325 Better things to do

"'Stop it,' I said in my mind.

'Why? What happened?' Blaze questioned, stopping whatever he was doing.

'I don't wanna play,' I replied. 'For the last three rounds, the dude's been acting out a dragon.'

'No! It was a dragon that was flying, then swimming, and then one that was sleeping,' he corrected me.

Well, this dumb charades game is busted. Why the heck did I think he could play anything—

*Creak*

"Hm." I stopped thinking as the door swung open and Adam, alongside Falco, entered the room. Adam had that stunned look, like he was in a trance or something.

They both entered the room. Isolde stood up and walked towards Adam immediately. "Are you fine, Adam?" she questioned tenderly.

"Yeah, more than ever..." His gaze swept across the room. It settled on me for a second, but then, eyeing me from top to bottom, he just raised a corner of his lips and looked the other way.

What was that? Anyway, what I'm more curious about is what they talked about.

Professor Night asked the question, "Care to explain who this guy is and what you both talked about? Anything..."

"We have to—" he paused, "I mean, you all have to return to Solstice," saying this, he looked around.

"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned the professor. "The Gambit isn't over, and what do you mean by just 'us'? Where are you going?"

"I'll explain that later. For your first question, though—it seems like the Gambit is over, at least for now," Adam said.

First things first, Adam can't decide if the Gambit is over or not, but it looks like he's confident enough to say that so he has reason—

*Creak*

The door swung again, and this time the reason himself came inside. "Boy's right, the Gambit is postponed for the next few months," Eldric said as soon as he entered. He stood behind Adam and—

"Where's Falco?" I asked loudly.

Falco wasn't in the room. I didn't see him leave at all.

"Falco?" Eldric repeated in a questioning manner.

Adam's eyes widened slightly as he jumped in, "Oh, he meant his cat. Its name is Falco—Ren, you should keep your eye on your pet."

Huh?

"That black cat? I've seen it roaming on the academy grounds... Anyways, Adam is right—everyone from all the seven academies is to return to their respective schools," Eldric explained. "This thing that happened here is something that we haven't yet been able to understand. We are trying, but it looks like that—" He paused, this time for a bit more than just a few seconds, and said, "It's not only Eshmera where this type of attack has happened. Twelve other nearby towns have also reported that these types of creatures spawned out of nowhere and attacked. The damages are far greater than in Eshmera."

Twelve towns. Eshmera is not a big city, but there are four large ones around it across its forest region—if they had been damaged, then the attack was very well planned.

"Well, we've seen demons add the teleportation circles," Smokeball added. "It's true, but still six months before the actual attack, huh..."

"That's the reason Mage's Gambit is on hold for now," Eldric sighed.

In the game, it wasn't Eldric but Headmaster Stormborne who was the first strong mage to encounter the demons... Even the name 'demon' was only given after Adam was blessed, and he referred to these creatures as 'demons'.

Eldric began leaving but stopped and turned around, "Hilton, come with me."

I narrowed my eyes slightly but realized that he actually had asked for a meeting, in fact.

I just gave Professor Night a look but she just gestured for me to go. Well, let's see.

I stepped out with Eldric in front. With each step we took in silence, the more tension built up.

We soon came to where the Phantom Chamber was. Currently, the space was empty.

Eldric once in a while would look back to check if I was following. Soon he sat on the floor.

"So Ren Hilton, why don't you tell me something about yourself." He smiled, his wrinkles stretching as he questioned.

I was still standing. I looked at him, "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Hmm, anything, like where are you from?" he replied.

"Sephra," I answered.

"Ooh, nice, I have been there. Balcker Forest is quite dangerous, they say," he spoke. "Still, what do your parents do? Were they adventurers?"

"In their youth, yes, they were actually adventurers."

"They must've been strong since your own potential is actually great. I guess—from what I can see, you are well about five stars."

I just nodded, my eyes drifting towards the Phantom Chamber.

"Haa, looks like you are not a fan of conversations unlike that blond boy," he sighed deeply.

"No, that's not it. I was just wondering how it takes to make this chamber. Like every time the Gambit happens in different locations, it must be hard to create such a complex chamber," I explained.

Eldric turned his face towards the chamber, raising his hand in the air. He flicked his fingers together and the whole Phantom Chamber disintegrated into soil. "There and—" with another flick, the chamber stood erect.

Now that's...wow.

"You don't seem that surprised," Eldric panned his eyes towards me. Well...it was cool.

"We have specific spells that take a lifetime to learn, so these kinds of things are not a big deal," he added. By 'we,' he meant "The Council of Transcendents."

By the way, now that I think about them, it's clear that they are on the move too since the attack is going to take their time off the borders to the No Man's Land.

'What do they even do at the No Man's Land?' asked Blaze in my mind.

Well...a lot, to be honest.

"Haa, again not focusing on what's in front, huh? Maybe I am not as important as I think I am." Eldric's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Oh no, I was just thinking."

"Thinking, huh. So anyways, Hilton boy, care to share what you saw inside the Chamber?" He stared at me. "You do understand that you are the longest survivor of the Phantom Chamber ever."

"Loop," I uttered a single word.

'Is it fine telling him the truth?' asked Smokeball. Why not? It's not like I need to tell him what kind of loop or anything I did to get out. I just have to explain.

Eldric blinked, "What?"

"A loop. I was stuck there in a loop—the Chamber showed various types of...weird scenarios to me while tricking me into a past loop."

Eldric's face contorted and then returned to normal after hearing what I had said. "That's...new. Been a while since I heard the Chamber did perform a loop—it must've been hard on you."

After muttering that, there was a silent moment before he stood up again. "Let's go back. You also have to leave tomorrow. I won't take much of your time and will let you rest now," he said as he began leaving.

He stopped though, I knew it—he's not done yet.

"Hilton, what are your thoughts on the attack that happened? I saw you running around the academy looking for your friends," he waited.

"It was bad. Nexus Institute needs stronger gates," I said.

Eldric raised both brows and chuckled. "Pff, haha. After you go back to Imperial Academy, check your mail daily—I might send a letter if needed." With that, he left or so I thought but stopped again,"Chambers of the Mind: A Study of Nexus Challenges...you should read it,you can understand loops better that way." And now he left for sure.

'Why would he send you a letter?' Blaze jumped on my shoulder.

To join the team, they'd make... a hero's party.

'You going to join?'

Nah, I'd rather die. I am already set. I do not want to be around Adam when he's fighting off most of the demons and then the demon king.

'Then what are you going to do?' he questioned.

I have better things, like contacting Alver, separating Viceburg internally from both the Elishia and Hestia Empires, looking for what the system actually wants from me... what these gods are thinking. I need the cure for the curse and to understand what Ignisara meant when she told me to revisit the Nightshade Sanctum.