The man looked at him irritated. "Far be it from me to wait on a Ludo. Tell me what's going on."

  "Rek."

  "Pardon?"

  The skill was missing. He had wasted a whole loop trying to learn it.

  "Rek. Rek. Rek." Ludere cursed under his breath.

  "I'll just get the odds from your partner."

  "Fifteen Dinarii. Yours is favored, so you will double your money if he wins."

  "That's more like it." The Prefereti placed the coins in front of him, and Ludere noted the exchange in his ledger for the eighth or ninth time.

  These visions were beginning to blend together.

  He was going to need to do something about this.

  The man had left already, and Erebus was giving him a fair amount of side eye. He didn't have the time to explain everything; if he was going to talk to Xerxei, he would need to go directly to him.

  "I'm calling it a day here. You should, too."

  "What?" Erebus said.

  "Demon invasion."

  "WHAT?"

  He moved. With his Athletics back in check, he didn't have any issue finding the eccentric mentor exactly where he said he would be.

  He walked right up and held up his hand to the man. "Pardon me. I need a Soul mage expediently."

  Xerxei gave him the same look as in the last loop.

  "Apparently. How are you walking, with that amount of damage, on top of such recent growth?"

  Ludere stopped himself from smiling. Nothing about the situation's setup was ordinary, so he accepted that this was going to be an interesting time. "I've got a story for you, if you've got some time, and I think we need to take a little walk away from here. There's about to be a big old demon party."

  It took him two minutes to convince the man to go with him. Whether it was the amount of soul damage he had or the story that proved to be exceptionally well told.

  On the way down, they ran past Gia. She was talking up some of the house guards, trying to sell some meat pies.

  "Gia, quit work for today and come walk with us?"

  She shrugged. "Why not? Erebus already ran off spouting some crazy nonsense."

  "We're going to leave the arena, because there's about to be a real problem. First off, can I swap my Numeracy skill for your Soul Magic skill?"

  Ludere took them out of the arena. He paid zero attention to anyone in their way. He gave them as many details as possible about the previous loops as they went on the temple of Iosan. They frequently stopped so he could push on the Soul Magic skill and try to level it. It felt like instead of brute forcing it, he needed to think his way through it.

  He did his best thinking while talking and walking.

  "You know what I just experienced?"

  Gia flicked the sauce off her meat pie at him. "You experienced death? Remorse?"

  "You experienced giving me a good skill so that I could experience the joys of Numeracy?"

  "All of the above. You know, what I think I need to do is exploit the heck out of this situation. If I have to go through these visions again and again, then I'll do it. But I'm not going to be the same bookie that I started off as."

  Gia chuckled. "If this Xerxei, which, pleasure to meet you, sir, can teach you Soul Magic? Then you can teach me down the line? Even better."

  "All in good time. A skill like he has is the kind of thing that sets someone up to be a senator or emperor."

  Ludere briefly considered it. Him? Emperor? Not a chance. He just as quickly dismissed the terrible idea as they closed in on the Temple of Iosan. He had enough on his plate with a demon invasion before. He had to think about that. All he had to do was survive long enough to actually do something.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  All he had to do was survive, and hopefully with these two he'd be able to do it. Erebus, he'd let go for this loop. The two of them would reconnect. He could already see his path coming up, with lots of loops.

  If he needed to set out some sort of training regimen to get Soul Magic up, then he would have to do it. If so, it was going to be between the Oracle and the sole Soul magician who would get him where he needed to be.

  "This walk and explanation took up about a third of the time I have. Now, I need your help. I wasn't able to get Soul Magic done in my last loop. Is there something that we can do?"

  Xerxei paused. "You've explained how these visions work. You explained your issue with Soul Magic, and the insight that you have to glean comes from hours of meditation. I cannot give that to you. You can only get that on your own. I can start you on the path. Indeed, you are already there, if you stopped the succubus."

  They finally reached the revelers outside of Iosan temple. The loud voices felt like he was in some sort of dreamy state where none of his issues mattered. If he just closed his eyes, then it was like a normal day at the festival. Just because it was the feast of Emrys didn't mean that he couldn't celebrate it at a different God's temple.

  "Rek. This whole setup feels off. Last time, I was being chased by a demon."

  Gia flashed him a smile. She really was trying to stay calm this loop. It was much better than attacking him. "It's good that you are here. Even if you took me away from work."

