Adam opened his eyes. He was back in the Magical Forest.

I fucking hate this place.

In front of him the Eye was unfolded, showing his new selection of weapons. The Hardmode Orb floated next to his head, its eye glowing red.

Falling off the island was actually a pleasant way to go out, he mused.

I didn't even feel it when I died.

It's as if I just ceased to be the moment I left the island's sphere of influence or something.

Like an object in a game falling outside the render distance.

I simply stopped existing.

He got up from the grass, surprised that he didn't feel the need to puke.

Maybe that's because I went willingly?

Or am I getting used to this?

Loop Seven though. Maybe it's the one. Seven is a lucky number after all.

Adam looked down and saw that by his feet were the Skittish Skaters. He picked them up and put them on.

Then he approached the Eye and its holograms.

< < Weapon Types Available > >

< Summoner (Rare) >

< Backstabber (Common) >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< Priest (Rare) >

< Beast (Epic) >

Well, shit, that's quite a stacked selection.

Summoner would be a good pick, but I want to get more Mastery Shards, and Emelia said that repeating evolutions won't reward me a second time.

Brawler is one I've wanted to try, especially after seeing Emelia using it to great effect. Priest also seems interesting.

Beast being Epic means it's probably super difficult to use. Or dangerous. Probably both.

But I kind of want to try it.

"I'll pick Beast."

It turned out the Beast weapon type worked quite differently from how he'd thought. His whole body underwent a painful transformation of bones popping and cracking, muscles flexing and growing, and worst of all, his fingers turning into his new weapons. Since the hands had one of the densest areas of nerves in the body, he felt that last part acutely as the bones of his hands grew, pushing through his flesh and skin to extend forward into jutting talons. His nails fell off and his fingers grew thicker, along with the palms widening and his forearms bulking up with muscles. Adam's shoulders also broadened more and his calf muscles expanded as well. He felt something change about his face, but he couldn't see what, though his hearing became sharper, his sense of smell widened and flooded his head with thousands of inputs, and his jaw and mouth grew.

It's turning me into a monster!

When it was done, he had a naturally hunched posture and his body trembled with power.

< < Weapon Type Selected > >

< Claws >

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Beast >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 75 >

< Stamina — 150 >

< Mana — 25 >

< Damage — 160% >

< Defence — 0% >

< Speed — 200% >

< Upgrades >

< — — — >

0% Defence… That means a direct hit from a slime will kill me, since that would be 90 Damage.

The rest of the stats are good though, aside from Health.

Not sure why I get Mana though.

"Why do I have Mana?" he asked the Eye, surprised at how deep and gravelly his voice had become. And as he spoke, his teeth felt like they were too big for his mouth.

[The Beast Weapon Type has access to Howl and Leap, both of which require Mana to activate.]

"What does the Howl do?"

[Howl causes a momentary discombobulation in a target. Sometimes it may cause fear and terror. It is situational and its effect can depend on how you utilise it.]

You're being very forthcoming.

< < Wave One > >

< 60-Second Timer >

Here we go, I guess.

Adam surged towards the spot the slimes would appear from.

It was disturbingly natural to run on all fours with his reformed body. He had no clue what others would think if they saw him.

If I swap weapon, will I go back to looking human?

As the blue slime appeared and split into two, Adam activated his leap quite naturally, shooting himself forward with a wide slash of his claws.

[Warning! Mana at 0%.]

That leap cost all my Mana??

But I don't feel any exhaustion.

His sharp talons went right through the jellied flesh of the slime, sheering through the core and popping it the moment he landed.

Shit, okay, this is a lot harder to aim than I thought.

I wonder if Beast is immune to Overconsumption and Mana Exhaustion. That would be quite insane.

He surged for the last one and swung his claws down through its body on either side of the core, killing it but leaving the valuable little stone intact.

I'm glad my hands can't feel the acid burn of their flesh when I attack them.

I suppose this Stage would be impossible if I could.

Adam hadn't seen anyone with the Beast weapon before, but he guessed that having no Defence was a big part of the reason why.

I'll be careful.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

In the end, he managed to clear the Stage by treating his transformation like it wasn't really there, and mostly using his claws like he would any normal weapon. Except, of course, they were literally a part of him.

He dealt with the Secret Boss in the same way as the last loop, using the special skill from Gram to split it down the middle and release its four cores. Weirdly, he couldn't 'unequip' or retract his claws when he swapped to the stone sword, and it felt weird to hold the thing in his enlarged hand tipped with talons. He hadn't swapped to Gram's stats, since he felt that Beast had something pretty solid going on, though Mythical Hero did offer more Health, Stamina, and Defence.

