Rain clawed at the ground, mouth slicked with crimson blood. He threw up. He grasped the floor while waving unconscious.
The whole world collapsed.
And turned black.
[Savepoint Loading…]
.
***Three hours earlier***
"Ooh, man, have you been to the lost continent? It's so different from what I've seen here. These houses, these fountains… I feel like my hometown's been left behind!" Marisa spoke. And spoke. And spoke.
She rambled about different things and never seemed to shut up. First was about clothes, then language, then her home country—apparently called 'Kaursia'.
Rain learned about how she spent time here before registering in the guild. Marisa learnt the language first, self-studied, and even trained her magic capabilities. Rain tried to ask her about magic… but she just kept yapping about her home country.
Really can't get anything useful out of this.
At least he learned the name of the mana in the air; apparently called "Aether". It's natural, and part of the world just like breathing.
So maybe you weren't meant to deplete them to zero. But why would a ball of wind take that much mana?
Is 200 low?
Rain's butt was planted on the wooden planks. To his side, Marisa leaned in. They rode a carriage since the dungeon was a little far away. She paid the driver 30 crowns, which gave Rain the idea for most prices.
That means one person is worth 15 crowns. This would be the foundation of understanding the currency system.
'Wish I could ask that Omo girl directly, though.'
The carriage curtains were made of silk. They covered them from the piercing light, and made the carriage look comfortable even though it's far from the truth. The wooden seats were hard as shit… you can't even sit comfortably since it kept ramming at pebbles.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The carriage wheels went on.
And Marisa's mouth too.
"Oh? You were asking me about magic right? I've studied it as well while learning how to speak the Halon language. It's called Aether. You absorb it from the air and reproduce it with spells. Keep in mind your Aether pool, though. You'd get exhausted if you overuse it."
"Were there any deaths from Aether exhaustion?" Rain asked.
"No, you can just rest and it'll reproduce itself back." She answered.
'Huh… that's weird. Then how did I die in the first loop?'
The carriage rattled on, the surroundings blurring like watercolor paint on a canvas. At some point, they passed churches, shops, and striking towers that loomed overhead. Watchtowers. They seem to be the main control board and announcement-tool for the city.
After that, the environment seemed to switch to a more "green" scenery. They passed a riverbank. A fish jumped out, its scales reflecting rainbow light and flashing Rain in the eyes. He looked away and noticed; the whole area switched to a forest.
Trees surrounded them. There were still houses, farmland and towers… but the area headed more and more to the forest gradient.
Ten minutes or so, Marisa finally shut her mouth.
They'd reached the destination.
That 30-minute ride felt longer than Rain had expected.
"Ooh, this is new." Marisa's engine started running again. Rain hopped out along with her, thanking the driver with a half-bow. He didn't know what it meant—but he copied Marisa either way. She knew better than his F-ranked, NEET ass.
"Did you know we didn't have that much plantlife in Kaursia? It's pretty barren out there, so people settled around parts with dirt and started planting. The whole area stretched like a hard desert—"
"KYAAAAH!" Marisa shouted.
Rain shot out his eyes below the ground. Shit. Shit. The grass from below moved, and the surrounding trees seemed to watch over them. This isn't good.
As many times as Rain can reset, he didn't want to die this early. They weren't even at the dungeon yet. He didn't gather enough information.
"It's so cute!" Marisa screamed.
"Wait what?" said Rain, eyes widening in confusion.
"Look. It's so soft and goopy! I didn't know these things existed…" Her hand pointed to a small creature, barely the size of a fist. Marisa picked it up. It's a slime.
'I swear… I'll…'
Rain took a deep breath. He can't let his fists do the talking. If he hits too hard he'll waste mana.
He looked onward and focused on important matters.
The entrance of the dungeon was hidden in the forest, covered with moss and hanging vines. A stone archway jagged out from underneath the grass. Marisa noticed it a second later, walking towards it and sweeping the moss with her broom.
The entrance wasn't small. Rather, you could fit an oversized person inside. Meaning they went inside without much of a problem.
"Mhm. Mhm." Marisa nodded. Rain followed behind.
He didn't know what she was thinking. He didn't want to know. All they had to do was clear this dungeon and go their separate ways. After leveling up, Rain planned to abandon her anyway. No use getting attached to anyone in this world.
