The next few days were spent with the group trying out their powers to learn how they worked. Amadeus had the easiest of it, considering how intimately familiar Victor was with that particular Seed.

“Your Flame Vault is your hottest flames. Only take them out when you need to, Am, otherwise you can just make it on your own,” Vic told him.

The man was focusing intently on his hand, trying to conjure the flames bigger and bigger. At present, they were barely the size of his head.

“You have to condense the flame, keep it that way until it hits something and explodes.”

“I’m trying,” Amadeus replied, as the flames dispersed. He grunted, shooting off a bolt of lightning into a tree before settling down on the ground.

“Any luck there, Lil?” Amadeus asked as he turned to face her training.

Pouches were tied around Lillie’s pants, and she brought out a handful at a time. Wherever she threw the seeds, they expanded into a series of roots above ground. Her control of those was growing faster than Amadeus’ own new Seed.

Surprisingly, despite how hard he was pushing the both of them, Victor never seemed to practice with his own. Am knew there was something going on with him, but he never even brought out his secret powers for a test run. It was itching at Amadeus, annoying him that he didn’t know.

If it’s so special, why didn’t he bring it out to help Lillie?

****

The truth was that Victor didn’t know how to progress his Seed. The Timewalker’s Origin had great powers, sure, but he didn’t know how to improve upon them, or even unlock new ones.

He looked once more at the abilities he’d unlocked for it thus far.

[(Timewalker’s Origin): [Unlock Sense of Time] [Anchor Placement] [Carryover Bestiary] [Carryover Item Compendium] [Sense of Time Boost] [Strength Boost x 2] [Speed Boost] [Recovery Boost]]

He’d gotten boosts, and when he looked at the requirements for it. It was a variety of things related to quickness. Being quick-acting and quick-thinking would lead him towards even more abilities. And if his hunch was right… those abilities would carry over to the next loop.

Guess I just got to be faster. He caught Lillie waving at him from across the field they were in. He smiled and gave her a wave back, then turned his attention to his other Seeds.

The easiest exercise he knew Wielders to do was using their abilities over and over again. It gave them a familiarity with the abilities. Sure, it drove some to strange habits, but it helped. While Amadeus spent his time shooting fire off into the air, Victor instead popped blades all over his hands and upper body. Sometimes even from his feet.

He’d had to strip down to his pants to make sure he didn’t rip through them. A kick would fly out, with a blade attached to it. Once he retracted his foot, the blade would disappear along with it. Or he’d shoot out his blades from his elbow, and see how far they could extend before Victor could pop them out no more.

He scratched himself a few times, as his skin wasn’t metallized, but that was an easy price to pay. His experiments paid off for him, as Victor unlocked two more boosts.

[Ability Unlocked: Recovery Boost]

[Ability Unlocked: Metallize Boost]

And just in time too, as he saw a group of Altesians returning with what he’d requested. They hadn’t any weapons, but they did have materials of all kinds in the mines, which the Altesians laid bare for Victor to work with.

“Thanks. What about the scouts? Have they returned yet?” Victor asked as he picked up a piece of bread that the Altesians had brought him. He touched it with a single finger, enlarging it till it was like a small cushion.

“No news on that, boss,” the little monster answered. More time to train, at the very least.

Then he tried with more fingers, but the rate of change remained the same. He had to fight back the Altesians once they laid eyes on the food, which ate into his training time. Next, he went around and saw the changes that happened when he used his Enlarge and Shrink.

If it was a bundle of something wound tightly together, he’d enlarge it all at once. When he brought out a single stick of hay, that would enlarge by itself. He could shrink items and they’d lose some of their weight, which could help them carry their belongings once he could maintain the transformation long enough.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Even though the training ended with another boost to his Sizing and Strength, Victor felt he was wasting his time.

It’s all going to get reset at the end of the years anyway. What’s the point?

Lillie and Amadeus had taken a break as the sun set. They were sitting around a campfire Amadeus had set up himself, albeit with a few hiccups along the way. A soft smile danced along their lips, regardless of what they were going to face in a few days. They looked content almost, an enviable trait in the days to come.

They’ll be gone by then too, won’t they? And only I’ll remember at the end.

“Hey, Vic! You going to join us any time soon? We got some meat to roast!” Amadeus asked.

Unless it turns out different this time.

“What kind of meat?” Victor shouted back.

“Uhhh, looks like rabbit?” Amadeus guessed and after a pause, “sure doesn’t smell it though!”

Qeeny grabbed the raw meat off of Amadeus’ hands.

