Hopeless (1)

Nox woke up for the third time. He found himself in an unfamiliar environment, within a forest of dead trees.

There was a feeling in his mind… that something was wrong.

Slowly stepping through the flimsy branches, the Mythmaker stopped in his tracks.

'What's going on?'

Purple hues appeared in his dark eyes, forcibly activating his divinity.

Before he could do anything, his vision overlapped with a memory of the past. The trees, the headache, everything was the same. He had been here before.

But how?

There were a lot of questions running through his mind, so Nox did what had always worked the best for him.

The Mythmaker trusted his instincts. Diving into his consciousness, Nox widened his eyes.

[You have suffered fatal damage.]

[You have died.]

Divinity: Undying has activated

That was where it ended. He had his suspicions, but this further proved it.

Running through the forest, he noticed that it was a lot easier to utilize multiple divinities at once. Lifting a finger, droplets of water spun around his hand.

With a flick of the wrist, a blade took shape.

Taking in the cold sensation of the weapon that defied physics, he felt a lot safer.

The past memories, the enhanced divinity… all this pointed to one thing.

"I'm stuck in a time loop." Narrowing his eyes, he muttered.

Time loops were extremely rare forms of challenges. He had only heard about one other case, when he was still a young boy. The man had been trapped inside the same Challenge for over 10 years, driving him insane. Even though he eventually got out, he had trauma beyond belief and shortly took his life.

Fortunately, the boy had figured this out quickly.

After all, who knows what secret repercussions there were to dying?

His makeshift blade cleanly sliced through the trunk of a tree. It shook, then toppled over.

Revealing a shiny white orb, he absorbed the ball of energy like he had in the past.

[You have discovered a life fragment.]

[Your abilities have been temporarily enhanced.]

'How many times have I died?'

The memories were slowly drifting out of his mind. Nox panicked. Was there a time limit?

If he forgot about the time loop, he would need to rediscover it later on.

Only possessing the memory of the last death, he didn't know how long he had been stuck here. The Mythmaker needed a failsafe… some way to communicate with his next regressions if he were to die again.

Steeling his resolve, the boy cut into his own arm.

The liquid weapon easily pierced his skin, drawing 3 bloody marks.

If his theory was correct, the pain would make this action the strongest possible memory he received the next time he was revived.

Tremors resounded beneath him. The entire forest shook.

Something was coming.

「You have encountered the Guardian of this Challenge.」

Covered in moss, an ancient robot-like creature floated towards him. His senses were screaming at him.

Nox felt it. The monster was unbeatable.

But.

'The way out of this loop, could it be?'

If it meant giving information to his next regressions, it would be best to gauge what the beast was capable of doing.

His entire body flared with energy. If he was truly stuck in a time loop, then he would use this opportunity and push past his limits.

Whoosh!

Swift as the wind, the Mythmaker lunged at the guardian, sword in hand. His senses extended as his purple eyes encompassed the nearby vicinity. The beast responded with a simple fist.

'Too fast!'

With a sickening crack, Nox was sent flying back. He ripped off his clothes, revealing a large purple bruise. Even though the boy saw the attack coming, his body was unable to move in time.

Stabbing his blade into the ground, he was able to stop himself from losing too much distance.

Reaching his pocket, he pulled out a luxurious crystal vial. He shook it, but the golden liquid inside remaining unmoving.

+

[Relic Name: Potion of Thunder]

[Rank: Glorious]

[Description: A vial containing the essence of a powerful entity related to lightning. Grants the user a temporary boost in power in exchange for their lifespan.]

+

It was one of the two rewards he received from the Challenge. The relic was simple to use, but it came at a price.

"Here goes nothing." The Mythmaker sighed, uncapping the gold cork.

Gulp.

[A relic has been destroyed.]

「You have received Thunder (Temporary)」

Nox clenched his neck in pain. The elixir washed down his throat, paralyzing his entire body. It was powerful enough to numb his cells.

The liquid coursed through every inch of his being, filling him with an indescribable sense of strength. He disappeared from view.

Instantly appearing behind the beast, he unleashed a barrage of strikes. Strengthened by the relic, his attacks were notches more powerful than before.

Ding! Ding!

Sliding across the metal exterior of the monster, it left a scratch on the ancient armor for the first time.

Aiming for his neck, the creature bent forwards, crushing the ground beneath.

Nox quickly ducked, letting the guardian pass over him. One after another, he managed to avoid the powerful limbs, delivering small strikes that left more and more imperfections on the opponents body.

It was working.

The guardian paused, eyes glowing a fiery red.

Memories overlapped as Nox instantly focused a portion of energy on his legs, dashing away as fast as possible. After all, being caught in an explosion would render his enchanced speed useless.

"Target's threat level determined to be 2. Commencing elimination."

'2? Just 2?'

Nox felt an unexplicible dread as the robot charged up its attack. Holding his breathe, he dove into the world of strings.

He was going to dissect the guardian, one move at a time.

Nearby pools of black lines were being absorbed into the monster, giving them a red hue. At the center of the beast were 2 glowing blue cores, similar to the one he absorbed; just multitudes larger.

Every creature he had faced so far has only had a singular core, representing one divinity. Just like him, the monster deviated from the norm.

Just then, Nox felt it. Defeating the entity in front of him would elevate him to the next stage.

Thousands of strings loosely intertwined with each other before all coming apart in a singular motion. One of the cores glowed dangerously.

"Radiate." the beast growled.

Just like the memory, the resulting shockwave was devastating. Even though he was much further away from before, his body still winced at the intense heat.

Before the dust had even cleared out, it was upon him.

Faster than before, it relentlessly swung around the metallic weapons, almost managing to cave his head in. Nox wasn't capable of doing any substantial damage. If he wanted to win.. he would need a real weapon.

He had to find a way to wake Opal up.

Before long, the effects of his relic wore off. His senses dimmed as he felt his bones starting to crumble.

The drawbacks were settling in.

Unable to dodge the next shockwave, a painless death by distintegration marked the end of his 3rd life.

[You have suffered fatal damage.]

[You have died.]

————————————————————————

Nox woke up in an unfamiliar forest. He instinctively formed a blade of water, etching 3 thin lines into his arm.

The memories came flooding back as he took a second to take everything in.

No matter how long it takes, he would defeat the Guardian and escape the Challenge.

Just like that… the next 10 regressions came and passed.