“So, you got this?” the jock glared at Alex. “It’s complete crap.”

Everyone patiently waited for him to continue.

“It’s a belt that comes with twelve mirror daggers,” Jace added. “That’s it. And it’s eternal.”

“Fire! It restocks on knives.” Alex grabbed it. Jace, however, had no intention of letting go.

“Not even close, muffin boy.” He looked at Alex. “They’re there at the start of the loop. That’s it.” He let go.

Despite the physical difference between the two, Alex didn’t seem at all surprised or affected. Feeling the belt free, he quickly put it on with one swift action, then checked the knives. Sadly, half of them were missing.

“Do you think that counts as a weapon?” Helen wondered.

“It doesn’t count for twelve,” Will replied. “It might be considered both, though. Mirror knives are perfect for a thief. He can make traps and copies with them.”

“Big oof there, bro,” Alex said, still checking out the belt. Even after tightening it as much as possible, it seemed a few sizes larger than it was supposed to be. “I’m out of mirror pieces. I can make six of either, plus the copies that are already here.”

In total, that made fifteen. Out of the thousands of mirror copies, only nine had survived. There was always the possibility that the next battle could also be within the mirror, but no one wanted to rely on that too much.

“What’s the plan now?” Helen turned to Will. “We try our luck with the last one, or we explore the third floor?”

“Let’s go for the harpy,” the goofball quickly said, glowing with enthusiasm. “Not lit to leave one off.”

“What’s the matter, muffin boy? You have OCD?” Jace grinned.

“Each of us got a thing. This one could be your turn.” Alex grinned.

“Maybe the chain was his thing.” Despite herself, Helen couldn’t help it, making everyone except the jock stifle a laugh.

That aside, there was some logic in Alex’s words. So far, he, Will, and Helen had received an item. The chain was clearly meant to be for the entire party when fighting the boss. A bigger question was what could a crafter’s special item be? It would be lame if it were a common weapon, like a sword or dagger. He wasn’t a tank, so it couldn’t be a shield. The first thought that came to Will’s mind was an anvil, but he desperately hoped that not to be the case.

Maybe the crafter didn’t have unique tools? It was possible that he had to make use of his skills and any items he came along. Jace had already proven he could fix a whole lot of things—though he still drew a blank at complex electronic devices.

“Let’s just get it over with,” he said at last. “At least we’ll get an idea of what we’ll be facing. We might even get lucky and face a copy of Jace’s class.”

“With our luck, he’ll come at us with a flamethrower,” the jock replied.

“Bro! Next time make a flamethrower!” Alex said. “It’ll be fire!”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Will went down the corridor in the direction of the vice principal’s office. Soon, he was followed by the rest of his group.

The damage they’d done so far was massive. If the school had guards or even proper cameras, it would be crawling with people right now. For the first time in their life, the children were glad that it wasn’t special. With the exception of Halloween, no one had shown any interest in the place. Most of the equipment was old, outdated and not worth the effort.

We need to get better, Will thought. They’d only faced four serious enemies so far, and still had more losses than victories. That was the main reason he wanted to face a fifth elite—that way he’d know whether the group had actually improved, or all their wins had been purely based on luck.

The vice-principal’s room held unpleasant memories for most of the group. At some point in time everyone had passed through here, usually when they were in trouble. With the exception of Jace, loops had drastically increased the visits. Will and Helen had been there frequently in their early loops, and subsequently when they were ransacking the place in search of Daniel’s school files. While Alex denied it, there was a constant rumor going around that he had been a permanent visitor. Whether that was true remained uncertain, but it was definitely believable. As for Jace, as most members of the football team, he had frequent run-ins with the woman.

To no one’s surprise, the hidden mirror had appeared directly beneath the clock on the wall.

“I really hate this clock,” Helen said.

“You kidding?” The jock looked at her. “It was the only thing keeping me sane.”

“You too, bro?” Alex looked at him in surprise. “I thought I was the only one.”

A thick fog moved beneath the mirror’s surface, preventing anything from reflecting through. Based on what they had experienced, it was a safe bet that the monster wouldn’t be a mirror image. That meant it would be one of the creatures and, depending on its nature, the fight would either be over in a minute, or would cause the loop to restart.

“What’s your guess?” the goofball asked. “Think the monster will be the harpy? That would be lit.”

Both Jace and Will choked, trying to suppress their laughter.

“Why would you even think that?” Helen glared at Alex.

“Well… she’s the harpy?”

“That’s… I’m not even going to argue.”

“What do you think her skills will be like?” Jace joined in the speculation. “Mirror detention?”

“Bro! That’s so lit! Like locking all that cause trouble in mirrors for half of eternity. Maybe she’s been using it all this time? Hiding in plain sight. Maybe she has the principal locked in there and that’s why she gets to run the show.”

“We used to see the principal every week,” Will countered.

“Ah.” Alex waved a finger. “But was that the principle, bro? Or just another mirror image? Maybe the harpy keeps him and creates an image out now and then to fool people.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“How do you come up with such stuff, muffin boy?” Jace asked, still smiling.

“Lots of time, bro. Conspiracies are the only interesting thing left.”

“I find them dumb.” Helen made her way to the mirror. “Ready?”

Taking out two of his mirror daggers, Alex placed two traps on the floor, then nodded. Will, too, had two throwing knives at the ready. Meanwhile, Jace made his way out of the room.

“Tell me what she looks like,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

With everything set, Will nodded.

