Chapter 45: Fifteen Minutes I

Fifteen minutes.

That was how long Orodan had before the first of his pursuers reached him.

For him however, fifteen minutes was a lot of time to get work done.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out, and the surrounding ten blocks were irrevocably altered.

Something had inexplicably changed in Ogdenborough, specifically in Briar Court and the surrounding ten blocks. And as Orodan walked out of his utterly immaculate hovel, he began to hear the people who were awoken in the night.

“What the... what happened?! The smell! Mother! The smell is finally gone! I don’t smell tannins anymore!” cried the tanner’s daughter in relief as the man’s house finally lost its ever-present stench.

“My... what even was that? I feel so invigorated...”

“Darling! Your hair... it’s entirely black! You... you’re young again!”

“Who the hells woke me up? I’m parched, where’s my waterskin?” one man uttered, and then a cry of shock rang out. “B-by the Gods... this water tastes incredible!”

All around him, Orodan could hear similar words of shock and astonishment from the usage of his Domain Of Perfect Cleaning. The skill actually hadn’t increased in level with this single usage, but its advance felt close, and Orodan instinctively had a hunch that this skill would face no bottlenecks for a long while.

He stepped out of his hovel and surveyed the shocked faces of everyone on his street as they were awoken by the intrusive, if beneficial, changes to their bodies. Every single person within ten blocks had been irrevocably changed for the better.

The very ground for a half mile had been utterly purified, and the effects were quite pronounced. Orodan could sense the vitality and mana flowing through everything better as all impurities had been completely removed. Essentially, the surrounding half mile was completely pure, without flaws and impurities.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to call himself divine, and neither would he ever want to be, but many would see him as such with feats like these. And it raised the question of what else Orodan could do now that he had all this power.

Of course, the clock was ticking.

It was still the first thirty seconds of the loop, and Old Man Hannegan usually didn’t arrive at the construction site for the warehouse at 4 Ale Road until after Orodan’s morning Physical Fitness regimen. The old man was a hard worker and would get up at night just to collect the lumber from the supplier in Scarmorrow so he could make it back in time for the beginning of the workday.

Frankly, the laborers who worked under the old man should’ve been ashamed, as the man’s work ethic far outstripped theirs.

And now, in a loop where Orodan had but fifteen minutes until the Void Horror came to capture him from beneath? He decided to skip traveling altogether.

[Teleportation 14 → Teleportation 15]

Space tore apart as a Teleportation took him to where he wanted to be, the middle of the road between Scarmorrow and Ogdenborough, dead in the night. A cart loaded with cheap lumber, being pulled by a mule. In the driver’s seat of this cart, sat Old Man Hannegan, and he was angrily waving a lit torch at a covetous pair of wolves.

Yes, Ogdenborough had a branch of the county militia, but it had no mounted unit. And leadership decided patrolling the road between Ogdenborough and Scarmorrow was unnecessary at night. For the old man to travel the unguarded road while the moon was visible in the sky... it made Orodan’s respect for him grow considerably.

“Away with you! Hungry mutts! This mule makes way for an important task! You won’t be taking a bite of his rump tonight!” the old man yelled as he waved his torch in an effort to be intimidating. Of course, behind the old man... was Orodan. And upon seeing him the wolves all fled immediately as their instincts told them certain death approached. “That’s right! And keep running! Haha... haven’t wrestled a wolf since I was a young man, hmm, who- Orodan!?”

The sudden scare looked like it took a year off the man.

“What would you have even done if they charged? Beat them with your walking stick?” Orodan asked as he tore space around the old man and the entirety of the mule-driven cart of lumber. “Anyhow, no time to talk. Let’s go build that warehouse, old man.”

Ordinarily, the costs of Teleportation increased as more people and objects were ferried along. But what did this matter to Orodan? The old man and his mule-driven cart were teleported straight to the work site at 4 Ale Road.

“Orodan?! What’s happening?! This strange energy is surrounding me and... and...” the old man trailed off as he realized he was suddenly at 4 Ale Road, cart, mule and lumber included. “How? How are we here? Is this what space mages are capable of? But... the anti-spatiomancy wards around the county...”

“...aren’t an issue for me. Any ward which can be defeated by brute force is no obstacle. No more explanations though, time is too short, let’s build,” Orodan said as he immediately threw the lumber into a pile. “C’mon old man, we can get this done before your lazy laborers show up.”

In truth, while Orodan spoke as though he needed Old Man Hannegan, he really didn’t. He’d built this warehouse so many times by now that he knew the steps by heart. If he needed lumber, he could teleport to the woods and uproot a few dozen trees to bring back. If he needed manpower, he could simply summon his ‘clones’.

Dragging along the old man was simply an excuse to show him the fruits of his completed warehouse. It was also entertainment... and a distraction.

His heart simply wasn’t ready to Teleport and meet with his former companions yet. The events of the last long loop still weighed heavily on his heart and mind, and to counter this, Orodan threw himself into work of these short loops and the eventual combat he would face at the end of the fifteen minutes.

