Calvas's body slammed into the side of the alley, the impact enough to knock the breath out of him. His mind raced—he knew it was Swiftstep who had just rammed into him, but something felt off.
He was hit hard. Really hard.
For a moment, his head spun. But as he tried to stand, he realized—he wasn't hurt nearly as bad as he should've been. His ribs didn't feel broken, his muscles weren't screaming in agony. He looked down at himself, dazed, trying to process why he wasn't crumpled in pain.
[System Alert!]
-62 HP from High-Velocity Impact
Current HP: 122/184
'My health dropped,' blinking in disbelief. 'That should've done way more damage…'
Before he could fully register it, his eyes flicked up, landing on Swiftstep. The hero stood just a few feet away, looking just as surprised as Calvas felt. The hero's expression was almost apologetic, as if he hadn't expected Calvas to slow down so suddenly.
'He didn't think he'd hit me,' Calvas realized, locking eyes with the hero. The moment dragged on awkwardly, Swiftstep's hands raised slightly, his posture suggesting he wanted Calvas to stay calm, or maybe stop moving altogether.
But there was no chance of that. No way.
Calvas scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, ignoring the hero's attempts to signal that he meant no harm. The words were lost in translation anyway—Calvas couldn't understand a thing he was saying.
'I've gotta get out of here.' He tried to focus, tried to call on his Temporal Distortion again. He needed it, now more than ever.
[System Notification]
Temporal Distortion is still on cooldown.
Time Remaining: 4 seconds.
'Damn it!'
There was no time. He needed to stall—just enough to buy a few precious seconds. With a deep breath, Calvas pretended to limp toward Swiftstep, clutching his side like he'd been severely injured by the hit. He could see the concern flicker in the hero's eyes, just for a moment.
'Good… just a little closer.'
The second he got within arm's reach, Calvas bolted. He threw himself to the side, trying to slip around Swiftstep, to dart past him and escape the alley. But the hero was too fast. In a blur of motion, Swiftstep lunged, his arms wrapping around Calvas like a vice.
Suddenly, he was trapped—Swiftstep had him, his arms pinned, unable to move.
Calvas thrashed, flailing in Swiftstep's iron grip, but it was no use. The hero's hold was too strong. Calvas's body, still weaker from the de-aging, couldn't compete with the strength of an adult hero.
'Damn it, damn it!' he cursed, struggling in vain. Swiftstep's grip was unyielding, his arms coiling tighter around Calvas like a snake.
But just then, Calvas felt the familiar pull inside him—the cooldown was over. He gritted his teeth and activated Temporal Distortion once more.
The world slowed again.
Everything warped into that strange, muffled reality, the noise of the city becoming distant and distorted. Calvas felt the stamina drain instantly, his body once again experiencing that odd sensation where he wasn't faster—just everything else around him was slower.
But even now, Swiftstep was strong. In this warped space, the hero's grip was still firm, his body moving more slowly, but still too strong to break free from easily.
'He's so damn strong,' Calvas thought bitterly, struggling against the hero's hold. His younger body was no match for Swiftstep's built strength, and his five seconds were ticking away fast.
He had to do something. Now.
His mind raced, and instinctively, he did the only thing he could think of. He called up the system panel, mentally commanding it to display his stats.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[System Overview]
Name: Calvas Zavala
Age: 19 (15)
Height: 5'6"
Status: Fatigued
Level: 3
XP: 50/200
HP: 123/184
Stamina: 12/96
Health Regen: +3 HP/min
Stamina Regen: +2 Stamina/min
Vitality: 12
Endurance: 8
Strength: 10 → 20
Agility: 9
Willpower: 7
Intelligence:6
Control: 11
Perception: 6
Available Stat Points: 10 → 0
Available Skill Points: 2
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
'All into Strength. All of it!'
He felt it immediately—the rush of power, like a surge of energy flooding his veins. Swiftstep's grip, which had felt unbreakable only moments before, suddenly felt… weaker, but it was enough.
With a grunt, Calvas wrenched his arm free from Swiftstep's hold, twisting just enough to drive his elbow back into the hero's face with all the force he could muster. He felt the solid impact, the thud of bone on bone, and heard Swiftstep grunt in pain as the hit connected.
For a brief second, the hero's grip loosened. That was all Calvas needed.
He pushed off, breaking free from the hold, and took off. His legs felt like lead, but he forced them to keep moving, propelling himself out of the alley with everything he had left.
'Just run… keep running…'
[System Warning!]
Stamina dangerously low: 10/96
Fatigue levels rising. Risk of collapse if no rest is taken soon.
The world was still warped, his Temporal Distortion active, but he could feel the stamina draining fast. His legs burned with the effort, each step taking more energy than the last. He could barely think, his body moving on sheer instinct, his mind running on fumes.
Just as he reached the mouth of the alley, a figure appeared in his path.
Calvas skidded to a halt. The figure stood at the entrance to the alley, a hand raised as if to stop him. The light from the street behind the figure cast them in shadow, making it impossible to make out any details. All Calvas could see was a silhouette, blocking his escape.
'Who…?'
His breath caught in his throat, his legs trembling from the strain. He couldn't tell if the figure was a friend or an enemy. All he knew was that he was running out of time.
And then, as if someone had flipped a switch, the world snapped back to normal.
The Temporal Distortion ended.
His body felt the weight of it all at once— His legs gave out beneath him, his knees hitting the ground hard. His vision blurred, the edges of his sight dimming as exhaustion took over. He couldn't even see the figure standing in front of him clearly anymore. It was just a haze, a shape, an outline.
His body screamed for rest, for relief. But he couldn't stop now. Not yet.
'Just a little more…'
Those were his last thoughts before the world went dark.