I woke up standing in a puddle of water. My hand stretched out. Blue refreshing mana accumulated on my fingers. Tenty lied on the ground next to my impaled body. His body and face sprawled from when he died. I was a bit disappointed that I died before I could finish my cake. It was rich, had a nice bitter contrast, and a mild sweet cream on top. Actually, eating as much cake as I did might've been the death of me.

"Do not do that again."

I thought I heard the dead octopus man speaking. I probably should've spent less time reading and spared a few minutes to socialize. But, Ao's breath, I hated trying to force myself into casual conversation. How did one even start? Now, I was paying for the consequences of my seclusion. The dead were talking. "What are you musing on about?" I decided to engage.

"Mostly just the laments of the lonely," I said.

"You are an odd orc… even for orc standards."

"I know." I probably shouldn't humor myself, but the dead squid had a point. "I'm too soft, for starters, and I'm about a head shorter than the average orc. That did a number on one's confidence when power was what people desired. That was just superficial details, too. Below the surface—

"Stop talking to yourself. I am trying to be serious." I sounded a lot like Squids, and my voice projection skills should be applauded.

"I'm not talking to myself. I'm talking to you through me. It sounds the same. But I assure you it's different. If only a little bit."

"I am not dead."

"I know. You live on in my heart. As do all my friends." Ah, shit. Here we go, getting sappy at the beginning of the loop. At least I didn't start this one crying. That was embarrassing… and I was alone. "You're in good company, Squids."

Perhaps it was time to leave and seek out people. I really didn't want to, though. This loop would be a testing loop, so I'd have a nice measuring stick for the subsequent loops. The fight with the bandits was an eye-opener. Never before would I've been able to fight off ten cultivators at once. Not only could I defeat them, my injuries weren't permanent. And that was only with me being a templar for a week or so. I didn't even break out my special powers of skewerless roasting. The blood cultists would've been dazzled. Shame shame.

"Stop calling me Squids. It is highly offensive. You do not see me calling you ape-man, do you? Besides, I already told you my name is Calypso. I think you are just trying to be rude."

The mention of the name flashed memories through my mind. There was fire and tears, and the forest was leveled. Great powers fought, while I laid in agony. Blood drained from my face, and a pit dropped in my stomach. I pulled my right hand up so that I could inspect it. All was well. My heart thudded as I brought my left hand forward.

I had both hands. The relief was instant, and I let out a long sigh.

I had forgotten an entire loop, a long, painful loop, and still, some of my memory was gone. I had parts of the puzzle, but most pieces didn't fit together, and I was sure I was missing a few. How did the forest catch on fire? What happened to the trees, and what about the powerful cultivators fighting?

My missing hand made sense. All the memories about that incident were perfectly clear until I chopped a couple of trees with my ax hand. The fight with the beasts was also clear. It was a desperate, bloody battle that I barely survived. I remembered creating an elixir using the wolfbear's refined cores, my body burning, and… Tents—Calypso crying. Bloody pits. The solution. Did he make me forget?"

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"So, can we have a reasonable conversation yet?" Cal's voice lacked the irritating tone that usually accompanied his words. However, I still had the impression that his arms were tightly folded, his fingers on his right hand tapped on his side, and his face displeased.

I killed him. I let the thought slip.

"Obviously not. I am still here."

"I hurt you," I said, sinking in the thought.

"I'd rather not talk about it. Please, there is much we should discuss."

"Like?"

"Your new rank, our plan? Goals? Anything that resembles direction. It is good you have reached a new realm. You are still far too weak for what is to come."

"And what is to come?"

"Death. A whole lot of death."

"How long?"

"The shadow plague hits in four years. My people come shortly after that to either a world of ash or under the tyranny of the Shadow Shaman Queen. After that… well, the chances of this world surviving are a drop in the ocean's abyss."

"Alright, Calypso. You've got my ear. Start talking. First, teach me how to get rid of you, defend myself against your attacks, protect my people, and teach me some of your tricks." The list of requests seemed reasonable to me. If the flayen wanted me to work with him, he'd have to start working with me, and since it was my mind that was at stake, it was only fair I set the conditions.

"I… I can not share this knowledge with you. It could lead to my people being taken advantage of. I will share some other techniques with you, though."

That wasn't good enough.

"Stop. I am trying to help you. We need a plan."

"I have a plan." It was technically true. My plans had somewhat shifted. Instead of using a day to socialize, I was headed to the dungeon. I added an extra layer of ice to my frozen body and pulled the stake from the ground. With my body in tow, I headed into the forest, anchoring and securing the life preserve to a tree.

I really needed a name for my dead body… Iceman... The Freeze... It needed to be cool and simple.

"I will tell you all that I can," Cal said.

I passed the barrier, turned at the landing, and walked down the narrow path. Cal continued to fire inquiries the entire time.

"What do we have here?" The awakened wolfbear asked as I knocked on her cavern wall. This approach always resulted in a fight, as did all encounters with Lips, but it was the most polite start. I heard the steps of the earth templar as she stomped to the entrance. "Oh my. You look delicious."

I punched Lipper square in the mouth with a massive frozen fist; the force and power behind the blow cracked the stone skin armor.

"You dare—" Lips dodged my volley of ice spikes. She called for the earth to bury me, and I felt the ice covering the ground shaking. An extra layer of ice further solidified my hold.

I pressed the attack with a relentless storm of ice arrows anchored into her body. I'm creating a dozen a second. Bareskin has to keep her guard up. Not only did she have to protect herself from ice arrows, but ice spears stabbed at her from the surfaces of the frozen cavern. She pulled back deeper into her lair. All of her attacks had been rendered useless with my own counters. I knew her attacks too well, and her tricks had a tell. I predicted every action up to her charging toward me and then fleeing.

If the small cavern wasn't frozen solid, it would have shaken when Lipper ran into the ice wall. The combination of her power and speed dazed the templar for a moment. In the past, I made the mistake of closing on the fallen foe. It only took a few deaths in previous loops to learn it was a bad idea. However, I wasn't the same fighter I was before. Along with powered shots from my bow, ice blocks formed at the top ceiling and fell.

Lips summoned earth mana to encase her. Before her shell formed, ice boulders crashed into her, breaking her exterior shell and cracking her armor. I didn't give her a chance to repair the crack near her heart, and as the glass-like stone reformed, it secured the arrow protruding from her chest as well as her death. The echo of the fallen templar muffled against melting walls.

"Impressive," Cal said.

I wasn't done.