Herber fusedly pats Emily’s ba reassurance as she sobs into his chest.
After two minutes Emily has calmed down enough to speak coherently.
“What’s wrong Emi? Are you hurt?” Herber asks with worry.
“I- I’m fine,” she sniffles. “I just fell asleep at my desk and had a nightmare about you dying. Whehunder woke me up, I thought I’d lost you too for a sed.”
Herber flinches slightly at her choice of words, releasing a sad sigh as he strokes her hair and holds her tight.
“Don’t worry Emi, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” he forts her.
That’s right, I’m not letting them take you. I won’t lose another family.
Emily’s sadness slowly fades into indignant anger. She separates from Herber after a few more seds and smiles at him.
“Sorry about that, I’ll be fine now, it’s just a bad dream.”
“No worries kid. Just call me if you need anything, okay? Even if it’s just an. Me and your sister will always be there for you, no matter what.”
Emily flinches as a hought forms in her mind.
Anna. I have to protect her too.
“Haaa,” she sighs and sits down as Herber leaves the room. She pulls over a sheet of paper. “Right, how I actually fix this?”
Amazing pn to save my family!
Step 1: Find out if anything be brought across time loops.
Step 2: Work out if time loops move my body’s position or not (think so, was sat down again)
Step 3: Test if I rewind past 7:45
Step 4: I kill fes?
Step 4.5: Finish looking at the system.
Step 5: we get out of the city?
Step 6: If all else fails, ask Dad.
Tossing her pen down, Emily gets to work, calling out for the system.
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Name:] Emily Coldstone
[Race:] Human
[Age:] 15
[Magic Circle:] First Circle
[Maa Cortex:] First Stage
[Attributes:] Strength 7, Dexterity 15, Agility 12, Vitality 8, Intelligence 22
[Health:] 115/115
[Stamina:] 175/175
[Mana:] 330/330
[Maa:] 330/330
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Talents:
[Intrinsic] Magical Engineer
-Meical Genius
-Magical Genius
Skills:
[Intrinsic] Magietwork (passive)
-Parkour (passive)
-Basic Mae stru (passive)
-Basic Melee bat (passive)
-Basic Spellweave (active)
-Basic Meditation (active)
Knowledge:
-Basic Clockwork
-Basic Steampower
-Basic Electrical Theory
-Basia Formation
Equipment:
[Intrinsic] Clockwork of Time (Ex)
_____
After reading through the full status page again, Emily takes note of basic meditation carrying over from before the time reset.
I guess that means system skills at least aren’t affected by the time loop. I’ll have to test damage to my body and clothes ime I rewind, let’s test dispt with this loop too.
Cheg the time and seeing 7:54, Emily grabs a sharp shard of metal from the scrap box and heads to her room.
Leaving through the window, she runs through the city away from her house.
After thirty minutes of running, she stops, lightly panting.
My body was definitely improved by the awakening, I barely feel tired right now.
She brings the metal shard out of her pocket and cuts the bottom of her shirt into slivers, then makes a few small nicks on her left arm.
With her tests set up and still out of breath, she activates The Clod returns to the past once again.
***
Thunder and repulsive force return, and Emily finds herself ba her workshop at 7:45 pm.
Cheg her body, she finds her clothes ba a messy but whole state, and her arms of injury.
My body returns to its old state and location at the time of return, but skills seem to remain through loops. Is it the system itself that’s travelling back? My memories are too so I'm guessing it's my cortex? Right, on the list is ‘ I rewind past 7:45’.
She presses the button on top of the stopwatch again, reading the time to be 7:45:20.
One rewihe Clock reads 7:45:06 and she presses the button the sed it stops winding baothing happens and after a sed, she presses it again only for The Clock to instantly tick back to 7:45:06 with the familiar pressure of time travel missing.
Small jumps seem to be easier, ’t rewind back past the st poiuro though, noted. Maybe it just ’t go back past The Clock's initial creation? Needs further testing when I have more time. That’s it for running away myself. is, ‘Are those fes kilble?’.
Herber arrives through her door on time and Emily sends him away with lies of wind and thunder again ales down to read through the rest of the detailed information her system has.
Let’s start with talents.
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Meical Genius]
User is a natural-born meic.
-Grants instant prehension of new meics [Knowledge]
-Maa strength increased by +50%
-Increased aptitude for iing new maes
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Magical Genius]
User is a natural-born mage.
-Grants instant prehension of new magiowledge]
-Mana strength increased by +50%
-Increased aptitude for creating new spells
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Magical Engineer]
User {Emily Coldstone} has the unique ability to perfectly merge magic with maes.
-Grants the ability to vert between maa and mana
-???
_____
Why is that st one question marks? I guess I’ll have to wait and find out what it does, but what about instant prehension? Does that mean I should perfectly uand anything the system cssifies as meiage knowledge? Weird, I don’t feel anything different, let’s have a look at my knowledges then.
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Basic Clockwork]
A fual uanding of clocks and cloaes.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Steampower]
A fual uanding of the usage of steam as a power source.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Electrical Theory]
A fual uanding of the principles of electricity.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basia Formation]
A fual uanding of the natural formation of mana.
_____
I’m pretty sure I already uand clockwork and steam, I guess that’s why the system said knowledge detected? I don’t know what electrical theory is about, but does mana formation mean I should be able to uand the mana crystals now?
“Wait… since when did I call lightning stones, mana crystals?” Emily mutters to herself in surprise.
As she focuses on the cept of mana crystals, where before in her mind sat a cluster of questions and half-baked theories, now flows a smooth stream of information.
Mana crystals are a naturally mineral in areas of high-density mana. They be used as catalysts for entments, engravings or spells. Mana crystals naturally form into a runic matrix for optimised energy gathering.
