After the real trial was over, I had a few more rounds with The Concept of Time, but this time, I didn't resort to cheating or using any manipulation on her.
And as I had expected, it was impossible to defeat her that way, if we were to not count the first match, the odds added up to 0-56. The zero was me while the other was her.
"Chess is... Entertaining indeed," she spoke, scratching her chin with her tail.
"Not so much for me..." I muttered, wondering how long she planned to keep me here.
The Concept of Time didn't know anything about the Cyrus stone, since all the Allens have to go through this trial, she thought I was the same and had the Timeless ability from birth like the others. The longer I stayed here, the higher the chances of her finding out about the Cyrus stone.
"Can I leave now?" I asked her in the most polite tone I could produce, hoping that she would let me go.
"Hm? You could have left any time you wanted to. It's not like I told you to stay here?" she stated, looking slightly confused by my request.
"You never told me how to leave... Now that I remember, you never told Moriarty how to call you either," I replied. Does she think that we would know those things... Wait a minute, were the elders supposed to tell us that?
"Your elders didn't tell you?" she asked, to which I shook my head. "Did you two come here without telling them anything about it?"
"Uh... Is that a... Problem?" I smiled nervously.
"Do you know the consequences of leaving a body in a soulless state? Even if you leave it like that for a minute, you will die... Sigh... Be glad that there are two of you in the same vessel," she scolded, showing a bit of anger.
I felt like a child being scolded by my mother for my wrongdoings. Technically, we were both in the wrong; why do I have to get scolded?
"Your soul is even older than his, why didn't you warn him? You are supposed to be the mature one among the two," she continued, heaving a sigh of frustration. "Kids... No wonder the rest of the Allens never sent any kids, you are bound to make things difficult for your elders."
What is she, my mother? Why do I have to get scolded for something I didn't know? I wondered in my mind.
"Then again... Times are changing, you can't rely on your elders all the time. When you go back, I recommend that you try to learn everything about Timeless from your elders and get as strong as you can before the war. Not this war; I wouldn't even call this a war; this is pest control. I wonder why Thomas didn't end it sooner... But you know the war I am talking about, right? It draws near, you have fifteen years left before it starts to take root. When it arrives, a single man won't be able to stop it by himself. The answer to stopping the war is hidden in plain sight, you just have to find it yourself," The Concept of Time explained. "And remember one thing, you are not the first of your species and certainly won't be the last."
After finishing her speech, The Concept of Time once again placed her tail on my head and zapped me back into my vessel.
***
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Allen Family Manor
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Library
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"She should have let me speak, how vague do concepts have to be..." I spoke in anger, after finally being able to return to my body. "Are all the concepts this vague?"
"Most of them have never made any contact with any life forms, so they don't know how to communicate with life forms properly; some that have are a rarity. I am just slightly more experienced than her with life forms since someone dies each and every day," Ryuk answered.
"I thought so... But she told me to get stronger as much as possible in fifteen years... That's a short time, accounting for the fact that I have to go to the academy after ten years," I replied, thinking back on her statement. "Although the academy can fasten my growth rate, I have to do a lot of other things after I get there. My role as the main villain will be active once I get there, in the absence of Thomas."
Since I had changed the timeline, things will start to go off the rails. I can't stop the process completely, but I can manipulate it in a way that is advantageous to me. Because of my survival, Thomas isn't the main villain anymore; he still has benevolence in his heart as he didn't lose me and my father like he was supposed to, which means it is my responsibility to take up his role.
I need tools, a lot of tools and the survivors of the Assassin's Syndicate will provide just that after the pest control... I mean the war with them is over. I almost copied our progenitor's perspective... Silly me. I thought, smacking my head. "That aside, thanks for the help there."
"I didn't help you; I just did what you asked me to; I played my role," Ryuk stated, turning his head away.
"But of course, you had to... However, I wasn't thanking you for that... Patience... I was thanking you because you taught me its value. It isn't that bad to be patient," I replied, shaking my head.
"So patience isn't for wimps?"
"Not always."
"... I am going to learn weapon arts," I declared, glancing at the cane lying by my chair.
"From Kalsy or Alfred? I would say that Kalsy is a good choice, but Alfred would be the better one in the end; he has more experience and is a better teacher," Moriarty finally spoke, projecting his snake form on the table. "Sorry, I was trying to understand Spiritual wisdom a bit more, I think I missed something about it, which is why I was gone for a while."
"That's fine, and I also think Alfred would be the better choice, but he won't be available for a while due to the war that is about to begin. I think we should ask Kalsy for help. After the war is over, I will ask Alfred to teach us in the guise of asking him about Timeless," I explained, earning a rude glance from Moriarty.
"That is extremely rude; changing mentors is a luxury; I don't think we should go that far. Kalsy would fare well as our mentor, I don't think we need to change him. He is a weapon master, think about how many people will have the honour to learn from him," Moriarty complained. "If we are to learn the weapon arts from him, it would be better to just stick to him only. Two different mentors will teach us in two distinct ways, it would contradict our learning style if we try to change it. So, it's better to pick only one when we have to."
"I agree with him, changing a mentor is as bad as changing a parent. A mentor for once is a mentor for life, they aren't as replaceable as you think," Ryuk added, glancing towards Moriarty in agreement.
KNOCK KNOCK
A loud knock on the doors of the library diverted our attention and Moriarty withdrew his projection immediately.
CREAK
The doors opened slightly revealing Alfred on the the other side.
"Young master, Master Grey has called you to the training grounds," Alfred stated with a light bow.
"..."
"Looks like you don't have to decide anymore," Ryuk laughed lightly.
"Alright, I will be there in a minute," I replied, getting up from my seat and fixing my uniform.
I am definitely getting scolded.