25. Again?

Suddenly his butt hit the hard surface that was his seat; his consciousness and vision cleared. He was whole again.

"Vuiblooour."

"No, no, no. You're doing it wrong, stop trying to use your tongue, use your nose instead. Vubuluur."

Gaus stared at the teacher for a whole minute before he looked around the class, trying to ascertain his suspicion. The last thing he remembered was being hit by the black orb and... he died? But why didn't he start the loop as usual - with a blue flash shining in his eyes and in that backstreet? Besides, this whole scene seemed eerily familiar.

"Hey, is this the first enchantment class?" He asked the person by his left.

"Yo, patriarch, you look like hell. What happened to you?"

Now that he mentioned it, Gaus realized he was profusely sweating for no apparent reason.

"Just answer the question, Gatan," Gaus whispered with a hint of annoyance.

"It is, why?"

"...nothing."

If this was the first enchantment class then he'd somehow traveled back in time to this class.

The assassin damaged his soul. To protect him, Gaus's immortality stepped in. But the skill was supposed to take him back to twenty seconds before his soul was damaged, that would be just a few seconds before the assassin came in, but there was an 'error' and everything went blank. Whatever caused that 'error' was responsible for sending him back in time to this class.

Why would anyone want to assassinate him? It could be Tyren but he doubted it. Of all the ways Tyren could have confronted him sending an assassin was the last. He thought about Linc and anyone who might have known about Tyren. But that also didn't make any sense. Just knowing about Tyren shouldn't be a death penalty unless the man wasn't who he said he was. Or maybe the man was erased from the loop but he found a way to remain in it.

"Hey," the old woman shouted at him. "What's the last thing I said?"

The woman commonly asked about the last thing she said whenever she realized someone wasn't paying attention to her lecture.

Gaus quickly checked the library for the last record of this class and found the answer.

"Nulerrmoer."

The teacher narrowed her eyes in surprise. She had never expected him to speak the word with such fluency.

"You feel you don't need the lecture since you are already proficient, right?" She scrutinized him for some seconds before she looked away, uninterested.

The class continued for the next hour before the teacher left.

Badwin came and gave them the test on how to tame a spirit. Just like the last time.

Gaus was already in a twenty-four-hour loop and now he was sent back to relive the previous loops with the full knowledge of everything that had happened. In other words, he was looping the previous loops again. That shouldn't be possible unless the previous loops were treated as normal days. Or the twenty-four-hour loop wasn't what he thought it was.

After the class, Gaus went directly to the hall of the dread and checked out Tyren's status.

Tyren Ayurvada Onis

Time left: 3 day

Gauss went to the garden where he met Antelina and Raya in the previous loops to make sure they were there. Everything was exactly as he remembered. He waved at them from a distance and they waved back.

He was reliving the previous loops in what seemed like a second time loop imposed on the already existing twenty-four-hour loop.

On the positive side, his skills were intact, Antelina didn't know his affinity for time magic, and Linc didn't know about Tyren.

Now back in his room, he went over everything again. What caused the 'error' in Gaus's immortality? He was happy he didn't die, but he still had to deal with the situation. The assassin was muscular and taller than anyone he knew. He was also masked and shrouded in a voluminous cloak, not an inch of their skin was visible. Would they still be coming to kill him?

It was late already and Gaus decided to sleep on it. He would probably have a better answer in the morning.

At three o'clock in the morning, the loop restarted and he found himself in the backstreet, standing at the mercy of the colorful walls.

He spent some time debating whether to even go back to the academy. He ultimately went back and continued his lectures. The academy already had enough information and resources to hunt him down wherever he went and he didn't feel like running when he didn't even know what attracted the assassin. Was the academy even involved in his death?

Halfway to the class he branched in the cafeteria and took a bite to strengthen his legs before he proceeded to the class.

"Yo, patriarch, what are you doing with that?" Gatan pointed at his backpack.

Gaus was shocked to find out he was still carrying the backpack. He couldn't say why or even when he started carrying it. It was almost compulsive - an unusual desire that bordered on instinct to reserve a seat so he could sit beside the red-haired girl in class. It was subtle and he couldn't have picked it if someone hadn't called his attention to it, and if he hadn't already lived through it.

