The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop

Fifteen minutes.

That was how long Orodan had before the first of his pursuers reached him.

For him however, fifteen minutes was a lot of time to get work done.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out, and the surrounding ten blocks were irrevocably altered.

Something had inexplicably changed in Ogdenborough, specifically in Briar Court and the surrounding ten blocks. And as Orodan walked out of his utterly immaculate hovel, he began to hear the people who were awoken in the night.

“What the… what happened?! The smell! Mother! The smell is finally gone! I don’t smell tannins anymore!” cried the tanner’s daughter in relief as the man’s house finally lost its ever-present stench.

“My… what even was that? I feel so invigorated…”

“Darling! Your hair… it’s entirely black! You… you’re young again!”

“Who the hells woke me up? I’m parched, where’s my waterskin?” one man uttered, and then a cry of shock rang out. “B-by the Gods… this water tastes incredible!”

All around him, Orodan could hear similar words of shock and astonishment from the usage of his Domain Of Perfect Cleaning. The skill actually hadn’t increased in level with this single usage, but its advance felt close, and Orodan instinctively had a hunch that this skill would face no bottlenecks for a long while.

He stepped out of his hovel and surveyed the shocked faces of everyone on his street as they were awoken by the intrusive, if beneficial, changes to their bodies. Every single person within ten blocks had been irrevocably changed for the better.

The very ground for a half mile had been utterly purified, and the effects were quite pronounced. Orodan could sense the vitality and mana flowing through everything better as all impurities had been completely removed. Essentially, the surrounding half mile was completely pure, without flaws and impurities.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to call himself divine, and neither would he ever want to be, but many would see him as such with feats like these. And it raised the question of what else Orodan could do now that he had all this power.

Of course, the clock was ticking.

It was still the first thirty seconds of the loop, and Old Man Hannegan usually didn’t arrive at the construction site for the warehouse at 4 Ale Road until after Orodan’s morning Physical Fitness regimen. The old man was a hard worker and would get up at night just to collect the lumber from the supplier in Scarmorrow so he could make it back in time for the beginning of the workday.

Frankly, the laborers who worked under the old man should’ve been ashamed, as the man’s work ethic far outstripped theirs.

And now, in a loop where Orodan had but fifteen minutes until the Void Horror came to capture him from beneath? He decided to skip traveling altogether.

[Teleportation 14 → Teleportation 15]

Space tore apart as a Teleportation took him to where he wanted to be, the middle of the road between Scarmorrow and Ogdenborough, dead in the night. A cart loaded with cheap lumber, being pulled by a mule. In the driver’s seat of this cart, sat Old Man Hannegan, and he was angrily waving a lit torch at a covetous pair of wolves.

Yes, Ogdenborough had a branch of the county militia, but it had no mounted unit. And leadership decided patrolling the road between Ogdenborough and Scarmorrow was unnecessary at night. For the old man to travel the unguarded road while the moon was visible in the sky… it made Orodan’s respect for him grow considerably.

“Away with you! Hungry mutts! This mule makes way for an important task! You won’t be taking a bite of his rump tonight!” the old man yelled as he waved his torch in an effort to be intimidating. Of course, behind the old man… was Orodan. And upon seeing him the wolves all fled immediately as their instincts told them certain death approached. “That’s right! And keep running! Haha… haven’t wrestled a wolf since I was a young man, hmm, who- Orodan!?”

The sudden scare looked like it took a year off the man.

“What would you have even done if they charged? Beat them with your walking stick?” Orodan asked as he tore space around the old man and the entirety of the mule-driven cart of lumber. “Anyhow, no time to talk. Let’s go build that warehouse, old man.”

Ordinarily, the costs of Teleportation increased as more people and objects were ferried along. But what did this matter to Orodan? The old man and his mule-driven cart were teleported straight to the work site at 4 Ale Road.

“Orodan?! What’s happening?! This strange energy is surrounding me and… and…” the old man trailed off as he realized he was suddenly at 4 Ale Road, cart, mule and lumber included. “How? How are we here? Is this what space mages are capable of? But… the anti-spatiomancy wards around the county…”

“…aren’t an issue for me. Any ward which can be defeated by brute force is no obstacle. No more explanations though, time is too short, let’s build,” Orodan said as he immediately threw the lumber into a pile. “C’mon old man, we can get this done before your lazy laborers show up.”

In truth, while Orodan spoke as though he needed Old Man Hannegan, he really didn’t. He’d built this warehouse so many times by now that he knew the steps by heart. If he needed lumber, he could teleport to the woods and uproot a few dozen trees to bring back. If he needed manpower, he could simply summon his ‘clones’.

Dragging along the old man was simply an excuse to show him the fruits of his completed warehouse. It was also entertainment… and a distraction.

His heart simply wasn’t ready to Teleport and meet with his former companions yet. The events of the last long loop still weighed heavily on his heart and mind, and to counter this, Orodan threw himself into work of these short loops and the eventual combat he would face at the end of the fifteen minutes.

“Wait, Orodan! Without the architect we can’t build this… ah… never mind…” Old Man Hannegan muttered. “I’d ask how you know Vilia’s blueprints by heart, but I’m just going to go along with this.”

Hmm… before we go any further… this work site is dirty, let’s fix that,” Orodan said, and then, his Celestial rarity skill activated and the Domain Of Perfect Cleaning erupted outwards in a half mile radius.

“Hrk…! What is this feeling? I feel like I’ve become young again,” Old Man Hannegan said. Although… Orodan couldn’t exactly refer to him as ‘Old Man’ Hannegan now, could he?

“Well, given the sudden lack of grey hairs and wrinkles, I’d say you are young again,” Orodan replied. “Hmm… I’m surprised the synchronization with Basic Healing can cause even this.”

Basic Healing had a low skill level, and Orodan was surprised it had any impact at all when it came to cleaning… but for the previously weak skill to be amplified so much? Was this the power of a Celestial skill? The ability to uplift any skill within it to its level?

“Synchronization with what? What skill even is that? Orodan… this doesn’t make sense, none of it should be possible!” Hannegan protested. “No Bloodline should be capable of this… no Blessing can do so much, who are you and what have you done with Orodan Wainwright?”

“It’s still me, the same battle-happy maniac you know,” Orodan replied. “Just… given the power to do this over and over without end, and having experienced pain I’d rather not have…”

Even saying that caused the memories of his companions to return and assault him full tilt.

Orodan said nothing else and simply used the remainder of the time to work. He got about three-quarters of the way through building the warehouse before the Void Horror was close enough that it was time to interrupt whatever he was doing.

A gigantic gray hand was on the verge of breaking the surface and crushing all in its grasp.

Only for a Spatial Fold to shoot out and envelop the hand, alongside the being it was connected to.

The Void Horror thrashed, struggled and flared its energies turbulently in an attempt to throw Orodan’s spatial manipulation off. Its energy reserves were incredibly high, and no other spatiomancer could directly manipulate the kinetic vector of so powerful a being. Of course, Orodan was a different case.

His Spatial Fold caused the Void Horror to skip the surface entirely and instead be flung into the sky. The work site, the civilians nearby and the old man were spared an unfortunate fate.

“If I hadn’t changed your direction, you would’ve killed a bunch of people with your entry,” Orodan told it. “You can’t just burrow up into the middle of town when you’re that big.”

The Void Horror looked slightly perplexed and more than a little alarmed at how easily it was directly manipulated via Spatial Fold. It also seemed wary at just how casual Orodan was being. In fact, Orodan knew he could send it deep into the void between stars if he wanted, thereby avoiding this whole situation in each loop.

But that would be unsporting, and given what happened to its brother, a bit cruel too.

And Orodan desperately wanted this fight.

“Orodan Wainwright, I apologize for offending you, but we must retreat to the world core of Alastaia. Great danger comes our way,” it spoke. “Please come with me… or I shall have to ensure your safety by force.”

A crazed grin covered Orodan’s face as the sword and shield in his hands were gripped tighter than ever.

“By force you say?” Orodan asked in a tone most unsettling to his would-be abductor. “I’ve been looking forward to battling you for a while now, so by all means… use force!”

Only fifteen minutes of the loop had passed, and as a result, the moon still hung overhead. Perfectly in the line of sight for an overcharged Spatial Fold.

A Flash Strike took him towards the surprised Void Horror who reacted in time, however his goal was merely to slam into it and gain some forward motion towards the fold in space. And before either of them knew it, they’d crashed right into the moon, causing a titanic quake and scaring all the local monsters away.

