The external parking lot seemed off from what Will remembered it to be. The cars appeared to be the same, but there was something different. After a few seconds, the boy realized what—the side mirrors were still attached. That suggested that Alex hadn’t gone on his mirror hunting spree yet. However, there was no sign of the goofball anywhere. Could it be that he had made Will go there for nothing?
“You still sure about this, bro?” the familiar voice asked. “Might be a bit more than you could handle.”
“Where were you?” Will asked.
“Had to do something.”
That was more than slightly suspicious, but Alex was known to be weird, so Will let it slide.
“So, how do we do it?” he asked.
“You know the drill, bro.” Alex pointed at the mirror pole. “Go at it.”
Looking around to make sure he wasn’t drawing any attention, Will walked up to the mirror pole, then jumped up and hit it with his hand.
You have discovered THE THIEF (number 3)
Use additional mirrors to find out more! Good luck!
Number three? Will thought.
“Is there any meaning behind the numbers?” he asked.
“No idea, bro.” Alex shrugged. “Danny thought so. Difficult to come to conclusions with just four classes.”
“What about the archer?”
“We didn’t get to ask him,” the goofball chuckled. “I don’t got that much rizz. Danny said there were twenty-four—four at each location.”
Six locations, potentially all in the city. Will had a pretty good idea where the archer’s area was. Alex had let slip that he knew of at least one other.
“Where are the instruction mirrors?”
“Third floor bathrooms,” the other replied. “Boys for the thief, girls for the crafter.”
“You knew that all along?”
“Don’t be sus. Wasn’t useful, bro. I know the skills by heart.”
Will didn’t like that one bit.
“What’s the order?”
“Been a while, bro. One, two, three?” He glanced at the school building. “You can always go and find out.”
Going through school was the last thing Will wanted right now, mostly because he didn’t want to bump into Jace or Helen. If he wanted to go ahead with his real plan, though, he didn’t have much of a choice.
Moving to the nearest car, he snapped a side mirror off. An alarm sounded, filling the air with screams.
“Big oof, bro.” Alex seemed rather amused. “Can’t do that before level two.”
Passers-by in the area stared in the direction of the alarm. Some of them even caught eye of the mirror that Will was holding. Most were hesitant to get involved, but he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he got into trouble.
“This is the part where you run, bro,” Alex suggested.
“No.” Will remained where he was. “This way I’ll learn my lesson faster.”
Restarting eternity.
Will tapped the mirror, then rushed to the school entrance. It was supposed to be a short run, but the speed was a lot greater than anything he imagined, causing him to bump into Jess and Ely on the way.
“Are you crazy?!” Ely shouted.
“Sorry.” Will reacted. “I was just—”
“Get the hell away, weirdo!” The girl stood up to him. “I’m telling—”
“It’s okay,” Jess interrupted her. “Really.”
“No! It's not okay. This shithead—”
“I’m fine.” Jess stood up. “Let’s just go.”
Ely gave the boy a glare that could melt steel, then accompanied her friend into the building. For several seconds, Will just stood there, wondering what had happened. This wasn’t the first time he’d bumped into someone. It wasn’t the first time he’d knocked someone over, either. The fashion in which he had done so went beyond anything he was used to.
“Off, bro,” Alex said, making his way casually from the school gate. “It’s like that the first time.”
“So, that’s sprinting?”
“Nah, bro.” The other tapped him on the back. “That’s fast walking.”
No wonder that the goofball managed to meet up with him every morning so soon after the start of the loop. Combining that with his mirror copies, it was clear how he got to claim the crafter class and get Danny’s file at the same time. Funny how only someone with the class would see the world the same way. Back when Will and Helen tried to get the file, they weren’t able to come up with anything. Now, after only a few minutes with the thief class, the boy viewed it as the most common thing in the world.
“There’s still nine minutes and a half, bro,” Alex reminded him. “Plenty of time to get to the bathrooms, if you go slowly.”
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The goofball was right. Will had plenty of time to go up there and read the hints and instructions. Then again, with his current abilities, there was something else he could do as well. Taking the thief class didn’t just grant him Alex’s set of skills, it also opened up Helen’s. Before that, though, he had to learn how to get them.
Students and teachers were filling up the corridors. The staircases were especially packed. As he reached them, Will got a glance of Jace. It was almost comical how the jock was avoiding people on his way. In the past, he’d walk through anyone blocking his path. The pain that eternity attached to such actions had forced him into being more careful, mostly for his sake.
“Hold up,” Alex said, grabbing Will by the shoulder. No sooner had he done so, when a backpack flew through the air, landing a few feet away. “It’s all good, Kenny, bro!” the goofball shouted. “I’ll bring it up to you.”
Will looked up. There had been an altercation between students a few flights above. Interesting that he’d never noticed up to now.
“How did you know?” he asked. “Matter of timing, bro.” The other picked up the backpack. “See you on the third floor.”
Considering what Will had dealt with on a daily basis in the tutorial, the trip to the bathroom was too calm for his own good. With all the mental anxiety that came with the third floor, the boy expected for a monster to emerge at any point. The fact that it didn’t happen only made him fearful that his enemy was lying somewhere in wait.
