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

After so much trouble trapped inside a single building, it proved trivially easy to leave Darkmoon University: Suria simply walked out the gate. That put her back in the city of Darmkael, which had been confusing not so long ago and was now a relief.

What was she actually going to do now? Suria suppressed thoughts of all the obstacles in her path and decided just to get as far away from the university as possible. She didn’t know what would happen after the loop ended, after all, and it was entirely possible that the battle between professors was some kind of prelude to all-out war. For that matter, she didn’t know how far the wave of death would propagate, so best to create some distance.

As she stood in the street, Suria’s gaze wandered to the ribbon of light in the sky: the leyline floated past the western side of the city and she’d never gotten a chance to visit it. That would take her far from the university, and while she couldn’t afford a ride, if the situation became truly dire she could try to force her way onto a ferry.

Walking through the streets more slowly than before, Suria was struck by the sheer variety of people she saw all around her. Back at home, the largest cities had seemed diverse with the tunics and sashes from the Republic of Junn or serpent-eyed visitors from the Shantic States. Here, she saw not only those traits, there were lean giants with blue skin, pale bearded men wrapped entirely in furs, noblewomen with embroidered hats like explosions atop their heads, spear-bearing warriors with shoulders loaded with beads, and more.

And mages, mages everywhere. So many passed in floating carriages, or pulling hovering slabs, or with luggage trotting beside them on four wooden legs. Occasionally someone flew overhead, in a grand vehicle or under their own power. Shopkeepers lit flames with a wave of their hands, stores advertised with sparks of mana, and she saw a woman stirring soup with a rune-inscribed spoon.

Though the city’s roofline descended away from the university, Suria found that it strangely began to curve back upward toward the west. She only understood once she got away from some of the entangled streets and began to stare in awe at the leyline district.

The leyline itself was a line of liquid gold shimmering through the sky, so the city rose to meet it. At the very highest levels, she could see scaffolds that nearly touched the leyline, servicing the ferries that floated along its gold to other nations. Some of the peaks were like ornate palaces in the air while others were far more modest, yet still no doubt cost far more than anything in her village. Her gaze naturally slid down over the maze of ladders and platforms and-

Without warning Suria crashed into someone else and sprawled into the street. As she pulled herself upward, fixing her glasses, she realized that she had collided with a grim-faced young man.

He wore a long cape unlike any others she’d seen in the city and had such piercing green eyes she almost flinched. The collision hadn’t knocked him down, only made him drop some of the heavy suitcases he was carrying. Currently he was just staring at her in surprise, as if he couldn’t believe that a peasant had dared to collide with him.

”I’m sorry, I-” Suria couldn’t get out anything else before he interrupted her.

”I should have been looking where I was going,” he said smoothly. ”Excuse me.”

With barely another glance at her, the young man picked up his suitcases and marched into the leyline district. She wanted to help and picked up what seemed to be a newsbook, which he took from her swiftly. Perhaps he had a ferry to catch, but Suria was simply grateful that she hadn’t become enmeshed in any more complicated trouble.

The impact still took a bit of shiny wonder off the leyline docks, however, and when Suria looked again, she saw more than the shining heights. Some of the towering structures were formed of solid stone, but a surprising number were rickety wood and a few even floated on pure mana, threatening to collapse if some mage lost focus. More importantly, the whole edifice produced endless nooks and crannies, and close to the ground there was a region of constant shadow where she saw people moving about within the foundations.

If this district was anything like the normal docks she remembered, it would contain smuggling and worse criminal activity. Powerful mages and the wealthy would be protected from it, moving through smoothly, but Suria had no such protections. Wandering around the way she had been would earn her worse than a mere collision with busy travelers.

Still, as Suria moved in more carefully, she couldn’t help but be swept up in it again. A rugged-looking man in clothes no better than hers suddenly hurled a golden line into the air and, when he gripped it, was pulled into the sky toward one of the ferries. That was just one of many spells she would love to learn, if only she had the chance.

Could she make a life for herself here? Suria was a decent healer, and her ordeal had taught her a great deal, but she didn’t know if she could manage in Darmkael. Since she was too conscious of the time, she took a turn into the respectable-looking district near the leyline.

This time, she tried not to be impressed by all the magic on display and instead analyzed the practitioners. There were a shocking number of people using glyphs of some sort, but most were simple formations or artifacts that someone else had created. Even in her present state, if someone keeled over in the street, she might be one of the better people to help.

But would that be enough to stand out? It seemed like every single shop owner had at least one ranked seal, some even displayed two. If she was finding so many ranked mages on a random street, the experts would be far better. She could probably find work, but it would be something like an assistant’s role or grunt talisman creation. Maybe she could earn enough to afford travel... though given the prices she’d seen everywhere, it might take a very long time.

