"Could you have started with that when we met?", Amaya asked embarrassed.

She'd thought a lot of things about Rafka since they met and the glimmering lion had refused to say anything. Why couldn't she hear his thoughts then? It was unfair! A thought that had popped up frequently as of recent.

"This is a waste of time and unnecessary. Try the breathing technique I just told you. The sooner you learn to do it, the faster we can move on to other things", Rafka commented.

"If it takes a week for me to get my powers, how exactly am I going to master the appropriate breathing technique? There are many stages to this breathing. I'm never going to master in a week", Amaya complained using Rafka's back to get up.

She clutched her stomach when she stood up straight. It hurt. Something was definitely broken.

"Marguten tiere!", Rafka shouted.

Nothing happened, her soul was still an infinite space of darkness. What exactly was the point in him yelling fancy words if they did absolutely nothing? Amaya looked dumbfounded and Examined the area. Was he talking to her?

"Time here has now been changed"

"It doesn't look like anything changed. All you did was yell out in space!"', Amaya remarked.

"A year here is now equivalent to a week in Misma, you're welcome", Rafka boasted loudly.

"What? Now I have to wait a year? How is this fair?"

"It's for your own good. You must learn to strengthen your body before you can make use of my powers to a decent extent"

"You keep adding new information!", Amaya retorted.

"I remember telling you that strength is not my forte. This will allow you to survive before an official solution arrives" The lion remarked hopping onto his cloud once more.

"How does this help me fight?"

"It won't exactly but you'll learn how to take a hit. Now commence your breathing technique"

Amaya was getting increasingly frustrated. She was going to spend an entire year in her soul. She wouldn't be able to breathe for the majority of it! It was a scary thought. Would she actually survive or would she get killed by training? This wasn't how being the main character was meant to be!

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Not to mention it was extremely cold in the infinite darkness. It only got worse by the minute. Why the hell was her soul this bland, to begin with? Who the hell has a pitch-black soul?

Amaya sat on the ground crossing her legs and closing her eyes once more. surely the lion wouldn't notice if she tampered a bit with the durations right?

She took a deep breath and held it for 1 minute before breathing out once more. She was immediately sent tumbling backwards.

"Last I checked, I said 50 minutes. Do it again!", Rafka stated plainly from his cloud.

Amaya groaned in pain. Rafka was serious about her not breathing for 50 minutes! She rolled on the ground clutching her stomach. She looked weak, She was weak! She was lucky he wasn't using a little bit more force. She would have died!

"Get up before I change time to two years", The lion threatened causing Amaya to quickly rise to her feet.

"Do it again!", Rafka yelled.

***

Location: Misma

"It's like she just vanished!", Collie yelled pulling at her hair. Her eyes were welling up already.

She'd been watching the ancient ruin carvings for the past decade but this was the first time Voer's carving had stopped glowing.

'It's bad enough that I've spent half of my life staring at the table carvings but now it's like she doesn't exist!", She complained almost on the verge of tears.

"Relax Collei, All will come to light over time. You needn't worry so often Collei. It can have adverse events on your health", a white-haired man warned.

He had tattoo markings on his hands. They were shaped like flower vines, his white hair was long and his eyes were almond brown. His clothes were that of a warrior. His white jacket had blue embroidery and he had a toothy grin.

"Mister Kenji, this is a big deal. The saviour of the universe is said to have been reborn on Earth! Earth was destroyed a day ago! What if she couldn't get out in time/ What if the divine assistant didn't find her? What if-"

"Relax Collie, stress is bad for the health. If you really want to grow taller, you might want to relax a bit. This is normal, the saviour's home planet is always destroyed. it's almost like a curse they have"

"I see you're casually taking a jab at my height every now and then"

"I was simply giving you advice", Kenji grinned.

Collie was getting repeatedly tired of his teasing. Yes, he was taller than her but that didn't mean he could jab at her whenever he felt like! She had plenty of redeeming qualities. shoulder-length blue hair, black eyes, a distinct fashion sense and guns that she had hand-made herself!

"Just because I'm your sister doesn't mean you can tease me, I'm only a hundred years younger than you!", She yelled

The people of Misma had an expected life span of 700 years. Whether it was due to Palat's rule or just the way Misma operated? They all looked middle-aged from their 30s till about their last 100 years.

"Whatever you say, All I'm saying is that you should be patient. I'm sure that soon enough, the saviour is going to land on the docks of our planet and help us", he comforted patting her head lightly.

A man rushed in. His breathing was sporadic, his eyes were widened and sweat had drenched him from head to toe.

"General! It's getting worse. The third sector is already having adverse effects", the man announced.

"The third sector? We just cleared it out a few days ago, didn't we? I didn't expect the situation to worsen so quickly", Kenji responded as he placed a hand on his chin.

"I'll handle it myself", he responded a couple of seconds later.

"Stay safe Kenji!', Collie waved him off.