The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop

Chapter 34: Forcing A Ceasefire & Defying Gods

Like that, thirty loops had passed.

It was the equivalent of twenty days of continuous work. His skills had grown in some ways, and he understandably faced bottlenecks in others.

Eternal Soul Reactor and Soul Manipulation remained stuck at level 89. Allowing the outer layer of his soul to be completely destroyed and then reforming it was decent training, but it took more than that to cross the difficult gap leading to the Master level. He would need to make an insightful breakthrough at such a high level rather than simply brute force the matter. Soul Defense would’ve increased if he bothered to defend against the soul attacks, but as it stood, he got more benefit from allowing the attack to hit him undefended.

Soul Strengthening however had increased from 38 to 42 as his soul was repeatedly damaged and healed stronger. He had acquired one more action increase from the first Quest as a result, bringing his total ‘clones’ to seven.

Harmony of Vitality however, was at level 83 from all the ludicrous damage he’d desperately been trying to heal from. Slowly but surely, Orodan was gaining extra time with each loop against the combined attack from the two Avatars. He couldn’t survive it. But he could draw his death out to two whole seconds now.

These two seconds were priceless as they gave Orodan more time to experiment and focus on finding insights into what divine energy was.

His combat skills hadn’t really increased otherwise, as his ‘fights’ against the Avatars consisted of him being bombarded by divine beams while he was suppressed. It was more a display of his masochism than a fight. That being said, some skills like Dying Struggle and Death Rage had gained a level each over the number of deaths. And most importantly, Warrior’s Reciprocity loved the training he put it through by assaulting Gods directly through their Avatars. It gained four levels from 64 to 68.

Incorruptible Being had increased from 47 to 50. The constant attempts at possession from the Gods were good for something, even if they didn’t strain him overly much by this point. Fate Disconnect had also levelled twice and was at 42 from him churning Eternal Soul Reactor hard and attempting to maintain the fate shield’s integrity as the power coursed through him.

Skills tempered through fighting aside, the biggest gain was in his skills trained through his daily routine upon waking up.

Woodworking, Tool Mastery, Laboring, Maintenance and Construction had all gained levels, although Orodan was approaching the limit of what he could squeeze out of working on a single warehouse over and over. Skill levels weren’t simply increased through brute force repetition, but also through varied experience. And his increasing familiarity with building the warehouse at 4 Ale Road was beginning to get in the way of his skill level gains.

His Cleaning skills however, had made a huge leap over thirty loops.

Cleaning went from 62 to 71. He was now a Cleaning Elite! Something the people of his old life would endlessly make fun of him for no doubt. Orodan could now, if he wanted, apply for a position as a cleaner for the Palace of Karilsgard. The head maids and butlers on staff were rumored Cleaning Elites as well.

Whirlpool Whirlwind had increased from 42 to 53 due to his unique and Cleaning-adjacent usage of it. Casting it with one hand instead of the full body motion meant that he needed to have a deep understanding of its mechanics. Whether it was his natural talent at martial skills, or the Blessing of Agathor, this wasn’t a problem for Orodan. Thus, skill level gains for it were fast.

Vision of Purity had made the biggest gains however. Orodan felt a natural proclivity towards Cleaning, and this extended to his desire to see all the impurities within something removed. He now had Vision of Purity on at all times, and the deeper he looked, the faster the skill level gains came. The Legendary rarity skill went from 1 to 41.

At its new level, Orodan could detect all the impurities in something for a radius of two miles. The skill had subtle nuances and abilities that weren’t apparent to him until he trained with it extensively.

Firstly, extending his detection underground was difficult, as the ground was chock full of impurities. However, as he gained skill levels he realized that instead of his initial attempts to furiously account for each and every little thing in his mind, something which caused massive mental strain. He could instead detect underground through smarter mental organization. The ground’s impurities were mostly similar throughout it, so all Orodan had to do to save mental processing power was organize his detection to view things as a pattern farther out instead of with incredible focus upon each and every particle of dirt.

Orodan discarded this cheap trick as the method of a weakling. A true warrior would never balk at hard work and would never rest. Thus, Orodan was now under tremendous mental pressure at all times as he accounted for each and every particle of impurity within two miles. He walked around with blood often leaking from his eyes, nose and ears due to the sheer strain. But his willpower could bear it, and he refused to allow his focus to falter. He suspected that the skill wasn’t ordinarily honed like this, but it was good training. And the skill levels came dramatically faster as a result.

The gains made over thirty loops had been excellent. And this loop, he might even gain some more as he was visiting someplace he hadn’t been in a very long time. The town of Scarmorrow where he went through his first set of death loops against the archer outside the temple.

Specifically, he stood within the local healing house.

“Let’s see if I have this right, you want to help clean the wounds of our patients?” the healer asked. “I respect your desire to do good young man, but without licensure from the Department of Health I’m afraid I cannot allow you to operate on people. Furthermore, your own eyes are bleeding, are you alright?”

“Ah, that. I’m just focusing very hard. Also, I wasn’t asking for permission,” Orodan replied, and the man’s eyes widened.

Orodan gently bound his arms and took the communications amulet off his neck before seating the healer in a chair and tying the man to it. He then picked the chair and man up and walked to the patient bays.

“I must protest this! I have no idea who you are and what your training is,” the healer exclaimed. “Without proper education you’re as likely to kill a patient as you are to heal them!”

“I concur,” Orodan replied. “Which is why you’re seated there and tied up till you calm down. I’m confident I can clean the minor wounds and you’ll help do the healing afterwards. Imagine how good a result you could achieve if the wounds were properly cleaned and your tools sterilized?”

The man calmed down noticeably at the thought of that, although he still maintained a wary gaze. And wasn’t too happy about being tied up either. Orodan felt a little guilty about bullying him, so resolved to let him loose after the first display.

“Oh? She’s already been treated, just waiting for her mother to pick her up,” the healer spoke.

The first patient, was a little girl with a decent cut to her leg. The cut was bandaged already, and the girl was simply laying in the cot idly counting the tiles on the floor. Orodan’s subsequent arrival with a chair in his hands surprised her. And the healer tied to said chair didn’t help calm her.

The girl wasn’t stupid, but she had a good head on her shoulders as she didn’t immediately scream.

“W-who are you? Mister Casterton, what’s going on?” she asked.

“Aliya, be nice and help the man with whatever he wants to do, yes? Everything will be alright,” the healer, Casterton spoke. The world wasn’t a nice one. From a young age everyone was told about the power of Adepts and above, and many stories had tragic endings. From their perspective, Orodan could just as easily be a cruel maniac intent on harming innocents.

Orodan knelt down before the girl.

“Hello there, are you Aliya? I’m Orodan,” he introduced. “How did you get that cut on your leg?”

“I was… exploring,” the child replied. “I fell from a tree and got hurt.”

“Oh? I’ve climbed trees before, and a fall usually comes with more accompanying scrapes and scratches than you have,” Orodan spoke. “Was it truly just a fall from a tree?”

“It was!” she exclaimed. “I swear!”

A little too forceful an answer. Orodan recalled being like that himself whenever the matrons questioned him about what he was up to.

