I rushed through the dark corridor, sliding low to dodge an incoming silky projectile from the Void Spider in front of me.
In one quick motion, I swung Silverfang in a wide arc, slicing through the spider and killing it with one hit.
[+294 XP]
Suddenly, the wall to my side trembled violently, then shattered as a Razor Serpent burst through, its bladed head flying toward me.
I raised Silverfang to block just in time. Then, I immediately released the weapon, allowing it to dematerialize back into my inventory as I summoned the Astral Spear. With the legendary weapon in my hands, I drove the edge through the narrow gap, piercing the serpent’s eye.
[+544 XP]
[Quest Completed: Motherfucking Snakes in this Motherfucking tomb #2]
[Reward: 15,000 XP]
[+15,000 XP]
[New Quest Available: Motherfucking Snakes in this Motherfucking tomb #3]
[Slay 250 Razor Serpents]
[Current Status: 100 / 250]
[Reward: 20,000 XP]
But I had no time to even sigh in relief, a skittering sound filled the corridor.
From both ends, they came – dozens, no, hundreds – Void Centipedes, their armored bodies writhing as they charged me.
Checkpoint was already used, so there was nothing left for me to do but fight to the death.
I switched back to Silverfang and charged an Enhanced Blur Strike, attacking everything in my sight before the Void Centipedes overwhelmed me and ripped me to shreds.
[Health: 0% - You Have Died]
***
[Déjà vu System: Level 44]
[Loop Count: 55]
[Experience Points (XP): 25,394 / 71,000]
[Skill Point Available: Choose a skill to level up]
Loop 55…twelve runs until the end…nine until I had to face Goren…and I was nowhere near finishing this.
Kelltins still held the third shard of the Darknessbound Core, but will he show up to the quest?
An Echo of my conversation with Goren revealed that Kelltins told him he’d quit. If he actually did, then I was screwed. Without the final shard, I couldn’t complete the core and attempt to imprison Erebus.
So instead, I’d spent my time leveling up like a madman, even slaying a few bosses along the way, while scouring for the unknown items Chronos had mentioned. I had no idea what I was looking for, yet I’d stumbled upon one: a small, glassy orb called the Eye of Axul. It came with no description, and I had no idea what to do with it. Chronos hadn’t called me since he told me about the last battle and revealed himself as the son of the Creator.
The revelation still felt bizarre. But it had changed how I saw him. He was no longer just some random god who appeared out of nowhere. Now, in my eyes, he had a deeper connection to humanity, even though he clarified that the Creator humanity believed in wasn’t his father but more of a human construct. But a Creator did exist – his father – and he created the universe – all of them, to be precise.
I glanced at the Déjà vu System’s skill menu.
1. Déjà vu – Lvl.8 / 10
Passive skill. Triggers faint recollections of past loops, increasing awareness of events that have happened.
2. Afterimage – Lvl.8 / 10
Creates an afterimage of yourself, retracing your past selves’ movements for a brief duration.
3. Temporal Trace – Lvl.8 / 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.8 / 10
Passive skill. Allows to hear echoes from past loops such as conversations and etcetera.
5. Checkpoint – Lvl.7 / 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.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
With every skill progression blocked by a restriction requiring another skill to be upgraded first, I ended up leveling all my skills to 8 except for Checkpoint, which I was focusing on now. After I maxed it, I could move on to Afterimage, then Echo Sense, then Temporal Trace, and finally, Déjà vu.
Curse this damn System...
[Skill Upgraded: Checkpoint lvl.8]
[Next Level: lvl.9: You can set multiple anchor points and choose the one you respawn at. No time limit for the anchors.]
Level 8’s ability to change the anchor placement with a renewed timer was already good, but level 9…that sounded even better.
I shifted to my Core System and placed the extra point into Agility.
I’d already passed level 100. Who would’ve thought? I was now level 105 – still likely behind Goren…
[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 (+30)
- Strength: 10 (+5)
- Intelligence: 9 (+15)
50 points in Agility. I wasn’t sure how much Lady Mikaela had, but I’d bet I could give her a run for her money in speed.
Reaching so high in Agility had not only boosted my damage scaling and speed to insane levels, but it had also enhanced many of my existing skills and even unlocked new ones.
Enhanced Blade Rush provided an extremely long casting range.
Enhanced Dash Step covered larger distances, improving my evasions.
Enhanced Blur Strike extended the skill’s duration, reduced charging time, and allowed to target more enemies.
The new skills were: Mirage Step – a skill that allowed me to leave multiple mirrored versions of myself behind. Though unable to attack, they made excellent decoys as enemies couldn’t tell us apart. And Apex Reflex – a skill that allowed me to slow time from my perspective momentarily when attacked, ensuring I could dodge, parry or reposition out of danger.
As for the Air Magic skill tree, I had maximized all existing skills and unlocked two new ones: Air Barrage – an evolution of Wind Arrow, allowing me to fire a volley of air projectiles in a high arc, raining destruction over a large area. And Typhoon – a skill that unleashed a wave of wind in all directions around me, perfect for dealing with overwhelming numbers.
As for my weapon arsenal, I began training in weapon-swapping – the art of cycling through multiple weapons in a fight, summoning and discarding them at a moment’s notice thanks to the inventory’s materialization mechanics.
