Chapter 17: A New Hope
[Loop Count: 6]
I woke up to the Déjà vu system’s message, slowly realizing I had died five times already, wondering if the deaths were at least different each time.
I quickly glanced at the system’s menu to see where I stood.
[Déjà vu System: Level 6]
[Loop Count: 6]
[Experience Points (XP): 40 / 2000]
[2 Skill Points Available: Choose a skill to level up]
Two skill points available? There is no way I wouldn’t have leveled up a skill when I had the opportunity, so does that mean I leveled up twice before I died last run?
What the hell did I even do?!
No matter how hard I tried to recall what happened to me in my last run, nothing came up, as expected. But there was no point crying over it. I should focus on allocating the two skill points I now have.
The only skill in the Déjà vu system I hadn’t leveled up yet was Afterimage, and as it happens, it was exactly the skill that would likely help me the most right now. The only way for me to understand what exactly I did in my last run to level up twice, and replicate those decisions, is to actually see an afterimage of myself. Perhaps I took a different turn somewhere. Perhaps I followed someone I didn’t before. The only way I’d know is with Afterimage, though it was likely not going to be that useful at its first level.
[Skill acquired: Afterimage lvl.1]
[Next Level: lvl.2: Duration of the afterimage is prolonged to 10 seconds]
Great…
Well, if the next level brings the afterimage to ten seconds, then it’s fair to assume the current level’s afterimage lasts five. It’s not much, and I still have to choose the right moment to activate the skill, but it’s better than nothing.
Then a new message pooped up.
[A New Skill Available: Mirror Leveling]
A new skill? I navigated to the Déjà vu system’s skills screen, only to realize that the sixth skill on the list, one of those that were greyed out and locked before, was now visible.
6. Mirror Leveling – Lvl.0 / 1
Passive skill. For each level you gain in the Déjà vu System, you receive an additional point to allocate into your Core System.
Is this actually real? Are my eyes deceiving me, or does this new skill offers to enhance my core stats? My heart raced with excitement at the possibility. I was already level 6 in the Déjà vu system, which means that leveling up Mirror Leveling would grant me six additional skill points to allocate in my Core System.
I leveled it up quickly without another thought.
[Skill acquired: Mirror Leveling lvl.1 - MAX]
[6 Points Available: Choose a stat to level up]
My heart was already racing. Now, seeing this message for the first time in two years, it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest.
A goofy smiled appeared on my face – a smile I just couldn’t shake.
“Yes!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
I was finally getting somewhere. Even if I couldn’t remember what I did in previous runs, as long as I kept leveling up in the Déjà vu system, eventually I’d reach a high enough level to be able to finish all of this on my own.
Now, what should I level up?
When I began adventuring, I decided to go for an Agility-focused build, making sure that every stat I leveled up, every piece of armor I donned, every weapon I wielded, would enhance this build. It complimented my subclass - Arcane Duelist - a subclass specialized in one-on-one combat.
Should I keep the same approach, or is it time to shift my focus onto something else? My Intelligence stat was fairly low, especially for a Spellsword. The class is basically a combination of a warrior and a mage, but while my warrior skills were decent for my level, my mage skills left much to be desired. I never focused on the Intelligence stat early on, always believing I’d have time to level it up later, not knowing that level 50 was my personal cap.
Since my Intelligence stat only had nine points, I never even progressed far enough in my Magic Skill Tree. I had only a few very basic, and very weak skills from each element that were given at the Tree’s first milestone. I never picked an elemental affinity and had almost no resistance to any sort of damage or conditions. I basically relied on my high Agility to evade, but if I ever got caught, I was doomed. That was when Yana usually jumped in to save me. And after a bunch of those saves, I realized I couldn’t stand by her side anymore.
But now, I could.
I allocated the six skill points quickly and confirmed the selection. Weirdly enough, my level hadn’t changed – I was still the same level 50 Aidan Dar. Even the stats remained the same, with the only change being that now the extra skill points appeared in parentheses.
[Status Menu]
* Name: Aidan Dar
* Level: 50 (Max Level Reached)
* Class: Spellsword
* Subclass: Arcane Duelist
* Health: 100%
* Mana: 100%
* Stamina: 100%
* Endurance: 6 (+1)
* Durability: 5
* Agility: 20
* Strength: 10 (+2)
* Intelligence: 9 (+3)
But the stats had improved. I could tell when the Core System popped up the next message for reaching twelve points in the Intelligence stat.
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[Intelligence – 2nd Milestone Reached]
[Choose Elemental Affinity:]
[Fire]
[Water]
[Air]
[Earth]
After choosing an affinity, the basic skills of the elements that weren’t chosen will stay at their base level and will only scale with my general level and Intelligence stat. While the chosen element will present a unique Magic Tree with new skills to level up.
I wondered which one to choose. Each Elemental Affinity was strong in its own right. There wasn’t a single one that was considered overpowered. Yana chose fire, and it proved successful for her, but her build was more strength-focused, using fire magic to enhance the power and damage of her attacks. And she wasn’t a Spellsword.
