Adam looked at the Special Denizen that Luvicidix had manifested.

It was clearly part of the Forlorn army, but looked nothing like any of the enemies he'd encountered in the Stage. Then again, Finnian, Migraine, and Sylvia were all quite different from the creatures of their Stages too.

Like many of the Forlorn Knights, the Special Denizen wore tattered and old clothes dyed a royal blue that had faded with the passage of time. The denizen was the height of a child and had a hooded robe that obscured their figure, which, from the looks of it, was literally made of shadow. Two bright pinprick eyes shone out from within the hood, and the belt bags hanging from its waist were full of tools and materials.

"Is this the alchemist I've been hearing about?" Adam asked.

"He is an alchemist," Luvicidix replied, clearly not wanting to confirm whether it was the same thing that Adam had heard about from Nova.

"And he's not hostile?"

The white moth folded her arms, releasing her grip on the time-frozen denizen and managing to look quite offended at the suggestion.

"I've already told you I don't bring hostile denizens to the island," she said.

"He's literally from the Forlorn Kingdom," Adam pointed out.

"Sprite is different than them," she insisted.

"Sprite? What kind of name is that?"

"He's a shadow elemental that has mastered human speech and taken a fancy to alchemy."

"I think Finnian might take offence to another elemental coming here," Adam replied.

"I am sure they will get along," Luvicidix said naively.

"Well, whatever. If he can make me potions, then I guess I don't care."

Luvicidix nodded.

"Now then, would you like to see my upgrades?" she asked.

"Do you have any new ones?" he responded.

"Not yet," she replied.

"I'm good."

"Then I shall take my leave for now," she said and lifted up into the clouds with a flutter of her large wings. The orbiting silver scales returned to her and time resumed its natural flow the moment she was out of sight.

The Eye moved over to Adam's side as the new denizen awoke in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked a Special Denizen due to your stellar performance in Stage Four — Siege of the Elphin Sanctuary.]

Since Adam had actually gotten all the bonuses in one go, the Eye didn't glitch out like last time.

The shadowy alchemist looked up at Adam.

"Hello, Adam. I am called Sprite. Since you travel far and wide in your search for purpose and meaning, I would ask that you bring me a sample of plants to get me started on my alchemical endeavours."

Goddamn it, Adam complained internally as he realised what was coming.

< < Quest Unlocked > >

< Plantastic Alchemy >

< Sprite would like you to bring him plants from 5 different Stages >

< Reward — Alchemy Services >

Nova didn't say anything about a quest…

I also have no idea what kind of plants I should be looking for.

But, with this I at least have three quests I can complete to unlock the meta upgrade that keeps them permanently completed. It may be worth investing time into doing them in my next loop, since finding enough cores and trophies for Finnian and Migraine might be a bit difficult at this point.

After all, Migraine wanted 35 trophies and Finnian wanted 15 cores. The cores might not be too difficult to get from Stage Six, but the trophies would definitely be much harder to source.

If I'm willing to give up the extra Points from Stage One and Two, then I can probably knock out their quests quite easily in the next loop, but I guess I'll see if I can get their quests done this time around.

I'll save the hearts for now then, I guess.

"Anything specific I should be looking for?" Adam asked.

"Herbs, fungi, berries, seeds, nuts. Things of this nature, preferably fresh, though dried also works." For some reason, Sprite's voice sounded muffled, as though spoken from inside a cup. It was impossible to discern if it was a male or female voice, but it was fairly high-pitched, a bit like a child's.

"Guess I'll go foraging for you."

"Fantastic. It will be so much fun when we can get started on alchemy together."

"Do you know the recipe for Return to Sender?" Adam asked.

"Of course."

"Can you teach it to me?"

"Once you have brought me what I seek, I will teach you all the recipes I know."

Adam sighed.

Go figure.

"How are you with other elementals?" Adam then asked.

"I would avoid light elementals if they are here, but otherwise I have no preference for or against."

"What about a slime elemental?"

The pinprick eyes inside Sprite's hood blinked and then got bigger.

"Slime has fantastic properties. I should like to harvest it for my studies."

"Don't harvest Finnian," Adam told him.