“Wait, Orodan! Without the architect we can’t build this... ah... never mind...” Old Man Hannegan muttered. “I’d ask how you know Vilia’s blueprints by heart, but I’m just going to go along with this.”

Hmm... before we go any further... this work site is dirty, let’s fix that,” Orodan said, and then, his Celestial rarity skill activated and the Domain Of Perfect Cleaning erupted outwards in a half mile radius.

“Hrk...! What is this feeling? I feel like I’ve become young again,” Old Man Hannegan said. Although... Orodan couldn’t exactly refer to him as ‘Old Man’ Hannegan now, could he?

“Well, given the sudden lack of grey hairs and wrinkles, I’d say you are young again,” Orodan replied. “Hmm... I’m surprised the synchronization with Basic Healing can cause even this.”

Basic Healing had a low skill level, and Orodan was surprised it had any impact at all when it came to cleaning... but for the previously weak skill to be amplified so much? Was this the power of a Celestial skill? The ability to uplift any skill within it to its level?

“Synchronization with what? What skill even is that? Orodan... this doesn’t make sense, none of it should be possible!” Hannegan protested. “No Bloodline should be capable of this... no Blessing can do so much, who are you and what have you done with Orodan Wainwright?”

“It’s still me, the same battle-happy maniac you know,” Orodan replied. “Just... given the power to do this over and over without end, and having experienced pain I’d rather not have...”

Even saying that caused the memories of his companions to return and assault him full tilt.

Orodan said nothing else and simply used the remainder of the time to work. He got about three-quarters of the way through building the warehouse before the Void Horror was close enough that it was time to interrupt whatever he was doing.

A gigantic gray hand was on the verge of breaking the surface and crushing all in its grasp.

Only for a Spatial Fold to shoot out and envelop the hand, alongside the being it was connected to.

The Void Horror thrashed, struggled and flared its energies turbulently in an attempt to throw Orodan’s spatial manipulation off. Its energy reserves were incredibly high, and no other spatiomancer could directly manipulate the kinetic vector of so powerful a being. Of course, Orodan was a different case.

His Spatial Fold caused the Void Horror to skip the surface entirely and instead be flung into the sky. The work site, the civilians nearby and the old man were spared an unfortunate fate.

“If I hadn’t changed your direction, you would’ve killed a bunch of people with your entry,” Orodan told it. “You can’t just burrow up into the middle of town when you’re that big.”

The Void Horror looked slightly perplexed and more than a little alarmed at how easily it was directly manipulated via Spatial Fold. It also seemed wary at just how casual Orodan was being. In fact, Orodan knew he could send it deep into the void between stars if he wanted, thereby avoiding this whole situation in each loop.

But that would be unsporting, and given what happened to its brother, a bit cruel too.

And Orodan desperately wanted this fight.

“Orodan Wainwright, I apologize for offending you, but we must retreat to the world core of Alastaia. Great danger comes our way,” it spoke. “Please come with me... or I shall have to ensure your safety by force.”

A crazed grin covered Orodan’s face as the sword and shield in his hands were gripped tighter than ever.

“By force you say?” Orodan asked in a tone most unsettling to his would-be abductor. “I’ve been looking forward to battling you for a while now, so by all means... use force!”

Only fifteen minutes of the loop had passed, and as a result, the moon still hung overhead. Perfectly in the line of sight for an overcharged Spatial Fold.

A Flash Strike took him towards the surprised Void Horror who reacted in time, however his goal was merely to slam into it and gain some forward motion towards the fold in space. And before either of them knew it, they’d crashed right into the moon, causing a titanic quake and scaring all the local monsters away.

“You fool! You’ve brought us to the fallen remnants of Alastaia’s sister world! We cannot easily return now!” the Void Horror exclaimed and looked almost panicked at the thought of being away from the world.

“I won’t send you into the void to be corrupted like your brother was,” Orodan said. “Now come, you slew me in a single blow last time. Let’s see how much stronger I’ve become since then.”

If it had questions related to what Orodan said, it didn’t voice them.

The only thing that mattered the next instant... was the deadly clash of blows in a toe-to-toe battle between them. To Orodan’s pleasant surprise, he found he was now strong enough to weather its first blow. Hells, given how damaged it looked from the return, he might even stand a good chance.

Of course, the fact that Orodan realized this, meant that the Void Horror did too.

“Forgive me Alastaia... I cannot complete your Quest...” it muttered, closing its eyes. “To capture such a being would be impossible. Instead... I ask permission to slay him so that the otherworldly intruders may leave you in peace as his soul departs.”

A moment passed... and then...

[Warning - You have become the target of a Quest]

[Quest Subject → Diverting Attention From Alastaia - Kill Orodan Wainwright before the arrival of the otherworldly intruders. Divert their attention away from Alastaia]

It waited for a moment, with eyes closed, before its eyes opened with resolute determination.

Orodan learned the hard way that the Void Horror had no compunctions with ruthlessly throwing hundreds of lethal attacks towards him. Even if he could survive its first blow, that didn’t mean he could survive the next hundred which all came within an instant.

Seven minutes.