“Fair enough, how about we work on getting this wound properly cleaned though?” Orodan asked. “As it is, you’ll take longer to recover and it might get infected despite the salve applied.”

“That… shouldn’t be so,” Casterton spoke, but with doubt in his voice. “I cleaned the wound to the best of my ability and the salve of purification was applied. I’m not arrogant enough that I’d claim to be beyond error, but is there truly something I missed?”

Orodan decided that he liked Casterton. The man was humble and seemed to care for those under his purview.

“It isn’t that you missed something. Rather, that the wound is just a bad one and Aliya here might’ve ignored a bit longer than she should’ve,” Orodan explained. “I can sense various impurities deep within that the salve didn’t manage to reach.”

“Truly? What skill is that?” Casterton asked.

“It’s a Legendary skill, Vision of Purity.”

“L-legendary…! You… you aren’t lying are you?” Casterton asked, but not with any serious accusation but as though he couldn’t believe it. “If that’s the case, you’re far more qualified than I to treat her, please… do not let me stand in your way young master.”

Legendary rarity was the pinnacle of society at an Academy like Bluefire and the circles Orodan frequented in the last long loop. But, now he was in Scarmorrow, in Volarbury County, where Elites were spoken of in hushed whispers and the common individual wouldn’t believe the existence of Master-level people.

“Nonsense, I have no healing skills which affect others. I simply wish to remove the impurities within her wound,” Orodan elaborated. “I’ll still need your help to actually treat the wound afterward. Although… if you don’t mind, perhaps you could teach me a bit?”

Orodan wasn’t opposed to the idea of learning basic healing. Rather, he much preferred to begin from the basics instead of learning the magical school of healing first. Some would call him stubborn, but Orodan felt that learning manual healing from the ground up was better than attempting to cast spells which were a quick fix for the issue.

“It would be my pleasure,” Casterton replied with a smile. “Of course, I can’t do much when I’m bound to a chair.”

Ah, that was a small detail he’d overlooked. Casterton was untied from the chair, and the man then began the process of unwrapping Aliya’s bandages. The wound didn’t look bad visually, but Vision of Purity told him a different story.

Small disease particles were already latching onto the girl’s blood cells and flesh. And while the amount of bacteria within wasn’t significant, it was likely to still trigger inflammation of the wound as her immune system fought it off in the coming days. Something that would increase her recovery time.

Furthermore, Orodan was said to be stupid. But war, death and bloodshed were his specialty. When he had caused hundreds of thousands himself, did this little girl really think Orodan Wainwright wouldn’t recognize a sword wound?

“Who’d you fight?” Orodan asked.

“I didn’t fight anyone!” Aliya exclaimed defensively.

“Then why does it look like you’ve been cut by a sword?” Orodan asked and she got nervous. “It wasn’t very sharp… perhaps rusty? Hmm, that’d explain why I can sense impurities in the wound.”

“Okay, but you can’t tell my mother!”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but only if you tell me who you were fighting,” Orodan demanded.

“Fine… I may have gone into the monster-infested ruins nearby. The one that fledgling adventurers use for training,” Aliya replied with a guilty look upon her face. “I got past the checkpoint by sneaking in behind an adventurer party and explored for a bit. Killed a few slimes but the skeletons were tougher than I thought, but I managed to get away.”

“Aliya! What were you thinking?! If your mother heard about this…!” Casterton exclaimed.

“Nicely done kid! I greatly approve of your warrior spirit!”

“What?”

“Really?”

“Of course! How old are you? To be marching into battle at your age is the way of a true warrior!” Orodan praised heartily with a big smile on his face.

“Mister Orodan! Please do not encourage this reckless delinquent! Should you be preaching such things as a responsible adult?” Casterton protested.

“I’m only seventeen myself,” Orodan said, even though it was technically true physically. But not mentally. “Besides, I was fighting from a very young age too. This can only be a good thing for her.”

Left unsaid, was that he’d also killed someone when he was younger. He still felt dirty about the subsequent gain to Combat Mastery from that. But, he was stronger now and didn’t need to commit such acts out of desperation.

“Even if you’re a young man, you’re still an adult. Consider the potential consequences. What if she dies? The monsters within the local dungeon aren’t a joke,” Casterton cautioned. “The Republic carefully curates such places and as a result some particularly fiendish and smart things can arise.”

Casterton was partially correct. The Republic’s Department of Monster Management did in fact maintain many above-ground monster infestation sites and allow them to survive within certain limits of strength. They were a good spot for fledgling adventurers or the troops of a noble house to train without much risk. Of course, this meant that the monsters were a bit smarter than average and were used to dealing with adventurer parties and their tactics.

Skeletons weren’t naturally occurring creatures. The ones within the infestation that wounded Aliya were likely under the control of a monster necromancer deeper within. The girl was lucky to have not encountered that. That the skeletons were mindless animations was her saving grace.

Fighting slimes was one thing, but to face skeletons and necromancers while unprepared at her level? It could lead to death.

That being said, Orodan cared not about risk himself. Even in his first life he gladly marched to a warrior’s death. So who was he to deny another their chance to reach for more?

“Maybe… but how can one acquire strength without risk? I too have been through many perilous battles in order to acquire the strength I have,” Orodan explained. “Yes, I won’t deny that her mother and family will grieve if she were to die within the ruins. But death occurs all the time. In our world, where skill levels decide our lot, is it not wrong to deny an aspiring warrior her chance to seize a better life?”

“But she doesn’t even understand the risks! This child doesn’t know any better, she doesn’t know the terror of death,” Casterton explained. “She won’t get to see her mother howl over her corpse. If that happens, will you answer for that Mister Orodan?”

“I suppose you have a point, but only insofar as her not knowing the consequences,” Orodan accepted and then turned to Aliya. “He isn’t wrong. If you die, your mother will grieve and you’ll be just another corpse like many. Are you ready for that darkness to take you? Death isn’t pleasant; you could be torn limb from limb as you scream in agony for help that never arrives.”

“I… I know that! I’m scared every time I enter the ruins or explore the nearby wilds and hunt weaker monsters,” Aliya replied with determination. “My brother died while delving in an adventurer’s party, and he was supposed to be the one that helped us out of poverty. With him gone… I want to bring that look of pride onto the faces of mother and father again. That assurance that their child will look after them.”

“So you want to make your parents smile again?” Orodan asked. “You say it with conviction… it must be a good goal then.”

“Of course it is! Don’t you want to make your parents smile too?” Aliya asked.

“I don’t have any. My parents were killed before I ever got to know them,” Orodan answered. “There are no memories of them, I was too young.”

Aliya was a bit too young to express condolences properly, so she could only awkwardly stammer a bit, but Casterton saved her.

“As you’ve experienced such loss Mister Orodan, shouldn’t you then want to prevent a family from losing their child?”

“Ideally, nobody would suffer,” Orodan answered. Perhaps one day, one loop, he would become powerful enough that he could eliminate death across the world. “But, for now we live in this ruthless world of ours where people are killed in bloody wars almost every century. Thirty-thousand years ago, the continent of Inuan faced devastation and civilization upon it was destroyed. In such a world, to deny someone their freedom to choose, to deny them the opportunity to grow and travel their own path which reaches for their desires. I don’t believe in that.”

