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 growled, pushing El away roughly. The fifth time! This is already the fifth restart in just a few days! How many times does Zach have to die before he realizes he should back off for a while and try again? Honestly, Zorian would have reconsidered his approach after the second try...
Before Kirill came to his senses, he grabbed his glasses from the bedpost and stomped toward the bathroom. The short, erratic restarts ruthlessly ruined every plan he had made, not to mention disrupting his concentration. During this period, apart from browsing the library for useful texts and fervently hoping that Zach would not commit suicide too often, what on earth did this guy want to do?
However, he can't be too excited about this! ——After all, how long will this situation last? 10, 15 Restart? sounds good……
. . . . two. . . . .
"Hi, Roach!"
Zorian silently motioned for Taiwen to come in, then slowly closed the door and followed her with his slippers on. Impatient, he lazily stalled for time, trying to decide what to do.
He really wanted to talk to the telepathic spider in the sewers, but it would be crazy to go there at this time. There was no guarantee that they would be as friendly as last time, and mind magic, even within the time loop, made them dangerous at any time. He needed a way to protect his mind, and so far he had only found it in the academy files. Found a barrier to protect the soul. Unfortunately, that special barrier blocks all psychic communication, including any spells.
Just because he's unwilling to go into the dungeon doesn't mean he doesn't care if Taiwen goes there to commit suicide. Why did she care—because everything would reset in a few days and she would be fine. It was so annoying that he was forced to repeat this conversation every few days, and he had to find a way to persuade her not to go. Taivin is probably even more stubborn than Zach.
"So, Taiwen, how has life been treating you?" he began.
"Uh, I see." She sighed. “I was trying to get an apprenticeship but it wasn’t going well. You know how things go.
"No," Zorian replied cheerfully.
"Numbers," Taiwen rolled his eyes. "You really should do this, you know? Girls-"
"…a boy who likes to exercise, yes," Zorian nodded sagely. "Taiwen, why are you here? Did you use divination to find me?"
"Uh, yeah," Taivin confirmed. "It's really easy to do."
"Shouldn't these rooms have protective shields?" Zorian asked.
Taiwen shrugged. "Anyway, I'm here to invite you to come with us to the dungeon tomorrow." Again?
It’s actually Monday, not tomorrow – Thai concept of “tomorrow”
Very different - but otherwise pretty honest. She even mentioned that there were no nasty little things there, stressing that they were fully capable of facing anything. correct.
"Anything?" Zorian asked confused. "You know, I happen to have read about magical spiders and know how powerful they are. A single Gray Hunter has been known to wipe out an entire mage hunting party, and spiders can suddenly jump on you and drag you into their own private pocket dimension. . Some breeds are even sentient and possess psychic magic."
a joke. The ecology of the dungeon is a huge mystery, and information about the monsters is sparse.
"Oh, come on," Tyvin snorted dismissively. "Don't be so paranoid. Okay, it seems like something like this might be right below Theoria. For God's sake, we won't go deep into the depths of the dungeon."
"I don't think you should go at all," Zorian insisted. "I have a very bad feeling about it."
Taiwen rolled his eyes, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Hmph. You are so superstitious."
"Time will change people." Smile, then his expression became serious. "But seriously: I have a really bad feeling about this. Is this really worth dying for?"
Obviously he said it wrong, and Taiwen immediately became angry. A serious insult. She yelled at him before he could apologize.
"I won't die!" Taiwen shouted irritably. "Oh my God, you sound just like my father! I'm not a little girl and I don't need to be protected! If you don't want to come, just say so and don't lecture me!" Stomping away, muttering these conceits in his mind What a waste of time, kid.
She slammed the door shut, and Zorian frowned. Clearly pointing out the potential dangers of the job is ineffective and will only make her angry.
Oh well, anyway, he didn't expect it to work on the first try
.
. . . . three. . . . .
"Hi, Roach!"
"Tavin, it's a good thing you're here." Zorian said seriously. "Come on in, we have a lot to say."
