Master of the Loop

Chapter 46: A Complex World

Chapter 46

A Complex World

Sylas sat with a vacant look in his eyes, a cold wind belting against his cheeks, frosting them. And yet, he didnt even notice. He was lost in thought, tightly holding onto a piece of parchment in his hand. It was his attempt at summarizing every last bit of knowledge he had to try and make the sense out of everything. As it turned out, however, even with everything cleanly laid out in front of him, he couldnt make sense out of anything, not really. In fact, he was even more confused in some departments.

Following his conversation with Derrek, he reset the timeline once more, immediately drifting toward trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The problem was, however, that he was missing most of the necessary pieces, and that some of those pieces were tied to figuring out who the figure that broke his mind wassomething that he was distinctly unwilling to do.

Shaking his head, he sniffled for a moment before looking back down at the parchment. Though his handwriting was a mess, he was actually quite proud of what the parchment representedmonths and months of his hard work on figuring out this worlds language. And, with many, many, many mistakes, hed actually succeeded. He purposefully wrote it down in the Enportioun as the locals called it rather than English, just to test himself.

It was quite a mess, but not necessarily due to the language, but more so his state of mind writing it. Every time he recalled a detail or a tidbit, he wrote it down. There were many, many things that nearly slipped his mind, reminding him of how quick brains were to forget things that aren't repeated to them on a daily. In fact, looking down the 'laundry list' of the things he knew or could claim with some base certainty, he absolutely felt he lacked quite a few more. It didn't help that the whole thing was entirely disorganized, with seemingly no rhyme or reason to it.

--children of the condemned? Whats it mean? ->a cult? Maybe a religion? (can revive dead???)

--Valen banished(Queen???king? Big conspiracy?)

--ghouls invading, no investigation(suspicious); big valley, diary, meaning?? Ethernias rise = some Empires fall?

--Cyrs bribed by the masked, dark figure; figure == children of the condemned? Connection to the horrible & the shadow that killed Valen?? (wrong place at the wrong time??->castle secret?

--Rynes master knows(what??)special cult?

--who is Dyn (ask juiced fuck); his powers == condemned powers?

-- Vanashi????

--whats anything got to do with fucking anything nothing makes sense!

--one big conspiracy or several smaller ones??

--who is second conspirator?(priority)

--woman who escaped=loose end?find her

Looking at the disorienting mess, Sylas sighed and grabbed a cup of wine, drinking a sip. Putting the parchment into his inner pocket, he, once again, fell into deep thought. It felt as though he was on the cusps of something, but didnt know what or where to look to find those remaining pieces. Somehow, someway, he suspected that it all tied togetherboth those two shadows that broke his conception of what it meant to fight in this world, as well as all other supernatural things surrounding him.

He needed more information, but he knew, deep down, that he wouldnt be able to get much out of Derrek. Even if he could convince the man that he was a Prophet through numerous loops, he wasnt like Tebek or even Cyrs. He was honorable. Though even thinking of the word made Sylas gag, it was the truthto as much extent as possible in this world, anyway.

Besides him, there were no other avenues of information. Hed squeezed Valen dry, and the only thing he could learn from him was the actual, full story of how he came to be publicly known as dead. However, even if that did tie in with the rest, it was such a minor detail that Sylas didnt attribute much faith to it.

Next to those two, there was Dyn and his coconspirator. However, he suspected that even if they wanted to say something, they would be unable to. Dyn didnt seem like a man working for a cult, but someone driven by his own insanity. Its likely that even if he was revivedsomething Sylas strongly suspected wasnt actually the case as it was far more likely that he was simply mortally wounded and rescued from the brink of deathhe was merely either an experiment or one of many tools.

And it wasnt as though they could just leave the castle nowthey had to barricade in for the winter and wait it out.

The best course of action he mumbled aloud, tapping his finger against the table. Quash the invasion, find the traitor, see how it goes with Derrek and Dyn, and wait out the winter? Thats haah, Sylas sighed, realizing how little agency he actually had in that scenario.

