Chương 124: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Four

It quickly dawned on Adam what the Flayed Lady had meant by 'song', because his new Legendary Relic, the Mandate of Blood, was transmitting a melody up through his veins and into his brain. It was like an orchestra and it grew louder and more complex as he neared the Market. I think the vendors and their blood is somehow singing to me… It feels so bizarre.

But he understood how powerful it was just on the surface-level, to say nothing of mastering it, because it essentially allowed him to understand where all living creatures were in relation to him. It's astounding that there are so many different melodies mixed together and yet they form a coherent song, he mused. When he focused, he could pick out individual melodies. From the direction of the Market came eight different tones.

Surprisingly, there was also one far above him, but he realised that it must belong to Luvicidix who seemed to reside in the clouds. Aside from her, there were also four melodies coming from behind him, in the direction of the Tavern. But that meant two were missing, since Alivida only showed up at night. I don't think Finnian and Sprite are a part of the song. It somehow felt disturbing to him, because he couldn't track them in the same way as everyone else.

I also don't hear anything from the Player House, so the critters in the garden must not be alive. Although… there is a blossoming tone coming from that way. I'm guessing it's the flame in the lighthouse, though I'm not sure why it would sing with the Blood." Hello, Adam," came a voice from his right, startling him. It was Sprite. I can't rely too much on this power, he realised as he slowly turned to face the shadowy alchemist.

Since it doesn't resonate with elementals and possibly other such entities, they could easily sneak up on me if I focus too much on the melodies I can hear." Have you collected any new plants for me?" Sprite asked.

"As a matter of fact, I found a few things you might want," he replied, taking off his backpack and digging out some stuff he'd collected as he'd flown across the forest to reach the end of Stage Six. The first thing he handed the alchemist was a flat and grey-brown mushroom. Adam had found it growing from the side of a large tree." Gloamcap,"Sprite replied, stowing it into one of his crowded belt bags."

Induces vomiting and diarrhoea if consumed raw, but when cooked or used in a potion it has an invigorating effect." Adam frowned.

"Do I need to wash my hands?"" You will be fine, Adam. The island will save you from such afflictions. It is truly an alchemist's paradise. I can experiment as much as I wish without causing harm to my subjects."

"Did you just say 'subjects'?" he asked suspiciously. Sprite yanked the next plant out of Adam's open backpack without waiting for him to offer it, conveniently ignoring the question." A dandelion. Unfortunately, it is safe to consume raw."

"Unfortunately?"" When brewed with the bark of a Dayspur Oak and the leaves of a Trickleberry, it can boost one's spatial awareness and balance. When brewed with the berries of a Trickleberry and the leaves of a Dayspur, it produces a delicious wine that only has a one-in-three chance of permanently blinding you." Now I really want to know who the hell his subjects are… The last thing Adam brought out of his bag was a large leaf.

It was the size of his torso and he'd caught it while flying as it floated up and out of the forest, following some upwards draft." Fascinating,"Sprite said." This is the leaf of a bush known as a Winter's Roost. I don't know what it does, since this is my first time actually seeing it, but I will do some experimentations and let you know."

"Not on people, right?"" See you, Adam!" Sprite said and sauntered off towards the Tavern excitedly.

"Not on people!" Adam shouted after the mad alchemist. If someone gets violently sick because of him, then I'm punting his tiny body off the island. < < Quest Progress > > < Plantastic Alchemy > < Sprite would like you to bring him plants from 5 different Stages > < Progress — 1/5 > Damn, I thought for a second that maybe I could cheese the quest, since Sprite accepted all three plants. I should've been looking for plants in the Forbidden Altar. Oh well.

Adam continued onwards to the Market, listening to the melody of the song that came from its direction. As he kept his ears tuned to the frequencies, he noticed something. There was a background hum. It was deep and bassy compared to all the rest, but he had initially not noticed it, thinking it was just the wind. Adam stopped next to one of the houses on the island. They were basically full-formed at this point, a testament to just how many Players had died.

