He opened his eyes and gazed down at his hands, now fully restored as they were when he first arrived in this damned city. They were soft hands still. Any injuries or callouses gained during the loops were reverted at the end of the loop. Besides his memories the only other change that stayed between the loops was the gradual thawing of his mana pool, the mana pool existing as an esoteric semi-abstract repository and refinery of mana stored partially in the mind and soul. Unfortunately his mind and soul both felt pretty worn out at the moment, in the prior loop his entire goal was to relax in the library, maybe steal some good food and while he did manage to have a bit of a rest, in the end he felt more worn out then he did prior. At this rate he is going to need a holiday after this holiday.

  "Hali brother, that's some impressive teleportation magic," a familiar Nevadie said.

  "It's not really teleportation, but a simple space time reset," Banks admitted as he reached into a pocket and pulled out his pill bottle, now back to it's levels at the start of the loop. It should be more than enough happy pills for the entire duration of the loop. "We're all stuck in a time loop and since I didn't have a historical position at the initiation of the loop and the time loop can't simply erase me I'm thrown to a random place at the start of the loop. Well random might be the wrong word."

  "Brother I don't believe a word you said," the Nevadie admitted, scratching his head. "Everybody knows anybody entering a time loop after it starts is immediately ejected from the loop."

  "No, everybody doesn't know that," Banks said as he ingested one of his pills, before sliding the bottle back in his pocket. "Firstly, that's actually some rare and esoteric information, not many people even know the existence about loops. Secondly you're thinking of local time loops, which is quite different from one of those. Thirdly..." he paused. "Actually don't worry about the third part, it would require a white board for me to explain it."

  "Why are you telling me this?" the Nevadie asked. "Do you want something from me?"

  "I'm not telling you because I need something, but because right now I'm too tired to lie," he stated truthfully. "I'm going to go to the bank and then I'm going to find out what's good in this city. See you around Eislock."

  "See you around..." he started. "Wait I never told you my name. Could you really..?" his voice trailed off as Banks left the house and walked through the cold morning streets. His memory was normally pretty awful, but he had paid special attention to the location and code given by the head of the Mondue family. Briefly he contemplated helping them out before he sighed and shook his head. It was too much energy for a timeline that ultimately would disappear into the end, dissolved into the river of time and turned to foam. In fact his entire aim for this loop was survival. While the zombies were a threat he knew that they alone could not be responsible. If Trisk Trinorim truly was the mastermind behind everything he wanted to see just what else the man had in his bag of tricks.

  He was so lost in thought that he barely noticed when he approached the place where he had got his first set of clothes, it was more than a few hours before the place would be hit by the 'freedom fighters' a pitiful problem compared to the manifold other problems that this city would have in a while. Although Trisk was also associated with the rebels, so maybe there was something there. He sat pondering for a while before he saw a pair of guards approaching his position, along with a familiar face.

  "The handout point will only be open in two hours sir, are you waiting for anything," a random guard said, his manner professional yet scrutinizing.

  "For time to pass," he said. "Hey Jakk."

  "Do I know you?" the familiar guard said, as if trying to remember him.

  "Nope, we've never met before today," he admitted, causing the guard to furrow his brow.

  "Are you a permanent resident here," the first guard said.

  "No it's my first day," he admitted. "Do you know the way to Rayestham Bank."

  "Go down two more roads that way and then it's around the corner," Jakk said. "Why are you watching the handout point?"

  "I'm wondering if it would be okay to grab some food from the handout point," Banks said impressing on them his dilemma. "I mean I know it's for people without money and I should be able to grab some money from the bank, but I always find that free food tastes the best. Then I thought maybe I should just waste some time here as I technically have no money and then once I've obtained the free food, I can go to the bank and draw money."

  "Where are you from?" Jakk asked.

  "I'm from Skullnexus," he repeated his previous answer getting looks of alarm from both guards.

  "Really?" Jakk asked. "I've heard that dragons fly through the skies everywhere in Skullnexus like birds."

