Nadin

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Her body trembled as soon as she opened her eyes and saw the time. Tyren would wake her up at this hour, and every time that happened, it was because there was a big problem. Hadn't they won just recently? What could go wrong?

"Boss?" She called.

Silence.

"Tyren?"

Silence.

She brought out a dagger from her inventory and tiptoed to the door. She readied herself behind the door and waited.

*

Mana sense activated.

*

No foreign mana was detected.

*

She frowned. What did 'no foreign mana was detected' mean? Did that mean the person behind the door wasn't a mage?

The door opened slowly and she gripped her dagger with both hands. The man that entered the room was no stranger to her. But she didn't expect to see him there.

"Gaus?" She said as if doubting her eyes.

"Red hair," Gaus said like she was old acquittance.

They stared at each other for a while before she threw the dagger aside and clapped her hands together in a gesture. A greenish ring of light appeared between her hands, and balls of light emerged from the ring and revolved around her body.

"Get out of my sight if you don't want to die," she said through her teeth.

"Where is Tyren?" Gaus asked, ignoring her and her flames.

Nadin clenched her teeth. The soul bond was a delicate thing. She didn't want to get too close to it to avoid accidents. So she chose a skill that only affected the body.

"Don't blame me." She pounced on him, and suddenly more than a hundred fiery balls swarmed him.

But Nadin suddenly felt weak in her legs and her eyes grew heavy and began to droop. She had to summon all her strength to force them open. By then, she was already lying on the ground. The fiery ring had vanished and her chest felt tightened like a heavy object was pinning her down to the ground.

Gaus forced world essence harder into her Nasren vein. It flowed down the common branch that connected to her heart and burst the vein, then flowed into her brain. And that was when she understood the situation.

She summoned world essence strings and, to his utter surprise, ligated the vein. Then she used the remaining strings to push him back.

He pushed harder. But she succeeded in pushing him back. Before she recovered though, more world essence pushed into the vein all over again. She tried to stop it with her strings but it overpowered her and went through her brain. And that was the last thing she could remember.

"We have wasted our time for such a puny woman." One Man Army, who had entered the room about a minute ago, frowned.

Gaus ignored him. The woman had tried her best. He was still panting even after using 60 MP, and the man thought she was puny.

Tyren

Eight in the morning saw Tyren at Nadin's door. He reached for the doorknob, but his eyes strayed to a white handkerchief underneath one of the flowers surrounding the apartment. He picked up the handkerchief with a frown.

At six every morning, Nadin would swap the white handkerchief with a red one to resemble the flowers. He liked the red one better, but this time around, it wasn't just for decoration.

Red handkerchief meant it was alright; he could enter the house. A white handkerchief meant he shouldn't enter; there was danger waiting for him inside. It had been their secret code ever since the marines attacked them.

He could feel the mana of two people inside the house: one was so low it was barely present, which meant either the person was hiding it or they were weak; the other was strong and showed a level of 40-50.

When he concentrated on the weaker mana, he realized it was Nadin's. His eyes narrowed in amazement.

They had a way of communicating with each other in emergencies. Nadin's inability to warn him could only mean one thing: she didn't have the chance to.

Who could subdue her before she could send him a message? Tyren frowned. The attacker was still inside the house, which meant they didn't accomplish their objectives. In other words, it was him they were after not Nadin.

How many people in the entire loop knew about him and Nadin and that he came here every morning?

He studied the house for a long minute before he turned and left. About twenty steps away and he stopped. What would happen to Nadin if he left?

There were security agents a bit ahead of him. Whoever was holding Nadin hostage wouldn't want to come out into the open. And that might be the reason they waited for him inside.

He checked his inventory and made sure everything was in place. And his mana was also full. Then he went back into the house.

Once inside, his frown turned into a wicked smile. From the far end of the sitting room was his link to the loop, Mr. Lake. The boy was sitting on his chair. While Nadin lay still on the ground. A muscular man stood by looking at him.

Tyren scratched his forehead with exasperation. "I should've suspected it was you when I didn't feel your mana." He took several steps forward and stood before Gaus. "What is it that you don't understand?"

Gaus stared at him without a word.

Tyren hesitated for a moment before he turned to Nadin. Seeing her discarded on the floor angered him greatly. She was his friend.

He turned to Gaus. "So you are starting to do things on your own instead of hiding behind Minorita."

