"I think you and the other Rewind holder are imposters in the loop," Rachel said.

He figured it couldn't be good news from the look on her face. But this he didn't expect.

"Neither you nor the people you add in the loop are recognized by the system."

"But the loop works just like the Rewind," he argued. "How can I save it otherwise?

"Alright," Rachel said with a sigh. "Let's take a general view of the loop first. On one hand, we have the academy and its loopers. On the other hand, we have the marines and Rewind. When the loop resets, each retains their memories and carry them over to the next loop. For simplicity, let's call any looper from the academy as red and everyone else using rewind to join the looping as blue. The difference between the two is in the way every restart affects their body and soul.

"Take me for example, when the loop resets, my body will be renewed so all the wounds I sustained in the previous loop will be gone. My soul, longevity, and mind will all be renewed and any damage I sustained in a previous loop will be neutralized as soon as a new loop begins. However, I'll also lose my memories because my mind is also being reset. My magiwatch will be reset as well so I'll lose any skill I have managed to learn.

"But for a looper it's different. Loopers from the academy (reds) will have their soul, mind, longevity, and magiwatch spared, so they'll retain their memories and skills. But any damage to their mind or soul will remain even after the loop. The loop will only renew their physical bodies and hence only physical injuries will be negated.

"Loopers using the Rewind (blues) are different: the loop doesn't recognize them. At the end of every restart, their soul and body are being renewed. Any skill they learned or damage they received will be neutralized. They are connected to the loop only by a skill. They are not in the loop. You are not in the loop."

Your awareness of the loop has increased.

+87% Loop knowledge

Total: 88.5%

Impostors? A sigh escaped his mouth. He should be blue, according to Rachel's 'simple' nomenclature, since he used the Rewind. But, he was a member of the academy as well. What was he now? A combination of blue and red? No, he should be somewhere in-between.

"Are you listening to me?" She shouted at him which pulled him out of his reverie. "Lilat and Abbas and everyone else you will bring into the loop will never be able to level up."

"I understand," he said. "I will tell them in the morning."

"You better do," she said. "Lilat is at a low level but Abbas is worse; he's just at level 6."

So whoever created the Rewind wasn't smarter than the loop. Unless that was how they wanted it to be.

"Am I red or blue?" He asked.

"You were blue before you joined the academy but now you are red," she said. "You are an abomination of red and blue. Let's just call you red-blue."

"Red-blue?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"Y...yeah," she stuttered. "Look, I think even the system (or whatever is responsible for the loop) is confused about you. When you joined the academy you were supposed to retain your physique but you couldn't because the system was confused. It was supposed to spare your magiwatch like any other looper so you can retain your physique but your magiwatch is already spared. Or at least it felt like that to the system."

It was probably the look of incomprehension on his face that amused her. She chuckled.

"Let me break it down for you. A magiwatch has three separate parts: skill, biodata, and physique. The loop has already recognized the skill aspect of your magiwatch, the Rewind, but it doesn't recognize your biodata and physique. That's why you couldn't retain your physique before joining the academy. Now, after you joined the academy, the loop was supposed to spare your magiwatch as a whole so you can retain both your physique and skills, but it got confused because your skill was already spared. Somehow you ended up with only your biodata being spared, leaving your physique unaffected. You probably have to live with that for the rest of your loop days."

The reason he couldn't retain his physique was now clear.

Your awareness of the loop has increased.

+43% Loop knowledge

Total: 131.5%

"But if I leave the academy, the loop will no longer spare my soul and it will automatically be renewed. That would take the soulbond away for good..." Suddenly he was smiling. "The soul bond will be gone. All I have to do is to leave the academy. Right?"

Rachel didn't look as excited as he was.

"Right?" He asked again.

"Ideally, yes, but I fear Tyren is smarter than we give him credit for."

Damn it. The bastard was always one step ahead.

"He attached the soulbond to the one part of your soul that's connected to the magiwatch. Even if you leave the academy, you'll still be soul bonded to him for as long as you have the magiwatch."

"But how did he know it was the magiwatch? Even I was just finding out about it." Gaus asked.

"He's meticulous, I think," Rachel said. "He must have attacked your soul in a previous loop without even your knowledge and then he follows you to the next loop to see if the damage will be carried over to the next loop. With a few trial and error, he should be able to find out about it."

"And he did all of these before I joined the academy before he even confronted me?" Gaus said.

Rachel nodded.

Gaus frowned. His opponent was tricky. Sometimes he wondered if Tyren was really at level 22. After all, how could a battle alchemists at level 22 be so experienced in soul magic?

"Summoning the soul-pillars doesn't work and even leaving the academy wouldn't either. How am I supposed to get rid of this guy?"

"We stick to our plan," she said. "We wait for him to make an appearance. I'll take care of him myself. If he's dead then he wouldn't sire any soul bond. And you are wrong about the soul pillars: they are working. I don't know how much Tyren has left but he will disappear before the end of the month. He either come to us or he dies in a forgotten corner. Either way, we will be the winners."

That was the only piece of good news he heard since the beginning of the conversation. Rachel explained how the soul-pillars were gradually degrading the soul bond. Initially, the soul bond was getting stronger and Gaus's soul was getting 'eaten alive'. The soul-pillars stopped the progression of the soulbond and that was what stopped the second time loop. Later on, the soul-pillars began to degrade the remaining soul bond and now it was down to 38%. Once the degrading was over Tyren would be gone for good.