That was how long the Void Horror took to make Orodan embrace the darkness with its attacks.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him.

Orodan immediately got to work and threw out his Domain Of Perfect Cleaning with as much force as he could muster.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 65 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 66]

Immediately, all filth and impurities in the surrounding mile were eliminated, and Orodan hummed in approval of the skill level increase and its tangible benefit.

The usual Quest and Quest Subject messages flashed by him, and he ignored them as always.

Fighting the Void Horror was tricky. Orodan wasn’t ashamed to admit it was well beyond his weight class, and he had no advantage against the soul energy-based attacks it fielded. It was direct soul energy, and Orodan wasn’t sure how to begin training a resistance skill for that.

Even without Divine Resistance, he could beat a Chosen One Avatar now, he had grown powerful enough for it. The Eldritch Avatar too, while quite far beyond him at the moment, could be bested through his Celestial skill and the assistance of the Void Horror within who sought freedom. Of course, he’d fought it while it had two divinities within and not three, but he could work up to cleaning it at full power. He also had Eldritch Resistance.

Which made this uncorrupted Void Horror a very difficult battle. No resistance skills, and a foe which sought to kill him with fury the moment it realized his death was the better option for Alastaia.

If anything...

“This will be good training,” Orodan said with a happy grin on his face.

He had been looking for a foe to truly sharpen himself against for a while. No resistance skills to rely upon, and he refused to cheaply send it out to space or flee. Orodan would accept nothing less than the fundamentals of combat, his sword, shield and warrior spirit as the path to victory.

It was also fifteen minutes to cram in as much practice as he could before his pursuer’s arrival.

Training for many loops and over the course of long loops was one way of making progress. But... there was another method of getting work done. And that was to desperately get as much done as possible within a time limit.

Who knew? Perhaps forcing himself to work efficiently on a time crunch would lead to unexpected benefits. And in these fifteen minutes, he could go wild and seek out all manner of different skills or improve existing ones in the strangest of ways.

And so began the insane misadventures of Orodan Wainwright. Or at least, anyone who saw would refer to it as such. For him, it was just excellent training.

He had multiple targets and consequently couldn’t always get to work kidnapping Old Man Hannegan and building the warehouse. So, in the next loop he decided to work on another venture.

Time Mastery and Time Reversal.

“Oi... who’re you?!” asked one of the near-Adept guards of House Argon. “Eversong Plaza’s not open at this time, and take those rags off, I won’t ask again. Your face scarred or something?”

[Disguise 1 → Disguise 2]

The level gain gave Orodan a vague understanding that his disguise of wrapping a dirty rag around his head... was pathetic. He could see through Vision of Purity, so it didn’t even have any eye holes cut out, which made him look like one of the many corpses that lined the drawers of Ogdenborough’s morgue.

His brown hair stuck out at many points too, which meant Orodan still had a ways to go.

Still... at least he wasn’t immediately discovered like he was last time. That it was night, and the light was low likely contributed to that.

“Hey... wait a minute... I don’t know too many people that big... isn’t that...” an overwatch on a nearby balcony of the tavern above muttered, and Orodan didn’t like where this was going. “Hey! That’s Orodan Wainwright!”

Damn it. Orodan could only sigh. Perhaps one day his disguises would be worth something.

His Domain Of Perfect Cleaning immediately shot out and eradicated all impurities for a mile. And the Absolute Soul Dominion part of the skill did its work and knocked everyone unconscious. The skills combined into Domain Of Perfect Cleaning were all still accessible, their individual functions capable of being used, as was the general rule with all skill combinations.

Orodan walked into the tavern and made way for its upper floor.

At the very beginning of his most recent long loop, Orodan had discovered a torture room in the upper levels of the tavern. A room which contained a chair with the corpse of a restrained man who had the signs of being interrogated far too harshly. At the time, Orodan had left the man be and simply placed a blanket over the corpse. However, in that loop it was afternoon when he’d entered the tavern. But now it was nighttime, and the loop had just begun.

Vision Of Purity already saw what was behind the door, so it wasn’t a surprise when he saw the unconscious body of Lord Aeglos near the corpse of the tortured man. The Elite-level pyromancer he’d died against so many times in the past was the one who’d tortured this man to death, and while Orodan felt the urge to slaughter the heir to the traitorous noble house, he held off as the man was unconscious and it rankled his pride to kill the man without giving him the opportunity to fight back.

Petty revenge wasn’t his goal however, and he instead turned to look at the corpse in the chair.

The deceased man hadn’t died too long ago. The blood still flowing from certain wounds indicated as such. Orodan draped a nearby blanket over the man out of respect... and he got to work.

Chronomancers were capable of resurrecting the fallen... and what better target to start with as practice for Orodan’s first attempt than one who was unjustly slain recently?

Time Mastery shot outward, and Time Reversal began to activate.

Time Mastery informed him that the man had been slain perhaps thirty minutes ago. Mortal chronomancers at the Grandmaster-level could perhaps reverse time for a handful of minutes. Thirty minutes was far too long for a mortal Grandmaster of chronomancy. Perhaps only a dragon chronomancer could manage the feat as the energy cost of reverting time by thirty minutes was simply too much.

