Beck told them about stage nine while they ate, and afterwards Adam and Kat spent so ti going over the list she’d taken with her. He was able to read it even though she was a hologram, so long as she held it up towards him or placed it in front of herself on the tavern table.
Like she had already guessed, the list was just a description of each of the various bloodfiend leaders in Moonport, which explained their territory and roles, along with what powers they had inherited from their progenitors.
Adam asked Beck if the Patriarch’s cache had been under the lighthouse as well, and he said yes, which ant that there was a way to crack the stage.
“We know of a way to trigger the Patriarch early,” Adam summarised. “So, after killing him on the morning of day two by the church, it’s possible to use his key to access the lighthouse chamber and find the list that describes the other bloodfiends and where to find them. That should make the stage a lot easier.”
“You’ve gotta teach how to read this nonsense,” Beck said.
Adam went through the list, describing the aning of each of the major words, such as district nas, bloodfiend nas like the Warden and Guard Captain, and the descriptions of their roles and powers. Unfortunately, Beck didn’t have the list from his stage, since he hadn’t picked it up. This ant that Adam couldn’t be absolutely sure there weren’t different titles and unknown words that Beck might encounter in his next loop when he located the list. Adam just did his best to prepare his friend for whatever he might encounter.
One thing was clear though, the eradication challenge for Moonport was extrely difficult to anyone who didn’t possess so ans of tracking.
I wonder if Beast has so way of sniffing out bloodfiends, after all, Kat could sll blood with her transformation active.
Adam went over the Patriarch’s to next, translating the interesting parts for the others, but, like the Flayed Lady had promised, there wasn’t anything insanely powerful within. He actually discovered that he knew two of the patterns already, specifically Bolt and Snare from the Summoner wand, although these were alternate versions that could be rendered entirely in 2D. The four other patterns within were for spells called Claw, Propel, Clot, and Dilution. The Claw manifested a large claw around the caster’s right hand, Propel was like a half-powered spring boots activation, Clot was like a weaker version of Blood Crystal that mostly just slowed down blood flow, and Dilution did the opposite, thinning blood to make it flow faster.
The interesting part was that Beck was actually able to activate all of the patterns with his spell staff, except for Clot and Dilution, since those were directly linked to blood magic. This gave the patterns actual utility for Adam’s future runs where he didn’t pick up Blood Mage.
As always, knowledge with spell casting is directly linked to a boost in power, especially since they are generally not gated behind upgrades and unlocks.
“I thought for sure this to was a good thing to pick up,” Beck complained, looking at his own glass to. “Propel and Snare do have a few applications, but I wish they weren’t so slow to perform.”
Adam nodded. “Using them in combat requires too much setup, so it isn’t really viable unless you have soone protecting you or distracting whatever you’re fighting. The spidersilk needle’s ability to weave the spells in advance is really useful though, but it won’t be applicable in most instances, and it requires you get the vanity upgrade first.”
Although none of them were that useful to Adam right now, the concepts of Clot and Dilution did bring up so new ideas about how he could manipulate blood.
Perhaps I can improve my own stamina consumption and speed by altering the composition of my own blood.
It’s probably a bit dangerous to experint with, but I wanna give it a go later.
“I forgot to ask, but did you end up fighting another Nwetrou worshipper in Moonport?” Adam asked.
“Two of them,” Beck replied. “There was the guy with the crazy hair and moustache, and then this woman who had the chain whips and Cloudmaker staff. It was a really weird combination that caught off-guard, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Unfortunately, the rest of my team didn’t understand what was happening and ran away when I took out the first guy. By the ti I could find and convince them I was on their side, one person had already died to a bloodfiend ambush. Then another one died to the Patriarch’s sudden appearance, and the last person, uh…”
Beck scratched his chin with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
I think the last person offed themselves, Adam guessed.
“Anyway, it was a ss. But I did manage to get a lot of achievents, and I had a lot of ti to myself where I just fished the lagoon. My patron quest also turned out to be quite easy.”
Adam hadn’t realised that Beck didn’t have the Flawless achievent until now, and although they had been friends for a while, he wasn’t fully able to read his facial expressions to truly understand what Beck felt.
Still, I’m quite sure he’s downplaying the severity of what happened.
“Was the chain whip lady also a Nwetrou worshipper?” Adam asked.
“Oh yeah. Truly fanatical too. I’m pretty sure she’s soone that must’ve blocked everyone in the tavern. I’m slightly worried there are a lot more worshippers like her than we accounted for, but I guess ti will tell. Just don’t let your guard down in stage nine. I’m not sure what to do if we encounter them in the Mirror Tower though. I tried to ask ssir to help us out here, but the adjudicator I’ve been speaking to as his proxy just keeps babbling about fairness and non-interference. He’s a fucking moron.”
