< < Upgrades Available > >

  < Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) — Reduces barrier summoning cost by 10% >

  < Manipulation Speed (Rare) — Increases manipulation speed by 35% >

  < Luck (Uncommon) — Increases luck by 2 >

  I’m starting to wonder if I should prioritise Luck early on, since it clearly makes a big difference for upgrades. I guess it kind of depends on how it affects Relic selections. I also wonder what the threshold is to have all options appear as Rare. 10? 15?

  Still, I want to evolve before I start investigating, since I need my barrier to be better for Stage Two. After all, the goblins are a lot less predictable.

  I like the idea of taking Efficiency again, since that’d bring me to 20% and make my barriers cost 40 Mana, which in turn allows me to summon a total of five before I run out. Plus, that Exhaustion debuff is nasty as hell. I’m really lucky that it didn’t get me killed.

  Even though Speed here is Rare, I still think Efficiency is the better move. But if I see Speed again, I’ll pick that next I think, since it’ll boost my rotary saw move, as well as how quickly I can respond to attacks.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Barrier Efficiency (Uncommon) >

  Once again, the pages of the spell-tome became whiter, as though the upgrade was cleaning off years of smoke stains.

  The upgrade options above the podium flickered and were replaced with a new set.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Barrier Durability (Rare) — Increases barrier health by 35% >

  < Manipulation Speed (Uncommon) — Increases manipulation speed by 20% >

  < Bleed (Rare) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 15% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

  Ah… I said I’d pick speed, but the Durability upgrade is Rare.

  Fuck it. Speed comes later.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Barrier Durability (Rare) >

  Almost all of the rust vanished from the spell-tome’s iron-covered edges, signet, and clasp.

  I wonder if getting to 100% increased durability will clean it up completely.

  The tome started to glow golden. The Eye folded itself back into a cube and floated over.

  [Your Warder Weapon Type has reached Level 6.]

  [At Level 6, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions.]

  The magical weapon burst apart into golden droplets and was sucked into the tesseract.

  A moment later it dropped to the ground and turned into a pyramid shape, with a hologram appearing on either side of it. Both of them were tomes, but their appearances were different.

  The one on the left had grey leather, the iron was replaced with bronze, and its signet was now a closed fist with the palm facing out. The other had blue leather, silver instead of iron, and the signet was replaced with a cloudy violet gem. Both were still sealed by the clasp.

  < < Select an Evolution > >

  < Shaper — Gain the power to shape the barrier >

  < Splitter — Gain the power to split the barrier into a maximum of 3 smaller versions >

  Both seem quite good.

  I do wonder if there’s a way to get more barriers without splitting them. Maybe like something that increases my projectiles? Although I guess it counts as a summon, not a projectile.

  “What are the limits of the Shaper? There’s gotta be limits right?”

  Otherwise I could just turn my barrier into a tiny scalpel and slice through everything…

  [The Shaper cannot make the barrier smaller than it is. The total mass must be persistent across shapes.]

  “Can I fold it repeatedly to make a thin needle?”

  [Only if you are capable, but the shape must be persisted in your mind and this requires a powerful will and focus.]

  Why does that sound like a ‘no’…?

  “Can I shape it into anything as long as the mass is the same? Like, can I turn it into a shield and carry that around? Or a sword?”

  [The barrier will not become a physical thing you can carry and must always be controlled with the use of the Spell-Tome.]

  So, no turning it into a shield and wielding it alongside Gram. Shame.

  “Okay, so, what about the Splitter? How does that work?”

  [The split barriers are identical, but based on the number of barriers, the durability and size vary.]

  “But I can move all of them at the same time, right?”

  [Only if you are capable, controlling multiple summons simultaneously requires a powerful will and focus.]

  Making it sound like I have to partition my mind to be able to move more than one at a time.

  I have the most ideas for how to utilise the Shaper to be honest, and it also just seems the most interesting from a functional standpoint. Plus, if I find a way to increase my summon count, then that’d defeat the purpose of the Splitter anyway.

  Although, I won’t lie, blocking an attack only to then split my barrier into three and go on the offensive sounds pretty damn cool.

  But turning my barrier into a lance or super-dense needle sounds even cooler!

  < < Evolution Selected > >

  < Warder => Shaper >

  The grey tome appeared in his hands and he immediately summoned a barrier. This time, he hardly felt the Mana drain, since it only put him to around 80%.

  Before he could test out his new power, a pyramid gem manifested itself in the air in front of him. Adam grabbed it.

  < < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

  One more and I can unlock the Orb of Insight. I hope it has the ability to help me find Secrets and hidden bosses, although Alivida didn’t mention anything about that.

