Realm mageknights have the benefits of both realm knights and realm mages added together. Their bodies grow marginally sturdier than those of realm knights’, their minds slightly keener than realm mages’, including an increased ability to unleash spells.

  Their most important advantage over the two is that unlike realm knights and realm mages, which cannot reach the sixth layer, realm mageknights can advance all the way until the tenth realm, wielding power as incomprehensible to peak realm knights and realm mages, as those individuals are beyond the commoners’ comprehension.

  — Excerpt from Introduction to Realm Cores

  Day 7, 12:10 PM

  I rubbed the back of my neck. Snapping it before going back through time always felt funny afterwards. As planned, I was alone in the library, just after lunch with Ruby, and the world was my oyster.

  I went on to enjoy new books for six more days before heading out to Basil’s for lunch. A single glance towards the rooftops revealed familiar hoods waiting in their familiar position. I took the same route to Basil’s as the last time — repeating things as perfectly as possible was necessary to achieve identical results. Not that I planned to stick to the previous script, but keeping good time-looping habits was important.

  “Good day, Basil, could you get me three specials and a piece of pie of your choosing.” The man’s pastry really was decent, cooking even better. Last loop I enjoyed spikeback loin-stakes. Spikebacks were local beasts of burden, often used to pull carts and carry palanquin-like boxes with passengers. It kind of resembled the spiky, club-tailed dinosaur from Earth, whose name I had long since forgotten, and seemed like a horrible choice for palanquin placement.

  Today, I changed my choice to the specials for two reasons, Basil has them ready and piping hot. Instead of waiting half an hour for him to prepare my meal, I can eat, and use the extra time for the second part of my plan.

  I devoured my lunch and left a first realm crystal as payment.

  “Pardon, my lord, but I own nothing valuable enough to return as change.” The chubby man immediately started sweating.

  “I don’t need change, I need you to tell me how to leave this place without anyone seeing me.”

  Five minutes later, I had ditched my pursuers, and I was heading for the citadel through the maze of backstreets, straight for Blackbush’s bedroom, which I entered without anyone noticing anything amiss.

  The only thing left was to wait and see what the future had in store me. Apparently, Dandelion was a bastard in every sense of the word. He had five mistresses, some with children, all living on the premises. The man’s life was a mess, but at least he was a half-decent town lord. He let the administration do its job, lining his pockets, or well, sack, with the extra taxes he was charging, but apparently that was allowed under the imperial law. Crazy country. Everyone knows you line your pockets with road constructions.

  Hours passed, and I lamented the time wasted waiting instead of reading a book, when a familiar voice muttered just beyond the door.

  “Where did that scuttler run off to?” Blackbush’s airways sounded much healthier without me choking the life out of him.

  He slammed open the door, as if the poor fixture had wronged him. The door bounced off the wall and closed with a bang, revealing me, but Blackbush faced the wrong way.

  “If you’re referring to your older brother,” he jumped at the sound of Dandelion’s voice. “I am right here.”

  Technically not a lie, I never said I was his older brother. Not that it matters, but a book I read mentioned higher realm mageknights could see through lies, and once more, building healthy habits ensured a long and prosperous life.

  “What are you doing here?” Blackbush’s voice shook, without a crossbow, he lacked confidence when facing his higher realm half-brother.

  “I know you poisoned me. Well, you had Haleweather do the deed, but close enough. The poison you fed me did something to me, and I needed time to think.” I looked him in the eye, grinning like a lion. “You know, mindburst seems to have some interesting properties, if you can survive it.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He shuddered at the glint of sharp, predatory intelligence in my eyes.

  “You can see it, can’t you?” My grin widened, and he gulped and nodded.

  “Good. Now, you and I, we are going to collect the loot I didn’t split with you guys, and split it fairly. Is that clear?”

  He stepped back in shock, his eyebrows climbing so high up, they nearly migrated to join his hair.

  “You will lead the way. Don’t try anything funny. I want to see your hands the whole time, and if they vanish from my sight even for a moment, you’re dead. Is that clear?”

  “Yes. Clear.”