“You fool! You’ve brought us to the fallen remnants of Alastaia’s sister world! We cannot easily return now!” the Void Horror exclaimed and looked almost panicked at the thought of being away from the world.

“I won’t send you into the void to be corrupted like your brother was,” Orodan said. “Now come, you slew me in a single blow last time. Let’s see how much stronger I’ve become since then.”

If it had questions related to what Orodan said, it didn’t voice them.

The only thing that mattered the next instant… was the deadly clash of blows in a toe-to-toe battle between them. To Orodan’s pleasant surprise, he found he was now strong enough to weather its first blow. Hells, given how damaged it looked from the return, he might even stand a good chance.

Of course, the fact that Orodan realized this, meant that the Void Horror did too.

“Forgive me Alastaia… I cannot complete your Quest…” it muttered, closing its eyes. “To capture such a being would be impossible. Instead… I ask permission to slay him so that the otherworldly intruders may leave you in peace as his soul departs.”

A moment passed… and then…

[Warning - You have become the target of a Quest]

[Quest Subject → Diverting Attention From Alastaia - Kill Orodan Wainwright before the arrival of the otherworldly intruders. Divert their attention away from Alastaia]

It waited for a moment, with eyes closed, before its eyes opened with resolute determination.

Orodan learned the hard way that the Void Horror had no compunctions with ruthlessly throwing hundreds of lethal attacks towards him. Even if he could survive its first blow, that didn’t mean he could survive the next hundred which all came within an instant.

Seven minutes.

That was how long the Void Horror took to make Orodan embrace the darkness with its attacks.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him.

Orodan immediately got to work and threw out his Domain Of Perfect Cleaning with as much force as he could muster.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 65 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 66]

Immediately, all filth and impurities in the surrounding mile were eliminated, and Orodan hummed in approval of the skill level increase and its tangible benefit.

The usual Quest and Quest Subject messages flashed by him, and he ignored them as always.

Fighting the Void Horror was tricky. Orodan wasn’t ashamed to admit it was well beyond his weight class, and he had no advantage against the soul energy-based attacks it fielded. It was direct soul energy, and Orodan wasn’t sure how to begin training a resistance skill for that.

Even without Divine Resistance, he could beat a Chosen One Avatar now, he had grown powerful enough for it. The Eldritch Avatar too, while quite far beyond him at the moment, could be bested through his Celestial skill and the assistance of the Void Horror within who sought freedom. Of course, he’d fought it while it had two divinities within and not three, but he could work up to cleaning it at full power. He also had Eldritch Resistance.

Which made this uncorrupted Void Horror a very difficult battle. No resistance skills, and a foe which sought to kill him with fury the moment it realized his death was the better option for Alastaia.

If anything…

“This will be good training,” Orodan said with a happy grin on his face.

He had been looking for a foe to truly sharpen himself against for a while. No resistance skills to rely upon, and he refused to cheaply send it out to space or flee. Orodan would accept nothing less than the fundamentals of combat, his sword, shield and warrior spirit as the path to victory.

It was also fifteen minutes to cram in as much practice as he could before his pursuer’s arrival.

Training for many loops and over the course of long loops was one way of making progress. But… there was another method of getting work done. And that was to desperately get as much done as possible within a time limit.

Who knew? Perhaps forcing himself to work efficiently on a time crunch would lead to unexpected benefits. And in these fifteen minutes, he could go wild and seek out all manner of different skills or improve existing ones in the strangest of ways.

And so began the insane misadventures of Orodan Wainwright. Or at least, anyone who saw would refer to it as such. For him, it was just excellent training.

He had multiple targets and consequently couldn’t always get to work kidnapping Old Man Hannegan and building the warehouse. So, in the next loop he decided to work on another venture.

Time Mastery and Time Reversal.

“Oi… who’re you?!” asked one of the near-Adept guards of House Argon. “Eversong Plaza’s not open at this time, and take those rags off, I won’t ask again. Your face scarred or something?”

[Disguise 1 → Disguise 2]

The level gain gave Orodan a vague understanding that his disguise of wrapping a dirty rag around his head… was pathetic. He could see through Vision of Purity, so it didn’t even have any eye holes cut out, which made him look like one of the many corpses that lined the drawers of Ogdenborough’s morgue.

His brown hair stuck out at many points too, which meant Orodan still had a ways to go.

Still… at least he wasn’t immediately discovered like he was last time. That it was night, and the light was low likely contributed to that.

“Hey… wait a minute… I don’t know too many people that big… isn’t that…” an overwatch on a nearby balcony of the tavern above muttered, and Orodan didn’t like where this was going. “Hey! That’s Orodan Wainwright!”

Damn it. Orodan could only sigh. Perhaps one day his disguises would be worth something.

His Domain Of Perfect Cleaning immediately shot out and eradicated all impurities for a mile. And the Absolute Soul Dominion part of the skill did its work and knocked everyone unconscious. The skills combined into Domain Of Perfect Cleaning were all still accessible, their individual functions capable of being used, as was the general rule with all skill combinations.

Orodan walked into the tavern and made way for its upper floor.

At the very beginning of his most recent long loop, Orodan had discovered a torture room in the upper levels of the tavern. A room which contained a chair with the corpse of a restrained man who had the signs of being interrogated far too harshly. At the time, Orodan had left the man be and simply placed a blanket over the corpse. However, in that loop it was afternoon when he’d entered the tavern. But now it was nighttime, and the loop had just begun.

Vision Of Purity already saw what was behind the door, so it wasn’t a surprise when he saw the unconscious body of Lord Aeglos near the corpse of the tortured man. The Elite-level pyromancer he’d died against so many times in the past was the one who’d tortured this man to death, and while Orodan felt the urge to slaughter the heir to the traitorous noble house, he held off as the man was unconscious and it rankled his pride to kill the man without giving him the opportunity to fight back.

Petty revenge wasn’t his goal however, and he instead turned to look at the corpse in the chair.

The deceased man hadn’t died too long ago. The blood still flowing from certain wounds indicated as such. Orodan draped a nearby blanket over the man out of respect… and he got to work.

Chronomancers were capable of resurrecting the fallen… and what better target to start with as practice for Orodan’s first attempt than one who was unjustly slain recently?

Time Mastery shot outward, and Time Reversal began to activate.

Time Mastery informed him that the man had been slain perhaps thirty minutes ago. Mortal chronomancers at the Grandmaster-level could perhaps reverse time for a handful of minutes. Thirty minutes was far too long for a mortal Grandmaster of chronomancy. Perhaps only a dragon chronomancer could manage the feat as the energy cost of reverting time by thirty minutes was simply too much.

The feat he aimed to perform was far more difficult than merely reversing time by thirty minutes. Pulling the soul back through time was substantially more expensive in terms of energy cost. And if the soul of the deceased had already crossed the dimensional boundary and gone into the afterlife? There were no records of successful chronomantic resurrections in that case.

But what did Orodan Wainwright care about energy limitations?

Reversing time to draw a soul back to the body and heal it was akin to pulling on a rope and drawing time backwards for that specific being. The longer it had been since death, the harder this ‘rope’ was to pull. The more damage the body or soul suffered, the more difficult it was. Hells, if the soul had already passed into the afterlife, the cost was outright impossible to pay, even for dragons.

The official words of the Cathedral were that Malzim collected all souls immediately upon death. Orodan of course, knew this was a lie as he’d often seen the souls of enemies he killed linger for upwards of twenty minutes before drifting away and presumably crossing a dimensional divide. Which meant that he was out of luck on this corpse…

…or he would be, if he were an ordinary chronomancer.

His breakthrough in understanding time meant that he understood that objects, places and events all had connections to souls if there were any. This deceased man’s body, still had a faint connection in the river of time to his soul, and Orodan grasped this connection with the full might of his soul energy… and pulled.

Teleportation sent all the unconscious bodies out of the tavern as Orodan felt the building tremble at how much energy he was spending. Still, he didn’t relent, even as his body began to suffer minor damage.

It wasn’t anywhere near the damage he suffered trying to bring his friends back in the last long loop, but even a basic Time Reversal for a single person was shockingly expensive

Slowly, almost impossibly, as though something else sought to battle him, the ‘rope’ of time was pulled backwards, and the changes began to be reversed. The tavern’s entire upper floor turned to ash from the eruption of power from Orodan…

…and he felt angry divine power attempt to counter the occurrence from somewhere far away. Of course, this divine power lacked the energy to compete with Orodan.

