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Chapter 38: Looping Time
🕑 Added 2022-12-21 18:17:01 +0000 UTCAN: If you want to read the chapters before this one, they should all be up on the RoyalRoad page, at https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61762/minute-mage-a-time-traveling-litrpg-progression
These chapters are completely free, and there are a lot of them! So feel free to check them out.
After the kills, my XP had risen to 266/400.
“Thanks for the save,” Erani said, pushing down on the bite wound on her torso to stem the bleeding. “Health was getting a bit low back there.”
“It’s no problem,” I breathed.
“What’s your Health at? Think we should take a rest?”
“No need. I’m about to use Time Loop to go back and get the XP again.”
Erani blinked. “Oh. You haven’t used it already?”
“No, not yet.”
She looked shocked, a moment’s pause passing between us. “...Weird. From my perspective, up until now, I’ve never actually seen you use it. Just the aftereffects.” She hesitated for a moment. “So, when you use it, I lose my memories? It’s like none of this happened?”
I was a bit shocked, too. I realized I’d never actually warned her before using the Talent. It’d always been a desperate situation, where I had died, she had died, or I used it before she’d ever known I had it. I wasn't used to having to deal with this awkward moment beforehand. “Well, I’ll only go back a couple minutes. …But yeah, I guess.”
Erani chuckled, obviously nervous. “Well, I mean, that’s a bit like me dying, isn’t it?”
“Uh…”
“No, no, don’t worry. You’re right. It’s only a few minutes. It’s just… losing my memories like that, even if it’s inconsequential. It feels a little strange to just allow it to happen.”
“Yeah, I guess it would feel weird,” I frowned. I hadn’t realized how distressing it would be on her end.
“So, if I won’t remember anything – and I won’t even exist anymore – I could do anything, right? No consequences.” She looked at me. “I mean, what if I just walked up and kissed you? The other me wouldn’t even know I did it.”
I blinked. “I’m not sure if that’s…”
“Relax, relax, I’m just joking,” she laughed – a bit maniacally. “It’s nice to be able to mess with you, for a change.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it would be.”
“So, you have to get going, right? It’s time sensitive?”
I nodded, unsure of what to do to soothe her nerves.
“Um, if it wouldn’t be inconvenient, could you, just…” She walked forward, getting closer and closer, until I could feel her warm breath on my face. She reached out and grabbed my hands, holding on tightly. They were shaking. “Just hold me? For a second?”
I did just that, reaching out and embracing her. She reached her arms around me, as well, squeezing herself against my chest and back. In reality, the hug was probably wet and disgusting – I was covered in mud and Erani had an open wound in her torso, my clothes were tattered and skin burnt from the Drakeling’s acid blood, and our hair was tangled with sticks and dirt. But, in my mind, I didn’t notice any of that. She was just warm, and her hands were soft on my back.
“Can you do me a favor?” Erani’s voice was muffled, her head pressed against my chest. “Don’t tell the other me about this. It’d only embarrass her.”
“Sure,” I smiled.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
And with that, I activated Time Loop.
**********
I awoke in the in-between place. I looked down, almost expecting to see Erani still holding onto me, but she wasn’t there. I wasn’t there, either. And I wasn’t ‘looking’ at all, of course. I was bodiless, floating in nothingness. I mentally shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts of the encounter with Erani. I had a fight to redo, and the new her wouldn’t even remember the moment, anyway.
There were eight options presented to me, each a minute apart. The furthest-back one had us approaching the rocky spire that the Drakelings were perched on. I selected it, and felt my consciousness pulled back into reality.
**********
And then I was back, walking down the path with Erani. She saw me jolt as I was forced into my body.
“Time Loop?” She asked.
“Yeah,” I shivered. Using Time Loop always made me feel uncomfortable. “Just came back to get the extra XP. And hopefully lose less Health over the course of the fight.”
I didn’t say anything to her about the previous timeline – she had asked me not to say anything, after all. But I couldn’t help looking at her in a different way. Was it really okay for me to keep this knowledge to myself? It felt like an invasion of privacy.
“Okay,” Erani nodded, completely unaware of my thoughts. “Let’s go kill some Drakelings.”
The fight was mostly the same as last time. I took on one of the Drakelings while Erani fought the other two, with me occasionally stepping in with my Spells to help her out in a pinch. With my new knowledge of the Drakelings’ fighting style and the way the fight would unfold, my strikes were better-timed, and I always knew when Erani would be in trouble.
I avoided the electrical damage from the Drakeling I was fighting this time, leaping off of it the moment I felt it charging up, and I also avoided its acidic blood, anticipating its last-ditch effort to kill me before it happened.
However, while I was helping Erani – I was paying extra attention to her to make sure she didn’t get bitten this time – I did get grazed by one of the Drakeling’s fireballs, which dealt 17 damage to me, bringing my Health down to 77. Unfortunate, but it was better than the 23 I’d been left at last time. And Erani was left unscathed, too.
Eventually, the three Drakelings died once again.
You have offered major contribution toward the slaying of Level 12 Gray Drakeling.
