Sporus screamed in agonizing pain, followed by a terrible coughing.

With the two Telchines dead at my feet, I twisted on the balls of my feet and lightninged into the air, pilum resummoning into my hand. I had already seen what happened to him.

Pale green fire and smoke surrounded Umbra and Sporus in the sky. The air was full of burning, cancerous toxins. While Umbra’s dragon scales warded off most of the damage, Sporus had no such protections. Umbra flitted away in fear as the Telchine dragon chased him.

As I flew in the air, I aimed my fall to land on the Telchine dragon’s back, who was now riderless thanks to Umbra’s and Sporus’s success in taking him out. The dragon reared its head in surprise at my arrival, temporarily halting its pursuit of Umbra to deal with me.

I afforded him no such chances.

Time paused for an hour thanks to my Saturn's Hourglass Ring.

Glory (-100): 7,470

I had all the time in the world to summon my Pilum of Mars repeatedly through his thick, dragon skull. I lost track of time as I numbingly summoned again and again, the sound of wet crunching lettuce the only thing I could hear as I shanked him.

When time resumed, the last of the Telchines fell dead into the ocean. With a Jupiter-blessed jump, I backflipped off of him and summoned a lightning bolt to grab onto to keep me steady in the air.

Umbra dove to our base atop the island’s ruins, not sure what to do for the very burned and sick Sporus. I would have to help heal him.

But for now, I turned my attention to the looming god Typhon who watched me in satisfaction. The mountainous god lowered his chest into the water, his dark and terrible wings giving one more flap. Now that his face was out of the clouds, his burning eyes were almost as intense as the sun, both glaring at me and approving of my valor. The little staring contest lasted for only a few seconds. When he was satisfied, Typhon sank the rest of the way beneath the waves, causing one last tsunami to tear across the sea.

Typhon would be eager to face me alone. He would get his chance.

Luckily for us, the tsunami and the storm above began to dissipate rapidly the moments following Typhon’s exit. By the time the giant wave reached Medusa’s shores, it was little more than a kid friendly tide, and the storm had completely cleared away to reveal a crisp late morning sun.

I took one of the largest sighs of relief holding onto the lightning bolt. Immediately, the adrenaline rush started to subside, and the fatigue smacked me in the face. For the first time, I realized how weak my muscles had become. Holding onto the lightning bolt was like trying to hold onto a slippery pole. Even thinking became extremely challenging thanks to the pounding headache I was now suffering and the irregular heart palpitations in my chest.

I could only imagine what Umbra and Sporus were feeling. Each day without rest seemed to be twice as worse as the previous day.

Day six, here we go, I thought, letting my body fall into the cool water. The sudden dive heightened my senses once more, but only briefly. It was enough to bring some much needed life into my weakening body as I dragged myself back to the shore. Upon laying on the sands in exhaustion, I received my latest Jupiter blessing.

Quest Completed: Heart of the Storm

“Error: Unable to report System feedback.”

Rewards:

* Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 8/10: Summons a cataclysmic storm that unleashes 50 lightning strikes across the battlefield, each bolt dealing 500 damage without need of stamina. The strikes target enemies with pinpoint accuracy, leaving behind electrified ground that deals 100 damage per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.

* Strength (+30): lvl 27 (220/280)

* Intelligence (+10): lvl 9 (40/100)

* Honor (-50): 60

* Glory (+420): 7,890

* Level (+1): 61 (370/630)

* Skill Points (+1): 1

The storm ability would be a life saver in the upcoming battle. It was getting harder to focus, and the more time stretched on, the more challenging each quest would be. This was especially true with the debuffs we would begin experiencing now that the effects of the Café Aeternum were wearing off. It had prevented the debuffs before, but now it would no longer.

Despite the severe headache I was experiencing, I could see from the futures exactly what kind of hell we would experience.

The first negative side effect now active was troublesome, but not debilitating. However, they would as the days stretched on, with everything after day ten becoming impossible to survive.

Collectively, I could see the entire list of consequences that would emerge with each day.

* Day 6:

* Skill Penalty: Stamina and health regeneration is slowed by 30%, and a 10% chance for each attack or block to miss or fail.

* Physical Penalty: Muscle weakness and overall decrease in physical coordination. Heart palpitations and intense headaches, making concentration challenging.

* Day 7:

* Skill Penalty: Speed reduced by 30%, making movement and reaction times sluggish and prone to error.

* Physical Penalty: More memory blackouts and trouble recognizing familiar faces.

* Day 8:

* Skill Penalty: All weapon damage output reduced by 30% due to weakening grip and impaired strength coordination.

* Physical Penalty: Heightened paranoia, believing even allies are conspiring against the user.

* Day 9:

* Skill Penalty: All actions now cost 50% more stamina, and balance wavers, causing a 10% stumble chance during any movement action and making critical strikes impossible.

* Physical Penalty: Loss of fine motor control, with trembling hands and impaired speech.

* Day 10:

* Skill Penalty: Mind-numbing fatigue dulls pain perception, leading to delayed responses to wounds and increasing damage taken by 25%.

* Physical Penalty: Severe disorientation and trouble distinguishing reality. Intense emotional instability, with bouts of crying or anger.

