Aurelius decided that he would not have time to work in a mana stone cave this time around, and he bid his two skeletal companions farewell. It was a hard decision to make. He decided to tell Thomas and Edward about the attack before it happened, but it was still not the right time. Telling them about it now would only cause panic and confusion when he was still not yet prepared.

He had not explored the city in the previous loop and decided to get to know his surroundings this time. Walking around the dingy environment, he wondered if there was even a place to store information for the public to learn. As if right on cue, a dilapidated building appeared that held many varieties of books. Was this a library?

Aurelius opened the rusted door, and a squeak could be heard as it was pulled open. A humanoid rat could be seen with horn-rimmed glasses holding a massive tome in his hands. He was behind the counter, and Aurelius figured that he was the owner of this establishment. Looking around, Aurelius breathed in the slightly nauseating scent that permeated ancient books. The items on the shelves all had yellowed pages and emitted an acrid smell. Aurelius had a realization.

He didn't know how to read!

Of course, he knew how to read back when he was on Earth. But now, foreign characters were jumbled together on tattered pages, and it threatened to give Aurelius a massive headache. The symbols on the pages were reminiscent of hieroglyphics, except they were less pictorial and more structured.

The rat humanoid gave Aurelius a glance as he fumbled through the books on the shelves. Sighing, the glasses-wearing rat came over and looked over Aurelius's shoulder bones.

"You can't read, can you?" the rat asked.

Aurelius shook his head, not ashamed to admit this fact.

The rat humanoid put his hands on his waist. "That's about typical for skeletons. Don't worry too much about it. The name's Rumi, by the way." He held out his hand.

Aurelius reciprocated the handshake. "My name's Aurelius."

Rumi opened his mouth in shock, clearly surprised that a skeleton had a name. He then cleared his throat.

"Your master must really cherish you if they gave you a name," he said.

Aurelius shook his cranium. "I don't have a master."

This time, Rumi looked embarrassed. He scratched his head. "Truthfully, I also gave myself my current name after my parents abandoned me. The curse of lycanthropy is no joke to most people." He then gestured towards the books around him. "But I do find respite in this little bookstore."

"The curse of lycanthropy?"

"It's a curse that transforms normal folk into the form of an animal. In my case," he pointed at himself. "It turned me into a rat."

Aurelius considered this for a moment. "Would it be possible for a skeleton to turn into an animal's form?"

"Theoretically, yes," Rumi replied. "But I wouldn't recommend it. It's a curse that turns the afflicted more and more feral as time goes on. You'd need high-grade magic or a powerful potion to stave off the negative effects."

"What do you do when you... become feral, as you say?" Aurelius asked.

"I chain myself up in this building's attic," Rumi replied bluntly. Aurelius nodded stoically. "Anyway, back to what I originally wanted to ask you." the rat said. "What are you looking for? You said you didn't have a master, so why are you here? Do you want to learn how to read?" He asked the last question with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"I do want to learn how to read," Aurelius confirmed. "In fact, I need to learn how to read."

Rumi mulled over this in his head before deciding that it was best not to dig too deep into this mysterious skeleton. "I'd be fine with teaching you, honestly. For free as well, as long as you help out with the store."

Aurelius was elated and quickly agreed to help Rumi out with his bookstore. They decided to have him work for several hours every night, the times when Rumi most often "went feral." If Rumi felt better, then he would assist the skeleton with his illiteracy late at night.

Aurelius left the store, and his face went grim. This would surely help him out in the future, but he needed to figure something out in the present that would help him defeat Raiden. He couldn't just order everyone to evacuate, as it's most probable that people would laugh in his face at the mere mention of a hobgoblin attacking another goblin city.

Levi, the elf who kidnapped Aurelius, mentioned that a skeleton couldn't learn magic or martial skill. Yurip had said that awakeners were blessed by gods and that their ability wasn't derived from magic. This meant that it was most likely that Aurelius was an awakener who could utilize the regression ability without actually being able to possess mana.

He pondered on his situation while walking through the city. Goblin and elven children were happily playing together, though the adults kept a safe distance away from each other. Raiden had obviously noticed a lack of trust prevalent throughout the city and preyed on that distrust. It was a sneaky but brilliant move.

Aurelius decided that he would at least defeat Raiden, even if it was just a personal vendetta. This was the hobgoblin who had sold him out and made him fight in a coliseum, so there was definitely a measure of spite Aurelius held against him. However, he also did want to save the innocent people who would be getting killed in the massacre. It would be wrong to call his intentions wholly altruistic, but they were not totally selfish either.