Knowing I wouldn’t remember anything between loops, I left myself an Echo in my room, instructing my future self to train in weapon-swapping. Fearing that an Echo such as this wouldn’t transfer into my next run because of the System's restrictions, I ensured I’d get the message by leaving a Temporal Trace mark on each of my weapons. Having all of them marked would definitely make my amnesiac self realize I needed all of them, which would eventually lead me to understand the clue I left for myself. Seeing how it worked this morning, I’d say I’m a genius.
Once the hint was pieced together, I was surprised to see my own muscle memory – not the skill – preserving my progress in weapon-swapping, much to my relief. Thank you, past Aidans.
I now possessed the Astral Spear, Christian’s grandfather’s legendary weapon. The weapon duplicated itself after the first time I took it. I had an Astral Spear in my inventory, but whenever I visited Christian to stock up, a second Astral Spear was there inside the guild’s storage room. This wasn’t surprising, considering I’d already discovered Nightfall in my second inventory while still finding it under my bed in the morning. Sadly, creating three copies was impossible - the System denied me that.
In addition to the spear, Silverfang was still there. There was something about the glaive that just felt right for me – like it belonged in my hands.
Lightning Claw, the dagger I crafted from Pack Leader’s fang, was too good to turn down with its unique skills.
Nightfall, despite its low level, was also marked. I assume my past selves believed it had earned its place back in our arsenal. Well, some of its skills could still be highly effective against certain foes.
And as for the Sword of Radiance – the glowing sword in my second inventory that was supposedly keeping me safe from Erebus, despite its level requirement of 100, I still couldn’t wield it. Once I passed 100, I tried to, but a new requirement showed up:
[Sword of Radiance: Not allowed to use weapon. Must be “Chosen of the Light”]
What does that even mean? Was “Chosen of the Light” an item I needed to find? A sub-quest I needed to complete? Of course, the damn Déjà vu System offered no guidance on the matter, leaving me in the dark.
I rose from my bed after rewatching all the memory fragments in my second inventory. Conveniently, time didn’t move while I experienced them, so viewing two fragments and twelve Vestiges of Time had only taken about five seconds in real time.
But something else lingered – exhaustion.
I’d assumed that forgetting everything between runs would prevent such fatigue, but it seemed my body remembered. Just as it retained weapon-swapping proficiency, it also carried the strain from my previous runs.
But it wasn’t only physical exhaustion, though – it was mental as well.
Yana was due to arrive in half an hour to pick me up for the quest. Yesterday – 54 runs and a day ago – I’d felt so excited about seeing her again. But now? That excitement was gone. Replaced by something else.
I didn’t feel joy about my childhood friend – the girl I’d loved all my life, the one I'd seen only once in the past two years – coming to see me. If anything, I felt the opposite. I didn’t want to see her – at least not yet. I just wanted to get to the tomb as fast as possible just to get this over with.
I kept trying to reassure myself that these feelings were a product of the time loop, that after Erebus was gone, I’d make up for lost time with Yana and my feelings would return.
But would they?
I could only hope.
***
Stocked up at Christian’s.
Headed to the tomb with Yana.
On our way to the tomb, Yana was finishing a story about her guild master, Lady Mikaela, and her incredible abilities.
“…She just darted from her spot instantly using Shadow Step and cut him in half in one slice. Gods, I’m not doing it justice describing it half-assedly like this. It was just...wow. It was wow, Aidan! Wow!”
But my mind was elsewhere.
I wanted to be in the tomb already.
I wanted to explore, to find what I was missing. Chronos had said there was a way to slow Erebus down and that he trusted me to find it. But I couldn’t. And if I understood that memory from our last conversation correctly, the runs were getting shorter. Time was running out. The only reason I wasn't marked yet was the sword...
“It was that boring, huh?” Yana asked suddenly, her voice sharp. She didn’t look at me and that alone was enough to tell me she was upset.
“Sorry, Yan.” I said, trying to snap back to reality. “I was just thinking about something.”
“About what?” she asked, looking genuinely curious.
The image of her dying in my arms flashed in my mind.
I wish I could tell you…
“It’s nothing, really…” I replied, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“Nothing, huh?”
I nodded, forcing a weak smile. “Yeah, just random thoughts.”
She sighed heavily, her demeanor shifting. Her frustration grew into something deeper – hurt. “You know, after almost two years apart, I hoped you’d be more excited to see me. That you would – I don’t know – ask questions, show interest, maybe even act like you missed me or something. But…” she exhaled, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I was hoping for, really.”
Before I could respond, she broke into a run, heading toward the tomb and leaving me behind.
“Yana, wait!” I called after her, but she didn’t stop or even look back.
Oh, great…well, what are you doing, Aidan? Run after her! Tell her you’re sorry. Tell her you care!
But I didn’t.
I just stood there in silence, watching her figure shrink in the distance.
The worst part was that I didn’t really consider running after her. Deep down, I was content with what had just happened.
“But, what about us?” I suddenly heard an Echo of Yana’s voice.
What did she mean ‘what about us’? Why did she say this before?
And yet, instead of feeling worried, curious, or even guilty, I felt nothing.
Nothing except the burning desire to reach the tomb and make sure this run was the last.
I reminded myself that I was fighting for her. That everything I was doing was for Yana. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t feel it anymore.