Ghomas taps my chin while I mock him. A charge of electricity follows through my frame.

I screech because of the unbearable pain and fall down...

I need to put him down, FOR GOOD!

"That's crossing a line," Hessien interjects, stepping forward as I struggle to regain my composure.

My muscles rebel against me, but the sensation is fleeting.

Ghomas glances in my direction before remarking, "She left me to fight some monster that nearly snapped my spine."

Hessien turns to me.

I shrug. "It's not like I led it to him! But let's move on from that."

I reach for my knife, preparing to activate time freeze. However, Ghomas is quicker, creating a clone at a speed I didn't recall him possessing. I realize then that leveling up would enhance skills. It should have been obvious.

Just as I am about to complete the time freeze, a bolt of lightning strikes me in the chest, propelling me into a tree with a resounding thud.

"That was self-defense, Hessien," Ghomas justifies.

"I suppose I agree," Hessien concedes.

Vacinay stands with her arms crossed, observing me.

This is humiliating to the next degree.

How the hell does he know when I am even going to use time freeze? Did he also get mind reading too?

Or do I make a certain expression or movement when I am about to use it?!

"Lumine, how many more times can you use your time stop?" Yamanda inquires.

I push myself off the tree, wincing in pain. "I thought I was supposed to keep that information confidential."

"Yes, but I want to use this as a training opportunity. Give me something to work with."

"I can use it one more time, for about two seconds."

"Interesting... Instead of allowing the skill to have fully automatic control, take some manual control.”

Everyone, including me, looks at her in confusion.

She explains, "The duration and range of a skill are often limited by a person's energy points. Instead of allowing the skill to consume energy points at will, take control. Divide the time freeze duration into two. Freeze time for one second, save the extra second, and use the other second when you want."

I am taken aback. What if I used all my energy points for a four-second-long time freeze? I wonder what other ways I could manipulate it.

"Do you have any other tips?" I ask, my eyes locked on Ghomas.

"Test the skill and its limits. Keep trying to break its boundaries."

That is probably why she said her automatic condition skill (smart/custom skill), which was placed on Ghomas, failed because it was a work in progress. It wasn't one of her skill's natural functions but rather, something she was testing out.

In what ways could I also use time freeze? Its description is simple: freezing time.

My eyes widen at a possibility. Wouldn't that render the other skill useless?

I reaffirm my grip on my knife as Ghomas stares me down. "When you are ready, I am—"

I kick a stone up and hurl it at his head, which he easily dodges.

I move swiftly, but his clone is faster, moving more than double my speed. In a blink, it is right in front of me with a punch ready.

I block and get pushed back. It charges towards me. With the knife still in my hand, I drop it and leap back, causing it to dash forward again.

But it stops. With a baffled expression, the clone looks down at what is deep into its chest.

Ha! It worked!

I can focus time freeze on specific objects and lock them in time. Actually… that is pretty overpowered.

Since the knife didn't get pushed back at all, it stays locked as the clone pushes against it, tearing itself.

"What the hell…?" Vacinay mutters, terrified.

I rush forward, rip the knife from the clone, and discard the bleeding clone of Ghomas.

With a mischievous grin, I declare, "You are dead meat!"

***

He is not dead meat. Since I only had a single second of time freeze left, I had to use it to dodge his lightning bolt.

I considered locking the knife in time to make it take the hit, but that seems wasteful compared to a simple general time freeze.

Ghomas extends his hand. “Uhh… Sorry about the electric touch.”

I look at his hand as I grab it. “No biggie…”

“Oh, so we're cool?”

I nod. “Absolutely.”

“You sure…?”

My smile remains bright. “Yes.”

He looks unsure before nodding. “Good to know. Well, I'm going with Vacinay and Hessien to hunt the half-man that almost killed her. Are you coming too?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I shake my head and dust off the armor. “I'm going to rest a bit.”

“Got it, well… Yamanda should know where we are!” He runs off.

I smile as I wave goodbye. As soon as he is out of sight, I scream to the heavens at the top of my voice.

Why the hell am I now the weakest one?!

Okay, calm down Lumine… So what if you got completely whooped by Ghomas? Despite having the most OP card?

Tch, I need a simpler card…

I watch the burned back of the tree and some of my blood that was on the ground.

Yeah… After all, with a less OP power, my energy points consumption rate would drop significantly.

I grin at the ideas swirling in my head.

Yamanda is chewing on a sandwich which she most likely stole via teleportation.

I really wonder about the rules of that power. How can she be sure what she is going to teleport?

She notices my grinning and inquires, “Found a new way to implement your time freeze? By the way, the isolation of the time freeze into objects is ridiculously smart.”

“Yes… I am thinking of new ways to use it, but I'm going to need some spammable powers.”

“Oh right… you guys can have multiple skills. That’s so ridiculous, but not too much of a good thing.”

"Hmm," I muse, "Is it because skill points are limited, as is focus? Like the saying, 'I do not fear the man who has practiced a thousand different kicks. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick a thousand times.'"

"It’s my first time hearing that one, but it fits extremely well," she replies. "I suggest not going above three different skill cards. Not until you have mastered them."

"I am shocked," I admit. "I expected you to say to master the first one then move to another."

"I would prefer that. However, versatility is— I am going to be honest. It’s because I think it’s incredibly cool! I want to see it so badly."

She tries her best to contain her excitement.

I begin hopping from leg to leg. "I need to level up. Let’s go hunting."

She nods and sits up before we are suddenly on a massive branch. She points at a hut below.

"There are about four of them down there."

I wonder if her sensing capabilities are simply her bending the boundaries of a teleportation skill.

Or… it is probably just her passive ability to know where she is teleporting and who she is with.

