New goal

5:00 AM. The empty street. The pre-dawn chill barely registered anymore. The potion had worked, at least to some degree.But the chill in my soul? That was a different matter.This wasn't Brockton Bay.This wasn't a handful of gangbangers with rusty pistols I could outmaneuver with some clever parkour and a well-placed kick or my HEMA skills using a pipe.This was a whole different beast.Fucking literally.A creature of ice and fury, large enough to dwarf entire city blocks, capable of freezing everything in its path in seconds.I'd spent over two hundred loops in this world, honing my swordsmanship, pushing my body with the Knights' training regimes.And what did I have to show for it? Two extra minutes of agonizing death.The realization hit me like a physical blow.skill wasn't enough.I could master every sword technique in existence, but against that thing?It wouldn't matter.I was an ant facing a glacier.That thing was probably worse than an endbringer.I needed power.Raw, overwhelming power.The kind that could shatter mountains and bend reality.The 'Time-Space Divine Death Law' promised that kind of power.Eventually.But my progress was glacial, a frustratingly slow crawl towards a strength that might not even be enough.Two options, then.Two paths to explore.First, accelerate my cultivation. Find a way to make the "Time-Space Divine Death Law" work faster, to flood my meridians with chi, to shatter the limits of my mortal shell.The problem? I had no clue how.The manual was cryptic, filled with allegories and riddles that seemed to mock my ignorance.The second option was potions.I had a mountain of ingredients, a library's worth books shoved into my armor, but had I ever actually sat down long enough to make anything but a shoddy cold resistance potion?Fuck no, because I was being a stubborn moron.Could I brew something, some elixir, some concoction that would bridge the gap?Force my body to adapt, to evolve, to survive the impossible?Maybe.Maybe not.But it was the only damn shot I had.Ten loops.I would dedicate the next ten loops to nothing but study.Ten loops to immerse myself in the world of potion making, to unlock its secrets, to bend its power to my will.Ten loops. It was a start.Diary Entry #1Day Who-The-Hell-Knows: Lugunica, Whatever-This-Shitty-Kingdom-Is-Called.Decided to try this whole diary thing. Figure if I'm gonna be stuck reliving the same day for eternity, might as well document the highlights - or lowlights, as the case may be.Spent the entire damn day locked in that ridiculously overpriced suite reading. Not exactly my idea of a good time, but hey, when you're facing down an apocalyptic ice monster every twenty-four hours, priorities shift.Good news: potion making in this world is legit. Seriously, some of the stuff these guys can whip up is straight-up insane. I'm talking 'regrow a limb in five seconds' insane. 'Turn invisible at will' insane. 'Summon a meteor from the goddamn sky by staring at it using brain power to enact a telekinetic miracle' insane.Bad news: Apparently, all that awesome shit is locked behind years of practice, mastery of mana manipulation, and ingredients that cost more than my entire life savings back on Earth Bet times gold to the power of tinkertech.Which basically leaves me with the potion equivalent of chicken noodle soup for the next- well, who knows how long.The basic potions are for healing cuts and scrapes, curing hangovers, maybe giving you a temporary boost of strength or speed or cold resistance.Useful, sure, but not exactly gonna stop a city-sized ice monster from turning me into a human popsicle.Still, gotta start somewhere, right?So, I spent hours wading through texts on basic potion making, herbal lore, and the fundamentals of mana manipulation.My head is buzzing, my eyes are burning, and I'm pretty sure I smell like a walking apothecary, but hey, progress, right?Maybe tomorrow I'll actually try brewing something.Today, I'm gonna pass out face-first into this mountain of pillows and pretend I'm not just delaying the inevitable.Because tomorrow, the ice comes again.That's probably not going to change any time soon eh?Good night world and fu-Diary Entry #2Day Who-The-Hell-Knows: Capital city, The kingdom of Lugunica.Turns out impending doom is a hell of a motivator.Back on Earth Bet, I barely scraped by in high school. Brockton Bay University? Forget about it. Too busy trying to stay alive, or at least not get recruited into some gang, to give a damn about calculus or Shakespeare.But here? With the whole city turning into a giant ice cube every evening, suddenly learning stuff doesn't seem so pointless. In fact, it might be the only thing keeping me sane - or at least semi-sane.I'm not actually sure if power induced sanity counts?Does it count?I don't care! Fuck you!Spent the morning plowing through potion books again. Starting to get a handle on the basics. Turns out mana manipulation is kind of like-I dunno, learning to play a really complex instrument inside your body