Taiwen raised an eyebrow at his behavior,
"So...I guess you wanted to see me then?" she asked. "So, I guess you're lucky that I decided to drop by and visit you?"
"Not exactly," Zorian said. "I knew you were coming today, just like I knew you were here to recruit me to go to the sewers with you."
"This is not-" Taiwen started to say, but was interrupted by Zorian before she could gather herself.
"Sewers," Zorian repeated. "Retrieve a pocket watch from the top floor of the dungeon below that is guarded by some very dangerous spiders."
"Who told you?" Taiwen was confused. "How could they know? I didn't tell anyone."
"No one told me," Zorian said. "I predict things like a god..."
Well, that’s true to an extent…
"God?" Taiwen said in disbelief.
Zorian nodded solemnly. "I've never told you this before, I have prophetic powers. Every now and then I get visions of the future, glimpses of important events that will affect me personally in the coming days."
It's not entirely unbelievable - such people do exist in the world, albeit due to time loops.
Unfortunately, Taiwen doesn't believe it.
"Oh really?" Taiwen said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "What does your 'vision' tell you about this job?"
"This will be your death," Zorian said bluntly. "And should I choose to follow you down there? Come on, Taiwen, I know it sounds ridiculous, but I mean it. The vision is rarely as clear as this one. I'm not going into the sewers, Neither should you."
The silence passed, and Zorian began to think that she would actually listen to him.
"Oh, Roach, you almost scared me, ha!" she panted, unable to help but laugh after every few words. "A vision from the future...Roach, you had the funniest jokes. You know, I miss your quirky sense of humor. Remember...remember that time you pretended to ask me out?"
"Yeah," Zorian said deadpan. "I'm such a funny guy."
Why did he want to save her again?
"So..." she said, finally controlling her laughter. "How did you know I was coming?"
. . . . . Four. . . . . .
"Whoa, Roach, what's wrong with you?" "
Zorian continued to stare into space for a moment, then shook his head, as if to clear his mind.
"Sorry," he whispered, motioning for her to get out. "I just had a nightmare tonight and I didn't get much sleep."
"Oh?" Taiwen said as he fell on the bed as usual. "about what?"
Zorian gave her a long look. "Actually, you are among them."
Taiwen stopped messing around and looked at him in shock. "Me!? Why do I appear in your nightmares? A beautiful girl like me will naturally appear in your dreams! Now I know what it is about."
"I was walking through the sewers with you and two other people I've never met before," Zorian began in a sinister tone, "and suddenly we were attacked by a swarm of giant spiders. There... there were so many of them... They swarmed us, started biting us, and then..."
He took a few deep breaths, pretending to be short of breath, and finally calmed down.
"I'm sorry, it's just... it's so real, you know?" he said, looking at Taiwen with the most blank look in his eyes. After a moment, he looked down at his trembling hands and, in a very obvious gesture, balled them into fists. "Their fangs pierced my skin and their venom coursed through my veins like liquid fire... Instead of killing us, they wrapped us in spider silk and dragged us to their lair to slowly feed."
Taiwen moved nervously where she sat, feeling very uncomfortable.
"But it was just a nightmare," Zorian cheered reluctantly. "What's the purpose of my visit anyway? Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"No, no!" Taiwen blurted out, a nervous laugh escaping from the corner of his mouth. "I just...I just stopped by for a chat, that's all! How has life been treating you? Aside from the whole...nightmare...thing..."
After a few minutes, she excused herself and left. He later discovered that she went into the sewer anyway and never came back.
. . . . five. . . . .
"Spider?" Zorian asked, trying to look panicked. "Taiwen, don't you always listen to rumors?"
"Well...I've been very busy recently." Taiwen smiled awkwardly. "Why, what do the rumors say?"
"There's some psychic magic that uses spiders to prowl the city's sewers," Zorian said. "Sources say the city is trying to eradicate them, but so far the creatures are avoiding them."
"Are you still going down!?" Zorian asked in disbelief. "Why do you think it's enough for you to have a spiritual barrier?"