"Perhaps he will willingly donate his flesh to my cause," Sprite suggested.

"It's probably better you don't ask, actually," Adam said.

"Niceties shall not stand in the way of scientific progress," Sprite remarked.

Adam frowned. "Pretty sure that's something only a villain would say."

"If villainy is required for my great breakthrough, then so be it."

"Absolutely not!" Adam retorted. "No villainy, under any circumstances!"

"Alas, those who do not believe in the scientific method cannot comprehend the evils we must commit in the name of progress."

"I will send you right back to Stage Four if you don't behave," Adam warned the elemental.

"We shall table this discussion for later, once you bring me the materials I require," Sprite replied, dismissing his words. Then he started walking towards the Garden.

"You'd better not start a fight on this island!" Adam yelled after him.

Sprite waved a shadowy hand as he walked away.

Why are all the Special Denizens psychotic??

The fact that Sylvia, an actual blood mage, is the sanest of the bunch is not a good sign.

Adam let out a deep sigh.

Then he went towards his Player House, sending the hearts of darkness and Rotmaker Idol ahead of him by using the Eye to transport them. If he could find enough cores and trophies for Finnian and Migraine's quests, along with the stuff that Sprite wanted, then he would complete them this loop. If it looked like it wouldn't be possible, then he would just sell the collectibles he gathered.

As he reached the front yard of his Player House, he saw that the Glass Acorn had evolved.

< < Secret Relic > >

< Glass Sapling (Rare) — All Stats grow by 5% for every Stage completed | Grows for 5 Stages >

It'll turn into a tree if I can make it past Stage Nine.

If that happens, I honestly want to use the Rotmaker Idol on it. It might lead to another secret.

He continued past his garden to the lighthouse.

It had grown wider and slightly taller, which made it easier to enter it and reach the flaming brazier.

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light's Brazier (Rare) — You and your allied Players gain a shield that absorbs 50% of the damage from the first hit suffered in a Stage >

That's really useful!

If it's upgraded in the same way as Emelia's effect, then that means I could get this to 100% and basically have it work like the Shade Barrier spell.

Even at just 50%, this is a very powerful buff. If I'd had this in my fourth loop, then Hahn might've survived the fight against the octopus boss in Stage Six.

As Adam watched the flame dance in front of him in the brazier, a bit broke off and floated towards him. It was the same tiny white flame that Emelia had originally used to light his brazier and create the lighthouse.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > >

< Kindling Flame (Legendary) — Kindle a flame >

"Can I sell this?" he immediately asked.

[Unique Relics cannot be sold.]

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

I already knew that I guess, but for a second I thought I might be able to start each new loop with a lot more Points, since I should be getting a Kindling Flame from this thing at the start every time.

Adam left the lighthouse and headed for the Market, bringing up his currencies on the way.

< < Player Currencies > >

< Points — 14450 >

< Mastery Shards — 2 >

< Soul Drops — 1 >

Still freaks me out to see that Soul Drop there…

Adam greeted Yenna who sat in front of the fountain playing a handpan between her folded legs, producing a melody like metallic raindrops.

As he walked past the fountain, an announcement came.

< < Secret Relic Activated > >

The termite egg lifted out of his silken backpack and floated down past Weaver's stall, planting itself on the other side of it. It quickly turned into a stall made from the same material as the termite hive he'd gotten the egg from, and Builder appeared within.

[You have unlocked the Builder. This vendor sells upgrades to your Player House.]

Adam went straight to her shop.

"How do you do, Adam? You can call me Builder," said the termite in her southern twang. "I can make anything you might want for your Player House and its garden."

I wonder what I'd get for turning her humanoid with the Vanity mirror, he mused.

"How much would a weapon rack cost me?"

"1500 Points."

"And it was 4000 for a basement, right?"

Builder paused.

Woops, I wasn't meant to know that before she'd told me.

"That's what someone else said," he lied.

"If you'd like a weapon rack and a basement for your house, then I can do both for 5000 Points," she replied.

"That's perfect," he told her.

"Give me a couple hours, then I reckon I'll be done," she said.

< < Constructions Purchased > >

< Weapon Rack >

< Basement >

< 9450 Points Remaining >

That should unlock the meta upgrade to make her constructions permanent.

