The noise of the city of Lycore muddles in the background as Francesca is stepping uneasily towards the city gate. The morning sun illuminates the sky and ground, causing Francesca to think about the light once again. As she ponders her future as the Goddess of Light, she casts her eyes down to the ground. Her shadow stretches in front of her as it cascades on the ground. She sees the movement of her legs, focusing on the metronome and becoming conscious of her own marching. 'One thing at a time,' she thinks internally.

As she is moving, she sees the head of a shadow coming from behind her. Francesca assumes that someone is coming up from behind her. She is afraid they could be a pickpocket or a mugger. She was already aware that she should be careful when walking through the streets by herself, and the idea that she has a guardian hero she has not met yet makes her feel more vulnerable. She is not completely defenseless, though. She does have her staff in her hands, its reach and weight offering some level of protection to her. Even without offensive magic, a staff is a serviceable weapon in a pinch.

She remembers what her mother told her, though. Always be on the move, especially when she thinks she is being followed. Gripping the wood of her weapon, Francesca hastens her steps to increase the distance between her and the person behind her. Within seconds, the shadow's head returns into her field of view. Danger rings out into Francesca head. They sped up when she did. Her heartbeat increases and a pit forms in her stomach. She tries to remember what to do at this point. She remembers that her father told her that if she feels threatened, be in a place with a lot of witnesses. Looking straight ahead, there is only the city streets, several alleyways, and the gate in the distance. As people are going about their mornings in the city, the main road to the gate seems to be the safest route. Once at the gates, the guards should deter her pursuer.

"Hey! Turn around, girl!"

The voice from behind her was agitated and sharp. Francesca misses a step as she turns around to see three men with their hands on their weapons. Stopping was a grave mistake, and Francesca is frozen. Her suspicions were right, but now she was shivering like a leaf. She thought that there was only one person after her, which could have been manageable if worse came to worst. But three is too much. She can not survive in a three-on-one encounter.

"Took ya long enough!" The man in the middle grins. "Look, you seem pretty lost, so me and my boys can give you a hand."

Francesca finds the will to move her legs again. As she steps back, she waves her free hand nonthreatening. "T-That's okay... I already have someone..." She turns on her heels and runs in the direction of the gate.

"Hey, don't be like that!" the second man says as the trio follow after her.

Her run turns into a sprint as she clutches her staff with both hands. "Help!" she cries out to the people in the street, hoping that someone would stop these guys. However, while people see what is going on right in front of them, they mostly ignore her situation. It is heartbreaking, seeing that other people are not responding to her in her time of need. Everything blurs as Francesca hears the footsteps loudly following behind her. Everything is happening too fast.

From in front of her, she sees a young man with brown hair and a staff looking her way. "Please!" She cries out in desperation. "Help!" She brushes past the man in her haste, praying that this random man would give her the goodwill that others have denied her so far. Then, she stops in mid-step. The three men stop still as statues. The world is hushed into a silent snapshot. The man that Francesca called out to is standing stiff as well, but he is conscious of this state.

This is the cheat that Jikan offered him.

***

On the desk was a small lantern where a flicker of radiant light shines, undisturbed by the outside forces. "This," Jikan showed Ren when he was in her study, "is Lumina's boon." In reality, it was supposed to go to the hero, but Jikan made her choice. Lumina needs all of the protection Jikan could afford. "This was made for her new vessel in mind," she lied. "It will protect her from several dangers to some extent, but not perfectly. It is imperative that you find Lumina quickly and give this to her." She slid the lantern over closer to Ren. "Needless to say, do not lose it or give it to anyone other than her."

Ren smiled as he grabbed the lantern gently and inspected it. "I will."

Jikan took a breath as she was actively questioning if this was a good idea. "As for my boon to you," Jikan said with hesitation as she grabbed a random hourglass from her shelf. There was no significance to the timepiece, but the Goddess of Time had to improvise to make Ren believe that she had a solid plan. If he doubted her here, then that could endanger the mission ahead. "This hourglass contains a portion of my power."

Ren squints at the falling sands. "What is the power?"

