Time Twister

Faykes nodded absentmindedly and moved to where the girls were, as he planned to observe the fights.

"Ok, Valerie, you"re up next. Just show me what you got." Xander pointed at Valerie, who, immediately launched her set of attacks. In just a minute, she lost. Her control over her spells stolen by Xander and then used against her. Xander launched a punch, shattering the barriers in place.

He consoled Valerie, saying, "Don"t worry. If you actually visit the ruins I told you and began to explore it earnestly, I am sure with your talent, you will rise above the ma.s.ses quickly."

Maryann was next. She didn"t speak or act unnecessarily, and cast her [Ice Cage] [Ice Spike Field] and [Frost Nova] in the span of 8 seconds, locking Xander in place. She was actually delaying time to cast her master cla.s.s spell, [Eternal Frostfire].

In truth, Xander had already guessed what Maryann will be doing, since he activated [Heavenly Divination] at the beginning. [Elemental Dominance] was also active, so currently, the elemental particles and energy around the two of them was under his control. After around 10 seconds, Xander was "frozen" over, covered in ice. However, if one would have a closer look, There was a thin s.p.a.ce between the ice and his actual skin, seemingly blocking all effects of the spells cast at him.

Maryann deployed her spell towards Xander location, with the 6 tongues of frostflame surrounding him. Maryann had thought she had evened out the playing field, but she, along with Valerie, Faykes, and the rest of the cla.s.s hear a resounding sigh, and as soon as they heard it, the spells they were preparing to deploy shook before disappearing, disintegrating into elemental particles and energy. The icy cage also shattered, revealing Xander"s unharmed, unchanged complexion. His face had a look of disappointment.

"Maryann, do you know what you did wrong in this battle?"

"Err, no. Can you tell me?"

"You made 3 errors. First, you didn"t notice the very, very small elemental energy fluctuation I released when I had cast 2 Master cla.s.s spells. That indicated your elemental perception needs refining and training, or you need to train to split your attention to yourself and to the target. Second, you didn"t even attempt to go straight for the kill, but rather delayed for time to cast your Master Cla.s.s spell. Third, it took you too long to prepare your spells. I had thought with your enlightenment yesterday, you would be able to prepare and cast your pseudo-spells at least within 1.5 seconds, but it took you 8 seconds to prepare 3 spells. Nearly a double than the expected casting speed."

"You know what I could do within those extra 13.5 seconds? In the first 3 seconds, I would have gotten control of the elemental particles and energy around us, so the spells you launch would be weaker. In the next 3 seconds, I could insert these certain elements into your spell to destabilize it, which I did once you released them. The next second, I could have deployed an enhanced punch to your body, shattering your barriers. The next half a second, you would be dead due to internal bleeding and shattered organs. How long did that take me, Maryann? Do answer."

Maryann was silent, before answering with a whisper, "7.5 seconds."

Xander nodded, before saying, "That"s right. I even had a spare 6 seconds to dispose of your body. I have the highest expectation for you out of the three, because your case of enlightenment and innate talent of yours is very rare. I believe you will reach greater heights, and I hope you do." His voice was calm, causing anyone besides the trio to feel a chill in their spines. How could he easily talk about disposing dead bodies, hey! You"re just a 7-year-old kid, please act your age, ok! They felt it was very weird for a kid to know more about the world than them, which was why they had such a sentiment.

Xander then recovered everyone"s state to the best form, before raising his hand, gesturing them,

"Come at me." The trio looked at one another before surrounding Xander in the triangular structure, each one 7 meters away from him. They had already communicated earlier on how to attack Xander.

First, [Frost Nova] was cast by Maryann, followed by [Forest of Screams] of Faykes. It"s topped off by [Poison Mist] and [Imperial Dark Order - Devouring] by Valerie and using that time delayed, cast their own ultimate spells.

Ice formed around Xander"s body, hindering him from moving. To top that off, a small forest appeared in his place, which actually looked like overgrown broccoli at this point, stopping him from blindly attacking. Before he was able to begin decoding, darkness fell around him, covering the forest and him in complete darkness. Xander, looking at their coordination, was happy that they were able to utilize each other"s strengths. However, he was disappointed because this was just repeating the same tactic of delaying time to cast their own strongest spells.

