《Paradox》


 Book 1 Chapter 1: Restart and Paradox

    Again. I failed again. What am I supposed to do when I have to build up my main power to travel back in time upon my inevitable failure? I can''t do this much longer. How long has it been? Ten, twenty, thirty thousand years? I''m already completely insane, so it''s only a matter of time before I lose all motor functions from this endless cycle.


    My thoughts were cut short by the ever familiar flash of light and appearance of all my old classmates from school. We had been summoned by a Goddess of a world and granted a blessing of some sort. Some fucking blessing. Why couldn''t I havebeen given minor sword talent so I could stab myself in the chest and end this all? No, I had to be given the power of time reversal.


    Time reversal. It only activated upon my death, and there were certain checkpoints that I had to unlock by increasing my skill with the time manipulation. However, the only way to do this was actually to experience death, but the thing fucking reset if I died during the final battle to save everyone, to save everything!


    My depressing thoughts were once again disturbed but by the Goddess''s voice this time.


    [Greetings children, I am the Goddess of fate, Reta, who governs this world, Bram. Now, I understand your confusion, please, ask all of your questions now, and I shall do my very best to answer them all]she asked us in a powerful voice. I never really liked her. I could understand that she was trying to help her planet by summoning us, but she was an ignorant idiot.


    Just then, a tall, muscular and handsome boy, Roland, approached her. He was the idol of our class, not the whole school, but he was certainly the most popular person in our particular classroom. Twenty-eight, that''s how many students had been summoned here.


    "What do you mean ''this world?'' We''re on Earth, no?" Roland asked her. He was always quick on the uptake. This is the point that he started being the group''s leader. I obviously had no chance nor interest in such a role seeing as how I was average looking with my long black hair and ordinary-looking face. The only unique feature about me was my eyes and facial expression. They were as dead as a Lich-king. This was only natural thought if you considered all of the shit I have seen and been throughover the years. Dying thousands of times has that effecton people.


    I tuned out the Goddess answering Roland''s question and scanned my classmates. It had been a few hundredyears since I had last seen them. They were all fairly useless, except one. I needed her help. Every single time I had gone through this process, she had never revealed her blessing, but she died almost immediately upon our arrival on Bram.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I never thought about it much, but after my most recent failure, I''ve decided to branch out my options. Perhaps she gained a ridiculously powerful blessing and chose to hide it? It couldn''t hurt me to save her this time even if she was as useless as the rest of them.


    ''Where is she...I can''t even remember her name. Actually, what did she even look like? Oh well, I guess I''ll wait until someone doesn''t reveal their blessing like I usually do,'' I thought to myself. I then proceeded to close my eyes and sit on the white floor. I wanted to think and not waste my time listening to questions and answers that I had heard too many times before.


    About an hour later, my eyes were forced open by a light so bright that I could see it even if my eyes were completely closed. This always amazed me, but anyway, that light meant that the first hero had received a blessing. Roland, it would seem that he had gained the blessing of experience. He could use it to learn any talent at an accelerated rate. An excellent power. It''s a shame he died no matter what. Even if I consistently save him, his fate seems to always result in death.


    Anyway, the next person got their blessing, and then the next person did. This continued until about half way through when a girl who''s face was completely covered in her messy, brown hair had received her blessing. I burned her image into my memory because she had chosen not to reveal the nature of her skill which made her the girl I was looking for.


    She seemed to notice my stare, but I didn''t care. Shame and modesty were some of the things you lost when everything always ended up resetting. It would seem that her name was Bree. Very odd, but I was hardly one to talk. I continued to stare at her until it was finally my turn to get my blessing. I think she was rather freaked out, but I needed to remember her since it was very easy to forget things when you had too many memories.


    [Please tell me your name, child] the Goddess asked me. I''ve forgotten my old name. At one point, I made up a sarcastic name to reflect my situation, and since I used it for so long, fate, destiny, or time, whatever, had decided it was my real name, so even my classmates never disputed it.


    "...Paradox..." I mumbled. This always happens. I forget how to speak correctly since I always spend the last couple of hundred years by myself during each reset. Oh well, no one seems to care about little old me, except Bree, but I did stare at her for a while, so that''s probably not an interest-filled gaze she''s throwing in my direction.


    The Goddess looked at me briefly before she waved her hand and gave me my detested blessing back. More like a curse. I instantly felt the power of time fill my soul as the familiar white light shone off of me. After being asked what power I got from the Goddess by my classmates, I simply remained silent and sat down again. Everyone quickly ignored me again and rejoined their cliques when they realised I didn''t want to speak to them. Idiots, the lot of them. None of them is taking any of this seriously. No wonder they all die in the first five years.


    [Now children, it is time to bring you to Bram, good luck with whatever mission the summoner has to grant you] the Goddess said with a small bow after the final person''s blessing had been given. Well, it looks like it''s time to meet the king and princess again, I suppose.

 Book 1 Chapter 2: Trust and Room

    A huge flash of white light and my classmates and I were now standing in the middle of a circular room that was made entirely out of marble. There were several murals on the ground and walls. I always liked these paintings; they are quite beautiful. Art is one of my few hobbies, one of the things I can use to pass the time while I wait for the final battle.


