CHAPTER 41: MYSTERIOUS LADY

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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"Space, it isn’t empty. I can feel it, threads pulling, pressure shifting. Fabric. If it’s fabric, then it can fold.

Distance isn’t fixed. Two points apart can touch if you bend what’s between, like folding paper. Like stitching skin in surgery, the gap vanishes when the edges meet.

I don’t need to fly across the world. Just a step. A single breath out of place. A cut through the middle, from here... to there.

Pull it closer. Collapse it. Skip what’s between. Temporal distortion"

His eyes snapped open, directly in front of Barnes, sword at his neck.

Barnes’ eyes widened. One second, he was watching the hand collapse, the next, he had a sword at his neck, preparing to decapitate him.

’What just happened? He escaped!! How!!’ Barnes thought, frustration written over his face.

But it wasn’t the end, he willed his mana, his skin and flesh taken on a hardness that would be impossible for the boy to cut through in time.

Orion noticed this; the bastard had done it before, but this time, he wouldn’t escape.

He willed the last remnant of mana he had, his mouth whispering again, "Temporal distortion."

He didn’t have enough mana to simply activate the skill directly on Barnes’ neck, but he could coat his sword with it. The degree of skill that would take was normally beyond him, but somehow he knew he could do it.

The previously impeded sword tore through Barnes’ neck like a knife through butter.

Alarms rang in Barnes’s head; it didn’t work, the boy’s sword was still going through. How, he couldn’t understand, but he had no time to think of how; he had to find a solution, his apprentice ranked mind ran through solutions, but nothing came up.

The situation finally dawned on him.

’I’m going to die,’ He thought in horror.

One second, he was about to celebrate his victory; the next, he was dying.

’No, he won’t win. If I’m going to die, he’s going down with me,’ He thought menacingly.

Orion watched as his sword cleaved completely through Barnes’ neck, his head falling off.

The situation, seeming like a dream, the bastard was finally dead, but before he could rejoice, he felt it, mana, usually calm, peaceful, it was agitated, rampaging throughout Barnes’ body.

It dawned on Orion that the bastard had made one last move before his death.

Unfortunately, Orion was now completely out of mana, his fatigue on another level; he doubted if he could even move his body.

The mana erupted, rocks exploding from his body in a jagged mess. The exploded rocks shot straight at Orion, threatening to pierce him and turn him into a sieve.

Frustration and anger simmered in Orion. He had broken through restraints and gone past his limit just for the bastard to pull this crap. Was this how he was going to die? He had no more tricks to pull, nothing.

He was frustrated and angry at Barnes, but most especially himself. He was weak, too weak, his age wasn’t an excuse for his weakness, he told himself. And now he was going to die. How pathetic.

Suddenly, the air fractured—not like his distortion, but deeper, purer. A silence swept across the battlefield, heavier than Barnes’ malice, sharper than his sword. The stone spike stopped a finger’s breadth from Orion’s chest, suspended in the frozen air.

A figure stepped out from the fold in reality,

She had pure silver hair, falling down in strands framing her regal face, a pure white military tunic covering every inch of her body, and a sword at her waist. She had a modest bust and a serene expression on her face.

Orion noticed her eyes were closed despite her turning to face him directly. He was about to speak when the exhaustion hit him, and he fell unconscious.

The lady gently caught Orion, cradling him in her arms like a mother would her child. She gazed at his sleeping face with her closed eyes, a gentle smile forming on her face.

She turned towards Barnes’ dead body, sneered, and flicked her finger, making the body vanish.

She heard two footsteps approaching her destination and turned towards them.

Alice and Michael quietly approached the strange lady, wariness clear in their stance.

She simply ignored them before vanishing.

They were both visibly startled, concern written on their faces; they had no idea where the lady had come from, and now she suddenly disappeared with Orion’s fainted body.

Alice clenched her fist in frustration, her powerlessness and vulnerability eating away at her; she couldn’t do anything when Barnes had threatened their lives, and now she was equally as useless.

She felt Michael tap her. She turned towards him and noticed him pointing in a particular direction.