He sighed, de-constructing the spells one by one, ensuring that their secondary orders were not launched. Upon disa.s.sembling the Dark AoE spell Valerie had cast, light his view became normal again, and saw three attacks launching towards him: [IDO - Devastation], [Eternal Frostfire], and [Matryoshka"s Symphony - Elemental Overture].

Out of instinct, he immediately cast [Void Rejection], causing the disappearance of all the elements in the area, forcing the spells to slowly leak out the elemental particles and energy contained inside, weakening their strikes. He set the [Absolute Defense] spell to the highest setting, which led to the spells" effects creating a small ripple before disappearing without a trace to a different dimension. It also made him realize a possible, final upgrade for [Absolute Defense], but he couldn"t test it out unless he left this universe and looked for an opponent there because it involved modifying the defense into a universe. So, he needed to be at least G.o.d rank to actually attempt its completion. He wondered, however, what rank the spell would reach.

Xander clapped at the effort of the trio, before launching his own attacks, punching them each in the stomach. It caused them to puke out blood, and faint, ending the fight. Xander canceled the magic spell in the area, returning it to normal, before restoring the trio to full health. He was basically reforming their wills because he planned to let them experience [Samsara Revolution] once they reach Master cla.s.s, so it needed them to be strong-willed. After all, if they failed, they get merged into the river of fate, which then leads into the life essence ocean dimension and dimension LIBRA.

Xander checked the time and realized they still had an hour to go. He basically continued to reinforce to them the techniques in fighting as well as sharpen their wills through defeat and motivation and encouragement. Once cla.s.s was over, he told the trio that they would repeat what they did tomorrow, so he expects some results at least, such as shorter cast time and more variance in tactics.

He headed to the gate after calling his driver to pick him up. He didn"t head home, but rather to a large garden shop in the Callows city uptown, and bought some seeds for [Drop Berries]. He couldn"t use the berries he had in Eden, because it was basically an evolved form of the [b.l.o.o.d.y Drop Berries], becoming [Scarlet Eyedrop Berries]. He already had created several tons of Adamantium and Vallarium ores, each type having a purity rate of 80 to 92%. He then headed to his villa and went to the garden to advance the time of the seeds.

Planting them in a corner of the garden, he then cast [Time Acceleration] as well as [Forced Elemental Propagation], causing the elements to concentrate in the area where the seed was growing. Of course, he creates a s.p.a.ce barrier around the garden, so that no prying eyes can see or sense what was happening inside. He accelerated the time with a ratio of 1 second:1000 years, making his berries a Cla.s.s 4 plant material. In truth, 100 years was enough to form b.l.o.o.d.y Drop Berries, but he wanted to ensure the quality of the berries produced so he made them up to 1000 years.

He then contacted the people who posted the requirement, asking if they would pay extra if more of the items were submitted.

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Caroline received an unknown number not saved in her contacts calling her, She responded with a casual h.e.l.lo.

"h.e.l.lo, are you the one that posted the mission for [b.l.o.o.d.y Drop Berries]? I have the item you need, but may I know if you are willing to pay more for more of the item?"

Caroline"s attention was immediately piqued since she had posted that mission 1 month ago and no one had successfully given her the berries. However, she asked, clarifying the situation.

"Are you sure you got the right type of berries? It can easily be confused with other berries, such as [b.l.o.o.d.y Blue Berry] and [Capsule Drop Berry]."

Xander, instead of answering, sent photos and a hologram of the items. When Caroline checked, her eyes shone, as she knew this was the item she was looking for.

"Yes, yes! This is the correct berry."

"Ok, according to the original mission posted, 20 pieces of the berries would amount to 150 SCPs, correct?"

"Yes. If you have additional berries, I would be willing to buy them at 8… no, 10 SCPs apiece! How many do you have more?" Caroline asked, while checking her current SCP balance. She had around 1600 SCPs, with an additional 150 SCP deposited in the Mission itself.

Xander chuckled, before saying, "I have a total of 150 Berries with me. Will you still buy it? If you are, we can meet in school tomorrow, for you to confirm the goods. Please prepare the SCPs by then."

