"I will most certainly figure something out."
BB, Changli, and Rover then fix me with expectant gazes...
Damn, didn't think this through... yeah, how about I just open a hole in the rock beside the damn structure? All I need to do is freeze it and hit it while it's brittle.
I walk up to the stone wall beside the barrier, my three companions watching. Then I force ice to appear within the stone, already creating cracks.
I step back and, with a light kick, cause the already crumbling rock to fall apart, creating a circular archway of stone right beside the barrier, yet completely unaffected by it.
"I most certainly did figure something out."
I turn around. Rover has an eyebrow raised, Changli is facepalming, and BB is laughing her ass off.
Changli's thoughts: That is... one extra way, considering all that was required was a bit of marksmanship, but oh well.
Rover's thoughts: Well, that works... potentially a property damage problem though—
BB's thoughts: Empty head, perfect execution!
We pass through the cave single file, the air changing immediately on the other side. It is heavier, uncomfortable, wrong in a way that sits behind the eyes rather than on the skin.
"Oh~" BB says softly. Just that.
The Temporal Disruption is visible here—not metaphorically. Actual distortions in the air: patches where light bends wrong, where dust motes hang suspended mid-fall before lurching forward again. Like someone keeps pausing and unpausing selected time points in chunks of space.
I do not like this place.
Changli navigates it with the practiced ease of someone who has known this mountain her entire life. She is able to read the disruptions like a book, stepping through them like flipping pages, redirecting without breaking stride. Rover follows, quiet and careful, slightly paranoid.
I follow Rover's lead because I am not too proud to admit when someone else knows what they're doing.
We're maybe two minutes in when I catch it—an anomaly forms directly in Changli's path, bigger than the others. The air ahead of her folds, breaks, and tears. Stepping into it would be deeply unpleasant.
She hasn't seen it. Still moving.
Instinct moves faster than thought.
I reach forward and grab her shoulder to pull her back.
"Senpai, wait—the disruption isn't—"
White.
Then nothing.
Then somewhere else entirely.
"Of Course it is"
Behind him, Changli stumbles slightly from the pull, catches herself, turns.
Rover is already looking.
Sane stands perfectly still, hand still outstretched, eyes open and seeing nothing.
"...What just happened," Rover says. Not a question.
Changli looks at his hand. Then at where it had touched her shoulder. Then back at his face.
"...I have no idea," she says, which is possibly the most unsettled she has sounded since they met him.
Sane POV:
Ah shit—and a f##k—and shit, f##k, f##k.
Where in the hell did I end up now??
I look up and—wow, the sky. So not deeper in the cave, huh—
Well, at least this time I didn't spawn a thousand feet in the air... anyway, BB?
"Yes, Senpai~"
Damn, here I thought I could get a break.
"No, Senpai!"
Damn. Oh well—so where are we?
"I don't know, Senpai~"
...humph... + more villager noises
"What? Blame your own luck for this! It is your broken clock that sent us here!"
Broken Clock?
Name: Broken ClockRank: Gold
Description:
Oh—I see. So, uh, yeah, either future or past of somewhere. Damn.
Surely a bad luck pull by gacha standards, right...?
I turn my head slightly to the right, only to find about 20 Tacet Discords staring at me... this is undesirable.
Well, I can test something else I pulled...
I reach out my right hand toward the small horde, and a small black flame appears above my middle finger. Pulling my finger back, I tense the small amount of muscle and flick it toward the group.
It flies past a few until striking a guardian and exploding, causing about one-third of them to be obliterated instantly, while the rest become disfigured and charred, slowly dispersing into echoes and reverberations.
The few that survive attempt to charge, but with a twist of my will, ice erupts from below and skewers the last few Tacet Discords.
With that, I manage to clear the group in about three seconds without moving from my spot... when did I get this powerful?
Well, I might as well start moving somewhere. I won't get anywhere by just standing around.
BB, is there anything you can see from above the treeline?
"One sec~"
I look around again, and all I see is forest—a snowy forest. Thankfully, I am unaffected by the cold, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy a warm spring breeze.
Wait... I was able to use the black flames with no issue—I didn't get burned—since when—
You know what, not the damn time.
"Well, Senpai, there is smoke coming from that direction—>"
BB points toward my left at about a 30-degree angle, if my math is mathing, but who knows.
The snow is thick, and it is starting to get annoying constantly getting into my shoes. Despite it not actually causing any pain or cold, the wet socks feeling really isn't appealing.
The walk is about 13 minutes based on what BB said, and while looking around, there really isn't much else here but pine and a few old oak trees.
I guess that means this place does get warmer during some point in the year if there is oak here.
Soon I begin to make out the outline of burning houses. Realizing this, I immediately take off at speed, hoping there are people—or at least survivors—in the ablaze village.
I arrive in half a minute, the distance shrinking quickly. Soon I am running through the settlement, and I can only see burning Tacet Discords and charred bodies.
It takes me a while, but on the other side of the village I find a small young girl with golden eyes and dark hair. Her hands were burning, but it seemed that despite the burns on her skin, she was the source of the flames as she sent a wave of slightly weakened fire at more Tacet Discords.
Barely standing, the girl finally runs out of energy and starts falling backward, but I manage to catch her before she hits the ground.
