Gaus
The only way to escape the prison was to study it.
Gaus sat on his bed with his legs crossed, thinking the recent events over. Of the four things he discussed with Rachel that could trigger the time loop, Gaus chose the first one - Rewind. Rewind should be the cause because only then could Rewind copy (save) what happened. In other words, if the twenty-four-hour loop wasn't caused by the Rewind, then Gaus wouldn't be receiving 'magiwatch has saved 24 hours' every day.
The question here was: which rewind was causing the time loop? Was it his, or the marines', or was it an entirely different Rewind, a third one? After much deliberation, he decided there was another Rewind besides his and the marines'. He just recently came into the loop, so it obviously couldn't be him. And The Master had been in the loop before the marines, so it couldn't be them either since the loop had been around long before them. Which left the possibility of a third Rewind.
The marines might have received their Rewind from someone else, someone who was repeating the day before the marines arrived. Later on, the marines picked it up and continued the loop. However, Gaus felt that this wasn't the case. If the marines were repeating the day, then why didn't they ever alter the span of the loop, depending on what happened in the loop, to favor their cause?
So he chose the third option. A third Rewind which had been repeating the day secretly. However, that would open the door for a third person to join the conflict room that was already crowded.
Hmm.
The next thing was the purpose of creating the loop. All of Rachel's research failed to find out why the loop was created. No fighting stakes at the end of the day, no earthquakes, no pestilences, no nothing... Gaus thought it would be easier for him to determine the purpose if something very important (terrible) was going on at the end of each day.
But still, something had to be happening because there was a reason why the loop was created; no way someone would create something so great for no reason.
Another thing that puzzled him was how the loop differentiated Rewind users from Academy students invited by The Master. The loop recognized the soul, the longevity, the magiwatch, and the mind of every person in the Academy. But only recognized the skill aspect of the magiwatch of Rewind users like Gaus. Did that mean the loop was intelligent?
What happened when Gaus left the Academy? Anything in his biodata, including his bank savings and reputation, would be gone. His physique would be gone as well, fortunately, he didn't have any progress in that aspect ever since entering the Academy. He would lose the map they gave him, which often helped in locating places in the city, and the interface he used to communicate with others. What he would not lose was Rewind and the save library and his skill book, as well as any other skill stored in his skill book.
Gaus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The biggest problem was still Tyren. Asking for help didn't work. Now the only thing left was to either kill the guy and make sure he stayed dead or to learn how to summon the soul-pillars by himself. Gaus preferred the former.
The first time Tyren used the soulbond, the very first iteration of the second loop when Gaus first fell in love with the red-haired girl in class, Tyren came to the Academy. Gaus was assassinated in his room shortly after he told Linc about Tyren being a former temporary looper.
On many occasions after this, Tyren had located him with ease. It was the same thing even the last time when Tyren brought admiral Red Rider and his two friends to kill Rachel. Did Tyren see him through the soulbond? Or did he have spies at the Academy who told him about Gaus?
Gaus must find out about it. If not, then anywhere he was and whatever he did, Tyren would know about it.
Tyren said he would increase the span of the loop from seven days to three or four weeks but only if Gaus stopped trying to break the soulbond. Gaus didn't like it for many reasons. Say, Tyren was telling the truth, what happened when he won? And even if there was no hidden agenda, every restart cost Gaus 5 MP. If he didn't look for a solution then Tyren would use up his mana to increase his strength while he lost everything.
So Gaus must continue to look for ways to break the soulbond or just kill the bastard. However, instead of asking for help from others, as he did with Rachel and Fredrick, he would now do it by himself. If he could do it in secret so that Tyren wouldn't know, then he would. If not, then he would take his chances. As a positive to him, Tyren didn't know he was losing 5MP every restart, and he would be sure to use that to his advantage. When Tyren put his knife back in its sheath, thinking he had won, Gaus would then seize the opportunity to break the soulbond.
The first thing to do was to make sure Tyren didn't have spies at the school. He had a way of finding out about that and tomorrow he would give it a try.
He would also return to Linc to continue his training. At present, the teacher knew very little about him. He didn't even sign the mentor-mentee program yet, so he didn't know Gaus had advanced levitation, mana armament, or any of the skills he had taught him. To him, Gaus was just your above-average class rep who put in the necessary effort. Gaus would know how to convince him this time around.
In the same way, the enchantment teacher didn't know about him. They didn't even have their first private session yet. He would return to her as a new student who had an interest in enchantment. That being said, he'd already decided to take alteration as his next course.
He opened the enchantment tab that was offered to him earlier.
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?
Any choice made is irreversible.
Alteration selected.
