Those weird metallic clinks become the bane of my existence as the uncertainty masks every logical shock going through my nerves. And as I turn around with a sense of curiosity and fear.

I don’t know how to feel.

Another thing, actually working...?

It actually worked.

The sound isn’t an enemy – they were guards! But they aren’t from the central market where Richard is.

“Ed, right?”

One of the guards say. Then before I can respond I hear yet another sound – the sound of water crashing just like when the dragon of water slammed into the ground.

“Whatever we are against, I didn’t sense it’s emblem aura…”

Jim says

“Emblem aura?”

Before I can ask any questions about anything from the sound to whatever an Emblem aura actually is there’s a clash.

As if some sort of arrow, a mysterious object cuts through the air and collides with a shard of Ice that Jim sent out very last second. Then a small cloud of dust forms with a large bang as the directory of the object hit the ground.

Then all of a sudden, I hear another guard cast a spell.

“Groeispurt!”

A guard casts behind us.

Then the randomly arranged plants and evenly spread-out grass on both sides of the path grows instantly resembling spears or spikes. And then as if they each have a mind and hatred of their own – they dash into a cloud of dirt and dust.

But nothing happens, a second later they drop with all of their stems cut into a thousand pieces and their roots violently dragged outside of the ground.

“Back right now!”

Jim shouts through all of the commotion and right as I go to taker another step backwards, I feel something unbearably not right.

Then as the large bush of dust fades away, a slightly taller than average man steps forth wearing only shorts. He’s extremely thin to the point I can see each bone in his body. He holds two swords, one in each hand and they absorb all light – absolute darkness, with an eerie flame coming off each sword as if one fire.

‘I was right… Whatever that person or thing it is – it couldn’t be Rodger – but then how did he speak like him... But it isn’t a time to celebrate right now or question things…’. I tell myself for the millionth time and start stressing things out.

“Who are you!?”

Jim shouts towards the man. He doesn’t respond. I step back twice.

Then that’s when it all starts. The mysterious figure rapidly blurts out a phrase I’ve never heard before.

“Lege Visie!”

And then it’s exactly as if the sun had instantly exploded.

I can’t see anything.

This must be the emblem cast that removed vision!

But I can hear a combustion of words that release a myriad of spells.

“Echt zicht!”

I recognise it as some sort of spell that reveals your opponent, and then from right next to me someone else shouts.

“Pijlers!”

And all I know is that the spell casted is an Earth spell, but even with the reassurance of so many people – I still feel fear striking me.

Then more and more, spells are cast. I slowly begin to see once again, and when I do all I see is a glimpse of what looks like ruins of a siege.

There are places where the Earth itself is sharply rising and then collapsing onto itself, and then there are shards deflecting everywhere.

All the meanwhile when I look at Jim he doesn’t attack but rather spends all of his effort protecting everyone else.

Even though I see all these spells from ice shards to fire projectiles I can’t manage to see where the mysterious person is.

Then when everyone stops.

There’s no sound.

But as if a magician – the figure appears directly in front of everyone.

I see his skin locked onto his bare-bone face and his hair looks scruffy and cut from all the attacks, but even so he is not even wounded by any of the five spells or more that were all directed at him.

But then, everything resumes. He takes one of the blades he wields. Slashing downwards at one of the guards, within only a second. As if it is completely automated. And then as someone else goes to build momentum to slash him across the face – their entire arm is cut off and starts falling.

But it’s not finished, the flame that appears to be on the blade spreads onto the guards hit and seems to fully ignite them.

I hear the anguishing screams that hollow my entire insides. In a few seconds if this is to continue – we’d all be dead. Or most of us.

“Tien Seconden!”

I manage to get the phrase out frantically fast as humanly possible; he turns to me right as he is about to jab someone. He looks at me with his lifeless eyes and I feel like he is directly gazing into my soul.

***

I’m back… And right as my vision is about to clear up I don’t wait to see everything – because I know what is there.

