Imri panicked as he felt the blade slicing through his neck. He channeled a near-max amplitude Temporal Expansion. Everything around him moved in slow motion, almost as if time had stopped. Flecks of blood spraying from his neck hung in the air, the motion so slow as to nearly be imperceptible. Despite this, he could still feel the sword cutting through him. He cast a short-range teleport with the last available mana throughput, moving only a meter back and out of the blade’s trajectory.
While he had managed to avoid instant death from decapitation, Imri was still in bad shape. The cut had gone nearly halfway through his neck, severing arteries and nerves. He should have been crippled from the damage to his spine, but he was still able to function thanks to his inhuman physical abilities and HP. A quick mental query showed that it had dropped from 473 to just below one hundred, with a steady decline as blood gushed out, and that was with time expanded to an insane degree.
The more immediate problem was his attacker. Even with them trying to kill him, he couldn’t help but pass his eyes over them, with only a blurry figure at the periphery of his vision confirming where they were. He could send large arcs of Planar Tear or compress a vast area with Spatial Collapse, but he was unsure of his opponent''s defenses. He would die if they managed to foil his attack with a mana shield. He needed to see and Identify his opponent before he could make a plan of attack.
A domain sprang into existence, giving Imri unparalleled information about the area around him. Twenty minutes of possible usage of Manifest Domain was deducted for using the skill for a third time this month. He still had plenty of uses left, but at the rate he was going through them, it would become a problem. The armor tried to divert his gaze, but with domain, he was aware of everything; the armor could do nothing within such an all-encompassing area of effect.
The assailant was a level fifty-eight Assassin and forty-five Mind Theif, having quite a few levels on Imri. It had only taken Imri a fraction of a second to decide on this course of action and implement it, and that was before the ridiculous time-altering effects were factored in. However, despite all that, the Assasin was still reacting. They weren’t moving fast, more like a person wading through deep water, but even that was ridiculous, considering the blood spray had gone only a few inches in that same amount of time.
At the same time, he felt something slam against his mind. It wasn’t to control him completely; instead, the Mind Theif Assasin attempted to break his concentration. If Imri’s Temporal Expansion ended for a fraction of a second, he was dead. Fortunately, Imri, having several mind defense traits, a general resistance to magic, and ridiculous mental stats, made the effort futile.
Imri’s Staff of the Celestial Mage appeared in his hands, summoned through his Inner Domain. He used it to cast Temporal Expansion at an even higher throughput than he was already running. Given that the staff had less efficiency, he would be going through an insane amount of stored mana quickly. The duplicate effects didn’t stack, but he didn’t trust dropping it for any period. He dropped his own casting of Temporal Expansion once the enchantment version had begun. He switched to his domain, using it for Temporal Collapse on the Assasin—those two effects stacked, making the Azala essentially frozen in time, relative to Imri.
Not wanting to waste time with the ridiculous mana expenditure, Imri strode up to his attacker. A Dimensional Saber appeared in Imri’s hand. A lazy slash cleanly separated the Azala’s head from the rest of their body. Imri released the spell effects, and the Assasin crumpled to the ground. He was momentarily confused, as there was no flood of experience. He noticed a flicker of movement, the eyes of the decapitated Azala looking at him. Fortunately, the high-level assassin was incapable of doing anything with such a grievous wound, and a few seconds later, it succumbed to being decapitated.
Imri tracked his HP closely as it continued to drop. He could summon the Chalice of Rebirth if it got much lower, but he wanted to save it as a last resort. With his throat severely damaged, he wasn’t sure if he could drink anything anyway, which also ruled out potions. He slipped into a meditation to improve all his regeneration, especially when combined with his Shaped by Mana trait, which converted his MP regeneration to HP regeneration. Even with those bonuses, the several hundred HP per hour was nothing compared to the amount of damage per second he was accruing from having a head hanging on by a thread. Emelia was sprinting towards him, only a few blocks away in the clinic, but she wouldn’t arrive in time.
Fortunately, time was Imri’s to control. Emelia was in his domain, and he adjusted the domain spell to be a Temporal Expansion. After ensuring no other infiltrators were within the radius, he targeted everyone except himself. He only needed to target Emelia but didn’t see the harm in including everyone, as the spell would cost the same amount. Her speed increased, but it would still be too close for comfort.
Imri needed a way to slow himself down, giving the injuries less time to worsen. At an extreme, it would be Stasis, which is what he had done to save Corrolth’s unborn children or Rayden’s life after the Troglodytes had poisoned him. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t work; he couldn’t maintain his spells while in Stasis. Fortunately, Imri didn’t need to be frozen in time for hours; he just needed a few extra seconds to give Emelia time to reach him.
Still holding his staff, Imri used the enchanted item to imitate another of his spells. Temporal Collapse affected him, causing several seconds to pass for each one he experienced. Critically, Emelia got several seconds to run for each second of his injury worsening. In this case, he was like the assassin, unable to move as the rest of the world passed by in a blur.