Actually... instead of making her decision based on feelings, Suria resolved to be more methodical. She checked her satchel and came up with a mismatched set of coins and shells worth 37 oss. The inns she had seen on her way in, at least those that seemed remotely safe, cost more than 400 oss per night. Leyferry tickets varied immensely but usually cost more than 1000 for a one-way trip. What else could she afford?

As she moved Suria couldn’t help but be drawn into a bookstore, which was packed with enough books to make her salivate. Even the cheapest volumes cost 200 oss, and books on magic all went for 1000 or more. She wasn’t able to take a complete inventory because the owner of the store began to eye her suspiciously, and she couldn’t afford to attract trouble from the guard.

Instead Suria retreated to what appeared to be a cafe that catered to nicely-dressed travelers, at first just for shade, then for all the newsbooks. A few of the patrons were reading normal books, but a shocking number had thin newsbooks opened in front of them. As she watched, one of them pressed a glyph on the cover and the ink swam into new pages. Of course she’d seen newsbooks back home, but usually only the head of a village or school would own one, and everyone else would crowd around to receive the latest news. For almost a dozen people in a single cafe to have their own...

She shifted around the exterior of the cafe, getting a better look at the headlines everyone was reading:

Crystal prices rise 17% after third day of work stoppage

Archprince of Endelyth found in congress with washwoman

City guard denies that Blank Hand activity has been increasing

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Hybrid potions identified in Shantic front lines; North Akrash Company denies involvement

Council of Junn votes against expelling counter-noble faction

Recent storms blamed on Glyphbreakers damaging atmosphere-controlling steles

War in Imperial Wastes enters its third month

Double-seal trials for Naturalism postponed due to earthquake

New Akrashic glyphs promise to modernize artificing equal to herbalism

Taedric Colonies accepted new delegation from Nau Qin Nau

”Hey.”

The voice that interrupted her snooping wasn’t any of the people who were reading newsbooks; it was a middle-aged woman who seemed to be employed by the cafe. She thrust a thin plate of stone at Suria, one that was vaguely modeled off a page of a runebook, but it appeared to list items and prices.

”What do you want?” the woman asked.

”Oh, umm...” Even though she hadn’t intended to buy anything, Suria felt guilty and looked at the list instinctively. Immediately she blanched: simple drinks cost 25 oss or more? Even knowing there must be cheaper options elsewhere in the city, Suria realized she couldn’t afford to live here.

She mumbled an apology and pushed the menu back before fleeing. It wasn’t just the prices; it was the fact that everyone was reading about stories from across the world. Back at home, newsbooks mostly covered the price of crops and Westlakes news, with an occasional story about foreign events in the Republic of Junn or Shantic States. Here, everyone seemed to be a citizen of the entire world.

As she walked away, Suria looked back toward the bookstore again. Part of her was still trapped in the loop, because she had an impulse to grab a book and run off with it - the consequences wouldn’t matter if she finished reading before everything reset. But she had no guarantee that she was still caught within the time magic, and the bookstore likely had some sort of ward in place to prevent theft. She needed to be cautious and take things seriously.

And, she realized slowly, that meant she probably knew where she needed to go. But not yet. Suria checked the position of the sun and headed back to the leyline docks, since it was almost time.

She might not be able to afford a ticket, but they weren’t required just to ascend the various ladders and platforms that stretched across the west of the city. So long as she stayed out of the way of the workers and didn’t approach the leylines, no one stopped her from working her way higher. Eventually she could see Darkmoon University in the distance, set off from the city by its great walls.

No one was visible inside. Suria frowned suspiciously before she realized that there was a strange shimmering above the walls that she suspected was some sort of privacy ward. In any case, she could at least see the buildings, even make out Convocation Hall from here.

Almost one hour had passed since the most recent loop had started.

Her eyes fixed on the hall as it came time, wondering if she would see a grand explosion or feel the magic somehow. Or, even worse, be caught up by the magic and be sent back to the waiting room. Instead... nothing. She couldn’t feel any particular magic and nothing at all seemed to happen.

Just as she began to convince herself that something terrible must have occurred inside, a group of figures walked up the path to the gates and entered, vanishing under the wards. No one came running back screaming and the guardian statues, just blue gleams at this distance, remained still. All evidence suggested that the battle hadn’t spilled out of the building.

Taking a deep breath, Suria began making her way back down as she convinced herself of what she needed to do. Going back to Darkmoon University after being in the hall might draw attention to her, but leaving could attract attention just as badly, since she had already entered once and they were expecting her. Besides, the worst of her involvement had been erased by the time loop, and all she’d done in this timeline was talk to a few people and leave.

More important than all that, her mind was made up: her future was still studying magic at Darkmoon University. She had given up her old life and gone across the world for this chance and she wouldn’t throw it away even if something troubling was happening under the surface.

