Throne of Time [Magical Academy, Time Loop, Mystery]

Suria couldn’t help it: she screamed and pulled back.

Whatever the professor had done, it had somehow killed Lirngelf across time. She desperately clung to the logic to avoid panicking: for a time loop to function, something had to go back in time, and if that something could change, it stood to reason that it could be targeted for negative changes. The professors hadn’t disbelieved everything Lirngelf had been saying; they just hadn’t been impressed.

Maut-mai noticed her scream and came over immediately, then gasped. Rije burst in not long after, investigating and then urging them back. Shuguja emerged from her office last, irritable at first and soon trying to take charge.

While Lirngelf’s body was removed, Rije guided Suria over to a bench and tried to soothe her. His words reached her as if through a fog and she only registered that there didn’t seem to be any suspicion falling on her. Of course there wasn’t: how could a mere prospective student have killed someone completely imperceptibly? She wasn’t sure what their investigations would find, but since the cause of death had traveled back from another timeline, hopefully the body didn’t reveal anything.

No logic was comforting to Suria, who was still trying to force herself to take deep breaths. She hadn’t survived because she was wiser or stronger than Lirngelf, she was just paranoid and mistrustful of authority. Escaping that room should have been a relief, yet now she could only think that she was trapped in the building with a bunch of ruthless killers.

Well, some killers and some professors who were presumably more benevolent. It was very difficult to tell exactly what had happened in the battle and she couldn’t jump to conclusions. Suria fumbled with the papers in her satchel and pulled one out to begin a list.

Yes, a list would help her calm down. Before her memories faded - if they ever faded - she recorded details about each of the professors she had seen. Other than Frunah Gwaslos, who had departed early, they had been unfamiliar to her. But if she looked them up, she could begin to uncover exactly what was going on in Darkmoon University.

To what end? Was she ever going to march into that room with anything like confidence? No, it was premature to think about ultimate goals. Suria set those thoughts aside and tried to focus on what little she could control.

It occurred to her that she shouldn’t be writing these facts too obviously. Not that anyone was likely to read a panicked young woman’s notes, but she needed to be especially careful now that she had a better idea of the threats she faced. Letting anyone know that she was in a time loop could easily be lethal, because even a random guard like Rije might pass information along to the professors.

Everyone had left her alone now, so Suria made her list in peace. She wrote down the obstacles she was facing and the assets she had available, disguising them all as supplies that a student might need to buy. The connections were illogical and specific to her, so no one else could possibly decode it. Just breaking down the unknowns into concrete pieces did a great deal to calm her.

She didn’t need to confront the professors in the basement - her plan to escape Convocation Hall was probably still viable. In order to do that, she needed several things: sufficient runic capacity, an unlocking inscription, and the knowledge to use it.

In her favor: she had vastly increased her knowledge of magic, with a greater understanding of runic forms and access to multiple new inscriptions. She had all the styluses and plates she needed to make essentially endless talismans. She could, if she timed things right and didn’t attract attention, get access to two potions that would increase her runic capacity.

...and there was the fact that she was in a time loop, of course. So long as she didn’t make a fatal error, she could keep trying.

Once she had finished her list, Suria took a long, slow breath and found it wasn’t as shaky. There were still people rushing around about after Lirngelf’s death, and it seemed like they had gotten even more panicked. She was able to deduce why almost immediately: someone must have gone for help and discovered that the building had been locked down.

What she wanted was to retreat from everything, and she might have gotten away with it because they treated her as in shock. Well, no, what she wanted was to walk out of Darkmoon University and keep walking until she felt safe. But neither option was available to her. She had already disrupted this cycle and she needed to be active in it or things might go in a strange direction.

Currently Rije and Shuguja were talking by the office, with Maut-mai hovering nearby and complaining. Suria padded closer and listened to their conversation.

”-murderer could still be among us,” Shuguja was saying.

”We don’t know when the wards came down,” Rije argued. ”This isn’t a frozen palace mystery.”

”I don’t see why you can’t open the doors,” Maut-mai said. ”What’s the point of wards if you can’t even control them?”

”Does...” Suria’s first word was drowned out so she had to raise her voice. ”Does anyone have an unlocking inscription?”

”Of course not,” Shuguja snapped. ”We’re not thieves.”

”What about combining a locking inscription with inversion augments?”

Her suggestion got immediate varied reactions: Shuguja looked disconcerted, Rije tapped his gauntlet thoughtfully, and Maut-mai frowned in confusion. They all started to talk at once, but soon Shuguja turned away dismissively. Maut-mai followed her, which left Rije to step closer.

