"What does that mean?" Luke asked with a puzzled expression.
"I asked you a question," Ellios said as he pressed his hand against the big meeting room table and stood up, "so answer it."
'…This didn't happen in the last loop.'
"Is your age catching up with you or something?" Anastasia teased, while Lala, who was equally confused, chose to observe the situation for now.
"Answer me, disciple," he demanded.
Although he felt bitter about Ellios finishing him off, Luke expected that he'd be madder than he actually is.
But strangely, he ended up not caring about it that much. He would've died either way, so in Luke's mind, Ellios actually did him a favor, sparing him the pain of slowly bleeding out.
"Ellios, let's step out for a moment," Luke calmly suggested, and started walking out of the room without waiting for an answer.
Having no other choice, Ellios complied, leaving both Anastasia and Lala exchanging confused looks with one another, with the former shrugging her shoulders.
Luke led Ellios to his room, believing that they wouldn't be disturbed or overheard there.
"So? Explain yourself," Luke said with a serious expression.
He had an inkling of what could've happened, but still wasn't sure.
Ellios frowned, "Tsk, if you were just honest from the start, this wouldn't have happened."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"But you do," Ellios said as he glanced at Luke's chest.
Following his glance, Luke looked at the left side of his own chest.
'Right, both Ellios and Anastasia saw the tattoos when I was wounded. I lashed out back then for some reason…'
"What, you still want to hear about my tattoos?"
Slowly shaking his head, Ellios affirmed his intent, "Close, but not quite. I want you to tell me all about your unique elemental."
'Something's off.'
Luke feigned ignorance by shrugging his shoulders and saying, "I don't have one, though?"
"Cut the crap and explain yourself. We are repeating the same day, aren't we?" Ellios demanded answers as he slowly grew more and more furious.
The only elemental he could think of that would be capable of pulling off time manipulation was the secret treasure of the Wind Temple. But the level of security around it rivaled that of the emperor himself.
Even Ellios, the grandfather of the current emperor and a very powerful individual in his own right, only learned about its existence after a certain incident.
There's no way it ended up in Luke's hands… But I have to check nonetheless, Ellios thought to himself.
Noticing Ellios' expression, which kept getting more and more tense, Luke smirked and tapped his forehead a few times with his finger, "What, are you going to 'grant me mercy' again, now that you're agitated?"
The provocation worked, causing Ellios to avert his face from Luke.
"…I did what I felt was right. I do not regret it," Ellios said.
'His words don't match his reaction… Not like it matters. The problem is that he definitely remembers the previous loop. But how?'
"Alright. I'll tell you," Luke said and raised one finger, "but you also need to tell me exactly what you did after I died."
"Fine. You first," said Ellios while crossing his arms.
"Phew… Alright. It all began when an old man saved my life…"
Luke told him about his ability to return in time upon death and also about how he could absorb elementals without the assistance of artifacts.
At this point, Luke knew that the elemental absorption ability was something highly unusual and unique.
"Hmm… That story answers a lot of the questions I previously had. But still," Ellios had a look of pure excitement on his face, "telling me that you're basically immortal and that you can also absorb and retain elementals across lives… Astonishing…"
"What, you're not going to try killing me or something like those wind temple priests?"
Hearing that made Ellios' lips curve downward and almost pout, "Of course not, you're my disciple. I genuinely tried to make your passing less painful, although, from your perspective, I'm sure that doesn't make it any more comforting."
Luke scratched the back of his neck as he shook his head, "I'll surely remember it forever, whether I want to or not. Same as all my deaths. I'm almost over it, so let's just not talk about it."
Grinning, Luke now started asking questions of his own.
"Your turn now. What did you do after my death?"
Unlike Luke's explanation, Ellios' took way less time. He kept the explanation detailed, but to the point, telling him everything he remembered, which didn't include his meeting with Kali, the keeper of eternity; he himself had been left unaware of such a meeting ever occurring.
Neither he nor Luke realized that Ellios' gravity elemental had been weakened and was now a part of Luke's arsenal. After all, they didn't have the time to focus on such things yet.
"I see," Luke said with crossed arms and one of his hands cusping his chin.
'He doesn't seem to be lying, but is it really that simple for someone to travel back in time along with me? I'll have to put thinking about that aside for now.'
"I underestimated the minotaur, and it managed to kill me, but I'm sure it'll go better this time," Luke said, changing the topic. He decided that there was no longer a point in talking about what Ellios did.
Ellios waved his hand away at that notion, "You should forget about the minotaur. I am changing your training now that I know about your true abilities."