Thirty-thousand years ago, the Void Horror destroyed the lives of billions of people during its ascent. Now, in just six months, it was returning and would do the same once more. Idealistic attitudes about what childhood should be like wouldn’t stop it. Society morals and norms wouldn’t help. The only thing that mattered, was strength, power.

Aliya’s brother died adventuring in an attempt to provide a better life for his family. Orodan could respect that. But, ideals didn’t change reality. And it could be cruel.

What mattered, was strength. Power to live life according to your ideals. And the ingredients to obtaining power were tenacity and consistency. Both of which this little girl before him had.

Her brother wasn’t strong enough, but perhaps she could be.

“You don’t believe in that? I respect your struggle to attain strength Mister Orodan, but surely she’s too young-”

“Fate cares not about how young someone is when enacting its cruelty,” Orodan interrupted. “Her fate will either be decided by her own strength, or the power of those stronger than her. I would rather see this girl empowered, encouraged to strike out and seize her own destiny. To defy fate with her own hard-earned strength. Did you not hear the conviction in her voice? She knows the risks and she’s still intent on pursuing this path.”

“I see I cannot convince you… but what does Aliya herself have to say?”

“I want to keep fighting,” she spoke resolutely. “I have to take care of my family.”

“There’s your answer healer. Aliya’s mother needn’t worry about her glorious battles against slimes and skeletons,” Orodan remarked with a smile. “Now then, we still have healing to do, so how about we get to work?”

Casterton the healer of Scarmorrow, could only sigh and shake his head.

Vision of Purity was powerful.

Particularly because it allowed him to detect and feel each and every particle of impurity within something, down to the smallest level. When used in tandem with something like Whirlpool Whirlwind, which at its current level could be modified to only draw things that he wanted toward himself… fantastical results could occur.

It was still an incredibly difficult thing, but Orodan was attempting to make completely pure water.

Water, even the purest water one could find in nature or an alchemist’s laboratory… was still impure in the most minor of ways. Many things could dissolve in water. Dirt, dust and incredibly small particulate matter in the air were just the biggest things that could contaminate water. The smallest and hardest things to detect, were natural gases that simply dissolved into water.

Like this, water was such a simple substance, yet it could also be so complicated. Especially when it came to perfectly purifying it like Orodan was attempting.

With Vision of Purity as the conductor and ‘spotter’, Orodan’s Weapon Aura wrapped around the entirety of the giant water barrel. His seven minds worked together as every bit of particulate and even gas within the water was completely gathered to the center. His eyes and nose leaked blood from the mental strain, but Orodan didn’t stop.

Then, with multiple pairs of hands casting Whirlpool Whirlwind, all the foreign matter and gases were pulled out. He kept Whirlpool Whirlwind running constantly, refusing to allow even the smallest particle of matter or gas enter the water.

[Cleaning 71 → Cleaning 72]

The water, began glowing.

And Orodan used Identify on it.

[Name: Pure Water

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Description: Water of one-hundred percent purity. Perfect elemental affinity.

Tier: Adept]

It was his first time making truly pure water. His skills were now high enough to do it. The product had jumped two whole tiers from Initiate to Adept as a result of being one hundred percent pure.

Orodan was quite satisfied with the result. But it was an unstable product that wouldn’t last without his continuous intervention via Whirlpool Whirlwind. In fact, he would need to use it right this instant.

The Whirlpool Whirlwind above the barrel picked up in power, and soon, the entirety of the glowing pure water was a spinning orb. One continuous Whirlpool Whirlwind above it, pulling it upwards. One constant cast of the skill below, pulling it downwards. Using the two continuously, Orodan moved the orb of pure water towards the concoction container.

[Whirlpool Whirlwind 53 → Whirlpool Whirlwind 55]

To the outside observer, it would look like Orodan was using telekinesis. But this incredibly fine work of using two suction forces to perfectly levitate and maintain control of a barrel-sized orb of water… was far superior to mere telekinesis. In Orodan’s opinion anyhow.

Before the orb of water was guided inside, a ‘clone’ of his quickly cleaned the container perfectly to ensure no contamination occurred. All while other ‘clones’ worked on cleaning the two ingredients for the healing salve to the best of his ability.

Why would Orodan settle for merely cleaning? The process of healing Aliya’s wound involved not only cleaning it, but applying a purification salve at the end. Yes, Orodan could make an Initiate-level healing potion to heal her instantly, but not only would it deprive him of the cleaning experience, it could also lead to impurities remaining within the healed wound regardless.

Healing potions, unless they had a secondary effect, didn’t cure poison or remove impurities. They simply healed around them. While one could use healing potions to continue healing until the poison naturally ran its course, it was inefficient, expensive, and certain poisons weren’t so easily attacked by the body’s natural immune system. Purification salves and elixirs were specialized for the purpose of attacking and flushing toxins out, thus Orodan was focusing on that.

His Alchemy was at level 53. Scarmorrow wasn’t a very wealthy town, and the local alchemists were near the Adept-level, but not quite at it. Bigger towns in the county had Adept and Elite-level alchemists, but not Scarmorrow. This meant that Orodan had the opportunity to make a better salve of wound purification than anyone else in town could, especially when paired with his stringent insistence on cleaning everything.

As the cleanliness of the pure water and the container were maintained, other ‘clones’ of Orodan worked on cleaning the two ingredients for the salve. After cleaning them and while their purity was maintained, he used Identify on them too.

[Name: Pure Astragon Plant

Description: A plant with decent healing properties. One hundred percent purity.

Tier: Adept]

It was Adept tier, which was quite profound as the regular astragon plant was merely at the Initiate-level. Purity was something that could make a true difference in his crafts.

It wasn’t a groundbreaking concept, and Orodan wasn’t discovering something unheard of. The purity of ingredients was something oft theorized and strived for in alchemy. Creating perfect purity ingredients took massive amounts of labor, expense and high level skills. The alchemists capable of such then stored the ingredients in specially enchanted containers, and even the lab itself was enchanted.

Of course, Orodan could forgo all the enchantments as he was purifying and maintaining the ingredients himself. But due to the concurrent purification and maintenance, even he was starting to approach the max number of ‘clones’ by the time he finished purifying the second ingredient.

[Name: Pure Tellorus Jelly

Description: Jelly from the Tellorus Tree. One hundred percent purity

Tier: Adept]

As was becoming a pattern, it was Adept instead of Initiate as the regular jelly should’ve been.

What if he not only purified it, but then empowered the ingredients? Something to consider for the future.

Finally, Orodan got to work and expertly prepared the ingredients, utilizing his Tool Mastery and Alchemy skills to finely chop the astragon plant’s stem and mix it into the tellorus jelly. All the while, ‘clones’ of his worked to ensure the concoction remained pure.