Emily griedly at how naturally the information came to her and scrambles to grab her notes from earlier.
Each lightning gem has several focal points along the pathways with the least resistance.
“lightning” follows the path of least resistahial has higher resistahan thick.
The number of focal points varies based on size and the total amount of (lightning?) steed, a bigger gem means more (lightning?) and therefore usually more focal points.
Metals have different (lightning?) pull and ductivity, pull draws the (lightning?) out of the gem and ductivity transfers it. Bck iron has strong pull and good ductivity. Acacia wood has low pull and no ductivity.
Certaials, iron not copper, be moved by letting (lightning?) flow around it.
Reading over the note she’s excited by how close her clusioo the truth she now knows. Having memorised the note, Emily tosses it to the side, then grabs some paper, a pen, and a mana crystal from the drawer. Gazing into the crystal, she begins to write the words falling into p her mind.
These mana crystals tain lightning-attuned mana. The energy pathways carved through the crystal during formation, allow for smooth mana transfers betweehering focal points.
The number of focal points varies based on the ruhat influehe formation of the crystal. The plexity of runes increases with the density of the mana they’re formed from. The rger mana crystals store denser mana ier amounts.
Different materials have different levels of electrical ductivity and magical ductivity.
Wood has rical ductivity under normal circumstances, but some woods, like acacia, have low magical ductivity.
Metals all have electrical ductivity, and some metals have low magical ductivity.
Most materials, metals and woods especially, beagical ductors through extended exposure to dense mana, like the bck iron the mana crystals formed in.
Some metals are also magid be moved by the flow of eles in a magic field. Eleags be formed by runniricity through coils of metal.
Emily is broken out of her academic trance by the ringing of a bell across the building.
Ah, I guess I’m out of time for this loop. That was fasating and all, but I'm not sure it’s helping my situation. I o focus more.
Taking o g her writing, she activates The Cloce again.
***
Now well-practised at lying to Herber, Emily quickly dismisses his s about her safety and explosive habits and moves on:
Okay, o se left, skills.
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Magietwork (passive)]
A unique energy system created by User {Emily Coldstone} with the bination of [Magic Circuit] and [Neuro ]. The mana els carved into the body’s vascur system to form a magic circuit have fused with the host’s neurological pathways creating a vastly enhanced energy distribution system.
-Grants +100% to mana and maa regeion
-Grants -50% mana and maa usage
-Grants +20% mental resistance
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Parkour (passive)]
User knows how to move effitly.
-Grants +10% to agility when moving across tough terrain
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Mae stru (passive)]
Beginner meic’s ability to create maes.
-Grants +10% produ speed
-Grants +20% mae stats
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Melee bat (passive)]
User knows how to fight in close quarters.
-Grants +10% strength and agility when fighting at cle
-Grants +10% familiarity with fists and melee ons
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Spellweave (active)]
[Cost:] 80 Mana/Hr
User gaze into the truth of ruo form spells.
-Upon activation, user enters a trance-like state to use mana to experiment with runic matrices
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Basic Meditation (active)]
[Cost:] N/A
Through trolled breathing and focus, user gather mana from the atmosphere around them, and increase their uanding of mana.
-Upon activation, user enters a trance-like state to gather mana
-Increases health, stamina, mana and maa regeion while in use
_____
Cool, some of these may be useful. Parkour may help if we try to escape, and maybe I fight the mages hand-to-hand with melee bat. Carlos looked trained, but as long as I take him out with a ranged oher three may be possible to beat.
Emily shivers as she remembers Carlos pulling a knife from his robes and exeg Herber with practised ease. She shakes her head clear and refocuses on her system.
I don’t think spellweave or meditation help me right now. I don’t know how to cast spells and don’t have hours to waste in a trance, I don’t think I’ll ever wake up if those nobles fiatonic. What does the intrinsic before magietwork and clockwork of time mean though?
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Intrinsic]
Marker of the truly unique!
-Traits that are one-of-a-kind and uo the holder
-Intrinsic races will only remain intrinsic to the inal holder when passed on
-Some intrinsic skills be taught and passed on, some remain user-locked
-Intrinsic equipment is bound to the creator, uo be separated from, or used by aher than, the user.
_____
Okay, I uood about half of that, but it doesn’t seem that important.
Emily stands up and stretches before heading to the drawers of finished projects.
“If I’m gonna fight fes, I should go in armed right?”
She rubs her hands together excitedly at the idea of getting to put some of her makeshift ons to good use. Digging through the drawers she pulls out and tosses aside tless ued creations until she finds a feons buried at the bottom. As she gazes at the ons, she calls out for her system on a whim and is surprised by the information windows that pop out to greet her.
ˉˉˉˉˉ
[Clockwork Repeater]
[Rank:] F
[Stats:] +1 Dex
[Description:] A basidheld crossbow with a six-shot revolving der for quick successive shots.
[Effect:] Fires bolts at a rate of 1 bolt/s
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Single-Shot Hand on]
[Rank:] F
[Stats:] +1 Dex
[Description:] A basic breech-loaded hand on, fires a single rge bullet packed with a lot of bck powder.
[Effect:] Fires a single bullet for massive damage.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Telesg Bded Baton]
[Rank:] F
[Stats:] +1 Agil, +1 Str
[Description:] A spring-loaded telescoped 1m baton with a bded end.
[Effect:] Extends on button press, good for hitting and stabbing.
_____
The system gives a useful breakdown of her self-made ons. As Emily lifts the crossbow and hand on in a hand each, she feels a strange sense of resoween her and the ons, a feeling of trol spreading through her body.
This must be the stat bonuses.
Smirking, she attaches the baton to her waistband as she hears the doorbell ring throughout the building. Sileng her footsteps like a predator on the hunt, she creeps towards the shopfront.
Time to see what damage I do.
