Luke opened his eyes.
"Cough! Cough!"
He coughed dryly a couple of times before regaining his wits.
'Shit… I got used in a scheme… Anyways, it might have been a good thing that I've died.'
Luke thought so because he was currently floating through a seemingly infinite blue space. He was inside his soul.
Luke glanced around.
'There he is.'
The old man was sitting in a lotus pose.
He opened his eyes and stared at Luke.
"Kid, I thought I told you not to die too many times, yet here you are again…"
Luke could only smile bitterly.
"How is it my fault? It seems like the people here are even scarier than the monsters."
The old man smirked.
"Keke… The people here might seem like they are full of kindness at first glance, but most of them are instead just plotting and taking advantage of others at all times. It's a dangerous game they play, especially for the people that get caught up in it."
Luke crossed his arms.
"Anyways, old man, since I'm here, you will answer some of my questions."
The old man made eye contact with Luke.
"Not like I have a choice…"
"What is your name?"
The old man sighed.
"It's Wilfred."
Luke furrowed his brows.
'Wilfred? That's gotta be a coincidence…'
Luke then opened his mouth.
"Wilfred. Please tell me more about the time elemental."
"Where should I even start…"
Wilfred cleared his throat and continued.
"The time elemental was the ultimate power of one of the ancient and most powerful Sacred Beasts that ever existed. It haunted even the most powerful elementalists, because no matter how many times they chased after it, it was as if the Beast knew exactly when they are going to come, how many of them are going to come, and would often even leave behind traps or ambush them."
"The elite elementalists couldn't discover the Beast's secret for the longest time, forcing the head priests of the five Temples to have a sit down and make arrangements. This was surprising, because the five Temples always used to bicker and fight amongst each other, but desperate times called for desperate measures."
Luke was listening intently.
"After years of experimenting with different tactics, one of the head priests had an idea: ["What if the Sacred Beast could manipulate time itself?"]. Well, that head priest hadn't exactly said it like that, but that was the gist of it. At first, it sounded insane, yet as even more years passed by, what that head priest had said seemed to make more and more sense to the other head priests as well."
Luke was confused.
"How did they beat it in the end though?"
Wilfred waved his hand up and down.
"Patience. I'm getting to that. The head priests decided to devise a plan. But how could a plan to stop a being that can manipulate time in some way be so simple? They of course needed to figure out if the Sacred Beast could control time at will, or if there were certain requirements. This Sacred Beast, although called the most powerful in history, was actually a lot weaker in some aspects than other Sacred Beasts, but what made it one of the strongest was its very high intelligence and its ability to manipulate time. Taking those two things in consideration, the head priests devised a crazy plan."
Luke was on the edge of his seat, as if he was a child listening to an old epic.
"Considering that all magical powers in this world are based on elementals and artifacts, the head priests agreed that this time manipulation would be the result of an elemental the Sacred Beast possessed, because Sacred Beasts couldn't use artifacts. Next, they needed to figure out how that elemental worked. Did it have prerequisites? Could it be activated at will? They had many questions they couldn't answer. They then theorized, until they arrived at a pretty reasonable explanation. One of the head priests proposed: [No elemental would be able to transport both the body and the soul back in time. It is simply impossible. But, if it could separate the soul of the host from its body upon death, it may be possible.]. The head priests all agreed, and the final plan started taking shape."
"The head priests had ordered the construction of a special Capturing artifact. What was so special about it was its ability to instantly capture any elemental in a 50 meter radius. This was important because they knew that all elementals would leave the host's corpse upon death, but didn't know the activation time of this mysterious elemental that could reverse the flow of time."
"What they couldn't know, was that the elemental wouldn't leave the host's body until the body was completely destroyed. And so, they hunted the Sacred Beast for another decade, before the Sacred Beast's body was completely destroyed in one of the many battles, causing the mysterious elemental to get sucked into the special Capturing artifact before being able to activate. The plan ended in success. The five Temples bickered about who'd get to safe-guard the elemental, and it was decided to go to the Wind Temple of the Exul Empire, because of the merits they had achieved, as well as their strength at the time."
Luke sighed heavily.
"That's… A lot of information, to say the least."
