The Apocalypse Grinder (LitRPG Apocalypse, Timeloop)

Ronan panted for breath, clutching a bloodstained spear in one hand and a broken sword in the other. He was covered in blood, guts, and gore from all manner of aliens, as well as plenty of his own. His last level-up had been around six minutes ago and he was feeling the damage from the last battle.

A weird orc-like creature had gored him in the lung with one of its tusks before slamming him into the hard metal floor. He'd killed it in the end, but he doubted he would win against the next challenger.

There was a seemingly endless stream of prisoners, with a huge crowd gathered to watch the blood-soaked frenzy. A few of the most desperate were crouched down on all fours, eating the remains of the dead. It made him sick, but he didn't want to focus on it.

Two more aliens rushed at him, screaming something unintelligible and brandishing makeshift weapons. Preparing himself, Ronan dropped the sword and conjured a fresh one while tossing the spear at one of them.

The alien dodged it and moved faster than he could track. Before he could react it had slammed into him and started stabbing him. He fought back like a wild animal, but the other alien arrived and joined in the brutal assault, attacking with a mix of its weapon and some kind of weird stinger.

Half of his leg went numb followed by his arm. Ronan heard a chime as the first alien died. He was surprised it had survived as long as it had. However, his vision was going blurry from whatever poison the stinger of the second had and he struggled to lift his right arm. A last-ditch attack with his left failed to connect, and the last thing he heard was the rumbling of the stampede as all the prisoners who had been holding back until that moment rushed in to feed.

Unprecedented modifications detected…

Analysing…

Unable to determine harm-benefit of modifications. Deferring to inheritor

Physical body has mutated, resulting in the following:

Physical damage reduction +28%, Toxicant resistance +52%, Exsanguination resistance +7%

Keep mutations?

This was always an easy choice. It was the weird interaction of the skill with his heritage. Ronan assumed that for someone who couldn't die and come back to life, learn through suffering would simply gradually improve their resistances as they overcame various challenges in life. For him, however, it was something far more potent.

Iteration 50 analysis:

Highest level achieved: 149

Highest class achieved: Dao Child (Mythical)

Highest fortune achieved: 32 Iron Credits, 120 Bronze Credits, 986 Copper Credits

Stats gained: 21257

Cultivation stages achieved: Mind (Agate ★★★★★★), Body (Copper ★★★★★★), Energy (Pulsing ★★★★★★), Soul (Orange ★★★★★) [+19]

Inventory value accumulated: 18 Iron Credits, 572 Bronze Credits, 385 Copper Credits

Chrono Enhancement Updates:

Experience gain multiplier has increased from 1000% to 1490%

Credit gain multiplier has increased from 386.5% to 32,120.9%

Achieving a total accumulated inventory value of 1 Iron Credit has rewarded you with 1 Chronos merit

Achieving a total accumulated inventory value of 3 Iron Credits has rewarded you with 1 Chronos merit

Achieving a total accumulated inventory value of 10 Iron Credits has rewarded you with 1 Chronos merit

Experience gain multiplier has increased from 27.313 to 48.570

Raising all cultivation paths to ★★(1st) has rewarded you with 2 Chronos merits

Raising all cultivation paths to ★★★(1st) has rewarded you with 2 Chronos merits

Raising all cultivation paths to ★★★★(1st) has rewarded you with 2 Chronos merits

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Raising all cultivation paths to ★★★★★(1st) has rewarded you with 2 Chronos merits

Cultivation talent multiplier has increased from 3.8 to 7.6

Cultivation progress has been reset, maximum stages reached have been locked

Mastery progress has been reset, maximum tiers reached have been locked

Class has been reset, class skills purged from status

Levels have been reset, maximum race grade reached has been locked

Chronos merits have been acquired! All four paths of cultivation have reached at least the first realm! Inheritor possesses 35+ skills or traits! Inheritor has pushed one or more multipliers beyond the first concentration point! Access to chronos clan ancestral grounds granted at the second threshold

Ronan had barely gotten over the fact that his next run was going to be utterly absurd, given how much all of his multipliers had increased, when he heard a loud whining sound. Beyond the golden-rimmed message that held his analysis, he saw a pool of purple liquid appear in the white void, to the right of the Temporal Obelisk. It started to ooze outwards, growing larger and filling more space.