"How many survived this time?" Adam asked the Eye. [5 million 212 thousand Players survived Stage Six.] That's nearly a fifth of how many survived in my fourth loop. This universe is truly fucked. But since the All-Seeing System was able to move me back to a previous layer to save Beck, it could in theory rewind all the layers back to the beginning to save a universe from this sort of thing. Or maybe not? Perhaps it was only possible because of the power inside me?

The Realm Traveller should possess that power though. Adam returned his focus to the background hum. It must be coming from the island itself, he thought. That makes me want to try something. With an activation of his two rings, he summoned enough blood to allow him to set a few spell pattern traps on the houses around him. But instead of sacrificing his shoes to trigger them, Adam instead honed in on the melodies emanating from them.

They were all singing with his melody and when he realised this, he understood how limited he'd been viewing his own power. Even when the blood floated far away from him or was fixed into a spell pattern, he could still communicate with it, because it was a part of him. It was truly no different than flexing a muscle to move a finger. Adam sent a chord through his connection to the blood in the traps and they all activated simultaneously.

And as the spell patterns exploded and created large holes into the hollow buildings, he noticed that the background hum took on a discordant note for a brief moment. The island is alive, so it can feel pain. I don't know why I didn't realise that. But I think it should be possible to make the island's eye blink if I surprise it by dealing enough damage to its body.

There are no doubt other less barbaric ways of going about it, but this should at least be a surefire way to fulfil the requirements to unlock the Keening. Adam continued on to the Market, but felt excited about how much he was already learning in this loop. It was truly foolish to invoke the System's ire by carelessly abandoning my past loops, and it was a disservice to myself and my mission to grow strong enough to protect my friends.

I need to stay in this universe as long as I can, so that I can both save Beck from whatever is preventing him from looping again, but also so that when I find a universe where all my friends are still alive, I can actually protect them all the way through.

"Good morning, Adam," greeted Yenna as he walked past her and the fountain. Adam paused for a moment to listen to her melody. As expected of a musician, even the blood inside her has a wonderful rhythm.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"You look quite pale."

"I'm good," he told her and continued down past the stalls until he reached Lucca's.

"Hello, Adam," she said.

"I've brought some things to sell," he told her and pulled out all the Relics he wasn't keeping. He also had the Eye transport his remaining Chimaera Stone and the True Flame's Icon crown to his Player House, since he didn't want to sell either.

"The total will be 1825 Points," Lucca said. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Deal." < < Relics Sold > > < Queen's Pendant (Epic) > < Duellist's Glove (Rare) x2 > < Purple Slime Glove (Rare) > < Slothling Fur Coat (Rare) > < Slothling Spring Boots (Rare) > < Vigilant Fighter's Vambrace (Rare) > < Bone Breeches (Uncommon) > < 28625 Points Remaining > Adam kept the earrings, since they could come in handy later, particularly if he found a way to make one massive trap instead of a bunch of small ones, or if he needed to kill something decisively in one hit.

They may also work on the ballistae that the airships are fitted with, he considered. Adam didn't think he'd use the Body of Corruption armour that he'd gotten from the demon he'd summoned, but he wanted to test it out before selling it. He'd also decided to sell the Queen's Pendant since he simply couldn't imagine using it now. After all, being Scorned by the Flayed Lady was absolutely going to fuck him up.

"Would you like to see my wares?" Lucca asked.

"Sure, it couldn't hurt," he replied. The spider gestured towards the black chest behind her in the stall and it glowed with golden light, popping open to reveal five holograms. Two were green, another two were blue, and the last glowed purple. < < Relics For Sale > > < Grafted Skin (Uncommon) — Cover a wound to heal it completely.

1 use > < Mana Hoarder's Torso (Rare) — Increases Mana by 10 and restores 5 Mana with every kill | Increases Defence by 25% | Drains 5 Mana every minute and prevents passive Mana regeneration > < Lead Coating (Rare) — Increases the impact of physical weapon attacks by 50% | Lowers attack speed by 50% > < Sentient Amalgam Helmet (Uncommon) — Reactively defends against direct physical attacks and repairs itself if organic material is available | Cannot be unequipped while the armour is alive | Fuses itself with other Armour Relics already worn > < Grafted Tail (Epic) — Grows a tail on your body > That Amalgam Helmet sounds like a truly cursed item.

