24. Two possibilities

"My name is Tyren Onis, I'm 23 years old. I was born on the 6th of April, standing at 183cm, and weighing 65kg. Please take care of me."

It was difficult to know the first person who started laughing in response to Tyren's 'thorough' introduction. His voice was so timid like the squeal of a trapped bunny. Only Gaus knew what was behind that timid voice.

Gaus cleared his throat and the class shut up in response. "I'm sorry for my classmate's behavior," he apologized.

Tyren bowed courteously. He looked around for an empty seat.

"You can take that one if you want." Gaus pointed at the teacher's seat.

"Thanks, but I'll just stand."

Gaus shrugged. It was an obvious trap and he didn't expect Tyren to fall for it.

Linc came. During the lecture, Gaus reluctantly returned the swords beneath his seat to his inventory, but his eyes remained fixed on Tyren, taking note of every move the man would make.

It wasn't surprising when Tyren also requested to be tested in private.

As soon as the class was over, Tyren followed Linc and Gaus went to the reception hall.

"Hey, I'm looking for XM0033," he asked the guard at the entrance.

"And who are you?" The man asked.

"I'm Gaus Lake from..."

"What's your designation?" He cut him off.

"XM0000."

"And you think a bloody initiate that can't even greet his seniors can disturb my peace with questions?"

The way the so-called upper echelon treated the initiates was ridiculous. They were so arrogant it was impossible to relate with them. The higher the designation of a looper the more arrogant they became.

Gaus came back later to check it out himself. As it happened, XM0033 wasn't in the reception. He came back in the next loop, but the guy wasn't there. At one point, he managed to meet an easy-going temporary looper.

"Good evening, senior. I'm looking for XM0033, have you seen him around?"

"He's out on a mission."

A mission? He was told any number below one hundred were mostly working in the academy.

Gaus was out of options, so the next day after class he followed Linc to his office. He knocked only once and Linc himself opened the door.

"Class rep?"

"Sir, can I come in?"

"Of course," he let him in, "I just wasn't expecting you, that's all."

The office was big, almost twice his room, with an exquisitely carved desk at the center. By this time, Gaus was no longer affected by the cleanliness of everything in the academy. Even the toilets were polished enough to be a bedroom, so it wouldn't be surprising if the teacher's office looked like this.

"You haven't visited even once," Linc said after they were seated. "Class reps pester their teachers with complaints about their colleagues and timetables and teachers. They even ask for extra classes in exchange for their 'meritorious' services. You haven't done any of those yet which seems quite extraordinary to me."

Gaus didn't know about this.

"Can I ask for a one-on-one advanced class?" Gaus asked taken aback by the new information.

"You can sign up for the mentor-mentee program if you want," Linc said with a shrug.

What?

"You see, the mentor-mentee program isn't in the curriculum because it's not a regular thing. The academy left it at the hands of the students and the teachers. If a teacher likes you well enough and you like their teaching in return then you can both sign the form and start it. The academy can't assign a mentor to every student because there aren't enough teachers. So, instead of canceling the program or giving mentors to only a selected few, the academy let the teachers and the students decide for themselves."

"It's far better than selecting a few students and teaching them in secret," Gaus said and it was only after Linc had frowned that he realized what he did.

"I'm here to complain about my classmate." He quickly changed the topic.

"I didn't take you for a crybaby, but go on."

Gaus was still not sure about his decision but he just couldn't sit back and watch Tyren do as he liked.

"The new transfer student that came four days ago, do you remember him?"

Linc furrowed his brows but he nodded.

"I should probably start by asking this question: is it possible for the academy to bring a looper back to become an initiate after they were erased?"

Linc tilted his head to the side in thought. "Theoretically, yes. The Master can do as he wishes, after all, this is his academy. But I have never seen it done in all my stay in the academy. None of my friends or their friends have. So it's safe to assume it hasn't happened recently, or at all."

After a moment of hesitation, Gaus threw caution to the wind.

"Tyren Ayurvada Onis is his name. Some time ago, I heard someone addressed him as XM0911. Sir, I'm not the jealous type, but I still don't want to be bested by someone from the upper echelon. If I'm going to lose my seat as the class rep then I should know who I lost it to."

