I massaged my temples while listening to Hazel explain how she absolutely required the materials from the boss to advance her profession. The fight was apparently causing damage to the creature's unique antlers.

Obviously, in a way, she was right. I had to keep in mind that different materials need to be preserved and used by individual professions—the cleaner the kill, the better the materials. I knew someone who had a leatherworking Profession who would definitely want to get the hide off the animal.

I could only sigh in response, "Alright, did everyone at least get an Assist on the boss kill?" I took a moment to look around and realized somebody was missing. "Also, where the hell is Finn?"

"I saw him run off a little while ago. Probably found something that triggered his kleptomania." Alex replied, and I sighed again in response. I knew what had gotten into him, and it was my fault. I probably ought to talk to him at some point.

Rhea, who had been looking rather antsy, spoke up. "I should probably go check on the rest of the guildmates to make sure they're still alive." I waved her off, and she took off running. Most of them would be fine. This was meant as a trial anyway, to weed out anyone who wouldn't survive the trip if we went any further. If somebody died at this point, then they weren't going to make it anyway.

Alex and I picked this location because it was the easiest zone, only one step removed from the Hunting Zones around Fateswatch, and it was practically a tutorial difficulty-wise. It helped that the Quest also qualified as a Guild Quest.

At that moment, I realized that while I was distracted, Hazel had decided to turn most of the materials from the stag into mist and was walking off with its bones. Once more, I sighed. Alex was already gone, or at least I'm pretty sure he was. I wasn't quite able to passively pierce his stealth yet.

Which left me alone in the grove. I found a nice rock to sit on and finally allowed myself to take a look at the Quest notification, the only type of notification I left unmuted.

[Zone Quest Complete]

Name: [Guild Founding: Prevent the Druidic Ritual]

Tier: [Basal]

Description: [A task created as your Guild's (The Long Year) formation quest. Travel to the Runedeep Glade and kill the Runic Stag before the Druids of the Hart complete the empowerment ritual. In addition, either force all the Druids to retreat from the Zone or otherwise eliminate them.] Progress: [Kill Runic Stag 1/1 and

Force a retreat or eliminate all Druids 1/1]

Rewards: [The individual who accepted this Quest will become the first Guild Master. This individual is granted access to the Guild Master Menu.

1000 Eidetic Coins added to the Guild's coffers.

Select One:

Claim the Runesdale Glade Zone, integrating it into Fateswatch's Zone. This will grant your Guild control over the region and build the Guildhall for

'The Long Year'

within Runesdale Glade.

A portable Guildhall will be granted to the Guildmaster of

'The Long Year.'

The Guildmaster may create an entrance to the hall in any zone where the Zone Quest has been completed or is considered a Safe Zone. The entrance may be moved once per day, and has basic security features.]

After reading the completion message, I furrowed my brows. This wasn't the same choice as usual. I'd never seen or heard of a portable Guildhall before. But then again, I'd also never heard of a Guild that was dedicated to leaving Fateswatch behind and never returning.

I knew I wasn't going to choose the first option before I even looked at the notification. Instead, I had my eyes set on the choice that the portable Guildhall had actually replaced, which was an option that allowed the formation of a Free Company, which was effectively a Guild that didn't come with a base of operations.

This meant the Guild had a lot more freedom to operate because members didn't have to report back to the hall every time they wanted to turn in or receive a Guild Quest. However, not having a hall could be considered a major downside due to the numerous benefits it provided.

The portable hall seemed to resolve that issue, while also providing a safe place for people to return to. It meant the Guild would effectively turn into a sort of caravan, but that was exactly what we needed.

The wilds were dangerous. Truly safe areas were few and far between. Even cleared Zones couldn't be called safe. There was always the possibility you missed something hiding away. I lost a good healer once because we made camp on an empty flat sheet of rock after we cleared the zone. We assumed it was safe when the massive temple that had previously taken up the entire Zone had vanished. We had no idea that a burrowing wurmoid made its nest underground in the area until it swallowed the man's tent whole. The difficulty level of Zones five thousand kilometres or further from Fateswatch was no joke.