With a final pull and a roar of effort that tore free from his lips, Orodan was successful.

[Time Mastery 17 → Time Mastery 21]

[Time Reversal 5 → Time Reversal 12]

And the eyes of the deceased shot open.

“Mother…? Am I finally home?” the man asked, a scratchy voice indicating dehydration. “Why does it not hurt anymore? I see… another healing potion to prolong the suffering, isn’t it? Just kill me… please… I won’t tell anyone of what I saw here…”

Orodan felt some pity for the recently returned man, and decided to reverse time a bit more to when the man wasn’t dehydrated. Which turned out to be four days ago.

“You’re alive friend… but I don’t know for how long,” Orodan said, thinking of the fact that in fifteen minutes this loop’s finale would begin. “I’m going to teleport you to Karilsgard. You’re better off there instead of here where a rather tumultuous battle is about to take place.”

“What? Wait… who are you? I thought I’d died…” the man muttered weakly. While his body was now fine, his mind, was not. Altering the mind through time magic was something even the patriarch of the Time Wind couldn’t do. The mind was an extension of the soul, and reverting it or skill gains, was considered truly impossible, even for Gods. “Thank you… I can see my wife and little girl again. I’m not even affiliated with the Republic, I’m just a cartographer who came up through the tunnels.”

This… this was power on an utterly godlike scale.

He always knew he was powerful. But the power to destroy, and the power to bring back the dead were two different things. Anyone could hit harder with time and mindless repetition. But to bring back the dead? To resurrect the dead in so casual a manner? Just how far could he go down the river of time?

A heavy feeling of responsibility settled on Orodan’s shoulders, and he welcomed it alongside the power he wielded. Others might have shied away from it, considering the task too heavy, or some might think they’d go mad if they tried taking on the burden. But Orodan was the kind of man who would make a problem his problem if he saw fit.

Making weak excuses to avoid resurrecting victims of injustice was the way of the spineless. He’d heard all manner of nonsensical philosophizing from the priests of the Cathedral for why the Gods didn’t bring loved ones back. They were occupied with protecting mortals; they were preserving the balance. Bad things would happen.

Orodan thought these all to be weak excuses.

He had no such limitations and cared not for this nebulous concept of balance. The excuses reeked of either inability or unwillingness. He would use Time Mastery to ease the pains and sorrow of people. And if anyone descended upon him in response? He would face all comers.

But that was a goal reserved for once he was out of this set of death loops, and he’d need far more practice and skill levels than he had now. And since he’d so brazenly bested the resisting force of divine energy during the formerly deceased man’s resurrection… he felt multiple Avatars coming his way.

He teleported himself out of the tavern and to the peak of Mount Castarian, partially to allow them to find him easier, and partially because Orodan wanted to avoid innocent deaths.

He reached down to the ancient machine’s mana core to quickly drain it.

[Quest Completed → Battle of Ogdenborough - Ancient war machine disabled]

[Reward Granted → Permanent +1 Action Increase]

It was good to see all his soul strengthening throughout the long loop had paid off. He now had more room for additional Rewards.

The first two Avatars he saw tearing through space to sail towards him like comets were the Avatars of Eximus… and Malzim.

“Who dares defile the sanctity of the afterlife?! If you have done something untoward with the soul, you shall answer for your crimes!” Malzim roared.

“To affect the river of time with such power… who are you, mortal?” Eximus asked.

“Nothing untoward has been done with the soul, you have my word Malzim. The man has been teleported to Karilsgard, he was the victim of torture and interrogation,” Orodan answered, and then turned to the Avatar of Eximus with a bloodthirsty grin. “As for who I am? My name is Orodan Wainwright, and I bear a grudge against you.”

“I do not even know y-”

There was no time for further conversation. He had ten minutes left before the Void Horror arrived.

Orodan targeted the Avatar of Eximus first, and all of his empowerment skills activated as he shot towards the Avatar with a Flash Strike, dragging the divine with him as he flew far away from Ogdenborough and civilization. Malzim followed but seemed unwilling to commit upon witnessing how powerful Orodan was.

He’d been hesitant to harm the Avatar of the God of Death, particularly since he owed the Death God a debt. And as far as Gods went, Malzim was one of the better ones. But thankfully, the fact that Malzim was a bit craven and actively avoided risk meant Orodan needn’t be concerned.

The earth shook and the tremors must’ve been felt all the way in Karilsgard as Orodan landed, using the Avatar of Eximus to absorb the impact. He dragged the divine along the ground and came to a stop, atop the Avatar.

“Sacrilege! You dare assault the Avatar of a God?!” Eximus roared in outrage and fired a divine beam, only to be shocked into silence as it was utterly ineffective. “…Divine Resistance? How…? How?! Who are you?!”

Orodan cared not for Eximus’s words but sought to pay the God back for all the trouble he’d caused. In particular, one good thing about Orodan’s newly created Celestial skill was that he could now cross the System boundary within the soul core. This was what allowed him to cleanse the Eldritch Avatar and send the two remaining divinities within running.

And this would be what allowed him to now scour a God and their Blessings clean from someone.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out and utterly enveloped the Avatar of Eximus. And as it pressed deeper into the host’s soul, a wail of divine horror and agony rang out.

“For someone who enjoys manipulating mortals so much alongside your brethren, it’s not very pleasant when a mortal turns the tables, is it?” Orodan asked as he dug deep and cleanly scoured the soul of the man Eximus was using as host. All the while, he had the God of Time trapped within his Avatar, similar to how the Eldritch trapped them in the last long loop.

“No! Please! I beg of you… I plead you show mercy! I do not recall ever offending you!” Eximus begged, and it was so odd to hear a proud God beg in such a manner. “I shall be unconscious for a very long time, and there is a threat beyond your reckoning that makes way for Alastaia!”

“You ask for mercy when you schemed against me in the past? If I were powerless and you had the advantage, I have no doubt you would oppress me,” Orodan said. The measure of someone’s character became apparent when they had all the power, and Eximus had failed the test of character in the long loop where he, Agathor and Ilyatana had conspired to possess Orodan. “And as for the threat that comes for us? I’ve killed it once and scoured the Eldritch from it last time. I won’t be needing your help with the Eldritch Avatar, that’s for sure.”

With a final burst of soul energy, Orodan cleansed the soul of Cruxamar Aetholion and eradicated all three Blessings of Eximus alongside any traces of the God of Time’s foul divine energy. It was only through Orodan’s will that the God of Time’s consciousness was held within Cruxamar. Otherwise, without any Blessings or divine energy to make the process easier, the God of Time couldn’t possess the man.

And now… it was time to clean the stain of divinity.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out towards the small piece of the God remaining within and began utterly scouring it.

Horrid wails of pain and desperation rang out, but Orodan cared not. Many of these Gods were a blight upon the world, and it was only right that they be cleansed from it in painful fashion that they might think twice before attempting to manipulate the mortals upon it.

Getting rid of such manipulative Gods was a part of Balastion’s dream for a better world. And while Orodan couldn’t bring his friend from that loop back, at the very least he thought the dream a worthy one and this small act was the least he could do to honor his memory.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 66 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 67]

Orodan pushed and pushed, and Eximus continued howling, however something was missing, and he felt he wouldn’t make enough progress in the time he had left. Truly scouring a God’s consciousness and mind required more than just the soul arts.

In fact, a path lay before him. His Celestial skill, it was ‘open’ in a sense, in that he instinctively felt he could add skills to it to expand its scope as long as his understanding was high enough. Perhaps this was the key to destroying the consciousness of Eximus?

Either way, his ruminations on the matter were brought to an end as the familiar Void Horror arrived, and Orodan realized that many death loops of training were in store for him before he got anywhere.

The first thirty death loops were spent honing his Time Mastery and combat skills.

There was something about forcing himself to operate under a fifteen-minute time limit that made progress fast. Orodan wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of an impending deadline, or the threat of death looming above his head, but he was akin to a student in the last minute of an examination, desperate to find an answer before the clock struck. And this forced him to become more efficient, amplifying his insights.

Of course, not everyone would have his mindset in such a scenario, but he truly did treat each loop very seriously and immediately got to working hard the instant he gained awareness in his bed. And the gains were excellent.

Warrior’s Reciprocity, All-Strike, Unassailable Fortress and Endless Blitz had all gained levels. And on the combat side of things, Unarmed Combat Mastery, Combat Mastery and Sword and Shield Mastery had also increased a level apiece. The Void Horror was strong, incredibly so. And this translated to great benefits across the board when dragging it to the moon and engaging in combat against it.