  “Armament,” he said, double-checking his stats.

  < < Weapon Status > >

  < Spell-Tome >

  < Rare Quality >

  < Level 6 >

  < Stat Upgrades >

  < Barrier Durability 90% >

  < Barrier Efficiency 20% >

  < Manipulation Effect 20% >

  Anyway, let’s try this thing out.

  The Eye returned to its cube shape and floated over to the chest, which had golden light shining out from under its lid and was waiting for Adam to approach it. He ignored it for now and focused his full attention on the barrier.

  Unlike before, it had changed colour and was now milky-white, not too dissimilar to the Slime Emperor’s appearance. He reached out and touched it. It was still warm, but now felt more solid than before, no doubt thanks to the Durability upgrades.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Let’s see how this Shaper thing works.

  Adam took a step back from the barrier and flipped it so it was horizontal. While holding the tome in his left hand, he reached out with his right and imagined squeezing the edges of the pane of energy to turn it into a roll.

  Nothing happened at first, but then he focused as hard as he could on the mental image in his head, while clenching his teeth.

  The edges of the large square bowed upward slightly with his tremendous effort, but as soon as he drew in a breath and relaxed just a tiny bit, the barrier returned to its original shape.

  Holy fuck that’s difficult!

  He’d figured that immediately folding it on itself would be too hard, so forming a hollow tube was the better way to start off. Even that seemed way too difficult.

  I think the Manipulation Effect is supposed to help with this, but it hardly seems to make a difference.

  No wonder the Eye phrased the explanation like that.

  Maybe it’s difficult because the barrier wants to be flat. So I might have more luck shaping it without trying to fold it.

  He wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hand, so he just held it out in a vague open-palmed gesture, while focusing on the image in his mind.

  For starters, he tried to turn the barrier from a square into a circle.

  In the air in front of him, the material of the horizontal pane of energy warped and became rounded, sort of like a big glass disc.

  That’s a lot easier!

  When he let go of the image in his head, the shape did not spring back to the square it’d been before.

  Interesting.

  He cycled through other shapes, like a diamond, triangle, trapeze, rectangle, oval, and so on, until eventually trying something more complex.

  In his mind, he imagined that the flat barrier became a sword, replete with handle, crossguard, and long blade. In reality it was a lot harder to maintain such a shape, not to mention even sustaining the mental image’s coherence.

  Although the barrier became a flat replica of the sword in his head, and was squeezed to a length of 3.5 metres, its shape kept warping, until eventually just becoming a skinny rectangle.

  This is tough…

  [3 minutes remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]

  He hadn’t even heard the warning for the 5-minute mark, but he still needed to check the remains of the apple tree’s canopy for the Glass Acorn.

  First he checked the Relic Chest though, so he didn’t have to decide on what to pick at the last possible moment.

  Let’s see if the Luck stat of 5 prevents Common Relics from appearing.

  < < Relics Available > >

  < Bark Armour (Uncommon) — Increases Player Defence by 25%. Breaks after 5 hits >

  < Reroll Die (Uncommon) — Allows the Player to reroll Reward or Vendor Options. Relic disappears after use >

  < Slime Ring (Rare) — Infuse Player’s projectiles with Acid Burst. 60-second cooldown >

  Not an amazing selection, was really hoping I’d get lucky and receive the Slime King’s Crown.

  But I guess I do have this.

  He reached up and patted the Rusted Crown he’d gotten from the Slime Emperor. It fit his head perfectly.

  Still, no Commons in the selection, that’s interesting. I’m wondering if raising Luck high enough means I’d only get Rare or Epic options, but I feel like that’d somehow limit a lot of potential. After all, the best Relics I had last time around were all Rare.

  The Fiendbarb was interesting, but I leaned too heavily into it, which was a mistake. I would’ve been better off not bothering too much with weapon upgrades last loop, since I relied so heavily on Relics.

  I think this time around I’ll focus on using my weapon more and investing the majority of my Points. Even if Willow made me promise not to throw my life away, I am better off setting myself up for success in future loops instead of investing too heavily into the current one. Maybe I can split my Point expenditure to 50/50 or something.

  I’m not abandoning this life for the sake of the next, after all, I just completed this Stage without relying on Relics at all. My knowledge and experience matters more than something that I can only use every 60 seconds.

  So, unless I can find Relics that fit into my fighting style or provide something useful like Mana and Speed, then I’m better off using my Points for the meta upgrades.

