New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 931  The Time-jump Theory

There was a pause in the conversation. David had seldom ever talked about how he had come back to this time.

Alex was only aware that he had woken up here, confused, as the memories of things to pass flooded his mind. They never talked about the how.

Even David was unsure at first. After the memories had been fully integrated, it took him a while to understand why he had found a chain on himself that he had never bought.

It had taken even longer for him to understand how this was even possible. In his memories, he died too early in the apocalypse for anyone to be strong enough to pull whatever they had to send him back.

Especially since he was dead.

It made no sense to him for a long time.

That was, until he saw Chronos again, and saw what he was able to do now.

Xavier was using time magic on such an advanced level already, something he had barely started to master in his old timeline. But it had made him realize something.

If the man had survived long enough in the apocalypse, there was a possibility he had reached the power level to send someone back. But why him?

It didn't make sense to send someone back that had already died and didn't know the whole outcome.

But through trial and error, David had eventually stumbled upon his answer.

He'd tried so many different rituals to strengthen the veil between their worlds, to buy themselves time, and so many times had he failed that it was almost ridiculous, really.

But that very morning, he had found out something he didn't think was possible.

After another failed attempt at strengthening the veil, in another fruitless attempt to slow down the end of their world, he had instead torn a small hole in the veil.

But instead of connecting him to the world of New Eden, as the previous holes had, this one seemed to lead to a place where mana was so condensed and pure that it was hurting him just standing near the hole.

Through his failed ritual attempt, he had changed the outcome and made it work in a way that allowed him to draw upon that power.

Siphoning that pure mana away, he was able to reach enough of a condensation in his mind, to form his own mana lobe, something he had been wanting to ask Alex to help with.

And his mind had illuminated to a possibility.

What if he was never meant to be sent back?

What if the ritual wasn't meant for him, but, with unforeseen circumstances, it had failed, and Xavier had done what he could to make it succeed anyway? What if sending David was his only option as the ritual fizzled out?

Their friendship in his previous life and their shared memories would have been enough to replace any catalyst in a fizzling ritual—or at least, that's what David surmised here.

This was why he had come to this conclusion.

"I think the reason I was sent back through time was thanks to Xavier. I'm not sure at one hundred percent, but it's the most likely theory. I'm almost certain it's not the gods, giving me a second chance. They are not so nice as to do something like that, anyway."

Alex looked at him, unsure how to respond.

"How?" was his answer.

He practically heard David's shoulder shrug through the phone.

"I don't know. My best guess is a ritual that was interrupted. But I could be wrong. We'll never know. But I don't think putting him at risk is a good idea. If things go south, he might be our only answer to ensure everything returns to normal…"

Alex was confused about what he meant.

"Back to normal? Even if we did send someone back further this time, knowing what is to come, how would anything ever be normal? It's not like we can stop anything from happening. We aren't even sure we can change the result for this timeline…"

Alex heard a long sigh in his head.

"You're right. I'm reaching… But I still think we shouldn't let Xavier close to any danger for the time being. Even if he has awakened, he doesn't have a combat class. At best, he can slow our enemies down. It's still not enough."

Alex frowned at the words.

"Then why did you even suggest… You know what? I don't care. If he's not a good choice, we can go with just eleven of us. I'm sure we'll be fine, anyway. I doubt a group of harpies will be the end of us, right?" he replied, chuckling.

"I wouldn't underestimate them just yet, but I agree. I don't think they can wipe us out. Maybe a few injuries and close shaves, but hardly anything worse. Not with a tank and a healer in the group. We should be fine," David agreed, sighing in relief.

He didn't know what to do about Xavier yet. He wasn't even sure he wanted to meet him in this life.

What if their meeting caused a ripple through time? What if it forced Xavier to remember memories of that timeline?

Or worse. What if meeting him erased his memories of it?

Alex couldn't hear David anymore, and he assumed he had lost himself in thought. So he coughed to catch his attention again. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

*Ahem!*

"Huh?" David jumped in surprise.

"Listen, I wasn't calling to hear the sound of silence. If that is all the people you called, then we can hang up, and you can go daydream all you want," Alex replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Hey, don't act like I'm the one wasting your time. I was actually busy. That's why I made this into a call instead of texting. I still have shit to do," David rebuked.

"Alright, then. Have fun with whatever it was you were playing with. Remember, more than two shakes, and you're playing with it, hehe. Oh, and congrats on your mana lobe, dick head. I don't know how you managed it without help, and I don't care. Good night."

The last comment surprised David a bit.

'How does he know?' he wondered.

He was about to ask him, but the line abruptly cut off, leaving David clicking his tongue in annoyance as he stared at his computer screen, alone in his dark office in the bunker.

The screen showed more reports from around the world, where other abnormal situations had started arising. Some of them had already been dealt with, always in a mysterious fashion, and David snickered.

"Already, the other factions are starting to act in the shadows. Who'd have thought so many people knew the world was ending as early as this stage…" he mumbled, realizing he hadn't known a whole lot before dying.

And he wasn't the only one keeping tabs on the world.

Not too far from him, on the southern shore of Montreal, Amara was also looking at international news, filtering out the useless information, as she tracked news of the supernatural.

Her focus was mainly on Europe and Eurasia, closer to her home, where reports of monsters appearing and disappearing in the wilderness were a dime a dozen. She smiled at her screen, knowing she had a part to play in this.

"At least the people I left at home are still doing what I asked of them. Loyalty is such a hard trait to find in people, nowadays…" she mumbled, looking away from her screen for a second.

Lifting her gaze over the screen, she looked in bed, where the half-naked Maria was sipping on a glass of red wine, looking at her with a soft smile.

"Whatever do you mean, Amara? You have me. I'll forever be loyal to you," the woman said with a feverish smile, swirling her wine in her hand.

"Yes, my love. Of course you will. Why wouldn't you be? I've been giving you nothing but reasons to be loyal. Starting with my body and heart," Amara responded, standing from her desk.

With the slight pull of lace, her nightgown slipped off her shoulders, and with the snap of her fingers, the lights in the room closed, leaving only the moonlight's soft glow to illuminate Amara's silhouette before the window.

"You should put that glass on the nightstand, before we make a mess," Amara added, sauntering toward the bed.

The glow of the moon behind her left Maria only able to see the silhouette, and made her smile.

Even though she had seen Amara naked so many times by now, the lack of sensory response from her eyes still let her imagination run wild, as she imagined her breasts jiggling softly with every step she took.

The curves of her voluptuous body made her wet just thinking about them, and she hurriedly put the glass far from the bed, almost tossing it.

When Amara slipped onto the silk covers, Maria practically jumped on her like a wild animal, both giving in to their lust.

But the computer's screen never shut off, and more news of monsters kept scrolling on it from everywhere around the world.

That was until a single message appeared on the screen, covering the images and articles behind it.

*Amara Rossi. Your meddling has not gone unnoticed; we know you have met with the demon boy. The master wants to meet you. Come to these coordinates. Alone.*

And under the message, a single sigil, acting as a signature.

The face of a white fox with golden eyes.