No way an uncommon item with such a power won't be a threat to its user. Anyway, I've obviously gotta get the tail. < < Relic Purchased > > < Grafted Tail (Epic) > < 27625 Points Remaining > As the tail attached itself to the bottom of Adam's spine, he heard how the melody of his blood wavered for a moment, until stabilising into a new ever-so-slightly-different tone. Weirdly, moving the new limb around came to him naturally and he didn't even have to think about it much.

I can't wait to play around with this thing, he thought. It should come in handy aboard the airships and floating settlements in the next Stage.

"Would you like to buy anything else?" Lucca asked.

"I'm good for now," Adam replied and went over to Thea's stall, his new tail swishing around behind him.

"Swap out my Spidersilk Needle for Gram again," Adam told the Eye. [Understood.] Then he bought 12 Chip Stone upgrades from Thea. < < Weapon Upgrades Purchased > > < Chip Stone x12 > < 22225 Points Remaining > The second evolution at level 12 removed the stone covering the handle. < < Evolution > > < Revealed Handle — Base Speed stat increased to 150% > The final one at level 18 made the scabbard slide off the blade, which was now completely free of stone.

With the stone gone, the weapon was revealed to be made entirely of gold, with the scabbard, handle, and blade all glowing. It was incredibly absurd to look at though. < < Evolution > > < Revealed Blade — Base Damage stat increased to 200% > < Unique Skill (Wyrm Slayer) | Perform a piercing thrust that penetrates all physical defences > [You have fully evolved the Mythical Hero Weapon Type. With the stone removed from the weapon, you may now upgrade it like you would any normal weapon.]"Are there more evolutions to unlock?" [No.] Dang. Well, it does seem like a powerful weapon regardless.

"Show me what the Mythical Hero's base stats look like now." [Understood.] < Mythical Hero > < Level 0 > < Stats > < Health — 200 > < Stamina — 200 > < Mana — 0 > < Damage — 200% > < Defence — 50% > < Speed — 150% > < Luck — 0 > With the Anvil Splitter and Wyrm Slayer skills, it's quite a powerful weapon, and the stats are really good, aside from the Defence.

"Show me the upgrades for this weapon," he told Thea. < < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > > < Sword Damage (Rare) — Increases sword damage by 15% > < Sword Speed (Rare) — Increases sword attack speed by 35% > < Sword Growth (Epic) — Increases sword length by 70% > < Block (Uncommon) — Increases block effectiveness by 10% > < Impact (Rare) — Increases the power behind attacks by 15% > Those are the same upgrades as for Warrior, he realised. Which means the sixth one is probably Deflect effectiveness.

Anyway, that's three down. Two more max evolutions to go. Along with the evolutions he'd also gained two new Mastery Shards, putting his total at seven.

"Swap out Gram for the Crawler's Arm," Adam told the Eye. It zapped the sword out of his hands and replaced it with the large skeletal limb. Despite how heavy the golden sword had been, the arm was somehow twice as heavy and Adam was unable to hold it unsupported for more than a few seconds. With a loud clunk, he set the arm down on the ground. The upgrades on offer in Thea's stall changed to accommodate the new weapon.

< < Weapon Upgrades For Sale > > < Club Damage (Rare) — Increases club damage by 15% > < Club Speed (Rare) — Increases club attack speed by 35% > < Club Weight (Uncommon) — Increases club weight by 10% > < Stamina Efficiency (Rare) — Reduces the stamina cost of attacks by 15% > < Overpower (Uncommon) — Increases defence penetration by 10% > Huh, it's a club? Adam purchased 18 upgrades to max out the weapon, putting his Point total at 14, 125.

The last upgrade available for the weapon was Impact, which the Woodsman and Warrior weapons also had. It was clear that the Crawler's Arm was designed to be a slow but hard-hitting weapon. Much like the Mythical Hero weapon type, its evolutions didn't give him two choices to pick between, and he was wondering if predetermined evolutions would apply to all Stage-collected weapons. [Your Crawler Slayer Weapon Type has reached Level 6.] [At Level 6, this Weapon Type receives the following evolution.] < < Evolution > > < Magical Absorption — Absorbs the Mana of those defeated > After the first evolution, Mana crystals appeared inside the bones of the large skeletal limb. It doesn't seem like there's a way to use the Mana it absorbs. The second evolution presented him with an answer to that thought.