After a while, they kept Tyren aside and went on to discuss a 'more urging' matter about the time loop.

"The Master joined the loop before the marines," Rachel said. "They both joined during the period called 'M' but a vice-admiral of the marines confessed it was six years after The Master before they joined." She stared at the ground thoughtfully for a moment before she sighed. "I got some weird theories about the origin of the rewind and how the marines got them but I'm still not sure about anything. You would have to give me more time on that."

Gaus nodded. This was already so much information that would take him several restarts to gather alone. He wondered how she got it.

"But there used to be another player who joins the loop during the same period," she went on. "They call her Javier Minorita Helsinbird Salesal. According to everyone I asked, The Master killed her."

Yes, when he joined the academy, XM0033 told him about Minorita. He said The Master killed her and hanged her head on the entrance gate of the academy for everyone to see. But that didn't make any sense. Rachel was Minorita and Minorita was Rachel. It was the same person.

"It can't be you," Gaus said.

"No, it can't." She shook her head. "I came here over two decades ago and all my predecessors were older. None of them were in the loop."

"Then maybe you were in the loop and you just can't remember it," Gaus said. "Like a memory loss or something. Maybe you lost it when you were killed."

"If I was killed then why am I still alive?" She asked. "I'm sure The Master (or whoever killed me) knows how to kill a looper and how to make sure they don't return."

"Then maybe it was a coincidence," he said thoughtfully. "Someone was named after you, maybe?"

"I would have taken it as a coincidence if it were just one name, but four names is just above my threshold for coincidence. I think someone has impersonated me. Someone who knew about me and quite possibly about my predecessors and our reincarnations. They might have been reincarnated themselves."

"That could explain it," Gaus said. "But why would someone want to impersonate the most-wanted woman in the world. I mean, you are not safe. Everyone is looking to kill you. Why would anyone want to be you?"

"I don't know," she said exasperatedly. "And that's what worries me."

Gaus understood her frustration. A dead man using your name didn't sound any more welcoming than death.

"It's not just me," she said. "You are also in danger. Your magiwatch skill and that of the marines work the same way. When you rewind, the marines will know and when they rewind, you will know."

Another way of saying if he could see them then they could see him. He was quite aware of it. But that had not been an issue yet and it would be difficult for anyone to trace him with just that.

"Just like you," she said. "I have also come to believe that the time loop is as a result of the Rewind. Why would the Rewind be saving it otherwise? But that still doesn't mean you are recognized by the loop. You will remain an imposter using a clever method to hold on to something you are supposed to."

HEY, that was too harsh, he cried internally but decided it wasn't worth his time.

"And that brings the question of which Rewind is responsible for the time loop," she said. "It could be yours."

"No," Gaus said. "I don't think so. I have already entertained the possibility and the answer was (and still is) no. I don't have the mana and the whole thing has been going on long before I arrived. So I can't be responsible. You can argue about the marines but I don't think they are responsible as well. I mean, the Master joined the loop before them, so who was responsible then?"

"A very good argument," she said, nodding. "But what if there's another Rewind, a third one?"

"Well..." Gaus said with a long-suffering sigh. "It could be possible, but where is it? Who has it? It just doesn't make any sense for a man to keep Rewinding one day for decades. No matter what you want you can get in a couple of Rewinds. You can argue about it but it just doesn't feel right."

Rachel shrugged. He got the feeling she didn't want to argue about it at all.

"I can see three ways by which this time loop is possible," she said. "First, time is going back for twenty-four hours in a typical Rewind fashion; second, time is not going back rather a new version of ourselves is constantly being created and our current selves are being destroyed or they are being sent to another timeline; third, this is a timeline inconsistency, a temporal abnormality of a sort, between our timeline and other timelines. Imagine there are many timelines with different versions of ourselves going at the same temporal flow with just a day difference. By the time we are done with this day, another timeline is a day behind and our timeline gets switched by that timeline that's a day behind. Although, that doesn't explain the lack of memories. Of all the three possibilities, I favor the first one. Our world is going back through time and certain people are spared."

"Or maybe," Gaus said with narrowed eyes. "Instead of a Rewind, time and space are wrapping on each other between our timeline and the parallel timeline, sending us back in time to relive this particular day, a repercussion of the very first Rewind that happened hundreds of years ago."

Rachel narrowed her eyes in thought.

"It's possible," she murmured to herself.

They silently stared at the ground for a while. They needed to know more for they had no other option. The only way to escape the prison was to study it.

"How did you get the Rewind?" Rachel finally asked.

"I don't know. It was with me the very second I arrived."

That immediately spiraled another series of questions. Did someone summon him and give him the Rewind? Did he get it by accident? Rachel postulated that the person killed at the backstreet the night Gaus arrived (the same person the police accused Gaus of killing) was the original user of the Rewind and Gaus was just lucky to have it when they died. It was random, of course. They had no way of knowing the truth since the person killed on that day was reportedly an ordinary policeman. But who knows?

Another question they tried to answer was the origin and purpose of the two Rewinds. Did the marines create the two Rewinds but lose one along the way? What happened? How could Gaus have a skill so important?

"If the two Rewinds are the same then I can also rewind for more than a minute, right?" Gaus asked.

