15 seconds.
That's all the time I had.
Fifteen fleeting, breathless seconds.
My chest tightened.My limbs tensed.
My heartbeat thudded like war drums in my ears.
And right then—
"Ragghhhh!!"
A wolf charged at me, its growl slicing through the air like a blade.
Its claws were out, fangs bared, eyes glowing with primal bloodlust.
I didn't hesitate.
My body moved on instinct—reflex sharper than steel.
I twisted to the side, stepped inward, and with one clean, precise motion, I dispatched it. The sound of impact cracked in the silence like a whip.
———————————
Observation (lvl. 1)
• Increases perception of surroundings. Makes it easier to notice hidden objects, traps, or subtle enemy movements.
———————————
Because of this skill, I saw it. The slightest twitch in its leg. The subtle dip in its center of gravity.
I moved before it even pounced.
And that's what saved me.
"Oh? You're really becoming something, huh," said the bandit leader, his voice laced with curiosity… and something darker.
Suddenly, three more wolves leapt from the shadows—gray fur streaking through the air, jaws snapping.
There was no room to breathe. And there was no time to hesitate.
I pivoted my arm mid-motion, caught the first wolf by its scruff, the weight of its body dragging against my muscles.
With a full-bodied twist, I used the momentum of the spin to hurl it straight into another mid-air beast.
A solid crack echoed as the two collided.
No pause—
I charged forward.
My boot slammed down on the skull of the last one, crushing bone with a sickening crunch.
Its body twitched once… then stilled.
"What's happening? Why the hell are you suddenly pulling off something like this?" the bandit leader growled, eyes narrowing.
I didn't answer. I didn't need to.
I just kept charging toward him—
10 seconds left.
Ten.
Just ten seconds of borrowed power.
Was it enough?
My mind spun fast, gears grinding faster than I could even process.
The Intelligence stat—now surging beyond its limits, past 100%—made every calculation flow like water.
Thoughts layered over each other.
Each conclusion faster than the last.
The speed of my thoughts was inhuman.
But even with that clarity, one brutal truth remained.
Ten seconds wasn't enough.
No matter how I calculated it, there wasn't enough time.
Even with this heightened awareness…
Even with the fastest reaction speed I'd ever had…
I couldn't defeat him in that time frame.
It was impossible.
Utterly, painfully impossible.
The duration alone was my cage.
It just wouldn't be enough to bring him down.
And worse—my other stats?
Strength? Too weak.
Agility? Barely above average.
Defense? Nowhere near enough.
Even with Limit Break activated, my physical capabilities couldn't compare.
Too slow. Too soft. Too fragile.
Still, I had to push.
I had to.
Because right now, the only thing I had left to rely on was Intelligence.
I had to think.
Had to strategize.
I needed to understand this situation completely.
Because physically, I had no options.
My only chance… was in my surroundings.
———————————
Observation (lvl. 1)
• Increases perception of surroundings. Makes it easier to notice hidden objects, traps, or subtle enemy movements.
———————————
Activating it again, I scanned.
Details popped out. Highlights sharpened.
The terrain beneath me—flat, smooth, almost polished by wind and time.
Useless.
No rocks. No high ground. No obstacles to exploit.
It was neutral.
It gave me nothing.
And the beasts?
Plenty of them—eyes glowing in the distance, restless claws scraping the earth.
But in this moment…?
Completely useless.
They wouldn't help me. They had no stake in this fight.
Five seconds.
I was running out of time.
I needed an idea.
A plan.
Anything.
No…
Wait.
I'd been focusing outward.
Looking for the solution outside myself.
But that was the wrong move.
I didn't need to look outward.
I had to use what was inward.
I glanced at my stats again.
One thing stood out.
The only thing that had truly spiked beyond natural limits...
Intelligence. Past 100%.
A ceiling shattered.
But everything else?
0 MP.
No magic to cast.
Then… why?
Why did I have a skill like this?
———————————
Elemental Affinity (lvl. 1)
• Natural tendency toward understanding elements. Currently latent due to 0 MP.
———————————
Magic.
It was related to magic.