Jikan brainstormed on the spot, trying to convey that she had forethought to plan for this moment. After a slight pause, Jikan answered, "Your idea of exploiting the space around you when time has stopped can not be fulfilled. But..." Jikan's fingers tapped on the glass. "The problem was that nothing should move when time is frozen. Are you familiar with calculating speed?"

Ren had to think for a moment. "Um... Yeah. Speed is distance divided by time."

Jikan nodded and asked expectedly, "And if time is zero?"

"Ah!" Ren got it. That would be dividing by zero, which explained why Jikan would not grant it.

"However," Jikan continued, "that is only what would happen if something is moving in a timeless state. If absolutely everything is still, then everything should be fine." She discretely enchanted the hourglass in her hands. "So there should be no danger of exploiting stopped time if you yourself are not moving."

Ren is confused as he leans back into his seat. "But how can I used stopped time if I can not do anything about it?"

The tapping of Jikan's fingers worked magic onto the hourglass's sand. "Simple. You can not act, but you can still think."

Ren blinked as he thought about it. "But wouldn't that mean my... brain is still working and sending signals to itself?"

Jikan quickly adjust the magic she was secretly weaving. "Astute observation, Ren," she said almost thankfully. "You are correct that your brain chemistry would still be active. It can lead to a slight destabilization in the timeline, only that it would be in your brain." Jikan gave a short disarming laugh to the dark implication. "But remember that I can reset time, and with it, have you travel back with your memories intact. Your memories and thought processes carry over to the new timeline." She placed the hourglass on the table, her magic solidified in the newly realized divine artifact. "Thus, let me introduce you to your boon, or the 'cheat' you asked for."

Ren placed the lantern with Lumina's blessing to the side and looked into the sand of the hourglass as it was stuck in the top bulb. As he tried to flip it over, the bulbs spun as if they were gyroscopically stable. Try as he might, he could not make the sand obey gravity. "How do I... use it?" He asked Jikan when he is out of ideas.

With a deep breath, Jikan explained, "To use it, you would need to keep it on your person and focus. It would respond to your will to stop time and allow you to think for a moment. Should the sand expire or you come to a conclusion, you would return to the point immediately before you used it. Functionally, it would seem like no time passed, but going back in time is necessary to make it work and not tear everything apart."

"So... It is like resetting the timeline for only a fraction of a second?" Ren tried to summarize.

"More like the fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second," Jikan nodded then raised a finger. "Just make sure that the glass does not break. The sand carries some of my divine energy. If it is released from the hourglass, it would be as if I was out there myself."

"So it isolates the timeline from the your power until it is used?" Ren asked before looking around the room. "Wait, then what about this room? You can be in it just fine."

"This is my domain," Jikan said with finality.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Ren was sad to hear the answer. She was essentially saying that she can be here, but nowhere else. "That's not fair..."

Jikan could not hide her frustration, "Do not pity me, Ren. Concern yourself with Lumina." She redirects Ren's attention to the lantern and hourglass. "I am not asking you to make the world right. That is beyond your control. And mine..." With a pause, Jikan continued, "I simply want you to commit to restoring Lumina to her former position."

The room was silent as Ren did not know how to respond. He had sympathy for the imprisoned Jikan, but what was he to do if she told him that it was impossible to free her? Looking at the containers of the divine boons, Ren gently asked, "Is there something else I can do to make you feel better?"

There was only one thing that can ease her burden. "Succeed."

***

Time was frozen around him. The world around him in a still snapshot of time. He can not move, his eyes burning a hole to what is in front of him. Three armed men chasing after the woman that is now behind him. This was a surreal experience, and it is uncomfortable. He sees the image right in front of him and hears the last sounds drawn out to the point that it feels like they are drilling into his head. His muscles can not respond to his command, even the beating of his heart is stopped. This is what happens when he uses his boon, which he dubbed—

*-Time to Think-*

["Let's do this quickly! They have daggers and short swords, leather armor, and numbers. I can't beat them all. I could get jumped by two of them and the third can go after her. I can't win. No! I need to think of this in the fantasy setting. Yeah, these guys look tough, but they seem like the first encounter I have to face. Creeps going after the damsel in distress. I've seen this many times. Pushovers to show how great I am. Right! I got this! Blades and leather armor. They are all the same combat class, more or less. Melee all the same. Magic beats physical fighters, so it must be the best outcome. With three of them and one of me, I need to use crowd control. A magic crowd control technique..."]

