“How long does this field of yours work for, anyway?”

  The bored-sounding voice came from above Xavier. Xavier couldn’t respond. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t even blink his eyes.

  The Chains that Bind stood over him, peering down at him as though waiting for a response that he surely knew wouldn’t be able to come.

  Maybe you should have kept running, a voice sounded in his mind. Rhaalir appeared, standing beside the Chains that Bind, the elf spirit sneering at the C Grade.

  It’s not over yet, Xavier replied, though he had to admit, his confidence was waning a little. Maybe more than a little.

  Rhaalir raised an eyebrow. How are you going to get out of this one?

  Xavier didn’t reply, because… He didn’t know how he was going to get out of it.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so vulnerable. Even when he’d been frozen by the Elemental Dragon, he could at least cast spells. Could cycle his Celestial Energy and Soul Energy through his body to use Body Cultivation.

  But now, every single one of his cores had been cut off from him, which meant that he wasn’t able to use any of them.

  His time dilation field remained. He’d been surprised, but very glad, for that. Without him changing it, it had the potential to remain for several days if he needed it to. Maybe even an entire week.

  He could use that to his advantage. He had to use that to his advantage. Xavier hadn’t lied when he’d told this man that there was no way he was going to sign that contract.

  Signing a contract like that… It would destroy him, along with everything he needed to accomplish. He’d become, essentially, nothing more than an errand boy. A slave. He’d probably be put in one of these damned hunt squads and be sent off to capture other people who didn’t deserve it.

  No, he wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Xaiver took account of the things he had to his advantage, which, admittedly, wasn’t much.

  The time dilation field was still under his control. The binding specialist could walk out of it carrying Xavier, but he hadn’t done that yet—he must have been worried it wouldn’t work for some reason.

  Which meant he had time. Even if he didn’t yet know what to do with it.

  The hunt squad wanted him alive. He might be vulnerable, but he wasn’t dead.

  He was just trapped, immobilised, without the ability to move.

  Then binding specialist pulled something from out of his Storage Ring. To Xavier’s surprise, it was an ereader.

  “If this thing is going to last a while, I may as well take a break.” The man summoned a plush, tufted armchair along with an ottoman and made himself comfortable. Clearly, he wasn’t in a rush.

  Why doesn’t he take you out of the field? Rhaalir asked.

  Maybe he isn’t sure how it works and doesn’t want to risk it.

  Two things. He had a whopping two things working to his advantage, and about a million working against him.

  He needed to act. To move. To make something happen. But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t cast a spell. He couldn’t circulate his energy.

  This was far worse than when he’d been hit by the Archer of Fortune’s arrows. He had underestimated what a C Grade binding specialist was capable of.

  And there was another thing working against him—however long this status effect worked for, that timer could be linked to the universe’s time, just as cooldowns were.

  Which meant it wasn’t about to wear off.

  My Storage Ring, he thought to himself. Can I still use that?

  He didn’t know, but there was one way to find out. The binding specialist seemed content on focusing on whatever book he was reading, not even glancing at Xavier, as he wasn’t at all concerned that he was about to break free.

  He can probably feel that the spell is active, just as I can feel that the Time Alteration spell is active. He’ll know in an instant if I break free.

  Xavier just hoped the man didn’t have another way of observing him that he wasn’t aware of, like how Xavier had his Farscope ability.

  He tested something innocuous, summoning a single spirit coin from his Storage Ring and bringing it to rest in his hand.

  The spell worked.

  Xavier would have released a relieved sigh if his throat hadn’t seized up. He could breathe—that was about the only thing that he was able to do—but he couldn’t control his own breathing.

  That would have sent him into a panic if he let it, but he wasn’t going to let it.

  What are you doing? Rhaalir asked. The elf spirit stood over him, hands on hips, peering down at the spirit coin resting on Xavier’s palm. Something tells me a bribe isn’t going to work.

  I can summon things from my Storage Ring.

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  Well, I don’t see how— Rhaalir slapped his palm against his forehead. The Spirit Golem. You can summon the Spirit Golem! Rhaalir looked excited, until his gaze fell on the C Grade lounging in the armchair. Though I don’t think there’s anything I can do…

  Xavier could summon the Spirit Golem. He could also summon Volkarin. It was, as far as he could tell, the only thing he could do. But so far, he hadn’t figured out how that could actually help him.

  He needed to think this all through.

  Spells, what spells do you have access to? Xavier asked the elf spirit.

  Rhaalir tapped a finger on his chin. Xavier had seen him use spells, but he didn’t know everything that he had. Either way, he wanted the elf spirit to list them in the hopes that it would spark an idea.

  Summon Otherworldly Spirit, Otherworldly Communion, Spirit Bomb, Spirit Leech, Soul Destroyer, Spirit Infusion, Otherworld Bridge, Fireball, Flame Wall, Lava Floor, Detect Spirit, Otherworld Call.

  Xavier tried, and failed, to raise his eyebrows. What’s with all the flame spells?

  The elf spirit shrugged. In my youth, I almost went down a different path. There was a flicker in the spirit’s eyes, something Xavier hadn’t seen before. But I… I liked the flames a little too much. My mentor advised I walk another path, else the fire could have consumed me. The elf spirit waved a hand. That was long ago.

  Xavier didn’t know what all of those spells even did, and he was worried the Spirit Golem simply wouldn’t be strong enough for any of them to matter. Even if there was a spell that would get him out of this mess, he had to bring the golem out of his inventory, have Rhaalir enter it, then have him cast the spell.