"Psychic magic is a subtle thing," Tevin said. "It uses only a small amount of mana in a very sophisticated way and is easy to counter with brute force. It's easy to make yourself immune by always reminding the other person that they are a mind mage. Trust me, now that I know what these crawlers can bring, I Then you won’t fall for their tricks.”
He wanted to keep Taiwen alive, but that didn't necessarily mean stopping her from entering the sewers.
He finally admitted. "But I'm not going with you."
"Oh, come on!" Taiwen protested. "I can completely guarantee your safety!"
"No," Zorian insisted. "Find someone else to go with you!"
She did visit him a few days later to tell him that the sewer expedition had failed, but that nothing had attacked them.
. . . . . six. . . . . .
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, Kiriel!" "Zorion!" Zorian shouted, taking the shocked Kiriel into his arms. "Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful day! Thanks for waking me up, Ki
i, i really appreciate it! I don't know what I would do without my lovely sister. "
Kiri squirmed uncomfortably in his arms, not used to receiving such gestures from him, and didn't know how to react.
"Who are you and what did you do to my brother!?" she finally asked.
He just held her tighter.
. . . . . seven. . . . .
"What can I do for you, son?" Karen asked. "If you haven't noticed, get out of class is over."
"Yes, I noticed," Zorian confirmed. "I just wanted to hear your advice, if you have time."
Karen impatiently motioned for him to get to the point.
"I was wondering if you knew a good way to combat mind magic," Zorian said.
"Well, this is your mind shield spell," Karen said carefully. "Most mages agree that this is all you need in terms of psychic protection."
"Yes, but that spell is a bit slow," Zorian said. "I'm looking for something more flexible than that."
"Do you know why most psychic magic is restricted or prohibited?" Karen asked. Apparently, a rhetorical question, Karen immediately started explaining. "This is because it often targets mostly defenseless targets. Most mind mages are criminals who use their powers on weak-willed people, which is not what a master would do, let alone mind magic. For mages It is said that it is rare to meet a spiritual mage who truly understands them.
Still, even a middling psychic mage can easily ruin your life, let alone a magical creature with this power. However, it is easier for most people to practice mind shielding, and the shield can be cast immediately.
"Is there any better way?" Zorian urged again.
Evil smile. "I'm glad you asked that question, son. You see, not so long ago, combat magic classes had a much more demanding curriculum, including 'resistance training.' Basically, combat magic instructors would constantly cast all kinds of mind magic on their students , while making them resist it. It is very effective in giving students an innate resistance to common mind-affecting spells such as sleep, paralysis, and domination. Unfortunately, there have been many complaints from students, and reactions have been particularly bad, thinking Overreacted, so I got voted out.”
Zorian was silent for a moment, trying to digest the information.
Is this really the best way to deal with mind magic? Etching defensive routines into his soul like repeated movements etches certain responses into muscle memory. It sounds so...unconscious. And it can be very painful.
It was then that he noticed Karen looking at him in a very predatory way.
"How's it going, son?" Karen asked. "Do you think you have the ability to get through this? I will try my best to help you!"
He lied. The first spell he cast on Zorian was the "Nightmare Vision" spell. Whatever Spider has to say, it better be worth it.
. . . . . eight. . . . .
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 took a deep breath and concentrated on the image of what he wanted to achieve until it became so real that he felt like he could almost touch it. The billowing stream of mana burst out from his hands, invisible to the naked eye, but easily felt by the senses - the mage can always feel his own mana, especially in the process of shaping it. In less than a second, everything was ready and he applied his effect to the little pest lying on top of him.
Nothing happened.
Zorian opened his eyes and let out a long frustrated hiss.
"It's itchy," Kiriel said. "What do you want to do?"
Zorian narrowed his eyes at her. Okay, that? This is a challenge.
. . . . . Nine. . . . .
"Mr. Kaczynski, what can I do for you?" Ilsa asked. "Normally I would assume you're here to complain about Xvim, but you haven't even had a meeting with him yet."
Zorian smiled brightly. It's a highlight of the series' short-lived reboot
“I actually came here to get advice on a personal project,” Zorian said. "What magic is used to lift a person through telekinesis?"
