The carriage sped across the city. Its interior dark as a grave. Gaus glanced at Fredrick. The man was obviously troubled but he looked determined when he said "this is beyond me, I'll take you to the head of my Order". They would be meeting whoever Fredrick meant by 'the head of his Order' in a few minutes. One more person would know about his affinity for time magic. He hoped this would get him powerful allies. If not then he would settle for 'friendly' enemies. Those that would teach him skills with the intention of enslaving him. He would learn the skills and just reset the timeline. That was the beauty of the second loop. He could take risks. Something he couldn't do in the twenty-four-hour loop.

"We're here, Detective," the driver told them.

As they came out of the carriage, a middle-aged man approached them. "You're welcome. I've been waiting."

Fredrick bowed. "Thank you, sir."

"Will you drop the formalities and just call me Rays, please." He sighed exasperatedly. "I got your message. Is that him?" He gestured toward Gaus.

Fredrick nodded. 

"Mister Gaus," he smiled at him, "you're welcome to the Marine Lodge, division 4. I'm Captain Rays. Come inside."

They walked to the white building at the end of the road. It was huge. Pillars of stone flanked the sides. Fist-sized stones floated above the entrance. Each stone carried a letter. Together it read Marine Lodge, division 4. 

Rays took them to his office on the second floor. A second-generation tester was waiting on the desk.

"Let's do some testing, shall we?"

He tested Gaus for the first time and he found his affinity for time magic to be 79.1%. Then he used a special tester from his drawer. The results remained the same. Breathing heavily, he literally dragged Gaus out of the office and out of the building to a carriage that was waiting for them outside.

"This is beyond me," he told Fredrick, "I'll take him to my superior."

An hour later, the three of them arrived at another building. It was similar to the previous one but the stones at the entrance read Division 5, Marine Lodge.

They were escorted to an office on the second floor. The office barely had anything in it except for the desk at the center and a couple of seats by the side. No papers on the desk and no paintings on the walls. It looked deserted. A tall, muscular guy with a dark complexion sat behind the desk. He was clad in an immaculate grey robe that well suited the color of his beard.

"Captain Rays?" He was surprised to see them. 

Rays bowed slightly. "Good morning, Lilian, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, you are not. I just hope you aren't here to drag me into another one of your fruitless campaigns." 

"You'll get promoted by my campaign this time around."

"Oh, please, don't. I really don't want any part of it. That's what you said the last time you tricked me into it. I hate you."

They both laughed.

"This is my field agent Fredrick." Rays pointed at Frederick. "He called me earlier this morning via the communication stone. According to him, this boy," he pointed at Gaus, "his affinity for time magic in the archaic range. I wasn't sure what to make of it so I.."

"Do you tested him?" Lilian interrupted.

"I did. It's at 79.1%."

"Your tester was obviously not working as it should. You need to regularly calibrate it." Lilian retrieved a different tester from his inventory and approached Gaus. "I'm vice-admiral of the marine. Lilian is my name."

"I'm Gaus."

"Well, mister Gaus, I need you to put your hands here, please."

Gaus didn't object. He followed with the testing. Once Lilian confirmed it, he asked Rays and Fredrick to wait in his office.

"This is beyond me, Rays, I'll take him to the upper echelon," Lilian declared.

A carriage was waiting for them outside. Apparently, each of the higher ranking marines had their own carriage assigned to them.

This time they went out of the city through the marine exclusive route to the neighboring city - Little Lang. They went through three portals at different locations. Eventually, they reached an island somewhere.

"Can you at least tell me where we are going and who are meeting?" Gaus asked.

"We are going to the marine headquarters." Lilian pointed at the tallest building on the island. The building was so large it took half of the island. Marines stood guard at every corner.

"Why can't you just help me out? It's simple: teach me soul magic and I'll pay you back for your efforts. Besides, I've phobia for tall buildings."

"I'm not qualified to decide on this matter. Please try to understand."

"Even your superiors will probably take me to their superiors. I'm tired of this drama."

Lilian forced a smile on his worried face. "No, they won't. They'll decide on it."

"How do you know?"

Lilian shrugged. "Because they are at the top. They do not have superiors."

Gaus subconsciously checked his explosive cubes to make sure they were intact. His paranoid mind was telling him to end the restart right there but he didn't want to. The marines had no reason to hurt him. Sure, they would try to enslave him but it wouldn't last. What really mattered was the skills they would be willing to teach him if they thought they had him. Plus he had Gaus's immortality.

Lilian took him to a small hall. It was dark inside which was surprising since it was daytime and all the windows were open and facing the sun. Men clad in black sat around a table at the center of the hall. A woman sat at one end of the table facing an empty chair at the other end of the table. The floor, the walls, and the roof were all pitch black. Someone had gone to a great length of trouble to set the hall like that. It wasn't by accident and that disturbed him.

"You're late, Lilian," one of the men sitting around the table said. With how still they all were and how dark the room was, it was difficult to know who said it.

"Your men said you're always late," the voice added.

