Zorian's eyes flew open and a sharp pain shot through his abdomen. His whole body twitched, resisting the weight that fell on him, and suddenly he was completely awake, without a trace of sleep in his mind.
"Good morning, brother!" An irritatingly cheerful voice sounded above his head. "Good morning, good morning, good morning!!!"
Zorian looked at El in shock, trying to figure out what was going on. The last thing he remembered was the lich casting that spell on him and Zack, and then blackness. His eyes scanned the surrounding environment left and right, confirming his guess - he was in his room, back to Xilin?
He was glad he survived and expected to wake up in a hospital or somewhere else. Painful experience, El shouldn't be so casual with him - not even she should be so inconsiderate. And, this whole scene was... eerily familiar.
"Kiri?"
"Um, really?"
"What day is it?" asked Zorian, already beginning to dread the answer.
"Thursday."
He frowned. "I meant a date, Kiri."
"Chariot first. Today you are going to the academy. Don't tell me you forgot," Kiriel urged. Quite literally - as she spoke, she poked him in the side just right and inserted her bony little index finger between his ribs. Zorian slapped her hand away, screaming in agony.
"I didn't forget!" Zorian snapped. "I just…"
There he stopped. What should he tell her? To be honest, he himself didn't know what happened!
"You know what?" he said after a moment of silence. "Don't mind, I think it's time for you to leave me."
Before El could answer, Zorian unceremoniously rolled her off the edge of the bed, and then jumped up himself.
He grabbed his glasses and glanced around his room, paying more attention to detail this time, looking for anything out of place, anything that might reveal that this was all just a giant prank. While his memory isn't perfect, he has a habit of arranging items in a specific way. He didn't notice anything unusual. Strangely enough, this was indeed his room, just like the one he had left when he went to Cooria.
Is it all a dream? For a dream, this is too real. His dreams had always been vague, meaningless, and prone to disappearing from his memory soon after waking. These sensations were identical to his normal memories—no talking birds, floating pyramids, three-eyed wolves, and other surreal scenes that his dreams usually contained. And there's so much in it - surely a whole month is too much for just one dream, right?
"Mom wants to talk to you," El told him from the floor, clearly in no rush to get up. "But hey, can you show me some magic before you come down here? Please? Pretty?"
Zorian frowned. Magic, right? Come to think of it, he also learned a lot of magic. Of course, if this was all a particularly elaborate dream, then all the magic he learned there was fake? It's amazing.
He made a few simple gestures and words, then held his hands in front of him. A ball of light suddenly appeared on the palm of his hand.
hehe. Well, this isn't just an elaborate dream.
"That's great!" my sister gushed, poking the ball with her finger and it went right through it. Really, it's not surprising since it's just light. She retracted her finger and looked at it curiously, as if expecting it to change. Zorian mentally guided the sphere around the room and around El several times. Yes, he definitely knew the spell - not only did he retain a memory of the spell's casting, he also retained a fine-grained control developed through repeated practice. You don't get such a thing from just a vision, even a prophecy.
"More! More!"
"Oh, come on, Kili," Zorian sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for her antics right now. "I've indulged you, haven't I? Now go find something else to do for fun. My good girl."
She pouted at him, but he was immune to that now. Then she frowned and straightened up suddenly, as if she remembered something.
wait…
"No!" Zorian shouted, but it was too late. Kiri had run into the bathroom and closed the door. “Damn it, Ki.
i, why now? Why not before I wake up? "
"You're so stupid, haha," she replied.
I was still fooled. "
He frowned. A warning indeed. Whatever his "future memories" are, they seem to be pretty reliable. So, will Kuolia really be invaded during the Summer Festival? What should he do about this? What could he do about it? He shook his head and strode back to his room. He wouldn't even think about such a question until he knew more about what was happening to him. He locked the door and sat on the bed vigorously. He needs to think.
He spent a whole month at school... something happened... and then he woke up in Xilin's room as if the whole month had never happened. Even allowing for magic, this is ridiculous. Time travel is impossible. Even dimensional magic can only warp time, speeding it up or slowing it down. One of the few things that mages all @::agree upon is that magic cannot do.
So, how did he get through it all?
He was looking through books in his room, looking for any magic that could somehow "fake" time travel, when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he suddenly realized that he was still in his pajamas and that his mother had long wanted to follow him Speak. He quickly changed his clothes and opened the door, only to find himself being scrutinized by two women, only one of whom was his mother.
He almost called out Ilsa's name to say hello, but caught himself in time.
"A teacher from the academy has come to talk to you," his mother said, her disapproving look telling him that she was going to teach him a lesson once Ilsa left.
"Hello," said Ilsa. "I am Ilsa Zileti, from the Royal Academy of Magical Arts in Cooria. I wanted to talk to you about something before you left."
"Of course," Zorian said. "Well, where..."