  While he planned in his head for what to do in his fourth loop, Adam left the chest and went over to the remains of the fallen tree. The trunk was unrecognisable thanks to the Slime King landing on it and pulverising the wood.

  He searched through the canopy for the next 2 minutes, but the Glass Acorn was nowhere to be found amidst the mess of leaves and branches.

  I might’ve destroyed it by collapsing the tree.

  It’s not a huge loss, though the 5% boost to my stats would be nice. And I’m sure it’d get stronger as I progress.

  Right now my focus should be on beating Stage Five and it won’t help me there, since its effect doesn’t come into play until Stage Six. It would’ve been different if it was retroactively adding the boost, but alas.

  [30 seconds remaining until automatic transferral to Interim Island.]

  Adam gave up searching.

  “I’ll pick the Slime Ring,” he said.

  < < Relic Selected > >

  < Slime Ring (Rare) >

  I’ll just sell it and put the Points to better use.

  A searing pain came from the ring finger on his right hand as the Relic appeared. Like the Slime Glove, it ate his skin and flesh, exposing the bone beneath.

  Adam gritted his teeth. He knew it only hurt like this because his Health sat at an abysmal 50 points.

  Gotta do something about that too, although Health and Defence don’t appear as options until Stage Three.

  The tesseract appeared next to him and darkness spread out from it, swallowing up the forest clearing. A moment passed and buildings appeared around him.

  Back to their old dumpy selves, he mused.

  < < Now Entering > >

  < Interim Island >

  [Welcome to Interim Island. Players like yours—]

  “Skip all tutorials and explanations of the island,” he said.

  [Understood.]

  The melody of a harp filled the air, which he thought was odd, since it had been a guitar melody the last two times he came here after Stage One.

  Before he could even take a single step forward, silver scales fluttered down around him and the enormous white moth alighted on the edge of a nearby roof.

  “Hello again, Adam,” Luvicidix greeted him in her lilting voice.

  “Hi Luvicidix,” he replied.

  “Oh, thank the System, you remember me now. I was worried we would have a repeat of last time.”

  “To be fair, last time was the first time I met you. I’m blaming that whole confusion on you.”

  “Fair, I suppose,” she replied. “So, are you ready?”

  “For what?”

  “For my explanation of your unorthodox time rewinding.”

  “I already told you, I’m not rewinding time. But let’s hear it, I guess.”

  The moth floated down from the roof to land on the wonky cobblestones in front of him. Behind her in the horizon was a frozen plume of smoke from the Tavern.

  “The Eyes of the All-Seeing System have powerful magic that binds together dimensions! You were cursed when you killed it and that’s why you keep going back in time when you die!”

  “How do you explain the different rewards and weapons and upgrades then?”

  “Different?”

  “Yeah, I told you last time that they’re different.”

  “Odd.”

  Adam sighed. “Listen, I already talked to the System about this and found out why I’m looping. Couldn’t you just have asked it to find out?”

  “You talked to… the All-Seeing System??”

  “Yeah, apparently I’m going to a new universe every time I die, leaving behind an Adam-shaped hole in the previous ones I died in. He was pretty upset about it, I think.”

  “How does one talk to the All-Seeing System?”

  “I don’t know, I figured you were the expert since you span universes too. I mean, you remember me, but last time we met in a different universe.”

  The white moth nodded. “The All-Seeing must have shown its benevolence to allow me to remember you.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Anyway! You did something exciting in Stage One!”

  “Huh? Oh, the Secret Boss?”

  “Not just that! You have now unlocked all the Achievements and Secrets for that Stage!”

  “All of them?” he asked. “I didn’t get Glass Acorn or Speedrun this time around.”

  “Fret not! The achievements are saved between loops!”

  “That seems kind of… easy?”

  Wait, why am I upset about that?

  “Do I get a reward?”

  “Of course, Adam! Not to mention, my sister Alivida has something new for sale as well.”

  “I’ll go check that out later, but what’s my reward?”

  The moth held out one of her white black-banded arms and a polished spherical stone dropped from her hand and onto the ground. Then white slime emerged from within it, pouring out and taking shape until it became a humanoid figure. It looked eerily similar to the Slime Emperor, though it lacked a crown and only had one sphere, which was located in the head.

  Like the Eye, it too was frozen in place by Luvicidix’s magic.

  “What’s that? Another vendor?”

  “No, no, dear Adam. This is a special companion!”

  “Companion or ‘companion’?” he asked, sceptically.

  “Exactly.”

  “What?”

  “Unlike the vendors and tavernkeeper, this new denizen of the Interim Island will wander freely and will join you for talks, shopping, and dinner, should you so desire.”