Space Mastery, Spatial Fold and Teleportation had made excellent gains through his usage of them to send innocents away or drag the foe elsewhere. His Space Mastery now sat at 56, making him a Space Adept.

And the skill he was focusing on, Time Reversal and the overarching Time Mastery? They’d made great gains. With Time Reversal now at 26 and Time Mastery at 29.

And Domain Of Perfect Cleaning was now at 69, close to crossing over into the Elite-level.

Sadly, his Action Increases had frustratingly capped at 14! He felt that the Permanent +0.1 Title Multiplier took up a decent amount of soul space, and he still wasn’t sure what it did, but he had a theory he would hopefully get the chance to test soon.

This loop, Orodan had a feeling that he might do better against the Void Horror. And to that end, he teleported directly into Eversong Plaza the instant he woke up.

“Oi! Who’re you?!” exclaimed the same near-Adept guard. “What’re you wearing a covering for? Hey, get someone with a perception skill to look at him.”

Unlike the first time, there were no more spots where his brown hair peeked out. His Disguise skill was now at level 8, and this was enough to at least allow him to cover up adequately. Of course, masking his natural size might take at least the Apprentice-level.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“The hells? I don’t know too many people that big… ain’t that…” the observer muttered, and then the man’s eyes widened. “My Eagle Sight confirms it! That’s Orodan Wainwr-”

With a sigh, he interrupted the observer. The Absolute Soul Dominion aspect of Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out and sent everyone into unconsciousness. It truly was powerful, allowing the previously range-limited Mythical soul skill to piggyback off of the increased range of his new Celestial skill. Knocking almost a hundred people in a plaza and building unconscious in a moment wasn’t something he had the finesse to easily do before.

His disguise that he’d put so much effort into was thrown aside for this loop. Thirty loops of disguise attempts and he still only got the skill to level 8. It was difficult to accept that his natural talent in the art of disguise was lacking… but he would soldier on all the same.

He entered the tavern and made way for the upper floor where the corpse of the deceased man was, and he removed all nearby individuals who might be harmed from the building’s destruction as he held the man aloft with ‘clones’ using Whirlpool Whirlwind.

And with a burst of power, he violated the sanctity of Inuan’s afterlife, overpowering any divine attempts to stop him. Time reversed, and the man was returned to life as his soul was pulled backwards across the dimensional boundary.

[Time Reversal 26 → Time Reversal 27]

[Time Mastery 29 → Time Mastery 30]

[New Title → Time Apprentice]

Immediately, the man was teleported to Karilsgard and Orodan made way for the peak of Mount Castarian where he would meet the two Avatars who came for him in battle.

“Who dares defile the sanctity of the afterlife?! If you have done something untoward with the soul, you shall an-”

Malzim’s protest of outrage was cut short as Orodan’s Flash Strike dragged the Death God’s fellow Avatar away. The Avatar of Eximus could only shriek in outrage and agony as Orodan slammed him upon the ground and began the cleaning process.

Eximus’s howls of agony began to subside as Orodan got closer and closer to scouring the taint of the God out of the host’s soul, and then… he began his experimentation on the remnant bit of Eximus’s consciousness trapped within Cruxamar’s body.

Celestial skills were powerful. Domain Of Perfect Cleaning had allowed Orodan to essentially beat the Eldritch Avatar one-on-one when it was almost two-thirds as strong. Consequently, any skill level gains in it felt incredibly strong. But, even in going from 65 to 69, no matter how much he pushed to purify the remnant of Eximus’s consciousness he had restrained, it wouldn’t completely wipe the God of Time’s mind.

Orodan decided then, that something was missing. And his next set of fifteen minutes would be spent adding a skill to Domain Of Perfect Cleaning to rectify the matter.

Unfortunately, fifteen minutes had passed, and Orodan felt the familiar outstretched hand of the Void Horror coming up from below as the earthquakes became progressively worse.

Spatial Fold shot out, and the foe was directly thrown to the moon as Orodan leapt through the fold as well to join.

As usual, upon arrival the Void Horror was perplexed and more than a bit wary of Orodan’s power.

Anti-spatiomancy items functioned on the principal of maintaining a decently sized battery of mana on one’s person. The mana itself was unusable due to being unattuned to the person’s own mana core, but it was chaotic and turbulent, both of which made attempts at direct spatial manipulation of a person more difficult. Even without anti-spatiomancy items, being skilled in manipulating their soul energy could cycle it in a turbulent manner and cause attempts at both spatiomancy and chronomancy to become difficult.

So, for the Void Horror, who possessed a prodigious amount of soul energy and also knew how to cycle it to make hostile spatiomancy more difficult? It was naturally on-edge whenever Orodan used Spatial Fold to send it to the moon despite its best efforts. It was a clear signal to it that Orodan had unfathomable amounts of energy and painted him as a threat from the get-go.

For thirty loops they’d fought, and every single time it would become paranoid and take the fight seriously from the beginning. Which left no room for tricks, attempts at feigning weakness or capitalizing on its initial directive to capture and not kill him.

Which was just fine by Orodan as a fairly fought victory would be the only kind he’d accept.

This loop however, he felt close to the tipping point where a difference would be made.

“The moon?! You fool! Now how will we return?!” it roared in rage, clearly unhappy with the prospect of being separated from its home world.

“And you’d rather we fight on Alastaia where we might destroy an entire nation with our battle?” Orodan asked as the grip on his weapons tightened. “You can just leap from here back to our world, can you not? You’re certainly strong enough for it.”

“It isn’t my intention to do battle with you,” the Void Horror said. “Forces from beyond our world come in search of you, they will arrive very soon. Let us retreat to Alastaia’s world core where the core guardian will keep you safe and ward off the intruders.”

“In other words, be swaddled like an infant while someone else fights my battles for me?” Orodan asked. “I’d rather fight them myself.”

“Can you not see?! The universe is a dangerous place full of tyrants and mad divinities who would torture us all! Just-” it cut itself off and sighed. “No matter. If you will not come with, then I shall make you.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Orodan said as a manic grin came upon his face in response. “Fight me toe-to-toe and hold nothing back. You won’t succeed in capturing me, so fight at full force.”

“Arrogant, what makes you think the strongest gate guardian of-”

Too much talking, not enough fighting. Orodan corrected that state of affairs and interrupted the Void Horror’s words with a Flash Strike, and a furious melee began.

The past thirty loops of combat against it had not only given him increases in skill levels which contributed to narrowing the gap, but it also allowed him to get a good read on its fighting style. Hells, even the Void Horror expressed some frustrated surprise at having its moves predicted before it even made them.

The first loop he’d fought it, he died within minutes. Now the time was extending with each loop as he made gains and slowly but stubbornly bettered himself through his deaths against it.

A downward swing of its arm which shattered the equivalent of a small kingdom met Orodan’s shield, and the resulting shockwave levelled a substantial part of the moon’s surface. Yet, the shield and the arm bracing it held.

[Shield Mastery 81 → Shield Mastery 82]

And as the shield lowered, a feral look of excitement upon Orodan’s face was revealed.

“Took thirty loops… but with this level gain, I can take a full-strength blow on my shield and not buckle from the blow,” Orodan said. “Thank you for your tutelage.”

It was time for the pendulum to begin swinging the other way.

His shield was the defense, and an Endless Blitz of All-Strikes was the offense. His attacks were powerful, but each one didn’t necessarily do too much damage to so powerful a foe. But what it did do, was force it to defend lest the damage begin adding up.

[Warning - You have become the target of a Quest]

[Quest Subject → Diverting Attention From Alastaia - Kill Orodan Wainwright before the arrival of the otherworldly intruders. Divert their attention away from Alastaia]

And so, it began. Either the Void Horror saw him as too great a threat to capture, or Alastaia itself did.

Except this time, Orodan didn’t die in seven minutes.

Gigantic gray hands met an unbreakable soul empowered shield multiple times, and a stinging counter-offense was delivered every time. Worst of all, the Void Horror took serious damage from its own attacks, and Orodan truly felt as though he could win if he had time.

But the sad reality was, he had none.

Fifteen minutes had passed since he started fighting the Void Horror.

The stars shifted, space bent, and something landed with incredible power upon the fallen remnant of the old world of Vylrystia.

And before the dust could clear, a voice called out, full of utter arrogance.