You have earned 126 XP. Your XP is 392.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 13 Gray Drakeling.
You have earned 93 XP. Your XP is 485.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 10 Gray Drakeling.
You have earned 64 XP. Your XP is 549.
Threshold reached. 400 XP.
Your Level has increased to 8.
Due to achieving Level
8 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:
-You have gained 1 Endurance.
-You have gained 2 Conjuration.
-You have gained 1 Intelligence.
-You have gained 3 Stat Points.
-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Strength and 1 Endurance.
-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 5.
-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 8.
I Leveled up to 8! It was amazing to see so much progress so quickly. I had a sizable amount of XP to spare, too – it was currently at 149/450.
“I finally got to Level ten!” Erani celebrated once the final Drakeling had been slain.
“I also Leveled up,” I smiled. “I’m only at 8, but still.”
She shook her head. “Didn’t you just Level up to 7 after the Stripeks, too? Only one fight later, and you’re already at 8.”
“Technically two fights,” I said. “This is the second time I’ve killed the Drakelings.”
“Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting about your Time Loop thing,” she said. “For me, it’s like you never even go back. You just kinda pop in with random knowledge.”
It reminded me of the conversation I’d had with her before, when she realized she was in the timeline that got reset.
Was this really a new version of her? A new existence? Had I killed the other version? Did she have a right to know before I activated the Talent? I mean, I’d want to know if I was about to be reset to a previous version of myself. Or maybe I should only ever use the Talent when it’s absolutely necessary from now on, instead of using it to re-buy monster kills, like I’d been in the past.
I shook my head, trying to ignore those thoughts. I was dealing with real, life-and-death stakes here. If I didn’t get strong enough, we’d die for real, and there wouldn’t be any going back to fix it. I could worry about philosophical time-death later.
“Yeah,” I eventually said. “Anyway, let’s go ahead and manage our Levels.”
So we sat and meditated, each focusing inward to our own minds. After a few minutes, I had access to my Stats. I only had the one choice – where to allocate my 3 Stat Points – so it wouldn’t take me long. Besides, it wasn’t much of a decision; I was simply going to continue my path in adding more and more to my Conjuration. Especially against the damage-sponges that were Infernals, I’d need as much Mana as I could to defeat them.
You have used 3 Stat Points to increase Conjuration.
Your Conjuration value is now 45.
With that, I checked my Status to see the changes made.
I opened my eyes. Erani was still meditating. Level 10 was always big for any Class, so it made sense that she’d want to spend some extra time on its choices. My Status was coming along, too, though. I was almost at 10 Mana/Minute, which would be 1 Mana per six seconds – an incredible rate. And my Maximum Mana was just about 500, too. With that, I’d be able to cast ten Crippling Chills, twenty-two Rays of Frost, or over two full minutes of Noxious Grasp.
And speaking of those Spells, I reminded myself, my Soft Cap had risen to Rank 5. That meant Ray of Frost and Crippling Chill could Rank up again. I went ahead and cast them both a couple times, aiming at nothing in particular.
Threshold reached. Ray of Frost XP has reached 30.
Ray of Frost Rank has increased to 5.
Due to Ray of Frost Rank reaching 5, it has undergone the following changes:
Mana Cost: From 22 to 22.6
Damage: From 48.6 to 51
Dexterity Debuff: From 6.08 to 6.38
Due to Ray of Frost Rank increasing to Rank 5, Ray of Frost has reached a Soft Cap.
Spell XP gain for Ray of Frost is 50 times slower until your Level increases past the Soft Cap.
Increase your Level to 10 to increase your Soft Cap.
Threshold reached. Crippling Chill XP has reached 30.
Crippling Chill Rank has increased to 5.
Due to Crippling Chill Rank reaching 5, it has undergone the following changes:
Mana Cost: From 49.7 to 50.9
Health Drain: From 6.08 to 6.38
Stamina Drain: From 4.86 to 5.1
Dexterity Debuff: From 12.2 to 12.8
Due to Crippling Chill Rank increasing to Rank 5, Crippling Chill has reached a Soft Cap.
Spell XP gain for Crippling Chill is 50 times slower until your Level increases past the Soft Cap.
Increase your Level to 10 to increase your Soft Cap.
The gained Ranks increased my Spells’ numbers incrementally, as always – seeing the Dexterity Debuff on both Spells go up was especially exciting. While Ray of Frost was absolutely useful for its damage, and Crippling Chill’s Stamina Drain was potent, one of the major benefits of both Spells was the ability to physically weaken my enemies. With the additional boost to the debuff, that benefit would be even larger.
My next Level was 9, too, which would hold yet another Spell Choice in store for me. I remembered from my last Spell Choice that my three options would be between Spells called Betrothed of Fire, Spiritual Guardian, and Gravity Well, but I didn’t have any idea as to what those Spells would do. Part of me wanted to Level up fast so that I could make the choice already, but the other part of me knew what would have to be done to Level up again. Whether it was a fight with the wild monsters around us, or with more of those Infernals, I’d have to risk my life a lot more if I wanted to get out of this alive.
I just had to hope I was strong enough to make it through.