Ren resolves his mind and time snaps back into place, the reset practically invisible to his mind. He had hoped that he would have had the luxury to have time ease back in, but that is not how Jikan's boon works. Still, he knows what he had to do. Taking his staff, he grips it like a baseball bat and chants, "Sleep Mist!" With a swing, a torrent of mist fills the air in front of him. As the men run into the magic cloud, their senses dull as they stumble onto the ground at Ren's feet. Ren looks over them for a moment before resting against his staff. "That actually worked?! I would have accepted just one, but all three?!" He shifts his weight back to his shaking legs. "I... I won...!" He prods the side of one of the men with the end of his staff, earning a soft grunt. "I... hope I did not do anything illegal just now..."

"T-Thank you!" He hears the voice of the woman behind him. Turning around to face her, she seems rightfully shaken as she is looking through Ren.

Ren is a little bashful as he is receiving appreciation. "It's... it's okay..." He gives a glance to the lady's face and freezes. The clothes and staff are different, but the face, hair color, and hair style were the same as the picture Jikan showed him. "Lumina...?" He asks nervously.

Francesca stiffens at the Goddess of Light's name, her fate an inescapable prison. But if this man knew who she was just from looking at her, would that mean that he is her hero? She nervously looks at him, unsure of what to say. "Are you... my...?"

"Wait, hold on." Ren raises a hand to stop her. "Who are you exactly?"

Francesca looks Ren in the eye and takes a deep breath. "I'm... Lumina..." She accepted her fate. She is more Lumina than she was Francesca. Her life was meant to be Lumina's second chance at life. The light that she took pride in was not hers to begin with. The world needs her to be Lumina, and that is who she should surrender herself into being.

"You are Lumina?" Ren ponders something that he was told by Jikan. "She told me that Lumina would not have any memories from her time as a goddess. So, I should not be speaking to 'her' right now." He looks at her again, "Is this one of the cases where children are named after gods and goddesses, and yours just so happens to be based on the Goddess of Light?"

Francesca can not understand much of what Ren is saying. "Hey," she says while firming her grip on her staff, "If I say that I am Lumina, then I am Lumina. What else do you want from me?"

"Well," Ren reflexively takes a step back. "I think I am supposed to be your hero."

She thought that might have been the case, but it seems off. "You're my hero? So that means that you came from another world?"

"Yep," Ren confirms. "The Goddess of Time summoned me. I am from a world called Earth."

Francesca points to his staff, "And they have magic on Earth?"

Ren looks at his weapon, "Actually, no. I was given an option to choose my class before Jikan finally sent me here, so I chose to be a mage and learned two spells."

Francesca raises her own staff, "But you must have known that I am a healer, right?"

"Yes?" Ren answers, not knowing where the problem lies.

Francesca scoffs. "Don't you know about team composition? You should have picked a class that can protect me so I could heal you."

Ren shrugs, "That was a thought, but then I really started to think about it." He reaches into his bag and reveals the timepiece holding the boon. "I have a gift that allows me to think for a time faster then anyone else. If I was on the front lines, I can not adapt to the situation at all. If I break the front, then whoever we are fighting can push in." He looks at the sands inside the hourglass slowly returning to the top bulb. He is not certain if he can use Time to Think at that point. If there is any sand remaining in the top bulb, could he use it, Or is it only usable when it is full? Dismissing it for now, he explains his reasoning, "If thinking is my advantage, I need adaptability, awareness, and arsenal."

"Clever alliteration," Francesca complimented honestly.

"Could not get it out of my head," Ren admits with a chuckle. "Anyway, it would be better for me to be a midguard or rearguard with you."

Francesca looks at the hourglass and gets a weird feeling from it. "So that is a gift from the Goddess of Time," she wonders aloud. "I guess that means you really are my hero."

