Chapter 610 - Many questions

“We were sent back in time?” Maya asks as we gather back in the room that is now closed, locked, and with a few barriers we set around the place.

“The timer did not go back, and it continues; whatever happened, it seems to be only resetting this floor and our status,” as he likes to do, Min-Jae is touching his lips while thinking. At the same time, he looks into empty space in front of him.

I can almost hear his brain trying to process it all.

Meanwhile, I sit on my manabloc chair, which I turn into a rocking chair, and start to rock back and forth while holding Biscuit on my lap.

Maya looks around at us, “So outside of the tutorial, this original planet, Academy, whatever was turning back in time?”

“We do not know if it happens again; maybe this was only one reset, and the floor will continue normally now,” Min-Jae answers.

“The Ruler Candidate made it happen? Absolute? Ruler?” Aaron asks.

“I do not think it is possible to travel back in time, Aaron,” Tess says calmly, “I do not even believe Rulers are capable of that. What do you think, Nat?”

“Yup, I agree.”

Dennis laughs shortly, confusion nearly audible in that laugh, “So maybe fake Ruler Candidate floor and fake time travel? But even our stats have been reset back to when we entered this floor, so how is that possible?”

I scratch Biscuit behind the ears and turn to the bolder of the twins. “Why wouldn’t it be possible? During the tournament, we were also reset to our original state whenever we died. Granted, that original, healthy state only dated back to just before the event, but it still proves it can be done. And yes, our skill levels remained unchanged during the tutorial, but that only shows it should be possible to do the modifications to allow for something similar.”

“Okay,” Dennis turns to me, “So let us say this happens again and the time will ‘reset’ or whatever. Our stats will turn back to the start of the floor, but our knowledge will remain, and it will be easier to regain those skill levels. However, if we leveled up by killing monsters, we would need to kill them again.”

“Possibly.”

“Isn’t that bullshit then?”

“Why?”

“I leveled up my skills during the time here, and now I need to do it again?”

I snort, “Don’t be dumb. We will find out how it is possible. Plus, you will regain them faster, but Dennis, my friend, buddy, my man, do you not hope it happens again? Everyone of you got one million shards after the last floor. So why not experiment? If the reset repeats, you can, at every reset, buy different passives and experiment with them. Maybe you can combine different active skills if you have an active skill combination token, as some of the others. Maybe you can buy a skill upgrade token, upgrade a skill, train the upgraded part, and then when it resets, you will be able to do it even without the upgrade if you are capable.”

I feel my excitement grow as the thought of how much this could be abused if there are more resets. Who cares about having to level up skills again and similar things.

Looking at Dennis, I continue, “You could spend all the shards and then get them back again during the reset and spend them again to maximize what you get out of them. Or, you now know what will happen in the next few days, do not tell me you cannot come up with a way to use it to your advantage, even if just for fun?”

That makes the blonde boy stay quiet, and I can see him thinking. Everyone else does the same.

But then Tess ruins it, “I would recommend not being too rash, just in case it does not happen again. Even if it repeats multiple times, we cannot be sure it will not stop out of nowhere. So I would very, very strongly recommend always choosing an option that can be fixed later or that you won’t regret in the future.”

“We know the Champion will die on the ninth day. Should we save him?” Min-Jae asks out of nowhere.

“That’s not that dumb, right? If we help him, it could gain us really nice rewards.” Maya seems excited by the thought.

Tess ruins the mood again. “Do we want to mess with someone who killed a being incomparably stronger than us, and especially when they did that without destroying half the continent in the process?”

Once again, everyone falls deep into thinking.

Sophie also comes to the conclusion. “Question: forget for now that we do not know what causes the reset, but if we reset, did the Ruler Candidate reset as well, or are only we, the attendees, reset? Another question: is this a setting of the tutorial, and the reset depends on the floor quest of the 8th floor and was added because of the tutorial, or is it part of the original Academy, where someone seemingly reset time?”

At this point, some of the group seem pained by thinking. There are just too many options, with no information, only speculation. The main speculation being the reset. I like how quickly everyone suspects it will repeat. Maybe it is because they hope it will happen again. Something like that would be just too good not to hope for. But at the same time, it could be dangerous.

Another question I wonder about is what Sophie mentioned. If we are really resetting, and it might happen again, is the Candidate resetting as well? If yes, is it only the Candidate and no one else? If yes, what do we need to protect them from, if it is only the Candidate? If yes, is it a setting of the floor? If not, is it something an Absolute or Ruler did outside the tutorial? How would something like this even be possible?

I filter out the others and think. Let us say it is not unlike how the tutorial can store and restore our bodies when we die during the tournament, except that here, the condition for triggering the reset is something other than death. In such a case, I would say it is the work of a Ruler, as I do not think an Absolute would be capable of being able to imitate or use the structure of something the system does.

Especially when it involves the entire planet and… I stop my thoughts.

Is it the entire planet even? I don't know how useful that information would be, but if it is the entire planet, I would suspect it's an added mechanism by the tutorial. If it is a smaller area, it is possible that a Ruler did it to the original Academy that the system later copied to use for the floor.

Someone else arrives at a similar conclusion, “How about this time we act as carefully as before and only intensify our attempts at locating the Candidate. I would also like some of us to examine how far we can go on this floor.” Tess says.

“I will do it,” I say. “I can quit my job. Worst case, they fire me before I do. And I am taking Biscuit with me.”

“What about your nukes?” Maya asks.

“I do not know. Let them steal them again or something.”

“Sometimes you say words that make me want to punch you, Nat.”

“Sounds reasonable, why don’t you try it.”

“Nah, you would kick my ass. I ain’t doing that shit.”

“Understandable.”

“Yes,” she nods.

