I stood frozen in the middle of the bustling plaza, my heart hammering against my ribs, breath coming in ragged hitches. Bits of last night's hazy, frantic conversation bled back into my mind. I remembered her—the girl with hair like fresh snow, standing in my moldy shack, speaking with a terrifying, earnest intensity about changing the world.
"Oh, right… the weird girl," I muttered, pressing a trembling hand to my forehead. The headache from the hangover was still there, throbbing behind my eyes. "Last night… I let her into my house. She was rambling about wars and saving everything."
Suddenly, the crystal embedded in the skin of my palm pulsed with a sharp, rhythmic light, and a voice—clear and annoyed—echoed from within it.
"Who are you calling weird? Are you talking about me?!"
I jumped, nearly tripping over my own feet in the crowded street. The voice wasn't in the air; it was in my hand, as if she were trapped inside the gem itself.
"What is this thing? What's happening to me?!"
I shook my hand violently, desperate to flick the crystal off, but it remained fused to my skin like a brand. Panic, cold and sharp, clawed at my chest.
As I spiraled, the voice from the crystal tried to snap me out of it. Suddenly, the light intensified, and something began to emerge, spilling out like liquid starlight.
"You're acting very unmanly. Calm down! It's just a Celestial Crest."
A tiny, glowing creature materialized from the light, hovering right in front of my nose.
"Wait... what are you? Don't tell me you're the weird girl from last night?"
The creature's face flushed a deep, indignant red. She lunged forward, headbutting me square in the gut with surprising force. I stumbled back, gasping, as she shrieked that calling her "weird" was a grave insult to her dignity as a Great Spirit.
"Listen to me! Even in this form, you will show me respect. I am a Primal Spirit!"
I stared at her, dumbfounded. Why was this pint-sized thing claiming to be a legendary entity? "Fine then... who are you exactly?"
She straightened up, puffing out her chest with immense, haughty pride.
"I am Ora, the Prime Spirit of Time and Seasons. I am the guardian of the temporal flow of this world."
I looked at her skeptically. Who could believe this noisy, glowing speck was a master of time? I didn't know if I could trust her, but then again, the vibrant, healthy city surrounding me offered no other explanation for why the world had changed overnight.
"If you're a Prime Spirit, why are you so small? And... so loud?"
Insulted again, Ora headbutted me once more. "Will you stop insulting me?! You should be thanking me! I've given you the chance to experience power beyond your wildest dreams."
She went on to explain, her voice rattling with impatience, that she had pulled me into a "Time-Space" rift to cross over into a different era—the very era we were standing in now.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Are you thick-headed? I sent you into the past! Look around you!"
She insisted that the bustling, clean city before me was indeed Hayem City—but the Hayem of a hundred years ago, long before the war reduced it to ash and black rivers. My jaw dropped. It sounded like a cruel prank, but the proof was all around me: pristine stone, intact bells, and people who didn't look like they had lost everything.
"Okay, okay... let's say I believe this is the old Hayem. But why?"
"Huh? Why what?" she retorted.
"Why am I here? Why did you bring me to the past?"
Instead of a straight answer, she called me an idiot and reminded me that this was exactly what I had asked for. She claimed she never would have reached out if I hadn't agreed to help her save the country.
"Wait a minute! When did I ever say I wanted to go to the past?"
"Last night! You said you'd help me save this nation and prevent the war. So, here we are—in the past, to set things right before the destruction begins."
I immediately protested. I tried to explain that I hadn't been serious—who listens to the promises of a drunk guy in a tavern? I hadn't been in my right mind.
I complained about her recklessness, but she just brushed me off, insisting it was too late to back out now.
"What do you mean 'just accept it'? Look at me! I'm just an ordinary guy! How am I supposed to save the world?"
She looked me up and down, hovering in silence for a moment. "Hmm... honestly? I don't know either."
I exploded in frustration, but she admitted she hadn't overthought the "human" part of the plan. She'd been so surprised to find anyone who supported her goal that she just acted on impulse.
I begged her to send me back, but she shook her head. It was too dangerous, and she no longer had the strength.
Ora explained that Spirits lose massive amounts of energy when they manifest or perform great feats. She had only been awake for a year, which wasn't enough to recover her full power.
"Unfortunately, I used up all my external energy."
Sending me back a century had drained her completely, which was why she was stuck in this tiny, shimmering form.
"It will probably take two or three years before I gather enough energy to return us to our original time."
I felt my soul leave my body. I looked up at the sunny, peaceful sky, silently asking why the heavens were punishing me like this. What was I supposed to do now?