< < Evolution > > < Magical Charge — Enables the charging of absorbed Mana into the Crawler's Arm, boosting the damage of the next attack > Black rune-like symbols appeared engraved into the flat palm of the weapon, as well as at the bottom where he held it. With the third and final evolution, new runes appeared all along the bones of the weapon. The design of the symbols reminded him of the text used in Alepheria's notes on chimaeras.

< < Evolution > > < Unique Skill (Crawler's Veil) | Coats the wielder in a cloak of Mana, turning them invisible until their next attack or 30 seconds have passed > A stealth skill?? That sounds so absurd, given how heavy this weapon is, but I guess it's very on brand for the Tower Crawler. Adam's Mastery Shard total was now at 10, enabling him to get another Vanity mirror. The Challenge Stone was only 3 shards, so I can get that and another Vanity once I've maxed out the last weapon.

"Swap the Crawler's Arm for the Solbor spear," Adam told the Eye. [Understood.] The heavy skeletal arm was replaced with the obsidian spear from the Forbidden Altar. Once again the upgrades that Thea offered changed. The options were the same as for Lancer, with normal spear upgrades and throwing-focused upgrades. Adam bought 18 more upgrades, maxing out his fifth and final weapon required for the meta upgrade that'd allow him to save weapons for the next loop.

At the end he was left with 6025 Points, which was about what he'd expected, since he'd spent 1000 Points on the tail. If he needed more, he still had quite a few things at his house he could sell. Nothing visibly changed about the obsidian spear with its evolutions, and it was, like Gram and the Crawler's Arm, predetermined evolutions that he was offered. Maybe it's only for Rare Stage weapons, he thought. I'll have to ask Beck about the Crawler's Eye weapon he mentioned.

Since it comes from fully empowering the Crawler, it may be Epic rarity. < < Evolution > > < Elphin Bravery — Reduce physical damage taken by 25% > That's pretty good, especially if it's multiplicative with Defence. < < Evolution > > < Elphin Agility — All non-hostile forms of movement consume no Stamina > Woah, that's honestly super powerful. You'd just be able to run, climb, jump, and do whatever, without pause. Forever. And maybe you can even bend the rules of what movements are considered hostile.

< < Evolution > > < Unique Skill (Nature's Chosen) | Compel the forces of nature to aid you > This weapon is honestly really powerful, Adam realised. He'd mentally brushed it off, since it was just another spear, but there had after all been a good reason why Haoyang had used it in the universe where he'd been a time-looper. And depending on how exactly Nature's Chosen worked, it could be immensely powerful, especially since its starting skill, the Scattershot, seemed like it might be really strong already.

"What is the cooldown for Nature's Chosen?" [10 minutes.] That's really short. So it's probably not something like causing an earthquake, but maybe if I'm fighting in a forest and use it, a root might trip up my opponent or a branch could block their attacks or something else that might be really useful in the moment. I suppose it also has non-combat-related utility. All-around, quite a powerful set of evolutions. Adam decided to play around with the spear for a bit as he walked back to the centre of the island.

"Thank you!" Thea exclaimed as he left. Thanks to the melody that emanated from her blood, Adam knew she was quite grateful to him for all the Points he'd spent at her stall. He still didn't know why the vendors cared about Points though. Adam looked down at the Mandate of Blood that he was holding the spear with. He wasn't seeing any visions of its creation or gaining knowledge about its power, so it was safe to assume that the way the Relic worked wasn't anything like Alepheria's Mandate.

Still, the song of the Blood is really powerful. And there's that whole thing about feeding the Relic to gain knowledge which I've yet to explore. Given how useful it had already been in teaching him a new way to trigger his spell pattern traps, Adam wanted to test it out with one of Sylvia's spells, since it was possible that he'd be able to understand the spell pattern if he did that. But first I've gotta see if I actually got a new meta upgrade from all the Points I spent.