  "Only for a few weeks in the spring when they breed," Banks stated. "After that Gulltynes start waking up and the dragons start becoming more and more cautious about flying around."

  "I've heard there are also all kinds of demons in that place," the other guard said.

  "Not really," Banks said. "Skullnexus is the only place that I know where an actual demonic incursion was fought off by the local wildlife." It was an amusing anecdote told by his sister. A demonic incursion was an all hands on deck situation, but when the humans that lived on Skullnexus sensed an incursion and rushed over to stop it, the Demonic Gate had already been torn to pieces by a troop of August Rock Apes.

  "Fascinating," Jakk said non-committedly. "Some advice, try to keep your head down. We're all a bit tetchy at this time."

  "Thanks friend," Banks said. "I can return some advice. If you go into a haunted school you will probably die."

  "Are you threatening me?" Jakk asked raising an eyebrow. "Why would I go into a haunted school in the first place?"

  "Probably hormones," Banks said as he waved, swiftly leaving the handout place behind, while making a note to come back for the free food. He followed the instructions and came to a discreet stone building with Rayestham Bank announced on a small marble plaque outside. Almost as if the building was embarrassed to have such a generic name. Whistling to himself he walked in and was confronted by a rather intimate lobby and a handful of tellers who, after a few quick yet precise procedures, handed him a bag full of silver coins minted with the bust of the Undying Emperor. He put it into his breast pocket so that it wouldn't get pickpocketed and he wouldn't have to send his memories back and then find exactly when it was stolen.

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  "Shopping time," he said lifting his hands to the air with enthusiasm, getting a few strange looks from nearby passers by. He didn't care. There was nothing quite like the feeling of walking to a market with money in your hands. Knowing that acquiring all that you desired was just one minor exchange of coins away. "Major markets are on the west side of the city," he mused strolling in that direction, still unsure as to what he actually wanted. Maybe he could hit up a magic shop and acquire some real firepower or like a refresher book for people who hadn't quite been keeping up in their studies.

  He was so deep in thought he didn't notice it when the cobblestone roads changed into dirt tracks and a plethora of floral scents assaulted his senses. Looking up he blinked as he found himself surrounded by different flowers, trees and other vegetation. These were the famous gardens of Pragnosis, or at least the public access gardens. Even in the future he had heard about them, and he vaguely remembered adding a visit to his day planner on his trip to the city of Sevenpool. Sometimes it was strange the things that survived the ravages of history. The gardens were nice and cool, there was the sound of birdsong and the smell was fragrant. Despite the roads being wide enough for a cart to travel through the paths were relatively quiet with only a few passers by as if by some tacit agreement to keep the gardens quiet.

  Coming up to a bench, he sat down leaning back and staring at a red leafed tree that he vaguely recalled the name for. He searched his memory for it...

  ...he started awake, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was much later in the day, the air was colder. Apparently he was more tired than he thought. A quick check to his breast pocket confirmed that his money was still there and so he stood up briefly shaking out a few aches and pains. Despite those he felt a lot better, as if a weight had been taken off of his shoulders. He must have been carrying a lot of stress. It was the seventh hour of the day, although quite a bit colder and darker than normal. On days like this with watery sunlight he used to sit by the river sometimes catching silver fish, just him and his sister, and they would often go back to town and trade the fish away. His sister tolerated the murder of those beautiful sea creatures, she just wouldn't personally eat them.

  Smiling nostalgically, he gave one further look to the place where the market would be before he headed back to the east, towards a familiar shop.

  xxx

  A wooden pier sat overlooking a broad and yet very swift flowing river. On the pier a collection of men and woman that ranged in height, age and social status stood on the pier like birds staring down from a tree, ready to sweep down and steal a fish at the slightest sight of weakness. Banks sat among them having acquired an empty overturned bucket and a stylish water tank. Silently he cast the line, using techniques that he had long ago mastered and was rewarded to see the bait, richly laden with his mana, land down over a few dozen meters away, further out than most of the other fishermen. Smiling he pulled out a thermos and poured himself some coffee as he kept an eye on line.