Emelia burst into the room, appearing to move at superhuman speeds that were impossible to track with his eyes. An instant later, a soothing warmth pulsed through his neck, his body reknitting itself back together. A second after that, he was back to full health, with unmarred flesh leaving no hint of the near-death experience. Imri dropped his domain and spells, undamming the passage of time.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Emelia hadn’t struggled to heal that amount of damage. She had come a long way from when it took her all night to save Zhaire from the Umbral Tiger. She had also hit level thirty in her class and heritage, meaning the next heritage rank-up was possible. However, despite her remarkable improvements, the healing had taken a good portion of her mana and a bit of her HP for the Shared Burden and Martyr combo. Her emotions had also caused her to overheal when a hundred points to close up the wound would have had Imri back at full health from natural regenerations in no time.
“Are you alright?” she asked, scrutinizing her work. It was unnecessary, as their Soul Bond told her exactly how much HP Imri had.
“I’m at a higher HP percentage than you,” Imri pointed out.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she scolded.
Imri nodded thoughtfully, reflecting on how close he had come to dying. If he hadn’t been in tune with his body via meditation, he wouldn’t have been able to react as quickly, and the slightest hesitation would have caused him to be decapitated. The stats he had gained from the most recent level-ups also significantly influenced a fight this close.
He had made several miscalculations, all of them before the attempt on his life. A peak tier-two being wasn’t just a slightly more powerful specimen. They had aspects that far outdid what was capable before the system. The powerful Assasin had physical attributes comparable to his mental ones. While they couldn’t teleport, with the physical stats they possessed, they could have been moving at speeds exceeding pre-integration vehicles. Imri had also assumed the guards throughout the city would have spotted someone trying to enter. The armor had made that defense untenable, and a guard likely wouldn’t have noticed the Azala if it was standing right in front of them. It was also possible that the armor was redundant, and such a high-level mind mage wouldn’t have even needed it to get past the patrols.
All that combined meant that Imri had badly misjudged his safety. He couldn’t assume he was safe because he was kilometers away from the horde of enemies. That was only the threats he knew of; for all he knew, there could be several more assassins of a similar level. Imri didn’t think that was likely but couldn’t make unfounded assumptions. He also couldn’t conclude they would always go for him; what would have happened if this assassin had gone after Emelia? He shuddered at the thought.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have an easy solution; he would have already done so if there was an easy way to ward the settlement from high-level infiltrators. He could periodically weed them out with Manifest Domain, but that wouldn’t prevent assassination attempts. All he could do was ensure he wasn’t in such a vulnerable state, and he hoped this Assasin was the best the Azala had.
Fortunately, the loot suggested that was a valid assumption. The Assasin had the Infiltrator’s armor from the auction. It had looked like an unassuming ensemble of everyday clothing. However, it reverted to silver silk accented with a golden script after the wearer died. Despite the light and bendable material, it was durable enough to stop any mundane weapon, likely rivaling a heavy set of drake scale vests. The real value was in the unique property, which made the wearer almost invisible. On top of that, it had resizing and repair properties. Likewise, the longsword was also an auction item, though only a basic one that gave repair and sharpness properties. Add in the level fifty-eight core that Imri extracted, and this one kill was worth over twenty million credits.
He would keep the armor for now, as it was better than his own in almost every way. The sword wasn’t immediately functional for him. His dimensional sabers were better in a short fight, where the mana drain wouldn’t become an issue. The sword would be ideal in a protracted battle, but Imri didn’t see his fights devolving into that. The final reward was the notifications that were waiting for him.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9817%; background-color: rgba(52, 73, 94, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Traits Ranked Up</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Temporal Control F to E: Gives an instinctive control over temporal concepts, helping improve the rate at which spells and abilities related to the concept of time are learned and improved by 5.66% (+.16%). Increases the effectiveness of temporal spells and abilities by 2.57% (+.07%).</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">One with Time F to E: You have achieved control over time within your body, making it a part of you. You age 5.15% (+.15%) slower, both from natural and magical effects. The mana efficiency of beneficial temporal spells that target you is increased by 5.15% (+.15%), while the efficiency of harmful temporal effects is reduced by 5.15% (+.15%). You can always accurately perceive how much time has elapsed in a given period, with precision dependent on Willpower, and will be instantly aware of any changes in the passage of time instinctually.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9817%; background-color: rgba(52, 73, 94, 1)" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Spells Ranked Up</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Temporal Expansion F to E: 3% increase in the spell''s mana efficiency</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 98.9589%">Temporal Collapse F to E: 3% increase in the spell''s mana efficiency</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
In addition to the ability rank-ups, he had gained a single level in Celestial Mage and Manifestation of Gaia. The increase was slight, especially compared to his massive leaps forward from slaying thousands of Azala or purchasing natural treasures. Still, he would take every iota of power he could, as it would all be needed in the coming fight.
The only downside to the encounter was his resources. His MP was almost entirely spent, and he once again had the over-channel debuff. His stored mana was also low, with some of the crystals swapped for empty ones to power the settlement. Overall, he was worse off than when he had begun meditating several hours earlier.
His radio crackled to life. Colonel Harper spoke in a severe tone that commanded, “The Chixel have begun their assault on Seagrass Lodge. All reserve units form up at the portal. All command staff, report to HQ.”
Imri cursed as he once again felt powerless against a ceaseless onslaught. He considered using the chalice but refrained. He needed to accept that he couldn’t sway every battle and wasn’t solely responsible for the defense. Besides, Zhaire would never forgive him if he took away all his fun.