I take in a huge gulp of air. "They are all evil, right?"

She shrugs. "Only if the world was black and white. You said it before, you want to kill because you want to level up. They want to kill you because they want to level up. Levels determine strength, without strength, you could die the next day by someone stronger. You are just an animal risking its life to gain food. Now… go."

Seamlessly, I am in the hut standing on rough dirt, in the middle of… a half-man humping a half-woman?

Oh, HELL NO!

I awkwardly step back. "Um. Sorry for intruding."

The woman who is under the man stares at me with her eight eyes. What is with the dude though? Is it so good that he can’t hear that someone is intruding?

"Die," she suddenly says.

Eh…?

The man's body suddenly begins convulsing violently.

Oh gross! He is---

His reptilian skin takes on an unnatural pallor. It is as if life is being drained from him, his vibrant scales losing their luster and turning a ghostly white. His skin starts to crack, like parched earth longing for rain, revealing the raw flesh beneath. His skin disintegrates into dust, carried away by an unseen breeze.

His skeleton, now exposed, follows suit. The bones, stripped of their flesh, begin to crumble. They fall apart, piece by piece, echoing a hollow, haunting sound that fills the room.

Oh…

"Wait, weren't there supposed to be four of them?" I mutter to myself.

The woman slowly crawls off the bed, her movements unnaturally deliberate. As she rises to her full height, her naked form is cast in the dim, flickering light.

"Uh... I will be going. By the way. I am a minor. So... Yeah, don't let me call the police on you!"

I know I'm no longer a minor, but I didn't care. Even when I turn 23, I will say I'm a minor if it benefits me.

I fling the door open and sprint, fear driving me forward.

She turned that thing to dust! And he was completely under her control—or just desperate for—

A sudden eruption of noise cuts off my thoughts. The hut is in chaos as the woman begins to change, her body stretching to over four meters tall, with eight spider-like legs sprouting from her sides.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck" I scream, my voice echoing as I run.

"Yamanda, I hate you!"

Suddenly, a shadow falls me. I look up to see a massive leg descending towards me.

"Don't kill me, I have 20 kids to feed!" I yell, but the leg moves like a spear, aiming straight for me.

Well, I had to try something.

I freeze time for a single second.

In that brief moment, I twist my head to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike.

I don't waste any time and try to cleave its leg with my knife, but it barely leaves a scratch.

"What the hell is her level?!" I wonder, frustration mounting.

I scan her and the result almost makes me want to slice my throat.

She is level 30!

"A child? A child! How revolting! Didn't your parents teach you to stay away from people like me!" The spider woman roars, her legs repeatedly attempting to skewer me.

I dodge and roll, taking cover behind trees and rocks that are being obliterated with ease.

"I'm not sure!" I shout back, "They told me to avoid pedos. groomers and people in black jeeps, but they never mentioned anything about a FUCKING woman with a spider body!"

A sudden realization hits me. "Wait, in that hut... Are you a prostitute or something? I don't judge! It's a respectable profession, right?! I support your rights. Earn your money! So... could you please spare me?"

She glares at me, her face suddenly inches from mine. "Are you... an idiot?"

I nod. "My mom often asked me the same question, so maybe?"

She growls, ready to strike again, but I slap her across the face. "Did that work?"

She freezes, not making a single move.

So it did work.

Then her mouth opens in a furious roar, but I am quicker.

With my knife in hand, I stab her, employing a one-second isolated time freeze.

As the second elapses, she stirs again, prompting me to stab her once more. Suddenly, I notice a massive red stone in my other hand.

Yamanda?!

I have only one more use of that move.

The woman manages to break free, but her movements are sluggish.

Seizing the opportunity, I grab her upper lip, freezing her, and insert the stone into her mouth. However, as soon as I do that, she regains control and delivers a headbutt that sends me soaring into the sky.

I tumble and crash onto the ground with immense force, the pain in my shoulders and back is excruciating.

Bitch... that hurt...

The woman raises her head and fixes her gaze on me.

In her stomach, two other faces begin to form. Those are the two people. Instead of launching an attack, she holds a strand of my hair in her hand. She swallows it, and a sudden chill sweeps over me.

She utters a single word, "Die."

It feels as though I am being invaded by everything and nothing simultaneously!

My skin begins to crack—

Boom!

The woman screams in agony as flames burst from her stomach.

So that's what the stone was for!

She thrashes wildly, toppling trees in her wake.

LEVEL UP x 2

STATUS Name: Lumine Markish Level: 12 (/ )

An incredible surge of strength courses through my body.

"I am still not dead!" the woman bellows. So, it was the two who had perished…

I promptly summon a secondary card.

A healing card?

Absolutely not!

New card appointed: Flame Manipulation.

With a smirk, I ignite my hands.

"My first skill… flame ball generation, but let's be more creative!"

The woman charges at me in a fury, but I raise my hands high. Instead of forming a ball of flames, I command the fire inside her body to surge upward, scorching her from within and turning her into a living candle.

Her movements halt as she shrieks in pain. After a few seconds, a ball of flame with a diameter of 4 meters forms above her.

I point down at her. "Burn."

In desperation, she yells, "Die."

Leveling up has expanded my EP capacity, granting me a significant boost.

I switch over to my time card. Fortunately, since the ball of flame is already descending, I don't need to control it.

Just as my skin is about to crack, I use the isolated time freeze… on myself. In that instant, my thoughts stop.

***

I blink and all I see is fire everywhere, including on me. The woman is nowhere to be seen, and… I'm not getting burnt by the flames.

LEVEL UP x 5

STATUS Name: Lumine Markish Level: 17 (/ )