"So where did you head off to then?" I asked the man who was poorly attempting to sneak up on me.

"I thought I left the stove on and ran home to check," Finn said as he sat down next to me and leaned against my shoulder.

Definitely managed to pick up something valuable while he snuck off. That might actually still be useful; we'll need funds to upgrade the hall.

We sat there for a while, listening to the soft ambiance of the forest. Things were always so simple at the beginning.

"So, are you going to give Amelia her memories before we leave?" Finn asked. His tone was neutral, but it felt like I was being judged nonetheless.

"I know I really should, it's just…" I groaned, putting my face into my hands, "It feels cruel to give her that knowledge, and you know how she'll react when she finds out we're not trying again."

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't do it anyway." He replied, and he was right.

"I have to make one last stop in town before we leave anyway. Have to make a few purchases with the funds we just acquired and finish a few things. I'll do it while I'm over there tomorrow. Who knows, maybe I can convince her to come with us." I said. Then let out a dry chuckle.

Finn kissed my cheek, "Knew you had it in you. Want me to come along?"

"I should be okay on my own. As for you, I actually have something you'll probably enjoy." I said, then selected the second option as my reward.

Using the Skill I had just been granted from the Quest, I created the entrance to the Guildhall in the centre of the clearing. An archway with an ornate set of double doors rose from the ground.

"I need someone to check out the new hall," I said, then opened up the Guildmaster menu and appointed Finn as the Vice-Guild Leader. "As my second in command, your first order is to inspect the facilities and write me a report on what we're working with."

"Oh, I'm finally getting that promotion, sleeping with the boss has some benefits, does it?" Finn said with a giggle. He wrapped his arms around me, "I can't wait for all the workplace misconduct we'll get up to. Should I refer to you as Mr Wei from now on?"

"Fuck off," I grumbled. "I'll be back tomorrow. Make sure the rest of the Guild is informed that this will be our moving base of operations."

"Yes, sir," Finn replied, giving me a mock salute as he turned to enter the hall.

The sun was already starting to dip over the horizon, and I wanted a real bed to sleep in tonight, so I set off for Fateswatch at a steady pace.

***

The next morning, I set out immediately.

The information brokers I had tried to go through to find information about item creation had basically nothing for me. It made sense. They had barely even started operation. At this point, they were little more than loosely associated groups of gossip mongers. I had to purchase a single-use communication item, which I then left with the most reliable amongst them, along with a promise of a larger payment if they found a source.

Always preparing for the next loop, even when I didn't plan for there to be another one.

Something odd I noticed was that it seemed like there were no religious orders that had formed yet. It was like the gods had abandoned the town to its fate just as I was going to.

The next stop was the one I was dreading, but had to be done anyway. I headed to the temple of Caelir, The Light that Knelt. She always ended up as his Blessed very early on, so she should end up sticking around there. Kairothon didn't even have a temple, given that he was a god of travel, so I didn't have the same responsibilities.

It was located not in the centre of town like most of the larger gods but tucked away in an alley, which seemed odd given the tenets of Caelir. He seemed to have an odd obsession with humanity, you'd figure that would make him a bigger deal in Fateswatch, but few people actually associated with him.

The temple itself looked like someone had tried to mash the stylistic choices of every major religion on Earth into one building. The frame was that of a European church, the roof took inspiration from Eastern religions, and the building was decorated with everything from icons relating to totemism to Islamic architectural additions. The only thing it distinctly lacked was any representation of animism.

Those who flocked to Caelir were usually those who wanted to hold on to their religions from Earth in some capacity. It seems all it took for them to overcome their differences was being shown that they were all wrong in the end.

Pushing open the doors, I entered what appeared to be a Catholic Church this time. The interior would rotate through different religions based on what felt like random chance. The church was currently empty, so I found a pew to sit on and wait.

Luckily, the wait wasn't very long.

"Kairothon's Blessed, what a surprise, you actually dared to show your face within these halls after abandoning your humanity." A voice came from behind.

