The room was filled heavily with the smell of cigars and tobacco. Ten figures could be seen sitting around a long bronze table.

Their faces tense and undeniably focused on several issues at hand.

One of the merchants, acting as the host for the merchant guilds, opened his mouth and said in a calm voice.

"The last few days have been rough—not just for Sir Palto, who suffered heavy losses from the daylight robbery, but for us as well."

He paused his eyes gazing at everyone present in the room and stopping at Elric who sat at the head of the table.

"The merchant guilds we had created from the bottom of our hearts are under constant threats and attacks from many opposing forces— And the one leading them is none other than Ains."

He stopped and sighed, his hand moved to the files placed in front of him. Grabbing one of them softly he read them aloud.

"Letter addressed to all the merchants of Atlas city. Due to the suspicious activities regarding the trade of goods, all the shipments shall now pass under the supervision of Temple and Guld's cooperation. Those who are found guilty of trading unsupervised artifacts without the Temples's permission shall be punished under the rules of Amon kingdom and the Judgment of goddess."

Elric hearing this leaned back, his finger tapping the table twice gaining attention from all those present in the room.

"Karlos, we all understand what you are trying to tell us— Someone has broken the law, and the one who you suspect to have done this is my dear nephew Ains. Am I correct?"

Karlos smiled and calmly nodded his head.

"Yes, his actions have made everyone go through a very precarious situation right now."

"How long are you all gonna act like this?!"

Palto who has been silent all of this time finally snapped. His voice raised as he snickered at all of them as he spat the truth bare before them.

"We all know who has done what! We all are hoping to get what we want. If this is the truth, why the fuck are we still acting here for? For goddess sake fuckers now act real? I have suffered a heavy loss and here you all are playing polite snakes!"

Karlos's lips started to twitch down as he still gave Palto a polite look before speaking in a calm and collected manner.

"Now, now Sir Palto please calm down. We know you are angry but—"

"This motherfuc—"

"Hahaha… sorry, sorry you all are acting so childish I couldn't stop myself from laughing."

Elric explained but his smirk didn't go down.

'Has he finally lost it?'

They all thought simultaneously.

Seeing their reactions, Elric chuckled once more.

"Hey, have you finally gone insane?"

Plato frowned and asked with a confused look on his face.

"No, I have not gone insane," Elric said and stood up from his seat and walked behind Palto's seat grabbing him by the shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Plato flinched and asked back.

"Palto I agree with you, let's end this show— this drama for once and for all."

Elric squeezed Palto's shoulders making his eyes narrow in suspicion.

But he was not the only one who was suspicious, all the people whispered and their question was clear— What was Elric hoping to get from this?

"For example, let's say Temple guards catch Palto… hm, let's say for his unique fe- I mean, work. Do you expect him to keep his mouth shut? He might spell out every secret he knows about us… This can cause harm to me, or to Karlos."

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Everyone visibly flinched, their gaze went from Elric to the one near them one by one.

But no one voiced their suspicion… And why will they? If one of them gets caught, they will make sure to drag others down with them.

"Looks like everyone understands…" Patting Palto's shoulders one last time Elric walked over to his seat under the hateful gaze of Karlos.

"Lord Elric, this isn't the time to split."

"I know, that's why let's get to the point and be honest."

"And what do we all do, you suggest?" Karlos asked, raising a brow.

"Let's get rid of troublemakers, Ains and… Asher."

Confusion spread across the room, as one of them asked.

"Isn't Ains your relative are you— Oh, yes sorry. We are being honest, I forgot."

Seeing everyone giving him a questionable look he shranked back in his seat in embarrassment.

Karlos, ignoring the ongoing drama, sighed and turned to look at Elric.

"I understand why you say Ains but who is Asher? It's my first time hearing of this name."

"Have you heard the name Silverwill?"

Hearing Elric's question, Karlos nodded albeit hesitantly.

"I think I should have heard about that name somewhere… but I can't remember much."

"It's something of a charitable organization helping people in slums get jobs… from the looks of it. The owner of it, namely Asher, is quite noble, helping the poor and spending money unwisely anywhere he wishes." Someone said, in a tone of uncertainty.