It wasn’t a difficult salve to create, merely Initiate-level, but Orodan was using Adept-level ingredients. It would be an interesting end-result. The process took less than a minute, mainly because while Orodan was faster than sound, the concoction needed time to safely heat up and mix thoroughly. All the while, Weapon Aura wrapped around the contents and ensured they blended together as perfectly as possible.

Finally, came the mana empowerment phase, and it was incredibly minuscule. Orodan couldn’t risk putting too much mana into the salve lest it become too mana-rich for use on the little girl. High-level potions containing a lot of mana could kill low-level people.

But, even as he poured in no more mana than the recipe called for, the concoction still took on an otherworldly glow. It wasn’t the usual crackling and energy rich glow of excess mana he saw in the last long loop whenever he’d empower potions beyond their limits. Rather, it was a glow of profound purity. As though the salve was so pure, that it was unnatural, not meant for this dirty world.

[Alchemy 53 → Alchemy 54]

Orodan used Identify.

[Name: Perfect Purification Salve

Description: A perfect Initiate-level Purification Salve. One-hundred percent purity.

Tier: Adept]

“Incredible… how have you made this?” Casterton asked.

“I just cleaned everything very thoroughly,” Orodan replied. But even ‘very thoroughly’ was be an understatement.

He was in agreement with Casterton though; the result was incredible. An examination of the mana coursing through it told Orodan that this salve was still safe to apply upon a regular person. The power it glowed with was borne of purity, not excess mana.

“We mustn’t tarry Mister Orodan! Bring that thing here and maintain whatever protective spell you’re using upon it,” Casterton spoke urgently, almost excited. “Let’s have another go at little Aliya’s cut!”

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Orodan wanted to protest that it wasn’t a spell, but couldn’t say anything. Whirlpool Whirlwind, when cast with a single hand, did look like some mage’s spell. Even if Orodan would angrily correct anyone who called it such.

Orodan hovered a hand above Aliya’s leg.

“Now, hold still. Let me see if this works,” Orodan said.

“If it works? You’ve never tried this before?” Casterton asked.

“No. Only on weapons. I don’t know how well this’ll work on a person’s leg,” Orodan answered. “But, I’m confident it won’t harm her. At worst, it just won’t work.”

Aliya could only nervously look on herself as Orodan’s hand touched her leg, just beneath the cut, and Weapon Aura wrapped around her limb.

Immediately he realized that there were complications to attempting this.

The main one being, that the girl’s mana pool instinctively resisted someone wrapping Weapon Aura around her leg. But, much like chronomancy could still affect others as long as the total mana spent was a few times greater than the target’s mana pool, so too could Orodan’s Weapon Aura.

And he wasn’t lacking for mana.

Aliya’s face began paling a bit as her own mana pool drained in its attempts to resist Orodan’s Weapon Aura. The girl wasn’t even consciously doing so, but she became exhausted all the same. It wasn’t harmful, and a quick mana potion would top her up afterwards.

[Weapon Aura 84 → Weapon Aura 85]

The unique experiment earned him a level in the skill. And Orodan focused in on every single particle in Aliya’s leg. The blood cells, the bone, the veins, arteries… and the disease particles that threatened to inflame the wound once more.

He guided all the disease towards the surface of the cut, and he even began guiding the minute impurities in her bones that way as well. Her entire leg was being purified. Her bones had many spots with air pockets and impurities, as did her veins and muscles. Orodan drew all of these towards the cut.

“That feels really uncomfortable…,” the girl spoke. “Is it almost done?”

“Very close, hold on for a few more seconds,” Orodan spoke, and another hand hovered atop the cut.

Whirlpool Whirlwind was cast, and all the impurities flew towards Orodan’s hand, where an uncast Draconic Fireball burned it all up. The glowing purification salve was then guided out of the container and onto the wound. Orodan was fully prepared to yank every trace of the salve out at the slightest indication that it was harmful. He’d seen regular purification salve used, but not this pure variant which was two tiers higher.

“Wow! That’s such a pretty fire! Are you a mage, mister?!”

This little jerk…

“I’m not a damn mage!”

“Ahem! What Mister Orodan means to say is that he is an esteemed spell blade, isn’t that right sir?”

A vein on Orodan’s head throbbed. But further argument about the fact that he was a warrior and not a mage or spell blade, came to a stop.

Aliya suddenly gasped, and Orodan saw why. The perfect purification salve entered her wound, and began flowing throughout her entire body. Orodan was about to stop it on instinct when he noticed that it was cleansing all the impurities within her.

Minor toxins that were present from being near hazardous workspaces, impurities in her body, in the bones, muscles and cells. Every unwanted particle was attacked. But, the amount of salve used wouldn’t be enough, so Orodan gratuitously dumped more unto the wound.

The girl’s eyes widened as the changes spread throughout her entire body. With Vision of Purity, Orodan saw it all. Every little thing was purified.

Was this the power of a perfect potion made with pure ingredients?

Orodan considered the implications of his ability. Perfect potions were incredibly expensive to make; the act of achieving and maintaining one hundred percent purity throughout the entire alchemical process was extremely difficult. Usually, only specialized labs with copious amounts of mana-hungry enchantments would be used, and oftentimes the value of the completed product didn’t justify the cost of running the equipment.

But, for Orodan to be capable of making a perfect potion from scratch? If he was a hapless boy on a journey to reach the heights of alchemy, he’d have to worry about being hunted down and forced to work for a government who would want to develop his talent for themselves.

As it stood though, Orodan was the warrior caught in a time loop. He struggled against Avatars and could beat any mortal Grandmaster in the Republic now. What governmental force could hope to take him alive when he was a threat to a nation if left unchecked?

The purification process ended, and Aliya finally rose to her feet. The wound was still present, but looked incredibly clean now. Aliya herself looked different, more powerful and whole.

“I feel incredible,” the little girl spoke. “What did you do mister?”

The answer was simple.

“I just cleaned things up a bit.”

After drinking a regular healing potion Orodan concocted, the girl’s capabilities had increased by at least fifty percent. The salve he made was a little too powerful, and Orodan saw Casterton eying it covetously upon seeing Aliya bounding around like a spring chicken. He allowed the healer to imbibe it, and drink a healing potion afterwards, and the man experienced a similar boost in capabilities.

Throughout the entire process, Orodan looked closely using Vision of Purity.

It wasn’t that the purification salve gave people increased ability by itself. But rather, each and every impurity in their body was removed, and a subsequent healing potion filled in these gaps. Bones were made denser, muscles were made stronger, the lungs were cleaner, the blood flowed better. Even the brain could think quicker as the body was just made… better. Orodan suspected that the common folk people would pay good money for this if he ever decided to market it.

Orodan himself destroyed and reformed his own body so often with Harmony of Vitality, that he didn’t need to worry about physical impurities. Additionally, society’s wealthier people could pay for high-level purification elixirs, so it wasn’t an issue for them. The common folk however, would sacrifice an arm and a leg if it meant giving their child a chance to improve their baseline and bring wealth to their family.

The rest of his trip at the healing house was intriguing. Most patients had minor injuries, but a few did have something severe.

