"Go on, it's open. You'll find the keys on the bed," XM0033 told him as he turned around to leave. "You'll find the place on your map the next time you want to come here."
Gaus nodded. There were just too many things going on in his head to ask about what magic the man used to bring him there.
He pushed the door open and went inside. It was medium-sized, with a small bed at the center, a mirror on the wall, a wardrobe by the side of the mirror, and a wooden desk and a chair at the other end. It would be good to mention that there was a fairly large bathroom attached to the room because the first thing Gaus did was to take a bath. He returned to the bed and lay down on his back, looking at the plain ceiling.
Up until a few days ago, nobody knew about his ability to remember the loops. He enjoyed a comfortable life and had all the things the loop had to offer. Tyren came along and destroyed everything. Now he was stuck in the academy where he'd none of that freedom he used to enjoy.
Sigh.
The world blurred and disappeared. He was too busy to notice it was already 3 am.
***
Gaus saw himself standing in the alley, facing the towering yellow wall. It was Tuesday for the 43rd time, and the time was 03:00:19 in the morning.
Magiwatch has saved 24 hours.
----------------------------------------
The Master welcomes you to Loopers Academy. You are expected in class in seven hours.
Rank: junior initiate class 1
Guarantor: XM9999
Lifespan: 23:59:49
As of now, his claim to the loop was both supported by his magiwatch and The Master.
The area was deserted and put under curfew for reasons not yet made public, so the routine involved dodging a few officers and hiding behind a garbage can until morning.
He opened the items he received from the academy in the last loop.
Loopers book
{Map} {Loopers Interface 0/3} {Inventory 0/15}
He spent some time on the map to find the location of the academy and the many entrances of the academy sub-dungeons before he moved to inventory. When he clicked on it, a small semitransparent window with fifteen grids popped up. All were empty. He could add and retrieve items from the grids. To satisfy his curiosity, he touched a nearby pebble and it disappeared only to appear on the first grid as a miniature version of itself.
He moved to the interface.
You can't communicate without adding friends but you can send messages or complaints to the Academy.
Send a message to the Academy? Y/N?
Add friends? Y/N?
The addition of the inventory and the interface to his skill arsenal was a welcome development. He didn't need to carry his swords on his back anymore.
His next destination was the academy. Being a registered looper in the academy would help in several ways. One, it would eliminate the risk of being caught by another Tyren as he wandered around the city. Two, the academy would teach him how to become a looper - skills which he couldn't get otherwise would be available to him there. Three, he got to live with other loopers and know how it felt to be a looper, at least that would kill the boredom looming over him.
The map led him to a small apartment on the outskirts of the city. He knocked only once and the door opened.
"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked with a befitting girly tone. Gaus just couldn't help rolling his eyes at the short figure in front of him. She was dark and pretty with an unhappy face for a girl of her age.
"I'm XM0000," he finally said
She scrutinized him for several seconds before she let him in.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
A small corridor led to a sizeable parlor.
"There," she pointed at the first door on the left, "take note of it because if you were to accidentally enter a wrong door..." She smiled wickedly, leaving the rest hanging.
"Thank you," he said sarcastically.
"Go on." She urged him forward when he didn't start moving toward the door.
Gaus pushed the door open and stepped inside.
You've entered a blessed dungeon.
Gaus frowned as a blinding flash hit his eyes. A second later, he was standing at the front gate. His frown deepened. Just what was going on? He was supposed to be in the academy, not in some dungeon.
"Welcome to LA," the gate said "Letting him inside."
Yes, the crappy, wooden gate grew a mouth and spoke.
For the first time, Gaus realized why he needed sunglasses. The sun was a few meters away from the ground. It might not be an actual sun, gauging from the heat, but it was blinding. Anyone would need sunglasses. Forget about the sun, the buildings were practically alive, announcing their dear names and inviting every passerby to come to them. It was so disorienting that Gaus spent three hours before he reached the initiate block which was separated from the main campus by an encircling wall. According to one initiate, the wall was to ward off monsters from the dungeon, and it was necessary because initiates were too weak to protect themselves.
His room was number 66 on the second floor, dorm 4. It was a real pain finding it out. He finally understood why XM0033 decided to teleport him there.
The room wasn't locked and the keys were on the bed, just like yesterday. He collected his uniform and sunglasses from the block admin before leaving for class.
Now he was in front of the class. His map helped bring him there, but he still had to deal with being late.
11:12 AM
He stepped into the classroom. A blindfolded boy sat on a chair in front of the class, facing the board. A young woman stood by his side and an older man opposite him.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to face Gaus.
"Here's a latecomer," the older man said. Gaus supposed he was the teacher.
"What's your name, latecomer?"
"I'm Gaus Lake, sir."
"You're welcome. Please, don't be late again."
Gaus nodded and proceeded to an empty seat at the back of the class amid the scrutiny of his new classmates. After he was seated, the teacher decided to introduce himself and the class.
