Chương 92: The Real Loop

Jordan felt like he was back in kindergarten. Here he was in a large clearing in the middle of the woods. It was a tract of land Antiquity had transformed into his personal garden. Good for producing a surprising variety of crops to keep the forever stew going year-round. An impressive feat that must have taken years if not decades to get right. Jordan could readily appreciate the vision, care, and patience that went into it. All qualities that, as he soon found out, he somewhat lacked in himself.

Especially the patience.

"We're about a month out from harvest," was how Master Antiquity had begun today's 'lesson', gazing at the scallion stalks and napa cabbage leaves with the fondness of a proud parent.

"That means daily weeding is a must. Check the carrots and radishes to see if their shoulders are peeking out, then spread some dirt to cover them up. The cabbages need re-tying. Don't forget to check the leaves for rot and rid them as you see fit." The number of items on the checklist sounded fairly reasonable. Until it had to be multiplied by about a half-acre of farmland. As Jordan bent over the dirt for some of the most repetitive yet back-breaking work, he couldn't help but complain to his co-worker.

"You're telling me you've been doing this for 20 days? All by yourself?"

"No, I had some help from Master Antiquity. Although, now that you're here, it looks like he's taking a more hands-off approach." Pewter was right. The old man now stood in the middle of the field, leaning on his stick and watching his helpers from behind a pair of bushy eyebrows. After the initial set of instructions, Antiquity seemed perfectly content to let the boys figure things out on their own.

"And what does any of this have to do with generating mana exactly?" Jordan lowered his voice, though he rather suspected that Antiquity could hear him anyway.

"I don't know, Jordan. All I can tell you is that it has yet to yield me a single cc of mana." Jordan snorted. That had definitely been loud enough to reach Antiquity's ears, but the old Master showed no reaction. Which in turn emboldened Jordan to say,"I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if I could keep this up for too long. It's just… so tedious. And I'm still on Day 1!"

"Oh, it's not so bad once you get used to it. Just… think of this garden as a Vessel, and our work as the mana to fill up its VR. Come harvest, we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor, in the form of spells that fill our bellies and nourish our souls." Jordan blinked at Pewter, genuinely moved and also a little ashamed. He then clapped his friend on the shoulder and got back to work. Pewter's inspirational speech managed to tide Jordan over for a half-acre, though just barely.

By sunset, fatigue and resentment were once again winning out over the warm fuzzies. Jordan desperately hoped for the evening to salvage what had felt like a lost day. As it turned out, he was to be sorely disappointed. The inside of the hut was as bare-bones as it had been this morning. No new magical artifact nor a secret scroll to reveal the nuts and bolts of mana generation. It really was just some Mountain Hermit's house and nothing else.

Even the hermit himself was apparently uninterested in the topic of mana or even spellcraft. Inside the house, Antiquity's instructions became even sparser, almost to the point of complete silence. The old man sipped his stew, stirred his cauldron, then retreated to a corner of the hut where he simply sat still, evidently done for the day. Jordan kept waiting for something to happen, exercising that patience he'd lacked earlier. Surely, a whole day couldn't pass without any discernible progress?

He was perfectly willing to help out an old man, but he still would've liked to see some concrete rewards for his effort. An hour, maybe two, passed in silence and inactivity. Antiquity continued to sit cross-legged like a Buddha statue, having not moved an inch from his corner of the hut. And it was upon seeing Pewter pull out a bedroll, apparently getting ready to turn in, that Jordan could bear it no longer.

"Um, excuse me, Master Antiquity?" The old man made no reply other than to flutter one of his eyebrows.

"Is… isn't there more to this?" Jordan forged ahead.

"I mean you took us in as your disciples, correct? Isn't there anything you'd want to share with us… maybe something for us to read or study on our own, or…?"

"Is that how they do things in the future?" Antiquity did speak then.

"Get the disciples to read or study on their own?" The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Well… sometimes, yeah. Or you know, the coa—er, the Master—might demonstrate a drill or technique or something for the disciple to emulate."

"Would you like me to demonstrate a drill or technique or something for you to emulate?"

"Yes!" Jordan slid closer to the Master, all eyes and ears. Even Pewter had abandoned his bedroll to sit up and listen, perhaps wondering to himself: all this time, all I had to do was just ask?

"Well," Antiquity said, "you've already seen it. In fact, I have been demonstrating it for about the last hour, maybe two."

