Gaus stared at Tyren silently, secretly wondering if he was looking at the other time traveler or his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"I surrender!" Tyren called out 15 minutes into the match.

"What?! I can't believe it. Tyren has given up. Oh my, he was doing just fine." The commentator lamented.

Tyren left the ring and went into the tents surrounding the ring.

After a few minutes of debate Gaus left. He made a few U-turns to make sure he wasn't being followed before he went back to Sizea.

Tyren was the only lead he had on the time loop. He could just forget about it and live as if nothing happened, or he could pursue it. If Tyren was a time traveler Arna might know something about it, considering she sent Gaus to him, but Gaus wouldn't be poking around time travelers, not now.

***

As soon as the loop restarted Gaus went back to the arena. He sat on the front seats. The matches went on just like yesterday and the six winners were asked to throw leaves. The first two leaves to touch the ground were selected as the first match.

Nazára versus Tyren.

The match went on for 15 minutes before Tyren surrendered. Everything had played out just like yesterday.

Gaus returned the following day and the next. For five loops and it was always the same thing as the second day. He was starting to discard Tyren as a time traveler, after all, what time traveler would waste their time like this? What if Tyren was just an ordinary mage that was able to level up because of some abnormality of the loop? Probably something happened in that particular loop that allowed ordinary mages (not only Tyren) to level up? And even if Tyren was the other time traveler, why on Earth would he expose himself in the arena in front of more than two thousand people? Unless if he knew Gaus would be there at that particular time and day, and the only way to know that was if they were collaborating with Arna. But if that were the case then they already knew about him and there was no need for Tyren to expose himself.

Accepting it was the loop (and not Tyren) made it easier for him. But it still didn't explain why Tyren would make different decisions between loops as if he was sentient of the situation or why there was a Rewind when he lost his arm.

The question was how did Arna know about Tyren? What was their relationship? Should he investigate further? He shook his head. There was no need to take any unnecessary risk by going to the facility. It was risky even if Tyren was the only time traveler there. 

Even if he couldn't ask Arna about Tyren there was still something he could do.

Currently, Gaus was sitting in the library, reading about the ancient country of Thaha - the country Tyren represented in the competition. Thaha, like every other country, was classified under the hemisphere system. Simply put there were 13 hemispheres ruled by 8 Kings and 5 Warlords. The villages came together to form the cities, the cities formed the countries, the countries formed the empires, and the empires formed the hemispheres. All countries were designated with numbers and letters. Thaha was 5N⁴: 5 for the fifth world, N for the northern hemisphere, and 4 degrees represented the position on the map in relation to the Equatora.

At the end of the year, all affiliated countries (countries allied with the government) would provide slaves in exchange for protection. After the pilgrimage, these slaves would be 'returned' to the countries that won the annual competition. The same competition that took place in the holy city of Fydeba every year, and the same competition that Tyren and the other two battle alchemists were participating in.

"Abbas, these degrees that are added to every city are confusing. Can you tell me more about it?" He asked the other boy over lunch. It was a straightforward question that could easily attract a few stares but he was ready to rewind and rephrase it if needed.

To his surprise, it didn't. "I see. You didn't take geography in school, did you? Well, it's simple. Look," he drew four vertical lines on the paper, creating three spaces between the lines. He then drew an image of a dog in the center, a cat in the left, and a mouse in the right, "the dog is the region called Equatora, the cat is the northern hemisphere and the mouse is the southern hemisphere. The core of magic and the essence of the immortal dais all sit here in the Equatora at a place called water dungeon. The closer this mouse and this cat move to the water dungeon and the Equatora the more powerful their magic becomes. Haven't you ever wondered why the Kings and the Warlords build their cities on the 1st-degree region - as closer to the Equatora as possible? The closer you get to the Equatora the higher the density of mana becomes which is extremely beneficial to mages. The only drawback being the beasts which are also attracted to the higher density of mana." Abbas explained.

The multiverse wasn't as simple as he thought. There had always been conflicts between houses and organizations (between both affiliated and non-affiliated countries) for the 1st-degree regions which were closer to the Equatora. Wars had been raged.

