Sunny was once again dreaming of a mountain. [ Zarian=Sunny]
He didn't concentrate on his dream this time. He had far-pressed matters to attend to.
'I died for sure this time, right? Right?'
What is with him and not knowing if he actually died?
And why the f*** is he alive again? The first time, he got isekied, but what about this time?
He couldn't think about it for long as the dream ended and he got kicked back to reality—as much as the Spell could make this trial real.
He went through the same routine this time-not antagonizing the older soldier, taking water from Hero, then having a normal conversation with Shifty and Scholar.
After they had camped (thanks to the dead God for the fire; the cold was killing him), he finally had some time to think.
Could this weird, repeating phenomenon be a time loop? Think about it: the Shadow Slave world already has a time loop inside another time loop. It will be perfectly fine if there is another time loop inside another time loop, which is inside another time loop.
Or what if he is immortal?
The orange is in the hen house type immortal.
Every time he died, he would travel back in time and restart his life from a respawn point. Can he change this respawn point, then?
'That's a little bit too crazy, isn't it?'
He shouldn't think that far right now. He still being alive after dying twice could very well be a glitch in the universe. (Glitch is the universe, duh. He might have gone into a coma after getting hit by the truck and thinking about insane things.)
Sadly, he couldn't continue thinking about wild things because, in the next second, something massive came crashing from the sky.
This time, Hero actually came and gave him the keys. ….the key to get the key is to stop pursuing the second wormified corpse after killing the first one. Or he would miss Hero dashing past him.
This time he managed to throw the Mountain King from the cliff by tangling it with the chains of a heavy wagon with the help of Shifty and Scholar (he couldn't let two minor characters get killed by the monster, after all, it was their fate that they would die at his hands). Hero helped too.
However, he died again. (Again. Can you believe it? How did the original Sunny manage to clear it in a single try? [Fated] must have been helping him. Or he is just not as qualified as the original Sunny). This time he almost got close to the temple, but at that moment he lost his balance, and the monster killed him.
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"Or at least try not to die right away. The nearest Awakened won't be able to get here for a few hours, so we would really appreciate it if you don't make us fight that thing ourselves...."
' YES, I didn't die.'
With that thought, he slipped into a slumber, but not before he heard a faint whisper coming from the darkness.
[ Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trail.]
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Sunny was dreaming of mountains again.
Since he is alive, he really should be able to go back in time every time he dies.
But what will he do with this power?
First of all, he should not develop suicide tendencies. Since he can go back in time, he should try to understand the world of Shadow Slave more, maybe delving into what-if scenarios. He could also follow the canon diligently, and with the power of time and future knowledge, he could definitely lessen his burden. Suddenly, he remembered the wormified corpse. If he is not shackled and armed with something sharp, he can definitely take one head-on.
Following the canon or not can come later; he needs to clear this trail first, and with the help of his power, he is going to make the best use of it.
..............................…..
Loop 17…..Final Run
This would be the last time he would run through this trial.
Sunny was once again dreaming of mountains. This time he watched it intensely for some reason. He might be nostalgic. The dream slowly continued to come to an end. Sunny also went over the script for the final time.
Step, step. Step
The familiar weight around his ankles, the cold air brushing against his hair, the cold road against his feet. He is back to reality.
Taking a deep breath, he intentionally tripped.
"Whore's bastard! Watch where you're going?"
The shout caused a commotion and soon Hero, riding a white horse was coming towards him.
"What's going on here?"
The voice held no malice rather it showed concern.
"It's nothing, sir. We are all just tired and cold. Especially our little friend here. The journey is truly hard for someone this young."
Hero looked at Sunny with pity.
He sighed and gave him a flask from his belt.
"Bear with it a little more, child. We will stop for the night soon. For now, here, drink some water."
Sunny was looking at his belt. Removing his gaze, he took the flask and started to open it.
He was about to finish opening it when a whip cracked in the air, and immediately Sunny was in a world of pain. He lost his balance and needed to lean against Hero's horse to regain his balance. The chain tensed slightly, introducing more pain to him.
His hands slightly brushed against Hero's leather cuirass.
"What do you think you are doing?"
The new soldier (not new to him), older and angrier, stopped his horse a few steps back.
Hero's face darkened.
"I was just giving him some water."
"He'll receive water with rest of them when we camp."
"But…."
"....."
Sunny was already in his own world. The whip which sliced the back of Sunny's tunic open and drew blood belonged to him. He secretly put a metal key inside his tunic.
Whenever the Mountain King appeared, he lost most of his tine in opening his locks. After he found out that the keys remained always with Hero, he planned this pick-pocketing. He spent 11 loops perfecting this craft. Some of them were failure and the result of attempting it was ...bad.
Shaking his head to throw unnecessary thoughts, he focused on the older soldier.
'You whipped me 13 times in total. I will definitely enjoy killing you.'
Then he moved his gaze to Hero.
'I will kill you too."
Technically speaking he had already killed them several time in the previous attempt so there was no need to get vengeful, but hey, what if some memory-reader freak decided to pry his brain open. His intentions will look genuine at least.
AN : 2 chaps done. Kindly leave a review if you like it and give me some powerstones.