“You almost burnt us down, Mr. Levine! I’ll handle the cooking!” Qeeny said as he stomped off.

Victor chuckled at the sight. He could enjoy it for a bit, couldn’t he? Those worries of his were only going to slow him down. There wasn’t a point entertaining them.

****

The village of Pepin was usually a simple place, undisturbed by the massive forces that lay around it. Made of stone buildings with a pillar in the middle that rained down water to feed the little Altesians. Or it would have had it not been for the giant Titan that lurked nearby.

It was a mass of loamy sand atop four thin legs that were thicker than tree trunks. It had an uneven body shape, and a mouth with multiple mandibles that were like plates locking into place. The monster made the city look like a playground with its size and heft, only matched by the large trees surrounding the little village. It was like a small building, if not a bit taller than one in size.

Atop the Titan was a Daughter of Mara on watch, and who spotted something on the ground near the village. She was Ishana, and she had been entrusted to a sacred mission.

“Scope,” she shouted for the others that were on watch with him. They handed her a spyglass that she used to look down into the thicket of trees and foliage. Standing in the middle of it all was a man with dark skin, but not one of theirs.

The man looked up at the same time as Ishana spotted him, and waved at her. He was holding a rock in his hand and playing with it in between his hands. Once he’d gotten their attention, he got into a throwing stance and chucked the ball like a baseball player.

The rock flew and grew in size, impacting the size of the small Titan and letting out a wail.

“We’re under attack! Go-”

And then the man started to run. Ishana ground her teeth and let out a scream, but that didn’t stop the man’s run. How can he resist?!

“Follow him! Don’t let him get away!” she shouted for the others. The Titan was controlled through an intricate series of ropes and reins that twisted around its body and kept their equipment from falling. When they received the order, the helmsman of the entire Titan set it into motion.

Though the man— who she thought to be human— was quick, he wasn’t quicker than a Titan’s long strides. Each step accounted for a hundred of his, and took the Titan closer. At the same time, arrows and barrages of magic were let loose on the man. Annoyingly, they always seemed to miss, or would stop in the middle of the air for no reason.

“We’re getting further away from the village. What if it comes under attack?” another Daughter raised the question. Ishana glared his opposition down as he got back to work.

She picked up a favoured weapon of hers. An Ignistone pistol that imparted flames onto its bullet. It was a treasure given to her directly from their father, the Lord of the Senses.

She aimed that gun and let loose, setting the surrounding foliage on fire with every hit. But the man seemed to adapt to her strategies, twisting underneath the Titan’s feet and jumping between the trees with blades extended from his forearms.

Slippery little…

She kept firing, right up until the first snag. The Titan stopped abruptly and she had to brace herself against its back to stop from falling.

“What happened? Why did you stop?” Ishana barked out to the others.

“We hit a snag!”

“Then get out of it! Back up!” she shouted.

But when they tried, they hit another. Some of the Daughters dropped down to search, but screams went up in the air once they did.

Ishana had had enough at that point. She’d been led astray by the man. She grabbed the reins of the Titan herself and twisted them. A bellow of indignation came in reply from the Titan, but it listened and started turning slowly in the other direction.

But she met even more resistance behind. How? Did they-

Her answer lied in the little monsters scrambling around the Titans feet. Those were the miner Altesians, and they’d escaped from their prison?

Before she could regain control of the Titan, it stumbled and started a heavy fall to the ground. Ishana went along with it and they both crashed hard.

The surrounding trees were blown down, leaving a little hole in the forest holding the Titan’s body. The Titan had gone largely unresponsive, and Ishana felt dizzy in the aftermath. She tried adjusting herself as other Daughters around her groaned the same as her. Her form flickered, switching between her beautiful façade and the disgusting skin that lay beneath it.

Others recovered before Ishana, and stood up to fight the Altesians that were swarming them. They screamed and shouted, but the little monsters wouldn’t get off. they pinned them down and kept them there as they found others.

Ishana’s jaw was locked shut in fear. She crawled forward, towards a shining light she recognized as her Ignistone pistol. With that, she could survive. Fight back against these horrid little creatures. And she reached it! Grabbed the pistol and aimed right at the crowd of Altesians with a steady grip, before slowly pulling down to fire!

A bullet wound impacted Ishana’s hands, and she dropped the Ignistone gun from it. It fell onto the ground in front of her along with the blood from her wrists.

Standing among the trees with blades balancing him was the same dark-skinned man. He held a foreign weapon that she recognized as a human rifle.

“You’re not very well practiced. Make better on that in your next life,” Victor scoffed before he lodged another bullet into her skull.