Chapter 1 - The Tale of the Past

The sphere of time still won't let me go.

With my vision still darkened, I fumble around the space of time where all kinds of law were defied. The vibration of the surrounding gave me no choice but to spend most of my energy trying stabilize myself. Is this orb traveling through the tunnel of time, like those in the modern world imagines, or is it something else?

Before long, my eyes were returned its ability to see, and I was given quite the sight. As if in a spherical tornado, the walls around me spun with quite the vicious speed that I dare to say would snap my arm if I were to touch it. Considering that time was broken here, I couldn't say if I had been stuck in here for a long time, or not.

It hurts my head just to think about it.

But then... something worrisome started creeping into my ear. There was something cracking, and it wasn't going to stop. What truly worries me was how near had the sound be from my ears. I glanced down, hoping that my imagination was wrong.

And it wasn't.

The artifact of time, the amulet that was responsible to carry me into the past, had begun experiencing serious damage. Random cracks emerged from its current crimson red stone, spreading outward into its circle design like a black cobweb stamped on a full moon. This can't be happening. If it breaks now, I'll be stuck in the past!

As the physical state of the amulet diminishes in strength, so does the orb of time that carried me within.

The spherical wall, instead of spinning a complete circle, began traversing into a different direction thus colliding with its former trajectory. Because of this, holes within the orb of time appeared everywhere as it could no longer maintain its original sphere form.

I tried as hard as I could to stay still within the orb, however, the orb itself fell apart soon enough and shattered into fabrics of unfathomable dimension. Without anything to grab and hold on, I find myself ejected from the orb. The sight after that was... incomprehensible, and my consciousness slipped away soon after.

.

..

...

I hear the beautiful sound of birds chirping, along with the rustling of leaves as they orchestrated a scene of tranquility within my imagination. Where am I? Such peace couldn't possibly be found in the modern days where buildings infest the face of the Earth.

I opened my eyes.

Hovering above me was multiple puffs of white cloud, lurching over the vast and bright sky. There was no gigantic, metal airplane in sight, only a few birds that I didn't really care to learn about. The ray of the sun peeked above the cloud, almost blinding my eyes with its majestic presence.

I turned my head to the right and I find myself placing my cheek on the ground of what I suppose, the forest floor. There were bushes with flowers, so varied in color that I could call them rainbow of flowers. And there it was, the birds that had been chirping as it perched on a tree branch, its tiny little eyes staring at the foreign little me.

I rose up and then remembers about how the amulet was breaking apart when I was in the orb sphere. Is it... really broken? Wanting to find out, I used my hands to find the amulet which was supposed to be on my chest. I sought on every nook and cranny, trying to find that hard and edgy sensation of the amulet.... but to no avail.

I think... it shattered into dusts. It was an artifact after all.

So, what now? I had forgotten to ask father how to find the creator of the amulet, and my way to return to the future itself is jeopardized now. Such luck, can't be worse than this now, can it?

However, just when I thought of that, a few trees came crashing down in front of me, and stepping upon them like they were nothing but branches, was a creature far bigger than I was and had been cloaked in inferno. It looked like a bull bathed in magma, its fiery red eyes gazing right into me like I was its snack time.

Okay, I take it back. This is much worst.

Without any second thought, I scattered away into the forest, crashing through bushes and branches. The red bull, of which name I just gave, came charging straight through everything in its path. To it, trees became toothpicks, bushes became fleas and branches? As if it wasn't there in the first place.

"Just how destructive are you going to be just to have a snack?!" I shouted in desperation.

Before long, I began wheezing as I inhaled. I had forgotten, I was incapable of running for long because my body was weak. Even so, I cannot give up just yet. Scouting the surrounding area, I found several spots that might be possible to be used as a hiding spot. It wasn't much of a tactic, but at least it will do till the bull loses sight on me.

I snuggled into the insides of a tree trunk. I guess I should thank the heaven for my petite stature in cases like these. This should be a great spot. It's not in the way of the red bull, nor did it saw me sneaking my way in here. Now, all I have to do, is wait.

Hugging my legs together, I formed myself into the form of a fetus.

The tremor of the ground grew harder. The bull was creeping closer, but I bet it had lost sight of me. But... what if it decides to wreak havoc in anger, and end up stomping me flat? That's kind of bad... but it wouldn't do that right? Ah... why am I here anyway? I should have been back at home, reading books.

I tried to suppress my breathing, but then I ended up coughing once. Oh dam.