The Slime King that remained after he'd killed the Emperor was quite troublesome to handle with just his claws, and though he avoided taking damage, in part thanks to his dodge boots, he had to rely on the howl a lot to get the slime to stop moving so he could tear it apart. The howl also cost 25 Mana to use, but it was clear his passive regeneration was stronger than usual, so he recovered it within 10-15 seconds. While it took longer to defeat the boss this way, he did discover that he could slice off the king's flesh and expose the cores, allowing him to remove them without triggering its splitting effect. The end result was that he ended up with 33 cores, despite the one he'd destroyed in the first Wave.

The upgrades for the Beast were quite interesting, three of them being the standard fare, but the other three representing the more beastly aspects of his transformation with Leap, Howl, and Bite upgrades.

< < Upgrades Selected > >

< Leap (Uncommon) — Increases leap distance by 10% >

< Claw Damage (Rare) — Increases claw damage by 15% >

< Claw Speed (Rare) — Increases claw attack speed by 35% >

< Howl (Uncommon) — Increases howl effectiveness by 10% >

< Claw Growth (Uncommon) — Increases claw length by 30% >

< Claw Damage (Epic) — Increases claw damage by 25% >

He'd been offered the Bite upgrade to increase his biting attack damage, but he wasn't planning on using that, since attacking with his teeth would make him extremely vulnerable to a blow to the head, which would surely kill him.

His choice of evolutions was between a dark-red claw with curved talons and a dark-grey claw with slightly wider talons.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Monster — Devouring a corpse imbues you with a fraction of its power for 1 minute >

< Shifter — Channel Mana into a part of your body to briefly increase its power >

Devouring corpses… The name is certainly accurate.

"How does the Shifter effect work? Can I channel Mana into my claws to hit harder? Or into my legs to leap further and run faster?"

[Correct. However, you must channel Mana into specific body parts. You cannot simply choose a region of your body, such as your legs. It would only work on your right leg for example, meaning you would have to channel into both legs simultaneously.]

"Which would reduce the effectiveness, since I wouldn't be able to charge them up as much as if I focused on just one limb."

[Correct.]

"What is meant by the Monster's effect when it says 'a fraction of power'?" he asked. "Like, what would've happened if I used it to eat a slime's body? Also, when it says devour, how much exactly do I have to eat?"

[In your example, devouring a slime would make you resistant to corrosive effects and add corrosive damage to your attacks. As for the limit to how much you are required to devour until the effect takes hold, it is not based on the creature's body mass, but rather the size of your stomach.]

In other words, I'll have to eat my fill…

Cool… Definitely not picking that.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Beast => Shifter >

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

From the Relic Chest, Adam got the Green Slime Glove. With four options and a guaranteed rarity upgrade from beating the final Wave within 50 seconds, he was basically ensured he would get at least one Rare to show up, which was handy.

Interestingly, as the glove transformed his hand into slime, it retained its claw shape, which meant he now had a permanent acid upgrade to his attacks.

Beast makes gloves quite a lot more useful, since my hands are my weapons.

He went to Interim Island with 33 cores, both of the secrets, and 2510 Points.

Luvicidix had apparently learnt his MO by now, since she did not show up when he arrived in the centre of the island.

Adam asked the Eye how many survivors were left as he leapt up onto a roof and ran on all fours along the top of the wonky houses. They didn't look like thrown-together playdough this time around, which is why its answer didn't come completely out of nowhere, though it still stopped him in his tracks.

[410 million Players survived Stage One.]

That's not a good sign.

He continued onto the Market where he sold his cores and got 3300 Points in return, then he went back to the centre where Luvicidix finally showed up.

"Did you really end your last loop by yourself?" she asked, clearly appalled.

"What worth is there in staying in a universe that's doomed?" he replied. "All my friends were dead. And my power lets me just come back to the start regardless of where or how I die. I'm better off traversing across universes until I find one I actually want to give a proper go at."

"That is a very bizarre way to treat your own life," she remarked. "Normally, time-loopers I meet are all focused on avoiding injury and damage, treating their lives as highly precious."

"Wait, are you responsible for the other time-loopers too? I thought we each got a copy of you to deal with."

"It doesn't work like you think," she answered vaguely. "Regardless, I think you should cease your strategy before the All-Seeing System gets upset."

"The System can go fuck itself," he replied bluntly. "I am using the power at my disposal as best as I can."

"Well, it is not for me to adjudicate, but I thought I should at least warn you."

"Thanks, but I don't need to hear it," he said.

"Understood. Now, would you like to buy my upgrades?"

Adam nodded. "Show me."

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 25% — 2500 Points >

< Mana — Increase Mana by 10 — 1000 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 4 Saved Relic Slots — 1610/5000 Points >

< Scale of Remembrance — 25000 Points >

"I'll buy Damage and Rerolls, and put the remaining Points into Relic Saving."

