A muffled explosion sounded from outside.

I moved to the nearest window. Flames licked upward at the base of the tower, curling around a dozen figures thrashing in muted silence as fire consumed them. A dozen humans—or at least what appeared human—were burning at the foot of the magic tower.

"Undead," I muttered, stepping back from the glass.

From my exploration of the magic tower previously, I knew the windows were etched with faint runes, silver threads of warding that blurred the view from the outside. But I wasn't taking any chances, especially not with the Kobar's grunts below. Not when I'd taken so many precautions to stay hidden from that side.

"Oh, did more come?" Rana appeared in the doorway, her presence bright against the gloom of old stone.

A long ivory wrap was draped over her damp black curls, falling down her shoulders like a veil. Flowing white robes embroidered with golden patterns shimmered faintly where they caught the dim light, and a golden sash at her waist cinched the loose fabric.

She gave a little tug to the veil, almost self-conscious. "I washed my hair. This veil is enchanted to help speed up the drying process, but it still takes ages. I thought it better to come as I was, rather than leave you waiting."

I blinked. "Ah… I see."

I had simply assumed it was a headdress.

Rana moved lightly across the chamber and leaned on the sill, her face reflecting the firelight from below. "I thought they'd learned their lesson from two days ago. What Duat's pit are they spawning from?"

"You had them attack before?" I asked.

She nodded, strands of black curls slipping loose beneath the veil. "Yes, two days ago, there were about a dozen as well. And in the loop prior, they came as well. You don't need to be too concerned about them; I had my father put in wards specifically against the undead—the walls hum with it when they draw too close, can you feel it?"

I placed a palm on a wall. A faint vibration shivered through the stone.

Rana drew back and glanced toward the table. The tea cups, a fresh pot, and the cookies that I had set out were awaiting her.

"Oh?" She sniffed the air and sat down abruptly into a chair. Her right hand reached instinctively for a cookie, then halted, catching herself.

"Ah—" She paused mid-air. "Have a seat, please. Forgive me. I've been here for about a week and haven't had much human interaction, so my manners are in tatters." She smiled ruefully.

"It's no trouble," I said, taking the chair opposite. "I know the feeling well. I, too, have been lacking in human interaction."

~Ah, you have me, but I see you do not consider me human? Apophis hissed into my mind, atop my left shoulder, but so invisible due to the artifact that even I half-forgot his existence. But I suppose I am in the form of a snake, and my true form is that of a God.

Rana blinked, and her golden eyes narrowed in curiosity.

"Did your father also lock you up somewhere?" she inquired, confirming what I had already learned from Claude in the prior loop.

"Oh no," I answered with a laugh, pointing out toward the smoke rising from the trees. "I'm trying to hide away from those things if you must know. Last loop, the undead swarmed my grandmother's home. A quarter of the villa was burned down while getting rid of the undead."

I left out mention of Leona's slip in sanity, and her playing the leading role in the massive extent of the destruction.

"So as to avoid any unnecessary trouble for my family, I have gone into hiding."

Again, I left out mentioning that it was my training in Chaos that I was attempting to hide from the Kobar side more than anything else.

"So you're hiding, to protect your family." Her voice softened. Rana's hands flew up to her mouth, and her expression brightened with unguarded admiration. "How noble of you!"

I couldn't help but smile.

Rana's honesty shone through every movement, every shift of expression. It was… refreshing.

"This is black tea from Zarez," I explained as I poured a cup of tea for her and myself, "but don't worry about being unable to sleep—it has been modified such that all caffeine has been extracted. So you can enjoy the flavor without any impact on your sleep."

Rana laughed.

"That's alright. I tend to stay up late these days." She lifted her cup, inhaling the fragrance, but waited for me to drink first.

I made sure the tea line lowered to show proof that I did actually drink it, and not merely pretended to.

She was friendly and polite, but it was evident she had her guards up.

The golden sash at her waist and the bangles circling her wrists gleamed faintly—beautiful, yes, but I suspected they were embedded with magic wards.

I took a cookie from the tray, breaking it in half before tasting it. Sweet, buttery, crumbling between my teeth. She watched me eat too, before taking the second half of the cookie and eating it herself.

