Lighting One’s Fire

Gideon woke up to an uncomfortable feeling. His wrists had been tied together, and when he tried to stand up, he couldn’t because his ankles were tied as well. Moving into any manageable position was futile, aside from tossing and turning in place on the ground.

Suddenly, someone hopped right on his torso, straddling him before lightly poking him on the forehead.

“Catching you off guard and blocking your ability is so easy, after you explained what you can do.”

Gideon looked up at the purple eyes shining down at him. Milipitas held a smug grin that sent all the wrong signals before finally climbing off. He sighed as the restraints were removed, and he could feel blood going back to his limbs again.

He had explained his Time Stop ability to her, recognizing that it would be near impossible to keep it a secret during their travels.

Having the ability to stop time and move freely in its duration hardly made Gideon invincible. Anything that appeared to be a superhuman ability was the culmination of a set of normal actions occurring all at once when time reverted to normal.

If he was trapped like a normal person, spending any amount of time stopped wouldn’t magically free him from the restraints. That meant his fighting capability dropped to zero if he couldn’t work his way out of a situation. An unlimited amount of time to think was only a band-aid for his stupidity.

“This is why I need someone to guard my back. One surprise hit and I’m done for.”

There was a good reason for revealing his weakness to her. Milipitas was a skilled hunter who could detect enemies nearby, solely by the aura of intentions they gave off. She could stop any pre-emptive attacks when fate decided to throw a curveball at them. Gideon knowledge from previous cycles only stretched so far. There had been several cases where he was blindsided, similar to being trapped by the tribe of dark elves. Fortunately, he could freeze time until his cycle reset, but that meant a wasted opportunity.

However, having Milipitas join was not enough.

“We should be arriving in Longheim soon. Hopefully, this acquaintance of yours will be open to traveling with an eclectic group to ancient ruins that normal people hardly have any business to visit.”

That was the first time that Gideon noticed that they had a spectator. Roze was off to the side, having watched the entire exchange between Gideon and Milipitas. Secretly, she was hoping to gather more allies in her attempts to one up Gideon. However, the way that Milipitas assumed that they were a couple bothered her. She was caught in a tug of war between mixed feelings, leading her to simply stare up until now.

Gideon took that opportunity to reclaim what dignity he had. Information was another strong card in play for him, even if he had trouble figuring out the correct path with it. He was a normal person with a bomb of time-sensitive information. It should have been good enough that he didn’t turn tail and break down into a mess of panic and denial.

“He is a blacksmith. Show him something interesting to light up the enthusiasm, and it becomes the fire in his forge.”

Roze eyed him skeptically. She walked over and helped him up, pulling him close to whisper.

“How many attempts did you make before he became convinced of your sales pitch?” Roze held a lot of doubt after his last great plan.

Gideon’s face darkened. “Let’s not talk about that. He’s a rather quirky individual.”

Neither Roze nor Milipitas took that as a good sign – Roze because she knew of his failed attempts and Milipitas because of the estrangement in his voice.

“What did you do?” the two of them exclaimed at once, their thoughts toward Gideon were becoming the slightest bit more in sync.

Gideon disappeared from their judging gaze and reappeared at the edge of their camping area.

“Never mind that. The capital is just beyond those hills!”

Roze sighed. There was no catching up to him if he was free to roam. This journey marched to the drum of his pace unless someone was there to rein him in.

v

Longheim drew the gaze of many a traveler upon the approach to its city gates. It rested at the base of many mountains, sitting in a naturally-formed moat caused by rainfall rolling into the valley.

Gideon stood atop the crest of the hill, looking down the slope to see a giant castle protruding from the center of his scenic view of the city. The first time he had visited, it seemed like a strange location to fortify one’s castle. After all, castles were typically built on high ground for a defensive advantage.

His eyes moved to the various patches of bare land where remnants of it being scorched were semi-hidden by the new growth of nature. He had learned from previous cycles that powerful mages lived in the capital, using the slopes to gauge distance properly when firing magic at any invaders. If one could shoot straight from an incredible distance, then it was easier to aim at dished terrain rather than land that curved away from the caster.

Roze and Milipitas caught up to Gideon, admiring the view as well. But before they could travel down the approach, all eyes turned to Milipitas.

“I suppose I’ll have to enter the city another way.”

A dark elf randomly entering a human city was a bit strange, unless they had proper documents announcing one’s visit. Since Milipitas had joined on a whim, the chances were high that she would simply be tossed out or create a scene for the rest of them.

“Not to worry. A good hunter always finds a hole in a prey’s defenses, whether it be the nesting ground of an animal or human. You will see me up on the rooftops, away from the humdrum of humans clamoring in the streets below.”

Gideon couldn’t help but feel a bit of sentiment for her. He had always tried to blend into his environment, rather than mingling to grasp for the straws of popularity. Even now, he told himself that it suited his Time Stop ability – operating independently and unnoticed by the masses, the results shown but not the person behind it.