Once it reached about ten metres in diameter, bricks of an obsidian material that looked startlingly similar to the Temporal Obelisk itself appeared around its circumference, creating an eerie pond. Ronan immediately started making his way towards it to find out what it was.

He had only made it halfway towards the pond when the obelisk also started to make a grinding noise. As he walked past, the obelisk began to grow, the base becoming wider and the peak of the monolith reaching… Not higher, because there was no distance here, but further away from the base.

For the time being he ignored the growth of the Temporal Obelisk. He expected it would come with more enhancement options. He certainly had the merits to spend, but first he intended to unlock a second sub-class.

He reached the edge of the strange pond. Looking into the completely flat surface, he found there was no reflection. Not that he would have seen his face, given that he was basically just a disembodied entity in this place, but still, it was odd. What was that saying again? If you stare into the abyss for too long, eventually it stares back? He stared for a few seconds longer before getting bored. Fuck it.

He moved forwards, disturbing the calm surface of the obsidian liquid. As soon as he did, he felt a strange sensation running through him. It didn't feel invasive, just odd. Tingly. Then a gold-rimmed message appeared.

You have connected with the [Shrine of Chronos] for the third time!

You have been inflicted with [Minor Blessing of the Dark Sea] by [Shrine of Chronos]!

Minor Blessing of the Dark Sea (Unique): Endless, and yet without an origin. Eternal, and yet beyond time. Infinite, and yet beyond space. The Dark Sea is heralded as the birthplace of the Chronos Clan's Founding Matriarch. For those who descend from her lineage, being baptised in its depths can raise their power to untold heights. The first concentration you undergo will be 1.1x more potent.

Concentration? What the fuck is that? Ronan was quite perplexed about the function of the new addition to the clan's ancestral grounds. And a 1.1x multiplier seems really underwhelming compared to the last two blessings I got from the shrine. Are you getting stingy on me, heritage?

Rather than wrap himself into mental knots, he simply dismissed the message and moved onto the next box to appear, which contained the actual function of the dark sea. Not a bloody sea, either. You're a large pond at best.

[Dark Sea]

Upon reaching certain milestones in your progression, chosen son of Chronos, you may enter the depths of the Dark Sea to be baptised, and have your heritage concentrated. This process will reset all of your multipliers back to their base values, but will come with a plethora of benefits that grow stronger the greater your concentration is.

Concentration Tier: 0

Progress to next Tier: 0/0.01

Eligible for Baptism: Yes

Baptising now will grant the following:

All multipliers reset to base values

+0.01 Chronos Concentration

Ronan had to think about this one. It seemed like it wouldn't actually help him that much. Sure, he could reach the next tier if he did the concentration now, but what would that actually reward him with? Would it be better than the absurd multipliers he had right now?

As things stood, iteration 51 was going to see him earning one hundred times the credits, three times the experience, and the ability to cultivate twice as fast as he had in iteration 50. He really doubted that the immediate benefits of the concentration would match that, even if the long-term benefits would once he accrued his multipliers again.

Not to mention, it seemed like a waste of the blessing to do it with just a plus zero-point-zero-one. If his inference was correct, the only multiplier that had passed some kind of threshold would be his credit gain multiplier, and possibly his experience multiplier from levels, too. Although the concentration gain seemed like it was from just one multiplier, not two, so his money was on the credits.

I'll leave it for one more iteration and see what changes. With more data I should be able to make a more informed decision. Ronan had always followed the numbers and he didn't think that should change now. Besides, with how many fucking credits I'm going to be raking in during the next iteration, I'll be able to make a ridiculous amount of progress. I think it might be time to take on the nightmare tutorial.

Whatever the case, he wasn't going to do it right now. Ronan moved backwards, out of the Dark Sea, and the window closed as he did. He turned towards the Temporal Obelisk, hoping it had something more compelling.

Even if there were some cool new enhancement options, however, he was definitely going to be getting that second sub-class before anything else. It was well past time he locked dao child in and moved towards something new.