Eternal Elysium

Elric most likely by now should have started to prepare his escape routes.

This was certainly a reasonable choice and clearly a good decision for him.

'Ains has said many people are starting to come out of their rat holes. This is certainly a big win for us.'

As more time passes, Temple and Guild continue to weed out the merchants and their associates. And I am left as nothing more than a mere observer—a spectator at that.

Tak…

To prepare to create my first charm from early morning, I had been reviewing my runic language understanding.

Tak…

Several terms would slip out of my mind or off my tongue. That can cause a disaster for me and those around me. So cautiously moving was the right choice here.

Most of the materials were bought with the help of either Albert or Franz. If I bought them in bulk by myself, someone might notice the strangeness in them.

Tak…

And if that someone were to be one of the people who had tried to assassinate Ains. I might be their next target tonight.

'Lucky for me, I played it smart!'

Tak…

"How is the work going?" I asked.

Elda, sitting in her office, glanced up and frowned.

"Are you angry?" I smiled, my hands tapping the table non-stop.

"Can you stop it?"

"Stop what, Elda?"

"Your hand, Asher. If I hear this sound for any longer, I will go crazy!"

I chuckled softly hearing this and leaned back.

"Alright, I will stop." I sighed and turned to look in the workshop office.

Unlike the house, this place was plain and very simple in design, holding no nobility and carefully made art choices.

A simple table and chair at the center of the room. A safe kept in the corner holding records and documents along with a small amount of cash in case of emergency.

In front of me Elda sat with her hair tied behind her back, wearing her white shirt and navy blue skirt that reached till her ankles. She wore glasses; it was the first time I had seen her like that.

'I would have called her pretty to her face if not for that vexed look she is giving right now.'

"You are thinking something rude. Are you not?" Elda frowned and asked, raising her brows.

"Me? Rude. No, never. Why will I?" I pointed at myself, giving her a playful smile.

"You! No, never mind; talking with you is the same as talking with a stone."

"Don't say that. Some stones can talk like us."

Elda glanced at me, her brows furrowed together in confusion. She opened her mouth only to close it once again. Repeating this for a few more times, she whispered. 'I am going crazy.'

Seeing her not be able to shout and quietly suffer was a sight to behold. Due to my busy schedule and recent events, I was unable to use the reward from the bet I had won.

Now that things have calmed down a little, I was irritating Elda for a bit longer than needed.

But—

'I should stop this.' I smiled gently at her and said in a calm tone, stopping my fingers.

"Elda, are you not going to answer me now?"

As the tapping sound ended, Elda sighed.

"Yes, everything is going well. Two workers left, but others had reassured us several times they wouldn't leave even before we asked. New workers have started their training, and I have also talked with Mr. Castellanos about opening a new shop."

I nodded.

"Take it slow. We still need people to learn what they truly need to do."

"Yes, I will… It will probably take six months depending on our situation."

"Hm," I nodded.

Knock! Knock!

Hearing the knocking sound, we both turned to look at a woman standing beside the door.

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She nodded toward me and said calmly.

"Sir, two awakeners have come here. They said you had posted a request in guild."

Raising my brows, I glanced at Elda, who looked at me in doubt.

'What now?' Her face seems to say.

Sigh…

"Please send them here."

"Alright." She said, bowing her head, and left.

"They came late; it's been three days since you posted the request." Elda muttered in suspicion.

Shaking my head, I continued to look at the door.

"No, I think the guild was doing background checks on them after all the recent events."

"Oh! Is it because of that murder case?"

"Maybe, but I guess our complaint against those intruders also played a role."

"Fair enough… But Asher, what happened to them? Tell the truth this time, please." Elda said, batting her eyelashes.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed.

'Where did she even learn this?'

"Four feet underground…" I smirked.

"...You are getting good with words." Elda's lips twitched upward as she rubbed her face.

"Ah, they came!"

From the door I saw a man and a woman enter the office.

The woman stood tall with dark orange hair braided into twin ponytails, a small round face, and a dark black coat on her. She didn't have any weapons, as if showing her skills, only a bag on her shoulder and provocative movements screaming her confidence.

But unlike the woman, the man looked gloomy and tired. Dark circles had been formed under his eyes. A sword was dangling through his waist. Unlike his not-so-happy face, his clothes were the opposite, unlike anything I had ever seen. A colorful blue tunic and grey pants that was totally different from his demeanor.

'A mismatch of centuries. This duo looks disastrous!' I closed my eyes, standing up alongside Elda to greet them.

"Are you the one who has posted the job request?"

The man and the woman looked at Elda, ignoring me. Initially confused, I remembered that Elda was in the office seat, unlike me.

Elda shook her head and gently pointed with her palm towards me.

"No, this is our boss, Sir Asher."

Feeling their gaze at me, I smiled and nodded, walking towards them.