I then stay a bit longer to listen to the others and their plans, and then head out to leave after sharing some of my ideas.

Taking a few things with me, I combine my skills in the same way as before, in case the “reset” does not happen again, regaining [Ur Line]. Then I head towards what I expect to be the professors’ headquarters, where, after explaining what I want, I meet the Vice Director of the Academy.

Entering the huge round office at the top of the tower with floor to ceiling windows covering half the room and offering an incredible view, I stop and wait.

The Vice Director is someone I know, a selari woman with a pointy hat, robe, and that cute owl on her shoulder.

Instead of greeting me or anything else, she asks, “Can I pet your bond?”

Hoo, hoo!

The tiny owl shouts next to her and pecks the woman on her shoulder with its tiny, cute beak.

“No,” I answer.

“I see. Assistant Professor Gwyn, may I ask you why you want to leave the Academy just a few hours after stepping onto its grounds?”

“Professor Elian is a dick, I do not think I will be able to work with him.”

“Understandable. Are you aware of the penalty for breaking the contract you have signed with the Academy?”

“Not really.”

“If I recall correctly, the fine is measured as one yearly salary, coming up to three ivory drachen and eighty three obsidian drachen in total.”

“That sounds like a lot.”

“It does, does it not? Have you changed your mind?”

“When do I have to pay it?”

“What an unusual question. As with all legal documents, you are required to pay your fine within thirty days since it was created, after which it will increase by one hundred percent for every week until another month passes, and the authorities will be notified.”

“Sounds good. I’m still quitting.”

“Understood. Before you leave, I have to tell you that I am willing to pay fifty percent of your fine out of my pocket if you let me hold and pet your bond for five minutes.”

“No.”

“Very well, it was nice to meet you, Mister Nathaniel Gwyn.”

"Goodbye."

***

For the next seven days, I travel around the region. I go on foot, fly when possible, and sometimes use the trains or airships that are there.

Of course, I do not have the local currency, so I always trade it for an item, some technique I inscribe, or some stuff I buy from the system shop.

Twice, I refuse to sell Biscuit.

Biscuit, when he wakes up once a day, refuses to fly around or move at all; instead, he makes me carry him and keeps asking for food.

On this floor, there is so far a severe lack of high quality deer jerky, so I offer him some other meat I might buy or steal to sate his hunger. It is a cheap price to pay to stop him from devouring this world.

(Food?)

“No, that huge lizard pulling on the carriage is not food.”

(Food!)

“That does not make sense. What do you mean by why it is food shaped then? Where did you learn that? Did you spend some time with the twins, did they ruin you?”

(Friend!)

“Yes, I know you have been with Tess. Good job, by the way. She told me about the promises she made to you, and as soon as possible, I will make sure to fulfil them all.”

(Asshole.)

“Yes, I know you would have done it even without that, but are you going to refuse?”

The corgi seems to be seriously thinking about something, but the answer is as expected.

(Food!)

“I thought so. I like that approach. By the way, I have seen you watching that huge lizard too intently. I am serious, please do not eat it.”

To avoid answering, he starts blinking and yawns, and pretends to slowly fall into yet another food coma. As with many things on this floor, even this is just a fake food coma.

And we continue to travel for seven more days.

During that time, we pass the eleventh day, when the reset happened before, and it does not occur again.

In that time, I enjoy the travels. I visit many places, spend a few days training, or simply walking through smaller villages. I spend several days on an airship and travel by a lower-class train powered by something I still do not understand.

The area surrounding the Academy is pleasant, and the weather is so consistently good that I begin to wonder if some webs around the region are not there to maintain it. It should be possible to set up some weather controlling arrays, create logic cores which follow some rules, and rain when there is a need for rain or block the sunlight when it needs to be colder or remove the clouds for a nice sunny day.

I believe someone smart and with enough time would be able even to create storms, winds, and all if they wanted.

In the end, I also find out that the edges of the region form a near perfect circle around the border, which includes the Academy and its surroundings.

None of the natives realize it, and none of the natives, as far as I can see, enter or leave the region where the Academy is.

That region is a few dozen miles wide. There is the Academy right in the center, with a smaller city nearby and six villages.

But that is all.

At the border, there is a barrier. It existed long before the selari Champion died again and the two incoming Champions supposedly created the barrier around the region.

A few times, I ask natives about the places beyond this region, they talk about it and have a lot of knowledge about them. But no matter who they are, they have no idea about the field I perceive.

I even offer five low arcane items I buy from the system shop to a smaller group of natives for them to leave. They agree, but when it comes to leaving, they just stand a few steps before the barrier starts and then return with these blank expressions and not remembering anything. That likely confirms my suspicion, and that the region affected by the "resets" is just the Academy and surroundings, and not the entire world. That also more or less confirms it's the work of the Ruler who used some system mechanisms to create it and not "just" the setting of the floor.

It also makes me 90% sure the reset will happen again, even if it’s a bit late now.

With it also comes a question of where did the selari Champion come from. If my theory is correct, he couldn't have come from the outside, meaning he was in the region since the start of the "reset" and only came to the Academy on the 9th day.

I think of exploring the barrier myself, but this barrier or “cutout” of the world is beyond anything I can understand, clearly set by someone much more powerful than I am.

Honestly, I think I will die if I try to pass it. No, I am almost sure of that. It is just that scary.

For a few more days, I set up a camp near it, observing it and testing stuff. They are surprisingly nice and calm days, and I enjoy them with Biscuit very much.

While observing it one day, I blink, and find myself back in the room surrounded by group 4.

I glance outside, and the park I remembered earlier looks exactly the same. This time, I even see Professor Elian in the distance, speaking with another professor.

The second reset has happened.

***

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