“He’s coming! Get ready! If you get hit you’ll die!”

I shout, and I already feel some fatigue building from using my emblem spell.

“Precieze Punt.”

I hear, which is a bladed spell increasing precision.

Several others follow and a notable other non-emblem spell like – ‘Licht’ making you faster, the exact one I use – but forget through all the built-up stress in my head. And there’s ‘blok’ which I want to learn as it blocks the first enemy attack which will hit you – super useful.

It seems with my call people start to prepare themselves for the worst -using all their tricks that were for later.

Then right as I can see once more, I get ready. I run back a few steps and then he appears once more in front of everyone – like a ghost haunting us.

He slashes down upon a guard. But the guard is ready and locks swords with him. Another guard thrusts forwards. But with the second sword the mysterious man stabs him. He’s safe – but the ‘blok’ spell shatters.

Then with the man fighting on two sides. Someone else casts a spell that I don’t recognise.

The man looks up and then jumps.

As he does he dodges a sword coming his way, as well as a flaming sphere coming from the ground.

He lands on his feet.

Now a few metres back.

Suddenly, one of the guards who seems to have lighter armour, and a long sword rushes at him.

It doesn’t seem like a good idea.

But as the swords clash, the enemy’s second sword is a massive leverage tool. Swing after swing of metallic beatings both are still going at it. But the enemy isn’t making usage of the second blade against the guard…

With all the abilities of the casters he fights on two fronts. He seems to be an athlete as he dodges several projectiles, beams of fire and the boost up spells delivered to the guard.

He becomes the perfect battle counter, but then slowly he seems to get fatigue, whilst the enemy does not. Slowly he gets larger and larger hits in that wear down the amour in places.

Any second now I expect the guard to use a bladed emblem spell. But he doesn’t – he uses another emblem spell.

“Snelle stakingen!”

All of a sudden, I can see the air all around him become more and more concentrated and it seems to flow directly into him through all the sparks created.

‘Was this an air emblem spell?’

His blows become faster and faster, and then stronger and stronger against our opponent, and then he seems to struggle – getting cut once or twice by spells.

‘This is a monk emblem spell caster as if this was an air or wind emblem he would be beyond fatigue. Probably even sleeping right now, but this emblem conserves his energy.’

“Enough warm up I guess.”

The man speaks through the clashing of swords very casually, and the result of all of this seems to only amount to a single drop of sweat on his forehead.

Meanwhile, although I wish it not to be true, our guard directly clashing with him, seems to be struggling a bit. Even with the aid from Emblem spells.

“Duistere manipulatie!”

The man shouts towards the guard in front of him, and even though until now his sword had not directly hit the guard. The flames grow by a significant amount.

The guard for a moment hesitates, as the raging black fire edges close towards his mortal soul, and even though he does dodge the sword. The sword itself grows in length.

And right as the blade is about to leave it striking distance, for a slight moment the blades make a clean cut on his arm. It isn’t fatal though. But it seems I’m wrong…

The simple infliction of the blade onto skin sets him ablaze. And even though in rapid response Jim splashes water onto him – it does no help. He struggles to stand up – before falling on the ground. That’s it for him.

The man stands further back, with his two swords flaming, looking at us as we momentarily stop for a millisecond to process the quick events.

Then back at it, this time as I hear a man next to me cast a spell, the enemy throws his sword towards the person next to me.

I panic. Everyone panics, as we don’t know what the purpose is. And even though everyone eye’s follow the sword for a moment. When we look back at the man he is gone.

The man next to me dashes to the side and we see the sword implant the ground, but unfortunately for him. It is not over.

The man re-emerges out of air – right in front of us, starting with his hand which grips the handle. And his back is turned to us.

Four people simultaneously cast a projectile. One is comprised of an Air spell, another water the other earth and the final being fire. All the casts combine mid air into an orb that is only centimetres from the man as he fully regenerates back to reality – and everyone backs away – so I follow.