Before he returned to Luvicidix, Adam went over to Lucca's stall and sold the Sanctuary Defender's Robe.

< < Relic Sold > >

< Sanctuary Defender's Robes (Rare) >

< 9700 Points Remaining >

"You didn't bring me any hearts?" Lucca asked. "I can smell them on you, but you are keeping them to yourself?"

"I need them for something," he replied.

"That goblin's little request?" Lucca asked. "Give them to me instead! I will pay full price on any hearts you sell me."

Kind of freaking me out how much she wants those hearts…

But I guess it's good to know that she'll pay me a lot for them.

Maybe I should sell the Dwarf Nightwing Heart to her, since she'd give me 500 Points for it.

Adam wasn't completely sure he wanted to summon the Sloth Demon in Stage Six, since he had the knowledge of how to summon other entities, thanks to the tomes he'd absorbed in Alepheria's study at the bottom of the Floating Sea. But he would decide later.

My four forlorn hearts would also sell for 600 if she's paying full price for each. That's pretty good actually.

"I'll bring you some hearts later," Adam promised and left.

Lucca leaned out of her stall to watch him go, but he did his best not to meet her many eyes.

When he reached the centre of the island, the white moth alighted before him and said, "A new upgrade has been made available for you."

"Let's see it," he replied.

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Mana — Increase Mana by 50 — 5000 Points >

< Permanent Expansion — Start every loop with previously built expansions to Interim Island already completed — 7500 Points >

< Scale of Remembrance — 2630/25000 Points >

It's not 10,000 Points at least, but that's still not cheap.

If I buy it now, then I can't afford to get Beast from Nelly's shop, but I would be able to afford Summoner, Warder, and anything else Rare and below.

Fuck it, this is a good investment.

"I'll buy Permanent Expansion," Adam said.

"Good choice!

< < Meta Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Permanent Expansion — Start every loop with previously built expansions to Interim Island already completed >

"Is that all for now?" Luvicidix asked.

"That's right. But I'll see you tomorrow."

Luvicidix paused instead of taking off like usual.

"Be careful, Adam," she said after a moment.

Before he could ask what she meant, Luvicidix lifted up into the clouds, pulling her floating silvery scales along with her.

I wonder what she's trying to warn me against.

Adam had asked Beck many times if he was sure, and his answer had been yes every time.

So now, here they all three were, standing behind the Player House in Gladwyn's dimension.

"Stop looking at me like that," Beck told Adam.

"I also think Adam was right that you should be the one to have this," Gladwyn said.

"I've already gone to the end without a boon like what he described, so I'll be fine," Beck replied. Unsaid in his words was the fact that he didn't know what Gladwyn would be facing. Surviving to the end seemed to be as much about skill as it was about luck. Because if you ended up with a bad team in a Stage that was impossible to solo, then you were fucked, especially if you didn't have the power afforded to a time-looper.

"You'll have to give Beck your Kindling Flame later," Adam told Gladwyn. Getting the Visiting Stone to enable him to trade it was another problem, but Beck insisted it wasn't hard to grind out Mastery Shards after Stage Ten. For now he was mostly concerned with his friend getting to Stage Ten in the first place, which, according to what Emelia had told Adam, was definitely quite a challenge all on its own.

To really hammer home that point, Adam had asked the Eye how many people had survived Stage Four, and the answer had been 54 million. That was over 100 less than in Adam's fourth loop.

Beck probably won't admit to it, but he's doing this to save his friend.

I can get behind that.

Adam asked Gladwyn to place the First Light's Brazier down onto the grass while he fumbled with how to get the Kindling Flame to emerge from his hand. They'd dug up the Secret Relic from the ground next to the trees near the edge of the island, the same place it had been in Adam's dimension.

"Do you think there's a special reward for finding all the secrets on Interim Island?" Beck asked.

"That would be nice. There are quite a lot, after all," Adam said.

"Besides the squid, Vanity stuff, and this?" Beck replied.

"Yeah," Adam said. "There's a big eye at the very bottom of the island too. And I think there's something in the basement of the Player House."

