[+318 XP]
[Quest Completed: All Dogs Go to Heaven #2]
[+10,000 XP]
[Level Up! You have gained 1 Skill Point]
[Skill Point Available: Choose a skill to level up]
[New Quest Available: All Dogs Go to Heaven #3]
[Slay 200 Undead Wolves]
[Current Status: 90 / 200]
[Reward: 15,000 XP]
The messages flashed in quick succession as I drove Nightfall into the last of the Undead Wolves, pinning it to the floor of the second level’s corridor.
Through careful planning and trickery I've managed to slay most of the pack. The rest continued their advance to the upper level. But the Pack Leader had returned to check on his crew.
If his eyes weren’t the undead milky white, I would’ve sworn he was furious.
Sadly, Checkpoint had already been used. He’d killed me earlier, activating my second run within this loop. I wondered if I’d ever managed to kill him in any previous loops. It seemed unlikely, even now that I was close to his level.
I was already low on health, mana, and items, and I knew I wasn’t going to win this fight. But I’d give it everything I had. Hopefully, in my next runs, Déjà vu and Muscle Memory will remind me enough of his attack patterns to give me an edge.
I exhaled sharply, steadying myself before letting out a battle cry and rushing him head-on.
Dying again.
[Health: 0% - You Have Died]
***
[Déjà vu System: Level 22]
[Loop Count: 36]
[Experience Points (XP): 3,176 / 17,000]
[Skill Point Available: Choose a skill to level up]
I jumped out of bed the moment I woke up.
“The second inventory.” I heard an Echo of my own voice, loud and clear.
Good. Echo Sense level 3 was finally proving to be reliable, the sound quality of the Echo sharp and unmistakable. I browsed through my second inventory and found the Time Plane Memory fragment there, replaying what my previous self had discovered.
Sadly, seeing how the related quest showed that I had only found one of them, it was clear I was progressing very slowly.
Reaching level 22 in the Déjà vu System meant I was now level 72 compared to other adventurers. Still, that wasn’t enough to be classified as a high-level adventurer, so there wasn’t much to be proud of yet - especially considering I was only 28 runs away from facing Goren and seemingly making no progress in defeating Gaelith and Erebus.
I hadn’t even seen Chronos since that odd meeting where he introduced me to...basketball, it was called? Anyway, that was nearly 20 runs ago! Was I not progressing well enough to warrant another meeting?
I sighed heavily, navigating to the Déjà vu System’s skill menu to decide where to allocate my skill point.
1. Déjà vu – Lvl.6 / 10
Passive skill. Triggers faint recollections of past loops, increasing awareness of events that have happened.
2. Afterimage – Lvl.3 / 10
Creates an afterimage of yourself, retracing your past selves’ movements for a brief duration.
3. Temporal Trace – Lvl.3 / 10
Allows vision of the Time Plane, and the ability to mark a specific location on it visible only to you. Remains between loops unless removed.
4. Echo Sense – Lvl.3 / 10
Passive skill. Allows to hear echoes from past loops such as conversations and etcetera.
5. Checkpoint – Lvl.2 / 10
Sets a temporal anchor point, allowing you to revert to this moment upon death with memories of the current loop intact (single use per loop).
6. Mirror Leveling – Lvl.1 / 1 - MAX
Passive skill. For each level you gain in the Déjà vu System, you receive an additional skill point to allocate into your Core System.
7. Muscle Memory – Lvl.3 / 3 - MAX
Passive skill. Your body becomes attuned to enemies’ attack patterns from past loops, often reacting instinctively during combat.
I was content with the current level of most skills, so, like my previous self decided many runs ago, I allocated the additional point to Déjà vu, raising it to 7.
[Skill Upgraded: Déjà vu lvl.7]
[Next Level: lvl.8: Increases the frequency of Déjà vu even more. The recollections become clearer and more precise]
With that done, I turned to my Core System.
[Status Menu]
- Name: Aidan Dar
- Level: 50 (Max Level Reached)
- Class: Spellsword
- Subclass: Arcane Duelist
- Health: 100%
- Mana: 100%
- Stamina: 100%
- Endurance: 6 (+5)
- Durability: 5
- Agility: 20 (+5)
- Strength: 10 (+4)
- Intelligence: 9 (+7)
The progression through my stats not only made me stronger and more resilient, but it also unlocked new skills along the way. For example:
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
10 points in Endurance unlocked Distance Gauge, allowing me to sense the presence of enemies and allies nearby, and Second Wind, a passive skill that could replenish stamina upon depletion once. It had a long cooldown, but it was still incredibly useful – at least on paper.
