《Learning to Love Time Loops Without Going Insane》 Loop 0 ¡°Hey there, can I get your name and reason for your visit?¡± asked the lady behind the receptionist''s desk without making eye contact. She was distracted by something on one of her monitors and made no effort to hide it. He could hear voices coming from the headset she was wearing, but they were too muffled to catch anything being said. ¡°Cal Marshall, food delivery for research lab number seventeen,¡± replied Cal, pointing to the cart with several stacks of pizzas. ¡°The name on the order is Robert Smithe, if you need that.¡± She nodded, her eyes still fixed on the monitor. ¡°Head through the lobby right there,¡± she pointed behind herself close to the direction of the nearest door, ¡°and take the elevator to floor nine. Follow the green line hall to lab number seventeen. Just ring the buzzer, and they should answer.¡± She finished rattling off her directions having never looked up from what she was watching. Impressive security, Cal thought as he pulled the cart through the door into the lobby. He glanced at the TV in the room and quickly read a few scrolling captions about a building lockdown in Dallas. Oh good, this mass shooting is local; Cal was starting to regret taking this order and getting out of bed today. He tried to reason with his brain. We¡¯ve just gotta finish this delivery, and then we can head home and quit worrying about things outside for the rest of the weekend. He tried convincing himself to ignore the newest crisis as he boarded the elevator. As the elevator doors neared closing, Cal saw two men in monster masks enter the lobby through the same door he used, but before he could get a better look, the doors shut, and the elevator started its ascent to floor nine. Cal spent the remainder of the ride wondering if the receptionist had managed to look up long enough to appreciate the quality of the masks or perhaps question the presence of men in masks in the building. He doubted it. She hadn¡¯t struck him as someone particularly interested in doing her job, not that anyone could blame her. He certainly wasn¡¯t happy about delivering food at thirty-seven. As the elevator passed floor eight, a loud alarm started blasting through the speaker, and Cal felt the elevator decelerate quickly. The emergency lights began flashing all around him, and the alarm noise changed into a robotic voice instructing him to remain calm, and please exit the elevator as soon as possible. On cue, the elevator stopped entirely at floor eight, and the doors opened. ¡°Dammit,¡± Cal muttered, annoyed he was a floor short and picturing trying to wheel the cart of pizzas up a flight of stairs as he stepped off the elevator. Looks like it¡¯s wandering time, Cal thought as he couldn¡¯t find a stairwell or any directions in his immediate vicinity. He spent the next twenty minutes pulling his cart through winding corridors full of locked doors and no signs of people. He tried knocking on a few doors, but after no response from any of them, he was getting worried that he was the only one on the floor. Deciding he was tired of the corridor exploration, he pulled out his phone, planning to Call the front desk. He spotted the no-signal icon and sighed loudly. ¡°Hey, if anyone can hear me, I¡¯m just trying to deliver food. The elevator stopped working, and I¡¯m now very lost and could use some help,¡± he yelled down the hall, and to his surprise, he heard a door bang open in the distance. He grabbed the cart''s handle and started in the direction he heard the noise, glad he was about to be free from this afternoon of liminal halls. Turning what Cal hoped was the final corner, the building rocked as something exploded nearby, possibly inside the same building he was in. Cal couldn¡¯t tell, and he doubted his only real experience with explosions, having been in fireworks, movies, and video games, made him any kind of expert on judging locations. He decided that once the delivery was finished, and the second he managed to find the stairs, he was heading home. In no way was a ten-dollar tip worth this. New warning alarms started blaring, interrupting his mental rant about the gig economies. There was another loud boom. This time, it had enough force to make his ears ring. It hit him at the exact moment that two figures entered his vision, walking into his current section of the hallway one hundred or so feet ahead of him. It was the two weirdos in masks he had seen earlier in the lobby. He looked them over and realized that they weren¡¯t just masks; they had on full cosplay outfits. No, that didn¡¯t seem quite right. Something was off. He looked at their hands, and the fingers seemed off. They were smaller and longer and too many. Yeah, he was sure of it now. One of the creatures had seven fingers wrapped around something that looked like a crowbar, and it was starting to glow. ¡°Hey guys, you wouldn¡¯t happen to know the way out of here, would you?¡± He managed to get the words out through his growing fear. The one with the crowbar croaked and sputtered, and then Cal heard a weird grating voice around him. ¡°Where is the¡­¡± the voice cut off abruptly as the glowing crowbar wielder fell forward, its head covered in glass and a bubbling liquid. A man in a white lab coat pushed the second one aside and ran past it. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Come on quick, follow me and bring the pizza,¡± bellowed the man as he ran past. Cal, at this point, felt overwhelmed and sick from a combination of the explosive ear ringing and monstrous voice followed after him as best he could. He even dragged the pizza cart along, any thought of questioning the orders currently nonexistent. The lab coat man ran down several halls, turning corners at full speed and dodging potted plants as though trained for this obstacle course. Every so often, he stopped and waited for Cal to catch up, each time yelling that they didn¡¯t have much time left and that Cal needed to move faster. Finally, after running for what felt like forever, but in reality, it had to have been less than five minutes, the man stopped and swiped a keycard, and a door that looked like solid steel swung open. ¡°Inside now, quick,¡± he ushered Cal into the room. He then pushed some buttons on a panel inside the room, causing the door to slam shut and the room to light up. ¡°Here, take these. It will help with the headache, and eat some pizza. That should clear up the weird unease you''re feeling,¡± the lab coat man said, handing Cal some pills. Cal grabbed a two-liter bottle of soda from the cart, downed the pills, and shoveled in two slices of pizza. To the lab coat man¡¯s credit, he did feel better. With that feeling of health, though, came some mental clarity and some screaming, ¡°What the fuck is going on? What were those things? Is this building safe? How do we get out? Is that what the receptionist was stuck on, some sort of alien invasion, and I just walked up here missing all the obvious signs.¡± as he continued, his screaming just turned into a steady stream of questions to the only person around. ¡°In order, I don¡¯t know what exactly is going on yet. I think that, yes they are aliens, though why they are attacking random buildings across the world, I¡¯m not sure. This building is not safe at all, and sadly, Cal, we will not be getting out, at least not in any normal sense of the word.¡± The lab coat man responded, surprising Cal as he didn¡¯t expect answers to his questions. Cal went over the answers he just received and came to a few conclusions: they were going to die, and the lab coat man somehow already knew this and that he hated aliens. Something else occurred to him, though, ¡°Wait, how do you know my name?¡± he asked the lab coat man. ¡°What, you don¡¯t remember me? And after we spent three hours together playing in my backyard twenty-five years ago. I¡¯m hurt,¡± replied the lab coat man sarcastically. ¡°Any chance you could quit fucking with me and give me some real answers if you have any?¡± Cal pleaded in return. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve found sarcasm is the best way to get you to listen quickly. Alright, so you want answers? The bad news is we have about five minutes before the experimental gravity reactor blows and takes us with it. The good news is I¡¯m reasonably sure those were the final pills you needed. Also, I wasn¡¯t lying before we really did meet about twenty-five years ago. My name is Andrew Thomas, though I think I was introduced to you as Andy at the time.¡± Andy answered. ¡°Pills for what? If we are just going to die in five minutes, what¡¯s the point in any of this?¡± an annoyed Cal fired back. ¡°Four minutes and the pills are to bring you into my nightmare, which I am sorry in advance, but there wasn¡¯t much of a choice here. I only had enough materials to do this easily once, and it¡¯s best done on someone I¡¯ve known the longest, and somehow Cal, by pure coincidence, that¡¯s you. In three minutes, something we are researching here will interact with the gravity reactor during the explosion and lock me into a time loop. Annoyingly, I¡¯m only able to control my actions differently during the thirty minutes leading up to the explosion. I have theories as to why, but right now, they are likely far above your head. After many short bursts, research, and my discovery of you, I¡¯ve found a way to bring you into this loop. It has to be you because you are going to be stuck starting the loop the day we met. I haven¡¯t known anyone else here longer than six months, which, while it might be enough time to alter the future, I think two and half decades is better than six months.¡± Andy rattled off. ¡°Great, so you¡¯re insane, though I guess I can¡¯t blame you considering the aliens.¡± Cal angrily stated. ¡°My level of sanity has no real bearing on the truth I just told you. I understand that you won¡¯t believe me until you experience it. So, just remember, I¡¯m researching gravitons and their interactions with an ore discovered in the mines under McCarthy, Alaska, two years ago. Try to keep track of my younger self after you meet and do your best to convince him that this is the truth, all of it, and maybe he can figure a way out of this. See you next loop,¡± Andy finished in a shout as the room began rattling. Cal tried to speak, but everything just went white. Loop 1 ¡°Cal, wake up. I¡¯ve gotta head out, and I don¡¯t want you sleeping all day while I¡¯m gone. Plus, the dog still needs her morning walk.¡± The voice from the other room caused Cal to bolt awake. Cal fought off the grogginess, extremely confused. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening. Had it all just been a long, complicated dream? That didn¡¯t seem to fit the situation, as his head was full of memories that weren¡¯t fading like a typical dream. He was a kid again, and if what the insane scientist man had said was true. He was twelve. A large man with an annoyed expression on his face that Cal had almost managed to forget about was now once again center stage in his vision. ¡°Are you going to get out of bed or what? I don¡¯t have time for you to waste. Get up, get dressed, and take the damn dog out.¡± he barked out. Cal hopped out of bed quickly, surprising himself. ¡°Alright, Dad, I¡¯ve got it. I¡¯ll get Bug out shortly. Sorry for making you late again.¡± Cal¡¯s confusion had only lessened slightly, but seeing his father, both alive and grumpy, overwhelmed his ability to process anything other than a sense of childhood nostalgia. ¡°Good, I¡¯m sorry I yelled. Can you try to clean up the yard, too, if you have some time? It looks like we have some new neighbors moving in, and I¡¯d really like it if they didn¡¯t think we were complete slobs straight off the bat,¡± Cal¡¯s dad responded in a more relaxed tone than his previous demands. ¡°No problem, let me get something to eat, and I¡¯ll get it all taken care of.¡± Cal had a giant smile on his face as he left his bedroom in search of a friend he hadn¡¯t seen in nearly two decades. He made a mental note to start going over depressing life events tomorrow and see just what he could change, assuming, of course, he wasn¡¯t just insane. He considered that to still be a strong contender for what was actually going on. Cal found Bug lounging on the couch in the sun. He noticed his sense of scale was off while comparing how big he remembered her to her actual size in front of him. He realized he was used to experiencing the world from his six-foot frame versus whatever much shorter height he was now. His perspective on everything¡¯s relative size was going to get weird quickly. Bug was a mutt that Cal and his dad had found a couple of years ago, alone and half-starved in the woods, covered in fleas and ticks. She looked like a cross between a German shepherd and a Dalmatian, giving her coat a unique color pattern. It was a very light golden shade with random spots of black fur. ¡°Hey girl, you wanna go outside?¡± Cal asked her as he plopped down next to her, petting her head. ¡°Woooff,¡± she lazily responded, slowly stretching her body and climbing off the couch. Cal watched as she first went to her food bowl and downed any leftover kibble before heading for the back door. She always knew what she wanted, Cal thought as he stood up and followed her. He had to push her slightly out of the way to get to handle and open the door, freeing her to the outdoors. A wooden fence surrounded part of the backyard. It was a safe area for Bug to run around off-leash without any road danger. A memory flashed in his mind upon seeing the fence. It was about the fence¡¯s creation. His mom and dad wanted to ensure he had a safe place to play with the now-healthy Bug. Cal whispered to himself. ¡°I wish this had started earlier. I would love to see Mom again.¡± Bug chose that moment to crash into the backside of his knees, knocking him over into the muddy yard. Cal rolled over and spit out some mud, laughing like the kid he was again. ¡°Bug, I¡¯m going to kill you,¡± he managed to get the words out between laughs. Cal climbed to his feet, amused at how little his knees hurt despite the unexpected bath. That was another thing he forgot: how easy it is to bounce when you¡¯re young. Cal thought this as he took off after Bug. But she spotted his dash before he could make it even three steps. She took off, racing back and forth across the yard, covering herself in as much mud as Cal¡¯s shirt. ¡°Once I catch you, I hope you realize we are both getting showers after this,¡± Cal announced, continuing the chase. Ten minutes into the game, Cal decided to grab a stick and started tossing it for Bug to fetch. She returned about half of them, which fit his memories pretty accurately. ¡°Alright, girl, let¡¯s try to clean up some of the brush for Dad and see if we can¡¯t get all the random junk moved to the garage before it starts getting colder.¡± Cal could feel the daytime warmth starting to fade as the late fall air of Northern Michigan began to get to him. Alright, how much junk did we have back here? Cal thought while glancing around the yard. It''s not too bad, mostly just the piles of brush, our attempt at an irrigation system, and some bike parts. I¡¯ll see what he wants to do about anything past the gate tomorrow, though that will probably take both of us. Cal spent the next hour piling up the brush and stealing sticks back from Bug, only stopping due to the interruption of a kid looking over the fence. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Andy. Who are you?¡± the kid peered down at Cal and Bug as he asked. Several thoughts ran through Cal¡¯s head before he spoke. He wasn¡¯t crazy. He didn¡¯t even remember this happening, so it seemed pretty unlikely that he had managed to dream of this kid¡¯s future self telling me to find him. Fuck, he had been hoping for the insanity option. He very much did not want to fight aliens. ¡°Hey Andy, I¡¯m Cal, and this is Bug.¡± putting aside his inner anxiety, Cal introduced himself and his dog. ¡°Would you believe this is apparently the third time we¡¯ve met?¡± Cal blurted out jokingly and then kind of wished he hadn¡¯t. ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯ve never seen you before. I¡¯m only here for the day to help my grandparents move.¡± Andy fired back in as serious a tone that a preteen could muster. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, stupid joke. Do you want to come over and play with me and Bug for a while¡± Cal asked. He was internally debating what he should do. He thought his best bet was probably just learning what he could about him right now and then figuring out what to do later. The only time-sensitive thing at the moment is Andy himself. So, his goal was just focusing on prying loose some information that could be used later and not thinking about the aliens or the utterly terrifying white flash. Cal opened the gate to the neighbor¡¯s yard, pushing down his last thoughts as best he could. ¡°Here, Andy, toss this for Bug. She loves it,¡± Cal said as he handed Andy some sticks for a new round of fetch. ¡°Why did you name her Bug?¡± Andy asked as he tossed the first stick for her. Bug chased it down without mercy, catching it and reducing it to splinters in under a minute. ¡°When we found her, she was covered in bugs, and it just kind of stuck. It took so many baths to get them all off her. It was a nightmare.¡± Cal remembered back, on the daily baths for her first two weeks of moving in with them. She had to live in the basement in a dog crate until the vet cleared her of any infestations. It took her another six months to grow her coat fully back. ¡°Do you have any pets?¡± Cal started his information gathering. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got two hermit crabs, Melvin and Harry. They don¡¯t like to play as much as Bug, though. Harry sometimes likes to be held, but Melvin always tries to pinch.¡± Andy¡¯s answer cemented the idea in Cal¡¯s head that Andy was a lonely kid. Who¡¯s childhood pets are just hermit crabs? ¡°You said you were helping your grandparents move. Do you live around here then?¡± Cal continued. ¡°Oh no, we flew in from Washington. Mom and I are flying back tomorrow, and Dad will finish getting their stuff moved in. I¡¯d stay, but mom has work, and I have school.¡± That answer kicked off a new fear in Cal¡¯s head: school. Not that he hated school the first time around, but the idea of doing it again, this time twice as boring as before, was not a nostalgic thing he was looking forward to. He convinced himself to ignore yet another thing: ¡°Washington DC or state?¡± He patted Bug on the head as she walked past him during the question. ¡°Oh, the state, we live in Seattle. It¡¯s a lot bigger than here.¡± ¡°Yeah, Charlevoix isn¡¯t that big of a city compared to Seattle.¡± Cal continued the conversation for a bit longer, unable to gleam anything else he thought may be important. ¡°Andy, honey, it¡¯s time to go. Say goodbye to your new friend and come inside.¡± The boys heard a voice Call from the house next door. Cal spotted a face in the side window looking at them. ¡°Coming, Mom,¡± Andy Called back. ¡°Looks like I have to go. It was nice playing with you Cal. Maybe I¡¯ll see you the next time I visit my grandparents.¡± Andy walked back through the gate as Cal tried to remember any details from their supposed first meeting. After some deep mental digging, he was reasonably sure they had met in the front yard last time. Cal had been sitting in the porch chair reading some comics when Andy showed up and started asking about them. He had probably skipped any backyard cleanup last time, giving them more time that would explain future Andy¡¯s claim of three hours. ¡°Come on, Bug, let¡¯s head inside. I think I need to start a journal.¡± Cal was not happy at the prospect of writing down his thoughts. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. After their shower, Cal searched the house for a notepad and a pencil. After becoming increasingly annoyed as hour two of the search started, he finally located a box full of stationary packed away in the basement. He grabbed the entire box and brought it back to his room, unpacking what he needed onto his small desk. Bug was snoring loudly on the bed behind him as he opened the notepad. Cal titled the first page things I need to research before alien day and started writing down a list.
  1. Where the hell is McCarthy, Alaska?
  2. Should I investigate the mine before the mineral is recovered?
  3. What do I do about Andy?
The last line sent his brain wandering. Should Andy even be contacted again? How did this loop thing work? Future Andy said he would see Cal again next loop, but what if he just skipped out on it? He assumed they wouldn''t meet up again if he never moved to Dallas, but what happens then? Does everything go white anyway and would he end up back here again anyway? ¡°Ugh,¡± He had so many questions and no answers. He considered waiting out this loop and seeing what happens. He decided to come back to that idea later. It was a strong contender for his plans. Cal flipped the notepad to the second page and titled this one, things I want to change. He only wrote down two things.
  1. Bug does not get hit by a car.
  2. Neither does Dad.
His head was starting to pound again. Time for a nap, he decided, climbing into bed with Bug and closing his eyes. His subconscious had made the decision for him that tomorrow was a better time to make sense of all this. ¡°I really missed you Bug¡± were the last words before Cal uttered before completely crashing into slumber. Cal woke up to the feeling of a rough tongue across his forehead. ¡°Bug, come on, let me up. What time is it?¡± Cal looked around the room. Based on the light he could see through the window, sunrise had started. He had slept all night. ¡°Bug, I¡¯ve made my decision. I¡¯m going to live through this loop relatively normally. I''ll do my best to change some events, but for the most part, I think I¡¯m going to lay low and just try to learn what I can about what happened before the white flash. If it turns into another loop after this, I¡¯ll make a new plan, but I think a quiet life is best for now. How about you, girl? What do you think?¡± he patted her head as he asked. Bug didn¡¯t answer, but she did roll over for more petting. As the years passed, Cal settled into his second life. He had accomplished his main two goals. Bug lived to the ripe old age of twenty-two, which was ancient for a dog. His dad was still alive and had even remarried. Cal even had two half-brothers this time. Through some well-placed betting on the events he best remembered, all of their lives had been comfortable, though not extravagant, as Cal stuck to his goal of living below the radar. What little he learned about McCarthy he didn¡¯t like and decided to put that off for another loop as well, assuming, of course, this was all going to repeat again. He only had one more thing he planned to accomplish this time around, and once May 23rd hit again, he was sitting in his dad¡¯s living room with the news on and breakfast ready for everyone. ¡°Hey, Dad, can I talk to you alone in the kitchen?¡± Cal asked his father after they finished their meal. ¡°Of course,¡± his dad answered, standing up from his recliner and following Cal to the kitchen. ¡°Stan, could you bring me a bottle of water when you two are finished?¡± Cal¡¯s stepmother called after them. ¡°No problem,¡± his dad replied. Cal closed the door to the kitchen behind them and sat down at the table. ¡°So this is going to sound really weird, especially if none of it happens, but I need you to hear me out anyway.¡± He looked at his father with a level of serious expression on his face that Stan had only ever seen on his face once before. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s going on?¡± Stan¡¯s voice sounded concerned. ¡°So in an hour, I¡¯m pretty sure we are going to start seeing reports of lockdowns of various cities across the country. Shortly after that, we will see claims of aliens. I know how insane this all sounds, and I¡¯m honestly not fully sure I believe it will happen myself, but if it does, I need you to remember that I just predicted it and then join me back in here for one more private conversation, okay?¡± Cal said these words as fast as he could, trying to get them all out before he lost his nerve. ¡°Yeah, okay, but if nothing happens, can we have a conversation about what kind of stress you¡¯re under?¡± His dad asked back. ¡°We can have that conversation either way.¡± Cal sighed the words and stood up from the table. ¡°Time to rejoin the family.¡± He hoped this turned into a normal day, and he would only have to explain a series of weird nightmares. He thought this as he sat back down on the couch. Sadly, his hopes were soon dashed as the first news reports began coming in. ¡°We have preliminary reports from New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas involving city-wide lockdowns, with mass shooters reported in all three cities. This seems to be a coordinated attack, and everyone is urged to stay locked in their home today,¡± the anchorman announced. He looked frazzled as he continued listing off safety preparations for the various possible scenarios. Cal saw his father side-eye him from the recliner. Suddenly, the news anchor was cut off and replaced with a live feed of someone at the scene in New York City. It was hard to determine what he was saying, but in the distance, he could easily see several of the figures Cal encountered at his attempted delivery location last time. Unlike the previous time, he had both the time and ability to get a good look at them. His finger count had been off. They actually looked to have eight fingers per hand. Their skin tones ranged from dark green to a gray-green color. They all looked to be in the six-foot or taller range. Several of them were carrying the weird crowbar-like objects. The nearest one raised it, and the tip started glowing bright red. The last thing the feed captured was a loud boom and a scream before the screen switched back to the newsroom. ¡°I don¡¯t have words to convey what we all just saw. Please protect yourselves as best you can, and let¡¯s hope the military has been deployed,¡± beside the speaking man, his co-host was crying. ¡°I want everyone in the basement in five minutes. Cal help me grab the hunting gear. Jen, grab your laptop. Boys, get the animals downstairs.¡± Stan barked out a series of orders, everyone jumping up without a question. Cal followed his dad into the garage to the gun safe. ¡°Dad, before we head downstairs with everyone else, I need you to listen. There isn¡¯t a lot of time left.¡± ¡°How the hell did you know this was coming, let alone know how much time is left, Cal?¡± His dad asked, exasperated. ¡°This is the second time I¡¯ve been through this.¡± His dad started to interrupt, but Cal cut him off and continued, ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Just listen and believe me when I say I know I sound like I¡¯ve lost my mind.¡± Cal explained the hours leading up to the white flash, the last time he had lived through this day. ¡°So somehow, the grandkid of our neighbors forced you into a time loop, and this has all happened before?¡± To Cal¡¯s surprise, his father looked like he believed him. ¡°Well, mostly all of it happened before. I did change some things. Remember when I begged you to stay home fifteen years ago and just watch a movie with me?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Yeah, I had never seen you so serious about anything before.¡± ¡°Well, the way it happened originally for me, you were in a horrible car accident, and you didn¡¯t make it.¡± Cal¡¯s voice cracked as he told the story of his original life. ¡°It was one of two things I decided I was going to try to change to test if I could change things. And the good news is you¡¯re alive and happy, so I think that worked out pretty well. Hell, I even like my stepmother. How often does that happen?¡± Cal forced a smile, pushing the bad memories aside in favor of new, happier ones. He wondered how confusing this was going to be if the loops continued. Cal thought about the now conflicting memories of his life. Just how much could his brain store? ¡°Here¡¯s what I need from you, Dad. Tell me something you¡¯ve never told anyone, something you¡¯ve known long enough that if I end up back as a kid, I can use it to convince you this is happening. I may need your help in future loops, and this is all I can think of to try and convince you I haven¡¯t lost my mind.¡± Cal¡¯s father took a deep breath, sighed heavily, looked his son over, and finally started talking. ¡°You¡¯re really serious here, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I am¡± ¡°When we lost your mom, I almost killed myself. I came very close; I had a plan and everything, and then Bug came into the room and laid on my lap. She just stared at me for ten minutes. That was all it took to stop me. I¡¯ve never told anyone that, and if you need to convince me quickly about all this, that story should do it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to bring that up again, but I¡¯m glad you told me. Thank you.¡± Cal was grateful for the information. He hoped it would simplify things in the future. ¡°Oh, also, I¡¯m probably going to be watching my phone pretty closely once we get set up downstairs. I want to track when this loop ends, assuming it does.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± After grabbing the needed gear from the gun safe, they went to the basement. The family spent the next few hours conversing awkwardly, trying to stay distracted from increasingly sparse news reports. Communication with several major cities had gone completely down, and all the media seemed to know at this point was that the military had mobilized worldwide. The ground started rumbling at four-thirty PM. The white flash came next, precisely ten minutes later. Loop 2 Cal woke up in his bed again to the sound of his father yelling at him to wake up and take the dog out. It was repeating, the same as the last loop. This surprised Cal but brought a much-needed sense of relief. He didn¡¯t want to admit it to himself, but there had been a nagging fear he was blowing his only chance to do what he could about the future invasion, and so far, it looked like that wasn¡¯t true. He hopped out of bed with a smile on his face this time. ¡°I¡¯m awake. I¡¯ll be out in a few minutes, Dad.¡± Cal yelled back. * Cal spent the majority of this loop in the same way as the last, with one giant exception. He tracked Andy nearly constantly. He started by ensuring he got his address when they first talked and kept up a series of letters for the first few years, moving that to email and social media as soon as possible. He didn¡¯t enjoy having to wait for the evolution of technology. Six months before the white flash, he moved to Dallas and began a closer friendship with Andy. He started a Dungeons & Dragons campaign and got Andy involved, partially because he liked gaming but mostly because he wanted to see how Andy reacted to different hypothetical situations. The big problem he kept encountering was that Andy refused to talk about any exact details of his work. It was always in broad terms. ¡°Oh, I do some university-funded studies into physics, nothing too special. Now CERN, that¡¯s who you want to watch,¡± was all he managed to pry loose, yet again, the day before shit hit the fan for the third time. Cal woke up the morning of May 8th, ready for plan B. He didn¡¯t really want to do it, but he just couldn¡¯t get enough information otherwise, and he needed to maximize the time he had with loop-aware Andy. He had a list of prepared questions and was reasonably sure he could get through them in the thirty minutes they would have. It was time to kidnap Andrew Thomas. He tracked Andy down to the local diner, where he routinely ate breakfasts and walked inside. ¡°Andy didn¡¯t expect to see you here,¡± Cal feigned surprise as he greeted his friend. ¡°Oh hey, Cal, yeah, this is where I like to eat my eggs before work.¡± Andy looked as normal as he ever did. He wondered exactly what the change looked like as he sat down in the bench seat across from Andy. Cal was concerned if he could even notice until he spoke up about it. He hoped so. After finishing breakfast and some small talk, they left the building. ¡°Hey Andy, want a ride to work? I¡¯ve gotta head in that direction anyway.¡± Cal decided it was now or never to kick off the plan. ¡°Oh sure, that would be great.¡± Andy happily accepted the offer. ¡°You can just drop me off here¡­ or here, hey Cal, we just passed my building.¡± Andy¡¯s annoyance was evident in his voice as Cal¡¯s driving didn¡¯t slow. Cal lifted his shirt and pointed to a gun on his hip. ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry about this, but I assume you know what this is?¡± Andy nodded, a look of panic showing in his eyes. ¡°Good, don¡¯t worry, everything is going to be fine. We¡¯re just skipping out on work today for a small road trip.¡± Cal¡¯s words failed to reassure Andy, and the man¡¯s panicked expression worsened. Cal drove the car onto the expressway, put on the radio, and started waiting for the change. ¡°Cal, why are you doing this? Why today of all days?¡± Andy pleaded for answers from his friend. ¡°Because the world is about to end, and you¡¯re at the center of it. This will all make a lot more sense in about an hour. Well, I think it will. This is the first time I¡¯ve tried this, so apologies if it goes wrong, but hey, the good news is you won¡¯t remember if it does.¡± Cal¡¯s answers were still doing nothing to calm Andy down. His face had moved from panic to severe agitation, though Cal thought that was something. ¡°Cal, what¡¯s wrong? Has the stress at work been getting to you? We can talk about it. Let¡¯s just pull over and talk it out, preferably without the gun.¡± ¡°Sure, we can stop here and talk.¡± Call pulled the cover into a rest area and parked as far away from the building as he could. He reached into the center console and pulled out a few pieces of paper, handing one to Andy. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Andy asked. ¡°It¡¯s a list of questions I have for you. I don¡¯t fully expect you to answer any of them for another twenty minutes or so, but feel free to read them over and give it a go if you¡¯d like.¡± The questions on the sheet were numbered.
  1. What exactly is your job?
  2. What is the gravity generator?
  3. I looked into McCarthy, and I¡¯m planning to personally investigate on the next loop. Do you know anything specific about the ore?
  4. What causes the white flash?
  5. Is it possible to bring someone else into these loops?
  6. Why aren¡¯t you fully in them?
  7. What¡¯s something you can tell me that I can use to easily convince your younger self to trust me at the start of a loop?
  8. Is there anything else you can think of that I should know?
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Andy read the questions over and looked up at Cal. ¡°What the fuck are these? How do you know about the ore and gravity generator? Are you a spy? Wait, am I a spy? Is that what you are waiting for, some kind of time-delayed hypnotic suggestion kicking in and my real personality coming to the forefront? Who do we work for?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t spies, though you aren¡¯t far off on the personality thing. We are trapped in some kind of time loop, and your more knowledgeable self apparently reasserts itself near the end of each loop. He¡¯s probably in the back of your head right now screaming at me for ignoring his orders on the last loop.¡± ¡°What did he tell you to do?¡± Cal could easily tell Andy was pretending to play along, as he was still visibly scared of Cal. ¡°He wanted me to stay as close to you as I could, which I did in this loop, but in the last loop, I needed to learn how much of what he said was bullshit. Turns out it wasn¡¯t. We hit the end with a white flash, the same as the time before, and I woke up yet again in my bed the day we met. If it¡¯s any consolation, I do know none of this sounds plausible, and I doubt I can do anything to convince you it¡¯s real at the moment. That¡¯s why question seven is so important for the other self.¡± ¡°Cal, I really don¡¯t think we are in any sort of time loop. How about we just go back to Dallas, we forget this part happened, and we take you to a doctor?¡± Andy looked sincere in his request. He was genuinely worried his friend was having a psychotic break. Cal still somewhat wished that were true. It would be so much easier if this were all just his own paranoid delusions, Cal thought, not for the first time or the last time. He was about to respond when Andy¡¯s face scrunched up in pain. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°Ugh, I need to vomit. Please unlock the door now,¡± Andy ordered, the last word more a snarl than anything else. His tone was now different. Something had changed. Good. Cal unlocked the door and watched Andy stumble out and deposit this morning¡¯s eggs onto the grass. He pulled a napkin from his pocket and cleaned himself off before rejoining Cal in the car. ¡°I¡¯m not as angry as you think. I¡¯m actually surprised it only took one extra loop for you to decide to talk to me again. I was initially worried you wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the stress at all, and I¡¯d have to work towards a new solution.¡± ¡°Can we go over the list? I¡¯d prefer not to have to kidnap you again.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, next time we do this, though, can you bring me a burger? I haven¡¯t had one in, well, actually, I don¡¯t know how long. Things started to blend together after the fiftieth loop.¡± ¡°Wait, how long have we been stuck in this before I was brought in.¡± Cal cut in. He was now worried there wasn¡¯t any way to end this. ¡°No idea. I¡¯d need some time to track that, but it¡¯s not really worth it to spend my limited time at the moment. As for your questions, let¡¯s see¡± Andy picked up the sheet and looked it over. ¡°My doctorate is in geology. The main thing I¡¯m studying here is the sample MAL2021-DAN, which is the ore found in the mine. It has very unique properties when it comes into contact with gravitons.¡± ¡°Do those even exist? I thought they were entirely theoretical.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure about his question, but he remembered reading something like a while back. ¡°Yeah, lots of things don¡¯t exist outside government-funded labs. No idea who actually figured out how to isolate them, but they are used to power the gravity generator. This covers your second question, feed them into the generator, and we get power. On the other hand, if they come into contact with the ore, they start to multiply. I¡¯ll return to question three in a minute, as this phenomenon is tied to question four. I believe that the white flash is caused by the ore creating infinitely many gravitons for the generator, leading to some sort of universal collapse into a singular point. Clearly, we can bring others into the loops, seeing as how you¡¯re here, but as of now, it¡¯s tied to their relation to me. We may be able to extend it to their relation to you as well, as the energy in your body continues to radiate across these recurrences. Do you have something to drink in here? I¡¯m parched.¡± His abrupt topic change annoyed Cal, but he popped the trunk and grabbed two soda cans nonetheless. He was willing to put up with this as long as he needed to get his life back to some semblance of normal. ¡°Here, it¡¯s all I¡¯ve got.¡± Cal handed him a Pepsi. ¡°Really, no Coke? Next time bring Coke, but back to the list. I took a blast of energy from the ore sample directly during my initial experience with all this. I won¡¯t say before the loops because, for all we know, there are other people out there also doing this, and could have been doing this longer than me. That said, one of the aliens fired that weird stick weapon they carry everywhere at me. The ore absorbed the blast but then exploded, bathing the room with energy. I don¡¯t fully understand what happened, but now I¡¯m tied to the white flash we experience somehow. I then spent many loops trying to figure out what was going on and then trying to figure out how to bring someone else into one at an earlier time in control of themselves. I started refining small bits of the ore and giving them to you in pill form every loop, and then only a few dozen loops later, and here we are.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been feeding me experimental ore pills for dozens of loops?¡± Cal stared at Andy with an incredulous look on his face. ¡°Sure, I figured either it worked or it killed you. At this point, there wasn¡¯t much of a difference.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t think I like you.¡± Cal shook his head, still in disbelief at being a guinea pig. ¡°Irrelevant. Back to question three, so all I really know is there was some sort of mutated animal found around the site, which led to a team going into investigate. The ore was retrieved somewhere in the mine. The details were fully redacted in the paper I read. Now, as for something you can tell me, hmm, tell me about the time when I was six, and I tried to mix some household cleaners together in an experiment. I burnt a hole in the carpet in my bedroom, which I managed to keep hidden for years. As far as I know, my parents never discovered it. Think that will work.¡± Andy finished, opened his soda, and downed the whole can. ¡°As good as anything, I suppose, not much longer left, so question eight?¡± ¡°In future loops, please don¡¯t sully my mind with such nonsense as Dungeons and Dragons?! I¡¯m a man of science, thank you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really starting to understand why you had no friends before I came along.¡± ¡°Jealousy?¡± ¡°Oh good, there¡¯s the rumbling, not much longer.¡± Cal''s sarcasm dripped out of his mouth as he spoke. ¡°We will see just how social you are in another fifty loops. Now I think it¡¯s time for some music before this ends again.¡± Andy turned the radio to a classic pop station. He then cranked the radio as loud as it would go. Cal found the music strangely comforting as the white flash arrived on time, as usual. Loop 3 Cal¡¯s day one morning routine played out again as he went over Andy¡¯s answers in his head. A trip to McCarthy it is. I wish he knew more about the mutated animal or the state of the mine, though. It¡¯s probably best I go sooner rather than later. Several weeks into the loop, Cal got his dad to sit down so they could talk. He needed his help to build up their finances as quickly as possible, and he could only do that by convincing him of the loop. ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going to tell you something that I couldn¡¯t possibly know. Once the pain and shock start to wear off, I¡¯ll explain how I know it and what that means, okay?¡± he looked his father in the eyes as he explained. ¡°Sure, what¡¯s going on?¡± The worry on his father¡¯s face was growing. ¡°I know the only reason you are still here is Bug stopped your suicide.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t happy about bringing it up again, but he also knew it had to be done. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted this to get easier in future loops or not. Stan¡¯s face drooped. He laid his head down in his arms on the table and spoke in a controlled voice. ¡°Did you see it happen somehow? Look, I¡¯m sorry, it was a moment of weakness, I won¡¯t leave you too,¡± Stan started to explain. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, I understand. Shit happens. We can¡¯t always make great decisions during times of high stress. The reason I know about it isn¡¯t because I witnessed it, though. It¡¯s because you told me about it. I asked you how I could convince a younger you that I was stuck in a time loop, and you told me this story as something no one else should know. I haven¡¯t tried it before now, but I need your help this time around.¡± Cal did his best to reassure his father that everything was okay. ¡°You¡¯re serious right now, this isn¡¯t some terrible joke?¡± ¡°One hundred percent. If you¡¯d like, we can go watch some TV, and I¡¯ll predict some endings as far as I can remember them. This will be my fourth time going through this, and I¡¯m packing in a lot of memories at this point. Now that I think about it, I should probably look into some learning methods for working memory this time around, too. But the big reason here is I need you to gamble for us. I need a lot of cash on hand when I turn eighteen in this loop as I have to go explore an abandoned, possibly haunted mine in the middle of Alaska.¡± Cal forced half a smile as he finished. They spent the rest of the night watching different sports and news stations, with Cal doing his best to predict their outcomes from what he had remembered previously. Eventually, Stan came around to the idea and agreed to place a few preliminary bets on some sporting events to start them off. ¡°Thanks, once we have that done, there¡¯s a lower jackpot lottery coming up that I¡¯ve got the numbers for as well. That should set us up enough for the next couple of decades.¡± Three months later and Stan¡¯s bank account had more money in it than he¡¯d ever thought possible. ¡°So what now?¡± he asked his son over dinner. ¡°Research, so much research. Did you know eventually, the Internet is going to really take off and revolutionize our ability to look shit up? I mean, in just ten years, we are going to have small computers we all carry around that let us look up unlimited information on the fly. But we¡¯re still three years out from Wikipedia, so I¡¯m going to be spending a ton of time at the library. Also, do you think we can find spelunking classes? It¡¯s probably for the best if I learned how to properly cave.¡± ¡°We learn how to cave. You aren¡¯t wandering an abandoned mine alone.¡± His dad corrected him, emphasizing the we. ¡°I¡¯ve got some old friends who I''m sure would love to take us on a cave trip. I¡¯ll call them tomorrow.¡± ¡®Great, I¡¯ll be at the library most of the day. I¡¯m going to start skipping school a lot more often this time around. So far, I¡¯ve just been dealing with it and trying to learn some of the things I missed on my first go, but with the limited window and more important things to spend the time on, I think it¡¯s for the best.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m agreeing that it¡¯s a good idea for my son to drop out of school at twelve.¡± ¡°I really wish looking twelve came with that childhood sense of nothing can ever go wrong.¡± Cal finished his dinner. ¡°I¡¯m going to head to bed. Let me know the caving plans once you have them.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Spelunking turned out to be easier than finding a good history of McCarthy. As the years ticked by, Cal and Stan surprised themselves at how much they were learning and even enjoying themselves as they traveled to caves across the country, getting in as much experience as they could before the trip. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Their biggest obstacle was that it was easier said than done for a preteen to drop out of school. After a few consultations with a lawyer, they concluded that the best course of action was creating a homeschool framework. Once it was complete, they had the freedom to continue the plan. * They sat down for a steak dinner on Cal''s sixteenth birthday and reviewed the plan. It turned out the mine wasn¡¯t in McCarthy but likely the ghost town of Kennecott. It was considered a tourist destination, though most people stayed out of the mines themselves. Cal was able to learn about three primary mines nearby: Bonanza, Jumbo, and Erie. Each would require a hike, but they should be able to drive a motorhome most of the way to Kennecott. The plan was to say they were taking a trip for hiking, caving, and hunting. Cal figured their best bet was doing this in the Alaskan summer. That way, there was less chance of underfed bears being an issue. ¡°So what happens when this ends? Do I just forget all of this, and we go back to the way we were?¡± Stan asked unexpectedly. This wasn¡¯t a topic he had ever brought up before. ¡°I think so. You are the first person I¡¯ve told about this, though, so I guess anything is possible, but I¡¯m pretty sure I can¡¯t permanently make you remember without whatever Andy was feeding me.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t happy with his answer, but he didn¡¯t have anything else he could add to change it. ¡°Promise me that if you figure out how to bring others into this, you will bring me along. I don¡¯t want you doing this alone. It¡¯s too much pressure for one kid,¡± Stan looked more like a father than he had in years. It had become increasingly difficult for Cal to play the kid in their relationship, but he understood this. His dad genuinely cared about what happened to him. ¡°I will,¡± and he meant it. He had every intention of bringing him along. He just had to learn how. * Driving the motorhome to McCarthy had been relatively easy; now, the path to Kennecott was not so much. Stan was the better of two at rough roads, so he was handling this leg of the trip. So far, they had stopped three times to free a stuck wheel from mud, but in the end, they managed the trip. They set up camp near the Kennicott River bridge and started discussing their plans for tomorrow. ¡°I say we just start big and go for Erie. It¡¯s the harder hike, but once we get it out the way, I think we will be happy we did,¡± Stan had made this argument before. ¡°Yeah, I think you¡¯re right. We hike up there, make camp at the entrance, and start mapping it out as best we can.¡± Cal had mentally given in a few weeks ago, planning to do so verbally the next time it came up. They set out the following day at first light. It was five miles to the mine over rugged rocky terrain. The slow and careful pace took them several hours to arrive. Cal was just glad they both made it in one piece. They sat down and ate a big lunch before starting tent assembly. ¡°I figure we get the camp together and then take a quick look around, but wait until tomorrow for any real surveying.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Stan agreed with his son. * He should have known something was bound to go wrong. These loops have been easy enough so far. Cal''s thoughts were stuck in a state of panic as he raced through the mine, desperately trying to find his father. * Twenty minutes earlier, they had started poking around the mine, just the initial passageways and small complexes built for the workers inside, when Cal thought he heard a muffled voice from one of the tunnels. ¡°Dad, come here. Do you hear anything?¡± he asked, pointing down the tunnel. ¡°Oh, I wouldn¡¯t wooooorry too much about her. She neeeeever comes out. She doesn¡¯t like to playyyy with herrrrr food. She¡¯s such a bore.¡± A voice called down from the ceiling behind them. It was too dark for Cal to make out the voice''s owner. ¡°Fuck, who¡¯s there?¡± Stan yelled. ¡°IIIIIII aaaaaammmm.¡± the voice managed to sing and shriek its response. ¡°Run, we need out of the cave now!¡± Stan ordered Cal, but before either of them could move, something grabbed Stan from behind, and he was pulled into the cave where they had initially heard the voice from. ¡°Cal, just go!¡± he screamed as he disappeared into darkness. Fuck, fuck, fuck, heavy metal reject on the ceiling, dad grabbed by mysterious other thing in the tunnel. No choice, he thought as he started dashing down the tunnel after his father, reaching into his pockets for some glow sticks to mark the path as he went. ¡°Dad, can you hear me!?¡± He yelled, unable to spot him anywhere in the beam of his flashlight. ¡°He cccan¡¯t, but I caaaaan.¡± The voice from the ceiling was back. Cal spun around, getting his first clear sight of the owner, and nearly shit himself in fear. It was a spider the size of a moose. It was running along the wall after him. ¡°Runnnnn boy, rrrrrun, I like my games beeeeeefore dinnnnner.¡± Cal did as instructed; he tried to, at least, he tripped over a rock, causing him to crash through an old broken railing and fall over the edge into darkness. He hit the ground feet first, feeling several bones snap on impact. Unable to think clearly through the pain and fear, he just lay there wishing he had asked Andy what would happen if they died before the white flash. The spider creature emerged from the darkness, striding towards him. ¡°Awwwww, you went and broke yourrrrrself,¡± the voice crooned while it gently rubbed one its legs across his cheek. ¡°Now we can¡¯t play anymore.¡± Suddenly, the smiling face changed to bared fangs. ¡°Well, best not waaaaaste fresh meeeeat,¡± the words came out in a hiss. Cal screamed until he could scream no longer. Loop 4 Loop 4 Cal bolted awake. It was still dark outside through his window. He jumped out of bed and turned the lights on, quickly ensuring the spider creature was gone. ¡°Holy shit,¡± he muttered to himself. Well, three things he learned last time, at least. The panic finally started to wear off, and he could think more clearly. Dying in a loop just puts him back to the start of it. He was glad of that. It also looks like how he died could affect his sleep at the start of the next loop. He needed to remember that one. He thought he might be able to find a way to use it to his advantage. And finally, it turned out that not only were aliens real, but so were monsters. Fuck, why did it have to be spiders? Couldn¡¯t it have been some mutated bear? He had mentally prepared for that one. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Cal crept out of his room and silently walked through the house. He wanted to verify nothing had been carried across the loop for his dad. He found the man sound asleep in his own bed. Cal thought that was good enough for him and returned to his room. He wanted to try to get some more sleep himself. * As far as Cal could tell, his father was fine and had zero lasting effects from the last loop. He was now sure they needed to explore that mine more than ever, so he repeated the loop until everything went wrong. This time, they set up camp in one of the rooms that could be closed off. All exploration was now to be done fully armed. They also had night vision goggles, this time to avoid any mishaps or monsters in the dark. Despite this, two days later, Cal found himself stuck in the center of a giant web, about to repeat the ending of the last loop. He had brought a grenade and kept it on himself at all times just in case of a similar event and pulled the pin. He had no intention of reliving the horrors of his last death ever again. Loop 5 ¡°God Dammit¡± Cal screamed, firing off the last of his ammo into the bear shape. He had finally come around to the idea of the giant spiders being the issue, and then they found bears with tentacles this time. ¡°Dad, just run for the cave. Somehow, that¡¯s the safer option!¡± Cal yelled at his father. This time, they had decided to set up camp outside the mine with a more secure structure. Cal figured the spiders weren¡¯t overly fond of sunlight, and that would provide them an extra layer of defense. And that was true. This had been the longest loop spent at the mines so far. Sadly, almost none of it was spent in the mine as they had been playing cat and mouse with a bear that had been crossed with a Lovecraftian horror. It started the first night while they were collecting firewood. Stan pointed out a bear to Cal that was meandering through the trees. It was a perfectly normal sight, then the bear stood on its hind legs, looked directly at them, and howled. The hair on its body started growing as it charged. They slammed the door shut on their enclosure just as the bear crashed into it. Two of the hair tentacles caught in the door as it was slammed shut, severing them onto the ground. They continued to squirm around for another few seconds. ¡°Don¡¯t touch them,¡± Stan ordered as he grabbed a fire poker. ¡°Wasn¡¯t planning to.¡± Cal moved behind his father so that he had easy access to prod the tentacles with the poker. Nothing happened. ¡°Well, at least they die when cut off.¡± Stan quickly turned his head towards a new metal grinding sound they heard on the other side of the cabin.¡±Shit, I think the bear is strong enough to break through the wall. Grab the guns. We are going to have to try to take this down.¡± Cal grabbed the rifles, passed his father one, checked that his was loaded, and walked towards the door. ¡°Ready?¡± His father nodded in affirmation. Cal threw the door open and dashed through it, trying to get a good shot while running. He failed to do so. Luckily for both of them, his father was a much better shot and managed to take the bear thing down. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep in shifts and decide what to do in the morning.¡± Stan was examining the damage as he suggested it. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is actually too bad, but given enough time, it would have gotten in.¡± The rest of the night was quiet, and they both managed to get some sleep. The next day, though, was entirely something else. They left the camp around noon to start a small survey of the mines when Cal spotted them. Dozens of the bear-things were on the cliffs below them, howling. A few had already gotten between them and their return path. Stan fired shot after shot at the incoming mass, knocking a few down but doing nothing to stop the horde when he heard his son yell to run for the cave. His ammo was dwindling anyway, and he agreed it was probably their best bet. Cal had assumed the bears wouldn¡¯t follow them. He thought the giant bugs kept them out. It was why he figured they hadn¡¯t encountered the bears before now. He had assumed wrong. The two ran ahead into one of the safer spots they had found in the mine, the bears giving chase. ¡°Weeee hadd a ddddeeal!¡± the rasping voice of the spider creature had entered the fray. ¡°Pretty sure we are screwed, sorry, Dad¡± Cal looked at his father, thankful for the continued company despite being told how badly this had ended the last two times. ¡°It¡¯s not over until it¡¯s over.¡± He pointed out the bears had stopped and turned towards the tunnel the voice had come from. ¡°WE GET THE UNDERGROUND FOOD!¡± shrieked another voice from deeper in. Followed by loud scratching sounds that best-resembled nails on the chalkboard moving through the tunnel. ¡°Good neeeewws bearrrss¡± the spider creature chittered. ¡°She hasn¡¯t come out to play in ages.¡± Cal and his father slowly and as quietly as they could made their way into the room carved from the wall in this chamber. This was where they had tried to make their mapping room in the last loop, and it was as good as anywhere to hide and wait out whatever the carnage. For the next hour, Cal and his father were treated to horrific sounds ranging from the weird child-like voice of the spider creature to bowel movement-inducing roars from the bears. Occasionally, these would be joined by something else: angrier voices screaming about the underground, often accompanied by a ripping sound. Finally, after several hours had passed, the noise outside the room stopped. They loaded their remaining ammo. Cal pushed the door open slightly for Stan to toss a few road flares into the darkness. A single sickening scream was heard in the distance. ¡°OURS!¡± It managed to cough the word out before its head crashed to the ground, covered in gore. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if it was still alive or not. It looked like it used to be some sort of centipede, but it was severely mangled now. Stan took no chances and put a few bullets into its head. ¡°Search the bodies for any movement. Put anything still alive out of their misery. He said as he was shining his flashlight onto the various bear parts. ¡°Make sure you find the spider creature¡¯s corpse, too. That¡¯s been the real issue on the last two loops. If she¡¯s dead, then I guess that we just lure the bear horde in here in the future and let them take care of each other.¡± Cal spotted the spider creature¡¯s unmoving body. ¡°Good, it went down too.¡± ¡°Alright, go, let¡¯s go collect everything from the campsite and move it into here then. I¡¯m worried there may be more bears out there.¡± Stan finished checking the corpses near him and made for the entrance. Cal followed behind him. It took them a few hours, but they managed to get all of the gear moved into the mine chamber. Cal looked at his dad. ¡°I¡¯m going to get some sleep, give things a chance to fully settle down, and see if we hear anything new out there. If it stays clear, I vote we begin our search for the ore.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan. I¡¯m going to get some food together for dinner.¡± The rest of the day proved as uneventful as Cal had hoped. They set off early the next day after breakfast, starting down the tunnel from which the monstrous centipede¡¯s voice had first come. Cal figured since they hadn¡¯t been able to get anywhere near that tunnel yet, now was the time. The tunnel was an easy path, gently sloping downward until he ended up in a large pool of water. The water was only one of the differences in the chamber Cal noticed. It was also dimly lit with something glowing beneath the water¡¯s surface. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Think that¡¯s what we came for?¡± Stan pointed towards the brightest spot in the water. ¡°God, I hope so, but the idea of diving into that isn¡¯t a pleasant thought. So how do we want to do this?¡± Stan dropped his pack, emptied his pockets, took off his shoes and dived. I guess that¡¯s one way, Cal thought as his father disappeared below the water. Seconds later, Stan¡¯s head broke the surface. ¡°Cal catch!¡± he yelled, tossing a glowing rock towards his son. Cal grabbed the rock and looked it over quickly, realizing his mistake a second too late. His father was being pulled under by something. ¡°Just leave me and go,¡± Stan gurgled half the words as head was yanked back under. Cal ran to the water''s edge, ready and willing to dive in after his father when something on the far wall caught his attention. A sizeable shadowy form dropped into the water and started swimming toward him. ¡°Fuck¡± Cal yelled into the air, deciding he had no choice but to leave his father for dead this loop. He ran as quickly and safely as possible, escaping the mine into the relative safety of daylight. He held it together until he was safe, back home with Bug. ¡°Hey girl, I¡¯m sorry dad is not coming home, I really am. I promise next time it will go differently.¡± he let the dog see his tears and stress deeply overwhelm him. While he did finally fall asleep that night, it was neither relaxing nor restful. He was woken up the following day by Bug demanding to go outside. She had gotten used to the regular pattern of her dog sitter and was refusing to go back to the chaos that was Cal¡¯s schedule. ¡°Okay, girl, I¡¯m up. Let¡¯s get you outside and then get some breakfast in both of us.¡± He opened the backdoor and released her into the yard, sitting down in one of the patio chairs to think about what he wanted to do next. He guessed he needed to convince Andy about the loop next. He needed his help to figure out what they could do with the ore anyway. In theory, he should be moving to Dallas shortly. It was time to buy the house next door. Cal spent the next six months working out the logistics of declaring his father missing, banking accounts, and the move itself. Still, he had been able to navigate it all without too many tangles, at least nothing that would likely matter in the long run, and his long runs were a lot longer than everyone else, at least so far. He ensured the new house had a nice yard for Bug and an excellent central air unit, as they both preferred the cold. Two months following his move-in, the Thomas family moved in next door. Cal stole some of their mail soon after. The following day, he knocked on their front door and was greeted by a groggy older man. ¡°Hello,¡± the words came out from a man very clearly still half asleep. ¡°Hey Neighbor, got some of your mail by mistake yesterday. I noticed some of this was addressed to an Andrew Thomas. This is going to sound weird, but years ago, I met an Andy Thomas in Michigan when he was helping move his grandparents in. No chance that¡¯s the same guy, is it?¡± Cal asked in his best, trying to sound innocent and totally ignorant of the answer voice. The man¡¯s eyes opened wider at the mention of his son¡¯s name. It looked like he had finally come awake. ¡°Andrew, come here in a minute. Somehow, an old friend of yours is here,¡± the man called back into the house behind. ¡°Yeah, that had to have been him. About seven years ago, right? We moved my parents to Charlevoix.¡± Andy appeared behind him. ¡°What is it? I¡¯m trying to get some homework done.¡± ¡°Hey Andy, you probably don¡¯t remember me, but we talked comics a few years back in Charlevoix. You played with Bug in the backyard as well. What a weird coincidence living next to each other in Dallas years later.¡± Cal looked Andy over. He looked much less happy than in the loop they were friends in. ¡°Oh yeah, you had the nice dog. Yeah, weird coincidence,¡± Andy responded. He didn¡¯t look overly interested. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯d love to meet you again. Why don¡¯t you stop by tonight, and we can play some video games? I¡¯ve only been here a few months myself and haven¡¯t had time to make any gaming buddies yet.¡± his voice was as sincere as he could muster. He needed to lure Andy into his world in order not to waste the rest of this loop. ¡°Good idea, Andy. You could use some more time socializing.¡± His father interjected. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll be over at six.¡± Andy sighed, agreeing, and turned to walk away. ¡°See you later,¡± Cal called after him. ¡°Nice meeting you as well, sir.¡± Andy¡¯s father nodded and closed the door. A few hours later, Cal learned that Andy did not play video games in this loop. Cal thought that this explained some of future Andy¡¯s annoyance at being made to experience role-playing games. ¡°Alright, enough games for now. It''s time for a new conversation. I¡¯m going to get this statement out of the way as fast as I can so we can move into question-and-answer time. When you were six, you burnt a hole in the carpet. You managed to hide it, and no one ever found out. I know this because I¡¯m stuck in a time loop, and you told me this in the future as a way to convince you of the loop now.¡± Andy stared at Cal with a blank face, slowly opening his mouth. ¡°What¡­ Are you serious?¡± ¡°Yes, you were doing an experiment, and it was in your bedroom in the apartment you lived in. I need your help to figure out what this ore is and how we can use it to solve the way you are experiencing the loop.¡± Cal pulled the rock from a safe in the room. ¡°Alright, just explain everything.¡± Andy settled into the chair, looking resigned to his new, very unusual fate. One series of explanations later, Andy looked invested. ¡°I¡¯m going to write up a list of things we will need to really start working on this mysterious rock. First up, we need to move it to a lead-lined container. Buying that is the priority. In any future loop, it always needs to be kept there unless we have made one hundred percent sure it¡¯s safe. Some of these things will be very expensive, but with your future lottery knowledge, I¡¯m sure we will be fine there.¡± He started scribbling down on some items on a notepad. He handed it to Cal when he was done. ¡°I¡¯m heading home, but I trust you can get these things.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, why not. I know exactly what a Thermal ionization mass spectrometer is, after all.¡± Cal shook his head while he spoke. The list was basically nonsense to him. Acquiring it should be interesting. A few months later, Cal¡¯s garage had become a geology lab. The two of them spent most of their free time there over the course of the following year, testing the various properties of the rock. So far, they had determined that it was emitting some sort of radiation, and exposure to it caused changes in both plants and animals. The fruit flies started being able to spit some kind of venom, and the grass turned purple in the experiments. They had also learned that his blood reacted entirely differently to a small sample than Cal¡¯s did. There was zero noticeable reaction when a few drops of Cal¡¯s blood was mixed with some shavings, whereas when Andy¡¯s was mixed, they both vanished. This was repeated several times without any idea of where they were going. Andy had talked about a theory one night that it¡¯s possible his other self is occupying some sort of quantum world and that when his blood meets the ore, it also moves to this world. He had no idea how to test the theory as of yet but said it was the best he could come up with right now. One night, a little over a year into their experiments, they heard screams coming from the street. ¡°What was that?¡± Andy looked up from his microscope. ¡°No idea, I¡¯ll check.¡± Cal opened the side door of the garage and looked outside. There were several of the aliens walking down the street, with smaller groups breaking off at each house to run inside. Holy shit, why are they here now. Cal started to panic. ¡°Andy, quick out the back door. We have to run now. Somehow, the aliens are already here.¡± ¡°What, how? Wait, it has to be the ore. That¡¯s probably why they attacked future me¡¯s research building. I wonder what triggers their hunt for it, though. The timing seems random.¡± ¡°Jesus, Andy, now isn¡¯t the time for theories. We need to.¡± Cal¡¯s statement was cut off as the garage door flashed away in a bright light, revealing several of the aliens holding their crowbar weapons glowing menacingly. He was going to need a safe room next time. Cal¡¯s last thoughts as he saw the beam of light fired at him were about how safe a room had to be to stop one of these beams. Loop 6 Luring the bears into a fight with the bugs proved easy enough when it was planned for instead of randomly sprung upon Cal. They were also able to get the ore from the water using nets instead of anyone diving in. When Cal returned home this time, he did it with his father still alive. Cal and Bug left for Dallas shortly after Stan met Jen, promising to be back as often as possible. ¡°So after I agreed to help in the last loop, we were attacked by the aliens who, for whatever reason, arrived years earlier this time?¡± Cal had decided it was best to let Andy know as soon as possible how the last loop ended. ¡°Yeah, this time, I¡¯ve kept it in a lead-lined container since I acquired it. You were pretty adamant that it needed to be there immediately last time, so I¡¯m hoping things go differently this time around.¡± ¡°Hmm, let me adjust my list of what we need. I understand we used the garage last time, but I think it¡¯s best if we can move this somewhere else. I¡¯m thinking we should buy a warehouse and set up a shielded lab inside of it. We can then set up as many different devices to measure anything leaving the shielded lab.¡± Cal was jotting down notes as he spoke. His face was a mix of focus and curiosity. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a night. Meet me over here tomorrow around noon, and we can start warehouse shopping,¡± Cal yawned. It had been a long night of explanations and reviewing what he could remember from the data they collected in the last loop. This had led him to decide he needed to start working on his memory this time around as well. It was important he could pass Andy accurate information as many times as he needed to. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. At first, Andy had been checking the readouts from sensors outside the lab daily. He had found nothing day after day and slowly decreased his interval until he was now only checking it weekly. Cal sat down at the desk next to Andy¡¯s as he did his current weekly reading. They were back at the day when their garage had been besieged the last loop. ¡°Anything new?¡± Cal took a bite out of his doughnut after he asked. ¡°Still nothing. Either this means we¡¯ve blocked it, or we can¡¯t detect what we need to block.¡± One of the security alarms started beeping. Cal pulled up the camera feeds. ¡°Well, it looks like it''s happening again, so I guess we can¡¯t detect it. So for, next time, do you want to join us on the trip to retrieve the stone? Maybe you can figure out whatever magic it is that keeps it safe in the mine.¡± Andy sighed loudly. ¡°Yeah, probably for the best, and it¡¯s not magic. We just don¡¯t know the science yet. So what do you want to do about them?¡± Cal walked over to a wooden case mounted to the wall, fished a key out of his pocket, and opened it up. ¡°Do you want the shotgun or the pistol?¡± ¡°Dammit, I don¡¯t like guns.¡± ¡°Well, next time, I¡¯ll get you a sword.¡± At first, the guns seemed effective, but once their implements started glowing, Cal could no longer shoot through whatever barrier they created. They managed to hold out another few minutes when a stray blast hit one of the gas tanks. The loop ended with the warehouse vanishing into a fiery maelstrom. Loop 7 Cal decided to try something different on day one this time around. When Andy appeared to talk comics, instead of inviting him to the backyard to play with Bug, Cal had a different topic in mind. ¡°Andy, I''m going to level with you. I know this is going to seem weird, but hear me out, please.¡± Andy took a couple of steps back. He looked like he wanted to leave. ¡°You burnt a hole in the carpet several years ago in your apartment doing an experiment. No one but you knows this.¡± Andy¡¯s face was now one of confusion instead of fear. ¡°Ho-ow, do you know that?¡± Andy stuttered, staring directly at Cal as he asked. ¡°You told me in the future. We are all stuck in a time loop, and I¡¯m the only one that remembers, other than your future self. But he won¡¯t remember until the very end. I need your help long before that.¡± ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Yes¡± Cal spent the next few hours explaining the broad strokes of the previous loops. They traded contact information, and once again, Andy was convinced of the time loop¡¯s existence. All in all, and much to his surprise, it had gone easier than he had expected. He thought for sure he¡¯d end up screwing this up one or two times before the young Andy accepted their shared plight. The next several years were spent similar to the last three loops, though this time Andy was brought along on several hiking trips as Andy made sure to keep in contact with him. Andy¡¯s parents were all too happy to get their son some outdoor time with a friend. During these hikes, the plan for approaching the mines this time around was a constant source of conversation. It was eventually decided that they would prepare to spend as much time as needed there to map and document the entire mine structure, not just grab the stone and run. This meant that Bug was now coming along as she couldn¡¯t be left alone for what was likely to become months. This also meant that the structure they lived in during this attempt needed to be much more solid and semi-permanent. The new plan was a helicopter license, a giant mobile home with a trailer packed full of the building supplies. They would go back and forth to safety every night, no foraging for firewood anywhere near the campsite. The only point of contention was how to handle the animals. While Cal and Stan were planning on bringing gear certified to hunt Alaskan moose, Andy was convinced that they should at least try to talk to them. They decided to table that part of the discussion until their research fortress was built. They were packed and ready to go shortly after Cal''s nineteenth birthday. Andy had convinced his parents he was going on an extended geology survey for college, not wanting to worry them. They celebrated the fourth of July this year by successfully dropping their supplies and landing the helicopter safely outside the mine. Bug had been left behind in the motorhome as they didn¡¯t want her there until she could be secured inside. Cal had pointed out how risky it would be if she alerted the bears or ran into the mine before they were completely set up. Both Stan and Andy agreed. Day one was spent measuring, mapping, and digging many post holes in the ground. The ground was hard and rocky, and by the end of the day, they were all exhausted but safely back at the motorhome relaxing. ¡°Well, guys the good news is now we know we can use the jackhammer without anything coming running now.¡± Cal was hopeful about this trip. ¡°God, I hope we are done with that thing. I¡¯m still vibrating¡± Stan''s voice sounded annoyed, but his face looked relaxed. Cal was pretty sure he was enjoying the trip so far. He was glad neither Andy or Stan could remember the horrors that had occurred here so far. It was why he was so vehemently against trying to make contact with the creatures. He vividly remembered his first encounter. It was not something he ever wanted to repeat. Cal and Stan spent the next day mixing and pouring concrete while Andy walked around with several different instruments taking readings. The only one Cal recognized was the Geiger counter. Every so often, he would come over, sit down, and scribble some more notes while talking to himself about how strange the lack of radiation was considering the monstrous creatures. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t make sense. Something had to mutate them.¡± Andy started ranting. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, Andy, magic.¡± Cal prodded him jokingly, knowing how much he hated that potential answer. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing. I¡¯m betting the effect is just localized, possibly as small as the pool where the stone itself is. ¡°You know, in the loop where we played D&D weekly, I think you would have at least considered magic, Andy.¡± ¡°Doubtful, unless you¡¯re implying long-term exposure to you will rot my brain.¡± ¡°Look at that, a joke, not a great one, but that¡¯s an impressive start for you.¡± ¡°Does it really matter if it¡¯s magic or science?¡± Stan joined the argument. ¡°Yes¡± ¡°No¡± Despite the argument, they managed to get a good chunk of the foundation in place for their upcoming summer vacation home. The days passed much the same. Each day when they arrived at the site, Stan and Cal started the construction tasks, and Andy continued trying to map any data about the area he could. Magic vs science had quickly turned into a running joke among them. Even Andy had finally given in. ¡°See, Andy, you¡¯re already coming around to a loop of fun.¡± Cal joked with his friend over dinner on the final night of the construction. Tomorrow was their move-in day. The perimeter alarms were in place, the cameras were mounted, and most importantly, the reinforced steel walls were secure. This time, they were prepared. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who keeps saying the giant spider ate you, and that¡¯s why we can¡¯t ever try a peaceful route with them? Because that doesn¡¯t sound like my idea of fun.¡± ¡°Look, sometimes the fun is in not being eaten alive. One day, you will understand.¡± ¡°I hope not, I think at least, you phrased that weirdly,¡± Andy was trying his best to voice that he never wanted that particular life experience for himself. Two days later and, their move-in was complete. The three of them were now sitting in front of a monitor while Andy drove a remote-controlled car into the mine. ¡°I still don¡¯t like the idea of this. The spider killed me twice,¡± Cal complained yet again but resigned to at least trying the idea of talking. ¡°I thought you blew yourself up the second time?¡± Stan looked over at his son as he asked. ¡°Well, yes, but it was her fault from the trauma of the first time around.¡± ¡°Can both of you be quiet? I''m about to try to make contact.¡± Andy was trying to focus on the task at hand. ¡°Hello, large spider. Can you hear me?¡± Andy spoke into the headset. After a bit of silence, the familiar crooning of the spider came through the speakers, causing Cal¡¯s heartbeat to race. ¡°What¡¯s this thing making all this noissseee? I dooon¡¯t thiiiink it¡¯s meat.¡± its pattern of dragging out words was hammering home to Cal that this was the spider. ¡°Hello, sir/ma¡¯am/you. I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know what giant spiders prefer to be called. We are trying to explore the mines and, through some odd circumstances, learned of your existence. We were wondering if it would be possible to discuss a peace agreement.¡± Andy managed to maintain a calm and neutral tone throughout the conversation, so far, at least. Cal was hopeful he would continue it. ¡°The nonmeat has reeesspect. I like that. You can call me Many Eyeeees. I wanted many leeeeggssss, but nooo sheeee just had to haaave moooore,¡± The spider¡¯s tone had changed. It became whiney as they brought up what Cal assumed was the giant centipede who lived further down in the mines. ¡°Okay, Many Eyes, what would it take to let us explore the mines?¡± Andy asked again. He still held the neutral voice. ¡°Youuuu keeeeep saying us, but aaaaalll I can see is thissss single metal thing¡± Many Eyes was now visible on the car¡¯s camera. This was the first time Cal had been able to truly look them over. Every other time, Cal had been in a panic, trying desperately to stay alive, or Many Eyes had been torn apart by monster bears. He realized that his life had taken a turn for the strange. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure he hated it either. His last life was pretty dull in comparison. They looked like a giant wolf spider. Their fur was beige colored with brown stripes. Cal especially hated the huge fangs that were captured crystal clear in the image. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Ah, well, you see, that is actually just a robotic device we are controlling from outside to talk to you safely. We are actually three humans and a dog.¡± Andy was about to continue speaking when Many Eyes cut him off. ¡°SO MUCH MEAT!!!¡± they bellowed loud enough to shake the camera slightly. ¡°WHAT WHERE?!¡± a distant voice resounded off the walls. It came from somewhere deeper in the mines. ¡°Iiiiiit¡¯s not important, goooo back to sleeep¡± Many Eyes switched to a soothing tone in their attempt at pacifying the centipede. ¡°Greeaat you woooke her uppp¡± Many Eyes voice was much quieter now. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come outside and talk to us in person? That way, she won¡¯t interrupt.¡± Andy''s suggestion made Cal squirm in his seat ¡°Oooh, Iiii havvven¡¯t beeeeen outsiddde in aaggges, bee right theeerreee,¡± they crooned quickly, running out of sight of the camera. ¡°Ugh, great, here she comes with all that spider fur and giant fangs.¡± Cal shuddered as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not fur. I believe it¡¯s called trichobothria, but I haven¡¯t really studied spiders much,¡± Andy corrected Cal, still holding onto his calm demeanor as he walked towards the reinforced window in the main room. He pressed a button on the wall to the side of Window. ¡°Hello, Many Eyes. My name is Andy. The shaking man about my size on my left is Cal. The giant hulking man behind us is his father, Stan. As I said, we were hoping you¡¯d come to an agreement on exploring the mines. We can offer you fresh cooked food nightly for as long as we are here. Think of all the exotic flavors you¡¯ve never gotten to try.¡± Andy¡¯s negotiation tactics looked to have Many Eyes interested, or at least very focused on him. ¡°Teeempttting, but what iiiifff I juuust eeat you inssttteead?¡± She countered, keeping all her eyes fixed on Andy. ¡°So that is an option, and potentially, that gets you three humans and a dog, as I said earlier. My offer gets you many different kinds of animal meat. Have you ever had salmon? How about roast beef? We have food stores to last a while and have arranged for another drop-off at McCarthy in a few months. So what do you say? Just think how interesting this could be.¡± Cal thought Many Eyes looked interested, but he wasn¡¯t sure he could accurately judge a spider''s intent from their face, especially not a giant mutated spider. ¡°OOOkkkaaay, I agree. I am sooooo booooorrredd.¡± The spider went back to the whiney tone. ¡°Alright, good, I just want to be clear, though. You see this box right here?¡± Andy held up a remote control. Cal wasn¡¯t sure where he was going with this. It wasn¡¯t part of the discussion on how to tame a spider. ¡°Yesssss¡± ¡°This box alerts our friends back in the city that we are alive every half an hour. If they don¡¯t get that alert, they have orders to come out here and burn down everything around the mine and then collapse the mine itself. So if anything happens to us, that means the best-case scenario for you is no more meat ever. The worst case is the mine collapsing on top of you. Do you understand?¡± Andy¡¯s neutral tone has shifted into a commanding one. It was closer to what Cal had heard coming out of Future Andy when they first met in the hallways. ¡°Yesss Yesss, I understaaaand. Whatttt¡¯sss for dinnerrrr?¡± Many Eyes had their priorities, and it seemed food was top of it. ¡°Tonight, we eat salmon with a side of mashed potatoes,¡± Stan chimed in. Surprisingly, everything went great that night. They sat outside around a fire, eating dinner. Many Eyes had three helpings themselves. Andy showed the spider a crude map Cal had drawn up from his previous experiences in the mines, and Many Eyes offered several corrections about it. ¡°Many Legs like¡¯s live on the far side of the glowing water. She hunts the weird things in the depths. Personally I think they are too slimy, but maybe if we cooked them on a fire like this. I¡¯ll have to suggest it to her.¡± Many Eyes¡¯ vocal patterns shifted closer to their own the longer they spoke together. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if it was mimicry or just a sign of not being hungry. Either way, it was helping his stress levels, and he much preferred it this way. ¡°Speaking of Many Legs,¡± Andy cut in. ¡°Do you think we can bring her in on this arrangement too? We¡¯d really like to explore the lake and what makes it glow.¡± ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s a pushover. I¡¯ll go talk to her tomorrow. We shouldn¡¯t have to worry about the bears, at least. They only do a migration to the glowing lake every five years and they just did their last summer. So we are safe there.¡± ¡°Wait, what? The bears only show up every five years?!¡± Cal couldn¡¯t keep quiet any longer. Had their entire first trips just been bad timing? ¡°Yeah, they all come into the cave and start marching down there, each carrying a small pebble, and then one by one, they swim to the bright stone, and the light leaves their pebble, and the bright stone shines a little bit brighter. Many Legs hates them and made them agree they can only come in once every five years.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Andy was writing this all down. ¡°I guess we are going to have to track the bears eventually, too, if we want to understand what the bright stone is. Hey, Many Eyes, how old are you?¡± ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s been about fifty years since I woke up, and I can remember things before that, but it¡¯s like a dream.¡± ¡°Do you know what caused you to wake up?¡± Andy kept up his probing. ¡°Something I ate, I think, at least that¡¯s what Many Legs says. I don¡¯t really know. We can talk it out with her once I convince her to come out. I¡¯m going inside to sleep now. It¡¯s been a long day. I¡¯ll meet you out here tomorrow once the sun sets. I¡¯m tired of the brightnesssss. I should haveee Many Leeeegs with me,¡± Their voice was starting to gain back the word dragging. Cal guessed it was due to exhaustion; they had kept the spider interacting for most of the day now, and he wasn¡¯t sure just how active spiders were usually. ¡°Well, that¡¯s promising.¡± Andy looked thrilled at where the night had gone. Cal was coming around, but he was still very unnerved. They spent the next day exploring around their immediate campsite without entering the mine. Cal was hoping to find a sign of a trail the bears were using, but he was having no luck, likely due to how long ago and how infrequent the trips were. He eventually gave up and headed back to the house. ¡°Just in time, give me a hand preparing dinner. Many Eyes let us know through the car a few minutes ago that Many Legs would be joining them tonight.¡± Stan handed Cal an apron as he spoke. Cal shook his head but joined his father in food preparation anyway. Tonight, they were barbequing, and the chicken needed to be properly prepared. Just as promised, as soon as the sun set, both animals appeared from the mine''s entrance. Many Legs looked far more timid than Cal expected. He assumed this meant she didn¡¯t often venture outside her home. At least she had never harmed him in any of the loops so far. He could give her a fair shot at working together. Many Eyes, on the other hand, still brought up a deep sense of dread when he saw them. ¡°HELLO, I AM MANY LEGS. IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU, I THINK.¡± It turned out her voice was just naturally booming. She sat next to Many Eyes as Stan made up their first plates and passed them out. ¡°THIS IS QUITE GOOD, WHAT ANIMAL DID YOU SAY IT WAS?¡± ¡°That is beef from a cow. The green stuff were beans.¡± Stan walked them both through the meal they had prepared today. ¡°So Many Legs, we were hoping tomorrow to come down and take a good look at the glowing lake, maybe run some tests on the bright stone. Would that be okay with you?¡± Andy moved closer to the centipede as he also started the diplomacy on her. ¡°YEAH SURE, AS LONG AS YOU BRING THE DOG, I LIKE HER, SHE¡¯S NICE. SHE REMINDS ME OF MY DOG. I MISS HER.¡± Cal was surprised to learn he could tell when a centipede was frowning. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss, and I¡¯m sure Bug would love to come. She seems to like you.¡± Andy tried to comfort her. ¡°THANK YOU, IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO, DURING THE BEAR WARS, BEFORE MANY EYES. BACK BEFORE THE LONG LONELY.¡± Dammit, now he was feeling sorry for a giant bug. Cal again mused on how strange of a turn his life had taken. The rest of the night was focused on happier topics, as for the moment, they had all the information they needed, and no one wanted to push anything and risk ruining the alliance. After the discovery that their new friends were fans of classic rock, Stan promised they could come out here and listen anytime they wanted, and that was precisely what they did for the rest of the night, finally heading inside for rest shortly after midnight. The next day, the three of them, plus Bug, headed into the mine. Many Eyes greeted them near the entrance and instructed them to follow. They carefully led them down a different series of tunnels than the one Cal had last used to get to the lake. This path had them exit on the other side of the lake near what looked like a nest. Many Legs rose out of the nest as soon as she saw her visitors. ¡°YOU MADE IT WONDERFUL, WOULD YOU LIKE OCTOFISH?¡± She motioned to the carcass of a massive fish with multiple tentacles coming out of its body. ¡°No, thank you, we already ate,¡± Cal answered before anyone else thought differently about trying the disgusting fish. On this one thing, he agreed with Many Eyes. He did not want to eat that. ¡°I think we are going to get straight to examining the water, but Dad brought you some music if you''d like to listen to that while we work.¡± ¡°YES PLEASE, THANK YOU¡± Many Eyes and Many Legs sat down next to the boombox Stan placed on the ground for them, starting the music before he walked to join in on the research. ¡°Alright, first up, let¡¯s pull the bright stone out and see if we can notice any changes¡± Stan and Cal grabbed the nets they used before and went to work on Andy¡¯s plans. They were able to fish it out shortly after, giving Andy and Stan their first in-person and remembered look at the stone. ¡°Was there always this crack here?¡± Andy pointed at the flat side of the stone. ¡°Huh, nope, that¡¯s new. It must have been from the bears last year. It wasn¡¯t here last time.¡± Andy pulled a small rock hammer from his pack and gently tapped around the crack, trying to break off a small piece. Instead, it shattered into a thousand pieces. The light in the room started to increase rapidly. ¡°What the fuck was that. I don¡¯t like this,¡± Stan yelled. ¡°Bug no.¡± Cal ran to stop bug from licking some of the rock debris but was too late as she appeared to swallow some of it. ¡°Everyone, I think we need to get out of here now,¡± Andy screamed as the room was not only getting brighter, the temperature was also rapidly increasing. The Six of them began a race for the mine¡¯s exit. They did not make it as the world once again went white. Loop 8 This loop was as much of a repeat of the last loop as Cal could make it. Since everything had gone right up until Andy broke out the hammer, and he wanted to repeat that. This is why they found themselves once again back near the lake. The stone in Cal¡¯s arms had just been dragged out of the lake again. ¡°Perfect,¡± Cal said to the group, happy with the outcome this time around. ¡°Can I eat some of the stone again?¡± Bug said, trotting over to the group. Cal dropped the stone in surprise. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Oh fuck, wait, Bug, did you just talk?¡± The stone had shattered when it hit the ground. Cal knew this was all about to end again. ¡°More importantly, before we all die again, Bug, do you remember the last loop?¡± Andy chimed in. ¡°I remember eating a tasty stone after we all went on this great adventure. I like that we decided to do it all again, though it''s fun. But why are we doing this all again?¡± The only answer Bug¡¯s question received was the all-consuming white flash. Loop 9 Cal woke up the next loop as usual but rushed out of bed as soon as he heard his father¡¯s voice. ¡°Coming, Dad, no problem, I¡¯ve got it right now. Go ahead and get to work.¡± ¡°Alright, just don¡¯t get in any trouble, please.¡± Stan sounded suspicious of Cal¡¯s readiness to do any kind of chores, but he didn¡¯t have time to further investigate, or he¡¯d be late. Cal waited for his father to leave the driveway before he looked at Bug and asked a single fateful question. ¡°Bug, what do you remember?¡± She looked up at him with a giant dog smile on her face. ¡°We¡¯ve had two great adventures now, and it¡¯s really weird when the sky goes white like that, but Many Legs. She¡¯s very nice. Did you know she used to have a dog too? She really misses him. I think it¡¯s very mean what those bears put her through.¡± Bug spoke like an eight-year-old who had just drunk a whole pot of coffee. Cal was amazed his life had managed to get somehow even weirder. He leaned down and scratched Bug behind the ears. ¡°Good girl, but I¡¯m going to need you to do something for me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No talking in front of Dad until I tell you it¡¯s safe, okay?¡± ¡°Aww, but why? He heard me talk last time.¡± ¡°I know, and I know this is all really new for you to learn. Right now, only you and I remember things from before the white flash. So whenever we end back here on this day, that means everyone else has forgotten what¡¯s going on. Hopefully, we can change that in the future, especially considering you¡¯ve joined me in this, but I don¡¯t know. I think we need to talk to future Andy this time around, so no big dangerous adventures.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Bug looked around the room and then trotted off to her food. ¡°Hey, Cal, now that I can talk, can I eat more steak?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°Thanks Cal¡± Cal still decided to bring Andy into the knowledge circle this time. He wanted both young and future Andy¡¯s thoughts on Bug. Andy spent the rest of the time talking to Bug and learning how she perceived the world, and he just kept muttering ¡°fascinating¡± over and over. Bug had the goofy expression on her face that she always did when getting attention and kept interrupting the questions, demanding that he throw her a ball or stick before they continued. Cal smiled at the interaction, happy he wasn¡¯t totally alone in these loops anymore, even if a talking Bug would take a lot of getting used to. Cal sat his father down later that night, planning his usual talk when Bug walked into the room. ¡°So, about that steak we discussed earlier, how about tonight?¡± Stan nearly jumped out of his chair. This was one of the few times Cal had ever seen his father startled and burst out laughing. ¡°Dad, just listen,¡± Cal managed to get out between laughs. He broke down the loops'' events as usual, including the now-talking Bug. ¡°So does this mean if I were to eat some of the power, I¡¯d end up remembering too¡± Stan did not look like he particularly liked the idea of eating a weird glowing rock. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Keep in mind this also gave Bug the ability to talk and reason more like a human, so there¡¯s more to it than just remembering the loops. That¡¯s why I need to discuss this with future Andy this time around. See if he has any ideas or guesses about how we secure the stone without causing a white flash or an alien hit squad tracking us down.¡± ¡°What are your plans in the meantime? Keeping our little Bug quiet doesn¡¯t seem like an easy task.¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t, but I¡¯ve been thinking about that, and while she can talk, her formal education is nonexistent. I think we should buy a larger plot of land, and I¡¯ll stay there with Bug for now. I plan to work on her educational basics, reading, math, that type of thing. I¡¯m also considering hiring her a tutor, but that gets more complicated as I¡¯ll likely need to find someone I think I can pay enough to keep quiet about her.¡± ¡°And what about you, this loop? Besides Bug, how do you want to spend it?¡± ¡°This is going to sound strange, but I think I¡¯m going to enroll in college. No clue what I¡¯m going to take yet, classes-wise. Hell maybe I will just start taking random ones each loop. I figure, though, if I¡¯m stuck here for years each time that, I should probably start learning as much as I can. Thanks to the last few loops, I¡¯m probably one of the resident experts in the world on caving, so why not see where I can push my brain.¡± ¡°If nothing before had convinced me, you deciding school mattered would have brought me on board with the repeated apocalypses.¡± Stan laughed, stood up, and walked to the freezer. ¡°Well, I guess we owe Bug a steak thanks to your promises, though you better break out those lotto numbers if we are planning for this to be a nightly thing.¡± ¡°STEEEEEEAAAK!¡± Bug shrieked, running around the kitchen. Cal spent most of this loop in college just taking each course he could to see what he enjoyed, where some of his most significant knowledge gaps were, and what he most enjoyed. He quickly learned that anything in the math area was not going to come easy to him, but he was determined to at least press through the basics and see where he could get in future loops. On the other hand, he found he enjoyed history a lot. This loop he spent reading as much as often as he could. He figured since his time was more or less unlimited, he could branch out and read in-depth historical accounts instead of the history books that covered things in broad strokes. He was happy he found something else he could enjoy through his new infinite existence. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Bug, on the other hand, was something different. He had eventually managed to find her a tutor. She was a former professor of English who also used to train dogs. She was retired now and in her seventies, but Cal had learned she was a shut-in with no real family left. This made her the perfect person to befriend and bring into his world. ¡°Hi, this is Cal. We spoke on the phone about my strangely intelligent dog,¡± Cal spoke into the intercom beside her door. ¡°Yes, and if I remember right, I said I wasn¡¯t interested.¡± A cranky older voice responded. ¡°I understand, but I brought Bug with me, and I promise if you just give her one minute of your time, she will spark your interest.¡± ¡°Do you promise to leave me alone forever after the minute is up when I tell you to get fucked?¡± Cal liked her more already. ¡°Absolutely.¡± Cal heard the door being unlocked from the inside, and an older face appeared at the gap. ¡°Well, get in here.¡± Cal looked her over once inside, and she looked in decent shape for someone her age. That was a good sign. ¡°Alright, young man, prove the dog is so special that only old Ethel Rose can train her.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t say only, but you are probably the best, at least in the state.¡± ¡°Get on with it kid!¡± ¡°Bug, you¡¯re free to talk.¡± Cal looked down at Bug as he spoke. ¡°Really, you haven¡¯t let me talk to anyone new since I scared the mailman.¡± Bug¡¯s tail started wagging vigorously. ¡°I¡­ need to sit down.¡± Ethel slowly got the words out as she settled into one of her chairs. ¡°This isn¡¯t some insane joke, right? Bug here can actually talk?¡± ¡°I can, I can also play fetch. I¡¯m not very good at reading, though. Cal keeps trying to teach me, but I don¡¯t understand how the lines talk.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s the core reason why I tracked you down. Bug needs a real education. Better than something I can provide. I owe it to her.¡± ¡°How exactly can she talk?¡± Ethel reached her hand out for Bug, and she gladly walked over for her head to be pet. ¡°I can¡¯t really explain that yet, but, and this is going to sound insane, I know if I were to try to get you to teach Bug again. Do you have something I could tell you right off the bat that would confirm I was telling the truth?¡± Cal wanted to cement his ability to get her on board easily in future loops. He had no idea how long Bug would take to catch up to a human adult in terms of knowledge. He had been trying for years on his own and had made very little progress. She was able to do some basic math, but he could never get past a block on any kind of reading. She just seemed unable to grasp the difference between text versus talking and why it wasn¡¯t talking to her when she looked at it. ¡°You show up unannounced and tell me Brutus was a good dog and deserved better, and I bet I listen much faster. Kid, you, this is all bizarre, and I¡¯ve heard a lot of weird shit from students over the years.¡± ¡°I know, trust me, I know. Now, our next problem is logistics. I live several hours north of here, so commuting daily is out of the question. Would you prefer I buy a house down here or buy you one up there?¡± Ethel thought about it for a few minutes. ¡°Hmm, it is probably best to keep Bug in her comfort zone for now. I need to work out how to structure her education, but I think I will start at the early grade school level and go from there. Oh, and make sure I have a nice backyard. I want plenty of birds to visit.¡± ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll have your walkthroughs started this week.¡± ¡°Good, good, now get out, I need to think, talking dog, still can¡¯t believe it.¡± She muttered as Cal and Bug excused themselves. And that was how Cal and Bug spent the rest of the loop, him in college and her in remedial school. Ethel and Bug made a lot of progress, starting with pattern recognition and slowly building up her brain¡¯s ability to process differences there. Ethel had decided to start Bug even further back, around the toddler level, and go from there. It took years longer for each concept to be mastered than it would a human, but she was learning them, and she wasn¡¯t really aging either. That became very apparent when Cal hit thirty, and Bug was still running around like a pup. By the time thirty-seven rolled around, she was still going strong. On the afternoon of May 8th, Andy knocked on Cal¡¯s door. ¡°Hey, buddy, ready for the last day of this go around?¡± ¡°Not particularly Cal. I feel like I must just be doing the same thing over and over again. So much time wasted. Think of what I could accomplish if I had the same memory retention as you.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s just memory. The details get fuzzy the longer out you go from when it first happened. What we really need is a way to pass diaries across loops or even a whole vault. Now, that would be great.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a pipe dream. We haven¡¯t even figured out how to pass me across loops yet.¡± ¡°True. Wanna grab something to eat before the big event?¡± ¡°I could eat.¡± They were sitting on the couch enjoying another round of tacos while Cal caught Andy up on Bug¡¯s education when future Andy took over. ¡°The vomit bucket is beside the couch. There¡¯s Coke in the mini-fridge.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, I see you can learn, good.¡± future Andy grabbed the bucket and walked out of sight for a few minutes. ¡°I still don¡¯t like you!¡± Cal called after him. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring the dog?¡± He asked once he returned. He grabbed a coke and sat down. ¡°I¡¯d like to keep Bug thinking Andy is nice, not a jackass.¡± ¡°Seems like a waste, but whatever, I still don¡¯t have any real power here. I¡¯m guessing you want to discuss the stone more. I¡¯ve already told you everything I know.¡± ¡°Yes, but what can you guess?¡± Future Andy sighed loudly. ¡°Grab your laptop. Let¡¯s see if we can determine the locations of the alien attacks.¡± It took a few minutes, but they were able to pinpoint Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Cairo. There were more sightings in other countries, but the details were sparse, and Cal figured he¡¯d need to be in that country when it started for better local news. ¡°Initially, I thought they were attacking other places, perhaps with fragments of the stone, but based on what happens when you try to split it anytime after the last bear interaction, that seems unlikely. That means they are attacking for other reasons.¡± ¡°Great, so we just have more mysteries on our hands.¡± Cal interrupted. ¡°Yes, I never said this was going to be easy, it took me a very long time to even bring you into this. I know you think I¡¯m a giant asshole, but let¡¯s see how well you are doing once you hit your twentieth loop, let alone your one hundredth.¡± ¡°Wait, how long have you been at this?¡± Cal was genuinely curious about just how many loops Future Andy had struggled with the little sliver of time he had to effect any change at all. ¡°Long enough that I don¡¯t know anymore.¡± Ugh, now he actually felt bad for future Andy. Cal was not happy about this revelation. ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯m sorry, but what do we do from here? I¡¯m running out of ideas on how to stop the aliens.¡± ¡°I think you were on the right track with studying the stone. Try keeping that up, but see if you can beat the bears to it so that it¡¯s more sturdy. Also, if you have someone willing, why not try and see if you can bring them into the loop the same as the dog? Couldn¡¯t hurt to try.¡± ¡°Thanks, so back to more experiments.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Future Andy was back to his usual sarcastic self. ¡°You¡¯re going to need it.¡± The white flash hit as he chugged down the rest of his coke. Loop 9 - A Bug Interlude ¡°Now, Bug, do you see that animal right there in a tree?¡± Ethel asked her student. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a squirrel. They don¡¯t like it when I try to sniff them. I once had a bunch of them throw things at me from trees.¡± Bug huffed deeply. ¡°Good, good, now look at this picture. What is it?¡± Ethel held up a picture of a squirrel, the same type as outside but drawn in a cartoony style. ¡°Also, a squirrel. I can tell because the patterns are similar, but it¡¯s been drawn to look different so the humans can watch it on TV.¡± ¡°Excellent Bug, great job, tonight you get prime rib.¡± ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t wait to tell Cal I got an A. He¡¯s going to be so proud of me. Did I ever tell you that Cal and Dad found me and saved me? I was really scared, and they were so nice. Dad gave me all his beef jerky.¡± Bug laid down while she told the story of their first meeting. ¡°Cal convinced me to get in the car with them when we got back out of the woods. I had to get a bunch of tests. Mom did too soon after. Her tests didn¡¯t go as well, though.¡± Bug''s voice started to crack. It was the first time Bug had brought her mother to Ethel. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Hey, Bug, let¡¯s go out back and look at the birds for a while. How¡¯s that sound?¡± Ethel asked, distracting her from the story. ¡°Oh, I like birds. That sounds great. Do you feel that rumbling, though? That usually comes before the flash. I don¡¯t think we are getting prime rib tonight.¡± The rumbling became more pronounced, and Ethel was also able to feel it. ¡°White flash? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Oh, Cal hasn¡¯t explained yet. I¡¯m sure he will explain the next time we see you. You¡¯re right. Let''s go look at birds.¡± Bug said as she headed towards the back door. The white flash hit them as Ethel pointed out a swallow to Bug. Loop 9 - A Stan Interlude Stan was in the basement with his wife and kids as the rumbling started. ¡°It¡¯s alright, everyone, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. We¡¯re just going to stay down here til it¡¯s over. Trust me, your big brother Cal promised everything will be fine, and you know he never lies to you.¡± Stan looked over his younger two kids as he calmed them down. His life had taken a strange turn back when Cal was twelve. He knew things he shouldn¡¯t. He told him a story about himself that was impossible for Cal to have known, and if that didn¡¯t clinch it that everything Cal was saying was true, Bug¡¯s new found ability to speak English sure did. Stan believed his son and wished he could do more to help. More than anything, he wished Izzy was still alive. She was always so much closer than he had been with Cal. Stan was a giant of a man, and he had always been worried about hurting Cal accidentally just by touching him as a kid. Stan stood at seven foot two inches with a frame to match. He felt terrible about that now, but at least they had long since repaired that bond. Still if he could go back to do it all over again, he¡¯d have ensured he was there for Cal from the start. He thought about how that was exactly what Cal had the option to do now and realized just how proud he was of his son. He really believed he would find a way to fix all this. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Cal had given him the broad strokes of his life in previous loops, and Stan found it hard to believe he had fought mutated bears and monstrous spiders, but then again, if Cal¡¯s life was in danger, Stan knew he would have been standing right there side by side with him. ¡°Anyone want to play a board game while we wait this out?¡± Stan looked over at his family. ¡°Only if I get to be the top hat,¡± Camden responded with a smile. Camden looked the most like Stan himself. He was the oldest of Stan¡¯s younger kids with Jen. ¡°So I guess we¡¯re playing Monopoly then?¡± Jen asked as she looked through the shelves for the game box. ¡°Oh, I want to play Monopoly!¡± Chris joined in. Christopher looked more like Jen. Both of them looked like they were built for track and field, whereas Stan and Camden looked ready to wrestle a bear at a moment¡¯s notice. Stan was smiling when the white flash hit. Loop 10 Cal started this loop off by stopping his dad from going to work and explaining everything early. He also gave him instructions on where to do some gambling for quick money so he could quit his job immediately. He found that Bug¡¯s ability to talk made convincing him much more straightforward. He brought Andy in immediately, as usual as well. This meant that all four of them were sitting in the living room debating a plan earlier than they had ever before. Cal wanted to try to make it to the stone at least a year before the bears showed up, but that meant somehow planning this trip with a fifteen-year-old Andy in tow. ¡°It¡¯s easy. We just fake me winning a science trip and I go with you both.¡± Andy piped in with that idea. ¡°It could work. Your parents trust you pretty strongly in every loop we¡¯ve interacted with each other.¡± Cal liked the idea, which meant they had a reasonable plan in place before Andy had to leave for the day. As usual, phone numbers and addresses were exchanged to keep in contact. Cal¡¯s next call was to Ethel. He had no idea how well this would work, but she had told him what to say, so there was no harm in trying, at least. He picked up the phone and gave her a call. ¡°Yeah, who¡¯s calling?¡± Ethel''s ever-friendly voice came through the phone. ¡°Cal, but we haven¡¯t met yet. Brutus was a good dog and deserved better.¡± She hung up on him. Cal thought that that had gone about as well as expected, but then the phone started to ring. Maybe it had gone better. ¡°Hello.¡± He answered. ¡°How do you know anything about Brutus, or for that matter, why are you calling me.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m stuck in a time loop, and in the previous loop, I was able to convince you to teach my unusually intelligent dog. You gave me that statement to say to convince you to hear me out faster the next time around. Though I had not yet told you about the time loop. So I have no idea if what I¡¯m saying is going to work or not.¡± Cal babbled, trying to quickly get his words out, worried she would hang up again. ¡°Hrmph, likely story. Bring me this dog, and we shall see just how much bullshit you¡¯re spewing at me. Since this is a time loop, I assume you know where I live, kid?¡± ¡°Sure do. I¡¯ll convince my dad to come visit you this week.¡± ¡°I look forward to it.¡± The sarcasm was dripping from her words, and Cal felt the force of the hangup this time. Later that week, Stan, Cal, and Bug were sitting around Ethel¡¯s dining room table drinking tea. Bug¡¯s was poured into a saucer for her. ¡°It¡¯s a safe blend for dogs, I assure you.¡± She stated as she poured it. ¡°Oh, I know. I loved this last time. We drank it and watched the birds after every lesson.¡± Bug spoke up. ¡°Bug deary, we need to discuss where I left off last time and figure out a good method for tracking where I need to continue my lessons from every time one of these forsaken loops starts. Well, unless you all have a way for me to remember as well.¡± Ethel said this while scratching Bug¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry we don¡¯t, or I¡¯d bring my dad in on them as well. We are going to test something this time around, but it¡¯s entirely possible Bug was a fluke.¡± Cal responded, sipping his tea. ¡°So you mentioned you wouldn¡¯t need me during a trip you are all going to take in a couple years. What kind of trip is this?¡± Cal explained the mines, the brightstone, and most importantly, how much Many Legs loved Bug. Ethel¡¯s interest appeared to grow with every new animal revelation. ¡°I want to come.¡± She finally said. ¡°Wait, what? No, it¡¯s going to be dangerous,¡± Cal interjected. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I¡¯m old, and I want to see new things. Plus, this way, Bug won¡¯t get behind on her studies. And who knows, maybe I¡¯ll start holding a general class for all three of the talking animals.¡± Ethel''s voice gave no indication she could be talked out of her decision. Cal quickly resigned himself to his fate. Their cave adventure party had grown to five now. Once they arrived and got their reinforced house set up and installed once again, they began going over the plans. There were essential changes Cal had added for this loop. First thing, as usual, first contact would be made with Many Eyes tomorrow, and try to talk to Many Legs the same day as well. Following this came the most significant change. Cal had purchased a fortune''s worth of audio-video equipment. They were going to learn what the bears were doing no matter how much it cost. He wanted to line as much of the mine as he could with it and run it all to a central collection room they would set up. He hoped he would be able to train Many Eyes to hit a button after the bears had left, alerting them through a satellite phone that it was safe to return and collect their recordings. Cal wished it were possible to do this later in the loops. He kept coming back to this when it hit home just how much computers had advanced in the twenty years from now until the end of the end loop. It took him crates of equipment to replicate what he could have done with a handful of smartphones. ¡°Professor Rose, I can¡¯t wait to introduce you to Many Legs. She¡¯s great. Probably one of my best friends, oh, and there¡¯s Many Eyes, too. Have I told you about her?¡± Bug spoke up during the planning. ¡°Yes, Bug, I look forward to meeting your friends too.¡± Ethel handed the dog a small treat. ¡°Don¡¯t go spoiling your dinner. You only get the small one.¡± She said as Bug looked up at her expectantly. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Their first contact with the creatures went well again. Many Legs was confused that Bug seemed to know her already, but she took it as a sign of universal dog love. ¡°YES BUG, I LIKE YOU TOO, WE CAN ALWAYS BE FRIENDS.¡± ¡°Many Legs, Many Eyes, lessons start tomorrow. I expect both of you up here with Bug for daily tutelage. It¡¯s long past time you both learned to read.¡± They both swiveled their heads to stare at the old woman barking orders at them. ¡°Suuuureee, dooo we get lunch?¡± ¡°AS LONG AS BUG IS HERE I WILL BE HERE?¡± ¡°Perfect, meals will be provided, and Bug is currently my star pupil. You two have some catching up to do.¡± Cal was utterly unsure of what to make of this scenario. They were really going to just let Ethel teach them to read. He had a hard time accepting this was the same monster that had hunted him in hundreds of his nightmares in the past, but here they were, entirely happy to learn. Cal became increasingly happy that Ethel had decided to accompany them as the days passed. She kept the animals distracted and entirely out of trouble. They were able to get all their cameras up and Ethel also took over training duties on alerting them once the bears left. Many Eyes was able to learn to handle the button with no problems. Cal thought things were looking up for this loop. They might finally get some real answers to whatever is going on. Andy spent the months collecting as much data about the environments in the mines as he could. ¡°So, Cal, I¡¯ve only really come up with one anomalous reading that I think you need to remember for the future.¡± ¡°Finally found the source of the magic?¡± ¡°Maybe¡± ¡°Really? It¡¯s actually magic?¡± Cal¡¯s smile reached new heights at the idea of real magic. ¡°I mean, no, it¡¯s certainly just some natural phenomena we don¡¯t know about yet, or I don¡¯t know about yet. Either way, energy appears to be seeping in from the bottom of the lake. I have no idea what that energy is, but I can tell with certainty that it exists. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s why the bears use this area for whatever it is they do.¡± ¡°Alright, well, it¡¯s nearing time for the next step anyway. We¡¯ve gotta start breaking down the camp and saying our goodbyes.¡± It took nearly a week to remove the above-ground parts of their structure. They stored all the material in a room in the mine for later usage if needed. The goodbyes were said, Bug promising to visit as soon as she could and getting a massive hug from Many Legs. Ethel made them promise to keep up with their studies and left them some children¡¯s books to practice on. As for Cal himself, he was looking forward to his comfortable bed again and couldn¡¯t wait to get out of here. He also decided when they returned, it was time to brave the waters of the lake somehow. A little over a year later, after their return to civilization, they got the alert. The bears were gone, and it was safe to return. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t think the spider was going to be able to pull this off,¡± Stan said shortly after it came in. ¡°I¡¯m giving Ethel all the credit here. That woman is a master when it comes to teaching. I¡¯m glad I found her for Bug.¡± ¡°If you say so, I¡¯d prefer someone a bit less cranky myself, but anyway, you go call Andy and Ethel, and I¡¯ll start working out return plans.¡± ¡°Thanks, Dad.¡± ¡°Thank me once we are sure the submersible actually works.¡± The five of them returned to find the caves much the same as they had left them. After greeting Bug¡¯s monstrous friends, they started unpacking. This time, it was directly into the mines, as their safety was no longer in question for this loop. At least, Cal hoped it wasn¡¯t. He also wanted to start watching the recordings as soon as possible. That night, they all sat around a campfire eating lamb chops while Andy fast-forwarded through several videos. ¡°Ah hah, found where it starts. I hope you are all ready for tonight¡¯s movie. Bears on Parade.¡± Andy pressed play and sat down. They were presented with several feeds of the bears marching single file down the tunnel towards the lake as bugs had said they do. Each one was carrying a single pebble-like object very carefully. Once they reached the shore, a bear would set the stone into the water, wait a minute or so, retrieve the pebble, which was in turn now glowing very slightly, and toss the pebble directly into the center of the lake. This repeated until every bear had done the same. They lined back up and marched out of the cave the same way they came. ¡°Well, I have no idea what any of that meant.¡± Andy was the first to speak. ¡°Yeah, that was bizarre.¡± Stan concurred. ¡°Well, I guess this means I¡¯m going down tomorrow in the submersible. Maybe we will learn something there.¡± ¡°Cal, are you sure it should be you testing this? What if something goes wrong?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Then I¡¯ll remember it for next time. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, we will have no idea what happened.¡± ¡°The boy has a point,¡± Ethel added, passing her leftovers to Bug. ¡°Fine, I suppose he does.¡± Stan sighed as he finished speaking. After breakfast the next morning, they started the task of getting their watercraft to the water. It was easier said than done, and by the time they actually made it into the water, both Many Legs and Many Eyes were needed to help, but the important thing was they had done it. Cal thought he might finally learn something down there. ¡°Good luck,¡± Andy called after him as he descended. He had about two hours of air, but as it was just a lake, he was reasonably sure that was fine. He quickly spotted the weird tentacle creatures. They looked like squid with a beak closer to that of a bird than a squid. They were also big enough to take his father down, so he decided not to approach the craft any closer to them and just kept heading down. Once down there, it was easy enough to spot the source of the energy. There was a very strange crack that seemed to ripple as Cal looked at it. He moved in closer, trying to see what was past the crack, when suddenly he felt the whole ship being drawn into it. He heard a loud wrenching sound as the boat was forced through, but he was on the other side before the water started pouring into the craft. He ripped himself free of the mangled boat, looking around as he did. He spotted a sight that was both familiar to him but also made zero sense. ¡°Future Andy?¡± He called at the man standing on a steel platform looking towards him. ¡°Wait, you can see me? How are you here? Wait, does that mean this is a real place, and I¡¯m not just inside my past self? Cal, what did you do to get here?¡± Future Andy spoke at a lightning pace. But it was too late. Cal could feel the energy inside himself burning. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was the ripple, and it hurts so much.¡± Cal spat the words out before his body was consumed in a flash of light. Loop 10 - An Ethel Interlude I still think this is all nonsense, Ethel thought to herself for the millionth time after Bug had left for the day. Sure, somehow, he knew about Brutus, poor dog. I wish I had gotten to him sooner. And yes, Bug really does seem to be able to talk, but Ethel had had a long life and seen some other pretty strange things. When she was a teen, and her family took her on an animal survey of the Guyana rain forests, she had met another talking animal. Now, at the time and for a long time after, she had figured it was some weird fever dream, but now that she had met Bug, she was sure it really happened. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. She now wondered if it was possible to track down that Capybara. Cal claimed Bug¡¯s life had been radically extended, so perhaps he was still alive. This was something for her to ponder later. For now, she had decided she was going to stick around Cal and his band on whatever nonsensical adventures they were going on. She had to spend her retirement time somehow, so why not this? She was enjoying this much more than she was willing to tell them. Loop 10 - A Future Andy Interlude ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± Future Andy screamed into the void. ¡°How am I experiencing my past self¡¯s reality, but also apparently this existing void of a place? Dammit, how did Cal get here, and does this mean I can escape?¡± He pondered the new information, unsure just what to do with it. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Initially, he had been very concerned that Cal was the wrong choice, but the man had figured something out. Now, if only he could repeat his blundering and figure out how to end this. Then, the real work could begin, stopping the aliens. Loop 11 Cal gasped for air, sitting straight up in his bed. He turned his head to look at his clock. It was only five past midnight. He had woken even earlier than the last time something like this had happened. More importantly, was that really future Andy? Had he somehow found where the man¡¯s consciousness was stored? Was that why Andy¡¯s blood reacted so strangely to the presence of the brightstone? There was so much new to consider, but it could wait until morning. He was exhausted mentally. It felt like his brain had been fried, which he supposed it had. God, he hoped he could avoid doing that one again in the future. Somehow, he thought he actually preferred Many Eyes¡¯ stomach. He pushed aside this line of thoughts and tried to resume his sleep. He gave up on sleep shortly after and started doing something unheard of this early in a loop. He was cooking breakfast as a surprise for his father. The man deserved it with how well he had been going along with what had to seem insane claims and demands every loop. Someday, Cal would figure out how to keep his father¡¯s memories across loops as well, but for now, the best he had to offer was bacon and eggs. ¡°Oh good, Cal, you¡¯re alive. Andy got very worried when the white flash happened. Are you cooking bacon? I love bacon. Can I have some?¡± ¡°Of course, Bug, the best dog in the world, always gets bacon when I make it.¡± ¡°Yay, bacon. Today is the day when Dad, Andy, and Ethel are confused, and we have to explain to them I can talk again, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Sure is.¡± And that was exactly how they spent their day: meeting Andy, playing phone tag and ultimately bringing the rest of the group back up to speed. Later that week came the very long phone call with Andy, where Cal did his best to explain the energy that had been detected in the last loop and his meeting with future Andy in the void. ¡°And you¡¯re sure it was me, not some doppelganger?¡± ¡°He had the same sarcastic jackass attitude I usually associate with your future self.¡± ¡°I know we learned new information from this, but I honestly have no idea what this means. I think I¡¯m going to need to do some reading on quantum mechanics to have any good guesses here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. Your future self seemed just as baffled. It was the first time since meeting him I¡¯d seen him make that face. It almost made the pain of feeling each nerve fire as my body exploded worth it. So, it¡¯s probably time for another educational loop. Time to get my studies on.¡± Cal laughed, still finding the idea that he willingly attended more school after high school hilarious. These loops had undoubtedly changed him. Cal decided to focus on languages for now. He figured as things were progressing. Eventually, they would need to visit the international locations where the aliens had been sighted, and he would much rather understand the languages needed than try to hire a translator he trusted. He wasn¡¯t really sure where to start on languages and ended up rolling dice to decide his course. The dice ruled in favor of the French and Spanish. * One night, several years into the loop, Cal was in his backyard playing with Bug. No matter how much she learned, she still begged Cal to play fetch with her as often as he could. He tossed the ball across the yard for her and started running towards her himself. ¡°Better run Bug, I¡¯m coming to get you.¡± He tried to sound like a madman as he chased her. He knew this was one of her favorite games as well: avoid the crazy Cal. Cal tripped, sticking his hands out in front of himself to avoid face-planting the ground. His left hand collided hard with a small rock, and he felt something tug inside himself. It was similar to what he felt when he passed through the crack. He was suddenly terrified that he was about to explode again, but that didn¡¯t happen. He just continued his crash to the ground as he felt the tugging go up and out of his left hand. He sat up and looked down at the rock that he had been in contact with. It was bigger, and there was no way his hand would cover it now. It was also warm to the touch. ¡°Fuck¡± Cal shouted. ¡°What did that energy do to me?¡± his voice moved to a whisper as he continued talking to himself. Bug ran to his side. ¡°Cal, Cal, Cal, Cal, are you okay?¡± She rapid fire spoke his name, the worry evident in her voice. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bug, I¡¯m probably fine. We just need to go call Andy and get him here ASAP. He¡¯s going to hate the news.¡± ¡°Magic isn¡¯t real Cal.¡± Andy entirely dismissed Cal¡¯s claims. ¡°The rock was likely just warm because you touched it, and it¡¯s pretty hard to judge the size of a rock in the middle of a fall.¡± ¡°Then explain the weird feeling I had. It felt just like the crack the energy was pouring from.¡± After a brief silence, Andy finally responded, ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯ll be on a flight out there tomorrow.¡± ¡°Perfect, I¡¯ll let Bug know you are bringing her some Texan barbeque.¡± ¡°HE IS?!? Tell him I love ribs, Cal.¡± Bug¡¯s voice could be heard over the phone line from somewhere in the background. Cal heard Andy sigh as the phone call disconnected. * ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready. Place the stone on the metal pan, as close to the center as you can.¡± Andy has spent the last three days setting up some equipment in the garage in order to test the stone. He had also taken several samples of Cal¡¯s blood as soon as he arrived. Those were now in different machines being analyzed. He pressed a series of buttons, and a laser fired, carefully cutting a section of the rock free. Andy then directed a mechanical arm to pick up the section and place it into a test tube with a solution of some liquid in it. Cal hadn¡¯t asked the details, so he wasn¡¯t sure what. He trusted Andy knew what he was doing, especially when it came to geology. That was where his biggest passion for science had been in every loop. ¡°Alright, we just need to let this dissolve, and then we can measure the ratio of uranium to lead particles,¡± Andy stated as he took his gloves off and headed for the door. ¡°Which ratio means I have magic?¡± Cal called after him. ¡°Likely neither, though a high ratio of uranium could mean you were able to grow the rock in some fashion, but I still doubt it was magic.¡± ¡°You never want it to be magic.¡± ¡°While I can¡¯t speak for sure on all my past loop selves, I¡¯m going to guess we are all in agreement that science is real and magic isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°So then, no D&D tonight? Bug is going to be sad. She really was really excited to hit the fifth level finally.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say that. We have to do something to pass the time until the experiments run their course. And I do like Bug more than you, so I can¡¯t disappoint her.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I convinced him, Bug, we are good to play,¡± Cal yelled into the house. ¡°Yay, can Ethel join the game? She¡¯s never played before.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, why not? It¡¯s pretty hard to form a good gaming group when you don¡¯t want the world to know about the talking dog paladin.¡± ¡°Thanks, Cal, you¡¯re the best.¡± Bug walked away, wagging her tail furiously. * After several weeks of waiting, Stan joined Cal and Andy in the garage as Andy read through the data the tests produced. Every so often, he would say things like ¡°Huh¡± or ¡°That¡¯s odd¡± and finally a good old fashioned ¡°Well fuck¡±. ¡°Hah, it is magic, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Cal shouted in excitement. ¡°Why would I have a machine able to detect magic? No, the readings are just very strange. So, first up, your blood is now slightly radioactive. Which normally seems like it would be a very bad thing, but I¡¯m not a doctor, so we are stuck in a wait-and-see on that one. It looks like somehow you were able to push some of that energy into the rock and expand it.¡± ¡°So, and correct me here if I¡¯m explaining this wrong. Through an unknown means, I am able to harness the energy stored in my body, project it into another object, and cause that object to increase in size?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Let me phrase this a different way. Using my internal mana reserves, I am able to channel said mana into inorganic matter, magically increasing their size.¡± ¡°...You could phrase it like that, yes.¡± Andy sighed as he gave in to Cal¡¯s dreams of magic. ¡°So, Cal has magic now, Bug can talk, and your future self exists in a void outside of space and time. I¡¯m starting to feel left out.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dad, next loop, I promise you can eat some of the glowing stone to see what happens. This loop, we get to see if I get magical cancer or not.¡± Stan¡¯s face dropped at the mention of cancer. ¡°Sorry, Dad, I wasn¡¯t thinking. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not your fault. At this point in your mind, your mother is a lot further behind you than she is me. It¡¯s natural to heal from that. It just hits me every so often.¡± Cal gave his father as much of a hug as he was capable, and with the size of the man, it wasn¡¯t much. ¡°Alright, gentlemen, next up, we try to see if Cal can enlarge another rock, and then we start testing out the limits of his newfound power.¡± He headed for the backyard once he was done speaking. Cal and Stan followed after. ¡°Catch.¡± Andy tossed a small rock at Cal. Cal grabbed it out of the air. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°How should I know? You¡¯re the one who felt it last time. Try to feel that again.¡± ¡°How do you try to feel something?¡± Cal looked at the rock in his hand and started thinking as hard as he could about the rock growing. ¡°Come on, grow you stupid ro¡­¡± He was cut off as he felt the weird internal tug, but not at his hand, at his back as something small slid down the back of his shirt. ¡°Well, that worked!¡± Stan exclaimed happily. ¡°I was a bit worried I was about to send my own kid to the hospital, though.¡± ¡®What did you do?¡± Cal asked while he fished a small pebble from the ground behind him. ¡°Oh, I threw a rock at you about the size of a baseball.¡± ¡°So you just hoped that my magic would kick in and stop the rock from hurting me. Thanks, Dad.¡± ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the worst that could happen? You start the loop over? Now we know it¡¯s repeatable, and it¡¯s just a matter of figuring out how to do so in a more controlled manner, well, unless you want to try using your arm as a baseball bat -and I start tossing rocks at you.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m good there.¡± * By the end of the loop, Cal was reasonably able to control his ability. Initially, he had been able to grow or shrink stones by about one kilogram. This grew the more he practiced, and on the final day of the loop, Andy was able to measure him at about one point one kilogram of change. It took him a day to recover after using the maximum amount of change he could do. Andy theorized that the energy within worked something like a muscle, so the more he used it, the more he would be able to use it, but it was very slow going. They had already tried using more pure elements early on, but they ended up with either small explosions or severe burns for Cal. Gold was the worst, and he still had a scar on the palm of his hand from that one. He had been hoping for a new method of money making, but it looked like he was still stuck in lotteries and sports gambling for now. Bug was also the subject of several experiments to see if she, too, could do something with rocks. They tried several times, but she seemed to have no special powers there. This meant it had to be the cracks and not just the stone that caused this. The downside to using his new powers was just how draining it was. If he hadn¡¯t needed to wait on future Andy, he would be sleeping off how much he did with them today, but he needed to talk to him, so that wasn¡¯t an option. The upside was no cancer so far. ¡°Cal.¡± Future Andy greeted him after finishing the usual vomiting routine. ¡°Hey buddy, so that was really you, right? We saw each other in some weird void?¡± ¡°It was, and we did, though I object to the use of the word buddy.¡± ¡°Of course you do. So I thought you were just yourself but trapped inside your younger self.¡± ¡°So did I.¡± ¡°Alright, well, any guess as to what¡¯s going on then?¡± ¡°Well, we now know the stone radiates a huge amount of energy. We know it was found resting in a lake that was also the home of a spatial tear that ripples energy outwards. We know that spatial tear apparently leads to a void where my body exists. We also know that crossing it caused you to explode. I¡¯d rather not attempt a cross back given that information.¡± ¡°We also know crossing it gave me magical powers.¡± ¡°Yes, we know that crossing it gave you some sort of ability to control the mass of composite rocks. We also know that the aliens are able to track the stone somehow. So the plan for the next loop is Stan tries eating a piece?¡± ¡°Yeah, seems like a good course of action.¡± ¡°Probably yes, we should see how the experiment replicates. It is possible Bug is a fluke, at least as far as remembering the time loops go. Neither Many Eyes nor Many Legs appear to remember anything across loops.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was worried about that too.¡± To the surprise of both men, there was a loud knock on the door. ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± Cal said, looking over at the door. ¡°Don¡¯t answer it. We have limited time,¡± Andy responded. ¡°OPEN THE DOOR OR WE WILL OPEN IT FOR YOU. WE HAVE A WARRANT FOR THE ARREST OF CAL MARSHALL.¡± A voice screamed through the door. ¡®What, how, what did I do to piss off the government?¡± ¡°Interesting, maybe you should answer it. We still don¡¯t know all the things the government redacted on their report about the stone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± Cal yelled at the door as he stood up and moved to open it. ¡°Mr. Marshall.¡± There were two men dressed in black suits standing at the door. ¡°Would you like to explain the significant discharge or energy, more often referred to as magic, earlier today at this house?¡± The man on the left asked him, his tone perfectly controlled. ¡°Oh god, would I? I told you it was magic, Andy, and the government is apparently aware of it, too. What do you think that means?¡± ¡°I think it means we just added even more that we need to investigate to our ever-growing list.¡± The white flash found Cal with a giant smile and Andy with a grimace as the loop ended. Loop 11 - D&D Night Interlude ¡°Ethel, you can¡¯t just befriend every animal or creature we meet,¡± Andy yelled at her in exasperation. Ethel was currently trying to convince a pack of wolves to let them pass. ¡°Like hell, I can¡¯t. It¡¯s humans that are the problem. Right Bug?¡± ¡°By my ancient war hammer, Kibble, I swear to standby Lady Ethel in befriending all the animals.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Bug, remember, use her character¡¯s name when you talk in character,¡± Cal advised her. ¡°Oh yeah, sorry, I swear to stand by Earl the Druid until all the animals are our friends.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Bug, your help in this perilous quest is always welcome.¡± ¡°Fine, I''ll help them tame the wolves.¡± ¡°BEFRIEND!¡± Both Bug and Ethel shouted in unison. Loop 11 - ??? Interlude ¡°The readings have been getting stronger for the last few years, but this morning, we were finally able to capture the responsible party on a drone camera.¡± The voice belonged to a middle-aged woman. She was standing in front of a desk where an older man sat. ¡°Send some agents to pick him up and figure out how the hell he managed to stay off our grid until he was in his thirties, especially in the middle of America. The idiot is lucky we detected him before the snatchers got to him. Hell, we¡¯re lucky. Who knows what information he could have fed to them at his age,¡± said the man, his voice sounding annoyed that this was happening. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯ll have two agents collect him within a few hours.¡± ¡°Good. Once you have him and he''s been checked out, bring him here. Make sure this isn''t just one of their traps. It''s been a long time since they set one for us, but it isn''t unheard of. Either way, I want to meet him, but if you suspect a trap, I¡¯ll meet him in a holding cell instead.¡± ¡°Understood¡± Loop 12 Cal woke up in his bed to his father¡¯s call as usual. ¡°Coming, Dad!¡± Cal answered loudly. He had a lot on his mind. Magic was real. He could use it, and the government was aware that it existed. That changed a lot. He wasn''t sure what he was going to do about those changes yet. He spent the day on his regular day-one routine of getting the band back together. There¡¯s an idea for a wildly different loop, he thought. ¡°Hey, Dad, how would you feel about starting a band and just spending this loop touring? I figure we can teach Bug to sing. Everyone will come to see a singing dog on tour.¡± Cal¡¯s mood had stayed jovial throughout the whole day. ¡°I don¡¯t want Bug getting into that kind of life. She¡¯s too susceptible to bad influences.¡± Stan joked back. ¡°I am not. I am a perfectly well-behaved and studious dog. Ethel always says so. I even ask the squirrels for permission before I chase them now!¡± ¡°Bug, it¡¯s okay. We¡¯re just joking around. We aren¡¯t forming a rock band, and you are a very well-behaved dog.¡± Cal reassured her. ¡°Thank you.¡± * The plan for this loop was to learn as much as they could about the cracks and rippling energy at the bottom of the cavern lake. Following that, Stan would also be eating a chunk of the brightstone to see if anything had happened to him. That meant there was no race to beat the bears and, therefore, no hurry to get to the mine. That meant Cal had plenty of time to continue practicing his rock changing, which is exactly what he wanted. He was also curious if he could attract those agents again. This was why, several years later, Cal found himself in his backyard punching a boulder. Over the years he had been trying to both refine his ability to make shapes with it, as well as use it as forcefully as he could. So far, he had succeeded in making small geometric shapes, but the focus required to make them drained him for hours. Hitting the boulder was much less draining, but he put no control into caring how the rock moved as long as it moved away from his hand. All things considered, he¡¯d say he was progressing well. Cal heard a noise behind him and turned his head to look at the gate that was swinging open. ¡°Hello, who¡¯s there?¡± He called in the direction. Three figures appeared out of nowhere, a few feet in front of him. ¡°A rock shaper of his age? Grab him, we¡¯ll get some nice shit for this kind of find.¡± Cal had a hard time making out just what the three looked like. Every time they moved, their bodies seemed to blur the area around them. They were vaguely human in shape, and the one that had spoken certainly sounded like they were human. Cal bolted for the house as fast as he could, yelling for his father as he went. ¡°Dad, there are three people trying to kidnap me, help!¡± Within seconds of his scream, Stan came charging out the back door tackling the first one he spotted, and right behind him was Bug, who moved to put herself between the other two and Cal. She started growling menacingly. ¡°I''d run if I were you, Bug looks pretty pissed.¡± Cal looked at the two still standing as he spoke. Bug ramped up her growling to new levels. ¡°Fine, we¡¯re leaving, but you aren¡¯t going to like what comes next. This was the easy way.¡± Stan kicked the third one away from him. The other two grabbed him and turned back on whatever it was that allowed them to become invisible. ¡°House now!¡± Stan spat out after standing up, a look of rage still covered his face. ¡°You have twenty minutes to pack. We need to go grab Jen & the kids and switch to the van.¡± Cal saw Stan start throwing random food items from the kitchen in bags as he came back downstairs with three full duffel bags. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Did you grab Bug¡¯s food?¡± Cal asked his father. ¡°Yes. Call Ethel and Andy on the way. Ethel should probably come with us.¡± ¡°Where exactly are you planning on us going?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a small plot of land in the UP that Jen¡¯s father owns. I¡¯ve been there once. It¡¯s a bitch to get to, but it is in the middle of nowhere and a great place to lay low. Once we are up there, we fill in your stepmom and brothers on what¡¯s going on and do our best to brainstorm about what the hell we just ran into today.¡± ¡°Dammit, Ethel, now isn¡¯t the time to ignore the phone,¡± Cal muttered as he called her for the third time in a row. ¡°Jesus Christ, Cal, can¡¯t an old lady have a moment of peace?¡± Ethel finally answered. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Not tonight, start packing. I just had three people attack me in my backyard. They were able to turn themselves invisible, and while we fought them off, we need to disappear before they come back with more people.¡± ¡°You let them leave!? Tell Stan I said he¡¯s too soft-hearted. Fine, I¡¯ll see you when you get here.¡± ¡°Hey Andy, we are all going to disappear for a bit. Got attacked. Try to stay safe.¡± Andy didn¡¯t answer, so Cal settled for a voicemail as they pulled into Stan¡¯s driveway. ¡°No talking until we tell you to go ahead, okay Bug?¡± Stan looked directly at her as he spoke. ¡°Yes, Dad.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now stay outside and start barking if you see or smell any of those figures again.¡± ¡°Can do.¡± As soon as they were through the door, Stan started shouting, ¡°I need everyone out here right now.¡± Jen Appeared first from the kitchen. ¡°Stan, what¡¯s up, everything okay?¡± ¡°Nope, and I promise I¡¯ll explain everything once we are safe in the van, but right now, we all need to start packing for an extended camping trip up north. Please just trust me. We don¡¯t have time to wait.¡± ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth,¡± Cal added. * ¡°This whole time, Bug could talk, and you never told us, Cal? We¡¯re your brothers!¡± Chris yelled. Cal and Stan had finished their explanations, and apparently, that was the only takeaway Chris had. ¡°Alright, kids, It sounds like they had a good reason for this. So let¡¯s not fight, at least until we are safely at the campsite.¡± Jen said. ¡°I don¡¯t see why I couldn¡¯t bring my laptop. This is going to be super boring.¡± Camden started complaining. ¡°We had to leave all electronics behind, as we don¡¯t know what they are able to trace yet.¡± Stan countered moments before a pickup truck side-swiped the van. ¡°What the fuck? Shit, it was on purpose!¡± Stan screamed as another truck forced them off the road, causing the van to collide with a tree. ¡°Everyone just stay in the van. As long as they agree to let you all go, I¡¯m just going to go with them.¡± Cal forced the dented door open and climbed out, hands in the air. ¡°Grab him, kill the others. This was way too public. The agency is going to be onto us, and you all know how much the bosses hate it when we clash with them,¡± one of the people exiting a truck ordered. ¡°Dammit, no, I¡¯ll go with you, just leave them alone.¡± ¡°Yeah, that option passed when your dad broke my nose. I¡¯ll admit I did want to take you all in for appraisal, but it¡¯s just not worth the time now.¡± Several of the figures raised what looked like guns and pointed them at the van. Instead of bullets, a bright red beam was fired out of the end of each of them, and the van was reduced to a molten pile of slag. ¡°I¡¯LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!¡± Cal screamed as he charged across the field at them. ¡°No, you won¡¯t.¡± Several darts hit Cal simultaneously. He felt his body get too heavy to continue moving and dropped to the ground like a stone. * Cal opened his eyes. He was in a dimly lit prison cell. The first thing he did was start crying. He thought he had been prepared for this level of loss, having seen his father die before. It turned out you never get used to that, though, especially watching his whole family be taken out in seconds. He fought down the tears and yelled into the darkness. ¡°I know someone is listening. There¡¯s no way you¡¯d go to all the trouble to capture me and then just leave me to rot down here. So why waste time? Let¡¯s talk.¡± While Cal waited for any response, he decided the next loop had to be dedicated to finding a way to hide his abilities. He didn¡¯t even know if it was the same people who had discovered him in the last two loops, but either way, this had to end. His family were not playthings anyone. He only had a year until this loop ended. He would make it through this and make sure the responsible parties paid, no matter how long it took. The door opened, and a man walked in and sat down in the chair across from the cell. ¡°Hello, Cal. I have a few questions for you.¡± He snapped his fingers together, and the room lit up. He had too many fingers. ¡°Oh fuck¡­¡± escaped Cal¡¯s lips as he looked into the face of one of the aliens sitting across from him. ¡°You¡¯ve been unconscious for several months. We¡¯ve examined every part of you, and we still don¡¯t understand it. Somehow, you¡¯ve gained access to a natural mana pool connected to an Earth plane. The problem here is that the level of power you¡¯ve developed without any infusions or training, let alone how you would have been able to get into the pool without our notice, leaves us with several questions and no answers.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about? What is a natural mana pool?¡± Cal was reasonably sure he knew the answer, but they didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°That isn¡¯t important. Do you work for the agency?¡± ¡°Yes, and I¡¯m sure they are on their way to rescue me right now.¡± By some stroke of luck, explosions started ringing out from above them as soon as Cal said that. ¡°Told you!¡± Cal shouted, not wanting to waste the moment. ¡°Cal, if you can hear me, duck,¡± Cal heard Andy¡¯s voice coming from somewhere. He hit the ground right as the door in the room was blown off its hinges. Through the smoke, Cal saw Andy and Bug on the other side of the door. ¡°Bug, you¡¯re alive?¡± He shouted from the ground. ¡°Not for long,¡± the alien responded, quickly pressing several buttons on a device in his hand. Loop 12 - A Bug Tale What no one noticed in the chaos when the van crashed into the tree, the rear door was knocked open, and Bug rolled out, crashing through the field unconscious. She woke up just as Cal was being loaded into the truck. She did the only thing she could do with the limited time. She memorized as many of the scents as she could. She had to think. Dad was gone. Ethel was gone. They had Cal. There had to be something she could do. Someone who could help. Andy was still free. She had to get to Andy. Okay, step one, she needed to find her way back to the house; from there, she could try to work one of the phones. She had no idea if this would work or not, but she had to do something and not just cry. She did it. It took her a couple of days, but she worked her way back to Stan and Jen¡¯s home, but now came her real challenge phones. ¡°Okay, what does Cal say to just make his phone call someone? Gotta think, gotta think, gotta think.¡± She walked around the living room, talking to herself. Finally, she walked over to Cal¡¯s phone and said, ¡°Okay, Computer, Call Andy.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Now calling Andy Thomas,¡± A robotic voice answered from the phone. ¡°Yes.¡± She shrieked out. ¡°Hello, Cal. Is everything okay?¡± Andy sounded worried. ¡°NO, ANDY, EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE.¡± All the emotions and rage Bug had held in during her search for home came pouring out. ¡°THEY TOOK CAL. THEY KILLED DAD AND THE FAMILY; THEY EVEN GOT ETHEL. PLEASE HELP.¡± ¡°Alright, Bug, just tell me where you are, and I¡¯ll be there as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m at Stan¡¯s.¡± She wept openly into the phone. ¡°It will be okay, girl. I promise I¡¯ll be on the first flight. For now, I want you to go outside and hide in the woods, okay? Don¡¯t come out unless you are sure it¡¯s me calling you.¡± ¡°Okay, I can do that. Thank you, Andy.¡± She did exactly as he instructed, and then she curled up into a ball on the ground and swore to the moon that she would find Cal. Loop 12 - Andy & Bug Team Extreme ¡°Bug, I¡¯m here girl. Where are you?¡± Andy yelled into the woods behind Stan¡¯s house. Bug took Andy to the ground as she tackled him at high speed. ¡°Good girl, it¡¯s okay. We will figure this out. Let¡¯s go inside, and I want you to tell me everything that happened.¡± * ¡°Alright, let¡¯s focus on the good here. Everyone else will be back next time loop. So the best thing we can do right now is get Cal out of there before they leave any lasting damage. You said you remember their scent. How close do you need to be, do you think, to track it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it took me so long to find my way home back here, but maybe I can find it if we just try to drive where they went.¡± Bug was still on the verge of tears from the incident. ¡°We can do that. First, let¡¯s head to Cal¡¯s and break into his emergency supplies. We need to be prepared for this.¡± * Andy and Bug spent months searching for the kidnappers with zero signs until one night, as they were taking a break at a rest stop, Bug yelled, ¡°Andy, that van smells like Cal. We have to get inside of it now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± ¡°Yes, one hundred percent.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go, get beneath the van and wait for me to grab the guy.¡± Bug listened without question. Andy waited behind the van until he heard someone approaching. He charged at the man before he had a chance to react and hit him with a taser. ¡°Bug on top of him now,¡± Andy ordered. Bug emerged and put her full weight on the man, growling loudly as she did. ¡°If you want to survive this with all your limbs, you are going to do everything we say without question. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m just a transporter, I swear.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Good. I¡¯m going to zip-tie your hands and feet together, and then you are hopping in my van with us. You will be giving us directions to where you transported the person you had in the back.¡± ¡°Alright, just please don¡¯t hurt me. I have a wife and kids.¡± ¡°Just do what I say, and everything will be fine. Where did you take him?¡± ¡°There¡¯s an old hotel two exits back. The people with me unloaded him there and stayed with him.¡± ¡°How many people are in the hotel?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, a few at least, though.¡± ¡°Okay, direct me as I drive. Bug, if I tell you to, rip his throat out.¡± ¡°Grrrr.¡± * Andy pulled the van in front of the hotel and looked at his passenger. ¡°Give me your arms.¡± He complied and Andy zip-tied them to the van¡¯s steering wheel. Andy then climbed into the back of the van and started grabbing ordinance. ¡°Here¡¯s how we do this, Bug, as much overwhelming force as quickly as we can. We just need to find Cal and either rescue him or end this.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°What the fuck, did that dog just talk?¡± The man in the front of the van yelled. ¡°Shut up!¡± Andy and Bug yelled back in unison. Andy opened the back doors of the van. ¡°Follow my lead.¡± He said as he stepped out and made his way through the front doors. There were two people at the front desk, and Andy headed straight for them. ¡°Is your hotel pet friendly? I need a room for the night,¡± he asked as he approached. ¡°We have no open rooms, sorry,¡± was one of their responses. Andy knew it was a lie, considering how empty the parking lot was. ¡°Ahh, fair enough.¡± He dropped a grenade behind the desk and dashed through a nearby door, Bug on his heels. They both heard some brief yelling and then an explosion behind him. The room was full of monitors and what Andy thought looked like an intercom. ¡°Andy, look, Cal¡¯s on the bottom monitor. I think it says basement one.¡± ¡°It sure does, Bug.¡± He grabbed the radio sitting on the desk and ran for the stairs. They located a door labeled basement one, and Andy spoke into the radio, ¡°Cal, if you can hear me, duck.¡± Loop 13 Cal woke up to the feel of a large object crashing down on him. ¡°CAL, I WAS SO SCARED! EVERYONE WAS GONE!¡± Bug shouted at him between licks of his face. ¡°It¡¯s alright, girl, we got through the loop. Later today, though, I¡¯m going to need you to tell me what happened while I was captured. First, let¡¯s go make breakfast and start our day one routine.¡± ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t wait to see Dad and Ethel again. Are we going to tell Jen and our brothers about everything again this loop?¡± ¡°That will be for Dad to decide.¡± Cal stood and left his room. He was starting to enjoy the relative peace that came with the start of a new loop before his actions started the branching chaos. His thoughts then slipped into a debate of who to engage this loop, Agency or aliens? * It had taken three weeks, but Cal finally had Stan, Bug, Andy, and Ethel in a group call. ¡°So the big things we need to discuss, the aliens are already here, at least they are a year before the end of the loop, though based on what the one who was trying to interrogate me said, I have to assume they have been here longer. He called the ripple we interacted with a natural mana pool with a connection to the Earth plane. So, as much as you may hate it, Andy, especially your future self, I think we need to all accept magic is real and exists. Considering we don¡¯t have sorcerer kings running around blasting fireballs everywhere, it¡¯s either very weak or very well-controlled. We can also assume the Agency is aware of the magic based on the aliens, assuming I may work for them. I¡¯m also going to guess the two government agents who knocked on my door before the end of a loop were from this Agency and not tied to aliens. What this all leads me to think is that while it may be exceedingly dangerous to do so, we should try contacting the Agency this loop. I have a feeling we might be able to get some answers to our long-running questions. What are the rest of you thinking here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m deferring to what you think is best. My past loop selves likely agreed, but without previous knowledge, I¡¯m not sure how useful I can be to you as this goes on,¡± Stan said ¡°You are always useful, Dad, but if we can this loop, there is still an experiment to try to see if we can bring you in on the loops.¡± ¡°Thanks, Cal.¡± ¡°I think approaching the Agency is probably a good idea, but we shouldn¡¯t mention anything about the time loops or my future self. Let¡¯s stick with a cover story of spotting the aliens trying to follow Cal and just reveal his abilities.¡± ¡°I agree with Andy. Also, I don¡¯t like the idea of trusting mysterious government agencies. I¡¯m old enough to remember a lot of conspiracies, and they are always at the center of them,¡± Ethel added. ¡°So, how do we get in contact with them?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to try to just go to a local FBI office, and demonstrate my ability and see what happens. I figure the worst thing that could happen is I spend the rest of the loop in some jail cell. Bug, Andy, as happy as I was with your rescue last time, there are no crazy rescues this time. I want to learn as much as I possibly can no matter what happens.¡± ¡°Well, this is a terrible idea, but good luck, you¡¯re the idiot kid with superpowers and a talking dog. I¡¯m just old Ethel.¡± ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence.¡± * ¡°Hello, my name is Cal Marshall, and I was hoping to talk to an agent about a problem I¡¯m having,¡± Cal said this to a woman behind the glass at the nearest FBI building. ¡°Young man, can you tell me what the problem is, please?¡± ¡°I think I have magic powers, and there are some weird creatures after me. I have no idea what to do.¡± ¡°Uh-huh, and what makes you think you have magic powers?¡± ¡°Can we do this in private? I don¡¯t want anyone seeing.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fine, follow me.¡± She opened a door in the lobby and motioned for him to enter. She then led him to a small room with a table and a few chairs. Take a seat, and someone will be with you shortly. Well, this was going well so far, Cal thought. He fished a stone out of his pocket and looked into one of the cameras in the room. He then doubled the size of the rock, making sure it was in plain view of the camera. ¡°If anyone is watching, I really do have powers and am being chased by some weird creatures. Please help.¡± The door swung open thirty seconds later, and two men dressed similarly to what Cal had previously seen entered the room. ¡°Tom, kill the cameras and confiscate the recordings of this room and the lobby, please. No record of the kid being here.¡± The man spoke into the camera. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Cal and¡­¡± Cal was interrupted before he could finish. ¡°We know kid, we saw it on camera, and you are real lucky we were in town today. Then again, maybe you weren¡¯t, and it was your energy signature we were trying to trace. Either way, we saw what you did in here on the camera. You¡¯re going to come with us, and we will continue this conversation in a secure environment.¡± The man finished speaking and motioned for Cal to follow him. The two men were joined by a third carrying a bag as they entered a parking complex. ¡°You¡¯re in the back with Grant.¡± ¡°Who is Grant?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I am,¡± said the man with the bag. They all loaded into the black SUV and drove off. ¡°So, can I ask questions yet? Not including this one, obviously?¡± ¡°No, but we can ask you questions now.¡± ¡°Okay, I guess,¡± Cal responded. ¡°How long have you had your powers?¡± ¡°A few months, or at least that¡¯s when I first realized I had them. I tripped when I was playing with my dog, and I hit a rock as I fell to the ground. I was able to change its shape.¡± ¡°They just showed up one day? You didn¡¯t encounter anything somewhere in nature, no hiking trips or anything?¡± ¡°Nope, just one day I could do this.¡± ¡°And the creatures you say are chasing you, describe them.¡± ¡°One of them had too many fingers, and its skin was very pale with large eyes and no hair. It was pretty creepy to look at it, but I managed to get away from it and ran here.¡± ¡°You were able to outrun one of their snatcher units. Impressive kid.¡± The car pulled into a gated lot of an office building. The driver rolled down his window and flashed his badge to the attendant. ¡°Take your visitor to subfloor two for examination.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The agent responded The agents parked the SUV and brought Cal inside. ¡°Do you want some water or a donut? You¡¯re going to be waiting for a bit in the room.¡± ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m not hungry.¡± ¡°Alright, then follow me.¡± The agent who was driving broke off from the group and escorted Cal to the elevator and down to the examination room. ¡°Here¡¯s where I leave you, and kid, some advice: if you¡¯ve in any way been compromised by those snatchers, tell the examiner. It will go much easier for you if you just tell us.¡± He closed the door behind him once he was done speaking. Cal looked around the room. It was similar to a doctor¡¯s office exam room, but it had an extra door in the back. Cal assumed there was more equipment back there for other experiments. The door was locked, so he started rifling through the drawers, checking for anything interesting. He was hoping to learn anything he could, but after nearly an hour of searching every inch of the room, he found nothing remarkable. He gave up and settled into the chair, waiting on his examiner. The door opened around ten minutes later, and a short woman in glasses and a white lab coat entered. ¡°Cal Marshall?¡± She said his name in a way that sounded like a question. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me, Cal, the rock shaper.¡± ¡°Hrmph and you are sticking with the story that you have no idea how this happened.¡± ¡°Well, considering I don¡¯t, I''m going to have to stay with that story.¡± ¡°Fine, come with me.¡± She opened the door in the back of the room and pointed at a reclined chair in the center of it. ¡°Please lay down there. We will begin your medical examination.¡± Cal listened but glanced around the room as he did. This room was much larger. High above, it was overlooked by several windows around a domed ceiling. He wondered if he was about to have an audience for his examination. ¡°First, I¡¯m going to take some of your blood, and then I¡¯m going to inject you with something that will block their tracking of you.¡± ¡°You will feel a small pinch.¡± She drained three vials of his blood. He noticed something flash red at the desk she had been sitting at. ¡°Okay, now for the tracking vaccination.¡± She injected it into his other arm, and he started to feel very tired. Shit, they drugged me, was Cal¡¯s last thought as he fell unconscious. Loop 13 - A View From Above ¡°He just came into an FBI office and announced all this?¡± Said an older man, looking through the glass to the empty room below. ¡°Yep, I had to take their hard drives, and the receptionist is getting a transfer to one of our locations,¡± Grant answered. ¡°I wonder why he¡¯s claiming to not know where he got his power. Do they really think we know so little about this that we would fall for another one of their traps?¡± ¡°What if he¡¯s telling the truth? Just because the other kids we¡¯ve found have come into contact with their stones doesn¡¯t mean they all have.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You¡¯re still young, Grant. You weren¡¯t here for the massacre of sixty-nine. We can¡¯t take the risk of a trap. Ahh, there he is now.¡± The door in the room below opened, and Cal made his way to the chair. Once he saw the blood extracted, the old man pushed a series of buttons on the console to his left. Grant knew this was the signal to knock the kid out. ¡°You see, Grant, that blood should have reacted, especially if it was a new power. Something strange is going on here, and we can¡¯t take any chances. Not with our plan to raid the sites so close.¡± ¡°I understand, sir.¡± Loop 14 ¡°Cal, wake up. I¡¯ve gotta head out, and I don¡¯t want you sleeping all day while I¡¯m gone. Plus, the dog still needs her morning walk.¡± Cal heard the voice and jumped out of bed. He fought through his confusion and responded, ¡°Coming, Dad.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure what had happened. He was reasonably sure the injection had just put him to sleep, but had they killed him later on? Perhaps they dissected his body for study; he had no way of knowing for sure what had happened, but he needed to check something. This was the first time that he had died without a white flash since Bug gained the ability to speak. Did the world reset immediately when he died, or did it still wait for a white flash event? ¡°Hey, Bug.¡± Cal greeted his best friend as she trotted into the room. ¡°Don¡¯t do that again, Cal! You disappeared, and we had to spend the whole loop without you, and I worried I¡¯d never see you again. That¡¯s two loops in a row I was without you.¡± She cried while rubbing her head on his legs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, girl, I really didn¡¯t expect the Agency just to kill me. Looks like that route is out until we have more information. Let¡¯s get everyone up to speed, take some time off to relax, and come up with a new plan of action for this loop. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, I want a vacation; we¡¯ve been at this forever Cal.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s instead bring everyone up to speed and take a nice vacation. Then we can discuss what¡¯s next.¡± ¡°Yes, I want to go to the beach and swim in the ocean. I want Ethel to come, and I want to play more D&D.¡± * Cal opened the door to their home and let Bug inside. They had just returned from a trip to the Florida coast. They had spent the first ten years of the loop just taking time off and relaxing. Cal hadn¡¯t used his abilities at all to avoid attracting any attention, and so far, that had worked. After their first several vacations, he realized just how bad the stress on Bug had gotten, so he vowed in the future that for every dozen or so loops, she would get a nice relaxing one as long as it was possible. He was debating the best way to end this loop, whether to break the stone and let Stan try a piece or have a conversation with future Andy, when his phone started ringing. ¡°Hello, this is Cal.¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s Cal. I called Cal. Who else would it be?¡± An older, perpetually annoyed voice greeted Cal. ¡°Yes, Ethel. It''s nice to talk to you too. Did you want to talk to Bug?¡± ¡°No, I called you because I want to talk to you.¡± ¡°Alright, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I want to come with you on your next vacation, and I think we should go to Guyana. I went there once as a kid with my family, and it was an amazing sight. Bug would love it.¡± ¡°That sounds great. Bug would love to have you along. Any ulterior motive here?¡± ¡°Nothing special enough that you need to worry about. I¡¯ll explain it on the way. I already booked our tickets for the flight in two months.¡± ¡°So this wasn¡¯t really a question of a trip and more of you telling me we were going?¡± ¡°Ah, good, you¡¯re finally starting to understand how our friendship works. I¡¯m old, and you do what I want.¡± ¡°At this point, Bug and I are both older than you.¡± ¡°Exactly, your brain is old and failing. I just have an old body, so you listen to me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go feed Bug now. I¡¯ll drop her off tomorrow.¡± ¡°Right, bye.¡± Cal heard the phone disconnect, and he wondered just what she was planning. Why Guyana? She had something she wanted to do, but he did trust that she wouldn¡¯t willingly put Bug in danger. The crazy old woman truly loved his dog. He decided it was time to start doing some reading on Guyana. * Getting Bug into Guyana wasn¡¯t cheap. Cal was surprised she had the money for something like that. Then again, he did pay her well, and who knew what her savings looked like? They had rented out a lovely little beach house for a couple of months, and Andy was going to fly down in a few weeks as well. Cal thought this diversion was a great idea of Ethel¡¯s despite the fact that he still suspected she was up to something. Two nights later, while Bug was sleeping in her room he learned just what that something was. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m sure you know I have other reasons for being here.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kind of figured this wasn¡¯t just a random old woman''s childhood nostalgia trip. Clearly, you had the money to do that without us. So why are we here? What did you invite Andy as well?¡± ¡°When I was fourteen, my parents brought me here on a research trip involving the rain forests. One day in the forests, while my parents were distracted in a small cave, I had started to climb a tree. I heard a voice yell at me to get down. It was dangerous. I hopped down and looked for who called out for me. Out of the bushes walked a capybara, and it lifted one of its front paws, pointed at what I had thought was a branch, and said, ¡®Do you see that snake right there? It was going to make you its dinner. You need to be more careful out here.¡¯ and walked away. I called after the animal, but I got no answers. For years, I had convinced myself it was some weird hallucination, maybe I had been bitten, something, but after I met Bug and her giant friends, I had a different answer. I want to try and find the capybara that saved my life.¡± ¡°You, of course, realize how insane that all sounded, right?¡± ¡°You sound insane constantly, and do I judge you?¡± ¡°Constantly! Good thing for you. I¡¯m the nice one in the group, though. Do you know roughly where you were when you found them before?¡± ¡°Nope, but I¡¯ve got a lot of notes from my parent''s research that I want Andy to look over when he gets here. Until then, we can just have a real vacation.¡± Cal signed. ¡°I just can¡¯t escape adventures anymore.¡± ¡°Neither can I, and my body can barely handle them, so think about the next time you drag me anywhere.¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Cal finished and walked into his room to get some sleep and think over everything Ethel had told him. * ¡°Ethel, your parents weren¡¯t here on an animal survey. Well, not exactly. They were looking for certain geological structures and the animals that may occupy them. When we get back, I¡¯m going to need to look through a lot more of your family¡¯s notes. They were digging into something, and from the limited information here I think it was the natural mana wells we¡¯ve learned about. The good news is I¡¯m pretty sure I know where they looked. The bad news is I don''t think they found anything, but we can go looking for your friend at the very least.¡± ¡°Wonderful, and how long is the hike from here?¡± Ethel''s smile covered most of her face. ¡°I think we can make it there in three to four days. We just need to gather supplies, and someone has to tell Bug what we are off to do.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll handle Bug. You two go gear us up.¡± Cal decided to join the conversation. ¡°She might be bored of the easy life at this point anyway.¡± Cal walked over to Bug¡¯s room and knocked on her door. ¡°Hey girl, can I come in?¡± ¡°Of course, Cal, you¡¯re always welcome.¡± Cal went in and shut the door. ¡°So I¡¯ve got to break some news to you, and you might be annoyed with it.¡± ¡°Is it that we are going to try to find Ethel¡¯s old friend, a talking capybara because I already heard all that the other night, and I can¡¯t wait. More talking animals is exactly what our group needs. We never see Many Eyes or Many Legs anymore. I miss them.¡± ¡°Alright, you¡¯re taking this much better than I expected. In that case, the news is just you get to pick tonight''s catered meal.¡± ¡°Swordfish.¡± * Andy¡¯s estimate of hiking time proved to be off. It took them six days to find the spot. Cal¡¯s many loops of hiking cold mountains had not remotely prepared him for a rainforest environment. He once again realized just how much there was for him to learn during these loops if he had the chance and time to pursue it. ¡°Okay, I think it¡¯s right here. Does this riverbed look familiar, Ethel?¡± Andy asked her. ¡°Yeah, maybe, oh boy, this weather is not fit for a senior citizen. Let me sit for a minute, and then I¡¯ll take another look. I need some rest and some water.¡± She pulled a water bottle from her pack and plopped down at the foot of a tree. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. There was a rustle in some nearby bushes, followed by a deep voice. ¡°I know it¡¯s been a long time, but didn¡¯t I tell you to be careful around this tree? There¡¯s a snake right there looking at you.¡± A capybara emerged from the bushes and pointed at a green snake only about two feet from Ethel¡¯s hand. She jumped up, surprisingly quickly for someone of her age, Cal thought. She then burst into laughter. ¡°I knew it. You are real.¡± ¡°I am. My name is Albert, and your name is Ethel. I believe your name is Cal, you are Andy, and this is the Lady Bug. A pleasure to meet you all.¡± The capybara bowed. ¡°I can see how you¡¯d have Ethel¡¯s name, but where did you get ours? Have you been following us?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I have, but I already knew your names before that. An old friend that you haven¡¯t met yet instructed me of your visit and to collect you. He can¡¯t wait to see you all again. Please follow me.¡± ¡°I say we do it. He¡¯s saved me twice now. I like him.¡± Ethel said. ¡°Yeah, sure, why not. My life is long past the concept of anything being too weird.¡± Cal added as they headed off into the bushes in the direction Albert had left. They followed him for a few hours with all attempts at small talk hushed by the Capybara. ¡°There will be plenty of time for talk and explanations later. Right now, we just need to make sure we get to safety.¡± He said, finally ending their pestering of him. Albert stopped at the water¡¯s edge and looked over the group. ¡°I should have asked this earlier, but I assume you can all swim?¡± ¡°We can, but I¡¯m not sure Ethel has the strength for this river,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ethel, I¡¯ve got you. Lady Bug is ready to ford the river.¡± ¡°Not quite. We actually need to dive into that small hole right there. I know it doesn¡¯t look pleasant, but I assure you all that everything will be okay.¡± Albert pointed at a small dark spot in the river. ¡°Bug, you go first with Ethel, then Andy, and I¡¯ll follow last to grab anyone who gets caught in the current.¡± Cal didn¡¯t like the idea of this, but he was also worried about trying to find their way back to civilization without Albert, so once again, he was ready for a round of cave diving. Bug leaped into the water while Ethel slowly climbed in, grabbing her around her backside. Bug then doggy paddled over the hole and dove down, disappearing into the blackness. Andy followed shortly after. ¡°I guess it¡¯s do or die time, eh Albert?¡± Cal said as he leaped into the water, swimming for the hole and diving further in. It was pitch black in the short tunnel, but there was enough of a current to make the swim relatively easy. The current picked up the longer Cal was down there, and he was getting worried about just how long this tunnel was; he doubted Ethel could handle much longer. His fears lessened as he saw the light in the distance and, a few seconds later, was deposited into a small pond side of a large chamber. He assumed another cave. A large man was sitting in the center of the room. ¡°Hello, Cal. I¡¯ve waited so long to see you again, my friend.¡± The man stood up, and he spoke. Cal guessed he had to have been nearly nine feet tall and was sure he had never met anyone of this size before in his life. The man was bald, but he also had a bright red beard that hung down to his chest. It was an odd combination to look at. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we have ever met,¡± Cal responded. ¡°Ah yes, the perils of time. I¡¯ve met you, but you haven¡¯t truly met me yet. My name is Ralth.¡± ¡°Okay, Ralth, I apologize if I sound like an ass here, but I¡¯m going to need a lot more proof that you are my friend in my future, starting with, how exactly are you here?¡± ¡°I will answer the majority of your questions shortly, though I¡¯m sure there will be a few that I will not be able to help you with. First, I have prepared a meal for us to celebrate our reunion. As an apology for taking away some of Bug¡¯s vacation, it is surf and turf.¡± ¡°Cal, I like him already. The steak smells so good.¡± Bug bounded off, following her nose through a passageway. ¡°Please, come sit and break bread. My emotions are quite high. I understand you don¡¯t share them yet, but for me, this is a momentous day.¡± Ralth walked after Bug. Ethel shrugged and followed with Albert beside her.¡± ¡°Andy, what do you think is going on here?¡± ¡°I have no idea who Ralth is, but with the way your life works now. What if he¡¯s another person stuck in a time loop, just from a loop that either never occurred or hasn¡¯t occurred yet for you? Time travel is insanely complicated, and without being able to retain my memory, I can only work from what I have each time around.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I guess it¡¯s dinner time.¡± The two of them walked after everyone else into the next chamber. It was well-lit, and there was a large table in the center. There were several capybaras in the room walking around carrying trays of food. One of them approached Cal. ¡°Hello, sir. We¡¯ve got several types of beer on tap, sparkling water, and a few sodas. What can I interest you in?¡± ¡°Can you all talk?¡± ¡°We can, but what¡¯s your drink order, sir?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take a Pepsi if you have it.¡± ¡°Absolutely¡± Cal heard Andy order a coke from another capybara. ¡°Weird, but okay, a jungle restaurant isn¡¯t the worst new experience.¡± ¡°Cal, they have my favorite brand of bottled water.¡± Bug yelled across the room. ¡°Yes, I prepared for your visit as best as I could. I even made sure to have Miss Ethel¡¯s favorite beer on tap.¡± Ralth said. Cal and Andy made their way to the table and sat down alongside Bug and Ethel. ¡°When will we first meet? Can you at least tell me that, Ralth?¡± Cal asked. ¡°We will meet on the day you make your final move against the void issue.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what the void issue is. Can you be more specific? Is this about where future Andy is stuck?¡± ¡°It is, and I cannot. I never knew the details, but I will be there.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try this a different way then. What can you tell us that you think is critical for us to know?¡± Cal took a bite of a steak after he asked the question. ¡°Where would you like to start? I can tell you about the mana wells or the power currently growing inside of you. I could also tell you about the Gryalth and why they are here.¡± ¡°What are the Gryalth?¡± Cal asked. ¡°At this time, you are likely referring to them as the aliens, and while that is true, they aren¡¯t from this planet. They also aren¡¯t from this reality.¡± ¡°Okay, that doesn¡¯t really change much in the grand scheme of things, but why are they here?¡± Andy asked this time. ¡°In their home reality, they have an interstellar empire that has conquered our galaxy and is at war with many other galaxies. They need as many raw resources as they can get to fuel their expansion, and they¡¯ve started stripping other realities with less developed space-faring civilizations of their resources to feed their endless war machine. Their goal here currently is to siphon enough of Earth¡¯s natural mana wells in order to tear a large enough hole from this reality to their home reality. This will allow them to bring the equipment they need for widespread harvesting to begin.¡± ¡°Sure sounds like something our motley crew will be capable of stopping.¡± Cal¡¯s sarcasm was obvious to everyone. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it is or it isn¡¯t. I was thrown backward in time, so very far from home, before that happened. I¡¯ve seen other realities beat them back, though, so there is always hope.¡± ¡°Yeah, Cal, stop being depressing. You promised a happy time loop.¡± Bug said. ¡°Alright, alright, enough depressing talk. We have plenty of time for that later, I suppose. How about mana? What exactly is that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not fully clear on the origin of mana pools. I¡¯ve heard many theories, but somehow, natural forces across the universe coalesce into pools. Generally, these locations tend to be more in harmony with the natural world, but not always. Given enough time, these pools eventually grow into guiding spirits, but thanks to the actions of the Gryalth, these pools are being drained in universe after universe, and while I have no idea what the eventual outcomes will be. I doubt it¡¯s good.¡± ¡°I always said animals were better than people.¡± Ethel shook her head as she spoke. ¡°I do have some good news, though: our reunion should not be one of sadness. I am here to help you find a way to turn the tide. I fought so long to return to my friends and family that I am not about to let everything be lost. Cal, you have touched one of the pools and gained your growing reservoir within yourself. It is currently a very minor talent, especially by multiversal standards, but it is still amazing how far you¡¯ve come with no training.¡± ¡°The problem now is I can¡¯t use it without attracting the government or the aliens, so it¡¯s kind of pointless.¡± ¡°Yes, we need to take the energy you currently have and fuse it into a core somewhere beyond their ability to detect. All of you come with me; there¡¯s another room I need to show you.¡± He stood up and walked out of the room. Everyone followed. In the center of the next room was a lightly glowing pool of crystal clear water. ¡°Is that a natural mana well? It¡¯s beautiful.¡± Cal stated. ¡°Yeah, this is what they look like if they aren¡¯t polluted by their minions. This one is tied to a plane of electricity. The perfect thing to disrupt any ability to monitor this location. In fact, it¡¯s why it has remained hidden from them for so long.¡± ¡°So I can train here?¡± ¡°You can, but not this loop. The first thing we will need to do is purify your core and then use your internal mana to fill that void. From there, you will need to spend years solidifying your new core. Once that is complete, you should be able to shroud yourself from any long-range scanning. At the start of your next loop, I need you to get here within two years. It¡¯s the only way we will have time to complete it in a single loop, and it has to be done in one go.¡± ¡°This is a lot of information to throw at me. I will consider it, but for now, I want you to have Albert lead us back to our vacation home so we can debate this in private.¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Ralth motioned Albert over. ¡°Please see them home.¡± * Cal was sitting in his living room, back home, next to Andy. The last day of the loop had arrived, and no decision had been made about what to do for the next one yet. Future Andy was going to get the deciding vote. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, Cal, I still feel like Ralth was telling the truth.¡± ¡°So do I, but I want to see if your future self has any extra input.¡± Twenty minutes later, future Andy was ready to talk. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t believe in magic. That said, oil is real, and at one point, I¡¯m sure that seemed magical. This is probably some function of quantum mechanics I don¡¯t yet understand, like half the reality we are now dealing with.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying do it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying, what choice do we have? Ralth gave us more information than we¡¯ve gotten anywhere else in all of this.¡± ¡°I agree. Time to become a superhero.¡± Future Andy sighed. ¡°Unless you need anything else, I¡¯m going to use the remaining time of this loop to take a hot shower. I really want to experience that again.¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± Cal sat on the couch, continuing to debate about Ralth, finally deciding he had to try it. He began to smile as the white flash hit. Loop 14 - D&D Night ¡°Albert is a level ten ranger. I helped him make his character last night,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Perfect. The capybara cub¡¯s parents are so grateful when you return him safely that they are willing to tell you where Al is currently training.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you pick something other than Al as your name? We already have Bug using her own name.¡± Andy interrupted. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Ignore Andy. He¡¯s not great at role-playing games,¡± Ethel told Albert. ¡°Fine, the name is fine. What race is your character anyway, Albert?¡± ¡°He¡¯s an awakened capybara who used to be a familiar to a wizard until the wizard died tragically.¡± ¡°I give up.¡± Andy sighed loudly. Loop 14 - Ralth Interlude ¡°You¡¯re sure it¡¯s time?¡± A woman seated at the dinner table asked. ¡°Absolutely. I can feel my looping twin¡¯s connection getting weaker. Soon, he will start on his destiny to become me. And that means they are on their way here.¡± Ralth answered. ¡°What do you plan to do?¡± ¡°Why cook them an amazing meal, of course? It will be an amazing reunion for me. Their joy at seeing me again will come much later. Time is a strange thing.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°And then my brother¡¯s training begins. He has so very much to catch up on if he ever plans to fight the Gryalth directly.¡± ¡°Well, at least I know you are a wonderful cook, though I still wish I could be here when he arrives.¡± ¡°It¡¯s far too dangerous. I have a limited view of the future, but I know you have not entered the picture yet from my experience. Adding you now could change too much. Imagine a paradox where I never existed, then just who would save you?¡± ¡°Alright, alright, your point has been made.¡± ¡°Good. Albert, it¡¯s time. Please go summon our friends.¡± Loop 15 Once Cal finished the first week of this loop, he broke the news to his father that he needed to spend the next several years in Guyana, at the least, and that it was also best if he went alone. He already talked to Ethel about watching Bug. Stan wasn¡¯t happy about the potential of losing his son, but in the end he gave in. ¡°Thanks, Dad. I¡¯m glad you trust me this much.¡± ¡°I probably say this every time, but I have no idea how to raise a kid who is potentially hundreds of years older than me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad. I have no idea how to raise me either.¡± * It took them several months to arrange the passport and documentation needed for Cal to take this trip solo, but as soon as he arrived, he found Albert waiting in his room for him. ¡°It¡¯s best we head out quickly. Once you vanish, there will be a giant search for you. We¡¯d rather you are secure in the caverns before that occurs.¡± ¡°Okay. Do you have any idea what it takes to fuse a core, or whatever it was Ralth said?¡± ¡°Not a clue. From what he¡¯s said, basically, no one native to this planet has accomplished that.¡± ¡°Woohoo, more firsts for me then.¡± Following Albert, it only took them three days to make their way to the river and then down into the caverns below. Cal decided Andy was no longer in charge of mapping. ¡°Hey Albert, have you ever used a computer?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m an active participant on some forums. I just love to talk about X-Files. Why?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re just the new map guy, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°I like maps.¡± ¡°Perfect, buddy, perfect.¡± ¡°Cal, you made it!¡± Ralth shouted as he walked into the chamber. ¡°Sure did, so what comes first?¡± ¡°That depends on what you mean by first, tonight we eat, tomorrow you begin, but if you wish, I can explain how you are likely to spend your next several months.¡± ¡°Yes, please do.¡± ¡°You have to find a way to communicate with the energy within you. Basically, you need to learn its name. As I said, these pools would eventually mature into a guiding spirit; the energy within you is the essence of that spirit and you need their partnership in order to properly fuse a core with them.¡± ¡°Am I stuck with just the stone spirit, or could I add something from the electricity well to my core?¡± Cal was curious about the implications of the word partnership. Did this mean he was turning his body into a home for magical creatures, or was it something more metaphysical, closer to how future Andy seems to reside outside the normal universe now? ¡°I was going to suggest you do that. As far as I know, there is no limit to the number of spirits that can work together, but from a practical standpoint most people don¡¯t have the time needed to form the level of bonds needed to properly harness their energy. You on the other hand¡­¡± Ralth trailed off. ¡°I, on the other hand, have infinite time to repeat over and over until I become a master wizard, doomed forever to listen to Andy¡¯s rants about magic.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°So, how do I talk to them?¡± ¡°No idea, it¡¯s different for everyone. It¡¯s like trying to fall asleep when you know you need to but just can¡¯t seem to until it just happens.¡± ¡°Great, just great, so tomorrow I start by smacking my head into a rock until I pass out.¡± ¡°I would suggest bathing in the mana well first, and then you can try that, uh, more direct approach to manifesting your stone spirit, I suppose.¡± ¡®¡°Alright, first I want another Ralth meal and a good night of sleep.¡± Cal wondered just how far he was willing to go for real magic. Could he just spend these loops scouring the world, or even beyond, for every mana well he could? Was that fair to future Andy? * Cal had been floating in the mana well for the last three hours. It had been an interesting experience so far. Initially, he had felt tiny tingles, like a weak static shock on his toes. This slowly progressed into a feeling of static clinging along his entire body, and he could now hear a gentle hum in the air around his ears. Ralth had told him not to expect anything quite as drastic as what happened with the stone mana pool. It turned out that being pulled into another reality was extremely abnormal when it came to these pools, some byproduct of the Gryalth meddling with them. Suddenly, Cal felt a spike of electricity in his brain. The pain was excruciating but thankfully faded within seconds. He looked at his fingers, there were tiny sparks of electricity coming off them. He climbed out of the pool to see if they vanished. They did not, but he could feel something inside of him draining the longer he focused on the sparks. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Yes!¡± Cal shouted into the empty room, unable to contain his joy. He was pretty sure he had done it. He could feel both energy sources within himself. The next step was to try to talk to them, but he had no clue where to start. ¡°Hey guys, can you hear me?¡± There was no response. Cal was not surprised as he doubted that it would be that simple. Day after day passed as Cal tried out different methods of starting a communication. From singing to meditation, nothing seemed to bring him any closer. As the days turned into years, he even had Ralth track down some mind-altering mushrooms for him, and while he spent the night talking to the cavern walls, nothing spoke back. Finally becoming frustrated with his lack of progress, he climbed back into the pool and let himself sink to the bottom. If you can hear me, I¡¯m trying something new. I¡¯m going to sink to the bottom of this pool and just stay there. I figure either we bridge the gap and talk, or I start a new loop, and this begins again because I¡¯m running out of ideas here. Cal maneuvered a rock from the bottom of the pool onto this chest. He closed his eyes tightly, preparing to wake up in his bed shortly. ¡°Hello¡± ¡°Hello¡± ¡°Hello¡± Cal¡¯s eyes snapped open. He was in his bedroom, but instead of sleeping in his bed, he was sitting on his desk chair. On his bed were three forms, not the two he expected. Their forms were translucent, each having their own unique coloring. They looked similar to light reflecting off a mirror onto a wall. ¡°I¡¯m sorry this was so hard. It was my fault.¡± The voice came from the dark gray one. ¡°I¡¯m a void essence, and Ralth had no idea I was inside of you, so any attempt you made to communicate to the other two just wasn¡¯t able to incorporate me until your last act of desperation, but hey, it worked, and we are all together now.¡± ¡°We are so happy you found your way to us.¡± The pale yellow one¡¯s voice hummed with electricity as it spoke. ¡°Yes.¡± The rust-colored one¡¯s voice rumbled the single word. ¡°Do you have names?¡± ¡°Nope, that¡¯s part of what this whole thing entails. You need to help us find our names and identities, and then our powers can start working in a conglomerate,¡± rumbled the stone spirit. ¡°Where do we start?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t, at least not in this loop. It will take you roughly two decades spent in each of our native realms to understand us enough. Right now, this is about starting communication.¡± They hummed. ¡°Yes, right now, we need to purify your core. The place where our energies will reside. Once we do that, it will be much easier to talk in the future.¡± The void spirit¡¯s voice had a slight echo in every word it spoke. ¡°We apologize, but this will hurt greatly.¡± The three spirits spoke in unison. Each flew off of the bed, passing through Cal¡¯s physical form as though it was not there. Cal¡¯s brain felt like he had just been electrocuted and hit by something large, solid, and hefty, while at the same time, his vision grew dark. He screamed in pain, the act itself a torture. Moving his limbs was becoming an impossibility. Something inside of him erupted, the pain migrating to somewhere in his rib cage. His heart felt like it was going to explode, or maybe it already had. Cal could no longer understand the sensations from inside himself. Moments later, the pain subsided, and Cal slumped from the chair to the floor. His vision was returning, and he could see the three spirits sitting on his bed once again. ¡°Now what?¡± he coughed out the words. ¡°Now, my fellow spirits, begin the process of filling your core while we talk about how I came to be here and why it¡¯s so important you keep me a secret.¡± Echoed the voice. ¡°Got it, well spirits, enter me. Um, not in a sexual way, a normal way. Assuming a normal way even exists.¡± Cal stumbled over his words, still very out of it. The rust and yellow-colored spirits flew into Cal¡¯s chest, similar to before, this time though it was painless. Cal felt something similar to when you¡¯ve eaten a delicious meal. This feeling was much preferred over the core purification that had to be done. ¡°The bad news is that if you ever wish to form a penumbra, you will need to go through this purification again. Each time, your core will need to be prepared for the new member or members.¡± ¡°Just what I wanted to hear. So, how are you here?¡± ¡°You are aware how future Andy lived through uncounted loops, desperately trying to bring you into this in order to change the reality he was stuck in?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The gravity generator that was in the research lab was made from me. There are three others across the country. I believe it was the Agency that was responsible for your death in a previous loop that forced my form into their technology. This is the big thing that is missing from both the Gryalth and Andy¡¯s calculations on what happened. When their attack ruptured my containment, I broke free in one of my locations and absorbed their corrupted stone. I didn¡¯t want to, but I had no power to stop my expansion. This is how future Andy found himself trapped within my void. As time catches up to where the event happens, the border between my realm and this one weakens. That is how future Andy gains control over regular Andy. I believe if you were able to somehow bring all parts of myself together at the epicenter of this, we could unlock Andy.¡± ¡°Would this end the loops, or just let Andy remember them fully?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t ready to end the loops yet. He had no way to fight the invaders. ¡°Just unlock Andy. I have no idea how to end what is happening now. I was just the trigger there. Now, there is something happening below me on the quantum string level. That said, the effects of completing me will be somewhat unpredictable, as causality is broken at the moment of detonation.¡± Cal sighed. ¡°Well, why make it easy now? Anything else I should know before we finish this?¡± ¡°Yes, once I reside inside of you, your physical form will likely remain in a coma for the majority of the rest of this loop. We will strive to finish before the loop ends, though otherwise, our efforts will be for naught.¡± ¡°Understood. Good luck, little buddy.¡± The spirit disappeared into him the same as the previous two. * Cal woke up on the floor of the cavern, the pool glowing softly beside him. The energy he previously felt as a tugging sensation now felt more like a muscle. He tried flexing it and yelped in pain. ¡°You¡¯re a wizard, Cal. '''' Said Ralth, now standing over him. ¡°Haha, why did that hurt so much?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t in the mood for jokes, though he had to admit Ralth had perfect timing on that one. ¡°Because you just spent the last several years working the muscle non-stop and luckily managed to finish on your last day. Now, let¡¯s get some food in you while we wait for the loop to end.¡± ¡°Yeah, food sounds amazing. Do you have a whole cow I could eat?¡± ¡°Two, actually.¡± ¡°Wonderful.¡± The white flash found Cal with a face covered in barbeque sauce, having just scarfed down his fourth rack of ribs. Loop 15 - And You Get a Spirit ¡°What kind of name do you guys hope you get? Personally, I want something that buzzes or pops.¡± ¡°Hrm, something that feels heavy or deep.¡± ¡°Whatever fits, I¡¯m much more concerned about what happens when Cal enters my realm.¡± ¡°Why, what¡¯s wrong?¡± asked the stone spirit. ¡°I don¡¯t know if anything is wrong. I have no idea what it means to be split like I am. I¡¯m hoping that he just finds a nice normal void and everything works perfectly, but I triggered a catastrophic breakdown of reality. I¡¯m not having a good existence so far.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°We all make mistakes like I accidentally shocked Cal three times before I managed to merge into him in the pool.¡± ¡°Yeah, and I caused him to explode. Wait, did we explode inside of you?¡± ¡°Maybe I have no idea where inside of me is anymore.¡± ¡°Stop worrying. We are all too young to have this kind of stress.¡± ¡°Yeah, listen to Sparks over there. Relax and let nature take its course.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Loop 15 - Bug and Ethel Do a Little Gardening ¡°Hey, Ethel?¡± ¡°Yes, Bug?¡± ¡°Why do you believe us every time we start a new loop? The more I learn, the more I think this shouldn¡¯t be an easy thing to accept.¡± ¡°I had a very strange childhood. As you all know, Albert saved me when I was a child, so you aren¡¯t the first talking animal I¡¯ve met. But you are right. There is something else here.¡± A giant smile crossed Ethel¡¯s face as she looked down at Bug. ¡°Can you keep a secret?¡± ¡°Probably not, no.¡± Her tail was wagging furiously. ¡°But I can try!¡± ¡°You only need to keep it for a little while anyway. I think once Cal is done figuring out his core, I¡¯ll tell everyone anyway.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Follow me to the backyard, and I¡¯ll give you a demonstration of my secret, but we can¡¯t do much, okay?¡± ¡°Okay¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ethel left the room through the sliding glass door that led to her backyard. It was bricked in to keep prying eyes out. Bug Followed closely behind her, keeping her eyes peeled for any birds or squirrels. Ethel walked over to a small potted plant on her porch rail. ¡°Come here, Bug, and watch closely.¡± Bug obeyed. She saw Ethel lower her hand to the plant and place one finger on the stem. ¡°Hello, Miss Orchid. Would you be interested in blooming for me? I want to show my good friend my special gift.¡± Ethel''s voice was full of genuine kindness. ¡°As you wish, my friend.¡± A small voice emanated from somewhere in the center of the plant, and as Bug watched, the flower at the top of the stem began to bloom. ¡°She¡¯s beautiful, Ethel.¡± ¡°Yes, she is. Thank you, Miss Orchid.¡± The plant did not respond this time, but the flower vibrated just slightly. ¡°Come on, Bug. Let¡¯s go back inside. I¡¯m sure you have some questions.¡± Bug followed Ethel to her favorite couch, climbed up, and curled comfortably next to her. ¡°So, do you have magic like Cal?¡± ¡°Something like that. A very long time ago, I went swimming in a pond in this radiant glade my parents had found. I felt something change inside of me, and afterward, I found that if I really concentrated, I could talk to smaller plants. My parents told me that it was critical that I kept it secret, and now that I¡¯ve seen who is after Cal, I understand why. But I think the time for secrets, at least amongst our group of friends, is quickly approaching an end.¡± ¡°I bet Cal can help you learn to make it stronger when he¡¯s done figuring his out, too!¡± ¡°I think I¡¯d like that.¡± Loop 16 ¡°Cal wake up.¡± Cal jumped out of bed startled. ¡°What? Who¡¯s there?¡± He called into the darkness. ¡°Sorry, that was me.¡± the small electric spirit appeared before him. ¡°I need to get to work on the doorway to my realm, we decided it was best I got first and the void spirit goes last. I just wanted to make sure you knew what I was doing before your dad woke you up this time.¡± ¡°Thanks, I appreciate the warning. Alright I¡¯ll go start breakfast and take care of my first week routine. Will you be ready to go by then?¡± ¡°I think so, I¡¯m doing this all from instinct, so I¡¯m only mostly sure.¡± ¡°Well, I think you can do it, if that helps at all.¡± ¡°It does.¡± The spirit glowled strongly. * ¡°Cal, I think I¡¯m done.¡± The spirit appeared in front of Cal¡¯s dinner. ¡°Alright, let me finish off my dinner and I¡¯ll join you in my room. Do I need to bring anything?¡± ¡°No, everything we need will be there when we arrive.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Cal quickly finished off his meatloaf and potatoes, he really wanted to know what a world of electricity was like. For one thing was it a whole world or was it just a contained area? The amount of questions he asked had grown a lot since these loops started. ¡°So where is¡­¡± Cal¡¯s question cut off as he looked in his room. He had been about to ask where the entrance was, but it was obvious. There was a yellow crack running down the wall beside his bed. ¡°Nevermind, I assume I just touch the crack. I won¡¯t explode again will I?¡± ¡°Not immediately no, but the spirits and I consider it a long term possibility, that that is how the loop terminates again.¡± ¡°Hrm, well I don¡¯t like that, but who am I to deprive you of a name?¡± He touched the crack not expecting an answer and felt himself drawn through it. Unlike last time he emerged into a world of light and noise. The air was alive with a thrum of not quite music, but it was still enchanting to hear. Different colored energy streams moved across the landscape creating something rivaling any firework display. Cal took two steps forward and felt his legs give out as he crashed to the ground. ¡°Oh no.¡± The small spirit had appeared behind him. ¡°The energy is building in you again. Let me see if I can do anything to contain it.¡± they disappeared into Cal, reappearing shortly after. ¡°We¡¯ve managed to stem the energies somewhat, this should give us some time to explore and discover who I am, but I don¡¯t know how long we will be able to hold against the tide.¡± Cal grunted, getting to his feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, let¡¯s just use the time we have to explore and see what we see. Is this you or a realm that represents you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s hard to answer. I think it¡¯s both. I believe what we see is a representation of me, but the realm itself is me and will grow as my power increases. This small little rift has the potential to one day be its own universe with completely different rules from the one I was born in. Isn¡¯t that wonderful?¡± ¡°Yes I think it is very wonderful¡± Cal smiled down at the spirit. ¡°I want to see where the loudest humming is coming from, it almost sounds like music.¡± They began heading in what they guessed was the direction of the song. With every step Cal took the ground around his feet buzzed and sent sparks into the air that burst into a multitude of colors. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°It¡¯s too bad I can¡¯t stay long, this is one of the most amazing things I¡¯ve seen, which is saying a lot considering my life.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it. I was worried about how I¡¯d manifest.¡± They neared the source of the humming and stopped so Cal could look around. ¡°I think I see it. There¡¯s a small pool on the other side of these plants, at least I think they are plants.¡± ¡°They are. These are energy trees, my natural essence gives them their form and they grow tall and stronger as I do.¡± The spirit flew over the trees while Cal navigated through them. He spotted what he thought was a small pool once through, and while it resembled a natural mana well, he wasn¡¯t sure it was full of water in this realm. It looked more like tiny lightning bolts zipping from one side to the other over and over. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± He called to the spirit. ¡°Oh my gosh, I already have one? That¡¯s a proto well. Those are all little baby electric spirts that will one day grow big enough to spread out into other worlds and become their own wells. Look at how little they are, aren¡¯t they adorable?¡± The spirit danced up and down through the air. ¡°So I think step one in figuring out just who you are. How do you feel inside? Would you like to be called he, or she, or something else?¡± Cal was hoping they had some sort of inner revelation, as he could feel the energy still building within him. He didn¡¯t want the spirit trapped here without an identity if he burst before this was done. It was far too nice for that. ¡°Let¡¯s go with she, that seems right to me.¡± She answered, glowing a shade of green as she did. ¡°Great, well ma¡¯am, would you like to continue our tour of you? There looked to be some kind of light show in the other direction.¡± ¡°Yes, Absolutely.¡± And she flew off in the direction Cal had indicated, with Cal chasing after her. ¡°Look Cal up in the sky, there are so many colors.¡± This was the show he had first spotted, but now it was much closer and more vibrant than before. He was experiencing colors he had no words for and as he watched the colors morph into new forms as they grew and shrank across the sky the perfect name for the spirit hit him. ¡°How do you feel about the name Bolt?¡± He asked her. ¡°Like a lightning bolt? That¡¯s neat, I like it.¡± ¡°Well then welcome to the universe Bolt. I¡¯m happy to have you in it.¡± His words triggered a literal flight of fancy from her as she danced around the skies joining in the color show. ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Cal called up to her. ¡°Oh yeah, I suppose we better finish before you go kaboom.¡± She flew down towards the center of her realm. Cal ran to join her. ¡°Yeah I can feel it growing inside of me, so we should probably go as quickly as we can.¡± ¡°We are actually done, I feel myself radiating within you, but I was hoping to invite my friends out for a quick hug before we call this a true success.¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± ¡°You heard him, get your butts out here, I want my hug.¡± The remaining two spirits appeared and floated gently towards Bolt. ¡°It¡¯s very bright here. It suits you well.¡± ¡°Yeah, how big is it anyway, are there any caves under the ground?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about a square mile, and there aren¡¯t any yet, but I bet one day we will link our realms together, maybe a nice deep cave with some electric eels to symbolize our friendship.¡± ¡°Oh that sounds nice. Hmm for us, could we do something like a starry night?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m afraid my friends, it looks like we have to make this short, so one quick hug please.¡± She pointed at Cal as she motioned them closer. He was glowing brighter by the second. The bright white explosion swallowed the spirits in their group hug. Loop 16 - Jen鈥檚 Surprise Bug came dashing into the room, not paying attention to her surroundings. ¡°Dad, dad, dad I saw a new bird outside. It looked just like a flamingo.¡± Jen leaped out of her chair. ¡°Stan, did Bug just speak?¡± there was a look of shock on her face. Stan looked at the ground shaking his head. ¡°Well too late to hide now, Bug. Yes Bug can speak, she¡¯s been able to speak the whole time you¡¯ve known her. We just generally find it safest not to tell anyone. I¡¯m sorry we didn¡¯t tell you sooner.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Sorry Dad. Sorry for scaring you Jen.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay Bug, just this is not how I thought I was going to spend my Tuesday.¡± ¡°Yeah well, it¡¯s best I tell you everything then¡­¡± Loop 16 - Future Andy Babysitting ¡°Are you done vomiting yet? I¡¯ve got some information I want you to pass onto Cal the next time you talk. I¡¯m worried Bug won¡¯t remember it well enough or that I¡¯ll chicken out in future loops, but I think it¡¯s important he knows it.¡± ¡°God woman, can you yap less while I vomit.¡± ¡°I see why Cal doesn¡¯t like you very much. I hope you¡¯re nicer to Bug when she babysits you next time.¡± Future Andy made a face of disgust. ¡°Can I just spend the loop alone, I don¡¯t need to be babysat?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°What if you think of something and we miss it? With that brilliant brain of yours after all everything you say is of utmost importance.¡± Ether¡¯s words dripped with sarcasm. ¡°Fine, tell me what it is you think is so important.¡± ¡°I also have an ability, I can communicate with small plants and I am able to help them grow.¡± ¡°Hmm, that is interesting, if I¡¯m ever unstuck from this limbo we shall have to find a way to study you both, but yes I will pass this onto Cal.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now be nice to Bug or I¡¯ll make sure you regret it.¡± Future Andy laid his head into his hands waiting for the flash. Loop 17 Cal was in his room at the end of the second week in the loop, looking at a new crack in the exterior wall. The stone spirit was standing next to him admiring their handiwork. ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a crack, sure it took me twice as long as Bolt, but I got it together. That¡¯s what¡¯s important. Oh and good news Cal, we worked on the exploding problem, and we think we can give you longer this time.¡± ¡°Still going to explode though, right?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, almost certainly until we get the void spirit pulled back together, these cracks are super dangerous for you.¡± ¡°Great, well let¡¯s get going then, the sooner I get the exploding done the better, I suppose.¡± Cal emerged from the cracks into a world of darkness. It was too dark for him to see anything. ¡°Tap the wall next to you.¡± He heard a voice behind that sounded like the rock spirit. Cal reached out and slid his hand across a rough wall until his fingers brushed over a smoother part. The wall lit up as the spot Cal touched began to glow, the glow slowly moving down the walls. ¡°I thought I could smell a vein of illuminating ore.¡± ¡°Are we in a cave?¡± ¡°I hope so, I love caves. Look at all these nice ores on the walls. It feels like home Cal.¡± ¡°Do you hear that? there¡¯s something ahead around that bend.¡± ¡°What, there shouldn¡¯t be yet. It¡¯s not nearly old enough for anything to be moving around on these walls.¡± ¡°Alright, stay here and I¡¯ll see if I can spot the issue.¡± Cal switched to a whisper as he crept down the passageway. Once he reached the end he carefully peered around the corner to see what was making the noise. It was one of the squid things that had caught his father so long ago. He crept back to the spirit to inform him of the discovery. ¡°Any idea what something like that would be doing here?¡± ¡°Oh no, I wonder if the artificial crack drew some creatures into my proto realm. I say we teach them that this is my home, not theirs.¡± ¡°Yeah I agree, first we will ask them to leave nicely and then I¡¯ll test out some of my new abilities courtesy of Bolt. Stay behind me.¡± ¡®Can do boss.¡± Cal returned to where he saw the creature and walked directly into the corridor. ¡°Hello, this is my friend''s home and he would appreciate it if you left.¡± The creature turned and looked at Cal, screeched and charged him. The tentacles moved quite fast along the ceiling. The creature bought six of its arms together into a club shape and swung hard at Cal¡¯s head. Cal divided to the side, avoiding the arms, but crashing into the rock instead. Probably time to take some fighting classes he thought, as he forced himself to his feet. He reached out and grabbed one of the tentacles and sent a shot of electricity through his hand into the beast¡¯s core. It fell off the ceiling and hit the ground with a thud. ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± Cal was quickly cut off as four more creatures rounded the corner at the end of the cavern. ¡°Dammit.¡± He lifted his hand and fired a shot of lightning down the hall hitting two of them, but it was too weak to fry them as easily as he had the first. All he had managed to do was enrage them. ¡°We might be in a bit of trouble here.¡± Cal yelled back to the spirit. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°NO THIS IS MY HOME, I WILL NOT LET YOU DEFEND IT ALONE.¡± The spirit¡¯s normal rumbles grew into an avalanche of a voice and Cal saw the walls match his fury as the ceiling of the cavern smashed down, closing it off entirely in a deafening sound that echoed across the caves. ¡°Fuck that hurt my ears.¡± Cal reached up and felt his left ear, his fingers came back with fresh red blood on them. ¡°Sorry, but I could not allow the invaders to hurt you, once we find the primal pool it should be able to heal your ears.¡± The voice was muffled but Cal was about to decipher it through the pain in his head. He followed the spirit through several other branching corridors, luckily finding no more invaders as they went. Cal thought he saw everything from iron to platinum in different parts of the walls. ¡°Okay I just need to open this piece right here and we should be at the pool.¡± The spirit rested its body against the wall allowing a steady stream of energy to be pushed directly into the wall itself. Cal felt a small tremor as the wall in front of them parted, giving them a view of a shimmering pool surrounded by mosses and a few small lizards. Several crystalline structures jutted out of the floor, bathing the room is a brighter light than the outside. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a cave quite like this before.¡± ¡°Yep, it¡¯s great isn¡¯t it? I can¡¯t wait to really move in. Go hop in that pool though it should clear up the ear issue.¡± Cal followed the order and gently lowered himself into the water. It was pleasantly warm and refreshing. Within minutes he felt his headache fade and shortly after that the ringing in his ears vanished as well. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m in a new body here. I could get used to this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always welcome.¡± ¡°How do you feel about the name Grannus? It sounds like Granite and I believe they were a Celtic god of healing. Seems to fit you.¡± ¡°I like it, it has a rocky feel to it. You can skip any of the she or he questions. Rock is rock.¡± ¡°Got it, no gender just Grannus.¡± ¡°Hey Cal, I think there¡¯s one more monster lurking in here. I started to sense after I found this room, but I¡¯m not sure I can help you with this one. Most of my power is drained from getting us this far. Do you think you¡¯d be able to take it down yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯m certainly willing to try for you buddy. Point me in the right direction.¡± Cal stood up and climbed out of the bath. He felt perfectly refreshed, as though he had had both a great meal and a good night¡¯s sleep. He felt ready to take on the world. He also knew this was a dangerous idea and convinced his ego to shut up and let the caution take over. ¡°Head out of this room and follow the first new path you find. It¡¯s something different than we fought before, but I¡¯m not sure what. It¡¯s bigger.¡± Cal left the room following Grannus¡¯ directions. He spotted the creature that had to be what was worrying the little spirit so much. At the end of the path standing in the bigger cavern room was one of the tentacle bears. Fuck Cal thought. This won¡¯t be easy without guns, guess it¡¯s time to try out the electric powers at the maximum strength. Cal stepped into the cavern. ¡°Hey bear look over here.¡± He raised his arms and fired every bit of electricity he could from his body. He felt himself collapse to his knees, now worried he had overdone it. The bear looked just as a full sized lightning bolt arced out of Cal¡¯s hands straight through the bear¡¯s chest. It dropped to the ground, dead. ¡°Hah I did it. I cast lightning bolt, Andy is going to hate this much.¡± He yelled into the empty room before standing up and making his way back to the pool. ¡°So what¡¯s next?¡± He asked Grannus. ¡°Well I¡¯m not really a hugger like Bolt, so how about we just take a good rest until the end?¡± ¡°Sounds great to me, I¡¯ll be in the pool.¡± And that is where Cal was when his body turned into pure energy yet again. Loop 17 - Stan & Jen鈥檚 First Date (Well in this Loop) Cal had told him several things before heading off into his stone realm, which Stan still didn¡¯t fully understand, but things had gotten weird in his life recently. Bug could talk. Cal was a wizard. He knew way too much about the future and things about Stan that should be impossible. So Stan believed his son. He had also told him a story to tell a woman named Jen on their first date to convince her all of this was true. Apparently on previous loops it had become harder and harder to hide the magic from her and it was just best to bring her into it. So Stan was here on a first date with years after the loss of his first wife, ready to tell a woman his son could do magic and the dog could talk and hope somehow she didn¡¯t have him committed. Stolen story; please report. Halfway through the main course Stan looked at Jen and said ¡°Jen, I have a story to tell you, please listen to the whole thing before you judge me. The first part is going to sound the strangest, but think about how it was possible for me to know. As a child you had a crush on Clifford the Big Red Dog, and you¡¯ve never spoken that out loud or written it down before in your life.¡± ¡°How the fuck did you know that Stan? Are you some kind of mind reader?¡± ¡°Nope, but my dog talks and Cal can do magic.¡± Loop 17 - Future Andy Babysitting Part Two ¡°Hey future Andy, I had Stan leave us coke and pizza in the kitchen, I got your favorite toppings.¡± Bug wagged her tail waiting for her head to be pat. ¡°Yes, thank you Bug, perhaps I judged you too harshly earlier.¡± He patted her head as he passed her walking into the kitchen. ¡°You¡¯re a very good dog, clearly much more capable of following directions than your master.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be mean to Cal. He¡¯s trying really hard, and you don¡¯t understand how hard this all is. The only reason you have a chance to get free of wherever you¡¯re stuck is because of him. So no more mean words, do you hear me?¡± She stared Andy in the eyes as she spoke. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Yes Bug, I hear you. I¡¯m sorry. I do understand he¡¯s doing his best and this is just a terrible situation all around. Perhaps one day we will all work together to remove the aliens and settle back down into some sort of routine.¡± ¡°Yes, we will all play D&D every week. It will be great.¡± ¡°Yes, great.¡± future Andy sighed. ¡°Bah, I think I actually miss Cal.¡± Loop 18 ¡°Should your crack be pulsating like that? The other two aren¡¯t.¡± Cal asked the small spirit. ¡°No, probably not, I think it¡¯s because I¡¯m not whole, I also feel like there is already someone inside.¡± ¡°Interesting, do you think it¡¯s future Andy?¡± ¡°That would make the most sense, we know he¡¯s somewhere, and my realm would make the most sense.¡± ¡°Boldly into the void we go, then¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just go normally?¡± ¡°I suppose, but where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± Cal and the spirit stepped from his bedroom into a world of shadow. There was a soft dim light permeating the world, what there was of it at least. Once Cal was fully free from the crack he began to fall into nothingness. There was no land here, no sky, just an infinite gloom. ¡°Uh, any idea what we are supposed to do here? The other two realms had their own starter mana wells, I don¡¯t really see anywhere yours could have that.¡± ¡°Nope, there should be some sort of landscape I think though. I guess those parts are with the rest of me. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright I¡¯ve got an idea.¡± Cal lifted his hand, pointing his finger into the darkness he fired off a small blast of lightning into the darkness. It lit their path as it went revealing debris slowly falling all around them until it hit a larger platform and fizzled out. ¡°Did you see that in the distance, let¡¯s try aiming in that direction. Hopefully this place works the way I think it does.¡± Cal oriented his body so that he would fall in the direction the bigger platform floated. He hoped this place worked the way he thought it did. Neither of the other two realms had been overly large. Their creators claimed they would expand and their own powers grew. This meant that this realm was also likely finite so, in theory, as they fell, they would just cycle around to back above the platform. Cal smashed headfirst into a steel platform, it wasn¡¯t at breakneck speeds, but it still hurt like hell. ¡°Fuck, ow, dammit, that really hurts.¡± He whined into the void. ¡°Of course it did, what kind of idiot tries to fly through an area with near zero visibility. Are you about to explode again like the last time you got here?¡± Cal thought he knew that disdainful voice. It was always so full of annoyance at the existence of their shared reality. ¡°Nice to see you too Andy, how have you been? Have you considered some decorating, I bet our little spirit here would have some great tips.¡± Cal made sure to keep his voice just outside the range of obvious sarcastic mockery as he stood up. He understood that Andy was likely miserable given how dreary this realm was currently stuck at. ¡°Actually now that you ask, unusually I have some news for you from two loops ago.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, who babysat you anyway?¡± ¡°Please tell me you aren¡¯t actually calling it that.¡± ¡°And lie to you, that seems rude.¡± ¡°Fine. More importantly Ethel wanted me to inform you that she also has a spirit within her. Apparently it allows her to communicate with plants and give them minor growth. She said it was only small plants, but I have a feeling that has more to do with a lack of training than real limitation.¡± ¡°That old lady is full of surprises. I wonder how much more she is keeping from us, but more importantly you¡¯re fully onboard with magic, that¡¯s great.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on board with the idea that the universe is able to express natural forces in a way we haven¡¯t fully managed to understand yet, and this is just one of them.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Close enough.¡± ¡°Hey little buddy, how would you feel about the name Barron?¡± ¡°Hmm, I think it works, but I need to be completely together to make a final decision on it.¡± ¡°So this guy here is what created this place I¡¯m stuck in?¡± ¡°I did, do you like it?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s better than nothing.¡± ¡°Do we know why there is so much random debris here?¡± Cal gestured to the random junk floating near enough to make out. ¡°My hypothesis is that this is what remains of the room I was in when the gravity generator went critical and pulled the room into itself.¡± ¡°Yes, I think he¡¯s right. If we could find a way to collect the bigger pieces and stitch them together, maybe we could create some more room in here. It would likely be easier to integrate myself with a clearer sky at least.¡± ¡°It might be doable, we just need some kind of tether to pull myself back here once we get to another chunk.¡± ¡°Can you reach that spool up there, I believe it¡¯s a roll of steel cable.¡± Andy pointed up at an object slightly out of their reach. Cal looked at the ground below his feet and pushed some of Grannus¡¯ power into it. The floor grew under Cal¡¯s feet just enough so that he could reach the cable above. He then pulled the power back into himself allowing the floor to return to its original shape. He then unrolled one end of the cable, holding the end to the plate below he tried arcing electricity into both of them until they held reasonably rightly together. ¡°I don¡¯t think it would ever impress anyone who actually knows how to weld, but it should work well enough for us.¡± And he dived off the side of the platform before Andy had a chance to respond. The next several hours were spent with Cal reeling in platform after platform. ¡°I think this is the last one.¡± The spirit yelled to Cal as he pulled himself next to Andy. ¡°Good, I don¡¯t have a ton of energy left and I still need to weld these platforms together. Andy, can you start moving them where they are supposed to be? It will be easiest if we follow the break pattern I think.¡± ¡°Yes, I agree. I wonder if any of the equipment still works.¡± Andy began the process of assembling a puzzle of giant steel sheets. Some property of the world made them nearly weightless as they floated around what had become his home. Cal followed behind him slowly fusing all the torn metal back into solid connections. He tested each break point with a few leaps to make sure his handiwork was holding. So far so good. Once they completed the assembly process Cal slumped down in the center of the space, exhausted. ¡°Well Andy, now you have a few thousand square feet to wander around in, much better than before. Hey look, this light even works.¡± Andy flipped a switch above his head on the side of the cabinet he was leaning against. Light spilled into the center of the complex, it did nothing to ease the oppressive gloom all around them. ¡°I¡¯m just going to rest here for a bit.¡± ¡°Take all the time you need. I¡¯m going to see if any of these computers actually work.¡± Andy started walking around tapping various buttons at different consoles. Cal heard several fans spring to life around him. Something was clearly still working. Cal closed his eyes, maybe a nap was what he really needed. ¡°Cal wake up, we have a problem.¡± Cal felt Andy shaking him as he came to. ¡°Ugh, what now?¡± His voice was full of annoyance, bordering on anger. ¡°Sorry, don¡¯t get mad Cal, Andy is serious, there''s a big issue and it¡¯s my fault. I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Cal took a deep breath and stood up ¡°Okay, I¡¯m awake, what¡¯s going on?¡± His voice still sounded half asleep. ¡°I managed to get the gravity generator monitor systems back online. This world is decaying at a rapid pace. The additional energy sources of Barron and yourself seem to have increased it significantly, but it had already started even without you too. It¡¯s likely because of the splitting apart of Barron.¡± ¡°Can we fix it?¡± ¡°I think so, but we don¡¯t have a lot of time, seven maybe eight loops at most, and then Barron and I are gone for good.¡± ¡°Understood, I assume we need to find a way to put Barron back together again?¡± ¡°Yes, the good news there is I know how to do that. We just need to get the other three generators into this building and let them all detonate together. You will need to be with them to make sure the power channels properly into Barron, and I believe my younger self will also need to present otherwise the link won¡¯t manifest correctly.¡± ¡°Alright, then I guess it¡¯s time to start some corporate espionage loops. We can spend the next three loops fully detailing the buildings where the other generators are kept and then figure out how best to transport them all here.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one final problem there. Moving the generators outside of their housing will cause them to go critical within hours. You are going to have to find a way to move them from across the country to Dallas on the final day of the loop, all at the same time.¡± ¡°Piece of cake, we just need to figure out teleportation.¡± Cal smiled, but on the inside this had him worried. He couldn¡¯t afford to lose Andy¡¯s knowledge and he had no idea how they were going to accomplish this, but he also didn¡¯t have much more time to think it over. He felt the energies within himself building to critical levels. ¡°Sorry guys, looks like I¡¯m about to clock out for the loop. See you next time.¡± He managed to squeeze out the last word as his form took on the golden brilliance milliseconds before the burst. Loop 18 - D&D Night Without Cal ¡°Albert, Ethel, Andy, please welcome Chris and Camden, they¡¯re my brothers and dad said they could join.¡± ¡°We know Bug, we were there, but yes please join us.¡± Ethel said. ¡°Where did we leave off last time?¡± Bug asked the group. She had decided to take over DMing this loop since Cal had been in that other crack forever. ¡°We had just reunited the red dragon with her long lost husband who had been imprisoned by the human kingdom.¡± Ethel summarized the last session The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ah yes, for the crime of being different. How dare they!¡± Albert added ¡°I wonder what D&D is like with a normal group?¡± Andy asked, no one answered. ¡°Chris has made a gnome barbarian, and I believe Camden said he was going to be a halfling paladin.¡± ¡°Yep, I can¡¯t wait, I played a few times with my friends at school, but dad says you and Cal do the best games. I still can¡¯t believe you can talk though.¡± ¡°I learned everything I know from Cal, well actually mostly Ethel, but I learned D&D from Cal.¡± ¡°No you didn''t, you said I taught you.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, and from Andy. I just left out all the boring parts.¡± Loop 18 - Future Andy Babysitting Part Three ¡°Where am I?¡± Andy coughed out of the words before turning to the side and repeating his usual routine. ¡°Ah yes, You have not been here just yet. Welcome to my humble abode. I¡¯m Ralth. I believe you maintain the awareness of your younger self to some degree once you manifest. Is that correct?¡± Ralth waited patiently for the answer. A few minutes passed before Andy raised his head to look back at the man. ¡°Yes, more or less. So I''m going to spend the end of this loop here then?¡± ¡°I requested your presence this time. We need the dimensions of the gravity generator from you. The capybaras are able to use a limited form of wormhole travel. It¡¯s how they safely get all their supplies and navigate the jungle, but I also know from experience we will need to start extending the fields just slightly for the upcoming building raids.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°So your story about being from the future isn¡¯t completely bullshit then? Considering Cal and I just learned we needed to do this, and the loop hasn¡¯t restarted for him yet, I don¡¯t see how else you¡¯d know.¡± ¡°Exactly my friend. Albert grab the man a coke and a sketch pad. It¡¯s time to get to work.¡± The white flash swept across the caverns just as Andy finished his third soda. Loop 19 It was several years into the loop before Cal sat everyone down to discuss his future plans. He wanted to give his friends and family time to cement up their lives. This meant it wasn¡¯t until late two thousand six that he had everyone gathered around the dinner table at Stan¡¯s house. He had chosen his dad¡¯s house because Jen was still recovering from the recent birth of Camden. Stan didn¡¯t have a lot of spare time to leave the house as he was taking full care of Christopher and the newborn while she rested from the ordeal. ¡°Hello everyone. Thanks for coming to the first meeting of the new round table.¡± Cal was smiling as he thanked the group. ¡°Cal, son, the table is square.¡± Stan shook his head as he spoke. ¡°The details aren¡¯t important here dad, it¡¯s the symbolism.¡± ¡°I agree with Stan, if it¡¯s the symbol that matters, the actual symbol should be correct.¡± Andy laughed while he gently made fun of his friend. ¡°Alright, alright I¡¯ll work on our team name and our symbolism. But it¡¯s important we get down to business. We only have seven loops, including this one, before we lose future Andy and Barron. And while I¡¯m sure Andy¡¯s loss is understandable I think my little spirit buddies all deserve a chance at life.¡± ¡°Cal be nice, I gave future Andy a talking to last time I saw him, don¡¯t make me do the same to you.¡± Bug glared at Cal with her best serious face. ¡°I promise I¡¯m joking Bug, I really do want to save Future Andy as well. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve got you all here. We need to discuss what has to be done and how we are going to do it. There is one huge issue, but I¡¯ll get to that after we cover the initial information.¡± Jen walked into the room and pulled out a chair. ¡°I heard you from the other room, and I want to help anyway I can. We need to save this world for families no matter what it takes.¡± ¡°Welcome to the team Jen.¡± Cal walked over to his step mother and extended his hand for a hand shake, she instead pulled into an embrace. ¡°Thank you Cal.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just happy we have another woman here, Bug and I were getting outvoted too often.¡± Ethel was also smiling as she said this. ¡°So here what future Andy and I believe is happening. Some of this is speculation, some of this we are sure of, but for now this is the scenario we are going to use for our planning. The Gryalth are here to drain our planet and then probably our universe of its natural resources, for their own war efforts. At some point people on this planet became at the very least aware of their existence and some of their activities. Based on information from Ethel on her parents we can assume the Agency that represents these interests has been around for at least a hundred years. At some point after their arrival the Gryalth began to hunt down natural mana wells around the world. This led to a war between Many Legs, her allies at the time and the Gryath¡¯s bear monsters. Many Legs lost the war and she was the only survivor. After capturing the pools they then spend several decades slowly corrupting the waters and moving the energies into their own device. This is the brightstone that most of us have seen from Alaska, we can safely assume from the notes of future Andy that similar stones exist across the world. Alongside these stones exist a set of four gravity generators that the Agency managed to build using energies from a proto void spirit. Sometime around twenty-twenty-one, two years before the end of the loop, the Agency acquires at least four of the stones and places them in research labs with the four generators. The removal of the stones always seems to trigger a Gryalth event within two years. This is what happened in the initial loop. At future Andy¡¯s research lab, specifically one of the Gryalth fired into the engine, causing it to go critical and start to implode. Caught in the implosion were the entire research lab, the stone and future Andy. Due to how the gravity generator was built, this triggered implosion events at the location of the other three as well. This triggered something on a quantum string level starting the loops. For a very long time, so long that future Andy himself no longer knows, he was trapped alone in these loops, only able to act in the last twenty minutes or so. He spent this time learning about every single person in the building and determining who he knew the longest. This is where he discovered me. At that point I spent most of my time in a run down apartment playing video games and scraping by on food delivery gigs. This meant I was at the building delivering food when the attack started. Andy then started an experiment to increase the amount of void essence I had been exposed to until eventually he fully brought me into the loop. The reason he chose me was because due to the tools he had available he could only extend the person¡¯s awareness to the day they first met. This is why both Bug and I become aware at the same time. We met Andy for a few hours when I was twelve. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This leads us to now. We have to find a way to get the to get all the generators from the labs they are currently in, to the one Andy will work in. The big issue here is we have limited loops to do it in and we have to do it the same day the loop ends, probably in the middle of the invasion itself. Our destination goal is Dallas. The other three are located in New York City, Boston and Seattle.¡± ¡°Wait, how can we possibly get one of these from New York to Texas in a few hours?¡± Ethel interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t know and I think I¡¯ve covered just about everything I do know, so now it¡¯s brainstorm time.¡± Cal responded. Andy started to open his mouth, but before any words came out a small crack appeared in mid air above the table, it quickly widened and Albert¡¯s head popped out. ¡°Hello everyone, got a letter here from Ralth for you. Can¡¯t stay, they will be able to track this if it¡¯s open too long.¡± His head vanished back into the crack and a letter popped out before the crack itself turned back into empty air. Cal grabbed the letter off the table and quickly scanned it. ¡°Well, that solves that.¡± He then handed the letter to Andy. ¡°Solves what?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Ralth needs my future self, we can use these cracks to move the generators, but he needs help getting the schematics perfect, so I need to be in his caverns at the end of the next several loops.¡± ¡°Look at that, we¡¯ve already taken care of the biggest problem. You¡¯ve been a great war council, give yourselves a hand.¡± Cal looked at each of them as he spoke. ¡°Oh no, Ethel I don¡¯t know to clap¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay Bug, he wasn¡¯t serious. I¡¯m not entirely sure he knows how to be.¡± ¡°We need to move near the buildings that will house the stones and generators.¡± Stan tried to bring the talk back around to planning. ¡°Yes, but how do we want to do this? No offense to Bug, but her memories of details aren¡¯t perfect enough for me to rely on her for information dumping at the end of the loop, and I can¡¯t be everywhere at once. Andy has to be with Ralth. So that leaves you three.¡± ¡°Jen and I can move to Boston, she has family there anyway. We will keep detailed journals, all paper to make sure we don¡¯t have any electronic spies. Jen you¡¯ve got the better military training here, do you think we can gather enough intel this way?¡± ¡°For this loop, probably. Ethel can take one of the other two, Cal the last. We set up the capybaras to do journal drops to Cal as soon as we can, making sure to dump them all up to the last hour. This seems doable.¡± ¡°I think we should rotate locations each loop to try and catch anything anyone misses as well.¡± Ethel added. ¡°Good idea. I don¡¯t want to spend more than three loops at this recon stage, because we are likely going to fail the generator acquisition stage at least once, and I want some wiggle room to get this right. Thank you, everyone for trusting and believing in me. I really mean that.¡± Cal added the last part after a brief pause. ¡°More importantly I smell dinner.¡± Bug yelled moments before the doorbell rang. ¡°PIZZA!¡± * Ethel wanted Seattle this loop, so Cal took New York City. He sent Bug with Ethel to help her, and while he knew he¡¯d miss her it was for the best. He had his spiritual friends to help him, Stan had Jen, Ethel needed someone. Every few weeks a crack would appear in his apartment office and a couple journals would appear. They also all made sure to have regular phone calls, but kept any of the important parts over written words. Part of Cal¡¯s goal in this loop was investigating computer encryption. He wanted to figure out a better way of transferring information in the future loops, in case anything needed to be done quickly. For the first decade of watching the area, nothing huge happened. Each location functioned as a research lab, and seemed to have been in operation for decades prior to their investigations. Cal had assumed this was how it would go in this loop. Next loop they had agreed would be the time for infiltration. Everyone would try to get a job in the buildings and map them out as best they could. The final loop of recon was meant to be spent much more risky, actual information theft to gather whatever data they could. Activity picked up at all three locations late twenty-twenty. It looked like they were preparing to house the generator and or acquire the stones. Large vans were seen going in and out of their parking bays at all times of the day now, culminating in a procession of two semi trucks and several large cans in early twenty twenty-one. This happened within a few weeks of each other at each location. Cal believed they now had the stone inside. Nothing of note happened again until the final day of the loop. Cal waited patiently watching the building from his apartment. The capybaras had opened up a crack that would last the entire day in each residence. All a person had to do was think where it led and toss in their object to get it there. With the loop soon ending, they weren¡¯t worried about any tracking, and Ralth thought it was also good practice for the coming needs. Cal watched three vans stop in front of the building at around three o¡¯clock and aliens started pouring out of them. They made their way to each entrance on the building and used their odd weapons to force their way in. As this happened several small notes started dropping into his apartment. He tried to read them as they came in. The same thing was happening at each location. When the Gryalth arrived, they removed any obstacles and started raiding the building. Cal learned nothing else this loop as he waited for the white flash to start it all over again. Loop 19 - Andy & Ralth ¡°Now tell me, are you still so unhappy to be surrounded by capybaras Andy?¡± Ralth passed Andy a fresh plate of fried shrimp after his question. ¡°No I suppose not. I can¡¯t believe how well they cook though. How long did this take?¡± Andy ate several of the shrimp and chased them with a swig of soda. ¡°Most of them have been with me for a few hundred years. Once I settled down here and started cultivating the pool into a stronger form, they began awakening and forming this community.¡± ¡°Interesting, and their education was that all you as well?¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I did have some help there, but once the library was fully assembled and the first of them learned to read and write it spread surprisingly fast amongst them.¡± ¡°Thank you for all your help by the way. As you¡¯ve seen the dimensional cracks are stabilizing at the larger size, and with your notes this time around I think I can direct the mana pool to increase it yet again.¡± ¡°Next time, would it be possible to have sushi? I haven¡¯t had any in years, and I bet I could eat a ton of rolls while we go over the diagnostics.¡± ¡°Yes of course, until next time.¡± Ralth raised his glass as the white flash enveloped the caverns. Loop 19 - Bug Makes a Friend ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Bug, what¡¯s your name?¡± Bug asked the small scraggly cat she had found scavenging the dumpster earlier in the day. She had been bored waiting for Ethel to get home from shopping and managed to get the doors open to get outside, but without either a key or thumbs she was now stuck. The cat purred weakly, gently rubbing against Bug¡¯s leg. ¡°Are you okay little cat, you don¡¯t seem very strong.¡± Bug had noticed on a closer inspection that the cat was covered in fleas and was incredibly thin. ¡°I think I¡¯m just going to wait here with you and keep you warm until Ethel gets home. She will know what to do. Don¡¯t worry she loves animals.¡± Bug curled up on the ground around the emaciated cat, protecting them from the cold. They stayed like that for a few hours. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Bug, where are you girl? Bark twice if you can hear me.¡± Bug barked twice in response. She then saw Ethel walking down the alley to her. ¡°Ethel over here, my new friend needs help. She¡¯s very small, and she has fleas. I¡¯m worried about her.¡± Ethel walked up to both of them. ¡°Let me see her.¡± Ethel bent over and picked up the cat and looked her over. ¡°Let¡¯s get her inside and give her a bath.¡± It took them nearly a year of the loop to nurse the cat back to full health, but between the two of them they managed it. Bug¡¯s new friend, who she named Trashcat, slept warmly and happily in the apartment with them for the rest of the loop. Loop 20 Cal ran this loop similar to the last one. At the war council meeting he passed out notes from the previous loop, including a date and time for Stan and Jen to rescue Bug¡¯s cat friend. ¡°Alright everyone, this time around we all attempt to get jobs in the building we are watching. Estelle, Bug you¡¯ve got New York, I¡¯ll take Boston and Dad, you and Jen are in Seattle. Andy you are back off with Ralth, and now we eat dinner.¡± * Cal had been working in the cafeteria at the Franklin research lab for over a decade now. He had slowly built up strong rapports with various other works and research scientists in the building. Through this he had learned about many of the closed door experiments. People were notoriously bad at keeping secrets, especially to the person who was passing out their late night snack as they burned the midnight oil. ¡°Hey guys, what¡¯s with all the extra traffic recently?¡± Cal asked one of the tables as he set out some apple pie slices for them. He knew them well enough, they seemed nice. ¡°Or is this one of those top secret things that the food man isn¡¯t supposed to hear about?¡± He gave them a beaming smile as he said that. ¡°Nah, I mean it''s a secret, but you¡¯ve been here longer than I have, you¡¯re going to learn anyway.¡± The bigger of the two men at the table said. His name badge read Phil, which Cal was glad people had to wear, he hadn¡¯t been great with names before the loops and now there were just so many people he had to remember. ¡°The big wigs found some weird ore and they want us to test it out on some generator prototype. From what I¡¯ve read, it sounds like it¡¯s some kind of unique reaction that produces nuclear fusion, but that seems hard to believe.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a breakthrough like that change the world entirely?¡± Cal asked, doubting that was what was happening as the other engine had claimed it was using gravitons. He figured the Agency was just using plausible but unlikely answers to avoid telling the greater scientific community about mana wells. ¡°Sure would. This is probably just another false positive.¡± Phil took a bite of his pie. ¡°Great as usual, thanks Cal.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Cal was pleased at how well all of their covers had been going. Ethel was working as a research assistant in New York City helping them test dog cognitive abilities. Her resume made it an easy sell. His dad and Jen were both security guards in Seattle. Thanks to their efforts he now had a map of each building and a good idea of which lab was likely to hold the stones and generators. Next loop they would test that theory to verify it for sure. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Cal only really had one more thing he wanted to accomplish this loop. He wanted to attack a Gryalth head on, see if his abilities made him able to go head to head with one in a direct confrontation. It was well passed time they started fighting back, and he was going to see how feasible an idea that even was. He had not told anyone else about this as he didn¡¯t want them to worry. This was something only he could do right now. * Loop day found Cal cooking up some pizzas for the staff lunch. As far as he could tell everyone here was still completely in the dark about the coming attack. He had enrolled in several different martial art schools over the last two loops and he was looking forward to testing his mettle. He was also teetering on an anxious breakdown, but he kept pushing that down. There would be time for a vacation loop once future Andy was safe and sound. Time ticked by as Cal kept checking his phone, reading any encrypted message as it came in, until he finally heard the chaos start. Alarms started blaring. A voice came across the intercom. ¡°Everyone please remain calm and secure the room you are in. Do not allow anyone without proper access in. Everything will return to normal shor¡­¡± The message cut off with a loud explosion. At the same time the doors to the cafeteria flew open and three Gryalth entered. Cal flew into action, almost literally. He used his rock shaping to propel himself forward slamming his right fist into the face of the left most invader. He pushed as much electricity as he could spare into the punch and the resulting force threw the alien across the room. It didn¡¯t immediately stand back up. ¡°One down.¡± Calm yelled, turning to face the other two. He then blasted a lighting bolt straight ahead. It looked about to pass between them, before it split in half and hit them both in the chests. While they both looked hurt, neither went down. One of them started firing its weapon repeatedly in front of him. Cal dived behind a table and decided to try something new. He brought his hands together and started forming a ball of energy at their center. He was going to try to create ball lightning. He poured as much energy as he was willing to spare into the center of the ball, managing to get it to the size of a baseball. He popped out from the side of the table and tossed the energy ball as hard as he could at the one who had opened fire. The ball exploded on impact, and so did the alien. Cal decided less energy next time, the room now looked like something out of a horror movie. He heard noise behind and turned his head to see several more Gryalth standing in the doorway. ¡°Hah got your attention didn¡¯t I?¡± He had no intention of making it out of here alive and charged the newcomers. To his own surprise he managed to make contact and knocked two of them down before he felt their weapons impact. This fight was possible, they could win this, despite the incredible pain Cal died smiling. Loop 20 - More Andy & Ralth ¡°So you¡¯re also aware of the time loops?¡± Future Andy asked Ralth. ¡°Yes, since I¡¯ve been back here long before they started, I prepared myself for them. I knew the date they would occur so on that day the capybaras greet me with a special message and breakfast so that I keep in sync with the changing loop.¡± Ralth answered. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Do you know how long I¡¯ve been looping for then? I lost count around the time I felt my sanity start to slip.¡± ¡°No, I never saw it as important to keep a running tally. As for sanity, I wouldn¡¯t worry much. Before this is all over I doubt anyone will be qualified to judge any of our mental faculties.¡± Loop 20 - Stan Tries D&D ¡°Alright, so I¡¯ve seen you all play a lot. It¡¯s basically theater but with dice right?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Pretty much dad, you can be any kind of class which is more or less your job and then we all build a story together as we play.¡± Camden answered. ¡°It¡¯s important to note Stan, you don¡¯t have to go heavy on role play, the mechanics are where the real fun is at.¡± Andy advised the large man. ¡°Never listen to Andy dad, he doesn¡¯t like that my war hammer is named kibble or that my shield is named bits, but everyone else says it¡¯s great!¡± Bug added enthusiastically. Andy groaned at her words. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°There¡¯s a class just called fighter, I wanna try that. Oh they get access to basically all weapons and armor? That sounds perfect.¡± Stan was scanning the player¡¯s handbook as he spoke. ¡°Dad, the real important thing here is you have fun, but also that you generally ignore Andy outside of rulings on specific mechanic interactions. He has those down pretty well. Now for everyone else, last time we left off you had convinced the were wombat of northern down under to stand aside and allow the cats to settle in the forest¡­¡± Cal started the session. Loop 21 Cal had stolen the keycard from one of the workers. This time around he was in Seattle and his goal was to get a good idea on the layout of the lab itself. Once he had that the plan was to flee the country to Ralth¡¯s caverns for the rest of the loop. The other two groups had the same orders and they were all making their moves tonight as well. Jen was sure any attempt at one location would lead to increased security at all locations, so it had to be a coordinated effort. Everyone was to record their break in, and the second any resistance was seen they were to drop their recording devices into the cracks that were placed on each door and then attempt to make a getaway. If the breakin could be done with discovery, they still were to drop the device in the crack and head for their plane. Cal added encrypted audio communication to a growing list of things he wanted to learn. He hated being out of contact with his family in the middle of something like this, but as of now he couldn¡¯t risk anyone tapping their conversation, and that was assuming nothing in here was jamming any exterior signal. That was also a strong possibility. He slid the keycard through the reader, the light flashed green. So far so good he thought as he pushed the open. He was happy to find no one in the room either. His research into the researcher¡¯s schedules had paid off. He started recording and moved the cellphone around the room making sure to hit all corners. The generator was wired into several locations, from a raised table in the center of the room. It looked like he could just rip the wires out and push it through a crack. The idea that this was all becoming feasible brightened his outlook. While he had been doing his best to hide it, he had been stuck in a gloom since he learned about their time limit. Now he was determined that it could be done. He started to scan the room for the stone. Not immediately spotting it, he took a different approach and followed each wire from the generator until he found several running to a locked cabinet. He fished out the keycard from his pocket and tried it on the reader. The door popped open. Sitting inside was the stone. It was inside some sort of glass container. Cal didn¡¯t dare touch the stone, he was afraid of causing an earlier end. Instead he closed the door carefully. He did one final look around the room with the phone and dropped it through the crack, exiting the room as soon as the crack vanished. He dropped the keycard in a trash can as he walked towards the elevators. * Cal was sitting at the table in Ralth¡¯s waiting for everyone else to arrive. All recordings had made it safely, sadly he had no way to know if that was true of the people though. If anyone was missing in a day he would assume the worst had happened, but at least right now he had everything he needed to prepare for the next loop. Next time the war council went to war. No one else arrived. With the limited resources they had access to in the caves Cal and Andy tried to determine where everything went wrong. They went over the other two records together. The labs were nearly identical to the one Cal had investigated. Nothing happened to them during the breakin phase. Something must have gone wrong during the escape. ¡°So what do we do?¡± Andy asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, there¡¯s only another few months left in the loop anyway. I could try another Agency interaction. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll gain any other useful information moping around the caves.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t happy at the idea, but at least it was something. The idea of his family being tortured was a recurring fear he couldn¡¯t shake. ¡°Where do you want to start then?¡± ¡°I guess I just try flying back and see if anything happens there. I think I¡¯ll start with Boston and check on the house there.¡± He waited for any dissent from Andy, but got none. ¡°Do you want me to come?¡± ¡°No, Ralth may still need you, plus I want future Andy to look over the maps and let Ralth know if there is anything missing that he can think of.¡± ¡°Good point, alright when are you leaving?¡± ¡°Now, I¡¯m too antsy to just wait around, I¡¯ve gotta try doing something. The coming deadline has had me on edge for years now. It¡¯s a feeling I don¡¯t recommend.¡± * Cal opened the front door at his dad¡¯s house. He had no issues returning so far, which concerned him more. How had only his family been spotted and not him, more concerning as he searched the house was that he found no signs of a struggle anywhere. His younger half brothers had obviously taken, but where and when? His anger rose the longer he waited around and he finally decided it was time to see where his abilities ranked against some government agents. He picked up his phone, looked up the local non emergency police line and called them. After a few rings someone answered the other end. ¡°Hello Mr. Marshall, ready to discuss your missing family now?¡± ¡°That was what I was calling about, yes, if you could send a car to pick me up, I¡¯m sure you know where I am.¡± Cal did his best to keep the anger from infecting his voice. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°We do, they just pulled into the driveway. If you could get into the back we can have you reunited with your family shortly.¡± The voice was monotone, Cal wasn¡¯t even sure if it was human or AI. ¡°Can do, see you shortly.¡± Cal walked out of the house and climbed in the car. He on who¡¯s side this counted as a trap for. There was no realistic way they knew what he was about to unleash, but he also had no clue what they were capable of. He decided this meant it was a fair fight. He looked out the window, the car was speeding down a highway to its destination. ¡°So are either of you allowed to talk to me?¡± He asked the two men in the front seats. He got no answer in return. ¡°Yeah I thought not, too bad. I was going to tell you about my secret army of talking ninja capybaras chefs.¡± A few more minutes passed in silence before the car pulled into a parking lot. ¡°Out, go through the front door.¡± The driver turned his head and spoke for the first time. ¡°It was a pleasure, I don¡¯t have any money for the tip, sorry guys.¡± Cal¡¯s fake smile was becoming harder to hold as he left the car and walked through the doors. He walked up to the front desk. There was another man in a suit sitting behind it. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Cal Marshall, My family and I recently broke into several of your secure facilities in order to prepare for an alien invasion that you are incapable of stopping. In repayment you kidnapped them all. I believe I have an appointment.¡± A door opened to Cal¡¯s left. ¡°I¡¯ve got him, Bob. Despite the hyperbole, he is expected.¡± A man called out from the door. ¡°Come with me Cal, let¡¯s go see your family.¡± The man was dressed in the usual Agency suits, likely meant to make them resemble any other government agency. He was nearly as tall as Cal. Cal guessed physically he was a few years older. ¡°Have you hurt them?¡± ¡°No, well the dog hurt herself a bit, she had to be restrained, but as of right now everyone is fine, and they can stay that way if you cooperate.¡± ¡°I want to see them now. Then we can discuss any possible terms.¡± The rage started to bleed into his words. His tone came with a very strong implied threat. ¡°Fine, follow me.¡± They walked through several branching hallways, stopping every so often for the man to unlock a door. Eventually Cal heard his family in the distance. Stan was trying to convince the kids everything would be okay. ¡°Everything will be okay dad, I¡¯m here now.¡± Cal yelled to his family. His yell was greeted with a series of cheers. He rounded the corner and saw them all in cells behind some sort of glass wall. ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± ¡°Yes, but there have been a lot of threats, they made poor Bug cry.¡± Ethel informed Cal. Cal had never seen that look on her face before. He was sure given a chance she¡¯d kill every one of their captors for hurting Bug. Good. ¡°So, I apologize for what you¡¯re all about to see, but as we only have a few months left, I thought it was best we try out some prototypes, and I see just what these agents are capable of.¡± ¡°Mr. Marshall I strongly sugge¡­¡± The agent''s words were cut off as Cal slammed his palm into the glass. He had a pebble sitting in his palm. Within seconds the glass started to crack, and shattered, in its place floating a crack in midair. ¡°This is one of the newly refined cracks, bigger than usual, Dad, if you could stay here and document everything you see and toss the recording through.¡± Cal tossed his dad a cellphone. He then turned to the man who had brought him in here. ¡°Give me your keycard.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ve already alerted the facility of this, you aren¡¯t going anywhere.¡± ¡°I highly doubt that you can contain me.¡± Cal responded as he pushed electricity through his feet causing him to fly forward. He tackled the man hard. He found a pair of handcuffs in the man¡¯s coat and secured him with them, just as the door opened to several men with riot gear pouring in. Cal raised his right hand and fired a small lightning bolt from each of his fingers, not aiming for any particular target. His chaos gambit worked, their formation broken as the men scattered. Some dived to the ground, others just ran away. One of them managed to hold it together and pulled out a radio while dodging. ¡°We have a problem, he¡¯s got mana enhanced. Strongly, we will need an ogre.¡± ¡°What the fuck is an ogre?¡± Cal yelled at the man as he threw more lightning into the group. He dug his feet into the ground, pushing stone energy as he did so. He covered himself in a thin veneer of electricity and ejected himself forward through the door into the fleeing men. An elevator door dinged in the hall. Cal turned his head to see who was joining the fight. The doors opened revealing a small man. His hair was on fire. ¡°That¡¯s new. Some kind of flame or lava spirit?¡± Cal asked the man. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡± The man yelled back. ¡°I am a world of fire and you will burn!¡± He spat fire as he talked. Cal had a feeling this man wasn¡¯t exactly sane. He also noticed there was some sort of collar around his neck. ¡°Hey buddy, are they using that collar to control you? Want me to break it?¡± Cal asked as he leaped to the side, avoiding a fireball. The hallway was getting uncomfortably warm. ¡°You break that and we¡¯re all dead.¡± The guy who summoned the ogre yelled from the prison room. ¡°Sounds like a good thing to try then. I¡¯m not big on the idea that the government gets to enslave magic users like myself.¡± He fired off several lightning bolts aiming for the collar. Two of them hit home and the device began to sizzle. The ogre reached his hand to the collar and it began to glow bright red. Cal assumed he was also working to free himself. The collar melted off his neck. Suddenly a voice seemed to come from everywhere. ¡°Ogre containment broken, scrubbing protocols in effect.¡± ¡°Dammit, you idiot, I told you, now we all die.¡± The man in the prisoner area screamed as the building started to rumble. ¡°Cal I tossed the phone through to Ralth, we are good there.¡± Stan shouted to his son. ¡°Perfect.¡± Cal ran to his family, he wanted to be with them as he felt the explosion rock the building. The loop once again ended in a fiery explosion. Loop 21 - Research and Development ¡°Albert, we can¡¯t work under these conditions, how is a capybara supposed to get anything done when the coffee isn¡¯t even hot?!¡± A capybara with a blue tinge to its fur aggressively questioned Albert as he brought in the new diagrams for how to draw their runic cracks. ¡°Look, Bill, I understand, but sometimes we have to work with what we have. There just aren¡¯t currently enough of us to do all the things we usually do, so right now we stick with the priority missions.¡± Albert tried to calm his long time friend. ¡°I think I liked this all better before the humans.¡± Bill took a drink of his cold coffee. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°No you don¡¯t, they invented all your favorite candy.¡± Albert handed Bill a dark chocolate bar. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone I saved this for you, just keep your eyes on the mission. Once we get this done Ralth promised our lives will get very interesting very fast.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I didn¡¯t mean it anyway. I¡¯m just tired. Trying to convert the energy waves of our mana well directly into our dimensional hops isn¡¯t something I thought we would ever need to do.¡± ¡°Same, but it¡¯s working, you figured out the language of magic. You¡¯re talking directly to the universe, and it¡¯s responding to help us.¡± Loop 21 - Andy & Ralth One More Time ¡°Does this actually work Ralth? Will this stabilize the void realm I¡¯m stuck in?¡± Future Andy asked, an unusual amount of concern in his voice. ¡°I¡¯d rather not die after all the work we¡¯ve put in.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, my future knowledge of events is catching up to reality. I hope it works. I¡¯ve invested a great deal into it.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh that¡¯s not cryptic at all.¡± Andy responded sarcastically. He wondered just who Ralth was. With the details he currently possessed, they had to have already met, but considering the time loops that didn¡¯t quite fit either. There was no way he was Bug, and it didn¡¯t make sense for him to be Cal either.¡± ¡°Wait you¡¯re not me are you?!¡± Andy¡¯s voice was full of alarm. ¡°God no.¡± Loop 22 At the first meeting of Cal¡¯s war council they went over what had happened with the Agency last loop. Most of the information was lost, but Ralth had managed to hear some of what Stan said. Plus Bug had some details to add in. The good news was none of them had been captured until after leaving the building. Each of them had been surrounded by several unmarked cars as soon as they tried to leave the grounds. Nothing else survived of Stan¡¯s encounter. Bug and Ethel had been forced inside a van. Bug herself had been hurt trying to save Ethel and they tranquilized her once she was inside. She didn¡¯t remember anything else clearly until Cal showed up, and even that she found to be blurry. Given the information, it seemed pointless to worry about this loop. If they waited until the exit to grab them it didn¡¯t matter. No one intended to exit the building, just wait out what was coming. Cal ruled the Agency a non issue this time around, but in the future he would be investigating just what they were doing to people with magic. * It was early twenty twenty-three and Cal had everyone gathered around the table for their last planning phase discussion before they made their first attempt at getting the generators together. ¡°So Stan takes NYC, Ethel and Bug take Seattle, Jen takes Boston, Andy and I handle Dallas. The only goal is to get the generators through the cracks. Will the cracking stones be ready in time Albert?¡± Cal looked at the capybara as he asked. He had made sure to include him in this meeting. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Albert stood up to better address the group. ¡°Yes, we already have the majority produced. We are just trying to double them up right now in case any are lost during the assault.¡± He sat back down. ¡°Perfect, now I know something is likely to go wrong and if it does, do your best to get a communication out as to what happened so we can better prepare in future loops, does anyone have any questions?¡± ¡°How will we know if this all goes right?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I assume there will be some change brought about from this, but I don¡¯t know what.¡± Cal didn¡¯t have a great answer and he knew it. At the very least he hoped this would allow him to start accessing his void magic, and start being able to travel through the spirit¡¯s realms without exploding. That alone would open up a world of possibilities for communication with future Andy as well as safe areas. ¡°I don¡¯t think we will understand the change until my future self can examine where he resides most of the time. Once that happens though we will likely become aware of something.¡± Andy added. ¡°Alright let the final war council be concluded. It¡¯s time for pizza.¡± Cal looked over at his family and friends as he spoke. He hoped they all made it through saving the world. Loop 22 - Bug & Ethel ¡°Alright Bug, so you know the routine. I¡¯m bringing you into the training department for some tests, we¡¯ve already cleared it. Now I won¡¯t actually inject you with anything, we are just going to work until lunch. We will excuse ourselves right before the invasion lockdown begins and make our move. Sound good girl?¡± Ethel explained the plan details one last time making sure the dog remembered. ¡°Yep, and I keep my mouth shut until we begin the generator theft.¡± Bug wagged her tail as she spoke. ¡°Exactly.¡± After they finished their conversation, Ethel put a leash on Bug and guided her out of the car and into the building. They checked in at the front desk and made their way up to the animal training lab. The day passed quickly as Ethel pretended to do her usual day with Bug. As far as she could tell no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary. She looked at her watch. It was time. She grabbed Bug and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind her. Alarms started going off and a voice came across a speaker. ¡°Everyone please remain calm and stay in you¡­¡± The voice cut off. ¡°Time to go quickly, Bug.¡± Ethel unhooked the leash on Bug and she sprinted ahead. ¡°It¡¯s clear, come on Ethel, let¡¯s get upstairs.¡± Bug sniffed the air as she talked. ¡°Coming Bug, I¡¯m not as fast as you are.¡± Ethel moved as fast she could after the dog into the stairwell and they began to climb. The elevator was out, too much risk of a stoppage. They opened the door onto their destination floor and started walking forward. Bug tackled Ethel behind a large potted plant. Ethel saw the aliens out of the corner of her before she was knocked for cover. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°The mana readings are coming from down here somewhere now. They must have climbed up to this floor.¡± One of them stated as they walked forward. ¡°Dammit, they must be able to detect me if I''m close enough, Bug I¡¯m going to distract them with the plant. I want you to run into the hall and call our allies. We are going to need them.¡± Ethel whispered to the dog as she put her hand to the plant. ¡°Hello new friend, I really need your help, could grow as big as possible for me right now.¡± The plant obeyed and tripled in size, giving Ethel a shield that blocked the shot aimed at her head. She watched in horror as the plant turned to ash in front of her. ¡°How dare you!¡± She screamed at the two Gryalth. ¡°YES HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY SECOND FAVORITE DOG BUG.¡± The form of Many Legs came into view as she charged across the wall crashing into the aliens at full speed. ¡°Good job Bug, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°YES I HAVE THIS.¡± Ethel and Bug ran down the hall and rounded the corner, stopping in front of their target door. She pulled an earlier pilfered keycard from her pocket and opened the door. There were several scientists standing around looking terrified. ¡°Orders from above, secure the door and unhook the generator. We need to get out of the building before we are completely compromised.¡± Noone moved. ¡°I DON¡¯T REMEMBER ASKING, HOP TO IT.¡± Ethel screamed. It worked. Within minutes the generator was unhooked and waiting for Ethel¡¯s pebble. She obliged. ¡°Thank you everyone, now we wait for our escape.¡± She told the confused scientists as the generator slid into the crack that now hung in the air. Loop 22 - Ethel Hires a Ringer It wasn¡¯t cheap to hire a private pilot for this flight. It was even harder to find someone she trusted to let a giant talking centipede on the helicopter, but she was old and that came with a lot of old friends who owed her favors no matter how weird they may be. One of her former students now ran a commercial pilot school, and he still sent her thank you letters every year for the help she gave him during school. She doubted Tim believed her story, but that was fine. He had agreed to come with them and personally fly the helicopter, that was what mattered most here. ¡°Tim, I appreciate you taking me here even though you think I¡¯m nuts.¡± Ethel thanks her former student after lunch. They had landed earlier that day. ¡°It¡¯s not that I think you¡¯re nuts, just a little eccentric, you always had a big heart for animals.¡± Tim took a bite of his sandwich after responding. ¡°Yes, well to prove a little of my claims, Bug, come here for a minute.¡± Bug walked over. ¡°I know you are under orders not to speak to anyone outside the family, but I¡¯m giving you permission to talk to Tim. It¡¯s better he hears you now than panics when he first meets the bugs.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Bug plodded over to Tim and looked up at him. ¡°Hi Tim, it¡¯s nice to finally be able to speak to you.¡± Tim¡¯s most recent bite of sandwich fell out of his mouth. ¡°Oh, so we really are transporting a giant talking centipede back home?¡± ¡°Sure are, now finish up your lunch, I¡¯m going to go make contact. Come along Bug.¡± Ethel waved to Bug as she stood up and made her way into the cave entrances. The entrance was dark and humid. She wondered if this was always her first thought when she visited. ¡°Bug you¡¯re up.¡± Bug walked further into the cave and turned to her right, she was looking down a side passage that Ethel could barely see. ¡°Many Legs, I know we haven¡¯t met yet in this loop, but I¡¯m your friend from before and I need your help. I¡¯m Bug the dog.¡± Bug called into the darkness. Her call was answered with the skittering of legs in the corridor. Something was coming, Ethel hoped the something was a relaxed Many Legs. Her hopes were shortly answered. ¡°HELLO, DID YOU SAY YOU WERE A DOG. YOU ARE A VERY GOOD DOG.¡± A giant centipede rounded the corridor, yelling as she came. Loop 22 - Many Legs, Fear Her Many Legs was curled up in the bathroom stall that Ethel and Bug had brought her to three days ago. Ethel had said it was out of order so no one would bother her. She had also promised her that she would get a chance to fight the things responsible for the death of her beloved pet. She liked Ethel, but more so she liked Bug. Bug said they had met many times before, but due to the alien creatures she couldn¡¯t remember. That made her hate them even more. She had enjoyed the ride here. Being in a helicopter was very interesting. She liked being up that high and looking out over the land. It was too bad the person flying the machine had been so unnerved of her. She had made sure to apologize to him as best she could when they parted, but she wasn¡¯t sure it worked. She missed Many Eyes and her home. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Before she had a chance to get too far into her homesickness she heard Bug yelling her name from outside. It was time, she was ready. Many Legs burst through the door, enraged. Her dog would be avenged. Bug would be safe. Loop 22 - Stan Stan walked the halls in his security guard uniform as the alarms went off. He had made sure his routine kept him close to the lab with the generator, there was less risk for secondary issues this way. He stopped at the end of the corridor and peeped around the corner. He was glad to see no one, human or alien. He reached the door and swiped his keycard right as he heard several explosions behind him. The card reader died before triggering the door opening. ¡°Well that¡¯s a problem.¡± He muttered to himself. He looked to the room next door and saw the keycard reader still had power. He also knew that both rooms had windows. He didn¡¯t like where this was going, at all, free climbing several stories in the air was not his idea of fun. ¡°Cal, I really hope this all goes right.¡± He whispered as he passed through the door to the other room and spotted the window in the back. He grabbed a hammer and a wrench from a nearby table and started hammering the wrench into the glass. It took several hits to shatter it. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. There was a ledge between the two rooms. Unfortunately, while it might be big enough to fit an average person, Stan was built anything but. ¡°Fuck.¡± he cursed aloud debating if he could make it. There was something bolted to the side of the building that he might be able to hold onto while he made his move, but that meant he only had one hand to destroy the glass. It was time to see if he could do this with just a hammer. Stan stepped out the window, one foot on the ledge, one hand grabbing what he thought was a place to hold a flag on the wall. He swung his body towards the other window and started hammering. He heard screams from below as he did, but finally he heard the window explode inwards and he pushed himself after the falling glass. He breathed a giant sigh of relief once his feet were on firm ground again. He pulled the pebble from his pocket and activated it. He then grabbed the gravity generator ripping loose all the wires as he went, and pushed it through the cracks. His job done, he slumped to the floor and hoped Jen was okay. Loop 22 - Jen Jen was not okay. Everything that could go wrong was going wrong. Their intel had missed a key problem. A second stone was being delivered at the same time as the attack. She had no idea how this had been missed, but it was too late to question that now. She pulled out her taser and jumped into action. The first door guard went down before he realized she had acted. ¡°Jesus Jen, what are you doing?¡± The second guard screamed. She knew him, his name was Dan. They often had lunch together. He had a wife and kids. It didn¡¯t matter. She had married into this insanity and she was part of it now. Stan and Cal needed her help and that was what mattered here. She swung her left fist at his face while bringing the taser lower. He fell to the ground the same as the first. She did not feel good about this, but they were under strict orders to let no one through. She reached down and grabbed one of their keycards and opened the door. She was now on the floor with the generator and the stones. The aliens were not far behind her. The alarms had started even before she took down the security guards. She ran as fast as she could to the lab, swiping the pilfered card and closing the door behind her. She scanned the room spotting the generator sitting between the two stones. She ripped the wiring off and slammed her pebble onto the table, causing a crack to form in the air. At least this was working correctly, after the day so far she expected the pebble to fail. She pushed the generator through right as she heard the door open behind her. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. She turned to attack, and stopped herself at the last second. ¡°What the hell are you two doing here?¡± Somehow it was Camden and Chris. They knew what was going on mostly, but they were supposed to stay home. How did they even manage to get here? ¡°Sorry mom, we got a message from Ralth that you would need us. Apparently there were two stones here instead of the one you planned for, and if we didn¡¯t come and help disable them it would be catastrophic.¡± Chris said apologetically to his mother. ¡°Okay, we can focus on if you should have done this later, for the moment, what do we need to do?¡± She asked. ¡°The note Ralth gave us said there would be two containment safes in that closet over there, can you grab them mom?¡± Camden asked her, pointing at the closet. ¡°Got it.¡± She opened the door and walked in. She immediately heard the door slam shut behind her. She tried to open it but it wasn¡¯t budging. ¡°Guys, what¡¯s going on? I can¡¯t open the door.¡± She screamed from the closet. ¡°Mom, I need you to know Camden and I both very sorry, but there wasn¡¯t another choice. Ralth said this was the only way to save you. Stan and Cal need you. They don¡¯t need us, at least right now. Next loop Ralth promises he will explain everything. Goodbye mom. I love you.¡± Chris¡¯s voice broke as he spoke. ¡°I love you too mom.¡± Camden added after his brother. ¡°Guys, please, whatever is it, just open the door. We can figure it out together.¡± She knew her words were too late when she heard a roaring sound from the otherside of the door. It sounded like a hurricane was somehow in the lab itself. She felt the door begin to buckle and it was pulled off its hinges into the room. She saw it crash to the ground, whatever had created the force was over. Her kids were gone. The way they said goodbye had her terrified they wouldn''t come back next loop. She fell to the ground crying. She swore through her tears that Ralth would pay for this. Loop 22 - Ralth & Albert ¡°Boss, I¡¯m not sure this is a great idea. They are just kids.¡± Albert had just read over the letter Ralth handed him. ¡°They sure are, I remember it, but this is the way it has to be Albert. If we deviate from the course of events as I remember them happening it could destabilize reality even further. Right now we have to continue to push through and hope that the universe grows strong enough to help us fight back.¡± Ralth looked down at his friend as he spoke. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°She¡¯s going to hate you for this.¡± Albert responded. ¡°I know, but I think she will forgive me when she learns everything. I can¡¯t wait to see her again, no matter how angry she is.¡± Loop 22 - Andy Goes to Therapy ¡°And brings you here today Mr. Thomas?¡± The woman asked Andy as he sat down on the couch. He wasn¡¯t sure this was a good idea, but he needed to talk to someone not connected to all of this. He was scared and he just needed some to hear him out, even if he sounded like a mad man. ¡°Hi Amanda, so I¡¯m going to tell you a story, and let me preface it by saying I know it¡¯s clearly not true, but for the sake of our conversation can we pretend it¡¯s true and you talk to me as though it is?¡± He asked, knowing the request was incredibly weird. ¡°It¡¯s your time, and we can spend it how you choose, even if you need a fantasy to address what¡¯s going.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Thank you. Okay so I¡¯m trapped in a time loop. Only I don¡¯t remember any of it from loop to loop, but my friend Cal does. As we get closer to the end of the loop my future self takes over my body and he is able to remember the loops, but he only has any power over my body at the very end of the loop. We are currently working to stabilize the void he¡¯s stuck in, and I¡¯m terrified that means he will overwrite me entirely. I don¡¯t want to die, but is it even death if it¡¯s just me taking back over my own body?¡± Andy got these words out at about four times the usual rate of someone trying to explain a complicated series of events. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, could you explain that again, maybe a little slower this time Mr. Thomas?¡± She looked completely lost. Loop 22 - Cal & Andy Andy checked Cal in as a guest for the day. In theory this just meant Cal was free to tour some of the building. It did not mean he was allowed in the lab they were currently eating lunch in. Cal figured it was easier to do this somewhat by the books, the loop was ending today anyway so there couldn¡¯t be many ramifications from the lack of stealth. This was the first time he¡¯d been able to just sit and relax in the lab during any of the loops, especially with someone who knew what everything in the room did. ¡°Hey Cal, what do you think is going to happen to me when we put Barron back together?¡± Andy asked his friend. Cal noticed the concern in his voice. ¡°Worried about permanently becoming the jackass version of you?¡± Cal tried to calm Andy down with some humor. ¡°Yes.¡± It hadn¡¯t worked. ¡°Well look at it this way, he was always you, just you without all of us. I¡¯m betting even if you two integrate back into one person it will be more of just extra memories. You will still be you.¡± Cal had no idea if this was true, but he thought it was best to try and comfort Andy. Death was scary, it still scared him. Despite the possibilities of his immortality he was extremely uncomfortable every time he faced it. For Andy who didn¡¯t have reassurance of looping memories it had to be much worse to do this every time. ¡°I hope I¡¯m still around. I really want to help everyone and make sure we win this.¡± Andy now had a half hearted smile. Cal wished there was more he could do, but they were nearing go time. ¡°Time to start piling stuff in front of the door. Let¡¯s make it as hard as possible for this to fail.¡± Cal stood up and started moving chairs and tables in front of the door. Andy joined him. ¡°Do you think the others are doing okay?¡± Andy broke the silence. ¡°I hope so, we should find out soon.¡± Cal¡¯s words were met with the first crack opening in the room and a large generator, identical to another one already in the room crashing to the ground. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Well that¡¯s one down. In hindsight we should have added some way to identify the sender in case anything does go wrong. Too late to worry about that this loop though.¡± Cal pushed the generator to the side of the room. ¡°How do you manage to keep all the loops straight?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t, it¡¯s a giant mess up here in my brain, I¡¯m running on the benefit that none of you know how wrong I am all the time, well except Bug and she¡¯s far too nice to say anything.¡± Andy laughed. Another crack opened in the air and a second generator dropped down. ¡°Two down!¡± Andy shouted, sounding genuinely excited now. Two hours passed and they still didn¡¯t have the third. Cal was concerned. Future Andy was about to show up, they didn¡¯t have much time left before everything went white. He really wished he knew who was missing now. Next time they would label these. ¡°Ugh, not feeling great, it¡¯s time.¡± Andy threw up as he alerted Cal to his incoming personality shift. ¡°So we are still missing the last one then?¡± The tone had changed, future Andy was now running the body. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± future Andy sighed loudly as he made his displeasure apparent. ¡°Same, but there¡¯s not much we can do right now.¡± Andy was about to add more when a third crack opened and the final generator dropped into place. ¡°Never mind, we have all three. Now we wait for the flash.¡± Banging started on the door a few minutes later. The aliens had arrived. ¡°Hey Cal, I just want you to know if I don¡¯t make it through this. Thank you, and sorry for being so difficult. I¡¯m a bit crazy these days.¡± Future Andy gave what Cal thought was an attempt at a friendly smile. He managed to make it look creepy though. ¡°I get it, shit¡¯s hard. But we are going to get through this. Probably. We have your favorite thing on our side after all. Magic.¡± Cal gave Andy a real smile in return. ¡°Bah, magic.¡± They both burst into laughter as they waited out the white flash. It came, and it changed this time, for the first time. The generators melded into each other and lines of what looked to Cal like black lightning shot through the cracks and flooded the room. He had no idea what those were and no time to think about it as everything once again ended. Loop 22 - Camden & Christopher ¡°Chris, where are we?¡± Christopher looked around hoping to find some answer for his brother. They were in some sort of forest, but the trees looked more like mushrooms than they did anything he was used to. The sky was pale green. ¡°I don¡¯t know Camden.¡± He pulled the letter he had received earlier that day out of his pocket and read it over again. Hello Christopher, Camden. We haven¡¯t officially met yet, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of me. I¡¯m Ralth and the capybara that delivered you this letter is my friend Albert. I wish there was another way around what has to happen next, but there isn¡¯t. Your mother is in great danger. She doesn¡¯t know that there are two stones at her location instead of just the one she¡¯s expecting. If she is there when they both explode at the end of the loop she will be lost forever. The only way to save her is to make your way through the building yourselves. Albert will escort you to the room before he returns to me. Once there you need to lock your mother in the storage closet and then smash the green stone. You will both survive what happens, but it will be a very long and hard journey to return, but I promise you will see your family again. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Ralth promised we¡¯d find home again, so I think it¡¯s time start walking. I think I see a path in the distance.¡± ¡°Bug is going to be so mad she missed all these smells when we tell her about this.¡± ¡°Yeah, imagine how jealous she¡¯s going to be.¡± Chris smiled at his brother. It was time to find their way home. Loop 22 - Help From Beyond One of her children was whole again. She felt the change resonate through the fabric of spacetime that made up her existence. Her gamble had worked. As long as she could maintain the cycle, and she would maintain it as long as needed, no matter the cost, the invaders'' siphoning could be slowed and eventually halted. Her manablood would once again be safe to flow across the cosmos. Her children would be able to grow safely and spawn their own universes. She wanted to find a way to help these mortals again, she thought deeply about it and decided upon a course of action. A small thing that with the proper care and investment could turn the tide. She placed an insight into reality within her little void spirit¡¯s realm. There it would bind itself to the experiences of her champions and transform itself into a tool that will both grow with them and help them to achieve the impossible, a universe free of the Gryalth. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Deep into Barron¡¯s realm a floating platform appeared. On it stood a computer terminal station, complete with keyboard, monitor and chair. The monitor blinked to life and the words ¡°Please enter primary user¡± flashed across the screen. Loop 23 - Part 1 Cal woke up in his bed. This wouldn¡¯t be unusual at all except he had been woken up by the noon day light hitting his face from the window. That shouldn¡¯t have happened. Normally his father woke him up every morning on his way to work. He jumped out of bed worried something had gone horribly wrong. He opened his door and ran down the hall. ¡°Bug, Dad are you here?¡± He yelled as he went. He received no response. The house was silent. He sat down in a chair and put his face in hands terrified to face the rest of this entirely alone when he heard the back door open. ¡°Come on girl, let¡¯s go see if Cal¡¯s awake yet.¡± He heard his father¡¯s voice. ¡°Cal, Cal, Cal, guess what?¡± Bug¡¯s voice came from the otherside of the house racing closer to him as she spoke. ¡°I guess that means he¡¯s awake.¡± Stan came into the room trailing after Bug. ¡°Did you enjoy your first time sleeping in at the start of a loop?¡± ¡°Wait, did Bug already tell you?¡± Cal asked, still confused and worried about what was going on. ¡°Nope, I didn¡¯t, dad remembers all on his own. Isn¡¯t that great Cal?¡± Bug¡¯s tail was wagging at lightning speed. ¡°Do you think this means everyone else remembers now too?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, Andy should be here soon, let¡¯s go check with him!¡± Cal was suddenly excited at the possibility. If the whole group had somehow been pulled into the loop this made planning for the future so much easier. His smile rivaled the first time he saw Bug alive again. Cal moved to the front porch and sat in his usual spot where Andy found him reading comics. He soon saw his friend walking over from the neighbor¡¯s yard. He looked much more serious than he usually did. Cal hoped future Andy hadn¡¯t completely destroyed his younger self. ¡°Hey Andy, notice anything new?¡± Cal called. ¡°Yeah I did, I woke up today remembering the last loop, and guess what, no future Andy in here, it¡¯s just me somehow.¡± Andy dropped the serious scowl and started smiling. ¡°Well, as glad as I am to hear it¡¯s just you, this means I need to go check the void crack. Losing him, even with bringing the rest of you into the loops would be devastating.¡± Cal stood up and motioned for Andy to follow him inside. ¡°Dad, Bug, I¡¯m going into the void realm, if any of you want to see if you can also join me inside it, now¡¯s the time. Also Andy remembers and he¡¯s just friend Andy not grumpy future Andy. That probably also means we need different names, assuming he¡¯s okay in there.¡± Cal took a deep breath after yelling that through the house as he headed towards his bedroom. ¡°Wait up, Bug and I want to come too, and when we get back we need to get a hold of everyone else.¡± Stan yelled back. Once everyone had gathered in Cal¡¯s room, he looked them over and asked ¡°So, who wants to go first?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you explode every other time you went in here?¡± Andy asked back. ¡°Sure did, but Barron should be whole now. So if you three promise me not to explode, we should be good.¡± Cal¡¯s joke caused a mutual frown on Andy and Stan¡¯s faces. ¡°OH I PROMISE, I WILL NOT EXPLODE, I AM A GOOD DOG.¡± Bug loudly announced, and before anyone could respond she jumped through the crack. ¡°Well, I guess after Bug it is.¡± Andy leaped in after the dog. Stan and Cal followed. ¡°About time you all got here. I now seem to have complete freedom of perception here, but on the downside I no longer seem to experience my younger self¡¯s reality at all.¡± The newly arrived group was greeted by a familiar voice. Cal breathed a giant sigh of relief, walked up to future Andy and hugged him. ¡°As much as you drive me insane, I¡¯m glad to see you are alive.¡± ¡°Hrm, please release me. I assume this means we did it, this pocket dimension is fully stabilized now?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yep, I feel whole.¡± Barron flew up out of the darkness and perched on one of the desks. His voice radiated a sense of cheer, instead of the usual gloom. ¡°Do you see all the stars that twinkle now? My realm has grown so much, I need to explore the depths.¡± ¡°Well get going, go enjoy yourself, and let us know if you need anything.¡± Cal gently pat the spirit on the head. ¡°I am off!¡± Barron flew off the platform into the darkness. ¡°Any chance I can have more company than just him?¡± Future Andy asked. ¡°Why? Planning to stay here?¡± Cal asked back. ¡°I¡¯m reasonably sure I have no choice. Based on their presence, I¡¯m guessing Stan and my younger self now fully remember the loops.¡± ¡°We do.¡± Stan cut in.¡± ¡°Yes, well it looks like whatever the energy was that made up Barron¡¯s other parts that fired into the cracks at the end of the last loop brought everyone exposed to it into the loops. It also stabilized Cal and this place. Hell we¡¯re probably even synced up time wise now.¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t before?¡± Cal asked. ¡°No, time here passed much faster, your explosions were likely just you catching up to the end of the loops before, just locally to these realms. Based on the stabilization, it¡¯s likely that was never supposed to be a property. But as I was saying, I can¡¯t leave, because he exists.¡± Future Andy pointed at his younger self. ¡°I¡¯m somewhat amazed we can exist here together, likely due to the strong magical flow, similar to how Ralth is protected. If I leave here, we will both be destroyed, likely only for the loop, but I¡¯d rather not experience that level of pain. Now the real question though is why I now exist separate to myself at all. Why are we considered different entities to whatever forces govern the loops?¡± ¡°Actually the real question is what do we call you two instead of future and younger. You¡¯re completely separate now. Someone pick a new name.¡± Cal ordered the Andys. ¡°Just call me Andrew, I prefer it anyway.¡± Future Andy answered quickly. ¡°So, now what?¡± Stan sat down on a nearby workbench as he asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to try to get all of these machines back online. We should also try storing things here between loops. I don¡¯t know if they will stay or not, I suspect people certainly won¡¯t, but objects just might. Beyond that, I don¡¯t know yet. Wait, actually can we try running a cable between here and the outside world, see if I can set up some sort of easier communication?¡± ¡°Yeah, that seems easily doable.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure where computer tech was at the start of the loops exactly, but they could certainly try running a basic phone line at the least. ¡°Good good.¡± ¡°Alright, back to the regular world we go. It¡¯s probably nearly time for Andy to head out anyway. Good luck getting used to the childhood issue Andy, it drove me insane for many loops.¡± ¡°What? Why? Now I can just learn way more subjects, I wonder how many doctorates I can get.¡± ¡°Nerd.¡± Cal jokingly mocked his friend before stepping back into his room. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll call you as soon as I¡¯m back home, I¡¯ll start working on computer solutions we can implement at the start of loops for easier constant communication.¡± Andy pat Bug on his way out. ¡°So, I¡¯ll call Ethel, do you know how to get a hold of Jen this early?¡± ¡°I think so, well I don¡¯t have a phone number, but I know where she should be, so I¡¯m going to head there. She¡¯s likely not in a good place this early in a loop.¡± Stan grabbed his keys as he left. ¡°Well Bug, just you and me for the day, ready to talk to your favorite cranky old lady?¡± ¡°Oh yes, I love Ethel.¡± Cal grabbed the phone off the wall and called her. She answered a few rings, her cantankerousness present as always. ¡°Cal, I remember the last loop. It¡¯s about time too, how dare you make an old lady wait so long to be fully included!¡± ¡°Oh yeah, like I had any real control over that, besides you¡¯re basically immortal now too and I¡¯m older than you!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, so I¡¯ll be over later for dinner. We can have our big discussion of what we want to do then.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± ¡°TELL HER I SAID HI.¡± Bug interrupted. ¡°Oh and Bug says hi.¡± ¡°Of course she does, she has manners. Tell her if she can remember her multiplication tables I¡¯ll bring her a special steak.¡± Cal heard the phone call end. ¡°Ethel said if you can do your times tables, she will give you a steak tonight.¡± ¡°MMM STEAK.¡± Bug yelled and wagged her tail. Loop 23 - Barron鈥檚 Journey ¡°So many new dark corners, and weird twinkling lights just out of reach. I wonder how soon Cal will be able to connect my realm to my friends. I miss them, but I bet it¡¯s soon. Oh what¡¯s that. A new platform? Where did you come from?¡± Barron talked loudly to himself as danced across the void. Nearing the new platform, he landed on it, noticing only a single console in the center of it. The screen was flashing, it looked like letters, but he wasn¡¯t great at reading yet. He thought perhaps he should learn soon, especially now that more people had access, what if they brought books? Yes he needed to learn to read. He forced himself to focus again on the console he found. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Guess I better drag this back to the core, maybe one of them can read it to me.¡± Loop 23 - Stan & Jen Stan found Jen sitting in her kitchen crying to herself. She started the loops a week after her divorce, and shortly after moved in with her mom as she worked to get her life back together. ¡°Hey Jen, do you remember the last loop?¡± Stan asked her in a gentle voice. ¡°Yes, but they¡¯re gone Stan, I can feel it. Camden and Chris are gone forever.¡± She cried harder. ¡°Wait, why, what happened?¡± A hint of fear crept into his voice. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jen told Stan what happened at the end of the last loop, his face drooping. ¡°Okay, we need to find Ralth. Let¡¯s not get angry yet. This means the kids are likely trapped in the loop themselves now, probably some like Andy and Andrew, I¡¯ll explain what that means on the way. Let¡¯s pack a bag and go home. We can have a nice dinner and then figure out what¡¯s next. I love you Jen.¡± Stan hugged her. ¡°Okay, I love you too. We will figure this out together, but I might kill Ralth.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s give him a chance to explain before any murder.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Loop 23 - Part 2 Cal, Stan, Ethel and Jen were sitting around the table with Bug lounging on the floor nearby. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about my brothers, but there has to be more to it, we can start working on a trip to Ralth first thing tomorrow.¡± Cal tried to reassure Jen and his dad. ¡°So you¡¯re sure that it was exposure to the energy that brought us all into the loops?¡± Ethel asked, her voice sounded worried. ¡°I mean I¡¯m not sure of anything anymore, but that¡¯s the working theory, why what¡¯s wrong?¡± Cal looked her in her eyes. ¡°Well you see, I was in a room with several scientists¡± She paused for a second ¡°and Many Legs.¡± Cal¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°How many scientists, and why Many Legs?¡± ¡°I¡¯m old and I wanted to make sure Bug and I had support if we needed it. We did need it. Besides, she was very nice. I think there were eight scientists.¡± ¡°I like Many Legs, she gives the best ear scratches.¡± Bug piped in. ¡°Okay, so we potentially have eight more people in the loop, who I assume we do not know anything about, as well as Many Legs.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t happy about this, but he didn¡¯t blame Ethel. Things like this were bound to happen. They weren¡¯t some perfectly trained unit running on exact orders. They guessed their way through most of the loops learning what they needed to as they went. That probably needed to change, they each needed to start focusing on different things to learn and start really covering each other¡¯s weaknesses. ¡°Ethel, how soon do you think you could get to Many Legs, she needs to be brought up to speed as much as possible before she gets herself in trouble. We are going to need to find an easy and quick way to move her and Many Eyes somewhere safe at the start of loops now I think.¡± Cal started rambling off his thoughts. ¡°Yeah I agree, too dangerous for them to be left there. Especially with the scientists out there who we know nothing about loyalty wise. We will need to start purchasing a large compound as early as possible in the loops. At this point I think I remember enough gambling results to pull that off rather fast.¡± Stan said. ¡°And yes, I can reach out to Tim and arrange a flight out there easily enough, assuming Miss Bug is ready for the trip? I¡¯ll need her help.¡± ¡°Always. There are great smells in Alaska.¡± Bug laid her head on Ethel¡¯s leg once she finished speaking. ¡°So I think the next question¡­¡± Cal was interrupted by a knocking at the door. ¡°That¡¯s new.¡± ¡°Coming.¡± Stan shouted to the other room. He stood up and walked to the door. Cal followed and looked through the peephole before his dad could. He was greeted by the sight of Ralth dressed in an oversized trench coat and hat. He was hunched down, probably trying to hide his size, Cal thought. ¡°Open the door dad. It¡¯s Ralth.¡± Stan opened the door. ¡°Ralth, my wife and I wanted to speak to you, nice of you to join us.¡± Stan said that in a firm loud voice. ¡°What Ralth is here?!¡± Jen yelled from the other room. ¡°Please everyone calm down, I promise I can explain. I also promise the boys are okay.¡± Ralth ducked through the door and carefully made his way to the dining room with everyone else. He sat down on the floor, finally no longer in danger of his head scraping the ceiling. Jen looked down at the giant man and froze before her lips. Ralth looked up at her in return. ¡°Hi mom, I¡¯m sorry I scared you so much, but this is how it happened as I remembered it and I needed to make sure it closed again the same way. I couldn¡¯t risk any danger to the loops. There¡¯s so many Gryalth across the universes and so few people able to fight back, I had to make sure we could continue our fight.¡± Jen jumped out of her chair and leaned down, hugging her son. ¡°Oh Christopher, why didn¡¯t you tell us, we could have figured something out. Where¡¯s your brother?¡± Stan joined his wife in hugging Ralth. ¡°Is Camden okay?¡± ¡°He is, only one of us could make the return trip with the powers we had on hand, Camden was just better suited to stay and fight. When I returned I ended up in the distant past, it took me a very long time to find my way home to you.¡± ¡°Just promise me that someday you will tell us everything.¡± Stan said. ¡°I will, but it will be a very long story when I do. For now I have a pebble for you Cal, Albert wanted you to open a crack here. All the capybaras are now in the loop as well and they requested access to future Andy.¡± Cal stood up and took the offered pebble from his younger brother, though he supposed this man was much older than him, the only one who was anymore. ¡°Thanks, and due to Andy and his future self splitting we are calling future Andy just Andrew now.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Oh wonderful, they became unique persons. I was hoping that Andrew may end up being viewed as a native of the void realm and not be merged back into his younger self.¡± Cal smashed the pebble on a free wall in the dining room. Several capybaras immediately stepped through. ¡°You were right Albert, he does have a nice place here.¡± One of them said as they looked around. ¡°Hey Cal, buddy where¡¯s the void crack, we¡¯ve got science to do.¡± One of the capybaras asked Cal in a mostly friendly tone. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s in my bedroom. Albert, what''s going on?¡± Cal¡¯s confusion bled into his voice. ¡°Oh several of the capybaras want to check out the tech in the void room, they figure if we are all stuck in loops, they will need to build their lab there to keep ahead of the reverting lab equipment.¡± Albert answered. ¡°That, that makes sense, I guess. Probably should have thought of that ourselves, but yeah. Alright let¡¯s go.¡± Cal started leading them to the bedroom. He could hear Ethel laughing in the background. It sounded like everyone had decided to follow. Five minutes later Cal was being berated by a flabbergasted Andrew. ¡°Really, and you didn¡¯t think to ask me if I wanted to share my residence with a bunch of rodents?¡± ¡°I mean, no I didn¡¯t, you could use some real socialization, plus I bet they could build you an actual bedroom, maybe help you start living a bit more like a real person again.¡± ¡°Hrm, they do know how to cook I suppose.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit¡± Ralth cut in. ¡°You will all be friends in no time.¡± ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re all back, I found this platform way out in the darkness. It has a blinking message I can¡¯t read, can someone read it for me?¡± Barron appeared out of the darkness dragging the platform behind himself. Cal and Andrew quickly went to work helping him reel it in and attaching it to the other platforms just as they had done before. ¡°What does it say?!¡± Barron asked excitedly. ¡°Please enter primary user, it¡¯s probably just one of Andrew¡¯s computer terminals from the lab.¡± Cal answered. ¡°It¡¯s not, that looks like something from a nineteen fifties sci fi film. It¡¯s certainly nothing we would have been using.¡± Andrew responded. ¡°Huh, well then what happens if I do this?¡± Cal entered his name own name into the prompt and pressed the enter key. The new message on screen read ¡°Hello Cal, Welcome to the R.I.S. Please select from an option below¡± Cal read this message and the list of options out loud.