At the castle gate, Roze once again presented her travel pass, while Gideon walked right past the guards in frozen time. Meanwhile, Milipitas had used some magic to pick up a shield of leaves, blending in with the forest as she made her way down to the moat. After checking that there were no gazes in her direction, she swiftly ran across the water, the wind cast on her feet keeping her atop the surface.

She had shown that ability to them before, and to her surprise, Gideon appeared next to her the next moment, an extra trail of crude water splashes appearing on the river’s surface.

When given no time for water to part, even a liquid felt almost solid to him during frozen time. It was similar to how a stone could be skipped along the surface until its speed slowed enough for the water’s reaction to catch up.

Regardless, the trio easily found themselves inside. As Roze walked through the marketplace, Gideon appeared next to her side with an armful of treats once again. At this point, there was no fighting his gluttony.

The capital was home to the best food in the kingdom naturally, something that Gideon couldn’t help himself with. Whenever he had the chance to travel in his home world, finding the local specialties was the top of his to-do list. Just like limited-time sales, he would only be there for a short time to sample the flavors. All the merchants had to do was say, “only sold here!’ for his attention to be piqued.

He unwrapped a piece of hide that had no less than ten different items bundled together. Traveling instantaneously tended to ruin whatever he carried if it wasn’t shielded in some way. If only he could take his ability to transport food in a snap back home. He would make so much money through delivery services.

Roze reached in to steal one of the morsels, a savory skewer of mutton that glistened with juiciness. Living as a lowly apothecary meant her meals mainly came from foraged greens and what she could trade with commoners. Meat was a luxury few and far in between.

She felt not the slightest bit guilt in taking it, given Gideon’s willingness to spend. Not to mention, he could have easily plucked it out of her hand if he wanted it back that badly.

The fat hit her tongue, and she shivered from its richness. There was a slight gaminess that made her briefly consider what herbs would pair well with it. However, she held back on experimenting. There was something to be said about simply enjoying food as prepared.

“Where to, Gideon?” she mumbled, as she wiped the bit of overflow from her lips.

“Down that street. There’s a line of shops for travelers to get geared up.”

“Speaking of which, why would you know of a good blacksmith in the first place? You’ve told me before that you can’t wear any of the equipment in this world or it will shatter. I presume that also goes for your weapons?”

Roze pointed to the pair of sticks that Gideon had through the belt loops of his slacks. She had noticed that they changed in length and shape during their journey so far.

“I can’t exactly use normal weapons. A few strikes at instantaneous speed, and they don’t last. Because of that, I keep picking up sticks on the ground to use. They are free, so I don’t have to pay for a new weapon each time. It would get far too costly.”

Given how he could break a weapon after a couple of opponents, he wasn’t beyond finding sticks that were on the ground literally everywhere. He had a certain handheld adventure game that had the same gimmick to thank for that lack of hesitation. Even if he possessed good weapons, he couldn’t bear to use them unless it was absolutely needed or he could find multiples for super cheap.

“Why don’t you just punch them?”

“And risk shattering the bones in my hands? Sure, one or two punches won’t be too much, but I happen to be a pretty weak guy. How many punches do you think I need to make up for that? I don’t feel the recoil from the strikes until time moves again. I made that mistake once. Never again.”

The memory of his fingers exploding from the combined force had left a deep trauma such that he rarely struck without a sacrificial weapon. Having an object in his hands provided a buffer for that risk.

“At some point, I heard about a famous blacksmith. Supposedly, he could make shatter-proof sticks for me. Getting him on board became a priority in my previous cycles.”

Shatter-proof?

A list of materials and metals ran through Roze’s head, wondering what could even withstand the speed of Gideon’s movement. Few of them could even be considered truly unbreakable, and none cost less than a small fortune. Beside that point, there were only a few artisans that could even manage shaping such materials.

“We’re here.”

Roze looked up and alarm bells rang in her mind.

The front of the shop looked unassuming, far less decorative and fancy than typical ones meant to attract the attention of casual buyers. No fancy signs spoke of the building’s wares, nor did a pretty girl call out to attract those interested. Rather, there was a single shield placed next to the entryway. A small sign that read ‘Ferdinand’s’ was the only indication that it was a shop at all. The name seemed to tickle on the back of her mind, so she placed a hand on the shield.

Adamantite, mithril, dragon claw, and devil stone – all molded into an alloy that withheld the majority of their natural properties.

The outline of a man who clearly demonstrated mastery popped into her vision, evident even to those of unrelated disciplines.

Roze couldn’t help but gawk in awe from magically reading the shield’s history, its very creation at the hands of a legendary craftsman. Merely touching the materials made her drool like she had a cure-all medicine in her very hands.

It wasn’t until Gideon placed a hand on her shoulder did she snap out of her euphoria, realizing that she was likely holding a piece of armor that was worth an entire town itself. After the price registered in her mind, she jumped away, shivering from the aftereffect of being in proximity to something that amazing.

But then, she panicked for a whole new reason.

Only heroes of legend and the kingdom’s best knights wielded items such as that. Yet, Gideon had casually walked into the shop of such said amazing shield, with no indication that he had understood its value.

“Hello! I’d like you to craft something!”