Adam and Emelia took the slow scenic route around the island from the Market to the Tavern, riding on the same barrier. She was in the middle of telling him about what to expect in the next Stage.

"Like Stage Six, the layout is always a bit different, so I don't know where our objective will be. But the steps of the journey to find it are always the same. First, we have to find a settlement. There are a few across the Sea, but the biggest is Windtop Cove."

"That sounds like a pirate hideout," Adam commented.

"Oh, there's definitely a pirate theme all around. We'll even be fighting a lot of pirates on our hunt for the Godstone. Anyway, no matter which settlement we go to, we'll be able to pick up the trail. It always leads to a bit of a goose chase of scouring rumoured locations. Normally, we're meant to pick up clues from four different places, but if we just get two of them then I know a way to skip the rest, regardless of the clues."

"How?"

Emelia tapped the side of her head. "Because I know a lot about the Stage. The four clues are meant to come together and implicate one specific pirate faction, of which there are seven, and if you know about each of them, you'll be able to guess which one the clues hint at, so long as you have at least two clues."

"What then? Are we gonna take on the entire fleet who has the Godstone?" he asked. It sounded a bit absurd, given that they would only have a single airship for their team.

"There are a lot of ways to go from there, but the easiest is to capture an airship from the fleet and use disguises to infiltrate their base of operations. From there, we can pick up the final trail of the Godstone after killing the fleet's captain."

"That actually sounds like a lot of fun."

"It is," she said with a wistful smile.

"What happens when we find the Godstone?"

"The trail leads to an ancient temple and after fighting our way through its defences, we'll eventually discover half of the Godstone. When we pick it up, a tear in the fabric of the painting will lead us out."

"Did someone steal the other half and escape the painting?"

Emelia nodded.

"Why only steal half though?" he wondered.

"Because removing the entire Godstone would collapse the painted world, which many seem to use as a 'bridge' between places."

"And the tear leads to Moonport in Stage Eight?"

"That's right. The Patriarch obtained half of the Godstone, and the entirety of Stage Eight is built around trying to figure out who he is and eliminating him. But when you do kill him, you find out that the Godstone was split again and that the remaining fragment resides with the King who rules the Forlorn Kingdom in Stage Nine."

"So, the next three Stages are all one big treasure hunt…" Adam muttered.

"Basically. To be honest though, the main objective is just the thing that guides you through the Stages. In Seven and Eight you can't really skip over it, but in Nine you can just go straight to the castle from the beginning, though you'll have to fight an empowered version of the final boss."

"How fast could we beat Stage Seven if we only did the main objective?"

"Maybe 10 or 12 hours. The Speedrun is 24 hours, which probably wouldn't be that hard to get, even for a group that didn't know what they were doing. But going for a quick completion is a mistake. It's not worth skipping all the rewards to do it. Stage Eight on the other hand… I wish I knew how to skip through that one. The Speedrun for Moonport is 36 hours, but I have no idea how to even do that without getting lucky."

Emelia sighed. "Anyway, let's talk about that after we finish Seven."

"What quest did your Patron give you for the Floating Sea of Gold?" Adam asked.

"I'm supposed to bring an egg to the nest of a Slug Dragon. I think it was meant to be the time-frozen egg from the Crooked Tower, but since I couldn't find it, I now have to get a similar egg from a collector somewhere in the Floating Sea."

"I didn't find any egg in the Tower," Adam said. "Could it maybe have been outside it?"

"Possibly," she replied. "What's your quest?"

"Well, I had to find some notes in the Tower. They were hidden in the library with the book puzzle," he said, reminding her of the conversation they'd had earlier. "After returning the notes to my Patron, I told him about the painting and how I thought Alepheria might've gone inside, so he asked me to hunt her down and kill her."

"Wait, what? You spoke directly to your Patron?" she asked, surprised.

"You didn't?"

"No. I thought only the All-Mother spoke directly to her adherents. I just had a visit from an Envoy. The Eternal Serpent sent a weird lizard man, and Messimer always sends a humanoid with an upside-down pyramid head who wears a toga."

"I went to his realm after Stage Five," Adam said. "And then again after the Tower."