“Good, good!” rang out a man’s voice. It sounded ancient. “Like a piece of unpolished jade… for a Celestial talent to emerge here… the heavens must be on our side. And only at the Master-level too… is this what true genius looks like?”

As the rock dust cleared, more details became apparent.

The first thing Orodan took in… were robes. Flowing white robes with long sleeves which looked vaguely similar to the robes those in the Eastern Kingdoms wore, but markedly different. They had an ostentatious gold trim to them, and most importantly…

“System glyphs…? Who are you and why do you bear the symbols of the system upon your robes?” Orodan asked.

“Hoh? A youngster like you knows of these?” the old man asked with an amused smile. “When one becomes a humble servant of the world, this is but one of many benefits to be earned in exchange.”

A mortal that was a servant of the world? Akin to the World Guardians or Gate Guardians then?

“All servants of the world I’ve seen in our world have been non-human… and speaking of… you look like a human yourself,” Orodan remarked. “Are we common across the universe?”

“Indeed, one could say our kind is a mainstay in most major worlds,” the ancient man replied. “Of course, we can discuss the human race and the mysterious origins of humankind across the cosmos at leisure back on my world. Come, Orodan Wainwright, I am Jian Song, a Sword Transcendent cultivator of the world of Xian. Join us and rise past the heavens! Cultivation awaits and the secrets of the Dao are within your reach.”

The Dao? A Transcendent? This was what Zaessythra claimed to be, and Orodan wasn’t delusional enough to believe he could fight a Transcendent yet when the Eldritch Avatar was still a difficult battle for him.

It was just his luck, to acquire a Celestial rarity skill and become capable of besting his long-time foe, only to now have enemies beyond even the Eldritch Avatar descend upon his head.

Either way, the offer was tempting, it truly was. The thought of going to an entirely new world just to experience a new way of life, skills, opponents and methods of attaining power was tempting but…

“Unfortunately, I still have too many things to do. And many skills to master upon my own world,” Orodan said, and then a smile came upon his face. “Most importantly though, I know you have a Quest to bring me to Xian by force. And I’m interested to see just how powerful you are. This ‘Dao’ of yours… show me its power.”

The ancient man burst out laughing and a thin but double-edged sword appeared in his hands. Curiously enough, it appeared from within the man’s soul.

“Young man, you’re half a million years too early to dare challenge me. Like a frog in a well, your perspective is limited,” the man spoke. “Fine then, how about this… I like your daring so let’s make a wager; you clearly stand no chance against me if I were to truly fight, but can you receive a single sword strike from me? If you do, I’ll consider waiting till you’ve settled your affairs on this world.”

Orodan’s mad grin was answer enough. He turned back to the Void Horror to address it.

“Stand back, this contest is between him and I now,” Orodan said, not wanting it to get caught up in his wager. “I sense it… he’s stronger than almost anything I’ve ever faced.”

Stronger than even the Eldritch Avatar if Orodan was being honest. Just being near this ancient man-made Orodan’s hairs stand on end and his warrior spirit sang for battle. This was a Transcendent.

The Void Horror wasn’t stupid either. Clearly it sensed the power of this newcomer, and it wanted no conflict if possible. In failing to kill Orodan within fifteen minutes, it had already failed its Quest in spirit.

“Such a headstrong attitude! Some of the meek old fools back in my world would say you’re courting death or some such nonsense,” the man said. “But personally, I think someone like you is a breath of fresh air. Now, receive my blow, Orodan Wainwright!”

One moment Orodan was looking at the old man’s sword. And the next, the very world seemed to be drawn into the blade in a display he’d never seen from any swordsman before. The full power of his soul went towards empowering his shield, and instinctively he knew that this attack might end the loop.

It was a concentrated attack, not a wide area one which most enemies who discovered the truth of his vitality used to eradicate all bits of him. The ancient otherworlder was being sporting and allowed Orodan a chance to survive.

And it was still almost for naught.

The concentrated sword light, thin like a needle, hit his shield and although it held for a moment, his soul core which was extended out to the shield felt as though it would explode from the strain. At the last moment, the attack diverted slightly to the side, his shield was disintegrated and Orodan’s outer soul layer completely shattered from the backlash.

He held Warrior’s Reciprocity back out of respect, but Orodan had a gut feeling that this cultivator’s style of singularly powerful attacks might make him vulnerable to Orodan’s ability to return damage.

He reformed his soul quickly enough, but that was a frightening experience. Domain Of Perfect Cleaning still had Absolute Soul Dominion within it, and it could be used to empower weapons. This was done by extending his soul outwards and encompassing the shield. In essence, this made his weapons, clothing and whatever he wielded as strong as his soul.

Which was quite strong.

But if someone could hit hard enough to shatter even that? The price of such empowerment was that Orodan would take direct soul damage from his weapons being shattered if they were under the skill’s effects.

He turned to look behind him, and Orodan had to admit, the old man had gone easy on him. If the attack wasn’t diverted to the side, it would’ve cleanly punched through. And if the attack had covered a larger area? Nothing of Orodan would be left. After all…

…the moon had a clean mile wide hole going through it all the way out to the other side.

On the other hand, the old man’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“You… my treasures tell me you’re at the Master-level… how… how can your shield hold for a moment against the attack of a Transcendent?!” the otherworlder exclaimed. “This is incredible! If you’re this strong now, what will you become in the future? Forgive me, but I simply must abduct you to my world. Plenty of our Transcendents would go to war to have you be the head disciple of their sects. To jump that many levels and actually defend… ridiculous!”

“I’ll have to pass, I respect the offer but as I said I still have more work to do upon Alastaia,” Orodan replied. “Shall we continue our fight though? I know you can kill me like a fly, but that only makes this all the more exciting!”

“You… are truly mad, aren’t you?” the otherworlder asked. “No matter, I have many heavenly treasures which can capture you, let’s see how you deal with my myriad mazes of-”

The old man ceased talking as a lethal looking sword light erupted from his blade to deflect a beam of blood.

The atmosphere, which the moon lacked, somehow became tinged with a blood red aura. A large gray winged humanoid, blood red eyes and hands ending in claws, stood wearing a regal outfit. A True Vampire, and it was at least as strong as the Void Horror. And accompanying it, some kind of furry wolf which stood on two legs? It clearly looked subservient to the vampire, however.

“Master… that cultivator is far too strong…!” the wolfish beast said.

“A sword cultivator too, exceedingly dangerous but thankfully not a fire cultivator,” the vampire replied. “Aarnalf, my loyal companion, you have served me faithfully for many millennia, however I must ask one final favor of you… go distract him while I make off with the Celestial skill bearer. Your pack will be elevated to nobility and your name will be enshrined in werewolf legend.”

Orodan had never heard of werewolves before, but they seemed human enough that the one named Aarnalf looked to hesitate for a moment before speaking.

“My Lord… please tell my mate and pack that my love for them is boundless,” Aarnalf said. “And… please ensure my soul enters the promised land.”

The vampire only nodded, and Orodan had to wonder why this werewolf accepted such a subservient status.

“A vampire from Narictus sending his pet mutt against me… how pathetic,” the cultivator said. “If you last more than three blows, I’ll consider donating your corpse to the outer sect to make a welcome rug. You’re far too confident in your odds of escape even with your dog distracting me, blood-fiend.”

“Jian Song, we know of you and your prowess… but I’m not the only one after the bearer,” the vampire replied.

And two more titanic crashes rang out across the moon as more otherworlders arrived.

Eleven feet of pitch-black muscle, and eyes which were a deeper shade of red than rubies. And to top it off, six horns were protruding from its skull, and it had a crown of deadly looking fire atop its head. And while Orodan had never seen its like before, he could deduce this was the legendary hellfire wielded by the devil kings of ancient legend. Supposedly, the combined forces of Alastaia had slain all the arch-devils within the hells a long time ago… but given what he was seeing now, who knew how true the account was?

And lastly…

…an ancient machine?

Fifteen feet tall, composed of a metal Orodan felt was beyond any he’d seen on Alastaia, with strange System glyphs upon its powerful-looking frame. It was humanoid, but built like a very bulky combat golem, and had multiple melee and ranged weapons mounted upon its body.

“Directive: Capture Orodan Wainwright. Multiple threats identified. Solution: Elimination,” it intoned in a cold and emotionless voice. Was that how machines spoke? Was it like a golem?

“Feh! For the first hell to send Devil King Gutriyaz… boy, how many skills does your Celestial skill contain?” the old man asked.

