OH, LOOK, ROD’S RIGHT BACK WHERE HE STARTED—POWERS STRIPPED, TOSSED INTO A DUNGEON LIKE YESTERDAY’S TRASH, AND TREATED TO A FRONT-ROW SEAT AT THE GODS’ BICKERING MATCH. THEY’RE GOING AT IT LIKE TODDLERS WHO’VE FOUND THE KNIFE DRAWER, AND ROD’S STUCK IN THE SPLASH ZONE. HE’S MAD. NO, FURIOUS. BETRAYED BY THOMAS, WEIGHED DOWN BY FRESH RESENTMENT, AND TRAPPED IN A NEVER-ENDING HAMSTER WHEEL OF DYING AND RESPAWNING. THERE’S NO NEAT MORAL LESSON HERE, JUST RAW IRRITATION AND THE ENDLESS ECHO OF HIS OWN FOOTSTEPS.
HE TRUDGES THROUGH PENANCE’S GRIM HALLWAYS, HACKING APART MONSTERS AND CLAIMING DEATH BOONS—TINY PATS ON THE HEAD FOR NOT COMPLETELY EATING DIRT. JUST AS THIS SADISTIC CYCLE ALMOST BECOMES ROUTINE, LIFE THROWS A CURVEBALL. HE STEPS INTO WHAT SHOULD BE A BOSS ROOM, AND THE WALLS FLICKER LIKE A FAULTY NEON SIGN. NEXT THING HE KNOWS, HE’S ON THE THIRD FLOOR: THE SO-CALLED LIBRARY OF INFINITE WORLDS. SOUNDS DIGNIFIED, RIGHT? DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP.
AH, A LIBRARY. ONE MIGHT PICTURE MUSTY PAGES, SCHOLARLY HUSH, MAYBE EVEN A HELPFUL LIBRARIAN. INSTEAD, IT’S A BATTLEFIELD. FACTIONS OF PENITENTS BEAT EACH OTHER SENSELESS OVER OVERDUE VOLUMES. BLINK TOO LONG, AND SOMEONE (MAYBE YOU!) GETS SUCKED INTO THE SHELVES, NEVER TO RETURN. ROD TEAMS UP WITH BLAKE, A PENITENT WHO AT LEAST SEEMS CAPABLE OF HOLDING A WEAPON WITHOUT STABBING HERSELF. SHE EXPLAINS THE RULES OF THIS LITERARY FREE-FOR-ALL, BUT ROD’S BRAIN CHECKS OUT AROUND “LIBRARY CARD.” TURNS OUT, YOU NEED ONE OF THOSE IF YOU WANT TO CRACK OPEN A BOOK. AND THESE AREN’T JUST BOOKS—THEY’RE DOORWAYS TO TWISTED WORLDS FULL OF HAZARDS AND REALLY TERRIBLE IDEAS.
ROD’S FIRST ASSIGNMENT? HANDI-WORK BOMBFIELD. THAT NAME ALONE SUGGESTS IT’LL BE ABOUT AS PLEASANT AS JUGGLING GRENADES. INSIDE, ENVIRONMENTAL DEATH TRAPS LURK AROUND EVERY CORNER, HIS ABILITIES GET THE VOLUME TURNED DOWN TO ZERO, AND ELIZABETH—HIS CRYSTAL COMPANION—ISN’T EXACTLY BRIMMING WITH WARM FUZZIES. SHE’S MORE LIKE AN IRRITABLE DRILL SERGEANT, ISSUING SHARP, NO-NONSENSE ADVICE WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A “GOOD JOB” WHEN HE SURVIVES. ROD CAN PRACTICALLY FEEL THE SHELVES GLARING AT HIM. THE SILENCE HERE IS LIKE A PREDATOR WAITING TO POUNCE.
Enter William: a librarian who greets you with all the warmth of a poisoned blade. He demands books and Golden Pages, claiming he can craft a mythical “golden book”—a supposed ticket out of this hellish dimension. Great. A fetch quest with a side of existential dread. It’s like someone mashed up your favorite RPG with a philosophy class taught by a sadist.Aurentum buts in and feels pretty useless except for the random apples he leaves everywhere. That can’t be important, right?
Blake, ever the wildcard, has her own agenda—something about defying William’s orders and raiding the restricted section. Why settle for one impossible mission when you can juggle two? The ensuing heist has life, death, and “don’t get mulched by the Protector” written all over it. The Protector itself? Picture a monstrous avian blend of Final Fantasy summon and fever-dream horror. Not exactly your friendly neighborhood bookworm.
Elizabeth, of course, chooses this moment to spaz out. Instead of straightforward “dodge left” or “watch out” hints, she spews cryptic riddles that would make a seasoned puzzle-solver cry. Rod and Blake barely escape with their ill-gotten loot, but the close call leaves Rod more certain than ever that Blake’s holding her own cards. Spoiler: She absolutely is.
