Inside the living room of Sanya’s house in the afternoon.

Talia was sitting on the couch while looking at her phone. Sanya had her head on top of her lap, the face upward. She was reading a fantasy novel quite thick. On the cover was a giant griffin fighting a group of armed adventurers. The title, 'The Path to Quintessence', was written with elegance in big flashy letters.

Fluffy Paw was sacrificing its body as a support for Talia’s short ponytail. In some way or another, it had succeeded in crawling on the back of the couch and put itself under the hair. Its snooze was resonating inside the calm room.

Suddenly, Sanya stopped upon reading the part where she was in the story. She lowered the book and looked up at Talia. Talia noticed her and stopped scrolling through the different news. She tilted her head in wonder. “Hm?”

Sanya thought a few seconds like she was trying to find how to formulate her question. “...In this book, there is an old man that seems to be able to stop time to a certain extent. This made me remember Lord and his artifact. Is it possible to stop time?”

Sanya had been quite impressed after hearing about the Time Cradle. With this, Lord was able to slow down the passage of time in a world. So, when she saw a power that could stop time in her book, she thought that it could be possible in reality.

However, Talia shattered her hypothesis with a shake of her head. “No, it’s impossible to stop time. Even a transcendent can’t alter the flow of time. The problem with stopping time is that would mean stopping the development of an entire world, all living and nonliving beings, everything. Lord is able to slow it only thanks to this Time Cradle. But, this is such an important and dangerous thing that only himself and his daughter know its real form. Even I don’t even know if it’s an object or a power. This is also one of the reasons why Lord stand at the top throughout the countless worlds.”

“I see...” Sanya understood, but she was still not convinced. She pondered for a bit before speaking once more.

“But, what about our world?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if there is an ability that would alter time?”

“...” Talia was momentarily shocked, but she rapidly shook her head in denial.

“I think this world is far too young for this type of large-scale power. Even if I agree that the abilities are indeed weird, time stopping is still a power on another level. Look, even the world strongest man is incapable of creating spatial cuts. Space is a lot easier to manipulate than time.”

“Is that so.” Sanya finally accepted this answer. If her girlfriend, who was a lot more knowledgeable than her on the subject, told her it was impossible then it had to be true. She returned to her reading.

After this conversation, Talia’s attention was drawn to the book. “I didn’t know that you liked fantasy books.”

Sanya smiled as she shifted her gaze to the ceiling like she was recalling something. “I was reading a lot of stories before my dad passed away, but I stopped shortly after. However, hearing what you did during these ten days...fifty years, made me want to read once again. I bought this one the other day at the nearby bookstore.”

Talia remained silent. Some of her memories of the past might be vague, but those related to Sanya were absolutely clear. Meaning that she remembered the first time she had met her and what kind of personality she had after losing her father.

Talia shook her head as she dispersed these thoughts. ‘Sanya had moved forward.’

In the end, she placed her hand on Sanya’s hair and began to gently caress it.

Several minutes later, Sanya asked another question.

“Talia, you said something about Barostl. You said that it would be good if he stayed on his bright side. However, he seems to be a cool-headed guy. Can he even be angry?”

Talia smiled bitterly upon hearing this. “This is not what I meant when I said bright side.”

“Hm?”

“In the world he comes from, there are two main races that dominate. The problem is that they had been at war long before the World Transition. Both of them thought that they could use the powers gifted by the Surge of Power to take care of the other. With the arrival of the Energy Hunters, the mayhem only grew larger. The two races didn’t form an alliance despite the threat of the new danger.”

Sanya lifted her gaze to look at Talia with a frown. “What a mess. Is the world still alive?”

Sanya thought that she would reply in denial, but she nodded her head instead. “Yes, it passed its World Transition and become an Old World. At the most crucial moment, a hero had risen and brought the conflict to an end. This hero was both of the two races, a half-breed. When all the Energy Hunters were killed and the world stabilized, the two races were unified as a whole giant kingdom. Everyone was waiting for this half-breed to take the throne and to reign in peace after those countless years of bloodbaths... However, he disappeared the day before and ditched the role. The message he left said that he was bored and went to discover other worlds. That they were smart enough to do something about the kingdom. In the end, they had no chance but to do something. So, they decided to create a council formed with the hero’s companions.”

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Sanya froze for several seconds before opening her eyes wide open. “Don’t tell me… “

Talia nodded with a complex expression. “Yes. The hero that saved an entire world, mastered the powers in his genes and could be considered the king of his world. His name is Barostl Tolt Krystul.”

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Hayden was walking calmly inside the streets of Union City while humming. On his back was a brown bag.

Union City was lively on this Saturday afternoon. People were taking strolls in parks. Some were playing games while others were shopping with friends or alone. As the people from Pacifica were from various origins, the front of the local stores was decorated in a different way each time, making it quite lively and attractive. The scene was frankly different from the plain buildings of the Union Center.

There, Hayden was in a good mood. So good that the fact he had been beaten and had some of his bones broken by a high school girl a few days ago seemed to be a mere illusion. He thought of what was inside the bag on his back. ‘I never thought I would get to lay my hands on this. I was afraid that there would be no more left. Lucky me!’

His steps led him inside an alley with barely anybody around. This was a shortcut that he frequently used to go back home.