  "This has been a strange trip. Though I am excited to see what the Oracle has to say, I am skeptical. It's not every day that you get to see someone advance in their skills effortlessly."

  Xerxei had been a great conversationalist. On their way here, he was more than ready to engage with them in any topic. Most of all, they want to talk about Soul Magic, because as interested as Ludere was, Gia was more interested. It was all over her face, and it was infectious.

  The masculine urge to beat his head against the wall, and continually bleed out and die, went to bat with his urge to just have a normal experience. Big lines were drawn and at any other time he would have been very relaxed. Sure, in large part to how much of a time crunch the loop had put him through, he felt like if they had to wait to see the Oracle, he might be physically ill.

  They were offered several tankards of ale, and several men and women attempted to proposition Gia. Ludere had no such luck, not that he was jealous. The day he swapped Glam into his skills would be a strange one.

  All he really wanted was to…

  The Oracle was at the door. Same as before, she had cloth covering her eyes. As soon as they all walked in, she turned in their direction and got up.

  They walked over to her as she walked to them.

  "There's… Why can I see you so clearly? Death hangs around you."

  "Oracle. Death is a part of who I am."

  She gave him the feeling that she was seeing something. He didn't understand what she had going on, but he was willing to accept that she knew something he didn't or couldn't.

  "Very well. May I…?" She held out a hand.

  He extended his hand, clasping hers inside of his easily. It was noticeably warm and soft.

  "There is much death in you. The spirits are telling me that… This cannot be right… Your friend over there has died with you?"

  Ludere leaned over to Gia. She gave him a quizzical look. He waved a hand.

  "We died as friends."

  "I should hope so. Gloriously, in battle? I would, if at all possible, prefer to live a long and uneventful life."

  He couldn't promise that, but he would do what he could. He tried to give a reassuring nod. It didn't go over too well. It just made her eye him with even more suspicion.

  "Alright, I've taken the entire walk here to explain my situation with Xerxei the healer, and Gia. Is there anything we can do? I'm thinking that I need an Oracle to tell me the way through."

  She cocked her head. "Curious. The weave of the probability of fate follows you like you are the only man around. Usually there's faint lines around anyone of note. It's almost like you are the most noteworthy person around. Something about you… Gives the ghost of the shape of every single building around."

  Then they were in the dark world that she had taken him to before. The shift from light to dark was unnerving the second time, but now he knew what to expect. Everything around him was sleek, and so well designed that he found was sufficient to give the ghost of a shape of everything around him.

  "You've been here before, I take it."

  "Time slows down in here, doesn't it?" Ludere examined his hand. It looked like he was releasing steam into the air. As if smoke was coming off of him, he stepped to avoid it.

  "Yes. Now, quickly. What ails you?"

  He rehearsed this story enough times that he could rattle it off by rote. He didn't hold back.

  "So you're seeking guidance. Unfortunately, I have none for you. The Legion is out on an exercise, and only a small part of their number is here and available to combat the threat, and even if they could, it seems like the gods have put this task upon your shoulders to carry."

  His shoulders slumped. The best he got out of her was that she couldn't direct him to a place she didn't know how to get to.

  "Well, if that's all I can expect, what do you suggest?"

  In this strange place, he found that the Oracle could see. This wasn't an issue. The sudden tracking of his every movement was a bit disconcerting, but no more than dying to a succubus.

  "If this continues, then you need to get as much out of these visions as possible. I… if the world restarts and I'm the same person, I won't be able to learn anything new. If I did, I would let you know, but I doubt that would actually…" She snapped her fingers. "You need a strong patron."

  "Suggestions?"

  The oracle stretched. "I have none. There are many senators that are enjoying this holiday. Some of them will have skills that you can take with you. Soul Magic taking a while? That's just what it's going to take. Spirit Magic is the same way."

  With a jolt, they returned to the real world.

  "Well, what does this young man need? I have half a mind to take him on a trip where all we do is travel and perform Soul Magic."

  That sounded lovely to Ludere. "I've been leveling my skills so far. I can keep doing that. It's the succubi that have the ability to control me and my actions."

  The oracle nodded. "It's a perversion of Spirit Magic that they can do that."

  Ludere wanted so badly to ask about her skills but it felt almost too intimate. He would find out eventually. She had something, but there was something in her words.

  Edited 2/1/26