For more than a month, Ryan waited. He put up with the women who continued to persist, even after noticing Amy and Nadia having Tyler's attention. He continued to plot and plan. He even created a regular opportunity for something to happen. Halfway through December was when the event he wished for came, and it delighted him once it did.

Nadia made her move, showing that Amy genuinely did not know her orders. Ryan reset before he could be killed, though he had been caught off-guard by it, despite having hoped it would happen. The reset was to ensure that even if she did succeed in her kill in a future run, he would not need to run more than that day to return to it.

Now, Ryan was on his fifty-sixth run of the day, having altered the scenario in minor ways each time. At the moment, he was floating in the middle of the common room of his suite, butt-naked for no reason other than it was comfortable.

Water swirled around him, turning into blades of ice before returning to a liquid state, the wind around him shifting into blades and whips. After Nadia and Amy arrived in that larger reset, Ryan had created a pattern for himself, which involved being left alone in his suite for at least two hours three times a week.

During that time, he would train his combat magics in the suite, though he did speak with elementals from time to time while hanging out with Michael and Tyler on the mountain as the former painted.

As he trained during the current session, Ryan kept his elemental senses and empathy limited to only reaching out into the hall. He'd made the mistake a few times of stretching his elemental senses into the suite across the hall during that particular training session.

He wasn't interested in two men having sex, and he didn't want to know who it was across the hall doing it. Otherwise, he'd ensure they were elsewhere, doing something else, while he trained during that session. Being friendly with the heir to the family which owned the place ensured he could do that.

Unless he reset back to before he created that opening, however, he couldn't escape the event by changing his location. It would ruin the opening and create suspicion. So he put up with not being able to train his range for his senses for the one day… fifty-six times.

The elementals were initially confused by his constant resets and had sent an earth elemental to speak with him. At the same time that Ryan was practicing his water and air magics inside, he was also practicing his earth magics outside. The earth elemental was hovering outside, not far from the wall, and would create something out of earth from the soil below. Then, Ryan would do his best to imitate it as quickly as possible.

Due to where he was floating, his senses stretched further outside than they did into the hall, giving him more range to do it in. Despite being on the third floor, his suite only appeared to be on the second floor to someone approaching the lodge from the back, due to it being built into the side of the mountain.

Despite the path which stretch around the building, Ryan didn't sense anyone traveling close by. Chances were, everyone was avoiding the elemental and assumed it was the creature creating both sets of items.

He hoped he could hear rumors of it once the run ended, as he was planning on that being his final reset for that specific set of events. As long as everything went as he planned, it would be.

Right on time, Ryan sensed Amy and Nadia approaching, and he ceased his practice, sending the water back into the pitcher resting on the table or dispersed back into the air as he sat on the sofa. Then, he waited until they reached his door and knocked as he informed the elemental that it was time to play the events again.

"It's us," Amy spoke through the door. "Are you in there, Ryan?"

"I am," Ryan called. "You can enter."

He watched as the guard stationed outside slipped a keycard into the lock, then opened the door. The two women entered, and he sensed their immediate discomfort at his nude state, though there was a mild interest which Amy held. Nadia, on the other hand, pushed back her feelings, a great annoyance presence.

"We know you're alone for a couple of hours while Tyler and Michael are off enjoying the slopes," Amy told Ryan. "So we thought we'd come hang out with you to keep you entertained."

"Are you aware you're naked?" Nadia blurted out.

Ryan wasn't certain of why Nadia did that, but she did so in each of the thirty-eight resets where he'd decided to be naked while training. She did seem to have an issue with him, which Ryan decided was probably the reason behind her outburst.

"Hard not to be," Ryan said. "There's a breeze down there that's not present when I have even just underwear on."

"Relax, Nadia," Amy said, amusement in her mind. "We came to his suite unexpectedly. Considering he can't see, it's doubtful he did this intentionally for our expressions and reactions."

"But still," Nadia said. "He could have had us wait a minute while he put something on."

"Maybe," Ryan shrugged. "My clothes are actually all being washed right now, I have to wait until Tyler returns to have something to put on. There's probably a towel in the bathroom, if you want to get it. I can use that if it really makes you uncomfortable."

"It's fine," Amy said.

"No, it's not," Nadia began to move forward.

"By the way," Ryan held up a finger. "I know you're planning on manifesting a knife of stone, stabbing Amy with it, then killing me. A surprise attack to take out your 'friend', then you can take your time killing the blind man."

