Adam and Emelia walked through the moonlit Interim Island after the Dimensional Tavern had closed for the night.

She had explained everything she knew about Stage Six to Adam, Gladwyn, and Beck, but he still felt some trepidation, given that she confessed to not knowing everything.

Adam thought about the Communion Quest that he'd received from his Patron, the Tome Keeper.

< < Altar Communion > >

< The Tome Keeper >

< Adam. I need you to find Alepheria's notes on Chimaeral Transmutation. She made a promise to me that the notes would be mine once her research concluded, but she perished before we could make the transaction. I want them for my collection and study. Though I know much, I do not know where she hid the notes, but they must be somewhere within her tower. >

< Reward: 1000 Points or Relic >

The fact that it mentioned the name Alepheria, when Stage Six was called 'Alepheria's Crooked Tower', made it clear that he was to find the notes in the Stage. However, Emelia freely admitted that she did not know enough to help him. For starters, she was unfamiliar with Adam's Patron and he was not allowed to tell her anything about him. Secondly, the Stage was apparently massive, requiring the Players to cooperate to even find their objective.

Emelia had already told them that their objective was to locate a giant painting at the top of Alepheria's tower. As for the tower itself, it lay beyond the Elphin Sanctuary, which they would be returning to. Since all of them had saved Belamouranthe from being sacrificed, they would not be forced to immediately fight off the city's Elphin, who would normally have been cursed by the All-Mother and turned into zombie-like monsters.

Beck normally never survived this far, so Emelia said there was a slim chance he could end up in one of their Stages as a sixth Player, since the System tended to add Players that normally didn't survive onto new groups, rather than putting all such Players into groups of their own. Adam had been the sixth member of his Stage Five, which meant that either he or someone else wasn't meant to survive up to that Stage in the original design, before time-loopers and Nwetrou's adherents started to meddle.

As for Gladwyn, Emelia was fairly sure he always survived his Stage Five, but she didn't know for sure, since it was impossible to track the fate of every last person out of the millions that remained.

Still, we're only done with five Stages and only 29 million of the 600 million that survived Stage One are left…

And that number is going to keep dropping, until only 10 thousand are left by Stage Ten, according to Emelia.

Adam sighed.

"Are you okay?" Emelia asked. She'd been quiet during their walk to the island's centre as well.

"I was just thinking about everything," he replied. "More than 500 million people have died just during the introductory Stages."

"It's a lot," she agreed.

"And that's despite your best attempts to save people," he added.

"But so long as just one person makes it to the end and wins, everyone else will be saved," Emelia replied. "All we can do is help as many people as possible survive to reach the end."

"Do you really believe those who died come back if we win?" he asked.

"If I didn't, what would be the point of fighting back?" she retorted.

"You're right. There has to be a meaning behind what we're doing."

Emelia touched his arm and he didn't pull away.

"It's okay to be worried," she told him. "But don't let it consume you."

"Have you received a Quest from your Patron?" he asked.

"I have," she replied. "An Envoy of the Eternal Serpent spoke to me when I received my Altar. I have to find an egg that has been frozen in time. That's all I know."

"Did Messimer usually give you a Quest for Stage Six as well?"

"He did," she replied. "I had to find an eye. It was in the laboratorium."

"Seems like they might all be fetch-type Quests," Adam commented.

"I should've asked Gladwyn what he had to retrieve," Emelia said. She had been very interested in his Patron, since he chose the Guardian. From what they'd put together, it seemed that the Absolute's unlock condition was to negate an affliction using the Affliction Ward.

Beck had chosen Morrligt, since he had evolved his Acolyte evolution of Spellcaster into Element Tamer, which allowed him to absorb environmental elements and incorporate them into his spells. He had absorbed the element of one of the glowing gems in the ceiling of the tunnels and used it in a trap that killed another Player. It was apparently considered sun magic, which also counted to unlock the Absolute, probably because he was associated with solar flares.

Emelia had done her best to describe the monsters they would encounter in Alepheria's Crooked Tower and its environs, but Adam had a hard time picturing them exactly. They were some seemingly-random assortment of cobbled-together golems, test subjects, vat-grown creatures, and chimaera.

They reached the Altar that marked the centre of the island and came to a halt. The moonlight covered all the buildings in a shimmering silver.

Emelia and Adam glanced at each other for a bit, before she spoke up and said, "I will see you after Stage Six."

Adam nodded. "Be careful. Thank you for all the help."

She stepped closer to him and he smiled back at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," he told her.

"I don't know how things have changed this time around," she said. "A lot more people survived Stage Five compared to last time, and it's bound to change up the dynamic of the coming Stages. Even if you have my guide to go off of, make sure to stay on guard."

Adam put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I've outperformed your expectations until now, haven't I? There really isn't anything to be afraid of."

She smiled a little. "I hope you're right," she said.

Then she suddenly embraced him in a brief hug before stepping away and pulling out her Visiting Stone.

