Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Forty-Three

Adam’s feet sunk into the deep layer of ash. Burning fragments rained down like snow and his surroundings lay in ruin. A haze of heat and smog curled through the air around him.

Even though his father hadn’t been a part of the Trials, he had still been given an island, or, more likely, this ruined ash-filled place was the same regardless of which dead person he travelled to using the visiting stone.

He instinctively knew not to travel to any of the players’ dimensions in this universe, since they were infected with the Flayed Lady’s power, but he needed to speak with Fal, so this had been the only way to find her that he could think of.

Adam trotted through the deep ash, going north towards the player house. Above him, the dark clouds drifted lazily by, while crimson lightning swam through them like leviathan monsters.

His relics were gone and his newly acquired boosts to his stats were likewise suppressed, but he wasn’t afraid of this place like he’d been last time, because he knew the power that Fal’s soul bargains represented. Especially to someone like him, who needed to take risks to reach his goal.

The smog cleared briefly to reveal a silhouette in front of him. Unlike Luvicidix and Alivida, she already looked humanoid.

Fal turned to meet his eyes, the fire in her irises standing in stark contrast to her grey hair and dark moth wings. “You returned,” she said evenly.

“I need your help,” Adam told her. “The Flayed Lady has pitted every single player against me in this world.”

“That explains the sense of wrongness I feel about this universe,” Fal remarked.

“Luvicidix said the same thing,” Adam replied.

“Would you like to peruse my bargains of the soul?” Fal asked.

“Before that, I have something I need to give you,” Adam said, handing her the vanity mirror.

Fal accepted the hand mirror, gripping its black-veined handle as she gazed at her own reflection.

“Alivida crafted this. I can feel her soul in it, though the magic is borrowed,” she said and the mirror vanished, though no visible change came over her.

“Do you feel any different?” Adam asked, unsure if he’d made the right decision or not. His hope was that she would be more open with the bargains and what they did, if he first freed her from this place. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to use whatever weapon she might offer him, but that was besides the point anyway.

Fal looked at Parvillo who floated next to Adam. He hadn’t even noticed his companion come along to this ruined place, but then again, he was far more powerful than the cubes.

Her eyes returned to Adam. “I have gained a modicum of autonomy it would seem.”

With a wave of her hand, ash and fire washed across the ruined island, before they returned to Adam’s dimension, appearing behind the lighthouse on the northern part of the island where a break in the trees on the edge led to a steep drop into the clouds below.

Ash and fire floated around them in the same way that the other three moths used their scales to stop time, but unlike their scales, the ash slowly gathered on the grass where they stood.

“The air here is much less oppressive,” Fal noted with a tone of satisfaction in her voice. “Thank you, Adam. While I cannot meet my sisters, I can feel them nearby. That is a consolation.”

She reached out a smouldering hand to him and a piece of ash landed on her palm. Then she closed her fingers over it and turned her arm to drop it onto Adam’s awaiting hand.

What landed on his palm was not ash, but instead a small stylised dark-grey metallic hand with long nails gripping a gem with fire swirling around inside it, moving about as though it was a living thing.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > >

< Ash and Fire Brooch (Divine) — The funeral brings ash from the fire, and from the ash sprouts new life >

Divine??

I thought she’d give me a weapon, not a relic. Do all the moths give relics instead of weapons, perhaps?

But what does that even do?

Adam equipped the relic and it just attached itself to his milky-white slime body, on the left side of where his chest would normally have been.

“Thank you, but how does it work?” he asked

“You must turn the dead to ash to release their soul,” she replied, cryptically.

I guess I’ll try and use it on a corpse and see what happens.

Maybe it creates something or heals me, when I use it. Or maybe the ash it produces has special properties?

Fal moved her hands through the air, trailing embers. “But this is why you came to me, is it not? Remember, all power comes with a price.”

