After telling El to pack his things for the trip, his room filled with colorful orbs of light and he walked to the kitchen to face his mother. The light show is something he does every time he starts over, just in case. Who knows, maybe this special restart will stop Zach from dying so quickly.
His mother studied him as he came down the stairs, and he knew she would find something to complain about, but he didn't care.
For a while, he tried to use precognitive time loops to appear "perfect," but it didn't work for her. Maybe she really was deliberately trying to annoy him to make sure he refused to take his sister with him?
He sat at the table, pushed the cold porridge aside, and began to eat the apple, completely ignoring his mother's annoyance at not wanting to eat. She sighed dramatically and launched into a lengthy monologue centered around the real issue she wanted to talk to him about - the possibility of him taking his sister with him. Sioria.
"Now that I think about it," my mother finally decided to get straight to the point, "I never told you that I was going to Kos with your father to visit Daimen, did I?"
“You want me to take Ki
i Let’s go to Cyo
ia," he guessed.
"I...what?" She blinked, momentarily surprised. Then she shook her head slightly and sighed. "She told you," she concluded.
"Yes," Zorian confirmed.
mother said. "I guess I should go comfort her."
"Why does she need comfort?" Zorian asked. "She's ecstatic. She's in her room packing her things right now."
Before he entered the Academy, he had spent more time with the Imp than anyone else in his family. To his sister, he is more of a parent than a father!
Angry. He was definitely annoyed with her. He glared at his mother defiantly, signaling for her to say something.
"What?" he snapped after looking at each other for a few seconds.
"Nothing," she said, elusive. "I'm just surprised and I'm glad you're finally thinking about someone other than yourself. Have you ever thought about housing?"
"I do," Zorian confirmed. "Or if you'd like to give me extra money."
"Nonsense," his mother snapped. "Of course, we'll pay you rent. Since when did we let you pay for your own living expenses? How much do you need?"
Even if parents have many shortcomings, they will never let their children go hungry or become homeless.
The mother left quickly and helped her sister pack her luggage.
Ilsa is here again! Returned to his room. After all, he had to show her all the lights he "accidentally" forgot to disperse.
Ilsa began, shaking a piece of paper in her hand, "You've been living in college dormitories for the past two years. Are you planning on doing the same this year?"
"Uh, actually, no," Zorian replied. "I'm taking my sister with me this year, so I can't do that. Unless the academy allows it?"
"That's not the case," Ilsa said.
"I guess," Zorian said, not surprised by this. "We'll stay in a hotel for a few days until I find a rental."
Ilsa looked at him with a strange look that Zorian couldn't understand.
"Don't you have a reservation yet?" she asked.
"No," Zorian said. "The decision was a bit sudden, so what did I not have time to do?"
"I have a solution," Ilsa said.
"Can I rent a place?" Zorian asked. Ilsa nodded. "I guess that's...lucky. What did you have in mind?"
"First of all, I want to emphasize that what I am going to provide you has nothing to do with Corio Royal Academy of Magic." Ilsa warned. "This is between the two of us, understand?"
"Okay," Zorian said cautiously. He was a little worried now.
"My friend is renting out a room..." Ilsa began.
Ilsa also said that her friend loved children and was happy to take care of El while he was in class, which, if true, was well worth the money.
He chose again, and it was pretty solid: botany, astronomy, and human anatomy. He only chose them because the subject teachers didn't care whether he came to class or not.
As soon as Ilsa left, the sister rushed down the stairs like a herd of elephants, ignoring her mother's warnings. No doubt she had already packed her bags and was just waiting for Ilsa to leave so she could rush out.
"I'm ready!" she smiled happily
"Where is my book?" Zorian asked.
"Why should I pack your books?" She frowned. "Lazy guy!"
"Well, you did take them from my room and hide them under your bed," Zorian said.
"Oh!" She opened her eyes wide in understanding. "Those books! Um...I'll put them back in your room, okay?"
"What are you two talking about?" my mother asked as she approached.
"Nothing!" My sister said in a panicked voice. "I just forgot one thing, that's all! I'll be right back!"
She ran up the stairs quickly, ignoring her mother's repeated warnings. Why was Kiriel so afraid that her mother would find out that she had taken the book from his room? This wasn't the first time she'd taken something from him, and my mother had never cared before. There was something important hidden in that seemingly innocuous reaction.
He began to feel that he didn't know much about his sister.
. . . . two. . . .
"I am bored."
"I can see that," he said, rolling his eyes. "what do you want to do?"
"Play games with me?" she said hopefully.
"Have we not done enough?" he sighed. "There's only so many times I can beat you on Executioner before it gets boring."
"You cheated!" she protested. "'Choke' isn't really a word at all!"
"What!? Of course!" he shot back. "You are only--"
"Liar!" she interrupted.
"Whatever," Zorian scoffed. "It's not the only game I won."