Baby manticores were strewn about, playing with the children and being careful not to hit them with their pointy tails. The transmigrator wondered if he could use them to his advantage but quickly decided against it. Adult manticores were the only thing that could fend off dragons, and apparently, manticores were always released before they reached a certain age.

Aurelius stopped. It was always a possibility that someone kept their manticore past the point when they started getting dangerous... but without any leads to find this person, it would be a fool's errand.

He looked up and noticed that he had wandered into the poorer parts of the city, where people often died due to a drug overdose or starvation. The coliseum was strategically placed in the middle of the poorer and wealthier sectors so that all people could come and waste away their money for petty entertainment. As he was about to turn back, he noticed a sign.

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The sign was unintelligible to his illiterate eyes, but there was a large depiction of a vial on the side, with purple coloring on the interior of the drawn glass. Out of curiosity, the skeleton approached.

Before he could even open the entrance to the store, the man inside came up to him with a furious look. By the looks of it, he was an old elf with drooping ears that must've once pointed up magnificently. His beard reached down to the hem of his tunic, and the rest of his facial hair was in abundance, as gray as it may have been. He had sharp green eyes and a slender build.

"What in the hell is a skeleton doing here?" the elf yelled.

Aurelius didn't flinch. "May I ask what this store deals in? Medicine? Potions?"

"All of the goddamn above," he said. "It's an alchemist's workshop that doubles as a store." His voice had calmed down a little. "Now, what do you want? Do you even have money?"

"I want to be an apprentice," Aurelius replied. He knew that this would help him more in the long term than just buying directly from the elf.

"Yeah, and I want a harem of beautiful elven princesses," the bearded elf scoffed. "Guess we both can't have what we want, can we?"

Aurelius sighed. "Fine, can I just look around?"

The elf raised an eyebrow. "I asked you if you had money. So do you?"

Aurelius winced. He would have to ask Edward and Thomas if he could borrow some money from them. They were, after all, the ones working in the mine.

He bade the elf goodbye as the bearded man promptly returned to his workshop after hearing that the skeleton was broke. Aurelius searched around the city, but it seemed like there was no one else who dealt in potions or dared to call themselves an alchemist. Apparently, alchemy was a pretty rare thing in goblin societies. Made sense that it was an elf heading the store and not a goblin.

The two orbs of light in the sky had already dimmed and crested the horizon, meaning that night was soon to come. Aurelius decided to head to Rumi's bookstore and help him out so that he could get started on reading.

Midnight passed, and Aurelius returned home after learning the most basic phrases in Common, aptly named, as it was the most commonly spoken tongue in this world.

He asked Thomas and Edward if he could borrow their money, and they happily obliged. They sold the mana stones they mined for a paltry sum of three silver coins and several coppers, but this was enough. He hoped it was enough.

The next day, he headed back down to the cranky alchemist's workshop and filled a makeshift bag with small pebbles. The bearded elf saw him and quickly ran out to confront him, making sure that a dirty skeleton wouldn't harm the sanctity of his store. Aurelius jingled the bag he was holding, a cruddy wallet that contained only a few silver coins, but it was all that was needed to get the alchemist's attention.

"So?" the elf said. "I see you've brought a little money this time."

"A little?" the skeleton mocked the elf, shaking his wallet again and again. "I have enough money here to buy many of your subpar potions."

"Subpar?" the bearded elf grumbled. Though he pouted, he looked happier than he did the day before.

After a moment, he let out a deep sigh. "Fine, take a look around. Just don't scare away the other customers."

Aurelius almost wanted to make a quip about the elf's lack of customers but managed to hold himself back.

"Thank you," he replied.

The store was a dingy place, which was about what you would expect from every site in the city. The city may have been quite large, but it wasn't very developed. Vials filled with mysterious concoctions lined the shelves, making quite a spectacle. Some were fizzling, and some almost sounded like they were muttering incantations. The wood used to hold up the store was bearable at best and looked charred in some corners.

"Do you do your experiments here?" Aurelius asked.

"Bah!" he exclaimed. "What do you care?" The transmigrator left it at that, not wanting to get kicked out of the store for being too nosy. Aurelius looked around at the vials and the descriptions written on the parchment in front of the potions, looking to see if there was anything usable that would assist him in defeating Raiden. There was nothing.