< < Fal’s Soul Bargains > >

< Mask of Greed — Bosses reward a bonus chest on death — Vendors stop selling upgrades >

< Double Charge — One-time-use Relics gain a second use — Lose 5% of all Stats when a Relic exhausts all uses >

< Nameless — Obtain the Hood of Namelessness — Every confrontation avoided lowers Damage and Health by 5% >

< Invading Stone — Invade the Dimension of a known Player — You no longer regenerate on Interim Island >

There were a lot less options this time, and two he hadn’t seen before, but which had demerits too negative for him to use regardless. The one he’d been specifically seeking was missing though.

“Where’s the Lonesome Spire upgrade?” Adam asked.

“It is not yet available,” Fal said.

[It would be a good choice for you,] Parvillo remarked.

Fal looked at the icosahedron, but then turned her gaze back to Adam. “Perhaps it would be better for you to wait until I have the bargain you seek. You cannot accept more than one bargain, after all.”

Adam nodded. He had hoped to get the Lonesome Spire immediately, since it would double his stats in exchange for making it impossible to leave any stage if his teammates were still alive. Normally, it would have been a foolish pick, since the demerit could not be switched off, but given the hostility of this universe, it was literally the perfect choice for him.

“When will it be available?”

“While I am allowed to explain my bargains in more detail to you thanks to the vanity, I cannot answer that question,” Fal said.

[It will appear after Stage Four,] Parvillo answered, which surprised Adam.

“Aren’t you breaking the System’s rules by telling me?” Adam asked him.

[The rules state fairness is mandated. Given your situation, it is fair to inform you properly, given the opposition you are facing.]

That’s some bizarre logic, but it works in my favour, so I will take it.

“The nameless upgrade, what does it do?” Adam asked Fal.

“While wearing the ‘Hood of Namelessness’, you become able to turn invisible at will,” Fal answered.

That sounds insanely powerful, but the demerit is awful.

“And the invading stone is just like the visiting stone, but I get to hurt the player I invade?” Adam asked.

“Correct, and like the visiting stone, it only functions while on Interim Island,” Fal said.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“What about the other bargain you had last time? The Soul Dial and the Creation Spark. How do they work exactly?”

“I cannot answer those questions since the upgrades are not currently available to you,” Fal replied.

Adam looked to Parvillo, but he remained silent, so it was likely a hard rule he could not or would not break, especially since the answer didn’t help with the current situation.

“Are you able to go wherever you wish on the island?” Adam asked her, changing the subject.

“Yes, I may go where I wish, but I cannot be seen by anyone except you.”

“You should visit the garden,” Adam told her. “Meilo is there, and inside the tent, Alivida appears at night.”

Fal looked to Parvillo, like she was silently asking for permission.

When he didn’t say anything, she looked back to Adam and said, “I just might.”

She turned her gaze towards the clouds above. Unlike in the dimension where he’d found her, the clouds here were fluffy and calm, illuminated and dyed by the amber light of the setting sun.

What was more, in the clouds above was where Luvicidix resided.

I wonder if she’s looking for her sister.

What might happen if I gift all of the moths the vanity upgrade?

Without a word of goodbye, the ash falling down around them just vanished, taking Fal with it.

The ash that had already fallen remained where it coated the grass.

Some had landed on Adam’s body, but his slime skin had absorbed it without him noticing.

Although Adam didn’t regret giving Charlie the ability to leave the tavern, which was haunted by what the Flayed Lady had done, the realisation that the moths might give him relics instead of weapons in return for the vanities was something that completely changed their value to him this loop.

I’ll give my last one to Meilo, Adam decided and headed for the garden.

Maybe I should spend my shards to get a fourth vanity. I won’t be unlocking the third sheath this time regardless, and the unique relics, if indeed each of the moths give one, might make a big difference.

As he walked past the lighthouse, he wondered if its boon would inadvertently end up protecting the hostile players he’d be grouped with from stage six and onward.

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light’s Brazier (Rare) — You and your allied Players gain a shield that absorbs 50% of the damage from the first hit suffered in a Stage >

It would make it a lot harder to deal a quick decisive blow to take them out at the start of a stage, so he would potentially need to plan around it.

But that’s hardly the worst of my problems.

The Flayed Lady has showed she is watching me closely, since she’s able to give builds to her adherents that’ll counter me.

Already, I’m sure she’s found ways to fully combat my slime transformation.

