Time Looped

The elementalist… Will knew that it was one of the twenty-four classes, though everything else remained unclear. He didn't know who in the world had the class; he didn't know where the mirror was, nor what skills it actually had. Realizing that it turned out to be the first external class he had seen came as a bit of a surprise. Rather, it was the second. The first had been the lancer which had faced them in the form of the tutorial's hidden boss. Interesting that the actual boss had turned out to be another class. Maybe there was a link between challenges and the classes as well? Definitely something worth looking into.

"What are you then?" Will looked at the squire. There was a good chance he had a class, but nothing in his behavior gave any clues.

Sadly, that was the least of his troubles. The small goblin had planted its banner in the ground before the village entrance and nothing more. Behind him, the first rows of boar riders had started their exit. That brought back memories, yet even in the past, Will never considered them a particularly difficult obstacle.

Will unleashed his weapon. The chain blade stretched out, slashing through boars and goblins by the dozens.

Creatures flew in the air as they were struck with the strength of a knight. The squire was the only creature that was able to leap up fast enough to avoid Will's sword. It didn't perform any aggressive actions whatsoever, remaining a few feet away from its banner.

"My turn." Will rushed forward.

His goal was to quickly deal with the squire before leaping onto the wall and heading straight for the castle of the goblin lord.

The mud golem buried its hand in the ground, then hurled a massive patch of soil in Will's direction. Any other time that would have been considered dangerous, even deadly… if Will wasn't already familiar with its attack method. Back in the tutorial, the golem had been made of concrete, but targeted him in the same method.

You'd be great against armies. Will focused his attention on his target.

Piles of mud slammed behind Will as more flew in his direction. The golem remained highly predictable, targeting a firm area around its target without adequately accounting for Will's speed. All that didn't matter.

Conceal! Will thought, then thrust his weapon forward.

The whip blade extended in a straight line, targeting the squire's chest. The speed and strength of the attack worked in perfect concert with the weapon, creating the impression it was an extremely long solid piece of metal.

In his mind, Will didn't see any possible way for the goblin to evade, deflect, or withstand the strike. Just then, as the tip of the blade was about to hit, a flock of butterflies emerged from the creature's clothes, creating a living barrier.

All of them were made of paper—boneless, colorless, and seemingly inoffensive. When combined, however, they proved strong enough to let the blade slide along them and strike the city walls behind.

Massive cracks formed in the spot at which the whip blade had struck. Several more and there was a good chance that part of it would crumble, but that wasn't what Will had been aiming for. Leaping into the air, he pulled his weapon back and performed a horizontal slash.

Scores of paper butterflies were quickly torn to shreds, yet a large part managed to fly off towards him. Like razor blades, they flew by, moving close enough just to slice Will's clothes and skin. It was only through the rogue's evade skill that no serious wounds were inflicted. Even so, Will could clearly tell that the other was testing him.

Will reached into his pocket. Keeping an eye on the squire, he scattered a handful of mirror pieces into the air. Within a fraction of a second, each of them became a mirror copy performing a knight strike.

Left without a numbers advantage, the paper butterflies were ripped up. The goblin must have calculated the odds, for it grabbed its banner and dashed back into the castle.

Waves of whip blades flew in its direction, aiming for a kill. Unfortunately, none of them managed to hit. Even with its attack force gone, the creature still had enough to keep it protected.

"Take care of it!" Will landed on the top of the wall, then leaped towards the castle.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Three of his mirror copies swooped down, chasing after the squire, while the rest used their hide and conceal skills to vanish on their way towards the mud golem. As large and destructive as the creature was, it lacked the ability to adequately spot enemies. No doubt the goblin lord was needed to provide adequate instructions. Strangely enough, the creature on the balcony did nothing. There could be no doubt that things weren't going the goblin's way. Part of the board riders had been killed. The others were in such disarray that they couldn't leave the walled city, even if they had a reason to. Whatever the squire had done, it had utterly failed, and the mud golem was presented with a dilemma whether it was more important to keep attacking its enemy or to protect the city. Soon, even that wouldn't matter.

Mirror copies appeared at the base of the giant entity's foot, performing strikes similar to the one Will had. Several of them hit the side of the giant's head, blasting half of it away. The damage was by no means serious—nothing a mud golem couldn't restore, but it was a clear indication that the being couldn't be relied on for the next few minutes.

Why was the goblin lord still calm, though? Last time, he had become infuriated when things hadn't gotten his way. Alex's use of mirror copies had caused it to get so enraged that it had withdrawn its offer for a duel and called for reinforcements.