"That would require more mana than you have," Rachel said, matter-of-factly. "And mana is fixed for every mage; you can't increase it. Either the two Rewinds aren't the same, or the marines have found a way to increase their mana reserve against all odds."

Urgh.

"Stop groaning," she said. "There's some good that comes out of all this. I mean, we just found out your only weakness is your magiwatch. No matter how your soul is damaged you will recover in the next loop. Every time they kill you, you will come back stronger. The loop will renew your soul and you'll be whole again. Although, you have to leave the academy to enjoy this boon."

Well, it felt significantly better when she put it this way. He was safer than every other looper in the academy. He would survive even if someone were to blast his soul to pieces. The worst that could happen was to remain in a coma long enough to be erased from the academy and he would be reborn at the beginning of the next loop. He would of course lose any claim to the academy when that happened but he would be alive and in the loop thanks to his magiwatch.

The next series of questions focused on the magiwatch. It was just a hard piece attached to the arm. How vulnerable was it? There was a time when Gaus thought about cutting his arm together with the watch. He wondered what could have happened if he did that.

"Physical attacks don't work on the watch," Rachel said. "And don't even think about cutting it off, it would just find another place on your body to attach to. Even if you were to explode into pieces the watch will still be intact. Simple skills don't work on it either. You will be very difficult to kill although you shouldn't think of yourself as invincible. Tyren had found a way to hurt you and others will as well. There's a branch of enchantment called alteration that could very well alter the molecular composition of the watch. I, for example, can just block the mana veins supplying the watch and deprive it of its nourishment."

Alright. The point was clear - he wasn't invincible.

"There's still one thing we didn't talk about," Gaus said. "Is Tyren red or blue? You said the soul bond is attached to both my soul and magiwatch, so I wonder what's keeping him in the loop now. Is it my magiwatch or my soul, or both?"

"Well, he would still be in the loop even if you leave the academy, so I would say both. As far as the soul bond is concerned, you two are the same. You are just one person with two different bodies."

Damn matters of the soul. Nothing would ever be simple when it came to them.

***

Meanwhile, Tyren stood before the council for the second time. It was time to take care of Minorita.

"You should try to persuade the council," Nadin had said. "Just one more time. Let them do the dirty work for us."

Tyren liked the idea and thus he wanted to try something a little daring. If it didn't work then he could always use the trump card. Yes, it was inconvenient and could easily spiral out of control, but he wanted to try it nonetheless. Besides, it would be worth it just to see Minorita dead.

"What could be so important?" A man from the council asked. Tyren recognized his voice from the last time he visited. Maybe he was the voice of the council.

"It's an honor to stand before the council," Tyren said with a deep bow. "I wouldn't have come here a second time if it wasn't so important."

He stopped and waited for the man to give him the approval nod.

"Did... the council check out the coordinates I have provided?"

"Yes, we have."

"Was she there? She should be. I saw her with my own eyes."

"She was there."

Tyren forced a smile.

"What about the boy? Did you get him? We have a deal that the boy is mine."

"You will have the boy when we take her down."

Tyren looked around the hall. There were fewer people in it than the last time he was there but it was more than enough to take the woman down, he thought. All the council needed was the reason to take the risk.

"But when will that be?" Tyren asked.

"In three months, five days," the man answered.

"But..." Tyren said hesitantly. "She would be gone by that time."

"Young man," the man said. He was calm and so was his voice but he somehow managed to look terrifying. "Why would she move? You speak as if she is aware of the loop."

Tyren bit his lower lip. He could tell every word the council said was calculated. They were old and wise but today that might just play to his advantage.

"She is in the loop," Tyren said.

All the eight people in the room turned in his direction. Most were frowning but oddly enough one black-eyed man was smiling. A woman with a missing ear was nodding at him. Tyren wasn't sure if that was an approving nod or not but, for the first time, he had the council's undivided attention.

"Care to elaborate?" Another man asked. This was the first time anybody from the council, besides the person who always spoke to him, spoke.

"Everyone keeps saying the gate is barred," Tyren said. "That nobody can get into the loop without a proper invitation. That's not true."

"The rumor last year about the archmage joining the loop was sorted out in case you weren't aware," the man said.

"I'm not talking about the archmage," Tyren said. He had it all planned but still, his heart was beating faster than it ever did. He was facing wolves and things were about to get messy. But no matter what happened he would win. He always did. "I'm talking about Minorita. She's in the loop."

"And how will you know that?" The man asked, leaning forward in his direction.

"She recruited someone I know," Tyren said. "I can give you a name but I want something in return."

"Name your price," the earless woman beside the black-eyed man said.

"I just want Gaus," Tyren said.

"Did she bring this... Gaus into the loop as well?" the black-eyed woman asked.

"No," Tyren said. "He is a fellow temporary looper from the academy."

The black-eyed woman stared at him for several seconds before she nodded.

"Give us the name," the black-eyed man said, his voice no different from any adult man.

"The name's Parker."

The earless woman murmured something to the black-eyed man. It was loud but he somehow couldn't identify a single word from it. The black-eyed man stood up from his seat and he was suddenly standing in front of him. The smell of old age hit him and he couldn't help but take a step back.

"Don't be afraid," the black-eyed said. "Tell me about this Parker. Of course, you will be rewarded for it."

"He's different from everyone I know in the loop," Tyren said. "Any damage to his soul will not last to the next loop and yet he retains his memory, making different decisions every time I see him."

