The singer’s voice has an ethereal quality to it. There are no words, but there are several different notes it is switching between to create a sort of tune. Can a human even make these kinds of sounds?

The music dies down, leaving a deafening silence behind it. My hand tightens around the bow I’m holding and I quicken my step. There’s no way that’s a human, and even if it was, when has a mysterious voice singing in the woods ever been a good thing? No, I need to get out of here, fast, before whatever is making those noises finds me and-

The melody starts again, washing over me, draining away my tension and fear. I freeze, uncertain now. Why was I so scared? Yes, I can get paranoid about things, but it’s not like me to run hell-bent through the woods because I think I’m being chased. What did I see that made me so convinced I was about to be eaten?

Don’t you remember? You saw their shambling forms out of the corners of your eyes, you heard their claws dragging along the ground, you felt them watching you like they are right now.

That’s right. I’m just being toyed with now, being lulled into a false sense of security before they pounce on me-

The soothing voice rolls over me. I didn’t even notice when it stopped the last time, but it’s louder now, as if I’ve gotten closer to the source. There’s a hedge made of thorns rising up above me. I look up at it in shock, then begin backing away. I was just surrounded by trees, how did I get here? I’m out of breath - did I start running again?

I need to think, figure out what the fuck is going on. I reach for the cold inside of me, but I find only heat. I glance at my stats.

Mana: 11/54

Time: 0/51

Kira, you dumb fuck, you were so invested in waiting for enough mana so you could try out your improved control you forgot you needed to store Time in order to actually use your most important ability.

I fall back to the wing flap method because I don’t have the time right now to try anything new, even though I can only afford one arm. I extrude mana along my arm to form a square - it’s not bothered by the sleeve of the robe, so whatever magic that is doesn’t interfere, and [Improved Mana Manipulation] shows its worth in how much easier it is to sculpt my mana, even though I wasn’t trying to test it out. I bring the filter over my eyes, then watch how fast the sand is building up so I don’t waste any more mana than I have to. Thankfully, there’s a crack in the wall of the hedge. I head towards it and duck into it so I have some cover while I’m frantically waving my arm around.

I look at the covering of gray sand on my sheet of mana, reminiscent of a layer of dust on a shelf that hasn’t been cleaned in years. That should be good enough. I absorb it all back in, welcoming the feel of cold running through my veins to my core, and flip my eyes back to normal.

Mana: 5/54

Time: 16/51

Only enough for one use. I’ll need to save it, that way, when the monsters attack, I’ll be able to react in time.

The voice rings out, sweeping away my thoughts like a broom through cobwebs. I halt, thrown off by the change in my surroundings. I walked inside the hedge, somehow convinced it was a good idea. Now, I’m inside in a clearing surrounded by a wall of thorns.

There’s a glowing, white, five-petaled flower in the center of the space, ringed by a twenty-foot wide gap in the earth, almost like a moat. The sweet smell of candy that is hanging in the air is almost nausea-inducing. My attention lands on the flower, but is almost immediately drawn to the girl to the side.

She’s sitting halfway between the flower and the hedge. Her hair is cropped short and dyed blue, and she is resting her head on her knees. Her face is turned to me, which lets me see that her eyes are closed and her lips are cracked and bleeding.

The unearthly noise is coming from her. Even watching her lips form the sounds, it still doesn’t sound human. Each note hangs in the air longer than it should, forming an overlapping harmony that, although there are no words, seems to convey a feeling of peace. She stops singing, drawing in breath for an inhale.

I narrow my eyes at her. I don’t trust anything that tries to force me to calm down. I need to keep moving, get away from her.

I take a step, my foot landing on a twig with a small crack.

Her eyes fly open and land on me, then alarm fills her face. “Wait! You can’t come closer!”

She’s just like the other human I met. I know I can’t trust her, so I-

I come back to myself with a gasp. I’m at the edge of the moat. Inside, I see bodies, speared through with roots and slowly being grown over. Green tendrils emerge from their mouths, forcing them open as they grow upwards towards the light. Some of the plants have sprouted small white flowers, mimics of the bigger one up above. They softly sway in the ditch, little stars of light growing on a bed of bodies and blood, illuminating the horrific scene even further.

I backpedal away frantically, terror running through me despite the calming effect of the song. I turn and lock eyes with the girl, who’s now standing up and singing. Her expression has morphed into one of panic. She’s frantically gesturing at the entrance in the hedge.

She’s telling me to run.

I burst into a sprint, a cold sweat breaking out on my back. I’m at the beginning of the exit when it hits me - she’s trying to get me to go out first. The monsters outside have trapped her in here. When I step out, they’ll all jump on me, distracting them enough for her to slip out and run away. I turn back inside, where it’s safe.

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The girl is on her knees now, both hands wrapped around her throat. She’s opening and closing her mouth, probably trying to convince me to leave again, but no noise is coming out, only thick globules of blood oozing out of her mouth and dripping down her chin. When she sees me not falling for her trick, her face collapses into despair. I sneer at her, dumb bitch that she is. Did she really think she could fool me?

I watch her take out a dagger. Considering how far away we are, she would have to be an ace in order to hit me, but something about the action causes a current of uneasiness to ripple through me. I pick up my pace, keeping an eye on her in case I need to duck.