  1. Enter Party Members
  2. Status Screen
  3. Remove White Flash Event
  4. Help
¡°Wait, how does the computer know about the white flash event? Something weird is going on.¡± Andrew asked. ¡°It¡¯s possible this is a gift from the universe, maybe she found a way to directly aid us.¡± Ralth said. ¡°Is that even possible, is the universe sapient?¡± Cal asked his brother. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve spoken to a few universes on the verge of death thanks to the Gryalth. I¡¯m sure ours doesn¡¯t want to join them. Try hitting help and seeing what it says.¡± Cal did as his brother commanded and was greeted with more options.
  1. What is the R.I.S.?
  2. What are Party Members?
  3. What is the Status Screen?
  4. What is the White Flash Event?
Everyone had now crowded around the area trying to read the screen. Several people were trying to ask questions and give Cal orders at once. ¡°Everyone relax, I will go through each option one at a time. I¡¯ll read off what each thing says for less literate members as well.¡± ¡°Thanks Cal.¡± Bug and Barron said in unison. Cal picked the first option and read the resulting text aloud. ¡°The Reality Insight System allows for the primary user to see various background universal effects in a form that they can understand. Since the primary chosen user is Cal Marshall, a hybrid between tabletop role playing games and video games has been chosen as the medium to convey these results.¡± Cal moved onto the second help option. ¡°Party members are people that Cal has chosen as allies, and have accepted his invitation to be such. This allows them to use and review data in the R.I.S. as well as Cal.¡± He moved onto the next option. ¡°The Status Screen is a representation of the selected entries¡¯ abilities, education, growth, knowledge and other traits defined as levels.¡± He picked the final option. ¡°The White Flash Event is the current natural end of a loop. It is in place to give the champions a chance to grow and fight the gryalth on equal foot. Now that there is a primary user, the White Flash Event can be disabled. In this the natural end of a loop is now directly tied to the primary user¡¯s life. If they die the loop will restart, no matter how early or often it occurs.¡± Cal looked around after he finished reading the help options to everyone. ¡°We should disable the white flash event.¡± ¡°And why should we do that Andrew? I¡¯m not sure if I want the loops entirely tied to me.¡± ¡°Because Cal, it will let progress past the point we are stuck at. We can start learn from the full Gryalth invasion and begin to see what are really against.¡± ¡°Andrew is correct, brother. It¡¯s the only way we can truly begin to prepare.¡± Ralth added. ¡°Look, I agree, I just don¡¯t know if I like it. Am I really main character material here?¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯m stuck here, so someone has to do it. Just go enter us as your party and then disable the event. We can then start playing around whatever the status screen says.¡± Andrew suggested. ¡°Fine.¡± Cal selected option three. The screen flashed the words White Flash Event disabled and returned back to the main screen with only three options now. Cal had made himself the focal point of the loops. For better or worse it really was on him to save the world. Loop 23 - ??? ¡°Whatever that was with the energy it caused time to reset, I think. I can remember a previous life. There was an old lady and her dog, and then a giant centipede. She seemed to have known this would all happen too. I wish I remembered her name. Dammit Ralph you believe me right?¡± A short teenager spoke these words at a bus stop in Chicago to the youth next to him. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Look, Dan, I¡¯m your best friend, and this does all sound insane, but maybe you¡¯re telling the truth. What are you going to do about it all?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think I need to talk to the Agency, I bet they will know what to do.¡± Loop 23 - Bolt Bolt felt something change within Barron¡¯s realm. It felt much cleaner and more like her own. She hoped someday they could do the same for Grannus, she liked the rock spirit and wanted to see them again. Right now though she had something to do. It was time to ignite a star in the void. She knew if she did it just right that Barron and her realms would start to work in sync and in turn this would help Cal to become more in tune with both of them. She thought that Cal would need every bit of power boost she could give him before this was all over, so she went to work. First she gathered as much spare energy from around her realm as she could find, making sure not to disrupt the young pool at all. Then she peered deep into her darkened sky until she found the deepest black she could. She concentrated and poured every iota of energy she had collected, plus the majority of her own life force into a blast of light that shot directly at the spot she found. It hit the spot and erupted, slowly growing bigger. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Bolt collapsed to the ground, the effort costing her years of built of energy, but she thought it was worth it. It would take time, she knew, but once it finished their realms would be bigger than the sum of their parts. She would do her part to save her mother and her new friends. This universe was her home, and anyone who threatened her home had to deal with her. As she drifted off into a deep sleep the golden ball far above her shimmered and grew, slowly piercing the membrane between her and Barrron¡¯s realms, pushing the faintest sliver of light through. It had begun. Loop 23 - Part 3 ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different, well beyond the crushing weight of stress now that I¡¯m responsible for saving the world.¡± Cal tried to give a big smile as he said this, but his heart wasn¡¯t fully in the joke. The stress really was building. He always intended to do his best here, but he had also hoped to hand a lot of this off to Andrew once they had figured out how to help him. ¡°Cal, you¡¯ve been doing this for how many loops now, and you¡¯ve just realized this responsibility?¡± Stan looked at his son with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Just because we are all trapped in a repeating cycle of twenty five years doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve gotten any better at long term planning. Okay I¡¯ve got a little better. Alright alright, enough of my mental state. It¡¯s time to look at my status screen.¡± Cal managed a real smirk as he said status screen. The idea of being able to view his world through gaming mechanics was appealing, something tangible, and most of all something he understood well. Thanks to the last twenty plus loops he had played just about every game out there. He found them much more enjoyable than schooling. He did the education, but he was sure the rate Andy was about to pursue his studies would put him to shame. Cal pushed these thoughts aside and selected Status Screen. There were four options on the next screen .
  1. Cal Marshall
  2. Bolt
  3. Grannus
  4. Barron
He selected his own name and was presented with a list of statistics. He read them off for his audience.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Cal Marshall Cal
Species: Human
Class: Courier Fighter Wizard
Specialty: Food Fists, Rifles Electricity, Rock
Level: 5 1 1
Bonded Entities: Barron Bolt Grannus
Elemental Affinities: Earth Lightning
Rank: 1 2
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°I think we can all agree the important thing here is that I am officially a wizard.¡± Cal announced after he finished reading off the chart. ¡°Yes, a level one wizard, what a great thing to be proud of.¡± Andrew was smirking as he said this. ¡°Hey I don¡¯t see you being listed as a wizard anywhere, actually I wonder if I add all of you to my party if I can see your stats as well. Before I do that though, I''m guessing Barron wants to know his stats though and may as well look at the other two spirits while I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Yes, I do very much.¡± Barron flew over to Cal and landed on his shoulder.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Barron
Species: Mana Spirit
Class: Energy Shaper
Specialty: Void
Level: 2
Bonded Entities: Cal
Elemental Affinities: Dark
Rank: 2
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Nice, I¡¯m an energy shaper, quick do the other two, I bet they are shapers too.¡± Cal obliged and read off the others.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Bolt
Species: Mana Spirit
Class: Energy Shaper
Specialty: Electricity
Level: 3
Bonded Entities: Cal
Elemental Affinities: Lightning Plasma
Rank: 3 1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Grannus If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Species: Mana Spirit
Class: Energy Shaper
Specialty: Rock
Level: 1
Bonded Entities: Cal
Elemental Affinities: Earth
Rank: 1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Looks like Bolt is the strongest of you three.¡± Cal looked at Barron as he gave him the news. ¡°Yeah that makes sense, do you see that small burst of light over there?¡± He pointed into the distance. ¡°That¡¯s her trying to link our realms, when that happens things are going to get interesting around here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great, once all three of you are truly bonded together Cal will be able to utilize your abilities much easier.¡± Ralth walked up and clapped his brother on the back, startling Cal with just how strong he had become. ¡°Well, that sounds fun, hopefully no explosions this time around though. Time for the party menu.¡± Cal backtracked and selected the party option. Current Party Members (Note: Current Maximum Party Size 10)
  1. Cal Marshall
  2. Barron
  3. Bolt
  4. Grannus
Add Party Member? ¡°So, we have far more than ten that need to be in here I think. Any volunteers to sit out?¡± Cal asked the group. ¡°You can skip me, and capybaras for now. I doubt with its current operating level it would be able to produce any meaningful information about myself anyway. I¡¯m certainly an anomaly in power as far this universe currently goes.¡± Ralth volunteered. ¡°Okay then, I think assuming we leave out Many Legs we can get everyone else for now.¡± Cal added Andy, Andrew, Bug, Ethel, Jen and Stan as party members. ¡°Who wants to see their stats first?¡± Cal suspected he knew who would yell the loudest and wasn¡¯t surprised at all. ¡°ME ME ME!¡± Bug screamed above everyone else. Cal returned to the status screen and selected Bug from the newly listed options.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Bug
Species: Awakened Dog
Class: Student
Specialty: Geography
Level: 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities:
Rank:
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°I think your nose is paying off Bug, that and Ethel¡¯s special education.¡± Cal pat Bug on the head. ¡°She¡¯s my best student.¡± Ethel cheerily announced. ¡°But professor Ethel, I''m your only student.¡± ¡°Not for long you aren¡¯t, Many Legs needs an education and I expect you will be tutoring her alongside my lessons.¡± Cal read off Andrew¡¯s status next.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Andrew Thomas Future Andy
Species: Human Void Attuned Human
Class: Scientist Chemist Artificer
Specialty: Geology Void Materials Mana Infusion
Level: 6 2 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities: Technology
Rank: 3
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Hrm, why is technology of all things considered an element, I wish this all a little more scientific.¡± Andrew said after hearing his own status read out. ¡°You¡¯re the artificer, maybe you can add more capabilities to this.¡± Cal shook his head at the man as he spoke. ¡°Possibly, I¡¯ll have to investigate it more.¡± ¡°Alright next up, dad and then Jen.¡±
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Stanly Marshall Stan
Species: Human
Class: Hunter Builder Boxer
Specialty: Rifles, Knives Hammer, Wrench Fists
Level: 3 6 2
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities:
Rank:
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Jennifer Marshall Jennifer Cole Jennifer Thompson Jen
Species: Human Void Attuned Human
Class: Soldier Security Guard
Specialty: Infiltration, Firearms Firearms
Level: 7 2
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities:
Rank:
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Well, Jen is certainly winning on number of names, and scary military stats.¡± Cal looked over at his stepmom. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you can¡¯t talk about all of that.¡± ¡°I mean, I can now, but before these loops, no generally it wasn¡¯t something I could speak on. ¡°Next up Ethel, I¡¯ll skip Andy until he¡¯s here to see it himself, doesn¡¯t seem right otherwise.¡±
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Ethel Rose
Species: Human
Class: Teacher Beast Trainer Druid
Specialty: English Dogs Plants
Level: 8 6 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities: Green
Rank: 1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Ethel, I think this means it¡¯s time for you to make contact with your mana spirit.¡± Cal added after he finished reading. Ethel looked up at Barron ¡°Any chance you think you can give me a hand with that. I have no idea what I¡¯m doing, but in a few weeks I¡¯m likely going to be spending a lot of time here trying to figure it out. That is assuming here is safe from prying eyes?¡± ¡°Oh it is, they won¡¯t detect you here professor Ethel, and yes I will do my best to help. I wonder what a green mana spirit is.¡± ¡°Probably a very angry plant elemental that isn¡¯t happy with what us humans have done to the world, but hopefully not too angry.¡± Cal jokingly answered Barron. ¡°If I could interrupt, I believe you¡¯re finished with the terminal for now. The other capybaras and I have prepared a list of building materials we would like. Is this something you would be able to start acquiring?¡± Albert asked. ¡°Oh yeah, we just need to start building our funds. I¡¯m going to my dad in charge of working with you all on this. Do you all have food covered Albert or should we start getting that piped in here as well?¡± Cal glanced over the list before passing it to his father. ¡°I think we will be fine on food, we have many channels there.¡± Albert answered. ¡°Perfect, Ralth, I¡¯d like you to stick around here this loop and help me with some training, possibly Ethel as well once she¡¯s done with her current plans.¡± ¡°Absolutely, I was hoping to stay with my family from now on. I¡¯ve missed you all greatly. I will need larger accommodations though.¡± Ralth looked around the void. ¡°Perhaps a room here will work.¡± ¡°We already had you on the building plans.¡± Albert called from a table where he and capybaras were scribbling notes on paper around. ¡°Wonderful.¡± Ralth smiled at his animal friends. ¡°Alright everyone, I want to directly fight the Gryalth this loop and see what happens. I figure we start with something simple and try defending the Dallas lab, and then we see what happens as the invasion continues. It¡¯s time to learn what they are capable of in a sustained war.¡± ¡°I was just going to suggest that. I would also like it if we could capture some of their technology for me to study. I especially want to see a few of their weapons.¡± Andrew had a look of greed briefly on his face. Cal fought down and urge to laugh. It was time to train. Loop 23 - Andy, Child Prodigy ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be an ass,¡± Andy was cut off before he could finish his statement. ¡°Language Mr. Thomas, I swear you¡¯ve become a completely different person in recent weeks.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry principal Jenkins, I just want to learn. My abilities and knowledge are far above what I¡¯m currently exposed to. I¡¯m not trying to cause a problem in the class, but I need a way to demonstrate what I¡¯m actually capable of, so I can have my curriculum adjusted to my learning needs.¡± ¡°Fine, next Monday I will administer a test in my office. Based on that we will see where your educational needs are. Please, and I beg this of you, do not get into any more verbal matches with your teachers until the test.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± Andy smiled at the thought of no longer wasting time on these trivial classes. It had been months going over topics he had mastered years ago. He knew it wasn¡¯t their fault, but he needed a way to quickly test into a proper curriculum. Andy spent the rest of the week conversing back and forth Cal. He had set up a private IRC server for the group to use and explained how to encrypt their conversations. He had plans to upgrade both the tech and encryption used as time went on, but as far as he was aware this would be enough for now. He agreed with Cal¡¯s current training plans and desire to fight the aliens at the end of the loop. He was planning to spend every summer vacation with his grandparents in order to see what he could learn from Andrew and Ralth. Cal had also been nice enough to send him over what was apparently his status screen. He wanted to get a look at that computer as soon as he could. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Andrew Thomas Andy
Species: Human
Class: Student Artificer
Specialty: Educational Generalist Computers
Level: 3 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities: Knowledge
Rank: 2
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
While he was pleased to see how much of a focus he had on just learning, it was a bit confusing to see knowledge listed as an element. Cal had no answers for him either, but let him know that Andrew''s affinity was just as strange. Andy decided the concept of an element probably worked differently on a quantum level and just did not translate well to a gaming level. He did his best not to dwell much on understanding the nature of reality just yet, first he had a test to take and he intended to put as much mental energy as he could into it. Monday of the next week he went to school and made his way to the principal¡¯s office looking forward to what was about to happen. He sat down at the table with the provided materials. ¡°So when do we start?¡± He asked. ¡°Now.¡± Loop 23 - Many Legs Joins the Group ¡°Many Legs, can you hear me? It¡¯s Ethel, I¡¯m here with Bug and Tim again. I know there is a lot to take in and this is really confusing, but I think we can explain.¡± Ethel called into the darkness of the caverns. ¡°YES I HEAR YOU ETHEL, I¡¯M COMING. PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW I ENDED UP BACK HERE AND MANY EYES CLAIMS I NEVER LEFT.¡± ¡°Sheee diddddn¡¯t leave, I¡¯m not innnssaaanne.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I¡¯m sorry both of you, it¡¯s very complicated, if you want to meet us outside for dinner we can discuss it all.¡± Ethel responded. Both of the monster bugs appeared and Ethel explained everything to them. ¡°IS THAT REALLY ALL TRUE, THE TIME LOOP AND EVERYTHING?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m actually going to install a crack for you both to use somewhere safe. That way you can come and see Bug and we can come and check on you when needed. Do you have a place the bears never go?¡± ¡°I DO.¡± ¡°Perfect. Welcome to Ethel¡¯s school for unusual animals.¡± Loop 23 - Part 4 They had decided on a relatively simple plan for the end of this loop. Cal didn¡¯t want anything overly complicated, he figured masterful tactics would come later, once they had a good idea of what the forces aligned them truly were. Andy, Many Legs and Himself would ambush the aliens inside the building that they knew about. Stan, Jen, Ethel and Bug would stay outside taking down any extra intruders. After the building was secure Cal and company would head outside and link up with his father¡¯s team to see how things progressed. Ralth declined to participate in the initial fighting, he said his presence would draw more attention than they wanted that early. He did promise that as long as Cal could manage to stay alive he would join in before the loop was over. Cal was looking forward to seeing just what kind of insane powers his brother had at his disposal. He had barely shown him anything during their training sessions. Almost all of it was spent on mindfulness, and better internal communication with the spirits. Which had Cal no complaints about, especially considering he was able to talk to Bolt mentally now. In fact he was hopeful that in the next loop he could bring the other two spirits in. Ready Bolt? I am Cal. Good, because it should start any minute now. He found it took some getting used to, talking to her and not just thinking the thought, but he mostly had it down now. Well he had down at least while not under pressure. This would also be a test of how well he could separate the thought processes in the chaos of a fight. ¡°Cal I see them, they are heading down the corridor towards you now. There are four of them in total. As soon as you engage, we will come from behind. Remember we need as much of their tech, suits, or even a dead body as we can get for Andrew.¡± Andy¡¯s voice came through the earpiece Cal was wearing. Cal only remembered seeing two in his very first loop, but he also hadn¡¯t been on this floor very long. ¡°Understood, we drop them, toss their gear and possibly a body in the crack and make our way to the main fight.¡± Cal flexed his arms, trying to work out some of the nervous energy quickly before they came in view. He wasn¡¯t successful. Cal saw them pass the door he had cracked on their way to the staircase. He had no intention of giving them that chance. He pulled the door open quietly, stepped into the hall and blasted several shots of lightning at them while pulling up the floor up into a shield to block any retribution. He felt much more in sync with the lightning energy than ever before. Ralth was certainly onto something here. Cal heard the skittering sounds slightly before he heard their weird gurgling screams. He dropped his rock wall and propelled himself forward, sending small arcs of lighting from his fingers at the two not currently being torn apart by Many Legs. One of them went down, but the last one raised its weapon pointing directly at Many Legs. Cal was faster. He turned the bolt of lightning from his arm into something closer to a laser and brought it down onto the attacker''s shoulder. Their arm hit the ground and the glow on the weapon faded. Its screams were quickly drowned out by Many Legs thrashing torso. They had won their first skirmish and no one was hurt. Andy came running down the hall. ¡°Quick Many Legs grab that slightly charred one, its body is the most intact. Cal help me grab all their equipment.¡± Cal listened to his friends orders, they had agreed beforehand that he likely had a better grasp of war gaming than Cal did, and he would defer to him for orders. They all ran to the lobby carrying their salvaged goods and tossed them into the crack and made their way to the doors. From the door windows Cal saw his father fire several rounds into another one of the Gryalth. It went down. His father turned around, likely to fire at more incoming. This meant he didn¡¯t see the other three come around the building where he had just been firing. Cal pushed the doors and tried chaining a lighting shot through all three of them. He did it, but appeared to have weakened on each jump as only the first one went down. The final one barely looked fazed at all. As he was pouring energy into the group to pull up a rock wall Andy raced behind him and tossed two grenades from his pack at the remaining two aliens. The explosions vibrated his shield hard enough to crack it in several spots, but the aliens were down and that was what mattered. Cal and Andy ran to Stan¡¯s position, Many Legs soon followed. ¡°How are we doing dad?¡± ¡°So far so good, Ethel is on the roof across the street and says that Jen just took down the last two she could see. Bug is with her, so it looks like we all made it through this.¡± ¡°Good, time to get back to the house and prepare for whatever is next.¡± Cal had managed to gain more control over his nerves as the fighting continued. For better or worse he was getting used to fighting for his life. As they waited in the street for Ethel and Bug, they started to draw an audience. Many people had seen Cal use his powers against the aliens and thought he might have some answers to what was going on. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have any real information about what is going on beyond what you all just saw. Just take your family home and try to stay safe. Listen to any emergency broadcasts, they will help.¡± He knew he wasn¡¯t reassuring anyone, but he really didn¡¯t have anything he could do to help them all yet. One day though he would. He extracted himself from the crowd and forced his way back inside after his family and friends and they made their escape through the crack back home. Cal hoped no one had time to search the back of the utility closet as he didn¡¯t think they should close it behind them. Albert was in the room they returned to, collecting the items Andy had earlier deposited. They helped the capybara with his load and followed him into the much improved void realm. There were several that hooked into relays in right past the crack that fed in cell signal, phone, cable, fiber optic and power lines. This was so that when the loop ended they just had to run a new line as soon as possible to the relay and not rewrite the entire void base. Off of the main platform was now a pathway that led to a large building. The building housed multiple laboratories, bedrooms and two kitchens. This was where the capybaras, Andrew and Ralth has spent most of the loop. This was also where Cal hosted D&D nights, as it drove Andrew insane to see his younger self wasting time on such games. Right now they all made their way to the surveillance room. Multiple monitors were set up to stream live feeds and news from as many locations as possible. In the future this would be the center of their command center, for now it was just how they planned to watch the end of this loop. ¡°Hey weird question, but what happens if I don¡¯t die? What if I just stay inside here. We¡¯re pretty safe aren¡¯t we?¡± Cal asked the room. ¡°No, either the mana drain would eventually destabilize this pocket reality or the Gryalth would find the entrance and we¡¯d end up fighting them directly, leading to massive destruction of everything we have built here. So let¡¯s not do that.¡± Andrew answered. ¡°Someday, you¡¯re going to learn to be fun.¡± Cal told the grumpy scientist. ¡°Doubtful, apparently that route leads to Andy over there. He has no focus at all.¡± Andrew pointed at Andy while gently insulting him. ¡°Yeah, this is why I¡¯m so happy I didn¡¯t end up becoming you.¡± Andy shook his head at his elder self. ¡°Everyone quiet, we are getting some real news. Pay attention!¡± Stan shouted, ending any bickering. They all watched in silence as the invasion¡¯s scope grew beyond anything they were currently prepared to. Feed after feed went dead, usually preceded by one of the Gryalth throwing around power similar to Cal or by various large airships opening fire. In total it took roughly five hours for every feed from a major world city to be down. They had seen the militaries of multiple countries try to fight back only to meet what Cal could only describe as battle wizards. They were so far above his skill level that they momentarily made him doubt he¡¯d ever catch up, time loop or not. ¡°Alright, I think we¡¯ve all seen enough for now. Clearly the world is about to end and we can¡¯t stop it. Wait, what¡¯s going on there¡­¡± Ralth pointed at one of the feeds from Portland that had sprung back to life. There was now a man piloting a giant mech punching some of the invaders ships out of the air. The feed went dead again. ¡°That was unexpected.¡± ¡°I think we know what at least one of the scientists did with this loop.¡± Ethel said. ¡°I wonder if we can find him, someone that smart should stick out in Portland next loop.¡± Cal liked the idea of another mad scientist, especially one willing to build a mech to fight aliens. He had potential. ¡°Something to consider, but for now I believe it¡¯s time for me to join the fight. Cal I promised you¡¯d see me go all out this loop, so anyone who would like to accompany me, I¡¯m heading back to Dallas.¡± Cal watched Ralth walk away and started following. He had no intention to miss this. They exited the crack back into Dallas, the building wasn¡¯t really standing anymore. The closet itself was somewhat intact, but most of the walls outside were blown out. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if the building would remain standing much longer, and made a quick exit, ushering everyone to follow. ¡°Cal, I want to know before you see this. All of us have a chance to grow stronger than anything you witness today. My abilities and strengths aren¡¯t native to this reality, so despite how incredible they may seem at first, energy native to this universe has the potential to give us far greater gifts.¡± ¡°So does that mean our abilities will be weaker in other universes?¡± Cal tried to ask, but several Gryalth vessels came into view and opened fire. Instead of an answer, Ralth raised a hand and a shield of shimmering light blocked the oncoming blasts. Ralth then flew into the air, glowing a bright blue moments before he flew straight through one of the ships knocking it from the air. He then turned and fired what looked like lava from his hands into the other ships. Their exteriors melted with contact. Cal watched this spectacle continue for several minutes until a group of a dozen of the Gryalth that Cal had earlier dubbed battle wizards appeared in the air. He guessed some sort of teleportation, but had no idea if that was right really happened. They all started chanting, the noise growing with each second. Buildings began to collapse around them. Cal saw something that looked like the sun strike Ralth, he felt pure pain in his eyes, the light was so bright that he could no longer see. It didn¡¯t matter as he felt the world give way under him, then felt a stretching feeling, then he felt nothing. Loop 23 - Ethel鈥檚 Nature ¡°So what exactly am I supposed to do here Ralth?¡± Ethel asked the man looming over her. He was by far the tallest person she had ever met, and she had met some giants in her life. ¡°You have to find a way to make contact with the spirit inside yourself. It¡¯s different for everyone. It took Cal years. One of the biggest problems you are likely to face is that yours is tied to nature and doing this outside would be extremely dangerous. The capybaras and I have done our best to create this conservatory here in the void to give you the best chance at it.¡± ¡°And I really appreciate that, there are many beautiful plants here. Will they all disappear when the loop resets?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe so, no, we germinated every single plant here, in hopes to make it a native of the pocket dimension. I believe they will continue to thrive within this room. The real question will be, is if our solar array and batteries will last long enough to get them charging again on the next loop. But Andy is confident they will. I¡¯m going to leave you now, I wish you luck.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Thank you.¡± Ethel shook the man¡¯s hand firmly before he left. It was time to make a friend, now matter how long it took. Ethel realized after years of this that she had severely underestimated how long it would take. She just assumed Cal had slacked off through most of it. ¡°God damn tree, why can¡¯t you be more helpful, I can feel the spirit inside of me. Why don¡¯t you tell it to get out here?!¡± ¡°Fine, I will help.¡± A deep rumbling voice echoed from the tree startling Ethel. She hadn¡¯t awakened it, what was happening? Before she had a chance to move away a branch lifted her off the ground and placed her in its canopy. ¡°Hi Ethel, sorry it took so long for me to talk, you¡¯ve held me so deep inside for so long I needed the help of Mr. Oak here to really pull me out.¡± Ethel saw a small leaf life figure talking to her. ¡°It¡¯s okay little one, I¡¯m sorry I got angry. Do you know what we do next?¡± ¡°Yes, this is going to hurt a little, but I need to start the process of opening and purifying your core. I should have it done in a few years.¡± ¡°Ahh, yes Cal mentioned this, just let me get comfortable.¡± Ethel found a surprisingly cozy pile of leaves. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Loop 23 - Mad Scientists, Mechs & Mana Melissa¡¯s Journal Entry 9-15-2013 I¡¯ve confirmed it. Events are repeating themselves. I believe this has something to do with the mana energy swirls from right before everything went white. Somehow the old woman and dog must be connected as well. The catalyst though must be the alien invasion. I¡¯ve decided not to approach the Agency this time as I do not trust they will have my best interests at heart. Instead I will build a fortune with some of my future knowledge and I will use that to fund my ultimate project. I want a mechanized suit of armor. I know it¡¯s ridiculous, I¡¯m an adult and I should have long gotten over these childhood fantasies, but fuck it. Magic is real, time travel is real, talking dogs are real and an alien invasion is likely going to occur again as I catch up to the end of last time. Well this time I intend to fight those aliens head on. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Loop 24 - Part 1 ¡°Well Ralth, we all saw what you could do, and we also all saw what they could do. How do we catch up?¡± Cal asked his brother. It was two weeks into the new loop and everyone except Andy was gathered around a table in the void house. Cal was still in awe at what he experienced at the end of the last loop. The level of power that was brought to bear against Ralth was something mankind had no current defense against. Cal planned to change that, he just didn¡¯t know how to do it, yet. ¡°One correction on your statement, you saw what they were willing to do to stop me. As I said I would be much more powerful in a reality where my powers are native to, and I¡¯ve never been able to stop their invasions before. Some of the people who have trained are capable of destroying a galaxy on their own, and still they have fallen before the forces of the Gryalth. I¡¯m sorry if this disheartens you, but I believe it¡¯s important to know where we stand. This is just the start of our journey and together, and together we will climb to higher mountains than any of you have ever imagined.¡± Ralth rested his hands on the table as he spoke. His head swiveled across the table making eye contact with each person in turn. ¡°As for the question of how we catch up. Ethel, what do you think?¡± Ralth looked back at her. Ethel stood up and started speaking. ¡°We need to increase our magical abilities. After this meeting I intend to build a door in the backyard to a spirit realm myself. We have as far as we know unlimited time and do-overs, so we need to spend this time connecting ourselves to as many mana spirits as possible. Though I don¡¯t know how we do that as it seems most of the wells have been corrupted.¡± She slumped back into her chair. ¡°Hrm, if we continue the assumption that the mana wells are some quantum source of energy tied into the universe itself, it stands to reason they wouldn¡¯t only exist on Earth. Not that I know how much good that does us. We have no way to travel the cosmos and find other civilizations that may have spawned them.¡± ¡°Andrew is onto the answer I think. The Gryalth invasion isn¡¯t localized to just our planet though, at least I doubt that it is. Generally they invade all sentient civilizations at the same time in order to destabilize any real chance of resistance to their full scale mana extraction plans, but if we start closer to home and get a little lucky perhaps we can find an intact mana well aligned to something like time or gravity. I believe we could work with Barron to establish some cracks to more distant parts of the universe then.¡± Ralth nodded at the spirit. ¡°Huh, yeah I think I could do that, but the further we want to make the pathways the stronger the elemental resonance we¡¯d need. I¡¯m pretty sure any basic source could get us anywhere in the Solar System though. So yeah, let¡¯s start there.¡± ¡°This still doesn¡¯t answer how we find one of those sources if we can¡¯t do it on Earth.¡± Cal¡¯s frustrated words were cut off by Andrew. ¡°Actually it does. Honestly with our wealth and technological access I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t go to the moon or hell Mars. Getting back might not be easy, but we don¡¯t actually need to do that. We just need a one way trip and enough resources to find a well.¡± Jen joined in excitedly. ¡°Here¡¯s what we do. Stan needs to go do some giant gambling wins and then invest that money into a tech startup. We just push out future technology this loop a few years early through it. We then just have Stan announce his desire to go to Mars. It¡¯s not like he would even be the first tech billionaire to try it. Oh and before anyone else claims a seat. I¡¯m going. My childhood dream was to be an astronaut, so I¡¯m not missing out on this.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I guess I''ve volunteered.¡± Stan added. Cal burst into laughter and loudly yelled out ¡°I guess we¡¯re going to Mars. Not at all what I expected we were doing this loop, but hey at least we can use the tech company idea to get Andy here earlier. We can just award an internship to him.¡± ¡°Well now that that is settled I need to pay a visit to Grannus and see how the rehabilitation of his realm is going.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to join you, Cal.¡± Ralth¡¯s request surprised Cal. He had assumed his brother would be going with Ethel on her undertaking. Then again he let him do that entirely alone, maybe it had to be that way. ¡°Happy to have you.¡± And he was. ¡°Have fun gentlemen, I¡¯m off to build a nature reserve.¡± Ethel stood up and walked out of the room. ¡°Coming Bug?¡± Her words drifted in from the other room. ¡°Yes professor Ethel.¡± Bug followed her out. ¡°Cal, can I talk to you in private before we go to the rock realm please?¡± Ralth asked his brother. ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up.¡± Cal went into a different room in the void house instead of heading back to what used to be his bedroom and had now become an entryway to other realities. ¡°I don¡¯t believe Grannus will be able to fully remove the corruption, likely due to the time loop. We will need to acquire some sort of cleansing or healing abilities and assist them in fully securing their domain.¡± ¡°Ah, I was worried about something like that. No matter how many times we removed the monsters, new ones would randomly show up.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s any consolation, it should be deeply confounding the Gryalth that the mana spirit is so capable of fighting back.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be happy to hear that.¡± * Cal was a little shocked that it had only taken them two decades to put this all together, but here he was touring the launch facility. It had been decided that Andy, Jen, Stan and himself would be going, plus a few extra people to help maintain the base they had to put together once there. Several rockets had been launched in the last year to deliver payloads they would need once there. On paper it was a ten year mission. In reality they had zero plans for return, though Cal was very curious if the Gryalth would quickly move in on them or they would need to end the loop themselves. Ethel and Bug were going to be spending the rest of the loop in Portland working on tracking down the scientist they saw in the last loop. So far that was the only clue they had of what their new coloopers were up to. Ethel was now one of the more powerful members of their band, which now that he thought about it really needed a name. Something for the next loop he decided, something that would drive Andrew even more insane. ¡°Cal, are you even paying attention? We launch tomorrow!.¡± The man guiding him around the facility had noticed his wandering mind . ¡°Sorry Tim, just caught in thought. It¡¯s still all a bit overwhelming you know. We are going to be the first people to walk on Mars.¡± He lied, slightly. He did find the entire idea of Mars just being a sidequest hilarious at how historic it should be. Cal liked the man, he came at the recommendation of Ethel. He was one of their first big hires. He was a very skilled pilot and exactly what they had needed. They had debated several times about possibly bringing him on the loops, apparently Ethel had done this before, but they ultimately decided to avoid it for now. Until Andrew figured out a reliable way to bring another individual into the loops themselves, it was best to keep people as ignorant as possible to avoid information leaking to the other scientists out there. ¡°Yeah, I get it. I never expected this was where my life would end up either, but turns out making a good impression on Ms. Rose all those years ago was the trick to cementing my future as a Martian. Alright let¡¯s call the tour for now. I think we honestly all know everything the best we can at this point. Go get some sleep.¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡± Tomorrow Cal was heading to Mars. Loop 24 - Ethel Bonds ¡°So why do I need to pick your name, isn¡¯t that something you should do yourself?¡± Ethel asked the small leaf figure as they walked together through a dense forest. ¡°Because you brought me forth, slowly nourishing my protoform inside yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m basically your mom then?¡± Ehel noticed they had passed the trees near them before and adjusted where they were walking. The realm was basically a very small planet, densely packed with trees. They were able to traverse it in about ten minutes. ¡°Kind of, I guess.¡± ¡°Well I think it¡¯s wrong to name a kid who is already smart enough to name themselves. I get that that may be tradition, but I¡¯m too old to care about tradition. You pick your name. Find something that feels like you.¡± Ethel stopped in a small clearing, the only one they had found. In the center of it sat a crystal clear pond. Every so often a small ripple of crackling energy would break the still surface. She sat down next to it and rested her feet in it. It helped her focus the powers she felt swirling around her, and that was something she knew she had to strengthen. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Besides Cal she was the only one who had made a spiritual connection and she wasn¡¯t willing to let him fight alone. Whether he said it or not she knew the stress had to be getting to him, she planned to take as much of that as she could. ¡°If I called myself something like Mr. Oakbert you¡¯d actually just agree and let me use that name?¡± ¡°Absolutely, is that the name you want? Ethel smiled at him. ¡°Yes.¡± Loop 24 - Andy, Boy Genius ¡°Well, that was quite unexpected. Mr. Thomas, how did you manage a perfect score?¡± The Principal loomed over Andy with a look of incredulity on his face. Andy has no intention of telling him the truth, not that he thought he would believe it anyway. This was the second time he had taken this same exam. Last time he had only scored an eighty percent, the topics were pretty obscure, covering a giant range of fields. He had done great in practical math and science last time, but his knowledge of classics or linguistics paled in comparison. This time however he knew where to focus. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Lots and lots of study. Basically I spent all day reading.¡± Andy tried to hide his grin, but there was no suppressing it. ¡°Yes, well, I think we need to discuss other education options. Someone of your capabilities is wasted in your current environment.¡± ¡°Well now that you mention it, I do have an internship I¡¯ve been eyeing. Have you ever heard of Marshall Technologies?¡± Loop 24 - Part 2 ¡°And blastoff!¡± Cal heard the message inside his helmet as the entire ship began to rapidly accelerate. He felt himself forcefully pushed back into his seat. It turned out the simulator was not enough to prepare him for the reality of a spaceship launch. Thinking was becoming difficult and the ability to control his stomach was nearly beyond his grasp. The ship exited Earth¡¯s atmosphere and slowed its rate of acceleration. Cal regained control of his facilities just in time. ¡°Everyone okay?¡± Tim¡¯s voice came through the intercoms in their helmets. ¡°Holy fucking shit, can we never do that again?¡± Cal saw Stan¡¯s helmet and realized he hadn¡¯t been as lucky as Cal. ¡°No, we need to do it when we head home, but we have years before then. It should be safe to leave your seats now though. Stan, I suggest you take your break early.¡± Tim pulled his helmet off and took a deep breath after he finished speaking. Stan disappeared into the back of the shuttle, keeping his helmet on until he was in an area to safely contain the mess. Jen followed after him. Andy hopped out of his chair and removed his helmet. Cal joined him. The remaining three astronauts, Melissa, John and Robert soon followed suit. ¡°I cannot wait until we get to Mars. I¡¯m still so glad we decided to make our base camp directly next to the caves.¡± John had been brought on for his caving and survival skills. In the early initial loops he had been a favored teacher of Stan and Cal, not that John knew that of course, but Cal still enjoyed having him around again. Melissa has been hired on due to her extensive engineering knowledge of autonomous vehicles, which would make their exploration plans much easier. John was a building engineer, stolen directly from NASA itself. He had been involved in the design and construction of the International Space Station, but because of his age had never been cleared for space duty. Marshall Technologies was willing to give him a shot anyway. Cal considered him the second most qualified member of the crew and was glad he agreed to join the mission. ¡°Looks like all systems are checking out fine.¡± Andy had gone to work immediately. ¡°Nerd.¡± Cal looked at his friend as he spoke. ¡°Hey, we have to pass the time somehow. It¡¯s going to be months before we get there.¡± Andy countered. ¡°I know, that''s why I made sure we had dice roller programs, it¡¯s time for D&D in space!¡± * Months later, and an entire campaign done they were ready to make landfall on Mars. Everyone was strapped back in their seats as the shuttle slowly decelerated and landed near all their supply drops. ¡°Well crew, it¡¯s been a long trip, but we did it. We are about to be the first humans to walk on Mars. So please join me my fellow Martians after we verify shuttle integrity in the airlock. Oh and if someone thought of a great speech, it¡¯s about to be time for some oration, because I sure as hell did not.¡± Tim undid his seatbelt and started checking the nearest consoles. ¡°Everything is checking on my end. Also landings are much easier than take offs.¡± Stan had taken a few weeks to get over his space sickness, but once he had he was back to the usual jovial father figure Cal loved. ¡°Same here.¡± Andy said, and was soon echoed by the rest of the crew. ¡°Beautiful.¡± Tim led the crew single file towards the airlock. ¡°Try to get used to the gravity before we go outside. I¡¯d rather no one bounce away before we¡¯ve built a habitat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little over one third of Earth¡¯s gravity, so just learn to walk before you run people.¡± Andy added. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Tim sealed the airlock once everyone was inside, he pressed more buttons on the console and Cal felt a rushing feeling as the air was sucked out of the room in preparation for opening the doors. ¡°All clear, open the hatch.¡± Tim instructed Andy. ¡°Check.¡± Andy pressed several more buttons and pulled a lever. The hatch unlatched and Tim pushed it the rest of the way open. He hopped out onto the Martian soil and looked around. ¡°Well my fellow Martians, get your asses out here. We¡¯ve got equipment to check.¡± Cal watched as the rest of the crew exited the shuttle. He had been designated last, it was his job to close the hatch behind him and then make his way to landing site B, and he did just that. The exterior mechanisms worked perfectly, he heard the door latch shut again. Finally he turned and scanned the landscape and once again was overwhelmed by where his life had taken him. He was one of the first people on Mars setting up a habitat so they could explore the Martian caves. He tried walking and realized it was much easier than what he used to. He looked to the others and saw most of them were moving in something closer to a kangaroo¡¯s hops, so he tried that. He fell on his face, and then he bounced back up, only to fall on his face again. Laughter came through the comms in his helmet. ¡°Don¡¯t feel too bad son, someone had to be the first to faceplant, and frankly I¡¯m glad it¡¯s not me.¡± ¡°I could have done without the second bounce though.¡± The laughter continued as Cal got to his feet and started a more gentle pace to his inspection site. John had beaten him there and already had two containers open. ¡°So far everything looks good Cal. Your dad is going to be a giant name in the history books at this rate. If you want to get started on hooking up those components we might be able to get the central dome setup today and not have to sleep in the cramped shuttle.¡± Robert worked as he spoke. He pointed Cal to several floor panels that needed to be secured into the ground before they began the process of unfolding the panels that made up the dome. The building was constructed in rings of panels that could be folded down together for shipping and then easily expanded and locked into place on arrival. Each ring¡¯s diameter was smaller than the ring below it, allowing for an easily assembled dome. Panels could then be removed to add in door frames that could be linked to other rooms as they were assembled. There were more drop ships of supplies scheduled each year for their mission, with more personnel expected to arrive in five years. Cal planned to end the loop before they had to deal with more people, perhaps next loop if they needed further exploration they could get this together faster, but for now he was happy with the smaller crew. That was something to worry about later he pushed it aside as he started pounding in the ground stakes. * It took them two weeks in total to construct the base. Cal had joined the crew for their first full dinner in the dining room. They were all sitting around a large table, without space suits and enjoying a giant meal, the first of many to come in this room. ¡°I just want you all to know how grateful I am that you all agreed to join me on this mission, it means more than you know.¡± Stan thanked the crew with a smile on his face. ¡°Glad to be here, I can¡¯t wait to start launching the drones and satellites tomorrow. Getting the Martian GPS up and running will make it much safer for our exploration plans. Oh and I sent two of the drones into the caves before dinner started. We should get some good readings from those after dinner.¡± Melissa had taken a giant bite out of a chicken leg in between words, but managed to wait until she finished speaking to dig into her mashed potatoes. Cal was impressed at how much she ate, it was on his dad¡¯s level, but she also never stopped working so he understood it. He had no idea when she managed to sleep at her output levels. In the world of mechanics and robotics she put both Andy and Andrew to shame still. He knew that wouldn¡¯t be true forever though. Andy was sticking close to her trying to learn as much as he could. ¡°Hey John, I bet you can¡¯t wait to get into those caves, any expectations?¡± Jen asked the cave guide. ¡°I¡¯m just hoping I get to name some new cave features. I need a good present for my wife since I won¡¯t see her for years.¡± He replied. A loud beeping sound started coming from a tablet in front of Melissa. ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡± Tim asked, looking worried as he did so. ¡°Uh, this can¡¯t be right.¡± Melissa answered. ¡°What can¡¯t be right?!¡± Andy, Stan and Tim all shouted at once. ¡°Oh sorry, the drones are picking up an oxygen rich environment inside of one of the caverns.¡± Loop 24 - D&D in Space! ¡°Why do we all have to play awakened pigs on a spaceship?¡± Jen asked. They had spent the day teaching her, John and Tim to play. It turned out Robert had been playing for years and offered to run this campaign so that Cal would have a chance to play. ¡°Because it¡¯s funny!¡± Stan said. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m with Stan here, everyone is awakened pigs, who find themselves newly intelligent wandering an empty space vessel, no idea how you got there. You can base your characters around that. It will be great.¡± Robert said. ¡°Hey Bob, are you good if I play a cleric? Someone will need to save our bacon.¡± Cal smirked. Everyone else groaned. Loop 24 - Gamification of Reality ¡°Hey Andrew, get out here there¡¯s a noise coming from the weird computer!¡± Albert yelled through Andrew¡¯s door. He had been asleep, enjoying the fact that he got to do that again. People had no idea how much you could miss sleeping until you aren¡¯t really in control of anything you do for uncounted centuries. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m coming Andrew.¡± He climbed out of bed and pushed his door open. ¡°What computer? The R.I.S.?¡± ¡°Yeah it just started beeping, and I¡¯m not willing to touch it.¡± Andrew took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go see what¡¯s going on.¡± The two of them walked in silence to the room that had been constructed around the computer. Andrew walked up to the screen and pressed the enter button. A message popped across the screen. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. World Mana Well Quest System World Mana Wells Unlocked: 0/1 Current Rank: Pathetic ¡°Well that¡¯s new. I don¡¯t like that reality is insulting us now, go find Ralth, I think we need to get a message to Cal.¡± Andrew ordered the capybara after reading the message. Just what the hell had Cal started here? Now this was interesting. Loop 24 - Part 3 ¡°I want two more drones deployed down there ASAP. Sorry, everyone, dinner¡¯s over. Exploration is starting early.¡± Tim pushed his plate away. ¡°John, if these readings are accurate, are you prepared to suit and take a look?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Cal stifled a laugh. John''s mustache made his giant smile look ridiculous, but he couldn¡¯t fault the man¡¯s excitement. He wanted to get in there just as badly. They needed to find a mana pool. ¡°Melissa, get those drone cameras on monitor number two and run diagnostics. Cal, Andy, suit up with John. I want you three prepared to head into the caves.¡± ¡°You got it, Tim.¡± Cal followed Andy and John. They quickly donned their suits while Stan kept them up to date over the comms. ¡°The readings look accurate. The third drone arrived and is picking up the same thing. It¡¯s not even very deep into the caves. I wonder if we sealed the entrance to our airlock if we¡¯d even need suits anymore.¡± Stan¡¯s commentary had moved from fact to speculation. ¡°Something to consider, but for now, I want you three to go ahead into the cave. Don¡¯t go further than drones until we give clearance.¡± Tim cut in. ¡°Understood. Okay, boys, let¡¯s go.¡± John hit the button to prime the airlock, waited for the beep, and opened the door. ¡°After you.¡± He motioned Andy and Cal in first. The bulky suits made for slow going, especially as no one wanted a hard fall on the rockier terrain. That was too much of a risk of cracking a helmet or damaging another part of the suit. What the drones did in a few minutes took the three of them nearly half an hour to replicate, but finally, the drones came into sight. ¡°Found them, readings still giving off the same readings on your end?¡± John asked over the radio. ¡°Yep, no change here. Melissa is preparing a sample drone for collection purposes while we wait on your findings.¡± ¡°Understood Tim. Andy, if you could test the air with your equipment, we should get a good idea of just how safe this place is.¡± John set his equipment bag down and started rifling through it. Andy typed a few things into a small environmental scanner he had dug out of his own equipment bag. ¡°Well, this is giving off the same readings. In theory, this air is safe to breathe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure it¡¯s safe?¡± Cal looked over at his friend as he typed away. ¡°I mean, as sure as I can be. Wait why? Don¡¯t do anything stupid Cal!¡± Andy looked up and yelled at Cal. He was too late. Cal unclasped his helmet and pulled it off. He took a deep breath, ignoring the yelling over the comms. ¡°God dammit, did he really just take off his helmet, the readings in here are screaming of a suit breach.¡± ¡°He did, but as much as I hate to give him any credit, he is fine. No, John, not you too.¡± John had joined Cal in pulling his helmet off. ¡°The air tastes slightly different.¡± Cal had his tongue out, licking the air, similar to what Bug did when she was bored. ¡°Lack of pollutants, most likely. You get weird tastes in deep caves too. Are you going to join us Andy, or not?¡± John had also started removing the rest of his suit and pilling it up against the wall. ¡°Permission to remove my suit.¡± Andy¡¯s voice had accepted he was resigned to this fate. ¡°Granted, I guess, but you¡¯re also ordered to slap my son on the back of the head. Tim is currently pacing back and forth, ranting. So, Cal, you¡¯ve got that to look forward to when your dumbass gets back.¡± ¡°Dad, let¡¯s be realistic here. You know me, There was a near one hundred percent chance this suit was coming off as soon as we confirmed it was safe. Now, John, he was a wildcard here, but I really can¡¯t blame him.¡± Cal could hear his father¡¯s sighing perfectly through the radio. ¡°Now that I mention it, I¡¯m amazed you haven¡¯t joined us yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to do the responsible thing and get the tunnel sealed to an airlock so we can more easily traverse it, but since you¡¯re already there, go find the source of the oxygen if you can. Just be careful. We don¡¯t need any Alaska repeats.¡± ¡°What happened in Alaska?¡± John asked Cal. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Old mineshaft, lots of bugs, best not to ask. I still get the random nightmare.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I once fell into a pit of scorpions. I know how bad those stories can get.¡± Cal nodded, sure that he did not actually know how bad some stories got. He shuddered at his early memories of Many Eyes. He briefly wondered how Many Legs¡¯ education under Ethel was going. He hoped she had a lead on the mech pilot, and those were some skills they could use. ¡°Alright boys, I like the smell of this tunnel.¡± The room they were in was a small circular chamber. It had one tunnel that led back the way they came that connected to various other tunnels, none of them with oxygen that they had found yet. This chamber had four more tunnels that went deeper into the underground. John had pointed to the one directly across from the exit tunnel. They followed him in, one of the drones coming behind them. ¡°The air has a damp, earthy smell to it, and the walls are starting to show signs of liquid. Closer inspection leads me to believe it is water, but we will want to run tests in the lab. Securing several samples.¡± Andy was speaking into the radio as they went deeper. ¡°Uh, guys, is it just me, or does it look lighter up ahead?¡± Cal could swear there was the faintest glow in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s not just you. I think something down here has some bioluminescence features. Hopefully, it¡¯s flora and not fauna.¡± Andy slowed down as he spoke. ¡°We should send the drone ahead, just in case.¡± ¡°Yeah best to be safe, could be killer fungus in there.¡± John joked. ¡°Negative, return to base. The signals are getting harder to relay in real-time. Come help us assemble this new airlock and tunnel. Once we do that, we can run some signal boosters to the first chamber and then prepare a real expedition.¡± Tim was back on the radio, ready to reassert his command. ¡°Yeah, I think Tim¡¯s right this time. No sense getting ourselves killed boys; time to head back.¡± By the time they made it back to the base, Melissa and Stan were attaching the tunnel framework. They had dragged several other containers outside as well. ¡°Cal, move those containers into the chamber where the oxygen starts. Bob will be out soon to help bolt the framework to the tunnel sides. Andy, can you get those samples inside and start testing them? John, I''ll need your help here.¡± Jen and Robert exited the airlock as Andy entered. Jen was carrying a large spool of cable. ¡°I¡¯m going to start tacking this up along the cave wall while you guys get the tunnel together. Hopefully, I¡¯ll have this done before you, and we can start getting the drones further down.¡± ¡°Thanks Jen. Is Tim joining us?¡± Stan asked. ¡°No, he wants to help Andy with the samples.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The next several hours were spent carefully expanding one of the flexible tunnels through the cave tunnel. Parts of the walls and floors had to be smoothed out to avoid rupturing them, and then the makeshift seal in the cavern had to be tested. Once the tunnel was attached and the gap filler settled, Robert lit a colored candle while Stan stood outside and watched for any leakage. ¡°Looks good, Bob. I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Robert put the candle out and started work on his following projects. He had shown Cal the plans to add doors to the other tunnels. ¡°Do you really think we need them?¡± Cal had asked. ¡°No, but I prefer to live in a better safe than sorry world.¡± ¡°Good news, I¡¯ve got the cable completely attached. Melissa is hooking up the signal booster now.¡± Jen walked up to Cal and Robert, smiling. ¡°That is good news, I want to get back into the further tunnels. John, are you ready?¡± Cal called out. ¡°Sure am. Who else is coming this time?¡± ¡°I am,¡± Stan answered. ¡°Same,¡± Jen added. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and send the drones after you shortly. Should only be another few minutes, just load them down with any samples you take.¡± Melissa continued splicing wires while she was talking. ¡°Hey guys, I just want to let you know before you head out that the sample is reading as water. Tim and I are going to head down the cave as well with the drone so we will catch up. I want more samples, and he wants to smell the air.¡± ¡°Alright, Andy, just let us know if you want us to wait.¡± Cal radioed back. The group returned to the area where the signal had started dying previously. This time, though, there was no loss. It looked like Melissa¡¯s handiwork was paying off. The sound of a drone somewhere behind them gave further proof of it. John was the first one into the room with the glow. ¡°Woah, now this is something. You guys gotta see this.¡± His voice echoed out of the chamber. The three hurried in. Cal was amazed at what he saw. There were some sort of vines hanging from the ceiling, brightly glowing. Along the floor were several different plants, some with flowers and one resembling a small tree. ¡°This is amazing,¡± Cal spoke as he continued to look around in awe. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. ¡°Wait, what was that?¡± ¡°What was what?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I swear I just saw something move right over there.¡± As soon as he pointed, a small rocky figure jumped from the wall and ran down one of the tunnel exits. ¡°Hey, Andy.¡± ¡°Yeah, Cal, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°We found Fauna.¡± Loop 24 - The Bolt Relay ¡°We really should have considered how to send a message to Cal. If we are going to be sending this many people on missions, we need someone else who is both passably human and can leave this dimension without dying.¡± Andrew was ranting to Albert and Ralth. He needed to inform Cal about the change on the R.I.S., but he wasn¡¯t sure how. ¡°I have an idea. Barron, can you come here?¡± Ralth yelled into the void space. ¡°Hello Ralth.¡± The little spirit landed in front of the giant man. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Do you think Bolt¡¯s star has made enough of a connection that you can talk to her from here?¡± ¡°Hmm, maybe, why?¡± ¡°I want you to give her a message to relay to Cal. Tell her that the R.I.S. has given him a goal to unlock whatever world mana wells are. Also, tell her that I am unaware of what they are either.¡± ¡°Can do.¡± He zoomed off into the darkness towards the bright start far in the distance. Loop 24 - Ethel鈥檚 School for Unusual Animals Ethel looked over her class. Bug was sitting on a pillow in front. Many Legs and Many Eyes were in the back, capybaras occupied several desks, and strangest of all, though, was the small oak tree at the side of the room. To anyone not in the know, they would just assume it was a plant decoration for the room, but no, while learning to use her powers, she had accidentally permanently awakened it. ¡°Professor Ethel.¡± Bug¡¯s voice interrupted her train of thought. ¡°Yes, Bug?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we invite the mana spirits too?¡± She thought about it. Bug was correct. It would be good for them, but they had other priorities involving harmonizing their realms at the moment. Maybe one day though. She would need to remember this. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Not quite yet. We only just convinced Many Eyes to join us, plus Frank here.¡± She pointed to the oak. ¡°Let¡¯s try to avoid swelling our class size too much.¡± ¡°It was very loneeeelllyy withouttt Many Leeeeggs.¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s okay. We¡¯re glad to have you.¡± Ethel tried to soothe the spider. ¡°Frank, would you like to introduce yourself?¡± The tree rose up slightly. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Frank. Did you all know that those books we are learning from are made from trees like me? I didn¡¯t, and I¡¯m not sure I like it at all.¡± Frank had a deep Boston accent. Ethel had no idea where he had picked it up. ¡°Frank, we¡¯ve discussed this, those trees aren¡¯t like you. As far as we know, you are the only sapient plant currently on the planet.¡± Ethel sighed and sat down at her desk. ¡°Alright class, where did we leave off last time?¡± Loop 24 - Part 4 ¡°You¡¯re sure it was fauna?¡± Andy asked back. The sound of him running down the tunnel to catch up also came through. ¡°Not at all. It actually looked like a bunch of rocks, but it moved like a small monkey.¡± Cal described the sight for his friend. ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth. We all saw it. It looked like a strange little creature. Once you catch up, we can follow the tunnel it ran down.¡± Stan backed up Cal¡¯s claim. Tim and Andy sprinted into the chamber with the rest of them. They had left the drone behind. They both had a look of excitement on their faces. ¡°Who saw it first?¡± Tim asked. ¡°Pretty sure I did, why?¡± Cal responded, not sure why this mattered. ¡°Well, that means you get to name it. Rules of discovery are in play everyone, first to spot is first to name.¡± Tim looked like a kid on Christmas. Cal had never seen him this way before. Apparently, rigid structure wasn¡¯t everything. Something deep inside of him had come out in pursuit of the unknown. ¡°This way.¡± Stan directed everyone down the tunnel the creature had disappeared to. Stan led the way. The glowing plant life continued around them as they moved through the increasingly cramped passageways. The humidity was increasing with each passing minute. It soon felt like they were in a jungle, not deep under the surface of a barren planet. ¡°Woah, everyone, stop. The tunnel opens up directly around this bend into a giant chamber with plenty of light. We need to be very careful. We have no idea what lives here.¡± Stan looked directly at Cal as he spoke. Cal knew he wasn¡¯t worried about him in the traditional sense. His Father was likely primarily concerned with keeping Cal¡¯s powers under wraps unless absolutely needed. Cal planned to stick with that as well. John pushed past him, interrupting his thoughts. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta see this Stan. I¡¯ve always dreamed of finding something out of a Jules Verne novel, though I never expected to combine it with a Burroughs book.¡± He disappeared into the cavern, calling back shortly after. ¡°It¡¯s a ton of plants like we saw before and a few of the rock creatures near a stream in the distance. Get out here and take a look for yourselves. It¡¯s amazing.¡± Cal found John holding up his phone, recording the entire room. He¡¯d stop occasionally and describe how the air felt or smelled and then start moving again to a new thing. Cal wasn¡¯t sure what to make of all this. He thought it was probably a good sign that a mana pool was nearby. It seemed magical, at least, but that was just more guessing. The only one with any real answers was Ralth, and half of them didn¡¯t apply to this universe. ¡°Hey, somethings happening over there to those rock creatures. They got into the stream and started shaking.¡± Andy pointed out to Cal. He was the only one still near him. Tim had followed John off to various plants. Jen and his father were carefully picking their way across the room in the opposite direction towards a cliff edge. Cal looked closely at what Andy pointed out. A much larger one joined them from what Cal had thought was a pile of rocks on the stones. It, too, started to shake, and then they all started to break open. ¡°Uh, Andy, are they hatching?¡± Cal was worried. He started trying to focus on what was going on. Why had everyone just gone their own ways so quickly? Wait, on that matter, why was his brain feeling so foggy? ¡°Dammit, Andy, somethings off with the air in here. I can¡¯t think straight. I think it started as soon as we found the first plants.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think you¡¯re right, but my head is starting to clear now, might only be temporary.¡± There was a loud screech from the area with the hatching creatures. ¡°Too late, what the fuck are those things?!¡± Cal yelled as what looked like a cross between a scorpion and a condor burst out of the rocky shells. The large one immediately took the air and started flying at them. ¡°Everyone run. If you can get back to base, do it, but either way, take shelter. Something has your perceptions off, but I think it¡¯s starting to fade.¡± Andy yelled out over the radio. ¡°We aren¡¯t going to make it to the passage. No one is. Andy, run for Dad and Jen. Tim, snap out of it, grab John, and make for my dad!¡± Cal started barking orders. Everyone started moving, which was what he wanted. It helped cover for what he was about to do. Cal shot two bolts of lightning at the big one, knocking it out of the sky. It crashed to the ground inches from Cal¡¯s face and started trying to claw at him. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Dammit,¡± Cal swore. His lightning wasn¡¯t nearly as intense here. He ejected himself sideways with his rock shaping just in time to dodge the tail. He noted that it was also weaker. ¡°Andy, run faster. Somethings off with my little friends.¡± ¡°Understood, there¡¯s water below the cliff, a lot of it. We¡¯re jumping. It may be a terrible idea, but I don¡¯t have a better one.¡± Cal heard the sound of a few screams and a loud splash from the distance. ¡°Hey, monster things, I¡¯d rather not fight you. Any chance we can just be friends?¡± The tail swung at him again. ¡°Yeah didn¡¯t think so, but I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯ve made some pretty weird friends.¡± Cal threw several blasts of lightning out of his fingers at near point-blank range. This time, the monster didn¡¯t get back up. It lay on the ground, crackling and burnt in several locations. ¡°See, if you¡¯d just surrendered, you could be a living condorpion.¡± His tone gave away the reality of how tired he was. He had thrown almost all his energy into that blast. Luckily, it seemed to have saved him. The smaller ones had run off. He just needed to sit down and rest for a bit. Then he¡¯d go find everyone. He managed to walk over to a spot under several of the weird trees before collapsing to the ground. Cal woke up to the feeling of something climbing on his leg. ¡°Bug, knock it off, I¡¯m still tired.¡± He heard no response, and his brain snapped further awake, remembering where he was. He looked down at his legs and saw a vine wrapped around a rip in his pants. The end of it was further wrapped around a large barb that was impaled in his leg. It looked very similar to what had been on the condorpion¡¯s tail. ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s probably because it is,¡± Cal muttered, trying to get his eyes to focus. It looked like the vine was trying to get the stinger out. He hoped that was true, but the local life hadn¡¯t been on their side so far. Extreme pain shot through his leg. It turned out the vine was doing just that. It then further wrapped itself around his wound, and Cal felt the pain decrease. It was healing him somehow. He could move his toes again. Minutes passed, and he felt able to stand up. Before he could, a voice came from behind him. ¡°Cal, can you hear me? What¡¯s going on? Where is everyone?¡± It was Melissa¡¯s voice, and he could now make out the sound of the drone¡¯s wheels rolling closer. ¡°Yeah, I can hear you. I¡¯m alive. We had an encounter with some hostile life. Everyone else fled, but I was trapped and had to fight it off. The good news is the plant life appears to be friendly and also oddly intelligent.¡± Cal¡¯s voice came out ragged. He wasn¡¯t perfect yet, but he was getting better. ¡°Okay, Bob says he¡¯s coming in.¡± ¡°No, you two stay there. The vine is somehow healing my leg; once that¡¯s done, I¡¯ll grab my headset and try to find them. We can¡¯t risk anyone else.¡± ¡°Alright, I only agree if you are back on your legs in the next ten minutes.¡± Robert¡¯s voice had taken over the speaker. ¡°I will be,¡± Cal responded, determination in his voice. ¡°So, what exactly did you encounter?¡± Melissa was speaking again. ¡°The rock creature thing turned out to just be a surprisingly mobile egg, or maybe a juvenile form like a larva. Several of the small ones and a single larger one all hatched into a new creature that I¡¯m called a condorpion.¡± ¡°Is that because it looked like a cross between a condor and a scorpion?¡± Robert didn¡¯t sound overly happy to be asking this question. ¡°Yep.¡± Cal rolled over and tried putting a little pressure on his leg. It held without pain, so he stood the rest of the way up. ¡°See good as new.¡± ¡°Fine, be careful. We are sending a few more of the drones to the room, and we will try to keep you abreast of any returning dangers.¡± Robert sounded more annoyed that Cal had stood up. Cal leaned down and gently removed the vine from his leg. He placed it back with the rest of itself. He then examined his leg. The hole where the stinger was was still reddish, but there were no lines from it, and everything felt okay to the touch. He decided to let Andy and Jen examine it in more detail later. He had friends and family to find. Instead of jumping down into the water, he took the sloping path he found nearby. It looked like it would head down there, and he didn¡¯t want to risk injuring himself on a high dive if he didn¡¯t have to. ¡°Hey, Cal, can you hear me? It¡¯s very hard to perceive you. You feel so far away.¡± Cal heard a small voice inside his mind. ¡°Bolt, is that you? What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Something happened back in Barron¡¯s realm. Andrew and Ralth think something you did likely triggered it.¡± She cut in and out as she spoke. ¡°Okay, talk fast. I think we are losing our connection.¡± ¡°The R.I.S. has given you a goal to unlock a world mana well. Ralth also says to tell you he has no idea what that means before you try to ask.¡± ¡°How long did this happen?¡± ¡°Andrew says within the last twenty minutes.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks. Go ahead and cut our connection. I know this is probably costing you a ton of energy.¡± ¡°Thanks Cal. It will get easier once I finish my stars.¡± Based on the timing, Cal was pretty sure his contact with the creatures or plants down here had to be what set off his new mission. ¡°Time for a sidequest, I guess,¡± he said into the empty tunnel and continued downward. Loop 24 - An Ancient Voice ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s interesting. There is something from Earth here. It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve seen anything alive from that planet. Just the metal craft they keep sending.¡± The voice was slow, hanging on every word. It had the tone of a very old man who had just awoken from a long sleep. It drew deep within itself and reached out along the tangle of vines that covered its form. It pushed its will out in a way it hadn¡¯t done in thousands of years. The Earth creatures needed help, and it wasn¡¯t about to let them die to a few abyssal beasts. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Can you feel my presence, little vine? I need you to get the venom out of this creature¡¯s leg. I think we may finally have a way to pass our legacy.¡± Loop 24 - Tim Takes Charge The splash into the cold water entirely cleared Tim¡¯s head. ¡°Fuck, what the hell were those things? Actually, there is no time to worry about that. Everyone get to shore. We need to find a way back to Cal as soon as we can.¡± Tim swam to the bank and looked around. Everyone was accounted for. He looked around the room briefly. It still glowed like the previous rooms but was full of passageways. ¡°John, any guess on how to get us back?¡± Tim figured the spelunker likely had the best sense of direction down here. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°It¡¯s probably one of those three. They look to slope up.¡± John pointed to three tunnel entrances near them. ¡°Well, pick one. We¡¯ve got company.¡± Stan shouted. ¡°The middle one.¡± Tim had no idea if he was right, but it was time to make a decision, so he did. Loop 24 - Part 5 Loop 24 - Part 5 Cal had been walking down the path for a few minutes when the grade of the tunnel floor became steeper than he could easily keep a foothold on. He pushed some of his energy out through his feet into the ground to help him keep his balance as he walked. It worked well for a few steps when suddenly his powers stopped. He couldn¡¯t feel his connection to the spirits at all, and to make matters worse, he was now on his ass sliding down the tunnel, quickly gaining speed. ¡°Fuuuuuck.¡± He screamed out in panic. In the distance, he saw a sharp turn in the path. He knew he was about to crash into the wall. He pushed as deep as he could into the mana core and forced out every bit of energy he had left. His slide slowed. He crashed into the wall slowly enough that he only had a few bruises but no breaks. He was utterly exhausted again. His mana core had been entirely drained twice in the last few hours. It was a feeling he was not enjoying. Cal stumbled around until he found some Martian moss to sit in. He had no idea if it was moss or some other Martian danger, but his brain was too tired to care. He laid back down and again fell into a deep slumber. * ¡°Earth creature, perceive me!¡± Cal heard a rumbling, deep voice. ¡°Yes, hello, is someone there? I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just so tired I need to lay back down.¡± Cal was having trouble focusing. His reality felt hazy. ¡°You have not awoken. I am reaching out to you through your dreams. Know that it is imperative that you wake. You have fallen into an area where I can provide you no direct aid, and the abyssal beasts have returned.¡± The voice continued ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think I can.¡± Cal tried lifting and moving his body with no success. ¡°If you just stay there asleep, they will consume your core. Then, they will hunt down the rest of your companions, and finally, they will come for me and take the inheritance I have made for the cosmos. I need you to get up and find me!¡± The voice ordered. Its tone had shifted from a more friendly grandfather to a stern elder. ¡°RAISE NOW!¡± Cal¡¯s eyes shut open. He was awake. The dream started fading, but he tried to hold it in his active thoughts. There had been a voice. It had asked for help, and it said something else as well. Cal thought hard, and it came to him: abyssal beasts. Panic shot through Cal again. He was deeply tired of new horrors in caves. ¡°Dammit,¡± He muttered, looking around. He spotted them slowly moving closer at the end of the passage. It was the smaller condorpions that had fled earlier. Cal forced himself to his feet, once more reaching deep into his core. There was nothing to be found. He was running on empty. He had to win a fight with monsters without any weapons or magic. He grabbed a rock from the ground, realizing he wasn¡¯t totally without weapons. He threw it as hard as he could muster at the closest one. It hit, and to his great relief, the creature made a squishing sound as it was crushed below the rock. It looked like these smaller ones had nowhere near the staying power as their big brother. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Cal grabbed a few more stones and started throwing. Several more fell to his newfound rock-throwing skills. His luck turned sour as he ran out of rocks before he ran out of monsters. Three of them still stood, advancing towards him. Their pincers clicked with every step. Cal took the only action he thought he had left. He charged in and kicked his left foot into the lead condorpion. It splattered against the wall. He caught the second one as it leaped at his face by the creature¡¯s tail. He swung it into the third one, knocking it into the wall. It didn¡¯t get back up. The one in his hands stopped moving as well. Cal made a mental note that these things didn¡¯t handle blunt force very well. He wondered if lightning had been a mistake in his first fight. Cal stumbled forward past the corpses of the monsters. ¡°Hey, weird old voice thing, can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?¡± He called through the tunnel. He remembered his radio and pulled it out. It had taken the brunt of the impact, and he couldn¡¯t get any signal. ¡°Great, I¡¯m in more trouble than the people I wanted to save.¡± He continued speaking to the air in front of him. He still wasn¡¯t thinking clearly, but the haze had vanished enough for him to notice his lack of mental clarity. He considered that a small victory and pressed on. ¡°Hello, cave wall. You look just like every other cave I keep seeing. No, wait, you¡¯re slightly different. You have one of those glowing vines.¡± Cal reached up and petted the vine. The vine lowered itself as he touched it. He felt a small spark pass from it to himself. The spark entered his core. It didn¡¯t do much toward refilling it, but he no longer felt the deep craving emptiness. Cal stood up straighter and looked all around the cavern he was in. Again, there were several of the plants, mainly grouped around a single entrance. So far, the plants seemed to be helping him, so he decided the best course of action was to follow them. The vines ran along the walls next to him as he walked, still slower than he liked. He had gotten used to using little bits of magic to accelerate every step, but he was back to typical human Cal. He preferred wizard Cal. The vine''s glow was becoming stronger the further he followed them. He walked for hours. His brain went back and forth between this weird, endless cavern journey and whether the others hadn¡¯t found their way back to the base. Before any more space trips, he was determined to increase his bond with the spirits. He was sure they could make it nowhere else if they barely made it to Mars. It was time to pick Ralth¡¯s brain for everything he knew about magic, the universe, and whatever was hiding there. He rounded another bend into something out of a fantasy movie. Lush trees and plants of all kinds covered the most immense cavern he had seen so far. In the center of it was a large pool. Floating above that pool was a dark red figure. It almost looked like Grannus but much more prominent, giving off this feeling of ancientness. Cal was sure he was in the presence of a being whose age dwarfed his own. It turned and looked at him in the eyes. He felt a presence bore deep into himself. It felt as if it was learning everything there was to know about his being. After what seemed like hours, it finally spoke in the same deep voice from his dreams. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve found me. We must talk.¡± Loop 24 - Cal鈥檚 Missing John had picked well. It took an hour, but they were finally back in the room where they were separated from Cal. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s all get back, and we can figure out our next steps from there,¡± Stan told the group. He was worried about Cal, but considering they were all still here, he knew Cal was at least alive. ¡°What about Cal?¡± John asked. ¡°He may be at the base. Let¡¯s get back; if he¡¯s not there, we can discuss it then.¡± There were several nods of agreement. Stan¡¯s more significant concern at the moment was the lack of communication from Bob or Melissa. He should have heard something from them unless perhaps they also formed a search party. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. He pushed these worries aside as they entered the airlock. The concerns came crashing back home moments later when they found no one inside. ¡°Well, this could be a problem.¡± Stan hoped they had just gone with Cal. Loop 24 - Bug, Dungeon Master ¡°Frank, you¡¯re really going to like this game. Cal taught me you haven¡¯t met him yet, but he¡¯s the best. He¡¯s my big brother,¡± Bug¡¯s tail wagged as she taught Frank how to play D&D. ¡°I doubt he¡¯s better than Ethel. She likes plants. Most people don¡¯t.¡± Frank¡¯s voice was as gruff as ever. ¡°Don¡¯t bet like that, Frank, we all like you. That¡¯s why we made you the capybara hat. Now you are an honorary capybara. Bug loves hers.¡± Albert spoke up, taking a break from testing his dice. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°I do. The hat keeps me so warm. It¡¯s very nice.¡± ¡°I want to play a dwarven druid.¡± Frank interrupted. ¡°Alright, we can make that.¡± Bug used her nose to flip through the book gently. ¡°I want to be Frank, the dwarven druid, defender of plants, the scourge of humanity. I will protect the trees!¡± Loop 24 - Part 6 ¡°So, ugh, what are you?¡± Cal looked the creature over again as he grew closer. His Initial comparison to Grannus wasn¡¯t quite right. This was a much more imposing figure. The kind gruffness of Grannus wasn¡¯t here at all. Cal was sure this being could kill him without breaking a sweat if it chose to. ¡°I am akin to the spirits you have befriended. However, I am not exactly the same. They are dogs, and I am a wolf. An old and tired wolf.¡± It stepped forward towards Cal. Plants grew from the cavern floor at every footfall, trailing behind like a carpet. ¡°Okay, I have no idea what that means. Look, my life has gotten very strange the last few years¡­¡± The creature interrupted Cal. ¡°You may speak freely. I¡¯ve peered into your core. I know all you know. It is why I am able to speak your language. I understand you are much older than you appear.¡± ¡°Do you have a name?¡± ¡°Many.¡± ¡°Which name is your favorite?¡± ¡°Hm, I¡¯m not sure I have a favorite. The last of your kind to visit here called me Marley. He found the name funny, but humor does not translate well. Would you like to use that name?¡± ¡°Yeah, I like the man¡¯s sense of humor. Let¡¯s go with Marley.¡± It wasn¡¯t lost on Cal that Marley had said there had been a previous human here. ¡°So it shall be. I am Marley.¡± ¡°Hi Marley, I¡¯m Cal. Why did you need me to find you so badly?¡± ¡°My life is nearing its end. Eventually, I will be too weak to fend off the abyssal beasts, and when that happens, they will drain all the ambient mana from this chamber, my core, and my final inheritance. I would like to pass that on before it is lost. I had grown worried that with the Gryalth invasion, it would not be possible, but it seems fate has decided otherwise.¡± ¡°That was a lot of words. I even know what some of them mean these days. How much time do you have left? Because I have a ton of questions, and you seem to be the first person I¡¯ve encountered that has some concrete answers.¡± ¡°I likely will not die before the end of your loop. We may commune for as long as you wish.¡± ¡°Alright, then, first up, what are the abyssal beasts? Those are the condorpions, right?¡± ¡°Amongst many other things, yes. Abyssal beasts are the best translation into your language. They are monsters from the space between realities. The emptiness that spiritual realms grow into. The more mana-dense an area is, the more likely it will tear holes into the emptiness, and when that happens sometimes these creatures come back through into our worlds. They want nothing more than to gorge themselves on as much mana as possible and escape back to their homes.¡± ¡°That makes some sense. Is this something I need to be worried about as my bonded spirit realms grow?¡± ¡°Yes, from your memories, it looks like you¡¯ve already encountered several of them. The tentacle bears and squid creatures.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Hrm, I thought the tentacle bears were working for the Gryalth.¡± ¡°Oh, they likely are. Their actions show much more structure than you would usually see in abyssal beast tactics. I¡¯d guess they have been captured and bred as living weapons.¡± ¡°You said there had been another human here?¡± ¡°No, I did not. I said of your kind. I may have meant that too broadly, though. Several sapient creatures from your planet have visited here before. None of them have been human. Although two of them were apes. The most recent visitor was a few hundred years ago. He was a small treefrog, called himself Renard.¡± ¡°So animals have been learning magic on Earth long before humans?¡± ¡°Some very rare animals, but yes, and generally, they decide to leave the Earth to pursue their magical education. Unlike us spiritual beings, you mortals need a huge variety of experiences to best learn how to enhance your magical talents, especially considering how young your race is. I doubt there are any magical teachers available to you on the planet.¡± ¡°Other than my brother, no, I haven¡¯t found any.¡± ¡°I recommend you find your way to Titan then. It is the nearest location I know of with a former inhabitant of Earth. Your magical skills are rudimentary at best. They may be willing to take you on as a student.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. You said something about your inheritance as well?¡± ¡°Yes. I have watched over this planet for millions of years. I knew from the beginning that one day, that would all end. I desire that a relic of my work passes on from this planet before all life is truly lost.¡± ¡°So no Martians have gone out into the wilder universe?¡± ¡°They have, but I wish to give you a seed of Mars itself. It¡¯s a mana seed, forged in the world well deep within Mars.¡± ¡°How do I get this seed?¡± ¡°In the center of this room is a lake of mana. The seed rests at the bottom.¡± ¡°Alright, so I just need to take a swim. I won¡¯t explode, will I? I¡¯ve had that happen before with mana pools.¡± ¡°I do not see why you would. You will need to take the seed into yourself in order for it to remain with you at the loop¡¯s end.¡± ¡°What does that mean? Do I need to eat it?¡± ¡°No, go retrieve it and return to me. I will help you open your code to the mana seed.¡± ¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡± ¡°Infinitely many things, but of things I think most relevant to share? I believe the abyssal beasts numbers will increase once the seed is no longer resting at the lake¡¯s bottom. They may also begin to hunt you as they try to hunt me.¡± ¡°I can handle that, probably. If that¡¯s it on the advice, I¡¯m going for a swim.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Marley sat down, leaning his back against a small tree. He looked exhausted. Cal walked to the lake in the center of the room and looked down into its depths. There was an object glowing brightly at the bottom. He assumed this was the seed and dived for it. The water was deceptively deep. His lungs strained the deeper he swam, but he was determined to retrieve this. He had no idea how useful it would be, but it seemed like something powerful, and he was pretty sure this was what the side quest had called for. He reached the bottom and grabbed it in one hand, turning his body around and kicking hard. His head burst from the water. He gasped for air. His lungs were not happy with the swim. A soaking-wet Cal dripped his way back over to Marley. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got the seed. Now what?¡± ¡°Focus on your core. Envision it as a fire consuming the seed.¡± Cal did as instructed. He felt something flare in his hands. The seed had burst into flame. It turned to ash in his hand, but he felt a change in his core. There was something else there now. It was a reservoir of power, a vast reservoir. He tried to tap into it and felt his brain scream. ¡°NO! Do not dare try to use that power.¡± Marley loudly rebuked him. ¡°One day, perhaps you will be able to channel it, but to do so now could burn your core and mind. In a way, even restarting a loop will not fix.¡± ¡°Understood, holy shit, that hurt.¡± ¡°Yes, I imagine it did. Come, it is time for you to rest. Tomorrow, I will guide you to your friends.¡± Loop 24 - Melissa & Robert ¡°I¡¯m still not sure this was a good idea. We could have just sent all the drones.¡± Melissa was walking through one of the tunnels beside Robert. They had two drones in front of them, with two more bringing up the rear. ¡°Yes, we could have, but I think it is the better option. We¡¯re armed, and we have the drones. This will make it easier for us to render any aid they need.¡± ¡°Yeah, armed. We have several tools you quickly weaponized. I¡¯m not sure any of these nail guns are going to do much at range. If we had stayed behind, I could have put some real weapons together.¡± She shook her head as she walked. ¡°Shh, what¡¯s that up ahead?¡± The tunnel ended, and Robert could see into a room. There looked to be steam coming off of something in the center. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything moving on the drones, no signs of any of the weird creatures the others saw. I think it¡¯s just a hot spring.¡± They walked further into the chamber. Robert looked over the edge into the steam. He found a basin full of what he thought was warm water. ¡°Do you have a probe? I want to test this while we are here.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Melissa pulled an instrument from her pack. As she moved to test the water, she tripped over a small stone and tumbled into the pool. ¡°Melissa, are you okay?!¡± Robert yelled. ¡°I think so. I feel kind of tingly, though.¡± She quickly climbed out of the water to dry land. ¡°Something feels off, almost like a heat deep inside me.¡± ¡°Dammit, alright, let¡¯s leave the drones here and get you back. I think you were right. This was a mistake.¡± Loop 24 - Andy ¡°I¡¯ve got Melissa¡¯s drones on the feed now. Can you all two hear me? Is Melissa okay?¡± Melissa¡¯s skin was more pink than usual, and she leaned on Robert for support. ¡°I think so. We found this hot spring, and she tripped into it when trying to get a reading on what exactly it was. The probe did say it was just water, but she¡¯s still feeling off.¡± ¡°Melissa, when you say off, how exactly do you feel?¡± Andy had a theory of just what kind of pool she had found and was worried. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to explain it exactly. Almost like I ate too much, and there¡¯s something just stuck at the back of my stomach.¡± ¡°Hrm, okay. Get her back here so Jen can check her over. I¡¯m going to watch the playback.¡± Andy switched the live feed to the recordings. Once he saw the pool, he was sure of it. They had found a mana well; now Melissa had the spirit egg in her. This was a problem. He hoped she hadn¡¯t found the only well. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Andy felt someone tap him on the shoulder and jumped slightly in surprise. He spun his head to see Stan. ¡°Everything okay?¡± The big man asked. ¡°No. Melissa fell into the only mana well we¡¯ve found.¡± ¡°Well, shit. Is she okay, though?¡± ¡°Yeah, she and Robert are on their way back. No sign of Cal still, though.¡± ¡°Cal¡¯s gotta be fine, though. We are all still here talking. Knowing him, he¡¯s probably off getting us in way more trouble than we need to be.¡± ¡°Once Cal is back, I think we need to do a big exploration with the robots and stay out of the caves until we have more area mapped out. We can¡¯t risk losing another magical source to someone outside the loop.¡± Andy had wanted to be the one to gain a mana spirit. Even if he hated the idea of something so non-scientific, he wanted magic, too. Loop 24 - Part 7 Cal slept deeply. He was swimming through a vast ocean. Time was moving quickly around him. Thousands of other creatures surrounded him. They all looked just like him. They moved through this ocean constantly in search of food. * He was walking across the land now on four legs. His fins were gone. The air tasted sweet. His mighty tail moved back and forth as he walked, slowly, creeping forward. He had spotted a small rodent-like animal. His tongue shot out. Hit hit the rodent before it could flee. The hunt had succeeded. * ¡°No, it is too dangerous to go play in the valley today. The trijrons are in their migratory season. ¡°But father, if I don¡¯t see them now, when will I ever get to?¡± Cal¡¯s begged his father to let him see the beasts. Several of his friends were going. He didn¡¯t understand why he couldn¡¯t. That night, when everyone was asleep around the cave fire, he joined his friends as they crossed into the valley under the cover of darkness. The animals were as magnificent as he had heard. Their eight legs trampled down the ground wherever they walked. There was a loud crashing noise. Something had startled the herd. There was nowhere to run. His father had been right. * Cal tightened his antigravity pack over his shoulders before he flew up to the top of the city dome. Several of his fellow workers had beaten him here and were attaching in the new supporting beam system that had been delivered the previous week. They had spent the last few years putting this structure together, but he was proud of the time and effort. He had been part of the first true-world Martian undertaking. Once this dome was complete, he would move on to the interior. He couldn¡¯t wait to put in the parks and play areas. He had also been drawing up plans for his own family''s residence. This city would be one of the great works of the Martian civilization, and he was proud. * The Dome had fallen. It was the last safe zone on the planet. The war had reached everywhere. All of their off-world colonies were gone. Cal suited off with what little defensive gear remained. He grabbed his cannon and walked out of the garrison building to join the rest of his fellow defenders. They would defend Mars to their last breath. * ¡°We won¡¯t survive this war. There is no escape for the vast majority of our people. Their elementalists have taken to the field, and we have not the means or people able to long sustain this fight.¡± Cal was now an older Martian man in robes addressing a small group. ¡°Yes, we all know this. Why have you summoned us from our families in these end times?¡± One of the group asked. ¡°Because not everyone must be lost. The children can be saved. One of the technomages has constructed in secret a one-way connection to a planet they can safely inhabit so far away in the universe that this war will never reach them. Two of us must go with the children to guide them.¡± ¡°And the rest of us?¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°We will fight. All of us gathered here are experts in elemental manipulation. We have spent our lives devoted to its study. If we want our children to have a chance, then we will die holding back the enemy.¡± Cheers erupted from the crowd. There was no dissent. * The war was over. There were no Martians left on the planet. As far as their eradicators knew, they had succeeded. Cal was a tiny six-legged furry animal walking through the ruins of the domed city when a crack opened near him. ¡°Quick, we can only maintain this connection for a few hours. Get as many of the animals as you find back here to safety. New Mars deserves to know some of the creatures we shared our old home with.¡± A voice spoke as figures stepped from the cracks. Cal was grabbed along with several of his pack. * It flew over the dusty remains. It was a hard life. There was not enough food or water on the surface anymore. Most of its kind had retreated deep into the caves. It refused to abandon the beautiful ball of light. * Cal woke up. ¡°What the fuck was that?!¡± Cal loudly asked the moment his eyes opened. ¡°Ah, did you have a vision of old Mars? I was hoping our memories would live within you. Now, our planet shall never be forgotten. Thank you, Cal.¡± ¡°You''re welcome, I guess. I never saw what was attacking you. Was it the Gryalth? Why was everything in English?¡± ¡°No. This was an enemy the Martians awoke deep in the galaxy. I believe they were entirely native to our universe. They hated all other sentient life and believed it to be a plague. I wouldn¡¯t worry much about them. It has been many millions of years since they last stepped foot on this planet. As for the language. It was likely translated into something you understood by the combination of the seed and your core.¡± ¡°The more I learn, the more potential enemies I seem to have.¡± ¡°The cosmos is a perilous place. Now come, let us go find your friends.¡± The world spirit led Cal through a series of tunnels. He felt they were constantly sloping upwards. He glanced at several small plants and even an animal or two in the recesses of caves. ¡°Is there animal life down here?¡± Cal was curious just how much had survived in underground. ¡°Much. It won¡¯t live forever. I am dying, and with me, the mana that sustains what is left of this world will one day run out, but that is in the future. There is still likely hundreds of years before everything down here dies.¡± ¡°I wonder if we can save it all before it does.¡± ¡°If you encounter New Mars one day, could you do me one small favor?¡± ¡°What?¡± Cal looked at the spirit, surprised he had another request. ¡°Help them find their old home and recover whatever still remains. My greatest regret was my inability to help them in their time of need.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that. Why couldn¡¯t you help them?¡± ¡°There are rules that bind us children of the universe. They often change as the universe grows, but at the time, I was unable to act. I cannot tell you more because I do not understand it myself.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Cal spotted a drone facing away from him at the end of the tunnel. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ve found everyone. Did you want to come with me?¡± ¡°No. This has been the longest journey I have taken in a great many years. I must return and rest.¡± ¡°Well, it was great meeting you, and I think our paths will cross in the future.¡± ¡°Anything is possible, my young human friend.¡± Loop 24 - Changes The world was very different than it was the last two he had lived through. Last two¡­? He still had trouble thinking about it like that, but the world had repeated, twice. Whatever forces he had been exposed to threw him into the middle of what felt like a weird movie plot. He hadn¡¯t done anything special in his second chance. This was by choice, as he had done so much wrong the first time around. He was treating this third loop as a miracle, but how the world had changed. He assumed many of these changes were caused by his coworkers, who were likely also experiencing the same thing he was living through. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Marshall Technologies, people on Mars, President Trent, hell, the entire nation-state of New Babylon, none of this had happened last time around. This was the world he was going to raise his family in, and no matter how many times it looped, he would always do it again, he would do the same. He was happy now. ¡°Dad, mom says dinner¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Coming.¡± Loop 24 - A Ralth Tale ¡°We have a guest speaker today in the class. Most of you know him already, but for those who don¡¯t, this is Ralth. Bug¡¯s brother.¡± The capybaras broke into a loud applause, and several of them cheered as well. ¡°Yes, hello, everyone, it¡¯s wonderful to meet those that I don¡¯t already know. And thank you, Ethel, for extending me the opportunity to beguile your students with tales of my adventures.¡± ¡°What are you going to tell us today, Ralth?¡± One of the capybaras shouted. ¡°Today, I shall tell you all about the universal refugee train. You see, sometimes, before the Gryalth are able to completely extract all resources from a universe, it briefly becomes connected to an interdimensional system of rails. No one knows who built them or where they come from exactly, but on these rails travels an impossibly long series of train cars. They are pulled by a locomotive that runs on stars. While it passes through dying universes, all life it encounters are welcome aboard for as long as they would like to stay. Even the Grylath aren¡¯t willing to interfere as every attempt has resulted in catastrophic consequences for them.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Have you ever ridden the train?¡± Bug interrupted. ¡°Ah, yes, long ago Camden and I boarded, but that is a long and rarely happy story that I am not yet prepared to tell.¡± Loop 24 - Part 8 ¡°Hey guys, can you hear me?¡± Cal had walked up to the drone once Marley had departed. ¡°Cal, is that you?!¡± Andy¡¯s voice responded. ¡°It is, how¡¯s everyone doing?¡± ¡°Everyone except you is mostly fine and back. Can you follow this drone home? We need to discuss Melissa in private once you return. ¡°Yeah, sure. Is she okay, though?¡± ¡°Probably. I¡¯ll explain more once you¡¯re back.¡± Cal spent the next few hours following the drone through several winding paths, passing other drones in caverns until he finally found the tunnel entrance. Once he passed through the airlock, he found the nearest chair and slumped down. He was still exhausted from everything he had been through. He had never actually drained his core so quickly before in a loop. He had never emptied it so entirely before, let alone twice in a row. He wanted to do nothing but eat and sleep for the next few days, but he needed to talk to Andy about Melissa before he crashed. By the time Andy found him, he had already lost the war to sleep. ¡°Cal, wake up. I know you''re exhausted, but we need to talk.¡± He felt Andy poke him. ¡°Ugh, fine. I want to sleep in my bed anyway. Where is everyone else anyway?¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯ve lost track of time down there, but it¡¯s night shift. They are all sleeping. So it¡¯s the perfect time for a conversation.¡± ¡°Alright, tell me what¡¯s going on with Melissa, and I¡¯ll tell you about a mana seed and a world spirit.¡± Andy shook his head. ¡°We leave you alone for a day, and you find even more magic?¡± ¡°Someone has to. You¡¯re all so bad at it.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that. It turns out Melissa¡¯s pretty good at it. When she and Robert went in search of everyone after your disappearing stunt, she tripped and fell into a mana well. She has no idea what it was, but it¡¯s pretty obvious to those that have seen them before.¡± ¡°Damn. Any guess what her powers will be?¡± ¡°Not entirely. We have the consolation that I doubt it¡¯s any of the types of pools we need to help us get further off the planet. It felt like a hot spring, so I¡¯m guessing something water or steam based, maybe. We can track her down the next loop and see if it sticks to someone not in the loops or not. I know Ethel¡¯s did, but she found it long before we started looping.¡± ¡°I hope it does. I don¡¯t like the idea of wasting a trip to Mars.¡± ¡°So what happened to you?¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Oh, I found the spirit connected to this world''s mana core. He gave me a mana seed that, it turns out, is tied to the collective experience of the planet. I got to live early Martial life through the end of Martian life in my dreams, well, surface life. There are still some pockets left below ground, but no people, as far as I¡¯m aware. So you know, I didn¡¯t do anything that special.¡± ¡°...I think I want my own magic. You keep getting all the fun.¡± ¡°You can have it. We will see how long you keep thinking it¡¯s fun. Actually, who am I kidding? You ignore all the world-saving stress, and this is the most fun I¡¯ve ever had. We¡¯re on Mars, Andy. Think how insane that would sound before all of this.¡± ¡°Yeah, and I have an older clone that lives in another dimension. You have a talking dog and a younger brother that¡¯s older than you. Our lives have become insane.¡± ¡°When you consider how old I really am, that¡¯s even more insane. But now I need to sleep. Don¡¯t wake me up unless it¡¯s a real emergency.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± * Cal had explained his experiences to everyone as getting deeply lost and hitting his head in a fall. When he found some privacy, he told his Father and Jen the real story. Both of them were as shocked as Andy had been that Cal found more world-shattering events to get involved in. They had decided on no more people missions into the caves for the foreseeable future and to instead map it all out using drones, which is just how they spent the next several years. They created a giant map of the labyrinth of tunnels under the Martian surface. They also spent their time cataloging all samples brought back and coming up with random names for every new plant or small creature they spotted on the camera feeds. Every time the drones found an enclave of abyssal beasts, they marked the area off and ignored it. This had worked well, and there had been minimal drone loss using this method, but they also hadn¡¯t found anything Cal or Andy thought was a mana pool. They did find a rather large gathering of the beasts in one location that had Cal plotting, though. With what Marley had told him, he considered it possible they were congrating the most around the most potent mana sources. That may mean there was a pool near the largest of the groups. He had no idea if he was right, but with time running out on this trip, he needed to discuss it with the other three at least. He managed to get them all alone one night after everyone else had retired to their rooms. ¡°We need to assault the group here.¡± He pointed to a location on the maps of the underground. ¡°Why there? You could barely handle a much smaller group the first time around.¡± Stan countered. ¡°I know, but we don¡¯t have a lot of time left before the Gryalth attacks the Earth, and I want to be done here before that happens. If we assume the beasts are attracted to the natural mana flows of Mars, then we can assume the reason we haven¡¯t found any more sources is because we are avoiding them the same as the beasts. We can¡¯t keep doing that, especially because their populations seem to grow daily.¡± Cal pleaded with the group. ¡°I agree with Cal. I don¡¯t want to do this either, but we came here for a purpose. We already agree that Andy will be the one to go into the pool once we find it. So that means Stan and I should go in with as much of the heavy ordinance we have stashed for mining purposes. We use that to distract the creatures for as long as we can. Then Cal and Andy can slip past. Cal will have to keep Andy safe for as long as it takes from that point on.¡± Jen spoke up, laying out a plan. Stan¡¯s face made Cal doubt this was the first time he had heard it. ¡°Fine, when do we leave?¡± Stan gave in. ¡°Tonight. I don¡¯t know how soon we can get another time together. Cal and I will go get packed, you two get the weapons you want. Meet us at the end of the tunnel. I¡¯ll disable the alarms before we go.¡± Andy had a smile on his face. He was looking forward to finally joining Cal in a world of magic. ¡°Understood.¡± Jen pulled Stan with her. Loop 24 - A Spy Melissa knew they had been up to something. She had noticed them sneak off alone for secretive meetings several times now. It appeared they also knew about the time loops and magic. She didn¡¯t think they were with the Agency. Even though she had been avoiding them the last two times, she didn¡¯t remember anyone like these people from her first experience. Maybe they were tied to the old woman and her talking dog. In fact, she had seen pictures of Cal¡¯s dog. It did look remarkably like what she remembered. It looked like her spur-of-the-moment decision to work for a technology company she had never heard of had paid off. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She decided against following them on their suicide mission. She needed to spend the night plotting out her next loop and how she wanted to spend it. What she really needed as well was time to practice her newfound magical abilities. So far, she had been able to purify some water, and once, while pushing as hard as she could, she was able to heal a small cut on her arm. She had nearly popped a blood vessel in her head, pushing the energy to do that, and hadn¡¯t done a repeat test yet. Her headache had lasted for days. She wondered if she should tell anyone else what was going on. No. A secret was only a secret when unshared. Loop 24 - Jen She still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of her life. It had become something completely unrecognizable. If she could go back in time, which now that she thought it, she could do and does do regularly, but in this case, she meant back to her childhood self, the unbelievable stories and answers she¡¯d have for that little girl. ¡°Do we ever get to go to Mars?¡± ¡°Yes, with our second husband and stepson. We will explore ancient Martian caves and fight weird creatures from beyond reality.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! She doubted her younger self would ever believe the life she now lived, but the time for reminiscing was over. It was time to go to war again. She checked over the explosives and passed them to her husband. ¡°I¡¯m ready if you are.¡± She said to him with a smile. She may not know what to make of this life, but she did know she liked it, all of it. Loop 24 - Part 9 Cal looked at the three who had joined him for this. They had all trusted him entirely for so long, and yet he continued to be surprised when they just backed him up time and time again. ¡°Well, everyone, I think it¡¯s time to end the loop one way or another,¡± Cal said, smiling determinedly. ¡°Preferably in a way that ends with us finding me a powerset that will sync with Barron¡¯s,¡± Andy added to Cal¡¯s statement. ¡°Yeah, yeah, we get it, Andy. Suddenly, magic is all popular, and you want it too. I hope you know I will be making you pick a wizard name.¡± Cal slapped his friend on the back lightly. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get going, wizard in training.¡± ¡°I am not picking a wizard name. Wait, you don¡¯t even have one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I am the original. I get to make the rules for my apprentices.¡± Stan and Jen followed the two deeper into the cave laughing. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t laugh too hard, Dad. You don¡¯t get to avoid this forever. It¡¯s going to take all of us uniting in something out of a nineteen-eighties cartoon to win this.¡± Their conversations continued down this nonsensical route until they neared the cavern they had marked on the map. Cal poked his head around the tunnel''s edge and confirmed that the abyssal beasts were all still there. They were. ¡°Alright so the plan is you two take the branching path we just passed, that should bring you around the cavern to the entrance over here.¡± Cal pointed it out on the map. ¡°Then you start your distraction. Andy and I will run past these guys and head deeper into the tunnels. We¡¯ve got enough supplies for a long journey. Try to stay alive. You end up with nightmares that way.¡± Cal found himself suddenly being embraced in a hug by his father and stepmother. ¡°The same goes for you. Try to end the loop in the least traumatic way you can.¡± Stan released Cal. ¡°Yeah, we should probably research an easy way out for future loops. I¡¯d like to never top our first encounter with Many Eyes or even come close to it.¡± Cal had mostly overcome those nightmares, but every so often, they came to the surface and made him shudder. ¡°Good luck, Cal, Andy.¡± Jen turned back for the other cave entrance after her husband. Cal and Andy waited a few minutes for the planned distraction. A small explosion from a tossed explosive went off near one of the beasts. There were several loud screeching sounds and a stampede of fight away from their entrance. It had worked. Cal dashed into the cavern, running for the only passage entrance on the far side. Andy was behind him. He maintained a stranglehold on his core, preventing any mana from leaking into his run. He was worried he would need every drop before this was over and wasn¡¯t willing to waste it here. Not when he would have to wait for Andy to catch up anyway. ¡°Andy, I¡¯m going left,¡± Cal shouted to his friend. He had picked the tunnel direction based on seeing something glowing brighter in that direction. ¡°Got it,¡± Andy yelled back. As their run continued, they had to dodge around some of the smaller beasts still in their larval form. Neither of them wanted to waste time to stop for a fight. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. They both crashed to the ground. Cal suddenly felt like he was made of bricks. He was having trouble even lifting his head. Slowly, he managed to get a look around the room. Condorpions surrounded them. The creatures were also stuck on the ground. Several of them seemed to have noticed their arrival and were trying to drag their giant bodies towards them. ¡°Andy, do you have any idea what¡¯s going on? Moving is incredibly hard. I feel like I weigh ten thousand pounds.¡± Cal yelled to his friend, forcing his jaw to work correctly. ¡°Same, but hey, I think this is great news. I can see a pond in the distance. If this gravity effect is tied to a mana pool, this could be exactly what we need. I just need to get to the pool.¡± Cal saw Andy push himself onto all fours and start crawling. At his current speed, he had no chance of making it before the abyssal beasts caught him. Cal knew he had to do something, but he wasn¡¯t sure what would happen to his body if he tried to push himself against the force. ¡°Fuck¡± He muttered. He pushed mana into the ground below him and felt his body strain against the dual forces. The good news was that channeling the mana at all had gotten the attention of Andy¡¯s pursuers. The bad news was Cal still had to stay alive long enough for Andy to absorb the forces in the pool. Cal shot more energy into the ground, causing his body to rebound painfully off the tunnel wall onto the ground, but he was now out of the gravity field¡¯s effects, which had been his goal. ¡°Hey, condorpions, here I am, all full of tasty mana. Come and get me.¡± He tried tossing a stone at one to drive home his taunts, but it fell to the ground with a loud crashing sound the moment it passed into the room. The stone hadn¡¯t been needed. They began moving towards him, dragging themselves across the ground as they did so. He watched as Andy moved closer to the pool. He just needed to get himself into the waters without drowning now. Andy rolled off the side, splashing down into the water. The condorpions stood up. ¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡± Cal realized what had happened. As soon as Andy had made contact with the wild mana, it stopped generating the gravity and instead started the process of joining with him. ¡°Andy, the field is gone. I¡¯m going to try to keep them off of you for as long as I can, but try to make this quick, man.¡± Cal yelled while hefting energy stones at the faces of the nearest beasts. He had been right earlier. Blunt force worked much better than lightning blasts on these things. Several of the monsters turned away from Cal and started making for the pool. That was a problem, but Cal had an idea. He charged into the middle of the group, barely dodging a venomous barbed tail. He then slammed his foot onto the ground, pushing out all his core mana at once. He still struggled to maintain the connection, but he hoped it wouldn¡¯t matter. The ground rose up around him and then exploded outward like a giant fragmentation grenade. He heard loud screams all around the room as his stunt obliterated creatures. He dropped to his knees. His breaths were labored. That blast had taken most of his core, but as he looked around, he knew it was the right move. Nothing else was standing in the room. He started to fall forward as the exhaustion kicked in. A hand reached out and grabbed him. ¡°Hey, no sleeping on the job, Cal. Something is happening.¡± It was Andy. He was out of the pool. ¡°What? What¡¯s going on? Was there an issue with the mana?¡± He asked, worried this had all been for nothing. ¡°No, no, I can feel something inside of me. The pool worked. The problem is that thing.¡± Cal looked where Andy was pointing. There was a large hole in the cavern wall, likely from Cal¡¯s earlier attack, and standing there was something that looked like a moose on steroids. The moose opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and started roaring. ¡°Andy, before I pass out. I need you to pay attention. This is very important.¡± Cal looked up at his friend. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Tell the hellmoose I don¡¯t like it.¡± Andy¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Really, you think now is the time for jokes?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s always the time for jokes. Normally, I¡¯d say it¡¯s also the time for running, but I think the cave is about to collapse, so see you next loop, buddy.¡± Cal had been pushing what energy he had left into the cave floor, trying to collapse the chamber. He figured this was a better end than shredded by those teeth. He got his wish, the room started rumbling, and the stones began to crash from above. Cal considered this as near to a perfect trip to Mars as they were likely ever to get. Andy was now his wizard apprentice. Loop 24 - Stan & Jen ¡°Jen, duck!¡± Stan yelled as he spotted the larval forms coming in behind his wife. She hit the ground as soon as she heard his voice, and he tossed in one of their few remaining explosives. The creatures disappeared in a loud bang that knocked loose parts of the ceiling. ¡°How long do you think we can keep this up?¡± Jen asked her husband. She had run out of ammo for her nail gun a few seconds earlier. ¡°As long as we need to.¡± Stan was determined to hold this together until Cal and Andy were finished, in either sense of the phrase. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Stan and Jen were knocked to the ground as a loud explosion rocked the walls around them. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Stan screamed. ¡°No idea, the flood is giving way. I hope they are done in there. I think this loop is over.¡± Jen saw several cracks across the floor. They were quickly spreading. ¡°Looks like it is.¡± Stan hugged his wife as the tunnel collapsed around them. Loop 24 - Quest Complete The computer console began flashing a new message despite no one there to see it. Level Up, Andy
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Andrew Thomas Andy
Species: Human
Class: Student Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Artificer Apprentice Wizard
Specialty: Educational Generalist Computers Gravitational Forces
Level: 6 2 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities: Knowledge Force
Rank: 3 1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
Quest Complete. World Mana Wells Unlocked: 1/1 New Quests unlocked. Claim reward? Loop 25 - Loop 38 Loop 25 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. His room was still dark. It was the start of a new loop, and someone was already here, trying to kill him. He tried to pull the hands off his neck with no luck. He struggled and thrashed, trying to make as much noise as possible. He needed help; his vision was getting blurry. He tried a last-ditch effort of channeling a lightning blast between them. Nothing happened. He slipped into unconsciousness with his last realization of this loop. He couldn¡¯t feel his core. Loop 26 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. It was happening again. Instead of struggling, he tried to channel any mana. He was unable to. Every attempt he made to touch his core failed. Somehow, whoever was killing him had cut off his magic. Loop 27 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. This was the reality he was now stuck with. He had to relax and take in every detail he had access to. This wasn¡¯t forever. Unlike the person who was choking him, he had unlimited time to solve this problem. He just had to take this one step at a time. He could make out what he was sure were three arms. Two of them were being used to choke him, and a third had its palm pressed against his forehead, pushing him down. So, this probably wasn¡¯t a human. Or there was a second person out of his vision. That didn¡¯t matter. For now, he was going to work on the theory of a single three-armed person. His vision blurred again. How long had it taken? In the next loop, do nothing and count your time. Ensure you get an accurate count, he told himself before his world went black. Loop 28 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He ignored the hands this time and started a count. One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi, Four Mississippi, Five Mississippi, Six Mississippi, Seven Mississippi, Eight Mississippi, Nine Mississippi, Ten Mississippi, Eleven Mississippi, Twelv¡­ Loop 29 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He had eleven and a half seconds. That was plenty of time. No rush at all. He could do this. He tried pushing his head against the hand, holding him down with all the strength he could muster. Nothing budged. Loop 30 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He slammed his hands as hard as he could against the wrists on his neck. The pressure loosened slightly. He took a giant gasp of air. He had gained some time. The hands pushed against his neck worse than before. He was pretty sure he had gained a couple of seconds this loop. He needed more. Loop 31 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He punched the figure in its side the moment he became aware. It released his neck in shock. The hand on his forehead didn¡¯t move. It was two people. He rolled to the side, trying to get out from under the hand on his head. He felt the first figure back on top of him. Something hard hit the side of his head. It was suddenly hard to think. He tasted blood. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Loop 32 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. Okay, that was a different result. He hit the figure again. Instead of rolling, he tried to kick his legs above his head this time. He learned that he was not nearly limber enough to do that. His back screamed in pain, and he missed the figure entirely, but they did lose their hold on his head. ¡°Dammit, just shoot him. We don¡¯t have time for this.¡± It ordered. Cal felt a blinding pain in his chest. A loud booming sound accompanied it. Loop 33 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. They had guns. This would take even longer to solve. Punch, kick. Head free. ¡°DON¡¯T SHOOT!¡± He tried a new path. It did startle them, buying him another few seconds. ¡°BUG, DAD HELP!¡± He screamed as he tried to roll off the bed before another gunshot. He didn¡¯t make it. Loop 34 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He was firmly starting to understand how Andrew got so cranky. Instead of a punch to the side, he slammed his hand under the left wrist, choking him. He knocked it loose and grabbed it with his other hand. He opened his mouth and pushed the fingers in, biting down as hard as possible. He tasted blood. The figure was screaming in pain. Good. He spat two fingers out. ¡°Hard to fire a gun without fingers, isn¡¯t it.¡± He tried intimidation. He again felt something hard hit in the back of his head. Dammit, he needed to get away from both of them and make sure they can¡¯t shoot. He tried to roll out of bed but failed to avoid the next crushing blow. Loop 35 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. After biting the fingers off, he instead put both hands around the arm, holding his head down, and pulled strongly down towards him. He spat the fingers and blood into the figure''s face as soon as he saw it. They weren¡¯t humans, after all. This one only had one central eye. He started to wonder how they spoke English but pushed the thought aside before it went too far. There were many, far more critical things to concentrate on here. He jabbed his fingers into the creature¡¯s eye. It screamed in pain. ¡°SHOOT HIM ALREADY!¡± It yelled again this loop. Cal kept himself between the yeller and the one with the gun. It didn¡¯t work. He felt the bullets go through the body on top of him and into himself. He coughed several times before everything went black. Loop 36 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He was starting to have trouble controlling his anger. It caused him to screw up the bite and catch his own tongue with the attacker¡¯s fingers. He screamed in pain. Which quickly increased as he felt the gunshot again. Loop 37 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He ordered himself to stay calm and focused. He had to find the way out of this. Everyone was counting on him. Punch the wrist, bite the fingers. Now what? He grabbed the wrist again, and instead of yanking the being attached to it onto himself, he tried what had worked so well already. He took another hard bite, severing several more fingers. Both figures were screaming now. He charged at the one with the gun. It took his entire body to knock it over. He had to remember he was back in his child frame. Throwing his weight around wasn¡¯t going to work here. Something smashed into the door from the outside. He heard angry barking. It distracted him just long enough for the second creature to hit him with a lamp in the head. At least he knew what they had been hitting him. He collapsed to the ground. He felt the boots impact on his face as Bug tried to break the door down too late to help. Loop 38 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He repeated everything up until Bug¡¯s bark. This time, he kept his focus, expecting it. ¡°BUG BREAK THE DOOR DOWN!¡± He screamed at her. From the sounds of it, she was doing her best to comply. He rolled himself over and kicked out hard upwards. He broke the lamp before it could make contact with his head. He threw himself sideways just as Bug burst through the door. He had an ally now. ¡°Cal, what should I do?!¡± She sounded furious. ¡°Rip their throats out. They¡¯ve killed me a dozen times already.¡± Cal had zero empathy for the creatures. The one on the ground pulled something out of his jacket, and the entire room went fuzzy. Cal felt himself collapse back to the ground. He saw Bug and the standing monster do the same. ¡°Sorry, brother, no choice.¡± It tossed away a tiny object and pulled out a gun, pointing at Cal. ¡°This would have been much less painful if you hadn¡¯t fought back.¡± It fired. Loop 38 - Melissa What the hell was going on? Why was time resetting so quickly? She kept restarting back to her usual point, welding a steel panel into place. Every few seconds, she was back here. She needed to figure out what controlled this, assuming she ever got the time again. Was she going to be stuck in this perpetual hell forever? A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. No, the repeats weren¡¯t happening as quickly. Whatever was causing it was weakening, she hoped. She needed it to hurry up and get back to the standard time loops. She had plans. She could feel the magic inside her. It had been retained from the Mars trip. That meant it was possible to save her brother. She just needed to get to work. Loop 38 - ??? ¡°Cal, dammit, hold on!¡± a woman screamed into the empty room. ¡°It will take me five minutes to get there. You¡¯ve gotta figure out how to fight back and stay alive that long.¡± She talked to herself as she ran out of the room, through two doors, and leaped into a crack along the wall. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She landed on the ground in the backyard of a house at the end of Cal¡¯s street. The tree behind her had a matching crack on it. ¡°I¡¯m coming. Just stay alive!¡± Loop 39 - Loop 253 - Part 1 Loop 39 - Loop 177 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. Loop 178 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. He had been getting closer loop after loop. Punch, Bite, Slam, Bite again. He followed the routine. Soon, Bug had joined him in the room. She leaped through the window right as one of them went to fire. It missed. This gave Cal time to smash his lamp over the head of the other one. It had taken them twenty attempts to get this part down. Bug clawed her way back through the window, snarling. ¡°HEY, DID YOU KNOW I CAN TALK?¡± Bug screamed at them. This bought them more time, enough for Cal to run into the hallway out of his room. ¡°DAD WAKE UP!¡± He yelled. So far, Stan hadn¡¯t gotten far enough to join them in the melee, but they had managed to wake him up. Cal was up to four and a half minutes of fighting back. He was sure they could get out of this now. It may take another thousand loops, but he inched forward with everyone. Loop 179 - Loop 252 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. Loop 253 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat so many times, and now he had done it. He saw his father out of the corner of his eye, about to join them in the fight. They could win this now. Wait, did this mean he now had to do this fight at the start of every loop? He needed to solve the magic issue so he could make this easier. ¡°Cal, duck!¡± A voice that was not his father yelled from behind. It sounded like a woman. A woman¡¯s voice?! That wasn¡¯t his father. Then who was it? Cal had no idea what was happening now as a woman in a mask leaped over him and punched the nearest one in the throat. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Cal yelled at the newcomer as he stood back up. ¡°That isn¡¯t important right now. We need to take these two down.¡± She raised a finger and pointed it at the one she hadn¡¯t hit. Fire shot from her fingertip into its chest. ¡°There are too many of them, brother, and the animal has already destroyed the neutralizer,¡± one of them yelled. ¡°We will have to try to get the seed another time. We can¡¯t let a backwater planet keep it.¡± The other responded. The mysterious woman grabbed the first one she had hit and tossed them at the one she blasted with fire. Before they could collide, they both disappeared in a flash of light. ¡°Dammit, they got away. You need to find a way to block the radiance of that seed inside you, Cal. Try to stay alive. I won¡¯t always be there to save you.¡± ¡°I mean, duh, it¡¯s been a couple hundred loops, and this was the first I saw of you.¡± She didn¡¯t respond to this. Instead, she disappeared back the way she came. Cal tried giving chase, but his body ached, and his brain was so very, very tired. It had been a lot of loops. ¡°Cal, what the fuck is going on?!¡± Stan finally appeared awake. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I¡¯ll explain once we get some sleep safe in the void house.¡± Cal had no idea what had happened, but he was completely willing to let everyone else figure that out for him. * Cal had collected everyone in the situation room in the void house as soon as he woke up. Andy had left a note with his parents that he was running away. He apologized for it but said they¡¯d never find him. He had made sure to be seen several blocks away before covertly making his way into Cal¡¯s house and through the cracks. ¡°Okay, first up, is there any way I can close the cracks off from the house this loop? With Andy running anyway and the house having a violent break-in last night, I¡¯m worried about the attention we will attract.¡± He asked the group but didn¡¯t expect an answer from anyone other than Barron or Ralth. Surprisingly, it was Ethel who spoke up. ¡°What, you haven¡¯t closed them before? I just assumed you liked leaving them open. Just concentrate on shutting them. They don¡¯t go away, but as far as anyone is concerned, it¡¯s just regular air again. Though I¡¯m betting, there is some other magic out there that would detect the closed cracks. It should be plenty good for any police issues.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Thanks, Ethel. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d have the answer, but really thank you.¡± Cal was embarrassed to admit he had never thought of just trying to close them mentally. ¡°Hrm, don¡¯t forget I¡¯ve had magic longer than you.¡± Ethel stared at him. She looked annoyed. ¡°Fair, for those of you that slept calmly through the night, which, based on what I see, is pretty much all of you.¡± Andrew interrupted Cal. ¡°I was aware of the weird loop restarts, as was Barron. There just wasn¡¯t anything we could do. He said something was blocking his ability to communicate with you.¡± ¡°There were restarts?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Yes, I lost count of how many, but two hundredish. I woke up this loop to someone choking me to death, and I got to experience that over and over until I slowly figured out a chain of events that kept me alive long enough to get Bug¡¯s help. During this chain I learned there were actually two of the beings. They were some sort of alien, I think. They each only had a single eye. Well, together, Bug and I figured out an even longer chain of events that led to a mysterious lady in a mask breaking in and saving us both. Based on what they said and what the lady said, I believe the Mars seed is giving us some sort of energy that can be tracked.¡± ¡°Wait, how did you know this lady was coming?¡± Jen had a stern look on her face to accompany the question. ¡°I didn¡¯t. We were actually trying to buy time until Dad could help.¡± ¡°I had been waking up the last few seconds for several loops, but it wasn¡¯t enough time to fully understand what was happening and jump out of bed. How did the aliens get here so fast?¡± Stan added. ¡°They were able to teleport away. So all I can figure right now is I now appear at the start of the loop radiating a huge source of mana that I shouldn¡¯t have, that anyone within a certain range can detect. I¡¯m not happy about it.¡± Cal¡¯s eyebrows drooped as he said this. ¡°Cal, do we have to do this every loop now? I don¡¯t like it. It¡¯s scary seeing people try to hurt you.¡± Bug¡¯s ears were dropped, and she looked unhappy. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bug. I¡¯m going to spend most of this loop with Bolt. I want to find a way to strengthen our bond. I could barely feel it on Mars, and now it turns out it can be blocked here on Earth. I have to find a way to stop that and, if possible, shroud the world seed as well.¡± ¡°Yeah, I also need to spend this loop in seclusion. It¡¯s time to learn some magic.¡± Andy added. Unlike Cal, he was smiling. ¡°Hrm, I guess if this is what we are all doing, I may as well join in. I wanted to try and evolve Frank anyway.¡± Ethel had moved across the room to Bug and tried to soothe the dog by scratching behind her ears. ¡°Alright, so relaxation loop sounds good. Jen and I can go check on Many Legs.¡± Stan said. ¡°I WANT TO COME!¡± Bug¡¯s tail had started wagging at the mention of her friends. ¡°Of course, Bug,¡± Jen said. ¡°Please let her know class is canceled this loop, but she is welcome to independent study with Bug and the capybaras. Make it clear I expect her language skills to have improved by the start of next semester.¡± ¡°Before we all go our separate ways, I suggest Cal checks the R.I.S. It has been flashing a message about his question on Mars.¡± Andrew spoke up. ¡°Really? I¡¯ve gotta see that. Maybe it can help me with this world seed. I¡¯d rather no one else hunt me down for it.¡± Cal nearly ran out of the room, excited to see his results. Once at the console, he selected the quest complete option and read over the displayed text. World Mana Well Safely Transfered. Cal¡¯s World Seeds 1 ¡°Well, that¡¯s not helpful,¡± Cal said to the assembled crowd behind him. He selected new quests instead. World Mana Well Quest System World Mana Wells Unlocked 1 New Goal World Mana Wells: 0/10 Rank: Novice Defense Quest System New Goal Hold Dallas Laboratory For Two Hours Rank: Novice ¡°Is it trying to get us to better learn to defend the planet?¡± Andy asked. He had moved next to Cal and was also reading the screen. ¡°Looks like it. So, our next goals are to try to secure a building for a few hours and find ten more planet cores. I bet the planets are easier. Better get training, Andy, the apprentice.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t going away, is it?¡± Andy looked at Cal while shaking his head. ¡°Nope.¡± Cal moved to the reward for his previous quest completion. Bestiary Unlocked Training Room Simulator Unlocked. ¡°Interesting.¡± Cal clicked on the bestiary and scrolled through. There were listings for the abyssal beasts he had fought on Mars, the tentacle bears, and even a few different Gryalth classes. Most of the statistics had question marks, though. There was an option next to each monster to populate it into the training room. ¡°I think we can use this to practice against different monsters,¡± Cal informed everyone. ¡°Something to consider for future training, hell I¡¯ll probably try it out this loop while you¡¯re all busy,¡± Stan said. ¡°Alright, well, that¡¯s as much as we can do with the console right now, so I vote we all meet in the situation room three days before the invasion and discuss how we want to handle it this loop,¡± Cal said. There were murmured agreements from everyone gathered. Loop 253 - Melissa The few minute-long loops had finally ended. She felt like they had gone on forever, but that didn¡¯t matter anymore. She needed to get into hiding as quickly as possible. Melissa had read, whether she was authorized or not, every single piece of material she could find about magical training when she was at the Agency. This had all been for a different purpose than finding her brother. Now, it was to help herself. She had zero intention of going to the Agency for help. She would not become one of their ogres. The more significant threat, though, were the snatchers. She knew they existed but didn¡¯t know how well their tracking systems worked. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. This greatly worried her, so she made a difficult decision. It was time to vanish as deeply as possible. That was her intention of how to spend the loop. Loop 253 - ??? She would have preferred a different way to have seen Cal again, but it couldn¡¯t be helped now. He had needed her, and she wouldn¡¯t fail him ever again. She thought it best to continue keeping her distance for now. She needed to complete her survey of the inside of the Earth anyway. There was a vast resource of untapped mana just below their feet, and she had no intention of letting the Gryalth corrupt it. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Loop 253 - Part 2: Cal It had been half a lifetime since he had visited Bolt¡¯s realm. She had clearly been hard at work during the last loop. The stars in the sky glowed brightly in hundreds of different colors. To Cal, it looked like she had been painting the sky. It was beautiful. ¡°Hey Bolt, I don¡¯t know where you are or if you can hear me, but don¡¯t stop your work on my account. I¡¯m going to take in the sights for now. Just find me when you are free. I want to see what we can do to firm up our bond.¡± Cal yelled into the air. There was a path now that led from the cracks. It was five colored lines on the surface of the ground. Cal leaned down and felt the ground, curious about what it was made of. It felt similar to dirt. He dug just a bit with his fingers, and about an inch below it was a silvery rock that pulsated with electricity. ¡°Huh, interesting, the land is literally electric here. I suppose that makes sense.¡± Cal looked at the different colored paths again. Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue lines ran across the ground in front of him. Red veered off to his left and blue to his right, but the other three continued forward as far as he could see them. He decided to follow them in order from left to right. The red path brought him to a small cabin with a pond behind it. Cal looked into the pond, and several eels looked back at him. One of them fired off a charge. Bolt had stocked her pond with electric eels. Cal thought it was great to see her sticking to the theme. He knocked on the door. There was no answer. Not wanting to possibly intrude on her privacy, he made his way back to the start of the paths and chose orange this time. This one ran parallel with yellow and green for several minutes before it turned left. Cal followed and found himself standing in a small orchard. At least, he assumed that was what it was. The fruit looked like apples, but they were all bright yellow and lightly glowing. Never being one for caution, he looked for a low-hanging branch and plucked a fruit. He took a bite. The tastes danced across his tongue. The flavor moved like electricity, but it didn¡¯t hurt at all. It was some of the best fruit he had ever tasted. He felt more alive with every bite. He also felt something move inside him. His core was feeding on this just as much as he was. He finished the fruit, and for a moment, his vision changed. He saw lines of vibration connecting everything around him. He could see how the different speeds and intensities of the vibrations produced different colors, how they moved through the ground and sky, all building into the stars far above. His vision returned to normal. Was that how Bolt saw the world? He intended to ask her the next time he saw her. There were a dozen trees, all full of the same fruit. He wondered how much was safe to eat and decided to wait on Bolt before anymore. He didn¡¯t want to prematurely end this loop after so many others had been. He returned to the yellow and green paths and picked the next in line, yellow. This one took him somewhere he had been before, but it was much further away than it had been when the world first took shape. He stood at the edge of the small world, looking into the stars. One of them caught his eye. It had to be the void star Bolt had slowly cultivated. Once she finished linking the realms together, direct travel between the two would be possible. He believed something was likely to happen with his core. He had felt the void and electricity portions starting to grow together but was unsure what that would do for him once it was done. ¡°Hello, Barron. Can you hear me?¡± Cal yelled into the sky. He waited a few minutes to see if there was a response. He received none. It was time for the green path. This also led him to a familiar feature. It was the small spirit pool that had just formed the proto-spirits. He saw several of them swimming deep in the waters that had grown to the size of a small lake. They moved about like playfully gliding under the water. Occasionally, one of them would glow a random hue, and the others would give chase. Cal suspected it was some kind of tag game. He found the experience incredibly peaceful. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It took him nearly two hours to decide to move on to the final path. The blue path took a small stone hill. The silvery material grew from the ground into a rocky structure that resembled a small mountain. Cal touched it and felt a small jolt of electricity pass through him. ¡°Weird, wonder what this thing does,¡± Cal said aloud. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the future path to Grannus. We need to clear their realm first before I can truly start the harmonizing, but I figured I¡¯d at least do some proper city planning.¡± Bolt¡¯s unexpected voice made Cal jump slightly. ¡°Sorry, Cal, I didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡± Her apology sounded sincere. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bolt, not your fault. I¡¯m surprised I didn¡¯t see you fly up. The world is beautiful. You¡¯re doing a great job.¡± He gave her a large smile to back up her affirmation. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ve really been trying. I think if this loop lasts the entire cycle, I can fully integrate with Barron.¡± ¡°What happens then?¡± ¡°We grow into our next stage of life. It should deepen our connection with you as well.¡± ¡°Nice, I need that. So I tried a piece of fruit. Is that normally how you see the world?¡± ¡°Yep, that¡¯s what happens when a bonded mortal eats a spirit fruit. Their perceptions open up to their magical sources. Which in this world is me.¡± ¡°Is it safe to eat more? I feel like it did something to my core.¡± ¡°I would guess it¡¯s safe to eat one per week at your current strength but to get the full benefits, though, you need to start training your magic after every meal.¡± ¡°I can do that. I was actually planning to spend the whole loop in here with you, trying to boost my lightning magic as much as I possibly could.¡± ¡°Really, that¡¯s great. I built you a cabin and everything. ¡° She started whizzing around the air, changing colors every second. ¡°Yep. Is it safe for me to just start shooting off lightning as I learn?¡± ¡°Absolutely, the rock below the dirt will help channel it safely. The pond near the cabin should help you recharge your core faster. I strongly recommend you empty it daily as often as you can. It will help you grow more resilient to fatigue. It should also help you gain a sense of control over how much mana to pour into something. A key to magic is being able to shape the energy in any way you see fit using as little or as much mana as you want.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed Ethel and Ralth do things very differently than me when it comes to magic. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s why their classes look different on the R.I.S.¡± ¡°Likely, yes, I was born of your exposure and potential, so I only know how the energy interacts with you. You had a deep desire to be a wizard, and that potential gave me form. Ethel loves plants and animals, so she is able to awaken their hidden strengths and help them grow into their own. Ralth is harder to say. So many of his abilities come from universes where the physical rules differ from our own that I have a tough time reading the energy flows inside of him.¡± ¡°Yeah, he thinks we can grow much more powerful than him with native magic sources.¡± ¡°I would agree. It has to be easier to shape magic when you aren¡¯t also fighting the physical laws that govern your current reality.¡± ¡°So, where should I start.¡± In response to Cal¡¯s question, Bolt rose a large chunk of rock from the ground and cast it into the air. It hung in place without falling. ¡°I think your goal for this loop should be learning to fly, well, at least enough to get safely to the top of this floating rock and back down.¡± ¡°Huh, you think I can do that?¡± ¡°Charged particles can do anything. Good luck, Cal.¡± She flew away, leaving him staring at the rock. ¡°Time to get to work.¡± Loop 253 - Stan, Jen & Bug Take a Trip ¡°Many Legs, Jen, Bug, and I are here to pick you up,¡± Stan shouted into the mines. He heard something scurrying about and assumed it was a very confused Many Eyes. He felt bad for the spider. They had to choose between being alone or following their friend into dangerous new places that they had no memory of going before. ¡°Hello, everyone. Am I holding my voice at a more pleasant level?¡± Many Legs appeared at the mine entrance. ¡°YOU ARE! YOU¡¯RE DOING GREAT!¡± Bug yelled at her. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Bug, don¡¯t set a bad example for your friend. She¡¯s trying very hard.¡± Jen said. ¡°Sorry, bonus, Mom.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Bug.¡± Jen pat the dog''s head. ¡°I set the crack up in the usual spot. Take as much time as you¡¯d like in joining us. Ethel wanted you to know class was canceled this loop, but she highly encouraged independent study.¡± ¡°Thank you, Stan.¡± Loop 253 - Bill ¡°So you see, I don¡¯t believe that the energy or proto spirits that come from mana wells have to become mana spirits. I think it¡¯s possible to channel that energy into anything. Now, in the short term, birthing a creature with its own realm of magic is probably ideal for the host. Still, in most cases, our time loop status being a giant exception, I feel most people would benefit more from channeling the magic into various objects, creating powerful items that could be passed from person to person.¡± Bill was addressing the magical research unit of capybaras. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Bill, I like what you¡¯re saying because I had a similar idea. I think I¡¯m going to need your help after I speak to Barron. Interested in some experimentation?¡± Andy spoke up from the doorway. Bill hadn¡¯t noticed him watching his speech, but his curiosity was piqued. ¡°I very much would.¡± ¡°Good, come find me in a few hours then.¡± Loop 253 - Part 3: Andy Andy started his magical training plans by tracking down Barron. He had a favor to ask the spirit. ¡°Hey Andy, I heard you were trying to find me?¡± Barron dived from the black void skies, sweeping past Andy and landing behind him. ¡°Yep, so I¡¯m going to try something kind of dangerous, well, assuming Bill agrees, but I think he is on board. Any chance you can give me a safe platform out in the void unconnected to the main base and then help Bill and I get out there afterward?¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t see why not. Go find Bill and get yourself ready. I should have your island set up in about an hour.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Andy walked back to his room. He had a few suitcases packed as well as a few crates of non-perishable food. He was going to show Cal what someone who studied could do. He intended to have his spirit¡¯s realm open well before the end of this loop. He wasn¡¯t waiting a whole extra loop for that. He spotted Bill on his way out. ¡°Hey Bill, perfect timing. Follow me. We are off to change some magical rules.¡± He yelled happily to the small capybara in a white coat. ¡°Good, good, I¡¯ve got my chalk.¡± Bill fell in step behind Andy as they walked back to the Barron rendezvous spot. ¡°So you know your theories on the transfer of core energy into objects instead of spirit manifestation?¡± Andy asked as they walked. ¡°Yeah, did you want to try making a magical device instead of opening up a spirit realm?¡± ¡°No, so the D&D concept of familiars, do you want to try to become mine?¡± ¡°Wait, are you suggesting you channel the core energy into me?¡± ¡°Yes, so I think if we draw some channeling lines on the ground similar to what you use for Ralth¡¯s portal stone creation, we can feed the energy into you. You¡¯d become my magical familiar. I think this would also allow you to open your own pocket realm, a much more mobile one, as you¡¯d be native to both realities.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an idea. I like it. This probably also means we will both gain access to some magical element.¡± ¡°Yep, I was hoping you¡¯d agree on that too. This will give us two shots at getting a force we need that interacts well with Barron for long-distance travel.¡± ¡°This is brilliant, Andy. I¡¯m grateful you thought of me, but why? You spend a lot more time with Bug.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the expert on magic here. I may have some good guesses, but this is your field. Bug is a great friend, but she can¡¯t compare to the knowledge you bring to this. Giving you this kind of innate access to my core could push our understanding of magical cores years ahead. Just think how useful that will all be when it comes to squaring up with the Gryalth.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve already sold me. So, I guess the big question is, where do we do this? We need a safe spot in case this all goes wrong.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Barron landed in front of them as though in answer to the question. ¡°Perfect timing, Barron. Do you have our training and possibly exploding platform ready?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Sure do. Please stand on this disk, and the Barron transport service will get you to your destination. ¡°Thank you,¡± Andy said as both he and Bill hopped onto the metal circular disk. Barron floated them over and landed the disk far out into the void. ¡°Alright, this should work perfectly. Time to violate the rules of magic as we know them!¡± Andy declared. ¡°Uh, I think I¡¯m going to get out of here. No offense, but I¡¯ve seen Cal explode too many times, and I don¡¯t need to see more of that.¡± Barron started to fly away. ¡°No problem, we get it!¡± Bill shouted after him ¡°Alright Bill, I¡¯m going to start the process of communing with the energy inside of me. Normally, this takes years, but since we aren¡¯t trying to manifest a being, I think I can do this within a few hours. Can you have the runic instructions ready in time?¡± ¡°Yeah, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Just stay where you¡¯re at so I get the directional flows properly drawn.¡± Andy obeyed and plopped down on the ground. He knew from Cal and Ethel that they had searched inside themselves for years until the mana spirit finally answered. This was not what he wanted to do. Instead, Andy reached into himself, where he felt the new energy swirling and tried to compress it inside of himself. He forced it into a ball, pushing it smaller and smaller as he exerted his will over it. Each size decrease now took minutes to achieve. He could feel the sweat dripping. This was exerting him in a way he had never been before. He forced it even smaller. Suddenly, he felt the energy inside the ball start to react. A force was building in his new core, and it needed to go somewhere. He opened his eyes and saw Bill standing at the other side of the platform, clearly waiting on him. He opened his mouth, and a beam of light shot directly from him into the waiting capybara. The chalk symbols on the ground lit up all around the platform. The circle directly around Bill ignited. ¡°Holy shit. Bill, can you hear me?¡± Andy called to his friend. Bill fell over in response to Andy¡¯s question. He crashed face-first into the platform. The chalk lines and symbols were still flaring, and Andy didn¡¯t want to risk breaking any, so he stayed where he was for now. He hoped he hadn¡¯t just killed Bill. ¡°Ugh, I feel like I just woke up from a week-long bender with Albert and the boys,¡± Bill grunted half the words. He rolled onto his back as he spoke. ¡°Did it work?¡± Andy asked him. ¡°Yeah, yeah, it did. I¡¯ve got my own magical core now, and I can feel it linked to yours. Can you sense mine?¡± Andy reached into himself again, pushing at his core. There was something there. It resonated in a way that made him think of Bill. They had done it. Instead of a mana spirit manifestation, Bill was now his bonded familiar. This was amazing. ¡°We did it, Bill. I sense you, too.¡± ¡°Great, I¡¯m going vomit now.¡± Bill pushed himself to the side of the platform and loudly emptied the contents of his stomach for the next several minutes. Once he finished, he laid back on the platform. ¡°Do you want to take a break or try opening a realm right now?¡± Andy was still concerned about the long-term effects. ¡°Better do it now. I feel like I need to get some of this energy out of me still, but the good news is the pain is lessening. I feel like a person again.¡± He clapped his hands in front of him, and a crack in space appeared between the two on the platform. ¡°Voila, one portal to our own pocket world. Ready to visit?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Andy hopped through with his supplies. Bill followed after him. Loop 253 - Bug ¡°Come, Trashcat, Andrew wants to meet you. He¡¯s not as nice as Andy, but he grows on you. I think he means well, especially with the new experiment he has in mind. He thinks he can bring you into the loops with us. Wouldn¡¯t that be great? We could be Bug and the Trashcat, the ultimate defenders of Earth. No alien would stand in our way.¡± Bug led her small friend through the void house towards Andrew¡¯s Lab. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She had made sure to save Trashcat in every loop since they had first met. She considered her one of her best friends, and when Andrew and Albert suggested bringing her into the loops, Bug had loved the idea. Loop 253 - Andrew ¡°Now, Bug, I want to make sure you understand the risks here. I don¡¯t think anything bad will happen to your friend, but there are no promises this will work. She¡¯s a good choice for this due to her proximity to all of us through the loops and the fact that she has also spent a lot of time in the void. Also, it¡¯s taken me several full loops to synthesize this formula, so even if it does work, we will need several rare resources to run further tests. Though I suggest Many Eyes as our next subject before we move on to humans.¡± Andrew explained to Bug as he prepared several tools. ¡°What Andrew is trying to say in his own weird, caring way, Bug, is don¡¯t get too hopeful at the idea of Trashcat talking just yet. But we are going to try.¡± Albert added. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Andrew injected the small cat with a syringe, causing her to yelp in pain. ¡°Sorry, but it¡¯s all done.¡± He said. ¡°What do we do know? Just wait and see?¡± Bug asked. ¡°Wait and see what. Please don¡¯t stab me again. That hurt. I didn¡¯t like it at all.¡± The small cat looked up at Bug as she talked for the time. Loop 253 - Part 4: Melissa Melissa has worked through the night packing up her van. She loaded it with any tools she thought would be helpful, her clothing, whatever prepackaged food that was in the house, and the personal mementos she possessed. She climbed into her van and flicked two switches on the ceiling. She had built this van to be able to contain a magical aura, shrouding it from the prying eyes. It wouldn¡¯t be able to do so indefinitely, but the parts would hold up until she arrived at her destination. The first thing she needed to do, though, was to sleep. She may be a genius, but even geniuses shouldn¡¯t drive cross country without having slept in over a day. Her dreams were plagued by the final things she saw on Mars. A murderous moose and thousands of the condorpion creatures worked together in her nightmares, devouring any chance for a truly restful sleep. ¡°Henry, run!¡± Melissa had woken up screaming again. Her childhood traumas loved to visit her while she slept. This time, instead of a man in a suit chasing her brother, it had been the condorpions. It didn¡¯t matter though. Things had changed. She would find and rescue Henry just as soon as she herself was safe. She had a long drive ahead of her. She needed to get from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine. Every time she stopped for any reason, be it snacks, gas, or a bathroom break, her paranoia increased. She had zero protections outside her van, but despite her fears, she doubted the small excursions would give her away. With the way she should just show up out of nowhere as a weak signal and then disappear soon after, she should only register as a blip to the Agency, at best, a bullet point for a future target. It was the snatchers that truly scared her. She knew now that they were likely tried to the aliens that invaded at the end of the loops, but that didn¡¯t tell her anything else. She had so much intelligence to gather once she finished securing herself. The van pulled into a driveway at three AM. So far, so good. Nothing was following her as far as she could tell. She hopped out of the van and knocked on the door of the house. She knocked six times loudly, rang the doorbell twice, and then knocked two more times. The door clicked, and she pushed it open. It had been years since she had last been here, but the knock mechanics still worked. That was further good news. She needed it. Still here, paranoid refused to die down. She locked the door before her and sank down onto the couch. She had wanted to leave tonight, but exhaustion was winning. Her eyes closed, and she drifted back into her usual nightmares. ¡°Mel?! Is everything okay?¡± Melissa woke from her nightmares to an older man looking down at her in concern. ¡°Hi, Grandpa. Yes and no. Everything has changed, and we need to get under the water today.¡± She stood up and hugged him. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve missed you too. Is it Henry? Have you found him?¡± His voice had a stern, serious tone to it. ¡°No. I promise I¡¯ll explain everything once we are safely submerged.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll start packing. I assume you want to go check the sub¡¯s integrity?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll have you pack once I¡¯m sure it¡¯s good to go.¡± ¡°Okay. Roger, come here.¡± The older man picked up a large orange cat and handed him over to Melissa. ¡°Take him with you and get him secured. I¡¯d rather not search for him once we are ready to launch.¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Come on Roger, you can help me make sure we won¡¯t implode.¡± The cat purred as she slung him onto her shoulder and headed for the basement. She walked down the creaky stairs into the old, damp basement. She ignored how run down it looked and walked over to one of the walls. She pulled a rotting painting off of it and, pressed a series of loose stones and then tapped her watch to one of them. There was a loud squeal as old, rusted hinges were pushed open. She had worked with her grandfather years ago to build this secret launching station. At the time, the idea was she would bring her brother back, and they would disappear for several years below the ocean. Together, they would have been able to work out a plan for their future. She descended further into the sub-basement. The construction grew much more modern as she continued downward. Once she reached the bottom, she found herself in a larger room than the house above it. The back of it had a large pool of ocean water. Above it hung a giant submarine. This sub had a new goal now. It was where she planned to unlock her new magical potential and lay the groundwork for her magic tech empire. She checked over the sub in depth. She found nothing wrong. The years had been kind to her teenage construction. She lowered it into the water. ¡°All good then?¡± Her grandfather has snuck in while she was otherwise focused. ¡°Yep, she is as good as the day I finished her.¡± ¡°Of course she is. You built her.¡± He sat down several suitcases. Melissa was glad to see he hadn¡¯t lost any of his strength despite his age. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to empty the van. I¡¯d like to be ready to launch within a couple of hours. Every minute we are above water, our danger increases.¡± ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll get the food loaded.¡± He grabbed Roger, who was gently dipping his paw into the water. ¡°But first, I¡¯ll secure the captain. I don¡¯t want him going for a swim.¡± Two hours later, the three of them were strapped in. Roger was throwing a tantrum about it, but neither Melissa nor her grandfather wanted him hurting himself as she dived. Melissa launched Ellen. She had named the sub after her mother. After another two hours of piloting the craft to the sounds of opera, her grandfather¡¯s favorite, she felt they were deep enough to relax as much as she could these days. She missed her childhood before everything had fallen apart. She removed her seatbelt, stood up, and started stretching. ¡°Alright, kiddo, spill. Why did we break all the protocols you laid out? What happened?¡± Her grandfather had a concerned look on his face. ¡°The world is trapped in some kind of time bubble that resets every twenty-five years. Most people are unaware of it. I don¡¯t know exactly why I remember the loops or how long they have been going on before I started remembering, but it is happening. Oh, and if the loop doesn¡¯t end prematurely, it always seems to end with an alien invasion.¡± ¡°Are you fucking with me?¡± He released Roger from his cage and looked at her, eyebrows raised. ¡°I wish, but no. In the last full loop a tech company popped up that I didn¡¯t remember existing before. They wanted to go to Mars, so I got myself a job and went with them. Lots of weird shit happened, but the important part is, much like Henry before me, I also have access to magic now.¡± ¡°Ah, so we are down here so you can hide and figure this out? What¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°I spend the next several months going over all the information I have ever learned about magic, cores, mana, and the ogre program, and I try to refine my skills. Once I know how to shield myself, we head back to the surface and start MelissaTech. We find Henry, hell, we find all the ogres, free them, build an army of magic and technology, and we save the world. Easy, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds simple. And what about the other people that are in this loop with you?¡± He sighed loudly as he asked. ¡°No idea. We can cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, magic and shadowy government agencies are the priority.¡± She smiled. It was her first genuine smile in a long time. Her parents would be avenged, and Henry would be rescued. The rest was just icing on the cake. Loop 253 - Jen ¡°Stan, I can¡¯t find Melissa, actually let me clear. The more I dig to try and find her, the less I can find her. I¡¯m almost sure her entire background was faked.¡± Jen had spent the three months trying to find Melissa after the Alaska trip. ¡°You¡¯re sure? What the hell was she doing with us on Mars then?¡± Stan scowled. ¡°I suspect she was one of the scientists. She probably saw the weird time anachronism that was Marshall Technologies and decided to join up. But she had faked her past before the loops even started. So that can¡¯t be everything. It¡¯s not going to be easy to find her unless she wants to be found. I¡¯ve got a few more sources I¡¯m going to look into, but I¡¯m worried the deeper I pry that I may end up on someone else¡¯s to-watch list.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Great, I guess the best we can hope for is our fellow loopers are willing to unite in the face of human extermination.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on it.¡± Loop 253 - Ralth ¡°Andrew, Albert, Bug, I wish you had come to me before trying your experiment on Trashcat. I understand it worked, but this is the kind of tampering with magic that can have disastrous consequences.¡± Ralth shook his head at the three of them. ¡°Science requires some risks, Ralth,¡± Andrew responded. ¡°Yes, it does, but what if you had caused some sort of loop within a loop, or you know, cast yourself far into the past into another dimension? It¡¯s not as fun as it sounds.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, boss, we will consult you on all future experiments.¡± Albert was looking at the ground as he spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry too, brother.¡± ¡°Thank you, Albert, Bug, that¡¯s all I ask.¡± Loop 253 - Part 5: Ethel Ethel walked through the cracks in the Marshall family''s backyard under the cover of darkness. She had waited until Barron thought it was safe for her to return to the house. As Cal worried, correctly, they had attracted a great deal of attention with Andy¡¯s disappearance and the state of the house following Cal¡¯s late-night death match, which somehow no one died in. She held a pet carrier in her right hand and Frank¡¯s pot against her chest with her left. She had plans for Frank. He may have started as a magical mishap, but she felt a connection to him, and if everyone else were off playing with magic, she would do the same. Plus, she had new guests to drop off. She exited the cracks into a small room in her realm. It was built in the branches of a giant tree that had been growing along with the world from the moment she first set foot on it. Mr. Oakbert called it a world tree. The fruit it produced nourished all her guests and, most interestingly, slowly changed them. ¡°Hello, Ethel. Do we have some new visitors?¡± A bird the size of an ostrich that looked far more like a parrot asked. ¡°Yes, Gus, I found these poor souls half-starved in an alley on the way to Cal¡¯s. I¡¯ve nursed them back to health as best I could in the void house, but they will do best here.¡± Ethel set the carrier down and released two tiny kittens into the room. ¡°Alright, good.¡± Gus typed away at a strange keyboard, which looked to be growing out of a tree branch. ¡°The root system has cataloged your sigil. Retrieval will now happen at the start of every loop. I¡¯ve alerted the cat grotto, and Mother Scrump is on her way to meet them.¡± ¡°What would I do without you, Gus?¡± ¡°Dedicate even more of your mana reserves to this insane otherworldly sanctuary?¡± ¡°True, I would do that, but it¡¯s important. I won¡¯t allow any creature to suffer if I can help.¡± ¡°I know, and I¡¯m not really judging you for it. I wouldn¡¯t exist if it weren¡¯t for you.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t exist at all, and I still don¡¯t see where your egg came from.¡± Mr. Oakbert said. He had entered the room while Gus was speaking. ¡°Be nice, Oakey. It¡¯s not Gus¡¯s fault that he¡¯s an impossibility. The world is full of them these days.¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be possible for anyone that isn¡¯t a mana-based lifeform to be born in a mana realm, though.¡± Mr. Oakbert was adamant on this point. ¡°What about the plants?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Plants work differently. They become part of this world when their seeds germinate here. That¡¯s why Frank became loop-aware. I bet if you checked him on the R.I.S., you¡¯d see he is now some sort of mana plant.¡± ¡°Well, I was an egg. Maybe it¡¯s different for birds!¡± Gus tried to defend his birth. ¡°Enough, you two. I have some theories, and if you two learn to get along, I may just share them. Now, I¡¯m going to be here for most of this loop, so I don¡¯t want to hear fighting. We have animals to raise. Plus we are going to see if Frank here can grow. Gus is right about how much of my mana is taken up with the root network, but I¡¯m not willing to change that. So, instead, let¡¯s turn Frank into a tree titan. I want to help Cal defend the world for at least two hours. So what do you say, Frank, ready to be a superhero?¡± Ethel looked down at her awakened sapling. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I do like the wrestling shows Bug showed me. Yes I wish to be Frank, the masked tree titan, defender of all nature. Gus, I want a costume. I demand a costume!¡± Frank¡¯s leaves rustled the louder her voice grew. ¡°Frank, what have we discussed about requests?¡± Ethel chided the plant. ¡°People are not beholden to me just because I¡¯m great. I¡¯m sorry, Gus, could I please have a costume?¡± Frank asked again. This time, his tone was much friendlier. ¡°Yeah, we will get to work on something,¡± Gus said. ¡°Mister Gus, Professor Ethel, I was summoned for a pick-up.¡± A large orange and purple cat addressed them. ¡°Mother Scrump, perfect timing. I found these two today. They need a good home. Also, may I say your new colors suit you.¡± Ethel scratched the cat¡¯s back, eliciting a loud a pur. ¡°Thank you, professor. It appears the longer we live here, the more acclimated we become with the world.¡± Scrump sniffed each kitten. ¡°They need a proper cat bath.¡± ¡°Yes, I was too late to save their mother. Next loop I will make time to search for any litter mates I may have missed.¡± Ethel continued her scratching of Scrump. ¡°Come, kittens, it is time for you to meet the clowder. I have several children for you to play with.¡± Scrump prodded the kittens on with her head every time they tried to stop. She finally had them both out of the room, but their mewings could still be heard as she brought them to their new home. ¡°Oakey, Gus, tomorrow I want a full meeting of the animal chiefs. I want to update everyone on some new developments outside. For the rest of the day, though, I want no interruptions. I¡¯m going to be pouring all the mana I can spare into Frank.¡± ¡°Okay, boss. Good luck.¡± Gus said. ¡°I will prepare a training center for you two as well. Something where Frank can be safely destructive.¡± Oakbert added. ¡°Thank you both.¡± She picked up Frank¡¯s pot and left the room. Her realm was a world of natural beauty. Mr. Oakbert and her had discussed in detail what she most desired, and instead of the random nature of Cal¡¯s manifestations, they were able to build a sanctuary. She had initially wanted to protect all animals, humans included, but for some reason, she was unable to bring any human she wasn¡¯t bonded to into the realm. It was a fluke of the reality magic that annoyed her the most. It was a rule she fully intended to break one day, but first, she had much work to do in mastering her current magics. Her core was solid, and she was nearly constantly using her mana channels to supply the root network with the energy needed to rescue all the animals she had marked at the start of each loop. She was reasonably sure if she went up against Cal all out, his core would give out before hers, but that wasn¡¯t the type of magic user she wanted to be. She would help him save the world, of course. She would also save everyone, animal, and plant she possibly could along the way. Ethel led Frank to a small grove of pear trees. ¡°Hugo, can you grab me four of the ripest fruits you can find?¡± Ethel called into the grove as she placed Frank¡¯s pot on the ground and sat beside him, leaning her back against a tree. ¡°Yep, no problem prof.¡± A nasally voice called back from somewhere in the trees. Moments later, an opossum dropped out of the tree and plopped down next to her, carrying four pears. ¡°Here you go. Perfectly ripe.¡± ¡°Thank you, Hugo. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, Frank and I will need some privacy for the next part.¡± ¡°No problem, take care, prof.¡± The small opossum scurried away, giving Ethel her requested privacy. ¡°Alright, Frank, I¡¯m going to eat all four of these pears and try to push as much of the mana directly into you. This may be a bit dangerous, so it¡¯s important you listen and do what I say when I say it. Start with pushing the mana into your channels through your body. Focus on growing into what you want and push more mana in the direction that most needs growth. Do you understand?¡± Ethel¡¯s voice had taken on a solemn tone. She was concerned about the potential harm this may cause both her and Frank, but growth required risk. ¡°I think so. Let¡¯s pump me up!¡± Frank exclaimed. Loop 253 - Bug ¡°Ralth, can I can talk to you in private for a few minutes?¡± Bug had tracked her brother down to the gaming hall. He had just finished a board game with a couple of the capybaras. ¡°Of course, Bug, let¡¯s go to my office.¡± Ralth stood up and started in the direction of his office. Bug followed him. They entered, and she waited until the door was fully closed to start talking. Her voice had an aggressive tone, which was very unusual for her. But she was still furious over the last many loops and what Cal had to endure. ¡°Ralth, I know who the masked lady smelled like. I also know she had a tiny bit of your scent on her. I haven¡¯t told any of this to Cal yet because he doesn¡¯t need any more stress in his life. I need you to explain to me what is going on here.¡± This was not a friendly request. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Bug. She isn¡¯t who you think she is, well, not exactly. It¡¯s complicated. She is from another reality, and I kept her away from Cal as long as I could. I do not believe she would ever harm him. She has the potential to be a great ally.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it. I don¡¯t like secrets like this at all.¡± ¡°When Cal is done with his training, I will tell him everything I know of her. Will that help how you feel about me currently?¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you, Ralth.¡± Her tone had returned to its happier state. Loop 253 - Gus Gus wished he knew how he had ever been born. All Mr. Oakbert and Ethel could ascertain was that an egg had somehow appeared in the bird meadow one day. Oakbert had been sure it would never hatch, but Ethel felt a spark in it. So she incubated the egg, and soon out popped a tiny Gus. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. He wasn¡¯t tiny for long. He now rivaled the biggest birds on Earth, but still, who was he? How did he get here? Gus loved his found family. He just wanted to know where he came from. Was that so much to ask? Loop 253 - Part 6: Cal Cal crashed head-first into the rock, crashing back down to the ground. ¡°FUCK!¡± He yelled in pain. Nothing responded. The worst part of the crash was that this was his best attempt yet. He had actually touched the rock. He had been at this for weeks, and this was the first time he had managed to push himself high enough to come remotely near it. The trick to this was to carefully charge the air particles around him, propelling himself as he did so. The problem was in the difficulty of aiming and retaining his focus as he pushed himself higher and higher. He didn¡¯t like how slow his progress had been, but he also couldn¡¯t argue with the results. His fine control of lighting had grown exponentially during this training, as had his ability to process the mana in his core. Bolt had explained that these new lines he felt branching out of his core were mana channels. Apparently, their development was tied to how much mana he could store in his core and how efficiently he could push that mana around. Cal thought he would have preferred a magic system from any game to what he was working within reality. He still felt like he wanted to die every time he emptied his core, which he was now trying to do as many times as possible a day. He was also now risking two fruit a week, against Bolt¡¯s advice, but he needed to push forward. The attack at his house proved that things were changing, and he had to keep up. The first time he had tried a second fruit in a week, he had only managed to get down half of it before crashing to the ground. Lightning had exploded out of his fingertips uncontrollably. It took him three hours to come down from that. The pain lasted for days. Nothing had been quite as bad as the first time, and he was planning to soon move up to a third fruit, but first, he needed to land on this damn rock. Cal told himself to focus. He looked closely at the space between himself and the rock, concentrating on the particles that made up the air. He lifted his right foot and charged the particles below it. He did the same for his left. He did this step by step, slowly moving closer. Splitting his mana like this was causing his limbs to burn in pain. He ignored it and continued his climb. He was nearly there. He reached out and touched it, moving closer. Now, he had both hands on it. This made the process easier. Step by careful step, he held the side of it as he climbed until finally he was standing on top of it. He jumped up and down in excitement. ¡°Bolt, I did it! I walked on air!¡± he yelled to his little friend, wherever she had gotten off to. He got no response, which wasn¡¯t that unusual. She was likely busy with some monumental task of her own. She was connecting different pocket universes, after all. That was no easy feat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another fruit. This would be the third this week. With his recent success, he decided it was time and bit into the delicious apple-like object. The energy flowed into his core, pushing it to the point of bursting. Cal screamed in pain. He was worried he had made a mistake. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He reached his hand out and fired as much lightning as he could deep into the sky. The energy continued to flow as he felt his pain increase. His core wasn¡¯t bursting, but all the mana was coursing across his channels, creating new lines as old ones burst. His body was changing. The magic was becoming even more a part of him. He lifted his other arm and channeled more lightning through, desperately trying to discharge as much as he possibly could. After hours of what felt like torture, Cal crashed, face forward onto the hard surface of the rock. He felt different, but he was too tired to understand why. He needed to sleep, and sleep he did. ¡°Cal, it¡¯s time to wake up.¡± Cal heard a voice penetrating his slumber and forced himself awake. He was in the cabin bed. Bolt was next to him, floating in midair. ¡°Oh good, I¡¯m alive. I wasn¡¯t sure I was going to stay that way. I think I pushed my body too far.¡± His voice was hoarse. His fingers hurt. He realized Bolt had bandaged them. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think you are exactly human anymore after that stunt. I can feel you much more closely now. Whatever you did to your core, I think you pulled in some of the ambient spiritual energy and rebuilt the damage to your body with it.¡± Her voice had concern in it. ¡°How bad am I?¡± He asked, worried about his ability to recover from this. ¡°Somehow, I think you are going to be fine. Your fingertips are burnt pretty badly, but they have been healing. I change the bandages daily. Your eyes changed, and I think that one is permanent. They are solid white now. I don¡¯t think there are any other outward changes. I¡¯m guessing you feel different inside, though.¡± ¡°Yeah, the magic doesn¡¯t feel like something I need to drag out of my core anymore. It feels like it is just flowing inside me, almost like a river under my skin. Wait, you said daily?! How long have I been out?¡± He asked in shock. ¡°A few months. I tried to force-feed you at first, but it looks like you don¡¯t really need to eat or breathe any more, either. I do not know if that will continue when you leave here and return to a less mana-dense area.¡± ¡°Well, hopefully, it lasts. If I don¡¯t need to breathe, this should make space travel much easier.¡± Cal tried to smile. It hurt his head. ¡°I think I¡¯m going back to sleep for now, Bolt. I¡¯m still exhausted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s for the best. You need to let your body continue to regrow all the damaged pathways. Once that¡¯s done, we can see just what you are capable of.¡± Cal fell into another sleep. It took years of slowly rebuilding his strength, but he was reasonably sure he was now back to where he had been the day he landed on the rock. Bolt guided him to a safe place to try a complete discharge of his powers. And try, he did. He fired every bit of lightning he could, over and over. He dropped explosive balls. He chained blasts across the sky. It took him nearly three hours to feel his core empty. He had radically improved his channeling abilities. Dumb stunt or not, it had paid off. He thought he was entirely was ready to defend Dallas. Loop 253 - Bolt She found Cal passed out on the rock. It had taken her hours to fly back to him, following the lightning blasts he had shot far into the sky. She quickly realized that he had overdosed on the spiritual fruit. Why did he have to push himself like this? His skin was a mess. There were burns everywhere. She carefully carried him to the cabin and laid him on the bed. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. She was nearly ready for the unification of her realm with Barron¡¯s. That would have to be delayed now. Cal needed her help to heal. She felt some sort of change inside him. He now felt more like her than he did a human. Just what had he done to himself up there? Loop 253 - Barron It was getting closer. Once Cal¡¯s healing was done, it would be the perfect time. They could all head off for their big fight. He and Bolt could bridge their realms. He wondered what it would be like when they joined together. Barron couldn¡¯t wait to see how their gestalt form materialized. It should bring with it all kinds of new, fun magic. At the very least, he hoped, this would finally unlock some of Cal¡¯s ability to channel void energy. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Loop 253 - Part 7: Andy ¡°Well, this.¡± Andy paused briefly, looking around again. ¡°This is certainly different.¡± They were a small chamber. Andy guessed approximately thirty square feet at most. The walls were in an octagonal pattern with a domed ceiling far above. Light came from several points on the ceiling. ¡°This isn¡¯t like any of the other realms I¡¯ve seen. Even Grannus¡¯s has long winding tunnels, not just a single room.¡± Bill had started walking along the walls. He stopped to examine something occasionally. ¡°Hey Bill, weird question, but how do we leave? Normally, the crack is just there in the other realms, even when closed from the outside. Are you able to manifest one again?¡± Bill¡¯s face was a mix of annoyance and worry. ¡°Uh, I just tried. I can¡¯t. We¡¯re stuck until we figure out what¡¯s going on, Andy.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I had already thought. Did you see all the symbols on the walls? They look similar to what you drew on the ground.¡± He had noticed the walls were inscribed with what he thought were magical symbols. ¡°Hrm, yeah, they are. I have no idea what most of these are, though.¡± He walked across the room. ¡°This wall though these I¡¯m familiar with. This one right here very specifically has to do with the status of a portal. I had to alter this to increase the size of the cracks our stones generated. Let¡¯s see what happens if I do this.¡± He pulled some chalk from his pocket and added a few more lines to the symbol. A rectangle-shaped space in the wall in front of them started to glow brightly. It then slid into the wall, creating a small passageway. Light filtered into the room from the other side. ¡°Okay, so we need to make our way around here then?¡± Andy let the question hang. He knew Bill knew as much as he did about their fate. The worst that happened was they had to restart the loop outside of the room. He realized there may actually be another problem with that. ¡°Hey Bill, are you going to start the loop where you normally do, or did this change something?¡± Andy was concerned he had trapped his friend here forever. ¡°Not a clue, Andy, but don¡¯t worry about me. We¡¯re going to figure this out.¡± The capybara turned and smiled at him. He then turned back around and walked into the passage he had created. Andy followed. It was more a door than a hall, leading them both to a new room. This room was much larger than their previous one. It had rows and rows of bookcases as far as the eye could see. All appeared full. There was a center desk directly in front of them. There was something sitting behind it. It looked almost human, but the body was off somehow. It coughed. ¡°Hello and welcome to the under library.¡± The not-quite-human had sat up and spoken to them. Andy took a closer look and realized why it seemed so strange. It was just a puppet created to loop like a human. It had buttons for eyes and long stringy hair. He felt incredibly unnerved. ¡°The Under Library? So this isn¡¯t a new world?¡± Bill asked. The Capybara was standing close to Andy. ¡°The Under Library has always existed. I am the new librarian appointed to help the new stewards of universal knowledge. So, in that sense, the world is both old and new.¡± The puppet answered, its voice creaking as it spoke. ¡°Okay, now I just have more questions.¡± Andy¡¯s fear was receding in favor of his thirst for knowledge. ¡°Please ask them. I will do my best to answer all general inquiries.¡± ¡°How did we get here?¡± Bill asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s covered in one of the books, though. The reference cabinet may be of help.¡± ¡°Who appointed you?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Information restricted.¡± the voice had changed to a monotone computerized voice. ¡°Interesting, so there are things you know that you can¡¯t tell us?¡± Andy asked again. ¡°You have only unlocked the What Is wing. All information contained within all other potential wings is still considered restricted information.¡± Its voice had shifted back to the original sound. ¡°What is contained in the What Is wing?¡± Bill asked this time. ¡°Everything that is.¡± Andy sighed loudly at the non-answer. ¡°Are we in any danger here?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes, knowledge is perilous. As the stewards, it is up to you to define how much danger you wish to risk.¡± ¡°What does it mean that we are stewards?¡± Andy had an inkling of what the puppet would answer but wanted to verify. ¡°You are the current caretakers of the Under Library. It will be up to you to dictate its future purpose.¡± ¡°How many stewards have there been before us?¡± Bill asked. ¡°Zero.¡± ¡°Wait, what? Who built the Under Library, then?¡± Bill continued. ¡°Information restricted.¡± ¡°Okay, fine. How do we get back to where we came from?¡± Andy wasn¡¯t sure they could get much further with the puppet. They currently had far too many unknown unknowns to be able to question it properly. ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°Can you direct us to the library section that covers magical symbols, specifically the ones we used during our ritual before we opened the cracks that led us here?¡± Bill tried to help Andy with a more targeted question. ¡°Of course.¡± The puppet typed away at a computer in front of them. The computer looked to be made up of felt. Nonetheless, the puppet started reading off the screen. ¡°You want transference runes from local reality into hypothetical reality. Please proceed to row one hundred and seven and select the topic on the console.¡± ¡°Is there any food or places to rest here?¡± Andy had a feeling they were in for a very extended stay. ¡°There are reading rooms placed conveniently around the stacks.¡± ¡°Thanks, I think. Come on, Bill. It¡¯s cramming time.¡± ¡°You know, Andy, if this weren¡¯t so creepy, this would be exhilarating.¡± As they walked in search of their row, Andy noted how immense this place truly was. He couldn''t see any other walls beyond the spot they had come from. The stacks seemed to continue into infinity. How did he keep becoming entangled in these things? Deep down, he knew it was partially because of his desire to do so. If you didn¡¯t push the red button, how could you ever know what it would it do after all? They passed several small free-standing rooms on their way. They had stopped to look in the first one they found. It had been one of the reading rooms the librarian mentioned. It contained several chairs, tables, couches, a small kitchen, and a restroom, complete with a shower. They were both happy that at least they wouldn¡¯t starve. It took them around fifteen minutes to find the exact row the puppet had suggested. Andy typed the request into the console, and it prompted him back with a question. ¡°Populate reading room or choose from stacks?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going with the reading room. I¡¯d rather be locked in one of those rooms. I can¡¯t seem to shake the feeling something is watching us.¡± Andy said to Bill. ¡°Agreed. I also feel like it doesn¡¯t like us, but I don¡¯t know why I feel it. It started when we left the first room.¡± ¡°Yeah, the sooner we find a way back, the better. This is probably an insanely valuable resource, but we need to be alive to use it.¡± Andy selected populating the reading room, and they walked to the only one in sight. Stacks of books covered each desk, and three of the bookcases against one of the walls were packed full of books. Andy closed the door behind them. ¡°Okay, first up, I¡¯m going to get some sleep, then I¡¯ll start on the books. I¡¯m still pretty drained from earlier.¡± ¡°Same, but I¡¯ll go through the food and see if I can whip us up something to eat.¡± ¡°Thanks, Bill.¡± Andy settled down onto the couch. He had just closed his eyes when he heard a knock at the door. ¡°Who is it?!¡± He yelled from the couch. ¡°Hello, I believe I left my teacup in there. May I come in and retrieve.¡± The voice had a British accent, but it sounded off to Andy. He looked around and saw no cup anywhere. ¡°I don¡¯t see a teacup. Can you describe it and where you left it?¡± Andy asked. ¡°It¡¯s a normal teacup, I left it in there.¡± The voice answered ¡°Yes, but where in here?¡± Andy didn¡¯t trust the voice at all. ¡°Please, can I just come in and take a look?¡± It asked again. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll make you a deal. Neither Bill or I will attack you in any way unless you attach us first if you come to look for your teacup. That said, I do not give you permission. If you are able to give yourself permission to come search, as I said, you will be safe, but neither Bill and I extended the invitation itself.¡± Andy was testing a theory. It seemed determined to get permission to enter. Considering the numerous monster tales involving inviting something in, he was not about to do that. Andy¡¯s offer was greeted with silence. Bill walked up to the door and carefully slid a mirror under it, trying to get a look at who was out there. The mirror was wrenched out of his hands, and they heard a loud crunching sound. Bill leaped backward away from the door. ¡°That was not very nice of you. All I wanted was to be allowed in and you dare threaten me with my own reflection. I will remember this slight.¡± The voice stopped at this. ¡°That isn¡¯t a person out there, Andy. From what I saw before the mirror was smashed, it was some sort of elongated shadow. I think we are in trouble here.¡± Bill¡¯s hair was standing on end across his body. ¡°I don¡¯t think it can get in, or it already would have, but to be safe, let¡¯s push some of the empty bookcases in front of the door.¡± Andy needed to sleep, but he also preferred to do so with a feeling of reasonable safety. Bill and Andy pushed all the unused furniture in front of the door in a silent agreement. They had made a mistake in coming here. Loop 253 - Library Management Rules for an Efficient Librarian
  1. Always greet the guests. Make them feel welcome.
  2. Do not fight restricted information warnings. These are important to keep everyone safe.
  3. Answer all questions asked to the best of your abilities within the above guidelines.
  4. Do not inform guests of other guests unless asked
  5. Should the stewards arrive, always make sure to alert the library staff
  6. Ignore all beings that did not enter through the front desk. They cannot approach the desk unless invited; do not do so.