Beck shook his head. "It's not the basement that's special, it's the well."

"Shit," Adam muttered. "I just bought a basement. I thought for sure it would be something special since it cost 4000 Points."

"The basement gives you a kitchen that Charlie will appear in, and it works like the Interdimensional Tavern," Beck said. "But the well has a hidden door at the bottom that leads to a ritual chamber or something. I haven't been able to use it yet, but I'm still trying to learn as much as I can about this world's magical rules. It's similar to the ritual chamber in Alepheria's Tower though, just without all the ingredients scattered around."

Fuck, I really need that.

Adam finally managed to coax the Kindling Flame out from within his body and he brought it to Gladwyn's brazier where it immediately took hold.

Then Adam pulled his two friends away as a lighthouse grew around the flaming brazier.

Gladwyn immediately started looking around and inside the new structure on his island.

"The First Light is one of the Absolutes, right?" Beck asked.

Adam was surprised he didn't know.

"He doesn't have a Stage dedicated to him," Beck added when he noticed Adam's confused expression. "Although I guess if his whole thing is light, then maybe Fifteen is kind of related to him?"

Emelia had said Stage Fifteen was called the Lightless City, but she hadn't mentioned it having anything to do with the Absolute.

"I think he's more of a pacifist," Adam said.

"That probably explains why I've not heard of him until now," Beck commented. "It's hard to be a pacifist in the Trials after all."

"Apparently, to make him appear for worship, you need to have found this brazier and not killed any Players in the Altar."

"That's a tall order," Beck replied.

"His first weakness also makes you take damage if you hurt other Players," Adam added.

"That just wouldn't work for some of the later Stages," Beck remarked. "Everyone always falls into one of three factions, and there's a lot of Player-killing going on."

That was something Emelia hadn't mentioned, so it was probably just an issue in this universe, Adam thought.

"Who will you worship if not the Tome Keeper?" Adam asked.

"Good question," Beck mused. "I'm not sure he'll show up for me this time, so I was thinking Morrligt would be a good choice."

"That eye at the bottom of the island, apparently if you can make it blink then an Absolute named the Keening will appear as an option," Adam said.

"I know of him. He's a God related to sound and vibration, and the Pride Demons worship him. The weird puppets in Stage Eighteen are part of his 'choir'. They're kind of terrifying."

"More than the Voidspawn?" Adam asked.

"They're scary in a different way," he said.

Gladwyn returned from inside the lighthouse.

"It still needs to grow for 4 more Stages," he said.

"So after you've kicked the shit out of the vampires in Moonport you'll get your boon," Beck replied. "That's good timing, because Stage Nine sucks."

That's the Forlorn Kingdom. Emelia told me not to fight the Forlorn Shadow that my crown will trigger, as did Nova. From her descriptions, it didn't sound like it was that difficult of a Stage, but I guess I'm underestimating it if even Beck says it's bad.

After thanking Adam for giving him the lighthouse, Gladwyn and Beck went towards the Tavern. Adam still had things to do though, so he excused himself and returned to his own dimension. He promised that he would meet them in the Tavern later so that they could figure out the winner of their bet. Adam was pretty sure he had it in the bag though.

Once he landed in his own dimension, he went to the Player House to see what Builder had made. Near the shelves, mannequins, and storage chests was now a rack that could hold six weapons.

[You have unlocked the Weapon Rack. Unused weapons will now go here instead of disappearing if you are unable to carry them.]

"Does that mean even weapons I find during Stages?"

[Correct.]

Wait, that's so much better than I thought!

Up against the left wall was a railing and staircase now, and as Adam walked down the steps, he came into a room that was like an open bar, kitchen, and tavern all in one.

Charlie immediately popped out of a door in the back, even though the door definitely led to nowhere.

[You have unlocked the Basement. Like the Dimensional Tavern, this place allows you to talk with other Players.]

There weren't a lot of seats within the basement restaurant, so he wasn't quite sure how it would work for displaying other Players.

Charlie stood behind the counter. "Can I get you anything, Adam?" she asked.

"Not right now," he replied. "But I'll definitely come back later."

The red ant looked around for Belamouranthe, and he quickly told her, "Bel will come back after the next Stage."