Considering I hadn’t used any of the skill points I received from Mirror Leveling on my strongest stat, I knew what I had to pick. I hovered over the third option and selected it.
[You have chosen Air as your Elemental Affinity. Confirm your choice.]
[Confirm / Decline]
I confirmed the selection, and another message directed me toward the Spellsword’s Air Magic Skill Tree, presenting me with three new, already unlocked skills.
[Spellsword / Arcane Duelist]
[Air Magic Skill Tree]
1. Wind Rush – Lvl.1 / 3 – [0/5000XP]
A gust of wind guides you and enhances your evasions for the next two minutes. Can stack with other dodge/evasion skills. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
2. Wind Blast – Lvl.1 / 3 – [0/5000XP]
Release a small blast of condensed wind capable of inflicting a Stun. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
3. Horizon – Lvl.1 / 3 – [0/5000XP]
Perform a horizontal slash with your weapon of choice to unleash a destructive wave of wind capable of AOE damage. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
There were more skills after those three, but they were greyed out and unreadable. I knew they would unlock once I leveled up the first three and continued investing more points into the Intelligence stat. The progression through the skills themselves was different from leveling up stats, or the Déjà vu system’s skills. To level up skills from the Magic Skill Trees you had to gain XP through completion of quests and slaying of monsters. Here, I needed five thousand XP to upgrade each of the skills. It was quite a lot, considering I had to die five times to gain about as much XP, based on the XP required to progress to the seventh level of the Déjà vu system.
But it was a start, giving me a new hope for what lay ahead.
“…inventory…” I suddenly heard an echo thanks to the Echo Sense skill. My own.
Navigating to my second inventory on a whim, I found quite a lot of items there.
The array of items made no sense to me. Outside the Gethril Roots, which implied we’d encounter poison-inflicting enemies, it didn’t seem like I was preparing for anything specific – just for an all-out battle.
Assuming I got all these items from the stash provided by Yana’s guild, I prepared breakfast and waited for Yana. Once she arrived, we made our way to Gaelith’s tomb.
***
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.
.
The fact that adventurers’ stats were hidden from each other was both good and bad.
On the one hand, you could only assume some stats based on others’ class, subclass, and level, so you never actually knew the strength of your comrade or opponent until they revealed it to you.
On the other hand, they could only assume some stats based on your class, subclass, and level, so they never actually knew your strength until you revealed it to them.
That’s why I knew there was no risk revealing my newly acquired air magic skills to others, as they couldn’t actually tell how many points I had in Intelligence to suspect something was off with me. In other words, they wouldn’t necessarily question the fact that a level 50 adventurer was both advanced in Intelligence and Agility. The logical explanation they’d probably come up with is that I invested all my points in those two stats, leaving myself “naked” in the other three.
The only person who would notice the difference was Yana. She was also likely to ask questions about it – questions I couldn’t and didn’t want to answer. I knew I had to be wary around her and avoid using air magic.
I felt bold ever since the moment I allocated those six points today and charged at the Undead Warriors that attacked us when we cleared our designated chambers, managing to slay ten of them, earning 340 XP in total. We finished clearing the last chamber, and Jax ordered us to follow him and return to the main antechamber.
That rogue, Goren, approached me again. “Stop. Let’s talk.”
It was the second time he’d approached me today. The first was at the entrance, where he acted like he knew me. Recalling Chronos’ words and connecting the dots, I knew I had to keep my distance from him, but he was unrelenting.
It was hard keeping up my façade around him, pretending like I remembered him. I knew that at some point he’d figure me out. And unlike me, he actually had access to all of his memories from each of his runs. He would remember that I didn’t remember him.
I sighed as he closed the distance. “Yeah?”
“…blackberries…” I heard an Echo and did my best to keep my face straight, avoiding any reaction that might draw Goren’s suspicion.
“Not gonna lie, you’re kinda annoying me, Spellsword.” He said, looking angry.
“What?” I asked, sounding as innocent as I could, even though I knew why he felt that way. My previous selves were likely ignoring him as well.
“You know what!” He shouted, then pushed me with his hands. “What’s your problem?”
I regained my balance, raising an eyebrow at him. “What’s my problem? You’re the one who just pushed me.”
“Because you’re a nasty fuck!” he snapped at me. “I’m trying to help you, and you keep pushing me away. I want to end this, don’t you understand?”
“I want to end this as well.” I replied, keeping my tone neutral.
“You’re clearly not!” Goren replied, fuming, the darkness around him growing in size.
“Listen,” I tried to calm him, “I just want to stick to my friend, that’s all. Don’t take it personally. We’re still on the same side.”
He suddenly scanned me intently with his gaze, a confused look on his face. He took a deep breath, seemingly regaining his calmness.
“Do you remember what I gave you here last time?” he asked simply.
It was a test, and my mind ran over the items in my second inventory, trying to recall what he could’ve given me. Then, I remembered the Echo I heard just a minute ago.
“Blackberries.” I replied, hoping it was the right answer.
He smirked, then nodded and just left me behind.
“…your sense of humor is starting to grow on me…” I heard another Echo, this time Goren’s.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that was the wrong answer.