Chapter 21

Chapter 21 - LOT

*Whooooooosh*

A quiet breeze echoed in the dreary northern night, spreading its arms across valleys and mountains, forests and hills. Various creatures ducked through this breeze, prowling about or resting, in small packs. Soft light reigned down from above, the stars dimly lighting the darkness.

Jack wiped his forehead as he felt the breeze, shivering slightly. His lungs felt like they were on fire as he continued to move, going around the side of a large mountain.

It had been nearly three hours since Jack left Snowbank City. In that time, he had traveled dozens of miles, largely thanks to the remnant energy in his scar slowing down time. That energy had run out a couple hours prior, leaving Jack to run under his own strength.

Jack used his Spirit to support his body, increasing his physical strength and durability as he ran. He was well practiced moving through the mountains north of Snowbank City, and was careful to avoid any beasts along the way, sometimes climbing a tree and hiding if he sensed danger.

Like that, he made great progress, following several landmarks listed by the Branch Chief.

The Space Gate Jack was supposed to find was hidden in the depths of a cave in an unassuming mountain, deep in the range. The cave itself had a small entrance from the outside, and was easily missed. There was a large rock collection above it, however, in the vague shape of a shield.

According to the intel he was given, he was rapidly approaching that mountain. As soon as he got around the mountain he was currently circling, he should reach his destination, in about an hour.

Jack periodically kept up his Slowed State as he moved. As he did so, he began to experiment with the Time Essence in his soul.

Now that he’d run out of the powerful energy in his scar, he would need to rely on himself. External sources could only do so much.

The energy came in the form of a warm ball of light. When Jack focused on it, he instinctively knew how to apply it. Just like the energy from his scar, he drew upon the energy and surrounded himself with it. At the same time, he activated the other portion of his Natural Ability. His Slowed State.

The world slowed down to 1/5th its regular speed. At the same time, Jack wrapped himself in the warm ball of energy. It gave off a comforting and calm feeling, allowing him to move in the slowed time.

After a moment of getting used to it, his body began to move in the slowed speed, unobstructed. The world around him became grayer, losing some of its color.

Five seconds for him became only a single second for other people.

“Incredible.” Even after experiencing the world slowed down to a thousand times its normal speed, simply having the world operate at 1/5th speed was an incredible experience. Jack’s speed had upgraded from that of a regular person to that of a powerful elite Hunter.

However, this power did have limitations.

The small ball of energy in Jack’s soul only lasted for a short amount of time. As Jack used it, he felt it rapidly dissipate.

As it stood now, he could enter his Slowed State almost indefinitely. He could only move at five times speed, however, for a grand total of about five seconds.

After that, the energy in his soul ran out.

After Jack tested this, completely draining his energy away, it had taken him a full twenty minutes for the energy in his soul to regenerate. He went and tested this a couple more times as he ran till giving it a rest, making sure he was able to fluidly draw upon the energy.

He also noticed that every time he used the energy completely, it seemed to grow a little more, his pool of Time Essence becoming minutely larger.

As Jack was running, feeling the energy in his soul slowly recondense after his last test, he examined something in his soul that he hadn’t focused on before. A small collection of symbols that were found at the spot where Time Essence condensed in his soul.

The collection of symbols had been invisible until Jack fully Awakened. It still existed, but he hadn’t been aware of its existence. It was this that let him open up the Golden Flame Clan treasure room where he discovered the Origin Ability Crystal, and his blade Wyrmblight.

This was, according to his mother, the Clan Leader’s Imprint. Jack hadn’t spent any time studying it yet due to the hectic situation at hand, devoting most of his focus to simply surviving. Now, however, he had a bit of free time.

This section of the mountains was mostly safe, bereft of anything dangerous as far as Jack could tell, and he could run more or less on autopilot untill he reached the Space Gate.

Jack looked at the collection of yellow symbols in his soul closely, feeling a strange connection to them. They gave off a feeling of authority. As Jack focused on them, he realized something.

These symbols seemed to have some sort of knowledge sealed within them. Jack instinctively knew he could tap into it and absorb it if he allowed the symbols to flow forward.

With a mental shrug, Jack accepted the information the symbols were trying to convey.