But I couldn't even use it. My MP was at zero.
So why was this even in my status?
Why was I even given this?
Then—
Something clicked in my mind like lightning.
———————————
Resonant Link (lvl. 1)
A special skill only granted to those who possess the blessing of the Goddess's Master. Allows the user to link stats together with the Goddess.
Effects:
• Stat Link: The user and the Goddess temporarily combine their base stats, averaging them and applying the result to both.
→ Example: If the user has STR 15 and the Goddess has STR 5, both get STR 10 during the link.
• Shared Reflexes: Both benefit from each other's agility and perception.
Cooldown:
• 10 days
Drawbacks:
• Overload Penalty — If the link lasts longer than 60 seconds or is used when either is physically unready:
User suffers from nerve shock, leaving him in partial paralysis for 10 minutes
The Goddess collapses from mana exhaustion, unable to move or speak for an hour
In extreme cases: Both lose consciousness instantly when the link is forcefully broken
• Empathic Collapse — If either dies while linked, the other dies too. No revival is possible unless the link was manually disengaged before death.
Note:
Can be used together with Limit Break (lvl. 1), but all consequences and drawbacks stack.
If any stat-enhancing skill like Limit Break (lvl. 1) is used alongside Resonant Link, only base stats are averaged. Bonus stats are not included in the link.
———————————
That was it.
The key.
A link between me and the Goddess.
With enough brainpower—just the right set of steps—I could make use of it.
I could win.
No—we could.
Two seconds left.
Eight seconds had already passed while I'd been calculating all of this.
But that's how fast my brain had become. That's how much my thoughts had accelerated.
My body hadn't caught up yet.
But my mind… was already ready.
There were heavy drawbacks—for both me and the Goddess. But honestly, I had no other option here. I had no idea how else to get out of this.
I looked into the Goddess's eyes… and for some reason, I felt like she was silently telling me something.
Like she somehow knew I had a plan.
Whether she actually knew the plan or not, I couldn't say for sure.
But without thinking much more, I activated Resonant Link (lvl. 1).
And then, I felt it—something synchronized between us.
———————————
—Status—
Name: Aria
Age: ???
Blessing: ???
Level: 1
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Vitality: 100
Intelligence: 15
Defense: 5
MP: 100
Potential: 5
———————————
And with that, I could suddenly see the Goddess's stats.
After linking through Resonant Link (lvl. 1), we had started to balance out each other's weaknesses. It wasn't perfect—our strengths still needed work—but we'd filled in each other's gaps.
———————————
—Status—
Name: Sirius Lasker
Age: 18
Blessing: Goddess's Master
Level: 1
Strength: 15 + 7.5 + 5
Agility: 30 + 15 + 17.5
Vitality: 30 + 15 + 65
Intelligence: 77 + 38.5 + 46
Defense: 10 + 5 + 7.5
MP: 0 + 50
Potential: 100
Assign Points: 0
—Activated Skills—
Limit Break (lvl. 1)
Resonant Link (lvl. 1)
———————————
———————————
—Status—
Name: Aisha
Age: ???
Blessing: ???
Level: 50
Strength: 5 + 5
Agility: 5 + 17.5
Vitality: 100 + 65
Intelligence: 15 + 46
Defense: 5 + 7.5
MP: 100 + 50
Potential: 5
—Activated Skills—
Resonant Link (lvl. 1)
———————————
The moment it activated, I saw the Goddess's eyes widen.
She realized what just happened.
Because of Resonant Link, we had successfully combined our stats—covering each other's weaknesses and elevating our combat capabilities.
The two seconds I had left... were gone.
And right as the clock hit zero—
A sharp jolt rocked through me.
"Ngghhhhhhhh...!"
———————————
—Status—
Name: Sirius Lasker
Age: 18
Blessing: Goddess's Master
Level: 1
Strength: 15 + 5 - 4.5
Agility: 30 + 17.5 - 9
Vitality: 30 + 65 - 9
Intelligence: 77 + 46 - 23.1
Defense: 10 + 7.5 - 3
MP: 0 + 50
Potential: 100
Assign Points: 0
—Activated Skills—
Resonant Link (lvl. 1)
———————————
The -30% penalty from Limit Break (lvl. 1) had just kicked in.