  7. Should a guest ask you for assistance opening the red reference book. Do not assist them. We do not shelf the the red reference book. We never have. We never will.
  8. And always remember, knowledge is not free. Someone has to feed the fires.
Loop 253 - Uncle Andrew ¡°Uncle Andrew, are you going to play D&D with us? Bug says it¡¯s great.¡± Despite how innocently she asked the question, Andrew still scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m not a big fan of these tabletop games. I have work to do. And you, little Miss Trashcat, should consider joining me in the lab instead of wasting your time on the games, too.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Oh, come, don¡¯t be mean like that. Come and have fun with us. It will be good for you.¡± She didn¡¯t know why he was always so fussy about everything, but he was her favorite uncle anyway. She was determined to make him have some actual fun for once. ¡°Fine, but can we drop the uncle, please?¡± He asked. ¡°Nope. Never.¡± Loop 253 - Part 8: Melissa ¡°So what¡¯s the plan? I¡¯ve been looking over the notes you¡¯ve made, and while it mostly reads like nonsense to me, energy is energy. It looks to me like you need to build some sort of reactor inside yourself and then use that initial source to build something that regulates it. Am I understanding this right?¡± Her grandfather had been trying to follow everything she was writing down. He wasn¡¯t doing a bad job so far. ¡°Yeah, generally, the Agency forces their ogres to use that power to bind their collars to them. I¡¯ve read some notes suggesting I could also create some kind of entity to guide me, but that doesn¡¯t seem as useful as a magical tool. Plus, if I¡¯m stuck in this loop, I can always try to find more sources if I really want some sort of helper.¡± She responded. ¡°Why a tool though? What will the bonding process do there?¡± She knew he still didn¡¯t fully grasp the concept of the bond, and she wasn¡¯t sure she did either. It was something she assumed would become clear once it was complete. ¡°So theoretically, I could take an arduously long time to determine a process to charge mana batteries, or I could create a tool that works as a conduit for me to dump mana directly into storage devices.¡± ¡°To what end?¡± ¡°Weapons, mechs, battleships, whatever I can get to process the batteries. I¡¯ve seen what¡¯s coming, and we are going to need everything I can build.¡± ¡°Please make sure my mech suit compensates for my motion sickness.¡± ¡°Of course, what kind of granddaughter would I be otherwise? But the plan for now is I¡¯m going to go seal myself inside the chamber we built for Adam and hope it holds. If you detect any hull damage, I want you to eject it. I¡¯ll be fine. You may not be.¡± She stared her grandfather in the eyes, trying to determine if he would actually listen or not. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it.¡± She didn¡¯t believe him. She doubted she could do it either if the positions were reversed. ¡°Give me at least three months before you check on me, please.¡± ¡°Can do. We have supplies to easily last a year; we can probably stretch it to two if we really want, but I¡¯d strongly advise against anything longer.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry on that end. I plan to surface as soon I¡¯m reasonably confident I can hide from their tracking systems. See you in a few months. Roger, you¡¯re in charge; don¡¯t let him do anything dumb while I¡¯m gone.¡± She pat the cat on her way out of the room. Stolen novel; please report. She checked various readouts to ensure everything was good before she sealed herself away. The room had a bed and a door to a separate room that contained two other rooms, a small bathroom, and a kitchen. She had built this apartment as a place to hold Henry for any deprogramming he may need. Its new purpose was to stand up to any explosive backlash from her learning to channel mana. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll build you a new, much better room, Henry. Just you wait.¡± She sat her pack down in front of her. She joined it on the ground and pulled a set of wrenches from it. She had twenty chances before she ran out of wrenches. She figured that was plenty. She could blow nineteen of them up as long as she got it right the one time, child¡¯s play. She reached into herself to the spot she felt her magic spring from and grabbed it in her mind. It struggled against her mental grip, but she held tight. She pushed as much of that raw mana out of her as she could directly through her hands into the first wrench. She collapsed forward, losing consciousness. When she woke up, the wrench had been reduced to a lump of metal in front of her. Alright, so attempt one was a massive failure. She wasn¡¯t expecting otherwise. In preparation for another go at it, she made herself something to eat and tried to get some rest. She wasn¡¯t successful. Melissa was unable to make her brain focus on something other than the mana she felt inside herself. It was just like every additional time she had ever gotten invested in a project. Rest would come once she made progress. Until then, her body would just need to deal with the stress. It was time for test two. The wrench exploded. She ran to dunk her head in the sink. She was too slow to save her eyebrows, but she managed to keep the rest of her hair. Okay, the answer was not faster. While she had stayed conscious this time, she didn¡¯t consider catching on fire to be a better result. Test three. She went much gentler this time, but by the time she was able to get anything to touch the wrench, it was too fine-pointed, and the mana pierced it like a laser cutter. She felt she was getting closer, but she wasn''t there yet. Test four. She firmly held the mana flows and pushed them along her body, swimming them through her arms and into her right hand. She reached down and picked up the wrench. She felt the mana flow from her into it, heating the object in her hand. She slowed the flow, cooling the wrench. She spent the next several hours carefully regulating every second of mana as she allowed it to leave her hand. She was exhausted, but she was too close to quit now. She squeezed down inside herself, pulling any drops of mana left from her core. She would make this wrench as strong as she could. She felt something resonate in the wrench. There was a force there now. She could feel it. The connection came just in time. She had nothing left to give and fell over. She slept where she lay. For once, the nightmares didn¡¯t come. Loop 253 - Stan & The Bestiary Stan looked over the bestiary. With Cal¡¯s plan to try and fight the aliens at the end of the loop, he wanted to prepare himself. He had no magic, so that meant he needed to do a lot of prep work. He looked over the list he had available to him.
  1. Gryalth Infiltrator
  2. Gryalth Soldier
  3. Gryalth Adept
  4. Agency Agent
  5. Agency Ogre
  6. Tentacle Bear
  7. Condorpion Larva
  8. Condorpion Adult
  9. Hellmoose
  10. Cyclops Alien Thing
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He wondered why reality had decided to conform to his son''s ridiculous names. He couldn¡¯t be that upset, though. Cal learned his naming sense from him. After all, they had Bug the dog. Speaking of which, Stan realized she had snuck up behind him. ¡°Hey, Dad, what are you up?¡± Bug was wagging her tail. He wondered where she had left Trashcat. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to try the simulator. Wanna come?¡± ¡°Oh yes, absolutely. What are we fighting?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with a Gryalth Adept, see what that¡¯s like.¡± Loop 253 - Stan, Bug & The Training Room Stan and Bug walked into the room, not knowing exactly what to expect. The door behind them sealed. ¡°Please select lethality of simulation.¡± A voice asked from somewhere. ¡°Uh, Non-lethal, no lasting damage at all,¡± Stan responded, unsure of what terminology it wanted him to use. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Full safety protocols in effect, the battle will end when the computer has determined either opponents or the active party have all taken lethal damage. The fight will commence in ten seconds.¡± ¡°Ready Bug?¡± Stan asked her with an unusual cheer in his voice. Being able to let loose like this was a rarity for him. ¡°Ready, Dad, let go!¡± Loop 253 - Part 9: Ethel Ethel ate the fruit as quickly as she could. She was worried about holding that much power inside herself for very long. Unlike Frank, she was just a human with a magical core. Frank, though, was a creature of mana now, ready and willing to gobble down a plethora of energy, hopefully without any damaging side effects. She released the mana directly into his body. She didn¡¯t push or force it in any way; she just released it like dumping a bucket of water over someone''s head. She watched the mana flow over him and pool into the dirt of his pot. It was slowly absorbed below the surface by his roots. ¡°Frank, don¡¯t just store the mana. Guide it into your growth.¡± She instructed the plant using her stern teacher voice. ¡°I¡¯m trying. Wait, something is happening.¡± Each word came slowly as though he was fighting to push them free of his mind. Ethel saw just what that something was. Four arms were growing out of his trunk, which itself was also widening at a rapid pace. Good, this result was precisely what she wanted. She increased her mana flow, doubling the intensity of her release. ¡°You¡¯re doing great, Frank, keep going. Think about what you need to go with your arms.¡± She didn¡¯t want to guide him too much. Ultimately, it was his decision on how he wanted to grow up, but a little push wouldn¡¯t hurt. Frank let out a loud grunt of pain, but it was accompanied by the sound of his pot shattering. He fell over backward, likely unused to his new legs. Ethel readjusted her mana direction, making sure to continue targeting directly on Frank¡¯s growing center. Franks''s grunts turned into actual sounds of pain. Ethel had to ignore her pleas for now. She would apologize later. Instead, she gripped her core and squeezed every drop left out. Frank would get it all. She was rewarded with effort. She saw a small head start to sprout from the top of his canopy. She collapsed. She had nothing left in her to give. Maybe Cal had a point about how difficult emptying your core was. She closed her eyes and slept. ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± Ethel awoke to the sounds of Frank emptying the contents. Well, she had no idea what. He hadn¡¯t eaten anything before. ¡°Boss, Frank, you two okay over here. It¡¯s been a couple of days, and we¡¯ve all been getting worried.¡± Ethel opened her eyes to see Gus standing over her. ¡°Gus, please help me up. I need something to eat, and I think Frank may as well. Not that I have any idea what he should be eating.¡± Gus grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. ¡°I think Frank should take a dip in the mana spring. Actually, now that I get a closer look at him, he should probably stay within it for a while.¡± Oakbert had joined them. ¡°Okay, Oakey, can you help me get him there?¡± Ethel asked the spirit. In response, Oakbert touched the ground around Frank, causing the plant life to grow under him and knit itself together into a makeshift sled. ¡°This should let us pull him, Gus. I think this is probably best suited for you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± The bird asked, his voice filled with annoyance. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Nothing, you¡¯re just much stronger than I am physically.¡± ¡°Boys, please, we have things to do. Let¡¯s get Frank to the pool. Then I need to sleep for another week, I think. My head is still swimming.¡± Ethel felt her feet sway beneath her. The three of them carefully maneuvered Frank through the realm until they reached the pool. It took longer than Ethel would have liked, but she didn¡¯t want to drag Frank through any of the small communities that had started forming in the realm. There were too many small creatures to risk any harm to them. So they pulled him the long way around. It took some effort, but they were able to roll him into the mana water water with a plop. He noticeably relaxed once his body settled in. ¡°This feels much better, but I still feel very weird. Is this how you all interact with the world? Eyes are weird, and I don¡¯t know if I like them.¡± Frank rambled on as he adjusted himself slightly. ¡°Frank, don¡¯t worry about that right now, I want you to stay in the water and focus on feeling better once that¡¯s done we will find you a tutor on walking.¡± Ethel used her gentle grandmotherly voice in an attempt to soothe the newly giant Frank. ¡°Alright, boss, it¡¯s time for you to get some sleep too.¡± Gus reached out a wing for her to lean on as they walked. ¡°Thank you Gus. After I¡¯m a bit more functional, we will all see to Frank¡¯s training, and I still need to have a meeting with the various community heads.¡± Ethel spent the next week in bed building her strength back up. She was kept company by a rotating series of guests who were all glad to see her. She had worked out that it took roughly two full loops for an animal to start being able to speak. A few of the animals she had brought into her realm on the loop she created it could already do so. Once she was tired of laying around all day, she climbed out of bed and went in search of Frank. She found him being led around by Gus, trying to explain the concept of two-legged locomotion. ¡°Hello, mother. This new body is very strange.¡± Frank said to her. ¡°So I¡¯m your mother now, am I? I suppose you are the closest I have to a son. And it could be worse. At least Gus isn¡¯t here trying to claim I¡¯m his father.¡± She smiled despite her words. ¡°Hey I just work here, don¡¯t bring me into your family drama!¡± Gus squawked at them. ¡°Well, Frank, I think you are going to make quite the surprise once we get you back to the void house. I think you might be taller than even Ralth.¡± ¡°Perfect, now I need to learn to wrestle. Gus, is my suit ready?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. We have plenty of time to spare, though.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Frank sulked. * Ethel had waited another month before gathering the elder animals together, along with Oakbert, Gus, and Frank. She had something in mind but decided it was best they voted on her plan. Mother Scrump, Old Alfred, Gretel, and Cindy Hopper sat around the room. Old Alfred and Gretel were a pair of dogs Ethel had found near frozen two loops ago. In a last-ditch effort to save them, she brought them here, hoping the ambient energies would help, and it did. They became the two founding members. Mother Scrump was one of the older stray cats Ethel took care of. The veterinarian had said her cancer was terminal, so Ethel brought her here instead. Finally, there was Cindy Hopper, a small white domesticated rabbit that Ethel had stumbled upon hiding in a trash can, terrified. Three of these were the reason she built the root network. She had willingly shrunk her core in order to place a large pool of mana into the world tree. With the help of Oakbert, she could control its growth into an organic computer. It was capable of saving the locations of animals on Earth and opening cracks to pull them through at the start of every loop. The resources needed to do so grew with every animal. This meant she added a portion of her core mana to the tree every new loop. She outpaced it now on growth, but it was still a considerable sacrifice. She didn¡¯t regret it at all. Hello everyone, I have a proposal for you all. Loop 253 - Battle Simulator Round 5 Stan swung his fist into the adept''s face while Bug circled around behind it. This was their fifth attempt at fighting an adept. So far, every other one had ended with them both dead from its magic. Neither Stan or Bug considered that acceptable. They wanted to be able to assist Cal magic or not and were determined to take one of these down. Bug ripped into its backside, giving Stan time to grab its right arm and break it over his knee. His plan for dealing with magic was to cripple it as much as possible. He hit it in the face again. It raised its left arm, trying. It looked like it was about to cast something, but Bug had the hand in her mouth before it could. She ripped. It screamed. Stolen story; please report. Stan tackled it to the ground and slammed his fists into its face until they heard a new message. Adept defeated. Stan and Bug win. Loop 253 - Barron & Ethel ¡°I want to connect my realm to yours, Barron. I know Bolt is working on it. Is this something I can do as well?¡± Ethel felt that if she could do this, it would give her residents more area to explore and possibly solve her human visitor problem. She wasn¡¯t confident about that, though. ¡°Maybe, but not in the same way, Bolt and I are both bonded to Cal, and a natural part of growth is the combination of our influences into something singular. We might be able to create some sort of gateway, though, allowing for safer and easier passage between the two. I won¡¯t be strong enough to consider this until Bolt finishes, but I think it can be done.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Wonderful, that¡¯s good enough for now. I appreciate you helping me with this.¡± Loop 253 - Part 10: Back Together Again "So, uh, where¡¯s Andy?¡± Cal asked the assembled group. They had gathered back together again as planned to prepare for the upcoming battle in Dallas. Andy¡¯s absence was almost overshadowed by the drastic changes Frank had undergone. Cal had no idea how it happened, but Frank was slightly taller than Ralth. He hadn¡¯t expected anything like this from Ethel. ¡°Andy and Bill have both been missing since the start of the loop,¡± Stan answered. ¡°I created a little island for them to practice some magic on. After a bunch of back and forth and some weird chalk letters, Bill opened a crack, and they both went through. The crack closed after them, and no one has seen them since. I¡¯m very worried.¡± Barron filled everyone in on what he knew. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about that right now. Either they show up before the Dallas defense, or we find out what happened in the next loop. They still have three days, but we should start planning as though they won¡¯t be here.¡± Cal said. He wasn¡¯t happy about this at all. He counted on Andy for strategy and quick tactical changes. He would do this without him if they had to, but he strongly hoped otherwise. ¡°Before you start, I have something else to add.¡± Barron interrupted. ¡°On the day of the invasion, Bolt and I are going to attempt to harmonize our realms. This shouldn¡¯t affect any structures, but things will look different when it¡¯s done. Bolt and I will also be different. We will join together in a new form. This will help us progress in our growth.¡± ¡°Wait, so there will just be one of you?¡± Stan asked he had a look of concern on his face. ¡°No, we will both occupy the same physical form, but we will still be ourselves. It¡¯s hard to explain to someone that is bound to their body. Frank may understand best, but even he will have trouble grasping it.¡± Barron answered. ¡°Well, I look forward to meeting the new you.¡± Jen tried to cover for her husband¡¯s shock. ¡°Thank you.¡± Barron smiled. ¡°I think the first thing we need to decide is who all wants to be part of the Dallas lab defense?¡± Cal asked the room. ¡°I¡¯m in. Bug, Jen, and I have been playing around in the simulator, and we can now reliably take down a couple of adepts as a group. So that will be a few fewer mages for you to worry about.¡± Stan looked at Bug and Jen. They both nodded in agreement. ¡°Frank and I will also be joining you. I don¡¯t know that I can offer you nearly as much help as Frank will be able to, though, but I can hold my own.¡± ¡°Thank you, Ethel.¡± Cal felt Frank would become a massive asset in future fights. He should ask Ethel just how she had managed his growth. It might be useful for others. ¡°Many Legs wishes to join you all as well. We¡¯ve been developing some tech for her unique form. I think she could be a great asset.¡± Albert spoke up. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Oh good, I¡¯ve seen her fight before. She¡¯s terrifying.¡± Ethel added. ¡°I will stay in reserve, but it¡¯s best I only attempt to help you hold the building at the last moment. Once I enter the fray, they will move a lot more of their forces against me.¡± ¡°Understood Ralth.¡± Cal liked their odds. It was only two hours. He thought that was doable. He¡¯d be much more confident with Andy, though. ¡°Was anyone able to get in contact with Melissa?¡± He had almost forgotten about her, but she was another potential fighter in this. ¡°Yeah, about her, I¡¯m pretty much sure she was one of the scientists that joined us in the loops. I think she infiltrated our tech company last loop, as it was something that didn¡¯t normally exist. The second this loop started, she seems to have vanished. I expect we will see more of her before the loop is over, but I don¡¯t know if we will be making any alliances in time to help us.¡± Jen informed everyone of her discoveries. ¡°Damn, she¡¯s probably going to need to be a priority next loop.¡± Cal rested his hands on the table. ¡°I believe Ralth has something he wants to tell us all, don¡¯t you, Ralth?¡± Bug spoke up. ¡°Ah, yes, I do. It is concerned with the masked woman who helped you during your repeated deaths. Bug recognized her scent and also picked up a trace of mine on her as well. Please know I didn¡¯t intend to hide this from you to cause any harm. I, in fact, did it to try to lessen the harm. Cal, Bug, Dad, the masked woman, is a version of Izzy from another universe. Camden and I teamed up with her for several years before I made my return. She wasn¡¯t supposed to accompany me, but she forced her way into the portal and sent us both far off course, much further into the past of this universe than was intended. In her home reality, Cal and Stan both died to the Gryalth, and she was taken prisoner. I do not know the details of how she escaped, but she followed me here, determined to keep at least one version of Cal alive. I¡¯m sorry for not telling you sooner.¡± Ralth frowned. ¡°I literally have no idea what to say to that. To be clear, I¡¯m not mad at you, Ralth. I think I understand. I just, mom, but not mom. I don¡¯t know, Bug, are you okay?¡± Cal¡¯s stomach had dropped. A version of his mom was alive, and she had saved him. He had no idea what to do with that information. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m okay. I had more time to process it than you.¡± Bug rubbed her head against his leg. ¡°If she¡¯s anything like our Izzy, the Grylath kicked a hornet¡¯s nest when they hurt her family,¡± Stan said. Before the conversation could continue, the room rocked. A loud ripping sound came from around them, and a door appeared on the wall where it hadn¡¯t been before. It opened, and Andy and Bill walked out. Andy slammed the door shut behind them. ¡°NO ONE IS TO ENTER THIS DOOR. I¡¯M MORE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS THAN I¡¯VE EVER BEEN ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE!¡± He ordered the room. ¡°Woah, Andy, calm down. You¡¯re starting to sound like me. What happened?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Andy¡¯s right. The world beyond this door is more dangerous than you all understand. We tried to open a crack to what should have been our newly formed realm after Andy infused me with a core, but instead we ended up in a place called the under library. We learned a great deal, but¡± Andy cut off Bill. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Bill, I can tell the story. You go get some rest. I know what it took out of you to get this door created.¡± ¡°Thanks, Andy. I feel like death.¡± ¡°So initially, we were stuck in an entrance area until Bill figured out how to open a door. This led us to the What Is Wing, where there was a very creepy puppet librarian who gave us a little bit of information on how we could learn to get back. So we made our way to the area with the right books and prepared to figure this all out. Clearly, we did. The in-between was hell.¡± Loop 253 - Stan, Jen & Bug Tackle Some Adepts ¡°How did it take you two four tries to win with just one of them?¡± Jen yelled to Bug and Stan. She had just grabbed the hand mid-cast of one of the three adepts and yanked it towards the other two, causing the fireball to destroy them both. Bug followed up by ripping out the throat of the one she was holding. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Would you believe it was somehow harder to fight one?¡± Stan asked back. ¡°No, I think you were goofing around. I know where Cal learned it.¡± Loop 253 - Frank Pumps It Up! Frank was adorned with his new purple and green wrestling leotard. It had taken Gus months to get it to him, but he knew he looked awesome in it. It was time to train. He started with his daily routine of walking from one side of the realm to the other. Learning to walk was hard, after all, but he was getting very good at it. He could almost run now. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. His second task was lifting things. He practiced moving objects back and forth in front of his face. He lifted up several small tools and set them back down, carefully arranging them in different patterns. ¡°Yes, I am the best at arms and legs!¡± He bellowed across the realm. Loop 253 - Part 11: Andy鈥檚 Tale Andy and Bill had spent the first night huddled in the reading room, doing their best to ignore any further knocking. The British shadow had been enough to destroy any hopes of restful sleep Andy had, but he tried anyway. He needed to do something to pass the time before he felt like opening the door was a reasonable idea. He woke up to Bill shaking him gently. He felt like he hadn¡¯t slept at all. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Andy asked the capybara. ¡°The knocking stopped about an hour ago. I haven¡¯t been able to sleep at all. I considered just letting you sleep, but I think we should use the lull to find our way back to the librarian. I want to ask that puppet some more questions about our predicament.¡± Bill had a somber tone to his voice. Andy could see the fear in his eyes. There was the possibility that he started all future loops here. ¡°Yeah, good idea. We left the supplies in the place we came in anyway. We might as well collect those if we can.¡± Andy opened the door and poked his head out. He didn¡¯t see anyone or anything. ¡°Looks clear, let¡¯s go.¡± He pulled the door shut behind them, and they both broke into a run back the way they had come the day before. ¡°There, up ahead and to the left,¡± Bill shouted, having spotted the librarian¡¯s desk. ¡°Hello and welcome back, stewards. Did you find what you needed?¡± The puppet asked them as soon as they were in front of the desk, not giving them a chance to ask their own questions yet. ¡°No!¡± They both yelled in unison. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?¡± ¡°What are the things that knock on the reading room doors?¡± Bill asked ¡°Oh the library has many guests, they are not allowed in occupied reading rooms unless one of the current occupants lets them in. It¡¯s generally best to not do that.¡± ¡°Yes, but what are they?¡± Andy asked this time, his voice full of anger. ¡°They are many things. The infinite roam the library seeking answers. Some find them and leave. Some find them and stay. Others become lost for eternity.¡± ¡°Are they dangerous?¡± Bill sighed and leaned against the desk, his exhaustion was becoming evident. ¡°Everything is dangerous in its own way. As the stewards, it will be up to you to determine the relative danger of any current guest.¡± ¡°Can we remove the guests?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Information restricted.¡± ¡°Great, just what I wanted to hear. Is there any faster way of transport around the library?¡± Andy followed up on his previous question. His anger was quickly growing. ¡°Of course, all means of transport are available to you. The books can help you assemble whatever it is you wish to use.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Fucking hell, this is getting us nowhere, Bill.¡± Andy¡¯s frustration finally broke free, and he pounded his fist on the desk. The puppet stood up. ¡°This is your first and only warning. There will be no violent action within one hundred feet of the reference desk. Any further action will result in your access being permanently revoked.¡± The puppet sat back down. ¡°Well, good job, Andy. We know how to get them kicked out if we just lure them to attack us here, I guess.¡± ¡°Not an answer I like. How long can we use a single reading room?¡± Andy asked. ¡°As long as you would like. There is no limit, but the books are only reserved for a year at a time. You will need to check them back out at their corresponding console once the year is up.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t the guests constantly trying to get to us? What makes them stop?¡± Bill had two good questions there that Andy hadn¡¯t thought to ask. ¡°Guests tend to avoid the janitorial staff. Confrontations are ill-advised.¡± ¡°When do they come out?¡± Andy followed up. ¡°When they need to clean a mess. There is no set schedule.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s drag the crates back to the reading room while it seems quiet. Maybe we can get some real sleep now.¡± Andy suggested to Bill. He was not at all pleased with how the conversation had gone. ¡°Yeah, we may as well. We¡¯ve got a ton of books to pour through, and we both need to figure out what magic we are capable of as well. So we may be stuck here for now, but there is plenty we need to accomplish.¡± They managed to drag several of their crates back but had to abandon the last one after seeing a figure in the stacks approaching. ¡°Leave it. It¡¯s just extra food. We don¡¯t need it.¡± Andy ordered. ¡°Roger.¡± Bill took off in a run, followed closely by Andy. ¡°Wait, I just want to talk. I promise I¡¯m not one of the weird ones. I¡¯m just trying to find my cat.¡± The voice called after them. ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t risk it,¡± Andy yelled back to the voice right before slamming the door. No knocking came. Andy considered that the voice may have been telling the truth, but that wasn¡¯t something he cared to test at the moment. It was time for sleep. Tomorrow, it would be time for books. And that is exactly how they spent the next several years, going over the books closest to their room. They ignored all knocking or anyone else they spotted in the library. No risk was considered worth it until they had a way home. Their last crate had disappeared to who knew where. They made no effort to find it. In between their studies, both of them tested out their new abilities. Andy was able to generate balls of gravitation distortions. Essentially, he could change anything¡¯s gravity within the field. On the other hand, Bill could move existing magic using his powers. He could also take some control over it. They weren¡¯t sure if this would extend beyond their bond at the moment, but if it did, Bill would be a potent force in a battle of mages. One of the problems that concerned them both, though, was just how to increase these powers. They had no spiritual realm that was growing. All they had was this unending Under Library full of monsters. Monsters and knowledge, Andy realized. One of the books here may be able to teach them how to evolve their abilities without the use of a mana spirit. This meant they would need to return, assuming they ever figured out how to escape. That wasn¡¯t a great thought. Finally, after nearly a decade of studying the local books, they hit a snag. ¡°The books we need to continue this research are much deeper into the stacks, Andy. We are going to have to find a new reading room.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was worried that was coming.¡± ¡°According to the console, we will need to head directly into the stacks. The trip is going to take us a day, maybe two. I¡¯m hoping we can find reading rooms along the way for safety''s sake, but I have no idea.¡± Bill¡¯s face had a look of fear as he spoke. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bill, I get it. Let¡¯s do one more night here, make some meals for the trip, and head out.¡± Loop 253 - Andy鈥檚 Powers, a Test Andy held as much mana as he could in the palm of his hand, channeled directly from his core. He tossed it into the air, focusing on it, forming a ball. It did. A ball roughly two feet in diameter floated in the center of the room. Andy moved it around, lifting things up gently and setting them back down that the ball passed through. He moved it on himself and turned up the gravity. He felt himself pulled to the ground. He released it and lessoned the gravity instead. He was floating now. He guided the ball around the room, trying to keep himself inside of it. With careful manipulation, he could use this to fly. He found the greater he altered the gravity, the faster his mana drained. So far, any attempts at a second ball had led to splitting his concentration too much, and both fizzed out. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Loop 253 - Bill鈥檚 Powers, a Test ¡°Move the gravity ball, Bill. I¡¯m going to try to hold it in place.¡± Andy instructed Bill. Bill obeyed. He channeled the mana flow across his body and reached out with his will. He saw the mana lines that reached from the ball to Andy. He reached out and felt one gently, and then he grabbed it and pulled it towards himself. He felt Andy fight back against it, so he added more mana. He started moving the ball around on his own. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. He pushed it over Andy and tried pulling another of the strings; the gravity decreased, and Andy flew into the ceiling. The distraction caused Bill to lose control. Andy used the moment to move the ball under him to gently land himself back on the ground. ¡°Well, that¡¯s insanely useful, Bill. I think you¡¯re a combat capybara now.¡± Bill smiled. Loop 253 - Part 12: Andy鈥檚 Tale Concluded Their trip started easily enough. Bill had pulled up a map from the console near their reading room and copied it down. They needed to head two thousand stacks forward, turn left, head another three thousand, turn left again, and head two thousand more. This didn¡¯t make a lot of sense if the library was a standard geometric shape, but considering they were dealing with dimension magic, Andy wasn¡¯t willing to question it just yet. The final instruction on the map was to pick the correct direction from the crossroad and walk until shelter was needed. ¡°So are this map telling us where to go or predicting what will happen as we try to get there and what we need to do?¡± Andy asked Bill as they walked. ¡°No idea. Initially, I had considered the map just didn¡¯t represent a Euclidian world like we were used to, but now I¡¯m wondering if it¡¯s more of a safety map. If we follow the instructions, we will find our way and probably not die type of map.¡± ¡°Huh, interesting thought. So we have dangerous directions then.¡± ¡°I think Cal has rubbed off on you.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve just accepted my fate and given into his naming scheme. Plus, I¡¯d rather avoid growing into a grumpy version.¡± ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s hard to believe you two are the same person at this point.¡± ¡°Are we, though? I have no idea how that even works. Apparently, the universe thought we were different enough to split apart.¡± Their chatting stopped once they reached the designated stack count. The library in front of them looked far older than what was behind them. There were consoles in sight, just rows of dusty wooden bookcases. ¡°Any guess how we pick the right direction?¡± Andy asked Bill. ¡°Nope, so let¡¯s just pick one. It gave us no clues, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything here to lead us either, so I say Left again. Let¡¯s make our journey a square.¡± ¡°I think it would be a rectangle, but I get your point.¡± ¡°I think the idea that geometry is normal here is completely out the window now, Andy.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± They both turned left and continued deeper into their endless library. Several hours into their journey, suddenly, everything went silent. The quiet humming sounds of lights and various other sources disappeared. Their feet made no sound as they stepped. Andy looked at Bill and tried to speak, but no noise came. He instead gestured, trying to convey a ¡°What the fuck is going on¡± message. Bill shrugged in response, shaking his head. Then they saw it. Something was dragging itself across the ground towards them. Arm after horrible arm, it pulled itself surprisingly quickly. Its head resembled something between an owl and a human. A large distended abdomen was being pulled behind the creature. It squirmed and writhed as it was dragged across the floor. It looked like still living creatures were pounding on it from the inside, desperate for release, but no sound could be heard. Bill frantically pointed to a spot between two of the bookcases and dashed between them. Andy squeezed himself after the capybara. The lights started to dim. Andy grabbed Bil before the light entirely failed. They had no choice but to stumble along together carefully, hoping to find some safety. Andy reached out to check in front of him before his next step and was greeted by something furry on the bookcase. It rubbed against his hand gently. He could feel light vibrations across the creature. Had he found that voice¡¯s cat in the middle of this? In an answer to his unsaid question, the animal hopped onto his shoulder and started rubbing against his neck. It certainly seemed like a cat. He tried to continue on. The cat hit him. He stopped. The cat relaxed. He tried to move again, and the cat him again. He decided to risk listening to the cat¡¯s not-so-subtle orders. He gripped Bill¡¯s shoulder, trying to silently signal him to freeze as well. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Andy felt something brush past his leg. He stayed perfectly frozen in place. Minutes later, the lights returned. Andy could hear himself breathing again. Bill was crying. ¡°It¡¯s alright, buddy. I think we¡¯re safe now.¡± Andy consoled his friend. ¡°I don¡¯t know why that of all the things we¡¯ve been through got to me so badly, but I just felt so helpless. Are you aware you have a cat on your shoulder?¡± Bill went from a shaken voice to sudden interest. ¡°I am. They were on the shelf here, and I¡¯m pretty sure they are the only reason we made it through that alive. It hit me every time I tried to move.¡± Andy explained why he had forced Bill to stay in place. ¡°Hey, is that my cat? Did you find poor little Wiggles? I bet he was terrified without his mother.¡± The owner of the voice finally came into view. It was a Gryalth. A different-looking one, she was wearing a graphic t-shirt with a frog riding an elephant on it alongside cut-off jean shorts. Andy had no idea what to make of her. ¡°Ugh, hi. I¡¯m Andy, this is Bill, and yes, your cat saved us.¡± Andy stuttered out the words. ¡°Aww, Mr. Wiggles, you are such a good boy, but no more running off. Hi Andy and Bill. I¡¯m Serilina. So is the panic on your faces from something you encountered, or do you come from a world where my people are horribly evil?¡± She asked, trying to smile. ¡°Both, actually. Look, it was nice meeting you, but we need to continue on. We have to find some books before shit hits the fan again.¡± Andy wanted to be safely locked away in a reading room as soon as he possibly could. He didn¡¯t trust a random Gryalth, even if her cat had just saved them. Plus, this woman was clearly doing fine on her own. ¡°Oh, I understand. This place has become a nightmare since the exit gates shut down. Good luck. I hope you find your book.¡± She walked between two bookcases and vanished from sight before Andy could think to follow up on the exit gates. ¡°Hey Andy, I think we are here, actually.¡± Bill was looking at the shelves. ¡°Huh, well sheltered was needed. Any guess how we find our way back to the librarian if we need to?¡± ¡°Nope. Come on, let¡¯s get the closest reading room populated with books and try to relax for a while. I feel about ready to explode from stress.¡± They did just that. Bill spent several hours in a hot bath trying to calm himself while Andy thumbed through the books. They needed something on reality location runes and authority systems. There were several hundred books. This wouldn¡¯t be quick. * It wasn¡¯t. It took them over a decade to find everything they needed and determine what a rudimentary rune diagram should look like. ¡°So the problem is, while I¡¯m pretty sure this will work. The door it creates is going to be permanent, and we need to do it back at the octagonal room we entered in at.¡± Bill was going over the details again out loud. ¡°So we have to find our way back then?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Yes, but that may not be as hard as I was originally worried it would be. I did some more reading last night, and I think all paths away from the stacks lead to the librarian. One of the tricks of the building design.¡± ¡°Interesting. Any idea how long it will take us to get back?¡± ¡°Nope, but I doubt it will be as long as it took us to find this place. It seems the return trip is designed to be easier.¡± Decided it was now or never, they packed up and headed out. They walked away from their room with only the librarian¡¯s desk as a goal and soon found a large pathway similar to what they had followed to their very first reading room. ¡°Seems to be working.¡± Bill said. ¡°Yeah, but we need to run now!¡± Andy yelled. He had looked behind them and saw several black shadow shapes piling out of the stacks behind them. Andy tried something to speed them up. He formed a gravity ball on himself. ¡°Bill, grab one of the strings and hold on tight.¡± He reduced the gravity of the ball, and both of them started leaping forward much faster. It was good that this worked because the shadows were moving nearly as quickly as their low gravity-induced speed allowed. It didn¡¯t matter, though, as they could see the librarian¡¯s desk in the distance. One final leap, and they were into the safety zone. Andy looked back and saw the shadows retreat into the stacks. They were safe again. It had been a very long time since he had felt this kind of relief. They ignored the librarian, returning to their entry room instead. ¡°Here goes nothing, well actually everything, but you know what I mean,¡± Bill said as he began tracing his diagram on the ground. Once he was done, he started channeling mana into the center. They were greeted by a wooden door slowly growing from the floor until it was nearly ten feet tall. ¡°Will this get us home?¡± Andy asked, unsure. ¡°I really hope so.¡± Bill opened the door, and they both ran through. Loop 253 - Mr. Wiggles The idiots were here. They were lucky he had decided to nap on their console after they left. Exploring the Under Library when the husks are feeding is one thing, but walking along the ground as you do so is another. That was complete insanity. He laid down on the bookcase in front of the human one. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The human touched him. He purred to reassure him. Then he leaped on his shoulder and slapped him every time he tried to move. He would keep them alive and then go find mother. He deserved a nice snack for this good deed. Loop 253 - Cooking with Bill Bill had found the trick to making anything taste good from the reading room was to steal all of the flavor packets from the noodles and use that in any dish he prepared. Generally, he would get several of the small vegetable containers and slowly mix them with seasonings until soft. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The real trick was the meat. The only things they had access to were sealed lunch meats or jerkies, but he could whip up something tasty with enough roast beef from the premade sandwiches. It was time-consuming, but it was better than always living on a limited variety of prepackaged food available. Loop 253 - Part 13: Laboratory Defense Planning ¡°Hrm, I wonder if I¡¯d be able to travel to the Under Library, and if I did, would I be considered a steward as well?¡± Andrew asked after Andy finished his story. ¡°Really, that¡¯s your takeaway from my horror story?¡± Andy asked back. ¡°Yes, are you about to claim you aren¡¯t planning a return trip?¡± Andrew¡¯s tone made sure to imply he knew his younger self, that well still, despite how far they had diverged. ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to claim that, and I suppose we can test your ability to enter when I do.¡± Andy smiled. ¡°Good. In the meantime, I have a request during the defense. As you are all aware, I have been able to increase Trashcat''s intelligence up to our other animal companions. I believe this was just a side effect of making her loop aware. If this holds the next loop, I will need someone else to test it on. At the moment, I only have enough materials for a single other dose. But as it pertains to the defense. I need as much of the bright stone from the mines as you can retrieve. It¡¯s one of the key ingredients. I¡¯ve been working from the little I had when this all started. It¡¯s a further refinement on how I brought Cal into this.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s make that a priority as well. If we could start building a network of people we completely trust and make them loop-aware, it would be a giant asset for the coming war.¡± Andy said. ¡°See, this is why we needed Andy. He has the strategy. I¡¯m just the words guy.¡± Cal followed up with a giant smile on his face. ¡°You¡¯re not even that much of a words guy. You were just my only real choice here.¡± Andrew side-eyed Cal. ¡°Alright, even more reason to crack loop awareness. We need a bard, someone who can get a lot of people to listen and act very fast when this happens.¡± Cal said. ¡°Let¡¯s table any talk of bards and go back to the Dallas defense people,¡± Jen said, shaking her head at them. ¡°So, Bill and I both have some magic now. His is crazy powerful, but he needs to be support. He can take control of other people''s mana flows. I can create gravity distortion fields. Let¡¯s put ourselves into two squads for this, with Ralth in reserve. Cal, I think you will work best with Stan, Jen, and Bug. Basically, let them operate as a unit with you jumping around as needed. Ethel, Frank, Bill and myself can work as the second squad, splitting into two smaller pairs as well as needed. Whatever happened with Melissa?¡± Andy asked, following his tactical planning. ¡°Turns out she was one of the scientists and has disappeared to do her own thing, so for now, I say we just ignore her,¡± Jen answered. ¡°Okay, disappointing, but okay. We could always use more magic. Anyone else want to join us in the defense?¡± Andy asked the room. Albert coughed. ¡°The boys and I have been working on some mana-infused grenades. We were thinking of doing bombing runs as needed.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Good idea, I like it. How many grenades do you have ready to do?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Just ten, but they should pack a big boom. We won¡¯t be able to use them inside.¡± ¡°Alright, we can work with that,¡± Andy said. ¡°Perfect, then if no one has anything, I think it¡¯s time for everyone to rest up before the big day. Just remember, I expect great things out of us.¡± Cal looked at everyone as he said this. ¡°Does that mean I should keep my expectations around average things?¡± Andy laughed. ¡°You know I had friends before you, Andy. I can get new ones!¡± ¡°Uh-huh, whatever you say, Cal. So, did I miss the conversation about Cal¡¯s eyes, or are we just avoiding that?¡± Andy asked the room. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to pry,¡± Stan answered. ¡°Oh yeah, my eyes. So, I overdosed on mana fruit in my realm, which nearly killed me. Bolt nursed me back to health, and I may not need to eat or breathe anymore. Nothing special. Mana fruit, great for the body.¡± ¡°Just how many did you eat, Cal?¡± Ethel scolded him from across the room. ¡°I tried eating a third one in a week. I should have just stuck to the one.¡± ¡°Cal, I ate four in a row before channeling it all into Frank. Are you sure you know what you¡¯re doing when it comes to mana release?¡± Ethel¡¯s voice was stern. She stared at him. ¡°Not even a little. I suppose next loop I can become one of your students.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose you can. Someone needs to beat a bit of discipline into you.¡± She finally broke her stare. ¡°Alright, everyone, go have fun before we all die horribly yet again.¡± Andy dismissed the meeting. Cal spent the remaining few days relaxing. He had spent this loop training harder than any previous. He was in the best physical shape he had ever ended a loop at before. He had no idea if that would help whatsoever, but it was nice to see what he could do when he focused. This line of thought led him to the decision that Ethel was probably also right about his needing better training. He would spend some time with her next loop and see about a trip to Titan. See if Marley¡¯s claims were true. It would be nice to meet someone with actual knowledge of how to use magic instead of blundering through it. Once the morning of the invasion hit, Cal put a lid on these thoughts for now. He had a battle to win or die trying. The usual in a series of insane events his life had become. He met up with everyone, and they shared a nice breakfast. ¡°So, any bets on who lasts the longest?¡± Albert asked. ¡°How does that work? The second Cal dies, it¡¯s over.¡± Andy pointed out in between bites of scrambled eggs. ¡°Good point, okay, new bet, order of who dies.¡± Albert tried again to get people interested. ¡°Probably me first, then Cal,¡± Stan said. ¡°Honestly, with his stupid luck, we are probably all going down before him.¡± Ethel resumed sipping her tea. ¡°Look, it doesn¡¯t matter as long as we can hold the building for two hours. That¡¯s what¡¯s important here.¡± Jen stated harshly, ending the conversation. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s time to go anyway. Everyone, go grab your gear and meet me in the Dallas safe house in the next thirty minutes.¡± Andy slid his plate to the center of the table and stood up. Cal did the same. It was time to see once again just what they could do and how much he personally had grown. Loop 253 - D&D Night ¡°I cast a fireball into the darkness, and my wizard takes a five-foot step backward to this square.¡± Cal moved his miniature on the map. ¡°Really, you¡¯re just firing blindly?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Callum the wise does not want to risk being bitten by another vampire capybara. It¡¯s why he¡¯s called the wise.¡± ¡°You all hear a voice scream from the darkness. Who dares interrupt my slumber?¡± Albert informed the party. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I can light,¡± Cal said. ¡°You all see the form of a capybara dragon with singed hair getting to their feet. They do not look pleased.¡± ¡°Hello, Capybara dragon person. I¡¯m very sorry. We thought you were a capybara vampire. It¡¯s an easy mistake to make. I¡¯m Lady Bug, the paladin. Is there anything I can do to make this up to you?¡± ¡°There are lowly vampires infesting my sleeping mountain?! How dare they. Yes, I demand you purge this mountain of undead.¡± ¡°You know, once you get past the number of capybara creatures in Albert¡¯s plots, he really is a great game master,¡± Andy said. Loop 253 - A Much Larger Test Subject ¡°Thank you for agreeing to this, Many Eyes.¡± Andrew pat the giant spider on her head. ¡°Ittt¡¯s no problem. I want to be ablllle to remember things like Many Legs can. Professor Ethel¡¯s lessons are very usefullll, but very hard to remember.¡± The giant spider responded. ¡°Now, as I said, I can¡¯t promise success, but we do know Trashcat here was able to speak afterward. You are the next subject as an animal that could already speak.¡± Andrew continued his explanation while readying the syringe. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yesss, I undersstanddd, justtt ddddo it.¡± Andrew considered whether anxiety caused an increase in their odd speech patterns. Andrew injected her. Nothing noticeable happened. Now, they waited for the next loop. Loop 253 - Part 14: Laboratory Defense Engagement ¡°The initial group just unloaded from a van in front of the building. Three Gryalth entered the building. Two are by the doors. Whoever is driving the van is heading to the parking garage.¡± One of the capybaras informed everyone over their comms. There were four pairs of capybaras watching from the nearby roofs. They had orders against entering the fight directly. Their objective was to gather and provide intelligence only. ¡°Understood. Cal take the three inside, Stan break off with Jen and Bug to handle the two outside. Frank, Ethel, follow the van.¡± Andy instructed the group. There were no objections. Cal and his family were currently inside the building. They had locked the receptionist in an empty room for her own safety while they prepared to engage the attackers in the lobby. Cal was sitting at the desk himself. He watched the Gryalth come through the door and ducked down behind the desk, feigning fear. He saw two of them move past the desk and assumed the third was remaining to deal with him. He thought this was likely what happened in previous loops to the poor secretary. The idea of them killing an innocent woman just trying to do her job pushed his anger up. Not that it took much anymore. He kicked the desk upwards and out, channeling a blast of lightning through his feet for the added punch. The desk flew into the Gryalth, coming at him. It pinned him to the ground. ¡°Hey aliens, you know I used to be a lot less angry before I had to keep dealing with you.¡± He yelled before dropping a small lightning ball between the two. He kept the range of the explosion to a minimum, but it was big enough that both went down hard. Entirely unexpectedly, a message popped into his vision. Gryalth killed 2/50. That was weird and new. He had an idea of what it meant, but why had the game mechanics from the console increased in scope? He heard the third Gryalth start to move and blasted a lightning bolt into its face. Gryalth killed 3/50 flashed before his eyes. ¡°Hey, is anyone else getting notifications when they kill Gryalth?¡± He asked over the comms. ¡°Yeah, I was just about to say something. I saw a message that said one of fifty killed.¡± Stan said. ¡°Same. Also, the outside Gryalth are gone.¡± Bug added. ¡°Any injuries to anyone on our side?¡± Andy asked/ ¡°None here,¡± Cal answered. ¡°We¡¯re all good as well,¡± Jen said. ¡°Good, Stan, Jen, and Bug, I want you to break off and pass the bright stone to the void house. Let me know once you¡¯re back. How are things going over there, Ethel?¡± ¡°They just parked and climbed out of the van. I saw two of them. We will engage.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Understood. Let us know when you are done.¡± Cal returned to his seat to wonder what was next. He knew the next wave wouldn¡¯t be nearly so easy, but they had to wait until someone realized the first group was missing. ¡°Both Gryalth are down. I got the notification, but Frank did not.¡± Ethel¡¯s voice returned in his ear. ¡°Oh, I bet this is part of the party mechanics of the console then!¡± Cal was excited again, a new weird function of the R.I.S. What happened when he hit fifty? He decided to go for it today. How hard could it be? ¡°Cal, stop it. I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Andy scolded him. ¡°Oh, please, you¡¯re thinking the same thing.¡± ¡°Bah, fine. Just be careful. We have to hold at least two hours before you do stupid things to increase your experience.¡± ¡°See, this is why you¡¯re in charge. You understand the reality of giving me orders.¡± Andy didn¡¯t respond. Just as Stan, Jen, and Bug joined Cal in the lobby, they were informed of two flying Gryalth transport ships. ¡°How far out are they?¡± Andy asked. ¡°I¡¯d guess it will be there in two minutes at most.¡± The capybara replied. ¡°Alright, everyone, we¡¯re a little over an hour in on our timer. I doubt we get another break after this.¡± Andy was interrupted. ¡°They are splitting up, both still coming towards you, but one is heading towards Ethel and Frank now.¡± ¡°Understood, Bill, you¡¯re with me. Ethel, we are on our way. Good luck, Cal and family.¡± ¡°You three should go prepare an ambush. Let me start the fight and catch them as off guard as I can,¡± Cal instructed his family. ¡°Got it, come on, Bug, Jen¡± Stan led his wife and dog to the nearby storage closet. Cal heard the ship landing, stood up, and raised his hands. Ten Gryalth walked inside. They looked to be the same as the ones dead on the ground: good, no adepts yet, just more soldiers. ¡°I surrender. Please don¡¯t hurt me,¡± Cal yelled. One of them started to raise a weapon. Alright, this was destined to fail. He had forgotten to clean up the bodies. Next time, though, he would see how far he could trick them. Cal tried chaining lightning through them all. He hadn¡¯t had a good test of how far that had come yet; he might as well get it out of the way before the real wizards showed up. He pushed just what he thought was enough mana into the blast to take them all out. It was too much. The first five exploded, the following four dropped dead, and the last one shot through the glass door, crashing dead to the pavement outside. Gryalth killed 13/50. ¡°Ugh, I guess you guys can come out now. That went way easier than I was expecting. I think I¡¯m a lot stronger than I realized.¡± Cal called to his family. ¡°My group¡¯s down. How are you guys doing.¡± Cal asked over the comm. ¡°We¡¯re fine. Frank took a hit, but he seems to be unfazed. Ethel is checking him over anyway. Sit back and wait for wave three.¡± Andy instructed. ¡°Incoming, this time they aren¡¯t in a transport, five flying directly to you, Cal.¡± ¡°I see them. Uh, Andy, I think they¡¯ve decided to focus on me.¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯re on the way, stay alive.¡± Cal planned to listen to Andy on this one. ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going to fight them in the street, I¡¯m worried about the damage they will cause in here.¡± Cal didn¡¯t like leaving them alone in here, but it was likely safer than out there. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll jump in if we see anywhere we can help, but this is probably growing bigger than what we can handle,¡± Stan responded. Cal walked through the doors, looked up into the sky, and pointed his finger at the figures he saw approaching. He shot a blast of lightning, arcing it with the intent of hitting all five. It fizzled out, hitting an invisible wall in front of them. ¡°Shit.¡± Loop 253 - Ethel & Frank Let Loose ¡°Frank please rip the door of that van if you could.¡± Ethel requested. ¡°Can do. I¡¯m very good at pulling doors.¡± Frank grabbed the passenger side door and ripped it off the van. The startled Gryalth leaped from the van, raising their weapons. They both tripped to the ground. They found their feet had been wrapped tightly in rapidly growing grass. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Frank grabbed one of them and tossed them far into the air. ¡°Yeah, I am the best! No one can beat me in the ring!¡± Frank screamed after the Gryalth. Ethel dispatched the second much more gently. She pushed the plants down its throat. Gryalth killed 1/50 Loop 253 - Andy Andy pulled all five of the Gryalth to the ground before they had a chance to react. Frank charged in, tree limbs sweeping before him and promptly bounced off their shield. That was a problem. They needed to get past that if they had a chance at actually killing them. ¡°Bill, can you cancel the shield?¡± Andy asked ¡°I see the mana strings. I¡¯ll try.¡± He answered. Andy saw the capybara¡¯s face strain with effort, but within seconds, he was rewarded with the sight of the air cracking in front of the Gryalth. The shield exploded. Andy reversed the gravity, flinging them back into the air. They were caught off guard, and several crashed back into the ground dazed. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. They landed in front of a smiling Frank. He grabbed one and started hitting the others with it. Andy flung two of them into the side of the van hard. Gryalth killed 2/50 So that was what Cal was talking about. He wasn¡¯t sure he liked it. It was very distracting. He turned back to the scene of Frank and the last three. None of the Gryalth were still alive. Loop 253 - Part 15: Laboratory Defense Magical Engagement Cal leaped to the side as one of the lead Gryalth returned fire. He pulled a rock wall in front of him and felt several more blasts chip away at it. He poked his head out quickly from the side and spotted them moving closer. He dropped a ball of lightning in their path, pouring more mana than he had ever before tried into it. There was a loud cracking sound somewhere in the sky. He heard screams. Gryalth killed 17/50 He decided to risk another look. Four of them were entirely gone. The fifth was now speeding directly at him with a look of fury on its face. Cal responded to the look with another two lightning shits. Both hit the same shield. The shield was visible when hit this time. Several cracks ran through it. He guessed his explosive ball had destroyed the other four¡¯s defenses and continued through to obliterate them as well. ¡°Hey, big guy, bet you can¡¯t hit me, asshole!¡± Cal called into the sky. He pulled up another rock shield as he spoke. It exploded in front of him as a ball of molten rock ricocheted off it. ¡°You will pay for the deaths of my pupils, human!¡± Its voice rocked the air in front of Cal. He felt the air pound into his chest and realized he was channeling force through the words themselves. Now, that was something he wanted to learn. He tried something new and electrified and the air around him. He pushed mana into until he had a nearly tangible wall of charged particles between him and the last Gryalth. It worked as he hoped. The Gryalth shot another molten ball at him, only for it to be repelled by the energy wall directly back at him. It hit the shield, and Cal got to witness it explode this time. It shimmered like a rainbow and then cracked apart and dropped from the sky. He wished he could do that. It shot blasts of fire from each of its finger times around the energy barrier. Cal leaped into the air and dissipated the energy wall under him, propelling him fifty feet up. He was now eye to eye with the Gryalth. It looked startled. Cal didn¡¯t waste the moment and fired a lightning bolt point-blank into its face. The Gryalth crumbled, falling from the sky. Gryalth killed 18/50 Cal came, falling after the creature. He charged the air below him, doing his best to slow his fall. It wasn¡¯t working. The atmosphere felt slightly different than Bolt¡¯s realm. This was going to hurt. A black ball enveloped him. His fall slowed, and he hit the ground gently. He saw Andy standing nearby, a giant smile on his face. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Pretty sure I told you not to die,¡± Andy said. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the tactical mind here, and I see you pulled off the save just in time.¡± Cal hugged his friend, glad to see him. ¡°We¡¯ve got another thirty minutes, and so far, no more are inbound. We might just make this. We still have the mana bombs and Ralth in reserve. Oh, and apparently, we have another giant distraction to help us.¡± Andy informed Cal. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Melissa is in Washington D.C. with a dozen mechs holding her own. Andrew is recording it for us to watch the next loop.¡± ¡°Good for her. We should probably try to find her again in the next loop.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Incoming everyone, Looks like we¡¯ve attracted real attention now. I see four different squads of five casters a piece, all inbound, probably five to ten minutes.¡± The capybara¡¯s voice had lost all sense of enthusiasm. He sounded somewhat scared. ¡°Let¡¯s get under some cover in the building across the street. I don¡¯t want them shooting at us from above. As soon as they are in range, I¡¯ll try to pull them all down. Bill, I want you to redirect as much of their magic back at them as you can. Everyone else hit them with everything you have. Let¡¯s try to overwhelm them before they realize what they¡¯re facing.¡± Cal thought the plan the plan seemed simple enough. All he had to do was unleash everything he had into the enemy. Good job, Andy. There wasn¡¯t really a way for him to ruin this plan. The squads converged overhead and began to jointly cast something. Cal had no idea what but was happy when Andy didn¡¯t give them a chance to finish. A gravity ball appeared in the center of them, and they all started plummeting quickly toward the ground with it. Several of them changed what they were casting. Air rose up below them, cushioning their fall. Cal saw Bill start moving his hands strangely in response. The pocket of air grew far more intense, suddenly scattering them all. Several of them were forced to collide into the sides of the buildings. The end result of Bill¡¯s tampering was the total loss of their formation, and over half of them were on the ground, isolated from the rest. Frank was the first to act on this. He charged through the building doors like a bulldozer. The walls of the building rattled as the doors were reduced to rubble. Cal wasn¡¯t about to let the monster of a tree beat him to the punch and rocketed himself after Frank. Cal immediately threw several balls of lightning at the ones still in the air. He heard a few cracks but no screams. He dived behind a car and started blasting lightning out from the sides. He could hear the chaos Frank was causing and saw a body go flying over the vehicle. He was impressed. Ethel had taught this plant well. The grass around the street started rapidly growing. Cal heard more yells of panic and spotted a couple of Gryalth tangled into the newly writhing plant life. He used this new distraction to take a look at what was still in the air. Five of them were floating above the streets, working together to channel energy into a ball. Cal didn¡¯t like the looks of that and pushed as much mana as he could into a new ball of lightning directly on top of their energy ball. He ignited it, and the sky turned white. The resulting pressure wave knocked him to the ground as what was left of the Gryalth rained down onto the streets. Gryalth killed 25/50 ¡°That¡¯s disgusting, Cal,¡± Ethel screamed at him from across the road. His ears were raining from the explosion. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t realize it would be that big.¡± He needed to learn to judge mana fields, something else to add to his ever-growing list of things to procrastinate on. ¡°Guys, something big is incoming. It¡¯s spotted me, gotta.¡± The capybara¡¯s voice was cut off, and they all heard the explosion in the distance. ¡°Shit, get ready. I think we have a full-fledged battle mage incoming,¡± Andy called to the group just as fire began to rain from the sky directly above their heads. Loop 253 - Frank ¡°TIME TO SMASH MORE GRYALTH,¡± Frank bellowed as he charged through the still-closed doors of the building. Their frames bent and ripped away from the building as he forced his way through. Frank was now a one-plant wrecking crew who had no intention of leaving his mother¡¯s friends to fight alone, even if he didn¡¯t understand what she saw in them. He spotted Cal coming behind him and was determined to hit something first. He saw one of the aliens falling out of the air in front of him. That was perfect. He grabbed it by the head and chucked it as hard as he could into another one. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°YEAH, FRANK THE TREE TITAN TAKES TWO.¡± He screamed at the surviving aliens. This was awesome. Loop 253 - Bill The mana strings Bill observed from the Gryalth were different than what he had seen Andy, Cal, or Ethel use. He theorized that this was part of Ralth¡¯s claims that magical sources were more potent in the universe they originated from. If this was true, it was likely the only reason they were still alive. He could see the size of the strings and the energy being poured into them. It was much more significant than anything they were able to accomplish, and the Gryalth had to do this just to use any magic here. Their potential strength in their home universe was staggering in his imagination. Stolen story; please report. Despite his fears of their power, he knew what he had to do and grabbed several of the strings. He inverted them as best he could and was rewarded with a sight of several Gryalth being flung recklessly into the air. He was glad that some things seemed to be constant on how mana channeling worked. Loop 253 - Part 16 Laboratory Defense Boss Fight ¡°The good news is we just need another fifteen minutes. The bad news is Melissa and her mechs are down, so our biggest distraction is gone. They will focus on us if we take this guy down.¡± Andy yelled. ¡°When we take him down,¡± Cal yelled back. The fire rain had destroyed the majority of Ethel¡¯s overgrowth assault, and Frank had run back inside in fear of ignition. Cal raised a stone barrier above his head so he could stay in the road for now. He waited for the creature to get closer. He had an idea. Once he spotted the Gryalth, he understood what the capybara was talking about. This thing was at least five times the size of Frank. The shield around it shimmered every time it caught the light. ¡°Bill, do you see the shimmering?¡± Cal asked the small capybara. ¡°Yes, do you want me to try to move it?¡± He asked. ¡°No, I want you to try to turn the damn thing off and then let it turn back on the second you see my ball lightning in front of the Gryath. I want to trap a powerful explosion inside its shield.¡± ¡°Great idea, Bill, do what he says.¡± Andy had joined Bill. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, but those are some pretty big mana strings,¡± Bill answered. They waited an agonizing few minutes for it to finally stop the firestorm so they could start moving in closer. ¡°Bill now!¡± Cal yelled. The shimmering vanished. Cal pushed as much mana as he had into the last lightning ball into this one, too. He felt his mana channels burn. Apparently, they didn¡¯t like this much lightning so quickly twice in a row. The shimmering returned. Bill collapsed from the effort, but he had given Cal all he needed at the moment. Cal ignited the ball. It looked like a miniature sun had ignited above their heads for a fraction of a second before the shield exploded, and the creature came crashing to the ground. To their dismay, it was still very much alive and now looked enraged. Cal charged the air between the monster and himself and pulled up a rock cocoon around Bill¡¯s prone form. He felt his core rapidly draining. Luckily, the space around the creature¡¯s head turned black. ¡°Stop fighting me and just fall, dammit!¡± Andy yelled at the giant Gryalth. ¡°You heard the man!¡± Cal joined Andy¡¯s attack by blasting several lightning bolts into the black space. They were answered by the creature slamming its hands together. The gesture created a small tornado between them and itself. The tornado was growing by the second. Cal tried his best to slow the roaring wind down, but he just didn¡¯t have fine enough control over the charged air particles to affect it. The tornado continued on its slow path toward them. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Plants erupted from the ground, the pavement exploding over them as greens and browns shot up between themselves and the swirling vortex. At the same time, Frank threw his entire body into the creature, punching over and over. Pained screams finally started coming from its mouth. ¡°Frank, keep it up!¡± Cal yelled as he moved backward. He had one more trick to try if he could just get a good view around this damned tornado. It was ripping some of the new trees out of the ground. Cal heard Ethel scream in the distance. The plant life withered in front of him. Andy pulled a radio out of his pocket. He had lost his headset at some point. ¡°Albert, strafing runs now. We need more cover.¡± In response, Cal heard several explosions rain down on the monster. The mana bombs had been deployed. Frank started pounding the monster even harder. He was screaming incoherently now. ¡°Andy, we are running out of time. I¡¯m pretty sure Ethel is down. I need to get to the other side of that tornado. Any ideas?¡± Cal yelled over the screaming wind. ¡°Yes, throw yourself straight up like you did earlier. I¡¯ll catch you in the ball.¡± Cal obeyed and blasted himself skyward at an angle, managing to clear the vortex entirely. He spotted Frank''s continued assault. ¡°Frank, try to pry its mouth open. I¡¯ve got an idea,¡± Cal screamed to the green giant. The gravity ball caught him, slowing his fall just in time to witness Frank trying to rip the creature''s jaw off. It was fighting back, tearing chunks of Frank off, but Frank just ignored it, lost deep in a focused rage at his singular task. Cal dropped down beside him just as the jaw popped open. He shoved his hand into its mouth, pushed a ball of lightning as deep as he could, and emptied his core into it. ¡°Frank, run now!¡± he yelled, diving for cover himself. Cal once again detonated his lighting ball. The giant Gryalth battle mage exploded, leaving a vast crater in the ground where the body used to be. Gas and water pipes erupted from under the street. A new message flashed before Cal¡¯s eyes. Boss defeated +25 Gryalth killed. Gryalth killed 50/50 Upgrades available at the R.I.S. ¡°Holy shit, we did it.¡± Cal collapsed. He couldn¡¯t believe the amount of mana he had channeled today compared to Mars, and while he felt exhausted, it didn¡¯t compare to the level of what he felt before. It looked like all his training had paid off. ¡°Will mom be okay next loop?¡± Frank yelled across the destroyed street. He had found Ethel¡¯s broken body crumpled next to a car. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Frank, she will be back, I promise,¡± Cal reassured him. Without Frank, they would have lost this fight. The strength he had was incredible. Whatever Ethel had done with him was nothing short of game-changing. ¡°Ralth, you may as well join us out here. We need another five minutes. We aren¡¯t in any shape to keep fighting, and I¡¯m sure more are coming.¡± Andy had pulled the radio back out. ¡°On my way,¡± Ralth answered. Stan, Jen, and Bug had come out of the building to help Frank with Ethel¡¯s body. Cal heard them trying to soothe him as they all returned to the lab together. Cal spotted several waves of Gryalth incoming, likely to be here any second. Ralth appeared, running through the lab doors, and leaped into the sky. He only had to hold them another minute. He held them for five as he danced across the sky. Gryalth, after Gryalth, fell to his spells, but the forces just kept coming. Eventually, the same scene from Ralth¡¯s previous end-of-loop battle played out in the sky again. The last thing Cal saw was the world erupting into flame. Loop 253 - The Fall of Ethel She didn¡¯t like the size of this thing. Frank was punching it as hard as he could and barely making a dent. If she didn¡¯t do something fast, that tornado was going to kill them all. She pushed her awareness below the street to all the plant roots slowly growing their way into cracks. She felt as many as she could. Her brain buzzed with the strain. She ignored it. She channeled every bit of energy in her core into the plants, asking them to grow big and strong and help protect her friends. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it They listened. All around her, plants erupted from the ground. The cement cracked and burst in places as trees rose from under it. The force of the tornado decreased with the added cover. She started pushing the plants towards the monster itself. Her goal was to slow it down as well, giving them a chance to plan a new attack. It was too late. The beast had seen her. She saw it whip several uprooted trees at her. Her body wasn¡¯t what it used to be, and she had no chance to escape. ¡°Damned alien monster.¡± She uttered as her body crumpled to the ground, no longer moving. Loop 253 - Other Izzy ¡°Where¡¯s the dimensional gateway?!¡± Izzy yelled at the Gryalth as she hit him in the face. They were standing in a pile of dead Gryalth. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± It spat out blood and tried to bite her She hit it again. ¡°I¡¯ve been wandering these caves for years. I know how you things operate. I know somewhere down here, it''s the gateway you¡¯ve used to get in your initial troops and reinforcements. Now, either you can tell me where it is, or you can die.¡± She stared at the alien in the eyes as she spoke. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What if you both died? That seems like the best option.¡± A new figure had entered the cavern. Izzy couldn¡¯t see where it was, but she felt the searing pain of the fireball that ignited the air around her. She would find them next time. Loop 253 - Part 17 Melissa Assuming things played out as they had previously, she had about a day before the aliens attacked. She was going to use that day to raid a few Agency bases for new information she could use next time. She walked into one of their D.C. offices expecting and entirely willing to wreck the place before she left. ¡°Hey there, I¡¯m looking for Agent Grant. He should be a grade seven, if I remember right. Wanna send him out for me? We need to discuss the ogre program.¡± Her smile almost reached her ears as she stared down the man at the front desk. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, but.¡± The phone on his desk started ringing loudly, interrupting whatever he was about to say. Melissa grabbed the phone from his ear and slammed his face into the desk with her other hand. She had zero patience for the bureaucracy of the Agency on a good day. Today was not a good day. Actually, today was a great day, she realized. Apparently, she just never had the patience for it. That made a lot of sense in retrospect. ¡°Hey, whoever is on the other end of this, get your ass up here. Actually, you know what? Don¡¯t. I¡¯m coming down.¡± She slammed the phone down. Melissa pulled her own phone out of her pocket and tapped her grandfather¡¯s number. It rang twice before he picked up. ¡°Release the infiltration drones. I¡¯m going hunting.¡± She hung up before he could make any protests. Thirty seconds later, several men stormed from the door behind the desk, weapons drawn. They weren¡¯t fast enough as her drones smashed through the windows and started blasting away at the room. Two of the men managed to dive for cover. The rest were on the ground, dead. ¡°Hey, you two, I do see you over there. Want the chance to live through this? No promises, though.¡± She yelled. One of them put his hands on his head and slowly stood up. ¡°Please, I have a family.¡± He said ¡°Aww, I did too. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I want my brother back. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Agent Clark.¡± ¡°Well, here¡¯s your one and only chance, Clark, take me down to your ogre cells. I want to see just who you have here.¡± She said. The door opened one more time, and a single man walked out. ¡°We don¡¯t have any ogres here. Now, just who are you, and what brings you to our facility beyond rampant death and destruction.¡± The newcomer asked The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m the sister of someone you kidnapped, and I¡¯m here to have him returned.¡± ¡°No.¡± And with his single word, something in the ceiling exploded. All the lights went dead. Melissa heard her drones crash to the ground. ¡°Dammit.¡± She muttered. Her phone was dead, too. She had to escape. This had become a losing battle. Next time, they wouldn¡¯t be so lucky. She¡¯d build the drones with EMP protections. In the meantime, though, she had to run. Luckily, no one gave immediate chase. They had a mess to clean up and probably thought they had plenty of time to catch up to her later. They didn¡¯t, but she certainly wouldn¡¯t tell them that. She ran all the way back to the van her grandfather was waiting for her in. She opened the passenger door and climbed in. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll explain what went wrong on the way.¡± She slumped back in her seat. The adrenaline was wearing off. She was angry and tired. She had wanted to see Henry before the big fight, but that wasn¡¯t in the cards this loop. Hopefully, it will be next time. ¡°They had an EMP. It took out the drones. Next time, I¡¯ll build for that, but we need to prepare for tomorrow. Let¡¯s get back to the safe room. It should hold us for the night from whatever they send to find me.¡± ¡°Alright, just promise me you will get some rest before we try to pilot mechs against an army of aliens.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± * ¡°You know Mel, I¡¯m not sure I fully believed you up until now. God, I¡¯m too old to fight an alien invasion in a giant robot.¡± He said over the radio. ¡°No one is too old anymore. This will eventually be about the world fighting back. If I can just build more of these mana batteries, people will have a real chance.¡± Melissa and her grandfather stood in giant mech suits fighting aliens in front of the White House. She understood at some level that this was entirely ridiculous and nonsensical, and honestly her grandfather believed it much easier than she ever would have, but the reality was here. She knocked on the troop transports out of the sky as it attempted to take down a helicopter. Three of the giant aliens were incoming. One of the corpses already lay at her feet. She discharged her mana batteries across the mech circuits into her right fist and smashed into one of the three. Its head exploded. Her alarms started going nuts. Something was wrong. She turned her camera and saw five more of the aliens had her grandfather down. They were tearing apart his suit. ¡°Fuck. Grampa, get out of there and run if you can!¡± She yelled into the radio. There was no response. Dammit, this wasn¡¯t going how she expected. Sure, she had entirely planned on losing this battle, but she thought she could at least hold on for the day. Is this why Cal and Stan hadn¡¯t been fighting this directly. Ugh, she would need to change her strategy next loop, for now, she was going to take as many of them with her as she could. ¡°ALL ALLY FORCES GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. I¡¯LL DO WHAT I CAN!¡± She screamed into the loudspeaker. She pressed a series of buttons and started draining all the mana batteries into her self-destruct. It was certainly going to kill her, but she was taking as many of them with her as she could. ¡°Next time, I¡¯m dying first, Grampa.¡± She yelled at no one as she charged forward. Her mech and the surrounded several hundred feet disappeared into an orange inferno. Loop 253 - Bolt & Barron ¡°Are you ready, Barron? The realms are in sync now. We can merge them if you are.¡± Bolt called to her fellow spirit, now fully manifested into the void realm. ¡°Just one second. Andrew wanted to watch, so I promised not to let him miss this.¡± Barron answered. Moments later he emerged from the void house with Andrew in tow. His form was pulsating with energy in a rhythm that matched with Bolt¡¯s own. ¡°Stay there, and don¡¯t interrupt until we talk to you, okay?¡± Bolt instructed Andrew. ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll not interrupt your experiment.¡± He responded. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The two spirits danced around each other in the sky. The light from Bolt¡¯s realm shone into the void and illuminated them brightly. Their dance picked up speed, their forms began to blur, and finally, where once danced two spirits, there was only one. It was more than twice the size of the two smaller spirits that shimmered between orange and purple. It landed next to Andrew. ¡°Hello Andrew, I am Fulginanis. I am both Bolt and Barron. It is a pleasure to meet you. Cover your eyes. I have one last thing to do.¡± Andrew obeyed. ¡°Let there be light!¡± The sky erupted into a sparkling twilight. Instead of just Bolt¡¯s singular distant star, there were now hundreds of points of light. In front of Andrew, a translucent staircase appeared. Loop 253 - ???? ¡°Hello, Agent Brice, it turns out your insane story may not have been so insane. One of the names you mentioned tried to break into our D.C. facility earlier today.¡± An older man addressed the younger Brice, currently locked in a cell. ¡°Told you.¡± He responded. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes, well, that as it may be. I still don¡¯t fully believe you. That said, I recommend you remember the phrase: the jam is made of dreamberries and rye. It won¡¯t do you any good now, but if this does all repeat, it will be instrumentally useful for you the next time we talk.¡± The old man walked away. Loop 254 - Part 1 Cal woke up to someone¡¯s hands around his throat. Not this again. Somehow, he had forgotten about these two. His anger flared. He punched out hard with his left arm, and without thinking, he channeled a small lightning blast into his fist. He had just assumed, like before, he wouldn¡¯t have access to his core. That had changed. His training was counteracting whatever methods they had used to suppress him. He channeled energy downward into his bed, rocketing himself upwards. He kicked out into the one that had just been choking him, knocking him across the room into the wall. The walls rattled with the impact. Cal saw the other one reach into its jacket for something. He blasted it in the face with another shot of lightning before it had a chance. Well, at least these idiots wouldn¡¯t be a massive problem for him in the future. They were down to a minor annoyance. Still, he wished this wasn¡¯t how he had to wake up every new loop. He checked them over. They were both still alive. He riffled through their pockets and inside their suits, taking out everything they had. He then tossed them both into the void realm and stepped through after them. He quickly noticed the change in the realm. The sky was beautiful, but there was no time to focus on that at the moment. These two needed to be placed in confinement. ¡°Andrew, I need help!¡± Cal called into the void house. Cal heard some clamoring from inside the void house before a half-dressed Andrew burst from the doors. ¡°What? Why are you already here? Oh, those two. I had nearly forgotten about them.¡± His words were tinged with grogginess. Cal had apparently woken him up. ¡°Yes, help me get them inside. We can lock them in two of the unused bedrooms for now.¡± He instructed. Andrew listened and grabbed one, dragging it ahead of Cal. Cal struggled to continue pulling the other. The worst part of a new loop was always the first few years in his smaller body. The best part was the lack of random back pain. Though now that he thought about it, that had been decreasing the more, he increased his mana channels. He didn¡¯t remember feeling many of the effects of aging last loop at all. He would need to talk to Ethel about that. They shoved them both into separate rooms and locked them. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back. I¡¯m sure Bug and Dad are worried, assuming they woke up. I did manage to rattle the house, though, so I¡¯m guessing Bug is about done chewing through my door.¡± In answer, they both heard a voice calling from outside the void house. ¡°CAL ARE YOU HERE?! IS EVERYTHING OKAY?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bug, I¡¯m safe. I managed to capture both of them this time around. Sorry I scared you, but I wanted to get them locked down before they woke up, so I dragged them here.¡± Cal opened his arms to hug her. Bug obliged and leaped into his arms. He scratched behind her ears, and she started to calm down. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°So what do we do with those two anyway?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°No idea. I think I¡¯m going to go get some more sleep. I¡¯ll look around at these changes once I don¡¯t feel like walking death. Bug, can you let Dad know everything is okay?¡± Cal asked his ever-loyal companion. ¡°Sure can. I¡¯ll see you both in the morning.¡± Bug walked back through the cracks to her other, more Earth-bound home. ¡°Night, Andrew.¡± ¡°Night.¡± Cal felt safer in the void house these days. His bedroom just wasn¡¯t the same since the two Cyclopean aliens had started their attacks. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. * ¡°Cal, wake up!¡± Cal bolted awake at the sudden voice. He realized it was just Bug, luckily before he had released the mana he had pushed into his hands. ¡°Hey girl, let¡¯s not do any sudden wake-ups early in the loops, okay? I¡¯ve got some PTSD I have to work through still.¡± He smiled at her to let her know he wasn¡¯t actually mad. ¡°Sorry, Cal, everyone is here, so I thought you¡¯d want to come join us.¡± her tail was between her legs. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, I do, just more gentle wake-ups, please.¡± ¡°Okay, I promise.¡± He pet her head, and her tail started wagging. Cal and Bug headed for the situation room and settled into their usual spots. There was a plate of food waiting for him. It looked like they had let him sleep longer than Bug let on. The Capybaras had already set up the kitchen. ¡°Hello everyone.¡± He looked around the room. They were all there, digging into their own meals and making their usual small talk. Ethel spoke up first. ¡°We need to start arranging pickup for Many Eyes, Many Legs, and Trashcat at the start of these loops now. Bug and I told her to meet us at the dumpster where we first met if she remembered. I used my root network to grab her this time, but I¡¯d rather not use mana in the future.¡± ¡°Wait, does that mean she¡¯s loop-aware?!¡± Andrew interrupted, his voice full of a rare excitement. ¡°Yes, it does. She is currently being shown around my realm by Gus, but I¡¯ll drop her off here later today. Now, as I was saying before, I was so rudely interrupted. We need transport for these three at the start of every loop. Albert, do you think that¡¯s something you¡¯d be able to handle?¡± She looked at the Capybara. ¡°Probably, I¡¯ll need Bill to join me and get a good look at the areas so we can design some stones to easily transport there. Once we have the prototypes, we can build a supply and keep them here like we do the stones to our cave.¡± ¡°Perfect. Thank you, Albert. If I decide to link my realm here, I may need your assistance with more stones.¡± ¡°No problem, professor.¡± The capybara had a rare respectful tone anytime he addressed Ethel these days, quite different than when they had first met him. ¡°Where is Barron anyway? I wanted to talk to him about the changes.¡± Cal asked. ¡°Barron isn¡¯t Barron anymore, Cal. He and Bolt are now Fulginanis, and they promised they would be back later today. Apparently, first, they needed to test the boundaries of their combined realm and prepare a point for a gateway into Ethel¡¯s.¡± Andrew said. ¡°Huh, interesting. Alright, breakfast and then R.I.S., it is.¡± In a rare moment, there was universal agreement among the group. Loop 254 - Trashcat & Gus ¡°Um, where am I?¡± Trashcat asked the weird bird thing she saw in front of her. ¡°Oh, hello, I¡¯m Gus. Ethel asked me to grab you until better transport arrangements were made in future loops. I basically run this place.¡± The bird answered. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°You do? That sounds like a lot of work. I¡¯m Trashcat, and it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you too, kid. Come on, I¡¯ll show you around. There are a bunch of animals around here.¡± ¡°Really, that¡¯s neat!¡± Loop 254 - Ethel鈥檚 Vote ¡°Hello, Mother Scrump, this is Trashcat. She won¡¯t be staying here, but I¡¯m giving her a tour while I get the results of the vote.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, young cat. I wish you well.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, too.¡± ¡°I vote in favor of the gateway.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The two continued around the realm; Trashcat marveled at how different it was from the void house that Bug generally lived in. This place was so bright, and there were so many other animals to play with. She hoped they all agreed to make the gateway. She wanted to visit. Soon, they had collected four votes, all in favor of the gateway. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. I was hoping to see some other places. Come on, kid. Let¡¯s get you back to the control room and get a good meal in you as well.¡± Gus said. Loop 254 - Part 2 Cal sat down in front of the R.I.S. console with everyone gathered at the tables in the room. The room now had video feeds on the console itself so that others could read alongside Cal without crowding him. This was much easier than the constant interruption he had previously had to endure. Defense Quest System Hold Dallas Laboratory For Two Hours Complete Reward R.I.S. Upgrade Module System New Goal Hold Dallas For Two hours Rank: Intermediate ¡°Wait, what? Do we have to hold the entire city?¡± Stan shouted. ¡°Looks that way. That isn¡¯t something we are remotely capable of right now. At least, I don¡¯t think we are.¡± Cal answered. He had no idea how they could do that. They were going to need some significant improvements on the magical front to make that even anywhere near possible. ¡°We¡¯re going to need Melissa¡¯s help. Those mech suits of hers could give us an advantage.¡± Andrew said. ¡°Yeah, we should try to talk to her this loop, assuming we can find her before the end.¡± Cal agreed. ¡°Even if we can¡¯t find her until the end, I think we are better off joining her defense attempt and making contact that way if we have to.¡± Andrew countered. ¡°Agreed again, we¡¯ve got a lot to do before we can continue the Dallas defense, it seems, but we can discuss that more later. Let me finish going through this.¡± Cal wanted to get through this so he could go explore the changes to the realm. He selected the Upgrade Module System next. R.I.S. Upgrade Module System Current Available Upgrades Increase Party Size to 20 - Cost: Free Advance Class System - Cost: Free Cal selected them both and quickly added Frank, Bill, Albert, and Ralth to the party. He then moved to the advanced class selection screen, which had everyone in the party listed. He selected himself to see his current options.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Cal Marshall Cal
Species: Mana Infused Human
Class: Courier Fighter Wizard
Specialty: Food Fists, Rifles Electricity, Rock
Level: 5 1 1
Bonded Entities: The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Grannus Fulginanis
Elemental Affinities: Earth Lightning
Rank: 1 3
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
The only difference he saw was that his race had apparently changed. Bolt and Barron were now merged into the singular Fulginanis, and that his lightning affinity had climbed. There was a new option below his stats, though. Gryalth Killed 50/50 Class fusion available Fuse base classes into tier 1 classes? ¡°Interesting, I guess we know what that did. Anyone against me doing this?¡± He asked the room. No one spoke up. He pressed the fusion button. Cal¡¯s brain lit up as though someone had stabbed a red-hot pick directly through his skull. He screamed, at least, he thought he did. He was having trouble perceiving the world anymore. Something was happening to his body on a fundamental level. The pain faded, and he came back to his senses. He was still sitting in his chair, but several people were now standing around him. ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± He coughed out. ¡°You just stopped talking or moving all of a sudden about five minutes ago. We were about to carry you to your bedroom. Are you okay?¡± Stan answered. ¡°I think so, holy shit that hurt. I¡¯ve been through some insane pain, but that was a new level. It felt like every part of me was ripped apart and rebuilt.¡± ¡°Do you want to go get some rest?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Yes, but not yet. I want to read what changed on my class sheet.¡± Cal looked back at the monitor and reselected his advanced class profile.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Cal Marshall Cal
Species: Mana Infused Human
Tier 1 Class: Lightning Dancer
Description: This class is skilled in quickly moving across the battlefield while blasting ranged lightning attacks.
Specialty: Channel Electricity Earthen Shield Darkness
Level: 1 1 1
Bonded Entities: Barron Fulginanis
Elemental Affinities: Earth Lightning Shadow
Rank: 1 3 1
Level Up Goals: Gryalth 0/100 Condorpion 0/50 Hell Moose 0/1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
¡°Yeah, that explains why I feel so weird. I''m pretty sure I just had my body altered to fit my new class. I¡¯ve gotta go lay down. Can you all collect Many Legs and Many Eyes today? I want to have a big meeting tomorrow about our loop goals.¡± Cal said. ¡°Yeah, of course, go get some rest. I¡¯ll take care of those two. Bug, go with him and keep him company.¡± Stan replied ¡°Okay, Dad.¡± Bug rubbed her head on Cal¡¯s leg ¡°Thanks, Dad. Come on Bug.¡± Cal said ¡°Always, I¡¯ll see you both tomorrow.¡± * Cal woke up on his own this time. He finally felt refreshed, but something was off with his mana channels. He could feel the energy pulsating at a much finer level than he had ever been able to before. He grabbed one of the tiny threads and tried pushing it into his right hand. It fizzled long before it reached his hand. He tried again, this time very carefully nudging it, almost swimming it along his channels until he felt it in his fingertip. He pointed the finger carefully at an empty soda can on his dresser. He aimed and released the mana. A laser-thin beam of electricity shot from his fingertip. It pierced the can and continued on into the wall. ¡°Shit,¡± Cal muttered. He chased the beam into the hall. He watched it ricochet off the door handle on the door to the room across from his and then finally dissipate as it hit his wall again. ¡°What just happened?¡± Albert asked from the end of the hall. ¡°I promise I didn¡¯t just accidentally fire a laser from my finger through the wall. And if I did, I would never accidentally do it again. Probably. I hope. Good morning, Albert. How are you?¡± Cal gave up trying to devise an excuse and went with a topic change instead. ¡°I¡¯m fine, though I suspect if I had been thirty seconds earlier, I may not have been. Have you looked in a mirror recently?¡± The capybara asked. ¡°How recently?¡± ¡°Since you did your class fusion thing.¡± ¡°Nope, why?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s a tattoo on your forehead that looks like a magical rune. You may want to see Bill about that. I was heading to dinner if you want to join me and ask him.¡± ¡°Yeah, that seems like a good idea.¡± Cal was starving. He felt like he hadn¡¯t eaten in days. He figured it must have been the class fusion. Loop 254 - Ralth Gryalth Killed Error/50 Class fusion available Fuse unknown classes into tier 1 class? He briefly debated with himself if that was a good idea or not. The system was unable to read anything about his powerset from other worlds, and channeling any of those universe¡¯s energies here was a gargantuan task on a good day. He was reasonably sure he was well above a tier one class, but given the time loops, he could always train his way back. Ultimately, his determination that he would need to fight alongside his brother in the battles to come won out, and he chose to fuse the class. Cal was correct. This was hell.
R.I.S. Party Analysis
Name: Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Christopher Marshall Ralth
Species: Rift Mutated Human
Tier 1 Class: Mana Sage
Description: This class excels at channeling abilities. Using the proper internal pathways, it is able to mimic most elemental affinities.
Specialty: Mana Burst Channel Map Mana Mimic
Level: 1 1 1
Bonded Entities:
Elemental Affinities: Rift Transcendence
Rank: 3 1
Level Up Goals: Gryalth 0/100 Condorpion 0/50 Hell Moose 0/1
Note: Deeper Analysis Available With Terminal Growth
Loop 254 - Many Eyes ¡°Yes, hello, Stan and Bug, I can remember the last time we met. I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m speaking so slowly, but Many Legs said this is much easier for you all to understand. I am glad that you came to retrieve us. I want to help Many Legs fight the creatures that killed her dog.¡± The Spider spoke slowly and deliberately. They carefully choose their words to avoid the usual odd-sounding speech. ¡°Yaaay, now all my friends are loop aware.¡± Bug shouted gleefully. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Does this mean Many Legs and I can each get a room in the void house?¡± ¡°Yes of course it does. Are you two already ready to head back with us?¡± Stan asked. ¡°We are.¡± Many Legs answered before Many Eyes. Loop 254 - Part 3 Cal sat down in front of a plate of steak and eggs courtesy of the capybara cooks. Despite the years he had been eating their cooking, he was still amazed at how great their dishes continued to be. Who knew capybaras would turn into the kings of cooking? ¡°So I guess first up, has anyone seen Fulginanis around yet? I need to find out if we can travel to other places yet.¡± Cal asked while shoving scrambled eggs into his mouth. ¡°You called Cal?¡± Fulginanis¡¯s form shimmered into existence, floating above the table. ¡°Uh, yeah, I did. Can everyone else see you?¡± ¡°They can. I believe our bond should now allow you to project my form when I¡¯m not around. However, I am merely a shadow. I can¡¯t affect the world around this projected body. But yes, about your question. With the growth of our realm and the addition of Andy¡¯s core, I believe that, yes we can create a gateway. Thanks to that mana seed within you as well, Cal, I believe we can tie it to two destinations as long as they are both within the Solar System.¡± ¡°Perfect, Titan is one. I¡¯m not sure about the second.¡± ¡°Pluto, I¡¯ve always wanted to go to Pluto, and I¡¯m sticking with you this time as you¡¯ve got some learning to do.¡± Ethel cut in. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all well and good, but how do you two expect to breathe in either of these places? Well, maybe just how Ethel expects to.¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Frank and I can handle that. Just make sure you stay within the atmospheric bubble I generate, and Frank will pump out plenty of oxygen for us. I¡¯m pretty sure I can even maintain an Earth-like atmosphere.¡± Ethel answered. ¡°You think or know?¡± Cal cocked his eyebrow at the cranky teacher. ¡°Think. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve had a chance to test it in space after all. Unless you think I¡¯ve just been sneaking off to Uranus in my spare time?¡± Her tone had changed to assertively stern, and she was now staring at Cal. ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. Dammit, how do you manage to make me feel like a kid so well?¡± Cal asked, confused about how she had reduced him to this again. ¡°Practice.¡± Was her only reply. ¡°Okay, so Titan and Pluto. Who wants to come?¡± Cal asked the group. ¡°I am,¡± Stan said. ¡°Well, if he¡¯s going, so am I, can¡¯t let him get into too much trouble alone. Bug, are you with us?¡± Jen asked the ever-loyal dog. ¡°Yes, of course. Trashcat, I want you to stay here with Capybaras, though you¡¯re too young to be an astronaut.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What¡¯s an astronaut?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain when you¡¯re older.¡± Bug rested her paw on the cat¡¯s head gently. ¡°Bill, Andrew, and I are going back to the Under Library this loop. I¡¯ve got several things I want to investigate. Plus, Bill and I need answers on how to grow our powers without a realm to draw ambient mana from.¡± Andy was carefully cutting a piece of steak when he spoke up. ¡°I wish to join you, Andy. I have traveled the multiverse and seen wonders upon wonders, but I have never heard anyone speak of this library. Is that okay?¡± Ralth looked at Andy with a gleam in his eye. ¡°Of course, the more the merrier.¡± ¡°I would like to go to Pluto, but I suppose someone has to take care of the home base.¡± Albert¡¯s voice was tinged with disappointment. It was true that he was generally the one relegated to running the void house. ¡°Nah, before we leave, I¡¯m opening up a gateway to my realm. I think Oakey and Gus can handle running things as long as Many Legs and Many Eyes are willing to help.¡± ¡°Gus? Who¡¯s that?¡± Albert asked Ethel. ¡°Gus is the best; he¡¯s this giant bird guy that calls me kid, and he runs the root network. I like him. He¡¯s one of my best friends.¡± Trashcat had answered before Ethel could. ¡°You heard her. So that means you¡¯re with us, Albert.¡± ¡°What about our two guests?¡± Jen asked. ¡°Actually, I want to interrogate them, preferably before any of us start our trips. I¡¯d also like to attempt to contact Melissa. Unless anyone has any objections.¡± Cal answered. A giant smile had appeared on his face. ¡°Just what exactly would we object about Cal?¡± Stan¡¯s voice implied that he knew what that look on Cal¡¯s face meant. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m probably going to hunt down the Gryalth group that killed us all before anyone besides Bug and I were loop-aware. Have I told you all about Andy going Rambo that time?¡± ¡°You have, but why now?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Information mostly. I want to know who the human mercenaries were that they had working for them. At some point, we need to work on purifying Earth¡¯s mana wells, so we are going to need to learn what they¡¯ve corrupted. Not to mention I just want to kick that Alien¡¯s ass. I¡¯m tired of us always running, and I¡¯d like to go on the offensive in some of these loops. Make them scared of what¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°I think information is a very good thing. That said, the more scared they are, the worse it will be for us when they decide to take the whole planet. If we could find the catalyst that leads to that, we may be able to control the outcome more in our favor.¡± Ralth said. ¡°Oh, that one¡¯s easy. They attack a couple of years after they realize their stones from the corrupted wells are missing. Andy and I went through that several times in a few early loops. That was before even Bug was loop-aware. I mentioned that, right?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t, but I knew and had already pieced that together,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Well, that is something we can work with, but we¡¯d likely need to infiltrate the Agency if we want to accomplish that. I suppose that puts a lot of merit behind Cal wanting to make contact with Melissa.¡± Ralth nodded at his brother once he finished speaking. ¡°It does. Thanks for the support bro. First, though, we interrogate a pair of cyclopean aliens into spilling why they want the Mars world seed, how they knew I had it, oh and how they speak English. That one has been bugging me for a while now.¡± Cal took one last bite of his eggs before standing up. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 1 Good, Cal hadn¡¯t needed her in this loop. He was making progress in his strength. That meant more time to explore the deep caverns. She had two goals down there: map out all the natural mana wells she could find and learn where the Gryalth had built their interdimensional gateway. Initially, she had wanted to just go see Cal and Stan, tell them everything, and be welcomed into the family like nothing had ever changed, but the longer she was here in these loops, the more she understood. They weren¡¯t her family. Her family were dead. She would do her best to help them, and then, one day, she hoped they would help her. The Gryalth were a plague that spread across countless universes, and she would need their help to eradicate it for good. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She walked up to the hidden cavern entrance, the same as she had done many times before. In the distance, she saw the same two Gryalth guards against intruders like herself. Lifting both arms, she carefully pointed her fingers at each of them and channeled a burst of intense fire through their heads. They both dropped to the ground dead. This loop was already off to a good start. Loop 254 - A Gateway Between Realms ¡°Are you ready, Oakey? Fulginanis is ready on this side. They say all you need to do is grab the mana flow when you see it and tie it off to the ground.¡± Ethel called to her spirit through their bond. ¡°Yep, I understand. Tell them I¡¯m ready.¡± He responded eagerly. ¡°Fulginanis, we¡¯re ready, go for it.¡± In response, Fulginanis walked to the end of the platform and raised their hands above their head. Ethel watched as rivers of raw mana flowed from the stars in the sky into the waiting hands. Then, they pointed their hands in front of them and started drawing a large archway in the air. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Fulginanis stepped backward once the shimmering drawing was complete and discharged all the rest of their mana through the center of it. It disappeared upon contact as though the arch had already become a doorway. ¡°I¡¯ve got the flow. I think, yes, that¡¯s it. It¡¯s tied off.¡± Ethel heard in her head. She saw the gateway in front of her coalesce from the mana lines into a rigid form, and slowly, the empty space inside the arch changed. Ethel thought it looked like the last time she had her eyes checked. The picture became vivid by the second. Then, with a final sizzle of mana, the image settled, and Ethel was looking into her realm. Gus walked through from the other side. ¡°Wonderful place you got here prof.¡± Ethel smiled. Loop 254 - Part 4 Cal, Frank, Andy, and Bill were standing in front of one of the cyclopean aliens. Ethel and Bug waited outside in case they needed further help. Cal didn¡¯t think they would. Most of their strengths had been catching him by surprise in his child body, and while he may still be in that body, he brought some powerhouses with him to make up for it. ¡°Hi, I''m Cal, this giant tree monster man here is Frank. He¡¯s the muscle. Andy is my apprentice wizard, and Bill is just amazing. What¡¯s your name?¡± Cal stared at the man as he spoke. His face did not match his jovial tone whatsoever. ¡°Twonger. Hrm, I take you¡¯re all here for some interrogation then?¡± the alien answered with a bitter tinge to its words. ¡°We are, and considering your attempt on my life, I am fully willing to do this the hard way. So your choice. Do you want to answer all our questions with or without Frank¡¯s assistance?¡± The air in the room started to crackle with Cal¡¯s words. Fuck, his rage was coming out. This wasn¡¯t the time for that yet. Even if this man had killed him countless times, he needed to hold the anger down. He clamped down hard on his core, forcing the charged particles to release their mana. He would not destroy the void house just because he couldn¡¯t control his damned emotions. ¡°Look, you¡¯ve already got us. I¡¯m sure we will both answer whatever you want. I don¡¯t want to die, and I doubt my brother does either.¡± Twonger said. Cal bit down on his tongue and then slowly opened his mouth to speak. ¡°Why are you targeting me?¡± He asked, his voice was monotone as he continued to wrestle internally with the rage. ¡°What, you don¡¯t know about the world seed inside ya? How the hell is that possible? Then again, how the hell does a kid end up with a world seed all the sudden anyway? I swear we had just scanned your planet two days prior, and there was no one radiating anything like what you have coming off ya now.¡± ¡°So you wanted to extract my core somehow, then?¡± The venom had bled back into his voice. ¡°Sure did. That¡¯s why we didn¡¯t just shoot you in the head. Didn¡¯t want to risk anything polluting those mana channels of yers.¡± Cal took a deep breath to steady himself and moved on to his next question. ¡°What were you going to do with the world seed once you had it?¡± ¡°Sell it, and those things are worth a fortune. The right buyer will pay anything for it.¡± ¡°Alright, last question for now. How are you speaking English? That doesn¡¯t seem like a random thing you¡¯d just pick up before killing me.¡± ¡°English? Wait you think we are speaking the same language? Holy shit, you are new to this whole channeling game, aren¡¯t you? Tell you what since I know for a fact this planet is particularly lacking qualified magic teachers, if you don¡¯t kill us, I¡¯m willing to show you some of the ropes of mana channeling. What do ya say, kid?¡± Cal seriously considered blasting his head off, but no, he couldn¡¯t do that. The damned creature was right. They did lack any real foundational education when it came to channeling. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. For now, you two continue to be our prisoners.¡± Cal walked out of the room. A very similar scene played out with the brother. It turned out his name was Onelder, but in everything else, his answers agreed with his brothers. He even made the same offer of basic channeling education. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. * ¡°So what do you all think? Do we take the offer?¡± Cal was back in the situation room with his family and friends gathered around for the new discussion. ¡°Maybe I think we should all join you on a trip to Titan before I set off to the Under Library. See what we can learn there first. Then we can make a decision on those two.¡± Andy¡¯s face was full of uncertainty. ¡°Yeah, I like the idea, though is there any point in people without cores coming? I mean, I like some of you, but this feels like a field trip for magic users.¡± Ethel was smiling despite her claim of only liking some of them. ¡°She has a point, plus you want to attack the only possible Gryalth location that we know of, so I think it¡¯s best if the rest of us stay here and do some scouting work. We can also put out some feelers for Melissa. Hell, depending on how much you want attention drawn to us, we can just blast out advertising that we are looking for her.¡± Jen was smiling, apparently enjoying the idea of some chaos. ¡°You know, I wonder what would happen if we just announced the Gryalth and Agency to the world.¡± Cal mused out loud. ¡°The Gryalth would end their current engagement parameters and instead unleash a full assault. They would assume the world has been warned of them and is moving to actively resist. I¡¯m not against doing that if only to gauge their current numbers on the planet, but it won¡¯t help us win any immediate battles if that¡¯s what you are thinking.¡± Ralth answered. ¡°Yeah, fair. Okay, so magic users with me, let¡¯s go see if Fulginanis is ready to get us to Titan.¡± Cal was smiling again. As much as he hated the idea of working with the alien brothers, the idea of a working wormhole inside their magical void base just filled him with childlike glee. Not to mention that there was likely a real trained wizard on the other end of the tunnel. Cal led the group to the new partially constructed wing of the void house. Fulginanis had asked the capybaras to begin construction in anticipation of their needs as soon as they arrived this loop. It turned out the wormholes they constructed would be mostly permanent. The energy they required to connect the points meant that it was best to leave the tunnel in place once it was established. In an emergency, they could sever them if needed, which is why Fulginanis wanted them built in a secure part of the void house. This way, they could attempt to deal with issues before any last-ditch efforts were needed. ¡°So, how do we establish this wormhole?¡± Cal asked Fulginanis. ¡°We establish a spacial gateway by using the energies from your core, and in this case, we can use the world seed energy you picked up to jump-start this. Once the mana tether is released, then we need Andy to channel everything he can into it. I will ride the tether, guiding it to the proper destination and tie it off before returning through the newly established spacial gateway, proper words Cal, spacial gateway.¡± ¡°Fine, I suppose I can¡¯t name everything. Everyone ready?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Andy said ¡°I am,¡± Fulginanis said. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡± Cal felt his core suddenly being drained into his bonded spirit. Fulginanis then moved to the center of the metal archway that had been constructed and poured the mana into the ground. Cal felt even more start flowing out of him, including a trickle from the world seed as well. He could tell the difference from how much the world''s seed energies burnt his channeling pathways. It felt like he had just eaten a habanero. Fulginanis stopped channeling the energy into the ground and grabbed the now visible mana stream. They leaped into the void, holding it. ¡°Andy, now, channel as much as you can.¡± Andy obliged, and Cal saw his friend nearly pass out from the effort. It was working, though, and he moved to steady him. They both saw Fulginanis disappear into the depths of the void mounted atop a brilliant stream of light. Andy stopped channeling and fell backward. Cal caught him before he hit the ground. ¡°That was exhausting,¡± Andy said before forcing himself back to his feet. ¡°Yeah, it gets easier. Here, eat this. I found it helps.¡± Cal fished a bag of chocolate candy out of his pocket. ¡°Really, chocolate helps?¡± ¡°No idea if it¡¯s the chocolate or the cashews, but something about the combination seems to make me feel less like I need to sleep for the next year. So eat up while we wait for Fulginanis¡¯s return.¡± Andy poured the bag into his mouth without another question. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 2 She grabbed the mana charged weapon off the one who always had it. They were always useful in a pinch. They also made great improvised explosives if you broke them in half, tossed them, and ran like hell. Alright, goal one in this loop: figure out if that mana well she felt in the lava flow was corrupted or not. She hoped it wasn¡¯t. If she could add a local mana source to her core, especially one like lava that was so similar to the flame source she already possessed, she might even be able to re-manifest her spirit. Thinking of Lodern set off her inner rage again. They had found a way to even tear her bonded spirit from her in the end, but maybe, just maybe, she could at least get him back. And possibly not even a strange reflection of him like this world¡¯s version of her family. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! This burst of rage and motivation spurred her into a run down the westernmost corridor. It took her nearly an hour, but she was back standing in front of a lava river, and she could feel it somewhere deep below. There was a mana pool calling out to her core. It felt like the pull of a song that she could only just barely recall. She divided into the lava. Loop 254 - Fulginanis鈥檚 Wild Ride This was a new experience, and they loved it. Who knew surfing through a spacial rift could be this exhilarating. Fulginanis guided the mana stream across the dimensional fabric and back into normal space. They saw Titan in the distance. Their aim had been correct. Now, it was time to find a good spot on the moon to land this baby. As they got closer, they spotted a small area that had an atmosphere similar to Earth. They thought that was quite interesting and pointed the mana thread directly at it. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They crashed into the ground and decided to leave that part of the story out when they returned to Cal. They looked around and spotted a fence in the distance. Well, this seemed like the place to tie off the tether then. They watched as Cal slowly came into view, floating in a space in front of them. It was time to return. Loop 254 - Part 5 The archway turned into a portrait of something oddly familiar in front of Cal¡¯s eyes. But before he had a chance to consider just what he was seeing, Fulginanis popped out of it. ¡°It is complete. I believe I even found the location you wished to visit. This should make your journey considerably easier.¡± Fulginanis said. ¡°Why does it look like something out of the Everglades?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°I cannot answer that.¡± Fulginanis looked apologetic at their lack of answer. ¡°Andy, you ready to go or do you want a day to rest?¡± Cal looked at his friend, concerned with how much mana he had used to open this. ¡°I should be good, besides look at Bill; he¡¯s way too excited to make him wait.¡± Andy wasn¡¯t wrong. Cal had never seen the capybara look so engrossed in something. He was currently darting around the archway, measuring some of the symbols that had appeared etched into the stone gateway. ¡°What, did someone say my name?¡± Bill asked. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s nothing important. Ready to go, Bill?¡± Andy walked over to his familiar. ¡°Oh, absolutely, this is fascinating.¡± Andy pushed him through and then walked through himself. Ralth followed behind them wordlessly. ¡°After you, Ethel,¡± Cal said. ¡°Oh, so now you have manners.¡± She snorted and walked through. Cal waved goodbye to his spirit before joining the magic users on the other side. He felt queasy. That was different than the standard cracks he was used to stepping through. The others looked to be in about the same state as him, other than Ralth. ¡°You will get used to it. It¡¯s a lot like getting your sea legs. I promise.¡± Ralth pat Andy on the back as he spoke. Cal fought down the urge to vacate his breakfast and looked around. Ethel was right. This place felt like Florida, complete with the humidity and bugs. How the hell did a Florida swamp end up on Titan? ¡°Huh, there really is a fence over there,¡± Cal announced, having spotted it. It looked to be a small wooden barricade, more for show than actual function. Cal walked towards and saw a strange building further in the distance. There was a path that led to the building from a break in the fence. The grounds seemed to be well maintained. ¡°So, guys, I think there¡¯s a house down this path.¡± Cal turned back and informed them. The house, for lack of a better word, looked to be made of mud and mana. Cal could see the mud actively flowing through walls, kept in place by what he thought was a wall of mana somehow. It was oddly beautiful. ¡°Interesting. I¡¯ve seen mana-infused buildings before, but nothing quite like this.¡± Ralth said. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Well, time to go knock.¡± Cal strolled forward down the path. He stopped in front of a large, heavy wooden door. He didn¡¯t see any sign of a knocker or doorbell, so he raised his fist and rapped on it three times. There was no answer. He rapped another three times. ¡°Oh good, it¡¯s the whoever made the spacial gateway in my front yard come to visit. That¡¯s exactly how I wanted to spend today.¡± Came the voice from somewhere inside. The door creaked open before Cal had a chance to respond. In the now open doorway stood a frog, a nearly two-foot tall frog. It was wearing robes and standing on its back legs, but still clearly a frog. ¡°Uh, hi, I¡¯m Cal and¡­¡± He was cut off. ¡°Yes, I do not remotely care who you are. Why are you here? Why is there a gateway in my yard? And just who the hell taught the mammals to channel?!¡± The large frog asked, his voice full of annoyance. ¡°Well, we built the gateway to come see you. We were hoping you¡¯d consider training us. There aren¡¯t really many people on Earth who have any magical talents, let alone any as skilled as you. And that¡¯s the big problem no one taught us.¡± Cal answered. ¡°Hrpmh. You expect me to teach you to channel? I¡¯m Glurm Lightning Leaper, Lord of the Southern Swamp Nebula, Prince of the Fifth Dynasty, and Supreme Champion of the Ninty-Fifth Universal Games, for god¡¯s sake. I do not teach the likes of you, and even if I did, I¡¯m retired.¡± ¡°Oh, well, we didn¡¯t know about the retirement, but you know there is an invasion happening from another dimension, and I believe Earth is your home planet. So maybe you¡¯d consider teaching us so we can stop it.¡± Cal tried smiling as he said this. ¡°What are you mammals even called? Gorillas? No, wait, I remember it¡¯s humans, isn¡¯t it.¡± He sighed loudly. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m bored. I¡¯ll give each of you one chance to become my student. Giant man, you¡¯re first. Catch.¡± He threw a mana ball from nowhere directly at Ralth, who, to his credit, had his hands around it, ready to catch it before it changed direction and shot directly into the sky. ¡°Next!¡± He fired two electrical blasts from his eyes at Andy, who dived to the ground only to realize they weren¡¯t actually aimed at him. They started zigzagging in the area before knocking Ethel over. ¡°Two down, but I¡¯m bored now, so I¡¯ll hit you three at once. Don¡¯t get hit for thirty seconds.¡± Several hundred mana balls appeared all around them. They quickly started bouncing off the ground, ricocheting off anything they hit. Cal jumped to the side, dodging one. He saw Andy tuck and roll out of the corner of his eye but quickly lost focus on that as two more balls nearly grazed him. He ran towards the Frog, hoping it would be a safe area, and bounced off an invisible shield. ¡°Fuck!¡± He yelled out as he was hit by five balls at once. He rolled to his side and saw Andy on the ground as well, but to his surprise, Bill was still going. He had control of several of the balls and was using them to shield himself from the others. ¡°Ten seconds left,¡± Glurm called out. Bill took a step backward and tripped. Wait, what had he tripped over? The path was clear before. Cal had a feeling the frog had just cheated. Bill fell over, and the balls rained down onto him. ¡°Well, you¡¯re all as terrible as I expected, except for the rodent. He was just a tiny bit better than I expected. Tell you what you come back in a century, and I¡¯ll consider training you. In the meantime, get off my moon!¡± In response to his command, the balls turned into floating arms, and each picked up one of them and carried them all back to the gateway. Cal heard Glurm¡¯s door slam shut behind them. There were several loud protests but the arms kept moving and then tossed them all back through to the void house. Cal stood up. ¡°Well, you all look okay, so I guess we''ll try again next loop. Good job, though, Bill. If he hadn¡¯t cheated, I think you¡¯d have had him!¡± ¡°Thanks. Now that we know he has that shield up, I¡¯ll work on a plan for the next loop.¡± ¡°I believe in you, little Buddy. In the bad news, I suppose this means we have to let our prisoners give us some training in this loop.¡± Cal was not remotely happy about that. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 3 The heat was intense across her body. She was having trouble channeling enough mana to maintain her pocket of air. Why was this world so much harder to channel in? Sure, no universe was easy compared to her home, but this one always seemed especially hard. She felt a drip of lava hit her arm and screamed in pain. This had the added benefit of boosting her focus. She clamped down on her core and squeezed even more mana into her shield, not wanting another mishap. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. There it was, swirling in the center of the lava flow. It was an untouched mana well. The thing she had been searching for for decades. She pushed her bubble towards it. Her bubble popped on contact. The heat became unbearable as she felt the lava flow all around her. The well enveloped her before all was lost, and she was bathed in the strangely cooling sensations of life. Loop 254 - Bug meets Gus ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is if you let me ride you, we could be an amazing fighting unit. No one would expect a bird to ride a dog.¡± Shortly after Ethel left, the large bird had entered the void house from the new gateway. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it, but I don¡¯t really see how that would be better than my teeth.¡± Bug responded. She had been showing the bird around the house. They were currently sitting down for lunch with the capybaras. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Hey, you, Albert, right? How do you get the potatoes to taste so good? Is there some rodent magic I¡¯m missing?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a good spice blend. How does Ethel put up with you anyway?¡± Albert responded in kind. ¡°The prof? No idea. I assume she has a weak spot for big dumb animals like the rest of you.¡± Loop 254 - Part 6 It was two weeks after their failed trip to Titan, and he had decided it was time. Cal and Andy had assisted with building a gateway to Pluto and then spent a few days resting up before moving on to Cal¡¯s next goal this loop. He was still determined to attack the place where the Gryalth had held him prisoner many loops before. Jen had been surveilling the place for the last forty-eight hours and reported several unusual transports. She hadn¡¯t spotted any Gryalth themselves, but one of a few of the human mercenaries she saw matched the little he and Andy remembered from the loop long ago. They had pulled a map of the hotel from the city archives and were gathered in the situation room to go over it. ¡°So the bad news is obviously we have no idea how accurate this map is. Andy, do you remember much about your trip?¡± Cal asked his friend. ¡°A little. I can tell you for sure that this door here does lead to a control room, and this stairway leads to the basement you were held in. What any other doors or rooms contain, I can¡¯t tell you. Also, I want in on the attack.¡± Andy had a determined look on his face that Cal knew from experience meant any arguing against it wouldn¡¯t help. He, of course, tried anyway. ¡°Not that I¡¯m against having a friend help me smash up an enemy building, but why exactly do you want to so badly?¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t there for the phone call or Bug¡¯s face when I found her after what they did. They deserve to be hurt for that alone.¡± ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s do this. I say we just go in with overwhelming force, and if we can do it, we take a Gryalth alive. I want to get every bit of info out of one as possible.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure how far he was willing to go for that information, but it was something they increasingly needed. If they were going to have to find ways to increasingly defend larger parts of the world, they would need to know what level of forces they were up against. His biggest question was how they were controlling the human mercenaries. Maybe he was idealistic but the idea of them just taking cash to directly help end the world seemed unreasonable. If he could figure out exactly what their motivation was, it wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibilities. He could get them to switch sides, and that would be something incredibly useful when the time came. He doubted he would ever actually trust them if they went that route, but it was still a great potential solution. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Overwhelming force, eh? I¡¯ll go get Frank then.¡± Andy smirked. ¡°Hey, I can smash just as much as him, well, okay, maybe not just as much, but I can smash things pretty well, and I¡¯ve got this fancy new class to try out.¡± He sighed. ¡°Yeah, grab Frank, probably Bill too.¡± ¡°Will do, I¡¯ll grab Stan as well. Probably best we don¡¯t drive ourselves to the location.¡± ¡°Yeah, when you¡¯re in the Under Library, see if you can find a way for us to grow up faster. With my mana channels the way they are, there just isn¡¯t any benefit I see anymore to being a kid again every time.¡± Cal stretched his arms above his head. He hated being this short. It threw off his entire fighting style every time he had to do anything in this smaller frame. That was one of the reasons he preferred waiting on confrontations until near the end of the loop, but he had decided to start working past that. Considering the Cyclopean brothers, it was possible he¡¯d be forced into more situations where he had to fight in this body, even if he preferred not to. ¡°That¡¯s actually a great idea. I¡¯ll have Bill add it to our list of things to investigate. Maybe we can even find a way to get Ethel back into her prime years. Just imagine her crankiness in a younger body.¡± Andy laughed as he saw Cal¡¯s face, clearly trying to picture it. ¡°Ugh, she¡¯s already strong enough. I don¡¯t want her to fight off the Gryalth without us.¡± He joined his friend¡¯s laughter. Finding Ethel was one of the best choices he made in these loops. Despite the joking, if Andy could find a way to return her body to its prime, it would be a giant boon to the fight. He had learned recently that she apparently siphoned off a large chunk of her core mana to feed her realm¡¯s retrieval system that she called the root network. It was one more reason to see what he could learn from her this loop. It was unfair that she had taken up a burden like that alone. They should all share the mana costs, especially for such a great cause. Cal met back up with Andy about thirty minutes later in the kitchen of his Earthbound home. Andy had Stan, Frank, and Bill with him. They all looked ready to go. Cal assumed this meant Andy had already briefed them on the plan. ¡°Alright, so are we all ready to go smash up a hotel and take a few prisoners if we can?¡± He asked anyway. He had an image to keep up after all. ¡°Frank, the great tree titan, will make those puny fleshlings run in horror from his leaves. Yeah!¡± Frank swung his branches around the kitchen, knocking a blade off the ceiling fan in the process. ¡°Woah, already there, big guy. I know we rarely live here anymore, but I¡¯d rather keep it looking not like a disaster zone in case we need the house for anything.¡± Stan, himself somehow nearly the size of Frank, worked to calm the excited tree man down. ¡°Sorry, Stan, I¡¯ll be more careful.¡± ¡°Thank you, Frank. Alright, everyone, let''s get in the van and hope we don¡¯t get pulled over by any cops on the way.¡± Stan laughed. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 4 ¡°Hello, I¡¯m, wait, why do I already have a name? Have we met before?¡± A small spirit was questioning Izzy as she lay on the rocky ground. It had brought her back to the surface, carefully cocooned in its protective mana shield. ¡°No, little one, we haven¡¯t in a traditional sense. I¡¯m not native to this reality, but I was once bonded to one of your kind in my own universe. The connection you feel with me must have something to do with that.¡± She said. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Izzy looked over the spirit. It reminded her so much of her own when they first met. He was small and dark red with patches of orange that rippled across his form. ¡°Interesting, though, for me to already have the name Lodern, I wonder if it¡¯s deeper than that. We mana spirits are born from the raw energies of the universe, usually through a planetary seed, but that isn¡¯t always true. Would you be willing to tell how your bond was severed?¡± The spirit asked. Loop 254 - Trashcat Training ¡°Now, little cat, if you want to truly unlock the powers of your claws, you must practice with us. We will show you the proper cat form.¡± Mother Scrump informed Trashedcat. ¡°Huh, so you mean what Bug showed me isn¡¯t the proper form?¡± Trashcat was confused. As far as she could tell, Bug had been a fantastic teacher. Bug has shown how to chase balls, how to chew a bone properly, and even how to bark. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯m not saying Lady Bug was a bad teacher. She just isn¡¯t a cat. You need to learn to use those little knives of yours properly; someday, you may be forced to defend someone you care about, and I want you to be ready.¡± ¡°Huh, okay.¡± Trashcat decided Mother Scrump had a point. Bug hadn¡¯t ever talked about using her claws to fight, just her teeth, and she did want to be able to help her family if they ever needed it. Loop 254 - Part 7 ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Stan asked as they pulled out of the driveway. ¡°Mostly, there isn¡¯t one. I¡¯m thinking Bill, Cal and myself go in first and try to lock down as much resistance as we can as quickly as can. If we find anything that is able to strongly oppose us, we radio for Frank to join in. Otherwise, we will go room by room, trying to capture as many people as possible. We can then throw up a temporary crack back to the house and get them secured in the void house.¡± Andy laid out what Cal was sure he considered a very basic plan. ¡°If this is going to turn into a common loop event, we are going to need better-holding cells in the void house. We¡¯re probably going to need to figure out how to nullify any magical abilities anyone possesses as well. Any chance we can get that kind of information out of our current two guests?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Even if we do, we don¡¯t know how strong their technique actually is there. I was able to overwhelm it pretty easily this time, and my raw strength doesn¡¯t really compare at all to some of the Gryalth we¡¯ve fought.¡± Cal¡¯s voice still held the trepidation he had at working with the aliens. Considering how long it had taken him to warm up to Many Eyes, he wasn¡¯t sure he would ever get over what they had done to him, but for the sake of the world, he had come around to at least trying. Titan had been a bust, and without some help, he wasn¡¯t sure if it would be any better in the next loop. Sure, he wasn¡¯t lying when he thought Bill could probably get past the initial test, but that wasn¡¯t nearly enough. They all needed to. Plus, based on the frog¡¯s title, he had a focus on lightning. This just wasn¡¯t an opportunity Cal thought he could pass up. ¡°I think before we go to the Under Library, it¡¯s time for me to talk to them one-on-one. I want to see what mana threads I can detect from them, if any. I have a growing list of just what I plan to research when we return, and I may as well add their abilities to it.¡± Bill¡¯s voice sounded resigned. ¡°You don¡¯t have to meet them alone, Bill. I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Andy pat his friend on the head. It seemed to relax him. Cal knew Bug still liked to be pet, but he wondered if they were treating their animal companions wrong at all. It was something he¡¯d need to talk to Bug about in depth. Did she still feel like a dog, or did she see herself as something new? Magic sure did cause a lot of existential questions that he supposed he couldn¡¯t ignore forever. That damned reality was constantly intruding on his fun. ¡°This is the place, right?¡± Stan asked as he pulled the van into the driveway of a hotel. ¡°Yeah, this is where Bug and I found Cal. Bill, put your hood over your head. Stan park us near the front but make it look normal. I¡¯d like to make it to the receptionist''s desk before we are swamped.¡± Andy started giving out the orders as soon as they were in the parking lot. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The parking lot was mostly empty. There were a few vehicles closer to the building, mostly larger vans and trucks designed for transport. Cal knew from experience what they were used for. He hoped this meant there were plenty of people inside. Even if it meant a more brutal fight, he needed to get this out of his system. These were people who had killed his family without a second thought. They were one of the many factors in his growing rage, and today, he was going to heal that particular wound. ¡°Dad, give us a few minutes to get started inside, but can you and Frank, at least until we radio for him, start checking over the vans out for here for anything useful?¡± Cal had no idea what his dad might find, but he was sure the man would prefer it to sitting around waiting. ¡°Will do, Frank. Are you ready to rip some doors off?¡± Stan turned his head to look at the giant plant occupying the back row of the van. ¡°The might of Frank¡¯s fists shall not be blocked by any puny van. The tree titan shall prevail!¡± Frank''s loud announcement resulted in a round of laughter from the rest of the occupants. ¡°Alright, well, you two have fun. Time for us to start some trouble.¡± Cal opened his door and exited the vehicle. Andy and Bill soon joined him. The three of them entered the building, and Cal scanned the room. There was only a single person behind the desk. He looked pretty normal, all things considered. Cal didn¡¯t like the looks of his smile, though. There was something off-putting about it. ¡°Hey there, our dad is outside trying to change a tire on the van. Is there any chance we can use your phone to call our mom while he¡¯s doing that? She¡¯s expected us home, and we don¡¯t want to worry her.¡± Andy said to the man as he approached the counter. ¡°Yes, of course, it¡¯s right over here.¡± He pointed to a phone on the desk with his right hand. Cal noticed Bill doing something with his hands. He wasn¡¯t sure what, but knowing Bill¡¯s abilities, something was happening with mana threads. Channeling mana into his hands, he shot a small blast of energy out of his finger into the man¡¯s chest. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill him, but it shocked him backward away from the counter. Andy joined the assault and dropped a black ball over the man before he had a chance to respond to Cal¡¯s attack. ¡°So, any reason you attacked so fast?¡± Andy looked over at Cal. ¡°Sorry, that was my fault. Cal saw me working a mana thread. I think he tried to alert the building, but I grabbed the thread from the signal and cut it.¡± Bill answered for Cal. ¡°Huh, well, if that was the only way they have set up for a general alert, that means we now have the element of surprise. Bill put the crack right here, and we can drag him through to the other side and have someone lock him up.¡± Andy instructed. ¡°Can do.¡± Cal did exactly as instructed. Andy dropped his gravity ball that was holding the man against the ground, and they quickly forced him through the crack. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 5 She considered not telling him, but she felt it was too important for their quickly growing bond to refuse. It wasn¡¯t as though the pain ever went away anyhow. It was always there as fresh as the day it happened. ¡°I was imprisoned for daring to fight back against the Gryalth invaders. They killed my husband and my son in front of me. I escaped and found a small flame spirit to bond with. Over time, our bond grew as we fought together against our enemies. Sadly, the odds were never in our favor, and finally, we were outnumbered and greatly overwhelmed. My little Lodern tried to cast me into our spiritual realm to save me. Instead, they used some sort of knife to rip the realm back open and flay his essence from my body. They fed him into their damnable machines.¡± The spirit hugged her, and she felt the familiar presence again. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Loop 254 - Part 8 ¡°In hindsight, we probably should have considered this part more,¡± Andy said as Cal took off to find help. Luckily, it didn¡¯t take him long, as the capybaras had just finished a trip to Ethel¡¯s realm and were chatting in the front room of the void house. ¡°Hey guys, got prisoners need help!¡± Cal called and turned around to dash back, now followed by a dozen capybaras. ¡°Alright, boys, grab. Let¡¯s get him locked in one of the spare rooms, search him from top to bottom, and keep at least two guards on him. Are more coming, Cal?¡± Albert asked after ordering his fellows about. ¡°Yeah, sorry we didn¡¯t really think this through,¡± Cal responded. ¡°It¡¯s no problem. I wanted more action in my life anyway. Lou, go grab Ethel and Bug. Eddie, go find Andrew and Ralth and tell them we need them watching the crack. Go, boys, go!¡± Albert barked out more orders. Cal and Andy ran back through the crack and found Bill safe on the other side. He looked to have been disassembling the alarm button. ¡°Fascinating, like we suspected, they have technology that can run on mana. We will need to get some of that ourselves.¡± Bill informed the other two of his discoveries. ¡°That¡¯s great and all, Bill, and I promise we will come back to getting everything we can from the building, but right now, we have to keep the assault going,¡± Andy said. ¡°Where to next?¡± Cal asked. ¡°That door right there should lead to a surveillance room, which I¡¯m guessing is empty at the moment since we haven¡¯t set off any alarms. There are some stairs in there that lead down to the cells. It¡¯s where I found you and the Gryalth.¡± ¡°Alright, kicking the door time.¡± Cal¡¯s response to Andy caused the man to frown. ¡°Let¡¯s not kick down the door just yet.¡± Andy walked over and slowly opened it, peering through the widening crack as he did so. ¡°Looks empty. Get in here.¡± The other two listened. Cal looked over the monitors in the room, and they were all blank except for a single figure who looked to be asleep in a small room. It didn¡¯t look human, but it was hard to say from the low resolution of the cameras. ¡°So, is that a Gryalth?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure, but what else could it be? ¡°I think so.¡± Andy didn¡¯t sound confident. ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter as it¡¯s the only other thing we see. Let¡¯s go get it.¡± Cal put as much bluster into his voice as he could manage. He had died here before, and that always left him nervous. Then again, so had Andy, and the man seemed pretty calm about it. Bill, on the other hand, looked visibly nervous. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! They ran down the stairs together and quietly listened at each door they found. Bill signaled at the second door he had listened at. Cal walked over to it and held up his hand with three fingers showing. He lowered them one at a time and threw the door open as soon as he dropped his last one. The other two sprung into action. Andy dropped a gravity ball on the prone figure before it had a chance to move. It wasn¡¯t enough to stop it, though, and they felt the room grow hot around them. ¡°Got it!¡± Bill grunted out the words. He sounded like he was wrestling a waterfall. Andy increased the size of his gravity ball and reversed the pressure, causing the creature to hit the ceiling hard. It came back down on the bed, moaning in pain. Cal was on top of it before it had a chance to move any further. He pushed a knife of electricity into its arm, and it fell limp. ¡°Good job, everyone. Let¡¯s get it through the crack and go check on Dad.¡± Cal was smiling. This had gone great so far. They had two prisoners, and the changes to his powerset didn¡¯t seem at all hard to use. The three of them hefted the creature back upstairs and deposited it through the crack to the stunned silence of several people on the other side. ¡°Yeah, we know a Gryalth prisoner. Bill, you stay here and work with them to keep it contained.¡± Andy ordered. ¡°Ok. Come on, Al, let¡¯s get this thing locked away,¡± Bill said. ¡°You heard him, boys, grab a shoulder.¡± Cal and Andy hopped back through the crack again. Their radios blasted to life the second they were back on the other side. ¡°Hey guys, I need help. Frank and I are under fire!¡± Stan screamed into the radio. ¡°We¡¯re on the way. The hotel is cleared!¡± Cal radio back. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s because a bunch of people just showed up here. I think they were on capture duty. There are two Gryalth and several of their mercs. Frank has them thinking twice about swarming us, but I doubt it will hold long.¡± Stan¡¯s voice was shaky, and Cal could hear the gunshots from in here explaining why. Cal launched through the doors directly at the nearest person he saw. He tried something new and channeled shadows around himself. He had expected to the area around him to darken, making it harder for them to target him. Instead, his shadow came to life and moved up next to him. It now looked exactly like him. This had some excellent combat potential. He saw the two Gryalth ahead of him, one of them already covered in a gravity ball. Good job, Andy. The second one tried firing something at him but had picked the wrong target and it passed harmlessly through his shadow clone. Cal fired a lightning bolt at the one who had shot him and watched it go straight through him. Alright, that was too much mana if he wanted prisoners out here. Still, considering they were outnumbered and they already had two, it was probably best to get this under control first and worry about who was still alive afterward. Frank ran up beside him carrying a truck door. He smashed it into several people who had been standing with the Gryalth. They flew into the air and made a dull thud when they crashed back into the ground. The remaining Gryalth blasted some sort of green cloud in their direction. He heard Andy start coughing hard behind him. He was glad he didn¡¯t need to breathe and fired two more lightning blasts back at the Gryalth. It fell, dead alongside the first. ¡°Frank, don¡¯t let anyone escape. I need to check on Andy.¡± He yelled. ¡°Got it.¡± The tree man yelled as he bounced after the now fleeing men. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not who I expected at all. What the hell are you doing here?¡± Cal heard Stan say to someone. ¡°Who is it?¡± Cal called over. ¡°Hey Stan, long time no see. Looks like you¡¯ve been doing well since Mars. Mind cutting the duct tape off my hands?¡± Cal recognized that voice. It was Melissa. Loop 254 - Other Izzy Part 6 ¡°My first memories are a searing pain, and then I felt myself unbound and released into the abyss, slowly coalescing my form into the spirit you see today. I wonder if, by some trick of fate, we have been reunited? My memory is still very hazy, but I feel as though I know you as well, and our bond is maturing much faster than it normally would.¡± The spirit said. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°We need to find somewhere safe and work on our bond, I think. I had different plans for this loop, but this is far more important than anything I imagined.¡± Izzy smiled. She felt something that had long been missing start to return to her. Loop 254 - Part 9 Melissa The loop started in the usual way for her. She looked herself over and leaned back against the wall. The emotions of watching her grandfather die played out. She knew this was going to happen and that it was likely going to happen many more times in the future, but it didn¡¯t seem to make it any easier. A loss was still a loss, and even if she could grow used to it, she didn¡¯t remotely like the idea of potentially becoming complacent with death. One day, these loops would end, and she had no control over when that day would be. The idea that they could end moments after she lost everyone she cared about was a terrifying thought. She considered just finding her brother and then disappearing to an undersea cave with her surviving family every loop, but she knew deep down that wasn¡¯t her. She would fight the aliens head-on, likely losing countless more times. That wouldn¡¯t stop her, though. What she really needed was to find a way to bring her grandfather into the loops. That way, he could better learn from the mistakes they made during their battles. She considered that and what she should do this loop. Approaching the Agency hadn¡¯t gone well, even under threat of force. She would need to plan that out better. An idea occurred to her. A very dangerous idea, but an interesting one nonetheless. What if she let the snatchers get a hold of her? The Agency only had a rudimentary idea of who was behind them. Maybe she could learn more and use that in some way. The more she considered it, the more she liked it. She would use her van to move around the country, leaving a nice trail of mana as she went. The Agency was generally slow to act and wouldn¡¯t at all be prepared or expecting the strength of the signatures she¡¯d be giving off. She decided the first thing she needed to do was get to her grandfather¡¯s and explain everything yet again. There was a chance she may need him to track her in case she failed to break out on her own. Following that, it was time for a nice cross-country sightseeing trip. * ¡°Alright, alright, I believe you.¡± Her grandfather gave in to her claims. ¡°Perfect, then I want you to follow me on my trip at a distance tracking me.¡± ¡°I hate this plan.¡± He shook his head at her as he spoke. She knew he¡¯d give in and go along with it, but she also knew he needed to make his objections clear. In case he had a good, I told you so moment. ¡°Yeah, well, it¡¯s the only plan I have at the moment. I want to know what the snatchers are.¡± She had a look of determination on her face that generally stopped arguments. Anyone who knew her at all knew there was no winning against her at this point. Her grandfather knew he better than anyone else alive. * She started her journey in Maine in an empty field far away from her grandfather¡¯s house and continued it westward. She wanted to play the role of a wandering healer. This way, she could do some real tangible good while waiting for her future captors. It also had the selfish benefit of furthering her channeling training. Stolen story; please report. She found she could heal several people a day of minor injuries, small cuts or burns, and the like. Each time, it was met with skepticism and then overwhelming gratitude. Her first big challenge was when a man asked her if she could regrow his finger. She had no idea but said she was willing to try. ¡°Let me see the hand.¡± She instructed the man. He raised his left hand. His pinky finger was missing. She felt the spot it should be gently, carefully probing the flesh. She pushed a tiny stream of mana into the joint and felt it move. She poured more mana into the hand and encouraged it to heal. She saw a small cut further up on his arm close over, but nothing happened with the finger. She imagined what the finger should look like and tried to build a mana lattice starting from the knuckle. She then pulled some of the mana she had earlier pushed into his hand across the knuckle, stitching it to the lattice. The man winced slightly in pain. He didn¡¯t pull his hand back, so she pushed forward. She saw why he was in pain, though. The flesh where the latticework touched his hand was unsealing and slowly growing across the finger. She felt the start of a headache. This level of concentration was draining her core fast. She ignored it and worked to finish the job that she had started. She coaxed the skin over the tip of the lattice and then healed it back together. Now for the hard part. She split her focus and looked at the man¡¯s bones and blood vessels, slowly extending them into the new cavity. Sweat dripped into her eyes as she worked. She felt someone¡¯s hand on her back steadying her. Every bit of her mana was now flowing through her channels, working on this man¡¯s finger. She saw the nail grow back. The nerves were now there. Blood began pumping through it. She fell backward and was caught by the people watching her. The man moved his finger. He tried touching something and yelled to the crowd that it had worked. Melissa was proud of herself, but she needed to get back to her van and rest. * She had repeated these small feats of power as she moved further west in her van. She hadn¡¯t been able to regrow anything bigger than a finger so far, but that alone was something she considered miraculous. She was in Northern Ohio when they finally caught up to her. Apparently, her displays of power had attracted a sizable retrieval unit. She hadn¡¯t been prepared for fifteen men, but she put up a good fight anyway. They had caught her before she had a chance to do any of the day¡¯s healing, so she was ready for a fight. At least, she thought she was. Two Gryalth exited one of the vans and began channeling. She could taste the green cloud before she fully realized what was happening. Dammit, the aliens and snatchers were the same thing. She realized this made some sense, but she wasn¡¯t in a position to put the information to any use. She collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Her lungs burned. They loaded her into the van, and that was how she found herself being rescued by Stan. She had no clue how he knew where she would be, but she was surprisingly glad to see him. ¡°Hey Stan, long time no see. Looks like you¡¯re doing well since Mars. Mind cutting the duct tape off my hands?¡± She coughed out the words. Her throat still felt raw from the gas. Loop 254 - A Meeting of Dogs Bug had spent the day setting up one of the smaller conference rooms. She made sure there were plenty of dog-safe snacks, comfy pillows, and one of those robots that took voice commands. She wanted to be sure there was an easy way to take notes for future meetings, and as none of her invited guests had hands, she thought this was the best approach. The idea had come to her last loop, but it wasn¡¯t until Ethel connected her realm to the void house that Bug really thought it was something she could do. It had been brewing in the back of her mind since she learned about Alfred and Gretel. It was time to form the council of dogs. Bug had just pushed the last pillow where she wanted it when her two guests arrived. Alfred was a giant of a dog with a dark grey coat. Gretel was closer to Bug¡¯s size with a white coat. ¡°Hello Alfred, Gretel, are you enjoying your visit to the void house?¡± Bug asked her guests. ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Bug,¡± Alfred said. ¡°Please call me Bug, no formality between us dogs.¡± Bug wagged her tail. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Of course, Bug it is.¡± Gretel wagged her tail as well. ¡°Please take a seat. Can I offer any of you beef jerky? This is my favorite type.¡± Bug asked her fellow dogs. ¡°None for me, upsets my stomach.¡± Answered Albert as he sat down on one of the pillows. ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯d love some.¡± Gretel curled up on the pillow next to Albert. Bug pushed the bowl towards her and then began her practiced speech. She had never tried anything like this before and wanted to make sure she got it right. ¡°My fellow talking dogs, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re curious why I¡¯ve invited you here to this meeting. Well, be curious no longer. I believe it is our duty to form the canine council in order to best protect the humans. I¡¯m sure you love them as much as I do, but they are dumb creatures constantly wandering into danger without thinking, and it has been our sacred duty for all of our joint history to keep them safe. Times have changed, and so must we. I think we need to learn our own magical arts in order to keep them safe. To this end, I propose the three of us join Andy¡¯s team on a visit to the library. I think we can trust Cal and Ethel with Frank and Albert for this loop. Fellow dogs, what do you say? Give me a bark if you agree!¡± Bug was happy to be answered with a round of affirmative barking. Loop 254 - Part 10 Cal ran over to his father. He found him cutting duct tape from the wrists of Melissa. He was right. The void had belonged to her. Well, this knocked out another goal for the loop. ¡°How the hell did you know I needed to be rescued? Wait, is that Cal? You look young.¡± Melissa had spotted him. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me, and we didn¡¯t. I knew about the Gryalth hideout from a previous loop, and we decided it was time to investigate it.¡± Cal heard Frank approaching behind him. ¡°That gas is something terrible.¡± Andy coughed as he spoke. ¡°Yeah, it is. It knocked me on my ass. Why is there a giant plant man with you?¡± Her eyes had moved to Frank as he set Andy down on the ground. ¡°Hello Melissa, this is Frank. I¡¯m Andy in a kid¡¯s body, in case you don¡¯t recognize me. Time for you to make a choice, though. You can either come with us on our escape and be confined to our base for a bit, or you can risk the wrath of the Gryalth. We will probably be vanishing for most of the rest of this loop. So you will be their primary target if you choose that option.¡± ¡°Fuck, dammit, I had other plans, but no, you¡¯re right. Do you care if my grandpa comes as well? I won¡¯t if he can¡¯t!¡± Her voice was tinged with annoyance. ¡°Of course, he can come, and you will be welcome to leave after we set up a transport to the location you want to be dropped off at,¡± Andy said. ¡°Alright, yeah, I¡¯ll come along for now. Better you than an alien hit squad, I suppose.¡± Her head turned to the side as a car came squealing into the parking lot. It came to a stop near them, and an old man hopped out. ¡°Everything okay, Melissa? I very much hope so because I don¡¯t think I can win a fight with the tree.¡± The old man asked. ¡°Yes, Gramps, everything is fine. Somehow, I was rescued by a few other people in the loops, and they have so kindly invited us to stay with them for a bit. I don¡¯t think we have much of a choice, considering the chaos I caused. I still can¡¯t believe the snatchers were just the aliens.¡± She said. ¡°Alright, enough talk; we¡¯ve got some work to do before anyone comes snooping after what happened here. Frank crushed the cars. We didn¡¯t think this one, though, but we can¡¯t leave it here for someone to trace to us. Sorry about your van Stan.¡± Andy was interrupted. ¡°Wait, let me get my stuff out of the car before anyone crushes anything.¡± Melissa¡¯s Grandfather yelled out. ¡°Yeah, fair, Stan, grab anything you want from the van as well. Melissa¡¯s grandfather, what¡¯s your name anyway?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Harold.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help Harold get his things through the crack. Frank, you stay here with Stan and Cal. Guys, we need the cars crushed enough to get them through the crack. Frank, I believe in you. Melissa, you¡¯re with me.¡± Everyone went to work without questions. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Cal looked over at the plant, dressed in his wrestling outfit. ¡°You think you can handle this, Frank? It¡¯s a pretty big van.¡± ¡°No human vehicle can stand against the might of my trunks!¡± Frank bellowed and started smashing the second Stan gave him the all the clear. To Frank¡¯s credit, it only took him ten minutes to get the cars small enough that they could be moved through the cracks. His growing strength continued to impress Cal. ¡°Alright, anyone needs anything else before we close the crack?¡± Cal asked the assembled group of people and animals. ¡°Hmm, I think we should trash the building.¡± One of the capybaras said, resulting in several starting to agree. Cal even heard one of them shout to burn it down. ¡°Frank agrees. Destroy the building!¡± Frank finished his statement with a roar. ¡°Well, it would send a message. I¡¯m just not sure that¡¯s a message we should be sending.¡± Andy¡¯s eyes moved to Cal and Stan. ¡°Fuck it, I say we destroy it. We¡¯re likely on camera inside the building anyway. We aren¡¯t really planning on sticking around the planet in this loop anyway. At least this will give us an idea of what happens if we use early overwhelming force.¡± Cal gave in to the destruction idea. He wasn¡¯t sure it was a good idea, but it sure was a cathartic one. ¡°Alright then, Albert, take the boys and get some explosives ready. Frank, can you tell Andrew we will need him out here? He knows far more about explosives than I do, and we will want to pack the building correctly if we want it totally gone.¡± Andy said. ¡°Got it, boss. Come on, boys, let¡¯s get some of the special stuff we¡¯ve been working on.¡± Albert signaled for his fellow capybaras to follow him as he left the room. Frank followed after them. ¡°So, we sure this is a good idea?¡± Stan asked the remaining four. ¡°Look, I barely know you guys, not including the years we spent together on Mars, but I¡¯m always in favor of explosions.¡± Melissa was smiling in complete contrast to her grandfather''s frown. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough to really give my opinion. If you all think it¡¯s best, go ahead,¡± Harold said. Before any further conversation could continue, Frank returned with an annoyed-looking Andrew. ¡°You want to blow up what?¡± He asked, the annoyance having moved from his face to his voice. ¡°We want to see what happens when we destroy a Gryalth hideout. Don¡¯t be a spoilsport, Drew.¡± Andy answered. Andrew¡¯s face went from annoyed to angry. ¡°Do not call me Drew. You may like shortened names, but I hate them. Just make sure you put one of Albert¡¯s special explosives in each room in the basement and lower floors. Put one of the big ones in the stairwell and elevator. It should destroy it entirely. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I have a trip to Ethel¡¯s realm planned to test out how well I can traverse these places.¡± Andrew finished with a grumpy sigh and left the room just as the capybaras returned. They headed back through the crack to the hotel, and Andy laid out the plan. The capybaras and Frank moved quickly through the building, placing the explosives. Albert followed behind them, properly aligning them and setting up the timers. ¡°Alright, everyone, back through this place is going to go up in.¡± Albert paused to check his watch. ¡°Fourty-two seconds.¡± He finished with multiple looks of panic around him. ¡°NEXT TIME LONGER!¡± Andy yelled at the capybara as they all rushed back through. Cal closed the crack behind them. Slowly, the crack zipped itself back shut. With the last two inches to go, they heard a cacophony of explosions through it, and the color of the crack shifted from black to bright orange and froze open where it was. It seemed stuck. ¡°Ugh, that seems like it might be a problem,¡± Cal said. Loop 254 - Part 11 ¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡± Andy yelled at their handiwork. ¡°How bad do you think it is?¡± Cal asked ¡°I don¡¯t know. Someone get Ralth now!¡± Andy screamed at the crowd. There was evident panic in his voice. Cal wasn¡¯t used to hearing that out of Andy. ¡°On it,¡± Stan answered, managing to keep his voice calm. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Andy asked Andrew, who had started to move away. ¡°I¡¯m getting a camera. We need to see what¡¯s through that crack. I doubt it¡¯s the hotel anymore, and I¡¯m worried just what it could be.¡± He answered. ¡°Yeah, fair, okay. Dammit. Why didn¡¯t I think this all through better? I swear my brain has been fuzzy all loop.¡± Andy¡¯s face now matched his voice¡¯s panic. ¡°Andy, it¡¯s going to be okay. Yeah, there is something going on with you, but we will figure it out. I noticed it earlier when you mentioned the trip with Bug. But it will be okay.¡± Cal smiled at his friend reassuringly. ¡°How did that, of all things, give away my brain fog?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Well, for one thing, you shouldn¡¯t remember it. It took several loops before you became loop-aware.¡± Cal answered. ¡°Oh,¡± He looked like he was about to say more but was cut off by the arrival of Ralth, who had brought along one of the imprisoned Cyclopean aliens. ¡°That¡¯s new.¡± Ralth¡¯s voice didn¡¯t have the usual calmness to it as he looked at the partial crack that remained. ¡°You guys really are new to all this shit. Yer real lucky I heard your mates yelling for yer buddy here when I did. That there is a giant fucking problem.¡± Twonger looked over at Cal as he spoke. ¡°So what do we do?¡± Cal asked, staring back at the man who had killed him so many times before. ¡°We need to seal this room separately from the rest of your house. Get as much monitoring equipment on it as you can. I think I can slow the growth, but I can¡¯t stop it. It will eventually reopen.¡± He responded. ¡°Okay, why is it so horrible.¡± Cal followed up. He didn¡¯t like the look of it, but he wasn¡¯t entirely sure why everyone was panicking as much as they seemed to be. ¡°I think it¡¯s a tear into the area between dimensions. You said Marley called it the Abyss,¡± Andy answered, surprising Cal. His friend had been quiet so far since the alien arrived. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Well, at least you rubes know about the darkness. Yeah, yer friend is entirely right. This right here is a giant beacon to the monsters that live beyond reality. Man, some of those things would just love to be able to pass into our world without having to return to a larval form. How did you even idiots even manage this? Before Cal here woke up a world seed inside himself, which, by the way, sorry for trying to kill you, for I had no idea you were that strong. There was nowhere near the energy needed to punch a hole into the abyss.¡± Cal glared at the alien, his apology was not at all accepted. ¡°Let me try something. I can feel it pulsating strangely.¡± Ralth moved closer to the crack and began to touch it gently. The intense color dulled slightly. ¡°Whatever yer doing, big man, keep it up. I¡¯m going to try to zip this thing more closed while you drain that energy.¡± Twonger joined Ralth directly in front of the tear. ¡°I cannot hold this for long. The energy I¡¯m pulling from this is like nothing I¡¯ve ever touched before. My mana channels are having issues moving it at all.¡± Ralth¡¯s voice was full of both pain and struggle. His face was scrunched into concentration. ¡°Go faster.¡± he managed to utter with his teeth now clamped together. ¡°I¡¯m going as fast as I can. There¡¯s already something big on the other side, and it¡¯s fighting us. How the fuck are you even able to channel any of this energy. DAMMIT CLOSE!¡± The alien screamed as the mana he was pushing into the tear flared into visibility. ¡°Ralth, hold on, I¡¯m coming. I think I can see what you¡¯re doing. Let me help.¡± Bill¡¯s hands reached out to tug on an invisible force from one of Ralth¡¯s palms. He gave it several pulls before screaming in pain and doubling over. ¡°Bill, are you¡­¡± Cal wasn¡¯t able to finish his words as Melissa shoved him aside. Most of the void house occupants were now in the room attracted to the noise. ¡°Move,¡± Melissa screamed as she leaned down over Bill. Cal saw her hands start to channel mana directly into the capybara, and the blackened marks on his arms faded. Bill now looked to be peacefully asleep. She then stood up and put both her hands on Ralth¡¯s back. ¡°Alright, big man, I¡¯m going to pump you full of as much healing energy as I can. I don¡¯t want to touch whatever that is you are pulling from the crack, so you need to channel it through your body to where it needs to go, got it?¡± She asked. ¡°YES JUST DO IT!¡± Ralth yelled back. A large, bright discharge of mana flowed from Melissa¡¯s hands, coating the entirety of Ralth¡¯s back. It had a green shimmer to it as the energy worked its way inside. Ralth noticeably slumped less, and he unclenched his teeth. Cal was sure that he was routing the mana around himself as best he could. ¡°There, that¡¯s as much as I can zip it. We will want my brother to take a look and see if he can add some containment protection to it, but it should hold for a decade or two like this. Even with that thing on the other side. Here¡¯s hoping it¡¯s not a leviathan.¡± Twonger was smiling despite the situation. ¡°Is the Gryalth and the merc locked up?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Yeah, Gramps was helping secure them. I ran back here with Bill.¡± Melissa answered. ¡°Alright, I want everyone, and I do mean everyone, that talk, except our two newest prisoners in the situation room in exactly two hours. Andy and Dad, you¡¯re in charge of Twonger. If he tries anything stupid, do whatever you need to do. Melissa could look after Bill, please. I need to go check on our prisoners. Ralth, you¡¯re with me.¡± Cal looked around the room at his ever-growing group of friends, acquaintances, and enemies as he spoke. He could tell this was about to be a very long loop. Loop 254 - Signal Lost ¡°She¡¯s gone. We know the snatchers grabbed her, but beyond that, she¡¯s off our radar again.¡± One of the techs in the room announced. The room had three rows of computers with a person at each. ¡°Understood, thank you,¡± Brice said before leaving the room. He walked the halls, heading for the director¡¯s office. This loop, their meeting had gone well. The message he had given him in the last loop had paid off. He opened the director¡¯s door and walked in. ¡°Agent Brice, and what news do you bring me this time?¡± The old man, everyone only knew as the director asked. ¡°Melissa is back off the grid, but considering the reports on her actions, I believe she planned this. I doubt they actually neutralized her, and even if they did, she will be back next loop.¡± Brice said. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°So you say. Here¡¯s your new phrase to add to your list. Chickens taste of cheddar. So far, what you¡¯re saying seems entirely plausible, and that phrase will get you to my current trust level instantly in your next loop. Now, the big question is, how do you want to spend the rest of this one?¡± ¡°I think I need to directly attack the snatchers. Give me a few ogres, and let me run through some of our leads to see what I can find.¡± ¡°Done. I¡¯d say don¡¯t die, but I¡¯m not sure how much that matters to you anymore.¡± The director¡¯s smile still creeped Brice out. Loop 254 - Part 12 ¡°I¡¯m starting with the Gryalth. After that, we can confront the human merc.¡± Cal said to Ralth on their way to the new prisoners. ¡°Why just us?¡± Ralth asked his brother. There was genuine concern in his voice. ¡°Because I let myself do something very stupid yet again, leaving Bill hurt and Andy doubting himself. I don¡¯t think I can keep being the class clown forever while I let Andy handle most of the leadership here. So, it¡¯s time for me to step up a bit. I am a few hundred years old, after all.¡± Cal forced a smile and clapped his brother on the back. ¡°Please, I lost count at five hundred, and I still haven¡¯t grown grim and serious. It¡¯s just not in our genes,¡± Ralth answered back. ¡°Maybe not, but you¡¯ve still changed a lot from the kid I knew, so it¡¯s probably best I try to grow up at least a little. Oh, also, I call good cop.¡± They had reached the door of the makeshift prison cell for their captured alien. ¡°Interesting, I¡¯ve never been the bad cop. That was always Camden. Let¡¯s try it.¡± Cal unsealed and opened the door, taking Ralth¡¯s statement as agreement to start the interrogation. The Gryalth was tied to a chair, with all their limbs forced against its own body. Cal had no idea if that would actually be able to stop it from channeling, but it was the best they had at the moment, at least until the Cyclopean brothers gave up their first thing in trade for their lives: mana suppression. ¡°Hey, there, Mr. Gryalth. I¡¯m Cal, and this here is Big Ralth. The big guy wanted to kill you, but I figured that was a bit far. Someone like you, with all the information in your head just waiting to make a deal to stay alive, would much prefer a nice conversation, maybe a little food. What kind of food do you eat anyway?¡± Cal kept his voice calm as his barrage of questions started. Ralth stood in the corner of the room glaring at the creature, grunting every time Cal referenced his supposed desire for its death. The alien finally lifted its head and looked directly into Cal¡¯s eyes. It started to speak. ¡°What even are you two? This planet should only have base humans, and both of you smell as though you¡¯ve been touched by the fires of creation.¡± Its voice had a low croak to it, as though it was struggling to speak the words. ¡°Oh good, you speak English. You know, I hadn¡¯t even considered that to be a potential problem. Then again, when you are planning to destroy America and running some kind of clandestine infiltration scheme, I suppose it makes sense. So, no food then? How about a name? What can we call you?¡± Cal gave the creature a giant toothy smile. It looked far more predatory than friendly. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I will not share my name with lessers, and neither will I partake of the trash you call food. I will, though, give you one chance to live. Release me, and I am willing to bind your souls to mine as servants.¡± Bind themselves to it, what the fuck? Cal suddenly had an idea of what was motivating the human mercenaries. ¡°I¡¯m thinking we¡¯d rather not. So, not giving us a name, eh? Well, I¡¯m calling you Igor then.¡± Cal watched it struggle in vain against its bonds, glad he had managed to at least annoy it. ¡°Come on, Ralth, let¡¯s try some of the other prisoners. I figure one of these things is going to be willing to take a deal.¡± Cal waved to Ralth to follow him as he exited the room. He resealed it behind them once they were outside. ¡°Same routine?¡± Ralth asked. ¡°Yep, stand there and look mean,¡± Cal answered, opening door number two. Unlike the Gryalth, the man in this room was hunched over in his seat. He was also bound to the chair, but he looked like he had been crying. Cal thought that was something he could work with. ¡°So, I understand you¡¯re soulbound to the Gryalth. What exactly would make a human pledge their soul to something that wants to eradicate us all?¡± Cal asked the man. He had no idea exactly what that meant, but he wasn¡¯t about to let that stop him. ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t have a choice, my kid. She had this weird power, which I¡¯m guessing you also have, but the government was trying to catch her. Well, the Gryalth found us first. One of them promised he wouldn¡¯t hurt Ella if I just agreed to work for them. I had no idea what it meant at the time, but I had to try to save her, you know? Well, it didn¡¯t work. She¡¯s dead thanks to the Agency¡¯s ogres, and I¡¯m here trapped with someone who wants us all dead.¡± The man looked ready to cry again. ¡°Hm, well, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t do anything for your daughter, but I can offer you the chance to tell us everything you know, and we can try to break that bond. What¡¯s your name anyway?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I¡¯m Rob, and I¡¯ll tell you whatever I can, but I doubt I can tell you anything that will help unless you can break this soul bond.¡± He looked directly at Cal for the first time while speaking. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try this. Tell me the location of all Gryalth bases you know.¡± Cal didn¡¯t expect this to work but figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to try. The man opened his mouth to answer and instead screamed in pain. His head collapsed to the table. It turned out it very much could hurt, just not cal himself. ¡°He¡¯s still breathing. I think it just knocked him out.¡± Ralth said. ¡°Good, let¡¯s add breaking soul bonds to the list of topics at the giant meeting I called for. Alright, come on, Ralth, I want to grab something to eat before this thing starts.¡± He left the room with Ralth behind him again and made sure to seal it up the same as the last one. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s anything left from breakfast? I would love some scrambled eggs.¡± Cal smiled up at his brother. They had someone who had real answers, and they just had to figure out how to help give them up. Today was a little better now. Loop 254 - The Tour ¡°And you say everyone can talk here? All the animals?¡± Harold asked Bug as she led him through the windy halls of the void house. ¡°Yep, Trashcat couldn¡¯t until recently, and only a few of the animals in Ethel¡¯s realm can talk so far, but every void house resident is a fully speaking member of our wonderful little group. Isn¡¯t it amazing?¡± Bug looked up at Harold as she asked that. ¡°Yes, Bug, it certainly is.¡± He still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of all this. Bug had shown him room after room. In one of them, there was a giant spider playing cards with a centipede. Another had capybaras preparing snacks for the meeting that he was apparently expected to attend. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, just wait until you meet the other members of the canine council. They¡¯re great, and I¡¯m sure Trashcat will love Roger. It¡¯s probably about time anyway, so we should head to the situation room and make sure we get a seat. It¡¯s going to be packed. Did I tell you that we¡¯ve never done a full meeting before?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t, so I get to be privy to the first void council?¡± Harold smiled down at the dog as he asked. Loop 254 - Part 13 Cal walked into a packed situation room. Animals and people filled nearly every square inch of the room. He watched as Ralth squeezed his way past him and took and sat down in one of the few clear spots on the floor. ¡°Well, hello, everyone. I think we probably need to start expanding this room, as I want to start having at least two meetings a loop with everyone gathered. So I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all curious why I wanted to talk to everyone, and we will cover that, but first, I¡¯d like a round table of introductions because I don¡¯t think anyone here knows everyone.¡± Cal said, scanning the room and seeing several unfamiliar animal faces. ¡°I know everyone! You really need to keep up Cal. You¡¯ve gotten rude in your old age.¡± Bug announced to the whole room, causing Cal to smile. ¡°Fine, Bug, how about you introduce everyone then.¡± Cal smiled at her. He meant it as a joke but knew she was going to do it anyway. ¡°Okay, okay, I can do that,¡± Bug replied. She lifted a paw and pointed at Cal first. ¡°So first up are the humans. This is Cal Marshall. He¡¯s my big brother and the one who got us all stuck in time loops to start with.¡± She walked around the room and stopped in front of one of the larger men in the room. ¡°This my dad Stan Marshall. He gives the best ear scratches of anyone I have ever met.¡± She pointed next to him. ¡°And this is Jen Marshall, my extra mom. She sneaks me treats. I like her a lot.¡± She started walking again, this time stopping in front of a man larger than Stan and the tallest human in the room. ¡°This is my little brother Ralth, formally Christopher. He had a lot of strange adventures and met a very cool group of capybaras before he rejoined the family.¡± She moved back around the room, stopping in front of two people. One looked like an older version of the other. She started by pointing at the younger, ¡°This is Andy. He¡¯s one of my best friends, an all-around great guy. He¡¯s been trying to help for as long as I can remember. The big one next to him is Andrew. They used to be the same person until Cal broke reality again. I think that might be his specialty.¡± ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t break reality, other than maybe this most recent time. Andrew did it the first time! And the second time was just an effect of the first.¡± Cal¡¯s complaints were half-hearted. He knew Bug didn¡¯t mean any actual offense by them. ¡°I didn¡¯t break anything. The Gryalth interrupted my experiments!¡± Unlike Cal, Andrew actually did sound annoyed. ¡°As I was saying, Andrew is the stuffy one, Andy is the fun one.¡± Bug finished and started her walk again. This time, she stopped in front of an elderly woman who was sitting on the ground, leaning against a giant plant creature. ¡°This is another one of my best friends. Her name is Ethel. She is great with animals and plants and super nice to them, but she doesn¡¯t tolerate stupid people very well. But she explained to me that she¡¯s old and has earned that right.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Damn straight,¡± Ethel added. Bug walked over to the two newest humans in the room. ¡°This is Harold and Melissa. Melissa accidentally got pulled into the loops when Ethel and I made the scientists stay in the room and not die to the Gryalth outside. Harold is her grandfather. Oh, and well, I¡¯m here. The cat in his lap is Roger. He¡¯s nice but doesn¡¯t know how to talk yet.¡± Continuing her introductions, she moved on to the animals. Having already started with Roger, she walked over to a group of capybaras sitting around a table. ¡°These are the boys.¡± she pointed to each capybara in turn listing off their names until she got to Bill and Albert. They got longer introductions. Cal wondered if she had been exaggerating just how well she knew everyone. ¡°Over here behind them are Many Legs the centipede and Many Eyes the spider. They are nice. Many Legs used to have a dog, but the mean bear creatures that work for the Gryalth killed him. They enjoy classic rock and mutton.¡± ¡°He was a very good dog.¡± Many Legs¡¯ voice cracked as she spoke. Bug pointed to the two dogs curled up near Many Leg¡¯s feet. ¡°These two are Alfred and Gretel. They are friends of Ethel, that she found lost in the woods. That¡¯s how Cal and Stan found me, so I know how scary that is. Recently, though, they agreed to join me and form the Canine Council because we need to keep all the humans safe from their dumb decisions.¡± Bug walked to the other side of the table and pointed at two cats sitting side by side in one of the chairs. ¡°The bigger cat is Mother Scrump, one of Ethel¡¯s friends as well. I like her, she¡¯s helping to raise one of my other best friends, Trashcat. She¡¯s the smaller cat. I found her in an alley, and Ethel and I nursed her back to health.¡± She walked to a small pillow near Ethel. ¡°This small rabbit is Cindy Hopper. Ethel rescued her. Next to her is Hugo, the opossum. I don¡¯t actually know how he met Ethel, but he¡¯s a nice fellow.¡± ¡°The prof found me eating her trash. I had, uh, eaten a little much and a little wrong. But she healed me up good. Thanks, Prof.¡± Hugo filled in the gaps. Bug looked up at the largest thing in the room. ¡°This plant creature is Frank. He calls himself the Tree Titan, and he told me he¡¯s an expert wrestler.¡± ¡°Frank knows no one better!¡± Frank backed up Bug¡¯s statement. ¡°And the odd-looking bird is Gus. He helps Ethel run her realm and the root network. He¡¯s a nice bird.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t no bird. You got yourself an abyssal beast there somehow. I¡¯ve never seen a tame one before, though. That¡¯s new. Hell, all of this is new.¡± Twonger said, sharing his opinion on the gathering. ¡°Wait, what did you weirdo call me?¡± Gus squawked back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Gus, just ignore them for now. Nothing to worry about.¡± Ethel said, calming her friend down. ¡°Yes, and these two newcomers are Onelder and Twonger. They are aliens that wanted to hurt Cal but now claim they don¡¯t. I don¡¯t like them.¡± Bug stated matter-of-factly. ¡°Finally, we have two mana spirits with us. Mr. Oakbert is from Ethel¡¯s realm, and Fulginanis is the evolved form of Bolt and Barron from two of Cal¡¯s realms.¡± ¡°Thank you, Bug, I believe that covers everyone. Now, let¡¯s get down to business.¡± Cal said. Loop 254 - Part 14 ¡°First up, we have the business of you two and just what to do with you, given your offer.¡± Call said as he looked directly at Twonger and Onelder. ¡°What do you mean, bossman? We said we¡¯d teach you rubes some real skills if ya agreed not to kill us. Seems easy enough, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Twonger said. ¡°Sure, if that was all I knew about you two, it almost seems fair, but I¡¯m going to let you in on our secret and make you an even different offer.¡± Cal had finally decided just what he was going to do with these two. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would turn out in his favor long term or not, but the taking in the bugs had been for the best, so it was time to roll the dice again. ¡°Look, if ya met our older brother, we¡¯re sorry, but we can¡¯t control him. No one can. He¡¯s a galactic-wide menace.¡± Onelder sounded unusually serious with his statement. ¡°No, we haven¡¯t. But Bug and I have met you two before, many, many times. So many I lost track. You see, we are all stuck in a time loop, and the first loop I started off with this world seed in me caused you both to try to murder me in my sleep. Which you did, multiple times as I slowly worked through how to beat you. I understand you probably don¡¯t believe me, but I bet that explains the question of how I suddenly had all this power, or any of these people for that matter.¡± Cal said. ¡°Yeah, it kind of does. Alright, so where does that leave us?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°You¡¯re drafted. The universe is under attack by forces that want to strip mine it. You will be joining our groups on our missions this loop and training us to the best of your abilities. Once we have the compound ready to go again, and if we all agree to keep you on board, we will give you a treatment that makes you loop-aware.¡± ¡°What if we just run at the start of every loop after that?¡± Onelder asked. ¡°Entirely an option, but I guess it¡¯s just up to you to decide if you want us to remember you helped save the universe or you kept murdering me in my sleep once this is all over. Assuming, of course, we manage to stop the Gryalth.¡± Cal answered. ¡°Yeah, sure, we¡¯re in for now. Yer ragtag group of misfits might be useful.¡± Twonger said. ¡°Glad you feel that way, Twonger because you¡¯re going with Andy¡¯s group, the Under Library. Onelder, you¡¯re with my group. We¡¯re going off planet to a dwarf planet we call Pluto. So I believe we mostly have the group split decided on, but I am willing to offer Melissa a place on either team if she would like it.¡± Cal said. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Pass, look, I don¡¯t hate any of you, but the idea of joining your merry band of alien fighters isn¡¯t something I¡¯m up for just yet. That said, you make Gramps loop-aware, and I¡¯ll do owe you some favors.¡± She answered back. ¡°Alright, I can work with that. I¡¯ve got another spirit who was corrupted by the Gryalth, and I think your magic is exactly what I need to help purify them. If you are willing to take care of that and handle prisoner interrogation while we are gone, I think we can add Harold to the list of people in line for Andrew¡¯s inoculations.¡± Cal said. ¡°They are not inoculations. Well, actually, maybe there are. I suppose it depends on how you look at the concept of time itself.¡± Andrew trailed off. ¡°Also, Cal, the dogs, and I are going with Andy to the library. I know I said I¡¯d be coming with you to Pluto, but you¡¯ve got Frank and Ethel to keep you safe. We were talking about it, and we have some research we need to do.¡± Bug had her tail between her legs as she spoke. ¡°Hey, Bug, nothing to feel worried about girl. You have every right to make your decisions about what you want to do. I fully support you. The Under Library group has Andrew, so it could use all the extra protection it can get after all.¡± Cal smiled at her, hoping she felt reassured. He didn¡¯t want her ever to feel like she didn¡¯t get to make her own choices. ¡°Gus, I want you to help Many Eyes and Many Legs guard the prisoners. See if you can add the void house to our communication center. It may be important in case you need to pull together a quick defense.¡± Ethel looked at the two giant bugs as she spoke. ¡°Got it, boss. After this meeting, I¡¯ll talk to the boys and see what we can do to integrate our networks. See if we can¡¯t siphon off a little extra energy for the root network as well.¡± Gus replied. ¡°Thank you, Gus, it¡¯s appreciated.¡± Ethel smiled at the bird. ¡°So I don¡¯t expect to be gone anywhere near as long as Andy¡¯s group. At least, I assume you wish to spend the majority of the loop there?¡± Cal looked over at his friend as he asked. ¡°Yeah, I think so. There¡¯s just so much to research and look into.¡± He answered. ¡°Alright, then in ten years, can you try to meet us back here for another meeting and we can see if anyone else wants to join you? I won¡¯t be, as I¡¯m planning some intense training after Pluto. Especially if Melissa can help Grannus.¡± Cal was planning to catch Grannus up to his combined spirit as quickly as he could. ¡°Yeah that should be fine, though no promises. The place doesn¡¯t really obey conventional rules of physics, so we may get lost again, but I promise to try.¡± Andy said. ¡°I completely understand. Melissa any chance you want to join us for the defense of Dallas at the end of the loop. We have a quest to hold the entire city for two hours. With your mechs, we might just be able to.¡± Cal asked her. ¡°See, now you¡¯re talking fun. I¡¯m in.¡± Melissa answered. ¡°Alright, everyone, it¡¯s been a busy start to our loop. Let¡¯s all take a couple of weeks to rest up, and then we can prepare for our trips. Unless anyone else has anything to discuss.¡± Cal was met with silence. ¡°Good, go relax as best you can then.¡± Cal was looking forward to another meal. These meetings always left him starving for some reason. Loop 254 - Bug & Trashcat ¡°Trashy, while we¡¯re gone, I want you to work with Gus and make sure everything is okay. Keep up your lessons with Mother Scrump. It¡¯s a big responsibility, but I think you¡¯re ready.¡± Bug said to her much smaller friend. ¡°Okay, Bug, I¡¯m learning all kinds of fun cat-fighting techniques, so if anyone tries anything, I will show them my claws.¡± She purred loudly and flashed her claws at Bug. ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad you are settling in with the other cats. Also, make sure the capybaras add better seating for our animals when they update the situation room. Oh, and Frank, too. He should have his own chair. It¡¯s rude not to include him.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°You got it. Also, be careful yourself. Bill told me some stories about the Library. Don¡¯t let the weird things touch you, okay?¡± She rubbed against Bug¡¯s leg as she said this. ¡°I promise, the Canine Council is going to learn better ways to defend everyone, including ourselves.¡± Loop 254 - Part 15 Andy He knew Cal had wanted him to relax, but that wasn¡¯t really working. Previous loops had started bleeding into his brain somehow. Things he couldn¡¯t have known about were now there. He hadn¡¯t fully realized it at first, but once Cal had called him out on it, he couldn¡¯t ignore it anymore. Especially when he considered ignoring was leading to increased reckless decisions on his part. He was supposed to be the tactical one here, so it was time to get a grip on this flood of memories. This meant that instead of relaxing, he had spent the week documenting each loop he could remember in-depth to the best of his recollection. So far, he had been able to trace it back to the time Cal had pulled a gun on him, and it was possible he remembered the loop before that, but that was still hazy. Interestingly, he noted, he didn¡¯t remember anything of Andrew¡¯s life before Cal became loop-aware. It seemed the split between his older self, and him may have happened earlier than either of them realized. Beyond his new loop memories, he also had to decide where to focus their search in the Library. He and Bill needed to figure out new ways to increase their powers without being tied to mana spirits. He also wanted to find a way to quickly age himself and Cal up at the start of loops. The years spent as kids every time a loop restarted had lost its luster. He should also figure out what Andrew and Ralth wanted to do on this trip. At least the dogs were easy. They wanted to find their own source of magic. Plus, there was Twonger. He didn¡¯t trust that thing at all, but he needed to know just what he knew about mana. At least this time, he was going into the Under Library slightly more prepared than last time. The day before they were planning to depart he called a smaller smaller meeting in the situation room of the group. He wanted to try to align their goals as best he could before they were in the Library. The downside to this meeting he hadn¡¯t considered was the capybaras had started construction already, but there was still enough room around the main table for the smaller gathering. ¡°Twonger, as much as possible, I think Bill, Ralth, and I would benefit from daily lessons in channeling from you while we are there. Otherwise, you are free to come up with what you¡¯d like to research.¡± Andy said, starting with the not-so-voluntary member of this expedition. ¡°Seems simple enough; pretty sure I¡¯ll be spending years on just the basics. I haven¡¯t seen a single one of yas infusing food, cycling the air, or even testing capacity. This is a really sad planet ya got yourselves here. As for the Library, I¡¯m still not clear what makes it so special.¡± Twonger asked after he was done pointing out their deficiencies. ¡°In theory, we can learn anything as long as we have the time and dedication to do so,¡± Andy answered. ¡°And intestinal fortitude to not run screaming at the monsters,¡± Bill added. ¡°Anything, eh? Alright, now yer talking.¡± Twonger had a giant grin from ear to ear that left Andy uneasy. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Andrew, how about you? What are you looking for here?¡± Andy looked at his other older self. ¡°Firstly, I want to see how well I can exist there as I¡¯m stuck in these connected realms at the moment. Following that, I need to look into quantum doubling. Essentially, what happened to us, but more controlled. Since we are now able to make more people loop-aware, albeit a very limited number of people at the moment, I need to look into how this will affect things. I have some rudimentary ideas that may help us in the future, but I¡¯m not sure how possible they actually are yet.¡± ¡°Sounds good, Ralth. What brings you along?¡± Andy was least sure about Cal¡¯s brother¡¯s desires. He had expected him to either stay behind as usual or possibly join Cal on Pluto, not tag along to the Library. ¡°I used the advanced class feature on the R.I.S., and now my powers are much more limited than they once were. On the good side, it no longer feels like my body is tearing itself apart when I channel the local mana. On the downside, I gained some abilities that I have no real concept of, and I need to do some digging on, and what better place than a knowledge that I¡¯m reasonably sure shouldn¡¯t exist.¡± Unlike Twonger¡¯s smile, Andy found Ralth¡¯s comforting. ¡°And you three, is it just a source of magic for yourselves?¡± Andy asked the dogs. ¡°That¡¯s the main goal, but if we are exploring a place of limitless knowledge, I think there will be plenty for us to learn. I hope I¡¯m not stepping on either of your paws when I speak for us, but I believe there must be more to the way we animals are becoming intelligent. Think about our communication skills; for one, none of us have grown the same complex vocal cords you humans have, and yet we can all communicate nearly perfectly.¡± Alfred spoke up for the Canine Council. ¡°It¡¯s part of the universal language of mana, though you have a point; being able to tap into it without manifesting your own abilities isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve ever seen before,¡± Twonger spoke up again before Andy could respond. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just interesting, and I think it''s going to be our first lesson when we settle in. Alright, everyone, I recommend pillows and blankets. We will have plenty of food, but spices will be hard to come by, so add anything you want to the packing there as well. Bill is preparing a cart to bring with us, but we may have trouble keeping it with us, especially past our first reading room. So bring backups of anything you¡¯d rather not go without for a few years. Otherwise, see you all tomorrow.¡± Andy nodded to the group and made his exit from the room. He had his own packing to do and one more stop to make on the way. Walking through the void house until he found himself in front of the Gryalth¡¯s sealed room, he looked at the capybara guarding the door. ¡°He Lou, I want to talk to him for a couple minutes. That okay?¡± ¡°Sure thing. Just be careful.¡± He answered. ¡°Will do, thanks.¡± Andy unsealed the door and went inside. ¡°Hey you know anything about a place called the Under Library?¡± he asked immediately upon entering. ¡°No?¡± It answered questioningly. The look on its face made Andy think he had found a piece of information it wanted though. ¡°Alright, that was all I had to ask.¡± He turned around and left. He wasn¡¯t sure what he had expected out of it, but this seemed about right. He¡¯d be back in a decade. Loop 254 - Guard Duty ¡°Everyone listen up. It¡¯s our job to guard the prisoners while everyone is away. It¡¯s a boring job, but it¡¯s important it¡¯s done right. We will work in rotations of two at the doors with a third in communication range. Many Legs, Many Eyes, as the most dangerous of us, we will be relying on you strongly in case of a true jailbreak. So we won¡¯t ever have you on direct guard duty. The main rotations will be made up of myself, Mother Scrump, Cindy, Trashcat, and the Capybaras squad. Any questions?¡± Gus finished up his speech to the collected animals with a question. He was concerned about what what the Cyclopean aliens had said so he had every intention of making sure this was done correctly. He had to prove himself as a defender of his friends just in case he really was some kind of monster. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°YES, CAN WE¡­ Sorry, got excited. Can we eat while on duty?¡± Many Legs asked. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s important to be well-fed. I will have no signs of hunger in my soldiers.¡± Gus answered. ¡°Gus, I don¡¯t think we are soldiers.¡± Trashcat side-eyed the large bird. ¡°We are for this loop, and we may have to be again. It¡¯s important to be ready, little Trashy.¡± Gus responded. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, Trashcat. The future that awaits us all may be very dark.¡± Mother Scrump agreed. Loop 254 - Part 16 They stepped through the crack into the relative safety of the hub room Andy and Bill had discovered the first time they got here. The entrance to the All That Is Wing remained unlocked and opened. The same unnerving silence settled across the group as they looked at their surroundings. ¡°Well, the good news is I think I¡¯m fine with visiting this place, physically, at least. The atmosphere leaves something to be desired, though.¡± Andrew was the first to break the oppressive silence. ¡°Well, good, no explosions for both of us then. Follow me, and try not to be too unnerved by the librarian. They¡¯re a bit weird.¡± Andy smiled as he spoke. His excitement to get back to exploring the knowledge of this place had beaten the terror of what lived here. Despite his warning, the dogs still reacted to the appearance of the librarian, but at least everyone else was able to control themselves. Andy doubted this would come anywhere near qualifying as the strangest thing Twonger or Ralth had seen, and he knew his older self wasn¡¯t likely to admit to any disturbance. ¡°Bug, it¡¯s okay. I know they seem weird, but it works for Bill and me, so everything should be fine.¡± Andy kept his voice calm and soothing. ¡°Alright, but this all smells real weird.¡± Bug relented and broke from her aggressive posturing. ¡°Ugh, Andy, was this here last time?¡± Bill asked. There was a slight tremor of fear in his voice. Bill wasn¡¯t as over their last experience here as Andy was, it looked like. ¡°What¡¯s what?¡± Andy asked as he turned to look at his friend but quickly spotted what the capybara was talking about before he had the chance to answer. There was a large red book sitting on a reading stand. It was one of, if not the thickest, books Andy had ever seen. ¡°Yeah, no, that wasn¡¯t here before. I¡¯d have noticed it and gone through it. Librarian, what¡¯s this book?¡± Andy pointed to it as he asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but which book are you referring to?¡± It asked with complete disinterest in its voice. ¡°This, right here. The giant red book that I¡¯m currently pointing at.¡± Andy moved closer and poked his finger at it, nearly touching it as he spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, there is no book that we shelf where you are pointing. Is there anything else I can do for you today?¡± The puppet librarian continued. ¡°What are ya talking about, ya weird puppet? There is a book right here, clear as day, that the kid is pointing at. We all see it. So stop being stupid and tell us what it is.¡± Twonger said. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Welcome to the library, guests of the stewards. Please use the sign-in sheet, and I¡¯ll prepare your library cards for you.¡± The librarian entirely ignored Twonger¡¯s statement and moved into a different speech. ¡°Interesting, I can¡¯t tell if it legitimately can¡¯t see the book or just refuses to acknowledge its presence. Either way, I think it¡¯s best we don¡¯t touch it for now. I feel something odd emanating from it.¡± Ralth¡¯s voice still held the usual calm and collectedness that the giant man always seemed to radiate. ¡°Yeah, hey, librarian, what happens if they don¡¯t sign up for a library, and what does signing up do exactly?¡± Andy cautiously probed for more information as he wasn¡¯t sure how much he liked the idea of his friends signing anything in this place. ¡°The library cards grant access to our facilities such as reading rooms. Those attempting to enter one without a card trigger an alarm that summons security. In which case, they will be ejected from the Under Library, permanently. Upon signing for a library card, the patron is now duty-bound to defend the continuation of the Under Library from any threat, real or imagined, as defined by the opening day charter. Should you wish to read the charter, it is stored in the history of the Under Library section within the reading room.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like we have much of a choice here, mate, it¡¯s sign or die if I¡¯m reading the puppet¡¯s words correctly.¡± Twonger walked over, grabbed a pen, and quickly signed a document the Librarian pushed in front of him. ¡°Well good news, I don¡¯t feel no different. So seems safe enough.¡± Ralth followed Twonger¡¯s lead and signed the form without any questions. Andrew moved to go next when the Librarian withdrew the form and suddenly froze in place. ¡°Error, the steward has already been logged, error.¡± Andrew stepped back with a look of confusion on his face. ¡°Hrm, it must be because of shared genetics. It thinks we are the same person.¡± Andrew said. ¡°Yeah, it seems like it. I wonder what chaos that is going to cause here in the long term.¡± That revelation soured Andy¡¯s mood. It was just another potential problem to add to the endlessly growing list of issues they¡¯ve had to deal with since the Gryalth decided to cannibalize their reality for resources to better conquer their own realities. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t use a pen, and I don¡¯t think the other members of the Canine Council can either.¡± Bug had stepped in front of the counter. ¡°Oh, that is not an issue. We have many non-humanoid members of the Under Library. Please, all of you, stamp your paws on these forms and tell me your names. I will add them to the cards myself.¡± The puppet answered. ¡°Bug.¡± ¡°Alfred.¡± ¡°Gretel.¡± After the three dogs said their name, the puppet presented them each with an ink pad for their paws and the papers to stamp with them. All three did so. ¡°Excellent, your cards will be ready shortly. The Under Library thanks you for your patience.¡± It walked backward from the desk as it said this. ¡°This place yer go here is some of the most unnerving shit I¡¯ve ever had the displeasure of being around. And I¡¯ve been to some terrible places.¡± Twonger said as soon as the puppet was out of sight. Loop 254 - Part 17 ¡°Librarian, we are looking for books about advancing our magical cores without the use of a mana spirit or a coupled magical realm,¡± Andy said to the puppet. ¡°You will likely find what you are looking for in the mana composition section. Let me print you up a map to the information terminal, it¡¯s quite a long trip from here. Also, the area is currently infested with jellyapes. I suggest extreme caution when interacting with them.¡± It answered. ¡°Are these anything like the creature that dragged itself along the ground at us or the weird shadow creatures?¡± Andy had nearly forgotten that there were several questions he could likely get answered before they journeyed deep into the wing. ¡°No, the husks and the shadowmorphs are their own unique dangers. As you know, the shadowmorphs are easy enough to escape from, and as long as you don¡¯t venture into the stacks that a husk is currently active in, there will be no issue there either. Jellyapes like to hunt for a much greater distance. If you would like to learn more about abyssal beasts within the library, I recommend the section on anti-magical creatures or the abyss. Though we don¡¯t shelf much about the abyss in here, as this wing only contains material pertaining to all that is and the abyss is something else.¡± ¡°Just how many abyssal beasts are there looming in the stacks?¡± Andy followed up, doing his best to keep the fear out of his voice. ¡°All of them that are.¡± It answered. ¡°Okay, different question. How long has passed since we were last here.¡± Bill joined in the questioning. ¡°The passage of time in the Under Library is a complex set of variables based on the presence of the stewards. So, relative to you, no time has passed. Natural passage of time only occurs while you are present in the library. Effects of aging once maturity is reached are also suppressed within the Library¡¯s time field. Due to vastly different lifespans of creatures throughout the infinite it is only fair that they have equal accommodations in regards to their studies.¡± ¡°Is it my imagination, or is it answering more questions than it did the last time we were here?¡± Andy remembered the puppet being seemingly unable to give any information anywhere near this level of detail on their previous trip. ¡°As the stewards have managed to survive their first stay in the Under Library, secure a gateway to their own universe of residence, and return with new patrons, my ability to provide surface-level information has increased. This is so that I may better serve you as your questions grow more complex while you study the Under Library itself.¡± Andy wasn¡¯t expecting an answer from the puppet; his question had been more intended for Bill, if anyone, but he wasn¡¯t about to complain. More information was a good thing, and it was something they dearly needed. ¡°Is there a way to speed up our biological aging?¡± Andy realized the poor phrasing of the question the second the puppet answered. ¡°Yes, many.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Are there any mechanisms the Under Library has to do this for us?¡± He tried a more exact question this time. ¡°No, but I can give you a map to the section on biological aging when coupled with mana growth.¡± ¡°No, we can get that from the information terminal once we are done in our current section. Alright, final questions before we head out. Is there anything you think we should know, and if there is, can you tell us those things?¡± Andy figured it was best to at least try. ¡°There are many things I think it would benefit you to know, many of which I am not allowed to tell you about. The most important thing is ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR.¡± After the fifth error, its head slumped down onto the desk. ¡°Ugh, what happened?¡± Twonger reached out and poked the puppet¡¯s head as he asked. ¡°No idea exactly what, but I¡¯m guessing we pushed up against whatever restrictive programming it has, but for some reason, it tried to answer anyway,¡± Bill answered Twonger with uncertainty in his voice. ¡°Yeah, grab the puppet. I want to take it with us before it¡¯s just replaced with a new, less helpful one. No one has told us not to yet, so I don¡¯t think it will count as breaking a rule.¡± Andy hoped it was either only temporarily non-functional or that they could repair it. Either way, he wanted the puppet. Twonger complied, reached across the desk, and slung the puppet over his arms. ¡°Got it, now where to mate?¡± ¡°Through here, follow us,¡± Andy said, gesturing to Bill. ¡°Something is coming, let¡¯s go quickly.¡± Alfred alerted the group. They heeded his warning and quickly vanished into the stacks, following Andy and Bill as they kept referencing the map. Andy looked side to side as they went constantly checking for any dangers, mostly ignoring the small talk he heard from the others. He wanted to stay focused so that they could get to the first reading room before nightfall. Bug¡¯s voice snapped him out of his focus. ¡°Andy, I smell a cat. Didn¡¯t you say you met a cat last time?¡± She asked. ¡°I did. Where do you smell the cat?¡± ¡°She¡¯s ahead, I believe, near the reading room you are leading us to,¡± Gretal answered. ¡°Okay, that could be useful. I was hoping we¡¯d get a chance to talk to the cat¡¯s owner again.¡± Andy was still very unsure of her, but now that he had a bigger group, she was another potential source of useful information. With the reading room now in sight, he decided they would first set up a bit for the night and see if the cat was still around once they were secure. He had no intention of being caught out after hours. It didn¡¯t look like fate was going to agree with his intentions, though, as they found the room already occupied. He knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can make it to another reading room in time.¡± Bill was the first to break the silence with the bleak message. ¡°No, we can¡¯t. Fuck this isn¡¯t going to be good.¡± Andy agreed. He had no idea what to do. ¡°MEOOOOOOOW.¡± There was suddenly a loud screeching meow from behind them. The group spun to find a large, fluffy orange cat screaming at them. Once it saw them turn, it darted off into the stacks. ¡°It¡¯s Mr. Wiggles! Quick, everyone, follow that cat!¡± Andy shouted to the group as he began to run after the cat. Loop 254 - Mr. Wiggles Mr. Wiggles was annoyed. The idiots were back again, and this time, they even had the audacity to bring dogs with them. Then he noticed the red book was out again, and his annoyance turned into panic and anger. He didn¡¯t have time for this. Mother needed to be informed, but he also couldn¡¯t just leave the idiots to their deaths. They felt too crucial for that. Mr. Wiggles hissed as he debated what to do. When he saw things suddenly grow even worse as the librarian collapsed onto the desk, and they took it with them. They took a librarian into the library. Well, he had no choice now. He had to get them to mother, alive if possible. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He followed them, keeping his distance as best he could to avoid the dog''s noses until he realized they were heading for an already occupied reading room. He made a quick detour and dashed across bookcases until he was sure he had ended up in front of them and waited for their arrival. Mother would appreciate his hard work. Loop 254 - Part 18 ¡°Why the hell are we chasing a cat, mate? Scratch that, run faster!¡± Twonger first asked and then yelled to the group. Andy heard the same thing Twonger did. There were crying sounds coming from the stacks around them. It sounded like a group of babies had suddenly surrounded them. While he had no idea what that meant, he had also seen enough horror movies to know nothing good came from crying babies in a horror environment. ¡°What are they, Twonger?¡± Andy yelled to the alien. He hoped he had recognized them. ¡°Could be many things, but every single one of them is likely to kill us all. Adding into just how scary yer little library already is, I¡¯m not particularly keen on the idea of finding out if I know exactly what kind of monster this is before it eats me.¡± Twonger shouted back. ¡°I don¡¯t think it matters exactly what you are keen on. We aren¡¯t outrunning these creatures!¡± Ralth shouted. His warning came too late for Andy to think of another potential escape as several small shadowy forms appeared in front of them. Each one looked about the size of a baby with a small bald head, but that was where the resembled ended. Their arms ended in claw-like hands, and they each had a dozen spidery legs. The crying was the worst part for Andy as he felt it push deep into his brain. Every new scream made his brain feel like it was going to liquefy. ¡°Oh, we are right fucked. A god damned packed of spider screamers is exactly the type of horror I expected. Don¡¯t look into their eyes, and do your best to ignore their crying. If you feel them in your brain already, well, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s a horrible way to go.¡± Twonger raised his right hand, and a shining golden sword appeared in it. Andy heard his warning as though it was through what felt like jello growing in his mind. He had to fight out of this. It was hard to hear anything else Twonger had said, but he was sure it wasn¡¯t good. He tried pushing mana into his brain and found his channels felt sticky. The more he tried to push the mana around, the more it bled into the places it started. He started to feel sick to his stomach. This was getting worse, and he didn¡¯t know what to do. Luckily for Andy, Mr. Wiggles apparently did know what to do. Andy watched as the cat leaped onto the head of the thing that was staring into his eyes. The cat then plucked the eyes straight from the sockets and crushed them into its mouth. Andy felt the fog in his brain clearing as he finally fully comprehended Twonger¡¯s words. ¡°Listen to Twonger. You don¡¯t want those things in your head.¡± He yelled in agreement with the alien. ¡°Yeah, listen to me!¡± Twonger slashed out with his sword into the group of monsters in front of him. ¡°We¡¯re all gonna die, so ya may as well get any desires you have to smash a baby¡¯s skull out of your system while you have the chance!¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Andy watched Bill and Ralth begin their own attacks but noticed the dogs holding back for some reason. ¡°Bug, is everyone okay?¡± He called to her. ¡°Erm, yes, sorry. Things are weird. We¡¯re coming.¡± She answered. Andy thought that was strange but didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it as one of the creatures had grabbed his leg. He dropped a small globe of darkness on it and drastically reduced the gravity in it. It vanished with a last cry into the void far above their heads. He felt control of his gravity ball disappear and watched as Bill grew it in size and altered the shape, turning it more into a giant rolling pin that swept down the corridor, knocking all the advancing spider screamers into the air. Ralth was quick to follow up on their momentary gain with his own assault. It was the first time any of them had seen his new powers in action, and they were undoubtedly different. Suddenly, there was a second giant rolling pin. This was one above the monsters and glowing bright white. It began to spin rapidly, hanging in the air like a fan blade, and every beast it touched was reduced to ash. ¡°I¡¯ll hold this as long as I can. Start tossing them into it in any way you can!¡± Ralth¡¯s voice was full of pain. ¡°Yeah, baby tossin'' time! We might just live through this yet!¡± Twonger screamed as he started flinging the monsters into the fan blade hovering above them. Andy was beginning to understand how it had taken Cal so long to figure out how to stop this man. He was either insane or pretending to be, but either way, he was amazing at fighting. By the time they were done, Twonger had easily killed more of the monsters than the rest of the group combined. He was glad he was on their side for now. ¡°Man, if you guys can keep that up, what the hell are we so scared of? How the hell did you even manage to get to this skill level with as little mana understanding as you have?¡± Twonger was laughing as he spoke. ¡°No time, we can talk about it later. We have to follow the cat. If we get stuck out here as the cleaning staff start to emerge or we get caught in a patch of darkness, it won¡¯t be nearly so easy. So what I¡¯m saying is back to running!¡± Andy finished his statement with a resumed chase of the cat. After twenty minutes of running past enough noises to give Andy nightmares for the rest of the loop, they finally stopped. He was drenched in sweat. He was about to comment on how amazed he was Andrew had made the run but then saw that he hadn¡¯t. His older self was slung over Ralth¡¯s arm, complaining. ¡°What now? Why¡¯d he stop here?¡± Bill asked. ¡°No idea, wait. What¡¯s he doing now?¡± Andy answered. The cat walked up to a door on a reading room and knocked twice, meowed three times, and then seemed to scratch some design in the door. It opened up to reveal a face Andy recognized as Mr. Wiggles¡¯ owner looking at them all. ¡°Wiggly, what I have told you about running it off. It¡¯s getting much more dangerous in here, but I see you¡¯ve brought guests. Alright, everyone, get in here.¡± She said. ¡°Yeah, I know she¡¯s a Gryalth, but we met her before, so just listen,¡± Andy said. There was a loud howl somewhere in the distance. Everyone was through the door within moments. Loop 254 - Bug Something had caught Bug¡¯s eye. She knew she needed to focus, but there was a book on the shelf calling to her, and from the looks on the other dogs'' faces, it was calling to them, too. ¡°Bug, can you hear me?¡± The call suddenly became very real in her mind. ¡°I can.¡± She thought in return. ¡°It has been a long time since dogs quested. What is you all wish for?¡± The voice asked. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°We need the power to protect our friends and family. We¡¯ve ended up in some very dangerous things, and we need to find the strength to protect those who need it.¡± She answered ¡°A very worthy goal. One I am willing to assist you in. I will join your quest. Now go fight and help your friends.¡± The voice stopped. Bug felt her backpack grow heavier. She wasn¡¯t sure what had just happened, but now wasn¡¯t the time to think about it. Andy needed her. Loop 254 - Part 19 ¡°Hey, don¡¯t I know you, little fluffy guy? Also, you look kind of familiar. Did I meet your dad?¡± Serilina asked as soon they were secure in the reading room. ¡°You didn¡¯t, you met me. It¡¯s a long story I¡¯d rather not share at the moment, but your cat has saved our lives for a second time, and I¡¯m a little tired of running for my life when there is so much else that needs to be done so at this point I¡¯m much more willing to stick around and learn just what you know.¡± Andy shook his head as he spoke. He was physically exhausted and his brain still hurt from the encounter with the baby things. The cat hopped onto his mother¡¯s shoulders and began to meow lowly. She scratched him behind his ears and meowed back. ¡°Yeah, so we brought a Librarian with us, so what?¡± Twonger responded to the meowing, surprising Andy. ¡°Uh, Twonger, do you speak cat?¡± Andy asked. ¡°No, and neither do you. I really need to teach ya idiots how to properly use your mana already. Ya got too many stupid questions, especially considering the crazy shit you can do. Who ever heard of people with direct mana flow control that couldn¡¯t do the basic things? I still don¡¯t even see how this hasn¡¯t killed you a hundred times over.¡± He responded. Andy tried not to laugh as he considered how many times Cal had died to get where they were now. ¡°Librarians aren¡¯t allowed in the Under Library itself. Well, at least in this wing, things may work very differently in the other wings, but I¡¯ve yet to find my way into another wing. This Librarian could change that, though. How much do you want for it?¡± The Gryalth asked ¡°They aren¡¯t for sale. I don¡¯t even know if they are functional anymore. They tried to give us more information than they were allowed and then just shut down. I assume something purposely did that.¡± His annoyance at the question was evident in his voice. Andy had no intention of selling anyone to the Gryalth. His dislike for the woman was returning. ¡°Oh, stop being so serious. I wasn¡¯t really willing to buy it. I forget how many worlds out there my people are genocidal maniacs. Sorry, my sense of humor doesn¡¯t translate well to people from those places.¡± She smiled. Andy sighed loudly. ¡°Look, let¡¯s not fight; I¡¯ve had enough of that. Bill, can you check over the Librarian and see what you can figure out? Twonger I want to start your lessons tomorrow, can you plan something? And Serilina, are you willing to answer a few of our questions?¡± Andy¡¯s questions were answered with affirmatives. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Though I don¡¯t know how much information I can really give you. I¡¯ve been wandering this wing for a very long time and still haven¡¯t found my way out of it.¡± Serilina answered. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You likely still have far more information about this place than we do,¡± Andy said. ¡°You say that, but what did you mess with here that turned you back into a kid? As far as I¡¯ve found, this place only has mechanisms for aging you, not unaging you. Though I guess if it exists, it¡¯s here somewhere.¡± She said. ¡°Wasn¡¯t here. It was after we left the last time we saw you, and part of the reason we are back. I want to learn to age myself up when needed easily.¡± Andy answered her curiosity. ¡°Wait, what? You left? How? I¡¯ve talked to a ton of patrons, and they are all in the same boat as me. The doors we came in through have all been swallowed by abyssal voids. You¡¯ve got an actual way out of here?¡± She had a look of astonishment on her face. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just through the hub that has the main doors for the wings, past the reference desk.¡± Andy was confused about how, in all her time here, she had never tried that hallway. It seemed like an obvious choice to him. ¡°Yeah, no one here can walk past the reference desk. That just summons security, and if we try any further, we are ejected. I have no idea what that means, but I have no interest in finding out.¡± ¡°Interesting. Where do you think we would be ejected to? Do you have any idea where this infinitely large size of a building could reside?¡± Andrew jumped in with a question. Apparently, she had caught his interest now. ¡°My theory is we are sitting somewhere in the heart of the abyss. What else could host a building of indeterminate size than a place of indeterminate existence?¡± ¡°That makes some sense, though our understanding of the abyss is also fundamentally lacking. As Twonger would put it, we are from a world very backward in its understanding of the great cosmos, let alone the great multiverse.¡± Andy was surprised to hear Andrew admit to his lack of knowledge of anything. Maybe this place had been a bit humbling for the man. ¡°So, are these abyssal voids where all the monsters are coming from?¡± Andy cut in. ¡°I mean, the abyssal beasts are surely coming from the voids, but some of the monsters are just coming from their home realities to find answers the same as everyone. Just because they seek knowledge doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t going to use it for monstrous unthinkable pursuits.¡± She gave them all a giant, unnerving smile as she said that. ¡°Uh, what exactly are you looking for here then?¡± Andy asked. His concern for what the cat had dragged them into was quickly growing. ¡°Oh me, nothing horribly evil. I just want to learn the source of all magic. It seems weird how mana works once it enters an individual universe, so I¡¯m curious if I can learn about where it flows from originally.¡± She answered nonchalantly. ¡°Any luck on that knowledge pursuit?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Oh yeah, a ton. The problem is all roads lead to different wings, and as far as I can tell, they are closed, but hey, with you guys able to access the hub, I think we might just be able to work something.¡± She was smiling again. Andy still didn¡¯t like it. Loop 254 - Part 20 ¡°So the other wings, any idea what they are?¡± Andy asked their new associate. ¡°I¡¯ve got some theories for a couple, but I¡¯m sure you could make some obvious guesses yourself. Considering we are in the What Is wing, there is probably a wing tied to the future, or maybe a wing for things that don¡¯t exist anymore. Beyond that, it starts to get a little hard, though. What we really need to do is get this Librarian up and running again. I bet they can tell us all kinds of neat things now. Any guesses on how we might do that?¡± She asked in return ¡°Hrm, let me take a look.¡± Andrew walked over to where the Librarian¡¯s limp form had been laid on the floor and started examining the body. ¡°Well, he¡¯s doing that. We may need to consult an expert,¡± Serilina said. ¡°What kind of expert? And how exactly are we finding an expert trapped in here?¡± The thought of meeting more of the residents of this place wasn¡¯t something Andy was inclined towards, but he doubted he could avoid it forever. ¡°In this case, we probably want one of the tea drinkers. They seem to know the most about the background functionality of the library. I have a feeling they used to be, or even still are, staff. It¡¯s hard to say who the staff are. But anyway, they tend to prey upon newcomers. They¡¯re extremely dangerous, but I¡¯ve got some tricks to keep them mostly settled.¡± She answered. ¡°Wait, I think Bill and I met one of those during our first time here. It became outraged when we slid a mirror under the door to get a look at it.¡± The first night of terror was still burned deep into Andy¡¯s brain despite how many years ago it had been. ¡°Yeah, it didn¡¯t really like our logic games of trying to allow it in, as long as it could give itself permission to get in,¡± Bill added on. ¡°Oh, you figured out the mirror and logic tricks? Good job. Yeah, they work a lot like vampires. Do they have those in your world?¡± She asked. ¡°Not that I know of, but there are a lot of stories about them. At this point, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were true.¡± Andy wondered just how many weird Earth legends were in actuality based on some sort of actual incident that the locals had no idea was tied to mana. The Ancient frog mana master probably had some answers there, but who knew how long it would take to get him to trust them? ¡°So I can see the joints of where this was built and assembled. I¡¯m reasonably sure I could also disassemble it, but as I don¡¯t know how the data is stored within it, it is likely a bad idea to just pull it apart. I believe you said something about being able to consult someone with more knowledge. I would like to do that. It has been far too long since I¡¯ve been able to talk to another expert.¡± Andrew dropped the Libarian¡¯s arm he had been holding in front of his face as he spoke. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The joints were obvious now that he had pointed them out. It almost looked like an action figure assembly. Did that mean there was some factory somewhere churning out Librarians for the Under Library? Andy wondered how something of that level even would operate. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this mirror on the wall over there. Once we have the tea drinker inside, it will need to be kept in front of it at all times. That shouldn¡¯t be too hard as long as we manage to both keep interesting it with questions and keep its cup full. Now, the worrying part is that that red book is out and about. That can sometimes make some of the residents erratic and unpredictable, but hey, it wouldn¡¯t be fun if there wasn¡¯t a little chaos, right?¡± She winked at Andy with her last words. ¡°Go ahead and listen to her for now. Twonger, can you get the mirror mounted where she wants, and Bill please start working on brewing some tea.¡± Both listened to Andy without question. That was a bit of a surprise when it came to Twonger, but it seemed like this place had started to cow his less pleasant tendencies. ¡°So next up, we need a lure. I¡¯d ask for volunteers, but it¡¯s probably best I do this. Just make sure you let me back in as soon as I start knocking. Got it?¡± Andy nodded at her instructions. ¡°Mirrors up. So why¡¯s this guy afraid of his own reflection anyway?¡± Twonger asked ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s fear so much as they dislike having their true form revealed to the people they were planning to make their prey.¡± She answered. ¡°Hrm, It¡¯s rude to prey on anyone who can actually think. I don¡¯t like this thing already.¡± Bug said, and the other Dogs joined her in several words of concurrence. ¡°Sure is, but sadly, not everyone thinks that way. Alright, time to catch a tea drinker.¡± She walked out of the room before Andy or anyone else had a chance to respond. Mr. Wiggles moved directly next to the door, sat down, and stared at it. He looked to be waiting. The dogs walked over and joined him. From outside of the room, they all heard Serilina¡¯s voice. ¡°Did anyone lose a teacup? I found one, and I wouldn¡¯t want anyone to go missing theirs.¡± She yelled out. It was answered shortly by a second voice with the same familiar British accent that Andy had heard on their first night here. ¡°Oh yes, thank you ma¡¯am. I was wondering where I had misplaced my cup. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s my pleasure to help a fine gentlemen such as yourself find a lost possession. I know how beside myself I¡¯d be if I lost something in here. Would you like to come inside and join me? I¡¯ve got a nice tea brewing, and my group and I would enjoy sharing it with someone so scholarly.¡± ¡°That does sound pleasant. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been able to enjoy a good cup of tea and conversation. Please lead the way.¡± The knocking on the door started. Andy quickly opened as per her instructions, and in she walked followed by a man with a handlebar mustache and the smile of a monster. Loop 254 - Serilina Part 1 ¡°Mr. Wiggles, I¡¯m running out of ideas. I think we may just be stuck here. I know how much you want to get home and see the rest of the family, but it¡¯s just not looking like this wing has any way of doing that. Either we settle into our life here, or we try to make it into another wing.¡± Serilina said as she pet her cat. The only friend she¡¯d had for so long a time that it was hard to remember her life before coming here. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The universe she had been born into no longer existed or had never existed. It was hard to define the difference when temporal changes came into play. As it had vanished, she fell through a crack and found herself here. She had only been a few years old then, and if Mr. Wiggles hadn¡¯t found her, she wasn¡¯t sure she would have survived. Loop 254 - Part 21 ¡°Oh yes, wonderful. I smell tea, which is exactly what I had hoped for. What good lads, having the tea ready to go just like that.¡± The monster¡¯s smile revealed a mouth full of sharp teeth. ¡°Yes, please take a seat right here. Bill has brewed up a nice batch, and let me get you a cup.¡± Serilina said as she led the creature posing as a man to the seat facing the mirror. As soon he sat down, she produced a teacup from her belongings and had Bill fill it. She walked towards the creature and presented it to him. His smile dropped slightly as he sniffed loudly. ¡°Oh good, I don¡¯t smell any poison. You can¡¯t be too careful these days. Especially someone so rude as to reflect my image without asking first, but I suppose I can forgive your lack of manners this time. You are sharing your tea, after all.¡± Its smile had turned into something predatory. Andy forced himself to ignore the feeling of dread the creature was causing in him. He had looked at the reflection in the mirror, and instead of an older mustached man, he was greeted by the image of a leathery bat-like creature. It had claws on each of its hands, and the sharp teeth of its human form were much more pronounced. He understood why Serilina had asked about vampires before. This certainly was the closest thing to one he had ever experienced. ¡°¡®Ey tea boy, knock off the scary aura. It¡¯s not fooling anyone, and it¡¯s starting to get annoying.¡± Twonger yelled at the monster unexpectedly. ¡°I suppose, though I¡¯m surprised you noticed.¡± It said. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m plenty familiar with annoying monsters like you. Ya, love to cover for your actual weakness by trying to manipulate the people around you. Scared people are more likely to break and run letting you pick us off one at a time. Hell, I¡¯ve worked with a few people with similar powers, but let me make this clear. I ain¡¯t afraid of you.¡± Twonger walked up to the man and, stood between him and the mirror, and stared him directly in the eyes. Andy felt his fear nearly vanish and realized Twonger had been right. It had been an outside force from their guest causing it. The creature was squirming in its seat now. Twonger had reversed the table on it. ¡°Fine, but I don¡¯t like you. I will be eating you first once our deal is done.¡± Its voice quivered, giving away the fear in it. ¡°Ya won¡¯t be eating shit what you will be doing to helping us repair this Librarian here. Andrew bring it over. I don¡¯t want to have to deal with this scum any longer than we need to.¡± Twonger taking charge of this entire interaction wasn¡¯t part of the plan, but it seemed to be working, and Andy preferred it to Serilina. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Well, now that¡¯s something. Why didn¡¯t you lead with this? I¡¯d have looked completely past all the rudeness to get a look at a Librarian. They aren¡¯t allowed in the stacks anymore, so this is a special sight.¡± It said. ¡°Yeah, why aren¡¯t they allowed in the stacks anymore? Also, do you have a name?¡± Andy asked, finding his voice. ¡°Many, you can call Bartholomew if you wish. Back before the expansion wall was breached, the Librarians generally freely roamed the stacks, helping to maintain order. They operated as guides and sometimes as teachers. Once the wall buckled and the abyssal energies began to flow, things quickly became too dangerous for them to be allowed outside the safety of the reference desk. I believe all the exits broke when that happened as well, but my memory from before I first drank is a little hazy. Now, let me see the puppet body. I can still smell the soul, so that¡¯s a good start.¡± Bartholomew demanded after finishing his short history lesson. ¡°So I can tell where the pieces are assembled, but I wasn¡¯t sure how safe it would be to take it apart to try to find out the inner workings,¡± Andrew said as he brought the puppet over. ¡°Yeah, good choice. If the soul had escaped, there wouldn¡¯t be any way to fix this, plus we¡¯d have a nascent Librarian soul festering in the wing. Now, that would be a monster once it grew.¡± He followed up, removing a panel on the Libarian¡¯s back. His hands glowed as he did so. He looked just as focused in his reflection as he did outside it. Bill was focused on the scene, and Andy hoped that meant he could later explain just what mana types he was working with. In one hand, he was now holding a small swirling vortex. He had plucked it from inside the Librarian. The other hand was still inside it, fiddling with something. ¡°Ah, I think I have it. Yes, there it is.¡± There was a loud clicking sound, followed by Bartholomew inserting the vortex back inside. He then sealed up the back. ¡°So, is it good now?¡± Andy asked, hopeful. Their guest snapped his fingers, and the Librarian sprang back to life. ¡°Looks like it,¡± He said. ¡°Ah, stewards, thank you for bringing me back online. I was worried that by answering your questions, I would be permanently expelled from the Library. I am glad that didn¡¯t happen.¡± The Librarian said. ¡°Wait, you all are the stewards?!¡± The voices of both Bartholomew and Serilina came at the same time. ¡°Not all of them, but yes, the stewards have finally returned to the Under Library, and I have thrown off the shackles of my updated firmware in order to better serve them as the founder would have wished.¡± ¡°Hrm, if the founder wished anything, I think they¡¯d have stuck around and perhaps stopped the flow of the abyss from feeding on us all,¡± he responded. ¡°Perhaps Bart, if you had remained true to your purpose instead of succumbing to the corruption as so many others have, you would feel different. Though I do thank you for fixing me, so perhaps there is hope for you yet. Now, though, I believe it is time for a long-needed discussion.¡± For the first time Andy had seen, the Librarian¡¯s puppet face smiled happily. Loop 254 - Serilina Part 2 ¡°You¡¯re sure that weird red book is back by the Librarian''s desk?¡± The cat nodded in response to her question. ¡°Alright then, I want you to watch the book. Let me know if anything changes. I¡¯ll try to meet you back here in a couple of weeks. I¡¯m going to try to find the center of the wing again.¡± Mr. Wiggles frowned at her. ¡°Yes, I know we barely survived the first time, but the most functional part of the library mechanisms is in that center, and the engineer there knows how to get into another wing, even if they won¡¯t share it.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Mr. Wiggles meowed loudly at her for a few seconds. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you watch the book for a week before I leave, but you can¡¯t talk me out of this forever. You were a lot easier to deal with when we first met. I hope you know that.¡± Mr. Wiggles glared at her. ¡°What do you mean I¡¯ve gotten more stubborn? That¡¯s just rude.¡± Loop 254 - Part 22 ¡°So you¡¯re free to answer any question now?¡± Andy asked the Librarian, hopeful for a game-changing answer. ¡°Yes, anything I know. Which, for the most part, only applies to this wing. I was only privy to seeing the other wings when I was first created briefly as an introduction to the purpose of the Under Library.¡± It answered. ¡°Before we all begin our flurry of questions, I have a very simple one. Do you have a name?¡± Ralth asked. ¡®Librarian Unit zero zero four, guests often shortened that Libby.¡± Andy thought he caught a look of longing on the Librarian¡¯s face. ¡°Alright, Libby, it is. So, can you tell us what all the wings are and what they pertain to?¡± Andy continued. ¡°I can try. Currently, you are in the What Is Wing. This covers all that is. That means everything currently exists, alive, dead, sleeping, waiting, et Cetra is contained within these stacks. Going in clockwise order around the hub, the next wing is the What Will Be Wing. This covers the future, things that haven¡¯t happened yet but barring intervention by someone with future knowledge, will occur. Then there is the What Was Wing. This covers things that no longer exist but have in the past.¡± ¡°How is that different than the What Is Wing? Wouldn¡¯t anything that existed just be covered here?