After all, not everyone in the tavern that she’d taunted him with had possessed the Blood Mage sigils, so she was no doubt spreading out their Classes across many different weapons.

I need to use the challenge stone to take out the people I know before she can pit them against me in later stages. They’re all suffering, and I can prevent that for a few of them. But more than that, I don’t want to end up hesitating at the start of a group stage when it matters most.

I just hope she hasn’t used the same strategy as Nwetrou did in my last loop, making it so all the biggest threats have blocked me in the tavern to stay hidden.

Although, I suppose she could just keep them out of the tavern so I wouldn’t be able to target them…

As Adam neared the garden, he saw small bits of ash dotted the road here and there, until the buildings opened up to show the garden proper, revealing Meilo who was in the process of pruning a small apple tree. Nearby, though unseen by her, was a pile of ash that slowly grew on its own.

Even though she cannot be seen, Fal is leaving a trace of her presence.

Meilo stopped what she was doing and flew over to Adam.

“Hello Adam,” she greeted him. “Have you finally realised my worth?”

She really took that comment personally…

It didn’t seem like she sensed Fal’s presence nearby, even though the ash should be an obvious indicator.

“I’ve brought you a vanity mirror,” Adam said, handing it to her.

Meilo stared into it curiously, until suddenly the golden-orange light inside her expanded and made her blinding to look at.

Once the intense light passed, what remained was a humanoid hawk-moth made of transparent glass. Her eyes glowed with the same light that pinged around inside her body, and she had a summer dress of triangular glass shards covering her. The two wings hanging down her back looked more like a cape now, and she had short hair with each strand like a thin glass tube, as well as relatively short antennae. Despite the transformation, she still did not look ‘alive’.

Meilo flexed her wings. “Thank you for this gift. I may be able to answer your questions more candidly now.”

“Well, in that case,” Adam started.

“Before you ask, I must give you this,” she interrupted him. She put her hands together, and the golden-orange firefly within her body flew into her cupped fingers, before returning to her chest.

When she lifted her right hand, a small glass shape lay atop her left palm. She offered it to Adam.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > >

< Heart of Glass (Divine) — Life is brittle, the Gardener knows this well, yet inside this facsimile heart, a beat like the wings of a moth can be felt >

Adam took the relic, marvelling at the details, though it didn’t look like any heart he’d ever seen, since it had more chambers than normal and an extra set of tubes.

I was right. The moths really do gift relics!

“What does it do?”

“You may use it to bring life to the heartless,” Meilo answered.

“Does that mean it can revive a dead person?” Adam asked.

“I cannot say.”

He looked to Parvillo, but his companion remained silent.

Seems he’s only helpful when it’s beneficial to the objective of reaching the Chaotic Convergence in the altar.

“You said there were other ways you could be useful, besides growing plants,” Adam recalled. “What else can you do?”

“Once you are able to brew your own potions, I may guide you towards discoveries by teaching you about the plants I grow,” Meilo replied.

That could be useful. I guess that if it’s possible to brew something that can kill a Voidspawn, then lots of other things should be possible too, like water-breathing, elemental resistance, iron flesh, and so much more.

Adam’s initial reaction to Meilo had definitely underestimated her worth, though it was curious that she required Sprite to be of any use, though perhaps he could brew his own potions without the shadow elemental, but maybe it was just much more difficult.

He had a lot more things he wanted to ask her about, but the sun had set and a violet light spilled out from within Alivida’s tent, drawing his attention.

“You should come with me,” Adam said to Meilo. He hoped Fal was listening too.

“I cannot venture inside,” Meilo replied.

“Are you at least allowed to leave the garden if you want?” he asked.

“Yes. I am free to do as I please, but I would like to continue tending to the plants here. For now, it is comforting to know that my siblings are close, even if we cannot meet,” she said, eyeing the tent before looking at the bits of ash scattered about the garden.

Maybe I need to give them all the vanities before they can reunite? Adam wondered. But what if there are other moths I’ve yet to find?

He went inside the tent and Parvillo followed him. Once more, the icosahedron was unaffected by the time-freezing scales floating around in the air.