Looking over his shoulder, the boy went into the boys’ bathroom. Unfortunately for him, it was occupied. A couple of older boys were standing at the far end, discussing something in hushed voices. The moment they saw Will enter, both looked in his direction.
“Yo,” one of them said. “Occupied.”
Anyone knew that was code for him to get lost. Any other time, Will would have. Now, though, he calmly went up to the mirrors and started tapping on them with his hand.
“Hey!” the other boy said. “You deaf?!”
Will ignored them. As it turned out, the third mirror in the row contained the first segment of the information he needed.
THE THIEF (number 3)
Weak in direct confrontations, the THIEF relies on stealth, speed, and distractions. The class grants its finder a total of twenty-four skills throughout its full progression.
“Hey, shithead, I’m talking to you!” The older boy reached to grab Will.
The action was slow and sloppy, allowing Will to evade it without a second thought. As he did, he tapped the fourth mirror. Three messages emerged.
SNEAK
Move unnoticed by others. Ends when coming into contact with a person or item.
SPRINT
Run at a vastly superior speed.
TRAP
Create mirror traps from mirror fragments. The traps hold a person in place for a minute unless they break free.
The other boy joined in, attempting to punch Will in the face. The action was futile, only making him feel pity for them. Evading the punch, Will hit the boy on the side of the head. The attack, though relatively weak, was enough to mess up the other’s balance, causing him to stumble on the floor. If Alex were here, he’d say that this was a time for speeches if there ever was one. Will, on the other hand, went on and tapped the other mirrors.
Both were hints. One of them he’d seen before: a suggestion to find new classes to explore in different ways. The other was something completely new.
HINT
Explore your entire area for hidden gifts.
“You’re insane!” one of the older boys said, helping up his friend.
“You’re in deep shit now,” the other added. “I won’t forget this. You’re dead! Hear me?!”
Will glanced at them, then left the bathroom. They were going to forget everything after another eight minutes. As he went out, he found Alex leaning against the corridor wall.
“Had fun?” he grinned.
“Idiot,” Will hissed. “You could have told me.”
“Where’s the fun in that, bro? So, how was it?”
Instead of an answer, Will took a step in the direction of the girls’ bathroom.
“Nah, bro.” Alex said. “Only works if you have the class. No class, no hints. Also, it’s full of girls. Will be sus if you walk in.”
In the past, Will would have agreed. There would be other times. After all, if the mirrors really were linked to the class, there was no point in walking in. The thief class, though, had something else in mind.
Focusing on his skills, the boy made use of sneak, sprint, and evade to effectively vanish from his current spot and rush towards the girls’ bathroom. His fast reflexes made avoiding people easy, taking him to the desired door in less than a second. With one brisk action, he opened it, ready to sneak in unannounced.
The room was empty.
Taking nothing for granted, Will quickly tapped on all the mirrors. To his disappointment, nothing happened. The goofball had only told half a lie, after all.
A moment later, Will was back in the corridor. A long distance away, he could spot Alex waving at him.
“Had fun, bro?” the goofball shouted, attracting everyone’s attention.
In such a situation, Will had no choice but to calmly approach. Thankfully, it didn’t seem that anyone had noticed him enter where he wasn’t supposed to.
“Were you testing me?” Will whispered as he reached his friend.
“Teaching you, bro. The thief class is in the mind. Anyone can run and throw traps about. To be a thief, you need to think like one.”
“There’s still a lot you aren’t telling me.”
“You’re learning, bro.” The other tapped him on the shoulder. “Now that you had your fun, do we go back to our thing?”
Based on Alex’s expression, one could assume that he was referring to their research on Daniel rather than the tutorial. At the moment, Will didn’t intend to do either. At least not until the loop was over.
“Who says I’ve had my fun?” He disappeared again.
Sprinting to the staircase, he rushed back to the first floor, then straight to the girls’ bathroom. With Helen in the classroom, there was a good chance that the room would be free. Thankfully, that turned out to be the case; thankfully, because Will rushed by the coach in the corridor.
Without wasting a moment, he tapped on all the mirrors. Messages emerged, as he was granted the knight class. Pausing for a moment, the boy tapped on the mirror again. The familiar grid emerged.
So, it’s linked to the person, not the class, he thought as he reached in and took his poison dagger.
Now, there was only one thing left. Will rushed back out, heading to the staircase again. Only this time, he didn’t go up, but further down into the basement.
Six minutes, he thought. Most people wouldn’t be able to do anything in that amount of time. Six minutes was barely enough to check out a few short videos online, let alone anything more. For any looper, six minutes were more than half of eternity—more than enough for a specific task, as long as one was prepared for it.
The first room Danny rushed into was the one in the corner. Spotting him, a wolf leaped out with a roar, only to get stabbed in the side of the throat and tossed across the room with a loud thud. There was a good chance that the sound might attract someone’s attention, but the boy didn’t care, dispatching the remaining three wolves in the exact same fashion.
As the LEVEL UP message appeared on the mirror, the boy was presented with his first real choice. He had two levels and three classes to choose from. The first he placed on the rogue earning him the evasion. The next wasn’t so clear. After everything he’d done, there was a good chance that he wouldn’t be allowed to try this again for at least a dozen loops, or at least until the end of the tutorial. It was one of those rare instances that he had to get it right on the first time.
“How about this?” the boy whispered as he tapped the mirror.