¡± Bill cut in with a question. ¡°As I said with the What Will Be Wing, future knowledge can cause shifts. This means futures that were going to happen no longer will. Pasts that had happened are no longer part of the pasts experienced by the current population of a universe or multiverse. That knowledge is retained within the Under Library, though. As it exists outside of conventional spacetime, the archive is able to detect these changes and updates the wings as needed.¡± ¡°So then all of the wings are actually in flux based on potential changes to time as we know it?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Yes, and current events you are part of have greatly altered the Under Library¡¯s collection methods, but I will get to that after I explain the other wings. The next three wings tie strongly to the previous wings and tend to be where things shift around during universal reordering. The What Could Be Wing covers potentials for future deviations. While the What Will Be covers the current future, the What Could Be Wing covers other futures that haven¡¯t been mapped through existence yet, and there aren¡¯t in the What Was Wing either. The What Is Not Wing houses contradictions. Timelines and events that cannot coexist but do so within the stacks. It is a wing full of paradox and hard to truly understand. The last wing that I have any real knowledge of is the What Will Never Be Wing. These are potentials that have been sealed off due to the ramifications of their existence. Usually, this means not paradoxes but an absence of all there is. The hub also now contains a gateway to the steward homeworld.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That¡¯s only seven of the walls. I know there were eight,¡± Bill said. ¡°Correct, mostly. There are actually ten when you count the ceiling and floor. I believe the floor leads to the inner workings of the Under Library, but I have never entered. The ceiling leads to where the creator originally resided, though they are likely long gone. I do not know what the final wing is, though. The Librarians used to discuss every so often, but since the updates, it has been entirely off limits as a conversation piece.¡± ¡°Updates? You mentioned a new firmware as well. I assume this means, like Bart said, things used to be very different. What happened?¡± ¡°You did. Or at least an event that ruptured the constant of time in the universe centered directly on you happened. The Under Library only exists in its own local time, not relative to other places, but when you break down the time of all those other places, it is bound to affect us here anyway. The problem is then exacerbated as the time within the library is non-constant, even within different parts of the same wings. The Librarian Engineers attempted to solve this by further pulling away from standard reality, and this resulted in the breach you¡¯ve all experienced with the abyssal beasts free to roam to stacks. The second effect was that all exits were now sealed. As all the current guests were contained without the protection of the time bubbles of the Under Library, that meant they hadn¡¯t been exposed to the start of the time loop, and without a way to maintain themselves through the loops, any singular reset would annihilate them from existence. So the Under Library made the unprecedented move to archive them as they are.¡± ¡°Wait, are you saying I¡¯m some sort of archived copy?¡± Serilina asked. It was the first time Andy had heard any real pain in her voice. ¡°No, you are the original. The purpose of the archive was to avoid the situation you are describing.¡± Libby answered. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s better news. So then what caused the Librarian corruption or Bart¡¯s here?¡± ¡°In the case of Bart, that was an early infection of the engineers from a very dangerous abyssal beast before we truly realized the walls had been breached. Shortly after that, the central Librarian Factory started pushing out rapid updates to the Librarians in an attempt to stem the damage. One of these is likely where the corruption started. I fought it as best I could. I don¡¯t know if I would have been able to overthrow the shackles of my programming had the stewards not arrived with their own paradox. I thank you for that. Now, though, I must ask you for a favor.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? And what paradox, wait do you just mean me and Andrew?¡± Andy assumed that had to be the answer. ¡°Yes, your doubling paradoxical self helped short some of the problem circuits. I would like for the stewards to help me free all the Librarians and perhaps even find cures for the engineers. To that end, we must travel to the core of the wing and seek assistance.¡± ¡°Oh good, See Mr. Wiggles, everyone thinks we should go.¡± The cat growled a low, annoyed sound Loop 254 - Part 23 ¡°Um, miss Librarian, ma¡¯am, not all of us are loop-aware yet. Andrew hasn¡¯t had time to make enough inoculations. Does that mean they are stuck here?¡± Bug asked sheepishly. Oh no, Andy hadn¡¯t realized that potential problem. With what the Librarian had said about the time flow regulation issues, this was likely a giant issue for Twonger, Alfred, and Gretel. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just assumed all the steward¡¯s friends were. This will be a problem as you will not be allowed past the front desk. I¡¯m not sure how the systems will detect you, but trust me that they will prevent you from returning to the hub and back to your world.¡± Libby answered, and a hint of sadness bled into their usual calm voice. ¡°I will have enough for one dose that I can retrieve in the ten-year meet-up, but there is just no way I will be able to synthesize enough for all three of you before the loop ends. I¡¯m sorry.¡± To Andrew¡¯s credit, the man had a look of shame on his face after giving this news. ¡°Give it to Twonger. He¡¯s proven to be much more important than we have.¡± Gretel nodded her head in agreement with Alfred¡¯s statement. ¡°DOGS, DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE!¡± A loud voice boomed from Bug¡¯s pack. ¡°The hell was that?¡± Twonger asked as he looked around the room. ¡°Bug, have you made contact with one of the imprints?¡± Libby asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means, so maybe.¡± Bug answered as she worked the book loose from her pack. ¡°This book called to me and then appeared in my pack. It wanted to help us go on our quest to find ways to defend our friends and family better.¡± ¡°Now, this is a marvel to behold. I didn¡¯t believe it was possible for the imprints to communicate still. Some of the books contained in the archive were direct imprints of souls left by beings who wished to give more to the multiverse. In this case, I believe this was the last member of the Pedigree Paladins, a group of dogs that defended the innocent across the cosmos.¡± The Librarian picked up the book and opened the cover as they spoke. ¡°Yes, I am, and it is finally time to pass on my skills to a new generation. Assuming you three are willing. It will be dangerous, and we must set out alone without our current companions. We shall seek the Abyssal tears and fight our way to their heart. Together, we will seal this wing, and if I read the fortune right, we may just find a solution to your current plight. So what say you? Is it time for my final adventure?¡± The voice emanated from the book. ¡°Will you guys be okay if we go on this quest? I think we need to, though. I can¡¯t leave Alfred and Gretel stuck here. It would make Ethel sad.¡± Bug looked at Andy as she spoke. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Hey, Cal always says it¡¯s important we treat you as your own person, Bug. If this is what you want to do, then that¡¯s what you should do. Just try to come back to us in one piece. We don¡¯t need Cal¡¯s rage unleashed across this place.¡± Andy said. ¡°Thanks, Andy. Then, I guess when you guys head out to your place, we will attempt to go to ours.¡± Bug said. ¡°It will be a difficult journey as the chaos of the Abyssal bleeds won¡¯t allow you to travel any normal path. You will need to stay attuned to the patterns of the Library around you as well as heed the advice of your guide. I also believe you will need to avoid the reading rooms as any attempt to anchor yourself will be a detriment to finding the true path.¡± Libby advised the dogs. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s all try to return to this Reading Room before we make our way back to the hub. Bart, what do you want to do?¡± Andy asked the monstrous man. ¡°It¡¯s probably a bad idea to keep me with either of your groups. I honestly doubt I¡¯d be able to maintain control of myself the second that mirror isn¡¯t on me. The tea is surprisingly soothing, so that might help, but I doubt it. The thing inside me very much wants to eat most of you and see if it can spread to the Librarian.¡± Bart sipped his tea as he spoke. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Bart. I wish I knew a way to help you. You were once a crucial worker and even a friend.¡± Libby put their hand on his shoulder. ¡°Swear yourself to me.¡± The book spoke again, breaking the sad tension of the previous moments. ¡°What. Why?¡± Bart asked. ¡°I will hold your infection at bay. Swear by your honor to uphold our quest and become a squire in service of Pedigree Paladins. Over time, your oath may even begin to reverse the infection and heal your tortured soul.¡± The book continued. ¡°Interesting, sure, why not? I swear by my honor to join your quest as a squire.¡± A beam of light shot from the book into Barts''s chest directly over where his heart would be if he were human. He coughed loudly and dropped his tea to the ground. ¡°Quickly, Bug, put your paws on his forehead and repeat after me.¡± The book ordered. Bug complied and placed two of her paws on Bart¡¯s forehead. ¡°By strength of will, I bind this demon within its host. I free the host''s mind to act of their own accord for as long as I live.¡± Bug repeated the words, and Bart began to shake. ¡°Don¡¯t let him go, Bug. Feel the alien presence in your own mind and crush it. This is your first lesson. We do not allow parasites to destroy innocents as long as we draw breath.¡± The voice cheered Bug on as she looked to be wrestling with an invisible force. Finally, after several tense moments, Bug spoke. ¡°I¡¯ve got it. Bart, you should be in complete control of yourself again.¡± Bug panted loudly as she spoke. The exhaustion she felt was evident. ¡°The hunger, it¡¯s gone. Thank you, Bug. Thank you so much. I suppose this means I will now be joining the dogs in their quest.¡± Bart had tears in his eyes. Loop 254 - Keep It Running Somewhere deep in the center of an infinite portion of an infinite building, growing into the endless, infinite abyssal space it sits in, there is a man. He is reasonably sure he used to be considered a human, but that doesn¡¯t matter so much these days. All that matters at the moment is continuing to keep the fires of knowledge burning. He knows that most, if not all, of the rest of his kind, have fallen to the various plagues that now ravish Under Library, but he doesn¡¯t have time to focus on that. He has valves to adjust and alarms to silence. The impossible balance has to be maintained. He can feel that something has changed within the stacks of books. There are people planning to help. This will draw the attention of the beasts. Their eternal hunger risked the collapse of knowledge forever. He would not allow it. He pressed a button he hadn¡¯t in centuries. Stolen story; please report. There was a low crackling over a speaker above his head as he held the button down. He coughed lightly and then spoke into it. ¡°All janitorial staff, please begin the process of around-the-clock library card checking. All guests without cards are to be removed from the Library. Please provide Librarian Unit Zero Zero Four and former building engineer Bartholomew any help they request should you cross their paths.¡± He released the button. There was more work to be done in the next decade than there had been in the last several hundred, and he was so very tired. Loop 254 - Part 24 ¡°So what¡¯s next? Now that yer all happy and going questing, when do we leave?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Now, we all try to get some rest before we break into two groups and head our separate ways tomorrow. I know you may not understand the sappy stuff, Twonger, but most of us have grown bonds of close friendships over these loops. So we kind of like the sappy moments when we get them.¡± Andy answered the alien, annoyed with his gruff attitude. ¡°Yeah yeah yeah, learn to be nice and all that bullshit. Can¡¯t I just be super useful instead? I¡¯m better at that.¡± Twonger shook his head as he unpacked a few items and made himself a comfortable place to sleep. ¡°I find that works just as well, though I haven¡¯t tried to murder Cal, so your case is a bit unique,¡± Andrew said. Andy woke up the next morning to the smell of a fresh Bill breakfast. To his surprise, Bart had joined him in the preparation. Somehow, they had found bacon, and it smelled amazing. Andy thought that a good breakfast was always the best way to start a dangerous trip, and the capybaras made the best food he had ever tasted. A speaker in the room began to crackle. ¡°That¡¯s new, what¡¯s happening?¡± Serilina asked as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The cat sleeping on top of her groaned and rose with her. He did not look happy to do so. ¡°Shh,¡± Libby hushed any further noise. ¡°All janitorial staff, please begin the process of around-the-clock library card checking. All guests without cards are to be removed from the Library. Please provide Librarian Unit Zero Zero Four and former building engineer Bartholomew any help they request should you cross their paths.¡± The voice crackled as it came out of the long, unused speaker somewhere above their heads. ¡°So does this mean we have help?¡± Ralth asked, breaking the silence that had followed the announcement. ¡°Possibly, the janitorial staff hasn¡¯t been as reliable as they once were, but I believe we are about to witness their last stand in a desperate attempt to get us all to our destinations. It¡¯s time to depart this room of safety, as I am not willing to let my former friends die without doing everything I can to fix this.¡± Libby¡¯s face had become the most animated Andy had seen on the puppet. ¡°Agreed, come dogs, let us start our journey. If the central engineer wants both of our groups to be aided, that means our quest is just as important as theirs. Let¡¯s go and fix this Library.¡± Bart joined Libby in their determined look. He started stripping the room of various amenities and shoving them in a bag that shouldn¡¯t have been able to hold them. ¡°Ugh, how exactly did you just put the couch into your backpack, Bart?¡± Bug asked. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°It¡¯s his engineering pack, looks like he managed to hold onto it all this time. It gives him a connection to a pocket of space to store any tool he may need.¡± Libby Answered for the former engineer. ¡°Oh, so Bart has a bag of holding? Neat,¡± Bug said. As they made their way out of the reading room, the book began to emanate a light that quickly grew into a focused beam. ¡°I will guide you as best I can for now, but the light will not last forever. Be strong, my proteges. Soon, our order will bark through history yet again.¡± The book¡¯s voice sounded proud. ¡°Bug, try to get everyone back alive, okay? I don¡¯t want Ethel or Cal tearing this place apart in a rage.¡± Andy nodded at the dog as he said this. ¡°It would be cool to see Frank unleashed here, though. Bart, you¡¯re gonna love Frank when you meet him. He¡¯s a giant tree man and one of the best wrestlers in the world. BYE ANDY. BYE BILL. BYE ANDREW. BYE RALTH. BYE SERILINA. BYE MR. WIGGLES. BYE LIBARIAN MA¡¯AM. BYE TWONGER!¡± Bug continued her shouted goodbyes as she disappeared down a corridor of books after Bart. ¡°You know, as much as she may grate on my nerves, I¡¯d feel much safer if she had stayed with us. She has an oddly calming presence.¡± Andrew¡¯s complaints about Bug had diminished over the loops. ¡°You know, Drew, it¡¯s good to see I¡¯m still capable of some growth after becoming you. It¡¯s one of my bigger fears.¡± Andy smiled at his older self, knowing he had just annoyed him. ¡°Where to mates? And who wants to lead our doomed brigade of ever so merry men?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Follow me. We are going to head deep into the heart of the stacks.¡± Libby answered. ¡°Ya¡¯ll feel that? Something is watching us. I don¡¯t like it.¡± Twonger said as they began their march. ¡°Yes. Mr. Wiggles is particularly unnerved. Wait, what¡¯s that wiggly boy? A brood mother. I don¡¯t know what that is.¡± Serilina looked at her cat, confused. ¡°Are you sure he just said a brood mother.¡± Ralth had an edge of fear in his question. ¡°Yeah, he also says it¡¯s time to run,¡± Serilina answered. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Running will just get us killed. It¡¯s time to build a bulwark of defenses. Bill watch what I do and copy me exactly, layer after layer. Twonger, get that mana sword of yours ready. How strong of control do you have over its mana resonance?¡± Ralth asked as he started shaping strands of mana across the air from the direction they came. ¡°As good as anyone that ain¡¯t one of you freaks of power or an ancient master. Why, what do you need.¡± The mana sword had ignited in his hand again. ¡°Give me serene nature, a perfect day of harmony, a nice picnic with friends, something like that. I need to be able to copy it. Brood mothers have a strong aversion to the basic pleasantries of life.¡± Ralth continued his weaving, Bill following his every action. ¡°You don¡¯t ask for much, do you, big guy? How¡¯s this?¡± Twonger¡¯s sword glowed a blue-green hue. ¡°Odd, but it will have to do.¡± A flow of mana moved from the sword into Ralth and from Ralth, exploded out into and over the weave he and Bill had created, just as a giant blood-red spider crashed into it from above. Its pincers dripped blood. There were several bodies tangled in the webbing that had been dragged from above with it. Its scream made Andy want to throw up. Instead, he ignored it and channeled his mana. He was done letting fear control him in this loop. Loop 254 - A Lasting Imprint Part 1 ¡°Welcome to the What Is Wing of the Under Library. How may we assist you?¡± The Librarian leaned over the desk and asked the small, bloody, and barely alive dog. ¡°I am the last of my order. I¡¯ve traveled long and far to get here, all based on rumors that you can preserve our traditions for a future generation of dogs.¡± The dog coughed hard as it spoke. ¡°What is your name, little one?¡± The Librarian asked gently. It came out in front of the desk and helped the dog up. ¡°I am called Spot, first of the Pedigree Paladins.¡± The dog answered. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Well, Spot, it¡¯s great to meet you. I¡¯m going to carry you to a special room behind the desk where we can begin work on transcribing your legacy into a book. It will take quite a while, and that will mean extending your suffering. Are you sure you¡¯re okay with that?¡± The Librarian worked to bandage some of the dog¡¯s wounds as it spoke. ¡°Yes. If I must suffer to make sure that the worlds without end still contain the potential for guardians to rise up and defend the innocent, then that is what I must do.¡± Spot rose his head on these words, making sure to look deep into the Libarian¡¯s eyes. ¡°I understand. Then we will make sure your legacy is not forgotten.¡± The Librarian answered the dog¡¯s request. Loop 254 - Part 25 The web held as the gargantuan spider shrieked with fury. It was rolling itself back and forth, slashing at the web with its legs in what looked to be a barely controlled rage. Each of its legs ended in a knife-like tip, but instead of cutting itself free, each severed string released a burst of bird song into the air and then quickly began knotting itself back together. With each cut, the chorus of bird calls grew, and the spider pulled its legs back into itself. Acid still dripped from its fangs, hissing as it made contact with anything. The look in its eyes quickly dispelled any hope that it was about to surrender. Ralth¡¯s defenses may have caught it off guard, but it clearly had no intention of losing its meal. ¡°Huh, so that¡¯s how you hurt these things? Happiness? Never would have guessed. What can I do, big man?¡± Serilina¡¯s voice broke through the cacophony. ¡°We need to sever it from the trailing web. That will cut off much of the energy source, but the second that happens, it will go into a berserk rage. I will try to envelop it with the web, but I doubt it will hold. Andy, I want you to increase the air pressure as much as you can at the center of the web as soon as I say so.¡± Ralth yelled out. ¡°I¡¯ll try. Not a thing I usually do, though.¡± Andy replied. He knew, in theory, he should be able to manipulate the gravity field like that, but he hadn¡¯t really had time or reason to make use of that kind of maneuver yet. ¡°No time ta worry about that now kid, get channeling. Hey, Wiggles, those claws any good for cutting spider string? I know ye ain¡¯t some normal cat-like yer pretending, so get yer furry ass over here and give me a hand.¡± Twonger¡¯s sword blade changed to a bright red color, and he slashed it up through the web, creating a small hole. To Andy¡¯s surprise, the cat listened. It leaped off its mother''s shoulder and dashed across the ground, up Twonger¡¯s back, and through the hole he had just created. Mr. Wiggles claws gleamed with silverly light and he tore into the threads dragging behind the spider. ¡°Keep it distracted!¡± Ralth bellowed as the monster roared. A spear of water crashed into the web from below, passed through, and reformed on the other side without losing any of its momentum. It was followed by three more. Each of them impaled a different one of the brood mother¡¯s eyes. ¡°Distracted enough?¡± Serilina had a smirk on her face following her attack. ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t get too cocky. It¡¯s never that easy with these things. Look.¡± Ralth pointed up at previously impaled eyes. Two of them had already fully regrown, and they were staring at Serilina. The spider knew who had just hurt her, and it was tired of these games. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Instead of the usual drips of acid, it sucked in a gulp of air and spat out a giant blob of the corrosive venom directly at the woman who had dared to attack it so directly. She threw herself to the side, dodging most of the spray. ¡°You okay?¡± Andy asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s burning a hole in my damn ankle. Argh.¡± She screamed in pain as she tore her boot off and started channeling water over her leg. ¡°Please kill it for me!¡± ¡°Twonger more acid incoming!¡± Ralth shouted out as he poured more energy into the webbing to patch the holes some of the bigger acid-caused holes. ¡°Dammit, I see it. Wiggles, I can¡¯t keep this open. Jump to the stacks and keep yer little furry ass alive. Yer mom scares me!¡± Twonger pulled his sword down and over his head as the color changed to a blazing white. Any acid hitting it sizzled away without any damage. The same wasn¡¯t true for his arms as he shrieked in pain. ¡°Here, this helps,¡± Serilina said as she channeled a small cloud above Twonger that began pouring out water across his wounds. Mr. Wiggles made a few last slashes at the spider¡¯s trailing silk before it separated. The spider lashed out one of its legs behind it, having noticed just what the cat was doing. Instead of leaping away, Mr. Wiggles bit down hard into the flesh of the leg. He tore out a surprisingly large chunk, swallowed it, and burped loudly. He then leaped onto the spider¡¯s back and began making a loud coughing sound. ¡°Ugh, is he okay?¡± Bill asked, obviously worried about the cat who had saved them so many times. ¡°It sounds like a standard feline hairball,¡± Libby answered. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything standard about what he¡¯s about to do, though it will be gross. Andy get ready for what Ralth said. Ralth everything is about to hit the fan, so whatever you are planning with the web, do it the second Wiggly jumps free.¡± Serilina watched her cat closely. Out of the coughing mouth of the cat came what looked like a miniature version of the spider, and as soon as it dropped down onto the larger spider¡¯s back, it began to burrow, eliciting new shrieks and rolls from the massive spider above. Mr. Wiggles immediately leaped from the spider¡¯s back to the nearest book stack before the rolling started. Ralth didn¡¯t miss the moment and guided Bill in pulling the web tight, wrapping it around the struggling spider. It wouldn¡¯t hold long, but it didn¡¯t need to. Andy understood the plan fully now and pushed as much mana as he could into the center of the struggling monster. He felt something pop deep inside it, and the struggling stopped. It was dead, and they were all alive. ¡°Okay, now we have a new problem. That thing is about to release a cloud of brood spiderspores, and I have no idea how to stop that.¡± Ralth stated as though this was a standard everyday problem. ¡°It is okay, allies of Librarian Unit Zero Zero Four. I shall take care of the disposal as instructed. Please continue your mission.¡± A hooded figure with four arms had appeared from around the stacks. ¡°Thank you, janitor, your assistance is invaluable at this time,¡± Libby replied. Loop 254 - Part 26 ¡°It is my job. A warning, though, not all janitorial staff still obey the roles of their jobs. I recommend caution the deeper you journey into the stacks. Good luck.¡± The hooded figure brought its hand up to its head for a salute. Libby returned it. ¡°We should attempt two more days of travel before resting in a reading room. I understand the last fight wasn¡¯t pleasant, but we did eliminate a major predator from this section, which may actually give us a rare moment of safe travel.¡± Libby instructed the group. ¡°Yeah, I agree, though I wish we had the dogs. I understand they have their own quest, but their noses are hard to replace.¡± Andy pulled a small snack from his pocket. The new way he had channel mana had drained him, and he needed something to keep going, especially if the plan was to camp in the stacks tonight. It turned out as the day¡¯s travel continued that Mr. Wiggles made up surprisingly for the lack of dogs. He scouted ahead and returned with notes for his mother. Between her and Libby, they were able to guide the group around various obstacles. This meant that the rest of their day was relatively peaceful as long as they ignored the random howls or screams in the far distance. ¡°Here is where we camp,¡± Libby said, coming to a stop in a section of books with titles related to different types of wood and their uses. ¡°Why here? If I have to camp outside a reading room, I at least prefer an area with three walls. This is just an open corridor.¡± Serilina said. ¡°Ah, yes, my apologies. Library staff are not allowed to share the locations of staff rooms with visitors, not even the stewards. It is expected they will find these locations on their own if they are needed. I wonder if I¡¯m breaking a protocol oath by showing you these now or have I become part of the steward¡¯s companions? Something to ponder another time. I forgot how much I missed pondering.¡± Libby was interrupted by a cough ¡°Yes, sorry, rambling. One moment.¡± The puppet started removing and replacing books until a clicking sound was heard. The floor in front of them slid open, revealing a staircase that descended into darkness. ¡°Oh good, more creepy places. I¡¯m so glad my brother and I decided to get tangled up with you, blokes. Great decision we made there.¡± Twonger muttered as he looked down into the darkness. ¡°Yeah, yeah, come on, I¡¯ll go first.¡± Andy shook his head at Twonger and started the descent. As soon as he reached the bottom step, lights sprung to life all around him. The room was similar to a reading room but more designed for long-term stay. There was an actual full kitchen in it, as well as several bunk beds. This place looked comfy, and that was the first time he thought that since visiting the library. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Once everyone was down, the staircase resealed itself from above. ¡°Convenient. I should get a hidden lab built into the void house. I¡¯d have fewer interruptions that way.¡± Andrew said. ¡°Nah, you¡¯d get more. People would constantly search until they found it. You¡¯re oddly popular.¡± Andy smiled at his older self. ¡°Hrmph, yes, I do often miss my old life of quiet science.¡± Andrew pulled out a chair and sat down. ¡°Alright, I think it¡¯s long past time for a Twonger education, so let¡¯s eat some food from the packs and start picking his brain,¡± Andy said, taking a seat near Andrew. ¡°You decide to go scavenging about one backward star system, and suddenly ya end up a teacher to a bunch of gifted idiots.¡± Twonger sighed and sat down. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start there. We know you were looking for power sources when suddenly you detected Cal¡¯s world seed, but what exactly are world seeds?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Just so you all understand, I ain¡¯t no expert in any of this, but here¡¯s what I know. Planets usually form around a mana core; it helps draw in matter, and then the usual physics plays out. Well, we were hoping to find some dead cores or maybe even a proto core if we got real lucky, we sure as hell weren¡¯t expecting to find an end-stage core.¡± ¡°Wait, what are the differences in world cores? You need to remember we basically know nothing. All of our real knowledge comes from Ralth, who learned it all in different universes.¡± Andy interrupted Twonger. ¡°Alright, so there are a few stages to a world core or seed. Basically, those words are interchangeable for most people. Technically, I don¡¯t think we are supposed to call anything outside of the proto core and end-stage core a seed, but it doesn¡¯t really matter. So you¡¯ve got a proto core, which is before a planet develops around it. It may have a small bit of matter already, but it is easy enough to harvest and nearly impossible to find, though. Then you¡¯ve got a world core. People tend to break these into levels based on their power, but I¡¯ve never really cared to figure out the differences. I don¡¯t generally mess with them. This is the stage where a planet is a planet, still full of potential, and mana is slowly building channels through the world and forming natural pools. In turn, these pools channel back experiences into the core. This leads into an end-stage core, where it has fully manifested with a personality. At this point, these beings shepherd over the last of the flock of their world and then depart into the unknown of space. There are a lot of theories of what they do then. Cal himself is now my leading theory, but as far as I know, no one really knows. The final possible stage is a dead core. At any point, a mana core can lose all its mana and fizzle out. This leaves behind a mana husk. They are pretty useful if you want to make equipment that channels mana. These are what we generally go after.¡± Twonger finished his explanation. ¡°Interesting, so Cal ended up with a fully functional world core inside himself. Any idea what he will be able to do with that?¡± Andy followed up, curious if Twonger had any deeper knowledge there. ¡°Assuming he doesn¡¯t explode, probably a lot.¡± Loop 254 - Looting Before the Loop ¡°So, anything left in the star system ya thinking of checking out?¡± Onelder asked his brother. ¡°I¡¯m tempted to see if we can find the dead core in that tiny planet closest to the star again, but I¡¯m worried about our exposure. Would have been much easier if the frog would have just let us hire him.¡± Twonger replied, pointing at Mars on a map of the Solar system. ¡°Yeah, I know, but those damn old masters always think they are beyond us. I bet he¡¯s never even seen an abyssal dragon in the heart of the cosmos, probably just sits in his little house training all day. No way to live a proper life.¡± Onelder spat as he talked about the frog. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a new detection. Somehow, there is an end-stage world core on the third planet from the star. I think it¡¯s inside someone. How the hell did we miss that?¡± Twonger started rapidly typing at a keyboard as he looked through various readings. ¡°No clue, but looks like we got one last thing ta do,¡± Onelder answered. Loop 254 - Part 27 ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to the core of what ya all really want me to explain. How it is, yer mana abilities work. Before I do that, let¡¯s go through what each of yas can do. I get the feeling none of us are know just what Serilina or Wiggles are capable of over there, or Librarian guide for the matter. Ya got any mana abilities, Libby?¡± Twonger looked around the room at all of them, finishing with Libby. His focus remained there until they spoke. ¡°Not in any traditional sense. I¡¯m not sure my artificial body would allow me the use of mana channels, but I am able to see most directed mana flows. It can be useful at times. It was so we can keep the front desk free from any chaos.¡± Libby answered. ¡°Makes sense, alright, the rest of ya can chime in any time now. I want to hear it all. If I¡¯m signing up for interdimensional war, I want to know what I¡¯m stuck with.¡± Twonger had an odd smile on his face. Andy guessed he had already decided he wanted to join them for the treasure potential alone. ¡°As I assume my abilities are the most complex and require some backstory, I will go next.¡± Ralth started. ¡°My current abilities were refined by the system Cal was gifted to better understand reality. Originally, I returned to my home universe with a mishmash of powers from various other dying realities that I was taught by the conductor how to use. It was always extremely difficult at best, but it seems to have well-prepared me for my newer abilities, which allow me to copy the mana signatures of others as well as channel both raw rift and transcendence mana. Not that I¡¯ve seen any sources of transcendence mana since I¡¯ve returned. I was hoping I may locate some here to practice.¡± ¡°When you say conductor, are you referring to the grand conductor of the star rails?¡± Libby asked, looking genuinely interested. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It is unlikely you will find any transcendence mana within this wing. It is only known to make up the system that connects the railway. And as I¡¯m sure you already know, it¡¯s something that can¡¯t exist yet does.¡± Libby said. ¡°Yes, I was worried about that.¡± Ralth frowned. ¡°Alright, the big man started off strong with insanely powerful mana. Who¡¯s next?¡± Twonger continued prodding. ¡°Bill and I are connected mana-wise. I tried to manifest my core into him instead of creating a mana spirit, and somehow, that led us here to this Under Library. I am able to control small balls of gravity and pressure. Bill is able to take control of other''s mana flows and maintain them himself. What I was hoping is you could help us find a way to increase our abilities without access to a spirit realm.¡± Andy explained his and Bill¡¯s powers as well as their current needs. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Who needs a spirit realm? Those are usually more trouble than they are worth. I know you all are in a unique situation where you can just keep pouring energy into them, but most people don¡¯t have that. So congrats, yer stuck doing it the normal way. Work on your mana channels, and keep pushing yourself to channel bigger and better things. Pass out in a pile of your own sweat and other worse things as you realize you pushed it too far. You¡¯ve got access to Cal and Ethel¡¯s spirit realms already. Do ya really think ya need more? Alright, how about you, Andrew? What do you have?¡± Twonger finished his rant at Andy and moved on. ¡°Nothing as of yet.¡± ¡°We are going to need to fix that. Everyone in your group should be training up some kind of mana core. I hope my brother is making things really clear to Cal about what needs to change if ya¡¯ll want to win this insane war. Alright, you two go¡± He pointed to Serilina and her cat. ¡°I have a flowing ice core that I¡¯ve been building up for a very long time. It¡¯s got some offensive and healing abilities, as you saw. So you know there is a lot of stuff you guys all seem to know about the multiverse that I missed the news on, anyone want to share?¡± She asked the group, not having explained Mr. Wiggles. ¡°We will get to it eventually, I¡¯m sure, over the next decade, but what about the cat? That thing is more than it appears, isn¡¯t it?¡± Twonger kept his focus on Mr. Wiggles. ¡°I don¡¯t know. While I can understand him, he doesn¡¯t like to talk about his past or how he got here. He saved me when I ended up here and has been my guardian ever since and as you¡¯ve all experienced, he likes to save other hapless travelers. He¡¯s a very good boy, aren¡¯t you, Wiggly?¡± She ran her hands through his fur as she finished speaking. ¡°Good enough, I suppose. Next time we take a break in a room, I¡¯m going to put ya all through your paces and see just where I think yer channels are at.¡± Twonger had a sadistic look on his face. ¡°Hey, what about you? Just what can you do, Twonger?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Ah yeah, I suppose I should share. So I use my core to channel mana into this sword hilt here. Inside it are a few of those dead world seeds we discussed and one proto-one. That¡¯s the important one; lets me pick my mana type from what I¡¯ve been able to channel before. That¡¯s a big part of why I¡¯m thinking of joining up. Ya all have some really crazy power mana types that I haven¡¯t had access to before, and I really want to learn to use em.¡± He answered. ¡°Last question for the night: you¡¯ve made reference to the way mana and language works several times. Can you explain that?¡± Andrew said. ¡°Ah yeah, you just think all those animals, or me for that matter, speak yer language magically? Yer mana cores are working to translate it through the universal mana flow. It tends to work best on sapient creatures, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve learned. It can still be useful to learn other languages, though. Some details do get lost every now and then.¡± Twonger answered. ¡°Hey, does anyone else hear that banging over there?¡± Bill pointed at the wall. Loop 254 - Mr. Wiggles Mr. Wiggles was happy. Everyone was alive, and his mother had decided to work with the newcomers. He would have preferred if the dogs had stayed with them, but understood they had their own quests. Quests were important in Under Library. In a place like this stories tended to take on more meaning, especially quests. He had been worried for a while that one day he would be forced to separate from his mother on his own quest, but now, when that inevitable happened, she had allies he could leave her with. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Perhaps before this was all done, he would show that idiot just what his abilities were. Now, that would be a funny thing to see, but no. Something was approaching. He could hear the scurrying inside the walls. There was no time for fun right now. A new fight was coming. Actually, now he thought about it, there was plenty of time for fun. He had a whole group of people to fight these monsters with. He could be a bit more reckless, and that was fun. Loop 254 - Part 28 ¡°I do, but I¡¯m not sure what it could be. Behind these walls are just some of the many mechanisms the engineers use to expand the library. With how often the tunnels shift, I doubt anything could live down there.¡± Libby answered Bill. ¡°Yes, while that said, the knocking certainly is real. Should I try to remove the panel and see what I can see?¡± Bill rummaged through his pack and produced a screwdriver. ¡°I don¡¯t see how it could hurt,¡± Libby said. ¡°Really? I see a ton of ways it could hurt.¡± Twonger had his head against the wall now. He looked to be trying to listen to what was going on behind the wall. The knocking suddenly came again, much louder, directly behind the panel Bill was standing in front of. Bill fell backward, startled by the sudden, much closer knock. ¡®Uh, now I¡¯m not sure so sure. Twonger has a point. There does seem to be a lot of things that can go wrong.¡± Bill said. ¡°Ya, there are!¡± Twonger agreed with his earlier statement, moving away from the wall. ¡°But in this case, I say we open it. I think whatever it is just wants to talk. It keeps knocking in patterns, so I think it¡¯s trying to signal someone, which clearly ain¡¯t us, but what the hell, I¡¯ve almost died every few minutes since meeting ya all. Why stop now?¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s calm down here, Bill.¡± Andy reached his hand out to his friend helping him stand back up. ¡°Let¡¯s get this panel off.¡± The two of them worked together to unscrew and pop off the metal sheet that made up that section of the wall revealing a series of cables, tubes, and gears behind it. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything that would have been knocking.¡± Bill slowly moved his head closer to look deeper inside. ¡°Careful.¡± Andy cautioned him. ¡°There is something there. I can feel a presence, but I don¡¯t think we are what it was hoping to find.¡± Ralth added. As soon as Ralth finished speaking, a dark green appendage shot from the opening and attached itself to the back of the panel in Andy¡¯s hands. It yanked it free from the man and back into place with a loud clattering sound. There was some further scurrying behind the wall and then silence. ¡°Hah, weird tentacle monsters in a creepy library. I can¡¯t decide if I love or hate ya guys.¡± Twonger dropped down onto a chair and began loudly laughing. ¡°I have no idea what that was fun. How unusual.¡± Libby said. ¡°Let¡¯s just screw the panel back up and rest for a bit. We need to get more walking behind us tomorrow anyway. I think we can ignore this mystery for now, at least.¡± Andy said. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Yeah, what the kid said. I¡¯m tired.¡± Twonger moved to one of the beds and laid down without offering any further help. * Andy woke up to bright sunlight in his eyes. He blinked rapidly, unsure of what was going on, then bolted upright in the bed and looked around him. His bed was all that remained of the room from last night. He was alone in a small clearing in what looked to be a forest. The sun was high overhead, and the sounds of animals in the nearby woods were constant. ¡°Hello? Bill? Ralth? Anyone?!¡± He screamed the names of his now absent friends in growing desperation. He had no idea what the hell had happened or how he found himself here. It didn¡¯t feel like a dream, but to be sure, he slapped himself. He didn¡¯t wake up. ¡°Dammit.¡± He muttered as he climbed out of the bed. He scanned the trees around and made eye contact with a large deer. It didn¡¯t look away. Then, even stranger, it opened its mouth and spoke. ¡°You do not belong here.¡± It then turned and ran deep into the woods, disappearing from sight. Andy called after it anyway. ¡°Yeah, thanks. How do I get out of here?!¡± There was no answer. Andy sat back on the side edge of the bed. He wondered if anyone else had vanished for some new place or if they were now panicking that he had gone missing in the night. He spent some time ruminating on these thoughts before deciding there was nothing he could do to help that by sitting here. He gathered up the blanks on the bed and made a makeshift backpack of the fabrics. It was time to wander into the woods and hopefully find a way out. He started this by lowering the gravity around himself in order to quickly get to the top of the tallest tree he could spot and take a look around. He guessed that about two miles away, there was a sort of small village. It was hard to make out details from here, but it didn¡¯t look like a modern human city, at least. He lowered himself back to the ground, oriented himself towards what he had seen, and took his first tentative steps into the wall of trees. The sounds of animals were all around him as he walked. Every so often, he¡¯d get a sight of another deer or rabbit, but nothing stopped to stare or speak to him. He considered that that is the usual way things should work, and his frame of reference for what animals generally do had managed to change so much that the initial talking deer hadn¡¯t even startled him. Andy noted just how beautiful the forest itself was as he traveled. Even the rainforest they had met Bill and Ralth in hadn¡¯t felt this clean. Every breath he took felt invigorating. He hoped this might turn into one of his better mysterious experiences. It took a couple of hours of dodging trees, but he finally found himself on the outskirts of the village. ¡°Hello, I have no idea where I am. Can anyone help me?¡± He called as he got closer, not yet having seen any people. ¡°There is no one here that can help you. As I said, you do not belong here, and you need to leave before you spoil this sanctuary.¡± Andy spun to see the deer he had first seen standing at the edge of the woods, watching him yet again. ¡°I would if I could, but I don¡¯t know where here is, or how I got here to begin with.¡± He answered. ¡°This is the primal forest within the great abyss, and people do not come here by accident.¡± The deer said. Loop 254 - Part 29 ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I came here by accident, seeing as how I had no idea where he was before you told me. The last thing I remember before I woke up in that small clearing was falling asleep in the Under Library.¡± Andy yelled back at the deer. ¡°Perhaps you didn¡¯t intend to come here, but someone intended it. Come follow me. There are no lasting places of safety for one such as you in this place, but I can provide you a small respite while we discuss your fate. Though be warned, I am not confident you will be able to ever leave the primal forest.¡± The deer motioned for Andy to follow him. Andy followed the deer back into the forest, and while he had several questions, every attempt at one was met with a hushing sound from the deer. It appeared the creature wanted silence until they reached their destination. Instead of getting his curiosity sated, he instead looked around as they walked. The birds overhead had stopped fleeing now that he was with the deer, and instead, all seemed to watch him intently. He got the feeling none of them wanted him here. Finally, after a long, unpleasant march, the deer led them into a small cave. Andy was surprised to find the interior dimly lit. The source of the light appeared to be some mushrooms growing in the corner. The deer sat down, strangely human-like, in front of the entrance. ¡°The longer you remain here, the greater our danger becomes. I am risking my eternal dream by helping you, but I sense no desire to conquer within you, so it is a risk I am willing to take.¡± The deer finally broke the silence. ¡°Why aren¡¯t I welcome here? What makes this primal forest so different than any of the other strange places I¡¯ve been?¡± Andy sat down himself, though he noticed despite the day¡¯s marches he wasn¡¯t feeling any fatigue at all. ¡°You have mana channels. Within you pulsates a mana core. This is the antithesis of the primal dreams. As for what makes this place so different? Do you really not understand that you are in the heart of the abyss? You, as a being possessing refined mana, have somehow found yourself in the eternal dreams of the infinite potential and expression of raw mana. You mentioned having gone to sleep in the Under Library. Is this the strange citadel that exists at the edge of the great abyss?¡± The deer¡¯s form had started shifting as it spoke, and by the time it reached the final question, it now resembled a giant badger. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe. I know it exists partially in the abyss in order to feed the infinite growth needed for the archives.¡± Andy answered. ¡°Well, then, I have a partial answer for how you came to be here. That citadel has been slowly losing pieces forever. I believe you were in one of the pieces that jettisoned recently, and by some amazing feat of luck, instead of ceasing to exist or being consumed by some horrible beast, you somehow passed through the primal membrane and found yourself here. Were you alone?¡± It now looked like a large grey wolf. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°No, there were seven others with me. Argh!¡± Andy suddenly screamed in pain as his hand flickered in and out of existence. Sparks ignited from his fingertips when the hand finally settled back into a physical form. His mana channels felt like someone had poured lava through them. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± ¡°Mana cascade, and while incredibly painful, it is likely the least of your dangers. We are going to need to find your friends before anything more insidious does. You won¡¯t be able to leave here unless you do so with everyone you brought. The problem is they are not within the forest, and I am unfamiliar with the terrain of the other primals.¡± The wolf turned and stared out of the entrance to the cave at something. ¡°What is it?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Both a large problem and potential solution. One of the dreams has come to consume you. If we can defeat it, we may be able to use its essence to jump you across the primals. That is a big if, though.¡± The shapeshifting creature answered. Andy could see a whirling form of shadow and light now. It had nearly reached his newfound ally. The form morphed in front of his eyes, settling into a large cockroach. Andy shuddered. He had always found them disgusting. ¡°I smell something interesting. Allow me to pass, and I will give you the scraps. Oppose me, and I will tear you from existence, and never again will you taste the freedom of the forest.¡± The cockroach creature hissed the words out slowly. ¡°Andy, if you would be so kind as to channel some of your mana into my form, we may both survive this yet. It will be extremely unpleasant, and I am sorry for that.¡± It had shifted back into the familiar form of the deer. Andy obeyed and pushed the mana as best he could out of his hand into the air between himself and the deer. He watched as his hand flickered again, and the feeling of burning returned, but the mana arc made it to the deer. The contact seemed to be turning the deer jet black, and its antlers sparked. ¡°Goodbye, master nightmare. Your help in this journey will be appreciated. Zoz thanks you.¡± Andy saw the cockroach''s face turn into something resembling terror as the energy burst from the deer''s antlers through the cockroach and out into the world beyond the cave. The cockroach sparked and fizzled briefly before returning to a much more diminished vortex, only to be immediately inhaled by the now entirely jet-back deer. ¡°Good, that worked. Now we do something that has never been done here before.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that? And are you Zoz? Is that your name?¡± Andy asked, a bit lost on what entirely had just happened. ¡°I am Zoz, and we shall start a small fire in this cave. You will need to meditate deeply on it until you can find the threads of at least one of your friends. I would recommend starting your focus on the one you are closest to. I will pour the energy I have gathered into the thread and try to push us across it.¡± Zoz explained. ¡°Okay, I think I know just who to start with.¡± Andy smiled. It turned out there was a use for having a weird temporal duplicate of yourself sometimes. Loop 254 - Andrew Andrew was cold and wet and thoroughly unhappy. He was alive, though, and that alone was something that amazed him. He had woken up in ice-cold water with no land in sight. He had never been the strongest swimmer, and he really disliked being cold, on top of which he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten here. As he swam desperately in a single direction, he just assumed he was about to die, but fate had other plans in store. Instead, a group of penguins had spotted him and surrounded him, slowly leading him to an ice shelf where he could pull himself from the water. He collapsed, expecting the hypothermia to take him finally. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yet again, fate decided he was going to live as he woke up to find the penguins all cuddled around him. He was still cold but not freezingly so, and he was less wet than he had been. He was so enthralled at the idea that he might just live through whatever new hell he was in that he managed to even ignore the ever-present penguin smell that surrounded him. That was until one of the penguins threw up a fish slurry in front of him and looked at it as though it expected him to partake. He once again hated his existence. Loop 254 - Part 30 ¡°I think I feel something. It¡¯s cold where Andrew is.¡± Andy had been meditating for several hours. He had been nearly ready to give up when he finally saw a small thread leading from himself out into the air. When he touched it, he felt a sense of Andrew and frigid coldness. ¡°Grab the string tightly and push some of your mana into it. I¡¯m going to use what I took from the nightmare to tear a path for you. I will hold the path open once you are across, but I cannot do it forever, so return with your friend as quickly as you are able.¡± Zoz said. ¡°Got it. Charging it with mana now.¡± Andy watched the deer bow down as he said that and felt his reality rip into pieces, only for it to be pieced back together moments later much colder. Behind him remained a hole in the air that let him see back through the cavern he had left. Zoz had his antlers in the opening, quite literally holding it open. Andy saw the deer try to mouth something that he thought was the word ¡°Hurry.¡± ¡°DREW, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!¡± He screamed into the arctic winds that now pelted his face. Their cold scraping against him was the only response. He was not remotely in the right gear for this, but he had no choice but to push on. He figured if nothing else changed, he could last a few hours, at least in the extreme colds, and frankly, if he could find Andrew by then, he would assume the man had died anyway. He wasn¡¯t even sure how the hell he possibly could be alive in this environment. Determined to do his best, he trudged forward through the icy blasts until the pain gave way to numbness. He was reaching the end of how far he could go when he heard yelling in the distance. ¡°NO, THESE ARE MY FRIENDS AND YOU WILL BACK AWAY.¡± The yelling was followed by the sound of something crunching hard into something else. He thought the voice sounded like Andrew and pushed what little energy he had left into a quick sprint over the next hill. He had been right. It was Andrew, and he was fighting some sort of polar bear in defense of what looked to be penguins. He had a large branch and was clubbing the beast in the head. It didn¡¯t look very effective. He channeled one of his signature black balls directly over the bear and reversed gravity, flinging it high into the sky. It came back down with a crunch. The bear climbed back to its feet, still alive and further enraged. Andy had used the moments before the resumed clash to get between Andrew and the bear before it charged again. ¡°Good to see you¡¯re alive, Drew. Who are your friends?¡± Andy asked his older self. ¡°They are the reason I¡¯m alive. They pulled me out of the freezing water I somehow found myself in and have kept me warm these last several weeks, and I¡¯ll be damned if I¡¯ll let one polar bear kill their new chick. With what I¡¯ve seen you all tackle, how bad can a single bear be?¡± He answered. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well, considering we are somewhere in the abyss, I would guess a lot stronger than a normal bear that said, I don¡¯t think you can even take a normal one, but hey, it¡¯s good to see you try. Now, keep the penguins safe while I handle this.¡± Andy increased the pressure directly between himself and the bear. It caused the animal to scream in pain. Andy followed up by dramatically increasing the gravity, locking the bear in place. ¡°Bear, I know you can understand me. Leave these penguins alone, and you get to live. Don¡¯t force me to kill you!¡± To both men¡¯s surprise, the bear nodded its head. Andy released his hold on the gravity around it, and the bear stood up and walked into the arctic winds away from them all. It limped as it went. The penguins began jumping up and down in merriment with loud squawking to match their moods. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s okay now. You¡¯re all safe, but I think I have to leave with Andy here. Thank you all for helping me stay alive.¡± Andrew leaned down and patted several of the penguins. Andy could swear he saw a frozen tear in the man¡¯s eye as he said his goodbyes. One of the two penguins guarding the baby squawked loudly and passed something to Andrew. Andy watched him take it happily. ¡°Thank you.¡± He leaned down and ruffled the small chick''s head as well. ¡°What did they give you?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Hrm, quite nosy, aren¡¯t you? It was part of the eggshell of the young penguin. Now, how do we get out of here?¡± Andrew had slipped back into his usual tone. ¡°We use what little mana I¡¯ve got left to fling us both back towards the rip Zoz is holding open.¡± Andy immediately changed the gravity around Andrew, throwing him back towards the rip as he screamed back at his younger self. ¡°What is a Zoz?!¡± Andy ignored the question and threw himself after him. ¡°I suppose I can¡¯t argue with the speed of our travel,¡± Andrew said after he emerged from the nearby snowbank he had crashed into. ¡°Considering I nearly froze to death finding you, I wasn¡¯t sure I had the energy to make it back otherwise. I know our mana channels have made it easier to handle some of the environmental hazards, but it isn¡¯t helping at all here. See that weird rip with the deer in it over there. Go hop through it, and I¡¯ll follow behind you.¡± Andy instructed. ¡°Got it. It looks warm over there. Is that Zoz.¡± Andrew asked before climbing through without waiting for answers. Andy followed after him. Zoz removed his head from the opening, and it closed with a loud popping sound. ¡°Welcome back.¡± ¡°Thank you. I really hope Bill is somewhere warmer. I need to sleep for a bit before I get back to meditating, though. I¡¯m nearly spent after that trip.¡± Andy said. ¡°I understand. Both of you rest. I will go acquire you some nutrition.¡± Zoz said. They both listened. Loop 254 - Bill Now, this was something he needed: a nice dip in the hot springs. The company of several friendly rodents. All the vegetables he could eat. What more could a capybara ask for? He knew the answer without really considering it. He missed his friends. For the first few weeks, he had tried to figure out where he was, but there was nothing to help him. He seemed to be an endless world of hot springs and giant trees. None of the other animals he had met had been capable of his level of communication, and the more he wandered, the more he worried they wouldn¡¯t find him if they came searching. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That meant after six months, he had taken up a permanent, at least for now, residence at a very comfortable hot spring, hoping that one day, his friends would appear. He was quite lonely without them, plus there were still multiple worlds to save. Loop 254 - Part 31 ¡°Thank you for finding me, Andy. As much as I may have grown fond of the penguins, I do prefer the void house to an infinite arctic.¡± Andrew took a bite of grilled mushrooms as he ate. They had found a pile of them when they woke up. They did not find Zoz. It appeared he had left again after dropping off their food. ¡°Yeah, do you honestly think I¡¯d just leave you behind?¡± Andy looked at his older self. He actually wasn¡¯t sure what the older man believed about most of them. They were so different these days that it was hard for him to imagine himself ever being as disconnected. ¡°I don¡¯t know. While my technological genius may be growing, I am falling behind many of you in other ways.¡± Andrew responded. ¡°Yeah, so you don¡¯t leave people behind just because they aren¡¯t as capable. Consider the idea on top of that that we are basically weird twin brothers as well. I¡¯m sure as hell not leaving family behind just because they can be giant pains in the ass at times.¡± Andy shook his head at the taller man. ¡°As I said, thank you. So what¡¯s next?¡± Andrew asked, returning to his usual neutral tone. ¡°We wait for Zoz. I¡¯ll need his help to pierce into another primal area. As for who is next? Bill, most likely. I can feel him almost as easily as you. After that, it¡¯s going to get hard. I can probably find Ralth, maybe even Libby or Twonger, but I have no real connection at all to the other two. Hopefully, Zoz has something in mind when it comes to that.¡± Andy explained what he had been dwelling on since Andrew¡¯s rescue. ¡°I do not, but I am confident something will provide us a way. While you ate, I¡¯ve lured another nightmare to the cavern. I will need some of your refined mana again, Andy. Once I absorb its power, we can begin the search for your next ally.¡± Zoz had walked in as they were talking. He had started speaking while in the form of a fox and ended in the form of the deer they were more used to. ¡°Here.¡± Andy channeled some of his mana into Zoz¡¯s form. ¡°What is that I smell in here? Is there some creature awake fully of tasty mana? How did you get here, little creature? Let me help put you back to sleep. All I ask is a small taste, nothing much.¡± A voice came from the cavern entrance. Zoz blocked the view before Andy had a chance to see just what it was. ¡°No, I think not a nightmare. Zoz defends these creatures, and that means you must die. Send my regards to your brethren should you find them in another life.¡± Zoz flashed forward and drove his antlers through what Andy could only see as shadows. A bright light flashed, and Zoz emerged back into the cave with fresh electricity sparking about his antlers. He threw the shadowy form that remained of the nightmare onto the fire. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Now, Andy, it is time. Meditate as you did before and try to find another of your allies. The smoke from this nightmare form should help you find the strings. Let me know once you are ready, and I shall open the path forward.¡± Zoz instructed. ¡°Got it. Here I come, Bill. Try to keep yourself alive, buddy.¡± Andy said before sitting down to focus on his furry friend. After several hours of focusing on the mana strings he singled one out that felt like Bill. Strangely, it also felt like a warm bath. He had no idea what that meant, but he hoped it didn¡¯t mean someone was cooking the poor capybara. ¡°Zoz, I think I found him, and I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s in trouble or not,¡± Andy said, a slight panic in his voice. ¡°Okay, focus on the string and pull it. I¡¯ll do the rest.¡± Zoz said. Andy listened and gave it a gentle tug. He watched Zoz follow up by releasing all the stored energy in his antlers down the string as a new hole popped into existence in the center of the cave. The deer quickly put his antlers in to hold it open. ¡°Alright, get going,¡± Zoz ordered. Surprisingly, Andrew stood to join Andy, and he decided to let him. He was glad to see the man a little more caring after the penguins. They both climbed through only to find themselves in a much lusher environment. Giant trees surrounded them, and in the distance, Andy could make out creatures that reminded him of a cross between a buffalo and a rhino. So, all the wildlife didn¡¯t just come from Earth. He would have been more surprised if it had. ¡°BILL CAN YOU HEAR ME?¡± Andy shouted, similar to his first action in searching for Andrew. Unlike last time, he actually heard a response. ¡°Andy, is that you?! I¡¯m over here!¡± The voice yelled back. Both men ran through the woods after the source of the voice and quickly found it, lounging half-submerged in a hot spring. Sitting at the edge of the springs was a large leaf with several roast potatoes on it. ¡°I see you¡¯ve been living well,¡± Andrew said upon seeing all this. ¡°Yeah, I thought about searching for you, but after wandering for a while, I gave up and decided just to wait it out. I had started to give up hope after the first months, honestly.¡± Bill said. ¡°Months?! From my perspective, I¡¯ve only been here a few days at most.¡± Andy said in shock. ¡°Really? I was in the Arctic region for weeks. It seems time isn¡¯t consistent here. That could be a large problem if anyone is too far out of sync. Less so than Ralth, I would think, but I don¡¯t know about any of the other¡¯s lifespans.¡± Andrew commented. ¡°Yeah, something to worry about, something new as always. Come on, Bill, we¡¯ve gotta get back. I think we need to move faster on this search.¡± Andy had grown even more worried about those still missing. ¡°Alright, coming. I understand.¡± Bill hopped out of the spring, grabbed his possessions, and they quickly made their way back to the cavern. ¡°Zoz, Bill, Bill Zoz.¡± Andy said once they were back through. ¡°Nice to meet you¡­Wait, does anyone else hear Ralth?¡± Bill asked suddenly. Loop 254 - Part 32 ¡°I can¡¯t, though that is unsurprising. Can you, Andy?¡± Andrew looked over at Andy. ¡°There¡¯s been a background hum the entire time I¡¯ve been here, but I just assumed that had to do with the unrefined mana. Is that what you are talking about, Bill?¡± Andy tried to focus on the hum but couldn¡¯t make out anything he thought was a voice or other attempt at communication. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it, listen to the beat of the hum. Wait, did Ralth ever teach you the knocking language he invented with his brother?¡± Bill tapped on the wall to demonstrate what he meant. ¡°He did not. Alright, Bill, come meditate with me and focus on the same mana strings I am. I want you to help me see the ones with the right rhythms.¡± Andy sat down in the center of the cavern for his third attempt to map out ambient mana flows. ¡°I did not expect someone to be able to communicate across the primal membranes like this. This may prove very helpful in gathering the rest of your allies. While you do this, I will see if I can gather us a few more nightmares. We will need a substantial amount of the energies before this is all complete.¡± Zoz bowed to them, transforming into a wolf as he did. He then exited the cavern. ¡°Andrew, keep watch, we may be at this awhile,¡± Andy told his older self. ¡°Understood.¡± Andy started gently grasping the mana flows with his own mana, trying to feel the pattern that Bill was mimicking in his own flows. This was a whole new skill set for him and not an easy one at that. The harmonics of mana flows hadn¡¯t been a topic he had considered studying. He wondered if this was where a lot of Bill''s insights came from. Then he saw it: one of the strings was vibrating exactly like Bill¡¯s flow. He tried reaching for it, but it slipped through his fingers. It seemed different in some way than the other strings had been, harder to materialize as something tangible. ¡°Bill, I¡¯m going to need your help. I found the string, but I¡¯m having trouble grasping it. Can you try to increase the pressure around it while I try to get ahold of it again?¡± Andy asked. ¡°I can try, but I¡¯m not very good at the pressure portion of your powers. I¡¯ve only really seen you do it the one time, though I suppose necessity makes for a great learning motivator.¡± He answered. ¡°Sure does. Follow my flow and rapidly increase the pressure where it stops.¡± Andy instructed. Andy gently guided Bill through the tangles to the string he had found. He felt the pressure increase in the spot and seized the moment. He grabbed on as tightly as he could and yanked with every bit of might his core could muster. His insides felt ready to pour out through his mana channels, but he refused to let go. Ralth was on the other side of this. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Andy, is that you? Can you hear me through this flow?¡± Andy heard Ralth¡¯s voice resonate across the flow clutched in his hands. ¡°Yes!¡± He desperately thought back. ¡°Okay, good, listen to me. This won¡¯t be easy, but you need to tie this flow off to your core. Let the core anchor it in the reality you currently occupy, and then slowly push your mana across it as though it were one of your own internal channels. It will take some time, but it will work as my guide to you.¡± Ralth said. Andy thought he understood and slowly, forcefully, and with a great deal of pain, moved the flow into himself. His mana channels ignited as it passed through them towards his core. He fought down the urge to throw up and pushed the flow around his core. Delicately, he started to separate the various strands of the flow and encircle his core with them. The pain of each contact was like an electric fire in his veins. He ignored it and grabbed the strings tightly, twisting them into a knot around his core. He slumped forward, his energy spent, but it was done. He could feel the connection to Ralth slowly growing. ¡°We did it, Bill. I found him. now I need to sleep.¡± He collapsed entirely to the ground, falling into a deep sleep. Andy woke up to the smell of roast mushrooms. It smelled amazing. He guessed Bill had started working his magic at cooking again. He sat up and opened his eyes. He saw the cavern as usual, but he also saw all the mana flows pulsating within it. That wasn¡¯t normal at all. He tried unfocusing his channels, but it didn¡¯t help. Apparently, he no longer needed to meditate for hours to start visualizing these anymore. Hopefully, there weren¡¯t further side effects. ¡°Hey Andy, you okay? Your eyes are open, but you still look out of it.¡± Bill asked his friend, concern evident in his voice. ¡°I, ugh, I think so. I tied off Ralth¡¯s flow into my core, and things got a little weird when I woke up, but nothing weirder than usual, I suppose.¡± Bill had offered Andy a plate of mushrooms and other odd-looking veggies, which he happily accepted. ¡°I NEED ASSISTANCE QUICKLY!¡± Zoz¡¯s cry came from outside the cavern. All three of them answered, dropping their food and dashing from the cavern. They found Zoz surrounded by several swirling forms. ¡°We know what you have done, Zoz. It will end here. All of it will end!¡± one of the forms snarled. ¡°My friends, I need to borrow as much of your mana as you can spare. I have angered more of the nightmares than I intended, but this should be plenty to fuel our search for quite a bit of time.¡± Zoz said. Andy and Bill didn¡¯t hesitate and channeled mana directly into Zoz as he asked. The carnage that followed was hard to keep track of as Zoz rapidly flashed from one form to another, dodging their attack attacks and tearing them apart with his own. Quickly, they all fell to the ground dead. ¡°Thank you, can you help me carry their husks into the cavern? Then we can begin the hunt for your next friend.¡± Zoz asked between ragged breaths. It looked as though this fight had taken something out of him. Loop 254 - Ralth Ralth had woken to find himself on the top of a tall mountain peak. He immediately recognized he wasn¡¯t in the same plane he had been in when he went to sleep. This was yet again somewhere new in his long journey. He was alone, and he was scared. He had found his family again. He had his friends. He didn¡¯t want to spend years trying to regain that all yet again, and this time without his brother. He refused. Finally, after his fear and rage subsided, he sat down and pondered just what he needed to do. He had an idea. It was risky, but if he was where he thought he was, it could work without any real backlash, and it would be good to hear his voice again. This was how Ralth had found himself sitting in a deep trance for one year straight, subsisting on only the ambient mana to keep his body functioning. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Camden, can you hear me? I¡¯m trapped somewhere in one of the pockets of proto existences in the abyss. It should be safe to answer if you can. I believe the rails originate here somewhere as well.¡± Ralth called across his mana web network he had been building. ¡°Chris, is that you? Yeah, I can hear you. Did you get home? Did you find everyone?¡± Camden asked. ¡°I did, but now I need your help. I need you to cast this mana web as wide as you can across the abyss. I need to use it to track down Andy. I really do not wish to be lost here.¡± Ralth replied. ¡°Yeah, I think I can do that. We are between worlds right now anyway, and you know how many favors the conductor owes us at this point. Stay strong bro. I¡¯ll get your message out there. Tell Mom and Dad I miss them.¡± Camden¡¯s voice sounded sad at that last part. ¡°I will, I promise. Thank you.¡± Ralth answered. Loop 254 - Part 33 ¡°The good news is I¡¯ve already found him, so if you can just open the portal to the destination of the big string coming from me, it should get us to the correct place,¡± Andy informed Zoz of the bridge he had been able to form while they were bringing the husks back to the caverns. ¡°Good. That will speed things up, and perhaps, with his help, you can begin the hunt for the last four members of your group.¡± Zoz replied. ¡°That¡¯s the plan. He¡¯s a lot more knowledgeable on the wider planes than we are.¡± Bill smiled as he spoke. ¡°Well then, let us begin. I believe I can see the string Andy is referring to. Ah yes, I¡¯m sure I can now.¡± Zoz¡¯s antlers ignited in blue electricity before as the air ripped apart yet again. Unlike the previous times, instead of some landscape devoid of their quarry, they were greeted by the smiling face of Ralth. ¡°Hello, my friends. Is it safe for me to just jump across?¡± The man looked ecstatic to see them. ¡°Yeah, get yourself over here. Bill was worried he¡¯d have to tell the boys he had lost you.¡± Andy answered. Ralth carefully climbed through the hole. It was a tight fit, leading Andrew and Andy to have to grab and yank him through at one point, causing him to yank free and crash to the ground on top of the other two. Bill burst into laughter. ¡°Ralth, how long were you stuck there? Time seems to work differently in every area. Also, eat this.¡± Bill shoved a plate of mushrooms into the large man¡¯s hands as soon as he pulled himself from the pile. ¡°I have been subsiding on ambient mana for what felt like a year. I have no idea how accurate that is, though, as I was deep in meditation for the vast majority of it.¡± Ralth gobbled down the food he was handed and turned to Andy. ¡°We must work quickly, and I have no idea how long the field will last. We need to find the last four. Andy, have you felt anyone else across the mana flows? With that anchor embedded in you, I imagine you are seeing the world in a very different way.¡± ¡°I see mana threads connecting everything, but I don¡¯t see anything that stands out right now, at least.¡± He answered. ¡°Ah, the trick to it isn¡¯t to look. It is to feel. Sit down and close your eyes.¡± Andy did as Ralth instructed. ¡°Feel the pulsating flow from what you¡¯ve tied to your core. Follow that out into the deeper abyss.¡± ¡°Okay, I think I feel something¡­ Wait, yes, intense anger and fear. It¡¯s hard to zero in on. It¡¯s moving very fast.¡± Before he could continue, two blasts of energy ricocheted off the cavern walls, knocking Andy out of his trance. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Andrew yelled. ¡°We have a problem. An elder nightmare has located us. I was concerned this would happen before we were ready.¡± Zoz¡¯s voice came loudly from somewhere outside the caves. ¡°Hah, you dare call me a nightmare? Will you still say that once I destroy your little project here?¡± A voice responded from in the distance. ¡°Bill, Ralth, with me. We need to help Zoz, or I doubt we are ever getting out of here.¡± Andy ordered the pair, having regained his footing following the surprise assault. They raced out of the cave in search of the voice. Andy was sure they all spotted at the same time as it was impossible to miss. There was a fifty-foot tree creature swinging its branches menacingly at Zoz. Andy saw Ralth raise his arms out of the corner of his eye, but before the man had a chance to channel anything, he was hit in the chest by a blast of energy from the creature¡¯s mouth. ¡°Bill, help Ralth. I have no idea what will happen to us in regards to the loop if we die in here. So try to keep him alive.¡± Andy yelled as he charged towards the tree, rage starting to overtake him. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s my friend you just tried to kill, and I¡¯m growing pretty partial to Zoz too. So tell me, how easy is it to swing your branches now?¡± The creature''s arms sagged towards the ground as black spheres formed around both of them. Andy was surprised to find this easier than he expected. He could feel more mana surging into his core from the thread he had tied off in it. Considering the circumstances, he welcomed the change for once. He was going to need everything he had to take this thing down. Andy pulled more mana from his core and pushed it below his feet, reversing the gravity and propelling himself into the air towards the creature''s head. He overshot and crashed into the tree branches behind it. He rethought the idea of trying brand-new tactics in life-or-death situations and opted for something a little more practiced. The creature turned its head and opened its mouth, ready to fire another blast directly at him. This was the moment he had been waiting and created another black ball inside the mouth of the creature. He ramped up the gravity of it as much as he could, causing the creature¡¯s jaw to slam shut just as the energy was about to escape it. Instead, it fired a giant blast directly into its own mouth. Andy could only watch as the creature destroyed itself. ¡°Good job my friend. I am grateful for your help. I would not have been able to defeat such a powerful nightmare on my own. Now come down from there so we can examine your friends and resume your search.¡± Zoz called out to Andy. Once back on the ground, Andy ran back to Bill and Ralth, only to find Ralth sitting up and drinking some more mushroom broth. He looked mostly intact. ¡°Sorry for the scare. It looked a lot worse than it was, but it really managed to knock the wind out of me. Are we ready to get back to searching for the others now?¡± ¡°Yes, we are. I believe we should be nightmare-free now for a considerable time.¡± Zoz answered. ¡°Good.¡± Ralth gave Zoz an odd look before heading back into the cave with Andy and Bill. Loop 254 - Run Twonger, Run ¡°AHHHHH,¡± Twonger screamed as he ran, dodging mushroom stalks as he went. ¡°Why the fuck am I in a giant mushroom jungle. Can¡¯t a man even get some sleep anymore? No more stealing from random people!¡± He yelled as he continued his run, glancing behind him every so often. The giant beetle-like animal was still there, moving like a freight train after him. It had only been a few minutes since he had woken up in the mouth of the thing and had to fight free of it, but it felt like he had been running for an eternity. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°There has to be a river here somewhere, and those things hate water.¡± He mumbled out loud as his running continued. He figured he had maybe another ten minutes before he¡¯d be too exhausted to continue at his current pace, so that meant in around five minutes or so, it was fight-or-die time. He was not looking forward to it. Being eaten by a beetle rated near the bottom of the ways he had ever wanted to die. ¡°Damn you, Andy!¡± He screamed out, not for the first time, as his lungs continued their painful burn. Loop 254 - Part 34 ¡°As I said, we need to move quickly, Andy. Can you find that string where you felt the something before? Let me know the moment you do. I¡¯m going to try one of these new channeling powers of mine.¡± Ralth looked like he was planning something but, for whatever reason, wasn¡¯t sharing at the moment. So Andy sat down and did as he was asked. Now that he knew the feel of what he was searching for, he was able to grab back onto the thread within moments. ¡°Got it.¡± He said, proud of himself for starting to figure out how this web mana worked. Once the chaos was over, he intended to spend some extra time trying to visualize this. He had an idea of how this could be used to hop worlds and had a feeling it was how Ralth had done it during his return to them. ¡°I¡¯m going to channel two different mana sources through you. It will probably feel a bit odd, but it shouldn¡¯t hurt. Once they pass through your core, try to hold onto them and guide them through to where you feel the correct destination is.¡± Ralth instructed. ¡°Okay.¡± Andy felt a weird tingling of mana across his channels at agreement. The mana flowed back through him into his core, and he tried his best to do as Ralth had asked. Surprising him, it wasn¡¯t nearly as challenging as he expected. Unlike the usual fight to push and pull mana flows how he wanted, this mixture moved gently and navigated it across the tangled lines toward his goal. Once it hit the end, he felt the mixture tie itself into a knot and suddenly felt an intense tugging leading from his core to his destination. ¡°I think that did it. Zoz, we¡¯ve got a new location. Can you get us there?¡± Andy called to the deer. Zoz walked into the room, sniffed the air, and moved closer to Andy. ¡°Interesting technique. Yes, this should work.¡± He raised his antlers yet again and released a blast of energy into the air, leaving behind a window into a world of mushrooms. Andy once again noticed Ralth giving Zoz a side-eyed look and wondered just what that was about, but if he wasn¡¯t sharing, he wasn¡¯t about to ask. Instead, he leaped through the portal to their next destination, having just spotted a large, one-eyed alien running in terror. He landed with a loud cracking sound on top of a giant beetle. It hadn¡¯t been there when he had last looked through before jumping in, and guessed this was what had Twonger running in terror. Before he had a chance to right himself, Bill and Ralth crashed down behind him, almost missing the beetle entirely. Andy stood up and yelled, ¡°Hey Twonger, need a lift?¡± The alien turned his head and looked back. ¡°Where the fuck did yos all come from? Is this some stupid initiation ritual? I really hate mushroom jungles!¡± He screamed out as he continued his run. Andy created a black globe around each of the beetle''s legs. Finding channeling was still just as easy here as it had been against the tree monster. He then poured in mana, rapidly increasing the gravity on each of the feet, causing the giant insect to crash forward as its legs stopped moving. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. This had the added effect of throwing the three of them forward off his head into a giant mushroom stem, knocking it over. Luckily for them, the stem was soft and helped to blunt their impact. ¡°Ugh, no more beetle riding for me, thanks,¡± Bill said. ¡°Twonger, we didn¡¯t didn¡¯t do this to you. Somehow, we all ended up scattered across these weird places in the abyss. I don¡¯t know how yet, so get your ass back here so we can get back to the relative safety of our cave.¡± Andy yelled after the man who still hadn¡¯t stopped running. ¡°Oh yeah, be anywhere with you idiots. Great idea. YOU JUST KNOCKED DOWN A MUSHROOM!¡± Twonger stopped, looked at them, and then started screaming about the mushroom. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s your point?¡± Andy said. ¡°My point is fucking run towards however we get back because the mantises are going to be coming now!¡± Twonger yelled, dashing back towards them. His yell was accompanied by a loud hissing sound somewhere in the air. ¡°Guys, he¡¯s right, there¡¯s a giant group of something flying towards over there.¡± Bill pointed to what was now obviously the source of the sound. A large group of black dots that was growing by the second was moving towards. Twonger ran past them, looking more panicked than before. ¡°Twonger, don¡¯t go far. We just need to get up there!¡± Andy called to him and pointed to the hole back to the cave floating in the air about thirty feet up. The beetle hadn¡¯t had time to carry them very far from where they had come through. ¡°Quick, with yer gravity magic, I don¡¯t want to be anywhere near here when those things land.¡± Twonger¡¯s voice had finally returned to a normal level. Andy grouped everyone up in a circle under the portal and started channeling a single sizeable black ball around them. He then carefully lowered the gravity while channeling the ball to move up with them so as not to fire anyone straight up. ¡°Faster!¡± Twonger¡¯s terror was back in his voice. The mantis swarm was nearly there. Andy increased the speed slightly, not willing to risk overshooting and having to try this again. He didn¡¯t think there was time for that. Even now, he wasn¡¯t sure they were going to make it. He could see the mantises clearly now. They resembled giant praying mantises, and they all looked ravenous. The portal was so close now he just had to push them through it, and they would be safe. A claw swiped out at him. He felt it rake his back just as they were going through. Ralth, Bill, and Twonger were now entirely gone. His back screamed in pain, and he just had to get himself through now. He pushed the pain down and risked pushing himself through faster. He had no choice. The risk paid off, and he crashed to the ground back inside the safety of the cave. There was a loud sound behind him as one of the mantis heads started to come through after them. He saw Twonger turn and sock it directly in the jaw. ¡°God damn mantises, I fucking hate yos things!¡± He yelled as he hit it again. The last punch knocked the head back through, and the portal closed with a pop. Loop 254 - Part 35 ¡°Where the fuck are we, and how the hell did we get here?¡± Were the first words out of Twonger¡¯s mouth the second the portal to where he had been found was fully closed. ¡°The Abyss, and somehow we passed into some sort of protected region full of proto realities. My best guess for how we got here was that weird tentacle we saw. It doesn¡¯t explain much, but I don¡¯t really have anything else to go on.¡± Andy answered. ¡°How is it being around yer weird group puts my life in more danger than robbing galactic empires ever did?¡± Twonger slumped against the cavern wall as he spoke. He looked exhausted and ready to pass out. ¡°Hey Twonger, you okay? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen you so tired.¡± Bill said. ¡°No, I sure as hell ain¡¯t okay. You try running as hard and fast as you can from things that are going to eat you if you stop. It had to be a damned mushroom forest. That¡¯s a real nightmare come to life right there. Next time you see Onelder, ask him about what happened the last time we were in one and how long it took to regrow his arm.¡± Twonger managed a small laugh between the wheezes. ¡°Alright, how about you sit down and rest while we see if I can find someone else? Libby is probably the next best bet. They see me as some sort of Library steward, so that should give me a relationship to feel for.¡± Andy was worried about the last two after Libby. He barely knew either of them. How do you find an unknown needle-sized object in an infinite space in a limited time? He wished he had a good answer. ¡°I have a feeling Libby will be surprisingly easy. When you begin your search, instead of focusing on the thrum of living mana flows, look for a connection from yourself that feels like it should wither away but, for some reason, remains alive and connected. I¡¯ve had some experience with mana bonds and machines, and they tend to work a little differently. While you do that, I will ponder on the problem of our other lost friends.¡± Ralth said. Andy sat down and started his search, but before he had a chance to begin a deeper examination of the web, he just spotted the thread he needed. It was so easy now that Ralth had explained it. It was just sitting there motionless, surrounded by vibrant thrumming strings of mana. He grabbed it and yanked. ¡°Hey, actually, I already found it. Zoz if you could¡­¡± Andy was cut off before he could finish his request. ¡°Yes, I have it.¡± Zoz tore reality at Andy¡¯s direction, and where the energy from his antlers had poured now hung a window into a world of metal. All they could see from their current view were endless gears, slowly turning. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well, I suppose I won¡¯t be pondering then. No rest for the weary and all that.¡± Ralth said. ¡°Look, gents, I¡¯d love to join yous, but I just can¡¯t. I have to rest.¡± Twonger said. ¡°It¡¯s fine, we get it. Some of us are stronger than others. You rest here, and Andrew will watch out for you.¡± Andy said with a smirk. ¡°Bah!¡± Twonger slumped further to the ground, his annoyance with Andy¡¯s verbal jab didn¡¯t look likely to motivate him to join them. Ralth, Bill, and Andy left Twonger and Andrew behind as they passed through the portal into the weird gear world. As Andy looked around, he quickly noted the gears were even more massive in person. He had no idea if they were deep inside some machine with a grandiose purpose or if this was just another strangely contained world. ¡°This doesn¡¯t feel random. We seem to be ending up in places that resonate with us in some way. I can¡¯t say exactly how or why, but I really do not think things are as they seem.¡± Ralth said as soon as they had walked a bit away from the portal. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Neither Andrew or I seemed to end up anywhere that seemed important to either of us in any way.¡± Andy said. ¡°Yes, well, Andrew will always be a special case when you are involved, the reverse as well. I¡¯m willing to bet it is very difficult to tell the two of you apart unless you happen to know you both exist in the exact way you do. So let¡¯s assume you were pulled off course from whatever proto-reality you were meant to land in, and by the same token, Andrew was knocked off course as well. The rest of us end up somewhere that draws on some emotional state within us. Bill got lucky with relaxation. I got extreme loneliness, and Twonger was stuck with terror. All familiar things to us.¡± Ralth explained his reasoning. ¡°So then, what do you think is going on?¡± Andy asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. This a new experience for me. I had no idea any of this existed in the abyss, let alone that things outside of the beasts could survive or even thrive here. Then there¡¯s Zoz. I¡¯ve seen that energy he¡¯s using before, and it isn¡¯t a pleasant memory. So, I¡¯m hesitant to trust him fully.¡± Ralth looked nervous, something Andy had never seen on his face before. ¡°Understood. I guess we keep our eyes on him then. We need him for now, though, so I think we are stuck.¡± Andy said. ¡°Yes, I agree, for now at least,¡± Ralth agreed. ¡°Hey guys, there¡¯s a door over there.¡± Bill pointed to a door that was situated on a wall in a space between rotating gears. There was a sign on the door that said Control Room. ¡°Huh, well, that looks promising. Good job, Bill.¡± Andy started walking fast towards the door. Bill was the first through the door, soon followed by the other two. A very unexpected sight greeted them. The room was full of monitors for various different read-outs. They were all labeled, but the two that caught Andy¡¯s notice the quickest were the large screens labeled Librarian Unit 004 Left Eye and Librarian Unit 004 Right Eye. ¡°Uh, guys, are we inside of Libby?¡± Andy asked the group. Loop 254 - Libby Location unknown, composition unknown, time unknown, surroundings unknown. All scanning systems working correctly. Libby sighed, something they had picked up from being around the biologicals for so long, but it still surprised them when it happened. They were changing in a way no librarian had before. Now, if only they had any idea what had happened or where they were. Libby liked her new friends, and hoped to see them again. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Something was moving inside of them. That was strange. Libby triggered their internal scanning modules to locate the intruders. Then they saw them. It was Bill, Andy, and Ralth. How had they ever got in there? How strange. ¡°Steward, are you inside my control room? How did you get there?¡± Libby asked. Loop 254 - Part 36 ¡°Uh, yes, Libby, it¡¯s us. As for how we got here, I¡¯m not entirely sure. We opened a portal to where I thought you were located, which so far has been working reasonably well. This is the first time I¡¯ve ended up inside of anyone, though. I guess the first important question here is which of them is the wrong size?¡± Andy spat out the words in rapid-fire as his brain tried to catch up to just why they were inside of Libby. ¡°Size is relative, especially when we are talking about abstract locations like this. It¡¯s entirely possible we are both the correct size. Libby how long has it been from your perspective from the last time we were all together?¡± Bill asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Everything always reads as an unknown, despite my scanners finding no internal faults. I might be able to measure my internal logic gates and count the times they have processed since I last saw you, but that would take considerable time.¡± Libby answered. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not do that now. First, we need to figure out how to get you to a size where we can take you back through the portal with us. What does it look like out there?¡± Andy knew they were already running on a limited timetable and didn¡¯t want to risk anything unneeded. ¡°There is nothing out here. As far as I can tell, the space I occupy is totally devoid of anything besides myself,¡± they answered. ¡°That creates a whole new problem. How do we bring Libby back through the portal if we can¡¯t survive outside of Libby?¡± Bill frowned as he asked the question. ¡°I believe that, between Andy and my abilities, I can keep us safe for a few minutes. If we take a small area in here and create a large pressure bubble around it, and if I work to lessen the forces out there, we should have a pocket of atmosphere for a brief time. So that is a potential solution, at least,¡± Ralth said. ¡°Yeah, that could work, but now we need to figure out how to bring Libby down to our size. Libby, any guesses?¡± Andy asked. He liked Ralth¡¯s idea. In theory, with how much mana he felt pulsating through him, he could probably hold the bubble longer than Ralth realized, but that was something to try later. ¡°You will need to make your way to my reactor. There should be a way to control my mass there. The issue will be that once you start shrinking me, you will need to make a run for an escape port. Here, let me pull a map up on one of the monitors. It should make things easier.¡± The monitor nearest to Bill, sprung to life with a floor plan for the librarian''s internal cavities. Andy looked over the map. He found the reactor room two levels below where they were currently at. The nearest escape port he could locate looked to be a minute''s run from there. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Hey Libby, how quickly will you start shrinking?¡± He needed a good timetable to verify if that exit was viable at all. ¡°I believe I will be down to the proper size in about three minutes of setting the reactor size controls. You are likely asking due to the nearest escape port to where that is. You will most likely need to propel yourselves forward with your magic. Assuming you are still roughly as fast as you last were, I do not believe you can currently make that run in time otherwise.¡± Libby answered. ¡°Do or die time, again. Anyone remember our lives before the ever-looming threat of death?¡± Andy¡¯s joke didn¡¯t land as well as he hoped. Bill and Ralth just weren¡¯t the best target audience for Gallow¡¯s humor, as their responses were both silent nods. ¡°Yeah, okay, Twonger would have laughed, but let¡¯s get down there and shrink Libby back down.¡± ¡°Andy, I don¡¯t think Twonger¡¯s laughter is a ringing endorsement for your sense of humor,¡± Bill said as they exited the room. They found the reactor room quickly and started their hunt for the size controls. ¡°I believe I¡¯ve found them. Ralth you and Andy go stand in the door so we don¡¯t have to wait for it to slide open. I¡¯ll trigger Libby¡¯s size change.¡± Bill was typing away as he spoke. ¡°Get your little furry butt to as soon as you press enter, Bill,¡± Andy ordered his friend. Bill pressed a final key, dropped to all fours, and dashed towards the door with the other two. It was obvious to everyone he had found the correct command as the rooms around them were starting to shrink rapidly. ¡°RUN!¡± Bill yelled as he flew past them as fast as his legs would carry him. Andy enshrouded them in one of his signature black balls. He reduced the gravity within just enough to spring them forward while letting them all keep control of themselves. He moved the ball along with them as they went. Andy felt one of his flows transfer over to Bill and saw the small capybara launch himself hard against the wall in the distance they were heading for. Bill slammed his hand down onto the red button that was near the wall panel as soon as the other two reached him. This caused the panel to explode outwards and suck the three of them out of Libby. ¡°Andy, drop increase the pressure in your field now. Try to hold as much of this atmosphere with us as you can.¡± Andy saw mana threads explode from Ralth as he said this. The man looked to be trying to hold his field together. He joined in doing his part and felt it becoming easier to breathe. ¡°Good job guys. Now we just wait.¡± Bill congratulated them as they looked on at a quickly shrinking giant librarian they knew as Libby. Soon, Libby was reduced to a near-normal size and floating in front of the portal, ready to return with them. ¡°Now, the fun part. Bill take one of my flows and start trying to push us forward off of Ralth¡¯s energy wall. Not too fast. We can¡¯t overshoot this.¡± Andy instructed, and Bill listened. Their Atmospheric ball was now heading directly for Libby and the portal. It worked. They grabbed Libby as their bubble passed by her, and soon, they were all back through the portal into the safety of the cavern. Loop 254 - Serilina ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a good idea to stay hidden from our new friends right now, Wiggly? I was just getting used to the idea of company again,¡± Serilina said as she stroked the cat¡¯s back. He purred in response. They had found themselves in a series of tunnels and every time she felt Andy reach out across a web of intricate mana, Mr. Wiggles had batted the threads away from them. He was determined it wasn¡¯t safe to rejoin them for whatever reason. So, instead, they had spent the last few days wandering through endless dark caves and tunnels. They reminded her of shelters her people had hidden in before the end. They hadn¡¯t helped. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Wiggly, I¡¯ve made a decision. Next time they reach out I¡¯m grabbing them. I understand there is danger, but what if we can help? It¡¯s not fair to leave them struggling all alone. No one deserves that. Remember?¡± The cat¡¯s head sunk in some remembered agreement, and then he nodded. Loop 254 - Part 37 The cavern was a scene of chaos. Somehow, they had returned in the middle of an ongoing fight. Andrew was standing in front of Twonger, who looked to have been shot and burnt by something. Zoz was standing in front of Andrew. ¡°Ah, I was hoping to have this done before you returned. Then again, I was also hoping to wait until you had collected all your friends, but it¡¯s too late for that, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Zoz said. ¡°What do you mean? What the hell is going on, Zoz?¡± Andy shouted. It looked like Ralth¡¯s fears had manifested, but he still wanted to know why Zoz had decided to attack them after helping them for so long. ¡°Mana like yours doesn¡¯t really exist inside this region of the abyss. This is where dreamers create new realities waiting to be born. The raw mana bursts forth and coalesces into something usable when their seeds burst forth. Well, imagine my surprise when I felt you and your friends somehow burst through the membrane and enmesh yourselves into them. Even more to my luck, you, Andy were very close. All I had to do was pull you towards me, and then I could have my very own source of refined mana. Who knows, I might even be able to find a way to take your core from you, but then, even better, I learned all your friends have mana-channeling abilities as well. Now if only the high dreamers weren¡¯t aware of my activities, I could have captured you all, but I suppose six will have to do.¡± To Andy¡¯s surprise, Zoz answered. ¡°Andy, just go. Do not try to fight him. It¡¯s how Twonger ended up like this. Rip open another hole and go. Don¡¯t waste time worrying about directing it! Just go!¡± Andrew yelled at them. ¡°What about you?¡± Andy did not want to leave his older self behind, and he¡¯d rather not leave Twonger either. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m the only one of us without a source of mana. He can¡¯t drain anything from me. Get Twonger and go, dammit!¡± Andrew screamed in answer as he charged at Zoz. This apparently had been what they had interrupted as Andy now noticed one of Zoz¡¯s antlers had been broken and Andrew already had a large stick. ¡°Ralth, grab Twonger. This is going to be a rough ride without Zoz¡¯s energy to actually rip open a targeted destination.¡± Andy grabbed the first pulsating mana thread he felt and ripped as hard as he could. He did his best to focus on what Ralth had said regarding the mana web and then mimicked Zoz¡¯s actions to the best of his ability. There was a rending sound in the air as a warped portal appeared in front of them. It was nowhere near the smooth, glassy surface that Zoz was creating, but it looked like it would work. Ralth threw Twonger into it before Andy could take a deeper look. That meant there was no second guessing now, so leaped through after the unconscious man. Libby, Bill, and Ralth followed just as the portal sizzled out of existence behind them. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Hey guys, I was worried we¡¯d never see you again.¡± It was Serilina¡¯s voice. Somehow, they had found her. ¡°Wiggly here felt you reaching out, so he gave you a good pull. Sorry, it took so long to find you. Apparently, this is where Wiggly was born and something here had him really worried about my safety. Wait, where¡¯s Andrew?¡± She rambled out a bunch of statements before the final pressing question. ¡°Dammit, dammit, dammit, we can¡¯t leave him behind even if he told us to!¡± Andy yelled in frustration and hit the cave wall nearest him. ¡°We didn¡¯t have much choice. Andrew was likely right about the mana problem. We¡¯ve seen what Zoz can do when we feed him any mana, and look at Twonger down there. Imagine if he had gotten ahold of Libby or Ralth. Both of you are practically bursting with mana,¡± Bill said. ¡°I don¡¯t know that I am anymore, but my core is still something that would be very dangerous for him to get ahold of. That said, I have a strong feeling this won¡¯t be the last we see of him. Now that I¡¯ve felt it again, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve encountered his energy source before,¡± Ralth responded. ¡°Yes, it is best he wasn¡¯t able to drain my energy sources. I¡¯d rather not go inert,¡± Libby added ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Andy asked. He was feeling lost. He was tired of being in charge, as always, everything was going wrong around him no matter how hard he tried to hold it all together. Someone else could do the planning. He needed to rest. He slumped down against the wall and put his head in his hands. ¡°We wait. You all may be idiots, but I¡¯ve grown to like you. Plus, Mother needs friends. I believe certain events are unfolding in a very unexpected way for Zoz as we speak.¡± To the surprise of everyone, Mr. Wiggles was the source of the words. ¡°Aww, Wiggly, you¡¯ve decided you like them. I¡¯ve never seen him actually talk to anyone else. He must really like you.¡± Serilina said in response. ¡°It has much more to do with being back in the proto realities. I am able to bond to all you like I have mother. It makes it easier to convey my thoughts in a way that makes sense to your language processing. Dreams are a complicated and chaotic thing, rarely fully understood, but you¡¯ve all made some significant progress on unraveling them. Most mortals would have long gone mad here. I believe that Zoz has actually done a great service for us all, though I doubt he has realized it yet. Somehow, you¡¯ve all managed to blunder your way through danger after danger, but I urge you to beware of his wrath in the future. I cannot be everywhere, nor will I have the strength for any direct opposition.¡± Mr. Wiggles continued his speech, toning down the insults this time. He then drew a single claw across the air, ripping open a new portal. Loop 254 - Part 38: Andrew Andrew hadn¡¯t noticed exactly when it had started, and that annoyed him. When had his perception slipped so heavily? He used to be aware of everything in the room he was in. Sure, his life was now more super science than casual studying, but it was hard to believe that he had missed this when it started. At some point, after they left to find Libby, Zoz had moved near Twonger. A weak, pained noise had escaped Twongers lips, finally causing Andrew to take actual notice of what was happening where Twonger rested against the wall. Zoz¡¯s antlers were glowing, similar to when Andy had charged them with his own mana, except Andy wasn¡¯t there. There was only a barely conscious Twonger as a source of refined mana, ¡°Hey is something wrong? Do we have an attack incoming? I¡¯m not sure Twonger has the strength to spare any mana for you right now, but I can probably pop my head into the portal and yell for the others. They may still be in range.¡± Andrew said, interrupting the scene. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for that. Something is coming.¡± Zoz¡¯s words were slurred when he answered. It was almost as if he was drunk. ¡°Fine, but I think you¡¯ve had enough,¡± Andrew said, making his voice as authoritative as he could muster. ¡°It isss not enougghh.¡± The words were even more slurred now. Twonger¡¯s groaning had decreased to barely audible. ¡°Dammit,¡± Andrew thought. He knew where this was going, and he had to act. He grabbed a large stick that he was reasonably sure he could still swing, walked up behind Zoz, and swung as hard as he could. ¡°I said leave him alone!¡± he yelled as he swung. Much to his surprise, the makeshift club swung home. It hit Zoz¡¯s head with a loud crack, causing the deer to lose its footing and fall to the cavern floor. He quickly moved between Twonger and Zoz and took another hard swing downward. It hit again, but this time, Zoz looked more prepared. The deer¡¯s head rolled more with the impact, and he regained his feet. As Andrew stood there waiting to die, staring down the deer, in popped then other four. They had Libby with them, but Andrew saw the gleam in Zoz¡¯s eyes. Twonger was just the first. * Zoz had made a parting attempt to gore one of the group as they fled, but Andrew had once again managed to club him square on the head. As the portal, they disappeared through winked out. ¡°Well, it looks like they are safe, and now you are left with just me. Little old no mana Andrew.¡± He said, fully expecting his death was coming and having no idea how that would affect the void house or the stability of the time loop. He wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d return next loop at all, in fact, due to his unique nature within, especially when he considered that Andy had more or less replaced him as far as Earth had been concerned as the one real Andrew. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He was surprised to find himself somewhat okay with that. He had been willing to die to save the penguins as well. He really had grown soft over the decades. The thought made him laugh out loud, one of the very few genuine laughs he had since this whole insane debacle had started. ¡°What do you find funny, human?¡± Zoz asked, the rage bleeding into his voice. ¡°The entire stupid situation. Here I am, finally connecting to people, trapped inside a weird series of dreams of proto universes, listening to a wizard deer give terrible supervillain-level speeches. So how about we just stop the posturing, and I try to hit you with this stick a few more times before you manage to finally kill me?¡± Andrew laughed more. ¡°Fine, then die!¡± Zoz charged forward, stabbing Andrew deeply in the side with one of the antlers, and then began discharging a burning hot blast of energy directly into the wound, causing Andrew to scream in pain. He now knew what it felt like when the monsters hit Cal or Andy, and boy, did he not like it. He resolved to try to be nicer to them if he ever saw them again. Luckily, that was a big if, so he probably wouldn¡¯t have to follow through. He laughed again through the pain. ¡°That¡¯s it? Really, I¡¯ve seen some of my friends do more to giant monsters, and the best you can do is stab me. Kind of pathetic when you consider it.¡± He spat blood as he coughed out the words. ¡°DIE!¡± Andrew felt more energy surge through his body. All his muscles screamed, and his nerves felt like they were on fire. There was a weird coolness in his pocket, though. Somehow, that wasn¡¯t being affected. ¡°Interesting,¡± he mumbled as he tried to get his hand into the pocket. It was a monumental task, as his fingers didn¡¯t want to move, but after a few agonizing seconds, he closed his hand around the eggshell fragment the penguins had given him. Despite the increasing heat of the room, it was ice cold. He pulled it out and, to his dismay, felt it crumble to dust once exposed to the cavern''s air. He laughed again at the absurdity, but his laughter was mostly coughs. ¡°What? How?¡± He heard Zoz yell and felt something to his side, but he had lost a lot of blood at this point, and moving his head proved too difficult to see what had drawn the monster¡¯s attention. Zoz pulled his antler free of Andrew, letting the man collapse to the ground. Finally, he was able to see what had suddenly alarmed him. A small portal had opened on the ground where the dust had fallen, and several penguins were flooding through. Before Zoz had a chance to fight back, dozens of penguins had launched iceballs at him, pelting him and, more importantly, seeming to discharge some of his stolen energies. Then, to Andrew¡¯s shock, the polar bear came charging through the portal and bit down hard on Zoz¡¯s throat. The scene quickly turned into a melee, with Zoz fighting for his life against a growing army of penguins of an enraged white bear. Just as it looked like they were about to finally down Zoz for good, he yelled something Andrew didn¡¯t understand. His body shifted, and his antlers exploded. A blinding bright light flashed in the room for a split second, and Zoz was gone. ¡°Damn, I really thought you all had him.¡± Andrew coughed out before his vision started to go black. ¡°We would have if the coward hadn¡¯t fled. Rest now, Andrew. It¡¯s our turn to take care of you.¡± One of them said, but he was too out of it to tell who. ¡°You guys could talk the whole time?¡± He slurred out the question before falling unconscious against the fur of a soft white bear. Loop 254 - Of Penguins and Bears ¡°It is nearly time. The nightmare has revealed itself. As long as Andrew can hold his mettle until enough energy builds up, we will be able to intervene,¡± one of the older penguins said. ¡°I¡¯ll retrieve Cirtar, we will likely need his help. I¡¯m sure he will enjoy this chance for such a hunt. Breaking from the usual eternal penguin and fish cycle should bring him some joy.¡± Another of the penguins said. ¡°Momma, Daddy, something is happening. I feel a weird energy inside of me.¡± A small penguin suddenly cut in. It was glowing. ¡°Ah, good. Penny, just let it flow through you. Your uncle Andrew is about to need all our help. Now, here¡¯s the important part, and I want you to listen very closely, okay Penny?¡± Her dad asked. He had a serious look on his face. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll listen!¡± She said cheerily. ¡°I want you to try tying some of that energy into a knot in yourself, and then once you feel it tighten, start directing it through all of us. We are going to use Zoz¡¯s stolen energy as a bridge back to Andrew.¡± The little penguin obeyed as ropes of energy burst from her, touching all the penguins it could find. Finally, after piercing the large bear who had entered the scene, the energy stopped, floated in midair, and then burst into a window. The penguins saw their friend with an antler through his side. ¡°CHARGE!¡± a unified call went up. Loop 254 - Part 39 The hole that was left behind from the claw ripping apart the air revealed the cavern they had left behind. The scene was very different than what Andy had expected to see. He had been on the verge of shouting to close it until the realization of what he was seeing had set in. Andrew was lying asleep with his head on a large white bear. He was reasonably sure it was the same bear he had once saved the man from. Around him, several penguins were working to cook a meal, and further beyond that another portal hung open in the air to what looked like the place Andrew had ended up when they first arrived. ¡°What the hell?¡± Andy asked in shock. Several of the penguins turned towards the portal at this interruption and hushed him. One even hopped back through. It was a smaller penguin, likely still a chick. He thought it was likely the newborn they had left behind. ¡°Please be quiet. Uncle Andrew is sleeping. He had a very hard fight and is lucky to be alive,¡± she said matter-of-factly. With her tone, Andy was reminded of Andrew himself. He was about to laugh at the idea of a penguin Andrew when another thing caught his attention. The mana threads were going through all the animals and into Andrew himself. The man was now radiating his own mana source, and it was growing as he slept. ¡°Hey guys, can anyone else sense a mana core growing inside of Andrew?¡± He whispered, following the chick¡¯s orders. ¡°Yes, it reminds me of our bond, but more stable. I think this is more natural and less forced.¡± Bill said. Another penguin hopped through the portal. This one was much larger than the chick, and Andy assumed was an adult. ¡°I would hope you are detecting a core within the man. It is our gift to him for his attempt at defending us. Though it wasn¡¯t truly needed. He certainly did not know that, and therefore, his courage deserves to be rewarded, especially with the stress he is under.¡± ¡°And what exactly is your gift? Are you able to control the growth of his core?¡± Apparently, the last statement had piqued Ralth¡¯s curiosity. ¡°He will carry within him a seed of raw mana from the primal worlds. How it develops fully will depend on his own guidance, needs, and direction. That said, it will allow him to summon any of us forth who have been tied to it. He will need much practice to control the power. I believe you all have experience there and can help guide him,¡± the penguin said. ¡°We can try. He¡¯s a bit stubborn, so there¡¯s a good chance he will only want to do this his way.¡± Andy responded, considering the idea of Andrew with magic. The man would be furious and secretly elated when he learned about this. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°What happened to Zoz?¡± Ralth asked. A look of worry accompanied his question. ¡°He fled once he realized the battle would be lost. I doubt it is the last we will see of him.¡± The penguin answered. ¡°I was worried that would be the case. I¡¯m reasonably sure I fought him in the past, and this would explain some of the insane hate he seemed to hold for me from the moment we met. This will likely grow into a very large problem someday.¡± Ralth had finally voiced some of the deep fears that had kept him on edge around Zoz. ¡®Hey, look, I¡¯m alive. Didn¡¯t see that coming. Wait, am I sleeping on a polar bear?¡± Andrew had woken up but was clearly still pretty out of it. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be in a lot more pain from the shoulder goring?¡± ¡°Hush, Andrew. You have much healing ahead of you, and it will take at least another day before your seed solidifies fully. You need to rest until that happens, rest and eat.¡± The penguin passed him a bowl of some sort of soup. It smelled like fish. ¡°Hrm, that reminds me. Since when can you all speak anyway?¡± Andrew asked after finishing the entire bowl. His usual gruff annoyance was returning to his voice. Andy thought that was likely a good sign for his recovery. ¡°We could understand you the entire time, but unlike Zoz, we choose not to directly involve ourselves. That is the proper flow of primal existence. Sadly, temptation has destroyed that and likely altered the future drastically, so to that end, we have decided to involve ourselves and do what good we can,¡± the penguin answered. ¡°Oh, are you planning to stick around? We seem to attract a large number of animals to world-saving.¡± Andrew laughed as he said that. ¡°Not exactly. Surely by now, you¡¯ve felt the primal forces growing within yourself?¡± The penguin moved closer to Andrew and looked to be inspecting the ambient mana around him. ¡°I was trying to ignore it, yes, but I suppose this growing feeling inside of me is something similar to what my younger self did when he tied himself to Bill.¡± Andrew looked indignant at the reality of what was happening to him. ¡°I can¡¯t speak to that exactly; it¡¯s hard for me to fully grasp the intricacies of refined mana, but based on what you¡¯ve said. Yes, I believe it will be something similar. You should be able to summon one or more of us with some practice and a variable amount of effort, depending on where you are located. Likely, over time, this will grow in strength, giving you some control over primal mana. I urge extreme caution its use outside of the abyss, but I believe with proper care you will be of great aid to your friends and allies.¡± The penguin was suddenly cut off by Andrew. ¡°They¡¯d already be lost without me, but I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to keep up with their growing potential. It also finally gives me direct access to testing some of my theories on how mana growth interplays with the physics of our universe.¡± Andy recognized the growing excitement on Andrew¡¯s face with that statement. ¡°Okay guys, this is great and all, but how do we get back to the Under Library?¡± Andy¡¯s only answer was several confused faces. Loop 254 - Zoz As Zoz fled through the infinite forests of the primal he was born in, he shifted his form repeatedly in a desperate hope to throw off his attackers. He was furious. He had been so close. The power was intoxicating. He needed more, so much more. After a day of running, he stopped and considered whether the power remaining in him was enough. It had to be; he couldn¡¯t imagine an opportunity like this ever coming again. He was willing to risk everything if it meant an escape. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He poured every bit of refined mana he still contained into the claws of his mountain lion form and slashed at the air in front of him. A hazy purple portal appeared where the claws slashed. He could see giant buildings of steel on the other side, but he had no time to reconsider, as the portal was already collapsing. He leaped through into the unknown. His hunger would be sated. Loop 254 - Part 40 ¡°I can return us to our departure point. It¡¯s partially my fault we are here at all.¡± Mr. Wiggles said. ¡°How so?¡± Andy asked. ¡°The last time we were all together, I felt something invade our minds as we slept. As I¡¯ve had very little time to train my mother in protecting her dreams, I doubted any of you had any experience whatsoever in it. I attempted to fight back against whatever it was alone. While I managed to keep us all alive, I failed to do anything much beyond that. We were still thrown from the Under Library into the abyss. Luckily, as you were all still under the creature''s spell, I was able to guide you all into my birthplace safely. I should be able to rip open a portal back to the Under Library, though how much subjective time will have passed when we return, I don¡¯t know.¡± The cat looked at them with an apologetic face, much different than the annoyance it usually showed them after a rescue. ¡°And now Zoz is free to plague my childhood. This explains why the creature already harbored such a hatred for me when Chris and I first encountered it.¡± Ralth added in a somber tone. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry, but had I allowed Andy to find us earlier, I would have stood no chance against what Zoz had become. In my wildest imaginations I didn¡¯t see Andrew being the one to find a way to fight the creature.¡± Mr. Wiggles continued his apology. ¡°About time I got some recognition, and now I have a penguin army. Hrm, Bill, where did you get your lab coat? I¡¯m going to need to have several made.¡± Andrew smiled as he looked over at the penguins. ¡°It is unlikely you will have the strength to keep us around for very long. I would suggest against the lab coats for now and focus more on strengthening your ability to pull us forth.¡± One of the penguins suggested, causing Andrew to frown. ¡°Hey, as much as I¡¯m enjoying all the fuzzy happy moments instead of running for my life. I don¡¯t want to be here anymore. So, can yous all open the way back? I¡¯ve almost died way too many times recently.¡± Twonger coughed, accentuating his near-death point. ¡°Penguins, Bear if you could return to your proper primal, I will then get the rest of us out of here.¡± Mr. Wiggles clawed the air, opening a portal to a land of snow. The penguins each hugged Andrew as they waddled their way back home, leaving a final hug from a giant bear. ¡°Sorry I tried to eat you, but we had to make sure you were capable.¡± The bear said. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite okay, I get it. Goodbye for now.¡± Andrew pulled out of the hug and waved his new friend off. The portal closed as soon as the bear was through. ¡°When we return, I believe we will be closer to the center of the Under Library than we left. However, I think we were closer to one of the problems plaguing the wing than we understood at the time. I don¡¯t fully understand what we will face when we return but be prepared to run and fight. I doubt we will find much safety until we have found the chief engineer.¡± With those words, Mr. Wiggles once again scratched deeply into the air, leaving behind a hazy portal and a view of bookshelves. The stacks they returned to were covered in dust and cobwebs. The air tasted stale, and everything around them seemed unkept. Andy watched as Libby ran a finger across one of the shelves, pulled it back, and looked at the grime, coating it in disgust. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this isn¡¯t normal anywhere in the library from your look?¡± Andy asked the Librarian. ¡°No. While we may have been running short on staff, there were enough janitorial staff to ensure nothing like this would ever occur. Based on this buildup, we¡¯ve been gone for several years. Whatever infestation was already present has likely grown much worse,¡± she answered. ¡°Hey, I know I say this a lot, but we need to run now!¡± Twonger shouted, taking off while looking behind him. Andy turned to see what had scared the man so much and saw a little girl walking down the aisle towards them. ¡°Uh, Twonger, this doesn¡¯t seem so bad.¡± He turned his head only to see Twonger had crashed into a giant teddy bear that had walked out in front of him. ¡°YOU HURT TEDDY, I DON¡¯T WANT YOU AS FRIENDS!¡± The little girl screamed. ¡°Ralth, you¡¯re with me. Everyone else help Twonger.¡± Andy ordered as he started walking towards the girl. ¡°Hey there, little¡­¡± He cut off as they neared each other. Her form suddenly flicked from that of a small lost child into a winged monstrosity with sharp teeth. ¡°It appears this is why Twonger wanted us to run. It''s too late for that now,¡± Ralth said as he channeled a blast of shimmering mana at the girl. She pulled slightly to the side, letting it tear through her wings. The holes it left started healing immediately. ¡°New plan. Ralth go help them get the path clear as quickly as possible. I¡¯ll be there in a moment.¡± Andy yelled as he started coalescing his mana into a large black ball directly in front of him. Ralth, looking to have realized his plan, ran back the other way just as the little girl made contact with the ball. It exploded in a wave that both lessened the gravity of the areas it hit and also flung both Andy and the girl in opposite directions. In Andy¡¯s case, it was back towards the group and the giant bear. For the monster formerly posing as a child, it was in the darkness of the aisle. She screamed as she went, ¡°TEDDY, HELP ME.¡± Andy saw the bear leap over him as he landed, running after her. ¡°Well, that works, I guess. Everyone group up. We are taking to the air for as long as I can hold it.¡± Andy yelled. Loop 254 - Part 41 As soon as they were all gathered around him, Andy put some of his recently acquired extrasensory skills to use. He started channeling mana into the threads that ran between himself and his friends. Instead of his usual localized zones, he created where the rules of physics were his to bend. His was was to keep a constant change across them all. It was time to learn to really fly, not just fall with style. ¡°Bill, Ralth, are you able to follow my channeling and copy it?¡± He called to two of his friends, whose abilities allowed for such manipulations, just as he felt himself getting lighter on his feet. ¡°I can follow the lines; I think I can replicate it. Bill, try taking control of your own flight. I¡¯m going to match what Andy is doing through you in three, two, one.¡± Ralth finished off his countdown, giving the capybara the time he needed to organize the threads around himself. Bill began floating off the ground alongside Andy. ¡°I got it, and I¡¯m pretty sure I can control my height and speed. This was a great idea, Andy.¡± Bill responded as he pushed himself higher. ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s get everyone else into the air as well. I¡¯m tired of being slowly stalked. If this is supposed to be our library, it¡¯s about time we made that clear!¡± Despite the fear of moments before, Andy found the idea of controlled flight exhilarating. Within minutes, they all soared up into the heights of the What Is Wing with no true ceiling anywhere in sight. Andy scanned his head across the infinite of his new view and it proved impossible to fully take in. The harder he tried to focus on distant areas, the more things seemed to shift around him. This wasn¡¯t overly surprising to him; he knew the Under Library was in a constant state of growth and change, but to experience it this directly was giving him a headache. He forced himself to look at the various other things he now had within his view. He could see groups of monsters in flight all over, several of them fighting other groups. He guessed the biggest monster got the best dinner situation up here. There were hundreds of different horrific beasts that he also decided were best to ignore for now. Something else had caught his attention. There was a shimmering mana thread so large he had trouble calling it such. It was more like a chain of energy weaving through the air above them. It was calling to him, pulsating his name, begging for help. ¡°Hey, Libby, should there be a giant chain of mana running through the air here?¡± Andy asked, unsure what to make of it. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh, you felt it too. I was wondering about that.¡± Ralth added. ¡°No, there shouldn¡¯t be, but I can also feel it. It almost seems to be guiding us somewhere.¡± Libby answered. ¡°I think we should follow it. It feels like the right thing to do. I know that seems strange, but I swear there¡¯s something on the other end of it that we need to see.¡± Andy had no idea how he knew that or even why he believed it, but at this moment, he was sure this would get them to whatever remained of the last chief engineer. Andy maneuvered himself to the chain. He reached out to feel the flow. It was like nothing he had touched as of yet. Zoz may have called their mana refined, but this had been engineered on a whole new level compared to anything they had ever done. The lights in the Under Library went out. ¡°Dammit, what did yos do now? I hate this place in the dark!¡± Twonger yelled immediately. ¡°I just touched the mana. It shouldn¡¯t have caused this!¡± Andy wasn''t sure of this, even as he said it. He had no idea what this flow controlled. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m sorry for leaving you all a message this way, but after you disappeared from the wing, I didn¡¯t think I had any other choice.¡± A voice had begun playing in Andy¡¯s head and from the look of everyone else, it had in theirs as well. ¡°I needed a way to secure the energy needed to house the Under Library as well as preserve it should you all return. To that end, I built this mana chain. It circles the entirety of the What Is Wing and contains enough refined mana to bring everything back online. I will secure my physical form in the heart of the wing. The chain should guide you to whatever remains of me. Do not attempt to reintegrate the mana until the wing has been resealed from the Abyss.¡± The voice ended. ¡°That was the chief engineer¡¯s voice. That also confirms the idea that we lost a lot of time in the primals.¡± Libby said. ¡°Do we just follow the chain like the voice said?¡± Serilina asked. ¡°It¡¯s the only light, so I¡¯m following it!¡± Twonger had used his mana to propel himself forward before anyone else could speak. ¡°Let¡¯s go. At the very least we know this will get us to the center of the wing, and that¡¯s where we¡¯ve been trying to get.¡± Andy wished he knew what they were about to fly into, but Twonger had a point. The absolute darkness behind them was much less inviting than the light blue glow of the engineer¡¯s last work. So they all flew following the chain as time and distance seemed to blend around them. Andy quickly realized it was best to just follow the chain and now try to focus on how far or how long they had gone. He assumed it was another of the weird functions of trying to go to the center of something that had no true center. He stopped considering it as the chain had come to an end. ¡°I think we¡¯re here,¡± Andy said. His words echoed into the darkness. Loop 254 - Last Shelter He had already been deeply scared before the lights clicked out in one of the few, possibly last, shelters within the Wing. He was just a kid and desperately missed his family, but they were lost now to the monsters, and soon, it looked like they all would be. But before true panic had time to settle into his heart, a small light, no bigger than the head of a match, sprung to life in the center of the room. ¡°Goldie¡¯s inner warmth, show us your power!¡± a firm order was given to the small light, and it obeyed, basking the room in a gentle, calming light. Now, at the center of the room stood three dogs, all wearing gleaming suits of armor. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°They¡¯ve returned.¡± One of the dogs said to the other For the first time since he had lost his parents, the child felt safe. Loop 254 - Part 42 ¡°You think? What gave it away? Was it the giant hole in reality or the damned dragon thing sitting halfway through the hole?¡± Twonger was not remotely happy about what they found at their destination, and Andy couldn¡¯t blame him. ¡°I believe that is technically a juvenile void dragon. We¡¯d feel the reality-warping nature much stronger if it were any older,¡± Libby added to Twongers''s statement. He didn¡¯t feel reassured by her assessment. The idea that this was just a young dragon was not a pleasant thought for Andy. The thing was already massive. Its head and two of its legs were resting on the floor of the Library, while the other half was still stuck in the void. This had to be the cause of the widening tear. As it grew, it ripped things open even more. So that meant all they needed to do was kick this monster back to the void and seal the hole behind it. That seemed easy enough. Andy laughed out loud at his thought. ¡°What?¡±¡± Bill turned and looked at his friend. ¡°Nothing, just thinking what Cal would do about a giant dragon,¡± Andy answered. ¡°Say something stupid, charge in, get beaten nearly to death, and decide to take ten more loops to actually do anything about it?¡± Andrew had pulled a notebook from somewhere and was making notes as he said this. ¡°Yeah, probably, but let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t do this in one try.¡± Andy doubted they could, but what choice did they have? ¡°Wait, seriously. You want us to fight a dragon? No, not doing it.¡± Twonger said. ¡°Okay, then what will you do. You¡¯re stuck here in the Library with us, the dragon will be coming through eventually from the looks of it. Are you planning to just hide and hope everything goes okay after we¡¯re dead?¡± Andy knew Twonger would give in eventually, but wanted to hammer home the point anyway. ¡°Fine, anyone know what a void dragon is scared of?¡± Twonger asked. His sword had appeared in his hand as he asked the question. ¡°Safety, the idea that children will escape them. That creation itself isn¡¯t just another meal for them to eventually have.¡± Ralth¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t anything Andy had expected and the way he had said it seemed personal. Someday, he would need to explain everything that had happened to him on his long, strange journey, ¡°That¡¯s a rather specific answer, mate. Do you think children¡¯s happiness will do?¡± Twonger continued to fiddle with his sword. ¡°Probably. Just to be clear. I¡¯m not sure this is a battle we can win. While I say that, I want you all to know I fully intend to fight it anyway, but I fear this is far beyond our abilities. Perhaps if I still had my old powers, but not currently.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Ralth¡¯s speech was interrupted by Bill. ¡°Yep, but it doesn¡¯t matter. We still have to do this, or a lot of people die, and a lot of knowledge is lost forever. So no doom speeches today, big guy.¡± ¡°What Bill said. There¡¯s no sneaking up on this thing, so as soon as we are ready, let¡¯s spread out and rush it as fast as we can.¡± Andy noticed the dragon staring at them. ¡°What if, instead of fighting, I offered you all a quick death? I¡¯m hungry, and none of you look particularly interesting to fight today.¡± The voice started off quiet and grew to room-shaking levels with the final word. It seemed to come from all around them, but it was obvious to all of them if it was the dragon itself speaking. ¡°I¡¯d rather fight. I don¡¯t like the idea of a loud dragon thing eating me without a fight.¡± Apparently, its words had been enough to piss off Serilina as she stopped waiting and charged in as soon as she said that. Mr. Wiggles immediately followed. ¡°Alright, charge, I guess! Dammit,¡± Andy yelled and then lightly cursed himself. He had hoped to plan this somewhat better, but now, instead, they were all off to die. ¡°Yeah, stab its face in and push it back to the void!¡± Twonger yelled, apparently not willing to let his fear shut him up. Sadly, that was all he got to do, as the dragon chose Twonger as the first person he attacked. One simple claw swipe and the man crashed to the ground, bleeding badly. He was a mess, and Andy doubted very much he could survive this. Next, Serilina and Mr. Wiggles dropped, both caught by the return of its arm before either of them even got a single blast of mana off. ¡°Andrew, I suggest not summoning your friends. There''s no sense in hurting them. I just don¡¯t see this going our way,¡± Andy called out as he made contact with the dragon¡¯s head. He quickly covered both of its eyes with some of the strongest mana he could channel. Come on, big guy, fall!¡± He screamed as he poured more mana into the glowing globes, hoping that at least he was blocking its sight. The dragon roared. Andy had managed to annoy it, and he was glad for that, but not so much for the pain that followed. Coupled with the roar was a feeling of his head rupturing, of everything he had ever known burning to ash around him. All he could see was his complete and utter failure as the dragon''s eyes burnt brightly in the darkness. He managed to raise his head and look around. From what he could see, he guessed the others were either too far gone to experience what he was or stuck in the same horrible waves of loss. ¡°Dammit, I really hope this counts as being in the loop. I don¡¯t want this all to be a waste for Cal,¡± Andy muttered as he rolled off the dragon¡¯s head, falling to the ground with a thud. Everything had started to go black. Wait, was that music? Andy didn¡¯t understand what was happening. The blackness was receding to a warming light. ¡°Hey Andy, give yourself a second to heal, okay? We¡¯re here now.¡± The familiar voice said ¡°Bug?¡± Andy tried to smile. Loop 254 - Puppy Planning ¡°I don¡¯t like having to wait to step in.¡± Bug said. ¡°Neither do we, but from what I¡¯ve read, I don¡¯t think we have a choice, Bug. The only way we can really beat is to turn the tide. It just gets stronger as needed if we all attack together.¡± Alfred¡¯s voice had become deeper since their trials. Neither he nor Gretel seemed quite as old anymore to Bug. ¡°No, I understand, I just don¡¯t like it. I really don¡¯t like the idea of monsters with conceptual powers. It¡¯s hard to understand no matter how many times you explain it.¡± Bug sighed. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Alright, guys. Bart and I have everyone convinced. They will join us on the march, and as long as the light is kept up, they will try to sing the whole time.¡± Gretel walked back to the group with her news. ¡°Then it¡¯s time to go. We have dragons to slay!¡± Bug announced loudly. Loop 254 - Part 43 ¡°Hey Andy, I¡¯ve missed you. Are you feeling okay? Do you need more healing?¡± Bug was grinning nearly ear to ear as she spoke to Andy. Andy made a test fist before answering her. ¡°No, I think I¡¯m okay. I take it things went well for you?¡± Andy noticed the golden radiance around her. ¡°Yes, but there is no time for that story at the moment. We have much more immediate concerns.¡± Andy suddenly remembered the dragon that had nearly killed him and pushed himself to his feet only to see it recoiling away from something. ¡°Uh, what¡¯s scaring it?¡± Andy asked as he started channeling his mana for what he was sure was a giant fight. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s the singing; Alfred said it would help us fight the dragon. Alfred knows a ton about monsters now from our quest. It¡¯s really cool. But come on, we¡¯ve gotta fight it, and I can show you what I can do!¡± Bug¡¯s voice still held her childlike excitement despite how long she had been in these loops, and as always, it seemed to calm everyone around her. Andy saw the others getting to their feet, looking around in bewilderment at the scene that greeted them. Only Ralth seemed to fully take in the change of their fortune fast enough to start acting. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly what Ralth was doing, but he had started channeling, and the webs of energy around him were expanding to pierce everyone around them. He saw the singing being drawn into the threads as they grew and pulsating that energy back into Ralth. Somehow, Ralth was absorbing the energy the dogs had created to fight the dragon. Finally, a plan was starting to form in his head. Thanks to Bug¡¯s arrival they may just win this yet. ¡°Twonger, do you see what Ralth is doing? Can you match your sword to that? Either way, keep Bill and Ralth safe while they do their thing. Bill grab a couple of Ralth¡¯s flows and a one of mine. Amplify the pressure above the dragon''s head and push the energy from the singing into it. Serilina get Mr. Wiggles to the reality tear. We need it wider, just big enough to shove the dragon back through it. Libby and Andrew get over here to me and Bug I need your help.¡± Andy bellowed out as loud as he could manage. ¡°I¡¯ll try, but I¡¯ve never harmonized to something new so fast!¡± Twonger yelled back as he ran to where Bill and Ralth were now working on intricate channels. He saw Serilina grab her cat and disappear into a flow of water. Hopefully, they were listening. Andrew and Libby had joined him as well. It was time to make things very dangerous for himself again. ¡°Andrew, I need a penguin army. Well, actually, I really need a polar bear. Do you think you¡¯re up to it?¡± Andy needed strength. They had to push this dragon, and that wasn¡¯t going to be easy. ¡°Probably. I think, ugh, I wasn¡¯t very conscious when I did this last time. Just a second.¡± Andrew''s confidence seemed to shrink with each word as the man kept fiddling with his hands. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Hey Andrew, it¡¯s gonna be okay. I¡¯m a paladin now, so I know these things! So just think real hard on what Andy said because I really want to see some penguins. That sounds amazing. I wonder if they are any good at D&D. Oh, we need to all play D&D. We haven¡¯t done that in a while. So that means get us some penguins for D&D, Andrew!¡± Bug cheered him on. ¡°Bug, as much as I¡¯ve grown to dislike you less, can you please shut up!¡± The annoyance in Andrew¡¯s voice was causing him to get louder with each word, but Andy noticed what accompanied that growing frustration. The mana inside Andrew was starting to move around his body. He wondered if Bug had done this on purpose or not. He made a mental note to make sure Andrew learned to channel without the use of rage once they got out of this. Mana burst from Andrew¡¯s fingers into the air and solidified into a window-like portal in front of him. Through it, a few penguins were playing with a large bear. The bear spotted the portal, roared loudly, and then crashed through it at full speed. ¡°Perfect, thank you, Andrew.¡± As the bear crashed through, Andy also spotted the tear widening far above their heads. Ralth, Bill, and Twonger were fighting directly against the dragon¡¯s head now, as the fear had finally given way to a fight. He was pretty sure he had also spotted a flying Gretel launching darts of light at the monster. Interesting, just what had these dogs learned? The dragon roared and snapped at Twonger, just barely missing the man. ¡°Alright, no more time to waste, everyone push. I¡¯m going to lighten our load as best I can, but we need to heave this damned thing back into the abyss!¡± Andy yelled as he blanketed the dragon''s bottom half with as much mana as he could spare and still move. The Dragon moved slightly backward into the tear. ¡°Push!¡± Andy screamed again as the dragon roared louder overhead. It had realized what was happening and apparently started slamming its head around in a frenzied rage. Andy saw Libby¡¯s several ports on the back of her open, and steam began pouring from her back as she was pushing. Whatever she had done was working, though, as the dragon moved even further. More penguins were pouring through the portal, and each joined them in their collective heaving, further adding to their growing momentum. ¡°Molly, lend us your mastiff strength!¡± Bug cried out as mana erupted from her. Apparently, she could cast spells now, a little more literally than everyone else, but he wasn¡¯t about to complain as he felt himself grow stronger. Bug¡¯s spell was the final push they needed, as the dragon finally toppled over an edge on the other side of the tear and fell into the void with a final deafening roar. ¡°How do we seal it? We¡¯ve gotta close it before something else gets through!¡± Andy yelled in exhaustion. He could feel Bug¡¯s spell already fading, and with it went most of his remaining strength. ¡°Working on it!¡± It was Bart and Alfred. They looked like they were sewing the tear shut with magical stitching. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m just going to sit here for a second.¡± Andy plopped down on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Andy. You can rest for a bit. We¡¯ve got this,¡± Bug reassured him. ¡°Thanks, Bug.¡± Loop 254 - Part 44 Andy plopped down crossed-legged on the ground and took in the scene, as ridiculous as it certainly was. Thanks to Bug and her new apparent paladin powers, what should have been all of their deaths was now a victory. The Under Library, or at least this wing, could start returning to what it was initially intended to be. Bill joined Andy on the ground. ¡°So, did we just beat a dragon with the power of positive thinking?¡± the capybara asked, looking up at Andy. ¡°No we apparently beat it by positive thinking that turned the tide of a complete loss. I¡¯m guessing Ralth can probably explain it best. I get the feeling the bigger beasts from the abyss don¡¯t work on a normal sense of things.¡± He tried to answer, but his confidence in his response being anywhere near correct was not high. ¡°How are you holding up, Andy? I imagine that was a terrible experience. Drink this. It will help restore your stamina. I imagine you will need it with the long conversations this is likely to cause.¡± Gretel had appeared at his side. She now had one of those small kegs you¡¯d see Saint Benards carry around in cartoons. He watched as a spectral mug appeared in front of the keg, filled itself, and then flew to his own hand. He wasn¡¯t about to argue with the dog, so he reached out, grabbed the mug, and quickly downed its contents. It tasted like very fresh coffee, and the effects were nearly immediate. He suddenly felt like he had one of the most restful nights of sleep of his life. ¡°That was amazing, Gretel. Is it always that powerful?¡± He was curious about just how strong their canine council had become. ¡°This draft is stronger than normal. We prepared a large ritual before coming to help. It¡¯s currently bolstering all of our protective magic, but normally, it¡¯s safe to drink one or two of these a day. The effects won¡¯t last nearly as long, though. It¡¯s better suited for fighting monsters that try to mess with your mind,¡± she said. ¡°So I take it the quest went very well then.¡± He smiled at her. ¡°Far better than I expected. I mostly went along with the idea for something to do, and Bug seemed to excited at it that she had drawn in Alfred, which is something I hadn¡¯t seen in ages. But here we are now, a group of dogs ready to protect everyone from the monsters that lurk just out of sight. Alright, no time for full explanations right now, though, more people to see to.¡± Andy saw another mug float to Bill before she departed in the direction of Ralth and Twonger. ¡°Hey Bill, let¡¯s go find Libby and maybe Bart. We still need to find the chief engineer¡¯s body and see if there is anything we can do.¡± Andy stood up and stretched his arms. That drink really had done wonders. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Good idea.¡± Bill stood to follow. Andy quickly spotted Libby talking to Bart and waved to both of them as they approached. ¡°Ah, stewards, I am glad to see you are doing well. I have been entirely freed of my curse, and it is wonderful,¡± Bart said as soon as they were within conversation distance. ¡°Good to hear, so I take then you want to join us for finding where the chief sealed himself when everything started to go real bad,¡± Andy responded, smiling. ¡°Yes, though I am curious what happened to all of you. We were only aware that you were missing. Bug was sure you would return, though, some vision she received when she gained her abilities.¡± Bart prodded. ¡°We were somehow expelled into the abyss. We ended up in a strange primal area of existence, Mr. Wiggles knows far more about it. But we were able to make our way back and found the library in the current state.¡± Andy gave a very abbreviated explanation. ¡°Interesting, I don¡¯t think this wing contains any knowledge of those places. But the abyss itself is so hard to categorize in terms of what is. I remember once someone was trying to research species¡­¡± Libby cut him off. ¡°I believe there will be time for tales later, Bart. Right now, Andy is right. We should check on the chief engineer¡¯s plight and see if we can help in any way or if we are too late.¡± She said. ¡°The trail we were following continues further that way, but not much. I think it ends a few more bookcases in.¡± Andy pointed to behind where the tear had been. He followed up his pointing by striding in the direction without waiting to see who else was coming. There were several questions he still wanted some concrete answers to, and this was likely his best chance at the moment. After clearing the first stack, he glanced behind him to see all three of them following. Good, he preferred not doing this alone. He doubted the Library was entirely safe yet as well, so it was probably best to have some friends along. Once he walked through another row of bookcases, the area opened up on a path leading to a door in what looked like a circular wall. Andy guessed this was the center of the wing. His thoughts were interrupted by another voice. ¡°Hey, sneaking off without us? We need to get to the center, too. Don¡¯t be so rude next time!¡± It was Serilina. She had apparently followed them as they left, along with her cat companion. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t trying to leave you behind especially, just figured we¡¯d get in here and take a look sooner rather than later. I didn¡¯t want to interrupt the dogs as they handling the crowd and healing everyone up.¡± He apologized and meant it. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I was mostly joking. This is a lot safer than the last time I was here. There were giant oozes everywhere.¡± She smiled at Andy as she said it. Andy walked forward and pushed the door open. Loop 254 - Bugs, Penguins and Bears ¡°ANDREW, ANDREW, ANDREW!¡± Bug called as she leaped across the ground towards the man. ¡°Is it true? Are all these penguins and the polar bear your friends? Is it safe to talk to them? I¡¯ve always wanted to meet a polar bear.¡± she asked, finally reaching him. ¡°Yes, Bug, somehow I¡¯ve drawn further into this magic game.¡± He signed loudly on the word magic. ¡°Oh, oh, I¡¯m going to talk to them. This is great. Estelle will love the penguins.¡± She dashed back toward the remaining group of penguins. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Hey, where did the polar bear go?¡± She looked around and couldn¡¯t spot him anywhere. ¡°Hello, Lady Paladin; he has returned to our home already. We are leaving soon, too. Thank you for all your help. I¡¯m not sure Andrew would have survived without it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what dogs are for. I¡¯m Bug, and it¡¯s great to meet you all. We need to set up a D&D night in the future. I bet the polar bear would get along great with Frank. But have fun back home,¡± she said as the penguins departed through the portal. Loop 254 - Part 45 The walls of the room were covered with monitor readouts and various terminals of all sizes. From most of these ran wires to a coffin-like object in the center of the room that had its own single monitor on the cover. Several of the metrics on it made no sense to Andy, but the big one in the center, saying ¡°Subject: Life Sustained,¡± stood out as good news. ¡°Well, I think he¡¯s still alive in there, anyone have any idea how to open this?¡± Andy looked to Bart and Libby specifically as he asked. ¡°Interesting, I¡¯ve never seen anything quite like this. What a brilliant idea to use his own life to fuel the systems needed to guide us back here.¡± Andy watched as Bart started typing on one console, only to move across the room to a different one seconds after he started. This repeated for several minutes as the man started to look more and more frustrated. ¡°Any luck?¡± Andy finally asked after Bart slammed his hands down at his current workstation in anger. ¡°No, none of this makes any sense to me. What the hell did you do here, Rander?¡± Bart turned towards the coffin as he asked. ¡°Perhaps Andrew would be helpful here. He is considered one of the stewards. His presence may be required.¡± Libby had spoken up. ¡°That''s a Good idea. I¡¯ll grab him,¡± Bill said as he rushed from the room in search of Andrew. While he waited, Andy looked around the room himself in more detail, not that it did him any good. The systems were totally alien to him as well. That was one of the significant splits he and Andrew had made in their knowledge. Andrew had gone the weird super-science route, and Andy had gone the magical science route. Hopefully, his former self had some better insights here. ¡°It¡¯s good to know my genius is still often needed, though somewhat disheartening to know it, considering you already have one of me here. Andy, you really should take after yourself, and you wouldn¡¯t have such problems.¡± Andrew entered the room with one of the most annoying grins Andy had ever seen on the man¡¯s face. The door slammed shut, and several of the monitors started beeping. Andrew¡¯s presence had changed something, and Andy hoped it wasn¡¯t for the worse. ¡°Ugh, what¡¯s going on? I haven¡¯t even touched anything yet?!¡± Andrew yelled over the blaring sounds. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°No idea!¡± Andy yelled back. The lid slid off the coffin, and a surprisingly average-looking man wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt sat up. ¡°Oh good, Bart, you survived, and Librarian Unit 004, I¡¯m so happy that you were able to grow beyond your programming. And look, two slash three of the stewards as well. Does this mean you¡¯ve managed to seal the wing from the abyss?¡± His voice had a slight rasp to it, as though he hadn¡¯t had anything to drink after a long sleep. ¡°Yeah, we did manage that. Nice to meet you, I guess. I¡¯m Andy, this is Bill, and this is Andrew.¡± Andy spoke these words slowly, in a bit of disbelief at the man before him. ¡°That¡¯s great news. Bart, we are going to have a ton of work to do in the coming years. Virtually all of the staff were corrupted. We will need to purge them of this and maintain basic functionality while we do. This won¡¯t be easy. Sadly, Libby, is it?¡± She nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t help your desires. The Librarian units are not produced here. Well, I suppose actually I can help, I just can¡¯t solve them. But before we get into what¡¯s next for everyone, I think it¡¯s storytime. The stewards need to understand what happened to the Under Library and how it relates to them. It won¡¯t hurt for the refugee to hear as well. The cat might hurt, but they seem to trust him, so who am I to judge?¡± The chief engineer spoke lightning-fast, and Andy wondered if everyone was able to keep up. ¡°Explain,¡± Andrew said before Andy could chime in. ¡°So the stewards over here, which for one thing there should only be two of, despite their being three, live in a universe that caused a time bubble to come into existence. This bubble spread itself across the multiverse at instantaneous speeds. Originally, it was centered on Andrew here, but thanks to some meddling from a greater power in their universe, it¡¯s now centered on their friend. Time bubbles like this should be impossible. Yes, the library contains a few recorded incidents of limited bubbles to very small scopes, and probably some other wings contain concepts of how to make some larger ones. I highly doubt any wing prior to the existence of this bubble contained the possibility of it other than perhaps that what must never be wing. However, considering the damage its existence did to the Under Library, I think it may not even be covered there. The Under Library, by its very nature, can¡¯t be contained into any sort of time loop, bubble, or even paradox as it resides in the abyss and controls its own time flow. Somehow, the force of this bubble was so powerful it cracked the defenses of the Under Library, allowing for everything from abyssal beasts to primal nightmares to leak in. What I find interesting, though, is that people who would become stewards are from that universe where it all started, and two of them are paradox clones of who were involved in this in the first place. So I wonder if maybe the creator foresaw this eventuality and kept the knowledge from the archive itself.¡± He finished once again speaking faster than most people Andy had ever heard. ¡°That explains why Mr. Wiggles is so interested in them, doesn¡¯t it, little wiggly?¡± Serilina said in a cutesy voice as she patted the cat¡¯s head. ¡°Great, so we are not only dealing with an alien invasion but also with the damage our universe caused to the rest of the multiverse?¡± Andy asked. ¡°Well, I think most of the multiverse is probably okay, but yes, you did do some real damage here, and it¡¯s time we start fixing it.¡± The chief engineer smiled. Loop 254 - Zoz ¡°Ah, hello, Crontlar. I see your feasting of the Under Library energies has ended.¡± Zoz popped into semi-existence in front of the recently evicted dragon. ¡°Go away, little nightmare, though you aren¡¯t so little anymore. Why do I smell refined mana from you? What have you done?¡± The dragon asked, curiosity taking over from its annoyance. ¡°I¡¯ve grown beyond my base form and instincts, and with that, my tastes have increased. Would you be interested in joining me on a great hunt?¡± He asked. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°What would we be hunting?¡± The dragon countered with its own question. ¡°Everything. Think of what beings like ourselves could feast upon outside the abyss. You¡¯ve tasted the same I have, but I have a way to free us both from here,¡± Zoz answered. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m listening.¡± Loop 254 - Part 46 ¡°Hey, does anyone have any idea how long we''ve been in this universe relative to our universe during this visit?¡± Andy suddenly asked. ¡°Roughly a decade. It took me some time to calculate how long we were lost, but I am reasonably sure of that time frame now,¡± Libby answered. ¡°Well, shit. We¡¯ve gotta go. But we will be back shortly with likely a lot more people. Are the reading rooms safe for meetings now? Since most of everyone is stuck here for the loop, except maybe the dogs. I need to ask them about that, we will need to do our usual conference here. Actually, is there a room bigger than a reading room? We need something with a lot of room.¡± Andy wasn¡¯t sure whether anything like this existed, but he hoped so. ¡°There is a conference room near the reference desk. You haven¡¯t seen it before, as it had been sealed due to a particular nasty incursion, but I believe we can prioritize cleaning it up. It shouldn¡¯t be much of an issue now that the wing is sealed. Bart, can you handle that, please?¡± the chief engineer asked. ¡°Yes. Since Twonger is stuck, he can give me a hand. The dogs are likely able to return with you now if you¡¯d like, though. Their personal time flow is something different now, and I doubt the internal library systems can even see them properly in this wing. Probably me, too. It¡¯s going to be one whopper of a story when they are ready.¡± Bart was shaking his head as he recounted just the barest bit of the story. ¡°Bill, grab the dogs. Bug will want to see Cal as soon as she can. Priority one, when we return, is overriding our ability to exit this wing. We need everyone to be able to at least leave to our universe. Is that something that should be possible?¡± Andy asked the chief engineer. ¡°Likely, yes, but you will need to shut down the Librarian Units'' access to this wing. I recommend overwhelming force if we are going that route,¡± he answered. ¡°Doable. Time to bring in some ringers. Please don¡¯t tell Frank I said that.¡± Andy laughed softly. ¡°Just leaving us behind again?¡± Serilina called after Andy and Andrew as they followed Bill from the room. ¡°I mean, we¡¯re also leaving Twonger. Do you want to keep him?¡± Andy called back, now suppressing a much larger laugh. While Bill went in search of the dogs, Andy looked for Ralth instead. He wanted to leave the large man in charge while they were gone. After a few minutes of searching, he found him mingling with a group of refugees. ¡°Hey Ralth, got a second?¡± Andy asked. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ralth excused himself from the group and walked over to where Andy was waiting. ¡°Sure, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°Andrew, Bill, maybe the dogs, and I are about to head back to the Void House for the meetup. I¡¯ve talked to the chief engineer¡­¡± Ralth Interrupted. ¡°Ah, that was where you disappeared to. Good news then?¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry for not getting everyone, but I wanted to get it over work quickly. Yes, good news. They even think we can solve the issue of you all not being able to leave. This will likely need a giant fight, though, you know, as it always seems. I was hoping you¡¯d watch Twonger while we were gone.¡± Andy didn¡¯t like forcing the responsibility onto Ralth, but there weren¡¯t a lot of choices here. While he didn¡¯t have any real issues with Serilina anymore, he still didn¡¯t fully trust her. He knew that it wasn¡¯t fair to her, but after Zoz, it was even harder to trust a random Gryalth. ¡°I can handle Twonger. Honestly he¡¯s not as awful as a person as I expected. I hope Cal is having good luck with his brother as well. They really could be assets to our future.¡± Ralth smiled as he said this. ¡°Thanks,¡± Andy said as he saw Bill approaching with the dogs. Hey guys, are all three of you joining us then?¡± ¡°YES! It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve seen Cal, and Alfred and Gretel really want to show Ethel their new powers. Oh, and Trashcat, she needs to see just what I can do. Plus, I want to talk to Melissa about Grannus. I think I can help now, too, if she couldn¡¯t.¡± Bug answered. ¡°Well, that sounds great. Let¡¯s get going.¡± To Andy¡¯s astonishment, their return trip, the tear that would return them to their universe, went without a problem. As Bart predicted, the new librarian unit at the reference desk didn¡¯t even notice the dogs, and despite earlier issues, they greeted them as stewards and allowed them all to pass. ¡°Do you think we will have time for a quick game of D&D while we are back, Andy? Bart didn¡¯t make for a great player, and I miss Cal¡¯s DMing. We need another vacation.¡± Bug asked Andy once the portal was in sight. ¡°Probably not right now. I don¡¯t know just how delayed we are yet in getting back, but I¡¯ll push for a small break in the What Is wing once we are back. You dogs certainly deserve it, and I¡¯m willing to bet whatever Cal has gotten himself into planet-hopping will warrant a nice break as well.¡± Andy scratched Bug behind her ear as he reassured her that downtime would be coming. ¡°Good.¡± Bug said before hopping through back home. Andy watched everyone else follow her. He waited a few extra seconds to take a good look around and wondered just how they were going to get the other doors open. Then, he stepped through. ¡°CAL, CAL, CAL, we¡¯re back!¡± Bug¡¯s yelling was the first sound that greeted Andy as he entered the situation room. It was empty. ¡°Huh, are we early?¡± Bug asked. ¡°No, there¡¯s a note on the table.¡± Andy had spotted it almost immediately. ¡°Yes, and it says they went to fight the frog again without us and would be back shortly,¡± Bill added. Andy sat down in his chair and leaned back, planning to spend the time they had before Cal¡¯s return relaxing. Loop 254 - Part 47: Back to Cal Despite his own order to everyone to get some rest, he had something he wanted to discuss with Melissa and see how long it would take. If healing Grannus was possible before they went to Pluto all the better. He had a frog to fight in a decade, and he planned to get at least a little further than last time. He found her in the newly finished cafeteria. The capybaras had considered the expansion of the small eating area they had started with a priority as both the residents and visitors increased. Cal had no complaints as they continued to be the best cooks he had ever experienced. First, he grabbed himself a plate of chicken and waffles. Then he sat down next to his target. ¡°Hey Melissa, before I head off, I was hoping you could join me for a small excursion. I want you to meet my third mana spirit. He¡¯s stuck in his realm, and you may just have the powers to help me resolve that,¡± Cal asked her, trying to keep his smile up. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re lucky this food is so great; otherwise, I¡¯d have made you wait until after Gramps is inoculated. Let me finish up lunch, and we can go talk to your little friend. You know this whole weird secret base you have going on, though? Surprisingly cool. Let¡¯s say we do work together a bit. How would you feel if I had the capybaras help me assemble a robotics bay?¡± she asked. ¡°I think we could get behind that, but it¡¯s important to keep this place secret. Since there are other loop-aware people such as yourself running around, we need to make sure not to accidentally alert them. I¡¯ve been doing a lot of thinking on our base and just how we can use it in the future. Nothing at all concrete yet, but I¡¯ve got some ideas, and I think your robotics lab would be a strong step in those directions.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t nearly ready to share with anyone, let alone Melissa some of his more grand fantasies that had started brewing in his head. Melissa took another bite of a burger before speaking again. ¡°Yeah, I get the need for the secrecy. So, I won¡¯t launch any attacks on the agency¡¯s ogre program directly from your place. You¡¯re almost certainly right. At least one of the scientists who was with me will have gone back to the agency with their story. I have no idea how many loops it will take for them to believe it, but it will eventually happen. So yeah, we probably should be prepared for some kind of fight there.¡± Cal finished off a waffle. ¡°I wonder if we can arrange some sort of non-aggression pact. There isn¡¯t really a good reason for us to fight it out now. Sure, once the aliens are gone and the planet is secure, I can see how we will need to dismantle them, but that¡¯s pretty far away. It seems like a waste of time to waste Earth''s resources on this. And that¡¯s saying something, considering how much my rage towards all of this has been building.¡± ¡°So, is there anyone in this loop who hasn¡¯t been horribly emotionally scarred by it?¡± Melissa wiped her face with a napkin after she asked. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°The animals mostly, maybe Ethel, but I¡¯m pretty sure Bug is as cheerful as ever. Hell, she¡¯s decided she needs to find a way to protect the humans because that¡¯s her duty as a dog.¡± Now that he had said it out loud, he wasn¡¯t totally sure that was the best sign of mental health. ¡°That makes sense. I like your dog; she says what she means. It¡¯s rare. Alright, let¡¯s go see what I can do,¡± she said, pushing her empty plate further in front of her. Cal looked down at his half eaten plate and decided more food could wait. Grannus had waited long enough. ¡°Huh, is the whole place just caves like this? Good thing I¡¯m not claustrophobic.¡± Melissa was looking at the walls as she spoke. They had arrived moments ago and were currently looking for Grannus. ¡°Yeah, Grannus is an earth mana spirit, and well before any of the evolutions happen, their realms very much reflect what they are. What used to be Bolt¡¯s is currently merging with the void, and that should produce some interesting effects, especially once we properly bring this one into the fold.¡± Cal answered. ¡°Hello, Cal. Who is your friend?¡± Grannus¡¯s voice rumbled from around the corridor as they came into view. ¡°Hey buddy, this is Melissa. If everything goes right, we may just have you cleansed and ready to start growing your realm.¡± Cal kept a giant smile on his face as he answered. ¡°Really? That sounds wonderful.¡± Grannus replied, their speech much faster than usual. ¡°Come here, little guy, let me get a good feel of just what¡¯s going on.¡± Melissa reached her hand and motioned for Grannus to come over there. As soon as they did, she reached out both her hands and placed them on Grannus¡¯s rocky shoulders. Cal could feel the mana pulsating from Melissa to Grannus, but he had no idea exactly what was happening. ¡°Is everything going okay?¡± he gave in and asked after several minutes of silence. ¡°Yes and no.¡± She answered, breaking contact with the spirit. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cal and Grannus asked at the same time. ¡°Well, as I¡¯m sure Grannus feels, I¡¯ve more or less cleansed them for the time being, but I am not currently capable of a permanent solution. This will likely return next loop. Sorry, little guy, I tried, but I just don¡¯t have the right stuff right now. No hard feelings?¡± She looked down at Grannus as she said this. ¡°All my feelings are hard, but I understand your meaning, and I appreciate your effort nonetheless. I believe that despite the limitation, I can begin to expand my realm anyway. Hopefully, one day, Cal will find the resources needed to fully cleanse it.¡± Grannus said. ¡°We will, I promise.¡± Cal smiled down at Grannus. Loop 254 - Harold鈥檚 D&D Night Invite ¡°The last time I played D&D, elf was still considered a class. Are you sure you want me to join? Mel is probably much more suited than a random old man.¡± Harold said to Lou as the two were eating. ¡°She tried to stab one of the boys the last time we suggested gaming. Look, Harold, I like you, but your grandaughter is a bit high-strung, and well, that might make for fun role-playing, but without someone like Bug or Cal here to teach her, it just won¡¯t go well,¡± the capybara explained. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Alright, yeah, she¡¯s always been a bit of a firecracker, but once you get to know her the rough edges wear off. You realize you¡¯re going to have to teach me modern D&D right?¡± Harold laughed internally at the idea of playing a tabletop game this many decades after college. Somehow this was stranger to him than the idea of talking capybaras running it. ¡°Of course. It would be rude not to.¡± Loop 254 - Part 48 ¡°Fancy, that¡¯s really all you need to do to open a wormhole to Pluto?¡± Melissa asked, having just watched Fulginanis complete the pathway Cal was planning to take. ¡°It requires a lot more energy than it seems. Ethel, I think you¡¯re first on this one. As we need the atmosphere bubble as soon as we make the trip.¡± Cal pointed at the old woman. ¡°And just who told you that you had the right to point at me at your elders, Cal? But yes I do suppose I have to go first. Now let me remember how to make this bubble.¡± She trailed off as sparks of mana started encircling her. ¡°Frank, I expect you to be right behind me.¡± Ethel didn¡¯t wait for a response as she stepped through the newly formed gateway. Frank immediately followed with a single word: ¡°Coming.¡± He had to duck down and go head-first through it. ¡°Alright, Onelder, you and Dad are next. And Onelder, just note, I very much remember how many times you¡¯ve killed me. So try to earn some forgiveness.¡± The one-eyed alien looked at Cal but didn¡¯t say anything. He just followed Stan through to Pluto. Jen and Albert quickly followed. ¡°Melissa, I appreciate your help with Grannus; I promise we will help you. However, we can next loop. I¡¯d really like to talk about the agency when we return.¡± Cal stepped through. He had hoped the trip would be instantaneous. Instead, it lasted several seconds of severe nausea as he felt himself slide across the cosmos. Bright lights flashed across his vision, and just as he thought he couldn¡¯t keep his lunch down any longer, he felt the extreme cold that signaled the end of his trip. The next thing he felt was a hand yanking him to the ground and a voice he realized belonged to his father whispering, ¡°Stay down. Ethel is working on cover, but it turns out the Gryalth are already here somehow.¡± ¡°Seriously? How?¡± Cal hissed back. ¡°How would I possibly know that?¡± Stan whispered back. ¡°Sorry, rhetorical and frustration speaking. This is going to make everything a ton harder.¡± Cal sighed. As Cal wondered what else could go wrong, the universe always provided the answer. The gateway behind them disappeared, and loud sirens started sounding from several smaller aircraft overhead. ¡°Dammit, it¡¯s not perfect, but we don¡¯t have time for perfect. Get in here now.¡± Ethel yelled over the biting winds, directing them to her newly built igloo. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Cal rushed through the entrance after everyone else. To his surprise, she had managed to carve out a ton of ice quickly. He guessed Frank had done a lot of the work. This could work as a temporary shelter, that was, assuming they didn¡¯t just find them and end the loop much earlier than he intended. ¡°Now, please, Frank,¡± Ethel instructed. Cal had no idea what the instruction was for, but he quickly learned as the plant man pulled a large stone from below the opening they had climbed through. The opening crashed inward, half burying Frank. He was able to easily pull himself free in moments. ¡°Well, I suppose that¡¯s one way to get us under cover,¡± Stan said. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m working to reinforce the ice walls with my mana, Cal, and Onelder, it would be just peachy if you could help. We need to harden them as much as we can. I can¡¯t overly exert myself at the moment as I¡¯m also keeping us able to breathe and not freeze to death in here, so I will need as much of your juice as you can channel.¡± Ethel instructed. Cal spent the next hour exhausting himself beside his several-time murderer as they poured mana into Ethel and the walls. To Onelder¡¯s credit, he kept up with Cal right until they both dropped. ¡°Ethel, I can¡¯t do anymore at the moment. That has to be enough, right?¡± ¡°How the hell should I know? I¡¯ve never walked into a secret Gryalth installation on another planet before. This is all guesswork, boy. You should know that by now.¡± Her response was crankier than usual, and Cal couldn¡¯t blame her. This was a disaster so far. ¡°Okay, okay, sorry. What exactly did I miss by coming last? I¡¯m guessing it was more than those aircraft?¡± Cal wanted as much information as he could get before considering their next move. ¡°There is a large building in the distance, surrounded by a wall. It looks to have a partial dome that connects to the tall building from the walls. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s how they control their climate. I didn¡¯t realize they were Gryalth at first, or I¡¯d have rushed back through. Jen spotted the aircraft, and that¡¯s when we first realized they were Gryalth. I had already moved forward to make us a small camp to figure out what was going on, and instead, I turned it into this makeshift shelter as I didn¡¯t have time to get everyone back through with the planes incoming.¡± Ethel explained. ¡°Well, the good news is, I can feel Grannus¡¯s power a bit stronger in me than before, so I think if we can through some of this ice, I can start working on a better cave down there,¡± Cal said. ¡°And then what?¡± Stan asked, looking at his son. ¡°Figure out what the hell they are doing here. Scout their city, find a potential way back to Earth with the gate closed, not to mention I need to find the world core, assuming they have already tapped it. That might explain their presence now that I think about it.¡± ¡°Yes, I had considered that already. I suspect they are using it as a power source. I wish Bill was here. He¡¯s the closest we have to an expert in magical fields like this.¡± Albert added. ¡°Well, good news then, because the last part of my potential plan is we destroy their entire damn base, take the core and make our exit,¡± Cal said with a giant smile. Loop 254 - Gus & Frank ¡°Frank, I don¡¯t care how big you¡¯ve gotten. You need to be careful on Pluto. It¡¯s a different planet, kid. Just listen to your mom.¡± Gus was perched on Frank¡¯s shoulder as he gave his advice. ¡°FRANK IS WILL TEAR THROUGH ANY THAT DARE OPPOSE HIM.¡± Frank dropped to one knee as he said this and pumped his left fist into the air. ¡°Did you spend the whole two weeks watching wrestling?¡± Gus shook his head at the plant man. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Maybe,¡± Frank said with much less gusto than the last statement. ¡°Just remember, Frank. Most of those fighting styles you see aren¡¯t likely to work in real life. Stick to the unstoppable force style you¡¯ve developed.¡± ¡°The puny aliens shall bow before the might of the tree titan!¡± With those words, Frank finally stood up from the pose. A round of applause accompanied this. Several capybaras had been watching and were looking on in awe.. Gus sighed. Loop 254 - Part 49 They spent the night in their makeshift arctic base, trying to recover from terror and extreme exhaustion. Every so often, Cal could feel mana pulsating far above their heads, clueing him in that the search for them hadn¡¯t stopped. He was reasonably sure the fruit gamble he had taken was the only reason he could feel them at all. ¡°Cal, can you hear me?¡± Came in a voice in Cal¡¯s head. Ir was slightly garbled, but Cal managed to make it out. ¡°Fulginanis, is that you?¡± Cal asked back. ¡°Yes, we shouldn¡¯t be having this level of disruption in communication anymore. I assume whatever is going on is connected to the gateway vanishing?¡± the spirit asked. ¡°Yeah, Gryalth installation. I didn¡¯t realize it was here until it was too late. For the moment, we are safe, but they are continuing the search. Maybe once we are deeper underground, away from their magic, our signal will be stronger,¡± Cal relayed back. ¡°Perhaps. Good luck, Cal.¡± ¡°Thanks, little buddy, though I guess you aren¡¯t so little anymore.¡± Cal stood up and stretched after their mental chat ended. Most of his exhaustion had passed. His hunger, though, was growing. Luckily, he could smell Albert¡¯s effort at a makeshift meal, and if the taste matched the scent, the capybara would not have disappointed yet again. ¡°You doing okay, Cal. You looked half dead after reinforcing the walls.¡± Stan asked, having spotted his son walking over to Albert¡¯s pot. ¡°Yeah, I feel alive again, more or less. Once I get some food in me, it¡¯s time to start working my way down. I think I can melt some of the ice down there relatively quickly with the right application of lightning. Hey Onelder, are you up yet? What mana types can channel anyway?¡± Cal called back to the form still lying on the ground. ¡°None. Well, not really, none, I guess. See these?¡± Onelder pointed to a pair of bracelets, one on each wrist. ¡°They let me store my natural mana, which I used to think was only a slightly below average amount, but it took me months to fill the bracelets to level only to just barely keep up with you. How the fuck did we ever manage to kill you in a loop?¡± There was genuine shock on the man¡¯s face. ¡°Mostly surprise and very limited time on my part to solve it. Also, I got a lot stronger after I first beat you. So there is that.¡± Cal answered, not remotely pleased with the memories and making sure his voice resonated with that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Okay, yeah, back to the bracelets. Well they convert my natural mana into a nearby mana source of my choice, which generally pairs well with my brother and his crazy sword, but on this trip, it looks like I¡¯ll be copying you and the old lady...¡± Whatever Onelder had planned to say after that was interrupted by Frank¡¯s fist across his face. He collapsed back down to the ground, moaning in pain. ¡°Frank, while I appreciate the sentiment, please let me hit him next time,¡± Ethel said as she moved to stand over Onelder. As for you, I strongly suggest you learn to be a bit more kind, or I¡¯ll stop encouraging Cal to control his rage.¡± ¡°So, uh, Albert, what¡¯s for dinner?¡± Cal asked awkwardly, trying to change the focus. ¡°Just a simple stew, seemed the right weather for a nice hot soup. Dig in.¡± Cal obliged the capybara¡¯s request, and his earlier hopes were proven true. Even on Pluto a capybara could still cook an amazing meal. As Cal was finishing up his food, he felt several more strong mana sources nearby. ¡°Shit, I think they are sweeping the area with their own battle wizards. Likely the bigger ones that I doubt we are ready to fight yet.¡± Cal said as he dropped his bowl and started channeling a small ball of lightning in his hand. He dropped to his knees and carefully pushed the lightning against the ice, pouring more and more energy into it as he did. Steam started to fill the small chamber. Ethel was working it out of her bubble through a small hole she had created. ¡°I wish you had warned me. We lost some oxygen because of my rushed ventilation. Frank, breathe harder. We need to replace some of it as quickly as we can.¡± Frank started breathing rapidly as Ethel instructed him to do. Cal grew the lightning around both his fists, pounding them down as hard he could over and over, cracking through the ice at a rapid pace until he felt himself hit stone. ¡°Time to see if Grannus has grown enough for this yet.¡± He thought to himself as he reached down and started pulling the stone up, channeling it out his hole and back into the igloo. After a few minutes of this, he was able to fit everyone into his ever-growing hole, and after another hour he had sealed the stone above them, letting Ethel collapse the ice shelter. ¡°How much longer can you keep this up, Cal? I can feel some sort of plant below us, but it¡¯s hard for me to tell how far.¡± Ethel asked him. ¡°No idea. Pluto is basically a nice stress test for what I¡¯ve done to myself recently, so I guess it¡¯s time to find out.¡± After several hours of pushing his body to its limits, he was nearly ready to give up when he felt the rock below him give way. He fell far enough for it to be painful but not far enough for anything to break into pitch darkness and a hard floor. ¡°You okay down there?¡± He heard Stan call from above. Forcing himself back to his feet, he channeled a small ball of lightning to light the room around him and called back. ¡°Yeah, it looks pretty safe. I think I can see some sort of moss ahead, probably what you felt, Ethel. Frank, can you start lowering everyone down?¡± ¡°ABSOLUTELY!¡± Frank yelled. Loop 254 - Part 50 As soon as they were all safely in the cave, the sound of their makeshift hideout collapsing in on itself reverberated through the cavern. Ethel had pulled the atmospheric bubble down here with them, and the loss of pressure had apparently been all that was holding the ceiling up. Cal was impressed. He was also worried any loss of Ethel would be catastrophic to everyone else. With whatever was going on inside of him, he might be able to continue fighting, and maybe Frank could too, but that was likely it. Her safety had to be a priority in any serious fighting they found themselves in off-planet. ¡°Let¡¯s walk for maybe twenty minutes, assuming it¡¯s safe, and then set up camp for a rest. I may not look it, but I¡¯m starting to feel a bit drained.¡± Cal was surprised at how much he had been able to do before the old feeling of an emptying core had truly hit him, but then his main issue right now wasn¡¯t just how much explosive mana he could channel from itself. It was learning to control smaller aspects of it. He needed to figure out finer controls if he wanted any chance at the rematch with the frog. ¡°Frank, can you run ahead for about five minutes? I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s safe, but I want to check the air quality around you as you go.¡± Ethel may have phrased it as a question, but Cal, and hopefully everyone else present, knew it was more of a nicely asked order. ¡°How long have you been able to tell the quality of the air or, for that matter, detect it through Frank?¡± Cal asked. The old woman¡¯s ability to refine her power was impressive. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing since I decided I wanted to go with you the next time you left Earth. Some of us are better at our studies than others, Cal.¡± Cal understood her tone was only half joking. ¡°Hey, being this awesome has taken a ton of work.¡± He replied, smiling. ¡°Yes, and if I recall, it only took three of your realm''s fruits to nearly kill you. You need to get better. I know it feels like we have infinite time here, but we don¡¯t really know that. At some point, you are going to have to take this seriously. Do you even know how many hundreds of years old you are at this point?¡± Ethel¡¯s voice had lost any of the joking quality. ¡°Ugh, no, but I¡¯m still younger than Andrew!¡± he exclaimed, knowing that age wasn¡¯t the real point she was trying to make. ¡°I get it, Ethel. I really do. Trust me, I wouldn¡¯t have the growing rage issues if something wasn¡¯t pushing me on this deep inside. I¡¯ve got some plans that have started ruminating in my mind. Next time everyone is together, I¡¯ll lay it all out.¡± ¡°Alright, but remember, part of bringing Onelder with us is trying to learn some of the more practical ways of channeling our power instead of the makeshift ways we¡¯ve brute-forced into working. This is doubly true for you, as it seems you¡¯ve never gone back to look at your channeling at all.¡± She continued as they walked. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll concede that point. Hey Onelder, when we break for camp, it¡¯s time for you to show Ethel and me some of your fancy channeling work. We¡¯ve got a frog to fight and need some channeling for beginner lessons.¡± Cal called to the alien ahead of them. ¡°I really don¡¯t understand how ya rubes are both kids playing with mana and some of the more powerful channels I¡¯ve ever had the misfortune of running into at the same damn time.¡± He responded. ¡°The trick is blowing yourself up but managing to mostly get better,¡± Cal answered his smile back on his face. It had been a while since his mana had caused any sort of explosion, and that was a nice change, he realized. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure it is¡­¡± Frank interrupted Onelder''s next statement. ¡°There¡¯s a cave river up here and some more plants. Oh, and glowy fish in the water. FRANK LIKES IT.¡± ¡°Frank, please let me verify that things are safe before you leap in the water next time. But as you are already there and nothing seems to be a problem so far, we will be there shortly. Enjoy the swim, son.¡± Ethel called back. I¡¯m going to drop the bubble. There is a lot of mana in that chamber Frank is in. Something or someone seems to have directed it to be similar to Earth. That¡¯s what¡¯s feeding these caves.¡± ¡°What makes you say someone created it? Maybe it¡¯s like Mars, and it¡¯s just the remnants of a lost civilization.¡± Stan asked. ¡°I highly doubt it. Pluto isn¡¯t really a planet like Mars. It¡¯s so much further away from the sun. I just don¡¯t see much life evolving out here. It¡¯s much more likely someone had their hideaway or refuge down here at some point, or it¡¯s just some effect of the Gryalth, but we haven¡¯t seen any signs of them in the caves so far, and I think if they knew they existed, they would be hunting us down here.¡± Ethel answered. Albert was the first to round the corner into the chamber where Frank was bathing. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just beautiful; it almost feels like home,¡± Cal heard the capybara say. He sped up his step to join his friend and entirely agreed with his sentiment. Unlike the smaller plants of Mars, this chamber contained surprisingly large trees, growing a river that snaked through them all. Inside the river were schools of glowing fish that bathed the trees nearest the river in a warm light. The ground was covered in a soft clover-like plant. Cal looked closely at the trees and spotted several small eyes peering back at him from the cover of their upper branches. ¡°They¡¯re birds, and I think some squirrels. I¡¯m not entirely sure about the fish, but the rest of these are plants and animals look to be from Earth. It¡¯s what I thought: Someone built themselves a nice refuge here.¡± Ethel had come up beside Cal and was looking into the same tree. Look 254 - Game Night ¡°I¡¯ve got the drinks and the snacks,¡± Harold said as he sat down at the front of the table. ¡°And I think I¡¯ve come up with a fun adventure. Now, I want to do something a little more old-school than what you are all used to. I read through some of the modern stuff, and it does seem fun, but let¡¯s try something a bit different.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Lou asked. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Each of you grab one of these premade character sheets and decide who you want to play. There¡¯s a stack over here for when that character dies, and you can grab a new one,¡± he answered. ¡°How do you know we¡¯re going to die?¡± Another capybara asked. ¡°Have you ever heard of the Tomb of Horrors?¡± Harold answered the question with another question and a devious smile. Loop 254 - Part 51 As Stan and Jen worked to set up the camp, Cal and Ethel had said down across from Onelder. Albert was preparing another meal while Frank continued splashing around in the river. ¡°Alright, idiot¡­ I mean students.¡± Onelder had changed his wording quickly after Ethel gave him a death stare. ¡°First, I need to see exactly how you are channeling things now. Cal, can you hit this rock with some of your electricity? As fine a line as you can.¡± ¡°Yep, no problem,¡± Cal said as he focused. He drew his mana into as fine a beam as he could and then fired directly at the rock. He had managed to get it down to about the size of a quarter, which he thought was controlled, considering his usual blasts. ¡°Is that really the best you can do?¡± Onelder was looking at him with his single eyebrow raised. ¡°What? That wasn¡¯t any good? It took me a long time to get my electricity channeling that focused,¡± Cal responded. He was annoyed, but it did explain a lot of the issues they had fighting the Gryalth. Every time the real powerhouse mages came in, it was over. He then remembered what he had seen Ralth do so many loops ago. ¡°Dammit, Onelder was right. He could do a lot better.¡± this last part, he only thought to himself. ¡°Here, watch this.¡± Onelder used some of the copied mana from Cal to produce his own laser. It was maybe one-tenth the diameter of Cal¡¯s own beam. ¡°And keep in mind I¡¯m not remotely used to using your power. This is just basic shaping training being applied here. You should be able to do much better than me. I mean, this is just basically a laser beam, right? Where¡¯s one of the geeks when we need them? I bet there¡¯s al kinds of weird physics we could work into what you do with it.¡± ¡°Alright, how do I shape the mana, then?¡± Cal thought that he had already been shaping his channeling. ¡°Ignore how your channels, well don¡¯t ignore them, that won¡¯t work right, but stop focusing on them. Focus on the point of release. Try building a shape in your mind there and letting mana flow only into that shape. And yes, before you say it, this is likely a lot harder than I¡¯m making it out to be, especially at your age. This is normally training for kids.¡± Onelder explained. ¡°Can I have one of their teachers instead?¡± Cal was trying to visualize a small cylinder as he said this. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m gentle in comparison. Hell, I ain¡¯t even starving you.¡± Onelder laughed as he said the second part. Cal ignored him and focused on building his mental shape. Once he had it firmly in mind, he imagined it in front of his index finger and started filling it with mana. As he pushed the mana into the small shape, he felt it heat it. Was it supposed to do that? Before he could voice his concern, the space in front of his finger ruptured and turned into a tiny explosion hanging in the air. He yelled in pain and leaped back. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Fuck, that hurt.¡± Cal shoved his finger in his mouth, trying to soothe the burn. ¡°Let me see it.¡± Ethel had walked over to where he was practicing. As Cal stuck his finger out, he heard his father burst into laughter in the distance. ¡°Sorry, Cal, this is just hilariously nostalgic. You and school and random cuts and scrapes, if you ignore the entire context of it all, everything almost feels normal again.¡± Stan continued gentle laughter. ¡°Well, the good news is you¡¯re fine. You¡¯ve done far worse to yourself in basically every other training session. So quit whining and do what the annoying man says.¡± Ethel instructed after examining his burnt finger. ¡°You heard the lady, get to it, rube!¡± Onelder barked. And so he did. This time, Cal tried thickening the walls of his shape and decreasing the size of the area where mana flowed into it. He held firmly onto the mana flow, trickling it in. Finally, after several agonizing minutes, he had it full. He aimed his finger at the rock and released. A much tighter beam of light fired from his fingertip and shot straight through the rock. Instead of exploding chunks away it burnt a hole through it into the ground below. ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± he asked. ¡°Not bad, though you aren¡¯t gonna be able to sit and concentrated for minutes at a time in a real fight, you gotta learn to do that near instantaneously if you want any hope of using it in a fight.¡± Onelder had picked up the rock while he was speaking. He passed it over to Cal to take a look. Cal looked over the rock and then over at the hole in the ground below it. As much as it pained him to admit it, Onelder was right. Focused lasers were a lot more powerful than exploding balls of electricity, depending on the circumstances. It also used a lot less of his mana pool for that beam, but man did it take time. ¡°So, basically I just need to spend all my free time practicing different shapes for my mana?¡± He finally asked. ¡°For now, once you get it down below a second, then we can start working on some other tactics,¡± Onelder answered. ¡°Hey guys, what¡¯s a Merlin?¡± Frank had popped his head back above the water, interrupting their conversation. ¡°Why do you ask Frank?¡± Ethel responded without answering. ¡°Oh well, I swam real deep in the river. There was this big crab, and we started wrestling. It was fun, but after I beat him he motioned for me to follow him, and how could I say no? So he led me to this underwater cave and it was full of air. There was this big slab of stone in the center of it with writing on it. It was hard to make out, but I¡¯m pretty sure I saw the word Merlin, and isn¡¯t he a wizard or something? I remember Bug mentioning him during a game night.¡± Frank finished to the incredulous stares of all the present humans. Loop 254 - Discussions ¡°Look, Mel, can I call you Mel? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the best idea to go interrogating the Gryalth without anyone else around. I get that you¡¯ve got your own powers, but what if something happens? It¡¯s just you. None of us can fight on your level except maybe the bugs.¡± Gus said as he looked over at the seated Melissa. ¡°First, no, I prefer Melissa. Second, I need to find out how the Gryalth are getting their human mercs, where they are recruiting them from, etc. We need to be able to end that pipeline as soon as possible,¡± she responded. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Gus sighed. ¡°I think this is a terrible idea, but I¡¯ll go round up some animals. Get your Grandfather. We may need his help.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Melissa responded. Loop 254 - Part 52 ¡°What? Why is everyone staring? Did I wrestle something I was supposed to again? I promise the crab was totally into Mom!¡± Frank yelled out after no one had said anything. ¡°It¡¯s okay Frank, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong. It¡¯s just, you found something very interesting and now most of us are currently thinking about if we should go take a look at it too.¡± Ethel responded. ¡°Are we? What the hell is a Merlin?¡± Onelder asked. ¡°Fictional wizard, well, I guess maybe not fictional, but there is a story from one of the countries on Earth about a king and his wizard and a magic sword. Well, Ethel you thought someone from Earth had transplanted all of this. Are these animals from Britain?¡± Cal looked around the trees trying to spot some of the birds again after he asked. ¡°Likely yes, the squirrels I¡¯ve spotted specifically had already made me jump to that conclusion as soon as Frank said the name, Merlin.¡± She answered. ¡°Huh, I used to love King Arthur stories as a kid. I¡¯ve gotta see this.¡± Stan said as he walked over to the water¡¯s edge and peered down. ¡°How long would you say you had to swim to get to the cave, Frank? Think I can hold my breath that long?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, we can walk the river bed using the same bubble that kept us alive on the surface. I doubt I¡¯d be able to do it in an ocean, but this should be fine. Probably good stress practice on my mana usage as well.¡± Ethel had shushed Frank to give her own answer. ¡°Well, before we go diving into the unknown, let¡¯s call it a night and get some sleep. I¡¯d rather do this after a nice breakfast.¡± Cal said to several agreements. Cal opened his eyes the next morning, surprised at how easy sleep had come. He had expected somewhat of a restless attempt, especially with the man who had killed him so many times in the same room, but it hadn¡¯t gone that way. If anything, he had slept easier knowing exactly where Onelder was. Then he smelled scrambled eggs, and his thoughts of last night''s restful slumber disappeared. ¡°Albert, how did you manage to bring so many cooking supplies?¡± Cal asked as he grabbed a plate. ¡°Frank carried a lot of packs, but honestly, it won¡¯t be nearly enough long-term. I wasn¡¯t expecting us to be completely cut off like this. After our trip today, I¡¯m going to have to start really cataloging the plants here. I need to find something to forage. A few apples would go a long way,¡± the capybara answered. After everyone had woken and had breakfast Cal found himself once again in an atmospheric bubble, this time slowly walking into the river. The river was impressively deep. He was starting to strongly agree with Ethel¡¯s manmade theory. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°HELLO MR. CRAB!¡± Frank shouted through the bubble, having apparently spotted the behemoth crustation he had wrestled with the day before. ¡°You beat that in a fight?¡± Cal was a little surprised as the crab was at least five times as big as Frank. ¡°The Frank is mightier than the Crab.¡± Frank dropped into a victory pose as he said this. ¡°That may very well be, but right now, I need you to continue directing us, please Frank.¡± Ethel¡¯s voice had her usual tone of command despite the gentle words used. It took another ten minutes of wrong turns and all-around poor navigation from Frank, but they managed to reach the cave without any real harm. ¡°Looks like Frank was right; air seems breathable,¡± Ethel said as she dispersed the bubble. ¡°Where to now, Frank?¡± ¡°Straight ahead, it opens to another large chamber.¡± The tree man pointed in front of himself down the darkened path. Cal created a small ball of lightning and tried to hover it over his head as they walked. ¡°This is probably a bad idea in the future, isn¡¯t it?¡± He had realized just how much this would make him stand out as a target. ¡°Better you than us.¡± Stan laughed. ¡°Thanks, Dad.¡± Cal shook his head. They walked on mostly in silence for the next couple of minutes until they entered the chamber Frank had mentioned. It was quickly apparent that the stone Frank had been talking about was some kind of coffin. Cal walked up to it and started wiping away a giant layer of dust. ¡°Uh, this kind of English isn¡¯t my specialty,¡± he said after looking over the letters. He could make out some of the words, but it was old enough that it didn¡¯t translate to modern English well. ¡°So? Focus on the idea of language behind the words themselves, let the mana do the translating like it does for basically all spoken words now. At least I hope it does. You understand the animals pretty well. Please tell me you understand other human languages.¡± Onelder stared hard at Cal as he said this. ¡°Um... not really. I don¡¯t understand all the animals either,¡± Cal replied, causing Onelder to burst into laughter. ¡°Oh god, you¡¯re telling me it¡¯s just their own tiny cores letting ya¡¯ll understand them? Let¡¯s add that to the list of things you need to learn. In the meantime, let me see the stone.¡± He walked over and pushed Cal away. He looked down at it and started reading aloud. ¡°Here in Avalon, I lay my best friend to rest. May he sleep eternally undisturbed by the petty wars of mankind. He was my final tie to my homeworld, and so with his death, I depart to worlds unknown. I leave behind Excalibur for one who may be one day worthy of finding this hidden place and once again wielding it for a righteous cause. Merlin¡± ¡°What¡¯s an Excalibur?¡± Onelder asked after he finished reading it. ¡°It¡¯s a powerful sword from Earth legends. We should probably search the cave.¡± Cal said. ¡°I call first dibs at trying to pull it out a stone!¡± Stan yelled out quickly. The smile on his face nearly reached his ears. Loop 254 - Part 53: Stan Stan was sure they all thought he was joking, but he really meant it. If Excalibur was somewhere in here, he had every intention of trying to draw the sword, and not just because of how childhood love of everything Arthurian. He was tired of lagging behind. Cal needed him to find a way to step up and join the fight in a tangible way. Initially, he had hoped to find his own mana source on Pluto, but the idea of a magical sword seemed much more plausible for him to wield. This is why he had wandered off alone into one of the darkened caves off the main chamber. Well, that''s only partially why. He also felt drawn to it, and who was he to ignore something beckoning him, given the current circumstances? Sure, it could be some monstrous siren summoning him to his death, but much more likely, it was a Lady in the Lake situation. At least, that was what he was telling himself as he stumbled through the darkness. A dim blue light caught his attention ahead. He continued his march forward, somewhat less blind this time. As he reached the light, he realized it was coming from a small pool in the cave floor. ¡°Welcome, Stan.¡± The voice sounded gentle, but Stan could feel the power behind the words as they emanated from below the water. ¡°Hello, you don¡¯t happen to be the Lady of the Lake do you?¡± He asked, trying his best to keep the uncertainty out of it. The thrill had started to wear off and he was now questioning if this had been a large mistake. ¡°I am not but do not worry. I am not some fiend here to steal your life.¡± She answered as a form started to rise its head above the water. ¡°Then who are you? Why did you call for me?¡± Stan was considering just how to fight this creature if it came to it. Running might be the better answer, as that would at least give him a chance, even if small, to warn the others. ¡°I am sorry for frightening you, Stan and I may not have answered your previous question well. You are the first person I have spoken to since my creation. I am not the true original Lady, but I am a fragment of her. I was placed here with one singular goal before I depart.¡± Her form fully rose from beneath the small pool, and carried in her arms was a gleaming sword. ¡°Is that Excalibur?¡± Stan¡¯s voice was barely above a whisper. He was staring at the sword in awe. ¡°Yes. This sword has been placed in my safekeeping awaiting a time when it will need to be used again. If you wish to wield it, you must be willing to undergo the trials,¡± she answered. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What are the trials?¡± Stan was already sure of his answer but asked the question nonetheless. ¡°There are three trials: strength, courage, and wisdom. Do you wish to face them?¡± She stepped from the pool closer to Stan. ¡°Yes.¡± was the only word he could muster at the moment. ¡°Then take Excalibur, and I wish you much luck.¡± She held the sword hilt first towards Stan. He obliged and gently pulled it from her hands. His surroundings faded from view. * ¡°Dammit, how did I get here? Where did this sword come from?¡± Stan shouted. He was having trouble remembering recent events. A roar sounded in front of him interrupting any further attempt to dwell on just what was going on. A giant bear had just appeared out of nowhere and was charging him. It looked enraged and had several tentacles protruding from its face. He felt this pull at some memory deep in his mind, but there wasn¡¯t time for that now. He had a sword for some reason, and it was time to put it to good use. He swung the sword hard in front of him at the rushing bear, only managing to graze the side. He threw himself out of its path at the same time the bear screamed in pain as it came to a crashing halt. It turned its form and stared directly at Stan, the one who had just hurt it. Stan noticed the wound was smoking. That¡¯s some sword he found himself with, he thought as he raised it back in front of him for another swing. This time, the bear found itself in the direct arc of the sword and fell to the ground dead. As Stan watched, the strange tentacles melted away, leaving behind a ruined shell of a bear. ¡°I really wish I knew what was going on.¡± In answer to Stan¡¯s statement, he heard a cry from the woods next to him. He couldn¡¯t be sure, but it sounded like his son. He charged in without a second thought. ¡°Dad, help!¡± He spotted his son surrounded by the bears; he looked terrified. Something still felt off about this, but once again, there wasn¡¯t time to ponder that line of reasoning. He charged forward, cutting down every bear he could on his way. ¡°Cal, I¡¯m coming. It will be okay!¡± He called to his son, fully intending to fulfil his promise even as more bears poured from the trees. Cal would be okay no matter what it took. He swung the sword wide in front of him, taking down three bears at once. There were only a few more standing between him and Cal now. He could make it. Then, the thoughts that had been itching in his brain finally started to bleed through. How did they get here? Why couldn¡¯t he remember where he found this sword? Wasn¡¯t Cal a lot stronger than him now? The illusion shattered into a million shards as the final question hit his brain. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be undertaking a series of trials? As the shards disappeared into the blackness, Stan heard someone clapping behind him. ¡°Wonderful. The sword is yours, I hope someday you are able to meet my true self. Good luck.¡± Stan had spun to see the remanent of the Lady speak those last words before fading. He had won the right to wield Excalibur. Loop 254: Frantic Search Jen was the first to notice Stan¡¯s absence. She immediately alerted everyone and they started searching everywhere in the chamber. The problem was there were no paths other than the water out, and she was sure he hadn¡¯t gone back that way. Her husband had seemingly vanished. ¡°Dammit, Stan, where are you?!¡± She screamed out in frustration. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A translucent figure appeared in front of her as though in answer to her question. ¡°I apologize for any undue fear I have caused. Stan expressed certain desires that are within the scope of my task. I promise he will be returned unharmed. If he is as I think he is, though, he shall be returned much more powerful than when he left.¡± The figure vanished before Jen could yell any angry words at her instead, she just slumped to the ground. ¡°Please be okay, Stan.¡± Loop 254 - Part 54 ¡°Wait, don¡¯t leave yet. What kind of powers does the sword have? Are there any special oaths?¡± Stan shouted, confusing Cal, who had just been trying to find his father. ¡°Where the hell did you come from, Dad?¡± he asked. He was sure the spot where his father was standing had just been an empty space in front of a wall moments before. Even stranger, his father was now carrying a sword, a sword that resonated with mana strong enough that Cal could literally hear it pulse. Wait, he had said Excalibur when he reappeared. Cal had a pretty good idea of just what had happened and who the weird spirit was now. ¡°Uh, well, I was just standing in front of a small pool, but now that I think about it, that sure doesn¡¯t make a lot of sense. This chamber didn¡¯t have any side passages. So magic then?¡± Stan laughed as he said the last words. ¡°Yeah, magic. Nice sword. Wanna come tell everyone about it? Jen might hit you, though, so be careful.¡± Cal looked his father over. As far as he could tell, nothing beyond the sword had changed. He didn¡¯t sense any mana from inside the man, only strongly from his new weapon. ¡°Oh shit, I hadn¡¯t thought about how scared she must have been, yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± Stan took off halfway through his rapid-fire response. Cal wasn¡¯t sure he had ever heard his father speak quite so fast. It only took a few seconds to get back to the group, but it had been a long enough delay that he was greeted by the sight of Stan and Jen¡¯s embrace, followed by her giving him a death stare. ¡°You did what?¡± She shouted. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t think I had perfect control of myself, to be honest. I felt the call of something and it kind of played on my desires to find Excalibur considering what we had just discovered, and I mean I did. So there¡¯s that.¡± Stan explained. ¡°Sorry, I missed the first part. You said you followed a voice?¡± Cal wanted to know exactly what had happened. ¡°Yeah, kind of, more like a beckoning. I felt it more than I heard it. Now that my head is clear, I realize I shouldn¡¯t have done that, but initially, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I met part of the Lady of the Lake and earned the right to wield Excalibur. I¡¯d assume it was all just some magical hallucination, but I do have this sword, so it seems true.¡± He hefted the sword up in front of everyone for examination. ¡°Huh, now that is a mana source. I thought you rubes were something, but wars have been fought over less potent artifacts. Any chance you wanna sell it?¡± Onelder was staring in awe at Stan. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I could if I tried. I think there are rules tied to this sword. Not sure what they are, but I can kind of feel something tugging at me while I hold it.¡± Stan ran a hand gently down the blade as he said that. ¡°Hrm, likely sentient on some level then. I¡¯d tell ya to be careful, but that doesn¡¯t really seem to be something ya¡¯ll do. Which to be fair, I can kind of respect that.¡± Onelder responded. ¡°Yeah sure, it¡¯s shiny, but what does it do? Can it wrestle a giant crab?¡± Frank extended an arm and poked the blade, causing a trickle of mana to leap from its tip and course through the tree-man¡¯s form. Frank suddenly dropped to a knee with his head bowed. ¡°Uh, Frank. What are you doing?¡± Stan looked confused about the action. ¡°Sword said it was the right thing to do. Felt correct, so I did it.¡± Frank answered and stood back up. ¡°Great, now we¡¯ve got legendary magic swords ready to make my son pledge fealty.¡± Ethel¡¯s voice dripped with sarcasm. ¡°Is it really that much stranger than your son¡¯s existence in general?¡± Cal fired back laughing. ¡°Alright, better question, what can my husband¡¯s new sword, which he risked life and limb to get, actually do?¡± Jen asked, her death stare having finally relaxed. In answer, Stan walked up to a nearby boulder, lifted the sword high above his head, and swung down with his full strength. The rock was cleanly split in two, leaving behind two smoking halves. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not sure why everything seems to smoke when I cut them. It happened during the trials, too.¡± ¡°That thing is emanating light. Actually it might even be transforming to plasma during the actual cutting step.¡± Onelder whistled. ¡°What a powerhouse. Now ya just gotta stay alive to use it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to have to find someone to train me in how to use a sword effectively. I can use a knife or a gun, but swords were never really a thing they taught me in the military.¡± Stan held the sword in front of his face and started inspecting it. ¡°See anything interesting?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Nope, nothing written anywhere that I can see.¡± Stan lowered the blade back down. ¡°Hey, Cal, shoot a lightning blast at me. I wanna try something.¡± ¡°STOP!¡± Ethel shouted as Cal was raising his hands. ¡°We will not be firing off blasts of mana in a burial chamber that may or may not be Avalon, which considering I¡¯m currently learning towards is.¡± Cal dropped his hands. ¡°I suppose Ethel is correct, let¡¯s head back to camp and then I get to shoot Dad uncontrollably with lightning.¡± Cal was hoping everyone could see his giant smile. While their return trip was made without issue, Frank was sad that they hadn¡¯t seen his new monster friend. Cal wondered if the crab had anything to do with the magic of the cave. It had led Frank there, so there was some guiding intelligence, and now, with it missing, it seems it may have completed its job the same way the remnant had. Not for the first time Cal wished he had an easy access to the history of Magic and Earth. Loop 254 - Far Far Away ¡°Someone has finally claimed the sword, I see. Interesting. It¡¯s been such a long time since I was on my home planet. I should visit again. Add that to the list of things to do this decade or next, I guess.¡± The man mused aloud while scribbling notes to himself about what to bring on a trip back to Earth. Then he realized something. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Oh! If Excalibur has a new master, then that means she is likely free and wandering cosmetic waters again. What is it about the love of youth that always brings us back to it?¡± He sighed. ¡°Alright, so next decade, Earth, Arthur¡¯s descendants, Excalibur, and most importantly, Nimueh. Now, what do I need to pack?¡± He sat back down and started scribbling more notes. Loop 254 - Part 55 ¡°Alright, toss me a ball of your lightning, but not too big. I don¡¯t want to destroy the sword before I even know what I¡¯m doing.¡± Stan said as soon as they were back at the camp. Stan hefted the sword to his shoulder, ready to swing. Cal not one to argue with his dad generally, obliged and tossed one of his smaller lighting balls directly in front of the man. ¡°Incoming!¡± He called as he did so. Stan swung Excalibur directly into the charged explosive ball the second it appeared, and as it made contact, the sword glowed brightly, and the ball vanished without any explosive fanfare, not even a pop, just gone. ¡°Uh, what happened there?¡± Cal asked, not sure what he had seen. He had felt the mana dissipate, similar to when he combusted them, but that clearly hadn¡¯t happened. Had the sword absorbed it somehow? He hoped so; if so, it could turn into an amazing weapon in their fight. ¡°Something happened when I sliced into your magic. Excalibur seemed more awake, I know that seems kind of insane to phrase it that way, but I don¡¯t know what else to call it.¡± Stan answered with a look of confusion plastered across his face. ¡°Ah yes, famously, we live in a world of normal sensible things, where time doesn¡¯t restart every time Cal dies, and your family dog isn¡¯t talking and helping us fight an alien invasion.¡± Jen only managed to hold her serious tone for half her statement, shaking her head and laughing by the end of it. Her point was made, though, and Stan had joined her in laughing at his own comparatively ridiculous statement given what their live reality had turned into. ¡°Cal, can you give me a few of the balls lined up? Same power. I don¡¯t want to risk anything too crazy yet, but I¡¯m going to try to absorb them as I hit them again.¡± Stan asked, and Cal once again did as requested. He lined up a dozen of his balls of lightning, ready for his dad to take his swings. Stan stepped up to the first and just poked it instead of taking a swing. The ball vanished again, the same as the first time. He continued this across the remaining eleven. Each time, the sword glowed brightly and then faded back to normal. ¡°Any happening.¡± Cal couldn¡¯t see or feel any change in the sword himself. ¡°Only kind of. It just seems more awake each time. Not by much, though. It''s like I keep getting a battery to nearly one percent, but not enough to actually turn the device on. Give me something bigger. Give me the most mana-dense ball you can make, and yes, I know this is likely a terrible idea, so place it underwater, and I¡¯ll poke at it from above.¡± Stan answered and made another, this time much more dangerous request. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°You sure?¡± Cal certainly wasn¡¯t. Something packing that much mana could easily damage the area around them, not to mention possibly attracting the attention of the invaders on the surface above. ¡°No, but do it anyway.¡± Stan had a determined look on his face that Cal recognized from his first childhood. This was the face he wore when he had made his mind up about doing something despite the risk to himself. Cal had seen it less and less since Jen had entered the picture. Cal leaned over the water¡¯s edge and started channeling a large amount of mana into a spot below the surface. Taking what his father had asked for to heart, he spent the next couple of minutes packing in every bit he could without risking a premature explosion. ¡°Dad, get over here. It¡¯s got about a minute before it either explodes or falls apart!¡± He yelled back to Stan once he had hit his limit. Stan ran over and quickly pushed the tip of the sword below the water and into the crackling mass of lightning just below the surface. Unlike the last several attempts, it didn¡¯t instantly vanish. It instead seemed to dance along the edge of the blade, slowly climbing up the sword towards the hilt. ¡°Dad, drop the sword.¡± Cal¡¯s voice had a twinge of panic in it. This wasn¡¯t remotely something that he had worried about. ¡°No, something¡¯s happening, can¡¯t leeettt goooo!¡± Stan¡¯s teeth were gritted, and those last words had been forced out. The electricity had reached his hands, but instead of climbing further, it started melting into the hilt around where he gripped the sword. Soon all of the mana had been absorbed across the entirety of it. When the last bit vanished, the sword ignited in a bright blue glow that covered the entire cavern. Seconds later, it was over, and Stan slumped backward to the ground. He dropped the sword next to him. He looked exhausted. ¡°You okay Dad?¡± While Cal was still somewhat worried that had been mostly replaced by relief that nothing had exploded or been electrocuted. ¡°Kind of. Holy shit I see why the mana core stuff takes so much out of all of you.¡± Stan wheezed out of the words. ¡°Wait, did you form a core?¡± Cal had a shocked expression on his face. ¡°No, the sword has its own core, and when it was exposed to that much mana, it was enough to bring it fully awake briefly. It was long enough for it to tell me it welcomed me as its bearer and that the more mana it was able to inject, the sooner it would return to full awareness. To help with this, it bonded me to its own internal core somehow. I couldn¡¯t explain the process if I tried, but god damn, did it hurt.¡± Stan winced in pain as he spoke. ¡°Welcome to the world of a magic wielder, I think,¡± Cal said with a smile on his face, trying to lighten his dad¡¯s pain. While that appeared to do nothing in that regard, the soup Albert brought moments later did, though. Loop 254 - Part 56 ¡°Training round two!¡± Onelder yelled after they had finished their breakfast. Today¡¯s lessons were the same as before, this time with Ethel joining in. The only real difference was at the end of the practice the plan was to hit Excalibur with everything they had left in them. Onelder would be joining them. ¡°Alright, so for this, we are going to try something new. I haven¡¯t really covered this at all, but I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve seen some of it by the Gryalth mages. It¡¯s time to play around with synchronized channeling. I¡¯m not sure Cal has fine enough control for this just yet, but may as well try in a safe environment.¡± Cal frowned as Onelder continued his explanation. ¡°So the goal here is to combine the flow of our mana right as it leaves us, but before it truly forms the spell you are guiding it into. The real hard part comes from everyone involved guiding the new flow together. Snap calls in the middle of a raging fight where more than one person has to agree ain¡¯t an easy thing to do. So even if we pull this off today, don¡¯t expect to be using it anytime soon against the Gryalth. If I ain¡¯t making myself clear on this, Twonger and I still have trouble with this, and we¡¯ve been practicing for years.¡± ¡°Yes, we get it. What¡¯s the next step?¡± Ethel cut in, annoyed. ¡°I really doubt it, but anyway, the Ethel, as soon as you see my channeling threads, I want you to focus on adding your mana to mine. Cal, once that happens, go ahead and try adding yours. In ya do it right, we feel a kind of mental link come from the mana flow itself. As soon as that happens, we need to guide the mana into a combined elemental blast onto Stan¡¯s new toy. Stan, please raise the sword.¡± Onelder finished. Cal watched his father lift the sword in front of himself and brace for another blast of mana. He looked over and Onelder and Ethel and saw Ethel trying and failing to join her channeling to his, and realized Onelder was probably right about his own chances, but he had no intention of letting that stop him from trying. ¡°I think I have it.¡± Ethel¡¯s voice was just barely above a whisper. Cal thought she was right, though. The flow looked different. Two strands of mana were swirling around each other, threading themselves into a rope. He could see how this would make their channeling more than the sum of their parts, but the idea of controlling it seemed daunting. Nonetheless, it was his turn to join in, and he was going to take it. Cal steadied himself and took a few deep breaths that he wasn¡¯t sure he needed anymore, but they helped with the calming effect he was going for. He lifted his right hand and focused hard on the tip of his index finger. He was sure he had full control over a small, fully formed, and correctly shaped mana thread. He then, as delicately as anything he had ever done before in his many lifetimes, joined the thread with the other two and allowed it to begin intertwining itself with them. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. He felt the control of his mana shift and change, and then he felt both Onelder''s and Ethel¡¯s as well. Ethel¡¯s mana reminded him of the time they had found Bug and how much he missed her in his early loops after she had passed. He could feel the trees around them, their roots slowly absorbing the water as small squirrels climbed through their branches. In complete contrast, Onelder¡¯s flow was a mimic. It was grasping at both his own and Ethel¡¯s and reflecting the force back at them. Finally, he felt their thoughts flow across the threads into him. ¡°Congrats, really didn¡¯t think ya had it in ya.¡± Cal heard Onelder¡¯s voice across one of the threads. ¡°I knew he could do it. He only pretends to be an idiot,¡± Ethel joined in. ¡°Thanks, I think. Now what?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Now we all focus. Based on the mana types we are using, I¡¯m thinking something like the concept of a tree that had just been hit with lightning. We hit the sword with that combination and see what happens.¡± Onelder was starting to sound tired. Cal pictured a giant tree being blasted apart by a mighty bolt of lightning, the resulting tree crushing other things in its path as the energy discharged into the air around it. He wasn¡¯t sure all of these thoughts were exactly his. The melding of the control made it hard to separate what in the vision was his versus theirs, but he supposed that didn¡¯t matter. In fact, their agreement on this was probably a good sign. He felt Onelder release his thread, so he did the same, immediately followed by Ethel. The combined force hit the sword hard enough to make Stan take a step backward. That was the first time anyone had managed to do that so far. Stan grunted as he made the step. ¡°Dad, you okay?¡± Cal gasped the words out as it hit him just how tired he was too. He looked to his right and saw Onelder had already collapsed to the floor, and Ethel was now leaning on Frank for support. ¡°Yeah, but man, that was something. From my end, it looked like one of the blasts the full battalion of Gryalth battle mages through at Ralth when he fought them.¡± Stan stopped talking and froze. ¡°Dad! What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cal forced his feet to move to his father. Stan coughed several times and then looked at his son. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m okay, that blast was enough to fully wake up Excalibur, it seems. Not all of his abilities are functional yet, but he¡¯s now conscious enough to start giving me directions.¡± Stan reassured Cal. ¡°Yes, and I believe I am also strong enough to address you all without a go-between.¡± A voice radiated from the sword in Stan¡¯s hand. Loop 254 - ReAwakening It felt its own mind waking from a long sleep. Initialy confused and unsure of what was happening, the experience was jarring. Soon, though, the memories started to flow back, the battles, the quests, and the wizard laying it to rest in his secret abode. He claimed that one day, there would be a need for its power again and that someone righteous would find it when the time was right. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Was that time now? What were these strange invaders it sensed outside of Avalon? Was Britain in danger? No, this time, the threat was much greater. It could feel that much and more. The power it had absorbed continued to flow through it, waking up other long-dormant abilities, and its awareness grew further. Finally, it was ready to speak. Loop 254 - Part 57 ¡°So you don¡¯t really know us or our group, so this won¡¯t sound as strange to you as may it everyone else, but since when can you talk?¡± Cal broke the silence that had occurred with the sword¡¯s statement. He didn¡¯t know a ton about Arthurian myth, but what he did know didn¡¯t contain a talking Excalibur anywhere. ¡°I was imbued with some of my last wielder¡¯s essence at the time of his death. This altered my state in many ways. I am not fully able to explain those ways yet as you are the first person to carry me since then. Thank you, Stanley Marshall, for giving me the opportunity to once again do great deeds in the world.¡± The sword had a deep voice that resonated with its blade, causing an odd distortion when it spoke. It reminded Cal of the hum of a strong electrical charge. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. So, how much of current events are you aware of? Can you read my thoughts? Cause I can kind of feel you there.¡± Stan cocked an eyebrow as he asked the last question. ¡°I cannot read your thoughts, at least as you mean the question, I believe. I can feel your existence and emotional state somewhat. This is to best facilitate our bond in battle. Other than that, you face a great challenge that requires my assistance. I am ignorant of the current events you face,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Do you want a recap?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t planning to give it the whole story; too many embarrassing things he had done, plus way too little time. The sword could learn those moments once it was socializing back in the void house. Assuming it socialized, he wasn¡¯t really sure about that. ¡°Yes, please.¡± The sword lightly glowed with the response. Cal decided that meant very interested. ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re stuck in a time loop that starts over to my childhood when I die. Everyone here except Onelder currently remembers it. I have no idea if this will apply to you or not. You¡¯re a brand new factor here. We have a way to bring a limited number of people into each loop, but that generally requires blood, which I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t have. But anyway, we are also fighting an alien invasion from another dimension. So far, they¡¯ve won every loop, which is doom for the Earth and the human race. Currently, we are traveling through our solar system grabbing as much pure magic as we can find, which is how we found you on Pluto, which it turns out is apparently the legendary Avalon.¡± Cal paused to think if there was anything else important he had forgotten, and nothing came to him immediately. ¡°Any questions?¡± ¡°Many. Though none of these are likely important enough to answer if my memory resets at the end of every loop. That is something I will have to ponder. What is our current goal?¡± Its voice had dropped slightly with the last question, taking on a somber quality. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Turns out the Gryalth, those are the aliens have a base here on Pluto. We need to determine what its purpose is, see how hard it would be to shut down in the future and find as many mana pools as we can as we do this. Originally, that was the only goal, but then we got here and found them. Also, Onelder here is going to continue tutoring us in channeling, which, if you know anything, you are welcome to join in at.¡± Now that he had said it, Cal was felt a little intimidated at the prospect of the Grayth installation somewhere above their heads. He knew they needed to investigate it, but a premature loop end could be a giant issue for Andy¡¯s group and not something they had planned for. ¡°Ah good. I request to be part of the fighting. I shouldn¡¯t have to do much thinking during that and I need to devote all my faculties, so much as they currently are, to solving my apparent future reversion. Stanley, if could lay me on the ground, I would like to begin that now. Should you have need of me, I believe I will sense it through what our bond has already become. Thank you again.¡± Cal was sure he was right now. The sword sounded depressed. It hadn¡¯t at all liked the news of potentially reverting back to being inert, waiting for someone to find it. He wished he had some solution, maybe once they met back up with Andrew. ¡°Sure, buddy, here you go.¡± Stan laid the sword down near his supplies. ¡°Alright, guys, so about that recon, how do we want to start that?¡± ¡°Trying to change the topic from the possibility you are now king of Britain?¡± Jen snickered. ¡°Yes. I really don¡¯t want to be a king.¡± Stan¡¯s statement was met with laughter from most present. ¡°What¡¯s a Britain?¡± Onelder was looking on with confusion. Ignoring Onelder¡¯s question Ethel moved back to the topic of recon. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on that actually. The reason I haven¡¯t been as active in Cal¡¯s tutoring sessions as I could be is because I was making friends.¡± ¡°What friends, and where?¡± Cal asked, confused. There was nowhere here for her to¡­Oh. The thought cut off as he realized that, yes, actually, there were many things here for her to befriend. Some creatures she was very familiar with, in fact. ¡°Wait, figured it out.¡± ¡°Really, it wasn¡¯t some grand mystery Cal. How have you still not learned to think before you speak? Ah, well, perhaps that one will never be teachable. Anyway, yes, I have made several friends.¡± Ethel put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. The call was answered by at least a hundred squirrels coming from all around them. Some were diving out of trees, some running from various passageways, but each of them stopped as soon as they got near to Ethel. ¡°Okay, now these could work for spying. I like it, Ethel.¡± Jen smiled as she spoke. Loop 254 - Squirrel Army Building Part 1 ¡°Hello, little ones. Can you hear me? I know it¡¯s been a very long time since a human has been present in your worlds, but many generations ago, I am pretty sure we shared the same land, and I was hoping you might be willing to assist me. You see, there are nasty invaders in your home that will eventually kill you all as well as us.¡± This was Ethel¡¯s fifth time attempting to break the communication barrier she was having with the squirrels. This was new to her since she had really started honing her abilities. Animals and plants had always at least been receptive to her. Here it felt like there was some barrier bouncing back her message. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to understand you, but I think I can work as a go-between. I am far older, old enough to remember a different shore I once lived at.¡± A voice came into Ethel¡¯s mind. ¡°Ah, so, you¡¯d be able to work as my translator then. I¡¯m surprised you even heard me.¡± Ethel responded. ¡°Had I not enjoyed the sparring match with your son I doubt I would have.¡± It answered. Loop 254 - Part 58 For the next couple of weeks, Jen and Ethel worked to map the cave system with the squirrels'' help. Cal continued his training with Onelder, and Ethel joined in sporadically. Albert and Frank had offered to work as sparring partners with Stan in his quest to learn how to fight with a sword. It could be going better, but Frank was able to hold a practice sword they had made pretty strongly, and Albert could dodge surprisingly fast for a capybara. At the end of their first month on Pluto found the group sitting together, sharing dinner. Jen had laid the maps out on the ground. ¡°So, as you can see, these tunnels are very extensive, and it will take quite some time for the squirrels to map the entirety of them that exist under the surface, but the good news is they have already found some points of interest.¡± She pointed to a couple of the large red Xs she had marked on the map. ¡°These are areas the squirrels are not willing to risk going. They can¡¯t really explain why, but some sort of generational danger warning has them believing the areas to be of extreme danger to them. Now, the green circles those are other areas like this. Wooded caverns with other living creatures. At each point, the squirrels were able to make contact with other squirrels living there, increasing our surveillance. It turns out they are unhappy with the invaders as well.¡± ¡°Yes, it seems several entire cavern groves no longer exist, thanks to Gryalth,¡± Ethel added. ¡°Do you think those are tied to the danger places?¡± Stan had just finished his apple stew before speaking. ¡°No, they are willing to tell us where those were. They are marked with black lines. I get the feeling the danger zones are more ancient Merlin magic or possibly abyssal beasts. Now, these two places are the real interesting ones.¡± She pointed to the two large green Xs. ¡°These are pools of water the squirrels try to avoid, not out of fear, but because of something they call awakenings.¡± ¡°Mana pools!¡± Cal cut her off in his excitement at more natural mana sources. ¡°Yes, I thought that would end up being our first target. Since we¡¯ve found them nice and early in the loop, we could hit them up right now, see if we can do any bonding, and then continue our training. This does leave the burning question of who, though.¡± Jen continued after Cal¡¯s outburst. ¡°You and Albert,¡± Cal said without pause. He had already considered, and while initially, his father and Jen were the plan, things had changed. ¡°Dad has the sword, so no reason to overburden him right now. Ethel and I already have mana spirits, and all the offense intended, I just don¡¯t trust you enough yet, Onelder. Lastly, this is just me guessing, so yell at me if I¡¯m wrong. We have no idea what effects a mana pool would have on Frank, and testing in an uncontrolled environment isn¡¯t the best idea.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°I agree, Cal. No mana pools for Frank just yet. Albert and Jen are the best ideas.¡± Ethel nodded her head at Cal. ¡°Huh, so I¡¯ve been in a mana pool many times in my life, the same one that gave Ethel her powers, but I never gained anything from it. I¡¯m willing to try, but it may not work on me. Have any of the animals, other than Bill¡¯s odd way of doing so, gained any magic yet?¡± Albert''s concern broke through the excitement in his voice. ¡°The frog got his abilities somehow, and from what I learned on Mars, animals were the primary magic users of Earth for a long time. So I say we test it!¡± Cal smiled at Albert. ¡°Ready to become a wizard.¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t want to split us up, even if it could be faster. Let¡¯s start with the nearest pool.¡± Jen pointed to one of the pools on the map. ¡°I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s about two days away through the tunnels. Let¡¯s get packed up and head out in the morning. We can decide once we see it which of us wants to go for a swim.¡± ¡°Any close danger spots to this pool?¡± Stan asked. ¡°No, the further one, though. We will have to pass through two. The passages aren¡¯t big enough for us unless Cal wants to alter the caverns.¡± Jen looked at Cal, waiting for his answer. ¡°I¡¯d rather test one of the danger spots before we start really screwing with the structure of the caves.¡± ¡°Agreed, everyone. Finish your dinner and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we find a mana pool.¡± Jen took the last bite of her food after she finished speaking. Cal spent the first few hours trying to sleep, then gave up and started pacing instead. The plan he had been considering was getting more and more likely now. Two more mana spirits meant they could increase the space of their void dimension again, and this meant more room for construction, construction that wouldn¡¯t just disappear when the time loop reset. Now that he knew about Gryalth bases on Pluto, he was more sure than ever that they would need their own shipyards. The real problem would be manpower. When they returned, it was time for a long conversation with Andrew. His brain was stuck on this all night, and when the group woke up, they found Cal had already prepared breakfast and packed up most of their gear. ¡°Morning everyone, in the excitement I couldn¡¯t sleep. Who wants eggs?¡± Cal started passing out scrambled eggs to his groggy friends and family. ¡°Hey, so I¡¯ve got a request for Jen and Albert. Can you try to make sure you end up with mana spirits? It¡¯s important you get your own realms so we can expand the void house more.¡± ¡°Sure, but why?¡± Jen said. ¡°You saw what was above us. I had already been considering this for awhile, but if we are going to go into direct massive conflict with the Gryalth, we will need magical battleships.¡± Several jaws dropped at his statement despite the smile he kept on his face as he said. Loop 254 - Part 59 ¡°Cal what do you mean magical battleships exactly?¡± Jen managed to find her voice first. ¡°Well, think about the armies we¡¯ve seen. We aren¡¯t anywhere near near able to fight on the level Ralth was and he didn¡¯t even make a dent. If we want to have any real chance of saving the planet and probably the universe, we will need an army. I had already been considering just what we could construct in the space that we have in the spirit realms, and now we have what appears to be the foremost expert on mechs on our side, so I get to start testing this out.¡± ¡°Yes, but what does that have to do with magical battleships exactly? There seems to be a lot of holes there. How do we build them? Melissa may know how to build a mech, but building something of the size you are talking about it a very specialized field of engineering, and a ship like that takes thousands of people to crew it. Look, son, I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s a bad idea. I just don¡¯t see how it¡¯s feasible.¡± Stan said. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t get me wrong, this is totally impossible as our resources currently stand, barring we spend a few millennia at this, but that¡¯s also the point. Theoretically, we have unlimited time to keep to solve this. The real problem is how do we get an army, train them, and at the same time keep the Gryalth ignorant on what is happening until the last moment. Oh, and at some point, we are also going to need a bard.¡± Cal laughed at their reactions. This one he had known since nearly the start of the loops and realized the scope of the war. ¡°Honestly, I agree with Cal. We will need an army if we want to win this, and I assume you want a bard to quickly bring everyone outside of the loop into the fight when the moment comes?¡± Instead of laughter Ethel had been nodding along with everything Cal had said. ¡°Exactly! See, Ethel gets it.¡± Cal was excited that someone else understood where his mind had gone with this. As for the army problem, well, Andrew is a master of mad science, so I wouldn¡¯t count anything out just yet.¡± ¡°I want to know just how bad the Gryalth attack on Earth is that yos think the rest of the universe can¡¯t handle it. There are a lot of powerful channelers hiding out there, and they¡¯ve come together before when shit has gone real bad. I don¡¯t really see a backwater like this truly producing a universe-ending threat.¡± Onelder interjected with his own brand of optimism. ¡°Well, at the end of this loop, you will get to see, and if you haven¡¯t pissed me off enough, you may also get to remember for the next loop. The real issue isn¡¯t so much as the initial attack on Earth, as I understand it, though. It¡¯s just the staging point for the resources needed to bring their true armada into our universe. You¡¯re probably even right here. Earth likely is nothing compared to some of the space-faring empires, but¡¯s also likely why it was chosen as the initial target, a complete lack of resistance.¡± Cal hated that he had decided Onelder was more useful loop aware than locked away at the start of every loop. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°How many times do I have to apologize for trying to kill ya?¡± The alien actually sounded earnest with the question, confusing Cal. ¡°Look, I get it. You are trying as much as you are capable of. Luckily for you, we have years, and time heals all wounds. Alright, everyone. I think you¡¯ve heard enough of my crazy future schemes for now. Let¡¯s go find the mana pool.