Reborn To Master Time

Approximately 30 steps ahead, a man with brown hair stood in position. He lowered his stance, spreading his legs, and in each hand, a dagger menacingly guarded his body. From that stance, I imagined he could instantly turn his body in any direction, leaving no openings whether on offense or defense.

I turned my head to the left, where a small group of students stood. Unlike the brown-haired man, they didn’t seem as confident—except for one student, Lithe. He immediately began unbuttoning his blazer, tossing it to the ground. Then, he folded the sleeves of his shirt up to just above his elbows and finally, took the sword hanging at his hip and dropped it to the floor. Despite this, the other students held their stances, waiting for the signal to attack.

My team, on the other hand, didn’t have any elaborate preparations. They simply held their stances, waiting for my signal to attack the enemy.

This leaves me no other choice.

I reached to my side and pulled out a gun, holding it in my left hand while gripping my sword with the other. I then took a step forward, causing the tension in the room to spike.

“Don’t be shy. Come,” the Giant Killer said, staring straight at me and completely ignoring Leven’s group at the side. They seemed frustrated by this, but Lithe simply took a step forward, stretching his body a few times.

Is he going to fight with his bare hands?

I wondered as I took another step forward. Roran was the only one on my team moving at my pace, while Ruby stood a few steps behind us, and Rin remained in her initial position. The Giant Killer matched our pace, stepping forward. No words were exchanged, but it seemed we had all silently agreed that the battle would begin once we reached the center.

Bang~!

I quickly raised my left hand and fired twice at the Giant Killer, casting [Time Perception] to quicken my thoughts. I then scanned my surroundings before kicking off the ground, rushing toward him. The Giant Killer bobbed his head to the side, dodging the bullets before dashing forward.

Cling~! In an instant, the Giant Killer’s sword clashed with Roran’s just ahead of me. Clang~! Clang~! Clang~! They exchanged intense blows, with Roran attacking fiercely while the Giant Killer blocked each strike almost effortlessly. I curved around Roran, approaching from his right side, and swung at the Giant Killer. As he was about to block, I stopped mid-swing and raised my left hand, pulling the trigger twice, firing between them.

Click~! Click~! The bullets grazed Roran’s face before drilling through Lithe’s shoulder, who was about to ambush him from the other side. Lithe’s eyes widened in surprise as he stepped back, clutching his shoulder in pain.

“Switch!” I shouted, and Roran immediately ceased his assault, turned, and rushed toward Lithe with the same intensity. I jumped in his place, casting [Time Perception] to quicken my thoughts, [Future Sight] to see ahead, and [Recall] to replicate Roran’s moves, all within a second. Clang~! Clang~! Clang~! I swung in a similar pattern, and the Giant Killer blocked all the attacks, a hint of surprise showing on his face.

“Oh?” he muttered, but as I neared the end of Roran’s attack pattern, I switched it up, swinging my sword horizontally and then immediately releasing it while casting [Object Perception] to quicken its speed.

Swoosh~!

The sword flew above the Giant Killer’s head as he dropped into a crouch, continuing across the room and hitting the wall on the other side.

He’s fast.

Seeing my weapon fly away, the Giant Killer sprinted forward from his crouched position, aiming a dagger at my face, but I remained calm.

Cling~!

His dagger met with Ruby’s sword, who had suddenly jumped in front of me. Clang~! Clang~! She blocked each strike, but each time she did, her body was pushed back. As she was about to block another attack, I grabbed her collar, pulling her away from the Giant Killer, who quickly gave chase, lunging forward. In the next second, I pushed her forward, surprising the Giant Killer as his steps wavered, nearly causing him to crash into Ruby because of how close they came.

Click~! Click~!

I took the opportunity to fire two shots just past Ruby’s shoulder, but the Giant Killer sidestepped, dodging the bullets before quickly jumping back.

“Switch!” I called out, glancing to the side. Roran was struggling with Lithe and his squad. I was hoping he would at least take Lithe down so we could focus on the Giant Killer. Roran jumped back, retreating a few steps, but Lithe didn’t let up. He continued forward, swinging his legs and fists with each step. I aimed my gun at him, and he immediately paused, stepping back quickly. Good.

The speed I used earlier was barely around E-rank, but because he wasn’t expecting it, I managed to nick him. Now, he’ll always be wary of the gun in my hand, even if I run out of bullets.

