In Will’s experience, when a girl told someone they needed to talk, things were usually bad. In this case, Helen had every right to be pissed. It was a pretty safe bet that she knew who he’d met and generally what they’d spoken about. The worst thing about it—the boy couldn’t tell her a thing.
“A reminder to all students,” an announcement echoed through the halls and classrooms. “We remind you to take care of your physical and mental health. There is no shame in seeking help. The school counselor’s door is open at all times.”
The usual announcement filled the corridors, causing Will to inadvertently hum along. It was quite sad that he had become so familiar with it that his mind registered it as background noise.
Rushing into the boy’s toilet, he tapped on the rogue mirror twice. The first time the golden message emerged, granting him the class. The second time, the inventory grid replaced it, only this time two of the squares were filled up with items.
“What the heck?” Will whispered, looking at the object.
It would have been nice if the inventory section had any descriptions. Looking at it, he could assume that the item was a weapon—a spiked chain, to be exact. Yet, there was no telling what qualities it possessed. Since it had survived a loop, it had to be an eternal weapon, but without Jace’s assistance everything else was left to interpretation.
The boy was tempted to take it out just to have a look, but he preferred to leave it for after his talk with Helen. That way, he’d have to lie less.
By the time he arrived in the classroom, all the windows were open. Helen was seated at her desk, looking at the mirror fragment.
“Sorry,” Will said as he closed the door. “Want me to block it?”
“It won’t matter either way.” The girl didn’t even look up. “I won’t be extending my loop.”
The tone in her voice made it clear that she was really upset.
“Okay,” Will said, doing his best to appear that he didn’t notice. “What do we need to talk about?” he went up to her.
“I saw what happened at the end of the fight.” She turned, looking straight at him.
The boy remained quiet. Given the lack of questions during the previous loop, he had assumed that the whole going through the mirror episode had remained unnoticed by anyone else. Apparently, he was mistaken.
“What did you see?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“I saw enough.” She replied. “What did you see?”
“Well… it’s difficult to explain. I saw eternity.” He sat on the edge of the desk. “As if all the mirrors in the universe were connected to something, and I was in the middle.”
Will paused for a few moments more. Should he tell her about the message he’d seen? Probably not. It was too close to what had happened to Danny. Maybe after the tutorial was over, there would be a better time. Then again, with a bit of luck, maybe by then she’d get to experience it herself and he wouldn’t have to explain anything.
“The cactus was also there,” he added. “It seemed a lot bigger and nothing like a cactus.”
Helen’s glare didn’t falter.
“You killed it, didn’t you?”
“Why do you think that?” Will suppressed the urge to pull away.
“I got a room reward,” she said. “One free post on the forum.” Her focus shifted onto the mirror fragment. “Whatever that is, it’s not active yet. I’ve been trying to use it while I was waiting and nothing. Only the hints are still there.”
“Maybe it’ll get unlocked once we complete the tutorial?” Will tried to shift the topic.
“You keep doing that!” Helen snapped. “You poke your nose everywhere, finding new questions faster than we can find answers.”
“I’m searching for answers, same as everyone.” He tried to defend himself.
“No.” The girl looked Will in his eyes. “You’re not. That’s the sad thing. You can’t even see the changes you’ve brought. Before you joined eternity, we weren’t given a task or permanent weapons. We didn’t even know that we had to form a group of four.”
“It was all just luck. Could have happened to anyone.”
“No.” A note of sadness crept into her voice. “It could have happened only to a rogue.”
The moment she said that, Will could hear the unspoken part that followed. She didn’t want to lose him as she had lost Daniel. The former rogue, too, had been curious about the workings of the game and was adept at keeping secrets. As much as he hated to admit it, Will could see more than a few parallels with himself. Did that mean that the two of them were alike? Or did the class make the person?
“Might be a good idea to mark Alex’s mirror as well.” Despite himself, he took the easy way out of the conversation. To his relief and regret, the girl let him. “It’s always good to have as much information as possible.”
