He who Bends Time-Chapter 53 - Ten second death

In the presence of Auran and the others, the thing that crawled out from Nick’s mouth gradually became visible—it was actually a tiny spider.

The tiny spider looked somewhat cute to the eye, with its vibrant color that shone like a little gem.

Hiss!

However, it suddenly spat something directly at Auran, who was the most observant among those watching it.

"Auran, watch out!" Marian reacted instantly, leaping forward and pulling Auran back. The spider’s spit missed its target, and when it landed on the ground, it sizzled, dissolving the floor with a harsh hissing sound.

"What the hell was that?" Auran asked, truly curious about the origin of this creature.

"The Ten-Second Death Spider. It’s native to our planet and can’t be found just anywhere—and just from the name, you can guess what it’s capable of," explained Marian.

"That tiny thing is really that deadly?" Octo asked again, looking at the spider perched on top of Nick’s body.

"Indeed, it’s deadly—but also extremely rare to find. I don’t know how he managed to get one. He used to own a Silverfur Wolf back when he worked with me."

"Let’s quickly get rid of that thing before it poisons any of us. But I wonder—what was the point of that potion Nick drank?" said Marian. But just as she finished speaking, they all heard a cracking sound. Looking around to find the source, they realized it was coming from the Ten-Second Death Spider.

"Is this one of its features?" Auran asked. But Marian shook her head in denial.

Suddenly, one of the spider’s legs grew immensely in length. Gradually, one by one, its other legs began to grow along with its body.

"This must be the effect of the potion Nick drank," said Auran. As the creature grew in size, they slowly took two steps back until they were cornered against the wall. It was only after the creature had fully grown—large enough to fill the entire space of the room by itself—that its growth finally stopped.

Raghh!

It roared like a feral beast. The previous cuteness it had when it was tiny was nowhere to be found, and now it looked like a monster that had hunted fiercer beasts all its life.

Sssss!

From its body, a gas began to emit. Smelling it, Auran coughed.

"It’s poison! That thing can emit poisonous gas. Don’t let it get close to you!" he warned the others quickly as they all held their noses. Amidst the tension, Marian grabbed a knife and sliced across her hand. As a result, a large amount of blood fell from her wound.

But the falling blood didn’t reach the ground. Marian used her other hand to control it. The blood floated and hovered in front of her, and then, slowly, it crystallized—creating an actual blood barrier between Marian, the others, and the Ten-Second Death Spider.

Phew!

"That was hard, even for me," Marian exhaled, kneeling in exhaustion.

The blood wall was a truly impressive feat, with its width and length enough to form a real, solid barricade blocking the spider.

"But this thing won’t hold for long. We need to run or think of some way to kill that spider," Marian said, looking directly at Auran.

However, even before she spoke, Auran had already fallen silent, deep in thought as he dove into the maze of his mind.

"That spell Marian just cast—it’s not an ability a body enchanter should possess, especially if that body enchanter is just a bond magician. Which means she is at least a forged magician, and a unique one in her own field.

But compared to her, the body-enchanting magician in the forged stage I saw at the academy felt far more powerful and profound.

So it’s true that those with theory and those without are like heaven and earth in comparison. If I remember correctly, magicians like her—who didn’t go to an academy or develop their own theory—are called stray magicians. Unlike the academy path, the stray magician doesn’t have graduation stages in their advancement system. Instead, they go through an experimental stage where they get to know the field a bit, and afterward they jump directly into bonding with the field they like. Then, they step into the forged stage simply through life experience, unlike theory users who already have a plan for what kind of unique magician they’ll become according to their theory. freewebnøvel.coɱ

The difference between the two can be understood with an example: it’s like someone venturing into an unknown, dark dungeon. A stray magician is like a person who jumps directly into the dungeon with only confidence by their side. On the other hand, a theory user is like someone who ventures in fully prepared—with weapons for offense and shield for defense, and a light source to see through the darkness.

The main power difference between the two magicians appears especially in the forged stage—where a magician becomes truly unique by forging their mana to represent their essence or life experience and knowledge. In this stage, a theory magician becomes exponentially powerful since they already fully understand what they’re forging, having theorized it beforehand. But a stray magician struggles to truly grasp what they’ve forged, and what their mana actually means in the world—since their path was only instinctive, shaped by life experience, and without planned future knowledge.

In any case, currently, among us, she is the strongest. But from the way she reacted toward that beast, it’s possible she instinctively feels she cannot defeat that creature alone.

Even if we all combine our efforts, I still don’t think it’s possible—mainly because I don’t know how powerful that creature really is. That’s not even considering my time ability. Although even if I did consider it, I doubt it would be effective against someone stronger than me."

Auran suddenly focused back on what was in front of him, then looked at Marian. Extending his hand, he pointed it at her.

"Marian, try to move," he said after casting a spell using his time mana.

{Delay}

Although Marian had no clue what Auran was doing, she knew better than to question him and was willing to help in any way. So, she took a few steps forward. At first, she slightly felt something—some kind of force—it was almost like wind blowing against her, but not enough to hinder her movement.

"Just like I anticipated... the stronger someone is, the stronger their presence in space and time. And currently, my influence over time mana is still at its beginning stage and doesn’t have enough power to affect someone with a powerful presence."

Auran came to that conclusion after his little test.

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