< < Wave Five Complete > >

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

< < Score > >

< 70 Seconds Completion Time >

< 500 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 400 Point Flawless Bonus added >

< 250 Point Speedrun Bonus added >

< 150 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 0 Damage Received >

< 3830 Points Awarded >

Better than last time.

Adam had managed to cut down the time on Wave Four by using his Leap to cross half the distance to the yellow archer, and while the blue goblins were good at avoiding weapon attacks, their skill didn't seem to extend to claws. But Adam's flurry of swipes would probably be difficult for most simple enemies to deal with. Even their armour hadn't really been much of an issue, since his right hand could tear through it, thanks to the acid effect from the Green Slime Glove and his Shifter power letting him increase the force behind an attack.

He'd killed the Hobgoblin Lord with the Anvil-Splitter skill from Gram, finishing the wave with the same time as the previous loop.

I'm getting pretty consistent at these first two Stages.

From the Relic Chest, he picked the Blue Trophy.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Blue Trophy (Rare) >

After selecting the last two upgrades, this was what he got from the entire Stage:

< < Upgrades Selected > >

< Claw Damage (Uncommon) — Increases claw damage by 10% >

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

< Claw Speed (Uncommon) — Increases claw attack speed by 20% >

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

< Leap (Rare) — Increases leap distance by 15% >

< Claw Speed (Uncommon) — Increases claw attack speed by 20% >

The six upgrades of course led him to his second set of evolutions. The hologram on the left showed a clawed hand that was light-grey with the same talons as before, while the one on the right was covered in black fur and its talons turned pale white.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Pack Wolf — Gain the Wolf Tooth Relic >

< Lone Wolf — Increase Damage by 50% when fighting alone >

Lone Wolf would combo really well with the build I'm heading towards.

"What does the Wolf Tooth do?"

[It allows you to summon two wolves that both attack once before they disappear. It has a 60-second cooldown.]

So it's basically the Wraith Lantern, but on a 1-minute timer.

Interesting that Beast has a summon-type path. The evolution of Pack Wolf might expand upon it too.

But that's not what I'm going for.

Still, maybe a Summoner Beast build could work, depending on what comes after Pack Wolf.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Shifter => Lone Wolf >

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

Adam admired his arms as the fur that covered his body turned from dark-grey to black and his talons became white.

Then he returned to Interim Island. He had all the collected trophy ears wrapped up in his white shirt, and the two Secret Relics waited in his pockets. Belamouranthe also came with him, dutifully following him to the Market like in the previous loop. After Adam had sold his ears and gotten 2,300 Points, they went over to Weaver's stall. Adam ordered a new shirt, as well as a backpack, parting with 100 Points.

Then he went over to Thea's stall.

Good thing I didn't listen to Nova and sacrifice her.

He bought six more upgrades, putting him at 3,330 Points. But it was well worth it because he could get the last Mastery Shard he needed for the Visiting Stone.

< < Weapon Upgrades Purchased > >

< Claw Damage (Uncommon) >

< Howl (Uncommon) >

< Bite (Common) >

< Claw Damage (Common) >

< Howl (Common) >

< Leap (Common) >

< 3330 Points Remaining >

[Your Lone Wolf Weapon Type has reached Level 18.]

[At Level 18, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions based on your previous evolutions.]

The claws on Adam's hands turned golden and were sucked up into the Eye, momentarily returning his real hands to him. Then the cube dropped to the ground and folded itself into a pyramid with his final evolutions visible as holograms on either side of it.

The one on the left showed a black-furred claw with curved golden talons and the other showed a black claw with pristine crimson talons.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Apex Hunter — Killing a boss permanently increases Damage by 5% >

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< The Beast of Moonport — Gain double Speed and Damage at night >

Both of these are really strong, but I'm leaning more towards Moonport Beast.

If I'm lucky, I can get up to 25% per Stage from Apex Hunter, at least in later Stages, and while it would snowball alongside the Glass Acorn's final evolution, it wouldn't end up as potentially broken as with the Moonport Beast. Doubling all Damage, depending on how it's applied, would really lead to some insane numbers. If it's added at the end of the chain of all the other buffs, I would be able to hit 1500% Damage and more once I get Pit Fighter and the Pugilist's Belt.