"Huh? What, just… sitting quietly in a corner of the room?"

"You'd be surprised, Disciple Yu, how sitting quietly in a corner does wonders for self-reflection." Now, where had Jordan heard that before? For a moment, he pictured himself sitting inside a jail cell, putting on a brave face in front of a sneering Pyromancer.

"So… you want us to what, sit and reflect?"

"If that's what you want to call it."

"Reflect about what exactly?"

"It's up to you, but since you're so keen to emulate the Master, I'll tell you what I do. I reflect on my life. From my birth all the way up to this moment as I'm speaking to you right now."

"That's… quite a wide range."

"Yes. Especially for someone who's lived for as long as I have. Should be easier for you though, young man."

"Master." This from Pewter, now frowning in what almost looked to be distress.

"Have you been doing this… every day? It's just… every evening, I've seen you sit in that corner for hours and—""Yes, Disciple Sapling. I do this every day. Now… what was that about you two wanting to emulate the Master's technique?" It was hard to tell because of the eyebrows and beard, but Antiquity looked to be smiling. Was the old man playing a prank on the young disciples? Jordan had his suspicions, but he thought it inopportune to voice them just yet.

Especially when Pewter was the first to retreat to a corner and adopt the same 'lotus pose' as Antiquity. Jordan followed suit soon enough, though not with a great amount of enthusiasm. Partly because of the hokeyness of Antiquity's 'instructions', but mostly because his life wasn't exactly his favorite subject of reflection. Even my birth was kind of a shit show, he reflected now as he sat cross-legged in his own corner. Difficult labor. Mom had to get an emergency c-section.

Apparently I wasn't breathing for like a whole minute and Dad shat bricks? Guess I really hated the idea of coming into the world… and can you really blame me? Jordan had his eyes closed in 'meditation', but he nevertheless found himself smirking at newborn Jordan's expense. At the same time, he was startled by a hot sting behind his eyes. Something about the struggles of his parents and medical professionals to drag him (not quite) kicking and screaming into the world.

And about how everything had turned out since then. It was a painful reminder of why Jordan hated reflecting on his life. But the Master had demonstrated. So the disciple must emulate. Jordan went through the motions. Muddling through his unremarkable suburban childhood. He'd just gotten to the part where eight-year-old Sally had 'dumped' his seven-year-old ass for the boy who sat in the next desk over… when he fell asleep. He woke not even an hour later to a darkened room. It was his legs.

They'd fallen asleep, which meant the rest of him had to wake up and do something about it. As he stretched his legs out, wincing at the pain, he looked to see what his hut-mates were up to. Pewter was also sleeping, though he'd had the sense to relocate onto the bedroll before doing so. As for Antiquity, Jordan could only make out a shadowy figure in the opposite corner, completely still and sitting in the same position as about an hour ago. Had the old man fallen asleep too?

Was part of being an adept the ability to sleep cross-legged without cutting off circulation? Either way, Jordan was a little creeped out by the shadowy Buddha figure, so he pulled out his own bedroll and lay down. Staring at the somewhat less creepy ceiling now, Jordan got to wondering. How was his loop going? He supposed he hadn't triggered a failure state yet, despite his less than stellar attitude throughout the day. Was this going to be his life for the foreseeable future?

Farm work during the day, then reflecting on some asshole's shitty life in the evening? Well, at least the timer's stopped, so I don't really have anything to worry ab— [Between Two Lives]: Time remaining: 73 days, 6 hours, 86 minutes Jordan stared at the log, not quite comprehending. How was this possible? When was the last time he checked the timer? Had it been running all this time? Even though he hadn't—even though the system had promised him that he'd lose a day only when he let a cycle lapse?

But then he realized something. Something he should have cottoned onto much earlier, indeed the moment he learned that Pewter had spent 20 days inside the current [Loop]. Time inside this [Loop] runs parallel to my in-game clock! It's not obeying the rules stated by the system because… because Antiquity isn't bound by the system. His magic is so powerful, so ancient, that it overrides Vesselia's mechanics! And along with that understanding rose fear and excitement in equal measure. Fear of running out of time.

That 74 days (73 now) hadn't, after all, been more than plenty for helping out an old man and extracting some rewards along the way. And excitement too. Because Jordan was convinced now. That if anyone could teach him and Pewter to do something unheard of—like, say, generate their own mana— it would be an adept who operated above the rules of the game.