"That was probably why he's stuck as a vice admiral," another said.

The woman at the end of the table raised her slender hand. "Silence." Her voice was so soft like a whisper coming from underneath the table.

"Lilian?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lilian bowed his head.

"You can go."

"Thank you, ma'am." Lilian hurriedly left the room, leaving Gaus there alone.

The woman walked towards him. Her steps were unassuming. She cycled around him three times before she stopped in front of him. Her face a few inches away from him. She was missing an ear and the remaining ear had a grey earring on it that reflected the little light left in the room.

"Finally," she said, sniffing. "You are one elusive guy, aren't you?"

Gaus frowned in confusion. He had never seen the woman before. Not even in his dreams.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"Oh, please, don't. Save your breath."

There was some silence before she stared right into his eyes. He quickly averted his eyes. Looking into her eyes burned. He could feel it on his skin and he could even smell it.

"Why did you help our enemies?" She stabbed her right foot on the ground for emphasis. "We've never done anything to harm you, have we?"

Alright. This was getting ridiculous.

"Hey, look, I don't even know you. So I'm sure you have the wrong person."

"You wish I had. Look, you can play dumb all you want but your scent is more than familiar. You've been diverting our sentinels. Do you really think we wouldn't notice? Those sentinels are made from expensive clones. They are invaluable to us. The cost of making just one of them will feed a battalion for two days. And they no longer do their job because of you."

Okay. That was one hell of an accusation.

"The only reason you are still alive is you've helped us find Minorita. Why? Why did you help us?"

"M... Minorita?"

"The library receptionist - Minorita Salesal. You led two of our sentinels to her. For two years we've looked for her but we couldn't find her until you came."

So that was what happened.

"How did you know Minorita was in the library? She could have been anywhere in the seven worlds?"

"Believe me, I have no idea I was diverting your clones. I don't even know they were following me. I don't want any part of this."

The woman ground her teeth. She was probably debating whether to punch him.

"His mana is untamed," a thundering voice came from the walls. Gaus turned around and focused on the shadows around the walls but he couldn't see anyone.

The voice went on, "he might have been doing it without his knowledge."

It was coming from the area around the window but there was no one there. Gaus stared at the area. After what felt like a very long time, the shadow moved and a middle-aged man appeared. He was wearing an all-black outfit. His long black hair shining even in the dark.

As he got closer, Gaus realized his eyes were different. They weren't blue or black or green, there was no demarcation between his iris and sclera, everything was just homogeneous black. It gave a sharp contrast against his critically pale skin. His earrings, like the one on the woman, was reflecting the little light in the room and occasionally changing color.

"He's from the loopers academy. I can feel that man's energy in him," he said.

The woman furrowed her brows. "Do you think the academy sent him to hunt down the sentinels?"

The man shook his head. "I don't think so. They wouldn't set him against us without proper training. He needs to at least tame his mana and have a decent classification before they give him a mission like this. Something isn't right here."

They stared at Gaus in silence.

"What do we do with him now?" The woman finally asked. "We can't let that man or anyone else have him. They'll just use him to control our sentinels. Imagine how much damage they'll cause."

Confirmed. This restart was another waste. He wished he could Rewind the whole day and just abort the mission.

The man sighed. "It's a shame. I would have copied his classification."

The woman shrugged. "You don't need it. How many more classifications and skills do you need to copy?"

"As much as I can get."

"Oh, come on, Red, even you should understand the gravity of the situation. We should finish him off when we still have the chance. I don't want to repeat another Rachel situation."

Just mentioning the name Rachel changed the man's mood. He looked dangerous as a black dagger. For some reason, even the room was getting darker every second.

The woman shook her head with a sigh. "Okay, I'm sorry for bringing that up. But it's too risky. We don't even know where this boy starts his loop and he's seen our faces. Let's just copy his affinity and skills and burn his soul to a crisp. Period."

The man narrowed his eyes in thought. He was debating.

"Young man," he said with a gasp as if forcing the words out of his mouth, "you're a weapon too strong. We can't allow you to be in our enemy's hands. In the name of absolute justice, I sentence you to..."

"Hold on, I.. don't have any attachment to the academy. We can reach an agreement and I'll gladly come over to your side." Gaus said hurriedly.

The man seemed to consider. He closed his eyes for the first time and for that fraction of a second before he opened them the hall grew significantly lighter and even the faces of the men sitting around the table became clear. He put his hands on Gaus's shoulder. "I don't sense any ill intention in you. I want you to know that your death is necessary. You'll die so others might survive."

"Wait, we can work something out..."

The world blurred and went blank.

Magiwatch has saved 10 seconds.

The world returned to the previous ten seconds. The black-eyed man was about to put his hands on his shoulders and give him that stupid speech about justice. It had been some time since the other time traveler used his Rewind. He wondered where they were now.

Oddly enough, the black-eyed man didn't put his hand on his shoulder and he didn't repeat his last speech. He just looked confused about something. He pressed a few buttons on his watch then he turned to the woman and nodded.