The feat he aimed to perform was far more difficult than merely reversing time by thirty minutes. Pulling the soul back through time was substantially more expensive in terms of energy cost. And if the soul of the deceased had already crossed the dimensional boundary and gone into the afterlife? There were no records of successful chronomantic resurrections in that case.

But what did Orodan Wainwright care about energy limitations?

Reversing time to draw a soul back to the body and heal it was akin to pulling on a rope and drawing time backwards for that specific being. The longer it had been since death, the harder this ‘rope’ was to pull. The more damage the body or soul suffered, the more difficult it was. Hells, if the soul had already passed into the afterlife, the cost was outright impossible to pay, even for dragons.

The official words of the Cathedral were that Malzim collected all souls immediately upon death. Orodan of course, knew this was a lie as he’d often seen the souls of enemies he killed linger for upwards of twenty minutes before drifting away and presumably crossing a dimensional divide. Which meant that he was out of luck on this corpse...

...or he would be, if he were an ordinary chronomancer.

His breakthrough in understanding time meant that he understood that objects, places and events all had connections to souls if there were any. This deceased man’s body, still had a faint connection in the river of time to his soul, and Orodan grasped this connection with the full might of his soul energy... and pulled.

Teleportation sent all the unconscious bodies out of the tavern as Orodan felt the building tremble at how much energy he was spending. Still, he didn’t relent, even as his body began to suffer minor damage.

It wasn’t anywhere near the damage he suffered trying to bring his friends back in the last long loop, but even a basic Time Reversal for a single person was shockingly expensive

Slowly, almost impossibly, as though something else sought to battle him, the ‘rope’ of time was pulled backwards, and the changes began to be reversed. The tavern’s entire upper floor turned to ash from the eruption of power from Orodan...

...and he felt angry divine power attempt to counter the occurrence from somewhere far away. Of course, this divine power lacked the energy to compete with Orodan.

With a final pull and a roar of effort that tore free from his lips, Orodan was successful.

[Time Mastery 17 → Time Mastery 21]

[Time Reversal 5 → Time Reversal 12]

And the eyes of the deceased shot open.

“Mother...? Am I finally home?” the man asked, a scratchy voice indicating dehydration. “Why does it not hurt anymore? I see... another healing potion to prolong the suffering, isn’t it? Just kill me... please... I won’t tell anyone of what I saw here...”

Orodan felt some pity for the recently returned man, and decided to reverse time a bit more to when the man wasn’t dehydrated. Which turned out to be four days ago.

“You’re alive friend... but I don’t know for how long,” Orodan said, thinking of the fact that in fifteen minutes this loop’s finale would begin. “I’m going to teleport you to Karilsgard. You’re better off there instead of here where a rather tumultuous battle is about to take place.”

“What? Wait... who are you? I thought I’d died...” the man muttered weakly. While his body was now fine, his mind, was not. Altering the mind through time magic was something even the patriarch of the Time Wind couldn’t do. The mind was an extension of the soul, and reverting it or skill gains, was considered truly impossible, even for Gods. “Thank you... I can see my wife and little girl again. I’m not even affiliated with the Republic, I’m just a cartographer who came up through the tunnels.”

This... this was power on an utterly godlike scale.

He always knew he was powerful. But the power to destroy, and the power to bring back the dead were two different things. Anyone could hit harder with time and mindless repetition. But to bring back the dead? To resurrect the dead in so casual a manner? Just how far could he go down the river of time?

A heavy feeling of responsibility settled on Orodan’s shoulders, and he welcomed it alongside the power he wielded. Others might have shied away from it, considering the task too heavy, or some might think they’d go mad if they tried taking on the burden. But Orodan was the kind of man who would make a problem his problem if he saw fit.

Making weak excuses to avoid resurrecting victims of injustice was the way of the spineless. He’d heard all manner of nonsensical philosophizing from the priests of the Cathedral for why the Gods didn’t bring loved ones back. They were occupied with protecting mortals; they were preserving the balance. Bad things would happen.

Orodan thought these all to be weak excuses.

He had no such limitations and cared not for this nebulous concept of balance. The excuses reeked of either inability or unwillingness. He would use Time Mastery to ease the pains and sorrow of people. And if anyone descended upon him in response? He would face all comers.

But that was a goal reserved for once he was out of this set of death loops, and he’d need far more practice and skill levels than he had now. And since he’d so brazenly bested the resisting force of divine energy during the formerly deceased man’s resurrection... he felt multiple Avatars coming his way.

He teleported himself out of the tavern and to the peak of Mount Castarian, partially to allow them to find him easier, and partially because Orodan wanted to avoid innocent deaths.

He reached down to the ancient machine’s mana core to quickly drain it.

[Quest Completed → Battle of Ogdenborough - Ancient war machine disabled]

[Reward Granted → Permanent +1 Action Increase]

It was good to see all his soul strengthening throughout the long loop had paid off. He now had more room for additional Rewards.