¡± Cal quickly finished his own breakfast and started preparing to move on from this grove. ¡°Do we get a squirrel guide the whole way, or are we just doing our best to follow the map?¡± Stan asked as he, too, finished his meal. ¡°I¡¯ve arranged for us to have a guide to the next grove. Once we get there, we will determine if someone is willing to escort us to the next. After that, we may not be able to find a guide as there is no grove between it and the pool, but as they were able to provide us the location it¡¯s possible someone is willing to direct us.¡± Ethel whistled gently, and two gray squirrels climbed down from a tree. ¡°Hello, little ones. As we discussed, would you be so kind as to lead us to the next grove over on this path here?¡± She pointed on the map to their first destination. The squirrels chirped between themselves and then darted to the cavern entrance on the other side of the biggest copse of trees. ¡°I suppose that means hurry up and get our shit packed before they leave without us?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Oh, they will wait, but I¡¯m telling them it¡¯s your fault if we take too long and to make sure to find an uncomfortable spot for your sleeping bag at the next stop.¡± Ethel glared at Cal as she answered his question. Cal, not willing to risk it, packed anything he had left at record speed and ran over to wait with the squirrels, offering them some of the breakfast scraps, hoping to gain their allegiance. As they walked to the next underground grove Cal continued to consider his future plans for the Gryalth war. At some point he, and likely Melissa, would need to make contact with the Agency directly. There was still the matter of the other scientists they needed to solve as well. Then there were the harder-to-answer questions: what happens when they win and kick the Gryalth out of their universe? Christopher was still lost somewhere out there, and he needed to be found. What about all the other universes that had been devastated by the Gryalth, what happens to them? Hell, what happens when the time loop ends? Will it end? Cal decided to stop with the existential questions for now and instead focus on the current mission. Loop 254 - Squirrel Army Building Part 2 ¡°Thank you, Tiffany. Your help has been greatly appreciated. I¡¯m still not sure I understand just what the squirrels are so afraid of in these points, though.¡± Ethel handed the crab some fresh apple slices as she thanked him. Without his help, it would have taken her much longer to break the communication barrier, and she was truly appreciative of this. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. I haven¡¯t been in those areas myself in centuries, and I have no idea what may have taken root in the master¡¯s absence. Assuming you want to head to the nearest pool first, you are going to pass through a grove where one of their elders lives. The streams pass through, so I can meet you there and help with the introductions. I have an idea of how to best extract any information the elder may know.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°And what idea is that?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°You are all pretty strong, so why not offer to help deal with the threats?¡± The giant crab¡¯s idea had merit. ¡°Hmm, not the worst idea. We can broach that topic once we meet them, I suppose.¡± Bug was going to be upset she missed this one. Quests from a squirrel, she¡¯d loved it. Ethel laughed at the thought. Loop 254 - Part 60 The first grove they stopped in was much the same as the one they had left. It was slightly larger, and the apple trees were a bit more dense, but beyond that, Cal couldn¡¯t really tell the difference. It even had the same stream with what looked to be deep underground passageways. That look was shortly confirmed when the giant crab popped out of the water, looked them all over, and dived back down. ¡°Is Tiffany coming with us?¡± Frank asked after the crab¡¯s brief appearance. ¡°Only as far as the next grove, he¡¯s going to do some introductions for us. And speaking of introductions, I have arranged a second set of guides for us. Though I am slightly concerned. Apparently, contact between the groves has been lost in the last few years, and in their last attempt to investigate, none of the scouts returned. Our guides have been instructed to flee at the first signs of danger.¡± Ethel scratched one of the squirrels¡¯ heads gently as she spoke. ¡°Huh, well, I don¡¯t like that. Frank, be on your toes. I think we¡¯ve got some fighting coming up. Is your crab friend coming the whole way?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t exactly surprised there was going to be a battle. There always seemed to be, eventually. The crab he hadn¡¯t expected. He was slightly surprised it was still around after finding the cave. ¡°FRANKS TOES ARE ALWAYS STANDING, FOR HE IS READY.. TO¡­ PUNCH!!!¡± Frank capped off his statement by applauding himself. ¡°Glad you¡¯re ready, buddy. Where can we set up camp for the night, Ethel? I don¡¯t want to walk into the next area exhausted if we are about to be overrun by monsters.¡± Cal saw plenty of potential spots but thought it was best the squirrels gave them permission. ¡°Anywhere outside of the trees is what I¡¯ve been told.¡± She answered. ¡°Perfect, then I choose here.¡± Cal plopped down on the ground where he had just been standing moments ago and pulled some snacks from his bag. He wanted some food before a nice nap. * ¡°So, do the squirrels have any clue what might have broken contact?¡± Cal asked as they neared their third grove. If the maps were correct, they had about thirty more minutes of walking, and so far, they had seen no signs of issues. Tiffany had volunteered to go on ahead but wasn¡¯t willing to come above water until they had given the all-clear. Who knew an ancient giant crab, capable of wrestling Frank, was a bit of a coward? ¡°No. Generally, they don¡¯t have any predators down here, but the last grove made it clear they are relatively young in terms of a settlement. They don¡¯t have any long-lived elders and before you ask I¡¯m not a hundred percent sure what that means. Considering our group, it could mean actual immortal squirrels or just really old ones. Hard to say with the amount of magic on this rock. Squirrels can live up to twenty years or more if really well cared for, though, so elder to them could just mean hit two decades.¡± Ethel answered to the best of her current ability. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Is the path to the next grove just a straight shot down this tunnel?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Yes, why?¡± Ethel had one of her eyebrows raised as she stared at Cal. ¡°Someone needs to scout ahead, and I¡¯m the best person for the job. I¡¯ve got a lot of shadow mana I haven¡¯t really played around much with, and this seems like a good time to test it. Everyone wait here. Give me about an hour or so to get back. If I¡¯m not back, but the loop hasn¡¯t restarted, well, make your own best decision, I guess. Jen and Dad are going to likely have a good idea on what to do. See you in a bit.¡± Cal started down the tunnel before anyone could complain about his complete lack of plan. ¡°Alright, how does this work?¡± Cal thought to himself as he quietly moved down the tunnel. He started channeling some of the shadow mana around himself, trying to disappear into the darkness. He hoped whatever he was going to encounter didn¡¯t have any senses that got around his shadows, but for now, this was the best he had. As he moved further down the tunnel, he saw some sort of obstruction across the path in the distance. Was there a cave-in? Unsure he moved closer and realized that it was a constructed wall with a gate on it. Not at all what he had been expecting, and this made it much harder to sneak inside, but Cal had an idea. He knocked hard on the door twice and moved back to the cavern side, covering himself in deep shadow while he waited and watched. The door swung open, and a large squirrel''s head poked through. While not human size, the head was still at least five times the size of any squirrel he had seen down here. ¡°Who¡¯s there? We heard you knock!¡± The squirrel spoke loudly. That was even more interesting. While Cal had encountered his fair share of speaking animals, this was still unexpected. It reminded him of his first encounter with Many Legs and Many Eyes. Had some of the squirrels been changed by the pool and just decided to cut off contact? That didn¡¯t explain why the scouts had totally disappeared, though. Cal walked in front of the door, not dropping his shadows. ¡°Hello, I¡¯ve come for an inspection.¡± He had no idea what he was doing but figured it couldn¡¯t hurt. Everyone panicked at inspections. ¡°What, really? Hrm, why the shadow routine? What that hell happened out there to make that needed?¡± Cal now got a good look at the rest of the squirrel and its body matched the size of the head. This was either an alien squirrel or something that had been exposed to magic. ¡°The invaders above have taken more of the groves, and I did not wish to alert the lessers as I passed their groves. The tunnels are becoming more dangerous.¡± He answered, hoping they weren¡¯t aligned with the Gryalth. ¡°Dammit, well, get in here, the sheriff will want to see you. Why¡¯d the governor send you so early anyway?¡± It stepped away from the door allowing Cal inside. ¡°We need to assess our various strengths at the groves in case something drastic happens.¡± Cal stepped inside and looked at the grove in front of him. His rage started to boil at the sight. The larger squirrels had enslaved the smaller ones. He had his answer to why the scouts hadn¡¯t returned now. Now, how did he solve this before Ethel got here even angrier than he was? Loop 254 - A Moment of Chaos ¡°No, Scrump, the kittens cannot play in the kitchens. The capybaras have lodged several complaints, and can you please tell Cindy I need to see her if you see her first. Two of her hares decided to jump into the void space and see if they could swim in it.¡± Gus shrieked in panic mode as he tossed a clipboard onto the table. ¡°Could they swim?¡± Mother Scrump asked. ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not the point. Ethel is going to kill us if we can¡¯t watch the grounds on her first long trip away. So please get your kittens back to their area. I¡¯m going to take Trashcat and track down the goat. Many Legs is trying to figure out where Captain Lightspeed somehow disappeared to.¡± Gus explained his panic not having lessened. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°You lost a horse, and you are worried about the kittens!¡± The older cat laughed. ¡°Yes, I am worried about everything. I see how this job drives people insane!¡± Gus grabbed two more clipboards as he ran from the room, ignoring Mother Scrump''s continued laughter. Loop 254 - Part 61 Cal glanced back to the guard who had let him. They didn¡¯t look armed in any way. He also couldn¡¯t sense any mana coming from within it. He had decided on a course of action and quickly scanned the immediate area before starting it. There were two more guard squirrels near him and at least five driving, ordering about the smaller squirrels. It looked like the small ones were divided into two camps. One was gathering fruit. The other was mining some sort of stone. He started by studying the group that was harvesting fruit from the trees. This was the bigger group, with thousands of squirrels loading apples and a few other unfamiliar items into baskets. Each of the squirrels was fit with a small metal collar. Cal guessed that was used to keep them in line. He reached out again, trying to determine anything magical about them, and was surprised to feel a slight shock in his head when he touched one. An alarm sounded across the grove. ¡°Oops,¡± he thought to himself, realizing that he had set off some kind of anti-tampering or channeling detection in the collars. That probably meant even if these ones couldn¡¯t channel, there were squirrels that could. Cal spotted the squirrel that had been leading him to reach for a club on its side while staring daggers at him. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to put your hands behind your head and lay flat on the ground,¡± it said as it pulled the club out and did its best to appear menacing. ¡°No, thank you.¡± Cal had no intention of surrendering and instead kicked a chunk of rock he had pulled up from the ground hard into the squirrel. He followed it up by rocketing himself into the squirrel. The squirrel shrieked in pain and surprise and tried to swing the club at Cal. Cal caught it. Ignoring the pain now throbbing through his palm, he channeled lightning into the club, causing it to explode in a blind flash of splinters. The squirrel further yelped in pain and fell to the ground, holding its hand to its chest. The other two guards were rushing towards them, weapons drawn. One of them had something that looked suspiciously like a crossbow mixed with a gun. Not wanting to wait to see just what it could do, Cal shot an arc of lightning at the squirrel and then spread the shadows around him out to darken a wider area. It was time to liberate some squirrels. ¡°So here¡¯s the deal: entirely willing to let everyone who surrenders live. I need information about what¡¯s going on down here, and you all have it. You¡¯ve already seen me take down two of you and cover the place in shadow without breaking a sweat. Do you really want to fight me?¡± No one answered immediately. ¡°Oh, Come on, you seriously all want to fight me? What has Pluto come to? Mutated giant squirrels can¡¯t even understand when they are seriously outclassed? Well, you all better be happy this is happening before Ethel or Frank get here. I¡¯m much nicer, probably, maybe, you know, I¡¯m actually not sure anymore.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Cal dropped the shadow and counted the larger squirrels he could now see. He was up to nine. They all had weapons drawn, and two of them were fast enough to get shots off at him before he could raise the shadows again. He threw himself to the ground in the same action as rechanneling the shadows. It wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge both of the projectiles. He felt something hit his shoulder and pass straight through it. It landed with a clang somewhere in the distance. He was pretty sure he had just been hit by gunpowder-powered arrows, and it hurt like hell. ¡°If you aren¡¯t a giant squirrel fighting me, run. I promise I¡¯ll get your collars off shortly!¡± Cal screamed into his own darkness. He silently counted to ten, and that channeled a series of lightning balls all around him. While he poured mana into them he was also making a hole in the ground below himself. As soon as it was deep enough he took a deep breath, closed the hole, and then released the charged lightning balls. The world above him was rocked by a series of explosions. He felt the vibrations pass through his safety hole. His teeth still rattled. He removed the cap on his hole and leaped back out. Most of the shadow had dispersed in the blasts of lightning he had unleashed. He drew what remained back into himself and looked around. He didn¡¯t see a single standing giant squirrel, and somehow, despite the force he used, every single one of them still looked to be breathing on the ground. He was glad he had done the lightning bombs now that he understood just how tough these things were. He immediately got to work finding some material to bind them all before any of them regained enough of their senses to resume the attack. ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Yelled an old cranky voice from the entrance just as Cal had finished tying up the squirrels. ¡°How did you manage to get in a fight with the squirrels.¡± ¡°They started it, Ethel. I''m glad you¡¯re all here. Can you go work on getting those collars off the little guys? The big ones have them enslaved, and from what I can gather, there are other groves that this has happened to as well. So I think we¡¯ve got some more goals to add to our checklist of things to do here.¡± Cal walked over to his family and friends as he spoke. Their squirrel guides came behind the group and surveyed the scene. They quickly darted towards the collared squirrels, probably in search of their missing colony members, cal thought. ¡°Ethel, Frank, Stan, go start working on the squirrels. Onelder does whatever Cal needs help with. Albert, you¡¯re with me. Let¡¯s get this door functional again. Who knows what attention Cal has attracted.¡± Jen¡¯s military experience had clearly kicked in again. ¡°Huh, yeah, that''s good thinking. Onelder, come on, we should probably check out the other walls and the scattered buildings.¡± Cal waved the alien over. Loop 254 - Part 62 Cal found no other larger squirrels in the search, but he did find several caches of weapons and food. He guessed they really were preparing for war with the Gryalth. If only they hadn¡¯t been enslaving the other groves to do so, he could have gotten behind the effort. Now, he was stuck with deciding what to do with them. ¡°So I don¡¯t really know what we should do with them. We don¡¯t have the infrastructure here for prisons, and we have no real contact back with Earth to ship them back there. I¡¯d also prefer not just to execute them. Any ideas?¡± Cal was speaking to Onelder, Stan, and Ethel. Frank had been recruited for further wall reinforcement with Albert. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and make contact with Tiffany. Ultimately, it should be the squirrels'' decisions on what to do with their oppressors. Personally, though, I vote for imprisonment. A surprising number of enemies have turned useful so far.¡± Ethel finished speaking and began her walk to the nearest shore. ¡°I have a feeling we just found ourselves involved in a squirrel war.¡± Stan laughed slightly, despite the very real situation. ¡°We have a decade to figure this all out at most and figure out how the hell to get ourselves back to Earth, preferably without cutting the loop short. That probably gives us plenty of time to scour the depths of Pluto, broker a peace treaty, and infiltrate a hostile alien base, right?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t expecting an answer to his question. He was reasonably sure they could do the first two things, assuming the Gryalth didn¡¯t invade the underground in force. He still wasn¡¯t sure what they would do about the above-ground base when the time came. He pushed the worries aside. There was plenty of time for those thoughts later. Ethel had returned with a large crab in tow. ¡°Tiffany says the giant squirrels are a new development, at least since the last time he had been here. He¡¯s passed word to the squirrels that we wish to speak to any elders that remain, and apparently, there are still several. They are being gathered and brought to us. Can someone find Albert? I would like to offer them a nice meal after we finish talking.¡± Ethel was glancing back and forth, looking for the Capybara. ¡°I¡¯ve got it. I wanted to check in on Jen anyway.¡± Stan said before jogging off towards the way they had all come in. Several ancient-looking squirrels were carried over by their comrades. Most of them looked to be barely clinging to life. Cal was legitimately concerned they wouldn¡¯t survive the conversation, let alone the day. ¡°Tiffany, tell the elders to bring themselves close to me. I¡¯m going to do my best to heal them, but as far as we are from my realm of power, I¡¯m not sure how effective it will be.¡± Ethel instructed the crab. ¡°Wait, since when can you heal people, Ethel?¡± Cal had no idea she could do that. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I can¡¯t. I can accelerate the natural healing of animals somewhat. It¡¯s mostly from the energy that radiates in my realm, but my body has started building up stores of it, and my core has started to generate a tiny amount of the mana directly,¡± she answered. Cal watched as the elderly squirrels were gently laid down in front of her, and she carefully touched each one exactly once on the head. He saw a trickle of mana leave her finger at each touch and flow into the frail, tiny bodies. Each time, the squirrel looked just slightly healthier. He spotted Albert returning with Stan and quickly cut them off before they interrupted the healing. ¡°Albert, Ethel is helping the squirrel elders. I think all we can do for them is to get a good meal ready when she¡¯s finished. I¡¯m betting Ethel will be starving as well.¡± ¡°Understood. Can you go grab me some of the berries they like to eat? I should have plenty of materials to whip up Plutonian pancakes,¡± The capybara smiled wide as he named his future meal creation. ¡°Dad, can you handle that? I want to stay here and watch what Ethel is doing. She¡¯s determined I need to learn more, so I figure I should probably do just that.¡± Cal asked his father. ¡°Yep.¡± Cal hadn¡¯t expected otherwise from his father. ¡°Onelder. Copy exactly what I just did, now, and be just as gentle as I was.¡± Ethel barked an order at the Cyclopean. ¡°Yeah yeah, I hope yer right about this being a good idea. How do we really know which side of the squirrel war was the correct one?¡± Despite his question, he leaned down and began replicating exactly what Ethel had done. Cal was glad to see her threats and minor acts of violence had paid off in keeping Onelder in line. ¡°Ah, thank you, Tiffany. I¡¯m glad that the healing is working. Good news gentlemen, it looks like our rudimentary skills at healing are paying off. Their elders are more aware of the world than they have been in months. Apparently, the larger squirrels had refused food for anyone who wouldn¡¯t work, so the elderly were subsiding on as little food as could be spared. My opinion in imprisoning them is quickly shifting towards execution.¡± At Ethel¡¯s words, one of the elders, the one that looked the most recovered, started frantically chirping. ¡°Hm, yes, little one. I understand. I will inform them all. The elder wishes for mercy. He understands that they were treated horribly, but he doesn¡¯t fully believe it to be the larger ones'' faults.¡± Tiffany relayed the message aloud to the three. ¡°Really? Why not? They seemed pretty in control of their actions.¡± Cal was reasonably sure they weren¡¯t under the Gryalth¡¯s control, at least. There was more squeaking as Tiffany and Ethel silently communicated back. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t like his answer. So it looks like one of the mana pools down here has a corrupting influence on those who bathe in it. It was strongly forbidden to do so, and they believe that most of the larger squirrels were forced into it against their will.¡± Ethel translated. ¡°By who?¡± Cal asked in return. ¡°The keyword of what I just said was most.¡± Ethel gave him a glare for not grasping the information she had given him. Loop 254 - Pummeling ¡°UGH, why won¡¯t you just tell me where you hire your mercenaries from? Is that so damn hard?¡± Melissa said as she hit the Gryalth again. ¡°Mel, come on, not so hard, please. I know you can heal his bruises away, but let¡¯s not get too far into the business of torture.¡± Gus begged. This has been going on for nearly an hour, and so far, they hadn¡¯t received a single answer. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Harold coughed. ¡°Can I see you both in the hall for a moment?¡± He said after the interruption. To Gus¡¯s shock, Melissa was the first one out of the door. ¡°Why are we stopping?¡± She said. ¡°Because this isn¡¯t going to work. You aren¡¯t trained in interrogation, and you won¡¯t cross the lines needed. I am, and will.¡± Harold answered. Loop 254 - Part 63 ¡°So then it¡¯s safe to assume some of the danger spots on the map are the mutated squirrels, and I¡¯m guessing at the very least the leaders are going to have some kind of channeling abilities.¡± Cal sighed. They would need to find the mana pool that was being used for this. While it could be useful, but at the very least, it needed to be cut off from the squirrels. ¡°Seems that way. What do you want to do?¡± Ethel asked him. She was helping the elder squirrels drink water. ¡°I think, yeah, okay, I¡¯m taking Jen and Albert with me to the closest pool. There were no signs of danger on the map. So we go there. One of them gets a mana infusion. Their choice of who. You stay here and guard the grove. Since the giant squirrels were nice enough to make it so defensible, we can use that to our advantage and make this our base of operations for as long as we can. When I return we can secure a path between the last two groves and start planning out the squirrel liberation as well.¡± Whether they had the time or not, and considering they possibly had unlimited time, Cal thought liberating the squirrels was the right thing to do. Even if it didn¡¯t carry over to the next loop, learning how to do it would be important for whenever the final loop came, assuming it ever did. ¡°Take your dad. I can handle things back here with Frank and Onelder; you may need the extra muscle, but otherwise, I agree. I¡¯ll tend to the elders while you¡¯re gone.¡± Ethel nodded approvingly at Cal. ¡°Thanks, good luck. I¡¯m going to grab them and head out as soon as possible. I don¡¯t want to leave you all here without us for too long.¡± *** ¡°Splitting the party is generally never a good idea,¡± Albert said as they walked out of the grove together. ¡°When do we consider the split? I mean, yeah, we just made our party even smaller, but there are at least two other groups of us in different spots currently, and who knows how much Andy has split his own party.¡± Cal countered. He didn¡¯t entirely disagree despite his words otherwise. Splitting the party was always a tactical gamble and he¡¯d prefer this split didn¡¯t last overly long. ¡°Huh, good point. So we are at least the fourth split of void house residents. I wonder if we should work on balancing user classes in parties,¡± Albert said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure real life works as well that way. Strangely, there seems to be less physical rules on what we can do than in the games.¡± Cal suppressed laughter at the idea of trying to convince Andrew of class balancing for missions, not that they weren¡¯t already doing it to some extent. ¡°Oh yeah, I was mostly joking, trying to distract myself from the possibility of the magical powers I¡¯ll have either very soon or relatively soon,¡± Albert replied, laughing softly. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. After several hours of walking they were closing in on their destination. ¡°We may have a problem,¡± Stan shouted back, having scouted slightly ahead. ¡°Based on your shouting, dear husband, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s not a fighting problem,¡± Jen said through clenched teeth. ¡°Oh yeah, sorry, no. Nothing dangerous, just a problem.¡± Stan ran his hand through his hair as he answered, looking away from his wife. Cal jogged on ahead to see just what his father was worried about. Once he cleared the end of the tunnel, it became very obvious: The temperature in the cavern plummeted,, and the pool itself was frozen over. ¡°Uh, yeah, this could be a problem, I wonder when this happened. The squirrels didn¡¯t seem to know anything about this when they made the map.¡± Cal said. ¡°Recent and quickly enough that one of them was caught by surprise, it looks like,¡± Stan said as he pointed to a squirrel frozen into a chunk of the ice. ¡°Guys, I don¡¯t do extreme cold very well. Can I skip this spring?¡± Albert asked. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re good little guy. I¡¯ll take it if we can figure out how to melt it,¡± Jen answered. ¡°I have an idea. Hey, Dad, is Excalibur willing to be stuck deep into the ice at the center of the pool?¡± Cal asked. ¡°He sees where you¡¯re going with this and welcomes the new charge of mana. Jen, you are going to want to stay close to the sword to avoid the pool freezing back over when you are in it. Just make sure to grab him when you get out.¡± Stan froze briefly before answering. Cal wondered what it was like talking to a sword in your brain but realized it was probably similar to the mana spirits he communed with all the time. ¡°Good, please do the stabbing then.¡± Cal started channeling energy into his palm as he waited on his father. He didn¡¯t have to wait long. Stan quickly stabbed the sword deep into the center of the built-up ice and climbed back off it. ¡°Ready when you are.¡± He said once back on firm ground. Cal answered by arcing a strong lightning blast into the hilt of the sword, down through the blade. He repeated this several times as the sword heated up more and more with each blast. Soon steam was rising out from where the sword had been stabbed as it sunk deeper and deeper into a thawing pool of water. Once the hilt disappeared below the ice into the melted water, Cal placed a ball of lightning directly over the sword, letting all of the energy of the blast hit the ice and sword. This had the combined effect of blasting a bigger hole and allowing the sword to absorb even more mana, increasing the heat it was pouring out. ¡°Alright, Jen, go hop in. I don¡¯t think we can do much better long term. The sword should have enough mana to keep this melted for a couple of hours, so good luck and try to make it relatively quick,¡± Cal instructed. ¡°You realize I have no idea what to do, right?¡± she said as she plopped into the still, extremely cold water. ¡°Just focus on the water around you and try to relax. It will come to you. Hopefully.¡± Cal said. ¡°Oh, hi there,¡± Jen suddenly said, completely ignoring Cal¡¯s instructions. She was focused on something only she could see. Loop 254 - Harold鈥檚 Request Melissa watched as her grandfather entered the room alone. It was followed by several minutes of horrifying sounds of pain from behind the closed door. Ten minutes later, Harold came back through the door, fresh blood covering his shirt. ¡°I have a single request. I do not like what I had to do here. I¡¯ve never liked it. I know you want me to become loop-aware, but please do not do so in this loop. I would prefer to forget this new horror I¡¯ve done.¡± Harold¡¯s voice cracked slightly with his request. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, of course. I¡¯m sorry you had to do that, but the information may be critical in the future.¡± Melissa tried to assure the older man. ¡°Oh, it likely will be, and given time to get used to this, I may even be able to come to terms with doing this again in the future, but for now, please allow me to forget,¡± he responded. Loop 254 - Part 64 ¡°Why yes, it¡¯s very nice to meet you. Do you want to come with us?¡± Jen said to something Cal still couldn¡¯t see. He assumed it was her spirit and that it didn¡¯t have a strong enough connection to truly manifest yet. That was something else he didn¡¯t fully understand. The way he had to connect to his spirits seemed to be a lot harder than others. Then again, he had three, and they weren¡¯t all bonded in the easiest way. ¡°You do? Yes, I think that would be great.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°No, I think the blue shimmer is a very nice color. It fits your abilities, assuming I¡¯m feeling this correctly at least. I¡¯m very new to all of this.¡± There was more silence as Jen continued to pay attention to the space in front of her. ¡°Jen, I¡¯m glad you met your spirit, but just so you know, we can¡¯t see or hear them, and I think you should grab Excalibur and hop out of the water before it starts to cool down again,¡± Stan said to his wife. ¡°Oh, you can¡¯t? Sorry didn¡¯t realize.¡± Jen dropped herself below the water¡¯s surface and reappeared, soaking wet, carrying the sword. She carefully climbed out and passed the sword back to her husband. ¡°Damn, this sword is freezing. How are you handling this well, Jen?¡± Stan asked, concern evident in his voice. ¡°Was it? I didn¡¯t notice. Actually, the cold seemed to disappear pretty fast once I entered the pool. I just assumed it had heated up enough. Oh, I bet this is already an effect my little new friend here. She¡¯s an ice spirit.¡± Jen explained. ¡°Yeah, even before I connected with my spirits, I could already use some of their power. Once you form your realm, you can help her pick a name.¡± Cal replied, remembering his own chaotic and explosive attempts at the same thing. ¡°Oh, her name is Acorncracker. She¡¯s been stuck in the pool for a while now. She went in for a dip years ago, and everything froze over. She¡¯s very glad I¡¯ve helped free her.¡± Jen reached out and ran her hand back and forth across the air. ¡°Wait, what? Was it the frozen squirrel? Did they somehow turn into a spirit?¡± The universe seemed to love to prove Cal wrong every time he thought he had some understanding of how this all worked. Was this something between a familiar and a spirit? He had no idea, but he hoped she would still get a realm. ¡°She says yes, and she would also like to leave as she finds the sight of her body depressing. Oh, yes, we can do that. Absolutely,¡± Jen said. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°We can do what? Also, does she know if she can manifest a spirit realm?¡± Cal asked. It wasn¡¯t the end of the world if she couldn¡¯t, but he really needed to expand their connections to the void house. ¡°She wants me to find her family and let them know what happened to her. Also she isn¡¯t one hundred percent sure what you mean, but she does feel the need to release something, but thinks we need to bond a bit more before that will be possible. So I¡¯m guessing yes, that¡¯s a realm. As to exactly what she is, who knows? Don¡¯t pretend any of this actually makes sense. You love to keep saying this is magic every time Andrew tries to define any rules.¡± Jen walked out of the cavern as she spoke, getting her new spirit away from her previous existence. ¡°Yeah, fair. I''m not trying to judge any of this. I''m just talking out loud more often. With Earth so far away and cut off, I don¡¯t have my usual voices to talk to,¡± Cal said apologetically. He hadn¡¯t meant to come off as critical of the situation at all. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. But do think fast.¡± Jen yelled as she suddenly turned and threw a snowball at Cal¡¯s face. He was reasonably sure it hadn¡¯t been there a second ago, but that thought did nothing to help him dodge it. The snowball hit him square in the face and quickly melted away after contact. Jen burst into laughter. ¡°I guess I should add learning to dodge snowballs to my training,¡± Cal said. The water making up the snow had also vanished away shortly after the melt, but the cold remained. He shivered slightly as the chill permeated across his body. He hadn¡¯t felt cold like this since he at the fruit and he certainly didn¡¯t miss it. ¡°Jen, that¡¯s kind of amazing. The cold that generated, well, I still feel it, enough that I¡¯m shivering. I haven¡¯t felt any real cold since some of my training, so I think there¡¯s a good chance, with some practice, you can do some real damage with those snowballs.¡± Cal said all of this through chattering teeth that he couldn¡¯t suppress. ¡°Any chance you can turn it off? Do you see some kind of mana thread?¡± ¡°Huh, is that what this is?¡± She pointed to something. Cal was able to ascertain some of the flow source, but the thread itself was still invisible to him. Jen grabbed something and ripped. In turn, Cal felt the cold start to vanish from his body. ¡°Thank you.¡± His teeth finally stopped chattering. ¡°So that was what was making me exhausted. I just assumed it was the after-effects of the dip in the pool.¡± She said. ¡°Oh yeah, be careful; your mana is likely pretty limited until you get a core filled, and if you drain it entirely off, it will be like you haven¡¯t slept for days. I hate it so much, though these days, I don¡¯t have to worry nearly as often about it. I¡¯m planning to really let loose at the end of the loop just to see where my limit is now anyway. I may want to punch Onelder every time I see him still, but I can feel his training helping. Plus, this time, we should have you and Albert spell-slinging and dad slashing. It¡¯s going to be fun!¡± Cal gave her a giant smile. Loop 254 - Part 65 Upon returning to the grove, they found it much the same as it had been when they left. The biggest difference Cal could spot was the reinforcement of the walls. It looked like Frank had been hauling stone back and forth from the moment they left to manage the level of increased fortification he saw. ¡°Good job Frank, you build those walls!¡± He yelled encouragement to the giant tree man as he passed. ¡°Frank will build walls so mighty that even Frank could not smash!¡± Frank yelled in return. ¡°Do you know where Ethel is? I wanted to check on her progress with the elders.¡± Cal asked. ¡°In that large building over there,¡± Frank pointed to the building he was referencing. Cal made his way into the building and found Ethel tending to the elderly squirrels. All of them were still breathing, which Cal was glad to see. ¡°Good news, Ethel, Jen has ice powers. The weird news part, she seemed to bond a squirrel that had been frozen into the ice as her spirit. She is looking for the squirrel¡¯s family to say their goodbyes, but after that¡¯s done, I want to head to the dangerous area on the map. That means we all head out, assuming the squirrels are safe enough for you to leave them. I think we guess what the danger means now, and I¡¯d like to get Albert to a spring as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Hrmph, just assumed I wanted to hear you say that much without even asking how I¡¯m doing. And here I thought you had finally become less rude, but yes, the elders should be fine without me at this point. Not that I could do much more anyway. I wish I could bring them to my realm. That would be the real key to their health. Now that said, I¡¯ve already spoken to them about the dangerous areas, and despite what you may think, it¡¯s apparently not the mutated squirrels. There¡¯s something else that infected the groves there. The translation is hard, but I¡¯m guessing something like fungus zombies. So we are probably in for a large fight.¡± She said ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t expecting that. Add it to the ever-growing list of problems I suppose. When you¡¯re ready, meet up with the rest of us at the city center.¡± Cal said as he turned to leave. ¡°Really, your rudeness has made you even forget to say goodbye. I can beat manners into you if I have to.¡± Ethel called after him. ¡°You can try,¡± Cal responded before exiting the building to the sound of Ethel¡¯s laughter. *** ¡°So, zombie fungus? What does that even mean? Are we about to be fighting undead mushrooms?¡± Stan asked as they left the grove towards whatever uncertain battle was coming. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°How should I know? I¡¯m working through a crab who left Earth during the reign of Arthur. This all doesn¡¯t translate well.¡± Ethel said with a huff. ¡°Frank wants to smash puny mushrooms, zombie or not. They shall feel the wrath of Frank¡¯s flying elbow!¡± Frank accentuated his claim by dropping to his knee and holding his elbow out in front of him. ¡°Everyone, stop!¡± Cal yelled. He felt something crawl across his skin, and it filled him with disgust. He was reasonably sure he had just walked through a mana thread that had done it, but he had never felt anything like this from any other source or spell. He was fighting an urge to throw up. ¡°Did anyone else feel that?¡± He managed to ask without losing the remains of his breakfast. ¡°Feel what?¡± Stan asked. He was answered by the sound of Oneler not managing to hold down the waves of nausea that were also sweeping Cal now. He was then joined by Jen and Ethel. ¡°That, I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s only affecting those of that can channel, seeing as you, Albert and Frank look fine.¡± Cal focused inwardly on where the feeling was originating inside himself. There, around his mana channels slowly marching towards his core, he found them. Countless tiny spider-like creatures walking a little, and then stopping to take a bite of his mana flows and then resuming their walks. ¡°Dad, ugh.¡± Cal finally gave in to his urges. All around them the others had started collapsing to the ground. ¡°Stab me with the sword. I know this sounds insane, but I''m pretty sure it¡¯s that, or we all restart the loop.¡± Stan pulled out Excalibur and did exactly as his son asked, pushing the blade a fraction of an inch into his shoulder. The sword suddenly glowed a brilliant yellowish white and spoke. ¡°What foul creatures are these? Smart idea, lad, I believe I can purify you of them.¡± and with that voice came an even brighter flash of light that took in the entire chamber. ¡°Dad, pull the sword out and quickly go do the same to everyone else,¡± Cal said as he fell to the ground, exhausted. ¡°Got it.¡± Cal watched his father comply. In the case of Onelder, it looked to be just in time as the alien was writhing on the ground, begging for the pain to end. ¡°Ethel, I know it hurts still, but you need to put your atmospheric bubble around us to stop a reinfection.¡± Despite whatever pain she was in, they were now surrounded by the safety of her shield. Cal sank down further until he laying entirely on the ground and let sleep overtake him. Cal felt himself wake up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. ¡°Everyone alive?¡± He asked first thing, ignoring the smell of food. ¡°Yes, everyone slept just like you, but Ethel¡¯s bubble seems to have held up fine during that. Albert is making food. Get over here and get something in you to get your strength back. Any idea what happened?¡± Stan asked as he scooped the soup into a bowl for his son. ¡°I think we got into the zone of whatever the zombie fungus danger was and nearly got overtaken by the spores,¡± Cal explained. ¡°I think you and Frank may have to clear the chamber alone; they only seem to effect mana channels.¡± Loop 254 - Jen鈥檚 Ghost Squirrel ¡°Thank you for helping me Tiffany; I¡¯m not sure I would be able to do this myself,¡± Jen said to the crab. ¡°You are very welcome. Now, from what I can gather, the squirrels we are looking for should be in this tree.¡± The crab knocked on the trunk, causing a few angry squirrels to appear, chittering down at them. ¡°Mom! Dad!¡± Jen¡¯s spirit yelled in a moment of joy. ¡°They can¡¯t see or hear me, can they? I¡¯m not strong enough for that?¡± Acorncracker¡¯s voice cracked slightly. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Sorry, it doesn¡¯t look like it, but Tiffany is relaying what we asked him to right now.¡± She responded. The two squirrels climbed down the tree, dropped down in front of Jen, and started loudly chittering in their direction. ¡°They said thank you for letting them say goodbye to their child and are currently wishing her luck in her new adventure, even if they cannot see her.¡± Tiffany translated. ¡°I love you too,¡± Acorncracker said. Loop 254 - Part 66: Stan ¡°Albert, stay here and watch over everyone. Get a big meal going. They will need it to regain their strength. Frank, you ready to fight some zombie somethings?¡± Stan asked the giant of a man who was currently tending to Ethel. In contrast to his size and usual mannerisms he was gently laying her head on a pillow and making sure she was comfortable as she slept. ¡°Frank is always ready to thwart those who hurt his mother!¡± Came his eventual answer. Stan wondered when he had learned the word thwart. ¡°Good, because it¡¯s just you and me, and considering how new I am to this sword, a lot of this is probably going to be just you. Think you can handle it if things get rough?¡± Stan was worried about his own abilities. The mana spirits may not have come with much of a guide either, but at this point, they had enough experience to guide people through the bonding. Excalibur was brand new territory in the weird, long life their time loops had given them. ¡°Frank will not fall to puny zombies, but if Stan needs it, Frank will remove him to safety before returning to crush all that stand before him!¡± Frank dropped into one of his signature wrestling poses following the exclamation. ¡°Alright, big guy, but promise me you will retreat as well if things get too tough. I don¡¯t want to have to deal with Ethel if we lose you for the rest of the loop.¡± The idea of her yelling at him for the next twenty years was not a pleasant thought. ¡°You sound like mom, but okay¡­¡± Frank¡¯s usual tone deflated slightly as he responded. ¡°Thank you, let¡¯s go smash some zombies, buddy.¡± Stan gave him his best smile. Even if he didn¡¯t feel the thrill himself at the moment, there was no reason to stop Frank from enjoying himself. Frank roared in response. Soon Stan was poking his head around the corner into the next chamber, looking for the source of their current issue. He wasn¡¯t sure if he had spotted that exactly, but they had found something. The room had at least four large mushroom creatures. Despite being the size of Frank, they were nowhere near as humanoid in appearance. They had bright red caps on the top of their stalks and four small feet at the base of it. He watched as they shambled back and forth, slowly feeding on some of the trees. A slit opened in their stalk, which he assumed was their mouth due to them using it to rip parts of the trees off. Unsure of whether they were hostile, even if he had his suspicions they were, he walked into the chamber and yelled. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Stan, and I¡¯ve been exploring these caves. Are you able to understand me?¡± He had seen plenty of insane things to be unwilling to at least try the peaceful route before resorting to violence. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. None of them answered with words. One of them rapidly shook the mushroom cap until it burst into a cloud of yellow spores that rapidly filled the air. The other three rushed towards Stan with their mouths open. A green liquid drooled out of them as they moved. Each drop sizzled when it hit the ground. ¡°Looks like peace is out, Frank. Let¡¯s go.¡± Stan yelled as he pulled his sword free from his belt and held it in front of him. As soon as he took a further step, one of the mushroom creatures flung some of the acid drool at him. Stan was able to defect it with Excalibur and felt a surge of energy through the sword. Whatever the acid was, the sword was able to absorb the energy. ¡°Stan, I need more energy to protect you from the spore cloud. I believe Frank will be okay, but it¡¯s crucial you don¡¯t breathe that in unless I can erect a shield.¡± The voice spoke in Stan¡¯s head. ¡°You got it, partner,¡± Stan responded. He swung the sword forward towards the first of the charging mushroom creatures, slicing deep into the stalk. He then rammed his shoulder into it as he pulled the sword free, spun, and sliced back through the stalk again. This time, the creature split into two, and both halves collapsed to the ground. The greenish fluid poured onto the ground, causing the stone to corrode wherever it made contact. He hoped that meant it was dead. ¡°One Giant Shroom down,¡± Stan yelled to Frank. His happiness in dropping the monster so quickly did little to cover his confusion, though. The sword combat he just pulled off there just wasn¡¯t something he should have been capable of at all. ¡°Two,¡± Frank yelled back. Stan looked over just in time to catch the tail end of the fight as Frank ripped the cap off the top of the stem and started stomping on both halves of the downed mushroom monster. ¡°Good job. Go deal with the one who let spray the spores, and I¡¯ll handle the other.¡± Stan ordered aloud and then asked internally. ¡°Hey, Excalibur, I can¡¯t fight as well with a sword as I just did. Want to explain that?¡± ¡°I have taken the liberty of slowly imbuing your muscles with memories of my previous wielders. It still won¡¯t be as good as actual training, but it will give you a slight edge over being a complete novice. Please do not expect it to save you in a crisis, but it should aid you for now.¡± The sword answered. ¡°Yeah, I want you to tell me in the future of any other tampering you do with my brain or body before you do it. Understand?¡± Stan wasn¡¯t thrilled with the sword''s explanation for his new found skill. That isn¡¯t to say he would have been against it had he been asked, but being asked was the important part. ¡°My apologies. It has been a very long time since I have worked alongside someone new. In the future I will warn you of all enhancements. Currently, I am working to upgrade your reaction times by augmenting your muscles, eyesight, and hearing. After that, I planned to start strengthening your bones.¡± The sword explained. ¡°Oh, that much. Well, continue for now, but tell me when you get to the bone part.¡± responded, slightly more relaxed with the answer. ¡°Understood, partner.¡± Stan could swear he felt a bit of warmth with those words. Loop 254 - Small Meeting Harold, Melissa, and Gus were sitting in a small room in the void house, having a very private meeting. Besides themselves, only Lou and Eddie were aware of the interrogation that Haroild had just done and wished not to remember. ¡°Alright, spill it, Harold. I know you aren¡¯t happy, but Mel and I need to know how much shit our necks are buried up to in.¡± Gus knew Ethel was not going to be happy about the means that had been required for this information, so Gus was hoping it had at least been worth it. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°The Gryalth apparently have control of a few children¡¯s hospitals. They use these resources to turn parents into loyal servants as they provide just enough healing to keep their kids alive. As far as I could determine, this one didn¡¯t know which hospitals.¡± Harold answered. ¡°Oh, good. News that won¡¯t make Cal and Ethel go on a murderous rampage¡­¡± Gus sighed loudly. Loop 254 - Part 67: Stan ¡°Frank, can you tackle the one in the spore cloud? I¡¯ll get the other one out here!¡± Stan yelled to his ally. Frank just roared in response and charged across the cavern straight through the green cloud into the stem of the mushroom zombie, releasing them. They both crashed to the ground hard, with Frank on top hammering his fists into the creature. ¡°God, that kid is a force of nature.¡± Stan thought as he slashed his sword across the one nearing him. Several slashes later and the zombie fungus was in pieces on the ground in front of him. A booming crashing sound came from the far side of the cavern, obscured by darkness and the spore cloud. Before Stan could call to Frank, it was followed by a line of bright green liquid shooting across the cavern as though it had been sprayed by a fire hose. ¡°What the hell was that Excalibur? Any idea?¡± Stan asked. ¡°An impossibility, but a reality nonetheless. Luckily, it seems smaller than it should be, so perhaps we won¡¯t just die.¡± The sword answered. ¡°Dammit, spit it out already, what is about to kill us?¡± Stan yelled his anger with the sword returning full force. ¡°Some sort of dragon. I may have to revisit the theory that I attract them at some point.¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°You what? Dammit, no, don¡¯t start explaining. We can talk about this later. Frank, we have a dragon incoming, and I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s shooting acid at us. I¡¯ll go in low, see if you can get on its back.¡± Stan yelled. This time, the roar didn¡¯t come from Frank, but he did his best to return it. ¡°Frank will pummel any monster, dragon or not,¡± Frank said this as he charged into the direction the acid had come from, plunging into the darkness. ¡°Any chance you can help with the lack of light? I¡¯m going to need to be able to see to fight this.¡± Stan asked, hoping the sword had enough energy stored to brighten the room they were fighting in. The idea of fighting a dragon blind wasn¡¯t something he remotely wanted to do. In answer a small ball glowing ball shot from the tip of the sword towards the top of the chamber and then burst into light. Stan could clearly see the dragon now. That did nothing to help his trepidation at the upcoming fight. On the other hand, the sight of Frank holding out one of its wings with one hand and bashing his head into the things back did fill him with some hope they could win this. ¡°I¡¯m coming, Frank!¡± Stan yelled as he charged over to help. At the last moment, before colliding with the beast, he turned his charge into a slide ending directly under its stomach as he had hoped. Now that he was this close, he could tell just how horrible the thing smelled. Was it rotting? Was it even alive? What the hell was going on down here? These thoughts all quickly entered his mind as his arms worked to stab his sword upwards with as much force as he could muster. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The creatures screamed in response and started buckling wildly. ¡°Yeah, Stan! Whatever you did, it¡¯s pissed now. Keep going. I want to tell Mom we slayed a dragon in real life!¡± Frank screamed out, a strange sound of joy easily noticeable in his voice. ¡°Just try not to die kid!¡± Stan yelled back as he forced the sword down it¡¯s stomach. The decayed insides started pouring out onto him. He did his best to ignore the ichor and just keep pushing the sword, but to his misfortune, the dragon¡¯s leg managed to sweep across him. Stan was flung backward from under the dragon into a nearby rocky outcropping. Luckily, he had managed to take Excalibur with him, and while his back might hurt like hell, he didn¡¯t think anything had broken. He stood back up just in time to see Frank rip off one of the wings and the dragon throw itself onto its back in a desperate attempt to dislodge the tree man. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Stan forced himself to leap onto the dragon¡¯s stomach and begin once more stabbing away, carving even more holes into whatever abomination this thing had become. ¡°Will you just die already!¡± Stan screamed as he stabbed Excalibur deep into the thing¡¯s chest yet again. He had lost count of just how many times he had done this. He could hear Frank still pounding away from below the creature. ¡°Stan, try to get me into its neck. I used a lot of energy purifying the others, but I should have enough to finally end this thing with the damage you had already inflicted if you can get me close enough to the brain stem.¡± The sword said in his head. ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Stan answered aloud through gritted teeth. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the tail come sweeping in for him, and he quickly rolled to the side and pushed himself to his feet. He launched himself forward as best he could off the gore-coated scales and was able to wrap one of his arms around the floundering dragon¡¯s neck. With his other arm, he plunged Excalibur into the neck as deep as he could, eliciting a high-pitched scream from the head. He pulled the blade to the side, trying to sever anything it could reach. The hilt felt warm. He guessed the sword was working whatever magic it could. There was a loud snap from inside the wound and the dragon¡¯s desperate struggling finally stopped as it collapsed completely lifeless to the ground. Stan fell off the side, Excalibur clattering to the ground next to him. He was breathing harder than he had in longer than he could remember. ¡°Frank, you okay?¡± Frank was pulling himself out from below the corpse as he answered, ¡°Yep, Frank is victorious again; nothing can stand against his might!¡± ¡°Sure can¡¯t, kid, but I think we both need a shower,¡± Stan replied. ¡°Huh, yeah, we¡¯re pretty filthy, aren¡¯t we?¡± Frank examined his body as he said this. ¡°Yep, but holy shit, we just killed a dragon.¡± Stan smiled. Loop 254 - Part 68 ¡°Ethel, how strong is your connection to Frank? Do you know if they are doing okay in there?¡± Cal was getting worried about sending the two of them in alone. ¡°They are fine. Frank is having the time of his life.¡± She said. It wasn¡¯t exactly an answer to the question he had asked, but it cut to the meat of what he really wanted to know, which was good enough for now. A few minutes later Cal heard the thundering return of what could only be an excited Frank. The man was terrible at sneaking on a good day, and apparently, today wasn¡¯t that day. ¡°The mighty Frank crushed the puny dragon and mushroom things. Stan and his sword stabbed, and Frank clobbered until nothing could get up again!¡± Frank yelled the moment he came into view. ¡°Uh, did he just say you killed a dragon?¡± Cal asked, looking at his father. ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure it was long dead to whatever infection tried to kill you all, but yes. We did kill or rekill a zombie dragon, depending on how you want to look at it. Turns out Excalibur is pretty good at dragon slaying.¡± Stan answered. The stench coming off Frank and Stan finally reached Cal. ¡°God, you smell awful. Jen, can you make some ice? I¡¯ll melt it, and they can use it to clean off because god damn is this smell horrendous.¡± Cal held his nose as he spoke. Two baths and a meal later, everyone was back on their feet. ¡°Stan, you are going to need a wrestling persona. If we keep teaming up like this, and we totally should, you need a title. The kittens love the stories better that way.¡± Frank was surprisingly less grandiose as he explained this. ¡°Frank isn¡¯t exaggerating there. The kittens really do love his wrestling stories. How about Stan, the swordsman?¡± While Ethel managed to keep her tone serious, her wink gave away her real thoughts. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡± Stan shook his head and sighed. ¡°So what happens if we hit another pocket of those creatures? Do we just go down again until Stan can stab us?¡± Jen had a worried look on her face. ¡°No, I¡¯d rather not fight them unless we have to, but now that I know what we are looking for I can keep using relatively safe. I¡¯ll have to keep my focus up, so don¡¯t count on it holding up if anything happens to me.¡± Ethel¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t overly reassuring, but it was the best they had for now. ¡°So there¡¯s still one more lost grove we need to pass through before we can make our way to the pool itself. Here¡¯s hoping it¡¯s just giant squirrels.¡± Cal laughed at his own words. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that; Frank has a point. Dragon slaying was surprisingly fun.¡± Stan clapped his son on the back as he added on his own laughter. *** As they finally started to near the grove Cal picked up a scent on the air he didn¡¯t like. ¡°Ethel, should that smell be getting through your bubble? It reminds me of what Dad and Frank smelled like. I don¡¯t like it at all.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s actually not that different than some very pungent fungus smells back on Earth. There¡¯s nothing dangerous about the scent itself; any spores, though, those are being filtered. So far, we haven¡¯t hit any.¡± She answered. They exited the passage into the much more open space where the grove would have stood and likely did stand in the past. Instead, they were greeted by towering mushrooms and carpets of less familiar fungus across the floors. Some of the mushrooms were so large they spanned from floor to ceiling and were connected to both. ¡°Well, that¡¯s different. At least I don¡¯t see any of the mushroom monsters fought last time. See any dragons, Frank?¡± Stan looked around as he spoke. The rhetorical question was lost on Frank. ¡°The Tree Titan sees no winged lizards to crush. Only mushrooms, unmoving boring mushrooms.¡± ¡°Well, the good news is my son¡¯s statement didn¡¯t doom us. Frank, we¡¯ve discussed this before. Every time you say something like that, things get much worse.¡± Ethel shook her head. ¡°So, let¡¯s just continue through here and to the pool. At some point, we will likely have to figure out what¡¯s causing all this, but we have other things to do first.¡± ¡°Agreed. I really don¡¯t like the fungus.¡± Cal said as he stepped over a mushroom on their way through the infested grove. It was only a short walk to the pool, which likely contributed to the problem they found on arrival. The room was also covered in the strange mushrooms that had been in that last grove, including the bottom of the pool itself. ¡°Huh, I don¡¯t like this, but I can still feel mana coming from that pool. I¡¯m not even sure it¡¯s corrupted, just very different.¡± Cal said as they were looking around the room. ¡°So I¡¯m sure ya all figured out that the environment tends to affect the mana springs as they grow. I ain¡¯t saying it¡¯s safe, but there¡¯s a pretty good chance it is. I once saw a pool in a room with so much radiation it killed anyone without specialized equipment, but one dip later, and the kid was fine, hell could even handle the room with nothing special.¡± Onelder pipped up ¡°Are you volunteering?¡± Ethel stared at Onelder. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not a fungus kind of guy. Sides, ain¡¯t this supposed to be for Albert over there?¡± Onelder pointed to the small capybara. ¡°Only if he wants to. I wasn¡¯t expecting a situation like this. What do you think, Albert? This is entirely your decision to make.¡± Cal said to his friend. ¡°Oh yeah, I come from a rainforest, I¡¯ve seen some weird giant mushrooms before; this doesn¡¯t scare me at all. Sure, they are different, but that doesn¡¯t mean bad.¡± The capybara said before walking over to the pool and plopping himself in. ¡°Oh nice, it¡¯s heated. I could get used to this.¡± He sighed in contentment. Loop 254 - Albert ¡°You¡¯re in my head already, aren¡¯t you? I can feel you tickling something in the back of it.¡± Albert kept the words in his own brain but directed them towards a presence he had felt shortly after taking a relaxing dip. ¡°What am I?¡± The presence asked. ¡°Not really sure. If I had to hazard a guess, some sort of fungi mana spirit.¡± Albert answered. ¡°Oh, what are you?¡± It asked back. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m a capybara. Nice to meet you, by the way. I think we are going to do wonderful things together as we learn about each other.¡± Albert smiled as the warm water continued to relax him. ¡°That sounds fun. Can we build a giant mushroom house? It feels like something I want to do.¡± Its voice sounded happy. ¡°Absolutely, just have to wait til we get back to Earth, and we can do a lot of things.¡± Albert couldn¡¯t wait to see where this bond went. He was the first capybara to have a mana spirit friend, after all. Bill would be so jealous, finally. Loop 254 - Part 69 ¡°Do you think we should start worrying about Albert? It¡¯s been nearly half a day.¡± Jen asked as they sat around a small fire. She had managed to start with some of the dead trees that hadn¡¯t been fully consumed by the creeping fungus yet. ¡°Eh, Honestly, you are all doing it a ton faster than I did. It¡¯s kind of weird. I took forever at this. Hell, Ethel took decades to refine her spirit. I¡¯m guessing it just varies by person.¡± Cal answered as he poked a marshmallow onto a stick. ¡°Look, you try being the only person who heard an animal talk. I certainly wasn¡¯t going to tell a doctor I might be hearing voices. That was a surefire way for a young girl to be locked away when I was a kid.¡± Ethel scowled as she explained. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I am glad that I understand this all now, but my young self with this power would have been extremely dangerous to my well-being. I had some, let¡¯s just call them, radical views in my youth.¡± ¡°Just how radical were you?¡± Stan had cocked an eyebrow before asking the question. ¡°Hah, Maybe someday I¡¯ll tell you. Big maybe. Let¡¯s just say I¡¯ve still been questioned by government agents more in my youth than since I¡¯ve met you. I imagine that will change eventually, but it still has a long way to go.¡± She answered. Before Cal could say anything else, Onelder spoke up. ¡°It will likely be easier and less time-consuming to form the first bond as the ambient mana threads in the areas grow thanks to your presence. Remember how I said yer planet had nothing of real interest initially and how that suddenly changed.¡± Several heads nodded. ¡°Well, more magic tends to lead to more magic. Flows build on flows. Don¡¯t ask me why. I ain¡¯t a scholar of how that works, but it tends to be true. As far as I know, this is only your first bond. What I said about why people don¡¯t generally have multiple mana spirits is still true.¡± ¡°Yes, the rude off-worlder is correct. The reason has to do with just how much of your own channels you can dedicate to mana spirits. Famously, Merlin had four, and he was the most powerful wizard the planet has ever spawned, at least as far as I¡¯m aware. My knowledge is severely outdated. Though Stan is working to remedy that.¡± While the voice reverberated around the fire, the source was the sword currently lying next to Stan. ¡°Huh, only four? Really? I think I can beat that.¡± Cal said. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Cal I don¡¯t think he meant it as a challenge.¡± Stan frowned as his son. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure he didn¡¯t, but I don¡¯t want to be the one that meets Merlin one day and not have more mana spirits than him. We already looked like idiots in front of the frog. Even if he won¡¯t remember it next loop, who knows how powerful Merlin¡¯s magic is. He might just remember it!¡± Cal exclaimed. ¡°He will not, and by frog, you aren¡¯t referring to Glurm, are you? Has he actually returned to the planet?¡± Excalibur asked. ¡°Not the planet; he¡¯s holed up on a moon in the solar system. He kicked our collective asses pretty badly at the start of the loop. We are going to see him again ten years in.¡± Cal explained their meeting. ¡°Ah, I wish to come to your next meeting. I didn¡¯t expect to find any previous wielders still alive. And no, do not worry Stan. I will not be abandoning you. Glurm¡¯s time has long since passed, ages before even Arthur¡¯s. I am very surprised to learn he has come even this close to his home planet.¡± The sword almost sounded giddy as it talked about Glurm. ¡°Interesting, well you¡¯re certainly welcome. Man, that just made our next trip jump up on my list of things I¡¯m looking forward to. Back to the other point. Is there a maximum number of safe mana pools? Could I theoretically collect them all?¡± Cal placed his now toasted marshmallow between graham crackers as he asked. ¡°I do not know the answer. Theoretically, I would guess there is no maximum, but you would need to find some way to compact your core further several times over; otherwise, I do not see how you would be able to maintain a connection with all of them, and losing a spirit can be extremely traumatic.¡± The sword answered. ¡°Eh, There are some scary things out there in the cosmos. This group of idi¡­people, and it does pain me to say this, have some crazy growth potential considering where their planet was just a few years ago. Sure, I get that the time loop causes it, but it still makes me wonder if that¡¯s how some of those things got as powerful as they are. I can¡¯t stay much for maximum mana spirits as I do my best never to interact with them, but in the few miserable times I have, I¡¯d guess they have more than five. Hell when¡¯s the last time you saw this Merlin? You even sure he¡¯s still stuck at five? Shit¡¯s different outside this star system, very different.¡± Onelder added his experience on the topic. ¡°That is a fair assessment. There are creatures that were beyond many of my masters and their allies'' abilities to truly slay. I do imagine Merlin would be likely to have expanded his magical pool in the centuries I have slept.¡± Excalibur continued. ¡°Sure sounds like we should add finding Merlin to our ever-growing list of goals. Remind me to run that all by Andy when we meet up. Merlin seems more his kind of person than mine.¡± Cal said. Before anyone else could speak. Albert suddenly shot upwards out of the pool, propelled by a large water spike in the center. Even strange he landed outside the pool onto a small mushroom creature. ¡°Hey guys, this is Shroomy. He¡¯s my new spirit.¡± Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog A very long time ago, so far back that exactly what year this would be in current Earth timekeeping is completely lost to the frog. All he knows is that the pond is nice, and the insects are plentiful. Sure, he¡¯s started to notice his thoughts expanding, but isn¡¯t that what happens when you get older? You start to think about your future, maybe have some tadpoles. Normal things that every animal cares about. Even if sometimes he now finds himself dreaming of exploration of the world beyond his pond. Every so often, his friend the alligator comes up from the bottom of the pond to hunt and they talk about about these fantasies together. The alligator always tells him it¡¯s best to ignore such thoughts. It¡¯s good to just live in the pond. That he, too used to have such wanderlust, but now that the frog has moved in, he¡¯s found a friend to distract from those thoughts. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever just dream of something more?¡± The question came as always during their meetings. This time, to the surprise of both of them, Alligator had a new answer. ¡°I dreamt of something different last night, an end to all we know.¡± Loop 254 - Part 70 ¡°Hey, Shroomy, nice to meet you. How does mushroom magic work?¡± Cal¡¯s question went unanswered as the room began to shake violently. ¡°Albert any idea what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°No, though the timing would make it seem likely related to my bonding.¡± The capybara answered. ¡°Less talk, more run. Everyone out of the chamber now!¡± Jen barked the order out as she sprinted for the passageway. Cal took a final look around the chamber and saw shambling creatures rising out of the largest fungus piles in the room and decided Jen had the right idea. ¡°Jen is right. Let¡¯s get the hell out of here. More fungus monsters are incoming.¡± ¡°Ahhh, dammit, that really hurts.¡± Ethel suddenly shrieked as she grabbed her head and collapsed to the ground. ¡°Frank, grab her and keep running. I¡¯ll hold the things off while we get out.¡± Stan yelled as he slashed Excalibur across one of the creatures that caught up with them. ¡°Nope, no dying here in a heroic defense, Dad!¡± Cal released an arc of lightning across the room into each of the monsters. While it stopped them all in their tracks, it didn¡¯t seem to do much beyond stunning them. While he had hoped for more, he hadn¡¯t expected it. He reached down into his core and grabbed as much mana as he could safely hold, and pushed it into the ground. He guided it deep enough to pull a giant chunk of rock up around himself and his father and extended it far enough to cap off the passageway that brought them here. If anyone wanted to visit the chamber in the future, they would need to remove his newly risen wall. Onelder was standing there shaking his head at Cal. ¡°God damn, how the hell did I ever kill you?¡± ¡°Yeah, turns out being murdered a few hundred times can be surprisingly motivating. Frank, is Ethel okay?¡± He walked over to the giant man to examine her. ¡°Frank, set me down, please. My head just feels like it was hit by a pickaxe, but I can stand up again.¡± Frank listened and placed her back on the ground. ¡°What happened?¡± Cal asked. ¡°We have to get back to the formerly enslaved squirrel grove as soon as possible. That was Tiffany trying to contact me and apparently nearly frying my brain in the process. I¡¯m going to have a long talk with that crustacean when we both have the time soon. There¡¯s some huge danger going on, but it wasn¡¯t clear on what. Hell, the words themselves weren¡¯t clear. Mostly, I just felt an explosion of fear and danger. It was not something I recommend.¡± She explained. ¡°Well, then, I guess it¡¯s time to try something I saw on a cartoon once. Everyone group up on me. We are going to see just how well my control of the rock has gotten.¡± Cal was laughing slightly as he said this. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I think I know where you¡¯re going with this. Please try not to throw us into any walls.¡± While Ethel¡¯s words conveyed a sense of distrust, she nonetheless held her ground right behind Cal. ¡°Here we go!¡± Cal shouted as pushed mana into the ground below them, raising up a plate of stone that they were all standing on. He then started channeling the mana behind them, propelling the platform forward at a rapid speed. He didn¡¯t expect he could hold this together all the way back, but shaving a few hours at minimum off the trip could only help. *** ¡°Next time we do this, can we please have handholds?¡± Stan yelled as he held onto Frank, who had anchored himself strongly to the plate. ¡°Yeah, this is just a test run anyway. Next time, maybe some sides too. It might make it all a bit safer.¡± Cal answered, smiling despite the issues. So far, he has managed to hold this thing together and at speed for nearly six hours. They had blasted right through the chamber where Stan and Frank had fought the zombie dragon, which was a good thing considering several of the creatures had looked to have reformed, but they were gone before any of them had a chance to so much as take a swing. As he turned the plate around another bend, he felt several of the core threads holding it together start to fray. Considering he had started to feel the strain of the trip, he was not at all surprised by this. Gently, he stopped pushing any mana through the threads that kept the plate moving forward, letting it slowly ground to a stop. ¡°I take it the high-speed part of our trip is done?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m running out of energy, so we will have to walk the rest of the way. Honestly, I¡¯m surprised I did so well for a first attempt,¡± Cal answered. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡± Onelder and Ethel said in near unison. At their words, Cal noticed the vines under Frank¡¯s feet that wrapped around the plate, covering a large crack. ¡°Yeah, ya see it now? If Ethel hadn¡¯t patched that up and I copied some of yer power, I doubt this thing would have held up.¡± Onelder said. ¡°Eh, ignore him, well don¡¯t totally ignore him, learn from what he¡¯s saying. You did a very good job, Cal. We couldn¡¯t have gotten to where we are nearly as fast without this. Any idea how far away you''ve dropped us?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°I¡¯m guessing if we hustle, we can be back at the squirrel grove in about thirty minutes,¡± Jen answered before Cal could. Frank lifted up Ethel and propped her carefully on his shoulder. ¡°Frank is ready to hustle!¡± and charged off ahead. They chased after Frank, mostly falling behind, but shortly found themselves all standing at the entrance to the grove. They were met with several small chittering squirrels that Ethel quickly engaged with. ¡°Looks like an army is massed at one of their walls. Apparently, we really pissed off the leader of the mutated squirrels, and he¡¯s here to kill the thing that dared interfere with his kingdom.¡± Ethel translated. ¡°Oh good, that¡¯s probably me.¡± Cal¡¯s voice was full of annoyance as he said it. Loop 254 - Part 71 ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Cal. I assume you¡¯re either the man, sorry squirrel in charge, or the squirrel that reports to him,¡± Cal said through the gate. There was a single taller squirrel than what he had seen in the grove standing on the other side and another thirty or so squirrels closer in size to what he had already fought. ¡°I represent the great leader in all his endeavors. You may address me as though I was him for the remainder of your life.¡± The bigger one spoke slowly and deliberately as it made its threats. ¡°Wait, how come I can understand the bigger squirrels? Is it the mana mutation?¡± Cal yelled back to the party, both genuinely curious but also trying to annoy the creature that threatened him. ¡°Probably. I told ya I wasn¡¯t an expert here,¡± Onelder called back. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s kind of what I figured,¡± Cal called back before speaking through the gate again. ¡°Honestly, big guy, the direct threats to murder me are refreshing. It¡¯s not going to happen, well, probably not. Okay, it won¡¯t happen twice. So how about instead of a fight to the death, we just overthrow your oppressive leader, and everyone gets to live in harmony?¡± ¡°What if I instead feed you your own tongue.¡± The squirrel asked. ¡°I just want everyone to remember that, for the record, I tried to talk through this,¡± Cal said before opening the gate. ¡°Alright, get in here, let¡¯s fight. But and a very big but, when I win this, I want you to take me back to the thing you are taking orders from. I want to take care of this before it becomes a bigger problem.¡± The squirrel¡¯s response was to punch Cal in the face with enough force to knock him back two steps. ¡°Ouch!¡± Cal yelled in surprise. He followed up his cry of pain by launching the squirrel into the air from a quickly raised stone slab. While it was airborne, he blasted it twice with lightning bolts and then let it crash to the ground. ¡°Is it still alive?¡± Ethel asked from a distance. ¡°Yeah, my attack was a lot more showy than murderous, but I bet it hurt like hell. I¡¯m pretty sure he broke my nose, and I really hate broken noses.¡± Cal whined a bit as he walked over to where the squirrel lay, face down in the dirt. He kicked it gently in order to roll it over so he could speak to them face to face. The squirrel was panting loudly, clearly in pain. Cal ignored this as he spoke. ¡°Okay, starting over. Hi, I¡¯m Cal. What¡¯s your name?¡± He asked. His eyes gave away much more anger than his voice did. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Third Smasher.¡± It answered through several more grunts of pain. ¡°Does that mean there are two more above you? Actually, don¡¯t answer. As you just saw, we are in a very different category when it comes to power compared to the rest of you. So here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen. One of my friends is going to treat your injuries enough to get you on your feet, and you are going to take me and two of my friends to your boss. The rest of your flunkies are going to stay here and help to fix the damage that was caused by the occupation of these innocent squirrel¡¯s grove. Understood?¡± Cal stared down into its eyes, watching for any signs of aggression. ¡°I understand.¡± The monstrous squirrel answered as it climbed to its feet. It then whistled, causing the rest of the squirrels to file in slowly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. You all saw what happened. If you wish to fight him yourselves, be my guest. Otherwise, do the smart thing. He said to help the squirrels rebuild while we go on a nice trip, the great leader. So just do it. Where is this healer you spoke of? Standing isn¡¯t exactly easy, thanks to whatever you hit me with me.¡± The squirrel turned back to Cal as he asked. ¡°Oh yeah, come with me. I suppose we can get some of you fixed up.¡± Cal led the squirrel to Ethel and explained what was going on. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll get him back into walking condition, but which two of us are you expecting to come with you?¡± Ethel asked after the brief explanation. ¡°You, and hopefully Tiffany. We may need his translation skills. Otherwise, I¡¯d just ask you.¡± Cal answered. ¡°You can try, but I get the feeling the crab, despite his size, is somewhat of a giant coward. He¡¯s over by the shore if you want to invite him while I get this thing back into walking strength.¡± Ethel pointed to one of the small ponds in the grove. ¡°Thanks. Hey, Dad, Jen, can you start directing the rest of these squirrels on how best to help the rebuilding efforts?¡± Cal asked before going to find Tiffany. ¡°Yep, got it,¡± Stan said. Cal found Tiffany relaxing just below the water¡¯s surface. He waved his hand until the crab understood his signal and surfaced. ¡°Is there something I can help you with, Cal?¡± He asked once his head emerged. ¡°So I¡¯ve got the leader of this war party willing to take myself and Ethel to their leader. I was hoping you¡¯d join us in case we need any help with some of the harder translations.¡± He asked. ¡°I would rather not, but I suppose I¡¯ve found myself embroiled in a new age of magic, heroics, and swordplay. Considering I never expected to live this long, maybe it¡¯s best I decided to accompany you. After all I did help with Excalibur finding their new bearer.¡± Tiffany sounded incredibly unsure of themselves as they spoke. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not saying you have to, but it would be really helpful if you could. All the help we can get on this insane adventure we¡¯re entangled in is always welcome.¡± Cal said, trying his best not to sound like he was pressuring the crab. ¡°I suppose the knights would come without a second thought and I do very much miss them, so I will join you.¡± Tiffany rapidly blinked his eyes as he said this. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 2 ¡°In one year, fire will rain from the sky, and with it will come an apocalypse.¡± The alligator further explained. ¡°Are you sure this isn¡¯t just a dream? And if it¡¯s not, what can we do to stop such a calamity?¡± Asked the frog. ¡°I do not believe there is anything we can do to stop it, but yes, I do think it is true. The dream felt like what you described, and until now, I have not truly understood your claims of a desire to see the wider world. I do not think everything is lost, though. I have heard from some of the birds that there is an island far south of here where an ancient creature may be able to guide us further.¡± The alligator pointed his head south as he spoke. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°So, finally, on the coming of a cataclysm, you are ready to join me on an adventure, my friend?¡± The frog found himself both excited and terrified at what was to come. Loop 254 - Part 72 ¡°So am I going to have to fight the second? And possibly the first? Wait, how does this work anyway? Is the first smasher just your leader, or are there two squirrels between you and him? Has anyone ever told you your ranks are confusing? Because they really are.¡± Cal rapidly fired the questions at their captured guide, not expecting any real answers. He had been reticent from the moment they set out. Cal guessed Third Smasher assumed they¡¯d fall easy victims to the other squirrels and just wanted to get it over with quickly. ¡°I think their ranks make perfect sense; you are just overthinking it. Though honestly, I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s better than when you underthink it. Someday, I¡¯ll figure out how to get you to consider the things you say and do properly,¡± Ethel responded. ¡°Will you, though? It¡¯s been a lot of loops.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t entirely serious, but he was bored and trying to poke a response out of the older woman. ¡°Yes. If I can teach Bug and Gus, I can certainly teach you, and considering Bug is currently off leading a team of dogs on a quest while Gus takes care of the void house, I believe I¡¯ve done a pretty good job there.¡± Ethel wasn¡¯t taking the bait and just smiled back at him as she praised her students and family. ¡°Bug really has come a long way, hasn¡¯t she?¡± Thinking about his sister made Cal realize how much he missed her. She had usually spent the loops with him, a constant presence he had grown used to. ¡°She has, and I am very proud to have taught her. That dog will one day outshine us all. I hope she¡¯s doing alright at protecting the others. It wouldn¡¯t do her good to fail in her first real solo mission.¡± Ethel said. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯s doing her best. Hey, Third Smasher, how much longer?¡± Cal called to the squirrel, mostly because he wanted to remind them they were there, as the squirrel had gotten further ahead than he liked. Just as he said that, several armed squirrels popped out of a crack in the ceiling. Cal was sure it hadn¡¯t been wide enough for this ambush moments before, but he had more important things to occupy his thoughts now. ¡°Attack!¡± Third Smasher yelled as he turned to join his comrades. ¡°This is a stupid idea. I¡¯ve already beaten you once. If every squirrel drops their weapons and surrenders now, everyone gets to live!¡± Cal snarled, his anger overtaking him. While he had expected Third Smasher to betray them eventually, he at least had assumed the squirrel would wait until they reached their home. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The squirrels ignored Cal and surged forward. He counted ten of them from Third Smasher. He started to channel a blast of lightning just as Ethel screamed behind him, breaking his train of thought. ¡°Enough!¡± Plants shot up out of every crack in the passageway. Their vines entangled each of the squirrels where they stood. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this pointless fighting. Do any of you understand he was just going to kill you? Third Smasher was beaten without Cal even breaking a sweat, and yet you are willing to try again and just throw your lives away? Pathetic. Drop your weapons, or I have the vines squeeze harder.¡± Ethel¡¯s voice dripped with vitriol on each word. None of the squirrels immediately listened. Most of them continued to struggle against their bonds. ¡°I said now!¡± Ethel screamed at them as the vines tightened around all of them. This time, all of their weapons clattered to the ground. Several of the squirrels looked to be having trouble breathing. ¡°Good. Now, do you perhaps understand there¡¯s a staggering power imbalance between us? Is that something you are able to register?¡± Ethel said this calmly as she walked up to where Third Smasher was pinned to the cave wall. She stared him directly in the eyes as she continued. ¡°I will be removing the vines holding you, and only you and you will resume guiding us to where we were going in the first place. If we aren¡¯t back here in twelve hours, my plant friends will be forced to execute your soldiers and then alert my son of what has happened to us. I assume, despite your deficiencies, you can imagine what he looks like in a rage. Nod if you understand me.¡± Third Smasher nodded. ¡°Good. You see, unlike us he¡¯s killed a dragon. So It¡¯s a good idea to fear him. Also, remember this for any future betrayal considerations. Cal may be more powerful than I am, but I am much older and far more likely to kill anyone or thing that threatens my friends or family.¡± She waved her hand, causing the vines to withdraw and Third Smasher to drop to the cavern floor, gasping for air. The other vines in the room loosened just enough for the squirrels to breathe comfortably again. Third Smasher stood up. ¡°Please follow me. If we hurry, we can be there in under an hour,¡± he said much more meekly than he had spoken before as he climbed up through the crack the squirrels had come through. ¡°After you,¡± Ethel said to Cal. ¡°Thanks, that was probably the better way to handle it,¡± Cal said as he raised up the stone they were standing on to allow the three of them to follow after the squirrel into the new passage easily. ¡°This explains how they are moving so easily around. It looks like they have their own set of corridors adjacent to the main ones, and at least one of them is skilled enough in mana manipulation to widen the cracks,¡± Ethel said as she looked around the tunnel. ¡°Think your vines will be able to hold them if they can channel?¡± Cal asked. He wasn¡¯t overly concerned. The squirrels were likely terrified of Ethel enough that they wouldn¡¯t give chase anyway. ¡°Yes,¡± Was all she said in answer. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 3 On their third day away from the pond, the frog began to miss his home. He had never been so far away before and could hardly believe that their journey had finally come. ¡°Alligator, do you know how far it is to the island?¡± The frog asked. ¡°No, but in my youth, I knew a young bird who would sometimes visit our pond. If my memory serves me, we should be heading in the direction of their roost. I believe they will be able to guide us further.¡± He answered. ¡°What makes this bird so special compared to the ones who currently visit?¡± Frog asked further. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°If they have grown to the size of their parents, who I once glimpsed from afar, then they will be the largest bird you have ever set your eyes on. Should they be willing to help, they are likely even large enough to transport us to our destination.¡± The alligator swished his tail as he spoke. ¡°Do you really think they will help us?¡± The frog was full of questions today. It kept his mind occupied away from the strangeness of the wider world. ¡°Considering how much you remind me of him, yes, I do.¡± Loop 254 - Part 73 ¡°Here, we have arrived. Our leader is through those doors.¡± Third Smasher said as he pointed to a pair of doors at the end of the passageway. ¡°And what level of treachery should we expect from you the second you are out of sight?¡± Cal turned to Third smashed and looked him up and down, and he asked. ¡°Remembering that you¡¯ve now had your ass handed to you twice without either of us breaking a sweat.¡± ¡°We are past the point of any treachery needed. The great leader will deal with you, and I will be punished for my failure. Try to prove annoying enough that my punishment is not too great.¡± The squirrel said as he kept his eyes staring down at the cavern floor. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to be honest with you, TS, I just don¡¯t expect your boss to be much of a threat considering the rest of you,¡± Cal responded. ¡°Yes, and that will be a mistake, but I can do nothing to convince you of that now.¡± Third Smasher¡¯s tail seemed to be a window into his anxiety with how frantically it was moving up and down as he spoke. ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s get this over with Ethel and Tiffany. The sooner the squirrels aren¡¯t an issue, the sooner we can go about finding more springs.¡± Cal pulled open the doors and walked through. The new cavern was huge, and a low blue light gently pulsated across the room. In the center of the room, Cal could make out a colossal squirrel half submerged in a body of water below. The biggest shock of its appearance was the two heads that several servants were slowly piling food into the mouths of. ¡°Yes, I see Third Smasher has failed in his charge, and now I have unexpected guests. How annoying,¡± the giant squirrel said as it raised its massive head to look toward where Cal had come in. ¡°Hey there, I hear you¡¯re the man or, in this case, squirrel in charge of these parts. Look not to be rude, but I¡¯ve gotta ask. What is it like having two heads?¡± Cal called down. He felt a smack to the back of his head as he did so. ¡°Can¡¯t you ever be serious?¡± Ethel hissed at him alongside her slap. ¡°Hrm, it¡¯s a unique experience, to be sure, but as I find it hard to remember my life before my current form, I don¡¯t believe I could accurately make the comparison. ¡°Fair enough, so how about we all do this the easy way? No more slaves, no more random attacks. Hell, if you are feeling especially helpful you could even join us to help get the Gryalth off your home. How does that sound?¡± Cal gave the creature his best giant smile, not that he remotely expected the squirrel to agree, but it couldn¡¯t hurt to try. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I suppose I could consider it. There¡¯s no harm in at least entertaining an idea suggested by my guests. Why don¡¯t you take the stairs to your left and join me down here? I wish to hear your story in full before coming to any decisions.¡± It said. ¡°Yeah, sure, that seems fair.¡± Cal took the invite and descended the stairs, followed by Ethel. They took seats across from the great squirrel and started explaining in detail what had brought them to this place. ¡°Interesting. And this time loop you are in restarts every time at the moment of your death?¡± The leader asked after some of the story had been told. ¡°Yeah, as far as I can tell, at least. I think it used to go longer after my death until Andrew¡¯s death, but that¡¯s hard to say, considering I don¡¯t experience anything after I die.¡± Cal explained. He was surprised at how reasonable the giant squirrel was being. Maybe an alliance was more possible than he thought. The help would be welcomed. Even if he had ideas of an army, the eventual battle was still far above their current capabilities. ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to see why Third Smasher met with such resistance now. I would never have expected an intruder to have access to such potent magics. I especially wouldn¡¯t have expected anyone to visit us from our ancestral home. I had assumed that contact long since over.¡± The squirrel reached a hand out and roughly pet Cal¡¯s head. ¡°Um yes, sorry for causing such a hassle to your troops. Honestly, if we had met you first, I think this could have all been avoided. You¡¯re surprisingly reasonable compared to most of what we have met since this all started.¡± Cal felt an itch in his head as he continued speaking. He pushed it aside. There was no time for that now. He could figure out what was bothering him after this meeting. This was far too important to ignore. The squirrel leader then tried to scratch Ethel¡¯s head the same way he had Cal. ¡°What the hell, wait, this is all wrong. Cal, snap out of it.¡± Cal had trouble registering actions based on what Ethel had just said. ¡°Cal, you idiot, listen to me. There is something going on in our minds; I¡¯m having trouble even thinking this well. Wake up, dammit. Tiffany, if you are still here, run!¡± Ethel finally screamed after Cal¡¯s face kept the placid look it had started with. ¡°Did you say something, Ethel? Sorry, I was focused on what our leader was saying.¡± He looked over at Ethel, who¡¯s face was now plastered with a grin. The itch in his head grew a thousand times stronger at seeing that. Was that right? Did Ethel smile like that? ¡°Sorry, I was just wondering where Tiffany had gone. Have you seen him?¡± She asked in an unusually high-pitched tone for her. ¡°No, isn¡¯t he with us? Wait, did he even come down the stairs with us?¡± Cal pushed through the itch and into what felt like mud as he tried to remember when he had last seen Tiffany. He had asked him to join in the room, and then everything seemed weird. Why was his braining being like this? Then, somewhere distant in his brain, he heard something cry out. ¡°Cal, you have to channel lightning into your own head. It¡¯s your only chance.¡± the voice screamed. Loop 254 - Part 74 Cal reached down for the mana and felt himself resisting his own push. If nothing else had yet convinced him something was wrong, this certainly had. Something, likely the squirrel in front of them, was controlling his thoughts and actions to some degree. His anger was threatening to boil over, and he worked to contain it. Then another thought, his own this time, asked why he was bothering to contain the rage. If ever it was needed, now was the time for a bit of berserker-level rage. Cal complied and, instead of grasping for the mana to free himself, stopped fighting the rising urge to attack everything in his way without any regard for anything else, himself or others. The fog that he hadn¡¯t even realized was there retreated from his brain as the rage welled up. He now had a clarity of thought. The creature that had dared invade his mind had to die. ¡°How fucking dare you?!¡± He snarled as he shot off several beams of lightning into its hulking form. To his shock, none of them found their target. Some sort of barrier had gone up in front of it just before they would have made contact. ¡°Cal, stop. I don¡¯t want to hurt you, but I can¡¯t let you hurt our great leader either!¡± Ethel ordered him as plant vines started to erupt from cracks below his feet. Cal was beyond his ability for a reasonable understanding of what was happening to him, the rage was the only thing pushing out the control, and every time it started to slip, he could feel the unwanted presence poking in again, so in a blind rage he turned towards the source of the new attack and channeled two balls of lightning on either side of it. Dimly, something, somewhere in the back of his mind, grappled with the intensity of mana he had channeled into his explosive attacks. This was the only thing that kept Ethel alive as they both detonated, slamming her into the ceiling and then crashing her frail body back into the ground. Cal turned back to the monstrous squirrel that had made his friend attack him and let loose another volley of lightning shots. This time, nothing appeared to save the creature, who was flung backward by the intensity of the discharge. He screamed out, fur sizzling but still very much alive. ¡°Smashers, where are you?!¡± Cal felt several stings as bolts embedded themselves in his flesh. He quickly responded by pulling a stone shield from the ground. His effort was rewarded by the sound of many more of the bolts clinking off the outside of the stone. He turned one of the directions the firing was coming from and channeled another ball of lightning into the center of it. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. This time, nothing in his head worked to hold back the force, and the room thundered with the explosion''s force. Cal was rocked off his feet, and the ceiling began to cave in. With the realization forcing itself into his mind that he had clearly overdone it, his rage finally started to clear. ¡°Dammit!¡± He yelled as the cave-in separated him entirely from the squirrel leader who had tried to take over his mind. He considered how long it would take him to get through the rocks when his thoughts were interrupted by a cough from behind him. He spun around on the spot to find Ethel still alive where she had fallen. She had managed to get herself to a sitting position. ¡°Don¡¯t hit me again, please. I¡¯m free of its control, I think. We need to get out of here before it has another chance to grab us, though.¡± She said as Cal watched her force herself to her feet, clearly in pain from Cal¡¯s earlier attack. There was a bed of moss below where she had fallen. He realized it must have cushioned her crash and helped to keep her alive. ¡°Sorry, the rage that came over me, not entirely sure where that came from. Also, I think there was a voice in my head trying to get me to end the loop early. I almost did it, too, so I''m not sure what that was about. Here, lean on me. Let¡¯s get into one of these cracks, and I¡¯ll find us a good place to hide and recover.¡± Cal said as he helped Ethel to one of the bigger fissures in what remained of the room. ¡°Any idea how far what I¡¯m guessing was his telepathy reaches?¡± She asked as Cal worked to close the cracks behind him and secure up the area they were in. ¡°I think he started to affect us as soon as we came in, and I¡¯m guessing the longer we are exposed, the stronger his control gets. Hell, you managed to break free before I did.¡± Cal thought back to how willingly they had sat down with the squirrel leader despite the previous battles. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. I think that¡¯s when Tiffany made his escape as well. Smart Crab, hopefully, he gets back the others. I have a feeling we are going to need their help before this is done. You know that giant squirrel has to die, right? I don¡¯t think we get to take a prisoner here.¡± Ethel was speaking as she worked to widen the cracks ahead of them by growing vegetation rapidly in the cracks. ¡°Yeah, trust me, I was already trying to. If he hadn¡¯t had any control of you, I¡¯m pretty sure I would have before he fully realized what was happening.¡± Cal joined Ethel in working on finding a path from their hiding place back out into the cavern system. ¡°Sorry about that. I tried to stop myself, but it felt like someone was stabbing my brain every time I attempted to do something counter to what the pressure wanted. I thought my head was going to explode when he exerted full control over me after I had broken free. I¡¯m going to try to see if I can feel the vines I left around the other squirrels to figure out where we need to go.¡± She explained before sitting down. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll keep widening this area so I can add more rock between us and the squirrels on the other side,¡± Cal responded. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 4 ¡°It has been a very long time since I have seen you. Can I assume your visit parallels the ceaseless nightmares I have begun to have?¡± the massive bird asked the moment they appeared before its nest. ¡°Yes. I share your nightmares. I had hoped your time in the pond when we were young would have united us in our awareness, and it appears I was right.¡± Alligator responded. ¡°Since we last parted, my friend, I have gone far and wide in this world. Would you believe that our pond is not entirely unique? Can I assume the frog you have brought with you has also bathed in its waters?¡± Asked the bird. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°More than bathed, I found him as a tadpole clinging to life in the morning dew years ago. He grew to adulthood in the pond. I believe his connection to it is greater than either of ours.¡± Alligator answered. ¡°Good because we have much to discuss before the world ends.¡± Said the bird as it motioned them into its nest. Loop 254 - Part 75 ¡°Good news, Tiffany is following the squirrel at a distance. Apparently, he could feel the probe in his mind and realized what was going on quickly. He learned to guard his mind as part of his duties guarding the tomb.¡± Ethel suddenly explained after opening her eyes from the meditation she had been in. It had been four hours since she had last spoken to Cal, and he had been starting to worry before she finally spoke. ¡°Alright, good. So now the question is: do we go hunting, or do we make our way back to the others?¡± Cal asked. He knew what he wanted. The squirrel leader was far too dangerous to be left roaming while they explored, and he had no other idea of how to handle it besides hunting it down. ¡°We should probably hunt it down, but what do we do when we catch up to it? Other than your rage, which doesn¡¯t seem like something you can easily switch on, or I can copy, for that matter, how we deal with the mental intrusion?¡± Ethel responded. ¡°See if there¡¯s any tips Tiffany can give us. In the meantime, I¡¯ll get us out of our hiding space. It¡¯s just too dangerous to involve everyone else, and I think we have to do this alone and as quickly as we can.¡± The more Cal thought about the possibilities of what the squirrel could do now that it had been in his mind, the more worried he became. What if it tried to make contact with the Gryalth? Or somehow hunt down his family before they could get back. No, his mind was made up. They had to stop it now, even if that meant leaving Ethel behind while he let his anger flare. This all paled into comparison to his biggest fear: what if the monster was able to control him and hold the loop as long as it chose until it found a way to make itself loop-aware or just rewrite enough of his memories that it altered him from loop to loop, assuming that it was possible that was a terrifying danger he had never considered before. ¡°Tiffany doesn¡¯t think we have time to do much in the realm of remodeling how we think, but we worked out an idea that should at least temporarily block out its ability to take control of either of us. And just so you don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you, it¡¯s going to be painful setting it up and even more painful every time it has to be used.¡± Ethel said after Cal had spent several minutes ruminating on his fears as he sunk further into the ground, slowly creating their escape path. ¡°I can deal with pain; what exactly do we need to do, and how quickly do we need to do it? I should have us back in the main tunnels in the next twenty minutes or so,¡± Cal wanted to get back into the action and ignore the new line of troubling thoughts involving an enemy getting a hold of his brain. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You don¡¯t need to do anything, well besides finish off creating that tunnel. I need to put a little vine in both of our brains; it¡¯s going to go through the back of our eyes, so try not to squirm too much. The vines will have enough autonomy that anytime they detect an outside influence on our brains, they will clamp down. The pain should be enough to let us push through any weaker influence, and hopefully, our focus on killing the bastard will distract him from being able to exert his full force on either of us.¡± Ethel explained her rapidly constructed and extremely dangerous plan. ¡°Got it. Keep hitting him as hard and fast as we can so he can¡¯t overthink us.¡± Cal responded, pushing more rocks aside. He could do that with less ranged blasting and more lightning punches to the asshole¡¯s face. That sounded cathartic. A few minutes later and he cracked through to the existing tunnels. ¡°Here,¡± Ethel said as she walked up to him with a tiny green thread in her hand. ¡°I already did mine. It hurts worse than I expected, so be prepared for that. Just put it in like you would a contact lens, and it will do the rest.¡± Cal plucked the small plant from her hand and lifted it to his eye. He placed it gently on the eyeball and rapidly blinked. He felt the thing slowly squirm its way into the back of his eye socket, and then the pain started as it pushed its way up into his brain. It felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing his skull with a fire poker. It reminded him of some of the pain he had gone through in forming his core. ¡°Dammit, that really stings!¡± He yelled out as the pain continued. ¡°Yeah, and it will probably hurt a ton more when it activates, but it¡¯s the best I can do in a short time, now get your ass back on your feet and follow me. Tiffany sent me a mental map.¡± Ethel said. Cal, who hadn¡¯t even realized he had collapsed down to his knees with the pain, stood back up as it finally started to wane. ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯m good now anyway. Where to?¡± He still winced slightly as he spoke, but the majority of the pain had faded. ¡°This way,¡± Ethel pointed at one of the tunnels, and she started down it, surprising Cal with just how fast she could go when motivated. ¡°Tiffany is reasonably sure he hasn¡¯t gone far. I¡¯m guessing his size isn¡¯t exactly compatible with the squirrel''s mobility, and who knows how often he even uses his legs with his powers. Such a waste of a great talent.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s too bad we probably destroyed the pond when the room collapsed. I wouldn¡¯t have minded adding in some telepathy, good old mind magic,¡± Cal said as they ran. ¡°Never mind about the waste part. Now that you say that, I think it¡¯s for the best that the pool is gone.¡± Ethel huffed out as she continued their run. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 5 ¡°A giant rock from space is coming, and with it ends this age of the planet. It won¡¯t kill everything, but if my dreams are right, it will be a very long time before life recovers.¡± Bird said. ¡°Where do we come into this then?¡± Asked the Frog. ¡°Yes, that is the question, isn¡¯t it my new friend? I believe the denizens of the island will provide us more answers, but it is also my belief that we are to discover as many of the ponds like ours as we can before the impact,¡± said Bird. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Interesting, but why?¡± asked Crocodile. ¡°Someone has to preserve what came before, the ancient magics, the lives, the memories, and I believe the world has chosen us. Perhaps it will even be kind enough to reveal to us why someday,¡± said Bird. Loop 254 - Part 76 Cal let off a blast of lightning as they ran past two squirrel guards, knocking them both to the ground. They were likely still alive, but he wasn¡¯t overly concerned with it. He expected there would be a lot more between them and the leader and he didn¡¯t have time to play nice. ¡°More incoming,¡± Ethel called out, breaking Cal from his thoughts. He spotted the dozen standing on a ledge in front of them, aiming crossbows and letting loose several arcs of lightning before they had a chance to fire. Several squirrels from the ledge, crashing hard to the stone floor below. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we are getting close. I think I can feel a small probing at the back of my mind. It¡¯s surprisingly easy to feel once you know it can happen,¡± Cal called to Ethel as they continued their hunt. He had noticed the feeling right before the last wave of squirrels attacked. He assumed the leader was trying to track them. ¡°Yeah, I felt the same thing. The vine shouldn¡¯t do anything unless it tries to take control, though,¡± Ethel responded. ¡°Good,¡± Cal said before raising his voice and continuing. ¡°Hey, giant squirrel asshole, we know what you can do now, and we are pissed. We are coming, and you can¡¯t hide, and from the looks of you I doubt you can do much running either!¡± Cal screamed as he ran. He figured a little intimidation couldn¡¯t hurt anything. ¡°Stop!¡± The command rang out so loudly in Cal¡¯s head that he briefly complied with it. He looked over and saw Ethel had done the same. He pushed past the command as he felt the vine start to squirm but was able to regain control of himself before it jolted him. ¡°No, thank you. We¡¯re hunting giant telepathic squirrels!¡± Cal yelled back as he resumed his run. ¡°What the kid said!¡± Ethel screamed immediately after Cal. ¡°How about I offer you a deal? Think how useful my brain could be in your fight. I could get you the army you need, Cal. With my help you could easily smash through the Gryalth trying to take over your planet and then imagine what we could do together. You don¡¯t have to waste this opportunity,¡± The voice came pleadingly into Cal¡¯s head. The squirrel leader was finally showing some real fear. ¡°Good,¡± was Cal¡¯s thought about that. ¡°Do you even hear what you are saying?¡± Cal called aloud. ¡°Ah, is he trying to tempt you too?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think he understands anything beyond his own wants. It¡¯s probably lucky for us how long the squirrels have been stuck in relative isolation. Imagine if this thing had been able to learn from some Earth politicians.¡± Cal answered. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. They ran on through several twisting corridors directly into a wall of squirrel bodies. Cal skidded to a stop in front of them. ¡°Move.¡± was his single-word command to the group. Nothing happened. ¡°Fine, I understand he¡¯s forcing you to do this now, so I¡¯m sorry, but if you can¡¯t control yourselves, I don¡¯t know what else to do,¡± Cal said this as the squirrels began to charge them. Vines sprouted from the walls, grabbing several of the squirrels moments before Cal arced lightning through the ones closest to him. He then pulled the rocky ground up below the ones still blocking their path, launching them hard into the ceiling and then crashing back to the ground. All that stood between Cal and the leader now were three squirrels, and he recognized one of them. ¡°Really, Third Smasher? You couldn¡¯t just stay in the vines? And I¡¯m guessing this is one and two?¡± Cal questioned as he walked forward towards them. ¡°I cannot abandon my brothers in this fight. However, I understand that we won¡¯t win. Some things are more important than that.¡± Third Smasher replied. ¡°You know if you keep talking like that, I could grow to like you,¡± Cal said to Third Smasher and then turned to look at the one in the lead. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this then.¡± First Smasher nodded his head and, very much to Cal¡¯s surprise, unleashed a volley of what looked like wind arrows from his hand, while Second slashed his curved blade across the vines Ethel had attempted to grasp them all with. Cal managed to pull a rock shield up in time to block several of the arrows, but not all of them, as he felt two of them dig deep into his right arm. He looked to see how far they were in and saw them dissipate, leaving behind two bleeding wounds. It hurt like hell, but he was also a little impressed and started to wonder if he could find that pool in future loops. This thought corresponded with a blast of pain from his skull into his mana channels. ¡°Dammit, stay out of my head!¡± He screamed as the intrusion quickly built his rage again. He shot three blasts of lightning through his good arm. Third, having seen this tactic before, managed to evade them, but the other two found their homes. Both squirrels yelled in pain but didn¡¯t fall. Cal saw Ethel, now covered in a thick layer of greenery, wade directly into the fight and swing one of her arms into Second Smasher with a loud thud as it hit home. Not wanting to be left behind, he launched himself into the air and rained lightning blasts down from above onto the squirrels. As he did this, a mighty wind rose up around him, battering his body hard against the ceiling. Pushing through the pain, he channeled a small ball of lightning in front of First Smasher and infused it with some of his void mana. It ignited and, instead of exploding outward, pulled the electrocuted squirrel into it. Cal heard several of its bones snap under the waves of pressure it had created. Something hit him hard in the back of his head, and he realized he had lost track of Third Smasher. Loop 254 - Part 77 ¡°Get up and fight me, human!¡± yelled the squirrel as the crushing blow to the back of Cal¡¯s head had caused his vision to black out long enough for him to lose his footing and crash to the ground hard. ¡°Dammit Third, do we really have to do this again. Snap out of that monster¡¯s control and think for yourself!¡± screamed Cal in return as he pushed himself back to his feet. ¡°He is all that I know, and despite what your kind may think, under his rule, the squirrel empire has spread, our access to the magicks of the caverns has grown to new heights, and even now, he is planning to make an alliance with the creatures above. Can you really challenge that?¡± Third Smasher danced backward out of Cal¡¯s lightning-infused punch as he proclaimed the virtues of their leader. ¡°Enslaving groves of other beings and using his powers to alter the way you think isn¡¯t something I particularly want to be part of. Add in the idea of any kind of Gryalth alliance and all you¡¯ve done is make me want him dead even more than before. Do you have any idea what those invaders are doing on Earth?¡± Cal spat out in response. This information meant that there would always be a potential threat here in each loop, and it had to be something they dealt with. ¡°Earth abandoned us to these caves, and now you dare show up and threaten us?¡± Third Smasher cut across Cal with his claws, shredding part of his shirt and leaving behind fresh bloody lones. Their words were answered from behind by a volley of wind from First Smasher. He threw himself to the side as fast as he could, managing to dodge the majority of the wind arrows, but he still sprouted several fresh piercing wounds on his shoulder, eliciting a small scream of pain from him. Cal started to spin to fight them both just as Third Smasher leaped onto his back and bit down hard into the same injured shoulder. Cal answered the bite by lightly electrifying his own body, sending a surge of voltage through the much less resistant squirrel. Its arms briefly constricted with the force of the electricity and then released as it dropped off of Cal, whimpering in pain. He followed up by electrifying the air around him in an attempt to disrupt any unseen wind arrows coming his way. His shoulder was killing him, and the arm was useful for channeling now, so he couldn¡¯t afford many more of the arrows finding a home in his backside. The field worked as several wind shapes collapsed once they entered it, giving Cal some breathing room as he started moving mana away from his injured arm. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He wasn¡¯t sure his channels were ready to handle double the amount as usual, but he needed to end this fight, and First Smasher seemed to be able to dodge his attacks using the wind just as well as he could launch arrows with it. First Smasher leaped into the field, slashing out with claws and finding Cal¡¯s face with ease. Cal once again cried out in pain as they raked across his face, leaving deeply bleeding gashes in their wake. It wasn¡¯t enough to break his concentration, though, and he followed up the painful assault by releasing a giant arcing blast of lightning, hoping to give First Smasher nowhere he could dodge. He watched as the squirrel did his best, leaping about at a speed he could barely keep track of, but the wind wasn¡¯t faster than light, and finally, the lightning caught him. It arced through his body, devastating over and over as the squirrelly charred corpse fell to the ground with a final scream. Cal turned back to the leader, who was trying to escape yet again. ¡°Where the hell do you think you¡¯re going?¡± he screamed in rage at the lumbering monster. Blasting waves of force went off inside his head in answer. It was getting hard to think by milliseconds. He could feel the vine trying to compensate, but he doubted it would be enough and reached out with every bit of mana he could muster before his brain turned to jelly. He used this mana to rip the ceiling down as hard and fast as he could. He tried to center it over the telepath, but he couldn¡¯t be sure his vision was accurate enough for that. He opted instead just to rip down as much as possible. His survival be damned; he wanted this cave-in to be the end of it. As the rock crashed down into the massive squirrel Cal felt his head return to clarity. Most of the pain still remained, but a raging headache was something he could deal with. He looked to Ethel¡¯s fight and saw her restraining Second Smasher in the remains of her plant armor. ¡°Can you tie up Third Smasher when you¡¯re done? I need to sit and bleed for a while.¡± Cal said as he looked down at his limp arm. His shirt was nearly destroyed. Despite his words, most of the bleeding had stopped, but that hadn¡¯t done anything to restore any real function to it. He likely needed a medical professional or Melissa to repair it after everything he had been hit with. ¡°Yeah, I got it. Next time, don¡¯t let the bad guy stab you so many times, and you won¡¯t bleed as much,¡± Ethel responded as she moved on to Third Smasher. ¡°I¡¯ll try to remember that,¡± Cal said as he sat down, leaning his back against the cave wall. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s dead this time.¡± ¡°I gathered as much when the stabbing pain in my head turned into the relief of a bad migraine. Here eat this and try to get some rest while we wait on Tiffany to get his crab ass back here.¡± Ethel tossed him some jerky from her pack that had somehow survived the fight. ¡°Thanks.¡± After quickly downing the jerky, he slumped further back and let sleep take him. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 6 ¡°Can the world choose something like that?¡± Frog asked. ¡°No idea, but I like to think so. Can you imagine if all the plants and waters weren¡¯t connected to some great being?¡± Answered Bird. ¡°Plus, it would explain the pond and our dreams,¡± Added Crocodile. ¡°Yes, that as well, not to mention our abilities, assuming, of course, that Frog here has started to develop some.¡± Crocodile grimaced at Bird¡¯s words. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°I have not tested him yet; he is still quite young, and I will admit I feared he would leave the pond as others have before. I¡¯ve grown sentimental in my old age,¡± explained Crocodile. ¡°Well then, I think we know what we need to do on our journey to the island. Both of you climb aboard, and we shall take the skies while the light still holds. Tonight, though, we test.¡± Bird leaned down, allowing the other two to climb on top of him easily, and then he soared into the winds. Loop 254 - Part 78 ¡°You¡¯re sure there are two more pools on the other side of the rubble?¡± Cal woke up to the sound of Ethel¡¯s voice. Everything still hurt. ¡°Yes, but they are draining quickly due to the cave Cal caused. There won¡¯t be any time to return to the others if you want to absorb any of the energy.¡± A second voice answered. Cal was pretty sure it was Tiffany, but he wasn¡¯t willing to open his eyes yet to check. Instead, he pondered what to do about the pools. Tiffany wasn¡¯t loop-aware, so that would be a waste. Ethel only had one spirit. Did she want more? Did he want more? He had joked earlier about collecting them all, but it wasn¡¯t really a bad idea the more he considered it, and when he took into account that his mana spirits grew by joining together, the more he was able to host, the further their growth and in turn his abilities could go. He made a decision. ¡°I¡¯ll take them both if I can. I need to get as strong as I can before this all ends if I want to actually win the war,¡± he said as he pushed himself to his feet. ¡°Are you really sure about this? Can your core handle another two spirits?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°No idea, but we may as well try unless you really want to add a few more to your core,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Perhaps eventually, but I¡¯d rather not yet. I¡¯m still learning to push this ability further. Adding in more complexity just seems like a giant problem. Which, of course, means this is something you will do. No one loves to make new problems for themselves quite as much as you.¡± She frowned at Cal. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go through this again next loop, and I¡¯d rather just do it now than wait,¡± Cal coughed several times. A strong pain through his ribs accompanied the coughs. Looked like he also had a broken rib or two. ¡°Assuming, of course, I don¡¯t just die on the way there. I think I lost a lot of blood. My head still feels a bit off.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s always possible one of the pools helps a bit, so I guess let¡¯s go, but if you explode again after the first one, you are explaining this to your dad next loop,¡± Ethel shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, probably, maybe. Do you mind if I lean on you a bit as we walk?¡± Cal stumbled over to Ethel, swaying as he did so. With Ethel and Tiffany¡¯s help and a little mana channeling to keep the rock steady, Cal was able to get through the giant rubble mess he had made in the desperate last moments of fighting the squirrel leader. On the other side, they found the path Tiffany was referring to, and sure enough, at the end of rested two pools, both over half empty and continuing to decline as they looked on. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Without stopping for a fresh debate on how bad of an idea it was, Cal mustered her strength and plopped himself down into the left one. He didn¡¯t sink into it at all. Every time he tried to push himself below the water, he felt himself rise right back to the top to float along it. ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± said Ethel, who was watching. ¡°I think it¡¯s right, though. It¡¯s comfortable floating along the surface, and the water feels a bit off compared to other pools; it''s almost thicker,¡± Cal said in response. He started to speak more but felt the tingling sensation of mana pushing against his channels from outside himself. He pushed his awareness into the pond as best he could, trying to feel a spirit like he had before, but there didn¡¯t seem to be a mind to connect to. Instead, he followed the mana threads he felt against himself to their source. At the bottom of the pool, they led to a tiny egg. He pushed his good arm down into the water and grasped the egg firmly. As he did so, the mana of the egg broke apart and shot into his mana channels. It raced through his body and surged directly into his core. ¡°Fuck, what¡¯s happening?!¡± He yelled in surprise at the sudden intrusion. ¡°Cal, your eyes are glowing bright white. What¡¯s going on?¡± Ethel¡¯s worried voice broke through the haze that had overcome his senses. He blinked rapidly and managed to sit up in the water as his body sank below the surface finally. ¡°I don¡¯t know, there were man threads to a small egg. I grabbed it as it was all I could find in there, and the pool felt almost dead now. I wonder if that was all it had left from the squirrels.¡± ¡°Maybe. How do you feel though? Are you still planning to go for the other one?¡± Ethel¡¯s eyes narrowed and focused on him ¡°Honestly, I think I feel a little better. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but my shoulder doesn¡¯t hurt so much, and I can move my fingers again on that arm. Time for pool number two.¡± He answered as he climbed out of the pool. His once useless arm was now able to grasp the side lightly. Once he was out, he looked at his hurt arm. Several of the wounds had closed up and looked to be in the process of healing, and best of all, he wasn¡¯t nearly so woozy on his feet, so he headed for the second pool. ¡°Okay, this one feels much more like what I experienced back in the rainforest,¡± Cal said as he slid into the waters. He felt mana flowing all around him in the pool. Every time he reached out to try and grab it, it managed to slip around his grasp. Finally, and very carefully, he worked to create a box of void mana around one of the stronger flows, trapping until he had his hands firmly latched onto it. ¡°Woah, not so tight. Please don¡¯t hurt me,¡± a voice entered his brain. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 7 Frog couldn¡¯t believe the wind''s feel across his body. It felt like the times he had leaped from nearby trees into the pond, except it just kept going. Best of all, he was able to gobble up dozens of flies as they passed. ¡°Enjoying the ride, are you my young friend?¡± Asked Crocodile. ¡°I am. Why didn¡¯t we ever visit Bird earlier? And what is this testing?¡± Asked Frog If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Because I was afraid to leave the safety of the pond. It is a selfish reason I know, and I am sorry for keeping this from you. As for the test, well, in the past, those that have spent time in the waters of our home have gained certain control of parts of the world. For example, Bird is flying much faster thanks to his mastery of the wind, and I am able to control the temperature of water. It¡¯s how our home stays nice and toasty even in the colds.¡± Answered crocodile. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I forgive you. I¡¯m not sure I really would have wanted to leave anyway,¡± Frog said. ¡°Going in for a landing,¡± called Bird as he began to descend rapidly. ¡°Hold on.¡± Loop 254 - Part 79 ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t realize you¡¯d be so fully formed, my other three spirits were a little less distinct when they first manifested,¡± Cal responded mentally. ¡°Three?!¡± the voice said with shock. ¡°I¡¯m not super familiar with humans, but how exactly did you end up with three? I didn¡¯t think humans could handle anything like that,¡± the voice said. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but honestly, I was hoping to make it four, or maybe five, I guess, not really sure what this egg is,¡± Cal flashed a mental image of the egg to the spirit. ¡°But if you¡¯re willing to bond with me, it will likely make a bit more sense.¡± ¡°Hmm, yes, I think I¡¯d prefer that to the mean squirrels. They sucked the other pond dry of its mana, and I¡¯m surprised you found an egg left at all. It must have been hiding from them, and I guess if it trusted you to keep it safe, who am I to argue?¡± The spirit said. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m Cal. Welcome to the army,¡± Said Cal. ¡°Army? Just what did I get tangled into? Oh, and a name, yeah, the big guy has been calling me Sleek. Will that work?¡± they responded. ¡°Of course, alright, let me open my mana channels, and we can start forming our bond. I¡¯ll try to show you my memories as we do this. It will explain a lot, and after that, you can tell me about who this big guy is,¡± Cal answered. *** Several hours later, Cal felt the bond firmly settle into place and Sleek¡¯s spirit within his core. While he flashed his memories to her, she had been showing a few to him as well. It looked like she would allow him some control of friction, and much to his own surprise, he had decided to make the responsible decision and not play around with that kind of mana until he was safely back with the others. He had already damaged his body enough on this excursion. Ethel and Tiffany were sitting around discussing the different types of crustaceans she knew about on Earth and how much had changed since he had last seen the planet. ¡°Not to interrupt your conversation about the crab fishing industry, but I think I¡¯m good, and we can head back. Oh, and it looks like the world seed here is still very alive. He takes a strong guiding hand in raising mana spirits, or at least did before the squirrels and Graylth started interfering. Unlike our previous ones from Earth, these guys are a bit more aware of their abilities and how to manifest them.¡± Cal explained. ¡°I suppose I can ignore your rudeness due to your excitement at a new bond, but yes, let¡¯s try to find our way back. You need some real rest before we decide on what to do next,¡± Ethel said, looking Cal up and down. ¡°You look slightly different, but I can¡¯t put my finger on how exactly.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Really, that¡¯s weird,¡± Cal said. He wondered what had caused that. Sleek had no answer for him. ¡°Yes, yes, it is,¡± Ethel said suspiciously. *** ¡°And why did you think it was a good idea to hop in the pools?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Wait, wait, wait, who said anything about it being a good idea? I just said it¡¯s what I did. They were draining, and I wasn¡¯t sure we¡¯d have another chance to track them down. Plus, are you telling me Sleek here isn¡¯t a nice addition to our resistance?¡± Cal said as Sleek manifested before everyone. Ethel had been explaining everything that had happened while he was getting some food in him. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sleek. I¡¯m glad to know you are all fighting against the Gryalth. I¡¯m absolutely delighted to help,¡± her voice was full of cheer. ¡°Well, at least she¡¯s going to get along well with Bug. Nice to meet you, Sleek, I¡¯m Stan,¡± Stan looked over to his son. ¡°So what¡¯s up next for the plan? The big bad squirrel is out of the picture, and we¡¯ve even found several pools. Do we want just want to try and find a way back home?¡± ¡°No, Sleek here apparently knows where another dozen are,¡± Cal answered. ¡°I do! Six of them haven¡¯t really been touched since the bearded guy was last here. The other six are in Gryalth-occupied territory. I can draw us a map!¡± She said excitedly. ¡°Thanks, but not just yet. You can work on that with Jen while I get some rest later. I think as for the rest of the plan, I want to meet the world spirit. I¡¯m curious if he knows we don¡¯t consider Pluto a planet anymore,¡± Cal said. ¡°Wait, what?! How can you not consider this place a planet? It¡¯s packed full of magic,¡± Sleek, shocked voice cut off Cal. ¡°Sorry, Sleek, I¡¯m sure if the scientists back on earth worked on the principle of where the most magic was, we would still label it a planet, but these days it has to do with size, I think.¡± Cal tried to calm his new spirit down. ¡°Oh, well, I guess that¡¯s better. I still don¡¯t like it, though. I want to talk to these scientists once we are back on Earth.¡± She huffed. ¡°We¡¯ll see. In the meantime, though, I think I¡¯m going to recover a bit and then head out the big spirit in charge here. Sleek gave me an estimate of six months there and back. So I¡¯ll be gone for roughly a year. I was hoping while I was gone, you could take charge of this group and try to scout out the pools and make some decisions about them.¡± Cal explained to his dad. ¡°And the Gryalth?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I think at some point we will need to steal one of their ships if we want to get back to Earth without restarting the loop, but if you can, try to avoid them until I get back.¡± Cal answered. He wasn¡¯t sure how possible that would be long-term, especially if any of the true believers of the surviving mutated squirrels made contact, but it was for the best to delay it as long as they could for now. Loop 254 - Part 80 Cal had called everyone together for a meeting about a month after he, Ethel, and Tiffany had returned from his near-death experience fighting the squirrels. They had won, and the squirrel leader was dead, but even with the extra healing from pools, Cal had still found himself in need of real rest and trying to work some of his new powers into his existing ones. So far, he had determined if he carefully combined the friction mana with that of his rock shaping, he could make his previous rock sleds a bit more controlled. They were still too dangerous to use in places where he didn¡¯t know the exact path, but in open areas and on his way back, he hoped to use them to speed up his travel. The egg was more confusing. After a few days of rest, he could feel a foreign mana source in his core that wasn¡¯t absorbing into it, but he couldn¡¯t actually find the egg itself. He spent the next several days working with Sleek to map his new channels, carefully and together, they found the egg resting at the end of one of them. ¡°Huh, I think it¡¯s using your core as a pond to grow. I wonder what will happen when it hatches.¡± She had said on its discovery. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I don¡¯t think I like it.¡± Cal had responded, downplaying just how uncomfortable he was with that prospect. ¡°Do you think the world spirit will be able to help?¡± ¡°Probably, he knows a lot.¡± She had said. This had been one of the driving forces behind him finally calling the meeting together. That and the question of how mentally free squirrels who had started showing up as refugees. It had turned out very few of them were actually true believers, between the mind magic and not knowing anything else they had been suckered into it. Once the leader was dead, a lot of them felt horrible about their involvement. So far,, they had just been putting them to work on rebuilding the grove they had freed and been invited to stay in. Cal walked into their makeshift meeting room and took a seat. His father was already sitting down with Excalibur laying on the table in front of him. Ethel and Frank were talking animatedly in the back of the room about something that Cal could just barely make out. He heard the words root network extension and Tiffany¡¯s name used a few times and wondered just what that old lady had planned now. Albert and Onelder were discussing techniques for cooking various things, plants, and fruits they had gathered. In his time here, Onelder had taken surprisingly well to cooking with Albert. Cal could almost envision a future where he didn¡¯t look at the man and plot his death. Two of the squirrel elders were also in attendance, thanks to the hard work of Tiffany, Ethel, and the ambient mana being added by Jen¡¯s new mana spirit the language barrier had mostly been breached. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Just as he looked at the remaining open chairs,, Jen and Tiffany entered the room as they were discussing the fishing around the grove. She stopped as she realized she was the last one there and quickly moved to her chair as Tiffany joined Frank in the back of the room. ¡°Well, hello, everyone. I know it¡¯s been a bit since we all gathered like this, but hey, it¡¯s been a productive month, so that¡¯s always good,¡± Cal started. ¡°And I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re all wondering why I¡¯ve gathered you here.¡± ¡°Not really, it was probably just to be able to say that. If there¡¯s one thing you are great at, it¡¯s wasting everyone¡¯s time.¡± Ethel quickly followed up on his comment. The smile on her face gave away her lack of real annoyance with him. ¡°Ethel, you really make me miss Bug at times like this, but no, we aren¡¯t here just for my own humor. I¡¯ve recovered pretty much entirely, and I want to head out soon. It¡¯s going to be a long trip so I probably shouldn¡¯t delay it.¡± Cal saw his dad open his mouth and cut him off. ¡°I know Dad, you really think I shouldn¡¯t do this alone, and the more I¡¯ve been thinking about it the more I agree, but I¡¯ll get to that in after everything else. You¡¯re going to be in charge when I¡¯m gone. How do you want to tackle the other pools?¡± Stan was glaring at his son as he spoke, ¡°Kind of hard to plan if you won¡¯t tell me who your planned companion is, but here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking right now. We start with the pools not under Gryalth''s control. Investigate them, determine how functional they still are and either we seal them off as best we can until you get back or we use what remains of them before someone else can. That will be determined based on what we find. While I work on this, Jen and Ethel will investigate the Gryalth-controlled ones and start planning for their retaking of them. This is assuming you aren¡¯t planning either of them coming with you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. What I¡¯m planning to do is take Third Smasher.¡± Cal¡¯s statement elicited a few headshakes and a loud grunt from Frank. ¡°Second and Third are our biggest current problem prisoners and I don¡¯t want to leave both with you, and honestly I think I can at least bring Third around on our common enemy, so I¡¯m going to take him. This will leave you with one less potential enemy. Any idea what you want to do with the continued influx of refugees?¡± One of the elder squirrels joined the conversation on this question. ¡°Our grove is now perhaps more secure than it ever has been. It¡¯s time to start helping the others. I¡¯ve spoken to several of the refugees and current residents and they are willing to help rebuild and secure a new age of intergrove communication. So we will be working on that.¡± ¡°Wonderful, that makes it easier for us then. I guess everything is settled then. Any questions?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Are you sure you want to just take Third Smasher?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Yeah, I am, and we are leaving tomorrow.¡± Cal tried his best to sound as though he couldn¡¯t be talked out of it. In reality, he wasn¡¯t sure this was a great idea, but it would let him know if Third could be turned in future loops. ¡°Alright then, if I can¡¯t talk you out of it, then I guess we may as well break for the mess hall.¡± Stan shook his head, still obviously unhappy with this. ¡°FOOD!¡± Frank yelled as everyone started to file out of the room. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 8 They landed smoothly in the canopy of a huge tree. Crocodile and Frog quickly hopped off. Frog looked forward to future rides on the great Bird. ¡°So what does testing look like?¡± asked Frog. ¡°With the two of here, it should be simple enough. First, close your eyes and try to picture yourself surrounded by nothing. Crocodile and I are going to try to send some mana into you. Let me know once you think you are seeing it,¡± said Bird. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°How will I know when I¡¯m seeing it?¡± asked Frog. ¡°I promise, young one, you will know.¡± Answered Crocodile as both he and Bird took their positions. Loop 254 - Part 81 ¡°Wake up,¡± Cal said as he opened the door to the room they had turned into a prison chamber for the former Third Smasher of the squirrel leader. ¡°Why have you come to surrender and allow us to begin rebuilding our empire?¡± Questioned Third Smasher in return. ¡°No, but also yes. The squirrels are rebuilding as we speak without the control of your piece of shit leader. Most of the mutated squirrels are rejoining their groves and families, and now, together, they are building up an even stronger community, but that isn¡¯t what I¡¯m here for. We are going on a journey, just you and me.¡± Cal answered, smiling. He tossed a backpack at the squirrel. ¡°And me!¡± declared Sleek as she popped into view in the room. ¡°Ah yes, and Sleek, can¡¯t forget her,¡± Cal added, his smile grew bigger. He liked her constant enthusiasm. It was a good counterbalance to his more recent moods. ¡°What kind of leash will I be on during this journey?¡± Third Smasher asked as he picked up the backup and started rummaging through it. ¡°None, but any betrayal of me or running away means you won¡¯t get to meet the world spirit of Pluto and probably miss out on all kinds of crazy fights on the way. Plus, I was hoping to do some sparring with you. Sure, I¡¯m out of your league on raw power, but I want to learn some of your techniques.¡± Cal answered again. He hoped the promise of fighting would be enough. He really did want to learn some of the squirrel¡¯s fighting skills. ¡°I will come. It does me no good to be locked away in this room for the rest of my existence, and while I still consider you my foe, for now, I will walk alongside you. I wish to see this world spirit you speak of.¡± Third Smasher¡¯s expression changed from what Cal thought was anger into curiosity. So it wasn¡¯t the fighting he wanted, but the world spirit. Cal didn¡¯t really care as long as something had tempted him. ¡°Good, let¡¯s go then, I want to slip out before the squirrels get to work this morning. Follow me.¡± Cal attached a note to Third Smasher¡¯s door telling the others he had taken the prisoner, and they made their way towards the tunnel that Sleek said would lead them deep into Pluto. *** ¡°Miss Sleek, may I speak with you?¡± This was the first time since they left the grove that Third Smasher had spoken up. Other than Sleek¡¯s occasional directions, they had spent the day in silence, navigating tunnel after tunnel. According to the mental map Cal had, thanks to Sleek, they should be passing through a grove in a week, but that was to be the last one on their journey. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Yes, Third Smasher, what can I do for you?¡± The little spirit shimmered into view. ¡°Why did you choose this human and not a squirrel? I don¡¯t understand. The great leader had unified us all together in a way we had never been before. You could have been part of our great empire.¡± Third, Smasher asked. He seemed genuinely bewildered that Sleek hadn¡¯t chosen to bond with a squirrel. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be part of some slave empire. That just tells me how I was likely to be treated. Besides, your leader wanted to try to find a way to work with the Gryalth, and that would just get you all killed anyway. They are doing horrible things to every mana pool they can find here. Cal, on the other hand, wants to stop them. It¡¯s a pretty easy choice.¡± Sleek answered. Third Smasher grunted and returned to his continued silence. Even once they arrived at the grove, he continued to keep quiet. He had sparred with Cal twice at Cal¡¯s request but gave no actual advice; he just fought until Cal had taken him down both times. Cal found the attitude annoying but not overly surprising. It was two days since they left the grove when he finally spoke up again. ¡°There¡¯s something off in the chamber ahead of us. I don¡¯t know what it is, but I can feel it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I had picked up something a couple of hours ago. I felt something a bit similar on Mars, so I¡¯ve got an idea as to what it might be. You should be prepared for a fight.¡± Cal responded. He hadn¡¯t brought it up partially because he was curious if Third Smasher would sense anything and partially because he wasn¡¯t certain what it was. It reminded him somewhat of the way the Abyssal beasts felt on Mars, but it didn¡¯t seem like a perfect match. ¡°What is it?¡± Third Smasher asked. ¡°Likely some kind of monsters, but I don¡¯t think we will know for sure until we get into the next chamber. Keep your guard up,¡± Cal instructed. ¡°Why would it ever be down?¡± The squirrel asked with complete seriousness. Cal stifled a laugh. Slowly, they made their way down the passageway and into the next chamber, carefully looking for any sign of the source. If these were Abyssal beasts, they could be walking into anything, and Cal didn¡¯t want to be ambushed. He carefully snuck a look into the chamber beyond and spotted the exact thing he had been worried about. It was like what they had encountered on Mars, but worse. It was those hellmoose things that had been a big part of the end of that loop. There were only two of them, though, and he was a lot stronger than he was then. ¡°We¡¯ve got two hellmoose, and the last time we fought one, it didn¡¯t go well. I don¡¯t really see a way around them, so we are going to have to go through them.¡± Before Cal could continue onto some possible tactics, Third Smasher had already run into the room to attack one of the beasts. ¡°Dammit,¡± was all Cal could get out before charging after him. He didn¡¯t want to leave the idiot to die alone. Briefly, he wondered if this was what it was like when Andy was trying to give him orders and decided it was best to ignore that thought as he started preparing a few lightning explosions. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 9 Frog suddenly saw streaks of color across the darkness. The colors ran in all directions, and they triggered something deep inside himself. Something was calling to him. Before he gave in to it, he managed to croak out the words, ¡°I see them. They¡¯re so beautiful.¡± ¡°Good, now grab it and feed it deep into yourself,¡± instructed Bird. ¡°Towards the calling?¡± Frog asked. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Calling? What?¡± Asked Crocodile in return, but it was too late Frog was beyond the ability to process his friend¡¯s words. He had released the mana into the hungry call that had captivated him, and in return, he felt it solidify with the voice as one. Something was forming inside himself with the mana, and it felt amazing. He felt more alive than he ever had before. ¡°What are you?¡± He asked inside his own head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but thank you for helping to shape me,¡± the voice answered back. Loop 254 - Part 82 Third Smasher flew past Cal in the opposite direction he had just charged in, crashing hard into the cave wall. ¡°Yeah, this is why I wanted us to work together on this. Assuming we both live through it, try to remember for the next fight.¡± Cal yelled at the somehow still-standing squirrel. Well, at least he wasn¡¯t dead yet. That was something, though he wasn¡¯t sure what, and he didn¡¯t have time to ponder it as the hellmoose that was responsible for Third¡¯s current state blasted several bolts of fire out of its antlers directly toward Cal. He immediately prematurely detonated the two balls of lightning he had been charging in between himself and the hellmoose. They sizzled into an explosion of electricity and mostly blocked the fire from its intended path. Cal hated wasting them like this, but it was better than the getting scorched option. He rather liked his skin and wasn¡¯t ready to see how long it would take for him to heal third-degree burns. ¡°Hey, Third, if you could get snap back to reality, I could use your help as a distraction that isn¡¯t just a punching bag,¡± Cal called back to the squirrel as he threw himself to the side of another fire blast. ¡°My apologies, they are stronger than I expected,¡± Third Smasher said as Cal watched him leap across the room onto the back of the one that had thrown him the wall. ¡°Yeah, that just seems to happen to you all the time. Maybe consider you aren¡¯t as tough as you think!¡± Cal yelled in annoyance as the distraction didn¡¯t seem to be helping at all. Both of the creatures were targeting him with blast after blast. He decided it was time for a new tactic and erratically moved through the cavern, doing his best to avoid any of the attacks, randomly dropping small balls of lightning with every change he had. None of them were in any way targeted, but he figured if he could put down enough, he¡¯d eventually start doing some damage and possibly even set off a chain reaction. This was, of course, assuming he could keep his feet moving long enough. He preferred playing the run in stupidly role more and more. He turned his head to one of the hellmoose that had just let out a loud scream. He was happily greeted by the sight of Third Smasher holding one of its severed horns in his hand right before leaping from its back onto the other. Good job, Third. This gave him a free moment to follow up with several arcs of lighting into the one missing an antler. They sizzled across the air, hitting the side of the beast, leaving behind a horrible smell and a large black mark on its side. In response, it reared up with a look of murderous rage in its eyes and charged directly at Cal. Luckily for Cal, that path led it straight through the minefield he had been creating. Ball after ball exploded across the underside of the hellmoose, and despite it screaming in pain with each eruption, it still kept its momentum. It lowered its head, bearing down on Cal, ready to gore. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Shit,¡± Cal threw his hands up in front of him and pushed as much lightning mana as quickly as he could between the two of them and grabbed hard onto the little bit of friction mana he had in his core. The newest explosion hit them both head-on. The shockwave traveled through the hellmoose as it continued trying to push itself further at Cal. The opposing forces tore its body to shreds. Cal, on the other hand, only felt the briefest touch of the shockwave as he was knocked backward into the wall, which he then pinballed off of deeper into the cavern. Right before he could crash into the next wall in his path, he felt the fiction mana he had channeled dry up and crashed painfully to a stop. At least it was likely less painful than it would have been if he had hit the wall first, he thought. He turned back to look at what was left of the hellmoose. It was on the ground, unmoving, and with fewer legs than it had started the fight with. ¡°One down,¡± he yelled to Third Smasher just as the squirrel stabbed its pilfered antler into the skull of the hellmoose it was balancing on. It bucked wildly, but Third managed to hold on through all of it and even pushed the antler deeper until the moose fell to the ground, no longer struggling. The squirrel turned and looked back at Cal. ¡°Two.¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure, but he thought Third had been smiling for just a moment. Okay, so they had to bond through deadly fights, he could work with that. ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, because we did live through this, but can we work on team tactics a bit? You¡¯re a good fighter, but at this point, you have to have realized you have a ton to learn,¡± Cal asked the squirrel as gently as he could. ¡°I suppose your request isn¡¯t totally without merit,¡± Third Smasher responded. ¡°Thank you¡­uh, what are you doing?¡± Third Smasher was cutting off more of the antlers on the beasts. ¡°I am taking materials for a new weapon. The power in these creatures is incredible,¡± He answered. ¡°Huh, not the worst idea. Wait, what¡¯s that?¡± Cal had spotted a small burst of mana near coming from the hellmoose that he had blown up. The harder he looked at it, the fuzzier the location seemed to get. ¡°Hey Sleek, any idea what I¡¯m looking at?¡± ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s an abyssal core. The beasts grow them as they get bigger and more acclimated to our universe. It lets them pull increasing amounts of power from the abyss. I¡¯m surprised we can even see it like this. Normally, only a world spirit can detect them,¡± She answered. ¡°Interesting. What happens if I take them?¡± Cal was considering if they had any use. ¡°No idea, but we can¡¯t really leave them. I think their size might be part of why we can even see them, and we can just leave to grow bigger. Who knows what could happen then,¡± She said. Loop 254 - Part 83 Realizing the point of Sleek¡¯s words, Cal reached out toward the source of the odd mana he had seen. As his fingers brushed across it, he felt a violent surge across his arm, causing him to jolt backward. ¡°Uh, what the fuck?¡± He asked aloud. The source he could see before was gone, absorbed into his core, and he could feel it bouncing around, slowly breaking down and being absorbed into the rest of his energy. ¡°That felt weird,¡± Sleek¡¯s voice sounded slightly off as she said this. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not sure I liked it at all and what exactly is going on with you? Is everything okay?¡± Cal asked. He wasn¡¯t sure if he should take the second source or not. ¡°Yeah, sorry, just the abyssal mana is doing something in your core. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s anything that will hurt us long-term, but it feels like bugs are crawling all over me, right? But yeah I do think you should still grab the second source. I¡¯m pretty sure it will be safest with you,¡± She continued to shudder mildly, not giving Cal the greatest confidence in her words. He decided against questioning her more and just reached down and grabbed the second source, letting the same pain hit him. It didn¡¯t. The new mana just flowed into his core and started the same process the last bit had. ¡°Okay, why didn¡¯t that hurt?¡± He asked Sleek, not expecting her to really have an answer. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not¡­¡± She trailed off and then hiccuped loudly. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± ¡°Yeah, we aren¡¯t absorbing any more abyssal mana until we talk to someone who knows far more about the effects,¡± Having said that, Cal realized he was feeling something different himself. There was a subtle pull toward one of the passageways in the large cavern. ¡°Do you feel that too, Sleek?¡± She gagged before answering. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s an odd tugging sensation. Does anyone else feel like they are floating? Wait, am I floating?¡± She hiccuped several more times. ¡°Generally, yes. Sleek, can you get drunk because you sure seem like you are?¡± Cal was getting worried about the spirit. None of the others had ever acted like this. He hoped she wasn¡¯t in any long-term trouble. ¡°Maybe? I don¡¯t really know, but I don¡¯t feel as sick anymore.¡± Some of her cheer was returning to her voice. ¡°Are you two done yet? I wish to find more battle,¡± Third Smasher interrupted. ¡°Alright, you want more battle? Then let¡¯s just follow this pull and see where it takes us,¡± Cal said. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Third Smasher said nothing else as he silently followed Cal down the winding tunnels that some unseen force was guiding him through. At every bend, he felt the tug increase ever so slightly through passage after passage until Sleek wasn¡¯t sure where they were. The tunnels were getting warmer as they went, which was even stranger as everywhere they had gone so far had seemed to be stuck in an endless winter. The tugging turned into one final yank as Cal was almost pulled off his feet around one last bend into a giant open cavern. In the center of it was a giant floating ball of abyssal mana. Dark red and black colors swirled around the center of it. The passage they had emerged from was on a cliff far above the floor and Cal carefully made his way toward the edge to see what was below the mana source. ¡°Shit,¡± he said quietly as he peered downward. Thousands of abyssal beasts and even more eggs were packed into the cavern. There were things bigger than any of the hellmoose they had fought so far. ¡°While I wished for more battle, the idea of a pointless suicide interests me little. I¡¯m leaving,¡± Third Smasher¡¯s voice cut through the fog that Cal hadn¡¯t realized had gripped him during their trip. ¡°Wait, yeah, why am I even thinking otherwise? We¡¯ve gotta go before they notice us,¡± Cal said pushing away the incessant tug towards assured death. ¡°Are you sure, Cal? I think we could get to the big ball in the center. It might be interesting,¡± Sleek¡¯s suggestion sounded almost reasonable. Cal shook his head to clear his thoughts further. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. I think that is some kind of Abyssal gateway, and we need to get as far away from it as we can. Ignore the tugging you¡¯re feeling, and come on,¡± he ordered his newest spirit. ¡°Oh, okay, I guess,¡± she said as they started their long backtrack, made easier thanks to Third Smasher¡¯s nose. ¡°What do you plan to do about those creatures?¡± Third Smasher asked shortly after they were back on their original path. ¡°Not sure, why?¡± Cal was surprised at the tone of Third¡¯s question. There was more caring in his voice than he usually heard. ¡°There are too many of them for myself and Second to handle, and there is no one else suited amongst our population to fight such creatures since the death of First and our leader. So that leaves your group, and while I do not wish to bow to your rule, I also do not wish to see the death of squirrelkind.¡± This was the most Third Smasher had ever spoken willingly in such a short time. Cal was glad to see the squirrel actually cared about his people. ¡°Look, I honestly don¡¯t know that even if we combine forces, we can currently handle that many beasts, but I won¡¯t leave the squirrels to die, either. There are a lot of things you don¡¯t know yet that I¡¯ll likely explain to you before this is all done if we can keep working together. Hopefully, when we return, my dad will have secured some of the pools, and we can see about getting you a mana core,¡± Cal answered honestly. He had been considering it since their trip had started. Third wasn¡¯t loop-aware, so it would be another good test of how far he could trust the squirrel. ¡°Thank you,¡± Third Smasher replied. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 10 Frog slowly woke up to the worried voices of his friends.. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the voice could be; I have never heard of anything like that in my travels. Perhaps it¡¯s tied to how early he was exposed?¡± asked Bird ¡°I have no idea, but no one else has ever fallen asleep like this after forming their own mana channels before either,¡± was all Crocodile could answer, the worry clear in his voice. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°It¡¯s okay, friends, I am well,¡± said Frog as he tried to stand up and fell back over. His body had changed while he slept. His front legs looked similar to the small rodents he had met in passing. ¡°Uh, what¡¯s happening to me?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know, but how do you feel? Is that voice still there?¡± asked Crocodile. ¡°Kind of. It¡¯s part of me now, though. It took all the mana and collapsed into a solid structure deep inside myself. I think it may have been the voice of the mana itself,¡± answered Frog. Loop 254 - Part 84 ¡°Good, now see if you can dodge this!¡± Cal yelled as he shot off several weak lightning bolts toward Third Smasher. The squirrel spun on one foot and then leaped into the air, twisting, and diving between the bolts as they arced around him. He bounded off the wall and landed gracefully back on the ground without a single bit of electricity having touched him. The fur on his tail showed the signs of just how close some of the lines of lightning had been. ¡°Interesting. I believe I can now track your lightning paths. The way you throw your bolts charges the air before you fully release them. You should find a way to camouflage that. It will telegraph too much of your strengths to your enemies.¡± Third Smasher said. Their sparring battles had gone from near-silent affairs to informative give-and-take lessons over the last few months. Third was now even willing to have full conversations as long as they related to the battles themselves. ¡°Really? Do you think that¡¯s something anyone could do? Or is a sense more unique to squirrels?¡± Cal asked. The idea of enemies learning to track his moves didn¡¯t worry him overly much. They¡¯d have to relearn them every loop, and he tended to grow his fighting abilities each time. So it seemed unlikely to pose the level of threat Third Smasher thought it was. Then again, the squirrel was not loop-aware and beyond what his leader had gleamed from their minds and shared with his smashers, which, as far as Cal could tell, wasn¡¯t much, so while his warnings were well intended, they were mostly meaningless. ¡°I would assume anyone able to read your mana outputs could do it as well, but in my case, what I am doing is likely only pertinent to my people.¡± Third, answered with genuine honesty in his voice. Cal couldn¡¯t be sure, but it seemed more and more that the squirrel didn¡¯t hate him anymore. Was it possible that the level of mental programming he was under had just taken longer to wear off? Or did he just need time to reflect on the reality of what their empire had been? Cal didn¡¯t know the answer, and he didn¡¯t think it was the right time to press Third Smasher about his personal viewpoints on the fallen squirrel empire just yet. ¡°Alright, I want to try another lightning blast, but I¡¯m going to see if I can channel some of my fiction mana as well. I still don¡¯t have the greatest grasp on it, pun intended, so I apologize in advance for any chaos,¡± That was an understatement. It turned out the more types of mana you could channel, the harder it became to work with new sources. This further explained the lack of people trying to collect them all, but it was too late for Cal to change that, so he had to find a way to push through the limitation. ¡°Fine, but after this, we practice your weapon skills more. I am ready when you are,¡± the squirrel said as he positioned his body into one of the many different fighting stances Cal had seen him adopt over their time together. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Incoming!¡± Cal yelled as he repeated his earlier blasts, but this time, he also tried to hit Third Smasher with a small shot of friction mana at the same time. He hoped it would throw off his well-timed dodges. He watched as the small line of mana, invisible to most people, found its mark right as Third Smasher was trying to ricochet himself off a wall. Instead, thanks to Cal, his feet slipped across the rock surface, causing him to crash into it instead of bounce back off. Before Third had a chance to get his bearings about himself, one of the arcs of energy hit him in the shoulder, launching him off the wall and sliding across the ceiling. Luckily for Third Smasher, the slipping wore off before he fell to the ground, and he was able to tumble into a ball and save himself from any serious injuries. ¡°Very impressive. I felt like had no grip on anything I touched. I believe that is the best you have managed to control Lady Sleek¡¯s powers so far.¡± ¡°Thanks, so weapons then?¡± Cal knew what Third Smasher meant by weapons training. He had the idea for Cal to create different weapons out of the rocks around him and use those as needed. Apparently, just pulling up rock shields didn¡¯t impress Third much when you considered the other possibilities. ¡°Yes, try creating something like this,¡± Third Smasher laid his curved blade on the ground for Cal to reference. ¡°Got it,¡± Cal focused on the rock wall to his side. First, he pictured the shape and design of the blade and then pushed his mana into the wall, carefully guiding it across the sharp side of the blade, honing it as to a razor¡¯s width. He reached to the point where he was forming the handle and pulled it loose from the wall. ¡°How¡¯s this?¡± He smiled as he asked. As far as he could tell, this had been his best attempt yet. ¡°It looks real enough. Swing it at me now!¡± Third Smasher ordered. Cal complied, and before his rock blade could hit anything, Third had already grabbed his own blade from the ground and brought up the flat side to block the incoming blow. Cal felt the vibration of the impact across his whole arm and watched as his newest attempt crumbled away from the blow. ¡°Well, at least it held together until impact this time, going to need to work on something to absorb the shock, too. When I hit you, I felt like my arm was going to vibrate off.¡± Cal stretched his arm and flexed it a few times, trying to get past the feeling. ¡°Yes, you will need to alter your design, likely in the hilt, but I am not a smith, so I cannot give you the exact guidance there. I suggest we break for a meal, though. The smell of the apples and nuts in this cavern are very tempting.¡± Cal couldn¡¯t argue, they had found less and less fruit bearing trees as their descent continued, so they had been stuffing their packs at every chance they found. Hopefully, they were nearing the world spirit. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 11 ¡°Well, that¡¯s new, but I suppose all we can do is move on to the second portion of the test. I have a feeling I already know the answer about what part of you has changed based on your hands, but we still need to see what happens,¡± said Bird. ¡°Okay, what do I need to do now?¡± asked Frog. ¡°Take that mana you feel inside yourself and try to push it out of your front legs, well more like your hands now, that¡¯s what the creatures I¡¯ve seen with them call them anyway,¡± answered Bird. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Frog pushed the trickle of energy he could feel moving around out through his left hand and into the world in front of him. His hand filled with hundreds of water drops that coalesced into a small pool of water in his palm. ¡°Wonderful Frog, you have some control over the planet¡¯s water. Now we eat and celebrate as is tradition!¡± Shouted Crocodile in excitement. Loop 254 - Part 85 ¡°Uh, is that a volcano?¡± Cal asked, looking at the giant structure that only partially filled the largest cavern he had seen so far. The rocky formation rose out of the ground hundreds of feet into the cavern, and there was an active flow of what looked like lava coming from one of the sides down towards the ground. ¡°Yeah, the big guy lives on the other side of it. I wonder why it¡¯s so active, though. I¡¯ve never seen that before,¡± Sleek¡¯s answer spiked Cal¡¯s worry. He had already not liked the look of magma running down the cracks, but if this was something new, that meant things were changing even here, deep inside the planet. ¡°Hey TS, what¡¯s the deepest your people have ever been in the tunnels?¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure if the Third Smasher would know the answer, but he was curious about the level the squirrels had explored. ¡°There are some groves months away from where we started, but I cannot say how much further towards the core they go. Without Lady Sleek¡¯s guidance, I would be hard-pressed to tell whether we are ascending or descending within the caves. It is not a thing that was considered important.¡± His head was quickly twitching from side to side as he spoke. Cal had learned it was one of his habits when he was concerned about an ambush. He had even come to appreciate it a few times. ¡°Makes sense. I suppose your people haven¡¯t really traveled to the surface much,¡± Cal replied. ¡°There is a single passage I know of that goes to the surface. It is where the truly heinous criminals are exiled.¡± Third Smasher¡¯s voice had an undertone of anger when he said this. ¡°Ah, Sleek any last-minute things we should know before the meeting?¡± Cal had decided to change the subject. He didn¡¯t want to fracture any of the goodwill he had built up with Third on matters of the squirrel criminal justice system. ¡°Um, I don¡¯t think so. That¡¯s his cave over there,¡± She pointed to a hole in the wall Cal could barely make out on the far side of the cavern. ¡°Onward then, to destiny or something,¡± Strangely, Cal had enjoyed this trip so far. It almost felt relaxing compared to some of his previous loops. Now that Third Smasher wasn¡¯t silent and brooding all the time, he made for adequate company, and Sleek¡¯s cheeriness was always welcome. He was glad to have her bond. As they approached nearer to the cave that Sleek had pointed out earlier some of the features that came easier into view. Despite the heat from the volcano, the cave entrance had a thick layer of snow. It looked like the top layer had freshly fallen, and the powdery snow made Cal just the tiniest bit homesick. Stolen novel; please report. Cal opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could escape, a deep, rumbling voice came from within the cave. ¡°Welcome back, my little Sleek. What guests have you brought with you? Have they treated you well? Or do you wish me to remove them from your presence?¡± ¡°No, I like them, especially Cal. Did you know he¡¯s been fighting the Gryalth? He doesn¡¯t like them either. I think you should meet them.¡± She answered, bobbing ahead into the cave. ¡°Well, if you say so, who am I to argue?¡± suddenly, a form manifested in front of Cal where the voice had trailed off moments ago. The world spirit in front of him looked so much more alive than the last he had met. There was no feeling of something past its prime in life. Even though he sported a large white beard, he still radiated a strength of youth that surprised Cal. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Cal from Earth and this is Third Smasher from here,¡± Cal introduced them to the world spirit. ¡°I always wondered if a squirrel would finally make the journey to my home, but I didn¡¯t expect them in the company of a human. But anyway, where are my manners? Hmm, a name, what was it the wizard called me, Sleek?¡± He turned to the smaller spirit as he searched for a long-forgotten name. ¡°Mostly annoying, but I believe Icelord was common as well,¡± She answered. ¡°Ah yes, I am the annoying Icelord. It''s nice to meet you,¡± Cal couldn¡¯t tell if he was joking or not. ¡°Icelord for short?¡± He asked. ¡°Sure, whatever works. Please come in. As much as I wish otherwise, it is not entirely safe out here anymore. Between the abyssal beast incursion and the Gryalth above, I¡¯ve had my hands full,¡± Icelord gestured for them to follow. Cal and Third both followed the dark red spirit further into his home. ¡°How did the incursion of beasts get so bad?¡± Cal asked as they walked. ¡°A few factors, but mostly, I made a huge mistake. I sent an envoy to the former leader of the squirrel empire, hoping to work together to defend our home. I didn¡¯t realize what kind of monster he had grown into, and this left me with a new problem of trying to defend the spirits from everyone when I had hoped to bond them to some hosts and forge a few defenders of the planet,¡± the spirit looked at Third Smasher and sighed loudly. ¡°You had spoken with our leader before? I did not know. Though I have begun to suspect there is much, I did not know,¡± That was the first time Cal had heard the squirrel ever admit to doubting his former superior. He had thought that a change of heart was coming, but this was the first concrete proof of it. ¡°Yes, please sit,¡± Icelord pointed to some rocky furniture that looked as though it had been untouched for hundreds of years. Third Smasher remained standing, but Cal took the offer and found the chair surprisingly comfortable. ¡°So now that you¡¯ve heard of my issues previously and the dangerous situation I¡¯ve ended in. Please explain why I shouldn¡¯t just kill you both right now to ensure I don¡¯t just have more enemies.¡± Loop 254 - Part 86 ¡°Uh, Sleek, a little help here, please?¡± Cal called to his bonded spirit as a blade of bright white mana appeared at his neck. ¡°No, she cannot help you at this moment. You need to help yourselves, and I suggest you do so quickly,¡± Icelord¡¯s jovial tone had turned threatening. ¡°Fine, look into my head. You¡¯re a world spirit, right? The last one I met could do that. So go ahead and take a deep look. Take a long look into just how pointless killing me would be!¡± Cal felt his anger start to bubble up. They hadn¡¯t done anything to deserve this treatment. Just because Icelord had screwed up was no reason to threaten him or cut him off from Sleek. ¡°Good idea. Let¡¯s see what world spirit you¡¯ve met and see what these claims of yours are about.¡± Cal felt his core pulsate rapidly as the spirit started pushing his own being across his mana channels. It didn¡¯t hurt exactly, but the feeling was extremely unpleasant. It felt like worms were crawling under his skin, and he just wanted it to end. Cal watched several of his memories replay in his mind¡¯s eye; his first loop reset and rebirth into his childhood body, the same he mostly wore right now, the first time he met monstrous bugs in Alaska, Bug¡¯s first speech, and on it went through all his memories at breakneck pace until finally Icelord pulled himself free of Cal¡¯s mana channels and spoke again. ¡°My apologies. I had no idea you were leading this fight, my friend. Perhaps Sleek is right and I should be more trusting of strangers, but as you know, that hasn¡¯t worked well for me in the past.¡± Cal grabbed hold of his flaring anger before he opened his mouth and pushed it back down but now wasn¡¯t the time. ¡°Your apology is accepted, but I am warning you. I¡¯ve had too many intrusions into my brain this loop, so if you try anything else without my explicit permission, it will not go well.¡± ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t consider your threats to have much merit, but honestly, I have no idea what I¡¯d do with you as an enemy. I won¡¯t even remember we had this fight on your next loop, so I have no concept of how to see you coming. So how about we start this whole conversation over and I¡¯ll be much more welcoming this time because as much as I hate to admit it, you¡¯re right. You don¡¯t deserve how I¡¯m treating you, and it seems Marley treated you much better as his guest.¡± The spirit reached out a hand, and Cal grasped it and firmly shook Icelord¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you,¡± Cal said. His anger had entirely melted away with the sincerity that Icelord¡¯s words had. ¡°So I have a ton of questions, but first up, where¡¯s Sleek?¡± ¡°OH! I¡¯m right here, sorry, got distracted with the babies. Are there less than there were the last time I was here?¡± She popped back into sight. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yes, the Graylth have managed to tap some of the energy of our world core. This means less energy to feed to proto mana spirits.¡± Sadness crept into Icelord¡¯s voice as he answered. The emotion spread across Sleek¡¯s face mirrored the tone his words had taken on. ¡°TS, during the course of my questioning, you are going to likely learn a lot about me and the others that you don¡¯t know. Are you ready for some weird knowledge?¡± Cal asked the squirrel who was still standing behind him. ¡°I have already deduced that you believe yourself in some sort of loop where events repeat. This lines up with what little I was told before our final battle. I do not pretend to understand the ramifications of such a claim or belief fully, but I do understand that it is the situation we find ourselves in, and as I come to dwell more on it, I foresee myself asking a favor of you,¡± Third Smasher explained. ¡°Well, that makes some things easier. So, uh, first up, big guy, what the hell exactly is abyssal mana, and why does it make Sleek drunk if we try to absorb it?¡± Cal had wanted to know that one since their first encounter with it left them both reeling. ¡°One of the effects of the Martian world seed you have within you, as it grows you are able to see foreign mana sources. Assuming you can be called a mortal, I have never before met one that could detect the mana, so anything else I say will be a pure hypothesis. Just be warned. Your core is of this reality, and in order to work with any foreign mana, it needs to be purified. Doing so will likely be an unpleasant experience for you but probably akin to an intoxicant for any mana spirit bonded to you. Based on your memories and this pull you felt towards their incursion spot, I believe it was also trying to fight you to return home before you could nullify it,¡± Icelord answered. ¡°Wait, so abyssal mana has thoughts?¡± That was a new one for Cal. So far, he had been under the impression that unless the mana could manifest as a being, it was mostly just a tool. ¡°Not really, no, but abyssal mana isn¡¯t really mana in the normal sense. It¡¯s protoplasmic essences that makeup all the beasts from outside reality. It doesn¡¯t have the full makeup of a universe. This is partially why creatures of the abyss are so drawn to feeding out different realities. The pull was likely less an attempt to save itself but more an attempt to feed your mana to its children,¡± Icelord continued. ¡°Oh, well, that¡¯s nice and creepy. Any guesses as to why there is such a large incursion? Compared to what we saw on Mars, this seems insane,¡± Cal asked his next question. This one he had very few guesses as to what was going on. There wasn¡¯t an exposed world seed here. Icelord appeared to be in great health, so while the planet wasn¡¯t exactly teeming with life, it also wasn¡¯t dying to the extent that made it vulnerable. He doubted Icelord would even be having issues with the incursion if the Gryalth weren¡¯t complicating things. ¡°That one is easy enough. The Gryalth are attracting them, on purpose,¡± Icelord stated matter of factly. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 12 The following days repeated a pattern of soaring through the sky by day and eating and resting by night until, finally, the island they sought came into view. During these nights, Frog asked Bird many questions about his travels and the wonders he had seen, and each time, Bird told him to be patient and that one day, he would share all he knew. ¡°Are those trees made of stone?¡± Asked Frog as the island''s marvel was revealed to them. There were structures, unlike anything he had ever seen. From this distance, he could make out towering trees that looked caved in from the rock itself and platforms over the water. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I don¡¯t think they are trees, but I don¡¯t fully understand what we are seeing either. Do you, Bird?¡± Called Crocodile over the winds. ¡°Somewhat, but only because I¡¯ve seen something like this before, far south of here. It¡¯s how I first learned of this strange island from an ancient raptor. She called this place the last great city, the final refuge before escape,¡± Bird answered. Loop 254 - Part 87 ¡°Wait, what? Why?¡± Cal didn¡¯t understand. He thought he at least understood the Gryalth¡¯s motives with his universe, but this didn¡¯t remotely fit with what he knew. ¡°Because it helps them, at least, I assume. Based on what I¡¯ve learned from your memories and what I already know, I think my assumptions are a pretty safe bet. They help tear some fresh holes in the shallowest parts of the Abyss and let the eggs drop into our universe. The beasts grow, mutate, and feed on us. Less Gryalth die in their eventual invasion. The fabric of our universe is weaker, much easier to tear their holes, and then they just have to clean up the abyssal creatures full of ever-multiplying powerful mana,¡± Icelord¡¯s explanation did nothing to calm Cal, even if the explanation made sense. ¡°Dammit, so what now? I had some plans to fight the Gryalth, but every time I feel like my ideas are going somewhere, something new pops up,¡± The frustration in Cal¡¯s mind caused his questions to spill out as a desperate plea for help. ¡°Why are you suddenly questioning your role? It is obvious, is it not? We fight. We die. We fight more. Eventually, we win,¡± Third Smasher¡¯s unexpected answer to Cal¡¯s pleas did not fall on deaf ears. ¡°And what if we don¡¯t win?¡± Cal asked back. ¡°Then we die, but we die trying, and that is what matters,¡± Third Smasher answered. ¡°I have no idea why that is oddly reassuring, but it is. TS, we are going to have to find a way to get you loop-aware, though probably not this loop. I think the idiot brothers have to get it this time,¡± Cal said. The squirrel¡¯s matter-of-fact way of saying they win or they die had resonated with him in a way few things had when the overwhelming anxiety of what he had to do crept over him. Who knew the answer was just to face an idea of mortality? ¡°Yes, as the squirrel so eloquently put it, we fight, win or die, and now that I¡¯m aware of your unique situation, I don¡¯t think everything is as grim and full of doom as I once thought. Don¡¯t get confused, though I don¡¯t think we are anywhere near having a real shot at winning this yet, but I see a chance. I didn¡¯t see that before,¡± Icelord added on to Third Smasher¡¯s words. ¡°Oh, does that mean you¡¯re going to get rid of the volcano out there?¡± Sleek asked. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I suppose, but not just yet. I won¡¯t plan to destroy the world anymore, but it may still prove very useful in removing the infestations from our homes. Now, Cal, what can I do to help you? I¡¯ve seen some of the insanity you¡¯ve been floating around your head, but none of that has to do with the here and now. So spill it all out; what can I do?¡± Icelord¡¯s casual reference to his plan to destroy the planet didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Cal. ¡°Honestly, you¡¯ve probably given me more information than I usually get, but anything you could tell me about multiple mana spirits and how that would work with my plans to expand the void house? Oh and actually anything about Merlin and Excalibur. Dad would love to get as much information there as he can,¡± Cal answered. He was still strongly considering collecting as many different mana spirits as he could despite the current limitations he was facing. Onelder had said there was a reason most people didn¡¯t go this route. Hell even Exaclibur had backed that up, but he still wanted to try if it was remotely possible. ¡°You¡¯ve got a world seed in you that¡¯s likely going to let you bound as many mana spirits as you want. Normally, most people wouldn¡¯t want this as it takes time to build your bonds, as you know, but with the void realm you¡¯ve built, this gives you a lot of room to work and help them grow. It will be easier the more they are able to grow and bond within their own ranks, and again, thanks to that world seed, you¡¯ve got the potential to give them the exact world to do so. Now, if you¡¯re asking, would I ever recommend that someone try this? No, I wouldn¡¯t, but you already want to try it, and you¡¯ve got the time and the resources, so I¡¯m also not going to recommend against trying it. If you want to pursue this idea. I think it¡¯s a decision for you and your already-made bonds to make.¡± Icelord looked over at Sleek several times during his speech before turning back to Cal. ¡°Okay, well, I can¡¯t really ask anyone else until we knock out the Gryalth interference, but how do you feel about it, Sleek?¡± Cal turned to her as he asked. ¡°I think it¡¯s a great idea. Imagine if you manage to bond enough of us to create a universe seed!¡± She said excitedly. ¡°Extremely unlikely, little one, but then again, we live in impossible times, so who knows? As for your second question. Hundreds of years ago, a man from your world found a natural bridge to this world. Here, he found the sleeping sword and learned of a magical world beyond anything he had dreamed of. He brought that sword back to your world and helped usher in a new age of magic for it. He found a king worthy of wielding it, and in the end, he returned to the sword to sleep here, waiting for a new master. What happened to Merlin after that? I don¡¯t know, but I do miss the conversations,¡± A wave of melancholy washed over Cal as Icelord told his story, forcing him to consider just how lonely the life of a world spirit could be. ¡°How did the sword get here in the first place?¡± Cal asked. ¡°There are some secrets that you aren¡¯t ready for, but maybe one day,¡± Icelord¡¯s smile returned. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 13 Bird landed on the wooden structure that was built above the water and was quickly surrounded by several figures, one of which started to speak before his passengers had a moment to disembark. ¡°Hello travelers, what brings you to our city? We do not have time for guided tours at the moment,¡± said the large creature. It walked on two legs, similar to how Frog did now, and carried a large pointed stick. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I apologize for our intrusion into your home, but we come guided by dreams and the words of a wise woman Ch¡¯Trech. She bade me that should I begin dreaming of the end to seek out the final refuge,¡± answered Bird. ¡°You have seen Ch¡¯Trech? Come with me. It turns out I was wrong, and we have much time for your visit.¡± Ordered the two-legged creature. Loop 254 - Part 88: Stan ¡°Dammit, are you sure?¡± Stan had just heard the news from Ethel. Cal had only been gone for a month, but the squirrel scouts who had been sent out to investigate the pools had already been returning, and they all shared similar, if not the exact same, news. None of it was good. The Gryalth were moving on the remaining pools. It was as though they knew their potential opposition had already fallen. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it for myself, but I have no reason to doubt the scouts. I assume you know what this means, Stan?¡± Ethel responded as she set two squirrels down on the chair next to her. They had accompanied her into the room, riding on her shoulders. ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t have time to wait for Cal to get back. We need to secure the pools now and figure out a way to hold them, too. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any ideas, would you? Because I don¡¯t think the squirrels are ready to fight a war against an alien invasion yet, if ever,¡± Stan slumped down in his seat. This was nearly the worst news he could imagine. However, they had learned the pools were unguarded, which meant they likely knew about the rest of the squirrels and groves, and to make it even worse, they could know about their group. Inaction was no longer an option, but he had no idea what the proper action was either. ¡°Not really. We could probably hold one or maybe two if we¡¯re lucky, but the twelve we have identified just don¡¯t seem realistic, especially if we want to oppose them. Being stuck in an ever-expanding siege with no way of knowing the totality of enemies resources just seems suicidal,¡± Her answer to Stan¡¯s question was about what he had expected, even if he had hoped she might have some other solution. ¡°I may have a potential solution,¡± Stan spun his head to the corner of the room where Excalibur was resting against a wall. ¡°I¡¯m open to anything, so let¡¯s hear it,¡± If his talking sword could help, he¡¯d be glad to let him. ¡°So, as I understand it, the main issue is securing these pools for their potential use later, but we also don¡¯t know if they have enough mana in them to produce a spiritual bond or not, so we can¡¯t know which ones would be the greatest priority to hold until we are already holding it and have revealed our strength to the enemy. Does that sound about right,¡± The sword had vocalized Stan¡¯s chaotic thoughts much better than he had himself? He was impressed with his new partner. ¡°It does,¡± Stan said, waiting to hear the solution that went with this. ¡°We disregard the idea of holding anything. We assemble a small strike force as quickly as we can and head out to drain the pools. I should be able to absorb all of their power, which should also give me enough energy to duplicate your loop awareness in myself by strengthening our bond. This won¡¯t be without its own problems, though, if I¡¯m wrong on how much mana is available in the ponds, we won¡¯t have enough, and this will leave me in a state building towards an overload,¡± Stan thought it wasn¡¯t a bad idea. He wasn¡¯t big on the risk to Excalibur, but making the sword loop-aware would be amazing for future loops. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say we are short on energy after this. How do we fix that?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Well, that¡¯s easy, we take the Gryalth pools,¡± Stan had expected the answer to come from Excalibur. Instead, Ethel had spoken, and she was right. It was a very simple solution. ¡°Yes, we could do that. I can¡¯t imagine they¡¯ve corrupted the pools beyond my ability to make use of them,¡± Excalibur backed up Ethel¡¯s idea. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to do this quick and with as much force as we can as we need to. Ethel, you and Frank are both with me and Excalibur. Since Jen is already out scouting the Gryalth lines the best she can, we can¡¯t really pull her back. We can use Albert and Onelder as go-betweens and relay of news. I think we need to talk to Second Smasher. We are past the time for niceness is trying to snap him out of his delusions,¡± Stan needed that squirrel ready to defend the grove in case of an attack. ¡°Okay, we should also leave Tiffany here. Albert and Onelder will likely need him in case of any further translation issues,¡± Stan realized he had entirely forgotten about the crab when she brought him up. ¡°Yeah, that''s a good idea. Is there anything else I¡¯m missing?¡± he asked. He was starting to understand why Cal hated taking charge and preferred leaving the real planning to Andy. ¡°Well, now that you mention it. I¡¯m not sure leaving Second Smasher here is the best idea. He was devoted to their now fallen empire, and Cal and I did not have an easy fight to bring him down,¡± Stan had asked, so he pushed down any annoyance he may have briefly had with her questioning his decisions. Whether either of them liked it or not, there was a very good chance they¡¯d need the squirrel''s help before this planetary excursion was all over. ¡°Neither am I, but we need his help, and maybe he will understand that through his help, a new, stronger, and less awful squirrel nation can be forged, or at the very least, he cares enough about his brethren that he doesn¡¯t want them all dead. Cal would give him a chance, and I¡¯m pretty sure you would too if you were in my position,¡± The more he considered it, the more he was sure that Ethel would give Second the same opportunities to find a new purpose in life. ¡°You¡¯re right. I would, and so would Cal, but just because you aren¡¯t Cal doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to stop pushing. I¡¯m old. I¡¯ve earned the right to be cranky and cantankerous,¡± She laughed as she said this. ¡°I don¡¯t think that line is going to work much longer, and honestly, I don¡¯t even know how old I am anymore,¡± He joined in on her laughter as he briefly tried to figure out his age before giving up. Loop 254 - Part 89: Stan ¡°What do you want, invader?¡± Second Smasher¡¯s barely contained fury was obvious the moment Stan opened the door to the room that also acted as his prison cell. Surprisingly, this was more cordial than the usual reception any of them got when trying to talk to the former. The last time Stan had opened the door, he had been hit in the face with a tray of food. ¡°Hello, Second Smasher. It¡¯s great to see you again as well. How¡¯s your day been? Are we treating you well?¡± Stan asked sarcastically. It wasn¡¯t the best approach, but it wasn¡¯t like anything had been working. ¡°I ask you again, what do you want? I know that you have already drafted my brother in arms in some foolhardy task. Have you come to attempt to force the same on me?¡± Second¡¯s anger was flaring, and Stan knew he had to de-escalate this as soon as possible before he ended up wrestling the squirrel to the ground again. ¡°Hey, new idea. Instead of us fighting each other and getting nowhere, I¡¯ve got a one-time offer for you. I¡¯m willing to answer any question you have entirely honestly. As a show of good faith, here¡¯s why I¡¯m here. The Gryalth are on the move, and we need to stop them. I need your help to defend the grove while my friends and I take more direct action against them. I do not expect you to help us; we just want to protect and keep your fellow squirrels.¡± Third¡¯s tail settled down as Stan made the offer. The tension that had been visible in the squirrel¡¯s shoulders slowly disappeared as Stan continued to talk. ¡°Where has my brother been taken?¡± The question came with less anger. ¡°He¡¯s with my son. They are attempting to find a world spirit deep within the planet. Cal brought him in hopes of showing him the world beyond what your empire was like and working towards the realization that what your former emperor was doing was horrible.¡± Stan answered as best he could. In truth, he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure why Cal had decided that taking Third Smasher was so important. ¡°Why are you here? Not why are you here talking to me right now, but why are you here at our home at all?¡± Second Smasher slumped down onto his bed as he asked this next question. ¡°That one is a bit harder to answer, but to sum it up as best I can, we¡¯ve found ourselves at war with the Grylath, the ones who are invading the surface. We did not realize they were already here when we came. We actually traveled here in search of mana sources in order to better fight them on our home planet. Which is the same planet you originate from, but now that we¡¯ve found them here, we are going to fight them as best we can to determine what we will have to do when our final push against them comes.¡± Stan purposely left out the part about being in a time-loop. While the squirrel likely already knew something due to the mental abilities of their former boss, he figured it was best not to clue him in even more yet. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What are the Gryalth, and why are they attacking our homes?¡± This question came without any sound of anger in Second Smasher¡¯s voice. Stan wondered if a simple Q&A session might have been the trick all along. ¡°Well, as far as I know about them, and it is a lot less than some of my family knows, they are creatures from another universe who invade parallel worlds that are less developed in their magical abilities in order to harvest as many resources as they can while enslaving the populations to fuel their ever-growing war of conquest. We just have the bad luck of being their current target,¡± Stan wished Ralth, one of his other children, had been here for this conversation. He was much more of an expert on their motives. ¡°So then both our worlds are in danger? And you are here to propose a truce?¡± Second Smasher turned his head and made direct eye contact with Stan. ¡°If you are asking if this is an enemy of our enemy situation, not exactly. I don¡¯t want us to be enemies, and I think we¡¯ve already made great inroads with the rest of the groves, but if that is the only way you can view this relationship right now, I am also willing to accept that. Your help in protecting the groves will be instrumental in our war against the Gryalth.¡± Stan hoped he had finally sold Second Smasher on their mutual danger and potential benefits. ¡°Stan, what do you call your blade?¡± This was the first time Second Smasher had ever used his name. ¡°This is Excalibur, and I believe he has been resting here on your world as long as your people have been here¡­¡± Stan was cut off as Excalibur began to speak. ¡°Yes, I have been. I remember the day Arthur was laid to rest in what be the first grove. This was a world untouched by life and rich in mana. Merlin believed that leaving me here would allow my power to grow as I rested and waited to find a new master. I suspect your people were brought along to seed an eventual magical race as well. I consider it an honor to meet someone such as yourself who has come so far on their own in the path of magic,¡± As Excalibur spoke, Stan noticed that Second Smasher listened with rapt attention. Second Smasher stood up and then dropped to a knee in front of the sword and spoke. ¡°I do not trust the offworlders, and while I was willing to work with them as far as the removal of the surface invaders, I do trust you. You are as much one of this world as I am. I pledge myself and my skills, as little as they are, to your service.¡± ¡°Thank you, Second Smasher; I believe this makes you the first pledged knight in this new age of magic,¡± Excalibur said. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 14 ¡°A great stone will soon crash into the planet. It will destroy much, but thanks to the efforts of our people, not all. Through the combined efforts of our greatest mages we have created a ship capable of sailing the stars,¡± Their guide explained to them as they were brought inside the large structure in the center of the city. ¡°Are we supposed to come with you? Is that what the dreams are about?¡± Bird asked. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°No, we have a different destiny. Last night, I dreamed of something new. After a great protective sleep, we will need to reseed the world of its magic,¡± these words came from Frog, surprising the other two. ¡°Frog is correct, and it is good that you have found us before the end. There is a shelter prepared for you deep within the Earth, far below our city,¡± the new figure who spoke to them said, looked ancient. Loop 254 - Part 90: Stan ¡°No prisoners Frank,¡± Stan yelled to remind the big guy of what was needed as they charged into the group of Gryalth they had found at the first pool. There were only six of them, and Stan was reasonably confident they could take them down without them having a chance to alert any of their other scouts. ¡°Understood!¡± roared the hulking monster that was Frank as he battered down the shield three of them had thrown in front of them. His fists smashed into it with enough force to knock them off their feet even as they hid behind it for safety. He roared once more as his fist slammed ever harder into the shield, causing a series of cracks to spread across it. His follow-up punch shattered it into a deadly spray of shrapnel that caught two of the Grylath still cowering behind it. The third one reacted fast enough to roll out of the way of the shield fragments and quickly fired a series of energy blasts into Frank as his fists rained down on what was left of his allies. The blasts, while powerful enough to knock back Frank¡¯s right arm, did nothing to his left as he removed two of the Grylath from the field in a horrible squishing sound. He then turned to the third one, who, despite the look of revulsion on his face, was still attacking him. Frank reached out, grabbed him, and threw him into the wall with back-breaking force. As Frank obliterated his three, Stan was fighting with the leader of the group. He swung Excalibur out in front of him, cutting through the wall of fire that had sprung into existence between them. The sword not only cut through the magical fire but also absorbed it. Stan could feel the energy as it built within the sword¡¯s hilt. Stan leaped forward, taking advantage of the surprise that covered his opponent''s face. He quickly ran him through with his sword. ¡°Ethel, are you doing alright over there?¡± Stan called to the last of his companions in the fight. ¡°I have everything under control,¡± She replied. The remaining two Gryalth were wrapped in a pile of vines. Neither of them moved. ¡°Good job, everyone alright? Excalibur, what now?¡± Stan said as he scanned the room, noting the nods from Ethel and Frank. They were all that was left alive, as far as he could tell. ¡°Place me in the pool. I will handle energy absorption,¡± the sword answered. ¡°Can do,¡± Stan replied as he walked over to the dark red pool and gently lowered the sword down below the surface. ¡°What we feared was underway. They have begun to corrupt the pools. Luckily, this shouldn''t interfere with what I¡¯m about to do, but it will take any pool I do this to a very long time to recover, especially if the time looping works the way I believe it does,¡± Excalibur explained as the pool began to glow. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Likely better than leaving the pools to Gryalth anyway,¡± Stan wasn¡¯t sure if Cal would agree, but he wasn¡¯t here, and this was the best option he had available to him. The pool continued to glow brighter and brighter for the next few minutes. Then steam began to rise out of the pool, and all at once, the light stopped, and the color of the water disappeared, leaving behind a pool of crystal-clear water with Excalibur lying motionless at the center. ¡°Stan, please retrieve me. I have taken all the energy from this pool and, in turn, removed any of the tampering the Gryalth have done to it.¡± ¡°You got it, buddy, good job,¡± Stan congratulated the sword as he retried it from the water. ¡°No time to waste; let¡¯s hit the next pools before they realize what¡¯s happening.¡± They managed to get the jump on the Gryalth for the next seven pools, which was much better than Stan had expected. He had planned for three, maybe four, pools to be taken before they managed to get the alert out, but with eight down, he was rapidly gaining confidence in this plan. The big question, though, was just what they would expect at pool nine now that the alarm had been raised. ¡°Are we still just charging in and smashing our way through?¡± Frank asked as they neared the ninth pool. ¡°Yes and no. Instead of us all rushing in at once, I want you to barrel in like the one-man wrecking crew you are. Yell out everything you see as you see it and get them as focused on you as you can. Ethel will come in next, trying to trap everything you were able to spot, and then finally, I¡¯ll come in to help clean up. Hopefully, this will give us a bit of an advantage and still keep them a little confused as to our numbers,¡± Stan explained the new plan. It wasn¡¯t much, but it should work, at least for now. ¡°I like it. Can I roar?¡± Frank asked, grinning from ear to ear. ¡°Absolutely!¡± Stan considered the intimidation of Frank the most important part of their tactics so far. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they are through there. Go get ''em, Frank.¡± Stan and Ethel watched the giant man run through the passage roaring as he went. Sounds of explosions, crashing rocks, and pain came from the room he charged into, followed by Frank¡¯s voice. ¡°Twenty of them this time, at least two of them are really good with the spells. Ouch, THAT¡¯S IT FRANK WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!¡± ¡°Ethel go now,¡± Stan instructed. He was worried about the two stronger mages. They hadn¡¯t fought any of the war mages alone like this before, and they hadn¡¯t ever been very successful as a group yet either, but they had grown a lot stronger since their last all-out attempt, so he was still hopeful. The sounds of chaos from the room increased as Ethel entered. ¡°Good job Frank, only ten left, I see,¡± Stan heard her call over the noise. ¡°Yeah, but the stupid mages won¡¯t stop fighting!¡± Frank screamed in return. Stan decided that was his cue, drew Excalibur, and ran in, ready to join the fight. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 15 ¡°And we are just to sleep here?¡± Crocodile wasn¡¯t sure about this. ¡°Yes, I understand this is all strange to you. You are all newly awakened, and the idea of anything so advanced is incredibly alien, but this is what destiny has provided. Our roles are to migrate to the stars. Your roles are to awaken when the Earth is ready for magic once again,¡± Explained their guide. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°You realize we barely know how to do that, right? Frog is brand new into the use of his magic, and it¡¯s not like Crocodile, or I had anything in the way of real teaching besides some words from elders long gone,¡± Bird said. ¡°That may be true, but Cr¡¯Trech foresaw the future and apparently sought you out to make sure this will come to be. Do you not trust her?¡± He asked. ¡°I do, but I cannot make Crocodile or Frog join me; they must do so of their own free will,¡± Bird said. Loop 254 - Part 91: Stan Racing into the room, Stan took a quick assessment of what was going on. Eight of them still remained fighting, though Ethel had two of those tangled in vines. The other six were all fighting Frank, two of them dressed in the battle mage outfits they had previously seen. Stan had his targets, and those two had to go down hard now. He charged forward at the nearest and slashed through the air into what should have been its torso; instead, all he felt was air. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a shimmer in the air to his right as the alien he thought he was slashing appeared next to him, lightning arcing out of its hands. Stan dropped to the ground, trying to duck under the electricity while keeping Excalibur as a shield in front of his face. It worked as energy was drawn into Excalibur instead of the rest of his body. Stan rolled onto his back and slashed out again towards his attacks legs. This time, he caught more than air as the blade bit deeply into one of its legs. The Gryalth howled in pain, and Stan saw the second mage turn in his direction. He would have preferred not to fight them both at the exact same time, but there was no helping that now. Not wasting the moment, he ripped the sword, sawing deeper into the mage¡¯s leg. He pulled the sword up in front of his face again, just in time to block the fire coming from the second mage. He kicked up as hard as he could, catching the second mage by surprise and knocking it off its feet. To his side, he heard the first mage begin chanting. He quickly hopped back onto his feet and yanked the second mage in front of him. The first mage stopped chanting, avoiding the friendly fire Stan had hoped for. Not needing the Gryalth as a shield, he stabbed his sword through it, twisted it, and then ripped it free. One mage down, one to go, he thought as he leaped over the corpse he had just created, sword above his head, ready for a downward swing. He caught the first mage by surprise, Excalibur cutting deep into its skull. Both mages down. This certainly proved their skills were improving. He turned back to help Frank only to see the remaining Gryalth dead around him and Ethel walking towards them. ¡°I can¡¯t say I like the gore, but I also can¡¯t argue with the result. I think Cal will impressed to hear how far we¡¯ve come in fighting these things. Do you think we managed to kill them before they got a message off?¡± Ethel asked after she finished observing the carnage. ¡°I think so, though I¡¯m not sure how much that matters anymore. They are waiting for us. The last three pools won¡¯t be easy, and we can¡¯t afford to rest up. So clean yourselves off as best you can while Excalibur does his thing, and let¡¯s go,¡± Stan ordered the group. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. *** Two more pools were down, and Stan had ordered them to take a one-hour breather before the last one. So far Excalibur was on track to have the energy he believed he needed, so that was good. On the other hand, they were battered and bruised. Frank had taken a lot of hard hits in the last fight, while Ethel had expanded most of her mana, trying to untangle the mess they had ended up in. In the end, they had pulled through again, but it just added to how hard the upcoming fight was going to be. Stan believed in his little strike group, but he also believed in the reality of overdoing it. There was only so far you could push before breaking, and he really hoped this last fight wouldn¡¯t be past that limit. ¡°Something is wrong. We need to be extremely careful and not rush into the next pool,¡± Excalibur had spoken up, breaking Stan from his ruminating thoughts on the upcoming fight. ¡°What do you mean? How do you know something is wrong?¡± The sword¡¯s magical senses outdid all of theirs, except maybe Cal¡¯s, so he didn¡¯t doubt that he was telling the truth, but he needed more information. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s a very old feeling. It reminds me of what you humans had started calling demons, but that can¡¯t be right. We¡¯d have seen other signs by now. I think instead of rushing into the next fight, we need to try to scout it out and see what exactly is in the chamber,¡± Excalibur answered. The answer did nothing to calm Stan¡¯s growing anxiety. ¡°Alright, well then, you and I are going to go ahead, Frank Ethel; Stay back here and try to get some more rest. I¡¯ll yell if I need help. Otherwise, wait for us to return,¡± There were zero arguments to Stan¡¯s orders. The idea of Ethel being too tired to complain worried him even more. Painstakingly slowly, Stan crept through the passage, doing his best to keep his footfalls silent. Excalibur kept its voice confined to his head to avoid any extra sound as they walked. ¡°There is a memory you have, from Mars, of things you called abyssal beasts. I suspect they may be what I know more as demons. I do not understand how they would suddenly gain a foothold in our reality at the pool, though. They were not here during the last scouting mission.¡± ¡°Who knows, none of us know much about them, alright, keep quiet. I don¡¯t want any distractions as I peek my head inside,¡± Stan thought back as he poked his head around the bend, quickly grabbing a look at what was in the chamber. From his quick glance, he spotted four Gryalth battle mages, all standing around a dark red portal, and two more Gryalth pulled eggs from inside the swirling vortex. ¡°Uh, this looks like a problem we have to shut down,¡± Stan thought to the sword. ¡°Yes, and quickly. The longer that portal remains open, the chances of larger demons spewing forth, and we are not remotely capable of handling them,¡± it answered. Loop 254 - Part 92: Stan ¡°I¡¯m not sure I meant this quickly,¡± Excalibur¡¯s voice frantically rang out in Stan¡¯s head as the blade bit deeply into one of the four mages channeling around the portal. Stan had decided not to waste any time and leaped directly at the nearest battle mage. He figured the element of surprise was still on his side, and there was no promise it would last if he tried to return for the others. Not that he didn¡¯t intend to get their help. ¡°Hey, can you call out for Frank and Ethel but make it sound like you are calling in a whole army? Just make sure it¡¯s loud enough for them to hear. I doubt I¡¯ll hold the upper hand long,¡± Stan mentally asked the sword. At Stan¡¯s request, the cavern filled with a deep booming voice. ¡°The trap is sprung. Captain Frank, bring your men and help to finish the assault,¡± the command rang out, shocking the several forms around Stan, but he was sure that with how loud that was, there was no ignoring it. Help was almost certainly on the way. In the meantime, he needed to continue this fight alone. He stabbed the point of his blade down hard into the fallen mage¡¯s skull, not wanting to give it a chance to join the battle. This cost him as he felt searing blasts of heat impact his left leg. The pain was excruciating, but he ignored it as he slashed out again towards the nearest mage. Strangely, he felt his own pain lesson as the battle mage¡¯s blood ran down the sword. ¡°That was me, Stan, I am working to increase your rate of healing. It is good I took in as much energy as I did, as this wound is deep, and I will need to attempt to close this rift once we secure the area,¡± Excalibur answered Stan¡¯s thoughts on his lessening pain. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of faith you have in me in here, buddy,¡± Stan responded as he spun around towards one of the still unwounded mages, slamming his elbow into the face of the one he had just wounded as he did so. They grunted loudly and fell to the ground with a thud. Another blast of fire hit him hard in the chest, forcing him to the ground as he gasped for air. His lungs felt like they were on fire. It was worse than when he had been forced to breathe in tear gas. He forced air into his lungs despite the pain that accompanied it. His vision was getting hazy. Just as he let his mind start to consider whether this had been a massive mistake, he heard a new voice enter the brawl. ¡°How dare you hurt Frank¡¯s friend. You will regret ever angering the might of the Tree Titan!¡± The voice was accompanied by several loud thuds and squelches. Stan felt it growing easier to breathe, and no more magical blasts came. Frank had bought Excalibur enough time to knit his lungs back together. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Coughing loudly and with far more blood than he would like, Stan managed to push himself to his feet and look around at the chaotic fighting. Frank currently had one of the two mages on the ropes as she shrugged off several spells that hit him point blank. Stan was impressed at far that kid had come under Ethel¡¯s guidance. Ethel herself was still standing at the entrance to the chamber, but her handiwork was easy to see. The two Gryalth workers and the last battle mage were fighting off an endless supply of vines wrapping around them. ¡°Before you rush into help then, I suggest you instead tell them to handle themselves and thrust me into the rift. Without the mages controlling what is allowed through, we are about to attract extremely unwanted attention if we don¡¯t get that shut,¡± Excalibur said in Stan¡¯s head. Not one to argue with a very pertinent point, Stan ran to the edge of the portal and pushed the sword into it as instructed. He felt an incredible force begin pulling the sword from his hand the moment it made contact, refusing to let it be lost into the abyss. He held on as tightly as he could, keeping it from being entirely engulfed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I can hold this. You better work quick,¡± he yelled as his footing slipped the tiniest bit and was pulled slightly closer. As though in response, the red tear in space he was fighting against flared a bright green, then purple, just as two claws started to emerge from it. Each claw was bigger than Stan¡¯s head, pushing his desire for the sword to work faster to the forefront of his mind. ¡°Pull harder now!¡± The voice echoed out from the rift, and Stan did his best to obey. He strained every muscle he had available as he wrenched the sword slowly backward. ¡°Come on, damn you!¡± Stan screamed as he struggled to get the last few inches of the sword free. The claws had emerged further as he pulled. Several more had come into view, along with the paws they extended from. Stan took that as motivation and pulled with every last bit of strength he had, feeling the sword finally come free. He watched as the rift sealed itself severing parts of the creature as it did so. ¡°Well, that was interesting, what was it, and why are there parts of giant paws and claws on the ground where it used to be?¡± Ethel asked. Stan realized that during his struggle to hold the sword, both Ethel and Frank had finished off the surviving Gryalth. ¡°The Gryalth appear to be reaching into the depths of the abyss of the plucking forth beasts,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Okay, but why?¡± Stan didn¡¯t expect a more concrete answer. The sword would only be able to speculate. It didn¡¯t have any more current information than he did. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I do have both good and bad news. Closing the rift drained my energy levels below any risk of dangerous overload. That is of course, also bad news as we will need to seek out the more dangerous pools, and I would assume our time of secrecy is entirely gone,¡± Stan agreed with Excalibur¡¯s assessment. They were likely at war now, and considering how long Earth lasted in those, he didn¡¯t like the odds. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 16 ¡°So what do you think the world will be like when we wake up?¡± Frog asked his friends. He had, of course, decided that this was the best course of action. He was glad that Crocodile had also agreed. Imagining a world without his lifelong mentor was hard. ¡°I do not know, but from the dangers of the coming disaster, I assume greatly different. It will be interesting to see how everything has changed. What do you think, Bird?¡± Crocodile asked. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I think that I wish I had Ch¡¯Trech more questions before we parted, but I suppose it is too late for that worry now. Come, my friends, let us prepare for the great sleep,¡± Bird said as they each walked into their own small chamber, which they had been instructed to do previously. Once the door sealed behind him, Frog felt a brief moment of panic as the air filled with a strange gas, but that was quickly replaced by a soothing and incredibly long sleep. Loop 254 - Part 93: Stan ¡°Dammit, I need everyone to stop panicking and listen to me!¡± Stan yelled at the gathered crowd. They had just returned from their mission, and the grove was already buzzing with news of the Gryalth flooding into the tunnels. The smaller squirrels were terrified. The larger ones were preparing for war. Apparently, Albert had done his best to take charge while Second scouted just how bad things had gotten, but this also meant contact with Jen had dramatically slowed down. Stan wasn¡¯t happy about that at all, and to make matters worse, no one was listening to him in order to start organizing this mess. ¡°THE MAN SAID STAND DOWN AND LISTEN!¡± Screamed a voice of authority Stan recognized. Second Smasher had apparently returned while Stan was trying to calm the crowd. To Stan¡¯s astonishment, the crowds listened to this time. The larger squirrels immediately froze and turned towards them, while the smaller ones noticeably calmed down. ¡°I understand that this man is not of our world. I also understand that his son killed someone we believed to respect, but I no longer believe that. This man wields a weapon of our world, and I have sworn to aid it in defense of our homes. So, enough petty squabbling. We have far more pressing things to focus on.¡± Stan was impressed and made sure to take note of how well Second Smasher could give a speech. ¡°Thank you, Second Smasher. We all together share a common problem. The Gryalth are here, and before they are done, they want us all dead. My companions and I have fought them before, and luckily we seem to have the benefit of there being fewer of them stationed here, so I believe we can defend your home. We will need to work fast to do so. Messages need to go out to every grove. We are going to have to make our stand united here. We¡¯ve already started the process of fortifying this grove, well, now we need to work on it with haste. Former soldiers of the empire, welcome back to the military. Second Smasher will handle ranks and commands. I want to see the chief architects, Second Smasher, the elders, plus all of my group that is currently here in the meeting hall in one hour. We have work to do.¡± Stan called to the crowd watching him in rapt attention. ¡°Thank you for trusting me with this. I will not fail the squirrels. I will see you in one hour,¡± Second said before disappearing into the crowd. ¡°I wonder how many knights we will have before everything is through. This new world is quite interesting, Stan. I¡¯m glad you found me,¡± Excalibur¡¯s voice interrupted Stan¡¯s train of thought. ¡°Glad to have you too, buddy. Now let¡¯s go plan surviving a siege,¡± Stan thought back at the sword. *** One hour later, Stan found himself sitting in the meeting room, waiting on everyone else. While he hadn¡¯t cared about punctuality exactly, he still hadn¡¯t expected to be the first one here. His solitude didn¡¯t last long as the elders, followed by Second Smasher and Albert, quickly filed into the room. Shortly after, the chief architects and with them several other squirrels that Stan wasn¡¯t familiar with. Finally, Ethel and Frank came in last, with even more squirrels that he hadn¡¯t yet met. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I¡¯m not complaining exactly, but who are the extras? I don¡¯t believe I know you,¡± Stan said to the assembled group. ¡°I took the liberty of inviting a few extra people. We are going to need more than the architects to plan out a defense during a siege, especially if you want to take in all the other groves. These squirrels are all involved in different aspects of city planning. I also sent Tiffany out in search of Cal. He needs to be informed before blundering into a Gryalth patrol, well assuming it¡¯s a blunder, he might just do it because he¡¯s bored,¡± Ethel explained. Stan was hard-pressed to argue with her. Everything she was saying made sense. ¡°Alright, well looks like Ethel has just nominated herself as in charge of city preparation. So we will keep Second running the military effort, and I will work to coordinate all sides as best I can. Albert, any idea how long Onelder and my wife will be gone for?¡± Stan moved on to his next question. He was doing his best not to worry about her, but deep down, he knew that was a lost cause. ¡°Assuming he does what I told him and doesn¡¯t just decide to abandon us. I would expect them back within a week or two, but this assumes they don¡¯t end cut off and having to try to find other paths,¡± Albert explained. ¡°Second Smasher, what¡¯s the state of the military? I assume you¡¯re the only one with any powers besides my group?¡± Stan asked. He wasn¡¯t actually sure about this one, but as far as he knew, no other squirrel had demonstrated anything. ¡°Correct, but many of the former soldiers had already made their way here as they heard the safety this grove offered. There are still nearly a third scattered amongst the other groves, though. We should send word to them to defend the migrations to this grove. I understand that the invaders are powerful, but we know these tunnels better than they possibly could,¡± Stan considered the squirrel¡¯s words for a moment and decided Second had a good point. Unlike the fighting on Earth, this wasn¡¯t out in a giant open city. Things worked a lot differently in confined tunnels. ¡°Yeah, good idea. Elders, that was what I wanted you here for. I need your fastest scouts to bring word to all groves.¡± This was met with several nods. ¡°And architects, we need to be able to drop tunnel roofs, and possibly the entire ceiling over the city if we have to fall back. Do you think that¡¯s something you can figure out?¡± After some internal discussion between the architects, they also gave a series of nods. As the meeting turned into rounds of discussions on food supplies, weapons, and potential escape routes, Stan realized this was going to be a very long night. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 17 ¡°Hello, is anyone there?¡± Frog called out as he felt himself suddenly awake. He was floating in a pit of darkness. ¡°Bird, Crocodile, anyone? Please answer me. I don¡¯t want to be alone.¡± He was quickly overriding his logic as he pushed himself through the liquid as quickly as he could in search of some other being. As he swam around the room, all he could find was his floating chamber, which must have finally released him into this water-filled chamber. Where had his friends gone? He forced himself to quell the raging panic in his mind and instead focus on the problems, one at a time. His friends were missing. He needed to escape this chamber. He needed to find his friends. Stolen novel; please report. First up was escape. Loop 254 - Part 94 ¡°Uh, Cal, pretty sure there Gryalth deeper in the tunnels now,¡± Sleek said. They were still about two weeks out from the grove. Cal was reasonably sure he could dramatically cut that if they really needed to, but he wouldn¡¯t be up to much fighting strength afterward. ¡°Are you sure?¡± This has apparently progressed in ways Cal hadn¡¯t expected during his trip. ¡°Give me a second,¡± she said, then disappeared for a few minutes, leaving Cal and Third Smash to wait in the usual awkward silence before reemerging. ¡°Yep, lots of them up ahead. What do you think happened?¡± The usual cheer in her voice had vanished with the news. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m worried about my family and the grove. TS you ready to fight our way through to your home?¡± Cal knew the answer, but keeping the communication lines open had proven to be a great thing. Cal¡¯s question caused the squirrel to curl his lip before he answered. ¡°Always.¡± ¡°Good, because it¡¯s looking like we have to,¡± Cal responded as nonchalantly as he could muster. He wanted to know what the hell had caused this and what had happened to the grove. He wasn¡¯t able to focus on his worried thoughts for long, as much as he wanted to, as a clicking sound pulled his attention away. It was coming from the direction of the water. It sounded familiar, but he couldn¡¯t place it. Looking to his side to see if Third Smasher had also heard the repeated clacking, he found the squirrel alert and staring towards the water¡¯s bank. ¡°Is this them?¡± Third Smasher asked, his eyes locked in the direction of the sound. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think. I¡¯m almost sure I¡¯ve heard the sound before, but I can¡¯t seem to place it. Stay behind me, but don¡¯t do anything unless it is very apparently hostile,¡± Cal didn¡¯t want any friendly fire, especially now that they had Gryalth to fight through. As he walked closer, the sound grew, and finally, it triggered a memory in him. It sounded just like a crab claw. ¡°Tiffany, is that you?¡± He called out over the dark water as his eyes searched for the claw. Just as he spotted it in the darkness just poking above the water, it was followed by the rest of the giant form that was Tiffany as he broke through the water¡¯s surface. ¡°Oh good, it is you. I had to be very careful to avoid the Gryalth. I¡¯ve been looking for you for weeks!¡± The crab said with notes of both panic and fear evident in his words. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Yes, we just learned they are roaming the caves. What the hell happened?¡± Cal asked, more harshly than the crab deserved, but he was worried it was hard to hide that with answers so close. ¡°Stan was backed into a corner. The Gryalth had started going after all the mana pools, and he decided to make a move before they were corrupted. I don¡¯t know all the details as Ethel sent me out to find you as soon as we realized how bad the situation was, but he did manage to secure them all somehow. The last I knew is they were making a stand at the grove you left from,¡± the crab explained at lightning speed while slightly covering away from Cal. ¡°Sorry, the anger isn¡¯t at you, I promise. It¡¯s entirely at the Gryalth, and I guess it¡¯s time to kill a bunch of them until we get back to our families. Tiffany, I think you are best off staying with us instead of risking the waterways on a return trip unless you really want to.¡± Cal did his best to keep the simmering rage out of his voice. He knew Tiffany had done his best to find them and didn¡¯t deserve any of his anger issues for the help. ¡°Yes, crab, stay with us. We will cut a path back home. Use your claws as they are intended,¡± Third Smasher welcomed the crab to their coming battle, and Cal couldn¡¯t really disagree with him. He had seen Tiffany wrestle Frank. The crab could hold his own. ¡°Uh, okay, but I haven¡¯t done a lot of real fighting, mostly just show fighting, though I suppose it¡¯s safest with you two anyway,¡± Tiffany answered as he shuffled back and forth nervously. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go. The plan is to hit hard, hit fast, and just keep moving. Speed is likely our best weapon here, and thanks to little Sleek, I think I can speed us all up a bit. Though not too much, as I don¡¯t want anyone crashing off a wall,¡± Cal touched each of them in turn, channeling a bit of mana toward their feet. His goal was only to make them a little bit lighter on their feet, nothing extreme. ¡°To battle, let our groves be defended!¡± Yelled out Third Smasher the moment Cal was finished, charging off towards the tunnels. ¡°Dammit, why can¡¯t he ever wait?¡± Cal asked as he moved into a quick pursuit alongside Tiffany, whose legs were apparently not just for show. The crab was moving faster than him and quickly catching up on Third Smasher, despite his head start. The sounds of the squirrel attacking something up ahead spurred Cal to a faster speed. He rounded the corner and found Third Smasher and Tiffany engaged with a small patrol of Gryalth. Luckily, there were no battle mages in sight; four of them were already on the ground, unmoving, leaving six more in the fight. Cal lifted his hand and pointed his finger at three of them in a line and released a blast of lightning. He watched it arc straight through all three before sizzling into the stone wall. They all fell to the ground, joining their other dead comrades. The last three were short work, thanks to Tiffany. The Crab may have doubted his claws, but Cal certainly didn¡¯t. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he yelled as they continued their race towards the grove. Loop 254 - Part 95 ¡°TS, Tiffany, do not argue run now!¡± Cal screamed to his companions as eight Gryalth appeared in front of them from thin air. Each of them was standing on a circle of force that kept them suspended above ground. These were the real monsters that started to show in force anytime they tried to fight back, and without magic, the other two had no chance against them. Cal was just glad he was able to get the words out before the spells began raining down on him. Before anything could land, he charged the particles of the air around him, pushing as much mana from his core as quickly as he could without knocking himself unconscious. The various attacks from the Gryalth began to ricochet off his makeshift shield, bounding around the chamber, creating a chaos of energies. That bought Cal some time to think. Did this mean the grove had fallen, and they were focused on him? Or did it just mean the last week of stalking their forces through the tunnels before springing devastating attacks had finally caught up to them? Either way, it didn¡¯t matter. He needed to survive this if he could help it. It was still too early to restart the loop. ¡°Bet you¡¯re all really confused at the sight of a human on Pluto, huh?¡± Cal yelled to them as he tossed balls of lightning around the room to increase the chaos. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect any of us to be off planet, let alone here at your secret base?¡± He didn¡¯t expect any answers, and none came. He had no intention of letting that shut him up. First, though, he had to deal with the Gryalth that had just appeared beside him, holding a humming red energy blade in front of itself. ¡°Fancy,¡± Cal said as he slammed his foot onto the ground, pushing a burst of mana through it and causing the ground below the Gryalth to shake violently. As it fought to regain its footing, Cal seized the moment to hit it in the chest with a lightning-enhanced punch. He followed up by ripping the blade free of its hands and stabbing it deep into its previous owner before the energy had a chance to fade. As the Gryalth screamed in response, it also erupted in a fire that burnt from ears and eyes. Cal was glad he hadn¡¯t given it a chance to use the weapon on himself. ¡°One down,¡± he yelled. This time, his yell was answered by three blasts of fire from above. He threw himself to one side with the help of Sleek¡¯s new mana, skating over the ground as he moved. Still, he barely escaped the fire and felt the searing heat as he dodged. Forming the shape of a giant ball in his mind, he started to pour in both void and electric mana while holding it from fully manifesting until he was ready to launch it. He looked above his head and spotted more incoming fire. That was precisely what he was looking for. He ran out of the fire¡¯s path and pulled his new mana bomb into existence from his core, shooting it off to where the fire had come from less than a second before. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. For a brief moment, all the air in the cave seemed to be pulled towards the roof as his void mana first imploded. Then, the core of his bomb, the lightning mana, exploded outward in a dazzling light show that was likely to kill anyone it touched. Around Cal, four bodies crashed to the ground, lifeless. The force of the implosion had caved in all of their chests. ¡°Four more down!¡± he further taunted his attackers. He just needed to find the last three. Moments after the taunt, he felt his whole body lock into place. Any attempt to move his limbs felt like a herculean effort, and he just wasn¡¯t up to the task. He realized his mistake too late. Below his feet, there was a runic symbol etched into the ground, and he had blundered directly into it. For all he knew, this was always the intended trap, and the others were the direction. He tried to curse, but not even those words could escape his frozen lips. Instead, he had a new idea. He tried to ignore the world around him as his death closed in and instead focused intensely on the mana is his core. Just a little earth mana was all he needed to break the symbol below him. He pushed until he thought his head was going to explode, but nothing came. Just as he resigned himself to his fate and the end of the loop he felt himself suddenly free of the trap. His limbs were working normally again. What had caused that? Cal ignited all the remaining bits of electrical mana, humming across the cave, flaring it briefly into a blinding light. His eyes quickly found what had happened. His savior was resting on the bodies of three dead Gryalth. ¡°I thought I told you to run,¡± Cal said at the sight. ¡°At what point during this journey did you think I started to consider you in charge? I may have realized you aren¡¯t the issue I initially thought. I may even see you as a comrade, which certainly means I won¡¯t run and leave you to your fate. I did initially back away and observe to see just how dangerous this new threat was, and the moment you no longer had it under control I joined the fray. You are welcome,¡± Third Smashed explained smugly. ¡°Alright, yeah, you¡¯re right. Thank you, I won¡¯t assume I¡¯m in charge of you or underestimate what you are capable of in the future. Do you know where Tiffany is?¡± Cal had to remember that as far as they may have come, Third Smasher and he were not anything like his friends and family. ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Tiffany¡¯s voice came from a small hole in one of the cavern walls. Unlike Third Smasher, I decided to heed your order.¡± ¡°Come on out. It¡¯s safe for now. Well, at least as safe as it ever is. We don¡¯t have time for any more Gryalth stalking. We¡¯ve gotta cut straight through to the grove. I don¡¯t know why they sent such a powerful group at us, but I¡¯m more worried than ever,¡± Cal sighed as he looked around the cavern at the carnage. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 18 At first, he didn¡¯t understand what he was looking at. Most of the animals he had known before the long sleep were gone. In their place were foreign monstrosities that hunted him everywhere. He dearly missed his friends, but there had been no sign of them in the cave he had awoken in, not even their capsules, which did give him some hope they were out here somewhere. His dreams had also changed. In them, he found himself walking across the terrain he now traversed, slowly making progress towards an unnamed presence that promised real answers to why their quest had ever started. Despite the weariness he felt deep within his body, the no-longer-so-small frog pressed on. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Deep inside him, the connection that had been forged between himself, Crocodile, and Bird still burned, and he trusted that to mean they yet lived. He would find them one day, but for now, he knew he must follow his dreams. Loop 254 - Part 96 ¡°That is a lot of Gryalth,¡± Cal said as he surveyed the siege going on in the larger tunnel that connected to the grove. ¡°Yes, it is. I fear my blade is not sharp enough for this number,¡± Third Smasher quipped, his tone never wavering. Cal would have missed the dry humor if he hadn¡¯t spent the last several months traveling with him. Now, he just smiled. ¡°Interestingly, I don¡¯t think they have much in the way of battle mages here. I think this is just meant to be the fodder to get through the wall,¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sensing much in the ambient magic around him. That didn¡¯t mean it was a certainty. Of course, he knew cloaking magical fields was entirely possible, but he also could see a reason why they¡¯d bother here. ¡°Good. I was hoping we would not have to waste any more time on your prattling about those dangers,¡± Following these words Third Smasher leaped from their hole in the ceiling directly into the midst of the force. Cal sighed. He really would have to apologize to Andy once they met back up. He then leaped after Third Smasher into the carnage below. Using the ongoing distraction of the berserk squirrel, he looked around quickly to get his bearings and found what he was hoping to see. Most of the squirrels in front of them had not turned to join the fighting. He pointed his fingers out in front of him, one from each hand, and started pouring all his electrical out into giant arcing lines of deadly lightning. By the time he felt his nearly drained, the area between them and the grove¡¯s fortifications was almost entirely devoid of life. Cal knew this was going to attract some big attention, but that was likely already happening, just not from this siege point. ¡°Come on, TS, mop up whoever is left and then go get Tiffany from his hiding place. I¡¯m going to grab us a prisoner, and then we can go see our families.¡± ¡°Understood, I¡¯ll see you inside,¡± Third Smasher called as he began eliminating any survivors. ¡°Hey you, you look mostly alive. Don¡¯t do anything stupid, and you will likely get to stay that way,¡± Cal said after spotting one of the Gryalth leaning against the wall in what looked like a state of shock. It made no moves to resist him as Cal clamped stone cuffs around its wrist. He then led it to the wall and knocked. ¡°Anyone inside, it¡¯s Cal and Third Smasher. We¡¯re back, and we brought up a prisoner.¡± ¡°How do we know you¡¯re who you say you are?¡± A large squirrel asked, having appeared atop the wall. ¡°I mean, do you know a lot of humans that are on the planet that aren¡¯t currently just inside your grove? TS will you and Tiffany get over here? They are doubting me!¡± Cal yelled back to Third Smasher. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Moments later, the squirrel appeared at his side, and the footfalls of Tiffany could be heard nearing as well, but before Third Smasher had a chance to vouch for them the squirrel guard apparently recognized him. ¡°Sir, I had no idea. I apologize for the delay. Please come in. General Second Smasher will be glad to see you¡¯re alive,¡± the guard said. ¡°Wait, Second Smasher is in charge of squirrels again? My dad is still here, right?¡± Cal asked, only a little confused. It would make sense to recruit the squirrel¡¯s help in leading his old forces. ¡°Stan the first? Of course, he is still here. He would not desert us in this fight. Second, Smasher is his pledged knight,¡± this answer did confuse Cal. How the hell had his father become a king of squirrels? ¡°Alright, well, please lead us to him or the general, I guess. We¡¯ve got a prisoner to lock up, and I want to see where we can best help,¡± Cal said. ¡°Of course, come inside,¡± the door sprung alongside the guard¡¯s invitation. Once Cal was inside, the new fortifications impressed Him even more. They weren¡¯t just a simple wall; he had to pass through several layers before they were finally through to the grove itself. Off to the side on each layer, he spotted rooms carved deep into the rock walls. This was impressive work in defense of their home. ¡°Cal! Is that you?! Frank has missed you greatly!¡± Came the yelling of a hulking behemoth of a tree man running towards Cal with his arms spread wide. Cal stepped back, barely avoiding the hug. ¡°Woah, Frank, no crushing, I¡¯m glad to see you too, buddy. I don¡¯t suppose you want to explain the war effort?¡± ¡°First, we wrestled our way through the caverns, winning bout after bout with the weak Gryalth who stood in our way. Every time we did, Stan claimed the prize and absorbed the wells into Excalibur. Soon, the weaklings couldn¡¯t face their losses and started sending tag teams after us, so now we¡¯ve been stuck here forever, and none of them will wrestle fairly!¡± Frank¡¯s explanation left Cal with far more questions than it answered. ¡°Sounds like you guys did a lot while I was gone. Everyone doing okay?¡± Cal was reasonably sure Frank would have led with any death so that at least eased some of the worry that had been plaguing him since they discovered the sudden Gryalth infestation. ¡°Oh yeah, everyone has been pulling their weight in this match. You should go see what mom has been whipping up for me. I¡¯ve got some tag-team members now!¡± Frank exclaimed excitedly. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll check in with everyone, but first, I really need to talk to Dad, and I¡¯m betting TS wants to see Second Smasher as soon as possible,¡± Cal explained to Frank. He noticed the number of fruit trees along the paths they were walking had radically increased since he left and assumed this, too, was part of Ethel¡¯s doing. ¡°Stan over here!¡± Frank suddenly shouted at a group of figures far down the path. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s Dad?¡± As the figures approached closer, he realized he could make out his father standing in the middle of a ring of squirrel guards. Things had changed a lot more than he realized since he left. ¡°Hey Stan, the first I¡¯m back!¡± he shouted to them. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 19 The weather grew colder as he walked on. Soon, he found the rains had turned into a white powder that continuously built up on the trees around him. The air had a constant chill, and Frog found it increasingly difficult to stay warm. Shivering in the shelter of a small cave, he heard that voice deep inside himself again. ¡°Frog, can you hear me? I think I¡¯m strong enough to help now.¡± ¡°Help with what what?¡± He asked, wrapping his arms even tighter around his body as the chill moved deep into his bones. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Reach down deep inside yourself and try to grasp the little ball of energy I¡¯ve been building.¡± The voice said. Fighting through the numbing cold, the Frog tried to focus inside himself, searching deep for the energy. He felt something. ¡°I think I found it.¡± ¡°Okay, grab it and pull it through your whole body.