It would last ten minutes.
Even so, these were still solid stats for me.
No—more than that, even with my stats reduced, hers hadn't dropped at all.
That was because I was the only one who had activated Limit Break.
I felt exhaustion flooding into my body... but I pressed on.
"What the fuck are you gonna do, huh?!" the bandit leader barked, raising both blades in a ready stance.
I kept moving forward even with the penalty weighing heavily on my shoulders.
Every step felt like I was trudging through thick mud.
It was hard to move at all.
But I didn't stop.
I reached out and grabbed the sword that had been thrown earlier and forced myself ahead.
The sword my father used—one he had passed down to me.
"Raggggggggggghhhh!!!"
Dragging my exhausted body, I charged straight at him.
A wolf lunged at me, followed by another big beast.
I pushed myself to keep running, dodging each attack as best as I could.
I glanced at Cecilia.
She looked a bit confused at first, but then her eyes caught something. When she saw that the wolves surrounding them had suddenly shifted their attention away, she tightened her grip on her sword.
It was because the bandit leader had redirected all the beasts toward me. I'd suddenly become the anomaly. A threat.
Cecilia finally seemed to realize what I was doing.
Then she made her move. Swinging her sword in a wide arc, she slashed through all the beasts with a single sweep.
"Now!"
And with the danger finally cleared around them, the Goddess took the opening to cast a spell.
She was a glass cannon, like she said. Her destructive power with magic was overwhelming, but physically she was fragile. Her base STR was just 5.
But her MP—especially now that we were linked through Resonant Link (lvl. 1)—was off the charts.
That meant her offensive magic was at its peak.
"Shit! I can't let you do that!"
The bandit leader tried to send another batch of beasts toward the Goddess.
But I had already planned for this.
———————————
Elemental Affinity (lvl. 1)• Natural tendency toward understanding elements.
———————————
I normally couldn't use this skill—because I had 0 MP.
But thanks to Resonant Link (lvl. 1), now I could.
Since Limit Break (lvl. 1) only affected base stats, and my base MP was 0, there was nothing to reduce. Instead, the increase from the link stood untouched.
That meant I now had 50 MP.
I copied what the Goddess was doing—conjured a fireball in my hand, then hurled it straight at the beasts.
The resulting explosion tore through them, creating another opening for the Goddess to finish her spell. The beasts caught in the blast were charred instantly.
The ones who survived were swiftly cut down by Cecilia.
"Tsk! No, you don't!" the bandit leader shouted. "You fucking useless! Do something against her!" he yelled at the bandits.
"B-Boss, but that's a mage! We can't fight something like that!"
"Fucking useless...! I gotta do everything myself?!"
He charged forward, trying to dive toward the Goddess.
But I blocked him with my sword.
"Grr…! Get the fuck out of here…!"
He was panicking.
And it was obvious.
Because the mana being gathered by the Goddess had grown massive.
"Didn't I say earlier?" I said between heavy breaths. "That I wouldn't let you lay a hand on them."
"Grr… fuck…!" he cursed, trying to knock me back with his blade. But I held my ground.
He tried slipping past me instead, but I grabbed him and locked him in place.
And then…
The Goddess completed the massive fireball spell in her hands.
The orb was huge—emitting intense waves of heat.
"Sirius!"
She called, just as she hurled the giant fireball toward us.
I used Quick Step (lvl. 1).
———————————
Quick Step (lvl. 1)• Short-range burst movement in any direction (forward, backward, sideways) up to 2 meters
———————————
Right before the fireball struck us both, I burst sideways using Quick Step and dodged out of the way.
And then…
The fireball slammed directly into the bandit leader.
There was an explosion.
It wasn't massive—but it was enough.
The heatwave scorched the air around us, stinging the skin.
I barely got out of the blast radius in time. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt at all.
But the bandit leader took the full hit.
When the smoke and flame finally settled…
There was nothing left but charred bones.
We had defeated the bandit leader.