  “Good, now lead the way.” And he did. We went into the basement, passing servants who kept their eyes firmly locked onto the floor, the scantily-dressed women shaking like twigs. Four of Dandelion’s five so-called mistresses were once a part of the staff, and based on the terror I saw in the serving girls’ faces, their role might not have been voluntary.

  So much mess to fix and things to set right before I could restore my reputation. I wanted to roll my eyes at Dandelion’s stupidity, but the man was naturally stupid, just going with the flow and doing what he wanted. Which was kind of smart even if his execution was dumb and perverse.

  We reached the basement, and Blackbush opened the heavy door, leading to the treasury. The loot I owed my subordinate was the share of the tax money Dandelion had pocketed over the years. I don’t know what he was thinking. Given his low intellect, it could have been an innocent mistake. He could have thought the money was all his because he was the townlord.

  We moved into the vault, passing piles of gold and silver, and reached a safe. The sturdy thing was a three-foot cube of metal decorated with angry, red engravings, the only crack a tiny slit for a keyhole.

  “Open it,” I tossed the key to Blackbush, who unlocked the safe. The engravings dimmed, and lines appeared on the front side of the metal cube. The door swung open on its own, revealing sacks full of manarium.

  “Pick them up.” He did, and we headed back up, Blackbush leading the way to the large dining room his dead counterpart told me was the gang’s gathering place.

  Three men lounged inside. They glanced at the door as we entered, their jaws dropping as my cold glare glued their butts to the chairs.

  “Toss the sacks onto the table.” Blackbush obliged and with soft clicks the bags landed, manarium spilling out of them.

  “You,” I speared the dumbest looking brute with my gaze. “Go gather the rest, we need to split the loot.”

  He grinned, his wit apparently as quick as I expected it, then jumped from the chair like an acrobat and dashed out of the room with inhuman speed. Blackbush said the gang was made of fourteen second realm knights and me leading them.

  Half an hour later, everyone was in the room, some looking at the floor, most at the manarium, none daring to meet my gaze.

  I step to the table, pour out the manarium from the bags. Even an untrained eye can tell the difference in quality. First realm crystals had a dull, muted glow, growing brighter as their grade increased.

  I grab the two brightest stones, leaving the rest on the table.

  “This is my share.” I point at the heap. “You know how to split the rest.”

  Drool practically oozed out of their mouths at the sight of the riches before them. All of them wanted to jump on the massive wooden table and roll on the sparkly gems, but the sharper ones darted their gazes about, searching for a way to come out ahead, and forming silent alliances.

  Such was the way of the world, the cunning and the strong had their way over those who lacked those two qualities. Another thing the men gathered in that room knew to respect was fear and brutality, and with all of them in the same place, it was time for a little display.

  “Haleweather,” I said the name, no clue how the man looked, but heads snapped in my direction and a nervously bit lip did the identification for me. I moved so fast, the world blurred a bit in the edge of my vision.

  I smashed my fist into the man’s guts, cannonballing him into the stone wall. He hit it back-first, his head smashing against the masonry with a crack before he slumped down to the ground, dead, dying, or unconscious. I couldn’t tell, since I lacked a medical skill. Another thing I needed to work on.

  While I had the time to think, my violent outburst was nowhere near over. I turned around and pounced on Blackbush. I grabbed his shirt and jerked him through the air so fast, the fabric ripped before he smashed against the table, shattering the massive piece of furniture and scattering the manarium all over the room.

  “We are related by blood, otherwise, you would have suffered a fate much worse than Haleweather.” I turned around and scanned the horrified faces. “Don’t forget who’s the boss. If you have a problem, and think the best solution is to attack or poison me, think again, or just kill yourselves to save me the effort.”

  They shook like frightened children, ready to jump out of the way if I lashed out at them. Not that they stood a chance.

  “Is that understood?”

  “Yes, Boss!” Unfortunately they said, “Boss,” and I couldn’t use the “Yes, who?” shout, so I needed another way to emphasize things.

  I kicked Blackbush, not a full-force blow, just enough to send him flying into the wall, right next to the unbreathing body. “Don’t forget this lesson. It might be your final one.”

  With suitably badass words, I left the room.