"Your room is enough," said Ilsa.
"I'll get you something to drink," his mother excused herself.
Zorian watched as Ilsa opened various files and placed them on his desk, trying to decide how to proceed. If his future memories are correct, she should hand him the scroll...
Yes, right there. It's weird knowing what's going to happen ahead of time.
For aesthetic reasons, Zorian briefly inspected the scroll before pouring mana into it. It was exactly how he remembered it—the calligraphy, the ornate official wording, the carefully designed crest at the bottom of the document—and Zorian felt a wave of fear wash over him. What on earth had he gotten himself into? He didn't know what was happening to him, but it was big.
He was tempted to tell Ilsa of his predicament and seek her advice, but he restrained himself. It sounded like the wisest thing to do—certainly a trained mage like her was more qualified than he was to solve the problem—but what could he tell her? Is he remembering things that haven't happened yet? Yes, that would go well. Furthermore, given the nature of his future memories, if the plot to invade Kooria were actually discovered as a result of his warnings, he could easily be captured. After all, it's more likely that his precognition came from a defector than that he was some kind of weird time traveler. Visions of agents torturing him for information flashed through his mind and he shuddered.
No, it's better not to say anything now.
For the next 10 minutes, Zorian essentially replayed his memory of his initial interaction with Ilsa, but this time he didn't argue with Ilsa about Xvim, nor did he awkwardly ask to use the bathroom.
Because he already knows what courses he is taking. Ilsa seemed completely unfazed by his strange decisiveness, clearly as eager as he was to get this whole thing sorted out. Then again, why was she surprised by his decision? Unlike him, she has no memory of the future. Damn it, she still doesn't recognize him.
Zorian sighed and shook his head. They do feel like normal memories and it's hard to ignore them. It's going to be a long month.
"Mr. Kaczynski, are you okay?"
Zorian glanced curiously at Ilsa, and she glanced at his hands—just for a moment, because they were shaking. He balled them into fists and took a deep breath.
"I'm fine," he said. There was an uncomfortable silence for a second or so, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," said Ilsa. "That's why I'm here."
"What do you think about time travel?"
She was obviously taken aback by the question!
"Time travel is impossible," Ilsa said firmly. "Time can only be extended or compressed. It is never skipped or reversed."
"Why?" Zorian asked, he was really curious.
Ilsa sighed. "It is completely impossible to go against the flow of time and space. Just as it is impossible to "draw a square circle", the river of time only flows in one direction. In addition, countless attempts have been made in the past, but they have all ended in failure." She gave him a sharp look. "I sincerely hope you don't waste your talents on such foolish pursuits!" Well said.
"I'm just curious," Zorian defended.
"Now you know," said Ilsa, standing up. "In that case, it's really time for me to get going. I'll be happy to answer any questions after class next Monday. Have a nice day."
She left, closed the door, and fell onto the bed. Definitely a long month.
. . . . . two. . . . .
This time, the train ride didn't put Zorian to sleep. But this time he looked too awake for this to be a hallucination. As far as he knew so far, he had indeed traveled through the past. He wrote everything important in a notebook on the train. These memories will never be forgotten.
Zorian was convinced that this was the last spell the lich would cast on him and Zach. What is the spell? I was really fucked to death by a monster!
Another clue is Zach. What about others? He has what it takes to fight a lich—a damn lich! – failed after a few minutes. Even though the Lich keeps toying with him, it's still pretty impressive. Zorian would put Zac on par with the third Circle Mage, and maybe even more.
There's definitely something weird about Zach, and while Zorian has no intention of confronting the guy directly, for all he knows, it could be "you know us, so now we have to kill you"? He must treat the successor of the Holy Master with caution.
Zorian slammed his notebook shut and ran his hands through his hair. An extremely crazy thing. Or is he crazy? How to get others to help him without being sent to a lunatic asylum.
"Excuse me, is this seat available?"
Zorian glanced at the speaker and recognized her. When they stopped at Xhosa, the nameless girl with a green turtleneck joined him in his box. Of course, she didn't ask before taking her seat last time. What has changed? Ah, that doesn't matter - what matters is that last time she was quickly followed by four other girls. Very loud, very obnoxious girl.
"Yes," he nodded. "Actually, I just came up. We're stopping in Xhosa, right? Nice day, miss."
Then he quickly grabbed his luggage and went to find another carriage, leaving the girl behind.
-. . . . three. . . . .
Bang!
"cockroach!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Roach, open that damn door! I know you're here!"
Zorian turned over on the bed, what was Taiven doing here so early? No wait... He grabbed the clock from the dressing table and put it in front of himself... It was not early, he had only slept after noon. hehe. He clearly remembered going straight from the train station to the academy, falling asleep within a few minutes of arriving in the room, but he still overslept. Apparently, dying and waking up in the past is a nuisance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Coming, coming!" Zorian shouted. "Stop knocking!"
