Back in his private chambers, Mikhail felt the headache return as temporal currents surged around him.
The familiar sensation reminded him of his first dungeon experience, but this was different, stronger somehow. The around him rippled with temporal distortions.
[System Alert: Time dilation calculations complete.]
[Analysis: Temporal Anomaly creates unique opportunity.]
[Processing dimensional update...]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time Dilation Ratio:
.
-1 hour in normal space = 1 year in dimensional dungeon
-Window of opportunity: 4 hours in normal time
-Equivalent dungeon time: 4 years
-Warning: Window closing due to shifting temporal matrices.
-Must enter dimensional space within next 30 minutes for optimal effect.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Four years to investigate," Mikhail whispered, his mind racing with possibilities. "While only four hours pass outside."
[System Update: Additional processing capacity unlocked.]
[Recalibrating to handle temporal data stream.]
[Note: System will remain operational during time dilation.]
[Warning: Expect periodic updates as processing power increases.]
"Aurora," Mikhail called softly, and the sprite materialised beside him, her multicoloured light somehow more vibrant in the temporally charged air. She quickly vanished within him as he began to move.
After ensuring his alibi was in place through Lydia and sending a coded message to Gage, Mikhail descended into his basement.
The familiar stone walls seemed different now, the temporal currents only he could see made the air shimmer with potential.
Moving swiftly but quietly through his villa, Mikhail made his way to the basement entrance.
The dimensional runes pulsed with an intensity he'd never seen before, responding to the temporal distortions permeating the air.
"The System's trying to understand these temporal distortions," Mikhail said to Aurora as he began the activation sequence. "There might be a connection to what's happening with Father."
[System Alert: 12 minutes remaining.]
[Warning: Temporal fluctuations increasing.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 35% complete.]
[Note: Analysis functions prioritised over combat protocols.]
The temporal currents grew stronger as Mikhail made his preparations.
His personal dimensional storage contained everything needed for a thorough investigation - measurement tools, recording crystals, and research materials.
[System Alert: Anomalous entry point detected.]
[Warning: Traditional dungeon level progression bypassed.]
[Direct access to Level 60 available due to temporal resonance.]
[Note: Dungeon level has experienced catastrophic destabilisation, lowering the level cap, Host's current abilities sufficient to attack level.]
"The temporal distortions are creating a direct path," he murmured, watching the dimensional barriers thin. "Whatever's causing this, it's pulling us straight to the source."
Mikhail infused the runes with mana and his vision blurred.
The world shifted, reality bending around him like light through a prism.
Then, Mikhail materialised in a vast frozen forest.
Ancient pines towered overhead, then shrank to saplings, and disappeared before reappearing again. Their branches were heavy with snow each time they reappeared. The trees stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction.
Bitter cold immediately bit through his robes.
[System Alert: Level 60 Entry Successful]
[Environment Analysis: Eternal Winter Biome]
[Current Temperature: -15°C]
[System Processing Upgrade: 52% complete]
[Warning: Temporal distortions affecting local physics]
"First things first," Mikhail muttered, quickly retreating into his Personal Dimensional Space.
Within its familiar void, he changed into thick furs and enhanced boots, making sure every piece of equipment was properly secured. Aurora waited patiently, her light dimmed to conserve energy.
Back in the frozen forest, now properly attired, Mikhail caught a glimpse of something metallic glinting in the distance - a flash of artificial light that seemed completely out of place in this primaeval winter landscape.
[System Alert: Unknown structure detected at bearing 042]
[Distance: Approximately 3.7 kilometres]
[Warning: Multiple hostile entities between current position and target]
The howl started low and distorted, like a sound played backwards. More calls answered, each one seeming to come from multiple directions at once. Through the trees, dark shapes began to move.
The creatures that emerged were like no wolves Mikhail had ever seen.
Their forms flickered between different stages of growth, cubs and ancient beasts simultaneously, their eyes reflecting the same temporal distortions that plagued the forest.
A pack of twelve surrounded him, their movements unnaturally synchronized.
[Combat Alert: Temporal Wolves detected.]
[Analysis: Entities exist in multiple time states simultaneously.]