Without looking. He swings his blades alongside his hip as he rotates his entire body towards us. The blades come in contact with the orb.

What happens next can only be described with the similar experience of the explosion that happens at the market place, or even Jim’s water dragon slamming against the mighty Earth.

For a moment there is a sudden flash of light followed with an explosion. By the time I finish blinking there is a large hole in the entire area, and there is a mixture of spells that came out of the explosions.

Pillars of the Earth erupt upwards, shards of ice simultaneously shatter like glass – and equally as sharp a glass, there are also burning ashes on the ground – and the air fills with a thick unbreathable mist.

But the man still stands. Both of these blades are crossing. He seems fine, but its obvious he took some sort of hit in all of that.

“Looks like with the power I just exerted to defend that blow I won’t be able continue this playground fight anymore.”

The man says. I have many questions that won’t be answered. Jim suddenly casts a spell but I’m already somewhat accepting the reality of this all.

It is over, if he pulls out that one emblem cast...

“Water Draak!”

Jim summons, but as soon as he does, he faints, having used too much energy.

The dragon itself still seems to be alive and continues its prior actions diving up.

“Zwart gat!”

A small dot of pitch darkness spawns in the middle of everything. I realise from experience that this is it.

It seems I’m not the only one either who recognises this.

“Run for it! Retreat!”

I shout.

I look back at the man and he still has some energy in him – and looks like he could still fight. The scariest thing is that even after this he could probably fight an army of regular soldiers single-handily.

‘What’s going to happen…’ I think, then remember the water dragon, as everyone else retreats I can’t leave Jim like this to die alone.

I look upwards and as soon as the dragon seems to be making a sharp change of direction downwards, the little dot all of a sudden drags the surrounding environment into it – plants, entire bushes, and once again the ground itself.

And with every tiny item it grows larger and larger, even though part of me wants the mighty dragon Jim summoned to deal with this – I heavily doubt it can.

But right as the dragon opens its jaws to devour it. Everything goes chaotic. The dragon entirely disappears right into the tiny hole and it quadruples in size.

“This is the black hole again…”

Then everything and everyone around me, even the guards that already are running away are grabbed and violently, thrust in fatally. Some people simple are crushed in one impact. Even though I try my hardest to resist it I can’t.

The power of a billion arms seems to pull me in, and I find myself on the spherical surface with every bone being slowly stretched and crushed.

I hear cracks followed by pain like never before. Every nerve pulls apart sending electric signals all over the place as if a cry for help. Scream after scream it continues.

But there isn’t anything left to do. My entire head goes numb as it feels like a torturing contraption is starting to pull my very skull and spine away from each other.

Parts of houses are being demolished by this power and then being eaten whole.

Glass panes shatter, and as they prepare to impact into the black hole they pierce right through anything unlucky enough to be in its directory.

Then as I watch everything become one big dart board. Several splitters cut into my arms right through my shirt. And pieces of undistinguishable sharp projectiles keep cutting my over and over like paper cuts.

But this suffering isn’t over.

I can see that man in my peripheral. But the only pain I start to feel is anger, as nothing hurts anymore. My bones are still shattering but all I can feel is a deep-freezing sensation.

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I want to curse him; I want him to be annoyed – even agitated. But I can’t even start to move my facial muscles.

Then it all stops; everything drops onto the ground and I can only start to twitch my body in response to all the damage inflicted.

But for a moment I manage to look at the village, and I want to deny reality…

At least half the village, half is completely and utterly destroyed. Everything left on the floor seems to be scarps of metal, bricks and cloth.

The dark red colour of my hand glares at me violently.

I am about to throw up my insides onto the ground, but I seal my eyes shut.

Then right as I open my eyes again, I see the man right in front of me staring with both his blades still very much threatening life once more.

“Last words, kid?”

He speaks in a calm, arrogant way that really fuels me to get up and continue fighting, but I’m far past my limit.

“What… do you want!?”

I shout conveying an enormous amount of pain.

