Time Looped

All of Will's mirror images kept shooting into the real world making the entire subway. Each arrow had the strength of a knight's attack, shattering chunks of wall and floor, transforming the entire station into a war zone. And yet, no one intervened, or even noticed. Through the power of eternity, people were just not interested in the location. Those who needed to get somewhere fast were convinced that it would be faster to grab a cab. The people whose job it was to monitor the security of the area, were experiencing annoying technical difficulties, yet didn't feel the urge to send anyone to check in person. Even the people whose job it was to be in the platform itself, had long decided to grab a snack. Sadly, that didn't make things easier for Will in the least.

"Arrows, evasion, knight's bash, a wolf, and now mirror copies," Danny said as he ran along the walls evading arrows as he threw knives at Will.

The rogue's aim continued to be impressive. It was only through the constant use of the momentary prediction skill that Will managed to evade them all. Thankfully, Danny hadn't caught on. From his perspective he was fighting someone whose reflexes were superior to his.

"And a reflection to boot." Blight daggers were thrown at the sides of several columns, closing them off from the mirror realm. "You must want to get me really bad if you've gone so far."

Will sent an arrow at the blackened columns in an attempt to re-establish the link to the realm, but all he did was cause a large hole on the surface with no effect.

"At least tell me who you're working for," Danny insisted. "You owe me that much."

It was obvious that he was using the rogue's nature to try and charm Will in some way. It was also obvious that the attempt wasn't working. After what Stoner had been through, he'd be cautious even if he wasn't a rogue himself.

"Take your pick," Will shouted back, shooting several arrows ahead of Danny. None of them were even close, but cast shadows on the wall, allowing the shadow wolf to leap by as the rogue went past.

The creature's jaws snapped, yet didn't sink into anything solid. Danny effortlessly twisted in the air, kicking the wolf back into the wall. A muffled yelp was heard as the creature transformed into a shadow spot on impact.

A smile formed on Danny's face. Boosting off from the wall, he flew straight at Will. Multiple arrows flew straight at him in response, but the boy deflected them with his hand as casually as if he were swatting flies.

Momentary prediction.

Will kept on shooting only to have Danny evade every arrow, then bury a knife in Will's throat. The action was so fast that for a split second he was even able to feel a pinch of pain before time was flashed back.

Momentary prediction!

Will leaped to the side, though this time Danny only threw the knife into his chest. At such a distance even the evasion skill failed to kick in, bringing to another death.

Momentary prediction! Will gritted his teeth.

The main in his head was getting noticeable. It wasn't as intense as the one he got from prediction loops, but it kept on building up each time he used momentary predictions in short succession. What was worse, the time it took for the pain to fade away was getting longer and longer each time.

This time, Will slammed the floor with his foot.

Two platform tiles flew up as massive cracks formed on the section of the platform. Will struck them without a moment's delay, shattering both on the spot. Fragments flew in all directions causing Danny to kick off a column mid flight and change direction. Will didn't, waiting for the flash rewind.

This time, he was quick to match his previous actions, then leap back.

As he did, he felt something wet on his lips. Brushing it off, he saw that it was blood.

"You don't look too good," Danny said, blackening three more columns.

At this angle it was impossible for the mirror copies to target him. The remaining useful columns were either on the other side of the chamber or across the track; and even then, the shot wasn't ideal.

"How about we come to an arrangement?" Danny asked. "I can't kill you, but it's obvious that you can't kill me."

Messages emerged on all metal reflective surfaces within view.

"Killing me isn't your goal," Danny continued. "It's just the means to get there. So, reflection, what do you really want?"

Even with his guard up, Will couldn't help but consider the question. The obvious answer was to erase Danny from reality then return to the point from which he had jumped back to this past. Was that the only thing he wanted? The nature of the rogue pushed him to uncover the mysteries of eternity, possibly learn its very nature. The crafter within him, yearned to figure out what he could make from eternity; the thief—what he could get out from it. The archer demanded that he reach the end and the knight that he protect everyone already trapped here. All the classes he had obtained had a drive of their own, but what was Will's drive—his real drive?

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"Do you want to break free from eternity?" Danny asked, attempting a cold read. "You're considering it, aren't you?"

No! Will emptied his mind, showing all questions out. No distractions!

The only thing he needed to do was kill Danny. Everything else would wait for later.

"What about you?" Will asked, in an attempt to use the same method on Daniel. "All those betrayals in so little time."

The rogue's expression remained unchanged, but Will could sense that he had touched a nerve. Danny hadn't enjoyed the betrayals, but found them necessary. And still, it didn't seem like he had achieved his goal.

"What are you looking for?" he pressed on.

"For so many skills you're shit at using them." Danny's smile faded a fraction. "You've no idea what's going on and still want to kill me."

"Tell me what's going on?"

