Chapter 348: Chapter 348: S-Level Time Affinity, Top of The Time Tower
As he appeared back in the dark void that he supposed was the main hub of the time tower, Leon immediately opened his [Storage Space] to check if the item he had worked so hard to acquire was actually there waiting for him.
And indeed, the item he sought was safely sitting in his inventory, ready to be used.
[Hours Hand: Place it on the "Analog Clock" of the "Time Tower".]
Ten [Supreme Agility Enhancement (S-Level)] sub-talent scrolls also dropped from the clock speedsters, but unfortunately no essence this time around.
That didn’t bother him much to be honest, even though he would have liked the possibility of increasing his agility even further.
And more interestingly, with so many S-Level agility enhancement sub-talent scrolls available, there was a real chance Leon would actually manage to evolve his own agility sub-talent to something even higher!
After all, the odds of an enhancement success on these things was likely around 5 percent each attempt, which wasn’t great but still gave him a chance.
It wasn’t the best of odds by any means, but at least it gave Leon a fair chance if he got lucky with the RNG!
He decided he would do that later though, because right now he had more pressing matters to attend to.
He advanced toward the giant analog clock in the middle of the void, and as he did, the [Hours Hand] flew from his hand and grew to the size of the clock’s face before placing itself right on top of the [Minutes Hand], also pointing directly at midnight.
Then suddenly, the two hands of the clock began to spin rapidly on their own, turning into a blur as they advanced through the hours and minutes at an impossible speed.
As soon as this happened, the two gates Leon had gone through quickly began to deteriorate and crumble, before turning into rubble that scattered across the void.
And the entire space around him started to shake violently as well, as if the whole dimension was reacting to what he had just done.
Fwoosh... BOOM!
Then with a bright explosion of pure light, the analog clock before Leon started to project another gate, this one made entirely out of light as its hands kept spinning endlessly.
Ding!
[Come forth, Celestial.]
Seeing this message appear before his eyes, Leon simply nodded and advanced forward, eager to see what would happen next.
’This is the end though, right?’ he wondered to himself, ’I cleared the two gates meaning the quest is completed... right?’
Leon had an incredibly bad feeling about this situation, and it even made him stop for a split second to reconsider his approach.
Ding!
[Do not stop, player, proceed forward, time is calling your name.]
The gate before Leon emitted such a powerful light that it truly made him hesitate for a moment, but he knew he couldn’t leave this place without seeing it through.
So instead of backing away, Leon proceeded forward toward the gate, while at the same time opening his [Storage Space] to prepare something.
’Here goes nothing,’ he thought to himself.
And right as he was about to traverse the veil of light, Leon pulled out the [Sub-Talent Scroll: Time Affinity (S-Level)] from his inventory before immediately using it on himself.
He felt like he would have the time to do it quickly in contrast to the essence which would be very much impossible to hide from the time overseer’s watchful eyes.
He poured his mana into the scroll and felt the power surge through his body as the skill integrated itself into his soul.
Ding!
[You have learned the S-Level Sub-Talent: "Time Affinity"]
[Congratulations, you have managed to link yourself to a Supreme element!]
As a reminder, elements were classified into three distinct categories: Basic, Advanced and Supreme.
Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth were considered basic elements that most players could access.
Darkness, blood, poison, light and such were considered advanced elements that were much rarer.
While on the other hand, the rarest and strongest of them all were the Supreme ones that only a handful of players ever obtained.
Elements like Void and Time were part of this category, though it was the first time Leon had actually acquired one for himself.
A supreme element was no joke though, as it was better than all the others from previous ranks combined in terms of raw potential.
[Time Affinity (S-Level): A supreme element, one that reigns above all the others, time seems to move in your favor, and time-related abilities may not fully work on you. You also unlock the ability to learn time-related skills.]
It all sounded absolutely incredible, and with that new power flowing through him, the bad feeling Leon had diminished slightly.
Then with that done, he proceeded forward, entering the gate as the whiteness overwhelmed his vision completely.
Then after a few seconds of weightless travel through the light...
Fwoosh!