He felt confusion in Amy's mind, and confusion mixed with hatred in Nadia's.

"Yes," Ryan smiled. "I know everything, Nadia. You're under orders to kill the Novar Family Heir, and that if Amy is with you when it occurs, to kill her, too, in order to ensure that her secret, one you don't know, is destroyed as well. Untraceable.

"Sadly for you," Ryan said. "I am not a pathetic little blind man. You see, despite not being able to see with my eyes… I see far more than you could ever hope to see. I know about the poison you keep in your pocket, the contemplated thought you had about poisoning all three of us at the botanical gardens, I know you actually hate Amy. I know you find members of my Family despicable, and that you want us all dead."

"He's making this up," Nadia shook her head, then looked at Amy. "He's-"

"Thing is," Ryan said. "Now, you can't just kill Amy. She's aware of your intent, and will defend herself. You've lost the element of surprise. The ruckus will draw the attention of my guard in the hall, who will then enter here and subdue you."

"Amy," Nadia said. "I think he's trying to screw with us."

"Am I?" Ryan asked, and a knife of ice formed in the air in front of Nadia, soaring towards her heart.

Immediately, she manifested a knife of stone to deflect it, along with the four others Ryan created and sent at her.

"Strange," Ryan said. "Now why would someone with your supposed background know how to use a knife so expertly? Or be able to perfectly manifest one made of stone, complete with details in the hilt? Amy, I'm sure you're aware of her real name. You are a Shrall, after all."

He felt Nadia's mind fill with confusion as Amy became impressed, amazed, and confused.

"So," Amy said. "You know who we are."

A statement of realization, not a question.

"I'm a mind mage," Ryan responded. "I've known who you were since we met, actually. I delved into your minds and plucked out your juicy little secrets. I could have had you both arrested and interrogated, but decided to see how things played out."

"Fuck this," Nadia said.

"Stay," Ryan commanded, enforcing his words with silkspeech, a spell he'd taught himself over the last forty resets and honed to a fine point. The power to command others with his willpower and desire. "You might be a talented assassin, Nadia, but you're no match for me. Do you want to know the secret to how I'm able to aim at you so precisely?"

Another blade of ice formed in the air.

"Because I can sense your mind," he told her. "So all I have to do is aim there. And you are going to let this one strike you."

He sent the blade at her, and it cut through her skull.

"Just like that," he smiled as he felt fear enter into Amy's mind as Nadia dropped to the ground. "Don't worry, Amy, I'm not going to kill you. You aren't an assassin, just an intelligence agent. You don't have any weapons on you at all."

"What are you going to do with me?" She asked.

"What am I going to do with you?" Ryan asked, then shrugged. "That depends on you, really. Your water affinity is Tier 6, and you can make blades out of ice, a basic water technique you learned when your powers awakened last year, and the only offensive spell you know."

It was something she revealed in a previous reset, when he made Amy aware of Nadia's intentions without defending himself or her. Nadia still killed her in that reset, before attempting to kill Ryan, only to be taken out by his guard, but Amy had manifested the knives in an attempt at defending herself.

He watched as Amy noticed the blades of ice on the ground. They were shaped exactly the way she shaped hers, something Ryan made sure to do, having memorized the form of her spell when he saw it.

"You really are a mind mage," she said. "Aren't you?"

"I am," Ryan answered. "I also know your original mission was to find out information about both Tyler and myself, but mainly Tyler."

Over the resets, Ryan discovered that Raxvar Corporation wanted Tyler on their side, and so was doing their best to find out information regarding his stance towards the Novar Family and his master specifically. He also found that Amy had determined that Tyler's loyalty was to Ryan, not the Family, which meant they would need to convince Ryan to join them in order to bring Tyler to their side.

Amy didn't know why they wanted Tyler on their side, however, which frustrated Ryan. Why did Raxvar want his servant?

Ryan knew he'd likely have to play an entirely different set of events to find out. That meant returning to his birthday, but he wasn't quite ready for that yet. He wanted to speak with the Blessed Ones, first.

"What are your plans for me?" Amy asked once more.

"You want to pull me to your side," Ryan said. "To convince me to join Raxvar Corporation, so that they can finally have Tyler on their side. There is only one thing which would convince me to join Raxvar Corporation and abandon my Family."

