Aftermath
[However, as for how long your current body can endure it... even This Lady cannot say for certain.]
"...My body?" At my question, Sierra stroked her chin, hesitating for a moment before offering a suggestion.
[They say seeing is believing. Why not simply give it a try? Knowing my disciple... it surely won't kill you.]
"Does that mean I might actually die if things go wrong?"
[If you were the type to die from this, you would have perished long ago when you completely twisted the flow of your mana. Why not place your trust in This Lady? I am quite curious to see how many seconds you can endure right now.]
Sierra's seductive voice, accompanied by a rather provocative glint in her eyes, echoed in my mind.
"Hmm..." I let out a low groan as I stared at her smirk.
'It seems that forcing my speed to increase puts a severe strain on my physical body...' I understood the concept of the skill, but I couldn't quite grasp what kind of pain it would entail.
Since Sierra, the creator of Reverse Heaven, was the one saying it, I knew I wouldn't die. It seemed the duration would increase as my mastery reached higher stages, and I, too, was curious to see how long I could hold out.
"I'll give it a try," I said, rising confidently from the tree stump.
Pleased by my bold attitude, the corners of Sierra's lips curled upward into a wide grin as she spoke.
[If you intend to test it here, slicing falling leaves would be appropriate. Surely you can sense something as simple as a leaf.]
I nodded at her words and stepped up to a reasonably sized tree. *Thud!* I immediately delivered a sharp kick to its trunk.
*Rustle...* A shower of leaves began to cascade down. There were far too many to slice all at once under normal circumstances.
*Shring.* The moment the falling leaves entered my vision, I drew the Demon Blade from my waist.
Crossing my arms, I slowly ran the index and middle fingers of my remaining left hand down the flat of the blade. This motion was a sort of 'trigger' I used whenever I twisted the flow of my mana to activate Reverse Heaven.
Performing this gesture made it easier to instantaneously warp the mana flow. I had naturally grasped this trick with the help of the status window.
When Sierra had seen me do this before, she remarked, 'Having such a trigger certainly helps,' though she added that it would be far better to eventually cast it without any preparation.
Since she was the creator of Reverse Heaven, she probably never needed such a crutch. It seemed I would have to raise the level of my Reverse Heaven skill to reach that realm of mastery.
As my fingers slid along the blade, I focused on what I needed to defy. The First Form was space. By defying the very concept of space, I could strike an enemy from a distance that should have been unreachable.
The Second Form was time. The flow of time. I had to defy the passage of time, which should flow equally for everyone, and force my body to move freely within that split second where everything else ground to a halt.
Just as my fingers reached the tip of the blade and my concentration peaked, the leaves around me were drifting down. In an instant, the flow of my mana violently twisted.
The leaves fluttering in the air before my eyes slowed to a crawl, descending at an incredibly sluggish pace.
It was so slow that one might easily mistake it for time stopping entirely, but it hadn't frozen completely. The blades of grass swaying in the cool breeze were still rustling, albeit with imperceptible micro-movements.
There was no way to tell exactly how much time had slowed down. Normally, my own body should have slowed down as well, but Reverse Heaven shattered and defied that common sense as if it were nothing.
My arm, reaching out to slice the leaves, moved at a perfectly normal speed. The world hadn't slowed down. Rather, within this fleeting moment, my perception, cognitive speed, and physical body had accelerated to an absurd degree.
The moment I swung my arm, Sierra's voice echoed.
[Ho... You succeed on your very first try again, acting as if it is nothing. This is quite impressive... I wonder if my disciple can endure long enough to slice every single leaf.]
Sierra was looking around, evaluating my performance of Reverse Heaven. I wasn't entirely sure how she was able to speak to me in this state.
'Well, the weapon I'm wielding is the Demon Blade, which is Sierra herself, so I suppose it makes sense...' Furthermore, she was a spirit of the deceased, not a living human. It wouldn't be strange for her to transcend the boundaries of time and space.
However, just as she said, I didn't feel like I had much time left. I rapidly swung my arm, slicing through the leaves.
Brimming with sharp aura, the Demon Blade Sierra split the paper-thin leaves precisely in half without a single millimeter of deviation. I watched as the leaves parted cleanly upon contact with the edge.
Just because time had slowed didn't mean I swung slowly. Picturing Sierra's provocative expression, I slashed with all the strength and speed I could muster. Perhaps seeing that look on her face had triggered a sudden desire to prove myself to her.
How many times had I swung the sword? I was just about to slice the very last leaf that remained intact.
*Swoooooosh!* A violent, deafening screech pierced my ears. Immediately after, my vision plunged into darkness.