Congratulations, you have unlocked a sub-specialization skill under enchantment with a value of K = 20
Alteration allows you to enhance, modify, mutate, and erase runes. That is, of course, to say you can now increase the quantity of a rune or some part of it, you can reduce it, you affect its quality and type as well, and you can just delete it.
Rank: common
The description wasn't so clear and he didn't even know what 'K=20' meant. But that was why they had mentors and teachers.
That done, he returned his attention to his classification. If he wanted to move from level 1 to level 2, then he must have enough loop knowledge, loop power, and guild. Only when each category had reached 100% would he level up his classification. He had no problem with the first two, but the third one, the guild, was his problem.
Finding and conquering a dungeon like Calif would be difficult, if at all possible. And no matter how much loop knowledge and loop power he had, his classification would not level up if his guild was zero. And if he didn't level up his classification, leveling the Rewind above level 50 would be close to impossible because of the exp requirement. But he was a long way from level 50, and he had the time loop on his side to figure things out.
He still didn't know if Rachel was related to the loop or not. She had been in the Multiverse for 21 years before the loop began. And the others - Silvia of England and Hinditri of India - who used the same body as her had all come before her, so they also shouldn't know about the loop. For her part, she felt as if someone who knew her had used her name without her knowledge. But Gaus suspected she had been in the loop at some point in the past and she just couldn't remember it. The question here was: if she was impersonated, then by whom? And if she was in the loop before, then who removed her from it? Also, if she was impersonated, would she be able to remember any of it even if she was informed about it? The loop destroyed all evidence. Just like how it destroyed what happened in the last restart.
No matter, there was a certain Minorita in the history of the loop, which meant either Rachel or someone who used her body before her had been in the loop. The mechanism by which this occurred was unknown to him. Just like how nobody knew what happened in the era called X, and the era before that.
Gaus took a deep breath and looked at his watch. Three minutes to restart the day. The next morning would come and he would initiate his plans to defeat his enemies.
***
"Class rep," said Gatan, looking at the seat next to Gaus where a backpack rested. "Can I sit here?"
"No," Gaus said. "Pick another seat."
Gatan frowned but didn't object and turned to look for another seat.
After him, Telsa and Tiara all attempted to sit in the same chair but Gaus sent them away, offering them the rest of the empty seats.
The last woman to come was Raya, the red-haired girl coming from the fifth world. There were no chairs left except for the one on which Gaus put his backpack.
"Raya," Gaus said, glancing at his bag. "Here's a seat."
The girl was curious for a moment before she went and sat down.
Gatan and Tiara turned to look at Gaus with knitted brows. Why didn't the class rep give them the seat? Tiara rolled her eyes at him waiting for him to challenge her. Linc came in at that moment and the girl had to swallow her anger and look away.
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The class continued in the same way as the previous loops. Gaus barely paid any attention to it and was mostly there for the attendance sheet.
After the class, Gaus accompanied Raya to the cafeteria and then escorted her to her room using the same excuses as the previous loops.
That done, he went to the enchantment teacher.
"Sit down," the teacher said, pointing to a chair.
He sat down. "Thanks."
"What brings you here?" She asked.
"My name is G..." Gaus started.
"I know who you are, what brings you here?"
"As the class rep," he said. "I came on behalf of the class to thank you for choosing our class. It's an honor."
She silently watched him, waiting for him to finish.
"And... I want you to mentor me."
The woman frowned but Gaus nodded. He usually chose Linc as his mentor, but in this restart, he wanted to change a little to see if there would be any effect on the loop in general.
The woman smiled for the first time and shook her head. "Who put you up to this? Linc, or one of your teachers?"
Did the teachers send students to her for this purpose? Well, that's even better.
"No." Gaus shook his head. "I came to you on my own. It has been obvious to me that no one in this world can teach me like you."
There was more frowning coming from the teacher.
"And why do you think I'll waste my time on you?" She said. "I mentored your teachers. I'm long past that stage."
He could just tell her he had alteration right away, hoping that would attract her attention, but he preferred to show it to her instead.
Gaus silently looked at the polished floor while the teacher looked at him, waiting for his answer. After a period of silence, she threw him a practice stone. "Show me everything you know in enchantment."
Gaus grabbed the stone and inscribed the runic syllable for a red light on it. He compressed it into a small barely visible dote. Then he inscribed blue light on the same stone and compressed it. Then green and the remaining colors of the rainbow. He pushed mana inside the inscriptions and the color of the office changed - seven colors of the rainbow flashed like torches.
Gaus pushed a little bit more mana in and the runes disappeared altogether. He drew the inscription for explosion and used advanced compression on it to make it disappear. He handed the stone back to her.
But if the teacher was impressed, she didn't show it. Instead, she threw him another stone. "Tell me what you see."