“Just six at the moment, why?” Orodan asked.

“S-six?! Just six he says… this is a disaster! I must call for more,” the cultivator said as a strange talisman upon his neck activated. “Little wonder then, that the devils felt it all the way in the first hell.”

A deep laugh rang out, and even with that, the fell nature of the Devil King was apparent in a way the Divine Tower failed to replicate. Its eyes contained nothing but cruelty and the savage desire to slaughter.

“Priceless… for the vaunted Jian Song to immediately summon aid at the sight of me? I shall relish this moment for eons to come, cultivator,” the Devil King Gutriyaz spoke. “Now then, human, even halfway to my destination I could sense the sheer battle-lust within you, glowing like a beacon from your soul. You would make a fine addition to the forces of hell, why not join us? Eternal battle and glory can be yours.”

“Orodan Wainwright! Do not think to consort with devils! Their kind is among the most foul in our universe!” the old man who Orodan now knew as Jian Song warned. “With Gutriyaz’s arrival your world is doomed! Come with me and we may yet escape to Xian where the eldest ancestors will safeguard you and you may grow without fear.”

“No.”

“Foolish! Your life and the fate of your world lies in the balance! Why would you-”

“Warriors from various worlds, all here to capture me… this is truly cataclysmic event for sure,” Orodan interjected.

“Then, why not make the sensible decision?! Come with me!” Jian Song pleaded.

“Well, it’s cataclysmic, yes,” Orodan accepted, but then gripped his weapons and grinned like a madman. “But when you’ve all graciously presented yourselves to me, how could I pass up the chance to battle warriors from multiple worlds? This will be glorious!”

“Hahahah! Excellently said, Orodan Wainwright! Come! Let us sow terror and spill blood across this moon! Join me and-”

Orodan’s sword interrupted the devil.

Joining it? If anything, this Devil King Gutriyaz was the strongest being here and would be his first target.

Perhaps a time looper with some sense in their head would’ve fled. The chance of receiving permanent damage from some strange otherworldly attack was too high. And learning about his opponents piecemeal would’ve been the smarter option. Alongside perhaps slowly learning to mask whatever alarm his Celestial skill sent out across the cosmos.

Unfortunately, he was Orodan Wainwright. And whoever chose him for a time loop had made a mistake if they expected smart decisions.

Devil King Gutriyaz’s hand enveloped Orodan, and the fires of hell itself began scorching him.

[Fire Resistance 26 → Fire Resistance 31]

“Fire Resistance… and a powerful healing skill? Not bad… my flames should have burnt you to a crisp… but whatever damage you take is healed immediately,” the Devil King praised. “Such an anomaly, a being so powerful at the Master-level. What are your secrets?”

“You dare assault my charge?! You court death, Devil King!” Jian Song said as a ludicrously powerful sword beam forced Gutriyaz to drop Orodan and defend himself. “Come, jump into my-”

An Endless Blitz and All-Strikes interrupted Song Jian.

“I intend to fight everyone here, wait your turn while I face the Devil King!” Orodan yelled as he rather ineffectively lashed out towards the cultivator who was well beyond him in swordsmanship.

“…you’re genuinely insane it seems.” Song Jian said, and a strange bottle was produced from nowhere, appearing in the cultivator’s hand. “Take a nap inside the myriad mazes of Xinlan. Perhaps when you make your way out in a few years you’ll have learned to calm down.”

Orodan felt space fluctuate with incredible power around him; a vacuum effect was pulling him inwards to the pocket dimension. Unfortunately, all direct spatial manipulation needed to overcome a target’s energy pool. And despite the utterly colossal amounts of soul energy Jian Song was funnelling into his treasure, even a Transcendent, powerful as they were, couldn’t best Orodan in such a thing.

Jian Song’s face turned paler by the moment until the Sword Transcendent cultivator cut off the flow of his power.

“What in the heavens… you’re no ordinary bearer of the Celestial… what are you?” the old man asked.

A question which was interrupted as blood consumed his vision and the battlefield erupted into chaos.

“Change of plans! Carry the bearer to the wormhole Aarnalf! I’ll pressure Song Jian alongside the Devil King!” the true vampire roared.

“Yes, my Lord!” the werewolf replied, and Orodan found himself being dragged along by this furry beast who was quite strong. Close to the level of the Void Horror.

Was this the cosmic hierarchy? Where foes on the level of the Void Horror were the mere grunts assigned to do low-level work? Orodan had a ways to go before he could truly stand against them Song Jian and Devil King Gutriyaz as equals.

But the thought of the countless battles in getting there filled him with elation.

An Endless Blitz of All-Strikes forced the werewolf to drop him, and Orodan began a fierce melee against it.

“Foolish! The rulers of the eternal night can grant you anything you’ve ever wanted! Power, riches, companionship… you needn’t even embrace the blessing of blood!” the werewolf angrily exclaimed as it fought claw to sword against Orodan. “Your world faces destruction the longer this fighting goes on! Have you no responsibility to your people?!”

“Let me correct you there. You lot are responsible for swooping down and attempting to abduct me,” Orodan corrected. “I’m merely defending myself and enjoying a good fight in the process. Would you truly have sacrificed yourself if the flow of battle hadn’t changed?”

An angry snarl erupted from Aarnalf’s mouth. The werewolf was strong, but perhaps a slight bit easier to deal with than the Void Horror. For one, it wasn’t nearly as big and whatever levels it had in Physical Fitness didn’t go as far. And for another, the lack of mass meant Orodan could throw down against it toe to toe far easier.

Ten minutes of battle passed, and Orodan was almost certain he could best this werewolf in a duel. All he needed was time.

Which was when the reminder came that he didn’t have much of it.

A spinning metal drill came down and struck the werewolf, pounding it into the ground and causing mass devastation for hundreds of miles. Vision Of Purity showed the werewolf to be unmoving, and he detected no life from it.

He’d almost forgotten about the machine.

“You know, it’s rude to interrupt a one-on-one,” Orodan remarked as he faced the machine down. They were less intrusive when ancient and inert beneath a mountain. “Are you here to capture me too?”

“Unit has taken independent decision to assist being: Orodan Wainwright. Directive: friendship,” it spoke, and the fight left him for a moment. Did it really just want to be friends?

“Ah… well, sorry, but I don’t need help,” Orodan replied. “Rather, I want to relish this battle myself.”

“Request: unacceptable. Outcome: Death of Orodan Wainwright,” it intoned. “Unit will take independent decision to assist being: Orodan Wainwright.”

Orodan could only sigh. It wasn’t exactly trying to kidnap him, but at the same time he couldn’t accept its interference either. This was his fight damn it!

He didn’t have the heart to just fight something that was being friendly, so instead he simply threw himself back towards the melee that was occurring between Song Jian, the Devil King and the True Vampire that was assisting. Hopefully the machine would be drawn into the battle and not have the time to hover over him and assist in his fights. A hope that proved true when the Devil King launched vicious hellfire towards it, forcing it to project strange glowing shields from a device mounted to its back.

Song Jian was looking quite pressed. The Devil King was stronger than the cultivator to begin with, and adding a True Vampire to its side did the Sword Transcendent no favors.

Orodan’s entry and subsequent assault upon the vampire surprised it and gave the cultivator some small reprieve. As did the machine’s arrival in the battle against the Devil King.

“You are a battle-crazed lunatic, Orodan Wainwright! I see Aarnalf has failed, a shame. His death amounted to nothing in the end,” the vampire said, and Orodan couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at this bloodsucker.

“He died for you and that’s all you have to say?” he asked. Vespidia and Zaessythra had died for him, and Orodan would never speak of their honorable sacrifices in such a manner. To hear this wretch speak of a comrade’s sacrifice like that? It bothered him.

And Orodan was the type to act when something was a bother.

The battle between Song Jian, the machine and the Devil King was ignored as Orodan’s wrath was turned towards this bloodsucker.

Every empowerment skill was charged to the maximum, and all his ‘clones’ came out to put an overwhelming amount of pressure upon the foe. Yes, the vampire was strong, as strong as the Void Horror, but it was more of a spell-caster than a melee specialist. Any empowerment of its body it did via the power of blood was merely defensive, and it simply attempted to phase and shift around Orodan, keeping at a distance.

A tactic which was put to an immediate end as Space Mastery and Spatial Fold activated. Once upon a time, he needed to rely on the second Blessing of Agathor to prevent opponents from fleeing or being evasive. Now, he could do the work himself.

