Ghomas tapped my chin while I mocked him. A charge of electricity followed through my frame.

I screeched at the unbearable pain as I fell to the ground…. I needed to put him down, FOR GOOD!

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

My muscles were rebelling against me, but the sensation was fleeting.

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

Hessien turned to me.

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

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

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

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

"I suppose I agree," Hessien conceded.

Vacinay stood with her arms crossed, observing me.

This was humiliating to the next degree.

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

Or did I make a certain expression or movement when I was about to use it?!

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

I pushed 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, looked at her in confusion.

She explained, "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 was taken aback. What if I used all my energy points for a four-second-long time freeze? I wondered what other ways I could manipulate it.

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

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

That was 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 testing out.

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

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

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

I kicked a stone up and hurled it at his head, which he easily dodged.

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

I blocked and got pushed back. It charged towards me. With the knife still in my hand, I dropped it and leaped back, causing it to dash forward again.

But it stopped soon. With a baffled expression, the clone looked down at what was deep into its chest.

Ha! It worked!

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

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

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

I rushed forward, ripped the knife from the clone, and discarded the bleeding clone of Ghomas.

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

***

He was 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 seemed wasteful compared to a simple general time freeze.

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

I looked at his hand as I grabbed it. “No biggie…”

“Oh, so we're cool?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

“You sure…?”

My smile remained bright. “Yes.”

He looked 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?”

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

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

I smiled as I waved goodbye. As soon as he was out of sight, I screamed to the heavens at the top of my voice.

Why the hell was 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 needed a simpler card… I watched 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 grinned at the ideas swirling in my head.

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

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

She noticed my grinning and inquired, “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 mused, "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 replied. "I suggest not going above three different skill cards. Not until you have mastered them."

"I am shocked," I admitted. "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 tried her best to contain her excitement.

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

She nodded and sat up before we were suddenly on a massive branch. She pointed at a hut below.

"There are about four of them down there."

I wondered if her sensing capabilities were simply her bending the boundaries of a teleportation skill.

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

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

She shrugged. "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 was in the hut standing on rough dirt, in the middle of… a half-man humping a half-woman?

Oh, HELL NO!

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

The woman who was under the man stared at me with her eight eyes. What was with the dude though? Was it so good that he couldn’t hear that someone was intruding?

"Die," she suddenly said.

Eh…?

The man's body suddenly began convulsing violently.

Oh gross! He is---

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

His skeleton, now exposed, followed suit. The bones, stripped of their flesh, began to crumble. They fell apart, piece by piece, echoing a hollow, haunting sound that filled the room.

Oh…

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

The woman slowly crawled off the bed before rising to her full height, her naked form illuminated by the dim 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 flung the door open and bolted, fear propelling me forward.

She had just turned that thing into dust! And he was completely under some sort of mind control!

Or just extremely thirsty for—

The hut erupted into chaos as the woman transformed, her body growing to over 4 meters tall with 8 spider-like legs sprouting from her sides.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," I screamed, my voice echoing as I ran.

"Yamanda, I hate you!"

Suddenly, a shadow enveloped me. I looked up to see a massive leg descending towards me.

"Don't kill me, I have 20 kids to feed!" I yelled, but the leg moved 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 twisted my head to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike.

I didn't waste any time and tried to cleave its leg with my knife, but it barely left a scratch.

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

I scanned her and the result almost made me want to slice my throat.

She was level 30!

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

I dodged and rolled, taking cover behind trees and rocks that were being obliterated with ease.

"I'm not sure!" I shouted 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 hit 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 glared at me, her face suddenly inches from mine. "Are you... an idiot?"

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

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

She froze, not making a single move.

So it did work.

Then her mouth opened in a furious roar, but I was quicker.

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

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

Yamanda?!

I had only one more use of that move.

The woman managed to break free, but her movements were sluggish.

Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed her upper lip, freezing her, and inserted the stone into her mouth. However, as soon as I did that, she regained control and delivered a headbutt that sent me soaring into the sky.

I tumbled and crashed onto the ground with immense force.

Bitch... that hurt...

The woman raised her head and fixed her gaze on me.

In her stomach, two other faces began to form. Those were the two people. Instead of launching an attack, she held a strand of my hair in her hand. She swallowed it, and a sudden chill swept over me.

She uttered a single word, "Die."

It felt as though I was being invaded by everything and nothing simultaneously!

My skin began to crack—

Boom!

The woman screamed in agony as her stomach ignited.

So that's what the stone was for!

She thrashed wildly, toppling trees in her wake.

Only 2?!

An incredible surge of strength coursed through my body.

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

I promptly summoned a secondary card.

A healing card?

Absolutely not!

New card appointed: Flame Manipulation.

With a smirk, I ignited my hands.

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

The woman charged at me in a rage as I raised my hands high.

Instead of forming a ball with my flames, I directed the flames inside her body upwards, scorching her in the process and turning her into a living candle.

Her movements halted as she shrieked in pain. After a few seconds, a ball of flame with a diameter of 4 meters formed.

I pointed down at her. "Burn."

In desperation, she yelled, "Die."

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

I switched over to my time card. Fortunately, since the ball of flame was already descending, I didn't need to control it.

Just as my skin was about to crack, I used the isolated time freeze… on myself. In that instant, my thoughts stopped.

With a blink, all I saw was fire around and on me. The woman was nowhere to be seen, and… I wasn't getting burnt by the flames.