"So you cheated!" she concluded triumphantly.
Zorian opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again.
"Why am I arguing about this?" he asked aloud, although the words were directed more at himself than at his sister.
A sharp crackle always heralded the radio announcer's voice, stopping any argument they might have had.
"Now stop at Xhosa," came the crackle again. "I repeat, now parked in Xhosa. Thank you."
"Oh, thank the gods," Zorian muttered.
There was someone else besides Ibéri, though - he deliberately avoided his usual box to ensure that she and Kiri would never meet, as he suspected that the conversation between them would not end well. Kiri disliked Fortov as much as Zorian did, and she wasn't very tactful about it.
"So many people," Kiri said, looking through the window at the crowd at the train station. "Are those students the same as you?"
"Yes, most of them," Zorian said. "Not everyone goes to the same school as me though. There's more than one academy in Cooria."
"I thought mages were rarer than this," she said. "Mom said you had to be really smart to be one of them. Do you think I could be a mage one day?"
"Of course," he shrugged.
"Really?" she asked, showing excitement and disbelief.
"Yes,"
Kirill didn't answer, looking out the window silently, refusing to look directly into his eyes. He was about to ask her what was wrong when the box door suddenly opened, distracting him.
"Born Evalin," the boy introduced himself. "Can I sit here?"
Zorian waved him in without saying a word. The last time they spoke, this was the man who had inspired him to get a job at the library. This kid was very talkative back then, so he should be perfect! Even if he didn't want to talk to someone so young.
"I am El," the sister immediately introduced herself, "this is my brother Zorian. Are you a student here? Do you know magic?"
"Uh, um... yes," Bourne said, "But I'm only a first-year student, so I have nothing to boast about."
"Three brothers, right?" Bourne smiled. "Poor you. But... I kind of wish I had a few brothers. My parents could use someone else to pay attention to every once in a while."
"I know what you mean," El said. "Ever since Zorian entered the Academy, Mother has had no one else to look after but me. It's too bad."
"So, I've been meaning to ask," Byrne said. "You have a unique last name. There aren't many Kaczynskis walking around. Are you related to Damon Kaczynski?"
"He's our brother," El said.
"Really?" Bourne asked excitedly. "You know, I haven't heard anything from him in a while. What is he up to now?"
"He's in Kos,"
"I think he found something in the jungle, but... I don't know. I don't talk to him very often. He's always traveling. You're more likely to find him in the newspapers than by talking to me. Zorian knows him better than I do."
Zorian gave Kiriel a quick glare for getting him into such a predicament, and over the topic of Daimen! The imp just stuck out his tongue at him. snort.
"Daemon and I don't get along," Zorian said bluntly.
"Oh," Byrne said, clearly disappointed. He forced out a forced laugh, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere in the carriage. "Here I thought I'd get some inside stories about one of my heroes. Although I guess I did in a way, didn't I? It's a bit of a shame that he didn't get to spend time with his family."
"Hmm." Zorian snorted noncommittally.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, except for Bourne's decision to follow them for a while after they disembarked. The younger sister was in awe (and even a little scared) of the sheer size and activity of the train station, and the trip was not as short as he had expected, as El insisted on visiting the shops.
He told her ruthlessly that the things at the train station were too expensive and he would not buy her anything. She was just "taking a look." Byrne sided with Kiri. Apparently, he also enjoys shopping. crazy.
When they were ready to set off, it started to rain. He casually placed a rain-proof barrier for him and his sister!
"Thank you," said Byrne, running his fingers curiously over the dome of the rain-barrier spell surrounding them. "If not." I'm done! It doesn't look like the rain will stop anytime soon. "
"For the last time, it doesn't matter," Zorian sighed. "Really, I live to help."
Bourne "secretly" said "thank you" to Kiriel, who unabashedly stretched his arms and legs outside the shield, then retracted them, unabashedly playing with the rain barrier, letting her Thumbs up for him.
The rain barrier was so draining that he had to enlarge it so that it could cover the three of them and the floating tray that carried their luggage.
"This spell is great," the sister declared. "How hard is it? Do you think you can teach me how to do this magic? I won't tell anyone!"
"Oh, come on," Zorian snorted. "You can't even feel your mana, let alone shape it. It's not a question of legality, it's a question of skill. If you're a genius, it takes a few months, otherwise a year or two .How about you wait until you are admitted to the magic school?"
My sister was immediately discouraged.
They almost reached their destination before Zorian ran out of mana, causing the rain barrier to disappear.
. . . . three. . . .
"You should have waited! Honestly, what's got you walking around in this horrible weather? Kids these days think they're invincible..."
Zorian rolled his eyes at his master's scolding, not hiding his reaction as she was too busy looking through the drawers to actually face him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a towel being slapped on his face.
