Monsters of freezing ice seemed to bite away at Claud’s bones, and weird whispers he couldn’t make out crawled around in his ears. His flesh felt like that of a stranger’s, and Claud struggled to simply move his body.

“Claud. Claud. Claud.” Lily held his hand. “Wake up! Please! Wake up!”

Meeps surrounded him at the same time, the three little shapes hopping up and down on his body. Claud could feel a very, very faint impact from the way they moved, but that was all his lead-like body could feel.

Warm tears fell onto his cold face, and Claud summoned whatever power he could muster to simply move, opening his eyes at the same time. The little shapes scattered to the side as Lily supported him up slowly, an expression he never hoped to see again on her face.

“Claud!” She hugged him. “You scared me. What happened? Why did you fail? Was it my fault? Did I pressure you? Did—”

His vocal cords felt like sandpaper rubbing against each other as he asked for water, which Lily promptly delivered. Feeding him gently, Lily rubbed his chest, tears still streaming down her eyes.

“Sorry.” Claud forced down the lump in his throat. “Necessary.”

“Stop speaking like Kemata,” Lily choked out, before feeding him another sip of water. The aching pains began to flood away a moment later, and the feeling of vivid pain flowed away. The undercurrent of fatigue and tiredness surfaced a moment later, and Claud let out a faint groan.

“Claud?” Lily held him closer.

“Just…very tired.” Claud moved his shoulders lightly. “But it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

[ has updated.]

“So, it’s true.” Claud closed his eyes for a moment. “Lily. It’s going to be very hard to explain, but let’s wait for a while, shall we? Don’t worry about me. All this has been accounted for.”

Lily sniffed, and then blew her nose on Claud’s shirt. “What are we waiting for?”

“For my skill to come off cooldown. Two hours, I suppose.” Claud let out a heavy sigh. Simply opening his mouth to talk was incredibly draining. The way he now spoke was long and drawn out too, like that of an old man, and he didn’t like it at all.

“…You failed the Third Tutorial, right?” Lily asked.

“Yes. It’s necessary.” Claud lay back down. “I’ll tell you all about it after a good nap. I’m very tired. Can you wake me up later? I’m scared that I can’t wake up on my own.”

His eyelids felt like they were made of iron or something, and he rubbed his eyes. “Sorry. But I’ll tell you all about it. It’s necessary…”

The world went black. A faint warmth enveloped him a heartbeat later, and his consciousness began to drift. The warmth continued to wrap around him, reminding him of the fact that he was still alive, and that Lily was still by his side.

That stupid chill had nothing on Lily’s presence.

After what seemed like a few short minutes, the warmth pushed him up, and Claud let out a groan as Lily pulled open his eyelids gently. He looked at her for a few seconds, and then frowned.

“Two hours?”

She nodded.

“Urgh.” Claud looked around once more, and then said, “Can you help me up first? I’m going to sleep again if I remain on this bed.”

The two of them moved to the floor, which was definitely not a good place to sleep at, and Claud took the chance to examine his body fully. His senses had dulled significantly — the only thing that was still working at full blast was his ability to sense and control mana. His physical abilities, therefore, had taken a solid hit.

Letting out a small breath, Claud looked up at the ceiling. “Will of Solitude.”

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This time, Claud paid full attention to the activation of the skill itself. He could feel something within him stir — Will of Solitude’s spiritual structure — but what was most intriguing was how it seemed to be drawn from his entire body. Instead of projecting itself in a certain direction, Will of Solitude felt like it had extended out from his half-dead body, something that he could only tell precisely because his other senses were completely dulled.

“Claud?” Lily looked at him. “You did all this for a reason, right?”

Claud nodded. “Yes. Now, whatever I’m about to say cannot be leaked out…you know the drill, right?”

She nodded.

“Okay.” Claud felt incredibly fatigued at the momentous task of explaining his entire experience to Lily, but she was someone who had to know what fate seemed to have in store for her. “First off, I met myself in the Third Tutorial.”

Lily looked at him, and then touched his forehead.

“I’m not having a fever,” Claud replied. He couldn’t even bring up the strength to retort verbally right now, so after sparing three seconds to fantasise about the different ways Lily could nurse him back to health, he cleared his mind and said, “I met my future self in the Third Tutorial.”

“Your future self?”

