Since I’m not of this world I feel obliged to tell you something. Humans don’t seem to belong to this world’s eco system. While convergent evolution is a thing, we are literally the only mammals I’ve come across in all the books. If we were intelligent humanoid lizards, sure, fine. But look around, there are no creatures similar to us. That’s fishy if you ask me.

  — Excerpt from Notes For Newstar

  Day 1060, 7:30 AM

  I was back at the adventurers’ guild, heading for breakfast. I sat at a table, ordered the same meal as in the previous loop, and thought over my plan.

  For the first attempt to save Newstar, I would do everything the same as the last time. The exalt could fly me right to the location where Newstar had left a burning crater in the baked ground, and we’d have time to spare. There was only one problem the exalt asked me to fix in the previous loop - his intrusion into the Summersweald would start the onslaught.

  I promised I would consider it. And I did. I didn’t see it as a problem. It was a perfect opportunity to cover up Newstar’s heavenly punishment. The saurian hordes rampaging out of the jungle were long overdue, and as far as I could tell, they were a natural, albeit deadly, part of this world. Why escape it when it could benefit you?

  The food arrived while I was entertaining the thought, and I started eating. I was about to dip a gooder into the yolk again when the exalt appeared. My movement continued without a flinch. Him appearing twice at different times while I was focused on something couldn’t have been a coincidence.

  Whether it was a prank or a test, I had no way of knowing and no desire to ask.

  “No sign of them,” he repeated himself.

  “I made a mistake, Sir,” I said in a grave voice. “The wreck should be a bit more to the west. Please, come back as soon as you find it.”

  He vanished without a word, obviously thinking every second mattered.

  “Can I get a beer, please?”

  I had my breakfast, drank my beer, then went to the alchemists’ guild, leaving behind a note for the exalt, basically repeating the previous loop. In truth, I feared the sadistic butterflies, flapping their damn wings, destroying the world. Cruel bastards. My idea was to eliminate the variables. We would repeat everything, then find Newstar at the last possible moment.

  If that plan failed, we would try another loop where we had more time to save him. In the most unreasonably horrible scenario, we should save him in two or three attempts, much better than with Brand.

  Not that my intervention had done the poor sod much good. Technically, it had extended his life, but got his family exterminated. Not a great deal in my book, but there was no redoing that.

  While my hands moved with mechanical precision, it was time to address the elephant in the room - demigod. What did it entail? What was that eruption of ego that made the person who could kill me with a wink feel inferior?

  I could understand it in Everrain and Arborea. I was leagues ahead of other people, but not here. In the Eternal Light Empire I was an ant, a tiny cog in a world-spanning machine. That was obviously the source of the frustration I didn’t even know was building up inside. The question was - what to do about it? Was that stifling feeling I was unaware of impacting me in any way? It probably was, and I couldn’t notice it because it was there from the start.

  So, how much of my mental degradation was me and how much was it these shackles?

  I couldn’t tell, but I could free myself of the fear I felt. Newstar was obviously competent enough to survive a crash in the middle of a saurian jungle, surrounded by monsters stronger than he was, and survive and return to civilization.

  He didn’t need me. Perhaps it was time to carpe diem and see where it goes, to hell with the consequences? Perhaps, it was time to indulge my blunt nature? The problem with such a choice came with permanent consequences.

  Let go. Manny’s words came to mind. Perhaps I should. I didn’t listen to her when it mattered. Maybe it was about time I started.

  For the moment, it didn’t change what I wanted to do. But what about after I saved Newstar? I want to protect Hailstown, or at least Ruby. I owed nothing to no one, and I genuinely wished to be there.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Funny how I genuinely cared about the woman without really loving her. Between Ruby’s master and me, we could handle a horde with a sixth realm beast and several fifth realm ones. That should be enough.

  I made plans and contingencies, brewing potions and preparing for the future. Time passed more hazily than it did when I was solely focused on work, but eventually, the moment came.

  “Sir,” the attendant called from outside the laboratory. “A guest is outside, waiting for you. The guildmaster is bowing to them, and I think you should go out now.”

  Like last time, the brew failed, and I left the mess for the staff to clean. Outside, the nervous guildmaster bobbed his head and waited for my approach, the textbook definition of awkwardness.

  “I found the crash site, but they aren’t there.” The exalt didn’t spare him a glance.