  “Wait so, if I get all the stuff for Stage Two, I unlock another denizen like this? Like a goblin?”

  “Indeed. Amusing, isn’t it?”

  “Do they offer anything other than companionship?”

  The white moth nodded. “Some offer special services, quests, or useful insight.”

  “Special services or ‘special services’.”

  “Exactly.”

  Adam shook his head. “I think I would’ve just preferred to get extra Points to be honest…”

  “Speaking of! Would you like to invest in some Meta Upgrades?”

  “I actually had some questions about that.”

  “Of course. Here is your current progress.”

  < < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

  < Damage — Increase All Damage by 10% — 1000 Points >

  < Rewards — Increase Reward Options by 1 — 625/4000 Points >

  < Vendors — Increase Vendor Options by 1 — 4000 Points >

  < Rerolls — Start every loop with 1 Reroll Dice — 2500 Points >

  < Relic Saving — Start every loop with 1 Saved Relic Slot — 5000 Points >

  < Cheat Death — Start every loop with the Cheat Death Relic — 10000 Points >

  “I wanted to ask about the Relic Saving. How does that work?”

  “Once unlocked, a special container appears in your Player House. Any Relic saved in an available slot will be transported to you at the start of the following loop.”

  That seems fairly simple.

  “And I can save any Relic?” he asked.

  “No.”

  Goddamn it.

  “Why not?”

  “A Saved Slot in the container corresponds to one rarity level.”

  “Wait… So one slot means I can save a Common Relic? Two slots mean one Uncommon?”

  “Exactly! Oh, I was very worried you would not understand.”

  That makes it a lot less useful suddenly. I’d need to upgrade it three times to be able to save a Rare Relic, which would be 15,000 Points… So much for sending a Slime Glove back to the start and using it to make the Fool viable.

  He’d been secretly hoping to make that work, since he had a sneaking suspicion that the Fool would be amazing once he could get past Stage One with it.

  “Wait, so, if I upgrade it two times, will I be able to send back two Common Relics?”

  “Yes. Fun, isn’t it?”

  That’s interesting though.

  Wait, I just got an idea. If I send back a Cracked Slime Core, then use that as the Fool to kill a slime, it will produce another Cracked Core. I can then keep using the cores to get rid of all the enemies until Wave Four, where I’ll bait the green slimes into destroying the tree. I could pick up Gram and then run with that.

  Adam grinned.

  “Currencies.”

  < < Player Currencies > >

  < Points — 1240 >

  < Mastery Shards — 1 >

  If I sell the Slime Ring, that puts me at 1490 Points. And if I sell my 9 cores, then I’ll be at 2165. That’s a pretty good start at least. Although I think I’ll save one Cracked Core.

  I’ll check out the Market, see if there’s anything interesting. If not, then I’ll invest all my Points into the Relic Saving upgrade.

  “I’ll be back before the sun sets to invest some Points.”

  “I will await your return,” Luvicidix said.

  The white moth retracted all the floating scales back to her wings and then took off into the air, disappearing after reaching a cloud.

  Next to Adam, the slime humanoid came to life as the time freeze disappeared. The Eye floating nearby also regained its senses.

  [Urrr—] the tesseract groaned in a deep voice that gave Adam a horrible sense of déjà vu.

  Then, as though it hadn’t just produced such an unsettling noise, the cube floated over and happily announced, [Congratulations! You have unlocked a Special Denizen due to your stellar performance in Stage One – The Magical Forest.]

  The white slime looked at him. The polished stone in its head was like a strange cyclopean eye.

  “Nice to meet you, Adam. I am Slime.”

  The voice that came out of the creature was like an ASMR whisper and he couldn’t tell if it was male or female.

  “Slime? That’s your name?”

  “Yes. I am Slime.”

  He looked at ‘Slime’, feeling slightly annoyed that the first humanoid he’d unlocked was someone like this.

  I’d give anything just for another human like me…

  “I can’t tell if you’re a woman like the rest of the denizens of the island or not.”

  “I am neither woman nor man, I am simply Slime.”

  “Yeah, we really need to find you a better name.”

  “I like your ring,” Slime said, ignoring his words. “Even if it is made of inferior slime.”

  “Don’t get too attached to it, I’m about to sell it,” he said. “Along with all these cores I’m carrying around in my pockets.”

  He held out one of the intact cores to show off.

  Slime stared at the stone in his hand as though it was a nugget of gold. “Can I have that?”

  < < Quest Unlocked > >

  < Hungry for Cores >

  < Slime would like you to bring it 15 Elemental Cores >

  < Reward — Slime Sword >