Ilsa blinked in surprise. "Like, using pure shaping techniques? Why do that?
"Are there 15 people in total?" Ilsa asked in disbelief.
Zorian decided to demonstrate. He picked up a particularly large and heavy book from Ilsa's desk and let it spin in the air above his palm. Rotating such a book is actually much more difficult than spinning a pen, and this particular trick was taught to him by Ibery.
After a while, he caused the book to glow an ominous red. Using sheer shaping skills to twirl a book in the air while holding it closed and causing it to glow with colored light is an impressive performance from the third year and should serve as a solid testament to his skill.
Ilsa took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, clearly impressed.
"Well..." she said. “Your styling skills are great.
Still, hovering over a person without a spell... isn't really covered in the manual. As far as I know, no one does this. If they need to levitate live, they just need to keep the appropriate focus on themselves at all times. Usually a ring.
And gravel, place a pebble in the palm of your hand and let it break down into dust. Northfinding is a practice practiced by soothsayers, using a virtual compass to locate magnetic north. If the technology is good enough, there will be no need for a compass - they will just feel where north is at all times. "
"It does work," Zorian agreed. "I will definitely work hard to learn these. But are you sure you can't help me solve the personnel levitation problem?"
Ilsa gave him an annoyed look. "Don't you give up yet? Why are so many talented students so keen to waste their time on useless pranks?"
Essentially, he wanted to prank his little sister. Ilsa reached up and grabbed the book from the air, making Zorian blink in surprise. Is he still levitating it? After a second of introspection, he realized that yes, he had been holding the book in the air throughout the entire exchange. He stopped spinning it and it stopped glowing, but apparently it was so easy for him to levitate an object in the palm of his hand now.
His musings were interrupted when Ilsa threw the book onto the table, causing it to hit the wood with a deafening thud. She smiled at his surprise and motioned for his attention.
"Like I said, there are no books on this," she said. "And I've never tried anything so stupid."
Zorian nodded.
"If I were in your shoes, the first thing I would do is stop relying on my hands to levitate objects,"
Zorian took a pen from a nearby box full of pens and let it float in the palm of his hand. After a while, his hand moved left and right, but the pen remained suspended in the same position in the air, stubbornly refusing to follow his hand's movements.
"Perfect presentation," Ilsa praised.
Ilsa reached out and twisted his palm aside. The pen instantly fell to the table.
"Because using your hands as a reference point limits what your magic can do," Ilsa said, leaning back. "Although the pen appears to be independent of your hand, that's just an illusion.
The book Ilsa had dropped on the table to attract his attention suddenly rose into the air. Ilsa made no move.
Especially since she was smiling at him.
"Look," she said. "No hands. Of course, that's just a limit. A difficult skill to learn, you just have to rely less on your hands for shaping to make them more flexible. Twisting your hands sideways shouldn't cause the pen to drop like a rock .”
"You surprise me," Zorian snorted angrily. "I don't usually lose control of my magic that easily."
"I keep my word," Ilsa said, smiling kindly. "For a student, you are already amazing, but if you want to join the ranks of the truly great, you still have a long way to go. But in any case, if you have made some progress in this area, you should try to levitate some Creatures smaller than humans. Insects, and then working on mice and so on. All in all, it should only take you... oh, about four years or so."
"I'll start now," was all he said.
. . . . . ten. . . . . .
here we go again! 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 stared blankly at the ceiling above his head, speechless for a moment. That prediction he made? He lost count of how many reboots had taken place during this period, well over 15. Since then, nothing has changed - very few reboots have lasted more than 3 days, and none have lasted more than 5 days. Whatever Zach was doing, it was extremely difficult, and Zach was a stubborn guy who wasn't going to give up anytime soon.
"Zorian? Are you okay? Never mind, I didn't hit you that hard. Get up, get up."
Zorian ignored his little sister, who was squeezing his sides harder and harder, staring at the ceiling, fighting back twitches. The pain was negligible compared to several particularly nasty pain spells Karen used on him during one of his "resistance training" sessions.
