Chapter 17

The next day had arrived and the group decided to visit a museum in the city. After walking around for a couple of hours, they returned back to the house for their free time before training.

"How's your training going?"

Luke looked over at Julian who was making tea.

"I think it's going pretty well. I'm getting close to breaking the first tier."

Julian gave him a thumbs up and continued making his tea.

"So who do you have your eye on?"

Julian paused for a second before answering.

"What do you mean?"

"Aw c'mon. You know what I mean. Which of these girls has caught your attention? Don't tell me that you don't think they're attractive?"

Julian had a complicated look on his face. It wasn't that he didn't think they were attractive. He just didn't know how to go about choosing one of them.

"I don't know. I don't pay too much attention to romance."

'Just play it cool, Julian. Act like you're not too pressed about it.'

Luke gave him a look that shouted that he doubted what Julian said.

"Sure...Well, I envy you. You've got two beautiful women who are fighting for your affection. I wish that I had that. A girlfriend would be nice!"

"What are you guys talking about?"

Shio had walked into the room behind the boys and wanted to see what the conversation was about.

"Ummm...We were just saying that...uhh…"

Julian spoke up first.

"We were talking about training. We were thinking that we could put some formations together if we were to get deployed on a mission when we get back to the academy."

"I see. It would be a great idea to be ready for anything."

Shio grabbed herself a bottle of vitamin water from the refrigerator and went for a run.

"Talk about bad timing."

Luke stood up and went outside to practice his martial skill.

Iris was the next person to walk into the kitchen.

"Hey! Have you gotten to use the stone I gave you?"

"Yeah, I did. Titus informed me about everything. I'm sorry about your parents, by the way. You had to leave your home because of me."

She smiled at him while making herself some coffee.

"Don't worry about it. People die. I'm just glad that I have a purpose in life. As long as I can fulfill what I was tasked with doing, then I'm happy. I was chosen by a god! Out of everyone on this planet, he chose me. I like to think that makes me a little special."

Julian was moved by her words. This girl had gone through so much waiting for him. He felt that the least he could do is protect her from harm.

"Titus is a very good friend of mine. If he chose you to help me, then I completely trust his judgment. The only explanation is that you were the only person for the job."

Iris blushed when hearing what he said.

"That means a lot. I'll be sure to help you as much as I can. No matter what, I'll always be by your side!"

Julian gave her a smile and drank his tea.

'Well...If I were to choose, then she isn't a bad choice.'

Free time was over and the squad did their evening training. They came up with a few formations that would help them in different situations. Since Luke now had an ability and was practicing a martial skill, he was also included in their tactics.

At dinner, Shio prepared food for everyone.

"Damn Shio, I didn't know you could cook so well!"

Luna was shocked at how tasty the food looked. She wasn't much of a cook herself so she normally ate out when she was hungry. Her parents were pretty well off so she didn't have to worry about money.

"Thank you. I learned from my grandmother. She taught me everything she knew before she passed."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I understand how you feel."

Iris grabbed Shio's hand to comfort her.

"It's alright. I'm sure she's happier wherever she is. She was a strong woman. I was always told by her that this life is short so I should achieve everything I can while I'm here."

Everyone ate dinner and said goodnight.

After returning to his room, Julian pulled out the stone that Iris gave him. It was time to ask Titus about Arielle.

He poured his aura into the stone and it began to glow.

"Julian. You must miss me greatly to contact me again so soon?"

"I'm afraid this isn't about that. I need you to tell me why Arielle still has her memories?"

Titus was silent for a second.

"I see that you've found out. I'm sorry, my friend. It appears that I made a blunder when sending you back in time."

Julian was shocked to hear that a god of time like Titus would mess something up like this.

"How did something like this happen?"

"As you know, my power can turn back time on anything I want. The way it works is rather complicated though."

Julian listened closely to understand what Titus was about to say.

"Go on."

Titus sighed before continuing.

"When I use my power, I create a field over my target that locks them in time. By locking them in time, I can move them forward or backward in time as far as I want."

"I know that already. Just get to the part about my situation."

"When I used my power on you, you weren't alone. It seems that Arielle was too close to your body so she was affected by my power as well. When someone is locked in time by me, their conscience is transported to my mental space until I release them. For me to not notice someone in my mental state means that they were unconscious before I used my power on them."

Julian paused. What he was hearing didn't make any sense.

"Wait, If Arielle was unconscious when you used your power on me, then how did she kill me?"

"This is why I haven't brought it up to you yet. I am still trying to figure this out myself as well. I will say that we may have been wrong about Arielle being the one to murder you. There is still much that we don't know about the situation."

Julian was utterly confused about everything that was going on. It appeared that the situation was a lot more complicated than he originally thought.

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