The Academy's Time Looper

As the spiritual figures got closer and closer to Athen's frozen figure, his mind began to spin in circles, trying to find a way to both avoid the figures and obtain the diamond.

Glancing behind him, Athen immediately spotted over ten shop merchants, each covered in a blue hue, rushing towards him.

But, in front of him, there was only one spiritual figure, and this gardener was also the closest to Athen currently.

Obviously, there was only one direction to go.

Recalling his first painful and dreadful experience with this state, Athen tried to think of any way to escape.

It felt like just yesterday when he was alone in an alleyway back in his hometown, cornered by tens of spiritual figures who all wanted to merge with him.

As the time began to tick and the figures came closer, Athen's thoughts suddenly halted as he remembered the pain he had felt when the figures had merged with him.

"...it has to work...if they can hurt me, I can hurt them."

Taking a deep breath, Athen took one last glance behind him, only to immediately turn around upon seeing not around ten figures...but over fifty.

Some of them were even students that Athen could recognize from his time on the flying ship.

Tensing his legs, Athen made eye contact with the spiritual-like gardener in front of him, allowing a slight grin to appear on his face.

At the same time, a small smile spread across the gardener's face, and though Athen could not see it, countless similar grins appeared on the now-hundreds of spiritual figures behind him.

"you creepy bastard..!"

Creeped out by the smile of the gardener, Athen immediately cleared his expression before...sprinting forward.

Showing no signs of hesitation or fear, Athen wore a completely calm expression as he charged right at the gardener as if he were in a duel.

Inwardly counting down in his head, Athen forced himself not to look backward, bracing his body as the distance between him and the gardener decreased.

Seeing his target sprint at him like he was about to give a hug, the gardener's smile spread across his entire face, his eyebrows raising in excitement.

Pushing himself to the max, Athen increased his pace, embracing the flood of adrenaline that overwhelmed his body.

Then, just as his and the gardener's figure were about to collide, Athen suddenly slowed to a halt.

Ignoring Athen's stop, the gardener continued rushing right at him with a grin, possibly thinking his target had given up.

However, just as the gardener got close enough to touch his target's figure, Athen suddenly kicked his right foot backward.

Then, with his left foot forward and right foot back, Athen pushed down on the ground as hard as he could.

In a swift and graceful motion, Athen propelled himself off the ground, narrowly avoiding the gardener who had just reached him.

As the spiritual gardener hesitated upon seeing his target disappear, Athen pushed his left foot upward as high as he could.

And...he felt something.

He wasn't levitating anymore.

Glancing downward at his left foot, Athen smiled as he saw his left foot resting on the shoulder of the gardener.

It hadn't phased through the gardener.

Not wasting a moment, Athen pushed down as hard as he could on the spiritual gardener, regaining his balance and dragging his right foot upward.

Then, like a great white shark jumping out of the water to catch a bird flying far too close to the ocean's surface, Athen leaped off the gardener's shoulder and right at a familiar tree.

However...would it be enough?

Flying past the oblivious gardener and at the tree where the invitation diamond was located, Athen's head was perfectly aligned with the top branch of the tree.

Peeking over his shoulder, Athen's smile reappeared as he saw the gardener fall to the ground while desperately grabbing his shoulder.

However...that smile soon disappeared as Athen raised his head and looked in the direction of the academy gates.

Not tens, not fifty, not a hundred...but at least three hundred spiritual figures could be seen rushing towards him.

And...with every passing seconds, tens of new spiritual figures phased right through the academy gates and headed straight at him.

"ah...I understand."

Athen now understood the difference in punishment between the last time when he had used his ability two times in a short span and this time when he had used it three times.

There were a hell of a lot more figures out to get him... at least three hundred more!

As he turned back around to face the tree, a grim expression appeared on his face.

What the hell was he supposed to do after he got the diamond back somehow?

Run away from this many people!?

He was a dead man walking.

His body had been put in a comatose state for an entire day when around ten spiritual figures merged with him. 

Now what...?

How was he supposed to deal with over three hundred..?

Suddenly, Athen wished that one of the feared scenarios that he came up with on the ship ride here had come true instead.

Anything was better than this.

Shaking his head, Athen regained his composure and focused on the task at hand.

As he approached the tree and began descending from the air, Athen desperately raised his hand as high as it could go.

And maybe, by pure chance or luck, the palm of his hand was perfectly aligned with the diamond that was frozen and levitating above the tree.

There was just one problem, though...he was descending.

Within two seconds, his head was no longer aligned with the tree's top branch...but the second-highest.

And his stretched-out hand...? It was barely still aligned with the diamond.

But there was still an undeniable spark of hope shining in Athen's eyes, and his stretched-out hand was still there, not yet put down.

Because...when he looked down, it was not grass below him.

The hundreds of spiritual figures that had been rushing at him from behind had finally caught up.