That was the last thing he remembered. He even tried to pump mana into the explosive cubes in his pocket but he was too slow. He needed to make them automatic.

***

"Vuiblooour."

He was back again. The class was boring. He'd already lived through this week for the sixth time now. In the last restart, he didn't attend his classes and as much as he would like to in this restart he'd more important things to do. First, he was going to find out the identity of that man and woman. They killed him. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was the few golden seconds just before they killed him.

There was a Rewind for ten seconds. The world has then turned back to the previous ten seconds. Everyone was supposed to repeat their actions with the exception of the Rewind holder. But for some odd reason, the black-eyed man didn't repeat his actions. He didn't put his hands on Gaus's shoulder and he didn't repeat his crappy speech about justice. Did he retain his memories from the previous timeline? Also a couple of minutes before the Rewind, the black-eyed man told the woman he wanted to copy his classification. That sounded like something the save library would do. Did that man have a Rewind of his own? 

Thankfully, this was a new restart. A fresh start. Neither of them would remember anything from the previous timeline even if they'd Rewind.

Gaus went to his room after class. He drew the pictures of the man and the woman on a piece of paper. Then he attached the pictures to a letter he wrote earlier and he put everything in an envelope.

He went to the city library and paid a random passerby to deliver the envelope to the library receptionist. And he waited outside the library to see how she would react.

As soon as she read the letter, she left her post and fled. In a few minutes, she was out of sight. Gaus used longevity sense to follow her.

She ran out of the city to a small forest just beyond the city walls. It was marked as a 'danger zone'. The area was deserted due to rumors of ghosts lurking in the forest. The forest itself wasn't continuous with the northern wilderness that housed the infinite beasts terrorizing the north. But many believed the forest to be housing some of these beasts. Nothing was officially confirmed.

Minorita ran into the forest. Huge mangroves lined up the entrance creating a shadow over the land. Their massive branches and leaves prevented the sun from touching the ground. He ran after her.

She was still within range. He could feel her. She was slowing down. He looked around to see if there was any threat. It looked safe.

Inside the forest, the temperature was markedly lower. The trees kept getting closer and bigger as he went further. At some point, Minorita just disappeared from his senses. Even his longevity sense with its absurd range couldn't pick her.

Then it came.

"Stay where you are!" It was an order from the men that just appeared on the trees around him.

"In the name of William Wilberforce, we order you to state out your purpose and drop your weapons," the men said in unison, glaring and pointing wooden arrows at him.

William Wilberforce? That sounded familiar.

"Everyone calm down. I was just following a friend of mine by the name of Minorita Salesal," Gaus said, trying to sound confident. He'd a plan but would they listen to him? What if they decided he was a threat to be eliminated? Well, in that case, he would have to change strategy in the next loop.

At this point, the receptionist came forward. She was flanked by men and women. Most of them half-naked and the few that were dressed used leaves and tattered clothes. She stared at him curiously before she raised her right hand. "I'll ask you a question. If I'm not satisfied with your answer, I'll drop my hand and they will shoot you. Nod if you understand me."

Gaus nodded.

"Good. Did you send the letter earlier?"

"I did."

She narrowed her eyes.

"How did you know about me and how did you even know they will come?"

He could just tell her he was from the future but she wouldn't believe him. At least, not until he could prove himself to her.

"The man and the woman in the picture, did you recognize them?" He asked.

She frowned. "Your drawing was rough but the man looks like admiral Red Rider and the woman is advisor Porasak of the Old World. Why?"

Admiral Red Rider? Advisor Porasak of the Old World? So that's who they are.

"Answer me! How did you know they will come?" She snapped.

"Do you know about the sentinels in the city?"

"What about them?"

"I've reason to believe that two of them have already picked up your location. They will have found you in the library in the next..." He looked at his watch. "One hour at most."

"I've been dodging the sentinels for two years now. There's no way they'll just find me." She harrumphed. "Even if they did find me, you won't be in a position to know about it. Don't take me for a fool, I know the sentinels answer only to the admirals. How did you know about me?"

"I'm here to help you."

Minorita narrowed her eyes in thought. It was obvious she didn't believe or trust him.

"Last chance. Tell me exactly how you know I was in that library and how you were able to identify me. If you lie I'll know."

Shit. What was he supposed to tell her? Maybe he should just go with the truth and see how that goes.

Gaus spread his hands like a preacher. "It may sound ridiculous but I come from the future."

That was the most ridiculous excuse ever. "Shoot him."

Several arrows flew toward him all at once. The archers fired a second set before the first even hit the target. But then something the archers didn't intend happened - the arrows changed direction midair and missed the target. It was sudden and dramatic but at the same time clear as the day.

"My lady, he's protected. He's manifesting the will of immortality just like you. That's how he passed through our defenses!" One archer shouted from above the trees.

She stared at Gaus with narrowed eyes.

Gaus shrugged. "I just want to talk. Give me five minutes without pointing arrows at my head and then you can decide if you still want to kill me."