Ora hopped onto my shoulder, her weightless presence a strange contrast to my heavy, panicked heart. She told me to stop being so dramatic; she wasn't going to leave me defenseless. Even drained, she could still grant a "Blessing."
"A Blessing? What's that?"
She explained that Primal Spirits traditionally create "Spirit Items" once a year to gift to mortals who show potential.
"You're lucky. I had one item hidden away before I went into my long slumber."
She told me that even a normal human could gain immense power through these items. And because she was giving it to me directly, I didn't even have to pass a trial. She mentioned that the seven members of the Black Scorpion had been given Celestial Items because the Primal Spirits had seen "potential" in them.
"Since you've partnered with me, I am giving you my Celestial Sword."
The crystal on my hand flared, and a surge of energy erupted, weaving itself into the shape of a blade. As the light faded, I was holding a sword unlike anything I'd ever seen. The guard was shaped like the intricate hands of a clock.
The moment I gripped the hilt, a strange, electric hum surged up my arm. My heart hammered. It felt as if time itself had slowed down, and Ora's voice echoed in my ears with newfound authority.
"This is the Time Sword. It is a blade capable of manipulating the time around it. From this moment on, you are its master."
"Your mission is to stop the coming war at all costs and save the hundred million lives destined to perish."
Caught in the overwhelming gravity of the moment, realizing I had no other choice, I finally accepted.
"Fine. I accept. I'll save this country."
A few minutes later, we headed to the outskirts of town to test my abilities. We found a quiet patch of woods, hoping to find some stray, weak monsters.
"I assume you know how to fight?" she asked.
"I know the basics," I replied. "I was a hunter and a town guard. I've fought rebels and small monsters, but I'm no legendary warrior. I'm just average. I've never fought a real battle alone."
Ora nodded. It was better than nothing. She warned me that even with the Time Sword, strategy was key, and my limited energy would restrict what I could do.
Soon, we spotted a group of wild boars—the perfect targets.
"Hold the sword and feel its pulse," Ora commanded. "The Time Sword is a part of you now. Once you synchronize, you can move as one."
A faint, glowing circle appeared on the ground around me. Ora explained that only I could see this boundary.
"Your territory covers about 10 meters. Anything within this circle is subject to the power of the Time Sword. Now... command it to stop time."
"Command it to stop time?" I whispered.
I focused on the boar. As it tensed to charge, I pushed all my intent into the space around me. "Time Freeze!"
Everything stopped. A butterfly hung suspended mid-air. A falling leaf became a stationary sculpture. The boar stood frozen, caught in the middle of a snort.
But after only a few seconds, the world snapped back to life. I suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion hit me like a physical weight, as if I'd run a marathon while standing still.
Ora explained that because the sword hadn't fully synced with me, it was draining my stamina rapidly.
"You have five seconds of frozen time. Use them wisely."
"Can I attack them while time is stopped?" I asked.
"You can move and position yourself, but you cannot physically harm them while time is frozen. They are like indestructible statues in that state."
"What?! You mean I can't just stab the boar while it's frozen?"
"No. But you can use the time to get behind it or dodge an unavoidable attack."
I let out a dry, humorless laugh. It felt like she'd given me a legendary weapon but left out the most useful parts.
"Stop complaining! Be grateful I gave you anything at all!" she snapped. "Besides, the Time Sword also has the power to Rewind—up to five seconds."
She explained the Rewind spell. It could revert the state of anything within my 10-meter territory. It was limited to my space—if something rushed in from further away, I couldn't rewind its origin, only its position once it entered my circle.
"I get it. I only control what's inside my space. But can I choose what to rewind?" I asked, gesturing to the forest. "Can I rewind the butterfly without moving the boar?"
"Yes, if you command the sword specifically. But be warned: using multiple abilities in a row will drain you instantly."
Ora emphasized that I still needed to improve my actual swordplay. If I couldn't cut through armor or hide, freezing time wouldn't save me.
"Can't you just, I don't know, magically make me stronger?" I asked.
"You're being greedy! Work for it! I'm a Primal Spirit, not a genie!" she huffed.
She told me to keep practicing. But as we walked, a new, chilling realization hit me. I was a man out of time. No home, no job, no money. How was I supposed to survive?
"Wait… how are we going to eat? Where are we going to sleep?"
She glanced at me with supreme indifference. "That's your problem. I can just stay inside the crystal in your hand."
In a blink, she dissolved into a ribbon of blue light and vanished back into the gem on my palm.
"Hey! You're really just going to leave me to sleep outside?!"
No answer—just a faint, mocking laugh echoing in the back of my mind.
I sighed, tightening my grip on the hilt of the sword. Here I was, in an unfamiliar forest, in a century that didn't belong to me… and somehow, it felt like everything was only just beginning.