“Just interested in why I noticed such a strong aura of magic around you. But it’s a mistake – just look at you.”

“How dare you!?”

I start to scream and want to go on and on.

He then slowly pulls his blade upwards, and I stare at it like it is a guillotine.

‘If it hits my neck and not the pocket watch – I won’t reset!’ I worry, as within a second or two I’d actually meet my final end with the pocket watch most likely going to be taken off me.

I flash back to how fast he is able to swerve his blade, and with it still very much blazing I realise it’s just a spell not an actual sword so he can control it with ease.

With all my built-up anger I disperse it into one single action. With the wreckage of my muscles, I push as hard as I can with my feet propelling me forwards – only a couple centimetres.

Right as I do, so his blade swerves downwards. My neck avoids the trajectory. And the blade cuts through my shirt and hits the pocket watch directly – sending electrical screams everywhere, but not fully breaking it.

‘Reset god damn it!’

I see his face for a moment – and its pure shock or rather bloodlust. He drops both his blades. He dashes into me. I lose hope.

***

I breath very deeply and when I feel like my lungs are at full capacity, I breathe just a little but more, then let it all out.

“Back once again…”

I speak as loud as I want, I still feel some sort of head pain after resetting but it’s practically non-existent with all the mental strain.

“Everything leads to this, this one event.”

I want to scream, but that would be exactly what that goddess would want. Everything is just too repetitive – I just want to rest. For one day.

‘What if I just reset after an hour – so at least nothing happens to anyone?’ I think to myself. And it feels awfully tempting.

“Just this once…”

I convince myself, I put my head more into a comfortable position, I go to close my eyes shut once more – but it’s as if they don’t work.

I drag my finger through the ground writing some sort of message from my sub-conscious - ‘I reset over and over again, living the same day over and over, someone help please...’ then laughing realising by the next reset no one could read this, then sort of drawing a mind map of every reset quickly.

No matter how hard I squint or contract my eyelids – they do not close. I feel guilt massing onto me. It’s not my own voice. It’s not even one particular voice. It’s as if all the voices of regret speaking to me. Shouting, screaming – ‘You could have saved us’.

But it feels deeper. It isn’t regret – but it feel like its all the voices of all the victims, from all the attacks combined in one cluster of a voice with a heavy echo.

“I can’t – I can’t let myself get away with this whilst everyone deals through it.”

I get up very slowly, fighting off every urge to just stay in bed for a minute longer. And I fully know the reality of it all is that after a minute I would only keep asking for another.

When I go to stand up, I stretch for a long duration and yawn considerably loud. Then as I go to stop, I forget that there are others in the room.

Slowly, I go to the door. When I tug the handle, a slight sound arises and when I look back to check I didn’t disturb father or Aella – I watch as father slowly opens his eyes and looks at me.

He stretches one of his arms, as the other is being held at hostage by Aella’s head.

“Good morning, Ed.”

He speaks, and It fills me with a weird sensation – ‘I haven’t heard that in a long time…’ .

“Morning father…”

I try to say somewhat matching his already enthusiastic tone, but as I do so he can obviously see through it.

I expect him to say something any second, something like – ‘is everything okay Ed?’ or ‘you feeling alright?’.

But he doesn’t, rather does the exact opposite – stare at me in silence. I really do want to tell him everything, and every last detail. But, to have him stressing out is worse than everything I’ve been through.

He gets up, and slowly pulls his arm away and slowly puts Aella’s head down with his other hand. He walks towards me. I go to close the door, sensing something important about to happen – and it just felt right.

“Keep it open.”

He says right as I swing the door, then I go to grab it and once more, open it fully. It creates squeak twice, and the second time twice as loud.

We stand outside and then he closes the door, underneath the edge of the roof we stand – with me having my hands suffocating in my pockets. And my back slanting.

He sharply slaps my shoulder, and as if a cat I completely shake up and return to a normal posture, with my eyes now fully open.

“What’s going on? I don’t need to ask I know something is up – especially when you do that turtle pose of yours.”