"People who worship the All-Mother always go to her garden to speak to her directly," Emelia explained. "But I thought she was a weird outlier. Everyone else communicates with Envoys like Skǫll. You normally don't visit an Absolute's realm until after Stage Ten, and for good reason."

Adam gave her a confused look, so she explained, "Most people aren't mentally prepared to stand before a God."

"Oh, right. I guess I had some training before meeting my Patron. But he seems very human, if you can look past his body and strange fascinations."

"From what I've been told, the All-Mother is quite human in behaviour and appearance too, although she looks like the Elphin Queen a little bit. But maybe that's the reason you get to meet them face-to-face?" she wondered.

"Because they won't immediately dissolve all your beliefs in a higher power nor trigger an existential crisis?" he replied.

"Exactly. Standing before Messimer was really hard for me to reconcile at first. A lot of people were fundamentally changed after Stage Ten because of meeting their Patrons. Apparently Nharlla's realm is an ever-changing world that completely erodes one's sense of self. The Players who came out on the other end were seriously messed up by it. But I always thought that the ones who didn't change at all were somehow scarier."

Adam thought back to his meeting with the All-Seeing System. It had taken the shape of his mirror image, no doubt to spare him exactly what Emelia was describing. It was only now he realised how seeing its true form might've obliterated his mind and understanding of the world. Mortals were never meant to stand at the foot of a God, and for good reason.

"I'm surprised Alepheria might be alive," Emelia then said, returning to the topic of quests. "I didn't even give any thought to the possibility."

"Apparently, she made a deal with my Patron before disappearing. He thought she had died but was upset to learn about the painting and the fact that she might've escaped inside it. Apparently, some other Absolute might be responsible for the magic that created it."

"The magic involved is similar to the one utilised by the Tower," Emelia said. "You know, the whole bigger on the inside thing. So maybe it's from the God that supplied that Dimensional Splinter?"

Adam frowned. "I think it's one of the missing Absolutes we haven't been able to discover."

"It would have to be a seriously powerful one," she said.

"According to the All-Seeing System, the power that allows its cubes to manipulate dimensions was borrowed. That borrowed power is also inside me and allows me to traverse dimensions when I die."

"So, it's all connected?" she replied. "I think this missing Absolute must be one of the great ones besides the Void, the Eternal Serpent, and the First Light."

"Dimensional power definitely fits in with that group," Adam agreed.

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He landed their barrier in front of the Tavern, and they went in together.

Unlike when they'd first arrived, Belamouranthe was now inside, and she greeted them cheerfully from behind a mountain of food plated high in front of her seat. Charlie got up from a stool next to her and came over to them.

Sylvia, Migraine, and Finnian sat on the upper floor, deep in some kind of conspiratorial conversation, but they immediately went their separate ways when they saw Adam staring at them.

What the hell are they up to?

"Adam! Thou must try Charlie's brisket! It is divine!" Belamouranthe exclaimed.

"Barbecue could be good," he agreed. "Can I have a platter of various barbecued meats?"

"Of course," Charlie replied.

"I'll have the octopus salad again," Emelia said. "That dish was amazing. Oh, and some white wine."

"I'll have a Long Island iced tea," Adam said.

Emelia gave him a look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"It's delicious," he defended himself.

"Mhmm."

No sooner had Adam sat down than he was pinged.

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

"Who is it?"

[Player Mana Hog.]

Bet they forced him to be the one to call me.

Emelia sat down next to him as he accepted the invitation. James appeared opposite them, along with Gladwyn and Beck. The invite must have been automatic, because all of them jumped when Adam and Emelia showed up.

James dropped the chicken spear he'd been balancing on his nose and Beck nearly choked on his drink.

"How the hell did you get here!?" Beck asked, pointing at them while coughing violently.

"Mana Hog invited me," Adam replied.

"I told you the automatic invite works," James said.

"Hey guys," Gladwyn greeted, a stone crab claw in his hand. This was the second or third time Adam had seen him eating crab.

He must really like those. Maybe I should try them next time.

"Wait, I just had a weird thought," Adam said. "What do we do about food and sleep now that the Stages last more than a day?"

"Good question," Beck commented.