It was good that she was cautious. Allies that were too quick to trust could fall into the hands of the enemy just as easily.

"So," Rana said at last, motioning toward the window where fire still flickered below, throwing restless light across the stone walls. "How did you manage to get in here? This tower is wrapped in both ancient and new wards. Even teleportation within the walls would have tripped the alarms. My father would have appeared on the spot, regardless of where he is currently."

I swallowed too fast, the tea scalding my tongue, and broke into a cough.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Good thing my use of Chaos didn't set off the alarm. Otherwise, I would have been on Round 11 in no time at all.

"Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you," I managed, recovering with a smile. Then quickly added, as her gaze darted to the platter of cookies, "After we finish the cookies and tea, of course."

Her lips curved upward, and she pressed on, albeit with a different question. "When you introduced yourself, you said you were an Awakened. How long have you been aware of the loops? And how many others are there?"

I rubbed my temple, which throbbed slightly, as I considered how much to reveal to her.

It was much too soon to reveal that I was in control of the loops. There was no need to reveal that much yet, especially since I had barely just met her.

"This is my eleventh loop that I am aware of," I answered her first question, refraining from elaborating further. "As for how many Awakened there are… I can't say how many in total there are. But you're the fourth I've met personally. Ah, and I also know of one more—someone with phoenix eyes, golden like ours—but who has yet to Awaken."

Rana nodded once, her expression in thought. "I know of only one Awakened: Prince Chase Daylan."

I smiled.

"Then we share that in common. I am familiar with him as well," I replied, before adding. "We're friends, actually."

Rana's brows drew together, and she had a curious look on her face. She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice as though afraid the stone walls might overhear.

"Not to be rude…. But is he all well in the head?" she whispered.

I laughed. "So you're familiar with his disposition as well? Chase has lived through many loops, and he is a warlock, contracted to a Celestial, so it's understandable his mind isn't quite all there. But I have him to thank for saving my neck once. So I consider him an ally and a friend."

"Is that so?" Rana smiled faintly, though her doubt lingered. "Well, he didn't seem too dangerous."

I bit my tongue, refraining from sharing the stories of his shenanigans, like him blowing up the Kobar Mountain just for his own amusement.

"And the others? What are they like?" She laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them, her expression curious and bright.

"Hmm, well, there's one that is also a friend…" I trailed off, Remlend's confession still fresh in my mind.

The memory soured the words, though I couldn't fault Sedna for her mother's choices. But it did put me in an awkward position nonetheless.

"Princess Sedna Ozeryn. She's a little older than us and remembers more loops. She has been a good ally against the Kobar Empire's invasion," I said.

"Ah, is that so?" Rana nodded her head thoughtfully.

I studied her a moment before asking, "So Chase has already filled you in on Kobar?"

"He has," she admitted. Her gaze slid toward the window, where faint orange firelight still pulsed against the panes. "I know the world reset in the past after Adovoria fell to Kobar, but the rules appear to have changed. The Kobar Empire is a joke of a country at this point in time and hasn't shown any sign of invading Adovoria. Yet the resets persist."

"The invasion has already begun, in one respect," I said, gesturing to the flames below. "Those undead? They're Kobar's doing. In the loop before the rules shifted, I stood on the battlefield against demonic knights raised through the use of forbidden necromancy. The creatures below were raised through the same technique."

Rana's golden eyes widened. "But why are they attacking me? I'm not even in Adovoria. I'm in Laupia."

"It's a test," I explained, echoing Saga Duex's words from earlier in this loop. "They know who most of the Awakened are. They unleash their undead on us as a means to see how well we fare. It's both a test to see if they are a worthy ally or a worrisome foe."

Rana frowned. "And by evading their attacks, I'm proving myself as troublesome?"

I shrugged. "In your case, it's your father's wards doing the surviving for you. And this tower," I added, sweeping a hand to the thick, rune-etched walls. "So their test yields no answers. Personally, I prefer avoiding the ordeal altogether. Being chewed apart by corpses sounds unbearably unpleasant."

