"Brother Roa, I was wondering, can we not stay over there tonight?" Eris tentatively asked.
Roa looked at Eris, his expression unchanged. The boy simply replied, "What do you think?"
"I think it's fine." Eris's eyes lit up, and she immediately answered.
Roa was speechless; he often couldn't tell if Eris was genuinely straightforward or just pretending to be.
"No."
He placed his chopsticks on the bowl, making a crisp sound. On the dining table lay a pile of meat made from an unknown material, along with rice.
Compared to the white rice of his previous life, the rice in this world looked somewhat unappealing.
The yellow rice not only looked worse but also tasted quite inferior.
The autumn sun was not hot; even at noon, it only felt refreshing and cool.
The climate here was cooler compared to the Asura Kingdom.
Eris lowered her head, looking dejected.
The girl's cheeks puffed up, seemingly angry.
This was the third time she had come to apply, but all had been rejected.
Roa thought for a moment and ultimately couldn't bear to turn her down. He finally tapped Eris on the head and said, "How about this: I'll tell you a story once a week."
"Really?"
Eris immediately looked up, revealing a joyful smile.
Roa looked at Eris's bright and radiant smile and wanted to say, "Just kidding."
But fearing that the straightforward girl might take it seriously, the words got stuck in his throat and he didn't say them.
After finishing the meal, it was time for the usual training.
The afternoon training focused on speed and strength exercises.
Roa had little to practice in terms of strength, but when it came to speed, he began to ponder more about the various applications of the technique of Moment.
Roa's training area was different from where others trained. The boy had his own private courtyard, and in front of it was his exclusive dojo. The space wasn't very spacious, but it was more than enough for one person.
Roa's normal slashing speed was infinitely close to the speed of light, and after breaking the shackles, he could reach the speed of light.
By using the technique of Moment, his speed could double, but whether he could truly reach double speed was still up for debate.
The technique of Moment, in a sense, was quite abnormal.
But every ability has its limitations, and the technique of Moment was no exception.
The simplest limitation was that the technique could only act on oneself; acceleration could only speed up one's own flow of time. This meant that he could use the technique to temporarily increase his speed to double, but at the same time, he would expend more energy than usual.
After all, time acted on him, while the surrounding time did not change.
Under normal circumstances, this was fine, but once he used the Sword of Light, the double speed of light was indeed enough to defeat most people in this world. However, the problem arose: the stamina consumed at double the speed of light and the fatigue his body had to endure were also quite terrifying.
Even with Roa's physical condition, he couldn't say how many times he could unleash the Sword of Light.
However, the uses of the technique of Moment were certainly not limited to that.
The simplest application was that his usual killing moves would become much stronger, requiring only a slight increase in energy consumption to achieve double speed. Alternatively, he could significantly shorten the time needed for a strike that originally required charging.
Roa stood in the dojo, his brilliant golden hair cascading down to his waist. The boy activated his golden eyes, and his light golden pupils emitted a dazzling golden glow. Holding a wooden sword, he began to slash from top to bottom.
A simple chop.
The speed was not particularly fast; the only redeeming quality was that the movement was extremely standard.
This was the first chopping motion.
Roa did not let himself idle; he raised the wooden sword high again and then suddenly brought it down.
This time he exerted a bit more force, and the speed increased significantly, while the movement remained standard. From an observer's perspective, this strike was powerful enough to impress the newcomers outside.
Roa slowly exhaled, white mist rising. His eyes sparkled with golden light as he lowered his eyelids and activated the technique of Moment.
Moment, Stage One.
At this moment, the flow of time clearly slowed down; it was a very intuitive experience. The clouds rolling in the sky and the leaves dancing on the ground, even the elemental spirits, seemed to slow down.
This only accelerated his own time.
But this feeling was truly exhilarating.
Roa did not rush to swing the wooden sword; instead, he began to walk slowly.
The dojo was not large, and Roa walked around it. His speed was normal, but if there were observers, they would definitely feel a bit strange.
Roa's movements were unchanged from before, but his speed had genuinely doubled.
The experience was great. Roa stopped and looked at the wooden sword in his hand.
After thinking for a moment, he brought the sword down quickly, but this time there was a noticeable air resistance.
Although there was resistance, this level was completely negligible for Roa.
Roa took a stance, holding the wooden sword horizontally at his waist, and looked at a wooden dummy in front of him. The dummy was a training prop, and such things were common in the Holy Land of Swords. Even if it got damaged, it could be repaired and reused, so Roa didn't need to feel too burdened.
Roa inhaled and exhaled, feeling the surging power coursing through his limbs.
He drew the sword, stepped forward with his right foot, and swung the sword with force.
"Draw Sword Technique - Thunder."
This was a technique he hadn't used in a while. The swift slash was suddenly unleashed, and magic power instinctively flowed into it. Accompanied by Roa's intent, the wooden sword seemed to be wrapped in lightning, and in the blink of an eye, it sliced the wooden dummy in half.
Roa sheathed the sword and estimated the power in his heart.
The power had nearly doubled.
The consumption had not increased much.
This was undoubtedly good news for Roa. Just as he was pondering whether to unleash the Sword of Light, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Master, can I come out?"
It was the voice of Est.
Hearing Est's voice, Roa instinctively paused for a moment.
Then he curiously asked, "Est, have you been watching all along?"
Est did not answer immediately; after a long silence, she somewhat sheepishly replied, "No."
Roa raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Est changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on this topic.
"Master, I feel something strange about your state."
