Jake walked out of the terrace and through the Order compound while making sure to swipe a dozen or so beer bottles from the somehow endless ice bucket on the way out. He had a few places to visit before it was time to head back to Earth. As Villy had talked about, he at least needed to make it look like he was actively forging and maintaining relationships with other factions, especially Valhal. That was also why he would visit there last, as he planned on spending a few days in their compound. He needed a few days anyway, as he came to learn on his way out of the Order’s base.Two messages had been left for him. The first was from someone associated with Aeon Clok, who was to deliver a present after having won the bet on the final City Floor. Jake had honestly forgotten it, but now that he was reminded, he looked forward to seeing what the mage had that could help his time banana not-a-tree at home.The second message was from the Cerulean Demon, saying where to find him and asking

Eversmile departed soon after, even more perplexed than when he arrived. This left Vilastromoz alone back on the terrace with his own thoughts, a deep frown marring his face. A lot of things weren’t making any sense right now. For something to be Forbidden Knowledge was… not normal.To clarify, for the system to hide information wasn’t anything new at all. Restricted Knowledge was a relatively simple term, as it just referred to knowledge restricted by the system, as the name very obviously implied. It wasn’t any big secret either, and everyone encountered it throughout their Paths. Hell, it was what restricted people from sharing information about the Nevermore Floors or Challenge Dungeons with those who had yet to do the World Wonder.This Nevermore example also nicely showcased another aspect of Restricted Knowledge: it varied widely to whom knowledge was restricted. People like Jake could now talk openly about Nevermore with anyone else who had either done it or wasn’t capable of

Spending time with Carmen was always eventful, and Jake thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe it was because they were very much on the same wavelength, and both had a bit of a screw loose. Then again, which talented individual didn’t have a bit of a screw loose? It was pretty much a requirement, in Jake’s mind.Carmen was just his type of weird. Both were driven, fighting maniacs and were willing to do dumb shit to try and progress. Their little experiment with infusing her with Touch of the Malefic Viper was a prime example of this. Through their brief experimentation, they discovered that the problem wasn’t the amount of energy Jake infused, but that Carmen was sitting still while he did it.If she moved around and punched, the energy would be dispersed faster than even Touch could infuse it. The arm had exploded simply due to an excess buildup of energy. Jake also had to admit that the entire experiment was quite beneficial to him. It was rare he had the chance to use Touch on people witho

The creature stopped attacking just as the Demon Prince reanimated again, his form semi-transparent due to the significant soul damage he had taken. He looked over in horror and saw the Cerulean Devil stare directly at the newcomer who had entered his Soulspace. Stare directly at the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.“Get out of here!” the Demon Prince yelled with all his remaining energy. He quickly understood what had happened. The Chosen had somehow projected his very own soul into the prince’s, and should he die here, the Chosen risked potentially even dying himself, or at the very least taking severe soul damage. That couldn’t happen. “You can still escape! Go!”However… his warning was too late. Even as the final words left him, the creature disappeared, only to appear right behind the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.“Oh,” the Chosen said as he slowly turned and looked at the creature more closely, tapping its forehead with a finger. “Pretty empty in there, huh? All instinct.”The Demon

Leaving Nevermore felt oddly weird. Probably because he had spent fifty years of his life within the World Wonder. He had met many interesting figures, learned a lot about the multiverse, and bonded a lot with his party members. At least he felt a lot closer to the Sword Saint and Fallen King now than before. Rather than simply being comrades of convenience, he would say they could actually be considered friends now.Dina was also someone Jake now considered a friend, and he knew she felt the same way, even if she was still a bit reserved. Of course, Jake couldn’t compare to Sylphie when it came to making friends, as he was pretty sure all three of his other party members would gladly cause a war for her. Not to say Jake wouldn’t also do that…Anyway, the point was that Jake had made a lot of memories and bonds. Of course, Nevermore had also brought with it one other quite important thing. The primary reason he and nearly anyone else even went to Nevermore in the first place was its s