The woman was Lilat and the young man was Abbas. They didn't see them.

"Hey," Gaus called out but they didn't seem to hear him. He walked closer to them but they still couldn't see him.

"Let's just go back and get the bearings again," Lilat said.

"Finally, she is admitting it! We are lost," Abbas said.

Gaus grabbed their hands and suddenly they could see him. It was the vapor from the water field. It wasn't poisonous but it caused an irresistible urge that bordered on a compulsion to go away from the area.

Gaus granted them immunity and they swam to the entrance beneath the water. According to Calif, even if someone withstood the vapor, they couldn't swim to the entrance without immunity. Partly because they would have to hold their breath for 15 minutes. He didn't think a human could do that.

Now inside the confines of the dungeon, Abbas regained his senses and faced him.

"I know you from the library. Wait, are you part of this loop thing?" Abbas asked.

"...yes."

"So you were just toying with me the other day?"

"No, I wasn't. I will explain everything in the evening. I promise."

"I just lost the ability to control lightning element. I can't wait till evening," Abbas said.

"How did that happen and why is that my fault?" Gaus asked.

"He," Lilat said, referring to Abbas. "Lost his ability to use the lightning element because of the negative reputation he received for joining us. Most of his combat skills are lightning-based so I can understand his frustration. But he can wait for you to come back, can't you, Abbas?" Lilat explained.

"Wait," Gaus said. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But what if he leaves now? Will he get his reputation back?" Gaus asked.

Lilat nodded. "Yes, I think he will."

"Then, my friend, you should do a little risk-benefit analysis," Gaus said with a shrug. "Is it the loop or the lightning, which one is more valuable to you?"

Abbas narrowed his eyes in surprise. He looked from Gaus to Lilat inquisitively. "So... I'm not a captive here. I can go if I want to."

Gaus chuckled. He had never imagined himself taking someone captive. "Of course, you can go. I can escort you if you want."

"Er... I think what Gaus is trying to say is you have a choice," Lilat said. "If you stay with us you get to remain in the loop. We will keep you safe in exchange for your services. And even you can see the loop is more important than the ability to control lightning."

"Can you keep him safe?" Gaus asked with a chuckle. "No. Don't say anything if you don't mean it. As much as we would like him to stay, we should tell him what he's getting himself into." Gaus put his hand on Abbas' shoulder. "I want you to stay. But you should know that being in the time loop doesn't make you immortal. You can die. Anyone can die. We are already in danger because there are others in the loop hunting us. But if you stay, we will support and protect each other. That I promise you."

"Why me?" Abbas said. "Of all the people in the city, why did you choose me?"

"Well," Gaus said thoughtfully. "You were the first person that came to mind when I was given the chance to invite others to join the loop. You were kind to me when I first came to this city and I wanted to repay your kindness for all the knowledge you have given me."

"What?" Abbas frowned. "So you have been scamming me every loop."

"It wasn't a scam," Gaus countered. "I wanted some information and you seemed to be capable and within reach. Besides, I have always considered you a friend."

Abbas ground his teeth. "How long have you been doing it?"

"It wasn't that long, really," Gaus said.

"How long?"

"It wasn't that long..." Honestly, there were a couple of loops that Gaus scammed the man for food. He'd been doing the same thing to many people that it had become normal. He didn't even remember the people he borrowed from.

Abbas glared at him.

"Okay. Just thirty to forty loops, maybe a little more."

"You are paying for it," Abbas declared.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Alright," Lilat cut in. "I understand you have a history. But Gaus has to go now. You can catch up later."

His schedule was simple. He would be in the guild from the beginning of the loop to eight o'clock in the morning. Then the academy from eight to four in the evening. And then from there, he would continue his training with Rachel.

"I didn't scam anyone. We'll continue this discussion when I come back."

"Yes, we will, and you will pay all of it."

Gaus reluctantly left for the academy. Abbas was serious about taking compensation from him. He shouldn't have told him about it.