A flash of light that was visible, but at the same time, not visible, blinded Jack. As it did so, the world around Jack slowed down an extreme amount, and then vanished as a vision played out in his mind.

Jack blinked, looking at the world around him, caught up in the vision.

He was currently floating in the air above a small, white and gray island that stretched about fifteen meters wide and far. White waves crashed on the small island, moving too and fro chaotically. A small, pure white palm tree was the only thing present on the island, standing tall against a dark grey sky.

The world around him was devoid of color, the only sight a visible mishmash of grays and whites.

“Hello, my baby boy.” A familiar voice melded into Jack’s ears, causing him to instinctively spin around, his floating body moving with his will.

“MOTHER!” Jack stared at the white garbed woman, his heart jumping into his throat.

Jack’s mother stood on the island, slowly walking up to the peaceful looking palm tree. She wore a long white dress, and had a small white tiara resting on her now grey and white long hair.

She didn’t seem to notice or pay any attention to Jack.

“When you see this, that means you will have Awakened, and successfully bonded with the Clan Leader’s Imprint, and actively drawn upon it.” Her voice flowed forward, her eyes resolute as she looked around the lonesome island. A faint breeze brushed past Jack, causing his mother’s hair to drift.

“As you have become the new Clan Leader, you must at least know of our Time Clan’s history. I want nothing more for you than for you to settle down happily and live a good life, but some traditions must be upheld.” Her voice carried a commanding tone as she spoke, an air of authority surrounding her.

“The Time Clan and our sister clan the Space Clan were the chief protectors of our world. Our powers combined could drive back the forces of the Void, the darkness beyond reality that seeks to devour existence. The other Clans played a role as well, supporting and aiding the defense. We were united, and powerful.”

“Our history is far too long for me to convey here. In your mind you should have access to several Time Sealed vaults or areas. There is a treasure vault of the Time Clan in the Boldred Mountains that I will share with you, the historic annals of our past can be found here.”

In Jack’s mind, a brief pinpoint of light popped up on the mental map he had gained many days ago, indicating this location. Jack made a mental note to actually focus on this map and examine it later.

“Everything changed, however, when the Light Clan found a way to seal off the world, during my reign as Clan Leader. Since then, only the weakest of beings from the Void have been able to infiltrate, and the world has been largely at peace.”

“Time passed, as it ever does. Soon, our united front fell apart. There was no need for a united defense, when there was nothing to defend against. The Light Clan’s hard work and efforts succeeded in sealing away the Void, but also ruined the Clan Alliance.”

Jack’s mother paused for a moment, her eyes going distant.

“Our Time Clan was powerful, yes. Our Natural Ability was, after all, the strongest in the world, tied only with the Space Clan. However, those who could fully use our Natural Ability were few. Developing our bloodline to the fullest was dangerous and difficult. In my generation, only three warriors, myself included, reached near the full culmination of Time, and became Lords of Time.”

“We combined with the rest of our Clan to reach a mighty force, the 11 Lords of Time, the undisputed leaders of the defense. We were mighty then, and fearless. We thought ourselves unstoppable. Despite the alliance falling apart, we had no worries. The Void was sealed away, everything seemed victorious.”

His mother’s eyes darkened, her voice carrying an edge of sadness and disappointment.

“And then, the unspeakable happened.” Her hands trembled as she continued to speak,

“Darfur, the youngest Lord of Time, turned traitor. He betrayed us to the Void we thought was all sealed away. He struck as we were in the midst of celebration, when our guard was down. No Lord of Time had ever turned traitor before.”

A moment of silence settled as his mother paused, her eyes lost in the past.

“He killed them all. All but me. Our Natural Ability, especially when one reaches the level of a Lord of Time, is awesomely powerful. But we are not Gods. We can be taken by surprise. No one expected Darfur to attack his own kin.”

“It was a massacre.”

“He struck when I was out, at a meeting with the Energy Clan, one of our chief allies even after the collapse of the alliance.”

“Our Time Clan is powerful, but we depend on our Lords of Time. Our regular Clan Members, at most, could alter time a few folds, making them powerful fighters, yes, especially for those that trained in the blade. But not a match for the elite Formless Warriors of the other clans, or even some of the non Formless elite warriors.”