“Don’t ignore me.”

Cling~!

Ruby blocked the Giant Killer as he attempted to rush toward me. Clang~! He swung one of his daggers upward, knocking Ruby’s sword out of her hands and into the air before lunging, aiming a stab at her throat. But as if time had stopped, his body froze mid-attack, giving Ruby the chance to back away. I quickly jumped forward, catching her falling sword and swinging it at the Giant Killer’s throat.

Swoosh~!

Just as the sword was about to touch his throat, blood suddenly trickled down his lip, and he managed to weave his body out of the way, jumping backward in the process.

So that’s how you break out of that.

“That girl has a troublesome authority,” the Giant Killer said with a smile, looking past me. I didn’t bother turning my head; I already knew who he was talking about.

“I’m back,” Roran said as he stood by my side. I kept my eyes on the Giant Killer as I spoke to Roran,

“I think it’s about time you used your authority. He's right-handed, so I'm sure you know what to do.” I said calmly, and the Giant Killer wore an amused expression as he raised both daggers into the air, adopting a completely different stance with both daggers at head level.

When I attacked him with my sword in our first encounter, he didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his left hand to block my attack. Even if he were that confident in his abilities, sacrificing his best hand at the start of a battle didn’t seem very smart. This belief was why I chose to injure his left thigh earlier when we were baiting the masked woman, and because of this, his left side was now the most vulnerable.

All according to plan.

Roran beside me took a deep breath before closing his eyes for a moment. I immediately cast [Time Perception], quickening my thoughts while observing the Giant Killer. In the next moment, Roran kicked the ground, disappearing from sight.

Phaa~! Bloom~!

A loud clapping sound reverberated throughout the cave, followed by huge gusts of wind violently blowing toward me. I quickly raised my hand, blocking the dust and debris that flew past.

He's a monster.

Just ahead, the Giant Killer was in a crouched position while Roran's sword ripped through the space where his head had been just a moment ago.

So that was a bait.

The Giant Killer had raised his daggers in a way that suggested he was protecting his head, leading Roran to the false conclusion that he would try to block the attack rather than dodging. But, the Giant Killer dodged completely, going in the opposite direction—downward. Everything was happening in slow motion because of [Time Perception]. As I watched, I cast [Future Sight], and almost simultaneously, the Giant Killer sprang upward, jumping high into the air before spinning his body and throwing a dagger at me. I quickly jumped to the side, dodging the attack, but the dagger suddenly stabbed through my shoulder.

Huh? I widened my eyes in surprise, and as I was about to remove the dagger, a fist suddenly rocked toward my face. I quickly jumped back and at the same time, a cold shiver ran through spine, causing me to squat down instinctively as the blade grazed past my hair.

Shit. I rolled across the floor, dodging two more swords coming from different directions.

Bang~! My vision blurred as Lithe's leg connected with my face, tossing me back a few meters. The metallic taste of blood lingered in my mouth as I felt a liquid drip down from my nose. I looked up to see Lithe walking toward me, with Leven by his side and the other students following behind. Because the Giant Killer was so focused on my team, it seemed that two more students had also gotten up again.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Lithe sneered.

My gun? It was then that I realized that the gun I had been holding in my left hand had fallen at some point. I was so surprised by the Giant Killer’s sudden move that I lost focus for a moment.

Clang~! Clang~! Ahead of me, the Giant Killer pressed Roran, not giving him a chance to prepare another attack as he continued to attack at close range with just one dagger.

"Don't worry, your friend will also join you soon. We’re more concerned about letting someone like you escape from here," Leven explained as he looked down at me.

They really think they’re in the right.

As I sat on the floor, they began to encircle me, with Lithe stepping closer. I released the sword in my hand, and it fell with a small metallic click, causing confusion among the students. I then lifted myself and stood up, facing Lithe.

"Are you finally going to surrender?" he asked in a condescending tone, hoping I would oppose him. I simply nodded, and he squinted suspiciously before turning his head to a particular student. At that moment, I quickly cast [Time Perception], but this time, not on myself.

I didn’t want to use this.

I pulled the dagger from my shoulder and cast [Object Perception] on the wound, slowing the bleeding. It wasn’t something I always paid attention to, but it seemed that [Object Perception] could also double as a pain reliever since it delayed the pain receptors from sending signals to the brain.