"I'd like to say humanity abandoned me first. Not that Caelir would have explained anything." I replied, turning to see Amelia walking down the center aisle. Something was different about her that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"I think you will find that My Light has provided me with insight beyond what you could know," Amelia replied, leaning on the pew behind me.

"If you already know what's going on, then you should know I've spent hundreds of years trying and failing. At this point, I'm convinced the task set before us is impossible." I said,

A smile crossed her lips for just a moment, "Then it is fortuitous that you decided to give in to the temptation when you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out in time." She extended a hand, "I believe you have something for me?"

I sighed, more cryptic answers, of course. It's always 'your importance has not yet begun' with the gods. Still, I clasped my hand with hers and imparted the memories.

She took a moment to process whatever her past self had left for her. During that time, I realized what was different.

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"Caelir gave you a stronger Blessing." I said, "Does he think that you will be able to handle the Guardian alone?"

"Like I said, Li, you have no idea what machinations are in place. I truly wish that you had held on for one more attempt. We could have faced the Great Enemy of humanity together." She replied, her voice tinged with regret. "Unfortunately, My Light can not tolerate a traitor."

"I'm not facing the Guardian ever again. The great enemy has won." I said, standing up, that there was no convincing her, so I might as well leave. "If you want to save as many humans as possible, then the best hope is to join me and leave those who choose death behind."

Amelia let out a laugh, "The Guardian doesn't matter anymore. You failed to deal with it in time, and now there's a greater threat on the horizon. One that even you can't avoid."

I was already leaving, I didn't want to listen to any more gospel.

Eventually, I found my way to an inn for the night. It was my last chance to enjoy a drink before the expedition began. Of course it was possible to brew something while on the road, but it wouldn't taste the same.

Within the hour, I heard the usual nightly ding and tried to recall what this night's broadcast was about. Something about the highest percentage of people who completed their daily quest so far, I thought. It wasn't that important, but I paid attention anyway. Nyxie was always pleasant to listen to.

"Heeeeello residents of Eternia, it is your favourite imp Nyxie back for your daily evening broadcast!" Nyxie said, her voice carrying that usual musical quality. I wasn't ever sure if she was speaking Mandarin or if the system translator just worked really well for her. The translation feature made some people sound odd, but her voice was like what I'd assume an angel's whisper sounds like. "We have some special news tonight, but before I get to that, I'd like to congratulate Ellie Winters!"

Who?

"The first individual to complete a Zone all on their own!"

What?!

"The Zone was designed for those who made it to their Fourth Ascension! Wow! How did she manage it while still in her First Ascension?"

The fuck is happening? Who is that? Why don't I know them? Fourth Ascension?! Oh my gods, I haven't even made it that far before. There was a clattering of the stool I had been sitting on when it was thrown to the ground as I stood up abruptly.

"We may be getting a chance to find out how, as I plan to bring Ellie on tomorrow night's broadcast to talk about their experience so far!"

My mind quickly unpacked and categorized everything that had happened in this loop, looking for inconsistencies. It came to me immediately.

It's the person who taught Hazel how to create items. It has to be.

Who the fuck is she?!

Suddenly, a notification that I couldn't comprehend appeared in front of me.

[Quest Removed] Name: [Save the Human Race]

Quest Giver: [Kairothon, The Wanderer Of Time]

Tier: [Divine]

Description: [Stop the Epoch Guardian from reaching the heart of Fateswatch to prevent it from activating the Endbringer's Core or bring every human past the edge of the blast zone (10000 km from Fateswatch).]

Reward Categories:

(Failed) Less than 20 Loops: [Kairothon will directly recruit you to become one of his personal (Classified). Recruitment is mandatory and irrevocable without Kairothon's agreement.]

(Failed) Less than 50 Loops: [A Walking Stick personally designed by Kairothon.]

(Failed) Less than 100 Loops: [A pair of Timestreaders.]

(Failed) Less than 150 Loops: [Blessing Re-Anchored to your body and made permanent (Click here for Terms and Conditions)]

(Revoked) Over or Equal to 150 Uses of Blessing: [Consolation Prize (Celebratory Mug)]

Failure: [Permanent Death]

[Please wait while we process a replacement.]