I smile a bit then look him in the eyes. Lying to him is inevitable, but as I keep looking him in the eyes I almost break.

“T-The thing is…”

I stop myself from letting everything go from my mouth.

“Go on.”

“I-I haven’t exactly been wearing my cloak as you wanted me to… And I just feel guilty about it…”

“Ed, why do you think I gave you that cloak? To impose some sort of tyrannical rule? To annoy you? No, no, no. It’s far simpler – to keep you safe. You’ll understand when we’re older and laughing about it over a drink.”

“So, do I have to keep wearing it?”

“Of course!”

“But why!?”

“Because you have an emblem now.”

I’m shocked out of my mind and my eyes mange to open more than I expected them to.

“B-but how did you know!?”

“You think I can’t detect emblem aura?”

“N-no.”

“Look with your aura now clearly projecting even such a cloak won’t help.”

“What does this all mean!?”

“Come… Ed, it’s better to talk about it know I guess,”

He starts to walk into the direction of the open field and I follow right behind him.

“Let’s start from the beginning, feels like it was just yesterday, huh?”

He pauses, then sharply turns backwards, and I instinctively nod – although I don’t necessarily agree.

“So, you came in this town first, with your actual mother when she first saw me… She started approaching me and when she did I could see she was holding a baby –.”

It brings other memories of father’s wife which I only managed to see for a couple years. After giving birth to Aella, she grew weaker and weaker until she couldn’t even get out of bed. Many doctors and many, many spells were given to her. But none of them worked – that was the only time I was in the capital. With father trying to find some sort of herbal cure – that ultimately didn’t work. She was nice though, and I very much miss her to this day…

“Then when she was in direct proximity, she dropped and as soon as she was falling, I caught her. I couldn’t fully see her face, since she was dressed in a cloak. But by the time I rested her onto the floor I could see that it was already too late...”

We stand in utter silence as he looks into the abyss of nothingness. His face becomes still. Then he shakes himself slightly and looks back towards me.

“So, Ed after talking with some people I decided I would take you in. Years later after all of that and all the times we’ve been through – laughing, crying and crying of laughter. I realise something, I was wrong about you not having emblem. You do. And the signs only showed recently. That cloak is only there to protect you against other people who can sense this aura off of you.”

I want to say something – anything, but my mind can’t figure anything appropriate, so I just listen. Then he looks at me as if guilty.

“Ed, I know you didn’t know the full backstory – especially about your mother yet, but that’s for another time.”

I don’t know why, but when I hear the word ‘mother’ it hits me with a punch. Every single time. I just want to forget about that part of me.

“So why don’t you let me achieve my emblem...!?”

I say with a thin lining of tears on my eye that I hope isn’t visible to anyone or anything.

“Because you already have started the process if strengthening your emblem naturally.”

He says sharply, and the lining of sadness almost disappears leaving the shock alone to combat all of my emotions that were about to overflow.

“How do you know!?”

I speak almost speechless. ‘Was it because of my aura or something?’ I think unsure of what more he knows. ‘Could he know about the resets?’ I worry inside my head.

“Look, I’m your father I know everything, and I can tell that when I asked you what you what was wrong, you weren’t telling the truth. So, what is it?”

I feel like I am backed into a corner and telling him anything would lead to him knowing everything. That’s exactly what I am scared of – everything.

“I can’t tell you. I just can’t...”

“Ed, come on boy. You know you can tell me.”

Half of me wants to tell him the other doesn’t because I feel weak and embarrassed. ‘Just tell him this one reset and decide if you want to do it again later’.

“My time emblem seems to have interfered with everything I guess...”

I gulp and continue.

“But because of my emblem and a couple other things, I’ve been living the same day over and over and over – none stop like the ticking of a watch or clock.”

“The Endless Reset, huh?

“How do you know about that!?”

“So, I was right...”

“How do you know!?”

I say partly hurt that someone knew about this, and this entire time I have been struggling alone.