Leon emerged somewhere else entirely, the whiteness fading away to reveal something new.
He looked ahead and saw the sky above him, with countless stars spinning around in an endless dance across the cosmos.
’I’m... outside,’ Leon looked around in confusion, ’No, I’m at the top of the tower.’
He was standing at the very top of the [Time Tower], meaning that he had indeed succeeded in completing both challenges.
Ding!
[You have completed the quest "Hands of a Clock"]
"Nice!" Leon said with genuine excitement, a wide smile spreading across his face.
Completing a quest usually meant receiving a reward of some kind, meaning that if Leon had to assume, he had succeeded and would finally get what he came here for.
He would be able to hatch the [Primordial Dragon of Chaos] very soon, and that thought filled him with anticipation!
But right as Leon took a step forward toward the center of the platform, something unexpected happened.
BOOM!
There was a sudden explosion in the air around him as the world distorted and warped violently.
From within that explosion, a fracture in reality appeared, and from it emerged the [Time Overseer] himself, his golden robes flowing despite the lack of wind.
"Good job, Celestial, you completed my quest, only a handful of individuals manage to do that!" the figure clapped its hands slowly, its eyes glowing behind its clock-faced mask, "You shall now receive your reward!"
Leon was immediately about to pull out the [Primordial Dragon of Chaos] egg from his storage, excited to finally get his own pet after waiting so long.
But then the time overseer raised his hand, and everything changed.
BOOM!
The world turned grey around Leon, and he suddenly wasn’t able to move anymore, as if time had stopped completely for him alone.
"No, that is not the reward," the [Time Overseer] grinned menacingly, "I usually would grant the person who arrived here their request, but you are far too interesting for that."
"...?" Leon’s eyes widened in shock, or at least they would have if he could move even an inch of his body.
Even the S-Level [Time Affinity] sub-talent he had just acquired wasn’t enough to negate the [Time Overseer]’s overwhelming power, because it was probably SSS-Level at minimum.
"Being able to one-shot my boss monster, then managing to defeat the clock speedsters using strategy and a forbidden spell," the time overseer advanced toward Leon slowly, "Truly incredible, I have never seen anything quite like it."
Snap!
The man snapped his fingers loudly, and time returned again as Leon stumbled forward, gasping for breath.
"So your reward shall be... another challenge!" the time overseer declared with obvious amusement.
Leon took a step back, tightening his grip on his sword and staff even though he knew deep down that he stood absolutely no chance against this being.
The [Time Overseer] was over level 100, meaning that anyone below that threshold stood absolutely no chance in a direct confrontation.
If Leon had to assume based on the power he was sensing... his [Combat Power] was probably above 50 million, which was simply incomprehensible.
"Do not fret, Celestial, I won’t make something impossible for you," he shook his head reassuringly, "But it shall indeed be the hardest challenge I have ever given, so be ready, and impress me!"
As soon as he said that, a panel appeared before Leon with the challenge details.
Ding!
[You have been given the HONOR to challenge the "Time Overseer" directly.]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes] [Yahoo!]
A normal player would usually be able to disagree with such a challenge, though that would result in them failing the tower entirely, but since Leon had the [Celestial] title, even that wasn’t an option because the system expected more from him.
With a heavy sigh, he tapped on [Yes], and the time overseer was clearly overjoyed by his decision.
"Very well," he grinned widely, "Then your challenge shall be the following: hit me, just once."
"...Hit you?" Leon repeated, confused by the simplicity of the task.
"If you manage to hit me or even graze me once, you win, there is no time limit whatsoever."
"No time limit at all?" Leon asked, trying to find the catch.
"Minutes, hours, days, months or even years," the figure smiled warmly, "As much time as you need!"
Hearing that, Leon’s expression turned cold and calculating.
Because even though an unlimited amount of time for such a challenge sounded good on the surface, Leon already knew the truth: it was completely impossible.
He was level 86 while the time overseer was level 100+, and the gap between them wasn’t even close.
But still, he couldn’t refuse now that he had accepted, and so he simply hoped for the best and prepared himself for what was coming.