He gained another level in Cleaning by drawing all the disease out of a terminally ill woman and using the perfect purification salve on her. Her husband was incredibly grateful and almost pledged his lifelong loyalty to Orodan if he hadn’t forced the man to stand and get a hold of himself.

And two patients weren’t physically ill… but cursed.

Vision of Purity could see the foul plague upon their souls, and Orodan wasn’t too sure as to how he’d go about scrubbing curses from souls. He didn’t have any skills that allowed him to directly interact with the souls of other people yet, and the purification salve he used on them was physical and didn’t affect their souls. Although they were quite grateful for the relief of some of their physical symptoms.

He tried wrapping Weapon Aura around them and feeling for their souls, but the immediate resistance from their souls and the discomfort they reported made Orodan put an immediate end to that experiment. He’d rather perfect it on his enemies first. Besides, currently Orodan could only affect his own soul and didn’t have a method of manipulating others. He’d have to seek teachers for the art.

Regardless, Orodan ended the day on a decent note. The little girl’s mother picked her up, and a friendly look from Orodan to the healer encouraged the man to forget about Aliya’s exploits.

He made a mental note to consider helping the little fighter advance herself in some loop once things settled down a bit. It was good to see a youth with such a drive to advance and gain strength, Orodan greatly approved.

But for now, his cleaning targets were complete. Orodan’s cleaning related skills were now high enough that he could clean two priority targets in a single loop once he was done his standard clean of his hovel, the tanner’s house and the warehouse. This loop, it was the local blacksmith and the healing house in Scarmorrow that he hit.

He was also fast approaching a keen insight against the power of divine energy. Orodan felt that soon, he would achieve enlightenment in that regard.

“Enjoying the view up here are we?”

“It was nice the first thirty times,” Orodan answered. “But in all honestly, I wonder how many times I can see the same thing before I grow tired of it.”

“It’s a question I’ve oft considered myself,” Arendethar replied. “But, having a many millennia old Master-level dragon as a friend does give me some perspective. Care to share your wisdom with the man, Ulrusdun?”

“Hrm… you humans focus overmuch on surface level things,” the dragon spoke with a haughty tone. “I understand that your lives are fleeting, but there are often many ways to look at a singular thing and still find the beauty within it. Tell me, here from atop the peak, what do you see?”

“I see the distant High Spire of Karilsgard, one of the tallest buildings in the world,” Orodan answered. “I see Trumbetton near the center of the county, I see Velestok, Scarmorrow… I see a lot of towns.”

“And what of the life? The people? Do you see them too?”

“Of course. My eyes can see the riders of the mounted units patrolling between towns. The merchants and passersby upon the streets,” Orodan replied. His eyes, which could see the smallest of particles within an object, were also capable of seeing minor details many miles away. “If this is meant to make me see the beauty of life and the innocent folk below, I see it. Rather, I’ve taken it upon myself to protect it too.”

“Yes, being atop this mountain is not merely physical, but symbolic for those such as us,” Ulrusdun replied. “We hold much power, and in a sense we are ‘above’ the fleeting lives below, but high up as we might rise, there is always something greater. The lives below live in the shade of our decisions, their fates subject to our strength and whims. Similarly, above us, we too are subject to the whims of those beyond. The sun, the moon, the stars and what comes thenceforth. Walking has made you humans accustomed to looking towards your feet. You’ll grow tired of the view only if you look downward, to those beneath. Up above, the sky and stars are endless, their terrors and wonders infinite.”

Orodan took a moment to comprehend the dragon’s words. Even here, on the peak of Mount Castarian, they were under the cloud layer. How often did Orodan simply watch the clouds and stars? He might never run out of things to discover if he simply looked upwards. Strong as he’d become, the Eldritch Avatar was still a foe beyond him at this time. He was on the path of ascension towards being capable of besting it, but it would be a long path.

But looking at the same thing a different way… it wasn’t a bad idea.

“But, hypothetically, what if one had all the time in the world? Would I not eventually run out of things to look at then?” Orodan asked.

“You speak as though it isn’t a mere hypothetical,” the dragon remarked. “But, even then, so what? Have your legs been cut off? I was not aware that young humans had grown so lazy that they cannot walk. If the view tires you, then simply move someplace with a better one. Once those are exhausted, go elsewhere. You will never run out of places to see no matter how much time you have, human.”

“I see, thank you. Your wisdom is appreciated,” Orodan replied with a respectful incline of his head. “The dragons have always been good to me, I owe the Time Wind a debt of gratitude in general.”

The dragon harrumphed, but in acknowledgement.

“Anyhow, this conversation has been derailed. Might I ask why you’re here atop the peak of Mount Castarian? You realize this place is heavily monitored and protected, yes?” Arendethar asked. “Surely you didn’t bypass our watchers and take a seat atop the peak in full view of the scrying eyes just for the sake of enjoying the view?”

“No. Rather, I knew that you would arrive if I did, so I make it a habit of doing this in every loop as you two are an interesting source of conversation to liven up the repeats,” Orodan replied, much to the man’s confusion. “You are Arendethar Althadin are you not? The manager at Ogdenborough’s Department of Public Sanitation spoke of you. Apparently you go around cleaning random things to hone your Cleaning skill?”

The man looked rather embarrassed at being called out about the fact.

“Where did he hear that?! Those are unfounded rumors, I assure you!” he exclaimed, and then calmed himself. “But, we’re getting off topic, what’s this about repeats and loops you speak of? Chronomancy? My items meant to detect and ward against it aren’t triggering, and Ulrusdun feels no manipulations in the winds of time either. Might you explain yourself?”

“Tell you what, I’ll give you an honest answer as long as you give me some good recommendations for places to clean,” Orodan offered. “My Cleaning is at level 73, but I could always use new ideas and methods to train the skill. I’ve hit forges, tanneries, dirty houses, a mansion, the sewage system and a healing house. How else can I improve?”

“Level 73? Incredible… you have the highest Cleaning skill I know of in the Republic then. Even the Palace’s head butler is only at level 70. And to reach such a level with so little variety? A true prodigy…” Arendethar replied in a subdued manner. “I do not know how I can help you then, but you should consider working at the forest preserves of House Simarji. I acquired some of my greatest skill level gains by attempting to purify and aid the plants and trees as they grew.”

That was a good idea. It would also be the perfect opportunity to meet his first mentor once again. Once his set of death loops was done, Orodan made a note to visit Velestok again.

“Thank you, I’ve tried Wood Communion to help plants grow before, but perhaps tying Cleaning into it will help as well. As for my situation? I’m in an infinitely repeating time loop,” Orodan answered seriously. “Every time I die, I wake up on this day again. Which ties into me being here to disable the ancient machine under the mountain. I can’t have my home town be destroyed.”

Orodan got to his feet and looked intently towards the main road leading into Eversong Plaza. He had been keeping an eye on a particular patrolling rider of the mounted unit this entire time. Vision of Purity now had a range of nearly five miles, and Orodan had recognized the rider’s filth signature and kept track of him.

“A time loop? We’ve already established I detect no chronomancy, what are-”

Arendethar’s words were cut off as Orodan used a full body Whirlpool Whirlwind.