"Let me guess," she said. "I have to figure it out myself?"

"No," Ryan answered. "It's to find a way to grant me sight with my eyes."

"Find a way to grant you sight?" She asked. "There have been cases of people who are born blind being able to be fixed with healing magic by a Specialist. With your persistent case of it, we've assumed it's more severe than what they can change."

"It is," Ryan smiled. "I'm sure you've noticed that my pupils don't constrict when bright light hits them."

"They do," she commented. "Nadia and I thought that was strange."

"That's because I'm missing my optic nerves," Ryan told her. "I was born without them, and they control the light reflex. According to my Family's top healer, who is one of the best in the world, it's pretty much impossible to grant me sight because of that. We've had several check me for that. So if Raxvar Corporation can find a way to fix this issue of mine, then I'd be willing to join them. Naturally, I'd only make that alliance after I'm fixed, and I'd want to know why, exactly, they want Tyler. If it's for something ill, then my Family will instead raze Raxvar Corporation to the ground. I don't like people holding ill intent towards my friends."

"I'll inform my father," Amy told him, and he noticed her looking at Nadia once more. "She was really going to kill me?"

"Yes," Ryan answered. "To conceal your secret of being an intelligence agent, though she wasn't aware of that little detail about you."

He felt her confusion, as well as the touch of betrayal in her. She'd always known that she might one day be assassinated by her employers to prevent a secret from being released, but it still hurt her to know an assassin was sent after her.

"What do you think of Tyler?" Ryan asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I've noticed the way you interact with him," Ryan said. "You actually like him, don't you?"

"I was falling in love with him before he was ever a mission," she answered, something Ryan already knew from past resets.

"How would you compare him to me?" He already knew the answer to the question, but he still wanted to ask.

"In what way?"

"Looks and personality."

"He's a little bit more attractive than you," she answered. "If I'm being completely honest."

"That doesn't bother me," Ryan lied. "It's been evident with how everyone else has been towards him since we arrived. Everyone who doesn't know who we are, that is."

"As for personality," she said. "That's a tough comparison to make. You two are vastly different."

He watched as she looked at her former friend's corpse, then back to him.

"Vastly different," she said.

"Tyler's isn't that much different from me," Ryan told her. "The main differences is that he suppresses much of what he feels or wants when he's working and that he won't act on his romantic or lustful feelings. I, on the other hand, do what I want and act on those feelings.

"Speaking of that," Ryan smiled. "While you are technically my enemy, you're also one of the few girls I'd be willing to have sex with… if you were willing."

He grinned at the shock in Amy's mind, but before she could respond to his remark, something different happened from the other resets, something not caused by his change in actions.

The door to the suite opened. Ryan had pulled his senses out of the hall once Amy and Nadia arrived, so he hadn't noticed them arriving.

"Ryan," Michael said, and Ryan noticed him and Tyler stopping just after entering the room. "Uh… what happened here?"

"Nadia turned out to be an assassin," Ryan stated. "She attempted to kill Amy and me, but Amy managed to kill her. It was a rather shocking thing to hear. What's going on?"

He was especially interested to hear that specifically because of the change in events. Whatever it was, the elementals were responsible for it. That was the only explanation Ryan could come up with, unless there was someone else exempt from time, much like the elementals.

"There are a couple of guests here," Michael informed him. "Who are wanting to speak with you."

"A couple of guests?" Ryan frowned.

"Yeah," Michael responded. "Tyler and I were talking about my plans for the future, and reception called me. They said that a young couple arrived and wished to speak with you."

"We went down and talked with them," Tyler said. "And they insisted on speaking with 'the blind mage'. They said you were expecting them, but-"

"I am," Ryan realized who they were upon hearing their term for him. "I didn't expect them to arrive today, though. Amy, we can continue that discussion later. Can we have someone clean up this mess? And Tyler, can you get me some clothes? Once everything is cleared up, they can be shown up here."

"I'll get on it," Michael said. "Who are they? I've never met them before, but they look like Novars."

"They do?" Ryan asked in surprise.

"You're expecting people you don't know?" Tyler asked as he walked towards Ryan's room.

"It's complicated," Ryan responded. "But yes, I was expecting people I've never met before. Once they're in here, I want us left alone. Completely."

It wouldn't matter if others were around, because Ryan doubted his guards could take them on. They were the children of the Gray Mage, after all.

The Blessed Ones had finally arrived.