“Space Mastery! How many tricks do you have up your sleeve?!” the vampire shrieked as any evasive movements it made simply brought it back to its original position. Like footsteps that took you nowhere. “Wait… perhaps we can come to an understanding, Orodan Wainwright.”

An Endless Blitz of All-Strikes followed, and a spell-caster, even one as powerful as this True Vampire, stood no chance against Orodan in a melee when forced. Cataclysmic waves of blood which could destroy nations were thrown his way, but Harmony Of Vitality pulled him through the worst of it.

All the while, the vampire’s regeneration availed it naught as Orodan sliced it into ribbons, its melee abilities being rather pathetic.

It was strong, as powerful as the Void Horror. But this loop, Orodan had finally become strong enough to begin standing against it, and the battle entered a pace which favored him. No matter what horrors he faced in the cosmos, or

Finally, a double-leg takedown brought it to the ground where he was atop it. Both his hands gripped its head…

“I’ve cleaned a converted human before,” Orodan said as he smiled. “But never a True Vampire. Are you born like this? No matter. Perhaps Aarnalf will appreciate your company in the next life. Let him know you thought his death didn’t amount to much.”

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out and penetrated the True Vampire’s body and soul. It shrieked in pain and a healthy amount of fear as Orodan began scouring it clean.

The differences between it and the vampire he’d purified in the Ogdenborough Jail were immediately apparent. The blood taint was present everywhere. Each cell was suffused with it, the outer soul layer, hells even the inner soul core was full of the curse of vampirism.

It couldn’t even be called a curse when the True Vampire’s entire being was composed of it.

Yet, Orodan knew that it was the same taint that spread through the converted vampire he’d once upon a time cleansed. Even if it looked as though it belonged, even if it was part of the True Vampire’s soul core.

At the end of the day, he’d cleansed the Eldritch, and he could clean this. Cleaning was dependent on the wielder and what they considered dirty, and for Orodan…

…vampirism was filth that required cleaning.

He pushed and pushed, yet the blood taint resisted him at every step. For a being so powerful to whom vampirism was such an innate thing, it wouldn’t be easy. Hells, other people might say it impossible, after all the only reason he managed to purify the Eldritch Avatar was due to the Void Horror within assisting.

Still, he felt there simply wasn’t enough time, and that his Domain Of Perfect Cleaning would take too long to do the task.

Which was why Orodan decided to test out a hunch of his. One involving the Reward he received from the second Quest.

What was a +0.1 Title Multiplier? It made no sense when Orodan looked at it on his Status. Yet, he’d done nothing to change his titles till now, and it was time to amend that.

His ‘One Who Has Experienced Death’ title was swapped out for the ‘Celestial Adept’ title, and immediately, the difference was apparent. The power of Domain Of Perfect Cleaning was increased by a tenth.

It still wasn’t enough, but Orodan wasn’t done yet either.

‘Wielder Of A Mythical Skill’ was swapped out for ‘Bearer Of A Celestial Skill’, and another ten percent of power was added to his cleansing efforts. And finally, to cross the threshold, ‘Avatar Slayer’ was swapped for ‘Perfect Cleaning Adept’, adding another ten percent.

A thirty percent increase to the power of his skill. Enough to do what he needed.

“No! Cease! You violate my very blood and the gift I bear! Mercy! I beg of you!” the True Vampire pleaded, yet Orodan would not relent. His distaste towards how it spoke of the werewolf’s fall was still on his mind. And alongside the recent loss he’d suffered, his decision was set.

At the end of the day, the taint of vampirism had to come from somewhere. It had to be based off of something. It was a parasite in nature, infecting a being and making them thirst for the blood of sapient life.

His Vision Of Purity could see even the smallest living beings which dwelled within a human’s gut, assisting in the digestion of food. But these were not filth, nor were they undesirable. Rather they aided the body. However, throughout the years, humans must have undoubtedly added or lost certain species of such gut-dwelling microscopic beings. Hells, people from the Eastern Kingdoms had different gut bacteria than those in the Republic, and one’s diet, age and climate could affect such things. A scholar’s work once suggested that moving to a different nation and adopting their diet could change the species that dwelled within.

In other words, gut bacteria were an integral part of the human body, but the species could and did change. At core, what really mattered, was the human.

Similarly, the curse of vampirism was one such thing. No matter how important it was to the True Vampire, at core, what really mattered was the being underneath. Parasitic curses which granted power would come and go, but as long as the being within persevered, that was what mattered.

And Domain Of Perfect Cleaning could do a pretty good job of cleaning things while ensuring the health of recipients.

The skill shot out, and with the thirty percent increase, Orodan felt he had enough power and control to do the job. The vampiric taint was purged entirely from each and every cell within its body, and even the soul core was delved and purified.

At base, what was a True Vampire?

Orodan wasn’t sure, but the completely undamaged human lying before him might be an answer. Although, the former True Vampire looked incredibly gaunt and almost sickly compared to its previous physique. It, or he, would require training.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 69 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 70]

[New Title → Perfect Cleaning Elite]

[New Title → Celestial Elite]

The Title Multiplier wasn’t bad. It wouldn’t be as strong for anyone else. But Orodan had a Celestial skill which incorporated three of the things he had titles for, Cleaning, which somehow hadn’t lost its title. Perfect Cleaning, and Celestial skills themselves. Altogether, the increase was roughly forty percent overall. Something Orodan hadn’t noticed when he merely had the Cleaning Elite title equipped, chalking it up to his natural talent and not having a clear metric of measurement.

Essentially, Domain Of Perfect Cleaning, the Cleaning part in particular, would be forty percent stronger at all times no matter what level he reached. And this was an excellent stalemate-breaker as he’d always be a certain percentage stronger than anyone even if they had the same skill level as him.

The increase in skill level made him feel strong, and Orodan thought of doing the same thing to the Devil King and perhaps purging its fell soul and body of whatever made it evil. Of course, the entire battlefield had gone silent at the feat he performed, and the Devil King’s eyes were trembling with rage, and a shocking trace of fear.

The last thing Orodan saw was another cultivator nearing the moon, and the full power of Devil King Gutriyaz unleashed in the form of a beam of pure energy which would doubtlessly destroy the entire moon. It was a Transcendent as well, and it clearly didn’t like the fact that Orodan could purify a True Vampire.

Jian Song and his machine friend immediately got out of the way, and it was too late for Orodan to dodge.

Was the feat of purifying a True Vampire such an impossibility? Why did the Devil King look so scared?

Perhaps it would be a good test subject for the next loop.

And given how shocked these otherworlders were at the revelation that he had six skills contained within his Celestial one… perhaps it was time to add some more to it.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him, and Orodan immediately shot a Domain Of Perfect Cleaning out as far as he could.

The Quest and Quest Subject messages flashed past him, but he habitually ignored them by now.

He performed a mass teleportation of people out of his neighborhood, and then focused on his first destination in this loop.

The abyssal depths.

Space utterly tore apart, and the surrounding two blocks were destroyed with how much soul energy he poured into his spatiomancy. Good thing he evacuated people.

Ordinarily, teleporting directly into the abyssal depths was impossible. There was simply too much world energy, and its abundance only increased as one went deeper. The very rock was also infused with it, making teleportation, divination and most forms of detection and communication impossible due to the sheer amount of interference.

Getting anything through such interference could only be done through pre-deployed chains of relays…

…or if one had raw power enough to make Gods feel inadequate.

[Teleportation 27 → Teleportation 31]

[Space Mastery 56 → Space Mastery 57]

A blink of blue, and Orodan found himself in front of the familiar first gate. Before him, it was sealed, and everything suddenly lit up red but calmed down immediately after as though it was a warning for the gate guardian, that a being had entered the abyssal depths.

Before him, was a familiar Fallen Void Archon.

“Hey, where’s the centipede,” Orodan asked. “Which section does she guard?”

Yes, his goal this loop, and in the loops moving forward, was to find the strongest Psionic Grandmaster he knew, and bully it into teaching him the mind arts.

All within fifteen minutes of course.

To its credit, the Fallen Void Archon took the question in stride by not answering at all. Instead, its six arms lit up with various soul energy empowered elemental spells. It was hellbent on eradicating him.

Naturally, the Orodan of now wasn’t the same Orodan who’d ventured into the abyssal depths back then. For one, he was dramatically stronger. And a quadruple-Grandmaster gate guardian, while strong, wasn’t enough to challenge him when he could feasibly survive and fight an extended battle against the Void Horror now.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out, and the All-Consuming Rage portion hungrily devoured its vitality at a rapid pace till it fell to its knees in weakness.