"We've had introductions yesterday, but since this is your first time we'll just take you around," the teacher said. "I'm XM1002, but call me Linc." He pointed at the girl beside the blindfolded boy. "This is the class representative, Noble Antelina. This one," he pointed at the blindfolded boy, "is Jordan. We don't have time to reintroduce the remaining twenty members of the class but you'll have a lot of time to socialize. Now," he turned to the desk behind him, put his hand inside a red bag that had been lying there innocently, and retrieved a stone - a small tablet engraved with runes, "let's carry on." He aimed at the boy's head and threw the tablet.
Pop.
"Aaargh," the boy screamed as the stone hit his forehead. The class laughed.
"These are charged tablets," the teacher explained, casting a meaningful glance at Gaus. "You must be able to sense them if you want to stay in this class. Next."
Another boy came forward. Antelina untied the blindfold from Jordan and put it on the newcomer. Once he sat, the teacher started throwing stones at him. He dodged four while six hit him.
"Failed."
Another came forward and it was the same 'failed', again and again until nearly all the class had tried it. The last five students dodged more than six each and they got 'good'.
The teacher turned to him. "It's your turn, Gaus."
Antelina put the blindfold on him and directed him to sit on the chair.
"I'll throw ten mana charged tablets at you. You must dodge at least five to pass. This training is solely designed to help you learn mana sense."
Mana sense? I have that.
Mana sense activated.
0.1MP per minute.
Suddenly, twenty-three beacons lit up around him with several other much smaller beacons clustered just behind the teacher. A beacon flew toward him and passed harmlessly by the left side of his head. Another flew to the right. Two more to the right and then one flew directly at his forehead. He dodged to the right. Another came from the right and he moved his head to the left side. Just like that, the beacons kept coming and he kept dodging them.
Noble Antelina
Noble houses from the fifth world, northern hemisphere hid their surname and just used Noble instead. It was dumb, really dumb, and Antelina didn't like it the least bit. But somehow she registered as 'Noble'. She had been in LA for five months now and all the emotional ramifications of the loop on her had already waned off. It was time to become the best and surpass everyone just like how she always did.
Initially, she thought she was lucky because her older brother was supposed to represent the family in the pilgrimage this year, but he got sick and she took his place. But now that she thought about it, it wasn't luck, not really. It was her superior skills and insane affinity for mind magic. That was why she was admitted. A temporary looper once told her that if she wasn't starting the loop in Fydeba The Master wouldn't have chosen her, but that wasn't true. The Master could have chosen her even if she started the loop in the First World for she was the best.
She had been proving to everyone that she was the best over and over again. Today, she would do it again and prove to the entirety of the looping world that she was the best.
Here he comes... She clenched her fist as the supposed prodigy walked into the class. The upper echelon had vouched for this person. They said he was promoted to their class after spending just one day in the academy. Some even said he was as powerful as a temporary looper. She would challenge him to a fight. Once she won, she would be regarded as the only prodigy.
The person in question was dressed in the same uniform as the rest of the class. He looked simple, ordinary even. He didn't smell like nobility and his eyes didn't carry the peculiar arrogance of the greater houses.
"I'm Gaus Lake," he introduced himself.
Lake?
Okay, he wasn't a noble since there wasn't any noble house with that name in all of the multiverse, but who was he? She frowned as she suddenly realized she'd been asking the wrong questions. The important thing was to defeat him, it mattered little who he was.
"I'll throw ten mana charged tablets at you. You must dodge at least five to pass," Master Linc told him before he threw the mana-charged tablets.
She set a record by dodging 28 on her first try. No temporary looper could dodge as much.
1, 2, 3... She counted in her mind as he dodged.
10, 11, 12... 'Anyone could do that.'
15, 16, 17... 'Huh? That's kinda impressive for a commoner.'
20, 21, 22... '...'
25, 26, 27, 28... 'You've got to be kidding me.'
30, 31, 32, 33, 34... 'He's cheating. He must be.'
"Sir, he's cheating," she reported him to the teacher.
The teacher stopped and turned to her with a questioning look.
"He is, I'm sure of it."
"How do you suppose he is doing that?" The teacher asked.
"Er... It must be the blindfold. Let's change it."
Several of her classmates nodded in agreement.
"Well, if you say so, but..."
He was interrupted by two people walking into the class. One was an older man and the other was just an adolescent girl with dark green hair.
"Good morning, Linc," the older man greeted the teacher. "This is the new student you were informed of earlier. She started yesterday but her affinity and skills have far surpassed that of class 1. The upper echelon has agreed to promote her to this class. I hope you will welcome her."
Linc frowned at the man. "There's only one transfer student, right?"
The man nodded. "Just one."
Linc slowly turned to Gaus who was still sitting, blindfolded. "Then who the hell is this boy?"