Tyren carefully described how the Rewind worked but he didn't call it by name, leaving them no indication he knew about it. He didn't want to implicate himself or Gaus. This was just to kill Minorita and there was no point in involving anyone else.

***

As the loop reset, Gaus faced a frustrated Lilat and a downhearted Abbas. They paced around the room while Gaus silently watched them from the side. Rachel wrote something on a paper and pretended she didn't notice any of it.

He told them about the situation - that they couldn't level up - and their reaction was not what he expected.

"Did that mean no matter how long or hard we try?" Asked Abbas.

"Can't you share your skill book with us as The Master does with his subjects?" Lilat asked.

"The Master doesn't need the Rewind to add people into the loop," Rachel said without looking at them. "Gaus can't help you. Even he isn't recognized by the loop."

"Then is it possible for us to join the academy as well?" Lilat asked.

"Lilat," Rachel shouted at her. "If you keep this on I'll personally make sure you don't remember any of it by tomorrow."

She shared an uncomfortable look with Gaus.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Do you think any of you deserve to be here?" She said with the same angry tone. "You don't deserve it. You are just lucky. So why don't you shut up and be grateful."

A contract that would give him control over the people he added in the loop was slowly forming in his head. Leaving the pair to Rachel, he went outside so he could think.

Abbas and Lilat would eventually calm down. But what would happen when they realized they were trapped in not one loop but two? Anyone he welcomed into the loop would know about the second loop as soon as it happened. Was he ready for that? Perhaps, no. He understood the importance of keeping the second loop a secret and he surely wasn't comfortable with divulging it to other people.

"Hey."

Gaus jerked his head in the direction the voice was coming from, almost breaking it in the process, to see the speaker.

"Where's she?" The speaker, who was now clearly Tyren, said.

The soul bond must be giving his location away. How else would Tyren be tracking him down this easily?

But... this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for. The clone currently attached to his body would inform Rachel of the situation and she would come. Until then he had to keep Tyren occupied.

"Where's who?" Gaus asked.

Tyren chuckled. "Oh, please, you know who I'm talking about."

"So," Gaus said. "Assuming I know this person you are talking about, what do you want with them?"

"I'm not the one looking for her," Tyren said. "It's them." He pointed.

Gaus turned around. Three old men stood a few meters away from him.

What?

His mana and longevity senses were up and running and yet he didn't pick them.

One of them was the black-eyed man at the marine headquarters, but the other two he did not know. They were dressed in flowing white robes with strange drawings of black eyes on them.

"Brat," one of them said. "Tell us where she is and you won't be involved in any of this."

"I don't know where she is," Gaus said. He must hold on until she came. "She was here but I don't know where she went off to."

"His will of Immortality is strong," the other man said.

The black-eyed shrugged. "It's more of his affinity for time magic than his will. It's surprising how he does it."

The first one to speak frowned. "Do you think he's responsible for diverting the sentinels?"

"Of course, he is," the black-eyed said. "He's working for Minorita so it will make sense if he goes against the sentinels."

While they were still distracted, Gaus used the opportunity to summon his skills.

Blink activated.

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

Promana block activated.

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

Advanced levitation activated.

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

Invisible cord activated.

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

Immaterial cord activated.

Four against one was an unfair matchup, but he would fight, at least until Rachel got there.

"Young man," the black-eyed said impatiently. "Where is she?"

"I said I don't know," Gaus said.

"You better tell them," Tyren whispered to him. "She's being charged with the illegal smuggling of people into the loop. Just tell them where she is and you'll be free to go."

Illegal smuggling? That was ridiculous. Did Tyren tell them she had the Rewind?

"I can't tell you what I don't know."

"Then you won't mind if I take a look at your mind," the black-eyed said casually as if that was the most normal thing to do.

"No," Tyren said, standing between the black-eyed man and Gaus. "That will kill him and he's no use to me dead."

Tyren was defending him. Amusing.

"Move aside," the black-eyed said, pushing Tyren out of the way with one hand.

Losing his balance, Tyren tripped and fell on his back. Gaus couldn't help but chuckle.

He deserves it.

He looked at his timer. Why wasn't Rachel there yet? By now the clone must have informed her about what was going on.

The black-eyed started walking toward him. Gaus took a couple of steps back and his back suddenly hit a tree. It was surprising since he didn't see any tree there before. Maybe he just missed it since he wasn't looking for it. He tried to go around it but the black-eyed man appeared in front of him.

He summoned a blue dagger and stabbed it in the man's chest just before he blinked above him and stabbed his neck from above. The man dodged both attacks and tried to grab him with his right hand but he blinked away.

By the time Gaus landed on the ground, the man was already attacking again. He didn't notice the small cubes Gaus slipped in his pocket when he stabbed him. Gaus activated them by sending his mana into the runes and flames erupted. Even the dagger on the ground exploded. Gaus had learned to make explosives out of his daggers and swords.

Fire and dust engulfed the man for an entire minute. When it settled, the man was... unharmed? Not an inch of his skin or clothes was affected in any way. It was as if he didn't notice it.

An attempt to attack the man's cord proved to be impossible since he had no cord, to begin with, which Gaus attributed to cord shedding.

Gaus retrieved his bow as fast as he could and fired four arrows in quick succession. Each arrow multiplied and at the same time managed to maintain its course with the help of advanced levitation. Three arrows hit the target. The arrowheads were covered in explosive runes and Gaus immediately pushed his mana into them and... Boom. Flashes of light and blood filled his vision. He could vaguely see his arm twitching on the ground several meters away from his body. His thigh was cut wide open.

