Tepo found himself at the center of the crowd, close to the artificial core levitating in the air. This was the little bit of advantage dungeons gave to those who solved them.

But Tepo didn’t dare to reach out to the mysterious liquid. Just like everyone else he did his best to act confused, looking around the room with blinking eyes. Honestly, his acting might not even fool children but luckily it didn’t stand out within the large crowd.

Gradually the guards randomly scattered around reacted to the situation. Their faces paled, hands turning sweaty. Some shouted with shocked and fearful voices.

“F*ck! The dungeon!”

“What happened? Who solved the dungeon?!”

“The boss will kill us! Hurry, find the culprit. Maybe we can keep our heads!”

“No! How could this happen!”

The situation gradually escalated. The guards’ emotions got out of control. A worker who curiously reached for the artificial core immediately had their hand cut off. They were overwhelmed by two guards and suspected of being the culprit.

Tepo shivered for everyone to see as the blood sprinkled his simple dark trousers.

Suddenly a commotion could be heard from the outside. A gate was pushed open abruptly as a tall woman flanked by two guards entered.

Tepo’s eyes narrowed. He recognized this woman. Her long hair was dyed yellow as she even wore a yellow coat above her armor. She was one of the vice-captains of Lirane’s guards, a strong six-circled aspirant, Voria Leh.

Realizing that his situation wasn’t great, Tepo carefully pushed backwards, not staying close to the core.

With rage in her eyes Voria stomped heavily on the floor. Her sharp eyes scanned the room, an invisible pressure spreading from her. A few commoners close to the strong warrior hastily reeled back.

“WHO. DID. THIS?!

COME OUT YOU B*STARD AND I MIGHT GRANT YOU A PAINLESS DEATH!!!”

A loud voice drowned all noises. The guards looked like they found their pillar while the commoners felt their legs turning weak, some ears even bleeding.

“AHH!”

Suddenly Viola roared in anger. Her fist punched out. With a loud bang a hole was directly punched through the gate. The vice-captain was like a volcano ready to explode at any second.

“Guards! Heed my orders! Everyone will be gathered in the empty factory! Whoever doesn’t comply will be killed on the spot! Only guards who have been with us for more than five years will take charge!”

“Yes, madam!”

Immediately resounding voices answered. The guards moved swiftly, fearing for their lives as well. A push came in the crowd. The guards who came with Voria took charge, beginning to herd everyone like a flock of sheep.

The same happened outside as well. But Voria’s attention was naturally on the workers within the room. She didn’t care for any politeness and blatantly scanned everyone individually as they were brought before here.

Suddenly Voria’s hand shot forward.

“No! Please, I can explain!”

With a loud impact one of the workers crashed into the wall. Voria had aimed to grab his neck, but the supposed commoner had suddenly activated a defensive spell.

Immediately five guards jumped at the man on the floor. They were eager for merit. Or a scapegoat. Ot both. Or maybe even the real culprit.

The man struggled weakly but with two weapons on his neck he was dragged up by his hair.

“Throw him into a cell and interrogate him!”

“No, no! I’m innocent. Please, I ca…”

“SHUT UP!”

Suddenly one of the guards had enough of the stammering. A fist landed in the man’s face, drawing blood from his mouth.

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Not far away Tepo watch in trepidation as the worker was carried away. He felt like the situation was out of his control. Now he could only hope that his core wasn’t detected, or a desperate fight would begin.

The other workers were visibly frightened as well. With trembling legs, they were brought before Voria. Only with her approval could they leave safely.

Soon it was Tepo’s turn. He took a deep breath and was just about to step forward when a palm pushed him heavily.

The young man was shocked, but luckily his mind worked at inhuman speeds. It immediately suppressed Tepo’s instinctive reflexes, letting him pretend to trip.

Awkwardly falling on the floor the warrior groaned heavily. He looked back at the guard pushing him with a mix of rage and fear, but didn’t dare to complain. He stood up and walked before Voria.

The vice-captain saw everything, but she didn’t comment on it. Her dark green eyes looked poisonous at the moment as she scanned Tepo. They narrowed slightly as she felt something was off about the commoner before her. He didn’t seem genuinely terrified like the others.

