Die. Respawn. Repeat.

Naru was sure he was going to die.

He wasn't even sure how he'd gotten into this situation. Why he'd gotten into this situation. Going back to the village and seeing his pare—seeing Tarin and Mari, of all things? That was wildly out of character for him on its own.

But then he'd run into the Trialgoer. Why the Trialgoer had even shown up in his old, dinky little village was beyond him, though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Of course Tarin had found a way to involve himself in the Trial. But to have the Trialgoer show up right then and there?

And the old crow had somehow becomepart of the loop! That... that was unheard of. Wasn't it?

Naru didn't exactly have a complete record of what happened across the Trials. He knew what the Integrators told him and whatever he was allowed to keep in his notes between them. That was about it. He knew, for example, that he'd been getting credits for his participation and help, although he was pretty sure there were diminishing returns as the Trials continued. He knew he'd done a number of odd jobs off-planet in return for a variety of trinkets he was allowed to keep.

But he was pretty sure no one had uncovered a way to keep their memories across loops.

Maybe if he saved enough credits, he'd find a skill that let him keep his memories, but the amount he was getting now was almost negligible. At this rate, it was going to take months for him to snag the next rank S skill.

Not that he was ever going to get that opportunity.

That blade was taking a long time to kill him.