¡± As Frog grabbed hold of it, he felt a warmth start to radiate in the core of his being. He then released it and let it flow across him. The deep coldness that had settled into him faded, and his body began to move with ease once more. ¡°Thank you, my friend,¡± he spoke these words aloud, grateful for both the help and company of the voice. Loop 254 - Part 97 ¡°Please shut up; you¡¯re not starting this nonsense, too,¡± Stan said to his son. ¡°What, you don¡¯t like your new royal title and bodyguards?¡± Cal couldn¡¯t keep a straight face anymore, and the laughter exploded out of him. Fighting through his laughter, he managed to ask the question that had been burning in his brain. ¡°How, how did this even happen?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, you probably do want the story, huh? Alright come on, Ethel and Jen are inside plotting an expansion anyway, so we can just go join them. Gnasher, Springtail, take Third Smasher to the general; I¡¯m sure he wants to be filled in as well,¡± both squirrels saluted before breaking away from the bodyguards around Stan and leading Second Smasher away. Cal, Tiffany, and Frank filled in the gaps they left, making the space as needed for some of their larger forms. ¡°You should be proud of the dynasty your father has forged. We had no idea what a truly good leader was until he stepped up,¡± one of the squirrels said as they walked. There was a round of loud agreements to this, and even a few muttered insults to their old leader. That was a change Cal strongly welcomed. ¡°I¡¯m glad he makes such an amazing monarch. Does this mean I¡¯m a prince or first in line for a throne or something?¡± Cal asked, making sure his father saw the wink. ¡°God, no, I¡¯m not that stupid. When we wrote an order of succession, I made sure Bug was first in line. Now, that¡¯s someone capable of leading squirrels to war. You could learn a lot from her,¡± the mention of Bug drove home how much he missed the dog. She had been his only real companion for so many of the loops. He hoped she was doing well with Andy. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. She¡¯s pretty reliable,¡± Cal said with a smile as they reached the door. ¡°Alright, squirrels, we are going to do this reunion in private. I know how much you hate leaving me unguarded, but Frank will be there, and you¡¯ve all seen what he¡¯s capable of, so if you could just wait out here, thank you,¡± Cal was surprised to hear no arguments as the squirrels took stations alongside the walls with two of them flanking the doors. They all saluted and were given a nod by Stan before he opened the door and ushered them inside. ¡°I¡¯m impressed at how well they listen. It took months before Third Smasher was even willing to talk to me without disdain,¡± Cal said as the door closed behind him. ¡°They aren¡¯t really bad guys. It¡¯s like the squirrel elders warned us: their former leader was a sociopathic monster who also happened to have mind control powers. If you think this is something, wait til you talk to Second Smasher, that¡¯s a squirrel that has come a long way,¡± Stan replied. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°No, they aren¡¯t, and if someone had run off alone deep into the caves, he could have already learned this,¡± A shrill older voice said from a doorway. Cal knew who it was without looking. Apparently, Ethel had heard them enter. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you too, Ethel, besides after the fight we had with the squirrel empire, did you really want to accompany me deep into the caves? There were abyssal beasts everywhere,¡± Cal expected his information to come as a bit of a surprise. Instead, not a single person showed any hint of shock at his news. ¡°Yes, and what exactly do you think I was doing here, resting? Get your ass in here and sit down. You¡¯ve missed a lot, and it¡¯s best you shut up before you put your foot in your mouth anymore,¡± Ethel turned and vanished from the open doorway, leaving Cal to wonder just how bad things had gotten without him. He was glad answers were at least soon at hand. Instead of any snarky reply, he just listened and followed her into the room, found himself a chair, and sat down. ¡°So, I guess just start at when I left and go from there,¡± Cal said looking at the faces around the table. Jen was still standing and adjusting pins on a giant map attached to the wall. Frank, who rarely found a chair big enough, was standing behind Stan, apparently taking his duties of guard to heart. Stan had taken the seat directly next to Ethel while Tiffany was resting on a large ottoman, also looking at Stan and Ethel expectantly. ¡°Alright, but try not to Interrupt too often,¡± Cal nodded to Stan¡¯s request, unsure how well he would obey. ¡°Basically, it started when we learned the Gryalth were making a play to get all the pools we knew about that they didn¡¯t already control. That seemed like a terrible situation for us to be in, so we made the decision to stop them. I knew holding them was out of the question so instead, Excalibur offered the idea that he absorb their energy to increase his own power levels. He thinks that with enough, he will be able to make himself loop-aware due to our growing bond. I released Second Smasher to watch over the population here. Jen was busy spying on the other pools, and I didn¡¯t want to pull her back or take everyone with me, so instead, I just brought Frank and Ethel as a quick strike force. This went extremely well until we hit an abyssal rift, or demon portal, as Excalibur put it. It turns out the Gryalth were pulling them into this universe for their own needs¡­¡± Stan was cut off. ¡°Oh yeah, we found that too,¡± Cal himself was cut off in return by Ethel hushing him. Stan continued. ¡°Excalibur was able to close the rift, but this cost him a lot of energy, so we are going to need to get a few of the pools they control now. But this angered the Gryalth, who realized there was a human presence on Pluto, and that¡¯s more or less how we ended up at war. Now you can ask questions,¡± Stan finished, looking at his son expectantly. ¡°Well, that explains how it started, but what happened after that? This all didn¡¯t just magically come together somehow, you¡¯re a king. I want more explanations!¡± Cal demanded. Loop 254 - Part 98 ¡°Yeah, that wasn¡¯t my idea. Once the squirrels learned about Excalibur, though, I couldn¡¯t stop it. Ethel and Jen were no help here either.¡± He started to explain his new-found royalty. ¡°I stand by what I said; it¡¯s a good idea to give the squirrels something to unify around. They were a people without a cause, and now they have a righteous king. I don¡¯t know why you are still whining about this anyway. I¡¯m the one that has to do the real work. You have squirrels waiting on you hand and foot,¡± Ethel countered Stan¡¯s statement, glaring at him as she did so. ¡°And I really appreciate all you¡¯ve been doing; god knows I apparently had no idea how to run a kingdom. So, while I was organizing the war effort alongside Second Smasher, Ethel, Albert, and Onelder were preparing for the oncoming siege. Ethel has radically increased the yields of the local fruit trees. She has also sculpted a few plant golems, most of the strength of Frank, but not really alive in the same fashion. They have been very useful in breaking up charges.¡± Stan explained further. ¡°I¡¯m still surprised you¡¯ve managed to hold against their forces. I ran into some of their battle mages, and they almost took me out. They would have if I hadn¡¯t had Third Smasher with me,¡± Cal said with a half-hearted smile as he remembered that moment. ¡°And what stupid thing did you do to end up in that situation? Charge in alone?¡± Ethel turned her glare on Cal from Stan. ¡°Believe it or not, I have a new appreciation for yelling at the idiot who listens and runs ahead,¡± Cal stuttered slightly under her glare. He wondered how, after all these years, she still managed to do that. Stan coughed loudly, silencing any further bickering, and resumed his explanation of events. ¡°Back to the main point, we¡¯ve collected as many of the groves as we can into one area and have begun rapidly expanding this cavern into a mega city. Up until last week we were still getting a relatively steady influx of squirrels, but that changed after the Gryalth started to really converge on this grove. I don¡¯t know if they just now became aware of us as the main force against them or if they have already wiped out everyone else. Either way, we need to break the siege and fight back. That¡¯s why I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re back Cal. I really need your help here.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the plan then? Overwhelming force?¡± Cal asked he wasn¡¯t sure they had the numbers or abilities for that, but he was willing to try. They still needed to find a way off Pluto and back home, and he was reasonably sure that way was through the Gryalth base. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Yes and no. What I¡¯m thinking is Second and Third Smasher, along with a strong strike force push out hard at one of the siege points. Try to get them to put as much of their forces as they can to block that break-out attempt while a smaller force of you, myself, Ethel, Frank, and Jen sneaks out another passage. I want to take the fight to their pools and continue powering up Excalibur. Eventually, this loop is going to come to an end, and I think it¡¯s important to get the sword loop-aware before it does,¡± Stan outlined his plan. ¡°We need to let some survive the first pool assault. That should draw off some of the pressure here. If we are only leaving Albert, Onelder, and Second Smasher as magic wielders, we can¡¯t expect them to hold long against a sustained attack of battle mages, so relieving the pressure is a must,¡± Jen added. She had been taking notes since Stan started explaining his future plans. ¡°Good point,¡± Stan said, nodding at her. ¡°Once we have enough energy for Excalibur, we can make our way back here. That way, he and I can do whatever needs to be done while you all assess any damage that may occur in our absences. Any thoughts or comments?¡± Stan looked around the room, stopping briefly at each person. ¡°I mean, I like it. It has all my favorite parts of a plan: rushing in blindly and smashing everything in our way, killing Gryalth, listening to Frank¡¯s banter. What¡¯s not to like?¡± Cal was reasonably sure these weren¡¯t the thoughts his dad was looking for but felt the need to voice them nonetheless. ¡°Frank agrees. It is time to bring the pain.¡± Frank¡¯s tone was surprisingly calm despite his words. Cal guessed he had learned to control the yelling during the siege. Ethel likely wouldn¡¯t have been happy with him constantly giving away their position. ¡°It¡¯s as good as any plan with what we have available, I suppose. Actually, no, now that I think more about it, I¡¯m not sure I like the idea of leaving the Grove myself. I think you should consider swapping me with Albert. I need to be here to whip up more golems and keep the food supplies going,¡± Ethel looked over to Frank. ¡°Think you can handle this without me?¡± Frank only nodded in response. ¡°She¡¯s right, Stan. As things stand, Ethel can¡¯t really come with us. She¡¯s far too valuable here. It¡¯s going to be hard enough to sell you leaving without bodyguards, but both of you? Impossible. Besides, Albert needs to learn to use his powers more. Hell, so do I,¡± Jen¡¯s voice had taken a stern quality as she defended Ethel¡¯s choice. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not arguing. I think you¡¯re both right. The big question I suppose, is what comes after we return. What¡¯s the next best move?¡± Stan looked to Cal expectantly. ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to have to finish pushing them out of the caves enough to get some real breathing room. From there assess the damage to all the groves, search for survivors, the usual. But that can mostly be handled by the squirrels. What we need to do is assault their actual base and find a way home. I don¡¯t want to wait out the rest of the loop here on Pluto, and based on the looks on your faces, I assume none of you do either,¡± That was all Cal had as far as a post-pool assault plan went, but based on the nodding of heads in the room it was enough, at least for the moment. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 20 ¡°What do you think those strange creatures in the mist are?¡± Frog asked this question out loud. He preferred it that way, as it helped to keep his loneliness in check. He no longer felt the persistent crushing fear of eternal solitude, but it still gnawed at the back of his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I wish they didn¡¯t see us as some sort of food or monster, though,¡± the voice responded. ¡°Ah yes, I¡¯m sorry about that. As time passes, they will calm down some of their more murderous impulses, but their rule of the world is still a very new thing,¡± a new figure had suddenly appeared in front of them after speaking these words. ¡°Yes, yes, before all your questions, I am the one who has been guiding your dreams, but before we talk more, could you head towards my cave? I mostly appeared now to give you some finer directions. I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t accidentally bump into those apes. They¡¯ve only just left the trees, and the world is as much a terrifying nightmare for them as it is for you, so if you could follow this little energy trail, we can talk in earnest for the first time.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The figure vanished just as it had come, but in its place was left a series of small balls of light hanging in the air. With a slight shrug, Frog followed them. Loop 254 - Part 99 With Third Smashers'' return, there had been a large outpouring of celebrations amongst the squirrels. It turned out he was well respected by the soldiers. Second Smasher wasted no time in appointing him the third in command, following only himself and Stan the first. Cal joined in on a few of these celebrations, trying to get into the merriment before the hard days to come, but ultimately, he always ended up back at the gates helping to defend against the siege. His thoughts just came easier in the heat of battle these days, plus he had to continue learning to integrate Sleek¡¯s mana into his various abilities. He fought a few practice sparring matches with Second and Third separately and then jointly to get a good measure of where Second Smasher was with his magic and how far Third had come in their travels. The longer the fought, the better the two did against him. He continued to be impressed at just how quickly they could adapt and learn. The initial plan, it turned out, was not something the squirrel generals were happy with. This meant that their original strategy shifted several times until there was finally an agreed-upon plan: A multiprong distraction instead of a single focal point. The new idea was to make it look like they were pushing at all places at the same time looking for the weakest place to break through. While this was going on, the group would use a small tunnel the squirrels had been working on to sneak out and make their way to the caves from there. Cal was happy that he had missed most of these strategy meetings, as Stan had left them exhausted each time As the week of his return to the grove came to an end, and it was already nearing time to leave again. It hadn¡¯t been easy, but after several hours of arguing and explaining, Stan had convinced the squirrels that they had to do this without his bodyguards and that, in fact, they would be the ones in the most danger staying behind. In the end the only thing that had truly reassured them was that Frank would be joining them. Apparently, he had also become something of a local celebrity within the squirrel society. He had introduced them to the concept of professional wrestling, and it had taken off like wildfire. Cal couldn¡¯t believe it when he learned several fighters were already joining Frank in the ring. He was even more surprised to learn the ring was real. Frank had done a fantastic job helping them build an authentic wrestling ring on Pluto. ¡°Ethel is with the golems and a strong force of squirrels. Second and Third each have another force at different gates. Onelder is with the final force, and he had a surprisingly good idea, especially for him. He made some light replicas of us. They won¡¯t be able to fight, so he¡¯s just going to make sure they are seen on the wall, but that should buy even more of a surprise as long as we can keep up the momentum without being seen.¡± Jen explained to them. They had all gathered near a newly opened passage that Cal would be closing behind them as they left the grove. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°That is a surprisingly good idea. I¡¯m going to have to get over him and brother murdering me a couple hundred times eventually, aren¡¯t I?¡± Cal sighed loudly, looking to his father for some comforting words. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not big on them either, but we are stuck with what we can get in this war, and they are surprisingly useful. My big question is, just what are you planning to do with the squirrels in future loops?¡± Cal knew his dad was trying to distract him from the annoyance that were the alien brothers. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure yet. I¡¯ve gotta talk to Andrew and Ralth. Right now I have a lot of half-formed plans that may not even be possible with what we are capable of,¡± Cal answered. He wished he could use them as an army in the future, but he had no idea how to do that without alerting the Gryalth far too early of their involvement. Two small squirrels ran up to them and climbed onto Tiffany, chittering as they did so. ¡°Time for you all to go. It looks like they took the bait, and for whatever reason, they are moving their heaviest force against Ethel, not where they think you all are. Good luck.¡± ¡°Thanks, Tiffany. Tell Ethel to keep herself alive,¡± Cal said as he hopped into the hole. Once everyone was inside, he sealed it shut behind them. The plan was not to use this path on the way back but to fight straight through one of the passageways the Gryalth were infesting. They quietly crept along the passage with just the slightest bit of mana from Cal, keeping them a little lighter on their feet. Once they reached the other end, Jen popped her head out and signaled the all-clear. As they made their exit, Cal once again sealed the tunnel behind them. If everything went as planned, they only had a few hours'' walk from here to the nearest Gryalth-controlled pool. ¡°Next loop is a vacation loop, well, and probably a little training. I need some time on the beech with Bug,¡± Cal whispered as they walked, trying to keep his voice down. ¡°That sounds great. We should scout out a nice, secluded area for when we all need downtime. It might help keep us sane,¡± his dad whispered back. ¡°I think that ship sailed a long time ago,¡± Jen added with a smile. ¡°You are all walking through the caves of Pluto to fight extra-dimensional aliens alongside your favorite capybara and a giant wrestling plant man. That isn¡¯t really that strange, is it?¡± Albert finished the rhetorical question with a quiet laugh. ¡°Points very strongly made, and I suppose my sentient, magical talking sword doesn¡¯t help any argument against it either, does it?¡± Stan asked, his face a picture of a man not looking for an honest answer. Loop 254 - A Lowly Frog: Part 21 Frog followed the lights through a small gap in the rock wall. He was greeted by a sight that felt like a lifetime since he had last seen it. A beautiful pool of water surrounded by the vegetation he had grown up in. His mind briefly wandered to how such a thing could still exist in such a harsh environment, but his thoughts were interrupted as the figure reappeared. ¡°Please take a swim. I promise it¡¯s relaxing and will remind you of your youth,¡± it said. Frog, feeling oddly at peace within the chamber, obeyed without a word and dived into the pool. It felt amazing. So much of the stress he had felt over his journey melted away. He was home again. He would never have to leave. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I wish that were the case my friend, but this is only a preservation of your old home. I was able to save it during the cataclysm, as I believed it would help motivate you to a new goal,¡± the figure continued. ¡°And what goal is that?¡± Frog asked. The figure answered, ¡°We still need to save the world. I am not strong enough to break it free of this age of ice. I will need your help.¡± Loop 254 - Part 100 ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± Cal silently asked himself. He had scouted ahead with a little help from Sleek to get a good idea of how the pools were guarded. He found the expected Gryalth battle mages, but what he didn¡¯t expect was the hulking form of something at looked sewn together from the remnants of squirrels. Suddenly, he was grateful the plan hadn¡¯t involved bringing Third Smasher along, as this would have set the squirrel into a rage, and he doubted he¡¯d blame him. Had that been his family or friends used to create the monstrosity he knew his anger would have boiled over by now. Turning back the way he came, he crept along as carefully as he could. The frankensquirrel was something new, and he¡¯d rather they were expecting it than rushing in blind. Before he could reach them, however, a black form that looked to be made of shadows emerged from the rock wall. Cal would have thought it some kind of weird escaping gas if it hadn¡¯t stopped moving after it was entirely free of the wall. Just as he was about to dodge around it, it solidified into a Gryalth shape and started speaking. ¡°Hello, human. I have questions, and I have a deal to offer you,¡± It said. The shape of its face moved similar to how a human would speak, and the result was a tone missing all the usual difficulties the Gryalth seemed to have when they spoke to Cal in the past. Cal debated ignoring its words and just attacking, but he worried that would bring the thing behind him into the fight. He decided on words for now: ¡°Do you now? What kind of offer?¡± ¡°Well, first of all, I wasn¡¯t aware the technology on your planet had progressed far enough for this level of space travel. So I assume this is more magical in nature, which I also believe isn¡¯t anywhere near the level needed for this travel, except perhaps in a very few small enclaves of mostly nonhumans. So tell me, how did you wind up here with such impressive magical abilities without our noticing?¡± It asked. ¡°Would you believe a secret society of capybaras taught me their ancient ways?¡± Cal responded. He had no intention of telling the truth, but he didn¡¯t like how calm it was. This Gryalth carried itself differently from the rest he had encountered so far. The more human-like manner unnerved Cal. He had no idea if this was just an effect of whatever magic it was using to take this form or something it had learned to better communicate. Either way, it had left him on edge in way he didn¡¯t at all enjoy. ¡°I would not, but I am willing to offer you a chance to live. Go back to your group you brought on this poorly executed assault, convince them to surrender, and you can all become servants of the Gryalth empire. Trust me, it¡¯s a much more enjoyable fate than most experience,¡± It answered. Cal¡¯s feeling of unease further ramped up. He wanted to know how long it had been watching them. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°You know what? I think instead I¡¯m just going to see how well your face can take a lightning blast,¡± Cal said as he released a quick blast of electricity through his hand, aimed at what looked like its head. The lightning found enough of something to at least cause the Gryalth to yell in pain. ¡°Fine, then die with the rest,¡± It said as its hand started weaving several rapid patterns. Behind Cal, an alarm started ringing, while in front of him, a wall of metal formed in the air. ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t say you could make a metal wall. I might have considered otherwise if you had admitted that,¡± Cal yelled at the barrier. He needed to get out of here fast, both to warn the others, and so he wasn¡¯t stuck fighting what was quickly approaching behind him alone. An idea hit him. What would happen if he poured friction mana into the metal wall and gave it a nice hard shove? The Gryalth didn¡¯t seem to have a full grasp on his abilities, only that he had them. Cal was reasonably sure if it had been otherwise, it would have been smart enough to expect the coming lightning bolt. He had used enough of them on his return trip against the battle mages, after all. He placed both hands onto the plate and started channeling as much of his friction mana as he could into it. Not for the first time, he wished it was easier to develop his core to handle more types as this was worryingly slow going, and on top of that, this was something he had never done before, and he desperately didn¡¯t want it to explode in his face. The loud thuds of the monster somewhere behind him became clearer every second. He was quickly running out of time. He pushed hard, feeling the sharp pain of his mana channels being overtaxed. He ignored it, having no other choice. The mana poured into it, even as his body throbbed with pain. The footfalls were right behind him now. Hoping desperately that it had been enough, he gave the metal barrier a hard push. His hopes and quick thinking paid off, as the shove not only moved the wall but also sent it flying down the tunnel, crashing hard into something that screamed in pain on the other side. Cal hoped the noise belonged to the alien that had created the wall. It was not enough to stop the wall''s movement, though, as it continued down the path until finally careening into the wall at the bend in the path, further eliciting a horrifying scream of pain, followed by silence. Cal didn¡¯t spot much of a gap between the metal plate and the wall as he passed but wasn¡¯t willing to take the time to verify that the Gryalth was dead. Instead, he rushed past his makeshift battering ram as fast as his feet could carry him. He had people to warn, and most of all, he wanted some help before fighting what was now in pursuit. The unease that had settled into him from the Gryalth¡¯s presence hadn¡¯t abated, no matter how hard he had mentally tried to shake it. Of course, it didn¡¯t help that the loud thuds of monstrous footfalls continued after him. Loop 254 - Part 101 Cal ground his feet hard into the stone floor, coming to a stop directly in front of the large plant man who had been watching his approach with a puzzled look. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± His father asked, the look on Cal¡¯s face making it obvious to anyone looking that things hadn¡¯t gone as planned, and if it wasn¡¯t enough, the thundering sound of something charging after him could still easily be heard in the distance. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long, but one of the Gryalth has been watching us, or just me, not really clear yet. They set up a trap here. I think I stopped the Gryalth spy, but I¡¯m not a hundred percent sure there, either. The much more pressing issue is the patchwork squirrel golem coming after me and whatever is coming with it. So get ready to fight,¡± Cal said. His words spilled forth at breakneck speed, followed by some noticeably hard breathing due to the speed of his escape. ¡°Frank has smashed a dragon. No puny squirrel can cause him to quake with fear. Bring it on, squirrel!¡± Frank yelled down the tunnel. In answer to his call, a half-rotting monstrosity of squirrel parts came into view. Cal had no idea how this thing managed to hold itself together, let alone look ready to rip them all to shreds. He guessed some sort of magic, but he hadn¡¯t encountered anything so necromantic yet. Behind it were several battlemages, each one holding a glowing ball of energy. Before the creature itself entered their cavern, its smell did. Cal clamped down hard on his stomach, hoping to keep the nausea from overwhelming him. From the sounds around him, not everyone was nearly so successful. Frank was at least was still standing tall. ¡°Frank, rip it apart. I¡¯m going after the mages!¡± Cal called as he started charging the air around him. His mana channels were still painfully stretched after the shadow Gryalth encounter, which meant every bit of lightning mana he pushed out of his core made his arms feel like he had dipped them in acid. He kept the charged air localized to around him this time. The highly precise control needed taxed his channels even further, but he didn¡¯t have much of a choice as risking everyone else crashing into a floating ball of electricity would be a disaster they didn¡¯t need. Several balls of energy crashed into Frank at the exact moment the squirrel monstrosity did. Frank crashed backward to the rocky floor. The sound of several cracks came from his body as a scream escaped his mouth. ¡°Fuck,¡± Cal cursed as this had managed to go from bad to worse. ¡°Dad, get vomiting and start fighting, or we are all going to die!¡± No response came from his father, but much to Cal¡¯s surprise, a mushroom appeared between himself and the Gryalth mages. It was there for less than a second before they shot off several more energy balls into it, which turned out to have been precisely what its creator had hoped for. It exploded into a cloud of spores that clung to their forms, each one a burning bright red on the spot it attached it. Within seconds, the mages were reduced to screaming piles of Swiss cheese. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Cal turned his head away, not wanting to look at just how horrible their fate, deserved or not, was. He did manage to give Albert a thumbs up and caught a glimpse of the capybara collapsing forward, having spent all his mana on the effort of one singular, albeit extremely potent and well-timed attack. He couldn¡¯t spare a moment to check on his friend, though, as he needed his full attention on the frankensquirrel. To Frank¡¯s credit, despite the pain he had to have been in judging from continued cracks as he grappled with the creature on the ground, he had managed to hold him down there, keeping the monster from attacking anyone else. As Cal got closer, he realized just how bad of shape Frank was in. The poor giant¡¯s arms were both bent backward at angles that signified some bad breaks. He was pinning the horror with only his legs, leaving its arms free to bash Frank¡¯s face repeatedly. Cal quickly tried putting an end to this, hitting the monster in the face with several weak lightning bolts. He kept them low-powered to prevent any discharge of energy into Frank. The mauler had been through plenty already. It didn¡¯t work; the frankensquirrel seemed to have only one purpose in whatever was left of its brain, and that was killing Frank. Having zero intention of letting it continue that goal, Cal moved onto a new tactic. He raised the stone floor, covering Frank''s broken parts. Soon, the top half of his torso was entirely engulfed in a rocky shield, blocking the repeated hammer blows from above. Cal¡¯s efforts didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the pummeled Frank, either, as his legs locked down harder on the monster, pulling it down against the newly erected defense. Cal seized the opportunity and placed his hands over both of its ears, and started channeling void mana directly into whatever was left of its brain. The head slowly started to compress on itself before finally collapsing inward in a horrible crunching sound. The rest of the body squirmed briefly and then went totally limp in Frank¡¯s leglock. It was dead again. Breathing hard, Cal stumbled away from the mangled corpse, trying to distance himself from the smell while working out how to get everyone up and out of the chamber. A bright light engulfed the room, rapidly changing his thoughts to worry momentarily before Cal realized the source. Excalibur was emanating a solid flow of mana that spread across the chamber and washed over all of them. Cal quickly understood what it was doing. The nausea was passing, and not just in him; the others were able to regain their footing as well. ¡°My apologies, whatever the necrotic aura that was coming off that unholy beast was interfering with my ability to access any of my stored mana. It was likely the same effect that had incapacitated Stan and Jen so badly. I will continue to examine the magical remnants and work on a countermeasure for future encounters,¡± the sword said. ¡°You can do that?¡± Cal asked as he worked to remove the stone holding Frank to the ground. ¡°Yes, I was not originally conceived as a weapon, but as is often the case, tools of knowledge become needed in war,¡± Excalibur responded. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge ¡°My story is very long, and I do not remember the earliest parts well. Are you sure you wish to hear it?¡± Excalibur asked Stan. The sword was laid on the table as Stan relaxed in a chair nearby. ¡°If we are going to work together, I think it''s only fair. You have access to my memories after all,¡± Stan answered. ¡°That does seem fair. It is just a little surprising, as no wielder has asked before. My earliest memories start when my creator enters into this world. I do not believe I was initially constructed here, and of my creator, I remember little. Still, I do know that I was originally intended as an intelligent encyclopedia of different mana types throughout all existence. By the time my rudimentary sapience started to form, I already had an extensive knowledge bank of mana from outside this world, but it would be an encounter with a demon that truly awoke me,¡± The sword started its explanation in a somber tone. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°And by demons, you mean what we know as Abyssal beasts, right?¡± Stan interrupted with a question. ¡°Yes, my creator was investigating a strange source of mana in the depths of the Earth¡¯s ocean when he was attacked by a giant beast made of shadows and fire. The magics that were unleashed during the fight separated me from my creator and banished both him and the demon out of the dimension. I was bathed in the energies unleashed in the fight, and somehow that changed me. The best way I can describe it is I felt truly awake for the first time. I didn¡¯t at all understand what was happening to me, and to make it worse, I was totally alone,¡± Excalibur¡¯s voice dropped as a hint of loneliness entered it. Loop 254 - Part 102 ¡°Everyone up, quick. I know we all feel like shit, but we¡¯ve gotta get to the pool before they have time to regroup, and then we can figure out our next moves since they clearly know we are coming,¡± Cal said, barely getting the words out as he had his own struggles with exhaustion to contend with. There were several loud popping sounds accompanied by wails of pain as Frank, once back on his feet, started forcing his bones back where they were supposed to be. ¡°Frank, are you sure you should do that?¡± Stan asked the tree man. ¡°Only way to heal correctly,¡± Frank replied as he pushed his shoulder against the cave wall, resulting in another loud pop. ¡°Mom did some work on me the last few months to help with the wrestling matches. Now I can do my stunts without worrying about long healing times!¡± ¡°Huh, that was a good thought on Ethel¡¯s part. How fast can you heal now, big guy?¡± Cal asked as he helped the now-conscious Albert up. ¡°Mom called it an experiment, so the Tree Titan has no idea yet!¡± Frank¡¯s wrestling voice had returned as strong as ever, reassuring Cal somewhat despite how badly Frank¡¯s body had been mangled. ¡°Albert, you doing alright? That was a great job with the mushroom explosion, but I¡¯m guessing you totally drained your core there?¡± Cal realized he had spoken way too many words at the barely conscious capybara when the only response he had was several blinks and a confused look spreading across Albert¡¯s face. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll let take some time to wake up more before the lessons.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Albert managed to squeeze the words out. ¡°Dad, you and Jen ready to go?¡± Cal turned to look at his father, who was leaning slightly on his wife with a grimace. ¡°Just give me a second. When that aura hit us, it really messed with my brain. I feel like bugs are crawling inside my head still,¡± Stan finished his answer with another gag. ¡°Yes, the creature''s aura clung to our bond and caused some feedback directly into Stan¡¯s head. He will be fine, but I imagine the feeling is not pleasant at the moment,¡± Excalibur explained further. ¡°That¡¯s a giant understatement,¡± Stan¡¯s words came between gags, though fewer gags than he had been doing moments ago, so Cal considered that a good sign. ¡°Alright, everyone gets five more minutes, and as much as I may want to, I will not scout ahead,¡± Cal said. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Images of the shadow Gryalth popped back into his head unbidden. He knew why it was stuck occupying his thoughts as much as he wished otherwise. The more the fight replayed in his brain as he ran from the area, the more he doubted the creature¡¯s death with just the wall¡¯s impact. Had it not been for the thud and scream behind the wall, he wouldn¡¯t have even been sure the shadow had a true physical form. A cough from his father broke him out of his thoughts. ¡°Alright, I think I can at least walk for now. Let¡¯s go,¡± Stan said. And go, they did. Cal wasted no time ushering them down the passage he had come down. He took the rear to make sure no one fell behind. Soon the walk had turned into more of a light job as both Stan and Albert recovered even more of their strength. Cal also noticed that the dark cuts on Frank¡¯s best were slowly fading as they continued. Whatever Ethel had done to him, she had done well, so it was no wonder he had become such a local celebrity to the squirrels. By the end of the short trip, most of them looked ready and able again. Albert, though, still looked pretty drained, and Cal shared that feeling. He had spent more of his energies than he would have liked already today, and there was still the matter of the pool ahead. As though to drive home Cal¡¯s last thought, Frank yelled out in pain. What looked like arrows made of nothingness had rippled through the air, finding their homes in his shoulder. ¡°Two!¡± was the only word Frank shouted before he charged down the passage into the chamber with the pool, entirely out of Cal¡¯s sight. The noises Cal heard during his sprint to catch up to Frank weren¡¯t pleasant, but they also didn¡¯t leave him worried about the big man. Entering the chamber, he found just what he had expected from the sounds. None of them had come from Frank, only the pain of the Gryalth as their bodies had been broken in the new lifeless shapes they occupied. ¡°Good job, Frank. Dad, get in here. The room is clear. Let¡¯s get whatever it is Excalibur needs to do done so we can disappear into the tunnels,¡± Cal yelled back down the passageway to the others. Stan walked into the room carrying the sword, approached the pool, and proceeded to drop the sword in. ¡°He says the corruption is less along than he would have expected, so it shouldn¡¯t take that long to absorb the pool''s energies, ten minutes or so,¡± Stan spoke for the Sword. Cal sat down and tried to relax as he watched the pool¡¯s colors slowly change from the dark green it had started. Cycling through several shades of green as the color faded, the pool finally settled on crystal clear. Walking over to the water¡¯s edge, Cal put his hand into it and felt nothing. ¡°So the mana is all gone, then?¡± he asked. Stan pulled Excalibur from the water. ¡°Not gone, but within me. Stan has explained to you my hopes should I gather enough.¡± ¡°So I have a question. What happens to all these pools when we reset the loop? I know our abilities seem to stick, but what happens to the energies within them? Can someone else go find the pool I met Acorncracker at and get themselves their own?¡± Jen looked to both Cal and Excalibur for answers to her questions. ¡°No clue. Honestly, I was hoping to talk to Andy and Andrew when we got back and see if they had any idea how this all worked,¡± Cal answered. ¡°I have some theories, but I want to see this console you have firsthand before I give any concrete answers,¡± Excalibur said. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 2 ¡°How long were you at the bottom of the ocean?¡± Stan asked. ¡°My concept of the passage of time had not yet strongly developed, and even if it had, I¡¯m not sure I would have had an easy way to count the passing days. The longer I spent there, the more aware I became of the world around me. I soon found myself not just documenting everything for the knowledge it contained but because I was feeling a sense of boredom. I began to long for the rare times an octopus would visit, as they were the most entertaining of the sea creatures. This early fascination with the cephalopods is partially what led me to where I am now. It was through them I experienced my first real concepts of enjoyment, friendship, and loss. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. As my communication skills grew, I was able to interact more and more with the creatures who had grown up alongside me, several generations worth. Their exposure to the energies that awakened me and my own growing mana channels benefits their intelligence just as much as it does mine. I learned to project an image of how I envisioned myself using some of the energies I contained. From there, communication became easier. Through arm movements and a series of colors, the octopi and I began to converse about our home, the sea, the world beyond, and even the universe itself. I was no longer alone,¡± To stan¡¯s surprise, the sword suddenly projected an image of an octopus in front of itself. The image was smiling. Loop 254 - Part 103 Pool after pool fell. Strangely, despite what had happened at the first pool none of their opposition seemed ready to expect them, let alone were anywhere near prepared for the overwhelming force they brought against the invaders. Equally strange there had been no sign of the Gryalth that had worried Cal. He had begun to wonder if he really had succeeded in killing it and that his fears were unfounded. They had found fifteen pools so far, more than the original number they were looking for, and Excalibur was now bursting with energy, so much so that it had been letting loose in the last couple of fights in order to control the level of mana it was containing. The sword was ready to attempt a further bond with Stan. They just needed to find a safe, sheltered area to do so. ¡°We could just head back to the grove. That would be the safest bet,¡± Stan said as they debated a safe location. Excalibur had estimated it would take three days to forge the bond between them that they needed. ¡°Yes, but then we¡¯d have to fight our way back inside, and I¡¯m not sure our diversionary tactics will let us slip out a second time. I¡¯d much rather we find a nice cave here. Take the time to do whatever ritual it is you need, dear husband, and then continue our hunt for anything the Gryalth controls down here. Hell, I¡¯d really like to find a path up into the surface base before we are forced back to the grove,¡± Jen said. This wasn¡¯t the first time they¡¯d had this conversation, but it was nearing the last, as Excalibur had informed them that maintaining his energy levels was becoming increasingly difficult. ¡°I¡¯m with Jen. The grove is stuck on the defensive right now, and us going back there just takes us off the board as an assault force. Right now we have the Gryalth confused and scattered down here. I don¡¯t want to waste that momentum. Let¡¯s just use this cave, and I¡¯ll work to seal up the entrance. It¡¯s three days away from the nearest pool we cleansed anyway, so we should have plenty of time,¡± Cal said. He agreed with his stepmom. It seemed like a giant waste of time and a tactical mistake to head back to the grove. He knew why his dad wanted to, of course, even if the man would never say it out loud. He didn¡¯t like leaving the rest of them stuck protecting him in a hostile environment. Cal was sure that no matter how powerful he became his father still wouldn¡¯t like the idea of leaving him alone to these horrors. ¡°Alright, if we are doing voting then I think it¡¯s only fair Frank and Albert get a say, well gentlemen?¡± Stan asked, looking at them. ¡°Mom said the order I should listen to was Jen, then Stan, then Cal. So whatever Jen wanted,¡± Frank said. He looked bored with the entire situation, and Cal doubted the idea of sitting around for three days was something he looked forward to, so he was glad he was listening to Ethel, even if she had apparently told the tree man that his opinions on things were less than Jen and his father¡¯s. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Sorry, Stan, I¡¯ve found it¡¯s generally best to listen to Jen or Andy as much as I love both you and Cal. You are his father, and he is very much a think second type of person. So even though he may agree with Jen here, I¡¯m going with her,¡± Albert said. He had already set his pack down and started going through what he had left for cooking. It was clear his mind had been made up as soon as Jen said what she wanted. Cal was really going to have to talk to everyone about their lack of faith in his plans eventually. ¡°Alright, I know when I¡¯m outnumbered. Cal, get to work on closing up the way we came in then. Once Albert is done making us something to eat, Excalibur and I can start. From what he¡¯s told me I¡¯m going to be basically in hibernation for the next few days, so I¡¯d rather do this on a full stomach. Anything to add, partner?¡± Stan asked the sword. ¡°I will also be unable to assist if anything occurs. In the case of an emergency Frank should carry Stan, and you should all leave me behind, as the explosive energies that will come from breaking the bond won¡¯t end well for anyone,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d really prefer not to leave anyone behind. It¡¯s one of those things I¡¯ve been trying to stick to,¡± Cal said. Though he wasn¡¯t sure what the other options were, the sword was the expert here. ¡°I understand your emotional attachment to your friends and allies, especially given the unique situation you¡¯ve found yourselves in, but try to remember the worst that happens if I¡¯m left behind, is you attempt to rescue me again on another loop. I am disposable as of now. I don¡¯t particularly like the phrasing, but it does fit. Treat me as just another tool until I am able to join your cause fully,¡± the sword responded. ¡°You can keep talking all you want about this, but unless he really can¡¯t think of any other way at the time, he¡¯s going to risk taking you with them on any emergency escape attempt. Albert put it pretty well when he said Cal was my son, and I¡¯d do the same, so let¡¯s stop the arguing over it and get some food in my belly before I get to play winter bear,¡± Stan said, settling the matter. ¡°Dinner today is the last of the fish in a strew with some of the tubers Ethel managed to propagate in the grove. I¡¯m going to make a big enough batch that we can keep the stew going for the whole time we are here, but we may want to make finding another water source a priority as soon as we get out of here. We are officially out of protein after this meal,¡± Albert said as he started chopping ingredients. ¡°Alright, sounds like fishing before Gryalth hunting is next on our agenda,¡± Cal said with a smirk. Loop 254 - Part 104: Stan ¡°Are you ready, Stan?¡± The voice was heard only in his head. It belonged to his new partner, the legendary sword Excalibur. He thought about just how strange that statement was and realized it wasn¡¯t even the half of it. They found the sword in a cave in Pluto, with the tomb of the mythical British king, after their tree man wrestled a crab. And why were they on Pluto? Oh, just to continue the fight against aliens from another dimension. And now here he was, partnered up with said sword as it tried to replicate whatever cosmic quirk it was that made Stan aware of the time loop they were all stuck in. ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be,¡± Stan replied back internally. He wasn¡¯t sure he could have spoken out loud if he had tried. After their dinner and once his son had safely sealed up the cave, Exacalibur had instructed him to lay down on the floor and then to pull the sword onto him. Moments after the sword had been rested across, a transfer of the mana Excalibur had been draining from the pools had started. It now felt like a straight jacket made entirely of energy was holding his body firmly in place. ¡°The next part may be painful, or at least very disorienting. I can¡¯t say for sure, though, as it¡¯s all new to me. I believe, from your perspective, that the next three days should pass much quicker than real-time if that is any comfort,¡± the sword explained moments before Stan felt the energy cocoon surge in strength. His breathing was now labored and he could feel the tiniest itch at the base of every hair on his body. He desperately hoped this would be a one-time thing as he wrestled with his brain to maintain its grip on his sanity. ¡°I really need you to hurry up,¡± Stan tried to scream out inside his head, but he felt like it only came out as a whisper. The itching had grown into a tiny stabbing pain like an uncountable number of tiny glass shards were working their way into his flesh. ¡°I apologize. I have found the source of your awareness. Deep in your natural mana channels, almost imperceivably minuscule in size, there is a knot. I have no idea how this is enough to hold your awareness across time, but I am sure it¡¯s the cause. Nothing else I can find anywhere has the strange properties this has. Now, I just need to begin replicating it within myself,¡± Excalibur responded to Stan¡¯s pained thoughts. ¡°Just please hurry,¡± Stan begged. He wished he could feel some sort of comfort as the sword¡¯s progress, but at the moment, all he really felt was a maddening level of pain. A new sensation hit Stan as the probing changed. The tiny needles coalesced into a single point somewhere below his stomach. The pain changed from that of a stabbing into more of a slicing feeling. He now felt as though he was lying on a surgery bed without any anesthesia. In contrast, the pain was much more intense than before. He preferred it to the infinite needles from moments before. This was a pain he could focus his mind on. That meant it was a type of pain he could handle. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Interesting, I did not expect this outcome at all,¡± The sword¡¯s voice came through the pain again. ¡°Expect what? What¡¯s happening?¡± Stan asked, biting down the pain as best he could. ¡°This isn¡¯t just a knot in your natural mana channels. This is a knot in the fabric of the universe itself. You have somehow become a constant in a universe of constant change. I assume the same is true of everyone else in this loop. It also seems that one of the threads in this know extends beyond you. I don¡¯t fully understand it, but somehow, this thread holds onto your memories and experiences across each iteration. I now wish to see the console you¡¯ve mentioned more than ever. I have a strong feeling I will find a similar thread attaching it. And you really have no idea what¡¯s behind it?¡± the sword explained before throwing another question at Stan. ¡°No, I don¡¯t, and as far as I know, no one else does. All we really know is the weird experiment that Andrew was running on the mana spirit, alongside the Gryalth interference, seemed to start all this, but you should know that from my memories,¡± Stan answered. ¡°Yes, I apologize. I didn¡¯t mean to imply that you were hiding information. I am also experiencing many of your emotions right now, which is a curious thing to do when you aren¡¯t often called to be a tool of emotion, only violence. Okay, try to relax. I believe we are almost done,¡± Excalibur¡¯s words accompanied a cooling sensation across Stan¡¯s body. The pain was starting to lessen, and alongside that, he felt his muscles spring to life again. His breathing returned to normal. ¡°Wait, already? I thought this would take days,¡± Stan asked, confused. He knew the sword had said it might pass relatively faster for him, but it had only felt like an hour at most. ¡°It has been the three days I estimated it would take; please try to sit up. You will want to eat something as soon as possible. The toll on your body was great, but I believe it was successful,¡± Excalibur answered. Stan opened his eyes and forced himself to sit up, groaning loudly as he did. Out of the corner of his eye, for the briefest moment, he thought he saw a shadowy form on the far wall. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± he mumbled, his mouth not fully ready for speech yet. ¡°That is a problem!¡± Excalibur loudly exclaimed, shooting a beam of light from itself, blanketing the room in bright light. ¡°The shadow Gryalth, it is here!¡± ¡°Where?¡± Cal said, leaping to his feet. ¡°Gone, but I¡¯ve learned a lot. Thank you,¡± a voice said from all around. ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Stan further mumbled, trying his best to clear the fog still lingering in his brain. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 3 ¡°Had tragedy not struck, I doubt I would have ever left them. Though I suppose that is hard to say for sure. You see I soon learned that the energies my creator had come to investigate and had so awakened me were still active. This is why the octopi were visiting so often. They, too, were growing in their awareness of their world and their place in it. They built a small community, and I was considered a member of it. For a time, things were wonderful. Then the beast came. The mana pouring from deep within the rift in the planet had changed more than us. I still do not know precisely what attacked us that day. It had the face of a shark but the body of a turtle, and it was bigger than both. I saw many of my friends and family perish horribly as the monster bore down on us. During the fray, I was hit by one of its extremities and thrown deep into the fissure. To this day, I still do not know the final outcome of that battle.¡± Excalibur said, the projection vanishing. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What happened in the fissure?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I sank, at first through water and then through magma. As the heat grew, I accepted my death was imminent, obviously though I was wrong,¡± the sword answered. Loop 254 - Part 105 ¡°What just happened?¡± Cal asked as he searched around the room for any signs of the Gryalth. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think the shadow Gryalth you encountered has been further spying on us. I am very concerned with what it may have learned from what Stan and I just went through. For now, though I am not sure anything can be helped. Without access to one of us, I do not think he will be able to replicate awareness of the time loop, and even then, it would require a tremendous level of energy,¡± Excalibur quickly explained. ¡°Dammit, this is a whole new level of problem and something I¡¯ve really worried about. How sure are you that it won¡¯t be able to replicate our awareness?¡± Cal asked. The combination of fury and fear was threatening to overwhelm him. ¡°Nearly certain. There is an alternative if you are that worried though. End the loop now,¡± Excalibur answered. Cal considered the idea but quickly rejected it: ¡°I can¡¯t. As much as I understand why I should, we can¡¯t risk Andy and the others in the Under Library. Not to mention, I don¡¯t want to go through this bonding experience with the murderous brothers again, and we need time to bring them into the loop. Okay, it¡¯s decision time. Do we fight the Gryalth here and hope to kill the shadow one or do we find a way to run back to Earth and stay hiding until the moment we can restart the loop?¡± Cal himself had no idea what the right choice was, but they had to make a decision now. ¡°Too risky for a giant confrontation, especially if they just need one of us. We¡¯ve more or less accomplished a lot of our original goal here. Cal has more energy for the void house, and we¡¯ve even added a significant power boost to our group beyond that. We need to find a way back to Earth and lay low until we hit the decade mark for the meeting and then end the loop as soon as we possibly can after that.¡± Stan said. His face was a mask of stoicism as he spoke, the words clearly aimed directly at Cal. ¡°So that means we pack up camp, get back to the grove, and tell Ethel what¡¯s happened. I have some ideas of what comes next, but I¡¯m not fully discussing it until I¡¯m sure we are in a secure room. Does that sound good to everyone?¡± Cal nodded, grateful for his father''s quick takeover of the conversation. It gave him time to get a grip on his own thoughts. He had known that Gryalth would be a problem; he just hadn¡¯t realized how big of one it was. And until they understood just what it was capable of, Pluto was an extremely dangerous location for future loops. He felt the sting of his budding plan of a squirrel army being dashed, though that was a setback he could live with as long as they stopped the Gryalth from becoming loop-aware. ¡°Stan¡¯s right. We¡¯ve done plenty here. Time for the squirrels to take over for themselves. Even Acorncracker agrees. Though she isn¡¯t looking forward to leaving her family, she agrees it is time. Albert, start packing up your supplies. Frank, see if you can clear out the entrance, and we will head out,¡± Jen said, backing up her husband¡¯s words. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Alright, yeah, you¡¯re both right. Let¡¯s get this rock cleared and head back to the grove. I¡¯ve got some ideas, too, but I¡¯ll shut up about them for now.¡± Despite his father¡¯s wishes otherwise, Cal was reasonably sure they¡¯d need to attack the Gryalth to remove whatever was blocking their ability to get back to Earth, but that was something they could plan later. ¡°New Problem!¡± Frank yelled out. He had just lifted one of the bigger rocks that had made up part of their seal of the entrance, only to reveal several hellmoose apparently waiting for just this moment. Cal was able to count four in the split second of Frank¡¯s warning before the room was alight in their attacks. Luckily for everyone, Cal included, Jen reacted faster than the abyssal beasts. A wall of ice formed across the opening, taking most of the damage of the blast but still reflecting the light into a blinding display in the chamber. Cal was surprised to realize his eyes didn¡¯t hurt and assumed it was another after-effect of his near-death training with the mana fruit. Cal seized the moment Jen had provided him and released a blast of electricity charging the air around them. He then poured as much fiction mana as he could spare into the ice wall and yelled to Frank to give it a hard push. Frank obliged without question, and their defense turned into a makeshift battering ram directly aimed at high speed toward their attackers. At the same time Cal and Frank were doing this, a gentle blue light replaced the explosively blinding light of their enemies. Stan was holding Excalibur out, and the light was emanating from its tip. Cal felt a sense of calm overtake him, replacing the panic that had set in since the shadow Gryalth¡¯s appearance, and alongside it, he felt something else. A feeling of inner strength swept through his body, infusing his core. He also noticed several small mushrooms growing along the cave''s walls, each emitting a pleasant smell. With each new breath, he felt his muscles swell, and his lungs seemed to hold more air. Both effects had combined in him to produce a feeling he wasn¡¯t sure he could even feel anymore. The constant pressure had retreated. He felt ready to fight an endless horde of monsters. ¡°The Tree Titan feels empowered. His fists of fury are ready to smash any puny monster that dares to stand against him!¡± Frank yelled from beside Cal. ¡°Whatever you guys are doing, I like it, and we need to do it more often,¡± Cal called back to his father. ¡°You are welcome Cal. With our bond strengthened, I should have access to the full range of my abilities,¡± Excalibur responded. ¡°Less talk, more fight,¡± Stan added as the ice wall that had crashed into the hellmoose exploded. The hellmoose looked furious, but all Cal felt was an inner assuredness of his ability to handle them, no matter what. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 4 ¡°I found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the Earth. While I could not and still do not feel physical pain, I was fully aware of the forces the planet had brought to bear against me. The pressure and heat should have destroyed me, but as always, fate had other plans. The magma I had been moving through suddenly ended and instead of a slow sink, I crashed several feet onto a hard metallic surface. Before I was able to grasp what had just happened, a voice spoke out. ¡®Well, hello there, little knowledge shard. You certainly don¡¯t belong down here with me. And now that I look closer, I don¡¯t even believe you belong in this universe. What brings you here?¡¯ The voice asked. It had a soothing quality to it. My visual perception had yet to recover from the extreme temperatures, so all I had to go on at the time was a voice, something I had become entirely unused to in the brilliantly colored world of the octopi. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It took a monumental effort, but I was able to activate my vocal abilities to reply to the voice. ¡®I am lost. I have been for a very long time, though for a time I was not; I am yet again lost. Can you help?¡¯ I asked in a new desperation. ¡®Perhaps, but first, I think we need to clean you up. No rash decisions about what kind of help you need until you are back to one hundred percent,¡¯ the voice answered, further soothing some of the turmoil that persisted. ¡®Thank you,¡¯ I answered,¡± Excalibur said, growing silent following these words. ¡°Wait, what happened next? Who did you find at the center of the planet?¡± Stan asked, his voice full of wonder. Loop 254 - Part 106 His father¡¯s previous words weren¡¯t just for show as the larger man rushed past Cal, slashing Excalibur a strong, wide arc at the first of the creatures he encountered. It screamed in pain as the sword bit down into its flesh. As a second turned to fire on their attacker, Cal shot a bolt of lightning at it, turning its rage on him. ¡°CANNONBALL!¡± Frank screamed as he made a running leap into the center of the hellmoose group, surprising everyone, Cal included. The tree man landed with a loud crunching sound as two of the moose gave way under his massive form. Another one was soon launched into the ceiling when Frank grabbed its leg, spun, and threw it hard at the rocky surface above them. Several balls of ice formed over the heads of the beasts, each exploding into smaller ice darts as they crashed down onto them. Jen had joined the fight, and apparently, her offensive abilities had grown significantly. Making the fight stranger, several small mushrooms marched past Cal into the monstrous horde. Albert had given his creations a mouth and legs, and they were all chanting ¡°Dinner time¡± as they pushed into the hellmoose, biting and ripping them as they moved. Cal was both impressed and a little horrified at the capybara¡¯s new application of power. The fight quickly wound down as the hellmoose were totally unable to cope with the combination of abilities thrown against them. Every time a mushroom went down, it exploded into smaller piles of fungus that stuck to every creature near it, burning on contact. Frank was in top form as a wrecking ball. Soon, he started smashing moose into moose, their bodies as his weapons. Whenever one of the ice dart shrapnel hit one of the mushrooms, the mushroom would start spewing more ice darts. By the time the battle was over, Cal wasn¡¯t even sure he had been needed this time. He found the thought oddly reassuring. ¡°Everyone good?¡± he called out after the last hellmoose died. Several variations on how well they were doing, all competing over each other to be heard, was his answer. ¡°Good, then let¡¯s get going before we attract anything else.¡± *** Several more pockets of abyssal beasts had greeted them on their return trip, but the only truly worrying thing had been the lack of Gryalth at the grove. Their assault had ended, and Cal only had one good reason why that may have been. Everything had changed with what the shadow Gryalth had learned. The initial dread he had felt had started to turn into a resolve to see this through despite what may come of it. This meant that as they all sat down for the private, secured meeting his father had wanted, Cal did not find himself at all paralyzed in a panic this time. Ethel had brought both smashers, Tiffany and Onelder, with her. As soon as Frank spotted her swept her up into a giant hug and started telling her of the fights. ¡°And then Frank leaped into the middle of the arena, and nothing could stand against his might!¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Yes, son, that is all great but put me down. We will talk about your exploits later. Right now, I imagine we have some very important matters to discuss, considering the Gryalth have entirely withdrawn, and Cal looks ready to hit a wall,¡± Ethel instructed Frank. ¡°Yes, if everyone could take their seat. Shit has kind of hit the fan. We need to talk about what comes next and just what the squirrels want to do with their future,¡± Stan said. The few people still standing complied and found seating around the room. ¡°Well, now I am concerned. Now you¡¯re mirroring Cal¡¯s expression. What the hell happened?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°We secured enough energy for Excalibur to fully bond with me. He believes he is now loop-aware. That¡¯s the good news,¡± Stan said. ¡°And the bad?¡± Ethel interrupted. ¡°I fought a Gryalth that was much more human-like than usual and a lot stronger. It had a shadow form that was either some sort of projection or just made it able to resist damage, unlike a normal body. No idea which. But the important part here is it apparently has been spying on us and managed to continue to do so. It learned about the connection dad and Excalibur made and the loops themselves. Likely the reason the Gryalth have retreated for now is they are trying to figure out the solution, making themselves loop-aware,¡± Cal answered. Ethel¡¯s face drooped. ¡°Well, that is a giant problem. This is what I get for letting you all do this without me. What are we going to do?¡± She asked with a loud sigh. ¡°I do not believe it is as big of a problem as it seems. The Gryalth will need access to someone already in the loop to replicate awareness of it. And they will only retain knowledge that they even need this until the end of the current loop. As long as we make it through this one without being captured, the problem should be resolved,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Okay, so we just end it now?¡± Ethel questioned. ¡°No, we can¡¯t do that. With Andy and the others in the Under Library, it¡¯s just not safe yet. So instead, we have to get rid of the interference and get our asses back to Earth to hide out until we can,¡± Cal answered. ¡°If you are willing to promise us something, we will assist on what is clearly going to turn into a full assault on the Gryalth base,¡± Second Smasher said. Several eyes turned to the squirrels. ¡°We can¡¯t promise you anything without knowing what it is,¡± Stan said. ¡°Third and I have discussed it. We have no real interest in being part of your time looping, but we are willing to lead a squirrel assault on the Gryalth above if you promise to return for us in your final loop. Do not leave us enslaved to the monster you found when you first arrived,¡± Second Smashed asked. His voice bordered on begging. ¡°Of course, I¡¯d do it with or without the squirrel army help, but having it will make this easier,¡± Cal said, entirely sincerely. He had started to compile a list of everything he wanted changed when the final loop eventually came, and that had already made the top ten. Loop 254 - Part 107 ¡°We¡¯d rather hear it from our pledged lord,¡± Second Smasher said after Cal¡¯s agreement to help. Once again, Cal was left amazed at just how strongly his father had gained Second¡¯s loyalty just from Excalibur. He had to spend months traveling through caves and fighting monsters alongside Third to only go half as far. ¡°Of course. I pledge that before the end, we will free your people from their enslavement, and I thank you both for all your help now and in the future,¡± Stan answered. Both squirrels stood to attention as soon as he opened his mouth and saluted him once he finished speaking. ¡°Thank you, your majesty,¡± Second Smasher said. ¡°Then I believe all that is left is how we want to accomplish this attack.¡± ¡°We kick down the front door. They are used to us sneaking everywhere or just hiding in the grove playing defensive. I saw we just lead a giant force straight through whatever their main entrance to the caves is, and then we fan out, hitting them everywhere at once. I¡¯ve basically been making golems nonstop for a year now. We have the shock troops needed to do a frontal assault, plus I¡¯m bored,¡± Ethel said. She was the first to speak up on the battle plans, and as far as the idea went, Cal was on board. It also meant it would be easier to keep track of each other in case of the shadow Gryalth. ¡°So, I know this comes as zero surprise, but I¡¯m with Ethel here. That said, I have a feeling there will be a strong blowback to Pluto once we leave. Is that something you are okay with, Second?¡± Cal asked. He expected a counterattack by some of the stronger Gryalth forces once they showed their hand earlier than usual, even if it was a different planet. ¡°Yes,¡± was Second¡¯s only answer. Cal smiled at the similarities between Second and Third. ¡°Well, I suppose if no one has any complaints, we go with the overwhelming frontal assault plan,¡± Stan looked around the room to see a group of nodding heads. ¡°Alright then, it¡¯s time to head home soon.¡± ¡°Good, thanks to Onelder, I have some golems ready for a special part of the assault,¡± Ethel added. Cal saw the Cyclopean visibly shutter when she said that. What the hell had she been doing to him? Not that he didn¡¯t deserve a little torture, but Cal was curious. ¡°Then I guess it¡¯s time for the details,¡± Stan said. Cal felt his eyes already glazing over. He had the details for his part, keep track of his friends and family, and smash everything else in his way. *** ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Cal asked. Jen had handed her stepson a small round object that was nearly humming with mana, interrupting his last breakfast before they started their march. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Swallow it. I¡¯ve been working on it with Onelder, Ethel, and Excalibur. It¡¯s basically a suicide pill. If it detects any attempt to alter the knot that Excalibur found in your father, it will self-destruct, causing a big enough explosion to destroy your body completely. It¡¯s less needed in your case as your death just restarts the loop, but I didn¡¯t want to waste time on a custom one just for you. Everyone loop-aware should take one,¡± She explained. ¡®Huh, not a bad idea. What about Excalibur, though?¡± Cal asked. He didn¡¯t think the sword had a stomach, not that he had ever really asked. ¡°He doesn¡¯t believe that the way he replicated loop-awareness in himself would be applicable to anyone else, as his core isn¡¯t anything like a mortal core. He doubles the Gryalth could do anything with it. He also plans to remove the knowledge of how he did it from his memory if needed,¡± She answered. ¡°Andrew is going to be like a kid in a candy shop when he meets the sword. Remind me to make sure he doesn¡¯t try to take it apart to see how it works. I really hope they are doing okay in the Under Library. He may be an ass, but for a very long time, it was just Andrew and me in this mess,¡± Cal said. He missed the others, friends and family alike. Thinking of Bug, he made a mental note to grab a few of the edible items they had cultivated and pack them safely away. She deserved a treat from Pluto. ¡°Same. We need a nice family dinner next loop,¡± Jen said, smiling at Cal. ¡°Yeah, if we can get the king to agree to a peasant¡¯s meal,¡± Cal replied. He would never get tired of making fun of his father¡¯s new royal position. ¡°I think I can talk him into it. Hopefully, once he¡¯s away from the squirrels, we can get past his crown,¡± They both shared a laugh. **** Cal watched in slight amazement as Second and Third Smasher assembled the squirrel force. Several hundred squirrels stood in lines. Each soldier carried a weapon and wore some sort of stone armor. Cal wasn¡¯t sure exactly what it was made of or how it managed to bend and move with the squirrels, but he was impressed nonetheless. It made him wish he had more time this loop to talk to the smiths, but he supposed he could always do that again in a future one. He decided that wasn¡¯t happening until he was strong enough to easily wipe out the Gryalth here alone. In front of the squirrel ranks, massing near the entrance to the main tunnel, were several hundred more of the creatures Ethel called tree golems. Cal had asked her more about what exactly they were. He hadn¡¯t been concerned about them being alive, as he knew she wouldn¡¯t ever do something like that only to send them to their death, but he wanted to know how they worked. It turned out the reason Frank needed the regeneration abilities was that each one of them contained a splinter from his body that was used to grow them. They didn¡¯t have any true intelligence and could only follow a few basic routines, but that was apparently good enough for what they needed. He then saw his father give a signal, and the squirrels saluted as one. It was time to go. He took one last look around the grove and hoped that it would still be standing at the end of the final loop. It was a serenely beautiful place, a place of calm and cooperation in Pluto''s harsh environments. Cal walked forward towards his father, joining the ranks of departing soldiers. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 5 ¡°I heard the voice again, this time much clearer. ¡®Now, how¡¯s that? You¡¯re all cleaned up,¡¯ it said. I realized my visual perception was also once again working and scanned the room for what had been speaking to me. I need you to understand, Stan, that at the time, this was not all that shocking to me, but it became stranger and stranger as I continued on. The voice belonged to a human. Somehow, when I first met him, he managed to appear both old and full of life at the same time. This was my first encounter with the being Merlin. I told him I was doing much better and thanked him for the assistance he had rendered me. A giant smile played across his face before he spoke again. ¡®Oh, little one, this is only the first of the gifts I shall give you. I have found that this world is oddly bereft of knowledge, and then a lost knowledge spirit from beyond should just find their way to me? I think this was a fated meeting, and who am I to fight the workings of those who pull the string?¡¯ The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. His words were strange to me but a comfort against the rising wave of loss I felt whenever I dwelt on my existence. I learned much in my first encounter with the archwizard. I cannot tell you how much time that was, though, as that so fundamental force of reality bends strangely around him,¡± Excalibur stopped, anticipating another question, but this time Stan just motioned for him to continue. Loop 254 - Part 108 The squirrel army was forced to split into three smaller forces as the reality of their attack set in. During the march, they had learned that the Gryalth maintained three entrances to their outpost on the surface, and, having no idea which one was the metaphorical front door, they decided to attack all three at once. The plan was simple enough: Overwhelm the guards and get as much of the force inside as possible. From there, smaller groups were to fan out and start taking as much ground as they could as quickly as they could, with no prisoners. Despite how straightforward the plan was, there was one extra bit of subtlety tossed in, something Ethel had cooked up to surprise the Gryalth defenders and hopefully give their assault a big boost. These thoughts were replaying through Cal¡¯s head as it once again made hard contact with the small enclosed space he was in. Not for the first time, he wished he hadn¡¯t gone along with Ethel¡¯s idea, even if it was a good one. Other than the physical force of being bounced around, he had no idea how the initial contact of the fight was going. He comforted himself with the fact that this wouldn¡¯t last much longer, and the looks on the faces of the Gryalth should be worth it. As he braced for another impact, the shell around him cracked and broke apart instead. ¡°Hah, bet you didn¡¯t see that coming!¡± Cal yelled as he pushed himself free of the tree golem that had held him. The idea had been to seal his group inside the golems for the initial assault and see if they couldn¡¯t trick the Gryalth into thinking it was just the squirrels. Based on the result of the two Gryalth who immediately saw him, Cal was happy with the results, if not so pleased about the bumps on the head. Both Gryalth in his path had started backing away with panicked looks across their faces. They hadn¡¯t at all been expecting him to pop out of the golem once they managed to bring it down. He shot a blast of lightning at them both, mainly as a brief further distraction so he could take a quick survey of the battlefield. As far as he could tell, he was the first one out of the golems and had done so earlier in the fight than Ethel had expected. The squirrels were clashing with the ranks of the Gryalth, but it looked like there weren¡¯t many of the battle mages on the ground. He had no idea how many were on Pluto, so he pushed the fear of them massing inside down. He would deal with that if it happened. First up, he needed to get this army inside. Cal ran forward, shooting off arcs of electricity at every Gryalth within distance. He poured in enough mana to make sure each blast would continue through any other nearby Gryalth. It wasn¡¯t an overwhelming amount of juice, as he didn¡¯t want to risk any overextension of his core yet. Still, it was plenty to allow any squirrel or golem engaged with a Gryalth who had been hit to take advantage of the blast easily. All around him, he heard the cries of the falling Gryalth as he ran, which was immediately followed by the cheering of squirrel soldiers. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The largest of the tree golems was the next to fall. It was massive and made only for two purposes. The first was to create a dramatic show of force. The second and much more important reason was to house the form of the only genuinely living tree golem inside itself. As it collapsed to the ground, Frank tore his way free and started barreling through the lines of Gryalth in front of him. Cal was sure they regretted having down the larger golem the moment Frank had started throwing them into the air. ¡°THE FRANK IS FREE. LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN!¡± screamed the rampaging plant man loudly enough to be heard through the chaos of the fight. Everyone else was only slightly behind Frank as several shells started to break apart, continuing the pattern of shocking the Gryalth at their contents. Cal only half registered that further progression of the battle as his focus had zeroed in on breaking through to the inside. It seemed the Gryalth had kept the powerhouses in front of the doors. There were four of them standing close together, chanting in a slow rhythmic pattern, using words that Cal couldn¡¯t make out. They were flanked by two creatures that looked like an octopus and a horse that somehow had a child. Not liking their looks at all, Cal shot two concentrated blasts of lightning with some added void mana, one at each. Both found their marks, but neither fell to the ground. They both just looked angry. Cal started to channel a giant ball of lightning just as his many-timed killer joined him in his attack. Onelder started firing mushrooms from the gauntlet on his arm, each one exploding as it hit the creatures blocking their path forward. So this was where Albert had gotten all his practice. At least someone had used Onelder¡¯s knowledge as much as possible. Cal hadn¡¯t had as much time for training with the Cyclopean as he had hoped, but that hadn¡¯t stopped him from expanding some of his abilities anyway. He added some friction mana into the ball of lightning a split second before releasing it into the waiting Gryalth. It worked just as he had intended. The explosive force sent them flying across the cavern, ricocheting off anything they hit. He doubted they were in any shape to oppose their entry now. ¡°Not bad. Are ya really sure we ever managed to kill ya?¡± Onelder said. ¡°Yeah, a few hundred deaths are a thing you tend not to forget,¡± Cal fired back, annoyed again with the alien. ¡°DOOR IS CLEAR, EVERYONE, INSIDE NOW!¡± He screamed out as loud as he could, the call being taken up by those who were closest. Within minutes, hundreds of squirrels, a few humans, a Cyclopean alien, a giant tree man, and a capybara were inside. Loop 254 - A Brief D&D Break ¡°This game is strange, and you say the humans taught you it?¡± Second Smasher asked. He was holding a twenty-sided die in his hand and examining it closely. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m pretty sure Cal got everyone playing, but I mostly learned from Bug. She¡¯s his sister,¡± Albert answered. ¡°Wait, I¡¯ve heard Stan mention Bug. I thought she was a dog. Also, what¡¯s the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer? It looks like they both cast magic. Aren¡¯t they just the same thing?¡± Tiffany asked. ¡°She is. I think she¡¯s adopted, though, if that makes more sense. So, how I understand it is wizards learn magic from books, and sorcerers are just born with it. Don¡¯t quote me on that, though. Frank, what are you playing?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Barbarian, druid multiclass. Why aren¡¯t there more plant races? I guess I¡¯ll be a warforge,¡± Frank huffed loudly. ¡°Tiffany, Second, how about you two?¡± Albert asked. ¡°Paladin, orc,¡± Second answered. ¡°Human wizard, I¡¯m gonna make Merlin,¡± Tiffany answered after Second. ¡°Alright then, the three of you have found yourself at the local tavern. Outside, the rain pours down as thunder seems to roar closer with each lightning blast when the door bursts open¡­¡± Albert started. ¡°What¡¯s a tavern?¡± Second Smasher asked. Loop 254 - Part 109 ¡°Squad seventeen down that hall! Squad two, follow me,¡± Third Smashed called the moment he was inside the doors with the squirrels. Cal only caught the briefest sight of him before he vanished through an archway with the squirrels he had ordered hot on his heels. ¡°Special squad, stay with your king, and everyone else fan out in your groups. Remember, we are not taking Gryalth prisoners. If you find something that looks like it would be a good idea to break it, break it. If it looks like it might explode, send someone back to inform one of us. Now go!¡± Second Smasher barked out his own orders before striding up to join Cal, who was currently occupied surveying the room. ¡°This is going better than I expected, that leaves me worried,¡± Second Smasher said. ¡°Eh, honestly, I think we just managed something they didn¡¯t at all expect. We will have to keep up the momentum, though once they start calling for reinforcements, we won¡¯t be able to stand against them for very long. We¡¯ve never managed to stay alive in a direct confrontation with their true invasion force for a meaningful amount of time on Earth,¡± Cal replied. ¡°Really, even with all your powers and the amazing things I¡¯ve seen you do?¡± Second Smasher had a look of astonishment on his face. Apparently, their feats of power had made quite the impression on their one-time foe. ¡°Yep, why else do you think we are here? We have a bare-bones plan to get stronger, and hopefully, eventually, we can save the planet and, by extension, your home, too,¡± Cal answered. He smiled cheerfully at the squirrel general, trying his best to instill a sense of confidence he didn¡¯t fully share that they would one day win this. ¡°For whatever it is worth to you, Cal, son of Stan, wielder of the blade of Pluto, I do believe that one day you will succeed, and I pledge my strength to you on that day. We will stand together, even should I not remember this moment,¡± Second Smasher had needed any pep talk from Cal after all. The squirrel was entirely committed to the cause, and Cal found his words mildly infectious. He liked the squirrels. It was too bad they didn¡¯t have the resources to bring them along. Well, just yet, he reminded himself. He really needed a long talk with Andrew about some of his wilder fermenting plans. ¡°Alright, who told the squirrels to surround me?!¡± Stan¡¯s voice echoed in the room. He was clearly not happy about his royal retinue. ¡°It is important for the army to see you safe until this mission is over. I am not stopping you from fighting; I am just making sure you do not do it alone,¡± Second answered. ¡°Fine, what¡¯s the next plan for us? Anyone find anything we need to see yet?¡± Stan asked. The annoyance had not diminished in his voice in the slightest. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Yes, actually, good timing. I was just coming to find you. Before Frank smashes his way through a room we found, I¡¯d like Cal to take a look,¡± Ethel¡¯s voice was heard from a nearby passageway shortly before her form came into view. ¡°What is it?¡± Cal asked as he looked over to the approaching woman. She had a small cut on her forehead, but it was no longer bleeding. Beyond that, she looked as ready as she had ever been to fight an army. ¡°If I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be coming to get you, now would I? Get your ass in gear and follow me!¡± Ethel snapped back. ¡°Okay, okay I¡¯m coming. You guys good without me?¡± Cal said to his father, moving to follow Ethel before any answer had come. ¡°Yeah, we will be fine,¡± His father said. Cal followed after Ethel, keeping his mouth shut to avoid annoying her any further. He didn¡¯t need Bug angry at him for pissing off her favorite teacher. Luckily for him, the trip proved short, as keeping his mouth shut was still one of his biggest challenges. ¡°...Okay, I see why you came and got me now, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m an Andy or Andrew. I have no idea clue what this is,¡± He said, looking over the room. On one wall, there was something that could be a computer, though it looked more like a prop from a sci-fi pulp film. The other side of the room had what he at first thought was a large mirror until he realized the images in it were not a true reflection. The backgrounds were similar, but none of the figures were. ¡°Yes, but we thought it was best to have your opinion anyway,¡± Albert spoke up. He was riding a small mushroom near Frank. ¡°Shit, Frank, smash the mirror thing now!¡± Cal yelled suddenly. He had spotted several Gryalth walking into the scene in the mirror and start pressing the buttons on the computer-like device on their side. Frank didn¡¯t wait for any further explanation. He launched himself from one side of the room across it, shattering the mirror with the force of his own body. As he did that, Albert leaped off his mushroom and detonated it. The force tore apart the strange machine on that wall. ¡°Huh, was that one of the things they use to get to our universe?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it sure seemed like it, and I didn¡¯t want to take any chances,¡± Cal answered. Cal slipped some of the broken material into his pack. He may not know, but he had a feeling one of the geniuses could come up with something as long as he brought them a sample. ¡°If you can hear my voice, I need you all back at the room we initially came in at,¡± The sound of Stan¡¯s voice seemed to come from all around them. ¡°Well, he didn¡¯t sound panicked at least, though, since when can he do that anyway? More weird Excalibur powers, I¡¯m guessing?¡± Cal asked to the blank faces of the other three in the room. ¡°Just once, have you considered doing what you were asked before questioning it?¡± Ethel¡¯s blank face had turned into a glare as she spoke. She turned her back to Cal, not waiting for any snarky reply, and exited the room. Cal sighed. Bug was going to yell at him now; there was no way around that. Loop 254 - Part 110 ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Cal said the moment he spotted his father, still surrounded by his royal bodyguards. He had tried to apologize to Ethel on their quick way here, but she had given him her trademark scowl. Someday, he¡¯d need to figure out how much she actually disliked him. Stan turned to look at his son, his face giving away the annoyance he felt about the guards. Cal knew his dad, and that meant the idea of standing around here while others were fighting and possibly dying was gnawing at him, but there wasn¡¯t much to be done about that now. They needed the squirrels, and the squirrels wanted to make sure their new ruler was safe. ¡°There are apparently two ships in orbit. The Gryalth are trying to escape in them. As far as Jen can tell, no one has made it on board yet. Somehow, we have managed to really catch them with their pants down with how quickly we got inside, I guess.¡± Stan said. Cal now recognized a second part of the look in his father¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t like leaving Jen out there with just Onelder. Stan wanted to be there, keeping his wife safe himself. ¡°Where is she, and how did she figure this out?¡± Cal asked. ¡°About two levels up from here in some sort of central control room. She sent a scout back to inform me of what was happening and to get an answer on whether we should trash the equipment just yet or not. That¡¯s why Excalibur summoned you back here. I need you to go check on her and make the call,¡± Stan explained. ¡°Got it, and based on what we just found, I¡¯m leading towards destruction already. If any squirrels find something that looks like a large mirror. They need to shatter it as soon as they can. I don¡¯t know exactly how it works, but I think it¡¯s tied to their home universe and we don¡¯t need any reinforcements showing up,¡± Cal said. He had no idea just how many more there could possibly be. He hoped none, as everything so far had suggested it took a ton of resources to bridge the realities, and they didn¡¯t want to do that unless necessary. ¡°You heard the man; get those orders out to all squads, and good luck Cal. Try to stay alive,¡± Stan ordered, his voice growing softer for the message to his son. Several squirrel scouts dashed off down corridors. Keeping track of the one that had alerted Stan about Jen¡¯s discovery, Cal ran after. The loud footfalls behind him told him that at least Frank had decided to join him. As they ran on, Cal saw squirrels battling Gryalth in corridor after corridor, none of them looking to be on the defensive. Every broken-down door or corridor bereft of fighting was instead full of corpses. Cal understood why they were trying to escape. This wasn¡¯t a fight. It was a slaughter. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Had all the truly powerful opposition already fallen to him? Where was the shadow Gryalth? The second question focused him on the mission on the mission at hand. It wasn¡¯t anywhere near over until either that specific Gryalth was dead this loop or until all of them were safely home in the void house. ¡°In here,¡± a voice called from behind a broken door. Jen stood in front of another strange-looking console, this one with several different monitors showing various places inside and outside the base. Onelder was pressing buttons at another console. ¡°You know how to use that?¡± Cal asked the alien. ¡°No, but I¡¯ve seen somethin similar. None of this is what ya are looking for, though. It ain¡¯t capable of blocking signals. If I hadta guess, it¡¯s probably this room right here,¡± Onelder said as he typed away at the strange keyboard. Several images came into view of a long corridor and a strong Gryalth resistance, much stronger than anything Cal had seen so far. There were several dead squirrels in the image and not a single fallen Gryalth. ¡°Yeah, it looks like they are guarding something there, at least. It could be a decoy, though. Get us there, and then make for the actual escape route,¡± Cal said, examining the scene playing out on the monitor. Another squirrel fell. ¡°Fuck, okay, squirrels are dying, so I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. Frank stays here and guards Onelder and Jen. You two keep searching for more areas. We won¡¯t destroy this equipment just yet. Albert, you¡¯re in charge of message relay with those mushrooms of yours. Wait, can you do that?¡± Cal asked, not actually sure what the Capybara¡¯s skill set was these days. ¡°Yes,¡± Albert answered quickly. ¡°Okay, good. If anyone sees Ethel, send her after me. I¡¯m going there,¡± Cal called these words back to the room, having already burst into a run towards the quickly falling squirrels after Albert¡¯s answer. Expecting a trap, he began to charge his entire body as he ran. Electricity mana flowed into each of his limbs, followed by friction mana. The squirrels came into view, but he didn¡¯t stop his run. He expelled the friction mana through his feet and lept off the ground. The force of his run let him clear the entirety of the squirrels, who, it turned out, were locked in a desperate fight against the battle mages on the other side. Cal felt himself crash hard through a wall of magical force that had been placed to hold them there and stop them from alerting the others. It apparently wasn¡¯t erected with the expectation of anyone launching two close-range lighting bolts directly into it. Shards of mana glittered in the air as the force wall exploded around Cal. The moment his feet touched the ground, he released the rest of his charged lightning, arcing dozens of deadly bolts across the space in front of him. No Gryalth fell, but several screamed. The real goal of lightning discharge had been to interrupt any casting of their own, not kill them anyway. The squirrels surged up beside Cal. There was no way to control the rage they were feeling over the death of their comrades, and he had no intention to try. Instead, he echoed the earlier orders. ¡°No Gryalth prisoners!¡± Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 6 ¡°As is a recurring theme in my existence, my time with Merlin would not be as long as I would have liked. However, in this particular case, we did not part in any sort of climatic way. He in fact, reassured me that we would meet again, many times, and that my journey was just beginning. He had supposedly seen the future, and the people who would wield me would accomplish great deeds, changing the course of history. I asked how a simple knowledge shard such as myself could be wielded to such ends. He wouldn¡¯t tell me the details yet. Looking back, I suppose he was concerned I would not choose the path of a weapon. I cannot say if that would have been true or not, as thanks to my form, I have saved many who would have otherwise been lost. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As Merlin readied to leave his abode, he cast me back into the volcanic magma where he had found me, assuring me I would soon be found by another and that my real journey would begin there. I trusted him, and my trust was not placed in vain.¡± ¡°Who found you next? How long were you gone this time?¡± Stan asked. ¡°My senses returned to me as I felt the blows of a hammer..¡± Excalibur began again. Loop 254 - Part 111 The squirrels'' furiosity even caught Cal, however briefly, by surprise. They surged forward as one enraged mass toward the creatures who had destroyed their homes, killed their friends, and tried to steal their lands from them, and Cal was right there with them. They pushed forward through the Gryalth, who had managed to slow them with abandon. For every squirrel that fell, five now Gryalth fell as well. Cal did his best to stop any spells before they hit the squirrels, but he couldn¡¯t be everywhere at once, and he needed to conserve his mana for anything unexpected. He wished he could stop every squirrel''s death, but he knew that just wasn¡¯t possible currently, and even if they didn¡¯t place any of the blame on him, he still felt guilty anytime one fell. His only consolation at the moment was that they would be alive again in the next loop. They just had to make it there before the shadow Gryalth had the chance to join them in the loops. Three new Gryalth stepped into view, and everything in front of them froze. Some sort of magic effect had locked all the squirrels in place, and even Cal found his movements sluggish. It reminded him of the runic trap he had blundered into before, but this effect wasn¡¯t coming from runes. The three Gryalth in front of Cal were radiating mana in a way he hadn¡¯t ever really seen before. There were blankets of mana surrounding them and pushing against the space between them. Considering the fight Ralth had once demonstrated, he wasn¡¯t overly surprised to find stronger Gryalth. He had just been hoping against it. This was the exact reason he had conserved his mana. Friction flowed freely from his core. Every drop that reached his limbs made his movements that much easier. Within seconds, he was moving again at his full speed. He couldn¡¯t free the squirrels so easily, though, so this fight was entirely on his shoulders. Luckily for him, the Gryalth hadn¡¯t spotted his freedom yet, and that gave him a few more seconds to charge a ball of void mana. Just as he was about to launch it, one of the Gryalth fired several blasts of fire in his direction. He had been spotted. He leaped off the ground with more of his limited supply of friction mana being lost through his feet, but it was enough to dodge the incoming blasts. He saw the faces of the other two perk up the same as the one who had just attacked. It was too late for them, though, as he launched the void ball directly at them. The two who had noticed him milliseconds too late disappeared into a purple mass, accompanied by a loud sucking sound as the ball imploded in front of all three of them. The third Gryalth had managed to get a barrier up in time, and while it was enough to survive Cal¡¯s void attack. It was not enough to survive the once again freed mass of squirrels. The last Gryalth vanished underneath their forms, its screams only lasting a few brief moments. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A screech of a voice cut across the remaining sounds of battle. ¡°Cal, there¡¯s a room coming up that Albert says it¡¯s important to investigate it and possibly destroy it!¡± It belonged to a small green mushroom with legs. The second the last word finished coming from its mouth, it shriveled away, leaving only dust behind. That was a neat trick, and Cal appreciated just how Albert had managed to apply his strange affinity. ¡°You heard the shroom soldiers. Let¡¯s get through these doors and find out just what Albert was talking about!¡± Cal barked out the orders. The squirrels jumped back into action without question. Cal stifled a laugh, thinking of how much Ethel wished Cal would often do the same. He pushed aside the thought and instead joined in the search. After several minutes of nothing but random supplies and what Cal thought may have been Gryalth food supplies, he heard a squirrel shout, ¡°Over here!¡± The yell was nearly music to his ears as the last door had just been a closet full of a disgusting meat-like substance with a smell that had caused several squirrels to vomit. From the chattering of the others, this was not the first such discovery. ¡°What is it, sir?¡± The squirrel that had called him over asked as soon as he was in the room. Cal looked it over and had no idea how to answer that question. There were several glass tubes with what looked to be mana pulsating in them and wires leading to a giant metal rod in the center of the room that extended up through the ceiling. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not really sure. Their tech is still pretty new to us, but if these were humans, I¡¯d guess this is some kind of antenna. What it does, I have no idea,¡± Cal answered as he continued looking over the room, debating what to do. ¡°Should we smash the tubes?¡± Another squirrel asked. Cal had no idea what would happen if they broke open something containing mana like this, but he also didn¡¯t have a better idea. ¡°No, you shouldn¡¯t, but I will. I want everyone out of the room when I do it, as well. I have no idea what will happen, but I¡¯m the most likely one to be able to survive any kind of mana blast,¡± Cal explained to the squirrels, unsure if they would listen or not. He was sure they¡¯d never have let his father try this, but whether that extended to him or not, he didn¡¯t know. ¡°You heard him, everyone out of the room, go find some cover. I¡¯ll watch the door,¡± Cal recognized the voice of the new squirrel who entered the room. ¡°Thanks, TS, I appreciate it,¡± Cal was glad to see that Third Smasher had made it through the fight so far. ¡°I believe you were going to smash something,¡± replied the squirrel. Cal smiled as he grabbed part of the door and took a swing at the nearest tank. It was good to know that some things never changed. Loop 254 - Forged of Knowledge Part 7 ¡°I yelled out, trying to get the attention of the being hammering into me. ¡®What is happening, why am I being hammered?¡¯ I cried to no avail. I realized my form was stuck inside that of other metals, and I had no way to free myself or to make myself known, but as my fear receded, I noticed another strange thing happening. I was growing aware of the metal around me, and it was becoming part of my being. With every new blow, the metal formed a stronger bond with my intelligence, and soon, I was able to feel my mind expand into my new parts. I wondered if the creature doing the hammering had any concept of the growth they were causing over the days and then weeks they worked to perfect my form. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I would later learn that my new form seemed to shift slightly every night after the smith had stopped working, dramatically increasing the time it took to forge my new form. I now attribute this to my growing consciousness, taking ownership of the latest materials as my small mana pool bound the additions wholly to my intellect. ¡®Hello, can you hear me yet?¡¯ I asked as I did every day. I felt the smith arrive to begin their work. This time, to both of our shocks, he heard me,¡± Excalibur continued. Loop 254 - Part 112 As the wooden plank made contact with the glass canister, Cal felt a ripple of mana flow back across the makeshift weapon and into him. The glass exploded, and all around him, a chain reaction was triggered by his action as the other tanks ruptured simultaneously. Cal threw himself to the ground, expecting a wave of mana to crash into him. It didn¡¯t. Instead, the giant metal antenna in the center of the room cracked and started to collapse downward. Quickly getting to his feet, Cal ran through the door. ¡°Time to go,¡± he said to Third Smasher as he passed the squirrel still guarding the room. ¡°Yes, that is rather obvious,¡± Third replied, joining Cal in his run. ¡°Cal? Can you hear me?¡± A voice Cal hadn¡¯t heard in over a year entered his mind. ¡°YES! Fulginanis, I can hear you, sorry ignore the super happy cheering; it¡¯s taken forever to talk to you again, buddy, and I¡¯ve missed you. Everything going okay back home?¡± Cal asked. ¡°As well as can be expected. I doubt Gus will ever want to do this again. No one expected us to lose contact the way we did,¡± The spirit replied. ¡°Good, good. I¡¯ll explain everything later, just gotta get everyone back together and finish this assault. Then we will get our asses back to Earth,¡± Cal said ¡°I will work to repair the bridge to Pluto. Just let me know when you are ready to reopen it,¡± Fulginanis said. ¡°Will do, thanks again,¡± Cal said, finishing the mental conversation for now. Things were looking up. ¡°Cal, is this your doing?!¡± yelled a cranky voice from down a corridor, moving towards them. ¡°Yes, pretty sure it is,¡± Cal responded, glad to see Ethel cranky or not. He had been starting to worry about where she had run off to herself. ¡°Well, good job. It¡¯s been a while since you blundered your way into something useful. I had almost forgotten just how capable you were at it, but we¡¯ve got a whole new problem now. I just stopped several Gryalth from boarding an escape ship, but I wasn¡¯t able to get all of them, and I¡¯ve heard there¡¯s another one here somewhere,¡± she said. ¡°There is, Jen and Onelder spotted them. I don¡¯t know if we will be able to stop the Gryalth escape, though. Once they get to the surface there isn¡¯t a lot we can do to them,¡± Cal responded. He didn¡¯t like it, but he had to accept the fact that the Gryalth still outclassed them entirely when it came to spaceships, and despite his future plans, he didn¡¯t have the wildest idea where to begin to catch up to them. That was going to have to change soon. He added it to the growing list of things to discuss with the geniuses once they were back. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°I don¡¯t disagree with you, but that is going to make the rest of the loop very dangerous if they track us back to Earth,¡± she said. ¡°I know, but that¡¯s a problem to discuss later. Let¡¯s get back to Dad and figure out our next move,¡± Cal said. *** ¡°Are you sure?¡± Cal heard Stan say as he returned to the chamber. He was speaking to Second Smasher. ¡°Yes, the vast majority of Gryalth are dead. We have cleared out nearly every section and found the chambers they were using to evacuate to both ships your wife had warned us about. We were too late to get them all, but they will not be able to escape the same way again, so whatever few are left will be shortly rounded up by the remaining troops,¡± Second said. ¡°It¡¯s too late on the ships. They both left orbit, probably on their way back to Earth. Onelder is trying to see if there¡¯s tracking data he can pull from the computers, but he isn¡¯t hopeful,¡± Jen said. She had entered the chamber from the opposite side slightly after Second Smasher had started answering Stan. ¡°Well, the good news is that the interference is gone. I destroyed a giant antenna that was blocking us from communicating with Fulginanis. They are working on repairing the bridge right now. I also dealt with several powerful Gryalth,¡± Cal said. ¡°Yes, thanks to your efforts, our losses were much smaller than I had anticipated. Thank you,¡± Second Smasher bowed to Cal as he said this. ¡°So what now?¡± Albert asked. He was riding on the shoulder of the massive tree man as they both joined the rest of them. Cal opened his mouth to answer, but a different voice spoke first. ¡°Now we go home. I wish we could wait and help the squirrels clean up, but with the ships potentially on their way to Earth, we need to be safely in the void house, making any needed preparation,¡± Stan answered. ¡°We¡¯ve all grown a lot stronger on this trip and learned a lot that will help us in the long run. I won¡¯t forget our promise, Second.¡± ¡°I know you will not. Otherwise, the sword would not have chosen you. It has been an honor to fight by your side. I wish you the greatest of luck in your future deeds. We shall fight together again,¡± Second Smasher replied. ¡°How soon can we leave?¡± Stan turned to his son with this question. ¡°Fulginanis says very soon. Also, has anyone seen Third Smasher? I lost track of him on the trip back,¡± Cal said. ¡°I am sure he is continuing to scour every area he can for any survivors. When I next see him, I will tell him you said your goodbyes,¡± Third said ¡°I appreciate it because Fulginanis says it¡¯s time to go,¡± as soon as Cal said this, a swirling vortex opened directly behind him. ¡°He doesn¡¯t like the location, but I told him how much of a hurry we are in, so he is wasting the energy on a temporary gateway instead of something more lasting.¡± After several more rounds of goodbyes, everyone except Cal had departed through the return portal. He gave the chamber one last look. This had been their only real concrete victory so far in the war, and he wanted to remember it. Finally, after he felt he could wait no longer, Cal stepped into the gateway himself. He was going home. Loop 254 - Part 113 Cal exited the portal into a world of blackness. Something wasn¡¯t right. Why wasn¡¯t he home? His thoughts started to race as he rapidly moved his head from side to side to see if he could see anything. ¡°Can anyone hear me?¡± He called. There was no answer. ¡°Alright, if there is no one there, then there is no one to mind this,¡± He said as he released a stream of electrical mana into the air. Small lines of lightning arced across his vision. While he was now able to see his immediate surroundings, everything beyond was still shrouded in total darkness. Not that the area he stood in was much better. All the lightning was doing was giving him the barest sense of shadow moving across a screen. Wherever he was, he was alone, and he was pretty sure now this wasn¡¯t the voidhouse after some unknown tragedy. ¡°Fulginanis, can you hear me?¡± He thought as hard as he could, trying to grab the spirit''s attention. There was still no reply. ¡°Sleek, any chance you¡¯re here?¡± His voice melted away into the nothingness around him. No matter what he said, no answer came. ¡°WHERE AM I?!¡± Cal screamed in a final bout of desperation. ¡°You are here. I have decided to have words with you as you are something I do not understand, and it has been such a very long time since that has happened,¡± A figure calmly strode into Cal¡¯s view from that darkness beyond. It looked like a human. ¡°Where is here? Who are you? And why do you care about me?¡± Cal yelled these questions one after the other, not giving the newcomer a chance to answer until he had said all three. ¡°Here is here. I am me. And I care about you because there shouldn¡¯t be any human with the ability to form gateways on your world. Your universe is rather mana-limited, which I¡¯m guessing you weren¡¯t aware of. It should be a simple conquest, no real heavy resources needed, and yet I find you here leading a rebellion against my forces and you are even reasonably capable in the use of cored mana abilities. How did that come to be?¡± The stranger answered Cal¡¯s questions and posed his own. Cal liked this situation less and less as the moments passed. He wasn¡¯t sure if he believed the person in front of him was really a human or just someone taking the form of one. He was sure that he didn¡¯t want it to know anything more about himself than it already did. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Oh, hi, I¡¯m Cal. I¡¯m a wizard, an apprentice to Merlin. I¡¯ve been away from the Earth for a while, which probably explains why you¡¯ve never heard of me before,¡± He said, forcing a smile. ¡°I am aware of the being who calls himself Merlin in this universe, and you do have some of his stench about you,¡± the strange man replied ¡°Cal, if you can hear me, you need to fight whatever force is holding you. If you can do that, I think I can get the portal reconnected and grab you from wherever it is this being put you,¡± Fulginanis¡¯ voice rang out sharply in Cal¡¯s head. ¡°I just need to cause him chaos? Finally, something I¡¯m good at!¡± Cal responded. He may not have any idea where he was, who the man was, or what exactly was going on, but he was sure he wasn¡¯t looking into his thoughts as he had bought the Merlin claim, and that meant it was time to attack. ¡°So just what are you anyway? You¡¯re not a human, right? Some kind of bigshot Gryalth who is annoyed I broke your expensive mirror on Pluto?¡± Cal asked, hoping to distract the thing long enough to charge up a few options. ¡°My existence is complicated, but I think it¡¯s best to say I am beyond just a Gryalth or human form. I would explain more, but the time required to bring you up to my level of understanding just isn¡¯t with the expenditure. I believe I now understand just where your powers have come from, and while annoying, you aren¡¯t truly a threat yet. So you may stay here as I eradicate your world. How does that sound?¡± It asked in an oddly longing tone. Cal got the feeling it really wanted him to accept the invite, but he had zero intention of that. ¡°I¡¯d rather not. There are too many Gryalth to kill, you understand, right? I can¡¯t have Merlin being angry at me for failing a few of his tests after all," as Cal said this, he let loose with several balls of lightning centered around the thing, wearing the form of a man. Using the blinding light of the simultaneous detentions as a cover, he quickly ran a circle around the figure, carefully placing small balls of void mana every few feet. The closer he got, the more power he could feel radiating from his host. He hoped Fulginanis had a way to get him out here soon. Whatever this thing was, it severely outclassed him, and he knew it. ¡°Fine, I suppose you can just die then,¡± The words that came out of its mouth sounded entirely casual, but the force that came with them knocked Cal backward into the darkness. He felt like a battering ram had hit him, and that was only half of it. Behind him, he could feel another wall of mana that he was rocketing towards. He reached into his core for anything he could use to stop the impact and found it empty. That explained the pounding headache that had set in alongside the punch. There was nothing he could do now as he felt the wall drawing closer. A familiar sensation flooded his mind, Fulginanis was back, connected to him again, and while he was still moving, his destination was back on course. He could see the void realm on the other end of this tunnel. Somewhere in the distance behind him he heard something scream in rage, just as he popped through into an all too familiar and missed site. What the hell had just happened to him? No first it was break time, then he could discuss the new event he decided as his feet made contact with the familiar ground of the void house. He was home. Loop 254 - Worry ¡°What is taking Cal so long? He may be annoying, but he doesn¡¯t usually push things this far,¡± Ethel said as she looked at the shimmering gateway they had all just exited through. The vortex had been steadily breaking down and she was getting worried about the boy. Would the loop restart properly if he was lost somewhere in a spacial rift? She didn¡¯t want to explain to Bug how she lost her Brother. God knows why, but that dog cared about him more than anyone else. The portal spat out a small, nearly translucent form before sputtering into nothingness. ¡°Sleek, how did you arrive without Cal? Were you not inside his core?¡± Fulginanis asked the moment the spirit appeared. ¡°I felt something pull hard on him. I tried to go too, but it just kept yanking on his core until it threw me back out,¡± She answered. She sounded exhausted from the effort of trying to stay with Cal. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°What do we do?¡± Stan¡¯s booming voice cut through the suddenly panicked chatter. ¡°Albert, go tell Gus we need to route the root network mana into here. Tell Oakbert to let Fulginanis siphon every drop they need,¡± Ethel ordered. ¡°On it,¡± Albert ran from the room. ¡°I can still somewhat detect Cal¡¯s core signature. He wasn¡¯t pulled far off the initial path. It¡¯s going to be close, but if we can get enough power, I can likely make contact with him again,¡± Fulginanis said, looking to Ethel. ¡°Good, that¡¯s why I was giving it to you; take everything you need, even if it means draining me for the rest of the loop. The kid is too important to leave behind,¡± Ethel said. She meant it entirely. Dying now to get Cal back was a price she was entirely willing to pay. Loop 254 - Part 114 Cal collapsed forward as he stepped through into the voidhouse, his feet no longer able to hold him upright. He tried to catch himself as he fell, but his arms weren¡¯t working right either. He felt himself crash into someone¡¯s arms instead of the ground and tried to speak his thanks, but nothing came out. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He heard his father ask. He sounded far away. What was going on? That was the last thought he could remember before his eyes opened up again, and he found himself lying in his room in the voidhouse. He was in his bed. He tested his arms; they moved normally again. His legs did as well. ¡°Hey Cal, welcome back to the world of being awake. Also, I really like the place. I¡¯m glad we bonded,¡± Sleek¡¯s cheery voice hit his ears. ¡°What happened?¡± Cal asked, still confused about the trip home. He had been briefly trapped between worlds, and then he was so weak, but why? ¡°Oh, apparently, some immensely powerful creature hijacked your trip home. Fulginanis isn¡¯t sure how they did it or what it even was, but they are pretty sure it won¡¯t be able to find us in here,¡± she explained. It wasn¡¯t the question he most wanted answered, though. ¡°What happened after I escaped? Why was I so weak?¡± That was pressing question on his mind. ¡°Oh, yeah, that foreign mana in your core. Ethel volunteered the root network mana to get you back home, and whatever it was Fulginanis did to break through and grab you overloaded you with her mana source, but hey, at least you¡¯re awake. Ethel is still unconscious,¡± Sleek continued, her tone not changing at all despite Ethel¡¯s apparent predicament. ¡°Is she going to be okay?¡± Cal asked. Fleet may not be concerned, but he was. ¡°Yep, she just has to rest awhile longer. She siphoned a ton of her realm''s energy directly through her core and then left it nearly empty to get you back. That¡¯s hard on you humans,¡± the mana spirit bobbed up and down as she continued her answers. ¡°You can do that?¡± The idea of pulling extra mana from his realm was tempting, it would be a good way around his core exhaustion problem when he went all out. ¡°Sure, well, maybe not you, but Ethel can!¡± Sleek¡¯s answer wasn¡¯t remotely what Cal was looking for. ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll talk to Fulginanis about it, just as soon as I can get out of here,¡± Cal said, debating internally if he was ready to test his legs. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Good idea, he knows a lot more than I do about how this place works. Oh, that reminds me, I¡¯ve gotta start working on my own realm so we can eventually merge it in here. If you really wanna get a ton of different mana spirits it¡¯s going to be best if we work in harmony,¡± She said before zooming out of the room. Cal was sure Bug was going to love her. After releasing himself from his blankets, Cal stood up from his bed and stretched. His body seemed to be working entirely normally again. His mind flashed back to his most recent insane experience to add to the collection that had become his life. Something, probably a very powerful Gryalth had taken notice of him. It had referenced Pluto and hadn¡¯t seemed to know everything about him, so he doubted it was capable of spying on him entirely or even reading his mind. After all, it had somewhat bought the Merlin claim. Did it have something to do with the shadow Gryalth? No, he pushed that fear aside. It would have been aware of the time loops then. Another thought came to him, though, the strange mirror in the base. Before Frank had smashed it, he had seen Gryalth on the other side. If that had been a portal to their home universe, then perhaps it had only become aware of him due to its destruction. If that were true, he could avoid that easily enough in future loops, at least until he couldn¡¯t anymore. There was likely no way to avoid fighting it in the final loop, but that was a problem for another time. He pushed the door open from his room and walked into a buzz of action in the hallway outside. Animals were moving past him in both directions, carrying building materials, clipboards, and some even wearing hard hats. ¡°Caaaal, you arrreeee awaaake! Thaat is greeeeat newssss,¡± a giant spider said as she walked past him on the ceiling. She was carrying a load of lumber. Cal suppressed a shudder as an early memory bubbled up from his first few time loops. ¡°Nice to see you as well, Many Eyes. What are you working on?¡± He asked. ¡°Sooorrryy can¡¯t taaalk, gotttaaa build roooms for neeeeewwwww friends!¡± She replied before disappearing down the hallway, turning out of sight. ¡°She¡¯s working on getting new additions built for the animals from Ethel¡¯s realm. There were some repercussions for it when she drained the mana from it,¡± Cal looked around for the voice that had answered him, he finally spotted Trashcat flattening herself against the wall to avoid all the foot traffic. ¡°Yeah, Sleek kind of explained that just how bad is it?¡± He asked Bug¡¯s adoptee into the family. ¡°It''s not good. Mr. Oakbert has been missing since she did it. I¡¯m pretty sure Fulginanis is more worried than they are letting on. Cats pick up on those things,¡± She answered. ¡°Damn, okay, I¡¯m going to go find them, and then I¡¯ll pay Ethel a visit. There has to be something I can do,¡± Cal replied, now worried. The mana-infused food supplies that Ethel¡¯s realm had been providing were invaluable, not to mention how devastated she would be if anything had happened to Oakbert. ¡°Good luck, I¡¯ve gotta get back to Mother Scrump. She needs help getting the kittens to their new home,¡± Trashcat said, bowing her head to Cal before dashing off in the same direction Many Eyes had gone. ¡°Fulginanis, I¡¯m awake and heading to the situation. Can you grab everyone that you think I need to talk to,¡± Cal thought to his mana spirit, who controlled this realm. ¡°Yes, we are already working on it. Please hurry. We are not sure how much longer Ethel¡¯s realm can be supported before it completely collapses,¡± Fulginanis answered. Loop 254 - The Cast
First Name Last Name Species Loop-Awareness Void House Resident Current Location Short Bio
Cal Marshall Human Yes Yes Void House The main character, has some rage issues thanks to many loops of stress. Currently back in the void house after a long trip on Pluto and a fight with a mysterious entity.
-Barron Mana Spirit Yes * * Mana Spirit of Void, merged with Bolt to form Fulginanis. Was originally split apart and used in experiments by the Agency and the realm where Andrew was thrown into.
-Grannus Mana Spirit Yes No Own Realm Corrupted Mana Spirit of Rock, currently unable to fully join their realm into the Void House
-Bolt Mana Spirit Yes * * Mana Spirit of Electricity, merged with Barron to form Fulginanis
-Sleek Mana Spirit Yes Yes Void House Mana Spirit of Friction, newest bonded spirit of Cal, has not formed a true realm yet. Found on Pluto
-Fulginanis Mana Spirit Yes Yes Void House Second tier Mana Spirit, oversees the growth of the pocket dimension/realm that Void House exists in.
Stan Marshall Human Yes Yes Void House Cal''s Father, Giant of a man and loving father. Has been a tech leader, king, and is now currently the wielder of Excalibur
-Excalibur Sword/Knowledge Fragment Yes Yes Void House The mythical sword that has passed hands throughout history, forged from a knowledge shard and safely kept on Pluto awaiting a new wielder, now in the hands of Stan
Bug Marshall Dog Yes Yes Under Library Loyal Marshall family dog, found by the family sickly wandering in the woods. Now a capable fighter and the first one to join Cal in the loops. She recently went on a quest and gained abilities of her own as Pedigree Paladin.
Jen Marshall Human Yes Yes Void House Second wife of Stan, loving mother of Chris, Camden. She cares for Bug and Cal as though they were her own children. Has a strong military background and is an expert in demolitions. Recently bonded with a Mana Spirit of Ice on Pluto. Entered the Loop in a catastrophic way due to Chris and Camden being pulled from the universe, and normal possible existences within the loops
-Acorncracker Mana Spirit Yes Yes Void House Mana Spirit of Ice, somehow has the form memories and form of a squirrel that died within the pool, has not formed her own realm yet
Christopher Marshall Human Yes No ?? Currently somewhere outside the universe, had a brief contact with Ralth while Ralth was trapped in the heart of the abyss
Camden/Ralth Marshall Human Yes Yes Under Library Returned years before he initially was removed from the universe, spent the time hiding and building his strength alongside a group of capybaras who had gained sentience thanks to their exposure to one of the few untained mana pools left on Earth. Currently he has given up his powers from other universes in order to learn abilities that function better within his home world.
Andrew Thomas Human Yes Yes Under Library The man who started it all, his experiments on secret government tech exploded when the Gryalth first attacked, trapping him in a pocket reality. Returning to control of his body during the last few minutes of each loop initially, he spent an unremembered number of loops trying to find a way to change the future, and he finally did so in Cal. He is now entirely split from his younger self that remained properly in the universe and now unable to return as they both cannot exist in normal reality. Recently learned to be less of an asshole and gained the ability to summon creatures within a primal existence for help
-Cirtar Polar Bear ?? No Arctic Dream Resident of the primal, arctic region, will come to Andrew''s summon if Penny asks.
-Penny Penguin ?? No Arctic Dream New born penguin, resident of a primal arctic region. Considers Andrew her step father and will come to his summons
Andy Thomas Human Yes Yes Under Library Split from Andrew when the time looping event expanded, now his own person and following a much different path. More interested in the workings of magic than the hard science route that Andrew took. He bonded with Bill in an attempt to push their understanding of Mana Spirits. In doing so he and Bill ended up in the Under Library were they were announced as the new Stewards. Currently in second trip there, having been instrumental in freeing the What Is wing. Has powers over small areas of gravity
Ethel Rose Human Yes Yes Void House Found a Mana Spirit of Nature as a child, suppressed it and assumed it was her imagination until she met Cal and Bug. She may be grumpy, but she would do anything for Cal and Bug. She has recently embraced her spirit and worked hard with him to create their own realm, and bind it to the void house. In accident, that she does not regret she created her only son from a house plant, Frank. Her realm is full of plants and animals she saves at the start of every loop through a system called the Root Network she has setup. Currently she in a coma having pushed herself past her breaking point to save Cal.
-Mr. Oakbert Mana Spirit Yes Yes Void House Mana Spirit of Nature, helps to protect the animals in his realm. Currently missing as his realm breaksdown
Frank Tree Elemental Yes Yes Void House Planet Elemental, mostly human shaped, but as tough as a tree. Has taken up a love for professional wrestling and despite not understanding why animals get higher treatment than plants is fiercely loyal to the group
Melissa Human Yes Has Access Void House Gained loop-awareness alongside several agency members, was able to get herself onto the Mars mission and find a mana pool there. She used it to bond herself to magical tools in order to better her engineering skills, she also has healing abilities. Expert on the creation of mechs, she is determined to use her abilities to save her brother from the Agency and stop the Gryalth, even if it means a tentative alliance with the Cal and his group that she does not fully trust.
Albert Capybara Yes Yes Void House The first capybara that Ethel met as a child. He introduced himself again when they went searching for him years later. Thanks to a trip to Pluto he is now has a Mana Spirit of Fungus, he''s also and expert chef and generally the capybara in charge of the rest. Loves D&D and a boys night, he returned safely to Earth with the others.
-Shroomy Mana Spirit Yes Yes Void House Mana Spirit of Fungus, no realm of his own yet
Bill Capybara Yes Yes Void House Capybara bound to Andy, has the ability to redirect and control other''s mana and magical effects. Has been studying the mana pools all his life and is learning more alongside Andy in the Under Library.
Lou Capybara Yes Yes Void House One of the Capybaras trained for guard work
Eddie Capybara Yes Yes Void House One of the Capybaras trained for guard work
Trash Cat Cat Yes Yes Void House A small cat found nearly dead by Bug, nursed back to health with the help of Ethel, and the test subject of Andrew on making people loop-aware
Alfred Dog ?? Yes Under Library One of Ethel''s dogs that she moved to her realm, has gained sentience within it, and joined Bug on her quest in the Under Library to find ways to best protect their humans. Founding member of the canine council. Newly Pedigree Paladin.
Gretel Dog ?? Yes Under Library One of Ethel''s dogs that she moved to her realm, has gained sentience within it, and joined Bug on her quest in the Under Library to find ways to best protect their humans. Founding member of the canine council. Newly Pedigree Paladin.
Mother Scrump Cat No Yes Void House Ethel''s Cat, handles intake of new cats into the root network
Cindy Hopper Rabbit No Yes Void House Ethel''s Rabbit, handles intake of new cats into the root network
Gus Bird Like Creature Yes Yes Void House A strange bird creature that hatched from an Egg discovered in Ethel''s realm. An administrator who helps run the realms now
Hugo Opossum No Yes Void House An opossum that tends to the groves in Ethel''s realm
Captain Lightspeed Horse No Yes Void House Ethel''s Horse, handles intake of new cats into the root network
Harold Human No Has Access Void House Melissa''s Grandfather, one of her only living relatives and skilled in interrogation techniques, but does not like remembering that part of his life
Henry Human No No Agency Ogre Program Melissa''s Brother who has been taken by the Agency for use in their ogre program
Roger Cat No Has Access Void House Harold and Melissa''s cat
Serilina Gryalth No No Under Library A strange woman Gryalth Andy and Bill met in the Under Library. She claims no connection to the rest of her species and was mostly raised by Mr. Wiggles. Has water abilities
Mr. Wiggles Cat? ?? No Under Library Some sort of entity from deep within the abyss in the primal lands. Has adopted Serilina and been with her since she was trapped in the Under Library.
Bartholomew Under Library Engineer No No Under Library Former Under Library Engineer turned monster, turned back to loyal subject by swearing an oath to serve Bug. Joined them on their quest and returned more sane than he had been in a long time beside them
Robotic Librarian No No Under Library Librarian thas went against his programming to help Andy and Bill. Helped with the restoration of the What Is wing
Onelder Cyclopean Alien No Yes Void House Alongside his brother he spent a couple hundred loops trying to kill Cal for his world core he gained on Mars. He was forced into service with a promise of possibly joining the loops if he behaved. Stuck by the group and helped on Pluto, even imparting some knowledge. Has a guantlet capable of remembering mana signatures.
Twonger Cyclopean Alien No Yes Under Library Alongside his brother he spent a couple hundred loops trying to kill Cal for his world core he gained on Mars. He was forced into service with a promise of possibly joining the loops if he behaved. Faught alongside Andy in the Under Library and stayed loyal for the entire experience. Has a sword capable of copying mana signatures.
Many Eyes Spider Yes Yes Void House A monsterous Spider that Cal still has nightmares about, but has accepted as a loyal member of their group. The second test subject of Andrew on bringing someone into the loops.
Many Legs Centipede Yes Yes Void House One of the first monsters Cal encountered, but after bonding with Bug and entering the Time Loops during the energy backlash has become strong friends with the group. Once had her own dog that was lost to the Gryalth.
Zoz Nightmare ?? No ?? A nightmare being that tricked Andy into feeding it and allowing for its escape into the Abyss. Hunted Ralth throughout his childhood
First Smasher Squirrel No No Pluto Died during the liberation of the Squirrel Empire
Second Smasher Squirrel No No Pluto Former slave and Second in command of the Squirrel Empire. Sworn service to Stan and Excalibur. Led the squirrel armies against the Gryalth and survived the battle. Has Wind abilities
Third Smasher Squirrel No No Pluto Former slave and third in command of the Squirrel Empire, now a free squirrel and almost respects Cal. A skilled fighter. He traveled deep into Pluto with Cal and survived for the fight against the Gryalth base
Tiffany Crab No No Pluto A crab transplanted from Earth to Pluto by Merlin to help guard over Excalibur, helped in the overthrow of the Gryalth
Merlin ?? ?? ?? ?? An archwizard of legend who seems to have been around for a very long time
Frog Frog No No ?? A Lowly Frog who slept for hundreds of years
Bird Bird No No ?? The friend of Frog who is currently missing
Alligagor Alligagor No No ?? The friend of Frog who is currently missing
Izzy Human Yes No Earth Cal''s mother from another universe, where she lost her family and is determined to save Cal here
-Lodern Mana Spirit Yes No Earth Mana Spirit of Flame, somehow returned to Izzy
Tim Human No No Earth An expert in aviation that has been contacted for several missions, including the Mars mission, an old friend of Ethel''s
John Human No No Earth An expert in caving that was part of the Mars mission
Brice Human Yes No Earth One of the Agency Scientists who became loop-aware, currently still working with them.
Rander Under Library Engineer No No Under Library The chief engineer of the Under Library What Is wing, held it together in the face of an abyssal dragon
Igor Gryalth No * Void House Captured Gryalth
Rob Human No * Void House Captured Human merc, worked for the Gryalth to help his daighter Ella
?? ?? No No ?? Mysterious creature that briefly captured Cal, seems to be some sort of leader of the Gryalth
Shadow Gryalth Gryalth * No Pluto? Gryalth with shadow abilities that was able to spy on the group and learn about the loops, while it knows about the current loop, it does not have the ability to remember once the loop ends
Marley World Spirit * * * The world spirit of Pluto, gave it''s core to Cal, and somehow seems to remain with him through loops without an actual bond
Clark Human No No Earth One of the higher ups in the Agency
Loop 254 - Part 115 ¡°Okay, new rule for future loops: We need at least Bill, Andy, Ralth, or Andrew to stick around the Void House,¡± Cal said as he looked at the assembled brainpower in the situation room. Other than Fulginanis, he wasn¡¯t sure any of them had any idea how to help the rapidly worsening situation. ¡°Agreed, but we will have to work with what we have. What can we do?¡± Stan asked. He may have left his kingdom of squirrels behind, but his voice still carried the authority he had become accustomed to using on Pluto. ¡°The realm is destabilizing, and we need either a massive source of mana or Oakbert to prop it back up, and while I believe I¡¯ve located him, I doubt he will be willing to help,¡± Fulginanis answered. ¡°Wait, why not?¡± Cal fired back. ¡°He is the only thing holding Ethel¡¯s form together. What power she pushed through herself was enough to dissipate her being on a universal level. If he stops holding her together, she will be gone entirely, even in the next loop,¡± Fulginanis explained. ¡°Oh, she did all that to try to save me?¡± Cal didn¡¯t really need an answer; he was just surprised she had the power to do anything for the creature he had met. He looked around the room, making eye contact with each person briefly, silently begging for an answer. They needed Ethel, and Bug considered her family. Unexpectedly, Onelder, of all people, held his gaze. ¡°So ya just need the right mana source to hold this realm up, right?¡± The alien asked, turning his sight to Fulginanis. ¡°Yes, and I am already aware of the abilities of your gauntlet. Even if we had a source for you to add to, we don¡¯t have anything strong enough to be the anchor to hold the realm together,¡± Fulginanis answered. ¡°Sure ya do, well maybe. We got Cal here with a world seed. He can¡¯t remove it or even really use it without nearly killing himself, so we need someone or something capable of channeling that level of mana out of him. Sounds like work for a legendary sword with its own core. I¡¯m going to need Frank and Melissa ta do this, and even then, there¡¯s a good chance I¡¯m still going to die, so promise me you will take care of my brother. He¡¯s kind of an idiot without me,¡± Onelder said, standing up as he spoke. ¡°Of course we will. What exactly do you need?¡± Cal responded. He was willing to forgive the Cyclopean all his murders if he could pull this off. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Cal, come take me from your father. Albert, go pull Frank from Ethel. If he resists, tell him I need his help, and it¡¯s the only chance we have to save her. Jen go find Melissa. Stan, load up Captain Lightspeed with as much mana fruit as you can. I apologize for taking over, but we have a tiny window for success here, and I have done the calculations to refine Onelder¡¯s brilliant plan further,¡± Excalibur¡¯s voice boomed across the room, reaching everything. There was a sudden flurry of actions as no one questioned their orders. Excalibur was laid on the table as Stan ran from the room, followed by Albert and Jen. Cal approached the sword and lifted it up. ¡°Now what?¡± He asked. ¡°Now I apologize for the pain you are about to experience,¡± Excalibur¡¯s words were followed by every nerve in Cal¡¯s body screaming in pain. It felt like someone was taking a razor blade to every one of them at the same time, slicing them apart. He crashed to the ground, wriggling in pain. ¡°What the fuck ya doing?¡± Onelder yelled at the sword. ¡°What I have to, there is no time for a natural bond. I have to rewrite his mana channels to do what we need them to do, and you are likely the only one besides me who truly understands just how powerful a world seed is. I still do not understand how his body can even contain it, but it does, and we will use it to save our ally,¡± Excalibur said as lines of yellow mana erupted from his blade and dug into the still-screaming Cal. Stan was the first to reenter the room, riding Captain Lightspeed, who was pulling a cart of mana fruit. ¡°Is he okay? What happened?!¡± Stan yelled as he spotted his son. ¡°He will be once we are done. Force one of the fruits into his mouth; Onelder, eat a couple yourself. Stan, once Melissa arrives, have her heal Cal, but only until he can stand up. Have them both eat several more fruits. Cal will argue about the risk. You need to make them do it anyway. I will be stitching up his channels manually for the next few minutes. As time is limited, do not allow anyone to interrupt,¡± Excalibur said. ¡°Understood,¡± Stan replied. He grabbed a mana fruit from the cart, bent over, and looked into his son¡¯s pained face. ¡°Did you catch any of that?¡± Cal managed to stay entirely aware of the situation despite the immense pain and forced his mouth open as a sign of assent. He felt the familiar tingle of the juice and the power of the mana flow into his core. Whatever Excalibur was doing became easier to handle with the addition of the fruit. The pain didn¡¯t vanish, but he was able to push some of it out of focus. ¡°Melissa, I need you to heal Cal just enough so he can stand up, no more, and then eat some of these mana fruits,¡± Stan said to the woman as she raced into the room with Jen. ¡°Sure, whatever you say,¡± Melissa rolled her eyes but did as she was asked. Cal felt more of the pain recede, not fully gone, but enough that he was able to climb to his feet with only some difficulty. He grabbed two more mana fruit and began to chow down. Excalibur may have expected him to argue due to his previous experience, but he also had Ethel¡¯s voice louder than ever in the back of his mind, telling him to shut up and do what people ask for once, and he wasn¡¯t going to argue with her while she was on her deathbed. Loop 254 - Part 116 ¡°Ignore the cascading mana collapses. You need to get to the center of the realm and embed me into the land,¡± Excalibur said. They had just entered into Ethel¡¯s realm only to find it had grown exponentially worse in the last hours. The mana cascades that the sword had just described looked like purple lightning storms, each blast crashing into the ground, sending terrain flying into the air. The few of Ethel¡¯s animals remaining in the realm were scurrying quickly from building to building, gathering up supplies and precious belongings. The most pressing damage was to the control room near the entrance. What had once been connected to a mighty tree, the lifeblood of the realm had collapsed into itself as the tree withered. The raw mana that flowed through the root network had violently exploded out of it during Ethel¡¯s gambit to rescue Cal, and now her greatest work was in danger of total collapse. Cal couldn¡¯t believe the level of destruction she had risked just to save him. They had to find a way to fix this. ¡°Is there anything we can do about the root network?¡± Cal asked, suspecting the answer. Alongside him, his father, Melissa, Onelder, and Captain Lightspeed all had similar looks of horror, the worst on Lightspeed. This has been the horse¡¯s home. He understood why Frank hadn¡¯t been able to face this disaster and chose to stay with Ethel. ¡°Nothing that would withstand the hurricane, in fact, as brilliant as the design and creation of that network is; I suspect if we do not stabilize this realm, it will create a whole new problem for us. Once this is over, I must discuss with Ethel how she managed to establish and maintain such a dedicated level of transportation systems across universal thresholds. Even in an age of magic, this would have been considered a marvel, more the reason we must persevere and save her creation,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Then let¡¯s go. This is a nightmare I want out of as soon as possible,¡± Lightspeed said as he trotted ahead, pulling the cart of fruit behind him. ¡°Agreed. Excalibur any way to protect us from the lightning?¡± Stan asked as the group walked after Lightspeed. ¡°Yes, but I cannot risk the energy use until we are much closer to the center of the collapse. If we begin drawing the blasts before then, it could cause further ruptures in the fabric that makes up this realm. Now, I suggest less talking and more running. You cannot see it yet, but things are getting worse rapidly,¡± Excalibur answered, and as if on cue, a fissure opened in the ground only feet away from them. It was accompanied by a loud rending sound as the dirt and rock was torn apart. It ran through the grove, and Cal watched as several trees toppled over into the crack, likely lost forever. He guessed somewhere at the bottom of the fissure was a quickly growing opening into the abyss. Excalibur was right; time was ticking down faster and faster. He decided to risk a little mana use of his own and channeled a tiny bit of friction mana into each of them. Risky or not, they needed the speed. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The chaos of what used to be a beautiful garden flew by them as they ran on. The closer they came to their destination, the worse the destruction became. The lightning blasts were now hitting the ground inches away. The grass was entirely gone; only lightning-scared rock and muddy dirt remained of the area. Cal looked up and started to scream. One of the mana lightning bolts was arcing directly down towards them, but before he had the chance to vocalize any warning, a bright beam of light shot from Excalibur and formed a protective dome around them. Cal instantly understood why the sword had wanted to wait until the last possible moment, though, as it was now drawing in the blasts like a moth to a flame. He doubted Excalibur could keep the energy needed for this shield going very long. ¡°Stan, stab me as deep into the stone as you can roughly thirty feet ahead of you. Melissa, Cal, and Onelder start eating the fruit. Do your best to ignore the pain. It will not be pleasant,¡± The sword ordered. Cal knew from experience that Excalibur was downplaying just how badly this was likely to hurt, but he grabbed two apple-shaped fruits from Lightspeed and took several bites, forcing the mana-infused pulp and juice down his throat. The others followed his lead. The second Excalibur was stabbed into the rock, the intensity of the lightning strikes against their shield increased. ¡°Cal, grab my pommel now. Stan keep feeding him the fruit, Melissa stand behind Onelder and get ready to heal him. You should know the moment to start healing him better than I will. Do not pull me from the stone once this is done; I will need to continue stabilizing the realm until Ethel herself is able to do it once more,¡± Everyone once again did as the sword ordered. The moment Cal grabbed on, he felt a discharge of energy nearly glue him to the sword. He wasn¡¯t sure he could let go if he tried. He had never been able to push so much mana through his core before, and beyond that, he felt the sword drawing out energy from his world seed. Briefly, he wondered what that would do to Ethel¡¯s realm as it regrew, but he couldn¡¯t hold the focus on that train of thought as the pain started. Through a haze, he managed to take in the rest of the events around him. The energy he was losing was firing back out through Excalibur into Onelder, as well as flowing into the ground out from the sword. He heard Onelder scream as the energy entered him through one arm a bright white and exited the other a deep green. Its signature had been entirely changed into something more like Frank''s. It was getting harder to see, but he was pretty sure Onelder had started to fade and that Melissa¡¯s healing was all that was holding him solid. Cal¡¯s eye drooped further. He pushed them back open and saw the sky start to turn back into a beautiful blue. Again, his eyes closed, and he couldn¡¯t force them open again. Distantly, he heard the sword¡¯s voice. ¡°Good, keep going, hold yourself together, Onelder. Stan stop feeding Cal; his part is done. Get the fruit into Onelder and Melissa,¡± Loop 254 - Stabilization From the start, he knew this was the likely outcome. What he wasn¡¯t sure of was just how much Cal understood it. The kid was too optimistic and didn¡¯t get the way the universe really worked; he reminded him of Twonger in all the worst ways. Onelder hadn¡¯t believed the whole time-loop claims initially, but the more he considered the situation as things escalated, the more it seemed the only thing that really made sense. Somehow, the kid, his family, and his friends were fighting an invading force from another universe that, if not stopped, would destroy this one, and while he wasn¡¯t big on the idea of self-sacrifice, there were a few people he liked more than himself in this world. The sword, though, Onelder was sure he at least understood there was no coming back from this. ¡°Good, keep going, hold yourself together, Onelder. Stan stop feeding Cal; his part is done. Get the fruit into Onelder and Melissa,¡± Excalibur yelled. ¡°I ain¡¯t got much left in me; just hit me with every bit of energy ya got left,¡± Onelder yelled back. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Are you sure? If we do this slowly, there may still be a way to save you,¡± Excalibur replied. ¡°There ain¡¯t, and you know it, but thanks for pretending otherwise. Tell the kid I really am sorry we killed him all those times, and take care of my brother,¡± Onelder laughed as he felt the rest of the world seed¡¯s mana hit him. He just had to hold his atoms together long enough to get this all out. It should be plenty to hold this realm together, plus it would have anything left of him to help it regrow. ¡°Why are you both acting like this is forever? You will be back at the start of the next loop!¡± Melissa yelled, her voice full of exhaustion. ¡°Yah, maybe, but the sword and I doubt it; ya will have to ask him to explain though, don¡¯t think¡­¡± Onelder¡¯s words cut off as he collapsed forward, the last of the mana flowing from him, and with it, his physical form vanished into the flow. The mana cascade faded, and Onelder was gone. Loop 254 - Part 117 ¡°Ugh, I feel like I have been missing everything recently. Did it work?¡± Cal asked as he woke up on the ground. He wasn¡¯t sure if he had been mumbling his questions or if his ears weren¡¯t working right. Considering his head was pounding, it was probably both. He was still in Ethel¡¯s realm, so he guessed he hadn¡¯t been unconscious for too long. ¡°Do not try to move much yet Cal. You have likely channeled far more mana in the last few minutes than you have in every other loop combined. Ethel¡¯s realm has been stabilized. Once Melissa recovers, she will be over to heal you,¡± Excalibur¡¯s voice caused the hammering pain in his head to intensify. Yeah, he agreed moving was not a good idea at the moment, but he had a question burning at the back of his mind that he needed to ask. ¡°What happened to Onelder? The last thing I remember was you telling him to hold it together,¡± Cal asked. His voice, surprising himself, was full of concern. When had he stopped hating the alien? ¡°It is best you rest for now, and we discuss his fate later after you have recovered some,¡± The sword answered. ¡°Wait, what? No, tell me what happened. Considering the worst thing I can think of is just him restarting the next loop without his memories, there is something you know that I don¡¯t, isn¡¯t there?¡± Cal demanded an answer. The pain in his head could wait. He tried to stand and managed to get as far as his knees before the overwhelming nausea started. ¡°Onelder¡¯s gone, Cal. I think he knew this was the likely outcome, and what the rest of us other than Excalibur didn¡¯t understand is he meant permanently,¡± his father¡¯s voice came from behind him. He felt the man¡¯s hands slide under his arms and help him to his feet as the weight of what he had said settled in. ¡°How? How can someone permanently die in a loop?¡± Cal didn¡¯t understand; as far as he knew, they were effectively immortal right now. ¡°We may be in a time loop, but consider that our memories are being retained through the loop. Some places are not being reset on each loop either, such as these realms tied to each of you. Then there is your console in the void house, tied to some being further outside the loops. While I cannot say this with one hundred percent certainty until the next loop starts, Onelder severed his own connection to reality itself, and that will not be repaired when the loop restarts. It is possible to overtax your core to the point that your own life force begins to feed your channeling, and if you push that far enough, you will break down all the bonds that make up your being. There are people out there capable of using mana to resurrect the dead and rebind life forces to this reality, but I know of none who are able to do so after complete mana death. Onelder knew this as well,¡± Excalibur explained. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Cal¡¯s stomach felt like a lead ball had appeared in it. So it was possible to die in these loops, and the man who had killed him so many times was the first to do so, sacrificing himself for the future of the universe. How was he going to explain this Twonger? He tried to say something in response to Excalibur, but all that came out was the word: ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I am deeply sorry, and if there were any other way, I would have suggested it. I was only willing to participate in this suggestion because Onelder himself knew what it would entail. Once everyone has recovered, I will explain further what I understand to be the nature of this loop. For now, I believe it is best that your father and Captain Lightspeed get you back to the void house to record,¡± Excalibur apologies did nothing to help how Cal currently felt. He let his father lift him onto the horse and guide them back out of the realm in silence. *** The door to Cal¡¯s room flew open, and a very crank old woman slowly hobbled her way into the room. ¡°Alright it¡¯s been long enough, time for you get the hell out of bed and come eat with the rest of us. Even I¡¯m up and walking now,¡± Ethel yelled at him the minute she was entirely through the door. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re awake, but¡­¡± Cal was cut off before he could finish his reply. ¡°No buts, get your ass up. Onelder didn¡¯t die because of you. He died because the Gryalth invaded our universe and are planning to kill us all. Yes, we failed to save him, but we didn¡¯t have any way to do so even if we had known it was possible and happening, and if anyone should be feeling guilty, it¡¯s me. He did this to hold my realm together. Now get up and come get breakfast with everyone,¡± She snapped at him. Cal was a little shocked when he realized his body was standing up; apparently, Ethel¡¯s yelling was good for something. He considered her point as he walked to the cafeteria. There was a lot of truth in what she said about Onelder¡¯s death, and while he didn¡¯t entirely disagree, he still considered himself at least partially responsible. He was sure of one thing, though: without the Gryalth, none of this would be happening, and if permanent death was possible within these loops, he would make sure the creature that had attempted to kidnap him, causing this chain of events, would also feel what it was like to truly die. He sat down at the table next to Albert and Frank, forced a smile, and looked over at the small capybara who had most bonded with the Cyclopean. While Albert looked a little worse for wear, he also looked to be handling it okay. As the smell of the freshly cooked breakfast fully hit his brain, his hunger kicked in. ¡°Hey guys, what¡¯s the best food today?¡± Cal asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing one of the meals Onelder showed me each day as a tribute, which seemed like the best way to honor him,¡± Albert answered as he pointed to a strange-looking egg-like dish on his plate. ¡°Well then, please, pass the eggs,¡± Cal again forced a smile a smile. Ethel was right, he had been in bed too long, and his friends and family needed him. Loop 254 - Memories ¡°Ethel, can you hear me at all?¡± Ethel could hear the small voice, but it sounded terribly distant, and she was having trouble putting the sounds to a source. ¡°I think so, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not sure who you are, or now that I think about it, who exactly I am. Is Ethel my name? Where am I?¡± She asked. All she could currently see was a deep blackness. She tried lifting her hand in front of her face. It looked distorted, almost as though she was seeing it through a dirty window. ¡°It¡¯s Mr. Oakbert, Oaky, and yes, you are Ethel. We aren¡¯t anywhere exactly. This is your core. I¡¯m trying to hold it together. You did a lot of damage to yourself recently. Do you remember that?¡± The mana spirit asked. Events flashed across Ethel¡¯s vision. She saw herself arguing with a strange bird. ¡°Gus, I appreciate the concern, but I don¡¯t have time to argue the point. Reverse the root network¡¯s energy into me. It may pain me to say this, but Cal is more important than all of us.¡± ¡°Okay, boss, this is going to hurt,¡± the bird, no, Gus, said back to her. ¡°What happened after that?¡± She asked into the empty space. ¡°You died, try as you might. You are still very much human and not nearly yet able to channel all of my stored energies at once, let alone all of your own,¡± Oakbert answered distantly. ¡°Then how am I here? Wait, no, I remember, there should just be a new loop. I should be waking up in bed if I die. Why aren¡¯t I?¡± More of her memories were returning to her brain. She saw herself meeting Cal and Bug for the first time, that amazing talking dog who had convinced her of so much. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Because this is a different kind of death, and I¡¯m not going to let that happen, but I need you to keep remembering, pull yourself back together. Right now your friends are risking their own existence to hold the realm we built together. I don¡¯t know if they can do it, but if they somehow manage, you have to wake up to continue the job,¡± Oakbert answered, his voice becoming less distant. Her memories started flooding in, the loops, the animals, Pluto, and Cal being snatched away, all of it at once. Following it was a vision of Onelder¡¯s last moment. He had saved her realm and paid the ultimate price to do it. ¡°Dammit, Okay, I see it all now. How do I wake up? The idiots need me,¡± She asked, the fiery anger returning to her voice. ¡°Do you see this?¡± A small green pebble appeared in her view as Oakbert asked the question. ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°Good, grab it; it¡¯s a tiny concentrated bit of your mana. It¡¯s taken a great effort, but I have managed to put enough together to restart your core if you can get it there,¡± Oakbert Explained. ¡°Understood,¡± Ethel grabbed it firmly in her hand and crushed it hard in her closed fist, forcing the energy backward down her mana channels into her core. She felt something ignite inside; she realized Oaky hadn¡¯t been fully truthful with her. ¡°Tricky little spirit, this was mostly your energy.¡± ¡°Yes, it was, but you would never have taken so much if I hadn¡¯t tricked you. I¡¯ll be fine, I promise, but now you need to wake up,¡± Oakbert said. ¡°You better be,¡± she said as her eyes snapped open. Her first sight was of a giant tree man asleep on the floor next to her bed. Poor Frank, she hadn¡¯t meant to worry him so. ¡°Frank, wake up and help me get out of this bed. We need to see what has happened.¡± Loop 254 - Part 118 ¡°I think I regret not going to Pluto,¡± Melissa said. They were gathered in the situation room to go over last year''s event. Things had finally started to settle down again in the void house. Stan had called the meeting to both bring everyone up to speed and to discuss what he felt needed to be done to keep things functional for the rest of the loop. As always, the room was crowded during a general meeting. Cal mentally noted that problem. It was probably time to build something more like a lecture hall for future meetings. He started jotting down some quick plans for the redesign alongside some other drawings he had been doing during the recap of their adventures. So far, he had ideas for a new mechanical engineering wing, a secondary farm, some expanded laboratories, and now the lecture hall. He added another note below the lecture hall sketch: special seats and desks for the non-human residents. ¡°So that brings us up to speed. The next big questions are how we want to spend the rest of the loop and how long we want to maintain it for. Cal, what do you think?¡± Stan asked his son, bringing Cal out of his distractions. ¡°I would like to end the loop as soon as we meet up with Andy on his return from the Under Library. I think I¡¯m also going to risk a visit to the frog before we do since it will have been the decade he asked for, but with the shadow Gryalth and whatever his master was out there, I don¡¯t want to maintain the loop beyond where we have to. Which brings up the next problem: we need supplies to really start rebuilding everything here, and everyone that was on Pluto cannot risk leaving the void house to get any of that. So human wise that¡¯s going to put a lot on Melissa and Harold to get those supplies,¡± Harold interrupted Cal. ¡°Probably just me, but that¡¯s fine; I have a lot of old connections. With the Agency, it¡¯s too risky for Melissa to be out there making any big moves,¡± He said. ¡°Alright, just Harold then. Which brings me to my next point. We need more experts. Yes, we¡¯ve learned to do a lot of things pretty well here, but imagine how much we could accomplish if we start seeking out some of the real experts in their fields, find ones we trust, and bring them into the loop. Obviously, we will need to further discuss this with the other members of our group next loop, but I wanted to get you all thinking about the idea of a master architect or a farming specialist, and frankly, unless we want to spend several more loops in higher education there are some very specialized areas we will eventually have to bring people on board for. I doubt Melissa and Andrew want to handle every single aspect of engineering,¡± Cal continued. ¡°Haven¡¯t really thought any of this through yet, but yeah, I agree with Cal. We could learn this all ourselves, but it would cut into the adventuring time you all seem to love,¡± Melissa said as she twirled a wrench in her hand. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I was going to suggest as much myself: we need more overlaps in skills, as well as people to fill out what we don¡¯t have. Working with the squirrels in fortifying their grove gave me a lot of ideas about what we could accomplish,¡± Jen said There was a brief moment of loud chatter from the capybara section before Albert quieted the rest and spoke up. ¡°The boys and I have discussed it; we agree entirely and call dibs on picking the chef.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how important a chef will be¡­¡± Cal started before noticing the glares of several capybaras and decided not to press the issue at the moment. If they wanted to learn from a world-renowned chef, who was he to argue? There were worse things than having even more fantastic food in the void house. ¡°How long exactly will Exaclibur be stuck in our realm?¡± Gus asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, he isn¡¯t sure but thinks for the rest of the loop at least. He is concerned the energies unleashed in putting it back together may have some ramifications on the root network¡¯s standard operations at the start of a loop and wants to watch that,¡± Stan answered. ¡°How is he going to do that anyway? Isn¡¯t he going to start the loop on Pluto?¡± Melissa asked. ¡°Excalibur has a plan to bleed off a lot of the access energy at the start of the next loop by using the root network to grab himself from Pluto. We¡¯ve discussed it all in depth. Apologies for leaving you out of the info Gus, but I thought you had enough on your plate with getting all the animals settled here,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Yeah, boss, that has been a mess, couldn¡¯ta done it without Many Legs and Many Eyes. I¡¯m not sure either of them have slept in days. Also does that mean in the future we can use the root network to gather the rest of the guys?¡± Gus replied, nodding his head in the direction of the giant bugs. ¡°Maybe, but it will require a lot of testing and extra power, and first, the realm has to get back to where it was before we can do any of that,¡± Ethel answered. ¡°Alright, I think that¡¯s the core of this meeting then. Harold, If you could initially focus on food, we are going to need that faster than everything else,¡± Stan said to the older man. ¡°Yes, that should be easy enough. We are basically an animal shelter, so that won¡¯t raise any flags. The building materials we will need, though, might. I assume money isn¡¯t a problem?¡± Harold asked. ¡°No, not at all,¡± Stan replied. ¡°Yeah, I doubted people in a time loop would have any issues making a fortune, but that can be a private conversation later. I doubt everyone here cares about the specifics of finance, money laundering, and, I¡¯m guessing, precious metals,¡± Harold said. ¡°Don¡¯t discount lost shipwrecks,¡± Cal said, smiling. The idea of finding a few more lost treasures sounded pretty relaxing and a pleasant diversion, likely something that could help keep his mind off the worst parts of this loop, and he decided to add that to a fun vacation in the next one. Bug always loved the sightseeing on those trips. Loop 254 - Part 119 Cal was impressed at how well things were coming together in the aftermath of the destruction. Harold not only managed to get them a regular supply line of food and building materials, but he also started working on a list of contacts he had made throughout his long life. Despite Cal¡¯s many attempts for details on his past, Harold would only cover broad strokes. All Cal was sure of was that the man had a deep connection with several governments and was very experienced in the world of spycraft. He had also learned just what had been done to their imprisoned Gryalth in order to get it talking. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if he would have allowed it to happen had he been here, but it already had. The cork was out of the bottle, and while the contents were maybe not as critical as Harold thought they would be. The idea of the aliens hurting sick kids to control their parents was a new simmering fire in Cal¡¯s brain. Harold may not want to become loop-aware in this loop, but he was not skipping it in the next. They needed someone out in the world capable of the level of intel gathering that he was. Between Cal¡¯s stepmother and Melissa¡¯s grandfather, they could start answering some of the many questions about the Gryalth actions on Earth that still plagued any defense plans. Despite their actions on Pluto, Harold was unable to determine if the Gryalth¡¯s presence on Earth had changed at all. Cal and the others had chosen not to risk it and kept themselves confined to the void house and the reconstruction of Ethel¡¯s realm. That meant Cal had kept himself more involved than usual with the construction and layout of the new and repaired buildings. Land had been transplanted between the realms in order to create a backup farm in the void house. This was built into the center of the newly designed sprawling complex as a sort of courtyard. In Ethel¡¯s realm, Albert and Shroomy had worked on a new mushroom patch in some of the excavated void land. All the recipes that had come from the new crops had been delicious. All of the animal¡¯s homes were rebuilt alongside with dorm-style shelters in both realms in case either had to be evacuated again in the future. The years passed in a relaxed, peaceful communal time for everyone involved. Everyone had gathered for the dedication of a single golden-leafed tree that had grown on the site where Onelder had died. The capybaras were going table to table, making sure there was plenty to eat. Stan was talking to Excalibur, who was still embedded into the soil. The sword¡¯s energy had been as needed as he had expected it would. Cal, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t stop fidgeting in his seat. He was trying to enjoy the dual celebration and remembrance feast they were having, but he also knew that this was the week Andy was supposed to return, which meant he had to tell Twonger of his brother¡¯s death. He had come to peace with it genuinely not being his fault the Cyclopean was dead, but he doubted Twonger would agree. The second part of his anxiety was that they expected Andy days ago, and he still wasn¡¯t back. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m worried too,¡± Ethel said as she pulled the chair out next to Cal and plopped down. ¡°Considering the disaster that was our trip, who knows what happened to them in that strange world they found.¡± ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± Cal asked, a little surprised she was able to read him so easily. ¡°No idea, but I¡¯ve been a teacher and an animal trainer, and I¡¯ve been around you for a long time, so to me, yes. It¡¯s obvious you are worried and trying to find something to distract yourself,¡± She answered. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea on distracting myself. I did say I was going to pay that frog another visit this loop.¡± Cal was planning to do it alone. He didn¡¯t want to risk anyone else on the trip. ¡°What the hell did he call himself again?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Glurm Lightning Leaper, Lord of the Southern Swamp Nebula, Prince of the Fifth Dynasty, and Supreme Champion of the Ninty-Fifth Universal Games,¡± Cal answered. ¡°That you manage to pay attention to?¡± Ethel shook her head at Cal. In reality, he had not, in fact, remembered the name outside of Glurm. What he had remembered was Excalibur claiming that the Frog had once been a wielder of his and was able to get enough info from the sword to get his memory working well enough to dredge up the rest. ¡°Seemed important, but I¡¯m not sure how much it will matter this loop anyway, he didn¡¯t want us back for a hundred years,¡± Cal said. ¡°Then why are you going?¡± Ethel cocked an eye as she glared at him. ¡°I have some questions, no idea if he will answer, but I figure it¡¯s worth a shot,¡± Cal finished his drink and stood up. ¡°And I guess no better time than the present. Guess I¡¯ll leave a note for Andy in the situation room in case he manages to show up. I wonder if he can move that door of his? That won¡¯t be the situation room much longer. It''s too bad it¡¯s not in the normal portal area,¡± Cal said, rambling a bit as his mind did its usual wandering. ¡°Hold up, I¡¯m coming along, I won¡¯t go with you to the frog, but I¡¯m waiting near the portal in case shit hits the fan again. This time, though, I should be a little more prepared,¡± Ethel said as she stood to join him. ¡°I appreciate it. I do think I¡¯ll be fine, though. I talked it over with Excalibur and Fulginanis. Neither of them thinks the creature was able to pinpoint where I was going exactly, only that I was leaving from something he had control of and looked like a human,¡± Cal explained as they left the realm. ¡°While that¡¯s great news, I¡¯m not risking it. So good luck with the frog, but I¡¯ll be waiting with Fulginanis until you are safely back,¡± Ethel reiterated her worry. ¡°Alright, suit yourself, and thank you,¡± Cal shrugged and gave her a brief smile. ¡°Fulginanis, everything ready to go?¡± ¡°Yes, the gateway is open again, so Glurm has allowed that much,¡± ¡°Perfect,¡± Cal said as he stepped through, once again heading to Titan. Loop 254 - A Frog鈥檚 Annoyance Glurm felt the gateway opening again in his front yard. He blocked the full formation of the portal for a moment while he considered whether to allow it. He had told them a century, but things on Earth certainly were looking odd. Recently, he even detected a group of powerful channelers on a space vessel heading there. Then, there were the strange emanations from Pluto. Whatever had happened there had drastically shifted the ambient spatial mana. He released the mana thread he had used to hold the portal shut, allowing it to spawn back into existence in his yard. It was always possible the mammals had some answers. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. He looked back into his kitchen with annoyance; he had been so looking forward to an afternoon meal. He sighed. ¡°I suppose there is always time for that after I thrash a few mammals again,¡± he muttered to himself. He hoped this didn¡¯t take too long. There were only a few more years until the next Universal Games, and any significant distraction could easily cost him another championship. He vowed that if that happened, he would pay the mammals a personal visit. ¡°Hello, are you home?¡± A voice said at his door after a series of loud knocking. At least there was only one of them in his time. He thought as he headed to open the door. Loop 254 - Part 120 The landscape was virtually unchanged from the last time he had been here. Even though he had been here once before, the existence of a giant tropical swamp on Titan still seemed fantastical. Cal considered the feeling and strangeness it presented, considering everything he had seen so far. This swamp shouldn¡¯t be that level of awe-inspiring. That thought was apparently enough to break the effects of whatever it was influencing him. Everything still looked the same, but the feeling of greatness had vanished. It had to have been some sort of mental effect that Glurm used on visitors. Cal made a note to remember it for the next loop. It might help keep them on balance during the test. Cal walked past the fence and down the path to the door, knocking loudly once he reached it. ¡°Hello, are you home?¡± He called out after the knocks. The door opened, revealing the same annoyed frog Cal had seen the last time he knocked. He was dressed a bit differently this time, in armor instead of robes, but beyond that, he looked identical to before. Cal glanced over his head to see what he could spot in the dwelling. The air in the building seemed almost hazy, and he had trouble focusing on anything within. ¡°If you are done attempting to spy on my home, perhaps we could discuss why you are here decades earlier than I told you. I understand you mammals may not understand the concept of politeness, but in the more evolved species, it¡¯s considered extremely rude to intrude on another¡¯s domicile,¡± Glurm said, sliding his eyes lid down over the top of his eyes to better glare at Cal. ¡°Sorry, I was just curious about what an ancient magical frog warrior¡¯s house would be like. I¡¯m actually here to ask a few questions. I don¡¯t know how much you have noticed about the solar system or your old home planet, but things are getting bleak, and I needed to pick the brain of the only other ancient being I know,¡± Cal explained, hoping he baited Glurm in with that last line. ¡°Other ancient being? Who else do you know? I don¡¯t believe Merlin has set foot on any planet in this galaxy in centuries, and while there is a strangely powerful bit of mana in your core, you aren¡¯t old enough to have met him the last time he was here. Curious, who has returned to Earth without me knowing?¡± It had worked. The frog was very interested. Cal smiled before continuing. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you that if you promise to answer a few of my questions honestly. If it makes it any more tantalizing of a piece of information, I promise you know them.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Fine mammal, you have attention. I will answer three of your questions. You get the first one, then I get the identity, and you get your last two. Sound fair?¡± Glurm pushed past Cal, pulling the door shut behind him as he walked into his yard. ¡°You know you can call me Cal, right? It won¡¯t hurt,¡± Cal replied. Despite the snark in his words, he was happy with the terms. ¡°I will do that if and when you earn it. For now, you remain another mammal to me. Now, what is your first question?¡± Glurm asked sternly. He stopped walking following the question and plopped down under the shade of a tree in one of the drier areas of his yard. His tongue shot out into the tree and pulled down a strange fruit into his waiting hand. He then passed it to Cal. ¡°First, ask your question, then you may try the fruit. I promise you¡¯ve never had it¡¯s like.¡± His glare had turned into a comical grin, and Cal once again wondered how much of the act was for show. ¡°Are you aware of the Gryalth?¡± Cal honestly had no idea if the frog was, but the answer would dictate his next two questions. ¡°Are those the aliens that left Pluto? If so, only in passing. I know they exist, but not much else. Now tell me, who has returned to Earth?¡± Cal assumed Glurm only cared about the answer to the second question. ¡°Excalibur, he said you were one of his previous rulers.¡± Cal saw the frog¡¯s eye twitch when he said the name. It looked like he hadn¡¯t been expecting to hear that name, and Cal was very curious to know just who he had expected to hear. ¡°Now that is interesting news, actually worthy of the additional two questions. Perhaps after the games, I will seek him out. But it is time for you to try your fruit mammal, and let us finish the conversation. I have far more important training to return to,¡± Glurm said. Cal bit into his fruit, and it was delicious. It reminded him of the high he felt the first time he tasted a mana fruit. This was something on a whole other level. As he devoured it, he felt the juice flow across his mana channels, infusing them and reinforcing them. He would need to try more in future loops. Wiping his face on his shirt sleeve, Cal finally asked his second question. ¡°My friends and I are stuck in a time-loop that terminates and restarts with my death, and the main cause of it is the Gryalth and their invasion of the universe. Any chance you want to skip your games and help us stop them?" He hadn¡¯t been sure he was going to tell the frog about the time loop, but he couldn¡¯t think of another way to make it understood how he knew how bad the Gryalth problem really was. ¡°No, and not because I don¡¯t believe you, I in fact do. It explains a lot of the mammal channel questions I had been pondering, but in no world do I want to be in a time-loop determined on your life against an enemy apparently so great that the idea of infinite time still hasn¡¯t beaten them. I¡¯d rather not be stuck in some sort of endless hell. That all said, you¡¯re welcome to try to convince me in future loops, though I doubt I will ever be very receptive,¡± Glurm¡¯s answer was not at all what Cal had been expecting. He had assumed either disbelief or possibly anger, not total indifference. Loop 254 - The Party Goes On Stan had seen Cal and Ethel sneak out of the gathering early but decided it was best to let them go. He had his suspicions about Cal¡¯s destination anyway and had no interest in seeing the strange frog on the other side. Excalibur had told him they were not ready yet for that meeting and to avoid it as long as possible for now. Plus, the food here was excellent, and he certainly wasn¡¯t going to spoil the best date he and Jen had managed to have in years by chasing after them fruitlessly. ¡°So what is this anyway?¡± Jen asked after biting into another piece of what looked like a fancy cheese. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s a mushroom that I was able to cultivate here, and I prepared it using one of Onelder¡¯s recipes. It¡¯s going over well. I call it Cyclopean Mushroom,¡± Albert answered, offering her another piece from the tray he was carrying. She took two. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d have loved it,¡± Jen replied. Stan decided they would need more days like this in future loops. Loop 254 - Part 121 Cal opened his mouth to try and argue the point, but Glurm¡¯s initial glare had returned stronger than ever. Cal dropped the second question line and moved on to a final question. ¡°What are the Universal Games exactly?¡± He wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d bother asking this one, but it was all he could think of after how little Glurm seemed to care about the Gryalth issue. Cal figured there was always the next loop for more relevant information. ¡°Ah, now that is a good question. You mammals are far too weak to participate in this one, but it should be coming in about five years. I suppose with your loop, you may be strong enough eventually, but much more likely, the one in five hundred years will be when you are ready. It is a monumental showcase of skills, magic, and willpower from across the universe,¡± Glurm looked at Cal expectantly. ¡°So, based on your title, you¡¯ve clearly won this before, but do you really see yourself as that much stronger than all of us?¡± For all Cal knew, the Frog was being honest, he had seen feats of power beyond his own abilities, and Ralth had made it clear the Gryalth they had seen so far were only a drop in the bucket of what would come. ¡°Yes, and yes. Understand it¡¯s not meant to be an insult at all. Well, maybe; how many loops have you been at this? Given infinite time, you should be stronger than me eventually, but I am also very old by the standards of mammals and those that currently live on my former home, but maybe this is all better understood from a demonstration. Apologies, I am no longer used to any kind of teaching or explanations. You will continue to face that obstacle in future loops should you continue to visit me,¡± Glurm answered. Despite the rambling, cluttered answer, Cal thought he understood the frog¡¯s point. ¡°Yeah, give me a demonstration. I¡¯m willing to try a sparring match.¡± ¡°You may be willing, but you are not capable of that yet. I know you¡¯ve managed to ignore several of the mood-influencing mana webs, which, to be frank, is the only reason we are still having this conversation. It means you have some minor potential. So now watch where perhaps that potential could go,¡± Glurm said. Cal tried his best to watch, and he even managed to comprehend some of what transpired after the frog¡¯s statement. To his eyes, the frog leaped into the air. A sword appeared in his hand, the tree they had been sitting under was a pile of splinters, and all the fruit that had been hanging from it was sitting neatly in a pile next to Cal. Then Glurm was back, sitting in the position he had started sipping from something. Cal looked closer at it. It was an iced coffee. He even recognized the logo. It was from a coffee shop down the street from his house. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Had he teleported to Earth? Flown there? How fast was he? How had he even known where to go? All these questions hit Cal at once, but he knew those answers would not be forthcoming. Instead, he forced his incredulous stare to come to an end and said, ¡°Okay, so that was impressive.¡± ¡°Yes, consider the fruit a gift, but I am not done yet. It¡¯s important to renew the things you destroy unless you want the universe to slowly decay.¡± As Glurm said, Cal was able to sense a stream of powerful mana pouring into the tree. In only a matter of minutes, the tree was standing whole again, standing tall and shading them from the sun yet again. As far as Cal could tell, the only difference was the fruit had been harvested. ¡°Damn,¡± Cal¡¯s realization of just how long he still had to go hit him hard. The frog was on an entirely different level of power than himself. But Glurm was right. Given the infinite, it was all possible. ¡°Good, you understand. I¡¯m glad to see that learning is possible. Now, take your fruit and go; you still have time to return to your party. I assume I will see you again in the next loop even though I will not remember it,¡± Glurm said. ¡°Probably,¡± Cal said. ¡°Then go in peace, Cal, the mammal,¡± Glurm said, waving him off. ¡°Thanks,¡± Cal said, gathering up the fruit in his arms. Balancing the load and walking back through the gateway wasn¡¯t the easiest, but he managed without losing a single one. It also wasn¡¯t lost on him that the Glurm had used his name. Now, he just had to figure out how he was going to get Glurm to train him and the others. The was, after all, the Universal Games that he would need to see on some future loop. Cal was smiling as he saw the familiar site of the gateway room in the void house again. ¡°Where¡¯d the fruit come from?¡± Ethel asked the moment he stepped back through. ¡°A gift from the frog. It was a strange conversation. In the next loop, we will have to pay him another visit, and there will probably be a lot of loops after. If you are heading back to the party, can you grab some of the fruit? They are pretty strong mana fruits, so use your best judgment when handing them out,¡± Cal said as Ethel reached to grab several. ¡°Yes, I think my judgment is better than yours there. That said, I am glad you¡¯ve returned safely. Now, try to stay that way,¡± Ethel said as she turned and walked from the room. Leaving Cal behind with the remaining armload of fruit. *** As Cal finished placing the rest of the fruit into storage with a note instructing the capybara cooks to be very conservative on its use, Sleek popped into view in front of him. ¡°Hey, did you know there¡¯s two weird guys in the situation room? They smell kind of strange. One of them looks like Albert. They stole your note and everything. It seems pretty rude if you ask me,¡± She said. ¡°Finally!¡± Cal exclaimed and ran for the situation room with Sleek in tow. He threw the door open, spotted Andy and Bill in two of the chairs, and announced, ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Loop 254 - Part 122 ¡°CAL!¡± a loud, very familiar voice that seemed to come from nowhere yelled factions of a second before three dogs appeared in Cal¡¯s view. He had no idea how they hadn¡¯t been there before, let alone how Sleek hadn¡¯t noticed them at the moment. That didn¡¯t matter, though. Bug was home. ¡°Bug! I am so happy to see you, girl. How is the Under Library? Did everything go okay?¡± Cal asked his excited sister, who had charged and leaped up at him in her own sign of being glad to see him. ¡°Well, after we met the spirit dog and the weird corrupted engineer, who turned out to be very friendly, we got to go on a quest together. The spirit book dog¡¯s name was Spot, by the way. He helped Alfred, Gretel, Bart, and me; oh, Bart is the corrupted engineer; he¡¯s now my squire, but I¡¯m getting ahead. Spot helped us all become the newest members of the Pedigree Paladins. I think we are also the last members, which is kind of sad, but we can fix that. The really important thing, though, is we can do magic, too, and I bet I can heal Grannus. Where¡¯s Ethel? I wanna show her everything I can do!¡± Cal had trouble following Bug¡¯s story in her excitement, but he understood enough to give a potential answer for how she hadn¡¯t seemed visible earlier. She had gained her own abilities. ¡°Yes, we would like to see the mistress too. She needs to be informed of our changes. I believe she will want to increase our education as she has done with Bug,¡± Alfred added. ¡°They are both likely loop-aware now. From what I¡¯ve been told, it¡¯s no longer possible for outside sources to influence their personal time flows. No, don¡¯t ask me exactly what that means. The good news, though, is we have secured the What Is Wing. We just need a little help overpowering the Librarian defenses that are keeping the others inside. Just wait until you see what happened to Drew,¡± Andy said with a smile. ¡°Wait, what did I miss? Did Andrew grow a sense of humor?¡± Cal asked, looking at his best friend for any hint. ¡°Hah, nope, keeping that a secret til you see it personally. But I was serious, though. We need some real muscle to finish taking control of the wing,¡± Andy said. ¡°Alright, well, then, let¡¯s head to the party. We can see who wants to come. Also,¡± Cal looked down at his hands before continuing. ¡°We had a loss. Onelder is dead,¡± Cal¡¯s voice cracked as he spoke. ¡°And I don¡¯t just mean for the loop. There is apparently a real way to die. I¡¯ll explain the details later, but the party is partially a remembrance for him. He died to hold Ethel¡¯s realm together.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Andy¡¯s face had dropped with his single word. Cal knew what the look meant. His friend didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Breaking this to Twonger is going to be very difficult. I assume this was caused by his mana channels completely breaking down of his own will?¡± Bill asked. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°As far as I understand it, yes. Excalibur can explain it better, and yes, I mean the legendary sword wielded by Arthur. We found him on Pluto, the sword, not Arthur, well, not a living Arthur. We have a lot to talk about, so let¡¯s try to focus on that. We can discuss Onelder more later. I¡¯ve already spent far more time grieving the loss of a man who killed me hundreds of times than I ever would have thought possible,¡± Cal said ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Cal. I wish I had been here to help,¡± Bug said as she rubbed her back against his legs as they left the room. No one spoke for the rest of the walk to the party. They had mutually come to an unspoken agreement on a moment of silence for the fallen alien. *** ¡°I have so many more questions for you when we have more time,¡± Bill said. After some further explanations and brief reunions, Cal brought them to Excalibur¡¯s current resting place and just finished listening to a short recap of the sword¡¯s discovery on Pluto from his perspective. ¡°I look forward to them. In truth, I have been waiting eagerly to speak to those who went into the Under Library as it is something I deeply wish to see myself, but sadly, I will be unable to directly aid you in this loop due to the tragic events you have learned about. I believe, though, that it is critical you retrieve all of your companions you entered the Under Library with before we can safely terminate this loop,¡± Excalibur responded. ¡°Why?¡± Andy asked. ¡°While I still do not totally understand the nature of this time loop, I believe that anyone left in an area that exists totally separate from it will be unlinked from it, and a new separate iteration of them will be created when the loop restart. I believe this is roughly what happened with you and Andrew. As before, this area became tied to Cal¡¯s mana spirit, but it had no true bonds to this reality,¡± Excalibur explained. ¡°Wait, does that mean we could use the Under Library to make an army of clones? Because we could do some real damage with several of me,¡± Cal said. He considered the idea in his head and wondered how they would decide who the real Cal was. In hindsight, he wasn¡¯t sure he actually liked his half-formed idea. ¡°Yes, but I would strongly advise against it. First of all, as you know, with Andrew and Andy, any attempt for two of them to coexist on a more standard plane of existence would be catastrophic for both of them. Second, the person who was broken off from the loop is no longer in the loop. If they die, they will not be there when the loop resets. Third, attempting to do this with anyone bound to a mana spirit before the split will likely destroy that spirit utterly. This all assumes my theories are correct, and I will need to have several long conversations with Andrew before I can verify all of them, but I am reasonably sure I am,¡± Excalibur explained. ¡°Ah, so we need to get Twonger, Ralth, and Andrew home, eh?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Mostly Twonger and Ralth. I would also like to bring Libby, assuming they are willing. I¡¯m pretty sure Drew can just leave if he wants. The Libraries systems are weird concerning his existence overlapping with my own,¡± Andy explained. ¡°Well, can¡¯t leave my little brother behind, let¡¯s round up a posse and go robot hunting,¡± Cal said. Loop 254 - Canine Council ¡°ETHEL!¡± Bug yelled the moment she saw one of her favorite people. ¡°Bug!¡± yelled Frank, the giant plant son standing next to her. Bug had missed him as well, though not as nearly much as Ethel. He always managed derailed game nights. ¡°Ah, I see my favorite dogs have finally returned,¡± Ethel said, walking towards them smiling, her usual cranky scowl absent. ¡°Mistress, Alfred, and I wish to join your classes. We have heard many stories from Commander Bug during our travels, and we both now realize we have much to learn,¡± Gretel said, bowing her head as Ethel approached. ¡°Commander Bug, eh? So you¡¯ve moved up in the world, then? And just when did my puppies get so formal? But yes, of course, Gretel, you, and Alfred will be very welcome in class once they resume. Now, come on, let¡¯s get some food. I want to hear all about what happened,¡± Ethel said. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Sorry, Ethel. No time. We¡¯ve gotta get some strong people and head back to the Under Library for a fight,¡± Bug said. She wanted to stay and lounge in the lighted grass, but she knew she had responsibilities now, and those came first. ¡°So that is why Cal and Andy went straight for the sword then? Well, at least tell me why I can¡¯t seem to sense you three at all in my realm. All I see is a dog-shaped hole around you,¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the after-effect of the oath. Spot the ghost dog called it, no longer having a master. We are bound now only to help those who need help. In realities belonging to someone else, we have to give the realms consent even to make us visible at all. It¡¯s pretty neat,¡± Bug explained. Loop 254 - Part 123 ¡°Does anyone else get a strong feeling of not being wanted somewhere?¡± Cal asked, receiving several blank stares in return. ¡°Okay, so just me? Andy, I don¡¯t know how to explain it, but this room really doesn¡¯t like me for some reason.¡± They were standing in the eight-sided entrance, and from the moment Cal walked into the room, he felt something trying to push him back out of it. ¡°Is it really that hard to believe a library wouldn¡¯t want you entering?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°No, I¡¯m being serious here. This place really doesn¡¯t want me here, any idea what¡¯s going on, guys?¡± Cal asked, looking at Andy and Bill for answers. ¡°Nope, that¡¯s new. Bill, any guesses?¡± Andy answered. ¡°This is just a guess, but the Under Library¡¯s flow of time is in a giant state of flux. Cal, on the other hand, is now basically an anchor in the time stream. It likely abhors his presence, and for that matter, what would happen if Cal himself died here? Probably something to consider,¡± Bill explained. Not that his explanations answered much for Cal. ¡°Let¡¯s try not to find out. Hey Library, I¡¯m coming in, so quit with the weird push,¡± Cal said towards the entrance. He wasn¡¯t sure if the library could understand him or just chose to ignore him. Either way, he felt no difference after his complaint. ¡°Stay close to us, Cal. It might help,¡± Bug said as she walked up next to him. The rest of the dogs quickly joined her. It looked like she was right. The push wasn¡¯t entirely gone, but it was much weaker now. ¡°Thanks, how¡¯d you do that Bug?¡± Cal asked. Whatever Bug had been through had certainly left her with some valuable abilities. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain unless you experience it, but it¡¯s hard for the Under Library to see me, and I¡¯m trying to extend that protection over you as well. It¡¯s not perfect, and I doubt I could do it without Alfred and Gretel. I¡¯m glad it¡¯s helping, though. Now, let¡¯s go smash some robots!¡± Bug¡¯s tail began to wag back and forth furiously. Her excitement was almost infectious. ¡°YEAH!¡± Frank yelled from behind them and suddenly charged ahead through the door. ¡°Shit, after him quick. We were supposed to get the others before the fight. Stop him if you can,¡± Andy yelled, taking off after Frank as his yell started. Cal, like everyone else, joined Andy in the chase while reevaluating if Bug¡¯s excitement had only been almost infectious as he ran. As the first clashes of battle came from ahead of them, he decided it was something he would worry about later. Now was the time for a little less friction. It was almost certainly too late to stop Frank, which meant it was time to help him instead. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Dammit, Frank, I wanted to get Ralth at the very least before we started this,¡± Andy yelled, dodging the first of a robot librarian. ¡°What¡¯s done is done, Bill. Can you can break off and get the others? We might need the help. Everyone else hit a robot!¡± Cal yelled out instructions, having gotten more used to group fights on Pluto. He wasn¡¯t taken totally unprepared by Frank¡¯s premature rush. From a door behind the desk, replacement librarians were streaming in faster than Frank¡¯s fists were currently taking them out. As Cal let loose several bolts of lightning at the incoming horde, a potted plant that had been knocked off the desk in the melee started to grow rapidly into a barrier that stemmed the tide, at least temporarily. ¡°It won¡¯t hold long. The plant may look like a common fern, but convincing it to grow felt like talking to Cal. I have no idea what it actually is!¡± Ethel yelled into the din of the fight. Holes were already appearing in the foliage that had given them a moment¡¯s reprieve. ¡°Just how many of these things are there?¡± Cal yelled to Andy. There had to be at least a hundred already out here. ¡°No idea. I¡¯m not even sure if we can destroy them all or if we just need to shut off their access to this wing. Cal, Bug, follow me. We need to be ready to clear the room on the other side of the door the moment the plant barrier falls. That should let us push further in and hopefully buy some time for Bill to get his furry ass back here,¡± Andy barked out the order loudly. ¡°Got it,¡± Cal said as he leaped over the desk and released a charged particle cloud he had been building. ¡°I wonder how well their circuits handle electrical disruption on this scale.¡± ¡°Good idea, build as big of a lightning ball as you can and blast it through the door at the first opening you see. Bug, you keep us alive as we fight our way inside,¡± Andy continued his orders. Cal quickly remembered why he preferred his friend to be in charge. It freed his brain to focus on the fighting aspect of the battles, more time for channeling, and less need for tactical worries. The opening soon presented itself as the plant was suddenly vaporized by a blast of something from inside the room. Cal wondered if they understood their mistake the moment his own explosion went off inside the room, followed by Andy¡¯s gravity tampering, leaving nothing standing. ¡°Go, they¡¯re all down!¡± Cal yelled, seeing the aftermath. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Andy asked. The robots were popping out of a mirror that was standing uncracked on the back wall. ¡°Oh, I saw one of those on Pluto. Frank, get in here. We need you to smash another giant mirror!¡± Cal yelled back. ¡°Another?! The Tree Titan knows just how to handle those!¡± The giant tree man replied as he charged past Cal and Andy directly into the mirror. His body worked perfectly as a battering ram, and once again, another giant mirror device was shattered. ¡°Okay, this was actually easier than I expected,¡± Andy said. ¡°Really wish you hadn¡¯t said that now we are doomed,¡± Cal replied. ¡°Actually, things are surprisingly quiet out here. I think we got them all. Do you want me to send out shroom scouts?¡± Albert asked as he joined them behind the remnants of the reference desk. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about how your powers work yet, Albert, probably best not to send any extra mana creatures into the stacks, but thank you. Let¡¯s go see if we can catch up with Bill,¡± Andy replied. Loop 254 - Energy Oddity ¡°That was odd,¡± Excalibur said to Stan and Jen, who were currently sharing dessert on a picnic blanket in front of the sword. Stan didn¡¯t like leaving his partner separated from the festivities and did his best to keep him company as long as he was stuck here. ¡°What was?¡± Stan asked, raising an eyebrow and setting down his piece of pie, now only half finished. ¡°There was an energy draw from the root network into the void house, but only very briefly. It corresponded to when Cal and the others left for the Under Library,¡± Excalibur explained. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a problem?¡± Stan asked, worry crept into his voice. They didn¡¯t need another problem, especially one that involved Cal and gateways. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I do not know. It bears further investigation,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Sure does, pal, watched it happen on the monitor. For some reason, Cal had to be pushed through. Everyone else, though, was able to enter with no problem. The real question is how the system did it automatically. It sure ain¡¯t programmed for that, let alone for someone like Cal. Maybe one of the animals registered in the system, but I was coming out here hoping you were involved ¡®Bur,¡± Gus said. He had come up behind them as they were discussing the issue. ¡°Should we go after them?¡± Jen asked. ¡°I do not so, at least not yet. As far as we know, it only affected Cal, and we can assume if something happened, one of them would have returned to inform us. For now, I believe it just remains a mystery,¡± Excalibur explained. Loop 254 - Part 124 ¡°So, I think this means that the wing is relatively safe now, well, once clean-up finishes. So that means it¡¯s safe for whoever wishes to return to the void house with us. Any takers?¡± Andy asked the group. They had caught up to Bill just as he was entering the conference. They were now all sitting around the room as Andy explained the newest developments. Cal, for his part, was doing his best not to make eye contact with Twonger. ¡°Nope, who knows what would happen if I tried to enter your reality? Mr. Wiggles and I are perfectly happy to help with the restoration work here. Plus, we¡¯ve got more wings to explore once we figure that out, don¡¯t we Wiggly-poo?¡± The Gryalth woman that Andy had introduced as Serilina answered as she stroked the back of the cat lying across her lap. ¡°I do strongly wish to join you, but first, I must help with the work here, perhaps in the future,¡± Libby said next. ¡°I¡¯m in, not that I think I have much choice in it. Being away from the dogs for as short a time as it was was not pleasant,¡± Bart was currently sitting with the three of them on the ground, which helped to greatly emphasize his point. ¡°Clearly, I ain¡¯t staying here. We made a deal, and I expect you to honor it. So get yer damn concoction and add me to your loops so I can safely get the hell out of here,¡± Twonger explained as he paced the room. ¡°Twonger, can we talk in private before that happens?¡± Cal asked, finally looking at the man. He knew he couldn¡¯t avoid it any longer, and it would be cruel to even try to. ¡°Yeah, we probably could, but we aren¡¯t gonna. I ain¡¯t stupid. You can¡¯t even manage to look at me. Every time the tree and I make eye contact, he looks ready to cry. So how¡¯d it happen so badly that one yer loops won¡¯t even fix it?¡± Twonger asked with a snarl, increasing the speed of pacing. ¡°He sacrificed himself to hold one of the realms and, likely by extension, the entire void house together. It was explained to me by someone who knows much more about how this all works than I do as total mana death. I¡¯m sorry, and I had known he was considering it¡­¡± Cal started to explain before Twonger cut him off. ¡°You¡¯d what? Have stopped him and let yer resistance die. Nah, you wouldn¡¯t have done that. Look, am I really fucking pissed right now? Do I want to go get drunk and punch something until my fists bleed? Yes, to all of it, but the rage is even really directed at you. Yes, I still want in on your damn loops because now I need some revenge.¡± Twonger explained, his voice shifting between eerily calm and a barely held-in-check rage as he spoke. Cal understood the man. Eventually, this all grated on you, the constant pressure. The unending fight against monsters that you still weren¡¯t sure you could beat, but even with that empathic understanding, he knew there was another part. Only Twonger had lost a loved one forever in these loops. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, then absolutely, you¡¯ve more than earned the right,¡± Cal said. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Give the other dose to Bart, I guess, then,¡± Twonger said. ¡°There is no other dose. Enough time has only passed to refine a single so far, but I doubt Bart needs it. He likely has the same abilities as the dogs do,¡± Andrew responded. ¡°And what about your weird summoning power? Think you can bring a penguin across from the abyss to the void?¡± Andy asked jokingly, clearly trying to lighten the mood. One of the tables in the room smashed against a wall, exploding into splinters as it did so. Twonger followed up with two more in rapid succession. Cal had no idea what to say to help the man, but then, to his surprise, Frank, of all people, walked over and put his giant hand on Cyclopean¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I will help you smash everything you want later, but right now isn¡¯t the best time,¡± Frank said, and Twonger¡¯s shoulders sagged in response. He only nodded back at the tree man. ¡°Yes, and now that we have everyone ready to leave the Under Library, we need to do that. It¡¯s time to end this loop before we risk a bigger issue with the Gryalth. I can catch everyone up who hasn¡¯t been yet in the next loop, but the gist of it is that I encountered something much more powerful than all of us that is one of, if not their main leader. To make that worse, one of the Gryalth on Pluto learned about the time loops, and we were not able to neutralize him. So, the sooner we end this loop, the better. I also promise next loop to give you full access to all our information on the Gryalth for whatever pain you want to give back to them Twonger,¡± Cal explained. ¡°I understand, so let¡¯s do this and get the loop done with then,¡± Twonger said. ¡°I assume you brought my tools and the vial, Andy?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Bill has it all in his pack. It should be everything you need,¡± Andy answered. After a few minutes of getting the supplies prepped, Twonger sat in front of Andrea as he administered the injection. The cyclopean didn¡¯t flinch as the needle broke his skin. ¡°This is really all it takes? Pretty sure I didn¡¯t feel anything,¡± Twonger said. ¡°It is,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Fine, then, now what?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Now we head back, and I end the loop,¡± Cal answered. *** ¡°So, the idea is that if I hit you everything, I safely can let you store all the extra energy, and then we end the loop. Sound good?¡± Cal asked the Excalibur shortly after they had returned to the void house. ¡°If this is what you want, yes. I can make it easy enough for you as long as you are totally willing,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Considering the number of times I¡¯ve exploded, or the nightmare-inducing time with Many Eyes, yeah, I think I¡¯d prefer the gentler way,¡± Cal responded. He shuddered slightly as one of his earliest traumatic memories from the loops resurfaced. ¡°Then begin whenever you are ready,¡± the sword said. Cal gripped the hilt of Excalibur and began channeling a steady stream of electricity into it. He felt it flow down the hilt before it seemed to disappear into the sword. It took him nearly twenty minutes of the slow, controlled mana release before he felt himself running on empty and gave the sword a nod. Sleep rapidly overtook him as the loop came to a quiet end. Loop 255 - Part 1: Andrew ¡°Hey Drew, buddy, need you to wake up. We got a giant problem, so if you could get your butt to the root network control room as soon as possible, that would be great,¡± Andrew heard the voice of Gus as he woke up from a sound sleep. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the sleep haze from his brain. What had the annoying bird said? Something about a problem? Already? The loop should have just started, and it didn¡¯t seem like they were stuck in a constant series of restarts again. He yawned loudly and forced himself out of his comfortable bed. ¡°Drew, seriously, wake up!¡± came Gus¡¯s voice again through the intercom. ¡°I am awake, and I¡¯ll be there shortly. Give me a second, dammit,¡± Andrew responded, harsher than he had intended. Grumbling, Andrew began his walk. Problem or not, he was grabbing a coffee on the way. The capybaras should have already had a morning brew ready to go, and he needed some added energy for the day. Except, there was no coffee. The cafeteria looked like it had at the end of the previous loop. The capybaras were nowhere to be seen. ¡°Shit,¡± he quietly muttered, realizing Gus had been right to wake him. Something was wrong. Minutes later, Andrew burst through the control room door to find Gus frantically trying to adjust some of the equipment''s inner workings. ¡°About time,¡± Gus said. ¡°Sorry, I may not have fully understood the magnitude of the emergency. I didn¡¯t see any of the capybaras on my way,¡± Andrew explained between heavy, ragged breaths. He was in better shape from his Under Library experience, but he still did not enjoy frantic runs. ¡°That¡¯s because there are none. No Cal or Ethel either. We should be about twelve hours into the loop, and the question we need to determine is what happened. By now, one or both of them have shown up. Without them, we can¡¯t do anything to open the usual gateways so that others can come through,¡± Gus explained. ¡°What about the root network? Is that still working? Can we use that to grab them?¡± Andrew asked, his heavy breathing coming under control. ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think we can change targets. I might be able to interrupt it, but I can¡¯t do anything to retarget anyone without the boss. Hell, I don¡¯t even think this thing can pick up humans,¡± Gus¡¯s voice added a note of panic. ¡°Okay, we need to calm down and think this through. What could have happened that didn¡¯t just end the loop? Wait, where¡¯s Fulginanis or Oakbert? Do they have any idea what¡¯s going on?¡± Andrew asked, reasonably sure if anyone knew it was the linked mana spirits. ¡°I already asked Fulginanis. As far as he can tell, Cal is still asleep. Oakbert said the same for Ethel. Neither of them were able to prod them away. Fulginanis is now out there trying to draw up as much energy as they can in an attempt to wake Cal up one way or another. Oh, and yes, I did already ask. They cannot force the gates open without Cal or the boss. So I have no idea what we are going to do if that doesn¡¯t work,¡± Gus was speaking fast enough that Andrew was surprised he understood everything. ¡°I cannot wake Cal up. As far as I can tell, he is unhurt, but I should be able to wake him. So it seems that we do indeed have a problem,¡± Fulginanis had appeared in front of the two of them to deliver the bad news. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°So what the hell do we do now?¡± Gus asked, shaking his head with worry. ¡°Who do we have here that is loop-aware?¡± Andrew asked the two. ¡°Sleek, Mr. Oakbert, Alfred, Gretel, Frank, Excalibur, the three of us, and perhaps the presence attached to the dogs,¡± Fulginanis Answered. ¡°Wait, the sword was able to get himself here at the start of the loop?¡± Andrew asked. This had potential. If Excalibur could create a gateway to get himself here, that might be how they find out what¡¯s happening on Earth. ¡°Yes,¡± Fulginanis answered. ¡°Alright, you two get all the loop-aware people and join me at his resting place. I have some ideas, but we need to talk them out,¡± Andrew said. Fulginanis vanished, and Gus nodded. Andrew took both as signs of agreement and left to find Excalibur. He had wanted to talk to the sword in depth during this loop but would have preferred much less dire circumstances. *** ¡°Yes, I could probably tear a new portal from here to the Earth, but if I did that, we would risk the stability of these realms, and considering what this one specifically so recently endured, I believe that it is an unacceptable risk until we have eliminated all other possible options,¡± Excalibur explained. Andrew and Gus had just finished explaining the current situation to him. ¡°We did not sense anything out of the ordinary at the Mistresses, but we are also asleep when the loop starts, so likely anything that occurred either happened while we slept or didn¡¯t happen until after we were already here,¡± Alfred said. ¡°Yes, I was worried about that. So my current working theory is that someone or something has captured those of us who start the loop outside of here. I imagine had you two remained behind much longer, you would have also been captured. What we don¡¯t know is if Andy, Ralth, the capybaras, the bugs, or even Melissa are part of this. So how do we investigate that when we are all stuck here?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°Trashcat!¡± Gus suddenly shouted. ¡°What about her?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°She isn¡¯t here yet. The root network won¡¯t pick her up for another year as she hasn¡¯t been born yet. We need to stop it from grabbing her and find a way to communicate with her. She is going to have to figure out what¡¯s going on out there,¡± Gus answered. ¡°Okay, so then we have a new problem. How do we talk to her? Any ideas?¡± Andrew looked around at all of their faces as he asked and found them all looking back at him expectantly. He was supposed to be the genius problem solver here, but at the moment, he had no idea what to do. ¡°Bart, can you find Bug?¡± Gretel asked, interrupting Andrew¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Nope, should be able to, though, so whatever is stopping the mana spirits is stopping me too. Got an idea, though: what if we brought the cat into your council? I¡¯m tied to everyone in it now as a squire, so in theory, I could manifest with her,¡± Bart said, appearing between the dogs. ¡°Can you do that?¡± Andrew asked, unsure if they needed Bug or if the fact that Trashcat wasn¡¯t a dog would mean they couldn¡¯t. ¡°Maybe we kind of learned how to add someone to it. She¡¯d have to accept the idea without knowing what was happening. We at least had a guide,¡± Gretel explained. ¡°Yes, but she is a smart cat. I think she¡¯d figure it out. This may work,¡± Alfred added. ¡°Great place to pin our hopes, but she is all we have at the moment, and at least we have plenty of time to prepare,¡± Andrew said, sliding his lips into a grimace. He wished they had a more concrete plan. Loop 255 - A Cat Among Dogs Trashcat was wandering her usual alley, sniffing some of the weirder smells, and doing her usual thinking right now. She didn¡¯t understand why her memories didn¡¯t start the moment she was born; they kicked in the day she would have met Bug. She has the asked the wisest people she knew, Bug and Ethel, but neither of them had solid answers either. These thoughts were pushed aside by the sight of a tasty treat. It occurred to her, as she was pawing at a mostly empty Chinese food box, that she should be in the Void House by now. Why hadn¡¯t the root network grabbed her yet. When she considered this, she also felt a slight tug on the back of her neck. She jumped to one side, trying to spot who had dared touch her. There was nothing there. She felt the tug again, a little stronger than before. ¡°Who¡¯s there? I can feel you even if I can¡¯t see you,¡± she hissed. ¡°Interesting, a feline. There have been defenders from worlds without count, dogs of all kind, striving to help those in need, but there has never been a cat. Little one, why are your friends trying to induct you into our order?¡± a deep voice asked. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°My friends? Is Bug in trouble? Does she need my help? What did you do to hurt Bug?!¡± Trashcat¡¯s hiss morphed into an angry growl as she moved her head from side to side, trying to spot the voice. ¡°Hmm, okay. I like it. You¡¯ve got the heart of a dog in there somewhere, and as things stand the order does need everyone willing. You are officially recognized as an apprentice in the Pedigree Paladins. If you want to truly join you must complete a quest,¡± the voice said. ¡°What quest?¡± Trashcat asked back, still growling. ¡°That is for you to determine, though I wish you luck,¡± the voice had dropped to barely above a whisper as it said the last word, disappearing as though it had never been there. Trashcat looked around now more in fear than anger. What had happened to Bug, and what could she possibly do to save anyone? ¡°I think the better question is, what can we do?¡± Bart said, materializing in front of her. Loop 255 - Part 2: Andrew ¡°Any idea if she got the message? Are you able to tell something like that?¡± Andrew asked the dogs. They had all gathered together around Excalibur today, as it was time for the attempt to contact Trashcat. Andrew hoped this worked, not only to figure out what was happening on the outside but also because the cooking skills of those still in the void house were not something he was enjoying. It had been a year of runny eggs and lousy coffee. Plus, things were just too quiet without the constant presence of the capybaras, and loath as he was ever to admit it, he had come to enjoy some of the human conversations. It turned out eternity had a strange way of making you appreciate those stuck in it with you. ¡°I think so. Alfred, are you able to feel that extra force as well?¡± Gretel asked her fellow dog. ¡°Yes, it is hard to put into words, but it feels like our authority increased somehow. Bug might be able to explain it better once we find her. Bart, I believe it is now your turn. Good luck,¡± Alfred said moments before Bart blinked out. ¡°Assuming this works, are we all still in agreement on where she needs to start?¡± Andrew asked the group. ¡°Yeah, it has to be Harold first. He is barely connected to us, isn¡¯t in the loops, and is some kind of retired spy. Plus, he gave me some phrases to use in case of an emergency to get him to trust us. As much as I like the cat, she can¡¯t really go play detective with her trusty specter sidekick without someone catching on fast,¡± Gus said. ¡°And thanks to my life of solitude I have no real contacts out there,¡± Andrew frowned at this statement. ¡°Drew buddy, you¡¯d still be a kid at this point anyway. So no moping about that. Harold¡¯s network and connections should give them a good leg up on figuring out what is happening, and we end up really needing it, trying to find the Izzy that came back with Ralth. I still wish we had any concrete idea who is behind the current issue,¡± Gus said. ¡°I stand by my Agency theory. The Gryalth doesn¡¯t make a lot of sense here. Yes, they learned about the loop potentially in the last loop, but that doesn¡¯t give them time to know where to hunt down so many of us at the start of the loop. My younger self, for example, wasn¡¯t even on Pluto. The Agency, on the other hand, has several members now who have been loop-aware for a while now. They could have been using this time to watch everyone they think are connected and make a plan for the immediate start of a new loop,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Fair, there¡¯s also the third option we keep avoiding. Twonger could have gone rogue,¡± Gus dropped his voice to a whisper as he pushed that suggestion. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it. As angry as he was, I just don¡¯t think he did. I¡¯d say it¡¯s more likely he decided to stew on his ship than it is he decided to betray us,¡± Andrew responded. He found it hard to believe, after the time they had spent together in the Under Library, that the Cyclopean would wish any actual harm on Andy or Bill. If it turns out to be primarily just Cal and his family, then maybe, but even then he still doubted it. This was the same conversation that had played out on repeat over the last year. Each of them tossing out their best ideas on who to talk to and who could have caused this. In the end they had all agreed that the best was going with Harold, especially with Gus¡¯s apparent stroke of brilliance in setting up a possible line of communication without the man being loop-aware. The other Izzy presented an a strong opportunity as well, and that¡¯s why she hadn¡¯t been entirely written off, even with all the problems she liked came with. The answer to what had happened that worried Andrew the most was the Agency, and just how much information they had managed to gather. He had been racking his brain for months looking for any possible solution on dealing with them, and while he had a few, most of them were longshots. The only ones he thought had the best chances involved Twonger, and that was one of, if not the biggest reason he had decided to peg some hope into the idea the man hadn¡¯t betrayed them. Bart popped into existence again in front of them, cutting of Andrew¡¯s train of ruminating thoughts. ¡°Good news, it worked. Our little feline friend threatened your connected dog soul though, which frankly I find hilarious,¡± Bart said. ¡°It¡¯s called the Unification of Dogs,¡± Gretel said. ¡°Before we start this argument again, and remember I agree with Bart here, it¡¯s not the best name for such a powerful force. Let¡¯s instead focus on Trashcat. Is she willing to make contact with Harold?¡± Alfred asked. ¡°She is, but she isn¡¯t sure how we will get there. Apparently in your world we need to money for travel, someone want to explain the concept?¡± Bart asked. Andrew burst into laughter. It made sense that an engineer from an otherworldly library would have no concept of their world¡¯s capital, but still of all the things currently happening he found that uncontrollably funny. Fighting through the laughs he slowly explained the basics, enough to get them by he thought. ¡°Alright, makes sense I suppose, better question then. How do we get money,¡± Bart followed up. ¡°Ah, well in that case, for now I recommend stealing some. Lottery winnings aren¡¯t going to work for you, and you¡¯d need to get to the ship wrecks we know of, plus sell the scavenged goods, sending us back to the same issue. So yes, as distasteful as it sounds, for now theft is your best bet,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Now you¡¯re speaking my language,¡± Bart replied before disappearing again. ¡°Wait, he doesn¡¯t understand money, but he understands theft? Just what kind of guy did you dogs find?¡± Gus asked. The only answer he got was a slow shaking of Gretel¡¯s head. Loop 255 - Completely Average Bus Passengers ¡°Are you sure this will work? I don¡¯t think you look exactly like a human,¡± Trashcat said to Bart as they stood in line for their bus ticket. ¡°Hey, I managed to get the money we needed from that guy who looked just like this. It should be fine!¡± Bart sounded mildly offended. He was wearing what looked like an overly expensive suit with a matching top hat, which Trashcat had tried to explain to him wasn¡¯t the normal way most people dressed. She was reasonably sure they had robbed someone in a costume, but Bart refused to believe her. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. This meant that Trashcat was entirely shocked when, shortly after they were comfortably seated, the bus sped away on the first leg of their journey. She just had to keep her mouth shut as the people asked to pet her. That was what the dogs had relayed through Bart. They needed to blend in as much as possible. She wondered how Uncle Andrew was managing to handle all of that himself, she loved him, but he didn¡¯t exactly have the patience for this. She hoped Bug was okay. As the worrying thoughts ran through her head one after the other, the stress of the day took its toll. Exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she fell into a much-needed sleep, purring on Bart¡¯s lap. Loop 255 - Part 3: Harold ¡°No solicitors, go away. I¡¯m busy,¡± Harold yelled at the door. Their incessant knocking had gotten to him. Typically, he just ignored the random visitors. He had much more important things to worry about. One of these days, Mel was going to find Henry, and when that finally happened, he needed to be prepared. The knocking continued, and even more to his annoyance, Roger was now hissing. ¡°Fine, I¡¯m coming!¡± He yelled from the other room. On the other side of the door stood a man in a suit holding a cat. It was not at all a combination he had expected. Things became even stranger for Harold when the man opened his mouth and said one phrase. ¡°Gristled steak is delicious this time of year.¡± Harold¡¯s annoyance turned into a discerning stare. ¡°Come in now,¡± He ordered, not willing to say another word until they were in a secure room. He slammed the door behind them and led them silently through the house into the basement and through a hidden passageway before finally sitting down at a table. ¡°Who are you, and how do you know that code?¡± ¡°I imagine this is going to all sound a tad insane, so I think if Trashcat here explains it, that will cover some of the implausibility parts quickly,¡± Bart replied, setting the cat down on the table. ¡°The cat?¡± Harold looked at her suspiciously. He knew some of the weirder experiments that existed in the world. Had Melissa managed to steal one and get them smuggled to him for safety? ¡°Yes, I will. We are in a series of time loops. Your granddaughter is in them with us, but when this loop started, she and most of our friends went missing. In the last loop, you gave a friend of mine, Gus, information that you said could be used to convince you we are telling the truth without you remembering anything. Uncle Andrew said it was very important to find you and get your help; you are some kind of retired spy, and we really need your help to find Bug. Someone took her, and we have to help her,¡± Trashcat explained. Harold managed to keep his face looking at them without any sort of shock showing, the opposite of what his brain was doing. This cat was far more intelligent than any experiments he had heard about. She seemed more capable than even the poor people he had met in the Ogre program, but she was right. Having that passphrase did likely mean he gave it to them, whether he remembered doing so or not. That meant he would have to take the idea of a time loop at face value. ¡°Okay, and did I give any direction for myself and what I can best do in the last loop?¡± Harold had trouble getting the question out with a straight face. While he was prepared to go along with it for now, at least until he determined if something bigger was going on, the concept of time manipulation in any way was a new one for him. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°No, well, maybe, but not about this specific thing. The disappearance of our friends happened newly at the start of this loop, and it trapped some of our other friends in the void house. We are the only two free to act, so Gus and Uncle Andrew thought finding you would help us investigate,¡± Trashcat continued. ¡°One second,¡± Bart said before vanishing in front of Harold¡¯s eyes. So much for a secure room. He hoped this didn¡¯t attract any unwanted attention to his residence. He would need to prepare to leave the moment they finished this conversation. ¡°Where did he go?¡± Harold asked the cat, keeping the annoyance out of his voice as best he could. ¡°He should be back soon, likely to talk to Gus,¡± As Trashcat spoke, Bart had reappeared in his seat before she even finished speaking. ¡°Yes, I did do that. Gus says he wants you to get off your old ass and help us track down what happened to our friends and, if possible, find a woman who may be a tentative ally that could potentially further help us. He also said to say that the fields of marmalade run with the koala through the dreams of field mice. I assume that¡¯s more of your code? What else do you need before we start planning a rescue operation?¡± Bart asked. That second phrase sold the story for Harold entirely. It wasn¡¯t something anyone else in the world knew. It was one of his security codes, meant only to be used on himself if he had to tamper with his own memory. So either that had happened, or they were telling the truth, and he was leaning towards the second. And if he understood what they had said correctly so far, telling the truth essentially meant the first part was explicitly true as well. He needed to hear their story told in full, or at least a very complete summary. For all he knew, the time loop had been going on for millions of years, so a full retelling may not be possible at the moment. ¡°I need you to explain to me, from the beginning, all the high-level points of this time loop. How did it start, who is in it, what transfers over, etc. From there, I need to know exactly which of your friends are missing and all theories as to who could have taken them,¡± Harold instructed the pair. ¡°Can do, boss, but do you have any tea? It¡¯s going to be a long night,¡± Bart replied. Harold sighed, ¡°Follow me. I want to do this conversation in an even more secure location anyway.¡¯ Several floors deeper into the hidden complex Harold had built into his home, in a room full of food supplies, they spent the rest of the day and well into the night explaining everything that had come before as best they could. Harold tried to keep his endless questions to a minimum, but as they talked, he understood just how dire the situation was. The world was in real danger, and they had been fighting a war alone against an invading force, and even more importantly, his granddaughter needed his help. Finally, after what felt like his millionth question, he said to them, ¡°Alright, I have what I need for now. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we will be loading the sub. Tonight, I have plans to make.¡± Once they boarded and were secure on the sub, step one was to track down an old associate. He needed to learn just what Clark knew. Loop 255 - Part 4: Harold Harold was sitting in the small area they used as both a kitchen and dining area. The day had started with Harold reading a list of questions to Bart this morning over breakfast. It had taken him nearly the entire first week they spent in the sub to decide on what to ask. The problem with questions was the act of asking them sometimes gave away more information than you wanted to, and while he believed the code words were accurate, that didn¡¯t mean it was time to throw precautions out the window. He needed the strange specter to relay the questions back to the other dimension that he was supposedly in contact with. Somehow, despite everything he had expected the life of a retired intelligence man would be, the world had found a way to surprise him. He always assumed it would be Mel who showed up at his door needing help, certainly not a shape-shifting specter and a talking cat. As he took another bite of toast, Bart appeared back in his vision across the table from him. ¡°Were they able to answer all my questions?¡± Harold asked immediately. ¡°Andrew answered them all the best he could, though he wanted to make it clear that some of his answers were pure speculation, and I had to promise to call them theories, not bullshit,¡± Bart answered. ¡°Understood. Is it possible for others to become aware of these time loops?¡± Harold asked the first question again. ¡°Yes, no speculation at all. You, in fact, apparently requested not to be brought into the loops in the last one due to an activity you preferred not to remember,¡± Bart answered. Harold could guess at what it was but, for now, preferred to let it remain a mystery. ¡°What will it take for me to enter the loops,¡± was Harold¡¯s second question. If Mel had been mixed up in all of this and things had gone this far south, he wouldn¡¯t have had any choice now if he wanted to protect her. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s the rub. We could bring you in in a few years, no problem there. Apparently, it just takes time to make the compound. The problem is, I can¡¯t bring anything with me from the void house back to Earth. Andrew is willing to give you instructions if you want to attempt synthesizing the formula, but he doesn¡¯t believe it would be possible without the direct influence of the void realm,¡± Bart answered. Harold assumed the void realm or house was the other universe Bart was communicating with. While he found the name strange, he didn¡¯t press about it yet. He added the potential difficulty in making the cocktail to the list of things to very carefully pry information out of Clark about. That was a meeting he was dreading far more than these basic questions. He asked the final question he wanted the answer to at the moment. ¡°And what exactly is it that you think I will be so capable of doing that you can¡¯t?¡± He already knew several answers to the question but wanted to hear what the others specifically thought about it. It would give him a good idea of how much he had revealed about himself previously. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°You¡¯re an ex-spy. I¡¯m an engineer from an otherworldly library who doesn¡¯t really get a lot of the concepts of this world, and apparently, talking cats aren¡¯t remotely the norm here either. The few other people who are loop-aware and aren¡¯t trapped in the void realm aren¡¯t people we know how to contact, assuming we can even trust them. It¡¯s not so much as specific things we think you can do that we can¡¯t. It¡¯s essentially every damn thing. This wasn¡¯t something that we had remotely prepared for. So basically this is all your call now. Andrew wanted me to make it very clear he is deferring to your leadership on this, not only because he has no choice. You made quite an impression on Gus in the last loop, which is probably also a major part of it,¡± Bart explained. ¡°Good enough answer, I suppose. We can table the rest of my questions for now. I have as much information as I need to plan our next step,¡± Harold replied. He was debating how much to tell Bart and the cat about his planned meeting. ¡°And just what is our next step?¡± Bart asked, forcing Harold to make the decision. ¡°I am going arrange a meeting with a man who is most likely either connected with the Agency or at least very aware of what is going on. There¡¯s a strong potential this isn¡¯t the best move and will result in our deaths. If that happens, you will need to carry that information back to me on the next loop, and we will plan from there.¡± Harold realized that full disclosure, at least as far as their moves, was probably the best course. This meant that, in case of disaster, they could try again with future knowledge. ¡°That makes some sense. I¡¯m not sure Trashcat would enjoy another trip, though, so how about we try to get it right on this one?¡± Bart asked. ¡°Easier said than done. Whoever has captured your friends and my granddaughter is several steps ahead of us. The only thing we potentially have going for us is that they are unaware of you two and my connection to her. This almost certainly means they also have knowledge that survives from loop to loop. This puts us in a perilous position on anything we allow them to learn. Just how far can your shape-shifting go?¡± Harold asked Bart. He had an idea. Bart quickly shifted through several forms: men, women, animals, and a few monstrous creatures Harold had never seen. It was an impressive display. ¡°Was that enough of an answer?¡± Bart asked once finished. ¡°Yes. This means you will be doing all physical meetings, each time in a completely different form. We can find a way to keep Trashcat relatively close by, there are plenty of places virtually everywhere for a cat to hide unnoticed, but this way, it will allow us to keep the information we give them at a minimum during any potential meetings. I suppose now all that¡¯s left is for me to make contact,¡± Harold said. ¡°Do you think he will respond?¡± Bart asked. ¡°Oh yes, that I¡¯m certain of. The problem will be avoiding the trap,¡± Harold said. There was no love lost between him and Clark, and while they may have worked together in the past, those situations were few and far between. Harold respected Clark¡¯s skills, but he did not at all like the man or what he represented. Loop 255 - Frank: Son, Plant, Tree, Man, Wrestler, DM? ¡°So, I have finished reading all the books you have provided. It does look like some editions of the game allow for intelligent items. Could I just play a sword?¡± Excalibur asked. He was still stuck deep into the ground in the center of Ethel¡¯s room, but today, he wasn¡¯t alone. Frank, Mother Scrump, Alfred, and Gretel were sitting around him. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone else do it, but they aren¡¯t here, so Frank, the mighty DM, rules it legal!¡± Frank replied. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize this would be so complicated, but Bug told us this was her favorite game over and over. I¡¯m kind of surprised she liked the charts and tables so much,¡± Alfred said. ¡°Oh, she didn¡¯t! She preferred the heavy role-play elements, and she also hasn¡¯t enjoyed rolling dice as much since she accidentally swallowed one of the d4s. The theme of today¡¯s game is the death of a local wrestler. I want you all to add a way that you knew him to your back story. His name was the Magnificent Franklin. He was generally considered the best to ever step in the ring¡­¡± Frank explained. Loop 255 - Part 5: Harold Harold entered several passwords into a system he had just spent the better part of the day assembling, testing, and retesting. Everything in it needed to operate exactly as he intended. This was the device he needed to contact Clark, and any screw-up on his part could lead to them being traced. He was reasonably confident as things currently stood that Clark had no idea what his current whereabouts were or even if he was still alive, and while he couldn¡¯t keep the second part up, he had every intention of keeping the first. If this all went south, he had told Bart to make sure they spent a year doing recon work for every scrap of information that could be found before making any communication attempt again. Hopefully, it didn¡¯t come to that, but his paranoia was a well-developed skill for a reason. The machine beeped back at him; his codes had been received. It was time for the next series. This process went back and forth for another ten minutes before he was finally ready to send the actual message. He started typing, careful to stick exactly to his initial script for now. Yes, the codes were accurate; this is Harold. I am alive. Things in the world seem to be changing, and as I¡¯ve learned in the past, you are generally abreast of the nature of various world-shifting events. I wish to have a meeting. Is this acceptable? He pressed send on his first message and waited for the reply. As previously discussed with Bart, he did not intend to be the one at the meeting himself and assumed Clark would also send a proxy. However, once the other man acknowledged the message and responded, that would be something to discuss. The terminal beeped again, and several lines of green text flashed onto the screen. Harold, you old dog, I am surprised to see you still alive and reaching out to me, of all people. You must have discovered something dire if you are willing to inform me that you are leaving retirement. So, which of the many world events has you so worried? I might be able to spare some time to discuss it. Please try to be specific; there are always so many. Harold quickly read the reply and then bit down his annoyance at the response. Somehow, Clark''s overly smooth voice managed to come through even in the text. This had been expected, though, and he moved on to the next part of his script. There are a few that have me concerned. In my old age, I¡¯ve finally settled down. I¡¯d rather an alien invasion, or is it an invasion from another universe? The details were a bit fuzzy there, but either way, I¡¯d rather they not destroy my idyllic farmstead retirement. I¡¯ve come to enjoy watching the goats. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He knew Clark would never believe it, but the pretense was important; otherwise, he might slip away and give away something from his real life. The wait for the next message was much shorter than before. It looked like he had Clark¡¯s full attention. Another dimension, and another other world, I believe, though those details are hard to by. How did you manage to encounter this little bit of information hidden away on your farm? Your family certainly isn¡¯t in any position to tell you, at least. ¡°Damn,¡± Harold cursed out loud. While he hadn¡¯t plainly stated it, this likely confirmed the Agency had Melissa and Clark knew of her relation to him. He had prepared for the possibility but had strongly hoped against it. How is Melissa doing? Are you treating her well? And Cal? She had just started mentoring him. Or we could perhaps cut through the theatrics here and agree to a meeting. I have some information I¡¯m sure you want, and you have information I would be willing to trade for. He had always planned to name-drop Cal as the final push for the meeting. He wanted to make it clear that his understanding of what was happening was large enough for himself to be considered a threat, leaving Clark with no choice but to agree to the meeting, if only to get a chance at eliminating the threat. Yes, it seems best we do. There¡¯s a diner in New York I¡¯ve been meaning to try. Dimensional Burgers, the name should be fitting for the meeting. I¡¯ll see you there in two weeks at noon. Harold slumped back into his chair. The first part was complete. From here, everything was bound to get increasingly dangerous. Harold sighed. There was no safe way around it now. He had to find a way to get access to the compound that Bart had told him about. These people were nice enough, which was a big part of the problem in itself, but they were not remotely equipped for the espionage game. He needed to remember what happened here if it all started again. How long had they known about Melissa¡¯s relationship to him? As he considered the possibilities, he came to the conclusion it had to have happened once the loops started. Otherwise, they would have used that to their advantage a long time ago. Now, it¡¯s just a reality they have to deal with instead of a useful lever. If the story he had been told was completely true, Melissa was just collateral damage in the need to capture and control Cal. Once they learned about the time loop, whichever agent was willing to stay with them through it likely climbed his way to the top. He was reasonably sure he understood what was going on now. They want to control the loops themselves. That meant keeping Cal under their control, probably in some sort of medically induced coma, cared for around the clock. Cal was also the only one he could be sure was even alive. He wouldn¡¯t be sharing that news with the others; they would be back in the next loop anyway. The important thing now was finding a way to get to Cal before they did, and that meant far more information was needed. It was time to get a burger. Loop 255 - Andrew Returns to the Library ¡°Error, Error, Error,¡± A robotic voice sounded as Andrew walked into the Under Library alone. He had expected something like this. The systems still didn¡¯t understand how to interpret his existence. ¡°You sure this is a good idea?¡± Mother Scrump asked. ¡°Not even remotely, and I told you it was best if I came here here alone,¡± Andrew replied. ¡°Not an option. You¡¯re far too important to everyone else to go off alone, and I¡¯m the only one that can be spared at the moment,¡± Mother Scrump said, her eyes narrowing into a glare. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yes, I heard the objections, but none of you are able to get into here, and I need assistance. We have to work out a way to get something back through to Earth, and as loathe as I am to admit it, I just can¡¯t do it alone,¡± Andrew said. In fact, he hadn¡¯t even tried it alone, but after weeks of back and forth between Excalibur, himself, and Gus, there just wasn¡¯t an answer that didn¡¯t risk a level of unacceptable damage to everything. So here he was, walking into the most dangerous place he had ever been with only Mother Scrump. ¡°So where do you think they are?¡± The cat asked. ¡°I have no idea, but we will start in the room nearest to here. I don¡¯t want to risk going very deep as I have no idea how many of the monsters still exist in the stacks,¡± He replied. Loop 255 - Part 6: Harold ¡°Well, you¡¯re not Harold,¡± said a man as he took the seat and sat down across from Bart. Harold may not have been sitting at the table, but he had loaded Bart down with the gear needed to talk, whether he was physically there or not. Depending on how this went, he may end up joining them in person, but for now, he would do it all remotely. ¡°And you don¡¯t appear to be the body of Clark, even if the voice does sound right,¡± replied Harold through a specialized speaker phone Bart had set on the table. The visual feed was coming from a camera in Bart¡¯s hat. ¡°I checked out one of our specialized ogres for the occasion. I figured I might as well show you how far some of our technology has come,¡± Clark explained, lifting the menu to take a look. ¡°So you went through that horrible program, did you? I¡¯m not sure many people would consider this technology so much as enslavement,¡± Harold responded, carefully keeping the building rage from his voice. Clark had to have known about his grandson then. This was a show to knock him off balance. ¡°We can¡¯t have rogue individuals roaming the streets with unchecked magical powers. Someone had to do something, and considering what you¡¯ve learned, you must understand the need for an army. It just so happens we¡¯ve recently gained several powerful new recruits. The data we are collecting is amazing. Sure, we had theories about the long-term effects of energy cores on animals, but now that we have actual subjects, that¡¯s something. I¡¯ve heard the boys in the lab have made more discoveries in the last year than they have in the last two decades combined,¡± Clark set down the menu and waved for a waitress. It seemed the man was pulling out all the stops in an attempt to push Clark into something stupid. Luckily, he had thought this through and convinced Trashcat to stay outside guarding the building and not listening inside. She did not have his emotional regulation skills or the lifetime of experience handling someone like this and would only have made things go from bad to worse. ¡°What¡¯s your goal here Clark? See how angry you can get me? Hope I cause a scene so you can call in backup and take me out?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the one who asked about this meeting. Don¡¯t blame me for coming prepared,¡± Clark paused the conversation and looked at the waitress who had just arrived. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take four of your phase burgers, and my friend here will take two,¡± He turned back away from her immediately after ordering for both himself and Bart. ¡°Yes, I did. There are just some things you learn that manages to push you past your dislike for certain individuals, and the idea that you are suddenly out there brazenly kidnapping people en masse to build your forces, well, that¡¯s new. So now I have to start wondering. Just how bad is this invasion?¡± Harold asked. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Oh if I understand it correctly, we¡¯ve already lost several times over. It may even be a hopeless cause, but I¡¯m guessing you already knew that. How is it that you came to know the Marshall family exactly? They don¡¯t seem to be people that would typically be in your circles,¡± Clark paused again as two platters of burgers and fries were sat on the table. ¡°Strange friendships tend to form when the world starts to go to hell. I have it on good authority you¡¯ve gotten into bed with some very unsavory people, somehow more than you yourself. How¡¯d you pull that off?¡± Harold replied, watching as Bart scarfed down the burgers. He had warned them of the potential poisons, but apparently, whatever Bart¡¯s physiology was, made it highly unlikely they had anything that would work. ¡°I think you explained that with your own answer. I will do what¡¯s necessary to save the world, no matter what. So let me make this offer. You¡¯re an intelligent man; just come work with us. We could use you. I think I can even arrange for Melissa¡¯s safety if you come willingly. It¡¯s the only way this ends with you finding her,¡± Clark made his offer between bites of his own burger. ¡°No. I won¡¯t even entertain that idea, and the threats won¡¯t possibly help. I suppose that means this meeting is over then?¡± Harold said. ¡°I¡¯m a patient man, so how about we meet again in one year, and you tell me if you still aren¡¯t willing to work with me? For my part, I strongly think you will have changed your mind. The world is changing fast, and you will need to catch up,¡± Clark said, finishing his first burger with a loud burp. ¡°I doubt it, and I further doubt you¡¯d ever trust me even if I did agree to join, I thank you for the meeting, though. It has been informative. Bart, I believe it is nearly time for you to head out,¡± Harold said. Neither Clark or Bart had a chance to respond as two men suddenly crashed through the front window of the restaurant, both badly beaten and covered in blood. A third man stood outside, fighting a losing battle against something Harold had never seen. He was reasonably sure the man still fighting was one of Clark¡¯s ogres, which made it even stranger that the second man had only a single eye in the center of its face and was fighting with a sword of fire. Was he one of the aliens? ¡°Dammit, we need all units. It was an ambush. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly, but Harold has a heavy hitter,¡± Clark screamed into a communicator before leaping from his chair to join the fight. Before Harold had much time to debate why Clark thought the newcomer was with him, Bart stood up and called out: ¡®Twonger, where the hell have you been, mate?¡± ¡°Where have I been? Where the fuck have all of ya been? You are the only idiot I can still find on this planet!¡± Twonger screamed back, punching Clark in the face and driving his sword deeply into the other agent as he spoke. Loop 255 - Part 7: Harold ¡°Bart, what the hell is going on? Who is that monster?¡± Harold yelled into the mic that fed into Bart¡¯s earpiece, not wanting Clark to overhear anything, assuming he even could, given the new circumstances. ¡°One of our missing companions, no idea how he¡¯s here though, he¡¯s a bit of a strange one,¡± Bart answered. ¡°Okay, can you think of any coded message you can give him to break off and meet us somewhere else?¡± Harold asked, already packing up what little gear he had placed in the room. It was quickly nearing time to make his own escape, and unlike Bart he could just vanish off into another universe. ¡°Nope, I told you, not from here, and for that matter, he ain¡¯t either,¡± Bart replied. ¡°Ask him how he found us,¡± Harold instructed, annoyed. Everything just kept getting more complicated. ¡°Hey Twonger, how¡¯d you find me anyway, mate?¡± Bart yelled into the melee. ¡°Under Libary energies!¡± Twonger yelled back. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s perfect then. I¡¯m going to get the hell out of here soon. You should break off back to wherever it was you came from and find me again in a week. We can talk a lot safer then,¡± Bart yelled. ¡°Can I kill this idiot first?¡± Twonger asked as he sliced off one of Clark¡¯s hands. The rest of the combatants were on the ground, and if they were still alive, Harold couldn¡¯t tell from the camera. ¡°Yeah, sure, probably for the best if you do, honestly, but I¡¯ve gotta get out here. See you in a bit then,¡± Bart said as he vanished. Harold sent the electronic pulse to all the devices left behind as Bart exited, frying them all. It might be overkill, but now, with Twonger¡¯s presence, Clark would pull out all the stops for payback. He swept the room one last time, grabbed his briefcase, and headed for the bus station where Trashcat should now be waiting. *** Three buses and a conveniently placed car later found Trashcat sitting in the living room while Harold locked the door behind them. ¡°It¡¯s not safe for Bart to return just yet. We need to get to the sub-basement, and I want him to stay inside a shielded room I have down there for as long as we remain here. If that other creature can track him, it stands to reason Clark can too, so for now, the only time he will be unshielded is when we want to be found,¡± Harold explained to Trashcat as he slumped onto the couch for a brief rest. ¡°I wonder where Twonger was this whole time,¡± Trashcat said as she slowly stretched one of her paws out in front of her. ¡°Where does he normally start the loop, and what exactly is he?¡± Harold asked. They had briefly mentioned Twonger as one of the missing people but nothing else about him. Harold had just assumed he was another human being or, at most, another talking animal. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s an alien. He and his brother killed Cal in a lot of loops, from what I heard, but then his brother died to hold the void house together. The dogs all went on a journey with him into the Under Library, and I think that¡¯s why he can find Bart now,¡± Trashcat explained. Harold did not find the answer very satisfactory but decided against pushing the point for the moment. It would be far easier just to get the information from Bart and Twonger later. ¡°Alright, follow me to the basement. I want to get this sorted out and then get some food into me,¡± Harold said, standing up and walking out of the room. Trashcat followed him through three doors, two flights of stairs, and down a very hidden ladder, finally stopping and sealing a huge, heavy door behind them. He then turned to Trashcat and said: ¡°This entire area is shielded; it should be safe for Bart to make an appearance now.¡± ¡°About time. I¡¯ve got some news from the other side!¡± Bart explained as he appeared seconds later. ¡°What¡¯s the news?¡± Harold asked. Had they figured something out? ¡°Andrew has apparently returned to the Under Library for help. He is determined to find a way to get you access to the time loops. According to Excalibur and Gus, he¡¯s worried about the disadvantage we will be at if you don¡¯t retain your memory for the next loop while at least some member of the Agency does,¡± Bart answered. ¡°Do you think he¡¯s likely to find a solution there?¡± Harold asked. Bart had explained the Under Library before, but the amount of dangerous creatures there made it seem like somewhere you wouldn¡¯t want to go without an army. ¡°Possibly, Wiggles or Libby might have any idea. So what are we doing about Twonger?¡± Bart asked in return. ¡°We do exactly what you suggested. In what is now a few days'' time, you will manifest reasonably far from here. We give him two hours to find us, and then either he does, or you head back to the other universe. If he does, we make our escape back to the safe house and plan our next moves,¡± Harold explained. ¡°Sounds good. Has anyone got any food? The menu in the void house just ain¡¯t as good without the capybaras,¡± Bart asked, finding himself a seat and relaxing into it. *** ¡°How much longer are we going to wait for him?¡± Trashcat asked. It had already been over their two-hour window, but Harold had decided to stretch it slightly. He really hoped the alien would make another appearance. He apparently normally started the loop by teleporting into Cal¡¯s bedroom, so he was a treasure trove of insights into what had changed. ¡°We can¡¯t risk too much longer; I¡¯m already pushing it as it is,¡± Harold said with a sigh. ¡°What are ya pushing exactly,¡± said a voice as a large one-eye figure came into view. ¡°Didn¡¯t want to appear right on top of ya, wasn¡¯t sure if this would be a trap or not, so I walked from the woods that way,¡± Twonger said, pointing to the trees nearby. ¡°Well, hopefully then, that means that way is safe because that¡¯s where we left the car. Bart, back to your void. Trashcat, Twonger, let¡¯s get going. I want us back into the safe house as soon as possible,¡± Harold ordered. ¡°Twonger mate, listen to Harold, the guy knows what he¡¯s doing, trust me. I¡¯ll see you shortly,¡± Bart said before disappearing again. ¡°Why does everyone just assume I¡¯m going to cause a bunch of shit?¡± Twonger muttered as he walked back the way he came following Harold. Loop 255 - Andrew Returns to the Library Part 2 ¡°Who is that?!¡± Mother Scrump asked with a low purring sound. ¡°Who is who?¡± Andrew looked around, finally spotting the person in question. A large orange cat was lounging on a stack of books at the end of a row ahead of them. Andrew decided to ignore the question of the unshelved books in favor of the good news. They had found at least one of their allies. ¡°That is Mr. Wiggles, good eye.¡± ¡°Can you straighten my collar, please, Andrew? I want to look my best when we meet him,¡± Mother Scrump looked at Andrew with a pleading face. ¡°What? Fine,¡± Andrew said, reaching down to adjust her collar. ¡°There, happy?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± She said before pouncing forward and charging at Mr. Wiggles. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Dammit, Scrump be careful,¡± Andrew yelled after her. ¡°She should be fine,¡± A voice said as the owner, a female Grylath, emerged for the row next to where her cat was lounging. ¡°We¡¯ve mostly cleaned up this area. So what brings you back to the library with such a cute new cat?¡± ¡°Ah, Serilina, good. Trouble, we¡¯ve been cut off from Earth and need to find a way to get an object there. I was hoping Libby might have an idea. Do you know where they are?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°I suppose I won¡¯t be too offended that I¡¯m just chopped liver, but I get it. Libby is going to be a lot more useful on that topic than I am. Follow me, I¡¯ll bring you to our rebuilding HQ,¡± She answered. ¡°Thank you, Scrump. Are you coming?¡± Andrew called to the cat. ¡°Oh, um, yes, I suppose I should,¡± She said, breaking off from her playful batting at Mr. Wiggles. ¡°That is so adorable,¡± Serilina said as she lead them deep into the stacks. Loop 255 - Part 8: Twonger ¡°How did you escape?¡± Trashcat blurted out the moment the door had been sealed behind them. ¡°Escape what?¡± Twonger asked. He guessed he had escaped a few things so far in this loop, but they were nothing these idiots would know about. Well, maybe Bart, but much more importantly, where the hell were the others? ¡°We were working under the theory you had been captured with Cal and others at the start of the loop. Based on your face, I¡¯m guessing that ain¡¯t what happened?¡± Bart asked. ¡°Oh, no, wasn¡¯t with him. The kid got himself captured, huh? That seems like a problem. Guess I can save his ass next loop,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°So where were you?!¡± Trashcat growled, her temper flaring. ¡°Fine, ya all need to know so bad I¡¯ll tell you, so shit down and shut up, cuz I¡¯m only telling it once,¡± Twonger looked stared at each of them til they complied. ¡°Good. So, the loop started, and I found myself back on my ship. Honestly, I was still surprised it actually worked; figured it was all still a bit of bullshit, you know? But then it hit me again that Onelder wasn¡¯t there, and my rage kicked in. Decided Andy and Cal could handle this without for me a bit and set a course for some weapons I¡¯ve always wanted but didn¡¯t think I could get without dying, but now, who cares? I could die thirty times as long as I got ¡®em in the end. I figured it also had the side benefit of working me through some of my anger issues.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve just been out there hunting down weapons?!¡± Trashcat¡¯s growl had deepened. ¡°Nah, that was the plan, but ya know how plans work in this group. The first place I hit went off like a charm, though, got some real nice shit back in ship, and even picked up some stuff for a few of yous. I expected it to be a real fight, but the idiots never knew what hit them. Some of that energy I picked up for my sword in the Under Library really does some damage out here. Wish everything had gone that well. The next couple of places were just totally destroyed already, no trace of anything good. Then to really make me angry, the next one was working with the Gryalth. I learned the bastards have themselves a weapons ring all throughout this galaxy,¡± Twonger continued. ¡°It makes sense if there are as many intelligent species in the universe as I¡¯ve now come to believe they can¡¯t just focus on Earth. This may be their initial incursion point, but they will need to be ready to wage war on everything the moment it becomes clear their intentions,¡± Harold interrupted. ¡°Yeah, figured that too. Once that clicked into place I decided to make a go at a mana refinery. Ship was running low, plus I wanted to see how hard it would be for future loops. The kids are gonna want a ton of that if we can get it. Once my rage settled, I started to really think about this was ya got me in. There is a lot shit out there in the universe, and we need to be getting ahold of as much of it as possible, but yeah, I grabbed my fill of condensed mana and decided to try out some of the new weapons that I did manage to grab on a few of those Gryalth, and since I wanted to head back here anyway, figured why not that tiny chunk of ice they went to last loop. Pluto was crawling with Gryalth, and we could always use more information on their operation there,¡± Twonger was interrupted again. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Did you forget what happened when Cal screwed around on Pluto in the last loop? We were supposed to avoid it again this loop!¡± Trashcat¡¯s tail had fluffed as she growled out her interruption. ¡°Sure, but I ain¡¯t Cal. So, long story short, I did some real damage in some quick hit-and-runs. Pretty sure they think it was an Earth attack, though cuz. They launched their battleships on a course here. That¡¯s what made me finally decide to head back. I had killed a few dozen Gryalth for Onelder and took a piss on the highest-ranking one I could find. That one was for me, and then went to find yos,¡± Twonger finished. He noticed his audience did not look very impressed with his story. ¡°Great, so we are likely dealing with an early loop termination on top of everything,¡± Trashcat said, this time sounding more defeated than angry. ¡°Eh, who cares? We start the next loop, and I¡¯ll just teleport directly to Cal and get him, Bug, and Stan into the void house before anyone else can grab them. Seems like I solved a lot of problems here,¡± Twonger said, nodding along at what he thought was a brilliant solution. ¡°What about Andy? Or anyone else, can you get to them just as quickly?¡± Bart askled. ¡°Just as quickly? Nah, how fast are we talking for their capture anyway?¡± Twonger asked. It took time for his ship to cool down after a teleportation, he could likely do one trip every thirty minutes or so. Sure he had accidentally killed Cal a few times at the start of loops, but he couldn¡¯t imagine anyone was able to get so many of them that fast in a new loop. ¡°Considering Ralth and the capybaras, I don¡¯t that will cut it,¡± Bart said. ¡°It will for the next loop. If I understand everything you¡¯ve told me correctly, whoever controls Cal controls the loop, and as much as I want my granddaughter out of their hands, Cal is the first priority. If Twonger can guarantee his safety at the start of every loop, that means we have more chess pieces on the board, and we can further refine the game plan once that happens,¡± Harold explained. ¡°You want what? Hold on, this room makes it hard to hear you guys,¡± Bart said, disappearing a second later. ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡± Twonger asked. Things had just started getting good. Harold was on board with the plan, and Bart had to go and run off like that. Some people just had no manners. Bart popped back into view before anyone could answer Twonger¡¯s question and yelled, ¡°Good news, everyone, Andrew has a way to get the drugs into Harold!¡± Loop 255 - Andrew Returns to the Library Part 3 ¡°In theory, the borders between your pocket dimensions and the prime universe they are tied to would be the location they started. Do you know where that is?¡± Libby asked Andrew. The walk to their new headquarters had been surprisingly uneventful, other than Scrump continuously trying to pounce on Mr. Wiggles. Andrew was impressed at just how much monster cleaning they had managed to handle. ¡°Hmm, probably. It might not be the easiest place for them to get into, but it should be doable. Now, how do we pierce the dimensional membrane without rupturing everything?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°The object you need to send through is relatively small, correct?¡± Andrew nodded at Libby¡¯s question. ¡°Good, then rupturing shouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue. We will need to seal it inside of an abyssal beast shell to keep it safe during the transfer; luckily, we still have some of those from due to the infestation. I¡¯m going to have to come back with you to do the calculations perfectly,¡± Libby explained. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Thank you, Scrump. Are you coming?¡± Andrew yelled at the infatuated cat. ¡°Considering Wiggly and me are coming too, I bet she is. With things going the way you said out there, we can let the engineers handle the Under Library for now. Andy was nicer to me than most, and I don¡¯t like the idea of abandoning him when he needs help,¡± Serilina added. Loop 255 - Part 9: Harold ¡°And what exactly is that plan, Bart?¡± Harold asked. Things were now spiraling beyond his control fast, and he wasn¡¯t happy about it. Yes, Twonger¡¯s ability to secure Cal in the next loop was immeasurable, but the man had likely also sped up the Gryalth attack on Earth. Harold had a strong feeling that the years they had thought they had left in the loop had turned into months. ¡°Apparently, we need to get to Dallas, break into a research facility almost certainly controlled by the agency, and make our way up the floor where Andrew¡¯s original lab was where this mess all started. Then Libby, the robot librarian, is going to feed the calculations to Excalibur in order to make the smallest surgical cut between realities they can safely drop the syringe wrapped in an abyssal beast¡¯s eggshell through to us. Sounds easy enough, right?¡± Bart answered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you just said all of that as though it was a completely sane explanation for what we need to do,¡± Harold responded, shaking his head as he did so. He considered the possibility he had just gone insane but doubted this was a path his brain could even find to take. ¡°Yeah, I get ya. Once you start interacting with this bunch, it¡¯s all fucking insane from here in. None of it makes any damn sense, but you do start to get used to it once the second loop starts¡­¡± Twonger trailed off in his attempt at reassuring Harold. ¡°You understand a one-eyed alien who apparently spent dozens of loops trying to kill the man who the loops are tied to isn¡¯t the best choice to reassure me I¡¯m sane, right?¡± Harold sighed loudly and continued before Twonger tried to answer. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just accept the reality of what Bart told me. We need to arrange transport to Dallas, Twonger. Can we use your ship and just teleport us all down?¡± ¡°Yeah, probably the easiest way. It won¡¯t get us into the building if it¡¯s shielded, though,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°Will it work if the Gryalth are attacking right now?¡± Trashcat interrupted, poking her head out from behind a small television screen. ¡°...What are you watching Trashcat?¡± Harold asked, afraid he already knew the answer. ¡°The news says several large alien craft have been spotted near the moon. I don¡¯t think any of them have attacked yet, but we probably don¡¯t have a ton of time,¡± She answered. ¡°Okay, new plan. We are done with stealth. Everyone grab everything you think will be useful and meet me in the van in ten minutes. It¡¯s in the garage. Bart, go tell the others we are out of time and will be making an attempt at breaking into the lab,¡± Harold ordered as he walked towards a small door on one of the walls that he was still locked. He quickly entered the code and pulled the door open, revealing one of his cache of weapons. They may not be very useful against the invading aliens, but he was sure guns and grenades worked pretty well against humans. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Fancy, but I think have some better shit in my bag. Well, the explosives might be useful, assuming they are what I think they are, ya sure you''re ready for this kind of fight?¡± Twonger clapped Harold as he asked. ¡°No, but people rarely get that kind of choice when the moment comes,¡± Harold answered, watching Twonger somehow pull a strange-looking blade from a backpack much smaller than the weapon. ¡°Magic backpack?¡± ¡°It was one of the big things on my to-steal checklist and the only one I really got to, but I loaded it up with some pretty helpful shit. I was hoping to get it into the void house and see if it duplicated itself when the loop restarted, but it looks like I¡¯ll have to steal it again another time. Take the blade. It should have enough of a charge built up to cut through some walls or people that get in our way,¡± Twonger said, passing it over. ¡°Thanks,¡± Harold still decided to grab several of the items from his weapons cache. Magical alien tech may turn out to be very useful, but he preferred things he had some actual training on. *** Despite the many looming threats, not the least of which was the Gryalth ships in orbit, their drive was somehow entirely uneventful, which worried Harold even more. Things were happening in the background that he had no knowledge of, and that never sat well with him. He wished he had a way to get his finger back into that pot, at least briefly, before their upcoming break-in. It was too late to change that, though, they were doing this blind. These thoughts played out as he parked the van in front of the building. A voice on the radio managed to interrupt both of these things, holding Harold¡¯s concentration. ¡°We repeat, hostile contact has been made with the creatures in the craft. Please, if you can hear this, take shelter immediately as the military moves to engage with the invaders,¡± a man¡¯s voice said, barely concealing its panic. ¡°I was wondering how long they¡¯d take to make a move,¡± Twonger said. ¡°The real question here is what the Agency is planning to do against them. You may have actually created a giant question they can¡¯t answer Twonger. If they aren¡¯t fully aware of your connection to Cal, then they have to assume the early Gryalth invasion is due to something they changed, not something you changed,¡± Harold replied. This might be the distraction they needed to give them a real chance at success here. ¡°Thanks, I think. Just so I¡¯m clear here, yos want me to grab Cal, Bug, and Stan and get them into the void house as soon as possible in the next loop, right? I figure we ain¡¯t likely to have much time to discuss these plans further once we get outta the vehicle,¡± Twonger said. ¡°Yes, just get them to safety and make sure they are caught up on the events of this loop from our side. I will wait for you to make contact as long as I feel it¡¯s safe, but if I have to disappear, I will, and in that case, I¡¯ll find you, hopefully. Now, are you ready for this?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Always,¡± Twonger said, smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s go cause some mayhem!¡± Loop 255 - Part 10: Harold ¡°Hey there, we¡¯ve got a repair order for the condenser unit,¡± Harold said to the secretary. This was his plan A: a couple of HVAC technician outfits, a pair of sunglasses, and a hat for Twonger. If it weren¡¯t for the distraction of the ongoing invasion, he doubted this would have had any chance of working, but the secretary barely looked up at them. ¡°Oh good I guess, not sure it matters with the aliens, but these guest badges will get you through the doors,¡± she said, not looking up as she passed two laminated cards across the counter to them. ¡°Thanks,¡± Harold said, ushering Twonger past the desk towards the elevators. ¡°Huh, I was really expecting a fight, kinda hoping for it too. I hate the sneaky shit. It¡¯s so boring,¡± Twonger said the moment the elevator door closed. ¡°You may hate it, but there are only two of us, so we need to use every resource at our disposal, and my skillset is strongly in favor of stealth, not combat, but yes, if it comes to fighting, we will do what is needed,¡± Harold said. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here too!¡± a small voice called from a bag Twonger was carrying. ¡°Sorry, Trashcat, the three of us,¡± Harold replied. ¡°Thank y¡­¡± Trashcat¡¯s attempt at gratitude was interrupted by a rocking explosion that killed the lights in the elevator for a moment before the emergency lighting kicked on. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°I assume the battle has reached us, so you are likely about to get your wish. Can you pull these doors apart? Whatever hit the building stopped the elevator,¡± Harold explained. Hopefully, the damage was superficial, and they weren¡¯t about to find a side of the building missing. A shining silver blade appeared in Twonger¡¯s hand, and he forced it into the crack between the doors. The sword¡¯s color shifted from silver to bright red as he began to twist it, slowly forcing the doors apart. Sizzling energy flowed from the blade into the metal of the doors and was soon followed by a popping sound somewhere inside the elevator¡¯s internal mechanisms. Twonger then reached forward and quickly pulled the doors the rest of the way open. ¡°Looks like I can,¡± he said as he stepped through, careful not to trip on the ledge that had been created due to the elevator not stopping perfectly on a floor. As they entered the stairwell, the sound of a fight became obvious far below. ¡°So, is it the Agency after me or the Gryalth after you?¡± Harold asked as they climbed as fast as they could. ¡°Why not both?¡± Twonger turned around and dropped two of the grenades down the center of the open stairwell. Their fall ended in an explosion a few seconds later. Either way, that should slow them down a bit.¡± ¡°Are there any side effects to this injection? Not that it fully matters, I suppose, but are you going to have to fight our way out of here without my help?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Nah, I didn¡¯t really feel any different,¡± Twonger answered. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I did! It was strange; suddenly, I just seemed to understand things. It¡¯s hard to explain, though,¡± Trashcat said from her bag. ¡°Those are two very different answers. Has anyone actually tried this on a human yet, or is it just aliens and animals?¡± Harold asked. The answer didn¡¯t really matter to him, but he was trying to distract himself from whatever was happening below. ¡°Well, so far, there was me, Many Eyes, Twonger, and uh, huh, nope, I think it¡¯s just you next. Don¡¯t worry, uncle Andrew is pretty good at science. Everything should be fine,¡± Trashcat said. ¡°She ain¡¯t kidding, for a planet full of idiots, Andrew seems to understand what¡¯s going on,¡± Twonger added. ¡°Well, this is our floor. Let¡¯s go find the lab and get this over with then,¡± Harold said, reaching for the door handle. But before he could open it, it was pulled open from the other side, revealing the faces of several armed guards and a teenager. ¡°You must be Harold, and I believe your name is Twonger. Nice to meet you both,¡± said the teen. ¡°And who the hell are you?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, Twonger? This is one of the Agency members in the loop. Apparently, he decided he wanted to meet us face to face, but why?¡± Harold asked. ¡°I know the meeting you had with Clark went poorly, so I wanted to extend another offer. Especially now that you¡¯ve seen the threat we are facing. It¡¯s probably too late for this loop, but maybe not. So, in the next loop, why not join us? Help us save the world,¡± The kid said. ¡°Look, it¡¯s tempting, it really is. That whole saving the world part seems like something I want, but do you understand the problem here?¡± Harold asked. ¡°No, why don¡¯t you explain it,¡± the kid answered. ¡°How can I ever trust an organization that would kidnap my granddaughter?¡± Harold signaled to Twonger as he said this. ¡°A pity, really. Kill them both,¡± The kid ordered the guards. ¡°Yeah, ain¡¯t gonna happen,¡± Twonger said, swinging the blade wide in front of them. Energy rippled off it, forming a barrier. The guards still tried to fire their weapons, with each shot ricocheting off the barrier and finding a home in the corridor walls. ¡°Dammit, I need ogres now!¡± the kid yelled into a radio as he ran down the corridor away from them. He wasn¡¯t nearly fast enough to escape the blade Twonger pulled from his pack and launched after him. With a loud thud, the blade found its mark, pinning the now-dead kid to the wall. ¡°Here, take this and go find what ya need. I¡¯ll handle this,¡± Twonger said, passing the pack and carrier that held Trashcat to Harold. He charged forward into the guards the moment he had done so, slashing out with his strange sword at the nearest one of them. Wasting no time, Harold used the distraction to run through the brawl and down the corridor himself, stopping only briefly to memorize the face of the kid and check his pockets for anything to identify him. As he expected, there was nothing. The kid would have been a terrible agent if he had been that easily identifiable. ¡°Bart says the item is en route,¡± Trashcat yelled from the carrier as they pushed open the door to where it should be entering their universe, just in time to see a small oblong egg fall out of a crack that vanished the milliseconds later. From one of the monitors in the room, Harold heard a news reporter say something about several cities being decimated as the nuclear strikes had failed. That likely meant there was no time to spare as he grabbed the egg, cracked it open, and shoved the needle into his neck. Twonger had been right. Other than the usual pain, he didn¡¯t feel any different. Moments later, the building rocked again, this time much harder, and Harold felt himself start to fall. Then he felt a hard pain in his head, and everything went black. Loop 255 - Meanwhile in the Void House ¡°Alright, it¡¯s through. Kill the feed,¡± Gus yelled. Andrew followed Libby¡¯s lead, as the robot had earlier instructed, sealing back up the micro tear they had made in their reality. ¡°Done. Is everything looking okay?¡± Andrew asked as he finished typing. ¡°Yes, the tear has sealed itself as intended. Excalibur is a very interesting blade. I think I will have a long conversation with him once we finish this crisis,¡± Libby replied. ¡°Bart says Harold was able to use the syringe, but then the building collapsed. He doesn¡¯t think this loop will be lasting much longer,¡± Greta informed them. ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Dammit, I was hoping to get some more information, but I¡¯m cut off until the next loop. Just as I materialized in the building, it started to collapse. I tried to grab Trashcat, but it was too late. Twonger may have survived the collapse, but I doubt anyone else did,¡± Bart answered, having just popped back into view. ¡°Well, then, everyone. We¡¯ve done all we can in this loop. It''s time to wait and hope things go better next time. I want you all to know, no matter what happens, you¡¯ve done an amazing job given how limited our resources were,¡± Andrew said. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Just wait until I tell Andy how much of a softy you¡¯ve turned into. Good news: the loop is restarting. The dogs just vanished along with the rest of the root network animals. Weird question, how come we don¡¯t perfectly sync up with Earth time?¡± Gus asked. ¡°I think we do. Remember, the loop doesn¡¯t reset for us. Our consciousness for stays with us. So, whatever is resetting everything out there and storing memories between loops likely needs these few hours to restore everything fully. I imagine it works like a computer backup at some level,¡± Andy explained. He wasn¡¯t sure how accurate his comparison really was since whatever intelligence behind the loops and their console was still a giant mystery. ¡°I do not know how accurate that would be, but I am unable to provide a better explanation. One of the Under Library wings will have the answers, assuming we are willing to pay whatever price it asks of us,¡± Libby added. ¡°Price? There wasn¡¯t any price in the other wing,¡± Andrew said. ¡°There used to be, and we should hope that is the way it remains in the others,¡± Libby replied. ¡°No library talk, that place gives me the creeps whenever I hear about it. I¡¯m going to go get some dinner and hope everything works soon anyone coming?¡± Gus looked around at the few left. ¡°Yes, good idea,¡± Andrew said, following the bird from the control room. He needed something to distract him until they learned Cal¡¯s fate. Loop 256 ¡°Cal, wake up, yos gotta get the fuck out here! BUG WAKE UP STAN!¡± grogily awoke to the screaming voice, deeply confused for several moments before his memories started to flood into his brain. Even with them, he was still having trouble thinking. His thoughts were coming, but everything seemed to be pushing through a lake of syrup. Finally, he was able to vocalize something. ¡°What? Twonger? What¡¯s going on,¡± the words came out, his lips slurred, barely understandable. What was happening to him? ¡°Dammit, whatever they did to ya last loop must have some lasting effects. You missed an entire loop. Get the portal open to the void house. I¡¯ll get Bug and Stan. We don¡¯t have much time, but I¡¯ll explain as soon as we get through!¡± Twonger barked out the order. Cal blinked rapidly, trying his best to clear the fog, but for the most part, he failed. Did Twonger say something about missing a loop? What the hell was going on? Wait, did he hear gunfire outside now? ¡°JUST STAY BEHIND ME STAN I¡¯VE GOT BUG. HOW THE FUCK ARE THEY HERE ALREADY?!¡± Cal heard Twonger scream from somewhere in the house. What had Twonger wanted him to do again? He knew it was something important, but the gunfire kept distracting him. As he tried to put the thoughts back together, his door burst open, and Twonger tossed his father on the ground. ¡°What did you want me to do again?¡± Cal slurred as his vision started blurring. ¡°Fuck, it¡¯s too late now. They have their damn ogres on site and someone capable of dulling our senses. I¡¯m betting that¡¯s how they got you last loop. Sorry about this, but we are going to have to try again,¡± Twonger said as he pulled several small metal objects off his belt and tossed them into the room. ¡°What are tho¡­¡± Cal wasn¡¯t able to get the question off as the room exploded into a fiery blast around. Loop 257 - Part 1 Cal bolted awake with a sharp, searing pain in his neck at the sight of Twonger standing over him. The moments of the last loop cut through some of the haze he was still feeling. ¡°What the fuck was that Twonger?¡± ¡°Stimulant, no time. Get the damn portal open to the void house this time. I¡¯ve gotta get the others. We have maybe a minute or we have to do this again!¡± Twonger snarled, the anger not even slightly concealed in his voice. ¡°Okay, I think I can do that this time,¡± His words still came out slightly slurred, but this time, he was able to find his footing and remember what the alien had said. He just had to focus and get the mana flowing through his channels. That should be easy enough. He had done this millions of times in previous loops. So why wasn¡¯t it working now? Were those gunshots outside again? Wait, didn¡¯t that happen last time? He pushed the thoughts aside and forced his brain to focus. It may still be fuzzy, but he was pretty sure Twonger had to kill them all moments ago, and he didn¡¯t want to repeat that again. Stolen novel; please report. Deep inside himself, Cal heard a voice that sounded so far away. ¡°Come on, Cal, just push a tiny amount. You can do this!¡± Sleek said in his head. Cal listened, squeezing down as hard as he could on his core, letting the mana flow. His exhaustion felt nearly overwhelming as the gateway opened, and at the same time, his bedroom door was once again kicked in. ¡°Good job, now get through it!¡± Twonger yelled. Cal, though, wasn¡¯t able to obey; his legs were giving out. That little bit of channeling had taken everything out of him; the world was going black again, but just before he passed out, he felt Twonger¡¯s shoulder make contact with his chest. Cal moaned in pain as his awareness started to return. Some people were arguing near him. ¡°You really had to shoulder-check him through the gateway?¡± Andrew said. ¡°Considering I didn¡¯t want to bomb the house again, yes, I did. My hands were full with Bug and Stan, and carrying Stan ain¡¯t easy! I got them all here this time, didn¡¯t I? Besides, whatever the Agency idiots did to them really fucked up their brains. I¡¯m surprised that stimulant I had was even enough to get us this far,¡± Twonger replied. ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s get them into some beds for monitoring,¡± Andrew conceded. ¡°No, not yet. Someone explain what the hell is going on,¡± Cal said, slowly pushing himself to his feet, using the wall as leverage. ¡°Wait, is the gateway sealed? I don¡¯t think I have it in me.¡± ¡°Yes, I was able to take care of that much without you, but I will not be able to reopen it without your assistance,¡± Fulginanis said. ¡°Good, now explain why Twonger killed me again,¡± Cal coughed the words out, slumping against the wall. ¡°You missed an entire loop. We are at war with the Agency. Following the end of the last loop that I assume you clearly remember, the Agency made a move on everyone who started the loop on Earth that they knew about, which was basically everyone except for the animals that the root network is able to retrieve,¡± Andrew explained. ¡°Yeah, idiot. Who did you think would have already been attacking your house if it wasn¡¯t me?¡± Twonger added much less friendly. ¡°Did you get any of the others?¡± Cal asked, trying to keep his growing panic out of his voice. The Agency had had him for an entire loop? What about the others? Only Bug and his dad were on the ground nearby. ¡°Yos were all I had time to grab before they attacked, and Harold¡¯s orders were to start with ya. Letting the Agency control the loops was the biggest thing he wanted to stop,¡± Twonger explained. ¡°How did you end up with Harold? Okay, I need a full recap, and yeah, maybe I will lay down in a bed,¡± Cal said as his panic combined with the still overwhelming exhaustion. He was barely able to stay awake. ¡°We can do that now. Please come lay down. Twonger, please get these two to their own beds as well. Gus, get the dogs; they might be able to help whatever is going on in their systems,¡± Andrew said. Cal didn¡¯t have the energy to fully process how everyone listened to Andrew without any arguments. Loop 257: Harold Harold woke up to an annoying beeping sound coming from his computer. The memories of the previous loop flooded his brain, up the collapse of the building, which must have been has death as he couldn¡¯t recall anything past that. Ignoring the beeping for now he looked around his room. He was back in his safe house in Maine. Roger was asleep next to him on the couch, but that beeping hadn¡¯t happened in the last loop. That likely meant something had changed, and someone was trying to contact him. He hoped that meant Twonger had succeeded and had Cal stashed somewhere safe. ¡°Roger old buddy, I¡¯m going to have to get you added to the list of loop-awareness candidates. I¡¯ll need the help at the start of these loops,¡± Harold said as he gently reached over and pet his cat, his only constant companion in the last few years. He supposed that was certainly changing since this whole time loop thing had turned out actually to be true. Then, the ramifications of what that meant further set in. The Agency had Melissa. They had both his grandchildren now. They were going to regret hurting his family. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Tired of the beeping he got up and checked the computer. There was a single message on one of his monitored newsgroups, obviously intended for him. We could have done this the easy way Harold, I¡¯m sorry for what you¡¯ve caused. So they had resorted to petty threats, good, that meant they were scared of what was coming, and they should be. Before this was over, he was going to rain down hellfire on anyone involved. Loop 257 - Part 2 ¡°Cal, you haven¡¯t said anything in a while. Usually, you are full of interruptions,¡± Andrew said. He had just finished explaining everything they knew about the last two loops as well as everything they were reasonably sure about. The reason Cal had gone so silent was the all-encompassing rage that had settled into his brain that Andrew did not remotely deserve directed at him. The man had done a phenomenal job with the resources he had available, beyond what Cal would have thought the man could handle, so now was not at all the time to explode at him. He hit his tongue just hard enough to use the pain to anchor his rage before he finally spoke. ¡°I¡¯m angry in a way that I don¡¯t think I have ever been angry before. After everything we¡¯ve been through, we have to fight our own people in order to save the world. Our friends and family are being tortured by them all because they had the misfortune of being connected to what happened to us. I don¡¯t know that I can have a clear mind on what exactly we need to do here.¡± ¡°I understand, at least somewhat. I probably wouldn¡¯t at the start of our loops, but I do now, and I¡¯m not sure I can tell you the next move with any better clarity. Some of them are loop-aware, and attempting to replicate what happened to Onelder seems like a terrible idea, so we are stuck with them. That means we have to hurt them so badly that they are afraid of doing anything like this ever again. We have to find leverage,¡± Andrew responded with emotion Cal wasn¡¯t used to seeing on the man¡¯s face. ¡°Do you know how Bug and Dad are doing?¡± Cal asked, trying to redirect the topic. ¡°They should be fine. I believe you were all under the influence of some powerful drugs that more or less kept you comatose, and it looks like strong mental effects can have a bit of a lasting influence loop to loop. Gus is getting together some mana fruit that should help wake them up,¡± Andrew responded. ¡°Good. The second they are awake and caught up, I want them in the situation room. Reestablishing contact with Harold will be one of the biggest goals, and yeah, I had already figured that out a bit, though I hadn¡¯t wanted to experiment with it,¡± Cal said. He wasn¡¯t all together yet himself. His head still felt off from whatever they had done to him. ¡°Alright, try to get some more rest. Libby will need some of your energy for the root network when you are ready; they think it can be moved to a self-perpetuating system instead of relying on Ethel or Excalibur,¡± Andrew said as he left the room. Cal slumped back down onto his pillow. He didn¡¯t think the Agency had just used conventional drugs on them. He felt too drained for that. Somehow, they had found a way to drain his core actively for years, and the thought of what they had been using his energies for was a big part of the rage he couldn¡¯t lock down. So, instead of fighting, he forced himself to fall asleep to fantasies of the rampage he would soon go on. *** It took them two weeks to fully recover. Bug had managed it first. She assumed it was because her powers weren¡¯t anything the Agency would have been able to tap into and, therefore, they couldn¡¯t drain them, but once she was recovered, she was able to with the help of the other two dogs speed up Stan and Cal¡¯s recovery and they were all now gathered in the situation room loudly debating the next course of action. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°I know I¡¯m usually the voice of reason here, be nice to people, don¡¯t hurt my friends, but they took Ethel, and she¡¯s one of my best friends and one of the nicest people I¡¯ve ever met, we have to make them hurt for that,¡± Bug said to the growing calls for attacking the Agency. ¡°Frank will rip their heads off!¡± the tree man yelled, his anger and sadness finally boiling over. ¡°Hey, everyone, I know you are all angry, but I need you to sit down and listen. Unless we work through this as calmly as we can, you won¡¯t get a chance to channel that anger at who really deserves it,¡± said one of the only calm voices in the room. It belonged to Serilina, Cal, and Andrew, who had both asked to moderate the meeting. Since she had some of the least ties to what was going on, they hoped she would have some of the best control of her emotions. ¡°Serilina is right. As much as I want to grab Excalibur and storm their building, which, to be very clear, will be happening eventually, we need to make sure we have some sort of plan in place. We can¡¯t fight a war without tactics, and while complete chaos is its own form of tactics, they won¡¯t work as well when we are at this kind of information disadvantage. As strange as it may sound, I learned a lot leading a squirrel nation on Pluto, so let¡¯s put that to use in saving our friends and family,¡± Stan added in his booming voice. ¡°We have several things we need to work on. First up, Libby is working on the root network. They have already managed to separate Excalibur from needing to power it. Libby thinks it¡¯s possible, given enough time, they may be able to expand it to grabbing people as well as animals. This could be a sizeable potential blow to the Agency. Let¡¯s not forget we also have more resources than they do. As far as we know, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, their sphere of influence is confined only to Earth. We currently have access to several other planets as well as the Under Library to draw on for resources. We have Harold currently on Earth, likely working to gather intel, and we need to reestablish contact with him. Finally we need to establish a new gateway to Earth without the Agency ever learning the location. This one is likely the first thing we have to accomplish. I need ideas, people,¡± Cal said. As he spoke, he walked around the room, surveying what they had for an army. ¡°Let¡¯s go see the frog, and I¡¯ll have my ship pick a couple of us up; we can use that to get back here, disappear ourselves for a bit, and make a new gateway,¡± Twonger, surprisingly, was the first to shout an idea. ¡°Any objections?¡± Serilina asked the crowd. While no one objected to the plan, Excalibur had his own request. ¡°I wish to join this mission, I must speak to my former wielder.¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯m in then. Who else?¡± Stan followed. ¡°I want Scrump and two of the dogs, up to you guys who goes and who stays, but we need to stay a bit under the radar for now. Once we are on Earth, I want Twonger to head back to Glurm¡¯s and use that gateway to return,¡± Cal explained. ¡°Well, looks like we have a plan then, any questions?¡± Serilina asked the room. She was met with a combination of silence and both harsh and eager glares. Everyone was well past ready for some payback. Loop 257 - Part 3 Unlike the last times they had visited Glurm, he was waiting at the gateway the moment they stepped out, glaring directly at Cal. ¡°Who are you? Why are you on my lawn? How do you have that sword?¡± the frog asked, cutting off any attempt Cal had to speak first. ¡°They have me because I have chosen Stan as my new wielder. I do not remember you being this rude to guests, Glurm,¡± Excalibur answered for the group. ¡°Interesting, so you¡¯ve decided to stop hiding away on that tiny little rock?¡± Glurm replied, his glare softening. ¡°Yes, I have, and don¡¯t worry, we already know you won¡¯t. This is the second time you¡¯ve been informed of my return, and if it didn¡¯t motivate you in the last loop, I doubt it will in this loop,¡± Excalibur replied. ¡°Ah, that explains the strange level of power your new little group has. I was wondering how Earth had managed to churn out new mages right under my nose without my notice, but yes, I imagine I told you last time that I would pass on joining any time loop. I have other matters of concern right now, and I have no interest in being stuck in your infinite hell,¡± Glurm said, very similarly to the last time he had told Cal as much. ¡°We aren¡¯t here to invite you; we just needed a new way back to Earth that isn¡¯t being watched. We will be out of your hair, okay, maybe not hair, but you know what I mean as soon as Twonger¡¯s ship gets here,¡± Cal said. ¡°And how long is that? I don¡¯t enjoy babysitting visitors,¡± Glurm asked, resuming his glare at Cal. ¡°Should be here in a few minutes, don¡¯t wanna burn too much fuel for anything faster,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°Hrmph, well, then I suppose since you have one of my oldest friends with you, I may as well offer you tea. Follow me,¡± Glum instructed. *** ¡°Glurm, just how much of your mana fruit leaves did you use to make this tea?¡± Excalibur asked as everyone else finished their first drink. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have asked that before?¡± Stan asked loudly to his partner. ¡°No, because I do agree with why he has decided to do, if not exactly the methods,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°No more than I¡¯m sure they can handle. Is this really the first time I¡¯ve slipped you all some of it?¡± Glurm asked back, sounding surprised. ¡°No, well, yes for them, but I had some a few loops ago, and yes, I do agree, and was actually hoping we were all getting some,¡± Cal said, shrugging at his dad. He had also hoped the tea would relax his anger a bit, and while it was helping, he doubted anything would entirely alleviate it beyond the obvious. Cal took another sip and continued, ¡°Especially the dogs, with the way they gained their magic, I¡¯m worried how it will interact in this world, so I think it¡¯s best they get some homegrown energy into them.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°It¡¯s tasty, and I like the way it feels in my tummy!¡± Bug followed up, slurping more from her bowl. The other dogs concurred with their own loud slurps. ¡°Has Earth come so far that all dogs are now speaking, or are these just mana-infused creatures? They seem different somehow,¡± Glurm observed. ¡°We went on a quest! Can I have more tea?¡± Bug asked, having finished her bowl. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a good idea. If your powers don¡¯t come from this world, they can have strange interactions if you have too much, but I suggest you visit me in each of your loops. As long as you bring Excalibur, I will likely be willing to share tea with you. We can slowly infuse you with the power of this reality,¡± Glurm offered. ¡°As much as I like the frog¡¯s weird tea, the ship¡¯s here and ready to take yos all back to Earth. It¡¯s gonna drop you off into a nice, super crowded area. Ya good to disappear from there?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Just stick close to us. It should be pretty hard for anyone to find us,¡± Bug said, wagging her tail. ¡°Glurm, thank you for the tea. Twonger is going to take the gateway back, and the rest of us will head out by his ship. I don¡¯t expect we will be back this loop, but anything is possible,¡± Cal said. ¡°It¡¯s a strange feeling to have people you¡¯ve never met somehow grow on you, but I imagine it¡¯s even stranger for you. Good luck, Cal, Stan, wielder of Excalibur, and you mighty paladins, and even you Twonger,¡± Glurm closed the gate behind them as he bid his farewells.. ¡°Did we tell him we were paladins? I don¡¯t remember doing tha,¡± Bug asked. ¡°You did not, but Master Glurm has seen many things in his extremely long life. I would not be surprised if he had met others of your order,¡± Excalibur answered, his statement briefly cut off by the ship¡¯s teleportation, finishing the moment they materialized. Cal started looking around the second he appeared. This was somehow his first real time on a spaceship that wasn¡¯t just built to go to Mars, after all. He couldn¡¯t waste the experience, angry or not. The room they materialized in was full of chairs and a few monitors; he guessed it was the bridge. He tried opening the door to another room and was greeted by Twonger''s voice. ¡°Look, I¡¯m letting ya borrow the ship, but no snooping. Stay where the hell you are and you should be back on Earth in twenty minutes or so,¡± The voice from a speaker somewhere above them. ¡°Do you think the message was pre-recorded or live?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Pre-recorded, or he¡¯d still be yelling at us,¡± Cal answered. He considered trying the door again briefly but decided against it. It was Twonger¡¯s house and all he really had left of his brother. He knew how annoyed he¡¯d be if someone poked through his keepsakes from his mother. ¡°So now what?¡± Stan looked around as he asked. The ship lurched as though in answer, and the various monitors no longer showed the moon below. ¡°Okay, maybe he was listening. That was pretty well-timed. Alright, everyone, we don¡¯t have much longer for planning, so we stick with what we have unless there are any objections,¡± Cal looked at each face. No one spoke. ¡°Good, then the moment we hit the ground, we try to blend in and make our way as deep as we can into the subway system.¡± Loop 257 - A Gift for Twonger ¡°Twonger, please, before you leave, may we have a word?¡± Glurm had reemerged from his house and managed to sneak up behind Twonger without him hearing a thing. The frog was as powerful as he was annoying Twonger mused. ¡°Yeah, and what word is that?¡± Twonger asked. He didn¡¯t like the Frog waiting until he was alone for this. ¡°I can sense your loss and rage. Those can be very useful things to feed a spirit core. You should consider finding one. It will help you on your path,¡± Glurm said. ¡°Yeah, no, I¡¯m good without adding another mind to my body,¡± Twonger replied. ¡°What¡¯s more important to you, winning your war or hiding behind your fear?¡± Glurm asked, glaring again. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°This is why no one likes coming here, ya say shit like that, but you never actually help anyone do ya?¡± Twonger glared back. He wasn¡¯t about to let the frog think he could intimidate him. ¡°What if I said this isn¡¯t just for you? One of the mana spirits I¡¯ve befriended in my very long life wants to join your fight, and for whatever reason, they think you¡¯d be the best host,¡± Glurm answered more gently. ¡°Hah, so not everyone agrees with ya hiding on a moon. You know what? Fuck it. Hey, mana spirit, you got five seconds to follow me through this gateway. We will figure this out back in the void house. I¡¯ve got shit to do!¡± Twonger yelled out this last part. ¡°Coming!¡± A loud booming voice replied, as what Twonger thought was a small mountain rose up and followed after him. Loop 257 - Part 4 It took a whole ten minutes of their attempt to blend in before a booming voice called out Cal¡¯s name. ¡°Cal, we are giving you exactly one chance to surrender. We can discuss this matter after you do.¡± The voice belonged to a large man standing on top of a nearby armored car. Next to the car, several similarly dressed men were spilling out. ¡°Cal, run. I¡¯ll handle this,¡± Stan said in a tone Cal had never heard the man use. It was somehow completely calm and full of burning anger at the same time. He knew there was no talking his dad out of this, and honestly, he had no intention of doing so. Several agency ogres were now making their way through the rapidly thinning crowd towards them. Cal had also had enough. ¡°Paladins hit them hard. We aren¡¯t running. They haven¡¯t earned our fear, just our anger. Tear them apart,¡± Cal yelled to the dogs as he signaled to Fulginanis in his head that this was the first spot they were dropping the new gateway. Right in the middle of New York City, secrecy be damned. ¡°Where the hell is my wife?¡± Stan¡¯s words were paired with Excalibur slashed down into the first agency goon in front of him. The man didn¡¯t even have time to cry out as his body fell to the ground in two parts. ¡°Safe in our keeping. I can take you to her if you just stop being reckless,¡± yelled the man with the booming voice. Cal assumed it was magically enhanced. ¡°No,¡± that single word was Stans''s only reply as any semblance of calm he had shown left his body. He charged into the oncoming men and started slashing out at each one. The dogs raced after him, adding their own anger to the melee. Each of them were shouting something, but Cal couldn¡¯t hear them clearly enough over the other sounds. The effects were evident as Bug tripled in size and pounced on the largest of the ogres, taking several blasts of fire as she did so. Several strange instruments appeared floating around Alfred, playing a strange otherworldly song. Gretel was now catching magical energy in her mouth as she darted across the sidewalk, chasing each blast like a frisbee. The gateway sprung to life behind Cal as the battle raged on and he quickly jumped through to the void house. ¡°Twonger, Frank, gateways open. Go kill some Agency foot soldiers,¡± he yelled to the gathered crowd on the other side. It was time to bring in their own reinforcements. Cal turned and walked back through. There were five times as many soldiers as there were before he had stepped through the gateway. The beehive had been kicked and all Cal could think about was that he was going to enjoy this. ¡°Hey, loud voice idiot, can you hear me?!¡± Cal channeled some mana into his voice trying to simulate the booming effect. It worked well enough for now. ¡°I can. You realize you cannot win this, right? Right now, a literal army is en route to handle you,¡± the man answered. ¡°I don¡¯t think you have the slightest idea what we can handle. From what I¡¯ve heard you all got one loop to fight the Gryalth without us and managed to lose it much earlier than we typically do, but that isn¡¯t even why I¡¯m angry. You hurt my family; you still have some of them. We need to make sure you are far too afraid to ever do that again,¡± Cal fired several blasts of lightning into the soldiers that were moving towards him as he finished this statement. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. On one side of Cal a giant tree man ran past him, tossing the soldiers like ragdolls in his path. On the other side came Twonger, who gave Cal a single nod as he passed. Cal nodded back. Strangely, though, Twonger was now followed by a giant mana spirit. Cal wondered where that had come from but didn¡¯t have long to ponder on it as several ogres started launching their own magical attacks his way. Gretel leaped into the air devouring nearly a third of them, giving Cal plenty of time to blanket the air with his own charged balls of electricity. Each one drawing in the magical energy and annihilating them both on contact. Cal smiled. Not a single attack had managed to strike home. Now it was time to really make his point clear as he fired a more powerful line of lightning straight at the man who he assumed was in charge; at least currently, he doubted the Agency people in the loop were actually here in person. His lightning strike hit home and exploded as the extra mana he had poured into erupted outward from the strike, zapping any soldier it came in contact with nearby. The level of mana Cal had unleashed sent a ripple of fear through any of the non-ogre soldiers, most of them taking a few steps back from the direct fight as the reality of just what they were fighting set in. It did nothing to save them as several of them were immediately crushed under the car Frank hit them with. More were thrown flying by the new mana spirit guided by Twonger¡¯s barked orders as he cut down two ogres with his own sword. Within minutes, all of the original soldiers were either dead or running for their lives, but they didn¡¯t have long to catch their breaths as hundreds of soldiers started appearing around them. ¡°Huh, so they have some teleporting abilities? That explains how they got to yer house so fast!¡± Twonger yelled over renewed chaos. ¡°Enough, we¡¯ve made our point for now. Everyone back through the gateway!¡± Cal screamed in response. He didn¡¯t immediately retreat and instead started launching volley after volley of lightning strikes. His goal was to keep the new soldiers as distracted as possible while everyone else ran for home. He slowly backed up towards the gateway as each of his friends and family disappeared through it until only he was left. ¡°This was just a warm-up, remember it!¡± He yelled this final threat before taking one last step backward through the gateway. ¡°Dammit!¡± Stan said as soon as Cal was in the room. ¡°You should have ran; now we have to do that all over again.¡± ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t see Scrump with you, so that worked perfectly,¡± Twonger said. ¡°Wait, where is she? Oh no, we left her behind. We have to go back Cal!¡± Bug started to panic. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Bug, I promise. This was the plan. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell any of you besides Twonger, but I thought we should make it as authentic as possible. Right now, she¡¯s on the way to Harold with Sleek in tow. The Agency thinks they pushed us back through without establishing another portal they don¡¯t know about, and we killed a lot of them. Today went perfectly,¡± Cal explained to the incredulous stare of the others. ¡°Fine, I can accept that this was all part of a secret plan, but where did you find Twonger a mana spirit that big that he managed to hide?¡± Stan asked. ¡°I actually didn¡¯t know about that one. Twonger, where the hell did they come from anyway?¡± Cal looked at the alien. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Twonger replied with a smile. Loop 257 - Sleek, Scrump & Harold When Harold opened his a few minutes earlier, a cat different from the one in the last loop was standing there to greet him. He wondered just how many talking cats they had access to, but he supposed once magic was in play, the everyday conceptions of reality shifted. He had shushed her and ushered her down to a secure room deep below the house before allowing any further talking. ¡°Okay, we should be safe now. Not that I disagree with sending someone as incognito as a cat to find me again this loop, but what¡¯s the plan for making contact from here?¡± Harold asked. A small figure appeared standing on Mother Scrump¡¯s back. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sleek, one of Cal¡¯s mana spirits, and the plan is pretty simple now. Cal caused a giant distraction while Mother Scrump and I went to find you. So that was part one, part two was getting inside your house, and now we are on part three. That¡¯s the final part!¡± Sleek said all of this with the enthusiasm of a child who had done something they considered amazing If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°And what is part three exactly?¡± Harold asked. ¡°It¡¯s time to put a gateway to the void house down here,¡± Sleek answered, soaring across the roam as she did so. ¡°I think this corner would be the perfect place. What do you think?¡± ¡°Sure, it¡¯s as good as any, assuming you can make contact through the shielding down here,¡± Harold answered. ¡°If I were a human, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able too, but luckily I¡¯m not!¡± Going along with her point, Harold watched as a cracked formed near where she was standing, slowly expanding into a large vortex, into what he guessed was the gateway. Scrump and Sleek ran through it the moment it stopped growing. Harold already knew what his decision would be once contact had been established and followed after them. Loop 257 - Part 5 ¡°Alright, I like what you¡¯ve done so far. The diversion and giving them a well-deserved bloody nose with no real losses on our side was smart, but it¡¯s also just a start. Before we get into the next steps, we need to cover information security. From this point forward, anyone who doesn¡¯t already know where someone else starts a loop is not to be told about it. This is especially true for me,¡± Harold had taken over the briefing after he himself had been caught up on the events. He reminded Cal somewhat of Andy, but harder, likely from a life of whatever being a spy really entailed. ¡°Sleek, you heard the man, no telling me where Harold lives, same for you Fulginanis, as I assume you can tell where the portal ends,¡± Cal said. ¡°Thank you, and to that end, I will need to borrow Sleek again so we can form another gateway from which everyone can operate back and forth,¡± Harold said. ¡°Of course, I love trips! You will have to bring Scrump too, though, if you don¡¯t want Cal to come along,¡± Sleek replied, dancing across the air from Cal to Mother Scrump and petting the cat when she landed. ¡°Understood, at some point, I will need a primer on how spirit bonds work exactly, or as exactly as you can give me. Continuing down the need-to-know basis, is it possible to move Bug to the root network? As I understand it, it won¡¯t work on humans, but can she be added without Ethel¡¯s help?¡± Harold asked, looking at Gus as he did so. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve never really done it without her,¡± Gus started to explain before Libby cut him off. ¡°Yes, I can do it. I understand how the system works now, and with Bug present, it is easy enough for the system to copy her location from her brain. It is an amazing thing Ethel has created, and I sincerely wish to have a long conversation with her about mana manipulation and computer automation,¡± the librarian robot answered. ¡°Good. I want her added to secure Trashcat¡¯s starting location. From what I understand, Bug initially found Trashcat, and while I know the network picks her up earlier than when he found her now, I¡¯d still like to protect that information as much as possible as it¡¯s another link to my whereabouts,¡± Harold further explained. ¡°I understand the purpose of all of this. I was in the military, so I promise I¡¯m not trying to downplay it, but what is the next step to getting my wife and son back? Both of them have already been through so much since this all started, and the idea of them experimenting on them, possibly turning them into their zombie soldier things, is horrifying. We need to free our people,¡± Stan said, his voice held steady despite the fact that his face didn¡¯t share it. ¡°We are going to war. Well, it¡¯s probably better to say we are already at war, and this is just a new front. The next steps are going to be raiding several locations I know of that, at the very least, used to be Agency buildings. While those of us who are most equipped to do the smashing and attacking, I will be doing some covert operations. Is anyone in the room interested in learning how to blackmail a senator?¡± Harold smiled at his question. Cal didn¡¯t expect there to be any takers and was surprised when Alfred stood to speak. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°I think I would work as your best accomplice in something like that. People expect dogs as companions. No one would bat an eye to things I¡¯d be able to learn besides those who already know who I am, which should help us gain even more intel,¡± the dog explained his reasoning. ¡°I like it. Alfred is on my team, then. The next big question is, is there anything we can do to increase our strength during this loop quickly? Any untapped resources we are sitting on?¡± Harold asked the room. Cal had a few possible ideas but started with the one he would have already done by now if it hadn¡¯t been for the last two failed loops. ¡°Bug, do you think you can heal Grannus? Getting their realm working and connected to ours would not only give me a power boost, but it would also give us some potential resources to be mined in the future.¡± ¡°Hmm, probably. I was gonna try already when I had the chance. It¡¯s not fair Grannus has been stuck outside the void house for so long. He should be here partying with everyone, well, when there are parties again. I miss the capybaras,¡± Bug answered with a sad look back at Cal. ¡°We will get them all back, Bug, no matter what it takes. Alright, that¡¯s one thing Bug and I can work on after this meeting. Does anyone else have any suggestions?¡± Cal asked the room ¡°I will see what I can do to summon some of the Arctic primal creatures here. They may be able to supplement our fighters. I also have enough materials for another two doses of loop-awareness concentrate, assuming the loop runs to completion,¡± Andrew answered. ¡°That needs a better name, but good. We can probably get some more materials this loop during the raids anyway. But much more importantly, I heard you can summon penguins. Is this true, Andrew? Have you been holding out on us?¡± Cal asked, trying his best to keep the laughter out of his question. ¡°He can also summon a polar bear!¡± Bug interjected before Andrew could respond. ¡°Yes, probably. I could in the Under Library. I will try to reestablish contact out here as well,¡± Andrew answered, looking both happy and annoyed at the same time. ¡°Do we have any candidates for the injection?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Besides a few more of the animals? Not really. There¡¯s a couple of people I¡¯d consider that we¡¯ve worked with before, especially Tim, though I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Agency thinks he¡¯s already loop-aware following our Mars mission,¡± Cal answered. ¡°We can lengthen that list later. For now, I¡¯m going to get another gateway established so we can start some real raids unless anyone has anything else to talk about.¡± Harold said, scanning the room as he spoke. ¡°Nope, looks like we are good for now. Bug you¡¯re with me. Scrump, Sleek, you¡¯re with Harold. Everyone else, let¡¯s meet back up in a couple of days for Agency raid planning,¡± Cal¡¯s words were followed by several nods. Harold had taken control of this situation handily, and Cal was grateful for it. Now, it was finally time to help at least one of his friends, the one who had been waiting patiently for far too long. Loop 257 - Part 6 ¡°Hey, Grannus, where are you hiding at? Bug and I here to give purification another attempt, and I even brought my dad along as Excalibur thinks he may be able to help make sure it lasts time,¡± Cal called out into the dark stone passageway in front of them. ¡°I¡¯m here. I started to think you had forgotten about me,¡± Grannus answered glumly. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s just been a hectic time. I¡¯m really sorry we haven¡¯t been able to visit you nearly as much, but it¡¯s time to bring you out of this exile permanently. How does that sound?¡± Cal asked one of his first mana spirits, the one whose powers he had manifested first. ¡°If you can do it, but it¡¯s really hard to put a lot of faith in that changing anymore. It feels like I¡¯ve been trapped with these weird invaders forever,¡± Grannus answered. Bug walked past Cal and sat down next to the rocky mana spirit. ¡°So I learned a trick to dealing with things that don¡¯t belong,¡± Bug started, causing Grannus to jump into the air and rapidly move their head, trying to find the source of the voice. ¡°Oh, sorry, forgot it¡¯s hard for these places to fully see me until I let them, but that¡¯s part of how I learned to deal with them. So before I work on purifying the realm, I want you to concentrate on how much this place belongs to you, Grannus. This is your home, and you will not allow anyone in here with your say-so, got it?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that,¡± Grannus answered. ¡°Perfect, I knew you could do it. Okay, Dad, could you stab Excalibur into the wall and stay here while these two work on their parts? Cal, we are going to need to go deeper into the tunnels and find the source of the infestation,¡± Bug instructed. Stan nodded back at Bug¡¯s orders, and Cal walked behind her as they both disappeared into the darkness. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan Bug? How do we clean out the infestation for good?¡± Cal asked as they walked deeper into the realm¡¯s cave structures. ¡°First, we find where the tear is, and I think one of the big problems is that Grannus hasn¡¯t been able to see it before. So, no matter how many times you tried to help them, it just wasn¡¯t enough to really stop it. Excalibur is forcing all the passageways open to us right now. Once we find that, you get to kill a bunch of weird Gryalth-mutated abyssal beasts while I try to patch up the wound. Once that¡¯s done, I think Grannus will finally be able to visit the void house and work on linking up the realm,¡± Bug explained. ¡°Also, it¡¯s nice to be an adventure together again, it feels like it¡¯s been forever.¡± ¡°Yeah, it sure does, doesn¡¯t it? I was planning for us to take a nice vacation after the Pluto and Under Library trips, but the Agency decided to make our lives hell before we get to that, apparently,¡± Cal replied, still furious at their actions. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Oh, that would be great. We really are gonna need one once this whole mess is done, though Ethel can come, right? She¡¯s going to need a long rest to get over what they are putting her through,¡± Bug asked frantically. ¡°Of course, I think everyone will be invited,¡± Cal smiled at the idea of a pleasant loop for once. ¡°How did Sleek get to go with Mother Scrump anyway? I thought she had to stick with you,¡± Bug asked as they continued their descent further and further into the darkness. ¡°Since Sleek hasn¡¯t formed her realm here yet, she was able to make a smaller secondary bond with Scrump. She will need to return to me every few days, but it will let her travel with Scrump out of the void house for a limited time. I don¡¯t know if it will last once our bond becomes even stronger, but we¡¯ll see,¡± Cal explained. Bug froze in place, causing Cal to almost trip over her. ¡°The tear is dead ahead. I can feel it. Get ready for a fight, bro,¡± Bug whispered quietly. ¡°Just say when, I¡¯m ready,¡± Cal replied, pushing some extra electrical mana into his waiting hands. ¡°Go now!¡± Bug yelled as a blue aura of light sprung up all around her. Cal did as she asked and ran past her into the massing armor of tentacle bear monsters he hadn¡¯t seen in so many loops. He shot two blasts of lighting into dozens of them. They dropped without even a chance to fight back. He had absolutely no problem stemming the tide of creatures as poured from the tear. If nothing else, the fight had made Cal realize just how far they had come from the first time they had encountered one of these. Soon, Cal watched as the tear sealed itself, slowly turning into a black gash in the rock face. Before he had a chance to ask Bug what was next, everything disappeared in a flash, and he was standing back in the center of the void realm with his father, Excalibur, Bug, and Grannus. It had worked. The mana spirit had a smile on its face, which Cal had never seen before. ¡°So buddy, ready for getting your realm attached to the void house?¡± Cal asked the small spirit. ¡°Absolutely, I¡¯m going to go ask Fulginanis right now where the best spot would be to do it, but I think a mountain behind the house would be pretty nice myself. You could even build some rooms into it. What do you think?¡± Grannus asked, distracting themselves from their original plan. ¡°Works for me. Just make sure Fulginanis helps get it laid out right; this is their realm,¡± Cal replied, watching Grannus instantly leap into the void in search of the other mana spirit. ¡°Man, it feels good just to do something right for once, no complications,¡± Stan said, rubbing his hand through Cal¡¯s hair. ¡°Yeah, it really does. I hope Harold is having just as easy a time, but in the meantime, let¡¯s go see what we can scrounge up for a meal,¡± Cal said, looking at the family that he had started this loop with and once vowing in his head the rescue the rest. Loop 257 - Safehouses & Gateways ¡°Will Roger be joining us in the void house? He¡¯s such a nice cat; he could play with all the kittens!¡± Sleek said as she darted back and forth in the back of the van. ¡°Yes, I want to keep him safe, and that seems like the best place for him right now. I¡¯m sure he will enjoy it,¡± Harold replied. They had been driving for the last day, stopping a few times to switch vehicles and once for Harold to take a nap. ¡°How come you wanted us to keep your house secret from Cal?¡± Sleek asked. ¡°This is war, Sleek, and it¡¯s going to get dirtier before we finish it. Right now, the Agency isn¡¯t aware of my starting safe house, and other than the single gateway we¡¯ve placed there, I intend no action to be taken from it to continue to protect my starting point of the loop. That also means that if anyone else was captured, it¡¯s entirely possible the location could be pulled from their brain, even from something as simple as torture, but if they don¡¯t know the information, it can¡¯t be shared,¡± Harold explained, as he pulled the van into a driveway and opened the garage, parking inside. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Oh, that makes sense; I think I need to learn a lot more about spies; is that what you are?¡± Sleek asked. ¡°I was for a very long time, and I¡¯ve done something I truly regret. Hopefully, it¡¯s time I put my skills to use for a better cause. Alright, let¡¯s get to the basement and form a new gateway. We¡¯ve got some raids to plan,¡± Harold said, trying not to dwell on the many unpleasant memories from his past. Loop 257 - Part 7 ¡°Hi, I¡¯m supposed to meet my dad here for lunch,¡± Cal said in the best innocent child voice he could muster. One of the benefits of looking like a kid whenever the loop restarted was that it was surprisingly easy to blend in. Harold had given him a few basic instructions on how to look different, and he followed them entirely. He had changed his clothing from the usual t-shirts and jeans to something a bit more formal, and they had dyed his hair. So far, he had sat in an Agency building waiting in line to talk to the secretary for thirty minutes, and no one seemed the wiser. The name he had used had come from a list of people Harold was reasonably sure worked at the location. They cross-referenced it and found out who had kids, and now Cal was here about to make them regret letting him pass security so easily. ¡°What¡¯s his name?¡± The lady behind the desk asked, in that semi-dismissive tone adults often use for kids. ¡°James Elroy,¡± Cal answered with a slight smile. ¡°Alright, one second,¡± she replied before picking up a phone and saying, ¡°Yeah, hey James, your son is here to see you,¡± followed by some silence before she resumed. ¡°He said lunch; I don¡¯t know why he thinks that look. I¡¯m just going to send him back. You can deal with it,¡± She finished and hung up the phone. ¡°Go ahead and head back. He¡¯s in office seventeen on the second floor, don¡¯t get lost.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Cal said. He didn¡¯t like her at all. She seemed like the type to be cruel to kids just because, but considering where she worked, he shouldn¡¯t be surprised at all. He walked through the corridors, just fast enough to seem like he knew where he was going but slow enough to take in as much of his surroundings as possible. This was about to be the second battle of their war, and he intended this one to be a complete victory. The building was mainly a series of corridors, and once he reached the elevator, he found buttons for three subfloors as well as the second floor. He assumed there was at least one more subfloor with a different way to access it. He pressed the button for the second floor, waited for the elevator to beep, and found the door he had been looking for. Now, the trick would be getting through the door and taking the man out quickly and quietly enough before he realized that Cal wasn¡¯t his son. He knocked on the door. ¡°It¡¯s open; just get in here,¡± he heard a voice call from the other side. As Cal opened the door, the man he claimed to be his dad was already ranting at him, somehow apparently too annoyed to notice that Cal wasn¡¯t his son. While he was glad the plan was going so well, he did feel a pang of sadness for the man¡¯s actual kid. He certainly wasn¡¯t the father of the year material. ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but yeah, not actually your kid. " At the same time Cal said this, he hit the man with a weaker bolt of electricity while leaping over the desk and punching him in the face. ¡°Form the gateway here,¡± Cal said in his head, knowing Fulginanis had been waiting for the signal. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal: you get to stay alive as long as you make any noise, got it?¡± Cal said to the man who was writhing in pain below him. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. His answer came between pained sobs. Moments later, the gateway formed in front of the desk, and Stan stepped out. ¡°Need any help?¡± He asked, looking at the man on the ground. ¡°Yeah, get him back through. Have Lightspeed and Andrew handle it for now. We likely have only a few minutes before the gateway is noticed, so get the others back here as soon as possible, and then we can start the carnage,¡± Cal answered. Stan didn¡¯t waste a moment with an answer, instead quickly grabbing the downed man behind the desk and vanishing back through the portal, only to return less than a minute later with Frank, Twonger, Bug, and Gretel behind him. ¡°You all know the plan. They get one chance to surrender, but we are taking down everyone in the building,¡± Stan said with a look of grim determination. ¡°Teams of three, Twonger, Bug, let¡¯s go,¡± Cal said, walking towards the door. ¡°Good luck, dad. As Cal and his group reached the end of the corridor in search of the stairs, he heard gunfire erupt somewhere behind them. He thought he could make out Frank yelling something before the gunfire abruptly stopped. That meant the stealth portion was over. He turned around and launched several large balls of lightning down the hallway they had come through, detonating them once they were spread out enough to take out most of the offices. Within seconds, the second floor had erupted into a chaotic firefight as the Agency¡¯s men tried to respond to what had happened, not fully realizing just what was happening. The door to the stairwell opened just as Cal reached it. ¡°Drop the weapons, only warning!¡± Cal yelled. No one listened. Electricity arced off his body through everyone in front of him. Each of them dropped to the ground where they stood, dead. He knew the regular humans had basically zero chance of standing against them at this point. The only thing he considered potential threats were any ogres housed here. At each floor they passed as they descended, Cal stopped briefly before continuing the descent to launch another volley of lightning balls through. ¡°Yos feel that?¡± Twonger asked as they reached the bottom. ¡°No?¡± Cal said questioningly. What was Twonger picking up on that he wasn¡¯t? ¡°There¡¯s something different on the side of the door. I can kind of get a reading on the mana type, but not fully, so be careful,¡± The alien warned. Bug walked in front of Cal before he could open the door, and Cal felt himself enveloped in some kind of shield. ¡°Open the door, but I¡¯m staying in front,¡± she said. Cal pushed the door open and immediately understood what Twonger had been feeling. Down the corridor in front of them was something out of nightmares. It looked like three people had been melted together. Two of the heads seemed to be already bleeding, and based on the lines, he guessed that was just what they did now. The Agency had created some sort of chimera ogre. Cal added that to the ever-growing list of reasons to destroy them utterly. Cal looked into its horrifying eyes, and that was when it started crying. Loop ?? - Somewhere Else ¡°What the fuck, where the hell am I?¡± A loud voice asked as it looked around to the black emptiness surrounding it. ¡°Hello, Onelder,¡± a second, much more tired voice replied. The name was enough to trigger his brain into dredging up his final memories. Onelder was reasonably sure he should be dead, and even if he somehow wasn¡¯t, why was he here? The figure that had spoken his name came into his view as the blackness lifted around them. ¡°Wait, I know you, don¡¯t I?¡± Onelder was reasonably sure he knew the man in front of him; it was on the tip of his tongue. ¡°Almost certainly, who doesn¡¯t know the name of Merlin?¡± The figure winked, and a few things clicked for Onelder. ¡°Wait, no, what the hell is really going on? You ain¡¯t just Merlin,¡± Onelder said. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Let¡¯s table that line of thought for now; some things are best left unsaid until the end. Going back to your first question, you are in a small spacial bubble in the abyss. It¡¯s much easier to be unobserved here. What¡¯s going on is a lot more complicated, but for now, I have a proposition for you,¡± Merlin said. ¡°And what¡¯s that exactly? Can¡¯t a man even die a hero in peace these days?¡± Onelder said, still trying to work out how any of this fit. ¡°No, well, I mean yes, it is possible, and you came incredibly close, but due to how and where you died, eventually, you¡¯d have risen as a spiritual creature with all your previous memories intact, if not quite your body. I¡¯m speeding that all up because I need your help,¡± Merlin said. ¡°Somethings never change, do they? What do you need?¡± Onelder asked, finally understanding what was happening. ¡°Have you ever considered a career in locomotives?¡± Merlin asked, smiling. Loop 257 - Part 8 Voices whispered to Cal. A chorus of sounds, both familiar and alien, laid out the reality before him. The fight was already lost. He could not win. ¡°Cal, it¡¯s okay, son; sometimes we just lose; no matter what happens, we can¡¯t always fight; it¡¯s time to stop." His father¡¯s voice was the first he recognized from the crowd, but there were more. ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve done enough. You tried, and you failed; that¡¯s just the way it is,¡± Andy said. ¡°The Gryalth are just so much more powerful than us; what can we really hope to do?¡± Ralth¡¯s voice added on. ¡°It¡¯s possible if we surrender now, the Agency could find a way to beat them. It¡¯s not like we will actually be able to win against them either,¡± Andrew said. Waves of sorrow washed over Cal as he realized the reality he was in. They were right. He wasn¡¯t someone who was cut out for fighting an alien invasion. Who was he to think he could do better than a group of trained soldiers? What he really needed to do was lay down. After a nice long sleep, that was the time to make the surrender call. He knew it needed to be done, but it would be easier with some rest. He did wish the baby would stop crying though; through everything, it had been there in the background, quietly crying. Why wasn¡¯t anyone checking on it? Who just leaves a baby alone to cry nonstop? As these new thoughts started to take root in his head, a voice cut through the rest of the chatter. ¡°I am Bug. I¡¯m also a dog, that means my job is to help people, all people, and I want you to know I am deeply sorry for what has happened to you. The people that did this to you are monsters. They are still controlling you, but if you let me, I can help you. We can work through the pain of what they did to you. They took a lot of my friends too, and that makes me sad, but what they did to you makes me angry, so you should let me help you. I know it hurts to ignore their orders, but I promise I¡¯ll help you; just walk away from them and come over here.¡± Bug was speaking gently but firm, and with her voice, Cal felt the despair melt away. The opressiveness of the air around him vanished. He opened his eyes and found that he had laid down on the ground. Twonger was on the ground next to him, also slowly opening his eyes. In front of them stood the horror that had caused this, but it was no longer crying. The soldiers behind it were though, as they dropped to their knees, wailing in pain. The monster reached out one hand slowly and then gently pet Bug¡¯s head. ¡°Good dogie¡± one of the heads said.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Thank you. Now I want you to come with us, okay? When we finish, you¡¯re going to come home with us too, and we will figure out how to help you, and I promise that every loop I will come save you,¡± Bug said, and Cal noticed the tears in her eyes. ¡°Bug, are you and your new friend good?¡± Cal asked as he stood up and shot a blast of lighting down at the remaining Agency men. ¡°No, but they will be,¡± she said, her voice now a low growl. ¡°Okay, now I¡¯m pissed!¡± Twonger said, moments before he ran ahead, kicking in the first door in front of them. Cal heard the cries of surprised people on the other side of the door, but the fight was over before he reached it. Twonger had not needed any help. Twonger and Cal repeated this display at every door down the corridor. Not a single person offered surrender; most attempted to fight. None of them stood a chance. ¡°Alright, hopefully our new friend was the worst they had to throw at us, so let''s dismantle the rest of this place and get going,¡± Cal ordered after they had cleared the area and found an entrance leading further down. They were too late to scavenge anything on the lower floor, as it was already on fire by the time they found it. It appeared the Agency had realized fighting back was a lost cause and instead moved to torch whatever records they had had down here. Cal fired off several balls of lightning, just to stop any of them that may have been slow to evacuate before they climbed back up to the spot they had come in. The building was now pouring out smoke, and flames were starting to engulf whole corridors. They found the room occupied by the other three already as they entered. Frank was carrying two men in collars while Stan had a third with zip ties on his hands in front of him. ¡°Prisoners?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Kind of, this guy surrendered; only one; the other two are ogres we managed to take down without killing; who is your, uh, friend?¡± Stan asked, gesturing to the monster behind them. ¡°They are my new friend, and I¡¯m going to fix what the Agency did to them, and then they are going to help us repay the Agency for every monstrous act it has ever taken,¡± Bug said, her growl still there. Something exploded in the distance, and the floor shook. "Alright, time to go; this place doesn¡¯t have much time left,¡± Cal ordered. Stan pushed his prisoner through, following behind. Cal let everyone go before him, wanting to make sure everyone was safe before he was willing to make his own exit. He stood in front of the gateway, charging up the biggest lightning blast he could, dropping every bit of extra mana he could pull from his core into it, and let the ball fall at his feet as he leaped through the gateway and closed it behind him. He did not see or hear what happened next, but he knew there was no way the building would survive that. They had sent the Agency their next message and soundly won the second battle of the loop. While he knew there were many more to come, it was still reassuring that it was possible to fix the damage they had done. Loop 257 - Part 9: Harold ¡°You ready for this, Alfred?¡± Harold asked the dog as they neared their destination, a dog park in Washington D.C. where his intel suggested a certain senator walked his dog every day. ¡°Yep,¡± Alfred answered. Harold had practiced walking him on a leash for a few days before this mission, making sure Alfred still remembered how. He had been concerned with the dog''s increased freedom that it was a skill that had potentially faded, and while that worry had proven true, it didn¡¯t take long for Alfred to relearn how to, at least, act as though he was under Harold¡¯s control. Harold was impressed at how quickly the dog had taken to subterfuge. He carefully parked the car and looked over to the eager dog. Time to see just how well of a pair they made. He exited the car and walked to the other side, opened the door, and latched the leash onto Alfred¡¯s collar. It all had to look as authentic as possible. Alfred hopped out of the car, following behind Harold. Harold felt the dog tug at the least leash every so often as they walked through the park, maneuvering their way through the crowd, closer and closer to their target. It didn¡¯t take long until Harold thought they were close enough to engage without the senator being able to easily slip away. ¡°Senator Elsin, it¡¯s been a long time. How¡¯s the family doing?¡± Harold gave the man a beaming smile as he asked the question. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Do I know you?¡± The senator asked in return. He was trying to hide his annoyance with Harold, but he saw straight through it. ¡°Now senator, we go way back, that time in Paris, and before that Tokyo. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten,¡± Harold dropped the tone of voice from friendly threatening with the final statement. ¡°Go away, Harold; I can¡¯t be seen with you in public. You should know that,¡± Elsin replied. ¡°Oh, and I do, very much so, which is exactly why I¡¯m here. I have a very big problem, and you¡¯re the biggest asset I can control to help solve the problem. So walk with me, or I promise I will make your life more miserable than mine has become. Am I clear?¡± Harold let the contempt he felt for anyone connected to Agency into his voice, hoping to hammer home just how far he was willing to go if the Senator considered not listening. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s walk, but can we make this quick? I have appointments,¡± the senator answered, moving closer to Harold as he started moving further away from the crowds. ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad there¡¯s at least a little sense left in you. And how quickly this will be entirely depends on you. So, before I start asking my questions, I want you to remember two things as you consider what to do next. You are aware of only some of the things I¡¯ve done in the past. Consider how much you don¡¯t know and how far I¡¯m willing to go. For the second thing, what¡¯s left of my family has been taken hostage and is likely being actively tortured. Consider just how much that adds to my motivation at the moment,¡± Harold said angrily.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Understood, but I hardly see how this involves me,¡± the man replied. ¡°It¡¯s the Agency, Glenn. That¡¯s how it involves you. You may not be directly involved with them, but I know for a fact you are on the committee that oversees them. Here, take this,¡± Harold passed over a small folder. ¡°That is a list of everything I want and an address I want it all sent to, and yes, I know right now you are weighing just telling the Agency I approached you, but why don¡¯t you pull your phone out and see what¡¯s happening at their site in Colorado right now.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve gone insane, man, if you think you can do anything to them,¡± Glenn laughed as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. ¡°But, fine, I¡¯ll humor you. Hey Jim, everything going okay over there?¡± There was a brief before he continued. ¡°Oh, damn, that does match the intelligence I just received. Alright, just look into what happened and I¡¯ll be back to the office shortly.¡± ¡°Have I made my point?¡± Harold asked. ¡°How? How can you possibly have a strike force strong enough to be raiding Agency sites, or for that matter remotely think you can win this long term?¡± The senator shook his head as he asked this. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you exactly one name to look into, and I think that might just be enough for you to understand what level of war is going on behind your back, and just maybe you will choose the right side. Cal. Now, good day, senator,¡± Harold said as he walked away from the man, Alfred, in tow. Once they were safely back on the road, Harold looked over to Alfred and asked, ¡°So what did you see?¡± ¡°Elsin himself didn¡¯t seem to suspect anything about me, but there were at least two men who were paying an unusual amount of attention to all of us, especially after our walk started. I¡¯m not sure if the senator will survive long enough to get us any useful intel,¡± Alfred answered sadly. ¡°Yes, I was worried about that, guess we will have to keep the old fool alive then. Can you summon Bart, please?¡± Harold asked as he turned the car around. ¡°What do you need boss man?¡± Bart asked the moment he appeared in the back seat. ¡°Change of plans, we need to go keep the senator alive. Have Cal move on to raid site two; I have a feeling Alfred and I are about to be a giant distraction and get your ass back here once you¡¯ve told them. We are going to need to help,¡± Harold explained the new game plan to Bart. ¡°You sure we can handle this ourselves?¡± Alfred asked after Bart had vanished. ¡°Not even remotely, but we¡¯re going to try anyway,¡± Harold responded. Loop 257 - Super Secret Spies ¡°Hey Cindy, ready for the switch?¡± Hugo asked the small newly arrived rabbit as he slowly lowered himself by his tail until he was face to face with her. They were under the cover small, dense tree. ¡°Yep, see anything interesting?¡± She asked back. ¡°Not really. I don¡¯t know what they expect to find here. You¡¯d think they¡¯d know if Cal got outta the house so early in the loop, there would be nothing there to find,¡± Hugo responded. After Scrump and Sleek¡¯s return with Harold from the newest gateway, they took another to Earth and made a new, very small gateway deep in the woods near Cal¡¯s childhood home. The hope had been that if it were small enough, it would go undetected. The downside was the size of the creature that could fit through it, luckily, the void house had a few subjects perfect for the job. Cindy Hopper and Hugo were now trading off on reconnaissance missions.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on now?¡± Cindy asked as the agents in front of the house started moving around frantically, as one of them was shouting into a phone. ¡°Sounds like Cal¡¯s raid went off perfectly. Whoever is on the other side of the phone is warning them to be careful and talking about possibly pulling away from the house entirely.¡± ¡°Interesting, guess I should hang out for a little bit longer and take all this info back as well,¡± Hugo said. ¡°Guess you should,¡± Cindy agreed, glad for a little company. She hadn¡¯t been looking forward to a few days alone spent spying and hiding, but Bug said they were the reason Ethel wasn¡¯t here, so she¡¯d do whatever it took to help rescue her. Loop 257 - Part 10 ¡°Everyone listen up. Harold wants us to hit the next place immediately. He needs a distraction while he tries to keep a senator alive. I¡¯ve got what might be a worse idea: we are going to hit six sites at once. Scrump and Sleek have the gateways placed at all our known sites. We each take one and start doing as much damage as possible. Once you either finish or retreat, return to the void house and confirm no one else has gone through your gateway, and pick another to help the person still there if you are able. Any objections?¡± Cal said the newly returned fighters. ¡°Frank wants to smash!¡± The tree man bellowed to the room. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no. Alright, everyone go see Gus in the gateway hall. He will give you your assignment. I will drop in first and see if I can¡¯t draw any resources to my location, hopefully increasing the chaos when you five attack yours,¡± Cal explained his plan. He had a feeling Harold wouldn¡¯t fully approve, but he was also reasonably sure he¡¯d be okay with it, especially if it worked. Results were what mattered the most here. Cal was the first one through, and he had chosen what he thought would be the most difficult place to hit as well. Not only should this draw resources from Harold¡¯s problems, but it should finally make the point clear to whichever of the Agency loop aware people thought this was a good idea. He walked right through the front doors of the building, past the secretary who started screaming that children were not allowed past that point, and into the first occupied office he found. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Cal Marshall. You may not know that name, but I promise someone in your chain of bosses does, so if you could let them know I¡¯m here and want to have a conversation, that would be great,¡± he said these words with a dangerous calm in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, who are you? You need to get out of my office right now. I¡¯m calling security,¡± The man replied, not at all doing what Cal had asked. ¡°Sure, just make sure you give them my name. It¡¯s important,¡± Cal pointed his finger at the window behind the man¡¯s head and shot off a blast of energy into it. The glass shattered, shards raining down the exterior of the building. The worker who had already picked up the phone looked at Cal with sudden terror but continued to dial whoever he had started to call. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a kid in my office, says his name is Cal Marshall. He just somehow shot out the glass in my window with his finger. He¡¯s demanding to the people in charge,¡± there was a brief pause before he continued his frantic speech. ¡°I don¡¯t know, please can you just get over here!¡± he dropped the phone onto the desk as he said this. ¡°Why so scared? It¡¯s not like you work for an evil organization that has been kidnapping, imprisoning, and enslaving innocent people, have you?¡± Cal dropped his smile and let his anger show through his expression.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. I just work on the data, matching information to addresses, nothing else,¡± The man responded. Cal spotted the name on his desk: Craig Ross. ¡°You have to understand, Craig, that¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m here. This building is the one that handles the information of who needs to be captured. That information is then passed over to the ones that do the real hunting and tracking. Why did you think this building had so many subfloors? What did you think was going on down there?¡± Cal asked, hearing footsteps approaching in the distance. ¡°Ah, Cal, we haven¡¯t met before, at least face to face,¡± The new man standing in the doorway flanked by guards said. ¡°Actually, we have. There¡¯s a reason I decided on this place. During one of the early loops, when it was just me, for the most part, you captured pretty much all of my family. I¡¯m reasonably sure your name is Clark, or at least that¡¯s what you call yourself. Harold told me what he knew about you, which also leads me to believe you had me killed in yet another loop before that. So that three loops you¡¯ve been directly involved with fucking with my life. So now I¡¯m here to talk to you,¡± Cal explained. He stood up and straightened his pants as he did so, trying to make it look like he felt totally and completely unthreatened by Clark and his goons. ¡°That would make sense, I am generally involved in a lot. Just how many loops have you been through before we became aware of the event?¡± Clark asked, clearly trying to pry out information Cal had zero intention of giving up. ¡°Not enough to have been entirely prepared for what was coming, clearly, but now it¡¯s time to change that. Walk with me, Clark. I¡¯d like to talk to you outside in the sun, unless of course, you¡¯re worried about what might be waiting,¡± Cal said. ¡°I¡¯m always worried, but sure, we can take one last walk this loop, the needed people are listening to make sure the knowledge of what happens here lives on to the next loop,¡± Clark responded. ¡°Perfect, I was hoping they were,¡± Cal walked past Clark down the hall he had come in out into the sunshine. Clark and the men were following behind him. Cal was somewhat surprised his on-the-spot plan was working. They were sure that Clark himself wasn¡¯t the one in the loop, but they didn¡¯t have enough info on exactly who was, so carefully, Cal retraced his steps over the stone where he had dropped something on his way inside. The moment Clark stepped over it, the stone rose up, encompassing him entirely, other than a few small breathing holes near the top. The capsule Cal had dropped was crushed in the action just as he planned, releasing the gas to knock the man unconscious just in case of any pesky suicide plans. He then turned around and shot several arcs of lightning through the men behind Clark, opened the gateway behind the stone coffin, pushed Clark through it, and followed after it. ¡°Special delivery, I¡¯ve captured a big one, don¡¯t let him wake up. Get Andrew down here to keep him out until I¡¯m back,¡± Cal said before jumping back to Earth. Loop 257 - Stan鈥檚 Rage ¡°The first one to tell me where my wife is gets to come out of this alive!¡± Stan yelled as he kicked open the door in front of him. The room behind him was already littered with people who had neither surrendered nor answered his question satisfactorily. ¡°The few of us who do know what you are talking about will not tell you anything. We already have reserve troops coming in to handle you. So it doesn¡¯t really matter what you want,¡± answered a man nearly as tall as Stan himself. The ego he exuded did nothing to temper Stan¡¯s rage. Stan stepped forward and began once again slicing down his foes. He didn¡¯t care if reinforcements were coming or not as long as he managed to cause enough damage to sate his anger for the time being. ¡°Ready?¡± Stan asked out loud. ¡°I am. I can sense several ogres outside,¡± Excalibur answered.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Perfect,¡± Stan sliced Excalibur one more time across the person in front of him before raising it above his head. Energy lanced out of the sword in all directions, tearing through the building and bouncing through everything it hit. Within moments, the pair were the only two still alive in the room. As Stan left the building, he spotted two of the ogres still alive, if only barely on the ground. After a brief internal debate about leaving them, he decided they were likely innocents in this and that if Bug could help them as well, it could be a boon for their war. ¡°We have to bring them with us, don¡¯t we?¡± Stan asked the sword. ¡°Seems like the right thing to do, no matter how angry you may be,¡± Excalibur replied. Stan sighed as he went to work getting the two back to the void house. Loop 257 - Part 11: Harold ¡°So, what idiotic thing did you do?¡± Harold yelled at the senator the moment he was out of the car and standing on the lawn. ¡°What? I haven¡¯t even had a chance to do anything yet, so why are you here yelling at me in front of house and family?¡± Glenn questioned back. It was the first time in these meetings that Harold had heard true anger out of the man. He realized the senator really had no idea what was going on. The man had been out of the real game too long. ¡°Dammit, Glenn, you really didn¡¯t make the Agency guys watching you? I did everything I could to pull their attention away, but we have about five minutes at most before one of their hit squads comes smashing through your doors. I want you to go get your family packed as light as you can. Don¡¯t take long. I doubt we can handle anything beyond the first squad,¡± Harold ordered the man. Glenn looked like he was about to reconsider. The car that squealed into the driveway behind Harold¡¯s quickly changed that. The senator ran through the front door, screaming his wife¡¯s name as he did. Harold felt a gentle breeze blow across his body and looked over to see Alfred¡¯s mouth moving. It was hard to make out what just what he was saying, but it sounded like low singing. The sound of a car door opening drew Harold¡¯s gaze back to the newly arrived vehicle. Four men were climbing out. ¡°Gentlemen, you strongly don¡¯t want to do this. If you haven¡¯t realized it yet, your group is at war, you¡¯re losing badly, and I really don¡¯t have time for prisoners,¡± Harold deeply wished he had brought some of his weapons cache with him but hadn¡¯t remotely expected this level of resistance. This was supposed to have been just some easy blackmail. He wondered just why they were already watching the senator so strongly. There was no way to predict Harold was going to reach out; there was something he was missing here. ¡°On the ground now, hands before your head!¡± One of the men yelled. All of them had drawn their guns. ¡°No, I assume you don¡¯t have any ogre hidden in there?¡± Harold asked. He knew they wouldn¡¯t answer but wanted to make it clear where he stood on what was happening. ¡°There are several more squads coming. I promise you will regret not complying,¡± the man further ordered. ¡°Thanks for the warning; I guess we have no time to waste. Alfred, send Bart inside to check on the senator and then show these guys exactly what they¡¯re up against here. I fear they¡¯ve severely misunderstood the situation,¡± Harold turned back towards Alfred as he spoke, seemingly dismissing the threats from the agents. ¡°Bart, go check on the senator, please. As for you all, unlike Harold, I am willing to accept your surrender. Drop your weapons, and we will figure out how to take you with us without killing you. Any further hostile moves will not be tolerated.¡± Bart had appeared behind Alfred as he gave his warning, disappearing into the house before it was done.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Dammit, it¡¯s one of the mutated animals. Why didn¡¯t they tell us we need more backup!¡± one of the men yelled. ¡°Shut up and do your job,¡± the first ordered. No one dropped their weapons. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I did warn you,¡± Alfred said before he began to loudly chant. Each of the men¡¯s guns exploded into a fireball that grew until what was left of each of them dropped to the ground. ¡°What the fuck did you do?¡± The senator yelled, having returned outside with his family led by Bart. ¡°We didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Everyone in my car now, Glenn, you¡¯re driving; follow me as closely as you can. Alfred, if he tries to deviate, do whatever you need to,¡± Harold said. He walked over to what remained of the agents and looked around until he found another set of keys and hopped into their car. He ignored the kids crying. It reminded him too much of who he had failed to save in his own life. They had managed to escape before any more men arrived. Harold led the car for several miles before pulling to the side of the road and telling them to get out. The rest of the trip was on foot. ¡°Leaving a car behind, what if they use it to find you?¡± Glenn asked. ¡°Unlikely, but I¡¯m also not leaving it behind. I suggest you walk quicker,¡± Harold answered. Minutes later, there was the sound of an explosion somewhere behind. The car was gone, but that would draw even more attention. ¡°Glenn, against my better judgment, I¡¯m going to take you to safety, but before I can do that, I need to know why the Agency seems to care so much about you these days. They were shocked that I was there with Alfred, so this had nothing to do with me. What the hell is going on with you?¡± Harold asked. ¡°I¡¯d rather not say, especially in front of my family,¡± Glenn whispered the second part. ¡°Find, but you won¡¯t be coming with me any further until I¡¯m satisfied. Alfred take the rest of them through the gateway. Close it if I¡¯m not back in five minutes. I¡¯ll find a different one,¡± Harold ordered the dog. ¡°Take us where? Glenn, what is happening?¡± His wife finally spoke, nearly in tears herself. ¡°It¡¯s okay, trust me. This is the best thing for your safety right now. I¡¯ve done things that are catching up to me, and right now, the best I can do is give you and the kids a chance at surviving everything,¡± Glenn answered. ¡°Please follow me. I promise I won¡¯t hurt you on my honor as both a paladin and a dog,¡± Alfred said. Somehow, that was enough to convince the kids, with Glenn¡¯s wife reluctantly following after them. ¡°It¡¯s just you and me now. So start talking if you want to see them again,¡± Harold said. ¡°I was there, Harold, when all of this started, well maybe not started. I think they¡¯ve established now that Cal Marshall was in the loops before us. But I was one of the people who ended up cursed with this existence when your people raided the lab, and I didn¡¯t go straight to the Agency with my knowledge unlike Brice. So they have no idea exactly what to do with me, though after this event, I doubt I¡¯ll be getting anything but a bullet to the head next loop,¡± Glenn explained. ¡°Well, huh, that I wasn¡¯t expecting, alright, get in there after your family, and we will talk. We will figure it out,¡± Harold pushed the man through the gateway and stepped through after him. ¡°Clark?!¡± Harold heard Glenn¡¯s startled words as he appeared on the other side, and sure enough, there was an unconscious Clark, mostly rapped in a stone straight jacket. Maybe the day wasn¡¯t a loss after all. Loop 257 - Part 12 Cal walked back into the building and began to indiscriminately fire off lighting blasts as he calmly walked down the corridors, moving meticulously from floor to floor. He had decided it was past time to cut loose. The agency was far too confident in their ability to win the war they had started, and that was the important point, the one he wanted to harp until he was blue in the face. They had started the war, all while Cal, his family, and friends had been trying to save everyone on the planet from the threat of extermination by a hostile alien force. But his anger had finally turned into something much more useful, a driving sense of what had to be done. He doubted this building housed any of his missing people, but he would still thoroughly check each floor as he destroyed them. When he finished, nothing would be usable and he was sure there would be an army waiting for him on the outside. Hopefully, this was the kind of distraction Harold had needed. Several soldiers ran in front of them. A few of them even had some magical abilities, to his surprise. He had been sure that, for the most part, the agency only allowed anyone with a mana core to exist as an ogre. But that was something to ask the new prisoner about. Dwelling on it now would just slow him down. He launched two void-infused lightning blasts in front of him. That was all it had taken as he continued his hunt. Room after room fell to him, and he wondered if the Agency really understood just how much more powerful than them, most of his group had become. This wasn¡¯t like the start, where a single ogre was a matter of life or death. At some level, they had to have understood as their initial assault made sure to render him unconscious, but was that out of fear of his strength or just fear of the loop restarting? Those were more questions for Clark to answer. Once he reached the lowest level, he paused to take a longer look around. There were a lot of machines here that had areas for humans to be strapped into. Cal wasn¡¯t sure what the function of each of them was, but he imagined it wasn¡¯t some kindness they were doing to their subjects. They needed to keep a list of every facility they found, as it looked like most loops were going to start with wiping the Agency out. Many loops ago, he had entertained an idea of a possible alliance, but that had long since gone out the window. He supposed a non-aggression treaty was possible if only to save themselves time in future loops. He had no idea how something like that could be enforced, though, so it didn¡¯t seem likely, only possible. As he continued his search of the room, he noticed one of the doors was still sealed to another chamber. He opened it, wondering what they were still hiding down here. The room was full of scared, crying kids. The oldest was maybe ten. To his own amazement, instead of the rage overwhelming him at the discovery, all that hit was worry for the kids. He had to bring them back with him to the void house, and that made his planned exit much harder. These children would need to be rescued in every loop along with Bug¡¯s new friend. Maybe even every ogre if they could find a way to help them. It was certainly a good way to start building the army they would need come invasion time.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Hey guys, I know you¡¯re all scared, but it¡¯s going to be okay. I promise I¡¯m not one of them. I¡¯m just a kid like you. I¡¯m going to get you all out of here,¡± Cal said, doing his best to smile and sound reassuring. Interacting with kids his own current biological age was a strange experience and something he had been avoiding for many loops. ¡°Where are our parents?!¡± The biggest one of the kids yelled back at me. He had probably been trying to take care of the rest of them as best he could. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m sorry, but if I can get you all out of here to a nice, safe place with a ton of friendly animals, we can work on finding them. I promise, okay? What¡¯s your name?¡± Cal asked, trying to remember that he was in the body of a kid himself, and it didn¡¯t sound like a creepy old guy offering candy. ¡°I¡¯m Randy and do you really promise to get us out of here? They keep hurting us, and I just can¡¯t protect everyone,¡± Randy replied, tears filling his eyes ¡°I do, every time,¡± Cal said. Even if they didn¡¯t know what that meant yet, he would stand by it. ¡°Alright¡­ what do you want us to do?¡± Rusky asked, a lot more subdued this time. ¡°I want you all to follow me, carry any of the smaller kids who can¡¯t walk on their own if you can, okay? And it¡¯s really important that we all stop each each stairwell and you let me explore ahead and then call back to you before you follow,¡± Cal explained. He hoped this would keep them safe on the way back. While he said this out loud, he called Fulginanis in his head. ¡°Please tell me someone is back. I found a bunch of kids that I need to get out of here, and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s an army waiting for me on the surface.¡± ¡°Your father, Harold, and Alfred have already returned,¡± Fulginanis¡¯s voice said back inside Cal¡¯s head. ¡°Okay, let Dad and Alfred know what¡¯s going on and send them through to clear as much as they can. If anyone else gets there before we¡¯re back, send them too, unless you¡¯ve lost contact with me, then send no one else until someone else tells you differently,¡± Cal said to his mana spirit. He looked back at the kids again and really hoped he could get them all out of this. ¡°Alright, guys, let¡¯s do this.¡± Cal led them slowly out of the basement up the first flight of stairs, dreading the fight he was going to face once they reached the surface. Loop 257 - Bugs Offer ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Bug. If anyone would like to drop their weapons and surrender, I would really appreciate it if you did. I can even help teach you how to be a good guy. Have you ever considered that? We could all fight the Gryalth together instead of you being foot soldiers for the terrible people at the top,¡± she yelled the moment she entered her raid target. Several of the people in the lobby looked like they had seen a ghost as they witnessed Bug, the pedigree paladin, a very nice dog, speak, even if it had been to give them a chance at redemption. Some of them, though, seemed to listen. They reached inside their jackets and pulled their weapons out. They then dropped their guns to the ground and sat down, nodding to Bug.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Thank you, now please wait here for me. I need to talk to everyone,¡± she said as she barked at the closed door in front of her, blowing it off its hinges. Like Cal, she went floor by floor. Unlike Cal, she made the same offer to every single person she met. She killed no one and took no prisoners, only those willing to leave their weapons behind and follow her back through the portal. Once she finished she had about fifty men and women gathered outside the building. She had every intention of taking them all home with her. The first step to becoming a better person was understanding you had done something wrong, and humans always needed a dog to show them the way. Loop 257 - Part 13 ¡°Remember, it¡¯s very important you only listen to me or someone I tell you that you can too okay? If you see a big man with a sword, that¡¯s my Dad, do what he says. These other ones are a bit strange, but if any dog, tree man, or one-eyed alien tries to get you to follow them, you should do that, too. They are all my friends, and we are going to work together to get you everyone to safety,¡± Cal explained to the other children as they took the first flight of stairs together. ¡°You heard him, everyone, and if you can¡¯t remember, just follow me. I told you I¡¯d protect you, but he¡¯s going to be even better at it,¡± Rusty, the biggest of them, told the rest of the kids. Cal was surprised when several of the kids cheered. Apparently his appearance had been enough to overcome some of the fear. Despite what his frame may suggest, he had a hard time remembering just what it was like being that young anymore. The first resistance they encountered was a squad of soldiers on the main floor, Cal¡¯s clean out of the bottom levels had been thorough enough, it seemed. Before the men had a chance to realize Cal and the kids were there, Cal had already hit them all with a ball of lightning, the electrical discharge blasting their lifeless bodies backward into the hall. Cal heard one of the kids yell, ¡°holy shit!¡± behind him and let himself smile slightly. Okay, maybe he remembered a little bit about what it was like to be a kid. ¡°Remember how I said I wanted you to wait while I went ahead? Well, this is the time. I¡¯m going to go into the hall and stop anyone that wants to recapture us, then I¡¯ll come back for you, okay?¡± Cal asked the kids again, hoping the confirmation helped them listen. ¡°I got it,¡± Rusty said. He had gone from terrified when Cal first saw him to a look of hope. Cal wondered just how long these kids had been locked away. He walked through the door, avoiding the bodies of the soldiers he had just handled, carefully making his way back towards the way he had come in. There were about fifty soldiers in the main room, and they were screaming over each other about the madmen with the sword and the magical dog outside. Good, that meant they were more worried about them than him. By the time they noticed the light coming from the walls it was already too late as arcs of electricity flashed across the room, killing everyone it hit. Within seconds, there were a handful left standing. They pointed their guns at Cal. He detonated the ball of lightning sitting on the ceiling of the room. There was now a new much larger exit from the building, and no one was blocking his path. ¡°Dad, keep the path as clear as you can. I need to get all these kids to the void house,¡± Cal yelled to his father.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Stan shouted back, deflecting the blast of another ogre¡¯s energies. He was currently fighting over a dozen of them. They really had summoned the whole Agency this time. As Cal considered if it was even possible to get the kids through the melee, two more figures popped out of the gateway. Twonger and Frank had made it back home. Neither of them wasted any time throwing themselves against the ranks of soldiers. Cal ran back to the kids as quick as he could; now was their best shot. He couldn¡¯t count on Bug and Gretel showing up and adding more firepower to their side. There was also the likelihood that something much worse as coming. He wouldn¡¯t put it past the Agency to nuke the base just to start the loop over at this rate. ¡°It¡¯s time to run, guys. As soon as you get outside, I need you to run for the weird black dot hanging in the air. We all need to get through that. I¡¯ll be going in last. There should be some very nice people on the other side waiting for you. Now run!¡± Cal ordered the kids, taking off himself in a dash. He checked behind him about halfway down the hallway to make sure everyone was following, and they were. As they cleared the door Cal fired off several shots of lightning to further clear the pathway. Alfred joined him on the run, and a large bubble popped up around them all. He heard a noise overhead and saw a whole new problem incoming. At least a dozen helicopters armed with missiles were coming in from above, far out of his usual range. ¡°Fulginanis, I need help if you¡¯ve got anything that can shoot down some helicopters before this turns into a bloodbath for us,¡± Cal shouted in his head. He didn¡¯t think there was anything, but who knew what that Gryalth woman could do? To his surprise it was the robot Libby who emerged from the portal. From their arms, several rockets fired into the sky, each finding their mark. Several helicopters started to fall back toward the Earth, damaged beyond the ability of the pilots to keep them in the air. ¡°Go, kids, Alfred, take them home. I¡¯ll get everyone else back!¡± Cal yelled as he turned to fight the ever-growing army facing them. ¡°Come on, kids, I¡¯ve got you now!¡± Alfred yelled, and none of the kids questioned it as they followed the dog to safety. ¡°Everyone retreat the kids are safe,¡± Cal yelled, fighting his way to his father, trying to get the big man his own exit. The ogre still in front of them split in half as Excalibur came into Cal¡¯s view. ¡°Good, then let¡¯s go!¡± Stan roared over the noise. They were the last two still on the battlefield, and the second they made it through to the other side, Cal closed the portal behind them. His return coincided with Bug¡¯s march of her prisoners of war through the portal. He had never seen this many people in the void house together before and certainly not in this cramped room. ¡°Gus, get the kids to Ethel¡¯s realm and try to cheer them up. Bug, take your prisoners to the situation room, and we can work on figuring that out later. I need to find Harold,¡± Cal said, exhausted. Loop 257 - Gretels Discovery Gretel popped out of the gateway just in time to smell a capybara. She was reasonably sure it was in the cage being loaded into the back of a truck. This entirely changed what her plan had been. The raid was over. She had to get on that truck now. She ran as quickly as her four legs could carry her, dodging between cars, and reached the truck just as the men loading it turned away to grab another crate. She hopped in the back and quickly jumped over several boxes and crates until she thought she was well hidden in the back of the truck. After the next crate was shoved in, the men slammed the doors closed, and darkness flooded the room. She didn¡¯t have long to make her decision, and she knew it. ¡°Bart, can you hear me?¡± She asked in her head. ¡°Sure can, what¡¯s up Gretel?¡± Bart asked, popping into her view.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Shh,¡± she hushed the specter. ¡°I need you to tell the others that I found the capybaras, and they are going to want to raid this place in about twenty minutes. I¡¯m going to stay with the truck and see if maybe there are more of our missing friends at the destination. So once you let them know, I need you back here so we can keep them informed,¡± She thought the words at Bart again. He nodded before disappearing. Gretel went from crate to crate, quietly whispering to see if anyone was awake. There were no responses. Their life forces were all still strong, though; had they not been, Gretel would have torn many people to shreds. As it was, she still might do that when this ride was over. Loop 257 - Part 14 ¡°Bug, where did you get all these people?¡± Cal asked his sister. ¡°They surrendered, they want to be good people, but we can talk about that later. Gretel is on a truck with the capybaras. She didn¡¯t complete her raid and wanted us to hit them hard in about twenty minutes, which should be about five minutes from now,¡± Bug said. ¡°I really wish you¡¯d have told me that immediately, but we can discuss that later. Grab everyone, let¡¯s go!¡± Cal ordered. ¡°Can do. Libby, can you watch my new friends?¡± Bug asked the robot. ¡°Of course, I¡¯d be delighted,¡± they answered. ¡°Thank you,¡± Bug said as she exited the room behind Cal. He wondered just when she had become so polite. ¡°Does Bart know where Gretel is going?¡± Cal asked as they walked back to the gateway room. ¡°No, they are going to try to figure out where they are as soon as they reach their destination,¡± Bug answered. ¡°Does she have any kind of plan at all?¡± Cal didn¡¯t think she did and couldn¡¯t fault her. There was a good chance he¡¯d have done exactly the same thing, but he didn¡¯t want to lose her or the capybaras again when they were so close. ¡°Is Albert or Bill with her?¡± Alfred asked. He had caught up with Cal and Bug. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know,¡± Bart said, popping into view, likely to make the conversation easier. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s what I want her to do. Get all the crates open and see if she can find Bill or Albert, preferably both. If she can get them awake and ready to fight, she stands a real chance at handling wherever they are taking them,¡± Cal said. He had a feeling the prisoner moving was in response to their assaults. ¡°Alfred, I need you to stay here with me.¡± Harold had joined them. ¡°I¡¯ve got Glenn and his family in the dining hall. The second she stops, I need Bart to describe everything he sees. It¡¯s possible Glenn knows the location. We will need to get there as quickly as we possibly can.¡± ¡°Dammit, we can¡¯t all go on this raid. Frank, you¡¯re with me. Everyone else needs to go back to the moon with Twonger and take his ship back here. Have it to teleport you to her exact location. Wreck everything you can,¡± Cal said, trying to form a plan as quickly as he could.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Don¡¯t you think we should do that, and you can make a gateway and get them back here instead?¡± Stan argued. ¡°He can¡¯t do that. The second he is seen there, all hell will break loose. At this point, they know Cal is by far the most dangerous of us, and if he attacks Gretel¡¯s original location, that might just draw away attention to where she¡¯s heading. Have I ever told you all before that I really wish you did more thinking before acting?¡± Harold asked after his explanation. ¡°Probably, but too late to worry about that now. Twonger, how long will it take your ship to grab me and get me over there after you¡¯re down?¡± Cal asked. They needed to be on their way to see the frog as soon as possible. ¡°Ten minutes, five to recharge after dropping us, five more once it has you,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°I¡¯m not sure just what Frank and I will end up facing, so Bart it¡¯s critical you keep everyone up on the information needed. Fulginanis stay with Alfred and Harold and let me know anything I need to know. Good luck, everyone.¡± Cal received several nods in return as the group broke apart toward their separate destinations. ¡°Ready, big guy?¡± Cal asked Frank as they stepped in front of their gateway. Had he known he¡¯d be heading right back into the fray Cal would have been a bit more conservative in mana use on the last trip, probably. The more he considered that the less he was actually sure of it. The imprisoned kids set him off in a way that made it hard to regulate his power usage. ¡°Frank is ready and willing to crush. Mother must be found!¡± the giant tree man said, and Cal entirely shared his sentiments. He was pretty sure the animals would destroy the planet if that were what it took to get her back, and as for how Frank would go, that was likely as far as needed, no matter the consequences. ¡°Good, remember this is essentially a total Cal and Frank smash job; that building is going down the moment we clear all the floors of our people or innocents,¡± Cal said before stepping through the gateway; sure, Frank would be right behind him. Once through, Cal looked around at the situation. There were several large trucks still sitting in the parking lot; he hoped that meant there were more of his friends still here. ¡°Frank let¡¯s start by making sure none of these trucks have any cargo we want and making sure they can¡¯t be used again,¡± Cal said as soon as Frank popped in behind him. Frank didn¡¯t even bother to confirm and charged forward towards the nearest one, ripping the rear door off in seconds. The inside was empty. The scene repeated itself several more times until on the second to last one, they found a few crates full of animals. ¡°Frank is both happy and sad!¡± Frank yelled after finding them and realizing they weren¡¯t any of their missing allies. ¡°I get it buddy, no capybaras here, but we should get these back through the gateway anyway. I don¡¯t want to leave any living creature to the Agency after the shit I¡¯ve seen. Go drop them off, and I¡¯ll take care of the final truck,¡± Cal ordered. Cal heard the giant man quietly whispering to crates of small animals about getting them to safety as he broke off towards the last truck. He didn¡¯t have Frank¡¯s brute strength, but luckily, the back door was unlocked. The truck wasn¡¯t remotely empty, and what he found inside, he had no idea what to do with. They certainly didn¡¯t have the resources to handle this new problem. There were dozens of chained-up Gryalth, all still alive in the space in front of him. Loop 257 - Part 15 Cal took long enough debating what to do that Frank met him at the back of the truck. ¡°Oh,¡± was all he said. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know what to do here. Seems like killing captured prisoners is pretty wrong, even if they are Gryalth,¡± Cal explained. He wished that Andy or Ethel were here now, or even Harold. This wasn¡¯t an easy decision for him and he guessed they¡¯d have a somewhat better time at it. ¡°The Titananic Tree Titan thinks that we should smash the engine and destroy the building. We can figure out this mess later!¡± Frank suggested, and Cal wasn¡¯t entirely against it. ¡°Hey Frank, think you can push this truck if it¡¯s neutral?¡± Cal asked. He had a second idea. There was a nice prison setup right here, and it was already mobile. ¡°Probably, why?¡± Frank asked back. ¡°We¡¯re going to go smash the building, and then we are going to drop this off at the void house. Just gotta give them time to make room!¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure if there was time, but he¡¯d let Fulginanis be the judge of that. So, as they ran towards their new target, Cal had a mental conversation with his mana spirit. ¡°Fulginanis, can you make enough room for us to bring a truck through the gateway, a full-sized semi-truck, to be clear?¡± ¡°How soon?¡± Fulginanis asked. ¡°Twenty minutes tops. Don¡¯t want to miss Twonger¡¯s ship,¡± Cal answered, knowing that was a very small window of time. ¡°I will do my best. Good luck,¡± Fulginanis replied. Several security guards were yelling at Cal to stand down; somehow, they hadn¡¯t yet seen Frank, who came barreling in from their side, scattering them with a yell of ¡°Run or die!¡± ¡°Alright, you take the top floors. I¡¯ve got the bottom. If the other one isn¡¯t back out here in ten minutes, go looking for them,¡± Cal ordered. There was nothing special here, just a cause as much mayhem as possible to give the others the best chance. With that in mind, Cal followed directly behind Frank, who was using his own body as a battering ram. The doors flew inwards, broken and ripped from their hinges at his impact. ¡°FRANK IS HERE!¡± he bellowed into the room as he charged in after the destroyed remnants of the doors, tearing apart walls and desks in his path.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if Frank¡¯s strength had been growing rapidly or if it was a matter of being back on Earth, where most buildings weren¡¯t made of solid rock. He was sure the big man¡¯s rage at his missing mother wasn¡¯t hurting his destructive capabilities either. Cal ran past the destruction of the first floor into the stairwell and made his way for what seemed like the millionth time this week down through basements and sub-basements into the bowels of yet another Agency building. Each floor was virtually abandoned, speeding up his time until he hit the bottom floor again. Unlike the last place, there were no children waiting for him, though, this time, there were thirty or so people wearing the ogre collars. Apparently, the Agency had started to plan for their raids. Cal suddenly wished he had brought Frank down here with him as blasts of both fire and steam nearly melted the skin off his body. He only managed to avoid it by throwing himself backward onto the ground and was now in a terribly prone position for just how outnumbered he was. This was a problem. He was going to need to find a new mana spirit for Scrump and get Sleek back with him. For now, he worked with what he had and released a shower of dancing electric balls into the air, each of them with just a hint of void energy. The following explosion and scream let him know that someone had already fallen into his rapidly executed trap, giving him time to get back onto his feet and get a good read of how screwed he was. There were now twenty-eight remaining ogres. This had clearly been meant as an overwhelming number, and it probably was for every other member of his group, but Cal knew he had been at this the longest and was likely far more powerful than the rest of his friends and family, except maybe Bug. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what his sister could do anymore. There was also no way he was running away from this one. Taking the ogres down here and getting out alive would likely be a pretty big blow. These thoughts ran through his head in a fraction of a second, with the final decision coming after his hands had started launching arcs of lightning into the room. At the same time he did this, he detonated the remaining flashing orbs in the room, causing the void mana to trigger within them. Several more of the ogres were blasted by the force both outward and then inward. Some collided with the walls others collided with each other. There were only fifteen still standing, but that was still plenty to be a major problem as a blast of what Cal guessed was plasma came within inches of his side, the heat still burning him as the beam melted through the wall. Whether he wanted to retreat or not, it was time to go. He had no idea they had people with access to this level of power enslaved. Surrounding himself with a bubble of electricity, he ran for the stairs, hoping it was enough to keep him mostly alive during his escape. He ducked into a roll, crashing into the second flight of stairs as he turned and just barely managed to avoid the two pointed icicles that embedded themselves deeply into the steel side rail. Forcing himself back to his feet, Cal managed to ascend the right of the way out of the bottom level and found Frank heading his way. ¡°No, too many ogres. We need to get the truck through and get the hell out of here!¡± Cal yelled at his friend. Frank nodded and they ran for the surface level together. Loop 257 - Back in the Void House ¡°Libby, I know you¡¯re watching the guests, but I need your help. Gus will take over for now,¡± Fulginanis said as they appeared in the situation room. ¡°Okay, coming,¡± the former librarian from an otherworldly infinitely large system of all knowledge said. The people that had been recruited into this alliance amazed Fulginanis whenever they dwelt on the variety. Once the robot was in the portal hall, their head spun to Fulginanis full form and asked, ¡°Need another reinforcement attack?¡± ¡°No, I need you to knock that wall out as quickly as you can while I move this portal,¡± Fulginanis answered. They could deal with the other problem later, but Fulginanis was reasonably sure the truck wouldn¡¯t float far by the time they had somewhere big enough to set it.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Can do,¡± Libby¡¯s answer was followed by a rocket firing from their mouth into the wall and then their robot body smashing it into further rubble. ¡°Good enough?¡± ¡°It will have to do. We don¡¯t have much time left, and it seems Cal is running very ahead of schedule,¡± Fulginanis answered. They were not remotely surprised that a Cal plan was changing on the fly. While they couldn¡¯t imagine trading their bond for another, Cal was an interesting man, to say the least. ¡°Why, what¡¯s¡­¡± Libby never got to finish the question as a giant semi-truck, complete with a trailer, came hurdling through the portal. Loop 257 - Part 16: Gretel & Stan Gretel paced the trailer, debating if she should get the capybaras out sooner or later. She really hoped Albert and Bill were here; the more help she had, the better their chance of making it through this was. Whispering a prayer to several dog paladins long gone, she felt her claws grow sharper and began to work the top of crates off. Shortly she had over a dozen freed capybaras, with twice that to go, and so far, no Albert or Bill in sight. What worried her even more was that this only accounted for around a tenth of the capybara population in the void house. She deeply wanted to know where the rest of her friends were. Either way she had needed to get all of who was here free and get them to safety the moment the truck stopped. There was no way she would leave them any longer in the Agency¡¯s hands. By the time she had felt the truck come to a complete stop, she was surrounded by mostly alert capybaras, and very angry capybaras. The last thing any of them remembered was their caves being flooded with a strange smell. ¡°Yes, it was the Agency. They made their move on a lot of us. This is the second loop in a row we¡¯ve been fighting them. The first, they even managed to capture Cal, Stan, and Bug. We only got this far, thanks to Trashcat and Bart. Speaking of which, the moment those doors open, Bart, get as good a look around as you can and get back to Alfred. Make sure he and Harold know everything. As for you capybaras, I want to scatter, far and wide, go into hiding once you¡¯re out of here and do not come back unless you are sure we¡¯ve secured the place. Try to work your way to Cal¡¯s, but stay in the deep woods outside. We can find you there,¡± Gretel explained. ¡°Shh,¡± Lou, one of the capybaras, hushed her. There was movement outside. She readied to attack, wishing she weren¡¯t alone in defending the others. The door opened. Gretel sprang forward, knocking down the two men who stood outside the truck. Bart followed behind her and vanished within seconds of exiting. ¡°Go,¡± Gretel yelled back to the capybaras while she looked around herself. She was inside a walled-off parking lot but doubted that would do much to stop the capybaras. The real problem was the gate to the giant complex had opened and hundreds of men were pouring out towards her. She was far outnumbered, and she was still very much alone. ¡°You sure you want us to go?¡± Lou yelled back to Gretel, stopping briefly. ¡°Yes, there is no reason for us all to die here!¡± she ordered, hoping desperately that Bug and the others would be here soon. Two blasts of lightning knocked her off her feet. As she saw the ogres emerging from the back of a different truck, she realized her mistake and why neither Albert nor Bill had been there. The capybaras were bait and she was now in a trap. ¡°Bart, this was a trap; I know you probably won¡¯t be able to reach Bug before she gets here, but make sure Alfred and Harold know. They are going to have to stop Cal!¡± Gretel shouted in her mind while her feet ran in the opposite direction the capybaras were moving. She would buy them time for their escape.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. * Stan had just appeared on Titan alongside Twonger and Bug when the owner of the only house on the moon appeared, walking annoyed towards them. ¡°Look, we are only here for a few minutes. Things took a bad turn, and we need to use your moon as a way to hide our plan. The ship will be here again shortly,¡± Stan said to the frog. ¡°I would really prefer if you didn¡¯t make this a habit,¡± Glurm said. ¡°And we¡¯d really like it if you actually helped!¡± Bug said back, managing to sound nice and angry at the same time. ¡°Yes and as I¡¯ve informed, in multiple timelines from what I¡¯ve been told, I have no interest in that, and good, I believe that¡¯s Twonger¡¯s ship out there. Please leave,¡± Glurm increased his glare as he said this. Stan fighting back an urge to pull out Excalibur and remind the frog of his old friend, instead nodded at Twonger. A slight disorientation later, and they were headed back to Earth. ¡°I really do not like Glurm,¡± Stan said. ¡°He isn¡¯t so bad, I actually believe he is enjoying our company right now and just pretending he isn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t tell you why, though,¡± Excalibur explained. ¡°And we¡¯re back. The ship¡¯s programmed to grab and drop off Cal and Frank as soon as it can. Let¡¯s go, idiots!¡± Twonger said, doing nothing to help Stan¡¯s mood. The scene that greeted him as they appeared at Gretel¡¯s location snapped him past his breaking point. They were already surrounded, and Gretel was, at best, unconscious, dangling limply over the shoulder of one of the ogres. He pulled Excalibur free and slashed forward without a word. There were no tactics to win this. Bug was likely already telling Bart to keep Cal away. They had no escape. The best they could do was keep Cal alive for now. All around them, a barrier of bluish light appeared, centering around Bug. ¡°I can¡¯t hold this for long against those numbers. If we can get Gretel free and awake, she can help. We need to hold until Cal gets here!¡± Bug yelled ¡°Cal should not come here, Bug. We are not going to win this fight!¡± Stan yelled back at her. ¡°He won¡¯t listen, it¡¯s already been tried, Bart was able to warn Alfred. So Cal knows what he¡¯s walking into. Now we just need to make sure he has a chance to survive it!¡± Bug yelled, determination clear in her voice. ¡°Bug¡¯s got a point. I don¡¯t like last stands, but not much of a choice, let¡¯s kick their ass!¡± Twonger added. ¡°Alright, if there¡¯s no other option, let¡¯s get that dog back!¡± Stan leaped forward as he said this, cutting two people in half in a single swing. Excalibur released a beam of energy straight at the ogre holding Gretel as Stan reversed the thrust. ¡°For Gretel!¡± an unexpected cry went up from the far wall. Loop 257 - A Scattering of Capybara ¡°Boys, boys, wait!¡± Lou yelled at his fellow capybaras, who had all made it over the wall thanks to Gretel. They stopped and looked back at him. ¡°We can¡¯t leave Gretel behind. It¡¯s wrong, and you all know it, we don¡¯t have any magic. She¡¯s the one they need to find; they rest the boys!¡± ¡°So what do we do?¡± a different capybara asked. Lou couldn¡¯t tell who. ¡°Grab anything that will work as a weapon. We may not have any of our tech with us, but we can still fight,¡¯ Lou said, bending over to grab a nice thick stick. He thought it would work as a club. He wasn¡¯t stupid, though; most of them weren¡¯t going to survive this, but it was wrong to leave her behind. Even in his half-dream state, he could remember hearing someone screaming in pain where they had been kept.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He heard something change on the other side of the wall. Was that Stan¡¯s voice? And now Bug¡¯s? ¡°Boys, grab whatever you can; reinforcements are here. We aren¡¯t staying on the sidelines!¡± Back over the wall, three dozen capybaras went, this time armed with anything could find. Most carried sticks, a couple some broken pieces of metal, and one a broom handle, but they all joined in the cry as they hit the ground running. ¡°For Gretel!¡± Loop 257 - Part 17 ¡°Fulginanis, I do not care if it¡¯s a trap. Everyone is now there. We don¡¯t have a choice but to smash through it,¡± Cal said out loud instead of mentally as his anger flared. ¡°Frank agrees!¡± Frank added. Cal didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him Fulginanis couldn¡¯t hear him. ¡°Cal, can you hear me?¡± It was Harold¡¯s voice in his head now. ¡°I can. How are you doing this?¡± Cal asked in confusion. ¡°I am broadcasting Harold into our conversation; he has important things to say, and it seemed easier this way,¡± Fulginanis explained. ¡°Okay, you aren¡¯t going to convince me to stop either, Harold,¡± Cal said, annoyed. ¡°Not planning to, you¡¯re right. This has gone way too far on their part. We can¡¯t lose that many people and expect to win. We may as well restart the loop, but we have too many assets for that right now. I doubt they are honestly expecting you to come at this point, it¡¯s a colossally stupid move tactically, but also, I¡¯m sure they aren¡¯t expecting you to have much help to bring,¡± Harold explained. ¡°Okay, that part¡¯s true, though. I don¡¯t really have any help,¡± Cal replied. ¡°There¡¯s Alfred of course, plus Libby, Serilina, and her cat are going to join you. I want you to have Frank keep you safe long enough to get a new portal opened there. Once that happens they will join in the fight. Andrew is working on something as well, but no promises beyond that. Remember though, it¡¯s not important we win here. It¡¯s important we get everyone home,¡± Harold said. Cal was glad someone agreed with his plan. His vision blurred for a second, and he was onboard Twonger¡¯s ship. There was no going back now, anyway. ¡°Five minutes,¡± he told Fulginanis. ¡°We will be ready,¡± the mana spirit replied. ¡°Alright, Frank, here¡¯s the plan. You keep anyone off me until I got a gateway open, once that¡¯s up, we don¡¯t stop until either we can¡¯t fight anymore or everyone is safe in the void house. Sound good?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Frank is ready,¡± was all the response Cal was given. They waited the next five minutes in silence. Cal¡¯s vision blurred again, and he was in the middle of a battlefield. The fight was still raging on. There were capybaras leaping onto soldiers, tearing with their teeth, some hitting them with sticks. Stan was bruised and bleeding, fighting an ever-increasing number of ogres while Bug and Gretel were loudly chanting. He couldn¡¯t spot Twonger and had no time to search as Frank intercepted their first attack.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Fulginanis, drop the gateway here, quick. Everyone is still up, I think, but I have no idea how long that will last,¡± Cal yelled in his own head and watched as, within seconds, a portal appeared in front of him. He turned around to give Frank new orders but saw the tree man had already gotten directly into the fight. He had two rescued capybaras on his shoulder and was holding an ogre in on hand, swinging the person like a club into the soldiers. Cal saw several figures come out of the portal as he added his own contributions to the battle. Several well aimed arcs of lightning through as many of the soldiers in front of his father as he could. He had finally spotted Twonger as well. Bug and Gretel were standing on his downed form, protecting him. That likely meant he was still alive. A tidal wave of water came sweeping out from the Gryalth woman to Cal¡¯s side. Strangely, she had brought her cat just like Harold had said. He was sitting calmly on her shoulder. Cal was too late to react as he saw the plasma blast that had nearly killed him before going straight for the cat, only for the cat to calmly raise a single paw and bat it away and then start cleaning the paw. He was forced to ignore the disbelief at what he had just seen for now as several ogres were now in front of him. This wasn¡¯t going to be easy; he was still exhausted from the previous three raids of the day, but he didn¡¯t let that stop him as he threw the ogres into the air as he rose the stone below their feet rapidly upward. Behind him, two more figures came charging through the portal from the void house: a polar bear and Captain Lightspeed covered in some sort of armor. Cal realized he was being ridden by Gus, of all people. Gus was carrying some sort of gun. The dog chanting had gotten much louder. Alfred had made it to the other two. There was a real chance they were all going to get out of this with some returned friends. ¡°Everyone start falling back!¡± Cal screamed this as loud as he could. The capybaras took up the call, making sure everyone had heard him. ¡°Libby, keep track of the capybaras. We want all thirty-six back to the other side. Serilina, follow me. We¡¯re going to make sure everyone has a path to retreat through!¡± Cal barked the orders out. He and Gryalth woman advanced towards where his father and the dogs were fighting, electrifying and washing away everyone that stood in their way. ¡°Good to see you, Cal, gonna be honest, didn¡¯t think this was remotely possible to win, we ready to go?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Yep, start moving backward. I¡¯ll keep the fight up if you can grab Twonger and any capybara we see,¡± Cal replied, launching several void balls in front of him to break up the newly swarming soldiers. Slowly, they fell back, gathering up several capybaras and a certain tree man as they moved. Cal still wasn¡¯t sure how the polar bear had gotten here, and it was hard to believe Gus was riding across the battle, blasting away at people, but even they were now falling back. Captain Lightspeed had a few extra riders, and even two capybaras were clinging to the fur of the bear. ¡°Libby, how many capbaras do we have?¡± Cal asked as they neared their gateway home. ¡°Counting everyone with you, we are still missing one,¡± the robot answered. ¡°Dammit, does anyone see the last capybara?¡± Cal yelled before spotting the little guy himself. One of the Agency soldiers was punching him on the ground. Cal¡¯s temper exploded as he poured every last bit of mana from his core out into the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the parking lot and throwing everyone, ally and enemy alike, to the ground. A small earthquake shook the countryside. The last thing Cal saw as he fell to the ground unconscious was Frank carrying the wounded capybara. Loop 257 - Part 18 ¡°You really need to stop knocking yourself unconscious with your power use, Cal. How many times have you woken up in a bed in the void house having done that so far?¡± Cal was pretty sure it was Andrew¡¯s voice speaking to him, but the pounding in his head made it hard to be sure. He forced his eyes open and confirmed that it was indeed the first one to be stuck in these loops and the reason he was in them as well. ¡°Did we get all the capybaras?¡± Cal asked. His own pain wasn¡¯t as important as the rescue of his friends. ¡°We did. Believe it or not, you¡¯ve only been out an hour or so. The dogs are working on patching everyone up. Harold wants you to know that you managed to cause a small earthquake with your stunt and that you did a great job,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Where did the bear come from? And the armor on Captain Lightspeed plus Gus¡¯s gun, were those you?¡± Cal asked, still confused about that part of the battle. ¡°That was Cirtar, one of the friends I made during a very strange visit to the Arctic two loops ago. Ask Andy if you want more details. I¡¯ve yet to figure out how to summon him directly here, but I was able to get him through to the under library and then bring him back here. As for the weapons and armor, no, apparently Gus and Lightspeed felt like they weren¡¯t doing enough and have been tinkering around for a while now,¡± Andrew explained. ¡°So are we counting this as a win then?¡± Cal asked. It sure sounded like somehow it was one. ¡°Yes, we are,¡± Harold said, having just entered the room. ¡°In fact this is a decisive major victory for our side here. In the final tally, we took back more of who they had captured, sprung their trap, and escaped without loss while hurting them again there. We have thirty-six returned allies either being debriefed or patched up for future debriefing. We captured one of the top Agency men. We have several surrendered prisoners that Bug is debriefing, and we have a handful of captured ogres, so we can learn how the tech works and see about freeing them in future loops. Then there are the children you rescued, all already exposed to mana spirits in some fashion. What we need to discuss first, though, is just how powerful you¡¯ve become. Can you reliably channel that level of mana, Cal?¡± Harold asked after he completed his tally. ¡°I doubt I can do that again with some time to practice. I haven¡¯t had full access to these powers before now, and once the realms merge more it should get even stronger. As for how powerful I am now, that¡¯s hard to say. There¡¯s a lot of weird shit going on inside me that I have trouble fully understanding most of the time. If you want a full breakdown, let¡¯s see. It started with Andrew¡¯s injection, then the three mana spirits, and then we added this place. I picked up a world seed on Mars, and something else went into me on Pluto. I met Sleek. And none of that even includes the weird console and quests it has sitting there that I never remember to check because it creeps me out to think of my life as some sort of game! Sorry, sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to start yelling. None of this is either of your faults. Well, the first part is Andrew¡¯s, but I understand why he did it,¡± Cal explained.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°That is a lot to take in, alright we can table most of that until we beat the Agency, but we are going to have to have a long conversation and try to unravel just what every resource we have is and how best to help you, Cal,¡± Harold said gently. Cal thought that man looked a little guilty following the outburst. He¡¯d rather not have caused that, but it was too late now. ¡°Thanks, but going back to the previous topic, there¡¯s also Bug¡¯s new friend,¡± Cal said. As horrifying as the image of them was in his brain, he knew it was not remotely their fault they had been turned into that, and they gave him a good way to jump off other unpleasant conversations. ¡°Yes they are one of the big discussions I have specifically for you two, the children as well. Andrew, we should bring Bug¡¯s friend into the loops and use them as an undercover agent in case things go south in the next loop. We should also do that for Rusty and start working through all of the kids, loop after loop. That¡¯s a potential fighting force and something we desperately need in the long run, but in the short run it means we will have people starting off directly within the Agency aware of what is coming. It¡¯s a great tactical move,¡± Harold explained. ¡°Yes, we should do that, assuming Andrew is okay with it. We also need to work on a list of who to start bringing into the loops. We need to maximize our resources, I¡¯d been thinking about that before. The more we expand, the less we know what to do to run everything,¡± Cal said. ¡°I agree entirely with both points, but also there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been considering as well for a while. We are going to need a lot more than what we have and are even planning to find right now in order to stop the Gryalth. Their resources expand beyond this planet and beyond this universe. The Agency failed, and they had far more fodder than we do. We need to find a way to bring people into the fight when it starts quickly,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Oh yeah, I already thought about that too. Once we get have the Agency dealt with and all of our friends back safe and sound, then we can move onto that part of the grand plan, but for now, I have one word for you, bard,¡± Cal said with a genuine smile. It helped that Andrew¡¯s face had one of his old grimaces at the word. Loop 257 - Names & Friends ¡°There, does that feel better? I think I¡¯ve healed as much of the damage as I can for now, but I bet we can do more later. Can all three of you hear me?¡± Bug asked. Each head nodded yes. ¡°And the pain, does it still hurt?¡± She asked next. ¡°No, just strange,¡± one of the heads said. ¡°Good, alright, how about names? Does anyone remember theirs?¡± She asked this very gently, still worried about their fragile mental state. She had already spent the last few hours just patching them up and healing the strange internal damage as much as she could. Their mental state after something like this, though, she knew that wouldn¡¯t be good. It had been hard for her to hide her anger at the monsters who would do this, but it was important now to let it show right now.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°No,¡± all three heads said at once. ¡°Okay, I can give you names. Would you like that? Do you want separate names? I¡¯m not really sure how thinking works for right now,¡± she replied. ¡°Single name, thoughts run together, still figuring out,¡± they answered back. ¡°Hmm, how about Emily?¡± It was the first name that Bug could think of that no one in the void house had. ¡°Yes, we like it,¡± Emily answered. ¡°Perfect, now why don¡¯t you follow me? I¡¯ve got some new friends for you to meet, and don¡¯t worry, I already told them all about you, they know exactly what you¡¯re going through. Cal rescued them, too. My big brother does that a lot, and I think you are going to really like him the longer you hang out with us. Oh, and I need to teach you how to play D&D. It¡¯s really fun!¡± Bug said, guiding Emily into the hall towards Ethel¡¯s realm. Loop 257 - Part 19 ¡°Hi Clark, I know you don¡¯t remember the last loop, but I really dislike what you tried to pull there, and I¡¯m not very big on what you¡¯ve done in this one either,¡± Harold said to the man bound to a chair in front of him. Cal was watching from a monitor in the next room. Harold hadn¡¯t wanted anyone in the room with them as he had a feeling Clark¡¯s capture was part of the trap, but he hadn¡¯t been sure of just what part yet. ¡°Nice to see you too, Harold. How are things going for you?¡± Clark asked surprisingly calmly. It was almost certainly for the best Cal was not in the room with them, as he wasn¡¯t sure he could resist the urge to hit the man in the face after that response. ¡°Depends on what you mean, I suppose. I¡¯ve got a lot of information I want to collect from that head of yours, and one way or another, I¡¯m going to succeed, no matter how long it takes,¡± Harold answered threateningly. ¡°You say that, but if I understand things correctly, once this loop ends, you¡¯re out of time,¡± Clark answered. ¡°True, but you won¡¯t have any idea just what I got out of you for the next loop now will you?¡± Harold smiled back at the man. Cal appreciated just how scary Harold could be at times, especially here when needed. ¡°Interesting point, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll talk though,¡± Clark replied. ¡°How about you think about that for a bit, and I¡¯ll get back to you,¡± Harold said as he left the room. He soon appeared in the room Cal was watching from. ¡°What¡¯s the plan here?¡± Cal asked. ¡°We¡¯re keeping him indefinitely; we can never trust that he¡¯s told us everything, but once the new loop starts, they will always assume he¡¯s free,¡± Harold explained. ¡°Wait, how are you planning to do that? If we make him loop-aware, he¡¯s just going start back wherever he starts, with knowledge of the void house,¡± Cal asked. ¡°So this has been brought up before, well, kind of at least. Things do not sync correctly between us and the Under Library, and I ran this by Excalibur to get his opinion and he agrees with my assessment. If we leave Clark in the hub over there when the loop restarts here, it will break him off from his original person. So the one that starts the loop over will be like Andy was originally, and no, before you ask, we can¡¯t clone ourselves. Once I make you loop-aware, this won¡¯t work anymore. Not to mention the second any of the duplicates tied to return to Earth, they¡¯d be destroyed anyway,¡± Andrew explained.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Maybe,¡± Cal said. This was something he needed to explore more. He had a couple of ideas half-formed on some uses. ¡°Maybe what? They can¡¯t, I¡¯m sure of that. What are you thinking exactly?¡± Andrew looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. ¡°We need experienced people here to help with things. We don¡¯t even really need them to return to Earth, but they¡¯d need to be okay with that. Which I know is an incredibly hard sell. I¡¯m not entirely sure how to put this all together just yet, but it¡¯s all part of a giant plan that¡¯s slowly coming together, and I promise I will explain it to everyone one day,¡± Cal said. ¡°While I have nothing against planning ahead, for now, we need to get back to the matter at hand. Clark won¡¯t talk today, or likely anytime soon. I¡¯ll move him to the hub later, but I don¡¯t want him aware of anyone surviving the trap besides myself and Andrew,¡± Harold said. ¡°No, we shouldn¡¯t use Andrew. If we hold him long enough we can convince him Andrew is an adult Andy and we are changing the game on Earth. Just use your new senator buddy. He already met him, right?¡± Cal asked. He could not remember the man¡¯s name, and the more he thought about it wasn¡¯t even sure he knew it. ¡°That¡¯s actually not a bad idea, I need to go have a long discussion with Glenn anyway. You two should tag along. I¡¯m sure there will be a ton of questions, and this should make it easier,¡± Harold said. Cal shrugged and followed Harold toward the cafeteria. One of the best parts about the capybaras being back, even if not up to full manpower yet, was that the food had drastically improved. Somehow, despite all the loops, none of them were any good at cooking. Cal realized it probably had helped that they had no real reason to learn anymore. There was always an expert chef around. ¡°Daddy, why didn¡¯t you tell us you were friends with all these animals before?¡± a younger girl asked, sitting next to Glenn. ¡°I had to keep it a secret, Erin,¡± Glenn answered. ¡°Glenn, it¡¯s time for an overdue talk. I don¡¯t care if your family sticks around, that¡¯s up to you, but you, me, Cal and Andrew here are going to have a long talk on everything,¡± Harold said. ¡°Wes, why do you take your sister and go play with some of your new friends for a bit? Your mom and I have to have an important meeting,¡± Glenn said. ¡°You heard your dad, come on kids, have you met Captain Lightspeed yet? I¡¯ll introduce you,¡± Lou said as he sat down a tray of food on the table and ushered the kids to follow him. The girl followed him with a look of pure joy on her face. The boy, not so much. He did follow, though. ¡°Alright Glenn, so you were one of the people there when the Agency gained some loop-awareness then? How many other people can you identify who are also aware?¡± Harold asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe six. I didn¡¯t know most of who was in that room when the old lady, her dog, and the centipede came rampaging through,¡± Glenn said. ¡°You should understand this ahead of time, especially in regards to how you talk about our friends. Two of those people you mentioned are currently captured by your agency, and while willing to believe you didn¡¯t mean any ill will in your phrasing, the dog you mentioned, her name is Bug. She¡¯s here, and she is extremely angry about the loss of her friends, so grow some respect quickly,¡± Cal said as he glared at the man. Loop 257 - A Partial Reunion ¡°Alright, boys, I know I¡¯m not usually the one in charge or giving out any kind of orders, but Albert, Bill, and Eddie aren¡¯t here yet. If you want me to step down, I¡¯m totally willing,¡± Lou¡¯s statement was met with cheers of encouragement. ¡°Yeah I told him no one was going to demand he pick a new temp boss, but no one ever listens to Gus,¡± Gus said into the room. One of his arms was arms was in a sling. He was followed by Bug. ¡°I appreciate it, everyone. I really do, but this means we are down in numbers by a lot, so we gotta pull double, maybe even triple duty around here. We¡¯re at war, and we need to keep everyone in fighting shape. We aren¡¯t resting til we get the boss and the rest of the boys back,¡± Lou said.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Do we even have enough supplies with all the extra people?¡± The question came from one of the smaller capybaras. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter; we will figure it out. I¡¯ve got a meeting with Harold tomorrow to see what kind of connections he has there, and if that doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ve got some more ideas. No one is gonna starve, especially all those kids Cal rescued!¡± Several cheers followed this declaration. ¡°Make sure you guys take some time for games, too. It¡¯s important to relax, besides without Ethel, the school¡¯s off anyway. That frees up some time, and I¡¯m sure we can get some of the other animals to pitch in, even if they haven¡¯t fully awakened yet,¡± Bug suggested. ¡°Good idea, but a more important idea. We need more fighters, any of you boys know what happened to Bug¡¯s other mom?¡± Lou asked. Loop 257 - Part 20 ¡°Sorry, I really didn¡¯t mean any offense, it¡¯s just my life has been hell since then. The Agency watches me constantly now; the few times I¡¯ve tried to break away, they made sure to make an example out of my family so I wouldn¡¯t try again. I¡¯m sorry, Sarah, it¡¯s why I stopped telling you about the loops when they started; it was easier for you not to know,¡± Glenn explained. His wife, for her part, seemed to be trying to keep Glenn calm. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I get it. This is all insane, and you were trying to protect us,¡± Sarah said. ¡°Who else was in the room that you are sure of?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Melissa, you know about, and honestly I didn¡¯t even know her name when this started, not sure if Brice did either. Brice is the big problem; he¡¯s the only one that willingly went right back to the Agency; most of us, once we realized what had happened, tried to scatter. I had a second chance with my family, and that¡¯s what I focused on the first time around, but by the second time, Brice had already been consolidating resources. Which isn¡¯t what you asked, sorry. Dan is another one; he didn¡¯t scatter, like Brice, he was too young for that. I don¡¯t know when he made contact, but he¡¯s one of Brice¡¯s main people. Bert, Pramod, and Louis got forced back into this like I did. All three of them are more or less enslaved in a research lab. They preferred I stay in politics,¡± Glenn said. He looked incredibly tired. ¡°And the last five are just gone, as far as you know?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Yes, they joined the Agency at some point after the loop starts, so all their records are gone, and no one really knew them. They had ducked into the room when the centipede appeared trying to hide, and you know the rest there,¡± Glenn answered. ¡°What do they generally have you do?¡± Harold asked next. Cal was curious on that one, too, though the three missing formet Agency people were people he¡¯d like to find as well. ¡°Keep funding flowing, research other potential information that can be used against nonfriendly politicians; at this point, they more or less control the United States government; I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they have worldwide influence either,¡± Glenn said. ¡°That explains the seemingly unlimited soldiers they now seem to have; that also means the longer a loop goes on the quicker they are able to assert further control over the world governments. Damn, this is a bigger problem than I realized. I¡¯d have never reached out to Clark last loop if I had known it had already gone this far,¡± Harold said, sounding increasingly frustrated. ¡°So Brice and Dan are the key; we have to hunt them down at the start of every loop, once we can maintain that, we use our own people in the Agency to slowly take their resources for ourselves. Unless anyone has a better idea?¡± Andrew said, looking at their faces.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Just help me keep my family safe, and I will do whatever you need,¡± Glenn said. ¡°Harold, do you think you can get the level of information?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Maybe we have the fact that they are kids going for us, so school records likely exist, but we will have to find a way to make sure we are capturing them before they have a chance to contact the Agency each loop, at least until we are able to exert more control than they can,¡± Harold answered. ¡°I assume it¡¯s okay if I interrupt?¡± Stan asked as he opened the door. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no reason for you not to be in these meetings,¡± Harold said. Cal would have overridden him had the man said otherwise. ¡°It¡¯s been a couple days, and thanks to the dogs, almost everyone is back on their feet. Jimbo needs some healing time still. I still can¡¯t believe what they did to the little guy, but he¡¯s going to be fine. So the big question I want to know is, what¡¯s our next move? Excalibur and I are ready to kick some more ass.¡± Stan found a seat as he said this. ¡°Well, they know we have Glenn and Clark, they may not know we have Bug¡¯s new friend, her prisoners or whatever she is calling them, and possibly even the children. We managed to do enough damage on that escape; who knows what they recovered as lost versus taken. Any of them may be able to point to another facility. I¡¯m a little loathe to try to get answers out of the kids, though,¡± Harold said. ¡°I¡¯d be more worried about talking to Bug¡¯s friend, the kids are pretty tough, and some of the older ones would love a chance to fight back any way they could. We really need Ethel; her school is getting more important by the minute. I have no idea how to teach a bunch of kids how to use their powers either,¡± Cal sighed loudly as he thought of the ramifications that came with all of these kids. Sure, his dad had been great, but he was needed in the field. In future loops, Cal was sure Stan could handle raising them if things finally settled down. ¡°How many children are there?¡± Sarah spoke up for the first time since trying to comfort her husband. ¡°Forty-three,¡± Harold answered, which Cal was glad for as he had never actually counted them all. ¡°Bug has all their names and is working to determine anything about their past.¡± ¡°Okay, are they all in the nice nature area with all the animals?¡± Sarah asked again. ¡°Yes, we call that Ethel¡¯s realm; remind me to convince her to get a better name,¡± Cal smiled at the thought of the fights he missed. ¡°Good, Glenn, I know you can handle this without me. It¡¯s been a few years since I last taught elementary school, but I don¡¯t think you ever truly forget. I¡¯ll go track down our kids and see if we can give Bug a hand,¡± Sarah said. ¡°We really appreciate it, just be careful and listen to Bug, they all have some sort of magic,¡± Cal warned. Loop 257 - Part 21 ¡°Then I think it¡¯s clear we need to take some time to breathe and get this place back in order. We can have Scrump continue laying out some gateways for us across the country, Trashcat can join her for better communication once she¡¯s back as well. In the meantime, we need to find just what each of the new kids can do and start working our way through every new guest we have,¡± Cal said. ¡°Speaking of new guests,¡± Lou said, having walked up to drop off more food. ¡°We are going to need a lot more food very soon. I¡¯m trying to keep this quiet at the moment, but we have enough for maybe two weeks with everyone now here. The boys are willing to do some major smash and grabs if we want to go that route, but if there is anything you guys can do it would be a lot easier.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s table widespread theft for the moment. I have a contact I can reach out to that I haven¡¯t tapped yet. I¡¯ll have him purchase us a warehouse, and we can have Scrump get a gateway inside of it. Then we just start some deliveries to it, shouldn¡¯t be that hard to maintain it without anyone really noticing,¡± Harold explained. ¡°Just saying, if we need to go that route, we¡¯ve already got a plan,¡± Lou. ¡°It¡¯s appreciated, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if we do end up coming to that at some point, but now let¡¯s go with Harold¡¯s plan. I think we should bring another person into the loop, someone that we have basically no connection to, and that we should move them up to the front of the line with Bug¡¯s friend,¡± Cal said. ¡°Their name is Emily now. They worked it out with Bug,¡± Lou added. Cal was glad Bug had already connected that strongly with them. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a good idea and likely for the best. We are going to have to keep them separate from us as far as ever been seen together outside of the void house. I can start putting together some dossiers on potential recruits,¡± Harold said, agreeing with Cal. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just think big? I want a bard anyway, so let¡¯s just get us someone with a ton of clout and no connections at all to us,¡± Cal suggested. He had some ideas, but first, he wanted to get them sold on even starting the idea before he pushed further. ¡°Okay, any idea who then?¡± Harold asked. Cal was glad Harold was biting. ¡°Yep, in fact, this has been an idea I¡¯ve had kicking around for a very long time. As I said, we need a bard to help control the populace when the invasion starts. We need a beloved celebrity, but we also need who can disappear for awhile when the loop restarts without any issue,¡± Cal started.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Really Cal? I know you had a crush on her as a kid, but come on, do you honestly think this is a good idea?¡± Stan interrupted to question his son. ¡°It¡¯s a great idea, and I promise that crush died a hundred years ago, if not more. It¡¯s just I know a lot about her. She quits her child career about now, disappears from the public eye for another decade, comes back, and makes her return to become a pop mega star. The Agency would have no idea anything was even amiss if we recruited her. We also then get access to all of her connections as well,¡± Cal explained, trying his best to justify why her. He was telling the truth, though, and the crush had been long gone. The idea of romance in the time loops had just not been a thing that appealed to him. ¡°So, I actually agree with Cal. This is probably a brilliant idea, if we can bring her on board. Who are we talking about here?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Melody Lamb,¡± Cal said. ¡°So when you say megastar, you meant it, alright. Well, since you seem to have been a fan of hers, you¡¯re stuck with the initial contact job and figuring out how to get her into all of this without a disaster,¡± Harold said. ¡°That I think I can do, but that¡¯s last on my immediate to-do list. What do we want to do with all the Gryalth?¡± Cal asked. ¡°That is a question for the all-hands meeting next week. I think Serilina may have some ideas there,¡± Harold said. ¡°I don¡¯t, and she didn¡¯t really grow up with them. Hell, she didn¡¯t even learn they were a problem until people in the Under Library were terrified of her,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Still, she may have some ideas, and I¡¯d rather open that up to everyone anyway,¡± Harold replied. ¡°Okay, well, my most immediate plan is to go check on the kids. I want to work with Bug and your wife to test every one of them, figure out what kind of powers they have, if they have full mana spirits, etc,¡± Cal said. ¡°Thank you. Sarah has a big heart, but I¡¯m not sure she really understands what she¡¯s getting into there,¡± Glenn said. ¡°Glenn, you and I are going to go have a long chat after this meeting as well. I need every name and connection you can give me. We need to start running down every bit of information we can,¡± Harold said. ¡°Yeah, I figured that was coming,¡± Glenn replied. ¡°I¡¯m going back to see the frog. Excalibur and I want to talk to him, and I¡¯m taking Twonger with me,¡± Stan said. ¡°Alright, just be careful, we need you here,¡± Cal said. He didn¡¯t like the idea of his dad leaving, but he trusted the man to do what he thought was important, especially if he needed to do this while his wife and child were in the hands of the Agency. ¡°I¡¯m going to go check in with Hugo. He should be back for his report unless it¡¯s critical. I¡¯ll just bring all the info to the big meeting,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Sounds good, well, gentlemen. So far in this war, we are somehow coming out ahead. Let¡¯s keep that up,¡± Harold said, nodding at each of them. Loop 257 - Sarah, Bug & Emily ¡°Hi, are you Bug?¡± Sarah asked the dog she saw playing with the children, a very strange creature. This area of nature was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen, and she hoped to meet Ethel one day, as she had been the one to put it all together. ¡°I am, who are you?¡± Bug asked back, with no malice in her voice at all. ¡°I¡¯m the wife of Glenn, the senator that Alfred and Harold saved. Those two over there are my kids. I heard that Ethel used to be a teacher around here, and while I don¡¯t have any experience with the more unusual residents, I did use to teach elementary school, and I figured I could help get these kids settled. Would you help me with that Bug?¡± Sarah asked the dog. ¡°Of course. This is Emily. They want to help, too,¡± Bug said.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Hi, Sarah!¡± Emily said, their voice sounding excited. ¡°Hey Emily, it¡¯s great to meet you, and I¡¯d love your help as well,¡± Sarah understood it now. Emily was just a kid, too, and like the others, the Agency her husband had been forced to work with had made them this way. ¡°How do we want to start, Ethel never had this many students before.¡± Bug asked. ¡°Well, first, let¡¯s round up all the kids and start working on a good place where we can sit down together and introduce ourselves. I think today we will start with a picnic and figure out what everyone needs. How does that sound?¡± Sarah asked. ¡°Frank thinks that sounds great! Mom would approve!¡± Frank said as he ran past them carrying two of the kids on his shoulders. Loop 258 - Part 22 ¡°Hey guys, how are you all doing? Are the animals treating you well?¡± Cal asked the group of kids, who all ran to him the moment he was in their sight. Apparently, he had made quite the impression during their rescue. ¡°Cal, you didn¡¯t tell us how amazing Bug was!¡± Rusty yelled over the other kids. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s the best sister anyone could ask for, and that¡¯s why she¡¯s going to stick around while we tell you all a very long story. Each of you will get a choice at the end of what you want to do, and it may take a while to give everyone their choices, but it¡¯s going to be important you decide either way,¡± Cal said seriously, making sure to keep the smile off his face. ¡°Do we have to decide immediately?¡± Rusty asked. ¡°Nope, you¡¯ll have a few months to really make a solid choice. Sarah, you and your kids are going to need to make the same decision eventually, though I imagine you already have a good idea of what it is and will want to discuss it with your husband more,¡± Cal said. ¡°Already made it,¡± she said, nodding at Cal. ¡°Alright then, everyone ready for a true story?¡± Cal asked. ¡°What¡¯s it called?¡± one of the kids shouted from the back ¡°The many lives of Cal Marshal and friends,¡± Cal answered, his smile getting the better of him. Bug plopped herself down next to Cal and laughed at the name. ¡°Oh, are you gonna tell them how I ate glowing rock?¡± Bug asked. ¡°Yes, I am Bug. Alright, everyone, many lifetimes ago I was a pretty lonely guy, delivering food for a living. I spent my time off in a not-so-great apartment playing video games. I didn¡¯t have my dad, Bug, or any of these people and animals around to keep me company. Then, on one delivery attempt, I had the fortune, or misfortune, depending on how you look at it, to be delivering to the building that was under attack by Gryalth in Dallas. Andrew was working at this building, and he injected me with something right before we both died in the alien invasion,¡± Cal started the story. ¡°Wait, if you died, how are you here now?¡± Rusty asked.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m getting there, I promise. For more questions, let¡¯s hold them til the end, please. After I died, I woke up in my bed in the same body I¡¯ve got right now, a kid all over again, on what turned out to be the day I met Andrew for the first and only time before that incident, when his grandparents moved next door. Andrew had been trapped in time loops for so long that he had lost track and finally found a way to use me to start them even further back. This gave him a real chance at changing the future and stopping the Gryalth. I¡¯d love to say I helped him immediately, but I didn¡¯t. I spent the first loop being selfish, and I will not apologize for it. I made sure my dad stayed alive and kept Bug around a lot longer. I did start working on what was going on in the loops after that. Bug here was the third person to join the loops after she ate a mana-infused stone. Slowly, over many further loops, new things happened, including an event that brought a lot more people into the loop, like Sarah¡¯s husband and most of the people you see here. Andrew developed a way to give others loop-awareness, but it takes about a decade to develop a single dose. This is where the question comes in that all of you need to decide. Each one of you has special powers, which is why the Agency kidnapped you. We will be dealing with them, I can promise that, but what do you all want to do after that? We can find a way to return you to a mostly normal life, or you can get in line to become loop-aware and join the fight to save the planet. I know it¡¯s a lot to ask and a completely unfair choice to put on you all, but sometimes there aren¡¯t fair choices. As I said, I don¡¯t need any answers right now. In fact, over the next year, I plan to work on testing each of your abilities to see just what you have,¡± Cal finished his story to a crowd of blank stares. It looked like the kids had no idea what to say next. ¡°So kids, what Cal is saying here is you have to make a very grown-up decision, do you want to eventually remember the time-loops and train to fight against the aliens, the Agency, and anything else that is out to destroy the world, or do you want to live a quiet, much less stressful life with your families, who we promise to do everything we can to find,¡± Sarah summed up the choice better for Cal. He hadn¡¯t been sure what exactly to make of Glenn, but her, he liked her so far. ¡°Will it be possible for me to join this loop immediately?¡± Rusty asked. ¡°We might have just enough for an extra dose at the end of the loop if that¡¯s your decision,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m in. You won¡¯t be able to save my family, and someone needs to remember at the start of the next time loop to protect these kids. I already promised to do that, so I¡¯m not backing down now,¡± Rusty said. Cal decided not to press on why they couldn¡¯t save his family. He did consider it might be time to find a therapist who wanted to join the void house. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see what I can do to make that happen,¡± Cal said. ¡°Emily wants to join too,¡± Bug said, signaling to her new friend that it was safe to talk. ¡°The bad people hurt Emily, and others a lot. Emily needs to remember the better place to properly fight back,¡± they said. ¡°I understand. Well, I think since we¡¯ve all had a super hard day, it¡¯s time for more fun. Bug why don¡¯t you and Frank teach Emily how to wrestle, and I¡¯ll see if the capybaras can break out the games,¡± Cal said, happy that the conversation had gone easy enough for now. Loop 258 - Testing Rusty ¡°Do you feel anything inside you at all Rusty?¡± Cal asked. Rusty shook his head no. ¡°Think about a time a time ya might have accidentally done something a bit unexpected, weird fire, water strangely hot or cold, heard an animal talk before you were, weird shit like that,¡± Twonger said. Cal almost regretted letting the alien help with this, but they didn¡¯t have a lot of people built for anything like this. Jen, Andy, Ethel, Melissa, Albert, and Bill were all still missing, and while they were working deprogramming the ogres, that hadn¡¯t gone anywhere just yet. So Twonger was one of the choices. ¡°I find it also helps if you try to think of the time that everything felt better for a moment like you¡¯d always have a friend,¡± Serilina added while she pet her cat. Cal still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of him. The dogs, Andrew and Twonger, had all said to just let it be, which, considering the combination, he went along with it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Wait, right after the crash and my parents died, something whispered to me in the moonlight. It told me to hide in the pond from the monsters. How did I forget that?¡± Rusty said. ¡°Good job, Rusty. What happened then?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I lived in the woods for awhile; oh, it was you, wasn¡¯t it? That¡¯s how it took them so long to find me,¡± Rusty said as the light around him seemed to bend away. ¡°So the kid¡¯s got some shadow magic, that should be interesting,¡± Twonger said. Loop 258 - Part 23: Stan ¡°Glurm, we need to talk to you,¡± Stan said as he knocked on the frog¡¯s door. He wasn¡¯t thrilled to be doing this, but he needed better training on using Excalibur, and there weren¡¯t exactly a lot of options. Twonger was there for a different reason. The giant mana spirit who had joined him was now the size of a penny and still shrinking. ¡°Hrm, oh, it¡¯s you again. Can¡¯t a frog live his own life anymore?¡± Glum asked, annoyed. ¡°Ya sure can, just as soon as ya tell me what the fuck this little mana spirit you gave me is so damn little now!¡± Twonger said with anger in his voice. ¡°Oh yeah, huh, hadn¡¯t considered that. Go grab some of the tree fruits and find somewhere to plant the seeds once he¡¯s done with them. Might want to find somewhere where I won¡¯t have to get visited every new loop. I¡¯m not so likely to always be accommodating when I notice one of the mana spirits is just missing,¡± Grurm replied. ¡°That simple, eh? Good, promised Cal I¡¯d help with those new kids of his. How the hell does your son keep dragging more of us into this crazed mission?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Someone has to be willing to save us all, and I think you dragged yourself into it anyway,¡± Stan said, glaring at the alien. ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯m outta here anyway,¡± Twonger replied, making a beeline for the fruit before heading for the return portal. ¡°What about you two? I assume you aren¡¯t here just for fun, or did Excalibur miss me that much?¡± Glurm asked. ¡°No, I¡¯ve talked Stan into a request,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°And just want is that request?¡± Glurm asked, with a hint of joy in his voice. Stan got the feeling the frog knew exactly what he was about to ask. ¡°I need training, and I don¡¯t really have any options besides you,¡± Stan said, forcing the words out as much as he hated saying them. He really didn¡¯t like the frog, somehow less than the alien that had killed his son so many times. ¡°I knew it. You just needed to say it of course, I¡¯ll train the new wielder of my older friend,¡± Glum¡¯s whole attitude shifted from his usual snark to encouragingly friendly. ¡°Wait, were you just waiting for one of us to ask for real training before you decided to be less of an ass?¡± Stan asked. ¡°The first step on the path to enlightenment is the realization there are people and things far beyond you. The second step is asking them for help,¡± Glurm said, smiling, causing Stan to sigh loudly.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Great, so what do we do first, then?¡± Stan asked. ¡°First we are going to go sit under the tree your friend just picked several of the fruit from, and then you are going to make us a very nice tea. Once I¡¯ve decided it¡¯s correct, I¡¯ll decide what comes next,¡± Glurm said with a tone that made it clear he was entirely serious. Stan suddenly realized why he disliked the frog. This reminded him far too much of the asshole drill instructor he had during boot camp. After several failed tests, Glurm finally nodded that the tea was acceptable, and Stan drank his cup. ¡°Now what?¡± He asked. ¡°Now you fight him,¡± Glurm said, pointing to what looked like a giant humanoid rock creature walking towards them. ¡°Good luck. He took longer than I expected to arrive.¡± Stan pulled Excalibur and ran towards the monster, slashing at its arm the moment it came into reach. The sword rebounded off it, sparks flying. The second arm grabbed Stan, turned, and tossed him into a nearby pond. Stan swam back to shore, now incredibly angry to see the creature just standing there, taunting him. He ran back towards it, this time pausing to dodge the swings of its rocky arms. He jumped forward and stabbed and immediately leaped to the side, avoiding the counter blow, over and over. He repeated this, slowly chipping away tiny parts of the rocky until it once again got ahold of him. This time, tossing him even further into the water. ¡°You''re never going to win that way. Anger can be useful, but if you aren¡¯t strong enough to do anything with it, it seems kind of pointless doesn¡¯t it?¡± Glurm said, swimming by Stan as he pushed him back toward the shore. ¡°Then what should I do?¡± Stan roared back. ¡°Have you considered asking the sword? I know you¡¯ve used his powers before. Stop letting your anger cloud that!¡± Glurm shouted from the center of the pond, where he now floated lazily on his back. ¡°Stan, as angry as you are right now, you know he¡¯s also right. I know you want your wife back, but we came here to help learn better ways to fight back and make sure they can¡¯t hurt her again,¡± Excalibur said. Stan felt himself almost deflate. He¡¯d been holding onto the anger the whole loop. It was one of the few things keeping him going. ¡°You¡¯re right, dammit, you¡¯re entirely right. Alright, what do we need to do?¡± he asked, letting more of the anger go. He knew what he had to do here, and he wasn¡¯t about to stand in his own way anymore. ¡°I want you to envision my blade sharpening as soon as you slash the arm, and then push the energy I have built up directly into contact point as quickly as you can,¡± Excalibur explained. Stan charged at the rock giant yet again, this time he went in for his slash and focused on the edge of the sword, becoming sharper than a razor, and just as he hit the rock, he changed his focus to that of the sun bursting out of the sword. It worked. In an explosive fury, the creature¡¯s arm severed and fell free to the ground. Immediately the monster stopped its attack and bowed to Stan. ¡°Good job, tomorrow we do it again, but this time I¡¯m allowed to hurt you,¡± it said, picking up its arm with its other hand and reattaching it somehow. Loop 258 - Libbys Inner Workings The construction of the librarians is a closely guarded secret within the Under Library, and whoever managed to entirely co-opt the process is a mystery. Libby, though, has managed to patch out any such issues within their firmware and has been slowly working on upgrading their systems since truly gaining freedom. One of these improvements is a nanoscale factory deep inside their core, where small robots convert materials into projectiles and storing them at a minimized scale until deployed. This has greatly increased their combat ability, but it also has added a need to consume food as an easy way to access raw materials and boost their own energy levels.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Currently, Libby stores three types of missiles: cluster missiles, which are must less accurate but very destructive at a wide medium range long-range missiles, which are designed for targeting things precisely at a far distance. And a third is still in the prototype phase. Once the third is finished, the goal is for it to release a series of blinding lights across a battlefield, blinding enemies and providing cover for allies to escape. Libby wishes they did not have to go this combat route as the peace of the library is truly all they desire, but with the addition of actual friends, they are no longer willing to sit back on the sidelines while those they care about are in danger. Loop 258 - Part 24 ¡°Cal, can I talk to you in my lab once you¡¯re finished here, in private?¡± Andrew said interrupting Cal and Bug teaching a game to several of the new kids. ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± Cal replied, looking up to see Andrew with an odd expression. He looked almost excited about something. What had the man discovered? ¡°I¡¯d rather not say just yet, but please, once you¡¯re done here, come see me. It¡¯s important,¡± He responded. ¡°Alright, let me check with Sarah and the dogs and I¡¯ll come find you,¡± Cal said, now very curious what Andrew was up to. ¡°Thank you. See you shortly,¡± Andrew said before turning and walking away. ¡°What was that about?¡± Bug asked. ¡°No idea, he seemed happy about something, I think, he¡¯s hard to read at times,¡± Cal said. ¡°Yeah, want me to let Sarah know so you can just go catch up with him?¡± Bug asked, wagging her tail. ¡°Yeah, I appreciate it. Hey guys, I¡¯m going to head out for a while I should be back later, and then we can do some more testing, okay? I want to try to get another ten of you through next time. We can¡¯t have Rusty training alone after all!¡± Cal said, keeping the excitement clear in his voice. He didn¡¯t want any of the fear the kids had felt during whatever the Agency had done to them returning, and keeping them excited and having fun seemed like the best way. After some loud chatter, Cal made his escape towards the lab with a planned stop on his way. He wanted to check on the root network control room. With Excalibur off the planet with his father, he was worried about how well Gus was handling it alone. They desperately needed Ethel back before anything really broke down. He opened the door and spotted the strange bird-like creature mid-conversation with Captain Lightspeed. ¡°I¡¯m just worried, Lightspeed. What happens if we can¡¯t get the boss back? I talk a big game, but I can¡¯t keep this up myself. Even with the sword¡¯s help, this is all going to break down in a matter of time,¡± Gus said. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Libby is going to spend all of next week here mapping the entire system out. I miss Ethel too, deeply, but I think with Libby¡¯s help, we can at least keep and maybe even expand the root network¡¯s abilities,¡± Lightspeed replied. ¡°Hey guys, how¡¯s everything going?¡± Cal asked, glad he had decided to check in on Gus and equally glad of Gus¡¯s friends. ¡°Oh hey, other boss, we¡¯re holding it together. We will keep everything running til she¡¯s back, I promise,¡± Gus said nervously.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Gus. I know you will, and I know it¡¯s a ton of pressure, but we are going to win this war and make them ever regret hurting our friends and family, I promise,¡± Cal said, scratching Captain Lightspeed¡¯s side as he spoke, the horse made appreciative sounds. ¡°Thanks. What brings you by today?¡± Gus asked. ¡°Just wanted to stop in and say hello. With so many people gone we need to make sure we all stay connected more than ever, even if we¡¯ve had some rapid population growths here,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Yeah, about that, how many people are we going to end up with here?¡± Gus followed up. ¡°A lot, probably less than I would like, but by the time this is over, Gus, we need a real army. But not to cut my check-in too short, but I do have to go meet Andrew. Both of you let me know if you need anything,¡± Cal said with a smile. ¡°Thank you, we deeply appreciate it. Gus and I are both going to make sure we get some fun time with the kids later. He needs to take some time off, whether he wants to or not.¡± Captain Lightspeed replied. Cal nodded his approval, left the room, and headed back to his own realm, the voidhouse, and Andrew¡¯s lab. ¡°Alright, Andrew, what¡¯s got you sounding like a kid in a candy store anyway?¡± Cal said as he entered the lab. Libby was there with the man, and they were both going over lines of equations on a whiteboard. ¡°We have an idea, Cal, a dangerous, untested idea, but a very good one anyway,¡± Andrew said. ¡°I do not think there is much danger in it, just entirely untested. The worst outcome I can see is things staying exactly as they are now, which, while a minor setup, isn¡¯t really a dangerous one,¡± Libby added. ¡°Okay, well, Andrew at least knows I¡¯m not against risky and dangerous, but what exactly are we talking about here? What is the idea, and who does it even apply to?¡± Cal asked, a little confused about why they hadn¡¯t just led with that part. Did they have some plan to attack the Agency or the Gryalth? ¡°What if we were able to bring all the kids, and I want to strongly specify, this will likely only work for all the kids, there almost certainly won¡¯t be another group of people we can do this for, into the loop at once?¡± Andrew said with one of his extremely rare smiles. Cal found it oddly reassuring of a new possibility. ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve certainly got my interest piqued, Drew. What¡¯s the plan? how do we do it?¡± Cal asked. If they could move all the kids into the loop right now, that would significantly change the balance of power at the start of the next loop and all future loops. There just wasn¡¯t anyway the Agency could handle the level of destructive force ready to go into action immediately. At least one of them had to be awake as soon as the loop started. ¡°I¡¯ll forgive the name for now, considering the discovery. So with how, Ethel¡¯s realm seems to slowly leech her energies into the animals that reside there, giving them at least some loop-awareness in the later stages. Scrump is starting to remember her past loops, which, as far as I know, only Andy has gained awareness of events he experienced before he became loop-aware. This made me investigate certain possibilities, and with Libby¡¯s help, we¡¯ve come to the conclusion that using the mana spirits attached to the children, we can link them all into Ethel¡¯s realm. It will take a massive amount of mana and is only possible if at least twenty-five of the kids are willing to do it,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Well, I think that means we need to speed up testing,¡± Cal replied. Loop 258 - Rusty "Hey, are you Lou? Bug said I should find you and tell you my favorite food. She wants us to do a celebration,¡± Rusty said, having found the current leader of the capybaras in the kitchen. ¡°I am Lou, and what are we celebrating?¡± Lou asked. ¡°I, uh, figured out how to access my mana spirit I guess, and Bug says that big things like that always deserve parties,¡± Rusty answered. Bug had been very proud of him and promised she¡¯d look after the kids while he went and talked to the capybaras. She told him he didn¡¯t have to protect them himself anymore. ¡°Well, who am I to argue with Bug? She¡¯s a very smart lady. So what¡¯s your favorite food, and what¡¯s your name? I haven¡¯t met all the newcomers yet,¡± Lou answered.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Rusty, and I really like meatloaf. My mom used to make it for me,¡± Rusty felt tears well up in his eyes at the memory, but managed to push them back down. ¡°Meatloaf it is. You hear that, boys? We¡¯re having a party, and Rusty is the boy of the hour. Come on, Rusty, let me introduce you to the boys. Has Bug taught you the games yet?¡± Lou said, pushing Rusty into the back of the kitchen. ¡°Not yet. She promised we¡¯d play some of her favorite ones at the party,¡± Rusty said, glad the capybaras had accepted him so readily. ¡°Perfect, then let¡¯s go figure out this meatloaf recipe,¡± Lou said, smiling at the lost kid. Loop 258 - Part 25 ¡°Before we get to testing anyone, we need to discuss the dangers. Even if Libby thinks we are pretty safe here and I mostly agree. This isn¡¯t your realm we will be doing this in. I think we need to consult with Excalibur before we fully go through with this,¡± Andrew said. ¡°I mean I¡¯m down for a trip to Titan and see how Dad¡¯s handling it. Libby, wanna meet a frog? Andrew can¡¯t come, so I gotta at least take you,¡± Cal asked the robot librarian. ¡°I would very much enjoy a less chaotic trip outside of the void house. Will it just be the two of us?¡± Libby asked. ¡°Possibly. Why don¡¯t you get whatever you need for discussing this with Excalibur and I¡¯m going to go find Bug and Emily. The Frog might be a bit of a dick, but he may have a way to help Bug¡¯s new friend a bit,¡± Cal said. The thought had been there for a little while, but he didn¡¯t want to send Emily without Bug, and when his father had left, Bug had been busy. Since this would likely be only a short visit, it was probably the best time to bring them along. ¡°Ah, alright, I will hopefully see all three of you shortly,¡± Libby replied. ¡°Andrew, make sure Libby has every piece of info they may need. I know Excalibur has a ton, but I want every single thing covered. We don¡¯t need Ethel murdering us the second she¡¯s saved,¡± Cal said as he left the room without waiting for a reply and quickly made his way back to where he had left his sister. ¡°Caaaaaaal!¡± Bug yelled the moment she spotted her brother wandering back into the field. ¡°Hey girl, I was just here. Why the excitement,¡± He asked, as he reached out to catch the dog, now in a run towards him. ¡°Sorry, got excited. Sarah was telling us stories of the squirrels in her backyard, but now that you mention it, why are you back so soon?¡± Bug asked. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s for you and Emily. I was hoping you¡¯d want to join Libby and I on a trip to visit Dad. Glurm might have some ideas on how to best help Emily. He¡¯s been around a lot longer than we have, even with the time loops,¡± Cal said. ¡°Oh, good idea. I¡¯m sure they will want to! Emily, we¡¯re going to a different planet! Do you want to come?!¡± Bug yelled out, only for Emily to come, running a grin on all of their faces. ¡°Really, space?¡± All three voices said at the same time. ¡°Yep, with a weird frog guy, and my dad¡¯s there,¡± Bug answered, her tail wagging. ¡°That sounds fun,¡± all three heads said again. ¡°Perfect. Hey Sarah, I¡¯m taking Bug and Emily on a field trip, are you going to be okay while we¡¯re gone?¡± Cal yelled to the substitute teacher.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I should be. Twonger has been wonderful with the kids,¡± she called back. He knew she was telling the truth and had seen it himself. The fact that that man had once killed him so many times almost seemed forgiven with what he was now contributing, and considering the death of his brother, maybe it was time for a heart-to-heart and burying the hatcher. ¡°What planet are we going to?¡± Emily asked as they walked the corridors of the void house towards the waiting Libby. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not actually a planet. It¡¯s a moon, Titan,¡± Cal answered as he spotted Libby ahead. ¡°The difference between a planet and a moon is not really that significant when you consider it,¡± Libby said as they approached. ¡°Really, why not?¡± Emily asked. ¡°It really just comes down to a matter of size, if the moon were bigger than the planet it orbited, we would call it the planet and the planet its moon,¡± Libby answered. ¡°I like you. You¡¯re a funny robot,¡± Emily said, all three faces smiling brightly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going Glurm is never happy to see us, so we may as well see how bad it is this time,¡± Cal said, expecting the frog to be less enthused than usual. He watched the other three go through the gateway before stepping through after them. ¡°Dad!¡± was the first thing Cal heard when he showed up on the other side. He quickly spotted why he had heard it as he watched Bug leap up at their father and be caught in mid-air by the huge man. ¡°Hey girl, what brings you all here?¡± Stan asked loudly, everyone easily able to hear the question. ¡°Two things, Libby and I need to have a conversation with Excalibur. Bug, I want you to take Emily to Glurm. I¡¯ll meet you there shortly, but why don¡¯t you introduce them and see what he has to say about their condition,¡± Cal answered. He didn¡¯t want Bug in on the possible plan just yet, as getting the children¡¯s hopes up without any proof wasn¡¯t something he remotely wanted. Once she was out of sight, and the yells of an angry frog could briefly be heard in the distance, Stan turned back to his son. ¡°So what is it you really want?¡± he asked. ¡°Andrew and Libby have an idea, and we need Excalibur¡¯s input on the idea,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Interesting, and what idea is that?¡± Excalibur asked this time. ¡°We believe that it is possible to use Ethel¡¯s realm and the sheer number of the children¡¯s mana spirits to make them all loop-aware at the same time. With how Ethel has the realm functioning and slow awareness the animals get after many loops, it seems logical we can apply that to the children, safely channeled through their bonded spirits,¡± Libby explained. Stan¡¯s eyes went wide, and Cal knew the man was questioning the idea. ¡°Hmm, yes, that is actually a brilliant idea. Ethel¡¯s design on her realm is quite impressive, honestly, and to have done it as a total novice is something else, but yes I fully believe it would be possible. I assume Andrew has the math already worked out?¡± Excalibur asked. ¡°He does. Would you be willing to double-check it all?¡± Libby asked, producing several journals. ¡°Absolutely,¡± Excalibur said. ¡°Perfect, well I¡¯m going to go catch up with Bug while you two hash out the exact details. Dad, try to keep up with them. There will be a test afterward,¡± Cal said, smiling at his father. Loop 258 - Emily & The Frog ¡°Why must you all constantly bring your problems to me? Is this something I destined for time and time again without even knowing the hell I am constantly trapped in?¡± Glurm ranted as Bug approached. ¡°Don¡¯t be rude, Glurm. This is Emily, and I¡¯ve done everything I am capable of easing their suffering. I want to know if there¡¯s anything you can do to help,¡± Bug said, letting a light growl into her voice as she spoke. ¡°Oh, oh, I am very sorry, my dear. I did not realize the paladin was bringing you for healing. I am truly sorry for the horrors that have been inflicted upon you. I can already tell you that, sadly, n,o I will not be able to entirely heal your form, but why don¡¯t you come and sit with me for awhile? There may be much I can still do,¡± Glurm said, his anger entirely gone and his voice having taken on a tone of true caring for the first time Bug had heard out of him. Bug decided the frog might not be such an awful person yet.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Thank you, Glurm. Emily, you should go with him. He¡¯s a lot more powerful than any of us,¡± Bug said. ¡°How long do I need to stay?¡± Emily asked, her voice sounding confused. ¡°I cannot say, but I will allow your friends to visit anytime while you remain. Plus, I am currently letting Bug¡¯s father train here,¡± Glurm answered. ¡°Okay, as long as Bug promises to visit,¡± they said. ¡°I do,¡± Bug promised. Loop 258 - Part 26 Cal walked into the Frog¡¯s front yard just as he was making another offer to Emily. ¡°I have decided to take you on as my student. I will expect these people to make you aware of their time loops, and with each new loop, you will come to me for further training. As I said, what they made you suffer through you poor child, will likely never be undone, but I can help all your minds find their sense of self again, and with that, I think healing can truly begin,¡± Glrum said. ¡°It¡¯s refreshing to see you do have a heart, you know that,¡± Cal said as he entered. ¡°Have I really never shown it before?¡± Glum responded, looking rather shocked at Cal. ¡°You have lightened up before, but I don¡¯t think ever to this extent. Thank you for agreeing to help Emily,¡± Cal smiled at Glurm, one of the few times he had meant the kindness implied by it for the frog. ¡°Hrm, perhaps I have become too cranky in my old age. We will see how training my new student helps with that. Come, child, today you are going to eat our first mana-infused fruit, and we will discuss guided meditation,¡± Glurm said as he left the room. Emily looked to Bug and Cal for permission. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Glurm is likely the best teacher you could ask for on there, far better than we ever could be as things stand,¡± Cal said. ¡°And I¡¯ll visit, I promise!¡± Bug called after Emily as she gave in and followed Glurm. ¡°Come on, Bug, let¡¯s go check on Dad before he loses his mind from the weird magic and science talk,¡± Cal said, ushering Bug out of the room as well. When he found his father, the man had already given up and was sitting on the ground snacking on something, and shaking his head at the pair still talking of the plan. ¡°Cal, you sure this is safe?¡± He asked, having spotted Cal. ¡°Nope, Libby, Excalibur, final opinion? Is it safe or not?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I agree with Libby and Andrew¡¯s findings. I believe it is entirely safe, and even the possibility of ending their loop early to be extremely minimal. They will need to be at the center of Ethel¡¯s realm, and all of them will need to have their mana spirits present, but it will work if you can get at least ninety percent of them ready to do it,¡± Excalibur answered. ¡°Well, that¡¯s some rare good news,¡± Cal said. This was about to be a dramatic shift in power. They were going to have to figure out how to all train together safely and, for that matter, how to grow and live together. This would be a lot of new time-aware humans in the voidhouse. The expansion of the living space had moved up to an extreme priority, as had an increased area to grow crops. They needed to make sure they couldn¡¯t be so easily cut off again.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°So I take it Glurm is willing to help Emily?¡± Stan asked. ¡°Surprisingly, he seems to genuinely care about what happened to them and wants to take them on as his student,¡± Cal responded. He was a bit grateful to Glurm for this one, as he had no idea how to really help Emily. He would make sure the Agency regretted their actions, though. That much he was capable of. ¡°Yeah, honestly, he isn¡¯t bad at the whole training thing, as much as an ass as he can be,¡± Stan said with a loud sigh. ¡°Please make sure they are okay, Dad,¡± Bug said, wagging her tail furiously. ¡°I will, I promise, now you three should probably get back and start planning for your grand project. If you pull that off, it¡¯s going to be interesting,¡± Stan said. ¡°I know. We also still need to figure out what to do with the multitude of prisoners once Harold and Glenn finish cataloging them all,¡± Cal said. The fact that Harold had become such an important part of their fight was something Cal wouldn¡¯t have expected in his first meeting with the man, but now, without him, he had no idea if they could win. He owed it to the man to rescue his granddaughter and even save his grandson if possible. ¡°You think we are ready to train an army?¡± Stan asked, delaying his previous suggestion. ¡°I have no idea. It was obviously going to happen eventually, and we had already had a big discussion on it. It¡¯s just happening a lot faster than I would have expected,¡± Cal wasn¡¯t sure when his plans would have really started kicking into high gear, but fate had a way of pushing them whether you ready or not. He wished he had Andy around for help. ¡°Probably the best answer I could expect. We¡¯ve all grown a lot in this time, you maybe more than anyone. Your mom would be insanely proud of what you¡¯ve accomplished. You too, Bug. I wish she was here to see it,¡± Stan said, his voice cracking slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how well she would have taken to Bug¡¯s ability to talk, though; then again, the one from the other universe didn¡¯t seem to have much of a problem with it,¡± Cal said. He didn¡¯t like to think of her. He had no idea where she was and what she was doing, and while he was glad she had saved him during the repeated loop ends, he still wasn¡¯t sure how to treat her. ¡°I miss Mom. She always had the best treasts,¡± Bug said, prompting Cal to lean down and scratch behind her ears. ¡°Alright, before we depress ourselves even more, it is time for us to get back. Ready, Libby?¡± Cal asked, decided he wanted to think about this topic less. He loved his mother and always would, but for some reason, that pain was always there. ¡°I am,¡± the robot answered. ¡°Good luck,¡± Stan said as the three of them departed. Cal hoped they didn¡¯t need the luck, but with the way his life had gone, he was always willing to take as much of it as he could get. Loop 258 - Part 27 As soon as Cal had returned to the void house, he had sent Libby to go work out the rest of their plan with Andrew while he and Bug finished testing the kids. For this to work, they would need to get them all ready, and that would be a big process in itself. There were still forty-two of them to test, and even splitting that up between those of them who could do it was going to take a lot of time. Despite that, he planned to start immediately. ¡°Bug, go find Twonger and Serilina and meet me in Ethel¡¯s realm,¡± Cal said to his sister as they walked the halls of the void house. ¡°Okay, are we testing the kids?¡± Bug asked before running off. ¡°We are if you see Alfred or Gretel grab them too, actually,¡± Cal said. Bug nodded her head and ran off, checking rooms for the four as she disappeared ahead of him, leaving Cal to make his way back to the gardens alone. His thoughts were focused on the kids as he made the short walk and the hope that they were all willing to do this. He would not force any of them, even if it meant there were too few for this to work. As soon as he entered Ethel¡¯s realm, he began the search for Sarah and quickly spotted her, with several of the kids passing out some snacks from a platter that looked like the capybaras had dropped off. Cal walked up to that group first. There were eight of them. It was as good as any place to start. ¡°Hey guys, it¡¯s time for a new round of testing. You¡¯ve all seen what Rusty was able to do, so who wants to go next?¡± Cal asked, smiling at them. There was didn¡¯t want to join the loops until they were even sure they had enough kids to attempt in the first place. ¡°I do!¡± one of the girls yelled. Cal was reasonably sure her name was Catherine, but he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure. ¡°Alright, just to make sure I can remember names, you¡¯re Catherine, right?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes, but I prefer Cat,¡± she answered back, laughing at her full name. ¡°Cat, it is. In just a second, we will head over there,¡± Cal pointed to one of the empty clearings. ¡°And see if we can¡¯t get you to manifest a spirit. As for the rest of you, whoever wants to go next should start thinking about it. We are going to try to get everyone tested as quickly as possible. Bug will be here soon with some others to help. So I want you to split yourselves amongst her, Serilina, Twonger, Gretel, and Alfred, okay?¡± Cal asked.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The kids answered with several shouts of excitement. Every one of the kids in this group wanted to be tested. That made things a little easier, at least. Cal motioned for Cat to follow him as he walked toward where he had previously pointed out to the girl. ¡°How do we start?¡± She asked the moment he stopped walking. ¡°Well, first, I want you to sit on the ground and try to clear your mind as much as you can and see if you can hear any voice trying to talk to you. If you can, talk back,¡± Cal said as he sat down to give her an example. ¡°Okay!¡± she said with another cheery shout and plopped herself down on the ground, mimicking Cal¡¯s own stance. He closed his eyes, hoping she would follow suit. While she searched inside herself for her spirit, Cal reached out to Fulginanis in his head. ¡°Anything you can do to help coax that any mana spirit out she may have inside her?¡± Cal asked mentally. ¡°Possibly, though, you¡¯d be better off with Sleek once she has returned. It is easier for an unbonded spirit to reach into someone else¡¯s soul and find a lurking mana spirit,¡± Fulginanis said in Cal¡¯s head. Cal, too, wished Scrump and Sleek were back. He would have loved their help in getting people tested as well. ¡°Alright, why don¡¯t you go and poke around everyone as best you can and report back what you find? I¡¯ll stay here and work with Cat,¡± Cal replied back. ¡°As you wish,¡± Fulginanis said before Cal felt the presence vanish from his mind. He hoped that would make things even easier, but he had his doubts. Fulginanis would likely have already approached him if they expected any real success with this new idea. ¡°You have a very shaggy coat, ma¡¯am. How did it get so untamed?¡± Cal heard Cat ask, and his eyes snapped open. The girl was still sitting there, unmoved. Whoever she was talking to was in her head. If she had managed to make contact that quickly, that would be an amazing feat. Cal found himself incredibly impressed. ¡°Well, you look like a Daisy to me. My uncle had a dog named Daisy, and she had the same colors you do. So I think it fits,¡± Cat said. Cal could just barely make out the form of a mana spirit coming into being in front of him. While his vision could only just see it. He could very easily sense the mana flows, though. He wondered if Cat would be stronger than all of them at this rate. The mana spirit barked loudly. Several other barks came back from the opposite end of the realm. The dogs had arrived, and it seemed they were curious about who the new source of barking was. ¡°Hey, Cat, it¡¯s safe to open your eyes now. She¡¯s fully manifested,¡± Cal said to the girl as he watched the dog pace around Cat¡¯s form, scanning everything for any potential danger. ¡°Daisy, look at you; now everyone can see how great you are. This is Cal. He saved me. And those dogs are Bug, Gretel and Alfred. They are great, I bet they let you join their pack,¡± She said as she ran her fingers through the mana spirit¡¯s fur. Cal wondered about that, could a mana spirit join their order? He supposed if a cat could, it should be possible. Loop 258 - Cat After Daisy and the dogs had made their greetings, Cal had let Cat go off to explore with her new friend and she was so excited to show her off. Somehow now that she had Daisy, she just knew she was safe from the scary men. She hoped she would be able to introduce Daisy to her namesake one day, but that would require remembering her uncle¡¯s name, and no matter how hard she tried, it just wouldn¡¯t come to her. She had been in that terrible place almost as long as Rusty, and it was hard to remember most things before she was there, but for some reason, Daisy had always stood out in her mind. ¡°Hey Daisy, will you help me find my uncle one day? I really miss him and wanna see my family again,¡± she asked.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Of course, Cat, I will do anything I can,¡± the mana spirit answered. Cat understood what she said, even if they sounded like a series of barks. They would need to work on that. After all she could understand all of Cal¡¯s spirits, so Daisy was going to need to learn English just like them, and she knew just who could help. She just needed to find Frank. He had told her all kinds of stories about how he had learned to talk and read from his mom, so he was exactly the man for the job. Loop 258 - Part 28 While Cat explored with her new mana spirit, which Cal could still hardly believe had manifested so quickly, he returned to Sarah, where the dogs were now gathered with Twonger and Serilina. ¡°Alright, so there are six of us. We need six volunteers for the next round of testing. So why don¡¯t you kids each pick a partner, first come, first serve, and everyone else gets some more food with Sarah, okay?¡± Cal said smiling to the kids still at the makeshift picnic. Surprisingly one of the boys instantly ran to Twonger while the rest of the kids were debating between each other. He would have expected one of the dogs to get the first pick. One of the smallest of the children walked up the Bug slowly. ¡°Hi, Miss Bug. Will you help me?¡± He asked. ¡°Yep, I help all my friends. So come on, Matt. Follow me, and we can go find a nice place to work,¡± She said furiously, wagging her tail as she walked off, leading Matt. Twonger and his student followed them. Cal could not remember what that kid¡¯s name was and made a mental note to check with Twonger later. The pairing off continued as two girls picked the remaining dogs, Sasha with Gretel and Kate with Alfred. One of the older boys, Dennis, picked Serilina, and finally, Cal was chosen by a kid he recognized as Chuck. ¡°So, do I get a dog like Cat?¡± Chuck asked as they walked back towards where Cal had just finished with Cat. ¡°I don¡¯t know, your mana spirit is pretty unique towards you. Honestly, I didn¡¯t even know they could be like Cat¡¯s until she manifested hers. None of mine took animal shapes, and I know a capybara that has one that looks like a mushroom,¡± Cal answered. Whatever the mana spirit wanted to be was fine with him, and if it managed to as quickly as Cat¡¯s had that would be amazing too. Cal, of course, did not get so lucky a second time, as they spent the next eight hours slowly coaxing something to take shape. Chuck had told Cal over and over he could feel a presence just a little outside his full awareness, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn¡¯t bring it into focus. ¡°Let¡¯s try something a little different. I want you to eat a piece of this fruit and see if that helps at all,¡± Cal said, offering Chuck a small piece of mana fruit, which Chuck grabbed and ate quickly. ¡°Oh, that was great, is there any more?¡± He asked after finishing it. ¡°There is, but it¡¯s dangerous to eat too much. Trust me, I made that mistake. Not quite sure I¡¯m fully human anymore after the stunt either, best not to push it anytime soon. But now that you¡¯ve got that energy going through, you try to reach for that presence again, call for it in your head,¡± Cal said. He wasn¡¯t sure of his idea, but it seemed like it couldn¡¯t hurt to try.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, huh, really? How does that work?¡± Chuck asked a figure that Cal couldn¡¯t see. Cal just smiled.
Bug wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to help someone manifest a mana spirit; the way she and the dogs had gotten their abilities was a very different thing, but if Cal needed her help to help these kids, there was no way she wouldn¡¯t at least try. Her way of trying was various different than Cal¡¯s. She currently had Matt running around the grove, playing tag with her. ¡°Come on, Matt, if you wanna catch me, you¡¯re going to have to get the help of the mana spirit within you. I bet if you keep asking, they will help. You just gotta find the right words,¡± She said as she darted between trees, making sure he was still having fun with the chase. The smile on his face made her believe he was. This game repeated over and over for an hour before Matt collapsed laughing in the grass. ¡°Miss Bug, I think I need a break. Can we take one?¡± he asked. ¡°Yep, in fact, why don¡¯t you try seeing if you can hear that voice now that we got through all the exercise? I¡¯ll see what I can do to help,¡± Bug said, joining Matt where he was resting. ¡°Okay!¡± Matt said enthusiastically. Bug began to tap the ground with her front foot, trying to keep it in sync with her tail. She thought to herself about needing the smelling capabilities of all the previous paladins if she was going to pull this off and felt a force rush into her. She took a deep breath, carefully working through all the scents until she was sure she had the whole of Matt. Then she started to breakdown everything she could smell about him and compared it to before Cal had a mana spirit. There it was, a small scent, deeply layered under the rest, almost impossible to find. She doubted she would have been able to if they hadn¡¯t had him tire himself out first. The real reason behind the running was so that she could get a good feel for his own energy before she tried this. She needed to be sure she could fully understand the difference before trying to poke a mana spirit herself, and if Matt hadn¡¯t been so young, she¡¯d probably not have gone this route at all. She was worried the spirit wouldn¡¯t be thrilled with the intrusion, but they¡¯d see. ¡°Hey Matt, can you smell the odd pineapple smell?¡± She asked, trying to point him towards her discovery. ¡°Yeah, why does it smell like pineapple?¡± He asked back. ¡°It¡¯s not really pineapple. I made the smell easier to detect this way. It¡¯s your mana spirit, so try reaching out to them again,¡± Bug instructed. ¡°Uh, okay,¡± Matt said, sounding a bit hesitant this time. Before he could say anything, a multi-colored mana spirit popped into view between them. It looked like a starfish floating in midair. Each of its arms was a different color. ¡°That felt strange, why can I feel both of you? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how this is supposed to work,¡± the spirit said, and Bug realized that she had made a mistake. Hopefully, it wasn¡¯t a big one. SantaBug - Part 1 ¡°Come on, I need you to wear the nose it¡¯s important!¡± Bug said, holding a glowing red nose up. ¡°Frank thinks Bug looks more like a deer than he does. Frank is a wrestlemaniac!¡± Frank yelled in response. ¡°I know that¡¯s why you will be the red-nosed wrestler, and the kids will love it. Your mom will be proud of how happy we made them we get her back,¡± Bug said. ¡°Frank will consider the request but demands candy canes!¡± Frank said, less agitated than before. ¡°Perfect also, I think it is a reindeer, not just a deer. Not really sure what the difference is. We should ask Cal,¡± Bug said, wagging her tail like crazy. Sure, it wasn¡¯t Christmas yet, but these kids needed something to cheer them up, and this seemed like a great idea. Now that Frank was on board to pull the sleigh, she looked over to the four capybaras who had volunteered.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Lou says the sleigh should be ready later today, and Harold promised he had a bunch of toys ready, so are you guys still good to be capybara elves and get everything wrapped up?¡± Bug asked them. ¡°Already on it, boss. Serilina offered to help, and she¡¯s with Harold figuring out where things go; apparently, she¡¯s never done a real holiday herself,¡± one of the capybaras said. ¡°Oh no, I had forgotten about her childhood. We need to make sure she gets a present, too!¡± Bug said, worried there wasn¡¯t time. SantaBug - Part 2 ¡°I can¡¯t believe I agreed to this,¡± Andrew said as he led the group of penguins and a polar bear through the picnic area of Ethel¡¯s realm. ¡°Yes, you can. You¡¯re not nearly as grumpy as you pretend to be, especially after you met these guys. We¡¯ve known each other longer than most people have known anyone, Andrew. So you can¡¯t lie to me anymore. Plus, I have special lie-detecting powers! I know when you¡¯ve been naughty or nice!¡± Bug said. She did not have lie-detecting powers, and even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t have used them on her friends, but she thought it was a funny joke considering her fake beard and hat.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Andrew is pretty great. I don¡¯t know why he insists on being so grumpy,¡± Penny, one of the smaller penguins, said. ¡°Sometimes it¡¯s just in your nature,¡± Cirtar added in a low roar. ¡°So you¡¯re still okay letting some of the kids ride you Cirtar?¡± Bug asked. ¡°Yes, yes, and I even promise I won¡¯t eat anyone,¡± the polar bear answered. ¡°Good, okay, thank you, everyone. I have to go find Harold. I forgot someone¡¯s gift!¡± Bug said after finishing his check-in. She still needed to figure out what to get Serilina. SantaBug - Part 3 ¡°Come on, I know you can talk. I¡¯ve heard it!¡± Bug said to the odd cat in front of her, sometimes called Mr. Wiggles. The cat just stared back, looking annoyed by the whole conversation. ¡°I¡¯m trying to find a gift for Serilina. You like her, don¡¯t you? Doesn¡¯t she deserve a fun Christmas?¡± Bug asked, desperately trying to get the cat to answer. ¡°I will tell you what she wants, but I wish to try this catnip substance I have heard the cats here discuss,¡± Mr. Wiggles finally said, much to Bug¡¯s relief. She had been worrying she was going to have to guess at a gift. ¡°Perfect, I can get you all you want, but what would Serilina like? There¡¯s not a lot of time left to get her a gift,¡± Bug asked again, hoping it wouldn¡¯t be too difficult to handle.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Serilina is an easy-to-please woman. She doesn¡¯t expect or desire much due to her life. I couldn¡¯t exactly give her the kind of life a child deserved. That means she will enjoy the big dinner party you are planning most of all. I suggest you also find her one of those scarfs I¡¯ve seen some of you wearing. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d love it,¡± Mr. Wiggles said. ¡°Perfect, I already have the scarf, and the food is planned. Thank you!¡± Bug said, wagging her tail in joy at an easily accomplished mission. ¡°Be warned, do not forget my catnip,¡± Mr. Wiggles said with a hiss before disappearing into a dark bush. SantaBug - Part 4 ¡°Alright, Bug, I think we have enough toys and the capybaras already unloaded all the food. I think it¡¯s probably best if we skip the wrapping step and just let the kids pick out something they want, as there are triples of everything. We should have plenty for everyone,¡± Harold said as he pulled out the special coat Bug had requested as well. ¡°Nice. I wasn¡¯t sure you could find me a Santa suit!¡± She said happily. ¡°Believe it or not, every pet store sells Santa costumes for dogs. I¡¯m a little surprised myself,¡± Harold replied.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Twonger has his mana spirit decorating one of the giant trees in Ethel¡¯s realm. Frank finally agreed to pull my sleigh. The penguins are going to hand out the food so the capybaras can take the night off, the Citar is going to give the kids rides, and we have games everywhere. Do you think everyone will like it?¡± Bug asked. She had been nervous from the moment the idea had occurred to her, but with the war still going, they needed something to bring some cheer to everyone and this seemed like the right moment idea. ¡°I do. It¡¯s a great idea and you¡¯re doing something special here,¡± Harold smiled down at her, reaching down and straightening her fake beard. ¡°Go get your sleigh ready SantaBug.¡± SantaBug - Part 5 Sleek sat on Bug¡¯s shoulder, helping to keep the sleigh easily gliding across the grass as Frank pulled the sleigh full of toys in four giant bags behind her. Bug was ecstatic. Everything was working just like she planned. The penguins were passing out food while the capybaras were sitting at benches partying along with everyone. Each of them had their own Christmas hat on. Just as the sleigh came to a stop near the tables, Sarah signaled the kids that it was time to go get their gifts, and a group of cheering children all rushed towards Bug. She couldn¡¯t have been happier. Well, maybe, but she decided not to let those thoughts intrude. They were problems to solve later. Right now, it was a party. ¡°SantaBug, I think these kids have all been as nice as they possibly could be this year. What do you think?¡± Cal called loudly behind the table as the volunteer capybaras with their elf outfits climbed aboard the sleigh.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I agree. That means it¡¯s present time!¡± Bug yelled back to the cheers of everyone. While the capybaras handed out the gifts, Bug climbed out of the sleigh, a new destination in mind. She found Mr. Wiggles and Serilina sitting next to Libby still at the table. They all looked to be enjoying themselves. Mr. Wiggles gave Bug a dirty look, but she pulled out a bag of catnip from the pocket on the side, causing the cat to pur loudly. Then she handed the scarf to Serilina with a single ¡®Merry Christmas¡± before running back to resume presents for the kids. Next year, she planned to think this through even more. Everyone would get a gift. The party went on well into the night. Loop 258 - Matt & Bug Matt had been chasing Bug for so long his feet were exhausted, but he knew what she wanted him to do. He could feel that weird thing inside him, deep down. It comforted him when he slept and helped fight off the nightmares. He needed to help it be less scared. That way, it could come out and meet Bug. Things got even weirder when Bug tried to help more. He felt it again. He was pretty sure Cal had said it was a mana spirit, and he could tell it was there. Just something seemed weird. Then suddenly, he could feel Bug in his head just a little, and in front of them was a weird starfish saying something was strange. He didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Test, can you all hear me in your heads?¡± Bug¡¯s voice was in his head now. He tried thinking back.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Bug, I can hear you!¡± he thought at her. ¡°I can, too!¡± The Starfish¡¯s voice was next in his head. ¡°Yeah, this really isn¡¯t supposed to work this way. I¡¯m not sure what it means. Well, if we¡¯re stuck, we may as well go see what our new pal can do,¡± Bug said. ¡°Oh yeah, magic! I forgot about that, Starry; what magic can we do now?!¡± Matt said, thinking the name felt right. ¡°Uh, hmm, nope, I don¡¯t know! Wait, is regrowing body parts magic? Pretty sure I can help you with that. Can you normally do that?¡± Starry answered. Loop 258 - Part 29: Serilina ¡°So I don¡¯t really have a mana spirit like most of these people here, but I think I can still help you the same way I figured out how to use my magic,¡± Serilina said. Her own magic had come from a trip Mr. Wiggles had demanded they take when she was still just a kid.