“Another thing Ed... Why do you think I don’t use my emblem... Two reasons?”

“Because you hate the conflict it causes and... and...”

I can’t think of another reason and as I look at him, he strokes his beard softly twisting and twirling individual, thick hairs.

“Ed, only Richard knows this. Knowing you are my son. I trust you not to utter a word to anyone else.”

The atmosphere sharply turns from a very relaxing, strange vibe to a constricting one.

“Ed, I used to be a powerful emblem caster, in charge of many things of what goes down everyday in this entire kingdom.”

“So what does this mean...? You could have helped me this entire time!? If only didn’t lie to me!?”

“I didn’t mean to lie to you this entire time Ed, you have to at least understand that this information is dangerous to know. I want to keep you safe. People would do so much to get a hold of decade old information, and what if they thought you knew?”

“But still...!?”

I shout unleashing my anger, but also releasing a streak of tears one after the other.

“Look Ed, I don’t know what you’ve seen or what you’ve been through, but I can see what it has made you. I’ve said this to help not harm you.”

He reaches his arms towards me out for a hug, but I don’t move towards him. The longer he hangs on waiting for me, the longer I feel guilty.

“Are you going to keep lying to me?”

“No.”

I launch myself into his warmth already knowing his answer, just wanting to hide the reality I don’t know what to believe.

“So, tell me the situation you’re experiencing then.”

“There isn’t time to... I have to go...”

“Then I’ll come with you!”

He speaks assertively.

“But... What about Aella?”

“She’ll be sleeping for the next two hours it looks like – we'll be quick.”

Inevitably I unconsciously feel like I knew something like this was going to happen at the start of this all.

I start travelling down the forest path towards the market, and start to slowly increase pace when I realise, he is keeping up.

“Come on then, go faster!”

“Fine then. Licht!”

I shout almost unable to recall the last time I truly used ‘Licht’. My speed accelerates greatly as I almost feel numb to my own weight.

But even with the non-emblem power up, Father is still managing to almost outdo me, and it only seems he is using a fraction of his full potential – which scares me a bit.

Very shortly we arrive. And I'm in a state of anticipating horror of what will happen with father with me now.

We start entering the increasingly populating areas and slow our paces as to not disturb the natural flow of the environment.

Stall after stall being set up, I realise how these people live so repeatedly. Everything around here happens over and over like the motion of the sun rising and falling throughout the sky.

But these people are happy with their lives. Simple lives but great ones, filled with the occasional laughter, sadness and remarkable experience.

This is probably the only positive thing the resetting makes me notice, but I find it hard to associate good things with this chaotic mess.

We’re in the central plaza. I look over to father. I think quickly.

“Go to those tents being set up!”

I sharply whisper, and right as he is about to go, I speak again.

“And whatever you do. Do not get seen by Uncle Richard!”

He nods then walks off in a fast-paced walking in the exact opposite position. As I approach two guards right in the middle, I remember something. This feels exactly like a similar game I used to play with father when I was little.

We used to pretend to be secrete agents and the first to sneak up on the other after the other went to hide wins. It was all fun back then. Not a single worry in the world.

But before I zone back, I hear my name being called already.

“Ed! Ed!”

I look around me and see Uncle Richard with his unique, distinctive features is approaching me with helmet between his chest and upper arm.

“What are you doing here so early? And why are you alone?”

I feel sick of the question, desperately trying to respond with ‘I am old enough damn it, can’t I be trusted to walk on my own?’ but heavily ignore the urge and the feeling all together.

“Uncle, I really need to talk to you about something serious... Can we go somewhere more private?”

“Alright... Sure.”

I start walking in a random direction not paying attention to a particular spot. And eventually we’re at a place with no one. But there’s an issue. Habitually I’ve led myself to the exact same place – the tents.

Father is somewhere here, probably able to hear him. And if father can feel emblem aura, Uncle Richard must ‘right?’.

This might have just ruined everything, but right as I start to speak, I notice a small sound from behind me, just quiet enough for only me to hear.