She grips the dagger in both hands, raising it high above her head. She screws her eyes shut, then brings it down in a sharp motion and stabs herself in the gut.

“AHHHHHHH!” An agonizing shriek explodes out of her mouth, ripping through the mental fog I’m under like a hurricane and sending a lance of pain through my ears. The wall of thorns around us comes alive, rising into the air and writhing angrily.

[Extended Moment of Clarity]

Ice floods me, crystallizing my focus and decelerating the world around me. The droplets of blood spraying from the girl's mouth slow down, her short hair blowing backwards from the intensity of her scream. A ring of roots that was buried in the ground around her is visible to me now, partway through lifting themselves from the ground.

Finally, I can think.

I look at what is obviously, now, a mind control flower. This has all been a battle between two opposing forces, one inciting fear and drawing me in, the other calming me down and trying to warn me to run away. The flower itself I caught in the process of retracting, folding up its petals and shrinking in on itself. The whole stabbing-herself-thing makes me think this is an ability of hers like my [Split Second], some sort of last ditch reflex that she triggered through damage. She won’t be able to repeat it anytime soon, and her throat seems too torn up to keep singing.

How long do I have before the girl runs out of breath? Considering the shape she was in, probably not long. Ten seconds, maybe, in real time? Even if I run as fast as I can in the opposite direction, I won’t make it outside of the control radius of the flower. The fact that it is trying to curl in on itself like that implies it can be damaged. Could it have a weak spot in the center of its petals that it is trying to protect? Still, I don’t have enough time to get down, cross the moat without getting stabbed, then somehow climb back up and get to the flower. And there’s no way I can make that jump.

Ah, shit. I know what I have to do.

I begin walking forwards, pulling out an arrow as I move. If I can’t kill the flower, then being a few feet closer to it won’t make a difference, so I might as well take any advantage I can get. With the speed I’m moving at, walking doesn’t affect my aim either, so I nock the arrow, raise my bow, and begin to draw.

The tension grows in the bow slowly as I pull the string back. I’d imagine I would be able to hear the limbs bending, but the noise of the shriek is still overpowering everything around us.

Last time, I was either sticking my arm too far inwards, or I released the string wrongly enough that it snapped sideways. Probably both, if I’m being honest.

I slide my hand forwards, rotating my grip on the bow so that my forearm isn’t so close to the string. I aim at the center of the flower, the dark hole where its petals originate from. I complete my draw, then focus on releasing the bow with the least amount of interference possible.

I breathe in.

When I exhale, I move my hand backwards, farther towards my ear, trying to let the string slide off my fingertips. The arrow is catapulted forwards, brushing along my hand and slicing into the air.

I track its progress through the air with my eyes, watching as it dips and lands slightly below the weak spot of the flower I was aiming at. It sinks into the green stem of the flower, parting its flesh with ease.

You have learnt the skill [Novice Archery]! Good job!

I smile, feeling the muscles of my face slowly stretching.

I’ve arrived at the edge of the moat now. I can see the roots below me react to the shot, thrashing and reaching up for me, but the flower itself doesn’t move beyond continuing to clamp its petals together.

I reach for another arrow, ignoring the climbing vines. The scream is on-going, but fainter now, which means she’s running out of air. Or, my hearing has been damaged.

It doesn’t matter. I just need to keep shooting.

Normally, I wouldn’t think petals would be a great form of defense, but I’ve seen stranger things in the past few hours. As my hand lifts the arrow, I can tell I won’t be able to get off the second shot before the flower protects itself. I need to speed things up.

I push out a pane of mana, similar to the trick I pulled against the waterbender except I create this one out of my chest and aim it forwards. I don’t bother with speeding up my legs, instead focusing on getting as much Time out of the way where my arms will be moving.

The arrow practically flies into place, while my legs feel like they are in mud. I line up my shot, aiming slightly above where I did last time. I follow the same process, then release.

A sharp twinge of pain runs up my back, but the arrow strikes true, sailing into the gap between petals as the flower attempts to close. [Extended Moment of Clarity] ends as the flower shudders.

I also can’t hear the scream anymore.

I frantically try to get another arrow and load it, my movements panicky without the assurance that [Extended Moment of Clarity] brings. I'm wondering if I'll even notice it when I lose control of my thoughts and body, but then I realize the blue box for my skill notification was replaced.

Congratulations! You have killed [Hive Heliotrope] [LVL 6]! System records show you had help. Rewards will be split amongst those who helped according to contribution. If you feel you unfairly received less than your teammates, you're wrong!

Level up!

You are now [Level 5]!

I... I did it.

I slump to the ground, muscles made weak through relief. My back sends another spike of pain through me - I must have wrenched something when I shot an arrow while my body was in two different zones of time - but I’m alive, and I’m in control.

I look at the flower, still not really believing it. Why didn’t I hear the noise the System normally makes when I kill something? I reach a hand up to my ears, and find the skin slick with blood. Definitely hearing damage, then. I turn to the girl, ready to thank her for screaming her throat out for me, only to find her slumped over on the ground.

Oh, shit, she’s probably bleeding out.