“Look, I’m not trying to cross the first gate. In fact, that overzealous Void Horror will be coming through any moment to try and capture me,” Orodan replied. “Just tell me where that Psionic Centipede is. I need to acquire Psionic Mastery.”

“You’re the Quest Subject?” it asked, incredulity in its tone. And then simply pointed. “…Siyendara guards the gate ten miles in that direction.”

“Oh… that was easy,” Orodan said. “Why are you being so honest?”

“My directive is to defend this gate, mortal. You have already bested me and could pass if you so choose,” it replied. “Besides… that centipede and I do not see eye to eye.”

A rivalry between gate guardians then.

Orodan thanked the Fallen Void Archon and quickly chained teleports to reach the section of the first gate where a giant centipede was resting. Upon his arrival it shot up and immediately hissed.

“Mortal! Begone lest I smite you with fire and agony beyond any you’ve ever known!” it shrieked.

“Excellent! Just what I need!” Orodan declared. “Teach me the arts of the mind.”

“…what gibberish do you spout?! Leave this place immediately,” it demanded as it sent flames towards him. Flames which were summarily ignored due to Fire Resistance.

“Apologies, but I need training,” Orodan said as he grabbed its two front mandibles and began dragging it along, ignoring its fire attacks. A teleportation took them to the surface, specifically to the wilderness of Novarria’s forests where no civilians were nearby.

“Where have you brought me?!” it shrieked in fear. “Return me this instant!”

“Only if you defeat me,” Orodan stated, and then prepared to deliver the biggest pile of hogwash he’d said in a while. “And have I mentioned, I’m really vulnerable to mental assaults? I’ll fold like paper if hit by them.”

While Orodan preferred to think it worked, the lack of any skill level increase in Deception meant it likely hadn’t. Still, the Psionic Centipede obliged and sent a true deluge of psionic assaults towards him. And Orodan’s mastery of the soul was good enough to withdraw it from his mind entirely, something Domain Of Perfect Cleaning would normally cover. His Psionic Resistance would only hamper him, but this was as good as he could get it.

This then, would be his new method of training in each loop before the Void Horror’s arrival.

To spend fifteen minutes receiving Psionic assaults from the strongest Psionic he had easy access to.

The Grandmaster Psionics of various nations weren’t as good as a gate guardian from the abyssal depths whose species was naturally pre-disposed towards the mind arts. And while the elven God Athandelu was an option, Orodan had Divine Resistance, and an Avatar would burn out long before it left any mental damage on him.

Fifteen minutes of mental assault passed until the Void Horror arrived and then the typical shenanigans ensued.

Orodan survived its lethal assault once it realized capturing him was impossible, and then they fought for fifteen minutes till the otherworlders began arriving. And Orodan learned some interesting things in this loop.

For starters, the machine was named W78. It had no name, but a designation, and it was quite friendly. For another, it was quite strong, as this loop it was the Void Horror who attempted to strike a stealthy blow and assassinate Orodan while he was fighting Aarnulf the werewolf. W78 hadn’t taken kindly to that and hit the Void Horror hard enough to send it into the moon’s destroyed world core.

And finally, his plan of purifying the Devil King wasn’t a bad idea. However, theory and execution were two different things, and the Devil King Gutriyaz wasn’t stupid. The instant Orodan revealed his ability to purify beings of taint, the Devil King instantly unleashed his full power and completely destroyed Orodan along with the entire moon.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him. He ignored the Quest messages and summoned his Status.

Name: Orodan Wainwright

Age: 17

Title 1: Perfect Cleaning Elite

Title 2: Celestial Elite

Title 3: Bearer Of A Celestial Skill

Title 4: Cleaning Elite

Available Titles:

Bearer Of A Celestial Skill

World Gate Delver

Avatar Slayer

Wielder Of A Mythical Skill

One Who Has Experienced Death

Grandmaster Slayer

Combat Elite

Sword Elite

Shield Elite

Physical Elite

Unarmed Combat Elite

Cleaning Elite

Wrestling Elite

Soul Elite

Perfect Cleaning Elite

Celestial Elite

Woodworking Adept

Alchemy Adept

Space Adept

Fire Magic Apprentice

Enchanting Apprentice

Teaching Apprentice

Laboring Apprentice

Blacksmithing Apprentice

Pathfinding Apprentice

Gathering Apprentice

Time Apprentice

Rewards:

Permanent +14 Action Increase

Permanent +0.1 Title Multiplier

Skills:

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 70 (Elite - Celestial)

Eternal Soul Reactor 92 (Master - Mythical)

Warrior’s Reciprocity 77 (Elite - Mythical)

Eldritch Resistance 54 (Adept - Mythical)

Incorruptible Being 50 (Adept -Mythical)

Divine Resistance 17 (Initiate - Mythical)

Harmony of Vitality 89 (Elite - Legendary)

All-Strike 85 (Elite - Legendary)

Unassailable Fortress 83 (Elite - Legendary)

Bulwark Physical Resistance 81 (Elite - Legendary)

Endless Blitz 78 (Elite - Legendary)

Mana Resistance 62 (Adept - Legendary)

Vision of Purity 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Body Tempering 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Wood Communion 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Draconic Fireball 44 (Apprentice - Legendary)

Fate Disconnect 43 (Apprentice - Legendary)

Time Reversal 27 (Initiate - Legendary)

Iron Body 80 (Elite - Exquisite)

Psionic Resistance 76 (Elite - Exquisite)

Flash Strike 66 (Adept - Exquisite)

Draconic Mana Channelling 54 (Adept - Exquisite)

Vitality Destruction 41 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Fire Resistance 31 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Time Mastery 30 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Lightning Resistance 18 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Dimensionalism 8 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Curse Resistance 4 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Water Resistance 4 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Wind Resistance 3 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Ice Resistance 3 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Soul Mastery 71 (Elite - Rare)

Space Mastery 57 (Adept - Rare)

War Cry 35 (Apprentice - Rare)

Teleportation 31 (Apprentice - Rare)

Gourmand 13 (Initiate - Rare)

Shield Throw 69 (Adept - Uncommon)

Spatial Fold 62 (Adept - Uncommon)

Power Strike 61 (Adept - Uncommon)

Mana Manipulation 58 (Adept - Uncommon)

Fate Reading 31 (Apprentice - Uncommon)

Pain Resistance 90 (Master)

Unarmed Combat Mastery 88 (Elite)

Physical Fitness 86 (Elite)

Combat Mastery 86 (Elite)

Sword Mastery 84 (Elite)

Wrestling 80 (Elite)

Shield Mastery 82 (Elite)

Woodworking 67 (Adept)

Alchemy 64 (Adept)

Tool Mastery 63 (Adept)

Enchanting 59 (Adept)

Surprise Attack 45 (Apprentice)

Flare 52 (Adept)

Blacksmithing 49 (Apprentice)

Jewelcrafting 48 (Apprentice)

Pathfinding 43 (Apprentice)

Teaching 41 (Apprentice)

Sprinting 39 (Apprentice)

Laboring 34 (Apprentice)

Maintenance 34 (Apprentice)

Fire Magic Mastery 34 (Apprentice)

Gathering 32 (Apprentice)

Construction 28 (Initiate)

Basic Healing 25 (Initiate)

Repair 22 (Initiate)

Cooking 22 (Initiate)

Magical Rituals 18 (Initiate)

Mining 17 (Initiate)

Intimidation 16 (Initiate)

Club Mastery 15 (Initiate)

Lumberjacking 11 (Initiate)

Parkour 11 (Initiate)

Observe 11 (Initiate)

Disguise 8 (Initiate)

Thievery 6 (Initiate)

Identify 5 (Initiate)

Deception 4 (Initiate)

Otherworlders and Alastaia aside, his Status would make even Gods treat him with respect and more than a bit of awe. He had come very far, and his combat power had grown by leaps and bounds. Yet there was always room for improvement, and Orodan wasn’t the type to ever remain satisfied with his progress.

He realized he had a lot of work to do.

Learning the mind arts and adding a related skill to the Domain Of Perfect Cleaning. Besting the Void Horror and perhaps reaching the world core for answers. Continually honing his new powers of chronomancy and getting strong enough to best these otherworlders who came for him. And perhaps finding a way to stop drawing so much attention with his Celestial skill.

It would take many loops…

…it would take a lot of fifteen minutes.