"The settlements in the Floating Sea have places to eat and sleep," Emelia said. "There are also rations and bunk beds on the Creaking Madam."

"The creaking what?" Gladwyn asked.

"It's the name of the airship we all start on," she said.

"Are they safe, these sleeping areas?" Adam asked.

"No," Emelia replied. "So, we all have to be vigilant when we stop somewhere to take a rest."

"Did you know it's possible to query the Tavern by using levels?" Beck suddenly asked, switching the topic.

Emelia shook her head.

"I didn't even think of that," Adam replied.

"James is the one who taught us about it," he said.

"He also knew about the auto invite," Gladwyn added. "Apparently, you can just tell the Tavern to invite someone when they show up."

I did something similar in the past… Adam remembered. He'd asked the cube to send a connection request to Willow at even intervals. The command had probably been running right up until Stage Five where she died.

"How do you know so much about the Tavern?" Emelia asked James. She was still wary of him, but Adam had a good feeling about the guy, although there had been a strange desperation and recklessness to his actions at first.

"Benjamin, my son, is the one who figured it out. He is clever like his mother," James replied.

"Where is he—?" Beck started to ask but stopped himself when James shook his head.

Christ…

"He died in the Forbidden Altar," James explained after a moment. "I thought that he would be the one to win these Trials, but now I must do it myself." He looked directly at Emelia. "I hope that you will help me in this."

"Of course," she promised. "It doesn't matter who completes the Trials, just so long as someone does."

They continued chatting for a few more hours while eating dinner. The topic eventually shifted to Absolutes when Adam asked them about meeting their Patrons. As Emelia had said, he was the only one who had gone to a different realm, while the rest had been visited by an Envoy on Interim Island.

Beck, who worshipped Morrligt, had been visited by a man with obsidian skin and an exploding planet instead of a head, which sounded bizarre. Gladwyn had been visited by something called a Stagnation Demon, which served the Guardian and which had two black large straight horns and its body covered by armour made of living stone. James tried to describe Nharlla's Envoy, but Adam had a hard time picturing it, though it was apparently similar to the human mimic, except it constantly changed forms while speaking.

All of them were surprised to discover that Adam had left the island to talk directly to his Patron, but both Gladwyn and James knew not to pry too deeply, though James shared his theory about the missing Absolutes with Beck and Emelia who hadn't heard it yet.

"How does a dimensional God fit into your theory?" Emelia asked after he was done, bringing up what she and Adam had already discussed.

"Good question. The immediate answer is: it doesn't. There aren't really any Gods of dimensions that I know of," James said. "There are definitely Gods that are powerful enough to create them, and there are also a lot of beliefs about different dimensions, such as the Nine Worlds in Norse Mythology, although these were made by several Gods using the body of a primordial giant. If we're talking about a God tied specifically to the power of dimensions and realm creation, I can only really think of something like liminal Gods, whose powers are tied to boundaries and metaphysical transitions and seasons."

"We're pretty sure that the last of the four greater Absolutes missing is one tied to the power of creating realms and manipulating dimensions," Adam said, going on to explain their reasoning.

"I will give it some more thought and let you know if I have any solid ideas after Stage Seven," James promised. "Perhaps going inside this painted realm might invoke some inspiration."

After the Tavern closed and they went their separate ways, wishing each other good luck for the next three days, Emelia followed Adam to his Player House so he could show off how powerful his barrier had become. He also wanted to test out his new Unique Skills. He had thought about visiting Alivida, but he didn't need anything from her right now and was instead saving up for something more useful.

"You know, I think James was on to us at the end," Emelia commented as they flew towards the lighthouse shining in the darkness behind the Player House.

"That's only because you kept stealing my food," Adam replied. "Not everyone is as clueless as Beck about such things."

"Hey, you stole some of my octopus too."

He grinned and lowered the barrier down towards the house.

"It was nice of him to not say anything though," Adam added.

"I feel like you have the ability to gather good people to you," Emelia remarked.

"Aren't you just saying that because you're one of them?"

"I'm serious," she replied.

"Well, in my last loop, one of those people I gathered ended up killing me."

"Yeah, but that wasn't your fault," she replied.