"Ugh..." The moment I regained consciousness, a splitting headache and a crushing pain throughout my entire body forced a groan from my lips.
For some reason, something massive and crimson was blocking my view. I tried to push myself up, but my body refused to cooperate.
As I struggled with all my might to sit up, Sierra's gentle voice echoed in my head.
[Are you awake?]
Her voice was so clear and soothing that it seemed to slightly ease my headache. Then, Sierra's face came into view. With a soft blush dusting her cheeks, she was gently caressing my cheek as if proud of me.
Judging by the angle, the massive crimson thing blocking my view had been Sierra's... chest. She was giving me a lap pillow.
I gave up on trying to sit up and decided to remain resting on her lap.
"How was it... my Reverse Heaven..."
[...Terrible.]
"Sigh... I guess it really isn't easy." Given her playful tone, she didn't actually mean it was terrible. Still, I wasn't satisfied with my performance.
[Pfft, did you think the Second Form would be that easy? There are some things that cannot be achieved through talent alone. Still, it wasn't bad for a first attempt. Even if you did cough up quite a bit of blood...]
Listening to Sierra's relaxed voice as she chuckled softly, I glanced over at the ground where I had been standing. Amidst the sliced leaves... I could see deep sword gouges in the earth and a small pool of blood.
I sniffed, realizing the metallic scent of blood still lingered heavily in my nose. I suppose she could laugh like that because she had gone through the exact same process herself.
"I thought you said it wouldn't kill me..."
[Well, you didn't die, did you? I believe This Lady's calculations were perfectly correct.]
"..." Just as she said, I hadn't died, but looking at the blood splattered on the ground, it seemed my vitality had taken a significant hit.
[That aside, the bracelet the instructor gave you must be quite the artifact. Your recovery is remarkably fast.] Sierra stopped stroking my cheek and slid her hand down to my chest. She gently touched the area over my heart on the left side. Judging by her expression, she had no strange intentions.
"How long was I out?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the soft sensation of Sierra's thighs cradling the back of my head.
[It has been about an hour. You reached your limit, coughed up blood, and collapsed. I knew this would happen, so I was not particularly surprised.] Sierra smiled warmly down at me. Honestly, she could have warned me about the coughing up blood part.
"...How many times slower does the flow of time actually get?" At my question, Sierra began to explain.
[Ten times. That is how much it slows. To be precise, you could say you moved your body at ten times the maximum speed your physical form can normally exert.]
"Ten times... At that rate, it makes sense that the overload almost tore my body apart."
[Indeed. Not only does it consume far more mana than the First Form, but it also forces your physical body to move much faster... and it even strains your mind. Defying the laws of the world is no simple task.] Sierra said, tapping my forehead with her finger.
'I thought things were going smoothly when I learned the First Form...' The Second Form was on a completely different level of difficulty. I had been confident that reaching level 4 in the Reverse Heaven skill would allow me to use the Second Form, but this was barely scraping by.
It seemed that even if I raised the skill level further, I wouldn't be able to learn the Third Form right away. Once my stamina recovered enough to move, I immediately sat up. Sierra's eyes narrowed, and she puffed out one of her cheeks in annoyance. Silently brushing the dust off my clothes, I spoke.
"Master... how long did I hold out?" This was a crucial question. Even if time had slowed tenfold, the number of seconds I could keep the skill active was what mattered. I had attempted this to gauge my current limits. I couldn't afford to cough up blood and collapse like this in the middle of a real battle.
[The duration of the Second Form depends on the caster's mastery and physical body. Mastery aside, my disciple's physical body is particularly lacking... though that was never an issue for This Lady, who lived her entire life with the sword.] Sierra puffed out her chest proudly, placing a hand over her bosom. ...Still, I was pretty sure those breasts hadn't grown that large from swordsmanship.
Scratching my head, I asked her again. "...So, how many seconds was it?" At this, Sierra's voice echoed in my mind, turning serious once more.
[It was about a minute in perceived time... so around five to six seconds. That is your current limit. If we are talking about a safe threshold where you won't collapse... about three seconds.]
Since the Second Form slowed the flow of time tenfold... three seconds in real time translated to thirty seconds of perceived time. Three seconds. It was truly a fleeting moment.
'When I first heard about defying time, I wondered if it meant rewinding it.' But this was incredibly powerful in its own right. A swordsmanship style that accelerated both body and mind tenfold. Since Reverse Heaven was ultimately a sword style... it seemed I couldn't use it without a blade in hand.
Thanks to the status window, I had naturally realized this, saving myself from asking Sierra any foolish questions. With this, my preparations for Barsium were complete.