  “Thank you, Sir. Now we have to find Newstar before he cremates himself.” The exalt shuddered at that, staring at me with wide eyes, but I didn’t react. “Please don’t leave until I’m done talking. I believe Newstar is headed for his clan’s lands, so the most logical approach is for you to return to the crash site, and follow this map towards his clanhold. Meanwhile, I’ll sprint along the border. Both of us should be there in two days and some hours, hopefully before noon. If you see a red flare head towards it as fast as you can. I’ll fire one as soon as I find him. And if you find him, we’ll meet up at the Salamandras’ castle. You may leave, Sir.”

  He stared at me, then vanished from the room.

  “Thank you for entertaining him, Guildmaster.” I nodded at the fifth realm mage, then rushed out of the guild, hoping our butterfly wasn’t a fast wing-flapper.

  I jogged out of the city, then started sprinting. I could cover four thousand miles in some fifty hours with the help of wind magic, and if there was ever a time to show off, it had come.

  The scenery blurred as I accelerated, but then settled into normal. My mental acuity ensured I saw everything before me and allowed me to avoid traffic.

  Normal people moved around. It was the middle of the summer, and none of them expected the saurian onslaught would start within the next few weeks.

  The situation at the empire’s border is unnatural. For the first time, I considered the way humanity interacted with the wealds, and it was odd. Why settle so many people on the fringes when there was more than enough space in the empire’s interior?

  Was it to stop the saurians from pushing further into the human lands? But the official theory stated the saurian onslaughts were caused by turbulence of their elder members’ movements. You could probably do away with the colossal civilian casualties if you withdrew five hundred miles.

  Would there still be onslaughts? Sure, but higher realm manabeasts would remain in the jungle, reducing the general level of destruction.

  Is the empire fighting overpopulation this way? Instead of fighting wars amongst themselves, humans send the undesirable ones to the border and wait for the beasts to slaughter them while still getting some value out of them.

  I glanced at a family toiling in the field. They appeared normal; hardworking folks living hard lives. Were they really just waste to be disposed of by the awakened?

  I was already past them as I considered their situation.

  Did the imperials do it to deny the cults easy prey?

  That also seemed like a reasonable assumption, but it all boiled down to destroying excess humanity for one reason or another. Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a scenario that involved benevolence.

  I tried to remember my reign, all those ages ago. Did I look after the common folk? I think I did, and yet I had standing armies and waged wars.

  I considered my level up condition again - force the authorities to impose justice upon a party they had previously ignored. Would forcing them to take charge of the situation count? Probably not.

  Then, I laughed. I’m criticizing the imperials because they value their goals over the common good, and the next thing I do is check whether the common good would advance my class.

  It wasn’t funny; it was the ugly truth of life. We and those we love are the most important people in the world. We can be generous when we are safe, warm, and sated. But when those conditions aren’t met, we are beasts.

  I considered the thought. There probably existed a few exceptions - saints or people suffering from interesting hormonal imbalances, but as a rule I don’t think I was too far from the truth.

  Time passed and miles disappeared as I made an entire school of philosophy in my head.

  Soon enough, I saw him. Newstar staggered forward, struggling to reach his clanhold.

  I shot the flare, then rushed towards him.

  He was about to fall when I grabbed him.

  Finally!

  “I’ve been searching for you for more than fifty years,” I said, and he looked up at me with hollow eyes.

  “Big brother?” he stammered, as thunder rolled quite close, and the Explorer’s Gate’s exalt flew towards us at the speed of a fighter jet.

  “Our timing is quite fortunate,” I helped Newstar stand straight as the exalt landed next to us.

  “Yes… Impossibly fortunate. Destined even.” He gave me a questioning look, but I ignored him.

  “Esteemed exalt, I have done my part. Please take good care of my little brother for me, and thank you for saving his life. If I may be so bold, I would suggest you take him to the Summersweald with the scant few minutes we have left. It would be better if such a cataclysmic event happened where others will have a difficult time connecting the incident to your order. Whatever disturbance you may cause won’t affect the onslaught, and the rampaging saurians might even obscure your actions.”

  Then I smiled at Newstar. “Take care, Newstar. Should you need me, I will be busy protecting Hailstown.”

  I barely finished the words when air slammed into me, Newstar and the exalt flying straight towards the heart of the jungle.