"But what is your reason, Elric? Don't speak of any bullshit and say it directly." Palto said.

"I suspect him to be the person who robbed you…"

Silence…

No one made a sound after hearing Elric speak. How could they? After all the robbery of Palto goods was one of the biggest mysteries to them. It was done so cleanly that no one knew about it till the end.

"... Okay I will take care of it," Plato said calmly, but a sick grin was plastered over his face.

"Stay safe…"

Elric smiled and mumbled.

He will get a good show. A very good show indeed.

******

Insights that I speak of were actually nothing more than a thought.

I continued to channel [Kairosflow] inside the pot and gave it plenty of water.

The water would soon dry up and vanish.

The seed was absorbing the water at an astonishing speed.

"There was no need to be hasty. I am only an awakened. Of course, my ability would take time to work." I said matter of factly.

[Kairosflow] and [Static] both are very peculiar abilities.

But why am I thinking so much about them in the first place?

'There was no need to do that!'

Shaking my head at such thoughts I smiled.

"Everything doesn't need to be so overly complex. Some matters can be overly simple as well."

And that's where the mistake was made— I had forgotten the most important part of eternity.

Eternity was a wish… Something that doesn't exist.

It was a wish for a moment to last longer and then a little bit more when it came to its end.

Following that it becomes a wish to remain eternal and forever.

That was what [Static] truly was— To remain the same even if the world changes over.

This was probably why I had reached the conclusion of stopping time— So that it would remain forever the same.

'Now that I think of it… That was pretty dumb of me to not think of this before.'

Then next was [Kairosflow]...

"Actually it could be anything… I can speed up time or slow it down on specific targets. I had been calling it acceleration but it was just an implication of time manipulation."

Giving it a specific trait wouldn't make much sense.

But if I were to define it normally then it would be to make a moment last longer or for it to end faster…

'This is quite scary to think about theoretically.'

However, this thought also made me shiver in excitement…

Maybe in the future, I could even slow down time to a crawl not just for me… but for others as well.

After all, I had already realized that even though [Static] was powerful and almost omnipotent in a way, relying on it in the future wouldn't be a good option.

The stronger the opponent would be, the bigger the toll would be for me to bear. Next time who knows I might not even gain a single second from it.

"Oh!"

I watched as something in the pot stirred in excitement.

The riverend flowers were used to living in the wild and harsh conditions. Not something people specifically tend to grow nor do they look beautiful.

But they could survive in harsh conditions…

This was the reason for me to choose this flower. Even if I were to just give water and no sunlight. It would still grow somehow.

Then the seed finally cracked… something rose from the mud, shining brightly as it reflected the room light upon the water droplets over its surface.

The green sprout shivered as it continued to bask in [Kairosflow].

By now my focus has completely shifted from the topic of growing this flower….

After all the small insights I have accumulated till now did indeed have some effect on my abilities. The efficiency of [Kairosflow] has visibly improved and I felt no turbulence in me.

Similarly [Static] has been feeling more calm these days. If I use it on an awakener I am now confident to keep it for a long time unless too much disturbance is present nearby.

"I really need to get out of here soon…"

This was inevitable, my growth here will soon reach its peak. After that, I will need to get some new experiences…

'Maybe in the death zones… Maybe when everything here is over.'

Following that I closed my eyes.

Click—

"Asher– Oh?"

Elda opened the door and looked inside. Only to see in the darkness a figure was lying on the floor.

His chest raised up and down as he took slow and collected breaths.

"Seriously… He fell asleep on the floor."

She stepped forward towards the cabinet in the room and opened it. Taking out a blanket and grabbing a pillow from the bed, she gently laid them on Asher's lying figure.

But then she stopped.

Her eyes widened for a moment then instantly softened.

A small blue flower with a rough stem was moving gently with the wind in the flower pot.

"Hm, he won…" Elda muttered and picked it up.

Placing it on the window she looked at it for a few seconds in wonder.

'How did he grow it so fast?'

Then she sighed…

"Not like I will get any answers."

She turned her gaze towards Asher and nodded.

"I hope he doesn't make my life hell starting tomorrow…"

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