What... happened?

Before he passed out, he heard one of them saying something along the lines of 'he killed himself' and 'kids nowadays are arrogant'. But he did not kill himself.

***

Scream.

At first light, Gaus woke up with a resounding scream. His body trembled under his sweat-soaked underwear.

A new loop was expected. He was even lucky Gaus Immortality didn't detect any damage to his mind or soul otherwise he would be starting another seven-day loop at the cost of 5 MP.

He had escaped but what about Rachel and the others? What happened to them after he died? He'd to warn them not to go back to the hideout. He couldn't go there by himself and sending someone would reveal the location of the hideout, so he decided to send them a message. Rachel could interact with the system and even send a message through it. That's how they contacted Abbas in the first place. Luckily, she wasn't unique in her ability and others could also interact with the system and send a specific message to the connected magiwatch. It was the same magic the academy used to create the interface.

After asking around, three private facilities offered to do it for a cost.

"One thousand ayrids per word," the man said.

"One thousand?" Gaus wasn't sure he heard him right.

"Yes, that's the price. Take it or leave it."

He could look further down the road in the hope of finding a cheaper price but he wasn't confident he could have it. The two facilities he visited before this charged 1200a and 1,400a per word. Besides, every minute he wasted was another minute Tyren would find Rachel.

He retrieved six blue swords from his inventory and put them on the table.

"Will this be enough?"

The man inspected each sword with glasses before he looked at him again.

"Two words per sword," he said.

"Just two?" Gaus asked. "Each sword is supposed to be at least four thousand ayrids. You should give me at least three words per sword."

"That's the price," the man said dismissively.

"Okay." He snapped.

Sending the message was more important. He could let himself be swindled just this once.

To Abbas, he wrote: don't go back to the hideout, it's not safe. Let's meet at lunch. Same place.

To Lilat, he wrote: take Minorita and flee the forest. It isn't safe. Contact me as soon as you leave.

That done, he exchanged a couple more swords at 1900a each.

His safety was his priority. Was it safe to go back to the academy? No. He should first know what happened after he was killed. Was his identity revealed? Did Rachel and the others escape safely? Imagine a scenario where one of them was captured and they were tortured into revealing his identity. They would be looking for him anywhere. What if they were already in the academy waiting for him?

But still, he was supposed to visit the spirit realm today. As the class rep, he would lead the class. He would get a spirit even with his zero affinity. How could he explain his absence to Linc? Dammit.

A flash of blue panel interrupted his thoughts.

Tyren Onis has just sent you a friend request through the interface. Accept? Y/N?

NB: you have one slot remaining.

He just used the back of his hand to push the panel away. No need to even consider it.

After debating on it for a while, he decided not to go back to the academy and wait until he knew what happened to Rachel and the others. The teacher said the preparations would begin at eight in the morning and the first batch would enter at ten. The following batch at eleven and the last batch at noon. Hopefully, someone would reply to him before noon and he could join the rest of his class in getting a spirit companion.

He went to a hotel, ordered some food, and cleaned up. He even tried some sleep only interrupted by the expectation of seeing a new message pop up.

It was after one in the afternoon that he gave up on going to the academy. All his classmates were already in the realm by then and even if he went the teachers wouldn't let him enter.

He went to see Abbas in the afternoon. He wasn't disturbed by the lack of reply from Abbas since the boy couldn't interact with the system like Rachel and he probably didn't have enough money to send the message from a private center.

When he entered the library, the first thing he noted was the absence of the receptionist. A good sign, he thought. At least, she got his message and was on the run.

The appointed three o'clock came and went. Abbas didn't come. It was no cause for alarm. People got late all the time. Two hours later, Gaus walked out of the library and looked around the surroundings. Maybe Abbas was nearby and something stopped him from coming inside. When he couldn't find him he decided to visit his place. Lilat made sure they knew where Abbas lived before they recruited him.

He knocked a few times and when there was no reply, he created a key from blader and metalmancer. With his levels in mana taming, creating a key was a child's play.

As the door swung open, the sound of an alarm hit his ears.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

"Abbas?" He called. "Are you home?"

Silence.

He swept the house with his senses but nothing came back from it.

"Abbas?" He raised his voice. "Abbas?"

When it was clear he wasn't going to get any answers, he followed the direction the alarm was coming from to the bedroom. Annoyingly, Abbas was sleeping comfortably on his bed.

"What the hell... wake up, idiot. How can you be sleeping at this hour and with everything going on?"

He kicked him in the leg.

"I was worried about you. Didn't you receive my message? What happened yesterday? Where's Minorita?"

Only silence and the ever-ringing alarm answered him. On closer inspection, the alarm was coming from Abbas's magiwatch. The boy noticed neither the alarm nor Gaus's presence despite all the shouting and kicking.

A quick examination revealed no pulse or breathing. All evidence of life was gone. Did someone break in and strangled him in his sleep? But there was no sign of any struggle. No bruises on the neck. Then it was probably a spell of some sort that killed him. He could look for a doctor but what good would it be? The boy would be fine as soon as it was morning. He decided to just wait.

Now the only problem was Rachel. Why hadn't she replied to him yet? Did Tyren get to her first?

Sigh.