"Why don't we bet?" Gaus said. "We'll fight. If I win, you'll leave the loop forever. And you would tell me every information about the soul bond. And if you win, I'll let you be."

Tyren shook his head with a sigh. "You want me gone but not before I gift you my secret. How selfish. Amazingly, someone like you who's not capable of reasoning is starting to see the importance of the second loop. You want me to leave so you can create another second loop after I'm gone, right? What is it about me that you don't like?" He waited for a response and when he didn't get any, he sighed. "Why do you even think you can defeat me in the next thousand years?"

"Let me see, what is it about you that I don't like?" Gaus inclined his head in mockery. "Trying to steal people's soul without their knowledge is a charitable contribution to society... I might have seen this line somewhere."

"Haha..." Tyren laughed. "So you want me to apologize. Stop dreaming, boy. I'll punish you if you insist."

He pounced on him. Gaus jumped to the side and drew his sword.

Tyren didn't bring any weapons and attacked Gaus with his bare hands, whereas One Man Army circled behind his back and struck out with his sword, effectively trapping Tyren at the center.

Tyren's hand emitted an amber light as he struck Gaus' sword with his bare hand. Gaus was pushed back by the collision. At the same time, One Man Army hit Tyren from behind.

Another amber wall made of light appeared and shielded Tyren. The sword hit and broke it to pieces before connecting with Tyren's back.

The sound of metal on metal rang in the room. One Man Army was pushed back while Tyren was unscathed except for a little white mark on his clothes.

"Age!" Tyren chanted. A dense amber light encased him and then expanded to form a ring around him.

Gaus teleported away but One Man Army barely leaped out of its radar even after using all his strength. The rug trapped in the spot changed from red to grey, and the paintings on the walls turned black as if burnt.

Tyren smiled triumphantly. "When your life depends on something, that thing becomes your life."

He felt good about himself. Gaus could now see it.

"The soulbond is my lifeline," Tyren went on. "And you need to be punished for your lack of understanding. Lemme see," he tilted his head to one side in thought, "How about I kill you at the beginning of every loop for thirty to sixty days? I think that would teach you some lessons and manners."

He didn't wait for a reply and pounced on Gaus again, while at the same time, a dense vapor appeared around his skin. The vapor coalesced in one place and instantly turned into a Tyren lookalike and attacked One Man Army.

Now, to Gaus' surprise, the man he thought was a hand-to-hand combatant drew a sword from his inventory. It was an ordinary sword and couldn't compare to Gaus' blue sword, but it was still a surprise.

Tyren raised the sword and struck at Gaus from the right. Gaus took one step back and then skillfully dodged to the right, allowing Tyren's sword to pass before him harmlessly. It was basic sword dance he'd mastered.

Tyren used the distraction to appear before Gaus and embraced him forcefully. He let go of his sword and grabbed Gaus' sword arm in a vicelike grip. Gaus tried to free himself but to no avail. The difference in their physique was clear.

"Rest in hell, my friend." Tyren laughed gleefully and chanted the same incantation as before. "Age!"

He closed his eyes and pushed more than half his mana into the incantation. What he wanted was for Gaus to age and die on the spot.

But when he opened his eyes again, Gaus hadn't died or aged. And a certain long, cylindrical lump of metal hung on the air in front of him. The metal lump seemed to be heating up and was releasing smoke. For some bizarre reason, he also felt moisture on his chest.

The metal rang again. And Tyren felt an intense pain in his chest, while his vision became hazy.

And that was when he understood that his trusted skill, Age, had failed him. The mana that was supposed to flow from his cord to his magiwatch to activate the skill had mysteriously missed its way.

"Mana... Block... " Tyren's body trembled. He understood the skill his opponent had used, but his attention was on the metal lump that was still hanging in the air. He raised his hand slowly and pointed at it.

Then he saw another one like it in Gaus' hand. Whenever it rang, Tyren would feel a fresh agony in his body. Soon he became dizzy and fell to the floor.

One Man Army ran forward and pinned him to the ground, while Gaus grabbed his watch. There were eighty-three Major veins rooted to the watch. Gaus didn't want to take any chances. He used his entire mana reserve and blocked them all at the same time.

"What... What are you doing?" Tyren's eyes bulged out. "You... you are heartless. Stop it... STOP." Tyren cried.

Gaus focused all his strength on that single moment. He felt dizzy as his mana went down rapidly. He clenched his teeth and forced more essence into Tyren. The Major veins all burst at the same time, effectively disconnecting themselves from the watch.