That said, Thaha was just too far away for him to reach in an entire lifetime. He might as well forget about going to Tyren's hometown. So, what was the alternative?

"Abbas, do you keep census in this country?"

"Census? Like..."

"Like the count of the people living in a particular place." He answered without taking his eyes off the soup on his plate.

"The register does keep the count of everyone in Fydeba and the 1st-degree countries. I don't know about lower degree countries though."

The register?

"Where can I get it?"

"Uh oh." Abbas shook his head, "you don't get it, do you? These things are government records kept on the second floor of the library where no civilian is allowed. Only the police, the marines, and a few staff here are allowed to go there."

***

The following loop saw a young man dressed as a scholar with ashy robes and a black cap walked into the library. His expression solemn like his steps.

From the moment he entered the building, the woman on the reception desk carefully scrutinized him for a few seconds, then she went back to whatever she was doing before and pretended she didn't notice him at all.

The young man stood just a few inches away from the desk, waiting for her to talk to him or at least raised her head so he could talk, but she didn't. After silently waiting for a full minute, he cleared his throat, "hey," he said.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Hey," said she without raising her head.

The young man smiled, not bothered at all by her behavior.

Ten minutes later, the woman raised her head and stared at him. "You're still here."

"I am. As a scholar, I've been trained to wait and be patient."

She raised her brows as she scrutinized his cap. The dress cost him 100 bucks but it was worth it.

"And what might a scholar possibly want with us?"

"Are you hiring staff?" The young man asked.

She narrowed her eyes with a knowing smile. "So, you want to work with us?"

"Yeah, ma'am. I want to work with you."

She gave him a bland look which was shortly punctuated by a sigh.

"Er... don't get me wrong. I'm doing it for free. I just want to have some experience with it, that's all." Gaus added in response to her reaction.

"I'm sorry, scholar. You don't have what it takes."

Gaus clenched his jaw and put his fist on the table. "What does it take?" He was set on getting the job because that was the only way to access the second floor of the library.

The woman grimaced. She narrowed her eyes in thought as she stroked her silver hair. After what seemed like a long time she pushed his hand off the speckless table. "What's your name, scholar?"

"I'm Gaus."

"Well, Gaus, today is your lucky day. Stay there and wait." She said through her teeth.

Gaus fell silent, thinking about his next step. After a short debate, he decided to play along. "Thank you so much, miss...?"

"And stay quiet." She hissed.

At exactly 3 pm of every loop, Gaus and Abbas left the library to the reception for lunch. The lunch itself was often uneventful, but something big was always happening outside with the reception woman. Today, Gaus was there to see it because he had been waiting by the reception desk.

"Look, it's been four hours. All I'm saying is you should tell me if you don't need my services."

"We don't need your services, scholar." She said without looking at him.

"Then why the hell did you ask me to stay?"

"To punish you for disturbing me."

"Urgh. " Gaus ground his teeth and glared at her. Too bad she didn't see since she was still looking at the papers on the table.

At this moment, five policemen silently identified themselves to the guard at the entrance and strode to the reception desk.

"Huh.."

"Huh... what are they doing here?"

People gasped at the sudden appearance of the police in the library.

"Move!" One police snapped at him while another pushed him aside. Two rushed the woman at the reception desk while the last one stood calmly by the side.

"It's clever of you to hide in the library but we have eyes and ears everywhere. Did you really think we couldn't find you?"

The woman opened her mouth but no word came.

He slapped the table hard. "Answer the damn question, woman."

"N...no... yes..." She stuttered, puzzled.

"You're under arrest for the attempted destruction of the police headquarters. Put your hands over your head, slowly." He said.

"Do not try anything foolish, Minorita Salesal." The other warned.

A visible tremor passed through her body. "Destruction of the headquarters?! What are you talking about? I'm not..."

"Hmm.."

They cuffed her and dragged her out through the entrance door in front of everyone.

"Serves her right."

"She was mean. I wonder what she did to deserve such treatment."