that is called a gate?You gotta get the flow right, the rhythm, the pressure. One wrong note, and the whole thing blows up in your face- literally, in some cases.Decided to take a break from the potion stuff this afternoon and actually read some of the history books I swiped from that library.Figured it might be helpful to know a little more about this world beyond "giant ice monster wants to kill everyone."Turns out, this city's called- wait for it- 'The Capital.' Real creative, these guys. And the kingdom? That was Lugunica, not the city.Diary Entry #3Day Who-The-Hell-Knows: Capital city, The kingdom of Lugunica in the Waterfall world. Yes, the one that is actually flat and has endless water falling off its sides like some kind of carnival fairy tale model of stupidity.Four hours. That's how long I lasted before my brain went on strike and I decided I needed a break from potions. Turns out there's a limit to how many diagrams of alchemical arrays and descriptions of exotic ingredients a guy can take before his sanity starts to crack.So, I decided to indulge in a little light reading. You know, something to relax the mind, expand the horizons, contemplate the mysteries of the universe.Specifically, I wanted to figure out what the hell kind of moron named this place 'The Waterfall World.'Well, guess what? It's exactly what it sounds like.This world? Flat. Like a goddamn pancake. And the edges? Endless waterfalls. Just cascading into oblivion, like some kind of cosmic drain.I swear, whoever designed this place must have been high on some seriously potent hallucinogens.But still, the whole thing just feels wrong. Unnatural. Like I'm living inside some kind of cosmic joke.And you know what? I'm starting to think I am. Even parahumans made some god damned sense!The ice monster, this flat-earth-with-waterfalls bullshit- it's all just too weird. Too nonsensical.So, here's my new goal-Brew a potion to get the hell out of here.I don't care if it takes a hundred loops, a thousand loops, a million loops. I'm finding a way off this carnival ride from hellBecause this Waterfall World? It's broken. And I'm starting to think it might be contagious.Diary entry #4Day I Don't Care, City Fuck This Place, the Kingdom of Whatever, Waterfall Hellworld.I've officially lost count of the days, the loops, the deaths. It all blurs together after a while. But one thing's for sure: I've read over a thousand books on potion making.A thousand.And guess what? That's barely scratching the surface. My storage is still overflowing with those damn things.This world is obsessed with potions- even if 98% of them are theoretical. They've got potions for everything.curing warts, making your hair grow faster, even changing your eye color.Seriously, who the hell needs a potion to change their eye color?But amongst all the frivolous crap, there's some truly groundbreaking stuff.Potions that can alter your very being, push the limits of human potential, grant powers that would make even the strongest capes back on Earth Bet look like amateurs.Problem is, most of that stuff is locked behind layers of complex alchemy, rare ingredients, and years of dedicated practice.Years I don't have, considering the whole city-wide ice sculpture thing.Did I already say that slightly differently in the previous entry?I did.Fuck you, read something else!So, I'm taking a shortcut.Today, I brewed four potions.First, permanent speed reading. Gotta get through this mountain of books somehow.Second, permanent mental boost. Call it brain doping, call it cheating, I don't give a damn. I need every edge I can get.Third, telekinetic potential. Yeah, you heard that right. Telekinesis. Always wanted to try that one. This potion won't give me full-blown Jean Grey powers, but it'll kickstart the ability, give me a foundation to build on.Fourth, minor permanent regeneration. Figure if I'm gonna keep dying every day, might as well heal a little faster.Downed all four of those bad boys like shots. Tasted like a mix of burnt hair and swamp water, but hey, who am I to complain?Right now, I'm feeling… different. Sharper. My thoughts are racing, the world seems a little brighter, and I swear I can almost feel a tingle of energy around my hands.Could be a placebo effect, could be the real deal.It's probably definitely not.Only one way to find out.But for now? I'm going to sleep.Yeah, I know, the ice is coming. But dying hurts. A lot. And I figure sleeping through most of it is the closest thing I've got to a mercy killing.Tomorrow's another loop, another chance to crack this puzzle.Maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to actually do something.