“Yeah. I verified it too,” Claud replied. “Don’t worry. The me of the Third Tutorial called himself the Hollow God. I am quite sure that he became a god, since that was probably the only way he could interfere in my Third Tutorial.”

He took a deep breath, and then forced his lips to move again. “He laid out the consequences of what was going to happen if I cleared my Third Tutorial. An error would occur, exposing our current location. At the same time, the five grand skies would weaken for eleven seconds, allowing the Coloured Gods, the Dark and the Moons to exert their full power for that short period of time. I would use Absolute One to resist for ten seconds, and then you will throw yourself in harm’s way to protect me for the last second.”

Lily’s lips twitched.

“Don’t try to lie to me by saying you won’t do that,” Claud replied. “Anyway, the Hollow God slaughtered the other divinities and then destroyed the world. In the moment of its destruction, he forced himself into the Goddess of Learning’s Status system and lived there rent-free ever since.”

“If not for the fact that speaking is very draining on you, I’d have asked you for more details,” Lily muttered. “Anyway, the Third Tutorial.”

“My Third Tutorial had a problem. My personal quest and its outcome were at odds. If I passed my Third Tutorial, I would fail my personal quest.” Claud let out a long sigh, and then looked at Lily’s lap. He really wanted to just lie down on it right now, but until he fully explained the whole thing, she would only feel more and more worried.

“If I became a septa-folder but not improve my Absolute One, the error would occur, and the divinities will descend,” Claud added. “I had to solve my personal quest first, which requires me to…”

He checked his newly updated quest.

[Personal Quest: One’s Ideals]

Quest introduction: You espouse the importance of staying alive and living, even through the worst of circumstances. It is both inspiring and incredible, but without enduring torment and experiencing the desire for release, how can you support your claim?

Quest requirements: Endure the hollowing of lifeforce for an entire year.

Quest rewards: FiBoD:O??? evolves,

Additional Remarks: Hollow out your lifeforce by failing the Third Tutorial.]

“Yes. I am to fail the Third Tutorial and allow my lifeforce to be hollowed out,” Claud continued, his words slurring faintly. He couldn’t be bothered to articulate them clearly, and Lily would understand him anyway. “I must endure it for an entire year, and then I’ll force myself to do the Third Tutorial again.”

“How will you do that?” Lily asked.

“I’ll shatter the problematic mana circuit, and then reconstruct it with ten times the lifeforce.” Claud tried to smile, but his facial muscles felt like a stranger. “Don’t worry about me. This path…has been walked before.”

“Huh?”

Claud shook his head. “I need to tell you something. Something…don’t be scared, okay? It’s about you.”

“Me.” Lily straightened her back. “Alright. Go ahead.”

Claud raised a tired arm up, and then rubbed her head. “Remember when I said that the Hollow God went back in time or something? He wasn’t the only one to go back. To be more specific, he wasn’t the only Claud who went back. Apparently, I have been going back in time a few times, to influence things. I don’t know what things they are, but…”

“Wait, you went back lots of times?”

Claud nodded slowly. “All of them to make sure you didn’t die. I’m…my latest attempt right now. Probably. I don’t know how all this works either. But the Hollow God said that I’m the second Claud he saw.”

“What am I supposed to make of this?” Lily asked.

“That you, in every single…iteration so far, have died,” Claud replied slowly.

She stilled. “Destiny?”

“Probably.” Claud touched his head. “Like I said, I don’t know how this works. Maybe they’re all me or something. But it’s certain that this world has it out for you. I…don’t know what to do either.”

“Okay.”

“You seem very calm,” Claud noted.

“The person dearest to me is willing to suffer like this just so I won’t die, and other versions of him have gave it their all to protect their versions of me,” Lily replied, her words slow and methodical. “I’m more touched than anything else, to be honest.”

“…Yes, you can indeed put it that way.” Claud looked at her. “I wish you’d focus more on how destiny wants to kill you, though.”

“You’ll bring me back eventually,” Lily replied. “It’s fine.”

Claud shook his head, and his vision darkened for a moment. “Okay. Now that this is done, I think I’ll have another nap. I’m beginning to understand what Risti in the Second Tutorial endured…”

He lay down on Lily’s lap. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” A warm set of fingers touched his head. “Go sleep. I’ll keep watch until you wake up.”