“I will try and speak with mine,” Lasse interjected. “I technically completed the three judges quest I got, but only because all three of them were turned into plague-bearers and I could appraise their corpses after we killed them. My adjudicator was quite unhappy about the loophole I found, but he also talks about fairness a lot, so maybe I can convince him to intervene on our behalf?”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Beck remarked.
“I am going to the moth’s tent,” Kat said abruptly and left the conversation.
Lasse made to stand as well. “I’m going to the market again,” he said. “I might be busy talking to the two other people from my last group when I get back, so if I don’t see you again, good luck in the Forlorn Kingdom.”
“Let’s all get through this one too,” Adam said.
Lasse nodded and left.
Beck’s hologram blinked, repositioning itself since it was just him and Adam left.
“What should I do if I encounter a Nwetrou worshipper in nine?” Adam asked seriously. “Is burning their corpses enough? I evolved Charlie’s fla glove, and I think I will stick with it.”
Killing any player was out of the question, since the Forlorn Shadow would resurrect them as a forlorn knight, but Elia had told him long ago that burning a corpse could stop the effect. It went against what Beck had told them, and Adam realised that when she had talked about fire, she hadn’t been referring to normal flas.
“Regular fire won’t be enough, since the Forlorn Shadow will just make up for the lost body parts with its magic. If you can complete the true fla quest, then you’ll have access to fire that can permanently kill any forlorn knight. But you only get a max of five uses, and you are better off using those on a boss to stop them from coming back stronger. The best way to deal with corpses you want to get rid of is to have soone with holy magic and the sun flare spell from worshipping Morrligt. A true fla is basically just blessed sun fire, so you can make it yourself, it’s usually just not possible with most groups.”
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“I think I may be able to warp the fire from my glove to resemble the sun flare spell,” Adam replied.
“If that’s possible, then you just need a way to bless your own fire without killing yourself with the holy damage,” Beck said.
“I’m regretting turning into a vampire,” Adam groaned. “Do you think it will work if I use the aspirant’s cowl to absorb holy mana directly into my fire glove?”
“I think it sounds like a great way to turn yourself into charcoal.”
Adam frowned. “What if I use sun fire to light a torch and then have soone bless it? Like with the keepsake relic?”
Beck shook his head. “Sun fire turns into normal fire when it burns sothing. You have to bless it before the spell is launched or during its flight. Granted, I’ve never tried to make a true fla, but I have it on good authority that it should work.”
“It sounds complicated.”
“Well, if you can crack it, then you basically defeat the main challenge of the stage,” Beck remarked.
“It seems like Morrligt is worth picking just for this stage,” Adam mused. “I don’t really think the Flayed Lady is safe to worship, but she did help trivialise Moonport.”
“All of the Absolutes have their monts,” Beck said. “ssir so far has been fairly straight-forward, but I think I may pick Morrligt next ti. His relics should be a lot more offensively oriented. ssir’s so far are all just ways to redirect other people’s attention or to compel them to speak the truth. The one I got after Moonport lets reads soone’s thoughts if I make eye contact, but I’d prefer a boost to my power. At least the To Keeper granted knowledge.”
“It does seem that the harder it is to unlock an Absolute, the more powerful they might be.”
“I don’t know if that’s entirely true, although I do think being able to worship the Keening might be really powerful, considering how scary his stage is,” Beck replied. “I’ve been wondering though, since you took out all of the vampires in Moonport, what might the vampire enclave in stage nine look like for you?”
“Moonwell Village, right?” Adam asked. It was a village in a forest that housed vampires, though they pretended to be normal people during the day. Elia had ntioned it briefly because it wasn’t safe to stay there at night, and Beck had just told them to avoid the place if they ca across it.
“Apparently they are the survivors of Moonport’s coven after we defeat the Patriarch,” Beck explained.
“I’ll check it out and report back,” Adam said. “Still, I’m wondering what to do about evil players, since we can’t kill them without making everything worse. And while I may be able to create a true fla, it’s not a guarantee.”
“You have the ans to disable them without killing them,” Beck pointed out.
Adam paused. “I’m surprised you’d suggest that.”
“I’m not,” Beck clarified. “But you have the ans at your disposal, so it’s an option. Sotis we need to do what we must.”
He started to get up from his seat.
“I’m going back to the player house to test out the golden nail so more. Co visit my dinsion if you wanna join.”
“I still have so things to do in the market, and apparently I unlocked sothing from Alivida, so I’ll go check that out first.”
Beck nodded. “I’ll see you later then. Don’t forget we need to use our challenge stones.”
With that, the ti-looper’s hologram vanished, leaving Adam alone with only his island’s denizens for companionship.
Adam got up as well, returning to his house above the basent restaurant.
He went over to the relic saving chest and opened it, seeing the note inside. Part of him wanted to pull it out and read it, but he left it for now, hoping the plans he’d set in motion wouldn’t let him down. He placed the two relics he wanted to save for his next loop inside. If things went according to plan, they ought to make an attempt at utilising Fool possible without sacrificing all of the sli cores.
