Noel flung his door open in a jiffy as he dashed outside his room. He ran towards the stairs, not knowing that a thing called 'a lift' existed.
A chilling breeze washed over his body whilst he scrambled his way forward, with both of his hands parting through the air. His right hand grabbed the banister as he descended, supporting his heavy, unsteady frame. However, for some reason, he now had a wrinkled finger in place of his right thumb—which did a terrible job at matching with the rest of his digits.
"Tch!"
A message appeared.
[Curse 'Shackles of time' has bound you]
"Sh*t!"
Feeling distraught, Noel's ankle missed a step, causing his feet to twist and bend under his weight. In the next second, his entire figure was tumbling down the stairs.
By instinct, Noel managed to grab the edge of the handrail, preventing any further damage from sufficing.
However, when he stood up, he realised that he wasn't being pursued.
"Where's he gone to?" He wondered, hastily looking from side to side in dismay. He didn't wish to suddenly see some reddened eye launch at him from his blind spot.
It did.
Noel leaped to the right, pushing his entire weight away from the projectile as fast as he could. As he moved, he had a glimpse of the tentacle-like limbs interconnected in a circular ridge around the eye-ball.
But his body proved to be more useless than he thought.
Whilst the eyeball lodged deep—oddly deep into the wall opposite him, Noel was still struggling to regain his balance.
Even worse, he failed at that too, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Ah I'm finished."
As his body helplessly rolled down the stairs, easily sustaining bruises here and there, the eye rotated around its axis, locked unto him and immediately left the wall.
It now bolted at him with full speed, staring into his soul.
Immediately Noel clasped his hands together, giving up on stopping his fall. He pointed his two index fingers forward, aiming it straight at the eye.
"Distort!" He screamed at the top of his voice.
[Skill Distort has been activated]
Immediately, his figure blurred. Rather, everything around them blurred, leaving several falling streaks of Noel. The eye, which couldn't tell which was real, kept hurtling forward, accentuated by gravity and mana.
Noel rolled over to the side and grabbed onto the stairwall, just in time to avoid splitting his head open. On the other hand, the projectile lodged into the ground, creating a small crevice where it laid.
Noel didn't waste this golden opportunity. He stood up at once, and ran away as fast as he could.
Or rather, he wanted to.
The moment Noel stood, he felt a strange weight cram itself on his back. A foreign mass, which was not his clothes, clenched his skin—very tightly.
"Tch!"
And then he heard a voice.
"FOUND YOU!!!"
[Watcher of Ages is watching you]
Immediately, Noel felt an agonising pain wash over his entire being. His body trembled violently as he curved over and crashed onto the ground in pain. Unbearable pain.
It felt like every fluid in his body was drained, and like his skin could touch his bones. And sure enough, it did.
Wrinkles spread all over his body like wildfire, stretching from his back to his thighs, to his feet, to his neck, and finally to his face. In a matter of seconds, he had transformed to look like a man approaching death.
….
[You are being pulled into a pocket dimension]
[Pocket dimension 'Time Is Your Enemy' is unraveling itself]
….
"Why didn't I think of this?"
Noel laid flat on a sandy plain. Hot winds blew harshly against him, raising sandstorms that would occasionally clash and settle into the dust.
And his body was....suddenly fine. He immediately remembered that something similar had happened to Gregory, and concluded that it was an illusion of some sort.
Then suddenly, he stood up, taking a battle stance.
I'm in that dimension again, aren't I?
Someone screamed.
"AHHHH!!"
What?
It screamed again. And he could hear it.
But it wasn't a sound coming from a distance. At least, it was definitely not the observable distance. Noel discovered that the sound was in fact, coming from himself.
"Is it..you? Gregory?" he asked, unsure of what on earth was happening to him. His eyes cautiously scanned the environment—especially the clouds, so he didn't get jumpscared by some overgrown eye.
But he heard no response for a while. Untill he did.
"Get out of there!" Gregory screamed. "He's going to tear you apart!"
Noel smiled bitterly. "And how the fuck am I supposed to do that..?"
Gregory, who was screaming in his head, immediately went silent, realising that his PTSD had gotten the better of him.
Noel sighed. "So I can hear you in my mind now huh?"
"Yup. Seems so." Gregory replied. "But right now…"
"We are cooked." Noel finalised. "And I'll need you to do me a favour."