Gaus threw the backpack in a nearby dustbin, growling at the absurdity of the situation. Why must he reserve a seat for the red-haired girl?

When the class started, Raya was four seats away from him but he still found a way to stare at her every few minutes without even realizing it. It took everything from him to stop himself from following her after class. He wasn't okay; he knew he wasn't.

Everything in the academy was screaming at him to chase the red-haired girl. The more he stayed away from her the more he missed her. For the first time since joining the academy, Gaus fled back to the city library. He planned to follow the usual protocol and try to solve his problems by reading.

He should have known his little endeavor would turn out fruitless, after all, he didn't even know what he was searching for. As ridiculous as causes of sudden and intense desire for red-haired girls, of red hair and lust, class love escapade, red-haired witches, sounded, they were what he was looking for.

"You already liked her that's why you're falling hard for her now," the librarian had said when asked about it.

Gaus left the library empty-handed. He later decided to talk to Antelina when she wasn't together with the red-haired 'witch'.

"Hey, Antelina, I was reading this novel in the library and there was some mentioning of red-haired witches in the first century and how they can bewitch people to love them at first sight,"

"What are you talking about?" Antelina asked, frowning. "Are you trying to accuse my friend of bewitching you or your friends?"

Shit.

"Look, I just want to know if there's a skill that can make you love someone at first sight?"

Antelina narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. He thought she was going to answer his question when she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue at him.

Shit.

"Everyone in the class is going to hear about this unless you tell the name of the girl you want to bewitch."

Damnit. He Rewound to erase her memories and just left. No matter how he coined the question, people always thought he'd a crush on Raya. He even went back to Linc's office and ask the teacher about it, but all he got was: "don't let a simple crush ruin your future, boy."

This was bullshit not love.

Currently, Gaus was sitting in class with his eyes fixed on the entrance as he waited for Zeir to bring Tyren. If there was one good thing about Tyren's arrival was it completely erased his 'love' for Raya. For this reason alone, Gaus strongly suspected Tyren to be related to his predicament. How? He didn't know.

Just when Tyren was supposed to enter, Linc came into the class. From his future memories, Tyren would come before Linc. What had changed? Nothing except his self-enforced lifestyle to socially distance himself from Raya. He didn't book a seat for her, take her to the cafeteria, or visit her room. There was also no rumor about him having a crush on the girl. Would that prevent Tyren from coming? Apparently, yes, because Tyren didn't come that day or the next.

His 'love' for Raya became increasingly difficult to ignore as the days went by. At one point, the two crossed paths in the corridor.

"Hey, class rep, where are you going in such a hurry?" Raya asked, merely surprised at his shortness of breath from seeing her.

Gaus stopped his stride and faced the red-haired girl. "Raya?"

"Yes, rep?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I just saw you passing by and I decided to come and greet the honored rep." She was blushing which didn't help at all.

"Thanks," he said, quickly looking away from her. "I'm looking for that enchantment teacher's office."

There was some confusion in her eyes as she tried to puzzle out why someone would be seeking the old woman out.

"It should be around here. Check out those offices." She pointed at the offices on the second floor of the building in front of them.

"Okay. See you later." He started walking hurriedly.

But Raya wasn't ready to let him go just yet. "Hey, wait for me, I'm also heading in that direction."

Urgh. Not only was she walking beside him but she grabbed his hand as they approached the building. There was no helping it now. The girl was just beaming at him; she liked him. This was the best time to make his move. It was now or never.

Gaus bit his tongue until he tasted blood. He used the pain to distract himself.

"This is the office you're looking for," she pointed at office 03, "would you like me to come with you?"

He wanted to say yes more than anything in the world. "No, you don't have to."

"Okay. See you in class." And she left. It took everything he had to let go of her. But it was the right thing, he knew it was.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," a familiar voice answered.

He pushed the door open and went inside.

"Sit down." The old woman pointed him to a seat.

"Thank you, ma'am. My name is..."

"Gaus Lake?" She interrupted.