“I already did,” she replied. “He took me there this morning, right after helping me with the goblins. I have all four classes and six hints. I tried to get the hidden mirror as well, but the loop ended too fast.”
Will was in the process of considering how to respond when a girl from their class came in.
“Hel?” The new arrival stared at them in disbelief. “You’re talking to that loser?”
“We’re having a discussion about Alex,” Helen said with absolute calm. “Someone has to do something about it, so why not him since they’re friends?”
“As if that guy can have friends,” the girl snorted before taking her seat at the neighboring desk. “What did he do this time?”
“The same thing he does every time—one large mess,” Helen concluded. “You’ll help deal with that, right?”
“Sure. But I think you should as well.” Will stood up and went to Danny’s desk. The sketches and scribbles were still there, reminding him of all the secrets the previous rogue had discovered. By now, he’d started remembering most of what was there, although a lot remained unresolved.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Why had Helen asked him to speak to Alex? Was that a sort of olive branch again? Will was getting tired of acting as their intermediary, but at the same time found it preferable to having to openly choose a side. He liked both of them, though in different ways. Even Jace had slowly grown on to him, both as a friend and part of the group.
Bit by bit, the classroom got filled up. It was notable that both Jace and Alex were nowhere to be seen. Only with one minute left of the loop did the jock appear along with his teammates. It seemed that even he wanted to spend a loop reliving ten minutes of normality, just like before eternity had taken control of their lives.
Beyond reality, Will thought as he looked at the wolves drawn on the desk.
The fact that Danny hadn’t drawn any goblins had been a firm indication that he knew nothing about the tutorial. At the same time, there was no indication of permanent skill rewards, either. And what was with all the lyrics? All of them were of old songs, some from before Will was even born. He, like everyone else, had spent several loops googling them, among other things, only to find out nothing.
Next loop, the boy told himself. Next loop, I’ll tell them everything.
Restarting eternity.
Two ten-minute loops were all it took for the group to decide to get back to exploring the tutorial. Almost at the same time, everyone sent texts to everyone else saying that they wanted to continue. Originally, Will was about to reveal all the secrets he’d amassed, but as the texts poured in, he decided only to mention a few of them.
To his alarm, no one else did even as much. There was the occasional comment, a few discussions on tactics, and an incidental question towards Alex and Helen about whether something had occurred in previous loops. All in all, it seemed like the first steps of reconciliation after a fight and in this case, everyone felt guilty.
By the time evening came, everyone was itching to let out their frustration on wolves, goblins, and any other creatures they’d come across.
“Here.” Will dropped the massive chain in the corridor. “That’s what I got.”
“Just that?” Jace sounded disappointed.
Originally, he was hoping that the third weapon would be a perfect fit for him. As it turned out, it didn’t suit anyone. The chain was both heavy and uncomfortable to hold. Nearly every link had spikes, almost guaranteeing that the person who wielded it would get hurt as well.
“Chain of binding,” he said, using his skill on the item. “Eternal weapon, and can bind targets for a short amount of time.”
“Bind them how?” Will asked.
“That’s all it says.” The jock glanced at him before focusing on the chain again. “Maybe just wrap the target? Fuck if I know.”
“It has to be for the boss,” Will said. “We were told that the seven weapons will help us fight him. It didn’t say that the seven weapons had to be made for us.”
“Fuck that! So, you get all the fun stuff and I get nothing?” Jace winced.
“It’s too early to tell,” Will replied in a way that suggested that probably to be the case. “We definitely can’t use it against wolves or goblins.”
“Nuh uh,” Alex protested. “It’s all part of a puzzle. We’ll need it for the next elite.”
Everyone rolled their eyes.
“For real! We used the dagger to kill the knight, then we used the sword to kill the cactus.”
“You know that none of that is true,” Helen looked at him.