Of course, she banged it with more enthusiasm. Zorian hurriedly dressed himself up and stomped toward the door. He opened the door violently and looked at Taiwen with depressing eyes...
…She immediately ignored this.
"Finally!" she said. "What took you so long!?"
"I'm sleeping," Zorian whispered.
"Really?"
"Yes," said matter-of-factly.
"but-"
"I'm tired," Zorian snapped. "Very tired. What are you waiting for? Get in."
She rushed inside, and Zorian took a moment to calm down before facing her. To his later memory, she never visited him again since he refused to go on her mission to the sewers, which speaks volumes about her true feelings about their 'friendship'. Then again, he'd barely thought about her himself until now, so he probably shouldn't judge. Regardless, he's not willing to go on this mission with her now - he reluctantly drives her away.
After doing this, he immediately went to the library and took a short detour to a nearby bakery for a quick snack. After entering the library, he began searching for books on the subject of time travel and tried to identify the language used by the lich in his spells.
disappointment. There are no books about time travel. The subject was not considered a serious field of study, and very little has been written about it, scattered across countless volumes and hidden in unrelated book chapters and passages.
Finding the language the lich used in the spell was even more impossible, as he couldn't even identify the language, let alone translate the chant.
-. . . . . Four. . . . . .
"you are late."
Zorian stared at Akodia's serious face, lost in thought. He was just as happy that he didn't have to deal with any drama over his disastrous night with her - just as he was happy that he wasn't dead -
But she didn't seem to really like him, so why did his words hit her so hard?
"What?" she asked.
"Ako, more than half of the class hasn't come yet, why are you telling me this?" he asked.
“Because unlike them, you at least have a chance to listen,” Akoja admitted. "Also, people like you should be role models for other students, not just like the mediocre people."
"Someone like me?" Zorian asked.
"Come in," she snapped irritably.
When he walked into the classroom, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him, maybe? At least that way he had a reason to feel so uneasy about attending his first class of the year for the second time.
He eliminated his uneasiness and sat at the back of the classroom, watching the new students carefully, looking for any trace of Zach. He was convinced that the boy had some connection with this incident, and this mysterious boy seemed to be the most critical figure.
When Brian's fire dragon familiar let out a storm of hiss and began chasing a new student around the classroom, there was a brief commotion until Brian calmed down. Apparently, the amazing reptile had a fondness for the unfortunate boy. Anyway, Ilsa soon came in and started the lesson.
Zach never showed up.
The Zori security team was stunned by this sudden turn of events. Where the hell is Zach? Everything that had happened so far was almost exactly as he remembered it going forward, with Zach's absence being the first major deviation. This firmly cements Zach's connection to this madness, but it also temporarily removes the boy from Zorian's control.
The lecture was even more annoying now than when he first listened to it because from his perspective, he had finished reviewing it less than a month ago. Apparently Ilsa had written some kind of script, because the lecture was actually exactly as he remembered it, the only difference being that Zach wasn't there to answer the odd question with Akoja.
So many questions and so few answers. He could only hope Zach would show up soon.
-. . . . . five. . . . .
Zach never came to class after that, and Zorian was sure he wouldn't show up at all. According to Beni, Zach disappeared from the family mansion the same day Zorian took the train to Keoria, and no one has seen him since. But he reluctantly puts the mystery of Zach aside.
At least his studies are going well. Thanks to his foresight, he aced Nora Bull's pop test without actually having to study any subjects - a little review was enough for him to do almost anything with ease. That might change once his guard shift begins in earnest, but for now he has all the free time to think about how he's going to handle the upcoming summer festival and the attacks that will come with it.
Unfortunately, all of Zorian's clues hit a dead end in Zach's absence.
"Come in."
Zo
ia
Open the door to Xvim's office.
"Zorian Kaczynski?" Xvim asked. Zorian nodded and caught the pen thrown to him from the air deftly, this time predictably.
"Show me your basic three," the man ordered.
In an instant, Zorian opened his palm without even taking a deep breath, and the pen almost jumped into the air from his palm.
"Make it spin," Xvim said.
Zorian's eyes widened. What happened to 'Start Over'? Xvim's only response that night was "start over", what has changed now?
"Is there something wrong with your hearing?" Xvim asked. "Make it spin!"
Zorian blinked, "What? What does 'make it spin' mean? It's not part of the basic three elements..."
Xivim sighed deeply, slowly picked up another pen, and suspended it in the palm of his hand. The pen hangs in the air, but spins like a fan.
"I...don't know what to do," Zorian admitted. "We're not taught that in class."
"It's really criminal," Xvim said. "
Zorian sighed. great. There are probably hundreds of "little variations" on each of the three basic methods, enough to take decades to learn them, so it's no wonder no one has ever mastered them.
"Go on," Xvim urged. "start."
