In light of the recent events that have taken place, I (alongside Randall and Jack,) have decided to set out and focus on getting at least one of them to break through to the next realm.
For this exact reason, we chose to visit a relatively quiet spot that the three of us just happened to know about.
The area beyond the river. Precisely, the zone located beyond the rich mine that is the cave network…
Jack knew for a fact no one in the town would be crazy enough to go there. Thus, we did. Privacy is just that useful for us.
'If any of them can break through, it'd put us in a great position.'
With me being the only individual in this region who has reached the Flesh refinement Realm, our position is solid enough. Whether Randall breaks through to the Muscle refinement Realm or Jack reaches my level, we'll be in an amazing position.
'... No. Somewhat.'
As long as no one from the outside finds us, we'll be doing great for the upcoming fall season.
We're in Septembre, currently.
The fall season starts in Doncerlo, which is about five months away, then hits its peak during Yetilend, and it's pretty much up over by the last week of Cindlon.
If Randall and I can improve our relationship with these freaks, we'll be able to spend this Fall in their shelters. Then we leave.
Overstaying our welcome might ruin my brain. We need to be in a place with smart individuals. The mere thought of becoming as much of a dumbfuck as any of the idiots living in this place terrified me.
'I did not become a fugitive for that.'
No, of course not. The point… Is to grow smarter.
The point was to not end up like everyone else. Hollow-minded, blindly chasing the ideas handed down to them by the Apostles…
Reaching that level of enlightenment won't be possible if I were to stay in one place, or even by letting the invisible threads of a school bind me down to the shadows of their Apostles.
'We've arrived, it seems. Enough thinking, more training.'
Just because Randall and Jack had their goals, did not mean that I got to slack off.
"You two can do your thing. I need some space."
While I exposed my Ego manifestation multiple times, the same didn't apply for my time magic.
I used it twice ever since breaking Randall out of prison. That's it. Hence, I departed the nearby area and went even further into the east. I still wasn't quite sure if I could afford to show this to Jack just yet…
Patches of violet decorated the meadow ahead. No flowers seemed to be in my sight's reach, but the trees I left behind sure did. Even at that distance. Some small species of fish swam in a somewhat close, singular pond. Interestingly enough, the dirt below my feet seemed to be somewhat wet.
Regardless, upon approaching the medium-sized body of water, I took note of its rather limited profundity. '… Here. It should be good.'
Now, the basics.
A regular magic hexagon appeared on my two palms. Their soft lavender threads contained the miasma within them. It was easy, but they got the job done.
Shortly after, I decided to infuse these hexagons with… Time.
The effect this had over the two magic shapes heightened at a regular pace. While I had grown accustomed to this, it wasn't hard for many to think something was off about this.
'Even I did back when I was a beginner.'
… The fluttering branches of a nearby tree caught my attention.
A good chunk of the energy in the hexagons went towards the wooden arms of the tree. Their movement slowed down rather considerably, and so did everything else around it.
Though, there was also the miasma that had to be kept within the hexagons. Currently, I have no choice but to retain about two fifths of my channeled miasma in the hexagon.
'No, it's more… It's a little over half. I guess this is what being out of practice will do to my progress.'
Regardless, this number should go down as I rise through the ranks.
'The better the mastery, the less miasma I'll have to spend to maintain the hexagons.'
… With the recent events, I figured that perhaps reaching the level of mastery that a Mana Saint had was actually possible. Even for me.
Either way, the area affected wasn't big. It seemed to be similar or equal to the space occupied by an average human male in his 30's. 'However, it is definitely in a different shape.'
The wind clearly came to a partial halt, too.
Everything just… went slower there. This small pocket of space just went about at its own pace, flat out rejecting the normal time.
… It cut off at a moment's notice.
No, rather, I opted to stop fueling the spell.
The magic hexagon vanished, and the flow of time went back to normal.
A deep stare at the branches revealed a lack of notable differences between those who were affected by the spell, and the group that wasn't. However, visible or not, the disparity in time between the affected and the unaffected exists. And will continue to exist.
"The same should apply to most of my targets… Even former ones."