”That’s not a bad idea,” he said, ”but I don’t know any appropriate inscriptions.”

”Would Shuguja have them?” Suria asked, as if it was just occurring to her.

”Possibly. I’ll ask her about it later.” Rije leaned closer, offering her a smile. ”I’m sorry your first day is so rough. Darkmoon University isn’t usually like this, I promise.”

A half-mad giggle escaped Suria’s lips, because he had no idea. She got herself under control and looked away before speaking. ”Are you sure? It has such a reputation...”

”It’s true that the university is less safe than it should be, but there aren’t that many students dying. And most of them are doing something stupid, like blowing themselves up with an experiment or running off into the mountains on some fool challenge. Despite all the warnings, we still had someone die in the Madman’s Tomb a few years ago.”

”I think I heard about that,” Suria said, even though she had no idea what that was. She was curious, but it was too good of an opportunity to ask about something that had been bothering her. ”You have so many ancient ruins around here; I’m not sure what to make of it.”

”Well, the original city was built by a mad sorcerer king,” Rije explained, gently guiding her toward a bench. She knew he was trying to distract and comfort her, but she let it work. ”That’s why it’s out in the middle of nowhere, relatively. But when modern leyline travel was discovered, the location proved more valuable than anyone expected.”

”And that’s why there are so many unexplored places?”

”Exactly, but don’t take that the wrong way. It isn’t as if there’s a dragon sleeping just next door or anything like that - the professors have been very thorough. Dangerous areas have been marked off and warded. The problem is that students like to ignore rules. Some think that nothing bad will really happen to them, no matter how many risks they take.”

”I’m not likely to do that,” Suria said. ”I can’t even keep track of all these names. Earlier someone was talking about Hrakik the Irredeemable like he was an important person and I felt like a provincial fool, because I’d never even heard the name before.”

”Huh, that’s a strange one.”

Rije paused, his smile dimming a little. Suria kept her head down, eyes shielded by her hair, and hoped that she hadn’t somehow made a mistake. In this cycle they’d started on good terms, however, and Rije was trying to comfort her, so he seemed to sweep the doubt aside and smiled again.

”Hrakik the Irredeemable was a tyrant who lived in the remnants of the Glyphic Imperium,” he explained, ”something like four hundred years ago. The thing that was unique about him was that he supposedly had mastery over time magic, trapping everyone in his kingdom in a ring of time. There are all sorts of stories about the terrible things he did, torturing and reviving his... sorry, I shouldn’t be talking about that now.”

Suria had gone pale as she understood and he’d reached the wrong conclusion, but that worked in her favor. She quickly shook her head and forced a smile. ”That’s okay, I know there have been lots of atrocities in the past. I haven’t even heard about this one before, though.”

”Well, there are two main reasons he might come up. The first is that Hrakik the Irredeemable is one of the main reasons that so much time magic is forbidden. I’m sure the professors here could recommend you books about it, but I don’t know the names. Anyway, the second reason his name comes up is that, despite being apparently unstoppable, he was assassinated in the end. So it’s one of those tales of hubris, you know?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

”Sure.” Suria nodded and, after a moment’s thought, decided not to press further. She wanted to know more about what Hrakik the Irredeemable had done and especially how he had been defeated, but the topic seemed to be fundamentally suspicious. Now that she had confirmed the basics, she could look up more information later.

If she ever got out of the building, anyway.

”I’m feeling better now,” Suria said, and it wasn’t even a lie, so she smiled at Rije. ”Do you think my plan would work? Unlocking the wards, I mean.”

”Sure, it might,” Rije said. His eyes shifted to the side and he lowered his voice. ”It wouldn’t be appropriate for someone like me to know unlocking spells, since it’s unnecessary for my work. Mages aren’t hired for certain jobs because of the risk, you understand?”

”I understand.”

”But any student could tell you the basics. The building is protected by a single layer of defensive wards, and provided you can get direct access to the wards, you can manipulate them. Access is easy because we’re on the inside and they’re oriented to defend the exterior. But we’d need to be able to see the wards in order to find a locking glyph that could be canceled out by an unlocking spell.”

”And how do we do that?” Suria asked. She’d been seeking more information because she’d been afraid there would be such complications.

”Well, advanced enough mages have ways to see runes directly, but I’m not that strong.” Rije looked toward the offices thoughtfully. ”Most of us need runic glasses, which will reveal most glyphs. I should ask Shuguja - she might have some.”

They talked for a little while longer, but now that Suria seemed calm, Rije was focused on his duties again. When she had searched the offices earlier, Suria hadn’t seen any glasses, though she could have missed them. For now, she had another theory she needed to check.