Gregory immediately responded. "A plan?"
"Yes." Noel replied, rotating his figure as he swept his gaze all over the sandy plains. "It's not my first time in a pocket dimension."
"Oh great God!" Gregory exclaimed. "I didn't know I had a seasoned veteran in my body."
"Never say that again." Noel commanded, absolutely disgusted by his words—even though the depravity was only coming from his perspective.
Noel shut his eyes and stretched out his right hand. The moment he did, the wind began blowing differently.
The sandstorms ceased at once, and the turmoil came to a halt. What came after was a calming peace that lasted only a second.
A powerful tide of energy billowed from his position, releasing several sand barrages at once. A tall dome of air, which was clouded with several dust particles, exploded from his direction.
Huge bursts of sand erupted around him, stretching over miles away like turbulent waves of a storm.
And once again, everything came to a halt.
"W..what are you doing?" Gregory inquired, completely stupefied.
"A test." Noel replied, "The mana concentration here is a lot better."
Gregory, who although could use mana, but had no idea what it was, began to flood his mind with endless questions.
"Mana?"
"Yes. What's that thing?"
And just a few moments ago, he acted like he knew everything about mana. Noel didn't know what to trust anymore.
"Gregory," He spoke. "You have a vital role to play."
"..." Gregory paused for a second, before proceeding to ask what he meant. Having experienced the terror of this familiar yet foreboding place, he was ready to do everything in his power to escape.
"Anything!" He swore. "I'ld do anything."
"Great." Noel replied. "The big dude would be appearing any moment from now."
"And…?"
Noel stood silently, keenly watching his surroundings. "Till this battle is over," he said. "I'ld need you to shut the f*ck up."
"...."
Gregory seemed conflicted. And slightly annoyed. But before he could retaliate, Noel spoke once more.
"I won't be able to concentrate with you buzzing in my ears." He explained. "It would be best for me if you don't say anything."
Gregory seemed to contemplate something, juggling between his pride and his willingness to survive. Sure enough, he chose the second.
"Whatever." he said in a tone of resignation.
Noel imagined Gregory nodding, before vanishing into the depths of his mind.
"Alright then." Noel yelled, clenching his fists. "Status!"
The System revealed his tab to him.
[Name: Noel *****
Vessel's name: Gregory Watkins]
"Attributes." He commanded.
[ *Attributes*
Truthfinder (lv, 3)
Deceiver (lv, 4)
Slayer (lv 7)
Wielder (lv, 4)
Time Lord (lv 0) ]
"Just 4 attributes?"
Stress lines creased on his forehead. He was confident he had more—a lot more. But strangely enough, he couldn't remember them.
"And what's this….time lord thingy?" he muttered to himself, asking a question that only he or the wind could answer.
He remembered 'Time Lord' as a special authority, but definitely not as an attribute. Authorities were very much distinct from attributes.
An authority could be earned, or granted. It enabled an individual to have access to a greater level of power, or perform a certain action that normally wouldn't be possible for him or her. It also most times served as a door to new attributes.
Attributes, on the other hand, were a lot more personal, and could only be learnt, or hijacked. They were simply traits of a person—supernatural traits, that enabled him or her to create paranormal events through the use of magic. These events were simply skills, and they were always connected to the attribute that birthed them.
Having the attribute 'Deceiver', Noel could use the skill 'Distort', to warp himself, or a different thing, to a different person. This included his position, and his looks.
But he had no memory of an attribute named Time Lord.
Is this because of the authority?
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to rummage his thoughts any further.
Noel felt a chilling sensation descend and wash over him. Immediately, he shot his eyes upward, and a blinding white light enveloped his view.
Instinctively, Noel selected an attribute.
[Wielder has been unleashed]
Blue mana currents circled around his figure, slithering erratically across his frame before converging on his palm. Then immediately, a black sword with a golden hilt materialised.
Noel raised his weapon. The moment he did, a sheer pressure boomed from his hands, causing his surroundings to cave in.
At the same time, the overwhelming white light receded, and a gigantic eye hung in the clouds.
[Watcher of Ages is watching you]
Noel tightened his grip on the sword, and with a loud yell, activated a different attribute.
[Slayer has been unleashed]
"Sword art: Slicing the heavens!"