Tyren screamed bitterly and tried to free himself, but One Man Army held him down.

After a short struggle, Tyren's body went limp and he stopped moving. The watch began to emit some dark smoke, and five minutes later, it turned completely black.

Gaus slid down on the ground panting. His vision blurred and had to support himself with the wall behind him. After a while, he heard One Man Army shouting at him.

"Hey, can you hear me? He is dead."

Gaus raised his head slowly and looked at the man, then at Tyren's corpse. "How long has it been?"

"Fifteen, twenty minutes? I don't know. Quickly inform Mr. Lake and ask him about our reward."

"I won," whispered Gaus. Fifteen minutes was good enough time. There was the possibility of the second loop resetting itself if Tyren's magiwatch was hit. And if that had happened, Gaus would have had no way of paying Tyren back.

But he was now sure he could hurt the man. And any damage sustained in the watch would go on to the next loop. How many loops would it take for Tyren to be whole again? Would he ever be?

"I won," he said. Now loudly.

"We won, you mean?" One Man Army corrected him. "Would Mr. Lake need the corpse as proof?"

At that moment, Nadin opened her eyes and saw her boss' corpse. She screamed and pounced upon Gaus. One Man Army, who was standing in her way, backhanded her. She was thrown off her feet and rammed on the wall behind her. She didn't move again.

Gaus rewarded the man with loop days as promised. He later returned to Sizea and spent the night.

He might have broken the soulbond or at least hindered Tyren's ability to cast it, which meant he might not go back in time ever again. Was that a good thing for him now? He couldn't answer that question.

Five days passed by in a blink. Gaus was starting to believe it was over. That the second loop was gone for good. Then, three days later, his vision blurred in the middle of having lunch.

***

Suddenly his butt hit the hard surface that was his seat; his consciousness and vision cleared.

"Vuiblooour."

Gaus found himself in the class. The second day of his academy life.

He peeked at the field in the middle of the school. It was empty except for the few students walking and laughing. Everything was back to normal.

In the previous restart, Rachel had attacked the city and consequently ruined the entire restart by bringing the entire force of the government to the city. It cost him 5 MP. Though it wasn't a complete waste. He had learned mana block, killed Tyren, and found out about the invasion and why Henwi avenue was under curfew. The puzzle was starting to come together. Though there were new unanswered questions.

For example, why would anyone, be it the government through the MIA or anyone, use the opportunity of the invasion to kidnap kids from the academy? Gaus was still confused about it. Was it truly the MIA as Tyren claimed? Nobody came looking for Gaus so they were probably not looking for the Rewind. But his friends were kidnapped and never seen again. The image of the red-haired girl appeared in his head.

He turned around and saw her looking at the board. She turned around and looked at him as well. He smiled at her. The girl was slightly confused at the gesture but she still blushed and quickly turned away.

Gaus was baffled by his feelings about coming back and restarting the second loop. He lost 5 MP as a result, but he was relieved, almost happy, that the loop didn't go away despite killing Tyren. Maybe he loved the second loop more than he hated it.

Sigh.

The events of the previous loop aside, he needed to plan for this loop and make sure it was worth the 5 MP. The first thing he would look into was the invasion.

He had two options: either to put Rachel in the loop as he did before and later ask her why she was attacking the city, or simply follow her into the tunnels and saw everything for himself. He chose the second option. Rachel might not answer him if he just asked, and even if she did, she might not be completely honest with him. She had lied to him about it before.

So after class, thirty minutes past three in the evening, Gaus followed the mysterious woman into the tunnels.

Rachel was long gone when he arrived at the 'archers' corridor'.

*

Are you sure you want to predict the future for 2 minutes? Y/N?

*

Gaus pressed 'yes'. And he foresaw what would happen in the next two minutes. Seconds later, the exit at the end of the corridor disappeared and the archers appeared.

He brought out two pistols and shot two constructs before they could release any arrow. He then vanished from the spot and reappeared further away. He ran across the corridor, dodging a volley of arrows and shooting at the constructs.

For three minutes, Gaus had the upper hand. The archers shot at him the moment he appeared at a spot, but before the arrows would reach him, he would pick two of them with his pistol and then disappear from the spot again.

He used advanced levitation and mana sense to escape arrows coming from behind him. He'd almost won when he felt something pierce the back of his thigh. It was an arrow, a normal, wooden arrow with no mana. That was why he couldn't sense it with mana sense.