Time Holders: The World of Balance

”Hahh... Damn, I hope this doesn’t count as endangering safety...”

Aldrus was a bit concerned about Cedric’s condition, but he couldn’t stay there for long. There was still something he needed to do.

”...Um, can you hear me? The first part is done,” he said.

No response.

Crap, I might be going crazy after all.

”I’ll keep moving now. Uh, the second part is beginning.”

With that, he propped Cedric against a nearby tree and resumed his pace.

Weaving through the dense vegetation of the forest, he made his way toward the open area at the end of the path.

Once there, he quickly hid behind a fallen log and peeked at the structure ahead. There, a large camp, roughly fifty meters across, stood beneath the incessant rain.

It was similar to his own camp, but unlike theirs, this one wasn’t hidden behind carefully arranged logs. There was no attempt to conceal it at all. It stood openly beneath the rain, visible to anyone who happened to pass by.

Barely visible behind the wooden walls of the entrance, a strip of red cloth swayed in the wind—it was the flag. The enemy’s flag.

Found it. I was right!

He clenched his bloody teeth in an awkward smile and took a step forward, ready to infiltrate.

Everything was going as planned.

He stopped using [Freeze] on his steps. The wind was blowing hard enough that it wasn’t necessary anymore, and it wasn’t wise to waste perspective constantly. The cold was growing harsher, and the adrenaline from the fight was beginning to fade, leaving behind a sharp, spreading pain.

His forearms hurt the most. They could withstand a kick or two, but that elbow strike had been enough to nearly break his bones. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they weren’t broken to some extent.

Damn...

He also couldn’t use [Motion] to revert their state to what they’d been before the fight. It had already been a few minutes, and his control wouldn’t work at that range.

But the plan had only barely started. He couldn’t stop now.

As he approached the camp, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and stared at it with a confused expression. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Of course, Team Red wouldn’t be so careless as to reveal their position with loud noises, but Aldrus was too close to their base now, it still felt strange not to hear a single voice.

A [Freeze] barrier? Did someone set up a barrier to stop sound from drifting outside the camp? No, that’s not possible. No one of the First Rank could do such a thing, and even fewer would have enough Perspective for it.

As he was still caught up in his thoughts, sudden noises snapped him out of it.

...They’re here.

Four students surrounded him in an instant from every direction. The same ones who had been looking for him before his fight against Cedric. This was the first time he’d actually seen them.

Hmm? Do I know these guys?

For some reason, he felt strangely uneasy having them in front of him. Although he wasn’t a social guy, he was sure he’d be able to recognize his classmates, but these people... they seemed a little older?

”Hmph, where did you think you’re going, Aldrus?” one of them said.

Aldrus shrugged nervously. ”Uh, I think I might’ve taken a wrong path... I’m heading back now, yeah?”

Another boy behind him scoffed. ”Sorry, but we can’t just let you go.”

”Get him.”

Well, shit.

They seemed to know him, so maybe he was just remembering wrong. Most importantly, this wasn’t the time to be asking questions.

In the next moment, the four of them lunged forward, preparing to attack. Aldrus shivered and quickly adopted a fighting stance.

[Visione].

The situation was mostly as he expected, but something wasn’t right. He was nervous—but this was his only choice.

Just stick to the plan.

He really hoped that whatever it was he saw wouldn’t be too bad.

He was wrong, of course.

Glimpsing into the future, all his eyes could catch was black and blurred noise all around him. Fuck! Of course that’s how it ends!

In the blink of an eye, all four of his classmates were on him, punching and kicking him from multiple angles. Aldrus had thought he could at least manage to land a blow or two, but his expectations of grandeur were nothing more than a futile delusion.

Feeling his stomach, neck, face, and back get smashed with the force of a car, he collapsed into the mud without a single second to recover. The last things he heard before fully losing consciousness were the muttering of his peers and the ever-present touch of the rain.

I-It’s cold...

...

”Sir, we found Cedric unconscious not far from here, in the forest.”

”Is he awake now?”

”No. He is still asleep. It seems not only was he beaten, but his Perspective was completely drained. I fear he won’t be able to function normally for the rest of the week.”

The man grimaced with a hint of displeasure and replied, ”I did tell him he could go all out, but I expected him to win if that was the case... So, this boy Aldrus got the best of him, huh.”

”Well, it doesn’t matter,” he added. ”How much do we have left of the artifact?”

”The current use is about to run out, sir.”

”We should get going, then. We’re done here.”

***

”Mmngh...”

”Aghh, wh-what...?”

Where am I?

Aldrus woke up in a dark, cold place.

With his mind still recovering from the previous beating, he couldn’t quite tell what was going on. At least not until he tried to move.

”Aggghh! Shit!” An intense pain shot through his body from head to toe as he twisted. His arms were held up by something, keeping him in place.

Everything around him was silent, with the sole exception of a metallic clink echoing through the air every time he moved his arms.

”Ch-Chains???” he panicked. Ahh, that’s right, I got captured. Still, where the hell did these guys get chains? Wasn’t this supposed to be a training camp? I expected a rope knot or something...

”...drus? Is that you?” Suddenly, a familiar voice reached him from somewhere.

”Uh? Alice? What are you doing here? How did the Red Team capture you too?”

”No...” Alice was behaving strangely. Her voice lacked her usual confident, cheerful tone. She sounded... low, and hesitant to speak.

”What’s wrong, Alice?” Aldrus asked, the same uneasy feeling from before growing into a subtle fear within him.

”It’s not... It’s not them.”

”Alice!”

Those words were enough. He had been suspicious for some time now, but something like that couldn’t possibly be true. Sir Zorum was with them, after all.

Unless... No. That’s not possible. He refused to believe it.

”Alice?! Hey! Tell me what’s going on!” He shook the chains in desperation. A slow realization began to squeeze his heart with horror.

Alice didn’t respond. However, something else caught his attention.

”H-hiicc...”

A sob. Someone was crying.

”Hello?! Hey, you! Talk to me!”

”I...

”I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Aldrus... ahhgg... t-they said... they threatened...”

That voice... it can’t be!

”Cedric?!”

”I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...”