I feel nervous and slightly embarrassed as Father is listening whilst what might come out of my mouth isn’t the entire truth.

“I’m really worried... “

“Ed, what's wrong?”

“When I was coming home yesterday, I was passing a group of cloaked travellers, and I overheard their conversation...”

“What did you exactly hear...?’

“Th-They said that they were plotting to launch an attack on the central – some sort of explosion... I-I just can’t rest properly until I know this is sorted...”

I think that the nervousness that is cast by Father being here makes it much more believable and even Uncle Richard seems to question it less by the way his face remains shocked.

“How sure are you though?”

“Certain!”

I pause to gather a deep breathe in to slow down everything.

“Thats not it... They said they were also going to attack the Water Village! This can’t be some sort of wicked joke – not even kids say these messed up things-!”

I start speaking slowly then faster and faster until I feel like a balloon squeezing out all of its air from one tight spot.

“Ed, calm down!”

I stop completely, not only in speech and thought but also voluntary action.

“I’ll get it sorted out – all of it! Don’t worry. I promise you it will be taken care of.”

He speaks with a determined tone – that makes me undoubtedly believe this technique will always work. He starts walking off in a rush and then right as he leaves the corner and puts his helmet back on I go to the back of the tents.

As I peak around the corner, I expect to see Father any second and the longer I don’t see him I worry more - ‘knowing him, he just turned dead-serious now, and going to already act’.

I start to walk around in random spots hoping that he didn’t just run off, but then when I fail to see him after searching and going to a completely different area – I realise he must have gone to the Water Village So desperately I try to at least catch up to him, I set out still with my non-emblem spell working and soon going to wear off.

I knew the interaction with Uncle Richard had been fast – so time isn’t my concern it’s the new possibilities that are now unleashing into the wid.

Father might just might be the missing factor this entire time, even though there is still spots of mystery and vagueness I won’t dare to bother with it if it works – even though every instinct wants to find the root cause and consequence.

I feel myself becoming faint as I am running, and I know all this overthinking isn’t doing me any good. I stop and breathe deeply before walking at a slow pace – which is still accelerated by my ‘licht’ cast.

I don’t realise it but soon I am approaching the village and have to get Jim for this to even work - ‘when it’s all over I’ll make it up to him’.

I feel all my energy building up ready to be unleashed by the fact I had been walking this entire time – not running. And only now the ‘licht’ spell is starting to fade away.

I jog over to the bridge where Jim is and always appears to be. Instantly this time he notices me through the splashing of the water and sharply turns towards me.

“Ed?”

I don’t respond but rather keep going onto the path of the Water Village and within the last second of seeing him in my vision I shout to him.

“Come quick! It’s an emergency!” Without having to turn back to see if he is coming, I can tell by the rapidly approaching footsteps that he’s right behind me then after a second, he’s in front.

“Explain Ed!”

He shouts and as we go there, I brush through the story I told Uncle Richard, but this time breathlessly due to all the running.

We get there and within a serious tone he blanks me out and runs directly towards the road of the capital – where the attack first starts.

I get there after he does and this time, I notice that even though I passed the second bridge I didn’t speak to Angela at all. ‘I’m sure she’ll not interfere too much with the current timeline though’.

As I scan my surroundings, I see Father already there, standing sturdy like a gate.

And right next to him Jim is standing in a similar position inspecting every aspect of the environment without any of them having to speak a word.

I start to hear the sound of wooden wheels bumping on rocks and instantly spot the cart. “There! The enemies are in that cart!”

Neither of them looks at me but at the cart as if a starring contest and every millimetre closer the cart gets the more tense I become.

“You have to cast something while you can!”

Jim looks back at me for a moment, but Father doesn’t.

“How can you be sure Ed!?”

Jim shouts, but this time I feel bad wanting to resort to pressuring him into doing it.

“Look I know whatever it is, you can’t sense it but there is a strong emblem aura!”

