Marc walked around, [Scan] telling him that the monsters nearby are all shying away from him. He barely paid them any notice as he expanded his skill, spanning the 1 mile radius. Within it, he didn't notice any humans.

See, after realizing that Kyra probably died, Marc stood up and lifelessly stumbled towards the Villager's Town, blindly razing the trees that stood in his way. He had the map screen open, the tiny wooden icon growing closer and closer and the forest behind him vanishing in red.

On the bright side, he found a few people at the village, scared for their life, huddled in one of the houses.

The standard villager town started with a two small rows of houses that were all empty inside. His patron god told Marc that once a person used gold to purchase a house, they will be able to freely customize it. So he lent each one of them enough currency from his years of hunting to buy one of the houses and purchase some beds.

Then he set off, searching the nearby woods for more people who were dropped out of their houses and teleported nearby as a starting point.

Suddenly Marc stopped his idle saunter. From [Scan], he detected an abnormality. Something dangerous was heading this way. The eternal fire burned within him as he kicked off and sped through the trees. Marc's speed was inhumane. It felt like he was flying supersonic. While he didn't think he was going at the speed of sound yet, it certainly felt like it.

The trees flew by in a constant green blur. The wind pinpricked his face but Marc barely noticed it. He had his responsibilities.

No matter if Kyra was dead or alive.

He kicked stopped in a small clearing a few miles from the Villager Town.

"Who are you?" Marc kept his voice low. A woman, perhaps in her twenties, swung her legs off the bough of a tree, staring down at him. She wore a yellow t-shirt and light jeans that contrasted her dark skin. She had an aura of leisure around her, distinctly different from all the other players he's met.

"I'm the disciple of time." She stretched her fingers and jumped off. Marc instinctively took a defensive stance. He's never fought people - just humanoid monsters - but he'll do it. Wait... did she say disciple? The woman was in front of him a blink of an eye. Their faces were only inches apart, and the flash of blue in her eyes reminded him of the endless sea in the Dungeon of Trials.

The woman disappeared and reappeared a flash later, a few feet ahead of Marc, leaning against a tree trunk. "And who are you?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Disciple of fire." Marc narrowed his eyes. The woman felt off somehow. Very... sly. Or perhaps that was just her ability. But seriously, Marc complained, who uses their ability to freeze time just to make a few poses? He rolled his eyes. Marc twirled his spear around, watching the light glint off the sharp blade and the few rubies studded on it. Since she was a disciple of the deities, the woman shouldn't be against him. Even if her personality was a little... flamboyant?

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The woman glitched onto the top of a tree, her head poking through the leaf top. Marc pursed his lips.

"Is it worth it wasting mana and stoping time to, to um," he gestured to the tree, "move around?" Marc cleared his throat. Once he thought the woman with no sweat since she was a disciple of a deity, it was like meeting a cousin? He couldn't maintain his fierce demeanor he displayed towards monsters.

The Disicple of TIme laughed. She reappeared, once again a few feet away from Marc. "It's called teleportation, silly! I'm not stopping time." She laughed and patted his shoulder. Marc grunted at the sudden contact. He brushed her hand away. His face burned like fire. He was sure that his cheeks were actually on fire. Sweat matted the back of his neck.

"Anyway," she teleported around a few more times, making Marc's head dizzy from trying to keep up, "what's your name, Kiddo?" Marc cringed at the nickname. The woman was like a whole feet shorter than him, and didn't look much older except for two dark bags under her eyes - something he had himself as well. And she was calling him kiddo?

"I-I'm Marc." He managed to stutter, his free hand over his face, trying to cover his blush. He felt so stupid. Normally, Kyra was there to socially interact with other people for him and he'd spent over 10 years alone in a dungeon with nothing but monsters to talk to. To be honest, when Azar first spoke to him, Marc wasn't really sure how to respond to anything that didn't come from his own conscious.

The woman chuckled. "My name is Zola." She held out her hand. Marc tentatively reached out his own and she shook it. Marc blinked his eyes a few times. Zola had a strong grip. Then she was gone.

"Cya, kiddo!" Her voice echoed.

<<<>>>

Initially, Kyra couldn't comprehend what was happening. The hobgoblin boss had yanked her back by her shirt collar and dragged her into the dust fog. And the strength of the hobgoblin's throw dissipated the floating dust, revealing tens of confused warrior and normal goblins, their weapons held tightly to their chests. Kyra landed on her back, the impact knocking the air out of her chest, leaving her immobile for many moments.

The hobgoblin grinned and lept on top of Kyra, spiked bat poised for attack. But Kyra wasn't inexperienced. Her daggers raised themselves as if she was back on the mats, in the middle of a practice kendo match, her Men - helmet - askew and her breath sharp. Her much more experienced opponent had already regained their posture, ready to strike again. They raised their Shinai - bamboo sword - and swung down, fast and clean. Kyra managed to block it in the nick of time, stumbling backwards as she did.

The flashback melted away, revealing the hobgoblin's bat locked against Kyra's daggers, which were positioned in an X shape over her chests. She lied flat on her back, most parts of her body vulnerable to attack. Her arms were pushing straight up against the hobgoblin boss, who was snarling at her, spitting everywhere. Annoyed, Kyra shifted her weight and lifted her leg. Kyra swung her entire weight forward and kicked the hobgoblin in the guts.

It flung off Kyra, taking a few wobbly steps backward. Kyra rolled over and helped herself up, wary of the surrounding goblin horde. The numerous goblins formed a circular barrier around the hobgoblin and her, making escape impossible without using the crystals or mana bolt - both which were off limits right now. She eyed her HP bar, which was somehow still in the green.

The hobgoblin snarled, swinging its wooden bat around menacingly. It knocked one or two of the unfortunate goblins who stood too close. They immediately got K.O.ed and vanished. Kyra gulped. Even at level 5, Kyra didn't feel safe tanking a direct hit from that weapon. But she had nowhere else to run. Her head darted forward and backward and swerved in almost all directions as she and the hobgoblin boss circled each other. If a goblin was to stab her in the back right now, she would definitely die.

However, it seemed like the remaining goblins, each with a tense look on their faces, dared not to interfere with this fight. Kyra supposed that was a hierarchical thing. She's certain that if a goblin was to stab her, they'd die soon after at the hobgoblin's hand - she was only the hobgoblin's prey.

The boss got bored of circling and lept up. It swung down the bat again, the heavy bat whooshing through the air. Kyra slipped to the side at the last second. She had goosebumps. Her body shivered. That one swing felt instinctively deadly and Kyra's body wanted to give up and run off. Even if that somehow was possible, they would just corner her again at the front of the dungeon.

Just hold off until Tiny returns. Kyra gulped.