At its current level of 55, the range of the skill was almost two miles, which was enough to reach his target. Furthermore, he could also target specific people to pull towards him, and the line of sight was now straight, so the man would arrive in a straight path and not smash against anything on the way.

The winds around Orodan spun like hurricane, yet nothing else nearby was affected. Arendethar and Ulrusdun warily flew to gain some distance however.

[Whirlpool Whirlwind 55 → Whirlpool Whirlwind 56]

Within ten seconds, a terrified looking Apprentice-level man flew into Orodan’s outstretched hand. The man’s momentum was gently brought to a stop, but it wasn’t pleasant.

“Apologies, here’s a something you might find useful for your trouble,” Orodan said as he placed a vial of his perfect purification salve into the man’s inner armor pocket. “I just needed to call your Goddess. You mind giving this poor man a ride off once I’m gone, Arendethar?”

Orodan didn’t bother to hear the dragon rider’s reply. He instead simply extended Mana Black Hole far down the mountain, and disabled the ancient machine.

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

[Reward Granted → Permanent +1 Action Increase]

[Soul At Capacity → Reward Aborted]

After that, he leapt off the mountain to make some distance lest the lightning javelin’s shockwave kill the poor Blessed rider he’d abducted to get Ilyatana’s attention.

Mid-air, the lightning javelin predictably flew for him, but it predictably missed with how fast Orodan was moving. The Grandmaster wasn’t a threat, but the blazing golden comet that tore towards him from Karilsgard, was.

Upon landing, the Novarrian Grandmaster actually reached Orodan first. But was promptly killed with a single All-Strike. The reinforcing Grandmasters who might’ve sought revenge otherwise, never ended up making an appearance because the Avatar landed upon the ground with a furious explosion first.

“I sensed a peculiar Blessing upon you mortal, were you perhaps trying to get my attention? Allow me to descend unto you and commune.”

Naturally, her attempt failed and Orodan relished her pathetic screams of pain. The battle was on.

Thirty seconds passed, as Orodan was utterly suppressed by the Avatar’s golden beams of light. But this loop, he kept his soul defense up. Additionally, his Soul Manipulation and Eternal Soul Reactor were at level 89, but most importantly he was very familiar with the structure of his own soul and how to quickly heal it now. So the Avatar of Ilyatana’s soul assaults weren’t as effective.

The message that came after was also a welcome difference maker.

[Harmony of Vitality 83 → Harmony of Vitality 84]

“Why won’t you die?! You abomination! I mutilate your soul beyond repair and you still recover! How?! Your foul ability to harm the Gods cannot be allowed!”

Going from 83 to 84 in Harmony of Vitality was a big difference. Orodan was now confident that he could outlast and force the Avatar of Ilyatana to burn out and die in a one-on-one battle. But, that wasn’t his goal, and the arrival of Cruxamar Aetholion, the Avatar of Eximus, complicated matters as usual.

“Such a mess! Oh? What’s this interesting Blessing you have? I cannot recall ever giving such a thing out. Let’s see…”

“Eximus, wait!”

As usual, greed trumped caution, and the screams of yet another God were added to the beautiful cacophony which graced Orodan’s ears. He had to admit, hearing Gods scream in agony from assaulting him was amusing.

“Vile fiend! You dare assault a God?! I shall eradicate every trace of you in the annals of time!”

Ten more seconds passed, but it felt like eternity. Orodan was reduced to a handful of particles over and over… but the single level he gained in Harmony of Vitality made a huge difference as he wasn’t outright destroyed for once. Even as he felt the familiar darkness of death approach plenty of times, he managed to keep from touching it.

This was the single most extended exposure Orodan ever had to divine energy. And it was with two distinct sources of it too.

What was divine energy? What was the holy provenience that the Gods called upon?

The Cathedral refused to speak of it, and Orodan had never heard any Gods, whether Inuanan or otherwise, talk about it. But as he was battered by it repeatedly, Orodan’s last thirty loops of exposure came together with the continuous assault he was going through now.

His Vision of Purity extended deep into it… and Orodan attempted to make sense of it.

It was the farthest thing from uniform. The divine energy was a chaotic mess, in this both Ilyatana and Eximus were united. Both of them emitted divine energy that his Vision of Purity was almost overwhelmed by because the energy was so disharmonious.

He continued reforming and studying the power the two Avatars were blasting him with. He felt so close to understanding, yet still so far!

What was this chaotic mess composed of? What really was divine energy?

Orodan needed more, this wasn’t enough to make the breakthrough.

Ten more minutes of being suppressed by continuous beams of chronomantic and golden energy passed, and two things occurred.

The two Gods realized that their Avatars would burn out before they could kill him.

And Orodan gained another skill level.

[Harmony of Vitality 84 → Harmony of Vitality 85]

Titanic beams of divine power rained down upon him. The wilderness had been eradicated for almost a hundred miles. The ground was a lifeless, glassed crater.

Yet, whatever damage the divine beams did, was undone instantly. Orodan’s survivability was too strong, the vitality endlessly produced from his soul too much. These Avatars couldn’t kill him now.

Orodan had reached a tipping point with that skill level gain. He could now survive both Avatars at the same time.

This, was the beginning of the end for their Avatars in this battle. But, Orodan wasn’t satisfied with merely defeating them. He needed his breakthrough, he needed to achieve the enlightenment about divine energy.

“The two of you aren’t enough… call the God of War.”

“Arrogance! You will die soon enough as your power runs-”

They would learn the hard way that assuming Orodan’s energy generation had limits was a fool’s gamble. But, he took the matter into his own hands, or rather, his own soul. He used his Soul Manipulation to reach within the very core where he felt the third Blessing of Agathor, and he struck it like a bell, causing a powerful resonance.

The call had been sent out.

Ten seconds later, a portal opened nearby, and the familiar figure of his mentor Arvayne Firesword stepped out. But, his eyes were glowing orange. This wasn’t Arvayne Firesword, this was Agathor, the Inuanan God of War, the strongest of the Prime Five.

“I did not wish to interfere overmuch… but you bear my Blessing as well, warrior? How intriguing,” Agathor spoke. “I heard your call, why have you summoned me? To beg for my aid perhaps? I have seen your conflict and know that descending unto you would be a poor idea.”

“No. I called you, because I wish to challenge you as well.”

A resounding divine laugh rang out for miles in response.

“I like you warrior, what is your name? If I am to slay you, I would at least have your name so that I may remember the mortal who dared challenge the God of War to combat.”

“I am Orodan Wainwright. And I’ve been challenging you for a long time now, you just might not remember it,” he replied. “And one of these loops… I’ll be the one to kill you.”

“Strange things you say and bold claims you make. I shall pry the secrets from your mind once your soul is broken down.”

And then, it began.

It wasn’t a divine beam of energy. It was pure warrior prowess.

Orodan could only wish to fight as well as Agathor did. The other two Avatars hung back at range and battered him with divine beams of energy, but Agathor had no such compunctions. This, was the Avatar of the God of War, and he was the most skilled warrior Orodan had ever faced in the time loops. Orodan had no doubt that Agathor’s Combat Mastery was beyond level 100, as even the True Vampire he fought in the energy well wasn’t this profound.

