Chapter 489: When the time resets [1]

Thu Thump!

The drums echoed loudly.

Standing in the same row as before, I started to clap.

Clap, clap-!

…..What is going on?’

I held my breath while staring at the scene in front of me. I couldn’t understand what was happening, and as I tried to move my hands, I realized that the thread connecting to my arms had become stronger than before.

This…

Looking down, I also realized that unlike before a thread was now connected to one of my legs.

‘Do the treads increase and become more powerful with time?’

Looking around and seeing how stiffly some of the people were moving, I felt like this was the case. My heart sank at the realization.

Raising my head again, I quickly took notice of Caius and Kaelion.

They too appeared shocked and confused by the situation. Thinking back, the entire situation was confusing.

‘Why did all the puppets stop at the same time? Why did we all come back here and who was that old man? I also remember him saying something about reset…’

I thought about the scene in front of me.

‘Was he talking about this?’

But then…

How could he still be moving normally?

A lot of things didn’t make sense to me. However, I remained calm. The situation was problematic but not impossible.

I just needed to figure out the rules of this place.

Considering how everything reset, there were rules that the ‘puppets’ needed to follow. So

long as I understood the rules then I’d be able to find a way out of this place.

But first things first…

“Owl-Mighty, Pebble.”

Two figures appeared right before me.

Confused, they looked around.

“Where is this?”

“It’s loud.”

Thu Thump! Thu Thump!

As the drums echoed in the background, they both jumped in my direction.

‘Okay, good. It looks like they aren’t being noticed.’

At first, I flinched, but I soon sighed in relief when I saw no reaction from the puppets around me upon their appearance. Looking at the two of them once, no words needed to be

exchanged between us as the two immediately dashed away.

Owl-Mighty headed for Caius while Pebble headed for Kaelion.

With the two of them being made up of energy, none of the puppets reacted. This was good. At the very least, this would ensure that the three of us could communicate.

-Uh? This…?

-What is this?

As expected, the moment Pebble and Owl-Mighty arrived, they recited Kaelion’s and Caius’s words in my mind.

“Calm down, it’s me.”

Whispering slightly, Owl-Mighty and Caius relayed the message to the two as they looked at me directly.

Nodding my head to ensure they understood, I started speaking again,

“If we want to communicate between us then you can directly tell your words to the cat and owl in front of you. They’ll relay your words directly to me.”

-There’s such a thing?

Hearing Pebble’s voice, I turned my head to look at Kaelion and nodded in his direction.

His eyes widened slightly and his expression eased.

—Alright, it looks like it works. None of the people around me seem to notice that I’m speaking. “Yes, there’s a chance they only react to our movements but I’m not too sure.”

Perhaps we didn’t need Owl-Mighty and Pebble.

The three of us could just shout at one another from our respective positions but this was a gamble I didn’t want to risk.

Furthermore, with the drums being so loud, I doubted we could even get our words across.

“Considering what the old man said, everything here resets at a certain time. What time is it right now? Do any of the two of you know?”

-It’s 12:09 A.M.

Owl-Mighty’s flat voice entered my mind as he relayed Caius’s words. Looking up at the sky and seeing that it had turned dark, I thought it made sense.

“If that’s the case then the reset time is most likely mid-night.”

Give or take, ten minutes had passed since we found ourselves back in the courtyard.

Calculating the time then this was the most likely possibility.

-But who was that old man?

“I have no idea.”

Replying to Kaelion, I could only shake my head.

I was just as confused as they were. Seeing how everyone present had been controlled by the strings, us included, the old man felt suspicious.

Was he the one controlling the people?

…Or was he also a victim of the strings?

“Considering his appearance, it’s plausible that he’s the head of the Astrid family. With his level of strength, there’s a possibility he can resist the strings’ control.”

I wasn’t too sure, to be honest.

If someone as powerful as him could be placed in such a predicament, it only amplified my apprehension about the strength of the mastermind orchestrating it all.

Just how powerful were they?

-What should we do then? The old man seems suspicious, but what other choice do we have besides going to him?

-…Can you call for help using this Owl?

Hearing Caius’s suggestion, I looked at Owl-Mighty.

I thought about sending him out to warn Leon and the others but before doing that, I wanted

to establish a point of communication between the three of us.

“Yes, it looks possible.”

Or at least, it looked possible.

Whether it was truly possible or not I wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

I’d know after trying.

“But even if I do, what can they do? They’d be just as helpless as us. At most, they’ll be able to

get more reinforcements from the Academy, if they even have some to spare, but that’ll take

time.”

