Player 0.4 [You have died.] [Reset in progress.]

~Master, that's enough.

Apophis hissed lazily from my left shoulder. His scales cool against my sweat-covered skin, a pleasant contrast to the heat beating down from the afternoon sun.

~If you collapse here, you'll be nothing but fertilizer for these twisted cherry trees.

I could only gasp in reply, bent over with my hands braced on my knees. Sweat dripped off my nose and forehead and spattered against the dry earth below. My body still tingled faintly from the sheer amount of uninterrupted Chaos channeling.

Damn it.

I hadn't moved more than a few paces during my whole training, yet it felt as though I'd sprinted up a mountain under a desert sun. My chest rose and fell in ragged pulls as I unscrewed a steel canister, the faint metallic tang mingling with the taste of the mana potion-laced water. I felt instantly rejuvenated as the liquid filled my parched tongue and ran down my throat before settling into my stomach and replenishing my minuscule mana core.

"Concentrating on both Chaos and Illusion magic is no joke," I muttered, having my thirst and mana core quenched.

Around me, the orchard was still a ruin of warped cherry trees, their branches clawing at the air. But the ones closest to me in the clearing were no longer dyed in the poisonous black dye of the infection. I had wrung the dead mana from them until they were pale, brittle, and fruitless, but at least no longer corrupted.

And in the center of this clearing stood the door; my portal to other places, though I only peered in, not venturing into any of the views, else I might find myself trapped there. I'd spent the majority of the day flipping through view after view, pulling up the locations that Apophis demanded I summon as part of my training. However, after the incident with the giant eye, apart from the use of Chaos to flip through the doorways, I also implemented an illusion in front of the door that prevented the other side from seeing me.

~Once you're more adept, Apophis hissed, you'll turn pages in that book of doors so quickly it will look like nothing at all to the other side. A mere flicker. Like mistaking a coat on a hook for a man. There will be no need for illusions.

"That's good to know," I replied, wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist and forcing my posture straight.

My shoulders and legs ached from so much standing, and my fingers cramped, but I flexed them anyway, coaxing out a final thread of Chaos to erase any lingering traces of what I had done here. Apophis liked things left neat, and I agreed with the need for precaution.

~Still, your endurance is improving.

His voice slid through my mind, impossible to tell whether it carried praise or mockery. Probably both.

Either way, he was right. Given the use of my limited Player permissions, I had given up my ability to check my stats in favor of access to the Game Store. However, I could feel the improvement nonetheless.

"It's well past lunch," I said, rolling my sore shoulders as I started toward the edge of the clearing. "The food will be cold by now."

True to form—ever the perfect attendant, even if a spy for another house—Remlend had already laid out my meal and drawn a bath back at the cottage.

After sating my hunger, I lowered myself into the steaming water. The temperature was perfect, a soothing heat against my skin.

Unlike sword training, training in Chaos didn't leave my muscles aching, aside from the aches of standing in place in concentration. More than anything, it hollowed me out, mind heavy and skin prickling with a faint buzz that felt deeper than flesh.

I rubbed absently at my right wrist, trying to massage away the sensation. But the hum came from further in, deeper than my fingers could reach.

~Your meridians are adjusting, opening themselves to Chaos, Apophis hissed, coiling comfortably atop the small table beside me.

[[ Will I have to go through this on every loop? ]]

I plunged my hand beneath the foamy surface.

~No. It is all mental, Apophis replied. Rather than the body, the aches you feel are at the level of your soul. Chaos flows through those currents of your soul and meridians, not your physical veins. That is why Chaos can be such a dangerous form of magic.

I frowned, ducking my head backwards, soaking my scalp, and cleaning it of sweat.

[[ What exactly is the soul? Where is it? ]]

I'd heard the explanation on how dangerous Chaos magic was, but I couldn't grasp the significance of something that I could not even see.

I had some understanding of what a body without a soul looked like. I'd fought plenty of soulless husks on the battlefield—Kobar's undead monstrosities—but what they lacked, I couldn't really define.

Apophis exhaled a long, serpentine sigh.

~The soul is here, and nowhere. It binds you to the living world, yet moves freely between realms. When you die, the soul moves on to the next life in another realm. It is the thread that Chaos slides across.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I lifted my left hand out of the water, droplets slipping down my fingers. The dull cracked metal ring gleamed on my middle finger: the Ring of Fractures. It was the Chaos artifact that I had found as a child and had engraved my initials into.

[[ And this ring connects to my soul? ]]

~Indeed. That is why apart from the stability of one's mind, the quality of the Chaos artifact matters so much. A poor vessel poisons what flows through it, the way drinking water through rusted iron would poison your body.

I traced the faint engraving—LF—carved into its band when I was a child.

~Master, perhaps you have enlightened me on this in another loop, but how did you carve your initials into the ring?

I smiled. Apophis' voice held little hint to it now, but having seen his reaction and disbelief to my having carved my initials into the ring in the previous loop, I knew he was quite curious about my answer.

[[ How did I…? ]]

I narrowed my eyes to recall the hazy memory.

While a part of me enjoyed elongating the suspense, in reality, I didn't remember, no matter how much I pressed for the memory.

I glanced at his expectant purple eyes.

I sighed, closing my eyes.

[[ No clue. ]]

It was the truth.