They went inside the house and Adam spent the next hour showing off his barrier attack, while Emelia gave pointers on the best shape for his projectiles. Fortunately, triple-fusing his barriers had become a lot easier thanks to his increased Manipulation Effect, though it also helped that the wandering eye was locked onto the target dummy which he'd shaped into one of the Bone Creeper constructs.

"You weren't kidding about shooting down airships," Emelia commented after his last Mana-infused triple-strength barrier shot had demolished the dummy and left a massive impact crater in the indestructible wall of the house. It moved so fast that it hardly made a sound before it struck, after which it released a shockwave and explosive boom so loud it shook the floor and nearly made them both trip.

"Was this how Arturo used it?" Adam asked as he went over to his storage and pulled out the Cruel Summoner's Gauntlets and Rotmaker Idol, putting both in his Spidersilk Sack to bring to the next Stage. He could use the Gauntlets with his obsidian hand, since they didn't occupy the same Relic slots, and thus he had some ideas for stuff he wanted to try out.

"No, he was more surgical with his barrier. It looked like a fine thread that he just sliced through everything with."

That actually sounds really cool.

"Anyway, it's late, so I should probably go," Emelia said, but she didn't immediately pull out the Visiting Stone to leave.

"You can stay… If you want," Adam said. "I'll just have the Eye add another bed."

[Understood,] said the cube, not wasting a second to comply, even though he hadn't explicitly given the order.

Adam's large bed split down the middle, separating the duvet into two and growing a second pillow.

"You don't mind?" she asked, looking towards the beds.

"We'll probably end up sleeping close together in the next Stage, since you said there weren't any safe zones, so we might as well get used to it," Adam replied, totally pulling the explanation out of his ass while trying not to let it show how he really felt about her staying with him.

Her eyes flicked to him and he grinned awkwardly.

"Did you finish all your preparations?" he asked her.

"I did."

"Cool."

"Yep."

They went over to the beds. They weren't even separated in the slightest, making it basically no different than them sharing the large bed it had been before.

Emelia unequipped all her Relics, placing them on the floor next to the bed. Then she took off her red sweater and jeans.

Adam looked away as he took off his Relics as well, before removing his clothes too. He saw the black tattoo from the Cheat Death Sigil in the middle of his torso right above the solar plexus. It was shaped as an ouroboros of sorts, although it was slowly spinning as it ate its own tail but never got smaller.

"It's strange right?" Emelia started.

"What is?" he asked, almost turning back to look at her but stopping himself midway through the motion.

I wonder if Emelia's tattoo looks the same, he wondered absentmindedly.

"That we go to the next Stage with our clothes and Relics on, even when we take them off before sleeping."

"Uh, yeah, that is actually weird," he replied. "I didn't really think about it."

"Do you think the cubes are the ones dressing us up?" she wondered.

[I am not responsible for your clothing. The All-Seeing System facilitates this convenience.]

Adam laughed. "What a peculiar consideration."

He heard the sound of Emelia lying down and pulling the duvet over herself, then turned back to find her head poking out from the burrito shape she'd packed herself into.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, before realising he was just standing there in his underwear.

He went under his own duvet and was just about to ask the cube to turn off the light when a knock came from the door of the house.

"Ah, shit," he muttered.

"Who is it?" Emelia asked suspiciously.

"It's nothing!" he replied and hopped out of the bed, shedding the duvet and running to the door.

He opened it only a little bit to look out at Yenna the wasp waiting there.

Her large bug eyes ran up and down his body before looking past him and into the house.

"Am I interrupting something, Adam?"

"Uhh…" he muttered. He turned back to look at Emelia. "Do you prefer to sleep with or without music?"

"What? Wait, who's out there?"

"Fuck it," Adam said. "I guess you can just come in."

He opened the door for her and Yenna stepped inside, carrying her shapeshifting instrument, which was currently a golden horn.

Emelia sat up, clutching the duvet to her body. She looked at Adam suspiciously.

"What the fuck, Adam!?" she exclaimed.

"It's not what it looks like!" he protested, though it was a hard argument to make, since he was just wearing his underwear.

"I'm here to sing a lullaby," Yenna announced.

Is there such a thing as dying of embarrassment? Adam wondered.

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