She immediately vanished, not allowing him to get a single word out.

< < Visiting Stone Deactivated > >

< Player Hello, my name is Emelia and I'm a time-looper has left your Dimension >

Adam laughed at the message before realising how fast his heart was beating.

Why did her hug suddenly make me feel this way?

Are the memories from the Scale of Remembrance affecting me?

Or maybe it's just the nerves?

Adam would be lying if he wasn't feeling nervous about Stage Six. Teaming up with four or five other Players after everyone just murdered each other the Stage before seemed a recipe for disaster. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and went to his Player House.

When the Tavern had closed, Belamouranthe had vanished, returning to wherever the All-Mother lived, which was kind of bizarre. As a result, he was once again alone in the house. However, when he reached the garden out in front, he saw that Yenna was waiting for him.

"Good evening, Adam," said the wasp musician.

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"Come on in," he told her, opening the door for her.

After entering and closing the door behind them, she asked, "Are you going to sleep right away?"

"In a moment," he told her.

He brought up his status as he walked over to his storage.

< < 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 >

His Health was still quite low, but Emelia had mentioned the locations of all the rewards chests she knew of, with most of them being upgrade rewards. He was hoping his group would be able to work out a simple system for splitting the loot.

The idea of having to trust random people and split loot with them was hard to reconcile, since his odds of surviving long-term depended on him growing stronger, but if other Players took upgrades and Relics for themselves then he would be losing out on important power boosts. And if those Players ended up dying, there was no way to reclaim the upgrades from their bodies.

Adam let out the breath he'd been unintentionally holding in.

I can't worry about all that right now. My main objective is to gather knowledge. Even if I die it's not game over, and though I need to keep my guard up, I can't be too paranoid of other Players or start to scheme about how to kill them. After all, Emelia made it clear it was impossible to solo these Stages.

He reached down into the storage and retrieved the Rotmaker Idol and Golden Map. He figured either might potentially be used for unlocking something special in Stage Six.

Yenna watched him as he put the Relics in his Spidersilk Sack and looked through the trophies on the wall. He had all of the trophies for the first three Stages, but was missing two from Four. He also needed the Pacifist, Eradication, and Speedrun bonuses for Stage Five to perfect it.

Six was a different beast though. Emelia had said there were eight trophies to get, with the new ones being Plunderer, Defender, and MVP. They were rewarded for getting all chests, protecting other Players from the most damage possible, and scoring the most Points in the Stage out of the group.

I should aim for MVP at least, since she said it gives an upgrade as a reward.

Adam went over to his bed and laid down.

"This time I'll be gone for a full day," he told Yenna.

The wasp lowered her large head slightly.

"Be careful with Alepheria's creations, they are drawn to those who wield magic."

Adam blinked. He hadn't expected to get advice from the musician of all people.

"You know what I'm going up against?" he asked.

"I cannot say any more than that."

Emelia didn't mention anything about the enemies being drawn to magic users.

"Thank you, Yenna. I'll be careful."

Despite all his worries and many swirling thoughts, Adam quickly fell asleep once the wasp started to sing her lullaby.

< < Now Entering > >

< Stage 6 >

< Alepheria's Crooked Tower >

< 24-hour Timer >

Adam awoke to find himself walking up stone steps leading out of the dark underground. He emerged atop the stone disc at the bottom of the ritual site that lay within the heart of the Elphin Sanctuary.

Around him on the steps awaited a few Elphin guards, but it seemed everyone else had long since returned to their homes and were going about repairing the damage done to their city.

The Eye floated out in front of Adam where he paused at the top of the opening leading into the Forbidden Altar. Then it moved towards the centre and he turned to track its movements.

A tremor rolled through the ground as the large disc spun and closed off the entrance to the Altar.

[For what comes next, you alone will not be powerful enough.]

[With the power of the All-Seeing System, the dimensions shall converge.]

Adam looked at the Eye, wondering how exactly it would go about summoning the other Players he was going to team up with.

Then the air rippled and the disc spun a full rotation in an instant. It moved so fast he almost thought it was just his mind playing tricks, but he had felt the motion in his legs and inner ear.

He blinked and realised there were five figures standing on the edges of the disc now, equidistant from each other.

And he recognised one of them.

The cutscene let go of him and he stumbled a step, as did the other five Players.

"Fancy seeing you here," said Gladwyn from across the way. He was wearing quite a lot of Relics, giving him a different vibe from normal.

Adam realised that Emelia had been wrong. Normally Gladwyn didn't survive Stage Five, because otherwise she would have known that he and Adam would be teaming up in Six.

"Do you know each other?" asked a woman to Adam's immediate left.

He took a step towards the centre, summoning his barriers with a thought and manoeuvring them around behind him. "I'm Adam," he said. "I'm a magician, kind of. I use barriers."

The woman to his left gave him a dubious look. "We're doing introductions?" she asked.

"I'm Gladwyn," said his friend, taking a step forward as well. "I'm a Shield Wall, so I'll probably end up at the front taking all the hits."