“Our Time Clan depended on our true experts, the Lords of Time, to stand matchless. Even the mighty Space Clan gave way in the face of our Lords.”

“Alas.” A bitter smile covered his mother’s face.

“You see how we are now.”

“We were betrayed.”

“By the time I learned of what had transpired, creatures of the Void had appeared and struck at every stronghold we had, entire legions of Flame Banshees, Dozens of Void Dragons, thousands of Ion Trolls.”

“They hit every one of our vanguards, many of which were kept secret even among the other Lords of Time. The only one who knew of all our strategic points were the other Clan Leaders, through our previous coordinated defense. We didn’t think to change them, even when the Alliance fell apart.”

She shook her head sadly.

“We were betrayed, not just by Darfur, but by one of the other Great Clans as well.”

“It became a genocide of our clan.”

“Alas.”

“I store these memories for you now in the Clan Leader’s imprint, as tradition dictates, so that our Clan will continue onward once more, living a little longer in time.” Her voice carried a heavy edge now, as if she was carrying a heavy burden. Jack stared at her intently, wanting nothing more than to hug her. He clenched his fists as he listened, however, taking in everything she said.

“I’m sorry for having to hand this all off to you, my baby boy. I am left with no choice. These hands of mine do shake, and cannot handle this weight any longer.” For a brief moment, Jack saw an incredible well of pain and sadness in his mother’s eyes. The moment passed, however, the look vanishing. It remained imprinted on Jack’s mind.

“Now you know of our past. I hope the world now is not as chaotic as it is when I make this. Despite the creatures of the Void appearing to attack us and the Space Clan, the seal on the Void should still by active. The Light Clan had the collaboration of all of the Great Clans for its seal, it isn’t something that could be broken easily. The creatures that attacked us must have remained, leftover and hidden in the world.”

“In a moment, I shall pass off the basic knowledge of our Natural Ability to you, be-AAAAAYFG-“

Jack’s mother’s voice abruptly twisted, her features trembling as she turned around. The island around Jack seemed to waver, the peaceful whites and grey starting to transform. A look of rage and anger appeared on her face, and an explosively powerful aura blasted out around her.

“DARFUR! EVEN NOW YOU DARE-”

The world before Jack abruptly vanished, the vision ending. He blinked at the abrupt transition, his feelings a mixture of fear, love, panic, and need. He checked the Clan Leader’s Imprint again, trying too see if there was any more information or a continuation. There was not. His heart ached.

The world around him returned to its regular pace as the vision finished, the grays returning back to normal. Jack entered his Slowed State again, giving himself time to think.

He ran on autopilot for a few minutes, going over his memories in his Slowed State. His eyes were cold as he took several deep breaths, clenching his fists tightly, his two promises keen in his mind.

And it was like this that Jack rounded the final corner of the mountain, and came upon a small, unassuming cave opening, his mind full of turmoil, his heart full of unrest.

..

..

..

A few miles distant.

“Yes, he’s just up here, milords. The aura of fire is extremely close now!” Corker, the tracker, spoke out, his breathing ragged as he continued running forward, dodging trees as they passed out of a forest onto a nearby mountain. His eyes were filled with an equal mix of exhaustion and fear.

A large group of black robed figures were running towards Jack’s location. Members of a unique organization on this continent known as Icy Night.

The world was filled with chaos, and people that knew how to take advantage of that chaos were the ones that came out on top. The Duke of Snow was one such person.

Icy Night was a group of killers for hire that the Duke of Snow had used several times before, to help him secure his area of rule. The Duke could not be everywhere at once, and often used them for his dirty work, for doing deeds he would rather not have stain his name.

Groups like Icy Night were not common, but neither were they extremely rare. The turmoil of this world, combined with the fact that many people had powerful, unique abilities, made many a warrior turn to killing for prestige and wealth.

One black robed figure, the apparent leader of the group, gave a sharp nod, his face indistinct as he looked in the direction Corker indicated. Where Jack was located.

“Prepare to attack. Our orders are to capture if possible, otherwise kill on sight.”