"Haha, I guess so. I know all of this because I used to be a priest of the Wind Temple, so we were required to study the history of the Temple's biggest treasures."
"While we're on the topic of the Wind Temple, are you finally going to tell me about why their head priest is after you?"
"Gladly. But it seems like our time is up."
Wilfred pointed at Luke, the latter slowly dispersing.
"Ah, crap. Well, next time then."
Luke dispersed completely, causing Wilfred to close his eyes, pondering about something.
"Should I tell him the truth…"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Luke opened his eyes, just to be greeted with loud cheering and laughter.
He was standing in a familiar looking tavern, serving the five soldiers.
Luke glanced at his watch.
'11:23 o'clock. I went back to last night. I have plenty of time to devise a plan for tomorrow in this case.'
Luke started contemplating.
'Joseph seemed to use some kind of an elemental that utilizes electricity or even thunder. Wind can't really do anything to disrupt the flow of electricity, so it's going to be useless to fight back.'
He considered his options.
'I could stay in this region and go hunt the Earthworms. Their nature is that of the earth element, and an earth elemental would be a pretty good counter against electricity. On the other hand I could just leave this region altogether, and just avoid this whole non-sense murder case.'
Luke quickly decided. The choice was obvious.
'When have I ever let go of a grudge? And I still have a few unsolved ones remaining right here…'
The Wind Temple pair. The mother Gleem. Joseph.
Until he resolved all of his grudges, he would be staying right here.
'The Wind Temple pair is going to be nearly impossible to deal with. I will never forget the multiple times they slaughtered me, but I also can't let myself be completely blinded by vengeance.'
As for the mother Gleem, he could think about it some other time. Joseph was a bigger problem right now.
'If I don't go to Miss Lian's house, he shouldn't be able to pin her murder on me. I'll go to the Bounty Hunter's Association, grab an Earthworm poster, and get out of there. Of course, I'll come back later and deal with Joseph when the time is right.'
And just like that, the night slowly trickled by.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A ray of sunshine landed on Luke's face, prompting him to slowly awake.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Luke yawned loudly as he stretched.
'I would love to spend the rest of the day in this bed… But it's time to go.'
Luke got up, took the token from Boldee, and made his way to Millef.
Everything was pretty much the same as the previous loop for now.
The guard whispered to him about the Association Head, he scammed the fat merchant for two artifacts this time and then he went to the Bounty Hunter's Association.
'I didn't think that the fat merchant would be that dumb. Well, he can enjoy dealing with his new "customers".'
Luke got the artifact of protection again, as well as a mana amplification artifact.
'This mana amplification artifact can allow me to temporarily use mana more efficiently, thus making my elementals stronger.'
He smirked.
'I got both of these for the grand price of… Free!'
Luke entered the Bounty Hunter's Association building, and took an Earthworm poster.
'I still don't know where I can find these monsters though. I guess I can ask Joseph for at least that much information.'
Luke approached the reception desk.
The droopy eyes were now staring at Luke.
"Yes?"
"Could you perhaps mark the locations where I can usually find the Earthworms at?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, but I'm not that good with maps. I know someone who can help though."
'Of course, here it comes…'
"Visit Miss Lian. She lives seven buildings away, west of here. She should be able to help you."
"Alright, thank you."
Luke turned around and left.
'That fucking scumbag wants to set me up again. It ain't happening.'
He waited in front of the Association building, and as people exited from it, he asked them if they knew where he could find Earthworms.
"Ah, they're a common monster, you can find them anywhere."
"Hmm, maybe try around the Great Swamp?"
"Piss off."
And then finally, someone that would prove to be very useful showed up.
"Oh, I happen to be on a hunt for Earthworms myself. Wanna go together?"
It was a girl around her mid-twenties, around Luke's age.
She had jade green eyes, her pitch black hair flowing down to her waist, tied in a ponytail.
She was bewitching. Simply calling her pretty would be an insult.
Luke's cheeks flushed red, and he simply nodded.
"I'm Lucia."
She stretched her small hand out.
Luke shook her hand and said meekly.
"Luke."
"Alright, Luke, nice to meet you! Let's go then!"
He nodded, his cheeks still flushed red, and followed after Lucia.