-What about the House of Myron?

“They’re probably too busy fighting monsters to care about us. And even if they did have forces to spare, I doubt they’d even care enough to help us.”

I looked specifically at Kaelion.

“…We did break their rule after all.”

This was on us.

Well, I didn’t really blame Kaelion. In fact, I was surprised by his actions. I didn’t take him for

someone who would show such a level of compassion. He felt more like a snake to me. A snake

that would do anything for his own sake.

This event…

It changed my perception of him by a little.

‘I guess even snakes feel some compassion.’

It made me think.

Could there be more to Kaelion than I knew?

-Right… It’s my fault.

-It is.

Caius didn’t mince his words.

This was likely due to his lack of emotions but he was rather blunt with everything he said. He

was also not one to speak a lot, unlike Kaelion.

Feeling Caius’s gaze, he looked up at the dark sky.

-It is worth a try. Even if they are unable to help, it might be good for us to let them know.

“You’re right.”

Nudging my head at Owl-Mighty who understood my message, I saw it flap its wing and shoot for the sky, blending directly with the darkness above.

At the same time, I reminded, “Tell them not to make any rash movements. Say that we’re

fine for now. I’ll update them on our situation and it is best if they inform the Professors about our situation.”

I could already tell we were going to get in a lot of trouble when all was said and done but I

was already used to this by now.

‘Not the first time I’ve gotten into trouble.’

Staring at the fading owl, I sighed and looked at my skills.

In particular, I looked at [Eyes of the Seer] which was still grayed out. It had been a while since

I had last used the skill, and I could still not use it.

‘Why?’

Just how long was the cooldown going to be?

A month? A few months? Staring at my surroundings, I knew that I needed the skill. To get out of this situation, I

needed to have the skill work.

Only through the skill would I know if the old man was with us or against us.

Not only that, but I also needed to find an appropriate method to avoid being detected by the

puppets.

This was why the skill was vital for me.

…A single wrong step and I knew we were done for.

I couldn’t afford to take such risks.

Then…

“Ah.”

A thought occurred to me and my body trembled.

“That… If it’s that way then…’

Clenching my teeth, I shot a glance at Pebble, who seemed to understand my command and

began moving toward me. Kaelion’s expression flickered briefly with surprise, but he quickly masked it, his gaze steady and focused on me.

Shortly after, two items appeared in my hand as Pebble quickly caught them.

Tik, tik-

A pocket and a small red vial.

Yes, a vial.

Within the vial was Oracleus’s blood.

My blood.

Following the events in the gold min, I collected a few vials containing Oracleus’s blood.

Thinking back to what happened when the Pope injected Oracleus’s blood in me, I had a feeling this might just be what I needed to break the cooldown of the skill.

Opening my mouth, Pebble opened the vial and poured the blood into my mouth.

Sha-

A sharp, iron-like taste flooded my mouth, making me wince as it clung to my tonsils. My

body began to twitch uncontrollably as a result of the taste.

I pushed through the disgust and quickly swallowed the blood. Almost immediately, a warm

sensation spread through my chest.

||

It flooded my entire body, rendering me completely immobile.

Before I knew it, the world around me started to distort in a long spiral that almost made me

lose my balance.

But right within the spiral, I could see something…

A figure.

No, it was two.

They stood face to face with one another, their figures obscured.

Who…?

‘Hey, hey…!’

The voice sounded quite high, seemingly close to a teenager. Almost like my brother, but

different.

Still, I could feel that the person speaking held high regard for the other person who I couldn’t

see.

‘What is it, Toren?’

‘Hehe, I’ve… finally come up with a name for myself.’

‘A name?’

‘Yes, like an Alias.’

‘Oh? What is it…?’

‘…Sithrus. Yes, I’ll call myself that. Sound pretty badass, right?’

My eyes widened as the other figure slowly turned, locking eyes with me. I froze, rooted to the

spot, unable to move under the weight of his gaze. He scanned my surroundings with an

unsettling calm, then nodded his head in understanding.

Shortly after that, he cast his eyes downward, focusing on the kid with an expression I

couldn’t quite decipher.

‘Sithrus…? It’s not bad. It’

“Huaa…!”

It all ended there.

Finding my breath again, the world returned to normal and the spiral disappeared from my

view.

With sweat dripping down from the side of my head and my chest moving up and down

unevenly, I stared at my skill page and looked directly at [Eyes of the Seer].

Indeed, my guess wasn’t wrong.

The blood helped, but…

‘That…’

What did I just see?