Both sides were engaging in a subtle charm offensive, while simultaneously planning out their next action. The difference was that unlike Danny who was testing out solutions, Will was asking questions, chief among which was: why didn't Danny just kill him outright? The lancer's performance was objectively better than what Will was showing. If Lucia was to be believed, she had an even more difficult time killing him during her encounter. Granted, that Ely was also active at the time, but in this case, it couldn't be said that Helen had done anything.

Is he trying to trick me? Will wondered.

The answer was most probably yes, though not in the way one imagined. Will remembered a basic principle he had heard at school before the loops: the weak pretend to be strong and the strong pretend to be weak. This entire fight, Will had based his actions in that premise. The issue with that logic was that his opponent had no reason to pretend being weak, and even if that weren't the case, he had to show his true strength at some point. Could the reason be that Danny was actually weaker?

"You really want to know?" Slowly Danny took a glass marble from his mirror fragment. "How about we form an alliance, then?"

That was unexpected.

"An alliance?" It took a great amount of effort for Will to keep himself from smirking.

"A non-aggression pact, then. You'll get to know what's really going on and I'll get to do it."

"Doesn't sound like a win to me."

"Hey, it's your choice."

Danny tossed the marble at will.

Naturally, the temporary crafter used his momentary prediction skill to ensure nothing would happen upon catching it. As it turned out, the marble was harmless, at least to the point that it wouldn't do anything upon contact. Will's crafter ability immediately showed him what it represented, although even without that he would have easily guessed.

You're actually serious? Will looked at the marble, then at Danny again.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Will asked.

The left corner of Danny's mouth curved upwards. It was barely noticeable, but enough to suggest that everything the rogue had said about Will was pure guesswork.

"It's a guarantee," Danny said. "If you want to know what's going on, place it in your fragment. It'll make sure that you can't attack me."

Or anyone for that matter. "What about you?" Will asked. "What's stopping you from charging at me?"

"Nothing. Just as nothing stops you from going at me. You already have a weapon, plus your wolf and mirror copies. That will just even the odds a bit." His expression shifted, becoming dead serious. "Plus, it doesn't prevent you from running off, just from attacking me."

That wasn't entirely true, but Will got the point. Danny's goal wasn't to kill him, at least not right now. Something else was at stake.

"Give me something, then," Will gambled. "A goodwill gesture."

This was a vital moment. There was no reason for someone with an advantage to accept. If Danny was really as strong as he claimed, he would refuse. If he didn't…

"I'm not the one you need to be worried about," Will said. "There's a lot worse out there."

"Like Gabriel and Alex?"

Danny didn't flinch. The complete lack of reaction, however, gave an answer in itself.

"They could have become," the rogue said with absolute certainty. "Know how many times I've made it to the reward phase?"

"Ten?" Will guessed.

"Over twenty. There are people who've been there more than hundreds. Did you ask yourself where they are now?"

"Where?"

Danny shook his finger.

"That's all you get. Want more, freeze your fragment."

That was an obvious slip of the tongue—something only a person under pressure would make.

"For that? You didn't tell me anything? Just some fancy lore. What's your role in this? Break eternity? Kill everyone who's a threat before they kill you?"

There was no answer. Danny remained silent, patiently waiting for Will to act. One didn't have to be a clairvoyant to know what would happen. Regardless if he attacked Will afterwards or not, the battle would be over. Danny would have won and, at best, Will would have to wait until the next reward phase to do anything about it… that is if he wasn't thrown back to the future.

Internally, the boy swore. Momentary prediction wasn't going to help him with that.

The boy brushed the blood off his face with a sleeve, then pressed the marble against the mirror fragment. Instantly, it disappeared.

"Now tell me." He looked Danny in the eye. "What do you really want?"

"See what lies beyond eternity, what else?" Danny replied with a sigh of relief. "The same any ranker wants."

"That's why you've been ejecting your friends from eternity?"

"It was the only option." Danny shrugged. "It hurt me just as much, but it was the only way to declog the battlefield."

Will blinked.

"Confused?" Danny laughed.

He appeared a lot more relaxed, not at all worried that Will could do anything to him. Did the mirror marble impose further limitations?

"I asked you what happened with those that were a constant presence in the rankings?" Danny continued. "Sooner or later, they got killed off. It's inevitable that those with the most skills will stay at the top, keeping everyone else from approaching. The only way to level the playing field is to take them down. This time that's my job."

The necromancer, the tamer, the bard… Those were names that had been mentioned ever since Will had rewound time. The fact that nothing about them was mentioned in the future suggested that they had been dealt with—one way or another. Ironically, their place had been taken by the archer, or sorts. The future acrobat kept on repeating that the archer was a permanent fixture of the reward phase. Sadly, as everyone knew, the first thing that someone did after ejecting all obstacles from eternity was to take their place.

No. Will thought. It's my job.