Whatever happened, the day was almost over and they would all be fine once the loop reset.

And so he waited.

It was ten in the evening when a growl from his stomach told him he hadn't eaten anything today.

-0.2 health per minute until you eat.

He wouldn't die from it but the pain in his stomach wasn't something he would like to endure for the rest of the day. He helped himself to a basket of fruits in the kitchen.

With that taken care of, he came back to the bedroom and took a general look at the room. It was plain at best. One small bed and a desk. There was no mirror. A painting of a child playing on a beach rested on the opposite wall. Nothing more.

Abbas didn't strike him as someone anybody would want to kill. But you would never say. It could have been a robbery that went wrong.

Gaus identified the things in the room using dragon pupils. There was nothing that even remotely connected to any murder.

Sigh.

Nothing left but to wait.

The loop reset and Gaus immediately returned to the apartment. It was 3:19 am when he arrived. Hopefully whoever killed Abbas yesterday wasn't there yet.

The familiar alarm greeted him as he stepped inside. He ran into the bedroom where the lifeless body of the boy laid on the bed. He ran outside, hoping to find something or someone responsible, but there was nothing. Everything looked just like yesterday. So either someone had killed Abbas in the few minutes before he arrived and had managed to escape without leaving any trace behind, or Abbas had suffered a heart attack and died. The idea of someone killing the boy and escaping all in less than fifteen minutes just didn't sound plausible to Gaus. Who would be so determined to kill him? And none of these should even happen. The ordinary man should repeat his actions and his day should be the same as it had been. Abbas was never killed in the previous loops and he didn't have any heart attack before. So why would he have them now?

Then, maybe Abbas died two days ago when Tyren attacked. That would explain why Rachel didn't reply to him, assuming she was also killed at the same time, but it didn't explain why Abbas would still be dead. No matter the damage he received he would always be fine when the loop reset. That's how the loop worked.

Identify showed:

Abbas, lvl 6.

Dragon pupils showed:

Name: Abbas

Race: human

Level: 6

Mana: 120/173 (untamed)

Affinity: time 0.1%, soul 0.9%, mind 1.2%

If a person was dead, it would be 'deceased'. So according to the two skills, Abbas was still alive. Then why was he still unconscious? Did someone force the boy into the loop and then hurt him? Nobody asked Gaus for his permission when he was dragged into the academy. Someone could just force you into the loop and then kill you, or in Abbas's case make sure you stay unconscious.

Your awareness of the loop has increased.

+33% Loop knowledge

Total: 164.5%

Well, that went without saying that The Master could just use this to his advantage. If his beloved loopers died in battle, he could just erase them from the loop and then returned them later on after they were reborn in another loop. Of course, all their skills and levels would be lost but they would still be alive and ready to try again. That was one hell of a power-up for The Master.

Another possibility was whatever happened to the boy was related to his magiwatch. Even if his soul and mind were always renewed at the end of the loop, his magiwatch (specifically the skill aspect) was spared. That was why he remembered the loop.

Anyway, whatever happened to Abbas must have happened to Lilat, but what about Rachel? She wasn't in the loop in any way. The only thing that allowed her to remember it was the memory package. She shouldn't be dead. But if she was then she would be starting the loop dead just like Abbas. She would be stuck where she started the loop - the hideout. He had no option but to check it out.

He went to the library.

"Excuse me, sir," he said to the guard at the entrance. "Where's the receptionist?"

"She's late," the guard said. "You can wait for her if you want. I just sent staff to her home to see if everything is fine."

Good. That was what he was looking for.

"Is it far?" Gaus asked.

"02 Emilton avenue," The guard said dismissively.

Gaus booked a carriage and went to the place. The staff was done with the house by the time he was there. The man left the exit door wide open after breaking the doors to the bedroom and kitchen in his 'attempt' to get in. Just what kind of relationship did Rachel have with her colleagues? It seemed everyone hated her.

Sigh.

The house was empty and ordinary. You wouldn't believe the owner of the apartment ran hideouts and shady anti-government organizations.

He still didn't want to go to the hideout directly, so he went to a guild and paid two adventurers to check it out for him.

The place was empty.

"They seemed to have left in a hurry," the adventurer said and even showed him some of the things he'd taken for himself from the leftovers at the camp. "The tents are still there, untouched."

Now, that was weird. Why would they leave? He decided it was time to take a look at the hideout and see for himself.

He walked into the forest. The archers weren't in their normal positions, so he blinked above the trees from which they used to shoot him and took a closer look. There was no one there but that was fine. Rachel could have moved them after receiving his warning, assuming she didn't die. He carefully walked toward the tents. Everything was there except for a few tents that were displaced or missing.

There were two possibilities: one, Rachel and Lilat were dead and the slaves fled because of that; two, Lilat was dead but Rachel was still alive (which was quite possible considering that Rachel wasn't formally introduced to the loop in any way and she would be even more difficult to kill than Lilat) and she decided to move the camp in response to Lilat's death. The latter was more likely because unlike Lilat and Abbas who could be affected by the changes in their magiwatch, Rachel was completely insulated. Unless The Master himself was involved in her death (say he forced her into the loop before they killed her) then there was no explanation for her death.

Either way, Rachel wouldn't be replying to any message if Lilat was dead.

He had a pretty good idea of what happened now. Tyren must have told the marines about Rachel. He told them she had the Rewind. The black-eyed and his friends must have come for the Rewind when they killed him.