During the brutal melee, no amount of technique, skill or determination prevented Orodan from being carved apart. The host body was crackling with enough divine energy to nearly destroy it, but the Avatar continued savaging Orodan with almost reckless abandon. Agathor’s divine rage made Orodan’s own Death Rage look like a child’s temper tantrum, but the God of War still guided his battle rage perfectly alongside flawless technique.

But, while the God of War was strong… this was just his Avatar. And Orodan had fought worse things in the depths, which were more powerful than an Avatar. He had survived the True Vampire, and he would survive Agathor’s melee butchery of him.

Orodan couldn’t yet beat the Avatar of Agathor in melee… but he could survive.

Fifteen minutes of one-sided butchery occurred, but Orodan wasn’t anywhere close to death. The Avatar of Agathor would be terrifying for a foe with even the strongest defenses, but against the near-godlike self-healing abilities of Orodan, unless it was utterly overwhelming, direct strength mattered not.

“Feh… your survivability is quite cockroach-like. I see engaging you in a fair contest of arms is a futile endeavor,” Agathor spoke. The War God’s ability to withstand pain must’ve been quite high as not once did he scream or complain about the backlash from Warrior’s Reciprocity. The difference in mentality between him and the two weaker Gods, was apparent. “That will be enough. Eximus, Ilyatana, let us join hands and unleash the full extent of our energies once more. Your stand was a valiant one Orodan Wainwright, but if you refuse to work alongside us… then you are too much of a threat to be left alive.”

Orodan had been waiting for this moment.

Eternal Soul Reactor flared to its greatest extent, and all the power was directed towards Harmony of Vitality. He had one goal, to survive, and to learn.

Two gray and golden beams of divine energy were joined by glowing orange one. And the attack destroyed almost two hundred miles of terrain.

His vitality skills were high, but the addition of a third God, the strongest of them, was overwhelming. This triple assault would kill him.

But, he saw and felt the familiar chaotic mess within Agathor’s divine energy as well. As the darkness of death approached, Orodan took some advice he’d heard earlier and decided to look at the same thing a different way.

Vision of Purity was dependent on what Orodan saw as impure. So, instead of impurities in the divine energy… perhaps it was the combination of many things?

As he ruminated in the split instants before death, he saw it, he heard it. The impurities weren’t a chaotic mess, or rather, it was meant to be so. Divine energy, was an amalgamation of many.

Voices which professed one thing. Faith. This faith led to energy. Thousands, millions… billions of voices giving faith and power to the divine. The basis of divine energy then, wasn’t just individual power, but faith. Reliance upon the strength of others. It was so…

“…weak.”

The only word he uttered as his body was obliterated.

Divine energy was weak, because it was composed of faith. Soul power derived from billions of worshippers. The key to resisting it then was to realize that borrowed strength would never be the equal of power earned honestly. It was to understand that soul power acquired through billions, wasn’t equivalent to the power of a singularly determined one.

To embrace the tenet that quality trumped quantity.

Orodan’s Eternal Soul Reactor flared. His mind and willpower strained to the utter limit, and his own soul energy fought the divine, not in a contest of raw power, but in a contest of pure quality.

He did not care how many billions provided the power to these weak Gods. Orodan would stand and show every one of their billions of worshippers that his soul was the superior one. That his willpower was beyond all of theirs.

The darkness of death actually touched him for a brief moment.

[T@e] [mp%] [o&ra*l]

[A@n] [o!m] [aly!]

[S@y] [st!] [@em]

[E@x] [cep] [tion]

[F@o] [!@u] [n@d!]

[Li@fe#] [Si@!gns] [D@ete#@ct$ed]

[!A#b#o!@rt@#in^g] [P%r*ot#o$co@l]

But through sheer force of will Orodan refused to die for just a moment longer. He needed just a few more moments of life. And in dire straits, inspiration struck.

Skills were located in the absolute deepest part of his soul. They took up no soul space, and they could be said to be the most integral part of him. To try and manipulate them as they worked however? Horror stories of soul explosions were the cautionary tale. It was something attempted only by Grandmasters of the soul arts, and even then history recorded only a handful who could attune a skill for the better in such a way.

But, desperation was the mother of innovation.

He directly manipulated his soul to manipulate where Eternal Soul Reactor expelled his soul energy. Extreme pain wracked him, and the following message told him it was a bad idea.

[Pain Resistance 88 → Pain Resistance 89]

But, Orodan was an idiot, and he was stubborn. He persisted and refused to stop.

What he needed, what he demanded. Was that his soul produce energy not just from the core of his body where the soul’s metaphysical location was. But all throughout. That the cells of his finger would be as much a production point for Eternal Soul Reactor as his core was. To do that, he’d need to expand his soul, his very being, to cover his entire body, his whole self.

His mind almost shattered under the strain, but his infinite willpower refused to allow it. Slowly, but surely, under grueling pain… his soul expanded to envelop his entire body.

And finally, he crossed the threshold.

[Eternal Soul Reactor 89 → Eternal Soul Reactor 90]

[Soul Manipulation 89 → Soul Manipulation 90]

[Additional Title Slot Gained]

Using this jump, Orodan began producing soul energy from the skin of his fingertips, his nails, his hair, his very pores. Every single cell of his body was now a production point for Eternal Soul Reactor. It might’ve seemed a minute difference, but it was important for what came next.

The divine energy struck his cells, but they were now all production points for his soul energy via Eternal Soul Reactor.

His soul energy stood against the power gathered from billions, and he finally proved it. That his singular soul was superior to the faith of billions. That quality could beat quantity.

That divine energy could be defied.

He resisted the divine energy assaulting him.

[New Skill (Mythical) → Divine Resistance 11]

A breakthrough of eleven gained levels due to his keen insights into exactly what resisting the divine meant.

He stepped back from the darkness of death. Harmony of Vitality flooded his body, and Orodan was reformed once more as the divine energy failed to eradicate him. The attacks were incredibly powerful, so they still caused some damage, but it was nowhere near what they formerly did.

In combination with Harmony of Vitality… it was like taking a bath in a vat of boiling water.

The energy continued washing over him for a bit longer, but the first Avatar to stop, was Ilyatana. Eximus and Agathor followed seconds after.

“You… what are you? I can sense it… you have learned how to resist the divine…” Ilyatana spoke, breaking the silence. “This, this is a calamity akin to the ascent of the Void Horror. Our continent is threatened.”

Orodan thought the Goddess of Fate was being melodramatic. Yes, he could now render divine energy attacks obsolete, but Avatars who decided to use physical attacks could still carve him up, and powerful beings such as the oldest dragons and the horrors within the abyssal depths might still be capable of killing him. He had Divine Resistance, but still didn’t have the ability to resist soul energy which any combatant of true power would use.

“If divine energy will not kill you, perhaps an army will,” Eximus spoke, and Orodan had an inkling of what would come next as multiple portals opened.

Masters and Grandmasters wearing Novarrian colors poured out. At least two hundred Masters stood before him, and over thirty Grandmasters.

