Chapter L (50)

  The little blue crab sat on her shoulder, completely tame. It was completely peaceful and content… other than it occasionally snipping at her hair. That didn’t bother her though. Mitsuko actually was thinking about using the time loops as a means to try out different hair styles, it almost seemed like a crime not to. So a bit off the top at the moment hardly mattered much.

  “I don’t understand the point of that crustacean,” Sterling complained.

  “Then you’re very short sighted,” Mitsuko said. “And if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded jealous right now.”

  Sterling brought his little cat nose skyward and sniffed indignantly.

  Now back in their room in the inn Holly had reserved for them, Mitsuko turned another page of her book. She sank down into the worn cushions of an armchair. While not a lavish or interesting room like at Fairy’s Grotto, this room was comfortable with the necessities. And even a balcony to act as a vantage point for her to stare out at the streets from. Something Mitsuko intended to be putting to great use in the near future.

  Sadly, her book revealed very little of the information she was searching for. It lacked the details of the town’s buildings and instead spoke mostly about the political foundations of the island. She considered giving up to instead perform some exercises. Then the door opened.

  Holly, flushed and with a smile on her face, strolled into the room. First she greeted Sterling and scratched him on the head, but then her eyes fell on Mitsuko’s crab companion.

  “So cute!” she declared as she rushed over to Mitsuko’s side. “Where did you find this guy? Is he native to the island? His color scheme is all wrong though, so he can’t be from here. Not purple enough. Ow! He just snipped me!”

  “You scared him,” Mitsuko said, closing her book. “Stop grabbing at him.”

  Holly continued to try to rub the little crab’s carapace while she launched into the tale of her recent date with the gnome in town. It was all information Mitsuko had heard in a previous time loop, but she still listened as her friend excitedly talked about the gnome community on the island.

  Sterling, now forgotten by Holly, huffed and went out to the balcony to bask in the sunlight.

  “What are you reading?” Holly asked, finally noticing the book.

  “Oh, this? I was trying to learn more about the city’s history. I’ve been, ah, missing exploring ruins and was wondering if there were any ancient buildings in town.”

  “Ancient buildings? Hm.” Holly thought for a few seconds. “You should check an old map. I ordered an old atlas to be delivered here. It will probably be wildly inaccurate in places, but you’re welcome to take a look.”

  “Really?” Mitsuko perked up. She’d completely forgotten the entire reason they’d been sent out to the archipelago was for Holly to draw up some modern maps for the Hon Empire. “When does it arrive?”

  “The front desk staff told me it’ll be here around noon.” Holly glanced outside at the sunny city. “Might be a bit difficult to tell the time. I think the clock tower chimed twice as I was walking home. So it’s only a bit after two right now. Figure we just need to go to sleep and we’ll wake up to it at our door!”

  That meant it should be the middle of the night but Mitsuko felt as fresh as ever thanks to her spell. She was still a bit tempted to sleep, just for the experience, but decided that wouldn’t be a good use of her time. Complacency in these early loops might result in a lot of stress in the later ones. Or even failure.

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  Instead of heading to her bed, Mitsuko handed Holly her new crab companion and went out to the balcony. She pulled the curtains closed behind her so Holly would have darkness to sleep in.

  As she reclined back on her seat overlooking the street, she picked a purple flower that grew off the vine that twisted around the balcony. A gorgeous shade of violet. She ripped off one of its soft petals and let it fall to the ground. Then she attempted to cast Mend on it. There was a familiar block in place.

  “You cannot cast your spell on other living things,” Sterling said, hopping up on the balcony’s edge. “I remind you, you only have Mend Self.”

  “But isn’t it dead? I picked the flower from the vine.”

  “Plants don’t die so easily. That flower will continue to live on for a while longer. Especially should you decide to take pity on it and place it within a vase with water.” He gestured to a vase over to the side. Far too tall for such a stunted little flower.

  Mitsuko let the flower fall to the empty street below. But she also still turned her attention to the vase and lifted it. Not for the purpose of preserving flora. Instead, she dropped in on the fallen flower below. It smashed into the street, sending out a spray of ceramic shards. All still within Mitsuko’s aura. She cast Mend on it and the vase reconfigured, joining back into one solid piece, and floated up to her open hand.

  She repeated the process a dozen times until someone finally came out of an adjacent home to see what the commotion was. Since the vase was currently in Mitsuko’s hand on the balcony above, completely undamaged, the man just gave her a quizzical look then returned to scanning the street for any sign of broken glass. With none in sight, he scratched his head and returned to his home.

  “You’ll be receiving diminishing returns on stunts like this as you ascend to higher levels,” Sterling said. “You need to push yourself in other ways to enhance your spell in an efficient time frame. Not just rely on the same technique a thousand times. The loops are sadly not limitless.”

  Mitsuko accepted the advice and set the vase to the side.

  Then she flung herself off the balcony.

  She felt her knees give out as she hit the cobblestone street, then she faceplanted. Her mouth filled with blood as one of her teeth fell out. That had been far from the most graceful fall. But it was only two stories up. And her original intention had been to take a bit of damage. It still hurt though.

  Sitting up with a groan, she used her tongue to feel at the missing space in her row of upper front teeth. Just a shard of the tooth’s root remained embedded there. It ached, the pain radiating across her jaw and giving her a headache.

  Then she cast Mend and the pain immediately relieved itself as the tooth popped back into her mouth from where it rested in a nearby puddle.

  Sterling, far more elegantly, hopped down and padded up to her.

  “Why didn’t I move back up to the balcony above?” Mitsuko asked the sage.

  “Your tooth reattached itself, did it not? The spell acted as it should. While at times objects move across space as a consequence of Mend, transportation is not the ultimate purpose of my spell. And besides, you aren’t powerful enough to move a living creature. Not even yourself. At least not directly. There are ways around that, such as you could cast Mend on your shoes and have them drag you back up. But the more weight you add, the more taxing and difficult the spell.”

  “Are you implying there is another spell designed for transportation?” Mitsuko asked.

  The cat, of course, did not reply to her question.

  For the next few hours, Mitsuko and Sterling wandered the streets. Mitsuko occasionally stopped to break and Mend interesting objects while Sterling regaled her with useless information.

  Eventually they made their way over to the circus tent set up on the edge of town. Mitsuko had no intention of applying as a performer in this loop.

  Instead, Mitsuko found a nearby log to sit down on. Then she spent the next several hours watching as people strolled by. A lot of failed performers left the circus tent, their auditions rejected by Alberto. Eventually, she saw the clown that had been accepted in her loop enter the circus tent. Coleo should be here at any moment now. And yet…Mitsuko waited. And waited.

  The bard never arrived.

  15 more chapters on my !!