MEANWHILE, JAMIE’S ENJOYING HER OWN CARNIVAL OF PAIN. SHE DEALS WITH HER VERY SPECIAL BRAND OF EMOTIONAL TORTURE: FIGHTING A HIDEOUS, CORRUPTED DOPPELGÄNGER OF HER DEAR OLD DAD. BECAUSE NOTHING SAYS “FAMILY QUALITY TIME” LIKE BEING FORCED TO PUT YOUR FATHER’S TWISTED, MUTATED FORM DOWN. NATURALLY, SHE WINS, BUT THE VICTORY IS FLAVORED WITH GUILT AND SALTED WITH A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. YUMMY. AFTER THAT, SHE GRITS HER TEETH AND POWERS THROUGH MORE LOOPS, MORE MONSTERS, AND MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL SUCKER PUNCHES.
EVENTUALLY, JAMIE STUMBLES ONTO ELRIC, HER LONG DISTANT ANCESTOR, THE HERO OF ALL AGES AND HIS MERRY BAND OF SURVIVORS—CALL THEM THE “SCOOBY GANG.” ELRIC’S GOT THE WHOLE VALIANT-BUT-WEARY-HERO VIBE GOING, LUGGING AROUND A LEGACY HE NEVER ASKED FOR. THEY DISCUSS STRATEGY IN GREAT DETAIL, AND CLEAR A FEW ROUNDS OF MONSTERS FROM TAKING OUT THE CAMP WHILE TRYING TO UNEARTH THE MYSTERIOUS CULT OF THE KEY. BUT THEN WHEN ELRIC’S WIFE IS BRUTALLY MURDERED, PEOPLE BEGIN TO SUSPECT THAT THERES AN IMPOSTER AMONGUS. CUE THE SEARCH OF THE CAMP FOR A TRAITOR.
JAMIE’S THOUGHT FOR THE TRAITOR? ELRIC’S SERVANT MARTIN. LET’S JUST SAY THE GUY’S ABOUT AS TRUSTWORTHY AS A SNAKE ON A SUGAR HIGH. IF THERE WERE A BINGO CARD FOR BETRAYAL, JAMIE’D BE JUST ONE SQUARE AWAY FROM SHOUTING, “GOT IT!” SHE TRIES TO WARN THE CAMP WHEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE.
SO, HERE THEY ALL ARE: ROD STUCK IN A LIBRARY-TURNED-BLOODSPORT-ARENA, JAMIE PICKING THROUGH EMOTIONAL WRECKAGE AS SHE MEETS NEW ALLIES AND LIKELY TRAITORS. BOTH OF THEM GRINDING THROUGH PENANCE’S GREATEST HITS OF MISERY. IT’S NOT ELEGANT, IT’S NOT HEROIC—IT’S A MESS. BUT THAT’S PENANCE FOR YOU: A KALEIDOSCOPE OF SUFFERING WHERE THE GODS TOY WITH MORTALS LIKE BORED TODDLERS WAVING POINTY STICKS. AND IF ROD AND JAMIE WANT OUT, WELL, THEY’LL HAVE TO KEEP DANCING TO THE TUNE. AND THAT’S JUST ACT ONE.
Act Two is set to kick off with a bang—if by “bang” we mean more pain, more betrayal, and crystal companions who’d rather mock than guide Oh hey, Lizzie, baby! Were practically, Twins!. Silence isn’t a sign of peace here; it’s a predatory hush. And Elric? He’s not just another random survivor. He’s living proof that legends don’t spring from happy endings; they’re hammered out of blood, betrayal, and the screams of the desperate.
So Act Two dumps Rod right into a faction war in the Library of Infinite Worlds fresh off of a successful run through his first world, he's stuck in a battle between the Flameaters (crazy book-burning hooligans), and a giant owl that totally isn't a rip off of another giant owl in a library. Blake decides this is the perfect time to introduce a romantic subplot and smooches Rod a few times. Rod isnt sure how he feels, but it definitely isnt contentment.
Then, they fight before Rod gets sucked into a portal from portal that takes him to the dreaded water temple, complete with Iron boots! Time seems to skip a beat, and Elizabeth—Rod’s crystal companion—chooses this grand moment to start glitching. As he dives into the world, he discovers signs of a god he has never heard of, something that is deeply unsettling. He’d as Elizabeth, but instead of straightforward advice, she’s coughing up riddles like a broken puzzle box. Perfect timing, as always.
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Jumping back to Jamie, Elric suddenly dies, because we can’t have nice things. Jamie finds herself on the run and escapes into a cave system where after killing Martin, who obviously was the traitor after all, is thick with cultists—The Cult of the Key—who seem convinced she’s their big-ticket messiah. She carves a path of blood and bones through their organization, but the more she kills, the more convinced they seem by the ‘salvation’ she offers. Their logic is about as coherent as a Lovecraftian prophecy scrawled in orphan blood. Yum. As if that’s not enough, she faces down the Manipede, a mutated monster created from the corpse of Elric that's straight out of a Dark Souls game, and puts him down for good. Victory, sure, but at what cost to her sanity? When she finally escape the cave, she thinks things are finally getting better, but instead she accidentally a whole god. Thats right for those keeping count there are now 5 God’s running around free in the vaulted halls of penance.