Gaus grabbed the stone midair and looked at it carefully. There was an inscription that had been hidden by advanced compression. He could use reverse compression, or decompression to make it visible. The mana required by each was almost the same, so he just chose decompression. He drew the inscription for the skill on the rock and pushed his mana inside it.
The rock lit up and lines of text appeared on it.
"The first three - runic tongue, runic writing, and mana insignia - in addition to compression, advanced compression, decompression, and reverse compression." She turned the pen in her hand which Gaus didn't notice until now. "At what school did you learn enchantment before coming here?"
"At home, I'm afraid," Gaus said. "Someone I worked for in my old neighborhood taught me."
She stared at him. Her sharp eyes looked deep into his soul and making him uncomfortable. Did she figure it out?
"If you master these seven skills properly, you will be allowed to specialize," she said. "Which one did you choose?"
"Alteration," Gaus said directly.
"How much is your K value?" She asked.
He had seen in the description of the skill that his K was equal to 20. What that meant he didn't know.
"Twenty," he said.
"Not bad," she said. She got up from her chair and went to look out the window. For more than five minutes she stood there and said nothing to him. He even thought she had forgotten about him. "If you can master enchantment up to this level then you may benefit from an extra lesson or two. But I won't be your mentor. We have someone who specializes in Alteration in the academy. I will connect you with her. Come back in six days."
"Thank you, ma'am." He stood up. It was expected but he still felt a little downhearted since he was expecting the woman to be eager to teach him after seeing his skills. Linc would do that. But that just meant she was on a different level from the other teachers. "Is there anything you would like me to check before then?"
As if waiting for him to ask, she reached into the drawer in front of her and pulled out a large, hardcover boo,k and gave it to him. "Check this out. You will have better chances of impressing her if you read it before your first meeting."
Gaus took the book and thanked her. After making sure, the old woman understood how grateful he was, he left and headed for Linc's office.
"I want you to be my mentor," Gaus said after sitting in the teacher's office. Since XM9997 had rejected him, then he might as well just manage with Linc.
Linc expressed his disapproval at first, as usual. But after Gaus showed him his skills in mana taming, he quickly agreed.
"You have to choose a classification," Linc said.
Gaus shook his head. He had planned what to tell him before coming.
"Sir, I have decided not to classify until I have mastered at least 20 mana taming skills. I know how difficult it will be and I'm ready. If it's too difficult then I'll look into other fields of study in the meantime. I have already talked to the enchantment teacher and she agreed to let someone called Nostalgia..."
"Nostalgia?" Linc interrupted, his eyes wide.
Gaus frowned. He still didn't know who Nostalgia was. Only a select few among the upper echelon seemed to her and they weren't willing to share.
"Yes," said Gaus, nodding.
Linc sighed, looking away at the wall. Gaus could see how the teacher was debating. It had to be related to this... Nostalgia. Linc wouldn't have considered him at all if he didn't mention her name. Two things immediately came to his mind: one, how to use the name in future restarts to get the teacher's attention; two, why did the teacher insist on seeing his classification before giving him any more lessons? Was there an important reason for this, or was it just a formality?
"Okay," Linc said. "I will teach you but you will choose classification as soon as you learn the twentieth skill. Do you agree?"
Gaus nodded. "I agree, sir."
Without asking if he was ready, Linc retrieved a stone from his drawer and threw it at him. It was smaller than the practice stones he had been using in previous restarts. Did the teacher want to test his levitation skills again? But that didn't make any sense; he had already proven he could do better.
Advanced levitation activated.
Gaus applied a gentle pull on the rock using advanced levitation to lift it so it would pass just above his head. As his mana made contact, the little rock glowed. White rows of runes appeared on it and it burst. Freezing water splashed on Gaus.
"Hmm." Linc sighed. "You think I will use the same tactics?"
Gaus gritted his teeth looking at his wet shirt. The cold water ran through his skin and he shivered.
Elemental enchantment. One of the specializations that allowed elemental transformation through seals.
"You have only learned one branch of advanced levitation," Linc said. "You need to be able to push water as much as a rock. What can you do when you meet enemies that control the water element? Without water levitation, you can't stop them."
Gaus understood the teacher's point. But there were many ways to teach him without splashing cold water on him. Now he needed to change his clothes.
The teacher threw another stone at him. He tried to dodge but he wasn't fast enough; another cold water engulfed him. He was happy that the floor of the office was drenched as well. At least, the teacher would have something to work on.
Two weren't enough for Linc. He went on like this until Gaus stopped trying to dodge. He used levitation to move the projectiles but it wasn't easy. Later on, the teacher dismissed him and told him to come back the next day so they could continue from where they stopped.
He was angry but he had learned to control his anger when it came to Linc and his overzealous attitude to the point that it no longer upset him. He just sighed and went back to his room to change his clothes.