The first two Avatars he saw tearing through space to sail towards him like comets were the Avatars of Eximus... and Malzim.

“Who dares defile the sanctity of the afterlife?! If you have done something untoward with the soul, you shall answer for your crimes!” Malzim roared.

“To affect the river of time with such power... who are you, mortal?” Eximus asked.

“Nothing untoward has been done with the soul, you have my word Malzim. The man has been teleported to Karilsgard, he was the victim of torture and interrogation,” Orodan answered, and then turned to the Avatar of Eximus with a bloodthirsty grin. “As for who I am? My name is Orodan Wainwright, and I bear a grudge against you.”

“I do not even know y-”

There was no time for further conversation. He had ten minutes left before the Void Horror arrived.

Orodan targeted the Avatar of Eximus first, and all of his empowerment skills activated as he shot towards the Avatar with a Flash Strike, dragging the divine with him as he flew far away from Ogdenborough and civilization. Malzim followed but seemed unwilling to commit upon witnessing how powerful Orodan was.

He’d been hesitant to harm the Avatar of the God of Death, particularly since he owed the Death God a debt. And as far as Gods went, Malzim was one of the better ones. But thankfully, the fact that Malzim was a bit craven and actively avoided risk meant Orodan needn’t be concerned.

The earth shook and the tremors must’ve been felt all the way in Karilsgard as Orodan landed, using the Avatar of Eximus to absorb the impact. He dragged the divine along the ground and came to a stop, atop the Avatar.

“Sacrilege! You dare assault the Avatar of a God?!” Eximus roared in outrage and fired a divine beam, only to be shocked into silence as it was utterly ineffective. “...Divine Resistance? How...? How?! Who are you?!”

Orodan cared not for Eximus’s words but sought to pay the God back for all the trouble he’d caused. In particular, one good thing about Orodan’s newly created Celestial skill was that he could now cross the System boundary within the soul core. This was what allowed him to cleanse the Eldritch Avatar and send the two remaining divinities within running.

And this would be what allowed him to now scour a God and their Blessings clean from someone.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out and utterly enveloped the Avatar of Eximus. And as it pressed deeper into the host’s soul, a wail of divine horror and agony rang out.

“For someone who enjoys manipulating mortals so much alongside your brethren, it’s not very pleasant when a mortal turns the tables, is it?” Orodan asked as he dug deep and cleanly scoured the soul of the man Eximus was using as host. All the while, he had the God of Time trapped within his Avatar, similar to how the Eldritch trapped them in the last long loop.

“No! Please! I beg of you... I plead you show mercy! I do not recall ever offending you!” Eximus begged, and it was so odd to hear a proud God beg in such a manner. “I shall be unconscious for a very long time, and there is a threat beyond your reckoning that makes way for Alastaia!”

“You ask for mercy when you schemed against me in the past? If I were powerless and you had the advantage, I have no doubt you would oppress me,” Orodan said. The measure of someone’s character became apparent when they had all the power, and Eximus had failed the test of character in the long loop where he, Agathor and Ilyatana had conspired to possess Orodan. “And as for the threat that comes for us? I’ve killed it once and scoured the Eldritch from it last time. I won’t be needing your help with the Eldritch Avatar, that’s for sure.”

With a final burst of soul energy, Orodan cleansed the soul of Cruxamar Aetholion and eradicated all three Blessings of Eximus alongside any traces of the God of Time’s foul divine energy. It was only through Orodan’s will that the God of Time’s consciousness was held within Cruxamar. Otherwise, without any Blessings or divine energy to make the process easier, the God of Time couldn’t possess the man.

And now... it was time to clean the stain of divinity.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out towards the small piece of the God remaining within and began utterly scouring it.

Horrid wails of pain and desperation rang out, but Orodan cared not. Many of these Gods were a blight upon the world, and it was only right that they be cleansed from it in painful fashion that they might think twice before attempting to manipulate the mortals upon it.

Getting rid of such manipulative Gods was a part of Balastion’s dream for a better world. And while Orodan couldn’t bring his friend from that loop back, at the very least he thought the dream a worthy one and this small act was the least he could do to honor his memory.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 66 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 67]

Orodan pushed and pushed, and Eximus continued howling, however something was missing, and he felt he wouldn’t make enough progress in the time he had left. Truly scouring a God’s consciousness and mind required more than just the soul arts.

In fact, a path lay before him. His Celestial skill, it was ‘open’ in a sense, in that he instinctively felt he could add skills to it to expand its scope as long as his understanding was high enough. Perhaps this was the key to destroying the consciousness of Eximus?

Either way, his ruminations on the matter were brought to an end as the familiar Void Horror arrived, and Orodan realized that many death loops of training were in store for him before he got anywhere.

The first thirty death loops were spent honing his Time Mastery and combat skills.

There was something about forcing himself to operate under a fifteen-minute time limit that made progress fast. Orodan wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of an impending deadline, or the threat of death looming above his head, but he was akin to a student in the last minute of an examination, desperate to find an answer before the clock struck. And this forced him to become more efficient, amplifying his insights.