That aside, what was the fate of the soul-pillars? Without the pillars, Tyren would activate the soulbond and Gaus's immortality would react by resetting the second loop. Or maybe it wasn't an immediate response and the soulbond was reactivated already but it needed time (the usual seven days) to fully come back to life and make Gaus's immortality to react. If that was the case then the loop would reset in the next three days since it had been four days since Rachel died. But what if it didn't? That would bring a new realm of possibilities. Maybe Rachel was still alive? Maybe she was dead and the pillars were still active? Maybe the soulbond was already broken? Gaus didn't want to get ahead of himself and decided to wait for the next three days.

In the meantime, he would make sure he found out about the slaves and why they were running away.

Now back at the hotel, he opened his interface again.

Are you sure you want to accept the friend request from Tyren? Y/N?

He pressed yes.

Hey, long time no see!

That was the first message he saw. He decided to just ignore it.

I know you are angry about what happened to your friends but you forced my hands. It was either their lives or mine. I chose mine. Would you have done anything differently?

Gaus didn't answer him. There was nothing to say.

Tyren: Alright, I will just get this out of the way so we can avoid it in the future. You asked Minorita for help and I ask the admirals. We are even now.

Gaus: is she dead?

Tyren: Minorita? Yes. So are the other girl and the boy who was hiding with her in the dungeon.

Gaus: how?

Tyren: the boy and girl had their magiwatch snapped. You added them to the loop by connecting to their magiwatch, right? But that's their weakness. Anything that connects you to the loop can be used to kill you in the loop. It's a simple rule.

Gaus: Minorita wasn't connected to it in any way. How can she die?

Tyren: hold on a minute, if I tell you that then you will get an insane amount of loop knowledge experience. Are you ready to trade for it?

Gaus: what do you want?

Tyren: tell me how you can add people into the loop.

Gaus: I won't tell you that. But I can add you if agree to my terms.

Tyren: what? Do you think I'll give up the second loop for a twenty-four-hour loop? That's retarded. Why would I do that? And I'll have to serve you then. I think I'll pass. Just tell me how you do it and I'll find a way to do it myself in the next iteration. What do you have to lose? If you tell me how you add people into the loop, I'll get loop knowledge experience, and if I tell you how they killed your friend, you'll get loop knowledge exp. It's a fair trade.

Gaus: I'll pass.

Gaus blocked him. Even if Tyren was ready to talk there was no guarantee he would tell the truth. And it was clear he wasn't going to give up on the second loop until Gaus was dead.

Your reputation with Tyren has further decreased to enmity.

The next day he received a message from the academy.

You have not attended your classes for four consecutive days.

Penalty: you have been expelled from the academy. You'll no longer remember your experience in the loop. You have been stripped of all the skills in your skill book.

Damn it. One bad news after another.

He returned to the hideout. It was early and the slaves didn't leave yet. It appeared Tyren was right about Rachel and Lilat. They were both dead. The slaves found them dead in their sleep. Now the only thing left to do was to wait and see if the loop would reset.

If it reset then he would get his friends back and he could go back to the academy. And if it didn't reset then that would bring a lot of questions. Were the soul-pillars still active even though Rachel was 'dead'? What would Tyren do when he realized it? How could Gaus live in the city without the academy's protection? What would the marines do when they realized they didn't kill the real owner of the Rewind? Of course, they would be looking for Tyren if he wasn't dead already by the time. If they got to him then he would tell them about Gaus.

A long-suffering sigh escaped his mouth. Every possibility led to a chain of events that would either culminate in his death or a permanent loss of 5 MP.

It was 2:59 am. Just a minute to go.

Gaus's immortality is assessing the severity of soul damage...

You'll be returned to 20 seconds before sustaining damage.

ERROR.. skill was interrupted.

Assessing ERROR...

The Error has been evaluated.

You'll be returned to 20 seconds before sustaining damage.

ERROR.. skill was interrupted.

***

"Vuiblooour!"

Attention: you have lost claim to the dungeon: Calif. You have lost two guild members.

-99% to guild. Total: 13%

-99% to loop power. Total: -96%

Gaus squinted at the unexpected glow of the classroom and messages from the system. It made sense that he lost claim to the dungeon since everything was restarting except for him and Tyren. It would be weird if Rachel was to realize she'd lost the ownership of the dungeon to some random person without remembering how it happened.

He was back, but at a cost.

Mana: 275/275 (0.5/min)

Another 5 MP was gone. He was 30 MP less than his original reserve. If this continued then it wouldn't be long before he was no longer able to wield any skill.

"What now?" He murmured loud enough to interrupt the class.

The teacher turned around in his direction. "Did you say something?"

"No, ma'am."

The other students gave him confused looks he tried to ignore.

Gaus couldn't wait for the class to finish. A fresh start only he and Tyren knew about meant he could try other things.

Skipping the next class, he hurried to the library. Barely waiting to write his name at the entrance before he ran to the counter. The flickering glow of the familiar silver hair greeted him. Losing his cool, he blinked to the counter. He was all smiles, happy to see a long lost friend. If he was a newcomer in the loop he would have called her by name.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said without raising her head to look at him. "Your penalty for using magic in the library is 300a."

You have received a penalty.

Crime: using teleportation magic in the library.

Penalty: 300a. Pay? Y/N?