***

It was time for another school of spirits lecture with Badwin.

"All preparations have been made," Badwin said. "We will be visiting the spirit realm tomorrow morning. I want every one of you to be here by eight o'clock in the morning."

During their first class, the teacher told them they would be visiting the spirit realm in a week. Now that he thought about it, the only reason they didn't do that was because of the week-long loops.

"And don't forget to revise your books for all the dangers of the realm and how to avoid them," Badwin added. "And, class rep, you'll be leading your colleagues so you have to be here by six."

Stolen story; please report.

The next class was enchantment. Despite the rough start, the students seemed to be doing just fine. More than half of the class could draw a rune at this point. XM9997 wasn't all that happy though. She was always pushing for more.

Gaus visited Linc after class, hoping to get a skill or two from him but the man insisted on taming his mana first. He wanted to see his classification so badly.

"You can postpone it all you want," Linc said. "But I won't teach you a thing without it."

Well, that was one good thing about the academy. He had many options.

Next, he followed XM9997 to her office and demonstrated his 'expertise' in enchantment. He'd already mastered compression and advanced compression. She should have something new for him.

"This is not enough," She said, staring at him as if daring him to object.

After a minute of silence, she picked a practice stone from her drawer and threw it at him.

"Inspect it and tell me how many runes are engraved in it."

Gaus inspected the stone. There were no visible runes on it but even he could make runes invisible with advanced compression. How about a little test then?

He drew the same rune for compression but in reverse. He then imbued it with mana using mana insignia. The stone glowed and suddenly several runes became visible on both surfaces.

Congratulations, you have learned reverse compression.

Reverse compression is a variation of compression that allows you to undo any compression.

Cost: 5 MP (depends on the mana used originally for compression).

*

Reverse compression is closely related to the skill: decompression.

The system has awarded you with the runic syllable for decompression.

Keep enchanting.

With the runic syllable, he just used runic writing and mana insignia to learn the skill.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill: decompression.

Rank: rare 1

Decompression allows you to make invisible runes visible and small runes big.

Cost: up to 5 MP (depends on the mana originally used for compression).

There are seven basic skills to enchantment: runic writing, mana insignia, runic tongue, compression, advanced compression, reverse compression, and decompression. You have learned them all.

The system has recognized your talent in enchantment.

You can specialize in any of the following branches:

1. Skill formulas? Y/N?

2. Enhancement? Y/N?

3. Elemental magic? Y/N?

4. Alterations? Y/N?

He realized the main reason he couldn't copy enchantments was they were just like advanced levitation - made from composite skills. Every rune came from a combination of the runic syllable, mana insignia, and runic writing, plus or minus compression and advanced compression.

"Not bad," the teacher said. "You can now specialize. How many branches do you have?"

"Four."

He listed them.

For just a second, the teacher's eyes went wide.

"Alteration?" She said. "That's the one. You must seize it."

"I don't even know what it is," Gaus said. "I was planning to take skill formulas."

Every skill functioned based on its formula. Skill formulas would allow him to study skills and possibly invent his own.

"No." She shook her head. "That would be a waste. Alteration allows you to change the very nature of things. You can turn metal into a rubber and vise versa. You can even change elements from fire to water and from water to fire. Your runes will be so expensive very few people can afford them. Skill formulas are awesome. You can make money. But they are common. There is over one hundred skill formula specialist in the academy. But only Nostalgia has the alteration skill in the entire academy. If you take it then I'll introduce you to her."

This was the first time XM9997 had spoken this long. She was always economic with words. As if she didn't want to waste them on him.

"I will consider it," he said. "And who's Nostalgia?"

"I'll tell you if you choose alteration," she said.

And the meeting was over. He grabbed something from the cafeteria and went to his room. He still had a couple of hours before his next training session with Rachel.