Of course, not everyone would have his mindset in such a scenario, but he truly did treat each loop very seriously and immediately got to working hard the instant he gained awareness in his bed. And the gains were excellent.

Warrior’s Reciprocity, All-Strike, Unassailable Fortress and Endless Blitz had all gained levels. And on the combat side of things, Unarmed Combat Mastery, Combat Mastery and Sword and Shield Mastery had also increased a level apiece. The Void Horror was strong, incredibly so. And this translated to great benefits across the board when dragging it to the moon and engaging in combat against it.

Space Mastery, Spatial Fold and Teleportation had made excellent gains through his usage of them to send innocents away or drag the foe elsewhere. His Space Mastery now sat at 56, making him a Space Adept.

And the skill he was focusing on, Time Reversal and the overarching Time Mastery? They’d made great gains. With Time Reversal now at 26 and Time Mastery at 29.

And Domain Of Perfect Cleaning was now at 69, close to crossing over into the Elite-level.

Sadly, his Action Increases had frustratingly capped at 14! He felt that the Permanent +0.1 Title Multiplier took up a decent amount of soul space, and he still wasn’t sure what it did, but he had a theory he would hopefully get the chance to test soon.

This loop, Orodan had a feeling that he might do better against the Void Horror. And to that end, he teleported directly into Eversong Plaza the instant he woke up.

“Oi! Who’re you?!” exclaimed the same near-Adept guard. “What’re you wearing a covering for? Hey, get someone with a perception skill to look at him.”

Unlike the first time, there were no more spots where his brown hair peeked out. His Disguise skill was now at level 8, and this was enough to at least allow him to cover up adequately. Of course, masking his natural size might take at least the Apprentice-level.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“The hells? I don’t know too many people that big... ain’t that...” the observer muttered, and then the man’s eyes widened. “My Eagle Sight confirms it! That’s Orodan Wainwr-”

With a sigh, he interrupted the observer. The Absolute Soul Dominion aspect of Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out and sent everyone into unconsciousness. It truly was powerful, allowing the previously range-limited Mythical soul skill to piggyback off of the increased range of his new Celestial skill. Knocking almost a hundred people in a plaza and building unconscious in a moment wasn’t something he had the finesse to easily do before.

His disguise that he’d put so much effort into was thrown aside for this loop. Thirty loops of disguise attempts and he still only got the skill to level 8. It was difficult to accept that his natural talent in the art of disguise was lacking... but he would soldier on all the same.

He entered the tavern and made way for the upper floor where the corpse of the deceased man was, and he removed all nearby individuals who might be harmed from the building’s destruction as he held the man aloft with ‘clones’ using Whirlpool Whirlwind.

And with a burst of power, he violated the sanctity of Inuan’s afterlife, overpowering any divine attempts to stop him. Time reversed, and the man was returned to life as his soul was pulled backwards across the dimensional boundary.

[Time Reversal 26 → Time Reversal 27]

[Time Mastery 29 → Time Mastery 30]

[New Title → Perfect Cleaning Elite]

[New Title → Celestial Elite]

The Title Multiplier wasn’t bad. It wouldn’t be as strong for anyone else. But Orodan had a Celestial skill which incorporated three of the things he had titles for, Cleaning, which somehow hadn’t lost its title. Perfect Cleaning, and Celestial skills themselves. Altogether, the increase was roughly forty percent overall. Something Orodan hadn’t noticed when he merely had the Cleaning Elite title equipped, chalking it up to his natural talent and not having a clear metric of measurement.

Essentially, Domain Of Perfect Cleaning, the Cleaning part in particular, would be forty percent stronger at all times no matter what level he reached. And this was an excellent stalemate-breaker as he’d always be a certain percentage stronger than anyone even if they had the same skill level as him.

The increase in skill level made him feel strong, and Orodan thought of doing the same thing to the Devil King and perhaps purging its fell soul and body of whatever made it evil. Of course, the entire battlefield had gone silent at the feat he performed, and the Devil King’s eyes were trembling with rage, and a shocking trace of fear.

The last thing Orodan saw was another cultivator nearing the moon, and the full power of Devil King Gutriyaz unleashed in the form of a beam of pure energy which would doubtlessly destroy the entire moon. It was a Transcendent as well, and it clearly didn’t like the fact that Orodan could purify a True Vampire.

Jian Song and his machine friend immediately got out of the way, and it was too late for Orodan to dodge.

Was the feat of purifying a True Vampire such an impossibility? Why did the Devil King look so scared?

Perhaps it would be a good test subject for the next loop.

And given how shocked these otherworlders were at the revelation that he had six skills contained within his Celestial one... perhaps it was time to add some more to it.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him, and Orodan immediately shot a Domain Of Perfect Cleaning out as far as he could.

The Quest and Quest Subject messages flashed past him, but he habitually ignored them by now.

He performed a mass teleportation of people out of his neighborhood, and then focused on his first destination in this loop.

The abyssal depths.

Space utterly tore apart, and the surrounding two blocks were destroyed with how much soul energy he poured into his spatiomancy. Good thing he evacuated people.