The Necklace of the Hero's Protection and the Second Form of Reverse Heaven. Honestly, with the necklace in my possession, there was no need to be overly terrified of a vampire, an undead creature. However, since Barsium was an unknown enemy with very little information available, I had to prepare as meticulously as possible.
In that sense, the Second Form of Reverse Heaven felt like a precautionary measure. While a mere three seconds wasn't entirely satisfying, one couldn't expect to be full on the first spoonful. Besides, there were plenty of ways to compensate.
Physical strength and mastery. Mastery wasn't an issue since I could just raise the skill level of Reverse Heaven. The real problem was my physical body.
'An item that increases my maximum health to reduce the burden on my body would be ideal... I wonder what kind of items fit that description.' The physical body was directly linked to the maximum health stat from the game. From what I had experienced, the Second Form was a skill that drained health. Mana was consumed too, but health was far more critical.
Just as a high maximum health pool meant a small drain wouldn't affect me much... a stronger physical body would easily withstand a minor overload.
'Elixirs?' Consumable items of that nature immediately came to mind. For me, as long as it wasn't some bizarre food like a lycanthrope's eyeball, anything would do... though several grotesque-looking 'elixirs' flashed through my mind.
If I wanted to use the Second Form more freely, I would need to address this bottleneck. Consistent training was also essential. It looked like my daily routine was about to get longer.
Realizing that simply grinding mindlessly wouldn't magically extend the duration of the Second Form, I decided to head back to the dormitory. But before I left, curiosity got the better of me.
"...Master, what was your limit?" Upon hearing my question, Sierra burst into laughter.
[Pffft... My disciple, do you dare mock your master, who is as high as the heavens?] Sierra's eyes narrowed as she giggled, politely covering her mouth. Soon, her lips, glistening under the moonlight, parted.
[Your units of measurement are wrong.]
"What? Then..."
[...Three minutes and eighteen seconds. I stopped measuring after that, as it felt meaningless.]
Her answer left me utterly dumbfounded. Three minutes. By simple calculation, that was thirty minutes of perceived time.
'Purple Moon Sierra.' The Purple Moon, who once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Sword Saint. The wall represented by that name was still colossally high.
'Since Sierra created this swordsmanship to defeat the Sword Saint, defeating him myself...' It seemed I still had a very long road ahead of me.
[Now that you have properly learned the Second Form, my disciple must treat This Lady to the food she desires...! It is none other than deep-fried kraken tentacles!]
On the way back to the dormitory, Sierra clung to my arm, pleading. The dead-serious gaze she had held while teaching me Reverse Heaven in the forest was completely gone, replaced by a childlike curiosity.
Wondering why on earth anyone would be selling deep-fried kraken tentacles at this hour, I looked at the shop and realized it was a tavern. 'I bet it just tastes like an oversized octopus leg...'
Still, since she was begging so earnestly, I figured buying some kraken tentacles wouldn't hurt. I let Sierra guide me toward the tavern. The heavy stench of alcohol and greasy fried food wafted through the air, making my stomach churn slightly.
Just as we approached the tavern to place an order, urgent footsteps suddenly echoed from the main street. Wondering who could possibly be running in such a hurry at the crack of dawn, I turned my head to look... It was Yuri Clementine.
Yuri was panting heavily, her face pale with worry, running directly toward where I stood. "Haa... haa..." Behind her, I spotted a familiar head of platinum-blonde hair. Yuri was carrying Eisel on her back. 'Why is she carrying Eisel...?'
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, I immediately sprinted toward them. Yuri spotted me as she ran. "...Yuri?"
"Haa... Zeto...? We have to go to Doctor Priscilla's quarters! Eisel collapsed...! She has a wound on her stomach..." Barely able to catch her breath, Yuri frantically explained the situation.
'A wound?' Looking past Yuri, I saw Eisel. Her face was flushed red, her eyes tightly shut, and she was breathing in shallow, ragged gasps. Since she was fully clothed, I couldn't see the injury immediately, but it was obvious her condition was critical.
"...It's an emergency, let's move!" I interrupted Yuri, naturally taking Eisel from her back as I shouted. The heat radiating from Eisel's body was alarmingly intense.
[It seems deep-fried tentacles are the least of our concerns right now.] Sierra remarked, her eyes fixed on Eisel's state. Eisel, who had been missing for days, had suddenly reappeared wounded and unconscious.
'As a regressor, Eisel shouldn't have any reason to pick a fight with an enemy that could push her to this point so early on...' ...But first, treatment was the priority.