Apparently, the workers in the library didn't like Minorita very well. Gaus didn't know how he felt. On one hand, she was mean and she was accused of destroying the police headquarters; on the other, she was... Gaus stopped as he suddenly realized there wasn't anything good about Minorita. She was mean, lack any sense of humor, and to top it all wicked.

If he couldn't get to the register then he'd run out of options. 

He went back to the hotel and ordered some food.

Nothing had turned up so far in his investigation of Tyren as a time traveler, but it was still too soon to give up.

The loops went on. For five consecutive loops, Gaus monitored Tyren from a distance. The guy always arrived at the arena in an  expensive-looking wagon at seven o'clock in the morning. He would later leave the arena at 5:40 pm, stopped by a shop for fifteen minutes before he continued on to La Magia at 6:24 pm. He would spend five hours there before he returned home by 11 pm. This routine went on for eight loops. Although Gaus was really starting to discard Tyren as a time traveler, he still didn't have enough evidence yet to do so. And then it happened one day in the evening when Gaus was playing with Rewind.

Congratulations, you've leveled up to level 2.

Specialization at level 10.

Rewind has reached level 2/100.

To continue leveling up you can:

1) follow the protocol in your skill formula.

2) defeat any level 10 pacifist in a fair fight to immediately reach level 10.

Great.

Gaus sat upright. Apparently, there was another way of leveling up besides mastering the skill formula. He just had to kill a level 10 pacifist. Too bad it wouldn't be there when the loop restarted.

***

Scream.

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

Magiwatch has saved twenty-four hours.

He pressed the watch two times to see his skill.

Skill: Rewind

Level: 2/100

Specialization at level 10.

Huh?

He stared at it with wide eyes for several seconds. If he was still at level 2 then this meant he could level up and maintain his levels despite the loop. In other words, the loop was selectively allowing leveling up and preventing physique changes. That would mean anyone, not necessarily a looper, could level up. With this new revelation, it was almost impossible to think of Tyren as a time traveler. 

In the evening, Gaus went to a restaurant in the center of the city called Niama. Here he would celebrate his newfound ability to level up.

He had no specific reasons for choosing Niama. They said it was special in many ways. In fact, according to one old man Gaus had met in the arena, it was the oldest joint in the city, built closer to the central market and the ceremony ground. The hotel Crisstar faced the restaurant from the opposite street. From his seat, Gaus could see as far as the ceremony ground on the right and as far as the central market on the left. The roof was made with a transparent canopy that was currently providing an exquisite view of the cloudy sky. People rushed in and out, but Gaus sat there in silence, occasionally sipping the lemon juice in his almost empty glass and slowly forgetting about Tyren.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" A certain timid voice from the side suddenly asked.

Gaus turned to the direction of the speaker which turned out to be the battle alchemist he was instructed to watch by Arna - Tyren. He stood one meter away from him, pointing at the empty seat on the table.

Gaus subconsciously looked at his watch. It was 3:09 pm, so Tyren should be in the arena, fighting, not having lunch in some restaurant.

"You can sit," Gaus said slowly as his mind furiously processed the situation at hand and tried to come up with answers. Why would Tyren leave the arena this early and come to the restaurant as if they'd an appointment? No one knew he would be there and he didn't make any contact with Tyren or his subordinates in this restart.

Tyren pushed the chair a few inches across the table before he sat to face Gaus directly. "Thank you."

"No problem. In fact, I was just leaving." Gaus said, taking one final sip from his glass before he stood up and turned around, "see you late..."

"I was hoping we could talk." Tyren cut him off.

Gaus gave him a knowing smile. "Lemme guess, you're here on behalf of a company to advertise, right?"

"I'm not sure my voice would fit in that category," Tyren laughed, "but thank you for the consideration. I'm actually here to talk about... you."

Gaus knitted his brows. He really didn't like where the conversation was going. "Me?"

Tyren nodded. "Yes, you."

A few seconds of silent stare passed before Tyren cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Sit. Let's talk about a certain Tuesday that has refused to go away?"