The Tacet Discords are already blocks of ice, and with no other visible or heard survivors, I quickly ask BB to check the burning buildings, which she does. Meanwhile, I wrap the girl's injuries in bandages to hopefully prevent dirt and infection.
This small, frail child seems to have awakened her Tacet mark not long ago and had overclocked to save her own life. It was a miracle that I managed to get to her in time.
Soon BB returns, unfortunately with bad news. Most of the houses are empty, and the ones that aren't have already collapsed...
I might not be so courteous as to give the fallen a proper grave, but at the very least I can freeze this place. Soon, a blanket of darkness covers the village once more, with only the pale moonlight shining on the spikes of ice shaped like flames that engulf the entire area.
This place is certainly not fit for this recovering child. I better find an actual home or a town.
Soon I am walking again, but now with the child on my back. I go into the system store to buy a coat just for the kid—I am not some monster to let her freeze.
The direction I go in is simply one of the paths away from the village, one that, based on a sign, leads to a bigger town or even a city.
It takes roughly a day, but I finally see homes—ones that are more modern, so hopefully there is a medical facility there... seems that it isn't the middle ages where I got transported to, at the very least.
The little brat had been asleep the entire way. Thankfully, her condition seems to have calmed down—no longer burning or freezing—and thankfully no nightmares that cause her to set my head or back aflame in her sleep.
Reaching the settlement, I ask around for a hospital or a clinic and get directed to a newly opened one.
Thankfully there were no patients before the brat, so I was able to get her looked at real fast. When asked if I was a family member, I refused and stated I was a traveler who found her and decided to take her here.
I don't know if she had family there, but I saw no survivors.
Hearing this, the clerk was saddened but also called over a few officials so I could make a statement. I was also made the temporary legal guardian for whatever reason... I am only 18! Sure, I can take care of myself, but a brat—and a girl at that? Hell nah!
Unfortunately, they just had no better option, as there wasn't even an orphanage here, and most people here were researchers and scientists studying Mt. Firmament and were unable to take care of a child.
Then again, another problematic thing was that this "Court of Savantae" research base had no inn or hotel, and spare rooms were a luxury... at least I could sleep in the chair beside the brat... oh well.
In the morning, I was woken up by a yelp of pain. My mind still foggy, I mutter out "quiet," and the blanket rustling stops.
I pause, then blink my eyes open, and while looking up I find a pair of golden eyes staring at me defensively.
"Would you look at that, someone's finally awake! Had a good sleep, 'princess'?" Sarcasm laces my tone as I seem to keep running into bullshit like some half-assed shonen protagonist.
A small, quiet voice asks, "Who are you?"
"Your savior, Jesus Christ. No, not really—just a traveler who found you frozen and unconscious in the middle of a burning village."
"I-I see."
The brat looks down at the white blanket, now with slight red stain marks as her wounds seem to have opened up.
"Ah shit."
Choosing not to bother the doctors, I look through the system menu until a lightbulb goes off, and I check the summons menu. Ah, there we have it—'Chibi Yahweh'... sure, why not.
Clicking yes on the summoning screen, soon a small chibi figure appears on my shoulder, surrounded by golden radiance which slightly burns my skin—right—ah—
That is uncomfortable.
Choosing quickly, I grab him by his head only to place him down on the girl's bed and stare at him.
Blinking, the god from another world assesses his surroundings—his tiny form, the hurt child, and the half-grown angsty teen staring him down.
Seemingly understanding why I was staring at him, he turns to the brat and heals her injuries instantly. Even the Tacet mark on her chest seems to glow, only to slightly fade and gain a golden outline, if the light show is anything to judge by.
Soon he turns to me, a frown on his face.
"My child, why have you sinned so much?"
Staring at him, I sigh, then speak:
"One, I am no child of yours—not paternally nor by familiarity. Maybe those who believe in you are, but I would prefer not to be referenced as such. Two, if the sins refer to the body, then they are not my sins but rather a constitution made up of saves that I had taken to save my life. If it is my actual sins, then most did not harm others and aren't exactly beyond my morals."
A pause of silence follows, then he speaks:
"Alright, Sane, no bullshit. I was speaking of both, and it seems that you have made peace with both. Indeed, none are ones that harm others—you are simply too kind, whether you admit it or not. You have summoned me to heal this child, so I have done so. Yet why have you kept me here?"
"Figured I'd at least give you the courtesy of answering a few questions. Plus, I am curious about your opinion on this world. 'Oh all-forgiving father.'"
Ignoring my sarcasm, he closes his eyes for a second, only to open them again with a distraught expression.
"Not a pleasant world. Both humanity and the outside forces constantly fight and cause death. I can by no means call this world safe."
"Care to do anything about it?"
"..."
Without another word, he closes his eyes again, and I notice as the frequencies in the air thin, causing me slight discomfort but also making the brat—and likely other humans—much more stable and resistant to their influence.
"This world forgot me. If I were never here, then I could've done more. But in a world that forgot me, I truly have little power. I have done most I could. Considering your current body, you should be able to feel it, yes?"
"True."
"Then... tell me, will you try to improve your worst sin?"
"Lust?"
"Envy."
"If only telling myself to stop worked."
Giving me a smile at that, he disappears.
Then, as if time restarted, the brat begins breathing and moving again.
The damn nuisance lied about his influence.