My blood had turned cold. Something was wrong, and there was only one person who knew anything.

I was already leaving the tavern, my Time Mana began to hum as I burned it. I pushed [Chronorush] as fast as my body would allow me, the city was blurring by, I weaved through crowds of people as if they were motionless, then suddenly I was running out in the fields outside of town, heading directly to where I could find her. I had to deactivate the Skill because I couldn't keep up the Mana expenditure long term.

In the corner of my vision, another notification had appeared.

[Quest Replacement]

Quest Giver: [Kairothon, The Wanderer Of Time]

Name: [Fate Test: Kill Ellie Winters Save Humanity]

Tier: [Divine]

Description: [If it were up to me, you would have had your Blessing ripped from your soul over one hundred deaths ago. Unfortunately, the Twelve Choirs have refused every single one of my requests to terminate the Quest early. You do realize that a single human surviving at the end of the year would have been considered a success for the previous Quest, right? If you hadn't chosen to wait until this loop when the trigger condition happened, you could have walked away.

You are to hunt the Runaspriggan species to extinction. No idea why, but the only way you would receive this Quest is if you learned of the existence of a member of this species.

Kill the Runaspriggan Ellie Winters within ten years of the day you entered Eternia.

You will receive Divinatory support to complete this task. A Bonus Objective that will aid you has been generated in conjunction with the Divination support.] Progress:

Ellie Winters 0/1

Reward: [Blessing becomes permanent and cannot be removed by your Patron god even after the Quest concludes. Blessing will be re-anchored to your soul. Epoch Guardian will stop spawning at the end of the first year, and Ellie Winters will be expelled from Eternia.]

Bonus Objective: AutoDivination(QuestSuccess)

[AutoDivination Recommended Objective]

[Have Ellie Winters personally kill you after you have informed her of the Bonus Objective and Reward for this Quest.]

Progress (Bonus): Death caused by Ellie Winters 0/1

Bonus Rew—

ERROR: You are not eligible to receive a Bonus reward due to the fact that User Ellie Winters is the one required to perform actions to complete the Bonus Objective, and you are the target.

…

RESOLVED: Ellie Winters will have the necessary information to become the new Bonus Owner at the time of Completion, reassigning the Reward to Ellie Winters.

Bonus Reward (Recipient: Ellie Winters): [Ellie Winters' Truesoul will be permanently destroyed by her System.]

Failure: [Automatically severs the soul-body connection for every human that has not entered the service of a god. That will always include you. Prevents new humans from ever arriving in Eternia again.]

Warning: [Due to the link between you and her, if Ellie Winters is a significant factor involved in a death that triggers your Blessing, she will retain her memories even after time has reset, irrespective of distance. This includes any death that would not have happened without a conscious or subconscious desire to reset time.]

Divination: [You will be guided towards the Path of Fate that ends in the completion of this Quest. At pivotal moments, new Divinations will guide you towards success.]

I nearly tripped as I processed all the information in the message.

Warning: Earliest possible respawn point for Skill [Kairothon's Mark] has set itself to the moment of the Quest change.

What's happening?! Who is she, and why am I being made to hunt her down?

The open field that had been blurring past me suddenly changed into a snowy tundra as I crossed the first Zone boundary into the Hunting area. I was moving fast enough that nothing that lived here would notice anything besides a strong breeze.

After passing through several more Zones, I had made it to camp. It was the break of dawn, and the camp was beginning to wake up. I had managed to run through most of the night.

Scanning the area, I found the tent Hazel wasted a team of Enchanters' afternoon putting together and headed up to it.

She always had been a deep sleeper, and she probably had sound suppression enchantments installed, so I didn't bother trying to call her name. I just passed my hand through the front of the tent to hopefully activate the alarm and waited.

A few minutes later, I felt her aura wash over mine, and only moments later, the tent flap opened, inviting me in. Walking inside, I noticed she had upgraded the interior again; it was no longer just one room.