Still, she told herself that if anything crazy happened when she went back, she’d turn right around.

She took a different route along the way and this time marveled at the sheer number of different languages she heard on the streets. Most of the people were speaking Taedric, of course, since it was a common trade language, but she heard sharp Akrashic and lilting Endelythan and others she couldn’t recognize. There were even a few people speaking her native Shantic, though with very strange accents.

There was a whole theater troupe setting up a performance that included elaborate glyphs and Suria was entranced by their work. She was so distracted that she was nearly run over by a long procession: some sort of pilgrims wore white wraps around their bodies, including great turbans. Whoever they were, they seemed to be in a great hurry and she had to scurry out of the way.

When she reached the gates the guardian statues needed to see her papers again but otherwise let her through. The university grounds were just as she remembered them, with no one running or panicking. There was a cluster of people around the doors to Convocation Hall, however, some wearing guard armor and others university robes. Despite her fear, Suria headed toward them.

She didn’t get close before a guard - not Rije - turned to stop her. ”Hall is closed for the day,” the man said. ”Anything you need to do is rescheduled for tomorrow.”

”Did something happen?” Suria asked nervously.

”Sounds like there was a bit of an accident inside. We’ll reopen once we’ve confirmed everything is safe. On your way.”

There were several other students and one faculty member by the other entrances, many of them angrier than Suria, so she didn’t draw much attention to herself by asking. Pushing further might be a mistake, however, so she nodded and shuffled away from the crowd. Some of the mages wearing university robes didn’t look angry; they looked like they were investigating.

What exactly had happened at the hour mark? Would she have seen more if she had been right next to the building instead of across the city? She was curious to observe the exact events, but not curious enough to stand too near the building next time... if there was a next time.

Everything would be much easier if she knew the fundamental mechanics of time loops, or even time magic in general. Suria’s gaze drifted to the Sequential Library and her feet started taking her closer. If it was the greatest library in the world, surely it would have information about time magic.

On her way there, Suria realized that was a terrible idea. Going to abruptly do research on time loops was exactly the sort of thing a student trapped in a time loop would do, and she had direct evidence that the faculty were willing to exterminate such loopers. She didn’t know if they could deduce what was happening from Lirngelf’s body, but it was possible. Even if he simply looked dead, she had to credit the professors with enough intelligence to monitor anyone who checked out books on time magic.

Her feet were still moving her in that direction and Suria decided that this was workable. She could research everything she desperately wanted to learn for its own sake, establishing a record of pursuing random subjects. Then, after she learned the restrictions and what magical surveillance might be in place, she could find an opportunity to learn more about time magic.

She actually wasn’t sure what steps she needed to take to proceed with enrolling, since Convocation Hall had been closed by the accident. They said all meetings were deferred, so she probably didn’t need to worry too much about her appointment. That left her in an awkward position on campus, however, and-

”Oh, there you are!”

Suria flinched and would have screamed if she didn’t have the instinct to retreat instead. But before she could move, she saw Maut-mai sweeping toward her.

”When you ran off, I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again!” Maut-mai took her arm and began pulling her across campus, having apparently decided unilaterally that they were going to walk together. ”What are you doing now?”

”I was supposed to have an interview...” Suria’s voice trailed off as she looked back toward the locked hall.

”Yes, everything is all out of sorts now. Dreadful. But don’t worry, I can help you get everything set up. I have three relatives who already graduated from Darkmoon, so I know the best places to go. Just come this way and we’ll sort everything out.”

After so many decisions, part of Suria was glad to go along with someone else’s flow for a while. But what Maut-mai said next made her blood run cold.

”Did you hear about the professor?”

”What about the professor?” Suria asked weakly.

”One of the head professors retired! They say it was Zaasif Drazen, Throne of Perception.” Maut-mai clicked her tongue disapprovingly. ”Apparently he simply decided that he wouldn’t return this year, without telling anyone. They say his entire department is out of sorts. I found out when I went to complain about the awful ward situation, and apparently he should have been involved with renewing those wards. So everyone is inconvenienced, even us. Isn’t that awful?”

”Awful,” Suria said, as if this was merely idle gossip. She let the other woman chatter and focused on controlling her breathing.

She didn’t know exactly who Zaasif Drazen was, but she intended to find out, and she was certain that he would be one of the people she’d seen in the basement. And she very much doubted that he had just ”retired” without notice. That was jumping to conclusions, but she could confirm her theory as soon as she saw a portrait of the man.

The explanation seemed to satisfy Maut-mai, and it had been offered so quickly that it would probably prevent anyone from finding out the truth. Whatever the professors had been arguing over in the basement, the conversation - and potentially the death of a head professor - had been covered up expertly. No one would suspect what would happen and the school year would proceed with no one the wiser.

Except for one girl who had seen the truth in another timeline.