Ordinarily, teleporting directly into the abyssal depths was impossible. There was simply too much world energy, and its abundance only increased as one went deeper. The very rock was also infused with it, making teleportation, divination and most forms of detection and communication impossible due to the sheer amount of interference.

Getting anything through such interference could only be done through pre-deployed chains of relays...

...or if one had raw power enough to make Gods feel inadequate.

[Teleportation 27 → Teleportation 31]

[Space Mastery 56 → Space Mastery 57]

A blink of blue, and Orodan found himself in front of the familiar first gate. Before him, it was sealed, and everything suddenly lit up red but calmed down immediately after as though it was a warning for the gate guardian, that a being had entered the abyssal depths.

Before him, was a familiar Fallen Void Archon.

“Hey, where’s the centipede,” Orodan asked. “Which section does she guard?”

Yes, his goal this loop, and in the loops moving forward, was to find the strongest Psionic Grandmaster he knew, and bully it into teaching him the mind arts.

All within fifteen minutes of course.

To its credit, the Fallen Void Archon took the question in stride by not answering at all. Instead, its six arms lit up with various soul energy empowered elemental spells. It was hellbent on eradicating him.

Naturally, the Orodan of now wasn’t the same Orodan who’d ventured into the abyssal depths back then. For one, he was dramatically stronger. And a quadruple-Grandmaster gate guardian, while strong, wasn’t enough to challenge him when he could feasibly survive and fight an extended battle against the Void Horror now.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning shot out, and the All-Consuming Rage portion hungrily devoured its vitality at a rapid pace till it fell to its knees in weakness.

“Look, I’m not trying to cross the first gate. In fact, that overzealous Void Horror will be coming through any moment to try and capture me,” Orodan replied. “Just tell me where that Psionic Centipede is. I need to acquire Psionic Mastery.”

“You’re the Quest Subject?” it asked, incredulity in its tone. And then simply pointed. “...Siyendara guards the gate ten miles in that direction.”

“Oh... that was easy,” Orodan said. “Why are you being so honest?”

“My directive is to defend this gate, mortal. You have already bested me and could pass if you so choose,” it replied. “Besides... that centipede and I do not see eye to eye.”

A rivalry between gate guardians then.

Orodan thanked the Fallen Void Archon and quickly chained teleports to reach the section of the first gate where a giant centipede was resting. Upon his arrival it shot up and immediately hissed.

“Mortal! Begone lest I smite you with fire and agony beyond any you’ve ever known!” it shrieked.

“Excellent! Just what I need!” Orodan declared. “Teach me the arts of the mind.”

“...what gibberish do you spout?! Leave this place immediately,” it demanded as it sent flames towards him. Flames which were summarily ignored due to Fire Resistance.

“Apologies, but I need training,” Orodan said as he grabbed its two front mandibles and began dragging it along, ignoring its fire attacks. A teleportation took them to the surface, specifically to the wilderness of Novarria’s forests where no civilians were nearby.

“Where have you brought me?!” it shrieked in fear. “Return me this instant!”

“Only if you defeat me,” Orodan stated, and then prepared to deliver the biggest pile of hogwash he’d said in a while. “And have I mentioned, I’m really vulnerable to mental assaults? I’ll fold like paper if hit by them.”

While Orodan preferred to think it worked, the lack of any skill level increase in Deception meant it likely hadn’t. Still, the Psionic Centipede obliged and sent a true deluge of psionic assaults towards him. And Orodan’s mastery of the soul was good enough to withdraw it from his mind entirely, something Domain Of Perfect Cleaning would normally cover. His Psionic Resistance would only hamper him, but this was as good as he could get it.

This then, would be his new method of training in each loop before the Void Horror’s arrival.

To spend fifteen minutes receiving Psionic assaults from the strongest Psionic he had easy access to.

The Grandmaster Psionics of various nations weren’t as good as a gate guardian from the abyssal depths whose species was naturally pre-disposed towards the mind arts. And while the elven God Athandelu was an option, Orodan had Divine Resistance, and an Avatar would burn out long before it left any mental damage on him.

Fifteen minutes of mental assault passed until the Void Horror arrived and then the typical shenanigans ensued.

Orodan survived its lethal assault once it realized capturing him was impossible, and then they fought for fifteen minutes till the otherworlders began arriving. And Orodan learned some interesting things in this loop.

For starters, the machine was named W78. It had no name, but a designation, and it was quite friendly. For another, it was quite strong, as this loop it was the Void Horror who attempted to strike a stealthy blow and assassinate Orodan while he was fighting Aarnulf the werewolf. W78 hadn’t taken kindly to that and hit the Void Horror hard enough to send it into the moon’s destroyed world core.

And finally, his plan of purifying the Devil King wasn’t a bad idea. However, theory and execution were two different things, and the Devil King Gutriyaz wasn’t stupid. The instant Orodan revealed his ability to purify beings of taint, the Devil King instantly unleashed his full power and completely destroyed Orodan along with the entire moon.

A keening wail ringing in the night sky awoke him. He ignored the Quest messages and summoned his Status.

