1
"So, this is what it feels like to stop time…" says Perseus as he looks at the grey scenery with everything stopped in its place except…
"This is what it feels like. Although I won't say that I'm a big fan of this grey view." Says Aquila while reading the book.
"When did you grab that book?"
"I had it with me all along. Now that you've entered the motionless world your first task will be getting out of here."
"This should be easy… Wait how do I get out of here?"
"You read the books that I gave you right?"
"Yeah…"
"The answer was in one of the books. If you paid attention to the content it will be a child's play for you to exit the motionless world."
"I am a child though…"
"Child or not doesn't matter. I'll stay here if you want me to accompany you until…"
"No need. I'll make it out of here on my own."
"What a hilarious kid you are! I'll be taking my leave then... Oh! I forgot to tell you something!"
"Is it about the time limit?"
"It's like you can read my mind… The time limit is 3 hours. Any more and your body will start to deteriorate and your mental mind will never be able to come back to the real world."
"Deteriorate…?"
"Um… Well, not much to worry about. Just think that if you don't make it you will die."
"THAT'S PRETTY SERIOUS IF YOU ASK ME!!!"
She then waves her hand in the air and a rift opens up in front of her allowing her to leave the motionless world. Just before the rift closed she turned towards him and said-
"There are very few monsters in the motionless world… Bye then!" and the crack closes.
"Monsters? She did say monsters… Why are there monsters in this place? Who knows? I've gotta figure out how to leave this place… Wait a second… I'll be killed anyways…?"
One hour in the motionless world had passed by and nothing had happened. Perseus hadn't encountered any monsters nor did he find a way to exit the place.
"Hmmm~…Hmm?! No, that won't work. The answer was in the book is what Aquila-san told me. I've read those stupid books many times but there was nothing related to the motionless world nor about time magic. What else could have been…" Then a strange thought struck him.
"Trust your magic! That's it. But how am I supposed to do that? This makes my head hurt… I just wanna get out of here." Then he hears something running towards him and he runs at full speed behind him.
"It's too early for a monster to come out! Help me someone!"
"A brat?" Perseus hears an unfamiliar voice and when he turns around while running he sees a man standing with his hands inside his pocket.
He thinks about stopping while running but doesn't and continues to run forward.
"I'm sorry but I value my life more right now!"
"Oye! Stop you brat!"
The thing that was chasing him was a hound. Hounds are the only creatures on the planet who can move between the real world and the motionless world. They reside in the motionless world and attack anyone whom they spot in the motionless world. They are greyish in colour with few white stripes on their body. They resemble foxes but are as fierce as wolves.
"A-tier… What a joke!" says the man while kicking the hound high up into the air.
He takes out a small book from his pocket and puts on his glasses. The hound falls down with a big crash and tries attacking the strange man. The strange man jumps around while reading the book. After jumping around for a while he stops and closes the book. Then he looks at the hound with a very agitated look and says-
"You there! Yes, I'm talking to you! Let me read my novel in peace!" he runs towards the hound and jumps over it. Then he lets down a barrage of kicks on the hound and says, "Apex Point: Joint 21!"
The hound gets obliterated and he lands on the remains of the hound's corpse and continues to read his book. Perseus who was hiding behind a rock far away from the hound and the strange man walks over and asks him-
"You're human?"
"That's the first time someone has asked me that. I'm a familiar."
"A familiar? What's that? It sounds so lame."
"Oh, shut up! At least I don't run away from danger at full speed."
"Look, mister. I'm just a kid. There are things I can and cannot do."
"Yeah. Fine. Whatever you say."
"What is your name, Familiar-san?"
"Oye! Stop calling me that. My name is Kerberio so stop calling me that!"
"I'm Perseus Harbard! Nice to meet you and I hope that you'll keep protecting me till I get out of here!"
"Huh?! Me protect you? Keep dreaming kid. I only work for my master Aquila."
"Oh! Aquila-san? She's my sensei and she's teaching me how to use my time magic."
"You-you're Aquila's student?"
Then he closes his book and keeps it in his pocket and thinks to himself-
"This is the boy that she is guiding… And he possesses time magic. How convenient! Now, I just have to find some excuse to…"
"Are you stuck in here too Kerberio-san?" asks Perseus innocently.
"I've been found out already..." He says to himself.
Then he looks at Perseus and asks him-
"Perseus… I'll protect you on one condition."
"What is it?"
"I will help you get out of here and train you as well."
"Really?! That's a big help… But are you sure you're not stuck in this place."
"N-no of course not! I train in the motionless world occasionally haha-ha."
"You train here. That's cool… I'll be in your care then Kerberio-san." Says Perseus while bowing his head.
"Likewise, Perseus."
2
After walking for some time they reached an open field with a lot of dead monster remains lying around here and there.
"Is it okay if I ask you what this is?"
"This… how should I put it… The motionless world is actually a dungeon."
"What's a dungeon? I've only heard stories about it from my dad… Could you maybe give me a better explanation?"
"A dungeon is… a place with monsters. You fight them to raise your skills, arts, magic and whatnot."
