VIP Chapter 415: The One Asleep This Time Is…? (3k)
“Understood. Young Master wants to confirm how long Iaar can move while time is stopped?”
Iaar placed her finger on her lips and stood in the bright courtyard, looking at Will before her. After a brief moment of thought, she asked.
“You said you wanted to devise some strategies, so this step is necessary. And how many times you can use it is also…”
“Got it! Because Young Master needs to deliver the final blow and use his power to defeat that little Fire Dragon, calculating the time strictly is a must!”
“Uh… that’s not exactly the reason?”
Will clearly felt that Iaar was developing according to his own intentions, focusing more on what she herself wanted, and no longer acting as just his obedient “pet.”
Just listening to her voice, he could tell she was more confident in her decision-making than before.
For Will, as long as she could master the time-stopping ability of “Ice Array (Attack),” it would be enough for him to “defeat” Al—or rather, to obtain what he promised Lis.
It’s just that…
Her current state seemed a little too good.
She genuinely seemed to care about the strategy she herself proposed—her becoming a super support and Will personally defeating the Fire Dragon.
“Because Young Master can’t move while time is stopped, that’s why… umm, the time needs to be calculated precisely?”
“Different lengths of time allow for different actions. This will affect what strategy we use to defeat the Fire Dragon.”
“Mm. Then shall we… begin testing?”
“What beg…”
*Scrrrch—*
A chill that traveled up his spine made him pause the words he had just begun to speak.
He was already somewhat familiar with the “temperature perception” Iaar experienced when activating this skill.
However, even though he was familiar with it, his heart still felt as if it were being clenched.
“Huh? Huh huh, why isn’t the time on the watch moving?”
Iaar shook an old pocket watch in her hand.
Will couldn’t see it, but he could hear the ticking sound, quite clearly.
“Since just now, Iaar has stopped time for at least ten seconds—at least, that’s what I counted in my head—but why hasn’t the time on the watch moved?”
“Idiot, of course it wouldn’t move! You stopped it!”
“But Iaar is clearly moving! And Iaar’s magic can move! Why can’t the watch!”
“…Oh, right. Why can’t it?”
Thinking from Will’s perspective, usually, time-stopping abilities allow oneself to move faster while everything else nearly stops, right?
So, to at least maintain combat readiness, the person operating this ability should at least have their own time flowing.
Otherwise, if the clothes he’s wearing can’t keep up with his movement speed, wouldn’t it be the same as not stopping time at all?
But…
If we consider that “this world itself has incorporated some game-like elements”…
“Because… because this pause is probably… umm… freezing the ‘time’ of surrounding objects? After all, it’s a method learned from ‘Ice Array (Attack)’.”
He temporarily provided a conclusion that sounded plausible enough to fool Iaar.
“Umm… that’s how it operates, but if that’s the case, wouldn’t this thing in Iaar’s hand move according to Iaar’s thoughts?”
Will felt an inexplicable chill.
“No, I’ve been staring at it for a very long time, and it still won’t move.”
Iaar spoke, holding her face and tilting her head as she stared at the watch in her palm.
Will realized that Iaar had used the time-stopping ability again. She had conducted another experiment.
…Bad.
Iaar had suddenly become super confident! She was even conducting experiments without a word!
However, can this skill be used so many times?
For Iaar, is there no cost involved? No cooldown? Or is she just too slow to notice that she’s already entered a cooldown period?
This was now completely outside of Will’s understanding. Not just “Ice Array (Attack),” but all the more advanced magic in this world were late-stage story elements that he was unaware of.
However, given the nature of strange books like those on Ancient Magic, it wasn’t an impossibility.
Will had expected Iaar to collapse or vomit blood after stopping time, but nothing of the sort happened.
“There’s another possibility. You have indeed frozen ‘time.’ Perhaps even… the time of the entire world, except for you, the… the playable character?”
“What’s that?”
Iaar tilted her head, completely clueless.
“Suppose the flow of time in this world relies on a timer that records the battle time. When you activate this ‘skill,’ it’s equivalent to stopping that timer. So, all things around us that indicate time will stop moving…”
Will tried to explain. Thinking about it carefully, explaining it this way might be the easiest to understand and would align with the abilities Iaar was currently demonstrating.
For example, some ultimate attack animations and skills can interrupt this timer. In the end, you might find that you’ve been playing for half an hour in front of the screen, but the settlement tells you it only took five minutes.