Together with the 10 points in Endurance, my 25 points in Agility unlocked Kinetic Shift, which made all my Agility-based skills, like Dash Step and Blade Rush, cost stamina instead of mana, with really low costs.
The gem, however, was Blur Strike, unlocked at 25 Agility. It allowed me to strike all enemies in my line of sight in a blur of motion, making me untargetable during the attack for 3 whole seconds. I couldn’t know if I tried it in previous runs, but I could likely combine it with Time Delay Swing for extra damage. Either way, Muscle Memory should take over and remind me of what I've tried before.
Next milestone under the Intelligence stat was 20, if I remembered correctly, so I allocated the extra point there, raising it to 17.
[Air Magic Skill Tree: New skills available]
Excited, I quickly navigated to my Air Magic Skill Tree.
[Spellsword / Arcane Duelist]
[Air Magic Skill Tree]
1. Wind Rush – Lvl.3 / 3 – [MAX]
A gust of wind guides you and enhances your movement for the next two minutes. Can stack with other dodge/evasion skills. Cooldown: None. Effect ends upon mana depletion.
2. Wind Blast – Lvl.2 / 3 – [20,636/15,000XP] – Upgrade Available
Release a small, short-ranged blast of condensed wind capable of inflicting a Stun. Cooldown: 3 seconds.
3. Horizon – Lvl.3 / 3 – [MAX]
Perform a horizontal slash with your weapon of choice to unleash a destructive wave of wind capable of AOE damage. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
4. Wind Wall – Lvl.2 / 3 – [20,636/20,000XP] – Upgrade Available
Create a wind barrier that blocks incoming projectiles. Cooldown: 3 minutes.
5. Wind Arrow – Lvl.2 / 3 – [20,636/20,000XP] – Upgrade Available
Release long-ranged wind arrows capable of AOE damage when charged. Cooldown: Regular – 0.3 second. Charged – 20 seconds. Charge duration – 5 seconds.
6. Wind Fortification – Lvl.2 / 3 – [20,636/30,000XP]
Negates fatal damage once by fortifying the body with wind magic. Cooldown: 1 hour.
7. Burning Damage Resistance – Lvl.1 / 1 – [MAX] - NEW!
You are resistant to burning damage.
8. Flight – Lvl.1 / 3 – [20,636/15,000XP] – Upgrade Available - NEW!
Defy gravity and fly for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Flight?
Under normal circumstances, I would’ve leveled it up immediately, but considering the entire quest took place inside an underground tomb, I doubted it would be useful. The base version should be enough for now. Instead, I decided to maximize Wind Wall, lowering its cooldown to one minute and giving myself an additional reliable, defensive option alongside Nightfall’s Moon Barrier.
Burning Damage Resistance, on the other hand, could prove extremely useful.
I was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Aidan?” Yana’s voice came from outside.
Startled, I realized I’d spent the entire morning leveling up.
***
“How are you so fast?” Yana exhaled as we finished our race, stopping not too far away from the tomb.
We raced all the way here from Christian’s and I had won by a landslide. Not surprising, considering her build was more Strength and Intelligence-oriented, whereas Agility had always been my forte - now even more so than before.
“I was always faster than you.” I said dismissively, hoping I didn’t overdo it and make her suspect anything. I’d already decided she was staying out of this until the very end. I won’t let her die again.
“Yeah, but not that fast!” she exclaimed. “You’re way faster than some of the guys in my guild.”
“And they’re probably way stronger than me and have flashier magic,” I countered, trying to temper her excitement. “It all balances out.”
She shrugged. “I guess so…It’s been so long since we’ve adventured together, I guess I forgot how fast you were.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
“How many points do you even have in Agility?”
“Twenty.” I replied quickly. Technically, it wasn’t a complete lie.
She seemed thoughtful at my answer but didn’t press further. Instead, she nodded, and we continued toward the tomb.
