As Galen led Elden through the now-bustling village, the young Remembrancer couldn't help but marvel at the normalcy of it all. People greeted each other warmly, children played in the streets, and the aroma of freshly baked bread wafted from a nearby bakery. The scene was idyllic, almost too perfect, like a painting come to life.

"See?" Galen said, gesturing around them with a flourish. "No endless nightmare here. Just a perfect day, repeating forever."

Elden frowned, his brow furrowing as he tried to process everything he was seeing. He focused on a group of villagers near the town square, his keen eyes picking up on subtle details that seemed increasingly unsettling the longer he looked.

A baker emerged from his shop, a tray of fresh bread in his hands. His movements were smooth, almost too perfect, as if he had performed this exact action countless times before. Elden watched as the baker greeted a passing woman, their exchange of smiles and nods so precisely timed it bordered on choreography.

Nearby, children played a game of hopscotch. Their laughter rang out in perfect intervals, their jumps and hops executed with an uncanny uniformity. Even the way they stumbled or missed a square seemed oddly rehearsed, as if these "mistakes" were part of a carefully crafted illusion of normalcy.

Elden's gaze swept across the village, taking in more unsettling details. A pair of old men playing chess made their moves in perfect synchronization, their weathered hands reaching for pieces at exactly the same moment. A young couple strolling hand-in-hand turned their heads in unison to admire a flower bed, their expressions of delight mirroring each other with eerie precision.

Closing his eyes, Elden reached out with his magical senses, probing the air around him. He expected to feel the familiar currents of time magic, but what he encountered was far more complex. The village seemed to pulse with an intricate web of temporal energy, layers upon layers of magical resonance that defied easy categorization. It was as if the very fabric of reality here had been rewoven, each thread carefully placed to maintain this perfect moment.

Opening his eyes, Elden turned to Galen, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and concern. "But don't they notice? Don't they realize they're living the same day over and over? The way they move, the things they say... it's all so... precise."

Galen shrugged, his eyes holding a wisdom far beyond his apparent years. "Why would they? To them, each day is new. They make different choices, have different conversations. The big stuff stays the same, sure, but the little things? Those change all the time."

They stopped at the edge of the village, where the time loop's boundary was visible as a shimmering, translucent wall. Beyond it, the world seemed to waver and distort, like a mirage in the desert. Elden reached out, his fingers stopping just short of the barrier. He could feel the magic pulsing against his skin, a rhythm that seemed to resonate with something deep within his own Wellspring.

Before Elden could get a closer look, Gertrude and Equinox approached, drawn by the commotion. Gertrude's face lit up with wonder, while Equinox's expression remained carefully neutral, her eyes darting between Galen and the frozen villagers. There was something calculating in her gaze, a hunger that seemed at odds with her composed demeanor.

"Fascinating," Gertrude breathed, kneeling to meet Galen's eyes. "You created this time loop? It's unlike anything I've ever encountered."

Equinox circled the group slowly, her brow furrowed in concentration. "The temporal energies here are... complex. Layered. It's as if the very fabric of reality has been woven into a tapestry of repeating moments." Her fingers twitched at her sides, as if longing to reach out and pluck at the threads of time itself.

As they spent time with Galen, Elden couldn't help but marvel at the boy's acquired skills. The group followed him through the village, watching as he effortlessly demonstrated a lifetime – or rather, thousands of lifetimes – worth of knowledge.

At the village smithy, Galen confidently strode up to the anvil. With a snap of his fingers, he unfroze the blacksmith mid-swing. "Here, let me show you something," Galen said, gently taking the hammer from the confused man's hands. In a flurry of motion, Galen shaped the glowing metal with expert precision, his small hands moving with the assurance of a master craftsman. Within minutes, he had forged an intricately designed horseshoe, complete with delicate scrollwork along its edges.

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"Impressive," Gertrude murmured, examining the piece. "Where did you learn such skill?"

Galen shrugged, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Old Bjorn here taught me. Well, over and over again. He never remembers, of course, but I've had a lot of time to practice."

Equinox's eyes narrowed at this, her gaze flicking between Galen and the now-frozen blacksmith. "And you retain all this knowledge, even as the loop resets?" she asked, her voice carefully neutral. "Fascinating indeed."

Moving on, they passed by a group of farmers tending to their crops. Galen paused, kneeling down to examine a wilting plant. "Ah, I know what this needs," he said, reaching for a nearby watering can. He mixed in a precise amount of fertilizer, explaining the exact ratios needed for optimal growth.

"You seem to remember a lot," Elden noted, impressed.

Galen grinned, a spark of mischief in his eyes. "When you've read the same farming almanac a few thousand times, you pick up a thing or two. Did you know this village has exactly 1,468 books? I've memorized every single one. Multiple times."

As they approached the village square, the sound of music drew their attention. A group of musicians stood frozen mid-performance, their instruments poised to play the next note. Galen walked up to them, gently taking a lute from one of the player's hands.

"This is a lovely song," he said, beginning to strum. His fingers danced over the strings with practiced ease, producing a hauntingly beautiful melody. As he played, he began to sing in a clear, pure voice that belied his youthful appearance. The song was in an ancient language, its lyrics speaking of love, loss, and the passage of time.

Equinox leaned in, her eyes gleaming with barely concealed interest. "That language," she murmured, "it's been lost for centuries. How do you know it?"

Galen's fingers faltered for a moment, a shadow passing over his face. "I... I'm not sure. Sometimes knowledge just comes to me, like echoes from another time."

As Galen continued to showcase his various skills – from reciting complex mathematical formulas to demonstrating an encyclopedic knowledge of local flora and fauna – Elden found his attention increasingly drawn to the villagers. Something about their frozen expressions nagged at him, a subtle wrongness he couldn't quite place. A shopkeeper's eyes seemed to linger on them a moment too long, a child's laughter rang just a bit hollow when Galen brought them to life.

"You know," Galen said as they walked, a mischievous glint in his eye, "I once spent a hundred years doing nothing but pushups. Wanted to see if I could become the strongest person in the village."

"And did you?" Gertrude asked, playing along.

Galen laughed, the sound tinged with a hint of frustration. "Not even close! Turns out, no matter how much I exercise, everything resets. I'm just as scrawny as the day this all started." He flexed his arm dramatically, showing off his decidedly unimpressive bicep. "Behold, the mighty noodle arm of Galen, unchanged by the ravages of time!"

Despite the humor in Galen's words, Elden couldn't shake the growing sense of unease. Equinox, too, seemed to sense something amiss. Her gaze constantly swept the village, her fingers occasionally twitching as if longing to weave some complex emotion magic.

As they continued their tour, Elden noticed Equinox subtly maneuvering to walk beside Galen, her questions becoming more pointed, more probing. "Tell me, Galen," she said, her voice low and intense, "have you ever tried to... expand the loop? To bring others into your awareness of time?"

Galen's step faltered, his cheerful demeanor slipping for a moment. "I... no. I wouldn't even know how to begin."

Equinox nodded, a calculating look in her eyes. "But surely you've considered it? The power you wield... it could change everything."

Before Galen could respond, Gertrude intervened, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "Perhaps we should take a break," she suggested, her tone light but her eyes fixed on Equinox with a hint of suspicion. "All this excitement must be tiring for Galen."

A comfortable silence fell over the group as they gazed out over the village. Elden opened his mouth to speak, to ask more about Galen's past, but before he could, a flicker of movement caught his eye. In the village below, a leaf drifted to the ground. Then another. Elden blinked, unsure if he was imagining things.