Stashing away the artifact, Ren extends a hand. "That's right. I'm Ren. I hope we can work well together."

Francesca stares at Ren's outstretched hand. This is the start of the resurgence of the Goddess of Light, something she was conflicted about for the past few hours. Yet, Ren's actions so far remind her of something obvious. Ren is human; he is not like the gods. He does not know the answers for the problems that would come ahead. He is just as much pulled into this mess as she is. That is worrying, but also the slightest bit comforting. In the middle of the divine's plan, it feels good to rely on someone how can somewhat understand her.

She wraps her hand around Ren's and softly shakes it. "Nice to meet you, Ren. My real name is Francesca, but..." She takes a quick breath, her tone dropping. "You can call me Lumina if you want."

"Francesca?" Ren mulls over her name for a while. "I think I like that name better."

Francesca blushes a little, slightly embarrassed. She figures that Ren chose to call her that to make her feel better. "So..." she tries to change the subject and finds the guys sleeping on the ground. She pulls Ren's hand with her as she starts walking in the direction of the raising sun. "Let's get away from those creeps."

"Don't you want to turn them in to the authorities?" Ren says as he is being led further into Lycore.

"They'll get what is coming to them," She answers. "But I don't want to be near them." With that, the duo disappears into the crowd. Their journey together has just started. There may be many challenges ahead, but they believe that they are in good company.

***

Minutes later, Malcolm towers over the sleeping men. He knows who they are, the first encounter. They were also the cause of his first reset. He remembers being excited about being in a fantasy world with a sword in hand. He found Lumina quickly and convinced her that he was her hero, faintly glowing in the blessing of light. Almost like fate, these three guys appeared out of nowhere and looked at Lumina with lust. Being the hero bathed in light, he stood up to defend Lumina. He was full of gusto as he wielded his sword, but bravado did not help him. In an instant, he was surrounded by the attackers, shivved and cut all over, and left to bleed out as Lumina was being taken away by them. The blessing did not help him. He should have won. As soon as he entered the world, it cut him down without mercy.

Jikan reversed time and brought Malcolm back into her study. Back then, Jikan was smiling and extended sympathy to him. "I know that you are excited, but this is not a game, Malcolm. You have to get serious and not be blinded by you own delusion." Malcolm was brought into the second timeline with a bit more alertness. During the fight, he came to realize that his sword was better off in front of him to give him space rather than being used in flashy power moves. He did get hurt a lot, but he shouted at Lumina to heal him. That was his first taste of hell. Pain washed over him with every cut and stab, only to be healed by Lumina over and over again. His endurance and tolerance were tested for his formal welcome into Tera Ley. It was torture, but his victory was well deserved.

Now in this timeline, Malcolm looks at the men in suspicion. They were all knocked out, but there was no damage done to any of them. If time reset and everyone was doing what they did before, then these guys likely went after Lumina again. He knows that she should only have Word of Mending, so she should not be able to win. She must have had protection if these men were already defeated. "So they have already met then." He says to himself, knowing that his replacement already happened. Bending down, he recovers the short sword from one of their grasps. It would make do for the lack of the blessing of light this time around.

After looting the guys in broad daylight, Malcolm walks away with his gains. He thinks about how this new hero must have beaten the all three of them at once. With no injuries on them, Malcolm wonders if sleep was the attack the new hero used. "Magic..." he concludes. "So he chose to be a mage? Ridiculous." If the new hero is a mage, then Lumina can not be well protected. If he were to run into them right now—

"No need," he says with certainty. "They are not strong enough to leave town yet. They should still be here during the full moon." He looks in the direction of the cemetery, the next event for the new hero's introduction story mission. It is unavoidable. Lumina would know that they can not ignore it. "Morning Sun Church," Malcolm says definitively. "Better get the Scroll of Exorcism before they can."

The Scroll of Exorcism is key, he knows. Without it, the new hero would fail. Malcolm can use that fact to negotiate with them. He would force this imposter hero to step aside and let him retake his rightful place by Lumina's side. If they refuse, then Jikan would be forced to restart time and realize that he is the only choice when it comes to appointing Lumina's hero.