He slept for the rest of the afternoon and in the evening, he looked for one of his classmates, Gatan. The burly guy who called him a patriarch.
"Patriarch?" said Gatan, his eyes wide. He didn't expect Gaus to come looking for him after refusing to give him a seat earlier in class.
"Gatan, I thought I wouldn't find you in your room. I mean, with the rumors about you training all day in the training room. "
Gatan smiled and raised his left arm to expose his biceps. Gaus looked at the size of the arm and mentally compared it with his own. He felt a twinge of shame. Every muscle in Gatan's body was hard, twisted, and big. The boy was taller and broader than he'd ever been. He was the kind that girls admired...
"You know, patriarch, we must train to stay ahead of the women in class and academy in general."
Gaus took a deep breath and looked to the side. "Between a sword and an ax, which one do you prefer?"
"It depends on the target, patriarch. If it's a man, I like a sword better. But if it's wood, then I like the ax."
Gaus smiled. "I want to test my sword against yours." The sight of Gatan's furrowed eyebrows made Gaus laugh. "Uhm. Don't worry about my below-average physique. I have a few strategies to cover for it, hopefully."
"It's not that, patriarch," Gatan said. "I can go easy on you and lower my strength. But I don't think physical fighting is the right thing for you."
Alright. Challenge accepted.
"If I could ask," Gaus said with a serious tone. "What's the right thing for me?"
"Mental prowess, patriarch. Everything in LA is time-bound. Everyone in the class has already been training for five months before you arrive. And some of us have entered the school with a good physique. Imagine if you are going to start training your physique from the start now. You won't catch up to us until the exams. But there is something you can do that no one in the class can do. Mind magic. Since you were able to conquer your LA syndrome in less than 24 hours, I figured you can learn mind magic. What do you think?"
There was some truth in the boy's words, but Gaus had time. Much more time than the average looper. After all, very few people would ever complain of having less time when they were trapped in two loops at the same time.
"I understand," Gaus said. "But just indulge me. Show me what you can do."
Gatan paused to mull it over before finally nodding. "Let's go."
On their way, Gaus apologized for the seat. He told him he wanted to give the seat to Raya just to make a point to Ariwen. Making sure Gatan understood that the same thing would keep happening until the end of the week.
Gatan led him to the training room. The entrance hall was large enough for five teams to fight at the same time without disrupting each other. The test weapons and the dummies serving as punch bags were kept in the entrance hall for any student who was interested in trying them. Inside there were several rooms reserved for training. Gaus and Gatan occupied a room on the right numbered #39.
Gaus silently activated his skills.
Swordplay activated.
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Advanced levitation activated.
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Javelin activated.
Gatan also drew his sword and waited for him.
After staring at each other for a minute, Gaus lunged forward and slashed at the other boy. Gatan didn't try to avoid it, he lazily swung his sword and blocked it.
Gaus used swordplay to pick just the right point to hit on Gatan's sword. Then at the same time, he pressed forward with the full power of javelin, and when their swords clashed, he gave one final push with advanced levitation.
He pushed Gatan back with sheer force. Gatan narrowed his eyes in surprise. He never expected Gaus and his physique to push him back like that. Having realized his mistake for underestimating his opponent, he released the full power of his physique and pushed back. But Gaus was ready for that. He quickly moved to the side and slid his sword against his opponent. Gatan slashed thin air instead. Then, before Gatan regained his balance and pulled his sword back, Gaus slashed the side of his sword. The force caused the sword to slip out of Gatan's hand and fall to the ground. Gaus put his sword on his neck and smiled.
"I won," he said.
Gatan stared at him. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Eventually, he took a deep breath and nodded.
"You won, patriarch, but we both know I didn't use my full strength."
Gaus shrugged. "I didn't ask you to go easy on me."
Gatan was still amazed. Gaus's physique shouldn't be able to do what he just did. There must be something to it. A trick of a sort...
"I agree," Gatan said. "But how did it happen? Are you hiding your strength, or is it some secret skill I don't know about?"
Gaus smiled. "If I told you about it then it won't be a secret anymore." They stared at each other for a while before Gaus smiled again. "It's advanced levitation. The skill allows me to increase the speed of my sword, or reduce it if the need be. I don't have a good physique but I figured speed is strength."
Gatan frowned in confusion. "XM8883 said we can use advanced levitation like this but the time required to learn it triples the time you need to adjust your physique. That's why no mage has ever tried it."
"XM8883? When did we get a new teacher?" Said Gaus, feigning ignorance.
Gatan narrowed his eyes in sudden realization. "Er... it's an... extra lesson. It's not something important, just forget it." He shamelessly changed the subject.
Gaus had of course realized he was talking about the elite classes. Antelina had already told him about it.
Gaus shrugged. "Now, what next will you teach me regarding my physique?"