Every bit of knowledge hed obtain was entirely dependent on how willing Derrek and Dyn were to scream at each other, potentially revealing certain secrets in the process. Outside of that, he was like an observer, a sideliner in his own life.

The truth was, however, that he didnt have the means or the tools to obtain the agency in this world not yet, anyway. His agency relied heavily on the Prince, but even Valen had his limitationsespecially with the resources and the reach they had. Another means of increasing his agency was Ryne. Hed quite often, now, seen the girl tinker with talismans and the touch of magic. Despite observing her, he was as clueless as the day they landed.

would she teach me? he pondered. Seeing how Exorcists had to go absolutely mental lives to become who they were, Sylas suspected that the girl wouldnt be all-that-willing to simply fess over all her knowledge to him. And, even if she was, what were the chances that Sylas could use any one bit of it? Wont hurt to ask. Worst case scenario, I can probably shuffle her he sighed, smiling bitterly. He hardly felt good about manipulating a sixteen-year-old girl, but he had no choice at this point.

His swordsmanship had, once again, hit a plateaurather, it wasnt his swordsmanship as much as his body. Hed managed to strike three times in five seconds, with an average accuracy of 3/10 times in the same spot. Though he could further increase his accuracy, it was also dependent on his body.

Shit, why couldnt you make my cheat a bit cheatier? he mused. Just a teeny-tiny bit

Standing up, he decided to go visit Ryne and ask the girlno time like the present, after all. She'd warmed up to him this loop as well, as he did every other; it, surprisingly, had almost nothing to do with Sylas, actually. Whether he actively went to visit her or not, she would find him and pester him, almost on a daily. It was clear that their trek into the forest and beyond was enough of an initializer for the girl to feel as though she can trust him almost absolutely.

Entering her workstation, he saw her sitting on her desk, bending forward. Her hair was a mess, strands strewed about like a swarm, quite reflective of the state of the room, really. Shed been at it for quite some time, it seemed. However, Sylas knewshed figure it out. She always did. In fact, it ought to happen in four days now.

Hey, he walked up to her and sat on the opposite end, jolting her out of her thoughts. She seemed to be on the verge of tears as she looked at him, her frustrations evident. I brought you something to eat, he smiled gently and handed her a local fruit/vegetable(it was indeterminable, Sylas swore) staplea round, though flattened at poles, apple-like, yet very much white as snow... strawberry. Kind of.

Haah, Ryne sighed deeply and took it, quickly chewing through the whole thing as though she hadnt eaten in days. This is impossible! I I cant believe I promised the Prince I could do it! He hes going to hate me, isnt he? Oh my God, what, what if he kicks me out?! No, no, no

Oi, oi, calm down, calm down. What do you mean hate you? Do you really think so little of him?

n-no.

No, exactly, Sylas chuckled. Have some faith in him, just as he had in you.

Y-youre right. Prince Valen is a gentle, kind, beautiful soul, Ryne spoke with a dreamy look in her eyes. Thats why hes a per

A perwhat? Sylas teased while Ryne quickly hid her face in her chest, ignoring him. "Anyway, I have a proposal. I don't know if it will be helpful to you, though."

What is it? seeing that the topic was changed, Ryne immediately looked at him, though she still appeared red-cheeked.

Maybe you could teach me some of these things, Sylas said. And maybe the new perspective might make it easier on you.

Not possible, huh?

That that is brilliant!!! Say what now? Oh my God, why didnt I think of this before? Of course! Youre already a Paragon, just like me! Even even if our paths are different, we have the same roots. You are just more spiritually inclined and lacking the formal education! Of course! This way, well be able to work even quicker since Ive no doubt youll pick up on everything! Oi, oi, slow down! Thats too much faith in me!! The last time someone had that much faith in me was my ma when she told the neighbor Id make it into the varsity team! Can you guess what fucking happened??! Come, come here, she hollered at him with a beaming smile. Okay, well start from the basics. And, as Im teaching you, Ill also reflect on my knowledgethis is brilliant! This will definitely get us to break through

U-us?

So, talismans are made up of lines and transitslines can be flat, angled, curved, full, and partial, while transits can be twofold, threefold, and null. And