She looked relieved to hear that.

When Adam was about to leave the basement, a different door opened up in the back near the tables and all the special denizens filed in.

"You're kidding me…" he groaned.

Sylvia, Finnian, Migraine, and Sprite all came in, talking loudly amongst themselves. Behind them followed Yenna, carrying a banjo in her arms.

I'm not prepared for this right now…

Adam hurried up to the ground floor and left his Player House, not yet ready to deal with the consequences of the island's denizens having easy access to the floor below where he slept.

He went back to the Market, returning to Builder's stall.

"Listen, I actually need to get the well for my house too."

"No problem, hon," Builder said. "It'll be 1500 Points."

There goes all my money…

"I'll take it," he said.

I'll just get a new secondary weapon after the Altar.

< < Construction Purchased > >

< Garden Well >

< 700 Points Remaining >

"How quick can you have it finished?" Adam asked.

"Give me 30 minutes, and it'll be done," Builder replied.

While Adam waited, he talked to the denizens at the Market, still trying to decide who he should give the Vanity to. Yenna inexplicably returned to the fountain, so it seemed that she, like Charlie, only moved to the basement restaurant when Adam was there.

Once the time had passed, Adam had finally decided who he'd give the Vanity to, but first he wanted to see the ritual chamber that Beck had talked about.

He hurried to the Player House, and in the garden outside, behind the apple tree where the small slime, goblin, imp, and captain played around, was a circular tube made of dark bricks. Adam went over to the well and found that it had metal rungs on the inside leading down. It seemed to go quite deep into the island, because he couldn't see the bottom.

Although it gave him flashbacks to the well that'd led him and Emelia to their deaths in Stage Seven, he descended into the darkness, reaching the bottom after about a minute and landing in a shallow bit of water.

Not much of a well if there's no water in it. But I guess there wouldn't be an aquifer for it to tap into on a floating island, which totally defeats the purpose of having it.

Even if Adam hadn't known that the well had a secret chamber attached, he could see how someone might reach that conclusion, because as he stood at the bottom of the narrow tunnel, there was a faint bit of light spilling out from cracks in one side of the rounded wall.

After a few experimental prods and shoves, he found that one of the bricks rotated like a simple lock, allowing him to push a part of the wall to the side and walk into a round chamber with six lit candleholders surrounding a circular slab of dark-grey stone in the middle.

When he looked around, it didn't really remind him of the ritual chamber in Alepheria's tower, but the atmosphere was kind of similar.

Although Interim Island was nominally safe, Adam swept the chamber for any traps and hidden surprises, but found nothing.

As he approached the round slab, he felt power emanating from the stone.

It latched onto the blood sigils covering his hands and made them feel restless.

A thought occurred to him.

In Alepheria's lab at the bottom of the Floating Sea of Gold, Adam had absorbed the knowledge of her tomes and learnt of many strange rituals. Some of them had revealed ways for him to summon alternate entities from the ritual chamber in Stage Six, but most had been impossible for him to utilise because of their esoteric tolls and ingredients.

There was one though, which seemed to relate to the Tome Keeper somehow, and its requirement was simple.

It needed a place of power.

And from where he stood, the slab in front of him very much felt like it represented just that.

Although he had no idea what the ritual would accomplish, Adam's curiosity took a hold of him and he pulled blood out through his palms to recreate the sigil of the spell.

Once he was done and made sure his linework was solid, he knelt at the edge of the slab and placed both hands on the stone, activating the ritual.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the sigil he'd drawn with his own blood lifted up from the stone and took on the shape of an open tome. The air around Adam seemed to freeze in place as a voice came out from within it and filled the underground chamber.

"Adam. I was wondering when you would call upon me again," said the Tome Keeper from the floating sigil of blood. "To think that you would summon me in this manner. Quite fitting, I should say."

"I didn't know what this ritual would do, to be honest," Adam said.

"I assume you must have gleaned it from Alepheria's library. She was wont to use it, whenever her studies hit a dead-end."

"What does it do?"

"It is called the Erudition Barter. You will already be familiar with how it works. Now then, what new knowledge have you brought for me this time?"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.