< < Relic Saving Activated > >
< 2 items >
< Shapeshifter’s Claw (Epic) >
< Wizard’s Stone Hand (Uncommon) >
He picked up the Cloudmaker staff and tried to use it for a bit, but it wasn’t any easier than last ti, resulting in just a mist forming. He tried to move it according to a simple Bolt spell pattern, but nothing happened.
I should find soone who knows how the weapon works and ask them.
He swapped back to the fire glove and approached the golden nail where it hung from the weapon rack. Since he still wore the raint, he reached out with his armoured hand to grab it, but the direct touch imdiately carbonised and destroyed the flesh and blood it was made of, leaving only the bone undamaged.
Adam quickly put the nail back in its place, and the mont his gauntlet let go of it, the material of his armoured suit flowed around to reform what had been lost.
I don’t think I can use this…
“Is it possible to wield this weapon without holding it directly?” Adam asked his cube.
[Equipping the Golden Nail will place it in your hand.]
“What about after I’ve equipped it?”
[I cannot say.]
I’m not gonna risk it.
I will just take a bet on the true fla trick that Beck ntioned.
And even if I can’t fully eliminate the forlorn with my fire magic, they are still susceptible to it, which is better than nothing.
“Put the nail in my weapon saving chest,” he told his cube.
[Understood.]
He went over to the new chest, which was identical to the relic saving one, and looked inside.
I wonder if I can just send it to my weapon rack or this chest at the start of my next loop if I pick Fool. I don’t think I’ll have a use for this weapon, so I might as well just use it for testing out that theory.
< < Weapon Saving Activated > >
< 1 item >
< Golden Nail (Epic) >
Adam retrieved the Cloudmaker staff again and returned to the tavern downstairs.
I wonder if I could get the To Keeper to trade all magical knowledge he possesses, or if he only taught demonic because it is limited in its applications.
“Show all the players who understand how to use the Cloudmaker,” he queried.
[Understood.]
Only two players appeared, which he thought was alarmingly few, but despite his experience with several types of magic, he had no idea how it worked, so that seed to explain it. Not to ntion, if most people picked a new weapon or a secondary thanks to Second Sheath, they likely wouldn’t go for sothing that wasn’t intuitive or that they hadn’t seen others use.
The player that appeared on Adam’s left was an Asian woman who wore the sa crimson shirt as him, and she also had the aspirant’s cowl, which he had swapped out for the Flayed Lady’s crown. The other was an African woman with a perfectly-shaved head and the keepsake necklace around her neck, as well as piercing amber-brown eyes.
“Can either of you teach how to use this weapon?” Adam asked, getting both of their attention as he lifted the driftwood staff up in front of him.
“I’m busy,” said the African woman in a serious tone and vanished.
“What do you have to trade?” asked the Asian woman, eyeing the spot where the other person had been.
“I know a bit about stage nine,” he replied.
“Really?” she asked, her eyes lighting up with surprise and greed. “How?”
“Do you know about the Orb of Insight?” he replied.
She nodded. “It teaches you about stages?”
“It does, but it has a long cooldown of three stages.”
“Okay, I’ll take the trade,” she decided.
After Adam explained the broad strokes of the Forlorn Kingdom and what to look out for, the woman, whose na was Seo-Yoon, thanked him and taught him how to utilise the staff as best as possible without leaving her seat. The first thing she showed was the way to move it around, which almost looked like she was imitating the movent of water. The mist created by her activation spread out a lot more than Adam’s attempts, and as long as she kept moving, her single activation made the mist spread out more and more, the droplets suspended in the air remaining completely still.
Then she dragged her left hand down the staff and all of the droplets separated and beca smaller, greatly enhancing the obscuring capabilities of the mist she’d ford, literally turning it into sothing that looked like a cloud.
“From here,” she said, “it is possible to lower the temperature to freezing, or to flash boil the water. So long as your hands are on the staff, where you stand will be unaffected.”
“I thought it was only a support item,” Adam remarked.
“I mainly used it that way during Moonport,” she said. “But you should not underestimate the ability to confuse your opponents.”
Adam nodded. “I appreciate the lesson.”
“Co back if you need more,” she said. “I lost all of my friends to Moonport, so I am a bit bored.”
The way she spoke and what she said were completely incongruent, and Adam couldn’t help but wonder if she’d had a ntal break, given how cheerful she seed.
Before Adam could reply, he got a notification that soone wanted to talk to him.
“Who is it?”
[Player Sourpuss.]
“I’ve gotta go, but I may take you up on the offer later,” Adam told Seo-Yoon and accepted Kat’s invitation to talk.
Kat’s hologram replaced Seo-Yoon’s, and Adam imdiately noticed the harrowed look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“There is sothing you have to see,” she said.
“What is it?”
“You must travel to Aeran’s dinsion with the visiting stone.”
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