The majority of the changes brought by time were good. It made us stronger, smarter, and healthier. It made us more innovative and resilient, more adaptable. It made all of us more human.
***
In a normal situation, fighting a group of enemies alone wasn't an easy feat. Even if the person who fought alone was at a higher level than the group, it was still hard to cope since he would have to manage multiple individuals simultaneously.
And even if the group didn't have any intelligence as the monsters Haste had fought against, it was still hard especially when Haste didn't have a lot of battle experience.
And yet, Haste skillfully killed all the monsters without sustaining any type of injuries. The only injury he could have inflicted upon himself was when he was about to crash into the tree. But other than that, he was as good as new.
'Thank god we were in a forest,' Haste clenched his fist, deep in thought. 'If not for the giant tree, I would need to fight them all head-on. And if it was the case, I don't think I could have finished the fight like this, without any injuries.'
Haste knew that what he did was good. He killed all the enemies easily, and that was something extraordinary for someone like him because, until yesterday, he was still scared of fighting. However, even with that, he didn't lower his attention and tried to learn, even from this fight. Sure he had killed all the monsters, but if he pictured himself having lost the fight, then he could be even more careful the next time he will face a group because he will already be prepared.
After touching all the monsters and collecting his loot, Haste went to his brother who was still deep in thought. But after seeing him coming to him, the latter smiled and said, "You were extraordinary during this fight, little brother. You used what was surrounding you to your advantage, without taking into account the fact that you already won after killing the first monster. You kept a clear mind during all the fight, and for a beginner like you, that is a very good start."
"Thanks, I guess," Haste said and waited. He knew that Jil had other things to say.
"But can you explain to me what the spell you use does exactly? It can't just be an increase in speed, right?"
'And me who hoped that he wouldn't ask. What should I do now? Should I tell him the truth? Or keep it for me? I still don't know if I can truly trust him.' Haste thought for a while before answering him. "From what I understand from the spell description, it increases the speed of my body. But I still don't know how to use it well. You saw it yourself, I almost hugged the tree earlier."
"Haha, I see I see. Well, that's interesting because usually, spells like this only improve the physique of someone so that they could perform better, or increase a particular stat for a certain amount of time so that they could have more stamina or speed for example," Jil explained. "But your spell increases the speed of your whole body. And from what I saw during the fight, you could probably use it differently."
"What do you mean?"
"What you did is good. You increased the overall speed of your body so that the enemies couldn't follow you. You were too fast for their eyes, and thus you killed them easily. But if you had to fight in close quarters, you probably won't be able to use it because from what I saw earlier, you use your spell only when your whole body is in motion, so mostly when you run," Haste nodded as what his brother said was true.
"So what I'm saying is that, instead of increasing the speed of your whole body, why don't you instead increase a specific area of your body? For example, when you swing your arm, you can increase its speed so that your opponent would be taken aback by the sudden increase in speed of your arm. Like this, even when you are in close quarters, you would still be able to defend yourself, and maybe even got the kill if you play your card well."
Hearing his brother's idea, Haste's mind suddenly got clearer, and understood how bad he was at using such a strong spell. Time manipulation increased the speed of his body, for now. But it never crossed his mind that he could choose a specific area of his body to surprise his opponent.
It opened a lot of possibilities for the future, and he was happy that his brother gave him such an idea.
"Thank you big brother," Haste smiled as Jil smiled back.
'Tch,' He thought before adding. "Of course what I told you is just a temporary measure. I don't think you will keep such a spell for long since at a higher level, you will have spells a lot stronger than this. But if you keep it nonetheless, then you can do that until you control perfectly your spell. Increasing your whole body speed in close quarters is still better than just a specific area. But still, for now, I guess it's the best option since it seems hard to speed up your whole body when you don't go forward."
"Yes, that's true. I never really tried to use the spell when I'm idle, but the idea you gave me can surprise the enemy greatly since I feel like I can go faster."
"Huh? Then why didn't you go at full speed earlier?" Jil asked, taken aback. If the spell he used wasn't already at the best of its capacities, then it only means that it was a much better spell than he thought.
"Because I can't control my body with such a speed. You already saw how fast I went and how I almost crashed on the tree earlier. If I go faster than that, I must as well die from the kinetic energy when it will be released by a choc," Haste explained. "And I just received the spell yesterday, so I'm still not used to it."
"Interesting. So you indeed got a blessing," Jil squinted his eyes
'F*ck me sideways,' Haste cursed himself. 'Me and my big mouth.'
"Well I'm glad if you received one," Jil smiled, stopping his brother's thought process. "That means that a being recognizes your value. And that just made me even sadder for not having apologized earlier," He looked away with a wry smile.
"Well, you did it in the end, so that doesn't really matter, right?" Jil patted Haste's head hearing that.
He then smiled and said, "Still I wonder what type of being had blessed you. He must be strong for giving you such a spell."
"He looks strong, but I don't know who it is."
"Care to give me its name?"
"There are only three little dots in front of the blessing tab," Haste lied through his teeth.
"What?" Jil was baffled. "That's strange. I never saw such an occurrence before," From all the people he knew, he never heard of such a thing. And this will only delay his agenda.
While Jil was mumbling to himself, Haste's eyes got stuck on the blue screen in front of him.
[The God of Time is proud of you]