"…?"
Grinning, Ellios grabbed Luke's arm and dragged him out of the room.
"Hey! Wait!"
"There's much to do, disciple. I'm getting excited!"
His mind raced as he thought about how Luke actually managed to obtain the secret treasure of the wind temple. Luke's story, along with the memories of the previous timeline, led him to believe as such.
After collecting Anastasia, they headed out of the embassy building. Lala couldn't accompany them for the same reason as in the previous loop, saying that she had to start gathering proof about Joseph's misdeeds to present to Leon.
Ellios and Anastasia didn't care about Joseph, so they ended up not caring, especially Ellios, who had heard Lala's reason for a second time now.
"Is this how you always feel?" Ellios asked in a slightly fatigued voice.
"Basically, yeah. It's hard to replicate everything perfectly sometimes."
"What are you talking about?" Anastasia chimed in from behind them.
"Nothing important," Ellios replied nonchalantly.
'He didn't tell Anastasia, for whatever reason.'
Leaving the city, they traveled at full speed, using their wind elementals.
And after a couple of hours, they arrived.
They made sure to protect their feet using the wind elemental, as the terrain called for it.
"First, you tell me that he's no longer hunting a minotaur, and then you drag me with you to the great swamp, of all places…" Anastasia couldn't help but complain with a frown.
"…I told you that you didn't have to come, though," Ellios said while visibly annoyed at her complaints.
"There's no way I'd let you travel alone. You didn't even bring the guards along…"
"Psht, who even needs them? I can take care of myself."
They headed straight into the swamp, taking a few turns here and there.
Luke easily dealt with any earthworms they ran into.
'They're no better than fodder. No wonder they possess no elemental.'
Suddenly, Ellios, who stood at the front, stopped.
"We're here."
Looking left and right, Luke only saw a muddy marsh decorated by dry trees at least as wide as trains.
There also stood a massive tree right in front of them, bigger than multiple of the other trees combined.
"Where exactly is 'here'?" Luke asked.
"Just follow me."
Ellios started walking towards the massive tree before breaking out into a sprint. If his legs weren't protected by the wind elemental, he would've fallen head-first into the mud by now.
Steps away from the tree, it was clear what his target was.
'What's harder? His head or the tree?'
"Damn geezer, always trying to act cool in front of others…" Anastasia mumbled loudly enough for Luke to hear.
But contrary to Luke's thoughts, neither Ellios nor the tree sustained any damage. Instead, Ellios disappeared into the tree.
'Now that's some Henry Porter level of bullshit right there.'
With a sigh, Luke made his way towards the tree and walked into it.
The arid air and the swampy terrain disappeared in an instant.
'Well, well, what do we have here?' Luke thought with a grin.
The tree's outward size didn't do it justice. Luke felt as if he had walked into a luxurious banquet hall.
The ceiling, walls, as well as the floor, were all made out of brown wood. The whole hall was perfectly round in shape, mimicking the shape of the tree it was in.
But everything else, such as furniture, furnishing, and similar, had been made out of seemingly expensive materials.
Precious stones were put on display wherever you looked, and fur carpets as soft as a baby kitten decorated nearly the entire floor.
Numerous chandeliers hanged off of the ceiling, their quality being of such a high standard that the ones in the embassy building couldn't hold a candle to them.
'It's similar to Norma's house, where the exterior of a building seems to be smaller than the interior is. Is it an elemental?'
Still stunned at the display, Luke followed behind Ellios absent-mindedly, with Anastasia right next to him.
"Welcome," a soft female voice resounded, causing Luke to stop gawking around at the hall.
She stood in front of a door that was placed in the middle of a protrusion of the wall behind her and was surrounded by two bulky-looking men on either side. Next to one of the guards was a lever, which was connected to something on the inside of the room the door led to.
Ellios nodded at the woman and said, "The utility floor."
"Yes, sir," the woman replied, almost mechanically.
She stepped aside as the door behind her opened on its own.
Following Ellios, both Luke and Anastasia walked into the tiny room.
As they did, the door closed.
'Wait, it can't be…'
Just as Luke realized what the purpose of this room was, it started moving downward along with them.
'An elevator!'
Amazed at this, Luke's eyes widened in shock.
'How can such a thing exist here?'
"Disciple, there's one thing you should keep in mind while we're here."
"Yes?" Luke asked expectantly, hoping that Ellios would reveal what this place truly was.
"None of the people here are human," he said, both crushing Luke's expectation and raising even more questions.