As soon as she was alone, she slipped out of the waiting room. Maut-mai was gone, apparently leaving her bag behind. Suria picked it up, as if to take it to her, and left the room. Once in the corridors she reached into the bag, taking the mana potion and also checking more carefully for anything that might be of use.

It seemed that Maut-mai was carrying a family seal, a stylus with a blockier haft than the university’s version, several hair combs, some makeup, and ten times more money than Suria had ever held in her life. None of it was any use to her in the present situation, however, so Suria only took the mana potion.

What she needed to check was whether the old woman’s glasses were the type they needed: she had been a mage but hadn’t been using the glasses to read, so it seemed possible. Suria headed to the northeastern rooms, hoping that her changes to the flow of events hadn’t messed things up. The room was still open, but she heard faint sobbing within.

When Suria peered through the door, she saw the old woman as before, but to her surprise Maut-mai was seated beside her, crying. The old woman was rubbing her back with a softer expression than Suria had seen on her face in the previous cycle. Whatever they had been talking about, they looked up at Suria’s intrusion, and Maut-mai immediately frowned.

”I, uh, brought you your bag.” Suria smiled and went to sit down in the chair beside her, setting the bag in front of her. ”Are you okay?”

”Just shaken up,” Maut-mai said. ”Eluauna made me feel better, though. Thanks for bringing my bag.”

That name was a mouthful, filled with unfamiliar vowels. That meant the old woman must be from further abroad, somewhere Suria wasn’t familiar with. She didn’t spend much time thinking about that, because her next goal sat in front of her:

The glasses lay across a book that contained a large number of glyph diagrams. Now that she was up close, Suria could see the runes etched into the metal frames. For a moment Suria considered just snatching them and running, but she dismissed that as a mad thought. Part of her was still panicking, wanting to escape as fast as possible, when she needed to figure out her plan methodically.

”Those are beautiful,” Suria said, beginning to reach out to take the glasses. She winced as Eluauna slapped her hand.

”They aren’t for you,” the old woman said, snatching up the glasses and eyeing her suspiciously. ”I’ve already had one pair stolen!”

”Oh, I’m so sorry! I just... they look so much nicer than my glasses...”

”These are runic, girl. They wouldn’t help you see.”

That confirmed her guess, but Suria didn’t see any way of going further in this loop. She had barely even reached for them and Eluauna had reacted with immediate suspicion, and the old woman was still regarding her skeptically. Yet she was simultaneously comforting to Maut-mai... this would take another sort of approach.

Comforting as she was, Eluauna also seemed a bit impatient to return to her work, so she began prodding them out. Maut-mai latched onto Suria’s arm, so she had no choice but to go out supporting the other young woman. That could be a problem, though at least Maut-mai wasn’t searching through her bags.

They headed back through the building, Suria taking them on a long route to avoid the path the secretary might take to the basement. She didn’t think anyone else was aware of the time loop, but after seeing him with the professors, she wasn’t about to take the chance. Besides, there was something else she wanted to check while everything was still so chaotic.

As she had expected, she found Rije and Shuguja in the foyer, arguing about the door. Rije looked away briefly and flashed a smile, but was otherwise occupied. What mattered was that with both of them in the foyer, the offices should be unguarded once again. She needed to double-check there before she attempted any riskier plans.

”Why don’t you stay with them?” Suria suggested to Maut-mai. To her surprise, the other woman gripped her arm harder.

”No! I don’t... I don’t like the statue.” Maut-mai shivered slightly. ”Let’s just go find somewhere to sit.”

The outburst caught Shuguja’s attention briefly, which couldn’t help, so Suria acquiesced and led the other woman back toward the offices. How was she going to ditch Maut-mai in order to get enough time alone? She didn’t come up with any solution before they returned to the waiting room and sat down on one of the benches. Suria sat there awkwardly, her arm captured by the other woman.

”It’s been a rough day,” Suria said in her best healer’s voice. ”Do you want to get some sleep? I know an inscription that c-”

”No!” Maut-mai gripped her arm tighter. ”That boy, he... he went to sleep and never woke up again! I have to stay awake, or... or...”

Put that way, her fear made sense, and Suria doubted that she was going to convince the other woman. Things would have been a lot more convenient if Maut-mai had just agreed to a healing sleep. Maybe she could try that on a future loop... or...

Using her free arm, Suria got out her healing talisman and her stylus. She’d increased her runic capacity from the potion earlier, so it was easy to add a triangle to the side, even with one hand. It was only slightly harder to get her brush and paint the enhancement inscription.

Was she really going to do this? It was probably a sort of magical assault, but she could always say she meant well later.

