ALL NOVEL Loop 254 - Part 121
Cal opened his mouth to try and argue the point, but Glurm’s initial glare had returned stronger than ever. Cal dropped the second question line and moved on to a final question. “What are the Universal Games exactly?” He wasn’t sure he’d bother asking this one, but it was all he could think of after how little Glurm seemed to care about the Gryalth issue. Cal figured there was always the next loop for more relevant information.
“Ah, now that is a good question. You mammals are far too weak to participate in this one, but it should be coming in about five years. I suppose with your loop, you may be strong enough eventually, but much more likely, the one in five hundred years will be when you are ready. It is a monumental showcase of skills, magic, and willpower from across the universe,” Glurm looked at Cal expectantly.
“So, based on your title, you’ve clearly won this before, but do you really see yourself as that much stronger than all of us?” For all Cal knew, the Frog was being honest, he had seen feats of power beyond his own abilities, and Ralth had made it clear the Gryalth they had seen so far were only a drop in the bucket of what would come.
“Yes, and yes. Understand it’s not meant to be an insult at all. Well, maybe; how many loops have you been at this? Given infinite time, you should be stronger than me eventually, but I am also very old by the standards of mammals and those that currently live on my former home, but maybe this is all better understood from a demonstration. Apologies, I am no longer used to any kind of teaching or explanations. You will continue to face that obstacle in future loops should you continue to visit me,” Glurm answered.
Despite the rambling, cluttered answer, Cal thought he understood the frog’s point. “Yeah, give me a demonstration. I’m willing to try a sparring match.”
“You may be willing, but you are not capable of that yet. I know you’ve managed to ignore several of the mood-influencing mana webs, which, to be frank, is the only reason we are still having this conversation. It means you have some minor potential. So now watch where perhaps that potential could go,” Glurm said.
Cal tried his best to watch, and he even managed to comprehend some of what transpired after the frog’s statement. To his eyes, the frog leaped into the air. A sword appeared in his hand, the tree they had been sitting under was a pile of splinters, and all the fruit that had been hanging from it was sitting neatly in a pile next to Cal. Then Glurm was back, sitting in the position he had started sipping from something. Cal looked closer at it. It was an iced coffee. He even recognized the logo. It was from a coffee shop down the street from his house.
Had he teleported to Earth? Flown there? How fast was he? How had he even known where to go? All these questions hit Cal at once, but he knew those answers would not be forthcoming. Instead, he forced his incredulous stare to come to an end and said, “Okay, so that was impressive.”
“Yes, consider the fruit a gift, but I am not done yet. It’s important to renew the things you destroy unless you want the universe to slowly decay.” As Glurm said, Cal was able to sense a stream of powerful mana pouring into the tree. In only a matter of minutes, the tree was standing whole again, standing tall and shading them from the sun yet again. As far as Cal could tell, the only difference was the fruit had been harvested.
“Damn,” Cal’s realization of just how long he still had to go hit him hard. The frog was on an entirely different level of power than himself. But Glurm was right. Given the infinite, it was all possible.
“Good, you understand. I’m glad to see that learning is possible. Now, take your fruit and go; you still have time to return to your party. I assume I will see you again in the next loop even though I will not remember it,” Glurm said.
“Probably,” Cal said.
“Then go in peace, Cal, the mammal,” Glurm said, waving him off.
“Thanks,” Cal said, gathering up the fruit in his arms. Balancing the load and walking back through the gateway wasn’t the easiest, but he managed without losing a single one. It also wasn’t lost on him that the Glurm had used his name. Now, he just had to figure out how he was going to get Glurm to train him and the others. The was, after all, the Universal Games that he would need to see on some future loop. Cal was smiling as he saw the familiar site of the gateway room in the void house again.
“Where’d the fruit come from?” Ethel asked the moment he stepped back through.
“A gift from the frog. It was a strange conversation. In the next loop, we will have to pay him another visit, and there will probably be a lot of loops after. If you are heading back to the party, can you grab some of the fruit? They are pretty strong mana fruits, so use your best judgment when handing them out,” Cal said as Ethel reached to grab several.
“Yes, I think my judgment is better than yours there. That said, I am glad you’ve returned safely. Now, try to stay that way,” Ethel said as she turned and walked from the room. Leaving Cal behind with the remaining armload of fruit.
***
As Cal finished placing the rest of the fruit into storage with a note instructing the capybara cooks to be very conservative on its use, Sleek popped into view in front of him. “Hey, did you know there’s two weird guys in the situation room? They smell kind of strange. One of them looks like Albert. They stole your note and everything. It seems pretty rude if you ask me,” She said.
“Finally!” Cal exclaimed and ran for the situation room with Sleek in tow. He threw the door open, spotted Andy and Bill in two of the chairs, and announced, “You’re late!”