Name: Orodan Wainwright

Age: 17

Title 1: Perfect Cleaning Elite

Title 2: Celestial Elite

Title 3: Bearer Of A Celestial Skill

Title 4: Cleaning Elite

Available Titles:

Bearer Of A Celestial Skill

World Gate Delver

Avatar Slayer

Wielder Of A Mythical Skill

One Who Has Experienced Death

Grandmaster Slayer

Combat Elite

Sword Elite

Shield Elite

Physical Elite

Unarmed Combat Elite

Cleaning Elite

Wrestling Elite

Soul Elite

Perfect Cleaning Elite

Celestial Elite

Woodworking Adept

Alchemy Adept

Space Adept

Fire Magic Apprentice

Enchanting Apprentice

Teaching Apprentice

Laboring Apprentice

Blacksmithing Apprentice

Pathfinding Apprentice

Gathering Apprentice

Time Apprentice

Rewards:

Permanent +14 Action Increase

Permanent +0.1 Title Multiplier

Skills:

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 70 (Elite - Celestial)

Eternal Soul Reactor 92 (Master - Mythical)

Warrior’s Reciprocity 77 (Elite - Mythical)

Eldritch Resistance 54 (Adept - Mythical)

Incorruptible Being 50 (Adept -Mythical)

Divine Resistance 17 (Initiate - Mythical)

Harmony of Vitality 89 (Elite - Legendary)

All-Strike 85 (Elite - Legendary)

Unassailable Fortress 83 (Elite - Legendary)

Bulwark Physical Resistance 81 (Elite - Legendary)

Endless Blitz 78 (Elite - Legendary)

Mana Resistance 62 (Adept - Legendary)

Vision of Purity 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Body Tempering 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Wood Communion 56 (Adept - Legendary)

Draconic Fireball 44 (Apprentice - Legendary)

Fate Disconnect 43 (Apprentice - Legendary)

Time Reversal 27 (Initiate - Legendary)

Iron Body 80 (Elite - Exquisite)

Psionic Resistance 76 (Elite - Exquisite)

Flash Strike 66 (Adept - Exquisite)

Draconic Mana Channelling 54 (Adept - Exquisite)

Vitality Destruction 41 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Fire Resistance 31 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Time Mastery 30 (Apprentice - Exquisite)

Lightning Resistance 18 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Dimensionalism 8 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Curse Resistance 4 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Water Resistance 4 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Wind Resistance 3 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Ice Resistance 3 (Initiate - Exquisite)

Soul Mastery 71 (Elite - Rare)

Space Mastery 57 (Adept - Rare)

War Cry 35 (Apprentice - Rare)

Teleportation 31 (Apprentice - Rare)

Gourmand 13 (Initiate - Rare)

Shield Throw 69 (Adept - Uncommon)

Spatial Fold 62 (Adept - Uncommon)

Power Strike 61 (Adept - Uncommon)

Mana Manipulation 58 (Adept - Uncommon)

Fate Reading 31 (Apprentice - Uncommon)

Pain Resistance 90 (Master)

Unarmed Combat Mastery 88 (Elite)

Physical Fitness 86 (Elite)

Combat Mastery 86 (Elite)

Sword Mastery 84 (Elite)

Wrestling 80 (Elite)

Shield Mastery 82 (Elite)

Woodworking 67 (Adept)

Alchemy 64 (Adept)

Tool Mastery 63 (Adept)

Enchanting 59 (Adept)

Surprise Attack 45 (Apprentice)

Flare 52 (Adept)

Blacksmithing 49 (Apprentice)

Jewelcrafting 48 (Apprentice)

Pathfinding 43 (Apprentice)

Teaching 41 (Apprentice)

Sprinting 39 (Apprentice)

Laboring 34 (Apprentice)

Maintenance 34 (Apprentice)

Fire Magic Mastery 34 (Apprentice)

Gathering 32 (Apprentice)

Construction 28 (Initiate)

Basic Healing 25 (Initiate)

Repair 22 (Initiate)

Cooking 22 (Initiate)

Magical Rituals 18 (Initiate)

Mining 17 (Initiate)

Intimidation 16 (Initiate)

Club Mastery 15 (Initiate)

Lumberjacking 11 (Initiate)

Parkour 11 (Initiate)

Observe 11 (Initiate)

Disguise 8 (Initiate)

Thievery 6 (Initiate)

Identify 5 (Initiate)

Deception 4 (Initiate)

Otherworlders and Alastaia aside, his Status would make even Gods treat him with respect and more than a bit of awe. He had come very far, and his combat power had grown by leaps and bounds. Yet there was always room for improvement, and Orodan wasn’t the type to ever remain satisfied with his progress.

He realized he had a lot of work to do.

Learning the mind arts and adding a related skill to the Domain Of Perfect Cleaning. Besting the Void Horror and perhaps reaching the world core for answers. Continually honing his new powers of chronomancy and getting strong enough to best these otherworlders who came for him. And perhaps finding a way to stop drawing so much attention with his Celestial skill.

It would take many loops...

...it would take a lot of fifteen minutes.