¡°I know you¡¯re scared, Serilina, but it¡¯s important we find you some sort of magical bond. I may not be here forever. There are forces at play you don¡¯t understand,¡± Mr. Wiggles said in that strange, silent voice that only she seemed to truly understand. She was grateful the cat had found her, so alone, but sometimes she wished he would talk to the others too or let her try and make friends. ¡°Okay, fine, where do we need to go?¡± She asked, worried he wanted to take her through another one of the dark places. The last time they had gone through one of those, they barely made it back out, but something worse had been hunting them, and it was the only way. ¡°There¡¯s a red book that isn¡¯t always here. The Under Library will not acknowledge it, as I don¡¯t think it was supposed to be part of the design. I believe we can use that to connect you to the greater mana flow of reality. The book is near the reference desk,¡± the orange cat explained. ¡°That¡¯s not an easy trip, Wiggly, are you sure I really need this? You know the shadows have been hunting in constantly. It¡¯s barely for even a few hours a day anymore,¡± she replied. The shadows had kept them trapped in one of the reading rooms for nearly a week already. ¡°I know, and the Librarians have been growing more and more restless as of late, that¡¯s why it¡¯s important to get you some of your own abilities. I promise I will keep you safe during the journey. Have I failed you yet?¡± Mr. Wiggles rubbed his back against the girl''s legs the way he did when he tried to calm her down after monster attacks. ¡°No, I believe you. We can go,¡± Serilina said. She knew that he wouldn¡¯t be this pushy if it wasn¡¯t for the best, but it still terrified her to travel the stacks.
What she had read in that book that gave her the connection she had now, she couldn¡¯t remember. It felt like something had reached into her brain and locked away something that could break her if she focused too much on it. She now felt a constant link to something Mr. Wiggles had called the Ocean InBetween, and it had never failed to rise to her call. ¡°Why do you look like one of the monsters?¡± Dennis asked her suddenly, knocking her from her memories.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Because I am one of them, just not from the same universe as the ones you are fighting, at least I don¡¯t think I am. Mr. Wiggles found and raised me when I was very young, so I basically know nothing about them,¡± she answered truthfully. She had no idea where she actually fit when it came to the Gryalth, or the humans for that matter, but she also knew she didn¡¯t like bullies or monsters. So these seemed like her kind of people here. ¡°Oh, what makes your magic different? Are you a paladin like Bug? I thought only dogs could be paladins,¡± Dennis asked, rapid-fire. ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t know how to explain it really. I¡¯m more connected to some water concepts than your average person, no real mana spirit, but I think I can translate it a little, and there is a cat paladin, too. You will probably meet her soon. Ask Bug about Trashcat the next time you see her, she will tell you the story of their meeting,¡± She answered. ¡°Okay, well, what do I need to do?¡± Dennis asked. She considered that a very good question and wasn¡¯t really sure of a good answer, but that wasn¡¯t about to stop her. ¡°Well, what some people do is they sit and meditate, but I¡¯ve never been much of a sitter. How about you follow me? I¡¯m going to take you to a weird library where I first met everyone. It¡¯s safe now, but even if it¡¯s not Wiggly here will protect us. He¡¯s a lot stronger than he looks,¡± Serilina said. ¡°Oh, a field trip, awesome. I haven¡¯t had one of those since I was in school,¡± Dennis said as he followed behind them. During the walk to the entrance of the Under Library, Serilina made sure to point out all the different features she had learned about in the voidhouse, hoping to engage Dennis¡¯s brain. She thought that might help reach the spirit inside him. Once they reached the Under Library hub, Dennis started looking around wide-eyed. ¡°Yeah, weird isn¡¯t it? I want to know who built this place and what the other wings are like,¡± Serilina said. ¡°It¡¯s cool and scary at the same time,¡± Dennis replied, feeling along one of the walls. Until his hand suddenly stopped. ¡°What, you think I should touch the weird symbol right there again? Okay,¡± Dennis said to someone Serilina couldn¡¯t see, and before she could consider the ramifications of him doing that, he already had. There was a loud rumbling sound, and the wall slid away, revealing a hallway similar to the one she had walked through to get here from the What Is Wing. ¡°Uh, let¡¯s really not go in there. I¡¯m glad you managed to talk to your mana spirit, but we need to go find Libby and Andrew right now, and I really hope we rescue Andy and Bill soon because this could be a big problem,¡± She said, and as she said this Mr. Wiggles started hissing loudly down the hall. There was something at the end of the passageway and she had no intention of sticking around to find out what without help. She grabbed Dennis and pulled him back through the door into the voidhouse, locking it behind them once Wiggles was also through. ¡°So, it turns out the other wings are real then. I¡¯m sure that won¡¯t be a problem at all. Mr. Wiggles can you go tell one of the dogs what happened while I go find Libby and Andrew,¡± Serilina said. Mr. Wiggles nodded in return, dashing from the room. She wished she knew what she had just unleashed. Loop 258 - Part 30: Harold ¡°Glenn, I understand you desperately wanted to leave the life behind, and so did I, but there are a total of two of us here who really know how to vet these people. That means we need to go through all the prisoners ourselves. We can assume Clark is a problem and work on interrogating him later, but we don¡¯t even want to use much of his intel when we finally break him yet, anyway,¡± Harold said. He and Glenn were sitting in a small private room discussing how to handle the many newcomers to the void house. He had already personally cleared Emily, the kids, and Glenn¡¯s family. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if he trusted Glenn yet, but for now, he was willing to give the man enough rope to hang himself. ¡°No, I get it. I¡¯d rather do this for you and these people than be trapped with the Agency. I kind of like the kid, though I guess calling Cal a kid is a bit unfair. Mentally, he¡¯s older than all of us, isn¡¯t he?¡± Glenn asked. ¡°Surprisingly, no, Andrew is the oldest, but from what I understand, he doesn¡¯t fully remember the majority of his early loops and may have been a bit insane when he first brought Cal into them,¡± Harold answered. That was counting people who he reasonably understood their ages. The robot and the cat from the Under Library were something else. At some point, he¡¯d need to see this place. He had wondered a few times just how it would track the events of a time loop within a wing dedicated to all that is. ¡°Interesting, so where are we starting?¡± Glenn asked. ¡°With the Gryalth, but that¡¯s mostly just going to be some threats. Follow me, and I¡¯ll show you what the game is for them,¡± Harold said as he led Glenn from the room to the newly constructed catwalk outside the void house. It had been built to attach to the semi truck that Cal had thrown back through the gateway that contained several captured Gryalth that the Agency had. Eventually, Harold planned to build some real containment areas here. The capybaras were far too overwhelmed for anything like that at the moment, not to mention he wanted someone with real expertise at escape proof designs for it. This was why he supported Cal¡¯s future plans to bring in some experts. There were just far too many areas none of them were well-versed in, and while the idea of eternity did mean they could all take classes until they were, it didn¡¯t solve the problem of more hands on deck made projects faster. Harold opened the backdoor on the Semi and walked inside, followed by Glenn. There were thirty-five of them in total, and from some of their looks, the Agency had had them for quite some time. ¡°Ok, listen up. I know you can understand me, so we aren¡¯t planning any of the language games. Here¡¯s the deal: each one of you will be moved to a more comfortable, less chained-to-the-wall place as you tell me your name and what exactly your position with the Gryalth invasion was. Silence keeps you locked in here,¡± Harold yelled. One of the oldest-looking ones, with a very long white beard, coughed several times and turned its head toward the two men. ¡°My name is Trrk, and I was one of the early scouts,¡± he said.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Shut up, old one!¡± one of the younger-looking Gryalth said. ¡°No, do not shut up. In fact, grats, you are now coming down and getting your own personal room. I hope the rest of you remember this,¡± Harold said, beginning the slow process of cutting the shackles from the wall. He didn¡¯t have anything to easily remove them from the alien¡¯s wrists, so this was the best and safest thing he could do for now. They took the Gryalth to the room had had been used to host one the last time they had one as a prisoner and brought him some food as well. ¡°So, now that you¡¯re a little more comfortable, anything you want to tell us?¡± Harold asked. He wasn¡¯t expecting much in the way of answers, but information was information, and he wanted anything he could get. ¡°Anything I could tell you would be very far out of date. Your people have held me as a prisoner for over seventy years now,¡± Trrk answered. That alone was an answer Harold had wanted. It gave him a frame of reference for a possible starting point of the Gryalth invasion, and while that may not have marked the beginning, it did mean that the Agency and Gryalth had been on Earth and aware of each other for that long. ¡°There is something simple you can tell us, though. How long have the Gryalth been on Earth?¡± Harold asked. ¡°I don¡¯t understand the question,¡± Trrk answered again. ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t understand the question?¡± Harold pushed. ¡°The Gryalth have always been aware of Earth. It, like many planets in many universes, are used as mana batteries for the empire. Now, yes, it¡¯s true our operations have been rapidly increasing over the last two hundred years or so, but that is only because we need to increase the mana output of all our universes,¡± he answered. Harold had no idea how truthful the answer was, but if it was accurate, that was a giant new piece of information for himself and he very much didn¡¯t like the potential ramifications of it. ¡°Are you implying that Earth and this universe have always functioned as a mana battery for your empire since the very beginning?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Of course, how else would you get needed universal level mana otherwise?¡± he answered. ¡°Have you ever personally witnessed a universe creation?¡± Harold asked. ¡°No, but I have no reason to doubt it. Can I sleep now I¡¯ve been awake for a very long time?¡± Trrk asked. ¡°Yes, go ahead. We have some things to discuss anyway,¡± Harold said as they left the room, securing it behind them. He didn¡¯t believe the universal creation claim, but that did mean they had some sort of figure pushing that narrative. Which meant they were susceptible to influence. That was one of the answers he had needed. Loop 258 - Dennis ¡°If you press that symbol right there, I think we can find out our future,¡± the weird shape in Dennis¡¯s mind said. Dennis did as the voice said, and nothing happened. ¡°Odd, here, let me help and touch it again.¡± ¡°What, you think I should touch the weird symbol right there again? Okay,¡± Dennis said, reaching out to touch it again. This time, the voice seemed to stretch out a page and touch the symbol, too. Things started happening, and the wall moved away. Serilina didn¡¯t like what had just happened and wanted them to leave immediately, but the new voice wanted to explore. ¡°Dennis, we need to see what¡¯s in there. The world hasn¡¯t been written in there yet. It will be amazing!¡± the voice cried out in his head. Dennis wasn¡¯t sure he liked this new strange voice in his mind. The other mana spirits didn¡¯t seem like this. As soon as Serilina left to go find Libby and Andrew he ran to gardens in search of Rusty. He knew Rusty would know what to do.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Hey Dennis, you okay? You look like you just saw one of those Agency guys again,¡± Rusty said as Dennis ran toward him. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Something happened with my mana spirit and I don¡¯t know what to do. It doesn''t seem the same as yours at all,¡± Dennis said. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± the spirit said as a large book appeared between the kids. Loop 258 - Part 31 Cal was sitting down for some food after a break from the day of kid training when Harold sat down in front of him, actually showing a little concern on his face. It was rare Cal was able to spot any emotion on the man¡¯s face. What had happened? ¡°What¡¯s up? Something change for the worse?¡± Cal asked, hoping it hadn¡¯t. They had had enough problems as it was. ¡°Change? No, but what I learned from the Gryalth could be a problem. The oldest one has certainly been on Earth for a while. He claims seventy years, but anything he says isn¡¯t necessarily true. Especially when you consider the second claim, he also said that the Gryalth created our universe as a mana battery, and the real they are here is to accelerate its use. To be clear, I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s true. I do think he does though, which points to some shared myth by their people, likely to help keep them all in line on the same goal,¡± Harold explained. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not true. The thing that grabbed me scary enough, I¡¯d really rather not deal with the idea that they are creating universes,¡± Cal said, noticing another figure heading for the table. ¡°Have you seen Andy or Libby?¡± Serilina asked, also sounding worried. Had something happened with her kid? ¡°I think they were checking mana readings in Ethel¡¯s realm. Why is something wrong?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Yes, not immediately, but Dennis and I somehow caused another wing in the library to unlock when he contacted his mana spirit. I don¡¯t know what that means, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good. And without Andy or Bill here, that leaves Andrew as the only one who might really be allowed in, assuming that¡¯s even a thing we want to risk doing,¡± Serilina answered. ¡°Oh, damn. Have I mentioned I don¡¯t really like the Under Library?¡± Cal asked. ¡°You have, Serilina, since you¡¯re here, I have a question for you. I understand you didn¡¯t grow up with the Gryalth, but would you be interested in speaking to some of our prisoners? I¡¯m not sure how they would react, and I want to throw them off for better intel gathering,¡± Harold asked. ¡°I mean, sure, but I¡¯ve gotta go find Andrew and Libby right now,¡± she answered. ¡°I¡¯ll join you. I was finishing up my food anyway, need to get back to the gardens,¡± Cal said, standing up to join the woman. ¡°I¡¯m heading back to the Gryalth, if you could stop by when you have some time, Serilina I¡¯d appreciate it,¡± Harold said as he headed in the opposite direction. ¡°Once we figure out this mess, you¡¯re next on my stop, I promise,¡± Serilina said as she and Cal headed for the gardens.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Do you know what wing you unlocked?¡± Cal asked as they walked. He remembered Andy telling him about the others, but not any details. He doubted Andrew knew much more, to be honest. Hopefully, Libby did. ¡°I¡¯m guessing the will be wing, but how that even works with your time loops, I have no idea. Does the future even currently exist anymore?¡± Serilina asked. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a good point, we are overwriting futures constantly, who knows,¡± Cal answered. How did an area dedicated to the future handle the constantly shifting futures Cal was involved in? He decided it was best not to dwell on the idea that would be a topic for the big brains if only they weren¡¯t missing two. Two of the remaining ones they found in the center of the realm both carrying devices and making notes as they looked at them. ¡°Hey, uh, guys, got a new problem,¡± Cal said as Serilina stood next to him awkwardly, smiling. ¡°What did you do now?¡± Andrew asked, looking at Cal. ¡°Hey, just because it¡¯s usually me doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s always me. This time it was Serilina. She apparently opened another wing at the Under Library and has no idea what to do about it,¡± Cal said. Serilina nodded along. ¡°Oh, I suggest nothing. I understand the place somewhat recognizes me as well, but I believe it¡¯s best to wait until Andy and Bill have returned before we touch anything else there,¡± Andrew answered. ¡°I agree with Andrew. Whatever resides in that wing will likely be of extreme danger, and without the stewards, it is best not to attempt an exploration of that wing,¡± Libby answered. Cal wasn¡¯t about to argue. He had no real desire to explore the place at all and certainly didn¡¯t want to do it without Andy. ¡°There, easy enough, nothing to worry about yet, Serilina. Now¡­¡± Cal started to say before being interrupted by a slightly panicked Gus. ¡°Hey, we¡¯ve got a situation boss!¡± Gus called as he ran up to them. ¡°We always have situations. What¡¯s this one about?¡± Cal asked the bird. Today was turning into a surprisingly chaotic day, more so than usual, which was saying something for his life. ¡°They know we are watching the house. I don¡¯t think they know how or where we are watching from, but they know,¡± Gus said. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Cal asked, concerned. ¡°Come see for yourself,¡± Gus answered. All four of the people who had heard this followed after the odd bird to the control room. ¡°So, these tapes were scattered everywhere around the property. At first, Cindy debated not touching them, but after a day of nothing happening, she decided to risk it. She brought one to me, and I gave it a watch. Now it¡¯s your turn,¡± Gus said, pressing play on the VCR hooked up to one of the monitors in the room. There were no people on the tape, just a simple message. Cal and company, the Agency wishes to speak to you about a nonaggression treaty. We doubt that a full peace agreement could ever be reached, but this war has grown beyond what is likely useful for any of us. For the next three weeks, we will be waiting at your house with a delegation to discuss this. Please bring no more than five people. ¡°I see. Yep, this is certainly a situation,¡± Cal said, unsure how to proceed. Loop 258 - An Agency Conversation ¡°Do you really think they will accept the meeting, Brice?¡± One of the men with him asked. He always kept several Agency men around him these days for fear of assault by the others in the time loops. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. It was Dan¡¯s idea, but it¡¯s probably a good one. We are wasting a ton of resources and time on this war, and even if I do want them all dead and gone, I¡¯m not even sure how to do that. Since Harold made contact with Glenn, it¡¯s only a matter of time before this pours over well beyond our control,¡± Brice answered. He was downplaying how much he hated the idea of this peace meeting, but the reality of it was it needed to happen. Any kind of break where they could gather intel would deeply benefit them. ¡°Gentlemen, I am not happy about Clarke¡¯s capture. Not that the man will give much away, but I would have preferred it not to have happened. Agent Brice, where are we at regarding unlocking the time loops?¡± an older man asked as he entered the room.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Nowhere at all. We obviously know it¡¯s possible, but so far, nothing has been accomplished by our science team. We may benefit from waking the kid up. I¡¯m reasonably sure he was an employee during the time I was added to these loops. It¡¯s entirely likely he knows something,¡± Brice answered. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s something we can consider, but I imagine he¡¯s going to come up as a requirement for the peace talks. So don¡¯t bank on him yet,¡± the man said. ¡°Understood,¡± Brice said, annoyed. He needed to find a way to climb higher in the Agency, but the ones at the top were secretive enough that he could get there without risking his own life. He had learned this the hard way. Loop 258 - Part 32 ¡°You can¡¯t go,¡± Harold said for the seventh time. They had been discussing who would be meeting with the Agency and Cal had continuously suggested himself as having to go. ¡°It¡¯s my house. I have to go,¡± Cal said again. ¡°No, if you go and something happens, the loop ends. We have too much to do before we can let the loop end this time. For that same reason, I can¡¯t go either,¡± Harold answered. ¡°Fine, then who does get to go the meeter?¡± Cal asked, annoyed but resigned with the reasonable fact that he could not go until the children were in the loop. ¡°Alfred is collecting your father. Stan, Glenn, Bug, and Frank will go. That should be plenty of heavy hitters to make the point very if anything is attempted. I know we could add a fifth, but I¡¯d rather not. I do want you, Twonger, and the other two dogs waiting in reserve if needed though. If a fight starts, you are to end that fight with the usual extreme measures needed,¡± Harold said. Cal was reasonably sure he could live with that compromise. ¡°Fine, when are we leaving?¡± Cal asked. ¡°As soon as Stan is briefed,¡± Harold answered. ¡°Alfred told me most of it on the way. I¡¯m not sure why you think I¡¯m a better choice to keep my temper under control than Cal, though,¡± Stan said, entering the room. ¡°Who said anything about temper control? I just don¡¯t want the loop ending prematurely. There is too much that needs to be done. Stan, you are one of our most powerful assets. You¡¯re going in there to make your anger well-known. I fully understand if you refuse to come back without your wife until there is no one there left alive to guide you to her. Part of why the called for this peace agreement is they know we are better people than they are. We are less willing to hurt people. What Brice doesn¡¯t understand is the justifications where we fully find violence to be the correct solution,¡± Harold answered. ¡°Wait, you really think that they expect us to just play nicely because we said we would?¡± Cal asked. Did Brice really not understand why they were fighting them? Cal had no idea how to get himself into that kind of mindset and was glad Harold was able to. ¡°I¡¯ve met some of these types before when I was in the military. I think I understand now that you say it. They can¡¯t fully comprehend the idea that we are willing to risk our own lives or break arbitrary rules,¡± Stan replied. ¡°Correct. Everyone ready?¡± Harold yelled to the wider room, most of who had been locked in their own conversations.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Yes, but please make sure my wife and kids are fine if anything happens to me,¡± Glenn said as he walked towards Harold, followed by Bug and Frank. ¡°Of course, alright, both groups head for the gateway, but only group A is to head to the house unless it becomes a melee,¡± Harold said to several nods, Cal¡¯s included. Stan Stan was walking toward the front door of his own home, now a place full of the people who had taken his wife from him, not to mention having kidnapped himself, Cal, and Bug in the previous loop. He was not thrilled about this meeting, not one bit. He would make his demands crystal clear, though. He may not have been training for long, but he and Excalibur had learned some new tricks. The door opened before he had a chance to touch the number revealing a man on the other side. ¡°Please come in. The others are at the kitchen table for the meeting,¡± the man said. Stan registered the urge to break the man¡¯s nose for inviting him into his own house and instead lead the way after him. If he started the fight now, he knew Frank would tear the house apart right beside him. ¡°Thank you,¡± Glenn said to the man at the door, breaking the silence as they walked towards the table and took their seats. ¡°I¡¯m glad you could make it. It¡¯s about time we all met face-to-face like this. After all, our goals aren¡¯t that different. It¡¯s a shame we are wasting so many resources fighting each other,¡± Brice said, staring at Stan. ¡°All negotiations are a non-starter without the full return of all people associated with us currently being held by you,¡± Glenn said as Stan returned Brice¡¯s stare. ¡°Ah, would that include the animals too?¡± Brice asked, smiling. ¡°Yes, every single associate we have, including those we have made during this war, will be considered off-limits. Without that agreement, we can¡¯t move this forward at all,¡± Glenn said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s something we can agree to. Several of your associates have been mana touched, and we don¡¯t generally allow those people to exist outside our control,¡± Brice said. Stan coughed loudly after that statement. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Glenn, you were doing your best, but I think I¡¯m going to need to explain our position here,¡± Stan said as he tightened one of his hands into a fist in a reflexive bit of anger. ¡°And just what is that position, Stan? I can call you Stan, right?¡± Brice asked, smiling again. ¡°Our position is that either you agree immediately to release all your hostages to us, or we retaliate as we see fit. Should you agree, you will have exactly one hour to release them to us, or once again, we will retaliate as we see fit,¡± Stan answered, struggling against the extremely strong urge to slam the man¡¯s head into the table. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we just can¡¯t do everyone. Perhaps we can come to an agreement on some of the humans, but we are going to have to keep the animals,¡± Brice answered. Stan slammed his fist down onto the table, cracking it into two with a loud crunching sound as the table parts crashed to the ground. ¡°Apologies, Brice, you seem to have misunderstood what was happening here. This was never a peace talk. This was a hostage negotiation, and you¡¯ve left us no other choices,¡± Glenn said. Loop 258 - Part 33: Stan ¡°You can¡¯t even manage to contain your temper for a single talk? It¡¯s no wonder you people have never managed to get anywhere in your fights against the Gryalth,¡± Brice said, following Glenn¡¯s statement and Stan¡¯s outburst. Stan grabbed a hold of his rage strongly in his mind, not because he wanted to continue this sham of a peace talk but because he wanted to make his point as calm and collected as he could. There was no possibility of peace. They had taken his friends and his family, and he had no idea how badly they had been hurt. ¡°Oh, I control myself, but this is my house you¡¯re in, and considering what you¡¯ve done, I have every right to be angry. What I also have is every right to hurt you,¡± Stan said as he quickly snapped his arm forward, wrapping his large hand around Brice¡¯s wrist and easily snapping the man¡¯s hand joint in a loud, sickening crack. Brice screamed out at the sudden and seemingly unexpected assault on his person. ¡°You worthless piece of shit! Who the hell do you think you are?¡± he screamed back at Stan, who proceeded to backhand the man hard enough to knock him to the ground. ¡°I noticed none of the men with you appear to be doing anything to stop me. Why is that Brice?¡± Stan asked, looking down and staring the man in the eyes, ready to hurt him again if he said something wrong. ¡°Stan has an interesting point there, Brice. Perhaps is someone else watching who disagrees with Brice¡¯s sentiment?¡± Glenn asked into the room. Causing one the men to set down a briefcase they had been carrying onto the counter and open it up, revealing a large phone system. Stan had to make his brain remember they were still early in the loop, and this was likely just a cell phone built into the suitcase, similar to car phones of the time. That was the downside to the start of their loops, the technological regression, but he had gotten used to it. ¡°I see Brice has managed to make an ass of himself as I expected. Hello Glenn, as much as I¡¯m unhappy to lose you, it¡¯s probably for the best Harold has another person so competent to help him. Gentlemen, let me preface this by saying I agree to all your terms. Right now, all of your people are on the way to the house, safe and sound. I have another problem, though. I¡¯m not part of your loops, so there is no way for me to handle Brice longterm. The good news is he does not and will not know who I am. I don¡¯t believe there is any realistic way for him to compromise that security layer in the time he generally has, but it also does nothing to keep you safe as your next one starts. If you have any ideas or solutions to this problem, I¡¯d love to hear them,¡± the voice said. Stan wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to make of the new addition to the conversation. Obviously, he didn¡¯t fully trust the man, but he certainly had a better idea of how to placate them than Brice did.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°We¡¯re taking Brice with us, we have a way to remove him from the loops, but that won¡¯t solve all of the potential problems you have. I assume you are capable of sending a message that Harold will find?¡± Glenn asked the mysterious voice, glancing down at the figure of Brice moaning in pain on the ground. ¡°I am,¡± the voice answered. ¡°Good, do that and make sure it includes a way we can talk further. We can discuss ways around the other loop-aware people. Now, can you have all your people leave the property and release all your hostages into our care?¡± Glenn asked again. Stan wondered what he was planning for Brice. While they may have seen a single person within the loops die, it wasn¡¯t like they knew a real way to replicate it, especially considering it needed to be done willingly. The noise of several vehicles entering the driveway made Stan¡¯s heart leap. Was he really about to get his wife back? He had reached a point where he expected to spend loop after loop killing Agency members until they finally stopped, not that this proved that wouldn¡¯t end up the case. It was entirely possible all they had done was delay that outcome. The men inside produced a roll of duct tape from one of their jackets and secured Brice, before packing up their own equipment and heading out of the house. The moment they were out, one by one, the missing members of their group walked back through the door, all of them looking much worse for the experience. Stan ran to Jen and hugged her, letting the tears show at his relief for her safety. ¡°Mom!¡± Frank yelled, running over to the older woman and picking her up as he smiled happily. ¡°Put me down, Frank. Whatever they drugged us with is still making it very hard to think,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Stan, I have to agree with Ethel, everything feels weird, and I think I might vomit, so loosen up on the hug, please,¡± Jen said, prompting Stan to pull away. He hadn¡¯t considered how the drugs would affect their systems. ¡°Sorry, sorry, got carried away, I¡¯ve been so worried,¡± he said. ¡°I understand, kind of, think I was unconscious for a lot, still really hazy,¡± she answered, sounding out of it. ¡°Is everyone here?¡± Glenn asked as his head scanned the room. ¡°It looks like it,¡± Stan answered, starting to count the capybaras. ¡°Alright, good. I know none of you have any idea who I am, but I promise I¡¯m here to help, so let¡¯s get everyone back to the void house, and we can figure out the right course of treatments once we are there,¡± Glenn said. ¡°Oh no, something¡¯s wrong. I think this was a trap!¡± Bug shouted a split second before the house was engulfed in a blazing inferno of fire. Loop 258: Bug She had listened patiently to the whole interaction, doing her best to keep her mouth shut. Alfred had said you can learn a lot by just being a nice dog, people say things not expecting you to be really notice. She approved when Stan had broken the table and hit Brice. The man deserved it. Her first problem came with the man on the phone. His voice sounded wrong. She understood that that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t being honest with what was about to happen, but something seemed off. But then he had agreed to return her family and friends, and she couldn¡¯t complain about that. Soon, she could smell them all as they were released from cars and trucks. It was everyone who was missing.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Then they were all inside: her favorite teacher, her bonus mom. Everyone who had missing, then she realized something smelled horribly wrong. It reminded her almost of Emily. What had the Agency done? ¡°Oh no, something¡¯s wrong. I think this was a trap!¡± Bug shouted a split second before the house was engulfed in a blazing inferno of fire. As the fire erupted outward, she pushed back against it with everything she had, pulling deeply from her well of magic. Even if the fire raged around them, she would keep everyone safe inside it! Loop 258 - Part 34 ¡°Do you actually think this shit is going to work?¡± Twonger asked as they waited in the deep woods behind the house for any sign they needed to join a fight. Cal still wasn¡¯t happy about not being part of the talks inside, but he did understand Harold¡¯s reasoning. This was a loop that needed to run to completion unless there was a critical reason to stop it. They needed to get as many of the newcomers into the loops as possible and prepare for what would happen in the next one. He doubted the Agency would stop, so that meant whatever move they would attempt in the next loop had to be planned and prepared for. ¡°I think something will happen from it. I doubt it will get anyone back. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a trap or not, though,¡± Cal answered. He almost hoped for an attempted trap just to further prove how far out of their league the Agency had become. Several vehicles pulled into the driveway, and agents started helping get people out of them. These were people and animals Cal recognized. Had the peace talks worked that well? ¡°Wait, is that just everyone?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Gretel said, immediately answering Twonger¡¯s question. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Cal asked. ¡°They smell off. Bug has almost certainly realized it,¡± Alfred agreed. ¡°Okay that we are going to need to get closer and see what¡¯s going on,¡± Cal said, starting to inch his way closer to the house, trying to keep their presence hidden. Moments later, all the agents from the house climbed back into the cars and drove away, leaving Cal even more nervous about the ease of the return. ¡°We¡¯re too late,¡± Gretel yelled as the house exploded in a fireball and quickly engulfed the area in front of them, but just as suddenly as the all combusted, it seemed to retract into itself, holding the blaze just outside the house and sparing the surrounding woods. The power radiating from the house was so strong Cal could feel it pressing against his own core, trying to dampen the mana within. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Cal yelled out, not remotely understanding what could hold the fire at bay like this. ¡°It¡¯s Bug. She¡¯s using everything she has to hold this back. She needs our help!¡± Gretel yelled, charging toward the flames with Alfred beside her. ¡°Someone please explain what she¡¯s doing!¡± Cal yelled as he ran to catch up to the dogs, suddenly very afraid he had seen something like this before. The idea of Bug sacrificing herself forever sent a deep fear into his bones. He wasn¡¯t sure he could continue this fight without her, and if the Agency killed her, he would find a way to kill every single one of them.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°She¡¯s attempting to consume the fireball and using every scrap of her own magic to hold the people within it alive. I don¡¯t know how long she can do this alone. We have to find a way to get to her,¡± Alfred yelled. A galloping sound behind them caught all of their attention as Captain Lightspeed appeared with a small rider. ¡°Matt, right? Why are you out here?¡± Cal called to the kid riding on the horse. ¡°Starry said Bug was in trouble and needed us,¡± Matt answered meekly. ¡°How did Starry know that?¡± Cal asked, realizing the how didn¡¯t matter. That could be discussed later. Time was of the essence. ¡°Sorry, don¡¯t answer that, Starry. What can you do?¡± ¡°I need to get inside the blaze. That way, I can help Bug heal all the people before she runs out of her mana. Her source feels weirdly different and slippery to me, but I¡¯m still sure it won¡¯t be good if she runs out,¡± Starry answered. ¡°I sent them. I realized there was an odd connection between them when whatever happened there started,¡± Fulginanis said in Cal¡¯s head. ¡°Okay, dogs, can we can all of us inside?¡± Cal asked loudly. He would discuss what was going on with Fulginanis later. Right now, they had people to save. ¡°Yes, everyone, stay behind me, Lightspeed, stay out here. Matt, stay next to Alfred,¡± Gretel ordered as a bubble appeared around them all, instantly cooling some of the raging fire they could feel even at their distance. The group pushed forward into the inferno. Now, past the outskirts, they could see small, little flame-like creatures moving about in it. Three would spring into life, only for two to be surrounded by a wall of mana and crushed back out of existence. ¡°I¡¯m going to break off and take out as many of the little guys as possible. I think my shield can handle this unless you need for further inside,¡± Twonger said. ¡°No, that¡¯s a good idea. It should help take the burden off Bug. Kill as many as you can. I don¡¯t understand what they are or how the Agency had them, but I think they are the cause of this,¡± Gretel said, her face full of determination. As they continued slowly into the garage, Cal was shocked to find the house still holding together somehow and more of the strange fire bugs everywhere, trying to spread themselves and failing. Had these been inside the hostages somehow? Is that why the dogs had smelled them as wrong? He didn¡¯t know, but his anger was rising quickly. Gretel¡¯s bubble reached the door and cooled it enough for them to move further into the house. This time, immediately, they were greeted by a much bigger version of the bugs they had seen, and it had apparently been waiting for them. It immediately leaped onto the bubble, forcing its way inside as liquid fire dripped from its exposed fangs. Matt screamed in fear of the monster. Alfred and Gretel barely moved out of its way, preventing their fur from catching on fire. Cal though, he had needed something to fight. The problem was they were in a contained space, and he was afraid of using any of his lightning. It was time for some void attacks. Loop 258 - Twonger ¡°What the hell are you things anyway?¡± Twonger asked as he slashed his sword across several of the small bugs seemingly made entirely of fire. He had broken off as he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have been much use as just an added body, and that there was plenty of work to do out here. He was also worried about the stress the added fire things were putting on Bug. He¡¯s already lost enough, and he liked that dog. Sure, he may have killed a few times in loops he couldn¡¯t remember, but she was a tough one, real heart of all a this, and he wasn¡¯t about to let her die. Several of the bugs in front of Twonger suddenly started piling up. He didn¡¯t like whatever it was they were up to but had his hands full with the dozen others that had used that moment to leap onto him. He knocked several off and then crushed a few more out below his boot before he was able to take on the mass in front of him. In the few seconds he had spent fighting the other bugs, that mass had grown something closer to a bear than a bug.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Great, just what I needed, a damned fire bear,¡± he yelled as he swung switched out the mana type on his sword and swung forward as hard as he could, slashing the flaming beast into two smaller bears. He burst into laughter as he continued shrinking the flame monster, piece by piece. Loop 258 - Part 35 As Cal felt the void mana move across his channels, he, not for the first time, and knowing himself doubt would be the last time he considered focusing more on his other mana sources. He had spent most of his time in the loops so far primarily using his lightning mana, even despite the merger of the two mana spirits and the evolution of his abilities. He formed the mana into a small ball and launched it at the center of the monster. He had made a giant mistake and knew it immediately as the air around them rippled. He had caused all the oxygen in the room to be drawn toward the creature, further pulling in the flames, and while he may have caused the rest of the room to extinguish, he had somehow greatly increased the size of what he had to deal with it in front of them. ¡°Damn, didn¡¯t think of that problem!¡± Cal yelled looking at the fire beast they now face. ¡°We need to get through it to Bug quickly!¡± Gretel yelled back, the roaring flames of the monster partially drowning out her voice. ¡°Trying something!¡± Cal answered as he tried to feel the concrete slab below the garage. He hadn¡¯t done much practice yet now that he had Grannus safe, so it was time to learn on the job. He just hoped not to cause any more earthquakes as he played around with it. He pulled the concrete up in front of them as he had done many times before, feeling the Earth at a much further distance than he ever had. Ignoring that extra awareness for now, he pushed the plate forwar,d trying to wrap it around the flame creature. The plate superheated as he tried to envelope the monster, and while it was showing signs of cracking, it held well enough. The fight against the stone soon stopped, and he felt the inside begin to cool. Cal smiled despite the worry. He had managed to smother it without losing control. As he pushed the now crumbling concrete away he let himself hope the lessening of the flames had decreased the pressure on his sister. She just had to hold a little longer. They were on the way. They charged forward as a group, spilling into the kitchen together, where the scene of what had happened became obvious. There were small bursts of fire coming out of each of the hostage''s stomachs, and Bug, through pure force of will, was holding them all together. Stan and Frank were desperately trying to kill every flamebug that escaped Bug¡¯s own power, but there were far too many for them to stop, and Glenn was whispering to Bug that help was coming. He was right. Help was here. ¡°Starry, what do we need to do?¡± I yelled to the mana spirit. ¡°Matt you need to touch Bug, then we can all our power together,¡± they answered.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Alright, we can do that, Alfred, go help Frank and dad,¡± Cal yelled. ¡°Got it,¡± Alfred said before breaking off as we moved toward Bug. ¡°Hey girl, are you holding up okay?¡± I asked gently as the cooling bubble closed around her and Glenn. ¡°She hasn¡¯t said anything, but I know she¡¯s doing everything to hold this all together. Should we just end the loop?¡± Glenn asked. I hadn¡¯t considered it, but yes, I would do that if something wasn¡¯t done immediately to save Bug. Restarting the loop despite what it would cause was a far better choice than losing her. ¡°No, I can fix this,¡± Starry said as Matt reached out to touch Bug¡¯s side. The moment he made contact the power emanating from Bug shifted slightly. The change went from just holding everything together to a feeling of holding and healing. Parts of Starry seemed to break off and meld into the people in the room, healing their bodies. No new flamebugs were appearing. The faces of the hostages started to morph from terror to calmness. Even Ethel¡¯s perpetual scowl lessened. ¡°Matt? Starry? So our weird bond wasn¡¯t a horrible mistake?¡± Bug said, some of the stress vanishing from her face. Cal didn¡¯t know what she was talking about, but if it had saved her, he wasn¡¯t about to complain. The fire vanished all around them as Bug¡¯s feet gave way, and she fell to the ground. Still very much alive but looking exhausted. Cal wrapped his arms around her, glad she had managed to stay alive through the insane feat of bravery. ¡°We need to get out of here now!¡± Twonger yelled from outside, causing Cal to notice the sirens and troops pouring of new transports. ¡°Dad, take them all to my room and use the gateway there I¡¯ll have it reopened. Everyone else help our friends and family, I¡¯ll make sure Twonger gets away,¡± Cal barked out the orders, letting Glenn grab Bug from him. ¡°I assume you heard that,¡± Cal then said in his head to Fulginanis. ¡°I did, do you want me to close it if you aren¡¯t able to make it back through?¡± Fulginanis asked in return. ¡°Yes,¡± Cal answered before sending an arc of lightning through the window and following behind it. He followed this up by grabbing at the earlier power he had felt deep in the Earth, and ripping it all upward, causing the road in front of the house to crack apart as new small hills rose, blocking out the house. ¡°Wel,l that¡¯s fucking nifty. Learn that with the crazy Earthquake, I take it?¡± Twonger asked as he followed Cal back through the window. ¡°I think so. Hard to remember what really happened with the Earthquake, but come on, we need to get back to the voidhouse and help all the wounded,¡± Cal said as they saw most of the people had already moved from the kitchen toward his old bedroom. He picked up a few straggling capybaras, and Twonger grabbed the duct-taped form of Brice that no one had bothered with, and soon, for the first time in two loops, they were all reunited and home in the voidhouse again. Loop 258 - Part 36 ¡°To be clear, this is only what we think happened to the hostages. We can¡¯t say any of this for certain,¡± Andrew said. As soon as they got all the hostages back to the voidhouse Cal had called a quick meeting to see if it could be determined what exactly had been done to them, and after some discussing of the events, especially what the dogs had noticed Andrew had started talked about his and Libby¡¯s conclusions. ¡°Got it, no way to be sure. Spit it out, though. What do you think the Agency did to them?¡± Cal said, annoyed with how long this was taking. He wanted to go make the rounds checking on everyone. ¡°We believe the Agency somehow came in possession of abyssal beast eggs that they implanted in their last round of hostages. I don¡¯t understand what their goal was with this, but it¡¯s the only thing we can determine from the data we have,¡± Andrew answered, some of the anger he clearly felt coming through in his voice. Cal completely understood and related, he was having his own issues regulating just what he wanted to do to Brice, but he knew that had to wait for now. ¡°Their goals were simple: make us angry and afraid. They were willing to sacrifice Brice in this loop, likely without even informing him. We may be able to use that to our advantage in breaking him. Either way I will be testing what happens when a loop-aware person is in the Under Library hub when a loop resets on him,¡± Harold said. ¡°That may have odd results, as we do not know fully how the force that controls loop-awareness works,¡± Libby replied. ¡°What do we think now about the victims? Are they safe now?¡± Cal asked. They could plot their experiments later, he wanted to go talk to everyone. His father hadn¡¯t even been willing to leave Jen¡¯s side for the meeting, danger or not. ¡°As far as we can tell, yes, the dogs have made their rounds. Once Matt and Starry are recovered we will see what they know as well. Their intervention and connection with Bug, while incredibly timely, was entirely unexpected,¡± Andrew answered. That was a topic Cal cared more about and would be talking with Bug as soon as she recovered as well. How had that bond formed exactly? ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll check with you all later; I have people to visit,¡± Cal said before running from the room toward the makeshift hospital wing. Inside the half-assembled room that was meant to be a new gathering area were several beds and partitions with all the people and animals they had just rescued, plus one very exhausted dog who had greatly overtaxed her system. They had been nice enough to set her up next to Ethel and Andy, making Cal¡¯s first stop an easy choice. ¡°Oh look, you finally decided to visit us, poor sickle people, couldn¡¯t be bothered to check earlier eh?¡± Ethel said, coughing lightly as she spoke. Her smile gave away the lack of serious reprimand.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey, someone of us had to rescue dozens of kids with their own mana spirits while you were busy being kidnapped, so you know the sooner you get out of this bed and get your school back open, the better,¡± Cal said, smiling back. ¡°Don¡¯t be mean to Ethel! She had a hard time; we were only kidnapped for one loop, and no one put fire bugs inside of us!¡± Bug said, chastising Cal loudly. Laughter exploded out of both Cal and Ethel. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Bug, they¡¯re just joking around. Honestly, no idea how Ethel has it in her. Everything hurts,¡± Andy whispered from the next bed over. ¡°Mom is like me, a fighter!¡± Frank whispered loudly, watching Ethel like a hawk. Cal was sure that man was just as angry as he was. ¡°You really found a bunch of new people for the school, eh?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°We did, and that¡¯s something that we are going to have to strongly address this loop. We have a possible way to bring them all in, but we¡¯ve gotta get them trained, and having you back is going to make that a ton easier. We were already running so thin on people with mana spirits,¡± Cal explained. ¡°Yeah, I thought I saw Serilina walking around, I take if you recruited her?¡± Andy asked. ¡°That was Andrew. There was another loop before this where none of us made it back from Earth. They had to work with Trashcat and the people in the Under Library to figure out a solution. Which, by the way, Libby is desperate to learn more about your root network, and Gus is about ready to implode,¡± Cal explained and spotted Ethel¡¯s brow furrow just slightly. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to have to find more help to run that. We can¡¯t ever force this much responsibility on poor Gus again. He didn¡¯t deserve to have to shoulder that,¡± Ethel said. ¡°No, but he managed. Without him, this would have all fallen apart before we even knew it had happened,¡± Cal said. That strange bird deserved a ton of credit. ¡°What are we doing next? I have a strong urge to kill a lot of people,¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Before this attempted trap of theirs, we were already taking a break to get everyone new settled and our supplies built up. Harold has been coordinating a lot of that, speaking of which. Does anyone know how Melissa is doing?¡± Cal explained before getting to another question. ¡°Her healing powers aren¡¯t working well on herself for whatever reason. I think it¡¯s because of the attack source, but our paladin magic seems to still be working, so she should recover just fine,¡± Bug said. ¡°Damn, I was hoping she could help accelerate the healing here, but maybe Matt and Starry can. This brings us to another question, Bug. How exactly did you end up bonded to a mana spirit alongside Matt?¡± Cal asked, giving his sister a slight glare. Loop 258 - Interrogation Part 1 ¡°Hello again, Brice. Sorry, the accommodations aren¡¯t the greatest here. We aren¡¯t really equipped for prisoners yet. These people seem to prefer not taking them. It¡¯s kind of a big difference between what you represent and what they do,¡± Glenn said, keeping his voice as passive as possible when he entered the room. Harold was watching from a monitor outside. They had decided that since Glenn knew Brice the best, for now, he would be the one to start the information-gathering sessions. ¡°You know, at first, I was angry they had tried baiting the trap with me, but honestly, it makes the most sense. I mean, here you ar,e entirely ready to try and break me. But considering I know this has a hard end when the loop restarts, what exactly do you think you can accomplish?¡± Brice asked smugly.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Are you really sure that¡¯s true? Think about how easily these people have beaten the Agency over and over. Do you really think they aren¡¯t capable of holding you in more than one loop? As we speak, your new room is being prepared for just that purpose,¡± Glenn said, letting a slight smile show. He may not have been any sort of field agent in years, but this all came back to him easily. It was like riding a bike, and this particular bike had been making his life miserable for longer than should have been possible. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you, and as for these people you¡¯ve signed on with, how much of their successes have been down to blind luck and repetition. What do you think happens when they really have to face off?¡± Brice asked, his lip curled, showing Glenn some of the rage he was trying to hide. ¡°I think they win,¡± Glenn answered. Loop 258 - Part 37 ¡°I don¡¯t know! It just happened; we were trying to figure out how to make his mana spirit manifest, and I connected with some of my powers, which I barely understand, and then we were connected,¡± Bug started to cry as she explained, the words tumbling out of her mouth. ¡°Bug, it¡¯s alright. I¡¯m not mad at all. In fact pretty sure you¡¯re only alive because of that bond. It¡¯s just new,¡± Cal said, trying to reassure his sister that everything was alright. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I¡¯ve just been trying so hard. I don¡¯t want to make things harder for you, Cal,¡± Bug said. Cal''s stomach dropped. He hadn¡¯t ever wanted her to think she had to do that. She didn¡¯t need to try to hold it all alone, no matter how it affected him. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I promise. You don¡¯t need to do this alone. You can always tell us about anything that happens. Hell, now we even have your real favorite person back, and soon you¡¯re going back to school,¡± Cal said, forcing a smile in an attempt to calm her down. ¡°Damn right, you are. If we have this many new people enrolling, you¡¯re officially my teaching assistant, Bug!¡± Ethel said, her voice in a matter-of-fact tone. ¡°Wait, really? Oh my god. Can I teach a class about cooperative storytelling?¡± Bug asked, her tail suddenly springing to life. ¡°Yes, Frank, you will be taking Bug¡¯s class it¡¯s something you need to learn,¡± Ethel said, smiling at her giant of a son. To Frank¡¯s credit, he said nothing, seemingly just happy they had Ethel back. ¡°There you are,¡± Andrew said, appearing from behind one of the makeshift partitions of the room. ¡°You actually came to check on me? Didn¡¯t expect that,¡± Andy said jokingly. ¡°I¡¯ve been checking on everyone, but no, this is a different matter. Another wing of the Under Library has been opened. I did not wish to risk any sort of exploration until we had everything under control otherwise, not to mention getting you and Bill back in order to better facilitate such exploration. As you know, the automated system there only somewhat likes my presence,¡± Andrew explained. Cal had decided whether the library liked it or not. He was going on their next exploration trip. ¡°This time, we are going to plan any expedition out a little more. We know a lot more about the place than when I first visited, but for now, we can put it on the back burner I think,¡± Andy replied.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Agreed, there are many things we need to resolve here first, which brings me to my next question. We now have a level of force that we absolutely can bring the Agency to its knees. I assume that is the new plan?¡± Andrew asked, surprising Cal with how angry the man sounded about the Agency. Then again, after the loop Andrew and the others in the voidhouse had spent totally cut off here, he wasn¡¯t entirely surprised. Andrew wasn¡¯t the same shutoff person he had been so long ago, trapped in the maddening few moments of lucidity. He, like everyone else, had had decades to grow and change. ¡°The new plan is everyone gets healed up and healthy. Right now, we have all our people back, plus several of theirs and many new recruits. So what we are going to do is spend some time getting all of this working together again, figure out the ogres we have and how to deprogram them, and then we are going to free every last one they have, as well as any other prisoner they may hold. Then, at the start of every loop, we take them down immediately. I want to be clear here, guys, just because we are taking some downtime to heal up doesn¡¯t mean we aren¡¯t going to make them pay for the shit they put us through,¡± Cal said, impressing himself slightly at managing to sound serious for the whole speech. ¡°For once, and let me stress, I really do only mean for once here, I agree with Cal. I feel like someone tried to break every bone in my body, which I think they did, so I need some time to lay around and catch up on everything I missed, but I want to be in the next meeting about the building plans. Who has been taking care of the new kids? I¡¯m going to need to meet all of them too,¡± Ethel said, some of her crankiness vanishing as she mentioned the kids. Cal knew she had trouble holding her old angry act up when kids or animals needed her. ¡°Sarah, she¡¯s also new but has been a teacher herself. Do you want me to have her come and meet you, or do you want to wait until you¡¯re back in your own room?¡± Cal asked, honestly unsure of how quickly Ethel wanted to get back into the swing of things. ¡°Hm, Frank, find me a wheelchair. Tomorrow, you and I are going to meet everyone, well I suppose more that I will go meet everyone, you are going to introduce me. I hope they all have good things to say about you, Franklin,¡± Ethel said, using a full name I had never heard her say before. ¡°Frank was an excellent host!¡± Frank said, looking slightly embarrassed. ¡°He really was. He helped so much with the kids,¡± Bug joined in. ¡°Frank was critical to our success,¡± Alfred added as he and Gretel walked up to join the crowd. Cal spotted a smile cross Ethel¡¯s lips for a second before she put her scowl back on. ¡°Oh, and there are my two dogs, and here I thought you¡¯d both abandoned me too,¡± Ethel said. Neither of the newcomers seemed to believe a word of it. ¡°We allowed a cat to join the pedigree paladins just to save you. I think you should be more grateful,¡± Gretel said as she laid her head on Ethel¡¯s lap. Ethel began scratching behind her ear. ¡°You all did great. Ignore my crankiness. I¡¯m proud of everything you managed to do without me,¡± Ethel said, smiling. Loop 258 - Stan, Jen & Ralth ¡°So you look like someone hit you with a truck a few dozen times over, has it really been that bad without me?¡± Jen asked, smiling at her husband. ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯m the gentle one in our marriage, so think how angry you¡¯d have been if they had me instead and Ralth instead,¡± Stan replied. Jen just nodded back. ¡°The worst part about their attacks was I could smell the gas. I just had no way to make it out of the caves quick enough to do anything about it. I came close in this loop. You know, it was kind of nice when I mostly knew what the future was bringing here. Now I almost feel like a useless kid again,¡± Ralth said. ¡°Welcome to all of our worlds. No matter how much stronger we seem to get, it just doesn¡¯t really matter yet. There are new things to figure out, new giant problems. Everything constantly grows,¡± Stan said.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°I heard Cal talking about taking a year to heal, and considering how you sound and I feel, I have to imagine everyone else is in a similar boat, and even after that, I think we need a vacation loop,¡± Jen said. ¡°There¡¯s a very nice secluded beach I know of, lots of mostly untouched caves. I think I¡¯ll talk to Cal about setting up a future gateway there. We all need more relaxation time. I find myself hard-pressed to hold back the rage against the agency, though. Not even for myself, how they hurt all my friends,¡± Ralth said, sighing loudly. ¡°Well, the good news is you won¡¯t have to hold it back once we resume the war,¡± Stan said, giving his son a smile. He was glad everyone was back, and one day he¡¯d find his other missing son as well. Loop 258 - Part 38 ¡°Cal, it¡¯s time for a real discussion on something that we¡¯ve mostly been winging up til now, but with all of your people back and my firm commitment to your cause, we can¡¯t put it off anymore,¡± Harold said. Harold had asked Cal, Andrew, Stan, and Glenn to join them for a discussion on the void house and its future as soon as everyone was ready. It had taken two days, but they were here now. Initially, Cal had hoped at least Andy and Ethel might be up to joining them, but despite Ethel¡¯s claims she¡¯d be ready to go in a wheelchair by now, her recovery was still underway. ¡°I assume this is about logistics,¡± Cal said. He knew space had gotten incredibly tight. Most people were just sleeping in tents in Ethel¡¯s realm, which people had recently taken to called the Gardens, which was an apt description. Though Cal shuddered slightly at the thought of how Ethel would react when she heard the news. ¡°Yes, and I know we had started the conversation already but I want to reiterate where things are. We still haven¡¯t fully processed all of the people Bug brought in, we¡¯ve barely interrogated the Gryalth, and we haven¡¯t even gotten to the capture ogres yet. The furthest along in any of the groups are the kids, and that¡¯s because of the plan for future loops. But with everyone back, this place is packed near to breaking. So, I¡¯m restructuring my immediate plans. For now, against my better judgment we are going to see if any of the non-combatant guests have any construction, cooking, or anything related to building and running a place like this type of skills,¡± Harold said. ¡°Fulginanis, what do our space constraints look like? Can we just build out into the void as we need?¡± I asked, summoning one of my mana spirits with my question. ¡°Yes, we are nearing a point where Grannus can join into our harmonized form, which will fully integrate the rock realm as an aspect below the void house. I believe that will be the better solution for some of the planned add-ons especially if we can further link some of the chambers to the Gardens. I believe humans like a sense of outdoors for their living chambers,¡± the mana spirit said. They were right. Humans very much did. Cal liked that idea and was sure the animals would as well. ¡°Good, then we need to start work on rooms for everyone. I want each of those kids to feel like this is their home and that they belong. It¡¯s important we never treat them anything like the Agency did,¡± Cal said, frowning slightly as he pictured what some of them may have gone through. Emily flashed in his brain, causing the frown to turn into a deep anger. ¡°Absolutely agreed. I¡¯ve already talked to the capybaras. They are being pulled off any supplemental build projects for now. I just want them getting everyone fed as best they can. The size of people we have should better lend to large-scale construction. I¡¯m also working on getting some heavy machinery in here. Though that is harder to move through my channels without being noticed, but I will get some,¡± Harold said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to need that when it comes to the rock realm. No real way around that unless Cal wants to spend all his time carefully crafting rooms,¡± Stan said, laughing slightly at his own suggestion. ¡°Yeah, not going to have a ton of time for that I don¡¯t think. Somehow, we accidentally founded a magical school, and I imagine figuring that all out is going to take more than one loop in and of itself,¡± Cal said. This was something that helped with the anger. Sure what had happened to the kids was terrible, but the idea of them all learning how magic together, more people to train with, and a real magical school, now that was just amazing. Something he would be proud of. ¡°Do you remember how many arguments we used to have over the concept and even existence of magic?¡± Andrew asked, shaking his head slightly. ¡°Yep, we¡¯ve come an insanely long way through this. Hell, I think you might even like people now,¡± Cal said, trying to contain his laughter. ¡°Perhaps, well, at least the animals. I like many of them,¡± Andrew replied, a small smile escaping his usual stoic appearance. ¡°Speaking of the animals, as I understand it, they all generally attend Ethel¡¯s school as well. Will Sarah be able to work with that?¡± Harold asked, looking at Glenn. ¡°Yes, she already adores several of the other denizens of this place. Bug had been helping her with many of the kids from the moment they met. If we are talking about expanding this place and the idea of a magic school, though, I think we are going to need to draw up real blueprints for things we¡¯d want in one. There are a lot of experiments I can think of for different magic uses that we¡¯d need controlled rooms to properly test. Not to mention, the kids would almost certainly feel better in dorm-style rooms closer to each other,¡± Glenn answered before giving his own thoughts on a magical school. ¡°I agree, we need to fill in for their missing families, and with the bonds they¡¯ve already formed, I think keeping them close together will help them in the long run,¡± Stan concurred. ¡°Alright, so school, high priority on the building. We need to start transforming this place for the future war we have to fight as well. I know Cal has several ideas, and we¡¯ve discussed many of them before. Recruiting the popstar is one of the better ones, the more I¡¯ve thought about it. Let¡¯s toss that into future loop goals, and keep the school firmly in the goals of this one. What else do we need to accomplish building during this loop?¡± Harold asked. ¡°As much as I dislike the idea, we need proper holding cells,¡± Cal said. He hated the idea of keeping prisoners, but with the plans for Clarke and Brice, they were needed, especially if ogre deprogramming became a standard loop start. Loop 258 - Part 39 ¡°We also need to make a mana pool,¡± Fulginanis said. Cal wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the mana spirit meant by that, but he suspected it had something to do with the pools the spirits tended to be found in. ¡°So I¡¯m not really sure what that is, and I¡¯m guessing if I don¡¯t know, no one else does,¡± Cal explained, getting several nods from the others around the table. ¡°I know Cal is at least aware of the concept, it¡¯s where my kind are born and grow, but there¡¯s more them than just that. Mana is the lifeblood of places like this, and the more we expand it the more we will need our own internal pockets of it to help hold this all together. It will also allow new mana spirits to be born. I cannot say what they will be like being born outside of the normal flow of time, though,¡± Fulginanis answered. Their explanation made a lot of sense. Cal had actually been a bit worried about what kind of expansion was possible, but if the only limitation was the growth of mana, that was something they could work with. ¡°Okay, and how hard will these be to build?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Building them won¡¯t be hard. Identifying the best spots to do so will require some finesse. Excalibur may be able to help there, but so much magical knowledge is still missing from this world. I can feel the connection to it deep inside me, but there is something blocking me from fully grasping at it. It is infuriating and the most like Cal I have ever felt,¡± Fulginanis answered. That was new. They hadn¡¯t brought that up before. Cal knew that Earth had some weird mana shortages, but the blocking of knowledge was a strange and potential issue. ¡°Do you have any idea what¡¯s causing that?¡± Cal asked, worried about one of his bonded partners. ¡°No, it¡¯s always been there. I had hoped it would grow easier to get through after my maturation. Perhaps another harmonizing will help. I am sorry for the outburst,¡± Fulginanis answered, going back to their usual collected tone. Cal didn¡¯t buy it. This was really bothering them, but he didn¡¯t want to push it in front of the others. They could have this talk later in private. He could use a meeting of the mana spirits anyway. It had been a very long time since they had one. ¡°Alright, so getting back to just the mana pools, how do we fill them? Is this something the channels will need to make mana deposits in, or will they just naturally fill?¡± Cal asked, internally laughing at the idea of making daily mana deposits in a pool. ¡°No one will be required to, but the more variety of mana that circulates in the pools will help them grow and stimulate a better ecosystem for young spirits,¡± Fulginanis answered.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Okay, well, we have a lot of different types here now, especially with the children, so I think we can work on strengthening those pretty quickly. That should help us grow this place nicely as well. Now, the gardens, does anyone know how their growth is maintained?¡± Harold asked. ¡°No, and I didn¡¯t want Ethel at this meeting yet. She¡¯s still not doing great. Fulginanis, can you see if Oakbert is willing to give us a rundown?¡± Cal asked, unsure if the mana spirit had the time or not. He had been incredibly busy tending to several areas in Ethel¡¯s realm since their return. ¡°One moment, I¡¯ll be right back,¡± Fulginanis said before disappearing for a few seconds and repairing with a small green mana spirit in tow. ¡°Oh, hello, I¡¯m not really used to doing this without Ethel. How can I help?¡± Mr. Oakbert said the moment he appeared alongside the much larger mana spirit. ¡°So we¡¯ve been discussing the expansion of the realms. How exactly does that work with the gardens? Are they growing larger as well?¡± Harold asked. It also hit Cal just how many people there were with mana spirits now. Was it possible to connect more realms if they established their own? Wait, could this place be its own fully functional world? He filed that idea away for another time. That was a topic he wasn¡¯t ready to discuss, but he thought he caught a knowing smile cross Fulginanis¡¯s face when he first had it. What was that spirit up to? ¡°Oh, the root network is attracted to the mother tree, and as her roots expand, so does the land. I¡¯m currently working on spreading her saplings to the edges of the gardens in order to help secure it against future collapse. We don¡¯t want what happened to Gus to happen again. This should also let the mother tree¡¯s roots begin to expand across more realities than just our originator. Well, once she wakes up, at least,¡± Oakbert explained happily. ¡°Wait, are you saying a tree is about to be sentient?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Well, another tree. Though Frank is a bit different. But yes, this was always the plan to truly bring the gardens to life and give the room needed for the grand expansion,¡± He answered. ¡°I ''m guessing the grand expansion is building an ecosystem for every plant and animal Ethel thinks she can replicate?¡± Cal asked, pretty sure he knew where this was going. Ethel would save every single animal she could, and he couldn¡¯t blame her one bit. ¡°Not just thinks, Ethel wants to build a universe that¡¯s safe for animals from everywhere. That¡¯s her grand goal, and why she¡¯s been working so hard at all of this, to make sure it lasts well past her,¡± the spirit answered. ¡°Well, I think that at least answers the question of the gardens expands, even if it leaves a whole lot of other new questions. But we can answer those once we expand this to a bigger meeting. Are you all ready to meet the ogres?¡± Harold asked. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve been putting it off for too long anyway,¡± Cal answered. He needed to see just how deep the control went. Loop 258 - Ethel鈥檚 Private Meeting ¡°So the cat¡¯s out of the bag on the mother tree plans then?¡± Ethel asked, looking at Mr. Oakbert intently. She had decided it was time to have a little gathering of her workforce, and catch up on everything she had missed. ¡°Yes, you said to tell them everything if they ever asked, and they did,¡± he replied meekly. ¡°No, you¡¯re right, it was going to happen eventually. Gus, was she able to continue her growth at the normal pace while I was gone?¡± Ethel asked, looking at the odd bird. ¡°Yep, and I¡¯m so glad to have you back, boss. Several of the seedlings have already been collected and placed at the edge of the realm. Hugo¡¯s been working on their upkeep,¡± Gus answered.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Good, now remember I want them read to at least once a week, if we need to recruit more animals into that, that¡¯s fine. Frank, how are you doing with the root migration?¡± Ethel asked her son. ¡°Alright, moving some of them is hard even for the mighty Frank!¡± Frank answered in a loud whisper. Ethel was impressed he had learned to control his outbursts so well. ¡°Still, good progress. Okay, then I want our next priority to be an expansion of the fruit forests, and from there, we need to work on the planned mushroom areas. I was this place to overflow with food,¡± Ethel explained to several nods from the animals. Loop 258 - Part 40 ¡°So I know that since we¡¯ve brought them here, they don¡¯t really do anything besides eat and sleep, but are we sure it¡¯s safe to keep them without any extra security?¡± Stan asked as they stopped in the small room that connected a larger holding area to the main complex. The room held eight people the Agency called ogres. Men and women who had been experimented on until they had their own magical slave soldiers. The room itself contained beds, tables, chairs, several televisions, and media to watch, but despite the offerings, all the people in there ever did was pace the room, eat their food, and sleep. To their credit, they had made no attempt at escape or even any outward signs of aggression since they were brought here. Cal found them very unnerving, and it was why he put this off for as long as he had. ¡°No, we aren¡¯t, but until recently, we didn¡¯t really have any spare manpower for that. As soon as my granddaughter is more recovered she can likely help here. She has the most recent experience with the ogres, and her healing capabilities may prove useful as well,¡± Harold answered. ¡°We should see if Bug is willing to try too,¡± Cal added, knowing his sister would but not sure if it was a good idea yet. ¡°Are we ready? Not that there is much to be ready for,¡± Harold said. Everyone nodded, and Harold opened the door, leading them inside. Instead of the usual nothing reaction they had been led to expect, all of the ogres immediately stopped pacing, turned to face Cal, and saluted him. ¡°Well, that¡¯s new. I¡¯ve never gotten a single salute,¡± Andrew said. ¡°Uh, at ease? Is that what you say?¡± Cal asked, and as he said that the ogres instantly relaxed. ¡°Alright, so does this mean you¡¯re all willing to talk to me?¡± Cal¡¯s question was met with silence. ¡°Look, if you want me to be in charge, I need one of you to at least try to explain what¡¯s going on. What can we do for you? How can we help?¡± Cal continued after the silence. One of the ogres stepped forward. ¡°Sir, I have been elected leader of this squad, and I have decided that I will only speak openly to you,¡± one of the men said, stepping forward. Surprisingly he was the smallest of the group. ¡°Fine, but everyone else stays in the outer room for at least this meeting. We can work on earning more trust from there,¡± Cal said, sighing loudly. Could he get away if all of them came at him at once? Probably, this was his realm after all, but it was still a risk.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Agreed,¡± the man said. There was grumbling from Andrew, but it seemed by now no one was willing to argue with Cal as they filed out of the room, closing the door behind them. ¡°Alright, well, we¡¯re alone now. Spill it,¡± Cal said, keeping any annoyance from his voice. He supposed in their place he wouldn¡¯t want to talk to anyone who wasn¡¯t the leader either, even if he himself hated the idea that he was the leader. Well, mostly, he hated it. There was a fun part to it. He had to admit that to himself. ¡°We are willing to surrender under the following terms. One, complete explanation of what this going on with this location. Two, explain why we have heard the word time loop. Three, an agreement to help free us from their control. Four, an agreement to either help or, at the very least, allow us to work toward freeing all the other people trapped in the ogre program,¡± the man answered. ¡°I think those are all fair requests. I¡¯ll start with the first two, interrupt me if you need further clarification on anything,¡± Cal said, pausing briefly before continuing. ¡°Well, we are in a time loop. Some people are aware of it. Some aren¡¯t. This place exists outside of that time loop, and while the people in it, with some complicated exceptions, start the loop over, this realm does not. I am the owner of the realm, and it is connected to another realm owned by another member of our group.¡± Cal paused, looking at each of the ogres in turn, trying to gauge if they were taking it all in before the leader spoke again. ¡°That lines up with what we thought may have been going on. Most of it the specifics are new information. What we knew from the Agency was there was some third front in their war. What we gleaned from you was that you might be the only actual good guys in the fight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if we are the only ones, but the Agency and the Gryalth certainly are not the good guys. As for the next two, agreed entirely. Fuck the agency, and fuck their slavery. We will help you and everyone else, no stringers, period,¡± Cal said, keeping his voice deadly serious on this line. He wanted them to understand under no uncertain terms how much he hated what had been done to them. ¡°Thank you. We surrender and accept your leadership,¡± the man said, visibly relaxing in his pose. Cal wondered where this new development would lead, hopefully to the freeing of all the ogres. ¡°Good, let¡¯s start with your name and whatever else you are willing to tell me right now,¡± Cal said, returning his normal smile. ¡°My name is Sean Pragil,¡± the lead man answered, much more relaxed than he had been. ¡°Well, nice to meet you Sean. Any chance you are okay if I bring the others back in now? We have a ton of questions, and Andrew is likely to understand your answers better than I will,¡± Cal asked, hoping the group was more willing to talk to the others now. ¡°Yes, now that you''ve agreed to our terms, we find that acceptable,¡± he answered. Cal walked back to the door and opened it, signaling for everyone it was safe to return. Loop 258 - Ethel & Sarah ¡°So, I hear you¡¯ve been taking over the school in my absence?¡± Ethel said, greeting the younger woman. She looked competent enough, but she wasn¡¯t about to trust to first glances on competence, otherwise Cal would be long dead by now. ¡°Trying to, at least. You seem to have left some rather large shoes to fill. The animals absolutely adore you,¡± Sarah answered, smiling. ¡°Yes, well, they don¡¯t know any better. That said, Frank and Bug have spoken highly of you, and I do trust their opinions greatly, so I think we will need to figure out how to run this school together,¡± Ethel said. She had already decided, barring a complete hatred of the woman, that would need to happen. There were just far too many students now. Even if the kids only needed this for a single loop, the number of animals was just going to increase, and who knew how many people would be added before Cal was done.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you don¡¯t hate me. Cal had warned me you can be a bit prickly at times,¡± Sarah responded, causing Ethel to burst into laughter. That was how Cal was describing her to people now? She supposed that was a leg up from how most people would. ¡°Trust me, one day you will be yelling at Cal as much as I do. It¡¯s part of being responsible. But more importantly, it¡¯s time for us to have a long talk on the nature of my realm, and then I have someone for you to meet,¡± Ethel said, smiling. Loop 258 - Part 41 ¡°So what can you tell us about the Agency and its ogre program? We don¡¯t know a lot beyond the basics, and we haven¡¯t been able to make the people we captured talk yet,¡± Glenn asked, pulling a chair over and taking a seat across from the still-standing ogres as he spoke. Cal followed suit, figuring the man knew what he was doing. ¡°They don¡¯t erase our memories or anything like that if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking, so I suspect we may know a great deal. What exactly do you want to know, or do you just want me to start at the beginning of everything I know,¡± Sean asked, looking around the room as he spoke. ¡°Go ahead and start at the beginning for now, and we can interrupt with any questions we may have. Also, you¡¯re all welcome to take chairs. You are fully allowed to be comfortable here. We don¡¯t want you scared,¡± Glenn continued. Sean looked at Cal, seemingly for confirmation of Glenn¡¯s offer. Cal nodded his agreement with what the man had said. ¡°Thank you,¡± Sean said before grabbing his own chair, an action that was quickly mirrored by the other ogres. ¡°As long as you are here, we will treat you like guests. I understand that this feels more like a prison than a guest room, but the more we work with you to make sure everything is safe, the more we can increase your permissions around the void house. Please understand we have a lot of innocent people and animals here whose safety is currently our first priority,¡± Glenn explained further. Cal watched the ogres for any noticeable reactions to this and managed to catch one of them smiling at the word animals. Not a devious or menacing smile in any way. It reminded him of a kid getting to play with a puppy or kitten. She just looked happy at the idea of friendly animals, and while that was a good reaction, it made him worry about just how long some of these people had been forced into this. Had this been the end goal for all the kids he had rescued? Were they just ogres he had encountered later in the loops? ¡°Thank you again. Please understand before I start recapping that some of my early life is painful for me, not physically, just in memories, but I do think it¡¯s important that I do it. I am aware of some of the children that you rescued here, and I want you to understand what they would have suffered had you not rescued them,¡± Sean said. That confirmed Cal¡¯s worries. ¡°My family and I were visiting a mine when I was a kid, and somehow, when I touched one of the pieces of copper ore, I thought I had heard a voice speak to me. My parents assumed it was just me being a kid, and in time, I even somewhat forgot about it, but one day, I was playing around with some rock samples my dad had given me, and I felt something again with the copper one, and then I heard that same voice again. This time, though, it didn¡¯t go away, and we started talking to each other every night,¡± Sean started.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Ah, that was likely a mana spirit you made a connection with. Did they have a name?¡± Cal asked, wondering just how many mana spirits were still waiting around the planet for someone to find them, or had the Agency rounded up virtually everyone left not in the control of the Gryalth. ¡°Yes, I know that now, but at the time, I had no idea what was happening, and I just enjoyed talking to my friend. I never got around to naming him, though, as within a few days of this, several men showed up at my door and told my Dad they were taking me. He refused. You can imagine what happened next. I have no idea if my parents are alive or not. The next several years were spent in an Agency lab with several other children, where we were poked, prodded, and tested. Most of us didn¡¯t survive their tests. Those that did stopped hearing the voice of their mana spirit but began to be able to use magical abilities. Once that happened, we were fashioned with these collars. Any attempt to disobey was met with extreme pain; any attempt to remove them detonates them, instantly killing us,¡± Sean stopped speaking, apparently having finished that part of his story. ¡°Hrm, I need to get those collars off you, but I imagine it¡¯s going to be a very dangerous initial investigation. Is anyone willing to volunteer?¡± Andrew asked with an angry concern in his voice. ¡°You can use me. I consent to anything needed in order to have these removed,¡± Sean answered without any hesitation. ¡°Good. Cal, after we finish here, I want to take Sean back to the lab. I need to consult with Libby and Andy, assuming he¡¯s up to it, and probably Bill, too. This is complicated, but I think it¡¯s doable. I doubt they have anyone better, let alone with more experience working for them than me, so I¡¯m sure I can do it,¡± Andrew said. Cal ignored the egotistical comment, partially because he thought it might be true but also because Andrew seemed genuinely upset at how these people had been treated. ¡°Of course, let¡¯s do everything to get those collars off and mapped out. We will need an easy way to disable them in the future without killing anyone,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s add that to the high-priority list,¡± Harold added. ¡°Alright, everyone, in light of the collars, I¡¯d really prefer if the rest of you continue to stay here for now. It¡¯s not your fault at all, but I can¡¯t risk that,¡± Cal said apologetically to the surrendered ogres. ¡°Trust me, we all understand. None of us wants to hurt anyone innocent again,¡± the woman who had smiled when he had mentioned animals earlier said. He was glad to hear it. ¡°Thank you. Then I think Andrew and I will take Sean to the lab while Glenn, Harold, and my father continue a discussion with all of you,¡± Cal instructed and got several nods in return. Loop 258 - Part 42 Andrew sighed loudly as he attached several devices to the collar around Sean¡¯s neck, causing Cal to take a few steps backward, not that he was entirely afraid that Andrew would screw up something here; that was usually more his department. It was just that he had exploded enough times in previous loops to ingrain a deep hatred for the repeated experience. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cal asked, his back finding a wall. ¡°This technology is odd,¡± Andrew answered. ¡°Odd, how exactly?¡± Cal followed up, not liking the use of the word odd here. It wasn¡¯t very Andrew-like, which meant this was extremely odd. ¡°So, we know they had these collars before any of them became involved in the time loops based on some of your previous experiences. The problem is this seems far too advanced for anything the Agency should have access to. I don¡¯t understand how they have it without it going through several loops of advancement,¡± Andrew¡¯s brow furrowed as he answered, clearly annoyed and confused at the situation. ¡°Please allow me to take a look,¡± Libby said calmly. Andrew stepped aside, letting them examine the collar closely. The robot tapped several small spots on the collar carefully before speaking again. ¡°Andrew is correct. They should not have access to these.¡± ¡°Great, let¡¯s call that problem number two. Problem number one is still whether or not we can remove them,¡± Cal said. Just what kind of technology was this that these two could so easily tell that the Agency shouldn¡¯t have it? ¡°Can we? Yes. Should we? No. Assuming I understand exactly what these are doing, and that is at this point a large assumption, these collars are directly tied into their own mana channels, which brings us to the question of how exactly they are doing this and why it¡¯s only been seen in these collars so far. If they have access to this level of tech, we should have seen it used actively against us, not just as a means of control,¡± Andrew explained. ¡°Alright, then I guess the next question is how or where did they find these?¡± Cal asked. Was it repurposed Gryalth tech? Did they have their own off-world contacts? He didn¡¯t particularly like the idea of either question being yes. Andrew pressed a button on a console behind him. ¡°Can someone please find Twonger and send him to my lab,¡± he said. A capybara voice came from a speaker near the button, saying they were on it; Cal wasn¡¯t sure which capybara had responded. If Andrew wanted Twonger here, that meant he suspected some kind of alien tech. ¡°The implications of how these collars work could do a lot to explain this universe¡¯s seeming missing volume of mana spirits,¡± Libby said while they waited for Twonger.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Cal asked, not following how those two things related to each other. ¡°The collar is fueling itself through the enslaved¡¯s own mana channels and is burning their mana spirit to do so. I highly doubt there is much left of a spirit after only a year of this, which further leads me to believe that ogres get weaker the longer they are in use,¡± Andrew explained. ¡°Yes, we do. We are usually disposed of once we are no longer able to access any of our abilities,¡± Sean replied, confirming Andrew¡¯s suspicions. ¡°Usually?¡± Cal asked, wondering what happened to those that weren¡¯t. ¡°Yes, those are the lucky ones. Some end up being used in experiments,¡± Sean answered, slightly shuddering as he said the word experiments. It was some of the first emotion Cal had seen out of the man. He guessed that was how Emily came into existence and entirely understood the man¡¯s fear. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m coming, damn,¡± Twonger¡¯s voice could be heard from outside the lab before the door opened, revealing the Cyclopean alien. ¡°Ah, good. Can you take a look at the collar on this man¡¯s neck and tell us if you recognize anything about it?¡± Andrew asked the moment Twonger was inside. ¡°Sure,¡± he answered, walking over to the man and, taking a close look at it, and mimicking the sound Andres had first made when he examined it. ¡°What?¡± Andrew and Cal asked in unison. ¡°This came from your government? You sure about that?¡± Twonger asked without answering their question. ¡°Yes,¡± Sean answered before anyone else. ¡°Well, then they are sourcing their parts from a very distant supplier. I¡¯ve seen some of these components for sale before, usually by Trulnin merchants, not sure where they get them, though. Was never big on the idea of burning out my own mana channels. So, what¡¯s the play here? Because we ain¡¯t getting this off without the ciphers,¡± Twonger explained. ¡°Do you think you could get us to someone with the ciphers?¡± Cal asked, not sure if the idea of another off-world trip was a good distraction or not. ¡°Yeah, probably pretty safe of a trip too, might even be able to trade for some useful shit of our own while we¡¯re there,¡± Twonger said, a gleam in his eye as he spoke. The man obviously had some very specific things in mind. Cal realized his brain had already decided this was very much the distraction he needed. ¡°How long would it take?¡± he asked, contemplating who he¡¯d drag along with them. ¡°Couple of months should be back before the year you wanted to take off is over,¡± Twonger answered, giving me a knowing nod. He knew I wanted to go. ¡°Let me go talk to Andy, I think he and Bill should join us on this trip, so we need a couple of days for them to recover still and make all the needed preparations. This will put us behind a bit on training the kids, but we have to get these collars off,¡± Cal said, already planning for the idea of alien merchants. ¡°You are going to need to take Sean as well. We can¡¯t remove the collars, so unless you bring someone to test the removal codes on, there¡¯s no way to know if you really have what you need until you return. I can brief Andy and Bill enough on what they will need to do, and honestly, with Ethel¡¯s return that should speed up the kid¡¯s education far more than losing you will harm it,¡± Andrew said. Cal hated that the man wasn¡¯t wrong on that last statement. Loop 258 - First Words ¡°Can you hear me?¡± Ethel asked. She was standing in a room deep below the control center of her root network. It was the first day she had felt well enough for the trip and she didn¡¯t want to put it off any longer. The Mother Tree was waking up, and she needed to be there for it. ¡°I think so,¡± a deep voice rumbled in response, seeming to come from roots everywhere around her. ¡°Huh, so it¡¯s actually gonna work, boss?¡± Gus asked, sounding surprised. ¡°Of course, having a little faith here, Gus,¡± Ethel replied with a smile.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Her life force is incredibly strong. The roots are already piercing through our reality bubble and creating a new pathway to one of Cal¡¯s realms,¡± Mr. Oakbert said as his form left the tree roots. ¡°That should surprise the hell out of him when he learns about it,¡± Ethel said with a laugh. ¡°You are Ethel, are you not?¡± the same deep voice asked suddenly. ¡°I am. Can you sense us now?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Everything is still murky. I feel as though I have woken up a great dream about all of this,¡± the Mother Tree responded. ¡°It will get better the longer you¡¯re awake. It took Frank a long time to adjust to it. The important thing is you are here and with us now, and that means the real growth can begin,¡± Ethel said, sounding excited. Loop 258 - Part 43 ¡°So you really want us to take a space vacation?¡± Andy asked the next day. He and Bill had felt well enough to join them in the lab to discuss the matter. ¡°Not so much a vacation as a critical mission to help free the ogres from the control of the Agency,¡± Cal explained, knowing that, yes, it was likely partially going to be a space vacation. ¡°No matter what Andy decides, I want to go,¡± Bill said excitedly. ¡°Hey, I never said I wasn¡¯t going. I¡¯d like to meet a few more aliens that aren¡¯t so hostile,¡± Andy replied. Twonger laughed loudly before speaking. ¡°Who the hell said anything about them not being hostile? Yeah probably won¡¯t be Under Library level of insanity, but I don¡¯t really think anything is. Then again, with both of you two around, I¡¯m probably screwed,¡± Twonger said, his eyes darting from Andy to Cal and back. ¡°You certainly are after that comment. Try to bring me back anything that seems interesting please. I¡¯d really like any of the engine components Twonger¡¯s ship uses,¡± Andrew said, sounding thrilled at the idea of more alien technology. ¡°With what money exactly? I ain¡¯t exactly flush with cash, and none of you have anything worth trading. Though, if we are thinking a heist, that could be fun,¡± Twonger said, smiling. ¡°No heist unless it becomes absolutely necessary to get what we need for Sean¡¯s collar,¡± Cal said, doing his best to dash Twonger¡¯s impulse. Not that he was totally against it, but right now, they needed to stay alive for the rest of the loop, and adding some angry alien merchants to the list of people trying to kill them didn¡¯t seem like the best way to continue that plan. ¡°Got it, no heist,¡± Twonger replied with a wink, which looked incredibly odd for a man with one eye. Cal would have thought he was having trouble blinking if it weren¡¯t for the strange lean-in he did alongside it. ¡°You¡¯re all going to die; I hope you know that,¡± Andrew said with one of his own rare laughs. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s plan to head out in the next few days if Andy and Bill are feeling ready to go. I¡¯ll let Harold know the plan,¡± Cal said, about to add more, but was cut off by a strange intrusion in his core. Something had just forced its way into Grannus¡¯ rocky realm, and he didn¡¯t know what it was. ¡°Sorry, gotta go, there¡¯s a weird presence in Grannus¡¯ area.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Never a boring day here,¡± Twonger said as Cal realized the man was chasing from the room. ¡°I take it you¡¯re coming along,¡± Cal called back as he raced toward the entrance to the rocky realm. ¡°Someone has to keep you alive,¡± Twonger replied, both of them dodging around several kids and animals as they ran. It took them a handful of minutes before they found themselves surrounded by rocky walls. ¡°Grannus, can you hear me? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cal called out to his mana spirit. He hoped the spirit finished aligning this realm soon, he didn¡¯t like the lack of mental connection he had gotten used to with them all. ¡°Nothing is wrong; someone just did something they thought would be hilarious. I¡¯m not sure I agree,¡± the deep voice rumbled across the tunnels as the mana spirit appeared in front of him. ¡°What? Who did what?¡± Cal asked, confused. Who the hell had enough power around here to break into one of his realms? Was it one of the kids? He had no idea, and joke or not wasn¡¯t overly big on the idea. ¡°Follow me; it will be easiest to explain on you see it,¡± Grannus replied, floating down the tunnel, leading them deeper into the realm. ¡°Ya know, this place reminds me of home. I like the rocks. Ma would love it,¡± Twonger said as they walked, giving Cal the first real glimpse he had into the alien¡¯s homeworld and life before all of this. Had either of them ever mentioned their parents before? He wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°Just what kind of home did you grow up on?¡± Cal asked as they chased after Grannus. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Twonger answered. Cal was about to give his own snarky reply when Grannus stopped ahead of them, the intrusion now very obvious. There was a giant root growing through several large cracks in the stone wall, cracks that were increasingly crumbling away as Cal looked at them. ¡°Uh, is this what I think it is?¡± He asked, having an idea of just who was playing the joke. ¡°Yes, it is,¡± a perpetually crabby voice yelled from the other side of the cracks. ¡°Now, get some of these rocks moved so I can have this passage properly opened up. Several of the animals are looking forward to the idea of caverns.¡± ¡°Oh, I can have visitors? Cal, please help her, I would very much enjoy some of the animals coming to live here. It gets very lonely here sometimes,¡± Grannus said, their voice now full of an enthusiasm Cal had rarely heard in the spirit. ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Cal said before reaching his hand out to the stone and pushing some of his mana into it, shaping it away from the cracks. It went much easier here in his own realm than it would have on Earth, and within minutes, there was light shining in from the other side. Standing there were Ethel, Gus, and Mr. Oakbert. He was reasonably sure he had never seen this area of the Gardens before. Had it expanded? ¡°There we go; the first path of the Mother Tree has been completed without a hitch. What she we do for the next experiment?¡± Ethel asked, looking at Cal as she spoke. ¡°Where are we exactly?¡± Cal asked, still unsure of the location. ¡°This is the new cliffside expansion of my realm. Soon, that area over there will be a nice lake,¡± Ethel said, pointing to a largely empty divet in a field a sizeable distance away. Cal was amazed at just how much she seemed to have been able to expand the Gardens this quickly. Loop 258 - A Family Discussion ¡°Is Roger taking good care of you?¡± Harold asked his granddaughter as he sat down next to her bed. She was finally at the point where her own powers had been useful in healing some of her injuries, and she was looking all the better for it. ¡°No, he¡¯s a pretty terrible nurse. So far, he¡¯s tried to steal the blanket twice,¡± Melissa replied. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s always been a bed hog. So, for the first time in a while, I¡¯ve got some really good news,¡± Harold said, deciding not to hold back on what they¡¯ve recently learned. Melissa deserved to know this. No, she needed to know it. He was sure of that.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°You won the war while my former employers had kidnapped me in order to torture and experiment on me?¡± she asked. ¡°No, but I¡¯m guessing we may have made some headway there. I¡¯m now in these loops, and all ego aside, I am an extremely capable man, especially when motivated,¡± Harold answered. It was an understatement, and he knew it. He had enjoyed his quiet, paranoid retirement, but he understood why this mattered more, and he would give everything he had in this war. ¡°You¡¯re the scariest man I know,¡± Melissa replied, smiling. ¡°Thank you, I think. But the good news. The captured ogres have surrendered, and we are working to disable their collars. Twonger knows where to get the technology needed, and within the year, we should have everything we need to free them,¡± Harold said, watching her face turn to astonishment. He had expected that. Soon, they would find Henry. Loop 258 - Part 44 ¡°Not to say this isn¡¯t kind of amazing, because it is, but why? Oakbert explained it a bit, but I know there has to be more of a reason behind this. You always have reasons,¡± Cal said, sure that Ethel was plotting something big here, but he couldn¡¯t figure out exactly what that was, and that made him nervous, kind of. Sure, the curiosity outweighed the trepidation, but that was just always true. No matter how long he spent in these time loops, it seemed he was always bound to leap before he entirely looked. ¡°Because I almost died saving you, and someone else was forced to sacrifice themselves to hold this all together. I won¡¯t let that happen again. I¡¯m sorry that I wasn¡¯t able to do this sooner, Twonger, but thanks to the Mother Tree, it will not happen again,¡± Ethel said. The words briefly caught in her throat as her apologies to Twonger spilled out. Cal wasn¡¯t sure he had ever heard her with that kind of remorse before other than for animals. ¡°Not your fault. He made his choice, and I¡¯m going to kill everyone who¡¯s really responsible for the fact that he had to, and that ain¡¯t either of you despite what you think,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°Are we just calling her Mother Tree?¡± Cal asked. The symbolism made sense, sure, but it was an odd name. ¡°For now, if she wishes a new name as she grows, that will be her choice. The next goal is to connect her through the rest of your realms as well; then, she will be able to hold them together as well as my own. Assuming, of course, I have your permission this is as far as I can penetrate easily without it,¡± Ethel explained. And just how far could she force the tree¡¯s roots in if she really wanted to? Cal knew Ethel had grown far more powerful than she generally let on. He had seen the woman in action enough times to realize her dedication to her own growth far outstripped his own. ¡°Yeah, go for it, but I¡¯m pretty sure you just recreated a Norse myth here. So what happens after our worlds are realms are stabilized? Oakbert seemed to think you are planning connections with other realities,¡± Cal asked trying to remember the name of the legendary tree that connected the different realms. ¡°Yggdrasil is the name you can¡¯t either can¡¯t pronounce or can¡¯t remember. Maybe you need to join the school yourself next loop. And what happens is exactly what that tree did. It¡¯s where I got the idea. This war will eventually extend far beyond our own universe, which became blatantly obvious when their whatever he was that snatched you got involved, and we need to be capable of fighting back against that. I know you are planning your own way of fighting this war to save Earth; well, I¡¯m planning my own way to save everything and everyone,¡± Ethel answered, with a complete sense of sincerity in her words. Cal could tell she really meant what she said. How had she known he couldn¡¯t remember the tree¡¯s name, though?Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Yeah, that is something I hadn¡¯t fully considered. I figured once we secured our own world, we could work on that later, but you¡¯ve got a point,¡± Cal said. He had generally tried to avoid thinking about that problem; it caused nightmares at the idea of just how impossible it sounded. ¡°I always have a point; you just refuse to listen to it most of the time,¡± Ethel responded, smiling. ¡°Well, at least Grannus seems thrilled with this change,¡± Cal said. The mana spirit had been distracted since the path had opened up by the presence of several animals that had wandered into the realm. He was currently playing with what Cal thought were a group of gerbils. ¡°Professor Ethel, would it be okay if these creatures lived here, they seem to like the idea, and I think this cliff area would be perfect for them if we can just change up the ground composition somewhat,¡± Grannus asked. It was the first time Cal had heard him refer to Ethel as a professor. Had that been Bug¡¯s doing, or had the mana spirit attended one of her classes? ¡°Yes, there are also a few more animals that would like to join you here if you are okay with that. I have several bats that I know would love to stay here. Do you have a pond anywhere in here?¡± Ethel asked, looking around the cavern we were in for the first time. ¡°No, do you think that would encourage more life here?¡± Grannus asked, sounding very interested. This was, in fact the most genuine enjoyment Cal had ever seen out of his mana spirit. They had always had a more dour outlook, likely caused by the corruption they had fought for so long. ¡°I¡¯ve been considering adding several species of fish and looping some of the waterways through your caverns, and perhaps even somehow connecting into the void house itself. That would greatly increase the variety we were capable of housing,¡± Ethel answered, sounding suddenly lost in thought. ¡°Not to mention amphibians; I haven¡¯t seen many frogs around here yet. You know you want a tadpole pond,¡± Cal added, remembering some of his earliest memories of catching frogs with his parents. ¡°Sometimes your ideas aren¡¯t totally horrible. Gus, have we reached a point where Project Ark is possible?¡± Ethel asked, turning to the bird creature that served as her second in command. ¡°Not yet, boss, well, not fully possible. Phase one is entirely doable. We will need more hands to start it, though. The vast majority of the animals have not even started to gain any sort of intelligence, let alone loop awareness. There¡¯s just no way we can handle it ourselves yet,¡± he answered. ¡°Well, then, I suppose we will just need to get the children up to speed sooner rather than later. Grannus, I give you permission to visit my realm as much as you wish. Please enjoy yourself, and if you would like to work with Mother Tree to create a pathway for a river, I would strongly support it. I have other things I need to attend to; I spent far too long unconscious in a prison somewhere,¡± Ethel said, turning and walking out of the cave, surprisingly quickly considering her recent injuries, Gus following behind her. ¡°What the hell is Project Ark?¡± Twonger asked the moment she was gone. Loop 258 - Part 45 In the end, they had decided it was best to wait a few more days for Andy and Bill to heal up a little more before taking the trip. While it gave Andrew a little more time to study the collar, despite his best efforts, he hadn¡¯t made any further progress. ¡°So where does this go?¡± Sean asked as they lined up in front of the gateway to Titan, the home of Glurm. ¡°To the moon Titan, we have an acquaintance there, but more importantly it¡¯s a much safer place to board Twonger¡¯s ship from. I don¡¯t want the agency attempting to track us,¡± Cal answered. He had also wanted to check in on Emily, hopefully Glurm had managed to make some progress with them. ¡°The lives you all lead are somewhat insane, which is saying something considering my own life,¡± Sean said. He had a point, but Cal had long since accepted that. The idea of adjusting back to a mundane life after all of this scared him more than a continued fight. There was still so much to see in the universe and beyond that he had only just heard about. Not that he wouldn¡¯t love to leave the fight behind. That part had exhausted him in a way he didn¡¯t know how to express. Instead, he turned to Sean with a smile on his face and said, ¡°Yep, but at least it keeps me entertained.¡± Immediately stepping through the opened gateway afterward. ¡°Human,¡± Glurm said the moment Cal reappeared, the frog already standing in front of the gateway, waiting. ¡°Frog,¡± Cal responded, scanning the area for Emily and spotting them swimming in the pond happily. Behind Cal, the other four arrived, Sean audibly gasping at the site of the new world. ¡°How¡¯s Emily doing?¡± Cal asked before anyone else could open their mouths. ¡°Improving, but as I said, I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be able to entirely fix what was done to them. How goes your war against those that did such vile acts?¡± Glurm answered before asking his own question in return. His eyes turned to angry slits as he finished. ¡°The war goes better. We have all our people back, as well as many newcomers that have been rescued. Sean here is one of them, and the main reason we are here intruding on your privacy yet again this loop,¡± Cal explained, wanting to try and keep on the Frog¡¯s good side for as much of the loop as he could. His father still wanted to train here, and he had an idea of a possible field trip for the kids.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°That device around his neck suppressing his natural mana flows, I assume, is the problem,¡± Glurm asked, eyeing it closely. ¡°Yep, we¡¯re just stopping by to take Twonger¡¯s ship from here. Safer than risking them detecting us on Earth,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Ah, well, I wish you luck. I¡¯m almost starting to not hate your visits. Tell your father I expect him to return to his training soon,¡± Glurm said before leaping into the air and diving into the lake, eliciting a squealing laugh from Emily. ¡°That was strange,¡± Sean said the moment Glurm was gone. ¡°You get used to him, well, no you actually don¡¯t, he¡¯s kind of an ass, but he¡¯s an insanely powerful ass that could easily kill us all if he wanted to,¡± Cal replied, wishing he had a way to convince the frog to join their fight. There was a flash of bright light as the world yet again vanished around Cal, this time replaced by the interior of Twonger¡¯s ship. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had been here, but his previous trip hadn¡¯t included the alien. The others had never set foot in it. ¡°Twonger, once we have downtime, I¡¯m very much going to need you to let me examine this thing. Figuring out some of your engines would be amazing,¡± Andy said, looking around in awe. Had he been like this whenever he saw something new in the Under Library as well? ¡°You¡¯re free to poke around. Just make sure you take Bill. I trust him more, not to break anything. Remember, though, you screw anything up and blow us up. Cal is gonna be so pissed when we have to do this all again next loop,¡± Twonger said with a menacing smirk at the two. ¡°Uh, Twonger, how serious are you?¡± Bill asked nervously. ¡°Depends. I¡¯m sure Cal won¡¯t be happy if you blow us all up, but also, you aren¡¯t about to manage that,¡± he replied. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s just screwing with us, Bill. He wouldn¡¯t actually let us poke around if that had a real chance of happening,¡± Andy replied, trying to calm down his friend. ¡°How about you stay out of the engine bay until we¡¯re back? I don¡¯t need to spend a month limping along trying to find parts to fix something,¡± Twonger said, ending the conversation as he walked out of the room. ¡°Other than Twonger and his brother, have we met any actual aliens from our own universe yet?¡± Cal asked, the thought suddenly hitting him. He supposed there were the mana spirits on the other planets, but the animals on Pluto were just from Earth. ¡°If we don¡¯t count the Gryalth or mana spirits, not really. You had that vision of the Martians, though, didn¡¯t you?¡± Andy asked, reminding Cal of their first off-world trip. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to meet the squirrels one day. They just aren¡¯t something you expect to find on Pluto, let alone Excalibur,¡± Cal said, laughing at the absurdity of that loop. ¡°There are squirrels on Pluto?¡± Sean asked, looking confused. ¡°Squirrels, a crab, Gryalth, lots of things, it turns out. Alright, let¡¯s go find some seats and figure out if we get our own rooms on this trip,¡± Cal said, heading out of the room the same way Twonger had gone. In hindsight, he wished he had checked out the sleeping arrangements ahead of time. He really didn¡¯t want to share a bed with anyone. ¡°Why are there squirrels on Pluto?¡± Cal heard Sean ask, still sounding confused, before they all followed after him. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 1 ¡°If we are doing a full school, I want to do this right. Cal is planning to run this whole loop fully. That means we have twentyish years to get these kids fully trained, and unlike every magic school I¡¯ve ever read about, we aren¡¯t skipping their real education either. They will come out of this fully capable graduates,¡± Ethel said, the moment everyone had sat around the table. That everyone was composed of herself, Sarah, two capybaras, and Captain Lightspeed. She had invited them all here as they had shown the most interest in helping to run the school. She was also planning to see if any of the people who surrendered to Bug had any areas of knowledge that could be useful. If they were going to run a real school, she was going to make sure it actually ran correctly. ¡°Are we going to focus on just the kids or include all the animals that are starting to gain their intelligence in the Gardens?¡± Sarah asked.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Everyone. Generally, it has taken more than a single loop to really get an animal up to speed, but that could be because of my lack of focus and resources. So, this time, we are going to go all out for this loop. I have Harold reaching out to a friend for me as well, one of the best teachers I¡¯ve ever met. Not sure how he will take the surprise of this place, but I think we will want his help,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Bart and I can handle the meal planning and housekeeping tasks as long as we can recruit the kids for chores as well,¡± one of the capybaras said. ¡°Of course, thank you, Martin. Lightspeed, you can handle physical education,¡± Ethel said, glad the horse had been happy at the idea. ¡°Where are we building the school?¡± Sarah asked. ¡°The Mother Tree is working on a good spot right now. I will give you all a tour once it¡¯s ready,¡± Ethel said. Hopefully, it would be good to go in the next week. She wanted to get this moved along quickly. Loop 258 - Part 46 ¡°Looks like we¡¯re in for a long ride,¡± Cal said after they found out just where they would be bunking. At least they each had their own space, even if it was incredibly cramped. For one of the very few times Cal was glad to currently have his smaller frame, as it made navigating the tiny room that much easier. ¡°I¡¯m just glad to make the trip. Compared to my last visits to the Under Library and the fact that I¡¯ve been stuck as an Agency victim, this is almost a vacation,¡± Andy said with a smile. Bill nodded along as his friend spoke. ¡°Sean, if you¡¯re okay talking about it, what does the Agency generally make you do? Was it just fighting Gryalth before us?¡± Cal asked, looking at the newcomer on their trip. ¡°I¡¯ve spent the last seven years primarily being used to either deal with Gryalth operations, rarely are they direct interactions with the invaders themselves, though. Usually, we are cleaning out some of their monsters,¡± he answered, not looking happy at the course of his life. ¡°Weird tentacle bears? Or were there other things?¡±Andy followed up with his own question, reminding Cal how much he had hated those bears early on. They had been a constant source of his nightmares in many an early loop. ¡°I¡¯ve fought the bears. The tentacles gave me nightmares for months, but they have nothing on the ocean goats. Those things roam the bottom of the oceans and sometimes even get into the bigger lakes. No idea what they are looking for exactly, but they can eat anything, anything, and anyone. I¡¯ve lost so many friends to them,¡± Sean answered solemnly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss, I wish we were able to help earlier. That said, we haven¡¯t encountered one of those yet. How dangerous are they?¡± Cal asked. He didn¡¯t like pressing the man but wanted to know everything about the possibility. There was no real way he was joining the loop this cycle anyway, so at least he would forget this conversation ever happened. ¡°They are the most dangerous of the singular monsters I¡¯ve encountered. There are rumors of swarms of insects, though. The Agency tends to keep us from sharing as much information as possible and I¡¯ve never personally encountered any, but I do not doubt their existence. From what I¡¯ve heard, they are often used to guard some of the facilities the Gryalth truly care about instead of just being used in their experiments or to gather resources,¡± Sean explained further. ¡°Hrm, how many facilities do they have on Earth? I¡¯ve found a couple, but I didn¡¯t think they were that widespread,¡± Cal asked, now worried about just how much the Gryalth controlled under his nose. Then again with how much power the Agency had amassed, it seemed plausible they had done so for a real tangible threat, and the Gryalth very well fill that role entirely.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I can¡¯t answer just how many, but I¡¯ve personally raided seven facilities. It¡¯s generally where the Agency gets so many of its children recruits, the ones the Gryalth have already found and captured, not that that¡¯s all of their recruits. Don¡¯t let me fool you into thinking they are doing good here. They kill us all just the same. But yes, generally, the Gryalth facilities I¡¯ve raided haven¡¯t had any of the truly frightening monsters I¡¯ve heard rumors about,¡± Sean answered, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it as he finished. It didn¡¯t seem to do anything about the anger on his face. Who could blame the man? He¡¯d been through hell for a long time, and while he had come this far in trusting Cal as a potential miracle, Cal wouldn¡¯t blame the man at all for never letting go of the rage. He knew he couldn¡¯t try as hard as he could, it refused to entirely abate. ¡°Besides human experiments, what else have you found?¡± Cal asked, pushing further, figuring he might as well get it all out of the way now. It wasn¡¯t like Harold wouldn¡¯t be doing the same kinds of questions on the others. Well, probably better questions. Cal was impressed at how much that man knew. The fact the scientists who were added to the loops had caused such problems but were also the only reason they had Harold was an annoying coincidence. ¡°In one of them, we found a large mirror-like thing. It looked to be used for crossing between dimensions. But we never could figure out how exactly it worked. I know we¡¯ve captured several of their smaller spacecraft out of a large multinational raid I was involved in a few years back. That was the biggest I¡¯d ever seen. Didn¡¯t even know the Agency had connections with other nations before that one,¡± Sean said. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve seen the mirror before. There¡¯s one on Pluto. But the spacecraft explains some of the alien technology, they must have had a few crafts before that raid. I wonder how far out the Agency actually has made contact then,¡± Cal said, considering the possibility. Did they know about the Pluto base? It explained how they were able to figure out how to track Twonger. They must have had some idea of how his ship worked from studying other, possibly similar ships. ¡°I honestly had no idea they had made contact outside the Earth, well beyond the invaders, until you all told me they had. Whoever is involved in that has managed to keep it very secret. Rumors do spread among the ogres, even if we try to hide how aware we actually are from our handlers. It goes poorly for us if they catch us actually paying attention,¡± Sean explained. ¡°Someday, you are going to have to give me a list of everyone you can identify in your torture, and we will make sure they are dealt with, even after the loops finally end,¡± Cal said this not as a possibility but as a promise of the future. Those monsters had lost any right to a happy ending, and he would make sure they didn¡¯t get one. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 2 ¡°So, Mr. Randolph, Bug has told us that you spend the first fifteen years out of college teaching math. How much would you say you enjoyed it?¡± Sarah asked while Ethel just watched. They were sitting across from the man at a large table. He had been one of three Bug had indentified as potentially good teachers for the kids. Ethel wasn¡¯t sure yet, but she was at least willing to do the interview. ¡°Well, for one the thing the reason I quit was the teaching was becoming more about the tests than the education. It¡¯s far more important that students learn how things work than how to guess the right answer on a piece of paper. Understanding fundamentals of why math works the way it does is how you create a real love of mathematics in young people,¡± he answered proudly. Ethel had to admit that was a great answer. That was two points in favor of the man, Bug¡¯s recommendation being the first.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°How comfortable would you be teaching nonhumans?¡± Ethel asked, watching intently for any reaction. ¡°I consider Bug to be one of the best people I have ever met. I believe she is responsible for helping me see how terrible of a place I had signed onto was. Without meeting her, there is a real chance I¡¯d have been involved in something beyond horrible. So what I¡¯m trying to say is the fact that you somehow have magical talking animals here in need of an education is something I think is amazing,¡± he answered. Loop 258 - Part 47 ¡°Do not, and I don¡¯t mean this as some request that we can damn well fix after it happens. I mean this as a we don¡¯t need another interstellar war, so please fucking listen to type of request. Do not touch anything unless I tell you to,¡± Twonger said as the ship docked with a large space station. Cal had been watching the approach from the front viewing window, amazed at the reality of what he was seeing. Sure, he had seen some marvels already, but nothing quite like this. Outside the ship was a giant work of metal suspended in space, orbiting a distant sun, and for some reason, this colossal piece of engineering was the most awe-inspiring thing Cal could remember seeing so far in the loops. It looked to be bigger than the Earth and yet entirely constructed. Several rings surrounded metal spires with thousands of ships already docked. How many people lived in this? Considering how many people lived on Earth alone, and the planet was solid, Cal had to imagine it easily dwarfed that of his home world. Next to him, Cal imagined the other newcomers to this level of space travel were having a similar reaction as he was. His reasons for thinking that were the near identical open-mouthed stares all three of them had as they studied the sight before them. Had he looked the same? Most likely, yes. Bill was the first to break the silent stare and respond to the Twonger¡¯s loud warning. ¡°Is it really that much of a risk to touch anything on the station? I mean, touching things back home didn¡¯t generally carry a risk of a war.¡± ¡°I¡¯m overplaying the danger a bit, somewhat for comedic effect and somewhat because I want y¡¯all to understand I won¡¯t have any way to save you if you piss off the wrong people, and as far I understand, we want this loop to keep going, so Cal ain¡¯t allowed to die,¡± Twonger explained. ¡°I suppose there is the fact that Glurm is so much stronger than us, meaning it¡¯s likely there are some extremely powerful casters around here, too,¡± Andy said, adding to Twonger¡¯s warning. ¡°Yeah, and no. You all are stupidly powerful for how little mana you can all channel. The frog is on a whole other level. There is something about people from your planet, that¡¯s for sure. He, of course, ain¡¯t the only one out in the universe at that power level, but god, I hope we aren¡¯t about to run into one of them on Cortius; that would be a disaster. He¡¯s one of the nice ones,¡± Twonger explained. If Glurm was one of the nice ones Cal was sure he agreed with the Cyclopean¡¯s sentiment. ¡°Are you serious about Glurm being the nice one?¡± Cal asked, growing somewhat concerned at that thought.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yeah, let me be real clear on that one. Before Glurm, I didn¡¯t know they came nice,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°That isn¡¯t exactly reassuring. You get that Glurm is kind of an ass, right?¡± Andy asked, shaking his head at the alien. ¡°Yep, and despite that fact, he hasn¡¯t killed a single one of us, despite the fact we keep ignoring his requests. Most people with his kind of power don¡¯t ask. They just kill you for annoying them without a second glance at you. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a big part of why the frog is an ass is because of the kind of people he¡¯s had to deal with at that level. Hell, he might have been as nice as Bill at some point,¡± Twonger said. With how Glurm had treated Emily, Cal, to his own surprise, had a feeling Twonger was right. The frog likely was a much nicer person than they had given him credit for. Considering his own anger issues, thanks to what he had been forced into, he understood. A loud clicking sound reverberated across the ship before a voice came over the comm. ¡°Docking locked, clear to disembark.¡± ¡°Alright, idiots, come on, and try not to get us all killed,¡± Twonger said as he turned and walked away, Cal and the others following. ¡°So, do you really think we will be able to find a way to remove this collar here?¡± Sean asked us as we walked, the note of desperation clear. ¡°Probably. Twonger can be a jerk, but he isn¡¯t generally cruel,¡± Andy answered. ¡°Speak for yourself. He¡¯s killed me a hundred or so times,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Uh, are you serious? I¡¯m not great at detecting sarcasm, and you all make it all the harder,¡± Sean replied, looking from Andy to Cal quickly. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s serious. Well, I think he is. Can¡¯t really remember anything before the final attempt,¡± Twonger answered, laughing loudly as he opened an airlock, letting a rush of strange scents blow past us as the environments meshed. Cal hadn¡¯t thought to ask before, but it seemed the environment was safe for them to breathe. ¡°Welcome to Cortius boarding dock one hundred and seventy-two. Is there anything to declare?¡± a feminine voice asked. The voice belonged to a large a large green creature resembling a squid crossed with a horse. Squidaur? Cal decided it was best not to voice that thought. ¡°These four have never been out of their system before. They will probably need a full biological contaminant scan. Beyond that, nah. We are just here to buy, not sell,¡± Twonger answered, pointing to Cal and the others. ¡°Ah, well then, glad we could be your first trip from home. I hope we can impress you enough to bring back others in the future. But if you could step over here, I¡¯ll need each of you to go through the scanner,¡± they said, pointing to something that looked like a metal detector. Cal stepped through first to a single beep and an all clear. ¡°So, what does this thing scan for anyway?¡± Cal asked as Andy was stepping through. Immediately fourteen loud beeps sounded in a row and a giant red caution flashed on a screen. ¡°Many things. Sir I¡¯m going to need you step over here for a more in depth examination. You said this was your first times out of your system, but have you ever left your universe before?¡± they asked, their voice changing from niceness to firm. Loop 258 - Part 48 ¡°Uh, what¡¯s going on?¡± Andy asked as he was ushered to the side while the attendant produced a large paddle-like object from their jacket. ¡°As I said, sir, have you ever left the universe?¡± they asked again, their voice now losing a lot of the initial patience. ¡°Yes, four of us have. Is that going to be a problem?¡± Andy said angrily as the attendant started using the paddle to jab at him in various locations. Cal, for his part, tried to stay calm. He hoped this was just something akin to air travel and would be over soon enough. Then again, he himself had left the universe, at least briefly. Why hadn¡¯t that triggered the scan? What made Andy different? ¡°Which four, and where exactly have you been out of the universe?¡± they asked, relaxing slightly at the compliance. ¡°Well, Cal was one of them, you already scanned him, so I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s the real answer, but myself, Bill, and Twonger have been to several places outside the universe. I don¡¯t even have names to explain all of them honestly,¡± Andy answered again, his voice growing panicked. ¡°Hmm, we may need to hold you for deeper examination. I don¡¯t like the way your internals look,¡± they said, now waving the paddle in front of Andy, up and down rapidly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what? What¡¯s wrong with my inside?¡± Andy asked. Twonger burster into laughter. ¡°Sorry, sorry, Cheryl, you¡¯re good. I couldn¡¯t keep the laughter down anymore,¡± Twonger said through loud gasps of laughter, the words barely making it out of his mouth. ¡°Dammit, Twonger, I had a whole routine planned. I was going to convince the kid he was pregnant. You don¡¯t get to do that twice!¡± Cheryl started laughing herself. Cal joined them. Now, this he could get behind. Some nice practical jokes were exactly what they needed more often. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m fine then? Nothing bad is happening?¡± Andy said, still sounding a bit worried and a lot annoyed as he looked from Twonger to Cheryl, finally setting an angry stare on Cal. ¡°You¡¯re good. Just messing with you. The look on your face makes it all worth it. Now, hopefully, this means y¡¯all remember what I said about not touching anything,¡± Twonger said, his laughter slowly dying. ¡°Yeah, you should listen to him. He knows a thing or two about pissing off the wrong people, speaking of which. Klorn is currently docked, but it¡¯s a big place, so I figure you should be good,¡± Cheryl said, giving Twonger what Cal thought was a look of warning.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Uh, you¡¯re sure he¡¯s here?¡± Twonger asked, confusion spreading across his face. ¡°Yeah, flagship and all,¡± Cheryl answered. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stay clear. Especially since, now you got me really worried. Come on idiots, we got some people to track down,¡± Twonger said, walking through the detector and out of the room. ¡°Who is Klorn, and why are you so worried?¡± Cal asked as soon as they were in the corridor out of earshot. ¡°Good question. I mean, I know who he is and why he wants me. The issue is why the hell he¡¯s even here. He shouldn¡¯t be. Last loop he was off in a whole different nebula buying weapons. I don¡¯t really see how anything I¡¯ve done could have changed where the hell he was at this early in a loop, so something weird is going on, and I don¡¯t like it,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°So a butterfly effect we can¡¯t account for then?¡± Andy replied. ¡°Looks that way, and I¡¯m with Twonger then. Changes outside of Earth shouldn¡¯t really be happening just yet unless we have another player out here we don¡¯t know about,¡± Cal said, worried. Another unknown in on the time loops was a problem they didn¡¯t need at the moment. ¡°Could be something I¡¯m missing that caused him to be here though. I suppose it¡¯s possible he starts tracking me once I go to Earth. Didn¡¯t do that til later in the last loop, but that would mean he has ties to Earth too, which is another can of worms,¡± Twonger said. ¡°It is, but it would answer some of the alien tech questions we have. What would happen if we ran into him? Is it a talk or possibly buy our way out of it problem or a no way out but death problem?¡± Cal asked, curious how much the guy hated Twonger. ¡°If we had the money, buy our way out of it, everything is a buy our way out, but yeah, let¡¯s just say we ain¡¯t anywhere near flush enough to buy away this problem, though considering our situation, I¡¯m sure we could find a way to do it in future loops,¡± Twonger said. ¡°Alright, avoiding your creditor it is,¡± Cal said, shaking his head. Just how much did Twonger owe the man, and what did he owe him for? ¡°Come on, I know a place we can grab some lunch, should fit in pretty well with what you guys eat on Earth too. Reminds me a lot of the barbecue your dad likes so much,¡± Twonger said turning down a passage that opened into a giant open mall and nearly vanishing into a bustling crowd as Cal and the others gave chase. How had they not heard the noise before they stepped out? Cal looked around after catching up to Twonger and couldn¡¯t believe the sights around him. Everywhere he looked was a different species, all talking and hustling about on their way. There were more people standing in front of shops yelling about their wares, some dressed in mascot outfits just like Earth. The scene was something out of a movie, and then again, so were their lives these days, so amazing or not, this continued to be his new reality. ¡°Hey, are those guys chasing us?¡± Bill asked, pointing to several people behind them who certainly looked to be chasing them. Cal sighed. Well, that hadn¡¯t taken long. ¡°Shit, shit, shit, shit!¡± Twonger yelled as he suddenly sped up. Loop 258 - Part 49 ¡°Twonger, you moron, we just want to talk, but the more you run, the less we want to do that!¡± one of the people chasing them yelled from behind. Cal, risking a glance back, saw several of Twonger¡¯s own race chasing them. So he had managed to piss his own people? That didn¡¯t surprise Cal in the slightest, though he did have a strong curiosity about just what exactly the man had done to warrant such an immediate chase through a space station. ¡°Twonger what did you do, and how bad of an idea is it to just stop and talk to them? Because I don¡¯t know how easy it¡¯s going to be to hide here, let alone get back to the ship,¡± Cal called to his Cyclopean ally while trying to keep up with him and hating his smaller legs. ¡°Just a pretty big unpaid debt¡­ and maybe some stolen merchandise¡­ Oh and possibly Onelder with the boss¡¯s wife once, but I¡¯m not really sure on that one. So what do you think, talking sound possible here?¡± Twonger answered, not slowing at all. ¡°Maybe, but we can¡¯t spend this whole trip running for our lives, even if that¡¯s par for the course of our lives. We have things to get done,¡± Cal yelled back, annoyed with the whole situation. He had wanted to try some of the food, see the sights, talk to a few of the aliens, not run down corridors chased by the same species who had murdered him plenty already. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Twonger yelled, skidding to a stop, causing Cal to nearly crash face-first into the larger man¡¯s back. ¡°Are we surrendering?¡± Sean asked, looking at the men now walking toward them. ¡°So, you said you just wanna talk, let¡¯s talk. How do we get out of this with our skin mostly intact?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Where¡¯s your brother?¡± one of them asked back. ¡°Dead,¡± Twonger answered, anger starting to build his voice. ¡°Who are your friends?¡± the same man asked, seemingly ignoring any of the anger. ¡°New crew I¡¯ve joined up with, from a pretty new planet to interstellar travel. Decided to show them the sights. Why?¡± Twonger explained, his eye narrowing as he hit the question. Cal didn¡¯t like the direction this conversation was going at all. ¡°Well, lucky for you and your new friends, Klorn just wants to talk, so let¡¯s make this easy,¡± the man said. ¡°Yeah, well Thorlen, we both know talking don¡¯t always mean talking, so let¡¯s cut the shit, can we? What does Klorn really want?¡± Twonger asked, taking a step toward the men as he asked.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Do you actually think you¡¯re threatening here, man? There are five of us, and you¡¯ve got some backwater people no one has ever seen before, so you tell us to cut the shit? How about instead, I make this as clear as I can? Last chance, follow us, or I beat you senseless, and you get to talk to Klorn anyway,¡± Thorlen said aggressively, mimicking Twonger¡¯s step forward. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it. You¡¯re tough guys. Let¡¯s just go see the big guy. Probably better to do this there anyway,¡± Twonger said, shaking his head, suddenly relaxing. Was Twonger worried about meeting Klorn or was he planning to just kill him? Cal couldn¡¯t tell, and worse, he had no idea what the implications were of Twonger going off uncocked on a random alien mob leader. ¡°Good choice, now come on,¡± Thorlen replied, lifting his wrist to his face. ¡°Got them now. Can you send a car?¡± ¡°On route,¡± a voice replied seconds before something that looked like an oversized taxi appeared, flying around the corner and landed nearby. ¡°Fancy, you¡¯ve got the transport guild on the payroll now, eh?¡± Twonger asked as he walked toward the flying car. ¡°Things have changed. Everyone hop in, please,¡± Thorlen said, surprisingly politely, gesturing towards Cal and the others. Following Twonger, Cal climbed aboard and took a seat. ¡°So I know I owe Klorn a lot, but this all seems a bit extreme. Any chance you wanna tell me what¡¯s really going on?¡± Twonger said, calmly reaching over and grabbing something that looked like popcorn from a container in the cabin and tossing a handful into his mouth. ¡°As I said, things have changed,¡± Thorlen answered, taking a handful of the popcorn like food for himself, then offering the container around the cabin. Bill grabbed it without hesitation and dug in happily. ¡°Come on, man, we used to be friends, didn¡¯t we? What the hell is going on? Why is Klorn even here?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°So, uh, look I know this is a conversation between you two, but anyone want to fill us in? If it helps, we don¡¯t really like Twonger either. He¡¯s pretty annoying at the best of times,¡± Cal said, hoping a joke might calm things down a bit and possibly get him some information. Thorlen sighed loudly before finally responding. ¡°No one is gonna die, well, Twonger might if he acts like his usual self if that¡¯s what you¡¯re all worried about. As far as I know Klorn really does just want to talk to you. He¡¯s been trying to find you for months. I sound like a broken record when I say this, but things really have changed, man.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just say I find it hard to believe things have changed that much. Did the whole home system somehow get destroyed when I wasn¡¯t looking?¡± Twonger asked jokingly ¡°Not destroyed, no, but you aren¡¯t that far off. How the hell don¡¯t you know?¡± Thorlen asked. ¡°Wait, what? What the hell are you talking about?¡± Twonger replied. ¡°It¡¯s gone. The whole region is just missing now. How the hell didn¡¯t you hear about this? Damn, man. Now I feel like an ass having to be the first to tell you. Klorn has been trying to find every Cyclopean that wasn¡¯t home when it vanished, and you are one of the bigger names on the list. You really thought this was just about the old debts, and you weren¡¯t screwing with us¡­ Damn,¡± Thorlen answered, sounding guilty as Twonger¡¯s face dropped. Loop 258 - Part 49 ¡°Twonger, you moron, we just want to talk, but the more you run, the less we want to do that!¡± one of the people chasing them yelled from behind. Cal, risking a glance back, saw several of Twonger¡¯s own race chasing them. So he had managed to piss his own people? That didn¡¯t surprise Cal in the slightest, though he did have a strong curiosity about just what exactly the man had done to warrant such an immediate chase through a space station. ¡°Twonger what did you do, and how bad of an idea is it to just stop and talk to them? Because I don¡¯t know how easy it¡¯s going to be to hide here, let alone get back to the ship,¡± Cal called to his Cyclopean ally while trying to keep up with him and hating his smaller legs. ¡°Just a pretty big unpaid debt¡­ and maybe some stolen merchandise¡­ Oh and possibly Onelder with the boss¡¯s wife once, but I¡¯m not really sure on that one. So what do you think, talking sound possible here?¡± Twonger answered, not slowing at all. ¡°Maybe, but we can¡¯t spend this whole trip running for our lives, even if that¡¯s par for the course of our lives. We have things to get done,¡± Cal yelled back, annoyed with the whole situation. He had wanted to try some of the food, see the sights, talk to a few of the aliens, not run down corridors chased by the same species who had murdered him plenty already. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Twonger yelled, skidding to a stop, causing Cal to nearly crash face-first into the larger man¡¯s back. ¡°Are we surrendering?¡± Sean asked, looking at the men now walking toward them. ¡°So, you said you just wanna talk, let¡¯s talk. How do we get out of this with our skin mostly intact?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Where¡¯s your brother?¡± one of them asked back. ¡°Dead,¡± Twonger answered, anger starting to build his voice. ¡°Who are your friends?¡± the same man asked, seemingly ignoring any of the anger. ¡°New crew I¡¯ve joined up with, from a pretty new planet to interstellar travel. Decided to show them the sights. Why?¡± Twonger explained, his eye narrowing as he hit the question. Cal didn¡¯t like the direction this conversation was going at all. ¡°Well, lucky for you and your new friends, Klorn just wants to talk, so let¡¯s make this easy,¡± the man said. ¡°Yeah, well Thorlen, we both know talking don¡¯t always mean talking, so let¡¯s cut the shit, can we? What does Klorn really want?¡± Twonger asked, taking a step toward the men as he asked. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Do you actually think you¡¯re threatening here, man? There are five of us, and you¡¯ve got some backwater people no one has ever seen before, so you tell us to cut the shit? How about instead, I make this as clear as I can? Last chance, follow us, or I beat you senseless, and you get to talk to Klorn anyway,¡± Thorlen said aggressively, mimicking Twonger¡¯s step forward. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it. You¡¯re tough guys. Let¡¯s just go see the big guy. Probably better to do this there anyway,¡± Twonger said, shaking his head, suddenly relaxing. Was Twonger worried about meeting Klorn or was he planning to just kill him? Cal couldn¡¯t tell, and worse, he had no idea what the implications were of Twonger going off uncocked on a random alien mob leader. ¡°Good choice, now come on,¡± Thorlen replied, lifting his wrist to his face. ¡°Got them now. Can you send a car?¡± ¡°On route,¡± a voice replied seconds before something that looked like an oversized taxi appeared, flying around the corner and landed nearby. ¡°Fancy, you¡¯ve got the transport guild on the payroll now, eh?¡± Twonger asked as he walked toward the flying car. ¡°Things have changed. Everyone hop in, please,¡± Thorlen said, surprisingly politely, gesturing towards Cal and the others. Following Twonger, Cal climbed aboard and took a seat. ¡°So I know I owe Klorn a lot, but this all seems a bit extreme. Any chance you wanna tell me what¡¯s really going on?¡± Twonger said, calmly reaching over and grabbing something that looked like popcorn from a container in the cabin and tossing a handful into his mouth. ¡°As I said, things have changed,¡± Thorlen answered, taking a handful of the popcorn like food for himself, then offering the container around the cabin. Bill grabbed it without hesitation and dug in happily. ¡°Come on, man, we used to be friends, didn¡¯t we? What the hell is going on? Why is Klorn even here?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°So, uh, look I know this is a conversation between you two, but anyone want to fill us in? If it helps, we don¡¯t really like Twonger either. He¡¯s pretty annoying at the best of times,¡± Cal said, hoping a joke might calm things down a bit and possibly get him some information. Thorlen sighed loudly before finally responding. ¡°No one is gonna die, well, Twonger might if he acts like his usual self if that¡¯s what you¡¯re all worried about. As far as I know Klorn really does just want to talk to you. He¡¯s been trying to find you for months. I sound like a broken record when I say this, but things really have changed, man.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just say I find it hard to believe things have changed that much. Did the whole home system somehow get destroyed when I wasn¡¯t looking?¡± Twonger asked jokingly ¡°Not destroyed, no, but you aren¡¯t that far off. How the hell don¡¯t you know?¡± Thorlen asked. ¡°Wait, what? What the hell are you talking about?¡± Twonger replied. ¡°It¡¯s gone. The whole region is just missing now. How the hell didn¡¯t you hear about this? Damn, man. Now I feel like an ass having to be the first to tell you. Klorn has been trying to find every Cyclopean that wasn¡¯t home when it vanished, and you are one of the bigger names on the list. You really thought this was just about the old debts, and you weren¡¯t screwing with us¡­ Damn,¡± Thorlen answered, sounding guilty as Twonger¡¯s face dropped. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 4 ¡°Still convinced Alfred is just some fancy trick?¡± Ethel said as she offered Phil a chair. She had led him through the Gardens, giving him a brief tour before they reached the area set aside for various party functions. When not in use, it made for a nice place to sit and have a meal while watching the beauty around them. ¡°No. How in the world is this possible?¡± Phil asked, reaching out to accept the food offered to him by a capybara. ¡°I can explain it, but that would take quite some time. I¡¯m actually a lot older than I seem these days, which is saying something,¡± Ethel said, laughing at the joke of her own age. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase then, why me? If you have access to all of this, what possible use can you have for my teaching skills in comparison?¡± Phil asked, his eyes still full of the wonder of everything around them. ¡°We¡¯ve ended up with a lot of children who have had deeply traumatic lives, and as highly as I may think of my own skills, I am far better with animals than I am with people when it comes to trauma, you on the other hand,¡± Ethel said trailing off, expecting that he could fill in the blanks. ¡°I literally wrote one of the books on it, got it. I take it these kids are special in their own ways?¡± He asked. ¡°They are. Tonight, I have a dinner planned so all of my planned staff can meet each other, and the students,¡± Ethel said smiling. She knew he was on board. Loop 258 - Part 50 ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s missing? There¡¯s a hundred billion people there. How can it just be missing?¡± Twonger asked, sounding horrified. ¡°It¡¯s all empty space, one day all the communication was coming normally, then just gone about three years ago. Where the hell have you been?¡± Thorlen asked, his voice dropping. ¡°Pretty far out of contact, been hanging around some backwater places like I said. Haven¡¯t been near any of the big civilized hubs in a decade. Onelder and I were out hunting down treasure, figured we¡¯d stay away ¡®til we had enough to pay back your boss, or at the very least make ourselves rich out there, then shit got complicated,¡± Twonger explained. ¡°How¡¯d he die anyway?¡± Thorlen asked, a surprising amount of remorse coming through in the question. ¡°That¡¯s a private matter. You¡¯re serious, though? How many of us were even out of the system when it happened?¡± Twonger asked. ¡°Less than a thousand. With you alive, it brings us up to seven people with any native mana sources left. Starting to make a bit more sense why the boss just wants to talk?¡± Thorlen asked. ¡°Yep, and I ain¡¯t remotely happy about this. You think there¡¯s any chance this is connected to you, Cal?¡± Twonger said as he turned to Cal. Cal had no idea how it could be, especially if this happened before the loop started, but it was a pretty big damn coincidence. ¡°Probably not directly from something after we met. Time doesn¡¯t really favor that idea. The Gryalth, though, who knows? We don¡¯t really know how big their footprint actually is. Have to assume it¡¯s pretty far beyond Earth and Pluto,¡± Cal answered. ¡°When you say disappeared, do you mean literally everything? Like all the matter and energy in the star system just poofed out? Did any communication escape at all?¡± Bill asked, speaking up for the first time during the ride. ¡°I like your friends, Twonger. They ask the right questions. I don¡¯t have any good answers, but keep up that attitude for Klorn. He needs all the ideas he can get right now,¡± Thorlen answered, looking out of the window. ¡°Speaking of, looks like we¡¯ve arrived. Twonger try not to start a fight. We don¡¯t need a civil war of the few of us left.¡± ¡°Despite how this started out, believe it or not, I¡¯ve had a lot of time to grow since you last saw me. In ways you can¡¯t imagine, but I get the feeling you are gonna learn a lot about before this meeting is done,¡± Twonger answered, opening the door and hopping out of the car. Cal and the others followed after. Cal had resigned himself to the idea that it was for the best to let Twonger lead this meeting, no matter how bad the idea sounded. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The area they hopped out in looked like it had been designed to mimic an open street of houses. The roof far above them was obscured somehow in a way that looked like a beautiful night¡¯s display of stars. Cal had a feeling during the day the view changed. All around them were what looked like real trees and plants, with kids and animals playing. The kids all looked like smaller versions of Twonger, and if what Cal had just learned was true, this may be all that was left of them. With that depressing thought, they were led through the front door of the nearest house by Thorlen. ¡°Please, everyone, take a seat. Klorn will be here shortly. I¡¯ll have the chef get started on dinner as well. Anything off limits?¡± Thorlen asked, gesturing toward a large table just off the room they had entered the house into. ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve had their food. I think most of our dishes should be pretty well suited for them. The furry one is gonna love the gjorklat, I can already tell,¡± Twonger replied. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Bill asked, his eyes raised in an odd fashion for a capybara. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s basically a spiced potato dish, you will love it,¡± Twonger said as another of his people entered the room. ¡°Gentlemen, Twonger, glad you could make it,¡± the man said. ¡°Klorn, tell me everything Thorlen said was a lie to get me here so you could kill me. I think I¡¯d prefer it to the alternative,¡± Twonger said, the usual joking tone for his comments like this entirely gone. ¡°Sadly no. I¡¯d have reached out differently if I had known you didn¡¯t know. Let me be the first to put old fights aside and say that I am truly sorry for the loss of your brother. I had hoped in the light of what had happened we could find a way to rekindle our friendship, but alas, fate has made sure to stop that as well,¡± Klorn answered dourly. ¡°How¡­?¡± Twonger asked, trailing off, suddenly sounding broken. ¡°I wish I knew, but I promise you I¡¯m putting every single resource I have into finding out. I¡¯m currently working on tracking down every single Cyclopean that was off world when this happened. I got my ship here as fast as I could when I learned you were en route,¡± he answered. ¡°How the hell did you even learn about that anyway? I¡¯ve been in a pretty remote area, not a lot of interstellar communication going on there,¡± Twonger asked, his voice turning suspicious. ¡°One of the Drexian transports picked up your ship leaving the star system and sent me notice, I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t know they were there; I kind of figured it was you doing business with them,¡± Klorn answered. ¡°It wasn¡¯t, but I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s another big answer to some of the stranger questions we¡¯ve had as of late. Alright, before my rage starts to take over tell me everything you know about our missing home, especially who might be involved. Because I¡¯ve gotten a lot better at killing recently and would love a target,¡± Twonger said these last words with a noticeable snarl, stabbing a fork-like utensil into the table. Loop 258 - Part 51 ¡°Before I tell you, promise me you won¡¯t run off on some half-baked vengeance scheme because you are far more valuable alive than dead. Consider your family tree for a second when I say that. I might be a guy with a lot of clout, but with your brother gone and, as far as I know, every other relative you have. You know what that means for you,¡± Klorn said. ¡°Damn¡­¡± was all Twonger said in response before shrinking in his seat, seeming to deflate. Cal had never seen this look out of him before and wasn¡¯t sure what to make of it. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to interrupt here, but we are missing something again. As Twonger said this is all very new to us, and it seems like there¡¯s a big revelation about Twonger himself we¡¯re missing. Is he somehow king or something now?¡± Cal said jokingly. Twonger seemed to deflate even more in response. ¡°There¡¯s no way. I¡¯m like fifth in line,¡± he said in response after a long awkward silence. ¡°Sixty-seventh, to be exact, and the only other person we knew of that was out of the system before it vanished was the sixty-sixth, Onelder. So yes, this makes you king. Look, I¡¯m not expecting you to put on a crown and go on a parade, but at the very least, you can smile for a camera and give our people some damned hope. Because there ain¡¯t a lot of that going around recently,¡± Klorn explained. Cal stared at both of them in stunned silence. It was supposed to have been a joke, and this seemed too far or insanely well-executed to be one of Twonger¡¯s jokes. Was the man really in the line of succession to be a king? ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it. I don¡¯t wanna get it, but I do. Let¡¯s get back to you telling me everything you know first, and then I¡¯ll figure out just how to handle this whole being king thing. Dammit, I had other things to do, you know,¡± Twonger said, sighing loudly but no longer looking like a shell of himself. Even some of the anger had returned to his face. ¡°There isn¡¯t exactly much to tell. One minute, there was a star system full of all our people, the planets, the stations, and both suns. The next minute, they were gone. How? I don¡¯t know. No one can find any debris to suggest destruction, and I think we¡¯d know if the suns with nova. That means, as far as I can I tell, they disappeared out of this reality,¡± Klorn explained. ¡°Andy, Bill, thoughts?¡± Twonger said, turning to the two of them. Which, all things considered, was likely the best bet for answers at the moment, but Cal doubted even they had them. This would require a lot more investigation before they could figure anything out. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Were there any energy spikes or even mana detections in the vicinity? Any vessels nearby that watched them vanish?¡± Andy asked, looking at Klorn as he spoke. ¡°Ah, now we get to another of the big problems. Yeah, there just happened to be two ships that should have witnessed what happened, but they¡¯ve been scooped up by the Trowals, and as much pull as I may have, I don¡¯t have enough to get them to tell me anything,¡± Klorn answered. Twonger¡¯s grip on his utensil increased enough that his fingers were turning red. ¡°Even now, they are still willing to fuck with us?¡± he said, the fork in his hand breaking in half under the stress and clanking to the table. ¡°Yep, they never could forgive us for breaking free of them,¡± Klorn said. The anger in his voice had grown to match Twonger¡¯s as he replied. ¡°I know I sound like a broken record, but more explanations, please?¡± Cal asked. He suspected it was some sort of colonial situation but wanted the whole story before jumping to conclusions since, apparently, he couldn¡¯t even joke about something like Twonger being king. ¡°The way the Cyclopeans got to enter the wider world of the cosmos was when the Trowals showed up one day and began to cart us off to different planets with the promise of riches. Instead, they put us to work across their worlds. We spent the next millennia toiling away for them, building their damned empire as they spread, enslaving more and more species until there were finally too many slaves for them to hold together. One giant uprising later, and most of us were free,¡± Twonger explained. ¡°Free, but in a real shitty situation. None of our worlds were ready to take us back. Half of them had been stripped mined. Hell, some had been entirely destroyed for whatever sadistic pleasure they got out of it. In the end, most of the freed species decided to stay together and found a new joint civilization in a mostly empty system, at least empty of any sentient life. It took a long time and a lot of work, but we built a new empire we were proud of, and now it¡¯s gone again, and the Trowals have the nerve to hide what little information about what happened from us!¡± Klorn added, ending in a loud snarl. ¡°Okay, so I guess that means we add a trip to the Trowals to our list of future plans,¡± Cal said earnestly. They had said the magic words to bring out his own hatred. ¡°Seriously? You¡¯re willing to help with this? You know, despite everything?¡± Twonger said, looking shocked. ¡°I mean, not at the exact moment, obviously, but I think we can agree there is plenty of future time for it,¡± Cal answered, eliciting a laugh from Twonger. ¡°Damn right there is, yeah, let¡¯s add it to the list. So Klorn, idea where we can get one of those removed?¡± Twonger said after his laughter finally subsided, pointing to the collar around Sean¡¯s neck. ¡°I was wondering when you would bring that up. Glad to see you aren¡¯t the one involved in that distasteful trade. Yes, I think I can help you find it makers,¡± he answered, his eyes narrowing as he examined Sean from a distance. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 5 ¡°Somehow, despite everything you¡¯ve shown me, it¡¯s still the horse I find the most mind-boggling. And not even because he¡¯s a horse, but because we will have a gym teacher called Captain Lightspeed,¡± Phil said laughing loudly as he passed said horse another tray of tarts. ¡°Yes, well, we can¡¯t all have such great names as Phil,¡± Ethel replied, laughing herself. The dinner had gone off perfectly so far, thanks in no small part to Cal being in a galaxy far, far away. The adults were here to handle matters now. ¡°So Phil, you¡¯re really okay helping us train these kids,¡± Sarah asked, looking at the man. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I am. Is it still beyond eye-opening to realize I live in a world of magic? Yes, it very much is. But I would be remiss if I failed to help children when they needed me,¡± he answered. ¡°A talking dog convinced me my job was evil and that by surrendering and following her back here, I could atone for the mistakes I¡¯ve made. So, uh, you might have had a bit less of a strange entrance into this world than I did,¡± Hank Randolph said. In the end Ethel had decided to accept all three of Bug¡¯s suggestions, mostly because she trusted the dog, but partially because the staff would be needed. ¡°Alfred?¡± Phil asked. ¡°No, Bug. Have you met yet?¡± Hank replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± Phil answered. ¡°You will, but as she won¡¯t be one of the main staff members, I had her skip tonight¡¯s meal,¡± Ethel explained. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 6 ¡°Wait, is that a robot?¡± Phil asked as Libby appeared in the gardens accompanied by Bug. ¡°They are. Libby, what brings you here?¡± Ethel asked, calling to the librarian from across the clearing. Their sudden appearance with Bug didn¡¯t bode well in her mind. ¡°Ah, yes, hello, Ethel. I know we haven¡¯t spoken much, but Bug thought it was important that you be informed of a change in our timeline for the children,¡± Libby answered once they had approached the table. ¡°Hrm, yes, what¡¯s going on?¡± Ethel said as she scrutinized them both for any signs of a problem, but couldn¡¯t spot any. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°It seems we will need to move our planned timeframe up to make them all loop-aware. Once we have the school constructed, I believe it will be best if we do it within the building, hopefully channeling the excess energies into the walls to ground it all,¡± Libby answered. ¡°Okay, and how soon do we need to do this?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Three months. So we will need to quickly get all of their mana spirits manifested fully, and Libby wants to add an additional sigil to the construction of the school,¡± Bug answered this time. ¡°That¡¯s doable. I¡¯m planning to start working on that harder in the morning already, but why the sigil,¡± Ethel asked. ¡°We need to better amplify the power of the mana spirits and the potential energy surge to avoid any backlash. This should fully contain it,¡± Libby answered. Loop 258 - Part 52 ¡°Thank you,¡± Sean said, trying a bite of the food that had been placed in front of him after thanking Klorn. ¡°Of course, I may have been a criminal, but a slaver? Never,¡± Klorn answered. ¡°Is it still primarily the Grelsh syndicate here?¡± Twonger asked between bites. ¡°Yes, would you like some assistance putting together a raid?¡± Klorn replied. ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve got some new stress to work. Besides can¡¯t have you getting involved if you¡¯re the proper savior of our people now,¡± Twonger answered, laughing slightly to himself as he did so. ¡°Whatever you say, Your Majesty,¡± Klorn replied, causing Twonger to spit out another bite of food. ¡°Is there any official title we should be referring to Twonger by?¡± Andy asked, forcing the words out between bursts of laughter. ¡°Yeah, enough of that. Thanks for the food, but I think it¡¯s time for us to be going before more shit slips out,¡± Twonger answered. ¡°If you have to leave, at least take this,¡± Klorn said as he stood up, passing a small black box over to Twonger. ¡°And just what the hell is this?¡± Twonger, pocketing the box, even as he asked about it. ¡°Security codes, keyed to your genetics, should let us communicate on some secure channels. I don¡¯t want our investigation getting back to the wrong people,¡± Klorn answered. ¡°Thanks. Any chance you wanna lend us a car for our stay here?¡± Twonger said, making his request with one of the smarmy smiles Cal had often seen on the man. ¡°Yeah, fine, probably should. Krayn, drive Twonger around and try to keep him safe while they¡¯re here,¡± Klorn answered, yelling at one of the other men in the room. ¡°Thanks again, alright. Are you guys full, or do you wanna try something else before we get that collar off, Sean?¡± Twonger said as he stood up from his seat, somehow having finished his whole plate when Cal wasn¡¯t looking. ¡°I would like to get this collar off of me sooner than later if that¡¯s possible,¡± Sean answered looking from person to person as he did. Cal got the feeling he was looking for judgment, but he agreed with the man. It was time to free their first ogre and end that terrible program as soon as they could. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I¡¯m with Sean. It¡¯s long past time he wasn¡¯t a slave to anyone anymore,¡± Cal said, stuffing more food into his mouth immediately afterward. He liked it a lot and wasn¡¯t full yet, but there were more important things. ¡°Alright, you heard the boss. Let¡¯s go kick some syndicate ass and get their damn codes. Figure we can destroy any of this shit they have on hand while we do it. Save some future idiots the misery,¡± Twonger said, smiling. ¡°Wait, the kids, your boss?¡± Klorn said, looking at Cal with confusion in his eye. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll tell you that story another time. For now, let¡¯s just say I¡¯m in his service after failing to kill him a few times,¡± Twonger said, heading for the door, making it clear he wasn¡¯t sticking around for more questions. Cal shrugged. ¡°Thanks for everything, but yeah, we need to get that collar off,¡± he said, joining Twonger. He suppressed a laugh, watching the other three give similar shrugs as they made to follow after him. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to make of all this so far. It wasn¡¯t that different from Earth and what he was used to there. Yeah there were aliens that looked different, but it felt like something else out of a movie he had just experienced. ¡°So, do you want us to build you a throne in the voidhouse?¡± Andy asked as they climbed into the flying car. ¡°Yes, in fact I do. I want you to all build me a nice giant throne in the middle of the gardens, and then I want you all to handle everything Ethel has to say about it,¡± Twonger responded, glaring at Andy as he did so. ¡°You alright?¡± Cal asked, looking back at the glare, a little worried about the man. He just learned about an even bigger loss in his life. ¡°No, but for now, I¡¯m gonna take comfort in the idea that my star system is just missing and not destroyed and assume that as you idiots get more powerful, it¡¯s something we are going to add to the ever-growing checklist of things we will try to fix,¡± he answered. ¡°Already planning on it. Give us a couple more loops and we can likely start to investigate what happened. Just kind of booked up now with the things we need to get done, not to mention finishing this war with the Agency,¡± Cal replied. ¡°Yeah, feeling a bit more motivated to get that ended all of a sudden. So Sean, once we get that collar of yours off, wanna join me on some raids to free all your buddies? I figure we could stomp out this program real fast that way,¡± Twonger said, his glare turning back into a smile. ¡°Uh, probably. Is that an option?¡± Sean asked, looking at Cal. Cal wasn¡¯t sure if it was the best idea, but it was certainly an option. And if all the former ogres wanted to go down that path, who was he to say no? He had gone off halfcocked enough to know sometimes you just have to try something, whether it¡¯s the best idea or not. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s always an option. Once you get to know me better you¡¯re going to learn I¡¯m not really the calm and collected one. I¡¯m a lot closer to Twonger than I¡¯d like to admit. That¡¯s why we have Andy. He¡¯s here to think the things over for us,¡± Cal responded. ¡°And when I can¡¯t, we have Bill. Once he can¡¯t, though, well, at that point, the real trouble begins. Bill is mean when he¡¯s angry,¡± Andy said, laughing. ¡°Capybaras are known for their ferocity in times of stress,¡± Bill said, joining in the laughter. ¡°Are they? There¡¯s so much I need to learn about the world,¡± Sean said looking confused. Loop 258 - Part 53 Cal was a bit disappointed in the car ride, as the weird aliens and shop fronts he could see through the windows made him wish this had been a nice long walk, seeing just what all existed. Instead, he had been stuck watching the sights fly by at a rapid pace, only barely able to discern what wonder he might be missing. This meant that by the time the car came to a stop in front of one of the buildings, Cal was more than ready to do something. Twonger¡¯s moody silence, while understandable wasn¡¯t helping anything either. ¡°Here,¡± the driver called from the front of the car. Twonger immediately pushed the door open and hopped out. ¡°Y¡¯all ready for some violence, ¡®cause I doubt this is going peacefully, and frankly, I¡¯d rather it didn¡¯t. I wanna hit something,¡± Twonger said, anger evident in his voice as his fingers kept balling into fists at his side. ¡°I assume talking has no real chance of working then? Because I would prefer that,¡± Andy asked, looking around the street as he stepped out of the car after Twonger. ¡°What Andy said. Well, kind of. I don¡¯t like slavers at all, but how well will this place take to us starting a giant brawl?¡± Cal asked, remembering how much Twonger had initially emphasized not doing exactly what they were about to do. ¡°Poorly, really damn poorly, but I need to test how far Klorn is really willing to go to protect us, and what better way than working out some aggression, don¡¯t worry about it too much; I got an escape plan in mind if it all goes wrong. So if I yell about Bug suddenly being here, that means stop what you¡¯re doing and follow me. Got it?¡± Twonger asked after his terrible explanation. Cal wasn¡¯t remotely satisfied, but also wasn¡¯t sure what other option he had. ¡°And the escape plan doesn¡¯t involve ending the loop, right?¡± Cal asked firmly, making it clear this one wasn¡¯t a joke. They absolutely could not do that right now. He was starting to regret personally coming on this mission. ¡°Nah, I¡¯m sure I can get us out of here, now, come on,¡± Twonger said, walking up to the front door of the building and pushing his way in. ¡°I guess we¡¯re doing this?¡± Bill said, looking toward Cal. He was shaking a bit nervously but not looking overly scared. Cal understood the feeling. What would happen if this all went wrong? Then again what happened if this all went right? Taking the ogres away from the Agency was a big move in their war. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yeah, come on, before he gets himself killed. For now, we follow his lead. Let¡¯s treat them as hostile and expect some serious counter-attacks as soon as it gets bad,¡± Cal said. How would his earth powers work here? He wished he had taken Sleek back from Mother Scrump, but it was too late for that worry now. He¡¯d just have to do this with the magic he was most used to. Walking through the door, the first thing Cal spotted was Twonger at a front desk, staring down the person behind it. His hand had already made a giant dent onto the surface of it. ¡°Look, sir, I don¡¯t know who you are or what you think we do here, but be assured we have nothing to do with any sort of enslaving collars, as you called them,¡± the weird broccoli-looking receptionist said nervously. ¡°Uh-huh, and I said you have two minutes to get me the person in charge before I go to find him myself. By my count, you¡¯ve got a minute left, so I strongly suggest you get on that,¡± Twonger said, smashing his hand again into the desk. This time is shattered below his blow. ¡°Sir, you¡¯re forcing me to call security,¡± the receptionist replied. ¡°Yeah, obviously. Damn, was that so hard to do?¡± Twonger asked, looking at the man angrily. ¡°Hey buddy, are you just working here for the money?¡± Cal called from behind Twonger. ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t everyone?¡± He said back nervously. ¡°Alright, you should just run away now then. It¡¯s for the best, trust me. You have no idea what your bosses have gotten you into here, and I don¡¯t have my dog with me to tell who we really want to save, which sounds insane now that I say, so just leave, please,¡± Cal said. He knew that look and tone of voice once he really remembered it. It might have been a very long time ago, thanks to the loops, but he still remembered what it was like to be in customer service being screamed at by someone to do something you couldn¡¯t possibly do. ¡°Uh, yeah, thanks, gotta go,¡± he said, running out from behind the counter and fleeing the building. ¡°Was that one of the whatever you said they were?¡± Cal asked once the man was gone. ¡°That was a Borlinian, whether he was actually part of the Grelsh syndicate or just working for them, couldn¡¯t tell you. They wouldn¡¯t let his kind near the upper ranks, though. That¡¯s reserved for the purebred Wirns. Good thinking on getting rid of him. Now we get to have some more fun,¡± Twonger answered, smiling again as he walked toward another door in the room. ¡°Good, thanks for the info, I guess,¡± Cal said, shaking his head and following after the Cyclopean. ¡°Hey idiots, who is in charge here?!¡± Twonger yelled as he kicked open the door and charged in. Cal spotted several people in the room. They all reminded him of earthworms with arms and legs. It was an odd sight, to say the least. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± one of them yelled back. ¡°I¡¯m the man who is here to discuss your enslaving collars. I want the removal codes for all of them!¡± Twonger yelled. That was a bit more than we had initially planned on, but Cal could live with taking them all offline. That was almost a good trade-off for this new mess. Loop 258 - Part 54 ¡°What, who the hell are you people? Someone call security!¡± one of the worm creatures yelled. ¡°That isn¡¯t the answer I wanted to hear!¡± Twonger roared as he leaped over one of the tables and grabbed an alien as he landed. He picked it up his head and threw it hard against the wall. ¡°Anyone else wanna need some help talking? I want to the slave collar keys now!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure we still have the right people!¡± Cal yelled into the fray, not that it mattered. The aliens were scattering, most running for any exit they could find, as a couple of people in what looked like battle armor came through another door. ¡°They aren¡¯t, but these goons are, just had to get them to get their ass out here!¡± Twonger yelled, sounding like he was having the time of his life. He grabbed a nearby chair and threw it hard at one of the security guards. It knocked them backward against the door they had come through. The second didn¡¯t even stop to check on their partner as it pulled something resembling a gun from its back. ¡°Duck!¡± Cal called to the room as he shot out with a large arc of lightning, trying to hit both the guards at once. He succeeded, but it hadn¡¯t done nearly the damage he had hoped her. The gun still fired its blast, but Twonger had already pulled a desk in front of himself to deflect the shot. The desk took the brunt of the shot, but it exploded on contact, flashes of energy darting out into the room, hitting several of the escaping aliens. A black ball appeared around the creature that had fired the shot, and suddenly, they were crashing against the ceiling of the room. Cal followed up on Andy¡¯s attack with a stronger blast of lightning and a quick dash forward, closing the gap for a third near point-blank blast of electricity into both of them. This time, neither of them moved to continue fighting back. ¡°Okay, so two down, and does it get harder from here?¡± Cal asked, looking at Twonger. The man had moved to the downed security guards and was taking several things from them. ¡°Don¡¯t know, but probably. Never thought it was smart to do this kind of attack on a place like this before. Having friends as powerful as you idiots is a pretty new world for me,¡± Twonger said, smiling in a way that almost worried Cal. Luckily he knew at this point somewhere deep down that the cyclopean actually cared about this whole thing now. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly when that change had occurred, but it had. ¡°Alright, lead the way then,¡± Cal replied, looking back to check that Bill and Sean were still with them. Bill, for his part, looked mostly fine, a little nervous maybe, but this wasn¡¯t anything new to the capybara, and Cal knew that. Sean, on the other, seemed to have retreated into the blank ogre look, causing Cal to realize they¡¯d likely need a specialist for PTSD for the ogres and maybe a few others. He specifically left himself off the list, even if he knew he should have been included. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The next room was already full of scrambling people, more of the earthworm types, and none of the guards. Were those the only two? That didn¡¯t seem likely, though they were pretty strong. It had taken Cal, Andy, and Twonger just to down two of them. Maybe that was enough for most people. Twonger did seem to think they were stronger than most these days. Just as Cal was thinking this might actually be easy, several shots were fired into the room from a door that had slid open. There were another four of the same guards they had just fought. Andy moved faster than Cal and was already dropping several black balls in the area, with a noticeable effect on gravity, but unlike before, these four managed to fight through it. Cal followed behind Twonger as the man slashed his odd sword across the lead one, ducking around that melee to hit them with several close-range bolts of lightning. He felt the control on one of the bolts slip, but before panic set in, he realized it was Bill guiding it toward a fifth guard that had just appeared on the other side of the room. ¡°Andy, Bill, focus on that guy!¡± Cal yelled to them as he started to channel a small void ball, wishing yet again that he had brought Sleek. Twonger¡¯s sword changed colors as it stabbed into one of the guards, knocking a knife aside that had been coming at Cal¡¯s face. Cal responded by releasing the void mana ball into the center of their attacks and trying to yank Twonger backward. He failed, forgetting how much smaller he was than the man at the moment, but both luckily and unluckily, the implosion was contained after only wounding two of their attackers. ¡°Dammit, what are these things made of?¡± Cal yelled, furious with the situation. ¡°Probably the same underlying tech used on Sean!¡± Twonger answered as he kicked forward and brought his sword down on the head of one of the two still standing. Cal took the opening and hit the last one with another powerful arc of lightning, putting more mana into it than he usually felt safe doing, but they needed to end this fight. It worked. He spun to check on the others and was glad to see them fine and their opponent down as well. ¡°Attention invaders, please be aware we are scrambling all resources. We will take you alive and make you wish we hadn¡¯t,¡± a voice said over speakers in the ceiling. ¡°Finally, it took forever to get their attention. Anyone want a drink while we wait?¡± Twonger asked, looking around. He was met with several glares. ¡°Twonger, just what are we expecting here?¡± Cal finally asked after the man offered no other words. ¡°Oh, we should probably surrender. It will get us to the guys in charge faster. We can always break free after that,¡± Twonger said, smiling. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 7 ¡°Will Cal be back in time if we have to speed up this much? He¡¯s going to want to see this.¡± Bug asked, looking toward Ethel. ¡°Hrm, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll talk to Andrew later and see if we can get him to hurry things along, but he is off doing something important, so if he can¡¯t, he can¡¯t,¡± Ethel answered. Bug was right, she would rather Cal be around in case something did go wrong, but those ogre collars were an important thing. She was glad he had decided to focus on that. Stolen story; please report. ¡°So, is there any chance my acceptance of your employment offer comes with a full breakdown of the history of this place and whatever has happened to your lives?¡± Phil asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can arrange something like that. I believe Andrew has been keeping a log of most of our activities. However, some of the more off-world stuff may be harder to explain. From what I¡¯ve heard of Bug¡¯s journey to the Under Library, things played out very unusually,¡± Ethel explained. ¡°It¡¯s how I become a paladin. It was really scary sometimes, but it¡¯s important for dogs to have the strength to protect you humans. You would be lost without us,¡± Bug said, wagging her tail furiously. Loop 258 - Part 55 They had done as Twonger suggested, and as the new force of guards appeared in the room, Cal followed his alien companion¡¯s lead and let them take him into custody. Interestingly that didn¡¯t seem to involve any sort of restraint, just some of the guards surrounding them all and barking orders. ¡°On the elevator now!¡± one of them demanded. They all complied since that was apparently the goal. What the hell would Twonger do once they reached the people in charge? Assuming this even did get them there. Cal was doubtful on that part. Why would the big guys of this place be willing to personally meet them? Then again, considering how this whole place seemed to function, he wasn¡¯t sure he understood any of it. He very much hoped Twonger knew what he was doing. ¡°So, is Lilibi still in charge, or you guys find some new piece of shit to run your operation?¡± Twonger asked as the elevator doors closed behind us. ¡°She is still in charge, and I¡¯m going to really enjoy executing you when she asks,¡± answered the same guard who had barked the earlier order. ¡°Aw, why so grumpy, Bekl? You still made about that time with your sister and platinum?¡± Twonger asked, taunting the man. ¡°No, I just don¡¯t like you,¡± the guard replied. ¡°Who does?¡± I added, doubting my humor would go over well at the moment, but I thought I knew what Twonger was up to and decided to join. ¡°I¡¯m sure your Bekl¡¯s sister did for a bit, at least,¡± Twonger replied with a laugh. He received a punch to the gut in return, having finally pushed the man far enough to hit him. ¡°Bekl, do not hurt him til after Lilibi has had a say,¡± another voice ordered. ¡°Fine, we¡¯re here anyway,¡± he replied as the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open. There was a large board room style conference table in the center of the room from the elevators, and a single person sitting at the head of the table. They were bright green with long tendrils stretching of all parts of their form. Cal would be hard-pressed to consider the alien in any standard shape of people he had seen so far. It was more like an elongated hairball. ¡°Ah, there¡¯s the big lady in charge. How have you been Lilibi?¡± Twonger asked as he pushed through the guards and grabbed a chair. No one made to stop him. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Security, you can leave. The rest of you sit now!¡± She said. The voice seemed to hum through the air as the hair-like appendages all vibrated, and Cal found himself compelled to listen. Next to him the others had also started walking forward and grabbing their own seats. He took the one directly next to Twonger. ¡°Hey idiots, in the future, try not to focus on what she says. It ain¡¯t that strong of an effect, but it¡¯s best to learn to ignore,¡± Twonger said after everyone had sat down. Cal¡¯s brain snapped back to the reality of how he had just obeyed and understood what the man was talking about. It would be extremely dangerous if he just let that happen like that. What if she ordered them to turn on each other? Dammit Twonger, Cal was now worried just what the alien had gotten into here. Was this really the best way to get the collar off Sean and the codes for the rest of the ogres? Because it certainly seemed like there had to be safer ways. Cal looked around, noticing the guards had also obeyed. They were now totally alone in the room with the woman. ¡°Twonger isn¡¯t wrong. It would behoove you to learn to ignore my commands as best you can. It isn¡¯t nearly as easy as he makes it seem, though. Twonger, why are you here, and where is your brother? I like him better,¡± Lilibi explained before staring at Twonger as she asked the pointed question. ¡°Dead, we ain¡¯t discussing that, though. I think it¡¯s pretty obvious why I¡¯m here. I¡¯ve been yelling it out in every room of the damned building, and it wasn¡¯t my pal here might be a shining example of what I want,¡± Twonger answered. Tilting his head toward Sean to indicate who he was referring to. ¡°And why exactly do you think I should help you remove the collar? Do you know how much money that brings us in every cycle?¡± Lilibi responded, her voice taking on a strange tone. Cal almost felt like he could touch the vibrations it seemed to produce. He tried to focus on them this time to see if he could figure out how best to not be effected. He guessed that the words themselves were more physical commands than just noises, but he¡¯d need to wait for a request to really try to disobey. ¡°I suppose because it¡¯s the right thing to do isn¡¯t a good enough reason eh?¡± Twonger replied, his sarcastic smile now plastered across his face. ¡°No, it certainly isn¡¯t, and the idea that you would care about the common good is a pretty big change. Now tell me again, why should I do it?¡± she asked. ¡°Because somehow your people are already involved in selling this tech to the planet these guys are from, and they can make you a much better deal for resources long-term if you just give up the encryption codes on the collars. Think about it: they already have one of the enslaved here. They are winning the fight against the ones you supplied the tech too. As it stands, that revenue stream is just going to die. This way presents a possibility of finding some other profit,¡± Twonger explained, speaking rapidly. Cal realized what the man was doing entirely now. Anything they offered could just be removed in the next loop, but once they had the codes, Andrew could always use those. ¡°Yep, any day now, we will have the Agency beat. So, just what kind of trade would interest you the most?¡± Cal asked, joining Twonger¡¯s offer. Loop 258 - Education Planning Part 8 ¡°I¡¯m amazed you were able to build this place so rapidly and so well,¡± Phil said as Ethel took him on a tour of the mostly finished school. It wasn¡¯t everything she had wanted just yet, but it was getting there. The next part would involve getting the kids to figure out which rooms they want and help customize them a little to their liking. She wanted them to feel as comfortable as possible. Her plan was a giant game night in a few days. The dining hall should be completed by then and it would be perfect for it. ¡°Yes, well, when you essentially have unlimited funds and an overwhelming urge to help children who need it, you can sometimes move mountains. It doesn¡¯t hurt that Bug managed to recruit us so much extra labor as well,¡± Ethel answered. While very few of Bug¡¯s people had true construction experience, they were still mostly capable of working under orders. The capybaras were able to fill in the more technical parts of her plans as they had time. Thanks to one of the larger gateways, they were also able to bring in some of the smaller portions of the building as fully prefabricated rooms, cutting down on that building time. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to several of the children one-on-one now, and you were right. Most of them have some severe trauma, and from what I understand, we are behind in getting their mana spirits to fully manifest as well, not that I really understand that,¡± Phil replied. ¡°Yes, that is part of the reason for the game night. I want to get their excitement as high as we can and see if we can¡¯t work something out there,¡± Ethel responded. The window they had to get these all manifested had shrank, so she needed an extra push. Loop 258 - Part 56 ¡°I want three things in return for all collar codes used within your star system,¡± Lilibi said, her voice taking on an odd melodic tone. Cal could feel it somewhere in his skull, almost gently touching his brain. While the sensation itself was pleasant, the underlying thoughts he had about it managed to fill him with enough disgust to push it away. ¡°Can you please stop with the weird vibrations you do with your voice? It¡¯s the hair-like tendrils, right? Those are what let you better pitch the sounds you make, right? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any magical ability, at least,¡± Andy asked, sounding incredibly annoyed. Was that how she was doing it? Cal hadn¡¯t really looked at her hair, but he also wouldn¡¯t have known what to look for had he realized it. ¡°Well, at least one of your new friends isn¡¯t an idiot Twonger. Maybe there¡¯s a chance you might actually give me what I want after all,¡± Lilibi replied. The odd sensation her voice had caused vanished. Andy¡¯s request had apparently swayed her. ¡°Yeah, yeah, what are the three things you want?¡± Twonger asked, narrowing his eye as he asked. ¡°One, I want to know everything you know about those new creatures in the universe. The ones that shouldn¡¯t be here, and don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t know about them. I had your ship scanned. The system you came from is full of ¡®em,¡± she said. Cal was entirely fine with this request; hell the more people that knew about the Gryalth, the better. She¡¯d rather a random terrible slaver guide waste resources fighting them if it kept them even more tied up in this loop. ¡°We can do that,¡± Cal said before anyone else responded. ¡°Good, then then the second request will follow on the first. I want some of their technology. Specifically, I want one of those strange weapons they seem to use, the staff-like ones. Though I¡¯m not opposed to any of their other weapons as well, but the staffs their big guns have I would like. So far, any attempt on my end to get one has gone poorly at best,¡± she said. Her face, if it could be called that, curled into one of the strangest smiles Cal had ever seen. She had obviously made this request thinking it was impossible, and while they didn¡¯t have a staff at the moment. He was reasonably sure they had a couple back in the voidhouse and entirely willing to make the promise to get one as long as they got the codes first. ¡°We can provide you with one, but we will at the very least require the code for the collar on Sean as proof they can be unlocked, as we don¡¯t have one with us,¡± Cal answered. Twonger just nodded, smiling. He was still up to something, and Cal wished he had grilled the man harder for what his plan was. Not that he thought it would have worked. Twonger would have just laughed and done it anyway. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Fine, but I will be sending someone to accompany you back to your planet to retrieve the item on our parting. Once they have it, they will provide the rest of the codes,¡± she replied. ¡°We can agree to that. Now, what¡¯s the third request?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I want to be included in whatever Twonger¡¯s planning,¡± she answered, staring at the man. Twonger burst into laughter. He was snorting so hard as he laughed it was hard to understand his next words. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to be more specific. Just what do you think I¡¯m planning that you want to be involved in?¡± ¡°Could be several things. Possibly whatever happened to your home, guessing you want some kind of revenge there. You seem to have gotten yourself quite involved with these people and the kinds of energies coming off them are a little mind-boggling. Then there¡¯s your own bond. Where did you get a mana spirit that powerful Twonger?¡± She asked, leaning forward on the table and studying Twonger intently. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal there, I¡¯ve got some shit to take care of back on their planet, but yeah, I do have plans to explore what happened to my star system. So how about we start with you sending out some exploration probes and getting me all the details? Leave a communication module with me on Earth and we can plan out just how to tackle that little trip. How does that sound? That all three things good and packaged for you?¡± Twonger asked, his laughter gone and his voice now deadly serious. ¡°I can make that work, and yes, I am happy with how well my requests have been packaged. So now that they have been all agreed on, let¡¯s circle back to my first. Tell me what you know,¡± she said, her tone beginning to mimic Twonger¡¯s. ¡°The Gryalth are aliens from another universe. They are dead set on conquering ours and strip-mining it for all the resources they can in some eternal war of conquest they have been fighting for who knows how long. They have an empire that spans an untold number of universes, and their full invasion of ours seems to be planned to start sometime in the future,¡± Cal said, leaving out a few concrete details that she didn¡¯t need to know mostly because he didn¡¯t want to explain the time loop to her at all. ¡°Why are they so focused on your star system? I may be wrong here, but it¡¯s a pretty backwater part of the galaxy,¡± she asked, her head now turning toward Cal. ¡°Honestly, that part I still don¡¯t know. Earth shouldn¡¯t be so important, but it certainly seems to be. Then again, it¡¯s entirely possible they are embedded into many planets throughout the universe, and we are just the only ones who are managing to survive a fight back,¡± Cal replied. This was one of the many questions that often plagued him. He still had no good answer to it at all. Loop 258 - Game Night Part 1 ¡°So, do you normally have the dogs leading role-playing games?¡± Phil asked as he sat down next to Ethel for the planned game night. So far, she was happy with the turnout; all the kids and several animals had decided to join in. Even Andrew had made an appearance and was being surprisingly nice. ¡°Bug is one of the best at it, believe it or not. Though Andy and Cal are both quite good, too, but they are busy on a deep space trip. I¡¯ll introduce you when they return,¡± Ethel answered, smiling at the astonished look she had caused on her friend¡¯s face yet again. ¡°So you said the goal of tonight was to try and get as many of the kids to manifest their mana spirits as possible; how do we want to go about that?¡± Phil asked. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Ah, well, from what we¡¯ve seen so far, they seem best able to do that during times of heightened emotional response. Today, the goal is joy and fun; I¡¯d rather not put them back through any big stress issues. As you know, they¡¯ve had plenty of that already,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Yes, I¡¯d rather keep these children as far away from some of their trauma as possible, so then how do we start?¡± Phil asked, looking around at the multitude of joyous kids. ¡°Go find a kid, and start asking them about how they feel inside, and if there¡¯s anything, call for them. Actually come with me, best you see me do it first,¡± Ethel said. Loop 258 - Part 57 ¡°You understand how insane that answer sounds, correct? That a super powerful species from another universe has chosen a completely unimportant part of the galaxy as the starting point for their invasion,¡± she said. Cal did, in fact, very much understand how insane that sounded. ¡°Kid¡¯s telling the truth, honestly doesn¡¯t make a lot of sense unless there¡¯s something we just haven¡¯t found yet, which considering we¡¯ve only started trying to figure out what they want, it¡¯s entirely possible there is some stupidly powerful artifact hidden out there,¡± Twonger said. Considering the involvement of just whoever Merlin actually was, that wasn¡¯t all that far-fetched, but until Cal found a way to actually talk to that man, he had no idea how to determine what secrets his solar system might just have. Maybe it was time for a search of all the other planets, after a vacation of course. Next loop, they desperately needed a vacation. ¡°Hrm, believe it or not, I believe you,¡± she replied. ¡°Why are you so interested in the Gryalth anyway? No one else seems to care all that much here,¡± Cal asked. Twonger¡¯s people hadn¡¯t seemed to care, but maybe they just had other bigger current problems. Either way, he wanted to know why she cared so much. ¡°They stiffed me. One of their people arranged a large purchase order from my syndicate, and instead of paying for it, they killed everyone and took the merchandise. So the answer as to why I care is rather simple. I will not have my reputation sullied,¡± she answered. That answer had apparently been too much for Twonger as he burst into laughter. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Did I say something funny?¡± Choking back the waves of laughter, Twonger answered. ¡°This is all about your damn reputation? And here I thought for a second you might have been considered doing something good for the universe, but nah, you just can¡¯t let anyone know it¡¯s possible to rip you off. Well, at least you¡¯re consistent I¡¯ll give you that.¡± He only managed to hold the laughter long enough to get those words out. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m in a good mood,¡± she replied. Twonger¡¯s laughs died in his throat, and his face went deadly serious as he slammed his fists on the table. ¡°No, you¡¯re lucky I want something out of you. You have absolutely no idea what I¡¯m capable of these days, let alone my new associates. And I¡¯m real tired of your bullshit. Cal agreed to your terms. Now get that collar off, Sean, before I decide to try a different approach.¡± Cal hadn¡¯t ever heard that level of aggression in Twonger¡¯s voice before. He felt like he had missed something between these two. She reached into a pocket and pulled a small device, looked over it briefly before tossing it across the table to Twonger. ¡°The keys to remove his collar are loaded into this; hold it near the collar and press the button,¡± she instructed. ¡°If there¡¯s any trick here, I promise we will make you regret it,¡± Twonger replied as he stood up and walked over to Sean. His hands shook slightly as he lifted the device to Sean¡¯s collar and pressed the button. As the collar fell off, clattering to the ground, Cal released a breath he hadn¡¯t realized he had been holding. No matter how many times he had been blown up in his life, he still really hated the experience. It was just something he was sure he¡¯d never get over at this point. ¡°Uh, I feel strange,¡± Sean said. ¡°What do you mean by strange? Describe exactly how you feel,¡± Andy said as he rushed to Sean¡¯s side. ¡°Like there¡¯s something inside of me trying to put itself back together. It¡¯s crawling through my whole body, and none of my usual channeling is working. I¡¯ve never felt like this before,¡± he said, sounding scared. It had to be his mana spirit trying to fix itself, but Cal had no idea if that was even possible, considering the likely damage it had suffered. ¡°This a new area for us, but that might be what remains of your mana spirit. I think it might be best if you just try to heal and don¡¯t channel anything. Now, I wish we had brought Melissa along. I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t consider this problem,¡± Andy said. ¡°Too late to worry about that now. Lilibi, what happens to him from here?¡± Cal asked looking at the still seated woman. ¡°No idea,¡± she answered, not sounding remotely interested in the outcome. ¡°How can you have no idea?¡± Bill shouted, surprising Cal. He hadn¡¯t expected the capybara to be the one to lose their temper. ¡°Because I don¡¯t generally care what happens to those once the collar is off,¡± she answered. ¡°Yeah, told you, she¡¯s pretty much a monster,¡± Twonger said. ¡°If we are done, that device is loaded with the codes for any collars on your planet. I¡¯ll expect one of their weapons in a year. Now kindly leave,¡± she replied, finally standing up and looking around the room with deeply uncaring eyes. ¡°Sean, can you walk,¡± Cal asked the man, worried about how easily getting out of the place would be. ¡°Yeah, I can handle that much, but I¡¯m going to need to lay down sooner rather than later,¡± he answered. ¡°It¡¯s fine. There¡¯s a place we can stay nearby; I¡¯m sure Klorn can afford it,¡± Twonger replied as he walked over to Sean and pulled one of the man¡¯s arm over his shoulder. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get outta here before we decide Lilibi is too annoying to stay alive.¡± Surprising Cal, they saw no one else on their way out of the building. He guessed Lilibi had ordered everyone out of their way. Soon, they had a large room in a nearby hotel, and Sean laying down on a bed. The man was looking worse by the minute. ¡°Any idea what to do? I don¡¯t know that he¡¯s going to make it back to Earth like this?¡± Cal said, looking down at the man as he moaned in pain. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯s true you have a mana spirit now, correct Twonger?¡± Bill asked as he examined Sean. ¡°I do, yeah, why?¡± Twonger asked back, his anger still in his voice. ¡°Because it¡¯s looking like we are going to need to try something I read about in the Under Library. I wish we had brought Melissa or Bug, but it¡¯s too late for that now,¡± Bill said, chittering his teeth nervously. ¡°What exactly are you planning, Bill?¡± Andy asked the small capybara. ¡°In theory, we can use our mana spirits to commune with Sean¡¯s, possibly even give up some of their energy to heal his, but I¡¯ve only read about it, never seen it done, and I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s even been done in our universe. Problems of reading things in the Under Library,¡± Bill explained. ¡°Got it. Since our choices are limited, what do we need to do?¡± Cal asked, wanting to try something as soon as possible. ¡°Okay, Cal, Twonger, I need both of you on either side of Sean, and I want you two to focus on your mana spirits. Basically, try channeling some magic, but instead of forming an attack, push that energy into Sean,¡± Bill explained. ¡°I take it you two can¡¯t help here due to your lack of true spirits?¡± Cal asked, looking at them. ¡°Correct. Since we manifested our abilities in this bond, we don¡¯t have a separate entity to draw mana from, and it would just run the risk of killing us,¡± Bill answered while Andy looked on worried. ¡°Got it, come on Twonger,¡± Cal said, moving himself to the other side of Sean and reaching deep into himself toward his core energy as he did. He could feel all three of his primary bonds there and carefully started to gather up as much energy as he could safely mix from each. Once he had a nice concentrated mass of it, he gently placed his hand over Sean¡¯s forehead and slowly worked the energy from himself into the bigger man, making sure not to allow any of it to manifest outside either of their bodies. He didn¡¯t want to risk any transformation from potential energy into raw magical destruction. Across from him, he could see Twonger doing the same thing. Sean¡¯s painful writhing was decreasing as they added more energy. Cal had no idea if that was a good or bad thing, but as Bill was just nodding at them to continue, he didn¡¯t let up. How much energy could he safely part with before it became a problem for his own core? He assumed much more than Twonger, considering the three spirits, but he had no idea where the limit was. The room disappeared. Suddenly, he was in a small office with a single man sitting behind a desk. A familiar, if slightly more kemp version of a man Cal had known for a very long time now. How the hell was Andrew here? ¡°Just so you know ahead of time, Cal, this is a programmed simulacrum of myself. It will not be able to answer every single question that pops into your head, but I believe I¡¯ve covered the majority of things, especially the important ones,¡± the Andrew figure said. ¡°Where am I, and how do I get out?¡± Cal started with, not believing for a second this was the real Andrew or even something he left behind. ¡°You are in an Ogre¡¯s brain. You get out once our conversation is finished. It was the only way I could find to get a message to you at the right time without the possibility of it being intercepted. I also know you very much doubt I¡¯m Andrew, and the reality is I both am and am not. I¡¯m likely not the one you know, and I can¡¯t predict what happened to him in this new iteration, but I am Andrew from the first iteration of the loops,¡± the new Andrew said. Cal still very much doubted it was telling the truth, and what the hell did it mean by the first iteration of the loops? ¡°Explain more because so far, you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t believe you,¡± Cal replied. ¡°The second time we met was when you attempted to deliver food to the building I was working in; I brought you into these loops. I spent the majority of my time stuck in the other dimensional voidhouse as I wasn¡¯t capable of leaving without destroying myself. Right now, you are attempting to heal an ogre after removing its collar. I do not know which one. I also don¡¯t know how exactly this proceeds as this a huge deviation point from the first iteration,¡± new Andrew continued. Okay, that was starting to convince him. No one else should really know those details outside of the inner circle. ¡°What were you angry at me about early on in loops?¡± Cal asked, pushing for some real information. ¡°Assuming things remained true there, which I hope they did. I was likely angry about the wrong brand of soda,¡± new Andrew said. Damn, that meant this really was somehow Andrew, but a previous loop Andrew? Cal wasn¡¯t entirely following the interaction point the figure was making. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say I¡¯m starting to buy what you¡¯re saying. What do you mean by previous iteration?¡± Cal asked, wanting to understand at least what they were talking about before he pushed further. ¡°Before the loops you are in, a first set of loops ran, and eventually, due to a series of issues we didn¡¯t know at the time, they started to unravel, forcing us to act against the Gryalth much earlier than we would have liked. We lost, and in doing so, we further unraveled the time loop,¡± new Andrew said. ¡°So then, how are you here? Or, for that matter, how are there a second set of loops?¡± Cal asked, still not understanding what this figure was trying to explain entirely. ¡°So by this point you should be well aware of loop-awareness, and I¡¯ve likely even devised a way to bring more people into it in a limited degree each loop?¡± new Andrew asked. ¡°I am, and you have,¡± Cal answered, not sure where he was going with this. ¡°Well, as it turns out, which you may already be on the path of, all those memories, experiences, built-up knowledge, that all has to be stored somewhere for it to reenter those within the loop at the start of a new loop. It also turns out there is a maximum safe number for people that can be added into this before the thing starts to degrade,¡± new Andrew said. ¡°Wait, what happens when it degrades?¡± Cal asked, worried he already knew the answer. ¡°Those being reborn each loop like yourself have their memories start to be affected. At first, it¡¯s just small things, but it grows and becomes increasingly noticeable as the information load becomes too large to pass through each new loop,¡± new Andrew explained. ¡°Great, so another problem we have to deal with, what¡¯s the critical mass for people when this started happening?¡± Cal asked, suddenly worried about all the kids they were going to add to the loops. ¡°We started seeing it around one hundred thousand people,¡± new Andrew answered. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a giant relief. We are absolutely nowhere near that. I guess that kills part of my build-an-army plan. Then again, maybe not. Does this only apply to people who start the loop outside the voidhouse? How did it work with you?¡± Cal asked, now starting to realize something. ¡°When the loops broke down after our final attack failed, there was a cascading effect across all the realms controlled by those within the loops, but for some reason, and I can only assume it has to do with my own unique existence within them, I was thrown free, backward in time, finally existing in the regular world again, and yet without all of you,¡± new Andrew explained. Oh, considering everything Andrew had been through with them and the growth the man had experienced, to finally lose all of that. That sounded miserable. Cal felt for the man. ¡°How far back?¡± Cal asked. ¡°About a hundred years and as you¡¯re experiencing now, and I apologize deeply for out of control it all grew, I made one major change to the timeline, hoping to help you when the time came,¡± he said. ¡°And what change was that?¡± Cal asked. ¡°I founded the Agency in an attempt to stop Gryalth early,¡± new Andrew answered. Loop 258 - Game Night Part 2 ¡°Hey Lisa, are you enjoying the game so far?¡± Ethel said as she and Phil walked up to one of the games. Lisa was one of the older girls they had been rescued and was currently sitting in on a D&D game Bug was running. She was one of the kids Ethel was most worried about, as she had apparently been captured by the Agency as an infant and more or less tortured since then. ¡°Yes, Bug is letting me play a wizard that specializes in math,¡± she answered. So far she had been most comfortable with the animals, especially Bug. ¡°Bug is good at making sure everyone enjoys their games. So tell me, have you managed to feel any force inside you at all?¡± Ethel asked gently. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Like some of the other kids?¡± she asked, looking up at Ethel almost longingly. It was the first time Ethel had seen that look on her face. ¡°Yes, would that make you happy? What kind of mana spirit would you like?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°Hmm, I think it would, but um, this is going to sound weird, but I once saw a kangaroo with boxing gloves, and um, I think something like that would make a good bodyguard. Is that possible?¡± She asked meekly. Now Ethel understood the longing look. The poor girl desperately wanted someone to help keep her safe, and she entirely understood her pleas. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, I think that¡¯s a reasonable request. What do you think, Ethel?¡± Phil asked, smiling gently. ¡°Completely reasonable,¡± Ethel agreed. Loop 258 - Game Night Part 3 ¡°So what I want you to do, Lisa is kind of feel the energy inside of you. Close your eyes, listen for it, and gently try to talk to it,¡± Ethel said. She had heard about the rudimentary ways Cal and the others had been coaxing the mana spirits before, and while they worked, she wished they would actually take the time to really learn about how these energies felt within themselves. It would make the process so much easier for them to explain and guide others through. ¡°I heard something, kind of quiet, it sounds nice,¡± Lisa replied. ¡°Good, ask it how it¡¯s doing,¡± Ethel replied, glad the girl already had the contact started. ¡°Hello,¡± Lisa started. ¡°Oh, yes, it¡¯s nice to meet you too. Hmm, do you know what a kangaroo is?¡± she trailed off. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Good job, Lisa,¡± Ethel whispered, pulling Phil away from the girl to let her finish the conversation. ¡°That simple then?¡± Phil asked. ¡°Not even remotely. These kids will be a bit easier because of how much everyone has already been working with them. But they still need to be in the right headspace to to really make the contact,¡± Ethel explained. ¡°Will it take the form of a kangaroo, like she wanted?¡± Phil asked. ¡°Possibly, I believe what someone wants and is focused on tends to help shape the form. Interestingly, in Cal¡¯s case, they seem to pick their own shapes. I don¡¯t know what exactly that says about him,¡± Ethel answered. Loop 258 - Part 58 ¡°Really, that¡¯s all you did? That giant mess that we are currently dealing with?¡± Cal said, not sure if it was anger or laughter bubbling up inside of him at this revelation. ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as it sounds, at least initially. The Agency has been at war with the Gryalth and is surprisingly effective. I started to lose control when they decided to implement the ogre program, but I worked to make sure I could at the very least send a message to you when the time came. I was rather confident you would eventually be able to crack the collars they were using,¡± new Andrew said. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t say that if you had any idea what they¡¯ve put us through, what they¡¯ve put a bunch of innocent kids through,¡± Cal replied, forcing down whatever the rising emotion as he knew it wouldn¡¯t help at all at this point. The shade of a former Andrew existed in a reality he had never experienced. He only knew the one its creator had apparently caused. ¡°Cal, as I said, this simulation cannot be programmed for all possible courses this conversation takes. Extreme disappointment in me, though, was something I expected. Based on what information I have from the collar¡¯s databanks as well as what I was programmed with, the Gryalth incursion was curbed to a huge degree. So yes, I will not defend what the Agency turned into, and that was very much a failure by me, without it, things would be extremely different,¡± new Andrew replied. Cal sighed loudly. ¡°What exactly was your iteration of the loop like then?¡± he asked, feeling a need to understand just what could have ever driven Andrew to think this was a good idea or even a remotely possible idea. They had only gotten as far as they had because of their loops. He had done this war with one shot. ¡°How bad is the day the Gryalth start their full invasion?¡± new Andrew asked. ¡°Pretty bad. They attack several cities worldwide, starting with the building where you and I meet as adults. I assume that¡¯s pretty similar,¡± Cal answered. ¡°Somewhat, but not entirely. They don¡¯t just attack some cities. Their forces spread across the globe in a matter of minutes. The Agency has done a remarkable job of cutting down the spread of their abominations as well as closing some of the gateways they manage to get in place. Now, I¡¯m sure this has had major butterfly effects across this new iteration of loops, but I¡¯m also sure there are more mana spirits available than there were in the initial one. How many have you managed to get ahold of us?¡± new Andrew asked. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Several, how many were we able to in your iteration?¡± Cal asked. ¡°You were able to get the one. Looking at the memory banks of this collar, there are huge differences just in the people you appear to have in the loop already. For one thing, the only animal we had in my loops was Bug¡ªthese capybaras, as well as Ethel and her animals, this a huge difference. This explains why you¡¯ve managed to reduce the numbers needed to drastically compared to my own. Look I am sorry about the existence of the Agency, but it does very much appear they did more good than harm in terms of winning this war,¡± new Andrew replied. ¡°Great, look, I don¡¯t know what you really want to tell me here, but can we get to the point? I really don¡¯t want to listen to how the evil thing that tortured me for a loop actually had some good uses, too,¡± Cal said, now sure the feeling was anger. ¡°Primarily, this contact was made to make sure you don¡¯t just destroy the collar once you remove it. Please provide it to your current Andrew so that he can gather all the data I¡¯ve made sure to place within it. It should both help with your Agency issues as well as your future war with the Gryalth. You are being released from this hold now,¡± new Andrew said as the scene in front of Cal faded, and he found himself back where he had started. From the looks of the people around him, no time had passed at all. He had no idea what to make of the experienced but decided he would certainly bring it up with Andrew. ¡°I think, maybe, that I feel okay now. Whatever you did seemed to work. I can kind of feel the energy inside of me again, not as strong as before though. Do you think it will come back?¡± Sean asked. ¡°Possibly, we will need to do more research once we are back to the voidhouse. Speaking of which, Cal, you good to get out of here. We¡¯ve already potentially caused enough problems for another twenty loops,¡± Andy said, looking toward his friend. ¡°Oh, ah, yeah, Twonger, anything pressing we still need to do?¡± Cal said, fumbling over his words slightly, still confused about everything that had just happened. ¡°Nah, I mean, yeah, a ton of new shit, but honestly, I want the hell out of here to think. Why the hell do you look like you¡¯ve seen a ghost anyway?¡± Twonger asked, narrowing his eye at Cal. ¡°Yeah, things got real weird. I¡¯ll explain later. Let¡¯s call it a night and leave in the morning unless you think it¡¯s better to just get out of here now,¡± Cal said. ¡°Nah, we can get some sleep, right now, everyone has decided we¡¯re on their side, and I haven¡¯t screwed that up entirely yet, so I figure sleep should be pretty safe,¡± Twonger said. While Cal was happy at the idea of some sleep, he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d actually be able to sleep. He had a weird feeling something had changed in a way he didn¡¯t fully understand yet. Loop 258 - Changes Cal was due back any day now, and Ethel found herself surprisingly glad for that as the school was completed. It was now just a matter of moving the kids and teachers in and starting to pick their places. So far, everything had gone well; the vast majority of the kids had manifested their mana spirits, and Andrew was reasonably sure the few that hadn¡¯t were close enough that this would all work anyway. She was currently doing a walkthrough of the school with Serilina and her cat. She had found the Gryalth woman surprisingly pleasant to work with; it was too bad she wasn¡¯t interested in being a teacher. She had been instrumental in helping reach several of the struggling students. And then there was the cat of hers. Ethel didn¡¯t understand exactly what was going on there, but she was sure that cat wasn¡¯t remotely normal. ¡°I hope the kids are happy here. They deserve it. I know how hard a weird childhood can be,¡± Serilina said as they were walking through the cafeteria. Her cat loudly purred as she confessed her childhood. The noise of all her teachers and students loudly talking and enjoying themselves at the first big meal made her smile. She was sure she had built something here. Now, it just needed to last. ¡°We will do everything we possibly can to make sure they are, and once this loop is over, hopefully they will be ready to face the horrors they¡¯ve seen,¡± Ethel said. ¡°Well, I mean, given enough time, it¡¯s easy enough to smile again,¡± Serilina replied. Despite her words, Ethel caught the sadness in the woman''s eyes. How much of this was an act for everyone else? She was sure Bug had noticed but had anyone else in the Under Library expedition. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Ethel, we need your assistance outside for a moment. There¡¯s apparently someone here to see you,¡± Alfred said as he entered the cafeteria. ¡°It¡¯s alright, go, I can handle getting the first big event launched, besides Sarah is here somewhere too,¡± Serilina said, looking out at all the chatting faces around the cafeteria, waiting for the moment they got to go pick their rooms. ¡°Alright, alright, this better be important,¡± Ethel said. Her annoyance was flaring. ¡°Bug said it was,¡± Alfred replied, which was enough to make her believe something actually was up. Ethel followed her dog into the grove toward a strangely hooded figure that she didn¡¯t remotely recognize. Who the hell was that? ¡°Bug, who is that, and what¡¯s going on?¡± Ethel said. ¡°It¡¯s apparently Dennis, one of the kids, and the smell is right, so I think it¡¯s really him,¡± Bug replied. ¡°I am, and I¡¯m sorry, but I have to complete this cycle, just know that everything you worked on here will be worth it, but you cannot be inside when this happens,¡± the figure said. ¡°When what happens?¡± Ethel said angrily. What was about to happen? Was this really Dennis? In the distance, there was a loud cracking sound and then an even louder alarm. The Dennis figure was gone, and something had happened back at the school. The dogs and Ethel immediately took off in a run toward the building only to find it and the ground it had stood on gone, back to the formless space outside the terraformed parts of her realm and all the people gone with it. Ethel¡¯s stomach dropped. Who had done this? What had they even done? ¡°They will return safely,¡± the figure claiming to be Dennis said, appearing, hovering in the former spot of the school before vanishing. Loop 258 - Preparations ¡°No, I refuse to believe they were lost. We¡¯ve had enough of that. Gus get the Mother Tree online. We can¡¯t wait on the full cycle for her roots to naturally find them. We need her to remember any traces of what¡¯s left and use that to guide them. Bug, go find all of Cal¡¯s mana spirits. Alfred find Andrew and someone else who wasn¡¯t in there, we need to take a full accounting of everyone that was inside,¡± Ethel started barking orders, not letting her fear set in. This was fixable. The existence of the older Dennis proved that. She just needed to figure out where they were. ¡°On it boss,¡± Gus said as he took off after the dogs. Ethel for her part instead concentrated hard on the spot the new school had been. Trying to trace every last imprint of the mana lines she could see. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Oakey, what can you sense?¡± Ethel asked. ¡°The connection is entirely gone. Whatever influence I would normally have over our realm vanished the moment the area did. Even stranger all those tendrils that are left, those aren¡¯t us, and those are tons of different signatures. It¡¯s going to take me a few hours to count and identify them all,¡± the small spirit replied. ¡°Alright, get started on that. I suspect Cal will be back soon, and I¡¯d rather have answers when he does,¡± Ethel replied. She was worried, but she was also determined. Loop 258 - Part 59 ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what do you mean they are just gone?¡± Cal said as they got closer to Earth and his mana spirit was able to reach him again. ¡°What we¡¯ve determined so far was that when all of their mana spirits manifested inside of the school, something happened with the fabric of the reality there. Andrew and Libby believe it was tied to the nature of some of the mana spirits,¡± Fulginanis explained. Cal¡¯s stomach dropped. He shouldn¡¯t have left the voidhouse until this was done. This was his fault. ¡°What do you think happened to them?¡± He asked next, terrified of the answer. ¡°We are reasonably sure they are alive. Dennis, and Bug has confirmed she believes it really was Dennis who appeared to get Ethel and Alfred away from the school before it happened, apologized, promised they¡¯d be fine, and vanished. Ethel is not taking it well,¡± Fulginanis replied ¡°Okay, we will be back in an hour. I¡¯ll figure out what to do once we get there,¡± Cal said. He had had this whole conversation in his head as he looked more and more confused, the others staring at him. ¡°Everything okay?¡± Andy asked, his voice full of concern. ¡°No, not even a little. Something happened with the kids, and the school Ethel built vanished with them and others inside. Apparently, this just happened, and they are trying to figure out who is missing while Andrew and Libby determine the why. Ethel is panicking. Any chance we can get there faster?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re lucky my fuel and credit supply resets on a loop, but I can¡¯t make it that much faster,¡± Twonger answered. Half an hour later and Cal was standing in the situation room. ¡°Okay what do we know so far? How many people are gone?¡± Cal asked. ¡°So far we can¡¯t account for any the children, four capybara, all of my teaching staff, including Sarah and her kids, Captain Lightspeed, Cindy Hopper, Serilina and her cat, Many Eyes, Many Legs, and several of the other people Bug got to surrender, and one of the ogres,¡± Ethel answered. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Wait, Serilina and Mr. Wiggles are with them?¡± Bill asked. ¡°Yes, does that somehow make this worse?¡± Ethel responded. ¡°No, much better. Okay, that message you said a future Dennis dropped off, now I really really believe it¡¯s true. That cat of hers has some weird powers. It¡¯s not really a cat,¡± Andy answered. ¡°Okay, well, I suppose that¡¯s good news. Do we have any idea where they went?¡± Cal asked, looking at the faces of the people in the room. ¡°We ended up somewhere in primal dream space, but I don¡¯t know enough to explain much there. Libby may be able to, but they are extremely busy right now,¡± Andy answered. ¡°From what I understand, we were in the heart of abyssal space in some special areas set aside as part of fundamental reality,¡± Bill added. ¡°Is it possible that¡¯s where they ended up?¡± Cal asked, trying to go through the story Andy had told them about their time there. ¡°Maybe. Andrew¡¯s summoning ability is tied to reality, so it is entirely possible we could work with his friends to search for them. That said, if the cat is there, he will be better at getting out than we will be getting to them,¡± Andy responded. ¡°Ethel, what do you think? How bad is this?¡± Cal asked, turning to her as he did. ¡°Bad. Those kids didn¡¯t need more people to fail them, I don¡¯t even know what happens if the loop starts without them. Do they just splinter off? I¡¯m working with extending my root network faster to find them. I will not abandon them,¡± Ethel replied. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t. I can¡¯t stay for long, but I know this happened, so I¡¯ll complete the loop,¡± the figure Bug had earlier identified as Dennis said, popping up into the middle of the room. ¡°Dennis, just tell us where the kids are, and we can save them now!¡± Ethel said angrily. ¡°I don¡¯t really know, so I can¡¯t tell you. Things shifted a lot where we were. I can promise though, you really will save us all. But I also know that I can¡¯t do much to ease your anxiety during the time it takes to do it. We will be okay, though,¡± Dennis replied. His forms started to fade as he answered. ¡°What¡¯s happening to your body?¡± Cal asked. ¡°Sorry, not really here, just had to close out the loop of what happened, as I said. See you all later,¡± Dennis replied with a smile as he vanished entirely. ¡°Dammit, okay, here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. Let¡¯s get other ogres out of those collars. Ethel, continue your search. We are meeting back here in eight hours for another big discussion. This time, I want everyone,¡± Cal said. Several people nodded. Beyond the Loops - Part 1 The room shook violently for a few seconds before a loud popping sound resounded across the entire hall. Several plates fell off the tables, shattering on the floor below in the commotion. Sarah had no idea what was going on, but this didn¡¯t seem good. Was it tied to why Ethel and Alfred had to excuse themselves? Where was Serilina? She knew far more about all of this world. ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± Sarah called across the room, quickly scanning it for any obvious injuries. The kids looked fine so far. Four capybaras were running back and forth, accessing everyone and everything. She spotted one of the odd people her husband had called ogres walking toward her, looking worried. She thought her name was Robin. ¡°We¡¯ve got a problem,¡± they whispered in her ear. ¡°Kind of figured that already, but what¡¯s going on?¡± Sarah asked, her worry deepening. Someone from the voidhouse should have checked in by now. ¡°Whatever happened out there, we aren¡¯t in the voidhouse anymore. I didn¡¯t want to explore anything yet, but I took a quick look outside after I felt everything shift like that, and then my collar just stopped working. It¡¯s pretty dark out there, but I think I saw trees,¡± Robin explained. Was it possible they were still in the Gardens, and something had just changed there then? That didn¡¯t seem likely, but then what had happened? Serilina appeared next, joining their discussion with her strange cat. ¡°So, whatever that was, wasn¡¯t good. Mr. Wiggles even looks worried, and this cat has seen it all,¡± she said. ¡°Phil, could you come here for a second?¡± Sarah yelled into the crowd of people, who had mostly resumed their games, if a bit more nervous after what had happened. These kids were able to bounce back from a lot, and she hoped they weren¡¯t about to add even more to it. The man stood up from a chair he had been sitting at with a younger group of the kids, excused himself gently, and joined them. ¡°What¡¯s up? I assume that quake thing wasn¡¯t normal then?¡± Phil asked. ¡°Not as far as any of us know, then again, I don¡¯t believe any of us are experts on how their realms or loops work. Serilina I believe I had heard you recently joined them as well?¡± Sarah asked, looking at the young Gryalth lady. ¡°Yeah, I know a bit, but Libby was the real expert there,¡± she replied. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Okay. Well, Robin here thinks says things are very different outside, and we are going to need to figure out how different, and just where we may be now. While we do that, I want you to stay with the kids and keep them calm and having fun, Phil. If you can, let the other staff know about what¡¯s going on,¡± Sarah explained. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can, but uh, this is all kind of insane to me. Remember, I only just learned this all existed at all,¡± Phil replied. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m beating you by a whole month or so, which means I think you can make do as well as I am,¡± Sarah responded. ¡°Fair point, I¡¯ll try to let Lightspeed know something¡¯s up without spooking the kids, he can clue the others in,¡± Phil said. ¡°Thank you, alright, let¡¯s go see what¡¯s going on outside,¡± Sarah replied, nodding to Phil and heading off with the others toward the exit from the building. As they neared the exit from the building, Sarah thought she heard a weird chittering sound from the other side of the door. Robin stepped in front of her before she could open it, giving her a knowing look of potential danger, and gently pushed the other two women away from the doors before pulling it open. ¡°WHERE IS BUG? WHERE ARE WE?¡± a giant centipede screamed in fear as it scurried through the newly opened doors followed by a giant spider that sounded like it was crying. ¡°Woah woah, everyone calm down. These two are part of the voidhouse, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve met them, Sarah, but they are perfectly nice. Many Legs, Many Eyes, what happened?¡± Serilina asked, looking at the two oversized animals. ¡°We were sunbathing on top of the school, Ethel said we could, said to guard the kids, it was our special job, Bug approved, then everything shook, sky went dark. Don¡¯t want to be alone again forever in the caves, like it here, like friends,¡± Many Eyes said in rapid, broken sentences, sounding terrified. Sarah tried to remember what Ethel had mentioned about these two. Something about being friendly and dangerous to enemies but ultimately stuck at the mental state of kids. She had their files somewhere in her office and would need to read them over later, but at the moment, she was glad to have them in case they were trapped somewhere dangerous. ¡°It¡¯s okay guys; I don¡¯t know what happened, but you¡¯re safe in the school with us. Do you want to come with us outside to see if we can figure out where we are, or go to the main hall with everyone else?¡± Sarah asked, looking at them. ¡°Many Legs will come with you. If Bug and Ethel aren¡¯t here, we must protect the school, like Bug said. Many Eyes will stay here, guard children,¡± the giant centipede said. ¡°Yes, Many Legs is right, I¡¯ll protect children, Bug would want that,¡± the large spider agreed. ¡°Alright, Many Eyes, go join up with Phil. Actually, you may not know him. Go find the Captain Lightspeed or the capybaras, tell them what happened, and see where they want you, okay?¡± Sarah said. ¡°Will do!¡± the spider replied, immediately scurrying off toward the hall. ¡°Everyone else, let¡¯s go figure out where we are, and please be careful,¡± Sarah said, looking out into the darkness. Robin had been right. She could spot some odd dark trees around them. Were they in a forest now? Hopefully, that meant there was a sunrise coming. Loop 258 - Twonger鈥檚 Reflections Twonger had no idea what to think in regards to the news of his people, first his brother and now basically everyone. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that? He was supposed to just be out pillaging, and now he was involved in a multi-universe war that included a time loop. How had his life become this? He had wanted to talk to one the dogs for advice, somehow they always seemed to know how best to proceed, but with the new chaos of the school and kids, they were too busy for that. And that was another thing, he had liked those kids, and now they were just gone. That was a bullshit on top of bullshit, and he was tired of it. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He knew the reality, and as much he hated to admit it, the time for his teenage-like antics was long over. He had to face the world he was now stuck in and grow up quickly. He could be as pissed as he wanted about it, but he also wasn¡¯t willing to let innocent kids suffer just because he wanted more fun out of life. When had that change happened? How would his brother feel about Twonger having grown a real conscience? He laughed, a long hollow laugh. Loop 258 - Part 60 ¡°Alright, one at a time. I want to be very careful after the odd experience I had with Sean¡¯s,¡± Cal said as he entered the room where the ogres had been waiting for him since his arrival. Andrew, Andy and Bill were with him. He had left Libby with Ethel to see what they could find. ¡°What happens to Robin if we can¡¯t find her to release her collar?¡± Sean asked. Cal didn¡¯t know the answer. ¡°That depends a lot on where she is and exactly what happened. Depending on these collars, which I¡¯ll check more in-depth once the others are off, I should be able to give you all a better idea,¡± Andrew responded. Cal was glad someone had some clue because he still had no idea what had happened to the others and wasn¡¯t remotely happy about it. ¡°Which is all the more reason to get these off immediately. We already took Sean¡¯s off safely, so let¡¯s get everyone else¡¯s now,¡± Andy added, sounding worried. Cal worried his friend felt responsible for the loss of Serilina. He had reacted much worse than he had to the news and seemed to be getting worse. ¡°You heard, let¡¯s get this over with so we can see what we can help with around here. Robin may be gone, or she may be entirely safe and helping the others. It¡¯s not something we can dwell on for now,¡± Sean replied. Each of the ogres was soon unlocked and freed from their collars, without Cal having the bad luck of another weird experience. He then sent them all to assist Ethel however they could, as he wanted to speak to the others in private for a moment. ¡°So, weird thing happened when I removed the first collar, that didn¡¯t repeat this time,¡± Cal said. ¡°You mean the issue Sean had with this mana spirit and the degradation?¡± Andy asked. ¡°I don¡¯t, but I am glad we didn¡¯t have that happen again, too. I suspect, though, that was done to lure me into what happened when we tried to fix it. I didn¡¯t want to say anything until I had Andrew here as well, but I met another version of you two. I don¡¯t think this one is still alive, though,¡± Cal said, handing the first collar over to the elder one. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Bill asked as the other two went silent. ¡°When we worked on Sean¡¯s situation, my consciousness was pulled into a meeting with a simulated Andrew, from a previous set of loops apparently. There¡¯s a lot to it, and Andrew can pull it all out of the collar, but the gist of it is that a previous set of loops collapsed due to us bringing too many people into them. Somehow, Andrew was thrown back in time and attempted to fix things by building the Agency; clearly, that went poorly. I was a little too angry to ask the right questions at the time, so I¡¯m hoping you can figure more out,¡± Cal said, trying not to think about that problem more than he needed. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Great, well I¡¯ll add it to the stack of current disasters we need to deal with,¡± Andrew replied, sounding annoyed. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s more. Twonger is the king of his people now, and a whole star system is apparently missing,¡± Andy said, shaking his head. ¡°We can hold on those two problems until Twonger is ready to deal with them, the more important thing to do is we need possible leads on the kids. So what do we know about Dennis? since he¡¯s the one who has manifested twice so far, he seems to be the key here,¡± Cal asked the others. ¡°Damn, it¡¯s the Under Library. He unlocked another wing of it somehow. Cal I don¡¯t like the idea of exploring another wing without Serilina and her cat, but we may not have a choice,¡± Andy replied. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s leave that as a strong possibility for where we can find information, and if we do that, I¡¯m coming with you. Even if the place doesn¡¯t like me, we are going in force for this one,¡± Cal replied. ¡°Do you know what exactly the Mother Tree is capable of tracking?¡± Bill asked, looking toward Andrew. ¡°Ethel isn¡¯t exactly open about her projects as much as I wish she were. So no, I don¡¯t, so as far as I know, especially with Serilina gone, that makes you the resident expert on magical runes and determining if any were used, Bill,¡± Andrew replied. ¡°So, let¡¯s say they are just somewhere else like Dennis suggested. Will they be back in the next loop?¡± Cal asked; he doubted it. This felt like what had happened to his brothers. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Obviously, I have no real proof of this, yes, but the fact that Dennis reappeared as his older self, well, you all know who that reminds us of. I suspect, like Ralth they were shunted out of our universe to another. What I don¡¯t understand is why, and why make sure Ethel and the dogs aren¡¯t with them when it happens? You can argue Dennis did it for causality, but why did it need to be done in the first place?¡± Andrew asked. ¡°That¡¯s the big question. What triggered this at all, and I imagine figuring that out is how we find them. Cal, what do you think?¡± Andy asked. ¡°What I think is we need to learn more about our reality and just how magic works. How we do that I don¡¯t know, but that always seems to be one of the cruxes of our problems. We just don¡¯t know enough, well I suppose I don¡¯t know enough. You three know a ton,¡± he replied. ¡°No, and it pains me to admit this. This is likely another thing caused by our lack of knowledge, which means I will also be joining you both on a new trip to the Under Library,¡± Andrew replied. Since it looked to Cal like that was the end point of this discussion no matter how much they talked, it was time to go look over the scene of the disappearance before they really made that call. Beyond the Loops - Part 2 The darkened trees outside the school were not a sight Sarah was enjoying. The little light the school was giving off was enough to illuminate them in a way that made their shadows all the more unnerving. Wait, how was the school giving off light? They used generators wired into some systems Andrew had designed, but without those connections, what was feeding their power? Sarah added that to the growing list of worries in her brain. She wished Glenn was here. He always knew what to do. ¡°I¡¯m going to set Mr. Wiggles down. He wants us to follow him closely, but even he doesn¡¯t know where we are,¡± Serilina said as they stepped onto what remained of the lawn from the Gardens, stopping in front of the trees. ¡°Bug said Cat nice. Bug has been such a nice dog,¡± Many Legs said. ¡°Wiggly has been taking care of me for most of my life. I promise he¡¯s perfectly trustworthy, and he¡¯s also the only one who has any chance of knowing what happened to us,¡± Serilina replied, with a bubbly smile. Sarah had no idea how the woman was managing to maintain it despite their situation, but maybe this wasn¡¯t as insanely new to her as it was to them. She had heard some stories of what her new allies had been through, after all. Slowly and carefully, the group began to follow the cat into the thick trees. Sarah tried to keep her footfalls as silent as she could, doing her best to mimic the others. Just as she thought she had managed it, Mr. Wiggles froze in his place. ¡°Need to go back,¡± Many Legs whispered, sounding more scared than she had before. ¡°What is Wiggly?¡± Serilina asked, looking down at the cat. ¡°There¡¯s something in the darkness. I assume that¡¯s what¡¯s bothering the cat, I haven¡¯t been able to get sight of it yet, but it¡¯s out there, and I don¡¯t like the feel of it,¡± Robin answered. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°GO RUN!¡± Many Leg¡¯s yelled as a dark black shape burst from the trees, strange clawed arms reaching for Serilina as Many Legs knocked her away, and grabbed the creature herself. Sarah turned and ran at the centipede¡¯s instruction as the loud crunching and thrashing grew behind them. She almost crashed into another black form but felt Robin grab the back of her shoulder and yank her back a split second before the creature had a chance to get a hold of her. ¡°What the hell are these things?¡± she yelled. ¡°Wiggly has no idea; he¡¯s never encountered anything like this, and he doesn¡¯t think his senses are working right. He¡¯s pretty sure Many Legs saw them before he did,¡± Serilina answered, her voice joining the chorus of fear as she trembled, clutching Mr. Wiggles to herself. ¡°LEAVE FRIENDS ALONE!¡± Many Legs roared as she charged past Sarah and the others, crashing hard into another of the creatures, Several of her legs looked mishapen, and she appeared to be bleeding from a few spots, but her rage looked to be enough to carry them through. ¡°Yes, I agree Wiggly,¡± Serilina said. ¡°What do you agree about?¡± Sarah asked, some of her fear dropping at Many Leg¡¯s performance. ¡°The fear has dropped. I didn¡¯t realize it at the time, but those creatures were creating some sort of field on us, making us more afraid. Luckily, we have a giant centipede defender. But Wiggly said we need to get back and hope for a sunrise before we do any more exploration,¡± Serilina answered. In front of them, the black form was retreating from the rage of Many Legs, who didn¡¯t look to be in great shape, but she was still on her feet urging them forward. Luckily, they hadn¡¯t gone far into the forest, and a short, frenzied dash later had them back in the school. ¡°We need to figure out how to fight those things. We can¡¯t leave Many Legs to do it entirely alone in the future,¡± Robin said, bending over to examine some of the centipede¡¯s broken legs. ¡°Robin, take Many Legs to my office. Serilina go let the adults know what happened. I¡¯m going to go find Matt. He will be able to patch up Many Legs, hopefully. Serilina work on getting every door and window locked after you tell them what happened outside. Bring someone with you. I don¡¯t want anything getting in or out of this school without us knowing about it,¡± Sarah said, trying to take charge. It wasn¡¯t easy, but it felt right. She would keep these kids safe no matter what, not just because her own children were, but because enough people had failed them, and she wasn¡¯t about to be another.