"Oho! Oho! I get it now!"
"Also, I've been wanting to ask this for some time but…"
"Hmm?"
"You haven't realized it yet but your elbows have started to disappear." Says Kerberio while pointing at his arm.
Perseus looks at his arm and when he realizes it his eyes widen as if they were going to pop out. Then he looks at Kerberio with his bloodshot eyes and says-
"Say… Aquila-san wasn't trying to get rid of me, was she?"
"Rid of you? What are you even talking about? Are you really keeping track of time in the motionless world?"
"Yeah. I have been… It's been about an hour and ten minutes since I entered into this world…"
"Kid… could it be that you don't know how time flows in the motionless world?"
"Please don't tell me that I'm disappearing because I'm weak!"
"Are you an idiot? Well, you are weak but… Let's see… 1 hour and 10 minutes would probably be about 2 minutes and few seconds in the real world. Also, kid what's your stats? I can estimate how much time you've got in here based on that."
"Stats… I don't know about that but Aquila-san said that my time limit was three hours."
Then Kerberio nods his head sideways and nods.
"That loli hag…! She meant that by the time it's three hours in here you will disappear… More like it's a death time limit."
"I-I'm gonna die?"
"I won't let that happen." Says Kerberio and straightens his necktie, "You'll be trained by the great Kerberio Noir himself."
"Ok…"
The next hour he only trained and trained… and trained. He picked monster drops and fought lesser ranked monsters like slimes with a worn-out sword. While panting, he asks Kerberio-
"Do you think… I've grown stronger now?! Kerberio-san?"
"I won't say you've grown that strong but… Now you should get the basic idea as to what a dungeon is. Also you should now try it out… creating your own skill!"
"My-my own skill…!" says Perseus while looking a bit excited.
"How do I do it, Kerberio-san?"
"The trick to that is… survival instincts!"
"If you think that joke was hilarious then please don't. Dad's jokes are better than that."
"What a cheeky brat! I've created a skill based on my survival instincts that I sharpened in here…!"
"Even if you say the truth how am I supposed to do that?!"
"It's easy… You need to trust your magic! If you can trust your magic you can create a bunch of skills… Well, the skills you can create are only related to your magic element."
"I don't know about that… I'm not so confident if I'll succeed or not."
"Oh… You arms and heels are disappearing."
"Waaaahhh! Survival instinct come forth! I summon thee!" and he stands there with one of his hands in the sky.
There is an awkward silence for some time and then Kerberio says-
"Keep trying and you will find a solution… You still have 45 minutes."
"Yes! Kerberio-san! Also, if I succeed in finding a way outside then would you come with me to the real world?"
"Um… Sure, why not! That is only when you succeed though." And he laughs and sits to drink water.
"Alright! I will definitely succeed."
"Trust my magic… How do I do it though?" Says Perseus while sitting on the ground with a rock and draws something on the ground. Then he remembers what Aquila had said to him before she left the motionless world.
"It was in one of the books… I think I remember where!" and he remembers the first book that he read.
"Nature it's something and some crappy applications was it? I remember a thing in there vaguely. What was it?!"
'The elements of nature constitute…. Exchange with nature comes with…. Further theories and…. Abnormal magic flows through nature."
"That! Abnormal magic… Can Time magic also be the same? What else was there… The hint has to be there somewhere…!"
He thinks about it seriously for some time and then it clicks him-
"G-got it!"
'Nature and mana are coexistent. As long as there are mana particles in the atmosphere you can utilize them. Overusing the natural mana exhausts your original mana reserves though. If you have a lot of mana then you should be spared with some mana and the mana deficiency disease won't befall you. The only way to utilize natural mana and fuse it with your mana is to…'
"…is to trust mana in it's entirety and let it consume your mana!"
He gets up and closes his eyes. Then he crosses his arms in front of him and takes deep breaths. Kerberio notices him doing something and grins. Perseus then clenches his fists and takes out his index fingers. Mana starts to flow like water around his index finger. He then opens his eyes and sees the mana around his finger. He keeps his arms straight and slowly opens the other fingers as well. More mana keeps gathering around his palm and then he makes a gesture of drawing a circle in the air and says-
"Original skill: Mana manipulation…"
A rift appears out of thin air and takes a form of a circle. Out of exhaustion he sits on the ground and pants.
"No! I can't move… My mana is almost over? That book was useful but if I don't make it out of here then I'll die!" thinks Perseus to himself since he couldn't talk out of exhaustion.
Kerberio laughs and walks over to Perseus and picks him up by his collar.
"Good job there… Perseus." And he grins at Perseus. Perseus grins as well but the next thing he realizes was that he was thrown into the rift.
The shock he experienced at that moment left him with only questions and the only word he uttered from his mouth were-
"Eh… Why…?!"
As the rift closed, he saw Kerberio disappear. Just as he disappeared, he said something which couldn't be heard by him but from his mouth's movements he understood what it was. The words Kerberio spoke were-
"Thank you for spending time with me… Perseus…"