I have no clue of the meaning of what I said, but I feel like it may work since I at least sound like I know what I am talking about. Jim puts his hand through his hair then breathes deeply.

“I hate the fact I trust you right now.”

He laughs then turns back to the cart, even though we can barely see most it’s aspects I know everything inside, even he old man that only now I manage to recall.

The very same man that seems to warn me in every trip I take to the mountains or ever will in this resetting loop.

That’s the only person I'm unable to save and never will be able to.

I certainly feel bad and almost want to retract my command to attack it – but if I can save everyone but that one person, I can feel less bad.

“Come on you have to attack it!”

Jim makes a sharp tutting sound with his mouth before waving his arms around.

“Water draak!”

The air this time feels slightly dry as if all the moister has been sucked right out of it. Then a colossal beast is formed within the sky a couple of metres above the sky.

It flaps its wings of watery death around and circles the area directly above the cart, then as if a puppet.

When Jim puts his hands down the dragon seems to also start gliding down a full one hundred and eighty degrees down.

It keeps going on and on, then I see it opening its mouth with each individual fang and scale of skin of its mouth scaring the land itself as it echoes a swooshing sound.

Then right as it is about to devour the ground rather than the cart itself it swerves last second. The entire cart enters its terror and even a chunk of the land is sent to be digested.

The dragon goes to climb upwards alongside Jim’s movements.

And as nothing happens, I have a springing optimistic mind go forth. Maybe this time he had actually got the man?

But No. I'm completely wrong. All of a sudden like an explosion occurs from one pinpointed location – the entire dragon seems to be swelling up more and more.

Deforming its very shape.

“No!”

I spew out.

Then like that the entire dragon is left as a giant blob of water in the sky – dying to move out of its tightly bound confines of the spell.

Then as the body of water seems to completely stop moving in the sky although Jim uses stronger hand gestures he stops.

“Bevriezen!”

He shouts dropping both of his arms and if not for his shoulders they would have dropped right off. The entire body of water probably amounting to a significant lake to an entire ecosystem starts changing texture – growing sharper, more opaque and crystallised.

Jim casts a freeze spell on the entire thing rendering it solid to the core.

The entire block of messy ice drops right down below. Gaining more and more speed and rolling upon its inevitable descent. And then. It hits the floor.

As if a meteorite it slams the ground. Shards go everywhere. Cutting entire trees, scarring the Earth and even leaving a few cuts on me from ice shards smaller than drops.

Even though it seems all the ice dispersed into the surroundings there is still a large chunk of it impaling the ground.

It is literally an iceberg and probably the first I've seen – but on land. I feel certain that the cart itself is completely unrecognisable now, even if a piece of it remains the only traceable way to track it back is by looking it at very atoms and where it had once bonded with another atom.

But even though Father doesn’t seem so happy either. He doesn’t wait for the chaos to calm down – rather not only adds to the piling chaos.

But rather becomes it.

“Pijlers!”

I feel familiar with the spell probably because I have heard it before in the wrath of the last battle here with the guards.

But it feels strange as it comes right from Father’s mouth, although he has a life emblem. Mastery with this unlocks elementalist powers.

Then the ground erupts with anger, releasing perfectly shaped and round pillars that open from underneath and skyrocket up.

The force which hits anything that happens to lay on top of it, completely decimates. And it isn’t even one or two pillars it is a cascade of them, with one after another, seamlessly aiming at nothing or at least something I don’t see.

I’m scared of how he still manages to produce pillar after pillar.

I stay quiet not wanting to blunt his sharp focus onto the environment, and when it seems he is still unhappy he casts yet another spell.

“Vulkanische uitbarstingen!”

If I thought this is the maximum capacity of his abilities, I am deadly wrong. The exact prior spell continues but even more fatal. Each pillar bursts a streak of flame upwards as if a campfire then explodes entirely over and over like fireworks designed to be a piece of artistic death.

Then he stops.

‘Is it over...?’

Anxiously, I think.