Her head tilted. "And so you've gone into hiding."

"Precisely," I replied with a smile.

Apophis snickered into my mind.

[[ What? It's equally true that being mauled by zombies sounds too unpleasant to experience. ]]

"You said you knew a third Awakened?" Rana asked, tilting her head.

"Ah." I clicked my tongue, regretting including Saga Duex in my list. "They asked me not to share their name, for their safety. I promised to respect that." I gestured vaguely toward the window, as if the night sky or the fires could justify my excuse.

However, to my relief, Rana bought it. "I understand. I won't press further then."

The table between us was bare now, only faint crumbs and the scent of tea lingering. I rose from my chair.

"Now, to your first question, as I've stated before, it'll be easier to show you than to explain." I motioned her to follow me.

She followed me down the spiral staircase, the stone steps echoing faintly under our feet. On the third landing, we stopped at a storage chamber, dim and dust-scented.

"Could you help me move this mirror?" I asked, walking inside and setting my hand against its ornate silver frame. "I'm afraid my body is a bit frail."

"Oh–certainly!" Rana quickly moved to the other side. Together, we shifted the heavy mirror aside, its legs screeching against the floor.

She gasped. Behind it, the doorway provided an unexpected view, revealing the warped black forest.

"You've heard and seen the infection of the land, I assume?" I asked.

"Only glimpses on my way to the tower," she admitted, leaning forward cautiously.

"This infection has devastated the lands, ruining crops and causing great famine," I said and stepped through the doorway and into the clearing. "And just a mere touch of the infected means death."

Rana's eyes widened. She ducked her head further through the doorway, but remained standing within the tower.

"However," I continued, lifting my hand, "I can help purify it."

I drew dead mana from a shriveled shrub and twisted it until it pulsed back into life. It was now a weak, malnourished plant, but cleansed of corruption.

Rana gasped as I performed my first trick.

"Purification Magic," I lied smoothly. "It lets me cleanse the land and channel the restored energy like mana, even without a proper core."

Apophis hissed in bemusement into my mind.

To press the illusion further, I retrieved the umbrella I had left propped against the frame. Its black canopy shimmered into blue, then pink, sprouting a pair of absurd cloth cat ears before shifting again through other designs as I twirled it lazily overhead.

"Thus, even with a weak mana core," I explained, "I can heal the land and wield its purified energy as others would rely on mana."

"Incredible," Rana breathed, awe evident in every word. "Such holy magic… I wondered how you teleported inside the tower with such a small core, but now it makes sense."

I blinked, and focused on controlling my facial expressions.

Interesting, she's attuned enough to have sensed my mana core's size?

~Bwahahaha. Meanwhile, Apophis roared with laughter into my mind, unable to hold himself back any longer. Master, that may be the first time anyone has called Chaos holy.

I smiled.

It was a fib, yes—but one with good intentions. And I could hardly tell her the truth. Not with whatever her father might have told her regarding Chaos magic. I'd need to strengthen our friendship before revealing too much.

"I'm afraid it's late," I said at last, glancing toward the horizon where the forest sank into shadow and the first stars twinkled in the darkening sky. "I should return."

"Ah, yes, it is late," Rana agreed, her lips curving down with clear disappointment.

"I'll visit again," I offered. "Every other day, perhaps. After lunch? I'd welcome the conversation with someone, especially a fellow Awakened."

Her golden eyes lit with pleased surprise. "Then I'll look forward to it."

"Until then," I said gently, motioning her to move back. The view on the other side of the doorway flickered away, replaced with nothing more than my surroundings.

[[ If the Kobar side is testing her, then it's only a matter of time before their eyes turn to me. No, they'd already be here if they knew my location. ]]

I pulled in dead mana from my surroundings, and refilled the ring's capacity to summon Chaos on command.

[[ I'll need more strength. Enough to protect myself when they do find me. ]]

I couldn't risk dying and reveal myself.

Apophis slid free from the invisibility necklace, scales cool against my palm as he placed the chain into my hand.

~Yes, Master, Apophis hissed with sly amusement. Tomorrow, we'll continue your training in Holy Magic.

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