"Well, indeed, I've felt something off about you since the beginning. Have you mastered the rules of time?" Restia attempted to join the conversation.
Roa looked around and sensed that no one was paying attention here.
He sighed and simply released Est and Restia.
When the two appeared, they exchanged surprised glances, both seeing astonishment in each other's eyes.
Roa was indifferent to their surprise and instead looked at the two beautiful girls before him.
Est's outfit had not changed much; her small frame was dressed in a pure white long dress that reached her ankles. Est was petite, but her features were exquisite, with azure eyes and moonlit hair that made her look very cute.
Her small, delicate nose and cherry-like lips were slightly parted, revealing two pearly white teeth.
Roa was accustomed to Est's expressionless demeanor; she was always like this, and that cold feeling often stirred an inexplicable emotion in Roa's heart.
In contrast to Est's coolness, Restia was much more straightforward.
Wearing a black evening gown with a black bow at her temple, the girl maintained her usual lazy demeanor. Beneath her exquisite appearance was a heart full of mischief. Her eyes held a hint of ripples as she looked up at Roa.
If Est's aura was that of an ice princess, then Restia belonged to the type of mischievous older sister.
Roa reached out and patted Est's head, then turned to Restia and asked, "How have you been lately?"
Restia frowned, seemingly not used to Roa's way of speaking. After a moment, she replied, "Not bad, I can tell you've been quite busy lately."
Roa shrugged, not lingering on the topic of Restia's "busyness." He directly stated his purpose: "I recently acquired a new ability related to the realm of time. I'm not very familiar with it and need your opinions for reference."
Restia raised an eyebrow. "No wonder I felt something was off about you. Well, that's not important. Start your performance."
Roa shot Restia an annoyed glance, stopped patting Est's head, and withdrew his hand under Est's reluctant gaze.
Restia couldn't help but chuckle at Est's little girl demeanor. The slightly frivolous smile from the girl made Est feel a bit irritated. Est coldly turned her head away from Restia and directly said, "What's wrong, Dark Spirit? Are you jealous of my relationship with the Master?"
Restia's lips curled into a slight smile, her face showing a look of interest. She directly asked, "Est, you get angry like a little child, don't you?"
Est's expression remained cold, but this time it was noticeably more indifferent.
The autumn chill did not bring comfort to anyone; inexplicably, a wave of cold made Roa shiver.
Roa, feeling exasperated, separated the two and said helplessly, "Stop, stop, stop. Est, Restia, you are both my wings and important to me. Can you please not argue?"
Est huffed and turned her head away.
Restia still wore a smile, but her grin grew even brighter.
Their daily interactions were like this. Roa didn't pay much attention to the two and began the main topic.
As before, Roa simply swung the sword a few times, then accelerated his strikes at a certain ratio, and the information he gathered was just as he had expected.
The development of the technique of Moment was not limited to this; this was only Stage One.
There were also Stage Two, Stage Three, and so on, all the way to Stage Nine.
At each stage, the speed increase was (2^n).
At Stage Eight, the technique reached a terrifying speed of 256 times.
This meant that one second in the outside world equated to 256 seconds for him.
Such an exaggerated ratio was enough to demonstrate the terrifying nature of the technique of Moment.
What Roa was doing now was attempting to develop the technique.
Since it involved the realm of time, Roa's own research on time was not extensive, so he appeared somewhat clumsy in this regard.
Roa tried to activate Stage Two of the technique of Moment. Although his golden eyes remained brilliant, the flow of time did not change, and his speed remained at double.
The normal double speed was already sufficient for Roa to accomplish many things. He reached out to touch Restia's cheek, and the look of astonishment on her exquisite face was evident. Restia subtly glanced at Est, and seeing her still wearing that cold expression, Restia smiled even more brightly.
Roa observed the changes in the girls' expressions and demeanor. The touch was warm and smooth; Restia's skin was lovely, making him feel an urge to give it a good squeeze.
Roa refrained from squeezing but pinched Restia's cheek instead. Her cheek deformed under his grip, making her look exceptionally cute.
Restia appeared somewhat displeased and reached out to swat Roa's hand away, but he dodged and seamlessly switched to using his other hand to continue pinching her cheek.
Restia, feeling somewhat speechless, said, "Roa, is this how you use your time ability?"
Roa blinked and met her purple eyes, puzzled. "If not like this, then how else should I use it?"
Restia was momentarily at a loss for words and couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
After measuring, he found that maintaining the normal double speed was not a problem, and the consumption was not too high. Even when using the Sword of Light, it seemed manageable.
In Moment, Roa's mind began to race.
Even at double speed, Roa couldn't imagine how terrifying he would be at 256 times the speed.
A Sword of Light at 256 times the speed, it is estimated that this sword could make the Dragon God kneel.
Roa saw infinite potential in Moment, and his enthusiasm grew even more.
Restia yawned, gave Roa a displeased look, and said casually, "It's time for us to go back. This time, we just came out for a sneak peek. Of course, if 'Master' wants us to serve him tonight, we won't refuse."
After Restia joked, she turned into elemental particles and dissipated.
Restia's disappearance surprised Roa a little. He thought Restia would stay for a while longer.
For a moment, only Est and Roa were left in the arena.
Est came directly in front of Roa, raised her small head to look up at Roa's face, and Est's clear voice came: "Master, lower your head, I have something to say."
Roa sensed something was wrong, but he still bent down.
As expected, Est leaned close to Roa's cheek and gently kissed him.
It was like a dragonfly skimming the water, a fleeting touch, but the moist feeling made Roa's heart flutter.