“…us”
An Echo of Yana’s voice suddenly sounded in my ears, faint and indistinguishable. Guess Echo Sense wasn’t as reliable as I thought it was this morning…
I couldn’t make out the rest of her words, but it left me wondering.
***
Split into teams.
Cleared the chambers – [+680 XP]
Killed two Undead Wolves without using air magic – [+636 XP]
Evaded the Grave Moles with Yana.
Killed more Undead – [+578 XP]
Noticing the mark I had left for myself, I tricked Yana to escort Melissa and Lena.
I stared intently at the dark corridor to my left, Déjà vu quite literally screaming at me.
My gaze dropped to the floor – the first danger it was warning me about.
Activating Afterimage, I watched a ghostly version of myself fire Luminous Slashes at the walls inside, then carefully maneuver around something on the floor.
Traps...
But the tingling sensation from Déjà vu didn’t fade. There was something else at the end of the corridor – something that filled me with a deeper dread. Someone.
Lumindew had a relatively short range – it wouldn’t help me see that far into the corridor from this position.
There were no other options left. I didn’t have that many runs left in this time loop, and I needed to make each loop count.
Adjusting myself at the corridor’s entrance, careful not to step inside, I brought my hands together and summoned air magic. Slowly, I drew my right hand back, pulling a Charged Wind Arrow, aiming it toward the corridor’s end.
“Let’s see you jump scare me now.” I muttered under my breath.
I released the Charged Wind Arrow, watching it fly forward until it struck the corridor’s end and exploded on impact. Dust and rubble filled the air, followed by a guttural scream. A green glow became visible through the haze, but it didn’t move closer.
Realizing I would have to enter the corridor, I turned my attention to the traps. Destroying the crossbows hidden in the walls, just as my afterimage had, I cleared the way. Then, I stepped inside, jumping over the spot my afterimage had carefully avoided. I moved forward until I met my adversary:
Undead General Kaelstrife.
A tenth of his HP was already gone, courtesy of my Charged Wind Arrow.
The name was familiar from history books, but the figure before me was no hero – it was a monster. A twisted version of the legendary general who shouldn’t have been here. I wondered how many of my deaths had been by his hands.
Then, he attacked, his glaive slicing through the air.
I activated Wind Rush. Now, in its final version, I could use it continuously until I ran out of mana. With no cooldown as well. I combined it with Dash Step, circling Kaelstrife quickly and striking his back. The hit was clean but Nightfall barely left any damage.
It suddenly hit me how I needed a stronger weapon. My current gear couldn’t keep up with my improved stats.
Kaelstrife, however, didn’t care about my predicament. He turned to me, his glaive slashing with precision. Muscle Memory took over, and I evaded his strikes instinctively, circling him again before unleashing Wind Blast straight at his face. The blast landed perfectly, stunning him.
Seizing the opportunity, I stepped back and unleashed Horizon. The wave of destructive wind tore through the corridor, damaging the murals I’d hoped to study. But somehow, I didn’t care. It was as if Déjà vu assured me that killing Kaelstrife was more important.
Horizon struck the stunned Kaelstrife, resulting in a critical hit that dropped his HP to 70%.
I immediately closed the gap between us with Blade Rush, dodging his incoming counterattack with Dash Step, thanks to Muscle Memory, landing more hits, and slowly chipping away at his health.
Then, he suddenly leapt backward, lowering his stance. He pointed his glaive forward and it began glowing with that sickly green light.
Déjà vu warned me. He was charging an attack.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I muttered, selecting a Spark Bomb from my second inventory and hurling it at him.
Luck was on my side – a stun landed, canceling his charge. I capitalized on the moment, landing several critical hits and reducing his HP to half.
But then he roared, the green glow on his glaive and chest intensifying. His movements suddenly grew faster, his attacks stronger.
Muscle Memory didn’t take over. This was new.
Excitement surged through me, and I stepped back defensively, preparing to meet his onslaught.
Then, I heard it.
The sound of a mechanical clink, followed by the groaning of stone grinding against stone.
My heart sank.
I’d accidently stepped on a pressure tile.
The ground beneath me gave way as Kaelstrife lunged and we both plummeted into the darkness below.
I panicked.
[Checkpoint Set: Your progress has been saved at this point in time]
[Checkpoint lvl. 2: Time left until Anchor expires – 59:59]