Caroline nodded as if Xander could see her. "Sure, sure! Thank you, thank you so much!" She had been looking for these berries because they had a unique property that can restore blood loss, as well as improve blood circulation. She had wanted to gift it to her parents, especially since her dad had gotten some "problems" in bed, and getting treatment from a Life magician was quite embarra.s.sing. She called her mom, telling her the good news. She had long wanted to have a baby sister or brother. Hopefully, this would help.

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Professor Lindhart worked at Camasutra University which was in Nema, and currently a metallurgy professor, and was focused on researching alloys of different metals. He was surprised to receive an unknown call at 11 pm, waking him up from his sleep.

"h.e.l.lo, are you the one that requested for Adamantium and Vallarium ores? My name is Xander Cloverfield, and I saw your mission posted on Grand Hyatt University Mission Board and I accepted it. I also have the said items you require, and I was wondering how many do you actually require since it was not mentioned in the mission?" Xander"s voice resounded, causing Professor Lindhart to be wide awake.

"Yes, yes, I am the one who requested the mission. May I know what are the purity levels of these ores? I originally planned to get a total of 5 tons per ore type for 2500 SCPs, but if there are more, I will not hesitate to pay it using SCPs or using Nemais currency."

"The purity levels of the ores range from 80% to 92%. I have around 30 tons of each type. I can sell them to you for 250 SCPs per ton, so 6,250 SCPs per type, a total of 15,000 SCPs. Do you agree to this price?"

Professor Lindhart was a bit quiet. Currently, the budget allocated by the university for his experiments was at 15,000 SCPs, 7000 SCPs for general usage of the laboratory and other miscellaneous purposes. His current liquid funds were around 12,000 SCPs, so he can currently use 2500 placed in the mission, and an additional 12,500 SCPs from his budget and his current liquid funds.

"I agree. But how do we conduct the trade? Can you travel to Nema to deliver the ores? I"ll pay an extra 500 SCPs."

Xander responded, "Sure. I can bring it this weekend, though. I still have cla.s.ses for this week. I"ll contact you again if I"m about to leave Eta. See you."

"See you as well. Thanks for completing the mission." Professor Lindhart said, his voice barely able to contain his excitement. After all, he was researching about a possible alloy that can surpa.s.s the currently strongest metal alloy available in Eteria.

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As Xander put down his communicator, he headed to his room and entered Eden, once again talking and taking care of the sprites and magic beasts. He stayed there for around 2 hours outside time before leaving, after talking to the two seeds of life and checking their current fruit production if there was any. The older tree was blossoming flowers, which is a good sign that it can probably produce fruits. He then left Eden, heading to the laboratory in the bas.e.m.e.nt.

He modified a small section of the laboratory to remove interactable elements and matter, simulating a "void" area. Not quite similar to a dead spot, but much more empty than that.

He placed the Seeds of Creation and Destruction there, attempting to combine or even replicate them. After several tries and lost seeds, he stopped, as it seemed impossible to temporally replicate the seeds. They even react to the presence of time element.

He attempted to plant one seed of Creation in the Laboratory, hopefully to see the actual functions and benefits the seed can bring about. It took him another 2 hours outside time to completely master a way to plant the seed and let it grow rather than react with the surroundings. As soon as it has been planted, he let the time affect it and planned to visit tomorrow to see the results. When he had planted it, it didn"t have the same, stabilization effect the Seed of Life brought. It was like every normal tree being planted, there were no disturbances. However, with his enhanced elemental perception, he felt a different field radiating around the seed, gradually increasing in size.

He left the laboratory and ate dinner, this time it was pork shumai with shrimp, as well as meat buns and salted fish fried rice, which he liked very much. He finished eating after half an hour, and headed to his room, going to sleep.

The next day.

He woke up early, sent a message to Caroline, telling her to meet him in front of the Novera building. He took a bath and went downstairs to eat the breakfast prepared, which was 2 sunny side eggs, 1 kilogram of bacon, thin strips, and three cups of rice.

He headed out and rode the car, heading to the campus. He arrived after 10 minutes, and headed towards the Novera building, sitting at one of the benches nearby, especially the ones with trees as shade.

He propped open his communicator tablet and began scrolling to both the news in the Galactic Empire and the news in Eteria. He was drinking his hot chocolate coffee from his thermal case, casually scrolling and reading the news.

