Thief of Time

“Trouble breathing…” Claud sucked in air with his mouth, before taking out some artefacts. A bubble enveloped the two of them a moment later, and the viscous, thick air gave way to more breathable alternatives as the artefacts in his hand hummed. “Whew. That’s better.”

“Why do you have an artefact that produces breathable air?”

“Why wouldn’t I have one?” Claud asked, tilting his head.

Lily opened her mouth, and then bobbed her head. “Good point. You’re Claud, after all.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment…” Claud assessed his surroundings. The area around the two of them had turned into a viscous fog that made it hard to see, breathe and move. As a plus point, however, the fact that this place was hard to move through had deterred those spectres too; the way ahead seemed to be very much spectre-free.

“My hunch tells me that we’re getting close.”

“Seems like it,” Claud replied. “Air…shouldn’t be like water, right? Only a miracle can make such a thing happened.”

“Which one? Turning water into air? That’s called evaporation.”

“No, not that.” Claud looked at the fog. “And I don’t think high humidity does this.”

“Don’t take my jokes so seriously!”

The two of them continued to venture into the ancient battlefield. Both Claud and Lily had agreed that heading towards greater concentrations of water-like air was probably the best way to go; after all, there was a good chance that this anomaly was centred around the Black God’s entry into divinity.

After five hundred and forty-three steps — Claud and Lily were counting their steps out loud now — a shadow loomed in the distance, and Claud stopped on the spot.

“That’s…”

“It’s probably not a tombstone, at least.” Lily looked around. “And this place…it seems a bit different. There’s something in front of us.”

“Like another boundary,” Claud muttered.

“Yeah. Another boundary.” Lily tilted her head. “Lots of these things nowadays, huh. I wonder what these boundaries do, actually.”

“Keep things in and out, I guess.” Claud sighed. “Hmm. Should we take the risk, or should I be a bit more prudent here? Well, this might be the spot where the Black God ascended. Being a bit more prudent here is a good idea. Lily, can you take a small stone and toss it through the boundary?”

“On it.”

The meeplings hopped onto Lily’s shoulder as she tossed the pebble through the boundary, an act that everyone watched with bated breath. Surprisingly enough, nothing actually happened, and Claud nodded at her.

“Let’s be a bit careful, then.”

“Meep!”

Lily picked up the three little fellows and placed them on Claud’s head. “Alright, let’s go.”

“What do you mean, alright?” Claud looked at the meeplings, who were making a nest in his head as per normal, and rolled his eyes at her. “Now they’re going to make a mess of my hair again.”

“Eh, it’s fine…I like it messy, after all!” Lily slid close to him. “Let’s go.”

Supported by Lily, the two of them moved into the barrier, and Claud immediately frowned. It wasn’t really a problem, but even moving his mana now felt a lot harder.

“My mana’s suppressed,” Lily reported.

“Same here.” Claud took a deep breath. “To be honest, I kinda want to retreat right now. With that skill on cooldown, it feels like we might be in for something.”

“Will of Freedom,” Lily replied. “That might help.”

“…Worth a try, I suppose. Will of Freedom!”

Something seemed to expand outwards from him, but even the expansion of that mental territory seemed to be a bit stifled. Claud, however, managed to create a cube that encapsulated the two of them after some effort, and the feeling of being shackled and locked up vanished.

“That works too, huh. What’s the description of Will of Freedom again?” Lily asked.

“Let’s see…the user can move freely in all directions, while ignoring all other physical forces, for thirty days.” Claud paused. “Well, I cancelled it earlier, because being able to move like that in normal life isn’t something I could get used to just yet.”

“I did think it was thirty days too,” Lily replied. “But is there a point to making it last that long anyway? It’s level 11, right? The cooldown is only two hours. You don’t even need it to last more than that.”

“Probably for some weird reason, I suppose.” Claud looked at the shadow. “But enough about this skill for now. This shadow…”

Lily’s fingers tightened somewhat as the two of them approached it.