"Hello, it's nice to meet both of you."

"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you, Asher. I can call you Asher, right?" The woman said enthusiastically, Unlike what I expected.

'She seems friendly enough. But… that guy looks to be the problem.'

He was frozen in his place with no movements or emotions appearing on his face; rather than a cold or stoic gaze, he looked… nervous? I was not sure.

"Feel free to address me casually. I actually prefer it that way. And you both are…?"

The woman nodded, her hair jumping around along with her head as she spoke. "I am Myra, and this gloomy guy is Ray."

Her hand hit Ray's back, pushing him forward.

"Ick!" He let out a loud sound, staggering forward, just steps away from falling.

Elda frowned upon seeing this; her gaze turned to look at me as she muttered.

'Things are not looking good.'

They were a little goofy and free in their behavior. Not a bad thing for most awakeners and awakened, who tend to be a little arrogant.

"If it's alright with both of you. I would like to test you."

Myra looked at Ray, who had managed to retake his balance. She shrugged her shoulders and casually said.

"Yeah, I don't mind. What about you, Ray?"

"...I, I don't think I have any problems with that."

"That's good to hear. Let's go to the second floor."

"Huh?"

Following me down, they both stood in the empty hall. If they had come here four days ago, they would have seen three dead bodies lying not far from here.

"You plan to watch?" I asked, looking at Elda.

Elda sat on the stairs and sighed.

"I do. I need to see how reliable they are."

I nodded, taking a step forward.

"Who will be testing us?" Myra asked, looking around, and frowned seeing no one.

"I will be the one to do it."

As my voice echoed in the room, silence followed. Myra and Ray looked at me in shock, but then Myra's lips curled up. She laughed and stood in front of me.

She was a head taller than me, so I needed to look up while talking with her.

"A pipsqueak like you knows how to fight?"

"Pfft—"

I turned my head to look at Elda laughing in the corner.

'She is not laughing at me, right?'

"Don't worry, I am pretty well versed in the art of combat." I smiled, amused at this behavior.

"And are you going to keep your silence, Mr. Ray?"

"N-No, I don't think it's a good idea to fight our…future boss."

"Your job is not confirmed yet. To get it, you just need to have a small spar with me. Don't worry, I know how to pull my punches."

Myra and Ray looked at each other unsure.

"Just do it; he is an awakened! He is stronger than both of you combined."

Elda's voice pulled their attention back, their eyes wide open in shock.

"Then I don't need to worry!" Myra said in excitement.

Shaking my head at their nonsense, I saw Elda, who had a wide grin on her face.

'She is enjoying this.'

"Both of you come fast; I need to leave soon as well." I said.

"Don't mind if we do." Myra said, stepping forward.

From her bag she took out two metallic gauntlets. And wore it on her hands, with a grin on her face.

From the other side Ray took out his sword and held it tightly in his grip.

In the next second Myra took a step forward and threw her fist at me; from the other side, Ray vanished from my sight.

'Huh?'

Confused, I kept my focus on him and tapped Myra's hand to the side, not wishing to take a direct hit.

Myra let out a small grunt, losing her balance, and again tried to counter.

But in the next instance I saw something, a small flash of a sword as it came striking through my right side.

The world was slow—extremely slow, like usual.

Time has slowed down for me. And this made it possible for me to fight them with ease.

'He can vanish from my sight, but when he attacks, he reappears.' I thought and threw my hand in the direction of the sword. And on Myra's side, kicked her calf, making her grunt in pain.

Ray, witnessing my hand reaching for his sword, jumped back.

"Kh, Asher, why am I the only one getting hit?!" Myra asked, annoyed with being hit twice by now.

Stepping back, I raised my right hand, provoking her.

"You are easy to hit. Well, big things fall easier than one would expect if you know what I mean."

"Myra I will make the way… You charge your strike."

'A power that increases with time? No, maybe something else.' Seeing Ray again vanish, I sighed and kept my gaze focused on Myra.

'I should keep my distance from her then.'

For the next few minutes, that's exactly what happened. Ray using stealth will give surprise strikes from unexpected corners, and Myra will fill the gap in the next instance with her barrage of attacks.

They seem to be trying to not give me any space, but that was meaningless to me. I could easily keep up with their movements and was moving faster than them in every way possible.

In a serious match the fight would have been over in the first two seconds only.

"Finally!"

Myra shouted and smashed her gauntlets together—electricity crackled, making my eyes widen.

Ray, noticing the opening, went straight for the neck.

As Myra's fist clad with electricity went for my chest and Ray's sword for my neck. I

glanced at Elda, who had a worried look on her face; she was about to stand up from her seat.

'Let's end this.'

Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh; all of them froze on their spot.

Elda, Myra, and even Ray—no one moved.

Their expressions remained the same as before, as even their breathing seems to have stopped.

Their time stopped!