[[ I'd love to know myself. ]]

However, if the ring was taken away, perhaps there's some clues my family also holds as to how I managed to personalize the ring, given how unusual that was.

I should ask Grandma on the next loop—Ah.

My chest tightened.

She had already passed in this one. Sooner than she ought to have, and I had not even been present at her funeral.

I opened my eyes and turned my gaze out the second-floor window, whose view was of the blue afternoon sky and the dark forest beyond, which saw no end to its darkness.

But, as the great matriarch herself taught me over chess: to win, sacrifice was needed.

No, rather, it was a requirement.

And I had chosen my sacrifice. The present, traded away for the future.

I inadvertently smirked at a irony.

But was I truly? Trading away the present?

With the memory wipes to keep my Sanity intact, after a certain point, I doubted I'd be able to recall all the sacrifices made over the loops I endured.

Perhaps it wasn't the present I was sacrificing, but the past.

I closed my eyes again and allowed myself to sink deeper into the water, with just my face above the surface.

I do hope the others are faring well.

I smiled faintly, picturing Elda's delight at all the explosive inventions. And having seen the weapons and artifacts in the Game Store, we were only scratching the surface of the explosive leaps in technology that were possible.

The sun peeked in through the window, beginning to set lower in the sky.

~Master, we should get going, Apophis hissed.

I rose from the tub, water streaming off me, and wrapped myself in a towel. My hair clung in dark, damp strands to my forehead until I rubbed it dry.

[[ Yes, it's time we pay a visit to Rana Sol. ]]

However, I lingered longer than usual over my preparations. I even took off the Pull Tab necklace that kept me hidden and asked Remlend to make me presentable; I didn't quite trust myself to do so on my own, and my first impression mattered too much.

I didn't toss aside my caution, however. I cast an illusion over the room—a thin shimmer across the air, concealing us from any prying eyes. Perhaps it was excessive, but the thought of the Kobar side or other unexpected enemies catching wind of what I was truly doing left no room for error.

My gaze slipped to the chess set laid out nearby. I had been practicing with it between training sessions, a quiet ritual in honor of my grandmother. There was no better tribute to her than sharpening myself for the next match with her, in the next loop.

If I had to assign myself a piece, it would have been the King. A significant piece. But weak on its own, and if taken, even in a single round by the opposing side, the Game could collapse into failure.

But the same could be said for the other side.

My eyes lingered on the opposing black King.

There's a reason they've been so cautious that no Player has been able to identify them. In a way, their stakes were far higher. If they lost even once, the Game would end. There was no restart.

"Hold still, young master," Remlend murmured, working the clay through my hair and shaping it into a voluminous, matte style, as if it defied gravity while still appearing natural. He tied the pale bow at my collar, then tugged the cuffs into place, the golden links catching the light of the setting sun.

The white silk shirt and delicate accessories were not meant to dazzle, only to convey that I held a position of comfort and power. The outfit was soft and delicate, intended to defuse any alarms. Especially given the manner in which I planned to visit Rana.

"Have you prepared it?" I asked, still watching my reflection in the mirror.

"Of course, young master Luca," Remlend said, retrieving a wicker basket and a folded black umbrella from beside the door.

"Good," I said, turning in front of the mirror, to inspect myself for the final time.

The first impression was critical. In particular, with a fellow Awakened. I'd been lucky with my first three Awakened, but I needed a strategy from now on.

"Young master, was I expected to prepare a carriage?" Remlend asked cautiously.

"No. I'll be going for my usual stroll," I replied, tucking the basket against my arm and the umbrella in my hand.

"Understood. I hope you have a good time," he said with a slight bow.

I looped the Pull Tab necklace back around my neck, then stepped out into the late afternoon light. The umbrella rested over my shoulder, shielding me from the lingering heat. It was a necessary accessory to avoid arriving at Rana Sol's location as a sweaty mess, given how long obtaining the right view in the doorway had taken during my training sessions.

~Master, is the basket essential? Apophis hissed, curling tighter around my left shoulder.

[[ Yes. I'm going to be barging uninvited into the tower. The least I can do is prepare a small token of my goodwill. ]]

Having arrived at the familiar clearing, I set the basket down at my feet and summoned a door from the Game Store. The frame appeared out of nothingness for the cost of a single Nexus coin. It wasn't the same door I had practiced with, as there was a restriction on placing objects into the Game Store and the time to pull them back out.

I propped it open and focused on channeling Chaos into the opposite side, and sifted through countless scenes until—

Ah, there it is.

A familiar interior flickered into place. A cramped closet of the magic tower, its shelves sagging with dust-caked boxes and forgotten peculiar instruments. Luckily, I had been here once before with Jasper in a previous loop and had explored all of the rooms with him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have recognized it.

And luckily, that memory had not been wiped away.

[[ Apophis, take the necklace. ]]

I slipped it off my neck and wound the chain carefully around his torso, letting the pendant rest against his scaled body.

[[ If Rana despises you half as much as her father does, best she not see you. ]]

~Master, your family is hardly on better terms with him.

I smiled faintly at that.

True. I was taking a gamble. But if I wished to beat this damned Game, I needed more allies who could remember the loops. And from the looks of it, Rana was also attacked by Kobar's undead, so at the very least we had a common enemy.

Drawing in a slow breath, I picked up the basket, straightened my back, and stepped through the doorway.

[[ System, upon seeing Rana Sol, run a Character Check on her. ]]