The guy to Gladwyn's right stepped forward. "I'm Hahn and my class is Quickshot." He lifted a shortbow that clearly had the Fiendbarb Relic attached to it.

That might have been a powerful combo against other Players, but many of the enemies in this Stage don't have flesh and blood…

The guy looked Asian, maybe Korean, and wore a dark-blue hoodie and loose black cargo pants. His black hair was shoulder length, and besides the Fiendbarb, his prominent Relics were the Forlorn Cuirass and Spring Boots.

The woman between Hahn and Adam stepped forward. "I'm Maggie. I've got the Opportunist weapon. It's good for parrying, so I'll probably end up front with the old guy."

"I'm not that old," Gladwyn shot back.

Maggie was white with brown hair and Adam guessed that she was American. She wore a dark-grey tank top and shorts meant for running, as well as pink sneakers. She had the Captain's Cape Relic hanging from her back, the Duellist's Glove on her right hand, and the Purple Slime Glove on her left. She also wore the Stone Bracer on her right arm and the Vigilant Fighter's Vambrace on her left.

I should keep my distance from her, Adam thought. Her setup is basically made to kill Players quickly and the Stone Bracer only works to disable someone else's Relics…

The Vambrace allowed her to create weak points on anyone she parried, so she could be a good asset in a fight, but her attitude seemed ill-fitted for cooperation.

The next person stepped forward. He was a tall black guy who wore a grey blazer and suit pants along with polished dress shoes. He didn't have any visible Relics besides the Curse-Giver Necklace, Choice Ring, and Blood Fist Ring. "I'm James," he said. "I'm a Spellblade."

His voice had a singsong lilt to it, and unlike Maggie he didn't immediately seem like a threat to Adam. He didn't give any descriptions of what a Spellblade was, but he had a sword on his right hip and could probably perform some kind of magic.

I wonder what weapon evolves into that?

The last guy didn't step forward and had his gaze aimed down at his feet. His hair was black, but it looked like it was dyed since his eyebrows were light-brown. He wore both the Forlorn Cuirass and the Tainted Helmet. His pale face had dark rings around the eyes and on his back hung a large sword. He looked quite young, maybe only 18 years old.

A lot of these people have terrible Relics, Adam thought to himself.

"What's your name?" Gladwyn asked the teen.

"I don't know you, I don't have to tell you," he replied in a small voice, still looking down.

"We'll have to work together in this Stage if we want to survive," Adam told them all.

Before the teen could protest, the Eye in the centre of the disc floated into the air and split into six, returning to each of their sides.

[The timer has begun.]

< < Stage Objective > >

< Find a clue to the Godstone in the Crooked Tower >

Emelia had said the tower wasn't always in the same spot, and Players were meant to climb the tall tree in the Sanctuary to find it. But Adam had an easier way to check.

He moved his barriers in front of himself and fused them together. Maggie took a step back, and the others watched him closely, even the nameless teen with the big sword. Granted, Adam was also wearing the Stone Mask on his face, so he probably looked quite ominous.

"I'll be right back," Adam told them and climbed onto his barrier, shooting himself straight into the air.

The wind rushed past him as he soared higher than the canopy of the great tree and the dark-blue trees of the forest around the Sanctuary.

To the northeast, dozens of kilometres away, was a portion of the vast forest where the trees were chopped away and a spire reached into the air. That was clearly where they had to go.

For a moment he considered just picking up Gladwyn and flying there, but then he thought better of it. Not to mention, Emelia said some of the monsters they'd face had ranged attacks, and Yenna had warned they might be attracted to his magic. Getting sniped out of the air was a pretty easy way to die given that his barrier, even in its fused state, was susceptible to piercing attacks.

Adam lowered himself back down to the ground and got off his barrier, shaping it into a narrow lance that hovered over his right shoulder.

"The tower is to the northeast," he told them.

"How did you do that?" asked James.

"Magic," he replied.

The tall guy chuckled. "My magic doesn't work like that."

"Is it far?" Gladwyn asked.

"Looked to be quite a few kilometres, yeah," Adam said.

"We should find some horses or something then. Maybe the carriage from the previous Stage is still around here."

"I'm staying here," said the dark-haired teen.

"Me too," Maggie quickly added, eyeing up the kid.

"I don't think so," Adam told them. James and Hahn looked between them, both pulling out their weapons.

"You wanna fucking force us to fight when we don't wanna?" Maggie shot back at Adam.

He gritted his teeth. "Fine. Stay here. But if you don't participate, you don't get any Points. And we're not coming back to pick you up."

"Have fun," she replied in a biting tone.

Adam shook his head and walked up and out of the ritual site, following the steps carved into the sides of the hole. Gladwyn, Hahn, and James followed after him.

"Should we really just leave them?" asked Hahn.

"It's no use forcing them," Gladwyn said.

"Maybe they have given up," James remarked.

"Just means more Points for the rest of us," Adam said.

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