Before seconds even past, the very same red eyes that stared into my very being minutes just now, peeked at me hiding inside a tree trunk. I could almost feel like it's saying, 'HELLO! I FOUND YOU SNACK!'. I'm dead. I'm so dead.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

As it stood on its two legs, probably trying to rip the tree trunk off the ground, I remembered one important, and yet, obvious thing. I had magic! How could have I forgotten that? Clamping my hands together, I tried to converge all of my magic into my hands.

The plan was to make them all gather, turn them into ice, and direct it toward the red bull. After that, all that would be left was to force it explode, thus causing the bull to receive thousands of ice shards diving into its body. I believe the speed force would be enough to penetrate it.

Nevertheless... another problem surfaced. I tried to control mana and converge them... but they weren't following. I had mana of my own within my body, but those in the surrounding doesn't seem to obey my will. What's happening? Without sufficient amount of mana, I can't possibly cause enough damage to the red bull!

And so, as I experienced problem trying to control mana, the red bull successfully toppled the tree trunk over. I fell on my back, powerless and out of tricks. Is this my end? My untimely end? With every last drop of mana I had, I created a snow globe around me, a hundred times weaker than its original form.

The bull stretched its mouth upward, as if smirking, and then gets ready to stomp my globe, probably the last globe I'd be able to create.

But, before the bull landed its fiery massive feet on top of my globe, a sudden invisible blow somehow sent it flying away from me. What was that? I was curious to see what had hit the bull, but if I canceled my globe, I won't be able to protect myself from any external threat anymore. As such, I decided to lay low within my own protection.

There was the sound of fire crackling, more like a dragon spewing fiery breath, but I knew it was the bull. Is someone engaging it? But then, it also sounded like the bull got thrown off into more trees, because the ground shook hard and trees came crashing down, although I only heard more like thunderclaps.

Just like that, I ended up spectating the battle of the bull against another being, through my senses except my eyes.

It took quite a while, but after a few minutes, the surrounding was silence once more. I didn't hear the grunt of the bull anymore. Have it lost the battle? Who defeated it? I was about to crawl out of my globe to check, or so I planned until I heard more distinct voices. Rather than growling, grunting, or roaring, it was more... human-like.

I decided to stay within the tree trunk covered in snow globe. For now, I still don't want to meet anyone in this world. They all seem more powerful to me, even more with myself in the state of being unable to use magic. Please, just walk away.

But then... some random guy planted his face on my snow globe. Well, so much for my hope.

With his eyes squinted as if it was hard to see through the globe, he spoke, "Hey Quin, someone's in this orb! I think she's alive!"

My eyes twitched. Did he just call me she? In any case, language of the past doesn't seem to differentiate much from the future. That's one massive problem off my back.

Then, there's another guy wearing glasses appeared. He stared close into the globe. "Oh, you're right." He knocks on the globe. "Hey, can you hear me?" Because I was in the globe, all kind of sounds were muffled, but I still could hear them. For now... they are probably a safe bet for my survival in this world.

I nodded.

The guy in glasses saw my reply. "Okay, step back. I'll break this globe." He brought out a dagger and started hitting the globe with its tiny hilt. It wasn't much of a method, but as my globe had been in its weakest state, it was all that he needed to penetrate through my defense. I sigh in pity for myself.

The globe bursts open, and the other guy pulled me out of the tree trunk. He placed me down on the ground and patted everywhere on me, probably trying to remove the dusts that I had made friend with during the escape.

This is kind of awkward, but I should say thanks. They were sort of tall, so I looked up. "Uh, thanks for saving me. I would have died if it weren't for both of you."

Both of them smiled. "It's nothing. In fact, it's our fault for letting that monster escape our grasp and ended up attacking you," said the guy in glasses as he sheathed his dagger. He looked like the kind of person who would sneak up on a monster, with his light leather armor, and also pants to not hinder his movements.

"But whew, that's a nice looking magic right there, although kind of weak. Never seen it before here." The other guy pointed at my broken globe. His attires suggested that he was a mage, with purple robe laced with gems, although he's wearing a circlet instead of a big, pointy hat.

"Haha... anyway, what are your names?" I asked, trying to divert from the current topic.

"I am Quin. Quin Hovern," said the guy in glasses.

"The name's Regan. Regan Hovern. Nice to meet you!" replied the other.

"I..I am..." should I tell them my name? There's no harm to it, but... should I? No, if I want to earn their trust, that is what I should do for now.

"I am Liluca Aceheart."

And so my tale of the past begins, with the two as the first bookmark of my story.

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Author's Note: -

Did you enjoy the story? I hope so! Had a headache today, so wasn't able to write as good...

Nevertheless, don't be shy to hit me with a simple comment or a constructive criticism, for I am always expecting them!