NB: penalty can be deducted directly from your account or you can visit any of the outposts around you and pay. Failure to pay the penalty in the next five days would attract a negative reputation.

Damn. He forgot how awful she could be.

"You can go," she said.

He went inside and enjoyed a casual read. It was refreshing. He remembered when he first arrived in the Multiverse and could just come in and go as he pleased and read whatever he wanted. There was no Tyren then.

"Hey."

Gaus raised his head and looked at Abbas with a smile.

"Hey."

"I want to..." Abbas started but was interrupted by Gaus.

"Yes, I'll look out for your books until you come back."

Abbas frowned in confusion.

"I'll also be happy if you bring some extra food," Gaus added.

"Okay..." Abbas said, unsure how to respond. He left muttering something about foreign cultures and moral decadence.

After making sure the two were alive and well, he went to Niama and enjoyed a peaceful drink. He decided the day shouldn't be wasted entirely despite how strenuous the last restart was. It was time to set another plan in motion. Asking for help from others didn't work, and he wasn't comfortable with inviting people in and becoming friends with them so Tyren could kill them. How about learning how to summon the soul-pillars by himself? Tyren wouldn't kill him or set the marines after him, if he could just summon the soul-pillars like Rachel then it would all be over.

On his way back to the academy, he passed through the crowded city. The pilgrims ran around and enjoyed the festival. A girl in a red dress danced to a joyous crowd. None of them had any idea about any time loop and they were much happier than he was. It was only now that he understood the saying 'ignorance is bliss'.

Sigh.

A red-haired young woman caught his attention. She was playing an instrument with a unique resemblance to a flute. Her talent was extraordinary but very few people seemed to notice her. Out of pure compassion, he handed out a seed worth five hundred ayrids.

As he headed back to the academy, he picked a couple more red hairs. Each taking him considerably longer time to turn away from.

At the entrance to the academy, he saw another red-haired. This was old enough to be a woman. She stared at the wall in front of her and murmured something in a strange tongue. Maybe it was a spell, he didn't know and, honestly, he didn't care. He already had more than he could chew on his plate. And then as if sensing his eyes on her she turned around and smiled at... him?

"Hey," she said just loud enough to reach him.

He turned around to see if there was someone behind him. He was alone. Annoyingly, he caught himself staring at her red-hair and fantasizing about it.

"Hey..." he said, not sure if she was talking to him or not.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes," He said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," she said, taking a few steps closer to him. "You have been standing there for more than ten minutes, staring."

"For more than ten minutes? Oh, please, stop it. It isn't even funny."

He turned around and headed to the entrance. Was he there for up to 10 minutes? That was... impossible. Dammit. It must be the soul bond.

"I'm not done with you yet," she said.

Gaus turned around with a frown.

"I'm a messenger," she said hurriedly as if afraid he might attack her.

"Whose messenger?" He asked.

"Tyren's, of course." She paused and cleared the loose strands of hair on her face. "What do you have to lose by letting me join the loop?" She said but now with Tyren's voice. It was as if Tyren was speaking through her mouth.

"I'm a peace-loving person," Tyren protested.

It took all of Gaus's willpower to stop himself from swearing at the ridiculous claim.

"There's no need to fight among ourselves," Tyren said. "I tried to talk to you through the interface but you blocked me. What do you have to lose by letting the second loop continued?"

He sounded as if Gaus was the one assaulting him. Damn bastard.

"The second loop costs you nothing. It was just a coincidence. I tried to take your soul and you tried to protect it. Both our actions are justified by our desires to live. The loop reacted in a way that none of us expected and now here we are. So why don't we learn to live with each other?"

So, Tyren didn't know about Gaus's immortality and how every restart cost 5 MP? This could come in handy.

"Why do you insist on stopping it?" Tyren asked.

"Because I don't like you," Gaus said.

"I know you don't like me," Tyren said. "The system recognized our relationship and our reputation is currently at 'enmity'. But you don't have to like me. Our relationship can remain as it is - professional. I prefer it that way."

"What are you trying to say?" Gaus snapped.

"Okay," Tyren said. "Let me spell it for you. The soulbond is now at 3.332%. You have been stopping it at 84.9%. I don't know how you do it and I don't care. You don't have to know about my soulbond either. But this is a great opportunity for the two of us. When the loop resets, nobody remembers it but you and me. We can be better than everyone, even The Master. Why fight among ourselves when we can help each other succeed? I don't even want to take your soul anymore. All I want is the second loop. So I'm proposing a deal."

He stopped to catch his breathe and make sure Gaus was following his rambling.

"I would slow down the soulbond so it takes a longer period to reach 84%. That will automatically add two or three weeks to the seven days we already have. We will have all the time in the world and all the opportunities we need to get powerful. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like you want something in return," Gaus said.

"I don't want much," Tyren said, attracting a chuckle from Gaus. "You just have to stop trying to break the soulbond and also cut your ties with Minorita. You won't ask her or anyone else to break the soulbond or summon the soul-pillars for you."

"You sounded like a crybaby," Gaus said. "You are so scared of her."

"I'm just protecting the second loop," Tyren yelled. "If you let her in, she will take control."

The woman started coughing.

"This body is rejecting me," Tyren said between breaths. "You should decide. Remember, your decision will determine how we will spend this iteration. We can have a peaceful month-long loop or a bloody one week. Thanks for your time, fellow time traveler."