It would also allow me to do some of the side objectives in Stage Eight that Emelia warned me against, since the vampires are active at night.

She'd told him that night time in the Moonport Stage was all about hiding from the monsters, who became incredibly powerful once the sun went down.

But with this, I wouldn't have to worry as much.

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Lone Wolf => The Beast of Moonport >

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

Eight Shards. Now I just need the Kindling Flame to mature.

But he wasn't done in the Market yet, since he still needed to get the Brawler weapon from Nelly's stall. She greeted him as he came over, and it seemed luck favoured him as the weapon was right there in the first set of options.

< < Weapon Types For Sale > >

< Backstabber (Common) >

< Archer (Common) >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< Berserker (Uncommon) >

"I will buy Brawler," Adam said.

The Eye piped up. [You are already carrying two weapons and cannot carry a third. Which of your equipped weapons would you like to swap for Brawler?]

Shame I don't have the weapon rack.

"Gram," he said.

The stone sword disappeared and the Brawler's metal gauntlets appeared over his clawed hands, which was odd. Somehow the talons did not poke through, even though they should be too long to be contained inside the gauntlets.

< < Weapon Type Purchased > >

< Brawler (Uncommon) >

< 2330 Points Remaining >

< < Second Sheath Activated > >

< Would you like to swap to the Brawler Weapon Type? >

"Show me the stats compared to Beast."

< Brawler compared to Beast >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 125 (+50) >

< Stamina — 125 (-25) >

< Mana — 0 (-25) >

< Damage — 125% (-25%) >

< Defence — 75% (+75%) >

< Speed — 125% (-75%) >

I would lose a lot of Speed in exchange for a bunch of Defence and Health. Losing Mana would lock me out of using Leap and Howl, but maybe that's a decent trade?

If I get the Body of Sloth though, then stacking speed makes sense. Not to mention, it would combo super well with Moonport Beast's bonus during the night. I'd be able to hit truly absurd amounts of Damage. And without the finnicky setup of Warder.

I also wonder what I'd get if I used the Chimaera Core with this. Fist-focused weapons with what I'm assuming is a transformation into a lizard person should work really well.

Adam laughed to himself. I might as well get the Grafted Tail to complete the look.

He went to the island's centre with the remainder of his Points and spent them on the Relic Saving upgrade, trying to get it to Epic tier.

< < Meta Upgrade Progress > >

< Relic Saving — Start every loop with 4 Saved Relic Slots — 4750/5000 Points >

Almost there.

Adam continued on to the Tavern, where he ordered himself a meal and spent some time watching Lenard and James, as well as Nova. He still had his query that automatically blocked him from those who knew about the Self-devouring Eye, so Nova had no way to observe Adam or use the Challenge Stone on him if he suddenly had a change of heart.

Now I'm the paranoid one.

He looked through the top performers in Stage Two, but none of them were familiar to him, and none of them had accomplished the Secret Boss. A few had gotten both of the Secrets, and there were a scattering of Flawless and Speedrun achievers, though nobody had both.

Quite a poor grouping…

He ended up leaving the Tavern early after finishing his meal, since he wasn't in the mood for talking to Nova nor anybody else for that matter.

Since it had turned dark outside, Adam moved across the island's narrow streets with tremendous speed. It was less running and more like staggered one-footed hops that propelled him forward several metres each. Interestingly, his crimson talons also seemed to glow in the dark.

He entered Alivida's tent and saw that she too was back to being a moth like her sister.

"You returned. How… surprising."

"I've been busy," Adam said.

"Too busy for a little visit?" she asked.

"I guess so. But not to worry, I have brought plenty of Shards for you," he said.

"That is… fortuitous."

< < Mastery Upgrades For Sale > >

< Scale of Nihility — Make everyone forget you — 1 Shard >

< Skipping Stone — Skip a Stage if eligible — 2 Shards >

< Challenge Stone — Challenge a Player to a battle to the death — 3 Shards >

< Lucky Stone — Flip to increase the rarity for the next reward options — 3 Shards >

< Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player — 8 Shards >

< Vanity — Turn an Interim Island Denizen into a humanoid — 10 Shards >

Adam's eyes lingered on the Vanity upgrade.