Nadin

The red-haired girl stared at the glowing runes. Tyren sat at the center of the circle surrounded by four floating stones. The fist-sized stones would age and turn to dust but new ones would replace them. There was no indication as to where the stones kept coming from but there seemed to be no end to it.

"How much do I have left?" Tyren asked.

Assessing expression...

Fear: 83%

Defeat: 33%

She should better choose her words correctly.

"Twelve days," she said. "Maybe thirteen, I don't know. It's best if we just stick to twelve."

Tyren walked out of the circle and kicked the nearest stone. "Dammit! I was so close before this damn woman showed up. I would have taken his soul and he wouldn't even notice it. It would be pain-free. I wanted to let him go in peace." He paced around the room for several minutes while she watched him in silence. "Even with the soul-pillars, it wasn't supposed to degrade this fast. I was expecting the whole thing to favor us."

"Normal soul-pillars aren't supposed to break the soulbond," Nadin said. "Yes, they can delay it but not break it. I still don't know how it happened."

"But Minorita isn't normal," he said. "She must have done something to the soul-pillars. I won't put it past her to enhance them with the Will of Immortality."

"Now what do we do?" Nadin asked. "In twelve days, the soul bond would be degraded completely. You won't even remember the time loop if that happens."

"That's not the real concern," Tyren said. "Twelve days is a lot of time. But Minorita is getting closer to the truth. What if she realizes she just needs to wait for the next twelve days and I would go away for good?"

Nadin sighed softly. If half of what the world said about Minorita was true then she would find out about it before the end.

"I will just use my trump card," Tyren said.

"The trump card?!" Her eyes went wide with fear. "No, my lord, you can't. You said you wouldn't use it unless it's necessary."

"And now it is," he said.

"Wait, wait," she said, trying to catch her breath. "That would start a war. A lot of people will die. People we care about. There must be some other way. Just give me one day and I'll come up with something."

"Nadin!" He thundered. "Get it together. People will die. I'll mourn. But it's a small price to pay for my life."

"What about giving the Council another day or two? Please." She said.

"It has been three days since I told the Council about her," Tyren said. "It seems even they are hesitant to attack her. I need to give them a stronger stimulus if I want them to act faster and with more aggression. Look, if Gaus has stayed away from her then I wouldn't have to do this."

"But, my lord, I..."

"It's okay. If I win, I will get rid of my enemies. If I lose, I'll die. It's that simple. It has to be."

Gaus

He spent thirty minutes from the academy to the forest. And from the forest to Calif was two hours even with the help of blink. He'd like to learn some long-distance teleportation like Rachel. Luckily, the way was clear. The biggest obstacle he'd encountered was a level 10 domestic fox. He mostly just blinked past them.

On his arrival, he saw Rachel standing in front of the water field.

"I hope the mighty Minorita wasn't trapped by the hallucinogen," he said.

"Maybe," she said.

"Alright. I'll grant you immunity. By my authority as the rightful owner of this dungeon, I..."

"You don't have to waste a slot on me. I was waiting for you."

She sounded unusually rough. He pretended it was fine and went on with the conversation.

"Is there any limitations to the people I can give immunity to?"

"Yes, there is. Calif didn't tell you?"

"No, it didn't."

"Just like him. He would probably tell you it was obvious and he thought you could figure it out."

"You keep referring to it as 'he', I wonder why?"

"Well, that's another thing you should learn about Calif. He gets angry when you refer to him as 'it'. You should also know he's listening to this conversation right now. He can hear you and even communicate anywhere within the two miles radius of the water field."

That was new.

"I will take note of that. I don't mean to pry but you seem... unlike yourself. Does it have anything to do with why you are waiting for me?"

She stared at him for an extended period, occasionally sighing and frowning.

"Just stop," Gaus snapped. "You are scaring the hell out of me. What's going on?"

"I didn't want it to be true so I stop myself from telling you," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Gaus asked. He could hear his voice shook.

"There's something you need to know about the time loop."