  "Caught anything yet, Banks?" an elderly man with a handlebar moustache asked. The man's name was Ryan and he was a devoted fisherman, who seemed a bit isolated from the other fisherman as he was apparently the type who was rich enough to do it as a hobby. The older man proudly gestured towards his own icepack where a pair of massive yellow scaled fish with three large blue eyes and large, whiskers lay dead. It was quite a haul, the kind that you had to kill immediately once the exited the water or risk being counter killed. It also wasn't an easy kill, most weapons would simply bounce off of the scales of these fish that were often sewn into clothes as makeshift armor in older times.

  "Nothing worth bragging about," he admitted, he caught a few Mud Cod and one Copper Carp, but had already thrown them back. "What's the biggest thing you've ever caught in this river?"

  "Ever seen a Seven-Tailed Serpent Eater?" the man asked.

  "Freshwater or Saltwater?" he asked before he mentally facepalmed. "Sorry dumb question. Of course it's freshwater if they are here."

  "I didn't even know there was a saltwater species," Ryan admitted.

  "Well species division is nebulous at best," Banks stated. "How did you catch the Seven-Tailed Serpent Eater? I doubt anybody here could actually kill it."

  "It was the old Lord Mondue," Ryan said. "He was quite the fisherman you know."

  "I didn't," Banks said before a massive tug on his line diverted his attention and he flicked the hook, lodging into the fish, his mana travelling down the line in less than half a second and securing the catch. It was big, much larger than his previously smaller catches and he reinforced his body with mana as he settled in for a battle. He let the line run out before he angled his rod and redirected the force reeling the fish in at it's weakest. A grin found its way onto his face as he fell back into old habits, relishing in the ebb and flow of his long time watery flows, before the creatures strength broke and his breath caught as a shadow appeared in the water.

  "What is that," Ryan said retreating backwards as the water churned and roiled moments later before the water broke and a monster ascended into the sky. A Smiling Tiger Fish the size of a large cart burst from the banks, thick whiskers like tentacles lashing out grab food inside that toothy maw, scales bristling in a light show that would temporarily blind the unprepared allowing the Tiger Fish to finish off it's prey with a swift bite. Wordlessly Banks initiated the second stage of fishing and let out a bunch of line before swiftly rotating the rod at the same time and causing the line to lasso around the massive beast of the river. He pulled the knot tight a fraction of a second before leaping to the side and his muscles bulged as he used his full strength and the momentum of the Tiger Fish to pull the colossal creature all the way over and slam it down onto the hard stone of the road, causing it to crack under the force of the multi-ton force of nature. Lastly, he moved over to the thrashing creature and launched a perfect kick just above the eyes causing it to twitch and then stop moving. A second movement was all he needed to locate the artery in the gills and render the creature as dead as could be.

  "That's a Tiger Fish," the man Ryan said coming up behind him as he was wiping the sweat from the contest from his brow. He had forgotten how exhilarating it was to fish.

  "A Smiling Tiger Fish, to be precise," he clarified, before he froze as he walked over to the fish and cut a chunk into the flesh, causing the fish to ooze a familiar orange sickly rot. "Huh."

  "Noo," Ryan said rushing to his side and kneeling by the fish, a look of genuine despair on his face. "No, that's a Tiger Fish. Such a good catch wasted."

  "Is that a common affliction in this area," he said talking to the traumatized looking man as more and more people gathered, their faces a mix of amazement and anguish.

  "It's rare," Ryan said. "It's so rare. You can't eat that. If you do you..."

  "Get sick and die," Banks finished. "So it has happened before. How interesting." He set his rod down next to his bait and the rest of his shit, before he walked to the side of the pier, looking downwards, trying to glean any information from the dark waters. "If I die, one of you can have my rod," he said.

  "What are you..." a female fisherman that he had only briefly spoken to before said, before he leapt off the pier and into the cold dark waters of the river Luxanim.