As he was walking, he passed by the usual slightly small pawn shop on the side of the road. People were going there to sell and buy stuff. He had no reason to enter, so normally he would have continued to walk to go wherever he was going. However, his eyes opened wide open as he caught sight of something on the store shelf. It would not be for his enhanced eyesight given by his ability, he would have failed to notice it inside the strangely dark shop. ‘No way...What is this treasure doing here?!’

He didn’t think twice before going inside the shop despite the closed sign hanging on the unlocked door. His steps were swift as he entered, making his way between the people sitting on the floor hidden from outside view.

“...What is this kid doing?”

A person suddenly blocked his way. He instantaneously shifted his body to the side and passed the obstacle, just like a snake. His objective was all that mattered right now!

“You f*cker…”

He finally arrived at the back of the shop. He grabbed the particular book and held it up with two hands, a smile blooming on his face. Suddenly, he remembered something and took out his phone. “Oh, right. I have to send a photo to-”

“Stop right there, you dumb kid.” Hayden heard a clicking sound behind me, causing him to stop. He was not really familiar with this sound, but the tone of the voice alarmed him. He slowly turned around, to finally notice how careless one can be when they are too into something. Really too into something.

“Ah.” The muzzle of a handgun was pointing directly toward his face. The one wielding the weapon was a middle-aged woman with a cold expression. Behind her was a man with another gun. He was glaring toward where Hayden was, but the gun was in the direction of the four scared people on the ground, surely customers, and the clerk of the place. The duo each had a bag hanging on their shoulder. Their identity was concealed by a piece of cloth on the lower part of the face and a hat.

Guns were illegals in Pacifica. So In other words, Hayden had just walked in during a robbery.

He was momentarily stunned by the situation. A robbery in broad daylight was just asking for a passerby to call the police right away. However, after thinking for a bit he understood the possible reason. This pawn shop was small and not a lot people would usually enter. The duo had decided to act when they were some people, but not too much inside. This way they would be able to take the money from the cash register and what was in the wallets of those present in a minimum of time.

What Hayden had failed to notice was the sign signifying that the shop was closed and the lack of artificial light inside the store. Nobody would enter upon seeing this. At least, normal people would not.

It seemed his guess was correct as he saw a couple of wallets on the ground, surely already empty.

The man suddenly talked to the woman. “What do we do now?”

With her eyes still on Hayden, the woman replied in an angry tone. “As planned. Fast and without trouble. Hey, you! Drop the phone and go with the others!”

“...”

Hayden silently looked at the scene. He was internally conflicted. ‘With my speed, I can surely knock them out before they are able to pull the trigger. The problem is that if I go too fast, I might kill them, and if I go too slow the hostages could be shot.’

The bullets would not reach him thanks to his ability, but the same was not true for the four other people. The woman didn't let him think more.

“I said go!” She roared and advanced the gun closer to him, making him grit his teeth in frustration. Fortunately, his identity as an S-ranked ability user was not known. Otherwise, he might have already been shot long ago.

‘...It can’t be helped. I will act when the other will be busy with the register.’ He dropped his phone as ordered and began to make his way with the other hostages. Then-

“So, this is what a pawn shop looks like in this world! Quite small and dark! I thought I was lost, but no!” An energetic voice came from outside, followed by the arrival of a strange, yet charming man. His opened shirt was flapping alongside each of his steps. The movements of his neck as he was looking around made his dragon necklace tingle. However, the most catching thing about him, at least for the people of this world, was his pure white hair despite his young appearance.

Everyone in the store was speechless. One airhead was already too much, but two? Someone amongst the hostages even thought that it was a sketch until the man with the gun yelled in fury at the newcomer. “Drop on the floor!”

The white-haired man finally looked over, but he tilted his head upon seeing what was going on. “Mmh? Why sitting on the floor? Is it a custom here?”

His clueless demeanor irritated the armed man so much that he nearly gave to the temptation of shooting. However, he calmed down when he thought the consequences if he ever did so. Even though, he decided to threaten forcefully the young man. “I said on the floor! Do you want to get killed?!”

This time, the young man was slightly taken back as he seemed to have noticed something was wrong. He pointed at the gun with a trembling hand. “Is this...a firearm?”

“Do you want to taste a bullet as a proof?!” The man with the gun wanted to keep some distance in order to avoid any possible accident. However, he took a step forward as he could not bear it. The plan should have been perfect, but these two had wrecked everything by doing almost nothing. Tension and impatience started to fill the two robbers.

“Pff!” The young man’s suppressed laugh made him stop in confusion. At this point, he began to think that there was a serious problem with the lad’s head.

Meanwhile, Hayden had joined the group of hostages. He began to feel nervous for this abilityless person. He suddenly froze when he saw the joyful fellow’s hand pointing like a gun at the thief duo. In normal circumstance, this would have been a way for him to use his ability, but his hair color said otherwise. Of course, he could have dyed his hair, but this was very rare nowadays and a bit frowned upon.

In contrast with the other party’s confusion, the young lad grinned, his straight arm aiming forward.

He, Barostl the Second Ylas, said in a loud voice. “This, is a firearm!”

A bright golden glow flashed with a hissing noise and hit the handgun!