“Oi, Lithe?” Leven asked anxiously as he looked at Lithe, who had suddenly paused while his face looked to the side. Since I was already close, I casually stepped forward and placed the dagger at his throat.

“That should be my question. Are you guys finally going to surrender?” I said loudly, causing anxious reactions from the students. Before Leven could respond, I moved in front of Lithe and drove my elbow into his stomach, immediately deactivating [Time Perception].

“Kuh!?” He collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. I was aiming to knock him out, but it seemed our physical strengths were just too far apart.

11 seconds. That was shorter than I expected.

I had practically wasted a vital skill because of their stupid antics. [Time Perception] cast on other people was very limited.

Firstly, an individual’s mana capacity affected how long I could cast it on them. The only reason it worked for this long on Lithe was because of his bizarre composition. He had very little mana due to his Authority's restrictions, which made the skill last much longer.

The second limitation of this skill was the two-hour cooldown before I could use it on a different person, who I had never used it on before. The exception was that I could repeatedly use it on the same person with a much lower cooldown - 2 minutes - but only after using it at least once on them.

In a way, you could say the skill needed time to fully integrate the stored data about the target's brain patterns and mana before allowing you to add a new ‘brain’ or target.

If you looked at it that way, you could say the reason I could repeatedly use the skill was because my data was already stored in my Authority, making it possible to instantly reuse it however many times I wanted. The same applied to everyone else I’ve stored so far, so I could use it on Roran and the others anytime I wanted.

Well, long story short, I’d lost a potential trump card that could have been vital for dealing a final blow to the Giant Killer.

While Lithe recovered from my blow, I took the bloodied dagger and tossed it toward Leven, who didn’t catch it and simply stepped aside.

“That dagger now has my blood. The professors have someone with an Authority that can track anyone around the world as long as they have their blood.”

“Why are you…” Leven started to say as he looked at the dagger. Seeing his confused expression, I took out the earpiece connecting me to the outside and raised it for him to see.

“This connects to Professor Pierce. He should be able to teleport that dagger out of the dungeon using that bird. That way, whatever happens, you’ll still be able to track me down wherever I go.” I tossed it to him before he could respond, and he caught it with one hand. He looked between me and the bird flying above my head before putting the earpiece in his ear.

“It’s Leven from Class A… Uh, no, he’s not dead… But we suspect he might be working with the enemy… It’s a long story, but he’s claiming you know someone who can track him using his blood. Is that true? Because we have a dagger here covered with his blood… Right… Okay.” He sighed as he looked back at me, and at the same time, he raised his hand, causing the bird to fly over to him and perch on one of his fingers. He gently placed it on top of the dagger, and in the next moment, a white flash ensued, and both the dagger and bird disappeared from sight.

“He confirmed what you said is true, so we’ll let you off for now,” Leven said as he turned to leave, with all his teammates following. Lithe stood up, glaring at me, but he simply clicked his tongue and stomped away, heading toward the ongoing fight between the Giant Killer and Roran.

That's good.

And just like that, they were now on our side. Of course, the stuff I said about the blood tracking was all a lie, something I made up on the spot. I trusted Professor Pierce's intuition and knew he would agree with whatever Leven asked.

The fact that I purposely relinquished the earpiece to Leven would tell him everything he needed. When Leven asked about the blood, the professor knew I was likely backed against the wall and that the students on this floor were divided. If he denied it, the students might fight each other instead of the intruders, so his only choice was to agree with everything I allegedly told Leven.

The show of getting the dagger out of the dungeon was also necessary to provide tangible proof that the professor wasn’t lying. It’s like a scammer giving you his cell phone and telling you to hold onto it for a while as he helps you. Tangible things we can see with our own eyes always put us at ease, giving us a false sense of security that the other party is actually taking action.

Clang~! Just ahead, the battle between Roran and the Giant Killer continued, but it wasn’t looking good. Roran was covered with bruises, blood staining his face as if he had been fighting for hours, but unfortunately, only five minutes had passed since I left him alone with the Giant Killer.

I picked up my sword and walked forward while Leven and his team surrounded the Giant Killer from all directions, ready to attack. Lithe was the only one who walked straight toward him without attempting an ambush.

The final battle was about to begin.