Tepo didn’t know what was going on in Voria’s head. He did his best to act, even pressing some sweat out from his forehead.

However, Voria stayed suspicious. A strange atmosphere settled in as the vice-captain stared at a single worker for too long. The guards were ready to draw their weapons at any moment.

Even Tepo noticed that something was wrong.

What is going on? Did Voria see my core? No, it can’t be! She would’ve acted immediately. So what else is going on?

Suddenly the strange silence was interrupted. A saber swung through the air at high speeds.

Tepo’s eyes opened widely. He was just about to react when his core activated the [Time Dialtion: Body] of its own volition. Everything slowed down for the young man.

Scanning Voria’s movements he seemed to discover something.

This is a gamble, but I have to take it!

With almost suicidal thoughts Tepo did something unsuspected. He hastily suppressed his passive defense as he stood still, frozen in shock, and too slow to react to Voria’s saber.

A moment later the young man felt the cold steel on his neck. His body trembled as he felt a drop of blood running down his throat. Cold sweat gathered on his back.

Voria looked into the newcomer’s shaking eyes. She snorted audibly before chasing him away:

“Whatever, you can go.”

Tepo did his best to keep up the act. But this time it was somewhat easier as he really could’ve died just now.

Thanks a lot, buddy.

As he stepped outside, Tepo inwardly thanked his core. But strangely the Core of Time didn’t answer him.

The young man was confused, fearing that something might’ve gone wrong just now. While he followed the guards’ direction towards a big building Tepo focused his vision inwards.

As his soul moved slightly, Tepo observed the projection of his body. Suddenly he stared at his chest in surprised. A large number of words was pouring in right now, the Force of Natural Perception keeping his core occupied.

Golden words were shattered constantly, his core turning brighter with each one. Suddenly a limit was reached. The Core of Time pulsed, letting out a bright light.

A moment later the core settled down again, now having a much easier time dealing with the Force of Natural Perception.

Tepo was staring in surprised before a joyful smile graced his lips, which he suppressed immediately after.

Who would’ve thought that my core’s quality would advance right now? This must be the result of the armies and the Lirane Group searching for me. I guess that’s also a form of fame…

Tepo quickly connected with his core, hoping for an ability which might help him in the current situation.

>>> Core of Time <<<

Real name:

Master of the everflowing, the immortal

Core rank:

common (damaged 113/1000)

Core quality:

⭐⭐⭐

Core level:

6

Host level:

aspirant (six-circled)

Spells:

Three-runed:

[Lonarzium Skin][Rapid Pierce]

[Chaotic Evasion]

[Minor Regeneration]

[Infectious Flames]

Six-runed:

[Minor Stealth][Natural Hardened Defense]

Combinations:

[Subtle Strike][Heated Defense]

[Regenerating Defense]

Core abilities:

[Scan][Projection][Time Dilation: Body]

[Time Protection: Future][Time Dilation: Target]

>>> <<<

He rapidly browsed through the information before coming to a stop. A promising name fell into his eyes.

[Time Dilation: Target]: The ability to speed up or slow down time for a target. The multiplier depends on the host’s strength. This ability awakened after the Core of Time reached the three-star quality.

Tepo could hardly prevent his mouth from opening involuntarily. This ability sounded terrifyingly powerful if used correctly. This was definitely another trump card in his arsenal.

“Hey! Stop daydreaming!”

Suddenly an annoyed shout brought Tepo back to reality. A guard rudely pulled on his arm.

“Go in!”

With those words the young man was pushed through a big metallic gate, entering a spacious building.

He found himself within a huge hall. It was constructed from simple materials and was empty right now except for the big crowd of nervous suspects who were held here until the culprit could be figured out.

Above the many suspects was a metallic walkway along the building’s walls. Stern-faced guards patrolled it, constantly scanning the crowd below.

The gates were protected by groups of guards as well, ready to kill everyone who thought about fleeing.

Tepo tumbled into the crowd with a heavy heart. If the Lirane Group was determined enough it was only a matter of time until they found him…