Suddenly, Will got an epiphany. If the goblin lord was a participant, the loops were also part of its life. True, his troops could be slaughtered, and the city destroyed, but that would only last until the end of the loop.

Coming to this realization, Will stopped on the roof of a goblin windmill. The goblin lord looked at him, pleased, almost welcoming what had happened.

"I'm your challenge," Will said. "Aren't I?"

The thought was both invigorating and profoundly confusing. In Earth's realm, it was the participants that triggered the challenges. Was that only an assumption, though? The tutorial had been an invasion, yet also the final challenge. Was this any different? Without knowing the principles by which eternity functioned, one couldn't deny the possibility that the goblin lord had actually triggered the challenge. Could it be that it had done something to plant the idea in Will's mind?

No! Will clenched his fist. It would remove the concept of free will, which was something he couldn't accept. There had to be more to it: a strange paradox loop, or the meddling of time. After all, time didn't pass while one remained in the mirror realm. It was just as possible that challenges and invasions were separate events that got matched with one another as eternity found convenient.

The building beneath Will's feet violently shook. The boy's finely attuned instinct made him leap into the air. That proved to be the correct decision. A hand of stone reached up in an attempt to grab him.

A large chunk of the building broke off, yet didn't stop the rest from forming into a second giant.

Two of them? Will gritted his teeth.

No wonder the goblin lord was so calm. This was his territory, which meant he could call more than one elemental to the fight. A bigger question was whether he had an upper limit.

Glancing at the moat surrounding the castle, it was safe to assume that a water elemental could emerge; as well as an air elemental if the goblin felt like it. Normally, Will would take the lack of such entities as a sign that they were beyond the goblin's capabilities. Sadly, nothing could be assumed. Last time, Will and his friends were under the protection of the tutorial rules. This was an invasion that he had initiated, which meant that the goblin was given the advantage.

More parts of the mud golem's head were slashed off. Will's mirror copies were doing a good job of keeping it occupied.

Just then, the body of the golem erupted, propelling mud projectiles in all directions. Five of Will's mirror copies were shattered on the spot, unable to fully evade the attack. The remaining two were forced to retreat. What was left of the rest kept on slashing the goblin army in their attempt to take down the squire. Unfortunately for them, the creature proved far more illusive than even a thief or rogue could be.

I don't have time. Will thought.

Using what other mirror pieces he had prepared, the boy created a few dozen more mirror copies. At a moment's notice, they scattered, engaging the stone golem's attention.

"Open me a path!" Will ordered as he leaped off another building in the direction of the castle. Eight mirror copies joined him.

There was a momentary air of tension swept over the boy as they went above the moat. If a third elemental was to appear, it would be now. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened.

"As self-confident as ever," Will whispered as he performed another attack.

The whip blade extended in the direction of the goblin lord. Before it could reach him, a green sphere formed, deflecting the strike. It was similar to the one it had used during the tutorial, though Will wasn't sure that a magical ring was responsible for it this time. Nonetheless, he doubled his efforts.

The strikes of his mirror copies combined with his own, striking the sphere from multiple sides.

Cracks of light formed and vanished all over the sphere under the stress of the attacks. The flashes continued for several full seconds, with no results.

Will spun around, striking at the nearby castle tower with all his might. The strength of the attack proved enough to shatter the base, cutting it off like a rotten tree stump. One more strike and the mass of stone was sent at the goblin lord.

The speed was far from impressive to the point that even a skilled loopless would be able to evade. The goblin, though, did no such thing. Remaining perfectly motionless, he took the attack head on.

The entire sphere flickered, as the stone tower shattered on it like a snowball on a windowpane. Chunks of stone were thrown in all directions like cannonballs.

Mirror copies shattered, incapable of avoiding the attacks from this distance. Will, on his part, managed to deflect all threats with a series of strikes.

The boy could feel the adrenaline inside him build up. Not too long ago, he wouldn't have dreamed of achieving this. Experience had made a big difference to the point that such a fight seemed almost normal. It also helped that he had a clear sense of the stones' trajectories thanks to his air sense.

Just then, one of the goblin's rings broke. Even such a magic sphere wasn't able to withstand such abuse in the end. From here on it was one to one, and until the golems got involved, Will felt he had the upper hand.

The smile on the goblin's face widened. The creature reached into the air.

A single bolt of electricity flickered. It was followed by another and another. A whole cluster of them flashed within the creature's hand, as if trying to escape. Before they could, the goblin lord tightened its grip.

"So, that's how you want to play it?" Will gritted his teeth.