a Player to a battle to the death —3 Shards >

< Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player — 8 Shards >

< Vanity — Turn an Interim Island Denizen into a humanoid — 10 Shards >

"Scale of Nihility?" he read aloud.

"It's just like the Gate of Nihility," Emelia said, a grim look on her face. "I have no idea why anyone would buy the Scale though."

"Oblivion can be a mercy… perhaps," Alivida responded ominously.

"If the Gate of Nihility makes everyone forget you," Adam started, "then why do you still remember Arturo?"

"I don't know," she replied. He could tell it freaked her out.

Adam looked back at Alivida. "Are there any limitations to the Challenge Stone?" he asked.

"It only works on the island," the moth girl answered.

"You're better off saving up for the Visiting Stone," Emelia advised.

She doesn't realise how right she is, since I need the Visiting Stone to be able to save another Player in Stage Five.

The moment they entered the Dimensional Tavern, Charlie brought Adam's Pad Thai and milkshake to the spot where he always sat.

"I'd like the octopus salad again," Emelia told the tavernkeeper. "And white wine."

"Of course," Charlie replied and left for the kitchen.

Belamouranthe was further down the hall, jumping up and down on Finnian's bloated body. Adam had no idea where Sylvia and Migraine were, which troubled him greatly.

He brought his barrier over to his spot and shaped it into the ergonomic chair again. Emelia sat down next to him and shaped her own stool into an approximation of the one he'd made.

"I wonder why I never saw Arturo use his barrier this way," she remarked.

Adam shrugged. He squeezed the lime that'd accompanied his meal over the noodles before spreading the chopped peanuts over top, then he dug in with the chopsticks.

"Is it good?" Emelia asked.

"Mhmm," he mumbled through a mouthful of food.

[Another Player is trying to communicate with you. Do you wish to talk to them?]

"Who is it?" she asked.

[Player Princess Buttercup.]

Adam laughed and immediately went into a coughing fit as a bit of peanut went down the wrong pipe.

Emelia smacked him hard on the back a few times while also laughing herself.

"Put him through," Adam croaked when he could finally breathe.

Gladwyn appeared opposite them with a heaping plate of stone crab claws in front of him and mustard sauce in a ramekin next to it.

"Are you okay, Adam?" he asked.

"I just…" he croaked before coughing again.

Emelia smacked him even harder this time, shooting the errant piece of food across the hall and through Gladwyn's hologram.

He looked between the two of them and grinned.

Then Beck appeared next to him.

"It's finally time to—!" he started, before noticing Adam. "Is he okay?"

"I'm good," Adam said with a hoarse whisper.

"Maybe I should do the connection request next time," Emelia suggested. "Making 'Buttercup' do it is dangerous."

Gladwyn sighed. "I'd better have won this time, I want to change my name."

Beck rubbed his hands. "Alright! Let's find out who the winner is!"

"He definitely thinks he won," Adam said after finally recovering from his near-death experience.

"I guess I'll go first," Emelia said, "since I'm pretty sure I lost."

Gladwyn gasped. "Really?"

She nodded. "I got 2,670 Points."

"At last, my victory!" Beck exclaimed. "I got 3,300 Points!"

"Damn, you beat me," Adam said. "I got 3,200."

Beck looked positively-drunk with power. "Well, then! For Emelia's new name, I have decided it will be—!"

Gladwyn cleared his throat loudly, interrupting him. "Aren't you forgetting me?"

Beck paused. "Why? What did you get?"

"3,335 Points."

"Hah," Adam said.

Emelia chuckled.

"Bullshit," Beck replied.

"I killed 10 Statue Elementals, and I got All Secrets, the Secret Boss, and the Eradication bonus for killing all 5 Players," Gladwyn said. "But I took 130 damage."

Emelia did the math in her head and said, "He's right, that adds up to 3,335 Points."

"How much were the statues worth?" Beck asked.

"50 Points each," she replied. "And Player kills were worth 250."

Beck frowned. "Damn it."

At least he didn't contest his loss.

Gladwyn smiled. "Feels good to be a winner for once," he said. "As my first decree, I will no longer be Princess Buttercup."

"What are you changing it to?" Adam asked.

"I'm just going back to 'Gladwyn'."

"What about me?" Emelia asked.

"I was gonna call you 'Pink-eye'," Beck said, a grin on his face.

"They're purple not pink," Adam pointed out.

"My mother taught me to be nice to girls," Gladwyn said.

Beck booed.

"You don't have to hold back," Emelia told him.

"Very well, then your new name is 'Hello, my name is Emelia and I'm a time-looper'."

Everyone paused.

"What? That whole thing?" Adam asked, confused.

Beck shook his head. "My choice was much better."

"Done," Emelia said.

"I just thought it would be kind of funny to see in the system messages," Gladwyn explained.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Beck admitted.

Emelia suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh no! My status screen looks horrible now!"

Then Charlie arrived and said, "Here is your insalata di polpo and white wine, Hello, my name is Emelia and I'm a time-looper."

Adam laughed. "You're a fucking genius, Gladwyn."

"This might be a problem…" Emelia said, realisation dawning on her. "I still have a lot of people I need to talk to after this."

"You had better win next time then," Gladwyn said with a grin, cracking open one of his crab claws.

She jabbed her fork into a bit of octopus and levelled it at him. "And you'd better hope you don't lose, princess."

Beck laughed. "Now we're talking."

Adam shook his head with a smile. These bets were quickly getting out of hand.

Emelia cleared her throat. "Alright, it's finally time I tell you about Stage Six, 'Alepheria's Crooked Tower'."

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