"Where do you keep the potions for those who engage in combat?" Aurelius prodded. There were gliding potions, healing potions, floating potions, and invisibility potions, but he thought that there might be something that would be more... substantial. Like a [Greater Strength Potion] or something.

"There are none," the elf said. "If you aren't buying anything, then get out!" Aurelius didn't have enough money to buy any of these potions, and the alchemist was watching him like a hawk, so there was going to be no shoplifting or potion-having for today.

As he left, the gears in his head began to turn. Maybe if he used the potions available to him, he would be able to make something happen with them.

The next day, Aurelius returned with more silver in hand. But the bearded alchemist wouldn't let him through, no matter how much he tried to coax him. This threw a wrench in Aurelius's plan and was a significant setback to him. He considered attacking the elf, but he thought it through and figured it was a dumb idea. Though Yurip favored him, he would have none of it if Aurelius attacked a citizen of his city.

A week passed, and the transmigrator tried every way he could think of to get the alchemist to open his doors again. Aurelius even started working in the mana stone cave to get money to bribe the man, but nothing worked. It was like the elf was an impassable wall.

Aurelius had to resort to his final option.

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He stood in front of the doors, a cold sweat beginning to form. Would Yurip listen? Would he understand? The skeleton could only hope for the best.

A giant of a hobgoblin opened the doors and held a mirthful smile as he saw Aurelius. He beckoned for the skeleton to enter and closed the doors behind him. This was Yurip's private abode, where Aurelius had scheduled a meeting with the hobgoblin.

"Now, Aurelius," the hobgoblin's smile disappeared. "You said you had something important to discuss. What is it?" The two of them sat opposite each other on comfortable couches covered with animal fur.

"An attack from a hobgoblin is coming, and he will be bringing dragons with him," Aurelius's voice was measured. "You need to get the goblins in your city to flee immediately."

Yurip looked incredulous. "You say that a hobgoblin is going to attack, which by itself is already odd, but he will also be bringing dragons with him?"

"I know it sounds difficult to believe, but please trust me," Aurelius said.

Yurip squinted. "And how do you know this will be happening shortly? Do you have proof? Evidence? Are you perhaps working for the enemy? A spy, perhaps? Then why were you captured by us? Was that a strategic move?" His voice was almost mocking.

Aurelius withheld his irritation and tried again and again to convince the hobgoblin. But Yurip was unimpressed and abnormally stubborn. Finally, the transmigrator got tired of it.

"Fine! Do you want to know how I can tell what's going to happen in the future? It's because I already lived it. This is the second time this world has happened for me. I have an ability to travel back in time each time I die," Aurelius said, gesticulating wildly.

Yurip's eyes widened. "Was this how you were able to defeat the water mage in the coliseum?"

Aurelius nodded.

"I see," Yurip said, his chin resting on his hands. A moment passed, and he seemed to come to a conclusion. "Yes, we will dissect you."

"What?"

"Yes, it's a miracle!" Yurip's eyes gleamed. "You're an awakener who's been given a powerful gift from the gods! We must understand your power." He paced back and forth.

Aurelius tried to run but was caught by Yurip's personal guards.

A meaty finger was inserted into his eye socket.

"Don't try to run," the hobgoblin said. "I want to learn everything about you." He licked his lips, a creepy gaze running over Aurelius's body.

Aurelius shuddered.

Noticing a dagger at Yurip's side, he grabbed it with his teeth and stabbed it into his own head. This was the only way to escape.

"Return."

----------------------------------------

"So," Yurip proclaimed. "This is where you three will be staying." He pointed at a small hut.

"In a goddamn shack?" Thomas exclaimed.

Edward patted Thomas on the shoulder. "It's better than nothing, yeah?"

Aurelius breathed hard, not believing what he witnessed. Was this friendly Yurip the same one who wanted to make him a lab rat? He took a glance at the handsome hobgoblin.

It was better if no one knew about his regression ability. Only misfortune would come for him if he revealed it to people. In this world, power was coveted above all. If something as powerful as a regression ability were to be discovered, people would come from the seven kingdoms to learn about this elusive power that could manipulate time itself.

Aurelius had to come up with something better this time, something that would actually work. Rumi, the alchemist, manticores, goblins, elves. There had to be something that would work. There were many places where he could learn about this city, but they required him to have the ability to read, something that he dearly needed.

First, he would talk with Rumi.