"Excellent spread!" she praised him.

I do want to get the Scale, but it's too expensive to justify while I still have other more worthwhile things to invest in.

< < Meta Upgrades Unlocked > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 25% >

< Rerolls — Start every loop with 1 Reroll Dice >

< < Meta Upgrade Progress > >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 4 Saved Relic Slots — 2420/5000 Points >

"Can I upgrade Damage and Rerolls further?" Adam asked.

"You can," Luvicidix replied. "These are the next tiers."

< < Meta Upgrades For Sale > >

< Damage — Increase All Damage by 50% — 5000 Points >

< Rerolls — Start every loop with 2 Reroll Dice — 2500 Points >

Might be worth boosting Mana next.

But I'd really like to get Relic Saving up to Legendary rank, since that would allow me to send back two Rares or something like Alepheria's Mandate, opening up a lot of future possibilities.

With all his Points spent, Adam finally went to the Tavern, bracing himself for what was to come.

He ordered a Wagyu steak and some beer as Charlie met him by the entrance, since he was craving meat for some reason.

As he sat down, he thought he had to give the Tavern his commands again, but his previous queries seemed to carry over now. It was as if the System had bent its rules again for his benefit.

The result was that this universe's time-looper appeared on the other side of the table the moment his butt touched the stool. He also had the coloured dots above his head and the red X.

It was someone new this time, and though Adam had never seen the guy before, he matched one of the descriptions that Emelia had given him to look out for.

"Show me Alexander Nova," Adam told the Eye, just to make sure.

[You are already viewing this Player.]

So this is 'Nova', huh?

He looked like a quarterback, his body all shoulders and muscle with a neck like a tree trunk and a head that might survive a direct hit from a cannonball. His hair was golden-brown, puffed out, and parted down the middle. It was slightly long, covering his ears, but it didn't touch his shoulders. He had large round eyes that were a piercing purple, and he looked quite approachable somehow.

Looks are probably deceiving, given how badly things are already going in this universe…

Although Emelia said he was a nice guy.

Adam kept tabs on him while he ran through his list of friends and other notables.

Everyone was gone except James and his son Benjamin, as well as Lenard. Neither Adam's sister nor her husband had survived either.

James gets to be with his son, at least. Shame it's in such a shit universe.

Lenard looked much the same as in the previous two loops and Adam didn't hold any hopes for being able to befriend the guy.

Even if I find the perfect thing to say to him to introduce myself, he doesn't look like he'd want to talk to anyone.

Lenard was just sitting there, staring into his beer, his eyes darkened by loss.

Adam glanced towards Alexander Nova. The time-looper was laughing while talking to someone.

No marble in sight.

Fuck it.

What do I really have to lose here?

"Hey, Nova," Adam said, catching the guy's attention.

The time-looper's eyes flicked to him. He seemed to pause for a moment. Then he turned back to whoever he was talking to and said, "Sorry, I've gotta talk to someone else real quick. I'll get back to you in a bit."

"How many people have you sacrificed to Nwetrou?" Adam asked when he had Nova's full attention, not bothering to sugarcoat his interrogation.

The time-looper frowned. "I haven't sacrificed anyone who didn't deserve it."

"Then why is the survival rate in your universe so shit?" Adam demanded to know.

The time-looper narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm just passing through," he answered.

"I've never seen anyone else get all the achievements for Stage One," Nova remarked. "You're a time-traveller too?"

"Something like that."

"To answer your question, I inherited this timeline. I don't know what you mean about my universe, but I do know that there are a lot of people who are gone who shouldn't have been. My predecessor told me as much."

"Who came before you?"

"Souleyman."

That name again…

"Do you know his full name?" Adam asked.

"I don't, actually," Nova said. "But he told me that the guy who came before him, Ilya Sokolov, was responsible for permanently erasing many people from our timeline."

"I know the guy," Adam replied.

"How many normally survive Stage One?" Nova asked, genuinely seeming like he wanted to know.

"Most I've seen was over 600 million. Usually it's just above that or slightly below if there haven't been a lot of sacrifices. All the top Players are gone from your universe though."

"Souleyman warned me about the power of the Abyssal Tooth," Nova said. "He told me it had far-reaching consequences. I didn't listen. I used it once to get rid of someone bad. The things he did…" Nova sighed. "Anyway. The following loop, 2 million less people survived Stage One."

That explains why some worlds have been super low in survivors, but still, this is the worst I've seen so far.

"Would you mind telling me a bit about yourself?" Nova asked. "It's my first time meeting another time-looper since Souleyman went through the Gate of Nihility. I've also always wanted to know how the Beast works."

Adam grinned. "Sure, why not. I'll tell you what I know. In exchange, I want some information too."

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