Linc immediately 'called' the hall of the dread through the massive tablet on his desk and they told him that there was someone named Tyren Ayurvada Onis that was erased not long ago. He then cross-checked the class members and he found out there was someone in the class with the same name.

"How careless of us," he said, sighing. "Thank you, class rep, but I'm gonna have to stop our meeting here to check this out. If The Master has chosen to reactivate him then he must be special."

Gaus was almost at the exit when Linc decided to add something. "Will you keep this between us, please? I don't want any of my colleagues to claim the prize or something. You may not know this but The Master often throws a challenge in this format to test the upper echelon."

Gaus nodded and left. Whether his decision would yield something positive was to be seen.

The following day was spent between tracking down Tyren's movements and waiting for Linc to get back to him. He didn't think it would take this long before he heard from the man.

The next class came. Gaus was the first to arrive as usual. Linc was next.

"Hey, class rep, where is everyone?"

"It's still eight o'clock, sir, it will take another two hours before everyone comes," Gaus answered.

"Well, I guess I'm unusually early then. By the way, I looked into that thing you told me earlier."

Gaus straightened his shoulders and leaned forward.

"I've been trying but the management has refused to tell me much about it. I think even they aren't aware of the actual reasons behind it. Sometimes The Master does things like this because he can and no matter how much you look into it you won't find any credible reason. I'll take you and this Tyren guy to the chief secretary after class to see if we can fish something out."

"The chief secretary?" Gaus narrowed his eyes in question.

"She's my friend and we have decided to investigate the matter at our level."

"Can I refuse?"

Linc frowned. "Why?"

Gaus shrugged. "I came to you in secret because I don't want Tyren to think I'm sabotaging him or something."

Linc narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before he nodded. "You are right. I'll devise some ways to interrogate the guy. You've done enough already."

Anybody who came into the class and saw Linc would subconsciously check their watch to see if they were late. Gaus was looking for Tyren among the newcomers. The guy should have come to the class already.

"Alright, it's ten, let's start. Who will be the first volunteer today?" Linc asked. He wanted someone to come out so he could stone him, no wonder none of the students volunteered.

"You," he picked randomly, "come out."

It was the same mana sense. By now, more than half of the class had already gotten it.

The class was almost over and Tyren still didn't come. During the last few days, Gaus had managed to find out more about Tyren. The guy was supposed to be in district 4, room 56. But he had never been there, not once. He barely stayed in the academy after class. He came directly to the class in the morning and left immediately after class. Despite this, he'd never been absent except for today.

"...and the class is over. Most of you have already grasped how to sense mana, so we'll have a new skill added to the set in our next class. Thank you, everyone." Linc dismissed the class.

Gaus was back in his room trying to figure out why Tyren was absent. He paced around the room with knitted brows and narrowed eyes. One, Tyren could just be absent for mundane reasons and there was no cause for alarm. Two, Tyren could be absent because the academy was after him. The second possibility was only possible if Tyren was erased from the loop but he found a way to remain in it. Somehow none of the possibilities calmed him down. There was just so much he didn't know.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Gaus frowned at the door. He didn't have an appointment.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"I'm coming," he yelled.

He opened the door. His visitor thrust a spear at him so fast he only saw a flash before the spear pierced his throat. The masked man lifted him off his feet and pushed him into the room with the spear that was still stuck in his throat and closed the door behind him. He wrenched the spear from his throat and put it back in his chest. This time it passed through Gaus and went directly into the wall behind him. With his throat torn, he couldn't even scream. Despite his failing consciousness, he tried to touch his watch, but his assailant created a massive black orb in their other hand and blasted him with it. If his last memory was correct then the entire room exploded from the attack.

His last vision was of a blue panel.

<Gaus's immortality is assessing the severity of soul damage...

You'll be returned to 20 seconds before sustaining damage.

ERROR.. skill was interrupted.

Assessing ERROR...

The ERROR has been evaluated and rectified.

You'll be returned to 20 seconds before sustaining damage.

ERROR.. skill was interrupted.>

And the blue panel disappeared together with his vision.