[Warning: Standard combat predictions unreliable.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 67% complete...]
The first wolf lunged, its form blurring as it seemed to attack from three different time states at once.
Mikhail barely managed to dodge, the beast's fangs passing through the space where he'd been standing in three different moments simultaneously.
Aurora flared bright, creating a burst of light that momentarily confused the pack. Mikhail used the opportunity to analyse their movement patterns - they weren't just fast, they were literally attacking from multiple points in time.
[System Alert: Temporal combat analysis in progress]
[Note: Entities vulnerable when time states converge]
[Warning: Pack hunting strategy utilises temporal advantages]
Two more wolves attacked from opposite directions, their forms phasing between different ages as they moved. Mikhail channelled his mana into a defensive barrier, but the wolves' temporal nature let them slip through conventional magical defences.
"Time states," Mikhail muttered, watching their patterns. "They're not just moving through space..."
Understanding clicked.
He modified his mana output, creating a field that matched the temporal distortions around him. When the next wolf attacked, its multiple time states collapsed into a single moment - making it vulnerable.
The battle was brief but intense.
Once Mikhail understood how to force the wolves into temporal convergence, Aurora's light attacks proved remarkably effective. The pack retreated, their howls echoing strangely through time as they disappeared into the forest.
[System Alert: Combat Analysis Complete.]
[System Alert: Data on temporal entity behaviour recorded.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 75% complete...]
[Note: Temporal physics research capabilities enhanced.]
With the immediate threat handled, Mikhail began the long trek toward the distant glint of metal.
The frozen landscape was treacherous - not just from the cold and ice, but from patches where time itself seemed to flow differently. Snow fell upward in some spots, while other areas showed glimpses of different seasons flickering like mirages.
He carefully documented each temporal anomaly he passed, watching as the System processed and analysed the data.
Aurora scouted ahead, her light alerting him to particularly dangerous distortions.
After what felt like hours of careful navigation through the temporal maze of the frozen forest, they crested a ridge and finally saw it clearly - a facility that defied everything Mikhail knew about his world.
Smooth metallic walls rose at perfect angles, their surfaces unmarred by ice or time. Lights pulsed along its exterior in patterns that seemed to echo the temporal currents flowing through the air.
[System Alert: Ancient technological facility detected.]
[Analysis: Primary temporal manipulation centre.]
[Structure composition: Unknown alloy with chronological properties.]
[Energy readings: Active but degraded.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 89% complete...]
The facility's entrance beckoned, its design suggesting knowledge far beyond anything that existed in either of the worlds Mokhail had lived in.
Panels of what appeared to be glass showed scrolling symbols in a language Mikhail had never seen.
[System Alert: Analysing facility data patterns.]
[Translation matrices initialising.]
[Warning: Temporal feedback detected.]
[Note: Facility appears to be monitoring time streams.]
As they approached the structure, Mikhail noticed how the snow fell strangely around it - some flakes moving in reverse, others hanging suspended in mid-air. The entire area seemed to exist in multiple moments simultaneously.
[System Alert: Temporal physics violation detected.]
[Analysis: Local space-time highly unstable.]
[Warning: Multiple time streams converging.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 93% complete.]
The facility's entrance slid open with a soft hiss as they approached, revealing corridors lit by the same pulsing lights that lined its exterior.
The air inside was neither warm nor cold, but something else entirely - as if temperature itself worked differently here.
[System Alert: Entering secondary temporal nexus.]
[System Analysis: Facility designed to monitor and manipulate time.]
[Warning: Technology level exceeds Host's known parameters.]
[System Processing Upgrade: 97% complete.]
"This is what we came to find," Mikhail said quietly as they entered. "Not just answers about Father's condition, but perhaps about time itself."
Aurora's light reflected off the metallic walls as they moved deeper into the facility. Whatever secrets this place held, whatever civilisation had built it, the answers lay somewhere in these impossible corridors.
In the outside world, barely a second had passed. But here, in this nexus of time and technology, Mikhail had four years to uncover the truth.
The System continued its upgrades, processing the temporal data streaming from every surface.
[System Processing Upgrade: 99% complete...]