—The jarring sensation of cobblestones against my cheek jolted me awake.Disoriented, I blinked against the fading light, my mind struggling to catch up with the sudden shift from dreamless oblivion to harsh reality.Sunset.Shit.I'd slept through the entire loop.My mind felt less sluggish, my thoughts even less tangled and slow than the difference before and after I took the mental enhancement potion.Apparently, even with a reset button, sleep deprivation wasn't exactly conducive to long-term sanity.Right.Priorities.I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the lingering fatigue, and set about gathering the ingredients I needed.This time, two elixirs.One for a permanent, full-body enhancement, pushing my physical capabilities beyond anything I could achieve through mere training.The other, an improved version of the cold resistance potion, something that might actually give me a fighting chance against that wave of glacial death.The process was a blur of measured movements, precise incantations, and the ever-present hum of mana weaving through the air.My enhanced mind worked overtime, absorbing and processing information with a speed that would have been impossible just a few loops ago.Two vials, filled with shimmering liquids, sat before me. One a vibrant crimson, pulsing with an almost tangible heat.The other, a deep, icy blue, radiating an aura of almost unbearable cold.I didn't hesitate. Down the hatch.The effects were immediate.A surge of strength coursed through my veins, every muscle in my body humming with newfound power.The world sharpened, colors becoming more vivid, sounds amplified.The air itself seemed to crackle with a barely perceptible energy.This time, I wouldn't just die. I would see what happened. I would understand.The first tendrils of the freezing wave were already licking at the edges of the city, painting the rooftops with a thin layer of frost. Panic filled the streets, a frantic scramble of humanity fleeing the inevitable.I moved against the tide, my enhanced speed allowing me to weave through the panicked crowds that were freezing mid-step with ease.The cold bit at my skin, but it was a distant ache now, a manageable discomfort.The heart of the city was a chaotic symphony of destruction.Buildings crumbled, their facades cracking and collapsing under the weight of the encroaching ice.Screams became silent as shattering explosions were felt through the frozen air, lives were cut short by the relentless advance of the cold as two titans fought in the slums and moved around the city like a bulldozer fighting an ant.I pushed onward, drawn by a morbid curiosity and a desperate hope that somewhere, somehow, there might be a way to fight this.To stop it.Near the city gates, I found them. Two women, huddled together, a shimmering barrier of wind swirling around them, a fragile bubble of warmth in the face of the approaching storm.One had hair as pink as cherry blossoms that would look much better as a waterfall of pink.the other's bob cut that would look better as a cascade of blue.The most beautiful pink and blue I had ever seen.Even amidst the chaos, the fear, the encroaching death, something shifted within me.A primal instinct, a fierce protectiveness became lit in my soul like a bonfire that would never extinguish.If I couldn't save the city, I would save them.But the barrier was failing.The wind whipped around them, a frantic dance against the inexorable tide of ice.Their faces were pale, their lips turning blue, their eyes wide with a fear that mirrored my own.Then, with a final, despairing gasp, the barrier shattered.The ice claimed them in an instant, their forms becoming frozen statues, their expressions forever locked in a mask of silent agony.Rage surged through me, hot and fierce.But there was no time for grief, no time for vengeance.The city was dying.A colossal battle erupted in the distance, shaking the very foundations of the city.A clash of titans, a wave of destruction that dwarfed even the power of the ice wave crashing over and over.I caught a glimpse of it then, through the swirling snow and the collapsing buildings.A figure clad in gold, radiating an almost unbearable light, locked in a desperate struggle with the leonine creature.The ground trembled, buildings crumbled, the air itself crackled with the raw power of their clash.I survived.The colossal head of the ice-beast went flying in one direction and its massive body slammed into the ground with more than just the force of gravity.The wave passed, leaving behind a city encased in ice, a silent tomb.The cold lingered, a constant ache, but I was alive.But it wasn't enough.Not without her.The golden light covered man was revealed to be a man with fiery red hair and a sword with artful designs upon it.It was sheathed reluctantly and the red haired knight in the white attire just stood there with a frown on his face.I didn't care.I retreated to the ruins of the inn, my mind racing, my heart a cold, empty space.There was a potion for this too, I knew.A potion for a quick, painless death.I swallowed it, the bitter taste a welcome oblivion.5:00 AM. The familiar street. The empty dawn.This time, there was a new goal, a new fire burning in my soul.Save the maids.Save the beauties with the pink and blue hair that I hoped would grow from a short bob-cut to each a long cascading wave.