Hazel came out of one of the side rooms a moment later, rubbing her eyes and mumbling something. I had clearly just woken her up. A Druid's skeleton with the stag's head marked with lines of dark metal inlaid into the bones followed her out. I frowned at the skeleton. Undead didn't exist, which meant she built some kind of golem. Given that its movements were so fluid, it was a remarkable creation.

Hazel snapped her fingers, and with a flicker of Authority, a table and chairs appeared. She motioned for me to sit and did so herself. I followed suit.

"What do you need?" She asked, and finally looked in my direction, her eyes never seeming to meet mine. "This better be good. I was having a nice dream."

"I was hoping you—why are your eyes glowing gold?" I asked, changing the subject mid-sentence because it was just so catching that I couldn't avoid it.

"Huh?" Hazel reached her hand out, and a hand mirror appeared in it. She spent a moment examining herself.

"That definitely wasn't there before… [Clarifying Mind Veins of the Artificer] interesting." She muttered, then gave me a sharp look. "Did you know there's a Physiques category on your Status menu?"

"No?"

"It seems that by finely controlling an imbibed Mana source, you can create permanent pathways for Mana to travel through. I used my standard Clarity tonics and have received a twenty-five percent boost to base Wit, not effective Wit, I didn't even know that was possible. It also resulted in a seventy-five percent increase in the potency of my Mana, highly accelerated fine motor function, and an extreme increase in visual acuity. That must be what's causing the glow." Hazel muttered to herself, reading off a notification I couldn't see.

She looked back at me and leaned back in her chair. "I recommend we begin testing on individuals to discover the optimal vein design. I can draft a model of my personal layout; however, I built mine entirely through instinct in a flow state. Before we get into the specifics of that, though, you had something you came to see me for, correct?"

The transition into a question caught me off guard because I had been engrossed in the discovery she had made, "Oh right, yeah. You didn't hear Nyxie's announcement, did you?

"No, I warded myself against intrusion by the little manipulator." Her expression shifted to one of contemplation, "Or at least that's what my past self characterized Nyxie as. I shouldn't trust that version of me so easily, though. Because I never would have figured out the veins if I trusted all the information she provided for me. Anyways, I assume something important happened. Have our goals changed?"

"Yes, in a way. Now, instead of only travelling away from Fateswatch, we have a target. The Divine Quest changed to a kill Quest. I believe you've already met her."

Hazel hummed questioningly. A sharp look had crossed her glowing eyes. Perhaps this was a mistake, but I needed any information I could gather.

"Ellie Winters, the Runaspriggan"

Hazel's Authority flared. I could feel a level of fury in it that could only mean one thing. Even though it didn't make any sense for it to have happened in a single night, Ellie had become her favourite person.

I threw myself backwards, dodging a strike from her golem. Then [Revert State] finally finished activating, and I was reverted back in time before I had said anything.

"You had something you came to see me for…" Hazel said, her voice trailing off. Her head tilted slightly, and her golden eyes brightened as she examined me. "Why did you just revert time?"

"What do you mean? I didn't." I lied, and her expression dropped. Did she catch something about my facial expression?

"You're practically oozing residual Time Mana, and now you're lying to me. I knew I should have trusted my gut." She said with a sigh. I was startled, nobody had noticed a use of [Revert State] due to environmental Time in over two centuries. I had nearly perfected the Skill usage with over ninety-eight percent efficiency. Maybe it's a property of her new eyes, damn. "Unfortunately, I think we should go our own separate ways. I would rather not associate with someone who is going to lie and attempt to manipulate me directly."

I considered trying again, but honestly, it might have been better if she weren't with us. She had the power to devastate most of the Guild, especially with the mind veins she mentioned. We were going after her favourite person. There was no possible way she would willingly give up information on Ellie.

"That's a shame, but you're right, it's for the best." I opened the Guildmaster menu and removed her from the Guild. "Perhaps we'll see one another in the future."

Hazel just hummed in response and waved her hand in dismissal.

I stood and left the tent, only looking back for a moment. It was already gone.

"And then there were four," I mumbled to myself. What the hell do I do now?

A notification popped up in front of me as if reading my mind.

[Quest Divination Received]

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