The perfect life—the perfect loop—is about getting stronger all alone. There's no shame in asking for help as long as it's temporary.
Rain kind of liked Marisa, though.This is why he planned to not get attached.
As much as she liked yapping, she gave valuable information… Maybe they can stay friends after all. Or were they even friends to begin with?
Inside the dungeon was built with dark brickstone. There were still vines and moss, which Rain kept in mind to avoid traps. There could be arrows of dispensers inside… like jungle temples in minecraft.
'Be careful." Marisa spoke. She held his hand.
"I, uhm…" Rain stammered, thinking of what to say. It felt kind of awkward but maybe it's normal in her culture. He shouldn't make a big deal out of it. It's just hand holding.
The dungeon's hallway kept narrowing in a straight line, eventually leading the two into a giant circular arena. It's an open space, lit with flickering torches and a chest at the end. The chest stood behind. Covered by a pack of goblins. There's no other way to progress but to kill those green monsters.
They each held a bat, sword, and even shields. Rain counted there were twelve of them. A fair challenge for an E-ranked quest.
Marisa let go of his hand. Rain felt a bit disappointed.
To be honest, he didn't expect much for the both of them. They're F-rank, and there are twelve goblins on the way. He could barely form a gush of wind. Let alone kill these monsters.
Besides, if Rain overused Aether again, he might collapse. Or should he put a savepoint here in case he dies?
No, no, no. That would mean his earlier savepoint would get overwritten. He has no way to go back to that point in time—the time where he hasn't met Marisa. But does he want that?
Maybe he should. Putting a checkpoint here and trying hard to adapt to these monsters… it sounds awful. But maybe it'll take less attempts than he thought.
With that, Rain placed a savepoint on his position.
[Savepoint Overwritten: E-rank Dungeon.]
This would be lightwork. He has infinite attempts for this.
Time to adapt like Mahoraga.
***
Rain and Marisa darted towards the goblins in a shockwave. His eyes landed on the twelve targets: eyes fixated to kill an unarmed one.
Marisa held out her broom, tails swishing and claws rising up. She threw her broom, clawed at a goblin, retracted her broom and slammed it to an upcoming monster's face.
A group of three fell backwards at her attack.
Rain, however, targeted the others. He picked up a torch from the corner walls and threw it at a group of goblins. He put a bit of Aether onto it—and combusted the group in flames.
Inverse ball of wind. Instead of making a circular wind-charge, he made it rest at a single point and explode.
That took a bit of mana, though, and Rain felt dizzy after the attack. He asked the system for the mana stats.
[+EXP!]
[Leveled Up' Level 2!]
[Mana Pool]: Low (122/300)
Rain immediately halted and stopped running. He took a breath and tried to regain the lost Aether.
That was good. As long as he could attack the monsters and not miss, he'd have a chance to level up and regain his lost mana. He still didn't take the risk to run, however, as he can collapse any time his Aether hit below 100.
The goblins immediately took that opportunity to launch. Four groups of the monsters ran in his direction, raising their weapons and aiming it at Rain's head. His eyes widened and his brain short-circuited.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Rain continued running, feet skittering down the brickstone floor. The area blurred. He was becoming dizzy.
Suddenly—
An axe flew atop Rain's head.
He pushed mana to control the weapon, holding it back from falling but—
STRIKE!.
It was no use. His mana was too low, he couldn't control the wind out of panic. Rain's head throbbed and formed trauma on his cranium. His skull was shattered on impact. Crimson blood flowed through everywhere as his body collapsed.
Everything fucking hurt. Every single thing.
He tried to grip the ground…
He tried to crawl up.
It was no use.
Everything was no use.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
White.
***
[You have died at Level 2]
[Returning to the last savepoint…]
***
Stats prior to death:
/-/
[Name]: Rain Haldrin (Human)
[Level]: 2 (21/100 EXP)
[Mana Pool]: Low (56/300)
[Pathway]: Wind
[Runes]: Zero
[Rank]: FFF
[System-abilities]:
Return by death (Timeloop)
Observation (Data-viewing)
Savepoints (Checkpoint Placing)
/-/
***
[Savepoint Loaded.]