“Kill him.”

Eximus’s command was obeyed, and Orodan was swarmed.

It was a titanic battle which rent the very ground. The Avatars joined in and Agathor led the charge to engage him in melee, with Eximus and Ilyatana contributing periodically.

“Do not engage him in melee. He will butcher anyone who isn’t an Avatar, leave the close combat to me,” Agathor commanded.

It was somewhat flattering to be taken so seriously by the God of War, but the tactic was frustratingly effective. Agathor carved him up like a vegetable while the forces of Novarria assaulted him with all manner of arrows, javelins, bolts and spells.

In response, nearly fifty Masters were killed on the spot as they received the backlash from Warrior’s Reciprocity.

“Healers! Chronomancers! Get the dead back into the fight! He has a skill that returns damage! Keep your assaults low but constant!” the commanding Novarrian Grandmaster yelled. The intensity of the assault upon him lessened, which was nice. Not that the Masters made any meaningful damage contributions against Orodan anyways.

Entire battalions of healers and a squad of chronomancers worked furiously to quickly bring the dead back. But even then, some were beyond saving as too long had passed or the mana cost was too high and the healer-chronomancer pair working on them wasn’t good enough to salvage the situation.

“He has Mana Resistance too! Our spells aren’t working!” a Novarrian triple-Grandmaster mage called. “Who the hells is he?!”

“Focus on your tasks, leave the command to us!” Eximus roared. “We’ll wear him down eventually, his energy can’t last forever!”

He wouldn’t blame them. It was a fair assumption to make that the energy of one man would run out when faced against three Avatars and a small army of Masters and Grandmasters. Unfortunately for them, when facing Orodan Wainwright, this was the wrong assumption to make.

Fifteen minutes of battle passed.

The Master-level combatants pelting him were reduced to a third of their original numbers as the healers and chronomancers began running out of mana and potions. They were being continually supplied with more potions through space mage supply line specialists, but they just couldn’t keep up with how often Orodan’s attacks were killing them in the rare moments where he saw an opening to throw an All-Strike their way.

Ten of the Grandmasters had died as Warrior’s Reciprocity increased in level to 70, becoming Elite and gaining a qualitative increase in power. None of the healers and chronomancers had the reserves to bring a Grandmaster back from death, and even though they were single Grandmasters, their deaths were a crippling blow to the Novarrian Empire.

Throughout the fight, Orodan’s focus was on one particularly tempting target…

…the Avatar of Ilyatana.

Heredin Aeronsul was a weak triple-Grandmaster, consequently, in full Avatar state, Ilyatana was the weakest Avatar in the battle. Orodan gleefully took advantage of her scurrilous fear of him and happily targeted her with a vengeance.

Ten more minutes passed, and even as Agathor tore him apart, Orodan simply kept reforming like an unstoppable plague upon the Avatar of Ilyatana and savaging her with All-Strikes, Vitality Black Hole and Vitality Destruction. Her own divine beams of energy were ignored, and her proficiency in melee combat was pathetic. She was a coward and averse to pain and risk.

He was about to deliver the killing blow.

“Stop! You’ll kill my Chosen!” Ilyatana roared.

Finally, Eximus saw what was occurring and stopped fighting.

“Stop! Enough!” the Avatar of the God of Time roared. “If we allow you to leave, will you?! We surrender! You’ve proven how tenacious you are!”

Orodan Wainwright? Leaving a battle? How idiotic a thing to ask of him.

In response, Orodan only had a crazed smile on his face as seven of him launched All-Strikes towards the Avatar of the Goddess of Fate.

A horrific wail of divine pain rang out, and the golden divine energy left Heredin Aeronsul’s corpse very unwillingly.

A shame he already had the Avatar Slayer title. It would’ve been a fine moment to receive it.

The Novarrian army looked on in horror and some were contemplating retreat already. The Avatar of Eximus still didn’t move to fight, even as Ilyatana’s Avatar was killed. And Agathor’s weapon was readied once more, but without confidence. Yes, the God of War was by far the better warrior. If Orodan ever met Agathor face to face, he’d be squashed like an ant. But, this was a mere Avatar, and while Agathor was better than Orodan, the God couldn’t kill him.

“Only one course of action remains,” Agathor spoke. “The last time we could not kill something, we sent it very far away. And I do not think you will find us when you return.”

A hand gripped his throat, and suddenly Orodan was flying in the air.

Agathor planned on sending him into the void between stars, much like the Void Horror thirty-thousand years ago when it destroyed all civilization on Inuan.

He was all but certain that he would be taking an unplanned trip to the stars when something enveloped his vision. Scaly, and massive. Both he and Agathor were grasped within its clawed hand and slammed onto the ground.

“Kultuanir! You dare interfere!? Ilyatana should have slaughtered more of your vile kind!”

“And that is precisely why I will not allow you to dispose of this mortal,” the dragon spoke. “For too long have we waited for the opportunity to kill the Chosen of that vile genocider, and now this mortal does it for us? We owe this one a great debt.”

“You realize this means war with the Republic?! Your entire dragon flight will be butchered to the last hatchling!”

“Your Republic now has one less Chosen Avatar, and any attempts to turn on us dragons will result in Novarria taking advantage of your territory,” the dragon replied. “We would also make any attempts on us quite costly. Consider carefully if you would like to hand control of this land over to Eximus and Malzim.”

Orodan looked to the side and saw a suspicious lack of interference from the God of Time as Agathor’s Avatar was being manhandled by the patriarch of the Time Wind dragon flight. Perhaps the triple-alliance between Agathor, Eximus and Ilyatana was looser than it seemed.

“Tch…! Fine! Leave and never return to these lands Orodan Wainwright!” Agathor roared with barely concealed fury and indignation.

Orodan didn’t reply, mainly because he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t return. Technically, it wouldn’t be in this loop, but future ones.

But for now, Orodan had done it.

He’d killed an Avatar with his own power, forced the other two enemy Avatars to retreat and acquired Divine Resistance. Novarria had been dealt a heavy loss of many Masters and Grandmasters, and he had the appreciation of the Time Wind dragon flight.

In the horizon, Orodan could see Novarria’s own allied dragons making way for the battlefield. He had no particular grudge or conflict against them, so for once, Orodan decided to actually leave a fight.

Partially because he’d acquired whatever he could from this loop fighting Novarria and the Avatars. And partially because he didn’t want to kill any more people needlessly when they weren’t his enemies. His conflict was against the Gods, not Novarria or their dragons. Attempting to pursue Eximus or Agathor might lead to senseless innocent casualties.

With the Avatars fended off, Orodan could now focus on the target he originally had set. He could survive the Gods, but he still needed to find a way to avoid their detection. Or else he’d never be able to enter a city or study at an academy on Inuan.

For now his destination…

…was the entrance to the depths in Ranmere’s Folly.

Where he would venture into the abyssal depths, and hopefully encounter some friendly monster civilizations who could point him towards various useful skills. It was also deep underground, where the influence of the Prime Five was non-existent. But who knew what horrors worse than Avatars he’d encounter there?