Elizabeth’s meltdown on Rod’s side of things only adds to the fun. Instead of providing life-saving intel, she now spits out puzzles that would make a Mensa genius weep. Any hope Rod had for a steady ally is going up in glitchy smoke. He’s stuck playing charades with a broken oracle while monsters close in.
And so Act Two skids to a halt with both Rod and Jamie stumbling back toward the Library of Infinite Worlds, their paths about to slam together like two gamers trying to play Minecraft and struggling to get Logmein Hamatchi working. Rod’s tangled in knots of doubt Because of Blake of all people. Jamie’s burdened by layers of betrayal. Overhead, the Tournament of the Gods looms like a final exam you didn’t study for—except failing here means a fate far worse than bad grades.
Meanwhile, I enjoyed some giggling and snarking from the sidelines, reminding jamie that, in Penance, victory is always conditional and the next chapter’s going to hurt. Golden Pages, fractured alliances, malfunctioning crystals, and gods with too much time on their hands—this is the setup. No phoenix downs left, no pressure. Just another day in the paradise that is Penance. What Joy.
Ah, Act Three—where things don’t just get worse; they explode in your face like a faulty fireworks display. Hope you’re buckled in, because Rod and Jamie’s misery gauges are about to go off the charts, and the gods? They’re still warming up their throwing arms.
Rod’s descent into insanity involves a joyous trip to Chanchydia, a cursed island that a particularly sadistic travel agent might have as well designed. Think: all-inclusive “fun” packages that include active volcanoes and monsters who think you’re the daily lunch special. He befriends a native of the world without a crystal, even though he claims to be a penitent. He goes by Maris and shows Rod the way around the island Here’s the kicker: Rod’s grim discovery comes courtesy of some journal entries he pinches from Maris’s pack. Turns out an expedition led by none other than Thomas Terrenfel once visited this island, and—shocker—things went as well as an amateur juggling flaming chainsaws while riding a unicycle.
Maris, as expected, isn’t exactly hero material. He’s rocking that “I’m so suspicious I might as well be wearing a neon sign” vibe. At the center of the disaster is the Stone of Separation, a cursed artifact Maris wants to milk for power. Rod decides he’s had enough of the secrets and cheap shots. He confronts Maris, airing all that pent-up betrayal like dirty laundry in a hurricane. Maris responds by dropping any pretense of decency—he’s going full villain mode, no brakes.
Luckily, Rod’s got his Enchanted Mace of the Clairvoyant (patent pending), a weapon that lets him read the enemy’s next move. It’s basically a cheat code for revenge. He lands a few hits that sing with sweet, righteous fury, but because the universe hates him, a volcano decides to blow its top at that exact moment. Perfect timing. In the ensuing chaos—fireballs, ash clouds, screaming—Maris pulls a vanishing act, leaving Rod with more bruises than answers. Rod escapes, alive but shaken, and now he’s pretty sure he’s wearing the cosmic sign: “Kick Me, I’m the Protagonist.” He follows Maris deep into the Heart of the Volcano, and Rod kills MAris in the insueing clash which ends up summoning yet another god, Chanchydia. The god disables Rod’s weapon, Kills Elizibeth, and says he’ll be the god’s newest chew toy, until Someone shouts “Rod!”
Meanwhile, Jamie’s situation does a neat little pirouette into absurd territory. After freeing and being cursed by a god, an insatiable hunger follows her everywhere she goes. This leads to her eating a book, which tasted like a deep wood.
As Jamie enter’s the Library of infinite worlds, She encounters Blake and runs away after fearing she’ll eat the other human. she eats a weird apple that seems to sate her hunger (that was placed by Aurentum on a table earlier in the story.)
Then Blake, Jamie’s gets mad that jamie is about to go spelunking in the book Rod is currently vacationing in. She decides to commit suicide because apparently only one person can leave a book alive and she doesnt even bother to share this with Jamie or Rod despite having the entire book to do so.
Jamie and Blake fight multiple times across the entire island until the volcano erupts sending them down into the same cave Rod is in.
Everyon is excited its Reunionl-o’clock, except thats when Rod’s longest run comes to an abrupt and funny end. And promptly Blake tries to pin the whole disaster on Jamie. She even goes in for the kill, because apparently if you’re going to serve up a backstab, might as well go full-course. Jamie, too tired to muster fresh rage is too confused by the revelation that Blake and Rod were dating, adn doesnt want to fight her.
Whether that’s personal growth or sheer exhaustion is anyone’s guess Enter Chancydia, one of the gods who treats moral dilemmas like party tricks. She Just evaporates Blake, and is about to do the same to Jamie when she hauls it to the golden page and collapses back on the ground of the library.
Her world is rocked by the revelation that Rod is stuck in Penance with her, but there is no time to process anything as Malikap shows up demanding Jamie help him prepare for The Tournament of the Gods, but then I did something like really cool and subtly told her to just go along with things for now.
Oh and then Rod gets teleported to the backrooms where Aurentum and Rellum are just chilling before Aurentum declares he has a solution to Rod’s Crystal problem. I think thats every thing but what do I care? Go away. Shoo. its over now.