“You mean there was an i before?” Yvain stood from his chair.

  This was his first day at school, and lo and behold, he’d stumbled upon a lead. Iigating the Vision Resonator was turning out to be a more byrinthine endeavor than he’d ever imagined.

  “Yes, there was an i where a volunteer for a testi awakened his vision a on a rampage. Thankfully, it didn’t kill him,” Finn Wilderwood said, a grim chuckle esg him.

  Yvain frowned. “Aill don’t know who ied this traption?”

  Finn shook his head, his expression a mixture of frustration and resignation. “It seems the ior is protected more fiercely than a royal heir—highly hidden, too. Eveent dotation is locked tighter than a dragon’s vault. Whoever it was, they had some serious clout.”

  “Did the choice to use the academy grounds for this little experiment e from the one behind its creation? I don’t like where this is heading…” Yvain muttered.

  “But if the headmaster of the academy, Princess Bianca Lumine, agreed to host this wonder, doesn't that imply…” Finn narrowed his eyes, trailing off as if afraid of the answer.

  “For her to agree, safety measures must have been installed,” Yvain sighed. “Which, knowing how this device works, could very well trao ‘good luck, everyone!’”

  The bed at the thought that children like him were in close proximity to that thing. Vulnerable people like Bir Inkor, and maybe even himself, and quite a high risk of falling into a rampage.

  Finn pted, tapping his fingers lightly oable. “We should sult His and Her Majesty, after all.”

  “No,” Yvain shook his head firmly, “They’re busy right now.”

  ***

  Man had begun calg the day of her immi ‘death’ based on the amount of soul energy she burhrough each loop. This time, the clock wasn’t just tig—it ractically screaming.

  Three day loop, four day maximum. This was the shortest loop they had ever experienced.

  “Do you think it’s the outsiders?” Man asked Burn, who was busy donning Gahad’s outfit.

  Burn shook his head. “Last time, I died too, so we assumed it was something colossal. But just because I won’t die this time doesn’t mean it’ll be a cozy little affair.”

  “The fact that we returo the day right after our st loop ended means I must have cluded we needed more preparatiht?” Man asked.

  “repared. I’d rather think we came back just to send information to the past,” Burn replied.

  Man nodded. “So, you’re pnning to face them yourself now?” she asked, with a hint of wry curiosity.

  Burated, weighing the risks. “Your death—you predicted it’ll be either today or tomorrht?”

  “Yes,” Man answered cheerfully, as if she were discussing the weather.

  “Should we stick together, then?” Burured, the in his voice barely masked by his calm demeanor.

  Man chuckled, shaking her head. “Are you that worried?”

  Now that Bur was Masiders were after, he was relut to let her face them. The surge of energy that allowed them to locate this hidden world was ing from her soul—what if they had a device tnize her?

  Even with the grim certainty that she would meet her eher today or tomorrow, Burn could feel bitterness settle in like an unwele guest.

  “Don’t worry about me. Go face the Junior Fleet Admiral. I’ll just take a look through your treasury and see if I find anything that could’ve killed your father years ago,” Man said with a soft smile.

  But Burn could hardly feel relieved—it felt more like swallowing a bitter pill. Sure, it was unavoidable, but why did it have to be so soon? It irritated him. At least her searg through the treasury for corrupted items seemed uo kill her. After all, she was the inal Saint.

  “See you ter,” Man said, bestowing a quick pe the er of his lips, then turning to find someoo lead her to the treasury.

  Burn walked briskly to the door just as she passed. He called out, “Man.”

  She turned, eyebrows arched, curiosity lighting her face.

  “ loop, teach me how to ma Vision,” Burn requested.

  Man’s surprise alpable. A moment ter, her smile broadened like a cat who'd just spotted a particurly entig mouse. “You want to be a Vision user?”

  Burn nodded, feeling slightly ridiculous for how pleased her excitement made him. Of course, he warength—one didn’t he astuteness of an oracle to deduce that. Yet, tan, his suddeion might have appeared rather hasty.

  “Tell me, what’s your motivation?” she inquired.

  Burn shrugged, feigning nonce. “I want to learn the mind spell to read your memory. This way, you share your perspective with me too. Especially when the loop resets.”

  “Hmm,” Maated, “I don’t mind, but even Master Vd needed years to… you know what? You’re a genius. Perhaps you’ll break a record.”

  Burn snorted.

  “Bye, Bunny,” Man said, walking away backward, taking time to see his final smile just a bit longer.

  As she disappeared from view, Burn’s expression morphed into something darker.

  He thought, wouldn’t it be just perfect if he could bring her memory back to the past? Okay, not just her memory, but ‘her’. Because even if he had her perspective, the past her might have a different idea since she saw it through him, not experieng it on her own.

  Sure, Man was still Man, even sans memories and feelings. She would likely e to the same clusion, but returning to the past with a stripped-down version of her was just… different.

  No, he wouldn’t love her less. But these different versions of Man actually weighed on his mind. Not to mention he could hide his memory from her with his mental fortitude if he was insistent enough. It felt like manipution—Burn scoffed. So he had e to this. Ahh, the audacity of his own thoughts.

  “Fuck.”

  Burn rubbed his forehead. The thought of him maniputing his memory to manipute Man crossing his mind at all made him feel sick.

  Worse still was the specter of ‘first loop Man’.

  That version of her somewhat scared him more than anything else. If she truly existed—and of course, she did; she vanished along with the world that perished when the loop reset—just knowing that Man, the one who despised him with such fervor, had ever been real g his insides.

  He had arrived at a new low.

  Was this the pinnacle of his desperation: a relentless quest to ensure she never loathed him? Whatever happeo his bravado about embrag the world’s disdain as long as he could do as he pleased?

  He didn’t want this kind of evil to be him.

  He cursed himself in an orchestra of profanities while walking, his expression a delightful vas painted with anger and self-loathing. Ah yes, the potential he held—a true marvel of self-sabotage.

  See you ter, she said. Bur like pung a wall. He truly didn’t want this ter to be two days ago.

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  -------------------------------------

  Holy, the only reason Burn liked to just barge into shit with brute force is because he hated questioning his morality. But he had no justification to keep using brute forow :v