Thankfully, the younger sister slapped him a few times and then pretended to hit him in the face. Seeing that he hadn't reacted yet, her fist stopped just before it hit his face.
"Um... Zorian?" she said, sounding actually worried. "Seriously, are you okay?"
Slowly and mechanically, Zorian turned his head to meet El's eyes, trying to keep his expression blank. After staring in silence for a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth... and screamed at her. She flinched from the sudden outburst and let out a girlish scream as she rolled off the bed.
He watched Kiriel's face turn red with anger for a moment, and then he could no longer restrain himself. He started laughing. Ha ha!
Even though his little sister's little fists started raining down on him, he was still smiling.
. . . . . eleven. . . . .
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.
"OK--"
With a muffled yell, Zorian rolled El onto her back and began tickling her mercilessly. Her screams echoed throughout the house until her mother came to his room and stopped him.
. . . . . . twelve. . . . .
"Good morning brother! Good morning, good morning, good morning!!!"
A brief silence followed, broken only by the rustle of Zorian's blanket as El turned impatiently on top of it.
"Kiri," he said at last. "I think I'm starting to hate you."
Sure, he's exaggerating, but man, it's so annoying. Interestingly, Kiriel actually seemed worried about his statement.
"I'm sorry!" she said, quickly getting up from the bed. "I just-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Zorian, pretending to glare at Kiriel. "Sister apologize? That won't happen. Who are you and what did you do to Al?"
Al was stunned for a moment, but soon she understood what he meant and her face became irritable.
"Asshole!" she snorted, stamping her foot childishly for emphasis. "I apologized too! When I was wrong!"
"When you're backed into a corner," Zorian corrected. "If you are so eager to remain in my good graces, you must be hoping for a great deal of help from me. What happened?"
He really wanted to know. She doesn't show that she wants anything from him while he's going through this, but it must be really important to her if she's willing to apologize in order to get it. It didn't make much sense - Kiriel wasn't really a shy girl and had been prone to expressing her desires in the past. For a moment, he was tempted to conclude that he had misunderstood the situation, but then Kiriel looked away and began mumbling something distinctly.
"What's that?" he urged.
"Mom wants to talk to you," Kiriel said, still avoiding his eyes.
"Yeah, well, mom can wait," Zorian said. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me what you want from me."
She pouted at him, then took a long breath and braced herself.
"Please take me to Scioria!" she said, folding her hands in front of her in a gesture of supplication. "I've always wanted to go there, I didn't want to go to Kos with my mother, and..."
Zorian ignored her. How could he be so blind? He knew it was odd how easily he could convince his mother not to let him take Kiriel with him, but he didn't want to question the favorable outcome, so he ignored it. Of course it's very simple...she doesn't want him to take her away either! It was Al who wanted to go. The mother gives it a token try so that she can tell Kiriel that she tried and failed.
No wonder my sister always looks so glum on the way to the train station.
"Zorian? Please?"
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled at his sister. She held her breath and looked at him with hope in her eyes.
"Of course I'll take you with me," he said.
"Really!?"
"As long as you behave-"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Kyriel shouted happily, jumping up and down with excitement. He could never understand how much energy she had. Even as a child, he had never been so enthusiastic. "I knew you would agree! Mom said you would definitely refuse."
Zorian looked away awkwardly.
"Okay," he said weakly. "Shows what she knows. So can I assume you have mother's approval for this plan?"
"Yes," Kiriel confirmed. "She said she could as long as you agreed."
Oh, that devilish woman...saying no but holding him accountable. In retrospect, the plan was almost grandiose in its execution - she even put him in a bad mood by giving him a lecture on proper dress and family honor before popping the question.
He sighed, put on his glasses, and got out of bed. "I'm going to the bathroom."
After a second, his brain caught up with what he was saying and he froze. Looking back at his sister, he was surprised to find that she did not rush to the toilet, but looked at him in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Zorian said, and walked out of the room.
It will be an interesting restart.