“You are back,” Alivida remarked. “You have brought many… shards.”

“Do you have any new upgrades for me?” he asked.

“No.”

“Then I would like to buy another vanity,” Adam said.

“A good choice,” she remarked.

< < Mastery Upgrade Unlocked > >

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

Adam was now down to six mastery shards, which was still a good amount. There wasn’t anything else he wanted to spend them on right now, so he just accepted the vanity mirror from Alivida and then immediately handed it back to her.

“Are you… giving it to me?” Alivida asked, surprised.

“I am,” he confirmed. “I have already given one to Fal and Meilo.”

“I… see.”

Alivida stared into the mirror and turned into her humanoid version that she usually didn’t adopt until after stage five.

“In return for this gift, I give you this,” she said and reached out her hand, which was holding a bracelet made of black marbles that were filled with a mix of dark oil and smoke.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > >

< Night Moth’s Bracelet (Epic) — The Night Moth flits between shadows, cleverly avoiding the light >

This one is only epic. Is it because Alivida is easier to find than Fal and Meilo?

I wonder what rarity Luvicidix’s reward would be.

Adam equipped the bracelet to his left wrist, since he had the lucky bracelet on his right.

“What does it do?” he asked.

“With this, you may move between shadows without touching the light,” Alivida said.

“So, it’s like teleportation?”

“In a way… I suppose.”

“And it doesn’t have a cooldown?” he asked, confused. If it could be used without any cost or cooldown, it would easily be the strongest mobility-focused relic he’d encountered.

[It does,] Parvillo immediately answered. [The limitations on the Relics you have received from the moths are not stated in their descriptions. This Relic must recharge between uses, by gathering darkness into itself.]

Adam looked at the black marbles. “I’m guessing these will show when it’s ready to be used.”

[That appears to be the case, yes.]

“Are you able to leave your tent now?” Adam asked Alivida.

She nodded slowly. “Only at night, and I may not be seen.”

“What about during the day?”

“I will be in my tent,” she replied.

“I’ll have access to you the entire day then?” he asked.

“Correct,” she replied.

Adam scratched his stubble. “Better than nothing, I suppose, but you and your sisters are given much less freedom than the other denizens who receive the vanity mirror.”

“Such is the nature of our roles in the Trials of Defiance,” she replied.

“I’m only missing Luvicidix now,” Adam said. “If I give her a vanity, will something change?”

“It might,” she replied vaguely.

It’ll have to wait until my next loop, sadly, but I want to give it a try.

“Since I’ve given you the vanity, are you now allowed to be more open about what I need for future upgrades to be unlocked?” Adam asked.

“In a way,” Alivida muttered.

“Is my guess about a third sheath accurate?”

“Yes.”

Adam grinned. Awesome.

“And does it unlock even stronger fusions with more weapons?”

“Yes.”

“And I just need one more fusion evolution to unlock it, right?”

“That is correct,” Alivida replied.

Adam’s grin widened.

“Are there other mastery upgrades I’ve yet to unlock?” he asked.

“Many,” she said.

“What are they?”

“That I cannot say.”

“Is there something from beating stage ten?” Adam asked. There had been several unlocked after stage five, so it made sense for the pattern to continue that way.

“There is, but I cannot tell you what it is.”

He nodded. “Are there any I could unlock before stage ten?”

“Yes.”

Hmm, I wonder what it could be?

Maybe something like the evolution encyclopaedia, but for relics?

“Is there a ‘Relic Encyclopaedia’ upgrade?” he asked.

“There is,” Alivida replied. “You have been close to unlocking it once already.”

Such an encyclopaedia would be useful to have, especially with the wishing stone that lets me pick and choose.

Adam wanted to keep prodding her for clues, but he also wanted to do some training with his slime form before stage two, not to mention, he needed to find someone to take out with his challenge stone.

But before that, I need to go see if Weaver will make me a backpack for the eighty points I have left. Hopefully she’s able to craft something that won’t dissolve on contact with my body.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Adam told Alivida and left her tent.

As he ran out of the garden, he waved to Meilo, who returned the gesture, and then he pushed his speed to the limit as he aimed himself towards the market.