However, if that’s the case…
What Iaar wants, for him to be the one who “defeats Al” in the end, is likely an unattainable goal.
Even “Ice Array (Attack)” doesn’t seem to mention any way to make other objects enter the “timer in operation” status.
…No, no, let’s not think like that.
Will realized he had started thinking with a “game mindset” again, which effectively “de-realized” this world and was interfering with his thoughts.
“Then are there any other ways to determine the duration Iaar can act within this skill?”
Iaar scratched her ear.
“Although counting in my head seems possible, Iaar isn’t good at counting. I unconsciously count very, very fast, so it’s definitely not accurate.”
“Iaar, how many more times do you feel you can use the time-stop skill? Are there any adverse effects…”
“I feel like I can use it several more times without any problem!”
“Don’t, don’t lie to me…”
“Really!”
Iaar even confidently clenched her fist and showed off her muscles—though Will couldn’t see this action, of course.
“Then, starting from here, carry this cup of tea and walk for ten seconds at the speed you normally walk without spilling it, and watch the watch.”
“No problem.”
In the small garden, just like when he took Iaar out for experiments before, Iaar carefully carried the teacup and walked forward.
Will chose the action of carrying tea because it was the most practiced and required steady speed for Iaar. According to the Hysterm Family’s old rules, tea had to be delivered without spilling a single drop.
“I’ve arrived—ten seconds is here!”
“Okay.”
Although he couldn’t see Iaar’s exact position, Will could hear that Iaar had walked quite a distance, and her voice had become much fainter.
“Wait, Iaar understands! In other words, by walking the same distance with the same method, we can measure how far she’s gone…”
“Is it like what’s written in…”
Will’s words were again interrupted by a bone-chilling cold, making Will realize how terrifying the ability he had unintentionally cultivated indeed was…
“Please have some tea, Young Master.”
The next moment, he felt Iaar place the tea tray on his lap and speak in a very respectful tone.
“!?
Ten seconds.
Iaar’s active time was ten seconds.
As a battlefield skill, it was already very powerful. Will thought that if it could be combined with Liya’s ring and infused with many instant-cast spells, it could lead to some insidious strategies for instant BOSS destruction.
Unfortunately, that Fire Dragon was basically immune to Fire attribute magic.
“Iaar, what’s your limit? Can you do it again?”
“It’s definitely not a proble—”
After she finished speaking, Will felt a trace of cold—but this cold was obviously insufficient. To use an analogy, the previous time-stops brought a chill like suddenly entering winter.
But the momentary chill he felt now was more like it was summer, and a sudden rain fell, sending a shiver of cool wind into his collar, carrying a hint of freshness.
It wasn’t like the warmth of a candle he had experienced the day before yesterday.
After a long while, he couldn’t seem to hear Iaar’s voice, nor could he hear the sound of her collapsing.
“Iaar…?”
Even with such cautious inquiry into the air, there was no reply.
From the gentle breeze blowing beside him, Will could feel the flow of time.
“…Huh? Iaar, don’t lie to me, okay? Because right now… right now I can’t see anything, you… if you collapse, I won’t know where you are…”
Still no reply.
“Iaar?”
Will placed his fingers on his sunglasses. He could only say that Iaar was lucky; fortunately, his current state was an act, and he could access his current state at any time.
“I’ll count to three. If you’re still lying to me, please come out.”
Although he said this, Will had already prepared himself for the possibility that Iaar wasn’t lying at all. In his impression, Iaar had never played a prank on him like a “little devil.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
Will took off his sunglasses and saw Iaar lying face down directly on the ground in the sunlight.
“Huff—huff—”
She was sleeping very soundly, and if one listened carefully, one could hear snoring. It was different from when he used to faint from excessive magic use; Iaar’s current state was more like falling asleep from extreme fatigue.
“Alright, I could have guessed this outcome.”
“Young Master… don’t play outside too much… or Iaar will have to carry you back again.”
“…I’m carrying you back this time, okay?”
Will sighed.
—That’s what he said, but his current state didn’t seem sufficient to move Iaar to a safer place.
He pushed the wheelchair a little closer and carefully confirmed that Iaar was truly asleep.
She was sleeping soundly, almost to the point of unconsciousness, much like how he used to faint from excessive magic use back then.
“Never mind, then I’ll just recover a bit.”