The girl tapped the mirror and quickly leaped back. This was the moment of truth. Usually, the creature would be quick to appear, but in this case, it seemed to take its time. Seconds passed with no apparent change. It was almost as if the elite were provoking them to make the next move.

“Think we have to fight inside?” Helen asked, gripping her sword with both hands.

“Bros, maybe it’s already here?” Alex whispered.

In response, Will threw a knife at the foggy surface. The weapon flew in, creating a ripple on the glass.

“I doubt it,” he said. “It’s waiting for something.”

“Why would it be waiting?” Helen asked.

“It might be weak in direct confrontation. Like the thief's copy.”

“Alex, if it was weak, it would have attacked from a distance already.”

“Maybe it has and we just can’t see it?”

“Forget it!” The girl went up to the mirror. “I got one free would, so I’ll just go in and—”

Poison effect reduced.

Will saw a message appear. His first thought was that he had caused something. Of the party, he was the only person with a poison weapon. Instinct made him look down at his hand, if only to make sure he hadn’t nicked himself. Then it came to him. The dagger wasn’t the only poison related skill he had.

“Hold your breath!” he shouted. “The air’s poisoned.”

Barely had he finished when Alex pulled Helen back. The moment he did, a projectile of some sort emerged from the mirror, causing him to shatter to pieces.

Always with the copies, Will thought. In this case, the goofball was right to do so.

“Get out of here!” Will leaped towards the mirror. Since he had poison resistance, he was at a much lesser disadvantage than anyone else in the group.

Tutorial failed.

Restarting eternity.

Mentally affected by the old loop, the boy leaped forward, landing facedown on the decorative patch of grass next to the pavement. The sound of nearby laughter and insults followed.

“Good job, weirdo.” Jess glanced at him as she walked by with her friend.

Will ignored her. For several seconds, he just lay there as his mind tried to catch up with the abrupt changes. Slowly standing up, so that the ridicules could end, he took out his phone. Already there were several messages on it.

Jace: what happened?

Alex: ? ^.^’

Helen: No idea

Jace: stoner, u mess up?

Helen: Wasn’t him

Helen: I got poisoned

Clearly, this was going to be a long conversation. Aside from the obvious, Will had no idea how exactly they had been killed and, by the looks of it, neither did anyone else.

The mouse cafe. he typed in

Jace: ? mouse

Alex: he means moose

Helen: Mousse.

Helen: Idiots.

More messages followed, but Will had already put his phone away. Standard loops were short as it was. They only had less than ten minutes to discuss matters and not a moment to waste.

“So, aren’t you supposed to be at school?” the barista asked in his usual chill demeanor.

“Free period,” Helen said without blinking. “I’d like some cocoa, please.”

“A soda for me,” Jace said.

“I’m good, bro.” Alex waved, munching a muffin.

The barista gave the goofball a disappointed look, then went to get the others what they had ordered. Once everything was brought, and with seven minutes left to go, the real conversation began.

“I think it’s a copy of me,” Will said. “I don’t know anything else that has poison.”

“Bro, the snake had poison. It also appeared from a clouded mirror. Maybe this one used a new set of skills?”

“Wouldn’t we have seen it poison the air?” Helen took a sip from her cocoa. “There wasn’t any spray of smoke or anything.”

“Maybe it wasn’t in the air,” Will suggested. “The cloud could have been poisoned, so you got it by activating the mirror.”

“That’s fucked.” Jace shook his head. “I bet that’s it. Better use protection when activating mirrors,” he said with a chuckle.

“Nah, bro. Can’t be just that.” Alex took another muffin from his pocket and bit off half of it. “My copy shattered. Poison doesn’t shatter copies.”

“Poison and throwing knives,” Will insisted. “It has to be a rogue copy. Two of you have gotten yours. It’s time for mine.”

“Two copies on the same floor? I don’t know, Stoner. I’m with the snake idea.”

“Either way, we need to deal with the poison.” Will looked at Helen. “The extra wound didn’t do squat, so that’s not the answer. The way things are, we’ve only got two options.”

Everyone leaned in.

“We skip the room and explore the third floor.” The boy paused. “Or Helen takes my class.”

Everyone froze, as if they’d witnessed a car crash.

“Your skill, bro?” Alex asked.

“It takes four classes to complete the tutorial, but it isn’t said that they have to be held by four people. I’ll just extend my loop and let Helen take the knight and the rogue. At level four, she’ll get poison resistance, so it should be fine.”

“Two classes…” the jock mused, considering the option.

“She’s the keyholder. That’s the only thing we can’t change.”

“Two classes won’t make it easier.” Helen joined the conversation. “It’s nice you offered, but—”

“It’s just for the elite,” Will interrupted. “Once you kill him, we end the loop and continue as normal.”

“For real, bro! That’s lit!” Alex said in a way that made Will wonder why no one had thought about the idea. The goofball, of all people, should know what it was like. After all, he had been using two classes up to the point that Jace had joined them in eternity.

“Just till we get the weapon?” Helen turned to Will.

“Just till then.” He nodded.

“Meanwhile, we’ll be gophers,” Jace said, ruining the moment. “Muffin boy will need lots of fragments, so we’ll carry extra loads. Three backpacks ought to do the trick. If not, I’m taking your class!” he pointed at Alex.

It was a solid plan. But if there was one thing Will had come to see when dealing with eternity, it was that even a solid plan needed a few loops to kick in.

By the time the barista went to the table to ask how they’d be paying for everything ordered, the allocated ten minutes had come to an end.

Restarting eternity.