“This is a…platform, right?” Claud looked at the weird structure. It was their height, but the entire thing was a circular platform with steps on it. “But why would there be a platform here? Did the Black God create this?”

“It might be symbolic,” Lily suggested. “Something left behind to mark his ascension. And this presence…it does feel like that of the Black God’s.”

Claud reached out mentally to the platform, and then grimaced. The pressure it gave off, the presence it had and its effect on reality…all this pointed at the same, familiar divine origin. While Claud could not quite distinguish between the various divinities in terms of what their actual presence felt like, this power definitely came from that of a god.

“This power…it seems to be one of the first things he touched when he became the Black God,” Claud observed. “Or one of the first things that he created.”

“If this was here since forever, does it not mean that this platform is a way for a mortal to become a god?” Lily asked. “And if it’s something he created…the Black God doesn’t seem like someone that would create a thing like this without any good reason. For what reason would he make such a platform, then?”

“You’re missing the most important bit,” Claud replied.

“The most important bit?” Lily echoed. “What’s the most important bit?”

“Should we climb this platform and head to the top?” Claud asked, gazing at the divine structure.

“…That’s a very good question.” Lily thought for a moment. “Um. Maybe we should have a break here first. You know. Get some food, relax a bit...”

“Lily?”

“I’m a bit scared of this thing…it’s, frankly speaking, horrifying. I can’t breathe easily in its presence. It’s like the Black God stopped restraining himself and everything.” Lily gritted her teeth. “I want to stay here for a while. Train my body to get used to this overpowering presence.”

Claud nodded. “That’s a good choice. Maybe it’s different for me, but humans…I don’t think normal humans are supposed to remain for long periods in a god’s presence, right? And while neither of us are normal, thanks to my O skill, I’m definitely more abnormal than you.”

“What is this, a competition?”

“No, I’m just reasoning out why I don’t feel this much pressure,” Claud replied. “It’ll do me much good to remember that I’m a bit different from the others.”

“Be a bit more confident, dear.” Lily stroked his head. “You aren’t just a bit different.”

“You get the point well, I see.” Claud smiled. “Well, we can just sit here and all, I suppose. We have quite a lot of time here…and to be honest? I think you’re safe here. We can just build a house in what is essentially a forbidden area and all, you know.”

“We can?”

“Are there any rules prohibiting us from doing that?” Claud asked. “Hmm. I don’t see any at all. Thus, it is fine for us to build a little home here if you so wish. I think it’s a good idea, to be honest. In fact, the others should acclimatise themselves to the unadulterated presence of a god.”

“Wait, are you suggesting…”

“That we bring them to the depths of a god’s death or ascension and have them live there for some time?” Claud asked. “Absolutely.”

“…Damn.”

“I was hoping for that expression.” Claud smiled. “And besides…maybe it’ll help you. It’s definitely going to help you. I know it will. So…if you don’t mind, let’s extend this holiday. You’ll face the full might of the Black God’s existence, and I’ll watch on, ready to extend a hand.”

“A holiday…yeah. Sure!” Lily looked at him. “As long as we’re together, we can do anything, right?”

Claud nodded. “Anything. Let’s get prepared, then. Hmm. We’ll stay here like this for two days first, I suppose? I’ll cover you in Will of Freedom in that time. After that, I’ll dispel it and the two of us will exit the place until it recovers, at which point we go in for more exposure together. If anything happens, I’ll activate Will of Freedom and bring us out.”

He thought for a moment. “After a month or so, we can begin to move deeper into the ancient battlefield and everything. I think a good goal would be to climb it. Let’s see if we can do that before I can enter the Third Tutorial.”

“We’re staying for that long?”

“It should be fine,” Claud replied. “We do have food and water, and we’re mana-users to boot.”

“I’m not really regretting this, but at the same time, I definitely do feel some regret…”