”What is that?” Maut-mai asked. ”Some kind of healing inscription?”

”Sleep,” Suria whispered, and cast the enhanced healing spell directly at her.

The healing sleep spell wasn’t particularly forceful, normally resisted even by a patient who was too upset or alert. With the enhancement augmentation, however, Suria felt the mana leave her body in a pulse. It surged through Maut-mai, her eyes fluttered closed, and she slumped against Suria in a restful sleep.

For a time Suria just sat there, forcing herself to remain calm. That was the first time she had ever cast a spell offensively at another person. It hadn’t felt that different, perhaps because it was just a modification of a healing spell.

Refocusing, Suria eased Maut-mai down on the padded bench and made sure she wasn’t in an unstable position where she might fall. Like her patients, the other woman seemed to be in a deep sleep, so it would take fairly loud noises to rouse her. If anyone realized what had happened, Suria could say that she had just been trying to help.

Meanwhile, however, she had access to the offices again. Suria searched through Shuguja’s office with great care, making sure that she hadn’t missed any runic glasses that happened to be lying around. No such luck. Amid all the papers that she had dismissed before, however, Suria found what appeared to be guidelines for work, including locking up after professors or other staff left the meeting rooms.

So Shuguja definitely had a locking glyph, and it was probably even the same type as the wards, the problem was just getting at it. The hidden compartment was still locked and Suria wondered whether or not she could break it open by force. It might be worth trying to get a combat spell, provided she could come up with a good enough excuse for someone to teach her...

”Just what are you doing?”

The voice made Suria jump in alarm and she saw Shuguja standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, eyes blazing.

”Sleep!” Suria cried before she had time to think. The healing spell left her body in another pulse and, to her shock, Shuguja crumpled to the carpet of her office.

Had it really been that easy? Suria knew that the proctor wasn’t a particularly powerful mage, but she didn’t fully understand how magical resistance worked. This proved the viability of her sleeping spell... but it was also pretty much impossible to explain.

Well, she had already committed to this path, even if by accident, and there wasn’t much time left. Suria stepped around the desk to go get the key... and found herself facing Maut-mai. The other woman must have had her sleep broken by the noise and she was stumbling forward, still rubbing her eyes.

”Sleep!” Suria repeated desperately, and Maut-mai slumped over. Thankfully her fall was cushioned by Shuguja’s body and neither of them woke up.

This was spiraling out of control, but Suria swallowed her panic and pushed forward.

As she bent down to retrieve the key, Suria wondered how she could improve her spell. The sleep effect was clearly weak, relying heavily on the body’s natural desire to rest and repair itself, but she should be able to change that. With enough runic capacity, she could add more augments, and hopefully do better than simply four enhancement triangles. If she could find more-

”What’s this?” Rije stood in the doorway, staring at her.

She was crouching beside two slumped bodies with the proctor’s key in hand. Didn’t seem very likely that she was going to talk her way out of this one. In fact, if Rije had taken advantage of her shock, he probably could have caught her already, but he looked almost betrayed. That hurt her in a way she hadn’t expected, as if she’d only gained his confidence in order to take advantage of him. That wasn’t entirely untrue, but...

”Sleep!” Suria tried again, but though the spell left her, the mana melted off Rije. Just like she’d feared, her spell wasn’t good enough against a mage with actual defenses.

And it completely ruined her reputation with Rije. He raised his gauntlet, the glyph on the back activating.

”Put down the talismans,” he commanded. ”I don’t want to hurt you, but if you cast any more spells...”

Would he actually release a bolt at her? Suria didn’t want to test, even here at the end of the loop, so she dropped her talismans on the floor and stepped back. Rije kept his gauntlet focused on her and took a careful step forward, kicking the talismans further from her reach.

”I want to believe there’s an explanation for this,” he said in a low voice. ”But you were the one who found the body, and-”

”That bitch!” Shuguja pushed herself upright with a grimace. ”She just... someone must have sent a spy... shoot her!”

”I’m not going to shoot a-”

”She’s not even a student! Shoot her!”

”What’s going on?” Maut-mai wailed as she woke up again.

”Everyone calm down!” Rije took a step back from them, his gauntlet shifting nervously, though it remained focused on Suria. Shuguja shoved Maut-mai aside and grabbed his arm as if to use the gauntlet herself, leading to a scuffle. Suria shrank back from the chaos as all three of them raised their voices.

Then lines of darkness tore through the walls, making the building tremble as several of the mana lamps died. The office was plunged to shadows, multiple figures struggling with one another as spells began to erupt throughout the building.

”Finally,” Suria said, and she waited for the wave of death to kill her.