Strictly speaking, she was right. It was luck and their combined effort and ingenuity that had earned them a victory against the dark knight. The poison dagger had helped, though not more so than anything else they had done. The same held true to a greater degree for their fight against the thorn monster. While it could be argued that Helen’s use of the sword had allowed them to approach the creature without instantly getting killed, that had also been achieved through a gradual accumulation of experience. Also, Will had single-handedly killed the monster thanks to his poison dagger at that.
“Then why did you take them when we fought the elites?” The goofball tilted his head.
“Alex, we can’t carry all this,” Will said. “Unless we know exactly how we’ll use it, it’s just dead weight.”
“Pretty sus, if you ask me. Then let’s take it to Jace’s mirror? That way, it’ll be closer.”
After another minute of pointless arguments, that’s what they did.
To no surprise, there were no wolves or hidden mirrors along the rest of the floor. The group managed to find a few more mirrors in the teacher’s lounge, though all they offered were three hints relating to the Crafter’s skills. The information wasn’t particularly useful: the skill names were self-evident. Plus Jace had already used them enough to know exactly what they represented. Still, every piece of information was a plus, and Helen was certain to add this mirror to the fragment as well.
Upon reaching the second floor, the group stopped. According to Alex, there were three wolf rooms on this floor. Given their current skills and weapons, that wasn’t an issue. At the same time, there was no telling how many elites they’d find.
“There have to be two,” the goofball insisted. “If it’s seven in total, it’s one in the basement and two per floor.”
“And five more goblins,” Will muttered in thought.
“What makes you think that?” Helen turned to him.
“It’s a guarantee that you’ll be level nine by the time you reach the boss.” Or at least he hoped so. “That means it’s likely we have two or three of them on this floor.”
“Seven, eight rooms of fuckers.” Jace whistled. “Things are getting interesting.” He glanced at Will and Helen. “For you guys. Don’t worry, I got your back.” He grinned. “How do you want to start?”
“We start with the wolves.” Will turned left. “Then as normal.”
Going down the corridor brought strange memories. The first time he faced a wolf was right here in Ms. Stalter’s class. It had been an outright massacre, causing the unfortunate teacher and dozens of Will’s schoolmates to die along with him until he found a way to defeat the monsters.
Now, there were no non-looped people around, and despite their massive size, the wolves were no longer the threat they used to be.
Arriving at the end of the corridor, Jace removed the door’s hinges yet again, causing it to slam to the ground. Alex followed, scattering a series of traps throughout the classroom.
Catching a glimpse of the goofball, the mirrors spat out the beasts, causing them to shatter the cabinets against the wall, as they always had. Desks were tossed like toys, as the beasts rushed through the classroom, only to freeze in place. No sooner had they done so than Will and Alex sprang into action.
Half a dozen thief mirror copies rushed into the classroom, stabbing two of the wolves to death. Meanwhile, Will threw a series of knives at the remaining creatures’ weak spots, to even the score. In less than ten seconds, all four wolves had been reduced to lifeless corpses. Additionally, the familiar LEVEL UP message had emerged in the room mirrors.
“Level three,” Alex grinned as he tapped the mirror. “Lit.”
Once Will did the same, the set of mirrors changed appearance, acquiring the expected green glint.
“Who wants to get it?” The boy looked over his shoulder.
“Oof. I can’t remember whose turn it was,” the goofball frowned.
“Go for it, Stoner,” Jace shouted from the corridor. “Not like I’m doing any fighting.”
“Helen should have it.” Will stepped away. He was still feeling guilty of the permanent reward he’d gotten. “She’s the keyholder, so she must be best protected.”
“Are you sure?” The girl asked. “You’re—”
“There might be more self-activating mirrors,” Will interrupted. “It’s safer this way.”
Not waiting to be invited again, Helen walked over the wolf corpses and tapped the mirror with her free hand.
WOLF PACK REWARD (random)
GROUP CHALLENGE: enter the mirror and survive nine waves. A defeated wave doesn’t provide any reward, but increases the overall prize you’ll earn. You can end the challenge at any time by leaving the mirror.