He had ready two days prior that everyone in the Galactic Empire was kicked out of their VR world, with the state of their avatars unaccessible or the contents of their inventories. Then again, they had been harvested by his System, so don"t expect any items left there, hehe.

For the next hour, he was patiently waiting for the mission poster to appear. After another 15 minutes, a pet.i.te, feminine figure appeared, walking briskly and looked like she was looking for someone. Xander raised his hand, gesturing her, causing the latter to head towards Xander"s position.

Xander had seen her figure and characteristics 10 minutes earlier, when she had just entered the campus. She matched the profile that Xander had gotten concerning the mission poster, and thus he waited until he was in her field of vision before signaling her.

Caroline jogged towards Xander, who was still calmly sitting by the bench. He gestured her to sit down and take a breather, which Caroline gratefully took.

After a few seconds, Xander spoke up.

"You must be the one who posted the mission, Miss…?"

"Caroline. You can call me Caroline. You"re Xander Cloverfield right? I"ve read up about you. You caused quite a lot of scenes in the past days."

"Hehe, never mind that. Are you also going to buy the rest of the [b.l.o.o.d.y Drop Berries] I have?"

"Yes, I will. However, may I check their quality individually first? I need to ensure they are of the right age and quality."

"Yes, that"s fine. That"s why I told you to meet up earlier here, so we have enough time to finish the transaction." Xander opened his bag and dumped 150 berries the size of his fist, all glistening red and sparkling under the sunrise.

Caroline was surprised at the initial state of the berries. However, she calmed herself down and began to scrutinize them and even brought her portable material spectrophotometer. She placed each berry in the machine, slowly scanning and a.n.a.lyzing each and every berry. As she continued on, her face couldn"t maintain a sense of calmness and was about to twist in curiosity and shock. Once she scanned the last berry, she let go of her calm facade and looked at Xander, who was calmly browsing still in his tablet.

"Done? What are your test findings?"

"Yes. I can be rest a.s.sured that they are of high-quality, and they are of the right age. May I know how old the shrub was that produced these berries," Caroline asked, unable to stifle her curiosity.

Xander merely replied, "1000 years, give or take a couple of years. I found some [Scarlet Eyedrop Berries] growing nearby as well, and although they were rare since it wasn"t what the request stated, I didn"t get them."

When Caroline heard what Xander had said, she had an urge to cry. I couldn"t post a mission request for that because it"s too expensive, ok??? That"s a mythic cla.s.s fruit, a Cla.s.s 6 plant material! Where do you want me to get the money to pay for it? Sell my body? She just gave a bitter smile. However, she finally realized something: The berries were considered to be a Cla.s.s 4. [b.l.o.o.d.y Drop Berry] are formed after 200 years, making them initially a Cla.s.s 2. She hurriedly said to Xander, as if afraid he would change his mind,

"I"m willing to purchase all of them for the price of 150 SCPs + 1300 SCPs for the remaining berries, so a total of 1450 SCPs," Caroline said, itching to complete the transaction. Xander nodded in agreement and the mission was deemed complete, and all the berries were also transferred to Caroline.

Xander stood up, closing his tablet, waving goodbye at Caroline.

"Nice doing business with you, Ms. Caroline. A word of advice: those berries you have are more potent than the regular, 200-year old ones, so make sure to dilute it or use it part per part, rather than being consumed as a whole. After all, it isn"t a calm type of energy, but rather a strong, forceful type. If a regular person devoured that, their blood vessels would explode, along with their heart, and their 7 orifices would also bleed out. A magician who would use that usually has some "malfunctions" in bed, so they should know their limits in usage. Please be careful with it," Xander said to Caroline, ensuring that no liability falls under him. He headed to his first cla.s.s"s building and went straight to the lounge, where he began to take a quick nap.

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Caroline saw Xander"s figure walking further and further away, but she took the information he had just mentioned to her heart. Her father was just a Master magician, as well as her mother, so I think they can handle it in larger doses? But I need to consult first with mom. After all, she is the magibiopharmacist in the family. If anyone knew more about drugs, it is her, Caroline thought to herself.

She left and headed off to her cla.s.s, as she had no part-time work in the university today. She was only here for 2 more years after all and graduating after.

She hummed and even skipped like a kid, joy radiating from her body.