  Rhaalir might be fast enough to enter the golem, but the odds of him actually being able to cast a spell before being taken down by the binding specialist…

  Well, they were incredibly slim.

  Xavier wished that he could talk to Volkarin while the young dragon was still inside the Companion Cube, but he didn’t have that option. The dragon was essentially suspended in time while inside the Companion Cube, so there was no way for him to communicate with him until he was summoned.

  That would just get the dragon killed. He wasn’t strong enough to make a difference in this fight, and there was nothing stopping these people from taking him down…

  The dragon would not be considered valuable to them, which meant that he would be destroyed.

  Killed.

  The Spirit Golem. Well, considering how expensive Rhaalir said they were, if the C Grade Elite Hunt Squad knew what it was, they would likely capture it. Which wouldn’t do Xavier any good. If they didn’t know its value… They would destroy that, too.

  Despite how hard his mind worked, he was struggling to find a way out of this mess. Being cut off from his spells, from his energy… It was dragging him down, making him feel as though there was nothing he could do.

  He couldn’t even bite his lip. Couldn’t yell out in rage. Couldn’t do a damned thing.

  This isn’t going to stop me. This isn’t going to break me.

  It was one spell. All he had to do was wait for the spell to stop working. Which meant… He needed to cease using his Time Alteration spell.

  Or… No. He needed to do something else.

  A spell like this, cast by a C Grade… He had no idea how long it might last on him. The Chains that Bind certainly seemed relaxed enough.

  It only needs to last long enough for the time dilation field to drop. Then I will be vulnerable from the other members of the teams too.

  Xavier tested a theory. The time dilation field remained active. He could feel it as well as see it. And if he could feel it, did that mean he was still able to manipulate it?

  Xavier pinpointed a small part of the barrier that was behind the Chains that bind, somewhere the man couldn’t see, and expanded the bubble—very slightly. Just enough for him to know if this would work.

  The time dilation field moved.

  A grin would have flickered onto his face if he could manage it.

  All right… Step one of my plan is possible.

  Now, all he needed to do was figure out what all the other steps were.

  ~

  Jorgen had his legs up on the footstool, his ereader in front of him, but he wasn’t actually reading.

  He couldn’t focus. The True Progenitor, the man lying on the ground, immobilised, was too strong.

  He killed Bolde. How in the hell did he kill Bolde?

  Jorgen’s mind was moving, trying to put all the pieces together.

  This D Grade shouldn’t have been able to kill the Walking Shield, and yet… the corpse of his party member lay not far from him.

  Jorgen had never been able to call Bolde his friend. They didn’t get along. He didn’t get along with any of the members in his party. Not really. They’d been thrust together. Thrown into this.

  None of them wanted to be here.

  The way he spoke… He truly believes he’ll be able to kill my master.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jorgen watched the True Progenitor like a hawk. He could see something in the man’s eyes.

  Hope. The bastard still thinks he has hope.

  Something shifted. Jorgen didn’t understand what it was, at first. Then he heard a noise from behind him. Someone running.

  He recognised the sound of those boots. Elspeth.

  The time dilation field is down already?

  Jorgen placed his armchair, footstool, and ereader back into his Storage Ring as he turned to see Elspeth and Illuni. The healer wasn’t running, but she was on her way, her eyes wide as she took in the scene.

  “What the hell happened?” Elspeth asked. She looked down at the corpse of Bolde and grimaced, then she looked at Xavier Collins, incapacitated. “You got him. How did he defeat Bolde?”

  Jorgen shook his head. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there for it.”

  “What do you mean, you weren’t there for it?” Elspeth asked. The woman stepped forward, almost getting in his face. She always did think she was the leader of their party.

  Jorgen frowned. Not at the Archer of Fortune, but at something else. Something strange was going on. The time dilation field, he thought, could have gone on for a lot longer—hours, maybe even days depending on the power of the man who cast it.

  That was when he glimpsed the barrier, far off at the edge of the clearing.

  Xavier must have expanded the time dilation field to encompass the other members of my party… But why in the Greater Universe would he want to do something like that?

  It didn’t make any sense. That would only serve to make his situation worse, wouldn’t it?

  Branches swayed in the wind at a dramatic rate.

  Outside of the barrier. Time was being moved forward. His cooldowns were all ending at a rapid rate. He looked down at his captive.

  If time moved fast enough, the status effect on him might disappear…

  Xavier Collins lay on the ground, just as immobilised as he had been a moment before.

  “What the hell are you—” Jorgen began to say, but the rest of the words were cut off by a flurry of movement.

  The D Grade True Progenitor summoned a Portal directly above him. Before Jorgen could even react, his wrist had been seized, and he’d been dragged through the portal by the very man they’d been sent to capture.

  He tumbled onto grassy ground. A sharp pain stabbed into his back. Then, in an instant, he suddenly felt empty.

  His energies… they were all gone. Taken from him.

  How?

  How in the world had that happened?

  He couldn’t cast a single spell, despite not having lost access to any of his cores. Gods. He had been doing this to others for centuries, but he’d never known the pain of it happening to him.

  Except, this was different. He had no energy left.

  Suddenly, Xavier Collins was standing directly in front of him. His wings were expanded to their full width. He stared down at Jorgen, eyes piercing.

  “I would have spared you, if I could.”

  The man gripped Jorgen’s head. A purple mist flowed from the D Grade True Progenitor—a mind control spell. That, they’d been briefed on. Jorgen had a strong mental defence, but it was Illuni who strengthened their mental defence the most.

  She was nowhere to be seen.

  The purple mist flowed straight into him.

  Accidental Champion!

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