Zorian concentrated on the pen hanging above his palm, trying to figure out what to do. It should be relatively simple. He just needs to fix a stable point in the middle of the pen and apply pressure on both ends, right? At least, that was the first thing that crossed his mind. As soon as he moved the pen, he felt a familiar object hit his forehead.
Zorian glared at Xvim, damn marble. Xvim glanced at the pen still dangling from Zorian's palm.
“You don’t lose focus,” Xvim said. "OK."
"You threw a marble at me," Zorian accused.
"I was pushing you," Xvim said without regret. "You're too slow. You have to be faster. Faster, faster! Do it again."
Zorian sighed and continued his task. Yeah, definitely an exercise in frustration.
-A book with detailed exercises can be easily found in the academy library, so he will hopefully master it by next week. All right!
He needed a distraction. Time travel was patently ridiculous, and some part of him had been expecting the whole thing to be a double dream, and that one day he'd wake up and not remember anything. It becomes clear that everything is real and this section becomes panicked and agitated. What should he do? Zach's mysterious disappearance has left him burdened and paranoid, and he doesn't want to tell anyone about the invasion!
He didn't want to save others but screwed himself up. , this is essentially his second chance at life - he's pretty sure he'll die at the end of his future memory - but he doesn't waste his time. It was necessary to warn people of the dangers that threatened the city.
The simplest idea would be to warn as many people as possible, but they would paint him as a madman until he was eventually vindicated by an actual attack.
What if the person he warned was part of the conspiracy, what if he was killed? If, if... too many ifs. He had a sneaking suspicion that one of the hypotheses was responsible for Zach's disappearance.
Zorian sighed and hatched a plan in his mind, completely ignoring history.
"What are you doing?"
Zorian instinctively closed the notebook and gave him a dirty look.
"It's rude to peek over someone's shoulder," Zorian said.
"We're excited, aren't we?" Penny smiled, noisily dragging a chair from a nearby table and sitting next to him.
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything."
Penny smiled even wider. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"You've been really withdrawn this year and you're always depressed. Even if school starts, you're always busy. What's bothering you, you know?"
Zorian sighed. "This is not something you can help me with, Ben..."
Penny made a strangled sound, clearly angry.
"You mean I can't help you!? I'll have you know I'm an expert on girls' problems."
It was Zorian's turn to choke. "Girl is in trouble!?"
"Oh, come on," Penny laughed. "Always upset? Wandering off in the middle of class? It's obvious, man! Who's that lucky girl?"
"There is no 'lucky girl,'" Zorian growled. "I thought you didn't see anything?"
"You know what? You should just walk up to her and tell her how you feel."
"I don't have time" Zorian sighed and stood up from his seat.
"Hey, come on..." Penny protested, following behind him. "Dude, you're a sensitive guy, did anyone tell you that? I just..."
He really doesn't need this right now!
As the summer festival approaches, Zorian begins planning. He bought a bunch of generic paper, pens and envelopes from a store that should have no way of tracking customers' purchases. He was careful to avoid revealing any personal details in his letter. He made sure not to touch the paper and that none of his DNA got into the envelope. He deliberately wrote in a bold, formal handwriting that was completely different from his usual handwriting. In the end he destroyed everything he didn't use.
Then, a week before the festival, he placed the letters in various public post office boxes throughout Theoria and waited.
Nothing seemed to happen. Doesn't anyone believe him? Did he mess up and the letter never made it to the recipient? Are their responses so subtle that they cause no disruption? The waiting was killing me.
Finally, he had had enough. The night before the ball, he decided he had done all he could and took the first train out of town.
As the train pulled away from Keoria in the dead of night, Zorian suppressed a feeling of guilt that he had done nothing to warn anyone of the impending attack. What else could he do? Nothing, that's it. Nothing at all.
After a while he fell into a restless sleep, the rhythmic roar of the train, a lullaby, visions of falling stars and skeletons enveloped in green light haunting his dreams.
Zorian's eyes flew open and a sharp pain shot through his abdomen. His whole body twitched, and he resisted the object that fell on him. Suddenly he was completely awake, and there was no trace of sleep in his mind.
"Good morning, brother!" An irritatingly cheerful voice sounded above his head. "Good morning, good morning, good morning!!!"
Zorian gaped at his little sister with the same disbelief, his mouth opening and closing every now and then. What is it again?
"Oh, you must be kidding me!" Zorian roared, and Kiriel quickly got off him and slipped away in fear. Apparently she thought his anger was directed at her. "It's not you, Ki.
i, I... I just had a nightmare, that's all. "
He couldn't believe it happened again! ? What the hell? He was glad that this had happened last time, because it meant he didn't... you know, die. but now? It's so weird now. Why did this happen to him?
Oh, and as he mentally lamented his fate, El locked himself in the bathroom again. God, damn it all!