Uttering that out loud reminded me of the many demons I have met while I acted as an assassin for my own School. Naturally, most of the memorable ones must be either dead by now or…
'Gone. Just like me-'
My ears picked up something. A rustling from the tree's crown, to be exact.
'Hm?'
A small bird emerged from the tree's crown.
"A living target. This will be helpful."
…
Turns out, I lost track of time. The other two had to find me, as opposed to the more "usual case," where I'd be the one to say 'time to go back.'
The three of us returned to the town. Randall and Jack maintained some small talk on the way back, but I had other, more important concerns.
'We are lacking in time.'
Namely, that.
As unfortunate as it is, we don't have the luxury of having enough time to train in proper places and help Jack to deal with the balding demon's requests. In fact, having time to train would make this situation so much better.
'I could accelerate the flow of time around us to be able to train for longer, but it's a terrible option.'
One mistake on my end can leave any of us crippled for life, and time isn't something we can waste so foolishly…
'Good thing tomorrow is also a free day.'
I suppose I could review Randall's overall progress, then prepare for his breakthrough.
'... A breakthrough under these circumstances.'
To begin with, dealing with a breakthrough is bad enough. The breakthrough process itself lasted around 30 minutes, during which one needs to be sharp and ready to fight at all times.
Then there's the downtime before and after the event to prepare and unwind, respectively. That's already a full day, at minimum.
Now… considering our situation? It'd be a nightmare-ish situation, if not for my ability to manipulate time. Of course, I can't accelerate the rate at which he thinks…
'It isn't impossible for him to fail the trial. Fortunately, it is not that concerning to me.'
Maybe to Jack, who would probably assume doomsday is coming. A reasonable assumption, given how an individual's physical condition is greatly enhanced under a meltdown.
However, he isn't aware that I have time on my side. Hitting twice as hard is meaningless if it means moving as slow as a snail.
'Thus, I see no reason to be worried on that front.'
… Anyway, breakthrough aside, the way we took did allow us to spot a few groups of members from the Blue Shepherds.
As I saw in multiple earlier instances, the equipment worn by the low-ranking members had few differences with that of the rest of Teutonia's fodder syndicates. Though, if I had to mention one…
It would be their uniforms.
Only individuals aligned directly with a School would usually have a full set of mostly standardized equipment: Weapon, uniform, boots, and even their own insignias, which I only noticed recently. And these people had all of that.
The weapons sucked, yes. But not every syndicate can afford to be as big as this one while keeping their members even decently geared.
In fact, a particular high-ranking member I've seen many times had an artifact of his own.
'Perhaps most of the Repemtite we extracted from the green-lit cave went towards that…'
"Group ahead, watch out," muttered Jack, who hid behind one of the houses. We followed after him, positioning our backs to ensure our safety.
We waited for about fifteen seconds. The footsteps weren't audible yet.
I took the bother of peeking out slightly.
In the near distance, we spotted four blue-clad guards doing their rounds.
'This is the third group we've met so far.'
Good thing we were near Jack's place.
"They weren't joking…" muttered Randall, almost inaudibly.
Indeed. The leaders of this town at least seem to be taking the security of this settlement somewhat seriously.
Anyway, we snuck past this last group by moving behind the houses. Upon attaining confirmation regarding the lack of people, we travelled through the clear coast and went into his place.
"The floor is calling me…" weakly muttered Randall, after taking a couple of steps.
My eyebrows furrowed. Shortly after, my arms lunged towards him, barely preventing a potential disaster named, "the collapse of an exhausted Randall invited a dozen guards that are currently on a political headhunting crusade."
'... This has to change.'
Jack seemed to be much better off. Granted, even a rock would be able to notice the flooding exhaustion in his steps. Nonetheless, he's better off than…
The "sleepy prince." Who is already asleep.
"Jack."
"?..."
The crouching titan continued walking towards the mattress with weak steps.
"Pres-"
And he fell down on the frameless bed.
'... Really.'
I calmly left Randall on the floor, and went towards the storage room.
Resting my back on one of the walls allowed me to finally disengage, quickly falling asleep.