    "Greetings Heroes! It is my pleasure to welcome you to our planet, Bram!" a loud voice interrupted my appreciation of the arts. Its owner is the king. A large and well-built man, no older than forty-something. I forgot his age and name. He has a fantastic beard though; I''ll givehim that. Standing next to him was a meek-looking teenaged girl in a frilly dress. The princess, I also forgot her name. Maybe I have memory issues? Well, I never stayed in this kingdom for long.


    The princess has long flowing silver hair, is good-looking and has big tits. I can''t remember if there was anything special about her. Maybe she betrayed the King and overthrew the kingdom? Oh well, I''m sure I''ll remember if it''s anything important.


    "I''m sorry, who are you, sir?" Roland cautiously asked the king. Right, only I know he''s the king, this is gonna be boring. I just wanna get Bree and leave this place. To put it simply, the king wants us to kill the demon lord, but honestly, the demon lord isn''t a bad person, their views are just different from the humans.


    "Ah! Of course, I''m the King of Regulus, Julius Rotondo III. And this is my lovely daughter, Elizabeth," the king happily replied. Everyone save for myself then took a look at Elizabeth. Roland seemed to be in a daze. Oh, right! He fell in love with her, didn''t he? I wonder what he sees in her? I never really was one for relationships.


    Hmm? Oh, Roland is kneeling in Elizabeth''s direction. Time for some ass-kissing I guess. I ignored his antics and scanned the room for Bree.


    Ah? Somebody was trying to use mental energy on me just now. That''s new. That''s never happened each of the other times I''ve done this. Was it a hero, or one of the many knights that are surrounding us? Well, whatever they just tried, failed. It failed horribly. I bet their mind is a mess right now hahaha. Serves them right for trying to do something to my soul when it''s probably the most reinforced one in existence. Thankfully, some things come with me each time I restart.


    As I''m sure you''ve guessed, my soul is very powerful. Powerful doesn''t even begin to describe it. Considering that it''s so old, it''s only natural. Mind you; there are mucholder beings than myself on Bram. Anyway, Bree, where are you, Bree? Ah! There you are!


    I quickly moved to stand next to Bree which obviously startled her. It would seem that she still wasn''t very fond of me due to my insensitive stares. Oh well. I guess I should speak to her and start over?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "...Bree...hello...me...Paradox..." Well, that could have gone better. I should really mumble to myself or something the next time I spend centuries by myself. Bree just stared at me for a few moments which I was fine with. Well, I think she was staring at me. It''s hard to tell with her brown fringe covering half of her face.


    "H-Hello, Par-Paradox." Well shit. That response doesn''t exactly inspire confidence. What to do? I put my left hand on my chin and my right hand on my left elbow in a thinking position. Bree just continued to stare at me. Fuck, this is hard. Okay, let''s just be frank.


    "...You...me...stay...you...maybe...not...die..." Why are words so hard? I need to learn some form of telepathy. That sounds good. Then I''ll never have to speak again. What an excellent thought.


    "O-Okay," Bree answered. Wow. Am I that persuasive? No way, is she too scared to say no? Perhaps it has something to do with her blessing. Oh well, this works out for me. I just stood silently beside Bree after that while we listened to the king''s bullshit propaganda about the ''evil'' demon lord. The king then went on to explain that we''ll be living in the castle and we''ll be tested and trained on the things we''re most suited for.


    I moved with the timid Bree by my side as our classmates were being led by a knight to our respective rooms. I wonder what I should learn this time? I already know most martial arts and weapon techniques, but I specialise in magic. I guess I''ll just force my talent to be the same as Bree to help her. The more time I spend with her, the better. She could be my one-way ticket to ending this cycle, after all.


    One by one, my classmates were all assigned a room, and now there were only ten of us left. "This will be your room, Miss Bree," the knight leading us claimed while he gestured to a wooden door that was identical to all of the other ones the other eighteen classmates had been assigned.


    "O-Okay," Bree replied before she walked towards the door. She then quickly opened the door and entered the room. I felt a hand holding my shoulder. Hmm? The knight?


    "Mr.Paradox, that is not your room," he said. Oh, right, well, I don''t care? I need to stay by her side as much as possible. I''m not waiting for my next reset to see if she''s the key and I won''t let her die in her room if that''s where she died.


    "Bree...me...lovers...room...together..." I replied. That should be more than enough, no? Bree''s face had taken a deep shade of crimson before the knight turned to look at her with a quizzical gaze. Bree simply nodded. How great, surely her blessing has something to do with why she''s trusting me.


    All of our classmates started whispering and giggling which I paid no heed to while I entered Bree''s room. I obviously care very little about the thoughts of some children. My body may be fifteen years old, but as you know, I''m far, far older than that. I soon closed the door and inspected the room that Bree has been given. It was ordinary. Cobbled walls and wooden flooring. two wooden dressers, a mirror, an attached outhouse and a simple bed.


    I moved towards an empty space next to a wall and leant my back against it before I closed my eyes and began meditating. I did mention that I specialised in magic, no? I need to increase my magic power reserves and the only way I can do that right now is by meditating.


    ''Is he sleeping? Why does he want to stick so close to me? I should have just said no! Why did I agree to him, not once, but twice! Stupid girl!'' Bree screamed to herself in her mind before she gently sat on the single bed and observed Paradox.