I only need two more for that, then I can get a Divine weapon.

No.

I should get the Visiting Stone for when I reach a universe where Emelia still exists. Plus, I made a deal with Nova.

"I'll buy the Visiting Stone," Adam decided.

"Thank you," Alivida responded.

< < Mastery Upgrade Unlocked > >

< Visiting Stone — Visit the Dimension of a known Player >

The dark tablet-sized flat round stone appeared in the palm of his hand. A pattern of organic swirls were carved out of its surface, exposing blue-glowing gems.

"Can I visit the dimension of a Player even if they are dead?" he asked.

"It would be inadvisable," Alivida replied.

So it's possible?

Adam put his hand on the Visiting Stone.

"Take me to Emelia Bell's dimension."

< < Visiting Stone Activated > >

< Travelling to the Dimension of Player Emelia Bell >

Adam didn't land on his feet in the middle of an alternate Interim Island.

No. It was somewhere far different than that.

He appeared in the middle of a dark ocean, immediately struggling to breathe under the intense pressure exerted upon him.

A force like a thousand hands pulled him deeper, and titanic blue-glowing shapes circled him as he plummeted. As two of them passed by each other, he saw the outline of the closest one and it was like a whale shark, except its proportions were impossible and it had too many fins and glowing eyes.

Despite the crushing depth of the abyss he was in, he tried to bring out the Visiting Stone so that he could leave, but it wouldn't manifest. He also saw that his hands were back to their human selves.

But there was one thing that wasn't part of his original body.

It was like a tiny scale under the nail of his thumb that he felt more than saw.

The glowing leviathans came closer, clearly hungering for his flesh.

Adam focused on the scale on his thumb, even as he felt himself drowning with every involuntary exhale of air in the form of bubbles.

With a pop of brilliant blue light, a bubble formed around Adam's body when the Abyssal Tooth pulled itself free from under his nail. It was no more pleasant than the first time, but its presence enabled him to breathe in the dark water and push away the crushing pressure.

The circling leviathans didn't back away as he brandished the Relic that surely belonged to their master. Instead they guided his glowing bubble even deeper down into the abyss.

I'm in Nwetrou's domain. I must be.

The Visiting Stone sent me here, because Emelia was sacrificed to him in this universe.

I can't bring the Visiting Stone back out though, so maybe I won't be able to leave…

He continued down into the deep for what felt like hours. The circling leviathans increased in number as he plummeted, and all he could see were their swirling gigantic forms.

Then he finally reached the bottom and they all swam back up.

Adam's bubble landed on a soft hill and the little light cast by his bubble illuminated down the sides of it, partially catching on small marbles on two nearby hills.

No… those aren't marbles.

They were the eyes of dead people.

Adam looked down.

He was standing on corpses.

They were blue-skinned, water-logged, and bloated. They wore the clothes of normal everyday people, and their faces were locked in expressions of horror, fear, despair, and anguish.

Suddenly, a massive round sun appeared in the far distance, casting a blue glow across thousands of hills like his.

But it wasn't a sun, of course, because he was in the depths of an enormous ocean.

And it had a round pupil surrounded by four rings.

A visitor?

What a rare pleasure.

The attention of the unfathomably-large eye was like the scalding heat of a furnace and Adam's skin started to rot and boil on his body. He could feel his eyesight faltering just from the merest glance.

He quickly supplicated himself, covering his head from the direct light of the Absolute's gaze.

"Lord Nwetrou!" Adam screamed while more of his body rotted on his bones. "Send me back! I came here by mistake!"

Adam Fischer.

The Realm Traveller told me about you.

He was very proud of his little trick.

"Please! Send me back!" he exclaimed as more of his body turned blue and dead.

You do not worship me.

As such, the Watcher's rules do not permit me to send you back to your little island.

The abyss will be your resting place.

Alas, your death is not permanent, so I am certain I will meet you again.

Nwetrou's gaze did not turn away, and Adam screamed until his voice failed him and he was reduced to a rotten water-logged corpse.

He became just another body amongst the millions upon millions that festered in Nwetrou's abyss.

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