Learning to Love Time Loops Without Going Insane

Cal looked at the three who had joined him for this. They had all trusted him entirely for so long, and yet he continued to be surprised when they just backed him up time and time again.

“Well, everyone, I think it’s time to end the loop one way or another,” Cal said, smiling determinedly.

“Preferably in a way that ends with us finding me a powerset that will sync with Barron’s,” Andy added to Cal’s statement.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, Andy. Suddenly, magic is all popular, and you want it too. I hope you know I will be making you pick a wizard name.” Cal slapped his friend on the back lightly. “Come on, let’s get going, wizard in training.”

“I am not picking a wizard name. Wait, you don’t even have one.”

“That’s because I am the original. I get to make the rules for my apprentices.”

Stan and Jen followed the two deeper into the cave laughing.

“I wouldn’t laugh too hard, Dad. You don’t get to avoid this forever. It’s going to take all of us uniting in something out of a nineteen-eighties cartoon to win this.”

Their conversations continued down this nonsensical route until they neared the cavern they had marked on the map. Cal poked his head around the tunnel's edge and confirmed that the abyssal beasts were all still there.

They were.

“Alright so the plan is you two take the branching path we just passed, that should bring you around the cavern to the entrance over here.” Cal pointed it out on the map. “Then you start your distraction. Andy and I will run past these guys and head deeper into the tunnels. We’ve got enough supplies for a long journey. Try to stay alive. You end up with nightmares that way.”

Cal found himself suddenly being embraced in a hug by his father and stepmother.

“The same goes for you. Try to end the loop in the least traumatic way you can.” Stan released Cal.

“Yeah, we should probably research an easy way out for future loops. I’d like to never top our first encounter with Many Eyes or even come close to it.” Cal had mostly overcome those nightmares, but every so often, they came to the surface and made him shudder.

“Good luck, Cal, Andy.” Jen turned back for the other cave entrance after her husband.

Cal and Andy waited a few minutes for the planned distraction. A small explosion from a tossed explosive went off near one of the beasts. There were several loud screeching sounds and a stampede of fight away from their entrance. It had worked.

Cal dashed into the cavern, running for the only passage entrance on the far side. Andy was behind him. He maintained a stranglehold on his core, preventing any mana from leaking into his run. He was worried he would need every drop before this was over and wasn’t willing to waste it here. Not when he would have to wait for Andy to catch up anyway.

“Andy, I’m going left,” Cal shouted to his friend. He had picked the tunnel direction based on seeing something glowing brighter in that direction.

“Got it,” Andy yelled back.

As their run continued, they had to dodge around some of the smaller beasts still in their larval form. Neither of them wanted to waste time to stop for a fight.

They both crashed to the ground. Cal suddenly felt like he was made of bricks. He was having trouble even lifting his head. Slowly, he managed to get a look around the room. Condorpions surrounded them. The creatures were also stuck on the ground. Several of them seemed to have noticed their arrival and were trying to drag their giant bodies towards them.

“Andy, do you have any idea what’s going on? Moving is incredibly hard. I feel like I weigh ten thousand pounds.” Cal yelled to his friend, forcing his jaw to work correctly.

“Same, but hey, I think this is great news. I can see a pond in the distance. If this gravity effect is tied to a mana pool, this could be exactly what we need. I just need to get to the pool.” Cal saw Andy push himself onto all fours and start crawling.

At his current speed, he had no chance of making it before the abyssal beasts caught him. Cal knew he had to do something, but he wasn’t sure what would happen to his body if he tried to push himself against the force.

“Fuck” He muttered. He pushed mana into the ground below him and felt his body strain against the dual forces. The good news was that channeling the mana at all had gotten the attention of Andy’s pursuers. The bad news was Cal still had to stay alive long enough for Andy to absorb the forces in the pool.

Cal shot more energy into the ground, causing his body to rebound painfully off the tunnel wall onto the ground, but he was now out of the gravity field’s effects, which had been his goal.

“Hey, condorpions, here I am, all full of tasty mana. Come and get me.” He tried tossing a stone at one to drive home his taunts, but it fell to the ground with a loud crashing sound the moment it passed into the room.

The stone hadn’t been needed. They began moving towards him, dragging themselves across the ground as they did so. He watched as Andy moved closer to the pool. He just needed to get himself into the waters without drowning now. Andy rolled off the side, splashing down into the water.

The condorpions stood up.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Cal realized what had happened. As soon as Andy had made contact with the wild mana, it stopped generating the gravity and instead started the process of joining with him. “Andy, the field is gone. I’m going to try to keep them off of you for as long as I can, but try to make this quick, man.” Cal yelled while hefting energy stones at the faces of the nearest beasts.

He had been right earlier. Blunt force worked much better than lightning blasts on these things.

Several of the monsters turned away from Cal and started making for the pool. That was a problem, but Cal had an idea. He charged into the middle of the group, barely dodging a venomous barbed tail. He then slammed his foot onto the ground, pushing out all his core mana at once. He still struggled to maintain the connection, but he hoped it wouldn’t matter.

The ground rose up around him and then exploded outward like a giant fragmentation grenade. He heard loud screams all around the room as his stunt obliterated creatures.

He dropped to his knees. His breaths were labored. That blast had taken most of his core, but as he looked around, he knew it was the right move. Nothing else was standing in the room. He started to fall forward as the exhaustion kicked in. A hand reached out and grabbed him.

“Hey, no sleeping on the job, Cal. Something is happening.” It was Andy. He was out of the pool.

“What? What’s going on? Was there an issue with the mana?” He asked, worried this had all been for nothing.

“No, no, I can feel something inside of me. The pool worked. The problem is that thing.” Cal looked where Andy was pointing. There was a large hole in the cavern wall, likely from Cal’s earlier attack, and standing there was something that looked like a moose on steroids.

The moose opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and started roaring.

“Andy, before I pass out. I need you to pay attention. This is very important.” Cal looked up at his friend.

“What?”

“Tell the hellmoose I don’t like it.” Andy’s jaw dropped.

“Really, you think now is the time for jokes?!”

“It’s always the time for jokes. Normally, I’d say it’s also the time for running, but I think the cave is about to collapse, so see you next loop, buddy.” Cal had been pushing what energy he had left into the cave floor, trying to collapse the chamber. He figured this was a better end than shredded by those teeth.

He got his wish, the room started rumbling, and the stones began to crash from above. Cal considered this as near to a perfect trip to Mars as they were likely ever to get.

Andy was now his wizard apprentice.