* Day 11:

* Skill Penalty: All experience gain is halted; leveling up any attribute becomes impossible due to mental instability and memory gaps. Periodic blackouts blur vision and disrupt coordination, reducing all movement speed by 50%.

* Physical Penalty: Constant dizziness and nausea, with frequent falls. Full cognitive collapse, unable to make strategic decisions.

* Day 12:

* Skill Penalty: Stamina and Health regeneration are completely suspended, and any damage taken is doubled as the body and mind near collapse.

* Physical Penalty: Near-total physical exhaustion, barely able to stand. Involuntary micro-sleeps that cause lapses in consciousness. Risk of organ failure; severe delirium.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It was imperative that we finished the civil war by day ten. I would not be able to fight Caesar with being supremely dizzy and unable to think straight. He would win every time. And it was essentially impossible to fight him with zero stamina and health regeneration, on top of not being able to see what he was doing in those blackout futures. A couple of well timed hits would take me out.

And that said nothing of Umbra and Sporus, who would be against me under Caesar’s control.

Time was of the essence.

Rising to my feet which felt as heavy as lead, I leaped up the mountain to join Umbra and Sporus, who would be experiencing day seven consequences.

Sporus was a disturbing sight to behold.

He writhed in pain on the ground, clawing at his bubbling, green flesh that popped through his midnight hood and leather tunic. It was horrible to look at him, to know I was responsible. Umbra’s reaction time had been slower since they were on day seven of no sleep, and his speed was slower than the Telchines. It was inevitable Sporus would suffer.

But the other futures were statistically worse for Sporus. Marred flesh was a small price to pay for avoiding death. Then again, perhaps he would enjoy the sweet rest that death offered. After all, Camilla awaited him in Elysium, where he wouldn’t be sleep deprived or stressed.

I closed my eyes, sighing. It is the only way.

When I opened them again, his eyes found mine. At first, they furrowed in confusion, as if he didn’t recognize me. Then, they widened with rage.

“You knew!” Sporus seethed in between groans of pain. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Umbra cocked his head in surprise at me, but grumbled to himself, keeping his thoughts hidden from us.

“It would have changed Umbra’s evasive maneuvers with the added knowledge and stress. The strain would have led to a temporary blackout for him, leaving you wide open for the Telchine’s teeth.”

Sporus looked away, shaking his head. Several tears leaked from his red eyes.

I closed the gap, leaning over him with my healing potion. Sporus snatched it from my hand and chugged it, his flesh instantly beginning to heal, though not completely. He had already consumed the last of his, so I spared one of my last two for him. I would keep one just in case things got too close, as I was the only one that could kill Caesar.

“Accept the next quest,” he growled, wiping his face from the potion that dribbled down his blistered chin.

I said nothing more and did exactly that, feeling irritated but knowing that he wasn’t truly angry at me. It was the calculative decision that he would have made too, had he been in my shoes. It was the lack of sleep that deprived everyone’s patience.

Lumbering over to the shrine of Jupiter, I asked for the next quest, though it took me a second to read the red letters appearing before me.

Wrath of the Conqueror: Journey into the searing deserts of Persia, where Alexander the Great, revived by Caesar, marches with a thirst for your blood. Engage in a grueling battle against Alexander, enduring ferocious sandstorms and unyielding heat that threaten to sap your strength. Slay 500 of Alexander's legendary Greek soldiers to earn your chance at single combat with the Conqueror himself whom you must defeat, not slay, before the sandstorm consumes you. Dragon mount is prohibited.

Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 9/10: Increases stamina and health regeneration by 300% and provides 50% resistance to physical and enchanted attacks.

Accept this quest?

I wearily accepted the quest before rejoining Umbra and Sporus. In brief, I informed them of the quest.

Five hundred, great, Umbra sneered, forcibly blinking his serpentine eyes open. He had severe bags beneath them. And no flying.

“You should stay here,” I said to Sporus, who only shook his head.

“No. I’ll make it. You won’t be able to take all of them down yourself. Just… don’t keep anything from me, Maximus.”

I grimaced but nodded. Again, it was his choice. We were all sacrificing everything to save the world. Though he was significantly weaker and his wounds too fresh, his bow could be of assistance and did increase our chances.

As much as I wanted to sit down and rest with them for a moment, that would be the worst thing to do right now. I could see in the still burning futures in my brain that the temptation to just close my eyes and lean my head back against the ruined temple stones was overwhelmingly tempting. I needed to keep going.

Unfortunately, Sporus would take a few hours to heal. And there was no way I could stay up sitting still for a few hours. To pass the time, I whipped out my Tome of Infinite Tomes, the book of endless pages, to increase my Historical Insight. To help concentrate, I sipped on some Café Aeternum. Even though I could see up to the confrontation with Caesar, it was the only thing I could do without falling asleep.

For the next three hours, my Historical Insight grew, though I could hardly remember what I read. I also decided to use the last of my glory to pause time and churn as much as I could while we waited for Sporus to heal.

Glory (-7,800): 90

Historical Insight (+lvl 640,379): 7 days, 9 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds into the future of any decision.

My hands, just like my mind, were on fire by the time I finished. I took one large deep breath as I withdrew my hand from the endless book. Looking at Sporus, I could see he was ready too.

“Alright,” I said, cracking my neck. “Let’s go beat Alexander’s winning streak.”