She looked there and found the mysterious woman sitting on the roof of the Nexcraft, cradling Orion’s unconscious body in her arms and tenderly rubbing his head.

She wasn’t foolish; from the woman’s actions, Alice could tell she cared for Orion, and considering her hair colour, she was most likely related to him, another Chronos. Her powers further clarified it.

They both walked back to the Nexcraft.

"Um... excuse me," Michael said nervously.

The lady made no attempt to reply or even look their way.

"Are you related to Orion?" Michael tried again.

The lady continued to ignore them.

A confused expression appeared on Michael’s face. He was lost on what exactly to do now. They’d been brought to this unknown place and forced to try their best to survive; they had created an escape plan, and unfortunately, thanks to him, the enemy had caught them.

One moment, they were about to escape, and the next, Orion was fighting a battle of life and death, and he simply lacked the ability to intervene. And now Orion had succeeded.

His proposed family member had arrived and was refusing to answer; they couldn’t possibly fly the Nexcraft and leave Orion behind.

And worst of all, he hated the fact that he was thinking of ways to escape while his friend was in an unknown condition, for Michael, a seven-year-old boy, the culmination of the circumstances and his feelings was overwhelming, yet he knew he had no right to be overwhelmed, and so he sat himself on the ground and stayed silent.

Alice looked at him and did the same, both lost in their thoughts.

A few hours soon passed, and the sun had started rising. Orion and Barnes had fought throughout the night.

Orion opened his eyes, the rising sunlight piercing through his eyelids and rousing him.

Pain, not sharp or stinging but dull and overwhelming, from his head down to his feet, was the first to greet him and fully awaken him.

But that didn’t surprise or startle him; it was surprising how well he had adapted from a single encounter with a near-death experience.

He noticed his awkward position and the hands cradling him and turned towards the perpetrator.

’Of course,’ He thought, unsurprised.

He recalled the scene of the lady coming out of the spatial crack and protecting him.

"Why would I doubt him?" He said with a sigh.

"Pressure tends to bend rationality," He heard. The voice sounded plain, too plain to have come from a lady of such stature. He mostly expected her to sound feminine or at least slightly feminine.

"I guess," He replied, refusing to comment on his observation.

"Orion Chronos, nice to meet you," He introduced.

"I know your name, Orion," She said.

"Yeah, I was just lost on where to -"

-QUEST COMPLETED

SURVIVE:

Defeat individual Barnes Randyll and survive your first contact with a hostile human.

DURATION: -

REWARD:

+1 rank in proficiency.

"-start," Orion admitted.

"Ohh," She muttered.

Orion had already tuned her out.

’Of course, the quest is still completed, I successfully defeated Barnes and survived,’ He thought.

’So what exactly is this reward, and how do I deal with it, system. I didn’t have time to think about it when you issued it’ Orion thought.

ONE MINOR INCREASE IN PROFICIENCY RANK OF YOUR CHOICE.

’That makes it much better,’ Orion thought.

’STATUS’

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STATUS

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NAME: Orion Chronos

AGE: 6

GENDER: MALE

RACE: HUMAN

ATTRIBUTES:

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STRENGTH:35

AGILITY: 40

ENDURANCE: 50

VITALITY: 110

INTELLIGENCE: 100

MANA: 100

CHARM: 30

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RANK: (PEAK) ACOLYTE RANK [Just transitioned]ß(HIGH) ACOLYTE RANK

TALENT: MYTHICAL

BLOODLINE: ???

AFFINITY: SPACE, TIME

ABILITIES:

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Innate Skills:

*Temporal Distortion (Mid proficiency)

-The ability to alter the space around you. You can break, mend, and control the fabric of space. Depends on your proficiency.

*The Seer (Mid proficiency)

-The ability to view glimpses of the present, past, and future with varying locations. It can be through visions or dreams. Depends on your proficiency.

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Acquired skills:

*Eye of truth and façade (Low proficiency)

The ability to access the information of another party with a single glance in the form of a status screen and alter your perceived strength from others. Heavily depends on proficiency.

*Reflection

The ability to dive into one’s memories, recalling every single detail with unnatural clarity. (Requires no mana)

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’So which do I go with?’