"Here you go. Dry your hair," she said. "I'm going to see if your sister needs help. I hope she's not sick or you'll hear from me, you hear me?"
"She's not a sugar cube," Zorian muttered. "She doesn't fall apart just because she gets a little wet." Zorian sat nonchalantly on a nearby chair, surveying the area where they were.
Their landlady Imaya, a lively middle-aged woman, quickly welcomed them inside. Didn't even ask for their identity
It annoyed him a little that she seemed to think it was a done deal that they would live in her house. He just agreed to check it out!
After Imaya and El came back (she had changed her clothes and her hair was basically blow-dried)
It was a family house, a big one, with a bunch of empty bedrooms on the second floor, and we got one of them, which had only one bed, which meant he had to sleep with his sister. She's a restless sleeper and a cover-up, so he has a big problem with that. Thankfully, they are the only tenants currently,
Zorian decided to quietly look for another place to rent tomorrow. just in case.
. . . . . three. . . . .
The novelty, El being there, was pretty normal these days.
He applied for a job in the library. He went to talk to Ilsa about advanced courses and chose divination as a subject of interest. Whenever he had free time, he practiced various shaping exercises, mainly focusing on the North Seeking Exercise, because it was a skill that was helpful for divination. Despite his move, Taiven found him, and Zorian informed her of "rumors" about psychic magic using giant spiders running around the sewers to ensure she would survive the encounter.
The little girl also behaved very well. Learn to draw. He didn't even know she liked to draw. As far as he knew, she had never done that at home. Maybe this trip sparked her interest?
Regardless, the reboot is not over but continues.
More importantly, however, he is once again asked by Ilsa to go to the main train station in Sioriya to meet Kyle and his daughter...only to find out that Kyle has also rented a room at Imaya's. Ilsa recommended this place for pretty much the same reasons as he did.
So now he lives in the same house with his sister, a teenage Morlock and his daughter, and the landlord. He's finally going to meet his fortune-telling teacher, Xvim will be throwing marbles at him again next Friday, Ilsa apparently goes to her friend's house regularly, and Imaya invites Taiwen to have dinner with them next Sunday while she's trying to Zorian talked. Follow her into the sewers. Obviously this won't be an ordinary reboot.
"I still feel like I'm taking advantage of you," Kyle said, pouring a fistful of blue powder into a glass container. He didn't take his eyes off the little blue mushroom he was grinding into more powder. "I have the raw materials in your laboratory, and you let me be your assistant while you work. You can save a little money on reagents, and I can also gain some practical alchemy experience."
He stuffed the mushroom powder into the white-haired boy. The white-haired boy sighed and went back to work. Zorian took a moment to look around the workshop, but not too blatantly.
Kyle's workshop is so amazing that it's actually just a basement, and it's surprising that Imaya doesn't care at all about an academy student using a dangerous magical concoction beneath her home. "Ilsa assured me that Kyle knew what he was doing," she said. Well, he probably did, but still. As for the equipment, it was lent to Kyle by the college. According to Kyle, it was pretty dated, but Morlock couldn't be picky and he was lucky to get anything.
"I just don't think the price of restocking my studio is worth it, no matter how much experience you get," Kyle said as he poured boiling water into a container full of powder and added some that Zorian didn't recognize strange little black balls. . "In fact, considering how good you are at this, I should probably pay you for your help."
"Don't worry," Zorian repeated, hoping this time it would stick.
Naturally he doesn't tell the boy that his savings account automatically tops up when the cycle restarts, so it's hard to explain why money isn't too important to him.
El. . . She hit it off with Cana right away, which seemed to put Kyle at ease around them both, even though the other girl was almost a baby. After that, the two found that they got along well, and Zorian decided to help Morlock alchemy and learn something at the same time. That led to their current situation.
"This whole situation is very strange," Kyle said after a minute of silence. "Things aren't bad, though. Kana is the happiest she's ever been. By the way, I really appreciate everything your little sister has done for her."
"To be honest, I'm not sure how long this will last," Zorian admitted. "Right now she thinks Kana is cute, but she gets bored very quickly. Anyway, she's only in West Oria temporarily when my family goes to Kos to visit my brother."
"That's too bad," Kyle sighed. Then he smirked at Zorian. "But I think you'll be relieved when she finally leaves."
"Who knows," Zorian said. "We'll see how things go. She's not that bad now, so maybe she won't be the complete pest she usually is. I hope your daughter's happy nature will rub off on her in time."
"Oh, that's such a shame," Kyle said. "It would be a shame for such a lively girl to lose her spark of life. I personally hope that my daughter can also have this boundless enthusiasm."
"Then let's make a deal?" Zorian said.
"No," Kyle snorted. "Bring me some cress and be quiet for a while. I'm going to concentrate on this."
So Zori stood quietly, watching Kyle work and thinking about what the rest of the month would bring.
